Chapter 53
The Triad, Tharkad
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
1 March 3058
The first sight of Jackson Davion was an unpleasant surprise for Victor.
Judging by the "What the… are you wearing?" from Morgan Hasek-Davion, his cousin felt likewise.
"I would think that you would recognise it," the graying Field Marshal replied, indicating the bottle-green uniform and golden half-breastplate of an officer in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns. "I remember you wearing one like it, Morgan… but I suppose your real question is why?"
"I'm not going to say it doesn't suit you," allowed Caesar Steiner from where he stood near the window, "but if I'd known we were digging out old uniforms I'd have to find my old Lyran blues and I'm not sure I'd fit into them anymore."
"Setting aside Caesar's exercise regime… or lack thereof…" Victor said, with a dour look at his cousin that had about as much impact as water on a duck's back. "You're the first high level representative to arrive from New Avalon since the vote. And as far as I know, Kate managed to swing the vote to keep the Suns inside of the Federated Commonwealth so why the uniform?"
Jackson wasn't quite at attention (that would have made it hard to meet Victor's eyes) but he certainly was not at ease. "I may have outpaced some of the reports then. By ComStar, at least. I handed off a diplomatic bag at the drop port which…"
"Is probably still being sorted," Galen pointed out diplomatically. "The command circuit wouldn't have outpaced a priority message from New Avalon but at least some of the messages are still going through normal batching."
Victor nodded in irritation.
"I brought this as a contingency," Jackson admitted. "I left right after the vote to maintain our nation's alliance, but between discussions of the merits of the candidates to succeed you, there has also been debate on how to do that. Your sister is trying to reach compromises that will survive if she isn't elected." His face grew grim. "Hammond, on the other hand… I am half-ashamed to come from Argyle."
"I thought you were from Victoria?" the Archon-Prince said in surprise.
The expression on Morgan's face told him he should have known better, but Jackson snorted. "My mother was, and we're from that branch of the family. But I was born on Argyle. Anyway, from what I understand, Princess Katherine could spend her political capital to keep the AFFC united or to keep the realm on the kroner for now. I'm not privy to her reasoning…"
Victor grunted. "I don't know how hard it would be to shift the realm off a united currency, but it wouldn't be good. And… no, I do think I see her logic. As long as our realms are allied, our militaries will be de facto united, so she's not giving up much."
Morgan grimaced. "Not that united, or you wouldn't be wearing that uniform, Jackson."
"No," the man agreed. "Not that united. Your highness, I was provisionally sent here to represent the military interests of the Federated Suns. Orders clarifying this caught up with me and I'm under orders to take command of the Federated Suns Expeditionary Forces."
"What would that be?" demanded the redheaded Marshal of Armies.
"Every former AFFS unit this side of the Terran Corridor," admitted Jackson.
Victor pushed himself to his feet. "Many of those units have a substantial number of soldiers whose homeworlds are from this side of the Commonwealth. We've been integrating units for almost two decades."
He got a nod from Jackson, who said: "Among my orders, I am to begin reversing this."
"And recalling them?" he accused.
"At the moment," Jackson told him seriously, "the High Council remains committed to sharing in the defense of your worlds. With that said, and I realize that none of this will be done quickly or easily, I am also instructed to arrange the replacement of Lyran flagged commands in the Draconis, Capellan and Crucis Marchs with Suns units currently posted along your League and Periphery borders."
Morgan leant forwards. "You said these are your orders," he demanded. "Whose orders?"
The answer was frigid: "Your mother's, sir."
"I believe Morgan meant on the military side," Victor offered, trying to de-escalate. "If you're no longer heading the Federated Suns state command, who exactly are you reporting to? I believe Aunt Marie's military credentials ended with washing out of Albion before any of us here were born."
"Ardan Sortek remains Prince's Champion," replied Jackson, slightly more warmly. "In the absence of a First Prince, he has been appointed to take charge of all military duties that would usually fall to the Supreme Marshal."
