Resurgence - Abbeville Mission 5
Mission 5
“Move now!”
“Go, go, go, go!”
“Stop staring and run!”
A team of Purifier Battle Armor’s voices were amplified by their external audio devices in their helmets as they guided civilians to the ST-46 Shuttle transports. Hundreds of civilians were being loaded into four different transports every couple hours. The surge in civilians fleeing was driven by the attacking Blakist threat becoming very real to them. After Knight Dumont’s rampage to keep the Blakists outside Cottonport’s wall in that sector went viral among the populace, no way were the Blakists going to allow that morale boost.
Reinforced with another Level III, the Blakists on world began pushing hard on Cottonport. Civilian structures were being leveled. There was an additional contingent of aerospace support that was helping in the havoc when they would break from the aerospace dogfighting above the city against the Nomad fighters. Some of the populace held their resolve and fought back with some of the small arms that had been distributed by killing infantry in the Word of Blake but, then the Battlemechs came. Nomad forces had been pushed back to defending the spaceport from multiple angles and General Lee had ordered the evacuation’s end.
This was the final wave of transports and a Level II of Blakists Battlemechs were less than a Kilometer out. Corporal Okada was out directing foot traffic as civilians were running from the thunder of weapons fire and Battlemech footfalls. It was already an atrocity as local news cameras had picked up images of the Blakist mechs stomping on clusters of civilians, both those fighting back and those fleeing.
He looked down the road ahead of him and saw a building crumbling, his suit’s magnification activated when he triggered it and he could see the side of the multi-story building falling away – including bodies. The debris landing on people and the falling bodies going limp as they hit the rubble and fleeing crowd below.
“Keep moving!” he shouted, his team sending some towards shuttles one and two and some directly back to the Duat Dropship in the center of the tarmac. While the Duat was the way out for Lady Joy and her defenders, there was plenty of room to hold civilians in the hangar and at this point, it was clear the civilians themselves didn’t care how rough their ride out would be.
As the thunderous echoes from the city got closer and the Purifier team could see glimpses of mechs, the crowds began moving faster and thinning in the center of the spaceport’s entry. He turned back to see what the Nomad mechs were doing and there it was, the Ares Superheavy that was authorized to hold as long as possible. The three-legged weapons platform moved slowly but unstoppably forward from the Duat, civilians streaming around it like a river around a boulder. He saw Lady Joy’s Doloire move from behind it, taking cover on the Nomad right flank, as well as other Nomad mechs moving into position.
As soon as her Doloire stopped behind some buildings, Okada could see the flashes of her blue Large Pulse Lasers and the blue-white flash of her Gauss Rifle firing at a distant Blakist. “It’s time team, get ready!” shouted Okada as Delta team braced against the back side of the nearest building, preparing their ambush point. Other teams were tasked with supporting the Ares or other mechs.
Quickly though, the plans of trying to hold the gap started to vanish as he could see waves of missiles and lasers slamming into the walls behind shuttles 3 and 4 on the right flank. The Blakists were going to level the walls that protected the city from the runway!
“Team Delta, shift toward Team Echo.” Ordered Lady Joy over the unit comms.
“Yes, ma’am!” Okada responded quickly, waving his team forward as they took to the air on their jump jets moving toward the other team closer to the right flank. While in the air he saw the size of the force that was inbound, a Flashman, Highlander, Guillotine, and Perseus… a Marauder II.
He looked back and could see the Ares lumbering forward, still out of line of sight of the Blakists but able to see the gap along the wall on the right flank. However, a huge plume of smoke went into the air. “Holy shit, Corporal, a missile just hit the building around the corner and leveled it!” one of Okada’s team members called out.
“Keep your cool and a healthy distance from this building, we don’t want to be under any rubble!” Okada ordered.
His team wasn’t in the fight yet but, the mechs sure were. On their left flank the Spider’s Jump Jets poured fire as the light mech launched into the air, vaulting over the building they were just near, a Marauder moved up as well. The Spider served a key purpose in the formation, an Angel ECM on board was going to be desperately needed in a fast-moving mech. Lady Joy’s would be effective but, only in close quarters as her Assault mech was not fast.
Lady Joy’s Doloire moved from her cover, running around the left side of the Ares, approaching Okada’s squad. “Delta and Echo teams, prepare for contact!” she ordered them. Okada signaled his confirmation to her HUD. As she approached, he could see the Ares pull off the move change tripods were known for. It stopped moving towards him, then started side stepping, the top half of the machine starting to rotate right towards the new direction. However, it stopped and both Pulse Lasers and both Large Lasers fired off at an enemy Okada could not see just yet.
