Prince of Havoc

by Michael A. Stackpole

  The Devastator on Victor's left did not contribute its fire to killing the Masakari or Cauldron-Born, but instead targeted one of the Stormcrows coming around to the north. The Gauss rifle in each arm spat out silver projectiles that streaked across the scarlet landscape and smashed into the Stormcrow' s left arm. The first shattered the armor and the second carried the limb off. When the arm hit the ground, the heavy autocannon in it exploded, spraying shells everywhere. The Devastator's twin torso-mounted PPCs then stabbed forks of cobalt lightning into the Stormcrow's right flank and left leg, obliterating armor.

  Victor keyed his radio. "Nice shooting, Jerry. Devastator's a nice change from that old thing you used to drive, isn't it?"

  "No complaints here, boss."

  Looking like a robotic fledgling moving about the nest, the Masakari regained its feet and delivered three PPC shots to Danai's Falconer. Two stripped armor from each arm, but the third nailed the Falconer dead center in the chest. Victor saw her 'Mech shake and lurch to one side. He knew it was going down, but Danai fought it and got her own shots off before the Falconer plowed into the ground.

  Danai's Gauss rifle shot skipped off the Masakari's left flank, scattering pulverized shards of armor in its wake. The PPC strike drilled into the center of the Clan 'Mech, mirroring the shot that had hammered her Falconer. The Clan 'Mech likewise wavered and again crashed to the ground in a shower of armor fragments.

  The Cauldron-Born fired at Victor's Daishi. The large lasers hit Prometheus in the chest and right flank, with a medium laser jabbing its red beam into the damaged right flank as well. The Clanner's assault reduced the armor on that side by nearly two-thirds, yet despite the loss of a ton of armor, Victor kept the OmniMech upright.

  The second missile and laser volley from Redburn's people pounded the Cauldron-Born. Explosion after explosion bloomed like flowers all over the Clan 'Mech. Jets of black smoke erupted through the gray haze surrounding it Green laser spears skewered the cloud and more explosions splashed light throughout the cloud. Bits and pieces of 'Mech, most unrecognizable, bounced across the ground, some trailing; long, stringy myomer fibers. As the dust settled, Victor could make out what looked to be the cockpit and a thin lattice of metal connecting it to what probably was a leg, biit of the rest of the Cauldron-Born all he could see was debris and a black stain on the ground. a shiver ran through Victor. It was easy to project himself into the pilot's place. I know our being here is insanity, but the Clanners seem to embrace and cherish it. They should see they've lost here, but, then, that wouldn't really matter, to them or us. He set himself and turned his guns on one of the Stormcrows to the north. We all agreed on Tharkad that the Smoke Jaguars must die. It's time for me to finish the job so many others have carried to this point.

  Victor's Gauss rifle nailed the Stormerow's right arm, shivering most of the armor from the limb. His large pulse lasers scattered shots over the smaller 'Mech's chest and right flank. One of the darts pierced the armor over its heart while those that hit the flank scraped away all the armor there and lit up internal structures. Black smoke started trailing from the chest and flank, and a greenish-yellow fluid started leaking from the right hip.

  Jerry Cranston's Devastator unloaded on its target. The Gauss rifle projectiles slammed into the 'Mech's left leg and flank, shattering all the armor there. The shot to the flank even dented the 'Mech's frame. Of the PPCs, only one hit, but its cerulean lightning played over the Stormcrow's head. Armor exploded and the cockpit canopy burst apart. Trailing black smoke from where the pilot had once sat, the Stormcrow pitched forward, scattering stones before it, as it skidded to a halt.

  Victor stared mutely at the dark, smoking pit where the Clanner had once sat. A sour taste stole through his mouth, but he knew it wasn't fear. Disgust. That warrior didn't need to die, none of them needed to die. That's why this is all insane, but no more. Here, today, the insanity that was the Clan invasion will stop.

  11

  ComStar Command Center, Zhaloba Mountain

  Strana Mechty

  Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space

  23 April 3060

  Khan Marthe Pryde, seated high in the cockpit of her Summoner, keyed her radio. "Second Star, we engage now. You have your targets logged. Good hunting." As her Starmates acknowledged the order, she started her humanoid 'Mech forward, even as the first Clan Turkina went down.

