If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
-Sun Tzu, The Art of War
�If you newbies have an enemy VT in your monitor and forget what I�ve taught you, you�re screwed.�
- Lt. Steven Wisdom, CO 1st Special Panzer Troop, 32nd Special Panzer Battalion PRAFC
16:47:05 Zulu April 19, 2080 � Quai Jin Mountain Range, Northern Hai Shi Dao
Warrant Officer Toji Kageru was already dead. He just didn�t know it yet. He was pushing his Decider as hard as possible as he retreated for the entrance to the expansive mountain range. There was only one thought racing through his mind as his 24 meter-tall mech smashed through the trees to what he hoped would be safety � They�re all dead!
16:40:54 Zulu
WO1 Kageru is currently the last surviving member of the Pacific Rim Forces 34th Special Panzer Battalion�s 6th Special Panzer Troop. A total of nine Vertical Tanks and an artillery/logistics fire support team had entered this maze of mountains less than thirty minutes ago. This nightmare had begun when 2nd Platoon radioed the group with the odd phrase, �Sir, we�ve found some doors.� After that everyone�s radios filled with screams and half-orders that were nearly impossible to make out over the sounds of explosions. Within a few seconds the radios of 2nd platoon went silent.
Kageru�s LT had started to give the order to advance to 2nd Platoon�s position when at that moment his cockpit monitor went red and the missile alert warning screamed at him. Fortunately for him, it was his LT they were aiming for. He watched as his lieutenant took two direct missile hits near his main body unit and commenced the slow but steady fall associated with a machine as large as a building. Kageru�s fellow wingman, WO3 Jung Lee, instantly reacted by launching chaff and started searching for the source of the incoming fire. Kageru too began to check his radar while at the same time bringing his Decider�s 315 mm SB gun (Smooth Bore) to bear in the general direction where he thought the fire had come from.
�Nothing on radar, but they have to be close! That�s the only way those missiles could have hit before we threw chaff. Where the hell are they?!!!� Lee growled with clenched teeth.
�LT? S..S..Sir? Can you move?� Kageru sputtered.
�I�m down hard. My armor�s toast. You two fall back to the rendezvous point with�.� The lieutenant never finished as two cannon rounds punched through the remains of his damaged VT and cracked his plasma bottle. The distinctive crackling sound of electricity discharging could be heard as the magnetic seal failed and 50 kilograms of electrically-charged plasma leaked into the atmosphere surrounding the lieutenant�s VT. The air and armor remains in the immediate vicinity instantly ignited as the superheated plasma contacted it. Then the rest simply exploded. It�s not a huge explosion, but just enough to send pieces of the destroyed VT into the air surrounding the two wingmen.
Before Kageru could even react to the horror he had just seen, Lee shouted.
�Got a visual! Two of them moving in. They�re on your 270, Kageru. One klick out! Damn! How�d they get so close�still nothing on radar.�
Kageru now turned his turret and monitor to face their attackers. Even though they did not register on radar he could see them. How could he miss them. They were huge. There were two of them. He couldn�t recognize the design at all. They couldn�t be HSD VTs, could they? What he could recognize is that one of them was armed with an AVTDV Guided Missile pod while the other had something huge on its shoulder, but he couldn�t tell what it was. It almost looked like some kind of drill�
�Kageru! Wake up! You heard the LT. Move to point Bravo. Pop smoke and chaff all the way there. I�ll lay down cover fire. Move!� Lee growled.
Kageru had served with Lee for over a year now. They had stormed the beachhead at Kwoolon Bay when the counter-offensive against Hai Shi Dao had begun. He remembered the hail of cannon fire, the dozens of Giraffe automated mobile cannons firing on them as they moved ashore. He had watched many VTs and their pilots fall that day. Why was he so scared now?
Because you�re being hunted. Was his mind�s reply.
