"Message received and understood, sir." Esmeralda glared at him for a moment, weighing his words for sarcasm, then reluctantly accepted his reply. Although it was obvious she did not trust Rose completely, she launched into her battle plan.
"Here's the scoop, people. The main arena is set for a nearly open confrontation. They've built a couple of one-story buildings in the center, but only a couple and the construction isn't that good."
"How do you know that?" All eyes turned to Rose as he questioned Esmeralda.
"Look, Ace, I make it my business to know what's going on when I step into that arena. If you don't, you die. If I say it's so, then it's just like you heard it from God himself. Got me?
"Do not attempt to stand on the buildings. The roofs won't hold even Mary's Stinger,so stay away.
"Rose, word says you're the first target. You seem to have somebody truly upset with you. The odds-makers say you'll be the first to go down."
"I know," he said dryly. "I visited one of the local bookmakers on my way over." Esmeralda gave him a condescending smile.
"We'll try to cover you, but. . ." She let the words trail away to silence. It was obvious she expected little out of Rose in the match, except maybe to absorb a few of the opening shots.
"I understand." He understood all too well. The look on Jackson's face said he'd also bet against Rose.
"Okay, lock and load. Rose, I want to talk to you a minute." Little Mary and Jackson headed off toward the 'Mech bay without a second glance. Rose admired the firm command Esmeralda had over her lance.
"I'll get to the point. I don't know you and you don't know me. That means we've got a problem. Despite what O'Shea says, Warwick's goons are very good. I need to know, right now, just how good you really are. Look me in the eye and answer one question—how good are you?"
Rose leaned forward, his nose almost touching Esmeralda's.
"I'm the best there is."
"Great," she said. "So, now I've got another Kai Allard. Well, I hope that's good enough." Like her teammates before her, Esmeralda walked off toward the 'Mech bay, leaving Rose to follow in her wake.
Following her down the tunnel and then emerging into the cavernous bay, Rose smiled with true joy for the first time in weeks as he looked at his new 'Mech. He trotted across the bare floor and ran his hand across the freshly painted foot of his machine. He stepped over to the attendant scaffolding and rode the gantry elevator up to the cockpit. Opening the rear hatch he carefully set his suitcase inside and ducked through the low opening. Although the cockpit was smaller than he remembered, it felt almost like home.
Like his grandfather and his mother, Rose had learned his piloting skills at the controls of a Shadow Hawk.Although he'd graduated to command a larger 'Mech, the Shadow Hawkmodel had always held a special place in his heart. He tried without success to remember the face of his grandfather, dead long before Rose had left his home among the Highlanders. His inability to remember frustrated him, but he shook off the feeling and stepped inside. Home seemed so close and so far away. He wondered how Rianna was doing on Outreach and if she'd been receiving his frequent messages. Specific thoughts of his family began to fade quickly as he began preparing for combat. With an ease born from countless repetitions, he opened the battered case and withdrew the single item. Placing it gently aside, he closed the case and tied it down by the attached restraining straps. He could feel the rush of impending combat as he settled into the command chair and began to strap in.
Unlike most Mech Warriors, Rose did not strip down to the bare essentials and don the bulky cooling vest designed to keep a MechWarrior's body temperature cool enough to remain conscious. Instead he wore something resembling a full flight suit, and that was half his edge. What looked like a flight suit was really a Star League-era combat suit. A marvel of engineering, even for the time, it had been handed down from warrior to warrior until it had finally come to Rose, along with the Star League neurohelmet he'd pulled out of the suitcase. The suit and helmet were priceless and Rose treated them that way, storing them in a bank vault the moment after they'd been unloaded from the DropShip his second day on Solaris. As a boy growing up with the Highlanders, he could only dream of such technology, but enlistment in the Com Guards had given him access to gear he'd never even imagined existed. Although the helmet and suit were not technically his, he had managed to keep them when he left Terra. Even with the inferior cooling system of his new 'Mech, which looked to be only fifty or sixty years old, he could run the internal temperature into ranges not even dreamed of in a standard cooling vest.
His helmet was an even greater technical marvel. It provided better transfer of his sense of balance to the giant 'Mech and operated at a much faster speed, allowing Rose to virtually dance when piloting a 'Mech. He pulled the helmet over his head and secured it to his shoulders. Now the dance was about to begin.
12
Solaris City , Solaris
8 August 3054
"Ladies and gendemen, we are proud to present our feature event, a lance-on-lance battle to the finish between the warriors from Carstairs Stables and the warriors of Warwick Stables.
"Entering from the north and painted in blue and white are the warriors of Carstairs. Stinger, Hunchback, Shadow Hawk,and Warhammer.,,
Jeremiah got his first view of the arena as the giant doors went up and the spotlights hit his 'Mech. Esmeralda had been right about the tiny "town" constructed in the center of the arena. Part of his mind reviewed his weapons while another part considered the tactical advantages of the small cluster of buildings.
"Entering from the south and painted in maroon and gray are the warriors of Warwick. Javelin, Hatchetman, Centurion,and Charger."
A Hatchetmanand a Charger?Warning lights began to go off in Jeremiah's head. They matched the warning lights going off on his control panel.
"Per private agreement between the stablemasters of both sides, tonight's duel will be fought without the use of ranged weapons. This contest will be decided up close and personal, the way you like it. Now, let the match begin."
Rose's blood ran cold. All Mech Warriors dreaded facing the Hatchetman'saxe, preferring to take out the forty-five-ton brute before it could get close enough to use the hatchet. That was not an option tonight. The Charger'sweight and speed made it a formidable enemy in close quarters. In a match where each 'Mech used all its available resources, the Charger'ssmall lasers did not provide enough ranged firepower to be a real threat, but in this situation, those two 'Mechs changed the balance of power dramatically.
Jeremiah could hear Esmeralda cursing as the electromagnetic field dropped and he sprinted out of the gate. He tried the trigger of his long-range missile system and was met by the silence of a failed launch. Checking his tactical readout, he confirmed his suspicion that he was carrying a full load of ammunition, which meant the LRM equipment must have been disconnected in the torso. He tried to dump his ammo out the rear ejection port, but nothing happened—just as he'd expected. Those lines must have gone the way of the launch system, leaving him with no way to get rid of the explosive munitions. No doubt the other members of the team were experiencing the same problems and reaching the same conclusions.