His attention was then taken as a barrage of weapons slammed into the spaceport walls, causing them to shake and sway. A light mech from the Blakists also revealed itself, running up next to the damaged walls. PPCs flew by almost overhead as the Marauder attempted to hit it – a Mongoose. Then the walls collapsed, causing dust clouds. Behind the rubble was a Lament that was waiting for the right time to strike. Any “surprise” was now gone.
“Cover the shuttles! That is our main objective!” shouted Lady Joy to the Nomad defenders over the unit channel, the Lament immediately turned to engage the Mongoose. The Mongoose seemed to ignore the Doloire entirely and booked it towards the nearest shuttle. Alpha Team was slinging their Support PPCs at the Mongoose trying to slow it down. Then a Wraith came out of nowhere and landed next to shuttle 4. Nomad weapons fire was split between the closest Blakist mechs and the two attacking the shuttles. The ground crew was having a hellish time as they were having to close up and seal the hatches while people were still trying to force their way in.
Seconds later a roaring sound overwhelmed the battlefield as shuttle 3’s engines came alive and the aircraft began picking up speed. The larger Blakist mechs attempted to add their fire to Mongoose’s and carved away at the armor on the side of the hull but, it held. Their weapons fire was disrupted as the Spider launched itself right into the middle of the formation of heavy and assault mechs, its Angel ECM ruining the C3I network’s connections.
The shuttle took to the air, a lance of Nomad aerospace fighters sweeping in to protect it as it continued to climb and breached the atmosphere. In the escape though, the Mongoose was a bit too close and the thrusters threw the light mech to the ground. As it got up the Wraith began firing on shuttle 4 and the Mongoose moved in to assist. Desperate to stop them from killing the civilians inside, the Lament continued charging forward, now supported by the Nomad Wolverine that was originally holding to support the Ares if it got swarmed.
At this point, the Ares had turned into a mobile weapons platform, looking over a building, it was turning back and forth firing weapons in all directions. This was just right to support Lady Joy’s Doloire as the Perseus surged past her. The Ares’ Laser array slammed into the Perseus just as it hit the Doloire with an AC20 slug in the arm. It was also time for Okada’s team to make their move as they jumped to the feet of the Perseus. Echo team also had the same idea for the Guillotine as it was rounding the nearby building.
“Try to take out their leg actuators!” shouted Lady Joy “They are going for the shuttles!”
“On it, ma’am!” Okada shouted as the Perseus was trying to avoid the Purifier Battle Armor around its feet. Leaping up they were securing explosives and shooting with their support PPCs. Their efforts were damaging armor but, not breaking the actuators. Soon, the Perseus began trying to kill them rather than dodge. It lunged at Okada but he leapt out of the way. His fellow trooper wasn’t so lucky. He was taking aim to hit the knee with a support PPC shot and the Perseus swung around, driving his mech’s foot into the trooper, gouging a hole in the ground where the trooper was standing.
“Dammit! Watch out for the Perseus’ stomps!” Okada yelled, seeing his team member’s vitals signal blink red on his HUD.
Looking back to check on Knight Joy’s position Okada could see her going toe to toe with the Marauder II. Lasers, PPCs, and a Gauss Slug were slung back and forth between the two mechs. Huge swaths of armor plating melted on both mechs, sending molten globs like blood trails into the ground at their feet. Even Alpha Team was able to get close enough to add their support PPC fire.
An explosion on the tarmac caught Okada’s attention, he looked over and shuttle 4 was burning, explosions setting off in the engines as both the Wraith and Mongoose ran straight for the Lament, the Wolverine jockeying for position. It hadn’t hit him just yet what had truly taken place.
He turned back to find the Perseus had continued moving and now Okada realized that the entire Blakist formation was almost ignoring the Nomad defenders, rushing toward shuttles 1 and 2. His face went white as it set in. Looking back to shuttle 4 he realized civilians were running from the burning wreck as they were burned alive in the destroyed shuttle.
“Keep on that Perseus!” Okada yelled to his team as they jumped after it. He caught a glimpse of the Marauder II following the Perseus, bypassing Lady Joy’s Doloire entirely.
As his team jumped after the Perseus he found Bravo and Echo teams had the same idea, all the remaining Purifiers hosing the Perseus down with their PPC fire. Just a short way away, the Nomad Marauder took a savage beating by the Perseus. It was dealing with major heat issues and was missing its left arm already thanks to the Guillotine. The LBX 20 tore into the right-side torso and then additional fire tore the right torso and arm clean off, sending what was left of the mech into shutdown.
