A BattleTech Never Tale: Proof of Diffusion - Interlude

  Diaprepes, one of the ten kings of Atlantis, fifteenth in his line, stretched out his senses into space-time around him while he performed his daily meditation.  His consciousness expanded out past the globe-topped spire that was his palace. Out, below, and over the small tropical island that housed it like a plant-decorated display platform in a blue pool, his senses went.   As his island home shrank, he watched the horizon curl, the earth turn to magma, and the air lose color as it thinned. 

The world of Adeianós shrank away, and with it the sole moon that was the Atlantean colony ship that had brought his people to this world.  He felt, more than saw, the crust and pockmarks on its fifteen-millennia-old hull.  Both orbs shrank rapidly into colored dots before his senses.  Visually, they vanished, but Diaprepes knew where they were.

As the distance grew, so did the rate of expansion.  Adeianos’s star came into his sphere of sensing, and quickly started to shrink.

Once he had expanded out to the edge of the system, something caught his attention.  Turning, Diaprepes focused on something new.  An object had breached the seal of reality.  Focusing on it further, a light hit his senses.  It was warm and bright.  He could feel it even though it was small with extreme distance.  

As soon as he found it, he knew he had to investigate.  Ranging it, he discovered it well past his kingdom’s borders, beyond the edge of the empire.  Diaprepes noted the star so he could find it once he came out of meditation.  

The system was a surprise.  It was old Helios.  

Knowing that, Diaprepes didn’t waste time with a cool-down.  His senses snapped back into his body as he opened his eyes.  His skin registered the cool feeling inside his empty meditation chamber.  There were no shapes to greet his eyes but the smooth, curved walls that formed the orb atop his palace.  Light reflected onto the walls from the edges of the depressed circular ceiling above.  Standing up, Diaprepes stepped to the center of the upraised circular platform that formed the floor.  

He focused, and reality shifted around him instantly.  He didn’t need to move, but it appeared to his eyes as if he had moved through a gate into the palace proper at the base of the tower.  To anyone who observed him, they described it as if he simply vanished or winked into existence. 

That was the power of his lineage.  When Poseidon sired his five sets of male twins, each one was imbued with a unique ability.  The powers of each twin set were opposite.  The legend went that when each twin came into manhood, Poseidon took each child aside and whispered something in the boy's ear, and that unlocked the power that each king wielded.  

Diaprepes the First, so it went, was the last to receive his power.  His brother, Azaes, came away with the ability to take energy and convert it back to matter, or convert matter to energy.  For most, it appeared he had the power of fire.  But, when Poseidon took Diaprepes aside, he did not speak a word when reaching up to his son's ear.  Pulling away, Diaprepes was confused.  Then his power awakened.  

He could manipulate absence.  It generally came in the form of teleportation.  The space outside the fabric of reality, the void, was his domain, through which he could move at will.    

That power would be the salvation of the early Atlantean empire.  Having to fend off invasion after invasion, the kings concluded that it was time to leave the Earth behind, find a place of their own, and combine their powers to make that place a paradise.  After the other kings used their powers to locate and build a world next to a star similar to Helios, complete with life, breathable air, and a fair amount of water, Diaprepes the First used his power to transport the island.

In the thousands of years since, the empire had expanded.  Each Diaprepes since used his power to aid in linking each world by teleporting ships between star systems.  He did the same.  

Fully aware of all things he took into the space outside the universe as part of the teleportation process, finding one he didn't oversee was worrisome.  And this one came in.  He hadn't felt it leave and then re-enter.  As far as he knew, their very reality could be under invasion.

The palace proper was wide and spacious.  High, decorated stone ceilings were supported  by ornate, fluted columns.  His family's colors, deep dark navy blue with no icon, hung in the form of banners along the walls and streaming carpets along the floor.  

Diaprepes came out in the throne room, startling the aid on shift.  A salty breeze drifted gently through tall open windows that lined the side walls. The plants in front of them stirred and the banners swayed in a slow dance.

“May I help you sire?” the man asked after recovering and bowing.

“I discovered something that needs investigating, something where only my talents will be useful.  I am departing now.  Please let Autolycus know.  I have no instructions.”

The aid bowed and turned to leave about the same time that Diaprepes teleported into the heart of his personal ship.  It responded to his presence, powering up.  The holographic walls lit up first, revealing an interior similar to his meditation chamber.  That view quickly vanished, replaced by the surroundings outside the ship's exterior. 

The landing platform sat in the center of a square plaza only half a kilometer away from the base of the tower.  He had a clear view of the plaza that spanned the entire distance between the two.  Diaprepes let his gaze linger on the decorative columns and the different buildings that were partly obscured on either side.  It was a scene he was fond of and hoped to see again, soon.

Diaprepes had no idea what he would find.  The chance that he could actually die or be captured were slim possibilities when facing the unknown.  After a few seconds, he inhaled deeply and went into meditation.  

Expanding his mind, he shrank the sphere of his ship into his being.  Locating ancient Helios was easy, the light of the new arrival still projecting like an unending beacon.  With some extra concentration, he reached out and opened the door to the void.  Once it was open wide enough, his body – the ship – slipped through.

Diaprepes arrived at one of Helios's polar regions, which he found interesting.  The cradle star was very far away, though still very distinct among every other star.  He could barely make out the blue orb of Gaia as nothing more than another star in the sky.

He quickly located the intruder, barely seven stadia away.  To his surprise, it wasn't just one vessel, as he had expected.  Three ships, identical in all ways except what was attached near their waste, were busy pointing oddly domed noses toward the Helios star.  They almost reminded him of his own tower, looking like candelabra, with legs on one end, a thin pole for a body, and an egg-like dome flanked by two circular gem-like domes as a head.  

Around the center, all three had what Diaprepes guessed to be large shuttles.  A couple were huge orbs like his ship.  Many more were brick-like, with wings sprouting from one end, two sets of matching pairs.  There were lots of those, and they reminded him of the ships most people used in Atlantis to fly over great distances, though these were not as sleek.

Diaprepes quickly studied the signatures left over from their entry into his world.  He was puzzled to find that they were Atlantean.  He found that hard to believe, considering how unrefined and undecorated these ships were.  Atlanteans had a penchant for high craftsmanship which he did not see among these.  So, if they were Atlantean, they weren't of the Atlantis with which he was familiar.

What was even odder was that the signatures felt familiar, like something he would bestow, and not something from a different king out of his line.  He had studied the patterns of the prior Diaprepes kings, and there was a trait that set each one apart.  These also spoke out a message.

There was only one order that made sense, and it read: 'Do Not Follow'.

A warning or a threat?

His next surprise was that the beacon that had attracted him hadn't grown with distance.  It remained small, the light coming from within one of the orb ships.  He concluded that it was a special device that allowed the three ships to come to his realm.  There was the faint possibility it belonged to a creature, or even a person, but Diaprepes felt that was too unlikely. 

He was about to investigate further, but he didn't have any time.

The long needle ships winked out of existence, each folding time and space around itself like a magician flamboyantly concealing himself under a cloak.  Seeing where the void still peaked through into his universe, Diaprepes could still follow.  He had to decide fast.  Heed the warning?  Or follow, in case it was some odd trick?

Seeing the tear mending quickly, Diaprepes decided he had to follow. He had to know what kind of threat they posed.  He reached out and pulled his vessel into the realm outside reality.

Immediately, outside the fabric of the universe, he lost them.  

There was no visible trace.  However, he could feel their old path.  It was a certainty in his mind.  He pressed his vessel deeper into the aether. Suddenly his ship started to shake and tremble.  This was something he had only read about, cataloged by the first Diaprepes.  He had cautioned his heirs never to try this except in extreme circumstances.

This felt like an extreme circumstance.  He pressed on.

Never before had Diaprepes felt such turmoil.

Out in the sightless depths of nothing, he glimpsed the giant waves.  He instinctively understood them to be the barriers of other realities.  They flashed and thundered where they collided.  It reminded him of a violent storm at sea, an experience he had had only once in his life when he was young.  

Having taken a curiosity to what other people did for a living, Diaprepes had tagged along on a fishing expedition.  It was something that common people in his kingdom did on a daily basis.  The storm had come upon them quickly.

Like then, he was disoriented, unable to fight the forces that propelled his ship.  Like then, he wanted to warp back to safety back home.  Unlike then, he fought that urge and pressed on, following the spiritual trail of the three ships.

He took a quick second to look back, to find the entry to his own realm to ease his mind.  He couldn't see it any more.  Not even the trail he followed remained back the way he had come.   It was lost in the chaos.

For what felt equally like minutes and multiple eternities, he fought on through the waves, avoiding collisions and cresting wave heads as he followed the path.  He couldn't see the end.  Even with his best possible speed, the trail was fading quickly.

And, then it happened.  He reached the trail's end, out in the middle of nowhere.  For once, caught in between dozens of realities, far away from his own, Diaprepes was lost.

Diaprepes searched about, looking for the beacon.  More minutes and eternities passed with no sign of which way to go.  He felt despair growing.  He pressed forward along the last direction the path had taken him, haltingly, hoping he might be able to pick up the trail anew. 

Finally, he quit searching.  Knowing it wouldn't help him to give up and remain outside realities, he had to decide.  He could try going back the way he came, and try to find his home.  Or, he could choose an immediately close reality, and start hopping to find his own.  

He had decided the universe-hopping strategy was the best.  He randomly chose one, and started toward it.  That was when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something which he immediately recognized.

He saw the beacon.  That wonderful light caught his void-sight, and it did not waiver.  It led into a point on one of the waves of reality adjacent to his random choice.  Diaprepes quietly blessed the maker of realities for this boon.

Without hesitation, he urged his ship toward it, getting the feel for the tides and waves of the aether storm around him.  Unerringly, he zeroed in on the rip in the void from where the beacon shined.  A vortex grabbed his ship and pulled it into time and space.  

There was a pattern to this hole which Diaprepes had seen before, and he knew it for what it was.  This was where the invaders had come from.  This was their home.

And, then he was through. 

His ship was suddenly quite still.  The turmoil of the void between universes was instantly gone.  In what amounted to no time at all but he had perceived as minutes, his shiny pearl of a ship slid from one universe into another.