The Archon-Prince considered that and then nodded. "Good choice. Since the High Council can hardly expect to simply have their way in all things, I trust that Uncle Ardan authorized you to negotiate how we're to work together?"
Jackson nodded again. "That's my reason for being here in the first place. I have no intention of trying to split off operational command from you or Caesar, Marshal Hasek-Davion. I'm not entirely sure that all the High Council are acquainted with the realities of military operations, but Marshal Sortek and I have no intention of compromising your security with unrealistic demands."
"I'm glad to hear that," Caesar said brightly. "You brought a staff?"
"A small one."
"Great, we'll get you set up with office space for them and…" He grinned. "We can talk about all the details over dinner."
Jackson Davion didn't say 'Lyrans!' but he was clearly thinking it.
"I'll have to leave it to the rest of you," Victor said heavily. "You came close to missing my departure for Coventry."
"I'm sure you would rather face a thousand deaths, sir."
"Over staying here and deal with the political mess?" the Archon-Prince - or was he just the Archon now? No, that would be premature - asked sarcastically. "No, not quite that much."
"I think I'd rather fight the Clans," Galen commented, and no one in the room leapt to disagree.
"I do have to ask, what the hell happened on New Avalon?" Morgan filled the lull in conversation. "You were there, Jackson. How did things get that bad?"
"Well," the Field Marshal said, "You weren't there. Either of you," he added, looking between Morgan and Victor. "While the cat's away, the mice will play. Surely the princess told you."
Thinking back to the letters he'd reviewed, Victor took little pleasure in seeing his cousin catch the same criticism. "'In addition, come back to New Avalon, Victor," he admitted. "I'm paraphrasing, but that was in pretty much every message sent."
Jackson spread his hands. "Then why didn't you? Most of the High Council could have forgiven mistakes, your highness. But they couldn't accept a ruler who didn't seem to care."
He closed his eyes for a moment as the claim hit home. "I always intended to," Victor replied when he was sure he wouldn't shout. "There was always another crisis to push it back. Kate has always been more able than she believed. I figured that, at least in part, her asking was lack of confidence - not immediate need." He paused. "And pretty much every message from Hammond Davion told me how well she was doing, that a poor poll here and there wasn't something to worry about."
"If you have so much faith in your sister, then why didn't you listen to her over the Duke?"
There was no good answer to that and Victor knew it.
"Was Hammond behind it?" Morgan asked grimly.
"Not as far as I know. I'm not really in his confidence to any great extent." It was Jackson's turn to look uncomfortable. "Whether or not he tried to stop the vote I don't know but he was certainly campaigning for nomination as your successor."
"So he may or may not be a traitor to the realm, but he certainly betrayed me," Victor said quietly. "And Kate too."
"Your sister -" Jackson began indignantly.
"No, you misunderstood," he shook his head. "I know my sister stood up for me through thick and thin. I mean Hammond betrayed her. If she beats him, he won't be Minister of the Crucis March longer than it takes her to find a replacement."
"I know who my money is on," Galen noted loyally.
Chapter 54
Castle Davion, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
5 March 3058
The dais had been split with positions for both Kate and Hammond to address the High Council, for the last time. The last few days had been draining - the only times when the High Council wasn't questioning them, Kate had been politicking behind the scenes to try to win over the undecided and peel votes away from Hammond.
Marie couldn't help much - she was doing what she could to hold the realm together and project enough strength to deter adventurism by their neighbors. For example…
"Would you wish to comment on the threats being made by the Taurian government?" asked Pravin Singh from the floor of the hall. His homeworld was among those bordering the Taurian Concordat and he had every reason to be concerned.
"Duke Davion," DuVall offered Hammond the first opportunity to respond.
"Having served as a marshal of the AFFC, I have every confidence of our forces' ability to repel any attempt by the Taurians to seize what they call their ancestral soil," the Minister declared confidently. "It is unfortunate that we have relatively few forces available to send to reinforce the region, but my own feeling is that the forces we do have would be more than able to see off any such attempt until we can recall our forces from where they are deployed in Lyran space."
"Some might say that those units are already very needed there," pointed out Singh.
