"Vlad's probably packing Inferno rounds, so relish the cold while you have it."

After snapping the restraining belts across his chest and waist, and checking them twice, he reached up and behind his head. From a niche above the command couch, he pulled down his neurohelmet. He settled it over his head and onto the vest's padded shoulders. He twisted it a bit to center the wedge-shaped viewport and to get the neurosensors pressed against the right areas of his skull, then used velcro tabs to fasten it in place. He cinched the chin strap up firmly, then poked the medical sensor plugs into the sockets at the helmet's throat.

He hit a button on the right side of the command console. "Pattern check: Star Commander Phelan Kell Wolf."

The helmet's speakers faithfully reported the computer's monotone voice. "Voiceprint pattern match obtained. Proceed with initiation sequence."

Each 'Mech, to prevent unauthorized use, checked for a voiceprint match against the pilots permitted to use it. Because it was possible to counterfeit such a thing, each pilot programmed in his own check phrase. Because it had to be something he would remember, and because it would be something he would utter before going into battle, a pilot chose something meaningful to him. Impossible to guess, the code let each Mech Warrior personalize his war machine and keep it safe.

Phelan slowly exhaled. "Check code: A Warrior shrinks not from duty, but neither does he revel in death."

"Authorization confirmed, Star Commander. Full control is now yours."

The holographic tactical display materialized before him and, one by one, his weapon systems came online, then went through a series of diagnostics. The trio of forward medium pulse lasers in the torso checked, out with no problems. A minor glitch seemed to exist with the recycling control on the extended-range large laser in the right arm, but the computer smoothed things out in an instant. The extended-range medium laser that fired into the rear arc had no problems, and the electronic countermeasures equipment rimming the Wolfhound'supstanding ears appeared to be in perfect working order.

Phelan knew Vlad would be given a 'Mech similar to his in armor and weaponry, so he was not surprised when he saw an Adderwalking away from the north side of the building. The OmniMech had a wider assortment of weapons available to it because of the modular system that allowed weapons to be swapped in and out. Phelan's computer painted a diagram of an Adderon his auxiliary monitor and cycled through the standard weapon packages to pick out the one with the highest probability for that 'Mech.

The computer determined Vlad would go with a package that would maximize damage in close. That meant that he would find a pair of Streak SRM launchers beneath the birdlike 'Mech's flaring shoulder shielding. The 'Mech's left arm carried a large laser similar to the one in the Wolfhound'sright arm. The autocannon in the Adder'sleft arm was not terribly powerful, but in a battle between light 'Mechs, it could prove very effective. Similarly, its chest-mounted flamer could also prove damaging at close range.

Conal's voice crackled through Phelan's speakers. "You have your battlefield. Skill, Warriors. Let the battle commence!"

Neither 'Mech moved for a full second after Conal gave the signal to fight. Then Phelan dropped his crosshairs on the Adder'scompact outline and triggered his weapons. His large laser slashed armor on the Omni's left leg into steaming ribbons of ferroceramics. His pulse lasers punctured armor on the Adder'sleft arm, right flank, and the center of his chest.

As Phelan hit a button on his command console, the holographic display switched over to infrared and painted a white-hot dot in the center of the Omni's chest. Yes, that got through and hit some engine shielding! He'll be running hot.

Vlad's return shots at the longer range betrayed a weakness of his 'Mech's configuration. The Adder'slarge laser struck back at the Wolfhound'sown left leg and sent armor shards flying on vapor jets. The autocannon blasted away sheets of armor on dinner'sright leg, but Phelan successfully fought against the impact and kept his 'Mech upright.

As his computer updated a visual of his Wolfhoundand showed him the damage to its armor, he started it off in a loping run toward the northwest. That exposed more of his right side to Vlad, but also started to close the range between them. He won't expect this. I'm playing into his hands, and he'll get cocky.

Vlad turned his Omni to keep Phelan square in his sights, but Phelan noticed the Addermoved a bit awkwardly. Could the shot to the chest have damaged the gyro, too?The sensors in the neurohelmet enabled the computer to use the pilot's own sense of balance to regulate the gyros, but if one of those had taken damage, the Adderwas in serious trouble. If I got that lucky with one shot, it must be divine retribution for Conal's cheat.

Despite his 'Mech's movement, Phelan tracked the Adderwith his crosshairs as if they were painted on it. His thumb pressed down and sent the large laser's scarlet beam scything through what little armor remained on the right side of the Adder'schest. Another flash of heat told Phelan he'd nailed a heat sink, but more important, he saw bits and pieces of the Omni's internal structure spray out into the fields behind the 'Mech.

One of the pulse lasers mounted in the Wolfhound'storso stitched a line of burning holes across the Adder'shead. The other two combined to complete the ravaging of the Adder'sleft arm. Having evaporated the last of the armor, they went to work on the myomer muscles and endo-steel bones. They melted the artificial tissue away and heated the metal to the boiling point. Glowing white hot, the Adder'sleft arm dropped to the ground.

Yet even as Phelan triggered his weapons, Vlad fired his. The large laser mounted in the left arm fused the armor on the Wolfhound'sright arm before the weapon melted away. The little that remained smoked as the rest ran off like water to drip onto the ground. The right-arm autocannon peppered holes in the Wolfhound'sleft-flank armor, and the one of two SRM flights that hit shattered the armor around the central chest-mounted pulse laser.

The missile impacts and the autocannon shells shook the Wolfhoundand rattled Phelan's teeth. He wresded the light 'Mech upright and kept it closing as the Adderstumbled.

Unbalanced by the loss of its arm, the other 'Mech tipped to the left and started to go down. Vlad wrenched the torso up and to the right in an attempt to keep the machine on its feet, but the weakened structure in its chest screamed and started to warp.

The Addersprawled forward and hit hard on its chin. The 'Mech bounced once and the viewport blew out to litter the ground with glittering glass fragments. Its feet clawed fu-tilely at the ground, but only managed to gouge up great clods of dirt and grain as the soft earth refused to hold. Cranked straight back by the fall, the 'Mech's right arm could not get enough play to come forward and help lever the machine up, though Phelan doubted the Adder'storso could have supported the effort anyway.

He stopped his Wolfhoundtwenty meters off and watched as Vlad's feet sought the edge of the Adder'sviewport. Like a drunk stumbling from a bar after some hard drinking, Vlad stepped from the cockpit, then started to fall back and caught himself on the viewport frame. He took one step forward, then tumbled down the dirt pile and sprawled prone on the ground.

Phelan flipped open his external speakers. "It is over, Vlad."