Текст книги "Warrior: En Garde"

Автор книги: Michael A. Stackpole

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48

Pacifica (Chara III)

Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth

25 May 3027

 

Sho-saAkiie Kamekura did not even try to suppress a smile as his Panthercame within visual distance of the Kell Hound complex. The fires of the burning barracks illuminated the whole area and seemed to hold Pacifica's dark clouds at bay. Long, dark shadows twisted and snapped like flags in a windstorm while the flames raged uncontrolled. The absence of bodies around the building confirmed in Kamekura's mind that none of the jump infantry had survived the surprise attack.

His smile grew as Chu-iOguchi, in the forward position with Ichi lance, radioed a message to him. "Sumimasen, Sho-sa." The Lieutenant failed to keep the excitement from his voice. "There is a fire in the 'Mech bay. Request permission to investigate."

Kamekura nodded slowly. "Hai."He watched as Oguchi led his lance of four Panthersacross the ferrocrete to the large hangar doors of the Kell Hound 'Mech bay. Even at this distance, he could see the flames through the open doors. He signaled Chu-iUjisato Gamo to take M lance over to the west side of the building, while he would lead Sanlance in behind Oguchi. "Be sure to use visual scanners," Kamekura warned. "The fire will render infrared inoperable, and magscan is useless with the 'Mech bay so full of equipment."

Oguchi's Pantherreached the 'Mech bay doors, while his personnel positioned themselves to cover him. Reaching with the Panther'sfree left hand, the Chu-igrasped one edge of a 'Mech bay door and slid it open.

His triumphant cry melted into a wail of terror. A Marauderstepped into the breech and shoved both its lobster-claw appendages into the Panther'schest. Twin forks of PPC lightning wrapped the Pantherin a cocoon of turquoise fire. It lifted the Pantherlike a leaf trapped by a dust devil, then contemptuously dumped the broken 'Mech onto the ferrocrete.

Explosions shredded the bay doors, blasting great holes into them, and finally tearing them from their overhead runners. The doors tottered like playing cards balanced on their edges, then fell outward as Panthersscrambled to escape. One's jump jets ignited, but the pilot miscalculated his trajectory. That Pantherended up smashing into the door it had sought to avoid. Decapitated by the collision, the 'Mech's torso spun off wildly into the night.

Sho-saAkiie Kamekura gasped for breath. Flanking the Marauderamong the flames, the entire Kell Hound 'Mech company stood ready for battle. Kamekura froze for an instant, then issued an order that tasted like ashes in his mouth. "All Panthers,withdraw."

* * *

From his position on the edge of the 'Mech bay, Daniel Allard saw the Command Lance pull back, but he noticed remnants of the Ichilance pressed in to attack. One Pantherraised its PPC and triggered a burst of azure energy that struck Brand's Commandofull in the chest. The blue fire melted armor and sparks flew from within the Commando'schest, but Lieutenant Brand neither panicked nor retreated.

Dan opened his mouth and cleared a direct line to the Commando."Austin, status, immediately."

"Fine, sir." A low growl rumbled through the radio link. "Be better in a minute."

The Commandolaunched two flights of SRMs back at the Panther.Two missiles blasted into the Panther'shead, peeling off armor and shattering one of the 'Mech's two viewports. The other missiles peppered the left side of the Panther'storso. Their blasts flayed the armor from the 'Mech's body, leaving its skeleton exposed. Brand brought the Commando'sleft arm up and fired the laser at the Panther.The corruscating beam sizzled as it scalped the enemy 'Mech and left its head utterly without armor.

Eddie Baker's awkward and ungainly Jennertraded shots with

IchiLance's other unmolested Panther.The Panther'sPPC shot missed the birdlike 'Mech as the Jennerstepped out and away from the 'Mech bay. The Panther'sflight of SRMs scattered explosions across the Jenner'shull, but did little more than dent armor.

