Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six: Destroyer
New Samarkand, December 7th, 3031
"Nat!" I said as I grabbed her off of the gantry before she climbed into her Nightstar. "Make sure that you come back."
"I will." She took off her Mithril's helmet and gave me a fierce kiss before climbing back up and into her Nightstar. "Just keep the 'mech bay open for me."
"I'll make sure that Samsonov is held off until you're done with the ISF HQ and New Samarkand Metals." I said as I turned back to where I was commanding the offensive. "Just make sure to grab what data you can, I don't want the Combine to be able to hold us off after this."
"Have a little faith, husband." Natasha said and I could feel her smirk through the audio. "I shall take care of it." Her Nightstar began to plod out of the 'mech bay with Mathis' infantry clinging onto certain areas where we had bolted handholds on, along with some hovercraft and her six bondswomen trailing after her.
"Alright people," I turned around and clapped my hands together. "We've got to hold off an overstrength regiment until we've packed up the Schrek Factories, what's left of the decommissioned Gladiator lines, and whatever Intel that Natasha can pull from the ISF HQ."
"We burning everything that's left?" Mendoza asked.
"There isn't actually a lot more manufacturing here." I responded. The decommissioned Gladiator lines can be repurposed, and we don't field the Demolisher, and while we might like the Behemoth, it'll come down to how much time we have, we have to move on to hit that Blankenburg Technologies storage facility."
"So loot what we can, and burn the rest." Mendoza responded. "And do our best to stall for time."
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"You think that you can stop us?" Natasha broadcast as she kicked down the main gate of the ISF HQ while shredding two Panther 'mechs with headshots from her Gauss Rifles. "I'm here for revenge, and you are simply not good enough to stop me." Natasha Kerensky was followed closely behind by Nadia Winson's Gargoyle who used her jump jets to evade the lasers from a Jenner before crippling both of the 'mechs that had been holding the gates with her ER Large Lasers and Medium Pulse Lasers.
"Kerensky, my people are in, and Jones is breaking into the computer systems now." Mathis reported, he and several teams of Mithril clad infantry had dropped into the ISF headquarters while Natasha made her way to the enclosed area. "Jones says that they've already begun to wipe the systems clean, and that he has a limited window to pull data."
"Be wary Mathis," Natasha states "I fear that given the chance to loot at Mithril and Elementals the DEST teams may have been given upgraded gear."
"A but too late for that Kerensky." Mathis replied as he fired his handheld Gauss rifle at the enemy powered armor and enjoying the fact that the production models were able to actually be effective against powered and Battle armor. "We've already encountered some of those teams and we're going to be pinned down here until Jones is done with the Computers."
"Just stay alive Mathis." Kerensky replied with a savage grin on her face as she threatened the enemy lances that were attempting to breach the perimeter that her forces had set. "I need your kids to look after mine after all."
"Working on it!" Mathis responded as he sidestepped a vibrokatana and snapped the DEST commando's arm in two despite the armor and double tapping the neck joints with his rifle before sweeping the leg of the next commando and drawing his sidearm to finish that enemy off. "Kinda busy down here though." He nodded at his fireteam as they finished off the remaining three commandos from this wave with a hellish crossfire.
"Just let me know when you are finished." Kerensky cut the channel to allow the infantryman to focus on his job.
—
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"Jones, it's been a half hour and they're not slowing down any!" Mathis said as he fought yet another commando in CQC with a stolen Vibrokatana. "We're running out of ammo here."
"I'm done!" Jones responded. "I only got a little over half of their overall data because they had started wiping it, but half is better than none."
"Protect the VIP!" Mathis ordered as he stepped over the bodies littering the floor. "Jones, pass out your ammunition, we may need it in order to get out of here."
"This is Major Mathis to all infantry teams in the ISF HQ. Set your charges and get the fuck outta here, we're in the clear." Mathis commanded as he and his team moved out of the base, leaving both little and big explosive surprises behind.
"Mathis, this is Kerensky, I hope that you are done in there, because we have a mass of VTOL's coming in on attack vectors and we are low on ammunition."
"We're on our way out now!" Mathis responded. "Give us five minutes to get clear!"
The infantry company made their way out, nearly a hundred men and women sprinting out with wounded thrown over their shoulders and the dead having been dragged out behind the living.
"Get clear, blowing the charges now!" Mathis yelled out over his comms as he flipped the switch on his detonator and watched as the explosions rippled upwards from the basement levels, sending the complex crashing into the ground.
"ISF HQ is gone ma'am. " Mathis said, with a wide grin on his face. "We're going to have the Maxims come in for pickup if you don't mind staying on guard until they get here."
