Phelan keyed his radio. "Dire Gamma, please relay to Black Widow Alpha that we have downed our bogey. Ask for a new assignment."

Switching the frequency control, he tightbeamed a message to the Ostsolacross the frequencies he knew the Free Republic's troops used. "Whoever you are, you have my sincere respect. If not for a moment of inspiration, our positions would be reversed. You are now my prisoner."

The youth of the MechWarrior's voice surprised Phelan. "I may be your prisoner, but I will never surrender to you."

"Don't do anything foolish. Don't overload your engine. It won't serve anyone or anything for you to be that sort of hero."

"Oh, I don't worry. That would make it too easy on you." A fiery stubbornness entered the voice. "If I'm dead, I can't lead my people to freedom, can I?"

Before Phelan could think of a suitable reply, Dire Gamma's report buzzed into his ear. "The Colonel sends her congratulations. Satalice has been pacified. We are to regroup at the Den and prep for an inspection."

Phelan frowned. "Inspection?"

"Roger. She said the ilKhan will be reviewing us in two days, and he's bringing a very special visitor with him. The visitor is the one we're supposed to impress."

"This visitor have a name?" Phelan wanted to know.

"Not one of us, so who cares?"

"I care."

"No name, Star Commander, just a title." Dire Gamma hesitated, then sighed. "Does 'the Primus of ComStar' mean anything to you?"

44

Imperial City , Luthien

Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine

5 January 3052

Tempers flared as frustration eroded the last shreds of the Coordinator's tolerance for either his son or Shin Yodama. For Shin's part, he felt trapped in the battle between father and son, and had to fight to maintain his composure. He knew Theodore had placed him as a buffer against his father precisely because Shin could not be blackmailed by the old samurai's demands.

It is precisely because I am not part of the centuries-old samurai tradition that Takashi rails against me.Shin shrugged at the irony of the situation, then sighed with resignation as a blinking light indicated an incoming radio call on Takashi's frequency.

Shin punched the call through. "Hai."

"Will my son let us fight now? We are almost to the gates of the city we are to defend."

"My last orders were for us to remain here. I await the Kanrei's orders to attack."

A quick button-lunch cut Takashi's strangled protest off in mid-utterance. Even after Shin had issued the computer command allowing Takashi's reserve unit to bring their weapons up, they had been forbidden to engage in combat. Theodore, out with the Second Legion of Vega, continued to coordinate the Combine's response to the Clan assault. The Reserves had been shuttled from one point to another, ready to intercept any breakthrough in the Combine lines.

So far, matters had not gone as well for the Clans as feared. Though the Nova Cats and Smoke Jaguars had pushed into the hills between their landing point and the city, the maneuver had allowed the Combine's forces into their rear. With the mercenaries harassing them through the hills, the Clans' progress had become slow, and the necessity of fighting a rearguard action slowed them down even more.

Shin realized that Takashi did not understand exactly how the Clans operated. The Coordinator believed that once the Clans had committed their forces, they would not call down reinforcements. Yet, prisoner interviews had suggested that their bidding system allowed them to call down more forces if and when needed. This put Theodore in the position of having to allow the Clans to progress until his troops were in a position to utterly destroy them. As reinforcements would take approximately two hours to land, the final battle would have to be very swift or Clan reinforcements might arrive just in time to do some good.

Of course,Shin reminded himself, they could always raze the city with an orbital assault, as they did Edo on Turtle Bay.The yakuza shivered and muttered a brief prayer to his ancestors to prevent that eventuality.

Shin immediately punched the radio call on Theodore's tactical frequency into his headphones. "Hai,Kanrei."

"Yodama -san, the Nova Cats are coming your way. The Kell Hounds have regrouped into a reinforced regiment and will be coming to support your southern flank. Colonel Kell says if you want to turn the Clanners toward him, he's ready to catch anything you pitch."

"Hai,Kanrei. We will stop them."

"Good luck, Shin. We'll be coming in from the north, and Wolf's bringing up the rear. It is now or never."

"Understood." Shin shut that frequency off and shifted to the Dragon's Claws frequency. "The Nova Cats are ours. The Kell Hounds will be coming in from the south and the rest of our forces will come from the north. We are to turn the Cats toward the Hounds." '

Takashi's voice overrode Shin's. "Follow me, comrades. We will show these invaders how true samurai fight."

"No!" Shin let all his fury at Takashi's abuse of power flood the frequency. "Listen to me. We cannot and should not forget tradition, but suicidal assaults will not stop the Clans. We are a hammer, and the Kell Hounds are an anvil."

"I am samurai, Shin Yodama." The Coordinator's voice seethed with righteous fury. "My code demands I fulfill the dictates of honor."

"Your code also calls for the fulfillment of duty. Let your honor be assuaged by attending to your dutyto your son and the Combine. Otherwise, go down in history as the man who lost Luthien."

Shin's right hand hovered over the command console keypad he would use to type in the destruct code for Takashi's Grand Dragon.Though he tried to will his fingers to stop trembling, they would not. He had no fear of being unable to punch in and send the code if necessary, but he wanted to give Takashi every chance to avoid such a fate.

"This is not finished here, Shin Yodama."

"I understand, Coordinator. As I said before, you may command my death later." Shin saw movement on his holographic display and looked up to find Nova Cat 'Mechs beginning to enter the Kadoguchi Valley below Imperial City. "Now is the time to stop the invaders."

Takashi gave his men a sacred mission. "We are the Kamikaze that swept the Mongols from the shores of Japan nearly two millennia ago!"

With grim determination, Shin started the Phoenix Hawkin a lurching run that became smooth, swift, and powerful in a dozen steps. The BattleMech reached its top speed of 97.2 kph within 100 meters from its starting point, with each jarring step pounding meter-deep holes into the turf. Behind him, like a wolf leading its pack, came Takashi and the Dragon's Claws.

Centered at the top of Shin's display was the distance to the Clan 'Mechs. Numbers blurred as the distance spun down. The golden crosshairs that designated targets for his weapons bounced up and down wildly, making it virtually impossible to get an accurate shot at that distance and speed. Even so, Shin played with the joysticks on each arm of his command couch to try to keep them on target. Occasionally he got a gold dot, confirming a target lock, but at such extended range, he did not fire.

Because he was coming in at high speed, he knew the Clans would have almost as much trouble targeting him. In the four seconds it took his Phoenix Hawkto cross from extreme Clan range to the outer fringe of his own weaponry's effective range, only one Nova Cat successfully launched on him. An LRM rack sent a score of missiles burning across the battlefield, but less than half acquired and hit their target. Those that did blew almost all the armor from the Phoenix Hawk'sright arm. The detonations shook the 'Mech and threatened to unbalance it, but Shin compensated to keep it upright and running.