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Periphery Redemption

Chapter 6

The Weber Estate, Raldamax
Outworlds Alliance
23 April 3002
   Joe had been right about how Big Jim would take the news he was leaving.  However, John had been right that everything would be smoothed over with an increase in his delivery payments.  It gave Joe the warm fuzzies to think that his services and loyalty could be done without for a few extra C-bills every couple of months.   But he didn’t let it bother him too much.
   Working for John turned out to be the most fun Joe had had in years.  Some days they would head out to remote parts of John’s vast expanse of property to go fishing or hunting or just plain exploring.  They also spent a lot of time talking.  Joe found out that John rented most of his land to neighboring farms in exchange for them maintaining the estate grounds and that the local farmers went out of their way to give him his privacy.  He also discovered that planetary officials dropped by the property from time to time to ask John’s advice on financial issues.  Apparently the issue of the mechs didn’t come up very much.  Joe also found out why John went to such extraordinary lengths to get his mech parts to the estate.  It turned out he liked cloak and dagger stuff, even though there was no need for it since he had the blessing of the planetary government, and that his payments were helping keep Big Jim and Tony afloat.  John found out about the disaster that had forced Joe to leave the Free Worlds League and the sojourn that had led him to the Outworlds Alliance.  He also discovered that Joe had grown to accept his new life and had even learned to enjoy it.  As a matter of fact the chance to pilot mechs again had made Joe’s life so idyllic that he no longer saw the need to make trips into Calverton for social contact even though John encouraged them; he didn’t see why Joe should become a recluse just because he worked for one.  Their discussions ranged far and wide and could go on for hours but they always found a way back to the one thing the two men loved to talk about most; mechs.
   The three mechs were the center of Joe and John’s world.  It took them several weeks to get all the bugs out of the Wasp and get it fully operational.  The first trip Joe made out of the barn with the light mech was like a rebirth.  He didn’t know who was happier, him for getting back into a cockpit or John for putting a mech together mostly by himself.  A few months later the Enforcer was operational.  With the medium mech fully functional Joe was able to turn the Wasp over to John and to start on his mech piloting lessons.  John had some experience piloting industrial mechs so he wasn’t completely green, but he wasn’t anywhere near proficient either.  He proved that during his second lesson when he tried following Joe down a gentle slope and toppled the mech face first into the ground.  Luckily the ground was pretty soft and the damage to the Wasp was minimal.  The piloting lessons however slowed down the work on the Rifleman.  It took them until March of 3002 to get it on its feet.  However, they still had a ways to go with their heavy since they were still missing its large lasers and some of its secondary cockpit equipment.  Joe put it somewhere in the 80 to 90 percent operational range.  Without the parts to finish the Rifleman Joe and John spent most of their days in the cockpits of their mechs learning, for John, and relearning, for Joe, the ins and outs of being a mechwarrior.  At least they did until April 23.
   Joe walked into the kitchen expecting to find lunch ready.  Instead he found a half chopped salad and a pot of potatoes boiling over.  It was only after he turned the burner off under the potatoes that he heard the trivid broadcast in the den.  John was standing transfixed in front of the news report coming in from Calverton.
   â€œWhat in the world…,” Joe trailed off as he watched a flat black Grasshopper stomp on a tractor.
   â€œThe report just started about 5 minutes ago.  Apparently pirates landed near the McFarland Agrostation southwest of Calverton and are stealing everything they can get their hands on.”
“They hit too early.  Most of the crops are still in the fields.”
“They’re pirates, not agronomists.  They only know smash and grab.  They’ve got thugs running around the western part of the city and so far I’ve seen the Grasshopper they were just showing, a Locust, and a Stinger running around.  They seem to have landed in a single Union.  There it is the behind the Locust,” said John not taking his eyes off the trivid.
   â€œAny response from the authorities yet?”
   â€œNo, and I don’t really see them making one.”
   â€œWhy not?  Aren’t there aerospace fighters based at New Marshalburg?” asked Joe as he remembered the reinforced hangers he had seen at the spaceport when he first arrived on Raldamax.
   â€œThere haven’t been any fighters posted to Raldamax in over 3 years.  They haven’t had a pirate attack in nearly 6 years so the OA military pulled their garrison.”
