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The trip north had been a short and uninteresting one and if this was a dream then Mike wasn’t too sure what the point of this bit was, everything was normal… well as normal as flying in a several thousand-ton DropShip through the skies and space could be.  Due to the fear of Amaris loyalist controlled anti-air weapons the Company's Union-class DropShip had boosted to orbit briefly giving them a moment or two of weightlessness as the ship re-orientated, and then the buffeting drop as they came back down towards Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland.  The great historical city had gone barely changed for centuries as many refused to change historical landmarks despite the continuing changes across Terra instead the city was complete with its winding streets which covered the valley the city was built over.  The Amaris occupation of Terra had changed the city in little ways the first week of the occupation the so called Emperor Stefan Amaris himself had visited Edinburgh, as it was the historical home of the Cameron Family and it required his attention and mark.  He ordered all residence of the Cameron family residence crushed by BattleMechs, the Cameron family servents executed publicly and the Historic Scottish Parliament Building smashed to pieces and left in that state as a message to everyone.  He then warned the people of the city if they resisted him he would crush a building and execute fa family for every death that was caused.

Over the course of the occupation there was sporadic violence in the city and there were retributions as Amaris had promised with several buildings destroyed along with the executions however unlike other areas of Terra there was little of the wanton slaughter which had been experienced.  Except for the Amaris’ troops manhunts for resistance fighters and the Amaris troops on the street there had been little day to day changes.  Fortunately for the SLDF, none of these changes had caused significant damage to the DropPort allowing for rapid and easy deployments for the SLDF liberators most of the occupiers had surrendered when the SLDF arrived.  Now according to the population, the Amaris forces the SLDF now hunted were not Rim Worlds born troops instead they were from one of the Loyalist forces raised by the Emperor from Terran Hegemony citizens to “protect” Terra from the aggressor SLDF.  These troops were now afraid that the SLDF were out to get them and were looking for anything and everything they could use as leverage and the Cameron-Windsor family would make perfect bargaining chips.

For Mike all of these details seemed to be excessive for a dream even as he checked his Highlander for the hundredth time he didn’t know if it was right because he was a trained MechWarrior, and this was his Mech, or if it was because he'd read about BattleMechs for the last twenty years.  He'd been able to get the Mech from the bay to the DropShip at Sandhurst without tripping it over so it seemed that he was a MechWarrior trained to pilot and fight for the Star League Defence Force.  Each step Mike wondered if the jolt of the Highlander moving would wake him up from this dream and he would be back in his flat in real life?  Was his flat and the stack of BattleTech books the reality or the fiction?  He couldn’t go on questioning things they’d distract him and get him or his lance mates killed… “Who thinks like that?”  He suddenly blurted out quickly double checking his transmitter was shut off, it thankfully was.  Mike sat in silence for a moment instead of questioning things he decided to try and embrace it, if this was a dream, he would enjoy it while it lasted, if it was his life... he would live it, he would survive it.

Gaining all they could from Edinburgh the company began to head north, because there was no functional DropPorts north of the capital and due to the fear of Amaris anti air units they would travel by ground north to search for the Amaris loyal forces.  Heading along the main road the company made steady progress passing the largely abandoned city of Dundee without incident.  Dundee was a City that had long ago been abandoned and forgotten as the population searched for a better life in the newly explored the Inner Sphere, there was some hold outs who refused to leave and others who fled Amaris troops during the occupation.  Seeing no sign of recent disturbance Charlie Company continued north leaving those who had chosen to return to the city.

Stopping ten kilometres south of the city of Aberdeen at a conventional engine fuel station the SLDF MechWarriors camped for the night why include this in a dream Mike continued to wonder the sounds of wilderness beyond them, the light and heat from their camp fire.  Taking four hour shifts a single lance remained on patrol at all time ready to defend the other sleeping warriors Mike had taken his guard duty at the beginning for the night so had the rest of the night to sleep but he didn’t want to miss anything from this dream… this life and instead wandered.  Mike moved slowly through the other warriors listening to their stories of the war and their conflict against Amaris.  He tried to remain quiet his memories and thoughts were all jumbled up, one moment he was remembering the battles that had taken them through the Terran Hegemony and the next he remembered walking down a peaceful bustling civilian life of twenty-first century on Terra.  It was the strangest feeling, all of these people considered him a friend and a battle-hardened warrior, but silently inside Mike questioned whether he was ready for a fight.  His internal voice screamed at him he wasn’t ready for the stress of battle but he himself felt fine, he felt like the athletic warrior he looked like, and these people trusted him to do the job.

The next morning the Captain pulled them all around “okay ladies and gentlemen, scans from orbit show there is nothing out of the ordinary going on here on Terra.  There’s little resistance on the world most people are tired but with the WarShips redeploying around the Hegemony putting out the brush fires Amaris and his goons have left.  Our mission orders stand to track down these loyalists and bring them in to face the courts.”

“At this rate the Hegemony has no chance” Katherine said, she was in her late twenties with long brown hair tied into a ponytail she wore a standard green jumpsuit with a red, white and blue cloth tired around her left arm Mike couldn’t remember why she wore that but there was a reason and one that the officers allowed.  “The Old Man needs to tell the Succession Lords to back off or we'll do to them what we did to Amaris...”

“And become the next meal on their banquet table” Thomas interrupted “they've already started their encroachments on the Hegemony, the next war will come to us before we take it to them.”

“Are you so ready for another war when this one is just done?”  Bruce snapped “We lost plenty of people getting to Terra…”

“All of you quieten down!” the Captain snapped cutting off the argument “I don't know what is coming, but we have a mission to complete.”  He said “this Loyalist Battalion could be looking for a fight or it could be looking to stay hidden until the SLDF has issues with one of our neighbours.  Either way we need to check on Balmoral Castle here” he said pointing to a point in land isolated from everything in the area.  “The residence was maintained before the war as a Winsor-Cameron family residence.  We know that Amaris executed the staff there but for some reason left the building intact.  It has its own launch pad so the Loyalists may be heading there to a DropShip to try and escape the planet.  If they are airborne, we let them run, we pass them onto Fleet not our problem anymore.”

“If they run its suicide, even a Vincent would blow it to pieces smaller than my fist in a single volley.”  James said quietly raising his arm with a clenched hand to visualize what he meant if they didn’t understand.

