Текст книги "Falcon Guard"

35

Even before Jula Huddock had fallen, Aidan began to shout orders into his commline. Joanna turned his words into action, deploying BattleMechs across the field between the Jade Falcons and Olalla.

Jula Huddock's destroyed Executionerwas just toppling over when Aidan launched his first LRMs at the first rank of ComStar 'Mechs, now pouring out of Olalla toward the Jade Falcon lines. The air outside the village was filled with missiles and the streak of laser fire.

Jula Huddock's BattleMech was falling toward the ground when Aidan struck a Kintarowith blasts from his large lasers. Flames shot from the twin holes he had opened in the right torso.

Jula Huddock's BattleMech hit the ground as the Kintaroexploded, disintegrating into an impressive fireball. Without hesitation, Aidan turned to face his next foe.

* * *

Joanna meanwhile had waded into a group of ComStar 'Mechs, firing left and right, hitting with a precision born of more than two decades of training and experience. Seeing a trio of enemy 'Mechs standing especially close together, she launched swarm missiles at them. Two of the enemy 'Mechs staggered under the impact of high torso strikes; the third, hit low, suddenly shifted sideways as its leg collapsed. A follow-up barrage from Joanna annihilated all three.

But there were so many. For every ComStar 'Mech that fell, another seemed to materialized immediately to take its place.

* * *

Diana, standing her ground and firing at any ComStar BattleMech that came near, was thrilled to discover that she was a born warrior. All her target practice paid off as she took care of one ComStar machine, then rotated her 'Mech's torso to the left and got another with a swift shot to the head. Almost gleefully, she watched the enemy's cockpit canopy crack, then open. A fire had started somewhere inside the cockpit and the flames leaped outward. But she had no more time to watch the pretty sight as yet another powerful ComStar BattleMech came into her line of vision. Diana whirled her 'Mech's torso to defend against it.

* * *

Aidan was surprised at how fragile these ComStar BattleMechs seemed. Hits that would have done no more than stall a Clan OmniMech were ruinous to them. Although outnumbered, the Falcon Guards and the 'Mechs from Marthe's Cluster were more than holding their own. In mere moments they had stopped the ComStar advance, held them in a toe-to-toe for a short while, then driven them back toward Olalla. Night had come, and victory would soon be theirs.

The battle was fierce, to be sure, but for every Clan 'Mech damaged or lost, the Falcons had knocked down, destroyed, or blown up at least three ComStar 'Mechs. At Aidan's order, the Jade Falcons began to move methodically toward Olalla.

When Aidan nearly cut a Crabin half, Kael Pershaw's voice again intruded. "A fine effort, Aidan Pryde. A fine effort. Again you prove your worth and the restoration of the Falcon Guards."

"We have them, Kael Pershaw. They are on the run."

"That is true. But, unfortunately, you have not won."

"Why not?"

"Look to the skies beyond Olalla."

Aidan saw nothing at first, then a dot became a ball and the ball became a DropShip. It was not the only DropShip headed toward Olalla. There were six. They were like unwelcome insects, announcing their arrival before delivering their poison.

"Another unit?" Aidan asked.

"Reinforcements from the Humptulips garrison. With no one to fight there, ComStar has sent some of those warriors here."

"All right. We will take care of them too, while Jade Falcon command sends a Cluster to claim Humptulips without a fight. Both objectives will be gained."

"If that were only possible ..."

Aidan was as irritated as he was puzzled. Pershaw always had some bit of information he was deliberately holding back. He recalled Kael Pershaw's penchant for unusual punishment when Pershaw was the Glory Station Commander and Aidan just one of his Star Commanders.

"Tell me all, Kael Pershaw. All. Now."

"We have no Clusters to send to Humptulips. We cannot even send in a single Elemental to plant a banner and claim it. All are engaged in the new battle for Robyn's Crossing."

"The new battle?"

"It came swift and fierce, something like the Prezno River itself. What you see coming at you is about a third of the Humptulips warriors. The rest swept down onto Robyn's Crossing not long after the bridge was finished and the supply depot set up. The Jade Falcon warriors have fought well, but casualties are high on both sides. But the ComStar 'Mechs used infernos, and the flaming gel of those missiles turned the supply depot into a raging inferno in less than a minute. The ammo and missile explosions are lighting up the skies behind you. If you had looked, you would have seen it. Had you not been under attack yourself, you would have heard it, felt it."

Aidan was suddenly aware that the night skies were considerably lighter than when the battle had begun. Turning to look back, he saw a yellow aura arcing over the flatland.

