Falcon Guard

All briefings complete, the Falcon Guards could only sit and wait for the operation to begin. The last Drop-Ships had deposited their valuable cargo onto Prezno Plain, and all battle Clusters were assembled. Even the night seemed in readiness, darker than before. Yet the command to move did not come.

"Is there some sign of battle activity?" Joa

"I have been informed of no enemy activity," Aidan said. "None of my sensors indicate activity of any kind. I think we merely await the order from Galaxy Commander Mar Helmer."

"I hope it comes before moss starts to grow up the legs of my 'Mech."

Aidan chose not to respond, not to express his worries. He had been in on all the command conferences. His superiors had rejected his battle-strategy proposal for its high element of risk. He did not mind that, yet it did seem that the Clan's high command had become surprisingly cautious. He believed they were placing too much emphasis on the Jade Falcons' superior recon capabilities.

Aidan knew that Prezno Plain offered few hiding places, while the rest of the battle terrain consisted of a river and then more relative flatland leading to the two objective cities. Reco

Then all further speculation became pointless. The order came for the Falcon Guards to move forward.

Aidan turned control over to Star Captain Joa

When Aidan had submitted his marching orders to Star Captain Joa

Aidan shook his head. "I am but a Clan warrior, Star Captain Joa

"No, it is more than that."

He raised his brows interrogatively.

"It is not only the taint from the Falcon Guards that you wish to remove. You wish to remove the taint from Aidan Pryde. I respect your goal, but let us hope that this new caution does not make you stay your hand at a key moment."

"What kind of key moment?"

"Truthfully, I do not know whatI mean. I am just trying to work out the new Aidan Pryde, even as I work out the new Falcon Guards. A formidable task, in either case."

It astonished Aidan to think that Joa

As he took his rightful position at the head of the Falcon Guards, he wondered if there was something to what Joa

"Ready to move out, Star Colonel," Joa

Once on the move, Aidan called up a visual from the small camera he had set on the Timber Wolfs,shoulders. Rotating it to capture a view of his warriors behind him, he brought the image as much into focus as possible, adding the infrared component to get more detail.

The Falcon Guards were spread across the landscape, the warriors strictly maintaining the space between themselves. Aidan could, in fact, eavesdrop on Joa

All in all, the Falcon Guard advance was impressive, the massive fighting machines creating a pattern suggesting not only discipline but controlled force and power. It was exactly the look Aidan had wanted to achieve. That the other Jade Falcon units might not see it was irrelevant. Aidan had imposed all the restrictions to bring a pride to the unit itself. Already he had heard some talk that the Falcon Guards should take the name of "Pryde's Pride." Though he did not generally favor nicknames for fighting units, Aidan knew he would not block adoption of this name.

Satisfied, perhaps too satisfied, Aidan pressed his BattleMech forward. Whether it was his own loss of rhythm or some further problem with the Timber Wolfitself, the 'Mech misstepped slightly. Not much. An observer would only have seen the right leg jut ever so slightly to the side, but Aidan could have sworn he heard a crackle of sound when the misstep occurred.

"The commander has to stay in line, too," Horse commented. "What happened?"

"I do not know, but I am almost certain it was not due to anything I did."

"Well, stay on your feet. I may not have time to pick you up if you fall."

Aidan was glad Horse's joking only came over their private cha

Then all this was forgotten when he heard the first reports of an attack on another Jade Falcon unit. Calling up a visual on his primary screen, he sca

25

As MechWarrior Faulk, in his Gargoyle,closed ranks with Diana's Warhawk,she wondered what was bothering Faulk now. The man was a fine pilot whose courage no one could question, but his habit of irritating his commanding officers was how he had happened to draw the dreaded assignment to the new Falcon Guards. There was nothing belligerent about Faulk, nor did he ever utter an insubordinate word. He was, Diana had decided, just nervous. Yet nervousness was rare among Clan warriors, which made his fidgety ways all the more irksome to his compatriots.

" MechWarrior Diana?"

"Yes, Faulk?"

"I thought I spotted something. Over there. To the left."

Aidan had moved the Falcon Guards to the right flank of the Jade Falcon advance on the Prezno River. Joa

Diana saw only grid lines of geographical topography in her primary-screen scans. The only movement was among a clump of trees, an orchard near the main road they were now following.

"Might Com Guard units be hiding in that orchard?" Faulk said, his voice so tense that Diana imagined his thin body squirming with apprehension in the command couch. She knew Faulk had accumulated a first-rate codex in his years as a warrior and that his fears would not affect his skill, but the idea of him fidgeting in his seat was not comforting.