15.2

Chapter 15.2 All's Fair

3025

Ko

In Orbit

Day 1.

A different perspective

Gabe Richthofen

Gabe felt his hands shake. He had never imagined he would be here now. Sure. He had the flight hours. He had a lot of flight hours. The fact of the matter was, Gabe had been in the air more hours than he had been on the ground in the last two years. That isn't even counting the hours he got with the 10th.

So he had the flight time.

It just never felt like it mattered. He always felt like he was too young. Too inexperienced.

But he was needed. Vicky had put out the call. God was he angry. Just like everyone. Their friends. Their brothers and sisters, kidnapped!

"This is Corsair. Check in."

"Freefall, Green."

"Feddy, Green."

"RedBaron, Green." Gabe sighed. His Lance was headed by Corsair. Captain O'Connor was a great person to hang out with on the ground, but in the air she was a mean sonuva bitch. She was also a damn skilled fighter pilot.

And now? In a Royal Stuka? Gabe didn't want to be anywhere near her sights. He had been roped into being her wingman. She said it was because he was good enough to keep up. He thought it was because he was a little bit too slow to keep anyone else alive.

But that was behind him. There were multiple flights launching out of the three Colossus. The planet was sending up ASF to hit them on re-entry. That was not going to happen.

The large doors of the Colossus opened, and Gabe was very happy they had worked out the ASF launch procedure a while back while raiding pirates, because Colossus dropships were not ASF mules. They weren't exactly designed for it normally. It had taken a while and a bit of work, but they had figured it out. Now the old infantry hangar had been remodeled as an ASF bays.

It wasn't like the ISDF were going to do the infantry wave tactics of the old SLDF after all.

Each Colossus could now easily hold 8 ASF and even quickly deploy that number, without too much issue.

The fact was they had enough pilots to actually do that. Gave Gabe some assurance. Sure it had been a rough few months. It felt like on the crew side of things everyone was short staffed, but that didn't matter. Not for this.

This was make or break it time.

"Alright then. Alpha Flight. Light your fire, let's move." She called and in a moment it was Gabes turn. He lit his engine, and felt the G's hit. He sped out into the void. He oriented just fine on Corsairs wing. Hours and hours and hours spent in the void above Zaniah had given him plenty of practice. The times they had gone up for over a day at a time had taught him a lot.

He could just faintly see the Drive plumes of the other Flights. Each of them reinforced just like Alpha.

Four birds to a flight. And with three Colossus, each dropship carried two flights.

He shook himself, his mind was slipping, focusing on things that weren't important. He had work to do. He had been given a 'gift' from the Commander after all.

His Stuka had a Lostech sensor system. A secret that he wasn't allowed to share with the outsiders. He understood. He knew why and agreed. But it did put a lot of pressure on his shoulders. Minutes pass as the Flights move into position, to cover the dropships. He couldn't let a single dropship falter here. That was his family on board.

"Alright kid. It's time."

"It's Redbaron." He sniped back as he finished securing his helmet.

"Sure kid. Get yourself some kills in this fight, and maybe I'll start calling you that."

He didn't respond. Too focused. The heat of re-entry was already starting to cover his cockpit, cutting his normal vision. Of course his Stuka's normal sensors were also struggling.

But not the Lostech. "Corsair. Visual confirmation. Enemy Flight. They are coming in from these coordinates."

"What? The fuck how did you see that?" Corsair barked.

"Got a glimpse."

"Kid… Fuck I'll risk it. Alpha, on my tail, let's go for them." Gabe followed more through sensors than sight as everything was fire outside his cockpit, into a slight shift in the re-entry turn. And a moment later. He was lined up. Long before they could see him. And frankly before he could see them.

But he had a clear shot. And these fuckers were protecting the scumbag that took his family. Lightning fired. ERPPC launched straight through the fire and fury of re-entry. He grit his teeth. He missed. He had pulled a bit too hard, and his shots skimmed over the nose of the Shilone.

Gritting his teeth at his failure, the heat of his Stuka soaring, he still had a few seconds of entry before normal sight would return. The enemy had no such issues, but they weren't in range. The Shilone he had fired at turned and fired it's Large laser. But instantly Gabe noticed the problem. He was still well outside of range. The Shilone's fire did nothing but dissipate far too soon.

"The hell are you shooting at kid?"

"That fucker." Gabe grumbled over the line as he lined up his second shot. His Stuka was heating up, but he felt cool. His hands weren't shaking anymore.

This time he rode the turbulence. Not letting it jostle him except how he wanted. And in a flash Four arcs of lightning burst from the fireball his Stuka made on entry. Just as the flash of fire cleared enough, and a curse from Corsair came over as she realized they were lined up perfectly onto the enemy flight. The Four bursts of ERPPC fire smashed into the Shilone.

"Alright Alpha! Pick your targets! Fire at will!" Corsair bellowed over the line as more lightning joined Gabes own. The enemy ASF were not expecting so much fire from outside their range.

The Shilone he had hit survived his shot, but it had rolled heavily, smoke and fire burning out of it. It lost its place in its flight, and was probably out of the fight. So Gabe chose his second target. His Stuka heated up as it struggled to dump the heat from re-entry and firing, but he didn't care. He was just sweating a bit. They would be sweating a lot soon. His Cooling Suit was working overtime to keep him active.

His trigger depressed and the battle was on. Alpha flight wasn't alone. The enemy had sent up a lot of ASF cover. To try and surprise the dropships. Hell, his sensor had even picked up a few air breathers converging in.

