When the Jade Falcon forces came to a rest, Joanna noted that they were only about twenty kilometers from where they had originally landed. Making a quick check of the terrain maps, she saw that, after coming within twenty kilometers of their objectives, they were now fifty kilometers away. Joanna did not want to be the one who would have to take the blame for the failure of the march toward glory.

Fortunately, miraculously, the Falcon Guards had not suffered serious casualties. Some 'Mech armor had been chipped and gouged away, some weapons had overheated and required immediate repair, and most of the 'Mechs needed some internal tinkering, but the Falcon Guards had come through the ComStar counterattack better than most of the other Jade Falcon units.

Aside from MechWarrior Faulk, the warrior injured earlier, three Falcon Guards were listed as missing in action. Lamentably, this trio included the Cluster commander and namesake of "Pryde's Pride." No matter that Joanna had despised Aidan Pryde for so many years, she sincerely hoped that it was not the cowardly ComStar strategy that had done him in.

* * *

The laborious movement of an underwater 'Mech was agonizing, stultifying even, made more so by the swirling, rushing waters of the Prezno River. Yet no BattleMech could move efficiently under even the calmest of waters. Rather, the 'Mech became as clumsy and slow as someone sadly out of shape trying to relearn an old physical exercise.

The river worked in their favor, however, speeding their progress. Even at these depths the rapid currents of Prezno River buffeted the two 'Mechs along with a force that Aidan felt even in his cockpit. With the turmoil of the waters keeping the riverbed stirred up, he could see little of it. He would not have been sure they were getting anywhere, no matter what his sensors revealed, were it not for the light projecting from Horse's cockpit. It poured steadily forth, illuminating the riverbank to their left. The blobs that swam in and out of the murky luminescence were, Aidan assumed, various types of underwater creatures. In the distorted light, none of them looked anything like fish.

Soon enough the two and a half kilometers had been covered. Looking toward the bank of the river, Aidan saw that it had just enough slope to permit a 'Mech to gain footing and push upward. His first try failed, however, and the Timber Wolfsettled back into the water. How he wished he could use the jump jets underwater, but water entering the intakes would make the 'Mech explode. Patiently, laboriously, he tried once more. This time he broke surface, gained a foothold on the slope, and pulled himself and his 'Mech out of the river. Horse followed soon after.

Everything seemed quiet at this part of the river. Looking back upstream, they could see the smoke and river-steam completely obscuring the battle.

"Things look bad," Aidan commented.

"I take it that we are not returning to that!"

"No, we want to be brave, but not suicidal. We will run along the flank, see what we can do, and try to rejoin the Falcon Guards."

"I hope the Guards have come out of this better than the Twelfth did."

"Senza Oriega was a great warrior, but she was a fool."

"Fool? Arrogant, perhaps, even rude, but a fool?"

"She led her command into total disaster."

Horse paused for a moment, giving Aidan a hard stare. "Do not forget that it was you agitating for the right to be first over the bridge. Instead of calling Senza Oriega a fool, you might say that she took the bullet that was meant for you."

* * *

Diana could not explain the inner emptiness she felt. When night fell and Aidan Pryde was still listed as missing, she began to fear that he was a definite casualty of the battle of Robyn's Crossing. Had she been wrong to withhold her identity from him? It had seemed the best course while he was still alive, but now she wished for a chance to reconsider.

So many had been lost at Robyn's Crossing that her father and the others were only a fraction of the casualties. Yet his deeds had been memorable, and many warriors spoke of them all through the encampment. If he had died, his death was one worthy of a warrior.

Then Joanna came to her with the news that Aidan Pryde had survived, that he had just now rejoined the Falcon Guards.

Diana stayed her distance, disturbed by how relieved she was to see this stranger who was her father alive. She watched him move here and there through the camp, speaking with many of the warriors, reviving their spirits and in turn receiving their respect.

Diana was sure that after this night the nickname "Pryde's Pride" would stick, at least among the Falcon Guards themselves. She wondered whether she, too, might become Pryde's pride if she were to reveal to him their blood tie. Probably not, she told herself. Anyway, she had already lost the urge to tell him.

29

As Aidan had told Horse, the way of the Clan was not particularly subtle, but he had to admit that the shape of the events following the destruction of Robyn's Crossing and Plough Bridge were taking on a subtle shading. Prezno River became a powerful symbol for the officers of the Falcon command group. In the war councils, he could hear in his fellow warriors' words that the river was no longer a mere body of water. It had begun to represent the fight for Tukayyid itself. The river's roiling surface and strong current were like the ComStar artillery barrages that lay ahead, with their apparently endless supply of ammunition. Its murky depths reflected all the tricks and deceptions of ComStar strategy. A jutting branch could pierce a warrior's back like a ComStar ambush, river debris swim in and around him like darting ComStar light 'Mechs. Moving slowly, a warrior became an even better target for the enemy.

Aidan wanted to berate his fellow warriors for their attributing human motives to the river. It is just a river, he wanted to say, just water and the ordinary elements found in water. There was no reason to invest the river with mystery. Symbolism was an Inner Sphere style of thinking. He should know, having read enough of their books in his time.

And yet the river did seem to have turned against them. Ever since the destruction of the bridges, several units had tried to discover places where it was possible to ford the river. Each attempt had ended in failure and, frequently, disaster. The few BattleMechs that made it partway into the river at relatively shallow points were almost immediately swept up by the swift currents and knocked downstream. Some of them came out of the river in a battered condition, some were never heard from again. There were already rumors that recon planes had spotted pieces of 'Mechs, seat cushions, interior paneling, myomer bundles, and the like crowded into river inlets, looking like sewer debris.

The only aspect of the battle going well for Clan Jade Falcon were the assaults of their aerofighters, many of which had successfully strafed Com Guard 'Mechs and vehicles. The ComStar air arm had become surprisingly quiescent, and the only aerofighters that had been spotted were staying away from the obviously superior Jade Falcon aircraft. Most of the successful air activity took place beyond the river. Near the riverbanks the Com Guard forces delivered fierce attacks and counterattacks.

With the ComStar barrage temporarily halted and its aerofighters out of action, the calm night hid the ravages suffered by ithe countryside of Prezno Plain. Only the smells of scorched armor, cordite, and the faint metallic odors of overheated BattleMechs suggested the scale and scope of the battle that had so recently taken place there.

When Aidan could not bear to listen to any more folderol, he asked to address the council. Though he sensed the disapproval of the other Clan commanding officers, he strode forward.