Pre-recorded: Field Testing of Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II

[Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf]

This is just a posting about one of the field tests that Captain Wolf took part in during his testing of the Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II.

This entire simulation is pre-determined, so I would appreciate everyone refraining from posting anything about being involved in the simulation. Comments and such are fine though, just dont want anything that would change how the simulation is going to play out.

Also this simulation will be done in parts and multiple posts (in order to avoid a maximum word/character count, if there is one)

Here's Part I and II

Enjoy!

[Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf]

Part I

Accessing Data ...........

Data Accessed ......

Passcode Accepted .......

Initializing Simulator Chamber .......

Loading Simulation ........ Please Wait ........


Everything fades to black as the simulator's computerized voice confirms that the simulation is loaded. With a rather sudden flash everything fades back in mere nanoseconds and you are looking at what appears to be a tactical overlay during a briefing. Several people can be seen attending the briefing, all wearing Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery uniforms and MechWarrior pilot suits. ALthough it's obvious that they are talking, no sound can be heard. The simulator's computerized voice breaks the strange silence saying,"Captain Adam 'Gunman' Wolf has added this section only to give a breif idea of the situation. The introductory file contained with this simulation reads;

The DCMS R&D division decided to test the Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II's abilities both on the battlefield in live combat duty, as well as its effect on the morale of the enemy. In order to accomplish this goal the DCMS R&D division designed a field test to pit two of their units against each other. The official field testing unit, which included Captain Wolf, played the role of the defender, while the 320th Heavy Strikers of the 21st Galedon Regulars played the attackers. Neither of the two had any previous notable contact, and dneither was informed who they were fighting. The attackers were breifed as though they were testing new tactics, while the defenders were breifed about what the actual purpose was. Attackers did not know anything about defenders, and believed there would be moderate resistance due to faulty intel. Defenders knew the enemy command 'mechs and force composition so far as that it was 3 heavy lances equipped with C3 computers. Full detail on attacking and defending force compositions are available in the Tactical Adendum externally available.

Again everything fades out, soon to be replaced with a zoomed in satellite image of what is identified as the attacking lances. The two Cyclops' in the Command Lance leading the way, with the Marauder and WarHammer off at 45 degree angles to the left and right. To the left and right of the command lance, the other two lances are in V-formation with the leading Cyclops even with the Command Lance Cyclops', and the extra 'mech on the outside edge of the formation to provide partial cover of the flanks. After a few moments the view changes to a 3rd person perspective of the unit, assumably from a field camera setup to observe testings, and radio chatter can be heard, along with the sounds of the running 'mechs.

This is Gold-1 to Red-1 and Blue-1, we are approaching target, activate C3 systems and begin active radar scans.

Roger that Gold-1, this is Red-1 switching to active radar.

This is Blue-1, I copy Gold-1.

The view switches around to a perspective view from the front of the attacking lances before switching again to what appears to be a torso mounted external camera on the OWens light 'mech on the west flank, Red-4.

Red-4 to Gold and Blue Lances, I have radar contact with compass bearing 1 - 4 - 5 South, SouthEast. 2 clicks out. I'm reading what appears to be 3 lances, medium I think, can't confirm at this range.

Copy that Red-4, keep monitoring. All units prepare for contact.

A few moments later the outline of 'mechs can be seen forming in the distance.

This is Red-4, I have confirmed enemy contacts... this is strange... I'm reading 9 heavy 'mechs divided into 3 lances. Why would they group like that?

As the attackers approach, a slight glimmering and something resembling a distorted heat wave is seen on the far left of the camera view.

This is Blue-4, I had an additional contact on radar for a moment and visual confirmation, but it just dissappeared suddenly.

Blue-4, this is Red-4, that's a negative on the contact. I saw a heat wave and sun reflecting off debris, no contact.

Respectfully sir, I know what I saw...

The radio banter was cut short by the sound of a heavy round impacting into armour at a low velocity. one of the lead Cyclops' jarred slightly and the lead defending 'mech in the distance can be seen with its right arm raised.

Why are they firing already??? We're still over a click out, they shouldn't be able to hit us yet...

Blue-4, cut the radio chatter, they are just trying to scare us because we have superior...

Blue-1 trailed off as the sound of 2 more Gauss rifles echoed across the open battlefield, their blue green electromagnetic cloud of charged particles trailing behind the nickel-ferrous slugs. The lead Cyclops that was jarred earlier now violently jerked back towards its left shoulder before almost instantly reversing its momentum as the torso slammed forward and to the right. Both rounds had found their mark, the first impacting the relatively weak left shoulder, the high caliber round shattering the armour around the point of impact. The second round, hitting a few milliseconds later, drilled into the right torso, almost at the hip, sending armour shrapnel blasting outwards and leaving a fairly large impact crater in the Cyclops' thick armour.

