Mech Battle 6 - Anniversary
Written by BlackPhoenix
It had been a year since the passing of Rouge Wolverine. The anniversary
brought a time of contemplation for the entire clan. Reddragon was no exception. On the
planet Avon the clan had constructed a scale model of the mighty Pendragon hall of honor.
This was the resting-place of Rogue Wolverine. Avon’s mighty plateau’s served as
sentinels over the resting-place of the Pendragon leader, silent watchers of the ages, to
guard the tomb of a king. The scaled down hall was the most revered place in the Pendragon
realm of influence. The holiest of their shrines, it was here that Reddragon came to pay
his respects and seek guidance for the future of the clan. He came alone and unarmed, as
tradition demanded. Rogue Wolverine had spoken against violence to bring weapons to this
place of honor would have been unforgivable. It was a shame that not all thought in the
same manner.
Reddragon knelt at the base of the tribute to the great leader. A brief moment
of silence, to seek a peace that was little known to the Khan of the mighty clan.
"I had a feeling that you could not give even a moments respite for
honoring our dead." He said while staring at the monument and never looking behind
him.
"Peace comes with death." Came the amplified reply.
Reddragon slowly rose to his feet and brushed the creases of his pants and
turned to face the one that would dare interrupt. Not 20 feet away stood a Maddog, the
sleek little scout mech painted the dull gray of Comstar, the only color was the crest of
this upstart house emblazoned and the left breast.
Reddragon looked into the shaded cockpit but could not see the pilot, as if it
mattered. "And what do you hope to accomplish with this little stunt?" came the
cold voice of RD.
"Your death." Boomed the voice from the external speaker.
"And what will my death prove?"
"It will prove" Again boomed the voice. "That Pendragon can not
even protect it’s own Khan. So how can it protect others?"
Reddragon shook his head in agreement. It seemed that Comstar finally had a
good plan. Will wonders never cease?
"You kill me and it proves nothing, and I would like to let you know that
sometimes death is not THAT bad of an option."
The fast little mech settled on to it leg actuators, and the heavy machineguns
took aim on the center of RD’s chest. The thought of death is with every warrior, but
RD had always thought he would die at the controls of his Warhammer not standing in the
dirt in a cemetery. But there were times when your options were up. He stood tall and
prepared for the inevitable.
Two hundred meters out and 250 meters up, to the west of this little scene 6
jump jets fired. The bright yellow Warhammer they were connected to cleared the edge of
the plateau and was in a controlled ballistic descent. (Like a big yellow rock). At over
400 meters a minute the Warhammer slammed into the Maddog just above the area that would
have been the knees the side impact hit the much smaller mech with enough impact to knock
it completely off the small plateau where it stood. The pilot was taken completely off
guard and did not regain control during the fall. The small mech hit on its top and killed
the pilot before he knew the ground was coming up fast. Missiles struck the edge of the
flat-topped hill as Comstar reinforcements fired at the Warhammer. The angle was wrong at
they struck the edge harmlessly. The yellow mech bent over and extended the heavy barreled
auto-cannon that was its arm to RD. The Khan climbed on, and as the mech stood up and
raised it’s arm RD scrambled into the opening cockpit.
"Hang on boss it is going to get real interesting in just a second."
BlackPhoenix called over his shoulder as he put the large killing machine into motion. The
Warhammer took off at maximum speed and ran right off the edge away from the enemy. The
warning claxon went off and the automated voice of the computer screamed of incoming
missiles. BP slammed the button for directional jets and RD was slammed into the bulkhead
as the machine jetted to the left. Most of the missiles missed but a few found their
target.
"What are you doing here?" asked RD
"Giving you a ride home, boss" was the quick reply.
Rd looked over BP’s shoulder at the radar. There were a lot of blips
behind them and closing fast.
"Think we can make it?" was RD’s question mostly to himself.
"We got to stay alive for 2 minutes. We do that we are live forever."
The statement seemed outlandish to RD but what choice did he have. BP changed frequencies
on the radio and started yelling into the mike. "WE GOT TROUBLE DOWN HERE AND COULD
USE SOME HELP!" With this BP slammed the directional jets again throwing Rd to the
back of the small cockpit, cutting the back of his head. It took a few seconds for RD to
regain his senses, and this was just as the jets fired again tossing RD the other way, but
this time he braced and was left uninjured. Most of the missiles were avoided but a few
hits came with every rack full fired at them. It would not be long at this rate before
they were destroyed. BP jammed the jets again and the machine shot up and to the left.
"Heat level critical, heat level critical." Screamed the warning
system. BP hit the override switch to let the craft overheat. "Hold on! We’re
going down boss." BP said over his shoulder. The Mech hit the ground with a groan.
The alarm bells informed them that when they landed, and that it had damaged the leg or
legs. The speakers started droning their songs of damage.
"Critical damage leg, critical damage hip, Critical dama…" BP
slapped at the button to quiet it. One more nail in their coffin. They were headed for the
closest hill to try for cover. Both of them hoping for the jets to cool so they could get
airborne again. Reddragon looked at the quickly approaching stone barrier. "What is
that?" he asked pointing out the clear Endo-steel that was the cockpit. BP looked up.
A large dark area was growing in size and getting bigger quickly. "SHIT!" was
the only word as he jammed the jets hard right with the precious little juice he had left.
The flat black mech of DarkWizard passed overhead, close enough that the 2 pilots
instinctually ducked. DW landed with the full force of 80 tons of armor moving 400
kilometers an hour on the fast closing Maddog. He bounced off the wreckage as it crumbled
and was in the air again.
It seemed as if Pendragon Warhammers were everywhere. Dropping from every
direction. The larger mech had a given advantage in the collisions. The kinetic energy was
no match for the smaller lightly armed scout Maddogs. Of the 5 Maddogs that landed 3 died
in the first 5 minutes of the counter attack. The others were cleaned up in no time.
BP looked back at RD and saw that he was on the floor and bleeding from the
head. He headed for the landing zone at the best speed he could make. Which wasn’t
much with the damaged legs and burned out jump jets. He reported the situation to DW. DW
and ProPhet dropped to the ground beside the moving BP and hooked their heavy AC’s
under the arms of his mech and jumped into the air. The two carried the damaged mech to
the hospital ship "Nightingale" that was standing by for just such an emergency.
It took 14 stitches to close the cut on RD’s head. They also believed he had a slight
concussion. There were other injuries but nothing that mattered. Pendragon lost one mech
but that was to failure of jump jets at high altitude. RD came out of the recovery room
and BP, DW, and PP were waiting. He shook hands all around and congratulated them for not
violating the "No weapons on Avon" amendment, and want to know whose idea it was
to bring mechs to a place of honor. This caused BlackPhoenix, to try his best to look
innocent. (It didn’t work at all.) He shrugged shoulders and spoke up.
"Trust no one, suspect everyone. Paranoia is a wonderful thing if it works
for you Sir."
RD just shook his head. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He looked at
BP and asked.
" Do you always fly like that?"
"OH NO SIR! I was trying to impress the Khan so I took it easy." The
big grin was kind of disturbing but it was accepted. RD and this gang of cutthroats locked
the mechs in the dropship then headed for his yacht and home.