DANCE OF VENGEANCE
-William H. Keith, Jr.
‘And I say that you, Lord Garreth, are a coward, a liar, and a murderer. It was you who betrayed my father...had him murdered to keep the secret.’
The buzz of conversation and the clink of bottles and glasses dropped away to silence as the nobles scattered about the ornate hall turned to watch the two men standing at the door.
Salvadore Tyrell knew with grim certainty that his words meant death. Garreth's polite smile had faded, replaced by the flushed skin and bared teeth of rage. Even his knuckles showed white against the pommel of the ceremonial wakizashiat his belt.
‘And you, insect...what business have you here, in this convocation of your betters?’
Salvadore let out his breath slowly. He must retain control. He must!
‘I seek your death. Lord Garreth. I claim vendetta for the murder of my father.’
The silence that had descended over the room at Salvador's first words to Garreth had been one of curiosity and expectancy. The silence that gripped the hall now was one of shock. By publicly challenging Lord Garreth. he, Salvadore Tyrell. had stepped well beyond the accepted boundaries for proper behavior within the noble classes of House Kurita.
‘Captain Tyrellf’ a voice barked from across the hall. ‘What are you doing here?’
Salvadore turned to face the speaker and bowed, his back stiff, his knuckles riding down his trouser legs almost to his knees. KugeUkita Hideie, Earl of Kajikazawa, was a wrinkled gnome of a man, with frosty-white hair that contrasted his dark, leathery skin. Hideie returned the bow, a nod of the head that acknowledged Salvador's courtesy, but not his right to be in this place.
Salvadore bowed again, lower this time. Hideie was Planetary Chairman of the world of Kajikazawa. At a word from him, Salvador's head would roll on the floor. Behind the old man. his personal guards were shifting their weight and their robes slightly so that they could, with equal ease, draw stunner or katana,depending on what the situation might require.
‘My Lord.’ Salvadore said. ‘I have at last won my right of vendetta.’
Chu-I Salvadore Tyrell had won both his promotion and his command upon the death of his father, and he'd found joy in neither. Tyrells Raiders was an independent company-strength BattleMech unit that had begun as a local Kajikazawan militia in ancient, understrength 'Mechs and become an auxiliary reserve attached to the Second Benjamin Regulars in front-line service. It had been four years since the Second Benjamin had gone into action against House Steiner invaders at New Wessex, close to the border with the Lyran Commonwealth and tens of lights across the Draconis Combine from Kajikazawa.
The relationship between the Regulars and the auxiliaries did not always go smoothly. Most Kurita line commanders mistrusted mercenaries, and they often viewed local units such as Tyrell's Raiders as mercenaries even when their prime motivation was home defense, rather than fighting for pay. Sho-saLord Victor Garreth, of the Second Regular's Third Battalion, had been particularly displeased at the Raiders being attached to his command at New Wessex
Salvadore still remembered Garreth's final conversation with his father on the afternoon that the Steiner forces were , closing in toward the Ouros River crossing. ‘Your Mechs would be better employed in my reserve, Tyrell,’ Garreth had said. ‘As a separate unit, they compete with my people for supplies and ammunition. And I, for one, am not willing to risk my unit's integrity on the untried temper of your…your militia.’
The elder Tyrell had colored at that. ‘Not militia, Lord! Auxiliaries...and damned good men! They have stood in the line of battle before. Give them the chance and they'll stop anything the Steiners can throw our way!’
‘You think so?’ Garreth's voice dripped sarcasm as he stabbed at a place on the map with a forefinger. ‘Our intel shows a Steiner company moving south, toward this crossing at Vesper-on-Ouros. You think militiacan stand against Steiner regulars7’
‘Yes. Lord!’
‘Then take your command there. Hold the crossing. I will expect regular reports, of course...’
Thus did the twelve BattleMechs of Tyrell's Raiders find themselves drawn up along the bluffs above the swift-flowing Ouros, 20 kilometers south of the main Kurita forces, awaiting the approach of the Steiner attackers. The Raiders were not a heavy unit. Their largest 'Mech was an ancient, 60-ton Dragon,piloted by the elder Tyrell. That 'Mech. Tyrell's Terror,had been in the family for four generations already, and it was assumed that it would go to Salvadore when his father decided to retire. Salvadore commanded the company's Fire Lance from the cockpit of a battered Centurionof uncertain vintage, one of the combat machines that belonged to the unit as common property. Like most line regiments, and unlike most mercenary units, few of the men of Tyrell's Raiders owned their own BattleMechs.
Their Recon Lance was deployed across the river to watch for the approaching enemy, while the rest of the unit found positions along the bluff and settled in for a wait. It was not to be a long one. One of the Recon Stingersspotted the enemy first and flashed warning of a company of heavy Commonwealth BattleMechs headed for the crossing. Then the other Stingerreported a sighting, at least a full company north of the first. The Waspand the Panther,hunting further out, made contact through a hail of static and explosions, reporting still more enemy Mechs at their position, but contact was lost before they could supply numbers or position.
Moments later, one of the Stingerscame bounding back across the river in a curtain of spray. The 'Mech's jump jets had been smashed and its left arm mangled by Steiner fire, but it joined the main Kurita line just as the first Steiner Mechs began to gather along the far shore of the river.
By now, Tyrell's Raiders realized that they faced far more than a single company —the strength of their own unit. The enemy consisted of at least a regiment, outnumbering them by three to one. Worse, a number of the Steiner 'Mechs now wading into the river were heavies, Warhammers, Archers.and Maraudersadvancing with a hunter's sure, relentless pace
The Raiders opened fire with everything they had, hitting the advancing Steiner Mechs hard. Salvadore could still see the damaged Stingerhurling itself against the hulking mass of a Steiner Archer.The next moment, the Archersmetal fists were coming down like piledrivers on the Stingersupper torso, splintering armor like plywood as flame boiled from the light 'Mech's shattered cockpit. The Warhammerand the Marauderwere, meanwhile, concentrating their fire against Tyrell's Terror.The lightning horror of their combined PPC bolts blasted at the Raiders's Command Mech, searing across the closing range in jagged blue discharges, tearing molten craters in the Dragonsarmor. Raymond Tyrell had fought back tenaciously, retreating step by step, dodging and weaving to avoid the worst of his opponents' fire, all the while laying down his own deadly barrage of heavy autocannon fire.
Satvadore had struggled to reach his father, his Centurionsautocannon adding the weight of its rapid-fire thunder to that of the Dragon.A salvo of long-range missiles arrowed from the Centurion'schest pack, striking home along the arm and torso of the lumbering Steiner Warhammer.
Just then, the Steiner Archercaught him from behind, while the Kurita line all along the top of the ridge began to crumble. The Archerhad shouldered its way past the other 'Mechs in Salvador's Fire Lance, leaving them to the Wolverinesand Shadow Hawksand Griffinsthat were climbing up on the Kurita side of the river now. Missiles from the Archercaught Salvadore squarely in his Centurionsback. The multiple hits gouged deep chunks out of his armor, crippling the 'Mech's rear-mounted laser and driving the 50-ton machine to its knees with a clamorous roar that momentarily deafened Salvadore, despite the protection of his helmet.