Mech Battle 4 - Kufstein
Written by BlackPhoenix
…. For The Clan no Sacrifice is to Great…
This rock was Kufstein, a twisted maze of canyons with no way out. The unique
mineral content restricted the use of Jump jets to lateral movement. To fly was all but
impossible. It took great skill just to get off the ground. This was the place that the of
House Excaliber decided to make their most forward base. They had only one man stationed
here to hold the entire inhabitable area of this small planet. His name was unknown, but
he was known as "Jack the Ripper". This ominous name came from the way mechs
were slaughtered and left inside the maze walls as signs to those who dared enter. This
rock had no other value, except that it gave Excaliber an excellent position to monitor
Clan Pendragon’s shipping and other flights in and out of the sector. The high
command determined that this must stop. The only problem was that Jack the Ripper was
good. He had been victorious against some of the best pilots tossed into the maze to get
him. They were gone and he was still there.
After an Excaliber attack on a freighter full of much need medical supplies.
The Pendragon command staff decided to try to get the Ripper once again. This time the job
fell to Mecha and his green wingman Black Phoenix. They were dropped into the maze on the
farside with orders to kill Jack the Ripper and bring back the Mech that had helped him
survive numerous attempts on his person. They very carefully picked their way through the
maze. Radar was useless with the strange minerals, so sight and sound played a major part
in sighting their prey. Jack found them first. His AC’s hitting Mecha as he rounded a
corner. Not much damage occurred, but it showed who was the master of the situation. The
Timberwolf Killerwatt seemed to be just outgunned. The heavy machineguns were no match for
the multiple AC’s of Jack the Ripper.
Mecha came up with a plan. Black Phoenix had managed to pick up one trick in
his training. Stealth had instructed him on how to get on top of the walls in the maze. It
was hard but could be done. Mecha told him to mount the walls, he (Mecha), would then draw
the Ripper out and BP could go for the kill while Ripper was concentrating on him. BP had
reservations about this plan but followed orders. He mounted the walls and waited. Using
the external camera made tracking Mecha easier than relying on sight. Moving along the
ridges using jump jets, BP stayed back at a discreet distance. Mecha wandered here and
there trying to draw fire from the notorious killer.
The fight started quickly, Ripper came from no where, the first burst of AC
fire destroyed Mecha’s left leg. BP was moving as fast as he could. The killer
circled and blew off one of the out gunned timberwolfs arms. Which started a fire in the
blown ammunition container. BP now had a visual on the battle. He saw the fire on
Mecha’s machine. He jetted right off the edge toward the Ripper. He spun in the air
and dumped machinegun fire into the cockpit of the enemy mech, while screaming into the
comlink.
"Eject, Eject, Eject….."
The cockpit of Jack the Ripper exploded into a shower of clear Endo-steel and
armor plating. The enemy mech fell to one side and lay on the ground. As he hit the ground
BP pivoted and saw Mecha eject, finally. The rescue parachute failed to open, (it had
burned away), and the escape pod with Mecha slammed into the earth. There was nothing left
but twisted burning metal, and the remains of what had been Mecha.
The rescue and recovery team arrived, they took the Ripper mech and were very
pleased with themselves on its capture. The only thing recovered from Mecha’s
wreckage was the flight recorder. The last thing it said was "…. Remember me
BP…". BP swore that he would. And to this day his mechs are all painted bright
yellow so that no other pilot can draw fire from him, he swore that no one would die in
his place again. This was the oath swore to a memory, a memory of a lost friend.