AWF Chpt 2

=Chapter 2=
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==A Warrior's Family==
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===Fire Fight against Heavies===
Klathandu IV
Federated Suns
August 3029
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The cadet started to request assistance again, "This is Cadet Valois. I'm-"
"Cadet, this is Hooligan four. Where are you, and can you move, over?" Hap interrupted her.
"I'm in the vicinity of Pheasant Run and moving south, but I'm being chased by a Quickdraw and a Thunderbolt."
A Quickdraw and a Thunderbolt were serious firepower, and Pheasant Run was, again, minutes away when second's counted. Hap prepared to start his lance moving, but then remembered the cliff leading up the hill, and how it was ideal for an ambush. Hap patched the guard channel into his lance's channel.
"Cadet, acknowledge you are being pursued by a Quickdraw and a Thunderbolt. Do you think you can get to hill 182, over?"
There was a pause. "Yes. Hooligan four."
"How does a Thunderbolt chase anything?" Joker asked.
Hap was about to tell Joker that "now wasn't the time", but the Cadet replied, "It has jump jets."
"Who the hell puts Jump Jets on a Thunderbolt? Those things are bigger than Tuna's mom." Joker responded
"Hey!" Tuna barked.
"Stow it Joker." Hap snapped, then softened his tone, "Alright Cadet. I need you to try and approach hill 182 from the east."
"Acknowledge." Cadet Valois replied coolly, she sounded calmer.
Hap could see a friendly Valkyrie just on the edge of his long range sensor range. A Valkyrie was a light 'Mech, and a little slow for its size, but still faster than Tuna's Hunchback Hap noted. A Quickdraw could keep pace with it, but she should have been able to outpace the Thunderbolt. This area was heavily wooded and with the forests and jump jets the Thunderbolt could probably keep within weapons range.
"Cadet I'm going to coordinate with my lance. I'm going to take you of our lance channel, but I'll still be monitoring the guard. Just keep moving to hill 182."
"Acknowledge all." She sounded confident again.
Hap took the guard channel out of the Lance's channel. "Alright Gents, we're not broadcasting to everyone in the clear. She's bringing two heavies our way, but we can use that pass in the cliff to-"
Joker interrupted Hap, "Hey Tuna, was that the Princess?"
"What?" Haps asked
"Yeah, I think so. I mean I don't know till I see her, but probably." Tuna replied.
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Hap asked impatiently.
"We were in the galley one day and there was a bunch of First FedCom Subalterns and Cadets there, and hand to god truth, there was this cadet that was the most drop dead gorgeous woman we had ever seen. Lucky tried to ask her out, but when he talked to her she just stared at him, said 'no' and then left. One of the Subalterns told him that was the princess, aloof and concise. Lucky said Princess was embroidered on her name tag."
Hap almost asked why he wasn't with them, but he knew he was probably in a staff meeting. "And you think this was the same MechWarrior?" Hap asked
"Well Lucky said she was a Valkyrie pilot." Joker replied defensively
"The First FedCom is all Valkyrie, Centurion, and Enforcer pilots." Hap replied looking at the cliff and thinking how he wanted to set up the ambush.
"That's true bro." Tuna added.
"Yeah, but she sounds pretty hot, next time you talk to her ask her callsign." Joker said.
Hap was exasperated, "Look I don't care if she's Miss Federated Suns or Martha UrbanMech, we need to help her survive and take down the Quickdraw and Thunderbolt. Joker, light up the trees near the pass and hide in the fire and smoke. Tuna use the heat and smoke to hide but try to be close to the pass." Hap directed the other two 'Mech warriors.
Hap could see the Quickdraw and Thunderbolt on his scanner now. The Quickdraw was a heavy 'Mech with a big engine that meant it traded speed for armor. It was about as fast and jump capable as the Valkyrie, and he was trying to follow the same path as the Valkyrie. Hap didn't have a computer lock, but he could guess where the Quickdraw pilot next jump. He watched the Valkyrie jump, and targeted the same area. He launched a brace of missiles and saw them impact the Quickdraw just as he landed behind her.
Hap flipped the radio to the guard net as he moved his 'Mech to the end of the pass. Hap picked a good spot with plenty of trees and a good view of the pass. Tuna and Joker were in position now. Joker was facing Hap. When he jumped into the pass he would try to get behind the enemy so facing backwards made sense.
"What's your status cadet?" Hap asked
"Almost there. Good contact on the Quickdraw. Thanks." She replied.
Hap glanced back to his tactical display, the Quickdraw was now alternating its path, this was slowing it down, giving the Cadet more space. Hap tried to guess the Quickdraw's next move, but he was wrong and the missiles completely missed. Hap figured this was fine, it would keep the enemy guessing.