The Combine had thrown everything they could into the air to try and stop the ISDF from landing.

"COME ON!" He screamed into the mic, any hesitancy forgotten, and he fired his ERPPC again and again. Then the enemy were in range, and then his Autocannon joined in. Anything to tear these fuckers apart. He flew, he dipped, he rolled, his armor was shattered from return fire. But the Stuka didn't care. The enemy's lighter fighters were trying to get past them. To get to the dropships as they burned in.

The Flights only had one job. Stop them.

They did.

The enemy flights were so shocked at the ferocity they ran into. That their attack hesitated too long. The first dropship to finish re-entry was WhiteBase. Glowing white hot the current flagship of the ISDF, and a beast of a dropship.

Spoke.

None of the enemy fighters were expecting the dropship they had been targeting to suddenly reach out and touch them.

But it did. Targeting systems in perfect condition and backed up by the Commanders Sensors. The gauss rounds barked loud enough Gabe could hear it through the thin atmosphere and the fighting.

And the enemy shattered. The Colossus only needed 9 gunners Gabe remembered idly. And those kids?

They were a division of Homeguard. Marcus had finally figured out a way to get at least some of them involved. They would man the guns of the Dropships. After all, WhiteBase and the other dropships were a home too.

Gabe spent more hours than not in the air training over the last two years. Homeguard? There was almost never a moment that they weren't training. It was a joke, that if Homeguard ever stopped firing their guns. The entire base would overflow with ammunition and the ISDF would have to sleep on top of Artillery shells.

And this? This was the chance Homeguard had been waiting for. A chance to fire their guns at the enemy.

By the time the second Colossus, the Pegasus had finished re-entry and it's guns started firing the fight had already long left the enemy ASF. Not that Gabe, or Corsair were planning on letting them get away.

The fleeing fighters were chased by lightning, long after their rear guns could even come close, the Stukas fired. Although they did break off eventually. Their job was protection.

As the skys cleared. And no further threats came in Gabe felt exhilarated. He had done it. Survived, and fought well.

"Good job Alpha. Looks like we only lost one during the dust up. I want status checks, and let's get on overwatch until everything is settled."

"Roger!"

"Understood."

"Roger that."

"Oh and RedBaron? Not bad kid. If you keep this up I might let you keep that name. Otherwise I'm calling you Glimpse. Cause I have no idea how you got a glimpse of that wing through the fire."

"Just lucky."

"Yeah sure."

Gabe sighed. He wasn't sure how many he actually took down, if any. But his computer would have the record, he would go over it later. For now… he felt good. His training had paid off. Now? It was up to the ground forces. They would have a far tougher, dirtier job than his.

But the ISDF were up for it. It was time the rest of the Inner Sphere learned that too.

—-

We had landed in farmland. Long stretches of some sort of wheat or something leaving long sight lines, with lines of trees acting as borders of the fields. Between each farm was usually small forests, filled with ponds, or roughage. Places for animals to keep to themselves.

We weren't being gentle to the field. I would need to remind myself to find the owner of this field and apologize in person when we were done. Because our fortifications didn't care about the food growing beneath us. Not that much survived the drive plume of the Dropships.

The first twenty minutes of our landing was the most frantic. Our dropships landed and we began securing the area. Thanks to our sensors, it was easy work. And moderately safe. There wasn't much fear of random ISF agents, or a regiment of Battlemechs or tanks sneaking up on us. So we had some time. And we used it.

It was funny. I had originally had my kids put up defense towers around Redbase to give them practice for doing it in the field. I hadn't really considered how important that was until today. Watching the AC/2 flak turrets being set up around our dropships. Ensuring that any offense from the sky would find themselves with a nasty surprise.

I was sitting in my Nightstar. Guiding the defensive preparations, and keeping an eye on the enemy units surrounding us. I didn't really know what to expect. The actual enemy unit on the planet was completely unknown to me.

So I was trying to keep a level head. Our mechs were already finished disembarking, acting as the wall of the defense, until the fortifications were set up.

And for the tanks to get their gear in order.

If there was any group in the ISDF that was the least trained, it might be either the navy, or the tankers. I hadn't expected we would need to attack with this level of force before. Right now the experienced tankers were each commanding a tank, splitting up teams, just to give some experience to green crews.

Not that it helped much. Twice already as they disembarked, tanks crashed or ended up stuck or stalled.

Thankfully, while this invasion was serious. Whoever was in charge of the defenses wasn't ready to engage in a banzai charge.

Yet.

So I settled in, overwatching the area. One of the first things we had begun crafting was actually a tarmac. The Stuka could stay in the air for a very long time, thanks to the fusion engine, but that didn't mean my people could.

They had just got out of a nasty fight. I had birds in the air that were barely staying up there. So my Engineers were flattening a long path using a piece of equipment we had 'bought' back on Zaniah.

It would be enough. If a bit of a rough landing and take off.

Until then. There was only one other issue. "Delta, how is it?" My radio buzzed for a minute. The Combine were definitely trying some sort of radio interference, but the SLDF equipment both onboard the colossus, and the physical units I kept in a few Norman trucks we had brought with, were doing just fine cutting through. And hopefully keeping our comms secure.

"We are on site. O'Donnel is banged up, might be a broken leg, but his parachute kept him alive. Heading in now. We took care of a couple scouts. Looks like they aren't expecting our fast movers."

"Good. Stay low. Get our boy home safe." O'Donnel, was an ass, an arrogant pilot, one of O'Connors. But he fought for my kids.

