Stalking the Legends
Stalking the Legends | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Loren L. Coleman | |||
| Publication | |||
| Published | 2003 | ||
| Published in | Technical Readout: Project Phoenix | ||
| Publisher | FanPro | ||
| Pages | 6 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Era | Jihad era | ||
| Timeline | ca. 3068 | ||
| Series | |||
| |||
{{#set:Era=Jihad era}}{{#set:Start date=ca. 3068}}{{#set:End date=ca. 3068}}
Stalking the Legends is a short story by Loren L. Coleman that was first published in 2003 as introductory fiction for Technical Readout: Project Phoenix. In 2011, an enhanced version was published as part of the A Face Full of Blades anthology.
Plot Summary
The Solaris Home Defense League is running, and among them Erik Gray and The Unnamed Soldier while fighting a retreating battle against the Word of Blake forces. The Unnamed Soldier is injured during the fight, and then Erik shows all the potential he has. With the shortened company of forces formed by gladiators from Delon and Overlord Stables plus a few free agents he is leading the Solaris VII Home Defense League as best as he can, driving the survivors through the thick woods and being able to stop their enemies to outflank them while escaping Solaris City.
Among them is coming Adam Kristof, from the Sun Times when he detects several unidentified 'Mechs from old (Battlemaster, Warhammer, Marauder, Rifleman, Phoenix Hawk, Archer, and even a Valkyrie), which turn out to be fighters from the minor leagues. A deal is made for both parties to be united against the common enemy by giving the newcomers full share of the video time in the transmissions being sent outside. This added to the SHDL survivors from Midnight Stables, Manticore Stables, Jacobite Stables and the Streholm Cooperative, all of them led by Shen Driscoll.
United, they decided to stop the march and go back to counterattack to the WoB invaders, a movement that surprised them as they most probably did not expect that movement nor the reinforcements they had gotten. Things were looking good when a downed Toyama used the suicide charge it had installed killing some of the infantrymen that were going to take it down. This broke the second division stables and several of the Manticore Stables broke lines and were killed because of that.
A WoB Penetrator rallied the WoB Militia unit and counterattacked, downing Driscoll's BattleMaster and then going for Erik Gray, when the battle armor infantry attacked him, enough to distract him and allow a Phoenix Hawk to join the numbers and damage him. Fortunately for them all, Erik is able to see this and use his damaged Emperor, missing an arm, to damage even more the Penetrator, but not enough to kill him. When all seems lost and they are expecting the Penetrator to make a killing shot, Shen Driscoll is able to shot with his 'Mech's gauss rifle from the ground by using his other hand to set up his 'Mech high enough. That was a killing shot that destroyed the Penetrator's head and broke the WoB morale, that after that retreated, though not prior to losing a Trebuchet.