(c)1997 Robert Madson and Craig A. Reed Jr.

SnowFall
by
Captain Gordon Wozniak

Morven is a backwater in the Broken Wheel Combat Region.
It's an iceball, mostly large mountain ranges and wide-open
tundra, with a few frozen-solid bodies of water to break up
the terrain. About the only things that make this rock
worthwhile are the gem mines in the mountains. Usually, they
would attract pirates, but a combination of bad climate,
inaccessibility, and considerable local defenses makes the
mines really tough targets for any raid.

But pirates weren't the reason we were here. Some
headquarters DeskWarrior had decided Morven was the perfect
place to send a brand-new Battalion of Mallory's Headhunters
for training. So here we were, a combination of veteran
Headhunters, personnel from other units, and brand-new
Mechwarriors from the academies, trying to turn our group of
strangers into another battalion of Colonel Mallory's feared
Headhunters. All the while, the locals treated us with a
mixture of fear and arrogance that kept contact between us
to a minimum. In short, I've been better places in my life.

While the natural hazards of Morven were tough enough on
their own, the addition of Walker's Warlords didn't help the
climate much. To call Walker's Warlords pond scum would
insult every single decent piece of pond scum in the Inner
Sphere. They were a short battalion, made up of mostly
medium to heavy 'Mechs, hired by the mine owners to function
as the "local 'Mech garrison." When they weren't stomping
around in their 'Mechs, their favorite hobby was shaking
down the local shopkeepers and stealing anything that wasn't
nailed down.

Their CO, "Colonel" Wayne Walker, was a fat, hulking slob
with delusions of intelligence. He'd been a mediocre fighter
on the Solaris Seven circuit a while back, until he found
that rigging his opponents' 'Mechs was an easy way to win.
He killed several Mechwarriors this way, including a couple
of popular stars. But charges soon began to fly, and Walker
and his buddies left Solaris one step ahead of a Federated
Commonwealth arrest warrant. Since then, Walker's Warlords
had taken contracts with worlds who couldn't afford a real
unit, and generally stayed out of sight of the Fed-Com boys.

They also stayed out of our way, ever since we first landed.
At the first and only meeting between us and the Warlords, a
drunken Walker showed up, grabbed Major Hart--our CO--and
told her that if she were 'nice' to him she would find our
stay a lot easier. She was 'nice,' alright--nice enough to
let him off with only four broken ribs and a five-day
hospital stay. Needless to say, after that, the Warlords and
the Headhunters did their best to avoid each other.

Partly because of that little incident, we'd spent most of
the last three weeks outside of the capital, training in the
sub-zero temperatures and howling winds of Morven's outback.
Of course, when my lance got its first chance since
planetfall for a night on the town, we took it. There was a
quiet bar not far from the spaceport we were using as a
base, so the four of us--Tony, Mikki, Corlin, and I--staked
out a booth in the back, and stayed for several hours,
nursing drinks and just unwinding. The barkeep was nice
enough to leave us alone, for which we tipped him
generously. Finally, closing time came and we headed out.

Outside, the night air was bitterly cold, and the promise of
more snow was in the air. The snow already on the ground was
turning to slush in the street, and off in the distance, the
yellowish lights of the spaceport beckoned. We stood there
for a moment, allowing the cold to clear our heads before
starting back for our dropship.

"I wish I was somewhere else right now," said Tony, rubbing
his hands together.

"Like where?" asked Mikki, pulling her knitted cap further
down on her head, so only her eyes showed.

"Oh, I don't know. Antietam for starters. Maybe even Terra."

"This is not so bad," said Corlin, looking at the dimly lit
streets in thought. "Where I grew up, it got as cold as
this."

"Guys," I said, as I started walking toward the spaceport,
"we can discuss this later, AFTER we get back to the
dropship and a warm bunk."

We walked toward the spaceport in silence, listening to the
few sounds of the Morven night. Two blocks from the
spaceport, as we were passing an alley to our right, I heard
what sounded like moaning. I stopped and looked for the
source. Another moan, coming from somewhere down the alley,
was followed by several seconds of silence.

