An alert appeared on the unwatched HUD showing the RATO’s fuel nearly expended; she triggered the explosive release of the RATO from Starkindler’s frame, ignoring the still firing rocket engine as it continued to accelerate away from them where it would shortly exhaust the remaining fuel supply before ending itself in self-immolation. The expendable rocket would serve as a distraction to any nearby enemies that might be interested in examining the results of the recently concluded fight, serving as an unexplainable distraction that would buy them more time. For now, she sped them off in the opposite direction knowing that they needed to continue to whittle down the enemy forces as much as possible before engaging a large group directly.
She dipped the Mech armor into a glide away from the nearest PDF as their patrol’s proximity to the recent fight ensured they would be the most prepared for combat. In a desperate bid to buy Mikhael the time he needed to recover before the fighting began in earnest once again, miles melted away behind them, trading distance for time. She chose a path that sent them back into the center of the enemy formations, the last place any of the searchers would look for an enemy in a desperate bid to buy Mikkhael the time he needed to recover before the fighting began in earnest. While he remained unconscious, she reactivated the energy shields and began charging them while simultaneously taking steps to reduce their now very obvious IFR signature.
Aurora used one of the satellites to locate a vantage point from where they could launch their next attack. Finding one, she leaned Starkindler into a steep turn, wings bowing under the force but maintaining positive lift in the reduced gravity as they proceeded towards their new destination knowing that Mikkhael would approve once he woke up.
Two more minutes passed before he slowly regained consciousness. When he came to, a small trail of blood trickled from his nose. Encased in the harness and still too weak to move, he could do nothing to halt the flow. His head pounded and his ears were killing him.
“Your vitals are sluggish Mikkhael, how are you coping?” Aurora asked.
“I need five minutes to recover,” he groggily replied, weakly shaking his head in an attempt to clear the fog from his mind.
“Nothing takes five minutes,” was all the reply she gave him.
Even through the fog clouding his mind he caught her meaning. She bought him some time, but now he needed to get back into the game, and fast. About the only good news was that he did not lose any awareness of his surroundings or what was taking place when he was knocked unconscious; he knew they had finished one fight and there were several more to go.
“The fight?” He weakly croaked.
“The enemy pilot failed to calculate the impossible,” was her cryptic reply, followed by a replay of the kill cam footage on the HUD. She then informed him of the next objective, briefing him on the plan she assembled.
Recovered and alert, he re-assumed piloting functions. They were only a minute from their destination when he had a sudden thought. “Aurora, stop masking the IFR signature.” Starkindler hummed with approval, earning him an increase in Aurora’s respect. There would be more than ample time for cloak and dagger work, but they intentionally built their Mech armor to go toe-to-toe with the best the PDF could throw at them, and there was no time like the present to test those limits.
Seeing that the reactor could use the opportunity for additional cooling, Aurora opened the air vent just underneath the engines, allowing bitterly cold air into the chamber adjacent to the fusion reactor. Gouts of flame jetted forth from the open chamber, the air around Starkindler rippled and danced from the onslaught of heat, the local area instantly heating up by hundreds of degrees in an expanding radius.
On top of using the opportunity presented them without resorting to exhausting the reserve coolant, thereby saving it for later use when it might be more critical, her action allowed the infantry forces stationed around the Chimeras to track them with IFR via the glowing heat signature as if she just lit a signal beacon. The infantry served as the Command and Control for the deployed task force, relaying his location to the mechanized forces.
Mikkhael watched on the HUD as each of the different PDF armored groups turned and headed towards him at full speed, vengeance the only thing on their mind. Aurora seamlessly took over piloting as he turned to the threat monitor, cycling through the different groups, examining their components. She headed towards the location where they would make their next stand.
As they closed on the small massif set within a series of similarly sized, windswept, barren mountains, he realized just how ideal a defensive position it would be; a small mountain whose top had been weathered down nearly flat by the storms that blasted fine sand for months at a time across the surface. Looking out over a wide open plain, a leeward outcropping near the top was mostly flat; a landslide at one point left a barren, fairly level ledge roughly about four times the size of Starkindler swept clean by the wind, perfect for them to use.
They easily glided to the top. Mikkhael took over controls, needing the real world experience, gently settling the Mech armor’s bulk onto the ledge at first, testing its solidity before trusting it. Nestled against the cliff face as they were enabled them to use it as a backstop would also serve to protect them from that direction. While standing upright he decoupled the kite shield hanging from the left shoulder, gripping it in both of Starkindler’s hands whereupon he proceeded to slam the shield into the ground just in front of him, wedging it deep into the rock. He then uncoupled the auxiliary cannon looted from the supply pod and spent the next few minutes deploying the rifle and accompanying tripod. He shifted the Mech armor into a kneeling position, back to the rock wall, hiding in cover behind the shield with only the right arm and the attached cannon exposed.
