Текст книги "Falcon Guard"

Автор книги: Роберт Торстон

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"I have no thoughts on the subject. I can say that what I felt in the sibko is still true. We were close then. We went beyond sibko closeness. We were friends, I think."

"Not exactly a Clan word, either—friends."

"No. But I wish for us to be close always. That is not love perhaps. But it is real."

"I will settle for it, Marthe."

"And perhaps, after the battle, you would spend some time with me in my quarters. Or I could come to yours."

A new surprise. They had not coupled since early in cadet days.

"I would wish that, Marthe.'

"Good. Well-bargained and done."

Dawn had come, and the offensive was now set to begin an hour hence. Watching the council laboriously end its session, the two former sibkin remained silent for awhile, then Marthe spoke.

"War councils and warriors," she said. "The words sound well together, but they do not belong together. Warriors should act, not talk. It is the way of the Clan to avoid waste. We conserve material; we try to conserve lives through bidding the lowest possible force of personnel. But we have no qualms about wasting words, quiaff?"

"Aff. Marthe, I fear that the Clans are in danger of losing Tukayyid. And why? Because our numbers and combat abilities came up short? No, I do not believe that. It may be that we had already lost when we agreed to this proxy battle, lost by giving too much respect to the Inner Sphere, to ComStar."

"Respect? I respect no one from the Inner Sphere orComStar."

"And neither do I." He dropped his voice. "But perhaps our leaders do. Perhaps they have been hoodwinked by fancy Inner Sphere words.Marthe, we invaded the Inner Sphere. Invaders do battle, take bondsmen, receive isorla,leave scars on landscapes. We conquer on our terms. Now, suddenly, we are fighting on theirterms. It is not right, Marthe. Of that much only am I certain. It is not right. Once the ilKhan agreed to deal with the enemy representative, he compromised the way of the Clan. That is all I know. But I am a loyal Clan warrior and will not fight less fiercely."

"Would you prefer some kind of revolution? Overthrow?"

"No. Never. That would be Inner Sphere, too, and not Clan."

"Yes, I agree."

They were silent for a while. Aidan felt peculiar. He had never expected to find that he and Marthe would be so much alike when they met again. Once he had thought they had grown apart. Though both were plagued with doubts about the conduct of the war, he felt a certain pleasure in their secret alliance.

As the war council began to break up, Marthe and Aidan joined the exodus, stopping when they reached Marthe's hovercraft. She turned toward him, her face partially in shadow.

"What is it, Aidan?" she asked, seeming puzzled by his expression.

"In this light, you look so much like one of the Falcon Guard warriors—MechWarrior Diana."

"Perhaps her sibko shared our Mattlov or Pryde gene heritage."

"She is freeborn."

"I have never had a child."

"What a curious thing to say."

"I know. Clan warriors are rarely parents. Have you ever been?"

"Just the thought of it makes me uneasy. The mere words relating to natural birth make me uncomfortable."

"If I visit the Falcon Guards, you will show me this MechWarrior, quiaff?"

"Aff."

Marthe began to climb into her hovercraft, then turned back. "I wanted to say that . . . well, I would be proud to enter battle led by the Falcon Guards. By Pryde's Pride."

Then she was gone, vanished into the darkness of the hovercraft. Aidan walked to his VTOL, along the way hearing further mutterings from Clan commanders. Perhaps he even heard one of them call the Falcon Guards " Pryde's Denied."

* * *

Diana watched her father leave the VTOL and stride to the Guard command post. She had accompanied him during the ride to the Command Group in order to get a replacement circuit board for her 'Mech. Watching the exchange between Aidan and Marthe Pryde, she had not been sure what to think about it.

Although she strove to be a true Clan warrior, it was still difficult to purge some of her village ways. Coupling among the lower castes was much less casual than among Clan warriors, and a taboo existed against sexual contact between members of the same family. Yet, Clan warriors, members of the same genetic line, the same sibko, coupled easily and often. She did not begrudge her father the comfort of sex, but it made her uneasy to think he might do it with a sibkin.