“On me Delta team, let’s get him!” Okada ordered as his troopers took to the air toward the allied Marauder. While gliding through the air they could see the Spider come running up to the Perseus, firing its Medium Pulse Laser, then start punching the rear armor of the much larger mech, all while dodging the fire from the Highlander.
Lady Joy put up an incredible display as she fired her Gauss Rifle at the Guillotine, hitting it in the arm, then put her two Medium Lasers into the back of the Perseus, then the Two Large pulse Lasers into the Marauder II. Waves of fire from the Ares also saturated the area as SRMs, Medium, and Small Lasers flew at the Perseus while the Large Lasers and Pulse Lasers tore into the Guillotine.
Okada’s team landed near the Marauder and he vaulted up to the cockpit of the still mech. “Sergeant, you awake?!” he shouted over the direct line as his support claw pounded on the canopy.
With a hiss the canopy opened, the Sergeant inside sweating profusely and clearly gasping at air. “Great timing Corporal.” He extended his arm out and the Purifier Armor grabbed hold, pulling him out. Both men were on the side of the cockpit and Okada wrapped his arm around the Sergeant. He jumped off the side of the mech and rode his jets to the ground where his team was. “I’m good, heading to the hangar, thanks.” With a wave, the Sergeant began running at a full sprint to the Duat.
Okada gave the Sergeant a nod, then reevaluated the situation, two more explosions from the left flank sank his stomach. The huge thuds of the Ares Battlemech backpedaling gave him the clue he needed. “All Nomads, back to the Duat, covering fire!” shouted Lady Joy to the defenders.
Even though they gave the Blakists a hellstorm of fire, the monsters focused solely on killing the shuttles. Both shuttles 1 and 2 were lost. Likely the same massive loss of life in two more infernos. Stray civilians were fleeing toward the Duat around the tarmac. These were the last people Okada could hope to save.
Checking the Blakist positions, they had now turned to face the Duat and retreating Nomads. Only now their advance would be slowed. During the fighting the Duat was connected to underground power cables that were being used to keep the shuttle’s engines primed. With so much power being used, the weapons systems were not powered. Now with one shuttle gone and three lost, the guns came online like a battleship that just got the all clear to fire.
Gauss Rifles and Lasers came to life, alternating fire above Okada and the rest of the mechs falling back. Both the Spider and Doloire passed the Ares as it was slowly backing up to the Duat hangar. It was firing at multiple mechs at once – a barrage of lasers at one target, a wave of missiles at another, even the Radical Heat Sink system was having difficulty keeping it cool. All five Battle Armor teams were scooping up civilians on the tarmac and bringing them to the dropship. Okada led his team near the feet of the Ares as a family didn’t realize how fast even the 20 KPH of the superheavy mech was and it nearly over took them, risking trampling them. He ran in and scooped up a woman in a blue dress, his team grabbed another man and woman, their suitcases falling to the ground, getting crushed under the next step of the Ares.
His team ran in a full sprint to the hangar, dumping them before running for more. “Thank you, thank you!” the woman called to Okada as he dropped her family off, tears streaming down her face from the fear and adrenaline. With a single wave he turned and launched on his jets. While gliding through the air he narrowly missed a wave of missiles from the Highlander that were exploding along the Duat’s hull.
As he came down, he could see on the right flank both the Lament and Wolverine hammering away at the Wraith as they backpedaled, the Mongoose missing a leg and laying on the tarmac. The Wolverine’s Snub-Nose PPC took the right arm off the Wraith, causing it to jump into the air and break contact. Both the Lament and Wolverine turned and ran at full speed to the dropship, making sure to give some parting shots to the Blakists.
Lady Joy had reached the loading ramp as well and was providing support fire for the Ares as it backed up, it was just meters from the ramp. Then she saw something in the distance. Far beyond the battle lines in the Blakist backfield something loomed, like it was waiting like a predator preparing to strike. With it was other Battlemechs, far more than her formation could take on. Like a nightmare… like death itself, the Omega waited, red lights outlining sections of its hull in the smoke.
“All Nomads board now!” she ordered. Lasers, PPCs, and Missiles were slamming into her and the Ares as they blocked the weapons fire from going inside the hangar by sheer mass. Every second a few more stray civilians were able to climb the ramp. The Ares pilots knew that’s why Lady Joy was backing in so slowly so they kept pace with her.