Most Headhunters go armed at all times--it cuts down on
misunderstandings--and I slowly pulled my pistol out. I
motioned to Mikki and Tony to follow me, and we crept down
the alley as Corlin ducked into the alley's shadows to cover
our rear. I have an undeserved reputation for getting into
trouble, and true to form, I'd found trouble again.

After three meters, the alley widened into a ten-by-ten-
meter courtyard formed by the surrounding buildings. Except
for a pair of solid-looking doors, the only way out was the
alley behind us. The snow in the courtyard had been half-
heartedly shoved aside, and the brick pavement glistened in
the single weak overhead light. There was a body lying in
the middle of the courtyard, and the whiteness around it was
flecked with red.

The three of us slipped quietly into the courtyard.
Motioning to Mikki and Tony to cover me, I moved over to the
body. The body was on its face, arms outstretched as if
reaching for something. As I slowly turned the body over, I
bit off a curse.

"Who is it?" Mikki asked.

"Minski from Beta." I grimaced. Minski was one of the new
kids fresh out of the Academy, assigned to Marcy Barnes'
company.

"How is he?"

"Not good." I waved Mikki over. "Mikki, give me a hand with
Minski. Tony, call Corlin in. It looks like whoever did this
to him didn't hang around to sign his work."

Tony's shout brought Corlin in to join us. While he and Tony
watched the alley, Mikki and I quickly examined Minski. His
face was bruised and his right eye was swollen shut.

Minski's left eye opened slowly, blinked twice, then focused
unsteadily on me. "Cap...Captain Woz...Wozniak," he said
slowly, gripping my left arm with his right hand in a tight
grip.

"Relax, Minski," I said, smiling to reassure him. "We'll get
you to a doctor. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Wa...lker. Attack by...Warlords."

I gritted my teeth. "Walker's goons did this?"

He nodded, his face clouding up in pain. "Walker...and
Haylor...did this...personally."

I growled in frustration. Walker was bad, but his second in
command, a thick-faced neanderthal by the name of Red
Haylor, was a real sick piece of DNA. Beating up kids barely
old enough to shave was as natural for him as breathing, and
I fought hard to keep my temper.

Mikki grimaced as she examined Minski's chest and ribs.
"Internal bleeding, several broken ribs," she said "He's
going to need Doc Sampon ASAP."

"We cannot carry him all the way to the dropship," said
Corlin in a sour tone.

"True, but we're not going to," I said. "Tony, are your
skills still up to speed?"

"In the area of `creative acquisitions', Boss? I'm
insulted."

"So stop being insulted, and creatively acquire some
transport for us, OK?," I snapped. "And while you're at it,
take Corlin with you. It's about time he learned some new
skills."

"Well," said Corlin, "This was an eventful night."

"Was?" I replied. "I've still got to tell Major Hart about
this, and I've got a feeling that I'm not getting a lot of
sleep tonight."

Ten minutes later, we were back at the dropship.

----------
When I told the Major about Walker and what he'd done to
Minski, I think she came close to a stroke. She stood there,
her face red not from cold, but from anger. The Warlords had
dared to attack one of her people.

That's the thing about the Major. Despite her irritation at
me, she views any threat against the people under her
command the same way a mama bear views a threat against one
of her cubs--badly. I think the only thing that kept her
from ordering the entire Battalion out for a quick game of
"Stomp the Warlords" was the likely reaction of the mine
owners. They held most of the power on Morven, and they
wouldn't take kindly to having their pet 'Mech unit chewed
up and spit out.

All she could do was up the alert status of our units by
one, and start a rotation of the companies so one was always
at the spaceport, in case of trouble. After the incident in
the alley, a quartet of Warlords tried to harass some of our
techs once--but Marcy Barnes and her Marauder convinced them
to leave quietly. Word quickly spread that if anyone wanted
a member of the Headhunters, they would have to come through
all of us. After that, no Warlord came within a thousand
meters of us, and things settled down in an uneasy truce
between the two units.

