Shin unbuckled himself and dismounted. He gave the pilot a thumbs-up, then ran clear of the metal bird. When an orderly intercepted and handed him sealed orders, Shin recognized Theodore's chop on the rice-paper packet and tore it open. His jaw dropped open as he read the contents, then he refolded the sheet and sprinted toward the assembled 'Mechs.
Shin shivered as he mounted the ladder spilling down from the Phoenix Hawk'sbreast. I am not ready for this sort of responsibility, Theodore!Once inside the cockpit, he hit the switch that retracted the ladder and sealed the 'Mech's faceplate in place. Stripping off his jumpsuit, Shin donned a cooling vest and helmet, then strapped himself in and went through his initiation procedure.
The second the computer made the Phoenix Hawkfully operational, Takashi Kurita's voice blasted through the helmet's speakers. "I warn you, I will not tolerate being ordered by one of my son's hoodlums. To him you may be special, but to me you are yakuza! I've dealt with your ilk before, and I can do it still. I demand you release my 'Mech!"
Shin swallowed hard. Theodore's orders, making him the liaison with the reserve unit Takashi had cobbled together, told him that the override code would allow the Coordinator and his comrades to bring their 'Mechs into full operational status. It also told him how crucial it was to keep them back until orders to commit them were issued. Being set 10 kilometers behind the initial lines put them midway between Imperial City and the front. This was not the optimum position for defense, but the valley they were assigned to defend gave them the latitude to move quickly to bolster any point that might break in the line. Theodore's message had communicated all that and more, and Shin felt like a grain of rice beneath a millstone.
"Iie,Kurita Takashi- sama. I have been given specific orders. I cannot release you yet."
"Damn you, Shin Yodama, and damn my son. He leaves the Combine in the hands of bandits and mercenaries. Free us!"
Takashi's imperious tone slapped at Shin's pride, but he fought back the rise of anger. "No! Your son has placed you here for a most specific reason."
"Ha! He has placed me here, defenseless, for only one reason: he hopes the Clans will kill me so he can be the Coordinator of the Combine."
"He has you here because he trusts you to accomplish what he needs done."
"You have been deceived by him, yakuza." Takashi spat out the last word like a piece of bitter root. "My son trusts me with nothing. For the third and final time, free us."
"No!" Shin turned his Phoenix Hawkand located the Grand Dragonwith Takashi's crest on its right breast. "I have my orders and I will follow them."
"You will obey me now, yakuza! I am the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine!"
"Coordinator, I know who you are and have only the highest respect for your office." Shin gritted his teeth to keep his temper in check. "I understand your demands, but I cannot bow to them until I am given orders. If you wish to order me or your son to commit seppukufor this breach of honor, we will do so later. When the Kanrei tells me the time is right, I will release you."
"That time is now," gloated the Coordinator. "I have had my technicians review the software and I know what the release code is. Three times I have asked you to release us, and thrice have you refused. Honor has been satisfied. I am now free to act."
"If you do that," Shin intoned in a low voice, "you force me to use a second code I have been given. If I broadcast it, you will all die, and with you goes Imperial City."
"This is madness. My son is insane!"
"Iie,Coordinator. He is not mad, but only a man who knows his father so well." Shin's hand hovered over the keypad on the right side of the cockpit. "He knows you would be ingenious enough to find a way around his security measure. He also knew that if you knew nothing about the second code, you would have no time to find it in any analysis. He is serious about your remaining in position to deploy when needed. He could not risk your leaving this place."
"He was afraid I would steal his victory from him."
Shin shook his head. "No, Coordinator, not at all. He was afraid to trust anyone else with what must be done here."
Takashi's exasperation sliced through his words. "How can you continue to tell me my son trusts me when I know he does not?"
"I say this, Takashi Kurita, because it is the truth." Shin felt the packet of orders pressed against his flesh. "I say this because he told me your granddaughter refused to evacuate Imperial City. You and your men are all that stand between Omi and the Clans, and your son wants you here to stop them."
43
Satatice
Free Rasalhague Republic
5 January 3051
"I copy that, Firebird One. You have no visual on the Ostsol."Phelan Wolf cursed under his breath. "Make another sweep. It has to be around here somewhere."
"Roger, Dire Alpha." Carew did not sound too hopeful.
"Dire Alpha to Dire Star. Anything?" Phelan glanced at his auxiliary monitor and its map of the local area. The computer updated him with the locations of the rest of his command, with Dire Gamma limping along in the rear. The terrain, as broken and uneven as one might expect from a lava plain, was glossy with a treacherous layer of ice. Live steam vents pulsed out mist like ethereal whales surfacing from the rock to spout. The mist instantly crystallized in the cold air, and Phelan had to keep his Wolfhoundrunning hot just to keep the ice from blinding his sensors.
All reports came back negative, but Phelan had the distinct feeling that the others in his Star were deliberately holding back. Though Natasha had harangued her Wolf Spiders into working cooperatively, the others in Dire Star were veterans who refrained from interfering in what they saw as Phelan's rightful kill. The Ostsolhad attacked him first, which meant, under the old ways, that the target was his.
The others were willing to course it, but they'd not take it down until Phelan had died trying.
Phelan shook his head in disgust. He knew why they deferred to him, but he would have preferred a team effort. Because he was their Star Commander, was younger than any of them, and because he had singlehandedly taken Gunzburg, they offered him yet another chance at honor. Well, change is bound to come slowly. The Star League wasn't built in a day.'
The secondary monitor gave Phelan an inventory of the damage he'd taken. Most of the armor had been blown off the Wolfhound'sright arm, but the extended-range large laser was undamaged. Grinnerhad lost a little armor from his chest and right leg, too, but other than that, the BattleMech was running at the top of form. The Ostsolmight outmass his Wolfhoundby twenty-five tons, but the two were closely matched in sheer firepower.
The humanoid Ostsolhad toothpick-thin arms, one of which had been burned clean off by a snap shot with the large laser. That did little to hurt it because the 'Mech carried all its weapons in the torso. The pilot had recovered quickly and escaped, but not before Phelan savaged the armor on its chest. From what he could tell, though, both large lasers and the twin forward-pointing medium lasers were still operational. The Ostsolalso boasted two rear-arc medium lasers in its barrel-shaped torso, but Phelan had not followed closely enough to give the pilot a chance to use them.