Well, no matter that the timing was off. Things had worked out surprisingly well after all. They had arrived an hour late, but they could still successfully carry out the attack if the diversionary fire did its job of distracting the enemy.

Thorvald turned the Warhammer's back on the city, then showed a signal light. He positioned it so that the army waiting in the darkness to the north would see it, but not any eyes watching from the city. The blue light flashed once...twice...then three more times in rapid succession.

The attack was on, the signal declared. Move out now!Silently, the rebel army flowed toward Regis.

"My Lord, we have them!"

Nagumo leaned closer to the com screen on his desk, studying the satellite image displayed there, The image was damnably fuzzy, distorted by the high-altitude layer of ice crystal clouds that had been preventing a clear view all evening. The city was plain enough, including the ragged white scar to the southeast where the ruins of the burned warehouse still smoldered. And there, to the north, a partem of heat sources, points of yellow against the background green.

"We're still analyzing the transmission. Lord General," the DWO's voice went on, "but we're certain that we're tracking the heat outputs of at least twelve ‘Mechs, together with very large numbers of men and small ground or hover vehicles. These"—a flashing computer-graphic circle isolated a cluster of yellow-orange points— "read as Galleon emissions."

"Hah!"

"A moment ago, our orbital visual scanners detected a coded flash of blue light. We wouldn't have seen it if we hadn't been looking right at it We think it was an order to advance. The contact has been dispersing since then, but definitely moving toward Regis."

"Range?"

"Five kilometers due north of the University, my Lord.”

“Our forces are in position?"

"Yes, Lord We have infantry and conventional armor in reserve at various points in the city, as well as two full companies of ‘Mechs, watching for a possible rebel strike by forces already in Regis. Two more companies are behind the University's north wall, and another on the Mall inside the compound. We are deploying four additional companies—Third Battalion of the Third Strike Regiment—outside Regis to the east and west. If you approve, m'Lord, we plan to let them advance, then close in from either side to trap them all."

"Plan approved. But Major..."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Bring me prisoners. This action may crush the rebel army once and for all, but I still want prisoners! There are too many unknowns with this mercenary unit loose in the jungle."

"Understood, Lord General. I will pass the order on to the company commanders."

"Excellent, Major. Keep me advised." A smile was spreading across Nagumo's face. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for! For years, he had been fighting shadows that struck at times and places of their own choosing, then vanished wraithlike into the jungles. Now, at last, the rebels had been goaded into coming out of the jungles and attacking the heart of the Combine's strength on Verthandi. Here the issue would be settled once and for all. With luck—though Nagumo did not count on that elusive goddess— perhaps they would also manage to catch the mercenary ‘Mechs, too. That would break any threat to the Draconis Combine's hold on Norn II once and for all.

Duke Hassid Ricol would be pleased.

* * * *

Kilometers to the north, the Gray Death Legion's six BattleMechs hurried through the dark, travelling along the uneven, boulder-strewn surface of a gully already torn by the tread of the larger ‘Mech force that had passed through hours before. They had met Vikki Traxen's Locustlimping along in the opposite direction and learned the reason for the assault force's delay. At the rate they had been travelling, Thorvald's unit must only now be drawing close to the walls of the university.

Lori relaxed in the embrace of her Locust'scommand chair, letting the smooth, flowing strides of the swift machine cradle her thoughts. She remembered Grayson Carlyle's urgency as he'd called them together, his passion in urging that they follow the rebel column. They'd burst into the cavern area where their ‘Mechs were kept, surprising and disarming the rebel guards posted there. Then the Gray Death Techs and support personnel had hastily armed and powered them up.

What was it about Grayson that drove him so? All of them shared his concern about the youngsters being thrown into battle, but he seemed like a man possessed. Was he convinced that their first fight would break them, and he wanted to be there to pick up the pieces?

Perhaps it was a little of both. She remembered his concern for her as she'd tried to piece together the shards of her own warrior's soul after Thunder Rift. He'd helped her pick up thosepieces, though he probably didn't realize it. The skirmish at Hunter's Cape had had been so sharp and quick that it was over before she'd even remembered to be afraid. The fact that she'd come through without once hesitating gave her confidence, convinced her that she could still function in combat. The horror that had nearly claimed her at Thunder Rift remained, as did her fears and secret nightmares. What Lori was learning was that she could live with them and be a warrior in spite of them.

Grayson's presence in the cramped cockpit of the Shadow Hawkat Hunter's Cape had helped, as did the knowledge that he did care for her. The thought of Grayson filled her with a pleasant warmth, but Lori forced her thoughts back to the present moment and to their mission.

There was little time left Picking their way through the rubble with sure-footed, IR-guided steps, the Gray Death Legion raced toward Regis.

* * * *

As Thorvald's army approached the walls of the University, all was dark except for pinpoints of light gleaming here and there among the University towers. Men, vehicles, and the ragged line of lumbering rebel BattleMechs picked their way across the field, their goal a low line of storage buildings less than a kilometer ahead. The whispering grass of the savannah gave way at last to a macadam groundcar road and the orderly fields of a local farmer's blueleaf crop.

One moment all was dark and still. The next moment the sky flashed with light so briliant that it was as though night were suddenly transformed to noon. Rebel soldiers on the ground froze in place, squinting up into the light of multiple high-intensity flares. The BattleMechs hesitated, edged now in blazing radiance that left them standing in their own black shadows. A babble of voices flooded over Thorvald's command circuit as the AgroMech pilots, lacking military-type cutouts on their night vision devices, went blind in the flares' artificial day. Before Thorvald could issue an order, bolts of laser fire and shells began falling among the rebel troops and ‘Mechs.

The fire came from three directions, from the top of the northern wall of the University and from out of the blackness on either side. Thorvald whirled his Warhammerto starboard, raking the darkness with ragged, blue-green bolts from his twin PPCs. His own night vision devices were almost useless against the pulsing bursts of gunfire and destruction. He triggered his radar, but the screen showed only the blizzard of a strong, jamming source that must be very close.

A piercing scream wailed into his earpiece from someone on the command commo circuit. Nearby, a four-legged LoggerMech collapsed onto its forward knees, its broad but lightly armored back shredded like tissue and ablaze with the flame of incendiary warheads. Internal explosions ripped through the big ‘Mech's belly, scattering chunks of armor and broken driver mechanism into the night. The screams on the command circuit were chopped off as fresh flame and debris geysered from the machine's cockpit. With searchlight beams zigzagging through the chaos, the whole scene of fire, night, and smoke was Dantean in its horror. Machine gun fire from the walls spat at small parties of rebels huddled among the debris of wrecked vehicles and cratered ground, while the deadly red blossom of an exploding fireball rose from a rebel ammunition hover craft.