OPREF-2 Chpt 1

=Book 2, Chapter 1 - House of Cards=
==Opalescent Reflections==
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===Subduing the defenders of Motor City===
Motor City, Pesht
Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine
6 September 3050
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Motor City sprawled across a vast area. Factory after factory that, according to ComStar's information, churned out ground vehicles for almost every civilian purpose imaginable ranging from tiny motorcycles up to vast mobile industrial machinery.
 
The fortifications around them were far less impressive, improvised berms backed by infantry, tanks and a single battalion of Battlemechs.
 
"What sort of combat vehicles do they build here?" Michel asked as his Warhawk strode through the gates of another complex.
Ace Enders was covering the back of the star's advance. They hadn't seen any of the 'mechs so far - Gamma Trinary had smashed through them outside the city, reporting nothing heavier than a Phoenix Hawk - one of the comparatively tiny Inner Sphere models, little more than half the tonnage of the superior Clan models. The trinary was still pursuing the survivors, more to keep them out of the fight for Motor City than in any expectation of catching them. "Nothing I am aware of."
"What a waste!"
"If they put a machine gun and armor on every truck built here, they could transport an army of Solahma, quiaff," pointed out Norman gruffly. "Even if none posed a great threat individually it would take forever to root them out."
 
"Aff," Ace agreed. "And the timetable for Operation Revival is necessarily unforgiving." As the size of the Inner Sphere became less a matter of numbers on a datapad and more a visible reality he couldn't help but realize that the plans drawn up on Strana Mechty were flawed… but they did get one thing right. If the Clans didn't reach Terra within the projected two years, they might never achieve that goal.
 
(What the Clans would do after reaching the homeworld of humanity was a topic he chose not to dwell on while marching his Stormcrow through a hostile city. It bothered him at nights though.)
"No sign of resistance here," reported Michel, backing his massive assault 'mech out of the factory yard he was checking. There were scars on his armor to mark occasions where that had not been the case. None of the ambushes had been severe, but they added up.
 
"Why were we assigned this mission?" Quinn was the most junior mechwarrior in the Star, younger than Ace - promoted out of a brief stay in Rho Spina Galaxy right before the departure from the homeworlds. "A Strike Cluster could sweep through the city faster than we can, and the Khan might need our firepower to seize Canube."
 
Ace noted the thought with approval. Quinn was showing some tactical promise. "Khan Hawker believes the Diamond Skate is sufficient to keep the defenders focused on Canube, while the other Clusters pick off outlying targets and their defenders. Then we close in on the warlord and his capital together."
 
"Aff, but an Assault Cluster would serve better for that role."
 
"Ian Hawker disagrees, and he commands Alpha Galaxy," Norman told the young warrior flatly. Since his wounds in the trials for a place in the invasion, the mechwarrior had been slow to praise anything the Khan ordered. He was not going as far as openly criticizing the leader of the Clan, but he seemed reluctant to acknowledge any merit either.
They switched formation, with Norman's Gargoyle taking the lead through the city towards the next waypoint.
 
"The Diamond Skate could have run down the defending 'mechs," Quinn mumbled, less than satisfied by the reply. "They broke almost as soon as they saw us, and we lacked the speed to catch them."
 
Ace shook his head inside his own cockpit. To be fair, at least a third of the 'mechs of the Third Pesht Regulars battalion posted here had been Panthers that could not escape Gamma Trinary and not one had managed it. Such 'mechs would have been better served fighting in the confines of the city streets but their commander had apparently decided instead to withdraw. "They cannot outrun our aerospace fighters," he said out loud.
 
"Cowards, like the other defenders here," Michel spat.
 
"Perhaps. Or their commander may have decided to preserve his 'mech forces to fight for the capital," Ace observed. "If so he left it too late - or should have left his slower forces to fight with the -"
The conversation cut off as a pair of Tokugawa tanks skidded around a corner ahead of the star, road-wheels leaving black streaks on the hard-wearing concrete surface. Both the heavy tanks had their turrets already turned to point at the Star and the heavy autocannon barked viciously, followed by flights of short-ranged missiles.
 
Ace shifted left by reflex, firing one of his PPCs past Norman's Gargoyle. The shot ripped a rent across the low domed forward hull.
 
A moment later, the tank had managed to escape around another corner. The second Tokugawa was less fortunate as Norman's autocannon and SRMs blew through each roadwheel along one side of the sixty ton vehicle. It spun in a half-circle, the turret not quite managing to turn to offset the movement, as the remaining wheels kept spinning.
 
"Stravag!" Quinn shouted and fired his own autocannon. Like Normal he had cluster rounds loaded and the turret locked in place as some of the explosive submunitions found the turret ring and ripped into it.
 
"Hold fire," Ace ordered, seeing that the tank could no longer even bring its weapons to bear. "Norman, your damage?"
 
"Armor only," the oldest member of the Star reported. "It's getting thin though."
 
"Noted." Ace picked his way carefully between the Gargoyle and the building to its left, flipping on his external speakers. "Your tank is crippled and unable to fight," he declared. "It, and you, are isorla to Clan Diamond Shark - prisoners worthy to be considered to join our ranks. Dismount and surrender yourselves - we will provide medical treatment as needed and permit seppuku if you find the bond unbearable."
 
