On August 20, 3028, the 1st Battalion of the Davion Light Guards touched down near a heavily guarded archaeological site in the middle of the desolation of St. Andre's Ivaar Wastes. (see: Davids meet Goliaths on St. Andre's Rocky Plains on page 9 of this issue of BattleTechnology.) The order of battle on the drop included a scratch training unit--actually a double-strength company-- known as Delta Company. Correspondent Mike Stackpole, on assignment for BattleTechnology with the Light Guards, managed to transmit the following manuscript off-world shortly after the fight. The story, told in the third person, is intended as one chapter in a full-length book describing the course of the war so far, which is due to be released by FASA this fall. As an eye-witness report of the fierce fighting occurring on St. Andre during the opening hours of the invasion, the editors felt that BattleTechnology's readers might find the account of interest. Attack A missile exploding against the DropShip's hull shot static through the auxiliary monitor's picture of the DropMaster. The woman turned from the camera, then looked back at Andrew Redburn. "No sweat, Redburn, they just flamed that bird." She glanced at the time at the bottom of the screen. "Mark, one minute until drop. We're hot so your children better have their brakes on.,, Redburn nodded. "Roger." He reached out and switched his radio over to the tactical frequency. "Fifty seconds to drop, campers. This is the real thing. Archer and Demon Lances will harass the targetsBullseye, Cat and Fox Lances go in. Hit your jets when clear of the egg. Remember, we'll be facing 'Mechs lots bigger than we are, but the others in 1st Battalion have them occupied. We're the sting. Make it good." Redburn gave his couch harness an extra tug to pull it tight over his cooling vest. Sending an assault lance of light 'Mechs against Assault 'Mechs? The intelligence on these Goliathsd better be right or this Firestarter they've got me in will be my coffin. Stinging sweat dripped down into eyes as he waited for the seconds to tick off the digital display on his monitor. Redburn felt two more explosions rock the Overlord class DropShip Firewalker. I hope like hell this baby makes it to the drop zone. Above him he heard the deep throaty roar of the ship's autocannons as they spat clouds of metal back out at the Liao fighters swarming around the ship. He switched his radio back to speak with the DropMaster and caught the piece of a transmission heading for her. "Roger, Firewalker, we copy. Intercept in 15 seconds. You sow the dragon's-teeth and my AeroWing will keep the gnats off your hide." The DropMaster smiled. "Glad to have you with us, Falcon Leader. Torch One, drop in ten seconds, nine..." Punching two buttons on his command console, Andrew patched the countdown through to his command, 181 Battalion's Delta Company. "Because you and your people appear on no official rosters, Captain Redburn, you'll be our little surprise," he recalled Colonel Stone remarking as the Firewalker hurled in-system from the sun's nadir JumpPoint. "The 1st and 2nd Battalions will draw Cochraine's Goliaths out and you'll goose them." A series of sharp metallic rasps and clanks thundered through the Firestarter's cockpit as the drophatches irised open. Redburn's stomach lurched as if left behind as the 35-ton Firestarter fell from the DropShip. Suddenly the familiar thrum of engines and other comforting sounds of the DropShip evaporated into the windy quiet of a drop. Sensory input from a thousand sources flooded into Redburn's cockpit, but Redburn sorted it out with a singlemindedness and surety that ignored the fear he'd felt waiting for the drop. His brown eyes flashed on the altimeter, coaxing a harsh growl from his throat. "Lowdrop, Delta. Burn hard, now." Following his own command, Redburn pushed hard on his foot pedals, igniting the JumpJets on the Firestarter's back. He eased up on the left pedal for a half second, letting the right jet twist him toward the battlefield. My God, it's a hellground. Redburn shivered as he surveyed the frozen red desert landscape. The wide, virtually featureless plain stretched out as far as he could see in all directions, except where the thick, black smoke of burning 'Mech's cut off his view. This place is a desert because it gets so little rainfall during the year, but this high up means it stays