I am Jade Falcon

by Robert Thurston

  But he managed to die, damn him!

  Well, there was no point in such unClanlike meditations. Best just to find Ravill Pryde and his Timber Wolf and reduce them both to junkyard scrap.

  But where in blazes was he?

  * * *

  Another jarring footstep and her sensors came back online. Looking at the secondary screen Joanna saw a massive pressure ridge of ice and snow before her. A few more steps brought the ice cliff into view, thrusting high into the sky.

  "Impressive, is it not, Star Commander Joanna?" Ravill Pryde said, breaking communications silence for the first time since the fight had begun.

  She felt quite vulnerable, knowing that he could attack her from behind. Immediately she began to rotate the Mad Dog, not an easy task on the ice. The 'Mech was too heavy to fall, but that did not stop it from slipping and sliding a bit as she laboriously turned it one hundred and eighty degrees. She had her lasers ready to fire, but the Timber Wolf was not where it should have been. According to her scanners, she should be facing him, but from her viewport all she could see in front of her was chaotically swirling snow.

  "Storm's got my systems haywire, too, Joanna. But I know where you are. Let me take a good look."

  To her left, the Timber Wolf emerged from the curtain of snow. Seen from the front, the 'Mech looked much less fierce that its namesake. With its missile racks seeming to make the shoulders slump, its low head, and its arms bent so tentatively, the 'Mech looked humble.

  Joanna decided to bide her time for a good shot, having wasted the first volley. A quick systems check revealed that the 'Mech's internal heat buildup was unusually high, perhaps the result of using too much power to force its way through the storm. Looking out through the viewport, she saw some condensation, some mist, around the Mad Dog as its heat met the cold of the air. There was no similar mist around the Timber Wolf, so Ravill Pryde apparently was not encountering similar heat complications.

  "Save your fire for now, Joanna. I wish to talk."

  "Talk. You are a strange Jade Falcon, Ravill Pryde."

  "I am that, perhaps. From your point of view, anyway. But that is not what I want to discuss. I am willing to call this duel a draw. No one can see us. I do not wish to destroy you. You are too valuable to the Clan. I would be satisfied to let the others believe we fought to a draw. It would also give you great honor."

  "No warrior ever plans a draw."

  "Maybe. But I am willing, in order to avoid a battle that is essentially wasteful. If I kill you, the Clan loses an essential warrior. If you kill me, the Falcon Guards are suddenly leaderless. Who can say when an adequate replacement might be dispatched here?"

  "Who said you were adequate?"

  "Do not waste our time with badinage, Joanna."

  "I do not even know the word."

  "What about the draw?"

  "What about my transfer to the canister nursery?”

  “I cannot change that."

  "Then I will not accept a draw. Warriors bid before battle, not during. You are some different kind of warrior, Ravill Pryde."

  "True, perhaps. I offer the draw one more time."

  "Bargained poorly and not done at all, Star Colonel."

  The sound that now came over the line was strange. Was it possible the Falcon Guard commander was chuckling?

  "Let the battle resume then. I will allow you to fire first. First, that is, if we do not count that foolish missile burst of a few minutes ago."

  "You wish me to initiate the battle? I do not like that."

  "Maybe, maybe not. But the storm is getting worse and we should not dawdle. Fire when ready, Joanna."

  His supercilious tone made Joanna angry enough to do just that. With a curse she triggered a fierce barrage of laser fire at the Timber Wolf, but Ravill Pryde had moved his 'Mech sideways into the heavy snowfall and disappeared. Before he vanished, Joanna saw big chunks of his 'Mech's ferro-fibrous armor dislodge. Her lasers had done significant damage, she was sure.

  But why didn't the stravag return fire? He did nothing. Just walked away like a coward.

  Joanna had little time to ponder his actions, for the Timber Wolf had now reappeared in a different spot. She noted quickly that it was not the location shown on her screen. Ignoring the once again failed sensor and targeting system, she fired her lasers at the Timber Wolf by instinct. Her shots sent much more armor flying off and disappearing into the snow. Ravill Pryde still did not return fire.

