The Capitol of Medallin:

By: Galaxy Commander Lancelot Caird

It was cold and rainy that night; the weather had turned bad earlier in the day - something that should have warned the Devil Spawn warriors that they were in for a beating, but like most IS stravag they don't pay attention to omens. I was looking forward to this mission, it would be the first I had undertaken wearing the Wolverine colors and I was teamed with my old subordinate and friend Star Colonel Deacon. After being accepted into Clan Wolverine I had been given commission as a Mechwarrior within the Lethal Claw Galaxy, under the ultimate command of Galaxy Commander Pryde Furey, an old friend. My Thor (Pappy III) had a fresh coat of paint, grays and white for the urban combat Clan Intel knew was pending. I wore the red crescents of a Mechwarrior then but the friendship that had developed between the Colonel and I over our past commands superceded rank. We worked in unison using secure communication channels we knew were superior to the equipment being used by DEV in their scans. Comfortable with this knowledge our banter was easy, calming, and full of good-natured exchange. Ahead of us there was a ridge, and beyond that, through the waves of dark rain that slashed through the sky, was the city of Medallin, named for the planet, and our goal. Intel had warned us of the defenses Medallin’s largest city would hold, but we weren’t overly concerned. The preliminary aerospace strikes ordered by Khan Wraith Mandaka had already eliminated much of the defenses Intel had reported. We were looking for “meat”, for Mechwarriors that were decent enough to pit our skills against. It wasn’t long before our wish was granted. We entered the city from the south, weaving into the shattered skeletons of the steel and concrete architecture like blood flowing through the veins of a dying man. We spaced off by a block’s width, not wanting to be caught clumped together like so many LRM punching bags. It was easy going, our specific objective looked as good as accomplished when my radar flared revealing two dots, bearing 130 and closing fast. I called out to Deacon suggesting that we go to passive radar and received an affirmative answer just as quickly. We went silent, two predators epitomizing the very beast our clan was named for. We knew where they were and with any luck they had lost us. Inner Sphere scum rarely ran passive radar so I was sure they were searching for us by relying on their inferior equipment. A few second later Deacon directed me to their communications frequency and we listened while moving into position. It turned out that the warriors were men I knew. Warriors who I have fought before and lost to. The man that caught my attention was Captain Shiprapid of the Night Stalkers Unit. It appeared he and fellow captain Gnostferatu were going to engage and my only previous experience with them was as leader of the Clan Fire Born and that was that they were both extremely talented pilots. I had frequently been pitted against Cpt. Shiprapid when he had held higher ranks in House Davion and had lost many a mech to his skill. I didn’t need to mention this to Star Colonel Deacon, he already knew, having experienced similar success when he had served as Loremaster for Clan Fire Born. I also knew that these two warriors, like most IS, weren’t prone to warn an opponent before engaging them in combat, however we are Clan so Star Colonel Deacon hailed them, informing them that we would engage them in combat unless they surrendered, something that he trusted they wouldn’t do. The response was what we had hoped for and we continued to run silent, switching back to our secure channel. Star Colonel Deacon was the first to round the corner of a four story department store, just as our radar lit up with the enemy’s position putting them at 25o meters. I believe our sudden appearance on their scopes startled them causing Cpt. Shiprapid to fire prematurely, sending the swirling blue beam of energy from his gauss rifle between Deacon’s Vulture and my Thor, viciously tearing up the concrete as though taking out its frustration at having missed. I informed Deacon that I was going to flank and broke to the right while Deacon, the superior officer, took the honor of the first shot in combat. My flanking maneuver put me out of view of the combat but Deacon kept me informed as to what was happening through his energetic dialog. He had taken a punishing shot in the torso when Gnostferatu had engaged but was holding his own in a Circle of Death with the two warriors of the Military House. It was giving me enough time to move into position and he knew it, something that could give us the advantage, and the victory. I broke free of the city, thundering into the clearing that was the Medallin’s largest park and immediately trained my crosshairs on Shiprapid’s Loki. I squeezed off a shot sending two rounds from my LBX AC 20’s and a single Large ER Laser blast tearing through his center torso armor like a hot knife through butter. I was rounding Gnostferatu’s six when Deacon broke free of the turmoil to plant a score of missiles on the marks I had made in the IS Captain’s armor. The Loki stumbled backward allowing Deacon passage