Colonel Kell and Lieutenant Finn combined their attack to hideous effect on the Pantherthat Dan's readout nicknamed "Foxtrot." Kell trained his Thunderbolt'slarge laser on the 'Mech's right torso, and the ruby beam boiled the armor away like honey on a stove. Finn's Orionadded its medium laser to the wound and burned through to the interior. Sparks flashed as circuits melted on the enemy 'Mech. The thick black smoke curling from the wounds suggested that the laser had burned away a number of heat sinks. Without them, no 'Mech could operate for long, especially a PPC-armed Panther.

Major Salome Ward in her Wolverine,and her lancemate, Lieutenant Fitzhugh in his Catapult,concentrated their fire on one of the modified Shadow Hawks.The Catapult'stwo launching racks, located where its bird-like 'Mech should have had wings, flipped open to corkscrew thirty LRMs through the Pacifica darkness. They struck in waves, and exploded thunderously. With so much fire concentrated on the Shadow Hawk'sleft arm, it appeared utterly consumed. As the fire melted into the night, the Hawk'sleft limb lay completely vulnerable. Mangled beyond use, the hand and forearm hung frozen in place.

The Wolverine'sSRM flight exploded in an even line across the Shadow Hawk'storso. Though the Wolverine'sautocannon and medium laser blasted and burned huge slabs of armor from the Shadow Hawk'sleft side, they had failed to breech the armor. The medium lasers of Fitzhugh's Catapultsliced through the Shadow Hawk'sright leg armor, laying bare the myomer muscle. This left the 'Mech scanner-tagged "Golf" with the appearance of having only one of its trouser legs on.

Leftenant Redburn's Hunchbackstepped into the open and chased a Griffin out from amid the flames and smoke. The massive, boxy autocannon perched on the Hunchback'sright shoulder vomited fire and metal, a hellish stream that tore through the Griffin 'schest like a crosscut saw. Armor fragmented and spun away in jagged shards of waste-metal. Simultaneously, the Hunchback'smedium lasers chopped armor from the Griffin 'sleft flank and arm.

The ferocity of Redburn's assault staggered the Griffin .The potency of Hauptmann-General Sarah Joss's attack finished it. Joss's Warhammerseemed to regard the stricken Griffin pitilessly, as the 'Mech raised its PPCs.

One blue bolt flashed from the Warhammerand probed the Griffin 'shalf-melted left arm with a savage touch. Armor exploded and rocketed across the battlefield as blue lightning further mauled the damaged arm. Joss's attack left the 'Mech's limb twisted and fused to the shoulder in a fire-blackened lump.

The second tongue of electrical fire launched itself into the Griffin 'sheart, stabbing into the Griffin 'schest and melting all that it touched. Fire roared through the 'Mech's torso and jetted out through every heat sink and maintenance crawlway in the 'Mech's body. The Griffin shuddered and twitched as the blue lighting tightened every myomer muscle in its body. The 'Mech fell back heavily, the center of its chest a cherry hellpit, and lay staring up at the sky.

Confidence flared to life in Dan's heart. We've hammered them hard and badly damaged six 'Mechs—better than we'd planned. They've got to pull back.Then Dan looked up as another 'Mech marched from the DropShip's titanium womb. The ground trembled beneath its massive feet. His scanners instantly studied it and provided a data readout. Humanoid in configuration, the 'Mech's hunched shoulders hid its small head. Huge winglike counterbalances for the arms projected up past the shoulders. The left arm ended in a crude club, while the scanners reported that the right arm and the twin chestmuzzles contained PPCs.

Oh, my God!Dan's mouth went dry as the Awesomefilled his monitors. He shuddered as his confidence wavered like a candle in a tornado. Suddenly, he remembered what they always said at the New Avalon academy, joking to hide the terror in the thought. "It's not over until the Assault 'Mechs have finished playing."

21

Pacifica (Chara III)

Isle of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth

1 March 3027

The Kurita Awesomelumbered forward like a starving man toward a feast. The pilot raised the 'Mech's mace-like left fist as a threat while surveying the battlefield. He trumpeted a widebeam challenge to anyone foolish enough to fight him, and began to recite his impressive list of battles and victories. It was apparent from the casual way the Awesomemoved and feinted toward possible foes that the pilot did not expect anyone to be so foolish as to pick up the gauntlet.

Ardan Sortek's Victorwaded through burning Panthersand stepped over the fallen Griffin .Resplendent in the blue and gold of the Davion Home Guards, it looked utterly out of place among the 'Mechs camouflaged for jungle warfare. The battlefield flames skittered in glittering highlights off the humanoid 'Mech's gold trim, but failed to pierce the dark canopy over the cockpit. As smoke from the Griffin twisted up and around it like offertory incense, the Victorwaited.

The Awesometurned, and the pilot shifted the mace in a salute to his enemy. The mace fell and the PPC mounted on the right arm came up in the same motion. The battle slowed as the two massive Assault 'Mechs opened the gates of hell to attack one another.

Three ropes of icy blue plasma groped over the Victor.Wherever they touched, armor melted like wax under a blowtorch. The PPC beams encircled the Victor'slegs in an energy snare and tightened. Armor bled down the legs of Sortek's 'Mech in steaming rivulets, nearly stripping the right limb naked. Yet the horrible energy failed to crush the Victoras it would have any of the other 'Mechs on the field.

Sortek's counterattack blazed forward in a cyclone of sizzling metal and ruby spears of light. The projectiles streaming from the autocannon in the Victor'sright arm flayed armor from the Awesome'sright leg. The medium lasers on the Victor'sleft arm stabbed out in tandem, slicing long slivers of armor from the left side of the Awesome'schest. The Victor'sSRMs, launched from four tubes over the Assault 'Mech's left breast, blasted sheets of armor from the Awesome'smace-arm.

Again the Awesome'sPPCs flared to life, their blue energy vipers striking at random. One gnawed armor from the torso of Sortek's Victor.The other two nipped armor from the 'Mech's arms, but Ardan Sortek's machine gave no sign of noticing. Instead, it returned the fire, giving better than it got.

The Victor'sautocannon burst scourged the remaining armor from the Awesome'sleft arm, but failed to destroy the now-exposed myomer muscles. Meanwhile, Ardan's lasers vaporized armor on the Awesome'sleft leg and right arm, and his four SRMs ripped an angry scar across the enemy 'Mech's head. The Awesomeflinched, as though the pilot were shaken by the explosions.

As Dan watched the war between the two titanic 'Mechs, he realized that the rest of the battle had stopped in an informal truce around the two Assault 'Mechs. All of them knew that those two pilots would decide the outcome of their petty struggle. This battle would make history, and the two MechWarriors fighting it were destined for immortality. Just to be present was an honor any MechWarrior would cherish.

The Awesomeagain belched out three spears of artificial lightning. One drilled to the center of the Victor,and managed to punch a small hole through Sortek's armor without breeching it entirely. The energy singed the gyrostabilizer deep in the 'Mech's chest, however. The Victorshuddered and staggered, but Sortek's cool hand on the controls righted the enormous machine before it could topple. The other two shots, which melted angry weals on the Victor'sleft arm and torso, did nothing but burn armor and paint from their target.