NORTH OF THE OCHOA RIVER
COVENTRY
COVENTRY PROVINCE
LYRAN COMMONWEALTH
15 MARCH 3148
Two minutes earlier…
The DropShips roaring overhead made Stephanie Chistu’s stomach knot for a long moment. She heard Roderick Steiner’s words and nodded. Well played…you are worthy of the Steiner blood in your veins.
She was piloting Yaroslav’s Summoner, and hating it every moment of it. She had claimed it as part of his punishment for breaking the rules of the Circle of Equals. The ’Mech lacked any definable shape. It was old-Clan style—utilitarian. Worse, she found it ungainly to pilot. How much of that was her hatred of the ’Mech’s former pilot, she could not say. She watched the DropShips fly past her for Port St. William.
“Your orders, Galaxy Commander?” came the high-pitched voice of Star Colonel Molen Hazen of the Third Talon Cluster.
Her options were daunting. Staying and fighting to relieve the Ninth across the river meant losing more troops, with more Lyrans landing in her rear. Breaking off and heading back to her DropShips to deal with the troops there meant Roderick Steiner would pursue her. As she sat in her command couch, she tried to devise a solution, a plan, anything that might help alleviate her sudden plight.
Then her communications system flashed red. What now? It was coded as Flash Traffic from the JumpShip Eyasses Brood. “This is Striker Prime, what is it?”
The voice of Star Captain Broccán came into her neurohelmet. “Galaxy Commander, one of our JumpShips arrived in-system with a message for you from Khan Hazen. It is emergency Flash Traffic. Your eyes only.”
Flash Traffic—that means one thing, a crisis. “Transmit to this ’Mech,” she commanded. A second later, the image of Khan Malvina Hazen appeared on the screen. Her pale skin and long platinum braid betrayed the danger she represented.
“Galaxy Commander Chistu. You are ordered immediately to Pobeda. The accursed Wolves-in-Exile have captured our staging world, Upano, and are poised to hit several other planets. You are ordered to depart immediately to stave off any further losses.” The image of her Khan disappeared.
Her face grew hot with anger and raw frustration. Freebirth! Is it not enough that I must contend with this battle and now these orders? In the course of five minutes, the tactical situation had changed—twice. Stravag! Fury made her muscles ache, and the synthskin bandage on her breast strained with each breath.
What is the answer? Her mind went to the tactical nuclear weapons. Unleashing them on the Lyrans in Guite might take them out, along with whatever was left of the Ninth Talon Cluster. Malvina would not hesitate to unleash them, even if it kills our own forces in the process. I am not Malvina. I am a true Jade Falcon. My path is one of honor and glorious battle.
Even if she did use nukes on the Lyrans across the river, she could not use them against the force landing in her rear without damaging or destroying her own DropShips. Neg—the use of nuclear weapons is not the answer.
To win, I must fight as an honorable Jade Falcon would… and fast. The solution came to her in that thought, all tied to the word “honor.” Yes, that might work…if Roderick Steiner is willing to consider it.
She switched to a clear channel. “General Roderick Steiner, this is Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu of Delta Galaxy of Clan Jade Falcon, the one true Clan. I salute you on your tactical deployment and the battle thus far. You have proven yourself worthy of the honor that I am about to bestow upon you.
“I agree that the further loss of life is undesirable for both of us. So much has been shed for this world already. Let us end this in the traditions of our people. I challenge you to a Trial of Possession for Coventry—you and I alone, together in a Circle of Equals.”
Chistu stopped transmitting as another of her ’Mechs across the river exploded under a vicious Lyran barrage. The flash explosion of the fusion reactor blew what was left of the ’Mech into the muddy waters of the fast-moving river; it disappeared in a plume of steam from superheated metal hitting cold water.
The waiting ate at her nerves. If he refuses, my options are limited. Each passing minute worked to the Lyrans’ advantage. Their troops were debarking somewhere in her rear at Port St. William. Will this Roderick Steiner stall, inflict more damage, and use my inaction against me?
His voice came back, oddly calm. “This is General of the Armies Roderick Steiner. I accept your gracious offer. I propose an immediate ceasefire. I will come across the river and meet with you. But I warn you, Galaxy Commander…if this is some ploy to kill me, I will not be responsible for what my troops do to you as a result.”