The Jennerpilot then spun his 'Mech about to face the Pantherhead-on. All four medium lasers flashed coherent light at the ene-my machine. Two bracketed the Kurita 'Mech, slicing armor from the left and right arms. The other two stabbed into the 'Mech's torso. They melted great canals across the 'Mech's chest and splashed hot ceramic armor to the ferrocrete. The Jenner'sflight of four SRMs blasted the Panther,with the missile hitting the humanoid 'Mech above the heart doing the most damage. There was a muffled explosion from within the Panther'schest, and then the shuddering 'Mech stumbled and fell to the ground.

Off to Dan's left, by the far side of the 'Mech bay, NiLance had started to withdraw, but a murderous hail of LRMs from Lieutenant Fitzhugh's Catapultcut short the flight of one 'Mech. Half the LRMs chopped off the Panther'slegs at the knees and spun the 'Mech to the ground, while the second flight of fifteen opened the Panther'sback. Another missile exploded in the Panther'sSRM magazine, detonating the store of missiles and ripping the 'Mech into a fiery shower of shrapnel.

Mary Lasker's Trebuchetalso engulfed a fleeing Pantherin a deadly rain. Dan shivered as her LRMs hung a collar of fire around the 'Mech's shoulders, and consumed its head in a sheet of golden flame. As the fire boiled upward into an angry mushroom cloud of black smoke and red flashes, the headless Pantherstumbled blindly into the night.

Dan jetted the Valkyriefrom the 'Mech bay, targeting the Pantherthat had shot Brand's Commando.With the gold crosshairs of his missile targeting system on the Panther'sopen left flank, he stabbed the launch button with the thumb of his left hand. "Flight away!"

The ten LRMs spiraled directly in on target, their explosions eating through the Panther'schest like a cancer. They shredded armor surrounding the fusion engine and crushed the gyro. Short-circuited relays fired the Panther'sjump jets. The 'Mech rose one hundred meters on an ion cloud, then exploded and released the fusion engine's artificial sun to dispel Pacifica's dark night.

Dan dropped his jaw and opened a radio link to Salome Ward. "They're running, Major. Time to close the back door."

"Roger." Her voice dropped a dozen degrees. "O'Cieran, take them."

O'Cieran, hidden with his men in the jungle behind the Panthers,silently acknowledged the command. He sighted his inferno launcher on the back of Kamekura's Panther."This one's for you, Patrick," he breathed, then pulled the trigger and filled the night with burning 'Mechs.

* * *

The dawn's light, seeping through a narrow rift in the clouds, brought some warmth to the nightmare scene of broken 'Mechs and charred buildings. Dan shuddered. Just because we don't see any more of them doesn't mean they aren't out there. If not for that damned prank.. .

He pointed the Valkyrie'sleft hand at the OverlordClass Drop-Ship, the Lugh."Jackson, all spare parts for the non-jumpers go in the Lugh.Everything for the jumpers goes in the Nuada Arget-lan.Standard Procedure for combat jumps."

The Tech waved his hands, then turned to direct his astechs. Dan looked over at the UnionClass DropShip, the Nuada Arget-lan,and opened a radio frequency to it. "What's the word, Major?"

Frustration threaded Salome's voice. "Janos confirmed the appearance of a JumpShip at the nadir point. He's bringing the Cuin, so we'll only need six hours to reach it. He'll keep Pacifica between their incoming DropShips and his pirate point so we won't have interference. He says he'll be ready to jump as soon as we hook up."

"Good." Dan squinted against the sting of sweat. "What about loading some of these Pantherson board? Has O'Brien figured out what that will do to the Lugh'sflight profile?"

"Hang on." Dan heard Salome relaying his question to the Lugh'sflight officer. "He says we can pack two or three of them. I'd suggest we take three of the ones O'Cieran burned. No real damage to them."

"Roger." Dan looked up and spotted Brand, Lang, and Baker helping to load some equipment cases into the Nuada."I'll get my lance moving three Panthers.What's the latest on Patrick?"

"Fitzpatrick's flyboys have the Machalfway to the Cuwith no interference. Patrick's lost blood, but the doctor has reinflated the lung. Says the Colonel will be fine if he'll rest."

