The First Time - Part 2

The First Time (Part 2)

The War Horses and 3 remaining Troopers held the pass. The pseudo Red Jack Ryan didn't try to penetrate again that day nor the next although LP/OP's indicated a build up was being staged. That night, Com radar cadets reported 3 Leopard class drop ships going due south and the next day, Briline reported mech movement.
    The War Horses had lost three of their 16 mechs, two in combat and one missile boat so badly damaged it was scrapped for parts. Nine of their base defense personnel were lost as well.
    Joe was so busy assisting with the patches that for two days after the drop ship sightings, he didn't have a chance to see Pam. Truth was, he wasn't sure he wanted to. When Joe's shift was over on the third day after the near breach, he saw Pam in the hallway. She waved and weaved her way towards him. In a way, he dreaded this. It wasn't that he felt different about Pam, rather he felt different about himself.
    "You know, you are on the verge of becoming a stranger," she said as she approached him. The pile of papers she carried was almost as big as she was.
    Smiling, he retorted, "Your mid shifts make it hard to have a relationship."
    "I know," Pam agreed. "I figured you wouldn't be much fun now anyway. I know I wouldn't be."
    Pam's smile disappeared. "I heard about the other day. We have been ordered to give all GP's ... uh .. you rock jocks room to focus. That's why ..."
    "We were told the same thing. Don't worry. How are things on your end?"
    "It's quiet now. I can't help but think about that old saying about the 'quiet before the storm' bit. We do think that we caught space traffic this afternoon. Hopefully this is good news. It maybe reinforcements for one of the garrisons. Maybe for more Red Jack."
    "Any news is good news." He scrambled for a graceful way out. "Look Pam, I've got to get some sleep. I'll be back on duty soon."
    "Sure. I've got to run, too. These reports need to be finished." Pam shifted her papers then looked intently at him. "Be careful, Joe. Something seems different about you. I'm here if you need me. Besides, good boyfriends are hard to find."
    Joe smiled as he watched her walk away. 'She just wouldn't understand. I don't think even I do.' He shook his head. As he headed back to the dorm area, Nat fell into step with him.
    "Did you hear?" She walked like a schoolgirl on a playground.
    "Hear what, you nut."
    "OP's report that all the enemy mechs are pulling back."
    Joe's nose furrowed, "Why would they do that?"
    "No one knows for sure, but we can sure use the time for repairs and all that." Nat checked her watch. "I've got to go. My Wasp is getting fitted with new missile launchers and Cosmo is waiting for me."
    "Who's Cosmo," Joe asked.
    "Goetz, you moron. You'd figure you'd know your tech's name." Laughing, Nat walked away.
    Joe called after her, "I didn't know he had a first name." If it were anyone other than Nat, he might be offended, but he knew Nat and her sense of humor.
    He made his way to his bunk, set the alarm for second shift and quickly found a dreamless sleep.

**********

    As soon as the sun fell, the Red Jack forces attacked. Briline was engaged by an equal force and fought with desperation. Anderson would have sent help, but the pass was under attack again. Alpha Lance and Troopers formed a kilometer wide semicircle around the entrance to the pass. The idea was to blast anything trying to make its way out and was so far successful. The missile boats, Delta Lance, coordinated fire with the front group from almost a kilometer back from the mouth of the pass. Anything over 50 tons was assigned to them.
      The pass was fairly narrow allowing no more than three to come out at a time, which were promptly disabled or destroyed. However, the stream kept coming and before long, Anderson called in Third Lance for reinforcements.
    "Bravo 1, keep back 700 meters from the fur ball and intercept anything that makes a break for the boats. Delta Lance's tearing their bigger mechs up. These guys can't afford to let Delta Lance keep taking pot shot at them."
    Joe relayed the message and reposted the lance. He set them up in a hundred-meter line with 25 meters between them. Will was posted to Joe's left nearest to the shore. To Joe's right was Genn with Nat another 25 meters past Genn. They watched the fray from their cockpits.
