SfS-13

==Salvaging from Strife==
==Chapter 13 - Still Got it==
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===IndustrialMech Rumble===
Citidal Station
Widow Star System
3080
There was sometimes, Commander Monty Shephard knew, such a thing as overkill. The Succession Wars that had ravaged humanity for nearly three centuries had many examples, for starters. Or the time the Star Hunters had been hired to catch an escaped varren pet. Sumire Arano still refused to destroy the sole surviving BattleROM of the operation. This confrontation was shaping up to be another such case.
Too many things had tipped him off. The spectators watching their training session vanishing fifteen minutes ago was just the first clue. Then somebody had the brilliant idea of jamming wireless communications and cutting the landlines. And all but one of the exits were conveniently blocked by spontaneous maintenance work or broken-down vehicles when they tried to leave. So when two ridiculously decorated IndustrialMechs blocked the only path back to the stables, Monty Shephard was already long alert. 
It wasn't the worst spot for an ambush. They were in a long narrow lane in the interior of the Ward, barely wide enough for three IndustrialMechs side by side. The ceiling was high enough Shephard could stand unimpeded, maybe even hop a little. A third IndustrialMech popped up on sensors behind them, pinning the four Mechs in place. Himself, the turian pilot, an ex-militia, and one of the prospective new recruits for the Star Hunters. At least nothing had broken down during the training session this time.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" One of the two Mechs before him announced with its speakers.
"I know," the second pilot chimed in. "A bunch of failures who need to learn their place." The two Mechs stalked forwards, arm mounted drills whirring ominously. Two more unidentified signatures flickered on sensors out of line of sight, likely backup for the thugs.
Shephard raised his own arms in reply, one pointed at each of the Mechs in front. "Pull back and stay quiet," he ordered his comrades. "Three, Four, watch our rear." Switching on external speakers, he warned, "You don't want to do this."
"Do what? We're here on honest business, good sir," the Mech on the left asked with false innocence. "To be frank, you're kind of disrupting our work."
"Yeah," the other 'civilian' chimed in, "we could report you for that. Harassing upstanding members of the community." His Mech took a half-step forwards, the feet landing with a dull and unusually loud boom. Shephard frowned in disbelief. Had they seriously installed noise amplifiers into the legs for intimidation?
As his too feeble sensor system slowly processed information on the threats around them, Shephard was relieved to notice the lack of Harkin's Commando, which the last tip-off half an hour ago had placed at a safe distance. There was a slim chance the C-Sec officer had somehow scrounged up some method of concealing himself and evading detection, but odds were better Harkin was relying on the IndustrialMechs to do the dirty work.
"I'd hardly call you three upstanding members," Shephard stalled. "but I'm not interested in fighting right now." He didn't fancy an even battle, not when the other members of his lance were so unreliable. 
"Oh yeah?" the Mech he designated as Bandit One taunted. "It's too late for that. See, this neighbourhood has some rules everybody follows, and we enforce them. We've been friendly about this, but you and the Serpent Mechs have been quite rude. Our lord's pretty upset about that, and he's had enough of your disrespect."
Shephard turned off his speakers instead of answering. "Take it nice and easy," he reassured his lance, "don't engage unless forced to." The Mechs' systems were recording the encounter, and Shephard needed any surviving evidence to clear his side of wrongdoing in any follow-up investigation by C-Sec. Until he knew what Harkin was trying to pull, starting hostilities was not a wise option. 
Bandit Two apparently interpreted his silence as permission to continue. "So, we're here to send a message. You get to choose, pal. The easy way, or the hard way." His shoulder-mounted laser lit up.
The beam missed Shephard's Mech and scorched the ground beneath him, melting a molten puddle into the alien material. On reflex, Shephard pressed the firing trigger in response. One beam each carved a groove over Bandit One and Two's cockpit. Loud yells of surprise erupted from the two Mechs as they instinctively swayed sideways from the attack.
The miss had been intentional, Shephard realised too late. It had only been a warning shot. For better or for worse, he was committed now. "Lance, weapons free, weapons free," he ordered his surprised companions. He hurled his Mech forwards in a lumbering charge, adding a pair of SRMs and his single machine gun to the next volley. "Two, Three, support me. Four, keep our rear clear."
