New Oslo - 3137 Winter pt.1

"Precentor, DC Delta and Echo in position. Alpha is in bound with the guests"

Good he thought as the messages came over the comms. "Anderson and Maier, take up positions near the Langbro bridge. Everyone continue covering the convoy to the evac point. I'm going to take a look an see where our 'friends' are."

Precentor Kenji Daidoji moved his battlemech into the city. It had been 3 days since the invaders had landed on the Rasalhague Dominion world of New Oslo, and the city was in chaos. While the 4th Bear Regulars were busy figthing the main body of the 666th Mechanized Assault, the New Oslo Overwatch Battalion had taken up guarding evacuation efforts.

For the most part, the former Com Guards turned private security firm, had been ignored. The clanners seemed content with taking out their aggressions on each other. There was no love between the Ghost Bears and their neighbors, Hell's Horses. Kenji didn't pretend to understand it, he just knew to stay out of the way. Clan politics were not his strong point.

He knew that Clanners had rules about fighting, Things like *zellbrigen* and *batchall* as well as all the different trials the clans had. 'They have trials for everything' Kenji remembered being told during training. The idea of wasteful destruction was abhorrent to them. Until they had invaded the Inner Sphere, wars of attrition were foreign to them.

The Clans fought with rules and honor. In theory, anyway. Kenji remembered hearing stories of clanners forgetting those rules when things got frustrating. Turtle Bay was the example his mentor, Hiro Uesugi, would bring up. He had lived in the Draconis Combine and his grandfather was at the Battle of Turtle Bay. The stories he told of the cruelty of the Smoke Jaguars were numerous and vivid. Clanners would quickly point out that the Smoke Jaguars' actions were the exception not the rule. The Comstar archives contradicted that point of view with numerous examples.

Hell's Horses fought without restriction. If they thought you were giving aid to their enemy, you became the enemy. In their twisted logic, this meant hospitals caring for the wounded were fair game. The Mongol Doctrine, they called it. It was used to justify those "exceptions" Kenji was told about.

Kenji Daidoji has wanted to keep his people out of the fight, but when in the first reports came in that medical units were being targeted, he couldn't. They had set up a medical camp and evacuation center in Gråsprängd Stadium across the Laxhopp river, away from the bulk of the fighting. To get across, the enemy would have to cross one of three bridges. They had already secured 2 by raising them. The last one was being used to help non-combatants escape and for emergency crews.

Kenji moved past the buildings, being careful to check his corners and sensors.

At that moment a calm, reassuring woman's voice came over his headset.

"5 ponies coming down Main at you sir."

"Acknowledged, Ama. Keep watching out but don't stray too far from the engagement zone. I can handle myself."

"Yes, Sir."

Private Aracely Megan Aooka, or AMA ("Ask Meg Anything!") as her comrades referred to her, was the eyes of the outfit. Aracely had joined when she was 17. Got the job by simply walking into their hangar. grabbing tools, and set about restoring the old Boomerang Spotter Plane they had in mothballs to peak condition. Growing up piloting prop planes on a small farming settlement, she could spend days up in the air if they let her. Just her, some snacks, her "baby", and the strongest coffee she could get her hands on.

Normally not one for fighting, coffee was one of the few exceptions. In a port on Ueda, a Clanner made the mistake of taking her new box of rare Regulan Black she had been waiting for. His "Trial of Possession" joke was lost on the petite blonde. Police had to pull her off a very surprised and very bloodied Ghost Bear Elemental.

Even though he was a little irritated at his Boomerang pilot's hovering, he was grateful. His sensors hadn't picked them up. The Beagle Active Probe hadn't detected anything so they were either farther out than his sensors could detect or using ECM. Either way, Pvt. Aooka's eyes spotted them when technology didn't.

The thrusters of his Uziel UZL-2S kicked in and lifted all 50 tons of the battlemech to the top of a nearby building. Kenji quickly shifted the mech into position facing out then shut off the reactor. The lights in the cockpit dimmed then went off completely. The only sound was the Precentor's voice calmly speaking into his mic.

"Ama, circle back, I need your eyes."

"Above your position, sir. Sir....are you shut down? I'm not seeing your reactor signature" her tone cool, but a bit worried over her CO's course of action.

He had shut his battlemech down in the hope that the cold winter air would cool it down enough for the incoming tanks to miss it on their sensors. That they would make the mistake of not looking up and miss the mech hiding on the 4th story rooftop.

"Good, yes, that's why I need your eyes. Let me know when they're approaching my position."

From almost 800 meters up, Aracely banked sharply to keep the clan hover tanks and Kenji in her sights. She had managed to take up a position behind the tankers and could follow them with ease.

