"Where is Star Commander Jorge?" she demanded.
"He is ... he is not with his BattleMech and has left me in charge."
"You in charge!"
"Yes. Do you object?"
"You know I do. Four of your . . . your warriors are from my Trinary. You cannot command them. One of them must be chosen to lead. They cannot be led by freebirth scum!"
The commlink was silent.
"Star Captain Joanna, I thought you would have joined us earlier."
"My inertial guidance and scanner units are out of commission. So was this commlink until a moment ago. I have been guiding my BattleMech through this infernal place. Why did your unit not search for me?"
"It was deemed of lower priority than to rejoin the Glory Station forces."
The words irritated her, especially when spit out from the mouth of a freebirth, but she refused to engage such a lowlife in rational argument. He would not understand reason.
"And why have you not rejoined the garrison forces?"
"Our commander ordered us to go to the rim of the swamp, then await his orders."
"I am your commander again. You will do what I order."
"You are not here."
"When I am there then."
"How will you get here? You said yourself that your guidance system is inoperable."
"You will send one of the warriors to guide me to you. And one from my Trinary, none of your filthy freebirths whom I cannot trust to lead me to a drinking trough of swamp water."
A strange sound came over the commlink, but Joanna could not interpret it.
"Begging your pardon, Captain, but I recommend that you allow one of us ... us freeborns to come for you, filthy though we might be. We know the terrain and can get there faster."
For once Joanna found a freeborn's argument compelling. She told Horse to dispatch a warrior in a 'Mech immediately. He said he would do it before then.
* * *
Horse wished Aidan would return. MechWarrior Prent, whom he had sent out for Joanna, would follow Horse's orders to move slowly, then pretend to have encountered obstacles along the way. It was a stalling maneuver, but he had not known what else to do. Because of the communication difficulties, he could not contact Aidan for orders, so he had to stall Joanna until the real officer came back to give real orders. He did not mind giving her a wild goose chase until then.
* * *
Lanja was as good as her word. After ten grueling kilometers through the muck and mire of Blood Swamp, half-carrying, half-dragging Aidan all the way, she set up her communications gear and carefully aimed the parabolic antenna toward Glory Station. Within minutes, Kael Pershaw's face appeared on the diminutive screen.
"You said you got your idea for the diversion from some book," Kael Pershaw said to Aidan. "A book? Where does the likes of you find a book?"
Aidan almost said that he had found it during his days in the sibko, but then he remembered that, as far as Kael Pershaw knew, he was freeborn and never was anywhere near a sibko. Not wanting to confess his secret cache of books in the freeborn barracks, he tried a lie: "I think, when I was a child, a woman used to come to my house and care for me when I was sick. I believe she brought the book with her. Took it away again later, for that matter."
"And this was what kind of book?"
"A great book, written in poetry and full of battle."
"So you are asking me to perform a diversion based on, as it were, battle intelligence from centuries ago. And written in poetry, at that."
"That about sums it up. We need the diversion so that the other part of the plan will work."
"What has made you think I would even consider a plan that comes from a stinking freebirth?"
"Because, Star Colonel Kael Pershaw, I know that you are a master strategist who can see the merit in anyone's plan, even a freebirth's."
"Even a freebirth wearing the dark band, whom I am encouraging to talk much beyond the small liberties permitted by the band."
"With all due respect, sir, I do believe the rites of the dark band should be suspended during a battle. They interfere with—"
"Yes, yes, Jorge. But, when I do allow you to talk, it is difficult to shut you up. How do you expect me to do what you want? It is quite a logistical monstrosity, your plan."
"But it can work."
"It worked in a story. Anyway, I will do as you say. Short of retreating all the way to Glory Station and allowing Clan Wolf to overrun us, I am out of schemes to use in this battle. Lanja!"
"Sir?"
"I think this plan will work better if we use your Elementals. Can they squeeze into such a small area?"
"It is large enough for two or three of them."
"Two will be sufficient. And can they find their way across the field without being detected?"
"I cannot guarantee it. But we will try."
"That is sufficient. Jorge, you are dismissed. Return to your unit and await my signal. If we cannot reach you on any communications line, we will send up a flare. When you see it, start your attack."
Aidan nodded and left Lanja alone on top of the knoll. Pershaw, disgusted at having to deal with a freebirth, rubbed sweat off his forehead.
"That cost you a lot, did it not, Colonel?" she said.
"You know that any contact with freebirth warriors irritates me. I suppose, though, that it is better to get help from freeborns than to let my gene legacy wind up as Clan Wolf property."
"You are not accepting something from just any freeborn. This one has distinguished himself."
"How can you say that? He has killed one of my officers and been insubordinate on many occasions."
"And he has rescued the survivors of the crash, enlarging your complement of warriors. For what it is worth, he also saved me from being mauled by a tree puma. Then he saved my life again when I almost drowned. Jorge has shown bravery and resourcefulness in spite of the accident of his birth."
Pershaw understood what Lanja said, but in his heart he deeply resented Jorge and all his deeds, however useful and miraculous.
"Rest," Lanja said. "I must meet my team on the battlefield. There will be another battle soon enough, and we will see how well Jorge's plan works."