  She decided to try missiles again. Some of them, probably thrown off course by the worsening storm, went over the Timber Wolf's head. At least one missile hit, though, and it looked like the Timber Wolf was in trouble. Before she could be sure, it again faded out of sight, the weather its shield.

  The stravag has not fired once since the battle commenced. How could he have prevailed in a Trial, won a bloodname, with tactics like this?

  "Star Commander Joanna." Ravill Pryde's voice was near a whisper. It came soothingly over the commline. Another attempt to disorient her?

  She could not see the Timber Wolf anywhere, but her screen showed it to be only a few meters away, practically on top of her. Perhaps the phenomena were not caused by malfunctioning equipment. Perhaps Ravill Pryde could render his 'Mech invisible.

  "Will you gab so much in a real battle, Star Colonel?"

  "I do not often get someone worth talking to. But this time I am only trying to help."

  "Help your enemy? What kind of warrior are you?"

  "Not your kind, apparently. But no matter. I am reviewing my battle ROM recording of our last encounter and—"

  "You review your opponent's tactics in the midst of a battle?"

  "Well, yes. It is useful. For instance, I can see from reviewing the battle ROM that your Mad Dog is overheating. Dangerously overheating, looks like."

  Joanna glanced at her heat monitor, which did, as she knew, show a dangerous heat rise, but how could she be sure that such information was not related to the malfunctioning of all the other equipment? She looked out the viewport, trying to locate the Timber Wolf and finish it off. All she could see was the madly spinning snow. Apparently there was no mistake about her 'Mech's heat levels, however. The ice that had begun to form on the viewport had melted away.

  "I am not overheating, Ravill Pryde. We have not fought enough for that."

  "You may not be overheating, but your 'Mech surely is. And we have fought enough. In these conditions more demands are put on any 'Mech. Just the effort of moving through this—"

  "Stow it! This is too much chatter. You are merely using some new kind of psychological method. You are as cunning as Cholas and the rest of the prydelings."

  "Prydelings? You call them that? I am not sure whether it is an insult or a compliment."

  "Come back into my sights and we can end this!"

  "Oh, I am sure we will. But I would suggest that you do something abut your heat levels. You see, the heat output of your leg-mounted heat sinks is melting the ice below you. Your 'Mech is slowly sinking through one of the thinnest sections of ice. You only have two meters under you, and your 'Mech has already gone though half a meter of that. And, by the way, here is a little added problem."

  The Timber Wolf charged out of the storm toward her, firing.

  But the Mad Dog did not rock with impact.

  "You missed, scum!" she shouted gleefully as she sent another laser burst at the Timber Wolf. More of its armor sheared away as it again went out of sight.

  "I missed you, yes, Joanna. But then I was not, in fact, aiming at you. I was using my Thunder LRMs and firing them toward your 'Mech's feet, you are, at this moment, surrounded by a minefield."

  Joanna stared at her scanner screen which, indeed, did show that the area in front of her and to each side was littered with Thunder LRM mines. Each warhead was volatile. Trying to move through them at this moment, while vulnerable to an attack from Ravill Pryde, would be well-nigh impossible. She could do it, but—

  The Mad Dog rocked sudd
enly and felt as if it were about to fall. One leg had slipped lower. Ravill Pryde had spoken the truth. The ice beneath her was melting. Her heat was too high, and would definitely cause the Mad Dog to fall through the ice.

  "Shut down, Joanna. I will cease my attack. You may either concede defeat in this honor duel, or we will resume when you are ready."

  "I want no gifts from you."

  "Nevertheless, I refuse to finish you off under these conditions. Shut down all your systems."

  "Finish me off? Come where I can see you and let me finish you off first."

  "I am not as damaged as you may think. Face it, Joanna, the fight is over—for the time, at least. Shut down." The Mad Dog shifted again and Joanna's stomach lurched with it as the 'Mech seemed to sink lower in the ice. Working frantically, she powered down every system she could think of. She took the leg-mounted heat sinks off line, and made no unnecessary moves. The lurching stopped.

