Marshal Riffenburg looked up at Sunrise Mesa, impressive even twenty miles away, and then over at Captain d'Yores: "I bet 1000 C-bills that you guys don't even get inside. " D'Yores calmly asked: "Are you good for that kind of money?" Riffenburg laughed. "I have to hand it to you mercenaries; I've never met one yet that couldn't talk a good fight." "Of course. Cuts down on ammunition costs." "Ha! I'll appreciate your bravado a lot more after you've captured the Mesa so my regiment takes Jones' Point without being shot to Swiss cheese." "That's what Davion hired us to do", d'Yores replied, rubbing his forehead as though he had a headache. "You act as though all you need to do is ask politely and the Dracs will hand over the keys to the place to you. Look at it. I've seen entire cities which were easier to crack." D'Yores had to agree with the marshal. Sunrise Mesa was the gateway and guardian of the only easy way through mountains which surrounded the vital city of Jones' Point. The Mesa could be by-passed or battered into rubble, but that took time, a lot of it, more than Hanse Davion was willing to accept if there was another way. That's why he had contacted the Knights of Storm and Sword even before the war had started, asking them if they could devise a way to take the fortress in only a few hours. The Knights sent d'Yores and his team to back up their claim. If d'Yores succeeded, not only would House Davion's conquest of the planet McComb be assured, but the Knights would receive a lucrative bonus. Now the only problem was in actually getting the job done. "Why do you suppose it's going to so difficult to take?" d'Yores inquired of the marshal,. Riffenburg responded with a frown. "Don't be coy. Not only is the place on top on a five hundred foot mesa and protected by meters of concrete, but it has enough Long Toms and other, assorted playthings to blow a battalion of 'mechs back into orbit. I hope that I'm not telling you anything new?" "We've been briefed." "And lobotomized if you think you have a chance." "As I said, we were hired to capture Sunrise Mesa-" "You've been hired as cannon-fodder." "-and we will succeed. The Knights do have some experience in this sort of thing", d'Yores said, with a hint of pride, "We have a knack for accomplishing the impossible." The marshal sighed heavily. The man did have courage, or at least foolhardiness. "Allright", he finally said. "I'll give you and your people their chance. But, if you bungle it, I'll pound the mesa into dust and not worry about whether you survive." "Marshal, marshal", d'Yores answered, shaking his head," you should read your Sun-Tzu. It's the unimaginative leader who resorts to force." He reached into his backpack and pulled out the shirt of a Tai-i in the army of the Draconis Combine. "The best leaders use guile." Arrivals When Sho-ko Evans observed two light hovercraft speeding toward the fortress and then up the wide ramp to the front gates, he thought it of a Davion attack. He soon decided that the arrivals must be friendly. One, the hovercraft had Combine markings; two, Davions aren't known for suicide attacks against fortified positions; and, three, the Davion forces surrounding the mesa were doing their best to reduce the vehicles to scrap metal. "The messengers we've been waiting for are approaching with the enemy hot on their heels", Evans yelled through the intercom. "Open up the gates!" The two hovercraft came to a screeching stop just inside the fortress, within feet of the rapidly closed gates. Evans rushed down to greet the newcomers. There were four of them, three men and a woman. All looked as though they hadn't slept for days. One of the men, brown haired and in his thirties, stepped forward toward Evans. "Tai-i Gregory d'Ypres", he introduced himself, speaking in perfect Japanese. "Sho-ko Evans. I am honored. You have obviously endured much." "As is to be expected when one is in the service of the Dragon." "Of course", Evans responded tentatively, not wishing to be trapped by a possible double meaning in the Tai-i's statement. "I am here to see Tai-sa Shima", the Tai-i continued on. "I bring him an urgent message." "Is help on its way?" Evans blurted out, immediately chiding himself for asking such an improper questions. It was not his place to ask about such things. The Tai-i did not seem to notice. "Take me to the Tai-sa." The fortress atop Sunrise Mesa had been built decades before, when McComb was still