BattleTech: No Substitute for Victory, page 1
BATTLETECH: NO SUBSTITUTE FOR VICTORY
BLAINE LEE PARDOE
CONTENTS
Gren Continent, Jangso
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
About the Author
Notable BattleMechs
Battletech Glossary
BattleTech Eras
The BattleTech Fiction Series
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This story is one I’ve wanted to do for more than a year now. The events of Hour of the Wolf left many worlds stripped of their defenses, and how that would play out was something we discussed a great deal internally amongst the authors.
This began with a sentence…
“Imagine you are in a Jade Falcon sibko, and you were left behind while everyone else went off to fight to be the ilClan.”
This is just one of those stories.
Special thanks to Ray, Phil, and John for allowing me to position the little Easter Egg at the end of this novel.
As always, I like to include fans (both from the Kickstarter and otherwise) in the fiction so they can be a part of the BattleTech universe.
(KS) Thomas Lee Anderson – Fuguzawaz
(KS) Michael Cohen – Vandervecken
(KS) Ashley D. Nichols - Jarrad Hill
Patrick Hendrix Arellano
James Coil
(KS) Jones Devlin
Andrew Firebaugh
Paul “Cono” Galatis
Wolf Gerhäusser
Greg Hartford
Andrew Hasara
Michael Holland
Mike Lombardi
Andrew Marlow
Marco Mollison
Tristan "Scott" Montieth
Kevin Navia
J. Paul Okerlund
George Precious
Chris Richardson
Samantha Rife
James Rucker
Nolan Tomlinson
Karen Winstanley
Robb Wyer
To my new cadre of friends—Jack, Tracy, Gary, Murphy, Claire, Chad, Gavin, Bennett, Lilly, and finally my loving wife Cynthia. Living the dream, babe!
PROLOGUE
THE ALKALI BURROWS
NORTHERN CONTINENT (GREN)
JANGSO
A PLACE
LYRAN COMMONWEALTH
10 JUNE 3142
Leutnant-Colonel Claire Hendershot felt uneasy as she rumbled her four-legged Barghest BattleMech around one of the massive mounds of mine tailings. She had been to the Alkali Burrows before and experienced the same déjà vu feeling on every visit, but today more so than others. She knew the reason far too well…that damned nightmare.
It had been tearing at her for weeks. It wasn’t her only nightmare, but this one seemed to most crisp…one she remembered best after waking up in a cold sweat in the wee dawn hours. Massive bright green birds swirling around the brilliant blue mounds of tailings in the burrows. They dove and swooped at her from all angles, pecking at her with their needle-sharp beaks. Then came ebony talons, tearing into her flesh. Sometimes there were variations. In one, she saw a fist reach out and grab the large green birds, attempt to choke one, only for it to claw itself free.
Ultimately, the night terrors all ended the same way, the birds overwhelming her and then waking up in a cold sweat—denied a chance of returning to slumber. Now those nightmares were coming true. The Jade Falcons were on Jangso. This time they were not here for some trial to test themselves. This time they were invading.
Lieutnant-General Henriot had wanted the Second Donegal Guards to keep the fighting away from the cities, and so far they had performed that task admirably. The problem was that the Guards were losing the fight. The Jade Falcon’s Delta Galaxy, the Gyrfalcons, were proving deadly and cunning. The fighting east of the Ranghorn Mountains had been a debacle, costing the Guards a full battalion of ’Mechs and vehicles. I lost a lot of good friends out in those flatlands…a stupid place to fight to begin with.
The Leutnant-General made the call after that loss—the Guards would abandon A Place’s lone planet, Jangso. Claire understood that; it was not much of a prize. The planet had a relatively small population, mostly centered on the mountain ranges. Mining was good, but the environmental conditions were such that people did not want to settle here. Most of the world was played-out mines, stark mountain ranges, or hot, flat desert regions…inhospitable. The towns and cities were industrial ore and chemical processing centers or mining operations; both types of settlements filthy and filled with hard and harsh people trying to carve out a living from the barren landscape. Mining towns were not the kinds of places to raise children.
Saving the people of the world was far more important than the world itself, but there was a point when that was no longer practical. There was an unspoken math about battles—at what point do you say it is better to fall back and fight another day vs. fighting to the bitter end? In the case of Jangso, that formula was being skewed heavily in favor of the attackers. When the Leutnant-General had asked for volunteers to fight a holding action against the advancing Falcons while the rest of the unit linked up with their DropShips, Claire had raised her hand. Most of the other volunteers came from her understrength battalion, wanting to follow her into whatever hell she was marching into. She admired their loyalty, telling the company that had volunteered, “Our job is to buy enough time for the rest of the Unwearied Second to get off-planet.”
