Bloodname

"For the melee you need some variety, and the Summoner's standard weapons configuration gives you that. No need to get fancy. In fact, what you must remember above all is to downplay your boldness, as Joa

"Are you sure of that, Marthe?"

Well, I have never participated in one, but the advice makes sense. It would be tempting to try too hard at the begi

"That whole idea makes me uncomfortable."

"It would make me uncomfortable, too. But the strategy here is not to win skirmishes. You could fight and win a hundred skirmishes in the melee, only to lose the last one. The idea, Aidan, is to survive. The more you stay out of the way, the better off you are. You only have to fight the last battle and win it. Of course it would be difficult to go through the whole melee without having to fight some battles. You will have to make your judgments on the spot. In the begi

* * *

Aidan surveyed the field of candidates as he listened to the House Leader's final briefing. The briefing was shorter than in the Trial of Bloodright contests, and the terseness was insulting.

More than a hundred warriors were gathered around the rim of the enormous Circle of Equals where the melee would take place. The Circle was used so that no candidate could hide out somewhere, resting up so that he would be fresh when he reentered the fray at a later stage.

Except for the heaviest of BattleMechs, which were not allowed in a Grand Melee, it looked as though every other kind of existing 'Mech available was represented among this field of candidates. Some of the 'Mechs were highly polished, while others showed numerous burn and chip marks, as if their pilots were boasting about their many hard-fought battles.

The House Pryde Leader, a thin young woman named Risa Pryde, ended her instructions. "Anyone who retreats back across the Circle of Equals line is automatically defeated. If you fall and land on the 'Mech's back, you are considered a 'kill.' If you land on the 'Mech's lower front torso, you may return to the melee. At the first ca

Aidan rested his hands on his controls and did not have long to wait for the signal. While others rushed into the circle, he merely strolled. Looking down at his secondary screen, which now displayed the moving BattleMechs, he saw that such sensors would be useless, at least for a while. With so many figures dodging around the terrain, it would be too difficult keeping track of them all. As Marthe had advised, he would conserve ammo by letting the others dispose of one another.

The second ca

Aidan, in the middle of it, found it surprisingly easy to stroll past those in combat and travel a maze in which he was rarely bothered by another combatant. Clan warriors tended to be aggressive, which allowed the strategically unaggressive to amble, as Aidan was doing, through fierce conflict without much trouble. Any fighting he did do was desultory and brief. He was able to dispatch three 'Mechs with minimum expenditure of ammunition. It looked as though Marthe was right in her estimation that many of the combatants were not necessarily of the highest order of warrior.

Soon, as Marthe had also predicted, the Circle was littered with defeated 'Mechs, some of them standing pilotless, some of them metal "corpses" on the ground.

The ranks of contestants were thi

Aidan think this Circle was like some warrior's ring of Hell.

* * *

In the end, it was Nielo who found Aidan. He landed in front of Aidan, having just performed a spectacular jump of several hundred meters from the edge of the Circle to where Aidan's Summonerwas involved in his first really difficult engagement. An Adderhad blind-sided his 'Mech, using its small pulse laser to chop away some torso armor.

Aidan did not know what was in the Adderpilot's mind. The 'Mech was only half the to

Nielo had apparently also conserved his weapons, for he began to fire his medium pulse lasers at Aidan's Summonereven before the Adderhad hit the ground. Aidan felt the impact of what the grid version of his 'Mech on the secondary screen showed as a long gash through the upper torso. He responded with some PPC bursts that came dangerously close to the Viper'scockpit and made Nielo twist his 'Mech's torso sideways, almost as a reflex action.

Aidan saw that the worst tactic at this moment would be to stand in place and trade fire with Nielo. He needed some distance from him, which he would create by engaging his jump jets and leaping. He quickly calculated that Nielo—whose 'Mech had a jump capacity at least a third greater than the Summoner's—would quickly follow. And that, if Aidan responded rapidly enough, might be Nielo's downfall.

Locating his destination point as just inside the Circle to the rear of Nielo and his Viper,a place free of fighting, he initiated the jump. The Summonerlifted over the Viperin a low arc, so that Aidan could get off an intense barrage from his LB 10-X. Coming from above and at an angle, the barrage did little damage, but it prevented Nielo from turning his 'Mech and jumping to pursue. As Aidan landed, he prepared himself for Nielo's arrival.

The other warrior's response was too predictable. He copied Aidan's low-level arc, coming at him like a missile. The time he had bought worked in Aidan's favor. He had calculated that he needed to get the Viperwith an SRM round before it could land. Zeroing in on the incoming BattleMech, Aidan fired before his opponent could reach the zenith of his 'Mech's low arc. As he had hoped, the missiles hit the Viperhigh. It seemed to founder in mid-air, then waver, then seemed to slide back before falling. Beneath it a Kit Foxwas firing off missiles at an Ice Ferret,and the Viperfell into the line of fire. There was an explosion at cockpit level, and Aidan knew that Nielo, as well as his 'Mech, was finished. He had not wanted to kill a warrior whose fame had preceded him. Angry, he waded into the Kit Fox'sbattle and demolished the 'Mech with a fierce fusillade. After it fell, Aidan also destroyed its Ice Ferretfoe.

Checking his secondary screen, he saw that his ammo was getting dangerously low, although he still had missiles left.

But his blood was stirred now, and Aidan was ready to take on the rest of the field.