  Why is he declaring this truce? He could merely step forward now, while the minefield prevents me from moving this machine, and annihilate me. What is he up to? Why do I know he is up to something beyond what he says?

  As she waited for the heat levels to sink low enough to start up the 'Mech again, Joanna studied the minefield. It did not really surround her, as Ravill Pryde had said. Mines had been placed only on three sides. But with the high cliff in back of her, she could not back up a step and go around one side of the minefield. So the mine placement, while not exactly an encirclement, was one in effect.

  The stravag deliberately guided me here. It was his plan all along! Why? Why does he not just fire at will and reduce me to debris? That would at least end all my problems. A warrior's death—not graceful or admirable, but at least a warrior's death!

  The only way out was through the minefield. She could set off a couple of mines without being sufficiently damaged, but it would give Ravill Pryde, if he resumed the fight at that moment, an excellent opportunity to take effective potshots at her. Still, based on potential strategies, it seemed the best one. Perhaps it could be managed if she could angle her Mad Dog to her right.

  That is what she would do, Joanna decided, as she studied the steadily falling heat levels. Having calculated the point at which she could safely start up again, she watched the measurements sink to that level. As soon as she could get the 'Mech moving again, which would come before her weapons were ready, she would make a quick dart through the minefield, using the kind of feint and move tactics that Ravill Pryde himself was employing, and make this conflict even once more.

  Probably detecting that Joanna had re-started her 'Mech, Ravill Pryde again spoke. "I am about to teach you a lesson, Star Commander Joanna. It is in the nature of tactics and strategy, something the Jade Falcons could use more of. We should perhaps study the Wolves in that respect."

  Only someone with Wolf genes could say that to a Jade Falcon warrior, Joanna thought. "Try to move your 'Mech."

  Just what I was about to do, freebirth. But something was wrong. The Mad Dog was not responding.

  "The air temperature is such that once your heat sinks were taken off line, the water immediately froze again. Right now your 'Mech's legs are encased in ice. You will not be able to take a step for some time. A trap, quiaff, and a good one, quiaff?"

  Now in his voice was the arrogance that had been missing earlier. Joanna refused to answer as she continued to work her controls, trying to make the 'Mech operational. Systems were coming on one by one, their lights flashing readiness on her console, but to no avail.

  The Timber Wolf stepped forward and fired its large laser at the Mad Dog. Ravill Pryde kept his shots away from the torso of Joanna's 'Mech while crippling her left-shoulder missile rack. Launching a missile of his own, he directed it to a heavy branch jutting out of the cliff, which fell on the other missile rack and knocked it loose. It merely hung there, now useless. As a fillip to the assault, he concentrated fire on the Mad Dog's left arm and amputated it from the body. Suddenly, when Joanna's weapons systems did become operational, all she could use was the right-arm laser. She fired it immediately, but her shots went wide.

  "That is enough, Star Commander Joanna. I do not wish to toy with you."

  "End it then."

  "No. You want that too much."

  "This fight was to the death. You agreed."

  "I did that. But remember, this is actually the final event of the games. I have won. That is sufficient. I do not wish to kill you and I will not. I prefer humiliation over death, and we will revel in your shame as we send you off to your new assignment. I have won, Joanna. Accept that, and leave it at that."

  Joanna could not recall ever feeling so frustrated. What madness drove this stravag on?

  "Of course, if you wish to die, you may. You have one weapon left. Use it to explode the mines. If they do not destroy you, maybe they will be enough to break up the ice and open a hole that will take your Mad Dog straight to the bottom of this lake. Look around you. This ice floe that we fight on is floating over an ocean of frigid water. The sea bed is more than four hundred meters down. At one hundred meters the seals of your 'Mech will fail and the engine compartment will flood. At three hundred meters your cockpit will be crushed by the weight of the water around it. By the time you hit the bottom, you and your 'Mech will be crushed flat.