She had every intention of surviving this fight. Somehow, in the back of her mind, she knew she would. The other nightmares that tore at her seemed to affirm she had another destiny to fulfill. Once they carried out their mission, she hoped her people would be paroled by the Falcons. Given the Clan’s propensity to purge any that dared to stand against their accursed Mongol Doctrine, they would have to hide among the population. But that worry was for another day—today she had to face her nightmare…face the Jade Falcons.
Claire saw the white contrails of the Union- and Overlord-Class DropShips descending along the coast to the south of the burrows. She remembered the insertion; it was a bumpy ride. The high upper atmospheric winds were so brutal she had thrown up during their initial landing. No doubt the Falcons saw them as well. We will hold their attention long enough for our brothers and sisters to get off-world. That alone will piss off the Falcon commander. That last thought made her smile slightly.
The ground-wind gusts picked up, kicking up small tornadoes of dust as they came to rest. She maneuvered to the edge of the burrows, turning to face the pursuing enemy. In the distance, looking like a wall of stirred red-brown dust, were the charging Jade Falcons. The brilliant white sun of A Place hung like a scalding dot in the sky, making the ground shimmer with ripples of heat. At her back, her Barghest stood framed by large heaps of bluish-gray gravel, the tailings mined out of deep holes, many of which had collapsed decades earlier. Plant life was sparse in the Burrows, even sparser than on the rest of the planet. The soil simply didn’t support life. The mounds were some three stories tall and wide enough to limit lines of sight and fire. There was enough heavy ore in the dust to limit the range of sensors. Claire had studied the ground with her troops before choosing it for her last stand. She had memorized the maps to be ready to snake between the massive hills of spent ore.
Switching to her tactical channel, she contacted her volunteer company. “This is Back Door actual. You all know the score—we have to tie down the Falcons here to give our people time to get out. Everyone is to fire at multiple targets, get them to turn this into a free for all. Our people are counting on us, so this isn’t about taking down the enemy as much as it is about keeping them focused on us.”
“You can count on us, Leutnant-Colonel,” Kommandant Gustaf Firebaugh replied, resolution ringing in every syllable. Knowing he was out there was reassuring. Firebaugh was a deadly MechWarrior once he got his blood up.
A swirl of thoughts spun through her head. If only the HPG network were up…we could have called in reinforcements. She had always known some faction would come and try and seize the A Place system…why did it have to be the Jade Falcons? While inhospitable, Jangso was rich with heavy metals and chemicals. The Lyran Commonwealth had been suffering since the collapse of much of the HPG network, but that wasn’t all. Wavering leadership had brought out the worst of many of the royals that kept the realm together. Word was Vedet Brewer had seized the Archonship from Melissa Steiner, and Claire had no idea if that was good or bad news. She shook her head, dismissing any concern of squabbling nobles dozens of light-years away. My loyalty is to the Commonwealth first and foremost. In the end who sits on the throne means little to those of us putting our lives on the line.
The
“Approaching Jade Falcon Commander. This is Leutnant-Colonel Claire Hendershot of the Second Donegal Guard. I and my company are here in the Alkali Burrows awaiting you. We stand here to defend the honor of the Guards. We dare you to meet and challenge us.” The bravado in her voice was ratcheted up, but only slightly. Fighting a desperate holding action came with inherent bravery. She knew the Falcons would not be able to pass up her makeshift batchall…her battle challenge.
Her call to fight was responded by the ever-approaching dust storm that grew taller and wider by the second. “This is Star Colonel Tracy Hazen of the illustrious Jade Falcons Delta Galaxy, Fourth Falcon Dragoons. Leutnant-Colonel Hendershot, I trust that if you are issuing such a call for a combat trial, you are with the troops we will crush, quiaff?”
“Indeed I am, Star Colonel,” she replied coolly.
“If you fight with honor, you will be dealt with respectfully,” Hazen replied. “If you are deceitful, we will spare none of you.”
“I fight for the glory of the Lyran Commonwealth,” Hendershot said proudly. “Honor is my watchword.” The words flowed freely from her lips. At the same instant, she knew of the Falcons’ merciless Mongol Doctrine. Star Colonel Hazen was not making a light threat. They may very well kill us all. There was something nagging at her though…her other nightmares. This is not where I die…it can’t be.
“Very well then,” the Jade Falcon commander replied. “Let us finish your annoying little distraction.”
Hendershot angled her three-tone blue Barghest around one of the perimeter mounds of ore, with a plume of dust billowing behind her. On the far side was her makeshift command lance, spread out behind the mound she had climbed, using it for cover.
“I presume they are coming,” Kommandant Firebaugh said from the cockpit of his Griffin IIC.
“If they want this world, they will have to bleed for it,” Hendershot said. “Now, break right, just as we planned…”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
A wave of long-range missiles tore into the mangled and charred armor of Claire’s left front leg. Her Barghest reeled under the concussive explosions. Bits of her own armor rattled against her cockpit canopy, testimony to the savaging she was taking. Damage warning indicators flashed on her secondary display in the cockpit, going from yellow to crimson.
