Mechwarrior - Dark Age 07 - By Temptations and By War by By Temptations & By War

Author:By Temptations & By War [Temptations, By & War, By]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-12T23:04:27+00:00

Overland Orchards

Paragon Province, Liao

Prefecture V, The Republic

10 July 3134

Wading through a bramble of spike-topped trees, Viktor Ruskoff slammed his throttle forward against the upper stop. HisZeus limped onward, eating up six meters in every stride as it pushed for speeds nearing sixty kilometers per hour. Naranji tree limbs snapped off as the eighty-ton BattleMech brushed past row after row, leaving smears of greenstick splinters down its legs. His machine’s left arm, amputated at the elbow, swung just above the dead canopy. Scattered machine gun fire pecked and prodded from thicker parts of the orchard, which the Legate ignored.

TheZeus broke through to a dirt road, passing between orchard stands, and Viktor throttled back as a new threat icon popped on his HUD. Half a klick along the road a Po II heavy tank crawled forward on chevron treads. A flash of electrical storm and a dark blur, and a Gauss slug shattered armor across theZeus’s right leg. Then the Po spun and powered into the next orchard, hiding from the assault ’Mech’s return fire and no doubt calling in support on its position.

Wrong again. The Po II immediately backed out, turret wheeled over, and struck at him a second time. A new Gauss round hammered into the assault ’Mech’s left side, raining shards of fractured armor around its feet.

The number of Viktor’s guesses being proven wrong were beginning to mount up. He’d guessed that he could move forces and supplies up to Qinghai from Paragon Province without alerting the Second McCarron’s Armored Cavalry. And then he’d gambled that a pair of BattleMechs and a mechanized infantry company would be enough to run vanguard on the convoy.

Now he was second-guessing Terrence McCarron himself, and paying dearly each time he underestimated his opponent.

Dropping his crosshairs over the Po’s blocky profile, Viktor reached out with large laser and missiles in an attempt to smash the cocky bastard before he dodged back into the orchard. McCarron hammered into a reverse-right tanker’s turn, taking the laser against his stronger front armor and letting the flight of missiles chew up nothing worse than the soft, black earth.

Staying into the turn through an entire one-eighty, the Po finally backed itself into the orchard and out of sight.

Rather than chase along the open road after McCarron, Viktor crossed the shoulder to wade once more into the sleeping orchard. Like flushing pheasant, a pocket of Achileus and Infiltrators popped up on jets, scattering in three different directions. The Legate ignored them, turned hisZeus eastward, chasing after the Po II and the leader of McCarron’s Second.

“Alpha, Bravo,” Ruskoff barked into his mic. “Report.”

“Alpha, NOC.”

No official change. Which meant the 122nd Pathfinders were still down one transport and three men, and had yet to claim an enemy kill.

“Bravo. Lose one Harraser.” Both VTOLs down now. “Cripple one Demon and score a squad of Infiltrators on the belly flop.”

So the VTOL had spoil-sported and crashed itself into a McCarron’s armored infantry squad.

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