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[Dominik]

"Command this is Romeo 1, beginning patrol at nav Gamma."

It was only a moment before a female voice returned the announcement. "10-4 one, Stay frosty out there."

Dominik chuckled within the dim interior of his raven 2X before a gloved hand touched the comms link lightly. "Not too hard mum. The weather is reading in the -30's."

"Thanks for the weather report, I'll put on a toque."

The humm of the raven's XL engine sounded as Dominik pushed forward on the throttle, and within seconds it was drowned out again by the rhythmic, muted thump of steel pressing to crunchy snow. It had been a slow day. More like a slow week really. But then he couldn't complain much. Aggressions were low since the Suns and Capellans had reached a new tenuous truce six months ago, and that meant a shortage of hotzone merc contracts.

A person took what they could get in times like these, even if it meant little more than room, board, keep, and repair while running perimeter patrol at a mining colony. Sure, without potential for salvage rights you didn't gain much- but at least you didn't need to worry about replacing limbs and weapons either. It all works out in the end really.

~Heat detected. Unknown signature.~

Dom straightened in his chair, a hand idly scratching at the rough, seemingly permanent five o'clock shadow at his chin. "Confirm."

Betty was silent a moment as the Raven's AI did a second sweep before responding in her usual nonchalant way. ~Confirmed. Heat source detected and marked. 2.2 Km range. Moving.~

Well then, that's interesting... "Mum I have heat on my scope two clicks to my..." He paused to double check, "north-north-east. Is anyone out for groceries?"

"Negative Romeo one, the fridge is stocked."

"10-4 mum, changing route to intercept. Give me five mikes."

"Marked. If i don't hear from you I'll send the Cavalry."

The shadowed form of Dominiks raven throttled back slightly to make a neat, rounded turn before coming up to a half-throttle trot across the snow-covered landscape. The paint looked black in the early morning light, but as the sun crested and brought light across the planets false dawn, the undertones of forest green and red-orange splotches of a camoflaged pattern became visible before the unit slipped between ancient, snow-laden evergreens.

"Full active, Betty."

Unlike most long time pilots, Dominik preferred to keep the AI in its original, emotionless, personality free format. he found the calm rhythm of the voice to be simpler. More professional. And familiar as it intoned its procedures between the now muffled thuff thuff thuff of his raven trudging through the deepened snow cover.

~Capacitors online. LRM racks armed.~
Thuff thuff thuff thuff...
~Weapons and tracking systems online. All systems nom- Lock detected, incoming missiles.~

"Sonnova!" Dominik cranked hard on the throttle and flight stick, turning the mech torso then leg as his left foot mashed down lurching the normally graceful raven into a hard turn around the broad trunk of a nearby evergreen. The mech leaned into the turn, the agile feet slanting against the snow and frozen ground as the mech's left armature tore bark and shook snow from the branches that towered overhead despite the machine's size.

His raven didn't have an ecm, which left Dominik weaving with the throttle pushed as high as he dared to use the trees as his shelter as a flaming salvo chased him down.

"Romeo one to command. Under fire repeat, under fire. Unknown assailent under ECM. .."

Dominik glanced at his sensor screen and cursed. Three more heat sigs blipped into place, one of which was only three hundred meters away but hidden in the loose forest.

~Comms blocked, unable to reroute. Connection to command and satlink disrupted.~

The calm tone of Betty sobered Dominik. He paused. Focused. His eyes narrowed.
"All right then, let's play this game."

[Dominik]

Ok, A bit of a choppy intro there. ... let's see if I can make this one a bit better.
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The laser, as a weapon, is surrounded with interesting phenomena. For example people are routinely surprised to learn that the beam itself makes no sound at all. If you were to be standing in the open and a beam passed right by your ear, it would be no different than the flash of a light bulb or a laser pointer at some schoolhouse atrium. The sources of the sound are actually twofold- first, the release of intense levels of energy from charged capacitors creating the heavy, electric whine whose tone varies slightly depending on the intensity of the beam. The second is the burn and hiss of metals and other materials being heated and sublimating directly to gasses. Sometimes those gasses, contained at the point of impact like a bubble of steam, are also flammable when at temperatures reaching the level of the surface of the sun- leading to localised explosions or sparks of flame and slag.