After a moment, hatches opened and the crew of the tank slowly climbed out of it.
 
A sense of deja vu settled over Ace as he saw the frustration and anger on their faces. They'd risked their lives just to cause some harm to the invaders of their home enclave, it must have seemed to have been futile now that they had failed to do more than batter the armor of one omnimech.
 
It wasn't until they were all out that Ace was able to pin down what he was being reminded of.
 
Castrum Keep. He'd been ordered not to discuss his origins, and to fit in among the Diamond Sharks he had tried not to discuss the dark caste settlement he had been born in even before that. Truthfully, the press of duties as a Star Captain and Star Colonel had left him little time to reminisce.
 
But now the expressions he saw reminded him of those defending the fortified town from the Clan Diamond Shark. The scale was larger, but the mismatch in fighting power was much the same - and so was the fighting spirit.
 
A chill went down Ace's back. If I am the Blake Hawker here, might there be an Ace waiting among those here? I should keep my guard up!
 
As if to cement the wisdom of that idea, the missile alert sprang up on his cockpit and he heard the anti-missile systems spin up and chatter as they automatically hurled flechettes into the path of incoming missiles.
 
The five Omnimechs all whirled, looking for the sources of the attacks. Ace saw missiles explode short of his Stormcrow and was distantly conscious that the fire bursts were dripping burning fluids onto the street - inferno SRMs that would have bathed his 'mech in napalm and raised its heat sharply, limiting his ability to use the two PPCs.
 
The contrails left by the missiles led back to a towering apartment block. Ace focused in on the enclosed balconies being used as firing platforms. A second salvo of missiles lashed out, but they were no more successful than the last.
 
Then the entire row of balconies disappeared in smoke and dust as Norman raked them with his autocannons - obliterating the missile launchers, their crews and the apartments behind them. Ace hoped that the inhabitants had not also been with them.
 
A shot from Michel's Warhawk drew Ace's attention and he saw that the tank crew had been cut in half - in that two of the four captives had been pulverized as they tried to flee under the cover of the attack. The explosive rounds from the autocannon were far in excess of what was required but Michel was not equipped for anti-infantry work. Overkill was what he had.
 
"I see no further hostiles," Quinn reported. "But I did not see those missile teams until they fired."
 
"Aff." Ace agreed. "We should be on our guard. And we will need more machine guns and small pulse lasers fitted to our omnimechs for this sort of situation."
 
Without his own anti-missile systems, Norman's 'mech had taken more damage from the attack than Ace. Fire dripped down the front of the eighty-ton Gargoyle as he moved back into position.
 
"Norman, stay here and guard the tank and crew until a pick-up team arrives," Ace instructed. "Then get your 'mech repaired. We do not want to lose it or you through needless risks, quiaff?"
 
"Aff. I will ask the techs about exchanging one of my missile launchers for anti-infantry work," the older warrior agreed.
 
"What use will that wreck of a tank be?" asked Michel.
 
"The factories here may not build combat vehicles," Ace told him, "But they will be able to repair them, I am sure. And if we capture enough of them then they can be used by whatever garrison we leave here. We cannot peel off a binary of 'mechs for every planet." The touman was already spread thin and a binary was barely enough to keep local police and militia honest. It would be far from enough if the DCMS mounted a serious counterattack.
 
We have little margin for error, Ace noted to himself. The worlds we are taking are held as much by fear of us as by force of arms. If we suffer serious setbacks, that fear will fade. "And Norman, see that the bondsmen are cared for. We will need them and those like them as much - neg, more than - we need the tank."
 
He had heard that the Khan of the Wolves used a spheroid bondsman as an advisor when it came to dealing with conquered worlds. It was a good idea, and one did not need to fight a trial of possession for ideas. The Diamond Sharks would need an army of such intermediaries to govern their growing slice of the Inner Sphere.
 
Ace thought again of Blake Hawker, the warrior who had brought him into the Diamond Sharks. He had barely met the man - fought him twice in fact. But he had respected his integrity and regretted the man's death. Ian Hawker hated the idea of bringing me into the Clan, to the point he drove Blake to his death. How will he manage bringing hundreds or thousands of spheroid bondsman back to warrior status, even if it is only for garrison work?
 
The young Star Colonel suspected he knew the answer already.
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===Battle for Twycross===
Great Gash, Twycross
Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
12 September 3050
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Dawn came late that day on Twycross, the second day of the counterattack. It found Victor in the cockpit of his grandmother's Warhammer, breakfasting on a field ration that had been developed with more of a focus on being able to keep it stored for a long time in the confines of a 'mech cockpit than taste. While the sausage patty sealed away wasn't past its expiry date, the beast that died to provide the meat must have done so before Victor's birth. The less said about the rehydrated egg the better, not even the sauce provided for taste could cover the texture - or rather, the lack of any.
Victor had slept in the cockpit - other than using the open hatch for some pull-ups to get his blood flowing, he hadn't left it since they landed the previous day. The landing had gone well - the only challenge had been a number of aerospace fighters attempting an interception as the DropShips entered the atmosphere. With close to a hundred AFFC and mercenary aerospace fighters screening them, only one DropShip had even taken a hit and that had been nothing of any note.
 
