Periphery Patrol: Fringe Benefits
 
By: Galaxy Commander Lancelot "Casual" Caird
 
Periphery patrols are always tense. There is just no getting around that. When you have the controls of a war machine in your grasp, the heat of the engines drawing the sweat from your pores like steel to a magnet, and the weight of a neurohelmet on your head it is like an IV infusion of adrenaline into your very being. Add this "sugar" to the dark chocolate-covered cake that is Periphery Patrol and you wind up a bundle of nerves ready to explode on the first infraction of your space. Unless you are a trained veteran.

There are times when I still feel the rush, the excitement that comes from experiencing the shake while dancing in the wake of an LRM cluster. But those battles are rare. For the most part it is systematic now. Move in for the kill, declare Wolverines the victor, and move on to the next opponent much like the master tacticians of Rome felt I would imagine. However, in the late afternoon hours of a recent patrol that excitement returned.

I had decided to take a respite from my usual influx of paperwork and relieved Mechwarrior Falconer and his wing Cadet Sterces from their patrol route, deciding that a jaunt along the borders of our outpost detail would do the spirit good. Having been newly promoted, Star Colonel Nightsniper was eager to accompany me. So we set out, heading west along the foothills of the alpine range at a good clip. I was comfortably set in the cockpit of my Loki, Pappy III. Col. Nightsniper was keeping pace in a borrowed Mad Cat MK II, his Loki, Bullseye, having been requisitioned for a routine maintenance and servicing check by our head technician.

The day had started out cold, but clear. Our weather reports indicated a change in pattern that was driving a blizzard into our faces before evening set in. The winds and pending snow flurries were not my concern however. About one hundred and fifty clicks from the mech-hanger when Control voiced over our radios informing us of potential hazard bearing 240 North by northwest; two indicators stepping high and fast. It looked as though things would get interesting after all.

I informed Control that we were moving to intercept, twisting my torso to scan the horizon before setting the pace for my wing. There had been sporadic reports over the past month of pirate raids in this area. Wolverine frontier that was untamed as of yet harbored mining camps across this planet's north continent. The constant storms that rage in the mountains make it difficult for scans to pick up advancing raiders, and the high-speed winds that ravage the craggy peaks make it about impossible to do recon fly-overs. Most of the patrols being ran in that area are made up of two to four point teams, currently protected by the Demon Knight Galaxy, Brimstone Cluster, 101st Binary, and the Hellsfire Cluster, 102nd Binary.

I checked my payload, made sure Pappy III wasn't freezing up at the pivotal parts, and set in switching my attention between the radar and the frosted view through my tinted cockpit windows. The bulk of Col. Nightsniper's MK II was easily visible through the trees about forty meters off my right auto cannon. We were in a comfortable gait, easily approaching a small miner's provisioning post. I had to really think to remember the name of the outpost… Fringe Benefits I believe it was called. I had met the General Ordinance Clerk a while back on another patrol I had shared with Col. Deacon. He was an older man, a fellow whose son had signed on in one of my sibko's earlier in his career. The poor kid had fallen prey to an IS missile boat that sent two salvos of twenties up his tailpipe. He never even had the chance to eject. Judging from the information being relayed to us via Control we would be fighting on his grounds and I did not like that. Khan Wraith Mandaka's latest orders were to try and facilitate positive relations with the civilian population and blowing up one's business was not on the list of things to do in order to achieve this goal.

“Night,” I began my radio transmission leaning forward in my seat and peering up through the tumbling flakes of snow. “Fringe is up there, another five clicks at the most.”

“I know sir.” He replied. Night's attention to detail was one of the reasons I had promoted him two weeks before he was due.

“We need to move intercept before they reach the settlement or we will be picking up the lumber.”

“Aff sir. I suggest the mountain pass two clicks north of hear. It might advance us enough that we can beat the clock on this one.” Nightsniper's mech splashed across a small stream as he finished his discourse.

I knew of the pass. It was more of a ravine really. An area that the Wolverine Engineers had marked as a possible mining site in the future should the resources come available any time soon. I gave the go and we floored the throttle. I had to hold back just a tad on my acceleration, but in taking the lead position I allowed for a little play in the speed.

We traversed a good portion of the pass, the inclement weather turning heavier the deeper into the mountains we went. I heard Col. Nightsniper plotting our course with command and receiving Intel feed about the bogey's positions. It looked as though we would be a little late. The battle would take place at the settlement of Fringe Benefits. So, we had to change tactics.

“Colonel, our primary objective will be to avoid engaging the bogeys while on Fringe's turf. Looks like we are reduced to being negotiators.” “Aff sir.” I could tell by the dry tone of his voice that Night did not appreciate the order. Well, I certainly did not appreciate the role we were going to have to play either and Control would get an ear-full for not picking this infringement up earlier when we got back to base camp. As the thought finished processing my radar lit up. Two indicator blips streaking towards us from behind. They were carrying the signature of Wolverine aerospace so my initial reaction to turn and engage was stalled.

“Flight Blue Omega coming in on your six Galaxy Commander. Control wants a fly by of the bogeys to get a better read, low altitude six by six. Weather has made scans turn ugly.”

