The enemy Quickdraw was not so well-favored. The scarlet beam of Aris’ large pulse laser struck into its left side, already weakened by his medium lasers a moment before. The beam cut through the last of the armor and into the Quickdraw’s internal structure, coring through the loading racks for the ’Mech’s long-range missile system and then finally into the ammunition itself. No protective CASE feature for this older ’Mech, the ammunition bay ruptured and spilled incredible explosive force throughout the torso. The explosion of the BattleMech’s fusion engine followed on the heels of the ammunition, and the machine simply ceased to exist. An arm flew through the air and slammed into the Crusader, crushing a few armor plates over its left leg. No other pieces were large enough to accurately identify.
A thrill of elation shot through Aris Sung, as he once more pivoted inward and fought to keep optimum range against the Crusader, which fell back toward his other two companions. That elation quickly cooled and settled into the pit of his stomach like a block of lead, however, as Aris saw Ty Wu Non’s Charger take another barrage of missile and laser fire. The Archer and T-Bolt moved in to finish it off.
It never mattered to Aris that Ty had brought this on himself. What he saw was a fellow member of House Hiritsu and his superior officer, fallen. House Hiritsu was his home, these people his family. Any personal difficulties between him and Ty Wu Non did not belong on the battlefield. Aris locked his T&T system onto the enemy Archer, judging it the more deadly of the pair. His tactical screen placed the enemy ’Mech at a hair under three hundred meters.
Aris brought the Wraith up to its top speed again and rapidly closed the distance. He had to angle away and then turn back in once, avoiding a pile of half-burned logs that could have tripped him up. He didn’t waste time trying to fire weapons, concentrating fully on the task at hand. His Wraith’s XL engine allowed him to close in less than ten seconds, just as the Archer’s large missile systems cycled.
Far too late to do much beside panic, the Archer’s pilot noticed Aris’ approach at better than one hundred kph and coming in from behind. Only the Archer’s rear-facing medium lasers could be brought to bear, and they stabbed out, trying to deter the Hiritsu warrior. The green beams splashed over the Wraith’s torso, melting armor but not seriously hindering the ’Mech in any way. The Thunderbolt twisted its torso to bring its weapons to bear on Aris, but the Archer blocked a direct line of sight and the Sarmaxa pilot could only watch and wait for the shot.
Aris’ BattleMech slammed into the rear of the Archer with incredible force. Armor plates on the front of the Wraith shattered and dropped away, but that was next to nothing compared to the damage wrought against the hapless Archer. Its left arm suffered a crushed shoulder actuator and its left leg lost over half its armor from the jarring impact. Its rear-torso armor tore away as if made of paper. The titanium supports that made up the BattleMech s internal skeleton bent inward. Physical shielding around the reactor was ruptured and the gyro knocked off balance.
One of its long-range missile systems was destroyed, though the ammunition inside did not detonate in the launcher.
But that was to be a fleeting sense of luck. The force of the impact threw the Archer forward. Unable to keep the ’Mech upright under such an attack, its pilot abandoned it to gravity. The ’Mech tumbled and slid for thirty meters over the blackened ground, tearing large furrows and leaving behind even more of its precious armor plating. As the Archer flipped around for the last time, it came down on its back. A weakened support bent further inward, piercing the ammunition storage bay in the Archer’s right torso. Fuel cells ruptured, spilling solid propellant among the missile racks. A shower of sparks from the support beam scraping the ammunition storage casing set it off. The Archer’s, torso jumped into the air, launched by the powerful explosion beneath it. As the left-side ammunition detonated, followed quickly by the fusion engine, the Archer followed its companion Quickdraw into obscurity.
That was enough for the other two Sarmaxa ’Mechs. They withdrew, turning their fire on Aris to keep him at bay. Aris had barely controlled his Wraith after the impact, keeping to his feet by the slimmest of margins. Shaken and bruised from where his restraining straps had cut into his shoulders, he decided not to give chase. Instead, he ran his ’Mech back toward Ty Wu Non’s Charger, which was regaining its feet with shaky control. He helped his company leader back into the cover of the trees. The armor on Ty’s Charger was more memory than reality. Gray smoke poured out of a rent in the front torso, and green coolant leaked down the front in tiny rivulets to drip onto the ground below.