cold. He glanced at his external thermometer. Zero Celsius. Damned cold. Opposite where his command jetted to the ground, the Davion Light Guards' 1st Battalion had arrayed themselves in a staggered formation that had engaged the Liao Battalion at a distance. Long range missile exchanges had pockmarked the landscape with cratered reminders of poor marksmanship. Burning 'Mechs of various sizes and allegiances, or scraps thereof, decorated the battlefield as reminders of war machine efficacy. Redburn shivered unconsciously. Something is very wrong here. Our lines are pushed too far backl "Eagle, how's your vantage point?" Leftenant Craon's voice crackled with nervousness. "Not so good. I don't see 2nd Battalion." Redburn swallowed hard. "Neither do I." Redburn studied the tactical display on his auxiliary monitor. It showed elements he identified as 161 Battalion withdrawing toward some low hill formations to the south. 1st Battalion's speed will beat that of the Goliaths, but running keeps our Vechs at the Goliaths' optimum range. Most of 1st Battalion's 'Mechs can't fight at that range. Where the hall is 2nd Battalion? Archie St. Agnan's voice cut into Redburn's neurohelmet. "My sensors have picked up Colonel Stone's identifier still with our troops. Wait, I have a transmission from him..." Andrew licked his dry lips. "Patch it through." Static crackled and popped loudly, half obscuring the faint transmission. "Delta, pull out. 2nd Battalion aborted landing. Liao air cover is too heavy. The Goliaths will eat your recruits up..." That's Stone, all right. Andrew keyed his throat mike. "Did you all get that?" Drew Montbard replied strongly. "We copied, Captain. I vote we go in." "This isn't a democracy, Drew." Andrew summoned a technical readout on the Goliath assault 'Mechs to his primary monitor. Two LRM launchers, but those four-legged monsters should be out of missiles by now. That leaves them their particle projection cannons. if we get in close enough, those won't be worth spit. We're at double strength for a company. Andrew nodded solemnly. "Archie, don't acknowledge the transmission, we never got it. Ground 'em now, troops, land in that wash over to the south. Hit top speed, use the wash for cover and come in from behind. If they want to court martial us for disobeying orders, they'll have to let us win this fight first, won't they?" The massive quadruped Goliaths looked very much like conventional tanks sprouting a leg at each corner of their boxy chassis. Their low, flat turrets swiveled side to side as if the PPC's muzzle spied out targets before it blasted them into oblivion. Forty feet high, they stood a third again as tall as any of the light 'Mechs opposing them and, a solid line of mechanized war elephants, they drove their fleeing enemies before them. Andrew Redburn narrowed his eyes as he settled the targeting crosshairs for his Firestarter's twin arm-mounted medium lasers. Just as they said at Warriors Hall on New Syrtis: every Mech has two flaws. One is the designer who believes he's created an invincible machine, and the other is the pilot who believes the designer. "Archer and Demon Lances, let flyl" The two Valkyrie lances released their flights of LRMs while the other three Delta lances raced in beneath the missile umbrella. As the missiles arced overhead, ten ruby shafts of medium laser fire flashed forward like arrows at two of the Goliaths. The laser slashed long, deep gashes in the giant 'Mechs' armor and the incoming missiles gnawed at the holes like maggots feasting on open wounds. The two rear-most Goliaths shuddered. Missiles blasted chunks of aft armor from both 'Mechs' torsos in a fiery rain of debris. Andrew saw explosions carry further into the Goliaths' hearts. Subsidiary explosions wracked both, and a flash of white light on Andrew's infrared display told him the 'Mech on the right had lost some of the shielding surrounding its fusion engine. Both 'Mechs' pilots, reacting to the assault from the rear, tried to turn their cumbersome BattleMechs to face the threat, but Delta Company's initial attack had damaged them far more badly than they realized. As the war machines began to come about, their legs, no longer coordinated because their gyrostabilizers had been destroyed, splayed out, sending each machine crashing to the ground. Redburn fought the earthquake-like tremor triggered when the 80-ton