Lost destiny

by Michael A. Stackpole

  Whatever reply Perry might have made was swallowed in the hideous din of metal gnawing away at metal. Elza saw the muzzle flash of the Black Hawk's autocannon, then felt the Fury jerk hard to the left. The loud explosions of missiles against the hull left her ears ringing. She felt the sting of metal spalling up off the interior bulkheads and saw the flesh of her arms and hands crisscrossed with small, bloody furrows.

  She redoubled her efforts to turn the Fury, but that only brought the sight of the other Fury's smoking carcass into view. "Damn." She watched the Fenris exchange shots with the remaining operational Burke and took some joy in the 'Mech reeling back, its chest armor in tatters. At the same time she saw the Burke's nose had been crushed and the crew already popping out to surrender.

  Elza shook herself and jammed the tank into reverse. "I am but a tool of Blake's Wisdom. Dammit, Perry, shoot something!"

  * * *

  The Rapier homed in on Carew's Visigoth like a guided missile. Its autocannon vomited fire and metal in a storm that punched through the aerofighter's fuselage. Warning klaxons blared at Carew in the cockpit, but he forced himself to ignore them. In atmosphere that does not matter. The fighter bucked and the computer informed him one of his heat sinks had been destroyed. Well, that does not matter as much in atmosphere.

  His return salvos cut into the Rapier as it shot over him. The one of his two medium lasers that hit the ComStar fighter claimed another heat sink from that craft in retribution for the damage he'd taken. The particle projection beam's azure scalpel followed some LRMs into the engine cowling and pierced the protective shielding guarding the fusion reactor. A heat corona surrounded the engine, and the Rapier shot forward as if the pilot had kicked in the over-thrusters.

  Carew found himself holding his breath as the pilot struggled to pull the Rapier's nose up. He got it started in that direction, then the heat signature of his engine dimmed. Carew punched up another scan on the target, then he realized the ship's computers had shut the engine down to prevent an explosion.

  The Rapier started a slow roll and, without thrust, it nosed down toward the earth. The ship's canopy fragmented as the explosive bolts holding it in place detonated. The pilot rode a rocket out of the cockpit, then the escape chair's gyrojets flamed on to stabilize its flight.

  Carew keyed his radio. "If we have Elementals in Sector 4123, ComStar has a pilot down. I don't know who he is, but Clan Wolf definitely wants him as a bondsman."

  * * *

  Elza jerked against the restraining straps in her chair, then found the right-hand tread controls went slack. "It's done, Perry!" Try as she might, she was unable to turn fast enough to prevent the more mobile 'Mechs from zeroing in on the Fury's damaged right flank. The Thor, Fenris, and Dragonfly had all hammered it with fire while Perry had been unable to return fire at all.

  She punched the engine's shutdown button, then waited a bit and popped her hatch. The cold air pouring down into the cockpit refreshed her until a breeze carried in the scent of burning tanks. She wrinkled her nose, then slowly climbed out of the tank to join the crew of the other Fury and the last two Burkes in surrender.

  "I hope the Precentor Martial knows what he is doing." She jumped down from the hull and raised her hands. "Wisdom of Blake be damned. Fighting this sort of battle is stupid."

  * * *

  Phelan was pleased when the crews started leaving their vehicles. He flipped open his external communication channel. "You fought well and bravely." He pointed back down the direction from which the ComStar forces had originally come. "Please take cover. More of your forces are headed this way and things are not likely to be very hospitable here."

  He tuned his radio over to the Cluster's tactical frequency. "Black Widow, this is Ax One. We have the pass. We are operational, but will not last long. Quarrel lost one of the planes, but I have no ComStar air elements present. Please advise concerning our disposition."

  He heard the disgust in Natasha's voice as she answered him. "Report back to Cluster HQ for refit and resupply."

  Phelan frowned. "What happened? ComStar run away too fast?"

  "Not so fast we could not have caught them. We have been ordered back and when the pressure dropped off him, Wollam and his troops pulled back to the northeast."