Hammond smiled. "Ah, but Archon Steiner has an armistice with the Mariks, does he not? And he is hardly depending upon Federated Suns regiments to fight for him on Coventry. Besides the token deployment of the Kathil Uhlans, he seems to have no need of our aid."
Kate tried not to let her contempt for those insinuations show. Alison Campbell joining her briefly to pass over a note was a welcome distraction. She unfolded it in her hand and read it. Then re-read it. Well, that was unexpected. It might be handy though.
"In the interests of deterring adventurism," Hammond concluded, "I favor instructing Field Marshal Davion to advance the return of at least three RCTs from Lyran space before the end of the year."
DuVall turned towards Kate, who tucked the note away. "And your opinion on the matter, Princess Steiner-Davion?"
She leant forwards slightly. "Grover Shraplen does not represent the Taurian Concordat's government," she reminded the Council. "He can talk as much as he wants about reclaiming the Pleiades - where no one in twenty generations remembers being a Taurian citizen - but the decision over whether or not to attempt that claim would come from Protector Jeffrey Calderon, not the governor of a single Taurian world."
Kate paused and nodded slightly to Duke Singh. "If you were to discuss conquering New Vandenberg for the Suns, something I believe you have far too much sense to even consider…"
That got an amused nod from Pravin.
"Thank you," she agreed. "If you were to make such a ridiculous claim, you would carry no more weight than Governor Shraplen because no unit of the AFFS would have orders from New Avalon to do so. Since replacing his late father, Protector Jeffrey Calderon has been systematically standing down the Taurian Defense Forces from the war footing they had been on for over a decade. While it would be grossly optimistic to call him a friend of our nation, he is by no means foolish enough to think that either of our realms would benefit from a war."
"If Shraplen launches raids, we will deal with them, just as we do with pirates and their ilk. But an actual invasion is unlikely in the extreme as matters stand."
Kate straightened, waiting for the next question - which she would have to field first - only to hear a whisper of, "Just a junior officer," from near the front of the room, somewhere among Hammond's supporters.
DuVall either had not heard or chose to let it pass. Someone else was not so sanguine.
"Who said that?" Ardan Sortek demanded, striding forward from where he had been speaking quietly to Marie.
"Marshal Sortek, you are out of order!" protested the Speaker.
The balding officer brushed DuVall aside. "Who said that?" he challenged again, scanning the crowd. "I distinctly heard one of you challenge the honor of the Armed Forces and I will not let that stand!"
Kate was startled to see Tasha Miran stand. Not because she hadn't considered the woman one of Hammond's partisans, but because standing up to Ardan Sortek when his temper was roused was well below even her low estimation of the woman's wit.
"What insult is that?" the representative of Defiance asked. "Katherine Steiner-Davion is a Hauptmann, or rather a Captain now. It is a matter of fact that she is a junior officer."
"Marshal Sortek, you do not have the stand," insisted DuVall.
"Let him speak." Marie Davion did not rise, but her voice cut across the stand. "I grant him the opportunity to correct Ms Miran's remark."
The Count frowned but stood aside, leaving Sortek standing between Kate and Hammond.
"You appear, Ms Miran, to be unfamiliar with certain regulations of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns," the Prince's Champion said with some relish. "In particular a regulation that has been handed down from as far back as the Federated Peacekeeping Forces: which is that an officer who, under wartime conditions, serves in a position that would normally require a higher rank, is deemed to be breveted to that rank after three months with the promotion to be made permanent sixty days after that unless specified otherwise by either their Colonel or, for general officers, by the First Prince."
Kate blinked. She… had been aware of that, but…
"The regulations do not require that the officer be serving in the role in question during the second period," Ardan concluded a trifle smugly.
There was a choking noise from the Duke of Argyle, who was putting it together. Tasha Miran seemed to still not have grasped the reasoning and gave them a blank look.
