"It is you, it really is. I thought I'd lost you."
He felt her tears splash onto his neck and a tug at his right hip. With his left arm wrapped around her waist, he lifted her and spun to his right as Khalsa pulled the needle pistol from his holster. The autorifle came up around, clipping the demi-Precentor in the right temple as he sought to bring the gun up. Stunned, the man stumbled back across the room.
Khalsa smashed into the Elementals' cell. Malthus' hands snaked through the bars to cap and cup the man's skull. The Elemental's muscles bunched as his hands twisted. He wrenched Khalsa's head sharply to the right. The angle became extreme just before Kai heard a snap and then Khalsa slumped to the floor.
The MechWarrior clutched Deirdre even tighter to him and pressed his head against hers so she would not turn around and look. "Thank you."
Taman Malthus let his open hands dangle innocently through the bars. "I have robbed you of a kill that was, by rights, yours."
"Saved me a bullet." Kai loosened his grip on Deirdre. "How are you, love? Are you fit to travel?"
She sniffed and swiped at tears with her hands. "I'm worlds away better now. I thought you were dead."
He smiled weakly. "Well, I feel dead, so we're close to even. Are you ready to make a run to the radio telescope? We'll use Khalsa's limo this time." He pointed with the rifle at the Elementals. "With these guys in jail here, we should be able to make it."
"Let's go."
"Wait!"
Kai looked over at Malthus. "Ah, you'll forgive me if I decline to continue our little fight. I know it's a matter of honor with you, but you had me fighting gravity and a monster tree." He opened his arms so the Elemental could get a good look at his tattered and pitch-stained jumpsuit. "Consider yourself the winner, okay?"
"I do. And I consider you as bold a warrior as the Inner Sphere has to offer."
"A bold warrior, me?"
"As brave a combatant as I have heard of during our Homecoming." The Elemental nodded toward Deirdre. "As I told her, I had won the fight. The fact that you willingly fought me marks you worthy of my respect, and has caused me to reflect upon the nature of those we oppose here. I am prepared to honor my promise to provide you transport off this world, though I ask you indulge me in one thing."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "And that is?"
"Tell me who you really are." Malthus held his hands up to forestall any protest. "I know you are not Dave Jewell. I read his dossier and I know he was left-handed. You are not. I must know who you are."
Deirdre smiled as Kai blushed. "Star Captain Taman Malthus, may I present to you Leftenant Kai Allard-Liao."
Malthus' jaw dropped open and he reeled backward to seat himself abruptly on a cot. "You are the Kai Allard-Liao who was on Twycross?"
His cheeks burning, Kai nodded.
"And you are the Kai Allard-Liao who foiled our ambush of the Davion Prince here on Alyina?" Again Kai nodded.
Malthus stared at him, then looked at the other two Elemental sharing his cage. "Kai Allard-Liao." It started slowly, but his laughter grew both in volume and intensity. He held his stomach and rolled back, freeing his subordinates to join him. One of them was laughing so hard he dropped to the floor, while the other clung to the bars to hold himself up.
Kai, astonished, looked to Deirdre, but she shrugged, equally puzzled. "Of all the receptions my name has gotten, this is the first time for laughter."
Malthus pulled himself up to his feet and fought against the convulsions shaking him. "Forgive me, Leftenant, but we are not laughing at you. We are laughing at ourselves." Another wave of amusement swept over him. Tears streaming down from his eyes, he choked down a giggle and met Kai's quizzical gaze. "The Kai Allard-Liao."
"I don't understand."
"You do not? Twycross. Our Prince trap?" Malthus shook his head. "Had I known we were chasing you, I would have used a full Star in the hunt."
A full Star of Elementals? After me? That is lunacy! "I thought you Clansmen preferred evenly matched battles."
'True. Two Stars, then."
One of Malthus' men nodded enthusiastically.
"You're crazy."
"Are we?" Malthus straightened up. "On Twycross you destroyed the Falcon Guards. On Alyina you hold open the jaws of a trap that should have gobbled up the heir to the throne of the Federated Commonwealth. After that you manage to survive for four months behind enemy lines. You have eluded us while claiming the reward for our own death and you—a MechWarrior—defeated an Elemental in single combat. You fall from a plateau, get battered by a tree and hit the ground, yet you are able to hike to Dove Costoso and engineer a jail break."
