He ran toward the sound of gunfire.

The door to the generator's control chamber was open when he reached it. He went in low, intending to roll into a firing position. He froze.

It was too late.

ComStar guards had weapons trained on him. They were very nervous. One attended to an acolyte who had been shot in the leg. The female commando and Stanford Blake lay in separate pools of blood that were slowly spreading toward each other.

"Drop your weapon," a guard ordered.

Michi complied.

Stanford Blake had managed to transmit the plans for Elson's final assault. Jaime Wolf would have the information he needed to unhinge those plans. Michi's part in this was over.

He fainted.

48

As I had feared, Ansell's men had been conserving their ammunition for a reason. Two days later, as our last units were moving into night laager, a bombardment began. Radar and telemetry interception told us that Arrow missile systems were being used to supplement the normal artillery, which meant that Fire Support Battalion had been brought in. At that time, they were the only Dragoon unit with that kind of firepower. Elson was getting serious.

Reports began to come in from the Home Guard units holding the front. A major attack was developing on the hinge between Twelfth and Fourteenth Armored. Elson's BattleMech forces were pushing into the gap to take advantage of the split in command zones.

"Unity! Zeta better get here soon," Grant said.

I didn't bother to answer him. Whether Zeta arrived or not, we had a lot to do. I was sure that there was action all along the front, though I had heard nothing from the other battlegroups.

Our first contact with the enemy came shortly after midnight, just outside the mock village of Potterdam. A short lance of three BattleMechs was moving along the dry river course. They were well ahead of the furthest reported thrust and that wasn't good. There being only three, we hu; them hard. I didn't want them around if there were more hostiles on the way, and our numerical superiority made taking them out easy. One blew apart in an ammunition explosion created by several volleys of missiles. The second was crippled, and the third broadcast his surrender and popped his hatch after taking cover from our onslaught. They called themselves members of Iota Battalion, but they were just hired guns. I called base to send a fast hovercraft out with one of our dismounted jocks; we could use the mere's 'Mech.

The merc was talkative. He confirmed that Elson and Fancher were the commanders in this part of the front. He also told us that another 'Mech unit, Kappa -Battalion, had been transferred to Orange Sector. It had to be the unit that recon had spotted in reserve during the early phases. Fancher wasn't the sort to weaken her command just before a major offensive. If she had dispensed with a unit now, it was likely because the main thrust would be falling elsewhere. Sending reinforcements to Alpin's forces in Orange Sector, where Maeve was defending, suggested that Alpin was leading the principal attack.

We pressed on.

Fourteenth Armored's command was in turmoil. Most of their tanks were out of commission, but they had succeeded in relinking with Twelfth Armored. Twelfth was in better shape but not by much. Beta Regiment had come forward and was pounding on the tankers. Our strategy of isolation and traps was faltering against this strategy of vigorous assault. It wouldn't be long before the enemy 'Mechs crumbled our shaky defense.

I sent my battlegroup in to blunt a thrust that was probing along Fourteenth Armored's right flank. If that flank came unglued, Alpin's troopers would have an open field and be able to slice through our scattered infantry positions and into Orange Sector behind Maeve's lines. The battlegroup turned back the enemy 'Mechs, but had to withdraw when Stars of Elementals were spotted moving into attack position along a ridgeline.

I gave the order to fall back.

On the way to our second line, I was able to break through to the Colonel. He assured me that Maeve was aware of our new position. She was under heavy pressure from Parella's Gamma Regiment, but so far had managed to hold them off by constantly shifting her battlegroup to where the fighting was hottest. I knew what a toll this must be taking on the Spider's Web; they wouldn't be able to keep up that pace forever.

There had been no sign of the Kappa Battalion in that sector.

Over in Blue Sector, there had still been no major engagements, but that was likely to change soon. The Kuritans were moving to counter a two-battalion thrust by Epsilon.

"We're doing fine," the Colonel assured me. I wanted to believe him.

I knew that BattleMech combat was not the drawn-out affair that had been a soldier's lot for so much of history. 'Mech battles couldn't be sustained for long periods of time. Too many machines carried limited supplies of ammunition, and lost effectiveness when those were gone. Even 'Mechs armed exclusively with energy weapons had limited duration; the combat was too brutal and even a BattleMech's armor can take only so much punishment. And the machines were too expensive, too hard to replace. Once a warrior's machine got mauled, he pulled out, if he was smart. Refitted and resupplied, he'd be a threat again; staying in was just asking for death.

So the battles ebbed and flowed, rarely seeing the commitment of all a unit's forces. With each engagement, the 'Mechs would be worn down and the forces would grow smaller. We had to put our warriors in more often and that worried me. People wore down, too. Tired people make mistakes, and the price of a mistake on the battlefield is often paid for with lives.

And so it went. Like Maeve's, my battlegroup rushed back and forth plugging holes in the line and sideswiping the units that managed to punch through our positions. The tankers had the hardest job. Less mobile than the 'Mechs, they had to do an infantryman's job and hold ground. There were times I wished we had infantry, that I could pull the tanks back and regroup them for a counterattack, but the arid wastelands of Green Sector were not an infantryman's terrain. An armored Elemental's, maybe, but I didn't have any under my command.

I couldn't complain about the troops that I did command. They were magnificent. What had begun as a motley group of old warriors, trainees, and sibkids had become a lean, hard machine. It gave me a glimpse of what the old Dragoons must have been, what the Colonel had wanted from the new ones. I was damned proud to be part of it.

As rough as the fighting was, I'd begun to believe that the Colonel was right, that we were doing all right. Then recon reported DropShips landing on the left flank: three LeopardClass and two Unions.'Mech transports. I feared the merc we had captured had lied to us, and we had just found the missing Kappa Battalion.

I ordered the battlegroup disengaged, taking Grant with me. Our two-'Mech Command Lance was going to be more useful in the field than in the command camp. It took us time, too much time, to cross behind Twelfth Armored. The newly arrived 'Mechs would be deployed and moving before we could get to them.

When we came in sight of the distant Luma Mountains that owned the skyline on the far side of Grem-mer Canyon, we got the updated scout reports. The new force had deployed and was moving toward us. They had passed at least two bunker complexes without opening fire. I knew why the men in the bunkers hadn't opened up; there were too few, having been intended mostly as an outpost screen to watch moving hostiles and report positions. But the 'Mechs? That confused me.

Dust announced their arrival well before we could actually spot them, even at maximum magnification. The size of the cloud meant at least two companies, probably more.