a part of the Federated Suns. Ownership of the site changed hands when the Draconis Combine captured the planet in the Fourth Succession War, but Davion had retained copies of the citadel's ground plan. For the past two weeks, Gregory d'Ypres had studied these maps, memorizing every hallway and room, hoping all the while that the Kuritans hadn't made extensive renovations. Now, actually walking through the labyrinth of the Mesa, he was relieved to discover that few changes had been made. The previous mess hall was now a recreation room, old Davion English titles and designation had been replaced by Kurita Japanese, but the general structure of the installation had remained the same. Good, d'Ypres thought, it will make things easier. Now is not the time for surprises. After a journey through long winding corridors, the group arrived at the command bunker (which the Feds had used for the same purpose, d'Ypres observed secretly) and were led in. The escorting guards stopped short at the door, heading back the way they had come. The room nearly overflowed with machinery and equipment, attended by hard-working personnel. In the center stood two men scrutinizing a blanket of maps laid out on a table. d'Ypres recognized the rank of the man to the left. " Tai-sa Shima?" The older of the two men turned to d'Ypres. "Yes?" "I am Tai-i d'Ypres. I bring an urgent message from the Tai-sho." "It's about time. What is it?" "It is a written message." d'Ypres reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "Your eyes only, sir." The Tai-sa took the message from d'Ypres hands, carefully unwrapping it. The room came to an eerie silence as it was read, as all waited to hear their fate. Shima studied the paper for long seconds, his expression turning strained over time, before he finally looked up. "By order of the Tai-sho", he announced, "we are to surrender to the Davion commander within one hour." The room exploded into a hail of outraged voices. Most present were dismayed at the prospect of giving up the mesa intact and without a fight, but d'Ypres noted with some satisfaction that some seemed relieved. They weren't being asked to die. "This is impossible!" The man to Shima's right declared. "How could we be asked to shame ourselves in such a fashion?" The Sho-sa, turned angrily to d'Ypres. "This is some Davion trick and this man is a spy or a traitor!" Shima refolded the paper and put it in his own pocket. "A verigraph cannot be forged", he explained. "The orders are genuine." "Let me see the paper." "Sho-sa Krennin, our commander has given us an order and it is our duty to carry it out. Don't you agree, Sho-sa?" Krennin's red face made it evident that he did not, but he couldn't question a superior. "I wish all troops to be notified immediately", Shima continued. "If we must surrender, I won't stand for some disgruntled idiot going off and attacking the enemy on his own. We will all survive and hopefully live to someday serve the Dragon once again. We have our orders. Now go and notify B- section of what is coming." The Sho-sa, still furious, but without another alternative, left the bunker. "The rest of you have to shut down your operations and inform the other parts of the Mesa of our orders", Shima instructed. "Tai-i d'Ypres,"- He pointed to a door behind him. "I would like to talk to you in private. Your men shall remain here." Once inside the room, Shima made a quick visual search and carefully closed the door. "We can talk freely here", he stated. "I've checked this room a dozen times for bugs just this morning. All have been neutralized." "I'll have to trust your skill", d'Ypres said taking a seat. "I'm glad that you recognized me and my men for what we truly are. Otherwise, House Kurita would have had four more prisoners of war." "Were you afraid that I would back out at the last moment and turn you in?" D'Ypres debated his answer for a second. "It crossed my mind." "You needn't have worried", Shima explained, "If I stay here I'll be just as dead as if I am caught and executed as a traitor. You're my only way out." The man obviously was in serious, and deadly, trouble, Gregory thought. He didn't ask of what sort. That was unnecessary. All he needed was the Tai- sa's aid for the coming hour. "Everything is set", d'Ypres told Shima, relieving some of the man's anxiousness. "The Prince was very responsive to your offer." "I knew that war between the Combine and the Federated Suns was coming