Resurgence - Cataclysm Chapter 10
January 8th, 3153
Novais, Brunswick
1200
Walking through the garrison compound that is now bursting at the seams with activity, the Night Wolf’s thunderous footsteps hit the ferrocrete under the noon sun. Slowing to a halt, it stops just outside the HQ building. Behind the Night Wolf follows his bondsman’s Warwolf. Slowly the Night Wolf’s hatch opens and a cable ladder with metal rungs begins unreeling down the side of the mech. Standing up and beginning to descend the ladder is Knight Rourke Kerensky, returning from a patrol. His bondsman remains in her cockpit.
Brunswick City just fell to the Blakists in the last couple days and the anticipation, confirmed by recon units, is that they would soon be upon Novais. The Brunswick continent is rich with multiple factories that construct war machines. This nearby city was no different as Novais is home to one of Lycomb-Davion Introtech’s facilities that constructs large numbers of Aerospace fighters and other components.
In the days since the Blakists touched down, the Introtech staff was tasked with stripping the factory of vital components. A number of new Hellcats, Lightnings, and Stukas completed their construction and behind them crews came through removing specialized parts, computer systems, and components needed by the factory. Multiple dropships lifted off and were escorted to the Harmonia and Necessitas so that the parts could bolster repair and construction capabilities within the pair of Yardships. Anything else was sent by VTOL transport over land to Ultron.
Both Federated Suns and Nomad commands did not like it but, the focus was on delaying actions at the first points of contact with the Blakists to test out their capabilities and tech upgrades. Sacrificing large numbers of troops and even civilians still defiantly staying in the cities to an enemy that is mostly unknown came off as very unwise, even though it could and already did result in large casualty events. “Sacrifice the few to save the many” became an all-too-common remorseful statement between officers trying to figure out how they are going to stop the Blakists. With such atrocities in a losing fight the commanding staff were just trying to keep from collapsing into despair.
Reaching the end of the ladder the muscular Clan MechWarrior’s feet hit the ground. Standing tall with his dark red hair, he observes the activity flowing in and out of the HQ building just a couple meters away. A small hovertruck passes by the Night Wolf’s foot and honks twice at the MechWarrior as a greeting. Knight Kerensky keeps a stoic expression as he lifts a hand to acknowledge the FedSun troop.
Long past feeling awkward in his MechWarrior attire, he is proud of the strong temple he’s built of his body and really, he does not like the idea of burning alive. He unzips his cooling vest, letting the two halves hang down against his torso. The only other articles being his thigh length compression shorts, holstered pistol, gauntlet gloves, and combat boots.
Filling the air with the chopping sounds of rotors, VTOLs near and far are lifting off or touching down to grab up equipment and personnel. Even some Tonbo’s grab some mechs, a pair of Battleaxes and a Penetrator. Sounds of alternating Battlemech steps can be heard echoing through the streets and he can see their silhouettes moving in the distance.
He steps off, his long strides carrying him through the HQ’s busy front doors and toward the planning area. Inside is Marshal Shawn Mcintyre. He is furiously working through reports and updates as the looming Blakist forces march closer and closer. Kerensky quietly enters the room, taking in the hustle and bustle of personnel piling equipment into boxes and running them out the front doors to waiting haulers. He can hear the Marshal verbally going through a list of important information.
“Ok, the factory is finally stripped... Those stupid civilians that won’t move to the port… We got the Nomads covering that flank… Defenses have been dug in at the port at least… WiGE’s are moving fast… Good, good, good… Knight Kerensky, good to see you didn’t see any Blakists on your patrol.” He blurts out of nowhere, giving the Clan Mechwarrior a start. Kerensky didn’t think the Marshal knew he was even back yet.
“Affirmative, Marshal. Knight Dumont is securing his area as we speak. From the chaos outside, it looks like the staff is about to abandon the HQ grounds and head to the port?”
“That’s the plan. We head West past the Introtech factory and we will cart as many civilians to Ith as possible. Some of these fools just will not leave the city!” Mcintyre states frustratedly as he slaps the papers in his hands against his desk.
“They will be left to their choices soon enough, if they will not leave, we will protect those who will. We all have heard what the Blakists did in Barrington, that is warning enough.” Responds Kerensky sternly.
“You’re correct there.” Mcintyre responds before raising his voice and shouting, “Everyone, out of the building and into your vehicles, we don’t have time to lollygag! Go! Go! Go!” he then shoves everything left on the desk into his briefcase before turning and looking at the Knight. “We are damn thankful for you Nomads showing up here and staying to help. You could just up and leave but, you haven’t.” He extends a hand that Kerensky meets and shakes.