   â€œSo what does the local militia have to fight back with?”
   â€œA handful of outdated personnel carriers and small arms.  They might be able to deal with the pirates operating in vehicles and on foot but they don’t have a chance against those mechs,” answered John with a glint in his eyes.
   Joe knew exactly what he was thinking.  “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking then you might what to think about it some more.”
   â€œWe’ve got mechs.  We can be to the west side of Calverton in 6 hours.”
   â€œYou’ve never been in combat, John.  You’re not even fully trained on the basics of piloting a mech.  We haven’t even started with gunnery training,” intoned Joe.
   â€œYeah, I know but we’re the only people on this planet who can do anything to stop these guys,” retorted John with a fire in his eyes Joe had never seen.
   â€œJohn, even if you were fully trained we’re still out numbered,” said Joe trying to find some way to talk John down.  Just then the image on the trivid focused in on the dropship to show a Panther standing in its shadow.  “See, now we would be out numbered 4 to 2.”
   â€œWe could make up some of the difference if we used the Rifleman.”
   â€œThe Rifleman!” Joe half laughed.  “It’s missing half of its weapon systems.  No, John, this situation is out of our control.”
   â€œJoe, we have to do something,” said John with an edge to his voice.  He finally took his eyes off the news report and stared hard at Joe.  “You can’t change the past, Joe, but you can still change the future.”
   â€œThis has nothing to do with that!” yelled Joe.  But even as he said it he knew it was a lie.  Something deep inside still hadn’t healed.  He could feel it every time he got into one of the mechs.
   John continued to stare at Joe.  “We can do something about this, Joe.”
   Joe dropped his gaze to the floor and sighed.  “Alright.”
   â€œAlright,” echoed John.  “You take the Enforcer, I’ll take the Rifleman.”
   â€œNo way,” said Joe as his head came up.  “The Rifleman’s armor is paper thin and without its large lasers its effectiveness is cut in half.”
   â€œExactly.  That’s why you need to be in the Enforcer.  You’ll do the heavy hitting while I provide cover.”
   The argument made since to Joe.  “Alright.  Let’s get moving then.”
   It took them less then an hour to load the ammo binds and go through their starting procedures.  Joe led the way out of the barn.  The two mechs, simply clad in primer gray, turned due west and started out across the countryside.  Both the Rifleman and Enforcer topped out at around 60 kph, but even on the flat terrain of the Calverton Plain that speed was hard to maintain; especially with a half trained pilot at the controls of one of the mechs.  For hours the two mechs walked around wheat fields, crossed small streams, and passed a handful of farmhouses.  The whole time they never saw a single person.
   â€œIt may have been a few years since a pirate attack but the locals still remember what to do when one happens,” said John over their encrypted channel.  “I haven’t seen anyone.”
   â€œYeah, hopefully everyone has hunkered down,” responded Joe.  During the march he had been keeping up with the trivid report and relaying it to John since some of his communication components were missing.
   â€œSo, have you come up with a plan yet?” asked John again.  Joe had been running possible scenarios through his head while they marched but had yet to find one that worked out in their favor.
   â€œI’m hoping to catch them spread out pillaging and ransacking so we can pick them off one by one.”
   â€œBasing you’re strategy on hope isn’t usual operating procedure, is it?”
   â€œNothing we’re doing is usual operating procedure, so why start now?” asked Joe with a grin on his face.  They might be marching to their deaths but at least they could laugh about it.
   They had decided to go around the less populated northern side of Calverton and to then turn south to attack the pirates from the north.  4 hours in they made their turn.  At about the same time the news feed cut out.
   â€œCrap,” muttered Joe.
   â€œWhat?”
   â€œThe news feed just cut out.  That means the pirates either found the camera crew or they started jamming the signal.  Since I’m not picking up jamming on any channels I’m guessing they found the news crew.”  Joe didn’t want to think about what the pirates might do to them.
   â€œGreat, now we’re going in blind,” groaned John.
   â€œWouldn’t be the first time,” Joe whispered to himself.
   They cut across the Transcontinental Highway amid a few burned out cars.  Charred bodies, some still in their vehicles, also littered the scene.
