Raging Bears...

Ruins of Industrial Facility Sigma Six

 Courchevel

Rasalhague Dominion

15 October 3152

                    Po Ding watched as the Ghost Bear forces moved amongst the abandoned buildings of the Industrial Facility Sigma Six compound. The facility had been abandoned for some time and the buildings were in a state of disrepair. Grass grew up through the ferrocrete and trees and brush invaded the perimeter of the facility. It was the perfect place for a defense, and the Ghost Bears knew it. It was up to Po to crack this defense and send the Bears running. If they could be defeated here, the road was open to the capitol and whatever loot could be found there.

                    "We are going to have to force them out. This will be a difficult fight, warriors, but we are up to the task. Let us commence!"

                    At his command, several Maxim hover transports bounded out on the flanks of the perimeter of the facility. With luck, his BattleArmor would be able to infiltrate at the right moment and help turn the tide. He Advanced with the rest of his command lance taking sniping fire from the concealed Bears, but nothing of note.

                    As they closed into range, the fire became more heated, and the House Po warriors responded in kind. As they breached the perimeter, Po could see the enemy Command Star that opposed them more clearly. The leader was in a Kodiak. That would be the toughest nut to crack, and so Po would take that one on himself.

                    "Max, see if you can get in close and feed us some targeting data!"

                    "I am on it, Master Po!" Max dutifully replied. He leaped his Hierofalcon forward on its improved Jump Jets and with the aid of its Partial Wing configuration, he was able to leap into close contact with most of the enemy star. The rest of the unit was linked by C3 battle computers, transmitting targeting data to and from the master unit in the Atlas lumbering next to Po. The shots would be much easier to make with Max's targeting information. But it came at the risk of exposing Max's medium Mech to the bulk of the enemy fire if they chose to concentrate on him.

                    For now, Po is focused on the Kodiak. He triggered his own Jump Jets and bounded to the top of a three-story building. Once he was sure the building would hold the load of his eighty-five-ton Jade Phoenix he took aim at the Kodiak and fired. His HAG rounds scoured the Mech's torso, while his Large Pulse Laser melted armor from its left leg.

                    Thankfully he was still outside optimal range for the Kodiak's mammoth Class-twenty autocannon, and the enemy could only reply with its lasers. Most missed, but a few managed to cut rents in his armor. He was getting the better of the trade, and so he remained in his firing position.

                    He pulled into his triggers once again, sending HAG rounds streaming downrange and again pockmarking the Kodiak's thick torso armor. His lasers this time also converged on the torso, eating deeply into the protection of the massively armored beast. 

                    The Kodiak, realizing he was getting the worst end of this deal, fired off his lasers once again and lumbered behind the cover of a building, daring Po to come closer to flush him out. The laser shots impacted on Po's torso, cutting away some of his armor, but still leaving ample protection there.

                    With the Kodiak out of sight, he turned his attention to Max's fight. Max was putting up a valiant effort, but his medium-weight machine surrendered tonnage to the enemy Vulture he was fighting with. Just as Po was about to call out to Max to withdraw, the Vulture opened up on him with a full alpha strike. Missiles exploded all over Max's Hierofalcon, and beams of laser light cored into the smoke. The lasers must have pierced Max's reactor shielding, as his mech toppled backward, smoke pouring from a gaping hole in its torso.

                    "No! Max, are you alright?!" 

                    There was no response. In a fury, Po triggered his jets and vaulted down to interpose himself between the enemy Vulture and the hulk of Max's mech. Determined to avenge his friend, he hit all of his triggers, hitting with everything at this close range. His lasers ripped several holes in the torso armor of the enemy machine, and he finished the fight by sending a stream of HAG slugs into the breach, decimating the enemy Mech's gyroscope and sending it careening to the ground.

                    Still blind with anger, he turned to see the Kodiak being eviscerated by a squad of BattleArmor. Not waiting for the beast to fall, he triggered his HAG once again, punching through the gaping holes in the enemy Mech's armor and sending it to the ground in death. 

                    All around him, the house Po forces were victorious over the Bears, although one of his Mad Cats was also down and out of the fight. His attention turned to Max as several BattleArmored troopers made their way over to his mech to check it out. 

                    "He appears alive but injured. We will need to get him evac'd from here and back to the DropShip for care."

                    Po breathed a sigh of relief, finally noticing the heat in his cockpit as it slowly started to drain. His friend was alive, that was all that mattered.

######

Dropship Xiao Ting

Courchevel System (outbound)

Rasalhague Dominion

20 October

                    Po Stood at Max's bedside. His friend was awake but bandaged heavily still and appeared somewhat groggy. "How are you feeling Max?"

                    "As though a giant BattleMech had just collapsed around me. But I will survive. How did the battle go, and how is my Mech?"

