Nelson accelerated into a run, the Desert Tiger and Boreal Wildcat rushing past him; into the circle on the other side came Yukinov’s Archer, the Grasshopper, and a Phoenix Hawk. The Scorpion saKhan rested his target reticules on the center torso of the Grasshopper and felt an unnatural calm spread through his muscles—he did not listen for the tone of a proper lock, but instead operated on instinct honed in many, many combats in the Circus Honorae, as the Grasshopper leaped into the air. He gently squeezed the firing trigger and two azure bolts and a glowing scarlet beam erupted from his ‘Mech to connect squarely on the ‘Hoppers chest, destroying the armor there and penetrating deep within the internals. As though it had been hit by a sledgehammer, the Grasshopper stopped in its jump in midair and collapsed smoldering to the ground, its engine cored in three places, it own LRMs and ER Large Laser missing by a good distance.
The Archer and Desert Tiger began to circle, each unleashing a swarm of LRMs and laser beams, but the heavier Dragoon ‘Mech carried twice the long-range firepower of his aide. Meanwhile, the Boreal Wildcat and the Phoenix Hawk sparred, with the faster Clan ‘Mech sideways crawling to keep the Dragoon machine in its weapons arc. The ‘Hopper having been eliminated a Hunchback next entered the circle, moving deliberately towards Nelson. The Scorpion slowed his rate of advance, planning to finish the short-range machine beyond its effective range, but the Hunchback unleashed a triple bolt from the PPCs that had replaced the massive torso autocannon. Two shots connected with the Goliath Scorpion, blasting more than ton of armor from his right arm and right leg.
Sneaky, Jamie Wolf, very sneaky, Nelson thought as he accelerated once again, easily regaining full control of the damaged ‘Mech. But that variant had a flaw, as Nelson observed the heat signature of the Hunchback double on his sensors. Two, actually, the saKhan thought as he unconsciously squeezed the trigger again, sending all three of weapons to strike true against the sway-backs right torso. First, all of the big guns were concentrated in that single torso location—a location that the Hunchback no longer had. And second, it lacked any but the most basic secondary guns.
The Hunchback staggered as the massive stream of energy blew through the front armor, consumed the torso and continued on out the rear of the ‘Mech, passing close by the cockpit of the Phoenix Hawk. The P-Hawk pilot jerked and instinctively twisted towards the source of the fire—but then he realized his mistake, an instant too late. The Boreal Wildcat surged forward and salvoed his ER PPC and Medium Lasers into the weak rear armor of the medium ‘Mech, and down it went, even as Nelson sent a second barrage into the Hunchback’s chest, which toppled it.
However, his Desert Tiger was in dire straits, as Yukinov kept turning inside of him, unleashing a punishing barrage of laser fire and missiles—although his own ‘Mech had its armor in tatters. Clavell’s Tomb Scarab and Mackenzie’s Marauder II entered the circle, the massive assault ‘Mech training all of its guns on the medium-weight Boreal Wildcat. The Scorpion ‘Mech buckled as two and a half tons of armor were stripped away by the autocannon, PPC, and laser fire, and the internal structure of one leg was laid bare.
Bad form, Mackenzie Wolf, picking on a ‘Mech just over half your own mass. But Nelson had his own problems as the Tomb Scarab unleashed a blistering barrage against him—two LB-5X autocannons and a pair of Clan ER Large Lasers. Nelson stumbled as all four shots connected against his ‘Mech, but he righted himself and returned fire, concentrating his weapons on the right arm of the old design. One of his PPCs missed, but the remaining damage remove the arm completely, cutting Clavell’s firepower in half.
Suddenly, a massive detonation erupted from the Archer as the Desert Tiger sprinted forward and fired every weapon he had remaining into the machine’s nearly bare right torso. The CASE prevent the exploding ammo from further causing damage, but there was more than enough excess to carve out the center torso as well, causing the heavy-weight machine to topple. The Whitworth leaped into action, targeting the Desert Tiger with its twin SRM launchers, but the AMS spat flame and shot most them down.