"Best news I've had all day." Dan closed the link and flicked on his external speakers. "Lieutenant Brand, take your lance-mates and see if you can march three of the burned Panthersinto the Nuada."He glanced at the clock ticking down on the right side of his viewplate. "Hurry it up, though. We've only got two hours before we have to blast off this rock."

* * *

Choking back his nausea, Dan pulled himself through the Jump-Ship right behind Salome. He pushed off hard from the bulkhead and floated up through the corridor running along the K-F drive. Red signs warning of the liquid helium tanks surrounding the jump drives flashed as he floated past with Cat and Salome toward the Cucamulus'sbridge. God, I hate zero-gravity,he thought testily.

Deep in the heart of the Cucamulus,the three MechWarriors floated into the ship's Command Center. Instruments and tactical readouts filled the dark, spherical walls with flickering monitor screens and flashing data displays. Work stations occupied every centimeter of the circular walls, with crew members laboring at almost every one of them. The MechWarriors drifted in through a hatch in the spherical roof and grabbed onto the hatch's edge just long enough to cancel their freefall.

Dan smiled. Every time I come into this place, I feel as though I've been shrunk and dropped into the middle of a computer.

Floating exactly in the center of the room, Captain Janos Van-dermeer sat in his command chair. Supported by nothing but the invisible lines of magnetic fields, the chair spun and swirled as he pressed buttons on the two arms. At their entry, a light flashed at the Captain's right hand, and the chair turned him around.

Dan carefully joined Salome and Cat in saluting. "Permission to come aboard."

"Granted." Vandermeer smiled warmly, then frowned and pointed to a tactical display of the Chara system. A dotted yellow line showed the trajectory of the Kurita DropShips coming in toward Pacifica. The line split off and slowly curved toward where the Cucamulusglowed on the chart like a green arrow.

"We have company, my friends. You must have made someone very angry."

Dan nodded. "That we did."

Behind him, Lieutenant Brand entered the command center and drifted over to a scanner station beside the one where Cat had settled in. Brand adjusted the controls and punched information into the computer. He pulled back and whispered something to Cat. The big, black man nodded silently, then Brand turned.

He frowned. "I make it eight Slayerscoming in hot."

Vandermeer turned his chair. "Branson, does that match your estimate?"

The petite, raven-haired scantech turned and nodded. "On the mark, sir. ETA, two hours."

Vandermeer steepled his fingers. "Shall we scramble your fighters, or . . ."

Salome shook her head vehemently. "Negative on the fighters. O'Cieran recovered information from the Pantherbase camp that indicated the operation was meant to destroy the Kell Hounds. That's the only purpose for it. It would have worked, too, if the Panther Sho-sahadn't been early off the mark."

Vandermeer nodded at Dan. "The day you spared for Jones is what surprised them?"

Dan nodded. "Better them than us." He watched the line depicting the fighters grow closer. "You're planning to jump out before they get here, aren't you?"

The Captain nodded, then turned his glance up at Salome. "If they intend to destroy you, wouldn't it be safe to assume that they've made plans against our escape? They could easily have covered all the Steiner worlds within range."

Salome nodded slowly. "That's a fair assumption. What do you have in mind, you old fox?"

Vandermeer ran a hand over his head, patting the white hair back into place. "Just a little trick, my dear, to make them think we misjumped." His chair spun quickly, then locked in, facing away and down from Salome and Dan.

"Mr. Harker, load Jump Plan Four into the computer. Jump countdown of 10 on my mark." He spun the chair again and shouted at a large blond man hunched over a console. "Mr. Garrison, jettison the spare helium, the oxygen in Tank 3, and the debris from the agro-domes."

"Aye, sir."

Dan found Vandermeer smiling at him again. "Mark, Mr. Harker." The Captain opened his hands like a conjurer innocently suggesting he had nothing up his sleeves. "In ten seconds, they will believe the Kell Hounds are no more."

Dan smiled. "The helium, oxygen, and debris will make them think that the ship destroyed itself?"

