The Heavy Heart (part 4)



3 weeks later (Mid May, 3050)

Ivan felt a tremble in his jaw for the first time in a long life. He had spoken with each of them privately, and answered every question they wanted. He had been honest with them, as honest as he could be. Each had considered his offer to travel with him to the clan Homeworlds. Each had said yes, and Ivan had spent most of the last few weeks preparing one of the training fields for the Trials, and making sure that the paperwork for their extended absence had been processed. They were good, and when they returned, they would be returned to their classes without penalty.

He smiled at the four of them as the stood outside the battlemechs for the Trial. The 12 opponents had already taken their positions, and were ready inside the Circle of Equals. He felt a great pride in the four of them, and he felt his tongue stumble over the words for the first time.

“I am deeply honored by your decisions regarding this matter, and i will educate you further on the ways of the Clans as we travel. I have spent my time since you entered my life making sure you would be ready for the challenges of this life, and i hope that i was an adequate teacher.”

The four of them saluted him and waited for him to continue.

“As Oathmaster of this ceremony, I stand in judgment for the Khans of Clan Goliath Scorpion in the matter of your worthiness to join our Touman as Mechwarriors and members of the warrior caste. This is your first combat trial, and there will be other challenges that come after this. Regardless of what happens, I am profoundly proud of the people you have grown into.”

“Seyla.” The four of them answered. Aya had been an extremely dutiful scholar and Ivan suspected she would be more of a stickler for clan grammar and language than he was.

“For the duration of this Trial, you will answer to your callsigns, I enter these into our record as the first name of many you may yet earn in the pursuit of war.”

“Jackrabbit, Sir, after my father.” John said with a slow exhalation of breath.

“Noted, and entered into the record.”

“Talon, Sir, after my father.” Cameron said with a single tear running down her cheek. Ivan brushed the tear away and smiled.

“Noted, and entered into the record.”

“Velocity, Sir, Because i was yelled at when i suggested Geist.” Barton said firmly. The other three looked at him with daggers in their eyes.

“Noted, and entered into the record.” Ivan said with a chuckle.

“Dagger, after my mother and grandmother.” Aya said slowly.

“Noted and entered into the record.” He rested his hand on his copy of the Remembrance and the four of them studied the ancient book for a moment.

“Mechwarriors, mount up. Your Trial is to be conducted in pairs, Talon and Velocity, you have the first trial. Take your positions inside the Circle, and await further instructions.”

“Aff, Sir.”
Talon mounted up in her Grand Dragon, Dagger mounted up in a Black Knight, Jackrabbit mounted up in a Shootist, and Velocity mounted up in a Flashman. Ivan smiled as he mounted up in his ancient Cyclops and took his position next to the Victor. The Grand Dragon and the Flashman entered the Circle, and waited…

“All right, I want a good clean battle, no breaches of Zelbringen or i will drag you out of your battlemech and tan your asses.” The feminine voice barked over the radio.

“Aunt Amelia?” Jackrabbit said slowly.

“Cut the chatter, Surat, your trial’s coming up soon.” She barked.

“All right, The rules of the trial are simple. Each of you has three opponents, whom you can choose to engage one on one or you can choose to engage multiple opponents simultaneously. You only need to disable a single battlemech to successfully complete your trial, but downing more opponents will result in a higher rank. Do not, under any circumstances make physical contact with an opponent, or engage the other combatants participating in the trial, quiaff?”

“Aff, Sir.” The four of them answered him.
“As Oathmaster, i declare this Trial of Position valid, engage your opponents.”

The sounds of Battlemechs engaged in live fire combat filled the training field as Talon and Velocity started the trial. Talon’s first opponent was piloting a Mercury, and Velocity squared off against a Mongoose. Both of the lighter battlemechs were fast, and they were looking for an angle of attack.