“Copy that Omega Lead. Continue course.” Finally Control had picked up the pace a little! I watched as the pair of Stingrays darted through the spotted sky overhead to vanish silently in the mass of boiling gray clouds towards the last enemy mark.

“Galaxy Commander Caird, this is Control, do you copy?”

”Affirmative. Control, this is Caird.“ What now?

“Tech Sergeant Gonzales's team of MFB's are closing in fast on your position. We have ordered them in as back up just in case.” The static over the radio was evidence of the pending blizzard's interference.

“Good call Control.” Another mark in their favor. Maybe I would lay off the reprimand. “Get them in contact with Fringe Benefits and evacuate the civilians to their shelters. Have the Tech Sergeant stand by in reserve at -” I switched my garbled satellite feed to a topo-picture of the mountains and punched in a navigation point. “- Nav point Gamma.”

“Yes sir. Control out.”

“Things are starting to come together.” Col. Nightsniper broke in.

“Aff. That they are.” I settled back in my seat for the remainder of the ride, my body falling into the practiced motion of Pappy III's sway.

Three minutes passed before Control returned to my cockpit via the radio. They informed me that Flight Omega Blue had marked the bogeys as Mad Cats. Mech's paint was mismatched, verifying that they were pirates. From the sigil crudely painted on their chassis they heralded from the 10th Death's Dimension band. A periphery parasite that we have not been able to pin down. This would be a sincere pleasure if the pirates had the balls to stick out the fight. More often than not they turned tail and ran. We had recently picked up a recruit from their ranks. A good pilot with clean ideals by the name of Fenris. How he had been mixed up with this lot I will never even hazard a guess.

Shortly after the revelation Night informed me that he had contact. According to our position we were coming in on Fringe and within a couple of seconds I had two red lights flashing on my radar screen.

“You ready for this Night?”

“Aff sir. We will light 'em up.”

With the confirmation in hand I switched my radio to general frequency and began the play.

“This is Galaxy Commander Lancelot Caird hailing 10th Death's Dimension. Repeat, two Mad Cats approach bearing twenty five degrees north by northwest do you copy?” Politics. What a game.

Static.

I tried again. This time extending the range of frequencies by another two hundred. This time I received a reply.

“Hail GalCom. This is (static) Mechman whatcha want?”

I had to chuckle at the audacity behind the simple response. Dropping all formal pretense I continued.

“What I want is for your to get off our land and out of our space, but I will settle for your hide.”

“That is diplomacy?” Col. Nightsniper laughed over the private channel.

“Aff Colonel. I am speaking their language.” I chuckled again.

“Let's see here… Lancelot wasn't it?” There was a sneering tone in the relay. “You are running around in a Loki and your partner there in a Mark II and you are telling us to git!? Oh you clanners split my sides sometimes. Do your best to remove us Galaxy Commander Lancelot Caird. Do your best.”

I sighed and turned off the communication. “Well, Colonel, you heard them. Time to light the fires and burn the pyres.”

“Already started sir.”

We broke from the treeline and stomped across the cement compound on the east side of Fringe. The Tech Sergeant had done a good job at evacuating the place, it looked empty. As we thundered through the settlement I spotted the MFB's tucked in between two hangers used to house transport vessels during maintenance and poor weather. Pointing them out needlessly to Nightsniper I returned my focus to the radar.

“Twelve hundred meters sir.” Night reported.

“Aff. Break right, standard flanking. Keep that Cat on the edge Night. I will dance with them up close.”

“Aff sir. They will never know what hit them. Eight hundred meters sir. They are just over those hills there.”

“Got them. Moving in.”

I twisted Pappy III's torso to align with their pending approach and veered to the left. The hills were covered with snow with darker patches of barren earth shocking the eye near their base. If the pirates were smart they would use those hills to their advantage. Sure enough one of them rose above the ridge and twisted towards my, the Mad Cat's missile pods opening for release.

“Engaged!” I called as I depressed the trigger, feeling the recoil of my lasers and auto cannons discharge and watching the armor on the nose of the enemy mech splay apart under the impact. The jolt of my attack destroyed the pilot's aim and the salvo of LRM's that they had probably stolen from our reserves flew wide and to the right.

“I have them in my sights. Firing!” Night's report flowed in just slightly faster than the salvo of missiles flung from his MK II's shoulder pods. By this time the second Mad Cat had rounded the corner. His gauss cannons clipped my mech's left torso causing my next shot to peel to the left just a little, hammering his right torso just below the missile pod. Then the two of them turned towards Nightsniper as his second salvo rocked the first enemy boat.

“Watch your line Night… they have you marked.”

“Aff sir. Reversing… damn!” Just as my next volley ripped the arm off the second Mad Cat both of Night's MK II's arms actuators were severly damaged, causing his arms to hang limply at the side. “Lost my lasers sir.”

“Roger that. I am concentrating fire on the Gauss boat. He does not appear to have missiles in place.” I fired again stabbing a jolting shot into the right torso again.

