Even Erica was surprised with how hot she was running.
She barely even felt the heat in her cockpit as she pushed her mech harder than she'd ever done so before. The movements of the responding enemy felt so sluggish in comparison, flickering embers before the wildfire that she was. Even her own allies were painfully slow, lagging behind far too much. So she had no choice.
She burned ahead, boosters roaring to kick up a trail for them to follow behind. A single order was given to those who couldn't keep up: Don't die.
To help them do so, the Genghis laid waste to the docked frigate's defensive systems.
The sailors and marines, true to what had been speculated and planned for, were very unaccustomed to fighting with legs planted on the floor. They weren't completely so helpless to not mount a resistance, but it was a paltry one at that. Or so it seemed to Erica as she lit up the scene, a miniature star that radiated beams of light everywhere with her retrofitted steed.
Lasers scorched and warped the decks around her, melting gouges into the metal under the searing heat. Those were the lesser ones, just two mounted laser rifles on either shoulder of Erica's mech. They swiveled about and fired independently of her own focus, detecting threats to the user and making sure that they wouldn't be a problem a few seconds later.
In comparison, the heavy laser rifle her mech carried in its own arms didn't stop at heating steel. It punched right through them, employing a pulsating array to keep the focusing lens in one piece but still doubling its firepower. Somehow.
Well, it was Harrison Armory. They had science to burn both targets and oneself. Her mech was certainly feeling it too, with rising reactor temperatures to try and keep up with the demanded output of her full energy armament. But it was more like just an ammunition count to inform of when Erica should pause to 'reload,' so to speak.
So she kept only an absent eye on it as she entered through and found herself squarely in the big hanger bay of La Azul. This was it.
Full output, for a brief moment.
Mechanized arms brought the heavy laser to bear and the shoulder lasers tracked fleeing and panicked enemies. Then they fired in all directions, becoming almost like a disco ball that reflected light everywhere. A destructive one that destroyed repair gantries, defensive turrets, ammunition bins, fuel lines, and more.
Something exploded amid it all, which set off a chain of cascading detonations that saw the large space engulfed in flame for a brief moment. It even raced to consume the nearest surrounding rooms too, causing slow Everests to seize and lock-up with flaring overheat warnings, pilots inside screaming as the smell of burning flesh filled their cockpits. Those were the lucky ones.
The unlucky ones were those without such protections, and were immolated in a single blazing moment.
When the explosions petered out, ashes and melted slag were scattered about the still-burning frigate. But one still stood at the heart of it, designed to withstand such extreme temperatures that the machine itself would cause. Though it itself also had too much heat that needed to be unloaded.
Super heated air exhaled from the exhausts of the Genghis as it cycled, the chest opening briefly to allow the pilot within to breath in that warm air for but a moment. Erica studied the burning destruction wrought and reached down to pick up her lighter nonchalantly, flicking it to produce a new flame. One that finally ignited the unlit cigarette in her mouth, giving her that welcomed injection of nicotine straight into her lungs.
A job well done, if she said so herself. But the warning pings on her radar informed her that the contract wasn't quite closed yet.
She returned back to her chair and the chest of her mech closed just in time to absorb an incoming bolt from a beam rifle. But the pilot had never been in any real danger, she noticed, with how sporadic and wild the shots were. Indicating that they'd perhaps been rushed shots from new arrivals.
Her sensors confirmed those suspicions a moment later, identifying these Everests as new arrivals. Ones that looked battered even, leading Erica to recognize them as likely to be part of the returning wing that called this place their home. Her suspicions were confirmed by the tagging of what looked like a command unit among them.
Hm, but this surely couldn't be all of them. And it looked like there was still a fight going on- meaning that maybe Rowles finally got off her ass to start a push. She'd better at least, to be the hammer striking down upon the anvil with these enemies caught in-between. Though the anvil consisted of just a single hotshot pilot at the moment.
And no matter how much her fire still burned, a considerable amount of it had been exhausted earlier. Her Genghis returned fire but was forced to take cover otherwise, turning this fight into a quagmire that Erica actually frowned at. Thankfully, her own team arrived soon enough to help reinforce her position and lend support. Shermans ignored the burning surroundings and joined in the firefight, exchanging lasers for beams in the firefight that held up the regular forces of both sides.
Leaving just the command units to face one another alone, at the center of this unusual battlefield.
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She beheld the destruction done to her ship, calmly assessed the damages, then closed her eyes. One final message was delivered onto the panicking bridge officers, one that should be then passed onto Sieg as soon as possible. The realization that in its current state, La Azul could not safely disengage or escape.
They were trapped in this folly that Aoba had led them into. As commanding officer then...she had to take responsibility. In the only way that an officer of the Half Committee should: In a defiant blaze of glory.