Sortek reached into his pocket and passed Kate a pair of rank pins. "I was meaning to give them to you later today," he said quietly before raising his voice. "As commander of the Sarna March between September of last year and January this year, Katherine Steiner-Davion was brevetted to the rank of Field Marshal shortly before Christmas and no one in her chain of command has countermanded the promotion. As a result, the rank became permanent last month."
Kate used her thumb to turn the Field Marshal's insignia over in her hand, then pocketed them. She wasn't in uniform right now.
"A field marshal, Ms Miran," Sortek concluded, "is not a junior officer. They have weighty responsibilities and are chosen carefully to bear them. I will not see my service disrespected by anyone. High Council or not."
"Nor should you," James Sandoval agreed from where he was seated.
DuVall cleared his throat. "Thank you, Field Marshal Sortek. If we may now continue… I think we have time for one final question."
"Since the matter of the Sarna March has been raised," the Duke of Robinson called, not bothering to rise. "What plans do the two of you have for the region?"
The Speaker turned and nodded to Kate who checked the note she'd been passed. No, it still said what it had a few moments ago. "I propose to annex all worlds of the Sarna March still under Federated Commonwealth control to the Suns," she declared. "The region needs outside support to be secured, despite the heroic efforts of David Sandoval and the many fine soldiers under his command. We are far better placed to provide that support than the Lyrans and those worlds were won for my mother by regiments of the Suns."
"And do you think your brother will stand still for that?" asked Hammond, incredulously.
"Well," Kate said impishly, "given he just ceded them to me… yes."
The duke stared at her in disbelief.
She held up the note. "I have here a letter where he abdicates his position as Duke of Sarna, ceding all property and rights to the March to me in order to provide for myself, Yvonne and our future families should we be forced for some reason to leave New Avalon." Such as by an usurping cousin.
"I…"
"Do you have anything to say?" DuVall asked Hammond solicitously.
The only reply was a shaky refusal. This was evidently not the news that the duke had wanted to receive right before the vote. Kate couldn't blame… well, she blamed him quite a bit, but she couldn't fault his judgment. The addition of dozens of worlds and the regiments defending them greatly strengthened the Federated Suns and removed a point of contention between the two halves of the Federated Commonwealth. And given her connection to the region, the elevation made total sense.
In the worst case, Kate could leverage the position into a ministerial position in the privy council and restrain Hammond from there. More likely, her brother had just bought her at least twenty votes as members weighed the chances that if they didn't vote for her then she might take those worlds right back to the Commonwealth…
The question was whether those votes and Ardan's forceful show of support would tip the balance.
Chapter 55
Coventry Military Academy, Coventry
Donegal March, Federated Commonwealth
10 March 3058
Coventry Military Academy was always going to be a target for the Jade Falcons. There were many places they could attack but there were only so many that mattered in military terms. Every planetary campaign centered around key objectives that let one side or the other replenish, repair or direct their forces. If you held none of those points then it didn't really matter what percentage of the population or surface you controlled: your ability to sustain forces in the field was too limited to have a chance at conventional victory.
Unconventional victory these days meant pulling the bulk of your forces out, leaving a few to act as guerillas and hoping you could return. Victor had read about the days where unconventional meant bringing out the weapons of mass destruction to deny the enemy any value in their prize. He didn't want to go back to those days and hoped the new Khan of the Jade Falcons felt similarly.
The fact that the Jade Falcon's warships hadn't approached Coventry and were defending their jumpships suggested that the answer was yes.
That didn't mean that the Falcons weren't being aggressive though. Victor backed Prometheus away from the academy's headquarters building, the Dire Wolf's torso tilted as far back as he could get it, bringing the weapons to bear on the inbound 'mechs.
He'd just about got the crosshairs over a descending Fire Falcon when a warning of targeting lock forced him to twist, taking the shots from a strafing Visigoth on the heavy armored cowl that wrapped around his 'mech's vitals. Molten scars decorated the Dire Wolf's chest already - the omnifighter's lasers added more but his own lasers were enough of a threat that the Visgoth had to twist evasively and the autocannon's submunitions wasted themselves wrecking the immaculate lawn of the academy's quad.