Kageru didn�t hesitate now. He turned his VT away from his attackers while facing his turret towards them. He started firing chaff and smoke grenades in order to mask his escape. Lee was obviously not using his auto-lock since the two VTs didn�t register on radar. He was firing line-of-sight, which can be difficult even when you�re targets are huge and you�re using a 315 mm cannon. He could see them side step his first shot and watched as one shell bounced harmlessly off the enemy mech�s leg armor.
He�s not going to make it. Was all Kageru thought as he turned to run.
As if to punctuate that point, another enemy VT suddenly emerged from a recess in two of the hills less than 450 meters from Lee.
He was just sitting there that whole time? He was waiting for the others to occupy us. Oh God Lee!
�Lee!!! On your 90!!!� But it was too late.
The enemy VT was already at a full run as Lee was turning to face him. This VT also had a large drill-like unit on its shoulder. The drill started rotating as it closed on Lee�s Decider. As it reached the last 100 meters it went into a �death glide�. This is a dash maneuver that VTs can use when melee combat is required. It can temporarily overheat the systems in most VTs and is only used once you�re committed to an attack. In this case the attack was successful as the drill penetrated Lee�s main body unit before he could complete his turn. It was almost like watching a knife go into another man rather than a giant drill into a giant mech. There were sparks as the drill bored into Lee�s reactive armor and within less than two seconds the sound of a plasma bottle rupturing could again be heard. He never even heard Lee scream.
So fast! No melee weapon is that fast!
If WO1 Toji Kageru was scared before, he was absolutely terrified now. He began running on instinct now. He turned his back on his two fallen comrades and their attackers and started a mad dash to where 4th Platoon was holding position. Missile warnings were blaring in his cockpit but nothing hit him due to the huge cloud of chaff he left in his wake. Despite his terror he at least remembered how to run effectively. As he covered ground he scanned the command radio frequencies in order to contact 4th platoon. The line was all static.
No way! They have to be there.
Kageru cycled the comm system to the other command channels. As he almost reached the Transport Command frequency, he caught something on one of the mid-bands. The voices sounded Russian or eastern European. He couldn�t understand most of it, but managed to recognize one word�Jaralaccs. It all made sense now. He had to get out of here. He had to warn the Division commanders.
16:49:03 Zulu
Kageru passed through the remains of 4th Platoon at Point Bravo and didn�t stop. He plotted a direct line back to the transports. Unfortunately, they were over 20 klicks away. He had tried to raise them with no success.
Did they get them too? No�they�re jamming me.
Kageru was now 3 klicks from the opening pass leading to the large grassy plain that in turn led to the transports. Once he clears the mountains he should be able to raise someone on the comm. He could now see the opening ahead. Had he made it? He fervently began rotating his turret as he ran to look for pursuit. There didn�t appear to be any. As his turret began to face towards the pass, his cockpit came alive with another missile warning. He instinctively hit the chaff button. Nothing happened.
No...No�I used it all. No.
The missile struck his left side but given his movement it wasn�t a full-on impact. He stumbled but corrected as he kept forward momentum. There was now a fire in his cockpit and flames began to lick the side of his face. He extinguished them and coughed from the extinguisher as he continued to move. He was almost there. He tuned his radio to the primary command channel and began to pray to whatever God would listen to him. However, as if the gods had denied him, three missile warnings popped up on his monitor. He had just cleared the pass.
��I say again, anyone from Troop 6 reading me? This is Command Station Alpha. Over.� The sound came through loud and clear in Kageru�s headphones.
Toji Kageru had never been a hero. He had lived a simple life in a fishing village not far from Osaka. He had joined the service when he turned 18 in hopes of escaping the simple routine of a fisherman�s life. His last act on this earth was not about warning others or saving lives. A more simple thought had taken hold of his mind�revenge. Hope that his comrades would come back and avenge his death. A smile curled on his lips as he spoke.
�Jaralaccs are��
All three missiles struck simultaneously. A familiar crackling sound could be heard over the plains.