Diaprepes had never done this before.  He hadn't even contemplated such a possibility.  There was nothing from the line of Kings before, writings or lore, about the real power bestowed on the first Diaprepes and his heirs.  As far as he knew, he was the first, and maybe the last.  

He had no idea when or where he was.  There was no way to tell how the other realities lined up in time with his own.  The beacon had also vanished, leaving Diaprepes to wonder if he was truly in the world of the invaders as he had supposed. 

Without the beacon, and no base-line to use, he had no way to navigate.

It was time to start getting some bearings.  Diaprepes came out of his trance to activate his sensors.  He wanted to build a visual presentation of his surroundings.

Suddenly, he was knocked to the floor.  His ship had jumped violently with an impact that still rang through its hull.  But it happened only the once and stopped.

Gravity.

Not the artificial force inside the ship, but outside.  Pushing himself to his feet, he mentally called for the holo display.  All he saw was darkness, black and complete.  Activating his ship's exterior luminescence, he saw glass reflecting his own ship back at him.  At his feet, it was cracked, fractured where the round bottom of his vessel had crushed its surface.

His stomach felt achingly empty, like a hole to the void had opened up inside his gut and was sucking out his organs.  He wanted to sit down, to drop to his knees, he was so shocked.

The vortex had jumped him deep into solid rock.

The vortex with a pattern he recognized.  A pattern with his unique signature.  A pattern only he could have devised.

Diaprepes quickly concluded exactly how everything had set into place.  By his own hand, he had led the invaders between universes.  It was evident in the pattern.  By his own hand he had trapped himself here.  

By his own hand.

How could he have been so blind?  He would have to puzzle out the different possible reasons he might have had to do such a thing.  For now, he needed to get his bearings.

In this realm, Diaprepes was blind.  He could enter the void, but could not navigate it.  He didn't have the skill or raw power granted by Poseidon to the original to continually wander.  

He was trapped.

But he had hope.  That pattern on those ships was his.  It had been a warning.  He would see it again.

He had no time to waste, even though, ironically, he had all the time in the world.  Shutting down all unnecessary systems, Diaprepes stepped to the center of the command chamber and seated himself for a trance.  Using his own mental energies, he formed a void bubble around himself, sealing his body outside of time.  This way, he could preserve himself for an eternity.

He wouldn't have to wait that long.  If he interpreted events correctly, he would see the beacon again.  When he did, finally he would be free.  Then, he could go home to Atlantis, or explore the multiverse.

But, he had to see what kind of universe he was in.  Reaching inward, he felt outward.  Those ships could propel themselves through the void.  It was that kind of disturbance which he sought.  But, the beacon had vanished upon entering this world.  It was possible that he had been flung into the past, before the invention of such ships.

He mentally prepared himself for silence, a long, long quiet.

To his surprise, he found a ship, though not the one with the beacon.  Then another.  And, many, many more.  Almost on a daily basis, he felt disturbances in the void.

They were close.

Close, and scattered.  

He never felt as many ripples, so much star travel, back in Atlantis.  Seeing this, he felt dismayed.  Should these people ever start to cross universes, Atlantis would need to be ready should they prove hostile.

He felt them.  He felt their frequency.  In this way, Diaprepes gained a new skill.  In the infinite absence of time, where ships, crew and passengers occupied his domain, he learned to listen.  He heard their thoughts.  Eventually, he learned to actively converse with them.  This was how he learned the scope and nature of the reality he was in.

Through dream in the void, in timeless sleep, Diaprepes reached out, searching, waiting, confident it wouldn't be long.

Then the Beacon appeared.

A BattleTech Never Tale: Proof of Diffusion - Book 1: Discovery - Chapter 6

 

Comstar Terminal Access

Cross Road’s Oasis

Astrokaszy

17 July 3059

Damien's bust hovered over the holographic emitter plate, casting light in the darkened communications booth like colored shadows in a photographic negative.  His picturesque Mediterranean features were enhanced by the grin on his face as he spoke.  Miko listened to the prerecorded message attentively, knowing to expect a series of orders.

“The Curators came through for us,” Damien said, his deep voice as smooth as a radio DJ.  “Camilla was very eager to help out Lady Park with her little revenge plot.  They stole both LAMs, keeping the Stinger and gifting us the Wasp.  We also got a copy of all the data on those drives.”  He paused and shook his head.  “There's some interesting things in there.  Our sponsors will be pleased.”  Damien turned conspiratorial.  “There are schematics and material specs for Mark Three LAMs.  Jav had always thought the Star League had made some headway in advancing Variable 'Mech Configuration technology.  I had only guessed at the possibility.   Well, according to Jav, the specs are for AirMechs that would be identical to their standard 'Mech counterparts in nearly every way.  Same tonnage.  Same weapon placement.  You wouldn't know you were fighting a LAM until it transformed.  Something the production Mark Twos couldn't quite pull off.”

Damien paused, sobering just a little.  “What we salvaged wasn't on that level.  Instead, it looks like IrTech was working on a middle-ground prototype using current LAM technologies.”  He grinned again.  Turning momentarily sheepish, he rubbed the back of his neck.  “Anyhow, I should probably quit boring you with minutia.  We will be back a week or so after you receive this message.  I already have a mission lined up for our other warriors.  The specs are attached to this message.  Let the Legion know about our latest acquisition and have them start testing their ranks for LAM-qualified applicants.  I doubt we have any, but you never know.”

Miko perked up when Damien turned serious.  “We've been asked to report in.  That includes you and DeLessance.  We'll be picking you up when we drop off the Wasp.  It will be a long trip.”

Brightening, Damien said, “See you in a week.  Damien out.”

Crossroad's Oasis was not a large 'port of call' by even the greatest stretch of the imagination.  It was a small town of barely a couple dozen buildings.  However, it saw a lot of traffic as nomads and traders made their way between city states.  Astrokaszy was a populous enough periphery world that it had its own HPG installation.  But, that was far away, in one of the bigger cities on the other side of the planet.  As a trade hub, Crossroads still warranted connection to the HPG network.

Comstar had a small hovel of a building, attended by a lone technician.  Miko left one of three private viewing stalls, stopping at the desk to pay the tech for rendered services.  She was quickly reminded of Comstar's nature about information-gathering.  She suspected the tech was also there to keep an eye on the training pods, among other things.  

Technically, she didn't have to come here to connect to the HPG.  The old mining facility used by the Legion had a functional comm tower.  However, the Legion preferred their privacy, and rarely used it.  Broadcasting to the HPG, even through satellite, would pinpoint its location to Comstar right away.  If Comstar found it necessary to locate the facility, Miko was sure that historical records would point out its location, as well.  But that, at least, would be an extra step.

Best to remain unassuming.  Hence the trip into town. 

Jim was pleasant, as always, still wearing the robes of an acolyte.

“How long do you think they'll maintain the religious trappings now that Comstar is secular?” she asked idly.  

Jim snorted at their ongoing joke.  Each time, he came up with a unique response.  “About the same time the Combine gives up its feudal Japanese and Bushido.”

Miko smiled, noting the jab at her perceived heritage.  “Not all Japanese hail from the Combine,” she said.

Jim perked up. “Oh, really.”

“Really.  Good day.”

“You, too, Miss Nakagami.”

Being this close to the desert, exiting the Comstar terminal building was like stepping into a baking oven.  Miko quickly spotted Al's DeLorean and had to fight off a wave of mixed emotions.  Her mind immediately went back to Gatchina and the monastery barn. Even in the dry sirocco wind, she felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment while she marched over to the hover car.  Looking in the window at Al, she felt her chest tighten in a way she had only experienced in combat, simulated or otherwise.  

But, amid all that, she also felt relief.  She didn't have to hunt him down, though that would have been easy.  The compact Mistress Fusion engine was whirring with activity, which teased her with the notion of cool air inside.  Opening the gull-winged door, she could feel the relief spill onto her ankle before sliding in and sealing the door behind her.  Leaning  back and closing her eyes, she relaxed, letting the cool air conditioning seep into her, chasing the oven heat away.

The electronic ambiance music playing from Al's radio helped her mood immensely.

“Anywhere else?” Al asked calmly from the driver's seat to her left.

“No,” she blurted, sounding defensive and guilty.

Her response annoyed her.  It was true, and she had nothing to be defensive about.  But, upon hearing his voice, the mixed emotions of dread, guilt, and joy flooded back, keeping her from maintaining the professional demeanor she was used to when interacting with everyone.  The guilt was amplified even more when Al didn't react, taking her response in stride while he started the vehicle forward, gliding out of town and into the Dune Sea Desert.

“I'm sorry,” she said, sitting up and buckling in.  As soon as the words were out, she realized that this was the perfect opportunity she had been waiting for.  “In fact, I've been intending to apologize to you for quite some time.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his brow tighten in confusion.  “What for?”

The dread which had been fueling her anticipation went away at seeing his reaction.  She concluded that Al hadn't held any of the negative feelings she had feared for nearly three weeks.  This heightened her feeling of guilt and the burning sensation returned to her cheeks. 

“The barn,” she answered.  

The memory of the accident was still fresh.  She had found the open door leading to a stairwell into the barn floor, and the gantry into the dark chasm.  Miko had called out for Al, wondering where he was at.  To her surprise, he had answered.  

“I'm looking for the lights,” his voice called back to her.  From below.  

“Hang on.  I'll join you,” Miko said.

“No!  Wait -” Al started to say.

However, she had already started to fumble around.  Too late, she stumbled against the railing.  Before Miko could react, she rolled over the edge.  Her stomach twisted in the feeling of freefall.  Time seemed to slow down as she watched the glowing light from the open door start to orbit around her.  Then something slammed into her from the side, and the memory ended.

“I also wanted to thank you,” Miko said, pausing for a second, then added for clarification, “for rescuing me.”

“I'd do it for anyone,” Al replied idly, eyes ahead on the desert road.

Miko looked down at her knees as another memory flitted through her mind from Al’s trial run during the pirate hunt.  She had brought up her arm to restrain Al from what looked like an instinctive reaction when he had started to move, under gun-point.  It was apparent to everyone present at that time that the pirate family was being led to their execution, away from prying eyes and the risk of fair trial.  It looked to Miko as if Al had intended to intervene.  The look on his face when she pointed out their situation was something she had sympathized with.  

She had never given it a second thought, until now. 

