"This is the morning when all we have worked for will come to pass," Khan Alpin began. "Wolf's force is on the ropes. Early this morning Zeta Battalion arrived onplanet in support of the rightful succession. Jaime Wolf and his followers are doomed. Already the forces blocking our progress in Green Sector are in retreat. Already the lead elements of Gamma Regiment are moving into position for the final assault.

"Soon you will be moving out." Groans and complaints filled the tent. Kappa had been promised a day's rest. "I know it is much to ask, but I also know you are warriors and so will understand. We must rise to this effort and strike now. We must strike hard and fast. I expect no less from the warriors of Kappa Battalion. I will meet you on the other side and we will walk the honor road together.

"Seyla!"

There was a courier waiting for Dechan with a sealed packet of orders when the broadcast ended. The last mouthful of oatmeal went down hard, plummeting into his stomach to sit like a lump of lead as he read the orders.

Dechan saw immediately what his unit had been saved for. Gamma Regiment was to open a breach in Wolf's line, then wheel right. As they advanced, a gap between Gamma's left flank and Epsilon's right would appear. Kappa was to move through that gap, flanking the enemy Battlegroup M. Once past the forward battle area, they were to race for the Tetsuhara Proving Grounds and occupy its command center before Wolf's forces could retreat there.

Tetsuhara Proving Ground. Tetsuhara.The name was back to haunt him. Outreach wasn't cold like Misery, but their objective would provide its own misery. The proving ground was full of automated defenses, and Dechan was sure Wolf would have them operating. The place would be a maze of booby traps. Those defenses might have been designed simply to test warriors, but he was sure they were also capable of lethal force. Even the promised artillery support of Fire Support Battalion wouldn't make it much easier, if they ever got such support. Kappa Battalion was being assigned a mission of unusual lethality.

So much for Elson's promises of a place in the Dragoons. Maybe in the Dragoons' cemetery.

Then again, maybe this was the Elemental's way of making Dechan and his warriors prove that they were truly Dragoon material, that they were strong enough for what Elson had in mind. Taking the proving ground wouldn't be easy, but it would be a vital stroke. If they could take the control center before Wolf's forces got there, the campaign would be over quickly. The proving ground control complex was the last defensible position for an organized force. Without it, Wolf would have to surrender or go guerrilla. If he took the latter course, his bid to retake control of the Dragoons was finished. Dragoon custom demanded that challenges to Trials be fought as stand-up combats.

Dechan shoved aside his concerns in the work of getting the battalion ready to roll.

Despite his fears, the initial advance met with little resistance, because Wolf's forces were far too busy elsewhere. The arrival of Zeta Battalion on Alpin's side had shifted the balance. Jamison was even claiming that they had killed Jaime Wolf, but the cohesiveness of the enemy forces put the lie to that. Though reeling from the hammer blows of Beta and Gamma Regiments' assaults, Wolf's troops were pulling back in good order. The only place Alpin's forces weren't advancing was in Blue Sector, where Epsilon Regiment was still in place. The Kuritans had blunted Epsilon's attack, taking minimal losses.

Nichole pulled Epsilon back to its jump-off position, ceasing offensive operations and informing the commanders of the attacking forces that the battle plan had been transmitted to Wolf. Dechan failed to get through to Alpin or Elson for confirmation, but Alpin responded to Nichole's assertion with a commanders-only broadcast admitting that the satellite destruction earlier that morning had been Fleet Captain Chandra delivering on her promise to eliminate any satellites used by the combatants. He pointed out Beta's and Gamma's success, but never actually denied Nichole's statement about the battle plan having been given away. Dechan took the failure to deny it as an admission that Nichole was right, at least partially.

But despite the intelligence coup by Jaime Wolf's partisans, Alpin's attack was proceeding well. The enemy was falling back on two fronts, converging on the Tetsuhara Proving Ground. The proving ground was where Jaime Wolf had put spine into the lords of the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere. There, with staged tests and contests, he had shown them and their gullible children how to stand up to the fierce warriors of the marauding Clans. For Wolf, the proving ground had been the place where the Inner Sphere's answer to the Clan invasion had begun. Unless Wolf had some surprises in store, it would be the place where his answer to Alpin and Elson ended.

Kappa Battalion reached the outer boundaries almost on schedule, still ahead of the retreating Battle-group M. But less than a hundred meters past the boundary marker, Kappa's advance slowed when a Vindicatordetonated an unexploded shell or a mine. Kappa moved on, leaving the Vindicator'spilot to contemplate his footless 'Mech. But they moved slower.

The proving ground was a huge area with a wide variety of terrains, simulated structures, and clusters of buildings. Dechan kept Kappa moving cautiously, not wishing to lose any more 'Mechs to unnecessary damage. The flash and rumble of battle to the northeast grew closer as they probed to find the headquarters' location, a detail curiously missing from the maps provided them.

The lance scouting Dechan's right flank reported seeing 'Mechs and armor approaching from the battle. He ordered a halt and moved his lance over to investigate. The scouts were correct; the first elements of

Wolf's forces were arriving. Dechan directed his battalion to take up positions across their line of retreat. Then they sat and waited.

The lead hovertank must have had an active probe. Just out of missile range, it swerved and headed back to its fellows. The rest changed course as well, ducking into a simulated town. Dechan held his unit in place, refusing a request to flush the tankers with a probe by a light lance.

Battlegroup M was coming, with at least a battalion of Gamma Regiment in hot pursuit. The enemy forces were executing a classic leapfrog retreat, using alternate fire and movement with precision and elan. Fascinated, Dechan watched his commo officer make tentative identification of the battlegroup's leader from the radio activity. That commander was piloting a Thunderbolt,fighting with admirable efficiency while simultaneously controlling her troops' retreat. It was a bravura performance.

The main body of the opposition had almost reached the town when a fresh charge erupted from Gamma's lines. Heavy 'Mechs led the way, taking the punishment that Wolf's people were dishing out and sending it right back. In the forefront of the charge was a Star of OmniMechs. Dechan only knew of one unit in Alpin's forces that was organized that way: Alpin's own Command Lance. The Khan had come to settle matters personally.

A close-fighting melee developed on the outskirts of the town. Wolf's troops fought hard, but they were outnumbered and the outcome seemed inevitable. Then, in one of those lulls that unaccountably occur in battle, a 'Mech stepped into the open. The battered Thunderboltraised its arms and spread them wide.

"I, Maeve of the Wolf Pack, make my challenge!" The pilot's voice boomed out on external speakers and a spread of open frequencies. "I challenge the leader of the usurpers to meet me. Alpin Wolf, are you a coward that you will not face the one who has held you at bay for a month? Are you afraid of a warrior with no surname?"