Warsong (Hunter-Killer #2)

Chapter 27 - Meat Grinder

The rear door of the Mammoth transport lowered with a snarl of hydraulics, and a gust of Rychter's hot, dawn air washed a wave of sand into the vehicle's lower bay. The clamps of Ryke's docking cradle unlatched at the same instant the ramp thudded to the badlands earth and he thundered outside, HK-Rupture spreading out behind him in a bristling crescent of metal.

He scanned the area immediately outside the Mammoth for hostile targets, the Hunter-Killer's sensors snapping aggressively at the slightest flicker of movement. Indicators winked up on the HUD before turning blue as the machine confirmed the fast-moving forms of Scout Cadre skiffs, and the low, angular hulls of Captain Brendle's tanks.

They spread out, toothed metal feet ripping into the badlands earth as they powered away from the looming bulk of the Mammoth. So far he saw no surprises; no signs of their new enemy. He wondered how sensitive the Crawlers were to seismic activity – whether or not they were already aware of the human force on some level, like spiders sensing vibrations in a web.

He guessed that they would find out soon enough.

"Lockjaw – Caesar," he called. "All clear."

"Copy. All Hunter-Killer squadrons proceed with deployment," Harcourt grunted back.

Just as their meticulous battle plan dictated, the other Hunter-Killers came thundering from the belly of the Mammoth in an ever expanding front. Charpente's mechs came out next, their aquamarine armour dulled from weeks of frontline combat, closely followed by the rust brown brutes of HK-Bandit. The northern contingent followed them; HK-Gladiai, decked out in regal red, but he could see signs of battle – scorches and scratches on the normally shining paintwork. These pilots had seen at least some active combat.

HK-Ferocci, Colonel Harcourt's personal guard, came last. Their Hunter-Killers were heavier than the standard variants, bulkier and gleaming crimson in the rising light. He saw no signs of combat on them, but that didn't detract from their imposing appearance as they thumped out across the plain. Harcourt's mech itself was a Riot pattern, with a crescent-shaped shoulder shield and a long, spike of a cannon slung under the opposite arm. Two of their number dragged a large, armoured cradle along behind them on thick, balloon wheels. Its spherical, armoured casing was three meters across, and contained the enormously powerful mine they would be deploying. Too large to be fired from a launcher, this one would be delivered the old fashioned way.

"Caesar – SC21," Harcourt rumbled. "Status update."

"Scout teams deployed to the tunnels," Brackenshaw replied. "Expect visual confirmation of targets within three minutes."

"Understood. All squadrons move to your pre-assigned staging areas. AC-12, take up bombardment positions. Sergeant Mattise, deploy bridging teams at your discretion."

He watched it all unfold on the HUD, even as he piloted his own mech into position with expert ease. The Hunter-Killers wove through the Scout Cadre cordon while the armoured escort vehicles grumbled away to hunker down in the dunes, heavy cannons overlooking the warren, ready to reduce the place to rubble at one word from Harcourt. The bridging teams – part of Mattise's Engineering Cadre detachment – rode in a trio of skiffs, hurtling into the open warren with their cargo of heavy ramps that would be deployed to allow the Hunter-Killers access into the labyrinth of tunnels dug by the Crawlers.

First in line, HK-Rupture followed them in, with Harcourt's squad close behind. Charpente and the other two squads moved to the eastern network of the tunnels to strike the nest from multiple angles at once. Ideally that part of the strike force could draw the attention of enough of the Crawlers to allow Ryke and his troops to smash a hole to allow Harcourt's people to deploy the mine.