Chapter One Hundred and Forty: An Ambushed Ambush
Al Na'ir, October 8th, 3032
"Well, that's a touch unsettling." David said to himself as he looked at the water resting on the top of his Crockett. "I hope that this actually works…" He looked at his laser comms array, hoping that he wouldn't have to wait underneath the water for much longer. "Woah," David gasped as the water shifted over him as two lances of hovercraft moved over the river. "Now I just wait for the command and then we're in business."
David looked out at the murky water as he started getting ready to power his 'mech back up and took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "Just remember to let the Mithril get clear before you open fire." he reminded himself. "There's a lot of targets out there after all."
"Alright Necromancers, time to wake the dead!" Major Sandoval's voice was relayed through the laser comms arrays set up. "Power up and give em hell!"
Going through a quick systems check David then powered up his Crockett and once his Gyro had synced rose from the crouch that his Assault 'mech had been doing in order to hide properly. "You clear Captain Kent?"
"We're attached to the handholds, you're clear to engage." The infantry company CO responded. "Just remember that there's a couple of us on here now."
"I'll let you know before I do any crazy stunts." David chuckled in response. "Your MPPCs ready to roll?"
"We're solid," Kent replied with a grin on his face underneath his Mithril. "Just keep it steady so that we can aim properly."
"Stow the chatter!" Major Sandoval ordered from her upteched Grasshopper. "We've got work to do."
"Aye ma'am." David replied. "Engaging targets now!" He fired his autocannon and lasers at what his computer told him were a pair of Saladins bringing them down and causing him to smile broadly as the fireteam of powered armor attached to handholds on his armor disabled another hovercraft with their MPPCs as they entered range. Then, the hovercraft turned around. "Major! We have trouble, none of the hovercraft are the right designations, there's not even weapons mounted on them!"
"Fuck!" Sandoval replied before swinging around and looking around for where the enemy would be coming from. "Duke Hull, they somehow knew that we were planning an ambush!"
"I hear you, Major." David's father's voice came back over the comms systems. "I've got Mathis in my ear telling me that they're assaulting our LZ as well."
"Sir, do we have the VTOLs for a recon pass?" Sandoval asked, her voice seemingly a touch calmer now. "I'm sure we're about to be hit by some of the enemy forces."
"I'm afraid that we're already showing enemies on our scopes." Hull replied. "We've got the better part of the 15th Dieron Regulars with back up from a mixed battalion of hovercraft and the 8th Dieron Regulars moving to engage us."
"Damn." David muttered to himself. "And here we are with a little over a battalion of mainly 'mechs and infantry."
"Any chance of air support?" Sandoval asked, her Grasshopper spreading its hands out like she was asking the question in person.
"Neg," Yvonne Hazen cut in. "All of our Stings are tasked with keeping the hovercraft away from our dropships at the moment, and we are limited to three volleys of artillery before they have to move."
"Then I guess it's time to give them hell!" Sandoval said as she turned her Grasshopper around to face the area that the Draconis Combine forces were going to be emerging from.
"I've got your back, Major." David said as he stepped up along with a Highlander to cover Sandoval's flanks. "It's going to be a bit dicey out here."
"Copy that," Katheryn Sandoval responded. "We're going to have to coordinate our fire and make sure that we drop each unit before we move on. Captain Kent, I'm going to need you dug into the riverbank and aiming at the cockpits of the enemy 'mechs in order to disorient and distract them."
"Aye ma'am." Captain Kent replied as he and his company used their jump jets to float down to the riverbank. "Digging in now."
"ETA on enemy being in range is five mikes." The lone VTOL that they had in the air reported. "Get ready for them, because they're on their way."
David simply relaxed his shoulders and breathed deeply for a few moments, easing himself into the mindset that he needed to be in for the engagement up ahead. Then, opening his eyes he used his communications systems to open a private channel directly to his parents.
"Mom, Dad, there's a leak or a traitor somewhere." He told his parents the thought that had flashed through his head.
"We're aware of that son." David's father chuckled a bit. "Good job on catching it though, it'll help you out later in life, now pay attention, this could end up really badly for us if we do the wrong thing or if our estimates are off."
"Aye sir!" David replied, knowing that even though Mark Hull was his father, right now he was also the ranking officer on the field. "Shutting down comms now." He reached forward and toggled the private channel off.
"Nothing to be nervous about Dave." He told himself. "You weren't nervous when we dealt with that company before, so settle down." He glared at his stomach area that roiled and rumbled a bit.
"Christ almighty, where did they come up with the sheer amount of assault mechs?" Sandoval breathed into her comms systems. "Heads up people, we've got two full battalions of Assault 'mechs bearing in on our position, and they're being backed up by a lot of Dragons, make sure that you keep your rear torso clear, because if we get stuck we are dead."
"Make sure the sight lines are clear, the last thing we want is to shoot our friends in the back." Duke Hull said clearly. "The Ducal Guard will be the first line, and we'll rotate as necessary." The Duke's shiny new Warhammer moved forward in formation with his wife Natasha and the six women known as her Marauders. "The LZ is being attacked by a large amount of hovercraft and the 8th Dieron Regulars, we have to hold out until the Stings are clear to come and give us some CAS."
"Yes sir!" Sandoval replied as she moved to the second line behind the two battalions of the Ducal Guard.
