Resurgence - Cataclysm Chapter 14
January 10th, 3153
Achernar Battlemechs, Brunswick
New Avalon
2230
Achernar Battlemechs is just Southwest of the city of Ith. The city of Ith is the furthest North that the allied Federated Suns and Nomads can fall back to before having to give up the continent of Brunswick. A vast complex, the factory extends for kilometers both above and below the ground. Command has deemed this an all-in operation. There is nowhere to fall back to. Given the few clusters of information that have breached the fighting above the atmosphere and on Albion… this is it. With the sheer volume of combined Federated Suns and Nomad forces clustered in this one position, lance sized elements have been boosted to five or even six mechs in size.
The bulk of the forces are holding in a central location between Achernar Battlemechs and Ith with a significant number of small unit commanders sprinkled along the perimeter of the facility and city.
***
Multiple explosions echo across the facility at the wall surrounding the compound. Knight Kerensky is tasked with protecting a number of mech prototype support gantries. These are the type of objectives that would be less likely to just be obliterated by the Blakist attackers because they will need some infrastructure, should they attain victory.
“Sir, we have a wall collapse next to the gantries for the prototype mechs!” a lancemate calls out to the lance channel.
“Same over here!” shouts another.
“We knew they would be gunning for this location eventually, warriors! Keep your resolve! Davion warriors, keep your aggression up on the flank, I will draw in attention to my Night Wolf!” shouts Knight Kerensky as he advances forward with care. The attacking force has a number of heavy and assault class mechs according to data being fed to his Heads-up Display.
Beside him is a Republic Prefect and Gunsmith. The Gunsmith advances toward the left flank where a service gate is open. It is a fast mech and previously the Knight and the Mechwarrior discussed potential uses for such speed. While the light mech is preparing to get aggressive with the inbound enemy force both the Night Wolf and Prefect stick together.
A Black Knight, Highlander IIC, and Thug are all approaching the smoking, newly created gap ahead of the Night Wolf and Prefect. Trying to keep his Night Wolf protected from combined fire, Kerensky takes cover near a gantry support column. At the same time the Prefect Mechwarrior flies by at a full run to take cover behind a remaining section of wall.
The Black Knight sends a PPC toward the Night Wolf and in return the Night Wolf fires its pair of Advanced Tactical Missile nine racks with the Heavy Large Laser and Plasma Cannon. The Prefect and Thug shoot at each other as well. Some glancing blows tear off armor from both sides. On the right flank the Bushwacker and Uziel stay in cover as they advance toward the Stalker that is inbound.
Being on the defensive, Knight Kerensky and the Prefect stay in cover; trying to minimize the amount of focused fire heading their way. As they prepare for the next volleys an Ostscout comes charging into the compound right between the large Nomad mechs. “Commando, I need you on that Ostscout!” orders Kerensky.
“Roger, sir!”
The Commando had been sticking toward the center of the formation hoping to exploit any holes that formed in the attacker’s lines. The light mech high tails it toward the prototype Battlemech gantries and prepares to meet the Ostscout coming around the left flank.
While the Ostscout is the Blakist attempt to flank the Nomad and Federated Suns forces the Gunsmith has the same idea. Powering up the MASC in the small mech it starts kicking up dirt as it hits two hundred kilometer per hour and runs behind the attacking formation. Kerensky can’t believe his eyes as the little mech goes flying through the backfield and winds up behind the Stalker. He has never seen that mech moving at maximum speed. Clearly from the shifting and staggered advance of the attackers, they hadn’t either.
This distraction is Kerensky’s chance to advance. He turns his Night Wolf away from the support column and runs it towards the wall near where the Prefect is taking cover. When he arrives, the Prefect runs to take cover in some light woods near the wall rubble. It is time for them to try to stop the advance as the Federated Suns mechs harass the right flank.
Having hit the Black Knight with the Plasma Cannon moments before, the heavy mech is slowed down severely and is trying to take cover behind the wall. This takes it out of line of sight of Kerensky’s Night Wolf making his primary target the Highlander IIC. A huge salvo of weapons fired from the Blakist assault mech slams into the Night Wolf, shredding armor from it. In return the Night Wolf opens up with a wave of ATMs, the Plasma Cannon, and the Heavy Large Laser causing a heat spike in the IIC on top of the successful impacts.
