Resurgence - Abbeville Mission 4

== Mission 4 ==
Battalion Commander Knight Joy stood across the holotable from the battalion’s two other Company Commanders.  Captains Dumont and Moser were brought in to discuss the next action for the unit.  Republic troops and the local garrison were getting much needed additional time to fortify the spaceport.  Everyone knew in the back of their minds, they would be evacuating civilians until the Blakists pushed the Nomads off world, the focus was making those last minutes count as long as they could.
Constant flights of small craft and dropships were taking hundreds of civilians to Homefleet by the day.  At first, the citizens of Abbeville didn’t fully believe who the Nomads were telling them was attacking.  Evacuations were slow to start, turned out that a lot of the early evacuees were a mix of elderly veterans or descendants of people who experienced some of the Blakist Jihad decades ago.
Now, there were columns of civilians in the streets and people pouring in from settlements outside of Cottonport.  A number of settlements had been overrun and were under Blakist control.  Unsurprisingly, no one was allowed to leave.  
“We have managed to hold the city and keep the Blakists at the walls.  We are going to push back.” Lady Joy said firmly, her eyes squinting at the holotable then looked up at the two men.  “Captain Dumont, you are going to take a pair of lances and press toward this section of the city’s perimeter wall.  If we retake it, that will gain us more time.”
Dumont watched her hand as she pointed out the area of the city he would be pushing through, taking note of street names for determining his strategy.  “Ma’am, when are moving out?”
“In the morning.”
***
Dumont’s Peacekeeper was a giant machine, 95 tons. Its footfalls shook the ground and the civilians in the streets steered clear of its path traveling South.  He was not alone though, seven other mechs were split between his lance and the other just a couple streets to the West. Led by Lieutenant Rander, he was part of the first engagement with the Blakists; he volunteered for the assignment as he was desperate for payback now that his Black Knight had been repaired. Before mounting up, he was visibly amped up, ready to engage this enemy. The two column of mechs were nearly at the final phase line.
Alpha lance was composed of Dumont’s Peacekeeper, a Lament, Uziel, and Cougar.  Bravo Lance was Rander’s Black Knight, a Lineholder, Spider, and Mongoose.  Both lances were prepared with ECM coverage if they needed it and were highly mobile.  
As his Peacekeeper progressed forward, he could see civilians stopping and waving, smiling that someone was there to fight for them.  Seeing a mother, father, and daughter looking up at his Battlemech with hope was inspiring. He had heard a phrase a long time ago… lords of war, striding the battlefield in engines of destruction…
The local garrison was so limited, at best, there were roadblocks with a tank, some sandbags, and a crew served weapon emplacement. One of which he was passing now, he turned and looked at the emplacement as his mech slowly marched by.  The barrel of his right arm PPC travelling above them as they let out a cheer.  This intersection he was crossing was the final phase line before expected engagement. 
In the blocks ahead awaited the Blakists. “Alpha Lance, Bravo Lance, be ready, they are out there and not happy about being pushed back.  Strike hard and fast.  We have mobility, use it, Captain Dumont out.” He called over the unit comms. On his HUD affirmation blips lit up that everyone had heard him.  
He slowed his mech’s walk and looked out the left side of his ferroglass canopy to the East.  His lance was forming up on his left flank.  Looking to his right, he could see Rander’s lance performing a similar formation.  The goal was to get the big mechs focused more on the heavier Nomad warriors toward the center, then swarm their flanks.  Nomad observers said that they could have the numbers in this fight against the Blakists.
“Wallclimber to Captain Dumont”
“Send it.”
“We have an Atlas II, accompanied by light and medium mechs within the walls, a Titan II, Archer, and Catapult in the gap. Good luck, out.”
The scout’s report gave him a view of the battlefield ahead. Somewhere in the ruined buildings was a small team from the Hastati Sentinels watching the enemy. While he could not yet see the gap, he was able to catch line of sight on the Atlas II, it was directly ahead of his lance.  