An annoying bright green Eyrie hit her right front leg with advanced tactical missiles and some precisely fired ER medium lasers. Some of the missiles missed, sending up bits of bright blue dust as they blasted the ground. The rest ravaged her front right leg. The lasers seared up the Barghest’s sloping torso, leaving glowing reminders of their intensity on the freshly melted armor. She turned to return fire, but the nimble Eyrie had already flown out of line of sight. I hate that MechWarrior!
The Jade Falcons had slammed into the center of her line en masse, cutting her front in two in the opening moments of their engagement. Star Colonel Hazen had swept to the right, flanking half of the Lyran force before they knew what was happening. Claire’s command lance had blunted the encirclement effort, but the cost was already high. Lieutenant Munce’s Phoenix Hawk was a burned-out hulk lying against one of the burrow mounds, smoke rolling out of what had been his cockpit. Firebaugh was still in the fight, blasting at a Jade Falcon Black Lanner savaging his Griffin IIC’s legs in a seemingly endless series of missile salvos. Claire lost sight of him in the explosions as he tried to evade the incoming fire.
She slowly craned around her Barghest—the quad ’Mech was hell to pivot—alternating glances between her tactical display and out of her cockpit. Where in the hell is that Eyrie? It had been sniping at her since she had first blasted at it, appearing for a heartbeat, then disappearing before she could bring the pain to it.
The green and light gray Shrike engaging her roared into the air on plumes of flames, blasting at her with its extended range large lasers. One crimson beam missed by less than a meter. Another stabbed into her Barghest’s body to the right of her cockpit, spraying melted armor into the air.
Leutnant-Colonel Hendershot ignored her flashing damage indicators and focused, bringing her targeting reticle onto the leg of the rising Jade Falcon ’Mech. Her deadly LB-X autocannon’s cluster rounds chewed into the Shrike’s legs. Chunks of armor rained down as the Falcon ’Mech rattled in the air, angling to her left. As it descended, its own pair of Ultra autocannons replied, tearing off her right front leg. The Shrike landed hard; bluish-gray dust billowed all around her. The severed leg fell forward in front of Claire, its myomer bundles still hissing. The sudden loss of weight shifted the Barghest’s center of gravity, but her skill kept it upright.
The Lyran Leutnant-Colonel wanted distance between the Falcon warrior and herself, but that was not easy, giving the massive tailing mounds surrounding her. She started to lumber away, limping badly on three legs, as the Jade Falcon’s LRMs washed across her rear armor, shredding what was there. Hendershot bit her lower lip as her Barghest rumbled and shook under the explosions. Have to get out of the line of fire! She angled around the largest mound as fast as her heavy ’Mech could maneuver. With one leg left in the dust, it was painfully slow.
Four Streak short-range missiles from one of her BattleMechs tore into the accursed Falcon Eyrie that had been harassing her, spraying sparks where the projectiles splattered into their prey. It was Sergeant Major Holland’s Jenner IIC—so badly burned she could only make out bits of the light blue streaks of its paint job—that had fired at the troublesome Eyrie.
Claire was about to join in and help, but the Eyrie unleashed everything it had at the battered Jenner. Its micro pulse lasers, pink bursts of energy, blasted the right leg, while its advanced tactical missiles and emerald pulse lasers hit the other leg. Both legs of the squat Jenner IIC disappeared in a spray of dust and explosions. It fell forward, hard, skidding slightly as it fell. Without legs, it was of no use to her anymore.
Even so, she unleashed both ER large lasers at the Eyrie. One missed and one scored a near miss, leaving a black gouge across the ’Mech’s lower right torso where the armor had been melted. It fired its jump jets and shot skyward as she continued her limping retreat. The cockpit around her was getting warm, sweat stung the corners of her dark brown eyes as she ran. The Eyrie did not directly pursue, which puzzled her slightly. He’ll be back.
A roar to her right caught her attention as skidding down the mound, feathering its jump jets, was the Shrike. Its large lasers carved into the mangled, blackened stump where her forward right leg had been, furrowing deep into her side. Claire felt the hit to her gyro as the Barghest suddenly lurched to her left, seeming to fight her. It took every bit of her skill and sense of balance to side-step the three-legged BattleMech and keep it upright, a difficult maneuver off the battlefield, to say nothing about doing while taking heavy fire.
The Shrike MechWarrior seemed to sense her plight, unleashing a blast of Ultra autocannon fire at her. The shells caught her torso armor at an angle, sending two big plates flying off entirely, and peeling one back like an orange rind torn apart by a child desperate to get to the fruit. The exploding shells made it impossible to maintain her balance. Claire dropped to a squatting prone position, making her already other damaged front leg groan in a metallic stress protest.
