Kai snarled and looked at his secondary monitor. The BattleMaster'sfall had created enough of a seismic disturbance that the satellite failed to paint the Archer'sposition until it took the last step into the canyon beyond the BattleMaster.Looking up, Kai spotted its squat form immediately. At just over 200 meters, it stood at its optimum range and flicked open the armored covers over the LRM launch tubes mounted on each shoulder.

Kai flicked a glance at the edge of his combat array, then at his primary monitor. I've taken too much damage to engage it straightaway. If I run ... No, I can't. But if I charge... As he searched for a solution, the Archer'sfirst two flights scattered missiles all over the Daishi.They blasted its cylindrical chest and right flank, gouging deeper holes into the already pitted armor. A flight of five missiles completed the armor destruction job begun by the BattleMasteron the Gauss rifle, while five others tore sheets of armor flying from the Daishi'sleft shin.

The computer snapped the gyro out of line for half a second, bringing Kai out of his deliberations. He kept the 'Mech upright, then started it hurling down the canyon at the Archer.Despite the bumpy ride and the leap over the fallen BattleMaster,Kai dropped his crosshairs onto the Archerand triggered only two weapons to keep the heat down.

The LRMs exploded like a string of firecrackers on the Archer'schest, leaving an uneven line of craters on the computer image. More missiles tore at the armor on the 'Mech's left shoulder, but did little more than dent it. The Gauss rifle's projectile slammed into the Archer'sright arm, shivering off most of the armor from the computer projection. Yet it failed to do any serious damage.

Kai knew that much damage should have made the computer dephase the gyro, but if it had, the enemy pilot's sure hand on the controls had recovered without noticeable effect. Why did I save the best pilot for last?

The inner voice answered him. Because you knew he would kill you.

Kai ground his teeth. "I'm not dead yet!"

You are. You've just not acknowledged it.

The Archer'smissile barrage hammered him. More armor flew from his chest, leaving his right flank open. Missiles blasted into the Gauss rifle, and Kai winced as he saw the weapon disappear. Even worse, he saw the left arm evaporate and damage appear on the oudine of the 'Mech's skeleton.

Fighting the gyro decycle, Kai kept the Daishirushing in at the Archer.Desperate, he dragged the crosshairs down onto the Archerand fired even before he had a confirmed weapons lock. The autocannon tore chunks of armor from the Archer'sleg, but failed to knock the 'Mech down. The trio of pulse lasers hit, with one melting away armor on the Archer'sright flank. The other two completed the destruction of the 'Mech's right arm that the Gauss rifle had begun. Myomers parted like smoke as the lasers pulsed into them, leaving the limb hanging like a wet rag and the medium laser a useless collection of lenses.

Kai smiled. "Got him!"

You know that's not nearly enough to stop him.

At closer range, the Archeronly became that much more deadly. His missiles tore into the Daishilike piranha. They chewed away the last bits of armor on the Omni's right arm and took revenge for the loss of the Archer'smedium laser by destroying the Daishi'smain weapon. More important, the missiles devoured the right leg of Kai's 'Mech, weakening its muscles and skeleton enough that the next bone-jarring footfall snapped the limb like a rotten stick.

Kai's stomach rose to his throat as the computer cut the gyro. He struggled vainly against the controls, trying somehow to manhandle the Omni upright against the forces of gravity. His momentum kept the Daishimoving forward, so that it hit on its chin, bounced once, then slid along the canyon floor.

Sparks flew in the cockpit and Kai's chest ached from being thrown against the command chair's restraining straps. The computer's warning lights told him he could not eject, but that was no cause for panic. If I never get out of here, it'll be too soon. How could I have been so stupid? Charging anArcher. I should have waited. I should have ambushed him somehow.

You failed, Kai. You failed because you stopped to think and because you exulted in your victory. It was the moment you counted yourself a winner that you doomed yourself to defeat.

The voice was right. "When I act, somehow I manage to do the right thing. When I hesitate, when I wait and I over-think a problem, I screw up. This is it. This is the last time."

Kai nodded to himself in the fastness of his cockpit. I've embarrassed myself and my family horribly in this defeat. Never again! I'll die before I let it happen again.

21

Clan Council Chamber, Hall of the Wolves

Strana Mechty, Beyond the Periphery

22 July 3051

Phelan Wolf set his face into a mask as unrevealing as those worn by the people assembled in the small reception room. He wore the snug-fitting gray leather pants and sleeveless jerkin they had given him, with the long cloak thrown back at each shoulder, bunching the wolf-fur that topped his shoulders and the back of the cloak. The silver knife he had received upon acceptance into the Warrior caste was thrust into his boot scabbard.

Gathered in the dim room were two score people, each wearing the formal leathers appropriate for a Clan Conclave. Each also wore an exquisitely worked wolf's-head mask that hid his or her features beneath its snarling expression. At one time, Phelan realized, he would have viewed this assembly as a fiercely hostile audience. Now I am one of them.

Looking around, he could not be certain of the identity of anyone there, though he assumed Evantha was among the Elementals gathered at the back of the hall. He was almost positive that two female Wolf MechWarriors standing together were Cyrilla and Ranna, and he guessed the stiff-backed man in front of them to be Vlad. He looked for Carew, but could not place him among the aerospace pilots crowded toward the front.

When one of the Wolves stepped forward, an overhead light flashed on to spotlight a crystalline podium on the dais at the far end of the room. Only when the Wolf who mounted the dais removed his mask did Phelan pierce the secret of his identity.

Ulric gripped the edges of the podium and began to speak. "I, Khan Ulric Kerensky, am the Oathmaster! All will be bound by this Conclave until they are dust and memories, and even beyond that until the end of all that is."

From the forty people gathered inside the room, Phelan heard one response, "Seyla."

"This night, it is our joy and honor to accept into the ranks of active Mech Warriors one who has proven to be a fulfillment of Nicholas Kerensky's dream and one who was a foundling, but a foundling with a strong heart and vital spirit. We accepted him into the Wolf Clan as a bondsman, then welcomed him as a Warrior. Now he is to stand among us as a MechWarrior."

Ulric raised his right hand. "Phelan Wolf, the Conclave bids you forward."

Phelan held his head up as he marched down the aisle. The leathers clung to him like a second skin and he flushed slightly. Though he felt eyes boring into him, he did not turn his head to meet the gaze of those gathered around him. He knew they watched him to take his measure, for he was now a brother on whom they would come to depend.

Ulric gave him the barest of nods as Phelan stopped to the right of the podium. "Phelan Wolf, have you undergone the training and passed the testing required of those who wish to achieve MechWarrior status within the Wolf Clan?"