It was an odd threat. Such animosity these Lyrans have toward us. What will his troops do? Memories of Whitting and what had transpired there came back to haunt her. “Agreed. I will order my troops to stand down. Despite what you think, General, you will be treated honorably.”
“That remains to be seen,” Steiner replied.
Stephanie ordered her troops to cease fire, and they did instantly. A few moments later, all weapons fire stopped. She moved to her end of the bridge and spotted a Rifleman IIC climbing through the debris at the other end. He pilots one of our ’Mechs, battlefield isorla, no doubt. General Steiner came alone, across the bridge, moving without caution.
“Roderick Steiner,” she said as their two ’Mechs came within twenty meters of each other. “You may not be familiar with our customs. As the challenged, the choice of how and where we fight falls to you.”
“I know your customs,” he replied. “We study the ways of the Clans at our academies. I say we fight near the spaceport, some place large and flat.”
“Agreed,” she replied. “Do you wish to fight augmented?”
“We are both MechWarriors. I say we fight with our ’Mechs.”
“Well bargained and done,” Chistu said. “Follow me, and we shall adjourn to Port St. William.”
The journey took an hour. As they approached, she saw the gray-and-blue Lyran DropShips first, blocking the view of her own ships. On the ground she saw most of a regimental combat team deployed.
Jagger’s voice came onto her commlink. “Galaxy Commander, this is unwise. You were nearly killed a day ago in a Circle of Equals. Your wounds have not healed. You are exhausted. You have also suffered damage in the fighting at the river. These are not the ideal conditions for another trial.”
He does not see it, but I am a true Jade Falcon. “Irrelevant. I received orders from Khan Hazen. We are to withdraw immediately for Pobeda. Clan Wolf has exploited our assault as a sign of weakness, and has struck.”
His voice took on a pleading tone. “Then we should depart this accursed world! This trial is pointless.”
“Neg, Thastus, it is not!” she snapped. “If we win, I can tell our illustrious Khan that we took this world and did it with honor, my way, our way.”
“But we cannot hold it! We have been ordered back to Pobeda.”
“That does not matter now. What matters is honor.”
“Allow me to fight in your stead,” he countered. “I am more rested that you. We cannot afford to lose you.”
“Neg, Jagger. Malvina sent me here to die. She wanted to prove the weakness of the honorable road. This was about her and her accursed doctrine. Having you fight for me would show me as weak, and this is no time for perceived weakness among our people. If they are to have an alternative to the Mongol way, they must see it as a shining beacon. I have to do this, no one else.”
“What if you lose?”
She grinned, if only for a moment. “If I lose, we leave. I will tell our Khan that I departed due to her orders.”
“Malvina Hazen will not let you get by without the destruction of Lyrans, orders or not.”
“I will not use those nuclear weapons, if that is what you imply. Such weapons are devoid of honor. She will not put another drop of blood on my hands in the name of her twisted belief system. I am not a Mongol—I am Jade Falcon.”
“As you say, Galaxy Commander. I wish you well.”
They arrived on the flat plateau where Port St. William rested. General Steiner asked for space, and a Circle of Equals over a kilometer in diameter was established. Stephanie invited his own troops to be part of the Circle with her own. Roderick introduced the ’Mech piloted by General Ross. She introduced Star Colonel Thastus. There was an awkwardness about the introductions. He knows our traditions, but not the nuances of them.
“We will enter the Circle. Star Colonel Thastus will act as Loremaster, and say when we begin. At any point, you may submit. This does not need to be a battle to the death.”
“I understand. There will be no submission on my part, Galaxy Commander. I am the General of the Armies of the Lyran Commonwealth. If this must go to the death, then so be it.”
He trotted his Rifleman IIC off across the wide-open field. When he reached the far end, he turned to face her, his ’Mech’s arms raised and pointing at her. She looked through the magnified image and had to admire him. It would be a shame to kill such a man.
Jagger Thastus’s voice came over the commlink to everyone gathered there. “In keeping with the rede of our people, this is a Trial of Possession for the world of Coventry. May your fight be one worthy of a line in our Remembrance. You may begin.”