“I’m on my feet, Aris Sung,” Ty’s voice whispered through the communication gear, as if sensing Aris’ thoughts. Aris was willing to bet the other warrior was studying a damage schematic of the ’Mech and finding it to be mostly outlined in red.
“Shall we pursue, then, Company Leader Non?” Aris kept his tone respectful, as if seriously broaching the idea. They both knew the Charger was in no shape to pursue, and Ty would not send Aris forward alone. Ty was a natural leader, Aris could recognize that in him. He had the aura of command about him. But he was not a tactician. And his dislike for Aris biased him against any advice the younger warrior might offer. “May I make a personal observation, sir?”
“An observation, yes.”
Aris carefully phrased his next few sentences. Ty had rejected his advice once, which closed the issue. But if he could bring up a new factor… “Company Leader Non, not burdened with your responsibilities, I have noticed something. The enemy ’Mechs have kept to the forest’s denser areas, which slows them down. They stop and fight only in clearings or when they can gain a hillside and use the height to their advantage. Doesn’t this suggest predictability?”
Ty Wu Non’s voice was a calm neutral. “You still believe we could slip ’Mechs in front of them. Using the DropShip, no doubt?”
“That is certainly one possibility, sir.”
“Name another.”
Was that a crack in the normally impenetrable wall? “My Wraith is the fastest ’Mech we’ve got. I could try to place myself in their way long enough for a coordinated strike force to come at them from the rear.”
There was a long pause, as if Ty was considering the possibility. When he came back, though, it was as if Aris had never spoken. “I have Terry Chan on another frequency, Lance Leader Sung. She’s only a few moments away. You will await her here, and then pursue the enemy. Pursue, harass, engage if they stand and fight again. Do you understand?”
Aris nodded to the empty cockpit. “Pursue, harass, engage—yes, sir.” Answer: no; subject closed. Aris turned his ’Mech and walked back into the burned-out clearing. The Sarmaxa machines were just fading off his scanners, and he plotted in their course in preparation for setting off after them again. Ty Wu Non was determined to win this his way. And if Aris could, he would win this for his company leader. Thoughts of how it could be won—how it should be won—were no longer relevant, so Aris dismissed them from his mind.
That was the way of House Hiritsu, and Aris was a devoted son of the House.
19
Tarrahause
Tarrahause District, Kaifeng
Sarna Supremacy, Chaos March
24 July 3058
Aris sat on the sidewalk, resting up against an intact wall of the ruined building where he’d dived for cover against the Vulcan’s flamer. To his left the lower torso and remaining leg of the blasted Vulcan stuck out of the building. Its other leg and an arm lay a short distance away. Across the street Kyle’s car still burned, throwing dancing shadows over the area.
Aris had crawled out of the building covered in dust, bleeding and bruised, his hair and clothing singed. From his jacket he cut strips to bind his arms and thigh to control the bleeding where the shards of the window he’d crashed through had sliced him. The big hardwood table had saved his life when the side of the building caved in. One side had collapsed under the weight of falling debris, but the other remained solid, the strong
hardwood top deflecting away the rain of bricks and beams. A clock, miraculously intact in the midst of all that damage, had told him it was after midnight and so the cease-fire would be in effect. Aris hadn’t been able to find any evidence of a destroyed Huron Warrior, and so decided that Raven Clearwater had gotten safely away to warn House Hiritsu of the trap laid at the aerodrome. A welcome thought, since there obviously wasn’t anything more he could do about that.
Headlights swept into the intersection. Aris debated whether or not he should hide, and decided not to bother. Private citizens wouldn’t trouble him. The Djing-cha he could handle. And soldiers… Aris adjusted the Nakjama laser pistol he’d salvaged from the Vulcan’s cockpit and stuck it into the waistband of his pants at the small of his back. He had special plans for any soldiers.