This is Gold-1, break formation and engage Assault Tactics X - 0 - 7 Alpha. We are weapons hot, repeat weapons hot.

There was a brief moment of chaos when the 'mechs broke formation, they were worried by the hits their commander took and they hadn't even closed within 750m yet, the maximum rated range for an Inner Sphere Gauss Rifle, and their worry showed. Once the moment of panic passed the 'mechs finished breaking formation and grouped together into sets of two. The center two Cyclops' split left and right, one going with the Marauder, one with the WarHammer, the other two Cyclops' went with the Marauders from their respective lances. That left the two Owens' to split apart in a wide flanking manoveur to either side, while the remaining two WarHammers joined up in the middle. As soon as the 'mechs broke formation, a hailstorm of autocannon rounds were spewed forth from the 3 defending Rifleman's twin LB-10X autocannons. The cluster munitions spread much to wide, and the range was too great, so the 60 individual pellets merely provided a means of suppressive fire without doing any real damage. At this time the Owens breaking along the east flank, Blue-4, slowed for a moment, making it appear he noticed the dust cloud resembling a heavy 'mech walking fast before they suddenly dissappeared, but no communication was made and the Owens continued on. The attacking units closed to within 750m of the still stationary defenders and weapons fire broke out in full force on both sides.

******************************************************

[Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf]

Part II

Beep - Beep

The computer beeped, indicating an incoming communication on a different channel. Reaching over and adjusting the tuner dial by hand I mutter, "Stupid thing..." under my breath, recalling that the automatic settings for the communication system wasn't functional. Oh well, what's a prototype without some bugs. I thought to myself. Having gotten the right frequency finally, the Draconis Combine system was very different from the Legionnaires and I still didn't quite have the hang of it, the initial message played through my command cockpit's internal speakers.

This is Argus to all units, we have satellite confirmation of approaching enemies, sending you updated tactical data now. ..... are in range, you are free to engage at will. Argus out.

I caught the last part of the message through my personal comm unit integrated into the Neural Helmet, missing a few words as I adjusted the comm system to play through the helmet rather than the cockpit.

XRay-1 to all units, engage ECMs and prep weapons. Hold your fire and your positions til my command. XRay-4, Oscar-4, and Gamma-4 prep for detachement into Echo squad.

Various acknowledgements, including myself, were heard over the comm system. Flicking a toggle switch I heard the gentle electronic hum, of the Angel ECM suite I just turned on, blend into the strangely alluring, at least to a seasoned MechWarrior, harmony of various equipment and systems of the fully functional Battlemech. A few moments later XRay-3, the pilot of the Rifleman 6X in XRay lance, announced a positive contact with the approaching units, IFF confirmed them as hostile. Myself and Oscar-4 toggled several more switches engaging our Null Signature systems. From the inside nothing changed, save from an indicator light coming on, and the heat monitor spiking up 10 points from the system running, not an issue with all the heat sinks this ride mounted. outside was another story, at first nothing seemed to happen, due to the time it takes for the system to charge, the brass claim they'll fix that ... eventually. Then a large heat wave seems to eminate from the back of the 'mech's arms, legs, and either side torso. Immediately afterwards a semi-transparent, glowing distortion spreads across the 'mech's exterior, giving off the appearance of a blinding white light reflecting from the shiniest piece of ferro-aluminum you've ever seen. This distortion quickly worked its way from the torso up and over the head and down the arms, and then down the legs before dissappearing completely. When it dissappeared there was no sign of the 'mech anywhere, it looked like it had vanished entierly. In actuality it was still there, just as it had been a mere 5 seconds ago, it was simply cloaked. Looking to my left there was no trace of Oscar-4 to the naked eye, looking over to my right I could still see Gamma-4, this wasn't a good thing.

Gamma-4, this is XRay-4, why haven't you engaged your Null Sig? Is there a problem?

XRay-4, my Null Sig is acting up, it failed to start and is currently recycling, should be good in another ... 10 seconds.

Copy that Gamma-4, better hope it works this time or they might spot you, they are almost in visual range.

Just as the enemy 'mechs began to appear on the horizon, Gamma-4 was able to get his Null Signature system operating and the glazed over looking distortion quickly swept across his 'mech before it dissappeared like the other two had earlier.

