Fighting down on the roadway looked particularly fierce. The smoke overlaying the battlefield still allowed the brilliant fire of missile detonations to burn up through it. The hot red light of lasers and the electric blue flare of PPC beams filled the gray haze with splashes of color, but they were nothing compared to the nova-white fireball of a fusion engine burning out of control.

Up on the northern flank, the battle between the Nova Cats and the Kell Hounds' first regiment looked particularly savage. 'Mechs equipped with long-range weapons laced the Clan lines with barrage after barrage of murderous fire. 'Mechs built for infighting closed with the enemy, but avoided direct physical contact. Concentrating their fire on Clan 'Mechs already weakened by their distant comrades, the Hounds took them down quickly and efficiently.

The Clan reprisals came swiftly, but did not have the same degree of organization that made the mercenaries so effective. Shin was at a loss to understand this confusion until he saw a Kell Hound 'Mech standing virtually alone on a knoll near the road. Even from such a distance, he recognized the blocky body of an Archer.It launched multiple flights of missiles at its enemies as they charged and directed more fire from its supporting fire lances, then picked the enemy apart with its lasers as they closed to shorter range. Alone yet very deadly, it made itself a perfect target.

The Clan warriors seemed to be doing their damnedest to make the pilot of that 'Mech pay for his arrogance, but their efforts were hardly successful. The Kell Hound missile fire fell with murderous effect, blasting Nova Cats back down the hill. As Clansmen rushed forward, the Hounds' close assault lances bored in, picking a target and savaging it until its smoking skeleton lay at the feet of the Archer.The Archeritself moved with a fluidity that told Shin a masterful warrior piloted the hulking 'Mech. As it dodged away from missile barrages, or squatted to make itself a more difficult target, Shin guessed that it could only be Morgan Kell, leader of the Kell Hounds, in the cockpit.

The chopper coursed through a narrow canyon, then popped up to give Shin another view of the battle. The Nova Cats and Dragoons had met in the roadway, and broken 'Mechs of both sides littered the ground. From the mixture of shattered hulks, it looked to Shin that the mercenaries had driven the Nova Cats back a hundred meters or so, blunting their momentum. The Dragoons had then begun an orderly withdrawal, forcing the Nova Cats to win back the ground they had taken initially.

As the slow snake of Nova Cat 'Mechs started forward, the Dragoons pounded them hard. From his vantage point, Shin saw the second Dragoon line moving forward. He assumed that just as the whole column of Nova Cats intended to continue pressing toward Imperial City, the Dragoons would charge and stop the advance. That would force the column to stop again. Not only would the stop-and-go progress be frustrating for the Clanners, but it provided more time for the mercenary airwings to hit the enemy.

The chopper pilot dropped the aircraft down behind a line of hills and shot it straight toward Imperial City. Shin directed him to land at a rear headquarters unit near a regiment of BattleMechs. The pilot radioed in for landing clearance, got it, and set the helicopter down on a spot midway between the BattleMechs and a nearby tent.

Shin unbuckled himself and dismounted. He gave the pilot a thumbs-up, then ran clear of the metal bird. When an orderly intercepted and handed him sealed orders, Shin recognized Theodore's chop on the rice-paper packet and tore it open. His jaw dropped open as he read the contents, then he refolded the sheet and sprinted toward the assembled 'Mechs.

Shin shivered as he mounted the ladder spilling down from the Phoenix Hawk'sbreast. I am not ready for this sort of responsibility, Theodore!Once inside the cockpit, he hit the switch that retracted the ladder and sealed the 'Mech's faceplate in place. Stripping off his jumpsuit, Shin donned a cooling vest and helmet, then strapped himself in and went through his initiation procedure.

The second the computer made the Phoenix Hawkfully operational, Takashi Kurita's voice blasted through the helmet's speakers. "I warn you, I will not tolerate being ordered by one of my son's hoodlums. To him you may be special, but to me you are yakuza! I've dealt with your ilk before, and I can do it still. I demand you release my 'Mech!"

Shin swallowed hard. Theodore's orders, making him the liaison with the reserve unit Takashi had cobbled together, told him that the override code would allow the Coordinator and his comrades to bring their 'Mechs into full operational status. It also told him how crucial it was to keep them back until orders to commit them were issued. Being set 10 kilometers behind the initial lines put them midway between Imperial City and the front. This was not the optimum position for defense, but the valley they were assigned to defend gave them the latitude to move quickly to bolster any point that might break in the line. Theodore's message had communicated all that and more, and Shin felt like a grain of rice beneath a millstone.

"Iie,Kurita Takashi- sama. I have been given specific orders. I cannot release you yet."

"Damn you, Shin Yodama, and damn my son. He leaves the Combine in the hands of bandits and mercenaries. Free us!"

Takashi's imperious tone slapped at Shin's pride, but he fought back the rise of anger. "No! Your son has placed you here for a most specific reason."

"Ha! He has placed me here, defenseless, for only one reason: he hopes the Clans will kill me so he can be the Coordinator of the Combine."

"He has you here because he trusts you to accomplish what he needs done."

"You have been deceived by him, yakuza." Takashi spat out the last word like a piece of bitter root. "My son trusts me with nothing. For the third and final time, free us."

"No!" Shin turned his Phoenix Hawkand located the Grand Dragonwith Takashi's crest on its right breast. "I have my orders and I will follow them."

"You will obey me now, yakuza! I am the Coordinator of the Draconis Combine!"

"Coordinator, I know who you are and have only the highest respect for your office." Shin gritted his teeth to keep his temper in check. "I understand your demands, but I cannot bow to them until I am given orders. If you wish to order me or your son to commit seppukufor this breach of honor, we will do so later. When the Kanrei tells me the time is right, I will release you."

"That time is now," gloated the Coordinator. "I have had my technicians review the software and I know what the release code is. Three times I have asked you to release us, and thrice have you refused. Honor has been satisfied. I am now free to act."

"If you do that," Shin intoned in a low voice, "you force me to use a second code I have been given. If I broadcast it, you will all die, and with you goes Imperial City."

"This is madness. My son is insane!"

"Iie,Coordinator. He is not mad, but only a man who knows his father so well." Shin's hand hovered over the keypad on the right side of the cockpit. "He knows you would be ingenious enough to find a way around his security measure. He also knew that if you knew nothing about the second code, you would have no time to find it in any analysis. He is serious about your remaining in position to deploy when needed. He could not risk your leaving this place."

"He was afraid I would steal his victory from him."