“You must hold this ridge, Chu-i. We have no reserves. Either they are stopped here, or they take the city.”

“It will be held, Sir.”

“There is no retreat either way, Chu-i. Make sure your soldiers understand this.”

“Of course, Sir.”

The comm fizzed out, and she went to address her warriors. Her warriors… where there had been over a hundred Mechs the day before, now there were twelve. She was the highest ranked, at Lieutanant, their Tai-sa (or Captain) having died that morning.

“We will hold this ridge, comrades. We have no line to retreat to. No base to hide in. The enemy comes and we either destroy them, or die. They will not accept prisoners. It has been an honour to fight alongside you, and it will be a greater honour to die there.

They think we will sit here and accept their assault, dying in this hole while the glory is theirs. They are wrong. All units, prepare to attack. If we must die, we will die in a glorious attack, and they will remember this day for the rest of their lives.”

“Hai!” echoed from eleven men and women simultaneously.

She turned to face the ridge, her Kintaro freshly painted and gleaming in the sun. She rammed her throttle to maximum with a quipped “Now!”

“BANZAI!” screamed twelve men and women simultaneously over open coms, as they crested the hill, literally crashing ahead into the scout force. Two enemy Ravens evaporated into exploded metal as hundreds of SRMs, lasers and ballistics hit them. A Jenner and Commando turned to flee, and were cut down.

The Kurita forces had not stopped, nor even slowed down, as they charged forward. The right side lance, made up of Spiders and Jenners, slammed into the left flank of the enemy, quickly cutting the legs out from under a Hunchback and Centurion. The enemy had recovered from the shock of the attack, however, and a JagerMech to her left was pummeled by LRM, large laser, and ballistic fire, being tossed backwards as his centre exploded. A Commando and Jenner both went down to concentrated SRM and laser fire from a Catapult and Cataphract, and she turned to intercept.

SRMs sailed out from her Kintaro, followed by a stab of medium lasers. The enemy Catapults right ‘ear’ exploded, and it lurched to the side to get away from her. A Dragon to her right charged at the Cataphract, tearing it almost in half with its lasers and gauss. The explosion had barely ceased when the Dragon was shoved to the ground by a massive hail of LRMs, and she turned to avenge her comrade. “BANZAI!” she screamed again, barreling forward into the exposed enemy, a Stalker bristling with LRMs. Her SRMs and lasers reached out again, tearing and cutting through the left torso. She was inside its LRM range as she fired her second alpha, he enemy Mechs XL engine went off with a massive ‘WHUMP!’ of an explosion behind her as she ran past. The Catapult she had earlier attacked collapsed under the relentless assault of a Jenner and Spider, who ran off to cause more havoc. It seemed they would win. The enemy was in shock. So she charged forward again. As she was rounded the corner – she came face to face with the enemy commander, his Atlas virtually untouched.