This is Gamma-4, Null Sig system enabled, status shows all green.

Copy that Gamma-4.

XRay-1, we are ready to detach into Echo squad on your mark.

Copy that XRay-4, you are go to detach, XRay-4, Oscar-4, and Gamma-4, you are now Echo-1, Echo-2, and Echo-3.

Argus this is XRay-1, Echo has detached and will begin maneouvers shortly. We are engaging the enemy.

Before Argus could give a response XRay-1 raised his Victor's right arm and took aim with the Gauss rifle. I could picture several of the other MechWarriors checking their instruments to make sure they are reading things right. He was about to make a shot at over 1km away, the I.S. Gauss Rifle mounted on his Victor was only rated for 660m at most according to most statistics, he was going to shoot nearly twice that range. The thing with Ballistics weapons is, once they reach their maximum range, they don't just fizzle out like energy weapons, and they don't run out of fuel like missiles, and they don't mysteriously just stop suddenly. No, ballistic weapons will continue on for quite some distance, albiet with less force, until they eventually lose enough momentum to fall to the ground, or they strike an object capable of stopping it. The speed at which a Gauss Rifle round is fired provides it with quite a bit of extended range, of course the damage it can inflict is almost neglibible if you go more than a couple hundred meters past its rated limit. XRay-1 knew this, but I was guessing that Argus, and most of the other pilots didn't know it. Sure enough in mere seconds Argus got on the comm channel sounding very worked up and agitated.

XRay-1 what do you think your doing? They are way to far away for you to hit, do not waste the ammo, I repeat do not waste the ammo.

That's a negative Argus, I know what I'm doing, just sit back and watch.

There was no response from Argus, but I could just picture the rather large and pudgy officer, who looked like he had been plucked out of some All You Can Eat buffet at the local Cantina rather than from an office somewhere on New Samarkand, I guess that's what happens when you get a desk job though. Anyhow, I could just picture the officer sitting at his console fretting about what XRay-1 is about to do, and probably quite angry about it, but too afraid of the MechWarrior to say anything more on the subject.

As the approaching 'mechs broke the 1km mark XRay-1 fired, the loud thunderous clap resounded off of the exterior of our 'mechs as the Nickel-Ferrous slug was ejected from the barrel at more than double the speed of any other ballistic weapon the Inner Sphere had ever seen. A few moments later, the lead Cyclops appeared to twist slightly to one side, barely noticeable at this distance, but it was apparent that the round had hit just the same. According to the computer though minimal damage, if any, had been done.

A slight falter could be seen in the steps of a couple of the 'mechs on the west flank, if one was trained to look for such things, indicating that the pilot was distracted and wasn't giving the attention to the controls that he should be. XRay-1 picked up on this and left his right arm raised while the Gauss rifle cycled.

XRay-1 to Oscar-1 and Gamma-1, I want you to both target the leading Cyclops, the same one I just shot at, and prepare to fire your Gauss rifles on my mark.

XRay-1 this is Gamma-1 I copy, but sir they are still out of range by a large amount.

I know, just trust me.

This is Oscar-1, I copy sir, ready to fire on your mark.

Both Oscar-1 and Gamma-1 raised their Gauss rifles aiming at the still distant Cyclops and waited for XRay-1's order. Meanwhile XRay-1 gave additional orders to the other 'mechs and Echo squad began to move out.

This is XRay-1, I want all Riflemen pilots to prepare to fire cluster rounds from both LB-10X ACs on my mark, I'm aware that at this range they won't do any damage, this is just a scare tactic to give us an edge.

Roger that XRay-1.

I copy.

Will do, waiting for your order.

Echo lance, this is Echo-1, move out in flanking manouevers when they fire the ACs, remember to keep the speed down to avoid kicking up dust and risk being detected.

On XRay-1's mark, both the Oscar and Gamma Victor's fired their Gauss rifles in near tandem, in actuality this was only a few seconds after XRay-1 had fired his own, although it seemed much longer to me. The heavy rounds sped towards their target, and much to my surprise both rounds found their mark, impacting with such force against the approaching Cyclops that it clearly could be seen wrenching against its actuators and gyros as if flailing about in pain. The rounds must have caused damage that time judging by the force of the impacts.

