Grayson had faced a Marauderbefore. He had, in fact, faced two of them, one after the other in the last struggle at Thunder Rift, on Trellwan. A heavy ‘Mech weighing 75 tons, it moved with a menacing, crablike stride on rear-canted legs, and its oversized forearms mounted paired PPCs and medium lasers. The autocannon protruded from its exposed mount above the egg-shaped hull like a black spear.
The Orionwas an old design. Grayson had never seen one up close, though he'd studied them during his training. It massed as much as the Marauder atits side, though its squat, angular chassis was vaguely humanoid. The blunt muzzle of an autocannon protruded from an armored bay on its right side. Like the Marauder,it was handless, with medium lasers set into the massive vambraces instead. The cockpit head was set low between the shoulders, the slit viewports giving the appearance of eyes.
"Khaled!"
"Here, Captain."
"Ithink we're in luck. They're deploying a lance of Mechs, but no support troops. Gather the two Wasps.Stay in the jungle, but look for an opportunity to circle behind as we draw them in. They have a pair of heavies, but all together, we outweigh them. We can take them if we save you for a surprise!"
"Yes, Kolarasi,"the ex-Saurimat said, his voice taut with excitement "Allah akbar!"
"Right O.K., let's show ourselves, Lori," Grayson said. "I want them down here, out from under the guns of that Leopard."
The Shadow Hawkstepped fully from the jungle, and the enemy
‘Mechs hurried their pace. Missiles and beams lanced out from the DropShip, but flew either too high or else splashed close by the Phobos,searching for the range. In ground combat, DropShips depended on a high volume of fire rather than accuracy to protect themselves from advancing ‘Mechs, and they suffered the same fire-control problems at long ranges that ‘Mechs did. The Leopard'sfire should not prove too dangerous unless they ventured nearer.
The Phobosreturned the fire. BattleMechs on both sides began shooting, too, though neither unit expected to do much more than keep the other side cautious at this range of over a kilometer. With most ‘Mech tracking units being centuries old and all cobbled together from other, even older units, they were not up to pinpoint accuracy across more than a few hundred meters.
The Gray Death's ‘Mechs held their ground while the Kurita ‘Mechs closed. By this time, the Draco scanners would have identified all three visible ‘Mechs and tallied the odds in favor of the attackers, four ‘Mechs to three, 190 tons to 170. The Kurita machines proceeded even closer.
At 500 meters, they were within effective range, and McCall's Riflemanbegan scoring hits on the Marauderwith his autocannon. Each flash and bang of an impacting shell gouged heavy armor, sending bits and flakes of metal flying back over the Marauder'sshell. Lori joined in, firing the Hawk'sautocannon in a long, ragged volley that stitched shells across the Marauder'sport side and arm. Delmar Clay, meanwhile, turned his Wolverine'sSRMs and autocannon on the Orion.
The two Kurita light ‘Mechs hung back, shielded by the bulk of their comrades.
Cannon fire thundered. The Dracos were probably surprised that they'd stood and fought, Grayson thought. Rebel forces, or the mercenary units helping them, could not afford to stand up to a Kurita line unit and slug it out The Combine had plenty of ‘Mechs on Verthandi, plus an unending pipeline of tools and repair parts from offworld. Each of the Grey Death's ‘Mechs was priceless, and spare parts would be tough to come by. Delmar Clay's Wolverinestaggered back a step as autocannon fire opened craters in the big ‘Mech's chest.
"Keep moving, everybody," Grayson ordered over the battle circuit. "It's a long way to the nearest friendly repair facility!"
"Cap'n! McCall here. It's gettin' a wee bit warmish in here. Ah'm goin' for a wee dip!"
"Right We may join you."
As the exchange of heavy cannon and laser fire continued, the Hawk'scockpit was rapidly becoming stiflingly hot Grayson wiped at the perspiration beading his forehead and flicked it to the deck, then grabbed for a stanchion as Lori tilted the machine sharply in response to a laser burst that scorched the Hawk'sright side. He wished he could take his off uniform jacket, but there was no room. Anyway, the Orionwas charging now, its lumbering gait heading straight toward the mercenary ‘Mechs.
"Watch him," Grayson barked. "If he gets in the middle of us, we won't be able to fire at him without firing at each other!"
McCall, his Riflemannow waste-deep in the surging, incoming tide, swivelled his ‘Mech's torso and hosed fire across the charging Orion,but it was Lori who thought to direct autocannon fire at the big ‘Mech's feet Craters gouged the sand, filling immediately with dirty water. One of the Orion's broad feet came down into a shell hole with a splash, overbalancing the ‘Mech and toppling it forward into the foam.
As McCall's lasers scorched low across the sand from the sea, wet sand by the fallen Orionsizzled and exploded in gouts of steam. Lori brought the Hawk'sright arm to the point, its medium laser fanning white hot-destruction across the Orion'sbackpack electronics. Firing its jump-jets with a rushing hiss, an enemy Stingerleaped, balanced, and then descended in steam and smoke. Cradling its right-hand laser like a pistol, it fired at the Shadow Hawk'scockpit as it touched down.
Grayson had already averted his eyes. Without the shielded visor of the neurohelmet, the laser's monocolor pulse would have blinded him, even through the mirrored surface of the Hawk's shielded vision slits. He felt heat, intense heat, wash through the cockpit, and then the thunder of the Hawk'sshoulder-mounted autocannon smacked into the lighter Stingerand sent it tumbling backward into the sand.
Shellfire streamed across the Marauder,which had halted at the fall of the Orion.The Stingerat its side exchanged laser fire with the Rifleman,which was now striding out of the sea, foam streaming from its legs. The Hawk'sbattlecom circuits garbled strange, shouted words. "Droch annailed sassanach! Oed an sluic!"
"McCall!" The Caledonian was totally absorbed in his firefight with the Kurita ‘Mechs. "McCall! Behind you!"
"Rach gus sluic!"The Riflemancontinued its inexorable advance, autocannons stuttering, shell casings spilling into the water. Low, skimming the water behind McCall's ‘Mech, the AeroSpace Fighter that had fled skyward earlier was returning, its nose lasers and autocannon twinkling in deadly synchronization.
Founts of water gushed and sprayed on either side of the Rifleman,and explosions blossomed along its back. The flat antennae of the D2j tracking system burst into fragments, and the ‘Mech's right arm went suddenly limp, the autocannon barrels swinging down to point into the water.