"You're going to pay for that, merc!" Bandit One bellowed as Two cursed incoherently over the external speakers. They launched their own salvo at him as they backpedalled, false covers dropping from concealed weapon hardpoints. Industrial-grade kinetic barriers meant to deflect falling debris blocked the first three SRMs coming at Shephard before failing. Armour plating melted and buckled under the fusillade of energy, bullets and explosions, but Shephard disregarded the minor damage. "Lord Harkin is going to-" His words were cut off when a rocket blasted straight into the speakers.
"Follow me, Alpha Lance," Shephard directed. They needed to push out, find room to manoeuvre and link up with reinforcements. Rosby should already be on his way with the other weaponized IndustrialMechs after he'd lost contact. "forget what I said about waiting. We're taking Harkin down now." 
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===Garrus Got His Gun===
Citidal Station
Widow Star System
3080
Garrus had told Shephard to wait. He needed more evidence, more clues to unravel the entire web behind Harkin. Unfortunately, the fact he was chasing a trio of clearly illegally modified IndustrialMechs towards the sound of combat told Garrus the mercenary had stopped waiting.
The C-Sec aircar overtook the three Mechs sprinting through the Ward. The mercenaries were racking up a large number of traffic fines as they rushed to aid their commander, but Garrus was faster. Civilian vehicles swerved out of the way of his aircar's siren as he cut through airlanes and between skycrapers.
"Just what is going on down there?" Dispatch demanded over his C-Sec channel. "The distress calls aren't making any sense. I have reports of heavy weapons fire and Mechs running through traffic. I need an update."
"This is Officer Harkin, I'm on my way." the human's voice roared, "...shut up and let me handle it! Hostile Mechs rampaging in the Ward. I'm the only Mechwarrior nearby, everybody else stay out."
"Roger that. All C-Sec units, Code Supernova is in effect. Fall back, cordon off and evacuate. Special Response ETA fifteen minutes. Alerting Citadel Defence Fleet now."
On the surface of the Ward, a cargo yard caught his eye. Normally meant for handling bulk goods deliveries to the inhabitants, the yard was an open area underneath the soaring skyscrapers with a maze of landing pads, cargo lifts and ramps. One of the cargo ramps was damaged, with wisps of smoke rising from the collapsed gates leading into the Ward's sublevels. Garrus pointed his aircar towards it.
"Officer Vakarian, you are not equipped for Code Supernova. Fall back," Dispatch ordered.
"Negative, I need to go in." Garrus ignored Dispatch's protests and turned off his tracker. He wasn't planning to reveal his position to Harkin. There was enough space between the half-open doors to descend into the lower levels. Guiding his aircar downwards past the wrecked entrance, the headlights illuminated small craters and solidified slag littering the ruined warehouse beneath the cargo yard. Thuds and screeches echoed around the cavernous space.
Garrus accessed the prearranged channel and activated the encryption codes the mercenaries had provided him. "Shephard, this is Vakarian, can you hear me?"
"Officer Vakarian, is that you?" The mercenary sounded harried. Signal was strong, he couldn't be too far.
"Yes, Shephard. I'm at Cargo Ramp Fourteen, at a warehouse you passed through. You're in trouble. Harkin and C-Sec Special Response is on the way."
"About what I expected," Shephard complained, "we're getting pressed hard here. I picked up half a cockpit and now Harkin's goons want it back. How about you?"
"Your buddies are on the way. Follow my signal and move to my position, I can take the evidence."
"Right. On my way." 
Garrus landed the aircar down and disembarked. After checking his pistol was holstered on his thigh, Garrus opened the storage compartment of his aircar. Requisition had refused to give him a rocket launcher. So, he had grabbed the next best thing from evidence storage. 
When BattleMechs began proliferating through the galaxy, everybody quickly discovered the lack of anti-Mech infantry weapons and rushed to fill the gap. One idea that quickly grew popular was the simple idea of a really big gun. As the theory went, a good enough hit on the cockpit would knock the Mech out in one shot. Unfortunately for early adopters, a good enough hit turned out to be difficult to achieve, as any human soldier could have told them. Still, some intrepid minds continued working on the concept, and one of those gave the galaxy the Mechbuster*.