The 'mechs then broke their formation, for a moment looking like a chaotic mess about ready to break into a free for all panic before they gathered back together in groups of 2, a rather odd grouping for attacking 'mechs, but not all together unexpected as it resembled a regular attack formation for infantry units. At the same moment an even louder bang was heard as the 3 Riflemen each fired its set of twin LB-10X ACs, the thunderous roar would have been more than enough to temporarily deafen any unfortunate soul to be on the ground without hearing protection. Following orders perfectly Echo lance detached and began to move out in the pre-determined flanking maneouver, the only sign of the movement was barely detectable footprints in the hard ground, and the radar contacts that began moving out, visible only to allied units since the Angel ECM suites didnt block out friendly units from detecting them. The Null Sig system installed in each Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II only affected radar detection at medium and long ranges, up close an active radar could detect it with ease, although visually spotting it would still be nearly impossible.

Echo-2 broke left, towards the West flank, making a wide gentle arc that would easily allow him to fire into the rear ranks of the enemy formation once they closed to within 600m of the other 'mechs. Echo-3 broke right, performing the same identical wide arc as Echo-2, except to the East flank instead. Personally I did not make an arc, but performed a more dangerous maneouver which had me breaking between Gamma and XRay lances, and then moving between the enemy lines between two groups of a Cyclops and Marauder 5R. Looking to the right I noticed a small cloud of dust corresponding with Echo-3's location on my radar.

Echo-3, throttle her back a little, I'm seeing a dust cloud that could give you away.

Copy that Echo-1, slowing down ...

He trailed off showing that he was annoyed that I had caught him going too fast, but I didnt let it bother me, I wasn't going to let him make a stupid mistake that could cost us the element of surprise.

With Echo lance moving forwards towards the enemy units, while they ran flank speed at us, caused the distance between us to reduce dramatically. Expertly maneouvering my 'mech into a position to slip past the two groups of enemy 'mechs, I quickly checked my radar to confirm the position of the rest of Echo lance. They were both right where they needed to be, and the computer sounded a single loud beep, indicating that the enemy units had just closed to within 650m of the rest of our unit.

Immediately upon the sound of the beep from my computer, a thunderous echo exploded from behind my 'mech as the sound of 7 Gauss rifles going off in unison mixed together into the ear splitting roar that rolled out across the battlefield. Followed closely behind it was the crackling sizzle of high energy PPCs being discharged from numerous barrels flinging energized beams of particles with no other purpose than destruction across the suddenly active battlefield.

Slamming the throttle into reverse I cranked my Hatamoto around to face the rear of the enemy units, hitting the comm channel harder than I should have, and giving out the attack order.

Echo lance, this is Echo-1, you are free to engage the enemy, repeat free to engage the enemy. Remember we are to remain cloaked as long as possible to disorient the enemy, use hit and run tactics to break their morale. Target the leaders if you can.

Roger that Echo-1, engaging enemy with hit and run tactics.

Copy that, will employ hit and run tactics against enemy leaders.

Slipping my hand back into the controls for the 'mechs left arm, I noticed a warning indicator light flicker and then go off on the 'mechs main console, apparently the heavy jar from me hitting the comm unit, jarred its circuits enough for the automatic communication settings to work again, smiling to myself I targetted the nearest 'mech.

Manipulating the controls for the Hatamoto's right arm, which were somewhat complex as they resembled more the arms of an industrial exoskeleton than the regular joysticks used for 'mechs. The techs claim that they are 3rd generation controls, and they hope these will replace the outdated joysticks. Well so far the new controls performed exceptionally well, and definately had my vote for the next generation of 'mech controls. Raising the right arm easily, simply by flexing and raising my own right arm, I grasped the joystick mounted in the end of the exoskeleton control which fit perfectly into my hand. Leveling the sights on my HUD against the closest 'mech, a Marauder, a MAD-5R according to my targeting system, I squeezed the single trigger mounted on the control, my thumb resting against the single button atop the joystick ready to fire the only other weapon wired into the right side. Upon squeezing the trigger the large barrel mounted on my 'mech's right forearm could be seen glowin inside the barrel before a split second later emitting a thick large beam of pure destructive energy with a strange amber hue. The Large Heavy Laser sustained the beam to about 450m before the capacitors were drained and the beam dissappeared as quickly as it had come. At the recieving end of the beam, the Marauder jerked forward and to the right, the beam having struck the 'mech's upper left shoulder. The movement of the Marauder wasn't all that severe, being as how the energy weapon, while wielding sufficient destructive power, didn't have the same kinetic force that a ballistic or missile round imparts. The extreme heat and sustained force of the energy slamming into the 'mech for a few miliseconds was still more than enough to melt entire slabs of armour off of the heavy 'mech. The melted armour ran like a river down the 'mechs backside, exposing in a few small spots the internal structure of the 'mech as the armour was severaly weakened. At the same moment that I fired the heavy laser a wave of static and electrical interferance rushed across my HUD starting from the right side, one of very few downfalls, aside from high heat, that these Clan lasers have, poor shielding of the large capacitors resulted in EMP effects to the HUD and targetting system when fired. Fortunately the electromagnetic interference was limited to those systems only and didn't interfere with the Angel ECM or the Null Sig systems. The only other downfall that I was aware of was that a critical hit against the capacitors caused them to overload and explode, similar to a Gauss Rifle, fortunately using the Clan-based technology available the DCMS were able to incorporate Clan CASE systems built into the chassis.