   â€œMechs did this,” Joe’s voice was flat and devoid of emotion.  He had begun to forget just how destructive mechs could be.  Now he was being rudely reminded.
   They continued on south making for the location of the pirate dropship.  The further they went the more footprints left by mechs, scorch marks made by lasers, and craters made by ballistic weapons they saw.  The only thing they hadn’t seen was any pirates.  That, however, was about to change.

Southwest side of Calverton, Raldamax
Outworlds Alliance
23 April 3002
   Camera crews were not the only way to keep track of military forces.  Since the beginning of time a pair of eyes had been about the most effective form of surveillance available to mankind.  Even in 3002 this fact was no different.  Joe and John had gone out of their way to avoid the more populated areas of Calverton for several reasons.  One was to avoid the possibility of being misidentified as pirates and having the local militia launch an attack against them.  Though the chances of that happening were small they decided the noise a situation like that would make would at the least give away the element of surprise.  Another reason was to avoid attacks by pirates that would cause collateral damage.  This would also give away the element of surprise as well as causing an unknown number of pointless casualties.  The last reason was to avoid being seen by the pirates before Joe and John were ready to attack them.  It turned out that the last reason was well founded. 
   The top of the Union-class dropship came into view just south of the Transcontinental Highway.  Like a mountain in the distance the closer they got to it the taller it became.  And as they got closer they began to realize the element of surprise had disappeared.  Apparently they hadn’t been as stealthy as they had thought and had been spotted at some point by the ground pounders sacking the city.  Without the news feed they had no idea the pirate mechs had pulled back to their dropship.  Joe and John found the pirate mechs arrayed in front of their dropship, the Grasshopper on point with the Locust to its right and the Stinger to its left while the Panther still hung back in the shadows.  The three mechs out front were all painted flat black with orange flames running up their legs and a large red star on their chests.  Or at least that’s what they were supposed to look like.  Like the mechs of most pirate bands the paint schemes were poorly done and hard to make out due to all of the patches in their armor.  The Panther, on the other hand, had an almost pristine paint job.  The only thing keeping it from being regulation was the black paint covering the red dragon disk on its left leg and the insignia of the 6th Pesht Regulars on its right.   Just like on Shuen Wan, Joe didn’t recognize the colors of the opposing force; except for the former Kurita machine.  But that didn’t matter today since he was sure Warrior House Dai Da Chi was thousands of light years away.
   â€œJohn, stay behind me a little off to my left.  I’m going to try and match up against the Grasshopper, so keep those lights off me.  Watch our backs, especially your own.  One of those little guys would like nothing better then to get behind a heavy and blow out his back armor.  I’ll try to keep an eye on that Panther.  And no matter what keep moving,” rattled off Joe as his training kicked in. 
            John slowed the Rifleman down to drop in behind the Enforcer.  The shift in their formation must have meant something to the pirates because that was the moment they chose to move out.  The Grasshopper came right at them while the Stinger cut behind it and the Locust took off in a long, sweeping turn that was meant to put it behind Joe and John.  John did just as Joe told him and fired off a shot at the Locust.  That caused the light mech to stay well out of the effective range of the Rifleman’s autocannons, but it also meant that its own weapons had no chance of reaching John.  The Grasshopper fired off its large laser at Joe but it went high.  Joe returned fire and hit the heavy in the right knee with an AC/10 round.  The pirate mech stumbled but kept its feet.  In the mean time the Stinger was following the path of the Locust and also received a shot in its direction from John.  Then, out of the corner of his eye, John saw the Grasshopper jump.  Instinctively he swiveled the Rifleman around and fired off a shot at the airborne mech.  His round hit the same spot as Joe’s and froze the knee actuator in place.  The pirate tried to bring the Grasshopper down softly but to no avail.  The heavy mech’s right leg snapped at the knee, sending the machine crashing to the ground.  Joe continued to move toward the prone mech as the Panther moved away from the dropship to enter the fight.  John was having a harder time keeping up with the two lights.  The Locust was behind him but it was keeping an extremely respectful distance.  The Stinger had moved off well to the Grasshopper’s right and was looking like its pilot was trying to figure out what to do next.  