Vandermeer nodded enthusiastically.

Salome frowned. "But won't the Kurita ships waiting at other stars—"

The jump rippled and melted all reality. The muted lights within the command center flared to life with the intensity of strobes. The colors melted together into a kaleidoscopic vortex of hue and abnormal shapes. Dan's stomach roiled in sympathy with the visual display, but something in Salome's half-asked question worried him more than the physical discomfort.

"—see us arriving and know we're still alive?" she said, a moment later.

Vandermeer laughed aloud. "They would, but we've not jumped into a Steiner system." He opened his hands broadly. "Welcome, my friends, to Kurita space!"

49

Styx

Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine

25 May 3027

 

With an encouraging nod from Yorinaga Kurita, Sho-saTarukito Niiro strode to the forefront of the amphitheatre-style briefing room aboard the Shod,an OverlordClass DropShip. Clad only in a cooling vest, shorts, and headband, he felt slightly self-conscious, but all the others gathered in the room were similarly attired. The Sho-sacleared his throat as the lights dimmed and the holographic representation of the Styx base rose in intensity.

"This, as you all know, is the planetoid toward which we are currently en route." He flicked a laser pointer to life and touched its white dome to the uppermost deck. "As usual, we have designated the decks according to the military alphabet: Ishi, Roji, Hata, Torii, Chi,and Wa.The ISF warriors have entered the base through the galley on Rojilevel and the small docking bay on Chilevel. They have met stiff resistance on these levels, but they are pushing the defenders back."

Tarukito flicked the pointer at a light-sensitive panel on the wall. In an instant, the computer-generated projection of the Styx base expanded. The decks above and beiow Toriiand Chilevels evaporated. Those levels expanded to take up the space used by the previous model and more. When the structure ceased its growth, the computer added a vector-graphic image of the Bifrostand the Silver Eaglein their locations within the ship bay.

Tarukito's pointer caressed the Silver Eagle."It is believed that the person we seek will be aboard the Silver Eagle.The vessel has no weaponry and should surrender without a fight. The company that owns it, Monopole, is being informed by ComStar that the ship will be impounded until its illegal jump into the Combine can be explained."

He shifted the pointer's spotlight to the base command center on Toriideck. "This is the central office on the base. As you can see from the diagram, it overlooks the hangar area. The ISF troops at the base believe that defense of the planetoid is being coordinated from that point."

The pointer flicked to the smaller docking bay on the far side of Styx. "The ISF troops who entered through this bay on Chilevel are assigned to neutralize the command center. Those coming down from Rojilevel expect to isolate the Silver Eagleand to extract the prisoner."

Tarukito nodded sagely as rough laughter rumbled from the shadowed audience. "I know you intend no disrespect to our brethren in the ISF, but you will agree that neutralization of such a large base is not a matter to be left to a handful of jump troopers."

Tarukito turned again to the diagram and used the pointer to summon back the first model. "Our objective is to capture the Silver Eagle,not just a single person. Toward this end, we will drop toward the hangar opening." Indicating a location on the planetoid's surface just north of the hangar mouth, Tarukito added, "The Shoriwill land here and wait for our return. Hai, Tai-i,what is your question?"

The pointer's white dot quivered on the cooling vest that Tai-iKagetora Asai wore. "Sumimasen,Tarukito-san. I wish to know the estimates of the 'Mech strength we will face." No fear rang through the warrior's words; his question was merely a request for relevent information.

Tarukito nodded solemnly. "A good question. To the best of our knowledge, and according to the reports we continue to intercept from the ISF troops on site, there are no 'Mechs in enemy hands on the planetoid. The Pantherswe will take in should be more than enough to handle anything we must face." He smiled and turned toward where both Yorinaga and Narimasa sat. "Tai-saKurita-sama and Chu-saAsano will both unlimber their 'Mechs—a Warhammerand a Crusader—and use jump packs to drop into the base with us."