Or, in the case of a hapless tree skirted by the desperate flight of a Raven class light mech, a shrapnel-laden explosion as the beam bored itself into the trunk to vaporize and ignite the slow-running sap in such a confined space. the flash made Dominik blink and curse as a variety of sizes of toothpick rained over the canopy of his mech. He turned sharply again, guiding the mech through a pair of foot peddals that controlled the direction of the lower body, and pulling on the joystick in his right hand to ensure the torso followed suit. The remainder of the sweeping lance of light skipped almost harmlessly in a line across the rear left and center torso. It scored the armor, but not enough for the damage to truly register on his systems.

"Damnit Betty I don't care how precise it is. I just need an idea of where I am. Now engage location tracking through dead reckoning if you have to. Reference back through heading and speeds as logged from last confirmed known position. Then put it on the map."

"Working."

Dominik's canopy shuddered, and the Raven's step lurched forward as an impact shifted its center of gravity before the system servos and gyros straightened the unit without hardly losing a step. The hit was hard, for a second Dom feared it was direct and had already punched through the relatively thin armor and anything else in its path. But no internals warnings lit up. The angle was imperfect and it skipped past at a new angle. The armor held, albeit with a deep scar and buckling.

"Damnit that was an Autocannon! I need a route to Sierra, Betty, and sooner would be better!"

Dominik checked the mission clock. it had been two minutes before the attack began, and only a minute since it started. Seconds were an eternity during a firefight at the best of times, but he was alone against a hunchback that was determined to chase him down, apparently a ballistic version, and three others supporting him that he had yet to see. not that he cared to. If he couldn't get clear of the jamming he would have to wait two full minutes before a contact attempt was made, and at least another before command determined contact was lost. then they would have to confirm through satnav, get the other soldiers at the mining colony mobile, warm up the mechs...

His only chance was to get to open ground where he could pour on the gas. In the trees the hunchback, normally much bulkier and slower, maintained a dead heat as Dom could only go so fast and still avoid the trees, and he had to pick around the younger saplings that the hunch could just plow through without fear of getting slowed or hung up.

"Dead reconing complete. Current position accurate to within five-hundred meters."

"That'll have to do. Plot primary route to nearest open ground. Secondary route to Nav Sierra."

Dominik's heads up display added a pair of small arrows onto the digital compass, labelled 'A' and 'B' respectively. And with good timing. He realized the hunchback had been herding him, using the threat of streams of medium laser fire to deter him from heading for the open and face him deeper into the forest. He was going in nearly the opposite direction.

Dominik took a gamble. He needed distance to get turned around. Just seconds would do. A press of a control set his beams to chain fire, and after another heavy knock from an autocannon shell ricocheting from his left upper left torso, he let loose on the trees. Lances of green wavelength fire cut into the old forest with as much accuracy as he could muster in the chaos of activity, sending bits of wood, smoking bark, and the occasional grenade-like explosion from trunk after trunk. Most of the trees that he hit held aloft, but each shot that climbed his heat guage towards the red sent tremors through branches, dislodging piles of snow from many laden branches and sending three or four full trees to toppling- one of which he had to throttle up for to scoot under.

~Heat critical.~ betty droned in her matter of fact way, and the trigger was released. With a torso twist and check over the shoulder, he saw the field behind him in a wash of falling snow, leaves, branches, and trees. Even if the hunchback could see him, it wouldn't have a clear shot or path.

The Raven slowed the staccato rhythm of footfalls, taking advantage of a narrow clearing to lean around into a tight about face and stopped. A lull had centered in. Silence only penetrated by the gradually fading volume of his heat alert and the heartbeat like feel of his cooling suit working to keep up with his adrenaline and the heat of the cabin. His hand tightened on the throttle. His jaw tightened. He was facing to open ground, now he just had to get there.

