Everything seemed quiet at this part of the river. Looking back upstream, they could see the smoke and river-steam completely obscuring the battle.
"Things look bad," Aidan commented.
"I take it that we are not returning to that!"
"No, we want to be brave, but not suicidal. We will run along the flank, see what we can do, and try to rejoin the Falcon Guards."
"I hope the Guards have come out of this better than the Twelfth did."
"Senza Oriega was a great warrior, but she was a fool."
"Fool? Arrogant, perhaps, even rude, but a fool?"
"She led her command into total disaster."
Horse paused for a moment, giving Aidan a hard stare. "Do not forget that it was you agitating for the right to be first over the bridge. Instead of calling Senza Oriega a fool, you might say that she took the bullet that was meant for you."
* * *
Diana could not explain the inner emptiness she felt. When night fell and Aidan Pryde was still listed as missing, she began to fear that he was a definite casualty of the battle of Robyn's Crossing. Had she been wrong to withhold her identity from him? It had seemed the best course while he was still alive, but now she wished for a chance to reconsider.
So many had been lost at Robyn's Crossing that her father and the others were only a fraction of the casualties. Yet his deeds had been memorable, and many warriors spoke of them all through the encampment. If he had died, his death was one worthy of a warrior.
Then Joanna came to her with the news that Aidan Pryde had survived, that he had just now rejoined the Falcon Guards.
Diana stayed her distance, disturbed by how relieved she was to see this stranger who was her father alive. She watched him move here and there through the camp, speaking with many of the warriors, reviving their spirits and in turn receiving their respect.
Diana was sure that after this night the nickname "Pryde's Pride" would stick, at least among the Falcon Guards themselves. She wondered whether she, too, might become Pryde's pride if she were to reveal to him their blood tie. Probably not, she told herself. Anyway, she had already lost the urge to tell him.
29
As Aidan had told Horse, the way of the Clan was not particularly subtle, but he had to admit that the shape of the events following the destruction of Robyn's Crossing and Plough Bridge were taking on a subtle shading. Prezno River became a powerful symbol for the officers of the Falcon command group. In the war councils, he could hear in his fellow warriors' words that the river was no longer a mere body of water. It had begun to represent the fight for Tukayyid itself. The river's roiling surface and strong current were like the ComStar artillery barrages that lay ahead, with their apparently endless supply of ammunition. Its murky depths reflected all the tricks and deceptions of ComStar strategy. A jutting branch could pierce a warrior's back like a ComStar ambush, river debris swim in and around him like darting ComStar light 'Mechs. Moving slowly, a warrior became an even better target for the enemy.
Aidan wanted to berate his fellow warriors for their attributing human motives to the river. It is just a river, he wanted to say, just water and the ordinary elements found in water. There was no reason to invest the river with mystery. Symbolism was an Inner Sphere style of thinking. He should know, having read enough of their books in his time.
And yet the river did seem to have turned against them. Ever since the destruction of the bridges, several units had tried to discover places where it was possible to ford the river. Each attempt had ended in failure and, frequently, disaster. The few BattleMechs that made it partway into the river at relatively shallow points were almost immediately swept up by the swift currents and knocked downstream. Some of them came out of the river in a battered condition, some were never heard from again. There were already rumors that recon planes had spotted pieces of 'Mechs, seat cushions, interior paneling, myomer bundles, and the like crowded into river inlets, looking like sewer debris.
The only aspect of the battle going well for Clan Jade Falcon were the assaults of their aerofighters, many of which had successfully strafed Com Guard 'Mechs and vehicles. The ComStar air arm had become surprisingly quiescent, and the only aerofighters that had been spotted were staying away from the obviously superior Jade Falcon aircraft. Most of the successful air activity took place beyond the river. Near the riverbanks the Com Guard forces delivered fierce attacks and counterattacks.
With the ComStar barrage temporarily halted and its aerofighters out of action, the calm night hid the ravages suffered by ithe countryside of Prezno Plain. Only the smells of scorched armor, cordite, and the faint metallic odors of overheated BattleMechs suggested the scale and scope of the battle that had so recently taken place there.