The young Hauptmann was just considering where he might be able to get his company some fresh food when his comm bleeped to indicate someone was contacting him. He swallowed his current mouthful and tapped the accept key. "Hauptmann Steiner-Davion."
 
"Leutnant Pederson," a woman's voice identified the caller. "I'm watch officer on the Blockade -" The Union-class DropShip that had carried Victor's company to Twycross. "- and we have a standing instruction to let you know once Task Force Striker has departed."
 
"And I take it that they have?" Victor asked, a little playfully. That was good news though. Adam's one JumpShip and two DropShips were on their way to Trellwan, hoping to recover surviving elements of the Twelfth Donegal Guards that were - at last report - still holding out against Clan Jade Falcon's garrison.
 
He hadn't exactly promised to bring back a relief force when he was tossed aboard a DropShip to get him out of harm's way, but the matter had been on Victor's mind ever since the counterattack began planning. His cousin, Morgan Hasek-Davion, had warned him that the rescue mission would only be launched if things went well on Twycross, but so far it could hardly have gone more smoothly. At this very moment, the 1st Kathil Uhlans brigade and the 2nd Kell Hounds regiment were chasing down what remained of the Jade Falcon's garrison.
 
Pederson sounded amused. "Yes, sir. The Kwaidan jumped out twenty minutes ago."
 
"Thank you Leutnant. I'd appreciate it if you can pass on any other updates we receive about the mission."
 
"That's also in our standing orders, your highness."
 
The use of his social rank rather than his military one was like a slap on the face, even though Victor was certain that the junior (if likely older) officer didn't mean in that way. Any other Hauptmann would have very limited access to such information, certainly not get standing orders put through to keep them updated. "Thank you," he said quietly. "Steiner-Davion out."
 
As tempting as it was to dispose of the rest of his breakfast, Victor chewed through it methodically. He might need the calories later in the day, however unlikely it was. After being in reserve the previous day, the RCT was currently assigned to oversee the dismantling of the Trellshire Heavy Industries factory, securing the engineers and heavy trucks doing the work - as well as the task force's DropShips. The Gray Death Legion were doing much the same, a short distance away, as intelligence teams went through the Jade Falcon's garrison base with a fine-toothed comb.
 
With the last of his meal inside of him, Victor washed it down with his coffee and packed the debris of breakfast away. "Lance sound off," he ordered on the appropriate channel.
"Red two, active." Rudi replied from the Thunderbolt to Victor's right.
 
"Same, Red Three." Matti's Thunderbolt was back-to-back with Victor's Warhammer.
 
"Ah, Red Four… just warming up,"
 
Victor glanced sideways, not quite able to see Juniper's Rifleman to his left. The oldest of the lance, she was also the only holdover from the old Tenth Lyran Guards. Both Rudi and Matti were survivors of the Seventeenth Skye Rangers. He'd rarely seen them away from each other, and suspected they had a quiet relationship going on. Since neither was in the other's chain of command, Victor had left it alone for now - but if Rudi got a lance (and he thought the sergeant was a good prospect for promotion) then it'd be a factor. "Forty-five minutes before we head out to relieve the picket lance," he reminded them. "If you need anything here - or want to get out of your 'mech for a few minutes, get it done."
"Yes, sir." The crisp reply from Matti was followed by a quieter acknowledgement from Juniper.
 
Rudi would no doubt have added his own confirmation but he was cut off as Victor's comms were overridden by a unit wide alert. "Stand to! I repeat, stand to! Hostile forces spotted!"
 
Slamming one hand on the reactor activation controls, Victor buckled up and quickly started applying the medical sensors he'd peeled off before he went to sleep. "You heard the man, up and at 'em. Red Nine, status report?"
 
"Powering up and ready to go in two minutes." Leutnant Bear Havel sounded as calm as ever. His scout lance had been in the same ready status as Victor's command group.
 
"Good man." Victor pulled on his neurohelmet as weapons and sensors came online. "Red Five, do you read me?"
 
The final lance of his company - Kai Allard-Liao's - had drawn the short straw and were standing watch inside the mouth of the Great Gash at the moment. The network of canyons were one of the few routes through the mountains, which made them an excellent defensive position for the factory and by extension for the DropShips. As a result, the bulk of the Lyran Guards were posted on the far side of the defensive perimeter covering more accessible routes for any attack to take.
 
"I read you, Red Leader." Kai's voice was calmer than Victor had expected - almost the calmest he'd ever heard his tightly-wound friend. "We're moving to blocking positions."
 
"Block… Kai, are you saying the enemy is in the Gash?!"
 
"Red Leader," Kommandant Galen Cox's voice cut in. "Jade Falcons are reported as moving into your sector."
 
"Yes, sir." Kai confirmed. "Observation Posts report at least company strength of 'mechs. We'll try and buy you some time."
 
Victor reflexively made sure both his subordinate and commander could hear him. "Confirmed Red Five, at least company strength of hostiles inside the Great Gash. I'll get everything available to the mouth. Don't try to be a hero."
 
"Understood, sir."
 
"No heroics from you either, Red Leader." Cox was all business, far from his usual good humor. "Hold the exit if you can but do not get sucked into the Gash. I'm bringing the reserves over, but if you get drawn into that maze it'll be hell to link up."
 
