TOW44

Chapter 44 - The Other War
=Coyote Repossession=
Chatterweb Log. Public Terminal.San Mateo City.Tamaron.Kerensky Cluster
*Guffaw.S – I need to come in Skog almost caught me by the tale. Always checking my watch to see if my time is up.
*Fortunate.Sun – Sorry to hear about your troubles at work. If you can you get to the Deli for us we can make something happen.
*Guffaw.S – I will catch the next streetcar to the Deli. Tell OS I will not be long and might have something special for her.
*Fortunate.Sun – Feel free to make it a party. Look forward to seeing you. Do not forget to wear bells.
05/14/3062
Star Commander Rex leapt from the hovering (Union-C) CCDS Silvermoon using his jets to clear the thruster plume and land softly on the rocky beaches of a quarry lake near Delios’ inland sea. His Conjurer’s feet left a deep impression in the gravel quickly trodden over by the rest of his Star. The Silvermoon boosted away after executing a textbook nighttime hover drop of his strike force. Rex activated his mech’s thermal sights turning the bright blue chemical laden water grayscale.
thumb|Union-C Class Mech Carrier DropShip, Silvermoon
He noticed something peek out from a nearby gully mostly hidden by the steam from the Silvermoon's thruster.
“I saw something two hundred meters north-northwest. We did not bring any probes and this area was supposed to be quiet. Check out it, Hu.”
The Incubus walked forward avoiding the use of jump jets that might reveal their position. Their dropship had been brighter than their jump jets ever could. However, it was gone now and there was no need to draw more attention to their position, the steam had concealed their short drop to the surface. Sharks would be tracking the Union-C as it deployed the slower mechs of Charlie Trinary closer to the primary objective while he could take the secondary with his Star.
Hu’s Incubus peered down through the ravine activating the spotlight attached to its rifle like pulse laser. “Some caves, very small and wet. I see no signs of activity.” The large man shaped mech turned to rejoin the Star. Its spotlight turned off but the element within still glowed as the residual heat faded to darkness in their thermal sights.
“There was something there.”
“Maybe an artifact in the computer, Star Commander. How many times has your mech been repaired properly in the past five months?”
All of his Star's machines showed uneven paint jobs from the nearly five month long repossession campaign that Khan Koga called in wake of the Shark's embargo. “Properly, maybe twice. Imperfectly more than a dozen times.”
“Well if you can find a technician ask them about that.”
“Either that or it was something that can wait till morning. We have an objective to achieve.”
“Aff.” The Star set out to the West seeking to reclaim what was once theirs from the Diamond Sharks.
Within the gully three figures emerged from their hiding holes, all wore dark blue dry suits, their faces covered by a re-breather helmet. “Do you think they know where the cache is?”
“It seems that way. Either that or they just intend to pick the ruins once more as others have before.”
“We have been through but should inform the others.”
“Aff. The Controller was very direct in that point.”
“He didn’t need to kill Jean-Pierre to prove it though. I miss that fellow.”
Rex’s command worked their way a short distance through the stubby woods. Delios was once home to a variety of artisanal industries clustered around its inland sea. In the 30th Century it was a primarily Coyote colony shared with the Nova Cats. During their decline it was lost to the Diamond Sharks who improved on the Coyote's work to great profit. In the early 3050s Smoke Jaguar Warriors under Leo Showers raided it for raw materials as was their standard tactics. In order to sustain his Touman Khan Lincoln Osis clear cut forests, over harvested fields and fisheries, and strip-mined hillsides in the process turning once idyllic environments into industrial wastelands that were only just beginning to heal.
He looked toward the North where Rebekah's Star was heavily engaged with elements of the 35th Cruiser Cluster around a minor factory town. His command was not as well supplied so they were sent after easier prey among the 79th Strike Cluster that was still badly mauled from fighting against the Steel Vipers on New Kent. This was something the Coyotes could emphasize with as several Coyote Clusters were pushed out over the past year during the Viper's latest offensive. The Khan ordered the planet reclaimed however and so it shall be.
The command paused near a cliff covered in large boulders, “All scopes clear Star Commander. We are certain this is the location we are seeking quiaff?”
Star Commander Rex checked his unit's GPS and confirmed the coordinates, “Aff, Perhaps we were given bad data.”
A Star of Battlemechs stood around confused, “This data came right from the Watch Colonel, quiaff? Where is this cache?”
“Maybe there are hiding within it.” Rex looked back at the quarry lake, “or it is below the surface.”
“You think that the entrance to a Cat cache is somewhere under that lake?”
“Aff, what better way to conceal it from detection and infiltration. Our machines have lasers we will not be defenseless.”
“True but none of us have experience with this manner of attack. Perhaps we should wait for specialists.”
“There is no time for specialists. If there is nothing there we will regroup with Charlie and take Belle's Wharf. There is still time for us to catch them.”
“Aff, Star Commander. Whatever you say.”
Five mechs waited beside the very cold water that had flooded the quarry and killed several hundred Laborers in 3054 after the Jaguars dug to deep without checking the water table. Before becoming a sand quarry it was a relatively quaint Nova Cat mining town best known for the quality of its semi-precious stones. They had no way of knowing how deep the water was and no map of its bottom from which to navigate. Rex and the others instead activated their inertial navigation units to aid with dead reckoning.
Each Mechwarrior ensured that their cockpit shield was in place and prayed to the Great Father their seals would hold. The Conjurer and its Starmates used their jump jets to dive into the lake creating a load splash and rippling waves that bounced off the opposite shore. Darkness and cold surrounded Rex as he sank into the lake's murky depths. His 'gun light' activated and after a short time he could feel his feet settle onto the muddy bottom.
As the mechs settled on the bottom they looked about, the Horned Owl's 'eyelight' was activated making it look like a cyclopean lighthouse, the Clint IIC's paired headlights and Griffin IIC's chest light joined the Incubus' gun light each glowed faintly to illuminate the silty brine.
Before diving they had agreed that anyone who finds something would mark it and find their nearest Starmate to pass it down the line. Communication underwater was limited to the standard hand gestures that any child learns when they pick up their first rifle at the age of 6. Rex consulted his INS and continued on the course he laid for himself.
At the entrance to the cache a group of 'Water Elementals' with seaweed like 'ghille' camouflage propelled themselves through the water. Each of the modified mining suits concealed themselves next to or within the flooded remains of quarry machines and dead Shark mechs. Lights penetrated the depths as the mechs neared but the WE operator saw it in 3D as built in SONAR identified the metal behind that light in sharp relief as well as giving up to date ranges.
A series of sharp clicks emanated from one of the units toward a nearby hydrophone.
“Black Pearl Star is in position to drown some stray dogs, Controller.”
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