"Such as?"

Hohiro crossed his fingers. "Four of your frontline BattleMechs and two dozen of your power-armored suits."

The Galaxy Commander barked a sharp laugh. "Out of the question!"

"Why is that?" Hohiro asked in an offended tone. "You yourself believe the chances of my victory are non-existent. After the battle, when I again escape your custody and make my way back to my own people, I will need an explanation of my actions to save my reputation. Capturing some of your war material is an important enough goal that my superiors will understand my gamble. The least you can do is honor me with the illusion that I am a threat worthy of such an exchange."

The radio fell silent for fifteen to twenty seconds, then Osis's voice returned. His answer came slowly as though he knew he would later regret his words. "Very well. If you defeat me, I will see that you receive four of our BattleMechs and two dozen suits of battle armor. I also promise that Wolcott will retain its independence if we are defeated. As for the force I will use, I tell you that it will total no more than roughly half of whatever force you offer."

Shin narrowed his eyes. With their increased firepower, that should make them about even with us in sheer destructive capabilities. By controlling the battlefield and using terrain to our advantage, we have a shot at defeating them.

Hohiro, his smile becoming a wide grin, nodded slowly. "It is a pleasure to deal with such a reasonable and honorable man. I will meet you at the head of the Yuutsu—the Blue Devils—in the numachi no tanimadistrict fifteen myriameters north of my current position. In four hours? My technicians will transmit the files on the Blue Devils immediately. I will be using both regiments."

"Four hours, then."

"And Commander, don't worry," Hohiro added in one final barb. "If you survive a defeat, I will treat you better than your people treated me."

Hohiro punched a button, immediately cutting off the microphone. He turned to his father. "Well, what do you think?"

Theodore crossed to his son and rested both his hands on Hohiro's shoulders. "You did very well, my son. Osis will be uneasy, wondering if he has been manipulated, and angry at your affront. That should provide him with some serious distractions."

The Kanrei looked at Shin. "Chu-sa,if you would be so kind ..."

Shin stood at attention. "Kanrei?"

"Please radio Tai-saNarimasa Asano and tell him we will join his newly christened Blue Devils in Swamp Valley shortly." Theodore smiled wolfishly. "In four hours, we will hand the invaders the first of many bloody defeats."

With mist rising from its brackish water and its thick, vine-laden mangrove forests, Swamp Valley reminded Shin of some demon-haunted domain from the terror tales he had listened to as avidly as a child. Gasses bubbled up in great roiling burps, bringing up viscous black sludge. Reptiles, propelled by the slow undulation of their armored tails, swam through the swamp as though resentful of this invasion but secretly waiting for men to leave their metal shells and become dinner.

With his new Phoenix Hawkstanding next to Hohiro's Trebuchetand Narimasa Asano's Crusader,Shin studied the modifications to the battlefield, which were certain to distract and confuse the invaders. Within the swamp's leafy green canopy, thousands of metallic streamers hung like tinsel on a Christian Christmas tree. Shimmering silver and gold, the streamers contained just enough metal to make the whole forest magscan as though it were made of steel, effectively hiding the army of 'Mechs waiting within its dark heart.

To further conceal the Genyosha 'Mechs, the warriors had been ordered to shut down the heat exchangers in the torsos and arms of their machines. The only heat sinks left operating were those in the legs. Submerged in the swamp water, they were more than able to dissipate the heat generated by an idling fusion engine. Aside from raising the infrared output for the swamp in general, that precaution made the 'Mechs virtually invisible to heat scans.

All the 'Mechs have been painted with a camouflage pattern that makes them difficult to see in the swamps, and the radar jammers will take that scanning mode away from them.Shin looked through the swamp to the vast delta downstream of his position. After they land down there, they'll have to get within spitting distance to see us. The swamp is too wet to burn down, so they'll have to play cat and mouse with us, but on a battlefield of our choosing.

Two eggshaped DropShips made a pass over the delta, then circled back around to hover over a sandbar. The DropShips didn't lower their landing gear, but remained at approximately ten meters above the ground. The 'Mech bay doors irised open and BattleMechs dropped to the ground in rapid succession. As they hit, they moved out and forward, establishing a perimeter and taking advantage of the little cover offered by sandbars or debris.

Shin marveled at their efficiency. Their pilots have to be masters to hold a ship that even and level while hundreds of tons of war machines move to the door and jump out. Either they have incredibly steady hands on the controls, or their level of computer control and command integration is beyond anything we can even imagine. And the MechWarriors, too. They jump clear and move to their positions without hesitation. They seem to work in sets of five and with a coordination that suggests they've undergone intensive training together.

A rain of smaller armored figures followed the 'Mechs out of the hatch, but they and four of the BattleMechs hung back as the other machines pushed their perimeter further out. Osis honors his bargain. There is our prize, just waiting for us to win it. I am certain he thinks to taunt us with it, but maybe it's we who will have the last laugh.

Hohiro's voice reverberated through his neurohelmet. "This is it, Shin. I'd wish you luck, but you already have more than enough of it."

With the flick of a finger, Shin brought his targeting computer on line. "Luck will play no part in this, Sho-saKurita. This is the end-game. You have already beaten the invaders, Highness. Now we just need to remind them of it."

"That, Chu-saYodama. That's what we will do right now." Shin heard a series of clicks over his headphones, then saw icons move on his holographic display. At the same moment, wickedly fast little hovercraft shot out into the delta from the swamp forest that bordered it on three sides. Little more than a cockpit sandwiched between a medium laser in front and a fan in back, the inappropriately named Savannah Masters closed on the invaders. In datastacks, the vehicles looked worthless because of their light armor and relatively weak weaponry, but their hellacious speed make them deucedly awkward to hit. As they streaked in, their lasers stabbed out at targets but did little more than boil some armor away.

The invaders concentrated their attention and fire on the small hovercraft weaving twisted paths through their formation. That gave the heavier, slower hovercraft in the Yuutsu force a chance to move to the edge of the swamp and launch missile and autocannon salvos at the Clansmen. Armor lances concentrated their fire on specific targets, pounding their foes with devastating amounts of energy and projectiles. Shin saw one Daishisplash down on its face, and another 'Mech, one he had designated a Koshi,spun to its knees with one arm limply hanging at its side.

Suddenly aware of this new threat, the invaders ignored the Savannah Masters and turned to vent their anger on the Drillson and Saracen hover tanks, but the tanks simply melted back into the forest and vanished from scanner contact. The Savannah Masters, skipping across the delta and sandbars like fiat stones flung by some child, likewise took refuge in the forest. Before they had a chance to strike back, the invaders found themselves with casualties but no targets.