AATiPDC Chpt 17

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==Chapter 17 - An American Tanker in Prince Davion's Court==
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===The Ides of March - Part 2===
The Fox’ Den, Mount Davion
New Avalon, Federated Suns
March 15th, 3029
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General Hodges climbs into the cockpit of his 'mech and begins to boot up the control systems. When prompted by the computer, he repeats the command activation sequence:
‘In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil will escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might
Beware my power
GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!!’
Hodges and his machine set out for Mount Davion at a dead run (67.1 mph); so that he doesn’t get fired at by the defenses, he calls out over the radio ‘Lancer-Six Actual inbound, ETA 15 minutes Over.”
“Copy that, Lancer Six Actual. Out.”
Upon arriving at Mount Davion, General Hodges heads to the Fox’ Den at the run. When he enters the complex, he’s greeted to the sights and sounds of dozens of military staff who are attempting to make sense of the developing situation. Among those present are First Prince Hanse Davion, Field Marshal Yvonne Davion (commanding officer of the AFFC) and Major General Edward Valos (commanding officer of the New Avalon Crucis March Militia.
Hanse Davion calls Hodges over and says “General, we’ve got quite a few uninvited guests about to arrive.”
“Indeed we are, Your Highness. Field Marshal, might I have an appreciation of the developments thus far?”
"General Hodges, half an hour ago, New Avalon Traffic Control reported a number of DropShips coming in from one of the planet’s pirate jump points and burning hard. Based on the types of DropShips, we estimate the force inbound is at least of regimental strength; perhaps greater. The tracks indicate that the enemy is going to land in and around the city of New Avalon, itself. SOP in situations like this is for the raid sirens to sound and for the citizens to make their way to shelters. Simultaneously, the alert fighters are in the air and SAM batteries around the city are standing to.”
Hanse Davion speaks up and says “General Hodges, I’ll have your thoughts on this..”
“Your Highness, it looks like House Liao is coming to pay us a discourtesy call. However, it strikes me that they shouldn’t have the moxie to make a hit like this; especially since the AFFS have been running over the Capellan Confederation like a tidal wave; there’s also the fact that you successfully peeled off the St. Ives Compact, the Tikonov Free Republic and got them to come over to our side. The only way that Romano Liao could have pulled this off is with the assistance of everyone’s favorite phone company. Romano hates me with a mad passion for the way I played her like the chump she is back on Terra, and for those toga-wearing toaster-worshipping Idiots in Comstar to be involved strongly suggests that word of what was recovered on Helm and New Dallas leaked out. Myndo Waterly shares Romano Liao’s intense dislike of me, so it seems me that the result of an agreement between the Capellans and Comstar is what we’re seeing here.”
“A cogent analysis, General.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
General Hodges scratches his chin for a few moments. Then, he says “Your Highness, gentlemen. Something seems to be rather off about this attack…”
“What do you mean, Sir?”
“Your Highness, it is simply this. Why are the Capellans making such haste to get on the ground? They don’t even have Aerospace Fighters out on BARCAP; it’s as if they don’t care that we know they’re coming and that we’re ready for them. Marshal Davion, what’s the procedure for civilian traffic in situations like this?”
“Traffic Control has orders to get all civilian aerospace traffic on the ground as soon as possible; the better to get them out of the line of fire.”
“Most prudent.”
More thoughtful consideration follows, then General Hodges says “Gentlemen, what’s coming down towards Avalon City is not the main thrust of the attack.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your Highness, when I served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the guys in black pajamas had the habit of carrying out two-phase attacks. The first phase was as obvious as it could be, and served to draw our attention away from the true attack; which would come from the opposite direction. Since Comstar is apparently involved, their target is the NAIS campus. Think of it, the forces that come down in and around Avalon City would serve to fix our attention here, while the others land out at NAIS and proceed to wreck the place.”
Hanse Davion starts suddenly as he realizes what General Hodges portends. Then, he shouts an order “Field Marshal, send word to the Hong Kong Cavaliers and flag it ‘SWORD ONE—CRITIC’ Tell Dr. Banzai to get his people moving immediately.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The First Prince looks to General Hodges and says “What of your house, sir? What preparations have you made?”
“Your Highness, all of my media files, my computers, my library, my vehicles and my weapons have been moved to secure storage off-site. I’ve had several automated sentry bunkers installed around my perimeter, and Kym Sorensen is in charge of the place. She and I have planned for the eventuality of something like this. So she’ll be rolling out the unwelcome mat for anyone stupid enough to come after my place.”
“Very well, General. Let’s get moving and show these fools just how big of a mistake they made.”