  Her blue eyes narrowed at that sight Her people had taken more damage than she'd expected, but the datafeed to her secondary monitor indicated that the ComStar force had been pounded. All her 'Mechs save one were operational and, more important, the damage done to the ComStar 'Mechs had left them strung out along the mountain slope. Her second Star would engage them and break them, sending them tumbling back down to the plains where they had grounded.

  Marthe brought her Summoner to the edge of the slope, standing beside the Nova piloted by her saKhan, Samantha Clees. She immediately settled the golden cross hairs on her holographic display over one of the broadly built Excaliburs on the field. A gold dot flared in the center of the cross, and Marthe tightened on her trigger, firing all three of the Summoner's weapons systems. The autocannon devoured armor on the target's right leg, and the LRMs picked away at the protection on the 'Mech's middle and right arm. More missiles might have hit, but the Excalibur's anti-missile system picked a number of them off. The PPC sent its cobalt scalpel stabbing deep into the Excalibur's right flank, withering away all the armor there and starting on the 'Mech's frame.

  Part of Marthe knew that as devastating as her attack was on that previously unblemished 'Mech, it could have been even more harmful against one of the damaged ones. The attack that merely softened up her target could have put one of the other 'Mechs out of the battle. The ComStar forces had shown no compunction against having multiple warriors target one foe to heighten the damage done.

  She refused to participate in such barbarity. The Jade Falcons had always prided themselves on single combat, a contest of equals. The ComStar pilots, no matter how skilled, would never be the equals of her Jade Falcons. To gang up on them would be to suggest that somehow they inspired fear. They bested us at Tukayyid, but we will beat them here, regaining our honor. We have no reason to fear them. Multiple assaults might be fine for the Wolves or others, but not us.

  The Excalibur fired back at Marthe's Summoner, impressing her with the pilot's cool reaction despite the damage his 'Mech had taken. His LRMs crumbled armor on her Summoner' s right leg and middle, sending tremors through the 'Mech. A silver blur launched by the Excalibur's Gauss rifle slammed into the Summoner's left arm, slewing the giant machine around to the side. Marthe fought the controls to keep the Summoner standing, stabilizing it after only taking a few steps backward.

  The downed Black Knight climbed back to its feet and exchanged shots with Clees' Nova. The ComStar pilot cut loose with two large laser shots and a blast from his PPC. The PPC boiled armor off the Nova's left shoulder, while one of the large lasers vaporized armor on the right flank. The second large laser's beam drilled through the last of the armor on the 'Mech's chest and began to eat away at core structures.

  Clees kept her 'Mech upright and fired back, again relying on.the 'Mech's left arm to supply most of the shots. The single medium laser in the right arm missed again, and Marthe knew Clees would have the hide off the leader of her tech crew for the misses. All six of the other lasers hit. Two scoured more than half the armor off the 'Mech's left arm, and one each blazed into the Black Knight's legs, broiling armor off in great slabs. The last two hits did the most damage, though, destroying the last of the armor on the 'Mech's left flank and beginning to work on its interior. Despite the fearsome damage Clees delivered, this time the ComStar 'Mech did not go down.

  The first Turkina and the Grim Reaper it faced both rose up at the same time and resumed their battle. The Grim Reaper's missile spread came in tight and wreathed the squat Turkina in fire. Armor exploded from both flanks and fell off the right arm in huge chunks. The
large laser's beam sliced the last of the armor from that limb, then angled up through a heat-sink pod and half-melted the myomer muscle controlling that arm.

  The Turkina targeted the Grim Reaper and cut loose with all its weapons. Both pulse lasers sent a storm of green laser bolts screaming through the Grim Reaper's weakened chest armor. They evaporated the last of it, then incinerated internal support structures and engine shielding. One of the large lasers melted through the last of the armor on the Grim Reaper's right arm and started on the myomere beneath, while the other combined with a medium pulse laser to completely gut the Grim Reaper, collapsing the 'Mech and driving its engine out through the back.

  The other weapons shredded yet more armor, but that damage meant nothing as the ComStar Mech slammed into the ground. The 'Mech's faceplate exploded outward in a gout of flame, then the pilot shot into the sky aboard the ejection seat. The pilot quickly corrected the chair's rocket course, curving around and heading back toward the distant ComStar headquarters.