Garrus hauled the turian-sized rifle out of the aircar and shuffled into a conveniently positioned pile of crates nearby. Deploying the weapon on the ground, he then returned to the aircar to grab the arm-sized reloads for the Mechbuster. Properly prepared and wearing additional reinforced hearing protection over his helmet, he lay down and looked through the scope.
Within moments, a group of IndustrialMechs stampeded into view, firing away at pursuers. The Mechs zigzagged through the warehouse, spinning their torsos left and right alternately to face their foes. With the Mechbuster's targeting system, Garrus could make out the intact logo of Serpent Industrial Mechs on two of them, one of which was holding a chunk of twisted metal in a massive claw. A second groups of IndustrialMechs followed into the warehouse, trading fire with Shephard's team. Garrus took aim at one of Harkin's incoming Mechs, waited, and pressed the trigger.
When the bright flash faded, his target stood frozen in position. The depleted power cell dropped out of the Mechbuster with a dull thunk onto the ground, followed shortly after by the glowing heat sink. The Mech, leg half-raised in a jog, bent backwards and collapsed onto the ground. Whatever satisfaction Garrus felt faded quickly when the crates above him exploded and the aircar burst into flames. He scrambled down and crawled towards safety, dragging the Mechbuster with him.
===Sneak attack at the Hangar===
Citidal Station
Widow Star System
3080
"Put down the shotgun and help me fix this!" Smithon yelled from right next to Tali. The human stepped away from the open panel, coughing at the smoke suddenly pouring out. "Hey, Badger, cut the flow!" She wheezed. "Conduit just had to fail right now." 
Tali switched places with her, clamping her shotgun back onto her suit. Through the rapidly thinning smoke, her suits HUD helpfully identified the cludge of components within, including the glowing hot exhaust tube and damaged half-molten electronics. She quickly set to work with her Omni-tool, replacing the non-functional pieces while Smithon scrambled away to find tools for fixing the leak.
TThe hanger of the Serpent Utility Mechs was currently a confused jumble. In place of the IndustrialMechs, the entire staff and workforce of the company was seeking shelter in the empty bays, guarded by the few security personnel and mercenary guards. The doors to the rest of the Serpent Utility Mechs property were already sealed and barricaded, leaving only the main Mech entrance of the hanger, which was too large too similarly block. With Lance Commander Rosby and every available IndustrialMech gone to reinforce Commander Shephard, they were vulnerable to possible attack from Harkin.
And from how somebody was trying to override the entrance to the Mech hanger, that attack had arrived.
With a loud thump, Smithon dumped the gear she was carrying onto the ground again. "How's it going, Tali?" She asked.
"Everything essential has been repaired, Smithon," Tali reported. Everything non-essential had been bypassed. "Only the exhaust conduit needs more work." 
"Excellent, I'll handle that. Check the power generator, make sure it'll run. Last thing we need is for the Newbrute to shut down." Tali obeyed the order from the senior engineer and made her way around the legs of the immobilised and unready Mech to the access point. 
From the cockpit above, the salarian pilot finished trying to explain the control layout to the mercenary pilot and hopped down. "Better her than me." Tali overheard him mutter as he ran for cover. "Change occupation tomorrow."
The critical systems of the Mech were as ready as they could be, considering it had been in the middle of an extensive refit. Matron Helena had finally been convinced neurohelmets were necessary to use the biped in combat, but the required adjustments and additions to the internals were still incomplete, with many parts that had been removed for the refit still not reinstalled yet. So provided all they needed was an immobile, half-built Mech with glaring open internals, the Newbrute was as ready as it could be.
"Alright, Badger, give it a go!" Smithon bellowed, followed shortly after by a whoop. "Left arm's ready, Taylor, go ahead." With a loud whir, the arm slowly raised itself into a ready position, aiming at the door.
"I can't hold them back, they're breaking in," one of the Serpent Utility engineers shouted. Tali ducked into a nearby Mechbay, followed shortly after by Smithon.
The entrance slowly slid open soundlessly, the two heavy gates peeling apart and exposing a vertical slit. Immediately, the din of rapid-firing small arms filled the hanger, as whoever was standing outside fired blindly in. The Newbrute's kinetic barriers kept it alive, and Tali watched as it adjusted the bearing of its arms minutely. 
