AUTHOR'S NOTES: Running late with this chapter, due to one crazy week at work. In any case, here it is-the Battle of Jestin Ridge...part one. It was getting too long, so rather than try to post a 10,000 word story, I split it into parts. Plus cliffhangers are fun!

I will try and get the next part done and up by the beginning of next week. I won't guarantee it, but I'll try not to leave you hanging for long.

Jestin Ridge Repair Facility

Persistence, Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth

11 March 3050

Todd Canis-Vlata stepped onto the parapet of the north wall of the facility, taking a moment to admire the forethought—or abject stupidity-of the Rim Worlders who had originally built it. The wall that surrounded the facility on three sides was 60 meters high, but there were two parapets built into it—one that was only 30 meters high, allowing 'Mechs to fire over it, while staying partially covered. 'Mechs could also climb on the wall's crest itself, the second parapet, which gave more visibility, but left the 'Mech completely exposed to return fire. Calla stood on the second parapet, in front of his Battlemaster, which was on the first. He was looking through binoculars, a water bottle at his feet. "Morning," Todd greeted him. The sun was just beginning to come up, turning the clouds a gorgeous pink and orange. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day.

"Morning," Calla returned. He went back to scanning the horizon. "Everything snug on the south wall?"

"We're ready to go. Mira sent me to tell you."

"She could've just radioed."

Todd shrugged. "I needed to stretch my legs and take a leak." He yawned and looked to the north. He'd been in too many battles to be nervous; instead, he felt impatient, to get the battle going and over with. "The bad guys landed intact, huh?"

"Looks that way. Didn't do a combat drop…they just landed in the DropShips and disembarked. Dowlings reported in." Calla let the binoculars drop. "Damned peculiar. She said the Jade Falcons didn't bring a lot of Aerofighters with them, and they didn't mess with her. It was almost like they wanted her to see these 133rd Falcon Fusiliers disembark."

"Maybe they did. These guys seem to want us to know what we're facing. That means they're confident they can run over us like they did Redjack Ryan." Todd paused. "And the 12th Star Guards. That's the part that bugs me, Calla. The 12th aren't a bunch of pirates. They're solid, and they got overrun."

"Sounds like they tried to fight them in the open." Calla stomped on the wall. "We'll see how they do against these."

Todd wasn't too sure about the walls, but stayed quiet. He glanced down and noticed that the water in Calla's bottle was starting to ripple. "Guess we're going to find out. Looks like they're here."

Both men strained to hear the sound of moving BattleMechs. It wasn't long before they did. It came first as a rhythmic rumble, one barely audible over the wind. Then it gained in intensity, becoming louder and louder until both Calla and Todd could feel it through the soles of their boots. "There they are," Calla said, with the same tone one might use to describe a bus arriving. He had been in too many battles as well. He reached up and toggled his communicator. "Sentinel Six to all elements. Enemy 'Mechs on the north ridge. Hold your fire."

A group of five 'Mechs crested the hill, each one flying a flag from their upper torsos and shoulders. It stopped in place, then from behind it, more and more 'Mechs came into view. They fanned out, spacing themselves until the entire northern horizon was filled with BattleMechs. About one out of every five sported some sort of banner or flag, and Calla had no difficulty figuring out how the unit was organized. The wind blew the flags into full view, and he had to admit it was an impressive sight. "Hmm…interesting. They use a base five system rather than our base four."

"Never heard of anyone using base five. I think the ComGuards use base six." Todd shrugged. "Not sure I'd use it. That means one guy ends up fighting by himself, while the other four can mutually support the other."

"Also doesn't mean these guys have studied the Star League." Calla scanned the line. "Good thing Rowley sent us that fax. I'd never be able to identify any of these, besides that weird Mad Cat thing."

"Check out the flags. This Malthus guy wants us to know what he's up against." Todd shook his head. "These people aren't confident; they're arrogant. He's just identified his lance and company commanders. We'll dogpile those first."

"He's trying to intimidate us." Calla looked over his shoulder. Beta Battalion was drawn up behind him, and he could see other MechWarriors with their canopies open, or standing on the shoulders of their 'Mechs. It wasn't very smart—the sensors on the 'Mechs could see better than the human eye could. He noticed it was mostly the new MechWarriors, the younger ones, most of whom were about to be in their first battle. "Might work, too, with the kids. Tell them to get their ass back in their 'Mechs, will you?"

