Mercenary's Star

The first Archerremained on its feet, crouched back by the open gate, missiles rocketing into the Courtyard buildings. The machine was too close to its target to take effective aim with its LRMs, but it could and did shower thundering chaos through the smoking ruin of the court. Lasers burned white, their paths dazzling against the particles of dust and smoke that choked the air. Khaled nailed the damaged Archerwith a spray of autoca

More shapes surged into the gateway and stopped, hesitating behind the obstacle of the fallen, second Archer.A Griffin was in the lead, closely followed by a Waspand a Stinger.The Griffin 'sPPC stabbed flaring lightning against the barricade. The Riflemanstaggered back a step, struck full in the chest by the blow.

Clay fired a spread of SRMs at the Griffin ,three of the missiles striking the Kurita ‘Mech in the arm. The Griffin spun and returned the fire, PPC bolts slapping into the Wolverine'sarmor. Grayson crouched low in the exposed seat of his Marauderand urged the captured ‘Mech forward. The Griffin 'sPPCs were threatening to take out all four of the defending ‘Mechs.

The Griffin turned at Grayson's approach and hesitated. With a surge of triumph, Grayson realized that the Griffin 'scommander must be confused. The enemy ‘Mech's unit markings read Company A, 3rd Strike Regiment...the same unit as the captured Marauder.The Kurita MechWarrior would be looking through the smoke and confusion of the firefight and be seeing his own regimental commander's BattleMech. And that stayed the Draco pilot's hand for the critical second Grayson needed.

Twin PPC bolts lanced out from the heavy forearms of the advancing Marauder,striking close together in the heavy armor of the Griffin’s chest. Exposed circuitry sparked and flashed behind the pump and gush of green coolant fluid. Twin laser beams arrowed through the ruin, flashing plastic and tender wiring into superheated steam. The Griffin tried to turn, but actuators failed and power failed The deep-set, spherical head split open like a blossoming flower. For an instant, the enemy MechWarrior was visible, hunched forward in his control seat. Then ejection thrusters fired and the seat rocketed into the sky, leaving the Griffin frozen in place, a dead hulk.

Grayson swung the Marauderfor a shot at the next advancing ‘Mech and held his fire. A black-clad figure was dropping away from the Stinger'sfoot as it swung up to scramble across the fallen Archer.The satchel charge behind its knee exploded in a fine spray of jagged fragments and coolant mist. The leg came down, the savaged knee buckled, and the Stingercollapsed across the wreckage of the Archer.

The Waspstanding in the gateway swung an arm up and around, as though pointing out the scattering figures of the commandos. Machine gun fire flickered and yammered, chopping miniature geysers of dust in zigzags across the ground. Another black-clad figure rose from the debris nearby, rose and held its ground in the face of the hail of machine gun fire as it took aim with the weapon at its shoulder. The weapon thumped, and liquid fire sleeted across the Wasp'storso. The ‘Mech stood transfixed, a pillar of raging fire. Grayson found himself willing the pilot to eject, but it didn't happen. The inferno's white heat must have overloaded the emergency power to the eject circuits.

The blazing Waspand the tangle of wrecked ‘Mechs blocked the gateway completely. Grayson took advantage of the sudden lull to check his instruments. Except for the obvious problem of the open canopy, his ‘Mech was undamaged so far. The heat build-up from his use of the PPCs was extreme, but not critical. He'd not been moving the heavy ‘Mech much, and that helped. He eased his machine back into the shade of the veranda lining the Court.

He couldn't tell for sure without radio communications, but the other Gray Death ‘Mechs did not seem badly damaged. So far the Courtyard battle was all in their favor, with four enemy ‘Mechs destroyed or seriously damaged at the gateway, and at least two more out of action in the tu

Shapes moved through the wreathing smoke in the gateway. Armored hands smashed the burning wreckage of the Waspto the side, clearing the way for another BattleMech charge. An Archerloomed through the smoke, but Grayson couldn't tell if it were the damaged one returned or a new one. Autoca

Grayson opened up with his PPCs and lasers, but directed his fire to one side of the struggling monster. Craters gaped and cracked in the stone wall beside it The archway over the gate shivered and flexed. Blocks of stone showered onto the Kurita ‘Mech, but without apparent effect. The entire gateway began to crumble as the Shadow Hawkand Wolverineadded their autoca

Smoke, dust, and falling rubble were so thick that Grayson could hardly see past the death-choked gateway. Another shadow appeared, looming squat and powerful as it shouldered past the Archer.With those long, heavy PPC ca

A Warhammer!

39

Lori hurried through passageways heavy with writhing smoke, trembling to the thunderous blasts from outside. The corridor twisted back through the building, leading, she was sure, into the Administrative Complex, the cluster of buildings around the base of the University's Central Tower. The smoke grew thicker as she ran deeper into the complex. There were no other people here, save the occasional still and bloody forms of Kurita soldiers or Regis Blues caught by mobs of freed prisoners.

She stopped, sagging against a wall, coughing hard. Which way? A moan and the sound of someone else coughing attracted her attention. She hurried forward and saw a woman on hands and knees, struggling through smoke so thick it burned the eyes and turned throat and lungs to fire. A nearby wooden door burst open, and flames exploded into the corridor just beyond the woman. Lori almost turned away, but the woman's struggles were growing weaker, more aimless. Lori was caught, frozen for an instant's struggle within her. Then she moved forward. She hadto help.

And she found that she could. The confrontation with the Kurita interrogator had broken through some barrier within her. She'd recognized that when her feelings for Grayson had welled up in her in a way that had not been possible until now. And that was the key.

It seemed that she had feared, not the fire, but that sense of helplessness she'd first known the night her parents had died. Helplessness, not fire...and not Grayson himself, had been the barrier that made her a stranger to herself. Her helplessness had been acted out in all too vivid a fashion when Nagumo's interrogators had strapped her to that table, had kindled a torch and advanced on her, leering...But Grayson had come...and she had joined him in the fight. The barrier, like prison gates flung wide, was gone now.

Breathing in shallow gasps, Lori rushed to the woman's side as flames roared close. She pulled one of the woman's arms across her own shoulders and half-carried, half-dragged the limp form, backing away from the fire. After awhile, the smoke grew so heavy that Lori dropped to hands and knees herself, pulled the woman across her back, and crawled in the direction that instinct told her was the way outside. The smoke was not so thick close to the ground.