A burst of flames and smoke from the Uziel launched it through the air, making it an incredibly difficult target as it moved for cover on the left flank. Below it followed the Cougar, its speed keeping up with the Uziel.  Moving together the Lament accompanied Dumont’s Peacekeeper as they approached the middle of the battlefield.
Both of Rander’s light mechs pressed forward along the right flank, taking cover while his Black Knight and the Lineholder moved forward. Rander’s Black Knight was moving fast, seemingly wanting to charge straight into the Blakist mechs. PPC and Lasers burning through the air.
Exchanging fire with the Blakist Osprey, his Black Knight took a Gauss slug to the side torso as the Osprey was crossing behind buildings, his own lasers narrowly missing in return.  On the left flank, the Nomads had slightly better luck when a Heavy PPC from the Lament hit the Blakist Atlas II.  
Coming about fast, the Lament changed course from the center of the battlefield, crossing the path of the Cougar that was now moving to the center of the field. The Uziel was still in cover, waiting for its chance to strike. Normally, the machine was equipped with a pair of PPCs, however this variant had four Medium Pulse Lasers. 
Closing in fast, a Blakist Wasp seemed to be scouting the Nomad mechs. However, it got more than it bargained for, while it was able to shed some of the fire from the Cougar, Dumont’s Peacekeeper ripped off the left torso with a Heavy PPC strike, forcing the light mech into withdrawal.  
At this point most of the two forces could see each other.  Missiles rained in from the Blakist Archer while the Atlas II and Lament fired at each other around a building.  Lieutenant Rander sparred at range with a Catapult as the Lineholder and Mongoose harassed a Word of Blake Mongoose that was working on the Nomad right flank.
The numbers were slightly better for Lieutenant Rander’s lance, his four versus a Catapult, Osprey, and Mongoose. He continued to press forward and took a wave of weapons fire, causing a critical hit to his engine. Nearby, the Lineholder was unleashing with Rotary Autocannon fire, trails of rounds cutting through the air at the enemy mechs with the staccato of rounds firing echoing all around the buildings in the area.
Captain Dumont continued to push the center of the field, the Titan II challenging him.  His Peacekeeper ran up to a batch of trees, his mech beginning to radiate heat. Savage fire was exchanged between the two Assault mechs.  Both the Lament and Uziel attacked the left flank, striking at the Atlas II.  While the two Nomads had some successful fire, both mech’s agility kept the Atlas II’s shots from landing significantly.
Weapons fire was severe as the two forces clashed in close combat. The Blakist Archer was far enough behind the line of Blake mechs that it was able to turn its attention on Lieutenant Rander, four LRM racks raining down explosions all over his Black Knight. While he was able to shoot back at the Catapult, the explosions caused his mech to fall to the ground, in the process snapping the right leg off the heavy mech.  
Seeing the lance commander fall, the Lineholder pressed forward, attempting to draw attention from the downed Black Knight. Attempting to take advantage of the situation, the Osprey circled in on the right flank.  However, both the Nomad Mongoose and Spider were harassing it.
Captain Dumont continued to exchange fire with the Titan II in the center of the field and seemingly from nowhere, the Uziel landed next to it, riding pillars of flame.  Bright flashes from the pulse lasers carved up armor on the Titan II. The combined fire of the medium Uziel and the assault class Peacekeeper was enough to topple the massive mech.
With the Atlas II moving in to support the Titan II, the nomad Lament pressed deeper into the Blakist flank, attempting to exploit the position.  While it gave the Blakists some pause from its positioning, none of its attacks would hit.
With the Titan II trying to stand, this was Dumont’s chance to press forward.  He ran his Peacekeeper up with the active TSM.  As his assault mech closed the distance running, each footstep thundered across the battlefield, and the Titan II tore into his mech. However, he was skilled enough to take the shots.  But, rather than return fire, he saw the Atlas II turn to attack the Lament.  He fired in the Atlas II’s direction but, it didn’t deter the Atlas II from targeting the heavy Nomad Lament.  
