AWF Chpt 67

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=Chapter 67=
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===Promises of Riches===
Battlefield, St. Ives
St. Ives Compact
February, 3030
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>>"You are the one who will be destroyed."<< Commander Zhang snapped. >>"Mercenaries, move forward and kill them."<<
"Let's switch back to your command channel and discuss our strategies where our enemies can't hear us." Fiona said.
Anastasia saw the Kintaro walk back into sensor range for a moment then cross over the main highway and walk north on another side street and then disappear from her sensors. She switched over to the Compact forces' command channel.
>>"Mercenary, I cannot believe you would attempt to embarrass me in front of the enemy by-"<<
"Well buckle up, Commander," Fiona said. "because if you want to live through this, you'll get your head out your ass. So get your mechs and vehicles off that highway and start listening to me. You're an arrogant fool and your 'mechs desperately need maintenance and repairs, and, in case you haven't been paying attention, we're outclassed and under-weight in this fight."
There was a long pause before Commander spoke, >>"Vehicle crews, take the next exit and join me and Captain Mung with the other mechs."<< As he spoke the Blackjack used its jump jets to propel itself off the elevated highway and landed near Fiona's Jagermech. The Vindicator seemed uncertain for a moment before the pilot jumped down to join the other mechs."
They waited as the tanks drove off the highway and then had to maneuver around a few streets before driving under the overpass. Anastasia watched her sensors waiting for the UrbanMech or the Kintaro to show up again.
>>"What is this TRP you have marked?" <<Commander Zhang asked.
"It was the last known location of the UrbanMech." Anastasia answered. "The mech mysteriously disappeared from my scanners there. I believe we should check the area before firing though."
(("I agree. There are parts of the city that are built over other streets.")) A quiet feminine voice explained, (("It has created subterranean portions of the city, large enough for smaller 'mechs to move through.))
<<"Mung, since you know this city, move forward and locate that UrbanMech.">> Commander Zhang said.
The Vindicator started to move and Anastasia chose to follow her as Fiona said, "Hap, Professor, move with her. Keep us informed what you find. We'll wait here before advancing."
>>"Time is of the essence."<< Commander hissed. >>"We should continue as they screen."<<
"Crow, explain to the Commander how slow is fast." Fiona said idly as she watched Anastasia, Hap and Mung moved forward toward the UrbanMech's former location.
"It ain't Sun Tzu, but slow is smooth, smooth if fast, fast is slow, man" Crow said. "Let the Professor find your enemies, we'll destroy them from here, and then move up nice and smooth. It will go way faster than getting ambushed. "
Anastasia smirked as she imagined Commander Zhang seething in his cockpit as Crow dispensed his unique "philosophies". The Valkyrie, Griffin, and Vindicator rounded a corner and walked between two tall brick buildings to come to the TRP Anastasia had marked. It was abandoned lot with children playing ball and running around. At the end was a pile of rubble that had been a building and a ramp leading underground.
Anastasia took in a deep breath as she realized she had marked a children's play area as a TRP. Subcommander Mung moved her Vindicator forward and activated her external speakers to speak to the children in Chinese. Most of the children immediately scattered, but a few of the younger children stared at the 'mechs until their older siblings escorted them to safety.
"Fiona, we've found the entrance to the sub-city." Harold said, "No sign of the UrbanMech. We're going to attempt to re-establish contact." As her husband spoke Anastasia was fixated on a forgotten ball that a child had left before rushing off to what she hoped was safety.
"Acknowledge." Fiona said. "We'll proceed to your location and wait for you. Keep moving nice and smooth."
Anastasia approached the ramp leading down to the sub-street. The surface street was so thick it was obvious why her sensors had lost the 'mech. This portion of the city had also been left to deteriorate or had seen some military action, or likely both. There were several burned out buildings and structures that were little more than rubble, but the street was thick enough that there were no holes to let sunlight into the dark underground.
She walked her mech down into the gloom of the sub-street. She had to change to a low light vision mode to see deeper into the shadows. Anastasia also had to retune her scanners to work through the clutter and interference of the old construction. She still couldn't detect anything. She activated another broad-spectrum scan.
The scanners did not detect any 'mechs or vehicles. Anastasia looked around and could see what looked like an underground city. Most of the buildings were under three stories, but the taller buildings appeared to run into the "roof" or the street above. There was scattered electric street lighting, and a few random burning barrels but the under-city was filled with shadows and dimness. There were a few feral animals scurrying around, but Anastasia didn't see any people. Just the twisting labyrinth of random streets and walkways.
Hap followed the Vindicator down the ramp to join Anastasia in the underground streets. "Subcommander Mung, Hello. This is Hap the Griffin pilot, and you got the Professor there in the Valkyrie. If you were piloting an UrbanMech trying to ambush a convoy headed to your supply-depot, where would you go?"