Kai shook his head vehemently. "No, no, you're making it much more than it seems, really."
"Kai, stop it." Deirdre frowned sharply. "What would you say if Victor had done all those things? Would you say it was nothing?"
He looked at her as if she were mad. "Don't be silly. Of course not."
"Then why is it different for you?" She reached up and caressed the left side of his face. "You have, for so long, held yourself to such high standards that you truly do not know how special you are. What you do is miraculous. Colonel Wolf said as much when you defeated five 'Mechs in the testing on Outreach."
"Five 'Mechs?" Malthus groaned.
"Three Stars," one of the other two mumbled.
"But, but, but ...," Kai sputtered until Deirdre pressed her fingers against his lips. Is what they are saying true? Am I really that good, or are they misinterpreting what has been only a tremendous run of luck? He smiled as he recalled one MechWarrior instructor telling him, "It's better to be lucky than good." Have I really been too hard on myself all these years?
He waited for that dark voice to tell him arrogance would be his downfall, but it did not come. Maybe I am good, or maybe I am lucky. Neither of those is an excuse to be cocky or sloppy, but perhaps I'm not as bad as I imagine. Kai smiled as he felt the weight on his shoulders lighten for the first time in active memory.
Deirdre kissed him.
"Keep up that sort of reinforcement, Doctor, and I could come to believe almost anything you tell me." He looked up at Malthus. "It seems like we're on the same side, at least for the short run. If you're serious about getting us off this rock, I'll let you out. But only on the proviso we do not have to finish our fight."
"Why would I fight with an allied warrior?" Malthus shook his head. "Before I can get you off Alyina, I must free my people and avenge the deaths that have occurred. I believe my men have been sent to the ComStar compound at Valigia."
Deirdre stiffened. "The ComStar facility at Valigia is a fortress built by the CEO of a corp who ran this world like his own personal fiefdom. Armored Elementals might do fine on the inside, but cracking open that gate would be something else."
"We have our armor cached in the mountains where we waited for you, but we have no rocket packs. We'd need something big to open that place up. ComStar has disarmed the population over the past four months, and cleaned up all the 'Mech wreckage left on the surface of the planet."
Kai let a low laugh rumble from his throat. "I know where we can find a Gauss rifle. It'll open a hole." He plucked the keys from the lock of Deirdre's cell and tossed them to Malthus. "It's about time someone gave ComStar a message, and if you're willing to work together, I'm sure we can make it a very special delivery."
34
Skupo, Tukayyid
ComStar Intervention District, Free Rasalhague Republic
6 May 3052 (Day 6 of Operation Scorpion)
Strapped into the command couch of his modified Wolfhound, Phelan surveyed the ocean of golden triticale stalks undulating in the wind. It extended for kilometers in all directions, with an occasional tree poking out of it like a weed in a carefully tended garden. Aside from the swaths he and his 'Mechs had cut through as they marched forward, and some small pathways shooting ahead from his position, the field lay unblemished and serene.
It gave Phelan the creeps. Not onl
y did he not see any sign of the enemy, but the sun was slowly rising over the crest of the long, sloping hill at whose base he now stood. The grade looked steep enough to take the edge off any speed they might be able to generate and he felt dead certain the enemy waited for him just beyond the crest.
"Armorer, this is Ax Star."
"Go ahead, Ax Star."
"We are through sectors 3021 and 3022. We have met no resistance. Either the fish are not biting or we're walking into a huge trap. Request air recon of 3023 and 3024 before we proceed."
"Standby, Ax Star."
Phelan frowned. "Roger, Armorer." He flipped his radio over to his Star's command frequency. "We wait here for a second. Let's hype our sensors and see what we can find out about whatever reception ComStar has waiting for us."
