Phelan's mouth went dry as he saw the ComStar Exterminatorrise up before him. He knew that 'Mech design had not been seen for centuries in the Inner Sphere, and for good reason. The Exterminatorhad been designed to seek out and destroy command 'Mechs. It had become so good at its task that special squads had been formed to hunt them down and destroy them.

Phelan knew the 'Mech was after him.

As the Exterminator'sarms came up, Phelan saw twin flashes from an Elemental crouched near the lip of the hill. Both SRMs shot straight in at the ComStar 'Mech and lanced into the gaping hole in the Exterminator'schest. Phelan saw the 'Mech shudder as the short-range missiles detonated.

The blasts provided Phelan a second or two to make an attempt to evade the Exterminator'sattack. Phelan cut sharply to his left, sending him in the opposite direction of the Exterminator'sinvoluntary movement. As the other 'Mech's arms began to track the Wolfhound,Phelan brought his own weapons to bear on his foe.

The Exterminatorconvulsed with subsidiary explosions. A muffled whump and puff of blue-white smoke announced the destruction of a jump jet. Fire wreathed the anti-missile cannon nested in its chest as a full belt of shells shot off in all directions. Armor plates shattered as the anti-missile slugs cooked off and punched their way out of the Exterminator'storso.

Phelan shivered as a hail of anti-missile projectiles burst free through the Exterminator'sbroken canopy. Smoke trailing from me hole, the 'Mech fell back as if it had been pole-axed. As Phelan shifted course again, driving in at the breach in the wall, another ComStar 'Mech stepped up to fill the hole.

Phelan let the Sentinelhave it with all of his forward weapons. The medium pulse laser at Grinner'sright shoulder burned away armor on the Sentinel'sleft arm. The pulse laser mounted in the opposite shoulder slashed at the right arm while the center pulse laser shot low and melted rampart into glass without hitting the Sentinel.

The Wolfhound'slarge laser capitalized on the damage done to the Sentinel'sleft arm and autocannon. Under the coherent light's hellish caress, the last of the armor vaporized and the autocannon flashed to a molten white heat before it melted clean away. The 'Mech, unbalanced by the loss of the limb, staggered but managed to stay upright.

The ComStar pilot proved himself game by firing back. Two SRMs corkscrewed out from the Sentinel'schest and ripped armor from the right side of Grinner'storso. The small laser mounted just below the missile launcher shot a beam that bubbled paint and armor on the left side of the Wolfhound'sbroad chest, but neither attack did any real damage or anything to slow Phelan's charge.

Up into the opening he thundered. With a kick to the left side of its torso, Phelan sent the Sentinelstumbling through the trench. It caught its heels on the Exterminatorand toppled backward. It hit the trench's far wall and a shower of dirt buried it in a makeshift grave.

Phelan knew better than to imagine it down, but he saw three Elementals descend on it to finish it. He turned to the left and took one step forward, clearing the breach to admit another of his Points into the ComStar position. As he did so, a ComStar Lancelotstarted to come around the corner lacing him.

"Peace of Blake, indeed," he laughed to himself and dropped his crosshairs on the 'Mech's narrow silhouette. "Come on in, boys. We'll dispense all the peace you want. No waiting."

* * *

The Precentor Martial watched as Phelan's lance secured one section of the trench. While the zig-zag cut of it prevented the Clans from shooting down the trench's entire length, it made approaching the breached section of the trench extremely dangerous, especially for stiff-armed 'Mechs like the Lancelot.Before it finished negotiating the corner, Phelan had lased away armor from the 'Mech's chest and arms.

He opened a radio channel. "Mr. Hettig, please coordinate a withdrawal of the 138th from Skupo. Precentor Jernberg is dead or incapacitated. Use their armor to slow the Cluster following them. Remember, most of those troops are green, so pulling them out is going to be close to announcing a rout."

"Roger, Precentor Martial."

Focht again scanned the battlefield and saw the rest of the Wolf Spiders running up the hill at full speed. It had taken them just under two minutes to close the gap between Phelan's Star and the main body of the group. Already some of the fastest 'Mechs in that group had exchanged fire with the 'Mechs of Bandit's Bane. He knew the 138th's losses would be hideous.

Right place, right tactics, but the wrong people. But there was no way I could devote a more seasoned division to fight so small a unit.He stared hard at Phelan's 'Mech. If I have to lose, better it be to warriors I can respect than those I cannot. This is not over, for one battle does not the war make. I know that and, worse yet, I know you know it.

"Mr. Hettig, bring the reconstituted 282nd down from Brzo to take care of the Wolf Spiders."

"It will take them a day or more to get down there. The 138th won't last that long."

"I know, Mr. Hettig. I know." The Precentor Martial nodded grimly. "I don't want them to save the 138th, I just want them to slow the Wolf Spiders. If they can."

35

Teniente

Nova Cat Occupation Zone

6 May 3052 (Day 6 of Operation Scorpion)

Victor Ian Davion looked at the chronometer on the command console of Prometheus,his Daishi. "Kama-ichi,where are they? They are running into our red zone."

Shin's voice crackled through the speakers in his neuro-helmet. "They are coming, Highness, but they match their pace to the slowest of the 'Mechs."

"Shin, I don't know if we have time for that sort of stuff." Victor punched up a tactical map of the area. Behind where his Daishiand lance stood, he saw the triangle of DropShips they'd used to make planetfall. The majority of his troops were arrayed in a crescent along the northwest perimeter of the DropShips' effective gunnery range as that was the direction from which they expected the Clans to arrive. A large square represented the furthest distance they estimated the Clans could have traveled and a smaller one marked their probable last location, given speed and heading.

Both circles were far too close for Victor's ease of mind. "Shin, tell them to abandon the broken 'Mechs. We can send a chopper out from one of the ships to pick them up."

"Highness, many of these 'Mechs have been in their families for decades."

Victor cursed. "I hear you, Shin." The Prince expanded the tactical map's view to handle an area large enough to bring the Combine convoy onto the edge of it. The Clans looked to be closer and were certainly moving faster than the Combine troops. Here we sit in the only LZ sufficient to handle DropShips. The Clans know it and we know it. Feels like having one foot nailed to the floor in a bar fight.

Victor switched his radio over to that of the DropShip Serene Foresight."Captain Coir, do you have enough fuel to take a short hop?"

"Affirmative. I'm good to go for one or two, but we'll light up the sky."

"Stand by. I may need you to recover some of us."

"Aye, sir. Standing by."

The Prince flipped the radio back to his command frequency. "Shin, pull Kama lance back and recon Hohiro's path. I want you to bring them up as fast as you can, and ready to shoot as well. Galen, you Murphy, Hudson, and Cooper form up your lances on me. We'll swing wide and try to draw the Clans off to the west. Macles, you'll take command of the rest of the unit and remain here to catch what we don't scare off. On my orders, or cessation of same, you'll pull back into the Valiant Wisdomand get the hell out of here. Got it?"