Then it struck her that she, after all, was the offspring of Aidan and another member of his sibko, Peri. That had never seemed significant or ominous. But Peri was her mother, and Diana had grown up admiring her, though she was often absent. She recalled Peri once telling her that words for the parent-child relation were nearly obscene in the sibko, which was why Diana did not call her "mother." Peri had been raised to believe the word forbidden, the very concept of parenthood anathema. Though she had willingly become a parent, abandoning birth control in order to conceive a child by Aidan, she had gradually taught her daughter to call her Peri instead of mother.

"You look somewhat pensive this evening, MechWarrior Diana."

She turned and saw that it was Elemental Star Commander Selima of the First Delta Elemental Star. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with prominent cheekbones and a gentle mouth. The tallest of all the Falcon Guard Elementals, he towered over Diana, who was tall for a MechWarrior. She had always liked him. He was not gruff or rude like so many Elementals, and seemed capable of serious thought, another contrast to most Elementals. She had never seen him engage in horseplay with other members of his sub-caste. Generally, he held himself aloof.

"You will not report me for thinking on duty, will you, Star Commander Selima?"

"No. I saw no dereliction. My comment was directed to the expression on your face. You were thinking of something that had meaning for you."

"In a way. But it is a private thought."

"Aahhh. I had not meant to intrude."

"You did not intrude. I am glad you are diverting me from it."

"A pleasure. You are a special MechWarrior, Diana."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you are complicated. Not many warriors are complicated."

"I am freeborn."

"That may explain it."

"You do not find warriors to be complicated? Do you not think our Star Colonel, for example, complicated?"

"Yes, I do. But like you, he is different. Examine his codex. Not the typical military record."

They talked a while longer. Before Selima left, Diana said to him, "You have not commented on my physical appearance, Selima. Men usually do."

"Elemental men?"

"Well, no, not Elemental men."

"There you have it. We do not even find each other beautiful. We would hate it if we did."

"I hate it, and I am not Elemental."

"You, MechWarrior Diana, are a genetic misfit," he said with a smile that made his words sound complimentary. "And now I bid you good night."

The tall Elemental loped away gracefully, returning to his Star's assembly area.

Diana was suddenly unhappy. This night, which should have been filled with the sound and fury of battle, was filled with words instead. Walking quickly and then breaking into a run, she went toward her BattleMech to prepare for the attack. Well, she thought, at least for now the words will stop.

27

Prezno Plain came to an abrupt end, reminding Aidan of the ancient Terran belief that the world was flat and people would drop off the edge when they reached the end of it. What a piece of strategy that might have been, Aidan thought, staring at the view of the plain's end on his primary screen. What if ComStar had been able to arrange for a flat world so that the Clans would gallop right off its edge? The image was fanciful yet impressive—hordes of Clansmen in their gleaming BattleMechs running off the edge and vanishing into the vacuum of space. He shut his eyes for a moment and saw a vision of hundreds of 'Mechs disappearing into the void.

Horse's voice coming suddenly over their private channel broke Aidan's reverie. "The bridges are in sight, and the forces on Robyn's Crossing have fired on the Twelfth Falcon Cluster. The battle is engaged, sir."

The Twelfth had won the honor of leading the assault on the bridge. Knowing that it had been Mar Helmer's Cluster when he was a Star Colonel, Aidan concluded that politics must have been involved in the choice. That made him angry, for he believed the position should have been open to bidding among all the Jade Falcon contingents, including the Falcon Guards. Another Cluster, the Seventh Falcons, was assigned the other bridge, Plough Bridge. According to Horse, the Seventh had just reached its objective, and no battle had yet begun there.

Until now, both bridges had been out of sight of the oncoming Jade Falcons because they were in a valley. The access to each was down a rocky slope. Recon had established that BattleMechs could not descend without becoming sitting ducks for the bridge forces, so jumpcapable 'Mechs had taken the forefront. They leaped into the valley and returned the fusillades of the ComStar 'Mechs.

Aidan monitored some of the fighting at Robyn's Crossing on his primary screen, the visuals rendered pale by the intense light of Tukayyid's sun. For a moment the combat was at a stalemate. At Robyn's Crossing, a fierce defense by the ComStar 'Mechs in front of and on the bridge itself pressed the Twelfth back. Missile fire exploded one Jade Falcon BattleMech, then another was severely damaged, leaving half its right hip detached and hanging. Aidan cursed as he watched the commander of the Twelfth order a retreat back to the foot of the slope to cover the descent of the BattleMechs without jump capacity.

