Lancer Command Compound
1512 hrs 7 December
As the last of the Word Of Blake machines retreated from the facility, Major Farquharson could only shake his head at the audacity… and the no small amount of luck they had managed in this defense. Wiping the blood from his temple, the wound courtesy of a hammerstrike of a particle cannon to his head assembly towards the end, he assessed what remained of the defenses… and the number of Blakist machines left behind.
The WoB assault had noticeably shifted tactics as it became apparent they were not going to bowl the Lancer defense over. Lighter machines began to retreat where they could and the remaining heavier machines, a Grand Crusader and a Buccaneer on Hartman’s side of the field, targeted his Atlas with everything they had and forced an ejection as the grinning skull head of his machine was smashed yet again. But in the process of his mech being dropped, DJ had crushed one Buccaneer at his feet with a big foot then laid into the WoB assault machine in front of him.
Sean’s daughter Destiny, who had been racing to help her uncle, earned the attention of the Grand Crusader as another Buccaneer took up attacking DJ. The Assault machine nearly cut her poor Panther in half, with deadly accurate long-range fire. Sean came around the corner and helped DJ put an end to the Blakist- it was even money who put it down, really… but it died for shooting his friend and nearly killing his daughter.
The rest of Destiny’s lance helped Dog Robber Edgar and Tony G put down the remaining Buccaneer even as Chief Colt laid into that machine with all his lasers. Said energy assault raised the heat levels of his exec’s Rifleman to near shut down levels… but sometimes, cooking yourself was worth it. And in this instance, very much so.
Over on the far side where Alpha had been sitting as reserve, they absolutely decimated a Level II that had apparently detailed to secure the hangers within the Old Compound. Several Gurkhas and a Raijin had discovered four Warhammers and a Black Knight were a bad thing to face at nearly point blank range. A Viking had attempted to play hide and seek with a Grand Dragon and one of the prized Royal Warhammers. The Alpha company Tempest had played pheasant hunter and picked off the Hawker LAM as it tried to escape the confines of the camp, a gauss slug and energy burse of a large pulse shearing off a wing which sent thy hybrid machine into a death dive.
A White Flame, which had tried to support the effort of it fellow attackers, wisely departed the camp as a Warhammer and the Tempest turned their attention to the late comer. He jumped out over the walls to join the rest of its Level II as it engaged the Challenger platoon that had been moving to support the Typhoon demi-company up in the armor compound.
Not that the big city=fighting machines needed the assistance.
Several Celestial class Omnimechs had ventured over here to support a different Level II and realized how much an error it was when they pounced. Six Class Twenty cannon barked along with an obnoxious amount of short range missiles were unleashed… and when the smoke trails of the missiles cleared away, two Celestials- a Seraph and a Malak– joined the Cicada from the west side Level II in death.
Joined by the two Rhino Assault Support tanks, the six Typhoons proceeded to clean house with some of their number joining the axe maniacs of Delta in going after the Cicada’s Level II group mates. Between some of the armor and some long-range fire from Delta’s Catapult, the Berserker and Axman of Delta proceeded to stomp the attackers.
Early on, a Battlemaster from that group had managed to close on Sean and the others of Charlie on this side of the field. And the assault machine seemed to target his Marauder early. By singling him out, those defenders on this side were free to shoot the Blakist Assault machine or lend fire to support the hatchet assault going on in the Blakist lines.
In any event, it was a near thing for the good Major, as the Battlemaster fell under the combined guns of of everyone who was not firing at distant foes. The damage his Marauder had taken was substantial… but had not prevented him from going to help out DJ after it dropped… and avenge his daughter getting hammered.
When the last Blakist machine on the field fell and the other began to run, he heard Diane’s voice over the net. [All Lancer Elements… do not Pursue. I repeat, do NOT pursue…] she called out. [Consolidate and secure the compound. Make sure no Blakist Machine remaining still functions and support Security Elements in cleaning out nests.]
Sean saw the sense in it… even if he hated the idea of letting the buggers get away. As he saw to getting his troops organized to secure flanks, a private comm channel pinged. Tapping over to it, he answered. “Farquharson…”
[Major, Forbes Center…] came a voice. [I have Governor Devine on hold for you…. Patching him through.] A two second pause. [Sean, Roy Devine…] came the deep baritone of the Industrial Continent governor.
“Ach… Afternoon, Governor; I have a feeling this isnae a social call…” Sean answered, his heart in his throat.
[Afraid not; it would seem in the fighting inside of Landing, there was a jail break at the prison and your other daughter was among those not accounted for,] Roy said. [There was casualties among the guards and prisoners… Things are still being sorted through… but I thought to let you know that she isn’t among the injured, at least as far as the information I have right now. Things are still chaotic but based on available information, her cell block was part of the area targeted for the break out.]