Todd raised his voice. "Hey, stupid bastards! Yeah, you!" He pointed to one MechWarrior, actually standing atop the skull-like head of his Atlas. "Get back inside! Move your ass!" There was some hesitation, and Todd's voice cracked across the facility. "Get inside your fucking 'Mechs, you stupid sons of bitches! That's a fucking order!" MechWarriors scrambled back in their machines. "Jesus," Todd groaned. "Getting out of your 'Mech to rubberneck. Old Man Hanson would've shot us for that shit back in the Roughriders."

"Of course, we're standing here," Calla pointed out with a smile. Todd only shrugged. "What do you think?" He nodded at the Jade Falcons.

"They dress their lines pretty well. Their 'Mechs look pretty strac. We'll see how good they fight." Todd counted off what 'Mechs he could see. "I'd say about 50, maybe."

"50 against our 173. I like those odds." He stiffened. "They're moving." Calla saw the Jade Falcon formation start to break up. Several dozen remained in place, but others moved out in what was obviously going to be an encirclement. It was done deliberately and in full sight: the plain around the facility was wide open, and since there was nowhere to hide, Malthus hadn't bothered trying. Calla slapped Todd on the shoulder. "Better get back to Alpha. The show's about to start."

Todd quickly shook hands. "Good luck, buddy." Then he ran for all he was worth down a narrow stairwell towards his parked Crusader. Calla used a ladder to climb back in his Battlemaster and closed the canopy. He took off his parka and stowed it, then quickly strapped in and hooked up everything. Once he had done so, he activated his radio. "All Sentinel elements, Sentinel Six. Once those people are in position, they're going to hit us from all sides at once. Hold your fire until I give the word. We're going to try to suck them in close. New people, stand by your officers and remember your training. Sentinel Six, out." Calla settled into the seat, adjusted his helmet for a better fit, and waited. It wouldn't be long now.

Sheila heard her father's words, slid back the visor of her neurohelmet, and took a quick drink of water. She shut the visor and dropped the water onto the floor of the cockpit. Her hands were shaking again. Dammit! Dad doesn't even sound scared. We could all get killed! These guys are fucking murderers. They're going to run right over us— She smacked the side of her neurohelmet. Stop it, Sheila! What's wrong with you? You trained for this! You wanted this! Now here you are. Stop it. Your lance is counting on you.

"Yoshi Six to Alpha Four elements. Enemy 'Mechs will be coming into view. You will hold your fire. Repeat, hold your fire. Stay calm. It will be all right." Much to Sheila's chagrin, Kazikawa's voice sounded unsure. In simulation, he had never said anything like the last two phrases. Oh God, he's scared too! And he's a combat veteran…

Sheila wanted to run. She was ashamed of herself, but she wanted nothing more to unstrap, climb out of the Shruiken, and run. Her heart was triphammering. She wiped the fear sweat off on her MechWarrior shorts. Now her feet were shaking too, and she felt a powerful urge to urinate. She laughed loudly, remembering the jokes about coming back from a battle with a wet ejection seat. I'm not going to piss myself…come on…stop it, Sheila…your lance…

Frantically, Sheila looked over at the 'Mech next to her, Kaatha's Griffin. The fishbowl-like cockpit was easy to see through. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, or even why, but she saw Kaatha. The veteran had her seat back all the way, and her feet up on the instrument panel. Sheila couldn't see the other woman's face, but Kaatha must have noticed her looking, because she threw Sheila a casual wave. Kaatha didn't look like she had a care in the world. Sheila turned to look at Marcus Drax; she would never know that Kaatha, noticing the Shruiken shuffling around in response to its pilot, had deliberately acted that way, in the off chance Sheila would see her and take strength from her nonchalance.

It worked. If Kaatha can handle this…hell, she's a vet…she's done this before. Come on, Sheila. Sheila toggled her radio. "Delta Four, Delta Two…how's it going?" Sheila tried to keep the fear out of her voice, tried to be as casual as Kaatha.

