A Gauss rifle projectile smashed into Prometheus'right ankle. It crushed the joint, and when Victor tried to steady the toppling 'Mech, the clawlike foot sheared off. The shock of the ankle hitting the ground jolted Victor, but he successfully fought gravity and wrestled the 'Mech upright. He fired back with his lasers, sending melted armor bleeding down his tormentor's torso, but another 'Mech's autocannon burst to his left shoulder spun him to the ground.
Sparks shot from his control console and the light blinked out on one of the torso-mounted pulse lasers. More fire from the 'Mechs strafed his stricken Omni. They kept him enough off-balance that he could not aim well. When he tried to regain his feet, he went down instead like a punch-drunk fighter.
As much as Victor wanted to demand help from the other warriors, he saw they were in the same deep trouble. With all the holes in its armor, Galen's Crusaderlooked like a worm-gnawed corpse. Out on the bluff, the other members of Storm Company were sitting ducks for the newly arrived Clan 'Mechs. Though they fought back, their battered condition and lack of ammunition made their defense a piteous mockery of the power the enemy 'Mechs displayed.
Victor keyed his radio. "Storm Company, disengage. Just run for it. Galen, go." He pulled Prometheusinto a low crouch. "Go on. I'll cover you."
"No! I won't do it, Victor."
"Go, Hauptmann Cox. That's an order."
"Then discipline me in hell, because I'm not leaving."
The Crusadergot the granite fang between it and the ocean-going 'Mechs. Galen blasted away at the 'Mechs coming in from the mainland. Steam rose from fractured heat sinks as he launched volley after volley of missiles. The barrels of the Crusader'sarm-mounted machine guns glowed red as they relentlessly sprayed the enemy.
In his crouch, Victor presented a more difficult target for the Clanners. His large lasers punched through armor and started internal explosions on one of the five flying 'Mechs. It started to descend, but its loss did not help him at all. Instead of chasing the remnants of Storm company, the other four 'Mechs turned their attention to Victor. As they jetted toward the ground, Victor thought of his uncle Ian who had also died trying to buy escape for his men.
"Thanks, Galen. I never wanted to die alone."
"Me neither, Highness. Me neither."
"Here they come."
Even as Victor dropped his sights on the lead Clanner and tightened down on all his triggers, he saw a flash of mottled green atop the fang. Coming faster than Victor had ever seen any 'Mech run, a battle-scarred Centurionburst into the fray. Without slowing at all, it thrust its right-arm Gauss rifle at a Clan 'Mech. In an electrical flash, a silver ball coursed from the muzzle, hitting dead-on target.
It nailed an enemy 'Mech in what would have been its right ear and crushed the cockpit. The 'Mech spun, its arms pummeling the 'Mech hovering next to it. Both war machines tipped in mid-air and started to somersault backward over the ocean. The dead 'Mech did a swan dive and rocketed down into the dark waters. Fighting to retain control, its companion completed the somersault, but had fallen too far 10 land on the plateau. Its jets carried it forward and smashed it into the bluffs.
Stunned, Victor breathed, "My God, that's Yen-lo-wang\"
The subsequent explosion of their comrade's 'Mech made landing difficult for the other two Clansmen. One flew through the fireball and touched down, but by that time the Centurionhad leaped down from the fang and sprinted toward the landing site. Coming in low and fast, Yen-lo-wangheld the fingers of its left hand hooked like claws. In a passing strike, it raked its fingers across the Clan 'Mech's belly, then filled the wound with laserfire from the forearm-mounted pulse lasers.
Its speed unabated, the Centurioncontinued its dash along the edge of the bluff. The last Clan 'Mech landed in a cloud of smoke left by its ill-fated companion. The Clan pilot had just started to turn toward the other Clan 'Mech, which was collapsing around its ruined middle, when Yen-lo-wanghit it at full speed. Victor saw armor buckle as the Centurion'sshoulder slammed square into the enemy 'Mech's chest.
Beneath the combined weight of the two war engines, the edge of the bluff crumbled. Victor reached out as though the arms of his Prometheuscould somehow stop the disaster. The Clan 'Mech wrapped its arms around Yen-lo-wang,and both 'Mechs stood poised on the edge of the cliff. Victor screamed for Kai to push the Clanner away and save himself, but with a singlemindedness bordering on obsession, Yen-lo-wang'slegs kept pumping, pulverizing the bluff's lip into gravel, and carrying the last threat to Hanse Davion's heir away.
"Kai, no! Kai!"
Both 'Mechs vanished from sight. If not for the smoke in the air and the crippled 'Mech slumped on the bluff, there was nothing left to suggest the Centurionhad ever existed.
Hot tears burning his cheeks, Victor pivoted his 'Mech on its maimed leg. Pulse lasers lashed out at the Clanners coming through the jungle and Victor kept his fingers on the triggers, heedless of the waves of heat roasting him in the cockpit. Beside him, Galen's Crusaderadded its power to the assault. Caution thrown to the winds, it was as though their sorrow and rage translated directly into their attacks and drove the Clanners back.
One by one, the computer shut down Victor's weapons as the heat they generated cooked circuits. He saw lights go out on his status board, but sent more missiles and laser beams to hold the Clansmen at bay. Fpr a half-second, Victor imag-' ined he had stepped into one of those legends where a 'Mech fights of its own accord, regardless of what the machinery and instruments indicate. Then, as he heard voices buzzing in his ears, he realized others had joined them.
"Icestorm Deuce here, Tornado One. We've got your back door. Pull out."
Victor glanced at his holographic display and saw the crescent-shaped bite taken out of the bluff's edge. "Negative, Icestorm Two. We've got a man down in the water. Kai Allard went off the cliff. We have to get him."
"Tornado One, they've got reinforcements on the way." Down-loaded telemetry from a spy satellite filled Victor's auxiliary monitor. The computer showed a company's worth of Clan 'Mechs on a direct line for their sector. "They know you're here, Highness. They want you. You have to leave. Leftenant Allard ordered us to get you out of here, no matter what."
"No! We have to find Kai!"
"Victor, look at your monitor!" Galen's voice was full of dread, yet Victor could not ignore its urgency. "Look, Victor. There's no rescue beacon from Kai's 'Mech. There's no ID beacon. The shelf goes down a full kilometer here. He's gone. Don't let his sacrifice be a waste."
Victor hammered his fist into the radio panel, shorting it out. Teeth clenched to trap the scream growing in his chest, he began to limp the Prometheusback. As he worked his way along the bluff trail, he searched for any sign at all where Kai had gone under the water, but not even a ripple marked the grave of his friend.
40
Tairakana Plains, Luthien
Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine
5 January 3052