"Your cuts are almost healed."
"I hate to tell you this, but the medicine was originally discovered by a freeborn warrior and administered to me by another freeborn warrior."
Pershaw shuddered. Thoughts of coupling with Lanja turned sour. He was afraid he would sense the freeborn touch on her skin.
18
Lanja had been in a 'Mech cockpit before, but those machines had been upright for inspection tours, not twisted and lying on their sides on a ravaged battlefield. To squeeze into this Fire Moth, her fellow Elemental had ripped out the command couch and half the control panels so the two of them could fit in their full battle armor. Others had found clever concealment beneath the detritus of battle.
They were operating under radio silence, Kael Pershaw having decided that the risk of Clan Wolf picking up some stray transmission was too great. In the dark confusion of her battlesuit, Lanja waited in isolation for the flare Pershaw would send up when he decided the time was right.
"Clan Wolf must attack," he had said. "The plan will only work if they are on the move."
Lanja had noted that whenever Kael Pershaw mentioned the plan, he never attached Jorge's name to it. It was as though he wanted to prevent anyone from knowing that the plan had originated with a freeborn. Though Lanja had always assumed that she despised freeborns as much as anyone of her caste, next to Kael Pershaw's hatred, hers seemed like the whim of a child.
* * *
In the dome housing the command center, Star Captain Dwillt Radick was planning one final thrust. Repairs had brought the two Supernovas almost up to full strength again, though his Elemental force had fallen to twelve, little more than two Points. By his rights under bidding protocols, he called upon the BattleMechs of the Cluster's Supernova Third to reinforce his com
mand, bringing his total 'Mech force up to twenty-three. He dismissed the aerospace fighters, however, for rank did not come to those who used more than enough strength to achieve objectives.
* * *
With all his forces already at their start points, Dwillt Radick reviewed his operations order for the next attack. He would launch a massive assault directly against Glory Station. He would then pursue the remnants of Persaw's forces all over the wretched terrain of Glory until the sweet moment of their inevitable surrender.
Radick was awaiting the final reports of his officers when Kael Pershaw's surprisingly placid voice came over the commlink. "Are you sleeping, Dwillt Radick? If you wish to give up your foolish quest and become my bondsman, I am ready to go through the rituals now. You cannot win, quiaff?"
"Kael Pershaw, I will not even bother to waste feeding you as our bondsman. You should surrender now so your gene heritage can find a dwelling place more suitable than a stinking Jade Falcon home."
"Home" was the common term for the scientifically supervised caches where genetic materials were stored. If Clan Wolf won this challenge, the Pershaw line would be ceremoniously transferred from the Jade Falcon vaults in the cache to those of the Wolf Clan.
"We are bored with your idle boasts, Dwillt Radick. If you wish to fight, fight. Combat instead of bombast, quiaff?"
"You had better be ready to count your casualties, Kael Pershaw."
Dwillt Radick slammed his chair backward and shouted at the command center personnel to activate all warriors. "This will be the final battle before we claim victory," he said, then watched as the communications personnel swung into action. They were the heart, the center of the battle, coordinating information among Supernovas, keeping the flanks steady as the center moved ahead in the wedge formation that Radick favored. He urged them on one more time before racing to his own Mad Dog. He hoped to meet Kael Pershaw in a one-on-one engagement. It would be the greatest of pleasures to slice Pershaw's 'Mech in two from the head downward, halving Pershaw along with his machine.
* * *
In his own command dome, Kael Pershaw nodded at his subordinates, a signal that he had prodded Dwillt Radick into action. He then went directly to his new 'Mech, a shiny Warhawk whose regular pilot was injured. Looking up at the 'Mech, with its flat head and double extended-range PPCs in each arm, he wondered, as always, if this would be the 'Mech in which he would die. If so, he would not mind. It would be the death he had always craved. Sometimes Pershaw believed he must have come out of the canister wishing for an honorable death.
* * *
Joanna scoffed at Aidan's strategy.
"Attack from behind? That is absurd. As soon as we emerge from the swamp, their sensors will pick us up, and they will turn around and massacre us."
"Clan Wolf will be advancing with all their forces," Aidan said. "Their rear will be vulnerable. Only think of how hard it is to change a 'Mech's direction once an assault has begun. No, I suspect that we will meet no more than some guards left behind, perhaps just Elementals."
"I do not approve suicide missions."
"Fortunately you need not. Kael Pershaw already has."
"He does not know conditions here, nor the damage to some of our 'Mechs."
"I am sure he would not care. His back is against the wall. He cannot win without us."
"I do not see that to be so."
"Then stay back and watch from behind some tree while we fight."
Aidan enjoyed the wrath in Joanna's eyes. She was the type of warrior for whom even a hint of cowardice was the deepest of insults.
"If Kael Pershaw has approved the plan, then we must implement it. I am willing to lead us into the battle, no matter what my opinion of the plan. That is the way of the Clan."
If Aidan had permitted himself a gleam in his eyes, even a twinkle, it would have showed at that moment. From the side pocket of his jumpsuit, he drew out a facsimile of the orders, which he had demanded from Kael Pershaw before rejoining his unit. Silently he handed it to Joanna.
