BattleTech: Slack Tide: A BattleCorps Anthology by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Paula guided her Ostroc through the winding streets of Cartwright, her reduced lance in tight formation around her. Zöey was directly behind her with the Shadow Hawk—Candace’s ’Mech was the one she had the most stick time in, after Heartbreaker, so Zöey could handle it well enough. Shooting while moving was still a trick she was still getting the knack of, however. In the lead of their small group was Sergeant Hu in her Raven, the St. Ives expatriate piloting one of the few upgraded BattleMechs in the regiment. The advanced sensors were allowing Paula’s lance to skirt Jade Falcon pickets as Second Battalion followed Third Battalion into Cartwright.

She watched her monitors as her three tanks followed on a parallel side street—she’d entered Cartwright with only half her remaining battalion, but so far no one had mentioned it. Not surprising, since the sergeant major had known she was coming in light. She slowed her walk and double-checked her monitors: according to DeKalb’s orders, her force was the rear point of a diamond punching straight into the heart of Cartwright. His command lance was in the middle, with his two remaining platoons of infantry, while the remainder of his lances skirmished with the Jade Falcons. According to the damage reports, very few of Third Battalion’s BattleMechs had been hit yet, an amazing display of terrible gunnery on the part of the Clan forces. She saw his command lance slow, and double-clicking her mic, told her lance to follow her as she picked up her pace.

She found the sergeant major in his Banshee standing dead center in a traffic circle, surrounded by a handful of APCs and two infantry platoons pulling security. Standing with their weapons pointing in the other cardinal directions were his lancemates, in a Wasp, Hatchetman, and Zeus.

“They’re almost at Objective Gamma,” the sergeant major said over an open channel. “Stephan, take up position next to Martin, get ready to lead us south. Without acknowledging, the Hatchetman moved next to the Wasp.

Gamma was an objective that Major DeKalb had identified, a crossroads deep in Cartwright the lead lance had to take and hold in order for the rest of the regiment to pass through. When coordinating between the sergeant major and Star Captain Marisa, Paula had designated Objective Gamma the point of no return.

“Gamma,” reported the southernmost lance, and slightly turning his Banshee toward Paula, the sergeant major replied, “Understood.”

On a secondary monitor, Paula saw the Banshee’s IFF flutter from friendly green to the light gray of unidentified before the computer recalculated it and switched it back to green. Muttering a quick prayer, she reached over to rotate a black dial on her IFF system, activating a secondary frequency alongside the first one. The Identify Friend or Foe system could be set to broadcast on several frequencies at once; many units would set it to broadcast the common IFF identifier on the primary and a battalion or company ID on the alternate, to help commanders understand the locations of all their forces.

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