Posted 12 July 2016 - 01:15 PM
Silence lay oppressively over the green sward. The four Mechs faced the lone Quickdraw 4H across the distance. One of the pilots shifted his feet nervously, the pedals linking his jittery movements to his Mech's legs and tearing open the green grass to reveal a black, earthy loam below. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the silence was broken by radio static, "Attention unidentified pilot, you are suspected of being a Brethren Pirate. Power down your Mech and step out of your cockpit immediately!"
There was a short interval of silence, then the Quickdraw spoke, "You can have my Mech when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers. Now are you gonna use those ACs, or just stand there and whistle Dixie?"
For a moment, the Kuritan pilots sat in their Dragons, stunned at the audacity of the Quickdraw pilot. The next moment though, the morning stillness was torn asunder as the Quickdraw started moving. The Mech launched into a dead run like an Olympic athlete, pounding towards the nearest Dragon. Reacting quickly, the Kuritan pilots started firing their autocannons. Shots ripped through the air, but the nimble Quickdraw dodged aside and launched a salvo of SRMs. The corkscrewing missiles shredded the center torso of one of the Dragons, opening holes into the armor and staggering the Mech. Instantly, the Quickdraw followed the missiles with a volley of Medium Pulse Lasers. The green, jewel-like pulses stabbed rapidly into the gaps in the armor, and black smoke began pouring out of the holes. The Dragon moved sluggishly forward, it's gun arm outstretched, then staggered and fell face-first to the ground, it's engine badly damaged.
The other three Dragons swiveled to track the Quickdraw as it sprinted past them. As their guns came into line with it, the Quickdraw stopped, planted its feet, and jumped sideways towards them. It rose quickly into the air atop jets of flame, once again dodging the incoming AC fire from the Dragons. The Dragons, unable to look upwards very high, lost sight of the rocketing Quickdraw and began backpedaling to bring it back into their view. They were too late though as the Quickdraw came crashing down atop the nearest Dragon in the infamous "Death-from-Above" maneuver. Its cockpit crushed, the Dragon toppled over as the Quickdraw riding it to the ground.
As the Dragon hit the ground on its back, the Quickdraw was angled forwards and partly parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular to it. Once again, the pilot triggered his jump jets and launched, just as the remaining two Dragons resumed their fire. The shots narrowly missed, kicking up a spray of dirt and grass as they slammed into the ground. The Quickdraw brought its knee up as it launched itself into the air, point black towards the nearest Dragon. The knee smashed the Dragon in its oversized chest, flipping it over backwards. The pilot was snatched around hard in his command couch, but had little time to consider the pain as the Quickdraw landed on his chest, one knee down in the center of it while the other leg was outstretched to maintain balance. Before he could react though, the Quickdraw fired forward at the last upright Dragon.
The final pilot, wary of shooting at the Quickdraw while it knelt atop his ally, hesitated to fire. The mistake cost him his Mech as the Quickdraw's alpha strike drilled into his left torso. The missile detonations staggered him badly as volley after volley of emerald pulse lasers chewed apart the torso like so much meat in a grinder. Suddenly and with a terrible screeching sound, the left torso pulled apart from the main body and fell heavily to the ground. Off-balance, the Dragon staggered sideways as the pilot fought the feedback through his nerohelmet, his vision swimming before his eyes. As the Dragon fell to the ground despite the efforts of its pilot, the Mech twisted sideways until it's left torso was facing the Quickdraw. Without mercy, the Quickdraw fired its missiles into the massive hole, eviscerating both the engine and the gyro. Instantly, the Dragon stopped squirming and lay still.
The pilot under the Quickdraw held his breath, waiting to see what would happen to him. The Quickdraw slowly bent forward until its cockpit was facing the Dragon's. Then the pilot's voice crackled over the radio again, "I'm going to let you live and keep your Mech. You go back to your Commander, and tell him that The Brethren Pirates send him their regards. Tell him that the next time he wants to catch a Pirate, that he had better send someone who can fight."
With that, the Quickdraw stood up and then sprinted off into the distance, disappearing behind a low hill and leaving the Dragon behind alone. As the Kuritan watched the Mech leave, he reflected that he would likely need to change his pants before he made his report to his commanding officer.