“Of course you would,” she muttered, letting a gloomy smile curl her lips.  Turning serious, again, she raised her head, looking at the outside scenery, though her attention was toward the driver's seat.  

“I still don't get why you feel guilty about that,” Al said in the silence.

Miko felt a sense of relief and a touch of joy hearing that, and she let the mild smirk return.  “If I hadn't chased after you and fallen, the secret of your enhancement wouldn't have gotten out.”

Al's brow quirked, his head tilting with the revelation.

Feeling more comfortable, Miko pressed on.  “I had been intending to tell you on Gatchina.  But, every time I'd try, I felt so stupid.”  Even now, embarrassment threatened to overwhelm Miko into inaction.  “Ever since Lady Park exposed your chastity, going so far to suggest that you might be waiting for me -”  Miko hesitated.  “I admit that I had given up on any notions of love and relationship a long time ago.  And, suddenly, with her words I felt things I had only experienced once before.”

Miko looked at Al, letting her gaze linger, so long as he kept his focus on the road ahead.  “I followed you to the barn with stupid girlish notions of discovering the truth in private.”  Turning back to the scenery, she added, “As I said, it was stupid, and I feel stupid for letting my emotions get the better of me.  And, I apologize for the fallout afterward.”

“Eh.  It doesn't remain a secret for long, wherever I go,” Al admitted with an amused smirk.  “And!  Need I remind you, I did break the padlock with my bare hands.”  He glanced her way.  “On purpose.  So, you have no reason to feel guilty.”

Miko felt a touch of despair start to creep back.  He had no idea of the details involved in their company.  He was an ally, and a powerful one at that.  She decided that keeping his allegiance was more important than protocol. 

“It's more than that,” she said.  “I am obligated to report to Damien.  And, we have a sponsor he is obligated to report to, as well.”  Miko paused, struggling to organize her thoughts and put them to words.  When she next spoke, it was haltingly.  “My actions revealed a new scope to your augmentations.  We knew you were strong, and potentially fast.  But, all we knew was what was on the security cams.”

Miko glanced at Al.  He seemed to be listening intently, even though his eyes didn't stray from the road ahead.  “Now?  You admitted to catching me in front of witnesses who also got a look at the site of my fall.”  She looked back to the passing desert scenery.  “And, what more, from our brief talk in the basement, I personally know that you were below me when I tumbled over the railing.  That means you jumped up at least two stories to catch me.”

“From the side, actually,” Al clarified, looking amused, glancing at Miko.  She turned to watch him as he explained.  “If I had jumped straight up to catch you, I would have hit you with at least double the force of a floor impact.”  He motioned with his right hand, illustrating.  “I had to leap over to a wall and launch over from the side to catch you.  I tried to cradle your head before hitting the ground in a roll to bleed off the momentum.”  He glanced at her one more time.  “It worked, if only partially.  You're here, alive.  But you were unconscious when I first checked on you.”

Miko sat, stunned, while she processed the new information.  “You don't happen to have augmented vision, do you?”

“No.”

“Then, you couldn't have used the stairs to get out,” she mumbled.

“It was pretty dark down there.  I had to jump up to the railing to get us out.”

Surprised, Miko shot a look at Al.  His amused look was still plastered all over his face.

“I can't hide that,” she breathed.

“Pardon?” Al asked.

Miko closed her eyes a moment as she focused her thoughts into ordered words.  “You do realize that I have to report all that you've told me to Damien, right?”

“Yup.”

She shot him another look out of surprise.  Then she focused away from him and on her thoughts.  Aloud, she said, “Even if I tried, I don't know how long I could hide that magnitude of augmentation.”

“But you don't have to,” Al replied in a reassuring tone.  “As I said.  Wherever I go, it comes out eventually.”

“But Damien will have to tell our sponsor.  And, once the story spreads, someone is going to take interest.  They'll come to try to either take or destroy you.”

Al turned somber.  “And, you're concerned about who all might get caught in the crossfire.”  He shot her a sad smile.  “Like with the Browns.  I could have taken out our guards in the blink of an eye and saved those people.  But, someone might have gotten off a shot, and killed you, Casey, Damien -”  He trailed off. 

Miko felt a new bout of guilt in the light of new information.  She didn't comment right away.  Al waited patiently, giving her the opening to say something in the following seconds.  Once she had her emotions in check, she spoke.

“That's only part of it.  Knowing you, you won't let it come to a crossfire.  I'm concerned that you'll disappear soon, to keep the chase away from the Legion, from Damien, and the rest of us.  In the last few months, I've grown to appreciate the friendship we've generated.  I do consider you a friend, and would hate to lose you so soon.”

Al didn't say anything.  Studying him, Miko found him looking more reflective.  Ever since Gatchina, she thought she understood what Al was going through, being a man on the run.  She could only imagine his thoughts, his feelings, on having to keep everyone at arm's length in order to keep them safe from his past.

“It must be hard,” she said into the growing silence.  “Having to keep distant from everyone because you never know when you'll have to leave.”

“Eh.  I've kinda gotten used to the seemingly random time for my departure,”  Al commented lightly.  “That is what spurns me to be a little more bold in exploring, getting to know people, and to cherish what friendships I happen to make along the way.  No.  As I told Lady Park weeks ago, I keep the notion of a lovelife distant because nobody I've met has been allowed to follow me.  I would need a clear sign from my creator, or the creator of this reality, before I'd even begin to entertain the notion.”

Miko had turned her gaze outside the car while he spoke.  “I can understand wanting a signal from God, but why would your engineers get a say in what you do?”

“They don't,” he said with a quiet chuckle.  “I'm talking about the God that created the world I'm from.”

“I thought that joke was to get Lady Park off your back,” Miko mused, puzzled.  

She tore her eyes away from the scenery to study Al.  She found the amused but sad look that crossed his features on occasion.  Every time she had seen it, someone had missed something, failing to meet his expectations.  

She tried to recall the conversation that was now weeks old.  With time, it had morphed in her memory to fit her conclusions, so she wasn't sure if her recall was at all accurate.  But there had been one thing he had said that stood out in her mind.

“You had given her your answer,” Miko muttered.  Epiphany struck.  With the new realization, she said, louder, “You weren't joking.”  Confusion returned as she recalled more of the events around Lady Park.  “But why did you make it seem like you were?”

Al glanced at her with a twinkle in his eye.  “Awe!  Just because it eventually comes to light doesn't mean I can't have a little fun beforehand, does it?  I played a little game of subterfuge to see who might catch on.  It's not like I haven't been dropping hints all over the place.  What's interesting is that Lady Park figured it out right away.  She didn't say it directly, but the way she looked around at the rest of you was telling enough.  Perry might have already figured it out.  She and Down are thick as thieves, so what one knows or guesses, the other will, too.  Once they clue in, I'm sure to hear about it.”

He gave her another side-long glance.  “And, now there's you.”

Overwhelmed by what he said, Miko sat, numb, not staring at anything in particular.  It was all surreal.  And the biggest problem she had was wrestling with whether she believed it or not.  In that moment, the first thought that quickly scrambled out of the rushing jumble in her firing synapses was the reason why nobody was 'allowed' to follow him.

“So, it's not that you leave people for their safety.  It's because they physically can't go with you into the next world,” she stated.

“That's right,” Al said.  “Unlike you, I wasn't born into this world.  I'm merely deposited by the power of my Creator, and sometimes in collaboration with the designer of the world in question.  Honestly, I think they're one-and-the-same, different personality aspects of the One Creator-God.  Once events have transpired that my Creator wanted me to witness and participate in, I'm removed and placed in the next world.”

During the rest of the drive back to the Legion's hidden compound, Miko listened to an extensive explanation on what traveling between universes was like for one Alius Cad'ver.  The more he explained, the more she recalled details, both little and big, that corroborated his story.  The Jewel archive.  His knowledge of parts of her world that he shouldn't rightly be privy to, like the Clans and their general modus operandi.  The name he had chosen for himself, having given up on his birth name countless realities prior. 

Once they pulled into the mine and the entrance doors closed behind the DeLorean, she had no doubt he was telling the truth.  

“Wait,” she said, catching Al as he moved to open the door and get out.  “I have to report to Damien what you told me about your augmentations.”

He gave her a knowing look, smirking good-naturedly.  “You do what you have to.”

The trust he had shown her in the last hour of driving still moved Miko at her core.  “But, your other secret is safe with me.”

With a brief appreciative look on his face, he made a noncommittal gesture, then got out.  

Miko followed suit.  She hopped up from under the gull-winged door with a light step, reflecting how she felt inside.  Her burden of mistakes had been forgiven, and she had learned something very private from a friend.  That wistful feeling from her school days, and from Gatchina, returned.  

Turning to Al, she asked, “If circumstances were different, would I be -?”  She hesitated as words failed her.

Al appeared to catch on.  He gave her a once-over.  “In any other circumstance,” He said, good-naturedly.  

She felt her cheeks start burning.  “What are you doing later?” she asked, hesitant.  

Al perked up.  “It's Kaz's birthday, today.  He's running a monster movie marathon in the rec hall for the whole day.”

“Kazuki Nguyen?” Miko asked.

“Yup.”

“Do you mind if I join you later?  I have some orders to look at and distribute, first.”

“Sure,” Al said after a moment of reflection.  “I'm not gonna stop you.”

The giddy feeling in Miko heightened.  She smiled, quickly turned and strode quickly toward the office complex.  One thing she had concluded while listening to Al was that going with him on his travels wasn't impossible.  If she really wanted it, she could appeal to his, or her, creator-god.  The feelings of a crush washed through her.  This time Miko tempered that with experience.  She needed to  determine whether she wanted to go with him badly enough.  That required spending time with him.  That could take a long time, assuming he would be around that long.

The Rec Room was dark, save for the far wall, where a projection screen hung.  On it, streamed a movie with men dressed in rubber lizard and cardboard robot costumes.  The reflected light from the screen cast silhouettes of a large audience.  In a particularly bright moment, Miko spotted Al near the middle, out along the wall nearest the door.  

Picking her way through the poor arrangement of seats, she quietly apologized to those she bumped.  Finally, she found an open chair next to Al and plopped down beside him.  She tried to follow what was playing out on screen, but it was apparent the movie was well along.  So, she just tried to enjoy the cheap action shots and cheesy dialogue as it came.  It turned out the movie was near the end, and after fifteen minutes of wrap-up and credits, Kaz turned up the lights, his mongoloid features sporting a grin. 