The kite shield was made of crisscrossing layers of graphene infused with resin composites, engineered for brute strength. As ultra-modern as the materials were, the design of the shield was straight from the medieval time period with no improvements needed. The center of the shield was the thickest, behind which bands of resin infused carbon fiber inset layers of graphene served as struts, radiating incoming kinetic energy out to the shields tapered edges where it could dissipate more effectively. Bands of titanium ran horizontally across the back, preventing the shield from shattering even when critically overloaded.
This design allowed the center of the shield to absorb a direct hit from the strongest weapons the PDF could bring to bear and shake it off. The guiding principles behind the physical shield were not about making it invincible through raw strength, but instead relied on redirecting the energy throughout the entire shield and then away from Starkindler; and in that regard the shield performed exceedingly well while also providing a large area of coverage to hide behind.
The rail gun was simply a larger, more powerful version of Starkindler’s left arm, calibrated to fire titanium coated high explosive anti-Mech armor rounds up to four miles using flight-assisted shells. Additionally, a composite slug utilizing titanium tipped penetrator’s could be loaded for kinetic kill shots, able to pierce the thickest shields and armor. With a reload speed of only 2.5 seconds, the rail gun was the single most powerful cannon ever fielded by Mech armor or a tank, more akin to fixed artillery than a mobile weapon platform.
“Mikkhael, the power connection to the rail gun is good, reactor output is flowing steadily, and preparations are complete for rapid charging. Magnets in the primary cannon are linked up. Target assist has a good link and the rail gun is green across the board. We are good to go.” Aurora informed him.
For his part, Mikkhael quickly scanned the monitor showing the health of his Mech, making sure the magnets within the left arm were prepared to regulate the flow of power between the reactor and the rail gun. When he saw they were ready, he drained their charge and then rapidly repowered them, making sure that they could be drawn on for a burst of power in between charge cycles of the rail guns magnets.
Seeing the number of foes approaching, he tagged each of the
five high-explosive shells held in the rail guns magazine to an individual target; counting the one in the chamber he would have one in reserve. A unique feature held a single kinetic slug in a side magazine, ready to be used against one of the Marauder tanks in the vicinity. He detached the spare magazines from the side of the cannon and on the Starkindler’s back, laying out the spare pair of magazines neatly to either side of him, not wanting to put all of his eggs in one basket. Three additional kinetic slugs stood ready should they be needed.
Time in between each shot could vary depending on the amount of power drawn from the reactor and the type of target he was aiming for. A Slayer kill shot needed to be charged for the full seven seconds, flying or recharging the energy shields would add three seconds per shot, an eternity in battle where each second was an eternity. He would also be immobile, which broke the axiom, “Movement is life.” The magnets housed in the left arm stood ready as a reserve source of power to cut down the reload time between each shot.
Preparations were completed just as one of the PDF formations approached to within five miles of their position. In the background, Aurora kept up a running commentary to keep him from getting tunnel vision. Across the HUD, she tracked each local target. Now that they were nearly within firing range, she applied a combat overlay, populating the HUD with information tags: the type of each target, the class of Mech armor or tank, speed, estimated route, and whether or not the PDF were targeting them. Each marker on the HUD could be identified with even more detail when chosen individually. The only thing Mikkhael really watched for was the time until the approaching enemies entered his kill zone.
He waited impatiently, studying the enemy formation that approached, devising a kill order. The rail cannons effective range was four miles, and he could probably push four and a half miles with his elevated position relying on the shell’s fins. However, the time it took the shell to close on target would make hitting a moving target from that distance with the accuracy he desired that much more of a challenge, even with the help of the guidance fins. Especially once the PDF were aware of the enemy in their midst. He would not be able to snipe them from extreme distance with any sort of reliability and could only get the one initial shot before all hell broke loose. Circumstances dictated that he destroy the approaching column as quickly as possible; the stress built quickly so close to the moment of truth. He fidgeted nervously in his seat as he waited impatiently for the much more optimal range of two miles or less.
Knowing that he was in the local area, but because he moved away from the heat plume while fully cloaked, the PDF could not find him. They mistakenly ruled out the massif on the basis that their Mech’s could not make the climb, so instead they fanned out in a wide search formation, confident in the capability their numbers gave them to deal with the threat once identified. Three Slayer class Mech armor served as a screen, moving in tandem, separated by wide gaps shielding a heavy Marauder anti-grav tank trailing them by over a mile. They blasted the local area with sensors, active radar, infrared beams, and LIDAR, as well as scanning potential hiding spots with tight targeting beams of radar. They were making no attempt to keep their approach a secret; instead, they were announcing their presence in hopes of flushing him out.
Aurora laughed openly at how shaken and unaware of their position the PDF were. Even Mikkhael had to suppress a grin. Starkindler’s camouflage, masking abilities, and superior technology decided the outcome of this particular battle before it even began.
He’d heard a phrase back in his school days. “Hide in plain sight, still and silent, and you will be overlooked by moving eyes.” In this instance, the axiom proved true.
