OBT Forum

It's what I had to do 

Although his orders were specific, Williams always worked within a wide swath of lenience; Mattlov cherished the man’s abilities and he and his team had done much to prepare the older soldier for what was about to happen. This mission in itself was supposed to be one of information gathering, but Williams had identified an opportunity to sow discord and mischief. He was good at it.

His frontal assault was entirely unexpected and completely foolhardy, or it would have been if it had in fact been a direct attack. He wanted to sting and enrage them, unbalance and annoy the enemy soldiers and make them careless. As he fired his pistol into the body of one of the foot soldiers, the backswing of his sword opened the belly of another. Cannon fire peppered the area, as a spotlight burst into life.

“Stand,” roared a voice amplified by the Mech’s external speakers, “or I fire!”

Williams fired the rest of his ammunition clip in the general direction of the Mech and ran. Beams of intermittent blue light pierced the darkened streets as the Mechwarrior opened up with his PPC. Williams was not an easy target. He was already following his pre-mapped escape route, making enough noise to suck in his foes. It was as he left the shelter of the warehouse and dove into a sewer pipe that his HUD flicked onto zero. The results were spectacular.

“Thanks for coming,” said Williams, as he lifted his face from the foul-smelling muck which coated the bottom of the pipe, “do call again.”

Behind him the warehouse burned, the statuesque figure of a Mech hung upright for a moment, before it collapsed into the maelstrom below. Williams never did things by half, and the mines had shattered the machine’s feet, breaking them off at the ankle. Liquid fire spilled out from the incendiary rounds fixed to the overhead stanchions, the gel-like material sticking and burning its way through resistant armour. It really had not been a fair contest.

Goliath System
Deep Periphery
Dark Falcons Protectorate, 05th July 3157


Lupus smashed his fist into the face in front of him. Blood fountained outwards, joined instantly by teeth fragments. The two Ratings steamed in with boots stomping. They ignored Vera who barrelled into Lupus, her arms encircling his waist as she roared her anger.

The big man laughed, “Told you she loved me!”

He made a lie of the statement, leaping back and driving her head into the wall behind him.

“Seamus told me to keep an eye on you,” he grunted, “but I think that we will have more fun if you quieten down a little.”

Vera struggled to her feet, “It is time you learned who is in charge here!”
“Seamus,” he said, “even I know that.”

A rifle butt pounded into the back of her neck, completing Lupus’ work for him. He grinned at Vera’s companions.”

“She needs to learn a few social skills,” pontificated Lupus, rubbing his hands, “but I do not have the time to teach her right now.”

One of the Ratings handed him a pistol.

“Okay,” said Lupus, “Seamus told us to clean ship. Let’s get on with it.”

*

“Look here,” said Seamus, indicating the holo tank in general, “we seem to be a little surrounded. In order for us to change these circumstances we need to contact our allies, and I am afraid that is the least of our problems.”

The XO studied the array of icons, recognising that the only friendlies were here on their ship.

“I think that you are underestimating the degree of difficulty we face,” he said, tracing his finger slowly around the outline of the Talon. Even as they watched, red lights flickered out around the Engine Room access corridor.

“It seems Lupus and Vera are working well together,” mumbled the XO, “I thought there would be... complications.”

Frakman coughed theatrically and Seamus smiled, “I never had any doubts. So, back to our new destination.”

“Winfield?”

Seamus nodded, recognising both shock and fear in the XO’s voice.

“No-one will be expecting such a move. At least no-one except our allies.”

“Ignoring for the moment the rest of the forces surrounding us, and the inherent problem of leaving the system,” the XO asked, his tone ironic, “will we have any allies on the planet?”

“That I am sure of,” replied Seamus, “our enemies seem to have a passion for underestimating us, even though they know we are Dark Falcons.”