Kerensky’s shot is spot on as the huge purple beam melts straight through the cockpit of the Highlander IIC. The ninety-ton mech finishes one last step, both its arms go limp, hanging down, then it topples backwards. “Great shot, sir!” shouts the Prefect pilot. Multiple cheers can be heard over the unit channel. A wave of relief floods over the Knight as his gamble of a shot paid off but the relief is short lived.
Seeing the larger mech fall the Blakist Thug seeks vengeance. Firing on the Night Wolf it targets the Night Wolf’s right arm capitalizing on prior damage. A second later a ton of ATM ammo detonates in the arm of the Nomad Republic mech. Neural feedback shocks Kerensky into a migraine.
Juking the Commando, the Ostscout changes direction to charge toward the FedSun Bushwacker that is now moving to support the Nomad mechs. A light PPC hits the Bushwacker’s ferroglass cockpit shield, melting a gauge in it. This causes the Bushwacker pilot to miss most of his return fire.
It seems like the left flank is firmly shifting into favor of the Nomads and FedSuns. On the right flank the Uziel and Gunsmith are working as a team against the Stalker and Crab. After the Gunsmith hoses down the rear of the Stalker with the X-Pulse Lasers it takes cover and the Uziel jumps in to use its four Pulse Lasers. The Crab and Uziel carry out kick attacks to shred off armor.
With the multiple exchanges of fire both the Night Wolf and Prefect have experienced significant leg damage. Both are keeping away from the closing enemy mechs. Protecting his men, Knight Kerensky orders the Prefect Mechwarrior to fall back and surprises the attackers by jumping his Night Wolf into the light trees that the Prefect was occupying.
Both the Commando and Bushwacker swing in to support the larger Nomad mechs. However, the Ostscout is proving to be one of the most experienced Word of Blake pilots. It has dodged most of the fire coming at it and been hitting with Light PPCs on nearly every defending mech it shoots at. Swinging around to see the Prefect between the gantries, it lets loose again.
The lightning bolts slam into the Prefect. But the Prefect is going all in on this wave of fire. Taking a wide stance the Prefect aims its snub nose PPC and twin Medium lasers at the Ostscout, melting away a good portion of the right and center torso armor. Then the left arm aims at the Thug that is advancing past the Night Wolf, the Heavy PPC goes flying.
By sheer luck or fate the Heavy PPC slams into the Thug’s cockpit; punching a hole through it as it is emerging from the trees. The last shots it makes in return slam into the Prefect’s armor. No longer in control by a pilot and after more fire from the Commando and Bushwacker the Thug slams into a large tree, then careens into the ground digging up a trench of dirt with a shoulder.
Both the Black Knight and Night Wolf are now facing off, letting loose with everything they have in massive volleys of laser and missile fire. Having lost the right arm the Night Wolf is running cooler than normal; easing the migraine that Knight Kerensky is facing. However, with the Plasma Cannon coating the Black Knight in flames the Blakist mech continues to run very hot.
Swiftly, the Black Knight pilot kicks the Night Wolf in response and dodges the return kick with unexpected agility. The Black Knight pilot realizes the Thug is now down too. However, the Stalker is on its way. It is being harassed by the jumping Uziel still; its Medium Pulse Lasers continuing to tear through armor along with the medium mech’s kicks.
The Black Knight starts backing up and the Nomads and FedSuns fill the gap. Seemingly out of nowhere the Gunsmith blows by the Night Wolf alongside the Commando and both of them fire their weapons at the Black Knight to keep the volume of fire up. The attacking Crab circles around to harass the light mechs but it isn’t enough to turn the tide. From the heat load the Black Knight shuts down.
Once the mech goes offline the remaining Stalker and Crab begin to backpedal. The Ostscout harasses the Prefect one last time then leaps over the wall and begins to egress. Finally ending the threat, the Night Wolf takes aim and blows off the severely damaged Black Knight’s left leg, dropping the mech to the ground.
“Nomads, Suns, fall back into the compound now!” Kerensky orders his unit, “We need immediate repair assistance!” calls Knight Kerensky to the main operations compound.
“Solid copy Nomad Two, repair and salvage vehicles are en route, ETA ten minutes. Hold by the gantries if able, we will get you fixed up. Radar shows another Level II a couple Kilometers out, unknown destination. This must be the vanguard. The main force has not reached us yet, be ready for redeployment. The compound wall has held, all positions are reporting Blakist forces falling back. Engineers are en route to secure those wall breaches, great job. Ops out.”