He would get another Stuka. Even if he had lost his first one. I switched frequencies.

"Corsair. How's the sky looking?"

"Blue. Boring. Not enough snakes to fight. They all got scared off."

"That's good. Your Boy is fine. Broken leg but he's already picked up by some of our scouts."

"Shit already? You move quick Commander… Thank you. I've known him a long time."

"He's one of us now. Stay steady Corsair, we almost have our runway done."

"Great. Another dirt runway. I love those."

"Commander out."

So the day went. An hour. Then two. The Combine general was either antsy, or confident. Because nothing came for us. Well nothing big.

Plenty of Infantry were sent in to scout. In fact it was an almost obscene number. If not for our sensors, there was no chance they wouldn't have managed to sneak close. But well…

None made it close. Delta wasn't even wholly responsible. Rough Squad was active. Disappearing more than their number in scouts. My Nighthawks were running full tilt. Every once in a while I would hear gunfire out in the distance, and another dot would disappear from the sensor.

And so the time ticked away. Slowly. Steadily. A few ASF attempted to pass close, but the Corsairs and my kids chased them off. Now that the Combine knew what sort of heat my ASF was packing they were skittish. But still a threat. They were obviously waiting, hunting.

Thankfully our defense towers were still unknown. So if they did manage to slip through they would get a taste of that.

Finally a change happened.

"Commander. We have a call coming in. Visual and audio."

"If it's from the Governor hang up. He had his chance."

"No. Looks like a military frequency."

"Patch it through then." Nightstars were designed to be command mechs. You bet your ass it had a holovid comm system. The small hologram burst up and into the form of a woman dressed in a DCMS uniform.

"This is Sho-Sho Tatyana Sobiroff, of the 22nd Dieron Regulars, To the raiding elements, shut down all military equipment and surrender, The dragon's eyes are on you now."

"This is Commander Victoria Eisen-Blume. ISDF, First Division Iron Blooded Orphans. My men were captured by Governor Kagemuchi. If my people are returned, I have no further interest in this world, its people, or its defenders."

"If they are taken by the dragon, they belong to the dragon now. Lower your arms, and give in to the inevitable. Surrender."

So she was one of 'those' people. An officer more than willing to get everyone killed.

Well that's fine. I was more than willing to kill them.

"You have my kids. My only answer is war." I flipped the switch on the comm unit, turning it off. There wasn't any further point in talking. As if a Combine officer could let a merc unit that just landed on their planet go free anyways. The moment we hit the atmosphere, this war had already started.

I flipped to a new connection. "Rommel."

"Commander?" Benny asked ready and willing.

"Defenses are up. Go scout them."

"Understood Commander!"

—-

A different perspective

Benjamin Rommel

Ko

Benny had been waiting for this. His fusion engine rumbled as he kicked his myomers into motion. With a single step Benny began his march. "Second Battalion! We march!"

Hoops and hollers echoed for a moment. Lenden, the only ISDF member not in a Royal mech was the loudest of them all.

"Scorch. I know your people have been getting in position. Are they ready?"

"You know we are Fox! My boys have been scoping out the FOB."

"Patch them into my comms. They are going to be our distraction."

"Roger that!"

Benny felt the power of his Atlas as he kicked it up to full speed. It's heavy legs uncaring what ground got in its way. It wasn't fast. But it didn't need to be. His Lance made up of the Command Element was ready.

Benny still wasn't sure why Vicky kept calling it his 'scout' lance. But the four Atlas moved in rhythm. They had been working together for years at this point. A single lance under his command. He had practiced commanding both Lance, Company, and even a little battalion experience, but this was the real thing.

He opened his Atlas's throttle. The Lostech Sensor, still one of the most amazing things he had ever seen. Just further proof in his eyes that Vicky was meant to do this.

"I'll be taking designation Alpha Lance. Beta Lance is yours Scorch. Don't lose picture of where you are. Protect Rough Squad and hit navpoint Beta. Delta Lance will be The spear. Delta, you will be breaching, understood?"

"Roger that Fox!" Michael King. Shouted back. The leader of Delta was a solid Mechwarrior. A little too full of himself on the ground, but he always followed orders and Benny definitely considered him for a promotion.

He was also the head of the King Crab Lance. One guess at where he took his name from. Also Benny wasn't sure why Vicky would break into laughter every time they got brought up, but he was used to Vicky being Vicky at this point.

"Alright King, Nav Point Delta is you. Scorch. Break away. You are faster than us. Let Delta hit first, before Beta engages. Orders set. Go!"

Benny was in his element. This was where he was meant to be.

The first target was an FOB full of enemy tanks, and hovercraft. They had been massing for a while now. Benny had zero intention of letting the speed sucker punch their forces. So that was his first target.

And his first true battle against something more than pirate scum.

Benny watched as the enemy had yet to even notice their approach. Their scouts, who should have been relaying information, were all lying dead in the field. Delta, and Rough squad had been merciless. The infantry that headed out into the fields the ISDF had claimed never returned.

Finally he noticed it. As they got close enough that there was only a single copse of trees blocking them from view. Something seemed to have alerted them. They began moving. Rushing around.

"Rough Squad. Now. Delta. LRM targets. Alpha. LRM and target data. Let's show them our roar!"

Seeing through the trees thanks to Vickys sensor. Benny aimed. He wasn't as good as shot as Vicky, or anything like Hanna. But his Gauss round was aimed at an unmoving target. Even as explosions started shattering across the base. Rough squad having been planting explosives around.