monsters slammed into the earth. Hope our luck holds and Stone can rally his forces. "Move it, Delta. We're here." Staying out at range, yet moving to make themselves as hard as possible to hit, the Valkyries of Archer and Demon Lances concentrated their missile and laser fire oncarefully chosen targets. Bullseye, Cat and Fox Lances, consisting of light 'Mechs designed for close-in combat, streamed into the midst of the Liao force like wolves herding cattle. Working in close concert, each lance picked out a target, then took it apart. Fox Lance, led by Hugh de Payens in a Firestarter, attacked the first Goliath to complete the turn and engage Delta Company head on. As Hugh closed, two of his three flamers bathed the large 'Mech with orange fire. The Goliath pilot cranked his PPC muzzle down, releasing a savage bolt of blue lighting. It stabbed the left side of the Firestarter's chest. Armor peeled off like butter rolling up before a knife, but it failed to fully breach the Firestarter's armor. Hugh's lancemates swept in beneath the PPC's azure beam. The three ungainly, birdlike Jenners released flights of Short Range Missiles that spiraled out at their massive target. Brilliant explosions blossomed over the Goliath's torso and two of the SRMs pierced the 'Mech's chest armor to sow havoc in its heart. Black smoke began to pour from the hole indicating damage to the engine shielding. The Jenners and both Firestarters of Fox Lance raked the Goliath with relentless laser fire. Ruby beams shredded armor on the left legs of the mech. Through the ragged holes Andrew saw the massive, corded myomer fibers that made up the artificial muscles driving the Goliath. One more barrage and that 'Mech is done. Andrew turned his attention to the Goliath just forward of his position. It had begun to turn in an attempt to attack Delta Company, but all it had managed to do was expose its left flank to Cat Lance. Without a second thought, Geoffrey St. Omer and his MechWarriors; made the most of the opportunity. The two humanoid Javelins launched two dozen SRMs at the ponderous Assault 'Mech. The missiles, augmented by another dozen SRMs from the lance's three Jenners, peppered the 'Mech's left flank and long legs. They spawned a fire-torrent whirling around the Goliath's left foreleg. As the twisting column of fire evaporated into dark, greasy smoke, it spat glowing, half-melted shards of ceramic armor to the frozen ground. The Goliath's pilot valiantly fought to bring his machine around, but Cat Lance gave him no quarter. Even as the PPC's muzzle tried to find a target, the Jenners fired their wing- mounted lasers. Like surgeons in a field hospital, they concentrated on the Goliath's obvious injury. Andrew dropped his targeting crosshairs on the Goliath's weakened forelimb. His lasers stabbed out in concert with those of Cat Lance. The scarlet beams vaporized what little armor remained on the leg, then cut up into the Goliath's shoulder. In a fount of burning metal fragments, the joint melted and the left leg slipped. The Goliath tottered to the left, then the limb snapped off, spinning the Goliath to the ground. The assault 'Mech completed half a somersault, crushing the cockpit, then fell back on its wounded flank. Andrew pivoted his Firestarter back to his left as a searingly white fireball shot from the holes in another Goliath's right flank. Andrew watched as the miniature sun, born in the 'Mech's fusion engine but freed by the mauling given the Goliath by Bullseye Lance and Leftenant Craon, sent superheated plasma tendrils throughout the 'Mech's body. Like a DropShip blasting off for the stars, the Goliath's turret shot into the air on an argent jet, then exploded into a million smoking scraps. Poor bastard, never got out. Andrew shivered in sympathy for the Liao pilot, then glanced at the tactical display on his auxiliary monitor. Four Goliaths down and three badly hurt. "Keep their own 'Mechs between you and those with enough range to use their PPCs. Stay close!" Suddenly a spiral of oily smoke dissipated, leaving Redburn a clear view of a Goliath in the middle of the Liao formation. Riding just above the stylized white castle that marked the 'Mech as belonging to Cochraine's Goliaths, Andrew thought he saw an insignia. He punched a order for magnification into his command console. The holographic display refocused closer, showing the sunlight glinting