Kerensky’s Night Wolf is a mess. His legs have lost nearly all their armor and his head is still killing him from the ammo explosion. The Night Wolf and Prefect did their jobs and took the brunt of the Blakist fire. Both of their mechs need armor replacements on their legs badly. He was hoping the CASE was able to preserve some of the arm he lost even just the Medium Laser would be a huge help.
The Commando and Gunsmith run past him and back into the compound. He can see further to the right flank that the Uziel is jumping back over the wall. The Bushwacker is holding position at the end of the broken wall. It is crouched down and surveying the landscape on alert. Taking one last look, Kerensky can see the fading silhouettes of the Stalker lumbering behind the Crab and Ostscout as they fall back into the night.
New Avalon is the jewel of the Federated Suns. Even though the Federated Suns couldn’t support the Republic on Terra, the Nomads are there for the Suns and Kerensky is proud of that. Minutes tick by as the repair crews and engineers scramble around the mechs to hastily weld on armor plating. He reevaluates the position and what data they have regarding the main enemy force. It seems to be very clear that they intend to try to split the defending forces between Ith and Achernar Battlemechs. He looks at the hologram floating on his HUD and there is a gigantic red blob slowly moving toward the space between the two green ones of the city and factory.
***
Achernar Battlemechs, Brunswick
New Avalon
2245
Kerensky’s Night Wolf is moving at a full sprint Northeast toward the contact point. His bondsman, Nikki is following him in her Warwolf, just joining him from her position on the wall. She added a mech and vehicle kill to her record. Both have some damage but the repair crews were able to install new armor plates on the most crucial locations and reload ammo. Even the Medium Laser in his damaged arm had been repaired.
Bringing a full star with him including the Bushwacker, Uziel, and Gunsmith he just fought alongside; they crest a hill just over a kilometer out from the rallying Nav Point. It has already begun.
Clear weather for the evening allows him to see the chaos unfolding both above and below. He is thankful the storm went to Albion even though it will make it far tougher to battle there. Among the stars above the flashes of explosions and lasers are constantly going off. Below he can see the waves of forces. As opposed to what happened at Novais, hot drops with aerodyne dropships are not taking place. However, the aerospace battle above the battlefield is raging.
His star stands atop of the hill for a brief moment, taking it all in. Behind both forces artillery and LRM launchers are raining down death and destruction on the opposing side. Mechs are clashing in the middle of the field. While individual lances are flowing in from other defensive positions it is visibly clear that the numbers favor the Blakists. However, the FedSuns and Nomads are not without immense strength. Four Ares Superheavy Battlemechs are deployed along their lines. The huge mechs tower above the rest. “Move out star, we have Blakists to kill!” Finishing his order Kerensky’s Night Wolf charges down off the hill.
Covering ground quickly, within minutes they pass through an Achernar perimeter gate and enter the battle. The wall turrets are adding their fire in against the Blakists. Working together the star finds and focuses down an enemy mech. Initially facing off against Word of Blake militia warriors they know that the Shadow Division is out there somewhere. At least one of the divisions landed on Brunswick. Across the hilly terrain hundreds of mechs and vehicles tear into each other. Explosions continue to rock each side from artillery and missile support units.
“Nomad Two, good to have you.” Knight Dumont calls out.
“Solid copy Nomad One, just got done executing some of these fanatics.”
“Moving up on your left,” Dumont says as his Peacekeeper, already running hot for his mech’s Triple Strength Myomer. A Blakist Lightray is approaching from the flank and the Peacekeeper runs up and kicks a leg off the medium mech in one swing. The rest of the machine crashes into the ground before the Peacekeeper steps on it, crushing it. Keeping up with the assault mech are three pristine Battlemechs, two Battleaxe 8B’s and a Vulpes all in their gray primer.
“You pull them off the assembly line?” Kerensky jests.
“Haha! The mechs, yes. We can talk more later though, let’s kill these Blakists!” Dumont yells as he pushes forward. His three lancemates are pressing the attack on line with him as they slow to create an advancing wall of weapons fire.
That Vulpes looks savage firing off that shoulder mounted RAC. Kerensky thinks to himself.
“I may be interested in trading this Warwolf in for a Vulpes, Knight Kerensky.” His bondsman says.
“We can talk about new rides when we know we get to keep the factory. Star, keep firing!” Kerensky orders.
He catches up with Dumont’s lance and gets on line as well. They have to watch their feet as FedSuns and Nomad Battle Armor are moving around aggressively. “Uziel, Bushwacker, Gunsmith, you watch our backs and guard our two lance’s flanks.”
