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reverie. "The bridges are in sight, and the forces on Robyn's Crossing have
fired on the Twelfth Falcon Cluster. The battle is engaged, sir."
The Twelfth had won the honor of leading the assault on the bridge. Knowing
that it had been Mar Helmer's Cluster when he was a Star Colonel, Aidan
concluded that politics must have been involved in the choice. That
made him angry, for he believed the position should have been open
to bidding among all the Jade Falcon contingents, including the Falcon
Guards. Another Cluster, the Seventh Falcons, was assigned the other
bridge, Plough Bridge.
According to Horse, the Seventh had just reached its objective, and no battle
had yet begun there.
Until now, both bridges had been out of sight of the oncoming Jade Falcons
because they were in a valley. The access to each was down a rocky
slope. Recon had established that BattleMechs could not descend
without becoming sitting ducks for the bridge forces, so jumpcapable 'Mechs
had taken the forefront. They leaped into the valley and returned the
fusillades of the ComStar 'Mechs.
Aidan monitored some of the fighting at Robyn's Crossing on his primary
screen, the visuals rendered pale by the intense light of Tukayyid's sun. For
a moment the combat was at a stalemate. At Robyn's Crossing, a fierce defense
by the ComStar 'Mechs in front of and on the bridge itself pressed the Twelfth
back. Missile fire exploded one Jade Falcon
BattleMech, then another was severely damaged, leaving half its right hip
detached and hanging. Aidan cursed as he watched the commander of the
Twelfth order a retreat back to the foot of the slope to cover
the descent of the
BattleMechs without jump capacity.
"Bad move, huh?" Horse said. "I agree."
"She has them bunched together so much that she is practically offering the
Com Guards target practice."
"We are lucky this is a private channel."
"I would say that to Khan Chistu himself."
Horse sighed. "Yes, you would."
They continued to watch, all the while proceeding toward the battle site. Then
Aidan spoke. "Well, it is time."
"What do you mean?"
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"Time for us to follow our orders. Once the battle is joined, we are to break
through, remember? We are going to help the Twelfth take that bridge."
"You have my enthusiastic approval."
Aidan opened the commline and ordered the Falcon Guards to press forward at
the best unit speed. As the unit passed up two other Clusters, they
maintained a precision formation that must have been the envy of their fellow
Jade
Falcons even as many of them were probably cursing every Falcon Guard who had
ever existed and the sibkos that spawned them.
As befitted a Clan commander, Aidan Pryde led the way in his Timber Wolf to
the crest of the slope leading down to
Robyn's Crossing. He slowed his BattleMech when he saw the crest, the edge of
this particular world, then paced his
'Mech into a graceful, loping walk. Back in the DropShip he had ordered his
techs to equip his Timber Wolf with jump jet modules. That meant sacrificing
his machine guns and some lasers normally mounted in his torso, but he was too
used to jumping in the Sum-moner, his former 'Mech. He could not give it up
now just because jump jets were not a standard feature on a Timber Wolf.
The 'Mechs of Horse and Margo, another of his Falcon Guard Command
MechWarriors, also had jump ability. They stayed with their commander, a
couple of 'Mech paces behind, as he pushed his Timber Wolf forward. At
the very crest of the hill Aidan engaged his jump jets and glided upward,
reaching a quick zenith, then coming down, ahead of the BattleMechs of the
Twelfth Falcon Cluster, and closer to Robyn's Crossing than any Jade Falcon
BattleMech had yet come.
Descending, Aidan blasted away at the Com Guard 'Mechs defending the head of
the bridge. They had not been expecting a BattleMech assault from the sky,
which gave Aidan and his pair of cohorts an immediate and significant
advantage. An edge at the edge of the world, Aidan thought.
He used his angle to blast away at the head of a heavy BattleMech mat his
secondary screen identified as a type called a Thug. Targeting his large
lasers, he made a direct and filial hit against the head of the Thug, no doubt
ending the life of its pilot. He did not have time to watch the 'Mech stagger
backward against a bridge stanchion, then plunge into the deep waters of the
churning Prezno River. The splash it made was impressive, the waters rising up
onto the bridge surface leaving puddles along its roadway.
Aidan's attention was on another ComStar 'Mech, a sleek, bigfooted Sentinel
that was just swinging its autocannon upward to fire at the Timber Wolf.
Firing over the shoulders of Aldan's 'Mech, MechWarrior Margo, in a light
Mist
Lynx, got a lock onto the center torso of the Sentinel, then destroyed it with
a set of sleek-arcing missiles. The enemy
'Mech fell to the ground, flames shooting from its chest.
Horse managed to take out a pair of ComStar 'Mechs during his descent, while
Aidan gave a ComStar Rifleman a limp.
By the time the trio of Clan BattleMechs had landed, the bridge defense was
in disarray. Aidan ordered his group forward, the action prodding the Jade
Falcons back at the slope to charge forward.
The ComStar commander apparently decided that the Clan had won this
phase, for the surviving enemy 'Mechs began a retreat. They traversed
Robyn's Crossing quickly, with only the limping Rifleman lagging behind. The
bridge was soon clear, an inviting pathway with a few puddles gleaming on its
surface, leading to that side of the river where the Jade Falcon Clan
objectives awaited.
"There are reports of heavy fighting at Plough Bridge," Horse said. "We are
apparently taking the day there."
"Fine. Let us take a little stroll to the other side of Robyn's Crossing,
quiaff, Horse?"
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"Hold it there one minute, Star Colonel Aidan Pryde," said a new voice on the
open channel. Aidan recognized the voice immediately from the council in the
grove. It was Star Colonel Senza Oriega, the one who had complained that it
was inappropriate for the tainted Falcon Guards to lead the entire Jade Falcon
army into battle.
She came forward in her savage-looking Executioner. Close behind followed a
pair of her Command Star 'Mechs, like a pair of thugs backing up a bandit
leader.
"You cannot be first onto Robyn's Crossing, Aidan Pryde. That is the right of
the Twelfth Falcon Cluster. It is my right."
Aidan took a deep breath. In his mind he could see Senza Oriega, with her pale
ghostlike complexion, sitting smugly in her pilot seat, throwing her weight
around as if it had 'Mech tonnage.
"Your right, you say?"
"Aff. Our right, actually."
"Did you down the four ComStar BattleMechs and send the rest into a retreat?
Did the Twelfth Falcon Cluster down any ComStar BattleMechs? Did Senza Oriega
and her Twelfth Falcon Cluster take Robyn's Crossing?"
"None of that, none of your boasting has any effect on the order of march
across die bridge. It is an honor the
Twelfth Falcon Cluster has earned by its entire combat history. It is for us
to lead the way across the bridge and into the next phase of battle on the
other side of the bridge."
Aidan was seething with anger at Senza Onega's disparaging tone. "What kind
of freebirth stupidity is this?" he screamed into his mike. "Do you
dare "
"Star Colonel, ease up on " It was Horse cutting in on the transmission.
"I am sorry about the epithet, Horse. I am just so "
"Forget the epithet. I was not offended. I am counseling calmness here, not
lecturing on manners. There is no point in two honorable and courageous
commanders "
"Honorable? Courageous? Horse, she has no right to take away our "
"My orders are clear," Senza Oriega said coldly. "We have no time for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]