"We are beating them, Ulric. You cannot take that away from us."

"Yes, you are beating them, but you are using up your supplies at nearly double the allowable rate."

"What matter that we run out of missiles and autocannon ammo after we have destroyed them?" Conal let his anger color his words. "You seek to disgrace me and my men."

"Nonsense," Ulric snorted. "I have noted with great pleasure how well you have done. I have made sure that all the Clans know that Vlad and your Eleventh Wolf Guards have outmaneuvered one of the most elite Com Guard units on Tukayyid."

"If what you say is true, why are we reined back to go into the mountains while the Wolf Spiders are allowed to continue their fighting? It is disgusting for you to let that ancient witch continue her career beyond her years."

"She gets results, and her troops are not using up their supplies more swiftly than ordered." Ulric narrowed his blue eyes. "Besides, you are not Natasha Kerensky. Her name alone, from her years with Wolf's Dragoons, strikes fear into the hearts of the Com Guards. The man commanding the 282nd Division formerly fought in the Marik civil war and she beat him. She owns him, and his distress must be demoralizing to his compatriots. Furthermore, she has been called back as well."

"It is still unnatural, as is this whole battle. The Com Guards run and duck and hide instead of fighting us."

Ulric nodded in agreement. "Unnatural it is. The Precentor Martial has seen our weakness and he has already used it to break the Smoke Jaguars. We are used to quick and decisive battles. Throughout this invasion, we have been plagued by partisan battles that do not allow us to concentrate our strength. Now we face that on a grander scale on a world where we do not have the resources for a long battle."

Conal shook his head. "Bah. It could be won tomorrow, as well you would see if you were here."

"You are wrong, Conal, and if you persist in your belief, you will not survive the fighting." Ulric let himself smile slyly. "As for your suggestion that I come to see for myself, you are right. I have remained too long away from battle. When we engage the Com Guards in the mountains, I will lead our troops into battle. There, once and for all time, we shall decide the fate of the Inner Sphere."

38

Mar Negro, Alyina

Trellshire, Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

10 May 3052 (Day 10 of Operation Scorpion)

From the cliff top, Kai saw the two Elemental divers surface amid a boiling circle of bubbles. They gave him a thumbs-up, which he relayed to the people behind him. Someone threw a switch and the winch started. The steel cable on which he rested his right hand grew taut and Yen-lo-Wang'sGauss rifle began its ascent to dry land.

Kai could scarcely believe all that had happened in the previous five days. The actual escape had gone perfectly. Kai and Deirdre had taken the demi-Precentor's limo and headed south by a roundabout route to the Mahler farm. The Elementals had appropriated a heavy hovertruck and returned to the mountains to recollect their armor, then they joined up with the other two at the Mahler farm.

Kai turned and smiled as Erik Mahler locked the winch's drive handle down, then showed Malthus how to undo it when the time came. Erik had reacted coldly to the arrival of Elementals, but Hilda had treated them with the same courtesy she had showed Kai when he arrived. Kai's truce with the Elementals helped win Erik over, and when he learned they had joined forces to oppose ComStar, the elder MechWarrior insisted on helping them organize their rescue mission and monitor the Steiner resistance.

Erik had been able to tell about the salvage operations ComStar had performed on the peninsula as he had been dragooned into a workforce. As nearly as he knew, all the 'Mechs had been taken offworld, but he could recall no undersea salvage operation. That news made Kai more confident that Yen-h-wangand its Gauss rifle might be salvageable.

The morning after the Elementals' arrival, they all headed out to where the Centurionhad gone into the water. They were very careful about their route, scouting continually for any ComStar patrols, but they saw no opposition. They were not alone at the site, however, and that surprised them.

Gus Michaels walked over and rested his right hand on Kai's left shoulder. "Sorry we couldn't get more of Yen-lo-wang,kid. The Centurioncan be salvaged, but not with a winch. The Omni has it pinned to the shelf, which is the only reason it didn't drop for a full kilometer."

"I know." Looking down into the dark water, Kai began to see a white cylinder waver beneath the waves. "If it had gone down all the way, the cockpit would have been crushed and I would have died."

"Better to be lucky than good, kid."

Kai found he liked the solidly built little man. Malthus had been suspicious about Michaels, but the MechWarrior put that down to Gus' identifying himself as being on a mission for the ilKhan. The battle reports of Kai's action on Alyina had hinted at a 'Mech with superior myomer technology, so Gus had been dispatched to check further into the story. He'd just located the site of the battle when they arrived, and they found his winch and cable equipment very helpful.

The Gauss rifle broke the surface and water poured from the bore. Aside from a few tendrils of seaweed and dangling wires where it had been freed from the Centurion,it looked in fine shape. The Elementals helped guide it toward the shore, then flopped padding and old tires over it to prevent it from being injured by bumps and scrapes against the cliff-side.

Malthus walked over and draped his arm across Gus' shoulders. "Be sure to remember all of this for the ilKhan, little man. Now begins the liberation of Alyina."

* * *

With the Gauss rifle loaded in the heavy hovertruck's bed and well-hidden within its canvas-covered body, a heated discussion about the nature of the liberation started. "It does not matter to me, Michaels, that you are an envoy from the ilKhan." Malthus planted his fists on his hips. "You are going to stay behind at the Mahler farm."

The historian's green eyes blazed. "Now wait just one minute. I got you the plans to the Valigia facility ComStar is using."

The Elemental shook his head. "You redrew them from memory from a hurried tour two weeks ago, and you've been on the run since."

"I'm trained to remember details. I got you a map. You owe me."

Malthus drew himself up to his full height. "I owe you nothing. You are a recorder of events."

"Damned straight. Now how am I to write a report on all this if I don't go along?"

Malthus gave him a predatory grin. "You will be allowed to view our battleroms after the fight. Our armor will record everything."

Gus matched the man's grin tooth for tooth. "Fine, then give me a suit of the armor so I can record my own chronicle of the attack."

The Elemental leader chopped that suggestion down with his right hand. "But you are not of the Warrior Caste."

Kai frowned. "Begging your pardon, Taman, but you have four sets and there are only three of you."

"True," Malthus said. "One is for you if you would like to use it."

Kai looked at him, then slowly closed his mouth. "Me? In Elemental armor?"

"You are a warrior, Kai Allard-Liao. Our armor is not the same as having a 'Mech, but in it a warrior becomes the ultimate possible for a living creature. You have the heart and mind and soul of a warrior, now you can have the flesh and muscle of a warrior as well." Malthus looked down. "We will understand if you refuse."