While Kaz announced the next film in the line-up, Miko turned to Al.

“That's the cheapest kind of entertainment known to man,” she said.  

“Yeah. Who knew suit-mation was still a thing,” Al replied.

“Some worlds, it's the best they can do,” Miko said, conceding.  “I find it hard to immerse myself in something so blatantly not real.”  

“What, you mean the idea of giant lizards?  Or simply the production quality?”

“The production quality,” Miko said.  “As vast as this galaxy is, I have no doubt there are giant lizards out there that can tower over the trees and wrestle with each-other.  They're out there.”  She smiled at Al.  “The likelihood of our encountering them,  though, is probably non-existent.”

Al turned reflective.  “Yeah.  Most likely.”

This Week's Creature Feature:

Mineral Mayhem

Rim Mining Proprietary Planet 4

High Orbit

Periphery System 18130321001

9 August 3059

The Leopard that had been commissioned to haul Casey and Al to their new job site happened to have been modified with observation lounges to either side of the bridge, just behind the protruding cockpit section.  Each lounge was situated much like a passenger liner, albeit one-sided, with a row of seats next to armor-glass portholes.  The Captain of 'Speckle' generously allowed the MechWarriors and their technicians to sit on the side with a view of the upcoming planet.

From his vantage, Casey could only see a dirty white orb with patches of fluffy cloud tops amid splotches of gray.  Through some of the clouds, he thought he caught sight of a faint orange glow, indicating one of the vast lava seas mentioned in the briefing.  On the forward bulkhead, a large monitor hung for all to view.  Currently displayed was a sensor readout overlaying a topographic map.  A giant orange blob matched what Casey thought he saw below.

“This looks like it's gonna be hell,” Darran growled from the seat behind Casey.  The Fed Suns expat sounded a little extra grumpy, his voice low and gravelly and the Outback accent a little thick.  

All three mounted Legionnaires and their assigned technicians were accompanying Al and Casey on this trip.  All of them were long-time members of the Legion, including the grizzled master tech and apprentice tasked with maintaining the newly minted Wasp LAM now piloted by Kazuki Nguyen.  Most notably, Darran brought his son, T. Ryan, as technician for the Awesome he now jockeyed.  The LAM team had spent all trip poring over the specs and readouts that came with the pilfered Star League wonder.  But, today, even they came to the lounge to have a look at their destination.

“Well, you didn't have to come along,” Casey mused, replying to Darran's gripe.

“I'm not about to lose my place in the Awesome's cockpit,” Darran snapped.  He resumed his dour growling.  “Nimaj was pretty clear about making sure someone was in one of your 'Mechs and out on missions.  I don't want to have to wait to retest on a new ride in what may be a year.  This garrison contract will be about that long.  You and I know that the likelihood that we’ll come back with anything more than our own gear is not likely.”

“Aah,” Casey remarked, blowing Darran's concerns off.  “I get the salvage conditions.  But it's not going to be that bad.”

Once the Speckle had burned through re-entry and dropped below the clouds, Casey got a better look at the surrounding countryside.  Off to the side and behind him, he saw a volcano spewing a column of ash, looking like it was a giant shifting tree holding up the cloudy sky.  Beyond that were many more like it, or others oozing rivers of lava down their ragged surfaces.  As the DropShip soared east, the fiery mountain range shrank with distance.  Dormant calderas replaced them, each series more and more worn and weathered with time and erosion.  Each one had jagged crusty sides, old lava flows pooling in valleys between each dirt-colored pimple of a mountain.  

“What did I tell ya?” Darran asked, wryly.  “It's gonna be hell.”

Casey watched the hellscape below.  “My dad told me that if you want the good ores, the rare minerals and the heavy metals, you have to go to hell to find them.”

“What about normal worlds?” Jenn asked, her New Avalon lilt barely noticeable.

“'Garden Worlds'?” Casey asked.  “Well, you might get lucky and find a decent vein, but there's  a fine balance to be maintained.  You don't want to overly affect the ecology that makes the world habitable to begin with.”

“So, pros and cons,” Al said from the seat in front of Casey.

“Yup.”

Outside, the valley ahead looked different from the ones they had passed.  The jagged flows were interrupted with clear signs of strip-mining.  Giant terraced pits opened up like artistic carvings chiseled into a volcanic stone, their rugged symmetry jarring in the wild randomness of nature.  Even from this height, Casey could see work lights moving around in their depths.  

Each pit Casey spotted was connected by a smooth trail of a road.  That path network webbed between the pits and also led to a centralized hub.  More lights belonging to ore haulers moved along those roads like very slow bits moving along a circuit-board.  

Sitting majestically at that hub was a large mobile platform.  About as big as an ocean mining rig, this mobile facility sat atop huge treads.  From the briefing, it acted as home for the staff, including the defense force, complete with living quarters, public gathering and recreation facilities, and an elaborate dining hall.  Casey tried picking out the hangars and garages for the huge machinery involved in the operation.  The rest of the platform was dedicated to the processing system, with loading docks and tumblers connected to conveyors which disappeared into the guts of the platform.  On top of it all was a huge, heavy-duty landing deck rated to hold small DropShips around the size of a Leopard, but as heavy as a Buccaneer, complete with elevator lifts for 'Mechs and other cargo down into the interior. 

“I appreciate the risk Rim Mining is taking, coming to a world like this,” Casey mused.  

“Do you know this company?” Al asked, sounding honestly curious.

“I've never heard of them,” Casey replied.  “And I know of quite a few mining firms, between my family's business, their partners, and their rivals.  Anyone else heard of them?”

The other spectators gave negative replies, or didn't say a thing. 

“Curious,” Darran muttered.

Into the growing silence, Al said, “The name makes me think of the defunct Rim Worlds Republic that used to border the Lyran portion of the Commonwealth before and during the Star League.  The trip had taken two jumps, though.  So we can't possibly be anywhere near that region of space.”

Casey's breath caught at the reminder of his home.  Al was right.  They were close, but still very far away. 

“Now that you go into that train of thought, I think Belters are known for operations like this,” Jenn said.

Al didn't respond.  After a few seconds of silence, Casey added another thought.  “Regardless, they've put a lot into this gig.  That rig is mobile, most likely to evacuate should this region become unstable.”

“You're sure it's not to run away from the local wildlife?” Al asked, tossing Casey an ornery smirk from over the seat's shoulder.

The 'Mech bay inside Speckle was busy.  Bay technicians had suited up to handle the unbreathable atmosphere outside.  Casey waited inside his Griffin's cockpit, 'Mech powered up, ready to exit and move to the lift.   Al was first in the queue, and had vacated the stall to Casey's left.  To Casey's surprise, the machine to replace the Warhammer didn't step in to take its place.

“Oh, wow,” Al's disembodied voice sounded a tad alarmed, but largely impressed.  “Take a look at what's coming in, guys.”

Casey watched a truck roll into the 'Mech Bay with a Phoenix Hawk on its oversized bed.  The 45-ton humanoid had seen better days.  Large portions of its hull were scratched up by what Casey could only guess were giant claws.  Other sections, like the head and right shoulder were crushed.  It was missing its right leg below the knee, the lower half lying detached and strapped down near the back of the truck bed.

Minutes passed while techs worked on attaching winches and cables to lift the battered wreck up-right and secure it in the stall.  

“I told you,” Darran said.  “This mission's going to be hell.”

When a Thunderbolt replaced the Awesome in its stall across the bay, Casey decided to ask a question over the local frequencies.  “What happened?”

An unfamiliar voice answered.  It was deep, sporting an accent that Casey didn't recognize.  He attributed it to one of the many dialects to be found in the Free Worlds.  “We are bound by NDA.  If you want to know, ask the foreman when you get inside.”

Casey let that slide.  He understood non-disclosure agreements.  One other piece of curiosity bade him change the subject.  “Acknowledged.  Can you tell me who you are?”

He felt the question was innocent enough.  There was no harm in establishing potential connections for the future. 

“I can.  But I won't.  Our unit values our privacy, just as I imagine your unit does.”

Surprised, but nonplussed, Casey simply replied, “Acknowledged.”

Rim Mining Facility

The briefing room was all of six meters by three with drop-down ceiling tiles barely centimeters above Casey's head when standing.  The walls were faux wood paneling, decorated on one end with a whiteboard.  The other decorations included ancient motivational posters, a digital shift clock next to a couple tall card slot containers randomly half full of employee ID cards, and a digital communication station complete with monitor.  Above the whiteboard was a holographic projector.  There were two cheap wooden doors, one on each end along the left wall, if the whiteboard was considered the front of the room. 

Casey sat in a plastic-on-metal fold-up chair, arms resting on a matching plastic fold-up table.  The furniture certainly showed its age.  No longer pristine white, stains gave a lot of the tables and chairs off-colored patches.  

Two men entered near the whiteboard and closed the door.  Casey assumed that the foreman was the man who took up position in the center, while the other leaned against the wall near the door.  Both wore Rim Mining shirts, but that was where the company uniform ended.  The man in front wore navy blue dress-pants, while the other man wore blue jeans.  Casey noted the names on their tags.  

The man in the corner was labeled Yamane.  A slim Asian man, his features weren't as Mongolian like Kaz's.  But, his hairline was characteristically high, like what Casey had seen in movies featuring Combine characters.  Leaning against the wall, Yamane stroked his silvering goatee, eyeing the room with his black gaze while the other guy talked.

Martin was the name on the tag of the guy Casey assumed was their boss.  A Caucasian, Martin sported a mane of silvering hair and beard with streaks of white highlighting his 'chops' around his chin.  Tall and strong, he was barrel chested, sporting a bit of a gut from age or soft living.  As he spoke, his tenor was on the low end, kind of nasal, but firm and strong with authority.  He had an accent, but it was light, reminding Casey of a Davion core-worlder's accent.

“I'm Ray Martin, and I'm in charge of this operation.  Before we get started, I remind you of the NDA you signed before accepting this mission.  Now that you're here, that NDA is in force.  Anything that's seen or heard here never leaves this planet.  We have our means of enforcing this, so don't test us.”

He glanced at each MechWarrior and MechTech.  “I imagine you all have questions.  Let's get those out of the way, first.”

Al raised his hand, but Darran spoke out first.