“Exactly, we head north in thirty minutes.”  The Captain said quietly, Mike turned around and walked back towards his Highlander, a sleeping giant.

“Mr Quiet, what's up?”  Katherine moved up beside him walking towards their Mechs “you've been quiet since the new orders came in.  I thought you'd be happy, you never stop going on about home, we're here.”  She said raising her arms at the wilderness around them.

“It's different from what I remember.”  Mike said quietly forcing a smile “lots of things have changed. I’m different than the last time I was in this area.”  He said thinking not just of the changed Terra since Amaris' occupation but also the changes since his dream, it really was a different world.

“But it's still home” she said nudging his shoulder.  Mike stopped and turned towards her for a moment he was tempted to blurt out his entire story try to put into words what the dream had shown him and how it made him feel but instead he closed his eyes and took a deep, deep breath slowly letting it go again.

“It certainly is.”  He said smiling “and whatever happens it'll always hold a place in my heart.”  He said he could tell by her face she knew he wanted to say more but she didn’t say anything.

“You have one of those?”  She joked Mike roared with laughter that slowly turned into a more sinister laugh “just what I thought.”  She commented turning walking back towards her own BattleMech a seventy-five ton Orion.  Mike watched her move slowly her body clad in her coolant suit it did little to obstruct her figure “eyes up soldier” she said glancing over her shoulder catching him out.  Mike shrugged his shoulders but didn't move his eyes off her, to her credit Katherine just continued to walk off, she was exactly what he’d want in a partner fun to be around and beautiful, exactly what a dream would give him he thought life isn’t that perfect.  In his twenty-first century life he vaguely remembered a partner who he’d been getting serious with… he wondered for a moment what happened to her and what happened to his cat.  He shook his head and turned around away from Katherine and back towards his Highlander.

Nearly an hour later Mike was watching Katherine's back again but this time in far different circumstances “on the left Striker Three!”  Mike called out, as they had passed through the woods elements of the Loyalist Battalion had struck them unannounced, there would be no surrender, Harry's twenty ton Wasp had disintegrated under the fire not even giving the warrior time to escape his dying machine as weapons fire tore through the BattleMech and pilot not discerning what it destroyed.  Both Katherine's Orion and Mike's Highlander fired at nearly the same time showering a Loyalist Catapult with missiles and laser fire.  The gauss rifle slug from Mike's Highlander tore the missile pod from the Catapult's left side while Katherine's autocannon tore down the Mech's other side.  Losing so much armour and systems in a single attack the Catapult crashed to the ground on fire as its ammunition stores detonated “That's for Harry” Mike said angrilyy turning to the right seeing a Loyalist Awesome, by reaction Mike pulled his weapons triggers again missiles flew from the Highlander's torso mounted launchers poured from the assault Mech as he turned to face the giant which fired particle cannons in return mercifully missing the Highlander with all but one shot which sizzled down the right leg.  Guided by the Artemis Fire Control Systems his missiles bore down on the Awesome peppering its already damaged armour, Mike added more missiles and laser fire to the attack as he launched the Highlander into the air using its Jump Jets.

Considering this was Mike's first use of the massive Mech's jump jets he found it as natural as he would walking along down the street the ninety-ton Mech flew through the air towards the Awesome on jets of fire.  At the end of the jump the Highlander fell like a brick straight at the Awesome, this move every Highlander pilot was acquainted with was known as the “Highlander Stomp” others called it Death from Above but the Highlander pilots preferred their own name for it.  As the Mech came into a landing its feet smashed into the back of the Awesome's head metal twisted, bent and broke on both machines as the two Mechs impacted.  Mike fought to control his BattleMech as his Highlander as it fell and literally crushed the other Mech under the ninety-ton weight.  Crashing into the ground and staggering forward Missy was moments from falling but Mike kept the BattleMech moving bringing it under control he twisted the torso to see the crushed remains of the Awesome sprawled over the ground its head smashed into its torso.  “Two down” he said grimly as sweat poured from his head twisting the torso back to its normal position his Highlander was bathed in light as a particle blast from an enemy Loyalist BattleMech exploded over Missy’s torso burning armour away.  Mike looked up to see a Dragoon type Heavy BattleMech “didn't think those went to Loyalist forces?” Mike muttered as the Dragoon turned and blasted Bruce's Mongoose with one of its autocannons then twisted and blasted the Captain's Warhammer with its second autocannon.  “Son of a...” Mike cursed as the Dragoon hit his Highlander again with its particle cannon before turning away to escape “I don't deserve your attention?”  He said angrily blasting the Mech with his Gauss rifle and long-range missiles.  The enemy Mech was peppered with fire but it continued to battle against Charlie Company as it backed out of the battle and into the undergrowth causing damage to all of Charlie's Mechs as it retreated.

“All units do not engage, this was an advanced group, we're not charging after them into another ambush.”  The Captain said his Warhammer sending a parting shot at a retreating Amaris Mech.

“Boss, that was a frigging Dragoon!  Loyalist forces don't normally have those.”  Libby said her Guillotine had taken a few hits from the enemy Mech's autocannons.

“Indeed, they don't.  Intel must have been on a holiday, keep your wits about you people.”  The Captain said pausing for a moment “there is a clearing three hundred metres to the east, we're moving there and will call the DropShip down to effect some repairs.”  He said their DropShip held all their supplies and techs it would remain in orbit until they needed it only landing when required.  The idea was its random landings would keep any Amaris gunners from being able to get a fix on the vessel's movements, although each time it landed the DropShip would be vulnerable to weapons fire.

“Sir, Harry's Wasp will also need recovered.” Lieutenant Cameron Lewis said quietly, Cameron's Griffin stood over the fallen lighter Mech the pilot's body still remained in the Wasp's shattered cockpit.

“We take care of our own, Lieutenant.”  The Captain promised as the company turned towards the clearing.  It had been their first battle since the end of the Amaris campaign, all of them were tired of the fighting but after seeing what had been done to Terra it was nice to get a little extra revenge, each of them had fought with that little bit extra vengeance battling the ambush force.  However, Harry's death had reminded them all just how much this fight had cost so far and how much it would continue to driving them on to eradicate Amaris last hold outs.