That lasted for another two weeks before all hell broke
loose. My company had the spaceport duty that week, which we
considered R&R time. I was sleeping, dreaming of a warm
beach somewhere, when someone shook my shoulder in an
attempt to wake me. I mumbled "Go away," and turned back
over, but the shaking became more insistent.

"What?," I growled, rolling over to see my tormentor. Tony
stood there, his normally smiling face showing a huge frown
and a look of worry in his eyes. Even half asleep, I could
see something was wrong.

"It's the Warlords. They've hit the mines."

The words hit me like a bucket of ice, and all thoughts of
sleep disappeared. I leapt out of my bunk, and began to
dress. As I did so, Tony filled me in.

"Word came in ten minutes ago, from Mine Number Five. They
reported that they were under attack, and identified the
attackers as Walker's Warlords. There was an explosion, then
nothing. We've tried contacting the other mines, and Mines
Three, Seven, and Eight aren't answering. The others are
hunkering down and screaming for help."

I zipped up my jumpsuit and dashed out the door, Tony on my
heels "What about the rest of the battalion?" I yelled over
my shoulder.

"Beta and Gamma are too far. Best time for them is five
hours. Alpha is closer, but they're still better than three
hours away. The Major's been alerted, and she's ordered us
to stop them."

Well, I thought sourly, Walker picked the right time for his
attack. Unlike the other three companies, Delta's heaviest
'Mechs were only fifty tons. We were a fast-attack company,
made up of mostly Rattlesnakes, with pairs of Headhunters,
Diamondbacks and the new Raptors making up the rest of the
company. We were designed to engage an opponent in an fast-
moving, fluid battle. We weren't designed for head-to-head
slugging matches against two-to-one odds.

"Where's their dropship?" The Warlords had a beat up
Overlord class Dropship they used for transport and as a
base.

"Don't know. It left three days ago, supposedly to pick
up some spare parts and supplies, but now, it's a good bet
it's sitting somewhere on this rock, waiting for the
Warlords."

"What about the weather?"

"Cold front moving in. We can expect more snow in the next
six to twenty-four hours, anywhere between ten centimeters
and a meter of new snow."

I was cursing in several different languages by the time I
hit the door to the wardroom that served as our meeting
room. Most of the company was already there, and they jumped
to attention at my appearance.

"Later," I snapped. "Has anyone got an area map?" One was
quickly produced and spread out on the table. The mines were
in a series of canyons, maybe thirty-five kilometers to the
west of us. The only way in or out was a supply road though
the canyons that ended just outside the spaceport. The map
was marked with known mine defenses, but from what I had
heard, a Clan Cluster would have serious problems getting
close enough to the mines to spit, let alone loot.

"How did they do it?" asked Lieutenant Gregrey Reddis, Delta
Pursuit Two's CO. He was a brand-new graduate from a Fed-Com
academy. "I mean, the one time my people came near one of
the mines, they fired a warning shot at us, then threatened
to blow us to kingdom come."

"My best guess is that since the Warlords are part of the
local garrison, they had free run of the planet," replied
Tony. "And they took advantage of it."

"You mean, they planned this attack all along?" said Corlin,
his face tightening. I forget sometimes that he grew up as a
Clansman, where theft among the warrior caste is
nonexistent. After all, why steal something when you can
bash someone across the head and take it openly?

"Each mine has a bunker to monitor the defenses and activate
them when needed," continued Tony. "If the bunker goes, then
no mine defenses."

"Right," I said, looking at the map. "Delta needs to slow
these guys down until the Major shows up with Alpha." I
looked at Captain Maasin, our dropship's CO. "Captain, if
you wanted to hide an Overlord from the prying eyes of the
law on this planet, but have it close enough to get to with
little trouble, where would you put it?"

Maasin, a large woman without an ounce of fat on her,
shifted the map to get a better view. After several seconds,
she stabbed a thick finger down on an area about twenty-five
klicks north of the spaceport. "Here. There's several
craters deep enough to hide an Overlord, and it's far enough
away from the city to escape an immediate search. Also, it's
the closest place to the mines to hide a dropship."