"5 ponies, 1 click out...Hephaestus Scout Tanks....it looks like they've seen the bridge sir. They're altering course straight for it at speed." Ama spoke calmly into her headset to relay the information. She was getting nervous. Aracely was normally twitchy, something usually blamed on the ungodly amount of coffee consumed. However, when she was flying, the pilot was completely at peace with the universe. Except for now.

"500 meters, sir.."

Kenji smirked to himself and started the sequence. He was gambling that the tanks would be moving so fast that by the time they detected him, it would be too late for them to slow down. He knew his battlemech wouldn't let him down. This mech had been through hell and back. He touched the medal that was on the control panel, a keepsake from his ancestor Daidoji Goemon. He died fighting the Ghost Bears on Constance in 3050 for the Draconis Combine. He hoped that he was watching over him now.

"Reactor Online...." "300 meters, sir.." "Sensors: Online"

He could see that the tanks had passed his position. 2 were trying to turn off to circle around. 1 was trying to come to a complete stop, it's turret swinging around as quickly as it could.

"Weapons: Online"

The other two apparently hadn't realized what was about to happen.

"All Systems Nominal"

With that, Kenji dropped down behind the hover tank and fired. Bluish white bolts of light from the Uziel's twin Particle Projector Cannons found the back of the tank, vaporizing armor, opening up the inside for the pair of 20 mm machine guns that were now blazing away. A small explosion preceded the tank coming to a sudden rest on the ground. Smoke and fire now filling the air around it.

"You've got 2 coming around on your 6, sir" Pvt. Aooka said calmly over the comms. Without looking to check, Kenji fired up the jump jets again to get back on top of the building, breaking the tanks line of sight to him.

Several blast hit the walls as they tried to hit him before he reached the top, their shots punching holes in the reinforced concrete. The mechwarrior wondered how much damage the buildings would be able to take. They seemed strong enough since they were supporting mech he was in. The jump jets fired up again and lifted the Uziel across to another nearby rooftop. Kenji pivoted the mech around in mid air and managed to fire a volley of missiles at one of the tanks below.

"Nice hit sir! Ponies 1 and 2 are taking up firing positions..." a series of shots impacted the rooftop, nearly hitting the Precentor. He returned fire, the PPCs hitting the hover tank's side squarely. He could see it start to drag it's left side along the ground indicated he'd hit part of it's motive system. He saw it trying to limp off for cover while the other prepared to fire again.

Kenji prepared to fire again when several parts of armor melted off the shoulder of the Uziel. The second Hephaestus had backed up to get an angle and the two tanks now had him in a cross fire. Pulse lasers blazing away at him.

"Sir..."

"I see him, Ama." He fired his Short Range Missiles and PPCs at the tank. Before the warning could even finish telling him about heat build up and possible reactor shutdown, Kenji hit the override. As the machine guns peppered the tank, it careened into the store front of the building. Smoke billowed from underneath and it struggled to right itself. It slowly turned to move away from the fight, trying to disengage.

"Sir!!"

"Yes, private." Kenji let his irritation come through. He turned his Uziel to face the first tank that was still firing away with it's lasers.

"Sir, three o' clock. Coming towards the Bridge."

From his vantage point on top of the 6 story building, the precentor could see the small column of tanks. More hover tanks from what he could tell by their speed. Looking slightly ahead, he could see what they were chasing. A small convoy of medical vehicles. Ambulances from the red cross on the sides. All of them were heading to the safe zone on the other side of the bridge but the enemy tanks would catch them long before then.

"Ama, get back to the others. Tell them to bring the artillery online and prepare to spot for them. I'm going to try to engage them and lead them away."

"Sir?"

"You have your orders..." he said as he jumped down, the earth shaking as all 50 tons of war machine impacted on the blacktop. Kenji proceeded bring the tank into his sites and fired everything. It hadn't bothered to move, trying to get the best shot it could while he was on the roof. It hadn't realized that the other tank had withdrawn and was caught off guard by Kenji's move.

Missiles slammed into the scout tank's side rocking it backward. Its armor gone, torn off by the missiles, the machine guns and PPCs destroyed everything that was exposed. The hover tank sank to the ground and went silent. Once again he slammed the override button to try prevent the reactor shutdown. Sweat was now dripping off his forehead. The heat in the cockpit was almost unbearable.

"Go Ama, tell them to hold their position and prepare for incoming."

"Roger, sir...." from 800 meters up, the young pilot circled overhead quietly, the propeller barely making a sound. Meg angled the Boomerang to get a better view with her own eyes instead of with the cameras.

"it's just 5 light tanks, nothing to worry about, right?" she thought. With one hand, she moved the joystick and banked towards the bridge, grabbing her thermos full of Regulan Black with the other. Flipping the lip and taking a sip, she couldn't tell if her hands shook from being up 48 hours straight or from watching her CO head off to face the tanks.

See Also: New Oslo - Winter 3137 pt. 2