As they moved through the trees Mike quickly “safed” all his triggers his hands were shaking, it was easy for a warrior to accidentally trigger a weapon after a fight was over with their adrenaline still pumping.  Mike had survived the battle and defeated other warriors in battle doing a lot better than he'd expected, he'd come through it like it was second nature not like someone who had dreamt it up but someone who had fought and lived through countless battles.  His dream of a small peaceful flat seemed more and more distant, this terrifying wonderful world seemed more and more like his place.  Maybe Katherine had been right maybe he was home.

Very nice DC, I'll have to give it a look over in more detail!

agreed, in both counts

Moving into the City Charlie Company first searched through an industrial and storage zone south of the city which included a partially decommissioned oil rig along the coast line.  After several hours of searching the area they found nothing of interest instead moving into the city centre.  As they moved along the main road past the harbour front they approached a retail centre with a large external and multi-storey car park alongside a two to three story shopping mall, as the company turned to search the centre a volley of autocannon blasts slammed into James' Rifleman II.  The company dived for cover as further autocannon and missile blasts landed around them, James trying to stand his ground returned fire with his own Autocannons and lasers cutting into a multi-storey car park where a pair of Autocannon Carriers were situated his blasts rocked the structure but did minimal damage to the enemy units.  Missiles and autocannon blasts landed all around the Rifleman II tearing into armour plate, weapons and structure.  The Rifleman II's left arm took three successive autocannon blasts which tore through the weapons housed there, one autocannon shell shattering the Rifleman II's own autocannon into two pieces as part of the arm fell to the ground.  With the rest of the company still pinned James marched his Rifleman II forward in a defiant display of bravery firing his weapons constantly into the parking structure even as his Mech began to overheat from the continuous fire.  One of the enemy autocannon carriers was torn to pieces by his fire while the structure they had used as cover was severely weakened.  With the enemy now looking to save themselves Charlie company began to provide James with cover fire as he stood in harm’s way taking all the fire from the enemy units, missiles and autocannon fire tore through his assault Mech but James ignored it keeping his Mech standing under the fire and returning fire with everything he had.  As the Rifleman II began to falter under the damage James continued to fire, causing the parking structure and with it their enemies to fall before them.  As the building collapsed in a heap or broken concrete the Rifleman II finally crumpled to the ground in a heap of twisted and broken metal.

“James respond” the Captain ordered quietly but there was no answer “Jame, do you read?”  He asked still there was only static.  “Mike, Libby check on him.”  He ordered “Charlie Company defence overwatch on the Rifleman.”  He ordered “call out any movement.”

Switching his BattleMech to stand-by mode Mike grabbed the medkit and laser rifle from the back of the Highlander's cramped cockpit.  It was standard practice for SLDF MechWarriors to carry their own sidearm in the cockpit, normally a hold-out laser pistol or a small slug thrower pistol, but with the Highlander's marginally larger cockpit there was room for a larger laser rifle to be stored against the cockpit door.  This made Mike the perfect choice to disembark and provide cover fire if a pilot needed checked on after a battle.  Libby was the company medic combining her medkit with Mike's would provide them with anything they would need to stabilize James condition.

The ground between the company's position and the fallen Rifleman II was broken the tarmac smashed after years of decay and lack of any maintenance.  Mike moved slowly the medkit over his back his rifle raised to meet any threat, the rifle would be good against any infantry or lightly armoured vehicles but hardened targets wouldn't worry about him.  Behind Mike was what vehicles or Mechs would worry about as the remaining Mechs of Charlie Company watched the roads and buildings around for any movement ready to meet any threat.  Crossing the tarmac Mike heard something off to his right he turned to look and saw only a rat scurrying over an ancient broken car nothing that would threaten them.

As he turned back towards the Rifleman II something changed the ruined BattleMech and abandoned car park were replaced with a bustling scene as people moved around a shopping scene the crumpled multi-storey car park was restored to pristine condition and the glass-frontage of the shopping centre was restored.  In front of Mike was a man dressed in shirt and jeans loading shopping into his vehicle.  As the man turned to look at him Mike saw it was himself, no an older self, in the car there was a female and child waiting.  A life he could have?  In either life he seemed to be living Mike wasn’t married and had no children could this be something he would have if he woke up?  What did this mean?  He began to lower the laser rifle.

Suddenly Libbie stepped through the image of an older Mike and walked up to him.  “You with me MechWarrior?”  She said angrily snapping him back to reality “get with it, you are up front.”

“I’m here” Mike confirmed and the two of them continued to close.  Reaching the Rifleman Mike called out James name but there was still no response Libby arrived just behind Mike her own laser pistol drawn “no answer” Mike informed her “I'll cover you peak?”  He said lowering his medkit to the ground he didn’t fancy seeing the scene in the cockpit considering the damage the rest of the Mech had taken.

“Affirmative.”  She confirmed holstering her pistol she slung his kit over her shoulder and climbed the broken leg of the downed BattleMech.  The armour was so badly torn in places Libby was able to move over the Mech quickly reaching the Rifleman's head “head armour penetrated” she commented into her communicator as she moved over the Mech “James? Do you hear me!”  She called out but there was still no answer “entering cockpit” she said moving around the Mech's head opening the rear hatch the keypad access responding to her Company's access code.  “Captain, Command Three is down, repeat Command Three is KIA.”  She said after a few moments being in the cockpit.

“Understood, return to your Mech.”  The captain ordered his voice low, another person lost from their company.

On the ground Mike was looking around searching for the scene he’d seen before of a hustling and bustling centre he felt strange as if this place had been visited by millions of people over the years and they all had left parts of them here.  The now crumbling parking structure was massive as was the retail centre, it would have looked very impressive in its prime, a hive of activity when the city was occupied.  Libby re-joined him on the ground “Ready to move” she said passing his medkit back.

“Affirmative, I have cover” Mike replied within moments Libby was gone running across the ground back towards her Mech.  Two cracks filled the air “Sniper!” Mike called opening fire on the approximate area of where the shots originated, he glanced over at Libby’s fallen form “Command Four is down! Libby! Are you okay?”  He said moving slowly towards her continuing to fire his rifle.  He moved slowly towards her and knelt down as he reached her fallen form.  Lieutenant Lewis' Griffin and Recon Lance's Falcon moved forward blasting the area where Mike had been firing with their BattleMech scale weapons keeping the sniper down if they still lived.  “I missed that *******!”