Did Galen think Victor was some first year cadet? "Orders understood sir. We're the cork, not the corkscrew."
 
"Glad we're on the same page." the Kommandant said a little more warmly.
 
Victor opened the throttle, the desert camouflaged Warhammer swinging smoothly into action. "Red company, form on me. Vortex Leader, Clockwork Leader, I don't know if you've been informed but we have hostiles in the Gash. Move up to secure the mouth. We're not going in until reinforcements reach us but we need it bottled up."
 
Engrossed in crossing the relatively short distance, as well as coordinating with the tanks and infantry forces available, Victor barely noticed the moments ticking by. He'd just ordered Rudi and Matti to help create fighting positions for the infantry (sixty-five ton Battlemechs could move or break up boulders in ways impossible for footsoldiers) when Kai pinged him.
 
"I read you, Red Five." He looked at the jagged mouth of the canyon.
 
"Red Leader, we have a full cluster coming at us." Kai's words were clipped, quick and clear. "The observation posts are dropping out of contact. At least forty omnimechs and I assume they have elementals with them."
 
Victor glanced up at the sky. Clouds were forming up above, making it unlikely that air cover would be a factor for either side. Honestly, the tight and twisty canyons of the Great Gash would make air to ground chancy anyway. "Kai, get your force out of there."
 
The other young officer didn't pause. "We're too slow. Their leading elements would catch us before we reach your position. My lance will scatter, try to draw some of them off chasing us. It might buy you some time."
 
Opening his mouth to deny it, Victor paused and then shook his head. "I said no heroics, dammit." Kai's Centurion was no faster than his own Warhammer. Only the one Wolverine in Kai's lance would be able to keep pace with most Clan heavy 'mechs, and even that wouldn't be able to stay ahead of their faster medium and light 'mechs. "Hide if you can. As long as you're still there, they have to watch their backs."
 
There was a stark honesty to the reply he got. "I'll do what I can."
 
Galen replied immediately when Victor pinged him. "Situation report?"
 
"We're forting up," he replied. "Numbers are worse than we thought - it looks like an entire Cluster."
 
"Our fighters should be overhead any minute, but it looks like they'll have opposition." the Kommandant informed him. "I'll be with you in fifteen minutes and you have immediate priority for artillery."
 
"Not trying to drag me out of this?" Victor asked wryly.
 
Galen snorted. "Maybe if I was right with you. Just try not to die until reinforcements arrive. God willing, that'll be before the Falcons do."
 
An explosion echoed through the Gash. Victor looked up and saw smoke begin to billow up from between some of the steep mountainsides. It wasn't all that near, which said nasty things about how large the explosion was. Dust was rising, which suggested some of the less stable side canyons had taken the blast and responded poorly.
 
"What was that?" Galen exclaimed, having apparently picked up on the sound through Victor's microphone.
 
"One of Red Five's lance, I think. I need to talk to artillery."
 
The mouth of the canyon opened out into a slope - the long ago river that had carved its way through the mountains had drained out of here into some lake or sea long lost to the vagaries of geology. It meant that anyone coming out would have the high ground.
 
On the other hand, many boulders had been bowled down the slope all those millenia ago, many of them still in evidence for cover. Victor positioned himself to the side of one that would leave him at middling range from the mouth, Juniper parking herself on the other side of it. Tanks and personnel carriers dug themselves in as best they could.
 
Seismics picked up massive movement. Contrails marked the sky where fighters dueled, more often than not lost in the clouds above, themselves thickened by dust from the earlier explosion.
 
When Jade Falcons emerged, it was almost a relief. Though not as much as the arrival of Galen would have been.
The first shots fired were from Rommel and Patton tanks of Vortex Company, but Victor added his PPCs to the fusillade that streaked up at the first Hellbringer to emerge. The heavy omnimech blew up almost immediately as dozens of shots tore into it, but the next shapes to emerge were not alone - three more omnimechs and they dropped elementals before they came under fire in turn.
 
Victor was stagger firing his PPCs, watching his heat gauge almost as much as he was his targeting reticle. It was climbing, but much more slowly than he had anticipated. His first shot struck a Kit Fox that had been in the second group of arrivals. His second missed and then the third bolt of charged particles bit deeply into the light 'mech.
 
More Jade Falcons were emerging, Victor saw man-pack LRMs being fired from fox holes into the Kit Fox and shifted slightly, bringing the PPCs to bear on the spindly shape of a Mad Dog. He fired one and then the other, scoring with both.
 
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Kit Fox rushing forwards towards the infantry positions but he was more focused on the Mad Dog, turning side on against the boulder of his cover as both the omnimech's large missile launchers vomited LRMs down the hill towards him.
The impacts shook the seventy-ton Warhammer, but he stayed upright. The searchlight on the shoulder shattered and armor status flared through yellow and orange, but a lot of the missiles must have wasted themselves against the stone.
 
Then the Kit Fox's charge faltered as explosions tore through its feet and ankles. The little 'mech stumbled and fell, caught in the artillery-deployed minefield Victor had ordered delivered as soon as he was given the option. It was thinner than he'd like - they didn't have many Thunder munitions and he'd used all of them - but it was one more thing for the Jade Falcons to worry about.
 