"Huh? Oh! I'm doing okay, Delta Two." Drax was every bit as scared as Sheila was; he had already plugged himself into the relief tube twice. He didn't want to look bad in front of his lance commander though, much less a girl.

"Delta Two, Yoshi Six. Keep the net clear. Out," Kazikawa snapped.

Sheila took a deep breath, and felt a little better. Kaatha and Drax were handling it, and if they could, so could she. It was the same motivation that had motivated fighters for five thousand years of recorded history.

Star Captain Senefa was not frightened; the Clans tried to breed fear out of their warriors. They weren't always successful, but they had been with her. This didn't mean, however, that Senefa wasn't at least concerned, as she watched Trinary Charlie get into position. Seabook Buhallin's plan was simple enough: Trinaries Alpha and Bravo would hit Jestin Ridge from the north. Charlie would circle around and hit the south wall; from high-level photographs taken on the burn-in, there was a weak point in the south. The Elementals of Trinary Delta would ride Charlie into battle, dismount once the breach was made, and fan out through the fortress.

From the elevated ridge, however, she could partially see into Jestin Ridge, and there were dozens of 'Mechs there, along with a few tanks. Because of the walls, she could not get an accurate count, but the 133rd was undoubtedly outnumbered. If they followed Star League tactical formations of lance and company, a standard regiment would field 108 'Mechs. They are just Spheroids, quiaff? Senefa told herself. They will break. Our OmniMechs are so much better than their broken-down Star League leftovers. She admitted to herself that the words sounded hollow.

"Alpha Charlie One from Goddess One." It was Buhallin, on a tightbeam channel that only the two of them could hear. "There does seem to be a lot of them, quiaff?" There was a mixture of humor and concern in his voice.

Senefa wasn't sure how to answer that. "Aff, Goddess. More targets."

That did make Buhallin laugh. "All the same, Alpha Charlie, I am very glad that the saKhan brought his Peregrine Galaxy Command with us." Senefa shifted her Thor slightly to look behind the line. Behind the ridge where the Inner Sphere defenders could not see were ten BattleMechs and twenty Elementals, saKhan Cavell Malthus' personal guard. In theory, he could not assist the 133rd Fusiliers in taking the facility, as that would break the bid, but all the same, Senefa felt better knowing there were at least some reinforcements.

"Good luck, Alpha Charlie One." Buhallin's voice was somber, almost sorrowful, which mystified Senefa.

"Aff, Goddess One. You as well."

Buhallin broke the link and addressed the Cluster as a whole. "Fusiliers! Today we will take this fortress before us. We will overrun its walls and destroy its defenders. You are to show them mercy if they surrender—we are not Smoke Jaguars, quiaff?" He chuckled, and even Senefa could not resist a small smile. "But by day's end, we will plant our banners on that fortress, or my Bloodname will be available!" Another laugh. "Remember that you are Clan! Remember that you are Jade Falcon! Remember that you are the Goddesses of War!"

"Goddesses of War!" the Cluster shouted as one—their nickname, for the banshee emblazoned on each 'Mech.

"Star Captains! Star Captains!" Buhallin continued. "A quick run! Fire as you go! Do not stop! We must get to the walls before the Spheroids can concentrate their firepower against us! Now…for the glory of our Clan…advance!"

He gives a good speech, Senefa had time to think. She opened her communications channel. "Trinaaary Alphaaa…" she stretched it out, seized by some odd impulse for the dramatic "…advance!"

Sheila was flexing her fingers when someone screamed "Here they come!" Reflexively, she brought up her weapon arm. Her targeting system locked onto a target—what she recognized as a Mad Cat. The crosshairs stayed red; she was still out of range. Someone off to her left fired, and a PPC bolt sailed far off course.

"Hold formation and damn that eagerness!" Kazikawa shouted. "By the kami, hold your fucking fire!"

The Clanfolk were not. They advanced steadily, and quickly, across the open plain, and then they began opening fire. Sheila ducked as a PPC bolt sizzled past her, and checked the range counter. Holy shit! 690 meters? Then she realized what the Jade Falcons were doing. Oh, they're just firing blind. They're just trying to keep our heads down—

Another PPC bolt shot across the parapet, barely missed one of Ceta/4's Locusts, and slammed into Kazikawa's Banshee. It blasted armor plate from the assault 'Mech's chest. Sheila's mouth dropped. Scratch that. That was aimed. They can hit us from there.

