He felt the two heat sinks give way before he ever saw the damage indicator on his display. The Timber Wolf let loose a metallic moan as the weapons pod dropped and shattered free at the right elbow joint. The sudden loss of weight made him have to fight for the Wolfs balance as it listed on the hillside. Two laser hits to the feet of his 'Mech only made the fight worse, but his skill prevailed.
The Nova was running horribly hot and was recharging its lasers as Trent opened up with his remaining lasers. The bright beams cut like knives as he concentrated on the already damaged left side. Strands of myomer muscle broke free, depriving the Nova's leg of support, and the 'Mech went down for a final time.
Before Trent could even check his tactical display, the Timber Wolf suddenly rocked from an attack from behind. The entire 'Mech tipped forward; and the ground seemed all too close to Trent as he fought to maintain his balance. The damage was far from light. The armor on the rear of a 'Mech was already weak, but the impact had penetrated deeply, hitting his fusion reactor housing and shooting the temperature in the cockpit up five searing degrees. Twisting his torso around, Trent saw the source of the assault. A Mad Dog mounting menacing Gauss rifles. It is one of the last, if not the last survivor of the battle below. That makes this warrior all the more dangerous.
The Mad Dog boasted two of the deadly rifles, but had only used one so far. Trent didn't wait for a weapons lock, but instead sighted by instinct and fired with everything he had. Half of the missiles and lasers missed, but the rest were enough to mangle the already damaged Mad Dog and let the pilot know he was serious. Trent checked his sensors and grinned in triumph—he and the Mad Dog were all that was left. The lone Mad Dog had emerged victorious from the firefight that until now had raged at the bottom of the crater. Trent knew that he had but to take down his foe, and the path to a bloodname was his. His mind raced over the possible moves he could muster from his crippled 'Mech.
He throttled the fusion reactor for all the power it could muster and pushed with his good leg in a valiant effort to budge the Timber Wolf from its frozen spot. There was an audible groan from under him as the internal structure of the OmniMech strained at the effort. Suddenly, the Mad Dog let go another Gauss slug, which flashed on Trent's targeting and tracking system for a millisecond before it collided with him. This round hit the Timber Wolfs torso like a supersonic musket ball, digging deeply into the heart of the 'Mech to hit the fusion reactor and its shielding. The automatic safety controls kicked in and shut down the engine before Trent could react. The lights on his displays went dim, with only emergency lights flickering on. He felt the 'Mech totter slightly, then fall, slamming into the hillside.
It was all over now. Trent had no doubt about that. There would be no further bloodname Trials for him. The battle had been fought and lost. He howled in anger and frustration and pounded his fists against the controls in front of him. Shout and beat his fists as he might, it could not help him. Nothing could help him now, but Trent did not care. It was all he had left.
* * *
Judith reached the fallen Timber Wolf and saw from the look on Trent's face that he was past the point of anger—he was raw with rage. He had climbed out of the cockpit and was standing next to the battered war machine that she had put together from parts. She carried a portable repair kit and a medkit, but from the look in his eyes when he turned to her, he was interested in neither.
Before she could say a word he angrily opened fire. "You freebirth rat! My left hip actuator failed me in the fight. But for that, I would have won. You have cost me dearly, and you will pay for your mistake!"
Judith started at his words, but she took in a deep breath and carefully gauged her response. "I assure you, Star Captain, that I did not fail to check that system. Perhaps it was damaged?"
"Neg! I took no hits there," he spat. Had she been standing any closer, Judith sensed that he would hav'e struck her merely to vent some of the rage boiling in his veins. His ruined face seemed almost demonic as he rode the tide of anger.
She stepped carefully over to the fallen OmniMech and climbed up the leg to gain access to the hip actuator. Trent's analysis was correct. She saw no damage anywhere near the joint. Using the access driver, she opened the outer armor plating to get to the actuator itself. Still fuming on the ground below her, Trent watched, but said nothing.