"There's a cliff here Hooligan four." Cadet Valois reported
"Yeah there's a pass to the south, proceed through the pass." Hap replied.
Hap saw the Valkyrie's icon move a few 'Mech paces south and hesitate. She probably felt the same way he did, it looked like the perfect place for an ambush. Hap's computer reported laser fire and missile fire from the vicinity of the enemy 'Mechs, and the Valkyrie started moving again. The Valkyrie came into view as she sprinted into the pass and then up to the Griffin.
As she was turning her 'Mech Hap could see Joker was holding up a piece of paper to the view port of his 'Mech. Hap cringed trying to think what crude joke he was going to play on the Cadet. Hap magnified the image and saw it was the lance's net information. Hap flipped his radio back to the lance net, still trying to guess what Joker was up to, and how he was going to discipline him. The cadet must have seen the paper because in a moment Hap started receiving data from her 'Mech.
"Are you 'Princess'?" Joker asked
"I hate that callsign." Princess said coldly. "Please just call me Valois."
"Anything you ask, Princess" Joker replied cheerfully.
"Shut it, Joker." Hap almost yelled. He would have to warn Princess the worst thing you can do with a call sign is show you hate it, but before he could say anything the Quickdraw entered the pass. Hap's computer reported the Quickdraw was peppered with missile shots, more than he had launched. Princess must have been putting down good fire as she retreated.
Princess shot a medium laser at the Quickdraw the moment she had a clear shot. Hap backed her up with a PPC shot and a salvo of missiles. The PPC struck the 'Mech's left breast and a few missiles hit the cliff, but the most of them struck the 'Mech. The Quickdraw responded by jumping deep into the pass and sending a barrage of lasers and missiles at Hap. The trees absorbed some of the damage, but armor melted from the right breast and arm of the Griffin.
Joker gracefully jumped into the pass and landed behind the Quickdraw. He bathed the enemy 'Mech in fire and followed up with lasers and machine guns. Hap knew that would probably not overheat the Quickdraw, but force the pilot to be careful with his lasers. The Quickdraw jumped out of the pass and spun backwards trying to target the Firestarter. This is when Tuna stepped out of the smoke and shot the Quickdraw in the back at point blank range, destroying the 'Mech.
Joker jumped his Firestarter out of the pass, just as the Thunderbolt entered. As the Firestarter sailed to safety Hap launched another volley of missiles and Princess joined him in hitting it with her laser, but the Thunderbolt ignored them. Tuna also shot him with his powerful cannon, but it didn't seem penetrate the 'Mech's thick armor.
The Thunderbolt moved like something from a nightmare. It unleashed a barrage of missiles and lasers at the Hunchback as he stalked through the pass. Tuna was taken aback by the onslaught, and started to steady his 'Mech and prepare for another shot, but the Thunderbolt kept coming.
Princess shot her 'Mech's arm mounted medium laser again, but it only superficially melted some of the armor on the Thunderbolt's chest. Joker jumped behind him and performed another alpha strike, but the Thunderbolt pilot seemed unconcerned. The cannon on Tuna's Hunchback belched out another pitiless blast. This actually seemed to put a hole in the armor, but it didn't stop the Thunderbolt.
Hap sent another wave of missiles into the monster, but they failed to hit the breach that Tuna had created. The Griffin's PPC stabbed at the armor of the 'Mech's chest, but only managed to melt off the armor below the smoking hole in its right breast.
In a brutal display the Thunderbolt raised its fist overhead and brought it down on the Hunchback. The large shoulder mounted autocannon blocked Hap from seeing where the blow landed, but the Hunchback fell backwards with the force of the blow. Joker hit him again with everything his 'Mech had, and more smoke came out of the holes in the 'Mech's armor, but it still seemed fully functional.
Hap worried the Thunderbolt would turn on Joker or give Tuna a coup de grace, he wished he knew how to get the Thunderbolt to focus on him. The Thunderbolt turned and raised its right arm and pointed its large laser at Hap, and trained the missile pod on him. "Be careful what you wish for." Hap thought as he fought the sense of panic and manually aimed his weapons trying to target the smoking hole.
Princess shot her laser and launched a salvo of ten missiles. The laser struck the gap in the Thunderbolt's right torso and most of the missiles hit in and around the crack in the armor. The right side of the 'Mech separated in an explosion and the 'Mech's missile pod and right arm went flying away.
