Текст книги "Wolf Pack"

49

The night march had been long, but accomplished with surprising ease. But afterward Dechan Fraser still could not sleep. He was tired and needed rest, but his tent was so stifling and confining that he got up to walk among the sleeping BattleMechs. In the gray light of predawn, the plain should have been quiet. Instead the million soft sounds of a MechWarrior camp buzzed, clanked, rattled, scraped, hummed, and hissed around him. It was almost as if the 'Mechs stirred restlessly in their sleep, but it was only the tech crews tending to the machines after their long march.

Dechan was staring at the sky, pondering the coming day, when a bright flash—like a shooting star but stationary—caught his attention. It was no natural phenomenon; he'd seen enough combat to know that. Making for the command center, he resisted the urge to run, as though hurrying would add too much weight to what might already be a portent.

Dechan had the tech on duty patch him through to Gamma Regiment's headquarters. When Parella finally came on the line, he didn't bother with politeness.

"What's happened?"

"Chandra's taken down a satellite," the scratchy-voiced Parella told him gruffly. "Ours or theirs?"

"What a stupid question. Since Khan Alpin wants us to play along and be nice to Chandra, it sure wasn't ours. The transmission was beamed to somewhere in Orange Sector."

Somewhere out beyond their lines, presumably directly to Wolf. Dechan's stomach churned. "Any idea what it was about?"

"We are nosy today. What's the matter? Can't wait for the morning briefing?"

"It would be nice to have some warning if we're going to be walking into more of Wolf's traps."

"And it'd be nice if Wolf laid down and died, but he ain't going to do that unless we help him along. That's what we bought you for, mere. Now you just go get your folks ready to roll."

"Let me talk to Alpin."

"That's Khan Alpin to you and he's busy," Parella snarled. "Just do your job."

The line went dead. The commtech tried but was unable to reestablish contact, though she assured Dechan that the line had not been cut. Dechan's stomach began to churn. It was never good when headquarters wouldn't talk to you. Walking to the mess tent, he began to wonder if Elson had been holding Kappa Battalion back so that he could use it up it in the grand finale. He spent two hours trying to convince his stomach to hold down some oatmeal so the acid would have something to work on, but he had no more success with that than the commtech had in raising Parella again.

The mess tent was half-full with other, more successful, diners when Alpin made a general broadcast.

"This is the morning when all we have worked for will come to pass," Khan Alpin began. "Wolf's force is on the ropes. Early this morning Zeta Battalion arrived onplanet in support of the rightful succession. Jaime Wolf and his followers are doomed. Already the forces blocking our progress in Green Sector are in retreat. Already the lead elements of Gamma Regiment are moving into position for the final assault.

"Soon you will be moving out." Groans and complaints filled the tent. Kappa had been promised a day's rest. "I know it is much to ask, but I also know you are warriors and so will understand. We must rise to this effort and strike now. We must strike hard and fast. I expect no less from the warriors of Kappa Battalion. I will meet you on the other side and we will walk the honor road together.

"Seyla!"

There was a courier waiting for Dechan with a sealed packet of orders when the broadcast ended. The last mouthful of oatmeal went down hard, plummeting into his stomach to sit like a lump of lead as he read the orders.

Dechan saw immediately what his unit had been saved for. Gamma Regiment was to open a breach in Wolf's line, then wheel right. As they advanced, a gap between Gamma's left flank and Epsilon's right would appear. Kappa was to move through that gap, flanking the enemy Battlegroup M. Once past the forward battle area, they were to race for the Tetsuhara Proving Grounds and occupy its command center before Wolf's forces could retreat there.

Tetsuhara Proving Ground. Tetsuhara.The name was back to haunt him. Outreach wasn't cold like Misery, but their objective would provide its own misery. The proving ground was full of automated defenses, and Dechan was sure Wolf would have them operating. The place would be a maze of booby traps. Those defenses might have been designed simply to test warriors, but he was sure they were also capable of lethal force. Even the promised artillery support of Fire Support Battalion wouldn't make it much easier, if they ever got such support. Kappa Battalion was being assigned a mission of unusual lethality.

So much for Elson's promises of a place in the Dragoons. Maybe in the Dragoons' cemetery.

Then again, maybe this was the Elemental's way of making Dechan and his warriors prove that they were truly Dragoon material, that they were strong enough for what Elson had in mind. Taking the proving ground wouldn't be easy, but it would be a vital stroke. If they could take the control center before Wolf's forces got there, the campaign would be over quickly. The proving ground control complex was the last defensible position for an organized force. Without it, Wolf would have to surrender or go guerrilla. If he took the latter course, his bid to retake control of the Dragoons was finished. Dragoon custom demanded that challenges to Trials be fought as stand-up combats.