    "Why did Third get the call and not us," called Will. Joe noted the aggression in Will's voice. It seemed that since the last big fight, Will has almost been eager to get back into action; always being first into the mech before duty. He had become short with his mech techs and friends. 'We all deal with fear in different ways,' Joe thought as he fought back the dry heaves his stomach was giving him.
    "Anderson probably thought he didn't need our bigger size," Genn thought aloud. "Besides, Charlie only has three mechs. They couldn't protect the boats." Genn, in contrast, sounded even more cool and in control than usual. This didn't surprise Joe since Genn seldom let her emotions be known. He briefly reflected on the one time he had made her mad when they were sophomores at the college. She politely didn't speak to him for a semester. "For the baddies to break our trap, they will need to take out our boats. You cannot do this with big mechs. They are too slow and Alpha Lance would shred them before they left the kill box. They need fast mechs to break the kill box and make our boats concentrate on protecting themselves. Alpha, Charlie, and Troopers could be in serious trouble without fire support. It makes sense to position us here protecting Delta 1 and 3."
    Another salvo of missiles flew overhead like shooting stars against the night sky. The heat wasn't too bad, but the humidity caused them to quickly soak their light shirts under their cooling vests. Behind them, Delta Lance's two remaining mechs, an Archer and Catapult, hid with the company's two remaining SRM tanks that were assigned as a guard dog for these two precious camping commodities.
    Through the com link, the lance monitored the battle raging fiercely within view monitor sight. Things were going well for the War Horses who had lost no mechs so far. On the ground, flaming carcasses burned making it hard for the enemy to maneuver through the pass' opening. While navigating past the burning obstacles and managing their heat, they were harried by Anderson's well-coordinated heavy weapons fire that usually causes them to either fall back for another rush or just fall. Charlie and Delta Lance quickly dispatched those that made it through the gauntlet.
    "Any idea who these guys are," Nat's uneasy voice broke the silence. She seemed the most unchanged through out this whole ordeal remaining her usual kid-like self.
  "Nope," replied Joe.
    "I have a thought," Genn said. "Rumor mill has it that the refineries to our North have been destroyed. Why? It must be someone who doesn't want the water factories here. If it had been a water corporation staging this, why not just kill the management and take over their operation?
    "I think it's some kind of activist group," announced Genn.
    "That has to be the most dumbest thing I've ever heard," said Will. "If you mean to tell me that we are being attacked by some 22nd century version of Terra's Green Peace, then you must have totally lost your mind. You're probably one of those who believe that Hanse Davion's brain is frozen in a computer or that ComStar is secretly trying to take over the universe. I mean, if you're really that nae then I want you to know that I want to go out with you because I'm ONLY interested in your mind."
    "OOO Kaay, why don't you .."Genn started to retort.
    "Cut it out, you two. We need to focus .." Joe cut in and was cut off by Nat.
    "Bravo 1; Bravo 4." Joe knew it was serious by the tone of Nat's voice and her use of call signs. " We have movement to our West. Copy?"
    Joe quickly scanned his HUD, which showed nothing. "What did you see, Nat?"
    "It looked like lights in the mountains north east of base. It was a ways off. Want me to check it out?"
    "Negative, Bravo 4. Stand by." Joe mentally switched frequencies. "Delta 1; Bravo 1."
    "Go," replied John Michael Lathem, Delta 1.
    "Can you dispatch your guard dogs to the north east? We have reports of movement."
    "I'm a little busy right now, Joe. Hold on." The sound of his Archer's 2 Long-Range Missile 20-packs filled the air for a moment. "Dispatching now. Please confirm with Control and don't kill my dogs."
    "Copy, John. Thanks." Joe switched to Control's frequency. "Control, Bravo 1."
    Pam's voice replied , "Go ahead, Bravo 1."
    "We have reports of movement to the north east along the mountains. Copy? Delta 1 has dispatched guard dogs for immediate visual assessment."
    "Copy, Bravo 1. Stand by." After a moment, Pam relayed, "Alpha 1 Alpha relays that you are site commander. Ground radar has no contacts. We are confirming with Oscar Papa 7 at this time. Proceed and keep us advised. Be careful, Joe."