(("Hello, Hap and the Professor.")) SubCommander answered she seemed almost amused with Hap's introduction, "Please call me Chyou. If I were an UrbanMech pilot…" She paused to think…"I would either try to hide among the heavy equipment in the industrial area or I would find some rubble and burned out buildings that would make it difficult to detect me. Both can be found north east of here."
"Thank you, Chyou, and it's good to meet you. Would you mind leading the way?" Harold asked.
(("I will try, though I must confess that I am unfamiliar with the under-city, and as you see the streets above are not reflected here below.")) Chyou started walking her Vindicator down a wide street.
"Why is that?" Anastasia asked as she followed Chyou. "Why does this place even exist?" As they walked Anastasia examined her knee board map, as Chyou said, the streets they were traversing didn't line up with the streets above. Anastasia looked at the street they were walking. It appeared to be former store fronts that had seen better days. There was broken glass and graffiti but several of the signs appeared to advertise apothecaries, restaurants, and stores. At least Anastasia guessed what the signs meant. The signs were in Chinese but the general symbols and presentation seemed universal.
(("Several hundred years ago the Mandrinn of this city heard or read the Chancellor's teaching on planned cities where each city was purpose built for efficiency. The Chancellor stated an ideal city should be designed to have intentional areas for living and shopping, easy access routes for goods and shipping, quality public transportation and easy access for law enforcement. Wherever there was a portion of the city that could not conform to these standards the Mandrinn would simply pave over it, thus creating an upper and lower city. If a building was outside the bounds of the Chancellor's teaching, he would cut it off at the third level and build the 'proper' streets and infrastructure in its place. Eventually he made the city in the model of the Chancellor's vision.")) Chyou said.
"Did it work? Did it create the perfect city that the Chancellor described?" Hap asked.
("In some ways, yes.")) Chyou said, (("However, this also created black markets and a place for them to flourish.))" They continued traveling through the subterranean streets. Anastasia felt slightly claustrophobic as her scanners struggled to penetrate the electro-magnetic muck of the lower city. Chyou had to backtrack a few times before finding a ramp that was built into a large empty warehouse.
Harold followed behind Chyou as they came out back onto the main street. "McFinnigan 1, this is McFinnigan 3, we traveled a portion of the sub-city and were about…a kilometer north-east- shit. The Kintaro is a block away. Chyou, Anastasia, I'm going to jump over these buildings. When he engages me, jump behind him."
Anastasia hurried up the ramp to join them in a large parking lot surrounded by tall buildings. There was a street that ran north to south in front of the warehouse. It was lined with tightly packed buildings of different styles and materials ranging from brick, reinforced concrete and steel, and even a few wood frame structures that were squeezed into the spaces between the other buildings.
Anastasia's scanners immediately registered the Kintaro coming down the street under full throttle. It also indicated the UrbanMech was perched on top of the building. Before she could warn anyone of the UrbanMech the Kintaro crashed through one of the shabby wooden structures, and let loose a barrage of SRMs and lasers at Anastasia and Chyou.
Harold performed a backwards leap up to land on the roof of the warehouse. Anastasia instinctively knew this was the tactically best response since his 'mech had all long-range weapons. She heard Harold curse again as he discovered the UrbanMech.
"I got eyes on the UrbanMech." Hap said. "Confirm Crow was right, glass cannon."
"Thanks brother, I'm headed your way." Crow said.
Anastasia started to move to attempt to flank the Kintaro. As she ran the collision detection klaxons sounded. Instinctively she side-stepped and swiftly pivoted her 'mech on her right foot and stepped back with her left as the UrbanMech slammed into the ground beside her. The UrbanMech's right leg took the brunt of the damage from the fall. Armor shattered and broke away from the leg and shredded the foot actuator. The pilot tried to keep his footing but the UrbanMech collapsed onto its back.
Anastasia's mech had bowed as she spun around and the time seemed to slow as her sense of balance and the Valkyrie's gyros brought the mech to stand upright. She could see the prone UrbanMech was missing its autocannon and had a gaping hole in the right torso. Sparks sprayed from the hole and smoke billowed from various gaps in the 'mech's armor.
The cross hairs seem to track slowly as Anastasia used one smooth motion to activate the LRM's safety override to hot load her missiles. She pulled up gently on the targeting control stick and just before the cross hairs lined up with the twisted metal and gap in the UrbanMech's armor she launched missiles and laser. The ruby beam of her medium laser melted the armor around the gap in the UrbanMech's chest as missiles struck the UrbanMech's side and a few disappeared into the gap.