Dechan shoved aside his concerns in the work of getting the battalion ready to roll.

Despite his fears, the initial advance met with little resistance, because Wolf's forces were far too busy elsewhere. The arrival of Zeta Battalion on Alpin's side had shifted the balance. Jamison was even claiming that they had killed Jaime Wolf, but the cohesiveness of the enemy forces put the lie to that. Though reeling from the hammer blows of Beta and Gamma Regiments' assaults, Wolf's troops were pulling back in good order. The only place Alpin's forces weren't advancing was in Blue Sector, where Epsilon Regiment was still in place. The Kuritans had blunted Epsilon's attack, taking minimal losses.

Nichole pulled Epsilon back to its jump-off position, ceasing offensive operations and informing the commanders of the attacking forces that the battle plan had been transmitted to Wolf. Dechan failed to get through to Alpin or Elson for confirmation, but Alpin responded to Nichole's assertion with a commanders-only broadcast admitting that the satellite destruction earlier that morning had been Fleet Captain Chandra delivering on her promise to eliminate any satellites used by the combatants. He pointed out Beta's and Gamma's success, but never actually denied Nichole's statement about the battle plan having been given away. Dechan took the failure to deny it as an admission that Nichole was right, at least partially.

But despite the intelligence coup by Jaime Wolf's partisans, Alpin's attack was proceeding well. The enemy was falling back on two fronts, converging on the Tetsuhara Proving Ground. The proving ground was where Jaime Wolf had put spine into the lords of the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere. There, with staged tests and contests, he had shown them and their gullible children how to stand up to the fierce warriors of the marauding Clans. For Wolf, the proving ground had been the place where the Inner Sphere's answer to the Clan invasion had begun. Unless Wolf had some surprises in store, it would be the place where his answer to Alpin and Elson ended.

Kappa Battalion reached the outer boundaries almost on schedule, still ahead of the retreating Battle-group M. But less than a hundred meters past the boundary marker, Kappa's advance slowed when a Vindicatordetonated an unexploded shell or a mine. Kappa moved on, leaving the Vindicator'spilot to contemplate his footless 'Mech. But they moved slower.

The proving ground was a huge area with a wide variety of terrains, simulated structures, and clusters of buildings. Dechan kept Kappa moving cautiously, not wishing to lose any more 'Mechs to unnecessary damage. The flash and rumble of battle to the northeast grew closer as they probed to find the headquarters' location, a detail curiously missing from the maps provided them.

The lance scouting Dechan's right flank reported seeing 'Mechs and armor approaching from the battle. He ordered a halt and moved his lance over to investigate. The scouts were correct; the first elements of

Wolf's forces were arriving. Dechan directed his battalion to take up positions across their line of retreat. Then they sat and waited.

The lead hovertank must have had an active probe. Just out of missile range, it swerved and headed back to its fellows. The rest changed course as well, ducking into a simulated town. Dechan held his unit in place, refusing a request to flush the tankers with a probe by a light lance.

Battlegroup M was coming, with at least a battalion of Gamma Regiment in hot pursuit. The enemy forces were executing a classic leapfrog retreat, using alternate fire and movement with precision and elan. Fascinated, Dechan watched his commo officer make tentative identification of the battlegroup's leader from the radio activity. That commander was piloting a Thunderbolt,fighting with admirable efficiency while simultaneously controlling her troops' retreat. It was a bravura performance.

The main body of the opposition had almost reached the town when a fresh charge erupted from Gamma's lines. Heavy 'Mechs led the way, taking the punishment that Wolf's people were dishing out and sending it right back. In the forefront of the charge was a Star of OmniMechs. Dechan only knew of one unit in Alpin's forces that was organized that way: Alpin's own Command Lance. The Khan had come to settle matters personally.

A close-fighting melee developed on the outskirts of the town. Wolf's troops fought hard, but they were outnumbered and the outcome seemed inevitable. Then, in one of those lulls that unaccountably occur in battle, a 'Mech stepped into the open. The battered Thunderboltraised its arms and spread them wide.

"I, Maeve of the Wolf Pack, make my challenge!" The pilot's voice boomed out on external speakers and a spread of open frequencies. "I challenge the leader of the usurpers to meet me. Alpin Wolf, are you a coward that you will not face the one who has held you at bay for a month? Are you afraid of a warrior with no surname?"

Dechan snapped his eyes to the position where he had last seen the Command Lance. Alpin had been in the thick of a battle that had cost him two of his lance. His Thortook a step toward the Thunderbolt.

"What are you doing, you fool?" Parella shouted over the command channel.

"I will fight her. Her death will end this battle sooner," Alpin replied. He sounded eager. "She isthe one who has cost us so much."

"Then clear the line of fire, and we'll all waste her."