"Alpha/4, forward to the Palisade!" Kazikawa sounded angry now. Sheila, swallowing against a very dry mouth, pushed down on the pedals. The Shruiken advanced at a walk, even as a cloud of LRMs headed for her. Most landed harmlessly behind the company, but a good number hit, and Sheila felt the Shruiken rock with a missile strike. Her eyes darted to the damage display. It showed minor damage to the left torso at best. Another glance at the range counter told her that they were within LRM range now, even of her own 'Mechs. Kazikawa still had not given the order to fire.

She felt and heard a loud thumping noise, even over the increasing sounds of battle, and looked in the direction of the noise. Rhialla and Alfred Dennison marched the Perenniums forward. The Gauss Rifles went back slightly in their mounts, the shells leaving the muzzles too fast for her eyes to follow. She saw their effect, however: a Clan light 'Mech—what Rowley's fax had called a Dasher—simply disintegrated under Rhialla's fire, going up in a towering explosion. Dennison's shots struck a medium 'Mech with one shell; the Ryoken rocked back, but did not go down.

Sheila checked her range counter again, and heard an audible tone: she was now locked on the Mad Cat. Its pilot noticed and lofted LRMs at her, but Sheila ducked behind the Palisade, which easily absorbed the hits. 360 meters to the front rank! What the fuck are you waiting for, Kazikawa, you old bastard—

"Alpha/4, weapons free! Alpha strike, fire at will!" Kazikawa shouted.

Sheila immediately pulled the trigger of both her PPCs; she felt only a small rise in heat as the double heat sinks did their work. Her medium lasers were out of range, so she left them alone. Most of Rhialla's light 'Mechs also held their fire for the same reason; only her handful of Panthers and Valkyries joined in the firing. Alpha/4 was a different story: it was one of the heaviest companies in the Sentinels. PPC, large laser, autocannon, and LRM fire reached out for the Jade Falcons—and kept coming, as the Sentinels, heedless of heat buildup, held down their triggers.

Senefa had run her Thor up to full speed; Trinary Alpha, made up of mostly Lokis, easily kept up with her. She spotted a Blackjack pop up to fire its autocannons at her, and triggered her ER-PPC and LRM-15, marking the target. Her shots were superbly placed: the Blackjack shuddered under the hits, overbalanced, and fell over the wall, crashing to the ground. She mentally marked it—a 45 ton 'Mech, especially the lowly Blackjack was hardly a challenge, but an enemy was an enemy. There was no other return fire, though she could see plenty of other 'Mechs, mostly heads and shoulders. They are hiding, she thought triumphantly. They are afraid—

Then suddenly the wall was filled with 'Mechs, as Beta Battalion moved up onto the firing steps. Senefa checked her own range counter: 390 meters. They should be within range—

They were. The wall disappeared in a deluge of fire, as Caitlin Houndlikov ordered her 'Mechs to alpha strike as well. Nearly half the shots missed, tearing trenches and divots from the ground around Trinary Alpha, but half hit. Somehow, Senefa herself was missed, as she dodged the incoming fire, but she saw a full Star go down. Three got back to their feet, but two stayed down; out of the corner of one eye, she saw one Loki explode.

The attack faltered. "Trinary Alpha, keep moving! Move!" Senefa screamed, knowing that their only chance for survival was to get up to the wall, where the Inner Sphere 'Mechs could not see them. But the Jade Falcon MechWarriors, genetically engineered or not, were only human—and the human reaction was to find cover. There wasn't any on the open plain, so they began to move back, despite Senefa's exhortations to resume the advance. Another Loki went down, having taken so much fire that the 'Mech seemed to simply dissolve. Those stravag bastards! Senefa fired her PPC at the wall, more for moral support than to aim. They have no honor—they are not engaging us one at a time, but hitting us with everything!