When Aidan could not bear to listen to any more folderol, he asked to address the council. Though he sensed the disapproval of the other Clan commanding officers, he strode forward.
"Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, we commend your courage at the Battle of Robyn's Crossing," Galaxy Commander Mar Helmer said. The Khan, sitting next to him, nodded agreement. "What have you to say to us here?"
"I believe this talk of our engineers building a bridge across the river is a waste of time," Aidan said. Some murmured objection buzzed among the assembled warriors, but no one stood to contradict Aidan. "We need to get personnel onto the other side of Prezno River, warriors who can defend the other end of any bridge we attempt to construct. Otherwise the Com Guards will pick off our engineers at their leisure."
Star Colonel Gran Newclay of the Third Falcon Cluster stood up suddenly. He spoke in the nasty voice he always used to convey derision with some simple words. "And without the bridge, how does the noble hero of Robyn's Crossing intend to get units across the Prezno River?"
"Those of us equipped with jump jets can jump across."
Gran Newclay made a sound in the back of his throat that must have been some distorted version of a laugh. He was a tall, thick man with skin that looked like cracked and over-oiled leather.
"And is the noble hero of Robyn's Crossing aware that the river is too wide for the longest jump-jet leap a Jade Falcon BattleMech can manage? The Prezno is some two hundred-fifty meters wide at its narrowest crossing. The Star Colonel must have been asleep when we discussed the terrain at the last council. We decided then that no jumps were possible and that the bridges—"
It was a breach of decorum during a Clan council to interrupt an officer who was senior in grade, even when the gathering was an improvised war meeting such as this one. Aidan did so anyway, "I know all the proper data, Star Colonel Gran Newclay. I know it as well as you. But let me say this: My Falcon Guards have all been ordered to mount jump jet modules, and we can find a place to use them, and we will use them."
"Respectfully," Gran Newclay said, "I submit that the noble hero's plan is too audacious, and the Clan must not adopt it. We must set into motion the engineer units, assign BattleMechs to protect them—a duty I am sure the Falcon Guards could fulfill very well—and get them to the river for—"
Aidan committed another breach of council etiquette, interrupting Newclay a second time. "ComStar will pick them off even as they are constructing the bridge, unless my Falcon Guards can get to the other side, along with any other jump-equipped 'Mechs that can be detached to join us. Then, as I stated, we can defend that side so that the engineers can build their structure under proper protection. With 'Mechs to provide long-range support and our Elementals to proceed further into the countryside, we can provide just that."
"I submit again," Gran Newclay said, his voice louder now, "that the Clan leaders cannot approve such a shortsighted strategy. The Prezno River is too treacherous at all points. Its current will merely sweep our BattleMechs away instead of—"
And Aidan interrupted Gran Newclay a third time, which would have been grounds for an honor duel in noncombat conditions. "Yes, we may lose some of our 'Mechs, but that is war, quiaff? Whatever sacrifice is made, we must do this or wind up
taking potshots at the Com Guards from across the river, while the rest of the Clans garner the glory elsewhere on Tukayyid."
Aidan's appeal to the competition between Clans was calculated. If anything could rouse Clan warriors to action, it was the suggestion that the success of rival Clans might bring shame to them.
"The way is difficult," said Gran Newclay, now clearly ruffled, "but approved combat procedures are the only way we can hope to—"
Could Aidan Pryde interrupt Gran Newclay a fourth time? No doubt about it. "Gran Newclay, you take your approved combat procedures and drop them in the Prezno River with the sharded remnants of the two bridges."
"I approve of Star Colonel Aidan Pryde's alacrity to enter battle," Galaxy Commander Mar Helmer said, "but I believe that such a drastic proposal would only serve to—"
Mar Helmer, his face as pale and his manners as calm as ever, was a warrior whom Aidan would not dare interrupt. But someone else could.