"Bad move, huh?" Horse said. "I agree."

"She has them bunched together so much that she is practically offering the Com Guards target practice."

"We are lucky this is a private channel."

"I would say that to Khan Chistu himself."

Horse sighed. "Yes, you would."

They continued to watch, all the while proceeding toward the battle site. Then Aidan spoke. "Well, it is time."

"What do you mean?"

"Time for us to follow our orders. Once the battle is joined, we are to break through, remember? We are going to help the Twelfth take that bridge."

"You have my enthusiastic approval."

Aidan opened the commline and ordered the Falcon Guards to press forward at the best unit speed. As the unit passed up two other Clusters, they maintained a precision formation that must have been the envy of their fellow Jade Falcons even as many of them were probably cursing every Falcon Guard who had ever existed and the sibkos that spawned them.

* * *

As befitted a Clan commander, Aidan Pryde led the way in his Timber Wolfto the crest of the slope leading down to Robyn's Crossing. He slowed his BattleMech when he saw the crest, the edge of this particular world, then paced his 'Mech into a graceful, loping walk. Back in the DropShip he had ordered his techs to equip his Timber Wolfwith jump jet modules. That meant sacrificing his machine guns and some lasers normally mounted in his torso, but he was too used to jumping in the Summoner,his former 'Mech. He could not give it up now just because jump jets were not a standard feature on a Timber Wolf.

The 'Mechs of Horse and Margo, another of his Falcon Guard Command MechWarriors, also had jump ability. They stayed with their commander, a couple of 'Mech paces behind, as he pushed his Timber Wolfforward. At the very crest of the hill Aidan engaged his jump jets and glided upward, reaching a quick zenith, then coming down, ahead of the BattleMechs of the Twelfth Falcon Cluster, and closer to Robyn's Crossing than any Jade Falcon BattleMech had yet come.

Descending, Aidan blasted away at the Com Guard 'Mechs defending the head of the bridge. They had not been expecting a BattleMech assault from the sky, which gave Aidan and his pair of cohorts an immediate and significant advantage. An edge at the edge of the world, Aidan thought.

He used his angle to blast away at the head of a heavy BattleMech that his secondary screen identified as a type called a Thug.Targeting his large lasers, he made a direct and fatal hit against the head of the Thug,no doubt ending the life of its pilot. He did not have time to watch the 'Mech stagger backward against a bridge stanchion, then plunge into the deep waters of the churning Prezno River. The splash it made was impressive, the waters rising up onto the bridge surface leaving puddles along its roadway.

Aidan's attention was on another ComStar 'Mech, a sleek, bigfooted Sentinelthat was just swinging its autocannon upward to fire at the Timber Wolf.Firing over the shoulders of Aidan's 'Mech, MechWarrior Margo, in a light Mist Lynx,got a lock onto the center torso of the Sentinel,then destroyed it with a set of sleek-arcing missiles. The enemy 'Mech fell to the ground, flames shooting from its chest.

Horse managed to take out a pair of ComStar 'Mechs during his descent, while Aidan gave a ComStar Riflemana limp.

By the time the trio of Clan BattleMechs had landed, the bridge defense was in disarray. Aidan ordered his group forward, the action prodding the Jade Falcons back at the slope to charge forward.

The ComStar commander apparently decided that the Clan had won this phase, for the surviving enemy 'Mechs began a retreat. They traversed Robyn's Crossing quickly, with only the limping Riflemanlagging behind. The bridge was soon clear, an inviting pathway with a few puddles gleaming on its surface, leading to that side of the river where the Jade Falcon Clan objectives awaited.

"There are reports of heavy fighting at Plough Bridge," Horse said. "We are apparently taking the day there."

"Fine. Let us take a little stroll to the other side of Robyn's Crossing, quiaff,Horse?"