and that McComb would be a primary target. It took all the influence I had, but I got command of Sunrise Mesa. Only three weeks ago, in fact. l almost missed my chance." D'Ypres leaned forward in his chair. "We're not through with this yet. Kurita still owns Sunrise Mesa and Davion is still outside. Will your troops obey your order?" "They should", Shima answered after musing over the question for a moment. "A lot of them are from local militias and not up to dying needlessly. The only man I worry about is Sho-sa Krennin. I've only met him a month ago, but I've never liked him." "Could he radio Jones' Point for verification of our bogus order?" The Tai-sa shook his head. "Too much Davion interference." Outside in the common room of the command bunker, the rest of d'Ypres' group waited, trying to not look too nervous. If everything went smoothly, it would be done within an hour and they would be back on their way home. If not, then they would have to fall back on plan B, a situation that was by its very nature unpleasant as it meant something had gone wrong. All the group could do was take precautions. Corporal Eddings stood watch over those already in the common room, just in case one of them saw through d'Ypres' charade. Corporal Myers guarded the door to the Tai-sa's private room and second-in-command Lieutenant Janet Granger watched the main entrance to the bunker. All they could do now is wait. When d'Ypres had approached Janet Granger about going with him on this assignment, she had answered yes almost without thinking, as had Myers and Eddings. All of them had worked with d'Ypres on other assignments and all respected the captain. They knew that he would never ask them to take on an impossible task. Something almost impossible, however, was another matter entirely. Whatisit that Greg is always saying tome? Granger thought to herself in encouragement. 'Don't worry, the Knights have a knack for getting away with just about anything'. Well, I've always worried about that 'just about' part. Granger stepped past the plain of the bunker's entrance way to look down the hall and nearly ran into Sho-sa Krennin. A detachment of guards trailed behind him. Granger quickly bowed. "Greetings, Sho-sa." "You arrived with the messenger, didn't you?" he asked coldly. "Yes I did, sir." "Then you are under arrest!" "Sir, I must protest", Granger shot back, trying to keep her voice within a single octave. "Both myself and the Tai-i went through quite a lot to get here and deliver that message from the Tai-sho himself." "And I am acting on the Tai-sho's orders. He never did trust Shima." Granger smiled weakly. "GET DOWN!" The order was shouted by Myers; Janet obeyed instantly. A second later sub-machine gun rounds were whizzing above her head and she could hear Krennin and his men diving for cover. Crawling most of the way, she reached the Corporal within five seconds. At the same time Eddings fired his rifle above the heads of the staff still in the room, who quickly found a back exit. The door to the private room opened and d'Ypres stepped out, blasting away at the main entrance. "Everyone in here. NOW!" Granger, Eddings, and Myers all dived in, while their captain provided covering fire. He caught two guards when they rushed toward him, but the mass of fire from their remaining compatriots forced him to duck behind the wall. "I'll hold them for a moment", d'Ypres said. "Shima, get everyone out the other door." Eddings looked out into a hall; another group of soldiers turned the corner at the far end and opened fire. Eddings dived back in. "Sorry, but that won't work", Eddings informed ruefully. "We're trapped." Granger grimaced. "We can't stay here, not with this much firepower aimed at us. Of course, that's also the reason why we can't leave." "I could order my men to stop", Shima offered. "They don't know that I am a traitor." "But Krennin does", d'Ypres pointed out. