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The four joined the other Combine machines already gathered on the runway. The 'Mechs sorted themselves out into a loose wedge, the Pantherat the head. The 'Mechs on the left flank swiveled their torsos to the left while those on the right twisted right. Gathering speed, the hulking machines began to pound along the runway.
Energy lanced out from laser crystals and PPCs while deep-throated autoca
Kincaid was standing alone on the runway amid the burning wrecks when the Lyran reaction force arrived.
"Where are they, Colonel?"
"Gone. Again."
It would be no use to pursue them. Even during the first week of the Kuritan offensive, the damned Snakes had somehow been able to strike and vanish almost with impunity. Now, under cover of the storm, they would, be more elusive than ever.
* * *
The "Katana Kat's" myomer-powered fingers clung to the rockface, anchoring it in the hundred-kilometer-per-hour winds. Fuhito watched the fu
"Frak!" Fuhito swore. McCoy and his 'Mech were the third they had lost to the wild tornadoes in the two weeks since the seasonal weather front had closed in on South Nantuo. The Legion had taken fewer battle casualties while hamstringing Lyran invaders during the same period.
The killer fu
He dumped his record of the sortie over the microwave link to the unit's battle computer and eased off the heavy neurohelmet. The four-day patrol had stiffened his body, making the climb down the "Kat's" exit ladder an exercise in agony. He found Michael Heise waiting for him.
"Good hunting, Tetsuhara-fean?"
"Good enough, Tai-sho.The full report's in the comp," Fuhito said wearily. He ran his tongue over his gritty teeth; somehow sand had leaked into his purification system. "The weather is deadly. We lost McCoy to a fu
"Unfortunate. But not unexpected for this time of year. Vega is not known for its gentle summer weather." Heise shrugged. "It's been a boon to us this year, though. The damned Lyran AeroSpace force has been grounded for two weeks. Tai-saKurita's strategy of mounting attacks under cover of the storms has paid off incredible dividends. Between the storms and our attacks, more than half the Lyran fighters are ruined. Which means that when the skies clear in a week or two, our air forces will be evenly matched. Then we shall have a glorious fight."
"With all respect, Tai-sho,you sound like one of Tai-saKurita's inspirational speeches."
Heise chuckled. "And why not, Tetsuhara -kun? I am inspired by him. He has turned the situation entirely around. When the weather breaks, we will destroy the Elsies."
"We shall certainly fight them, Tai-sho,"Fuhito agreed, unsettled by the unfounded optimism replacing Heise's previous unfounded gloom. "But, again with respect, destroying them is another matter."
Undaunted, Heise waved his arm to indicate the Kurita forces gathered in the caverns. "These are inspired troops. They ca
The Steiner forces had been fooled so far, but despite their reputation, they were not totally dim. They would not remain oblivious to the Combine ploy. Once the Lyrans figured out the Tai-sa'sstrategy, the Legion would have to face the elite Third Guards 'Mech to 'Mech. The Second and Fourteenth Legion Regiments had not had the benefit of Tai-saKurita's attention as had the Eleventh Vegan. Even though they probably outnumbered the Elsies, these Legio
"Soon the Lyrans will realize that we are traveling on the wadis, and our element of surprise will be lost," Fuhito said. "We will have to face them directly."
"With Tai-saKurita to lead us, we shall triumph!"
Fuhito hoped he was right.
32
Kerschengian Factory Complex, Cochus, Vega
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
13 December 3028
The Victorshuddered under the impact of armor-piercing shells from the Lyran Marauder'sautoca
That Lyran strike team had pierced the Legion's lines and cornered him and his command lance in the Kerschengian Factory Complex on the outskirts of Cochus. Tourneville had transmitted a warning of the Lyrans' arrival before cutting behind a row of storage tanks, leaving Theodore and Tomoe to face a quartet of Lyran heavy 'Mechs. Tomoe's outclassed Pantherhad been gutted in the first rush, but she had punched out as the 'Mech collapsed. He had seen her chair's parachute and assumed she had landed safely. He dared not consider any other result.
Without warning, azure fire burned across his path. Theodore twisted the Victorto the left, and as he did so, the origin of the bolt was revealed: Trouneville's Vindicator.Theodore checked his wide scan and refocused the visual sca
Theodore ripped off a burst from his Pontiac 100 autoca
The Marauderrounded the corner behind Theodore, who fired the Victor'sjump jets, hoping to escape the enemy warrior's sights before he could get a weapons lock-on. The eighty-ton machine rose rapidly, as twin PPCs ionized the air beneath it.
Looking for a safe landing place, Theodore watched Tourneville dodge away as a Lyran Warhammercratered the tank behind which the Vindicatorhad sheltered. The Kurita medium 'Mech fled for cover, unable and unwilling to stand against the seventy-ton monster.
Theodore searched for the fourth Steiner 'Mech, an Ostroc.He found it, the smooth shape of its egg-shaped body standing out plainly from the angular tangle of I-beams jutting from the rubble of a workshed. Angling his flight, he tried for a landing to the Ostroc'sright, well out of the field of its shoulder-mounted missile launcher.