His eyes stung as the winter wind whipped at his face. Fresh snow fell gently around him and the distant howl of the wolves was almost drowned out by the wind. His boots crunched against the fresh packed snow and ice underneath. His lungs burned from the exertion, but he paid the pain no attention.

His mind was focused ahead, and far away. The distance seemed insurmountable, the task impossible, but he knew he had to continue. Somewhere behind him he could hear footsteps.

The light from the moon streamed through the canopy of intertwined branches high above. It cast unnatural shadows around. It looked, off though, unusual for Strana Mechty. For a moment, he turned his eyes upwards, trying to see the face of the moon but it was lost to him.

The momentary break in concentration cost him, his foot caught a root and he tumbled, falling face first into the cold snow. And, with that, the dim light of the moon was lost to him. Somewhere in the distance, there was a voice calling for him.

Chapter 1:

Planet: Colmar

Year: 3057

Raylan woke with a start, the dim light of the desert sun burned through the cockpit of Tala, his highly customized TBR-S Timber Wolf. The sun was setting, hanging low above the horizon. To his left, Mechwarrior Clara stood vigil in her custom MDD-PRIME Mad Dog. Its chest bristled with missiles, waiting for the call to fire.

"You still with me, Raylan?" She asked over the secure commlink. He rubbed at his eyes and yawned slightly, stretching out in his command couch as best he could.

"Aff, Clara. Apologies." He said back after a moment.

"Neg. You did just come back from a raid only to turn around and be sent out on another long-range recon op. It is understandable you would be tired."

"Maybe so. Anyway, do we have anything on radar yet?"

"Neg, nothing but desert and sun." Clara let out a sigh, activating the video feed between their cockpits. "Honestly, I do not know what the Star Captain expects to find out here. I feel like the Falcons are holed up in their cities by now."

Even in her neurohelmet, Clara was striking. Bright eyes, high cheekbones and well-defined features were tied together by fire red hair. She looked like what many thought the Black Widow must have back in her heyday, and Raylan couldn't deny the resemblance.

"True, but Vera has never been wrong before." He checked the time on his Heads-Up Display and yawned again. "We will give it two more and then head back, quiaff?"

"Aff. If you can keep your eyes open that long, anyway." She said chuckling before closing the link. Raylan shook his head and laughed to himself.

The Refusal War, as it had started to be called, was already dragging on as the Wolves pushed their way into Jade Falcon territory. So far, they had been successful in undermining the Falcons at every turn, but not without a heavy toll.

It was part of the reason Raylan was so tired. He was working twice as hard to compensate for the injuries his unit had sustained in their first rumble with the Falcons. Not that he would be complaining any time soon, of course. It just meant more time in the cockpit for him in the long run.

The two Clan Wolf mechs sat nestled in a rock outcropping overlooking a small valley their Star Captain, Vera Radick, believed was being used to transport supplies back and forth between the Jade Falcon garrisons. At the moment, however, it seemed more like a tumbleweed highway.

"Raylan, I have movement. They just came within LRM range." Clara said suddenly, snapping Raylan out of his daze.

"Aff, I have them as well. Hold fire until we see if they're escorting anything."

"Aff, holding." She responded. Raylan stretched out his hands and readjusted himself to jump into the fray if, and when, the need arose. The moments ticked by for what seemed like an eternity, but finally the Falcons came within eyesight.

Sure enough, they had three cargo skids with them and all were loaded down heavily. Raylan targeted one and used his mechs computer to identify its contents more accurately. It registered as ammunition and this was all the prompting he needed to begin the assault.

"Alright, Clara. It is showtime! We will take the Stormcrow first. Then, whichever of the birds decides to leap next will die. Afterwards, mop up the last defender and eliminate the convoy.

"Aff, Raylan. Targeting now. Good hunting!" She said as Raylan stomped on his mech's jump jets. The Timber Wolf leapt from behind its cover and raced down the slope, overtaking its normal maximum speed by a good 15 kph. The distance between himself and the much lighter Falcon chassis ticked down incrementally and, as he entered his weapons effective range, a swarm of LRM's slammed into its hunched form.

Armor blew away in horrible splinters as the warheads tore into the Stormcrow like hungry sharks. Raylan added his own, sending 24 Artemis controlled SRM's directly into the enemy's chest. A gaping hole sat were armor had once been, exposing the inner workings and skeleton to the arid desert. A quick stab of his trio of Heavy Medium Lasers and the endo steel structure evaporated, causing the mech to fold like a piece of paper.

The convoy, for their part, went into a panic and did their best to scatter but only succeeded in interfering with the movement of their mech escorts. The Fire Moth decided it would try its hand next, probably hoping its superior speed could out maneuver Raylan. Instead, like the moth of its name, it was only led to the flame.

Another swarm of missiles descended from on high once again, blowing great chunks of the light 'mech away and scattering them amongst the rocky outcroppings of the valley. The Fire Moth never really stood a chance, basically evaporating under the withering barrage.