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually ISF." d'Ypres turned to Granger. "Lieutenant, I believe that we're going to have to pull the big surprise." "What's that?" Shima asked suspiciously. Granger smiled broadly and pulled out a small box from a pocket, extending an antenna which came out of the top. "This is Plan B, the whole reason why we made sure to park our hovers next to the main gates", she explained. "Care to make a wish?" Miles Away Ten miles away, Marshal Riffenburg, suffering from a sour stomach, stood quietly cursing to himself. He gazed up at Sunrise Mesa through his binoculars and discovered that the fortress had not changed since the last time he had looked, thirty seconds previously. Where are they? We should have received a surrender by now. Have those mercenaries screwed up? / have a regiment rusting away out here while d'Ypres takes his time. Come on! A sudden, bright flash burst from the area of the Mesa's front gates, forcing Riffenburg to turn away momentary. When his gaze returned, he saw a column of smoke billowing out from the jagged remains of the fortress' front walls. A few seconds afterwards, the deafening thunderclap of an explosion reached his ears. Shaking his head in resignation, Riffenburg turned to his aide. "Mount up the troops", he instructed. "It seems that we've changed to Plan B. We go through the front door and hit the Dracs fast and hard." The shockwaves of the explosion reached even to the well-insulated command bunker. Now d'Ypres and his group made their move. Unloading with everything they had, d'Ypres and Myers rushed out of the secret door and down the hall toward the Draconian soldiers. The rest of the group followed close behind. Their enemy, shaken by the blast, attempted to return fire, but the audacity and desperation of the charge was too much for them. d'Ypres brought himself to a stop and finally allowed himself to start breathing once again. Custer, eat your heart out! He turned around to check to condition of the rest of the group. Only Granger turned out to be wounded, having caught a Combine slug in her left shoulder. "How is it, Janet?" The Lieutenant smiled. "Just adding to my collection. I can still walk." "Good. We have to get out of this hallway. Krennin will be here any second." Eddings pulled Granger's arm across his shoulder, giving her some needed support. Tai-i Shima began. "Just captain now. No more pretending." "Fine, captain. What are we going to do now?" D'Ypres took a large breath. "Since we failed to get this place to surrender, we have to make sure that the Davion troops outside will have as little trouble as possible taking the Mesa forcibly." "Your explosion destroyed the main gates. The Mesa is wide open." "True, but some of the gun emplacements will still be functional. We have to cut their power. Tai-sa Shima, I need you to take me to this installation's fusion generator." The flight through the shadowed and chaotic passageways of Sunrise Mesa was the stuff of nightmares, though it passed without incident. The halls were filled with armed Combine soldiers, but, as d'Ypres thankfully reminded himself, they were all oblivious to what had occurred back in the command bunker. As far as most were concerned, Tai-sa Shima was still their loyal and trusted leader. The only things which slowed d'Ypres' group were the numerous salutes which the soldiers stopped to give their Tai-sa. However, there was the ever present danger of running into Krennin or, more likely, one of his guards out searching for Shima. Every corner or doorway held the possibility of an ambush, the ever present danger of running into Krennin or one of his guards out searching for Shima. As casually as possible given the situation, Eddings looked around the corner. He immediately pulled himself back. "Krennin!" D'Ypres scowled in frustration. "What's he doing down here? I would think he'd be topside leading his troops." "Perhaps finding and executing Tai-sa Shima here is more important to him?" Granger offered. She gave Shima a disarming smile. "Nothing personal." Eddings peeked back down the hall, looking for Krennin. "There he goes", he told, much to everyone's relief. "Man, he's in a hurry." "Did he have any guards with him?" d'Ypres asked. "Yes. About four, but none of them seemed interested in looking for us." d'Ypres frowned. "This is not good. What's he doing." The captain turned to Shima for a possible answer and discovered the Tai-sa wide-eyed with realization. "What?" "That's the way to the power room." Heartbeats went by without a sound. "Hell", Myers cursed. "He's going to blow this place up!" d'Ypres shook his head is doubt. "He can't. Fusion reactors simply can't be used that way." "Sorry Captain, but that's only true in normal circumstances", Granger corrected. "If the proper equipment is installed, you can turn any Fusion generator into an A-1 Thermo- nuclear Roman Candle." "How long does the build-up to detonation take?" "If the equipment is first