Falcon Guard

"Everyone has reached the Raptor"Joa

"So quickly?"

"There are not so many of us left, Star Colonel."

"Yes, I suppose so. All right then, all remaining BattleMechs, evacuate!"

Joa

"MechWarrior Diana?" Joa

The voice came back weak, faint. "I am—no, I am not all right. Something crashed through my cockpit. I am trapped in my seat. I ca

"What is wrong, Star Captain?" It was Aidan, who now stood alongside the fallen BattleMech.

"It is MechWarrior Diana, sir. She is trapped. Somehow the ejection—"

"I heard that, Star Captain. It is unfortunate, but there is nothing we can do. Our orders are to get to the Raptorimmediately. Die bravely, MechWarrior."

"If I die," Diana said, her voice trembling, "I plan to die bravely."

"We leave her behind them?" Joa

"All techs have left the planet, medic or otherwise. There is no one to extricate her."

"I will extricate her," Joa

"There is no time. You must not sacrifice your BattleMech for a single warrior, Star Captain Joa

Joa

"I must tell you, Aidan Pryde, that MechWarrior Diana is the daughter of a scientist named Peri. You are her father."

"Father?" Aidan said in an odd voice.

"You were not to tell," Diana accused, but her voice seemed to fade out on the last word.

Aidan could never have explained to anyone the thoughts that went through his mind at Joa

Right now, he could imagine MechWarrior Diana in her cockpit, but what did it mean that she was his daughter? She might be a product of the liaison between him and Peri, but that was as far as he could proceed with the idea. Even all the books of his secret library, with their frequent tales of families, could not prove the meaning of what he had just been told by Joa

"Get to the DropShip, Star Captain Joa

"And you?"

"You do not run a drill on my life, Joa

Joa

* * *

Elemental Star Commander Selima stood outside the Raptor,guiding the survivors from the Elemental Stars into it. The last ones had entered, with Selima taking one last look around when he saw Diana's 'Mech take the hit and crash with an impact whose tremors reached all the way to the DropShip. Characteristically, Selima did not stop for even a moment to think. He instantly began to sprint toward the fallen 'Mech, the loping sides of his battlesuit bringing him to it quickly.

Climbing onto the machine, he saw the crack in the cockpit. It was a fairly narrow crack, but an Elemental battle suit could rip through it, given enough time. Stepping up to the breech, he grasped one edge with his hand and braced his foot on the other. The servos on his suit's exoskeleton began to whine and strain. The heads-up-display flashed with warnings of stress tolerances exceeded and overload conditions. Selima continued to pull. Then with a sharp crack the twisted armor gave way, and he was looking into the cockpit.

MechWarrior Diana was in her command couch, large pieces of twisted metal holding her down. One piece seemed wrapped around the ejection lever.

"MechWarrior Diana?" Selima said. There was no response. A passing light illuminated her face for a moment, and he saw her eyes were closed. Then the light went away, and he could not see her face any more.

Selima never stopped to speculate on possibilities. He just went to work, using his great strength to pull away pieces of metal that might be removed without further injuring the pilot.

As he reached for the neurohelmet, the BattleMech was rocked by another hit, apparently in the lower torso. Selima noticed an odd odor. Not being a MechWarrior, he could not know what it was, but he was able to sense danger in many ways, including through the sense of smell.

"Who is that in there?" boomed an amplified voice outside the Warhawk.Selima immediately recognized the voice of Star Colonel Aidan Pryde coming through his external speakers.

Quickly, Selima followed Aidan's instructions and identified himself.

"Star Commander Selima, report the situation inside the cockpit as simply as you can."

"The pilot is trapped in her seat. I have removed some of the constraints. I can remove the others, I believe."

"Is MechWarrior Diana still alive then?"

"Yes, sir."

"Continue, Star Commander—"

Aidan could not finish the sentence because suddenly he was fending off an attack from a trio of ComStar BattleMechs. Selima could hear him firing, and he caught his breath when he heard a missile explode against some part of the Timber Wolfssurface.

Delicately, he lifted the neurohelmet off Diana's head. Her black hair spilled out as her head dropped back. He lifted her head and examined the rest of the cockpit seat. Keeping hold of her head with his right hand, he worked at the twisted metal with his left. For a moment, it looked as though the metal was too interlocked to come loose, then suddenly the whole mass of it freed up enough for Selima to slide Diana's body slowly upward and out of the cockpit seat.

It felt as if she were all right, with no major bones broken. Holding her against his side with his right arm, her feet dangling down to his knees, he used his left hand to widen the canopy crack sufficiently to get both of them out.

As he was squeezing them through, Diana said suddenly, "Selima?"

"Be quiet," he told her.

"My . . . father ... I mean ..."

"Quiet. Do not try to speak now."

When they came out of the cockpit, Selima looked up and saw that Star Colonel Aidan Pryde was taking on several ComStar BattleMechs at once. Some of them had come around to block his path to the Raptor,while all were firing on him at will. He was rotating his 'Mech's torso back and forth, getting off shots every which way at the enemy.