All around them the landscape was darkening. The sun had just about disappeared behind the distant mountains, and lengthening shadows slowly erased the finer details of the landscape. The dull-colored city of Olalla lost even more definition and became an odd blend of grays and browns.
Where had the ComStar forces gone?
* * *
As Jula Huddock and her Star crossed into the city, she was more certain than ever that Olalla had never been meant for a defense. It was designed all wrong. It did not even possess city walls. It was an open city, accessible from all directions.
Up close the buildings of Olalla were no better-looking than from a distance. If anything, they looked worse. Even through the Executioner'ssmall viewport, one could see the architectural decay of the place. Buildings were chipped, peeled, or full of jagged holes. Broken glass, rubble, and other debris littered the streets. Had anybody ever lived in Olalla?
* * *
"Something is wrong down there," Kael Pershaw announced abruptly.
"We realize that, Kael Pershaw," Aidan said.
"No. I mean something specific.I have just checked some old records of Olalla with the conformations down there. They do not jibe."
"What are you saying? That this is notOlalla? It is at the exact coordinates provided by—"
"The coordinates are fine. But ComStar is up to something. The pre-invasion holos that I have of Olalla show a well-kept, architecturally sound village. The buildings should be pristine, and some of them with more storeys than those you see below. The city's streets are organized in a grid pattern, not the haphazard pathways you see. The marketplace areas were landscaped in green grass, with many colorful booths permanently set up. That is what I mean when I say this is not Olalla. Olalla is gone."
"How can that be?"
"I am not certain, but I suspect that before our arrival insystem, the old city was razed or somehow moved, evacuated with its citizenry. This motley collection of buildings was substituted for the original. The marketplaces were altered. Aidan Pryde, this Olalla is a false city. It is designed to lure you in. Do not, I repeat, do not commit your entire force to Olalla. Wait."
Kael Pershaw's last word was clipped, as if he had flipped his sign-off toggle while still speaking. Aidan went on the general commline and passed on Pershaw's information to the other Jade Falcons. "Does it make sense to any of you?" he asked.
"Yes," Diana said. "Remember the first ambush, when MechWarrior Faulk lost his leg? The Com Guards came out of the orchard, from under the ground."
"But why do we not detect their presence? At this range Alpha Heavy's sensors should have picked up something," Horse said.
"Perhaps ComStar has been able to mask their presence so that sensors cannot pick them up," Marthe suggested. "Something that rejects scan waves or sends false information back with them. There are technological precedents for—"
"We must get Alpha Heavy out of there!" Joanna said, just as the ComStar assault began in Olalla.
* * *
Jula Huddock had sensed anomalies even before Aidan and the others began to discuss them. The buildings looked thrown-together and never lived in. There were traces of old foundations peeking out from the fake constructions. When viewed up close, everything about Olalla seemed fraudulent, jerrybuilt.
Later, Aidan would realize that Alpha Heavy's early presence may have saved the rest of the Cluster. The ComStar forces had certainly intended to ambush all of them. They would have waited until the Guards were comfortably in Olalla or close enough to it, and then sprung their trap. But in monitoring communications between the Jade Falcon warriors, the ComStar commander saw that the opportunity for an ambush had passed, so he ordered an all-out attack instead.
"Jula Huddock!" Joanna yelled over the commline. "Withdraw your Star at once!"
But the warning came too late for Alpha Heavy. Large metal portals hidden underneath a hastily laid, thin layer of soil suddenly sprang open in each market area. The dirt went flying in all directions, creating a dark cloud from which emerged the first ComStar BattleMechs, leaping out of the underground vaults with their jump jets aglow. Close on their heels were the heavier 'Mechs, clomping out of the vault with their weapons firing and missiles launching. As the sudden strike engulfed Alpha Heavy, Jula Huddock realized how wrong she had been to think Olalla offered no form of camouflage. The barrenness of the marketplace had deceived her, even though she knew that the last area that should look barren was a marketplace originally designed for the sale of fresh crops.
Just then, a cluster of SRMs exploded against MechWarrior Lan's Mad Dog,followed by intense laser fire that sent the 'Mech reeling backward before it fell. Lan ejected but was picked off by autocannon fire.
The rest of Alpha Heavy was soon surrounded by attacking ComStar 'Mechs, with no retreat route. They fought fiercely and well. Three ComStar BattleMechs fell almost simultaneously, then another pair, as Jula Huddock and the others fired rapidly. But one by one the Falcon Guard 'Mechs were destroyed. First MechWarrior Eleny's Hellbringer,then the Summonersof Mech-Warriors Crocco and Alyn.
Finally it was just Jula Huddock's Executioner.She stood her ground, firing sharply, efficiently, and calmly at the mass of ComStar BattleMechs coming at her. Then she became aware that the Jade Falcons outside the town were launching LRMs, which exploded distantly and sent bits of ComStar 'Mechs into the air.
Jula Huddock merely kept on firing, with no let-up. First one ComStar machine went down, then another. When the end came, Jula Huddock knew it was all over. But first she had the satisfaction of seeing the enemy 'Mech begin to explode just as its last missile salvo made its fatal strike against her Executioner.
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.