Stephanie broke into a run to the right; Roderick trotted to the left. With her joystick she brought the ER PPC in line with his jogging ’Mech and switched the weapon to her thumb trigger…then fired. There was a deep whine, and a burst of manmade lightning stabbed through the air, hitting the Rifleman on the right side. The excess energy discharged as blue sparks across the Lyran war machine.
Roderick tightened the arc of his run to bring him closer and fired a barrage with all four of his large pulse lasers. Green bursts of destruction hit her boxy Summoner in its torso. Warning lights flared yellow as the lasers burned deep and melted armor.
Leaning forward, she brought her LB 10-X autocannon in line and fired, just as Roderick juked his Rifleman IIC. Most of the stream of shells missed, but the few that hit tore into his legs.
General Steiner fired only two of his weapons in response. One missed, but the other tore into her ’Mech’s chest. Stephanie felt the ’Mech rock hard under the impact, the restraining strap tearing at her chest wound. She could tell it was bleeding again. Not now…
Unleashing a salvo of long-range missiles staggered Roderick’s Rifleman hard, with the majority of them finding their target. The hits peeled back armor from his left shoulder as he burst through the smoke of the explosions. Her cockpit grew warm, but she ignored it. If I am feeling it, surely he is as well.
The Rifleman IIC changed directions suddenly and charged. She pivoted her torso to keep her targeting reticle on him and fired her extended-range particle projection cannon. This time she hit him in the left leg. A blackened scar appeared, and Roderick slowed his ’Mech’s gait. Her tactical display did not show enough damage to have caused it. Have I hurt him more than my sensors tell me?
He fired another blast with the pair of pulse lasers in his left arm. One went wide, just above her cockpit. The other hit her armored canopy, searing black marks across it.
Her Summoner rocked backward. Her ears rang, and a wave of heat enveloped her neurohelmet. She popped the visor open to let cooler air in. Memories of the neural feedback she had endured during the Battle of the Dales came back to her, though this time it was not as bad. I cannot take another head hit like that. As if to validate her point, her cockpit glass suddenly cracked, a large spiderweb appearing in front of her.
She struggled to keep the targeting reticle on him, but the moment she got tone, she fired her LB 10-X autocannon and long-range missiles. It was a snap shot, she knew it. The autocannon missed, tearing up the flat grass of the plateau to his right, but the missiles found their target, hitting him everywhere. Orange and yellow bursts of the exploding warheads gave her some degree of satisfaction.
The heat in her cockpit rose further, and her cooling vest strained to keep her alive. Roderick held his fire for a several long moments, and she knew he was venting heat as well. He started to close distance with her and then unleashed all four of his pulse lasers.
The air glowed green around her. Three of the bursts hit her square in the torso, just under the cockpit. The other shot punctured her already-damaged right side, burrowing deep into the ’Mech’s torso. The Summon er reeled, and the warning klaxon alerted her of critical damage. As her OmniMech staggered backward, she saw that her gyro and fusion reactor had been hit.
The Summoner pitched forward—the gyro was knocked out of alignment, and she was suddenly fighting not only gravity, but the ungainly ’Mech itself and the advancing Lyran general. Despite wrenching the throttle back, she could not get her ’Mech to respond in reverse fast enough.
The Summoner toppled, falling on its right side, crunching more armor in the process. She smelled burning myomer, and knew it was from her ’Mech. The Summoner’s right arm was pinned, and an amber warning light for her PPC illuminated; no doubt it had been damaged in the fall.
Chistu rocked the Summoner, but its response was unlike that of her sleeker Jade Hawk. It seemed to resist her every motion. She started to rise, getting one leg bent under her, but the gyro damage shifted her ’Mech’s center of gravity. The Summoner fell again, this time doing more damage to her right side and arm. The PPC, which had been flashing yellow, turned red. A muffled blast of the particle capacitor blew her elbow actuator as well.
The roasting air in her cockpit was stifling from the loss of several heat sinks. The fusion reactor insulation had been damaged, and the reactor’s heat was baking her OmniMech from within. None of that could be dealt with now. She checked her targeting system and saw that Roderick Steiner had stopped moving altogether. I can only hope he is struggling with heat as well.
