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Lori brought her laser to bear on the nearest of the Combine DropShips, targetting on a laser turret in the vessel's bulging flank. The sky was just light enough for her to pick out her target optically, and the flash when the turret exploded was dazzling against the twilight
White smoke trails arced and twisted through the sky from the pair of missile-firing hovercraft. Flashes of light erupted among the grounded ships, across the curved roof of a barracks, across the side of a storage shed. The cracks and booms of exploding rockets rattled across the field.
"PBIs at 270!" Lori recognized Enzelman's voice in the Wasp.Garik tended to get shrill in battle as the adrenalin started flowing, and his emotions came through even the electronic filtering.
She shifted her imaging sensors, and saw a twinkle of movement. PBIs — MechWarrior slang for "Poor Bloody Infantry" — were boiling out of the stricken barracks. Many wore only bits and pieces of uniforms in the still-cold chill of early morning, but they all appeared to be armed.
"O.K.," she transmitted. "Don't worry about them. Go for the storage tanks at 180. Hit "em!"
The target was a tank farm, four rows of squat, massively armored storage tanks at the far side of the port. The Stinger'slaser probed the base of one of the tanks, searching for weakness. The blue flash of a particle beam lanced out from a DropShip and caught the Stingerin its glare. Lori noted with approval that the Stingtr'spilot, Yarin, one of Grayson's Trell recruits, held his fire steady on the stubborn armor of the tank. She targeted her Locust'slaser on the same spot, adding her own weapon's white fury to where the armor was softening, to where the network of pipes and conduits for fuel transfer were melting.
Those tanks held liquid hydrogen, reaction mass for the fusion impulse drives of the DropShips that called at the port. In two seconds, the valves at the tank's base slagged down, vaporizing hydrogen gushed out into the cold air, and the explosion sent a fireball mushrooming into the sky. The shock knocked Yarin's Stingerto its knees, and Lori fought the Locust'scontrols to keep her machine on its feet. The impact of the blast was a palpable blow, savage and deafening. The fireball climbed higher, devouring the sky. Its light illuminated the whole area, while flaming chunks of white hot metal rained onto the field and clinked across the Locust'shull.
"That's it," Lori said. "They'll have the cavalry out any moment now! Fall back! Fall back!"
* * * *
The diversion Grayson prayed for came as a shout from a soldier by the doors. "Hey! They're attacking the port!"
Discipline broke as soldiers turned in their ranks, craning their necks at the laser fire starkly visible against the darkened expanse of the spaceport below Mount Gayal. Several astechs ran out onto the parade ground to get a better look.
Grayson knew it was now or never.
Starting up the ladder of the gantry, he kept his eyes fixed on the Shadow Hawk'shead. His greatest fear was what would happen if the Hawkwas fully powered up and ready and the pilot should spot him halfway up. When Grayson had reached the 'Mech's waist, the pilot removed his helmet and stood in the cockpit, stretching up to see past the bulk of the 'Mech's chest to the battle outside. Grayson climbed faster then to the Hawk'schest. He was level with it when a vibration in the gantry attracted the pilot's attention. He looked down, eyes widening. At the same instant, there was a shout from the deck eight meters below. "Hey! You up there! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Grayson had been spotted. Above him, the pilot reaching for his sidearm.
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Grayson climbed faster, scrambling out onto the narrow framework of the scaffolding walkway that ran across the bulge of the 'Mech's chest, just below the cockpit. The Mech Warrior had his pistol out, aimed at Grayson's head.
"Drop that gun!" The man's voice was shrill, and a bit unsteady.
Grayson dropped his rifle, which clattered on the scaffolding. Then, he began unfastening the buckles that held his powerpack straps in place.
"This is restricted up here, fella," the warrior said. "No one comes up here but Techs and..."
The last buckle slipped open, and Grayson brought the heavy laser backpack up and around in front of him like a shield. He rushed the MechWarrior, and the scaffolding jumped and rattled under his boots. The pilot fired once, his shot missing both shield and Grayson as he fell backward into the cockpit
Grayson threw the bulky power unit, catching the pilot in the chest. Then Grayson was on top of him, wrestling for the gun as his feet scrabbled for a firm grip on the slick surface of the 'Mech's upper chest armor. The two men grappled for a moment, the powerpack with the rifle dangling from its cable getting between them in the scramble. The pilot stood up, his pistol still in hand. Grayson lashed out with his foot, caught the MechWarrior on the knee, then watched as the man toppled over and fell backward with a shriek and the clatter of metal scaffolding.
The stammer of an assault rifle echoed through the Bay, and bullets whined and cracked past Grayson's head. He stooped and retrieved his rifle, checked the power, then snapped off three quick shots at the soldiers advancing toward the ladder. The laser fired with a warm hum. The bolts of coherent light were invisible, but two of the soldiers below crumpled to the deck with their uniforms smoldering.
As other troops sought cover, Grayson ducked back into the Shadow Hawk's cockpit. He found the handle and pulled the canopy down into place, then gave it a twist to seat and seal it
The canopy itself was heavily layered with reflective materials that transformed it into a one-way mirror, an added safety factor that prevented the pilot from being blinded if the cockpit was hit by an enemy laser beam. It darkened the cavern outside somewhat, but Grayson could still make out the scurrying shapes of Combine soldiers.
Quickly now, he told himself. His hands reached out to flick on row upon row of switches along the consoles to the right and left of his chair. Instrument readings showed his power plant active and full power available, his weapons loaded, armed, and linked to the controls.
Grayson pulled the neural impulse helmet down on its trailing tangle of wires and feed cables and made it snug against his head. With power on, he cautiously opened the feedback test circuit. First, there was the familiar wash of vertigo as circuits tuned to unfamiliar brainwave patterns fed dissonant patterns back through the nerves of his own i
He gave the board a last scan. Green... green... all green. His left hand took the co
The Bay doors were grinding shut. Grayson twisted around, searching. Sure enough, the control booth was there, the stairway back in place. He could see an astech inside the booth, frantically speaking into a microphone. Grayson brought the Hawk'sright arm up, bringing the 6 cm laser mounted to the forearm into line. His right hand tightened on the trigger. White fire burst from the booth, which spouted a stream of glass splinters and shattered metal. Half the booth twisted away and fell to the deck, trailing black smoke and a tangle of shredded braces and metal from the stairway.