The First Prince heads off towards the bays where his personal BattleMech and the others in his command company are waiting. Hanse Davion’s machine and the others in his command lance are identical examples (the better to avoid ‘headhunter’-type attacks) of a customized Battlemaster rebuilt with technology from the Helm and New Dallas caches; so too were the other machines in the company. Outside the Fox’ Den, General Hodges’ mech ‘Green Lantern’ is moving.
Green Lantern’s battle computer is voice-activated, so Hodges says “HAL, cue the music if you please”. Immediately, a selection of late 20th-century popular music begins to blast out from the BattleMech’s war horns at 200 decibels; the first tune is ‘Men of Harlech’, followed by ‘March of Cambreadth' and the theme to ‘Beowulf’.
Along with the First Prince’s command company and General Hodges’ BattleMech, a brigade from the New Avalon Crucis March Militia deploys themselves in the area between the foothills of Mount Davion, Davion Peace Park and Avalon City. High overhead, the descending DropShips are being engaged by aerospace fighters from the CMM and by batteries of surface-to-air missiles; suddenly, the DropShips break apart and deploy dozens of BattlMech drop pods. These pods slow their descent via the use of retro-rockets until such time as they break apart and deploy the mechs contained within; final descent is by specialized parachute packs. There are now two battalions of mechs on the ground, a total of 72 machines in all.
Hanse Davion calls out over his command circuit and says “Knight Company, Knight-One Actual; form on me and kick it up to 70 kph. Lancer Six, you’re on my right. Forth and fear no darkness!!” General Hodges and his machine do as instructed; ‘Green Lantern’ is a 100-ton machine, capable of (thanks to a refit with improved myomer fibers) moving at up to 86.4 kph; thus, Hodges is well-able to keep up with the First Prince’s command lance.
Battle is now joined, with a reinforced company of enemy heavies coming after Hanse Davion’s command company. First to fire is an enemy Catapault, who targets General Hodges’ machine from long range with a pair of LRM-15 flights; due to the range involved, very few of the missiles hit. Hodges responds by firing his twin ER PPCs; the brilliant emerald-green beams flash across the battlefield, striking the enemy machine on the right arm and right torso. The hit to the arm strips off all of the armor and wrecks 20% of the arm’s internal structure, while the right torso hit removes 75% of the armor protecting it.
Another LRM volley follows, with nine missiles from one flight and six from the second striking various areas on ‘Green Lantern’s center torso, side torsos, arms and legs. Hodges’ response is immediate; two of his three large pulse lasers hit the Catapault’s already-damaged right torso, with one hitting the center torso. The first two hits remove the rest of the armor and go on to hit the LRM-15’s ammo bin. The resulting detonation destroys the enemy machine in a huge fiery explosion.
Triumphantly, General Hodges calls out over the command circuit and taunts the enemy BattleMechs by saying “Is that the best you’ve got? Hab SoSlI’ Quch**…” Elsewhere across the battlefield, a second reinforced company of enemy mechs starts to make its way towards the gates of Avalon City, only to be intercepted by a company of the Crucis March Militia; a vicious melee breaks out, with volleys of PPC, laser and LRM fire being exchanged.
The next call over the command circuit is from Hanse Davion, who says “Knight Company, Knight-One Actual; engage by lance at your discretion; Crucis Marchers, do likewise.” The orders are acknowledged and the several elements of the defenders of New Avalon go to work.
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Elsewhere, action is beginning. The NAIS campus is 30 kilometers south of Avalon City, and is noted for a geographical feature called the Front Range by some and the ‘Shield Wall’ by others. The Front Range (named for a similar feature in the State of Colorado on Terra) is an immense outcropping of granite running from the southwest towards the northeast; it divides the NAIS Campus in two, with the NAIS spaceport to the west and the NAIS administration, residence halls, laboratories, workshops and other facilities to the east; there is no direct access to the NAIS spaceport except by flying in there, or from a pair of heavily-guarded access tunnels bored through the Front Range.
When the warning order was flashed from the Fox’ Den, the tunnels were immediately sealed while Dr. Banzai and the Cavaliers moved to defend NAIS. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be everywhere at once; the attackers quickly overwhelmed the defenses of the NAIS spaceport. Seeing that the tunnels through the Range were too well-defended, the Liao commander chose instead to divide his forces (amounting to a full regiment of 108 BattleMechs and a number of ground vehicles); half will go around the south of the Range, while the other half will proceed to the north.