Turning his attention forward again, he said, "Then we must take Olalla for the Jade Falcons. If one objective is gained, then—"

"Have you checked the ammunition status for your 'Mechs? And how many tons of armor and repair parts are necessary to bring your unit up to full strength? With the supply depot gone, how will you rearm, reload, and repair your 'Mechs? And with the fight so intense at Robyn's Crossing, you cannot hope for reinforcements."

"We will do the job ourselves."

"No. You cannot. The Humptulips warriors are arriving fresh, fully armed, fully supplied. No matter how great your skill, they will wear you down. I suspect the maneuver was calculated, part of ComStar strategy. Once they saw we would concentrate on Olalla, they must have plotted to make us use up our firepower there before they brought in reinforcements."

"Your words are too full of caution, Kael Pershaw. What has happened to the Clans?"

"We are being defeated on Tukayyid, that is what has happened. Supplies are insufficient and casualties are mounting. Other Clans did not even get this close, Aidan Pryde. Only Clan Wolf seems to stand between the Clans and total defeat."

"Then we will fight these ComStar forces to the death. We will at least die honorably."

"You will not even do that. The Falcon Guards are needed back at the bridge. Our warriors are pinned down. We are to retreat to the DropShips, and I must ask—no, order—the Falcon Guards to provide cover for the withdrawal."

"But Olalla—we have come so far and have almost captured the objective."

"Yes, almost.I have the best computer setup possible here in the Specter,and have run all information through it from every angle that I know. And, as you are aware, my ability as a strategist is the only reason I am still active in a Jade Falcon uniform. I see no way for the Falcon Guards to take and hold Olalla, Aidan Pryde. You must retreat."

"I wish to fight."

"If you wish useless heroics, then fight. If you wish to do your duty by the Clan, begin the retreat. The ComStar DropShips are landing on the other side of Olalla. You are about seven kilometers from death. The choice is yours. If the Falcon Guards are annihilated at Olalla, it will be an echo of the unit's shameful defeat in the Great Gash. If you choose to withdraw, you can save Falcon Guard lives and assist the evacuation of all the Jade Falcons off Tukayyid. As I say, your choice."

"You do not present a balanced case, do you?"

"I did not intend to, Aidan Pryde."

Aidan looked around the cockpit of the Timber Wolf,fully expecting to see a transparent, phantasmal version of Kael Pershaw standing behind him. But there was no ghost. Aidan was alone in the cockpit, alone with his decision.

"The retreat then," he said sullenly, all the while every nerve, every muscle in his body, urged him forward.

36

Aidan Pryde's warriors did not need their 'Mechs' inertial guidance systems to find their way back to Robyn's Crossing. They needed merely follow the glow in the night sky. Every time it flickered, threatening to vanish below the horizon, there would follow a new explosion that turned the sky momentarily into daylight just as it had been settling back into the beckoning glow.

MechWarrior Diana did not know what to think. It galled her that they were beating the ComStar forces back and were about to enter the city of Olalla, when the order had come to turn back the way they had come instead. She understood that the enemy reinforcements would be fresher, that they would have the fighting edge, that they would even probably wear the Falcon Guards down. But she had wanted to see the Clan force take the city, even for moments, and would have been willing to die for the victory. That was what it meant to be a Clan warrior, she supposed. The way of the Clans and all that. Because the concept was so deeply ingrained, she felt a deep frustration, perhaps even despair, that they must turn tail and run.

It did not help to see the DropShips containing Humptulips warriors pass high overhead, their aerofighter escort blasting away any Jade Falcon fighter that attempted to intervene. They were evidently on their way to join in the annihilation of the Jade Falcons at Robyn's Crossing. And where were they going, the vaunted Falcon Guards? To the same place. What had been the real choice? she wondered. To die at Olalla or at Robyn's Crossing? Did it matter where?

* * *

Aidan ordered his units to veer toward the Prezno River to meet it downriver from the bridge. "We are coming in along the river bank," he told his warriors. "They may not be looking for us there."

"I have news," Marthe said. "Plough Bridge is completely lost. The Jade Falcons there have either crossed over or been pushed down toward Robyn's Crossing. They are fleeing, in disarray. I have an idea, though. While you are taking the Falcon Guards along the river, I will try a pincer attack, coming in straight at them."

Aidan, for once in his life, felt a pang of fear in his chest. The battle was turning into a rout. The Jade Falcons could be wiped out. It would be worse than Twycross, where at least the destruction had been limited to the Falcon Guards Cluster.