She saw the Blackjack stagger to its feet; one arm was crumpled, and it raised its other arm to fire. Senefa grinned—without being aware that she was doing so—and fired her PPC again, adding her LRMs for good measure. The Blackjack was thrown back against the wall and exploded. One kill. But now her Thor was taking hits, and she realized that she was too far forward, alone, with her trinary pulling back. Growling what few curse words Clanfolk used, Senefa triggered her jumpjets and sailed backwards, out of range of all but the most long-range Inner Sphere weapons. "Trinary Alpha!" she ordered, in a less loud voice. "Rally to me!" Trinary Alpha, now that they were mostly out of range, arrested their retrograde movement and began pulling back into attack formation.

She saw Bullahin's Daishi take up position on her right. It was badly limping. "Goddess One, Alpha Charlie One. Damage?"

Buhallin's voice was filled with wry amusement. "A lucky hit, quiaff? The damned left leg hip actuator is gone! One damned LRM did this!" He fired two PPCs at the wall, and was rewarded by a Phoenix Hawk knocked backwards out of view. "Aff, I can still fight, freebirth!" Buhallin laughed. "Trinary Bravo, report!"

"Bravo Charlie One here!" Athena Henderson came on the line. "Heavy fire zone! We are engaged with at least two companies, possibly a full battalion! I am pulling my trinary out of range!"

"Neg!" Buhallin ordered. "Shift west! We will aim for the northwest corner! If you cannot do anything else, fire at the wall! We can weaken it!" Senefa saw the beleaugered Trinary Bravo begin moving back, then west to try from another angle. Senefa felt her Thor get peppered by LRMs, and fired back, missing. "Trinary Charlie!"

"Charlie Charlie One here!" Brenten Mattlov sounded out of breath. "We too have run into heavy fire—including Gauss Rifles! These Spheroids are better equipped!" The radio filled with static. "Stravag! That was one right there! I have placed my Trinary in a shallow area, some dead ground, and dropped off Star Captain Mandaka's Elementals before they get slaughtered!" He paused. "Star Commander Carlisle is dead!" Senefa had a mental flash of the beautiful, always smiling Carlisle. She had always joked that she would be the first to die because of her beloved, but poorly armored Dasher. Now she was.

For the first time, Senefa wondered if the Fusiliers could take Jestin Ridge.

Sheila fired another two shots with her PPCs. She missed, but with the Jade Falcons huddling in the dead ground 400 meters away, she didn't expect to hit. Nor did she care. "Holy shit," she breathed, "we stopped them."

It certainly seemed that way. After losing two more 'Mechs, the Falcons had stopped, and then pulled back. Other than Lance Commander Chanai Gritta limping back towards the 'Mech bay, with his Orion missing both arms, the rest of the company had only taken armor damage. Then she remembered she needed to do something. "Delta Two to Delta elements. Check in and report damage."

"Delta Three. Left torso armor down to 50%. All systems operational," Kaatha reported in.

"Delta Four. No damage." Drax sounded surprised that he was still alive.

Sheila did a visual inspection of both her lancemates for her own peace of mind. Kaatha's Griffin had armor plates driven in on the left side, but otherwise she looked fine. Both 'Mechs shimmered with waste heat; so did most of Alpha/4. The alpha strike had been effective, but another few seconds and the Sentinels would have had to cut down on their shooting, or risk shutting down their 'Mechs—or worse, blowing them up when the ammunition cooked off in their bins.

"Tiger Six to Sentinel elements." Rhialla's voice cut through the radio net. "Movement front, south wall. Infantry, going right."

Sheila zoomed in on her secondary display. About thirty battlesuits were moving , leaping out of range on jumpjets, almost comical in their movements. Rowley's fax had warned about these things too, but information was sparse; they could take a hit more than unarmored infantry and carried SRMs, but that was about it. One of the Sentinel Valkyries sent a cloud of LRMs in the direction of the battlesuits, but none hit. Sheila dismissed it. Foot infantry wasn't much of a threat to 'Mechs, unless in an urban environment; being the daughter of an infantry commander, Sheila knew where infantry were best used. On an open plain was not one of them.

"Tiger Six to Sentinel Five. Look alive, you may have an attack on your front," Rhialla said.

"Sentinel Five, roger that, enemy in sight." Mira sounded less than amused at Rhialla's quip. "Highlander One, move your lance back to cover the gate."