A Summoner was bounding down the slope on its jump jets. Victor left the Kit Fox to a Rommel that opened up with its heavy autocannon before the thirty-ton 'mech could stand again, and fired both PPCs he had into the Jade Falcon heavy 'mech.
 
Apparently undaunted, the enemy 'mech returned fire, its own PPC catching the Warhammer squarely in the chest. Then it followed the hit up with cluster munitions from the autocannon that rattled Victor and sent him staggering back. If it wasn't for the boulder then he might have fallen.
 
Victor triggered everything that could reach the Summoner, adding medium lasers and SRMs to the PPCs as the enemy 'mech came into range of them. LRMs slammed into him, throwing Victor against his restraints.
 
Then the Summoner was rocked by more fire - Matti and Rudi's Thunderbolts opening up from the flank. They looked rather similar to the Clan design, though lacking the terrifying firepower. Still, there were two of them and Victor was firing as well.
 
Finally, painfully, the Summoner fell. Rudi's large laser severed the myomers above the right knee, dropping it to the ground right before Matti's LRMs broke open the cockpit canopy.
 
"Punching out!" Juniper cried out and Victor could feel the impact as her Rifleman disintegrated on the other side of the boulder.
 
Victor ducked fully behind the stone bulwark, looking for what had taken out Red Four as he let the Warhammer cool. It wasn't dangerous yet, but it was about to edge into the orange part of the heat scale, impacting his systems.
 
What he found was a tiny OmniMech and four Elementals - presumably one of the Point hadn't managed to get this far. The Elementals all leapt upon him as the next obvious target, while the Fire Moth darted away - twisting around to bring its lasers to bear.
 
Backstepping, Victor fired all his secondary armament and enough of the weapons bit into one of the Elementals that the armored infantryman was torn apart. That still left three of them to get hold of his Warhammer and start tearing into the armor with their battle claws, finding weaknesses.
 
Small arms fire from two nearby squads of infantry bounced off his armor and that of the Clan warriors almost equally ineffectually, as did machine gun fire from Matti's Thunderbolt as the former Skye Ranger made the correct decision that the chances of damaging Victor's Warhammer with the weapons was less important than getting rid of the Elementals.
 
Rudi attended to the Fire Moth, who had apparently not realized that there were two Thunderbolts and ran almost directly into him. The Lyran closed one of the Thunderbolt's battle fists around one of the light Omnimech's arms and brought it to an almost dead halt. Victor saw lasers flay open the Fire Moth's chest as it returned the favor with its own more powerful lasers.
 
Then Rudi slammed his other battlefist into the Fire Moth's chest, something that it seemed to have no reply to.
 
In the meantime, Victor had flailed away at the Elementals with the long-barrelled Donal PPCs in the arms of his Warhammer. One of them got knocked away, but the limbs of his 'mech weren't designed for this sort of action. "Use your lasers!" he ordered.
 
"I might burn through your armor," Matti warned, but she fired the battery of three medium lasers in the Thunderbolt's chest, cutting one of the remaining Elementals in two. Then she found the one Victor had knocked away climbing up the back of her 'mech. "Shit, Rudi! Help!"
 
Victor flung his Warhammer flat, trying to crush the Elemental below him. Unfortunately, the Jade Falcon flared his jump jets, skidding out from under the belly flop. Almost immediately, the Elemental rushed back, this time going for the cockpit.
 
It didn't make it. A salvo of autocannon fire tore the tiny menace apart. A few seconds later, the Elemental climbing onto Matti's Thunderbolt was smashed aside as Galen Cox's Hatchetman arrived.
Behind him, Blue Company and Gold Company tore into the surviving Jade Falcons. The number of 'mechs was about even - twenty or so on both sides, but the Lyrans were fresh and behind them came a mixed array of hovertanks racing up the slope with all guns blazing.
 
It was suicidally dangerous - the Jade Falcons still had the firepower to wreck a hover tank with a single hit. But for every one that died, another seemed to take its place. And 'mechs were dropping on both sides.
Victor brought his Warhammer upright and brought the twin PPCs back to bear. The one in the right arm wasn't charging as fast as it should - perhaps the result of damage, but that was just making it easier for his cooling.
 
For a moment, the battle seemed to hang in the balance, but then - perhaps at some signal from their commander - the Jade Falcons that remained began to back up into the Gash.
"Hold position," Victor ordered. "Don't follow them in yet - we need to sweep the area for the mines we laid. And there could be Elementals waiting."
 
"We'll need to pursue," Galen agreed. "But not just yet. There could be ambushes or even a suicide rearguard in the Gash." He fired his autocannon up into a towering Warhawk that seemed to ignore the cluster munitions as it retreated, pouring shot after shot from its PPCs into a Rommel that couldn't take the pounding and was reduced to a pyre by the fire. "All we need to do to win now is hold this ground."
A hammer blow smashed into the missile launcher on the shoulder of the Warhammer. The impact sent Victor staggering as the gyro fought to keep him upright.
 
"Rotate your company to the back," ordered Galen. "You need to take stock of your condition."
 
"I'm down a full lance already," Victor said bleakly. Plus Juniper's Rifleman and however many of Havel's light 'mechs hadn't made it out.
 
