His fears were allayed when he saw Jenette climb whole and unharmed from the cockpit. He was waiting for her when she finished her descent. They held each other wordlessly for a minute before he broke the embrace to check out her condition. She was uninjured, but looked as beat as he felt. Even her smile was exhausted. He hustled her to the camp kitchen, thrusting a cup of hot tea into her hands until he could gather some food. They ate in silence, each finding the other's presence enough for the moment.
She placed her empty bowl on the ground. "The fight here is over?"
"I think so," he mumbled. "Davion DropShips have been lifting since midnight. They're burning straight for the jump point. An Ting has held, and without this system, the Davion thrust into Galedon will founder."
"Good." Her smile flashed in the darkness. "We'll be done soon."
Buoyed by what he took as her relief, he allowed the joy of a job well-done to fill his voice. "We taught Theodore's people well. The Ryuken fought a hell of a battle, more disciplined than I thought they'd be. The Iron Men would have been proud. These Jocks are almost as good as his old unit. They sure outshone the Eighth Sword of Light."
"You want another Misery?"
The bitterness in her voice, and the thought of the awful weeks on that barren planet where the Ryuken had fought the Dragoons, crushed his growing sense of accomplishment. His delight in the success of his charges turned to ashes as he remembered those bitter days on that bitter, cold world. The Dragoons had fought for their lives against all House Kurita could throw at them, including the old Ryuken regiments. The Dragoons had won, barely. Dechan's own lance had brought down the Iron Man ... barely. He had no wish ever to experience anything like that again.
Had he rebuilt the unit that had almost destroyed the Dragoons, only to allow Takashi Kurita another chance? He forced away that fear and put assurance into his voice. "That can't happen again."
"Are you sure?" she asked softly.
In the night around them, Dragoon ghosts seem to echo her question.
65
Henschel Basin, Exeter
Kentares PDZ, Draconis March, Federated Suns
2 October 3039
"Fuhito- kun, orbital reconnaissance confirms that the DropShips coming in are the Fourth Davion Guards," Theodore announced to the man seated in the forward couch of the BLR-1C BattleMaster.
His only response was a grunt.
Theodore took the rebuff in stride. He had no desire to interrupt his pilot's concentration. They were, after all, in the midst of a battle. One that he had best pay some attention to, instead of spending all of his time on system-wide operations. With deft finger motions, he reconfigured the main screen to display the area around the Samuelson Military Reservation, and slaved the secondary screens to the data feeds for the continental situation and the transatmospheric dispositions. He studied the displays, issuing orders to redirect Combine efforts to put more pressure against a poorly sited fire zone that he detected in the Davion defense. With a little more effort, Ryuken-go's second battalion could crack the hedgehog of the Davion Militia's Thirty-fifth Combined Services Brigade and sweep through to raid the proving ground's laboratories.
The BattleMastershuddered.
Rather than querying Fuhito, Theodore called up a window on the main screen. The 'Mech's systems were all nominal, though the schematic display of the BattleMastershowed reduced armor in the left-torso area. From the pattern, Theodore recognized a PPC hit. Local resistance must be stiffening. He was wise to leave Fuhito undisturbed. He went back to his screens.
Fuhito pivoted the BattleMaster,but too slowly. The Davion Warhammer'sPPC blast caught his 'Mech in the left chest. The Fedrat Militia 'Mechs were old and time-worn, but their pilots fought hard. It was to be expected. They were defending their homes.
This pilot was a brave one. He had come on through the fire of the rest of the command lance to challenge the BattleMaster.The lesser machines of his companions had, with the aid of their armored support, engaged the attention of the other four Kurita 'Mechs. It was a valiant but hopeless effort. The Warhammerwas battered, sparks and smoke trailing from its right-arm PPC. The BattleMasterwas barely scratched until the Davion MechJock had scored with that last shot from the Hammer'sother PPC.
Fuhito elected to meet charged particles with like. He ripped off a blast from his 'Mech's hand-held Donal PPC. The blast struck the Warhammerhigh on the right shoulder, eating through armor to gouge a trough in the Davion machine's superstructure. Fire reached out through the opening as the alloy launcher-feed mechanism for the 'Mech's Holly SRM system burned, ignited by the heat transfer. Slowly at first, then with a sudden, shuddering crash, the Holly SRM launcher fell free of its mounting. The boxy launcher struck the protruding rear of the 'Hammer'sautocannon and spoiled the pilot's aim before hitting the ground. There, it exploded in impotent fury as the loaded rack of missiles detonated from the heat of the flames engulfing the mechanism.
The Warhammeradvanced, heedless of its loss. "Meiyo to nam sensei, buso-senshi-san,"Fuhito saluted aloud.
Conscious of his passenger, Fuhito dodged the big BattleMasterin among the trees dotting the slope where the machine stood. He was sure that the Davion Jock would follow. As soon as he had put enough of the tall trees between them to screen him from the enemy sensors, Fuhito brought the 'Mech to a halt, damping its heat output. He did not have to wait long.
The Warhammercame hunting, its functional PPC swaying back and forth as the pilot covered possible hiding places for his quarry. Unknowing, he bypassed Fuhito's position by thirty meters.
Regretting that he could not afford to meet this noble warrior in a fair battle, Fuhito opened the heat sinks and stepped the BattleMasterforward. The Warhammer'spilot must have caught the rise in heat on his IR sensors. The Davion 'Mech started to turn as Fuhito unleashed the full complement of the BattleMaster's formidable array of forward-mounted energy weapons. The Kurita 'Mech's own Holly launcher added its six missiles to the attack. Had the machine carried the usual pair of Sperry-Browning machine guns, Fuhito would have fired them as well. The Warhammerwas a threat to the Kanrei and had to be eliminated as soon as possible.
The Warhammerstaggered under Fuhito's flawless gunnery. The previously untouched armor over its lower rear torso vanished under the hellish energy that laved it. Out of control, it started to topple. The white brilliance of the fusion flame escaping its ruptured magnetic containment ate the upper half of the Warhammerbefore it had canted more than thirty degrees. The blackened stumps of its legs struck the ravaged earth. The torso had dissolved, and the Mech Warrior was gone, either blown out of sight or vaporized.