The Dropmaster smiled. "Glad to have you with us, Falcon Leader. Torch One, drop in ten seconds, nine . . ."

Punching two buttons on his command console, Andrew patched the countdown through to his command, First Battalion's Delta company. "Because you and your people appear on no official rosters, Captain Redburn, you'll be our little surprise," Colonel Stone had remarked as the Firewalkerhurled insystem from the sun's nadir jump point. "The first and second battalions will draw out Cochraine's Goliaths,and you'll goose them."

A series of sharp metallic rasps and clanks thundered through the Firestarter'scockpit as the drophatches irised open. Redburn's stomach lurched as the 35-ton Firestarterfell from the DropShip. The familiar thrum of engines and other comforting DropShip sounds suddenly vanished into the windy quiet of a drop.

Sensory input from a thousand sources flooded into Redburn's cockpit. Sorting through it, he ignored the fear that had built up while waiting for the drop. His brown eyes flashed on the altimeter, then growled, "Low drop, Delta. Burn hard! Now!"Following his own command, Redburn pushed hard on his foot pedals, igniting the jump jets on the Firestarter'sback. He eased up on the left pedal for half a second, letting the right jet twist him toward the battlefield.

My God, it's a hellground,thought Redburn as he surveyed the landscape of frozen red desert. The wide, virtually featureless plain stretched out as far as the eye could see in all directions, except where the thick, black smoke of burning 'Mechs cut off his view. This place is a desert because it gets so little rainfall during the year, but this high up means it stays cold.He glanced at his external thermometer. Zero degrees Celsius. Damned cold!

Opposite where his command had jetted to the ground, the Davion Light Guards' First Battalion was arrayed in a staggered formation to engage the Liao Battalion at a distance. Long-range missile exchanges had pockmarked the landscape with cratered reminders of poor marksmanship. Burning 'Mechs of various sizes and allegiances, or scraps thereof, decorated the battlefield as reminders of war-machine efficacy.

Redburn chewed his lip, thinking that something was very wrong here. Our lines are pushed too far back!"Eagle, how's your vantage point?"

Leftenant Craon's voice crackled with nervousness. "Not so good. I don't see Second Battalion."

Redburn swallowed hard. "Neither do I." He studied the tactical display on his auxiliary monitor. It showed elements he identified as First Battalion withdrawing toward some low hill formations to the south. First Battalion's speed will beat that of theGoliaths, but running keeps our 'Mechs at theGoliath 's optimum range. Most of the First Battalion's 'Mechs can't fight at that range. Where the hell is Second Battalion ?

Archie St. Agnan's voice cut into Redburn's neurohelmet. "My sensors have picked up Colonel Stone's identifier still with our troops. Wait! I have a transmission from him ..."

Andrew licked his dry lips. "Patch it through."

Static crackled and popped loudly, half obscuring the faint transmission. "Delta, pull out. Second Battalion aborted landing. Liao air cover is too heavy. The Goliathswill eat up your recruits ..."

That's Stone, all right.Andrew keyed his throat mike. "Did you all get that?"

Drew Montbard replied strongly. "We copied, Captain. I vote we go in."

"This isn't a democracy, Drew." Andrew summoned a technical readout on the GoliathAssault 'Mech to his primary monitor. Two LRM launchers, but those four-legged monsters should be out of missiles by now. That leaves them their particle projection cannons. If we get in close enough, those won't be worth spit, either. We're at doublestrength for a company.

"Archie," Andrew said. "Don't acknowledge the transmission. We never got it. Ground 'em now, troops! Land in that wash over to the south. Hit top speed, use the wash for cover, and come in from behind. If they want to court-martial us for disobeying orders, first they'll have to let us win this fight, won't they?"

The massive quadruped Goliath'Mechs looked more like conventional tanks that had sprouted a leg at each corner of their boxy chassis. Their low, flat turrets swiveled side to side as though the muzzle of their PPCs spied out targets before blasting them into oblivion. Nearly twelve meters high, the 'Mechs stood a third again as tall as any of the light 'Mechs opposing them. Like a solid line of mechanized war elephants, the Goliaths,drove their fleeing enemies before them.

Andrew Redburn narrowed his eyes as he settled the targeting crosshairs for his Firestarter'stwin arm-mounted medium lasers. It was just like they said at Warriors Hall on New Syrtis. Every 'Mech had two flaws. One was the designer, who believes he's created an invincible machine, and the other was the pilot, who believes the designer."Archer and Demon Lances, let fly!"

The two Valkyrielances released their flights of LRMs while the other three Delta lances raced in beneath the missile umbrella. As the missiles arced overhead, ten ruby shafts of medium laser fire flashed forward like arrows at two of the Goliaths.The lasers slashed long, deep gashes in the giant 'Mechs' armor, and the incoming missiles gnawed at the holes like maggots feasting on an open wound.

The two rearmost Goliathsshuddered. Missiles blasted chunks of aft armor from the torsos of both 'Mechs in a fiery rain of debris, then Andrew saw explosions carry further into the Goliaths'hearts. Subsidiary explosions wracked both machines, and a flash of white light on Andrew's infrared display told him that the 'Mech on the right had lost some of the shielding surrounding its fusion engine.

The pilots of both 'Mechs, reacting to the assault from the rear, tried to turn their cumbersome machines to face the threat, but Delta company's initial attack had damaged them more seriously than they had realized. As the 'Mechs began to come about, their legs, no longer coordinated because of destroyed gyrostabilizers, splayed out, sending each machine crashing to the ground.

Redburn fought the earthquake-like tremor triggered by the 80-ton monsters slamming into the earth. Hope our luck holds and Stone can rally his forces."Move it, Delta. We're here."

Staying out of range, yet moving to make themselves difficult targets, the Valkyriesof Archer and Demon Lances concentrated their missile and laser fire on carefully chosen targets. Bullseye, Cat, and Fox Lances, consisting of light 'Mechs designed for close-in combat, streamed into the midst of the Liao force like a pack of wolves hunting caribou. Working in close concert, each lance picked out a target, then took it apart.

Fox Lance, led by Hugh de Payens in a Firestarter,attacked the first Goliathto complete the turn and engage Delta company head on. As Hugh closed, two of his three flamers bathed the large 'Mech in orange fire. The Goliathpilot cranked his PPC muzzle down, releasing a savage bolt of blue lighting that stabbed the left side of the Firestarter'schest. Armor peeled off like butter rolling up a knife, but it failed to fully breach the Firestarter'sarmor.

Hugh's lancemates swept in beneath the PPC's azure beam. The three ungainly, birdlike Jennersreleased flights of short-range missiles that spiraled out at their massive target. Brilliant explosions blossomed over the Goliath'storso, and two of the SRMs pierced the 'Mech's chest armor to sow havoc in its heart. Black smoke began to pour from the hole, indicating damage to the engine shielding.