New Oslo - Winter 3137 Pt. 2

Pvt. Aooka was scared. Her Boomerrang Spotter Plane was easily 1000 meters above the fighting. There was no real danger of her being targeted, assuming they even saw her. The winter air was cold and clear and gave her a clear view of the battle below.

What had her hands shaking, was the situation below. Her commander, Kenji Daidoji, was about to be overrun. For the last hour, he had fought with elements of the 666th Mechanized Assault, part of Hell's Horses.

It began with engaging their scout tanks to lure them away from civilians trying to escape to safety on the other side of the river. His people, the New Oslo Overwatch Battalion, had setup a safe zone in the football stadium. The former Com Guards were now in position to defend it with everything they had.

Precentor Daidoji had so far disabled 10 and destroyed another 5 Hephaestus Scout Tanks with his Uziel UZL-2S. The battlemech was a relic from the FedCom Civil War and was piloted briefly by one of his ancestors, Daidoji Goemon. The fifty ton mech had been nearly destroyed and rebuilt several times. It looked like it might have to be rebuilt again.

The last scout tank came to a abrupt halt when the Kenji's PPCs found the hole in it's armor. Smoke covered the front of the tank. Kenji took in a deep breath and winced. He was pretty certain that he had broken ribs from a fall he took earlier when his mech slipped. He coughed and wiped blood from his mouth.

He considered firing his machine guns at the clanners bailing out of the dead tank in front of him, but he was tired. There would be no honor in killing them. Doing so would make his ancestor disappointed, and they had protected him thus far. Last thing he wanted to do was make him turn his back on him.

"Are they across?" his tired voice asked. "Ama did they get to the safe zone?"

Pvt. Aracely Megan Aooka (AMA), saw the ambulances cross. The white and blue battlemechs of the New Oslo Overwatch Battalion waiting on the other side.

"Yes, sir. They are. You're clear." her voice relieved.

"Good....good. I'm heading back. Hold your positions."

The Uziel limped towards the bridge. Kenji began to run a diagnostic. The AI's voice began listing off the damage.

Right Torso...Critical Damage

Short Range Missile Launcher...destroyed

Thruster offline, thrusters 1, 3, 4...damaged.

Heat Sinks 3, 4, 6...destroyed.

Right Leg critical damage

Right Hip actuator destroyed

Reactor shielding damaged

Kenji turned the audio off. He would look at the report later. He coughed again. More blood was wiped away.

He began to cross the bridge, the right leg dragging behind him.

"Dodgeson...prepare your team. I want a patrol along the river line between the.."

"umm, which one of us sir?"

Kenji forgot that he had two pilots with the last name Dodgeson. He usually just referred to them by their ranks.

Siblings, twins to be precise. It got very confusing over comms. Both brilliant pilots, very different but the best he'd seen. Hiro and Kenji had already discussed them taking command jointly. It was no surprise when they had been promoted, the only thing that shocked them was the difference in titles. Having come from the Com Guard, the organization kept the rank structure from when they were the 282nd. It was what the soldiers were used to and just made sense. One received the rank Adept, and the other Demi-Precentor. Same rank, just different titles.

"Adept Dodgeson, I want a patrol along the..."

He was halfway across the bridge when Ama interrupted the conversation.

"Sir! Ponies incoming! Ten tanks, maybe 15! Moving fast!"

Ama almost never lost her composure. This time everyone could hear the panic in her voice. Kenji sighed, coughed, wiped the blood away.

"Mix of heavies and scouts. It looks like they're bringing BA"

"Copy that. Set up..." he winced as he coughed up more blood. He was pretty sure his comrades heard that. Up until that point he'd been pretty good at cutting the mic so they wouldn't hear how bad it was.

"Set up a firing line along the riverside. Ama, start coordinating with Arty..."

Kenji's voice trailed off as he saw the column of tanks. He was expecting more of the light scouts, and there were. However after the beating they had received it seemed the 666th had had enough of Kenji.

Coming down the road towards him were two heavy, 85 ton "Hueys". Massive tanks that once they got within range would tear through what was left of his mech.

The first shots flew by, impacting the buildings behind him. Maier fired back, his Mauler's guns carefully aimed to avoid his commander. Anderson's Atlas started forward.

"Stay in position!!" Kenji growled.

"But sir..."

"Do not argue with me! Hold your position."

More shots hit the banks of the river and the buildings. This time the tanks were aiming for the two new targets that had presented themselves.

He couldn't let them cross. The bridge was the closest to their field hospital. Those hover tanks would swarm past and overrun his people.

He looked down at the bridge. It was the only one left for the clanners to cross and they had to use it. The river below was too rough for even battlemechs to cross, and the banks too steep for hovercraft.

Kenji looked back up at the clan tanks as they advanced. He disabled the inhibitors on his PPCs and started to overcharge them. He touched Goemon's medal on the console, then an his hand lovingly along the dash thanking his Uziel for serving him this last time.

Kenji then closed his eyes and fired his PPCs at the bridge below him.