Iron Empire

Twenty: Hellfire

Report: Quinn
The interior of a dropship.
Three-hundred feet above sea level.
International airspace.

Seventy minutes later our dropship was once again cruising over the Russian countryside.

A massive, concrete dam dominated the eastern horizon, watching over a winding riverbed like a silent guardian. The once-pristine river was a dry trench in the ground, dividing the landscape in half.

On the south bank of the river sat a farm, an old agricultural center abandoned years ago. A field of various crops swayed in the breeze, now too overgrown and irradiated to be remotely safe to eat. A small farmhouse sat abandoned next to a ring of rusting metal silos.

The northern shore of the river was home to the Stalnoy mining district, a patchwork grid of rusty metal depots and tall buildings slicing into the sky. Two bridges jutted out of the district like arms, clutching the opposite side of the river. Crumbling concrete ramps lead down towards the riverbed at various intervals, boat launches that hadn't seen use in twenty years.

Having been completely refurbished after the blackout of the Third World War, Stalnoy's hydroelectric dam had proven far more useful than its mining facilities. The district had provided power to thousands of Russian homes until nuclear power had become commonplace. As far as anyone knew, Stalnoy had been long since abandoned by the time the Iron War began.

My hand found its way into my jumpsuit's pocket and brushed the coin that resided there. I don't know what I had expected upon finally seeing the place that had become my father's grave, but I certainly could never have predicted what I found.

No cannon fire rang out over the farmland.

No bullets flew through the mining district.

There was no battle happening in Stalnoy.

Taewi pressed his face against the window as the dusty landscape rose into view, fading in through gray clouds. "My God," he gasped.

Mechs littered the landscape, most broken and beaten apart to an almost unrecognizable degree. Some were Axion, but the majority were Russian or German. Massive craters pockmarked the land.

"Did we miss the entire battle?" Alyx gaped.

"It sure looks that way," Kitt replied.

"Any movement on the scanners?" I asked Lucas, nervously.

"None whatsoever." Lucas gave the dropship's display a smack with the base of his palm, causing it to flicker. "There's too much dust and smog to get any readings using the ship's scanners."

I turned to Taewi.

"No point delaying the inevitable," I said.

Taewi nodded in agreement.

"Pilots, get to your mechs and prepare to drop," he commanded.

"Good luck," Lucas added.

I turned and strode out of the cockpit with the rest of our squad in tow, shoving the broken door aside.

Once in the hangar, I gazed up at where my command capsule hung suspended, waiting to be loaded into my first mech.

Whoever had been loading the mechs last night had something against me, because they'd filled my hangar with Crusaders and only Crusaders. Taewi's hangar, which hung next to mine on the other side of the catwalk, had many different mechs with unique weapons and features.

I would have to have a talk with maintenance when I returned to the Firmament.

Taewi marched into the bay behind me. The unheated air was clearly colder than I'd guessed because I could nearly see his breath as he handed me a comm headset from a nearby rack.