Coordinate 16Q Beta 23
Trilobite Moon, Labrea System
Irece Prefecture
Fourth Quarter, 3067
Duo Maxwell vomited. The inside of his cockpit felt humid. He tried to hold back the urges he
had been feeling for the past 10 minutes, but knew there would be no stopping it. Even those
with the strongest willpower succumbed under circumstances such as these.
Duo was still in denial. He could not be dying from radiation sickness. His life had been lived
too honorably to have now received a fatal backstab from an unknown enemy. And yet it was
happening, as real as the horrible picture painted out across his viewscreen before him. The
picture had been changing ever so slowly, but it was mind-blowing in the sheer destructive nature
of its presence. An atomic explosion had altered the entire atmosphere over the Kennedy Flats,
wiping the beautiful sky from existence and leaving only the ugly splatter of an atomic radiation
firestorm.
The blue glow from the nuclear explosion had been blinding. Literally blinding. Unmistakable, its
now-eerie incandescent ebb stretched out into the surrounding skyline with streaks of pulsing
turquoise shadows. The desert sky had been overrun with it in minutes. The uncanny hue
marked not only the passing of time since the attack had been launched, but also the passing of
several of Duo’s teammates. Among the dead were his company’s entire scout lance, all of
whom had been caught in the terrible shockwave and their Mechs no doubt damaged beyond all
recognition. The scouts, who had been the first to warn of the approaching missile, had paid
dearly for their reconnaissance work. Though they were the first to die while performing their
job, they would likely not be the last.
The day’s training activities had begun as usual, with a routine a patrol starting just after 1300
hours. The reinforced company headed by Duo had been sent to the moon of Trilobite just 6
days ago, assigned a training exercise to improve the group’s guerilla warfare tactics. Since the
Word of Blake’s Denouncement strike just months ago, the Strikers commanders had begun
focusing on such tactics. While the overall team’s performance in the WOB war had been a
successful effort, there was always room for improvement in both tactics and logistics. Duo and
his company would be facing off against a computer simulated enemy. While combat would
barely be practiced in the exercises, movement and strategic retreats would be closely
evaluated. The idea was to have the simulation calculate the outcomes of individual battles, and
the pilots would determine the rest through an enactment of tactical decisions. Such decisions
would include each battles initial offensive moves and their follow ups against a weakened
enemy. The real work was all in their minds, except for the test of endurance of piloting Mechs
constantly with little or no shutdown time. The pilots had to stay in their cockpits for most of the
week’s activities.
Just after 1420, Meg Kurtis reported a radar blip on her sensors. The unit detected was
unusually small, but warranted further attention as there were no other units known to be
operating on the moon. Through closer inspection, Meg had caught a video image of the unit. It
seemed to be a medium sized truck, probably weighing in at around 20 tons. The vehicle
immediately began some sort of launch sequence and before Meg was able to get a weapons
lock, the vehicle’s missile was launched. Though small and seemingly fragile, the missile had
actually been carrying a nuclear payload. A ‘dirty’ bomb, it was designed to contaminate and
kill as many living beings as it possibly could. Due to its nuclear nature, it had also apparently
been sufficiently fueled to create an immense blast radius. The tremendous force of the blast had
strewn toxic materials across the desert in seconds. The bomb touched down near the majority
of Betty Stalwart’s scout lance, the Burners. From its point of impact, it had likely vaporized
much of Betty’s Stinger.
Thanks to Meg’s early warning, Duo had ordered his assault lance back and his own lance to
split up. Fortunately the backup lance consisting of small Mechs had been away on a separate
assignment.
Duo’s lance had quickly spread into two groups. He and Byron Jones had moved to the east
while Corven Case and Buford Olman had moved north. Within 90 seconds of Betty’s warning,
the bomb detonated. Buford and Corven avoided the worst of it. Byron Jones Mech instantly
collapsed in the shock wave, and Duo’s custom Hatamoto-chi had followed. Both men were
able to move their Mechs from the ground. However, Byron’s leg assembly had been damaged
in the unusual fall, and it seemed that speed had sentenced him to a cruel punishment. He was
unable to escape the area as quickly as Duo, and had suffered from prolonged radiation
exposure. Nuclear fallout began within the first 6 minutes, and the poisonous ‘snow’ blanketed
the area in which Duo and Byron were moving.
Among the other members of his company, the assault lance had suffered one immediate
casualty. Ex-pirate Adam Vindraff had been piloting his Clan upgraded Gallowglas out far in
front of his teammates. The blast had pushed his Mech into a crumpled heap. It had also blown
his lancemates’ Mechs down. While Kurtis Carrico had been able to jump jet his Falconer
backwards in a retreat from the area, Alexus Capone’s Thug had been damaged in its fall.
Without a working leg, it could only crawl from the area slowly. Before long the Thug was
scraping along through a field of radioactive ‘snow’. The fallout now covered Alexus’s Mech
and prevented her from safely exiting the machine. Her continuous silence was an ominous
reminder that her lancemates might never hear from her again. She was too proud to cry out for
help under such hopeless circumstances, but her Mech continued to slide over the barren plain as
she maneuvered it further and further from ground zero.
Duo was working on a plan of rescue. With any luck, he and Bryon would arrive back at the
Dropship pick-up point in the next 10 minutes. From there they would have access to
undamaged communications systems to contact the backup lance. The small group had to be
warned of the possibility of any further attacks. In addition, they could ask their teammates for
help in dealing with those with radiation sickness and contact the main Strider’s Strikers base on
the nearby world of Miranda.
Cleaning his chin with some tissue paper from his supply kit, he looked back at his controls and
began explaining his emergency plan to his teammates.
