30
The final seconds ticked away.
And then it was time. Grayson's external mikes picked up the swoosh of missiles, as Enzelman's Wasploosed a barrage of SRMs with smoke charges behind their warheads. They arced low and flat across the port, exploding into clouds of impenetrable white smoke. As the Duke's men returned fire with savagely interlacing beams from grounded DropShips and defensive bunkers, the air shrieked with the multiple concussions of exploding warheads.
Grayson's camera zoomed in on the low-hanging drift smoke. He could barely make out the strutting bird-shape of Lori's Locustas it moved across the screen. Somewhere, a heavy autocannon yammered and howled, and pinpoint flashes erupted close by Lori's 'Mech. The enemy would be aiming by radar in that soup, which was not as accurate as an optical or laser lock, but deadly enough at close range. He winced as a pair of bright flashes scored on the Locust'shull.
More missiles arced out of the smoke as the Wasplaid down a second barrage. A sharp, piercing tone sounded in his ear, indicating that the Lancer's ECM program was running. If the ECM did not succeed in jamming the enemy's targeting radar, all three Lancer 'Mechs would be swiftly hunted down and destroyed.
Grayson detected another movement, heavy and lumbering off to the right. He swung the camera back to the east and hit the extended zoom. There! Close by the squat shapes of the grounded UnionDropShips were a pair of 'Mechs lurching toward the smoky field. The near 'Mech was a Rifleman,a 60-tonner with paired, over-under lasers and an autocannon mounted in the place of arms. Grayson shivered as he realized that one Riflemanweighed as much as Lori's entire, three-'Mech command. And beyond the Riflemanwas the 55-ton bulk of a Wolverine,with the odd protuberance of a laser turret built high up in its massively armored chest, and a heavy autocannon carried on the right arm. In the air, the lean, shark's shape of an attack helicopter swooped down from the distant Castle.
The smoke cloud was laced with flashes and stabs of light. The DropShips seemed to be firing at random into the cloud, unsure of their targets. The radar-jamming seemed to be working in the same way as the smoke cloud to block the Combine forces' use of laser targeting. It did not matter much that the Lancers' targeting countermeasures also prevented them from targeting effectively. It was no part of the plan for the Lancers' three 20-ton 'Mechs to stand and tangle with the heavies that were thundering across the ferrocrete landing area now.
Grayson's helmet crackled, then erupted in sharp, . electronic tones on the Lancers' combat frequency. "Lancer One, this is Lancer Three! I've got infantry movement on our left! They're circling behind us!"
"Roger, Three. Start your retreat,"
"Lancer One, this is Two. Three 'Mechs on this side, at 300 meters and closing! PBIs in support. Two... make that three HVTs!"
"Okay, Two. All units, pull back. Stick to..."
Lori's transmission was cut off by a savage burst of static. The smoke cloud lit up blue as a charged particle beam stabbed through its heart. Grayson swung the camera back and forth, trying hard to find the 'Mech that had fired. It had to be a big one to mount a PPC. For one horrible moment, he thought the beam had caught Lori. Then, the shrieking static of charged particles faded, and he heard her transmission again.
"All units, keep spread out! Watch your rears!"
Grayson had lost track of their position now, though more smoke rockets were lofting down into the smoke screen to keep the heavy grey-white cloud spreading across the field. He could make out the shadowy silhouettes of at least five heavy 'Mechs moving through the smoke, heading west and north.
Grayson felt a twisting sense of guilt, lying with his 'Mech camo-netted and well out of the line of fire. It could not be otherwise, but that didn't ease his soul at the moment. He had to sit by while his friends were being hard-pressed by vastly superior numbers.
The sounds of combat grew fainter within the smoke, but the electronic chatter among his Lance mates continued. Grayson could sense a growing note of urgency in their voices even through the filtering of electronic reproduction.
"This is Three! This is Three! That was Yarin in the Stinger,facing his first 'Mech combat. "Temperature's up and I've got a shutdown warning!"
"Kick in your overrides, Three, and stay cool. All units, zero check. Repeat, zero check."
Grayson reached for his controls, bringing the Shadow Hawkto its feet in an explosion of camouflage netting and sand. "Zero check" was the prearranged code to let him know that the Lance had reached the rough, boulder-strewn rise that led up the slope toward Thunder Rift. It was time to launch the next phase of their plan.
* * * *
The wind was stronger high on the slopes of the Rift mountains, and was dissolving the smoke screen as quickly as Enzelman could fire his smoke rockets. The three 'Mechs had to draw in closer, too, for the rise toward the Rift was a dried-out alluvial fan that began broad and flat, but quickly narrowed as it rose. Lori mopped sweat and strands of dripping hair from her face. The action had already been going on for almost an hour with no sign of let-up, and the internal temperatures of all three 'Mechs were rising to critical levels.
Lori watched as a shape materialized from the smoke 250 meters below her. Then, the targeting crosshairs of her main imager centered on that shape. Her computer read mass and power plant emissions, while a glowing, wire-outlined image appeared on her screen. It was a Wasp.Though certain Garik was behind her and to her left, she punched the IFF receiver to be sure.
The Wasp'slaser fired in the same instant she read the transponder ID. Superheated rocks exploded near the Locust'sleg, the fragments clattering across her hull. She squeezed the firing trigger convulsively, and saw orange flame fork from the Wasp'storso armor, leaving a blackened scar across its chest. Though the 'Mech twisted away from the beam, it was trailing smoke, and Lori could see blue lightning flickering in the ragged wound.
She fired again, and again. Two hits more! The Waspwas having difficulty standing. One leg seemed frozen, and apparently the pilot was having trouble keeping the 'Mech balanced. Lori urged the Locustforward 30 meters, then stopped and fired again. Fire gouted from the stricken Wasp'storso and there was a splatter of molten metal.
The Wasp'shead exploded in smoke and light as the pilot ejected. The huge hull of the machine keeled over backward, leaving a curved trail of black smoke as it went down.
Another missile blast near the leg of her Locustsent Lori back up the hill. The boulders were thicker here, many of them the size of a house, and the battle became a game of sight, fire, and dodge among the sheltering rocks.
"Garik!" she called on the general combat frequency. "Yarin! Where are you?"
"This is Garik! I have you in sight, Sergeant. You're 200 meters below me, and to my right. Four 'Mechs — three lights and a Wolverine— are making their way uphill about a hundred meters to your left. Do you read them?"
She scanned in that direction, and saw only boulders and drifting smoke. "No!"
"Better fall back before you're cut off.”
“Moving!"
She edged farther up the slope, the dry soil crumbling beneath the scraping claws of the Locust'sfeet. On either side, the ground was rising more sharply, creating a wide ravine that restricted movement and — worse — visibility. All three 'Mechs had to be in the first defensive line before their pursuers got there.