Taking up position behind the six Battlemechs, that trio becomes extremely aggressive. Of course, they have the speed and Uziel’s jump jets to do it. Stepping up beside Dumont’s Peacekeeper, Kerensky seeks an update on the situation but, not before firing off his Heavy Large Laser to cut deep in the armor of a Raijin II. “Nomad One, from the hill it looks like they have numbers on us, what is the plan?”
“What you see is what you get. We have to hold at all costs. I have all the Ares Lady Joy allotted us deployed.”
“I saw them, should be inspiring fear soon enough on the Blakists.” Kerensky responds.
“Negative, they have at least two Omegas and plenty of Celestials out there. Keep on line with my lance and we will be able to hold the South flank. I have already called up multiple AA vics to support us if any aerospace fighters want to try something.” Dumont informs him and adds, “Switch over to the command channel.”
Both switch over to hear the chaos unfolding around the center of the battle lines. A Hades variant of the Ares Superheavies is being called up to the front line to try to help break through. Any glances to the North to try to keep track of what is going on visually is nearly impossible.
“All units, prepare for major push in the center!” the Marshal shouts over the command channel.
“Nomad Two, cover me, I am falling back to evaluate the situation.”
“Aff.”
The Night Wolf sidesteps to fill the gap as the Peacekeeper starts to backpedal a few meters in the center of paired unit formation. Dumont studies the HUD’s hologram of the battle for a moment as he crouches the mech down behind a smoking mech chassis. He can see the Hades variant hosing down Word of Blake mechs but, the line isn’t changing… yet. There! He can see the Shadow Division pushing. A Level II of exclusively Archangels are pushing through the Blakist lines with more Celestials close behind. All of them have Demon Battle Armor mounted on them. He stands his Peacekeeper back up, “Nomad Two come in!”
“Send it.”
“I need you to put your bondsman in command of our lances and follow me, we need to reinforce the center of the line!”
A second later the Night Wolf backpedals to Dumont’s Peacekeeper and they both start moving North behind the main battle line. They do not like how the numbers are thinning. They can see the central Hades variant a couple hundred meters ahead and pillars of flames and smoke are rising into the night sky all around it.
A large number of FedSun and Nomad mechs have stacked up on the center but, that isn’t enough. Dumont and Kerensky see chaos unfolding with mechs colliding but cannot make out exactly what is happening. Then a Celestial breaks through to the rear of the lines.
“They’ve punched through!” Kerensky shouts to Dumont.
“Roger, we have to keep them from wrapping around!”
Both assault mechs fire on the Archangel that is slashing at the rearmost FedSun mech with a retractable blade. It stomps out aggressively, slashing horizontally, the blade slicing through armor and sending shards flying. A Level I of Tengu Battle Armor leaps off the mech and begins spraying any nearby target with rockets and machine gun fire.
Kerensky fires his Plasma Cannon, a wave of flaming gel carpets the area, catching three of the Tengus in the burning sludge. Meanwhile Dumont surges forward, ramping up his mech’s heat to activate the TSM. As he is about to make contact, a Seraph surges through the line charging his Peacekeeper. Dumont is able to plant his mech’s feet just in time to stay upright as both mechs collide and slide through the field for a couple meters.
He flings his right arm out to shove the Seraph back slightly. As he takes aim, he realizes his Heavy PPC is no longer functioning. That bastard and his retractable blade! Then enjoy the rest! Dumont fires his Large Laser, Plasma Rifle, and left arm PPC at the Seraph as it braces for the impacts.
Those aren’t the only impacts. Kerensky takes his chance adding his remaining ATM9 and Heavy Large Laser to the barrage and the Seraph struggles to stay standing. While their weapons cycle multiple Level 1s of support and PPC variant Shedu Battle Armor weave their way through the massive mech brawl taking place emerging between Battlemech legs.
In the center of it all the Hades is still firing wildly, clearly overheating and taking incredible amounts of damage. If the battle armor are reaching back here then the bloodbath up there is hell… Kerensky thinks as he again fires his Plasma Cannon, this time at the Shedus. Most dodge the deadly gel but one is caught and burned alive.
“Make a hole! Headhunter lance coming through!” a random voice shouts to the embattled assault mechs. Dumont and Kerensky continue to fire toward the enemies breaking through the line but do not advance. Four Scarecrow Battlemechs run past the two Knights and into the fray. Almost entirely ignoring the Blakist mech presence they begin cutting down Demon series and militia battle armor troopers. Between setting them on fire and shredding them with machine gun fire the ground opens up more for the mechs to battle.