"Highlander One, roger." Sheila's heart gave a little jump at Max's voice. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten about him.

Calla watched the Jade Falcon line around the north wall. They had pulled back out of range, and aside from the occasional sniper shot, the battle was suddenly quiet. He listened to the companies check in. Not many had taken damage: two 'Mechs were headed back to the repair bay with crippled machines, but there had been only one loss. Calla had seen Pora Halloi go down, his Blackjack going over the wall. Calla spared Halloi a quick prayer—he had joined the regiment at the end of the Fourth Succession War—then got back to the matter at hand. He noticed another group of 'Mechs top the ridge, but they did not move any closer. He zoomed in, and dissatisfied with the resolution, pulled out his binoculars. To his surprise, he found another set of binoculars staring back at him, from the blocky 'Mech dubbed the Masakari. Calla realized he was staring at saKhan Cavell Malthus.

As interesting as that was, he moved the binoculars down, doing the same thing his opposite number was doing: seeing what the enemy was doing. He noticed one group of Jade Falcons moving to the left, while the one that had been attacking the north wall shifted in the same direction. Uh huh. Concentrating against one point. Smart. You should've done that in the first place. He noticed a huge assault 'Mech in the center, flying two flags. Hmm. I bet he's a battalion commander…and he's limping. Okay.

Calla switched frequencies. "Sentinel Six to Medusa Lead. How are things?" He looked up through the canopy. There were scattered contrails, but there had been no airstrikes on the Sentinels. He saw a few smoke plumes that might be downed aircraft, but—as much as he hated to admit it—like most ground warriors, he would accept a draw in the sky.

"Six, Medusa. Nae tae bad. We got a twist on 'em; looks like two tae one. Tough bastards, but we kin handle it." Dowlings sounded satisfied.

That surprised Calla. Then again, the Sentinels did have a larger air component than most. "Can you spare a strafe, Medusa?"

"Kin do, Six. Where do ye want it?"

Calla radioed the coordinates. "Aim for the big guy in the center. The one that looks like a box on legs. I think he's a battalion commander."

"Roger that. Ye all look like boxes tae me. Medusa's in, south tae north."

Calla moved his Battlemaster around to look. Two dots grew to the shape of twin Stuka aerospace fighters, and he realized that Dowlings was doing the strike herself. Both roared over the Sentinels and their noses disappeared as they opened fire with lasers and missiles. It caught the Jade Falcons by surprise, and the huge 'Mech first staggered with the hits, then fell backwards, on fire. It hit the ground, then sparks flew out of it as the ammunition cooked off. Calla raised his binoculars: the head was a smoking ruin.

Lasers followed Dowlings as she and her wingman climbed, but if anything hit, Calla didn't see it. "Good effect on target, Medusa! That's a kill on the big one. Hold high if you can." Dowlings acknowledged. Calla put the binoculars away. "Not as easy as you thought it would be, huh? You arrogant prick," he commented in Malthus' general direction.

Senefa stared at the burning remains of Buhallin's Daishi. The strafe had hit her as well, causing minor damage to her left arm, but most of it had centered on the 133rd's commanding officer. Buhallin had been about to order Trinary Bravo to charge—Henderson's group had actually begun to move forward—but now the charge stopped before it began.

"Seabook?" she said, in shock. Her finger didn't hit the radio button, but she spoke his name all the same. Then she did toggle the radio. "Goddess One, Alpha Charlie One. Acknowledge." She repeated it twice. This is not happening, she told herself, for once unable to process what had just occurred. The Daishi was practically decapitated, and there had been no ejection. Seabook Buhallin was dead. The man she enjoyed coupling with, who she had just shared a bed with less than 48 hours previously, was gone. It made no sense, Senefa thought. It was not logical. One did not kill a man like Seabook Buhallin like that. He was supposed to die gloriously, not cut off in midsentence by an Aerospace pilot.

"Alpha Charlie One, Bravo Charlie One." Athena Henderson sounded just as shocked. "What should we do?"

The Fusiliers were milling around now, unsure whether to advance or retreat. Senefa's helmet crackled, and for a wild minute, she expected Buhallin's laughing voice to come up, admonishing her to quit with the unClanlike worrying. Instead, it was Cavell Malthus. "Alpha Charlie One, Peregrine One. The 133rd is yours. Take the attack in immediately."

