The Kurita ‘Mechs wavered. If they broke and ran, they would run right through the light ‘Mechs closing in behind them.

"Khaled!" Grayson cried into the com circuit "Scatter your force! Clay! You follow us!" He urged Lori forward with a hand on her shoulder as though he were propelling the Hawkitself. Lori's sweat-soaked T-shirt was wringing wet under his fingers. The Shadow Hawkfired its jump jets, causing Grayson to clutch again for the overhead stanchions. The machine crashed to earth on the far side of the fallen enemy Stinger,but then recovered its balance and continued its advance toward the foe.

The remaining Stingerturned and fled, crashing headlong into Khaled's Stinger,which was charging from the other direction. Both ‘Mechs went down, arms and legs flailing. The Orionwas limping heavily. The heavy, oily green sheen of coolant was smeared along its left leg like blood and also gushed from a shattered knee joint Smoke boiled from a scar in its left side.

The Marauderheld its ground, buying time, perhaps, for its fellows. Both the Hawkand the Wolverineconcentrated their fire on the Marauder.For a full thirty seconds of blazing, fire-licked hell, the three ‘Mechs exchanged laser fire at close quarters. The Hawk'scockpit was an oven, an inferno that brought Grayson to the point of collapse. Heat overload alarms were shrilling as red lights rippled across Lori's board. Four times he saw her slap the override switch when the on-board computer threatened shutdown. After that, he lost count.

Lori guided the overheated machine through ankle-deep water, working toward deeper water where the sea would act as shield and coolant. The Maraudercrabbed sideways. Though still firing, it was retreating now toward its DropShip.

Grayson spared a glance for the grounded DropShip and stifled a yelp of surprise. There were twoKurita Leopardsthere now. The second must have grounded unheard and unseen during the battle. There was a stir of movement below the second ship, but he couldn *t make out what it was.

"Let me have a magnification of the landing site," he said, and Lori punched a combination of buttons. The combat screen lit up with a magnified view of the base of the newly grounded DropShip.

Galleons.

Grayson knew the GAL-100 from his ID lectures of years before. The tank was a fast, light tracked vehicle designed to support ‘Mechs or infantry, or both. Instead of a full turret, a medium laser on a universal platform mount rotated on its broad, flat back, and a pair of light lasers were set in vertical shell turret mounts on either side just above the leader wheels. The Galleon was fast, faster than any ‘Mech, though the sand of the beach might slow them some here. Its single disadvantage was its light armor, but the tanks were small and relatively cheap to produce. Most battlefield commanders could afford to lose three or four Galleons to kill a single ‘Mech.

This latest turn of the battle made Grayson curse bitterly under his breath. The enemy ‘Mechs were beaten, broken, but he could count at least six Galleons moving down the beach. And there could be more behind, masked by their fellows. Thosewere the support forces he'd thought the enemy had neglected to throw in.

Grayson was gripped by a momentary indecision. His ‘Mech force could not be pushed for much longer. One of his heavies was down, and both the Wolverineand the Shadow Hawkhad been squandering ammunition in attempts to overwhelm their targets with raw firepower. Worse, the Hawkcould not withstand its current heat load much longer, and each discharge of the laser made things worse. He was sure that things were just as bad aboard Clay's machine. It was time to retreat, now,while they could. Yet it was wrenching to think of abandoning the field like this, with victory so close...

The Galleons were racing across the beach now, their tread kicking up spray behind them. Lori began firing with her laser, snapping shots off slowly and with great deliberation. Her heat alarms were shrilling again. Grayson had another thought. Would they be able to escape? The Galleons were racing to cut them off on each side from jungle and sea. With their high speed, they were devilishly hard to hit.

A flash of light snapped across Khated's Stinger asa laser struck home. Light flooded the Hawk'scockpit and Grayson covered his eyes. When he looked up again, purple blotches danced before his eyes, almost totally obscuring his vision. Briefly, he knew sharp panic, but the fear subsided as his vision cleared. The beam that had caught the Shadow Hawk'shead had not struck the vision screens squarely. It had been partly reflected laser light that had so dazzled Grayson's eyes.

Lori stabbed off the last of the Hawk'shead-mounted SRMs. "I don't think we can hold them, Gray!"

Explosions echoed across the beach, cracks and hollow-sounding booms under flame-shot clouds. A tank died horribly, flame boiling from its engine vents and its turret. A crewman struggled to free himself from an escape hatch, looking tiny and pitiful against the consuming blaze.

The tanks slowed and stopped, their lasers tracking new targets.

At first, Grayson had thought the explosions were the Hawk'smissiles, but it was something else. Small containers, possibly glass, were being hurtled from the jungle's edge, breaking over the tanks' backs or on the surface of the water. When they broke, fire billowed skyward. Where the fire touched the water already lapping at the tanks' treads, it spread, burning furiously.

Skimmers burst from the jungle, just clearing the mud and shallow water. Men rode those skimmers. Some carried guns, but most were hurling containers at the Galleons, then ducking low to pick up and light another.

Grayson recognized the weapon. It was a glass bottle filled with a mixture of gasoline and oil, the neck stuffed shut with a strip of cloth soaked in the mixture. When the cloth was lit and the bottle hurled, it became an effective grenade. Such weapons had been used by resistance forces against tanks on Terra long before man ventured to the stars.

"Go, Lori! Go! This is our chance!"

Brasednewic's rebels splashed among the trees near the water's edge, firing steadily to keep the crewmen buttoned up tight inside their vehicles. The skimmers circled, hungry. Another tank was alight The others were retreating, and all but two had strayed into muddy ground already meter-deep in the incoming tide. One struggled, its engine racing. The other sat motionless with its deck already awash.

The Shadow Hawk'slast LRM sighed from its tube, the weapon status light for that tube flashing green to red. A Galleon exploded Fragments of armor rained into the water in a widening circle around the tank. Smoke mushroomed from it, casting rippling shadows across sand and jungle.

Firing into the retreating enemy forces, Debrowski's Waspand the Wolverinestrode through smoky water that was knee-deep on the ‘Mechs.

"All ‘Mechs!" Grayson said, his voice unnaturally loud in the close, hot cabin of the Hawk."All ‘Mechs! Break off pursuit!"

Jaleg Yorulis protested from his Wasp."But Captain! We've got 'em running!"

"They're running, all right, right back under the cover of those DropShips. Break off!"

Grayson fought down his own surge of battlelust Their victory was complete, or as complete as they were likely to manage with a pair of heavily armed DropShips backing up the enemy. Missiles ratcheted overhead from the enemy landing zone, exploding in sand and fury behind them.

Grayson gave the order to withdraw.