“I notice that salvage has to be approved,” he said, voice loud, his accent sounding normal.   When Darran was agitated, Casey observed that Darran's outback drawl would thicken. 

Martin seemed to relax.  “If you're talking normal salvage, you have no need to worry, there.  Any 'Mech or vehicle you kill, you get to keep.  You can even recover your own gear should you need to.”  He took on a look of empathy.  “But!  The likelihood of that kind of raid is next to non-existent.”

“Because of the NDA,” Casey added.

Darran visibly soured.

“Correct,” Martin said.  “As you have guessed, this is a remote system and we have the sole stake-hold.  We want to keep it that way.”

Al raised his hand again.  

Martin acknowledged him with a nod.

“So, what happened to that Pixie?” Al asked, serious.

“You mean the Phoenix Hawk,” Martin corrected.  

Al nodded.

“It succumbed to the local wildlife, which happens to be one of the biggest reasons for the NDA,” Martin said.

There were a lot of gasps and exclamations.  Most of them echoed Casey's blurted, “How?”

This time Yamane spoke up.  His voice was higher pitched than expected.  Casey heard an accent matching Miko's in the man's phrasing.  “Giant lizards.  The ones we've seen range in the same sizes as BattleMechs.  A rare few I've seen were taller than the tallest known 'Mech by a head.”

Casey was still perplexed, and opened his mouth to voice as much, but Yamane continued.  “The thing is, these lizards are unique.  They're not like the Ranger Bulls on Galisteo, which can be shot and taken down at range with the right weapon.  Some of you might be familiar with the legend of Hunter's Paradise.  There were rumored to be critters there which could potentially overwhelm a 'Mech, but even then, a 'Mech wasn't required to go hunting.  With a high-powered rifle and enough range, any of those creatures can be taken down by an unprotected gunman.  'Mechs were only there to handle situations where things went wrong.”

Yamane stepped away from the wall.  “But, these?  These lizards have a hide that gives a similar effect as Combat Grade armor plate.  And, they're shifty enough to make good use of it.”

“Which means we have to engage at typical ranges for Armored Combat,” Kaz said, disbelieving.

“That explains direct-fire weapons,” Casey said.  “What about smart rounds, like missiles?”

“They emit their own radiation, which messes with targeting much the same way as ECM jamming,” Yamane said.

“Radiation,” someone muttered in the next round of astonished exclamations.

“Did the pilot survive?” Jenn asked, concerned.  

“Not really,” Martin answered.  “She wasn't devoured, if that's what you're asking.  But, between the radiation and the hostile atmosphere, she did die before her teammates could reach her.”

“But, we've had people eaten early on,” Yamane said with a strangely perverse look of humor.  “Oddly enough, we're not very appetizing.  Any lizard that ate a person quickly fell ill and died.  So, be assured that if one does eat you, you'll be taking it with you.”

The room was silent for a moment.  Martin cast a stern look at Yamane.  “Seriously, Cash?  Don't you think that's a little morbid for first-timers?”

Yamane shrugged.  “They asked.  And they should know what they're getting into.”

“The briefing we got said 'hostile wildlife',” Al interjected into the silence.  “Is there anything else we should keep an eye out for?”

Yamane shook his head.  “As far as we know, these lizards are the only form of life we've seen.”

“Not even microbial?” Al's Tech, Blue, asked.

“Not even microbes,” Yamane confirmed.

“So, what else do you know about the lizards?”  Jenn asked.

“That's pretty much it,” Yamane confessed.  “We know they're migratory.  You didn't see any on the flight in because they're in a different region for the season.  They'll come back sometime early next year.  When the whole herd is here, they seem to go into a rut, getting aggressive to the point of violence.  That's when the 'Pixie', as you call it,” Yamane paused to smile at the name, “got overwhelmed and damaged beyond their group's capacity to repair.”  

“Huh,” Casey mused.  “If they're that unique, certainly you'd have brought in a biologist to study these things.”

“We did,” Martin said.  He waved a hand at Yamane.  “You're speaking with Dr. Takashi Yamane, xenobiologist.  You might not have heard of him because he has yet to publish anything on the creatures he's studying here.”

“Under NDA?” Darran asked with a touch of bitter sarcasm.

“Sadly, yes,” Yamane replied with an amused smirk.  “But, I really don't have much to work with beyond some flesh samples we've recovered of dead ones.  Trying to follow the herd is next to impossible, and they're dangerous without protection.  The particulate in the atmosphere makes conventional flight short.  Once you get past the road network, there's no easy way of traversing the ragged volcanic leftovers that pretty much define the landscape.”

Shrugging, Yamane added, “We don't know where they migrate to.  We have no idea in what way they reproduce.  We have yet to see anything that might act as a repellent to keep them at bay.  There appear to be two sexes, and it looks like they're a form of terravore.  We see them steam-shoveling the ground when they're massed in the area.  But, beyond that, I don't have much to work with.”

“What kind of biology are we looking at?” Al asked.  

Casey glanced at his friend to see a twinkle of open curiosity in Al's eyes.

“It's not Helical, if that's what you're asking.  But, it's hard to describe, since I never get to see it in action while a lizard is alive.  It looks -”  Yamane deflated as he thought.  “The best way I can describe it is 'tubular'.”

“Which doesn't really concern you,” Martin said, looking at the mercs.  “When Yamane is cleared to publish, maybe then.  For now, all you need to know is that their hide is as tough as 'Mech armor, and that they get grumpy in early spring.  Which is why we bring in 'Mech Mercs.”  

He glanced around.  “Any last questions?”

“Yeah,” Darran said.  “If their skin is as tough as 'Mech armor, what about their insides?  How much of a beating can they take?”

“They're glass-jawed,” Yamane said.  “Once you breach their hide, they feel pain and will take injury.  If you hit the main body or head, they will die, practically instantly.”

“So, we only have to worry about stampeding,” Jenn's Tech mused aloud.

“It's a concern,” Martin said.  “But, they seem to be learning.  This last year, they've largely kept their distance from the pits when a 'Mech was present.  The Phoenix Hawk was a fluke, as far as I'm concerned.”

He gave the group a moment of silence for any other questions.  When none came, he said, “Now!  I noticed that your boss didn't provide a unit name.  However, some of you claim to go by the 'Vagabond Legion of the Damned'?”

“The Vagabond Legion is a pool of free-lancers,” Casey said.  “They man our empty machines that we salvage.”

“Then, I take it you're the one in charge?” Martin asked, spearing Casey with an intense gaze.  

“While I may be the more experienced between myself and Al, he was the first to actually get hired on as a full-fledged member.  So, that makes him the senior member here.”

Martin's gaze shifted to Al about the same time that Al shot Casey a quizzical look.  

“So, you're in charge?”

“Well, if that's the case,” Al said, an ornery twinkle in his eye, “I'd rather defer to experience.  That, I believe, would fall to the Legionnaires.”

“Good call,” Darran said with a sage nod.  “I've seen a couple short wars and many a skirmish in my time.”

Jenn perked up, amused.  “Oh, really?”

Casey watched Martin deflate with a sour look.  “You can sort it out later.  Once you have a designated leader, let me know.  Right now, it's time to get to business.  Since your official unit doesn't have an official name, I will come up with one for the duration of your mission.  I will let you know the moment you come to me with a leader.”

He closed his eyes and sighed.  “With that out of the way, it's time to get your warbook updated.  Thanks to Yamane and the efforts of the first mercs to defend our facility, we have developed an entry that will help your combat computers range your targets.  This information is proprietary and will be deleted from your system before you leave.  Any BattleROM footage will equally be confiscated and wiped from your 'Mech's drives.”

Martin turned and strode toward the door, giving one last instruction on the way.  “Follow me, and I'll introduce you to our Garage Foreman, Akira Ogata.  He'll get the warbook upgrade process going.”  

Rim Mining Facility

Planet 4

Periphery System 18130321001

5 February 3060

Behind his stationary Griffin, Casey got a great view of the giant mobile processing platform on the compressed panoramic monitor.  Mining machinery was constantly active, never stopping except to affect repairs.  Giant ore haulers kept coming from active mining pits to deposit their loads into the processing system.   

One such hauler was backing into a dock at the moment.  It was as tall as the Hostile Environment model Buster LoaderMech that guided it and at least twice as long.  Staff in orange hostile environment suits quickly worked switches and levers, getting the dock into position while the truck's dumper rose.  They finished and got out of the way just before tons of dirt and rock started tumbling down into a second container.  Debris dribbled from the other end onto a conveyor system which disappeared into the guts of the rig.

Casey marveled at their efficiency, especially in light of the hellish aspects of this world.  The unstable nature of the planet.  The toxic, cloudy atmosphere.  The looming aspect of mineral gobbling giant lizards.  

The comm light blinked a few seconds before Martin's voice boomed in Casey's ear.  

“Alright, Bouncers.  You get your chance to see some of the local wildlife.  Pit Six has reported sighting a small herd approaching their position.  It's to the west by northwest.  Marking it on your map.  Transmitting.”

To Casey's physical left, the Port side 'Mech Hangar's doors folded open.  Situated between two of the large treads, it revealed a ramp up into the bay proper.  Darran's Awesome and Al's Warhammer  strolled down, one-by-one. 

“Jenn's still in her fifteen minutes of daylight,” Darran said.  “I'll stay back here until she's ready to join up. That leaves you two young lads.  Kaz will be on stand-by on the deck above with the LAM.”

“Got it,” Casey said.  

Once again, Casey was reminded about the perpetual cloud cover.  There hadn't been a sunny day since they landed.  Rumor had it, there had never been one.  The volcanic activity kept the clouds ever-present, though thin enough on occasion that Casey could barely make out the star's faint outline once or twice in the couple months he had been here.  Because of that and constantly being cooped up in the facility's living quarters, Rim Mining had established a room for sunlight beds.  These were more elaborate than mere UV beds for tanning.  The bulbs were full-spectrum light.  Everyone had to take fifteen minutes in one, twice a day, in order to combat SAD.  No exceptions.  There were enough people that a tight schedule had to be maintained.  Jenn was in the middle of her first session, this early in the day.

“Do we want to go at speed?” Al asked.

“Might as well,” Casey said.