Their training with Delta ops, shown off. The fuel storage going up in a sudden fireball was the most impressive act. The fireball shooting high into the sky.

Then Bennys Gauss rifle slammed into a parked Saracen and sent the crewless hovercraft spinning.

Despite the surprise. These weren't house troops for nothing. Even if Benny still had no idea who they were.

Their crews were quick to get ready. Even if the lance of King Crabs marching into their base made their resistance futile.

Delta marched in King firing first, his AC/20's more than a match for the vehicles. The pattering of Large lasers, and SRMs stripping armor, but creating the distraction Benny had wanted. Beta Lance, led by Scorch the lighter, but still powerful medium and heavy mechs pushed in from the side, as the King Crabs drew the fire. Lenden cleaned up. His barrage of Green medium lasers melting working, and unworking vehicles regardless.

The battle was already done. A few infantry tried to fight back, but Beta cleaned them out, and Rough Squad finished anything else off. Their Nighthawks clearing any remaining combatants in the building.

"Commander this is Fox. Enemy site Alpha is taken, and resistance is complete."

"Fox. Battalion Status."

Benny grimaced. Despite his best efforts. The enemy hadn't gone without a fight. Enough of the vehicle crews had put their weapons on target. "Two medium armor damage. Four with light armor damage. Ammo. Green overall. Report is we lost at least two of Rough."

"We will mourn them later. Send your damaged boys back for re-armor. I was watching. You got aggressive."

Benny flushed. He remembered Vickys words when they were planning on the way over. Steady. Slow and steady. "Yes Commander."

"Did you learn something?"

Benny thought about it. He had expected his equipment to roll over the enemy practically untouched. Instead despite the battle going completely his way, he had taken more damage than he had expected.

"Yes Commander."

"Good. Use it. Use their FOB as a new defense grid location. Have Rough squad clear out scouts just like before. Slow and steady Fox."

"I won't let you down Commander."

—-

"You never do." I repeated the oft said phrase back, but I didn't have time to remain on target with Benny. The enemy were obviously reacting to the news of our first assault. A King Crab Lance is no joke. But even a King Crab didn't handle focus fire from a tank company.

It would be good practice to have our crew repair some armor mid mission. Not something we usually stuck around long enough to matter.

"Alright Corsair, you have a clear runway. Get your tail feathers down here."

"Understood Control Corsair out!"

With that taken care of I had to turn to focus on the fronts.

There were three of them so far. The direction of the capital city to the east was the main one. There had obviously been some sort of military base in that direction.

Because that is where some mechs were.

The second was to the south. A group without any mechs, it was mostly armor. At least a battalion of vehicles. My guess was a planetary guard force.

The third was the one that worried me the most. To the north the main detachment of the mech force was here. And so were vehicles, and enough infantry I knew it was going to be a rather brutal fight.

Thankfully the enemy hadn't realized our secret weapon yet. And I wasn't about to let them know until it was too late.

Artillery was King. It was going to be a very direct reminder to the combine. More and more of the Mobile Long Toms were prepped out of the Dropships, covered in camo netting, but their guns were ready.. And they would have enough ammo… Well. I had no problem ensuring their ammo supply never ran out.

Six long toms per Colossus were readying themselves around our defenses. I angled them so that regardless of what force came calling, at least a nine of them could fire. Plus the Colossus were still armed. Homeguard… well they were guarding our home.

We had dealt the first blow. I was actually a little surprised that they had let us move first. From what I understood the Combine officers usually preferred to be on the aggressive side of warfare.

—-

A different perspective

Nakano Takeko

ISDF Base camp

Ko

Takeko was nervous. Commander Eisen-Blume had taken her as one of her Lancemates. Had given her a job that many in the ISDF had wanted. To stand beside the Commander on the Battlefield.

Takeko grimaced. Being in the Draconis Combine was… Weird. She had technically been born on a planet like this. Her parents had fled the Combine for one reason or another.

Takeko didn't know. She had been dropped off at an orphanage in Solaris when she was three. Her parents were found dead not long after.

Sword wounds.

So she never knew them. Never knew any loyalty to this state. She was as Lyran as anyone. Spoke German, and couldn't speak Japanese even if she wanted to. Still… It had been a decision she made to pick a Japanese name when she had gone through her ceremony. She had wondered for a long time what name to pick. But finally as the Commander asked her what her name would be, until she died and forever onward.

It was a small history lesson she had once learned from earth that had come to mind. So Nakano Takeko. Named after a warrior woman of Japan that had fought in the Boshin war. A woman that had fought and died bravely. And been remembered for over a thousand years.

Takeko had wanted that. To be remembered. Not like her parents, who she didn't even know the names of.

So she had taken the last name of a woman that fought and died bravely they had already shared a first name after all.

Sometimes she regretted it. Mostly because she kept forgetting that in the Japanese style, her last name came first. The Commander never forgot though.

Speaking of the Commander. As Takeko dallied in her thoughts, her radio crackled. "Takeko. Take Beta and hit nav point Charlie. We have some AT guns moving up, and I don't want them there."

"Understood Commander!" Takeko, switched stations, opening her comm system to Beta Lance, that she would be in charge of. "Beta. This is Takeko, taking command. Nav Charlie is our destination. Let's move out!"

"You got it boss. Finally time to kill some snakes… No offense."