rate, about ten minutes." "Is Krennin fanatical to do such a thing? lt would be a total violation of the Ares Conventions. His own side would turn against him. Everyone in sight would drop the war to hunt him down!" Shima nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, he is. You're correct about the consequences, but we'd be dead before that happened." D'Ypres allowed everyone a moment to weigh their options before saying: "Well, I say that we stop the pyromaniac. Any other suggestions?" "Ha!" Eddings tone was full of sarcasm. "We don't have a hope of getting away in time and, if the idiot succeeds, not only will we be radioactive ash, but so will an entire Davion regiment. We have no choice." "Good", d'Ypres said, a grin of satisfaction on his face. He started down the hall. "I thought for a second there that I might be in danger of losing my bet." Five minutes later, the group reached the hallway outside the entrance to the power room. Halfway down stood the group of four soldiers, ready to beat off any intruders. About twenty feet past them, and about fifty feet from the corner where d'Ypres was hiding, was the doorway itself, yawning open. Good, we have a chance. D'Ypres glanced back at Granger. "Have those smoke grenades ready?" "Yes, but we don't have an extra pair of IR goggles. Without them, Shima will be blind." "Oh, well", Shima said, throwing up his hands in mock sorrow. "I'll have to stay here." "Actually, you should stay here", d'Ypres agreed. "You're too valuable to lose." "I wish we had the time to do something a bit more subtle", Granger grumbled. "If we're unlucky, that's it." She made a chopping motion with her hand. "I know, but we don't have time. The smoke will mean that they'll be shooting blind, but, with our goggles, we won't. Just remember that our first priority is getting inside that power room. Ready?" The grenades filled the hallway with smoke. D'Ypres bolted down the hall. He picked out the heat signatures of the soldiers and fired at the nearest, all the while trying not to be blinded by the miniature explosions from the end of his own gun. One guard went down, but the remaining soldiers opened fire, forcing d'Ypres to dive. From behind him he heard more machinegun fire. Come on guys! Hit these Dracs and be careful enough not to be hit yourselves. He looked up at the generator room's door. The I R emanations from the equipment inside nearly blinded him. The door's still open and I'm only forty feet away. D'Ypres' relief changed to horror when he noticed that the square of the doorway was getting smaller. Something was eclipsing the room's heat signature. The door was closing! Having no other choice, he pulled himself up into a low crouch and ran. He pulled off his goggles and threw them away, no longer needed. The door was a fourth closed. Only thirty feet to go. The gunfire behind grew to a new intensity. It was impossible to tell to the shots were aimed in his direction. The door was half closed. Only twenty feet to go. D'Ypres' body was now stretched out to its full height, straining to close the distance between him and his goal. Personal protection was no longer a concern. The door was three-fourths closed. Ten feet! He jumped. D'Ypres twisted himself sideways, barely fitting within the thin rectangle of space which remained. His feet caught the edge of the door frame, sending him spinning. The world dissolved into a blur of images until d'Ypres finally crashed into a row of machinery. Krennin was on him in seconds. Krennin lifted d'Ypres to his feet and then laughed at the captain's stunned expression. "Now I avenge my honor", the sho-sa proclaimed, slamming his fist into d'Ypres stomach. The air knocked out of him, d'Ypres instinctively reached for his sidearm. He had clasped the gun's handle before Krennin saw and likewise reached for the weapon. D'Ypres struggled to raise the muzzle toward Krennin, but the sho-sa's fresh strength prevailed and forced it instead at d'Ypres. If the trigger was pulled ....... Imminent death snapped d'Ypres out of his daze, giving him the strength to hammer down with his left arm on Krennin's right. The sho-sa let go, but this merely sent the gun flying away, out of reach. D'Ypres kicked up hard, but the practiced hand of Krennin caught the leg and pushed it away, sending his foe sprawling. D'Ypres got back up just in time to move out of the way of a kick himself. The two stood five feet away from each