With the excitement over and the pressure off, Li Wynn’s statement that a Hiritsu warrior had turned against the House twisted in Aris’ stomach like a cold steel blade. Aris didn’t doubt him; Li had believed what he was saying. And why wouldn’t it be true? There’d already been so many proofs of betrayal. The aerospace raid near Nochen. The trap at the port terminal, and again at the Jinxiang Bridge. The set-up tonight. Blind devotion to his House has prevented him from seeing the truth. The thought so alien… But who else besides a House warrior could have provided that kind of information to the Kaifeng SMM?
The assassination of House Master York?
A cold chill spiked into Aris’ heart and shook him almost to the core of his being. No! He wanted to shout, to rail at the heavens. A House warrior couldn’t have been involved in that. And especially couldn’t have performed the deed him or herself. That violated precepts at the heart of House Hiritsu. The Lorix Order, which taught that the highest and most important ideal in any MechWarrior’s life is loyalty… to the chief executive of the state, who is the Mech Warrior’s commander-in-chief. And the teachings of K’ung-fu-tzu stressed that filial piety, obedience to parents, is one of the most important virtues. Aris didn’t want to believe it possible that a warrior of the House had struck off the family head.
But he did believe it. That shook his confidence more than anything else, that he was able to think it not only possible but likely. He remembered his first hours in the Kaifeng system, his thoughts aboard the JumpShip Liu of striking out at Ty Wu Non. Was that so far off from actually doing it? And at that point, how much further to outright betrayal?
A ways, Aris answered himself. But the seeds of failure and betrayal were present in everyone. If they were nurtured with the right amount of hate and jealousy—
“Aris? Is that you? Man, you look wasted.”
Li Wynn looked out of the car window, then opened the door and got out. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
Aris relaxed. Besides Li, he saw the other three young thieves he’d met earlier. “I think I got greedy,” he lied. “Came up too soon and got caught in the fun.”
Li looked over at the destroyed Vulcan. “That was our contact. Damn. No wonder. We haven’t found hardly anything opened up like we’d hoped. And Kyle’s car is gone. One of the metalheads probably picked it up and threw it at something. We had to borrow another.”
“So you didn’t find anything?” Aris asked, rising to his feet.
“Nothing worth talking about. Maybe enough to pay for Kyle’s car and the bribes it took to set things up with the mercenary.”
Aris limped over to the car. “Maybe I can help you do something about that. What if I could make good your losses tonight?”
That got Li’s attention. “How?”
“We’ll give things the day to settle down. Then tonight, let’s you and me take a trip over to that club you mentioned, the one where all the MechWarriors hang out.” And there, the fates be kind, Aris would find a clue to who the House Hiritsu traitor was.
20
Jinxiang River Port Terminal 5 South
Tarrahause District, Kaifeng
Sarna Supremacy, Chaos March
24 July 3058
Battalion Commander Ty Wu Non sat at the head of the cafeteria table, surrounded by the rest of his command staff. Silently, he let his gaze travel over the faces of his company leaders and lance leaders—studying them even as they waited for him to speak first. Raven Clearwater, near the far end of the table, stared at the cream-colored tabletop and appeared lost in her own thoughts. Terry Chan, at his immediate left, also looked troubled by her thoughts, but was almost able to hide it. Everyone else met his gaze with a strange mixture of uncertainty and expectancy, unsure of the next step but trusting their commander to provide guidance. Everyone except Thom Lindell, who sat stone-faced at the table’s far end. Ty squared his shoulders against the weight that seemed to press down on them. Back straight and face set against emotion, he tried to project strength to his people while inwardly his thoughts swirled in turmoil.
Aris Sung was alive. It shouldn’t have surprised him. The younger warrior had pulled off a number of feats of survival in the eleven years Ty had been his Mentor, and luck just seemed to follow him around. With the possibility Aris was dead, Ty’s dislike of him had mellowed over the last few days. He no longer thought of Aris as a threat to his position, nor even a challenge to his own ability. Aris was an asset, a son of House Hiritsu, and Ty would be doing his family a disservice not to accept that. The boy was bright and quick-witted. And always, it seemed, where the action was. Year of the Horse, Ty thought. He had never followed the older Chinese customs—House Hiritsu running strongly toward the philosophy of Confucius—but this once it made him wonder.