As the orders are issued, the commander of the Liao forces comes to the head of the special detail accompanying the raid and says “Esteemed Tsen Shang, by order of the Strategios, I am to detach a platoon of Death Commandos, two wheeled transports and place them under your command so that the late insult to our revered Chancellor on Terra can be avenged. To ensure the success of your mission, I will also detach a Stinger and a Wasp for general support.”
Shang replies “Honored Shiao-Zhang, your devotion to the cause will be noted for the record and brought to the Chancellor’s attention; know that I will bring back that bastard Hodges’ head in a bag and put it on the Chancellor’s desk.” So, Tsen Shang and his men peel off from the main force and proceed on their mission of murder; they are as yet unaware that preparations have been made to receive such unwelcome guests.
Previously, after the events surrounding General Hodges’ arrival in this reality, his house and the area around it was fortified to resist possible attack; the grounds were then sculpted in such a way as to give the effect of field works, without actually looking like fortifications. The only direct way through the works is a long driveway leading up to the front of General Hodges’ house. Additionally, four concealed automated weapons turrets were installed and sited so that no approach to the house could be made without coming under fire from three of them at the same time; each of these bunkers was identically armed and equipped, with a pair of electrothermal gatling guns, a medium laser and an SRM-4. Below each turret is an armored magazine with substantial supplies of ammunition for the weapons.
Having been left in charge of defending General Hodges’ house, Kym Sorensen makes her preparations with a will. She dons Hodges’ suit of infiltrator armor and performs a complete set of function checks, then arms herself with a superheavy autocannon carried on a stabilization harness; all that can be done now is to wait.
The attack isn’t long in coming, as Tsen Shang has been provided with General Hodges’ address by the Chancellor. As they approach the compound, Shang orders two squads of his Death Commandos to assume an overwatch position while the other two squads move forward to engage the objective; the Stinger and the Wasp are deployed to either side of the overwatch position so as to provide support when needed.
The 3rd and 4th commando squads cautiously approach the house and see that there are no obvious defenses. The only item of note is an antique bronze artillery piece doing sentry duty near the front door; for these men, this is the last thought that they will ever have. Suddenly, the artillery piece fires and takes everyone by surprise.
Kym Sorensen, having been lectured by General Hodges about the history of the cannon and the conflict in which it formerly served, took advantage of the weapon’s unfamiliarity to those not in the know and loaded it with a charge of 2 ½ lbs of black powder from the magazine under the garage. Then, two stands of grapeshot and one of canister were rammed down the barrel. Lastly, a remote control initiator was fitted to the weapon’s touch hole.
When Sorensen judged the time was right, she fired the gun by remote control. Instantly, the 14 men who were so confidently approaching the house were smashed into oblivion by a total of 36 lbs of cast-iron shot. Having been arrogantly sure of the possibilities of success. Tsen Shang was dismayed when half of his Death Commandos were suddenly blotted from existence; angrily he shouts ‘OPEN FIRE’.
The remaining two squads of Death Commandos assume concealed positions and begin to ply their weapons, while the Stinger and the Wasp begin to fire on the house. Suddenly, the four concealed weapons turrets rise above-ground from their armored bunkers and begin to open fire. Under cover of the ensuing engagement, Kym Sorensen activates the stealth systems in her armor makes her way around to the right flank of the attackers. When she’s in position, she drops concealment and begins to hose the attackers with autocannon fire.
The Stinger and the Wasp start to bear on Sorenson’s position and exchange fire with her. In so doing, their thinly-armored sides and rear are exposed to the fire from the automated weapons turrets. Within 60 seconds or so, both machines are eliminated; seeing the rest of their force eliminated so rapidly, the crews of the two wheeled transports decide they have urgent business elsewhere and very quickly retreat.
After the engagement is over, Kym Sorensen is assessing the damage to General Hodges’ property. While walking around she takes note of the dead and wounded; by a strange trick of fate, one of the survivors is none other than Tsen Shang. He makes a feeble attempt to escape, but is very quickly run down and knocked unconscious.
More distantly, the remaining Liao attackers have flanked the southwestern and northeastern edges of the Front Range. What follows in an intense slugging match, where both sides attempt to maneuver for best advantage. Unfortunately for the attackers, the Hong Kong Cavaliers have been refitted with material from the Helm Cache and the very best of General Hodges’ new technology.
In other circumstances, a battle between numerically-identical BattleMech units would be a long, drawn out and very costly affair; not so in this instance. Dr. Banzai and the men & women of the Hong Kong Cavaliers use their superior speed, maneuverability and firepower to overwhelm their opponents while losing very few of their own machines in return. All told, the engagement lasts just ten minutes.
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