"It's too late to bottle these jokers up in the canyons," I
said, tracing the line of march from the mines to the site
Maasin had picked."But with the snow and ice, it'll take
them a couple of hours to get to their dropship." My finger
stopped at the symbol for a lake. "Greg," I said slowly
"You've been out in this sector. Is this lake frozen? And if
it is, can it support a 'Mech's weight ?"

Reddis looked at the spot and nodded. "This time of year, it
should hold 'Mechs with no problem." He eyed me with a look
of thoughtfulness. "What's your plan, Captain ?"

"We stop the Warlords right here." I jabbed my finger down
on the symbol of the frozen lake.

"How?" This simple question came from Delta Pursuit One's
commander, Senior Lieutenant Chastity Killerman. An older,
scar-faced woman, rumor had it that Colonel Mallory spent
two months and a small fortune in C-bills tracking her down
after her unit was wiped out by the Clans. All I knew for
certain about her was that she was a excellent officer who
hated the Clans worse then anybody I've ever known.

"The quickest way to the dropship is this route." I traced a
path from the mouth of the canyon to the craters with my
finger. No one said anything when the route crossed the
frozen lake at it's narrowest point. "I think we have at
least two hours before they reach this point."

"Are you serious?," asked Reddis, looking at me as if I had
just declared myself First Lord of the Star League. "The
Warlords would cut us to pieces! It'll be a massacre!"

"We hold them for a short time, then Alpha shows up," I
replied, matching Reddis' stare with one of my own. "And
besides, who said I was going to play fair?" I looked at
Darcy Joyer, Delta Company's senior tech. "Any vibrobombs
left ?" We had earlier been running exercises trying to
detect vibrobombs in the cold weather.

"Less than three dozen." He twirled his waxed moustache in
thought. "Maybe another dozen the boys can rig up quickly."

"Do it. Grab any transportation that isn't being used right
now and load them up. Do the same with anyone not doing a
critical job. When you get there, dig the bombs into the ice
of the lake at this spot and set them for medium to heavy
'Mechs." He nodded and left at a run. I looked around the
table again. "Here's what we're going to do."

"Delta Command will set themselves up on the far shore--
here. Along with the vibrobombs, our job will be to delay
them as long as possible. If we can't keep them on the lake,
then we'll do as much damage to them as possible." I looked
at both Killerman and Reddis. "Your job is to take down
anyone who gets past us, or around us. I want you behind us,
on this plain. There you can use your 'Mechs to their best
advantage, and catch them coming off the ice. Work in pairs,
and no more then two pairs on any one 'Mech. Any questions?"

There were none. "One other thing, people," I said in a
slow, deliberate way. "The Warlords have nothing to lose
now. When they hit the mines, they lost any chance of
forgiveness in the Fed-Com forever. They're not going to let
us stand in the way of their escape, and they'll kill you as
soon as look at you. " I looked at the chronometer on the
bulkhead. "We move out in ten minutes."

----------
I ran into Minski as I reached the feet of my 'Mech. Still
on the sick list, he was making himself useful aboard the
dropships until Doc Sampon gave him the OK for 'Mech duty.
Around us, the general mayhem of a 'Mech company getting
ready to move out was going full blast. I had changed into
my cooling vest and shorts, and had just made it to the foot
of my Headhunter when Minski grabbed my arm and asked what
was happening. When I explained, Minski looked at me in
shock.

"You can't do this!" he yelled at me over the dim of the
'Mech bay. "It's suicide!"

"So I've been told already," I replied, pulling away from
him. "But who else is going to do it? We're it."

"You don't understand!," he said, grabbing my arm again.
"Walker--!"

I pulled away again, my anger getting the better of me.
"Look, Minski," I said, pointing a finger in his face. "We
can handle Walker and his merry maniacs. He's a two-bit hood
who needs to be told his last reality check just bounced big
time."

"In that case, I want to go with you."

I looked at him. "No," I replied. "Absolutely not!"