Talon squared off with her longer range armaments, firing the LRM and the ER PPC at close to her maximum range. As long as she kept up the rate of fire, the Mercury was at a disadvantage because of its shorter range guns. The Flashman had a similar advantage, but Velocity chose to press the attack and opened up with all three of the large lasers on his mech.
Of all the shots that were fired in that opening salvo, only one of Velocity’s lasers hit, a bright green flash scoring a jagged cut across the lighter mech’s arm.

The two lighter mechs changed tactics and sped directly at their larger opponents. Velocity hesitated as the lighter mech zoomed towards him, but Talon kept her cool and brought the targeting reticle directly over the lighter mech. Velocity’s shots went wide, and his opponent managed to score hits with three of its medium lasers. The bright blue beams seared into the armor of the Flashman’s right torso, cutting away nearly a ton of armor in the process.

“I Have you now.” Talon said over the radio as she triggered all of the firing studs on her controls. The LRMs sailed wide, but the PPC and the medium lasers struck home. The lasers struck the Right Torso, but the PPC penetrated the Mercury’s Center Torso in a gout of sparks and burning myomer. The Mech spun wildly and hit the ground with a sickening thud. It had managed to score a solid hit across the Grand Dragon’s Left Arm before it went down.

The Mercury popped it’s cockpit and the mechwarrior exited. The Gyro had been blown to bits by the PPC shot, and it wasn’t going to be getting up on its own again. The Grand Dragon executed an extremely stiff bow to the defeated Mechwarrior before turning to face it’s next opponent. Talon ran her fingers across the picture of her parents that she kept in her cockpit.

Velocity’s opponent kept moving and raced past him, firing it’s lasers again. He cursed as he flipped the arms on the Flashman and opened up, firing as many lasers as he could bring to bear on the lighter mech. The Mongoose pilot hadn’t expected that and was caught between a hail of green laser beams. The rear torso of the Mongoose collapsed under the weight of the barrage. It took all the skill the Mechwarrior had to keep the Mech upright but it managed to stay standing.

The Flashman wheeled around, bringing its heavy compliment of lasers to bear on the Mongoose. The Mongoose pilot spun the mech around and walked it backwards, trying not to expose it’s egregiously wounded rear armor. The two of them exchanged another barrage of laser fire and the Mongoose finally went down with its Center Torso cored out. Velocity had the scare of his life as one of the small lasers scorched the armor surrounding his cockpit and had to move quickly to keep his mech from shutting down from the heat spike.

“Round 2” They both heard Amelia say as their next opponents stepped forward. The Galahad lit up the Flashman with everything it had, firing both PPCs and Large Lasers. Velocity’s mech rocked under the barrage and he had the sudden sensation of falling. He’d been able to return fire, but his shots had gone wide. The Kyudo stepped forward and opened up on the Grand Dragon with its Extended Range Large Laser and the LRM pack on its shoulder. Talon smiled from her cockpit.

She spared a momentary glance at the Flashman and realized that Velocity was in trouble. The Galahad had taken out one of his legs with its barrage and the heavy mech was struggling to get to its feet. The Galahad was keeping it’s distance and cooling off from its Alpha Strike, but this Mechwarrior was very good.

Her warning klaxons starting going off, and she realized the Kyudo had fired again. She returned fire with her LRMs and the PPC, but she wasn’t as accurate as her opponent. She tried to close the distance with the Kyudo but her opponent was keeping her far enough back that she just couldn’t connect. Their fight ended as abruptly as Velocity’s had, with the ER Large Laser opening a hole in her Center Torso that a volley of missiles used to trash her fusion engine. Velocity popped his canopy when the Galahad opened up with another alpha strike and tore the other leg off.

“This Trial of Position is ended, and I welcome both of you to our ranks as Mechwarriors.” Ivan’s deep voice rumbled through the radio. “Jackrabbit, Dagger, enter the second Circle of Equals.” Recovery teams had started to clear the first battlefield, and all mechwarriors were recovered safely.

“Let’s do this.” Dagger said calmly.

“It’s just one light mech.” Jackrabbit breathed slowly.

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