Part of their route to Robyn's Crossing was littered with the debris of their earlier charge. The Falcon Guard 'Mechs had to step over downed BattleMechs and clumps of twisted metal, but nothing could impede their progress. Ahead of them the lights of battle were beacons that drew them on.

Aidan's strategy worked. No one on the ComStar side was looking for a riverside offensive. The Falcon Guards waded into the battle, firing freely at the heavily massed ComStar BattleMechs, transforming a few of them into wreckage. Simultaneously with the Falcon Guards' entrance into the battle, Marthe brought her Cluster's 'Mechs through the rear lines, creating a similar trash-heap of ruined ComStar 'Mechs. So concentrated had the ComStar forces been on the ever-smaller group of Jade Falcons defending the bridge that they were not fully prepared for sneak attacks from units they had smugly expected to be wiped out back at Olalla.

The units of both Aidan and Marthe were at the bridge itself within two minutes of their first shots.

"Who is in command here?" Aidan yelled into the general commline.

"Star Colonel Gran Newclay," came the familiar voice of the Clan officer who had opposed Aidan in council.

"Gran Newclay, retreat your units across the bridge. The Falcon Guards will cover the retreat."

"You cannot order—"

"I will settle anything you wish in the Circle of Equals, Gran Newclay, but I speak with the authorization of Kael Pershaw and Jade Falcon Khan Chistu."

Gran Newclay grumbled a bit, but the order for retreat went out, and the Jade Falcon BattleMechs began to cross the bridge. Because the makeshift bridge was so narrow, they could only go two by two, and could not move at top speed. Gradually the Falcon Guards and the BattleMechs from Marthe's Cluster closed the gap in front of the bridge, creating their own bridge of laser fire aimed at the attacking ComStar 'Mechs.

The maneuver stopped any advance by the ComStar forces, but created havoc on both sides as 'Mechs were stripped and gouged of armor, as weaponry jammed, and as some 'Mechs fell where they stood, more ComStar than Jade Falcon.

* * *

The Jade Falcon Elementals did serious damage. Star Commander Selima alone, with little infantry resistance, was ferocious in his attacks against the ComStar BattleMechs, peeling armor off the unsuspecting 'Mechs and firing accurately at leg joints. Other Elementals kept up a steady series of hit-and-run attacks on 'Mechs too occupied to notice the damage done by the human gnats until one of their machine's legs collapsed or a fusion engine blew out.

Selima suddenly found himself on the other side of the ComStar lines. Looking around, he searched for an opportunity to do some fatal mischief. The idea came to him immediately, literally dropping out of the skies.

Ahead of him, far enough away to be protected from Jade Falcon 'Mech attack, a ComStar DropShip was descending onto a landing area that had been prepared, no doubt hastily, for it. Running at his best speed, Selima headed toward it, oblivious to danger.

Selima guessed that once the ship landed, its crew would immediately begin to unload reinforcement BattleMechs. Those fresh 'Mechs would probably finish the Jade Falcons at the bridge. Using his jump pack to leap onto the side of the ship, he landed just above the unloading door, where he waited.

As a ComStar Highlanderbegan to lead his fellow 'Mechs down the ramp, Selima dropped from his perch on the DropShip to land on the head of the 'Mech. He stared through the canopy viewport at the startled ComStar MechWarrior. Drawing back his arm, Selima rammed the armored claw through the canopy. One, two, three times, he drove his fist, pistonlike, through the transparent armored glass. When the glass finally broke on the third blow, Selima reached in with his mechanical claw and seized the throat of the disbelieving MechWarrior. A twitch of his fingers and the pilot was dead.

Selima jetted off the Highlanderas it toppled back against its fellows in the DropShip. A muffled explosion inside the ship gave testimony to the instability of a BattleMech's ammunition supply. He did not use up much time gloating, however, but ran straight back into the fray, continuing to do any damage possible to the enemy as he raced back to the Robyn's Crossing bridge.

* * *

When the last of Gran Newclay's 'Mechs had stepped onto the bridge, Aidan ordered his Elementals to weave their way across with these last 'Mechs.

When Newclay's 'Mechs were over, Aidan told Marthe to move hers across. "ComStar 'Mechs are sweeping across Plough Bridge, according to most recent reports. They are attacking the retreat on the right flank. Proceed there, and cover that part of the retreat."

The survivors of Marthe's Cluster made their jumps quickly and efficiently.

