[dcs_p]The return fire by his fellow Clansmen quickly took its toll on the enemy Mechs.
Shortly after the Blakists had demonstrated their firepower on Devon’s Direwolf,
his starmates had dealt their fair share of destruction to the attacking Mechs.
The enemy Shootist was now on the ground, nursing what appeared to be two
shattered hip joints. The giant Mech was practically defenseless, scraping along
the ground with hopes of catching a foothold that might help it return to a standing
position. The Mech’s deadly autocannon now faced into the ground. Devon
couldn’t help but smile at the thought of the pilot’s dilemma.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]In addition to the Shootist’s damage, a Raijin and Shadowhawk were also among
the wounded Blakist machines. The Raijin, a relatively new design among Inner
Sphere scout Mechs, had lost a large portion of its left side. The Mech spilled
bright energy from underneath its crushed armor, a sign of a debilitating engine
hit. Another shot there and the machine would probably go critical into a fusion
engine explosion. The Shadowhawk, on the other hand, was in better condition.
Now missing its primary weapon, the Mech still sported most of its armor and
other weapons. Seeking to exact some kind of revenge on its attackers, it was
now closing range to attempt a deadly physical attack.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Deciding to aid one of his own men, Devon took aim and fired at the
Shadowhawk. He hoped to slow its momentum and give his own warriors a
better chance to prevent the enemy’s physical assault. Once again, all of Devon’
s weapons hit his target. This time around his target took massive damage to its
chest. Each of his Gauss slugs bore holes into the Shadowhawk’s right side
while the particle cannon damage fried away the last of the 55-ton machine’s
torso armor. Black smoke began to pour from the wounds immediately,
indicating some kind of gyro damage. Before the Shadowhawk could move any
closer, it lost its balance and toppled over as if it had fallen unconscious. Devon
winced as the huge machine smashed into the ground. The impact was likely to
have broken more than one of the pilot’s bones.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]“Good shooting, Star Colonel Carns. You bring honor yet again to our
temporarily assigned star,” Mechwarrior Cecil spoke. The young man was
Devon’s best pilot and rated as top gunner in the Nova Cats’ division of the Strider’
s Strikers unit. Cecil was also the only pilot Devon feared losing to in battle. The
ristar pilot seemed to be unbeatable.[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]“You honor me with your compliments, Cecil. Now let us get back to punishing
these surats.”[/dcs_p]
[dcs_p]Suddenly warning klaxons blared to life once more as Devon’s Direwolf tried to
warn him of the incoming artillery fire. Before he could determine the angle at
which he was being attacked, the massive Arrow IV missile impacted against his
left leg. Disrupted by the explosion, his sensors and damage displays jumped off
the charts before settling into a more depressing status report. His left leg now
sported just over seven percent of its original armor. Luckily, none of the machine’
s internal structure had been damaged in the attack. Before giving it any more
thought, he decided to turn his attention back to the opponents he might next
attack.[/dcs_p]