Al turned his barrels in the direction of the Nav marker and throttled his 'Mech into a run.  Casey put his Griffin up to a combat run.  The Griffin started to outpace the Warhammer, until a fusillade of azure particle beams and ruby lasers lanced out to the horizon.

Yamane's voice came on the line. “Bouncer Three, I told you that your shots will only function at typical combat ranges.”

“There's a method to my madness, Doc,” Al said.  

The Warhammer's thermal sig bloomed red a moment before the cooling system kicked in.  It dropped in a second to something above normal.  At that point, the distance between the Griffin and Warhammer stopped widening.  The heavy 'Mech's pace quickened to match Casey's Griffin, and it was a sight to behold.  From outside, it ran with a track-star's gate.  Casey knew his own ride had slightly longer legs, but that was minor when it came to rate of motion.  

The Warhammer didn't fire anymore, but its temperature reading only fluctuated slightly, suggesting to Casey that Al had turned off all but one freezer.  That would change once they got in range of the hostiles.  

“New Tech,” Yamane mused.

“Yup,” Al replied.

At Pit Six, Casey's HUD displayed seven red dots on the opposite side from his position.  They were about a kilometer beyond the huge excavated hollow, busily shoveling up mouthfuls of dirt, wandering ever so slowly to the active earth movers and ore haulers.  Hovering his reticle over the nearest one, Casey found himself slightly surprised at their appearance.  Their hide wasn't scaled, like he subconsciously expected.  He had seen enough images and watched enough old ROM footage to know better.  But, it didn't really sink in until now.

They looked like some child's attempt at a lizard via a mud sculpture that had been left to dry too long.  Their hide was crusty, looking like they had wallowed in the very minerals they ate.  And, their teeth were equally as jagged, looking like random cut crystals jammed into both sides of their mouths.  For their ugly appearance, they looked calm and docile, showing no signs of the violence he had seen in the ROM viewings. 

“How do you want us to do this?” Al asked.  “Do we kill them, or just run them off?”

“I'll leave that up to you,” Martin replied.

Casey had a sudden moment of brilliance.  “Hey, Doc.  Are these things edible?”

Yamane harrumphed over the line.  That's why I was sought out and brought in.  After the first lizard kill, some people had the same brilliant idea.  Do you know what happens when you consume sugar without insulin in your system?”

“Not really,” Casey admitted.  

“It destroys your organs,” Al said.

“Right,” Yamane agreed.  “Sugar's a crystal, and when broken down to microscopic portions, is as sharp as glass shards.  It effectively cuts you to ribbons on the inside.  Well, these things are worse.  Those tube structures that make up their musculature appear to be made of carbon. They're like razor wire.  They don't have to be microscopic to do their damage to your intestines and stomach.  The first guy to try eating them choked to death on his own vomit and blood as his esophagus got lacerated from swallowing the stuff, even after a good half-hour of boiling.  His stomach reacted violently and tried to force it back out.”  There was a pause over the line.  “Terrible way to go.”

“That sucks,” Casey mused.  “Can't take away any souvenirs.  Can't even get by with turning them into a cuisine.”

“Firing,” Al said, giving Casey a cue of his actions.  

Casey noticed that the Warhammer had fallen behind, its thermal signature having returned to ambient.  Turning his focus forward, Casey watched as Al's PPCs fired off in a one-two pattern.  He had targeted two different lizards.  While they were in line of sight, they were still hopelessly out of range.  

Each beam touched its target for the briefest moment before each lizard twitched and twisted rapidly.  On the HUD, there was no indication of damage.  A quick zoom revealed the caked mud glowing with absorbed, dissipated energy.  Very much as their intel had advertised.

However, one of the larger females, identifiable by the two large crystalline growths sprouting from the back of her head, made a noise.  It was echoed by the male that had also been targeted.  The rest of the herd looked up, eyed Al and Casey's approaching machines, and turned tail.  

“Looks like we can just herd them away,” Al said. 

“For now,” Casey mused. 

Rim Mining Facility

Planet 4

Periphery System 18130321001

31 March 3060

In the last week, Casey had come to agree with Darran. 

This mission was hell.

Things had been barely tolerable, being cooped up in the living quarters for weeks.  In spite of the sun-bed treatment, Casey got to see the perpetual overcast sky when he was in his cockpit which had started to grate on his calm reserve.  Al's archive had helped expand the viewing library by a lot during the lulls, so Casey hadn't been necessarily bored.

But, now?

On the Radar display in the upper right corner of his HUD, Casey caught slight motion out of the corner of his eye.  Tearing his eyes away from the mining team as yet another ore hauler unloaded its cargo, he looked straight to the radar.  Dozens of red blips hovered at the edge of his sensors. One had moved closer and some others were slowly following.  After a few seconds, they stopped. 

He watched them a moment longer. 

They didn't move again.

Inside the loosely defined border, there were a small handful of green dots moving around.  Those were the ore haulers and excavators at the six different mining pits.  One pit was brand new, having been started a month ago, well after Casey and his friends had arrived.  The others were at different stages of excavation.  During the months of patrol and standing watch, Casey had learned to tune the green dots out.  

The red ones?  Those were the 'kaiju', as Foreman Ogata called them, and they set Casey on edge.  

For the last five weeks, small groups of lizards trickled into the valley, turning into one large herd filling the entire jagged countryside.  After the first sighting, the mercs were no longer waiting on call.  A series of shifts had started with two MechWarriors always mounted and generally on alert.  

It wasn't too bad when the groups had been small and dispersed.  They maintained their distance from the active pits.  But, once the separate herds merged, they started showing signs of agitation.  Fights broke out more and more frequently among herd members, carrying too close to mining activity. That would be when the mercs would have to rush and drive off the temperamental 'dinos', as Al called them.  It was only a matter of time before they got aggressive enough to attack.  

This had become a daily ordeal.

Now, Casey was generally on-edge when in his cockpit.  Any movement on his radar would catch his attention.  

Some shifts seemed to last for ages.  

And, he hated it.  

High strung for just a couple hours, he would get back indoors feeling exhausted.  With no energy to properly unwind, he usually found himself asleep, having dozed off in the middle of a show.  He was too tired to properly enjoy himself when off shift.  Only in the last few days did Casey start to relax enough to start observing his surroundings again, especially the lizards he could zoom in on with his targeting reticle at nearly a kilometer out.

Rut was very much what was going on.  The fights would be between males over a female, or a female rejecting the advances of a male.  If Casey weren't so on-alert, he might laugh at the ongoing drama.

Strange movement on his sensors caught Casey’s attengion.  High above, the new orange and tan Wasp LAM  took off from the Rig's shuttle-rated landing platform.  Simultaneously, he saw the Port side 'Mech Hangar's doors fold open.  Darran's Awesome, Al's Warhammer and Jenn's Crusader stepped out, one-by-one, and started running East.

Throttling his Griffin up to speed, he steered it to fall in behind them while they headed East by Southeast at the Awesome's best speed.  Casey didn't even have to ask what was going on.  Once they were under way, a familiar voice sounded in his Neurohelmet's headphones. 

"Another fight has broken out near Pit 1.  The new one," Martin said.  “Be warned, Bouncer Group. We have been reading seismic activity one point two three kilometers beyond the pit.  It does not match with mining activity and is too strong to be herd activity.  The area might be unstable.  So, be careful."

“Some of the herd may be burrowing,” Yamane chimed in.  “If so, this is something we've never seen before.”

"Roger that, Watchtower,"  Jenn said.  “Bouncer One acknowledges receipt of map marker.  We're heading out.”

A couple minutes passed as the four BattleMechs raced to the mining pit.  Darran took his Awesome over the road.  Al worked along the rugged left side of the road.  Jenn tottered her Crusader along the right side of the road, with Casey taking to the outside to her right. 

Once at the pit, Casey could see just off to the left of the huge depression, on a couple of rolling swells, four dinos in a swirling, halting scrap.  He quickly spotted the one female at the center of three males.  She nipped when one approached.  The other two seemed intent on each other, only momentarily distracted by the third's failure at attraction.

So intent was he on the fight, already dropping a reticle on the nearest male to trigger a firing solution for his -3M's ER PPC, that Casey was surprised to hear Al make a comment.  

“Watchtower, Bouncer 3.  Be advised, I have spotted a mound at the designated marker which does not fit topography.”

“Noted, Bouncer 3,” Martin said.  “Proceed as planned.”

“Let's get this over with,” Jenn said with a sigh.  “Casey, you take the one on the far right.  Al, the one on the far left.  Darran, you have the next one in on the left.  I'll take the female.  Kaz, keep an eye out for more trouble.”

In near unison, the Warriors acknowledged with a simple, “Engaging.”

As had been the case since the first encounter, Al had proven that it merely takes making a shot, even if beyond optimal combat ranges, to send the 'lizzies' scurrying.  They didn't like particle and laser beams.  To date, nobody had to expend ordinance.

Today was the first time something different broke that norm.

As was expected, the 'dinos' twitched and writhed to ‘avoid’ the beams.  But, instead of crying out and running back to the larger herd, they all turned their gaze on the four 'Mechs.  

The three males made an unfamiliar cry. 

One-by-one, they started racing toward the BattleMechs. 

Like a wave, they surged over the hill, running. The female followed at a more leisurely pace, looking more curious than angry.

“Oh, shit,” Casey breathed as he came to grips with what he saw.

Finally, the radio came alive.

"Here they come," Jenn said, her Crucis lilt a tone of command. "They mean to fight.  Don't let them get close.  Remember the Pixie."

"Warning," Darran said steadily over Jenn's orders. "All miners to the facility at once! We have bogeys inbound. I repeat..."

“Try to maintain position,” Jenn advised.  “Whatever happens, don't let them through!"

Two of Darran's particle beams lanced out. Both nailed a male square in the chest, dropping it to the ground.  It didn't make a sound as it fell.  It didn't move. 

In spite of the way his gut twisted with apprehension, Casey was certain they would have the others put down or running very shortly.

Lowering his targeting reticle over the one closest to him, he triggered a solution for his Griffin's ER PPC. A moment's hesitation and the beam fired. For a couple heartbeats his target and the right arm gun's muzzle joined with a string of bright blue. 

The 'dino' didn't go down.  Twitching and writhing around, the beam traced up and down the male's body as it tried to track the target point.  The energy spread around the rough hide harmlessly.

