Outer Volta
Irece Prefecture
Draconis Combine
8 September 3152
Sho-sa Jade Takahashi strode her Tenshi out from the treeline to get a better view of the field of battle. Her recon elements had handily defeated the scouts of the Nova Cats, and had zeroed in on the position of the enemy command star. Now was time for her to take them down. These Nova Cats had somehow evade the Dragonm's justice for far too long, and these holdouts needed to be dealt with.
The Cats were holed up in and around a series of buildings that housed some local light industry. They would not come out to fight, she would have to go in and amongst the buildings to root them out. A PPC blast from a Guillotine IIC struck out from the cover of the buildings and hit her Tenshi in the torso. She caught only a glimpse of the enemy mech as it tried to duck back into cover, but it was enough to snap off a shot from her own ER PPC and paired TSEMP Cannons. The PPC missed to the right, but one of the TSEMPs connected, though it did not shut the enemy Mech down.
She ordered her forces forward, and they dutifully responded. A Shiro and a Hatamoto-Suna strode out ahead of her, with the remaining No-Dachi from her command lance sprinting out to the right. A pair of Kestrel transports circled around behind the cluster of buildings to deposit their cargo of Kanazuchi BattleArmor on the enemy flanks.
As her forces advanced into the buildings, she slowly followed, bringing up the rear and waiting for an enemy response. It came in the form of a Masakari, a Vulture, and the Guillotine IIC. Her No-Dachi reported contact with an enemy Nova Cat on the right flank. Her forces did their best to close on the enemy Mechs, hoping to bring their swords into play for melee combat.
She fired off another blast from her PPC and TSEMP cannons at the Guillotine, this time connecting with all of her shots but still failing to shut the enemy 'Mech down. The heat in her cockpit rose slightly, enough for her to build up a sweat and realize she needed to cool off for a moment.
The enemy would not give her that chance, however, as a Grendel emerged from the left side of the cluster of buildings. The final member of the Nova Cat command star had been hidden in waiting, and now charged forward towards her and unleashing a storm of weapons. It's Large Pulse Laser cored deep into her torso armor but did not breach. Paired heavy medium lasers stripped armor from her right arm and left leg, and short range missiles peppered her machine all over.
She turned and responded, firing off all of her weapons. Her PPC shot missed wide to the left as the Grendel juked to avoid her fire. It was not so lucky when it came to her pulse lasers, which melted armor from it's torso. Both of her Streak missile launchers achieved a lock and sent a dozen rockets flying onto their target, stripping armor from all over the enemy 'Mech. Her TSEMPs struck home, but failed to shut down the enemy machine, which barreled forward trying to find cover in the woods to her left.
the heat buildup from firing all of her weapons was enormous, and rocked her in her command couch. A wave of nausea overcame her and she only barely in time managed to grab a bag to vomit into. She tried to blink away the nausea as her machine tried to get the heat under control.
By the time she had recovered, the Grendel had managed to make it into the woods and had some significant cover. It poked out in time to get a shot off with its lasers, which all struck her Tenshi's torso. In spite of the heat still being a factor, she snapped off a shot with her PPC and TSEMPs. All of her shot struck the Grendel square in the torso, and this time the interference from her TSEMP was enough to shut the enemy machine down.
Now having some time to let her Mech cool off, she waited until her heat levels were in the green before firing off another blast from her PPC and Pulse Lasers. Taking careful aim this time, her shots all struck the immobilized mech at the knee, shearing off the limb and sending the enemy 'Mech crashing to the ground.
She leaned back in her command couch and relaxed slightly. She took the time to survey the field of battle. The Shiro stood over a downed Masakari, it's sword arm shot off but embedded in the Masakari's torso. The No-Dachi reported having bested the Nova Cat in single combat, and the Guillotine was leaning against a building, shut down with massive holes rent in its armor. The Vulture was the only enemy 'Mech still standing, and it was in the process of being demolished by a squad of BattleArmor. The field was theirs. The Nova Cats were no more.
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Dropship Dragon's Wrath
Outer Volta
Irece Prefecture
Draconis Combine
18 September 3152
Jade sat at her desk and closed her eyes. This had been a good victory. It was a clean mission, and there was no way that Tai-sa Goro would be able to smear her performance in this operation. She took a sip of her black tea when there came a knock at the door.
"Enter."
It was her battalion surgeon, Dr. Hoshi Nakamura. She entered and saluted, which Jade returned, before placing a stack of papers on her desk.
"These are the readiness reports for the entire battalion for this month, they just need your approval."
Jade nodded to the woman. "Thank you for bringing these to me. You could have just sent them to me, is there something you wish to discuss?"
The doctor nodded. "There is. Your file is included in that stack, on the top. You may wish to read it."
Jade raised an eyebrow and picked up the file. All members of the unit were required to have routine physicals, and the Doctor had performed them following the completed mission, making excellent use of their downtime as they transited to the Jump Point.
She skimmed the file, trying to read through the medical jargon for anything out of the ordinary. It did not strike her until she reached the bottom of the file, under "Other Notes". She was dumbstruck.
"This cannot be."
"If you believe there is an error, we can run a definitive test to be sure."
Jade put the file down on top of the others. "If you feel that is necessary. But I trust your skills and judgement. This is simply.....unexpected."
The Doctor nodded. "We can discuss a plan of treatment if you wish."
"Yes, in time. But you will give me some time to think on this. I have much to think about."
The Doctor bowed slightly before leaving. "As you wish, Sho-sa."
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