    Joe acknowledged and updated the Lance.
    Radio chatter of the fur ball had slowed. It seemed that the enemy was regrouping for another push. Joe could see the lights of the SRM tanks head off in the direction of Nat's sighting.
    Will piped in, "Joe, I have a bad feeling about this. Let's say that Ryan found a way in through the mountains over there. Those tanks are toast. Also, if the baddies get in, what would they attack first; the fur ball from behind, Delta Lance, us, or if Genn's right, the base?"
    Pam/Base Control cut in, "Bravo 1, be advised; Base Defense relays negative contact with Oscar Papa 7. They request that you check in on their status with the Guard Dogs."
    "Copy, Control. Will Comply," Joe responded, then relayed the message.
    An unsettling feeling came over him and the hairs on his neck stood up. Involuntarily, his stomach heaved. Joe suppressed the feeling, and moved his mech back, then towards the tanks. It was almost like he was possessed by this intuition.
    "What's up, buddy," Will asked.
    "Stand by, Bravo 3," Joe responded. Frequencies switched, "Guard Dog 1, report."
    "Negative contact, Bravo 1," the unknown tank commander stated. "En rout to Oscar Papa 7."
    "Copy that, Guard Dog 1. Do you have flares?"
    "Affirmative."
    "I want you to illuminate 500 meters in front of you."
    "Copy, Bravo 1. You realize that this will give away Oscar Papa 7's location?"
    "Just do it, 1."
    The tanks were about 3 kilometers from base and close to 4 kilometers from Bravo Lance before it fired the flares into the stars. After a few seconds, the eastern horizon lit up.
    Scattered along the ground was ground soldiers who scurried for concealing cover, but it was too late to not be seen. Behind them followed a 12-part company of light mechs. Joe recognized Stingers and Wasps; all under 35 tons each, but more than enough for Joe's lance. A mobile command center was surrounded by the company, and froze as well. Joe grimaced at the prospects of what was to come.
    Everyone was still for a few seconds.
    "Holy ..," Will broke in.
    Then everything exploded. The enemy mechs bounded forward firing on the SRM tanks, which were less than 200 meters away lighting it up. The SRM tanks returned fire as best as possible before being engulfed by fire and light.
    Joe's HUD finally detected and identified the enemy mechs.
    Pam in Control broke in, "Bravo 1, we report multiple contacts to the north east."
    'You figure,' Joe mentally asked in sarcasm. "Affirmative. Advise Alpha 1 Alpha." Switching, "Bravo Lance, move to intercept."
    "The lights were the OP going up ..," Nat stated.
    "Why didn't radar catch them ...."Will spurted.
    "Guardians. They must have Guardian Electric Counter Measures." Genn stated.
    "Negative. We can see them now. Must be the command vehicle," Joe shot back. How did they get it over the mountains?
    The enemy mechs were now within maximum range of Joe's PPC's. As he tried to sight in, the enemy mechs started jumping in many different directions. Joe and the enemy knew that PPC's and 20-ton mechs didn't mix well and were trying to avoid catching Joe's hot potatoes.
    "They must have found a pass using their jump jets. Every one of them are jumpers," Nat said.
    "When you get in range, fire at will," Joe commanded. He couldn't find a mech who would cooperate and be still so he opened up on the command vehicle.
    "Better not," Bravo 3 chortled as the Wasp passed up the Uziel.
    The command vehicle was fortunate with the first PPC blast falling short, but the second blast rocked the front of the vehicle's cab smashing it in like it was struck with a big stick.
    Suddenly, the air was charged with many different hues of light as Bravo Lance came into range of their medium lasers. Mechs from both sizes touched ground briefly before taking to the night air again. They looked like flaming catapult shot bouncing around. This reminded him. He checked his HUD, which confirmed 4 mechs breaking off in the direction of Delta Lance.
    "Delta 1, copy 4 baddies headed your way. Reposition to shore and continue fire. We can't stop them."