“It’s ok my vest and suit took it” she replied breathing heavily, even though her clothing had protected her Mike bet she had a cracked rib or at the least heavy bruising, as she tried to recover from the blast Mike helped her back onto her feet and back towards the company as the two Mechs continued to pummel the buildings around where the sniper had been smashing the ancient buildings with their weapons fire.

“Cease fire” the Captain ordered “John, mark the position for recovery operations.”  He said addressing the Company's communication officer his Osprey carried additional communication and sensor equipment to assist the company at the expense of fire-power and speed.

“Already done sir, I've uplinked to the DropShip they will recover the Rifleman and James' body after we secure the area.”

“Good, Libby are you okay?”

“Affirmative sir, coolant suit is a little ruined but otherwise I'm fine.”

“Understood, it seems our captured Loyalist pilot neglected to mention the remaining company had armour and infantry support.  Be ready for any further surprises people, we don't want to be sloppy and make mistakes.”  Mike’s cheeks burned in the Highlander’s cockpit he hated that he’d missed the sniper.

“Sir, permission to take the high ground.”  Mike said volunteering he needed to do something “that retail structure looks solid enough to take my Mech's weight and should offer a nice vantage point.”  He said the parking structure had completely collapsed but the structure itself was still intact and looked like it had a relatively flat roof.

“Not on your own, Thomas detach from Striker you're with Mike, be careful no chances.  We will take the main road into the city.”  The Captain answered Thomas' Mech was a Catapult twenty-five tons lighter than Mike's Mech it carried long range missile launchers like the one carried in his Highlander's torso and had jump jets for increased mobility but its armour was distinctly sub-par.

As the seven other Mechs of Charlie Company moved into the city the Highlander and Catapult approached the retail centre slowly “Thomas switch dedicated channel six” Mike ordered taking the lead neither had rank on their side but it was his idea and he had the bigger Mech.

“Done” Thomas said quietly on their private channel “how do you want to play this?”  He said indicating he'd play by Mike's ideas.

“I bait you kill?”  Mike suggested his armour could take more hits than the Catapult and he had better close in weapons.

“Sounds good, I'll stay 120 metres to your back and right.”  He confirmed taking a support position, that way if Mike brought additional fire from any direction Thomas could move and not cause Mike any movement issues.

“Understood, taking high ground now.”  Mike said stepping down on both pedals in the Highlander's cockpit launching the Mech into the air on its jump jets.  He half expected weapons fire to strike his ninety-ton Mech as soon as it left the ground but the air was empty.  Landing on the retail centre he was relieved to find old building was solid enough to take his Highlander's Mech.  Scanning the area, he saw no signs of life or movement “heading out” he sent to Thomas a single click of acknowledgement was all he received in reply.  Walking carefully over the roof of the building the Highlander smashed the abandoned air conditioning equipment that littered the structure’s roof Mike constantly kept one eye on the sensor read out watching for enemy movement there was nothing in the area.

“I got movement” Thomas called out Mike turned his BattleMech around to see the Catapult behind him being struck by a gauss rifle slug.  The projectile travelling faster than the speed of sound impacted with the Catapult's cockpit window.  The impact tore through the armour and windows, through the cockpit and into the Mech's torso, the sixty-five-ton BattleMech fell to the side and then off the building roof.  As it hit the ground the ammunition stores within the BattleMech exploded consuming the wrecked design.

“Jesus...”  Mike exclaimed there was no way Thomas had survived the initial hit let alone the fall.  Mike followed the track of the gauss rifle shot finding a Rim Worlds Republic designed Rampage “bad move.”  Running back along the roof Mike cut in his Highlander's jump jets launching the BattleMech into the air, as it lifted into the air, he triggered his own gauss rifle and torso mounted missile launchers and lasers.  The Rampage was covered in a coat of fire but the eighty-five-ton assault Mech stood its ground returning fire with his own autocannon, pulse laser and missiles tearing into the falling Highlander.  Just before the Mech landed Mike cut in the jump jets softening the blow of landing at the same time blasting the Rampage with the Highlander's arm mounted short range missiles and lasers coating the Rampage in fire for a second time.  The pilot lost his footing firing his Mech's own short-range missiles in defiance striking the Highlander's leg armour as the Rampage fell to the ground.  Mike walked his Mech forward slowly raising his arm mounted missile launcher firing a tightly packed salvo of six short range missiles into the downed Mech as the pilot tried to stand his Rampage up.  Stepping forwards Mike drew back the Highlander's leg kicking out at the Rampage's out-stretched arm knocking the Rampage down to the ground again, as the enemy Mech fell again he blasted it with his torso mounted lasers cutting into the armour covering the Rampage's back.  As the loyalist MechWarrior tried to raise for a second time Mike kicked out knocking the enemy down again, the eighty-five-ton, Rampage slammed into the ground again causing yet more damage to the Mech.  He didn't feel sorry for the downed warrior he'd killed Thomas with a single shot, now stuck in a downed Mech with little hope of survival was the least this warrior deserved.

“Command Four, need assistance” Katherine's voice cracked through the communication system “we need you and Thomas quickly main force engaged.”  She said not knowing Thomas was down.  Without a thought Mike raised his Mech's arm and fired a salvo of short-range missiles into the cockpit of the downed Rampage armour plates cracked and gave way.  The Mech went loose its struggle to stand up over as the pilot died, the Mech's brain and will for destruction gone.

“On my way” Mike replied without emotion turning the Highlander onto the main road running towards the city centre where the rest of Charlie Company had headed.  Ahead he could see rising flames and smoke so far, his unit had lost much now it was their enemies turn.

here's a revised part six


The street was roughly two kilometres long which was hardly anything to a BattleMech Mike's own could reach a top speed of fifty-four kilometres an hour in open terrain and even in the cluttered street there was little that could slow a ninety-ton BattleMech, unfortunately with a Dragoon on the loose they couldn’t take the chance of charging down the broken street.  Every step the two Star League BattleMechs were having to make extra carefully due to the unstable ground, they’d already come across one sinkhole and on either side of the street below them buildings had collapsed after years of neglect, wrecked vehicles had been left to rot in the street and weeds had far overgrown everything with little human presence nature had taken the area back like much they had seen out of the city.  What few buildings remained standing looked like they had been around for centuries and like they could collapse at any moment most were about four or five stories high putting their roofs just above the BattleMech's cockpits.  As they walked down the street Mike kept scanning these rooftops as he stepped his Highlander forward any of them would make a perfect launching point for brave infantry wanting to make a swarm attack or to use short range missile launchers against them.