The access space was narrow and dark, but a portable light from her kit let her see the innards of the 'Mech. Lifting the insulation back she saw that the actuator itself was fused. Instead of the two single moving parts at the hip, they had overheated, becoming one. It was so hot that she could feel the heat even without touching the metal itself.
It was working fine before and after my repairs. She looked further back inside the access panel and immediately saw the problem. The coolant feed that passed nearby, designed to keep the hip cool, had fused shut. There was no breach from the outside, which meant some sort of internal failure. It was such a foolproof system that its maintenance was practically nil. Reaching up to the piping she found it severed and closed off.
Impossible. She moved her face in closer and saw that the piping showed signs of burning. A sticky substance covered its length on both sides that had been severed. She rubbed and smelled it, identifying it immediately. Petroleum jelly?
She understood instantly what had happened. After Master Tech Phillip had worked on the Timber Wolf, Judith had put in extra time following his moves carefully, inspecting and re-diagnosing every system she'd seen him touch. She didn't trust him, plain and simple. He had gone from an overbearing and abusive toad to someone who was willing to bend over backward to help her. Now, despite all her best efforts, Phillip had somehow managed his sabotage.
"Star Captain, come up here if you would, sir."
"Why?" Trent fumed.
"You must see this, sir, then I will explain." It took Trent five minutes to reach her and see the spot.
* * *
"What is the meaning of this, Judith? You sabotaged my 'Mech?"
"Negative, sir." Judith felt her face flush at the suggestion. "But in a way, it is my fault. Master Technician Phillip was the only other person with access to this area. He must have done this."
"Done what?"
"This jelly pack was probably surrounding some sort of acid. During normal stress tests the Timber Wolf never got fully heated like it did during the Grand Melee. That's why it passed my check. I knew he was up to something, but I overlooked this entirely."
Trent paused, taking in her meaning. The implication was shocking. "What you are saying is that our Master Technician deliberately sabotaged my 'Mech for this competition, quiaff?"
"Yes, er—affirmative, sir," Judith replied. "He was the only person with the access necessary to plant such a device. He is also one of the few people with enough knowledge."
Trent crossed his artificial arm with his flesh one, and looked away for a moment in thought. "The truth of your words would be impossible to verify. Such sabotage is only investigated by the Master Technician—in this case the very person you accuse of the act."
Judith shook her head stubbornly. "I tell you this damage was not the result of combat, Star Captain, no matter what the Master Technician says or reports." She pulled on the coolant cable so that he could see it.
Trent weighed her words and whether or not he trusted her. Judith was new to the Smoke Jaguars—and an Inner Sphere bondsman to boot. Was it possible that she was lying, quiaff? He studied her face, thinking back on the handful of times he had met with her. What she was suggesting seemed unthinkable, yet he understood that for her to sabotage his 'Mech would be an act of suicide. From what he had seen of her on the battlefield, Trent knew that if she sought death, she could easily have found it there.
"The Master Technician—whose 'Mechs is he personally responsible for, Judith?" he asked.
Judith thought hard before responding. "He is in charge of the Star Colonel's armor. The 'Mech he tends belongs to someone named Jez."
/>
Of course. That was all Trent needed to hear. Treachery might be impossible to prove, but he was sure that Jez had somehow engineered this. Furious, he pounded his semi-artificial fist into the side of the ferro-fibrous armor plating of the fallen Timber Wolf. The sound stretched out over the empty crater where it echoed like a death knell, then gradually dwindled to nothing in the twilight.
6
Smoke Jaguar Planetary Command Post
Warrenton, Hyner
Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone
20 July 3052
Star Colonel Paul Moon heard a knock at the door and dimmed the display built into his desk. "Enter," he said.