"Hold it there one minute, Star Colonel Aidan Pryde," said a new voice on the open channel. Aidan recognized the voice immediately from the council in the grove. It was Star Colonel Senza Oriega, the one who had complained that it was inappropriate for the tainted Falcon Guards to lead the entire Jade Falcon army into battle.

She came forward in her savage-looking Executioner.Close behind followed a pair of her Command Star 'Mechs, like a pair of thugs backing up a bandit leader.

"You cannot be first onto Robyn's Crossing, Aidan Pryde. That is the right of the Twelfth Falcon Cluster. It is myright."

Aidan took a deep breath. In his mind he could see Senza Oriega, with her pale ghostlike complexion, sitting smugly in her pilot seat, throwing her weight around as if it had 'Mech tonnage.

"Your right, you say?"

"Aff. Ourright, actually."

"Did you down the four ComStar BattleMechs and send the rest into a retreat? Did the Twelfth Falcon Cluster down anyComStar BattleMechs? Did Senza Oriega and her Twelfth Falcon Cluster take Robyn's Crossing?"

"None of that, none of your boasting has any effect on the order of march across the bridge. It is an honor the Twelfth Falcon Cluster has earned by its entirecombat history. It is for us to lead the way across the bridge and into the next phase of battle on the other side of the bridge."

Aidan was seething with anger at Senza Onega's disparaging tone. "What kind of freebirth stupidity is this?" he screamed into his mike. "Do you dare—"

"Star Colonel, ease up on—" It was Horse cutting in on the transmission.

"I am sorry about the epithet, Horse. I am just so—"

"Forget the epithet. I was not offended. I am counseling calmness here, not lecturing on manners. There is no point in two honorable and courageous commanders—"

"Honorable? Courageous? Horse, she has no right to take away our—"

"My orders are clear," Senza Oriega said coldly. "We have no time for your petty little tantrums. The Khan has decreed that the Twelfth Falcon Cluster shall lead the way across the bridge, and so it shall be. Star Colonel, let me commend you for your combat achievements here. They will receive much praise in my report on the taking of the bridge."

"I am honored," Aidan muttered, but Senza Oriega apparently did not notice the sarcasm. It was not a verbal shading common among Clan warriors, and often they did not perceive it readily.

"Perhaps you will allow me a suggestion," Horse said. "If there is still bad blood between you two after we have won our objectives, a Trial of Grievance might be appropriate. I, for one, will do everything in my power to discourage it, but as often happens, the way of the Clan provides a solution to a problem."

"Your subordinate speaks well, Aidan Pryde. Let us leave matters at that. I will make this one concession. After the Twelfth Falcon Cluster has crossed the bridge, the Falcon Guards may have the honor of coming next."

Aidan held back his anger. "We respectfully decline the honor, Star Colonel Senza Oriega," he said tonelessly.

"As you wish. Please clear the way."

While the Twelfth Falcon Cluster assembled behind Oriega, with those who had been at the crest of the hill coming down the slope with difficulty to join their unit, Aidan, Horse, and Margo cleared the way.

Senza Oriega and her Command Star went first. Aidan was bitterly amused at the delicate way the feet of the Twelfth's 'Mechs had to step over the fallen ComStar BattleMechs. The movement reminded him of villagers carefully avoiding the deposits left by animals in their streets. He wondered if they would also be shy of the puddles on the bridge. He cursed himself for his un-Clanlike speculations, but he could not help it.

Horse was continuing to monitor reports of the battle for Plough Bridge. "The Com Guard units there have also retreated, with even less damage than what they took here. The Seventh Falcon Cluster is now crossing."

Aidan smiled. "Sounds like they have edged the Twelfth for the honor of getting to the other side of the river. A major achievement, Horse. They—what was that?"

In the distance came the sound of an explosion, then another, then a symphony of overlapping explosions.

"Something has gone wrong at Plough Bridge," Horse shouted. "The Com Guards must have planted—"

As though completing Horse's transmission, the demolition charges the Com Guards had concealed on Robyn's Crossing began to explode. The first explosion came just as Senza Onega's BattleMech crossed what was approximately the halfway mark of the bridge roadbed.

The Twelfth 'Mechs waiting to pass onto the bridge were rocked backward, the force of the continuing blasts knocking some of them into each other, and a few fell like dominoes.

