“Reactor… Online. Sensors… Error. Online. Weapons… Online. All systems nominal.”

[color=#61FF00]”The fuck?”[/color] He slapped the side of the sensor screen as if it would help, percussive maintenance nonetheless being an important ritual. Must’ve been a faulty sensor somewhere. Probably. Hopefully. [color=#61FF00]”Up and running.”[/color][hr]As they set down, he nudged the throttle carefully to get out of the bay, the light and overengined machine requiring a bit of precision lest he’d speed right into the ‘Mech on the opposite side. While the Cicada he piloted previously had the same rated top speed, being 15 tons heavier it took longer to accelerate and stop. Despite its venerable age, this thing was a rocketship.

[color=#61FF00]”Chalupa, got it.”[/color] He confirmed the order and turned toward where he spotted a part of the valley’s wall that looked climbable, the 25 ton machine leaning into the turn under him almost like a motorcycle as he rammed the throttle open. No time to ease it forward like he planned to, it simply would have to hold. As the Mongoose built up speed, it started bouncing side to side with each step. So far nothing broke. Try hitting this cockpit now, fuckers. He leaned forward into the climb as he started ascending up the valley wall, the ‘Mech barely slowing down. When the user manual said the engine made up for the lack of jump jets, he was skeptical. Not anymore. He liked jump jets, but he could get used to this.

Karel stopped the ‘Mech as he reached the top of the canyon wall, raising its left arm to shield the cockpit from where he expected the enemy anti-Mech infantry to be. Taking a step further to get the head above the surface, he took a few seconds for his sensors and eyes to scan the horizon and make sure he wasn’t about to run into any nasty surprises. With the coast seemingly clear, he did something really fucking stupid and skylined himself as he ascended up to the open plain, and while it made him a prime target for practically anyone in or near the valley who wasn’t occupied by shooting something else or being shot at, it also gave him a clear view of the valley edges where the offending grunts were perched.[hr]”Target. Re-engage.” The squad leader’s voice crackled through the shooter’s radio, barely intelligible due to the combination of the shitty headest in his helmet and the speaker’s Marian accent. A heat wave washed over them as a blue laser beam cut through the air mere feet above them, eliciting several curses loud enough to be heard without radios. He racked another round and fired again, the round bouncing off the Centurion’s shoulder.
“Miss, adjust left.”
“Ja, I can fucking zee that.” the shooter hissed, wisely keeping his microphone muted. Another shot, this time it looked on target, but a bead of sweat got into the shooter’s eye, forcing him to blink it away.
But boss man was silent. “Oh, zo now that I actually need it you decide to shut up? Wunderbar.” He looked away from his scope and to his left where the squad leader was laying. The man had half-raised himself up from prone, looking farther to their left, past the second squad. Was something moving there?
The squad leader’s unintelligible Marian scream was cut short when he simply disappeared in a flash of green light and a haze of evaporating snow. The shooter barely had time to process what he saw before he followed suit.[hr]If they hadn’t known he was there, a salvo of three medium lasers striking the positions he could see would let them know. Those that hadn’t just become part of the atmosphere, that is. Combined with the rising pace, it was enough to instantly raise the cockpit temperature high enough that it was still warmer than before by a few degrees by the time the weapons were ready to fire again. Restricting himself to the two arm-mounted medium lasers, he could keep cool and far enough to make himself harder to hit as he ran back and forth along the edge of the landing site at full throttle, mopping up any infantry he could see. Just keep moving, you only have five and a half tons of armor.

But incoming enemy ‘Mechs were worrying, mainly because he couldn’t see them yet.[color=#61FF00]”What contacts, how many, how far away, ETA?”[/color]