sharply from the bronze triangle boldly emblazoned on the 'Mech. Typing hurriedly on his command console's keypad, Andrew labeled the 'Mech s image with digital ID tag, then sent the information out to his command. "Archer and Demon Lances, that's Colonel Fiona Cochraine. Hit that Goliath with everythingl" At his command the two lances unleashed a hundred LRMs at the Liao commander's Goliath. Explosions saturated the Goliath, flaying ribbons of ceramic armor from its surface. One flight wreathed the turret in flames and crumpled previously unmarred slabs of armor. The Goliath staggered as the pilot fought against the detonation's shockwave. Smoke poured from hole in the 'Mach's chest. With the range and hurried timing of the assault, the accuracy of the long range lances' laser fire suffered. Somehow, though, the shots that did hit the target made up in quality for the deficiencies of the other attacks. One beam carved more armor from the Goliath's chest, leaving it a pitifully small amount of protection against future assaults. Most important, one coruscating beam stabbed straight, through the Goliath's head. Andrew saw the Goliath shudder. It wavered and, for a moment, Andrew imagined the laser had hit the cockpit, killing the pilot, but the 'Mech's continued activity dashed his hopes. Sending thunderous shockwaves through the ground, the Goliath planted its feet widely enough apart to steady itself. Its PPC moved like an eye on a stalk, then locked on one of the offending 'Mechs with the callousness of a child stomping on a cockroach. "Craon, move, it's got you in its sights!" Unthinking, Andrew stabbed both feet down, igniting the ion jets on the Firestarter's back. Inertia slammed him down into his command couch as his 'Mech rocketed up and out toward Cochraine's Goliath. No free shots on my command! Both arm-mounted blazers flaming, Redburn brought his 'Mech down on the Goliath. Blood gushed from his nose and filled his mouth with a salty sweet thickness as the impact's shockwave jolted up through his cockpit. Andrew felt tooth chips grind beneath his molars. Lights flared everywhere in his cockpit and alarms rang with brain-numbing intensity, but failed to cover the scream of metal and the sharp cracking of ceramic armor. Static filled his holoscreens and sparks shot from behind his command couch. Waves of heat washed up and over him as dazzlingly white fire flashed around the Firestarter. Again he felt himself slammed down into the couch as if jetting from the ground, but his legs had fallen from their positions on the JumpJet controls. Some titanic force grabbed his Firestarter at the feet and, like a child hoisting a doll aloft, whipped his 35-ton 'Mech into the air. Desperately Andrew clawed for the eject button, but gravity pinned his arms to their places on the command couch's arms. Spots flashed before his eyes and a dim, horrifying realization crawled up from the place where his nightmares hid. Out of control, g-forces too much. Can't black out! Gritting his teeth, he forced his right hand to lunge again for the eject button, but consciousness drained from him before he could hit it. At the time this transmission was intercepted, it was impossible to confirm either Redburn's survival or Delta Company's final victory at the Naar archaeological site. Subsequent reports indicate that Captain Redbum was knocked unconscious for the remainder of the battle, but that he survived, ultimately continuing the campaign in a captured Liao Centurion. The destruction of Fiona Cochraine's command Goliath, however, proved to be the turning point of the battle. Convinced that their leader was dead, the Warriors of Delta Company rallied and counterattacked, driving the now leaderless and disorganized Liao Goliaths back in fierce and unrelenting fighting. Reportedly, Colonel Stone and his retreating 181 Battalion were invited to 'Yoin in any time they wished." The action ended with the complete destruction of Cochraine's Goliaths. Reports on the contents and value of the captured archaeological site have not yet beery released by Davion authorities. The full story on the action will be available this fall, when FASA releases Michael A. Stackpole's second novel in the Warrior series: Warrior's Riposte. Back to BattleTechnology 6 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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