Finally, the Adder with its stout form and low profile ran in, firing its PPC's one after the other. The first went wide, slamming into the sand some distance away and turning it to glass. The second fared somewhat better, cutting an ugly black scar into Tala's chest.

Raylan twisted his torso while triggering his jump jets, forcing the Adder to try and readjust its aim during its charge. It paid for its mistake in kind as the full payload of Raylan's mech unleashed itself on the small Falcon. His missiles relentlessly tore holes in armor, sending it cascading in every direction like a horrific metal rain and then, with the frame torn apart, his lasers snuck between. The golden beams slashed into the Adder's inner workings, destroying the small mech's heart as its fusion reactors shielding fell apart.

The LRM's from Clara slammed down again like a merciless hammer, devastating the cargo skids, rupturing their cargo and turning them into grand fireballs that lit up the rapidly increasing darkness.

"Well, that was exciting." Raylan said, perhaps a little more bitterly than he meant.

"Well, we cannot always face enemies worthy of ourselves, Raylan." Clara said as she maneuvered her Mad Dog down the slope to meet him. Raylan shrugged to himself in the cockpit.

"Fair enough. Do you think they got the message?"

"I would be surprised to see them use this path again but, just to be sure, perhaps you and I should backtrack and hit the source?" Clara said, and Raylan could practically see the wicked grin on her face.

"Perhaps you are correct, my friend." Raylan switched his commlink on to the secure channel for their unit. "Command this is Mechwarrior Raylan. Mechwarrior Clara and I have devastated the convoy and its three guards."

"Aff, Mechwarrior. Good work. Proceed to NAV Epsilon for dust off." The voice responded.

"Neg, Command. The two of us would like to hunt the convoy back to its source. Just to ensure the message is understood loud and clear by these thrice damned birds." There was a small chuckle from the other end.

"Aff, Mechwarrior. Dust off site is unchanged. Good luck and good hunting, Wolves."

"Aff, Command. Raylan out." He closed the link and pushed his mech into a trot. "Alright, Clara, the hunt is on. Form up and let us track these birds to their nest, quiaff?"

"Aff, Raylan. On your six." Clara responded, falling in behind Raylan and preparing to let her missiles fly.

The pair marched through the dry river valley, scanning the area carefully as the proceeded. It really wasn't there job to track down the Falcon base, but not only would it serve to further cut the enemy's supply line, the pair was also more than happy at the chance to spill some more blood on the sand.

The moon had risen high above them by the time the Falcon base came into view. It was a hardened headquarters, guarded by a quartet of laser turrets and a star of Falcon mechs.

"I will try and draw one of their attention, run in and destroy the turrets. I can then leap to the far side, and you can rain LRM's on them, quiaff?" Raylan said as the pair of Wolves watched the base from some distance away.

"Aff, Raylan. Plenty of ammo to go around. Just try not to scuff your paint too badly, quiaff?" Clara asked, chuckling.

"Aff. Moving out." Raylan throttled to full, twisting his torso to fire his lasers at a Kit Fox. Armor glowed in super-heated fury as it turned to face him. Raylan swung around in a circle, destroying each laser turret as he ran in the circle. They didn't serve as a problem, only one managed to tag him in the arm, leaving a blistering mark on his armor but no more.

Raylan spun and blasted the Kit Fox again with his SRM's, sending its arm sailing away into the night sky like a horribly comet. He followed through on his plan, leaping over the base and leaving the Kit Fox to suffer under Clara's withering assault of LRM's.

The blocky 'mech collapsed under itself, armor flying in every direction as the ammo in its body exploded in a grand fireball. Raylan turned and opened up the side torso of a Mist Lynx, blowing the ammo as the fire ate away the 'mech like a ravenous animal. The pilot reacted quickly though, jettisoning the ammo even as it burned.

He led the light 'mech around the base into Clara's awaiting jaws. The missiles roared through the air slamming into the Lynx and ground, sending up a cloud of dust and debris. When it settled, the 'mech lie on its back, sans one leg.

"I will finish it off, move on to that Arctic Cheetah." Clara said a moment before the missiles took flight, slamming into the beleaguered Mist Lynx and eviscerating its chest until nothing but its inner working remained, scatter across the sands.

Raylan, spun and lined up the fast-moving medium chassis, aiming ahead before letting loose with everything he had. The devastating arsenal twisted the limb unnaturally at the knee, making the humanoid unit stumble, slamming headfirst into the ground. Tala's heavy lasers stabbed into its exposed back, the metal bubbling and sliding to the ground as the endo steel below vaporized with it.

Raylan heard the LRM's fly again, the warheads blasting the arm off a Nova as it attempted to approach him from behind. It still managed to fire, but by this time Raylan had turned to face them. The lasers cut into the armor around the missile rack that sat on Tala's shoulder. Metal fell away in a river of orange, and Raylan snarled. He let the warheads fly as retaliation, blasting the already thinned right side down to the internals.