The words broke through the shock. Senefa tore her eyes away from the destroyed Daishi. "Bravo Charlie One, Alpha Charlie. Attack. Go as fast as you can and get to the base of the north wall. You will be protected there. Break—Trinary Alpha, hold position and open fire on the Sentinels holding the wall. Cover Bravo." She felt rage crawl up her throat. "These Spheroids are honorless scum. Concentrate fire; do not engage singly."

"Alpha Charlie One, Alpha Foxtrot One." It was Star Commander Kei, commanding Alpha Fire. "That is dishonor—"

"To hell with the stravag honor!" Senefa shouted. "Burn them down!" She clenched her fists, bringing herself back under control. "You have your orders! Bravo Charlie, move now!"

"Aff, ovkhan!" Henderson said the words automatically, used to taking orders, and her Trinary seemed to coil in on itself, then suddenly it moved out, covering the killing ground as fast as it could. Senefa trained her PPC on the wall, moved forward a little, and opened fire, followed by her Trinary.

Calla ducked as concentrated laser, PPC and missile fire struck the wall all around him. Around him, other MechWarriors did the same. This was more of a sustained barrage this time, he noticed; before, the Jade Falcons had been oddly engaging single 'Mechs, even when they were hitting the wall more than their opponents. Now they were using their weapons like fire hoses. The wall was holding, though stone chips were flying everywhere; few people were getting hit, but that was because they were keeping their heads down rather than firing back.

"Smart move," Calla complimented his foe. "Sentinel Six to Bravo elements! Put fire down—they're going to try and grab us by the belt!" He knew that if the Falcons reached the base of the wall, they would be nearly invulnerable to the Sentinels—the biggest design flaw of all at Jestin Ridge: the Sentinels could not fire down without exposing themselves completely. Worse, Calla could no longer call in airstrikes. "Medusa, Six! I need a strafing run, ninety degrees from last, grid square 54-40!"

"Sentinel Six, Medusa! We're in, west tae east!" Calla ducked again as a Gauss shell came within feet of his head, somehow threading the needle between the Battlemaster's cockpit and the SRM launcher. This time Dowlings brought in four of her fighters, but as she leveled out to make her run, the 'Mechs on the ridge—Malthus' command group, Calla was certain—opened fire. A deluge of weapons fire reached out for the Aerofighters. A Stingray was hit and pulled off first, trailing smoke and then fire, and then Dowlings broke off her run. "Sorry, Six! Have tae pull ooff! Tae much ground fire!" He then heard her calling for the Stingray pilot to bail out.

Calla forced himself to move the Battlemaster up and fired off a PPC shot, which just missed one of the racing Clan 'Mechs. He saw someone go down out of the corner of his eye, and as he ducked back, saw it was a Rifleman, most of its upper torso gone. He heard someone saying that Lance Commander Liao was dead. Lynn Liao, Calla thought, remembering the woman who always used to joke about being distantly related to Romano, slumming it with mercenaries. Now she was gone too.

"Sentinel Six, Grenadier Six. No joy. Cannot see enemy 'Mechs at base of wall." Kola Wohanga, who commanded Beta/1, sounded frustrated. Calla could not blame him.

Calla looked behind him. Drawn up in parade formation was Ceta/1, his reserve, and Cannon had his tanks ready as well.

"Highlander One, at the gate." Max stopped his Battlemaster well short of the gate. "Not sure why the hell I'm here, though." He didn't radio that last part. It seemed a waste to send a heavy lance to guard the main gate, when the fighting was clearly going to be at the wall itself. Is Mom trying to protect me? He looked over to the far right, where Mira's own Battlemaster was firing shots at an unseen target.

"Roger, Highlander One. Hold position. You may have some infantry heading your way, if they can find a way in. You're on ratcatching duty, Highlander." Mira's voice sounded amused.

"Great." Max was not all that thrilled to be on the wall, where he felt terribly vulnerable—he didn't have jumpjets, after all-but this felt like a waste. He looked over to the left, towards the Palisade, trying to see Sheila, but she was blocked by the wall.

