Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Nine: Survival

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Nine: Survival

Haynesville, May 15th, 3035

"Well, looks like we got some work ahead of us Sergeant Smith." The last officer of the militia observed as the two of them looked at the industrialmechs parked in and around the workshop of a nearby lumber town.

"Looks that way, sir," the militia Sergeant replied. "We've got a MuckRaker here that we can modify along with a Lumberjackand a couple of Busters here."

"ICE is the way to go on these machines," Lieutenant Dan Rawley agreed. "Let's get to work on these before the enemy tries looking for us."

The small band of soldiers began filling the industrialmech workshop, everyone following the commands of the lone surviving combat engineer among them.

"This is going to take a couple of days," The combat engineer confided in Lieutenant Rawley and Sergeant Smith. "And there's a limit to how much we can do at once without more people having the expertise that I do."

"I figured something like this would happen," Lieutenant Rawley replied. "I'll work up some delaying actions on the enemy forces for now, and we'll regroup here in a couple of days."

"Most of this town is deserted," Sergeant Smith said after a moment. "And it's mainly off of the beaten path."

"And we don't have any satellites that might give away our position," Dan noted. "This makes it a decent place to operate out of for now while we start scouting out where the enemy is located."

"Sarge, I want you to find our local boy and use him as a point of contact," Dan ordered. "I'm going to see if I can borrow or buy a couple of the civilian vehicles to use for scouting purposes and then take some of our guys to go look for weak points."

"Yessir," Sergeant Smith responded. "I'll get started on finding us some housing."

May 16th, 3035

"Looks like they pulled some of our intact vehicles back for salvage," Dan said as he looked through a set of binoculars. "The Partisan looks like it's been rebuilt already."

"Makes sense," a corporal spoke up. "They didn't have much AA with them that we noted."

"Looks like they've already got the two Bulldogs up and running again as well," Dan said. "Seems like the Captain was right in making that purchase."

"Sir, it looks like there is a gap in the patrols on the Northeast section."

"We're in a good position for now," Dan replied. "So we'll wait and see if that gap is still there tonight."

"Copy that sir," the twelve men then settled down to rest in shifts while someone kept an eye on the enemy motor pool.

–

–

"Alright, we're moving to take the Bulldogs. The rest of the machines we'll have to leave behind for now," Dan ordered. "I'm taking a small group with me to cause some mayhem and hopefully distract them away from our theft of equipment."

"Victor, you're with me," Dan told the lone Lyran immigrant that was a part of their militia formation. "We're going to see just how effective a Lyran chemical technician can be when we start blowing things up."

"I brought my cookbook with me," the other man pulled out a small book of handwritten notes stapled to a copy of the Anarchist's cookbook. "Let's go, we won't have a lot of time to manufacture these, and we're going to have a lot to do."

–

–

Dan and the chemical tech began moving quickly away from the locations of the IEDs that they had just set. They were on a time crunch and needed to leave the area of operations before they were discovered and captured by the enemy.

The two men began moving at a full sprint as explosions and incendiary fuel began to spread over some areas of the enemy base.

"If you had given me a forewarning then I would have been able to do more than superficial damage," the tech gasped out as they reached the motor pool.

"We didn't have the time," Dan replied as they reached the outskirts. "They already got the Bulldogs out, so we're going to have to take something else."

"That Warrior looks like it's fuelled up and ready to go," the Lyran pointed out.

"We're lucky that I know how to fly one of these," Dan said as they strapped themselves into the VTOL. "It's been a while though so it may be a bit bumpy."

The Warrior began to lift off as the rotors spun at an impressive speed. Then, tilting forward a touch, the VTOL began to move at its maximum speed towards the town that the militia was using as their base.

"Nothing is showing up on our sensors," The Lyran said as he looked at the readouts from the computers.

"Good, we're going to land and then do a quick debrief," Dan replied. "We're going to have to bunker down for a bit because of the damage we just caused."

May 17th, 3035

"We just kicked open a hornet's nest, people," Lieutenant Dan told the soldiers of the Haynesville militia. "We're going to have to rush the modifications to the Industrialmechs and get the rest of our vehicles hidden properly."

"Everyone who is left in the town of Haven is going to be supporting us," Sergeant Smith spoke up. "Some of them are volunteering to fight with us and the rest are going to be helping hide us."

"We're going to be securing our vehicles in metal-rich areas and locations," Dan told the soldiers. "The cave that we were in before moving to this location can hold most of our vehicles, but we're going to have to find some other locations for our new industrialmechs and the Warrior that we stole."

"There's a scrapyard about fifty klicks away from here we can use," Smith said.

"Good, we've got a lot of work to do, and there's never enough time to do it in," Dan said. "So let's get moving and get things done." Dan's voice then turned hard. "Because in a week we're going to start bleeding the invaders."

"Oorah!" The soldiers replied before dispersing to their various tasks.

"Doc, how long till our wounded are back up and moving?" Dan pulled their medic to the side.

"Some of them should be good to go in a couple of days. But the rest?" The medic shook her head. "A couple of weeks? And they won't be at a hundred percent. I don't have access to the proper tools or equipment."

"Just do what you can doc," Dan said in response. "We'll get you what you need."

"LT, I didn't even finish medical school yet, I'm still in my fourth year at the local Sharpshooter center, I haven't even graduated yet," The medic began to rant a bit. "I'm not a trauma surgeon for Christ's sake!"

"I know that Doc," Dan replied in a soothing tone. "We're not expecting miracles, just that you help keep us in the fight."

The medic took a deep calming breath before speaking again. "I'll do my best LT, I'll do my best."

Author's note: I'm taking some pages from a couple of Battletech Dark Age novels in the refitting of the Industrialmechs.