"Victor!" LRMs from Galen Cox's Crusader arched up and chased the Visigoth off, nibbling away at its rear armor but not finishing the Jade Falcon off. "We need to get out of here."
"I'm backing up as fast as I can," the Archon-Prince shot back.
"Take it on the rear armor and run!" his aide snapped. "We've extracted everything we can."
Likely landing zones had been picketed, with reaction forces from the Tenth Lyran and Fourteenth Donegal Guards ready to respond if the Jade Falcons came down near the academy. No one had seriously thought that the Clanners would come down directly on top of the campus, but that was exactly what they were doing, elementals and omnimechs spilling out of dropships several kilometers outside the reach of anti-aircraft batteries.
Victor checked his tactical display and saw that the bulk of the Coventry DMM forces were already pulling back. Drawn down for picketing forces, only about half the March Militia were concentrated, which was why he'd held them back at the academy as a reserve force. Bolstered by raw cadets from the final year, they might have tipped the balance if another force was being pressed hard but on their own they wouldn't be able to hold the academy against what seemed like a full galaxy.
Galen was right. The prince wheeled his assault 'mech around - taking the time to unleash its guns on a Kit Fox that was being a bit too bold in trying to push on their position without waiting for support. The elementals around the omnimech's feet scattered as Victor's lasers chewed through the light 'Mech's thin armor. One arm was blowm clean off the Jade Falcon 'mech by impacts of the heavy autocannon; and the mechwarrior inside, deprived of half his firepower, wisely backed away towards the core of the landing.
"How bad is it?" Victor demanded, forcing Prometheus up to the maximum speed its legs could deliver.
His aide was backing up almost as fast as the Dire Wolf could run forwards, he only spun to join the retreat once Victor was past him. "Could be worse. Most of our support staff made it to the transports."
Something inside the Archon-Prince relaxed at learning that. The Inner Sphere had reached the point of being able to replace hardware like the repair bays, even if it was rarely cheap or easy (and never both). Replacing skilled technicians and other specialists was still a challenge - not enough schools, and sparing the people who both had those skills and the knack of passing them on from frontline duty without compromising battlefield needs was a delicate balance.
"That's good. And material?" He could see heavier Jade Falcon forces in the distance. The bulk of the landing had been around the 'mech hangars and the warehouses. There had been enough warning that the troops had been geared up and not caught at rest, but the stockpiles prepared for operations on this side of the Cross-Divide mountains were much harder to move.
"We had enough time to torch the computers and the paperwork," Galen offered.
"That gives me a warm, happy feeling," the Archon-Prince conceded and twisted to bring his guns around against a star of Jade Falcons moving to intercept them.
A pair of older Novas were just a bit too far behind the Black Lanners that made up the majority of the Star. The new mediums were faster and a more capable commander would have reined in the trio to hit as a consolidated force - or reconfigured the Novas with longer range weapons. As it was, their massed lasers weren't inside effective range yet and Victor's larger and longer ranged weapons peeled away armor over one of the Black Lanner's missile launchers.
The explosion as one of his pulse lasers bit through the ammo bin didn't destroy the 'mech, but it ripped the left side to shreds and left the arm hanging slack, neutralizing those weapons too. The heat signature suggested that the Black Lanner's reactor shielding was also damaged and it fell back.
Galen was pelting another of the Black Lanners with LRMs, dealing more damage than the Jade Falcon was doing in return with its smaller launcher and large laser. The configuration had a balanced loadout with good short-range firepower but the mechwarrior wasn't able to score hits reliably with them yet as Galen wove evasively, using little hops from his jump jets to confuse the Jade Falcon warrior.
The third Black Lanner was taking fire from an Ostsol of the DMM. Victor was pleased to see that the relatively inexperienced mechwarriors of the March Militia were following orders and respecting the Clan's preference for single combat. There was a time and place to use weight of numbers, but right now this was neither - every moment the Jade Falcons were target-fixating would let the rest of the force escape.
