Chapter 8:
Sundered

Stumbling backward in the Orion, trying to regain control of the battered ’Mech as well as some measure of initiative in this battle, a lesson from his academy days flashed back to Connor Sinclair. The topic had been "Situational Awareness." "It’s a MechWarrior’s lifeline," the lecturer had promised, speaking in shotgun sentences as if every word counted. "Some are born with it. It can be learned, true. But it can also be learned wrong. And that can kill you."

Situational awareness covered a wide range of factors. More than just knowing the lay of the battlefield, holding it in your head like some oversized chessboard on which the pieces moved, though that was part of it. When Connor gambled against the pull of gravity and shifted his Orion to the right, it was because he knew that the rough rock wall of the cavern was there. The BattleMech slammed hard against it, and he heard the distant crunch of shattered armor as the plates over his back were crushed. It was better, however, than toppling to the ground -- likely never to rise again with the Annihilator bearing down on him.

The pieces themselves were also a major consideration. The advancing assault ’Mech. The Owens only now moving in from the other side of the tower. Dominic’s Puma -- from the icon flashing across his HUD, it had cleared the antechamber to come up on the Orion’s left. Epona Rhi’s Shadow Cat chasing the Thor, the Smoke Jaguar warrior running his Omni in between the Orion and Annihilator, stopping to twist back and track her advance. With his commander switching targets to the Orion, it left him free to finally answer her attacks.

Though he’d never fought at her side before, Sinclair simply trusted that Epona wouldn’t be there to face the Thor’s assault. A slight gamble, yes, but in his mind the picture came together in such perfect form he could imagine no other result. As much as anything, situational awareness was coordinating all the factors and understanding how they related to each other. Predicting the decisions of your own lancemates as well as the enemy. Recognizing that one moment when the opposition was most vulnerable, such as turning their back and disregarding a former target. The Clans taught their warriors to prefer single combat above the normal chaos of a battlefield. Their warriors chose a target and attempted to bring it down to the exclusion of all else. In Connor’s opinion, they had learned wrong.

And it would kill them.

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