The Marauder's pilot immediately spun the 'mech around, nearly toppling it over in doing so, an indication that the pilot wasn't all that skilled, at least not with a Heavy 'mech, but found himself looking into thin air. I had circled to the right now, towards his overly exposed West flank, easily stepping between him and the two WarHammers oblivious to my present, and to the sudden movements of their friend in the Marauder, not that the pilot would have seen anything more than a strange heat distortion as my Clan double heat sinks blew off excess heat from the Heavy laser. Before the 18 double heat sinks had a chance to cool the weapon entirely I squeezed the trigger on the left joystick, firing off a set of twin Heavy Medium Lasers mounted against the forearm and wrist of the left arm. The two beams went low as the static interference washed across my HUD causing my aim to be off slightly. The left most beam impacted the lower thigh of the left leg sending trickles of molten steel running down the heavily armoured leg. The second beam missed entirely, shooting between the two legs and scarring the ground with a long black streak. Positioning my left thumb on top of the joystick I selected one of three buttons individually wired to each Medium Heavy Laser on the 'mech's left side. Pressing down on the right most button, another amber beam of destructive energy, only slightly smaller than the Large Heavy Laser emitted, shot forth from seemingly thin air to strike the confused 'mech's center torso. The beam, which had emitted from my left torso, appeared and dissappeared too quickly for the Marauder's pilot to realize what was going on, he continued to turn slowly towards his left side, searching for a target he couldn't see or detect on radar. Another amber beam shot out from the left side of his view screen to strike across the right torso as he turned, the destructive energy barely scrapping along the outer edge melting torrents of armour and sending them running down the 'mech like a golden river. A small warning beep rang out in the silence of my cockpit, snapping me out of my analysis of what must be going through the other pilot's head. Looking down I noticed that the heat monitor indicated it was 4 points higher than the heat sinks could handle. Perfect ... I muttered, as I prepared to fire another barrage of lasers.

Waiting a few seconds longer than I normally would have, I let the heat sinks do their work and dissipate the large heat build up. From the outside my 'mech probably look like a large simmering heat wave distorting everything around it, and for a few brief moments it may have been partially visible as the excess heat affected the Null Sig system. Once the heat had gone down to only 13 points, I quickly swung my 'mech into a curve around to the left of the Marauder, reversing my circling direction and fired a devestating set of twin Medium Heavy Lasers and the Large Heavy Laser mounted on my left and right arms. The heat spiked up to 9 points above what the heat sinks could handle, warning sirens started but then were silenced as the Triple Strength Myomer system kicked in. Indicator lights flickered on and the 'mech as a whole suddenly seemed to become more limber and quicker as the myomer muscles grew stronger from the excessive heat. Keeping the heat up, I fired all 4 Medium Heavy Lasers as soon as the ones on my arm recycled. The combined fire of the two near alpha strikes caused the armour of the formidable Marauder to melt away in large rivulets of red hot metal, exposing, and in the case of the second barrage destroying, the internal structure of the beast. The entire right torso and thereby the right arm as well, was completely destroyed as the twin Medium Heavy Lasers ripped through the internals, depriving the Marauder of a PPC, medium laser, and the precious ammo for its RAC/5, effectively reducing the 'mechs firepower by more than half. The section of the Fusion XL engine that extended into the left torso of the 'mech could still be seen, the shielding ripped to shreds and a bright glow was growing brighter, shining out between cracked and shattered casing. A secondary explosion ripped through the crumbling exterior of the engine sending the Marauder falling to its right side as the reactor went critical.