She rocked the Summoner hard to her left and strained to stand. Her muscles protested as she worked the foot pedals and joysticks to get the ’Mech kneeling, then standing. As she rose she realized she was not facing the Rifleman, and turned to face her foe.
What greeted her was a trio of blasts from General Steiner’s ’Mech. Emerald laser bursts scorched her legs and left arm. Despite the risks of heat, she brought her targeting reticle on the now dangerously close Rifleman and fired her autocannon. The shells tore into his legs, rocking him hard, but he managed to stay upright.
Stephanie moved her long-range missiles to a separate firing trigger as the temperature spiked from the autocannon fusillade she had unleashed. Roderick remained standing, unmoving, as if daring her to fire. She didn’t move either, mostly because she didn’t want to risk losing what little balance she had. Her ’Mech was badly damaged, and it fought every motion she made.
I cannot wait to fire. She triggered another wave of long-range missiles at the looming Rifleman, and her cockpit felt like a furnace. Almost all of the warheads found their mark, and the ungainly ’Mech reeled back as General Steiner fought the explosions trying to tumble him to the ground. For a moment, however brief, she thought he was going to fall…she was sure of it. At the last moment, he got one foot behind him, enough to keep standing upright.
As the Rifleman rose to its full height, she saw the damage she had inflicted. Almost every bit of its armor was pitted and furrowed. Smoke billowed from one hole in his left torso. Her tactical feeds told her that his armor was savaged, but he was still in the fight. She desperately wanted to employ her jump jets, try another death from above. The thought of killing two Steiner generals with that attack would be worthy of a line in The Remembrance. But the fighting at the bridgehead had damaged her jets, removing that option.
Stephanie’s heart sank as Roderick fired two of his large lasers and his small extended-range laser at her. The salvo was devastating. The small laser bored into the holes under her cockpit, right at the engine. The heat level soared. She didn’t see where the other hits were; they did not matter.
The Summoner sagged on its left side, and she leaned hard against it, pulling with every bit of her might, but to no avail. Once more the Summoner dropped to the ground, metallic grinding and warnings sounding all around her.
For a moment, she blacked out. When she opened her eyes, she saw darkness. She had fallen face forward, somehow twisting at the last moment. Dirt and sod were crushed against her shattered cockpit glass. She licked her lips and tasted a crusty, salty film on them. The ride side of her chest throbbed, and looking down she saw blood under her coolant vest.
A voice came over the commlink. “You have fought bravely, Galaxy Commander, but your ’Mech is badly damaged. I strongly advise to you yield, but if you force me to kill you, I will.”
There was no gloating in Roderick Steiner’s words, no arrogance that she would have expected from a fellow Jade Falcon. If anything, he too sounded weary and exhausted.
Malvina Hazen would try to stand, make him kill her. I am not Malvina Hazen.
“General Steiner,” she said, her throat wracked and dry, “I yield this Trial of Possession to you. You have won Coventry fairly and with honor.”
It had taken the techs a good twenty minutes to painfully extract her from what was left of the Summoner. The medtechs laid her on the ground and treated her reopened wounds with field bandages.
As they worked, she saw a man in a green jumpsuit, not too dissimilar to hers, watching them. He held a neurohelmet under his arm, and his body was wet with sweat. On his forehead was what looked like a bruise, a dark gray mark. His sweat-soaked blond hair and blue eyes told her it was Roderick Steiner.
Next to him stood another general, who Stephanie assumed was General Ross. She too had a gray smear above her brow. Both wore crude black armbands on their upper arms.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asked.
The medtech looked to Stephanie and nodded. “She will. The Galaxy Commander is tougher than her size belies.”
“I believe you,” General Steiner said.
As well you should, Stephanie thought. “You are Roderick Steiner, quiaff?”
“I am,” he replied. “And this is General Francine Ross.”
Stephanie looked at the woman and nodded. “I tried to trap and crush you for days, General Ross, and you always managed to stay one step ahead of me. I so looked forward to defeating you on the field of battle.”
“I’m not sure how to take that,” Ross replied.
“As a sign of respect, I assure you,” Stephanie said, handing her neurohelmet to a nearby tech. “Jade Falcons are not good at compliments. The competitive nature of our people does not yield itself to extending accolades to our enemies.”