"I would remind the Galaxy Commander that Aidan Pryde has been given free reign in all his actions during this campaign by rule of Khan Chistu." From out of the shadows came Kael Pershaw, his half-mask catching the light and then casting it out again strangely to the assembly. He limped slowly forward, nodding to Mar Helmer and Khan Chistu. Pershaw was as much a legend to the leaders as to the ordinary warriors. "I endorse Aidan Pryde's plan. It will not only give us a military position worth holding, it will gain us the time necessary to build our bridges. I would remind those among us who believe that the bridges are the only solution that the waters of the Prezno are so active, presenting so many obstacles, that constructing a bridge would be difficult even under the best of circumstances."
The crowd became utterly silent, while Kael Pershaw's very breaths became stentorian in the stillness. He limped over to Aidan Pryde and touched him on the shoulder with his good hand. He glanced over at the still-silent
Khan, who responded with a quick nod. "I think you are free to go. Assemble the Falcon Guards and find your way across the river. You go with the blessings of your Khan, your Clan, and the immortal Kerenskys."
A few warriors whispered, "Seyla."
"May I address the assembly?" asked Star Colonel Marthe Pryde, stepping forward from the milling crowd of Clan commanders. Mar Helmer granted the request. Marthe stood up, feet spread apart, arms akimbo. "I command the Second Falcon Cluster," she said. "Many of our 'Mechs are equipped with jump jets. I wish to volunteer those 'Mechs, mine included, to join Star Colonel Aidan Pryde in this mission. I believe that the more personnel we can commit to the campaign to take the other side of the river, the better the chances of our success. I at this time formalize the request."
Neither the Khan nor the Galaxy Commander spoke for a long moment, then the Khan nodded toward Mar Helmer."Permission granted," Helmer said.
Aidan could not have said why, but he felt an odd surge of elation at Marthe's act. As her former sibkin, he was glad to have her on his side. As a commander, he welcomed the cooperation and assistance of one of the finest warriors in Clan Jade Falcon.
30
MechWarrior Diana had never seen river rapids before. Standing on the edge of the embankment, looking down several meters of steep cliff at this stretch of Prezno River, she was amazed by the rush of the frenzied, white-capped waters of the river. Waves splashed off pitted rocks, sometimes rising high, then dissipating into misty vapor. The water twisted and turned, as if refusing to follow the river course downstream. A large whirlpool had formed in an inlet. It spiraled downward relentlessly, seeming to beckon any observer into its darkness, its watery black hole. Spray from the rapids left little droplets on her Warhawk's viewport, distorting the exterior images into a wavery, impressionistic scene. Only on her primary screen was the view of the river sharply detailed.
Over the commline, she heard Joanna make a sound of disgust.
"What was the point of sending us here, do you think?" Joanna said.
"Recon thought they spotted a possible jumping place two kilometers further downstream," Diana told her.
"No. The commander has surveyed that area, and he says there are no other possibilities. He is on his way here now."
Enemy resistance to the Jade Falcon search of the river had been meager. Diana thought that the Com Guards might be playing a child's game with the Clan warriors, the kind where the dominant side holds back to one side of a line and then, with taunts and dares, tries to lure the disrupted side across the line. Come and get me, might be the Com Guard's present taunt. They had only launched some air attacks, their aerofighters going after any units or individual BattleMechs separated from the main body. The fighters were like pesty insects, zooming in to do some damage but slipping away again before any counterattack could be effective. Occasionally, the sound of artillery fire echoed from upstream, but Joanna had received no information on whether any of it had hurt Jade Falcon 'Mechs.
The other side of the rapids was undefended. Diana thought that was probably because it seemed so unlikely that a unit would ever attempt a cross here. No engineer with any sense would suggest building a bridge across this steep chasm, above these treacherous waters.
"Any news, Star Captain Joanna?" MechWarrior Leema asked. She had brought her Stormcrow right to the cliff's edge and was conducting a depth scan of the waters below. The figures changed quickly as she watched them, for the depth was highly unstable.
"Just the same information. The engineer battalion has been pinned down by artillery several kilometers from the river. They are trying to reach both the Robyn's Crossing and Plough Bridge sites."
"A tough mission for those techs," MechWarrior Khastis cut in, "since the enemy is keeping at least one regiment at both sites."