  Marthe switched her holographic display over to infrared, then shielded her eyes as the other ComStar Excalibur drew a bead on the most damaged Clan Black Lanner. The engine hits must surely have the Excalibur's heat spiking, but it raised its right arm and pointed its Gauss rifle at the Black Lanner. At the same time the Black Lanner fired back.

  The Excalibur's silver ball slammed into the Black Lanner's naked right leg, splintering the ferro-titanium limb and severing it right above the knee joint. The lower half of the leg careened back toward the lake, while the damaged 'Mech dropped to its right flank.

  The Black Lanner's, fire at the Excalibur proved just as devastating. The PPC incinerated almost all the armor over the 'Mech's midline, and one of the two pulse lasers burned armor from the left arm. The other pulse laser's red needles sailed through the gaping hole in the Excalibur's right flank and melted what little frame remained there. The Excalibur's right arm fell away, taking with it the Gauss rifle. Heat spiked yet again, and the Excalibur froze in position. Black smoke poured from it, and the pilot ejected nanoseconds before the unshielded engine exploded, consuming the upper half of the 'Mech in a roiling golden ball that had once been the fusion reaction that gave it life.

  A Night Gyr in Marthe's Star targeted an untouched Shootist, bringing all of its weapons to bear. The two large lasers that made up the 'Mech's right forearm splashed their beams over the Shootist. One scored the armor on the heavy-set 'Mech's centerline, while the other disintegrated the armor on its head. A shower of sparks from the cockpit signaled the failure of some system or other, but the 'Mech did not go down. The two small autocannons that fired each nicked up the armor on the Shootist's arms. The Night Gyr's medium lasers hit with their ruby beams even as the Shootist fired its weapons. One of the mediums boiled more armor off the 'Mech's right arm, but the other one bathed the 'Mech's head with a bloody beam that obliterated the structure, both cockpit and pilot vanishing in one hellish second.

  The decapitated 'Mech crashed to the ground, but not before the shots it had taken hit their target. The Shootist had not aimed at the Night Gyr that killed it, but had instead targeted the Turkina that had gotten this far without having its armor breached. The Shootist's autocannon fire ripped its way up the 'Mech's left arm, scouring all but a thin crust of armor from the limb. The dying 'Mech's large laser ablated more armor off the Turkina's midline, while the two pulse lasers burned armor from the left flank and finished the last of the armor on the 'Mech's left arm. The last of the scarlet darts chewed into the Turkina's skeletal structure, but the pilot weathered the assault.

  The Turkina's other foes turned their fire on it as well. The Grim Reaper fired everything it had at the Jade Falcon 'Mech. LRMs blasted into either leg, further worrying the spotty armor on the left leg and the left flank. The large laser in its right arm flashed out to caress the naked left arm with an infernal beam. Myomers smoked and the ferro-titanium bones began to glow a dull orange. The pulse laser's red bolts peppered the Turkina's midline and one pierced the 'Mech's breast. Black smoke began to pour out of the hole and heat spiked, telling Marthe the Turkina's engine had been hit.

  The Black Knight that had attacked it before now centered its weapons on the large Clan 'Mech. It fired two large lasers; a large pulse laser and the medium pulse laser mounted in its right arm. The large lasers cored armor on the 'Mech's right arm and left flank. Fiery green lances from the large pulse laser mounted in the Black Knight's chest nibbled away at more of the left flank armor. The smaller pulse laser shot its ruby shafts through the left flank, burning away the last of the armor and starting on the Turkina's frame. as the fourth ComStar 'Mech let fly at the Turkina, and the Turkina's pilot fired at the Grim Reaper, Marthe marveled at the pilot's calm when catching such damage. The Turkina had not so much as wavered a centimeter despite the pounding it was taking. Though the armor on the left side of its body had been sorely fragmented and stripped away, the pilot made no attempt to retreat or shield that side. That pilot, Arimas, allowed himself to be captured on Coventry and begged to join this Star so he could redeem himself from such humiliation. He is a Malthus, and if he survives this, I shall press the leaders of his House to let him fight for a bloodname.

  The ComStar Quickdraw shot all four of its medium lasers at the Turkina. One missed, and one blackened more armor over the 'Mech's chest. The other two lased away the last of the armor on the right arm, then nipped through the shoulder joint, sending the Turkina's arm and its two large lasers crashing to the ground. The pilot successfully fought to regain balance after losing the limb, and though an armor fog clung to his 'Mech, the Turkina appeared unconquerable.