“Just shows the power of nature” Katherine said quietly stepping her Orion behind his Highlander “when this city was in its prime I bet there was barely a tree now you can barely see the buildings for the trees.”  She commented as they both detected movement on the ground both of them watched the area for enemy units only to see several deer step out from the undergrowth.  The eldest a large male stag with impressive antlers watched them with a wary eye as the others walked past.  “They aren’t afraid of us.”  Katherine said entranced by the sight as the sixth deer a female stepped out of the undergrowth “humanity has given up its claim to this area, it’s theirs now.”

“Everything comes to an end” Mike whispered watching the animals cross the broken street, he sat silently for several moments looking out his cockpit window in front of him he remembered the George Street he’d seen in it’s prime as a busy road leading into the centre of town with shops running either side under apartment buildings and offices.  Wheeled road vehicles filled the streets with pedestrians moving around those stuck in traffic jams Katherine was right there would have been barely any of this greenery as humanity made as much as they could out of the ground they had taken from nature.

“And this search will never end if you don't move your heavy ass forward” she joked Mike had been lost looking at the busy street of the past and his Highlander had completely blocked the narrow road.  The deer herd had moved on disappearing from sight between the buildings as the day light began to fade.

“I thought I saw something was just having a look” he countered knowing there wasn't a chance she would believe him they’d both seen the deer and they both knew that their sense of hearing would have sent them off running if there had been any sign of a threat.  Before she could answer he moved his Mech forward a bit reaching a crossroads.  Slowly he moved his Mech far enough out to look one way down the right-hand side of the street before turning around and looking down the left side.  “All clear” he said stepping forward “you think he went either way?”  Mike asked glancing down both streets his hands near the weapon controls despite the fading light they could fight as well as they could in the light due to the advanced sensors onboard their weapons of war.

“Neg, down right looks like it turns into a swamp, the ground's sunk, anything heavier than a light Mech is going to struggle to move ten metres before getting stuck.”  She said looking down the street “down left all I see is fallen buildings and rubble.”  She said thinking of the animals they’d seen; they were finding their way through this area but that was only because of their size and light weight which allowed them to find a safe path between the ancient buildings.

“A Dragoon has jump jets” Mike reminded her.

“Affirmative I know, but we'd have seen a jet plume over the buildings, there hasn't been any flames that I've seen nor any heat spikes.  Unless that's what you saw when you stopped?”  She queried him Mike shook his head shaking the image of the past from his thoughts now wasn't the time.

“Negative” Mike said calmly trying to clear his head “it was nothing, we push on?”  He said stepping his Mech forward he heard the communication channel shared by him and Katherine click in response.  They hadn’t heard anything else from the rest of the company he hoped the two of them were not all that was left.  They moved forwards deliberately slowly scanning as they went finding little of interest other than more wildlife that had taken over from the humans that had left.  As they approached the end of the road where it met a much wider road and a small bridge crossing an ancient railway system.  The railway was made up of two badly rusted ground tracks which had been laid long before humanity even considered the idea of the maglev trains which were now in use across the Inner Sphere.

With the wider street Katherine was able to maneuver around Mike's Highlander and gain some distance making it less likely the two of them would be hit by a single shot.  Mike slowly looked around the area watching his sensors and using his own eyes to see if he could spot anything despite the advances in sensors sometimes the good old “mark one eyeball” spotted things the sensors missed.  As he scanned the area, he saw a light on in one of the buildings on the fourth floor the light was exactly level with his cockpit.  “Striker Three, I've possibly got something here.”  He said taking a step closer to the building peering through the surprisingly intact windows.  As he did a young man dressed in a red t-shirt and jeans stepped closer to the window and looked out, on the window sill there appeared to be a small domesticated cat curled up in a ball as it looked out beside the male.  Mike didn’t need to question who it was, he knew, his voice trembled a bit as he spoke.  “Katherine, do you think there could be people living in these buildings?”

“No-one permanent I don't think but, it's possible maybe nomads who refused to live in the big cities or came out here to get away from Amaris and his thugs.  Or maybe just scavengers who like living it rough.  You got someone?”  She asked twisting her Mech's torso to face his.  Mike glanced at his sensors and then back at the person in the window who waved their arm in his direction could it be real?

“Come take a look” he said stepping his Mech back away from the building seeing the figure step back from the window, as he did Mike turned to see the Dragoon BattleMech they had been hunting smash its way out of the building adjacent to him hammering Katherine's Orion with a pair of autocannon blasts.  Unlike when his Highlander had been targeted this time the Dragoon used solid shells hitting the Orion hard in the chest and left leg causing massive explosions that ripped across the heavy Mech’s hull.  Immediately afterwards the Dragoon followed up with a particle cannon shot straight into the Orion's head Mike watched in shock as the Orion stumbled and fell under the blasts.  He’d called her closer to the building which had put her in the kill zone.  Twisting his own Highlander's torso section Mike extended the Highlander’s arm and opened fire the short-range missiles as the Mech twisted following up with the long-range missile system as well.  The short-range missiles impacted first setting explosions all over the torso section of the enemy Mech while his long-range missiles hampered by the close range exploded all across the Mech the ground and buildings it was enough to buy Mike time to move.  Turning as his torso auto-centred he kicked out with Highlander’s leg knocking the Dragoon away from the fallen Orion.  “Katherine respond!”  Mike snapped seeing the Orion was trying to get up.  “Kat, speak up now!”  He demanded he said looking at the shaky Mech firing his lasers at the Dragoon.

