Natural Selection

The DropShip Lionesswas a masterpiece of lostech— the I

The ferrocrete of the landing pad had been poured over a metric quarter-ton of plastic explosive shaped in a cylinder and centered beneath the circle at the heart of the pad. When Ragnar hit a switch on the command console of his Viper,the plastique detonated. It blew up and out with a force that would have registered 5.2 on the Richter scale, vaporizing the ferrocrete and shooting a fiery plume half a kilometer into the air.

The Lionesshad landed somewhat west and north of center. The explosion crumpled the aft-starboard quadrant, rupturing the vessel like a hammer smashing a naranji.The ship lifted up off the ground and started to tumble, then came down again, bounced through a building, then started to come apart. Weapon magazines began to explode, spraying out armor and weapons, then the ship landed on a second building, creating an explosion that ripped the OverlordDropShip apart.

Phelan felt the Shockwave of the detonation and steadied his Wolfhoundagainst it. In Denton windows shattered and 'Mechs toppled. As he watched, most of the machines got back to their feet and braced themselves for the Kell Hound attack.

Phelan saw a light start to blink on his radio control panel and he punched the button beneath it. A bandit stared up at him from his secondary monitor. "Treacherous dog. Come to your monument and we will show you how real warriors die."

"If you werereal warriors, I would." Phelan's green eyes narrowed. "You are bandits. You will die like bandits and you shall be remembered as bandits." Then he broke the co

* * *

When the plan was first proposed, Chris and his people had not liked the idea of being sent into the foothills after the Sidhe. The hills were a bonus to the defender, both because the aggressor had to attack uphill and because the defenders could arrange ambushes by lying in wait. The Red Corsair might be leading bandits, but in that terrain, even bad pilots could amass kills.

A blue light flashed on Chris's command console as telemetry began to scroll up his secondary screen. He opened a radio cha

* * *

Deep in the foothills, hidden halfway down a wooded ravine that ran north to south, Evantha held the laser built into the right arm of her Elemental armor steady on the Vindicator.The bandit 'Mech's red and gold color contrasted sharply with the surrounding foliage, but it did not matter because she watched him on the infrared setting of her armor's holographic display. In addition to the normal heat radiating from the charging coils of the PPC that replaced the bandit 'Mech's right forearm, a small dot rode on the junction of its torso and right hip.

It came from the invisible infrared beam of her laser. She had not been at all comfortable with the idea of sacrificing one of her main weapons for a spotting laser, but the Khan had approved the plan, so she accepted it. Each of the five Elemental Points had one member acting as spotter, with the rest ready to pick off any survivors.

She saw a blue flash at the lower corner of her view-plate. Incoming.Holding her arm rigid, she braced herself for the blast. She knew it would not be long in coming and would be devastating when it hit.

To Evantha it looked as if a volcano had opened up beneath the Vindicator'sbroad feet. One moment the 'Mech was walking through a forest and the next it had become a black silhouette in the center of a fire spout. Missile after missile pounded the Vindicator,crushing armor into sharp ceramic shards, stripping the right arm of armor, and mangling both the shoulder and elbow joints. The PPC twisted out of line with the 'Mech's flank and pointed down toward the ground.

Amazingly, as the smoke cleared and burning trees toppled, the Vindicatorremained standing. The armor on its body and both legs had been damaged, but the pilot had managed to keep the war machine upright. Evantha knew that meant he was very skilled—better than any bandit should be.

Evantha kept her laser trained on him. Glancing at the row of icons beneath her holographic display, she triggered one and sent out another burst of telemetry. Hit him again, Chris.

* * *

As Carew covered the Hellcatwith his crosshairs, once more, the warning klaxon started to blare. Someone has a lock on me!He glanced at his display and saw a Tridentswooping down on him in his four. He rolled his Visigothover on its right wing, then pulled back on the stick and came up into an Immelma

The Hellcatcame up into his sights again, so he punched the PPC off and added in twin medium pulse lasers. The PPC blasted away at the engine cowling while one of the lasers smoked another heat sink. The second laser ripped up the armor on the right wing, burning away some of the paint job.

Carew blinked as the Hellcatcame up and over on its left wing. As it whirled away to his port, he got a good look at the insignia previously hidden by the bandits' burning red and gold paint. No, that could not have been! No one would be so bold. No one would be so insane.The flames consumed the insignia, but Carew could not forget it.

Before the true import of what he had seen could sink in, the warning klaxon again sounded in his cockpit. DamnedTrident! Carew fixed it with his rear lasers and was about to trigger a blast when three energy beams shot up from beneath the Tridentand raked through it like shrapnel through fog. A PPC beam opened the fuselage from nose to tail like a giant blue can opener, while twin large lasers scissored through the right wing. The wing folded up and in toward the cockpit, then snapped off and dropped away as the smoking fighter began to spiral down toward the ground.

"Eagle Leader says thanks."

"Not a problem, Eagle Leader," he heard Caitlin answer him. "Just returning a favor."

* * *

Under the cover of his fire support lances, Chris and the rest of Alpha Battalion entered the foothills. The paths left by the bandits were easy to follow. Radio messages from the Elementals made locating the enemy 'Mechs easy, and the first ones he saw were the burning, smashed hulks of those the LRM-equipped 'Mechs were destroying from afar.

Bringing his Thunderboltaround a hillock, Chris saw an improbably slender BattleMech move into the meadow from another little valley off to his right. He swung the Thunderboltto the right and centered the crosshairs on the Ostsol.He kept the sights on the 'Mech's torso, and when he got the dot confirming a weapons lock, he fired.

The large laser mated to the Thunderbolt'sright forearm sent needles of green energy through the Ostsol'sright arm armor, stripping it completely and even chipping away at the ferro-titanium bone beneath. But Chris knew better than to take comfort in that damage. The Ostsol'sarms were used only for balance and, apparently, absorbing damage that would have been more harmful elsewhere.