Now only the remnants of the Falcon Guards were left on the enemy side of Robyn's Crossing.

"Joanna!" Aidan screamed into his headphone. "Move us out!"

37

After jumping to the crest of the slope on the Jade Falcon side of Prezno River, Marthe took a moment to glance back at Robyn's Crossing. Down below, with the river churning and swirling under the bridge, the Falcon Guards had begun their evacuation. In precise groupings, the kind of drill for which Star Captain Joanna was famous, the Falcon Guard 'Mechs jumped to the center of the bridge, then to the other side. One 'Mech would have just touched and initiated its second jump when another came down immediately, as if deliberately fitting its 'Mech foot into the footsteps of its predecessor. The pontoons swayed and bucked with each landing Mech, but by some miracle the bridge stayed together.

As Joanna paced the BattleMechs in their escape across the bridge, Aidan, Horse, Diana, and the other 'Mechs kept up a steady barrage at the confused and disorganized ComStar forces.

Marthe wished she could remain to be sure Aidan got across, but she knew he would wait till last, deliberately and gladly putting himself in the greatest jeopardy. She did not disapprove. Such bravado was exactly what she had come to expect from Aidan Pryde.

When about half the Falcon Guards were across the river and sending fusillades back to assist the remaining defenders, she realized how much she wanted Aidan to survive this battle. They had often talked about love, but that was not what she felt for him. It was a concern for his life, something just as alien to a Clan warrior as the sentiment of love. The way of the Clan placed so little value on individual human life that Marthe was both surprised and pleased to care, if only for a moment, about the fate of one of her kind.

But now it was time to act again. She headed for the right flank, where she and her reunited Cluster would go on to successfully delay and, in fact, significantly blunt the ComStar attacks there. Marthe would not only survive the Tukayyid conflict, she would emerge from it as a Jade Falcon covered in glory.

* * *

Horse was reluctant to make the jump. He wanted to stay at the bridge and go down in flames. He knew that if the Clans lost at Tukayyid and had to honor a fifteen-year truce, this might be his last chance to die as a Clan warrior. Not many freeborns had the chance to do so well, certainly not so well as he. Freeborns rarely had the chance to go down at the front. It had taken the reborn Falcon Guards to give Horse his opportunity, and he would regret losing it.

But he was still alive when Joanna called his name, and he had no choice but to engage his jump jets and make the leap toward the center of the makeshift Robyn's Crossing bridge. It seemed to sway beneath him as he came down just behind MechWarrior Diana's Warhawk.They almost collided when Diana's 'Mech nearly toppled, but then she managed the second jump. Horse came in behind her, then went aloft again, cruising after Diana to the other side. Once there, Horse joined the Falcon Guards in their covering barrage.

Later, after he had survived the battle of Prezno Plain, Horse would find that his exploits were so confused in his memory that he did not remember what he had done when. Whatever these exploits were, they earned him commendations and a mention in the Jade Falcons' Remembrance.Two lines that extolled a freeborn who knew his place.

* * *

In the back of her mind Joanna wondered if Aidan Pryde would even make the jump. She thought he might send everyone else back, then buy some milliseconds for the others by staying behind. As the number of Falcon Guards lessened one by one, the remaining warriors had to keep closing ranks. This went on until only Joanna and Aidan were left.

It was time for Joanna to jump, but, uncharacteristically, she hesitated, the drillmaster disobeying the drill, to check on Aidan. He was blasting away with his medium lasers while at least a dozen ComStar warriors were shooting back without much success. The shots that did hit sent armor flying off from all over Aidan's Timber Wolf.

Then Joanna engaged her jump jets and began her leap, calling over the commline for Aidan to follow her. Glancing at her primary screen, she was almost surprised to see that he had jumped and was, according to the drill, right behind her.

On the other side, the Falcon Guards were already dispersing and making the jumps up the cliffside to gain a better position to defend the general withdrawal. Joanna requested permission to stay at the bridge with any volunteers to pick off ComStar BattleMechs as they crossed.

"Not this time," Aidan said. "We have to cover the retreat, and the retreat is retreating from us."

The Falcon Guard stand at Robyn's Crossing had allowed the Jade Falcons to make significant progress toward the waiting DropShips, but the Com Guards were not done with the Jade Falcons. When the Clan lines had retreated sufficiently from the Prezno River, the enemy brought in DropShips full of warriors and their 'Mechs.

"What are they up to now?" Joanna said. "Are we not retreating? Do they want to wipe us out completely?"