Slowly, the PDF closed another mile. As if sensing their enemy’s presence, they slowed their approach to search more thoroughly. Their efforts would be for naught.
Palms sweaty on the weapon handles, he felt adrenaline race through his body as Aurora fed him the accelerant drug cocktail through the IV. His entire body tensed in eager anticipation, keyed-up for the fight ahead. An itch that refused to go away irritated his face, but he refused to acknowledge the inconvenience; instead, he concentrated on the HUD, forcefully tuning everything else out as white noise. Every slow, measured breath seemed to take an eternity as the range finder showed the distance to the closest target continuing to count down.
The Slayers closed to within three miles with the Marauder class tank trailing them at just over four miles away. Aurora announced, “It’s time.” Time slowed even further for him, barely crawling as Mikkhael hyper-focused on his objectives, blocking everything else out. The itch was willed out of existence, his palms dry and nerves steady as the ability to act melted the stress away.
The lens on the pilot helmet lowered into place, serving as a linked scope for the cannon from his eyes to the oversized rail gun, waiting until then so he could watch the HUD. Aurora would now monitor the HUD and his surroundings for him serving as a spotter while the entirety of his world narrows to the size of a targeting reticle. She narrowed the center of the HUD, automatically centering on Mikkhael’s first target. A classic mini-map appeared on the top right corner of the scopes sight, displaying the positions of other members within the formation, forgotten for the next few seconds.
Mikkhael inhaled deeply as he drew a bead on the farthest Slayer from his position, laser rangefinder reading 4.26 miles away. He manually sighted the weapon, assuming responsibility for the rest of the fight and the consequences that would arise. He avoided alerting the Slayer by waiting until the very last second to use the powerful targeting laser. Caressing the trigger just a hair triggered the targeting laser, a warbling lock tone sounding in the cabin as the target lined up. He exhaled, emptying his lungs of air while mentally clearing out everything except the Mech armor down scope from him, during which a few milliseconds of pulsing light fed information to Aurora who silently corrected his aim, and then the rail gun fired.
Starkindler rocked with the force of the recoil but assumed the original prone firing position while Aurora guided the weapon towards their next target. The shell fired at full power with enough force that a shockwave violently fountained forth from the front of the barrel stretching nearly a hundred yards in front of their actual position; the titanium tipped shell forcing the air around it into an insulating cone, wrapping the depleted uranium core in a moving bubble of perfect calm as it raced away, holding the shell steady on course as the guidance fins deployed.
Without the noise characteristic of large shells due to specialized aerodynamics, the shell hurtled towards its final destination with singular deadly intent, thereupon violently ending itself upon the Slayer’s bulk. Striking the upper left breastplate where the armor was thickest from protecting the pilot, the penetrator utilized kinetic forces to power through the reactive armor, passing through shields and armor with ease. Once inside the frontal armor, the secondary explosive ignited, blowing the entire torso apart. The Slayer’s appendages and head unit were horrifically blown in opposing directions.
The center pilot was the first to react, firing on the side of the mountain without aiming. Using the shockwave as a point of reference, the pilot’s reaction time was impressive, training kicking in as he tried to pin down and prevent the unknown assailant from firing again. Sadly, the heroics were entirely pointless as Starkindler still hid safely in place behind the kite shield. Hearing the target lock-on warble in combination with the rail gun signaling enough charge to fire the 3.78 miles to the next target, Mikkhael fired on the center Slayer. The shell struck true even as the enemy pilot deployed chaff, flares, smoke, and other countermeasures. Mikkhael did not watch as the Slayer plumed into a raging column of fire.
Screaming in mechanical rage and impotence, the remaining Slayer peppered his position with rockets. Mikkhael ignored it, instead focusing on the Marauder quickly closing to within three miles, its own operating range. A Mech killer rocket fired from the tank followed immediately by a shell from the main cannon in a one-two punch combination
. Mikkhael gritted his teeth as, together with rockets from the Slayer, the incoming ordinance exploded around him, plastering the side of the massif with enough force that areas covered in sand melted and instantly refroze, transforming into glass the color of dried blood as the brutal cold flash-cooled the surface.
Restraints held him tightly in place as the mountain shook underneath and all around him, the pilot’s seat automatically tightening his harness while the impact gel absorbed most of the shock. The largest rocket struck the kite shield dead-center, the force of the explosion rocking Starkindler backwards, slamming its back into the rock wall. The tank shell landed wide, the explosion gouging deep into the rock face, temporarily filling the air above the massif with thick clouds of impenetrable dust and slowly falling debris. A large chunk of rock dislodged; striking against Starkindler’s left shoulder with a resonant bang before rolling away down the mountainside.
Pinned between the harness and the seat that protected him with its enveloping hug of molded impact gel, Mikkhael realized that his hands had slipped loose from their wrist enclosures, he had no way to fight back in his current state, unable to reach the weapon triggers. Without any other option, he had to ask Aurora for help. “Use a tank killer, knock that Marauder out!”
Starkindler (MechaVerse Series Book 1) Page 16