The Lament and Wolverine were backing into their gantries as the automated system was locking the mechs into place. The Spider was already loaded and locked in. “All Nomads, this is General Lee, we have done all we can, the Captain is ordered to lift off now, Lee out.” Rang through the unit comms.
Okada was running as fast as he could, he was sixty meters from the hangar and could hear the engines powering up. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” he was yelling to himself in his helmet.
“Purifiers onboard now!” shouted Lady Joy. “You have seconds before the engines will keep you from boarding!” She watched on her radar as the little blue dots were scurrying between the Ares and her Doloire’s legs to get inside the hangar.
Okada sprinted like he had never sprinted before, the suit itself was groaning as he truly felt like it was just another layer of his skin. A man was waving to Okada screaming at him to take his wife and toddler. The mother was crying, trying to hold onto her husband as Okada firmly wrapped his arm around her and jetted away. Her hand ripped part of her husband’s shirt as they were yelling that they loved each other. Okada had no time to let them say a long farewell.
He could hear the deafening roar of the engines as the flames started pouring out onto the tarmac below him. The mother had buried her head in his shoulder armor, one of her arms wrapping around the toddler’s head to protect the little boy’s ears. Ahead was the ramp, already passing from horizontal to an upward angle. Above him the dropship continued to pour out weapons fire onto the Blakists as they returned it in kind, punching holes and warping the external hull but, not enough to keep it from being space worthy.
A thought crossed his mind this going to be close, what if I don’t, what if WE don’t… the fire… But, it was not going to happen this day. All three passed the edge of the ramp, coming down on the angled surface. His armor screeched against the metal as they slid to the deck below, Okada taking the brunt of the impact, sliding a bit further on the hangar deck with the mother and child curled up on top of him, his arms bracing them.
The adrenaline pumping through his blood drowned out all the screaming and yelling in hangar, combined with the roaring of the engines below and both the Doloire and Ares footsteps walking to their gantries. He could feel the lurch of the Duat as it began to climb through the air. Still laying on the ground a deck crewman ran over and tossed a chain over him, it clattered on him and the deck as Okada heard to metallic thumps.
“Damn great work trooper! Stay put, I’m just chaining you to the deck with a magchain!” he knocked on Okada’s helmet twice and ran off, escorting the mother and son to an area with more civilians. Okada just laid still and turned his head to the side. He could see the surviving Nomad mechs in their gantries. The Ares had been shredded from the egress fire, it stood at a tilt from one of the severely damaged legs. Lady Joy’s Doloire had significant damage to an arm but she was skilled with that assault mech minimizing damage she took, it stood like a titan with the bloody wolf pelt and falcon talons trophies as warpaint.
He laid back and closed his eyes, thankful he was able to get just one more……
***
Ting ting ting “Anyone home?” the knocking on his helmet startled Okada awake.
Looking straight up, he could see Lady Joy looking down at him, the lights beyond like an aura around her head. “Ma’am, still here!” he lifted his right arm, coughing, not realizing he was still magchained to the deck.
“Well I’m glad you are. Before your last foray you took some shrapnel from a missile impact on the hull. Luckily the piece was hot enough to cauterize the wound.” Joy responded
“That would certainly explain the pain I am feeling now, ma’am”.
“You’re the last one we need to patch up, listen to the Lead Tech and Medical Officer so they can get you out of your armor without things going south. You have a commendation and meeting with General Lee in the next couple days.” She responded before stepping back and the two men got to work with Okada. He couldn’t even sort out a response to the shocking news but, then again, she knew he wouldn’t know how to respond.
Throughout the ship the roar of the engines rumbling was a relieving feeling as they approached Homefleet. Knight Joy’s Battalion was tasked with holding as long as possible and evacuating as many as possible. While hundreds made it on shuttle 3 and the Duat, hundreds died in the explosions of the remaining three shuttles.
Such a loss of life weighed heavily on Joy. If only I could have hit that Guillotine’s CT instead of arm… Or that damn Mongoose and Wraith… But we got so many out that wouldn’t have had a chance. She watched the team pull the injured trooper from his armor and get him on a gurney to move to the infirmary. Once they were gone she looked at the Mechwarriors, who were chatting about the battle. Some were emphasizing the losses and others were celebrating how many made it out. But, they all knew the war with the Word of Blake was not going to be over anytime soon.
She walked over to her Doloire and looked up at it. The techs already pulling the damaged armor off the arm she nearly lost. It was clear that very few took the “ilClan” seriously, especially in the way Alaric needed the Falcons to save him. I just hope someone is capable of filling Stone’s shoes, the Inner Sphere has never been this lost.