"What is this?"
"The authorization for me to take command of this operation."
If Joanna had been an LRM, she would have shot right off the rack at that moment. "You! He assigned you the mission! I am the ranking officer."
"I told him that. However, he accepted my argument that I would be more qualified in the terrain and in Glory Station tactics because you are new to Glory. He has given me a temporary field promotion to Star Captain so that you will not be dishonored in any way."
Joanna fumed. What did he know of dishonor? Pershaw would never have done this to her if she were Bloodnamed. And what did terrain and tactics have to do with a piddling operation like this? It was a hit-and-run action. Nothing was ever accomplished with hit and run. Toe to toe, that was Joanna's way.
But she saw that she could not argue. The careful wording of Kael Pershaw's order took away her command without making her subordinate to Aidan by assigning her a role as a kind of free-lance combatant. Without saying another word, she wheeled around and strode away, her heels coming down with such force that her steps sent missiles of water droplets out of the wet, swampy ground.
"I would watch your back with that one," Horse commented. He had observed the whole exchange with evident pleasure.
"No. Joanna's as mean as a rogue surat, but she would not attack dishonorably. She is Clan through and through."
"All right then, don't watch your back. Watch your throat, especially when there is a knife anywhere within a kilometer of her."
"That I will do, Horse. That I will do."
* * *
The Clan Wolf forces came thundering across the plain like a giant city on the move. Keeping his 'Mech still, Kael Pershaw watched them with the detached admiration he always felt when viewing a line of advancing 'Mechs. Although of different designs and sizes, although configured differently, although each had its own style of movement, each was a beautiful and graceful symbol of unity and strength. To Pershaw the 'Mechs represented the Clans themselves. Each Clan had its own unique configurations, its own rites and customs, but all followed the basic Clan rituals. Each Clan took pride in its own achievements and was willing to fight others to assert them, while all would unite for a grand battle, then return to the Inner Sphere. Each Clan had its own ways, but over all was the way of the Clans.
Pershaw had a direct sensor link from Bravo Striker Nova, which was tracking the advance of the Wolf Clan forces. Right now he saw the Wolves nearing the line where the Elementals had hidden themselves during the night. Only a moment more and the battle would begin. Pershaw readied his 'Mech to lead his Cluster, or the remnants of it. He was as apprehensive as any commander in an odds-against status, yet also thrilled that the challenge had been reduced to one grand do-or-die gesture. It would either turn the tide of battle or send the Jade Falcons to a humiliating defeat. A military leader could hope for no more exciting moment.
Pershaw kept his concentration on Radick's Mad Dog, in the lead as was only proper. The moment Radick was two steps past the hidden Elementals, Pershaw would give the signal to attack.
* * *
An instant later, Radick's 'Mech was crossing the fallen 'Mech in which Lanja and another Elemental were hiding. For a moment he feared the foot would come down on her, but it narrowly missed the 'Mech. Then it took another step. And another.
"Now," he said into the commline, his voice quiet but steady.
The flare went up.
* * *
To Dwillt Radick the flash looked like distant lightning through his viewport, but his secondary screen identified the illumination as a flare. It was early morning, still dusky but with clear visibility. Why in the name of Nicholas Kerensky would Pershaw send up a flare?
* * *
For Lanja, the light of the flare came through all the open cracks in the wrecked cockpit. Her huge muscles straining from being packed into the tight cockpit, she did not think the signal came a moment too soon.
&n
bsp; Weapons activated, she and her fellow Elemental rose from the fallen 'Mech like specters from the mist. Unlike such a phantasmal creature, however, she was already firing at the BattleMech that rose above her but that had yet to see her. Indeed, none of the enemy 'Mechs were prepared for the concentrated attack from below, giving the ambushers a chance to inflict heavy damage in those first few seconds alone.
* * *
To Joanna, the flare was the kind of flamboyant tactic she would have expected in any plan originated by Aidan. The grand gesture, the overreaching move, the plunging forward against all logic—Aidan had been that way even as a cadet. Now that he was a warrior, those characteristics would continue to be his downfall. She despised his individualistic bent. It was some kind of odd blessing, she thought, that circumstances had forced him into the false identity of a freebirth filth. That meant he could never earn a Bloodname. Perhaps it was only bitterness at having failed thus far in her own Bloodname trials, but Joanna genuinely believed that a Bloodnamed Aidan would be a disgrace to all that the Clans represented.
At Aidan's signal, she began to move her 'Mech forward, the resentment only increasing at the idea of having to follow even a single one of his commands.
* * *
Aidan welcomed the light of the flare. He yearned for nothing more in the universe than to distinguish himself as a warrior. It did not matter whether others believed him freeborn or trueborn. The battle was all, the battle and the honor to be earned in it.
Giving the signal to advance, he led the way out of Blood Swamp, the 'Mechs looking monstrous in the quickly fading light of the flare. Moisture from the swamp dripped from their limbs. Stray leaves and patches of moss had rubbed off on their surfaces. Mud and muck smeared their feet. They looked like antediluvian creatures just aroused from beneath the deep waters of the swamp.
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