Dechan snapped his eyes to the position where he had last seen the Command Lance. Alpin had been in the thick of a battle that had cost him two of his lance. His Thortook a step toward the Thunderbolt.

"What are you doing, you fool?" Parella shouted over the command channel.

"I will fight her. Her death will end this battle sooner," Alpin replied. He sounded eager. "She isthe one who has cost us so much."

"Then clear the line of fire, and we'll all waste her."

"Neg! I forbid it! It's not the Clan way. What would Elson and the Clanners think?"

"Elson would tell you to waste her. There's more battle to fight. There's still Wolf."

The Thorstopped its steady progress toward the Thunderbolt.It seemed to Dechan that Parella's words had struck a chord with Alpin. A hearty laugh cut across the channel. Somehow Maeve had found Gamma's command frequency. Maybe it had been in the transmitted plans. How didn't matter; what she said did.

"Poor little Alpin, maybe you should listen to tough old Parella. But I can tell you what Elson would say. He's a Clanner. He'd tell you that you aren't man enough to do the job."

"Bitch!" Parella screamed as Alpin's Thorlurched forward into a run.

"You're mine!" Alpin screamed, then launched his Thoron a tail of superheated air.

The T-bolt'stop-mounted launcher swiveled, tracking the incoming Omni. A spread of missiles streaked out toward it, but no laser pulse went with them. Those were not standard tactics for a Thunderbolt.Dechan expected the rebel warrior to do all she could at long range, but the big arm-mounted laser was the Thunderbolt'smain gun. If she wasn't using it, it must be damaged.

He admired her courage. Going up against an Omni was tough enough in a fully functioning BattleMech. She must have seen the challenge as the only chance she had to strip the enemy of its leader.

Alpin's own launcher vomited a spray of missiles as the Thorlanded on flexed legs. Charged particles streamed toward the T-bolt.The PPC beam blasted rock from a bunker housing, but missed the racing 'Mech. Missiles crashed around its feet, a good half-dozen cratering leg armor.

The Thorraced after the T-bolt.They were closer now, less than a hundred meters apart. The Thunderboltdodged among the buildings and bunkers, keeping the distance open. Occasionally it appeared, triple lasers flashing out to strike the Thor.Mostly they failed to penetrate, but sometimes one burned away a bit more of the Thor'storso armor. The Thorrained down missiles, doing more damage to the landscape than to the T-bolt.Alpin blasted with his PPC, too, but did more damage to the surrounding buildings than to Maeve's 'Mech. He did score occasionally, though, tearing away chunks of armor.

Slowly the Thorworked its way closer to the T-bolt.Still relying on the Thunderbolt'smissiles for her big punch, Maeve fired her launcher again and again, the missiles striking with little spread, suggesting that the T-boltmight be armed with a Clan-tech launcher. Dechan realized that Maeve's Thunderboltwas not an Inner Sphere model and wondered if Alpin had noticed the discrepancies. Perhaps she was not so desperate as he'd first thought.

Alpin's PPC caught the Thunderbolt'sleft leg. The weakened armor over the shin gave way, exposing tatters of pale myomer. Electrical discharges sparked and crawled along the exposed structural members. The

Thor'sautocannon fired, its cluster rounds cratering openings in the T-bolt'supper torso. Missiles screamed in, impacting all along the Thunderbolt'sleft side. The blocky 'Mech staggered away, placing a brick structure between it and the oncoming Omni before crashing down. Alpin closed in for the kill.

By the time he came around the corner, the Thunderbolthad gathered itself into a crouch. The 'Mech was clearly mauled, its right arm lifting out toward the advancing Thoras if in supplication for mercy. Alpin raised his own 'Mech's right arm, its PPC crackling with the sparks one sometimes sees before the capacitor discharged.

The Thunderbolt'slaser fired in eye-searing pulses, the beam striking just beneath the Thor'smissile rack. Armor bubbled and flowed, exposing the inner structure to the laser's ravening hunger. The Thordoubled over at the waist like a man kicked in the belly as the launcher ammunition exploded. Flames and smoke shot from the 'Mech's back as the CASE safety system released most of the devastating force. But it was too little, too late for the Thor.

The explosion had gutted most of its interior. Its left arm tumbled away, the autocannon coughing unaimed fire for a second before its ammo cooked off as well. Through the smoke the victorious Thunderboltrose on jump jets of its own.

It came down behind the stricken Omni, its left arm raised. Slamming the limb down, Maeve forced Al-pin's Thorto its knees. The Omni landed hard, rocking back and forth. The Thunderbolt'sright arm swung around, caving in the armor protecting the Thor'sshoulder coupling, then sliding up to crash against the cockpit housing. The Omni canted over and crashed to the ground on its left side.

The Thunderboltreached down and dug its mechanical fingers into the armor below the Thor'scockpit.

Smoke poured from within as the armor peeled away. Maeve tossed the canopy away and, in a dazzling display of BattleMech control, reached into the open cockpit and delicately lifted out her defeated opponent.

Then she lifted her Thunderbolt'sarm high and held up the limp and bleeding form of Alpin Wolf for all to see.

50

Even though Jamison was holding back, Elson decided that the assault was going well. The threat of Zeta's assault 'Mechs was enough for now. Nichole was proving reluctant to fully commit her forces, but that was not a serious problem, either; Wolf's main forces were engaged north of her. Epsilon remained a threat to the rebels, tying down badly needed forces. Sometimes threats could be as good as the presence of frontline troops; certainly they forced a poorly supplied commander to spread his forces thin. Such a commander simply couldn't know where his enemy would come from.

Elson wished he could be sure that Wolf was in the position of the befuddled commander. The theft of the battle plan from the main tactical computer at Wolf Hall and its subsequent transmission was distressing, but there was no evidence that Wolf had received the transmission. Certainly, there'd been no drastic change in the battlefield activity of his troops, no sudden shifts to hit vulnerable points in the attacker's forces, such as could be expected if Wolf had access to their plans. Even with Nichole's reluctance, the battle was proceeding as Elson had anticipated; he had not been expecting much from her Epsilon Regiment anyway.

Under the pressure from Beta and Gamma Regiments, Wolf's forces were collapsing. And despite Alpin's interference, Parella was making progress against the Spider's Web Battalion and the Home Guard forces supporting it. Fancher's Mech Warriors had routed the Home Guard in Green Sector and were in pursuit of the ragged remains of Battlegroup B. Of the rebel forces, only Wolf's Elemental units remained uncommitted. Earlier in the conflict, they had shown themselves more effective than Elson had expected, making lightning raids up and down the front, but today's battle had yet to see them on any front. Wolf's options were diminishing quickly.

It was time to strike the final blow.

Elson reached up and lowered the lid of his battle armor suit. The soft hiss of the seals engaging was comforting. As his displays came online, varicolored lights glowed to life in the darkness of the helmet. The systems check was positive. He stepped out, the other four members of his Point falling in behind him.