"And that will be our destination," said Star Colonel Aidan Pryde as he hove into sight from behind a riverside grove. "The other side of Robyn's Crossing. We will take out the ComStar forces there, and we will build the bridge across the river at that point."
"A simple task," Joanna said dryly. "The only hitch is figuring out how to cross the river."
"A problem, I will admit, but I have solved it."
"Oh? What place are we using for the exercise, Star Colonel?"
"Why, right here, of course."
Though Joanna and Diana could not see each other, neither would have been surprised to find the other examining the turbulent, rocky rapids incredulously before hearing Aidan's explanation of how the exercise would work. Even then they were leery of the Star Colonel's plan.
"Assemble the Falcon Guards and the BattleMechs from the Second Falcon Cluster at this point," he ordered. Whatever her option, Joanna sent out the call.
* * *
When Aidan asked for volunteers for the first phase of Operation Skipping Stone, the names of every Clan warrior from both units appeared on his primary screen. Even all the Elementals, none of whom could be used in this phase, volunteered. He was not surprised by the number of volunteers, but the ritual had to be accomplished. Setting his computer for random selection, five Mech-Warriors were chosen, with a pair of alternates. He eliminated any 'Mechs from Trinaries Delta and Echo so that they would be free to carry their Elementals to the opposite side of the river. Joanna suggested that other Elemental units be carried on BattleMechs of various Stars. Aidan vetoed the suggestion, saying he wanted no extra weight on BattleMechs that did not normally carry Elementals. "The weight of one Elemental could throw off a pilot's control, and we cannot risk even a fraction of error." Instead, he announced a different plan.
Falcon Guard MechWarriors Ta-Ken from Trinary Bravo and Peel from Trinary Charlie were the first to jump into the middle of the Prezno River. The spot chosen for their landing was a relative shallows. Nearby rocks had slowed the current somewhat, though it still rushed violently past the 'Mechs' legs at a breakneck rate. Ta-ken's 'Mech swayed and immediately fell sideways into the water. As instructed by Aidan, Ta-ken guided the 'Mech's fall, first going down on one knee, then sliding its leg backward. He then let
the 'Mech slide into the water while rotating its torso to the left so that the cockpit was still above the surface when the machine had settled into the water. Most of the 'Mech was now underwater, with only a leg, the front of the torso, and an arm above water. While Ta-ken's 'Mech went down, Peel was executing similar maneuvers so that his 'Mech came down next to Ta-ken's, with the bottom third of its legs slightly behind the upper section of the other 'Mech's torso.
In the second group of jumping BattleMechs were one from Marthe's unit, piloted by Star Commander Todik, and two more Falcon Guard MechWarriors, Fenn from Trinary Alpha and Shank from Trinary Charlie. These three made their leaps, one jumping a second after the other. Todik's 'Mech came down next to Peel's, Fenn's beside Todik's, and Shank's beside Fenn's. Then they maneuvered their machines so that each slightly overlapped the other in a line. The five 'Mechs now formed a breakwater, diverting turbulent water around each end and creating a tranquil pool in the center of the river.
But the forming of the breakwater was not without a cost. Fenn's 'Mech crashed into the river with its cockpit submerged, and when Shank landed, the fall into the river breeched his 'Mech's torso, flooding the engine compartment and killing power to the 'Mech. Trapped in their cockpits, both Shank and Fenn suffocated within fifteen minutes.
As Aidan oversaw the creation of the makeshift breakwater, Joanna lined up the other BattleMechs in groups of four. Some Jade Falcon officers, detached by the Khan to observe the operation, watched as she set several even lines of quartet groupings going back from the edge of the river, each line at about the same distance from the one in front of it.
When the last 'Mech had settled into the river and the current was obviously diverted. Aidan took stock of his creation and, in a godlike way, felt pleased. There was a kind of austere beauty to the way the visible parts of the five 'Mechs formed a thin metal island in the middle of the river. Some water sprayed over them and left droplets on their surfaces. The light on the droplets sparkled with activity. The water of the tranquil pool was clear and the underwater sections of the 'Mechs were distorted into shimmering patterns.
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