David just watched as his mother's Nightstar triggered its twin Gauss rifles at extreme range, nailing one of the approaching Battlemasters and causing it to slow down in order to evade, this was followed by the rest of the Ducal Guard units using the weapons they had that outranged the enemy's, making sure to peel armor off before it turned into a knife fight. Just as the battle lines began to converge, David watched in awe as his mother flat out destroyed two assault 'mechs in rapid succession, followed by her Marauders as they tore into the Combine's battle lines.
His dad on the other hand, was a fast moving machine of death, his Warhammerblazed with heat on the scanners, but the Duke just used the extra heat to move faster, using his jump jets to hop around and avoid fire while using his lasers and SRMs to carve away massive chunks of enemy armor, not killing any one particular enemy machines, but instead leaving them open for other units to take advantage of.
"We're pulling back." David's father said over the command circuit. "Rotate out on my mark." The Ducal Guard began to fight their way back through the enemy regiment, leaving broken machines and men behind them along with a full fireteam of their own. "Mark."
No sooner had the command left Duke Hull's lips then the 'machines of the 3rd Kentares Guard surged forward, the infantry that were dug in remaining where they were to catch any stragglers.
"I've got the Atlas." David called out as he fired his lasers and autocannon at the same time, enjoying the fact that his machine ran ice cold due to the freezers. The Atlas responded with SRM fire that splashed across David's armor, causing his chest to itch for a moment as he retaliated with his own lasers and SRMs. Triggering his jump jets, David artfully avoided the AC/20 round that was headed for him and began to carve away the side armor of the heavier enemy machine.
"Watch out Kerensky!" Sandoval yelled as David ducked underneath a sudden hail of missiles. "We can't get bogged down, they've got a lance of Longbows on the ridge."
"Yes Ma'am." David responded as he reigned in his touch of bloodlust, using his jump jets to avoid yet another AC/20 shot in order to get back to the trio that he was a part of.
"Something is off about the Banshee'sover there." The Highlander pilot said, firing his LRMs and Gauss rifle at the Longbow's in order to make them back off a touch.
"You're right, their movement profile is wrong." Sandoval said as she used her mainly energy armament in order to make a Dragon try to take on somewhere else. "They're not moving as fast as they should be."
"Pull back to the river." Yvonne Hazen commanded from her Atlas. "We need to regroup."
Almost as if it were agreed upon beforehand, the two formations split apart, the broken 'mechs littering the ground of the valley that they were fighting in.
"We can't afford to take many more losses like that." David muttered to himself as he looked over the losses. "They've got more numbers and heavier machines than we do." He looked around. "How many of our pilots are going to make it out ma'am?" He asked Major Sandoval.
"Most of our 'mech pilots will be fine." Sandoval replied. "Even the ones that don't punch out are safer than the rest of the units in the inner sphere, but this is a disaster."
"What do you mean ma'am?"
"The Kentares Guard and the Marksman aren't trained for straight 'mech on 'mech warfare, the Ducal Guard is more trained in it, but we focused so much on combined arms that we don't train in 'mech on 'mech warfare without conventional support as much."
"And now we're stuck in a slugfest with a bunch of big stompy robots." David's father broke in on the channel. "We're going to have our infantry TAG the Longbows, if we can take out their fire support then it'll help us level the playing field, we're outnumbered two to one here, and outmassed by a significant portion."
"No fancy tricks this time?" Sandoval asked, hoping that Dule Hull had a trick to pull out of his hat or sleeve.
"Most of said fancy tricks were done because I had time and space to prepare." Duke Hull replied, firing his PPCs at an enemy mech across the river. "This time, we were the ones ambushed and we've got three choices before us."
"And those are?" Sandoval asked, not seeing them.
"One, we stay here and fight, hopefully cause enough damage that the 15th Dieron Regulars pull back and let us have the field." Hull almost casually jumped out of the way of a gauss rifle round. "Two, we break through and make a push for the LZ, and hope they don't steal all of the salvage here before we get back."
"And the third option sir?"
"We hold out until our close air support gets here and pray that they don't get bogged down." the Duke replied. "All of the options are bad, but we've got to pick one."
"And I pick option Four." Natasha said as her Nightstar stepped back in the front of the friendly formation. "We attack them, and clear them from the field, they have chosen death, so let us give it to them." She killed a Dragon with a careful headshot from her ERPPC. "Does anyone care to challenge me to single combat?" She broadcast on an open channel. "Your coordinator was weak in combat, let us see if you can do any better."
"Or, we can go with option four." Duke Hull said as he followed his wife's assault 'mech. "Cause chaos and make them angry enough at the two of us that it allows the rest of y'all to pick them off." The married couple then proceeded to move at a moderate pace towards the enemy, seemingly unflinching in the danger in front of them.
"They are so cool." David said to himself. "One day, I'm going to be just like them."
"I hope not." Sandoval tapped his Crockett on the shoulder, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Those two are absolutely Crazy. They're the good kind of crazy, but there's this little thing I like to call reality, and while they seem to be ignoring it for now, it'll catch up to them eventually."
"But they're heroes, Major." The Highlander pilot chimed in.
"Big Damn heroes always die." Sandoval stated matter of factly as she took a large laser to the chest, melting a large swath of armor off of her Grasshopper. "Maybe they make it to old age, but when they die it's never pretty."
"We'll just have to see about that." David replied as he once again faced the Atlasthat he had tangoed with earlier. "We'll just have to see."