“Yes, Marshal. Seems my new Clan in the Nomads knows more about honor than my old Clan does.”
“Let’s walk,” Mcintyre states as he walks out the door, followed by the Knight. “My men are mostly in the city trying to get the civvies out of there. Yours are watching more to the South. We need this flank to hold and out of anyone at our disposal, you and Dumont can do it.” They go out the front doors of the HQ. Looking up, the Mashal stops. “Speak of the devil.”
“Sir, we have multiple contacts inbound! We just got word from the Nomad patrol, they have been in a running gunfight and under ECM blankets!” came a voice from the Marshal’s radio. Both men watch off to the South as multiple Leopards, escorted by fighters are moving West and quickly.
“They may be trying to get to the Introtech factory.” Kerensky proposes.
“Possibly, they will be in for a rude awakening there without anything to make the place run.” Adds the Marshal.
Kerensky’s radio begins hissing in static, “…Ight… ensky… Thi… Dumon… inter...ing ene…”
“Say again Dumont!” he shouts back.
“Kerensky, … command staff to … port, … rallied a reinf… any from …… lances to head the…off, … meet you…”
“Aff Dumont, see you soon! Kerensky out!” Kerensky responds before exchanging nods with the Marshal and running to his Night Wolf. The Marshal books it to a nearby Lamprey VTOL awaiting him with two Balac Strike VTOLs hovering overhead.
As he begins to scale the ladder his bondsman’s Warwolf moves up past him and begins to fire. He quickly glances to the South as her ‘C’ variant’s Large Pulse Laser sears off a number of rotors from a fast attack Blakist helicopter. The machine goes crashing into the ground outside the garrison compound. He continues to climb as a wave of missiles launch from her mech. She has stepped in front of him to shield him from any attacks of opportunity.
Dropping his canopy once inside, he quickly powers up the assault mech. Rourke brings up a magnification screen on the HUD and can see to the South a number of Nomad and Federated Suns mechs running to the West, in the path of the Blakist dropships. As the Night Wolf completes powering up, his bondsman continues to fire with deadly accuracy against the Blakist helos and fixed wings that are now strafing the compound.
An explosion rocks the right side of his mech as the HQ building detonates from a fighter flying by at nape of the earth level. He quickly yanks the controls and snaps off a shot with his heavy large laser, searing through the back of the fighter. It loses control and catches a building with one of its wings, sending it rolling. The rest of its ordinance explodes, taking a couple small buildings with it.
“Nikki, on me, we are going to cover the final convoy with the rest of the escorts.” He turns his mech and walks through the now burning rubble of the HQ building. She snaps off a few more shots of her own, then falls in behind him.
---
Novais Port
1900
Escaping the garrison earlier was just in the nick of time too. Multiple waves of hot dropping Blakist mechs took over the compound shortly after their departure. With the convoy travelling at maximum speed down the main road that connects the garrison and Introtech factory to the bay port, they got there in record time. A sprinting Night Wolf was a sight to behold, Rourke found it humorous as he imagined the sight of a ninety-ton assault mech running at eighty kilometers per hour.
Later in the evening Knight Dumont reached the port with five other mechs, all had some amount of damage. Multiple temporary gantries had been established at the port and Knight Rampe Dumont backed his Peacekeeper in to get worked on and replace some armor panels. When he reaches the bottom of his ladder both Kerensky and his Bondsman Nikki are standing at the feet of the assault mech. They can tell that the triple strength myomer had been fully put to use due to the dented armor on the lower legs of the Peacekeeper. Multiple shards of previously kicked legs’ armor are embedded along the length of them.
“Welcome back, Rampe. How did it go at the factory?” Kerensky extends his hand and they shake.
“They wanted the factory badly. We put on a show of trying to destroy it with some weapons fire but, they pushed us hard.” He shakes his head and continues, “They are nasty to say the least, part of that Shadow Division showed up with the regular militia assholes. Devas and Malaks were wreaking havoc.”
“We have yet to engage a celestial.” Kerensky responds. “Right now the FedSuns are in the city trying to get as many people out of there as possible. All of us Nomads are back here at the port.” A loud engine sound interrupts the conversation and all three look to the water and see a Cormorant WiGE start to accelerate away and gain some height. Multiple other WiGEs are docked with huge numbers of civilians being escorted on.
