Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One: Green as Grass
His ears rang, he didn't quite know where he was, and why were people shouting at him? He just needed to take a break… Yeah, a nap sounded really nice right about now. The young man stumbled out of the wreckage, being halfway pulled and carried along into a natural fork in the river.
The infantry continued to drag the mech pilot to the destroyed hovercraft they were using for cover. And once the young man was set down they set back out to go rescue more of their wounded.
"You gotta shake it off LT!" One of the medics ran a quick vitals check on the 'mech pilot before removing his helmet in order to inject a stimulant. "He'll be back on his feet in about two minutes, but he's going to have a hell of a hangover."
"Anyone catch the Atlas that ran me over?" David asked, sitting up and turning to survey the field where the battle was still raging.
"Yes sir, you and that Atlas decided that getting one of those super Banshee'sinvolved was a good idea, the big pileup over there." An infantryman pointed to a cluster of Assault 'mechs stacked on top of eachother. "Your ejection seat failed, and we had to drag you out, we're pretty sure that you're going to end up with a concussion, but a proper diagnosis will have to wait until we're back to the proper facilities."
"Are we winning?" David asked as he put his helmet back on. "I can't tell." He tried to use the zoom feature on his powered armor but found that it was broken.
"We can't tell." a medic responded as she dragged another 'mech pilot back into cover. "It's not like we've been busy or anything LT."
"Where can I help?" David finally asked after deciding that he couldn't help on the fighting end currently. "I've got basic medtech training, but no more than that."
"Can you help us move people around?" A medic yelled as he ran past. "Or help drag more cover into place? We're only safe right now because of the distraction that Hull and Kerensky are out there causing."
"LT!" Captain Kent shouted as he entered the makeshift hospital area. "Your comms down?"
"Yessir," I'm down to my external speakers only." David replied. "Took a nasty blow to the head when I went down."
"Well, you're with me," Kent said. "Major Sandoval ejected about thirty minutes ago, and we need to get her back into our perimeter."
"Aye sir. Anyone got a bigger weapon than this?" David gestured to the sidearm at his side. "I had a carbine in my 'mech… But I don't think I'll be getting to it anytime soon."
"Here," A medic tossed her rifle at him. "Bring it back in one piece, that old girl has been with me longer than you've been alive."
"Got it Sarge." David replied. "I'm ready and set to move when you are Cap." He nodded at the infantry commander.
"Move out." Kent ordered the platoon that was going out. "Remember, we're rescuing the Drac pilots too, don't kill them unless they try something stupid."
"Sir, I believe the term is Terminally Brave." A noncom spoke up with a chuckle. "And the Combine doesn't have a lack of them."
"Got that right Sarge." Kent chuckled as he navigated the platoon around the shattered battlemechs littered across the valley. "But this group has been behaving differently, so we'll just have to wait and see."
"Shit!" Kent stepped back into cover as someone took shots at them. "Friendly!" He called out, "Check your IFF!"
"Identify yourselves!" A fiery female voice responded.
"This is Captain Kent, Major. We're here to pull you out." Kent responded as he eased himself out of cover to verify her identity.
"Thanks for the rescue, my Grasshopperis trashed." She said as she joined the platoon. "Kerensky, it's good to see you in one piece." She patted the LT on the shoulder. "You were down for a good while, and I was worried that you wouldn't make it."
"I'm alive ma'am." David responded as the platoon began to move back to the field hospital. "But I'm not sure about the other guys." he gestured vaguely in the direction of the assault 'mech pile.
"How was the fight going before you punched out ma'am?" Kent cut in. "I don't have the gear that your Grasshopper did for keeping a big picture of the battlefield."
"We're going to lose shortly if we don't get some support of some kind." Sandoval said as the platoon took cover in between a fallen Timber Wolf's legs. "Duke Hull used our arty to level the playing field somewhat, but they only got one volley off before the enemy was trying to counter barrage."
'Fuck." Kent shook his head as he knelt there. "We needed that artillery."
"Well, it wasn't all bad news." Sandoval smiled. "The 8th Dieron Regulars stopped attacking the LZ and our CAS should en route as soon as they're done mopping up the hovercraft over there."