"Highlander One, Highlander Two. I think I might see some movement behind the gate." Micajah Ballew's Orion moved up to the massive gates themselves.

"Roger that, Highlander Two. Highlander Four, stick close to me; Highlander Three, let's have you go out to the left." Peter-James Mader moved his Marauder closer to Max, while Juan Siembieda edged his Charger to one side; as the only jumpjet equipped 'Mech in his lance, it would allow Siembieda to support the wall in case the Jade Falcons made another effort there.

"Highlander One, Highlander Two. Definitely some movement here. I've got faint heat signatures. Stand by—"

It was the last words Ballew would ever say.

Elemental Star Captain Anacortes Mandaka had planned for this eventuality, even as his MechWarrior comrades had good-naturedly joked with him about his Elementals acting as reactive armor for the assault on the fortress. Each member of Delta Elemental One and Two carried a pack of pentaglycerine that, if hit, would blow the Elemental to atoms. Mandaka, after study of the Jestin Ridge facility, suspected the explosives would be needed. Now, all fifty of his Elementals planted their explosives on either side of the gate.

Explosions outlined the main gate, then the entire assembly fell into the facility. The gate was designed to hold against artillery, and actually had, but the hinges did not. It was easily the weight of several 'Mechs, and it all fell on Ballew's Orion, crushing it and the pilot. Max was stunned by the sudden collapse, and that was all the 50 Elementals needed to run through the dust and hit the 93rd Highlanders lance. Max triggered his four medium lasers, scything his way through the deformed-looking armored infantry, and hit two of them. Both fell, knocked back by the laser, but to Max's surprise, they got back up, their armor smoking from the laser, but far from dead. What the hell? Infantry can't take medium laser hits!

The Elementals fanned out, about half engaging the Highlanders, while the others began firing SRMs at the defenders on the wall.

"Max, help!" Max saw Siembieda's Charger being attacked by ten of the Clan infantry: the Charger looked like a man being attacked by army ants. As Max watched for a split-second, the Elementals latched on to the 'Mech. Some fired their lasers, burning off armor; some started tearing the armor off with clawed hands. Max, instinctively, fired his PPC at one of them, jumping for the Charger's head, and caught it in midair. The Elemental went flying, crashing into the ground in a puff of dust. It did not get up.

"Highlander One! Under heavy attack from armored infantry! These guys can take medium laser hits, but PPCs kill them! The gate's gone, and…" Max hated to say it "…I need help!"

Mira's voice was calming. "Able Six, Baker Six, drop back and help Highlander One." The 1st and 2nd Dragoon lances moved off the wall and began engaging the Elementals.

And when they did, Brenten Mattlov saw his chance. "Trinary Charlie, charge! Do not stop until you have cleared that low wall!" Suddenly, the dozen remaining 'Mechs of Trinary Charlie left the dead ground they were hiding in. Instantly they were met with a hailstorm of fire, but they weathered it, the OmniMechs leaning forward as if into a high wind. Another Dasher and a Dragonfly went down, rolling to a halt as their MechWarriors ejected, but the remaining Jade Falcons reached the Palisade, and then were over it.

"Goddess One!" Senefa heard Mattlov's voice, raised in triumph. "We are over the wall, southeast corner! Mandaka's Elementals are in the facility!"

Senefa opened her mouth to reply, then had to ram her right foot forward as her Thor took a large laser hit and nearly fell. She moistened her dry lips, then shouted, "Bravo Charlie One! Up and over the wall! Go go go!" She let loose her last flight of LRMs.

Since Trinary Bravo had been originally assigned to assault the northeast wall, all 15 of Henderson's 'Mechs were modified with jumpjets, aside from her own Masakari. Instead, she stepped back away from the wall, sweeping it with her quad ER-PPCs where her Trinary would go. "Trinary Bravo, over the top!"

A dozen OmniMechs rose upwards on silvery ion jets, landing on the wall, right in the middle of the Sentinel defenders.

"Goddess One, Peregrine One." Cavell Malthus' voice sounded in Senefa's earphones. "Move your Trinary over the wall as well. My Command Stars will cover you." The Peregrine Galaxy Command Keshik moved into the battle now, adding their firepower to the 133rd Fusiliers.