Then it was time, Dumont swung his Peacekeeper’s leg as hard as he could, in a shocking, yet satisfying instance, the leg collided with the Titan II’s.  But, it didn’t stop, his Peacekeeper kept traveling forward, even after the ‘crunch’ of the armor. Taking a step forward with the leg he kicked with, he quickly turned his mech’s torso to see what happened.  Had he only clipped the Titan II?  Only left a scratch?  He was sure the kick was dead on.  
As the torso turned slightly, he saw it. The Peacekeeper had kicked through the Titan II’s leg, there was a gap in the shin of the mech.  The mech wobbled slightly, as though the pilot was trying to balance on one leg, then it fell to the right side.  The knee of the right leg slammed into the ankle and what was left of the shin, then a bright flash went off.  Explosions began rippling up the leg of the Titan II and into the torso armor bubbling out and finally raging flames exploded out the right torso and the right arm was thrown to the ground.
Then the Titan II fell, plumes of smoke emerging from the ruptured sections of armor and the hole in right side of the center torso. In the seconds Dumont took to watch the destruction of the huge machine, he had missed the waves of missiles slamming into the Uziel from the Archer.  The Uziel was struggling on the ground, trying to stand just off to Dumont’s left. 
I have to keep up the pressure! He thought through gritted teeth as he forced his assault mech toward the Archer.
“Dammit! Radical Heat Sink failure!” shouted the Lament’s pilot.
“Hold tight! I am going to try to distract the Atlas II!” Shouted back Dumont.
Dumont charged forward toward the Archer, taking to the air on his jump jets. The Archer was bracing to fire another salvo of missiles, seeming to ignore the Peacekeeper.  At the same time Dumont torso twisted and aimed at the Atlas II, that had now turned and was focused on the Lament.  It was emitting waves of heat as the Radical Heat Sink System failed to vent the Lament’s extreme weapon heat.
“Well I sure as hell have its attention!” called back the Lament pilot, clear stress in his voice and gasping between the hellish heat in his cockpit and now being the target of the retreating Wasp, now the Catapult, and the Atlas II.
The battle had become so severe that both sides were reaching their combat loss grouping.  Just to the right of the Peacekeeper the Lineholder was trying to pull back, only to be chased by the Blakist Mongoose.  Severe rear armor shots ripped through, the Lineholder’s gyro being blown out and the fusion engine being cracked, sending the heavy mech into the ground, knocking over a large tree it fell into.  
Even though the Nomad Spider was close behind, harassing the Mongoose, it wasn’t able to bring it down.  At the same time, the Nomad Mongoose was continuing to harass the flanking Osprey.  Lost in the fighting, the Cougar was taking cover near a severely damaged building. As the Osprey came around, the Cougar teamed up with the Mongoose and both attacked the Osprey.  With the severity of the attack, the Osprey took a hit to both the gyro and engine.  Clearly by the mech’s staggered movement it was beginning to fall back to the Blakist lines.
Dumont’s Peacekeeper let loose with a Heavy and ER PPC, after landing hard. The weapons fire dealt significant damage to the Atlas II, before returning its focus to the Archer that was raining down missiles on the Uziel behind him.  He caught out the side of his eye that the Lament was being shot by the Catapult, Atlas II and Wasp.  In the combined fire, the Lament’s side torso was blown apart, sending pieces in all directions as it lost balance and toppled onto its back.
Snarling in his cockpit, Dumont went for another kick, using the bottom of the Peacekeeper’s foot to kick the Archer’s left knee backwards.  As the mech lurched from the leg damage, an ammo bin in this mech’s leg exploded as well, rippling explosions up the mech’s leg and into the torso, blowing out the side torso and the chest of the mech.  Crumpling to the ground, a second Blakist mech had been savaged by the Triple Strength Myomer of the Peacekeeper.
Quickly taking in the field, it was a bad situation and only looking to get worse.  Only the Mongoose and Spider, other than Dumont’s Peacekeeper were still functional. He could possibly bring down the Atlas II, if his Peacekeeper could land a kick in the more damaged leg.  But, the tonnage was looking in the Blakist’s favor. 
Switching to the open channel, “Blakists, I will cease my attack on your forces if you move outside the wall and allow us the chance to egress.”