As Katherine brought her Mech back partly to its feet another pair of autocannon blast tore into the Mech's side and back knocking the seventy-five-ton Mech back to the ground to the ground.  Mike heard Katherine scream in fear and pain before he saw the head section of the Mech burst open and her cockpit chair launch out of the BattleMech.  Mike opened fire on the Dragoon with more missile and laser strikes he added in his gauss rifle ripping open a massive hole in its left torso armour as the slug almost immediately slammed into the Mech knocking it several feet back.  Looking at the travelling ejection chair he thought it at least looked like Katherine had made a clean ejection from the stricken Orion.  Due to his distraction checking on Katherine he watched as the Dragoon picked itself up and made a short jump down to the railway track before running off at full speed.

“Come back here and fight me you cowardly bastard!”  Mike screamed into the open channel firing his Mech's gauss rifle and long-range missile system at the retreating Mech.  The gauss slug travelled at supersonic speeds but also did so in a straight line in this case slamming straight into the ground near the Dragoon tearing up the earth around the retreating heavy Mech destroying some of the ancient rail tracks.  His missiles were more effective arcing through the air they landed around the Dragoon causing several strikes to the Mech's arm and back armour as well as ripping up more ground from near misses.  “Striker Three, this is Command Four respond on emergency channel” Mike called out ejection seats carried enough power to make short burst transmissions for short periods after a pilot had left their Mech in this case however there was no response.  “Katherine, respond.”  Mike ordered stepping his Mech carefully forward closer to the edge of the railway line the Dragoon was long gone disappearing into the wilderness.  “Command One, this is Command Four, Striker Three is down I repeat Striker Three is down.  Good ejection, I have tracked her escape path, unless you order otherwise, I am going to find her landing point and recover the pilot, over.”  He transmitted this time trying to reach the Company Commander again there was no response probably caused by all the wrecked buildings and debris between him and the other Mechs.  “This is Command Four continuing with plan, out.”  He said finally after a few minutes closing the channel switching to a secondary general channel “This is the Star League Defence Force MechWarrior to the Dragoon pilot, it's just us left, we've kicked your bosses ass now I'm hunting you, keep your eyes open because I'm coming.”  He said jumping his Mech off the road onto the railway cutting in the jump jets to cushion the fall Mike then took his Mech into a run along the railway path.  Now there were two objectives, find Katherine alive and kill the Dragoon he didn't particularly care in which order these happened as long as they happened exactly like that, no more day dreams no more questioning what was going on just kill the enemy and find his friend.

Keep it coming DC!

I will, on a roll this morning so here's another part.


With no word back from his Captain Mike ran after the Dragoon triggering the Highlander’s jump jets, he brought the big Mech down onto the railway tracks and continued to run.  The Dragoon was ahead of him but currently out of sight as the last daylight faded away and a light rain started.  “Traditional bloody Scottish weather” Mike commented as his Highlander charged forwards, he was still receiving a good signal from Katherine’s ejector seat he’d track that down after he tracked the Mech that had destroyed her Orion.  The Dragoon was twenty tons lighter than Mike’s Highlander but its pilot had already proven they could out think those that were chasing them.  Running around a corner Mike saw along the track a tunnel which would have been used by the train to go under the ground road way it was too small for the Highlander but Mike would get a little closer to it before using his jump jets to clear the rise.

As he approached however suddenly out of the darkness a functional train began thundering towards him “WHAT!”  Mike shouted out of surprise triggering the Highlander’s jump jets out of instinct taking the Mech up and to the left away from the train.  After a few moments he waited for an impact that didn’t come then he cut his jump jets just as a particle cannon flew through the air his Highlander would have risen into instead it fizzled away into the atmosphere.  As Mike landed on the ground he turned to see where the train was heading only to see a broken track and a collapsed tunnel, he’d imagined it there was no train only an ancient disused track.  “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!  You’re not helping, you’re going to get me the **** killed!”  He screamed angrily standing his Highlander where he’d landed “wake the hell up or leave me alone!  Why is this happening!”  He asked out loud as if expecting an answer, these visions didn’t give him answers they just brought trouble and got people killed.

After a minute without an answer Mike turned his Mech back towards the chase of the Dragoon breathing deeply waiting a moment he stepped forward only one step before stopping his eye seeing something unnatural.  He suddenly realised that on the ground ahead of him at the other side of the collapsed tunnel lay an extensive minefield.  He thought if he’d closed on the tunnel like he’d originally planned and triggered his jump jets he’d have landed in the field and likely his later jump would have put him in the path of that particle canon shot.

Sitting where he was for a moment Mike knew he needed to think ever so briefly.  Instead of moving he dampened his Mech’s reactor signature for a moment and remained still the vision had saved him from incurring damage to his Mech and possible death.  He sat there for a moment; the vision had scared the life out of him but had possibly saved his life… it had protected him.  He thought about the previous vision the figure and cat in the building because he’d stopped there he hadn’t taken another step forwards if he had he’d have been in front of the Dragoon as it broke through the building the Highlander’s back exposed to the Dragoon’s autocannons and particle cannon, he’d have been at a minimum knocked out of the fight, what he’d seen had protected him…

Mike sat stunned for a moment, before that he’d fallen only to see Katherine in form fitting civilian clothing which had him thinking of her before she’d encountered the sinkhole.  If her Orion had fallen into that hole he could have, it could have taken them both out.  Then he’d been thinking of the shopping mall in its glory days just as the Javelin had leaped out of the building, he’d seen it because he was thinking about the building?  A tenuous link Mike even had to admit to himself.  Then the image in the car park where he’d seen an older version of himself and a woman in the car… just before Libby had been shot.  He closed his eyes and tried to remember what the figure looked like slightly darker skin, long dark hair, it was straight unlike Libby’s which was normally tied back but it could have been her.  And then his dream of a peaceful life before this mission had started, what he’d wanted after the war ended, just before he got sent on a mission which had seen half their company destroyed.

Mike sat in the silent Highlander for a moment and thought, he’d heard of a sixth sense before.  A feeling that some MechWarriors claimed to feel before they were put in danger.  He’d heard of infantry troopers sometimes having an instinct that something wasn’t right before an attack but he’d been a MechWarrior for six years, and a trainee for three before that, he’d never felt it before.  And why the hell did it have to be so distracting?  He questioned angrily.  Was this a sixth sense?  Was this just a lethal case of daydreaming that would eventually get him killed?  He didn’t know and he couldn’t answer it now, break time was over, he needed to kill this Dragoon and recover Katherine.  Powering up the Highlander again he waited until the engine was ready and then plotted a course past the mines but still following the Dragoon’s path, worryingly the Dragoon had no capability of laying mine so someone else had before the heavy Mech meaning it probably wasn’t alone.