Then searing hot plasma fired out of the arm-mounted flamethrower, bathing the entire hanger with a bright glow. One by one, the other armaments on the Mech began activating as well. After a few seconds, the flamethrower cut off, and all was silent.
A shout of alarm drew Tali's attention to a previously sealed door, which was being welded open. The Newbrute rotated its torso and bent its left arm at an awkward angle, aiming the flamethrower at the impending breach. The moment the door fell down, the corridor behind it was doused in flames. Distantly, Tali thought she heard Matron Helena scream about damage. She wasn't paying attention, because a second jet of hot plasma shot out of the left arm from where the access panel had been.
"I just fixed that!" Smithon complained. She peeked out of her hiding position, then looked at Tali. "If I can't fix that in time, you might have to use your shotgun after all."
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===Showdown at the Cargo Yard===
"Here you go," Shephard called out, tossing the crushed heap of metal onto the back of the hover-truck. He pivoted on one foot back towards the enemy, both hands free to aim once again. "Get your evidence out of here and keep us out of prison."
He was down to three effective IndustrialMechs in his lance, all damaged in one way or another. Alpha Two had abandoned his Mech in the warehouse after it suffered critical internal damage and was now riding with Officer Vakarian in the truck. The fallen forms of two more IndustrialMechs were strewn across the cargo yard. The criminals had pulled back to cover, trading pot-shots with his lance while hiding behind rubble or walls. That was concerning.
"Rosby, this is Shephard," he decided, "hide Beta Lance if you can, wait for Harkin. Alpha Lance, defend the truck. Harkin has to be nearly here. Officer Vakarian, Alpha Two, get out of the truck."
"I need to bring this evidence to the nearest C-Sec station or Special Response," Officer Vakarian protested from within the truck. "Just give me time to override the security systems."
"Yes, and Harkin knows that. Change of plans. We're using it as bait."
Far above him, the first news drones were whirring against the backdrop of the other Wards. The Star Hunters were going to be on the news tomorrow. He turned his IndustrialMech to begin circling around the truck, sensors fighting through the fog of war for a sign of Harkin. They were too exposed here. In the clutter and ruins of the cargo yard, Harkin could strike from any angle at any moment.
A scream of terror ripped through his radio. Shephard twisted his Mech around in time to see Alpha Three's Mech stagger under a hail of explosions from above. Jerking his gaze up, he saw the Commando descending downwards towards the truck in time to receive a laser hit to his front. The battered armor failed to absorb the blow, and his left arm turned sluggish, some part of the control system damaged. Harkin slammed feet-first into the truck, flattening it into a pile of scrap.
"I've had it with you mercenaries," a seething fury underlined each word the officer bellowed through speakers. "Every one of you is dead!" The Commando turned and unleashed all its weapons on Alpha Four. It fell over, engine destroyed by the barrage.
Shephard twisted his right side to face Harkin and approached him. "We'll see about that." he hissed to himself. Harkin spun the BattleMech to face his IndustrialMech. Eyes trained on the weapon mounts aimed at him, Shephard seized and raised an abandoned flatbed transport just in time to block the flight of SRMs. The lasers melted through what little was left of the makeshift shield, carving new valleys through his steadily diminishing armour. Discarding the wreckage, he unloaded every missile tube he had.
The SRMs detonated harmlessly against the Commando's kinetic barriers. A pair of them, loaded with Inferno warheads, scattered burning liquid across the ground around Harkin's feet, but not a single droplet touched his Mech. The BattleMech backed out from the raging flames immediately, Inferno gel sticking to the underside of its feet.
Something struck the back of Shephard's IndustrialMech, setting alarms screaming and rattling him in his seat. The rear camera was destroyed, but he could guess the source. Harkin's minions were finally rallying to their champion. He ignored them, activating his weapons steadily into Harkin's BattleMech the moment they were ready. His rear armour was tough enough to take a few stray hits.
The backpedalling Commando, spreading its firepower between Shephard and Alpha Three's armless hulk, shot upwards into the air, mass effect field reducing its mass drastically to allow small thrusters to propel it. A spread of LRMs slammed into Harkin's kinetic barriers from Rosby's Beta Lance, now joining the fight and flanking the BattleMech. Harkin adjusted his facing towards them, coming down on top of an elevated landing bay. Shephard charged ahead while the MechWarrior was distracted, moving towards Harkin's rear. 
