Inside the cockpit of his Victor,Davion studied the holographic display being relayed from his command center along the ground line to his 'Mech. The Ninth F-C had successfully deployed in the midst of the Diabolis and were moving with the high winds as they scoured the landscape. In their wake, at the site of the Ninth's landing and two other strategic points, a legion of 'Mech decoys and a considerable number of vibrabombs had been planted. The decoys had succeeded in drawing the interest of some Clan garrison troops, but the violent sand storms made communication difficult except by landline, to which very few of their scouts had access.

The Kell Hounds First Regiment and the armor from the Tenth Lyran Guards had deployed below his position, in the Plain of Curtains, named after the drifting ribbons of sand that snaked constandy through the broad valley. One 'Mech company from the Tenth Lyran Guards had set up in the foothills of the Windbreak Mountains to block access to the Kell Hounds' rear area through the Great Gash to the east of the Plain of Curtains. The mercenarie's own Second Regiment warded the First Regiment's left flank by slipping into the Sharktooth Mountains to the west. The rest of the Tenth had been held in reserve to bolster the Kell Hounds First Regiment or shore up either flank, as needed.

Victor frowned as the transcripts of broken transmissions played across his secondary monitor. "Central, can't you clean up the broadcasts from the Gash? I'm not clear if the explosives needed to close the pass have been put in place. I also get the impression that some of the power armor may be active in that area. Please confirm."

Victor waited as the Comcenter's operator hunted up the information. If the garrison troops come through and accept the Kell Hounds' challenge, as expected, the Diabolis should cap the north end of the plain just after the Falcons arrive. The Diabolis will make fighting tough, but it gives us an advantage by shortening ranges and diffusing energy beams at anything but point-blank range. The infighting will be nasty, but that's what will even the odds.He glanced at his 'Mech's status report on the primary display. Good God willing and this autocannon don't jam, I think we can beat the Clansmen and take back this world.

"Kommandant, I have the information you want. The explosives have been planted to close the Gash at its deepest point. The demolition crews are ready and the vibrabombs placed nearest the explosives have been shut down to prevent a premature, sympathetic detonation of the explosives."

Yeah, once that pentaglycerine is activated, it's highly unstable. It's a good thing this weather prohibits the use of LRMs and SRMs, because a hit nearby could trigger a collapse of the whole pass. If I don't have to bring it down, I'd prefer to keep it open."Good. Are there confirmations of armored infantry near the Gash?"

The comtech hesitated. "We aren't sure, sir. The Diabolis has moved into the area, which means communications are all fragmentary. Hauptmann Jungblud appears to have some contact at his forward position and has engaged in fighting. Leftenant-General Milstein says it looks to be fringe elements of the garrison force as they move toward the plain. All our other reports say a full regiment and a half of 'Mechs are moving to beat the storm into the plain."

Though the explanation sounded correct, something nagged at the back of Victor's mind. It's more than my dislike of Morgan assigning Leftenant-General Milstein as my safety valve. Ican't have Milstein pull a Hawksworth on me."Thank you, Comcenter." He switched over to another channel on the landline. "Kai, this is Victor. Have you been monitoring the situation at the Gash?"

"Affirmative."

"Assessment?"

The hum of dead air filled Victor's neurohelmet as Kai considered his reply. "I think, Kommandant, that the Clans are probing the Gash to see if we've left it undefended. The use of power armor could be an attempt to get through and into our rear. Depending upon the numbers of the infantry, they'll be able to overwhelm our forward company of 'Mechs—especially if they're fighting with Clan 'Mechs— and then blow through our infantry."

Victor winced. "That's likely to be nasty." He glanced at his map and punched a command into the computer that magnified the section of the map nearest the Gash. "We have a mobile hospital unit in Sector 0227. Get your lance over there and report back to me on the situation. The hospital is sitting right on top of a landline junction box, so you should have no problem getting through."

The enthusiasm in Kai's voice survived transmission intact. "Thank you, Vic. Talk to you in an hour."

"One hour. Got it." Victor stopped his hand in mid-motion just as he was about to shift his radio back to the link with the command center. "Kai, be careful. That Hatchetmanyou're riding has neither the firepower nor the armor you're used to with Yen-lo-wang.I hope like hell you won't need it, but remember that baby's whole head assembly comes away when you eject, so your torso has to be up."

Kai laughed. "Just like my uncle's Wolfhound.Caution noted and appreciated. Will advise as soon as I arrive on scene. Allard out."

Victor switched his radio back over to his command center. "Taccom, Davion here. I've detached Allard's scout lance for a recon of Sector 0227. Patch him through to me when he has a report, but I want you to monitor it as well. I'm going to break off here and head down to the plain. I'll join up with Hauptmann Cox and Alpha Battalion."

"Acknowledged, sir. Leftenant-General Milstein urges you to be careful. ETA of enemy is thirty minutes at their last clocked speed and position."

"Roger. Davion out." Victor hit a button on his console and the fiber-optic landline splice reeled itself back into the compartment on his 'Mech. As his eighty-ton BattleMech rose to its feet, a wind buffeted it. The Victorbegan to sway, but the gyros linked via the neurohelmet to the Prince's own sense of balance steadied the humanoid machine. With the 'Mech's left hand, Victor patted one of the stone monks on the leg, then lumbered his machine forward and down into the valley.

Below him, the Plain of Curtains spread out like a coppery field of fired clay. From his vantage point, he saw the shifting walls of sand that raced over that baked slab. Juggernaut winds twisting into the valley through the mountains drove the sand before them in haphazard patterns. Where they collided, the writhing walls of sand degenerated into red-gold dervishes that battled each other until they collapsed into scarlet piles of dust.

Beyond the Plain of Curtains lurked the Diabolis. The huge, whirling funnel of dust and debris appeared, for the most part, to be a black cylinder. Victor detected motion in it, but because of the distance and the storm's size, the walls appeared to be spinning at a painfully slow rate. Even so, the height to which streaks of red had risen in the black cone spoke of the power in the creeping storm.

I know the winds in there have been clocked at more than 350 kph. The Ninth F-C's inertial guidance system and independent clocks are going to be the only things that drop them in on us on time.Victor glanced at his own clock. Twenty minutes to engagement.

He hurried his 'Mech down the trail hammered flat by the feet of many other killing machines, then cut away from the trail about five hundred meters above the valley floor. As he passed a checkpoint, a 'Mech emblazoned with the flaming arrow insignia of a "pathfinder" waved him toward the front of the Lyran Guards formation. There he found Galen Cox's Crusaderstanding beside a Wolfhoundpainted in the red and black of the Kell Hounds.