"Maybe not. We have survival beacons from three of the lance that was up there," Galen offered. "I told them to sit tight and stay hidden until we can sweep the Great Gash and give them an all clear. And before you ask, Leutnant Allard-Liao's one of the ones with a beacon." The Hatchetman stepped forwards, firing its autocannon again. "And I think we may have enough salvage here to replace his 'mech."
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===Dueling in the shadows of the fallen's Stronghold===
Canube, Pesht
Clan Diamond Shark Occupation Zone
24 September 3050
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Canube also brought back memories for Ace. Not of Castrum Keep, but of something else. Something less familiar but that had made an impression on him. "Michel, what does this remind you of?"
 
His bondsman, now a warrior again among the Diamond Sharks, hesitated. "The place you captured me. The ruined enclave… I do not know its name."
 
Ace glanced at another damaged building as he led the Twenty-First Assault Cluster past it, down one of the long wide avenues that curved across the city. "Aff. Though it was never an enclave." He had looked it up afterwards. "It was an urban training site, somewhere warriors went to hone the skills of fighting within towns and cities. Before the Clans returned to the Pentagon, our ancestors used it to prepare."
 
"It was a terrible battlefield." The Warhawk behind him swayed slightly as it marched. Damage from the long march from Motor City, legacy of shots striking the assault 'mechs hips. The technicians had done their best but it would take time and resources to repair. "I do not say your victory was undeserved, but fighting under those circumstances leans as much on luck as a warrior's skill."
 
Julian snorted from his own cockpit, further back in the column. "Not to say the Star Colonel's victory was undeserved, you say."
 
"One on one, I might mistake it for that." Michel answered, voice irritated. "Four victories in succession and what might have been five if it were not for accumulated damage? That is not luck."
 
Ace saw what was left of a DCMS battlemech - a Dragon locked in place, everything above the waist blackened, penetrated or both. Curiously, the legs were almost unscathed. From intelligence reports, he could even identify its markings as those of the Fifth Galedon Regulars - the regiment that had escaped Jeronimo and retreated here to make their stand. It hadn't been salvaged yet. It would take time before the city could be fully policed for all the remaining equipment.
 
"My point," he advised his officers, "Is that the Founder trained his warriors for this battlefield before Operation Klondike. But we did not undertake such training before Operation Revival."
 
"Khan Hawker appears to have managed with out it." Julian noted. "After all, he won."
 
The announcement that Canube had fallen and that Ian Hawker had personally killed Warlord Teyasu Ashora reached them the day before. It was no surprise that the Khan had pushed the pace rather than wait for the other three Clusters of Alpha Galaxy to converge, but to take it that far?
 
There were four regiments of DCMS battlemechs on Pesht - perhaps three and a half given the condition of the Fifth Galedon Regulars - and at least three times that in combat vehicles. As for infantry, five to ten times as many depending on where you drew the line between combat-worthy troops and militia whose state was an embarrassment. Until the Clans arrived, Pesht had been many jumps away from any threat and the defenses had stagnated.
 
There would be no difficulty finding officers who had achieved a Deathstrike Award in the near future. Clash after clash had given the Twenty-First Assault Cluster every chance to smash through three or four times their own number of secondline forces.
 
Perhaps half of the DCMS 'mechs had been fought outside of Canube, but that was still over two hundred of them defeated here and the Alpha Galaxy Command Cluster - the Diamond Skate - had only sixty. On average, every single mechwarrior in their ranks would have defeated three times their number, although the tonnage measure would be harder to judge.
 
At last they reached the core of the city. A broad plaza large enough for entire regiments to parade stood before a curiously primitive structure. A fortress in an ancient style, presumably the Japanese mode that House Kurita was so fond of.
 
Three supernovas were waiting for them - 'mechs and elementals on parade. Ace had brought the same number with him - fifteen omnimechs and seventy-five elementals. The rest of the Cluster was waiting outside the city, which was presumably the same for the Thirty-Ninth Strike Cluster and Nineteenth Heavy Cluster.
 
Ace corrected himself as he closed in. It was nineteen OmniMechs in one group, and they were in poor repair. The Elementals were more than eighty strong, and this was Ian Hawker's forces - the representatives of the Diamondskate cluster… weren't they?
 
Piloting with one hand, Ace brought up the Diamondskates full strength. It wasn't his imagination - the 'mechs standing there were not complete Stars. Not even depleted Stars - more a random assortment of omnimechs from all across the unit. Was this a DCMS trap, something to draw them in?
 
No, that made no sense. The other Star Colonels knew Ian Hawker and his key officers. They wouldn't mistake someone else for them. Perhaps these were warriors to be honored?
 
The state of the Diamondskate Omnimechs and the Elementals was a sorry one. Unrepaired damage, scarred armor and missing weapons - even limbs. Clearly even less time had been available for them to make good their damage… perhaps the most easily repaired equipment was already being worked on?
 
Ace dismounted, strapping his swords on, and the warriors from the Twenty-First Assault Cluster walked towards the gatehouse where Ian Hawker stood below the banner of Clan Diamond Shark, flying where once the dragon of House Kurita had marked Pesht's masters. A handful of aerospace fighter pilots - distinctively shorter than even mechwarriors - stood behind the Khan.
 