Her weapon racked in a fresh cell cartridge. Then she boosted forward with a terrible yell, surprising the closest enemy boarder to her. The Sherman tried to bring its charging shoulder-mounted ion cannon onto her, but it was too slow.
The beam bayonet impaled that unlucky boarder through the center-mass, then Aoba pulled the trigger. Her gun fired, blowing out the cockpit and sending whatever was left flying back in a splay of lifeless limbs that drifted through the air briefly before collapsing onto the deck.
"I am Lieutenant Aoba, captain of La Azul, proud officer of the Fourteenth Mixed Fleet!" she hollered across all broadband channels, shooting her weapon wildly to send other Shermans ducking. "Who dares board my ship without my permission?!"
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She could respect a fair challenge being issued there and then. So the smoking woman gripped the control sticks and shoved forwards, pushing her steed forwards through the low-grav environment. The panicked calls from her subordinates to just leave it to them were promptly ignored as she hefted her heavy laser and took aim.
"Just a bitch from Harrison Armory," Erica told and opened fire.
The almost-solid beams punched into the shoulder of that Chomolungma but wasn't quite clean enough to blow it off wholly. But it did suddenly make it difficult for the Everest variant to maintain its steady shooting stance. It was something that the lieutenant bravely tried anyway with firing a burst of beam shots at the mercenary, the rounds going wide.
Recognizing the advantage earned, the Genghis's thrusters shifted into a sideways strafe that poured on the full energy armament in Aoba's direction. More trenches of molten metal were carved into the lieutenant's machine and she growled, swapping then instead to her bayonet. Even with faltering power in one arm, she still could swipe her rifle about like a gigantic spear. All that had to be done was to close the distance, which was admittedly easier said than done.
However, Aoba fanatically worked at the systems with an idea, gritting her teeth as damage from the lasers mounted. The first sign that Erica realized something was wrong was when the reactor output of the Genghis began to sharply decline for some reason, earning a confused blink from the smoker until she cursed at the realization that her electronics were suddenly going haywire. The jets on her mech began to act erratically and spun, seemingly being told contesting directions on where to go.
Including, inexplicably, towards the enemy she had been just strafing.
Ah! A tech attack! Of course, a Chomolungma of all machines would be capable of such-!
"Not so fun when your own machine betrays you now, huh?!" Aoba roared and boosted forward with her own working thrusters now. The electronic invasion ended as soon as the focus was broken but Erica still had to frantically reboot her glitching systems, resetting and clearing out the viruses. Leaving her vulnerable for a moment.
Her motive systems were restored barely moments before the charging mech was upon her. All she could do in those scant moments of restored control was to frantically pull her steed back to avoid being bisected by that chop. Even then, one of her shoulder-mounted laser rifles was still an unfortunate casualty of the matter, sliced cleanly off.
Cutting open the cooling system.
That had Erica grinning around the lit cigarette. "Got you."
"What-!"
Her Genghis roared as the emergency vent was triggered and active coolant shot out of the exposed pipe, spraying the opposing mech with the heated liquid. That was a helpful in blinding it for a brief moment, but the real matter of hand was how suddenly how cool all her gauges read, so Erica unleashed a full weapons strike to strip the Chomolungma of its remaining armor. It tried its best to mitigate the damage, sacrificing the already damaged arm to soak up the punishment.
The rifle was still in the grip of the other arm, which adjusted it to be more like a one-handed longblade instead."Nice try, but you won't get me like that!" The glowing bayonet made of energy shot out and the Genghis evaded, barely.
Erica boosted backwards, trying to put distance while firing her weapons. She ignored the building heat gauge, glancing at it only now and then. Meanwhile Aoba was hot on her trail, forcing her system to keep boosting in term despite the building heat. She blinked the sweat from her eyes as she kept up the relentless assault, stabbing and swiping as best she could with just one arm. She was even scoring some hits, energy knife cutting shallow cuts into her opponent.
As they danced, the Harrison Armory soldier opened the channel. "Name's Erica." She boosted backwards one last time and felt the Genghis slam into the back of a burning hanger wall. All her heat gauges ran to the max, to the point where she actually could feel heat from something other than the lit stick between her lips. "Giving you one last chance to walk away." Even as she uttered those words, there was a small twitch of her lips in realization that it was awfully close to the dilemma she'd given that jumped-up noble twat back then.
Or so what she'd thought of Moores back then, instead of the actual commander that he was.
"There...is no running!" Aoba launched her mech forwards with a final boost, a roar on her lips. "Glory unto humanity-!"
Well, she gave it a try. But nothing to it now. Erica's elbow rose up and slammed into a side panel.
Triggering the recharged TBK Sustain Suite.