Clara followed up in kind, the LRM's slamming the Nova down to the ground as its gyro suffered a catastrophic malfunction literally tearing itself apart as it tried to correct the damage that it had received. The pilot attempted to pick themselves up again, but Raylan saw fit to end that with a burst of laser fire to its cockpit. He realized it was probably more than a little bit of overkill, but he didn't take kindly to anyone scarring Tala.

"Clara, take out the base. Just keep blasting it until it is nothing but a crater in the dirt. I will deal with the Hellbringer." Raylan said, swinging his weapons up as the target locked around the Falcon.

"Aff, Raylan." Clara said as she moved out from her cover and began assaulting the base. Raylan stomped on his jump jets, hopping and skipping around as the Hellbringer attempted to draw first blood. It was futile, however, as Raylan sent another wave of missiles flying. Armor splintered and shattered. The armor of the heavy chassis cracked but held true and the Falcon returned the favor, its PPCs slamming into Tala's leg just below the hip.

Raylan snarled and hit his jump jets again, hopping to the side before firing his SRM's again. The warheads cut into the already damaged shoulder, the telltale blue sparks leaping from the joint as the actuator froze up. The 'mechs machine guns, as useless as they seemed began to plink armor off Tala's torso, leaving tiny impacts marks in her as they waited for their big guns to fire.

The Hellbringer's SRM blasted to life, but Raylan managed to hop aside in time for the warheads to sail harmlessly into the dirt. Just as he skidded to a full stop, preparing to take on his opponent again, the hardened HQ went up in a great eruption of flame and twisted metal. The visual alone was enough to give the Falcon pause; Tala's battle scarred dark red form silhouetted by a raging inferno of the base that it had once protected.

Raylan fired his lasers, severing one of the 'mech's limbs and denying it half its firepower. It raised its remaining PPC to retaliate, but a moment before it could, Clara's LRM rainstorm slammed into it from above. The 65-ton 'mech staggered back from the tremendous blast and Raylan gave it one last shove with his SRM's. Its blocky chest now torn wide open with ugly black smoke pouring from the wound, it hit the ground hard.

Clara's missiles finished it off, blowing the Hellbringer apart where it lay. She moved next to Raylan, making her Mad Dog "nod" slightly. Raylan did the same as they surveyed the scene.

"Well, I think we can call this base eliminated, quiaff?" Raylan asked jokingly as he double checked his armor readings.

"Aff, Raylan. That was much more exciting than I expected. Shall we make the journey home?" Clara asked rhetorically.

"Aff. Call in to command and let them know we are on our way." Raylan said, turning his Timber Wolf towards the NAVpoint for dust off before setting the autopilot.

"All set, Raylan. They will be waiting for us when we get there. Suppose there is nothing to do now but make the walk, quiaff?" Clara said after returning to the frequency they shared.

"Aff. Might as well set your autopilot on. Does not seem like we will be seeing much else tonight." The video feed appeared in the corner of his HUD again, showing Clara's smiling, sweat streaked face.

"Well, besides a few lucky shots on you I would say that was a completely successful mission. I suppose that's why Tala is built to take that kind of abuse, though."

"Aff. Nice work with the fire support, as well. Rayne still lives up to her name." Raylan said wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

"Heh, nothing to it. Still have over half my ammo too. What a shame." She said mockingly.

"Well, we will just have to find you more targets next time, Clara. Good hunting tonight."

"You as well, Raylan." She paused, looking up into the sky. "Nice moon tonight. Perfect for a pair of stalking Wolves."

"Aff. If only it could be this way every night. It seems like we have been the clusters night stalkers since we arrived." Raylan said, looking at the moon as well.

"True. It seems our talents have finally been recognized." Raylan gave an ugly snort, trying not to laugh too much. A few years ago, the thought of launching night raids and convoy ambushes would've seemed completely out of the question. The thought would have been dezgra from the get go.

The fight with the Inner Sphere had taught the Wolves many things, though. One of the most important being that the old rules of zellbrigen could no longer apply if they were to survive. And now, with the dawn of the Refusal War against the Jade Falcons after the Grand Council had attempted to bring their farcical charge of genocide against former Khan Ulric Kerensky, the rewards of breaking tradition had become ever clearer.

Not everyone agreed with the break from tradition, of course. The Clans where a proud people and held their traditions sacred almost above all else. For the moment, however, none of that mattered. Clan Wolf; whether Crusader or Warden, traditionalist or not, they were all in this fight to the bitter end.

A small smile crept across Raylan's face as he and Clara grew near the Broadsword-class dropship Castle. It was an enjoyable turn of events to have everyone fighting for one common goal, and he could think of no better goal than crushing the Jade Falcons. Although for now, as he brought Tala into her bay and shut her down, all he could think about was the sirens call of his bunk.

..