“Very well,” Ross said, her furrowed brow relaxing a bit.
Chistu turned to Roderick, who seemed to tower over her. “What of my warriors captured in Guite? Are they to be held as prisoners of war or released?”
Roderick Steiner’s face reddened. “Only three survived. I am afraid my troops had their blood up, and your Trinary fought right to the end. I would be willing to arrange for a full exchange of prisoners, though.”
“Well bargained,” she replied. I understand their hatred of us after Whitting and the Dales. “Losing Coventry to you is not easy for me. Better to have done it this way than by senseless slaughter.”
“After what your forces did to Whitting, I’m surprised you did not opt for the slaughter,” Roderick replied coarsely.
I deserve that. “Much of what transpired here was not my design, but the orders of our Khan, Malvina Hazen. I gave orders for Whitting to be evacuated of civilians, and your troops would be offered a chance to surrender. Only then would the city be destroyed, per the orders of our Khan. Those orders were not followed.”
Roderick Steiner’s head went back slightly, and a sign of puzzlement rose to his face. “I have never heard of Clan warriors refusing to follow orders.”
“We live in times of change. Some resist that change. It seems both of us struggled with keeping our forces on task. Know that what occurred at Whitting was not the actions of an honorable Jade Falcon, but of a miscreant who cast aside his personal integrity and the laws of our people to take actions I refused to sanction. In this case, I humbled this dishonorable warrior in a Circle of Equals. He has paid a dear price for his callous actions.”
“That is all well and good,” Roderick said. “It does not bring back the dead.”
“Neg, it does not. I thought you should know.”
Roderick crossed his arms in defiance. “Yet he willfully committed a war crime very different from overzealous troops in the heat of battle. And as a leader, you are responsible for the actions of those under your command.”
“Aff,” she replied. If he seeks recompense, there is little I can offer him. “I do not molt that responsibility, General. His taint is mine. Yet in the end, you have won Coventry from me. That is another disgrace I must bear.”
An awkward silence reigned for a few moments. When Roderick finally spoke again, he drove straight to the point. “So where does that leave us, Galaxy Commander?”
He should know the whole truth, not just about me, but about the Jade Falcons and what Malvina represents. “Generals, I know you have little reason to trust me. My hands have been tied with orders I was given before I arrived here. I have had to walk a fine line between honor and my orders. I believe I have done that well, but I know you do not agree. If you will accompany me, I want to show you the full extent of what Malvina Hazen had planned for Coventry. Perhaps it will help convince you.”
Steiner nodded, and Stephanie rose unsteadily to her feet, but waved off any hint of assistance. The two generals followed her to a nearby hover transport. Stephanie took a seat in the rear, granting Roderick the honor of the front seat, and she ordered the driver to take them to Port St. William.
They passed the Lyran DropShips, and in their shadows of the setting afternoon sun, the transport parked under one of her massive Overlord-C DropShips. The air reeked of fuel, lubricant, and baked ferrocrete tarmac.
As they got out, General Ross paused for a moment, looking up at the big DropShip from within its massive shadow.
“Is there a problem, General Ross?”
“No,” she said, turning her gaze back down to the other woman. “I’ve just never been this close before.”
On the ground, under the belly of the ship, were theater-range missile launchers, fully loaded, with more missiles stacked beside them. Galaxy Commander Chistu walked over to the launchers and pointed to them. “This is what I wanted you to see, General Steiner.”
“Tactical missiles?”
“Aff. The warheads are nuclear,” she said, pausing to let the admission settle in with her guests. “Khan Hazen sent fifteen of these with me with orders to use them on either your forces or the cities she identified.”
Generals Ross and Steiner locked gazes with each other, then turned to her.
“You were going to use nukes on our troops?” Roderick asked.
She met both of their stares a cool one of her own. “Neg. I was given the authorization. I could have done so in the Battle of the Dales, or at Guite. Malvina Hazen would have loved that. I could have burned you all away and taken Coventry.”
“But…you didn’t?” Roderick said.
“Neg. It is not my way—not the true way of the Jade Falcon. Malvina has lost that way, as have her followers. She believes the only way to achieve true victory is to destroy the Inner Sphere and remake it in her own image.”