All exhaust ports on the Genghist flashed open and suddenly vented burning fuel in the immediate area around it. The committed Aoba had no time to pull back and was caught up in it, her machine drenched in the dredges of her opponent. The lieutenant let out both a frustrated and panicked shout when the flames coated her optical systems, rendering her blind and helpless for a moment as her reactor too screamed in blazing temperatures.
Automated systems kicked in and the engines forced a temporary shutdown, which was when Erica made her move.
Her remaining shoulder laser fired, destroying the rifle's internals. Said mounted weapon was smashed into by a wild and lucky barefist counter.
But it also threw Aoba off-balance when her melting legs gave way, allowing the Genghis to smash the heavy laser it carried straight into center mass and knocking it down.
The Lancer then jammed both barrels of her weapon into the Chomolungma's exposed internals, pausing for a moment.
Erica fired then, watching despondently with a burning smoke as the lasers fired straight into the structure, heavy rifle practically fusing with the enemy from such close proximity to the extreme heat.
Only when the officer's mech stopped jerking did she let go of her gun and step back. Her mech bumped into that back wall again with a much gentler knock this time, sliding down almost like the steel itself was exhausted. Erica admittedly was, feeling the adrenaline of the battle wear off. Especially once her forces confirmed that with the death of Lieutenant Aoba, the surviving enemies were beginning to surrender with morale thoroughly broken.
But there was still something she had to do. The cockpit of her steed opened up and the Harrison Armory mercenary climbed out, landing with a grunt. She glanced at her hands and wondered briefly if these indeed had been the hands that had climbed into the Genghis earlier.
Still, those same fingers took out her pack of smokes and she spat out the spent cigarette from her mouth, replacing it with a fresh stick. She lit it, alongside another pristine cigarette in her free hand. But that one wasn't for her.
Once she was sure the light had caught, Erica tossed the offering at the melted war machine. "You fought decent enough. Have one on me."
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Lieutenant Aoba was dead. Even if the message was perhaps premature...she was assured that the orbital facility was to be her grave. Sieg knew it to be true too.
Just like how this orbit would be his too.
So then. This was it.
But he would not let his friend go on alone ahead of him.
He was the only one left on the bridge, but his seat could override and seize control of any other station as need be. Even controlling the entire ship if necessary so from his single interface, though obviously at horrendous efficiency. It was all the officer needed though.
The communications system were still working. Good. He wanted to make sure his pride was at least unsullied too before traitors.
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"Commander, incoming message on all broadbands. 'Glory...unto humanity!'" Veronica calmly quoted for my convenience, making me sigh and close my eyes. That was the war chant of the Half Committee. Something inherited from SecComm.
Something usually said either going into battle, or going into death.
Feng solemnly picked up on the cue and calmly deduced, "John's Widow is going for a suicide ram. It aims to take us out."
"Sensors reporting! We're picking up life pod signatures!"
"Mark them, but ignore for now. All weapons, priority targeting on that frigate." The captain glanced my way. "Sorry sir, but we likely won't be capturing this one intact."
"I wouldn't expect so much given a collision could be lethal for us too." I nodded at my subordinate. "Do as you will. End the battle."
"Yes sir. All batteries, fire!"
Kinetic slugs began to ring and pound into the approaching starship, a few hits sparking off even more fires that likely raged without opposition if the crew had abandoned ship. But even as it burned, there still was some fight left in it when the missile batteries fired at the closing range band. It was a paltry count compared to the full salvo we had to fend off earlier, but the close range and focus on the larger ship meant our turrets didn't have time to track and shoot down the projectiles before they impacted.
Half-Measure buckled and rocked under the blows. "Bulkheads three, five, eight through ten all ruptured," Veronica calmly reported. "Medium damage, Commander. Dispatching damage control teams."
I exhaled. "Please open up the broadband. I want to send a message." The NHP nodded and made it so while Captain Feng systemically ordered the controlled destruction of the enemy ship. "Lieutenant Sieg! I have borne witness to your determination, and have felt your sting! I will never forget the mettle of such an enemy so long as I live!"
Did he deserve the shout out really? Did I really believe that he left a mark on me? I really don't think so. But a dying enemy soldier still deserved a small degree of comfort, however petty, to take with them into the darkness.
Or maybe he saw blinding light when a well-placed round smashed through the bridge of John's Widowand obliterated it in a single blow. The ship was a simple burning, directionless husk now.
Without further direction or input, the Bakunawa-class frigate drifted by my own Huron-class ship with little effort needed to evade it. As it passed by, I stood up and gave a salute to the lifeless vessel, a gesture mimicked by the bridge officers then. It wasn't out of respect to the Half Committee or anything, but to pay our dues to the lives likely lost in the conflict.
And now for me to worry about the lives won in the battle, alongside their futures. The dead could perhaps rest easy, but the living? Well, we had to clean up the shit they left behind for us to deal with.