    "Copy Bravo 1. Will comply. Things just heated up at the pass, but we'll try to assist if possible. Good luck!"
      Assist. That gave Joe an idea.
    "Bravo 2, run the edges of the fur ball. Bravo 3 and 4 stay air born. I'm running support."
    Radios clicked in acknowledgement as they were engaged.
    Joe stopped and started to withdraw. While walking backwards, he started alternating PPC fire from each cannon. Most missed, but some connected with devastating effects particularly for the limbs. Joe's heart leapt with each strike his lance mates suffered, but a pattern developed.
    Although jumping mechs are notoriously hard to hit, they also have a hard time connecting as well. Will and Nat did their damage, but when Joe or the Wasps crippled one, Genn finished it off. Within the first moments, three enemy mechs were dead or dying.
    The Ryan mech's must have realized this because they pushed the fur ball towards the base advancing on Joe's reverse-walking Uziel.
    Joe saw a Stinger arc through the air. Instinctively, Joe realized that it was going to land close to where Genn was heading.
    "Genn, watch your ..." Joe started.
    Mid-arch, the Stinger slightly adjusted its direction and almost seemed to float on top of the Shadow Cat driving the mech forward into the sand. The Stinger took to the air again. The Shadow Cat was still.
    'Click,' echoed in his mind as both PPC's roared out their displeasure to the fleeing Stinger. Joe's rage was embodied as the PPC blasts ripped through and ripped off the right torso of the mech. Flaming, it crashed into the ground in a parody of a belly flop and did not rise.
    Scanning, Joe also realized that he could account for only one of the lance's Wasps although he couldn't figure out which one it was and which was missing. There were still 6 mechs left to Bravo's 2 although Joe had yet to be tagged. Joe fought on.
    The Uziel's PPC's had found their rotation again and heat was being managed, but Joe knew he was almost in range of the medium lasers. Barring any bad luck, he knew he could take what they could dish out for a little while, but not for long. The question was which would give out first, his Uziel or their lance plus. His teeth clenched at the odds he gave himself.
    The sky was beginning to take on a strange texture. Joe automatically attributed it to the coming dawn, but realized that that was several hours away.
    Joe began to focus on the Wasp and tried covering for it.
"Bravo Lance, report status," Joe ordered.
    "Freaking not good," reported Will. "Come on, hit something!"
    Several of Joe's shots had gotten away from him.
    Reinforcing his concentration, he started to connect a couple of shots. Now, the fur ball had caught him. His mech shook from the medium laser and missile fire as his green-lit damage display began to turn yellow.
    "What in the ... Behind you, Joe," Will called out.
    The sky was still growing brighter. His radio crackled.
    "Base Control to all posts and patrols. By order of Alpha One Alpha, all units pull back to base."
    'We must have lost the pass,' Joe thought. Mentally, he tabulated that they were still over a kilometer from base. 'We'll never make it.'
    He glanced back to see the source of the light and saw a huge egg-shaped drop ship in it's final approach landing north of the base a short ways.
    'Whose side are they on?'
    "Joe, we won't take them. Should we disengage and go south."
    "Negative. They'll catch us anyway. Try to slow them down."
    Joe risked a glance back. The Drop ship had landed and was extending its ramps. Joe could see the symbol of a drop ship company, which basically told him nothing. On the northern fringe of his HUD radar, he could see mechs from both sides closing on the base. At that moment, the Ryan mechs broke the engagement with Bravo Lance and sprinted past them for the base.
    "Bravo 1, my gyros are dama .. leg's ar ..not keep up," the strain in Will's broken transmission told the severity of his situation.
    'Radio's going out.' "Copy, 4. If you can read, try to check on 2 and 4."
    Joe began chase of the mechs. He realized that missed PPC shots would land in the base causing damage to the Works. Cursing his unusually bad aim, he angled his shots low at the mechs legs.
    There were 4 remaining Ryan mechs dashing for the perimeter fence line. The chain link fence would do nothing to stop the mechs and the base defense units would barely slow them down with their shoulder SRM 2-packs, turret-mounted medium lasers, and mobile machine gun arrays. The fast mechs swerved to avoid Joe's PPC fire and legs proved to be an elusive target.