It was hard luck for the Ostsol's pilot, who wasn't doing anything like as well as Galen, but if it meant that the faster 'mech wasn't punching past the 'mechs to tear through the APCs and trucks carrying support staff away, then it was a trade Victor would accept.
The rest of the DMM lance with them were also taking the opportunity to pull back and most of them were small and fast enough that they were increasing the distance between them and the two Novas.
Unfortunately, Victor wasn't that fast. His Dire Wolf was larger than anything else on the field right now. The Black Lanner he'd fired at was pulling back, clearly realizing he was out of his league, but the Novas would be on top of him soon.
"Angel Six," he called, switching to the tactical channel. "This is Firestorm Actual. What's your situation?"
"Firestorm Actual, we have all guns on the move but we are not in range to support you at this time," the commander of the Tenth Lyran Guards artillery company reported sharply. Their batteries were made up of small but fast moving Thumper artillery vehicles - not much range or firepower, but readily redeployable. "Five minutes before we reach an effective firing position."
"Understood," Victor turned slightly, preparing to face the Novas with his best armor. Galen would be tied up with the Black Lanner for a moment or two yet. "Once you're in range of the academy, I need you to flatten the hangars. If you have the chance after that, hit the munitions stores and other warehouses but keep your guns safe. The repair bays in the hangar are the only thing worth risking them for."
There would be repair bays in the Jade Falcon dropships as well, but the Clans' omnimechs were already easy enough to maintain in the field. Handing them additional facilities would only exacerbate their advantage. Besides that… well, the munitions weren't compatible between Inner Sphere and Clan standards without a lot of work, so that was secondary, and shooting at armor that wasn't even on a 'Mech yet would be the textbook definition of pointless.
In theory, Victor thought, it would be nice to identify which warehouses stored myomers, actuators and other parts that the Jade Falcons could use and level them. But to do that he'd need to consult the paperwork that was hopefully burning behind him or the technicians scattered around the retreating DMM… then coordinate all that with the artillery… no, that wasn't happening.
The pair of Novas split up to catch him in a bracketing maneuver. Given the withering amount of fire that their huge number of medium lasers could generate, that could cause Victor significant problems.
"Warriors of the Jade Falcons," he called via his loudspeakers - not wanting to risk a radio transmission that might reach someone more senior. "I am the victor of Twycross, a veteran of battles against your Clan and the Nova Cats. I challenge you for the right of free passage out of this combat zone!"
The Jade Falcons kept moving apart, but neither fired as they crossed the maximum effective range of their lasers. "Why should we accept such a challenge?" one replied via his own loudspeakers. "We have already won this battle."
"For this objective, yes," Victor agreed.
"Victor," Galen snapped, "no!"
Fortunately his aide's voice was coming through his earphones and wouldn't be audible to the Jade Falcons. Even better, neither seemed to have identified who the 'victor of Twycross' was. "And since this particular battlefield is won already, all that remains for you to fight for is glory." He spread the arms of his Dire Wolf. "I offer the two of you the chance at that, against my own chance to fight another day."
"I swear, I will punch you out again if I have… have to!" shouted Galen, the pause forced on him as the Black Lanner hammered him with its SRMs.
"We accept!" called the Jade Falcon and as Victor had hoped, one of them backed away to leave the other to fight him alone. The odds were still not ideal, but he'd cut the odds against himself in half.
"Just keep that second Black Lanner off me," the Archon-Prince ordered as he saw the Ostsol's canopy erupt, marking the ejection of the mechwarrior.
The first Nova opened fire, cycling its lasers to maintain a barrage rather than going for a full alpha. The latter would have been preferable for Victor, since he'd managed to skip the Dire Wolf to one side as the Jade Falcon fired, so he'd have not been hit by most of the shots. As it was, the clanner was able to respond and track laser fire across the right leg and up the side of Prometheus.
However, to get those shots in, the Nova had closed into the reach of Victor's heavy autocannon and he had always been good with those. The Dragoon-built autocannon could maintain a fair higher rate of fire than anything yet matched by Inner Sphere engineers. The stream of shells shredded the armor plating across the left flank and center chest of the smaller 'mech.
