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Both shots hit the Charger'sleft arm, coring through armor and scarring the skeleton below. Rose did not notice until later that the shots had destroyed the arm's medium laser. The second attack was too much and Rose lost his battle with gravity. The Chargertook one more step, then crashed to the ground. He was sure his fight was over, but Esmeralda moved to cover him. Standing less than thirty meters away from the A
Though he'd managed to stand up, the Impcontinued to fire on him as he did. Badicus was attempting to draw the assault 'Mech's fire, but the pilot ignored him. In order to keep the Dragoon 'Mechs confined to the narrow streets of the town and to restrict their fire, Rose and Esmeralda were forced to stand their ground before the Zeusand the two assault 'Mechs. The Archerfired at Badicus on the roof as the Shadow Hawkfired down on the damaged Zeus.The armor on Rose's Chargerwas practically gone when the tide of the battle shifted.
A rebel yell filled the commlink as Hawg charged down the side street and caught the Dragoons from the right, gutting the badly damaged Zeuswith missiles and lasers. Simultaneously, Ria
Both Thorn 'Mechs flashed from green to red, then, disappeared from Rose's screen, victims of the explosion. Although they were blocked from sight by the buildings, Rose knew that the two 'Mechs had been immobilized by the practice field's myomer inhibitors. On his primary screen the Impwas briefly highlighted in red before returning to its normal color, minus its right arm. Rose fired his remaining weapons at the damaged 'Mech and was rewarded with computer-generated explosions in the right torso.
Ajax came in over the open cha
Rose risked a look at his side sca
"Esmeralda, get the Archer."Rose staggered forward and switched his sights to the A
Rose risked a look at the sca
As Rose fired what he was sure would be his last hasty shot, Esmeralda abandoned the Archerand fired into the back of the A
Rose and Esmeralda both knew that in a real battle she would never have been able to get close enough to inflict such damage, but since neither side was allowed to strike physical blows, she'd gotten away with it. It was a good example of breaking the spirit of the engagement by sticking to the rules. The A
With amazing speed, the A
Swinging from the waist, she drove the Warhammer'sright PPC into the A
All the standing 'Mechs froze in place, except for the A
19
Harlech, Outreach
26 September 3054
Rose lounged with his back against the cool marble wall and watched the rest of his unit deal with having to wait. A casual glance at his chronometer showed that they'd been "detained" in this austere room somewhere in Wolf Hall for more than two hours. Patience was begi
He knew that they were not at fault for initiating the physical combat that had put one Dragoon in the hospital, but as time wore on he began to wonder. His unit was sitting on the Dragoon homeworld, practicing on Dragoon fields, their 'Mechs sitting in Dragoon repair bays, fighting a match with Dragoon referees. Technically, he had nothing to fear, but if the Dragoons said it was the Black Thorns' fault, who in the I
Ten minutes after the A
Rose was surprised to learn that the pilot was still alive, even conscious, as a medical VTOL took him away. The security force, led by the Grasshopper,escorted Rose and his company back to the staging area, where their 'Mechs were powered down. Rose had wanted to communicate with the rest of his unit, but the Dragoons had imposed a broad-based jam on the Black Thorn 'Mechs, forcing each pilot to work in silence.
Once out of his 'Mech and on the ground again, Rose had motioned the team to remain quiet as Dragoon foot soldiers with laser carbines quickly surrounded them. Though most of the 'Mechs in his company had gone into battle armed, even for a practice battle like this one, they were no match for the armored Dragoons. Herded like livestock, the Thorns had been packed into the back of an armored van and driven directly to Wolf Hall. Once the van doors closed behind the last Thorn, the unit members had turned to him with a thunder of questions and outrage. Rose shut them off by slashing his finger across his throat.