A man stepped into the office, and Paul Moon's eyes widened slightly as he stared at a face that was scarred and deformed from what had obviously been serious burns. Despite a layer of synthskin, the face had an almost melted-rubber quality about it. Moon found the man's gaze slightly disturbing. He had one real eye and one ringed by a circle of circuity and technology. Looking at this strange, almost alien face, Paul Moon wondered just how much of a real man was left in the physical form that stood before him.
"Star Captain Trent reporting for duty, sir," snapped Trent smartly, coming to attention before his new CO. He wore his field gray dress uniform, complete with its black and scarlet piping, in honor of the occasion.
For a moment Paul Moon said nothing. Then he stood, rising to his height of two and three-quarter meters. He glared at the scarred and mangled warrior in front of him. Such disfigurement might be the sign of great pride with many warriors. But with this one, it is only a reminder of his disappointing failures.
"So this is Star Captain Trent. I have read your file, Star Captain, and I want you to know that I did not ask to have you posted to the Stormriders Cluster. With all of the reshuffling and reorganization since the battle of Tukayyid, I am forced to accept you into my command."
"I do not understand, Star Colonel. Is there some reason you would not want me to serve under you?"
"Aye," Paul Moon said in his deep voice. "Consider this, Star Captain. I get you, a warrior almost past his prime, a warrior without a bloodname, posted to my command. A warrior who has lost his BattleMech in each of his last two fights. A warrior, who, in the face of an enemy with no combat experience, failed to uphold the honor of the Smoke Jaguars in the most important battle our Clan has ever fought. Imagine, if you will, my lack of enthusiasm at having such a warrior in my ranks."
Trent's natural skin reddened slightly. "Permission to speak freely, Star Colonel."
Paul Moon nodded slowly. "Proceed, Star Captain."
"You have misinterpreted my codex, sir. There are facts you are unaware of and that the records do not reflect."
"Such as?"
"On Tukayyid I fought with honor. I was felled in combat when faced with overwhelming odds. If not for my actions, Star Captain Jez would be dead now."
Moon struggled to contain his anger. "Lies are unbefitting officers in my command, Trent. I have read the record of your exploits. The truth is that Jez saved you. Any further accusations against such an officer, and you will have me to face in a Circle of Equals. Something I assure you that you do not want."
"I do not lie to you, Star Colonel."
"You have no evidence to offer, quineg?"
There was a long uncomfortable pause. "Neg."
"Only your word." Moon did not disguise his sarcasm.
"My word as a warrior should be enough, Star Colonel. What true Jaguar warrior would invent such untruths?" Anger stung his voice. "And in the matter of the Grand Melee there is more. My bondsman and I inspected my 'Mech after the Trial for the Howell bloodname a few days ago. There were signs of tampering, sir—sabotage." His words hung in the air for a full five seconds as Paul Moon stared at him.
"Sabotage? Neg. Who would have performed such sabotage? Perhaps it was your own freebirth bondsman, quiaff? Had you not been so quick to take freebirth scum like her into our Clan, perhaps you would not have to stoop to such cries of 'foul.' "
"We found evidence, sir. It could only have been one of the other technicians, Master Technician Phillip, who had access to my actuator."
Moon shook his head on his tree-trunk like neck. "Negative, Star Captain. You speak of my personal tech. Why would he perform such an act? To what end? He has no way to profit from such sabotage."
"This I do not know," Trent said. "What I do know, sir, is that there is evidence of sabotage and that the only individuals with the skill to carry out the procedure were Master Tech Phillip and my bondsman. At the very least, such an act would invalidate the Grand Melee."
Moon crossed his arms and looked down at the officer across his desk. "You are grasping at straws, all in the effort to somehow win another attempt at a bloodname. I will have no part in this."
"But, sir—"
"This discussion is over, Star Captain. And I find you contemptible for hiding behind excuses for your failings as a warrior. If a mechanical failure cost you the melee and your chance at a bloodname, then that is the luck of the draw and the other warrior still won fairly."
"Star Colonel Moon—"
Moon cut him off with a voice that seemed to shake the room and everything in it. "End of discussion, Trent. Press me no further."