Victor braced himself and then fired the SRMs.
It was extreme range for the SRMs and the Archon-Prince wasn't too surprised to see the Nova fire its jump jets to avoid their contrails. The missiles were notorious for the damage they could do to the internals of a 'mech or tank once there was an armor breach. It was the smart play… but it was predictable and that was why Victor had kept his finger on the trigger of his lasers.
The Nova did have some ability to adjust its path through the air, but much less than it did on the ground. Most mechwarriors simply aimed at a destination and accepted the risk. Victor tracked the arc and fired all three pulse lasers.
One stream of pulses went too low, another bit into the left arm of the 'mech… and the last tore through the remaining armor under the nose of the Nova and dug into where Victor knew the 'Mechs gyro was located.
The fifty ton 'mech landed, both bird-like legs flexing to absorb the impact… and then it staggered like a drunken spacer and fell flat on its back.
Apparently undaunted, the mechwarrior tried to struggle up, using one arm as a brace so he could swing the other to bear but this left it with such a limited arc of fire that Victor was able to side step and only one laser bit home. A light went red and Victor grimaced as he realized that the shot had finally burned through the plating over one of the extended range lasers and the weapon was out of action. Hopefully the damage wasn't too severe or he would need to replace it.
In theory there were plenty on the planet; the problem was that they were in Jade Falcon hands. All the spares he'd brought with him were in the storehouses he'd just ordered leveled.
Another salvo from his pulse lasers ripped through the other side of the Nova and severed the shoulder being used to support it. Helpless and rattled as the omnimech fell for the second time, the mechwarrior inside shouted in wordless frustration, voice amplified by the loudspeakers that were still on.
There was an explosion of silvery fire and out of the corner of his eye, Victor saw Galen's current adversary fall. The second Black Lanner closed in on the battered Crusader without hesitation but the Archon-Prince had problems of his own as the other Nova took this as his turn to join the fight.
This one had learned from the earlier Falcon's errors and stayed close to the ground, weaving from side to side and using his jump jets in brief bursts to clear obstacles along the edge of the campus or to render his path less predictable.
Backpedalling, Victor fired his lasers, feeling the temperature rise. The myomer bundles that moved the limbs of his 'mech were less effective as they grew warmer and the sluggish movements added to the challenge posed by this mechwarrior's skill. The beams of energy slashed back and forth, only catching the Nova glancing blows as the mechwarrior closed in.
Like the earlier mechwarrior, this one was managing his heat carefully - evidently aware that overheating and leaving himself vulnerable would be a fatal error. One or two lasers at a time, the Jade Falcon was chipping away at Victor's armor protection. Certainly, he was taking damage in return but the outline of Prometheus on the damage display was red and orange as minor penetrations grew more common.
The Archon-Prince turned to the autocannon, both to disrupt the pattern of the fight and to let himself cool off. The massive weapon roared, but the sound turned into a stutter and the burst of fire was cut short. It was no satisfaction to find that the shells hit home, because Victor knew without looking that either through battle damage or bad luck the loading mechanism of the gun had jammed.
There was no time to play around with trying to fix that. Victor spun the Dire Wolf on its heel, moving to keep the ejection hatch for his ammo bin shielded from the more nimble Nova.
The Jade Falcon saw the opening and jumped for it - racing forward with all the speed the Nova could bring to bear, at an angle that kept Victor from using his torso-mounted lasers that were now the bulk of his firepower. His only option was to track with the one arm-mounted laser left to him.
Instead Victor folded one leg of the Dire Wolf below him, dropping the assault 'mech to a half-crouch, and kicked with the other leg.
It was not a move his technician would appreciate - the torsion on the ankle and hips of the 'mech raised new warning lights - but it brought Prometheus around faster than the Jade Falcon anticipated. If Victor had really been ejecting his ammunition then it would have been dangerous to do this - normally one locked the torso while dumping ammo, rather than risking having munitions rock and bounce in the process which would be a recipe for disaster.
Instead, the feint did what it was intended to… and the Jade Falcon found himself facing the full frontal firepower of the Prometheus at optimal range.