All three take in the scene before them as they stand and discuss the day for nearly an hour. Just a few meters to the side the glow of a welding torch from a tech working on the Peacekeeper can be seen. The port is illuminated by massive floodlights so they can see an elaborate military position live with activity. Numerous Nomad Battlemechs are on patrol or sentry duty around the port, mostly focused on the East and North sides of perimeter. Streams of people are coming from the city on foot as the roadways are completely jammed up with abandoned vehicles.
Out on the water to the South are the piers extending Southward with multiple large WiGE craft being loaded. More can be seen returning from farther out in the bay as they leave and return. The craft starts heading South, wrap to the West, then North, then West again to the tip of the peninsula where Ith is. A couple million civilians had been moved in the days prior, however, there are still many millions more in the city. Some refuse to believe the Blakist threat is real, some recognize they may not even get on a WiGE in time, and others think they can fight back.
The latter option evaporates, as did the somewhat peaceful atmosphere of the port loading with a gigantic flash to the North. All three turn and instinctively cover their eyes, then a shockwave hits and they all are thrown to the ground.
“Damn! What the hell?!” shouts Dumont.
“Dezgra!” adds Kerensky and Nikki almost simultaneously. All three know exactly what just happened.
They sit up and can still see many towers standing but, it is clear that the explosion hit most of the city beyond them. Shouting is audible over their radios on the command channel. “That’s it! Give me a line to the Black Vector NOW!” came the Marshal’s voice in a rage. A massive cloud with a deathly orange glow below it rises into the night sky. Fires and pillars of smoke rage in the city.
A siren begins to sound as a voice from the command center begins to give general orders to all personnel at the port. “All personnel to your equipment, all ground units and aircraft to the perimeter, imminent Word of Blake attack. I say again, all units to the defensive perimeter!”
All three Mechwarriors break for their mechs. Scaling his Peacekeeper, Dumont passes the lowering tech, “Got her done just in time sir, slaughter those bastards!” the tech shouts encouragingly.
“I can’t wait to kill ‘em!” Dumont responds as he continues to climb his ninety-five-ton assault mech. He vaults himself into the cockpit, sliding in like a glove. Hitting the various keys and tossing on his neurohelmet the fusion engine comes to life. The cockpit seals and his HUD flashes with data. He sees that his lance structure has been rebuilt by command since the losses he took earlier. “Lance, form up on me.” He calls out over the comms.
All three Mechwarrior’s callsigns blink green and he can see they are assembling around him. On Abbeville, when they had first contact with the Word of Blake, his lance consisted of a Lament, Uziel, and Cougar. Unfortunately, the only lancemate that remains is the Uziel. However, the lance has now been reinforced with one of the new Bellerophons, a 3X and a Swordsman SWD-5. Dumont is thankful for the new ECM additions to help deal with the Blakist C3 networks.
Both the Uziel and Swordsman break off of the main roadway and stop in front of the Peacekeeper. Meanwhile the larger Bellerophon lumbers around from the back of the gantry. Dumont begins to cover the detailed updates with his lance that are streaming into his HUD regarding Nav Points, civilians, and Blakist movements.
At the next gantry about fifty meters over Kerensky and Nikki climb their mechs and retract their cable ladders as both machines come to life. Ahead of them, more Federated Suns mechs are heading toward the Northern perimeter through a main roadway. A pair of Scarecrows march past. As the startup sequences complete, they look toward the docks, which have devolved into a bit of chaos. Two WiGEs begin to pull out into the bay as the people at the docks are becoming panicked, some jumping into the water after the vessels.
An orange glow continues to illuminate the entire area from the nuclear weapon that went off. Early estimates over the command channels are that millions of civilians died in the blast. Kerensky looks toward the nearest gate on the Northern perimeter. FedSun and Nomad VTOLs are flying low, hovering over the crowds outside the compound with spotlights to look for enemy troops. Some Federated Suns mechs are departing the city still as well as various vehicles and infantry. When the two Clan warriors see Dumont’s lance move out, both of them follow to support.
Once the six mechs reach the perimeter Nav Point they are assigned to, a roar overhead can be heard as aerospace fighters swoop down from the sky. The fleets overhead deployed multiple wings to support final evacuation attempts. The regimental channel opens up on comms, “All units at the port, this is Marshal Mcintyre, we will continue to evacuate civilians until the port is compromised. Hold the line as long as you can. New orders will come if they breach our lines. Mcintyre out.”
“Knight, two o’clock.” States Nikki.
