Sun-Tzu snorted derisively, turned on his heel, and stalked off. Kai blushed, then shrugged. 'Thanks for the kind words, guys, but don't forget, this was a unit exercise. My lance beat you, not me. If Zandra, Ragnar, and Sun-Tzu hadn't softened you up ..."
"Or put us down," Galen interjected hastily.
"... I'd have been squashed like a bug." Kai looked at each one of the opposition lance members. "All of you are really good. We just got lucky."
Victor rested his fists on his hips. "Give it up, Kai. Just admit you're damned good, will you?" He looked over at Hohiro, who responded with a begrudging nod. "You smoked us, period. End of sentence."
"No." Kai held his up hands and waved off the praise. "I'm not that good. I've never been that good. In simulator battles at home on Kestrel or St. Ives, I regularly get my head handed to me."
Cassandra laughed aloud. "At home, the only person he can beat is me, and he doesn't think that sufficient for bragging." She gave Kai a playful punch in the ribs and Kai blushed.
Victor shook his head. In his day, Justin Allard proved himself the best MechWarrior in the Successor States by becoming the champion of the Solaris games. And Candace Liao had a brilliant career as a MechWarrior before she left the army and entered government service. It's not that you aren't good, Kai, it's just that the league you played in at home was so superior that you don't dream of how special you really are.
Victor threw his arm around Kai's shoulders. "If I may be so bold as to speak for the rest of the Inner Sphere, welcome to the world outside the Allard house league. We're sure glad to have you on our side."
10
Strana Mechty
Beyond the Periphery
2 April 3051
Having cinched the cooling vest snugly to his chest, Phelan Wolf pulled on his gunbelt and strapped it into place. He let the holster ride down on his right hip and left the ties dangling down toward his boot-top. Unable to suppress a smile, he walked from the locker room and met Natasha Kerensky a short way down the hall.
She raised an eyebrow. "You look like a Nagelring cadet who's smuggled beer into his dorm room."
Phelan shrugged. "That is about how I feel. I have been down on Strana Mechty for just about two months and been training like a dog the whole time." He stretched out his arms. "I am in better condition now than ever before, but it is almost two years since I last piloted a 'Mech. It feels like a part of me has been missing."
Natasha shoved her hands into the small pockets of her cooling vest. "I can understand that." She flicked a glance at the gunbelt. "So you're one of those rocket rangers who wears a gun in the cockpit?"
The younger Mech Warrior blushed. "Yeah. Knowing that Romano Liao would do anything to take a shot at the Kell Hounds, I always felt better when armed. It may be silly to wear it for a workout in a simulator, but if I wear it in the cockpit, I will wear it in the simpod."
Natasha shook her head. "No simulators."
"Damn." Phelan frowned and irritation seeped into his voice. "I was looking forward to some 'Mech exercise. I thought that was what we were finally going to do."
The flame-haired MechWarrior laughed lightly. "No. You misunderstood me. Simulators are for children, so we don't use them. You'll be mounting up in a real 'Mech, an Omni-Mech. This will be like no other ride you've ever had." She planted her hand in the small of his back and gave him a slight push. "Move it. Let's get you saddled up."
Natasha ushered Phelan into the 'Mech bay, but all the pushing at his back could not budge him once he had stepped into the cavernous room. Towering above him, alien and fearsome, BattleMechs filled the room. Standing ten meters high and massing as much as one hundred tons, the awesome war machines were lined up, rank upon rank, as far as Phelan could see. The gray color scheme favored by the Wolf Clan predominated, but Phelan also saw 'Mechs painted in various camouflage patterns suitable for jungle, arctic, and urban combat.
Phelan smiled at Natasha. "I'd forgotten how impressive a sight this can be."
The older MechWarrior gave him a slap on the back. "It's the guys whose breath isn't taken away by this sight who worry me."
Phelan studied the 'Mechs more closely. "I don't think I've ever seen any like these before. I don't recognize the designs."
"That's because these are OmniMechs. The designs change according to the mission." She pointed toward one of the smaller, non-humanoid 'Mechs with a cylindrical body and legs canted back like a bird's. Its skinny arms ended in twin muzzles. "That Kit Foxis yours for this first run. Get set up inside and set the radio to channel seventeen. I'll brief you as we head out to the range."
Phelan ran up the steps to the gantry two at a time and dropped through the hatch topside of the Kit Fox.Standing in the cockpit, he secured the hatch, then looked around for the reactor switch. Wrapping both hands around the red bar, he flipped it down into the "On" position and locked it in place. Beneath him, in the heart of the 'Mech, he felt the thrum of the engine. The lights came on in the cockpit and the computers began their check routines just as they always did, but Phelan sensed something beyond the ordinary in this 'Mech.
He dropped into the command couch and flipped a button on the console to his right, opening a radio channel to Natasha. "Something's screwy here, Natasha. This 'Mech looks like it masses maybe thirty tons, but the vibrations are those of some monster engine."
He heard a light laugh crackle back through the speakers. "You're sitting on top of a Starfire XL engine. It's about half the weight of a conventional, but puts out the same amount of power. You've also got an endo-steel skeleton and ferro-fibrous armor, both stronger than normal, if a bit bulkier."
"In other words, this box I am in is tougher, tighter, and lighter than anything I have ever piloted."
"In a nutshell. Wait until you bring the weapons on line."
Before he could do that, though, Phelan knew he must confirm his identity with the computer. That would be the last in a sequence of steps he took to prepare himself to take the BattleMech onto the field. He settled back into the command couch, telling himself to take the procedure one step at a time, lest he forget something because of the long layoff. Drawing in a deep breath, he recalled the litany of things he must do, then started at the top of the list and worked his way down.
Pheland found the medical monitor patches and cables in a compartment built into the right arm of the command couch. He peeled the backing off each and stuck the patches onto his thighs and shoulders. Taking the cables, he clipped the rounded end to the bead on top of the monitor patch, then snaked the cable through the loops on his cooling vest. He let the connector jacks dangle at his throat.
Next he removed the cooling vest's cable from the small pouch on the vest's right side. Snapping it into the jack to the side of the command couch, he felt the icy caress of coolant fluid begin to circulate through the vest. Trapped between a layer of goretex on the inside and ballistic cloth on the outside, the coolant would pull heat away from his body during the exercise. That was important because the fusion engine and the various weapons produced enough heat to overwhelm pilots who did not have help in dissipating it.