Mackenzie closed in on the Boreal Wildcat, unconcerned about his heat as he pumped another alpha strike into the medium, but Nelson’s aide responded in kind—and all three of his weapons hit and then penetrated the torso containing the LB-10X ammunition. Another explosion erupted as the Marauder IIs CASE channeled its furious eruption, but the assault stumbled and fell to one knee. Unfortunately for Nelson, his aide was also out of the fight, as Mackenzie’s fire had destroyed his gyro.
But that meant that the Marauder II was now a valid target and Nelson twisted his torso still further, amputating the machines right leg with his big guns. Another two blasted rocked the saKhan in his cockpit, but he ignored Clavell and fired again into the downed assault. The loss of his leg had turned the machine onto its back, and Nelson fired two PPC bolts and the laser into the gaping hole that ammo explosion had left in the torso, destroying the machine’s engine.
Pushing his Goliath Scorpion in a full run, he kept to the right of Clavell’s heavy, preventing him from using his left arm weapons and unleashed yet another salvo—only this time, he disengaged the laser from to targeting circuit to dissipate the excess heat that had steadily climbing. The cockpit temperature quickly dropped, as his ‘Mechs heat sinks rapidly cooled the ‘Mech, and Nelson snarled as both of his shots found their mark and ruined the Dragoon ‘Mechs torso—including the section of the extra-light engine contained there. His ‘Mech throbbing with heat, Clavell still tried to bring his left arm guns into play, but Nelson kept one pace ahead of him. Another salvo by the twin PPCs and the Tomb Scarab went down.
From the corner of his eye, Nelson saw the badly damaged Desert Tiger holding the Whitworth at range, and then it’s ammo went up to a precisely targeted burst of laser fire. Lacking CASE, the Dragoon pilot punched out, and both the Griffin and Panther jumped into the fray.
Nelson fired a full salvo at the Panther—but it jumped a full 150-meters, rather than 120 he was expecting, and he missed cleanly. A Royal PNT-8Zb, Wolf, where the Hell did you manage to scrounge that from? But then his concentration was broken by the impact of the Griffin’s PPC on his left leg—and his AMS firing a rapid-burst to detonate the incoming fifteen long-range missiles. Another Royal! Wolf, you are full of surprises, today!
Nelson pivoted, and as his PPC banks recycled he fired both into the Griffin, shattered the left torso and stripping the LRM launcher clean off the torso. The two circled, and the Griffin pilot jumped, trying to get in the Scorpions rear, but Nelson had anticipated that—and another triple shot severed the right arm, leaving the ‘Mech defenseless. The ‘Mechs icon turned blue in his display, and Nelson allowed the unarmed Dragoon to leave the circle; he twisted and eviscerated the Hornet just as it stepped within the circle, sending all three shots through its center torso, and at precisely that moment, both the Desert Tiger and the Panther went down in a vicious exchange of fire that saw both pilots ejecting.
“Well-played, Scorpion,†transmitted William Cameron over the radio, as he walked his Hellbringer into the circle of honor. “But this ends now.â€
“Agreed, Wolf-spawn. Let us end this with honor, quiaff?â€
Cameron’s ER PPC and LRM launcher spat fire, but Nelson’s heard the buzzing sound of his AMS and replied with both of his PPCs and the laser. Only three missiles got through the defensive fire, but all three connected against the head of the Clan ‘Mech, forcing Nelson to fight to remain upright as spalling fragments of broken armor ricocheted across his cockpit. The clantech PPC caught him squarely in the center torso as well, and now all of his armor locations glowed a bright yellow on his damage monitor. But Nelson’s strike went true, and the Wolf warrior had his right arm sheared cleanly off, and with it the deadly ER PPC.
Nelson fought to keep the range open, even as Cameron charged forward firing his medium lasers again and again in company with the LRMs. Nelson too was firing almost nonstop, his heat monitor climbing into the red, and more armor melted away from his arms and legs and torsos. Suddenly, the Scorpions concentrated fire pierced the Hellbringers chest and the heavy ‘Mech collapsed, but his final shot broke through Nelson’s own side torso, and his targeting computer suddenly went dead, the ammunition counter on his AMS system blinking ‘00’ in red flashing lights.
And then Jamie Wolf stepped within the Circle.