    Facing the base, Joe could see mechs running out of the drop ship's ports. Due to the lights of the base behind them, they looked like black silhouettes, totally unidentifiable, as they formed up and sprinted in different directions.
    Joe caught up to the slowest mech, a Stinger with a damaged leg actuator and slowed to match its speed. It was still fast and twisted to its right to face Joe's Uziel. Joe fired both PPCs and cursed himself for not leading the target enough as the shots sailed behind the Stinger. The Stinger didn't make the same mistake as its lasers slammed Joe's left torso, which turned from yellow to red on his display. Before Joe could get off another round of PPC fire, the Stinger recycled and connected again. The HUD told him that his only working right torso machine gun bought it leaving Joe's PPCs as the only weapon reliable in these circumstances. He fired and both PPC shots connected just above where the legs join the body of the Stinger. 'Finally!' The torso disconnected from the legs and sailed backwards from wind resistance as the legs continued for a short ways.
Straightening out, Joe could see that they were within a kilometer of the base perimeter. He struggled to lock on to another mech, aiming for the legs, and found a target. Just as he pulled the trigger, it was engulfed by green light and shattered.
    "What the .."
    "Bravo 1, this is Lancer 50. Stand down on pursuit. I say again, stand down," an unfamiliar female voice ordered.
    Another Ryan Wasp exploded in green light in front of him.
    The remaining mech veered south retreating for the cover of darkness. As Joe slowed, he could make out four other silhouetted light mechs giving pursuit.
    "Bravo Lance, Base Control," the very familiar and audibly relieved voice called out. "Return to base. Implementing ThreatRes Charlie. If you can believe it, the calvary is here."

**********

    Joe sat on his bunk, elbows on his knees and chin resting on his hands staring at the wall of his dorm room not really sure what he was thinking about. The fear/rush of the fight had been everything he had hoped for and more; most of it not good. He ached from the pounding he withstood inside the jarring mech. His thoughts drifted for his concern of his lance mates who were still unaccounted for. Most of all, he felt guilty that he had ordered the suicide attack on the Ryan company and he had survived. He also felt guilty about feeling relieved to be alive. Being alive when the others were likely dead.
    The room held 2 bunk beds that Joe shared with his lance. As he looked around the room, he realized how much they had become a part of his life. The likely prospect of them not being around disturbed him more than anything else at this moment.
    His door chimed and opened. Joe looked up half expecting his comrades to come in and greet him.
    Captain Anderson walked in, like Joe, still in his shorts and T-shirt. The sweat and grime from the night's battle stuck like a dark cloud. Joe half-heartedly stood to attention.
    "Relax, Joe. Save it for later. I just wanted to check on you and personally give you the good news."
    Joe relaxed and looked at the Captain. His face asked the question on his mind.
    "Yes, all your lance mates have been accounted for and are alive. Dominguez was found by the wreckage of Cronovick's Cat. Apparently, her Wasp was almost done and she bailed. She found Cronovik in pretty bad shape, but stabilized her. Lancer mobiles are bringing them in. Word has it Dominguez had to hold back some foot troops with a rifle she found using the Cat for cover. Rack one up for the X-chromosome. Crono's going to be down for a while and maybe permanently reassigned due to injuries. Time will tell.
    "Needlemeyer got strafed by the Lancers accidentally, but shutdown before the engine exploded. Apparently he never identified himself. He was picked up by a tank, which will bring him back in the morning.
    "You lucked out, kid. We all did. We lost three good mech warriors today and it should have been worse. The fact is that they weren't very good. Death and fear are just something we all learn to deal with if we want to do this for a living. You're going to face it sooner or later."
    Joe found his tongue. "Captain, who were those guys?"
    Anderson smiled and half-chuckled. He sat down on Will's bunk and motioned for Joe to sit as well. "Some mercenary outfit combined with some environmental zealots. I forget their name, but definitely not Red Jack Ryan. I don't think anyone was fooled."