[Captain Adam "Gunman" Wolf]

Part III

The excessive heat produced from the previous two salvos of weapons fire caused the heat inside my cockpit to rise significantly, the cooling vest turning up a notch as the 'mech's Life Support system tried to compensate. Surprisingly the spacious cockpit was kept at a bearable temperature while the double heat sinks worked overtime trying to dissapate the heat. All this extra head effected my 'mechs systems more than it affected me though, the bonus in performance that I gained from the TSM system was already negated from the excessive heat, and a status monitor showed that my Null Sig system was compromised. Unexpectedly, the later actually proved to be a benefit to me, which I wasn't fully aware of until later. With the Null Sig system partially compromised due to the excessive amount of heat, anyone looking in my 'mechs direction could easily see the semi-transparent outline of the beast. Standing just behind the now blackened and smoldering corpse of what used to be their command lance's Marauder, the Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II looked more like a ghostly apparition than a 'mech. The Null Sig, still working just not at 100%, cloaked the 'mech enough that it was see through in nearly all aspects, but the outline of the 'mech, as well as the more discernable features, could clearly be seen as a ghastly semi-transparent whitish outline, the excessive heat blowing out of my 'mechs heat sinks, accentuated the look with areas that appeared to be glowing and giving off a massive heat wave which distorted everything around it. The ghostly appearance of the 'mech must have stunned to pair of WarHammers, which had turned to engage whatever was laying waste to their Marauder comrade, because they both stopped dead in their tracks and just stood there. Finally the one on the western edge fired a PPC as it started to move again, the PPC missed me entirely, but it must have appeared to go straight through me to the WarHammer pilot, due to the distortion from the heat and null sig system, because he stopped suddenly again and didnt move.

By this time, the heat had dropped back down to a manageable level and I began another swing around to the backside of the twin WarHammers, arcing out to the eastern side of them allowing my Null Sig system to return to full functionality before firing any weapons. Before I could squeeze off a round though a set of twin ER Large Lasers shot out from the front lines, slamming along the farthest west WarHammer's right arm and torso. The ruby beams of energy burning deep scars across the 'mech's armour. The battered 'mech turned to face its opponent, XRay-2 piloting a Marauder 5L. Taking this opportunity I squeezed both triggers on my controls, sending 3 beams of amber cohelescent light barreling down upon my crosshairs, which were lined up perfectly on the other WarHammer. The Heavy Large Laser and 2 Heavy Medium Lasers, cored into the 70 ton 'mech, ripping through the armour in the left and right torsos. The WarHammer blindly returned fire with its medium and small lasers, the emerald green cohelescent beams of light emitted from the medium lasers went wide to either side, but the two small laser bursts scored hits on my left leg and left arm. The damage was neglible, but it gave the pilot some hope as he realized that his unseen foe could be hit still. A moment later twin ER PPCs sizzled past my 'mech on the left, right where I had been only moments before, the closest round was near enough to send a brief EMP effect rushing across my left arm, disrupting the Null Sig system slightly, allowing the left arm and a bit of my left side to light up into the ghostly apparition that was visible before.

Immediately I slammed my 'mech into reverse, twisting the controls to the left, bringing my 'mech into a reverse circle of what I had just been doing, a few seconds later a complete Alpha Strike blasted through the air from the WarHammer where I would have been had I not changed direction. The massive heat buildup was more than the poor 'mech was designed to take, and its toll was obvious as the 'mech slowly began to walk, its actuators moving much slower than normal as its heat sinks tried in vain to vent the heat quickly. Taking the extra time to cool off while the WarHammer also cooled down, I took aim carefully along the weakened right torso, before pressing down hard against the two inside buttons on the control joysticks, sending two beams of energy bursting forth from my 'mechs torso weapons. The static interference that raced across my 'mechs HUD caused my aim to be off again, and the twin beams instead struck the wounded 'mechs right leg. The armour melted off in a golden torrent of molten metal, leaving two deep scars running down the thigh of the 70 ton metal monster. A stray PPC raced past the other occupied WarHammer and slammed into my target's back left torso. The high energy particles ripping through the weak rear armour and shredding into the internals of the poor 'mech. The MechWarrior within desperately fired his twin ER Medium Lasers into the air hoping wildly for a hit, as he backpedalled his 'mech furiously away from the combat.

