Johnson nodded, then turned to Justin. "Justin, what are your thoughts about fighting in the Ishiyama for the first time?"
Justin smiled. "I feel quite confident. The labyrinth benefits a tactician, which no one has ever accused Capet of being .. ."
"I've got a surprise or two for you, Xiang!" Capet stood quickly and thrust a finger at his foe. "You may believe yourself my superior in combat, but I've learned many things here on Solaris . . ."
Justin steepled his fingers and sat back. "Have you learned not to blunder into ambushes, Philip?"
Capet shook his head. A camera swung around to get a better shot of his face. "What you did to Armstrong, you will not do to me."
Justin looked up. "I was hardly thinking of that incident, Philip. I referred to Uravan."
A cry of inarticulate rage bubbled from Capet's throat, but Johnson crossed back quickly and interposed himself between the two MechWarriors. He shoved Capet roughly back, then made the mistake of turning to smile at the camera. Capet's punch caught him in the jaw and snapped his head around. Johnson sank to the studio floor without a sound.
Capet straddled the unconscious commentator, but he stared at Justin. "You will be dead, Xiang. Not because I will win the fight, not because my nation demands your death, but because I want to see you dead!" Capet ripped the microphone free of his cooling vest and stalked off the set.
* * *
Justin let the announcer's voice-over fill his neurohelmet as he doublechecked the 'Mech's equipment. "Well, Kevin," the announcer was saying, "that was the most explosive interview you've ever had."
"Yeah."
"How's the jaw?"
Kevin's voice dropped to a low growl. "Hard to describe, Karl, but if you really want to know, maybe we can get Philip Capet to hit you after the fight."
Justin laughed as the announcer carefully nudged the conversation in another direction. The status monitor on his command console confirmed that both large lasers were operational. The auto-cannons appeared to be in fine working order, as were the twin, torso-mounted medium lasers. I must remember to use the cannons sparingly, as I don't have that much ammo for them. I'll only use them when the lasers need to cool down.
The green light on his command console flared to life. Justin smiled as the doors before him slid open and the holo-vision camera across the tunnel focused on his 'Mech. He instantly brought up both of his 'Mech's arms and stepped forward.
Kevin Johnson's voice filled the cockpit. "Well, Karl, do you see that? Xiang's using a Rifleman,just like Capet! This will make for an interesting match. Let's see if we can focus in on the crest there on the 'Mech's chest."
Yes, Kevin, do that. I'm sure your viewers will love it.
"Blake's Blood," Johnson blurted.
"What is it, Kevin?" Karl gasped. "The logo looks like a cartoon ghost to me, with a set of crosshairs surrounding it."
"That Riflemanbelonged to Gray Noton," Johnson replied in a low tone. "Xiang chose it specially for its name."
"Which is?"
Johnson laughed coldly. "Legend-killer. "
Justin killed the commentary and stepped the Riflemanout into the corridor. He turned the ponderous 'Mech to the left and headed up the slight incline. The naturally smooth surfaces of the tunnel walls arced up to meet in a stalactite-festooned roof. Stalagmites and piles of debris from partially collapsed walls or ceiling dotted the tunnel floor, but did not impede the Rifleman'sprogress.
As Justin reached the far end of the tunnel and prepared to follow it around into the switchback on the right, he turned his Mech's vulnerable back to the wall. Sliding the 'Mech sideways, he let the tip of his left-hand guns peek into the corridor. When that drew no fire, Justin worked along until he had a clear view of the new tunnel.
It led up into darkness. As Justin switched over to infrared scanners, he saw a few heat pockets set along the walls ahead, but dismissed them as holovision cameras. Ascending slowly, he reached the crest of the tunnel.
At that point, Justin paused. He saw that the whole left side of this level section of the tunnel was gapped. The pillars formed where stalactites and stalagmites that have flowed together are large enough to hide a 'Mech in profile, but the spaces between them are too narrow to let this monster pass. That means I have to march all the way through this shooting gallery in one burst. I don't like it.
Justin looked up as the IR display revealed red tendrils coiling lazily up through the air at the tunnel's far end. Hello.He snapped both arms forward and waited. The second the swirling communications mount of the Garret Til-A com system came into view, Justin centered his crosshairs. He let them drift down as the other Rifleman'ssilhouette grew like a sailing ship emerging over the horizon. When Capet's canopy bobbed up, Justin let loose.
Cascades of white heat swirled around the ruby shafts of laser lire from the Legend-killer'sarms. One large beam shucked armor from the other Rifleman'sright shoulder. The other bean-stitched a series of small explosions across the 'Mech's left shoulder, blasting chips and chunks of armor into the air. The Legend-killer'smedium lasers also scored the same targets as their larger cousins, spitting more half-melted ceramics onto the tunnel floor. One of the two autocannon bursts tore holes in Ishiyama behind Capet's Rifleman,while the other smashed armor from the 'Mech's right shoulder.
"Damn!" A wave of heat washed over Justin. The 'Mech's heat indicators spiked high into the red zone. This isn't an efficient machine. It vents heat poorly.Justin slapped the manual "shutdown" override with his right hand, then cursed again as Capet backed his Riflemandown the far slope.
Sweat coursed down Justin's face, leaving one droplet suspended from the tip of his nose. He shook his head to flick it off, then studied his heat monitors again. As the Legend-killer'%ten heat sinks vented the excess heat that his firing had created, the monitors slowly sank back down through the red and yellow zones to what MechWarriors often referred to as "green fields."
Justin centered his attention on the far end of the tunnel, but watched for heat or movement through the columns. Seeing nothing, he marched the Legend-killerinto the tunnel. At each of the gray stone pillars, he stopped to wait, but there was no sign of Capet. Though that tunnel was only three hundred meters long, it took Justin fifteen minutes to journey through it.
He smiled as the producer's green light on his console began to blink urgently. Cautiously beginning his descent at the far end of the tunnel, he did his best to ignore it. I don't care if I'm moving too slowly. Just put more advertisements into the program.
The tunnel ended on a ledge midway up the side of a vast crevasse. Its steep sides sloped down for three levels, and were dotted with tunnel mouths on different levels. Justin saw burn marks on a number of them and realized that light, jump-capable 'Mechs could easily cross the opening. Not so, a heavy machine like this.
Above him the stalactite ceiling rose into darkness. Behind and to the left, he saw the pillars of the gallery he'd just traversed. On the opposite side, up above him, he saw a similarly designed tunnel. The crevasse curved back out of sight on the left, but extended straight on the right.
Justin kept the Legend-killer'sback to the tunnel wall and moved laterally along the ledge. Suddenly, Capet's Riflemanappeared in an opening on the opposite wall. Justin smiled as he . brought his weapons into line with the Rifleman,and opened a ra-dio line to Capet. "It's over, Phihp."