"Mathis!" Natasha laughed. "We've got you covered until the end of time." The comms channel cut off as she focused on eliminating yet another enemy in her sights.
"Jones," Mathis said as he sagged against a piece of rubble. "I'm starting to feel a little old for this shit."
"I thought you were forty-nine Major?" Jones asked.
"I am, but even longevity treatments don't make your mind feel younger." He replied. "Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's not always easy, especially after a day like today."
"The boss just doesn't like the fact that he's gonna get another medal on his chest." A member of Mathis' handpicked fireteam chuckled. "Takes on thirty DEST commands by himself and says he's tired."
"Yeah, you should hear what Packer used to complain about. "Back in his day it would have been fifty, and all of them in hand to hand combat!"
"Fuck off!" Mathis flipped his fireteam off. "You're just jealous that I pay for all the extra training."
"No, we're just not quite at your skill level boss." One of them made a gesture that meant she was smiling behind her helmet.
"Mathis," Jones said after a moment. "What do I have to do in order to join the Ducal Guard?"
"We'll, I'll tell you once we're back safe and sound." Mathis responded as their Maxim transports showed up. "But let's just say that we're a bit more fanatical in our loyalty to Hull than most of the people you typically serve with."
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Pull back to grid Bravo-four." I commanded a mixed fireteam of 'Mechs and vehicles. "I've got infantry with TAG gear moving to paint those targets for you."
"Copy that Delta Hotel, pulling back to grid Bravo-Four." The fireteam leader responded while I turned my attention to the other areas where we were battling the 5th Galedon Regular.
"Delta Hotel, we are Oscar-Mike to LZ." Mathis voice echoed in my ears.
"That's good to hear, we're just waiting on the factory teams to finish up and then we're lifting off." I replied.
—
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"Did you think I would just allow you to leave?" Tai-Sho Samsonov said into my ears.
"Yeah, I kinda figured you would." I replied as I climbed into my Warhammer. "I figured you'd be more interested in battling it out for the throne on Luthien."
"How can I seek said throne if I have not made the effort to avenge the Coordinators death?" Samsonov replied as his Atlas made its presence on the battlefield known.
"Why is it always an Atlas?" I muttered angrily under my breath. "I'm really sick of fighting assault 'Mechs with my Warhammer."
"Then upgrade already!" Natasha and Mathis said simultaneously.
"I said that on the command circuit, didn't I?" I asked sheepishly.
"Yessir, and if you had upgraded to an assault 'Mech already I wouldn't keep riding you like this." Mathis said. "Now go stonewall this guy while we finish loading up the gear so we can leave."
"Slave drivers." I said as I rolled my 'Mech forward to meet Samsonov.
Edging into the maximum range of my ERPPCs, I snapped off twin bolts of man made lightning towards the lumbering assault Mech facing me and watched as they carved away armor on the center torso. Twitching my controls, I spun my torso around to avoid the flurry of LRMs that were sent my way and crouched to avoid the Gauss rifle that was sent along with it.
"Someone has a fancy 'Mech." I muttered to myself as I double checked to make sure that my comms channels were closed this time. "Now let's work on giving you some knee surgery." I began to walk backwards and alternate my PPC fire into the torso and legs of the Mech that was attempting to break me into two pieces.
"TAG, you're it." I said after a moment when I painted Samsonov's Mech. Watching with glee as the Arrow IV missiles from my artillery impacted the enemy assault Mech and caused it to first stumble, and then fall to the ground as its reactor stopped functioning due to a breach.
"Samsonov, I hope you're able to make it out of here, it'll be interesting to see what you do next." I said over the open channel as we loaded up our loot and got ready to leave New Samarkand. "Enjoy fighting for being Coordinator now." I said with a cruel twist to my voice.
I moved my Warhammer back to its bay and powered it down before moving over to assist in loading everything that we had stolen up and helping lash things down for liftoff.
Soul, December 10th, 3031
"I want this place stripped down to the bedrock." Godbolt ordered as they entered the complex. "And below it if there's anything down there." She looked around. "And make sure to find an inventory list, I know we have the data we ripped from Comstar that led us to this place, but we need verification."
"Yes Ma'am." A staff officer responded. "Moving to locate it now."
"We need to triple check and make sure that we're secure before we take anything out of the facility, and have some of our tech specialists make sure that there's no self destruct that may be triggered, if I get buried here I swear to God that I will come back in my Alacorn and fire you out of the Gauss Rifles." Godbolt threatened with a hint of a smile. "And speed it up, we're on a time crunch here."