* * *
At Wolf Clan Headquarters, Ulric Kerensky paced through the middle of the holotank. On his right, the OmniMechs of the Fourth Wolf Guards set themselves for a counterstrike by a ComStar force. In fierce fighting that had lasted through most of the morning, Clan Wolf had failed to close a loop around Brzo to trap ComStar's Tenth Army. The swift arrival of this new force, ComStar's Ninth Army, meant the conquest of Brzo would take far longer than expected.
He allowed himself a grim smile. You are very good, Anastasius Focht. I had hoped that when we did not land in the first five days, you would divert your best troops to oppose some of my fellow Clans, but you did not. You've tied up the Diamond Sharks in the Kozice Valley and crushed the Forty-fourth Nova Cat Cavaliers at Joje. Now, here, at Brzo, you slow me.
The ilKhan's head came up as an aide entered the holotank. "Yes?"
"Reports are in from the Wolf Spiders, my Khan. Ax Star is their Point Star and they want a flyover into Sectors 3023 and 3024." The aide's hand remained poised over a keypad attachment on his clipboard. Ulric nodded and the man punched a number into the device. The holotank's image shifted to a tactical map of the Skupo area. "The Eleventh Wolf Guards have just met the advanced position of the 278th Division and the rest of the Thirteenth Guards are skirmishing with the 166th Division along this broad front to the south of Skupo."
The tactical map left the whole western flank of the ComStar position open. Ulric knew it had to be defended, but by how much and what level of troops he had no way of knowing for certain. Detaching one Cluster from Alpha Galaxy to perform an end run was a tricky proposition at best. According to the map, either they were free and clear, or—if Focht had defended Skupo the way he defended everything else—they were walking into an ambush.
Ulric traced a finger along the ridgeline. "If they meet resistance, it will be this far out. They will hit them when Ax Star is halfway up the hill. Give them a flyover high, then have the wing come back and pull a strafing run along the line. While they are doing that, Ax Star will have to move fast and get up the hill. Is Hatchet Star still ahead of Ax?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Let Star Commander Phelan and Star Commander Fetladral both hit that line just after the strafing. Hatchet should be in first to cause confusion—hit-and-run stuff—to soften them up. Tell Star Colonel Kerensky to bring the rest of the Cluster up fast. Have this go off in ten minutes."
"Yes, sir."
As the aide left, Ulric cupped his chin in his right hand and stroked his goatee. "Make sure your first shot is the best, Anastasius. If Natasha gets through you there, Skupo is mine."
* * *
Anastasius Focht refused to surrender to fatigue. In his artificial world, he stood atop the ridgeline at Skupo and saw the Star of five 'Mechs waiting at the base of the hill. Back beyond that Star, the rest of the Cluster was slowly moving up. Even without the magnification granted him by the computer, he would have recognized the unique shape of the Wolfhound leading the forward element, and the night-black Daishi in command of the rest of them.
"This is the real stupidity of war, isn't it? I know how good you are, Phelan Wolf and Natasha Kerensky. I have read all the reports on your Wolf Spiders and I know that even though we outnumber you almost three to one, you can defeat us. Even so, even though it will cost me men and machines, I am forced to oppose you."
He opened a radio channel to Precentor IV Krag Jernberg. "Precentor Jernberg, your 138th Division is facing the Thirteenth Wolf Guards."
Jernberg's voice displayed no emotion. "Bandit's Bane will hold, Precentor Martial."
"This I trust, Precentor. Remember that surprise is your advantage. While you are dug in and shielded, they can guess where you are, but they cannot know. Be aware, however, that this unit is very good. If you must fall back, you will not dishonor yourself."
"We will hold."
"Very well." Focht found words sticking in his throat. Yes, the stupidity of war. "If you eliminate the Wolfhound and the Daishi, you will seriously hamper the unit's performance."
"Consider them dead," Jernberg's voice rattled.
* * *
"Switching HUD to ground mode. Quarrel Flight form up on me." Carew punched a button on his command console and shifted the combat display from air-to-air to air-to-ground mode. The 160-degree holographic display of the battlefield cycled through visible light, magnetic resonance, and infrared scanning but detected nothing on top of the ridge. I know they're there, but where?
"Quarrel Leader, Three and Four are negative. They must be shielded."
