His first rounds struck the Centurionin its right side, smashing armor plate and tearing a gaping hole high in the 50-ton 'Mech's shoulder. The Marik 'Mech spun to face him, its right arm Luxor D autocannon barking fire in return. The Centurion's80 mm rapid-fire rounds struck home on the Marauder'supper hull. The sound inside Grayson's cockpit was hellacious, a crashing that would have deafened him except for the high noise cutouts in his neurohelmet earpieces. He took the fire rather than trying to dodge, bringing his 'Mech's forearms to the point. Twin medium laser bolts lanced out and caught the Centurionside by side, high on its chest. Grayson's PPCs fired an instant later, knocking the Centurionbackward off it feet as gobbets of half-molten armor sprayed from blossoming impact craters in its torso.

Lori's Shadow Hawkdueled with the enemy Wolverine.With the two 55-ton 'Mechs so closely matched in both armor and weaponry, a stand-up battle between the two could have gone on interminably, until both machines were reduced to scrap. McCall's Riflemanstepped down off the hillside seconds later, however, and added his massive firepower to Lori's. Side by side, the two Legion 'Mechs began to advance on the Wolverine,drifting apart slightly to force the enemy pilot to choose between one or the other for his targeting. After multiple hits on the Wolverine'slegs and lower torso, the Marik pilot decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and fired his jump jets. The 'Mech vaulted backward across the boulder field, landing eighty meters farther on and partway up the west slope of the valley.

* * *

Farther up the valley, Charles Bear's Crusaderand Hassan Khaled's Warhammerengaged a Marik Shadow Hawk,a Warhammer,and the Thunderboltdamaged moments before by Grayson. The two Warhammersseemed bound for a toe-to-toe struggle, each massive machine delivering bolt after searing bolt of star-hot energy from their heavy PPCs, scoring hit after armor-boiling hit.

Then the Marik Warhammerbegan to withdraw, backing up the slope step by step, and the 'Mechs with it followed.

Charles Bear followed, too, his Crusader'sarm mounted medium lasers burning away at the Warham-mer’smassive body. Inside his neurohelmet, his features remained as stonily impassive as ever, but the muscles of his jaw clenched in anticipated frustration.

Charles Bear's ancestors had been colonists on Tau Ceti IV, a loose coalition from among eight of the surviving Amerindian tribes of North America. On Tau Ceti's South Continent, the People's Nations had established a federation dedicated to preserving and continuing the ways of life of their ancestors. That cultural heritage rode with Charles Bear. He was a warrior and the son of a warrior, though his sense of the word was subtly distinct from its use in 31st-century technic society. For Bear, "Warrior" was a spiritual concept that could be fully realized only through hand-to-hand combat with one's personal enemy.

In the vast majority of battles, however, a Mech-Warrior fought unknown foes, and he remained unknown in return. Indeed, there was a comforting anonymity within the steel hull of a BattleMech. So few Mech-Warriors survived long enough to become well-known that most of a warrior's opponents were reduced to the level of targets. Dangerous targets they might be, but targets on tracker screens and HUD displays, nonetheless. It became easier to press the fire button when your target was a 50-ton steel monster, and not a man of flesh and blood, with his own hopes, fears, ambitions, and berserker's battle lust.

MechWarrior Bear's training and cultural conditioning had given him the need to face a known enemy, to prove himself in hands-on combat between worthy foes. Bear's ancestors on Terra had kept the custom of "counting coup," a way of winning glory, status, and warrior's rank by actually touching an opponent. In the past seven years, since his apprenticeship under his father in the Ceti Rangers, Bear had served as a mercenary MechWarrior with both the Ceti Rangers and the 21st Centauri Lancers. He had racked up a score of seven kills and five assists, but never, never,had he destroyed an enemy 'Mech in hand-to-hand combat. Until he had counted coup, however, Charles Bear would never consider himself a true warrior, the son of a warrior.

Now once again, the enemy was withdrawing as he advanced, pulling back beyond the reach of his Crusader'soutstretched mechanical hands. He triggered laser fire again, scoring hits on the Warhammer'sleft arm and side. The Warhammerdodged left and returned fire, a PPC bolt striking Bear's Crusadersquarely in the chest, knocking him back a step.

This was a worthy opponent, one skilled with his weapons, and courageous in battle. The scars in its armor, the evidence of patches and old repairs, a line of white-stenciled kill marks on the 'Mech's armor to the left of the cockpit all spoke of this warrior's prowess in combat. Bear ignored the other Marik BattleMechs, concentrating on this one machine.

They exchanged fire again. The Warhammerretreated, placing itself close beside a house-sized boulder. Bear triggered his Magna Longbow long-range missiles, sending a salvo lancing across the valley and into his foe. For a moment, smoke and swirling dust blocked out that portion of the hillside. Bear urged his Crusaderforward at its fastest speed, thundering across the valley floor toward the enemy's last position.

When the dust settled across ground torn and cratered by Bear's salvo, the Warhammerwas gone. Before Bear had a chance to wonder where, missiles smashed into his Crusaderfrom behind. Bear dropped his Crusaderin a roll toward the giant boulder. As rocks and dirt flew around him, he brought his machine around to face the rear, prone on the ground. In that position, supported by his left arm, he could only bring his right-arm weapons to bear, but he was targeting and triggering both the LRMs and the medium laser mounted in his right forearm before his 'Mech had stopped moving. The enemy Warhammerhad moved with superhuman speed and agility, ducking behind a nearby boulder and circling around to hit Bear from behind. Now he circled again, moving and firing with lightning speed. Bear's 'Mech took another hit across the right shoulder, while his own fire missed. Dust from the explosion began closing in again. Bear pulled his Crusaderto its feet, but rather than charge the hidden enemy, he circled to his right, seeking the shelter of the rock the Warhammerhad used moments before.

Hoping to catch his enemy while he was moving, Bear readied his weapons, composed himself, then moved with lightning speed back into the open.

The dust was clearing, the Warhammergone. Sharyl's Shadow Hawkmoved across his line of sight several hundred meters farther on, dueling with an enemy Commando.

Bear remained expressionless, but his hands closed slowly into rock-hard, tendon-strained fists above his controls.

10

The Marik Wolverinehad fired his jump jets, and vaulted backward eighty meters up the slope of the valley. In response, Grayson raced after the enemy 'Mech. The Marik pilot triggered short-range missiles that hissed at his Marauder,exploding in gouts of flame-shot fury on all sides. Two struck Grayson's 'Mech in the left leg, staggering the heavy 'Mech and almost making it stumble.

With the enemy forced back from the DropShips, it might be possible for the Gray Death 'Mechs to keep them divided, holding part of the Marik force at bay while they crushed the other. Grayson doubted that the enemy commander would care to keep the fight going if such a large part of his available forces was in danger of destruction. Grayson's one hope was to threaten the enemy commander with enough damage and destruction that he would chose to withdraw. Wasn't that, after all, the central tenet of any military tactical doctrine?