“You could have destroyed us at any time,” Francine Ross said in an astonished tone.
“I was authorized to. To your point, I did not. I would not just burn your troops, I would burn my soul. I did not wish to be a Jade Falcon remembered for senseless and honorless slaughter. I follow the true Way of the Clans, one where honor and tradition still have meaning. I thought you should know what I was ordered to do—and why I did not follow those orders.”
“I have defeated you in a Circle of Equals—” Roderick began when she cut him off.
“Our Circle of Equals.”
“I stand corrected. Our Circle of Equals,” Roderick said. “So, what now? I have won Coventry, but you are still here. I’m not entirely sure of the protocol.”
“I will ask you for hegira, a withdrawal from this place. It is yours—fairly won in honorable battle.”
Roderick rubbed his chiseled chin in thought. “I am not so sure, Galaxy Commander. I do not want to release you simply so you can go attack another Commonwealth world. All that would change is where we would face each other next.”
He is smart, this general. “I understand. It would be a breach of security for me to tell you where I am headed. I will tell you, however, that I have been ordered to fight another foe. The exiled Clan Wolf has attacked a planet we hold. I have been ordered to deal with them.”
“That doesn’t mean we won’t face you again,” General Ross said.
“Affirmative, General. If your worry is that I am going to leave here and further raid your Commonwealth, that is not the orders I have been given.”
“I’m afraid it isn’t quite that easy, Galaxy Commander. What happened in Whitting…the Archon, my cousin Trillian, will want justice. She will want someone held accountable, as will the Lyran people. Letting you simply depart will not be enough. Someone has to pay for the innocent civilians that died there. I am sure you see my predicament.”
She pondered his words for a moment, then nodded. “If you grant me a few minutes, I believe I can honor your request.” She signaled for the driver and gave him some orders. He sped off into the city of Port St. William, returning a few minutes later with a stretcher bearing a man in a hospital gown.
On the stretcher was Star Colonel Yaroslav.
Stephanie walked over to him, and the two Lyran generals followed. “This is Star Colonel Yaroslav of the Hazen Bloodline. He defied my orders and razed Whitting, killing innocent civilians and combatants alike. In fighting me in a Circle of Equals, he broke his honor by attempting to poison me. His life is forfeit, his fate mine to choose. I choose to give him to you. You want justice? Let it be meted out to the man that deserves it. He stained the Jade Falcons and your people both. If you take him, I will list him as a casualty of battle.” Your taking him will actually assist me in dealing with Malvina.
Roderick looked down at Yaroslav while he strained helplessly at his restraints, still unable to speak. Then the General of the Armies nodded reluctantly. “That will do. I am sure that our intelligence people will want to spend time with him, and in the end, he will feel the full wrath of Lyran justice, I assure you.”
“Then we have an agreement, quiaff?”
“In showing us these missiles and giving us this Star Colonel, you have demonstrated to me that you have honor. In the tradition of Caradoc Trevena, I offer you hegira.”
“I accept,” she said, bowing her head slightly.
Roderick surprised her by offering his hand for a shake. She did not take it. Instead, she snapped to attention and saluted. Honor would be granted with honor.
Steiner and Ross both saluted her back.
“Very well. We will be underway in the next six hours,” she finally said. I have an appointment to keep on Pobeda, and I would not wish to be late.
“Galaxy Commander, don’t take it the wrong way, but I hope to never see you across a battlefield again,” Roderick said with a hint of relief in his voice.
“Time will tell, General. I do have a question for you. Both of you have a gray smudge across your forehead. What does that signify?”
“These are the ashes of the man you killed, Hauptmann-General Jasek Kelswa-Steiner. It was the desire of our troops that he go into battle one final time—that he lead us to victory.”
“I see,” she replied with a thoughtful nod. It is a symbol to them. That is why I lost. One cannot defeat a symbol. By killing him, I gave them something to rally behind. An important lesson for the future.
“One more question,” Roderick said. “What will happen to you when you tell your Khan that you didn’t burn us in nuclear fire?”
“I am sure she will not be pleased, not at all.” The Galaxy Commander allowed herself a wry smile.