Trilobite Moon, Labrea System
Irece Prefecture
Fourth Quarter, 3067
Duo Maxwell vomited. The inside of his cockpit felt humid. He tried to hold back the urges he
had been feeling for the past 10 minutes, but knew there would be no stopping it. Even those
with the strongest willpower succumbed under circumstances such as these.
Duo was still in denial. He could not be dying from radiation sickness. His life had been lived
too honorably to have now received a fatal backstab from an unknown enemy. And yet it was
happening, as real as the horrible picture painted out across his viewscreen before him. The
picture had been changing ever so slowly, but it was mind-blowing in the sheer destructive nature
of its presence. An atomic explosion had altered the entire atmosphere over the Kennedy Flats,
wiping the beautiful sky from existence and leaving only the ugly splatter of an atomic radiation
firestorm.
The blue glow from the nuclear explosion had been blinding. Literally blinding. Unmistakable, its
now-eerie incandescent ebb stretched out into the surrounding skyline with streaks of pulsing
turquoise shadows. The desert sky had been overrun with it in minutes. The uncanny hue
marked not only the passing of time since the attack had been launched, but also the passing of
several of Duo’s teammates. Among the dead were his company’s entire scout lance, all of
whom had been caught in the terrible shockwave and their Mechs no doubt damaged beyond all
recognition. The scouts, who had been the first to warn of the approaching missile, had paid
dearly for their reconnaissance work. Though they were the first to die while performing their
job, they would likely not be the last.
The day’s training activities had begun as usual, with a routine a patrol starting just after 1300
hours. The reinforced company headed by Duo had been sent to the moon of Trilobite just 6
days ago, assigned a training exercise to improve the group’s guerilla warfare tactics. Since the
Word of Blake’s Denouncement strike just months ago, the Strikers commanders had begun
focusing on such tactics. While the overall team’s performance in the WOB war had been a
successful effort, there was always room for improvement in both tactics and logistics. Duo and
his company would be facing off against a computer simulated enemy. While combat would
barely be practiced in the exercises, movement and strategic retreats would be closely
evaluated. The idea was to have the simulation calculate the outcomes of individual battles, and
the pilots would determine the rest through an enactment of tactical decisions. Such decisions
would include each battles initial offensive moves and their follow ups against a weakened
enemy. The real work was all in their minds, except for the test of endurance of piloting Mechs
constantly with little or no shutdown time. The pilots had to stay in their cockpits for most of the
week’s activities.
Just after 1420, Meg Kurtis reported a radar blip on her sensors. The unit detected was
unusually small, but warranted further attention as there were no other units known to be
operating on the moon. Through closer inspection, Meg had caught a video image of the unit. It
seemed to be a medium sized truck, probably weighing in at around 20 tons. The vehicle
immediately began some sort of launch sequence and before Meg was able to get a weapons
lock, the vehicle’s missile was launched. Though small and seemingly fragile, the missile had
actually been carrying a nuclear payload. A ‘dirty’ bomb, it was designed to contaminate and
kill as many living beings as it possibly could. Due to its nuclear nature, it had also apparently
been sufficiently fueled to create an immense blast radius. The tremendous force of the blast had
strewn toxic materials across the desert in seconds. The bomb touched down near the majority
of Betty Stalwart’s scout lance, the Burners. From its point of impact, it had likely vaporized
much of Betty’s Stinger.
Thanks to Meg’s early warning, Duo had ordered his assault lance back and his own lance to
split up. Fortunately the backup lance consisting of small Mechs had been away on a separate
assignment.
Duo’s lance had quickly spread into two groups. He and Byron Jones had moved to the east
while Corven Case and Buford Olman had moved north. Within 90 seconds of Betty’s warning,
the bomb detonated. Buford and Corven avoided the worst of it. Byron Jones Mech instantly
collapsed in the shock wave, and Duo’s custom Hatamoto-chi had followed. Both men were
able to move their Mechs from the ground. However, Byron’s leg assembly had been damaged
in the unusual fall, and it seemed that speed had sentenced him to a cruel punishment. He was
unable to escape the area as quickly as Duo, and had suffered from prolonged radiation
exposure. Nuclear fallout began within the first 6 minutes, and the poisonous ‘snow’ blanketed
the area in which Duo and Byron were moving.
Among the other members of his company, the assault lance had suffered one immediate
casualty. Ex-pirate Adam Vindraff had been piloting his Clan upgraded Gallowglas out far in
front of his teammates. The blast had pushed his Mech into a crumpled heap. It had also blown
his lancemates’ Mechs down. While Kurtis Carrico had been able to jump jet his Falconer
backwards in a retreat from the area, Alexus Capone’s Thug had been damaged in its fall.
Without a working leg, it could only crawl from the area slowly. Before long the Thug was
scraping along through a field of radioactive ‘snow’. The fallout now covered Alexus’s Mech
and prevented her from safely exiting the machine. Her continuous silence was an ominous
reminder that her lancemates might never hear from her again. She was too proud to cry out for
help under such hopeless circumstances, but her Mech continued to slide over the barren plain as
she maneuvered it further and further from ground zero.
Duo was working on a plan of rescue. With any luck, he and Bryon would arrive back at the
Dropship pick-up point in the next 10 minutes. From there they would have access to
undamaged communications systems to contact the backup lance. The small group had to be
warned of the possibility of any further attacks. In addition, they could ask their teammates for
help in dealing with those with radiation sickness and contact the main Strider’s Strikers base on
the nearby world of Miranda.
Cleaning his chin with some tissue paper from his supply kit, he looked back at his controls and
began explaining his emergency plan to his teammates.
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