"Yes, sir." Gesicki hesitated. "I only meant that my scouts are willing to stay in the field until time to withdraw."

"Understood, Precentor. The time is now. We do not want them there to be spotted as the Falcons advance. When the Falcons hit your first line, I want them to be surprised."

"That they will, Precentor Martial. Pulling them out now, sir."

"Very good. Remember, the White Lions must play with the Clans the way a cat would harass a dog. Strike, hiss, appear bigger than you are, then leap away. Make them devote resources to strikes that generate no return."

Focht broke the communication by reaching up and pulling down the zoetrope. It spun around him until he selected a gray frame. With a few simple hand motions, he selected it and made it hang unsupported in the blue sky over the Przeno. The individual trapped therein looked up from a computer terminal.

"At your service, Precentor Martial."

"I need some things double-checked, Hettig." Focht opened his arms. "I have the Jade Falcons down on Przeno Plain. The Smoke Jaguars have landed in the Dinju Mountains and the Racice Delta. The Diamond Sharks are in the Kozice Valley, the Ghost Bears have hit both Spanac and Luk while the Nova Cats are down at Joje, Tost, and Lo-sije."

"Correct, sir," replied the commtech. "The Steel Vipers are on an incoming vector that looks to put them at Hladno Springs in an hour. Our forces there have been alerted."

"Excellent. Anything from Brzo or Skupo?"

"No, sir. Looks like the Wolves have not taken the bait."

Focht frowned because he could not believe Ulric would decline his open invitation to attack at those two sites. He had placed his 66th and his 278th divisions there and let Ulric know they were two of the best the Com Guards had to offer. Focht was certain the Com Guards could hold their own against the Clan Wolf Warriors if they adhered to his strategy.

"Judge not so quickly, Hettig. Have you any indication that the Wolves have committed? Have all DropShips been successfully monitored and tagged?"

Hettig's face darkened with a scowl. "If the Clans have anything on this world that we don't know about, I'll offer to fight them with a can-opener."

"You need not take such a drastic stand, Mr. Hettig." Focht made a hand movement that put a smile on the face of his image in Hettig's visiphone. Hettig's enthusiasm mirrored that of the rest of the Com Guards. After twenty years of training, they finally had a chance to show how good they were. Whether fighting for personal pride or to save ComStar, his troops ached for battle and welcomed it here on Tukayyid.

"The answer to the question you are seeking is this, Precentor Martial: as nearly as we can determine, the Wolves have not deployed in this battle."

Hettig's analysis confirmed what Focht had guessed. Why not? Why has Ulric been denied?Focht chewed on his lower lip. If the ilKhan had been prevented from deploying forces, it might signal his fall from power. Were that the case, the deal struck between them might already have been repudiated. No matter the outcome, all would be lost.

Even as he considered that possibility, Focht rejected it. If the deal had been repudiated, the Clans would have renegotiated the battle. Though they did bid among themselves for the right to lead the assault on the various targets ComStar had given them, no one had offered to rebid the whole fight. No, Ulric will be coming, but the others must have out maneuvered him. They saw it as a quick fight and they did not want him here to win it.

Focht nodded to himself. Ulric allowed them to keep him out of the first day's battle. He'll be coming after Brzo and Skupo, but only after he sees how my troops react. He's using the others as stalking horses, and he hopes I'll have committed my reserves before he comes down.

"Mr. Hettig, have all reserve units stand by. I want each one to trim back a battalion to form a Sixth Reserve Army."

"Noted, sir."

"Good."

Focht knew his strategy would carry the day, provided his people executed the plans they had been given. Organizationally, the Com Guards were broken down into twelve armies. On Tukayyid, one Clan landing area had been assigned to each of seven armies. The smallest and least experienced armies were being held back in reserve to reinforce their fellows when and if needed. Aside from the 66th Division, which had been transferred from a reserve unit to the Fiftieth Army to welcome the Wolves, the armies maintained the operational integrity they had known in their previous postings.

Each of the armies was broken down into its six component divisions. Unlike the forces of the rest of the Inner Sphere, the Com Guards were organized as integrated, combined-arms units. Through training, Focht had managed to erase the normal jealousies between the branches and to bind the Guards into terrifyingly efficient fighting units.

If the Inner Sphere had ever dreamed of our capabilities, they would have tried to destroy us long ago.Armor elements would attack the Clans at first, then air and artillery cover would allow them to scatter and regroup to nibble away at the Clan's flanks. The Com Guard 'Mech units would hit, then fade, keeping the Clans constantly on the move. Because each division functioned as its own unit and worked in tandem with another division, they would be able to grind the Clans down little bit by little bit.

"If everything goes as planned."

"Excuse me, Precentor Martial?" Hettig looked at his commander with a quizzical stare.

Focht shook his head. "Nothing, just thinking out loud. What are the hottest zones right now?"

"No one is shooting yet, but Dinju and Spanac look close to—." Hettig clapped a hand to the earpiece in his left ear. "Priority 1-Alpha message coming through for you from the Primus."

Irritation burbled like acid up from his stomach. "I will take it here at Przeno." He turned as Hettig's image expanded then splashed itself across a distant thunderhead. Myndo Waterly's face replaced that of Focht's aide. "Primus, the assault has begun."

The white-haired woman nodded serenely, then her head came up abruptly. "But you are not in a 'Mech."

"Nor will I be unless things go very wrong." He tried to keep his voice even, but annoyance tinged his words.

"But it was maintaining an immobile headquarters that caused trouble for the Combine's forces on Teniente." Her stare rebuked Focht for his foolishness. "Have you learned nothing from that situation?"

"Indeed I have, Primus. From this bunker, all communications are routed to the planet's communication network. Through optical cables, they reach broadcast substations. The messages are, of course, scrambled and either broadcast directly from the substations, or sent up to satellite facilities and bounced down to our forces. It costs us perhaps a second or two of transmission time, but ultimately forces the Clans to devote forces to trying to ferret out our location."

He let the computer paint a scowl on his face. "This communication from you is tying up valuable resources."

"Then I shall not keep you over-long." Myndo let what he saw as an insincere smile twitch across her lips. "I just wanted to impress upon you how vital your success in this matter is for ComStar."

"I am well aware of how crucial is our victory, Primus."

"Good, but I want you to see you have a stake in this also." Her eyes glittered, and it was like a cold wind up Focht's spine. "If you win here, I will give you what you have always wanted."