other, circling. "I only have to hold you for another five minutes", Krennin said, smiling in pride. He expected d'Ypres to be surprised. D'Ypres wasn't. "I know." "Ah! You deduced my plan. Wonderful! A worthy opponent is always the best one." D'Ypres shook his head. "I prefer my opponents defeated." He jumped forward and tackled Krennin. The Sho-sa attempted to spin out of the way, but d'Ypres held on tenaciously, trying to land a punch. His efforts were rewarded by a duo of blows to the head, but neither slowed Krennin down. The Combine soldier grabbed d'Ypres third blow, pulled him down, and placed a head-butt squarely in d'Ypres' face. Krennin twisted and scrambled away. Again, there was a stalemate. No more than three minutes to go, d'Ypres thought, and my people are still outside, subject to attack. I'm out of options. He scanned around for his weapons. His pistol was nowhere to be seen, but the sub-machinegun, was lying on the ground near the door and behind Krennin. I need that gun. All right, you predictable tin-soldier, act the way you were taught for this one last time. d'Ypres lunged clumsily at Krennin. The Sho-sa, a well practiced Karate-ka, threw d'Ypres over his shoulder hard into the concrete. D'Ypres braced himself for the landing, twisting free from Krennin's grasp, launching himself toward the machinegun. Krennin, realizing his mistake, ran after the mercenary. D'Ypres, whose reach was short of the gun's stock, took hold of the gun's mussel and swung up. The stock caught Krennin on the chin, crushing bone. Krennin flopped unconscious onto the floor. Not stopping for even a breath, d'Ypres rushed over to the door and pushed the "open" button. The door slid away to reveal the squad and Shima, who were obviously waiting. Granger spat. "A few more moments and you needn't have bothered." D'Ypres' heart sank when he saw the condition of his personnel. All were haggard and Granger was no longer the only one with a wound. My fight with Krennin was sheer joy compared to what they went through. He frowned. Such recriminations will have to wait, but I won't forget "All righ Lieutenant, how do we shut down the reactor? We haven't more than a minute." Granger gave an impatient look. "No problem." She raised her gun and opened fire on the nearest control console * D'Ypres, surprised and shocked, nonetheless waited twenty seconds before stopping her with a question. "Is that how you turn it off?" Granger smiled. "Of course. The Federated Suns installed this reactor and each of their designs has a fail-safe procedure which shuts down the reactor if its control consoles are damaged extensively. Everything should be shut off--" the room went dark -- "including the lights." "Ah, how do we get out now?" Shima asked. "Well, we can't open the door without power, so we just sit tight until Marshal Riffenburg gets some people down here to let us out", d'Ypres answered. "It shouldn't take more than four or five hours." "What do we do until then?" Granger giggled. "Anyone know any good campfire songs?" D'Ypres ignored her. "Tai-sa Shima, I have one last request of you. Could I have the 'message' I delivered back?" Shima reach into his breast pocket and pulled out the paper. "Of course, but why?" The captain grinned knowingly. "I'll be needing it again." "Hey, what's on that paper?" Granger asked. D'Ypres handed her the note. "What do you think?" The lieutenant opened up the paper. On it was the image of a lightning bolt and sword crossed in an X overlaid by a plain, rounded V shield: The crest of the Knights of Storm and Sword. Marshal Riffenburg's Davion Light Guards RCT captured Sunrise Mesa within two hours and rescued d'Ypres and his people five hours later. Within two days, Davion had complete control of Jones' Point, solidifying its hold on the planet McComb. Captain Gregory d'Ypres is still with the mercenary group Knights of Storm and Sword, as is Lieutenant Janet Granger and Corporal (now Sergeant) Eddings. Corporal Myers was killed during an unsuccessful raid on the planet Marduk later in the war. Former Tai-sa Shima was resettled on New Avalon and is now an advisor on the Draconis Combine for the Federated Commonwealth. To date, he has survived one assassination attempt. The high-powered explosive packed in the wo hovercraft was not of an impact-sensitive type. It can only be set off by an electric charge. Back to BattleTechnology 12 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com