Nightsniper's next salvo hammered into the second Mad Cat's torso with lights and explosions that would have made any celebrator proud. The Mad Cat staggered then righted itself again and fired a devastating blow into the Mark II's knee, destroying the joint and gimping Night. The first of the Mad Cat's fired another surprise gauss into the right missile pod on Nightsniper's mech's shoulder, tearing it from the mech at the connecting point and tossing it to the snow below. They were methodically stripping Night's mech of weaponry like surgeons working at an operating table!

“Night, fall back to the MFB's man! Get the hell out of there! I have your six.”

“Yes sir! Working on it.”

My next shot hit the cockpit of the second pirate jarring him just as he fired and causing his gauss cannon to rip up the cement in a vicious throw of anger. I did not wait for them to realize our change of tactics as I plowed between them, twisting Pappy III's torso to face the center of the second mech's torso and firing as soon as my weapons had reloaded. The bullet-like nose of his mech peeled apart like a banana revealing the sensor network within. My lasers melted that within milliseconds. I danced Pappy III past the second pilot before he had time to recover and practically kicked dirt in the face of the first. His gauss tore into the right torso of my mech jarring me in my seat.

“Come on you stravag… time to end this.” I whispered and turned in a wide arch, twisting to keep them in site. My trajectory was taking me behind one of the hangers. I flipped to passive radar and changed my angle as soon as I was out of sight.

“Approaching MFB sir.” Nightsniper reported in. “It is slow moving, but Gonzales has moved out to meet me.”

“Affirmative. I am going to down one right about now. Could use your assistance on the second.”

“Aff. I will be there for you Casual.” Night's voice was solid, he was determined to get his revenge.

I rounded the hanger from the same direction I had used initially to disappear from view. The pirates had moved in, hoping to get the kill before my wing had moved into a vantage point. My sudden appearance threw them for a loop however and my AC rounds straight into the torso of the second Mad Cat rocked his world. The gauss from the first struck Pappy III in the right leg about the same time my LAMS tore a few of his missiles from the sky. The remainder struck my mech in the center and caused me to have to do some tricky footwork to stay upright. I managed. Twisting as I ran past I fired another salvo into the same mark on the second mech and watched the flames begin to boil as his mech was disabled. The first of the pirates followed me, backing up slowly, trying to gain high ground on one of the hills. I moved around the disabled mech and fired another salvo at the same time as his gauss struck my mech in the left torso destroying two of the medium extended range lasers I carry on my mech. My shots struck the underside of his nose, forcing his gaze skyward. Then I was past him and rounding on his six. He twisted again firing his missiles at the same time. A poor decision on his part, there was no way that he could have possibly had lock on me and it was just a waste of ammunition. My shot range true however, peeling the armor from his mech's left shoulder.

“You done yet Colonel?” I asked as I lined up my next shot.

“Almost sir. They are loading another missile pack on my mech, just bolting it down now.”

“Aff.” That was all I had time for as the Mad Cat fired a full Alpha Strike at my mech, angrily eating through my leg armor and tearing our the actuator. Indicator lights went off on multiple systems through out my cockpit and a computer generated female voice informed me that reverse was disabled. “Damn!”

I twisted and fired another set of rounds and lasers into the Mad Cat just as it surged forward. My shots ripped one of its missile pods from the mech in a brilliant display of explosions and electrical discharges. He recovered quickly firing again at the damaged leg. This time I caught it in time, but I had to sacrifice Pappy III's other leg in order to save myself from complete failure. The gauss damaged the leg, but missed the actuator. My next shot took him in the center torso, staggering him backward. I watched as he recovered and raised to target me. My weapons were still reloading and I was gimped. There was not much I could do.

Then, a salvo of twenties struck the Mad Cat in the right side just as it fired causing it to stagger and lose its shot. The missiles and gauss melted the air about me causing my mech's heat levels to rise.

“Welcome back Colonel.” I muttered as I lined up for the finishing shot.

“Glad I could make it sir.”

My twin auto cannons and massive barrage of ER Medium Lasers ate through the remaining armor of the enemy's Mad Cat like it was soft tissue. Sparks and fire erupted from the gaping hole. The cockpit lit up with blue seal release and was flung far from the mech while the pilot's seat shot into the frigid mountain air like a circus act. Powering down to control the heat I missed the initial reaction of our victory from Star Colonel Nightsniper. When I fired Pappy III up again I caught the last end of his report to Control.

”… Demon Knight victory over 10th Death's Dimension. Two downed Mad Cat salvage. Need a team of MP's in here to collect the pilots. Over.”

“Copy that Colonel. A team of helios are on their way. ETA one hour.”

I peered out of my cockpit, the glass fogged with the heat of the engagement, and tried to catch site of the enemy mech pilots. Both mech's cockpits were blown wide, the first pirate to have been dispatched had used the opportunity that the continued battle had provided to escape into the woods. The last pirate's ejection had taken him a ways into the woods as well. If I knew anything about pirates it was that they had their lift off already firing up their engines and a pick up crew on the way. Chances were we would not be bringing these two home with us. At least we gave them something to remember the next time they attempt Wolverine space.