                    Po smiled. "You must be alright if you are worried about such things. Your Mech is salvageable, the techs are working on it even as we speak. They will have to replace the reactor shielding, but you will be back in action by the time we next see battle. We were able to successfully loot the capital city of various supplies and intelligence that will be useful to the Dragon. I am more concerned with you, my friend. The doctors say you suffered a concussion and several broken ribs in the fall. Will you be back in action, that is the more important question?"

                    Max nodded. "I will be fine. It hurts like hell, but nothing can keep me from the field of battle. I hope my performance was not too bad."

                    Po laughed. "You performed admirably, my friend. I did not anticipate you going so headlong into the enemy or I would have joined you and perhaps achieved a better outcome. But that is in the past. What matters is that you survived. You were most brave, and your targeting info allowed us to down the Ghost Bears with relative ease. We lost only one Mech in the fight other than yours."

                    "That is good. Perhaps I will think a little more before I leap next time."

                    Po shook his head. "Your battle instincts are as on par as they have ever been. Trust them, and the results will bear that out. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you?"

                    Max paused for a moment. "Well, there is this one nurse...."

                    Po laughed heartily. "You are indeed doing okay, my friend. Is it a 'he' or a 'she'? Tell me and I will do my best to see that they are assigned to you permanently. It is the least I can do for a recovering friend."

                    Max smiled. "Her name is Rebecca, she is one of the new recruits we picked up before this mission. She has the nicest-"

                    Po put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Say no more. I will have her swooning over you in no time. In the meantime, get some rest. We are about to jump back into Combine space. We will see if they have another assignment for us after our success here."

                    With that, Po parted ways with Max, leaving the medical bay and heading for his cabin. He had just reached it when the alarm sounded signaling that they would jump in sixty seconds. He climbed into his bunk and secured himself with the restraining belt. He closed his eyes and waited for the uncomfortable sensation of Hyperspace jump. 

                    While he did not suffer from Transit Disorientation Syndrome, he still found the jump process to be an unpleasant one. It was not to his liking to have the entire world collapse around and shrink down into nothingness. As quickly as the sensation had come, it passed, leaving him none the worse for wear, but hardly in any shape to sleep. 

                    He made his way to his desk and began to write. There was nothing specific he had in mind, he just jotted down the thoughts on his mind. He often found that writing his thoughts helped him to better control them. He was lost in this writing when a knock came at his cabin door.

                    "Enter"

                    One of the ship's crewmen entered and handed him a holodisk. "Master Po, this is all of the transmission traffic we received upon reaching Combine Space. There are several reports of enemy movements and actions, a news update from Harloc, and a personal communique for you from the Draconis Combine base on Caripare."

                    A personal communique? His heart raced at the thought. A personal message from Caripare was most likely from Sho-sa Jade Takahashi, for he knew no one else on that world. What a pleasant thought, receiving a message from her. Their time together had been brief, but he was still quite smitten with her like he had not been with anyone before. He had hoped that their paths would someday cross again.

                    He took the holodisk and dismissed the crewman. He quickly placed the disk into the reader on his desk and cycled through the files until he came to the one labeled personal for him. It was indeed from Jade. He hit the play button and sat back to watch.

                    The recorded image of Jade appeared in all her beauty, although he thought the holoimage did not do her justice. She had a calm expression, but he could not help but think she looked somewhat concerned.

                    "Greetings, Po Ding. I had not thought to message you so soon, and I hope you are faring well in your campaign against the Dominion. I hope this message finds you healthy and in good spirits, and I pray that its contents do not cause you undue concern. I thought about not sending it right away, but felt that you deserved to know. Or perhaps it is for my own selfish reasons that I speak to you, as I am feeling desperately alone right now. 

                    There is no way to preface this, so I will be direct and forthright with you. I learned recently that I am carrying your child, Po Ding. I had not planned for this and was quite taken aback when I learned the news in a routine exam. As you might expect, my mind has been racing with possibilities and contingencies, and I fear that I do not know what to do.

                    If this message should find you in time, I would desperately like your counsel. I have my own thoughts, but there are decisions to be made that I feel should not be mine alone. I find myself wishing you were here, though I know that is an unlikely possibility. In lieu of that, I would most surely like to know your thoughts on this development. I find myself reading your book, hoping for some nugget of wisdom to leap from its pages at me, but I know this is foolish. Send me your thoughts as soon as you are able, Po Ding. I will await them with bated breath."

                    The message ended and her image disappeared from the screen. Po sat back in shock, unsure of what he had just heard. It took him a few moments to compose his thoughts, but when he did, he hit the comm button for the bridge. 

                    "Captain Donovitch, this is Po Ding"

                    "What can I do for you, Shao-zhang?"

                    "Begin charging the K-F drive at once. As soon as we are fully charged, jump to Labrea. We are heading back to Caripare."