Chapter Forty-Four: I heard there was a damsel…
If I was going to die, then my last stand was going to be a story told for all of the ages…
Then, an orbital deployment pod crashed into McCarron's Atlas, and a Thunderbolt casually walked out of the wreckage, headshotting the mech next to it. "I heard there was a Damsel in distress." You could hear Hanse's shit eating grin over the comms channel. After he had broadcast that, another three mechs fell from orbit in formation around him and the fireteam I had coopted came in behind and finished off the enemy mechs left standing.
"Screw you Hanse." I retorted. "I had them on the ropes."
"Sure you did Hull." Hanse walked his Thunderbolt past my and used the hand to pat the shoulder of my mech. "Sure you did."
"How's the rest of the fight going?" I asked, if Hanse was deploying on us, that meant we had drawn in a lot more forces then expected. "Can you afford to come bail us out?"
"We already crushed the Grenadiers and most of the Fusiliers, while the ELH is working on the First Chesterton." Hanse told me, "The Third Davion are acting as floating forces for rapid deployment."
"You need to get back to your dropships and re-armour." Hanse said. "I can see the sun through parts of your skeleton."
"Yeah yeah," I said. "I didn't see you playing bait out there."
"That's because you make such good bait my friend." Hanse chuckled. "I mean, I've heard stories of a certain "Canopian job" from some of your command staff."
"Dammit Sheppard!" I muttered, "It's always your fault."
"Hanse," I got serious for a second."You got this area for now?"
"Yeah Hull, you did good." Hanse said "Go get some rest while your mech is re skinned I'll coordinate from here."
July 15th, 3010
"How bad were the losses?" I asked Sheppard now that we were able to have a meeting for the first time in weeks.
"Well, the Infantry has taken the least amount of damage. Any infantry that see one of the two Sting's basically throw down their arms and surrender at first sight now. But we're going to be spending a lot of time in the repair bays." He gestured to one of our tanks being repaired behind him. "Proper combined arms tactics limited our personnel losses by a lot but we're going through our spare parts a little faster than expected."
"Well, they did throw more people at us than was initially planned for." I remarked. "On a side note, I heard Hanse's plan to use the Sting's to capture Earthwerks went well."
"Yeah, Captain Mathis isn't going to let us hear the end of it for years." Sheppard replied.
"He's not going to be doing a whole lot of bragging from what I understand." I said with a serious note in my voice. "We're going to be paying a lot of therapy bills over the next while. They shredded the regular infantry like they weren't even there."
"I heard the same thing from the Davion Heavy Guards infantry CO." Sheppard said. "We're going to have to make sure to get some more therapists then. Mental health is important in our profession."
"Hanse said that the First Chesterton were on the ropes a couple of days ago, but I have the feeling we're going to be here for a while." I said.
Six months later…
"I really do think that might be the last of them." Hanse said as we watched what we thought was the last Tikonov Militia unit on the planet throw their weapons down and power down their light vehicles from the mobile HQ.
"Don't jinx it Hanse." I said. "You're going to be spending years checking for MASK spies and all sorts of assorted messes."
"Yeah, I know." Hanse replied. "I got a communique from Ian, I'm going to be the military governor here until things settle down."
"Congratulations?" I said/asked. "I know it's more work, but you're probably the best choice for it."
"I know this." Hanse told me. "But If I'm not there to watch Ian, who knows what kind of trouble he'll get into."
"I'll try to keep an eye on him, and be ready to bail him out if he gets himself into trouble." I said. "And, I'm leaving extra Mithril here. I have a feeling that you might need it for pacification if things get really bad."
"I'm not going to slaughter these people, Hull." Hanse looked me in the eye.
"Hanse, they're literally impervious to small arms fire, I don't expect you to slaughter them, I expect them to be the best damn riot patrol ever made."
"Oh, right; forgot who I was talking to for a minute." Hanse said. "Your contract is up in a few months, so I'll bend your ear for some ideas, and hopefully, we're able to stop for a bit and repair and rearm."
"Sounds like a decent idea to me." I said. "Now, it'll take some time, but I've got some ideas about the thug line…"
Two months later…
"Just so you know, I fully expect to be made godfather of any of your children after that rescue." Hanse joked as we exchanged goodbyes.
"I didn't need your help." I retorted with a smile. "But thanks for it anyway." we had rehashed the argument of whether I had needed the help or not multiple times by now.
"I'll let Ian know that you're doing well here." I said. "And I'll do my best to keep him out of trouble."
"You better." Hanse replied. "Yvonne must be pulling her hair out, and she's gonna need some help."
Tikonov jump point March 25th, 3011
I was tired. It had been a long campaign, and I just wanted to collapse and then go work on my farm for a bit when we got back to Kentares. I was still daydreaming about rest when I got to my quarters and opened the door. "Sorry, wrong room." I went to close the door and was yanked inside. After that, I wasn't daydreaming much anymore.