Another Tai-i,Norihide Kiso, stood up behind Kagetora. "Forgive me, Tarukito-san, but I must ask this. Why are we being dropped in if the ISF has already secured the base? It has been rumored that their twelve-hour headstart came about through a delay in the ISF channels transmitting the alert to us. Will we not lose face to appear after they have accomplished our mission?"

Tarukito stared at Norihide for a second, but Chu-saNari-masa Asano usurped any answer he might have given. Narimasa walked around the table to a point where the green and blue computer-construct could illuminate him. Though he smiled easily, it put no one at ease. "This rumor you have heard is not wholly true," he began. "Yes, there was some delay in transmitting the message to Nashira. This ensured that the ISF contingent from Dieron got first pass at this target. Is it not right that they have this honor? Did not their organization pierce the veil of deception that told us of the base's location and also the identity of the person we seek? Could we shame them by demanding the right to capture the prize they had located?"

Narimasa shook his head slowly and Tarukito felt shame for his resentment against the ISF forces. Narimasa laughed lightly. "Of course, we all chafed beneath the gaze of the Taishi—not because we are anything less than utterly devoted to the Dragon, but because the Taishidid not think us worthy of the responsibility we had assumed. We must not let our feelings about the late Shinzei Abe color our thinking about the rest of the ISF."

Narimasa waved a hand at the holograph. "You must recall that the Coordinator himself ordered us into battle. He could not tell Subhash Indrahar that he believed the ISF could not conquer the base, could he? There would have been a loss of face. No, he merely suggested that we should have our chance to help the ISF take the base."

Narimasa turned and nodded toward Yorinaga. "Nor could Yorinaga-sama allow our arrival to shame the ISF. If we arrived too quickly, we could have robbed them of their victory. With this thought in mind, Yorinaga-sama delayed our departure from Nashira by two hours, just so the ISF would have ample opportunity to win this battle on their own."

Tarukito turned to hide the smile beginning to tug at his mouth. By the time Narimasa had returned to his seat beside Yorinaga, Tarukito had regained control of himself. He faced the assembled soldiers of the Genyoshaand directed their attention to the base's model.

"Sho-saNobuyori Kinoshita and I will lead the main assault. In addition to our lances, we will have Tai-iKagetora Asai's lance and Tai-iNorihide Kiso's lance. Tai-iMasanori Shoni and his lance will have the honor of entering the base through the small bay on Chilevel. In this way, we may trap the defenders between our superior forces and crush them."

With hands on hips, Tarukito surveyed his audience from one side to the other before adding a final cautionary note. "We must take care to avoid over-confidence, however, for this assault may not be as simple as it seems. Keep in mind that the planetoid's gravity will be only one-ninth that of Nashira. Never forget that the stupid man is his own greatest enemy, for he defeats himself." Then Tarukito used the pointer to bring up the lights in the room. "You are dismissed. Report to your 'Mechs and prepare for a full combat drop."

As the crowd dispersed, a courier fought through the tide of bodies and presented a slip of yellow paper to Yorinaga. The Genyoshacommander read it carefully. Then he dismissed the courier with a solemn bow and reread the message. He passed it to Narimasa as Tarukito approached them.

Narimasa frowned as he read the message. Reluctantly, he handed the paper to Tarukito. "I am sorry, Tarukito-san. Your planning has been flawless."

Tarukito took the slip of paper in trembling fingers. He read it once, and then again. Bile washed up into his throat to choke him, but he forced it down and then willed himself to ignore the fire that had begun to burn in his belly. Damn them. They spoil my assault!

He whirled and stared at the red outline burning on Toriideck. He glanced back down at the message. Is it treason to hope that this message is false? Can they truly be that close to taking the command center?He faced his superiors again. "Do you think it is possible?"

Narimasa and Yorinaga exchanged a look that made both of them seem ancient. Narimasa nodded. "I believe the ISF agents are earnest in their reports."

Tarukito held out the message in one hand. "But do you think they will take the command center within the hour?"

Narimasa shrugged. "Let us go to our 'Mechs. Until we jump in, we'll not learn the answer to that question."

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