Justin smiled to himself. You saw me safely through my battles on the Game World. Let us hope you’ll make this raid work, too.Justin had just reached out for the ladder when he heard someone call his name. He turned, the smiled still on his lips.

Alexi Malenkov, Justin's chief aide on the crisis team, jogged awkwardly in his direction. A black jumpsuit covered the lanky blond from hooded head to feet and gloved wrists. A mirrored faceplate rode clipped to his shoulder, but when in place, would give Alexi complete night vision in addition to cleaning the air of all harmful gases and smoke. A bulky backpack contained his parafoil, and a rucksack belted to his middle contained all his weaponry, except for the needle pistol riding in a holster beneath his left armpit.

Justin's smile grew wider. "I think, were we to drop you alone on the facility, the Feds would surrender straight away," he said, chuckling at the sight of Alexi. "You look pretty fearsome."

Alexi joined in the laughter. "Thanks. After this raid, I'll go into holovids. There's got to be a commando series coming out of this."

Justin nodded. "Malenkov the Mercenary. I can see it now: dolls, holovids, clothes. Probably earn more than the guy who does the Immortal Warriorseries. Hope you remember your friends when you get rich."

Alexi nodded confidently. "No problem." His smile slowly died as a frown creased his brow. "A couple of our people seem to be a little too anxious about notching their guns, though. We'll be down and in gassing the lab while you and the other three 'Mech pilots bring your 'Mechs up. What do you want me to do with any trigger-happy folks?"

Justin frowned. "Our people have to return fire if they're opposed, but if they start shooting things up, you'll have to kill them." Justin pointed toward the Centurion."Once I strap in, I'll remind everyone we're here to steal the golden egg, not kill the goose. When we've driven Davion back, we'll want to use these people to our own benefit."

Alexi flashed Justin a thumbs-up. "Got it. Good luck."

"And to you, Citizen Malenkov." Justin punched Alexi lightly in the shoulder. "Shoot straight, but keep your head down."

Alexi turned away, leaving Justin to mount the ladder to his 'Mech's cockpit. Nimble as a monkey, Justin ascended the ladder and reached the cockpit despite his mechanical left hand. Once inside, he settled into the command couch and touched a button on his right that reeled in the ladder and dropped the faceplate down into position. With a hiss, the cabin pressurized itself.

Justin unzipped his black jumpsuit, revealing the cooling vest he wore beneath it. Plastic tubes of coolant ran between the goretex material next to his skin and the vest's outer layer of ballistic cloth. Justin snaked out the vest's power cord and snapped it into a socket on the left side of his couch. He felt the ticklish sensation of fluid moving through the tubes as the vest pulled heat away from his body.

Through slits on the thighs and upper arms of his jump suit, Justin pressed medical monitoring electrode pads to his flesh. He then opened a panel on the right side of his couch and pulled out four cables. He clipped one end of each to the pads, then snaked the cables up through the appropriate loops on his cooling vest. He let the plugs hang limp at his throat.

Reaching up and behind himself, he pulled his neurohelmet from the shelf above his command couch. He settled it down over his shoulders, adjusting it to rest comfortably on the vest's padded shoulders, with the neurosensor ring pressed snugly against his head. With the triangular faceplate centered, Justin presed some velcro tabs to keep the helmet in place, then plugged the four sensor wires into the sockets on the helmet's throat.

He grinned to himself. It's been far too long since I've been in a 'Mech. What I have been doing is vital to the war effort, but being denied a 'Mech is almost unbearable. I'm a MechWarrior first. Nothing will ever take that from me.

Justin reached over to his metallic left hand with his right and tugged back on the middle and ring fingers until they pressed nearly flat against the back of the hand. With a click, a small compartment cracked open at Justin's left wrist. He slid the panel back, allowing a ribbon cable to spring out like a striking snake. Justin snapped the connector into a socket below the joystick on the command couch arm.

With his right hand, he punched a button on the console to his right. The computer's voice echoed within his neurohelmet. "I am Yen-lo-wang.Who presents himself to the King of the Nine Hells?"

"Your humble servant, Justin Xiang."

Light static played through the speakers before the computer replied. "Voiceprint pattern match obtained. Proceed with your supplication."

Justin narrowed his eyes. "Vengeance is justice when visited upon the unjust. Grant me the power to dispense justice."

"Authorization confirmed. All I have is yours to use." As the computer's voice died, all the 'Mech's screens blossomed into color. The computer filled the primary monitor with a green and gold tactical readout of Yen-lo-wangand its unusual weaponry array. The Centurionhad been modified for combat on Solaris. In place of the LRMs normally found in a Centurion'storso, Justin had an autocannon magazine. The Luxor autocannon in the 'Mech's right arm had been replaced with a heavier Pontiac cannon that gobbled up ammo at double the Luxor's rate of fire—hence the need for the additional magazine.

Justin glanced at his inert left hand and the colorful cable running from his wrist. Just thinking about moving the hand to manipulate the targeting joystick accomplished the job for the lasers, fore and aft. Right hand takes care of the autocannon. With any luck, though, our little ruse will mean no 'Mechs show up and I won't have to shoot anything.

Justin punched up a radio link with the DropShip's Drop-Master. "What is the situation out there, Master Chung?"

The older man's seamed face appeared on an auxiliary monitor. "It would appear, Citizen Xiang, that your assessment of Captain Redburn is correct. We show the ion-trail of an OverlordDropShip in a low arc heading for the reactor assembly plant. We are continuing to send and receive messages to and from the Maskirovka cell in that area. Redburn took the bait. You are to be congratulated."

Justin smiled to himself. I taught Andrew Redburn a great deal as his commanding officer. Andy's getting his people into place in preparation for the Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers' diversionary drop."As nearly as you can tell, the Ganjuhas remained safely hidden in the Rangers' DropShip scanner shadow?"

"Roger, Citizen." Chung glanced at a monitor, then looked back at the communications camera. "All radio traffic appears normal, and I've heard no mention of anything other than an Overlordincoming. We're ten minutes to atmosphere and fifteen to split off. Davion's people have sent up no fighter cover, so I would anticipate a smooth run at the target."

Justin nodded. "Good. Keep me informed. Out." Justin hit a switch that transferred him to the tactical frequency all twelve of his people were monitoring. "Look sharp, people. We're about twenty minutes from the paradrop and twenty-five from unlimbering our 'Mechs. Let me stress once more that this is not designed to be a 'wet' mission. Yes, we've practiced it with opposition just to keep us sharp, but we're not on a search and destroy mission. The Chancellor wants these scientists kept alive so we can use them later, after we throw the invaders back."