Sean was quiet for a good ten seconds. “Governor… Thank you for this news… I wanna believe she is alive and nae with them but given her past…”
[I know, Sean. I know…] Roy replied. [As more is learned, I will make certain you’re kept informed as best as possible.]
“Thank you,” He replied as evenly as possible. “Pardon me, Governor… but I need to see to operations here. I look forward to further updates…”
[Of course, Sean] He replied. [We’ll find her… Devine out.] The channel went dead.
Sean simply stared out the damaged cockpit window, deep in thought as his hands tightened on his mech’s controls. He loved his daughter and had thought until just now that maybe, MAYbe… she could be redeemed. That Tinney had elected to keep her on ice for the last year had been a blessing, of sorts, which had allowed him to try to break the Cult’s hold on her and reverse the lies she had been told by her mother. This though… if she was with them now… would prevent any stay of sentencing if she was caught again.
Moving his Marauder over to the carcass of the Grand Crusader, he focused the targeting reticle on the empty cockpit of the assault machine. “Dia Damn Mic gun mhàthair de Bitches!!” He screamed in rage as he triggered his clan-spec large lasers several times…. Slagging the head assembly of the dead Blakist battlemech.
As his comm gear lit up with requests for status and situation, he stopped firing and let his weapons cool as he kicked his mech’s foot on the dead machine once. He hated the Word of Blake before… now, that hatred had grown yet even more…
May whatever gods the Blakists believed in take pity on their followers… By his Ancestors, if he had any say, there was nothing that would stop him from killing them all. And if he had to leave the Lancers to go hunting, so be it.
Inn of the Welcome Wench
Village of Hommlet
12 kilometers outside of Landing
1601 hours, 7 December 3080
Trinity Farquharson glanced outside of the second story room she was in, partnered with two other who had been in the jail with her and closed her eyes as she stepped away from the window. She had been sitting in her cell when the attack began on the prison. In the chaos, several cell blocks lost power and doors automatically popped open as fire alarms blared.
Several Blakist commandos had managed to breach the building and take out various defending guards. As they did so, two of their number had entered the block when the fire alarms triggered and cell doors opened. Yelling out various praises to Blake, the two troopers gathered those Word of Blake prisoners still within the place to them and led them out to several waiting transports.
Getting in the lead one, the vehicle sped away as Landing Security troops that were not responding to the attack on the Lancer compound, arrived to stop the break out. A fire fight developed as another transport raced away from the scene. For an hour, the escaping vehicles had managed to avoid being caught and eventually arrived in the small village she was now in.
Ushered into the inn through a back door, her guide led her upstairs to the room she was in. Some brief instructions to avoid windows as they changed from their jumpsuits into something less obvious, she and the two others with her (a former mech pilot and a sympathizer caught some six months ago) had sat waiting for an update.
None of them had weapons yet but Trinity figured they’d be armed soon. And depending on what she was given, her next steps would be decided then.
Trinity had had plenty of time to think on everything she had been told by her mother years ago and over all the actions she had done, her father had done in the years since. While she didn’t have much regrets for the actions done and taken, she had decided that maybe she needed to leave the Order. For good, if she could manage it, without getting killed in the process.
She could not afford to get caught in the company of these people. That was a given for sure. And as she escaped the prison, she wondered if opportunity to go alone would crop up. When they got here, she had been surprised there was any sympathizers left on Centaurus anymore but only minorly. Planetary Security had proven to be better than she ever thought, with many folks being rounded up since her capture north of Zathras. Some she had known; others were totally new to her… but the consistent theme was many of them had been in contact with the same Precentor she had been.
Considering what had been in the hideout in terms of tech, Trinity surmised that the Spectre team that had raided it had managed to prevent the databases from being destroyed. Given that the precentor who was in charge of the place was a live prisoner, she guessed that Argyle had managed to stop the place’s destruction protocols from being enacted. Which meant, Trinity thought, that the Word of Blake computers had been captured intact and its information used to help roll up spies. It also meant this place might get rolled soon; she knew sometimes places were left alone as a potential trap for others… and with everything else, that idea this was one of those occurred to her.
At least it made sense to her… It also meant that any official cache of gear known to that site would be compromised or disabled. Good thing she had a few of her own. If there was one thing her uncles had taught her, along with her dad, it was always have something squirrelled away for emergencies. And she did, though not nearly the level of stuff she had used before. But if she could get to Brookstone or south to the port of Suzail, she had a few small caches with money and clothing. Before then, though, she was going to need to cut her curls and get a wig. The more she could not look like herself, the better her chances were.
But first things first. She needed to get away from these companions of hers… then find a car. As good as mass transit was here, it likely would not be running anytime soon…
Musings of a Gamer 