One of the Scarecrows slicing through a Level I of battle armor is hit by a pair of Heavy PPCs from an Archangel and flies onto the ground, now missing a limb. Another Scarecrow finds itself wading into a mess of battle armor and seems to show no concern as they begin scaling the mech. However, their demise comes as B-pods detonate and send chunks of flesh and metal in all directions. The mech’s legs are coated in a glossy red liquid.
Taking in the developing battle, more areas of the defender’s line break as now militia and Shadow Division mechs are breaking through. Multiple FedSun mechs are starting to fall back, even without orders to do so. “Hold the line!” Dumont and Kerensky start shouting on comms. Some of the warriors at least slow to provide support fire as the line is on the verge of shattering.
Looking around, Kerensky spots that the Hades variant Ares is destroyed, as well as a Hera variant. Luckily a Hephaestus variant is near their position and is continuing to hammer away with its large lasers. It is walking laterally toward the Peacekeeper and Night Wolf. “Hold the line!” again is shouted but this time, not by the Nomads or FedSuns. It is a female’s voice with a distinct accent, Dumont and Kerensky pause for a second as they don’t recognize the voice.
Across the battle line a Battalion’s worth of aerospace fighters strafe into the Blakist forces from the West to East overhead. Lasers, autocannons, and missiles tear gouges through the attacker’s forces. “By Kerensky, are those Snow Ravens?!” shouts Knight Kerensky as he looks to the sky.
Dumont turns his Peacekeeper enough to look in the opposite direction of the Blakists, to the West. Multiple aerodyne dropships are swooping down and into the backlines of the FedSun and Nomad lines. Marked with Capellan Confederation and Snow Raven insignia, it sends shivers up his spine.
Marshal Mcintyre’s voice breaks over the open channel, “All Suns and Nomad forces, the Capellans and Snow Ravens are here as allies! Hold your ground!” At that, Dumont turns to reengage the nearest Word of Blake mech. With the two new faction’s aerospace fighters relieving the threat in the air, now they can commit to strafing runs against the Blakist forces.
Dumont’s Peacekeeper, Kerensky’s Night Wolf, and the Hephaestus mech behind them continue to lay waste to the still pushing through enemy mechs. A full lance of Capellan mechs led by a Tian Zong hit the ground just a dozen meters to the North of them and surge forward into the brawl. Stopping just short, the Tian-Zong begins firing off its Gauss Rifles, tearing armor off a Grand Titan. Its lancemates – a Yu Huang, Koschei, and Huron Warrior form a defensive wall in front of the Tian-Zong.
“That is where we need to be to break this attack.” Kerensky tells Dumont and the Hephaestus pilots. Both of them shift to join the Tian-Zong as well as the Hephaestus variant Ares that is providing overhead fire. Along the rear Suns and Nomad lines a large number of Capellan and Snow Raven mechs hotdrop to join the fight.
“Advance!” comes the order of the sharp female voice with an oriental accent. Her three lancemates begin moving and the three Nomad mechs join them with others falling in. It is a slow and tiresome advance yet, they continue forward. One of the Headhunter Scarecrows weaves through the large mechs seeking out more enemy troopers to execute as they try to get to the Capellans. It intentionally steps on one crawling, Blakist battle armor on the ground.
Waves of Trinity Battle Armor weave between the allied mech’s feet hunting for Demons themselves. Reviewing HUD data the breaches in the line have been resecured and the Word of Blake forces are showing their own lines to be crumbling. Now with supporting fire from the landed dropships and aerospace the attackers have very little chance of success. Mere minutes later the Blakists begin to break contact, albeit with a lot of return and suppression fire.
Falling back to the East and then to the South is the likely plan by the Blakist leadership. Dumont ceases his fire as does Kerensky, the Hephaestus, and the Capellans near them.
“Ma’am, who are you? Who do we have to thank for us holding the line?” Marshal Mcintyre asks through the comms for all the allied mechs to hear.
In a thick but clear oriental accent she responds, “Greetings allies, I am Sang-Wei Pei-Ling Liao. Some of my forces are supporting your men at the Davion Palace. I volunteered to provide aid here.”
“Welcome to New Avalon, Sang-Wei. I am Marshal Shawn Mcintyre, I have sent you the Nav Point for our HQ if you are willing to join us here.”
“At once, I will direct my forces to harass the enemies as they flee. This is a beautiful world, even with such violence. I look forward to my time here.”