The Hornetwas a mere twenty-ton BattleMech, the lightest of our opponents. The Elementals didn't fare so well against the bigger machines, whose armor withstood their attacks long enough for a beleaguered 'Mech to free itself or have a comrade come to the rescue.
The surprise attack of the Elementals gave my battlegroup a chance to collect our wits. Seeing the Elementals throw the Betas into such confusion gave us enough hope that we rallied. When we saw that the armored troopers had exhausted their missiles, we charged. We pushed hard, but not hard enough to knock Beta out of the fight.
I saw Hans Vordel's Victortake a hit from a 200-millimeter autocannon in the midst of a punishing salvo of missiles. The eighty-ton 'Mech shivered under the impact, then froze. I thought the old beast had only shut down from overheat and shifted my Lokiin its direction, hoping to provide cover so the enemy wouldn't rip it apart before the pilot could restart the fusion reactor. I hadn't covered fifty meters before the Victorshuddered again. The oscillations increased with frightening speed, and then the 'Mech's right arm disintegrated in a shower of shrapnel. The machine toppled backward, twisting to fall on its left side. Even amid the roar of combat, I heard the thunder of its fall. Searing beams reached for the fallen 'Mech, ravening over its surface and boring into the gaps in its armor. It blew apart as one of those beams found its ammunition bay and the remaining missiles detonated in a storm of fire. I throttled back. There was nothing I could do for the fallen warrior. I sent one of his killers a beam from the seven-centimeter laser in the Loki'sright arm and retreated. Warriors in my battlegroup were still fighting and they needed me more than did the dead man.
I didn't take too much damage escaping from Vor-del's slayers. They pulled back when I ran through a position held by our Elementals, allowing me to rejoin one of my lances.
I moved the remnants of the battlegroup into an area of low gravel mounds near the remains of the processing machinery, a position that gave us a commanding view of the highway leading south into the heart of the Tetsuhara Proving Ground. Somewhere down that road lay the Colonel's command post and the last of our reserves. Further down and away to the east, Maeve was leading the resistance to Gamma Regiment's advance. The jamming we were using against the enemy was also preventing us from keeping in close communication with our scattered forces. I prayed she was doing better than I was.
Down among the gullies, Beta was gaining the upper hand. I watched as a pair of heavy 'Mechs ganged up on a Wolfhound.The pilot in the light 'Mech fought back valiantly for the two minutes it took his bigger opponents to burn, crater, and crack enough armor to expose the Wolfhound'sinner structure. I saw the pilot eject just before the smaller of the two heavies slammed into his 'Mech.
I intercepted a tight-beam communications laser between two of Beta Regiment's units flanking our position. The sender was reporting what I already knew: BattleMechs were approaching from the heart of the Tetsuhara Proving Ground, Wolf Pack 'Mechs. The Wolf himself was coming.
* * *
If Wolf was coming out of hiding, the decisive battle was underway. Elson only wished that the battle was unfolding as he had planned rather than as Wolf had. But there was no use in complaining, or cursing. The jamming made coordinating the attacking forces impossible; only direct action could shift the initiative back in his favor.
The 'Mech battle was several kilometers away, but there was no choice but to continue toward it. He urged his troopers to greater speed. Elementals launched on steamy clouds to go bounding away across the plain, following the trail of the Beta 'Mechs.
Elson hoped they would reach the battlefield in time to make a difference.
* * *
The arms of Alicia Fancher's Gladiatormoved in an awkward parody of a traffic cop. Without reliable radio communications, she was using hand signals from her 'Mech to direct her units. It was moderately effective, as long as her MechWarriors remembered to make visual checks on their commander. At least one company responded to her attempts; they headed out to block Colonel Wolf's advance.
But such a mechanism required her to expose her position, allowing us to see her, too. With most of the battlegroup well out of effective range, she was relatively safe until some of our 'Mechs could get closer.
Rand's Mongooseflashed from among the buttes, leading the remains of her company. There were only six of them, all lights and mediums and all damaged, but they raced brazenly toward Fancher's 100-ton monster. Firing on the run, they didn't score as many hits as they might have, but they distracted Fancher nevertheless. She retreated from her hilltop. Rand's crew closed in, spreading out to ring the Gladiator.It was a rash maneuver; once Fancher's support arrived, Rand would only prove that light BattleMechs could not stand against heavies and assaults. But Rand had been fighting the whole battle as if she had something to prove.
I had no time to worry about her. The Colonel's force was engaging the company sent to stop him and he needed help. I backed my Lokidown a few meters until I reached a point where I could turn it around. The other warriors followed me down the hillside.
We reached level ground in time to see the company from Beta recoiling from the Colonel's 'Mechs. The Beta machines were heavily damaged and the onrushing opponents were barely scratched. There were more Wolf Pack machines than I expected, and it took me a moment to realize that the Kuritans were accompanying the Colonel. No wonder the Beta company had taken it so hard.
This first skirmish for our reserves would not be the whole battle. Colonel Wolf had clearly staked his chance of winning this battle on success here on the northern flank. Pulling the Kuritans up here jeopardized the whole defense by stripping the southern flank of its mobile element. If Nichole's Epsilon Regiment stayed put, we might be all right. If not, we were lost.
Either way, we were committed.
* * *
An Elemental vaporized in the ravening hell of a PPC beam.
Elson sent his last two SRMs at the killer Clint.One punched into the 'Mech's left shoulder, and the other dug a bright metal scar into the Clint'supper right chest. A bad spread, but at least both missiles had scored.
In open terrain, Elementals were rarely a match for MechWarriors who knew what they were doing. These rebels were no fools. They kept their distance, forcing the Elementals to keep moving or die. Some choice. Even moving, Elementals went down, pounded by weapons with greater range.
The end of the jamming made coordinating his Stars easier. It also made it easier to hear their dying screams.
A laser blasted the ground at his feet. Elson shifted away, ready to fire his jump jets, but another beam caught the battle armor just above the knee. Pain screamed through his leg, but the suit was already pumping healing gel in to flood the area, soothing the pain. Heat flooded him, and he cursed. The suit's automatic damage control was taking over, its auto-injector had just filled his veins with the nerve dead-eners and synthetic adrenaline that Elementals called hero juice.