"I'm as Lyran as you are Dumkopff." She poked back. The leader of the Commanders Beta lance, technically the 112th was Daniel Wallis. The redhead was the head of the Highlander squad for a reason after all. He and his Lance were the aerial assault mechs. Something hiding on that mountain? Send the jump jet mechs.

Takeko only had a Black Knight. She wasn't sure why Vicky had looked so pained when she handed the mech to her during her ceremony, but it was a good mech, a solid design. She liked it.

"Right right… Sorry Takeko."

"Let's move it Wallis. Commander has a job for us."

"Right. Roger that!."

The reinforced Lance moved out. Takeko herself had one of the Lostech sensors. It was why she was put in charge of this detachment. Every mech in the Commanders Lance had a Sensor. So they could help guide other lances, or lead everyone through the battlefield.

Then of course there was Erica's Lance which would protect her or move off when she was helping the Commander guide the ISDF.

But that was a problem for later Takeko was on a mission. Rechecking her sensor she noticed the infantry company with vehicle support were moving AT defenses onto a hill overlooking one of the roads towards the capital. Probably to surprise ambush the ISDF tanks when they finally moved.

Takeko was still weirded out about how cautious the Combine officer was. Usually they would have been assaulted by infantry by the score by now.

Something weird was going on.

But Takeko had a job to do. Taking the Highlanders to come around a steep section of the ditch would let them jump up behind where the AT guns were being set up.

The infantry were sending out scouts, but Delta ops were working overtime. Takeko hadn't realized quite how many people Delta Ops had recruited over the last few years. Originally a small squad they were more like a company at this point. Heading out in trucks, or off road quads they had picked up somewhere to get around.

And the enemy scouts died.

They were getting very good at taking out enemies. It helps when you know they were there long before they ever could expect to have been noticed.

So the Beta Lance moved.Takeko leading the way as she was faster than the Highlanders, but there wasn't much for her to do. Just keep an eye on the sensor, on the path, and make sure they weren't noticed until the enemy were taken care of.

The terrain was rough, but nothing compared to Zaniah. By this point, even the reserve mechwarriors had plenty of experience in a cockpit. Plus everyone had their own Neurohelm now. She bounced as her Black Knight jumped over a ditch. It wasn't an easy maneuver but she had gotten used to doing it in Zaniah on the rough sandy dunes. Beta following in her example without Jumpjets, although they landed rougher than she had.

"Quiet as you can Beta. We are getting close."

"Roger!"

The enemy company were hard at work according to Takeko's sensor. The infantry were digging in, trying to give the AT guns some cover. The guns had been towed in by some Goblins. Also carrying the infantry.

The AT guns weren't a worry, they were coming in behind the enemy, but the Goblins each had Large lasers. And were kept active.

"Okay Beta. Target data is being sent. Twelve enemy AT guns, and twelve Goblin transports. Focus on the Goblins they have Large Lasers and Machine guns. The infantry have some SRM launchers, but we should be able to disrupt them enough in the initial fight not to matter."

"You got it, Takeko. We are ready for this!" Daniel called back. She could hear the eagerness in his voice.

She didn't say anything. She hoped they were.

They slowed, trying to move as quietly as possible for the last mile. The four Assault mechs were down to a slow plodding walk to reduce seismic as much as possible.

Takeko had a bit more freedom, but even she was trying to place her steps carefully.

"We should just charge in. Takeko. They don't have any mechs!" Daniel eventually laser commed in. The boy was always impatient, it had been the reason he had been pushed back for earning his own Mech for so long.

"Danny. You know as well as I do this isn't a game or training exercise anymore." She was sending the comm message just to him, thankful that her Black Knight had plenty of Command equipment in the cockpit.

Danny was sensitive to criticism. "Commanders orders. We need to try and preserve our armor as much as possible. No risks. This is a war."

Takeko could feel the cool lines down her cheeks. She had copied the Commanders symbol. It had seemed appropriate since she was under her direct command. But it was a reminder, a good one. Every time she saw them, she remembered why they were doing this.

Why it was so serious.

A sigh crackled over the line. "Fine. If the Commander wants it that way." He grumbled but she had her own sigh of relief not sent over the comms. Discipline was pretty good, usually.

But this was a unique instance. A lot of the Mechwarriros that had been on reserve for one issue or another were out here. Danny was too impatient. It led him to taking headlong charges expecting his mech to bully through.

Takeko couldn't allow that. Vickys reminder to Benny when he made that mistake had been heard loud and clear. Even Benny had been embarrassed at losing sight of what was happening.

These weren't pirates they were hunting.

Finally the Lance made it to their objective. Takeko split from them. She would head around, and when the Highlanders jumped in, she would move in from another direction, hopefully the pincer would reduce any surprises.

Tactics, she reminded herself. Go into every fight, gaining every advantage you could, while reducing the enemies advantages. The Commander had told her that once during a training match.

So when it was time Takeko gave the order. "Beta. Engage!"

The roar of four Highlanders engaging their jump jets roared over the hills and cliffs. The enemy immediately reacted. Infantry running for cover or equipment, the Goblins each roaring into full activation.

But it was too late. The LRMs rained down followed by four angry assault mechs.

Takeko moved. Even as she kept an eye on the fight Gauss rifles barked and Goblins were smashed to pieces. But there was more of them than the mechs. The return fire began. Large lasers burn cutting streaks into the Highlanders armor.