Ty blinked away those thoughts, not wanting them to show on his face. Aris Sung would certainly come up in the discussion, but was not the first order of business this time. The repeated ability of the Kaifeng SMM to predict House Hiritsu movements had gone beyond being merely a hindrance; it now threatened the entire assault. If Aris had not warned off the raid against Tarrahause, Ty could have lost half of his warriors. Such losses might be considered acceptable to Ion Rush and even Chancellor Liao, provided Kaifeng was taken and held according to the plan, but the losses were unacceptable to him. He expected to lose warriors, but he would not sacrifice them.
“Very well,” he whispered, more to himself than his people, though they would hardly know that. “As of this day, I am declaring the original plan of assault against Kaifeng fully dissolved. The record will show no fault against anyone, especially since the strategy worked so well in the south and partially up here on the northern continent. But we can no longer attribute the ability of the Kaifeng SMM to predict our movements to anything other than advance knowledge of our plans. Comments?”
Jill McDaniels was first to speak. “Can we be sure about that, Battalion Commander? We saw no sign of a trap near the aerodrome. We only have some vague hand signals from Aris Sung that could be interpreted in that manner.”
“Are you questioning my ability to read infantry signals, MechWarrior McDaniels?” Raven Clearwater asked, locking eyes with McDaniels. “Or is it Company Leader Sung’s warning itself you doubt?”
There was no anger, no hint of recrimination in Raven’s voice; she was much too skilled in the ways of the House for such a breach of courtesy. But the questions were inappropriate. Ty Wu Non understood Raven’s frustration—she had seen her company leader go down and then was forced to abandon him a second time in pursuit of a higher-calling—but he could not condone any form of disunity. Especially in front of him.
“Lance Leader Clearwater,” he said, voice flat and toneless to communicate his displeasure, “I believe the question was meant for me to answer.”
Realizing her error, Raven’s face pinched in shame, and she nodded lightly. “My apologies, Battalion Commander, and to you Jill McDaniels. I spoke out of turn.”
Ty allowed his voice to soften. “We understand how you feel, Raven Clearwater. We will discuss Aris Sung in a moment.” He turned back to Jill. “Now, to your question, Tarrahause had ’Mechs in hiding, ready for Rave
n’s lance. Since the area of the city possessed little strategic value, we can only assume that the ’Mechs were there specifically to counter our diversionary raid. This gives extra weight to Aris Sung’s warning. I believe they were waiting for us at the aerodrome. The question is, how?”
Company Leader Jason James rubbed at his square jawbone. “Could they be tapping into our communications?”
Ty shook his head lightly. “We have never broadcasted or plans over the airwaves. Such intelligence-gathering would have to be done through the use of listening devices, and our technicians assure me that this could not be the case.”
“Satellite observation,” Thom Lindell said from the other end of the table, his voice measuring out each syllable. “Or high-flying aerospace observation craft.”
Ty paused, considering. “I do not see how. I have kept either the Dainwu or the Lao-tzu in orbit above us. There have been no aircraft or direct satellite passes. And, besides, that would be visual information only.”
“Battalion Commander,” Terry Chan said, drawing his attention, “it seems we’re grasping in the dark when there’s an obvious solution to our problem.”
“Go on, Chan.”
Terry Chan drew in a deep, steadying breath. “Aris Sung. I’ve given this much thought.” She held up three fingers and ticked each one off as she counted her reasons. “He is in Tarrahause. He is an accomplished scout. And he obviously has some knowledge of their military activities since he was able to place himself on the battlefield before Raven’s arrival. If he does not yet know the source of Kaifeng’s clairvoyance, he will know where to get it.”
“You’re suggesting an extraction mission?” Ty was surprised, but couldn’t decide if pleasantly so. He wouldn’t have thought Terry Chan would ever suggest they recover Aris Sung, since that would automatically demote her back to lance leader. And if there was anyone he should be able to read, it was Terry Chan. But perhaps the animosity she’d shared with him for Aris Sung was mellowing along with his own. He considered the idea. “We do have two days before hostilities resume, per the cease-fire agreement. But Aris could be anywhere in the city, if he still lives after that last battle.”
Binding Force Page 17