  "What?" The Mech Warrior surveyed the burning armor and the damage to his Star. We could have been killed here. "We took the objective, Colonel."

  "I know that, but who can puzzle out the ilKhan's mind?"

  So, Ulric is the one who has pulled us back. Something big must be going on. "Orders understood. We will be bringing in some prisoners."

  "Noted, Ax Star. You did good work out there."

  "Roger that, Black Widow. We are coming in."

  * * *

  Ulric pulled his head up as Conal Ward's face appeared on the monitor in his office. Sweat had pasted the warrior's dark hair to his forehead, and the padding of his neurohelmet had crushed it into place. "Thank you for finally reporting to me, Galaxy Commander Ward. I would have preferred more immediate communication to your waiting until it was safe to leave your 'Mech."

  Conal stared out of the screen with nothing of his intensity lost by transmission. "Forgive me, ilKhan, but my Red Wolves have been fighting hard and ComStar jammed our communications. It took a runner from my HQ to bring me your message."

  The ilKhan frowned. "Do not lie to me, Conal. You remained engaged with the 278th Division of the Com Guards long after I ordered you to break off."

  "We are beating them, Ulric. You cannot take that away from us."

  "Yes, you are beating them, but you are using up your supplies at nearly double the allowable rate."

  "What matter that we run out of missiles and autocannon ammo after we have destroyed them?" Conal let his anger color his words. "You seek to disgrace me and my men."

  "Nonsense," Ulric snorted. "I have noted with great pleasure how well you have done. I have made sure that all the Clans know that Vlad and your Eleventh Wolf Guards have outmaneuvered one of the most elite Com Guard units on Tukayyid."

  "If what you say is true, why are we reined back to go into the mountains while the Wolf Spiders are allowed to continue their fighting? It is disgusting for you to let that ancient witch continue her career beyond her years."

  "She gets results, and her troops are not using up their supplies more swiftly than ordered." Ulric narrowed his blue eyes. "Besides, you are not Natasha Kerensky. Her name alone, from her years with Wolf's Dragoons, strikes fear into the hearts of the Com Guards. The man commanding the 282nd Division formerly fought in the Marik civil war and she beat him. She owns him, and his distress must be demoralizing to his compatriots. Furthermore, she has been called back as well."

  "It is still unnatural, as is this whole battle. The Com Guards run and duck and hide instead of fighting us."

  Ulric nodded in agreement. "Unnatural it is. The Precentor Martial has seen our weakness and he has already used it to break the Smoke Jaguars. We are used to quick and decisive battles. Throughout this invasion, we have been plagued by partisan battles that do not allow us to concentrate our strength. Now we face that on a grander scale on a world where we do not have the resources for a long battle."

  Conal shook his head. "Bah. It could be won tomorrow, as well you would see if you were here."

  "You are wrong, Conal, and if you persist in your belief, you will not survive the fighting." Ulric let himself smile slyly. "As for your suggestion that I come to see for myself, you are right. I have remained too long away from battle. When we engage the Com Guards in the mountains, I will lead our troops into battle. There, once and for all time, we shall decide the fate of the Inner Sphere."

  38

  Mar Negro, Alyina

  Trellshire, Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  10 May 3052 (Day 10 of Operation Scorpion)

  From the cliff top, Kai saw the two Elemental divers surface amid a boiling circle of bubbles. They gave him a thumbs-up, which he relayed to the people
behind him. Someone threw a switch and the winch started. The steel cable on which he rested his right hand grew taut and Yen-lo-Wang's Gauss rifle began its ascent to dry land.

  Kai could scarcely believe all that had happened in the previous five days. The actual escape had gone perfectly. Kai and Deirdre had taken the demi-Precentor's limo and headed south by a roundabout route to the Mahler farm. The Elementals had appropriated a heavy hovertruck and returned to the mountains to recollect their armor, then they joined up with the other two at the Mahler farm.

