DMHK9

=Chapter 9=
==Dead Man's Hand: The Kowloon Job==
Militia Proving Grounds
Malibu
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
14th April, 3054
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"And so it begins." Nathan Roshak muttered to himself under his breath as he watched the icons appear on his screen.
Hellbringer. Obviously taken from the Wolves on Tamar, and most likely belonging to the mercenaries leader, making it his primary target.
Archer. Long range fire support, at a distinct disadvantage in the confined spaces of the old factories and warehouses. But you go to war with the army you have.
WVR-7H. It took him a moment to place the model, but then he understood why his tactical computer refused to give it its full name. If it was indeed an SLDF Royal variant, it could pose a legitimate threat.
Shadow Hawk. Another venerable design. And, if upgraded, still a threat.
"The Hellbringer is mine. The rest I leave to you." he informed his warriors, "May your wings be swift."
"And our talons sharp!" their voices responded as one.
Starting his Summoner forward, Nathan Roshak started towards a long trench that had, centuries past, contained a conveyor-belt for taking ore from the massive storage hoppers to the waiting smelters. It had long since been picked clean of anything even remotely salvageable, and now served as little more than enough drainage ditch. Which meant that, with the worsening storm dropping an unending torrent of rain upon them, it had quickly turned into a river. It did, however, have the advantage of allowing him to approach the center of the complex with only the upper torso exposed. His passive sensors struggled to find anything amid the twisted mountains of steel and ferocreat, the massive static build up in the air only making it worse.
He considered switching to active sensors, but he might as well send up a flair announcing his location.
One advantage he did have over the mercenaries was the fact that he had spent time amidst the ruins, training with his warriors and those of the only recently departed Gamma Galaxy. And it probably was for the best that they had left, as he doubted that Galaxy Commander Mar Helmer would have allowed him this indulgence...
Twin streams of tracer fire ripped into the water directly ahead of him, stopping less than a meter from his Mech. He stamped down hard on the foot pedal, bringing the Summoner to an emergency stop. His screens still showed a jumble of phantom contacts and interference, so instead he relied on his own eyes. Leaning his Mech back slightly, he looked up to where a second conveyerbelt still hung from the rusemted remains of the ceiling... upon which stood a jet-black Hellbringer, with a single Ace-of-Spades playing card on the right torso.
"I am not sure which I find more impressive." he called out over an open frequency, "That the structure can still take the weight of your OmniMech, or that you were brave enough to test it?"
"What you call brave, others would call foolishness." Joker responded, raising her Mechs right arm, "Don't suppose I could persuade you to throw in the towel, so we can end this before anyone gets hurt?"
"I would like nothing better than to end this here and now... but I would require you to surrender to me." he said
"I think we both know that that's not going to happen." said the Joker
"So be it." Nathan Roshak sighed, then fired his LRM-15 launcher, aiming ot for the mercenary, but rather for the supports for the walkway.
Smoke, dust and larger chunks of debris filled the air, raining down to the floor below, but also obscuring his view. Twin ER-PPC blast erupted out of the cloud, but Nathan Roshak had already taken a side-step to the right, mean that, while one left a scar on the armor of his left arm, the other did nothing more that flash-boil water into steam. For once, the inclement weather worked to his advantage, as the storm quickly cleared the dust just enough for him to see the Hellbringer descending to the ground on its jump-jets.
"The game is afoot!" the Star Colonel smiled to himself, "Let us see just how good she truly is..."
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