Although Aidan and the two other Falcon Guards were far to the side, they too felt the impact of the explosion. The trio managed to keep their 'Mechs upright, but Margo's Mist Lynxtook a load of metal debris right in the upper torso. The 'Mech kept its legs in spite of its lightness, but the torso rotated on its hips. Medics who later checked out the battlefield discovered Margo, still seated and with her hands on her controls. She had been killed when a metal piece smashed into the cockpit and hit her sharply in one temple.

When Aidan heard the news much later, he regretted her death. Margo had been one of the best light 'Mech pilots he had ever met.

28

Just as the Com Guards had appeared mysteriously from out of the ground during their hit-and-run raid, they now emerged from the cloud of smoke and debris created by the bridge explosions. The long, gradually sloping hillside on the other side of Prezno River suddenly teemed with Com Guard BattleMechs, attack vehicles, and ground forces.

A squadron of aerofighters appeared beyond the far hillside, first soaring upward, then down toward the 'Mechs near the riverbanks.

The first air wave swept toward the bridge itself, passing low over the smoldering, smoky structure, zeroing in on the remaining Twelfth Falcon Cluster, wreaking havoc with short-range missiles and medium lasers. Several 'Mechs, pinned against the cliff wall, became easy targets. One exploded, others merely fell.

Downriver from the bridge, neither Aidan nor Horse yet realized that MechWarrior Margo had been killed, only that she did not respond to them over the commline.

Because of the high slopes, the aerofighters could not come in close to the Jade Falcon BattleMechs. Instead they had to veer away to avoid crashing. With their undersides exposed, the fighters became the targets, and a Dire Wolfpilot disemboweled an Ironsideswith a missile cluster. The aerofighter fell into the already-steaming river, creating more heat waves as it rapidly sank.

In the distance another wave of aerofighters had arrived, their short– and long-range missiles striking dangerously close to the 'Mechs of Aidan and Horse.

"I do not think we can do much good here," Horse said. "We should get out while we can."

"But whether we stay or go, we have problems. If we stay here, we are up against terrible odds. If we retreat, our own forces block the way while they are trying to leap over or climb up the hillside. If we jump, we become sitting ducks for the next aerofighter attack."

"What do you suggest, Aidan?"

"The river may be the safest place. I am looking at it on my secondary screen. The waters are immediately deep off the bank."

"I hate operating a 'Mech underwater."

"I will take complaints later. Into the water then. Did you get that, MechWarrior Margo? Margo?"

"Something is wrong, Aidan. Should I get her out?"

"No time. We have to leave her."

After a slight hesitation, Horse said quietly, "Yes, sir."

"We will progress downstream two and a half kilometers, then come out and take our chances, quiaff?"

"Aff."

Jumping together, they hit the water just as the next wave of aerofighters flew over. One of the fighters reacted quickly to the pair of jumping 'Mechs, letting loose a cluster of short-range missiles. The attempt came too late, and the missiles merely flung up a lot of dirt. The two 'Mechs were already in the water, with only ripples showing where they had entered.

* * *

For Joanna and Diana the sudden battle created almost overwhelming chaos. Surviving 'Mechs of the Twelfth Falcon Cluster rushed past them in a disorganized retreat from the fierce artillery barrage now being launched by the ComStar forces. Leaderless, the Twelfth was not able to form up and make a stand.

For a while the Falcon Guards tried to counter the barrage and hold the line. They were able to hang on for awhile, but Joanna, now in command because Aidan Pryde's whereabouts were unknown, saw that the Guards' ammunition was dangerously low and that they were taking too many hits. She ordered the Falcon Guards to join the general retreat, which was now endorsed by the Galaxy Commander, Mar Helmer, himself.

The battle went on for most of the day. While the Com Guards blasted away relentlessly with long-range missile fusillades, their aerospace wing continued to rain heavy damage on the fleeing army. Eventually, however, the Jade Falcons were out of effective range of the Com Guard weapons. The Jade Falcon lines were also spread thin, by order of Mar Helmer. The ComStar commander ordered a cease-fire, and the aerofighters, their ammo exhausted, returned to their DropShips.