Looking at the map the railway line curved away from the course and towards the ruined city airport.  The airport was one of the many places the company planned to search for the rumoured SLDF bunker, he had no idea what he’d find there but Katherine’s ejector seat had headed in that direction and so was the Dragoon so in the darkness and heavy rain so was he as the Highlander marched on.

For more than thirty minutes Mike marched through the thick undergrowth he’d abandoned the railway track which would have been the faster way to travel and instead was making his way between massive trees and collapsed buildings as he cut across country heading for the airport.  As his Mech moved forwards he could feel the undergrowth becoming soggier as he stepped on it, he was entering a marsh and he didn’t want to use his jump jets as they’d give away his position.  Instead Mike raised his Highlander’s gauss rifle across the chest of his Mech and then raised the left hand up beside it.  In all those technical manuals kids read and you saw in museums BattleMechs looked pristine with their paint and perfect camouflage showing through.  In reality they were more of a patchwork result with plates of armour replaced with different colours and various items attached to the hull wrapped around his gauss rifle were several massive tree logs which had been stripped of their branches and tied with heavy cables the logs would only protect the Mech from small arms fire at best with Mech scale weapons shattering them but that wasn’t what he’d use them for.  Using his Mech’s left hand actuator he snapped the cables on the first set of logs which fell to the ground rolling away from the Highlander.  Mike had little control over where they fell but they’d provide him with something to gain some traction on.  Mike then quickly snapped a second cable releasing more logs before lowering the gauss rifle back down again he then stepped forwards carefully forcing down the log which sunk into the march over the next several minutes he carefully moved between the logs and the marsh lands shattering the logs in the progress but allowing him to make progress.  Almost every BattleMech carried some sort of external ordinance, it was completely vulnerable to weapons fire but every MechWarrior wanted something extra they could use on a mission.  He’d even heard of some warriors carrying frozen food outside their Mech when in winter climates allowing them to eat like kings when in the field.

Across the marsh/bog area Mike was able to accelerate a bit bringing him deeper into the countryside as he approached the airport which strangely was bathed in lights, he immediately shut down his targeting sensors going to passive sensors.  As he approached Mike saw a Toro and a Firebee BattleMechs patrolling outside the facility.  “Hell” he commented realising the Dragoon was not alone.  Neither of the Mechs was heavy enough to counter his Highlander but each of them carried weapons that could cause heavy damage to battered Highlander.  Fortunately, neither MechWarrior was paying much attention as he slipped back into the marsh Mike needed to fight smart, that meant getting some information on his opponents.  Quickly Mike backed the Highlander into the marsh, shutting down as much as he could he dampened his reactor and lifted his neural helmet off his head placing it on the shelf above.  Mike then crawled out of the command chair and opened the rear hatch it was cold and wet outside.  He leaned on the open door while reaching to some external cargo which was attached the side of the Mech’s head.  Inside was a large camo net which Mike spent the next hour arranging over his Highlander attaching it to various hooks that were built into the armour.  He then retrieved the laser rifle and a cold weather jacket from his cockpit, time to pretend to be an infantry trooper climbing down from the massive machine heading into the darkness.

Mike awoke inside the back of a taxi cab outside with the driver turning around to face him through the Perspex screen.  “That’ll be six quid-eighty” he said looking at Mike who handed over a ten-pound note.  He wouldn’t need the money after today this trip wouldn’t need them.

“Keep the rest” he said grabbing his bag jumping out of the taxi.  He then walked towards the entrance of Aberdeen Airport throwing down some change at a homeless man near the entrance.  Inside the complex he almost immediately had to jump out of the way of a group of school children who were making their way to the check-in desk.  Mike checked his watch he only had a short time to get through check in and security before the flight.  Instead of joining the queue he joined the “Express queue” handing over a note to pay for the additional charge to get checked through quickly he then quickly made his way towards security a young man going the other way clipped his shoulder as he passed Mike turned to warn him to be careful and saw the man’s face almost morph as he looked at it instead of a human face he saw the face of a Firebee BattleMech with the two circular filters standing out of the cockpit’s “cheeks”.

A moment of panic filled Mike as he pushed the other man away dropping change as he did the man staggered backwards and Mike looked at him again and saw his normal face.  “Be… be a bit more careful.”  He warned the man ducking down to collect his change when he looked up again the man was gone.  “Weird damned day” he said to himself heading further down the corridor to security.  The big burly security guard dropped a check-in tray in front of him and said for Mike to present everything he had in neat piles.  Mike almost laughed check-in at security was one of the most irritating processes of air travel and he through everything he had into one tray and then the next.  The security guard didn’t look too pleased at the mess but didn’t complain further as Mike stepped through the scanner.  Once through the scanner Mike had to open up a couple of his items and threw down the items so they could be checked which slowed him down.

Once through security Mike gathered his things and began to ran towards the door only to collide with someone else Mike tried to dodge out of the way but tumbled head over heels and slammed into the wall falling unconscious by the impact.  It took Mike several moments to come to again he heard the almost rhythmic sound of a warning message in the cockpit of his Highlander.  Inside the cockpit he could taste blood in his mouth from the impact from the fall ignoring it he got himself together and pulled the Highlander to its feet he saw he’d used gauss, SRM and LRM ammo since he last looked glancing at the sensors he saw that the Firebee and Toro also both lay in ruins… He realized his trip through the airport was a battle… he’d taken down two of the Mechs and then fallen he glanced at his sensors and saw that the Dragoon was now active and standing, it had taken more damage too, he needed to get his head in the game as autocannon shots slammed into the Mech.  Mike gritted his teeth and turned into battle.

