Beneath the combined weight of the two war engines, the edge of the bluff crumbled. Victor reached out as though the arms of his Prometheuscould somehow stop the disaster. The Clan 'Mech wrapped its arms around Yen-lo-wang,and both 'Mechs stood poised on the edge of the cliff. Victor screamed for Kai to push the Clanner away and save himself, but with a singlemindedness bordering on obsession, Yen-lo-wang'slegs kept pumping, pulverizing the bluff's lip into gravel, and carrying the last threat to Hanse Davion's heir away.

"Kai, no! Kai!"

Both 'Mechs vanished from sight. If not for the smoke in the air and the crippled 'Mech slumped on the bluff, there was nothing left to suggest the Centurionhad ever existed.

Hot tears burning his cheeks, Victor pivoted his 'Mech on its maimed leg. Pulse lasers lashed out at the Clanners coming through the jungle and Victor kept his fingers on the triggers, heedless of the waves of heat roasting him in the cockpit. Beside him, Galen's Crusaderadded its power to the assault. Caution thrown to the winds, it was as though their sorrow and rage translated directly into their attacks and drove the Clanners back.

One by one, the computer shut down Victor's weapons as the heat they generated cooked circuits. He saw lights go out on his status board, but sent more missiles and laser beams to hold the Clansmen at bay. Fpr a half-second, Victor imag-' ined he had stepped into one of those legends where a 'Mech fights of its own accord, regardless of what the machinery and instruments indicate. Then, as he heard voices buzzing in his ears, he realized others had joined them.

"Icestorm Deuce here, Tornado One. We've got your back door. Pull out."

Victor glanced at his holographic display and saw the crescent-shaped bite taken out of the bluff's edge. "Negative, Icestorm Two. We've got a man down in the water. Kai Allard went off the cliff. We have to get him."

"Tornado One, they've got reinforcements on the way." Down-loaded telemetry from a spy satellite filled Victor's auxiliary monitor. The computer showed a company's worth of Clan 'Mechs on a direct line for their sector. "They know you're here, Highness. They want you. You have to leave. Leftenant Allard ordered us to get you out of here, no matter what."

"No! We have to find Kai!"

"Victor, look at your monitor!" Galen's voice was full of dread, yet Victor could not ignore its urgency. "Look, Victor. There's no rescue beacon from Kai's 'Mech. There's no ID beacon. The shelf goes down a full kilometer here. He's gone. Don't let his sacrifice be a waste."

Victor hammered his fist into the radio panel, shorting it out. Teeth clenched to trap the scream growing in his chest, he began to limp the Prometheusback. As he worked his way along the bluff trail, he searched for any sign at all where Kai had gone under the water, but not even a ripple marked the grave of his friend.

40

Tairakana Plains, Luthien

Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine

5 January 3052

Sweat soaking his clothes, Shin Yodama continued to push himself as he ran toward the coordinates he'd been given before the Skulker exploded. By the time he was within sight of the small outpost that was his goal, the air strikes had met with stiff resistance and the burning wreckage of aerospace fighters littered the dark battlefield. He had approached two of the crash sites, but the intensity of the inferno had kept him back. He knew no one or nothing could have survived, but the debris gave him no clue as to which side the craft belonged.

He had wanted to stop when the ache in his side first began, and then again when it felt like a knife had been shoved deep and twisting into his guts. Whenever he did slow down to look back, the silhouettes of the pursuing 'Mechs grew even larger as they came on. Like demons from some childhood nightmare, the Clan 'Mechs lumbered forward despite the firepower hammering them. As hard as he ran to escape them, he could never lose sight of them.

The first sign Shin had of A2536 was a nervous young trooper half-hidden behind a fallen tree. "Halt or I'll shoot!" The excitement in the youth's voice made Shin certain he'd carry out his threat, but the wavering of his gun barrel told the yakuza he need not fear for his life.

He raised his hands. "I am Sho-saShin Yodama. Who is in charge here?"

The trooper jerked his head toward a low hill. "Chu-iAshai. I'll take you to him."

Rounding the hill, Shin discovered that this forward observation post was nothing more than two soldiers, their leader, and a pair of scanning binoculars mounted on a tripod, radioing data back to headquarters. Ashai looked intelligent and eager. Probably a military academy recruit who'd graduated early, Shin concluded. His two young companions carried their automatic rifles awkwardly enough to convince Shin that they, too, must be very new to the warrior's life.

"Chi-iAshai, we have to report back to headquarters."

The junior officer nodded curtly. "Hai, Sho-sa.There is a Skulker due here soon to take us back. It's been forward ..."

Shin shook his head. "I was in that Skulker. It isn't coming." Shin held out his hand. "Give me your radio."

Color drained from Ashai's face. "I cannot. The microphone went out on our unit." He pointed up at the place on the hill where they had set up the visual scanner. "We were directed to leave this unit in place because they're still getting visual."

"Good." Shin ran up the hill as fast as his weary legs would take him. Reaching the summit, he positioned himself before the scanning binoculars. He waited until the device's motors whirred the lenses into focus on him, then quickly made a series of hand signals. He went through the sequence twice more, praying that at least one of the yakuza comtechs would be on duty.

As he stepped back out of the line-of-sight, the binoculars autofocused out at the advancing Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs. Their paint scheme showed circlets of black dots against a gray background, mimicking the coat of the animal that gave them their name. The dust and smoke they left behind in the bloody light of dawn blotted out everything to the rear of their lines. So heavily did the smoke hang in the still morning air that Shin imagined the Clan commander had arranged it less to obscure his troops than to warn them that they must go on, for no retreat was possible.

Shin saw aerospace fighters twist through martial acrobatics in the sky, then occasionally dive at their ground-bound enemies. More than one aircraft made it through the hail of ground fire to destroy a 'Mech, but Shin did not see that the attacks made the least difference.

To the west, facing the dawning sun, rank upon rank of Combine BattleMechs appeared to oppose the invaders. The crimson 'Mechs of the First Sword of Light occupied the center of the Combine line. The Otomo, their royal blue 'Mechs arrayed in staggered ranks, made up the northern flank. The two Genyosha regiments had been deployed as the southern flank. The black and silver 'Mechs of their Second Regiment stood at a forty-five degree angle to the main body of Combine troops, giving the southern edge a hook to drive the Clan in toward the center.

Using their advantage of range, the Clan warriors engaged the Kurita units at long distance. Shin realized immediately . that the Clans had abandoned their tactic of one warrior trying to engage another warrior in single combat. They concentrated their fire on individual targets, hitting hardest the 'Mechs equipped for LRM barrages. They kept coming as they fired, ever so slowly closing to a range at which the Combine's 'Mechs could effectively return fire.