"I demand a Trial of Refusal over your decision, Star Colonel," Trent retorted.
Moon was pleased with the notion, if only for a second. But not for any reason that Trent would appreciate. Moon rather savored the thought of crushing Trent with his bare hands. But there was a higher calling in place, a higher command that he must heed. Such was the way of the Smoke Jaguar.
"Denied, Trent. First off, should I face you in a Circle of Equals, I would crush you alive. You represent the very reason our Clan is not standing on Terra as the victor in our invasion. And to my knowledge, no Grand Melee decision has ever been reversed in the history of our Clan. Defeating me would only take you to the Grand Council, and they would never overrule a decision won on a battlefield. And surely not based on the word of a freebirth bondsman and a washed-up warrior."
"You are denying me my future, Star Colonel." It seemed to Moon that the defiance had suddenly bled out of Trent.
"Neg," said Paul Moon, crossing his massive arms. "I am preventing you from further tainting the traditions and rites of our Clan."
Trent stared at him with his unsettling pair of eyes as Moon continued his blast. "You do not understand how you have insulted me already, quineg? It is not just Tukayyid. You actually claimed one of them as isorla—brought her into our camp. You took one of the warriors who bested you and brought her here as a bondsman."
"No insult was intended, Star Colonel. Judith's performance in combat was outstanding. I honor our Clan by claiming her."
"Neg. She only makes you look more hideous than you already do. She hangs around your neck like an albatross. As we all know, this Judith will never again fight as a warrior. And you, as one of my officers, should know that her very presence here taints you in the eyes of your fellow Smoke Jaguars. Were I you, I would kill her rather than have her around as a reminder of my own failings."
Trent said nothing, and Moon shook his head in disgust at his mute stare.
He reached down to turn up the display built into the desk and studied the screen for a moment. "I am giving you a command of a Star, Trent. By now you know I do this only because you bear a rank that demands such an action on my part. You will command Beta Striker Star under Star Captain Jez in Beta Binary. I plan to upgrade the unit to a Trinary if resources become available."
"Sir," Trent said, "I am a Star Captain. It is customary for one of my rank to command a Binary or Trinary." Within the ranks of the Smoke Jaguars as in the rest of the Clans, a Star Commander usually commanded an individual Star of five BattleMechs, while a Star Captain commanded two or three Stars—a Binary or Trinary.
Moon did nothing to conceal his enjoyment of Trent's humiliation. "While you were recuperating from your wounds, S
tar Captain Jez competed for the position and won it in a Trial. From the reports I have read, she is entering the final rounds of her bloodname trial as well—a fine addition to our Cluster." Again, Moon savored Trent's reaction, this time one of shock. "Is there a problem, Star Captain?"
"I was not included in this Trial," Trent said through clenched teeth.
"You have the right to challenge the decision of that Trial, but you will end up facing both her and the other officer for the position. And even should you defeat them both, then I would challenge you. And as you know, you cannot challenge Star Captain Jez until she returns. And if she has won a bloodname at that point, you will need the approval of a Khan to challenge her or persuade her to accept such a feeble plea. Should you somehow succeed against such odds, you would still be under my command. Rest assured that I would make your life unbearable for as long as I am in command of the Cluster. But then again, the choice is yours. Star Captain." Moon was anxious to bring this unpleasant interview to a close. "Now then, do you have a problem with Star Captain Jez as your commanding officer?"
"Negative, Star Colonel."
"Good." Paul Moon looked back down at his display. "Details of your unit configuration will be posted to your command files. I expect you to review them and prepare your unit for full combat readiness in one week. Are you capable of performing that duty, Star Captain?"
"I will not fail you, Star Colonel," Trent replied, firing off a salute.
"You have already failed me, Trent—me and every other warrior in our Clan," Moon said, not even lifting his eyes from the display. "You are dismissed."
Exodus road Page 7