"That must be their intention," Aidan said. "We have damaged them sorely. They need their honor satisfied."

"What has honor to do with it now? The battle is over."

"It could turn, Joanna. It could turn."

"We have absorbed losses, our supplies are depleted, our—"

"But we are Jade Falcons, and we are the best of the Jade Falcons—the Falcon Guards. Marthe once said of me that I was a jade phoenix, a bird that dies only to rise again."

"I have heard of the phoenix legend, though this is the first time I have heard of it as the jadephoenix."

"That was Marthe's idea, her fanciful thought that even if I fell into the mire, I would always rise out of it on bright flames." Aidan smiled at the exaggeration, but it touched him that Marthe thought of him so. "Perhaps it is really the Jade Falcons who fit the legend best. We are a fierce Clan, and no adversity ever stops us. Perhaps weare the jade phoenix."

"I think you should volunteer for a solahmaunit. You are obviously old and doddering. Phoenix? Sounds like freebirth nonsense to me."

They had no time to continue the discussion, for the newly arrived ComStar 'Mechs were now heading toward the Falcon Guards. The two sides met in a ferocious and brutal struggle. The Falcon Guards, weary and low on ammunition, their 'Mechs pitted and scarred, nevertheless held off numerous attacks and managed to keep the Com Guards from breaking through their lines until most of the Jade Falcons had been lifted off Tukayyid. Joanna was among the fiercest of the Falcon Guards, topped perhaps only by her commander, Star Colonel Aidan Pryde.

With the retreat nearly complete, it was time for the Falcon Guards to make a dash for their own DropShip, the Raptor,which had just landed in the pickup zone. Aidan, Joanna, Horse, and MechWarrior Diana stood their ground, while the others raced toward the ship. No matter how many ComStar 'Mechs littered the field, there always seemed to be more, as though they had developed some kind of amoeba 'Mech that could split in two, then again, and again, and again. Intelligence had by this time broken down (nor had Aidan heard from Kael Pershaw for some time), so no one knew where the new 'Mechs came from. Aidan supposed that DropShips were landing new ones behind the lines.

"Everyone has reached the Raptor"Joanna informed Aidan.

"So quickly?"

"There are not so many of us left, Star Colonel."

"Yes, I suppose so. All right then, all remaining BattleMechs, evacuate!"

Joanna turned her Mad Dogtoward the Raptor,Diana in her Warhawkright beside her. She almost did not hear the whining sound of the missile coming at them, but her 'Mech was rocked with its explosion. A second passed before she realized that the missile had hit the Warhawk,which was now toppling over. Joanna rotated her 'Mech and started to fire at the closest ComStar 'Mechs, without any idea which was responsible for the hit against Diana's Warhawk.

"MechWarrior Diana?" Joanna shouted. "Are you all right?"

The voice came back weak, faint. "I am—no, I am not all right. Something crashed through my cockpit. I am trapped in my seat. I cannot work the eject mechanism."

"What is wrong, Star Captain?" It was Aidan, who now stood alongside the fallen BattleMech.

"It is MechWarrior Diana, sir. She is trapped. Somehow the ejection—"

"I heard that, Star Captain. It is unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do. Our orders are to get to the Raptorimmediately. Die bravely, MechWarrior."

"If I die," Diana said, her voice trembling, "I plan to die bravely."

"We leave her behind them?" Joanna asked.

"All techs have left the planet, medic or otherwise. There is no one to extricate her."

"I will extricate her," Joanna said.

"There is no time. You must not sacrifice your BattleMech for a single warrior, Star Captain Joanna. What has gotten into you? Into the Raptor!"

Joanna did not understand, never understood, what she did next. Or why she did it.

"I must tell you, Aidan Pryde, that MechWarrior Diana is the daughter of a scientist named Peri. You are her father."

"Father?" Aidan said in an odd voice.

"You were not to tell," Diana accused, but her voice seemed to fade out on the last word.

Aidan could never have explained to anyone the thoughts that went through his mind at Joanna's words. He remembered a time when he had sat by a lake considering the concept of father for a very long time. He had never really been able to understand what the word meant, or what the hated words mother or son or daughter or parentcould mean to those people who assumed such roles in one another's lives.