An explosion ripped across the open battlefield from the far West flank, it seemed that Oscar lance's Rifleman, and Echo-2 just destroyed the enemy Cyclops, although our Rifleman, Oscar-3, seemed to be getting torn up by the Marauder and WarHammer along the same side. The other Cyclops was engaged by Oscar-1's Victor, while OScar-2's Marauder tried to get the attention of the enemy Marauder. There was no sign of either of the Owens' at first glance, most of the other 'mechs were completely engaged in combat with each other with no side having a clear advantage. Suddenly the WarHammer I had been engaging scored two direct hits with his Medium Lasers against my right torso, warning indicators flashed on as the armour status monitor showed the armour drop far into the orange. Wrenching my attention away from the command console's additional features which I had breifly been monitoring, I launched a brutal assault of quad amber beams spewing forth from my 'mechs four Heavy Medium Lasers. The heat monitor spiked high for a few moments before the heat sinks kept things under control, while the thick beams of destructive energy lanced through the air towards their intended target. Once again my aim was off slightly due to the annoying interference caused by the weapons fire. Aiming for the center torso and head of the enemy 'mech, my aim was still true enough to strike the left arm and torso with all four beams. The beams busted through the armour with ease and utterly destroyed the internals throughout the left arm, with the actuators severed, and the endo-steel structure severely weakened the arm was blown clear off, while the small amount of armour remaining on the left torso was melted away fully exposing the interal workings of the 'mech.

Suddenly damage and hit indicators flashed on for my rear torso, checking my radar and activating the rear camera on one of the many sub monitors showed me one of the Owens firing its small pulse laser and twin machine guns with reckless abandon. Attempting to spin my 'mech around to face him was a futile attempt as he easily was able to out maneouver me in his light 'mech. He must have been shadowing the area until I fired and he could figure out where I was, his machine guns then "lit me up" in a sense as the rounds impacting my 'mech disrupted the Null Sig system. Every time an impact of any type occured against my 'mech, for a brief moment, not even a full second, the 'mech becomes partially visible as the Null Sig system adjusts and compensates for the impact, the 'mech is no more visible than a vague ghost-like appearance showing the outline and some more distinguishable features, but only around the immediate vicinity of the impact. Unfortunately the machine guns mounted on the Owens 'mech have such a high rate of fire, as do all machine guns, that several impacts occur within a few short seconds causing my 'mech to become partially visible almost continously. My 'mech rocked forward as the Owens' pilot fired his twin Streak SRM 2s into my backside. The weaker rear armour beginning to break under the constant barrage. Fortunately the Null Sig system was still operating enough to prevent the streaks from acheiving a positive lock for more than a second, so the missiles lost their target mid flight, unfortunately all 4 missiles still hit me, the damage spread across my left side. Twisting my torso as far as possible I cranked on the actuator controls for the 'mechs arms, bending them around towards the back as far as the myomer muscles would allow, a sub monitor locked in to show the targeting crosshairs for the Large Heavy Laser alone, I desperately tried to line them up against the fleeting image of the OWens along the outer edge of the monitor. Slowing my 'mech drastically and reversing direction as fast as possible I managed to draw a bead on the surprised Owens before he could react and get behind me again. The crosshairs glowing a bright red indicating a positive target lock, I caught a glimpse of the second Owens circling out wide looking like it was attempting to get behind me as well, smiling to myself I thought, He'll think twice about crossing me when he sees whats about to happen to his buddy... Pausing for just a moment to confirm the bead I had drawn, I waited for just a moment too long, split seconds before pulling the trigger my 'mech was slammed to the left by a PPC hit, the trigger was pulled before I had a chance to correct the motion, and combined with the inherent inaccuracy caused by the interference in the HUD of the weapons caused the large amber beam to shoot wide, well behind the Owens, sending burning dust and debris blasting into the air as the heavy beam of destructive power plowed into the ground scarring it black and melting the dust on its surface into glass pebbles.

Another PPC round arched through the air in front of my 'mech, this one running in the opposite direction, and slammed into the Owens' left leg, the high energy particles tearing through the weak armour easily, the EMP effect left behind crippling the actuators for a few moments causing the Owens to limp for a couple seconds. Those couple of seconds were just a few too long as the PPC was followed up by 2 ER Large Lasers fired in sequence. The first beam struct the limping Owens square in the back, the extremely weak rear armour melted away nanaseconds after impact while the beam itself continued into the vulnerable internal structures. The 'mech listed viciously to the one side as the Gyro took a critical hit, followed by a small explosion as the machine guns mounted in the center torso were destroyed. In the breif few milliseconds between the two beams of energy the reactor core could be seen partially through the damaged shielding indicating that the the engine had sustained at least 1 critical hit. The second beam struct the center torso as well, the ruby red energy sliced right through the 'mech, literally blowing out the front side of the light 'mech and continueing on as the energy pierced through the previously damaged engine shielding. The fusion XL engine immediately went critical blowing the 'mech into oblivion mere seconds after the second ER Large Laser had hit. The second Owens, which had, until now, been continueing to circle out wide to get behind myself, stopped dead in its tracks, the torso twisted towards the charred remains of the other Owens, all that was left was the two feet, with a small amount of the right leg actuator still sticking up, and debris hardly recognizable as the remnants of the left arm's Streak SRM-2 laying several feet away.