"This is Officer Vakarian. Taking the shot."
A bright flash of light revealed Officer Vakarian's position. His heavy weapon failed to fully penetrate the kinetic barriers, only gouging a thin scar onto the Commando. Seeing the BattleMech direct its arms towards the C-Sec officer's position, Shephard fired his weapons without a target lock. Harkin was unscathed, but at least Shephard had his attention.
"Hide somewhere safe, Vakarian you idiot!" was all the mercenary could shout into his radio before his Mech rocked backwards from a full alpha strike from every single weapon Harkin's BattleMech could fire on him. Shephard grimly noted the unresponsiveness of his Mech's left arm, and stepped behind another landing pad to recover as Rosby's three IndustrialMechs drove Harkin back with sheer weight of fire. Then he stepped back out, seeing Harkin's Commando skim and dip behind the cover of a collapsed structure.
"Keep up the pressure," Rosby's voice crackled over the radio. "We can't give his barriers time to recover." By now, Shephard saw, he was the only active member of Alpha Lance left. Alpha Three had broken and disengaged.
The four Serpent Utility Mechs, piloted by mercenaries trained in Mech combat, spread out in a line and hounded Harkin through the ruins of the cargo yard. One of Rosby's Beta Lance fell back, opening fire on the pursuing IndustrialMechs. Alpha Four was left behind, trapped in the broken chassis of her Mech with no ejection seat. If Harkin's IndustrialMechs ignored her, she might have a chance, but Shephard could not spare any attention for her. The Commando was the only thing that mattered.
Once again, Harkin took to the sky to reposition. This time, LRMs, SRMs and mass accelerators caught him in a crossfire, penetrating kinetic barriers and knocking his nearly weightless Mech off course. The BattleMech plummeted rapidly as its thrusters apparently became too weak, a sign its systems were increasing the Commando's mass to compensate for the impacts. The landing cracked the alien concrete with the force of impact, but the Commando quickly straightened again, to be hit by Shephard's second and last pair of Inferno SRMs. This time, some of the gel stuck to its torso.
Unperturbed, the BattleMech withdrew from the blaze and broke line of sight again. "He can't run forever," Shephard encouraged the others. "Harkin has to destroy the evidence here before Special Response arrives."
"We have to destroy him before Special Response arrives." Beta Three pointed out pessimistically. "Hang on, got eyes on him, back me up."
Beta Three backpedalled as weapons fire sloughed off his armour. Shephard noted the position of the Commando, then moved to flank Harkin. The C-Sec officer changed course and vaulted upwards again, attempting to join his allies. Shephard tracked his trajectory, then skidded his Mech onto a new course.
The Commando attempted to evade him, but it was too late, and the thrusters too slow. When the BattleMech touched down, it managed only to arrest its momentum and take two steps backwards before Shephard punched it in the chest with his right arm, his IndustrialMech's mass effect field emitters increasing mass and momentum as fast as possible in the moment before impact.
Unable to handle the shock, Shephard's IndustrialMech staggered as the right arm disintegrated into pieces, but Harkin had it worse. Mass still significantly reduced by mass effect fields due to the recent jump, the BattleMech was flung backwards and slammed into a wall. 
Shephard closed in and fired point blank into the immobilized Mech with what weapons he had left. The Commando sagged downwards as something vital within was struck. Then the head burst open, and Harkin ejected from the Mech upwards into space. 
He would survive, Shephard suspected. C-Sec wouldn't have skimped on outfitting the ejection seat.
Switching on the external speakers, Shephard announced, "Harkin is down." No sound emerged from his Mech, something there was busted. He switched to unencrypted wideband broadcast and repeated, "Harkin is down. Power down your Mechs and we will show mercy."
Officer Vakarian contacted him. "They're retreating, Shephard, I don't think they are listening to you. Stay put and stop shooting, I need to convince Special Response not to kill you on sight."
Shephard looked down at the Commando. It was still in relatively good condition, the massive holes in its torso notwithstanding. "That's fine," he informed the turian, "we've got enough salvage."
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*Wiki Note: The Mechbuster mentioned in this story isn't the famous BattleTech Tabletop game conventional fighter with it's signature large Autocannon, it is this fan story's infantry sized anti-Mech rifle.
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