The other warriors were already there - those of the Twenty-Seventh and the Thirty-Ninth Clusters stood together, the Diamondskate somewhat apart. Ace scanned the groups and saw that he was not the only one uneasy. Few among the Khan's unit met his gaze and those who did seemed defiant, as if they saw his look as one of judgment.
 
"Pesht is ours." Ian Hawker declared. "The first of the key worlds of the Draconis Combine has fallen. All according to your plan, Star Colonel."
 
"Not entirely," Ace noted drily. "No plan survives contact with the enemy, of course."
 
Hawker smiled thinly. "A shark must never hesitate to seize victory when it presents itself."
 
"A shark must keep swimming or it will starve." Ace wasn't entirely sure that was true, but it was something of an aphorism among the Clan. A reminder that none of the Clan should rest on their laurels, they should always be looking to advance themselves and their Clan. If you weren't moving forwards, you were failing. "It's wise to have an eye on the next target as well as the one before us."
 
The Khan gave him a slightly sour look but then laughed. "Never satisfied. You are a true Diamond Shark. I doubted you once, but no more."
 
Ace froze.
 
"Come." Apparently not noticing, Hawker waved towards the gathered warriors. "We shall gather where once the generals of House Kurita did and we will compose verses to be submitted for addition to the Remembrance. This is a deed that deserves mention in our great history."
 
"Surely every warrior who participated in your victory should give their account," Ace offered, hoping that the Khan would dispel the suspicion that had been creeping up on him.
 
"We're all here," a Star Commander behind Ian Hawker grated.
 
There was an intake of breath from the warriors in the other group. Clearly Ace wasn't the only one who had suspected that, just the first to voice it.
 
"You could have waited a day," he said quietly. "Colonel Clarke and Colonel Arlond's Clusters would have been here. Two days and my own Cluster as well. We have the Terror of the Deep in orbit, they couldn't escape. They were going nowhere." Ace's voice was rising as he spoke faster and faster, the anger breaking loose. "The Remembrance will say that Ian Hawker gutted a quarter of Alpha Galaxy because he was impatient!"
 
There was a distinct lack of disagreement from Jay Arlond, Rachel Clarke or anyone behind them. For that matter, the surviving Diamondskate were not exactly jumping to their commander's defense.
 
"Are you," Ian Hawker said deliberately, "Challenging my leadership?"
 
Ace met his eyes. "Aff."
 
The older Diamond Shark took a deep breath. Let it out. "I accept. Given the state of my Dire Wolf, we will fight with the weapons we have." He patted the sidearm strapped to his belt.
 
So I'm in a gunfight, while I have swords. Better than barehanded I suppose. Ace glanced around and then indicated an expanse of archaic, single-story buildings to the side of the castle. A complex mix of gardens and courtyards didn't quite separate them, walkways linking the verandas. A low wall surrounded them, and someone had clearly marched a BattleMech through them at some point in the fight, judging by the damage. "Then let that serve as our Circle of Equals."
 
Hawker nodded sharply. "So be it."
 
Ace indicated the formal gate. "I will enter through that. You use the breach in the wall on the far side."
 
"That is acceptable," Jay Arlond declared. "I will serve as the oathmaster. Does anyone challenge this rede?"
 
No one spoke against the Star Colonel of the Nineteenth Heavy Cluster putting himself forwards and warriors formed up around the two combatants, carefully keeping them apart. Under Arlond's supervision, each was checked for other weapons. They handed over their formal jackets, leaving each them to fight in shirt, boots and pants.
 
Hawker pulled the magazine from his sidearm and pointedly counted the rounds. "I have thirteen rounds," he declared. "No spare magazine."
 
In turn, Ace drew both swords and let the Star Colonel examine them, then accepted them back, sheathing them and adjusting the fit of the straps that held them across his back.
 
More warriors had spread out to watch the wall around what seemed to be some kind of palace now that Ace looked at it more closely. "If either of you crosses the wall before the trial is done, you will be judged defeated. I would hope the consequence is obvious."
 
If Ace lost he would surely lose his command and probably his life. As for Ian Hawker… defeat here was a disgrace that perhaps his pride would not allow him to live with.
 
So neither would walk away. Most likely one of them would kill the other. After years of letting his old anger at Ian Hawker fade, blurred by working together on Operation Revival, Ace found the fury blazing up inside him 
 
"Ear buds." Arlond produced a pair. "I'll give instructions through these and they will let the winner tell us when the trial is over." It would also let them talk to each other.
 
Ace saluted solemnly before walking to the gate, putting the earbud in place.
 
"Do you think you can take him?" Julian asked from among his escort.
 
All he could offer in response was a shrug. "You never know until you try."
 
Michel glanced back. "If you can draw him into expending his bullets, his advantage will be gone. Thirteen rounds is not that many."
 
"For that reason he will be cautious," warned Howard. "Hawker is a fine shot. He has won trials under these circumstances before."
 
"I will have to play it by ear," Ace decided. "At least I'm not facing him with a gun, I passed sidearm training in the sibko but that is about it."
 
