Chapter Eighteen


Tiki Province

Circe

Clan Space

11 October 2823


Point Commander Cale signaled the first contact with a hint of tension in his voice. Star Captain Trish Ebon listened carefully. I have to set the tone here. “This is Amber Star. I have multiple signals on the ground and closing at moderate speed on your position.”

She licked her lips. Both the Khan and the new saKhan had contacted her and had given her both warning and rules of engagement. Reinforcements had arrived, and her work had been stepped up from simple inventorying of the Brian Cache to removal of the goods inside. “You are authorized to ignore our normal rules and conditions for combat trials,” Franklin had told her. She had heard the words, but at the same time had cursed them. Total war was an ugly thing. The rules regarding trials had removed some of that horror. Now her Khans were unleashing her from their restrictions.

Damn them all.

Her own long-range sensors picked up the mag readings of multiple BattleMechs closing on her position. She switched to tie in communications and read their IFF transponders. It was a mix of Clan forces. Jade Falcons—no surprise there, given their loss of the bunker earlier. There was a Ghost Bear contingent, a Star of ’Mechs. The Wolves were there, and the Coyotes. The Steel Vipers were present as well, though they only came with a pair of BattleMechs. It was insulting on its own.

These were the forces that had won the Trials of Possession for the Brian Cache. The only problem was that they had no right to it. It was property of the Wolverines. Trish knew she had some advantages in the fight. These were discreet Clan forces. They would not be willing to coordinate their efforts. She could divide them easily enough, since they would struggle to work together. Numerically, the odds were even. She knew the terrain well enough, but the Jade Falcons had scouted it and knew it as well.

The best edge she had was that she was not going to stand on formality. The Khans had told her that she didn’t have to, and she wasn’t going to. Trish had met with her warriors and told them what was happening, told them that these Clans were going to come. She told them that they were coming to rob the Wolverines. They were behind her and behind Khan McEvedy. “We have incoming targets. I will attempt to…” she hesitated for a moment, “…negotiate with them. If that does not work, I expect you all do to what is right for your Clan.”

Negotiate? Negative. I want to lay waste to them. I hate having responsibility.

Trish switched to the broadband channel. “This is Star Captain Trish Ebon of Clan Wolverine. Approaching force, identify yourself and your intentions.”

After a moment, a deep voice came on. “This is Star Captain Jacob Hall of Clan Ghost Bear. We represent the winners of Trials of Possession for the contents of the Brian Cache you are occupying. Under the authority of the Grand Council of the Clans, we have come to claim what is ours; won by battle and blood.”

I do not think so. “Negative,” she replied. “You are on soil owned by Clan Wolverine. We do not recognize these trials you speak of. This is a holding of our Clan and possessions of our people. If you approach and attempt to steal the material here, we will be forced to defend ourselves.”

The pause told her they were trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation. “With what forces will you defend this cache?”

So, you want to play by the rules, query affirmative? “It will not work that way, Star Captain. In our eyes, you are invaders and plunderers. We cannot and will not tolerate a move against this facility.”

“You would risk civil war with the Clans, quineg?”

I am not risking anything.”

A laugh, a deep, dark belly laugh. “Let us see what you have.”

Trish looked at her sensors. Total war had come to Circe.




“Amber Star, sweep to the west and then cut back. Hit the flank of those Coyotes! Make them howl!” Trish said through gritted teeth. Her new model Pulverizer felt smooth and steady under her control. A Ghost Bear Sentinel painted blue and gray was trying to drive on her own flank, but she had other plans. Her ’Mech was equipped with one of the new extended range particle projection cannons, “gutbusters,” they had been nicknamed by the warriors for their enhanced damage. She swung her gutbuster online to her current trigger, and locked her targeting reticle onto the Sentinel.

The Ghost Bear’s ultra autocannon spat a nasty barrage of shells that hit her cockpit…a reminder that these warriors were playing for keeps. She returned the favor, firing the ER PPC. The brilliant blue flash of charged particles hit the flank of the Ghost Bear warrior. It burrowed deep, sending a spray of molten armor splattering into the air. The Sentinel reeled in mid-step, then went down. It still showed as operational, but was out of the fight for a few minutes.