into the clearing and us to join as a wing once again. Gnostferatu must have decided that my affront against his wing wouldn’t be tolerated and turned to face me. His Loki’s lasers bit into my mech, “Pappy III’s”, left arm and I watched the damage indicator light up. It was still in tact and the auto-cannon was useable. However his sudden change in tactics would cost them the battle. Deacon and I remained focused, calling out our positions and moving flawlessly in and out of each other’s path. We continued pummeling Shiprapid’s mech until it crashed into the building in back of it, destroying the 21st Century deco some poor landowner had spent a pretty penny to have had built into his store front. His mech was seriously damaged, but to his credit he continued to return fire. All this time Gnostferatu was trying to gain position on me. I watched my radar closely to keep him marked and keep my six from his crosshairs… after all; my wife has said that she likes my ass and wanted to keep it in tack. Captain Shiprapid was damaged to a point where I knew that a final barrage would end his suffering and commented on this to my wing. Deacon laughed, despite the damage we had sustained our spirits were high. He called our decision in to headquarters in case Shiprapid pulled a rabbit out of his hat and managed to slap us down, then we charged in unison. At that very moment Gnostferatu decided to face me toe to toe, his Loki moving directly into my path. I didn’t have any choice, I knew that Deacon would face severe consequences should he dance with Shiprapid alone, but couldn’t get around Gnostferatu in time to be of any good, so I went over. I imagine the toes of my Thor nearly scraped the paint off his cockpit as I cleared his height. It was then that I saw what had become a deadly tango between Shiprapid and my friend, my wing, Star Colonel Deacon. I was a good twenty meters in the air and had a mere couple of seconds in which Ship was in my sites before Deacon, for the first time in this battle, would be in the way of my shot. I had that time to make a decision. I called out for Deacon to reverse and the instant he started his motion I took the shot. The power behind an AC 20 is devastating, put two of them together and you are packing a punch that the very fires of Hell couldn’t match! It was such a shot that took Shiprapid’s Loki in the torso, just under his cockpit. His mech left the ground, and only his admirable skills kept him upright as he somehow managed to place the Loki’s feet underneath him once again. However, this move didn’t save him from Deacon’s Alpha Strike, a crippling blow that must have caused every electrical system within that war machine to light up and explode within a nanosecond. Shiprapid’s cockpit erupted as he managed to eject and I refocused my attention on Gnostferatu, losing track of the chair and parachute carrying Shiprapid to the pockmarked earth below. As I turned, feeling and hearing the pounding my armor was taking from Gnostferatu’s lasers, Deacon informed me that his mech had taken damage from Ship’s explosion and he was crippled, the left knee actuators fried. With my mech still pretty much in good working order we agreed that he should try and pull back, utilizing the Vulture’s long-range weaponry to support my Thor’s toe-to-toe method of punishment. Then Gnostferatu and I began to move to the rhythm. We circled and I could see that my mech was in worse condition than his. I had to get the advantage or I wouldn’t survive, and Deacon wasn’t in any better condition, he was limping deeper into the meager protection that the trees pf the park offered. I used our Circle of Death to afford me the luxury of snaking into the confines of the city streets, entering the alley as quickly as I could. It threw Gnostferatu off his pattern and he first attempted to follow me, but then changed direction to intercept my flanking maneuver. I used the couple of seconds this alloted me to fire my jump jets and launch myself onto the roof of the building separating us. Gnostferatu must have realized that he was in serious trouble when Deacon’s missiles slammed into his mech’s body. Then I cleared the roof and planted my AC rounds into his torso in much the same way a gardener implants seeds into the earth. He stumbled and when I landed I swiveled my torso, facing backwards as I ran, shoving a large laser blast into his cockpit as he turned to face me. I kept my momentum and the instant my auto cannon reloaded I force-fed Captain Gnostferatu his leave ticket. The explosion was pretty, as I am sure Gnostferatu would have to concede should you ask… he had the vantage of a bird’s eye view as his escape was made. With Deacon’s mech crippled our advance was slowed, but we still achieved our objective and held our position against some minor tracked vehicles without difficulty while the rest of the force continued their assault on the city. We won, as you know, but that battle was an achievement for me in my career, one I am pleased to have shared with someone as talented and honorable as Deacon. On the day I spoke of we beat Shiprapid and Gnostferatu tonnage for tonnage and it felt damn good! -- Galaxy Commander Lancelot Caird (Demon Knight Galaxy)