“You wish to run from a fight?” came back a mocking voice of the Blakist Commander in the Atlas II.
“Negative.  If you want me to try, just like I did to the Titan II and Archer, I’ll take one of your legs.” Dumont taunted in return.
With the TSM fully active, there was nowhere the Atlas II could go that would be out of Dumont’s reach.  The open channel was silent for a moment as the Peacekeeper waited, slightly covered behind the wall of the nearest building.
“Very well, Nomad.  We accept your terms.  All Word of Blake forces depart beyond the wall.”
“Affirmative, Blakist, I will see you again…” trailed off Dumont as he killed the channel.
“Mechwarriors, prepare for pickup, stand down so the Osprey and Mongoose can limp out of here.” Ordered Dumont.
“Yes, sir” came back the voices of the Mongoose and Spider pilots.  Both began running toward the downed Black Knight, Uziel, and Lament to grab the pilots. The Cougar had been damaged fairly badly, missing both Large Pulse Lasers and an LRM 10 but, it was mobile, moving back toward the Nomad lines.  With the Blakists holding on the far side of the wall, the Nomad recovery vehicles could at least drag out their downed mechs.
Menacingly, the Peacekeeper stood over the burning wreck of the Archer as the Atlas II departed, making sure the Spider was not fired on as it retrieved the Lament pilot.  As the Spider ran past his Peacekeeper he began to backpedal, keeping the Blakists in his sight until they all vanished around the wall.  
***
“Knight Joy, I apologize that I could not take the field.” Dumont said, standing at attention.
She looked at him with a straight face as he stood before her at attention, having just returned to the spaceport. Stepping toward him, her face changing to a softer expression, reaching her right hand out to place it on his shoulder, her left arm behind her low back.  He looked at her, feeling comfort, not fear.  
“Captain Dumont, you caused a devastating amount of damage, buying us precious time, keeping this threat at bay while preserving our manpower.  Wallclimber was able to set up a drone to watch the battle.  We all saw what you did, even General Lee up in the fleet.” She paused.
“Thank you ma’am.” He said, really taking in that all his Mechwarriors had survived the fight, even though they could not secure the field.
Knight Joy continued, her hand still on his shoulder, “We Nomads have had difficulty since we lost our home on Terra. It is thanks to leaders such as yourself that we have held together and even brought back lost Republic personnel who felt abandoned or had been locked out of the Fortress.  For that leadership, I have the honor of naming you the first Knighted warrior of Nomad Republic.”
She brought her left arm around from behind her back to present him with a medal.  It was new, so it must have been made at one of the Forges.  Being a tall, yet petite woman, the medal looked huge in her hand.  He could feel his eyes well up, this was the first Knighthood bestowed since the Battle for Terra, the first Knighthood in the Nomads.
“Ma’am… I don’t know… I am…”
“You don’t have to say anything Knight Dumont, your actions have spoken for you as you charged directly into three enemy mechs – a heavy and two other assaults.  You are a beacon of hope in this nightmare that is going to blacken the Inner Sphere for the foreseeable future.  See to the repairs of your Peacekeeper, we will need this mech again before we must depart the spaceport.”
She pulled her hand back from Dumont’s shoulder and he proudly saluted her and she returned the salute.  As she cut, he did as well, about facing and departing the office. 
Once he was out of the doorway he stopped and looked at the medal.  It was pristine, on the back of the glass case were the orders for presenting it on his uniform, as well as a sliding panel that contained patches for his cooling vest.  It was the helmet of a knight looking to stars above it. He felt like this was a perfect image for the Knighthood as they moved across the stars.
With renewed vigor and immense pride, once he was outside the building he looked up at the Peacekeeper, huge chunks of armor missing from the right arm, right torso, and center torso.  Knight Dumont grinned, knowing that his mech would see to the destruction of a great many more Blakist mechs.
>>Return to Main Page<<
>>Abbeville Missions Page<<
>>Mission 3<<
>>Mission 5<<
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Category:Resurgence
Category:Works by Minis&Dumbbells