My chest armor is breached!Chris looked at the glowing circle of red on the auxiliary monitor's picture of the Thunderbolt.He knew a shot there or to the head with anything the Ostsolcarried would finish his 'Mech and likely kill him. He swung his large laser over to cover the enemy 'Mech, prepared to trigger everything. Now is no time to be cautious.
As he dropped the crosshairs on the Ostsol,he noticed it was not moving at all. Shifting his holographic display over from vislight to infrared, he saw the machine glowing like a supernova. It's overheated. The computers shut it down.
He tightbeamed a message to the pilot. "Pop your canopy now and surrender. The fight is over for you."
Chris got a reply, but not the one he expected.
As he watched in horror, the canopy exploded outward in a shower of smoky glass fragments. A fireball ignited in the cockpit and he expected to see the command couch shoot out on an ejector rocket. He knew that ejecting into the woods was suicidal because the trees would crush any escaping pilot against their boles before the couch could correct its course. Instead of the command couch and pilot, the fire spat out bits and pieces of both. The spherical head plumped at the edges, then the top of it blew clean off.
The Ostsolfell forward, spilling burning sparks from its cockpit like glowing coals bouncing from a toppling barbecue.
Chris's mouth went sour. He knew that what he had seen couldhave been a failure of the escape rocket to ignite properly, or else the failure of restraining bolts to pop free on the command couch. Deep down he hopedthat was what he had witnessed, but he knew it was not.
That pilot committed suicide to avoid capture.Chris swallowed hard. We've always known these bandits were unusual. Just how unusual we underestimated by a parsec.
* * *
Phelan acknowledged the radio call from Dan Allard with a nod. "Roger, Colonel, the Sidhe have broken and are heading north. I will have Conal's people move in and cut them off from the DropShip out there to pick them up." Phelan twitched his right hand and brought his crosshairs onto a Riflemanlining up a shot at Ranna's Warhawk.He punched his thumb down and sent a large laser beam slicing through the Rifleman'sexposed knee joint. The beam melted away the ends of the ferro-titanium bones, pitching the big 'Mech to the right and spoiling its aim at Ranna.
The Clan Khan keyed his radio to Tac Three. "Star Colonel Ward, the Sidhe are headed in your direction. Stop them."
"They will not pass, my Khan."
Conal's reply bothered Phelan briefly, but then a bandit Vindicatortook notice of him. The 'Mech's PPC swung into line with the Wolfhoundand let fly with a bolt of cerulean electricity. The energy whip flayed all the armor off the Wolfhound'sright arm and started to work on the pseudomuscles and bones. Phelan rocked back in his command couch and felt a static tingle over his arms and legs.
A glance at his auxiliary monitor told him that the 'Mech's arm still functioned and that its large laser mounted was still useable, but not whether the Vindicatorhad hit it again. Can't take that chance.He gritted his teeth and spitted the Vindicatoron his crosshairs.
The combination of the Clan targeting computer and Phelan's steady hand kept all the Wolfhound'sweapons tight on target. The green beam of the large laser punched into the left side of the Vindicator'schest, reducing more than 60 percent of its armor to vapor and liquid droplets. Then the trio of medium pulse lasers sent a hail of red energy darts through the armor steam. Flames jetted back out through the quintet of LRM firing ports in the 'Mech's left breast and a greenish tinge in the smoke told Phelan that a heat sink had been blasted away. The 'Mech's left arm sagged as the shoulder girdle evaporated.
The sheer violence of the assault against it twisted the Vindicatoraround and dumped it on the ground. As the pilot tried to lever the 'Mech back up, pushing off the ground with its PPC, two green energy spears passed through it, one reigniting the fire in its chest and the other obliterating its head. Decapitated by the beam, the 'Mech flopped onto its back, with twin smoke plumes drifting upward.
"Thank you, Ranna," Phelan gasped as heat shot into his cockpit. His heat sinks labored to purge it, and brought the temperature down quickly, but the burst of heat from his attack left him breathless for a moment. "Good shooting."
"It would not do for the Khan's Honor Guard to allow him to die."
Conal's face appeared on Phelan's secondary monitor. "The bridges have been blown. Old Connaught is safe."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"I have blown the bridges, as you ordered. Your home is safe." Conal's image vanished and was replaced with a gun-camera feed showing the two bridges over the Kilkenny sagging into the river. "The bandits will not cross!"
"What have you done, Conal?" Phelan slammed one fist against the arm of his command couch. "I told you to stop them, not blow the bridges!"
"And I have. You placed us here to guard Old Connaught. I have made certain they will not reach the city."
"I wanted you to prevent the Red Corsair from reaching her DropShip, Conal! Quickly, get there before she does."
"We cannot, we are north of the river. We cannot cross it."
"Why would you blow it before you had crossed?"
"She has access to a DropShip. She could have gotten to Old Connaught had we crossed before blowing the bridge."
I know you are not so obtuse, Conal. Did you suffer brain-fade, or are you out to tarnish my victory here?Phelan's hands tightened into fists. "Pull back to Old Connaught at full speed, Conal. If the Red Corsair doesreach her DropShip and gets behind you, I will meet you in a Circle of Equals and rip your heart out with my bare hands, do you understand?"
"Aff, my Khan. It will be as you desire."
Phelan stabbed the commlink button to Tac Two. "Eagle Leader, can you get at the Red Corsair's DropShip and stop it?"
"Negative, Wolf One." Carew's voice carried a note of caution. "The Tigressapparently carried with it a Point of Stukas,a Point of Transgressors,and a Point of Corsairs.They are flying CAP for the DropShip and we are all running light on ammo. They seem content to let us strafe stragglers, but I am not confident we can get through. If it is what you desire, I will try."
Phelan knew that he had only to give the order and Carew would give his life trying to accomplish the task. "Stand by, Eagle Leader." Phelan switched to Tac Four. "Star Captain Fetladral, report on the Sidhe."
"Less than a Star running. The Red Corsair is one of those in retreat. They are within a kilometer of the Tigress.Alpha Battalion has the rest of them under control or dead."
"Roger, Star Captain. Wolf One out." Phelan reestablished the link with Carew. "Eagle One, initiate ground-support operations. Let the DropShip go . . . mop up. No reason for more of us to die today."
Bates again broke the darkness of Nelson's improvised planetarium, but that was fine with him. "The battle is over, Kommandant. The good guys won."
Nelson smiled unconsciously. "She escaped, didn't she?"