Bloodname

* * *

With all his forces already at their start points, Dwillt Radick reviewed his operations order for the next attack. He would launch a massive assault directly against Glory Station. He would then pursue the remnants of Persaw's forces all over the wretched terrain of Glory until the sweet moment of their inevitable surrender.

Radick was awaiting the final reports of his officers when Kael Pershaw's surprisingly placid voice came over the commlink. "Are you sleeping, Dwillt Radick? If you wish to give up your foolish quest and become my bondsman, I am ready to go through the rituals now. You ca

"Kael Pershaw, I will not even bother to waste feeding you as our bondsman. You should surrender now so your gene heritage can find a dwelling place more suitable than a stinking Jade Falcon home."

"Home" was the common term for the scientifically supervised caches where genetic materials were stored. If Clan Wolf won this challenge, the Pershaw line would be ceremoniously transferred from the Jade Falcon vaults in the cache to those of the Wolf Clan.

"We are bored with your idle boasts, Dwillt Radick. If you wish to fight, fight. Combat instead of bombast, quiaff?"

"You had better be ready to count your casualties, Kael Pershaw."

Dwillt Radick slammed his chair backward and shouted at the command center perso

* * *

In his own command dome, Kael Pershaw nodded at his subordinates, a signal that he had prodded Dwillt Radick into action. He then went directly to his new 'Mech, a shiny Warhawkwhose regular pilot was injured. Looking up at the 'Mech, with its flat head and double extended-range PPCs in each arm, he wondered, as always, if this would be the 'Mech in which he would die. If so, he would not mind. It would be the death he had always craved. Sometimes Pershaw believed he must have come out of the canister wishing for an honorable death.

* * *

Joa

"Attack from behind? That is absurd. As soon as we emerge from the swamp, their sensors will pick us up, and they will turn around and massacre us."

"Clan Wolf will be advancing with all their forces," Aidan said. "Their rear will be vulnerable. Only think of how hard it is to change a 'Mech's direction once an assault has begun. No, I suspect that we will meet no more than some guards left behind, perhaps just Elementals."

"I do not approve suicide missions."

"Fortunately you need not. Kael Pershaw already has."

"He does not know conditions here, nor the damage to some of our 'Mechs."

"I am sure he would not care. His back is against the wall. He ca

"I do not see that to be so."

"Then stay back and watch from behind some tree while we fight."

Aidan enjoyed the wrath in Joa

"If Kael Pershaw has approved the plan, then we must implement it. I am willing to lead us into the battle, no matter what my opinion of the plan. That is the way of the Clan."

If Aidan had permitted himself a gleam in his eyes, even a twinkle, it would have showed at that moment. From the side pocket of his jumpsuit, he drew out a facsimile of the orders, which he had demanded from Kael Pershaw before rejoining his unit. Silently he handed it to Joa

"What is this?"

"The authorization for me to take command of this operation."

If Joa

"I told him that. However, he accepted my argument that I would be more qualified in the terrain and in Glory Station tactics because you are new to Glory. He has given me a temporary field promotion to Star Captain so that you will not be dishonored in any way."

Joa

But she saw that she could not argue. The careful wording of Kael Pershaw's order took away her command without making her subordinate to Aidan by assigning her a role as a kind of free-lance combatant. Without saying another word, she wheeled around and strode away, her heels coming down with such force that her steps sent missiles of water droplets out of the wet, swampy ground.

"I would watch your back with that one," Horse commented. He had observed the whole exchange with evident pleasure.

"No. Joa

"All right then, don't watch your back. Watch your throat, especially when there is a knife anywhere within a kilometer of her."

"That I will do, Horse. That I will do."

* * *

The Clan Wolf forces came thundering across the plain like a giant city on the move. Keeping his 'Mech still, Kael Pershaw watched them with the detached admiration he always felt when viewing a line of advancing 'Mechs. Although of different designs and sizes, although configured differently, although each had its own style of movement, each was a beautiful and graceful symbol of unity and strength. To Pershaw the 'Mechs represented the Clans themselves. Each Clan had its own unique configurations, its own rites and customs, but all followed the basic Clan rituals. Each Clan took pride in its own achievements and was willing to fight others to assert them, while all would unite for a grand battle, then return to the I

Pershaw had a direct sensor link from Bravo Striker Nova, which was tracking the advance of the Wolf Clan forces. Right now he saw the Wolves nearing the line where the Elementals had hidden themselves during the night. Only a moment more and the battle would begin. Pershaw readied his 'Mech to lead his Cluster, or the remnants of it. He was as apprehensive as any commander in an odds-against status, yet also thrilled that the challenge had been reduced to one grand do-or-die gesture. It would either turn the tide of battle or send the Jade Falcons to a humiliating defeat. A military leader could hope for no more exciting moment.

Pershaw kept his concentration on Radick's Mad Dog,in the lead as was only proper. The moment Radick was two steps past the hidden Elementals, Pershaw would give the signal to attack.

* * *

An instant later, Radick's 'Mech was crossing the fallen 'Mech in which Lanja and another Elemental were hiding. For a moment he feared the foot would come down on her, but it narrowly missed the 'Mech. Then it took another step. And another.

"Now," he said into the commline, his voice quiet but steady.

The flare went up.

* * *

To Dwillt Radick the flash looked like distant lightning through his viewport, but his secondary screen identified the illumination as a flare. It was early morning, still dusky but with clear visibility. Why in the name of Nicholas Kerensky would Pershaw send up a flare?