The palm tree to his left burst into flames as a Jade Falcon's pulse laser laced it with,kilojoules of energy. Victor whipped the crosshairs for both his large lasers onto the blocky outline of the Clan 'Mech. The dot in the center of each pulsed once and he stabbed his thumbs down on the firing button. The coruscating red beams converged on the MadCafsright weapons pod, shearing it off at the wrist.

"Move them back, Galen. We're still being pressed." He used his trio of pulse lasers to lay down hazing fire. The lasers ignited the foliage they hit, creating a screen of fire between Victor and the advancing Clansmen, but that didn't slow the enemy at all. They kept coming and Victor sensed a change in the way they attacked.

Two of the vulture-like Hagetaka'Mechs broke through the blazing barrier and thrust their arms at his Omni. Autocannons with pulse lasers riding sidecar made up their arm-mounted weaponry and it was all concentrated on Victor. The autocannons nibbled tiny chips of armor from the Daishfschest, then the pulse lasers cauterized the wounds by dripping molten armor over them.

Prometheusstumbled backward as Victor fought against the impact of the autocannon shots and the loss of balance caused by losing more than a ton of armor. That didn't keep him from realizing that the Falcons had worked together to hurt him. If they were willing to do that at this point in the battle, Victor reasoned, they were either desperate or the Clanners had been suckering them all along. Given the panic at Regimental HQ, we must be dead!

Galen's Crusaderstepped forward to put itself between Victor and the Clanners. Its leg-mounted SRM launchers sent a dozen missiles corkscrewing in at one Hagetaka.They peppered the Clan 'Mech's jutting torso and right arm with a double handful of detonations that knocked the war machine back into the burning foliage. Its right arm hanging limp and useless, the 'Mech turned to engage them again.

Victor punched up the Regimental frequency again, but this time all he got was buzzing static. Ignoring precautions, he set his radio to broadcast across all the tactical frequencies. "This is Tornado One in sector 2560. We need any help we can get."

He thought he heard a reply, but the thundering detonations of a long-range missile against his Daishi'shead set his cars ringing and drowned out the voice. Spinning to his left,

Victor cut loose with the autocannon. It caught a MadCatdead center and dumped it unceremoniously on its back.

Both he and Galen withdrew as quickly as they could. Already Victor saw on his scanner that the rest of his battalion had made it to the narrows, where they could hold off the Clanners. Heading away as quickly as possible, with Galen close on his heels, he reached a clearing where a granite fang separated a narrow trail from the plateau. The other 'Meelis had already strung themselves out along the path by the time he and Galen broke from the jungle.

Home free!Turning back to lay down cover for Galen, Victor allowed himself a smile. "We made it."

A panicked scream from one of the Mech Warriors was Victor's only warning of the ambush. Shooting up to the level of the plateau, five OmniMechs with auxiliary jump jet packs strapped to their hulls leaped up from the Mar Negro. Water coursed off them and seaweed hung from the arms and legs of the 'Mechs, making them look like monsters from the bottom of the sea.

A Gauss rifle projectile smashed into Prometheus'right ankle. It crushed the joint, and when Victor tried to steady the toppling 'Mech, the clawlike foot sheared off. The shock of the ankle hitting the ground jolted Victor, but he successfully fought gravity and wrestled the 'Mech upright. He fired back with his lasers, sending melted armor bleeding down his tormentor's torso, but another 'Mech's autocannon burst to his left shoulder spun him to the ground.

Sparks shot from his control console and the light blinked out on one of the torso-mounted pulse lasers. More fire from the 'Mechs strafed his stricken Omni. They kept him enough off-balance that he could not aim well. When he tried to regain his feet, he went down instead like a punch-drunk fighter.

As much as Victor wanted to demand help from the other warriors, he saw they were in the same deep trouble. With all the holes in its armor, Galen's Crusaderlooked like a worm-gnawed corpse. Out on the bluff, the other members of Storm Company were sitting ducks for the newly arrived Clan 'Mechs. Though they fought back, their battered condition and lack of ammunition made their defense a piteous mockery of the power the enemy 'Mechs displayed.

Victor keyed his radio. "Storm Company, disengage. Just run for it. Galen, go." He pulled Prometheusinto a low crouch. "Go on. I'll cover you."

"No! I won't do it, Victor."

"Go, Hauptmann Cox. That's an order."

"Then discipline me in hell, because I'm not leaving."

The Crusadergot the granite fang between it and the ocean-going 'Mechs. Galen blasted away at the 'Mechs coming in from the mainland. Steam rose from fractured heat sinks as he launched volley after volley of missiles. The barrels of the Crusader'sarm-mounted machine guns glowed red as they relentlessly sprayed the enemy.

In his crouch, Victor presented a more difficult target for the Clanners. His large lasers punched through armor and started internal explosions on one of the five flying 'Mechs. It started to descend, but its loss did not help him at all. Instead of chasing the remnants of Storm company, the other four 'Mechs turned their attention to Victor. As they jetted toward the ground, Victor thought of his uncle Ian who had also died trying to buy escape for his men.

"Thanks, Galen. I never wanted to die alone."

"Me neither, Highness. Me neither."

"Here they come."

Even as Victor dropped his sights on the lead Clanner and tightened down on all his triggers, he saw a flash of mottled green atop the fang. Coming faster than Victor had ever seen any 'Mech run, a battle-scarred Centurionburst into the fray. Without slowing at all, it thrust its right-arm Gauss rifle at a Clan 'Mech. In an electrical flash, a silver ball coursed from the muzzle, hitting dead-on target.

It nailed an enemy 'Mech in what would have been its right ear and crushed the cockpit. The 'Mech spun, its arms pummeling the 'Mech hovering next to it. Both war machines tipped in mid-air and started to somersault backward over the ocean. The dead 'Mech did a swan dive and rocketed down into the dark waters. Fighting to retain control, its companion completed the somersault, but had fallen too far 10 land on the plateau. Its jets carried it forward and smashed it into the bluffs.

Stunned, Victor breathed, "My God, that's Yen-lo-wang\"

The subsequent explosion of their comrade's 'Mech made landing difficult for the other two Clansmen. One flew through the fireball and touched down, but by that time the Centurionhad leaped down from the fang and sprinted toward the landing site. Coming in low and fast, Yen-lo-wangheld the fingers of its left hand hooked like claws. In a passing strike, it raked its fingers across the Clan 'Mech's belly, then filled the wound with laserfire from the forearm-mounted pulse lasers.

Its speed unabated, the Centurioncontinued its dash along the edge of the bluff. The last Clan 'Mech landed in a cloud of smoke left by its ill-fated companion. The Clan pilot had just started to turn toward the other Clan 'Mech, which was collapsing around its ruined middle, when Yen-lo-wanghit it at full speed. Victor saw armor buckle as the Centurion'sshoulder slammed square into the enemy 'Mech's chest.