"Damn!" A private muttered into his open comms as the platoon came to a stop. "Get a load of that action." The platoon watched as Duke Hull and Natasha Kerensky coordinated fire and alternated targets in order to destroy a full lance in a matter of minutes.
"They're not going to be able to keep it up for much longer." Sandoval pointed out as Kent ordered the Platoon to keep moving. "I'm pretty sure that Hull's Warhammer is held together with more prayers than anything else, and Kerensky's Nightstar is beginning to look like swiss cheese."
"Keep it moving." Kent ordered, "we're nearly at the field hospital." The platoon began to move at a much faster pace, barely sliding to a stop in front of the wrecked hovercraft that were being used as cover.
"Anyone got working long range comms?" Sandoval asked as she entered the area and immediately took charge.
"I've got them ma'am." A 'mech pilot with a broken foot raised his hand. "I snagged the extra gear that I keep in my Highlander before I bailed out."
"Good man." Sandoval clapped the pilot on the shoulder. "I'll be borrowing these." She synced up the device with her own suit of Mithril, and then patched it into her external speakers so that everyone could here what was being said.
"This is Duke Hull," they heard. "Where the fuck is our gorramed close air support?! They're about to wipe us off the map."
There was nothing, no response for what felt like an eternity before a voice responded.
"This is Echo 419, we apologize for the late delivery, we had to deal with some hitchhikers." A trio of Sting dropships cast shadows on the valley to the cheers of the 3rd Kentares Guard and the Ducal Guards. "And trust me, they brought jetpacks."
"We're just happy to have you here, Foehammer!" Captain Kent replied.
"They are pulling back." Yvonne Hazen said over the command circuit, her Atlas II limping along at a much slower pace than it typically had. "Hold your positions." Immediately the Ducal Guard members that had been about to give chase stopped in their tracks.
"Duke Hull," Sandoval used the long range gear. "We're going to need salvage and recovery teams here ASAP."
"Already have Mathis working on it, Major." Hull replied. "You just make sure that the woundeda are stabilized for transport."
"What do you mean by transport?" David asked before he looked up and saw a Sting landing in an open space next to the valley they had been fighting in.
"Load the wounded and recovered pilots onto Bravo 22 and get them back to the LZ." Duke Hull ordered. "The rest of us will stick around in case the 15th decide to come back for seconds."
Al Na'ir, October 9th, 3032
"Mark, I hate to wake you and Natasha, but this is urgent." Mathis led them to a side room on the Messenger. "We figured out where our leak was, and you're going to be pissed."
"One of ours?" I asked tiredly, still exhausted from the battle yesterday.
"It gets worse, Both General Frost and his XO are in on it." Mathis handed over the documentation. "Seems they've been feeding intel to the ISF since just before the ceasefire."
"And we didn't track this before?" I asked, struggling to process everything when I was still half asleep.
"They didn't make any unusual purchases sir." Mathis replied. "And I'm sure they picked him out because they thought he would never be a CO. A logistics officer can be just as effective a source of information."
"Fair point." I said. "We thrown the two of them into the brig yet?" I asked as I drew my sidearm and double checked the chamber. To make sure that it was loaded.
"Not yet sir, but we did give the evidence to the Field Marshal and to Major Sandoval." Mathis replied.
"That's good enough for me." I said as I stalked into the briefing room.
"Robert Frost, I sentence you to death for treason." I said as I drew my handgun. "Any last words you'd like to share with the class before I off you?"
"You killed our chance at lasting peace." He sobbed quietly. "We were balanced, and the Draconis Combine wouldn't have invaded." He continued to blubber while the command staff just ignored him.
"You have zero options here Frost. I stated coldly and bluntly. "You're going to die anyway, it's just a different time frame."
I watched as the slightly older man reached for something hidden in his desk. My weapon was already raised with my finger on the trigger, and so I waited for Frost to make a move. When his hand moved above the top of the desk, showing a small laser pistol, I fired without hesitation, drilling the CO of the 3rd Kentares Guard with a bullet right between the eyes.
"Someone carry this body out of here." I ordered. "And tell Sandoval that she's in full command of the 3rd Kentares now, due to her previous COs being guilty of treason."
"Copy that sir, I'll relay the message." Mathis responded
"Good Work Mathis, we've got our work cut out for us in this campaign