It seemed that almost no time at all passed before Star Colonel Arlond's voice came through the ear bud. "Challenger and challenged are to enter the circle now. Let battle decide this matter. Seyla."
 
"Seyla," they all chorused and Ace stepped through the gateway, boots crunching on the gravel of the entrance yard until he reached the steps up onto the elevated walkways that surrounded each building. Trying the door, he found that it was a sliding panel and lighter than he expected. It took him two tries to grasp how to best shift it but once he did so, it slid smoothly aside with barely a whisper.
 
The inside was a single room, folding screens dividing it in two. Ace crossed the room and found another sliding door on the other side. Opening it revealed another walkway, circling a grassy lawn. He shook his head. If it was all this open, he might have more problems than he had expected. Narrow interior corridors might give him a chance to get close without being spotted but this would be different.
 
Stepping out, he reached up to try to grab the edge of the roof and pull himself up - perhaps Hawker wouldn't expect him to come at him from above? The tile came away noisily in his hands.
 
So much for that idea.
 
Ace drew the longer of his swords, holding it in one hand as he walked around the edge of the grass. Even the walls of the buildings were light panels framing the spaces between wooden pillars. When he rested one hand on a panel it actually bent slightly under the pressure. Plastic? No… some sort of thick paper, supported by a light framework that he thought might be wood.
 
He shook his head. What a strange choice of building material. It might be a tradition, but if so what was the original idea behind it. It must have made sense at one time.
 
Still, he wasn't here to study the architecture. Ace trotted deeper into the complex, noting that his booted feet were drumming against the polished wood of the floor. Stopping in the next room he unlaced his boots and pulled them off.
 
"Where are you, freebirth?" Ian Hawker's voice came through the ear bud. "Did you challenge me just to hide like a Burrock?"
 
Ace frowned. He was only hearing the Khan through the ear bud, they couldn't be that close to each other. "As long as you are in here with me, you are not wasting our strength to pander to your ego. There is a kitchen - we could be stalking each other until the food runs out."
 
He was guessing about a kitchen, but it made sense. And if Hawker thought that was where he'd been then it might mislead the Khan.
 
"I will not need that much time to kill you," the older man growled. "It is too bad. You were proving useful."
 
"Did you ever regret sending Blake Hawker to kill me?"
 
"Is that what this was about?"
 
Ace slid another door open a crack, peeked out, and once he thought it was clear he crossed into another room. This one seemed to have an interior door but when he slid that one open it proved only to be a closet. This building was split in two by a central wall made up of them with no obvious way through. "It seemed a bit personal."
 
"Everyone is expendable for the good of the Clan. I knew you would be a disruptive element." Hawker's voice was smooth as he gave his justification.
 
"A shark must keep swimming," Ace said again, crossing to the other wall. "Is that not the way?"
 
"Freebirths are inferior as warriors. Few can reach the standards we need," the Khan told him. "It is better the idea is consigned to the records and our ranks are filled entirely with trueborn warriors."
 
"If I am so inferior, then how did I rise so far and so fast?" He opened the door carefully, checked the gravel quadrant behind and stepped out onto the walkway.
 
Hawker laughed shortly. "Your trueborn heritage gave you a shot and I admit, you are a good shot with PPCs. But with missiles. Or a gun?"
 
There was a click ahead and Ace froze, pressing himself against the wall. He pulled the ear bud out.
 
"I know what your sibko scores were like," the Khan continued. "Sooner or later someone was always going to get you into an unaugmented trial and then this was going to happen."
 
Ace could hear Hawker's voice even without the ear bud. The man was close.
 
Backing into the room he'd just left, Ace put the ear bud back in as he crossed the room and carefully slid open the door onto the walkway on the other side of the building.
 
"Did that strike a nerve?" Hawker asked loudly. Ace could hear the man's boots now, he was in the other half of this building. "Your clever mouth is rarely this silent."
 
Barely touching the door panel, keeping himself mostly behind the shelter of one of the supporting pillars, Ace opened the door a crack and peeked through, just in time to see Ian exit the other side of the building. He turned left, moving towards where Ace had been before.
 
Ace slid the door open the rest of the way and crossed the room, walking on the balls of his feet. Ahead of him, he could see the silhouette of Ian Hawker sidling down the walkway, gun raised ahead of him in both hands.
 
His heart beating so hard, he thought that Hawker might hear it, Ace raised his sword in both hands. Was it sharp enough? He'd tried sharpening it a couple of times but wasn't quite sure he was doing it right. He really should have just asked someone.
 
No, there was no time for doubts.
 
"The best thing you can do for the Clan is die before you give others the ideas of imita-"
 
Ace brought the sword down with both hands, the blade slicing through the paper wall panel, including the thin wooden framework, and slashing down on Ian Hawker's wrists. The Khan's pontificating was cut off with a scream and the gun fell from his hands.
 
Blood spurted from one half-severed wrist, staining the paper wall as Hawker turned to face the wall.
 
"Your excuses are like this wall." Ace spat, dragging the sword back through it.
 
"I will - !"
 
Then Ace thrust. The curved blade punched into Ian Hawker's chest, just to the left of his breastbone.
 
"Paper-thin," Ace finished as the Khan of Clan Diamond Shark stared down at the rippling steel piercing his heart.
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Chapter 2-1