Casey frowned.  Typical long-range shot.  The percentages hadn't been good.

"Damn," Jenn cursed. "I can't get a good lock!" 

Casey glanced left just in time to see clouds of explosions buffet the female.  It just paused, shook itself like a wet dog, and kept coming.  Even further away, Al wasn't faring any better. One particle beam from his Warhammer even missed, failing to track completely when his male target danced under his one-two attack. 

“Al.  Your aren't trying to force an aimed shot, are you?  Remember what I told you.  Let the machine do the work. The computers are smarter and faster than you are.”

“Nope. They're just that nimble.”

They were, Casey realized.  Ducking and weaving appeared like a natural response.  And, they were closing way too fast. The one under his cross-hairs went to all fours, leaping up and down slopes that his Griffin or a ’Mech of any speed would have to trudge over.  At eighty kilometers an hour, the 'dino' would be on top of him in less than thirty seconds. 

The particle cannon was almost recharged. Time was wasting. He quickly toggled another solution, throwing in his missiles. The lizards had tough hides, but Darran's shot proved the Doc's assertion.

They couldn't take a hit that got under the skin.

"Yeahah," Darran whooped after dropping a second one.  “Hey, Al.  This is starting to feel like Journey to Hunter's Paradise, don't'cha think?”

“What!  That low-budget rip-off of Journey to the Center of the Earth?” Al replied. 

The Warhammer managed to land a telling blow on the arm of his target. The lizard stumbled and cried out in pain. 

While keeping half-an-eye on the male racing straight at him and another one the rest of the battle, Casey spotted something, forcing him to blink.

“Eh,” Al continued.  “No matter the version, the way events are unfolding, the plot would be full of holes and incomplete dialog. The battles would be one-sided with the enemy practically walking into weapons fire to be mowed down. Finally, sadly, the graphics would not be flashy enough to be considered realistic by the average movie-goer.”  

Casey hadn't felt a quake. However, in the distance, a hill was shaking. 

“At least the Battle ROMs might be entertaining,” Darran pleaded.

“You might want to give up on the thought of stardom,” Al concluded.

While he watched the hill rise into the air, a brief thought flitted through Casey's brain that it was the very one Al had pointed out, the one labeled a ‘potential hazard zone’ by the folks at the mining facility.

“Uh... guys?” Kaz said in a melodic warning.  

Faster than it should have, the hill stood up on a pair of enormous legs, and lifted up a long wavy tail. It raised a head, and lifted two slender, long arms from its sides. Two glowing blue eyes opened up and glared in Al's general direction. 

In less than two seconds, the hill stood up and took form.  The moment it took shape, his sensors flagged it, highlighting it with a red outline. 

Then it roared.

That was when the world trembled.  

A part of Casey presumed that it was the sheer volume of the sound that rattled his 'Mech.  When the monster thumped the ground irritably with its tail, his heart skipped a beat.  Then he felt it skip again when the massive lizard took a step, lifting and setting down feet with long, partly webbed toes and round crescent claws.  It glared at all of the mercs with hideous, glowing eyes. Like the lone female, it had large crystalline growths sticking out the back of its neck. They seemed to shimmer the same color blue as that in the stare which froze Casey's soul.

"What the-," was the first thing anyone said.  It sounded like Darran.

“Wow,” Al said with a chuckle.  Then he drawled, “How do you work?” 

"That can't be right," Jenn muttered. Louder, she added. "HQ, my warbook is tagging this as a Kaiju.  A lizard."

"We see it," Martin said after a second. 

There was another long pause. Nobody said anything for long seconds while the giant in front of them started to walk their way.  

"Base," Jenn said with an eerie calm. "Start evacuating.  There's no way we can keep you safe if you stay."

She was right.  It was humongous, standing nearly as tall as a Union dropship.  It moved with a fluid grace that was uncharacteristic for something that large.  Hills that would block a four story ’Mech from sight were nothing more than soft rises which it stepped over easily.  The long, mammoth tail whipped and jerked over dozens of meters helping keep the large beast upright on its two, skyscraper pillars for hind legs. 

"What about you?" Martin asked quietly.

"We'll hold it off as long as we can.  Don't worry about us.  Hurry up and get out of here."

She didn't say it, but Casey was sure she was thinking the same thing he was.  He had only been this afraid twice in his life, maybe three.  The first was looking up at a live BattleMech from the ground.  He never expected to feel that kind of fear in his cockpit, this high up from the ground and closed off from the world.  But he was.  Deep down, he knew that, run or fight, they were very much dead.

And then a giant, crystalline, lizard face loomed up in front of his cockpit, just meters away. 

Casey practically jumped in his command couch. 

He recognized the male he had been tracking moments before. Slashing out with both forelegs, the lizard cleaved a large dent in his ’Mech’s left breast, scraping away paint with one of its jagged sets of claws.  The second missed wide when his Griffin acted on his instinctive impulse to step back.  Two bats of an eye. That was how quick the lizard moved before it reared and lunged, mouth open wide to take a large bite.  Casey got a good view of row upon jagged row, at least six top or bottom, of sharp, uneven, crystalline teeth.  Deep down, some part of him appreciated how the back couple rows were not as sharp, more for grinding.

Immediately, Casey brought up the Griffin's left arm, giving the lizard something disposable to chomp down on. 

He tried spearing it between the eyes with the small laser below his cockpit and even a point blank shot with the PPC.  However, the way it jerked at the arm, trying to tear it off, made both shots miss wide.  Finally he wrenched the arm free, leaving large furrows of misshapen metal and large gashes of missing paint. 

Repositioning himself, Casey activated a kick, and was surprised by the immediate result.  He barely heard the snap of the creature's bone.

It stumbled back and cried out in pain.  The super-sized one, only a half kilometer distant now, cried out sympathetically.  

The injured micro-lizard - Casey frowned at that irony - took off at a three legged run.  

He took a parting shot, nailing and flaying flesh from the tail as it ran.  

Dropping down, the 'tiny-dino' disappeared behind a shallow depression in the slope. He didn't see it go over the next one. 

"Big one must be the mother," Al said, sounding amused. 

Casey rolled his eyes. 

“Not the time for jokes,” Jenn admonished. 

With his immediate threat out of the way, Casey took in his surroundings. 

The 'baby' Al had injured was also making a hasty retreat, keeping low while Al lobbed a couple of shots at it. 

Concerned that the larger herd might stampede or attack, Casey surveyed the horizon.  To his relief, the other small Kaiju were darting away, scattering out from under the giant's feet as it marched ever closer.

On the other side of Jenn's LRM contrails, Darran walked his Awesome out to meet the oncoming monster. 

"Darran! What are you doing?" Jenn demanded. 

“I don't plan on dying here,” Darran growled.  “Might as well get into firing range and kill it fast.” 

"I'm gonna buzz the thing, see if I can't distract it and keep it off you,” Kaz said.  “It's not like it can fly.  I can certainly keep out of arm's reach.”

“Good idea,” Jenn said.  “Be careful.”

Casey quickly ranged the mama lizard.  Percentages were low with it being over half a kilometer away, and closing.  But, he had shots, so he triggered them.

Jenn's shoulder launchers belched clouds of smoke.  A bat-of-an-eye later, LRMs exploded over a small portion of the mega Kaiju's leg. That impact was usually enough to make any ’Mech stumble. Momma lizard just kept on coming like nothing happened. 

Casey's own follow-on shots seemed just as futile.  

So, too, the beams from Al's Warhammer.

Kaz was already flying around the creature's head.  For a moment, his LAM looked like a small bird harassing a person.  The AirMech took a shot with the arm mounted laser and the SRM twin rack from under the nose.  While the shots didn't seem to have any effect on Mamma's big hide, they did get her attention. 

She turned to face the LAM and opened her mouth to roar.  Casey didn't feel the world-shaking noise from before.  Instead, the crystals on the creature's neck glowed blue, arcing electrical energy.  Then a blue beam streaked from between its jaws, slicing at the air as it followed, but never quite reached, Kaz's AirMech.

"Holy shit!  It can shoot back," Kaz sang.

"Try to keep on it," Jenn ordered.

"Are you kidding?  You know that my ride's irreplaceable, right?"

"Just do it!  If you keep moving, it shouldn't be able to hurt you."

Casey could almost hear Nguyen's grinding teeth. 

Kaz answered with a disgusted sigh.  “Armored combat.  Right.  It doesn't appear capable of leading or tracking.”

Jerry kept hovering around the monster, taking another ineffective shot while Jenn, Al, and Darran hammered on it. 

Watching the action unfold, Casey wondered if he really was in a bad movie.  Maybe he was dreaming?   It felt all too real.  Instead of pinching himself to make sure, he leveled his cross hairs over the thing's chest and pulled the triggers.  Dream or no, no reason not to fight back.  Heartbeats later, the smoke from his LRMs clouded the view from his canopy while the beam from the particle cannon burned bright in the haze. 

There was no wire frame for this, no way to indicate damage. The only thing metrics gave him was a simple outline to track, and where his shots landed.  The monster was sixty meters tall.  Not quite as tall as a Union, she was still huge. So when the smoke cleared Casey took a good long look to see if anything was working.

Some shots were punching through Mamma's hide.  He could see giant sores where the particle beams and missiles had broken her crusted skin.  However, they were all over the place, and didn't slow her down.  For all of her slender sixty meters, there was just too much of her.  In fact, the solid hits had an unexpected effect.  

They changed her priority.  

She immediately turned from the hovering Kaz and looked straight to Darran. 

He was the next closest.  

She started tromping straight toward him. 

Skidding to a halt, Darran started backing his Awesome away. 

"Come on, Kaz!  Catch its attention," Darran shouted.

"I'm trying," Kaz whined in reply.

Kaz's AirMech swooped down right in front of her face, and he let off another laser burst.  She just blinked, flicked a fore paw at him and pushed past when he swerved away, narrowly avoiding the hit. 

"Whoa, whoa," Kaz cried. "That was way too close!  I'm not doing that again!"

"Kaz," Casey said, with resignation. "Your shots are ineffective.  Why don't you go finish off the two runts?"

"Bad idea!  Bad idea," Darran cried in protest.

"No!  Great idea," Jenn blurted, voice tinged with epiphany.  "Damn snitch baby got her attention!  Get one of them to cry out and she'll come after you."