  Kai turned and smiled as Erik Mahler locked the winch's drive handle down, then showed Malthus how to undo it when the time came. Erik had reacted coldly to the arrival of Elementals, but Hilda had treated them with the same courtesy she had showed Kai when he arrived. Kai's truce with the Elementals helped win Erik over, and when he learned they had joined forces to oppose ComStar, the elder MechWarrior insisted on helping them organize their rescue mission and monitor the Steiner resistance.

  Erik had been able to tell about the salvage operations ComStar had performed on the peninsula as he had been dragooned into a workforce. As nearly as he knew, all the 'Mechs had been taken offworld, but he could recall no undersea salvage operation. That news made Kai more confident that Yen-h-wang and its Gauss rifle might be salvageable.

  The morning after the Elementals' arrival, they all headed out to where the Centurion had gone into the water. They were very careful about their route, scouting continually for any ComStar patrols, but they saw no opposition. They were not alone at the site, however, and that surprised them.

  Gus Michaels walked over and rested his right hand on Kai's left shoulder. "Sorry we couldn't get more of Yen-lo-wang, kid. The Centurion can be salvaged, but not with a winch. The Omni has it pinned to the shelf, which is the only reason it didn't drop for a full kilometer."

  "I know." Looking down into the dark water, Kai began to see a white cylinder waver beneath the waves. "If it had gone down all the way, the cockpit would have been crushed and I would have died."

  "Better to be lucky than good, kid."

  Kai found he liked the solidly built little man. Malthus had been suspicious about Michaels, but the MechWarrior put that down to Gus' identifying himself as being on a mission for the ilKhan. The battle reports of Kai's action on Alyina had hinted at a 'Mech with superior myomer technology, so Gus had been dispatched to check further into the story. He'd just located the site of the battle when they arrived, and they found his winch and cable equipment very helpful.

  The Gauss rifle broke the surface and water poured from the bore. Aside from a few tendrils of seaweed and dangling wires where it had been freed from the Centurion, it looked in fine shape. The Elementals helped guide it toward the shore, then flopped padding and old tires over it to prevent it from being injured by bumps and scrapes against the cliff-side.

  Malthus walked over and draped his arm across Gus' shoulders. "Be sure to remember all of this for the ilKhan, little man. Now begins the liberation of Alyina."

  * * *

  With the Gauss rifle loaded in the heavy hovertruck's bed and well-hidden within its canvas-covered body, a heated discussion about the nature of the liberation started. "It does not matter to me, Michaels, that you are an envoy from the ilKhan." Malthus planted his fists on his hips. "You are going to stay behind at the Mahler farm."

  The historian's green eyes blazed. "Now wait just one minute. I got you the plans to the Valigia facility ComStar is using."

  The Elemental shook his head. "You redrew them from memory from a hurried tour two weeks ago, and you've been on the run since."

  "I'm trained to remember details. I got you a map. You owe me."

  Malthus drew himself up to his full height. "I owe you nothing. You are a recorder of events."

  "Damned straight. Now how am I to write a report on all this if I don't go along?"

  Malthus gave him a predatory grin. "You will be allowed to view our battleroms after the fight. Our armor will record everything."

  Gus matched the man's grin tooth for tooth. "Fine, then give me a suit of the armor so I can record my own chronicle of the attack."

  The Elemental leader chopped that suggestion down with his right hand. "But you are not of the Warrior Caste."

  Kai frowned. "Begging your pardon, Taman, but you have four sets and there are only three of you."

  "True," Malthus said. "One is for you if you would like to use it."

  Kai looked at him, then slowly closed his mouth. "Me? In Elemental armor?"

  "You are a warrior, Kai Allard-Liao. Our armor is not the same as having a 'Mech, but in it a warrior becomes the ultimate possible for a living creature. You have the heart and mind and soul of a warrior, now you can have the flesh and muscle of a warrior as well." Malthus looked down. "We will understand if you refuse."

  Kai glanced at Locke and Slane. The two Elementals nodded and silently echoed Malthus' words. They offer me the highest honor they can imagine. Excitement filled Kai's chest. "Though I am not worthy, I accept your invitation and will do my best to honor the memory of the warrior who wore this armor before me."

