Xena: Warrior Adept - "By the oath"


Adept Xena was slightly worried. Having left most of the Level 2 behind
at the bridge, she was scouting the hilly terrain around Cirrha City
only accompanied by her faithful second-in command, Acolyte Gabrielle.
Still relatively fresh out of final training, the latter could still use
some more hours on the simulator, especially as combat situations are
concerned. Additionally, she still has to become more familiar to her
modified 'Owens-S' OmniMech. And then she might stop reciting passages
from the service oath at all possible instances. Not that Xena really
expected trouble. If she had believed the rumors about the blakist
incursion, she won't have left the four other Mechs to help with the
reconstruction of the bridge behind. And surely not taken only Gabrielle
in her light Omni with her. On the other hand, steel bridges don't
usually crash down into canyons on their own. So she had embarked on a
little scouting. Moving her 'Avatar-S' OmniMech on top of a little hill,
she scanned the terrain ahead another time. Nothing seemed unusual.
Gabrielle in her considerably smaller 'Owens-S' OmniMech did the same.
And came up with nothing, too. Carefully analyzing the data that was
exchanged over their C3i circuits, Xena decided to probe deeper into the
hilly terrain. Maybe her Beagle Active Probe would show something.

Signaling Acolyte Gabrielle to go ahead, she carefully took to the left
flank, all the time watching her younger companion, as she handled her
Mech with considerable elegance. 'So much like the pilot...', her
thoughts strayed for a second and then a small smile appeared under the
Neurohelmet. She keyed her Com system and teasingly said: "Take care
Gabrielle, if you swing the hips of your Mech a little more, we'll have
to defend our quarters with more than just sharp comments! Or are you
hoping for some House Lord in his shiny parade-Mech to show up?" - "Duh,
you'd like that, hah? Not that any intruder could match you, mind me,
but a nice juicy...", the short young Acolyte answered when they were
interrupted.

And then Xena's smile faded to nothing as her MAD readouts flashed in
bright orange. Some hundred meters ahead, five, no, six reactors had
been detected, which in this very moment prepared the Mechs they were
attached to for combat. Trying to get ahead of Gabrielle, Adept Xena
pushed her heavy Mech to its flank speed of almost 65 km/h. And
discovered that the communication with the rest of the Level 2 was
intercepted by a strong output of white noise from the enemies. While
her eyes flared unseen under the helmet, she activated the weapon
systems of her custom-configured ComStar Mech. And got green lights for
all of them: the Gauss rifle, the ERLrgLaser, the 2 MedLasers and the 2
SmlPlsLasers. Trying to get the first enemy into view, she fired the
jump jets of her Mech and roared into the sky. And had the opportunity
of seeing Gabrielle's AMS fire at an incoming missile salvo.

The view she got now was not especially encouraging. Acolyte Gabrielle
was barely holding out against a blakist Nexus, who had closed and
therefore attracted the fire of both her MedPlsLasers. 'Thank god she
didn't take the "A" configuration out today', thought Xena as the red
bolts of energy grasped at the WoBblie Mech. She decided that she must
risk a snap shot at the blakist Mech to make things clear. Then the
Nexus fired its jump jets for a DFA attack. Her Mech slightly shook as
the heavy projectile from the gauss cannon shot across the sky like an
especially eager meteor. "Let's bowl!", she muttered as her shot hit the
target's right torso section. She prepared for a finishing shot from her
large laser, but that proved unnecessary as she landed her Mech. Losing
control, the enemy pilot managed to drive his Mech headfirst into the
ground. "One for Hades.", Xena grimly determined. And looked out for the
next prey.

Suddenly she heard an enraged cry over her headphones. A shrill and very
familiar voice told her: "I will finally get you Xena! For all that
you've done to me, all your betrayals of the true meanings of Blake's
words and all your foolish sentimentality with the unworthy." And rising
to another climactic top, the women in the enemy Mech exclaimed:
"Deliver us, O holy Toyama, for we are battling one of the most
despiceable enemies of thy teachings!" Xena sighed and prepared for a
long and bitter battle. "Precentor Callisto...", she muttered, "...you
are my personal curse,or so it seems. Why can't you just go on bothering
someone else?" Of course she knew the answer. She was the one who had
taken control of the HPG station here on Cirrha when the blonde
Precentor had pledged her loyality to the Word of Blake sect. And
managed to drive her off.

And earned Callistos neverending hatred by killing her beloved younger
brother in his 'Hussar' Mech during the ensuing fights. That had been
the last brick in the wall barring the young Precentor from reality. Now
the blakist Precentor was solely out for revenge. And had since then
stalked her wherever she served. And she now additionally had Acolyte
Gabrielle to protect. She quickly calculated the odds. Precentor
Callisto herself had the heaviest enemy Mech, a Clan Mech, a 'Black
Lanner', obviously in the 'A' configuration by the AP impulses and
strong ECM signals emitted by it. She wondered how she'd gotten hold of
it. As she zoomed her on-board camera in to get a better look, she
detected the original paint patterns. The paint job done in haste
couldn't completely hide the original emblem which showed a golden
scorpion on a black background. Adept Xena stored the Info for latter
use and focused back on the battle.