Takeko burst around the corner, beginning to climb the hill from the other side, both assaults coming up behind the enemy. Takeko let rip. Her Pulse lasers targeting a single Goblin. The vehicle practically melting from the sustained heat. Her ERPPC Targeting another, and ripped lightning into the formation. The Goblin shrieking as metal overheated.

Beta was in their element. With surprise they fired. SRms hitting armor, or clumps of Infantry trying to fire back. Mediums arcing out to cut and burn. Their Gauss barking on every reload. The Highlanders kept very cold simply kept firing.

Her Black Knight was heating up. But she wasn't' about to stop firing. Still racing up, she practically stomped on a goblin keeping it from moving as she shot her KinSlaughter ERPPC directly into the turret. Once that was done, her Large Pulse once more arced out. The unique sound of Lasers pulsing echoed over the infantry causing quite a few of them to drive for cover.

But she wasn't aiming for them. She allowed her lasers to cut into the side of a second Goblin.

Beta wasn't willing to let her take all the credit. Danny jumped. Letting loose a barrage of his SRMs from his arm mid air, before coming down heavily on a Goblin. Even Takeko flinched at the horrible scream of metal compressing down.

The Infantry not long after began throwing up their hands, or simply running. They hadn't done much in this fight, but Beta had felt the bite of their SRMs. Once Takeko was sure none of them were going to fire again. She signaled to Beta that the fight was over. Giving herself a few moments to cool off, she wiped sweat from her bangs. As even with the Cooling suit her cockpit was heating up. She watched on as Beta smashed the AT guns into scrap.

The Goblins which had all been disabled would also have to be crushed down. Commanders orders.

Leave the enemy no salvage.

—-

"AT Guns are down Commander. Returning to base."

I sighed a relief. Takeko had done a damn good job. The highlanders had taken some armor damage but that was inevitable. At least it had been light damage all around.

With the AT guns they were trying to set up for an ambush down, the road was clear. Still.. What was the enemy doing? Not a single attack yet? Whoever this enemy Commander was they were cautious, way too cautious for a normal Combine general.

"No way someone gets to the rank of Sho-Sho, and acts like this much of a scaredy cat. Something else is going on."

It was the only thing that made sense. This Tatyana Sobiroff was more dangerous than I had assumed.

Noticing something, I switched channels. "Corsair. We got another enemy flight, looks like airbreathers. What have you got ready for a pass?"

"I'll go up. My Lance is ready we just got done with a break."

"Roger that. Sending you data." It was something I was trying to be careful with, how much data I sent. I couldn't just tell her that I knew exactly where the enemy were and how many of them. But sometimes needs must. I wasn't about to let the enemy drop bombs on my head.

I continued to overview the battlefield. Even as the roar of Stuka engines started up, and a Flight of the machines roared off our tarmac.

I was trying to figure out what this Commander was thinking. Our brief interaction had led me to believe she would go through the normal Combine playbook. But this level of hesitation was odd.

I mean I was using it of course. Our defenses were getting set up, and settled. It would help.

I rolled my eyes. "Delta Ops. You got another squad of infantry trying to move in on the north side. Take them out. I don't like these peepers."

Carls voice came through but I could hear he was tired. "Ugh, what is it with this person! How many scouts do they even have!?"

"You sound tired Carl. You okay?"

"Yeah, fine Commander. I set up a rotation, I'm actually in a command truck right now taking a break. I'll send Eris to this group. Her squad can handle them."

"Alright keep it up Carl. You and Delta have done amazing work."

"Thanks Commander. Delta out."

I was getting annoyed. Time to poke these people again.

"Hanna."

"Commander. You got orders for me?"

"I do. They have been setting things up for a while. I want you to go and outrange them. Take a Rhino squad, and just poke them and keep doing it. I don't want them to have a moment's rest on the north side."

"Oh Vicky. I knew you loved me. You give me the best jobs."

"Yeah yeah. Get out of here. And don't take any damage. I want a complete one sided assault. Hit them at ranges they can't."

"Roger!"

—-

Hanna Hayha was ready. Her grin was splitting her face as she stomped out of the defenses. Her squad followed after. Alpha Company, of the third Battalion. The 311th was created for one purpose. Long range. Accurate. Fire.

Using Lostech to hit outside the range of anyone else.

Vicky had given Hanna a choice of what she wanted to pilot, and what she wanted her Lance to use.

There had only been one active choice. Her Nightstar stomped forward, She had considered having her Lance us Highlanders for the mobility, but it was best to have an entire lance for that. So instead, her three lance mates were all in Marauder 2R's

"Hauptmann? What's the word?" Mara Romeo asked. Unlike most, she had gone the more odd naming scheme the Iron Blooded had picked up. She had picked her name after her mech, Started by Lenden Scorch.

"We are going to be sniping our enemy, Commanders rule. No taking damage. We are only supposed to hit them from out of their range."

"Damn. Commander giving us the tough missions."

"Slow down a bit Mara. Me and the Rhinos are slower than your Marauder."

"Ah! Sorry Hauptmann. My Maddy is just excited. I can feel it wanting to shoot some snakes."

"Yeah yeah. Keep it contained. We are going to prove to Benny that the 3rd Battalion is the elites, not him."

"You got it Hanna!"

They stomped out sticking to the road to the north. The Royal Rhinos, the mainstay SLDF LRM Carriers following behind us slowed but kept up well enough. Checking her sensor Hanna noticed the enemy definitely knew they were coming. Despite the ECM, they probably got them on Seismic, it wasn't like they were trying to be stealthy.