  All three Elementals smiled and congratulated him with fierce pats on the back. Kai laughed. "Provided, of course, that you can size the armor to fit me, and I get some time to practice in it."

  "Agreed." Malthus gave Kai a wry grin. "We will all want time to drill again."

  Gus, standing across from him, nodded his acknowledgement. "So, Malthus, you're going to stuff Kai and your men into your armor, head into Valigia in the truck, muzzle-load the cannon, and blow open the ComStar fortress, right?"

  "Correct."

  "Bingo!" Gus folded his arms across his chest. "I'm coming with you because you won't have time to change into your armor in the war zone."

  Malthus frowned. "We prepare before we go into battle."

  "Right, so unless you can figure out how to fit in the driver's seat after you pull on your tin-skin, you need a driver— and I'm him."

  Kai looked from the little man's bearded face to the larger man and back. Malthus shrugged his shoulders and Gus' grin pulled the corners of his mouth halfway back toward his ears. "Never argue with a historian, Kai. The victors might write the histories, but we're the ones who do the actual work. Unless you want to be remembered as nothing more than a footnote, let the historian win."

  * * *

  Alone in the woods back behind the Mahler farm, Deirdre let Kai enfold her in a tight embrace. "I don't want to lose you either, Deirdre." His mind raced as he searched for the words to explain things to her. "I've seen the plans for the ComStar fortress. If I don't go in with them, they stand little or no chance of succeeding in their attempt to liberate their friends. But if they succeed, then Malthus will honor his oath to let us and the Federated Commonwealth prisoners of war go free."

  "I know, I know, but I still hate the idea of being separated from you. When I thought I would never see you again ..."

  Kai felt her tremble and held her more closely. "Don't worry. You will not lose me. I'm not going to die."

  "Don't tease me, Kai." She pulled back from him and wiped away her tears. "You cannot tell me you are not going to die."

  How do I explain? Kai took a deep breath, then sighed heavily. "I don't expect you to understand because I cannot say that I truly do. It's just that the confidence that you and they have in me has opened my eyes. I can see, now, that I have abilities and skills that let me be very good at what I do. No more than you could stop tending to the sick could I..."

  "Stop killing?" She looked away disconsolately. "I think I have already lost you."

  He grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly. "No, you know that's not true. I am not a killing machine. I am not!"

  "Who are you trying to convince, Kai? Me or yourself?"

  Kai smiled and glanced down. "Deirdre, being a warrior is different from being a killer. What I do is to prepare for conflicts to safeguard the freedoms we, as civilized people, h
ave agreed we possess. The Clans want to dominate us and take away our freedoms, so I oppose them. ComStar has similar yet more virulent aims, and I must oppose them, too. I do not do this as an instrument of state policy, but as one human fighting to preserve what all humanity should hold sacred."

  He swallowed hard. "Some might argue that by using drugs or antibiotics you wage war on a cellular level where what I do is on a multicellular level. I think that is fallacious because I realize another living creature is more valuable than some virus or bacillus. Still, in some ways the idea of combating disease does hold and I have to hope that by acting to minimize problems early, I can help prevent the spread of something that would destroy humanity.

  "Can you understand that?"

  Deirdre nodded. "All too well." She smiled and cupped his face in her hands. "It is just that I understand what it is and how it feels to save a life and to take one. I would not wish for you a lifetime of taking lives."

  "Nor would I wish that for anyone." Kai's eyes grew distant as they focused well beyond their surroundings. "I am willing to accept that responsibility. It is my choice and my duty. I do not revel in it, but I bear it so others will not have to."

  "I know, and I love you for that." She kissed him lightly on the lips. "We have a week before you go?"

  "Yes. Mahler, Michaels, and Malthus plan, Slane and Locke train. Sun-up to sundown, I am theirs."

  She took his hand and led him back toward the house.

  "Then you will be mine for the rest of the time, Kai Allard-Liao. As your days will be filled with death and horror, let us fill the nights with life and love."

  39

  DropShip Serene Foresight, Teniente Transfer Orbit