“Aff, good eyes.” Kerensky opens up the lance channel to Dumont. “Two o’clock everyone, keep your eyes peeled, they are doing the Leopard hot drops again.”
Only this time, the Leopards didn’t come to the port and attack the main force. They face to the West, between the main city and the port at about one kilometer out. Activating their mech’s enhanced imaging, they can see that this isn’t a normal attack. It is a terror strike.
Using the keel thrusters to come to a hover the closest Leopard slows and stops. It is directly above civilians who are moving down the road away from the city. Both the port and starboard hull doors slide open. Demon Series Battle Armor troopers are waiting to drop down as hundreds of civilians are being burned alive under the dropship thrusters. That is on top of three more dropships doing the same thing just beyond this one.
A number of Federated Suns mechs and vehicles are out in the fields nearby escaping from the city and begin to fire at the dropships, yielding little damage. However, the support fighters from the atmosphere sweep in to assist. Word of Blake support craft, both fixed wing and VTOLs begin to engage the Federated Suns forces strung out between the port and burning city. They are emerging from the burning city like demons from hell itself. A flight of Simurghs dive in and rain down Gauss and Autocannon rounds, ripping into the second Leopard. It snaps in half and falls to the ground. It lands on and crushes a handful of Demon Series Battle Armor while ending the suffering of many civilians.
“Sir! I can get my two Cavalry Lances out there now!” comes a voice from an officer volunteering to protect the civilians over the command channel. All of the port defenders want to stop the slaughter by the Demon Series troopers that already began. Kerensky can see from his position multiple different types attacking civilians and FedSuns troops. The remaining three Leopards begin to lift off and fly toward the city, being lost in the glow and smoke.
“Negative!” shouts back the Marshal. His voice is clearly torn. More Blakist aircraft sweep in from the East and even the odds with the fighters ordered in from the Black Vector. Keeping an eye on the Demon Battle Armor, the Mechwarriors can spot a Tengu leveling its VSP laser and slicing fleeing civilians in half. Multiple Shedu Battle Armors are bounding along the now scattering column of screaming civilians, their machine guns tearing through flesh and sending blood sprays into the air with the Heavy Recoilless Rifle shots.
“This is madness.” Knight Dumont says just under his breath.
“May God have mercy on us…” the Marshal’s voice can be heard on the Command channel. His voice strengthens as he issues orders, “Additional dropships inbound as well as fast moving ground forces. They are on approach from the city to the North and from the East. Hold positions on the port perimeter, do not depart the perimeter. Redeploying Western perimeter forces to reinforce. Prepare for my command to egress to Ith, units will be assigned to dropships or moving by land, Mcintyre out.”
Through the smoke at the city breaks multiple aerodyne dropships moving toward the port supported by numerous aircraft. On the ground are huge numbers of mechs and vehicles with battle armor riding them as the Blakist horde emerges from the hellscape that use to be Novais.
Another unexpected flash illuminates the port grounds more than the array of floodlights covering the facility. A beam of energy slams into the ground at the edge of the city, enveloping a Leopard dropship. A nearby VTOL spins off, exploding in the air, while another dropship that is close by the edge of the beam dives into the ground nose first.
Then another beam and another. “The Black Vector sends its regards, you bastards!” shouts the Marshal over the open comms, taunting the Blakists. Even daring them to keep charging.
As the beams melt away earth a rain of shells begins to shatter the charging forces just over a kilometer out. Mechs can be seen being torn in half as they are hit by a single Naval Autocannon shell. A battle cry echoes into the night as the FedSun and Nomad troops at the port cheer on the vengeful rain of death. For minutes on end the carnage continues.
Kerensky looks over his HUD and his radar to see that impacts are taking place even among some of the fleeing allies in the distance and no doubt civilians are being killed. That’s why he asked for mercy… Looking up, he can see the barrage continue, it goes on for seconds, then minutes. Large, multi-story buildings at the edge of the city are collapsing. Multiple Blakist Leopards have been shot out of the air. The charging Blakist line which once appeared as a large number of spotlights is now dark in large sections with flames pouring up into the air. Many of the distant war machines have now turned and are fleeing back into the city under the rain of death.
Clearly, the attacking force has been turned. The barrage ends and the Blakists, while they are visible are no longer approaching. Torso twisting his Night Wolf, Kerensky looks toward the docks and can see the last of the civilians in the port are being loaded. As the barrage took place the WiGEs began loading double counts of civilians. Kerensky turns back to face toward the carnage. That is likely tens of millions dead just this evening…
Chapter 9: Julian's Rumination