The PPC strung a blue line from the Stingray'snose to the ship's fuselage. Starting just behind the cockpit and ripping back along the craft, the hits bisected the stabilizer between the halves of the split tail. One medium pulse laser pumped more fire into the scar while the other chipped away at the armored engine cowling in the aft. One of the two large lasers pulsed a green energy rod into the left wing, melting armor into a ceramic rain that fell on Denton while the other cored the engine.
A brilliant shower of sparks shot out of the engine as a drive unit failed, sending the Rogueinto a slow roll that marked its loss of power. The craft began to pull back to the starboard side, then it simply disintegrated. It happened so slowly and carefully that it almost looked to Caitlin like a computer diagram being exploded to show what the Roguelooked like inside.
A wall of heat hit her. She glanced at her auxiliary monitor and saw the heat spike up into the red zone and remain there despite her heat sinks coming on line. She shook her head to fight off the desire to faint in the heat and she overrode the fighter's computer-mandated desire to shut down. Too much, too fast. Gotta watch it, kid.
She pulled up and came over in a looping turn that let her bleed off some heat and build up some airspeed. Gotta be more careful, Caitlin.She smiled as she saw the Rogue'sfragments continue to fall. But that was one hell of a first impression we made.
* * *
With the fighters' arrival imminent, Dan Allard gave the order for the Hounds to move forward out of the
Clonarf bunkers. Huge doors cranked open and the 'Mechs best suited to antiair operations came out first to take out any unwelcome bandit pilots on a strafing run. Once they had secured the canyons and draws where the openings to the mountain bases had been hidden, the scout units headed out.
Phelan headed his Wolfhoundstraight north, and saw from ground level what had been fed to him from watching stations on top of the mountains. One Overlordhad grounded on the edge of Denton, while the other had moved out toward the foothills and the M5 leading north to Old Connaught. As the first of the fighters withdrew, both ships disgorged their armies. One flew north, beyond the foothills, while the other shifted south and landed in Denton.
Phelan started a search program on his onboard computer, and it locked on to a target in the furthest group of bandit 'Mechs. He ordered up magnification on his holographic display and was rewarded with the image of a scarlet BattleMaster.Punching up a tightbeam radio configuration, he focused it on that 'Mech.
"In the name of the ilKhan of the Clans and in the name of Prince Victor Davion, I order you and your people to surrender now. If you do not, your command will be destroyed."
The return message came immediately as a picture filled his secondary monitor. He saw red hair splayed out over the shoulders of a cooling vest and bright eyes peering through the triangular viewport of a neurohelmet. "Those better than you have already tried, wolfling."
Phelan shook his head, "There are none better than I am. There are none better than the Kell Hounds. We outnumber you three to one. Surrender."
"Only a Wolf would offer surrender, and only a Wolf would accept it." Her eyes narrowed. "Though you do not deserve it, I will grant you a warrior's death."
Her confidence, though strong and angry, seemed unnatural to Phelan. She cannot believe what she is saying. She is covering surprise, but how solid is that cover?"I do not offer you surrender for myself," he started slowly, "but I offer it at the request of Nelson Geist."
Her eyes widened for a moment before the image went dead, that hit home!He shifted over to Tac One. "Colonel Allard, it's a fight to the finish. No quarter asked or given."
"Never expected it to be anything else." Dan's voice began to fade as more frequencies were opened. "Defend your home, Hounds."
* * *
Chris Kell's Thunderboltled Alpha Battalion from its position in the west and out into the sunlight. He had the northwestern flank of the Kell Hound position, his battalion serving as a screening force to pick up the bandit unit near the foothills. Chris knew the Red Corsair had grounded a force there to defend against troops coming down from Old Connaught, which was the most logical location for reinforcements.
As his troops moved out, Chris saw the battle plan that Phelan and Dan had outlined beginning to unfold. The foothill group of bandits, designated the Sidhe, began to withdraw into the hills. The other group, the Baile, moved into Denton. Though it looked as though the Sidhe were abandoning the Baile, to make their way across the plain north of Denton and into the town, or out of it, would have meant marching across a killzone and the death of the bandits making the trip.
Chris opened a radio channel to Dan Allard. "Colonel, the Sidhe are into the hills. Alpha is in position and awaiting your order to pursue."
"Roger, Major. Stand by."
Chris saw a long line of the red and black Kell Hounds 'Mechs form a semicircle around Denton to the south and west. The BattleMechs to the south, with a star of black 'Mechs from the Wolf Clan at the far end, began to move forward. In Denton, the scarlet and gold bandit 'Mechs spread out and assumed defensive positions that promised nasty urban fighting.
"Alpha Leader?"
Chris nodded. "Yes, Colonel?"
"Go. The Sidhe are yours."
* * *
Caitlin pulled back on her stick and pointed the Stingray'snose at the sky. She punched her feet down on the overthrust pedals and felt gravity pull her down into the command couch as she rocketed away from Arc-Royal. The keening sound in her cockpit told her the maneuver had not shaken her pursuit, and as she dropped her crosshairs into her aft arc, she saw the range between them dropping off.
Damned Hellcat can out-climb me. Still, it's a flying wing. Yaw has to be a problem!"Raven Leader, I have a Hellcatin my six. Who wants him?"
"I will oblige you."
Caitlin smiled as she heard Carew answer her call. "Okay, he's yours!" She jammed her stick forward in a maneuver that started her in a loop that put her cockpit on the outside of the circle. She began to see red as the forces of gravity rushed blood to her head. She knew, as did every pilot who had ever flown, that the loop she had started was slow and stupid and almost guaranteed to make the pilot "red-out."
Before she could lose consciousness, she cranked the Stingrayaround in a tight roll centered on the left wing-tip. Pulling up on the stick, she regained some altitude and managed to flash past the nose of the Hellcat.Twin green laser beams passed through a point on her six, but they missed her by a hundred meters.
"Get him, Vulture Leader." Caitlin popped her Stingrayinto another roll and lined a Tridentup in her sights.
* * *
"Wilco, Raven Leader," Carew growled as he pulled his Visigothup into a steep climb. His aerospace fighter had nowhere near the power of the Hellcat,or the Stingray,for that matter, but it packed more weaponry than either of them. Closer in shape to the flying wing design of the Hellcatthan the Stingray,the dual rear stabilizers and the elongated weapon pods running parallel to and in front of the fuselage eliminated the faster fighter's yaw problem.