NEW EXETER SPACEPORT
EMPORIA
FEDERATED SUNS
8 APRIL 3150
0107 HOURS
Yoshizawa settled into his Hatamoto-Suna as Fume climbed into the Wolverine. Neither of the other MechWarriors said anything as Shujin Nagano stayed on the ground. Go-cho Burton climbed into the Quasimodo while Chu-i Amago was already in the Venom. They all waited on Yoshizawa’s word.
Of course, his word would have to be hand and light signals. This wasn’t the first time they’d fought without comms. It wouldn’t be the last. The Seventh already had a silent ’Mech language. They were nothing if not adaptable.
While he had been calm in front of everyone, Yoshizawa was less calm in the privacy of his cockpit. Decades of fighting as the underdog had trained the appearance of calm into him. His voice remained steady as he tried the comms to make sure they were still blocked, and he threw the obfuscating towel away.
The Ostsol stood before him. He looked at his ’Mech’s systems. The targeting array was still offline. To fire now was to waste ammo. Still, the sight of the sixty-ton enemy ’Mech lit up in front of him made his heart pound.
With good reason.
While Yoshizawa watched, the Ostsol opened fire on the Venom, focusing all its laser attacks on the light ’Mech. At the same time, missiles and PPC fire from another ’Mech, currently out of sight, struck the Quasimodo in the chest. Fire spread across the medium ’Mech. The Venom activated its jump jets, attempting to leap out of danger, but it was too late. Its left leg collapsed, followed by the rest of the ’Mech.
He did not see Chu-i Amago escape the heavily damaged machine, but the Ostsol stopped firing as soon as the ’Mech fell. At least she wouldn’t be boiled alive in her cockpit—the MechWarrior’s greatest nightmare. Only the gods kept it from being played out before him.
A series of laser hits and a second volley of missiles from the unseen attacking ’Mech struck the Quasimodo and knocked it to one knee. Yoshizawa shouted his rage. They were sitting ducks. Target practice for the enemy. Why hadn’t he had his lance already powered up? Why hadn’t he listened to Fume when she wanted a lance left behind for patrols?
Akimoro had insisted the lances would be more useful elsewhere. Joji had agreed. It was rare for the chu-sa and sho-sa to be in complete agreement. Had Joji and Akimoro planned to see Fume fail? Was this the result of inner-council politics he didn’t know about? It was no secret that Fume was his chief advisor. Now she was next to him, an unwilling target of enemy ’Mechs they could not yet fight back against.
The voice of his inner demons whispered through his pounding head. Not just any enemy, O great tai-sa. Cadets. These are cadets killing your people.
As he thought this, the Ostsol fired its ER large laser at the Wolverine, trying to knock it down as well. The Wolverine staggered before it launched a volley of short-range missiles at the Ostsol, but with its targeting system offline, Fume missed by much more than he expected. She should’ve been able to get closer than she did. Another focused blast knocked the Wolverine prone.
Then the Ostsol stopped firing and turned away. It took several large steps to the west, looked back at the DropShip, then took two more.
“Fume, comm check.” Yoshizawa tilted his head. “Go-cho Burton, comm check.”
Nothing. Even though the Ostsol was distracted, it had made certain to keep them within its ECM range. Then he saw what had caught the Ostsol’s attention. It was a Griffin, jumping through the debris of the spaceport with a couple of Kishi troopers chasing it. A bark of laughter escaped his lips. It was like watching fleas chase a dog. The fact that they were so distracted and scared by battle-armored infantry that by all rights should have no chance against multiple ’Mechs, brought home once more that they were being beaten by mere cadets.
Again.
Two of the Kishi attached themselves to the Griffin. The Ostsol moved in to help. It was time for Yoshizawa to move, whether or not his ’Mech was ready. Better to take advantage of the enemy’s distraction than remain an open target. Next to him, the Quasimodo regained its feet and took three steps forward, out of the DropShip bay, only to be rounded on by a couple of tanks and an armored car.