A crash sounded to Dominik's left and he torso twisted to face it, his other hand cranking forward on the throttle. The raven lurched forward just as the hunchback crushed its way through one of the fallen trees and fired. Green light drew crooked and jittering, molten scars over the armor of his left leg, armature, torso, and grazed the edges of his canopy. Dominik took a passing shot back as he passed by within a mere fifty meters of the enemy. He aimed for the cockpit, dancing his four beams in a unified tight circle as he fought the motions of his raven to be on target. Of course even with a direct hit there was no way such a hit could penetrate even if it was perfectly on target. But thankfully the driver's survival instincts kicked in and he twisted his own torso- spreading the damage at the sacrifice of taking Dominik out of his AC's crosshairs.

The hunchback swung back just as Dominik cut the treeline at the edge of the clearing and a final bark of the autocannon rang out. The driver had led his target almost perfectly, and if it wasn't for a dip in the raven's next step lowering his profile the round would have hit directly to the hip of his left leg. Instead it hit the lower portion of his already damaged left torso.

There was a hollow, ear-shaking *BWONG* that conducted itself along the armor plating, through the insulations and Myomar, and centered inside of the cockpit. Alerts rang out. Lights turned from green and yellow to deep, flashing red. As far as the mech's condition was concerned the hit was much, much worse than a shot to the leg.

~Armor penetration. Critical damage. Secondary gyro inoperative. Torso actuator jammed. Primary medium laser inactive. Secondary medium laser inactive. Core heatsinks inoperative.~

The raven lurched, listing to the side dangerously as Betty tried to compensate for the loss of the gyro. Dominik felt the heady tingle of his neurohelmet trying to keep up with his own instinctive need to shift for balance, the system reading cues from his own body to mimic and right itself. The hunchback opened up with an alpha strike, sensing the opportunity and aiming for a defined kill. Cursing and grunting Dominik heaved bodily against his controls, gritting his teeth with a chant of "C'mon C'mon C'MON!"

The raven stepped forward and the initial salvo of medium lasers missed their mark, forced to sweep after him as the raven stepped again, picking up speed far more slowly than Dominik would have liked. The torso twitched at the apex of the stride, like a toddler faltering with its first try to walk, but it kept going. The autocannon was late to fire, having been on the reload. The round was plain as day in the split second it took to cross the view of his canopy. A blurred dark lump as wide as his head, trailing a vapor of distorted air and passing by harmlessly. The shockwave vibrated the clear-steel panes in their framing, and he was off through the trees.

"Betty give me a damage report."

Almost immediately a detailed list of red scrolled his tactical screen. It felt as long as his arm. His eyes rolled sarcastically.

"Anything else?"

~Core temperature unmanageable. Heat sink damage prevents adequate dissipation. Temperature is rising at 1.8 kelvin per second at current velocity and activity. Use of heat generating systems is highly discouraged.~

"I had to ask."

[Dominik]

Dominik glanced over the heat readouts for the umpteenth time as he weaved and twisted a crooked line to open ground. Each time he scowled as if somehow the fierceness of the expression could scare the reading into becoming lower. ...So far it wasn't working, and the guage climbed slowly upwards one click at a time as the seconds ticked.

it also seemed the Hunchback was holding off on firing for the time being. Their skirmish had turned into a silent chess game of Dominik maneuvering in as unpredictable a fashion as he could manage, and trying to stay one step ahead of a clear shot from the Hunchback still determined to introduce him to non-existence. So far he was keeping ahead and out of the crosshairs, but he was pushing the limits of his damaged mech. Still it could have been worse. If that round had hit the intended target, his leg would have been disabled if not shorn off. He just counted his blessings that for the moment, he was mobile.

The raven teetered slightly as it dipped down and up the shoreline of a narrow stream, but in the brief slit of open ground he did not see any sign of the hunchback. ... or any of the other mechs he spotted when this all started scant minutes ago. The hunchback was no doubt hot on his heels, as revealed with the heat signature blipping on his tac screen a few hundred meters off. But the missing others puzzled him and his brain worked overdrive splitting between understanding why, and planning his next move. Even with his speed open ground was an even larger gamble than the last little maneuver he pulled. There would be no cover to break up a new volley of LRM fire, Lasers moved at the speed of light so dodging was an impossibility, and then there was that AC/20 to deal with. All he could really do is crank the speed, heat be damned, and try to get out of range. Or at least out from under the jamming and in contact with command.