Right now, he could imagine MechWarrior Diana in her cockpit, but what did it mean that she was his daughter? She might be a product of the liaison between him and Peri, but that was as far as he could proceed with the idea. Even all the books of his secret library, with their frequent tales of families, could not prove the meaning of what he had just been told by Joanna. He had been Aidan of the Mattlov/Pryde sibko, then Cadet Aidan; he had posed as the freeborn MechWarrior and Star Commander Jorge; he had reassumed his identity as Aidan, then won the Bloodname Pryde; had been a Clan warrior for almost two decades, had become Star Colonel Aidan Pryde of the Falcon Guards. Those were enough identities for anyone's life. How could he be anythingto this MechWarrior Diana?

"Get to the DropShip, Star Captain Joanna!"

"And you?"

"You do not run a drill on my life, Joanna. Go!"

Joanna did not look back as she ran to the Raptor,nor did she think again of MechWarrior Diana for some time. She was astonished when she and her Mad Dogwere taken into the Raptorand away from the now-despised planet of Tukayyid. Later, when she was honored for her role in the retreat, she scoffed, especially as the honors did not carry with them a permanent promotion back to Star Captain. But she accepted the commendations and the medals that went with them.

* * *

Elemental Star Commander Selima stood outside the Raptor,guiding the survivors from the Elemental Stars into it. The last ones had entered, with Selima taking one last look around when he saw Diana's 'Mech take the hit and crash with an impact whose tremors reached all the way to the DropShip. Characteristically, Selima did not stop for even a moment to think. He instantly began to sprint toward the fallen 'Mech, the loping sides of his battlesuit bringing him to it quickly.

Climbing onto the machine, he saw the crack in the cockpit. It was a fairly narrow crack, but an Elemental battle suit could rip through it, given enough time. Stepping up to the breech, he grasped one edge with his hand and braced his foot on the other. The servos on his suit's exoskeleton began to whine and strain. The heads-up-display flashed with warnings of stress tolerances exceeded and overload conditions. Selima continued to pull. Then with a sharp crack the twisted armor gave way, and he was looking into the cockpit.

MechWarrior Diana was in her command couch, large pieces of twisted metal holding her down. One piece seemed wrapped around the ejection lever.

"MechWarrior Diana?" Selima said. There was no response. A passing light illuminated her face for a moment, and he saw her eyes were closed. Then the light went away, and he could not see her face any more.

Selima never stopped to speculate on possibilities. He just went to work, using his great strength to pull away pieces of metal that might be removed without further injuring the pilot.

As he reached for the neurohelmet, the BattleMech was rocked by another hit, apparently in the lower torso. Selima noticed an odd odor. Not being a MechWarrior, he could not know what it was, but he was able to sense danger in many ways, including through the sense of smell.

"Who is that in there?" boomed an amplified voice outside the Warhawk.Selima immediately recognized the voice of Star Colonel Aidan Pryde coming through his external speakers.

Quickly, Selima followed Aidan's instructions and identified himself.

"Star Commander Selima, report the situation inside the cockpit as simply as you can."

"The pilot is trapped in her seat. I have removed some of the constraints. I can remove the others, I believe."

"Is MechWarrior Diana still alive then?"

"Yes, sir."

"Continue, Star Commander—"

Aidan could not finish the sentence because suddenly he was fending off an attack from a trio of ComStar BattleMechs. Selima could hear him firing, and he caught his breath when he heard a missile explode against some part of the Timber Wolfssurface.

Delicately, he lifted the neurohelmet off Diana's head. Her black hair spilled out as her head dropped back. He lifted her head and examined the rest of the cockpit seat. Keeping hold of her head with his right hand, he worked at the twisted metal with his left. For a moment, it looked as though the metal was too interlocked to come loose, then suddenly the whole mass of it freed up enough for Selima to slide Diana's body slowly upward and out of the cockpit seat.

It felt as if she were all right, with no major bones broken. Holding her against his side with his right arm, her feet dangling down to his knees, he used his left hand to widen the canopy crack sufficiently to get both of them out.

As he was squeezing them through, Diana said suddenly, "Selima?"

"Be quiet," he told her.

"My . . . father ... I mean ..."

"Quiet. Do not try to speak now."

When they came out of the cockpit, Selima looked up and saw that Star Colonel Aidan Pryde was taking on several ComStar BattleMechs at once. Some of them had come around to block his path to the Raptor,while all were firing on him at will. He was rotating his 'Mech's torso back and forth, getting off shots every which way at the enemy.

"Take her to the Raptor,Star Commander Selima," Aidan's voice roared out of the external speakers.

Selima responded immediately, activating his jump pack and sailing for the DropShip with MechWarrior Diana cradled in his arms.