Raising his right arm Mike aimed the gauss rifle launching a slug into the enemy Mech as he began marching towards it the particle cannon returned almost down the same path slamming into the Highlander’s right arm.  Mike checked the damage now only minimal armour remained he twisted the torso and replied at the Dragoon with long range missiles from the torso launcher.  Mike’s view was blocked for a moment as the smoke cleared, he saw the Mech pitted with missiles and explosions landing all around the Dragoon.  More particle cannon fire battered his Highlander as Mike began to walk towards the Dragoon, he saw a medium laser in the torso was destroyed by the attacks.  Mike rose the gauss rifle arm again and added the long-range missile and fired into the Mech he’d had enough of the Dragoon.  He continued to march towards the smaller Mech he saw several of the IndustrialMechs still moving around and wondered if Katherine was in any of them but for now, he couldn’t concentrate on them this was his final fight against the Dragoon, he was sure of it.

Stomping forwards particle cannon fire ripped through his Highlander’s torso armour and wrecked his long range missile launcher, Mike toggled the dump of the remaining ammunition for the launcher and continued forwards firing his gauss rifle again, he had three shots left for the weapon and this one he saw tear through one of the Dragoons particle cannons ruining part of the Mech’s arm.  The pilot of the Mech appeared to have decided that this too was the end of his fight he stood his ground and returned fire with the autocannon as Mike entered short range missile range a cluster of missiles spiralled from his Mech’s left arm.  The missiles tore into the Dragoon and the ground beside it but the Mech continued to stand firing back with its remaining particle cannon shot burning more of the Highlander’s armour as Mike closed to point blank range he gave up any pretence of this remaining an honourable duel by swinging the battle fist of the left arm in a punch against the Dragoon he could almost feel armour plate shatter under his punch the Dragoon staggered backwards as Mike followed the first punch with a pair of laser blasts.  He swung again punching again unfortunately the Dragoon was out of his grasp as it fired its particle cannon again the Highlander’s hand actuator was between the blast and the rest of the Mech and the hand actuator disappeared in the blast he saw the SRM launcher was also destroyed in the blast.  Recoiling the arm out of the way he brought his gauss rifle back in line and fired a gauss shout into the torso of the Dragoon at point blank range.  The Dragoon vibrated and almost seemed to jump upwards as the weapon hit the BattleMech, Mike didn’t let up and hit the Dragoon again fired his last gauss rifle shot.  Finally, agonisingly the Dragoon staggered forwards into Mike’s Highlander the two Mechs colliding and bringing both Mechs to the ground the impact knocked Mike out as the two Mechs slammed into the ground in a heap.

Mike awoke in the airport check-out section with bags beside him.  “Not this again!”  He shouted at the top of his head everyone around him looked at him for a moment but left him where he was.  He began to gather his things together and stood back up.  He didn’t know what he was doing, where he was, who he was?  Every time he thought he’d found a solution to what was wrong he found another issue.  Moving through the airport he felt like he was on auto-pilot as he reached the queue for boarding the plane.  Ahead of him was a young woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail, she wore a white shirt and wore black trousers carrying a green bag.  She turned to face him; it was Katherine.

“Ready for your flight?”  She asked he nodded “are you sure?  You always said this was home, why would you leave?”

“It is home, I thought a long way to come home, I’ll always return here” he replied “what is this?”  He said the scene was blurry around him merging the airport with the inside of his BattleMech’s cockpit.  “Who am I?  I thought I knew what this was but nothings making sense?”  He said pleading with her for answers as he felt pain from an injury.

“This is the dream” Katherine said “Mike, your life is not here, you need to let go of this dream.  Your life is not this place, home is not a dream” she said continuing her voice becoming rapid as she spoke “you need to wake up, you need to live your life.  And remember because you are letting go of this place does not mean you’re letting go of home or of me.”  She said moments passed and Mike’s eyes closed again.

Suddenly he was awake again and in the BattleMech cockpit.  In his ears he heard Katherine’s voice shouting at him.  He realised the Highlander was immobile and that it wouldn’t be getting back up again one of its legs had been completely crushed by the falling Dragoon.  He saw a crack in the cockpit armour and realized the head armour had been breached by debris.  “I’m alive!”  He screamed back “but I’m kind of stuck!”  He shouted back.

“The others have arrived!  We won; you can rest!”  Katherine replied

“I want to live my life!  I’ve had enough of dreaming” he whispered to himself “no more dreaming.” 


It took more than an hour to drag Mike out of the ruined Highlander, Rim Worlds resistance in the area had been neutralised by the arrival of additional SLDF forces which had supported what was left of Mike’s company.  Now as the last of the enemy infantry forces were corralled together he rested against the foot of his Highlander and waited for orders, a doctor who had arrived with the reinforcements had checked him out and told him to take it easy as he could have concussion after his multiple falls during the combat.

Katherine joined him beside the Highlander she now wore the same outfit she’d worn in his dream; he knew it couldn’t be a coincidence he stood there his mouth open for a moment.  “I borrowed it from one of the new arrivals, my uniform went up with my Mech, and the locals didn’t want to give me much new clothes.”  She shuddered thinking about the Rim Worlders who had captured her “fortunately they were too distracted with finding their lost treasure to care about doing anything else.”

“I’m glad” Mike whispered thinking about his dream, she’d been in the queue with him to board that plane.  “Any idea where we go from here?”  He asked quietly she turned to lean on the Highlander’s foot beside him.

“Well I don’t think we’ll be going very far, very soon.”  She said “the SLDF is still securing Terra and the General needs to sort things with the Succession Lords.”  She said “I can’t see where we go from here.  But look at the bright side you came home.”

“It’s a bit different from my memories.”  He said trying to fix everything together what he’d seen in his dreams were slowly fading to the background and into memory.

“Plenty of room to make new memories and see new things.”  She pointed out “in the meantime you could show me around a bit?”  She suggested “see where it takes us, until things calm down, we’ll both need new Mechs before we can do much else.”

“Or just not, both getting new ones?”  He thought out loud suggesting it was time to call an end to it. “Is this” he said glancing over at the downed Highlander “a sign I’m at the end of the journey?”

“Might be, or there might be another adventure to go on, I’m sure we can figure that out…” she said grasping his hand in her own “maybe together?”  She suggested as she pulled him off the Highlander’s foot the two of them walking away from the Highlander as around them SLDF crews continued to clean up the ancient airport pulling the ruined Dragoon and Highlander apart.

Their future was uncertain but that was life and it was ahead of them, not in a dream.

END

I've enjoyed going back to this story, it took me a while to get there but I've finished it.

I hope you enjoyed reading it.