"Roger, Trey." Carew flicked the Visigoth's joystick flight controller to the right to begin a long, looping turn. All negative, but there has to be a way. Phelan is down there sweating LRMs and I cannot find the guys waiting for him. This place looks virgin. Wait!
Carew punched orders into his computer. It replayed the look-down radar scan of the ridgeline, then superimposed Royal Rasalhague Geographical Society topographical data on top of it. Right along the ridgeline, he saw a moiré pattern where the current lay of the land differed from the recent RRGS survey of the planet.
Carew ordered the computer to further refine the scan discrepancy and paint it with colors, depending on the degree of difference between the two data sets. Those people down there dug great fortifications to baffle us, but they did not have the equipment to make this a perfect replica of what it was before they did their work.
The picture redefined itself according to his command and revealed a saw-toothed line traced with green along the top of the ridge. "Yes!" He keyed his radio to his flight and downloaded his plot of the trench. "On me. Hit them with everything you have got going in and coming out. We only get one shot at this, so let us give our mudbug buddies some help."
He punched up the ground command frequency. "Ax One, Hatchet One, this is Quarrel One. We have a target. Keep your heads down. We'll do the work, you pick up the pieces."
* * *
Phelan started his Wolfhound sprinting up the hill as the quartet of Visigoths came in on their strafing run. Hundreds of rockets shot from the fighters, riding smoke-trails straight down to the hilltop. Like a string of firecrackers, the missiles exploded in sequence, blasting the lip of the hill away. Fireballs sprouted like great pumpkins, then collapsed into greasy black smoke-stains against the sky.
Phelan felt the ground shake with the missile barrages, but pressed on as fast as he could..From behind the smoky curtain rising above him, he saw the searing blue highlights of PPC beams stabbing down into the enemy position. Occasionally the blood-red of a laser bolt flashed through the sky, but Phelan could not see if they hit their intended targets.
He did note, with grim satisfaction, that no one from the ComStar position returned fire against the fighters. Maybe they got them all! Much as he wanted that to be true, he knew it was not. As his Wolfhound passed the halfway point going up the hill, he braced himself to face whatever ComStar was about to throw at him.
* * *
Precentor Krag Jernberg shook his head to clear it, then looked out through the cracked canopy of his Exterminator. He brought the massive 'Mech upright and used its hands to shred the last of the sensor canopy that had over
laid his position. Through the smoke and tattered canopy, he saw the dead and wounded left by the strafing run, but instantly put them out of his mind.
"By the Holy Word of Blake! Have at them!"
* * *
Stepping his Exterminator forward, Jernberg found the trench's breastwork had been torn apart. With the trench wall covering his 'Mech only from the thighs down, he felt half-naked. Still, as he brought his 'Mech's arms up and his crosshairs centered on the charging Wolfhound's chest, he felt invincible.
"For Blake!" he shouted. "For the Primus! We will hold!"
As Evantha Fetladral dug her way clear of the mound of earth deposited on her by the strafing run, a status report on the Elementals of Hatchet Star scrolled down the left side of her armor's viewplate. Even though her Star had been strung out below the lip of the hill, it looked as if no one had perished because of friendly fire. Good crew. Willing to get in close.
"Hit them hard, Hatchets. Use your missiles on the 'Mechs, then concentrate on any missile batteries they have. Point commanders, coordinate."
A black veil of smoke curled down over her, then dissipated to reveal a ComStar 'Mech stepping up to a u-shaped divot in his rampart. The Exterminator, all white except for the golden star emblazoning its chest, would have looked beautiful except for where the armor had been blasted off the right side of its chest. From the way the melted armor curled up away from the endo-steel skeleton, Evantha knew a PPC had expanded on damage done by the LRM barrage that hit the ComStar position.
Evantha pointed her nose in the direction of the 'Mech as the war machine brought its arms up. She felt a sharp tug on her shoulders as she launched both of her SRMs from the backpack. As they shot forward on jets of flame, she immediately jettisoned the useless launcher.
Out the corner of her eye, she saw the missiles hit, but already her attention had shifted elsewhere. With her Point at her back, Evantha Fetladral advanced to sow yet more havoc in the trenches.