The battle had been going well. As she had expected, each of the attackers was trying to fight the Wolverines alone on their terms. The Steel Vipers’ pair of Lancelots had punched through her pickets and driven into her Star—taking down two Wolverine ’Mechs before both succumbed to deadly barrages.

The Jade Falcons had tried to take advantage of the fight and turn the flank. She had not been so forgiving. In the tight wooded area they had tried to move through, she had caught them on a ridge commonly known as Wombat Ridge. The plummet down the ridge to the river was deadly and almost impassible for a ’Mech. Her force had pushed them off the high ground. The cost had been considerable, but the end she had smashed Star Captain Trall’s Bombardier with two salvos herself. In the wooded terrain, the long-range firepower of the Falcon ’Mechs had been all but neutralized.

Her force was mangled despite their victories. She still had a Star and a half of BattleMechs on the field, but all of them had taken some damage. Point Commander Cale reported that the only force that had not attacked yet was the Wolves. Like their namesakes, they skirted the edge of the battlezone, stalking, awaiting the right moment to strike.

Trish decided to not wait any longer. “All units re-form on a line due west of the trail road.” The roadway had been hastily cut through the woods to remove the material from the Brian Cache. It was nothing more than a muddy bog most of the time, but the dryness of the last few days had turned it into hardened clay and dust. It was also one of the few areas were the terrain was clear enough for a shot. “We will hit the Wolves and fall back to the road. We’ll wrap up their flanks there and eradicate them.”

Lumbering her Pulverizer to the road, she watched her long-range sensors and was surprised to find the Wolves were turning her flank. “Bloody hell.”

“Say again?” came back Cale’s voice.

“The Wolves are shifting toward the cache. All units form on the road and charge to the bunker.” The column fell in behind her and started at a full trot down the road.

The Wolf Clan BattleMechs were spread out on the top of the Brian Cache. Felled trees were everywhere, casually taken down by Wolverine laborers. Firing down the roadway, they could not miss the lead ’Mech—her ’Mech. Her Pulverizer caught a salvo of no less than forty long-range missiles and multiple lasers. Trish felt her brand new BattleMech grind and moan around her as she pressed forward enough into the small clearing so that her force could fan out on the flanks.

Her footing slipped. She danced her targeting reticle down as her ’Mech fell. As the sight drifted across a Wolf Crab, a cobalt burst of energy hit the right arm of the tube-like ’Mech and tossed it hard back, sending its laser shot searing into the wood line beyond her.

The Pulverizer dropped hard and she saw the damage indicators paint a horrible story of carnage. Yellows and reds covered her torso and legs, indicating that the armor had been holed in many places. The Thorn behind her, piloted by MechWarrior Cox, only lasted for a single salvo before it was obliterated. The Wolf Clan Crab went down, probably from a shot from Cale’s Stag II. The Stag II was one of the prototypes rushed out of the plant. Cale’s still had only gray undercoating for paint on it. Using the Stag chassis, it had a much larger engine and weapons mix, trading speed and death for armor.

The woods burst into flames as she rocked her Pulverizer back up. The sides were not evenly matched. She saw that. We might win the day, but have nothing left to show for it. And the Wolves get nothing but an empty bunker. Her long-range sensors showed two of the badly damaged Ghost Bear ’Mechs, including the Sentinel she had taken down earlier, were back up and looking for a fight.

“Wolverines!” she called to her unit. “We need to fall back. Drop into the woods and fall back.”

“Sir?” Cale answered.

“Let them have those nukes. It is all that is left there anyway,” she said wearily. As if to emphasize her point, she fired her lasers at the Highlander the Wolves were moving forward. The hit did nothing but seem to mess up the paint job on the massive Assault ’Mech, but it was enough for them to know that they had been struck and struck hard by the Wolverines. Let them gnaw on that for a while.