No, she wanted them to know who was coming. Hanna looked out, farther ahead, the long road covered on each side by copse of trees and then fields, ending at the enemy base. They had built up right on the road itself, uncaring about traffic and the like. No the infantry and mechs they had stored here were active, building defenses, although Hanna wasn't sure why.

They were well within Artillery range still… She was surprised Vicky hadn't blasted them into scrap yet. But that was for Vicky to worry about. As they appeared down the road the enemy jumped into action. Tanks and vehicles were readied, and Hanna could 'see' the lance of light mechs, Two panthers, and two Cicada start up and get ready for a battle.

Hanna had no intention of giving them a fight. "Alright Alpha! Hold here, Nav points are targeted. Looks like they did bring some LRM carriers. So let's show them ours!"

Hanna could hear the dark chuckle of the Rhino lance's Hauptmann as the Rhino's spread out and began aiming. Unlike the old Carriers, these were the SLDF versions a more advanced carrier than ones made by quickscell.

Hanna had stopped them just on the edge of LRM range. Sure it wouldn't lead to the most damaging barrages, but it still meant our Rhinos got in on the action.

Little did they know her weapons reached out a bit farther.

The enemy fired first. They had obviously set up some sort of system of where to fire their LRMs in case of an attack. So their carriers didn't hesitate a barrage of missiles arcing up and then down towards them. The rain of missiles wasn't deadly, but would have left some bad armor damage.

If the four Rhino's AMS systems didn't let loose a quiet roar as missile after missile simply exploded in mid air.

The Rhino's return volley had no such issues. Each Rhino had 2 LRM 20, on a turret, and a LRM 10 on the hull. With their ECM systems, it made them hard to hit to begin with. As the light rain of the enemy LRMs came in. The few that even got close to her detachment were soon shot from the air. Then the Rhinos opened up. Vicky really was right. Sure losing a bit of firepower hurt, but these things were much more useful.

The turret alone on the Rhino meant it could change targets in seconds without having to completely move.

The LRMs rained down focusing on the enemy LRM batteries. Hanna wanted to cut off any long range fire from the base.

While that happened the enemy mechs came out to fight.

She could see the moment the enemy mechs realized what it was they were facing. Two Panthers jumped over the ferrocrete walls they had set up, PPC aiming towards them.

Only to still for just a moment, when they got visuals on what it was they were up against.

Gauss Barked as Hanna fired, Both Panthers moved. A strange sort of motion almost bending the Panther at the waist backwards and then turning into a half side step meant her Gauss smashed into the walls behind them. Destroying two chunks out of the ferrocrete.

They didn't even fire back. Already knowing they were still out of range. So instead they jumped again. Both jumping in a different direction and forward. Hanna's lance opened up. While the Normal PPC was out of range. The ERPPC was well within range.

Burst after burst shot towards the sky. Hanna even added her own single ERPPC to the fray Only one of their barrage hit, shattering armor on the panther, but not disabling it, as it managed to land with a loud bang. Still out of range. I could practically hear the screams of rage from the pilot.

It must be horrible not to be able to shoot back.

So Hanna Fired her Gauss. This time she did a second hesitation aiming and waiting that half step. He engaged his Jets trying to jump out of the shot he expected.

Hanna fired a second after. Both Gauss rounds hammering into the Panther. Unfortunately at different points, Yet the force imparted screwed up his jump regardless pushed backwards nearly flipping around the pilot was… Damn good. He managed to spin hard enough that his legs took the brunt of the fall but that was still a nasty crash as he rolled a few times. The scream, of mech armor ripping apart echoed around.

"Don't get tunnel vision! We have four mechs. Hold, don't let the Rhino's take shots. Focus targets!" She almost cursed. Without the Rhino's she would have fallen back and led them around a bit, but now she was stuck in a line. This was a mistake, she realized. She hadn't expected the enemy to be able to get close. And she was going to pay for it.

The second Panther finally got into range and opened fire. A PPC arced out, and despite Hanna's attempts it shattered some armor on her shoulder. For it's trouble it received the sudden attention of two of her lancemates. Their ERPPC staggered out, each Marauder only shooting one at a time, leaving the poor Panther facing a wave of bolts. They didn't miss as much. Despite his best efforts.

The pilot knew what he was doing and Hanna had to admit, he was probably better than they were. But not that much better.

She grunted. As a PPC blasted into her. The Cicada had managed their objective, flanking in from the left and right, both had opened up on her. Her Nightstar felt the burn, armor shearing off at the lightning.

Her last Lancemate had kept their cool, as the Cicada on the right took his shot, he received not just two ERPPC blasts in return, but the AC/5 had barked out. The Cicada went down. He didn't rise back up.

The rest of the enemy were starting to charge in, hovercraft and tanks, trying to divert fire from their light mechs, but despite their best efforts, The Rhino's and Hanna's Lance were keep their fire constant.

Still Hanna was furious, she had already taken more damage than she expected. She opened fire. The Panther was taking damage, but he was spreading it, keeping his mech alive. Gauss barked. This time in separate shots, her Nightstar taking a step forward as it's fired a different gun every second. But for all her anger, this pilot was good. Realizing that the tables had turned, he took another shot, his PPC burning another mark in her armor as he jumped backwards, over the trees.

That didn't stop her from firing. Trees cracked and fell as Gauss burst through the cover, but he was moving fast, swiftly realizing she still had eyes on him, he ducked down, using cover of the roads higher level to keep himself safe enough to pull back the Cicada did the same. And despite her attempts. Once they started moving and got out of her range, Hanna could do nothing to chase them down.

