Gamble Plains
Conquista
Duchy of Andurien
Free Worlds League
18 June, 3152
Master Po stood astride the crest of a judge in his Jade Phoenix and surveyed the scene around him. Down in the gently sloping valley below, two of his BattleMechs, a Timber Wolf and an Archer had just crossed the shallow stream than ran from left to right as Po was facing. They were engaging an unknown number of enemy Battlemechs that were emerging from the woods about a kilometer away from Po's position. He had already spotted a Thunderbolt and a Crusader, and the enemy commander lurked behind the treeline in his deadly Atlas.
Po's BattleArmor and infantry were dismounting from their Maxim transports and were taking cover in and around the creek bed in protected positions. Specialized combat engineer units were helping to throw up crude entrenchments for the infantry to give them cover from the fight that was about to come.
Po glanced now to his left, where his own forces deployed a Crusader and a Blackhawk KU in addition to a massive Atlas which served as the anchor for that flank. To his right he had deployed his lighter elements, with a Griffin, a Vindicator, and a Shadow Hawk IIC. Each flank had it's own contingent of BattleArmor and infantry to assist the BattleMech forces. Each was doing their job of holding firm against the gentle but definite Andurien push.
Turning his attention to the conflict directly in front of him, he noted the enemy Colonel Humphreys' Atlas emerge to the edge of the woodline and firing on his troops with it's deadly Gauss Rifle and extended range large lasers. He dropped his crosshairs over the hulking form of the enemy mech and dialed his zoom up to maximum. He pulled into two of his triggers, sending a bolt from his Plasma Cannon hurtling toward the Atlas. It impacted with little damage, but Po knew that it had dealt a not insignificant amount of heat to his enemy. A hail of slugs from his Hyper-Assault Gauss Rifle rang downrange, but the heavy Ballistic Reinforced armor of the enemy Mech shrugged it off as little more than an annoyance.
"Center element, bait them into us. The colonel has an advantage with that Ballistic Reinforced armor of his, we must rely on the help of our infantry. Trap group One, remain hidden, all other infantry, feel free to engage as the enemy Mechs come into our lines."
Po was a firm believer in combined arms tactics, and he tried to put his infantry to it's best possible use. In this case, he was hoping to leverage the damage and heat from the man-portable plasma rifles carried by his heavy foot infantry. But that would require baiting the enemy closer, and for that, he had just the right idea.
He slammed his foot pedals to the floor, triggering his improved jump jets and sending his Mech hurtling hundreds of meters forward. He cushioned his landing into the creek with his legs and brought his reticules up looking for a target. He could make out the enemy Crusader and that was a good enough target for him. He triggered more of his weapons, sending HAG rounds downrange followed by pulses from his Large Pulse Laser. HE added the fire from his Plasma Cannon, connecting with all of his shots to make for a bad day for the enemy Battlemech, which withered under the fire.
But it was enough to draw out Colonel Humphreys' Atlas which lumbered out of the woods and bore down on the House Po lines. It shrugged off missiles and autocannon shells with seeming reckless abandon as it came on and on. Po fired his Large Pulse laser and a trio of Medium Lasers at the onrushing beast, but husbanded his HAG ammo for the time being. There was little point in wasting it. Besides, the enemy commander was just now coming into range of....Yes, there it was!
A hail of tiny plasma bolts erupted from the entrenched infantry troopers. Though each was tiny and insignificant in and of itself, the combined volume of the fire inflicted a withering damage to the enemy's armor plates, and more significantly a tremendous amount of heat to the target. At just that moment, Po triggered his own Plasma Cannon, adding to the conflagration. Under this withering fire, the enemy Mech ground to a halt, shut down from overheating.
As if on queue, a squad of Fa Shih BattleArmor bounded forward and leapt onto the vulnerable machine and began the process of ripping it to shreds. Po leaned back in his seat, allowing himself a moment to collect his thoughts and savor the victory.
But it was to be short lived. Just as the enemy Atlas crashed to the ground, a deadly accurate PPC bolt blasted one of the troopers off of the fallen hulk. From the woods, two more highly accurate bolts of manmade lightning shot out and cored into the upper torso and cockpit assembly of the Mad Cat beside Po. His allied mech fell to the ground, it's pilot either wounded or killed.
From the woods, the hulking form of a Regent OmniMech emerged at a slow walk. Over an open comm channel, Po heard a woman's voice. "Enemy commander. I am Duchess Emerance Meyers. This territory is mine. Who invades it and dares to raid my lands?"
Po keyed open a comm line. "I am Po Ding. Shiao-zhang of House Po Ding. I believe you have possession of something that does not belong to you. I am here to retrieve it in the name of the Celestial Wisdom, Chancellor Daoshen Liao. We appear to have incapacitated your pet Colonel here. The day is yet young, but my patience is short. Why do you bother me?"
"You speak of the Death Commando that invaded my world and tried to kill the Colonel in retaliation for some slight against your Confederation? You could have asked, Po Ding."
Po triggered a blast from his HAG-30, pelting the torso of the Regent with small nickel-ferrous slugs at high speed. The damage was not insignificant, but far from crippling. The Duchess responded with three Targeting Computer assisted shots of her PPCs, each dealing a staggering amount of damage to Po's armor. He withered under the shot, but fought to control his balance. He noticed a small light flashing on his comm board and smiled before turning his attention back to the Duchess.
"It is my understanding that her underling asked for Parlay and was denied it by your buffoon of a Colonel. I am here for more fruitful negotiations."
Po returned fire with his HAG and Large Pulse Laser, cutting more armor from the frame of the Duchess' Mech.
"Negotiations? What do you have to bargain with, Po?"
He slammed down a button on his console, and at that signal, his hidden stealth Tortoise quad BattleArmor suits unleashed a wall of Pulse Laser and Short Range Missile fire onto the enemy Regent.
"I offer you the chance to survive, Duchess. You see, even now, I have already gotten what I came for. Withdraw and we can call an end to all of these unpleasantries."
She answer with another trio of PPC shots, which Po managed to dodge by leaping ninety meters to his right. Landing and recoiling, he let his mech drop to a knee and fired another blast of Gauss slugs into the nor dangerously damaged torso armor of the Duchess' OmniMech.
"What are you talking about? Speak plainly!"
Po laughed into the comms. "Have you tried reaching your headquarters recently? Go ahead, I will give you a moment to try."
There was a few moments of silence as Meyers tried to pick off some of his hidden stealth suits with shots form her PPC's, but to no avail.
"What have you done, Po Ding?"
He fired a burst from his Large Pulse laser, which melted armor from the Regent's right leg.
"I have merely claimed what I came here to claim. I have in my possession all that I want. There need be no further bloodshed between us. Once again, I offer you the chance to withdraw and save face."
There was a long pause, before the enemy mech began backing up towards the woods. "This is far from over, Po. You have made a powerful enemy today, and my memory is long. Your Confederation is floundering. We will meet again."
Po leaned back in his seat and breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment, he pressed the flashing button on his comm board. "Go ahead, Max. You have retrieved our guest?"
"Safe and unharmed, Master Po. We are almost at the LZ. Will you be needing us to reinforce you?"
"Negative, Max. We have blunted the enemy drive here, and will be withdrawing shortly to meet you. Give my regards to the Sao-shao and as always my friend, you have my thanks for a job well done."
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