"Neg! I forbid it! It's not the Clan way. What would Elson and the Clanners think?"

"Elson would tell you to waste her. There's more battle to fight. There's still Wolf."

The Thorstopped its steady progress toward the Thunderbolt.It seemed to Dechan that Parella's words had struck a chord with Alpin. A hearty laugh cut across the channel. Somehow Maeve had found Gamma's command frequency. Maybe it had been in the transmitted plans. How didn't matter; what she said did.

"Poor little Alpin, maybe you should listen to tough old Parella. But I can tell you what Elson would say. He's a Clanner. He'd tell you that you aren't man enough to do the job."

"Bitch!" Parella screamed as Alpin's Thorlurched forward into a run.

"You're mine!" Alpin screamed, then launched his Thoron a tail of superheated air.

The T-bolt'stop-mounted launcher swiveled, tracking the incoming Omni. A spread of missiles streaked out toward it, but no laser pulse went with them. Those were not standard tactics for a Thunderbolt.Dechan expected the rebel warrior to do all she could at long range, but the big arm-mounted laser was the Thunderbolt'smain gun. If she wasn't using it, it must be damaged.

He admired her courage. Going up against an Omni was tough enough in a fully functioning BattleMech. She must have seen the challenge as the only chance she had to strip the enemy of its leader.

Alpin's own launcher vomited a spray of missiles as the Thorlanded on flexed legs. Charged particles streamed toward the T-bolt.The PPC beam blasted rock from a bunker housing, but missed the racing 'Mech. Missiles crashed around its feet, a good half-dozen cratering leg armor.

The Thorraced after the T-bolt.They were closer now, less than a hundred meters apart. The Thunderboltdodged among the buildings and bunkers, keeping the distance open. Occasionally it appeared, triple lasers flashing out to strike the Thor.Mostly they failed to penetrate, but sometimes one burned away a bit more of the Thor'storso armor. The Thorrained down missiles, doing more damage to the landscape than to the T-bolt.Alpin blasted with his PPC, too, but did more damage to the surrounding buildings than to Maeve's 'Mech. He did score occasionally, though, tearing away chunks of armor.

Slowly the Thorworked its way closer to the T-bolt.Still relying on the Thunderbolt'smissiles for her big punch, Maeve fired her launcher again and again, the missiles striking with little spread, suggesting that the T-boltmight be armed with a Clan-tech launcher. Dechan realized that Maeve's Thunderboltwas not an Inner Sphere model and wondered if Alpin had noticed the discrepancies. Perhaps she was not so desperate as he'd first thought.

Alpin's PPC caught the Thunderbolt'sleft leg. The weakened armor over the shin gave way, exposing tatters of pale myomer. Electrical discharges sparked and crawled along the exposed structural members. The

Thor'sautocannon fired, its cluster rounds cratering openings in the T-bolt'supper torso. Missiles screamed in, impacting all along the Thunderbolt'sleft side. The blocky 'Mech staggered away, placing a brick structure between it and the oncoming Omni before crashing down. Alpin closed in for the kill.

By the time he came around the corner, the Thunderbolthad gathered itself into a crouch. The 'Mech was clearly mauled, its right arm lifting out toward the advancing Thoras if in supplication for mercy. Alpin raised his own 'Mech's right arm, its PPC crackling with the sparks one sometimes sees before the capacitor discharged.

The Thunderbolt'slaser fired in eye-searing pulses, the beam striking just beneath the Thor'smissile rack. Armor bubbled and flowed, exposing the inner structure to the laser's ravening hunger. The Thordoubled over at the waist like a man kicked in the belly as the launcher ammunition exploded. Flames and smoke shot from the 'Mech's back as the CASE safety system released most of the devastating force. But it was too little, too late for the Thor.

The explosion had gutted most of its interior. Its left arm tumbled away, the autocannon coughing unaimed fire for a second before its ammo cooked off as well. Through the smoke the victorious Thunderboltrose on jump jets of its own.

It came down behind the stricken Omni, its left arm raised. Slamming the limb down, Maeve forced Al-pin's Thorto its knees. The Omni landed hard, rocking back and forth. The Thunderbolt'sright arm swung around, caving in the armor protecting the Thor'sshoulder coupling, then sliding up to crash against the cockpit housing. The Omni canted over and crashed to the ground on its left side.

The Thunderboltreached down and dug its mechanical fingers into the armor below the Thor'scockpit.

Smoke poured from within as the armor peeled away. Maeve tossed the canopy away and, in a dazzling display of BattleMech control, reached into the open cockpit and delicately lifted out her defeated opponent.

Then she lifted her Thunderbolt'sarm high and held up the limp and bleeding form of Alpin Wolf for all to see.