Ranna, standing behind Phelan's position on the couch, rested her hands on his shoulders. "He expected, with the little shots, to goad you into attacking the building. You crash into it, he jumps clear, then uses his laser ..."

"... or his SRM launcher to start the whole thing off." Phelan shuddered, then looked up with a smile as Ranna gave his shoulders a squeeze.

"That explosion would have been more than enough to severely damage your Mercury"she said. "Dropping the rest of the building on top of you would have ensured your death."

"You would have been baked alive." Natasha's voice rang with horror. "Normally an Elemental would not dare even enter the melee for a Bloodright on a non-Elemental Bloodname. Still, the name for which you fight is so valued that everyone wants to try. Besides, Edick did well in the early going."

Phelan agreed. "He defeated as many as I had."

'True, Phelan, but the luck of the Bloodright had a big part in that, I think. The damnable thing is that Elementals cannot allow themselves to fight fairly. Inferno rockets and exploding buildings are hardly the way to battle for a Bloodname."

Phelan frowned. "Edick had to do something. If he had fought me out in the open, I would have splattered him."

"Agreed, which is why he should have waited for an Elemental Bloodright to become available. He gambled big and lost bigger."

The sudden opening of the door to Phelan's room brought an abrupt end to Natasha's comments. Phelan jerked to his feet as ilKhan Ulric entered. All three of the room's occupants remained at attention until Ulric closed the door behind him. "At ease," he said, giving them a smile.

Phelan and Ranna brought their hands around to the small of their backs, while Natasha dropped into a chair and reached for the beer she'd been drinking. "Forgive me for saying so, ilKhan, but you look like a man who's been through a battle."

"Battle? Try campaign." The ilKhan leaned forward, letting his hands rest on the back of the chair beside Natasha. "The Jade Falcons are doing their best to make up for Twycross, while the Nova Cats and Smoke Jaguars are trying to recoup their losses from the siege of Luthien. The Ghost Bears, Steel Vipers, and Diamond Sharks just want to reach parity with the rest of us-, and everyone wants to tear their advantages out of Clan Wolf."

"Diamond Sharks? I did not know they were with the invasion force."

Ulric shrugged. "The Council decided that the battle was significant enough to warrant the activation of additional Clan forces." He waved a hand toward the couch. "Please, sit." He glanced at the bottle Natasha was holding. "Phelan, would you happen to have another of those?"

Phelan smiled and knelt beside the small refrigerator on which the holovid viewer sat. "It's Timbiqui dark. Ragnar scrounged it planetside while I was raising arson to a new height on Lothan. It is an import from over near the Free Worlds League border." He shrugged sheepishly. "It was the beer of choice at the Nagelring."

"Anything that will cut the sour taste in my mouth will be most welcome." Ulric accepted the bottle and twisted the cap off. He drank, then closed his eyes and relaxed. "This is good. Remind me to take this world."

Natasha leaned over on the right arm of her chair. The chair's white leather padding set off the black of her jumpsuit as she drew her legs up. "So did you manage to hash out the troop assignments for the battle with ComStar?"

Ulric's head came forward and his eyes opened with a flash of blue. "I told them that I believed twenty-five Galaxies would be an appropriate response to ComStar's pledge of fifty regiments. That would be three Galaxies apiece, with the extra four going to the Wolf Clan by rights."

Natasha nodded in agreement. "Of course."

"That started a firestorm. I immediately bid away two of those extra Galaxies, but the others pressed for more concessions. Quite correctly, they perceived my desire to win the battle and they moved to blunt it. I have been forced to hold all Wolf Clan troops in reserve for the first five days of battle." Ulric's grim smile sent a chill down Phelan's spine. "They Wanted us out for two weeks, but I managed to whittle it down to five days."

"As if the battle for Tukayyid would last two weeks,"

Natasha scoffed. "Though I would relish the landing, I think being able to pick out fights after the battle lines have solidified is not a bad thing."

Ulric shook his head. "The problem is that those idiots then started bidding among themselves for the right to be the first to land. The Smoke Jaguars won that right, but I believe they sacrificed too much to do so. The others have nothing but contempt for ComStar because of its pacifistic message and they believe they will roll over Focht's forces with ease. They have discounted the dangers of the ComStar air, armor, and artillery assets. I am fairly certain, in fact, that Star Colonels and Star Captains will bid among themselves and further dilute their strength."

Phelan did not like the implication of the ilKhan's words or weary tone. "We will defeat ComStar, quiaff?I mean I have heard, all my life, strange stories about ComStar and their hidden 'Mech assets, but I have never seen anything to prove they have fifty regiments. What are the chances Focht was bluffing?"

"I have no way of knowing, which should serve as an answer to both of your questions." Ulric took another pull on the beer. "You created the briefing report on Focht and you know the way other battles have gone with the opposition we face. If Focht does have fifty regiments to oppose us, that is almost four thousand 'Mechs. If we start with the twenty-five Galaxies we are committing, less the five Galaxies of Wolves, we'll be giving them a thousand-'Mechs advantage on the first day. If we assume air, armor, and artillery units on each side balance out, our force is still only 71 percent of their force."

Planting elbows on knees, Ranna leaned forward. "Each one of our 'Mechs will have to kill 1.3 ComStar 'Mechs just to keep us even. Of course, this is predicated on full deployment, but we know the other Clans will bargain down some of their strength. The Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats never even approached that kill ratio on Luthien."

Natasha chuckled slowly. "I don't see why you are all worried. Let the others make fools of themselves on the first day. I have hated ComStar since the first time I dealt with one of those sycophant Acolytes in negotiating a contract for the Dragoons. That is enough to sustain me and make sure the Guards destroy whatever they face."

She shot a quick glance at Ulric. "The Guards aregoing to fight, quiaff?"

"Aff, Natasha, aff." Ulric held his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I am not mad. I know that if I did not include the Guards, you would bargain your way into the invasion force. I would much rather have you with me than against me."

The ilKhan looked over at Phelan. "Enough of this talk, however, for I did not come here to discuss this news. I came to congratulate Phelan on winning his fourth battle to claim his Bloodright."

"Thank you, my Khan." Phelan had something even more important on his mind, however. "If we are to fight on Tukayyid in two weeks, will the final battle be held before or after the fight with ComStar?"

"After, I am afraid."

"Afraid? I do not understand."

The ilKhan's voice dropped almost to a whisper. "It is possible that you or your foe in the finals might be killed in the fighting. I urge you to be careful and watch your back."