"But--"

"But nothing. You are still on the sick list." I started to
climb the ladder. Minski just stood there, watching me. I
stopped for a second, and looked down at him. "Look, get the
Doc and tell him what's happened. If he gives you the go-
ahead, we'll be set up in sector Hotel Four-Two.
Communication will be on scramble Yankee. Contact us when
you get close."

The young man nodded in silence, his face grim. He dashed
away, and I watched him for several seconds before I
continued my climb. Ten minutes later, my company had left
the dropship and headed out into the snow.

----------
Seventy minutes after that, we were in place.

Joyer and his people spent most of that time working quickly
to bury the vibrobombs in the ice. If it hadn't been for the
industrial lasers he scrounged up, the job would have been
impossible. As it was, it was time-consuming, and time was
something we didn't have a lot of.

Meanwhile, my lance had located well-protected spots for
each 'Mech, behind a low ridge near the middle of the
shoreline. The rest of the shoreline along this end of the
lake was nothing but a near-vertical sheet of ice three
times the height of a 'Mech. To go around the lake involved
going through rough, boulder-filled ground that would slow
any travel to a crawl. No, I decided, if Walker and his gang
were coming this way, we were sitting right in the middle of
his getaway path.

I sent one of Reddis' 'Mechs in the direction of the mines
to keep an eye out for trouble, then sat back and waited.

I didn't have to wait very long. Fifteen minutes later, the
Rattlesnake came roaring back to our positions, carefully
avoiding the mines already laid. The pilot stopped her 'Mech
less then ten meters away, and it took about three seconds
for the communication lasers to link up.

"They're coming," she said in a breathless voice, as if she
had run all the way back herself. "At least a reinforced
lance, no sign of the others."

"Fine," I said. "Get back to your lance and tell them to be
ready for anything."

I didn't watch her leave, but turned to where Joyer was
supervising the placement of yet another vibrobomb. Again,
it took a couple of seconds for the communication laser to
link up with Joyer's comm system on his vehicle. "Get ready
to bug out, Dar," I said.

Joyer snatched a remote link from his belt. "They're on
their way?"

"At least a lance's worth."

"OK, we're going. It'll take at least five minutes to get a
hold of everyone, and another five to get the hell out of
here. Good luck, and try not to wreck the 'Mechs too much."

"Understood, Dar."

I watched Joyer hustle his work parties back into their
vehicles and drive off. A light snow had begun to fall,
adding to the overwhelming sense of whiteness. The only
vestiges of color were the grey and black rocks that dotted
the far shore, and the mottled gray-and-white camouflage of
my lance.

The four of us were strung out in a rough line a hundred and
fifty meters long. Tony and I were in the center, each of us
in a Headhunter. Mikki, off to my left, and Corlin, on
Tony's right, had their Diamondbacks stationed close to the
shoreline. In front of us, I could make out several places
where the vibrobombs had been placed, but with the wind and
snow, they were well on the way to disappearing into the
ice.

"Boss," said Tony over the commline. We had stretched a
fiber-optic line to each of our 'Mechs in order to
communicate with each other without arousing the Warlords'
suspicions. "Speak to me, Boss."

I activated my commline. "What's the problem?"

"How in blazes are we going to pull this thing off?," he
asked.

"With style, I hope."

"You know what I mean."

I took a deep breath. "I really don't know. Just remember
that we only have to hold them here until Alpha shows up."

"Yeah, IF Alpha shows up on time. If they get slowed up, we
are history with a capital H."

"Well, history was always my favorite subject. Let's hope
nothing happens to change my mind."

Corlin broke in on our conversation. "I have movement, range
one thousand meters, bearing zero-three-two."

I stared at the location Corlin named. The snow had
increased to a steady pace, but it could not hide the
movement of the group of 'Mechs that came into view . There
were five of them in this advance party, all light and
medium 'Mechs. They were in a sloppy arrowhead formation. As
I watched them make their way towards us, I noticed that the
Warlords hadn't even bother to paint their 'Mechs in winter
camouflage, making them easier to see on the white backdrop.

