Grayson saw that the enemy ‘Mechs alongside were lighter machines, a scattering of Wasp's. Stingers,and Commandos,probably members of the Kurita Light Recon lance they'd encountered in the raid to free the Verthandian prisoners. They did not seem anxious to advance into the sleeting fire the three Gray Death ‘Mechs were laying down, even though most of it was concentrated on the larger Crusader.
"We're pulling out, Chief!" That was Lori's voice, and a quick glance at the gateway under the University towers showed the last of the hover vehicles pulling off on sharply tilted fans; sending rooster tails of dust high into the air behind them. The ferrocrete under the gateway arch was littered with bodies, blue Loyalist uniforms mingled with the greens, browns, and grays of the rebel troops. More blue uniforms were spilling through the gate as he watched. Lori's Locustbacked away, her machine guns raking the advancing mob until it wavered, broke, and tumbled back in disorder.
Grayson turned back to face the BattleMechs. The Crusaderwas much closer now, less than two hundred meters. This was going to be tricky.
"McCall! Clay! Fall back, but be ready to give me cover!"
The Riflemanand the Wolverineturned and lumbered north behind the Shadow Hawk.Laser bolts flashed and burned to Grayson's left. The recon ‘Mechs had spread out in a rough semicircle, and some of them were working their way to the north in an attempt to cut off the Gray Death's retreat.
Missiles smashed into the Shadow Hawk'sright arm as red lights flashed across Grayson's control panel. He brought the right arm laser into line, punched the firing control, and bit back a savage curse as the weapon refused to fire. He triggered his SRM tubes instead, and watched his last two missiles arc across the narrowing range and into the Crusader'schest.
He looked to the north. Lori was in a close-range duel with a Stinger,and Clay and McCall were exchanging shots with enemy ‘Mechs hidden by a patch of woods. Where was Debrowski?
SRMs from the Crusadersmashed close beside him and sent his Shadow Hawkinto a lumbering run. Grayson knew the slower Crusaderwouldn't be able to catch him from behind. That left only the light scout ‘Mechs ahead to worry about.
Where was Debrowski? "Strike Force Five, this is Strike Force Leader! Where the hell are you, Debrowski?"
There was no answer. He brought the Shadow Hawkalongside Lori's ‘Mech and joined her in blasting at the enemy Stingeruntil the scout ‘Mech turned, fired its jump jets, and broke free.
"Has anyone seen Debrowski's ‘Mech?" Grayson asked on the open band. "Did he get clear?"
"Captain!" Lori said. "Look south!"
Grayson spun his
Hawk.The smoke from the burning Aerospace Fighter was lying low and heavy between the Gray Death ‘Mechs and the University, but Grayson could see a giant figure emerge from it, reaching forward and down. The Kurita
Crusaderhad
Debrowski's Stingerlay full-length on the ground some distance to the east of where Grayson had held the line with Clay and McCall. Perhaps the Stingerhad gotten lost in the smoke and strayed in the wrong direction. Perhaps Debrowski had been navigating through the smoke by a compass whose reading had been jarred by weapons fire. Whatever the cause, his Stingerhad taken hits that left his ‘Mech's left leg in tatters and smashed the laser mounted on its right arm. Now Debrowski was trying to drag his helpless machine clear of the looming Crusader.Even from a range of six hundred meters, Grayson could see that the Stinger'sradio antennae had been sheared away from its head. That explained Debrowski's silence.
The Crusaderoutweighed the Stingerthree to one. One massive fist rose, paused, and descended. Lori gave a soft cry as the Stinger'shead splintered like a crystal egg.
Numb, barely able to speak, Grayson somehow managed to give the order.The surviving Gray Death ‘Mechs withdrew from the field after their hovercraft, which had long since fled north.
The Kurita ‘Mechs made no attempt to follow.
* * * *
The two men faced one another, eye level with eye. Rebels and Legion members alike surrounded them. "We barely escaped with our lives," Grayson said "Piter Debrowski didn't make it at all. And it's your fault!"
After a long and grueling trek over little-used jungle trails, the Strike Force had returned to Fox Island to find that the commando forces remaining behind had been victorious. Two full companies of BattleMechs, twenty-four machines, had raided the island, zeroing in on the small encampment that Grayson had ordered manned by a handful of volunteers. The lead Kurita ‘Mechs had blundered into the booby traps reset by Ramage's Techs, and the ordered battle formation had dissolved in chaos. Ramage's commandos had struck from the surrounding jungle, bringing down a Phoenix Hawkand a Centurionand badly damaging three more light and medium ‘Mechs.
The Kurita pilots, already nervous about operations this far into the jungle, had withdrawn. Overhead, the Slayerand Shilonehad circled helplessly above the jungle canopy.
Montido's rebel Warrior recruits had ambushed the withdrawing enemy ‘Mechs along the Rim Road as they were withdrawing from the island. They managed to claim a damaged Stingerand a pair of Commando's.Grayson's plan to destroy or cripple the fighters as they landed at their base below the University walls had succeeded as well, though at the cost of Debrowski and his Stinger.All in all, the day had gone heavily in favor of the rebel forces.
Crowding near their leaders, no one could understand what had set off the confrontation.
Tollen Brasednewic scowled back at Grayson, his dark eyes locked with the younger man’s gray ones. "And it seems to me you’re going too far telling us how to run our war! The council that hired you isn't around any more. Why don't you people go back where you came from, and leave us to settle our own affairs!"
Collin Dace stepped between the two men. 'Tollen, no! We'd never have made it this far without Captain Carlyle, and you know it!"
"Do I?" He laughed, derisively. "Do I, indeed? We were doing all right on our own. Then he comes along, and what have we lost? The whole rebel council, wiped out. And the dead... how many dead have we lost? Damn it, when the Blues scattered at the airfield today, they left that gate wide open! With our two hundred boys, we could have walked right in and taken the citadel, only hesays to pull out! Pull out, with victory right in front of us!"
Grayson crossed his arms. "Whether you like the idea or not. Colonel, we're in your war now. We've lost too many dead of our own to turn our backs on Verthandi, even if we could. But if we're going to fight together, we're going to have to pull together...with one leader."
"So it's come to that, eh? You think you're man enough to take me...here?"Tollen spat out the final word as though it were an obscenity.
"It doesn't make any sense for the two of us to fight," Grayson said carefully. He and Brasednewic were about the same height, but the rebel leader easily outweighed him by at least ten kilos. "I suggest we use common sense instead."