The Emerald Clan had been stationed on the Jungle Moon for two cycles now. Using the sweltering canopy for cover, the Emerald Dragons have been using the time to gear up their new mechs that they won in the Clan War of 3304 and training the new recruits.
Private Carlos Hicks has been awake since 3a.m., getting ammo loaded into mechs for the day’s training run. Grunting under the weight of the boxes of deadly cargo, he shoulders them one at a time onto the auto loaders, sending them up into the armored holds of the sleek machines.
“Prophet’s taint! I’m okay with being the damn gopher around here, but could they at least pick a more hospitable place for us to do this grunt work at…”
Ever since an incident in the forest around Evil Santa’s stronghold, Carlos was on the Clan’s extra duty roster. He’d kept his chin up, as he understood that getting drunk and accidentally killing a coworker is a serious offense, and he’s lucky not to be strapped to the outside of a Scout Anzu as his punishment, but he just felt he was meant for greater things than ammo bearer and Snavrum skinner.
At the moment, he was loading up Ferrite Rounds into one of the new Smilodons his clan managed to get a hold of. Sleek and deadly, the Smilodon resembled the Great Cat of lore, packing Galaxy Eyes and Ferrite Storms for armament. The faint smell of creosote could still be detected as the parts were still sealed in casings and unassembled when they were found. A rare treat to some lucky mech pilot.
Carlos was gazing up into the deadly visage, wondering if he detected a glimpse of intelligence in those big, yellow eyes, when the world around him erupted into fire, dirt, and concussive forces.
A squad of scout mechs burst forth from the perimeter bearing the markings of the Hegemony. Two Namtars, two Luisons, a handful of Warhorses and Anzus and a heavily front armored Keradon broke cover and started fanning out, blasting everything they could.
Carlos was propelled into the air and miraculously into the cockpit port of the Smilodon head first. Jarring his shoulder, he fell through the portal, past the pilot harness to the deck of the cockpit. As luck would have it, he landed head first on the neural uplink set, which had been latched to the side of the harness until his flailing form knocked it loose.
“What is your bidding?”
Disoriented, in pain, ears ringing, Carlos had zero time to wonder what this voice was in his head, he just answered naturally “Get them to quit firing at me! What the Frack man! I’m just trying to service these mechs!”
“And we appreciate that. I shall stop their firing now.”
Leaping forward into the air, the Smilodon’s twin Galaxy Eyes cut loose on two of the Warhorses, scoring quick critical hits on both, ammo stocks exploding, blowing up the sturdy little mechs from the inside out.
Almost simultaneously, the Ferrite Storms erupted, throwing needles of death through the Namtars which had been holding back, directing the assault. The first Namtar turned to confetti as the second one suffered a knockback from it’s loading mechanism, and accidentally blew up an Anzu that was close by.
Now the scouting party was in disarray. They had thought this would be an easy kill as no pilots had reported to the surface yet, according to the transmissions they had intercepted, but in a brief second, this rogue Smilodon had shredded the group.
The Luisons and the Keradon attempt to lay down suppressing fire for the smaller mechs to get back into the jungle, launching volleys of Quad Rockets and Rail Guns at the Great Cat.
The Smilodon then pulled a new maneuver, rolling left like a big dog, the Smilodon closed with one of the Anzus unexpectedly. Swatting it with a foreleg, the Anzu went flying, connecting with a Luison and exploding against the cockpit, taking out both in a fireball. Now the Smilodon is able to trade fire with the remaining Luison and Keradon.
As the second Luison turned into confetti, the Keradon powered down and the cockpit lid popped open. A Hegemon officer stuck his hand up through the opening with a white piece of cloth, signaling that he’d had enough.
“All targets have ceased fire.”
Carlos, who had been rolling around on the deck like a marble whimpered a thank you.
His ear flinched as the static crackle of his com opened up.
“Carlos! We just got word! We’ll be surface side in 3, coming in hot! How are you holding?”
Daniel Rader was the leader of the Emerald Clan, and the worry in his voice was apparent. If he lost
all the upgrades to a Hegemony strike team, there’d be hell to pay. He had gotten too cozy with their base of operations.
“Honestly sir, I don’t know what happened. I was loading ammo, then the world exploded, and I ended up in this Big Cat’s head with a voice coming from somewhere, now it’s quiet. Can you come get me? I’m scared and have no idea what’s going on.”
After a minute, Major Rader responded. “Well Carlos, it looks like the sun shines on a Snavrum’s scales every once in a while. Congratulations on your promotion, the Smilodon informed us you are it’s new pilot of choice. Welcome to the Cadre Captain Carlos.”
“What. The Holy Frack. Just happened…”
“I shall serve you well in all future hunts. Now let’s go for a run. I was in those boxes far too long.”
Carlos wiped his brow, strapped into the harness properly, and started his transition to mech pilot.
Submitted by Kenneth Hicks #846092