  "But what I suggest is this. Put your survival suit on and climb down from your 'Mech. I will give you a ride back to the DropShip in my Timber Wolf. Or perhaps you could ride on my 'Mech's shoulder like a pet monkey. Either way you will get back to the warmth and safety of the DropShip."

  "I could still tell them about your Wolf genes, about our traitorous scientist caste. That might take the spirit out of your victory, Ravill Pryde."

  "I doubt that. As you have said, you are Jade Falcon, you are honorable. You agreed not to speak if we had this little fracas, and you will keep your word. Few would believe you, anyway. They would just see an embittered, humiliated warrior. Even if the spy, your freeborn associate, backed you up—well, she is merely freebirth scum and her words would carry even less weight than yours. Do what you wish. I can counter it. At any rate, this storm is not over and will probably get worse. Leave your 'Mech. I will send a party out to retrieve it soon enough. We cannot waste a good BattleMech, after all. By the way, it is nice and warm in my cockpit."

  "I refuse to ride with you."

  "But how will you return?"

  "I will walk. I need the air."

  "You will freeze to death."

  "I will not ride with you!"

  "So be it, then. If you make it back to shore, I will be there with your travel orders in my hand. Farewell, Joanna."

  The Thunder Wolf again performed its disappearing act into the storm.

  How could the filthy stravag do this? I deserve to die with honor. Nobody deserves this humiliation. He wanted to humiliate me from the beginning. That was his battle plan. I could kill him. I will kill him. But no, whatever I do, this humiliation will remain. It is not as bad as Twycross, even though on Twycross I was only part of a unit defeated igno-

  miniously. But here, here on Sudeten Lake, the same attaches to no one but me. The stravag! The bastard! He knows that wherever I go, people will hear about this. At the canister nursery the sibkin might one day taunt me with it. Ravill Pryde is the lowest form of Clan warrior. There must be more Clan Wolf in him than his genetic blueprint shows.

  She stared out the viewport at the raging winds and heavily falling snow. She sighed. Ravill Pryde was right. She could not survive out there. She would die. Joanna sighed again.

  No, she would not be that lucky.

  15

  Falcon Guard Compound

  Pattersen, Sudeten

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  1 August 3057

  "Not packing yet?" Diana asked from the doorway of Joanna's quarters. The star commander stood in the middle of the room and surveyed what was the normal shambles for any quarters she had inhabited during all her
warrior years. Since her failure to defeat Ravill Pryde, Joanna had shuffled or scattered or dropped even more of her possessions to different parts of the room and somehow created a more chaotic environment than any she had lived in before. If that was possible.

  "Not packing at all. What is there to pack? Look at this junk. Would you bother to transport it to any other part of the universe?"

  Diana stepped into the room and glanced around. "I see your point," she said. Horse, who had been waiting outside, now followed her in.

  "You look uneasy, Horse," Joanna remarked. "Something like a warrior who has lost control of his 'Mech."

  Horse stared at the floor. "I ... I just wanted to say ... that, well, it's not like me to ..."

  "Spit it out, Horse," Joanna said irritably.

  "I was going to say ... well, I'll probably miss your ugly face around here."

  "I thought you did not even like me much."

  "What's that got to do with it?"

  "I do not know, Horse, I truly do not and don't know."

  Diana smiled. "You two."

  "We two what?" Joanna asked.

  "You are so used to bantering and disputing about contractions that you do not even realize you have become friends."

  "Friends with scum like Horse? You filthy freebirths are truly ignorant."

  "Yes, Joanna," Diana said. "We truly are."

  The three shared an uneasy silence. Years were contained in it.

  "The DropShip has arrived," Horse said. "And guess what?"

  "I do not guess." Joanna grouched.

  "It brought an interesting passenger. The estimable Star Colonel Kael Pershaw."

  "The walking dead man?" Joanna said.

  "One and the same. They say he is on some kind of mission."

  "Perhaps they are making Ravill Pryde a Khan," Diana said sarcastically. "I still do not know why he did not dismiss me. It makes me mad. I mean, after I spied and—"

  "That is his punishment," Horse said.

  "I do not understand."

  "Keeping you with him. What better torture?”