    'Damn, Genn was right,' Joe thought.
    Captain Anderson continued, "It never ceases to amaze me what people will fight over. The Laeteans believe that the environmental group found out that the companies were in a bidding war to export the planet's water to terraculture projects on nearby planets. I guess this would have devastated the lake's ecosystem or something like that. That's why they were wiping out the garrisons and plants. You know, ... sending a message. Briline fell last night and everything else on the planet is gone. AFWP is the sole water company left. Even if the Lancers can hold the plant, the radicals still won. I mean, how much water can AFWP take? Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that AFWP or another company deliberately leaked out the information hoping to provoke this fight before it backfired. Anyway, it's the Lancers problem now."
    Joe was surprised, "You mean we are not going to stay?"
    "God, no! This is no longer our fight. Even with the Lancers here, the other guys are already reconsolidating for another go at this place and there are more of them than there are of us. No, we leave tomorrow on that Overlord drop ship. The Leateans have back-up coming in a week or so and are well equipped, but 9 badly beaten up mechs aren't going to make much of a difference. We were lucky that they won out the other contract so quickly."
  Joe's blood started to rise, "But Captain, with everything that happened, .."
    "Revenge and anger are not good reasons to die, cadet," Anderson cut him off. "I was placed here to get you kids some experience. Granted, this is more than any of us bargained for, but my job is to see you through it. You just learned something this week and it has changed your lives. Learn from it and use it."
    Anderson stood, "We leave tomorrow night after we collect our spoils, armor, mechs, and equipment. Clean up and report to assist. Got it?"
    "Yes, sir," Joe muttered thinking about how tired he was with everything still to come.
    "You can rest on the drop ship. Any questions," Anderson asked.
    Joe's thoughts snapped, "Yes, sir. A couple of days ago, you shot that Atlas in the back. I'm grateful, but isn't that what you instructors teach as wrong? I mean, with you being a Templers and all that."
    Joe could tell that he had caught the captain off guard by the way Anderson deeply inhaled, then slowly let it out as he stared at the wall forming his answer. After a moment, the captain replied.
    "First of all, you have never heard me talk about this implied honor code nor will you ever. That, I can promise you. But, there are certain quirks in this business that you must come to terms with if you're going to stick it out as a mech warrior.
    "There are people in this business who would rather die by some chosen code than dishonor it. They value it over their own lives. All you have to do is look at most of the Kuritians and Clans to see that. By contrast, there are some mech warriors who would stab their brother in the back if they believed it would benefit them. Then there are those in between like me.
    "When I first got into the business after school at New Avalon, I fully embraced the ancient codes of chivalry and the learnings the Templers had to offer. Part of that is based on this code you speak of. I quickly found out that I wasn't cut out for it and that everyone else was a better pilot than I was at the time. My inexperience got me in trouble because I did whatever it took to survive. I basically valued my life and the lives of my comrades more than this code. In one bad situation, I got my lance out with everyone alive, but only because I shot out the legs of a big mech. Although we survived, I got thrown out. I made a living for years as a mercenary then as an instructor. But, I got older. My priorities changed and I realized that I had a code as well. That code is to ensure I live to go home to my family and get those whose learning I am charged with safely home as well. I will do everything I can to ensure this. I also expect the enemy to do the same and expect nothing less. Personally, as a Christian and mech warrior, I think it's more merciful to shoot out a mechs legs and let them eject to safety than burn in a metal casket. I really have no reason to kill, just win and I'll do anything necessary to do so. There are no second places in this line of work, just the slim possibility of a second chance."
    Captain Anderson turned to leave, then smiling said, "You did good for your first time. Very good. Granted, we lucked out with the Lancer's arrival, but if you hadn't figured a way to slow that company, they would have destroyed the factory and we'd lost our profits from this campaign. The Laeteans are ticked that we are making them pay for our ride home, but it's in the contract. We made a lot of C-bills for the college to fix our stuff and have a good bit left over. It's a credit to you and your lance. I'll see that the college doesn't forget it.
    "Get moving. I'll see you in class."