Dominik held on to that thought as the trees opened into the wide fields more familiar to his week of patrols. With a sigh that was almost relief, he pushed the throttle up to full and began his sprint, changing his direction to head straight for Sierra point. It was a water pumping station set on the thick ice of a lake used to feed the mine and the res attached to it.

~Caution, heat increasing at 3.1 kelvin per second with current activity. Estimated time to shutdown temperature; 2 minutes thirty four seconds.~

Sure. Spoil my moment. Dom wiped a bead of sweat from under his neurohelm as he focused on the level, open terrain. At least he was gaining ground. By the time the red heat signature of the hunchback cleared the treeline he was well out of the effective range of a medium laser. Even if the beam hit it would be unfocused and be barely enough to heat the plating.

*KWONG!*

The Autocannon, however, still could hit like a truck. Thankfully the round that hit was once again off center, skipping off the right hip at too shallow of an angle to bite into the armor, but turning the armor status from a light yellow to deep orange. With the weakened gyro system it was still enough to disrupt his balance though, and the mech stumbled losing precious speed. There were no follow ups, and no LRM fire either as he had been fearing. Even if the other mechs were left behind in the trees he would have been in range and an easy target.

"Damn!" Dominik punched a bare panel. he had to get out of jamming range and fast. The other pilots must have left him to the hunchback and continued their way to the mining base. "Betty, ping Command every three seconds with this text; 'unknown forces en route. Four heat signatures, at least one bearing long range missiles. Currently engaged with an AC/20 hunchback and have suffered heavy damage. Do -not- rescue. repeat do -not- rescue. Hold at base for incoming.' and notify me the instant it is received."

~confirmed.~

Eternal seconds ticked by. Nav Sierra was only three kilometers away and he was closing fast. He would be on the lake itself in two. He needed a plan to either shake or drop the hunchback and, in his current condition, either one seemed to have a chance rating between slim and none. The ice was thick enough to support his light, and as he finally reached the shore and stepped out he didn't even touch the throttle. A week of running the route day in and day out had him familiar with the spots strong enough to support him.

The Hunchback, now a full kilometer away, didn't hesitate either.

Dominik was close to the pumping station. The site itself was not much to look at really, consisting of a central quick-raise steel house that protected the pumping equipment and a small reactor, and a series of insulated pipes that led off directly towards the mine proper nearly ten kilometers away. The station was set to the deepest point of the lake so they could ensure enough volume of sustainable flow through the meter-wide piping. Dominik throttled back to near nothing and took a final moment to think. The heat guage was over 50%. Not enough for any more than a volley or two before shutdown.

Dominik reached above his head and released a series of safeties, hearing the hiss of released compression as a panel unlocked in the lower rear of his mechs torso. His fingers danced over a number pad near the throttle stick, there was a muffled sound of hydraulics, and a notice blinked over his status screen that LRM ammo was now depleted to 15 rounds. The rounds already racked for firing. Then he throttled back up as the Hunchback threatened to close, imagining that to an onlooker it would have appeared that his mech just stopped and took a dump before continuing on its way. The image made him chuckle despite himself, and he coaxed his mech behind the meager cover of the pumphouse, which reached up to the level of his cockpit and shielded the worse-damaged portions of his mech. He turned to face the advancing hunchback, lining his crosshairs on the small ammo dump resting on the ice three hundred meters out.

~Heat holding steady with current activity. Current levels at 73%~

"Wait for it..." Dominik spoke to no one as he tensed. The Hunchback was closing. it was obvious the pilot knew something was up. Anyone with the brainpower to walk and breathe at the same time would know something was off. The hunchback was at seven hundred meters and slowed. But it didn't stop. Well within AC range. Not quite for beam. ...Maybe he wanted to conserve ammo.

At five hundred meters, Dominik set the last of his LRM's to dumbfire, allowing him to launch them without a lock. The pilot must have been determined to get a kill. He kept advancing. Slowly. The mech lifted its arms slightly as it aimed.