<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Ha_Otoko_color.jpg)</div><br/><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Wrociaw - Dense Forest</strong><br/><br/>It was complete chaos. Carefully laid plans had been torn asunder by misinformation. Not an uncommon event, but even the meticulously outlines backup strategy the company had decided upon had been rendered utterly useless by a bombardment they had been assured was impossible to occur. In the first few moments of the fighting, the mercenaries had already lost half their 'Mechs and support units, with quite a few steel-nerved veterans among the death toll. That left them outgunned and relying mostly on relative newbies to keep a level-head. The result of that was plain to see. Destroyed 'Mechs littered the battlefield, but the fighting was nowhere near done. Smoke billowed from wrecks and impact sites alike, creating a path of destruction all the way to the forest the company was hoping to retreat into. Moreno had made the right call, the thick growth would protect them, but the ever-cynical clanner highly doubted it would prove enough.<br/><br/>Charybdis was battered and in bad shape. Because nothing seemed to shake Damian as long as he remained focused on the fight, he had managed to preserve an admirable amount of ammunition, but damage continued to pile up. With one leg on the verge of ceasing up and becoming a crutch to limp on, and its left arm blown clean off by a PPC shot from an emerald Assault 'Mech, alert signals were flashing all across the board and the clanner was convinced the only reason his Ha Otoko was holding up was out of sheer dedication to bringing its pilot back safely. No one trashed his beloved machine; no one. However, revenge was going to have to wait, as he refused to let anger guide his actions. That would only result in a worse situation than they already were in.<br/><br/>Clad in his usual pilot gear, unlike many of the others in the company, the heat wasn't getting to him, not yet. Sweat colored his focused brow, and his eyes seemed to flick from one part of his field of vision to the next, trying to take in as much information as humanly possible. At this rate, he was going to burn out. He refused to leave anyone behind, however. The initial bombardment had obliterated his Lance, leaving only himself and a limping, battered Hatchetman to try and catch up to their commander and the rest.<br/><br/>Having just caused an enemy Heavy to topple over from the direct impact of a near-suicidal short-range mortar shell, Damian took the opportunity to bring one of his feet down onto the cockpit, the weight alone sufficient to crush it as the pilot was simply too dazed to respond. He felt a tinge of satisfaction which hinted at a growing bloodlust that should have caused aversion in the man. But, blood demanded blood in his mind, and it was a small victory he could lash onto. With his limping comrade saved, for now, he opened a comm channel to.<br/><strong>"Cleaver, Charybis. Move it. You are in line of fire of that Shadow Cat's Gauss Rifle,"</strong> Damian urged as he continued to back away, only to find a shell tear through the center of the Hatchetman, which promptly exploded in a ball of flame. The clanner's fist met an arm of his command chair loudly in pure frustration, but a few deep breaths restored his concentration and he about-faced to run into the forest at full speed; or at least whatever top speed his 'Mech could still handle.<br/><br/>Within the relative darkness of the dense woods, he soon came across the commander's 'Mech, which had slowly came to a full stop not too far from the forest's edge.<br/><strong>"Commander, this is Charybdis; status report,"</strong> Damian's voice did a poor job hiding his worry over his superior, and friend. He continued to approach the battered machine, which was in worse shape than even the blue Ha Otoko. <strong>"Commander? Status report!"</strong> he repeated.<br/><strong>"That you, Harper?"</strong> the voice that answered was feint, almost a whisper that was barely audible over the sound of massive explosions that wracked the environment close enough to no longer be banned from the cockpit's isolation properly.<br/><strong>"We need to keep moving, come on! Your 'Mech is still able to walk,"</strong> Damian urged as he circled around the imposing machine, only to find significant damage had been done to its chest and head. The scarring indicated a plethora of impacts from energy weapons, enough to melt away armor and expose the frame underneath.<br/><br/>A bloody cough sounded from the other end of the line, which helped the clanner to draw his conclusions. <strong>"I've got room for one more if you're injured. Open up the cockpit, commander,"</strong> even though he was hoping otherwise, the merchant-turned-warrior knew better than to expect Carlos Moreno to go out without a fight. He wasn't going to open up that cockpit, even if he could. Years spent on the field of battle together gave a lot of insight into how a man thought, and acted.<br/><strong>"My guts are all over the floor, Harper... Shrapnel. I'm not going to make it."</strong><br/><strong>"You have had wo-"</strong><br/><strong>"No, I haven't... Go. I'm trying to set the fusion reactor to blow... If I'm going down, I'm going to take someone with me. I'll be... damned if they get my... 'Mech,"</strong> the more he spoke, the more feint his voice became. It was clearly a direct order, but still Charybdis did not move from the spot, even as the sounds of discharging energy weapons crept ever-closer. <strong>"That was a direct order, Harper!"</strong> more coughs followed after the outburst and after a few more heartbeats, Damian could only utter a long sigh and begin to turn his machine around.<br/><strong>"It has been an honor, sir,"</strong> seconds later, Charybdis was set to its top speed again, each step causing the communication between the two to distort further.<br/><strong>"Carlos..."</strong> the clanner was corrected, but before communications cut off entirely, a few more words were spoken. <strong>"Watch... Kari's back... Don't let her die like this."</strong><br/><br/>Damian took his promises very seriously. Before that moment, and since, he has never taken one with the conviction he had then.</div>