‘Arrow Leader!’ It was Dolby, one of the Stinger pilots. and his voice sounded just as scared. ‘This is Arrow Two! Kurita 'Mechs. moving from the east. I see Dragons...’

Oh, drek!

‘Arrow Leader to all Arrows! Fall back on the ridge crest. Now!’ Tracy's decision had been immediate and obvious. The Kurita force had somehow moved unseen across the mountain path that Tracy and her men had taken, and the enemy now lay across their lines of communications with the rest of the Gray Death Legion to the west. Worse, there were heavy 'Mechs, 60-ton Dragons.closing from the east. So many Kurita 'Mechs could only mean that Tracy's force had stumbled across an important concentration of the Second Dieron Regulars.

It also meant that Tracy and her tiny command were surrounded.

From the crest of the ridge, she could see the Combine forces in both directions. As tense minutes dragged on, the composition of both forces became apparent. There was one lance of heavies, two Dragons,a Rifleman,and an Orionto the east, and at least six, possibly eight, Mechs among the tangle of rocks to the west. From the look of things, a Kurita company had been stationed here. Arrow's sudden appearance had surprised the defenders, but they were now mobilizing to surround and crush the intruders. The first long-range missiles were already arrowing into the rocky crest of the ridge.

‘Hey! There're too many of them.’

‘What'll we do?’

‘Arrow Leader! I'm hit! I'm hit!’

‘Silence on the line!’ Tracy's command cut across the babble on the tac channel. ‘Spread out and circle! Take a position and go prone!’

She was sacrificing her light 'Mechs' mobility by having them lie down, but mobility was not so much an advantage here, with no place to go. The two Waspswould be unable to fire the SRM 2s mounted in their left legs while they were lying down, but that disadvantage would be more than compensated by the enemy's inability to get a clear shot at them.

Laser fire lanced down the slope toward the lance of heavies advancing across the plain from the industrial plant. The 'Mechs to the west were closer and more numerous, but it was harder to see them. The heavies, on the other hand, made a perfect target. Light from multiple hits washed across the Orionand one of the Dragons.The Riflemanpulled to a stop and swung its double-barreled arms up and around, raking the ridge line with high-powered laser and autocannon fire, but from the bottom of the slope the angle of fire was impossible. Rock shards and gravel rattled off the defenders' armor, but no damage was done. Tracy gave another command, and synchronized bursts of coherent light struck among the attackers again, staggering the already-damaged Dragonand blasting great chunks of armor off the Orion'sleft leg and torso.

‘Arrow to Skull! Arrow to Skull! Come in, Skull!’ Though the Tek Battlecom communications system built into her Phoenix Hawkwas high-powered, long-ranged, and heavily shielded against enemy jamming, the mountains would make communication with the Gray Death difficult. She boosted her output to full and prayed as she called again. ‘Arrow to Skull! Reply!’

‘This is Skull Leader.’ Carlyle's voice was scratchy with distance and interference, but she could hear him clearly. She felt a surge of relief. ‘Go ahead, Arrow.’

‘We walked into it, Skull Leader!’ In quick, terse phrases, she outlined the situation as enemy fire burned through the afternoon sky, probing their positions. ‘We're surrounded, outnumbered, and outweighed,’ she concluded. ‘Can you assist?’

‘We're on our way,’ Carlyle replied. ‘But we're a good distance away. Can you hold for...’ The pause was interminable. ‘Can you hold for 20 minutes?’

Twenty minutes! She'd not stopped to think about the intervening distance between the two units. In BattleMech combat, even two minutes seemed to drag on forever. But 20 minutes...!

‘Skull Leader...we'll try. Come as fast as you can!’

A rush by the western force demanded her attention then. She had posted the two Locustspart way down the slope amid a sprawl of house-sized boulders. There they were hunkered down with their spidery legs folded behind them, their chin turret lasers almost resting on the ground. On either side were the two Stingers.

She arrived as a lance of Kurita 'Mechs started up the slope, spread out on either side of the rocky trail they'd followed earlier. A 50-ton Hunchbackhad the lead, its body looking misshapen under the massively armored and cooled hulk of its shoulder-mounted autocannon. The Locustshad already fired, their medium lasers heating patches on the Hunchbacksarmor to a bright cherry red. She turned her heavy laser on the same target and triggered three quick bursts. The heavy autocannon bucked and smoked with a measured thud-thud-thud,sending streams of high-explosive shells smashing into the hillside behind her.

She fired, moved, then fired again. The Hunchbackwas more heavily armored than her own Phoenix Hawk,but much slower. The defender's fire was striking it from several directions, all from higher up, and its pilot was having trouble identifying a target for its own answering fire. One of Arrow's Stingersscored a crippling hit on a Kurita Wasp,then shifted its aim to the Hunchbackas the light Combine 'Mech collapsed to the ground. Taking fire from four 'Mechs, the Hunchbackclumsily swung about and began to lumber back down the ridge, the Assassinand a Pantherproviding cover.

Tracy continued to pour fire into the retreating 'Mechs, though she mourned the loss of her left-arm laser. With yesterday's damage to her 'Mech still not repaired, she had only the medium laser and machine gun in her right arm. plus the heavy laser clamped into her right fist. She fired a last burst at the retreating Assassin,scoring a hit on the lighter Mech's leg, then scanned the terrain to left and right.

Her tac display showed that the two Waspsshe'd left defending the eastern side of the ridge were holding on. The Kurita heavies had taken damage and were falling back. Perhaps there would be time now for a maneuver of her own. With the western enemy force retreating in disarray, she might be able to slip along the west slope to north or south, loop down through the tangle ot boulders until she flanked the western force, and convince them that the defenders trapped on the ridgetop had just received reinforcements The confusion might allow her to extricate her entire command. It would be no good sending one of the others. Stingers, Wasps,and Locustswould be no good for the job she had in mind. Her Phoenix Hawk,though, with its jump jets and heavy laser, was perfect.

‘Arrow Leader to Arrow Two!’ she called. ‘Dolby, come in!’

‘Go ahead, Arrow Leader.’ He no longer sounded scared, but his voice was still dry and tight.

‘You're in command. I'm going to try to flank em.’

‘What...now?’

‘We have them on the run. Dolby. Just hold them But be ready to pull the group out when I give the word!’

‘Uh...O.K...’ He sounded uncertain.

Explosions savaged their way along the ridge crest, blasting great chunks of rock and dirt skyward. Tracy glanced at her tac display, and saw red blips astride the ridge to the south. With a shock, she realized that the Kurita forces had flanked their position, having sent one of the two west-slope lances south and around her by straddling the ridge. They were moving toward her now with the slow determination of a heavy earth-mover, ripping the landscape with shell and beam in an effort to root the defenders from the ridge.

But that could be good! It meant that there were only four enemy 'Mechs along the path to the west, and those were battle-damaged and in disorder. If she could flank them, they would scatter, moving south through the boulder fields to join their companions. The way would be open for the Arrow force.