Apart from the blakist Precentor, there were the shredded Nexus and 4
more Mechs. A "Scarabus", a "Night Hawk", a "Snake" and an outdated
'Wolfhound-1'. As the ClanMech was a sufficient threat for her Mech on
its own, the odds were quite bad, though most enemy Mechs were rather of
a recon type. The 'Wolfhound' and the 'Night Hawk' were occupying
Gabrielle in her 'Owens'' Mech, while the rest, the 'Scarabus' in front,
were heading for her. Precentor Callisto in her OmniMech took the
rearguard. Soon the battle began to go topsy-turvy, as each pilot
started to manoeuvre for an optimal fire position. First went the
Scarabus, whose XL engine took the penetrating hits from the medium
lasers of the bigger Avatar rather bad. In a ball of superheated plasma
one Blakist went to his personal hell. Then the Wolfhound, an older, but
still dangerous design, took a critical hit from the Owens' lasers and
had the problem of encountering a jammed leg actuator at top speed. The
leg decided to go on strike and separated from the Mech after
unsucessful attempts at negotiation by the pilot.

Then the pendulum swung back. A PPC shot from Precentor Callisto got
through the armor and toasted one of Xena's medium lasers. The 'Night
Hawk' charged into the 'Owens' and took out one laser at the cost of his
own MedPlsLaser. Not exactly the result the latter's blonde pilot had
hoped for. As both mechs were locked into a wrestle-like position, Xena
suddenly heard Gabrielle cry out for help. She immediately checked the
tactical situation. The 'Snake' was right between her and her friend,
while the ClanMech was moving into her rear. She took a quick decision
and fired off one of her last gauss rounds before initiating a jump that
would bring her right on top of the enemy Mech. Her shot cost the enemy
his left arm, but no additional damage was done. As her 70 tons of steel
slammed down on the lighter enemy Mech, a salvo from behind made her
'Avatar' shudder. The alpha strike from behind amputated her Mech's left
arm, taking the last shots of gauss ammo with it as they poured out of
the torso magazine. She ignored the flaring red warning lights and
finished off the enemy 'Snake' with a cockpit-crushing punch of her
Mech's right hand.

When she finally tried to move her Mech forward to assist Gabrielle, its
left leg gave up and remained ignorant to any commands. Sensing imminent
danger, she turned the Mech around. There came the ClanMech, charging
with full speed at her, both arms outstretched and head lowered. She
tried to activate her jump jets but got no response. A salvo of laser
impulses from Gabrielle's position somehow made it into the charging
Mech's path, but did no visible damage. Seeing the personified death
coming for her, Xena had one last trick to play. In the very moment
before the charging Mech hit her own Mech, she dropped down and her
'Avatar' lay prone in the way of the attacker. Having no jump jets and
being much to fast to backpedal, the 'Black Lanner' stumbled over it and
crashed into the ground. Lifting her machine up, Xena fired all of the
remaining functioning weapons. Which were one MedLaser and two
SmlPlsLasers. They scorched the back armor of the 'Black Lanner', but
that was it. Precentor Callisto straightened the Mech up, lowered the
PPC of her Mech and sent a blast into the already damaged leg.
Miraculously it held and Xena tried to punch with the remaining arm, but
found the enemy out of range. The image of the enemy OmniMech was
bristling with heat on her displays as the Precentor waited for it to
cool down and give Adept Xena the last finishing shot.

Then, suddenly the blakist MechWarrior turned and went away from the
battlefield at top speed. And one moment later it was clear why. Acolyte
Autolycus booming voice came over the open channel as he asked from the
cockpit of his modified ON-1M Orion: "A Clanner? What the..." as his LRM
salvo missed and hit just the dust behind the retreating blakist Mech.
Even the increased accuracy of the C3i systems couldn't guarantee a hit
these days. "I thought it would be a good idea to look why you didn't
answer our call, but it seems as if you didn't need us here. My, what a
mess!", and with a mocking tune he added: "Say, M'lady, is your life
always that... interesting?" - "Shut up, smartass!", was the best Adept
Xena could muster as an answer to her subordinate. She was just too
fatigued for really smart answers.

Xena chose to ignore him and slowly moved her Mech over to Gabrielle's.
She somehow dug out the 'Owens' under the remains of the enemy 'Night
Hawk', which had suffered from a overheating shutdown. Then she
stretched out her Mech's remaining hand and pulled up the lighter Mech.
Growling, Gabrielle acknowlegded her help by saying: "Oh, my hero! What
would I do without you?" Xena answered with a small grin, that couldn't
be seen by anyone - except maybe the benevolent gods - to this slight
teasing: "Well, I guess you COULD tell the Techs I need my Mech back in
service in three days. And then you COULD work on my cramps in the back
after the shower. You remember your oath of doing all you can to further
mankind's well and help those in need? Well, I'll take you up on it!
Right now I need a hot tub and a massage..." After a second of silence
or so, Gabrielle answered: "Oh Xena, you know I would never disobey a
superior's order. But do you really think I'm not already wet enough?
After THIS fight, I really..." A growl came over the relay as Autolycus
took the opportunity to intercept:" Please Ladies, this is an OPEN
channel. Do you really want the WoBblies to get material that... um...
shows them OUR... weirdness? I mean, we are supposed to be the hope of
mankind, the shining example of virtue and..." - "Oh shut up!", came the
answer from both the amazons in unison.