"Alright!  I'm on it," Kaz said with renewed energy.  His ’Mech did a tight turn and swooped down toward one of the hills.

“No, Kaz,” Darran cried. “We don't know if that's gonna work!”

Mama Kaiju speared Darran's ’Mech with her blue beam.  Darran shouted, his voice strained, and full of static when his Awesome took the breath shot in the chest. 

“Uh-” Kaz said with hesitation.

“It's an order,” Jenn said.  “Do it!”

"Everyone else, aim for some weak spots," Al said. 

"Like, where?” Casey asked incredulously. 

"Like the head or neck.  Everywhere else she has a lot of muscle.  It'd take forever to cut through that."

"You mean, like this?" Darran asked.

Before Casey's next load of missiles fired, he saw two bright blue beams lance up from Darran's Awesome, connecting with momma lizard's face and neck. 

One of the crystals puffed vapor from the hit.  Mamma's eyes glowed bright as she glared down at her attacker. She sputtered and coughed once, then opened her mouth and shot a blue beam right at the tan assault ’Mech. 

The beam wasn't as bright this time. 

Al was on to something.

This time, Casey fought his training and conditioning, bringing his reticle up to pick the head for his shots.  He had to double-tap the triggers to confirm the called shots, even though percentages showed a sharp decrease in accuracy. 

The view fogged when Casey's LRMs launched. 

Still he watched on the three-sixty monitor.  Every friendly was outlined clearly.  From his vantage point, Casey couldn't see the damage Darran's machine was taking from the breath attacks.  But, the outlines showed the armor damage as minor.  

Then mama lifted a foot, leaned in and brought it down on the Awesome.  

It was a testament to the older pilot's skill that he managed to avoid being crushed entirely.  In fact only the ends of the claws raked down the front. 

Still, it was a hard hit, making the Awesome stagger when the foot hit the ground. Sensors painted heavy damage all over its chest. Not enough for breaches yet.  But, a couple more hits like that and Darran would be in trouble. 

After another targeting solution up towards the creature's head, Casey could only watch. Darran tried to back away, taking a pair of wild shots.  Meanwhile, first Al's Warhammer, and then Jenn's Crusader, fired into the monster with their heaviest weapons. 

Jenn's missiles weren't doing any good, simply peppering mama lizard's skin. Every time they flashed, she twitched away, fouling their blasts. Now that Casey thought about it, his weren't doing much better. 

Too late to cancel that fire order, he thought. 

But, then, what did it matter? Maybe it was doing some good. What was some extra ammo if he was dead? This was do or die!

Once again, smoke clouded out in front of his Griffin and twenty rockets flew up to sparkle harmlessly off momma lizard, followed shortly by the flash of his particle cannon. 

Darran, through sensors or visual inspection, wasn't in good shape. This time, his ’Mech stumbled and fell from the savage stomping slash that he received. He was quickly on his feet, and hurrying with best speed away from the Kaiju, but his slow Awesome wasn't covering much ground, in spite of the appearance of a flat-out run.  

It didn't take mama lizard but a step or two to practically be on top of him once again. 

"God damn you, you God-damned lizzie," Darran snarled.  "I just got this ’Mech!  I won't let you, or anyone else, take it away from me!"

"Got one," Kaz cried. 

True to his word, Casey heard a baby's plaintive cry.  But, mama either didn't notice or didn't care.  Her eyes were on the Awesome.  

Everyone fired again when they could.  Like her offspring, she twitched at some attacks, forcing them to fail, but would then be caught by others.  Even though she was practically scoured with brown, bleeding scars, the damage didn't slow her. 

Mama was on a rampage. 

Mere cuts and bruises weren't going to stop her. 

Again she lashed out at Darran, and again his ’Mech toppled to the ground.

"Stay down," Al shouted. 

"What?" Darran shouted incredulously.

"Don't move!" Al punctuated each word.

"Yeah! Play dead," Jenn added. "Maybe it'll leave you alone."

"Yeah?” Darran didn't sound convinced.  “Or, it could eat me!"

"That won't happen," Al said.

"But...!"

"Stay down," Jenn and Al shouted at once.

Casey watched in amazement.  

When Darran failed to move, momma watched the downed Awesome a second, snorted, and then turned to Al when he punched into her with his particle cannons. She stepped over Darran's downed ’Mech to deal with the new threat.

"Kaz," Jenn cried.  "Try it again!"

"I'm trying, but this little bugger won't sit still!"

"Hurry up," Al sang, while backing his Warhammer away from the looming giant lizard, still keeping her in his sights. 

Once she had passed, Darran pushed his ’Mech to its feet, cursing in the process. Just before his damaged machine turned away, Casey saw some really deep scars up and down the ’Mech's chest. There was one really deep rent, and Casey winced at the coolant bleeding through.

"Trash up my ’Mech, will you," Darran all but shouted.  "I'll show you, you damn monster!"

Three azure beams seared the sky for a brief second, angling up, and connecting across mama lizard's jaw, neck and head. Casey saw brown ichor fly from her Adam's Apple. 

His own firing solution triggered, clouding his vision. Through the smoke, he could barely make out the giant creature's silhouette, only made clear by the sensor outline.  The form slowed down, standing in place.

  Then she started to topple. 

Faster and faster, momma fell toward the ground. 

Casey had a brief flash of insight regarding how the ground reacted to something that heavy hitting. 

He barely had time to grab the piloting stick before his command couch dropped out from under him. 

Practically tossed from his seat, he had no leverage and felt his ’Mech slip hard to the left.  Quickly hunching up, he grabbed his harness. The Griffin landed hard on its shoulder and he bounced around in his cockpit some more. 

Not taking the time to nurse the sharp pain in his side, he quickly grabbed the piloting stick and worked his ’Mech into standing.  

The dust from mama's fall still filled the air.  

Bringing up thermals, Casey saw the creature's prostrate form.  

She was moving but not making any signs to get up. 

"Is... is that it?" Kaz asked.

"I don't know," Al said. "She's still moving, so I wouldn't get too close."

"Hahaaah! You bet it is," Darran hollered.  "See that?  She's choking on her own blood. She's as good as dead."

"Guess we should put her out of her misery, then," Al stated quietly.

"No!  Let her bleed out.  She deserves it," Darran said. The venom in his voice almost oozed from Casey's earphones.

"No she doesn't,” Al said softly.  “She was just doing what all mothers do."

Casey watched Al line up his particle cannons on the beast's head and fire.  

Two shots and she quit moving. 

Nobody else on the ground stirred. 

The whole world seemed to stand still for seconds.

Seconds turned into minutes. 

"We did it," Casey said, breaking the silence.  "We actually fought this monster and came out alive.  Someone pinch me, because I swear this is a dream."

"I know," Jenn said. "I thought we were dead for sure."

"Maybe we are," Kaz whispered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes longer. 

"Well, I guess we should go put down the little'uns,"  Jenn said at last.

“Might want to start culling the herd,” Darran growled. "God knows we don't want any more like her running around in a few years."

Al and Jenn kept watch on the herd as Casey escorted Darran and the retreating mining crew back to the facility.  But, as their 'Mechs strolled along, Casey could see the dinos dispersing in stampedes away from the mining pits and central complex.  Nobody was sure exactly how old the mama Kaiju was, but the ‘lizzies’ didn't seem to feel safe around something that could take her down.

“Man!  We just lived a fricken monster flick,” Darran drawled.

“Yeah,” Casey agreed.  “And, nothing to show for it other than our scars and memories.”

“Yeah,” Darran replied, sounding tired.

In the 'Mech bay, after the decontamination spray-down, Casey met his tech on the gantry overlooking the Griffin's left arm.  Once they were sure that the damage was all superficial, he joined Darran on the ground. 

“What's the damage?” Casey asked.

Darran soured.  “Two sinks are scrapped.  That's gonna tank my rate of fire.”

“I'm sure Damien will fix it when we get back.  Company 'Mech, after all.”

“Yeah!  When we get back,” Darran replied sarcastically.  “It's early March, and we don't fly until August.”  

“Right,” Casey said with an amused smirk.

Turning to head toward the lift into the living decks, the two warriors ran into Martin.  He strolled right toward them.

“What brings the boss down to our level?” Casey asked, still amused and showing it.

Martin cringed, his smile weak. “I came down here to thank you.  I'll be thanking each of you personally.  You stood against fearsome odds instead of running.  You could have died out there, but you didn't run.”

“Where would we have gone?” Darran asked.  There's nowhere else to run to on this rock.  Fight was our only option.”

Martin nodded.  “Regardless, you guys earned a name for yourselves, today.  I know your group doesn't have one yet, but you should suggest to your boss to adopt one.”  Martin's brow furrowed.  “Damien Strangeman can't possibly be his real name, can it?”

“It's not,” Casey admitted. 

Martin nodded, giving the two warriors a shrewd look.  “You're like the last group, using aliases to maintain anonymity.”

“Pretty much,” Casey said.

“Well, as I said, you 'Strange Men' have made a name for yourselves.  So, thank you.”

With that, Martin turned to leave.  Since he was headed back to the lift, Casey and Darran followed.  

Darran leaned in to Casey, and muttered, "Damien's Strangemen? Kinda catchy, don't'cha think?  Might pass that along."

Casey deflated with a sigh. “I don't think I can be a part of a group with that kind of name.  It'll need some work"

With a mild smirk, Darran shrugged and resumed his normal gate.

"I take it you're gonna dissect that thing?" Darran asked, looking at Martin.

"Probably mount its skull on the wall," Casey quipped.  “Would make for interesting decor.”

“Cash is gonna have a field day, that's for sure.” Martin said with a grin as he boarded the lift.  He eyed the two warriors, then rubbed his beard, deep in thought.  “It really is a shame that you'll have nothing to show for what you did today.  I haven't heard of anyone else doing what you did.”

Casey exchanged glances with Darran.

Martin looked at them.  “Screw it.  That monster's a game-changer.  I have to report it to corporate.  We might not be able to maintain operations here.  So, I'll let you pick something from the corpse.  Something small.  Bones, claws and teeth?  Pick out and clean off a few trophies.  You'll still be under NDA, so you can't tell anyone where it came from.  But, I imagine that'll give you an air of mystique and menace."

Martin turned to stare at the floor indicator, looking pleased with himself.  “I'll let the doc know.  He can help you.”