The lasers aboard the Phobosswung heavily to track the new, unexpected target, but too slowly. Lori brought the Shadow Hawk'slaser into line and triggered a rippling pulse of coherent light flat across the beach, scant meters above the Rifleman's head and into the onrushing fighter. Shellfire and laser bursts were tracking past the toppling Riflemannow, blasting sand, mud, and steam into the sky in an impenetrable curtain. Lori just kept firing at where she thought the target to be, tracking higher, then straight overhead as a shadow blackened the sky and thunder pealed. Then the Phobosfired, sending streaks of light burning through the sky.
Red lights winked on Lori's console. "Damn!" she said. "A shell took out our autocannon on that run!"
Grayson had not even felt the impact. He studied the battlescreen. The fighter was continuing its flight due south. "I think you hurt him, Lori...or Use did. He's not going to stop until he hits Regis!"
"Now, if we could just convince them."
The Riflemanwas down, partly submerged in the swift-rising tide, braced half-erect on knees and gun barrels. Its fall had signaled a general advance for the Kurita ‘Mechs.
Clay's Wolverinelaid down a blistering salvo of laser, autocannon, and SRM fire. Missiles wove between the Kurita ‘Mechs, flashing with sudden, sharp impact, raining the enemy with mud, pocking their armor with shellbursts and the charred, black slashes of laser strikes. Suddenly outnumbered four to two, the Wolverineand the Shadow Hawkstepped closer together, almost side by side, spraying their attackers with concentrated fire.
The Stingerwas down again, not moving. Before Grayson could react to the sudden turn of events, three more ‘Mechs had stepped onto the beach from the jungle two hundred meters beyond the attackers. Grayson almost pointed out the new targets to Lori, then shouted in pure joy as he realized that the newcomers were the Gray Death's own light ‘Mechs. Hassan Khaled in his Stingerwas snapping shots into the rear of the Marauderwith vicious abandon. Both Waspshad joined Clay's Wolverinein a wicked crossfire that trapped the Orionand had the heavy machine reeling.
The Kurita ‘Mechs wavered. If they broke and ran, they would run right through the light ‘Mechs closing in behind them.
"Khaled!" Grayson cried into the com circuit "Scatter your force! Clay! You follow us!" He urged Lori forward with a hand on her shoulder as though he were propelling the
Hawkitself. Lori's sweat-soaked T-shirt was wringing wet under his fingers. The
Shadow Hawkfired
The remaining Stingerturned and fled, crashing headlong into Khaled's Stinger,which was charging from the other direction. Both ‘Mechs went down, arms and legs flailing. The Orionwas limping heavily. The heavy, oily green sheen of coolant was smeared along its left leg like blood and also gushed from a shattered knee joint Smoke boiled from a scar in its left side.
The Marauderheld its ground, buying time, perhaps, for its fellows. Both the Hawkand the Wolverineconcentrated their fire on the Marauder.For a full thirty seconds of blazing, fire-licked hell, the three ‘Mechs exchanged laser fire at close quarters. The Hawk'scockpit was an oven, an inferno that brought Grayson to the point of collapse. Heat overload alarms were shrilling as red lights rippled across Lori's board. Four times he saw her slap the override switch when the on-board computer threatened shutdown. After that, he lost count.
Lori guided the overheated machine through ankle-deep water, working toward deeper water where the sea would act as shield and coolant. The Maraudercrabbed sideways. Though still firing, it was retreating now toward its DropShip.
Grayson spared a glance for the grounded DropShip and stifled a yelp of surprise. There were twoKurita Leopardsthere now. The second must have grounded unheard and unseen during the battle. There was a stir of movement below the second ship, but he couldn *t make out what it was.
"Let me have a magnification of the landing site," he said, and Lori punched a combination of buttons. The combat screen lit up with a magnified view of the base of the newly grounded DropShip.
Galleons.
Grayson knew the GAL-100 from his ID lectures of years before. The tank was a fast, light tracked vehicle designed to support ‘Mechs or infantry, or both. Instead of a full turret, a medium laser on a universal platform mount rotated on its broad, flat back, and a pair of light lasers were set in vertical shell turret mounts on either side just above the leader wheels. The Galleon was fast, faster than any ‘Mech, though the sand of the beach might slow them some here. Its single disadvantage was its light armor, but the tanks were small and relatively cheap to produce. Most battlefield commanders could afford to lose three or four Galleons to kill a single ‘Mech.
This latest turn of the battle made Grayson curse bitterly under his breath. The enemy ‘Mechs were beaten, broken, but he could count at least six Galleons moving down the beach. And there could be more behind, masked by their fellows. Thosewere the support forces he'd thought the enemy had neglected to throw in.
Grayson was gripped by a momentary indecision. His ‘Mech force could not be pushed for much longer. One of his heavies was down, and both the Wolverineand the Shadow Hawkhad been squandering ammunition in attempts to overwhelm their targets with raw firepower. Worse, the Hawkcould not withstand its current heat load much longer, and each discharge of the laser made things worse. He was sure that things were just as bad aboard Clay's machine. It was time to retreat, now,while they could. Yet it was wrenching to think of abandoning the field like this, with victory so close...
The Galleons were racing across the beach now, their tread kicking up spray behind them. Lori began firing with her laser, snapping shots off slowly and with great deliberation. Her heat alarms were shrilling again. Grayson had another thought. Would they be able to escape? The Galleons were racing to cut them off on each side from jungle and sea. With their high speed, they were devilishly hard to hit.
A flash of light snapped across Khated's Stinger asa laser struck home. Light flooded the Hawk'scockpit and Grayson covered his eyes. When he looked up again, purple blotches danced before his eyes, almost totally obscuring his vision. Briefly, he knew sharp panic, but the fear subsided as his vision cleared. The beam that had caught the Shadow Hawk'shead had not struck the vision screens squarely. It had been partly reflected laser light that had so dazzled Grayson's eyes.
Lori stabbed off the last of the Hawk'shead-mounted SRMs. "I don't think we can hold them, Gray!"
Explosions echoed across the beach, cracks and hollow-sounding booms under flame-shot clouds. A tank died horribly, flame boiling from its engine vents and its turret. A crewman struggled to free himself from an escape hatch, looking tiny and pitiful against the consuming blaze.