Bloodname

The Summonercould not last much longer, but that was all right. One more step and his 'Mech would be in position, nearly towering over the dome. He tried more shots with the autoca

Well, no matter. He was close enough now.

Aidan turned the 'Mech slightly toward the Clan Wolf Ice Ferret,which was now only a few meters away, firing desperately with its PPC, each hit rocking the Summoner.Calculating the arc of the fire emanating from the Ice Ferret,Aidan leaned his 'Mech just slightly toward the dome like some giant bestowing a blessing.

The Summonerhad been a good 'Mech, Aidan thought. It had served him well at Glory Station, but its time had come to die. He was neither more nor less sad over that prospect than he would have been over the death of any valiant warrior.

Then came the impact he was waiting for, blasting against the 'Mech's right shoulder just below the cockpit. It was his signal to press his ejection button. He had not ejected from a 'Mech since his first Trial of Position, and the fierce rush of Glory Plain air nearly knocked him out when it hit.

As Aidan had calculated, his ejection seat sailed over the Clan Wolf command communications center. Because he was facing away, he did not see his Summonerslowly fall onto the command dome, did not see its impact send pieces of dome erupting skyward like shrapnel, did not see the 'Mech crumple onto the building itself, did not see the Clan Wolf techs frantically scrambling from their consoles and monitors to find a way out of the dome before being crushed, did not see the sparks, smoke, and fires that consumed the dome and its destroyer.

Aidan was happy as he guided the para-wing-equipped ejection seat to the ground. He did not even mind nearly falling into the arms of a pistol-waving Wolf Clan MechWarrior, who, in spite of his weapons and evident physical advantage, proved to be a rather easy victim to Aidan's best weapons, his bare hands. He crushed the other man's throat between them. The sensation of this victory reminded him of that other satisfactory killing, the death of the vicious Star Commander Bast. Blood was splashed all over his ripped and shredded dark band, but Aidan did not mind.

20

Trudging on foot across the battlefield, Aidan had to dodge Clan Wolf warriors, 'Mech pilots who had ejected from their machines and now staggered about clumsily, looks of disbelief on their faces. He would not have minded a few skirmishes with these warriors, just for the exercise, but the battle was over and the Jade Falcons had won. Aidan saw no point in dying aftera battle, when some other time a warrior could die inone. Still, the frustrated Clan Wolf warriors were angry enough to engage in useless combat, and so Aidan stayed out of their way.

One of his boots had split open during the battle with the Elemental, and he had cast it away. The ground beneath his bare foot was hot, making him step gingerly. The burning hot steps, alternating with the booted ones, were clumsy, so he cast off the good boot in order to walk more rapidly. The ground heat urged him forward and definitely helped him to pick up his pace.

* * *

He found Lanja trapped beneath a large piece of armor that must have fallen with the 'Mech beside which she lay. He would not even have noticed her except that his burning feet had forced him to stop and sit on a jutting sliver of the fallen 'Mech. The place where he sat was quite warm, but at least it was a new area of his body that was getting singed.

He did not notice Lanja until she groaned. It was an abrupt sound, more an expression of frustration than pain. At first all he saw was the twisted armor of her battle suit sticking out from under the metal fragment. Walking around it, he saw Lanja lying in the shattered hallmark of her trade.

"Are you all right, Star Commander Lanja?"

"No. You can tell that easily, quiaff?"

"Well, aff. But I thought it was polite to ask."

"A freebirth who is polite. What a novelty. What has happened in the battle?"

"It is over." Aidan told her what he knew about it, including his own crushing of the command dome.

"So your plan was a success," she said. "And your dark band. It is ripped."

He looked down. "So it is. I had a bit of a skirmish back there. Happened then."

"You are a good warrior, Jorge."

"It must cost you a great deal to say that. I have always known you despise,us, quiaff?"

"Freebirths? I have always hated freebirths. I hate you now. But you are a brave warrior."

"I am about to complicate your hatred even more."

"Oh? How?"

"I am going to carry you to the med dome, Star Commander Lanja." Ignoring her look of disgust, he summoned up nearly all his remaining strength, lifted the metal piece, and then pushed it off Lanja. When it was safely aside, he looked down at her. Seeing her body, twisted as it was, crushed in the upper legs, even his emotionless Clan demeanor gave way. Lanja undoubtedly saw the slight flinch in his eyes.

"Can you move?"

"I feel very little sensation, but I will try." Her arms responded naturally and she was able to lift her neck.

"Your back seems to be all right, and your upper body. We will have to get you out of here."

"We?"

"Figure of speech. We freeborns do n—don't speak just right, you know that?"

Working quickly, Aidan fashioned some pieces of shrapnel and wire from various exposed places in the fallen 'Mech into a kind of metal cot, a device called a traverse that he must have read about. Ripping out some electrical cable, he made a usable handle with which to pull the flat metal construction.

The hardest part was extracting Lanja from the remnants of her battle suit and onto the makeshift traverse. She was covered with the black goo that the suit's medical system expelled to stabilize injured Elementals. The goo, combined with Lanja's massive frame, made it difficult to maneuver her onto the traverse. Using more electrical cord, he fastened her body firmly onto the construction. When he was sure that she would not slide around u

Almost immediately he realized that he could not progress quickly. The weight of the traverse, so much greater than any real medical conveyance, plus the care needed to keep the ride smooth over some fairly rocky ground, forced him to move slowly. Each step he took seemed to burn his feet even more.

It was not long, however, before the ground cooled as he drew away from the battle site. Then he was spotted by some Jade Falcon Elementals, who rushed up to take over transport of the traverse. Weary and exhausted, Aidan was grateful for the strength of these towering, sinewy warriors.

Aidan barely felt his last steps into the Jade Falcon encampment. He stumbled into the center of camp, then fell unconscious at the entrance to the command center. Kael Pershaw was there. He had watched Aidan's progress the whole way, ordering his subordinates not to give the exhausted warrior any help.

* * *

Pershaw was feeling extraordinarily good at that moment. He had just signed off from Dwillt Radick's surrender acknowledgment.

"I am to be your bondsman then," Radick said.

Pershaw chuckled to himself before responding, "There will be no need for that. Your defeat came at the hands of a freebirth. I ca