When the Jade Falcon forces came to a rest, Joanna noted that they were only about twenty kilometers from where they had originally landed. Making a quick check of the terrain maps, she saw that, after coming within twenty kilometers of their objectives, they were now fifty kilometers away. Joanna did not want to be the one who would have to take the blame for the failure of the march toward glory.

Fortunately, miraculously, the Falcon Guards had not suffered serious casualties. Some 'Mech armor had been chipped and gouged away, some weapons had overheated and required immediate repair, and most of the 'Mechs needed some internal tinkering, but the Falcon Guards had come through the ComStar counterattack better than most of the other Jade Falcon units.

Aside from MechWarrior Faulk, the warrior injured earlier, three Falcon Guards were listed as missing in action. Lamentably, this trio included the Cluster commander and namesake of "Pryde's Pride." No matter that Joanna had despised Aidan Pryde for so many years, she sincerely hoped that it was not the cowardly ComStar strategy that had done him in.

* * *

The laborious movement of an underwater 'Mech was agonizing, stultifying even, made more so by the swirling, rushing waters of the Prezno River. Yet no BattleMech could move efficiently under even the calmest of waters. Rather, the 'Mech became as clumsy and slow as someone sadly out of shape trying to relearn an old physical exercise.

The river worked in their favor, however, speeding their progress. Even at these depths the rapid currents of Prezno River buffeted the two 'Mechs along with a force that Aidan felt even in his cockpit. With the turmoil of the waters keeping the riverbed stirred up, he could see little of it. He would not have been sure they were getting anywhere, no matter what his sensors revealed, were it not for the light projecting from Horse's cockpit. It poured steadily forth, illuminating the riverbank to their left. The blobs that swam in and out of the murky luminescence were, Aidan assumed, various types of underwater creatures. In the distorted light, none of them looked anything like fish.

Soon enough the two and a half kilometers had been covered. Looking toward the bank of the river, Aidan saw that it had just enough slope to permit a 'Mech to gain footing and push upward. His first try failed, however, and the Timber Wolfsettled back into the water. How he wished he could use the jump jets underwater, but water entering the intakes would make the 'Mech explode. Patiently, laboriously, he tried once more. This time he broke surface, gained a foothold on the slope, and pulled himself and his 'Mech out of the river. Horse followed soon after.

Everything seemed quiet at this part of the river. Looking back upstream, they could see the smoke and river-steam completely obscuring the battle.

"Things look bad," Aidan commented.

"I take it that we are not returning to that!"

"No, we want to be brave, but not suicidal. We will run along the flank, see what we can do, and try to rejoin the Falcon Guards."

"I hope the Guards have come out of this better than the Twelfth did."

"Senza Oriega was a great warrior, but she was a fool."

"Fool? Arrogant, perhaps, even rude, but a fool?"

"She led her command into total disaster."

Horse paused for a moment, giving Aidan a hard stare. "Do not forget that it was you agitating for the right to be first over the bridge. Instead of calling Senza Oriega a fool, you might say that she took the bullet that was meant for you."

* * *

Diana could not explain the inner emptiness she felt. When night fell and Aidan Pryde was still listed as missing, she began to fear that he was a definite casualty of the battle of Robyn's Crossing. Had she been wrong to withhold her identity from him? It had seemed the best course while he was still alive, but now she wished for a chance to reconsider.

So many had been lost at Robyn's Crossing that her father and the others were only a fraction of the casualties. Yet his deeds had been memorable, and many warriors spoke of them all through the encampment. If he had died, his death was one worthy of a warrior.

Then Joanna came to her with the news that Aidan Pryde had survived, that he had just now rejoined the Falcon Guards.

Diana stayed her distance, disturbed by how relieved she was to see this stranger who was her father alive. She watched him move here and there through the camp, speaking with many of the warriors, reviving their spirits and in turn receiving their respect.

Diana was sure that after this night the nickname "Pryde's Pride" would stick, at least among the Falcon Guards themselves. She wondered whether she, too, might become Pryde's pride if she were to reveal to him their blood tie. Probably not, she told herself. Anyway, she had already lost the urge to tell him.