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Chu's force came around a bend in the valley trail and started the climb toward the ridge. Burns waited until the leading Shadow Hawkwas ninety meters down the slope, then gave the command to fire.
All alone, a transport hovercraft stands no chance at all against even a light BattleMech. Though the vehicle is more maneuverable than a 'Mech, a 'Mech's heavier armor can defend it almost indefinitely against the few light weapons a hovercraft can carry. Indefinitely, that is, in battlefield terms, where an eternity is measured in seconds. In Lee's Pass, the hovercraft's single advantage did not exist. There was absolutely no room to maneuver at all, the principal reason why Grayson did not deploy any of his heavier armor there in the first place.
What Burns's force did have was the ability to mass the firepower of ten lightly armed transports against the enemy 'Mechs approaching one at a time. Even light lasers can cause considerable damage when ten of them fire side by side at a single target.
* * *
Beams of coherent light interlaced with one another as they swept across the enemy commander's Shadow Hawk.Intolerably brilliant points of light appeared across the Hawk'sfront armor. No single shot penetrated the big 'Mech's armor, but the Shadow Hawkwas staggered by the onslaught.
The Wolverinetraveling behind the Shadow Hawkpressed forward, sweeping around the Hawkto the left. The defenders' laser fire shifted, catching this attacker in its deadly web. Short-range missiles were now arcing down from the sides of the pass, or stabbing up from hidden shelters at the foot of the ridge. The Marik attackers found themselves in a tangled trap of interlocking fire and hurtling missiles. Explosions smashed and thundered among the 'Mechs in the center of the column, as the lead 'Mechs froze in place, unable to back up or to proceed.
The Shadow Hawkdropped its autoca
Another salvo of laser fire swept across the Shadow Hawk.Its left arm hung limply now, the myomer co
Grayson listened to Burns' voice over the taccom frequency. "We're not going to hold them much longer, Colonel," he said. His voice sounded raw, as though burned by the hot smoke that hung heavy in the air above the ridge. He was shouting, his words punctuated by the staccato thumps and crashes of exploding shells. "I think they're deploying for a rush, and there's no way we can hold them if they come through!"
"You don't have to hold them, Burns," Grayson replied. "Be ready to step aside as we come up the reverse slope." He was watching out of his combat screens, which displayed the chaos in the other side of the valley. One of Burns's troopers had set aside his rifle for the far more important weapon of a remote camera. That camera was patched into Grayson's Marauder,allowing him a view of the battle.
"You got it, Colonel. Watch it . . . they're starting to move!"
Grayson had already positioned the 'Mechs with him in a line that stretched across the valley. His heaviest 'Mechs—his own Marauder,Khaled's Warhammer,and Bear's Crusader—werein the center. Lori's Shadow Hawkand McCall's Riflemanwere on the left. Clay's Wolverineon the right.
"They're on their way, Colonel!" Burns said moments later. "I'm pulling out. The lead Marik Shadow Hawkis thirty meters from the crest of the ridge."
"I see it," Grayson said. He was counting 'Mechs as the camera view pa
But the Marik BattleMech line moved faster than Grayson or Burns expected. There was a sudden rush, and then the Shadow Hawkwas striding across the top of the ridge, its laser chopping into fleeing Gray Death soldiers as it came. The sky behind the Hawkwas filled with flying forms. Several of the Waspsand Stingershad fired their jump jets, and were sailing over the heads of their comrades and landing along the ridgetop in billowing clouds of steam and smoke.
Grayson's monitor lit up with a blinding flash and went dead, and he knew that the soldier carrying the camera had not been able to get away in time. The Gray Death still held one advantage, but that advantage would last, Grayson knew, for an instant only.
"Gray Death! Charge!" he yelled, as his Maraudercrashed forward up the slope.
The Marik 'Mechs must have thought they were facing only infantry and light vehicles by the time they rushed the slope. After all, no mercenary BattleMechs had been sighted. As they reached the top of the crest, they were concentrating on the destruction of the mercenary soldiers scattering at their feet, not yet having seen the gray shapes surging up the smoke-masked reverse slope of the ridge.
Grayson's Marauderwas facing a Stingeras he raced toward the ridgetop. He fired both PPCs and watched the light 'Mech's torso armor literally explode in hurtling fragments. He fired again, particle beams probing the already furiously burning i
The shock of Grayson's charge up the slope staggered the 4th L.A.G. 'Mechs. A second Stingerexploded as McCall's autoca
Grayson turned his Marauderto fire along the crest of the ridge, but the Marik 'Mechs were already withdrawing. The leader's Shadow Hawkfired its jump jets and vaulted ninety meters back down the hill, landing heavily and with obvious damage, but moving still. Three Waspsand the Wolverinetriggered their jets as well, bounding back out of the battle.
For a moment, the battle swirled around the one enemy 'Mech that remained, another huge and powerful Thunderbolt,heaviest of the 4th L.A.'s 'Mechs. Lacking jump jets, it was restricted to a slow, step-by step retreat down the slope. This T-Bolt'sheavy laser was still working, however, and it laid down a devastating, highly accurate fire. Grayson's Maraudertook a hit on its dorsal surface that smashed through already-damaged armor plating and set red damage lights flashing across his control board. Then the heavy Marik machine swung to its right and fired toward the flank, where Lori's Shadow Hawkwas working down the slope toward a position to cut off the T-Bolt.The bolt struck Lori's BattleMech high in its right arm, smashing through armor plate. Grayson fired, and sent PPC and laser bolts chopping into the Thunderbolt'sheavily armored body.