Flicking off the Null Signature system, I turned to face the immobile Owens, both arms raised with barrels pointed straight at him. The Marauder, which had just obliterated the first Owens after having delt with the WarHammer it had engaged, stepped up beside me, its damaged frame still a more than formidable image for the Owens pilot to take in. Snapping out of his shock the pilot spun the Owens around and high tailed it away from the battlefield as fast as the light 'mech could go. A pair of ER Medium Lasers flew past my cockpit reminding me of the damaged WarHammer that was still hobling away to my left, the Marauder, XRay-2, stepped between our lines of fire and returned fire against the battered Warhammer with medium lasers of its own. Leaving the two 'mechs to battle each other I turned back to the rest of the battle just in time to see an enemy Cyclops deliver the final blow against Gamma-3's Rifleman. The smokey trail of the ejection pod could be seen spiraling upwards, as had been the case with all the previous 'mech destructions, as the Rifleman's gyro spun out of control destroying itself and toppling the 'mech it wrenched itself from its mount, destroying large portions of the Fusion XL engine's shielding before breaking through the rear armour and impaling itself into the ground behind the destroyed 'mech. Followed closely behind it was the explosion of the Marauder piloted by Oscar-2 as its engine took too many critcal hits from the crippled WarHammer and the Cyclops on the western flank.

The Cyclops turned to face me as I punched the throttle forward, cursing aloud, swung my 'mech into a counter-clockwise circle just as the Cyclops fired its Gauss Rifle, the high kinetic round impacted my right arm jarring it against the actuators, the armour cracking under the force but holding together deep into the orange according to the status monitor. Without the added heat from the Null Signature system my 'mech was running cool for a change and so I let flew as near to an Alpha Strike as I dared at the moment, the Large Heavy Laser and 3 out of the 4 Mediums. The 4 beams of ionized particles screamed through the air, sizzling and seemingly cooking the air itself as the beams focused in on a singular target. The medium lasers hit first, their heavy impact sent the badly wounded Cyclops reeling backwards slightly before the Large Heavy Laser struck the Assault 'mech. The medium raked across the right arm, torso and center torso, while the large slammed into the 'mech right left leg, all 4 hits coring or nearly coring the stricken 'mechs weakened armour. Slamming down on the jump jets I sent my Hatamoto-Kaze Mk II into the air for the first time this battle, the look on the Cyclops pilot's face would have been priceless as I closed the 120m gap between us in a single bound. Landing directly in front of the Cyclops, I shot my right arm forward using the hand actuator to grasp the Cyclops' left arm, taking a step to the side to avoid a point blank shot by the right torso mounted Gauss Rifle, I brought my right fist back and held it for a moment before slamming it forward towards the cockpit of the Cyclops. In a expert maneouver the Cyclops' pilot managed to twist his 'mechs torso enough and take a step that caused the blow to miss the head and instead slamm into the 'mechs right torso. As I drew my 'mechs fist back, there was a very visible dent made into the powerful 'mechs heavy armour and strong internal structure, a true testiment to the awesome power wielded by my 'mechs Triple Strength Myomer enhanced chassis.

Firing the twin chest mounted Medium Heavy Lasers, in order to keep the heat high enough for the TSM system to be activated, point black into the Cyclops caused the left beam to burst straight through the critically wounded right torso, completely destroying the components located within and proceeding to scar the blackened earth behind. The right beam did likewise blasting through the left torso, destroying the C3 computer and everything within before scorching the battle strewn landscape behind. Bringing the TSM enhanced fist for a second blow, the pilot of the Cyclops ejected moments before the impact. The force of the blow shattered the ferro-glass canopy despite the actual point of impact being below the canopy itself, while a gapping hole was torn through the lower part of the head armour and into the top of the center torso. Releasing the left arm of the disabled and crippled Cyclops, I pushed the 90 ton Assault 'mech to the side as it collapsed pilotless. Turning my 'mech away I scanned my command cockpit's additional consoles to see how the rest of the battle was proceeding.