As Joe got closer to the downed pirate mech it began to right itself.  Its left arm mounted medium laser lashed out at the Enforcer burning a scar across its left torso.  Joe didn’t want to build up his heat if he was going to be going toe to toe with the PPC carrying Panther and the Enforcer’s small laser was more suited for use against infantry so he decided to use a more dramatic technique.  Lighting the medium’s jump jets Joe rocketed into the air and then came slamming down on the pirate machine in a classic death from above maneuver.  But even a perfectly executed DFA is a less then graceful thing.  The Enforcer’s feet got tangled in the myomer bundles and structural members that made up the Grasshopper’s chest and began to fall.  But today was going to be Joe’s lucky day.  As he was in midair the Stinger had made its move.  It cut in between its downed comrade and the Rifleman while the Locust made a turn toward John.  Focused on the Stinger he never saw the Locust make its turn, but it turned out not to matter.  Again relying more on instinct then skill, John snapped off a shot at the slashing light mech just as it was aligned with Joe’s Enforcer.  The shot missed and was now heading for Joe.  But Joe was already on his way to the ground so the round continued on until it slammed into the chest of the onrushing Panther.  As with most pirate bands finding the proper equipment and parts was extremely difficult.  Apparently armor plating was one of those hard to find parts because these pirates had replaced at least one of the armor panels on the Panther’s center torso with plain sheet metal.  Painted up it at least passed visual inspection at a distance and as long as no one fired anything at it no one would be the wiser.  John’s errant autocannon round was now calling their bluff.  The round punched through the light machine’s chest and slammed into its ammo bin.  The Panther simply exploded, sending parts flying all over the Calverton Plain.  And that was apparently enough for the Stinger and the Locust, which had broken off its attack run after the dramatic death of the Panther.  They both throttled up and headed directly back to their dropship.  John fired off a few more shots at the fleeing pirates while he watched over Joe as he righted his Enforcer.
            “Do we pursue?” asked John with adrenaline pounding through his system.
            “No.  I don’t want to get any closer to that dropship,” Joe grunted as he got the Enforcer to his feet.  “But that doesn’t mean we’re done.  I want to put us between the city and the dropship so any pirates trying to escape have to go through us.”
            No sooner had Joe spoken then a truck full of pirate foot sloggers appeared from a group of nearby storage buildings.  It was bouncing across the plains at full speed heading straight for the dropship.  Joe dropped his crosshairs on its engine compartment and fired his autocannon.  The ballistic round crashed into the unarmored truck and blew it apart.  Another truck came into view, but only momentarily.  Seeing what had happened to his compatriots the driver spun the machine around and headed back into town to take his chances with the local militia.
            “Nice shot,” quipped John as he stared at the burning vehicle.
            “Thanks.  I think that’s probably going to keep most of them from trying to make a break for it.  Now it’s just a waiting game.”
            They didn’t have to wait long.  The dropship crew, like most pirates, put their own necks above loyalty and fired the craft’s massive engines less then 20 minutes after the Grasshopper went down.  That left the pirates still in the city with no means of escape.  Most surrendered, but a handful fought to the end.
            “You know what I just thought about?” asked John as they continued their patrol around the boarders of Calverton looking for any situation in which they could lend a hand.
            “That we’re extremely lucky?” chimed Joe.
            “No.  I was just thinking about what we’re going to do after this is over.  People are going to have a lot of questions about us.  Like where we came from and who we are.”
            “Yeah, that had crossed my mind.”
            “People find out who I am and I can pretty much hang up any ideas about my privacy,” groaned John.
            “We’ll figure something out.”  Just then the trivid feed came back to life.  “It looks like the news got another crew in the field.  And guess who’s on the trivid.”
            “Great, now what do we do?”
            “From the report most of the fighting with the foot soldiers is over so I think our work is done.  We’re going to have to loose this news crew, though.  I say we head north to the Encircling Mountains, loose them, and then head east until we get back home.”
            “Sounds like a plan to me,” said John.  “That should at least give us enough time to come up with a good cover story.  Oh, and one more thing Joe.”
            “Yeah.”
            “Good work today.”