She fired, moved, then fired again. The Hunchbackwas more heavily armored than her own Phoenix Hawk,but much slower. The defender's fire was striking it from several directions, all from higher up, and its pilot was having trouble identifying a target for its own answering fire. One of Arrow's Stingersscored a crippling hit on a Kurita Wasp,then shifted its aim to the Hunchbackas the light Combine 'Mech collapsed to the ground. Taking fire from four 'Mechs, the Hunchbackclumsily swung about and began to lumber back down the ridge, the Assassinand a Pantherproviding cover.
Tracy continued to pour fire into the retreating 'Mechs, though she mourned the loss of her left-arm laser. With yesterday's damage to her 'Mech still not repaired, she had only the medium laser and machine gun in her right arm. plus the heavy laser clamped into her right fist. She fired a last burst at the retreating Assassin,scoring a hit on the lighter Mech's leg, then scanned the terrain to left and right.
Her tac display showed that the two Waspsshe'd left defending the eastern side of the ridge were holding on. The Kurita heavies had taken damage and were falling back. Perhaps there would be time now for a maneuver of her own. With the western enemy force retreating in disarray, she might be able to slip along the west slope to north or south, loop down through the tangle ot boulders until she flanked the western force, and convince them that the defenders trapped on the ridgetop had just received reinforcements The confusion might allow her to extricate her entire command. It would be no good sending one of the others. Stingers, Wasps,and Locustswould be no good for the job she had in mind. Her Phoenix Hawk,though, with its jump jets and heavy laser, was perfect.
‘Arrow Leader to Arrow Two!’ she called. ‘Dolby, come in!’
‘Go ahead, Arrow Leader.’ He no longer sounded scared, but his voice was still dry and tight.
‘You're in command. I'm going to try to flank em.’
‘What...now?’
‘We have them on the run. Dolby. Just hold them But be ready to pull the group out when I give the word!’
‘Uh...O.K...’ He sounded uncertain.
Explosions savaged their way along the ridge crest, blasting great chunks of rock and dirt skyward. Tracy glanced at her tac display, and saw red blips astride the ridge to the south. With a shock, she realized that the Kurita forces had flanked their position, having sent one of the two west-slope lances south and around her by straddling the ridge. They were moving toward her now with the slow determination of a heavy earth-mover, ripping the landscape with shell and beam in an effort to root the defenders from the ridge.
But that could be good! It meant that there were only four enemy 'Mechs along the path to the west, and those were battle-damaged and in disorder. If she could flank them, they would scatter, moving south through the boulder fields to join their companions. The way would be open for the Arrow force.
‘Hang on. Dolby!’ she called. ‘Hold them off for five minutes, and I'll have a hole for us to move through! Attention all Arrows! Arrow Two is in command! Hold tight and pour it on! I'm going to open a door for us off this ridge!’
She triggered her jump jets, keeping her 'Mech low to the ground in a series of bounding hops that carried her down the slope. Behind her, the ridgetop was blotted out by black smoke and a rain of dirt and sky-borne debris.
‘Arrow Two! This is Seven! I'm hit bad!’
‘Arrow Two! Arrow Four! The heavies are moving! We're taking fire from the east!’
‘Arrow Two! Respond, please!’
Tracy brought the Dutiful Daughterto a halt at the base of the ridge. She could hear the panic rising in the voices of the cadre apprentices. Ahead, she could see a pillar of smoke where one of the 'Mechs they'd engaged a moment ago was now burning.
And yet..
‘Arrow Two! Arrow Two! Come in. please!’ Thatvoice was touched by stark terror. Who was it... Lannetti?
‘Lannetti! This is Arrow Leader! What's the problem?’
‘Arrow Leader! Dolby's 'Mech is down! I think he's dead!’
Oh. damn...
And with that moment's anguish came a greater one. I've gone and done it again, wandering off on my own after half the Kurita assault force.
She spun the Dutiful Daughterat the base of the ridge and fired her jump jets. In a long, sailing bound, she skimmed to the crest of the ridge.
Smoke choked the sky. where missile trails snarled and tangled amid the pale flash of laser beams. She spotted Dolby's Stinger.collapsed against a boulder on the east slope. Close by, the other Stingerwas holding off a Pantherin an unequal duel that could not last more than a few seconds.
She jumped again, bringing her 'Mech in for an unsteady landing just up the hill from the Panther.Her large laser burned, sloughing half-molten chunks of armor from the Combine Mech's left pauldron and torso plating. The remaining Stingerchose that moment to charge, and Tracy saw the numbers that identified it as Lanneti's Mech. He caught the heavier Pantheras it turned to face its new attacker, colliding with it in a crash that sent the Pantherteetering backward, its feet clawing for a foothold in the loose gravel.
Tracy's second shot tore into wiring and internal structure exposed by the earlier shot. Flame belched, orange against oily black. The 'Mech's head flew apart and its pilot ejected, leaving dead metal burning on the ridge below him.
The heavies were at the base of the ridge to the east, already starting up. Shouting orders, Tracy urged the wavering line of trainee pilots around to face this new threat.
‘We've got to get out of here!’ she heard someone wail.
Tracy was about to respond, but Carolyn Lannetti's voice cut in before she could decide what to say. ‘Stow it and fight, Foster! We've got Tracy back with us and help's on the way! Isn't that right. Tracy?’
‘Right you are. Arrow Five! Move to your left...behind that big rock. Target the Orion!Carolyn...help me with the Dragonon the right...’
Again, white flame speared down the side of the ridge, catching the heavy Kurita Mechs as they began to lumber up the slope. The Dragonlost a right arm and the autocannon it mounted. The Orionwas limping, with black-molten damage showing at its right hip and knee. Unable to get a clear shot, they withdrew again toward the factory buildings across the plain.
Then the pair of Locustson the west gave warning of another charge.
The battle continued that way, with long minutes dragging into an eternity of an hour. The 20 minutes promised by Carlyle had long since gone by, as the Gray Death ran into a heavy concentration of Dieron Regular Mechs somewhere to the west How long it would take to break through this new barrier was anyone's guess, but the Arrows could not hold out much longer. All of the Mechs were redlining their temperature gauges, the heat overloads from continuous weapons fire threatening to shut them all down. The Waspshad long since run out of missile reloads, and enemy fire had smashed Greg Babbage's Locustinto uselessness. The apprentice had escaped from his Mech unharmed, and during a lull, he had managed to pull the bleeding and unconscious Vic Dolby from his crippled Stingerand to drag him to the shelter of an overhanging boulder. The five remaining Mechs flattened out in a close ring, belly-down on the ridgetop. and continued to fire at everything that moved below them.