Akira felt uneasiness roiling in his gut. The calmness my father has shown since leaving exile is unraveling. This is the man I remember from my youth, but I'm not sure I prefer him to the Yorinaga I have come to know as the commander of theGenyosha.

Yorinaga tucked his hands into the sleeves of his kimono."One of my scouts recognized Morgan's Archerand reported his presence back to me immediately. He also noted how the Kell Hounds had dug themselves into a nasty position. Our only routes to them were along alleys in which the mercenaries could concentrate their fire. Our assault would be difficult, but we were the Second Sword of Light—Takashi Kurita's own regiment. We would not be defeated.

"Then something remarkable happened. Morgan Kell marched his Archerfrom behind the fortifications and began to recite his lineage. I felt blood pounding in my temples as I listened to his voice. He was calling me out to engage him in single combat. He was willing to put his life on the line to save his people, and I accepted his bargain!"

Yorinaga's eyes flashed as he remembered the battle. "You should have seen it, Akira, for it was an incredible battle. Kell and I both closed. His medium lasers stabbed again and again at my Warhammer,and I answered with staggered blasts of PPC fire. Armor melted and ran like wax from both our 'Mechs, but all the wounds were superficial. Morgan danced his Archeraround, avoiding my shots while managing to sting me repeatedly.

"He was good, very good, but not good enough. I knew I'd not kill him unless he could be lured into making a mistake, so when two of his shots hit my right PPC, I switched the weapon to standby and did not use it in our next series of exchanges. Realizing my weakness, Kell swung his Archeraround and came in for close combat."

Yorinaga's hands left his sleeves and dropped into the position they would have occupied in a Warhammer'scommand couch. "I brought the right PPC up and fired. The particle beam sliced through the Archer'sright shoulder like a cleaver, severing the arm cleanly. Kell's Archerstumbled to its knees and waited for me to execute it."

Yorinaga's face reflected the pain of that moment. Akira longed to comfort his father, but he knew that would cost the older man face. This is his struggle. I will respect that.He waited silently for his father to continue.

Disbelief edged into Yorinaga's voice. "In my exultation, I took no notice of the fact that my targeting crosshairs did not blink when I dropped them on the Archer'sform. The computer refused to lock onto the target, but that mattered not at all. This was no combat. This was an execution. Why would I need computer assistance? Without care and too much emotion, I fired every weapon I had at the Archer."

Yorinaga stared up at the Bloodmoon. "Every weapon missed. PPC beams flashed wide of the target, reducing the ground they hit to molten glass. My SRMs flew out in a haphazard spread, bracketing the Archerbut doing no damage. My lasers shot short or high at their own whim, and my machine guns chattered away impotently. Panic rose in me as the heat buildup spiked within the cockpit, but it was not the heat that alarmed me. Somehow I had missed my foe!

"Suddenly, the Archer'smissile pods popped open. Two flights of LRMs leaped forward. Even though the warheads did not have time to arm themselves, the missile impacts battered me. It was like taking shelter in a tin shack to avoid a hailstorm. The missiles crushed armor and spun my Warhammerabout in a full circle, but somehow I managed to keep my 'Mech upright."

Yorinaga's hands tightened into fists. "When my vision cleared, I fired everything at the Archer,but again nothing hit it. The one-armed 'Mech struggled to its feet, continuing to ignore my assaults. Then Morgan made his Archerbow to me."

Yorinaga fell silent as though this last statement somehow explained everything that needed explanation. Akira felt a chill run the length of his spine. There's the conflict. My father both hates and respects Morgan Kell for what he did. With that bow, Kell acknowledged my father as the superior fighter, but robbed him of his victory.

Akira kept his voice low. "It is said you opened your canopy and threw your katanaand wakizashito Kell." Those blades had been in the Kurita family for over three hundred years, and you received them from the Coordinator's hands. What made you do that?

Yorinaga nodded wearily. "I felt I had no choice. After doing everything possible to kill Morgan Kell, I had failed in that duty. I had ceased to be a faithful warrior right then and there. I had to acknowledge him as my superior."

Yorinaga's head came around. "And it is true, I did utter a haiku:

Yellow bird I see.

The gray dragon hides wisely.

Honor is duty.

"Many took it as my death haiku, but it was not. In Morgan Kell, in his ability and intelligence and understanding of our way, I saw something that could destroy the Draconis Combine."

Akira frowned. "I don't understand."

"Neither did I, fully, not until years and long meditations later." Yorinaga hesitated, as though reluctant to reveal a damaging secret, but the look in his son's eyes seemed to make him continue. "With Bushido,we find the discipline to become fearless warriors. Honor is all-important, and our concept of self is secondary to state and family. We are but an extension of the Dragon, and our actions honor or shame the Coordinator."

Yorinaga nodded slowly. "Morgan Kell understood this. He used my desire for honor to save his men. Had I killed him, I would have allowed them to mourn their slain leader, and I would have accepted their pledge of neutrality. The Kell Hounds' freedom would have been purchased not with Morgan's blood, but with the honor he showed me in that situation.

"When he bowed to me, he trapped me. We had agreed to fight so that the victor could be merciful to the vanquished. I had lost, and because Bushidobound me to do so, I was forced to withdraw. To do otherwise might have won the battle, but it would have shamed Takashi Kurita. He could live without Mallory's World, but could he live without honor?"

Yorinaga swallowed hard. "I returned to Luthien and reported what I saw and felt to the Coordinator. I then resigned my commission and asked to be allowed to commit seppuku.The Coordinator exiled me to the zen monastery on Echo V while continuing to refuse my request. Eleven years later, he finally agreed to grant it, provided I first create and lead our elite unit, the Genyosha."

Akira pointed off toward the rubble representing Ryde. "We will meet the Kell Hounds then?"

Yorinaga nodded gravely. "Yes. Just as Morgan Kell studied to know me and use that knowledge against me, so I studied him while on Echo V. I know him ... I share his abilities. Kell and I will meet again on Ryde, Akira. And there we will destroy one another."

BOOK ll

DECEPTION

It is double the pleasure to deceive the deceiver.

—Jean de la Fontaine

11

Bethel

Capellan March, Federated Suns

9 April 3029

Justin Xiang stood in the middle of the 'Mech bay in the LeopardClass DropShip Ganjuand stared up at his BattleMech. Over five times his height and massing fifty tons, the Centurionknown to Solaris Vll fight fans as Yen-lo-wangtowered above its master. Humanoid in configuration, its left arm ended in a mechanical hand while the muzzle of an autocannon formed the right arm's terminus. The 'Mech's faceplate had been opened upward, and a rope ladder spilled down the machine's breast to the deck.