The Goblin Troop Transport caught his attention. It bristled with weapons sticking out through the firing ports. Was it filled with rescued nobles or greenhorn infantry cadets? He suspected it was the rescued nobles, but didn’t care. He fired a single shot from his Gauss rifle, barely missing. It didn’t matter; a small miss was as bad as a big one. The Goblin moved as if electrified as the tarmac near it exploded. The driver was good, but not good enough. Yoshizawa would not miss again. He sight-aimed the Gauss rifle. He would hit the enemy vehicle—and end much of Emporia’s threat against the Seventh in that single shot—even without the targeting system online.
The Quasimodo crashed to the ground next to him.
Yoshizawa was shocked. He hadn’t seen it happen. How could it have occurred without more ’Mechs on site? He looked through the canopy and saw nothing. How? Damn their eyes! May every single one of them burn in the hell of unending ash. I need my comms. I need to know what’s happening.
He had the vague idea the Quasimodo’s prone position had something to do with the Vedette tanks. As much as he wanted to pursue that line of thought, he wanted his comms back even more. He moved out of the DropShip and fired on the Ostsol, striking it in the side. Fume moved as well, hopping toward the downed Quasimodo. She had seen something he hadn’t. She fired at the Ostsol, but again missed as her targeting system must still be offline.
As the Wolverine bent over the Quasimodo, laser fire struck it, but only scorched the armor. Yoshizawa let the battle rage take him. He fired the Gauss rifle and both MRM 20s at the Ostsol. At the same time, he fired his laser at the Goblin.
The Ostsol’s return fire was the thrown Kishi—which crashed into the Hatamoto’s canopy hard enough to crack it.
Yoshizawa clawed the dead commando from his ’Mech’s head and saw what he feared most as he tossed the wreckage to the side. Sprinting from the admin building were the Vogels, led by a cadet with wild red hair. The girl opened the back of a jeep for them. He felt a fleeting satisfaction that Lady Shannon half dragged the baron with her, that he could not run on his own. Yoshizawa stepped forward, intending to grab the jeep and either crush it in his fist or throw it at the Ostsol like the enemy had thrown the Kishi.
As he turned his attention on them, he flicked on the Hatamoto’s searchlight, its intense beam focused on the jeep. Yoshizawa activated his external speakers to announce his summary execution of the Vogels and the upstart cadet—then one of the Vedette tanks zoomed out in front of him to put itself between the jeep and the Hatamoto. Yoshizawa grimaced and brought his Gauss rifle to bear on the offending Vedette.
Collision detection alarms screamed as his ’Mech rocked from impact, bringing him out of his focused revenge. Something was around his legs. He felt two more collisions against his chest as the damage showed on his sensors. Then the Hatamoto was dragged forward.
It fell. Yoshizawa had enough battle sense to rotate his torso before he slammed to the ground. His ’Mech’s left shoulder hit instead of its head.
The fall to the spaceport tarmac still knocked him senseless for a few precious seconds. When he regained himself, he was facing one of the Vedettes. The tank drove in reverse, yanking and pulling on the harpoon line attached to the Hatamoto’s chest. Snarling as his head throbbed, Yoshizawa shifted his left arm and pointed it at the Vedette.
The first Gauss-rifle slug struck the tank in the side, ripping it open. He saw flailed movement within the tank and fired again. This time, he struck the Vedette’s ammo and the entire tank exploded in a huge ball of fire. With any luck, the explosion took out the jeep and the Vogels with it.
He blinked away the grey tunnel that wanted to force him into darkness and focused on trying to get his Hatamoto off the ground, but he discovered his legs were wrapped up in chains somehow. Twisting his head, he fired his laser at the Ostsol, but it was a useless gesture. His opponent wasn’t even paying attention to him.
Yoshizawa’s face burned with fury and humiliation. They’d brought him down in such an unexpected way. Then they didn’t consider him a danger anymore. Yoshizawa fought with the Hatamoto’s controls, trying to get it on its feet even as he fought to get his stunned mind to remain conscious.
The Quasimodo half combat-crawled, half dragged itself in front of the Hatamoto while the Wolverine stepped over the assault ’Mech and straddled it, hunkering down. To his eternal shame, as the Quasimodo’s Blue Shield Particle Field Damper shimmered in front of his face, Yoshizawa realized that both of his lance’s MechWarriors were turtling over and protecting him, giving him as much cover as they could. The last thing he saw was several other Emporia ’Mechs approaching from the west.