There were a series of flashes inside the 'mech as the missiles found the auto cannon magazine. Then there was an explosion as the cylindrical mech burst from the inside out. The new hole billowed out thick black smoke before there was the brilliant flash as the fusion reactor's shielding exploded.
"UrbanMech neutralized." Anastasia said.
Anastasia glanced up as Chyou said, (("It would be appreciated if you could assist me with this Kintaro.")) The Kintaro was too close for the Vindicator to use her PPC and LRMs, so Chyou struck his chest with the barrel of her PPC as a beam from her small lasers carved into the Kintaro's arm. The Vindicator appeared to be in worse condition than when they had started, but it was still up and functional.
"Hap I'm directly south, I should be in range in a moment." Crow said.
"Copy Crow, we have a Kintaro, in the open." Hap said.
"Think I got a solution for that." Crow said.
Anastasia glanced at Crow's position and considered the Kintaro's orientation, and how they needed to get the pressure off of Chyou. As if he was thinking the same thing Harold jumped down to the left of the Kintaro and put a PPC bolt and ten missiles into the 'mech. Anastasia jumped over a few low buildings onto a side street the Kintaro had been sprinting down. She tried to angle her 'mech into the rear arc of the Kintaro, but she wasn't quite there.
Anastasia sent ten missiles over the buildings and into the flank of the Kintaro. They didn't hit the thinly armored rear of the 'mech, but enough of them struck the Kintaro's side to get the pilot's attention. He stepped back from Chyou to position himself so that Hap, Chyou and Anastasia were generally in front of him. As he moved he lobbed a brace of five LRMs at Anastasia and split his SRMs and lasers between the Griffin and Vindicator.
"Splash over." Crow said.
Anastasia smiled to herself and sat up a little taller as she saw that she and Hap had pressured the pilot to put his back to Crow. Crow's CPLT-C4 was equipped with two Holly Long Range Missile 20 Racks. It was a good weapon system that would, on average, destroy a ton of armor in one salvo. Anastasia knew that Crow was an exceptional gunner, and doubted the Kintaro could afford to lose two tons of armor from his thinly armored back. She also knew even if it didn't destroy the mech it would be a struggle to stay upright under that barrage. Hap or Chyou could easily deliver a coup de grace to the prone mech.
The forty missiles fell from a high angle and struck the Kintaro's back and shoulders. Anastasia could see the smoke and explosions, then head exploded, and it took Anastasia to realize it was the pilot ejecting.
"Splash out." Hap said, "Good contact. Kintaro neutralized, looks like the pilot ejected."
"Good copy, Hap. Hold position there." Fiona said. "Professor, try to use your advanced sensors and locate those assaults. I want us to have them jump on them."
Anastasia jumped her 'mech over the buildings so she could get to the top of the warehouse and use the elevation to get stronger radio signals. She kneeled her mech down to reduce her profile and settled into her work. After a minute she started to get something in the general vicinity of the supply depot
The Valkyrie generally ran cool, but this was part in the operation between fire fights were her skin felt sticky and uncomfortable and looked forward to a shower. She thought back to her honeymoon and showering with Harold and how he would alternate between massaging and caressing her before things led to greater intimacy. She was disappointed when she realized that the shower facilities in the drop ship were just for one and water had to be rationed, and a field shower was barely effective for washing her hair and getting clean, let alone getting dirty. She smiled mischievously as she decided she would tease Harold with talking about enjoying a shower and reminding him it wasn't available.
As she reached to turn her radio to the private channel she shared with her husband Hap asked Chyou, "Chyou, are you okay, you're 'mech's looking…it looks like it needs repairs."
"It does need the armor replaced." Chyou answered, "Fortune has favored me and I have only lost one major system."
Anastasia leaned over to see that Chyou was holding up her 'mech's left arm and there was a large portion of the small laser missing. Anastasia could also see the mech's hand actuator had been damaged from missiles. There were several places on the Vindicator where internal structure or internal systems were visible through holes or just missing armor.
"We'll have our 'mech techs see what they can do to help out." Hap said
<<"That will not be necessary.">> Commander Zhang said as Fiona's Jagermech, Crow's Catapult, Commander Zhang's Blackjack and the vehicles came into view. <<"Our own techs are sufficiently skilled.">>
"You may want to actually let them do their job then." Crow said.
<<"If you would perform your job perhaps, they would not have to work so hard.">> Commander Zhang said.
"What do you mean?" Crow asked.
<<"Look at how SubCommander Mung was forced to fight the Kintaro alone, while these two ran away.">> Commander Zhang said.
"Yes, it would have been better had they 'held the line' so the UrbanMech could shoot them in the back." Fiona said as she kicked the UrbanMech. The Mech rolled over exposing the left torso and the Capellan green triangle with a mech fist wielding a sword.
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