The breach in the armor was hard to miss now and Hap launched missiles as his PPC's azure beam slipped into the smoking hole and into the center of the 'Mech. Missiles followed the beam and then there was another explosion and more smoke and sparks poured out of the holes and breaches in the Thunderbolt's armor. The Thunderbolt staggered backwards then slumped drunkenly onto the side of the cliff.
Hap looked at the broken remains of the Thunderbolt. He had been in dozens of battles, but this was probably the biggest 'Mech he and his lance had taken on. He knew the Quickdraw was about the same tonnage as the Thunderbolt, but it was different. Hap shuddered, there was something about the way the Thunderbolt had moved, and the casual indifference it had toward everything his lance threw at it.
"I'm out of missiles." Princess said quietly and matter-of-factly. To Hap it was almost a quiet whisper, it took a moment for it to register with him.
Hap shook his head and focused. He glanced at his own ammo counter. He had about a dozen reloads remaining. He had been a little liberal with his missiles, but the Griffin carried two tons of missiles so he could afford it.
"Good copy, Cadet." Hap said, debating what to call her Princess, Val, or keep calling her 'Cadet'. As he weighed his options he pulled up tactical information on Princess's Valkyrie. Her 'Mech seemed to have taken damage all over, it was all superficial, but she must have been in quite a fight. She had also emptied her missile magazine, which meant she had launched twelve salvos. Val seemed like a cool customer so Hap assumed she had shot each salvo with a purpose. Between this, the timely laser and missile shot on the Thunderbolt, and her disdain for a girly callsign like "Princess" Hap was starting to respect Cadet Valois.
As he scanned the Valkyrie he remembered that the Hunchback's autocannon rounds were also pretty limited. "Tuna, how much ammo do you have?"
There was no response. Hap glanced up and Tuna's Hunchback was still flat on the ground. Without looking Hap switched the scanner to the Hunchback. He glanced down and saw the cockpit was critically damaged and there was no life signs for Tuna. Hap swallowed hard and reminded himself damage to the cockpit could prevent the Hunchback from reporting the 'MechWarrior's life signs.
Joker was already moving toward the prone 'Mech. Hap walked his 'Mech over as well. Joker stopped his Firestarter and then starting howling, "No, no, no." Hap could see now the head of the Hunchback had been bashed in and there was a grizzly pool of blood around the smashed cockpit. Joker kneeled his 'Mech down and popped open the cockpit of his 'Mech.
"Hooligan four, we need to move." Princess said quietly.
Joker hadn't disconnected his neurohelmet when she spoke, and Hap could see Joker pause and look in the direction of the Valkyrie, "Go to hell, Princess." He snapped.
Hap knew he needed to correct the corporal, and in his gut he knew that Cadet Valois was right, but he wanted so badly for Sergeant Kam'achi to be alive. Joker slipped out of his 'Mech and ran to the Hunchback's head. He was carrying a survival axe rescue tool that he used to pry off the sheet of crushed safety glass.
Hap watched as Joker tossed the glass away and when he saw into the crushed remains of the cockpit, and his heart fell. Joker dropped the axe and his hands moved like he was trying to think about some sort of medical of first aid that could help, but it was obvious the body was too badly mangled.
"We are being cut off." Princess said quietly.
Hap looked at his scanners and didn't see anything. "I don't see…" before he could finish a 35 ton 'Mech showed up on his scanner, then two more.
Hap activated the external speakers, "Joker. We got company coming."
Joker still didn't move. "Corporal Cameron, get in your 'Mech." Hap ordered.
Joker finally started to move. He reached down for his axe, then noticed something in the broken Mech. He pulled out a skinny black bag, threw it over his shoulder and began to jog back to his Firestarter.
Hap looked at his scanners again there were about half a dozen light 'Mechs headed their way moving at different speeds. Hap knew the Draconis Combine tactics well enough to guess they were a mix of Panthers and Jenners. The Jenners would catch them and tear them apart with lasers and missiles at close range while the Panthers would blast them to pieces from a distance with their PPCs.
Hap watched as Joker put his neurohelmet back on. He shut off the PA, and keyed the lance net, "How did you see those 'Mechs before they showed up on my scanner?"
"My father owned an electronic company that makes advanced sensors and scanners for 'Mechs and aerospace fighters. My noble mother arranged for me to receive this 'Mech, and he had it outfitted with some of his company's best electronics." Princess spoke quietly like she was confessing a mistake.
Hap didn't say anything, maybe she was a spoiled little Princess whose parents could ensure she got a top of the line 'Mech fully kitted out. Of course if her 'Mech's advance gear kept them alive Hap wasn't going to complain. "Is there a clear way to Rendezvous Point Zed?"
There was a long pause and then Princess replied, "No."
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