"Alright everyone report in!" She roared out. Her blood boiling she would make them pay for that. She stomped up to the Panther still trying to regain it's feet. The Mechwarrior apparently still awake. She stomped with her Nightstar. Squashing the PPC arm under her 95 ton weight. A gauss rifle poked the cockpit literally butting up against the glass. "Surrender."

With the retreat, the enemy vehicles were butchered or fled, it was a bittersweet fact that they were able to claim this base without too much more resistance. Hanna got to stick around, watch the Mechwarrior be captured, and stuffed into a Norman by a few members of Rough Squad and driven back to base. Hopefully he would have some answers that Vicky would like.

"Dammit. I took damage. Vicky is going to be so annoyed."

—-

"So this is him?"

"Yep. Chu-I Sakamoto. He won't give us anything else. Just telling us his rank." Eris offered with a shrug. "It's pretty common for DCMS soldiers. I could get more out of him but it would involve… Rough measures."

"No, no torture. Just find out what Regiment he is with. I want to know why Tatyana is acting so weird."

"That I can do."

I walked off as Eris got back to work. Things had been going well enough. It was getting late into the day. I still had no idea what the Combine were thinking. They kept sending in Infantry into our area, only for them to get taken out before they can send any information back, but I expected some sort of reaction, or action on their part other than information gathering.

It was weird.

Their mechs had taken to staying in company sized formations. No more single Lances for us to pick off. Apparently Hanna's attack had startled them. But that was fine. They still didn't have good eyes on everything that I had brought. And under the cover of night a lot of work would be done.

The base around each of the dropships was buzzing. Despite the late hour, people were still rushing around. We would be switching to the third shift soon, although I haven't taken a break yet. Soon I promised myself. Once I finished up my last tasks. I checked in with a few of the commands. O'Connell was happy that the Combine had stopped sending aircraft over.

They had lost too many already to the Stuka.

But her people would stay on standby just in case.

Benny and 2nd Battalion would be taking over Command for the night. Hanna was irritable. Her Nightstar had taken a lot of damage for an assault that I had told her not to take any. But that was war. She had been surprised that Light mechs would charge into a Lance of Heavies.

She learned. And passed it around. It was a good learning experience even if it had her spitting nails.

Then I walked onto Whitebase, the storage hangar was emptied out, a purposeful act I had set up in advance, as I walked into the rear of the Hangar where a storage container was pushed against the wall. It was taller than it was wide, and with a hand pushed against a SLDF Security sensor hidden on the container. It slowly opened.

My Spector loomed over me in the dark.

"Time to get to work."

Loading into the secret mech gantry that was set up inside the cargo container. It had taken me a while to figure out how I was going to transport this thing without it becoming well known. It was too valuable as an unknown to let it just show up on our mech roster.

Once I was strapped in, the Chameleon and Null Sig hid me from prying eyes. Well as long as they weren't using one of my Sensors anyways. I spent a good half an hour replenishing our ammunition stores. We hadn't used much overall, but I made sure to stock up on LRMs, and our Artillery Unit would be happy. I made sure to make even more Long Tom Ammo for them. Plus a lot more Arrow IV missiles. We hadn't used any yet, but when it was time to go loud I wanted to make sure we didn't have to stop firing for anything.

Our six launchers would have plenty of ammo to keep them running.

I also made some additional armor plates, and random equipment we had discovered we needed more of through the day. Once that was done. The Hangar was opened at a radio call. The troops currently on lookout for me were those in the know. They would start passing out the additional equipment through the night.

Invisible-ish and undetected as I walked out of the hangar. Then out the hole in our defenses that had been purposefully opened. Then I went out into the farmland of Ko.

It was always a rush being a faster mech. I did love the Nightstar, assault mechs were definitely my true love. But there was something about feeling like you are the fastest thing in the world. I had three objectives tonight

First, Metal Extractor.

I raced out to the nearest extractor point. I did have to dodge through some defenses, but it was laughably easy to sneak through the Combines patrols. Considering how late it was, and how effective we had been at wiping out any attempts to scout the area.

In just a few minutes, my Medium Nanoforge had a metal Extractor at the point I had chosen. Although it took longer to hide it than to make it.

Once that was done. Objective 2 was active. With some actual metal income, I was ready to cause some havoc on the next day. Delta had come through of course. They always did. They had already had a few people sneak into the city. Jarlton was a big city, a Capital, even if Ko was more focused on agriculture, that still meant they had to have factories to process the food.

Which is why I ran east. Towards the city and where Delta had found an empty warehouse. I raced through the farms until I hit the city where I had to slow. Unlike before there were a lot of people in this city even if most of them were staying home.

The Combine had initiated a curfew.

That wouldn't stop us. With my Spector. I was able to walk around the few checkpoints by being difficult to see especially at night and knowing where the enemy all were. None of the soldiers had any idea of what was happening.

The walk to the warehouse went by without issue. The streets of the city were dead. And my invisible-ish mech didn't care about cameras.

With a single click on my radio, something that wouldn't be picked up if anyone from the Combine was listening. The warehouse opened and I stepped through the large rolling door closing behind me.

I popped the hatch of the Spector. "Alright Carl. You got me for a few hours. What do you need?"

The Nighthawk clad soldier gave me a grin. As he stood on one of the catwalks letting us talk without yelling.

"Bombs Commander. Lot's of Bombs."

Well that was easy enough. The Warehouse was flooded in green.