  One of the large lasers sent out a stuttering barrage of green needles that flayed the last of the armor off the Grim Reaper's right arm and fused the shoulder joint. The other one laced more fire into the naked right leg, picking away at the muscles and skeleton, leaving it a tattered wreck. One of the two large lasers missed completely, but the other took the right arm clean off. One of the medium pulse lasers sent a ruby hail that devoured the Grim Reaper's right leg, while the other one chewed through more of the midline structural support members. The Grim Reaper, missing the right half of its body, spun around and slammed into the ground, face down, trapping the pilot in the cockpit. another Night Gyr oriented on the untouched Black Knight and fired. The Gauss rifles built into each arm spat out silver balls that smashed into the Black Knight. One pulverized armor on the right flank while the other blasted away over half the armor on its right arm. The ComStar 'Mech retained its feet, but the assault staggered it back several steps.

  The second Summoner in Marthe's Star targeted the Quickdraw. The heavy ultra-autocannon fired two volleys. One drilled through the armor on the Quickdraw's right flank. A silvery explosion heralded the death of a jump jet, while a splash of green smoke indicated a heat sink had been destroyed. The other blast of shells ripped all the armor from the 'Mech's right arm and all but severed it. The large laser that shot from the Summoner's right arm finished the job, slicing off the Quickdraw's right arm completely.

  The last Black Lanner again exchanged fire with the Shootist it had been targeting since the forces first engaged each other. The pilot hit with all five of the medium lasers he triggered. One carved armor from the Shootist's right arm, while the next concentrated on the right leg. Two more bored into and through the armor on the right flank, evaporating a heat sink. The last sizzled armor from the 'Mech's left arm.

  The Shootist remained upright and gave as good as it got from the Clan 'Mech. The autocannon stitched fire over the left leg, stripping away all but a few fragments of armor. A pulse laser finished the last of the armor on the 'Mech's left flank while the other one burned away the last of the left arm's protection and crisped muscles and bones. The large laser did the most serious damage when it swept over the armorless right leg. The beam of coherent light dissipated everything it touched, amputating the limb at the hip. The Black Limner wavered, then fell to the ground
.

  Thfe twin ComStar Spartans engaged the last unattacked Clan 'Mech, the third Summoner in Marthe's Star. The first hit with all its beam weapons. A PPC and pulse laser liquefied the armor on the 'Mech's left flank, while another pulse laser burned a line of black dots along the left arm. The last pulse laser concentrated its fire near the Summoner's right hip, but failed to core through the armor and do damage.

  The second Spartan likewise fired all its beam weapons. A pulse laser carved up more armor on the right leg, while the other two bubbled armor over the 'Mech's midline. The PPC's cerulean lightning stabbed into the 'Mech's left arm, dropping armor in steaming goblets to the ground. More important, the brutality of the twin assaults dropped the Summoner but not before it opened fire at one of its tormentors.

  The stricken Summoner was equipped entirely with missiles, both long and short range, with which it hammered away at one of the Spartans. Missiles peppered the ComStar 'Mech, blasting armor from all over. The 'Mech lost the most armor off its right arm and left flank, but a quintet of missiles smashed into the head and ground down the armor there. The Spartan staggered for a step, but didn't go down.

  With grudging respect, Marthe spitted the Excalibur on her cross hairs and again tightened up on her triggers. The LRM salvo lost a lot of missiles to the Excalibur's missile defense, but the five that did make it through blew the last of the armor off the ComStar 'Mech's right leg and started to work on the limb itself. Marthe cursed when her autocannon shells slammed into the 'Mech's left flank, but the PPC's man-made lightning electrified the 'Mech's right leg. The myomer muscles burst into flame, and the bones glowed white-hot a second before they vanished in a gout of smoke. as the one-legged Excalibur went down, the pilot fired his LRMs and Gauss rifle. The silver ball streaked past Marthe's cockpit, missing by bare centimeters, but the LRMs caught her Summoner full on in the chest. A wave of heat washed up over her as one of them cored her armor and hit her engine. The heat monitor spiked her 'Mech up into the red zone while the heat sinks labored to dissipate as much of the heat as possible.