Victor opened fire with everything he had left and the lasers tore shreds of armor off the torso of the narrow omnimech like a banana being peeled. The result was a perfect target for the SRMs and explosions tore deep into the reactor shielding and almost breached the cockpit.
Knowing it would be his last shot, the Jade Falcon fired everything he had. Twelve medium lasers reached out and raked at the Prometheus… but only three of them connected as the other lasers slashed over the crouching assault 'mech.
Having braced for major damage, Victor was almost as surprised as they must be, but as the glare faded, he saw that the cockpit must have taken more damage than he thought. The Jade Falcon within might be alive, but he could see some of the consoles inside. Most likely one of the targeting systems had been taken out.
The heat almost visibly radiating from the Nova made it clear there wouldn't be a second such salvo immediately and Victor deliberately pointed the muzzle of his remaining extended range laser at the cockpit. He was tempted to pull the trigger and kill the warrior within before he became more dangerous.
But that would invite similar behavior by the Jade Falcons. And besides that… it was not the sort of mechwarrior, the sort of man, that Victor Steiner-Davion wanted to ever become. "I suggest that you eject," he advised.
The Falcon reached out and grabbed the handles, a moment later they were rocketed up and out of their cockpit., seat dropping away as they reached full height and a parachute bloomed to slow their descent.
Victor turned to check on Galen and saw the blackened shape of his Crusader still sparring with the Black Lanner.
Before he could move to support his friend, more 'mechs arrived, in the off-olive green of the Jade Falcons.
"Cease fire," a woman's voice boomed out from the loudspeakers of the Summoner at the head of the quintet.
The Black Lanner stopped shooting and backed away, but there was a reluctance to the move.
"You," the woman called. "You bargained for hegira?"
Victor opened his visor and wiped his face with one gloved hand. "The right to retreat," he replied. "I do not know your ways enough to say if that is hegira. I have no intention of ceding this world, only this current battlefield. I see no point in either side bleeding more when it is clear who will hold this ground tomorrow."
"Not exactly hegira then." The Summoner had a bit of a swagger as it advanced. "You fought on Twycross, but I think you are not the same warrior who defeated the Falcon Guards."
"Only a comrade of his," the Archon-Prince admitted. "It is my honor to have fought alongside him."
The woman paused and then halted crisply. She was experienced, he thought. Much more so than the warriors he had just fought. "Brian is of my bloodhouse's get," she said after a moment. "This will be a valuable lesson for him. And above all, you are the victor in your trial. It would be dishonorable of me to deny you that. I grant six hours for you and forces under your command to withdraw… However -"
There was an explosion in the distance, then more followed. The familiar sound of artillery strikes hitting home.
"I demand that you do withdraw," the Jade Falcon continued evenly, "Cease that barrage."
"Angel Six," he ordered. "This is Firestorm Actual. Cease fire and withdraw. We're getting out of here. Acknowledge?"
"Acknowledged, Firestorm. Ceasing fire, we'll see you at the rally point."
Another wave of explosions crashed into the academy's hangars and Victor saw one collapse. "I think those shells must have been in the air," he said apologetically.
"Do me the favor of not leaving Coventry," the woman told him. "You will be a prized target for my warriors, Firestorm."
"We will see who leaves first," the Archon-Prince assured her and raised his Dire Wolf back to its full height before turning to march after his troops.
A tight beam from Galen lit up his comm-suite and he saw his friend's neurohelmeted face on a side monitor. Victor checked his loudspeakers were off before admitting: "I know, that was reckless."
"Did you see who that was?" the man said instead.
"Who, that woman?"
"I guess you didn't see the side of her cockpit from your angle." Galen told him. "There was a bar and a star under the glass. Unless I'm totally wrong…"
"A Khan," Victor confirmed. "One of the Jade Falcon's leaders."
"Do not," the older man warned, "even consider going back to challenge her. Were you dropped on your head as a child?!"
"Well, I did get punched in the face once…" Victor said and laughed as Galen spluttered.