A Griffin had the point, with a Trebuchet and a Wasp off to
his left, and a Vulcan and a Javelin on his right. They were
moving slowly, more because of the ice then anything else.
For a second, I felt a pang of pity for them, but then the
cold, hard reality of what they had done snuffed out the
pang like a candle. After what had happened, anything we did
would be merciful, and I didn't feel especially merciful.

"Stand by, people," I said in my best command voice. "Wait
for me to fire. First priority is the closest target to you,
second is the heaviest 'Mech in your range. Disengage the
commline and use scramble India for all communication from
here on out. Good luck."

After that we watched in silence as the Warlords advanced
into our prepared ambush. I waited until they were within
five hundred meters before I picked out the Trebuchet as my
target, and targeted him with my PPC and large laser. As I
did so, the battered Vulcan stepped on a vibrobomb set for
its weight.

Melted ice, flames, and 'Mech parts went flying in every
direction, and as the Trebuchet turned to see what had
happened, I opened fire. The PPC bolt slammed into the
Warlord 'Mech's left arm, melting armor and shattering the
elbow. It staggered back far enough for the large laser to
miss, but Mikki hit it with a full flight of missiles that
tore deep into the thin rear armor. Realizing that he was
hurt seriously, the Trebuchet pulled back, followed by the
Griffin and the Wasp. What remained of the Vulcan and the
now headless Javelin laid scattered on the ice in front of
us. Without firing a shot, they hurried back up the opposite
shore and out of sight.

"Now what?," asked Mikki, her breathing still heavy from the
combat.

"Well, they know we're here," I said.

"Yes, but next time they won't be so accommodating. There'll
be more of them, and looking for us."

"True, but it will take them maybe twenty minutes to
organize, and Alpha will be that much closer."

"You're putting a lot of faith in Major Hart, Woz."

"I have to. She's threatened to use me for target practice
for so long, I should at least give her a chance."

"Be serious, Woz."

"She'll be here," I replied with more confidence than I
truly felt.

After that, conversation dropped off. For twenty-five
minutes that seemed like twenty-five years, we waited for
the next attack. Both Pursuit lances were as edgy as we
were, and I had to tell Reddis twice to stop bothering me
and stay quiet. We were all on edge by now, and the waiting
was eating into us.

I was sitting back in my chair, making mental plans for the
next attack, when Killerman's voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Command Six, I have a MAD reading coming from two-o-three,
range three thousand meters, moving toward us about fifty
KPH."

From behind us? I sat upright in my chair and switched on my
commlink. "Send two of your 'Mechs to check it out. Keep
your distance, but if he fires on you, nail him."

"Understood."

I sat back again and digested this new piece of news. Almost
without thought, I switched over to Pursuit One's lance
frequency and listened to Killerman ordering Pursuit One-two
and One-three to investigate and report on the oncoming
intruder.

For two minutes, there was very little chatter as the two
Rattlesnakes close in on the unknown MAD reading at an
oblique angle. Then the rough voice of Lance Sergeant
Leasson, Pursuit One-two, broke the near silence.

"MAD readings are confirmed," He said in a tight voice.
"Visual is of a Archer; I think he's one of ours. Orders?"

Before Killerman could respond, I slapped the override and
spoke. Pursuit One-two, this is Command Six. Can you ID the
'Mechwarrior?"

"Wait one, Command Six." There was a long pause before he
answered. "Negative, too much snow."

Just then, Tony cut in. "Boss, got something on scramble
Yankee. I think it's our new friend."

"Pursuit One-two, hold your position and await further
orders." I switched over to Scramble Yankee. "Archer, this
is Delta Command Six. State you purpose for being here."

"Delta Command Six, this is Beta Fire Four. I thought you
could use some help."

"Doc Sampon gave you the all clear ?"

"Captain," replied Minski calmly, though I could hear some
of the anger in his voice, "Doctor Sampon has cleared me for
duty, and I want some payback."

I sat there, deciding if the Archer's firepower was worth
risking an unknown factor like Minski. But the cold hard
reality of our situation left me no choice. We needed
Minski's firepower too much.

I keyed the commlink again. "All right, Beta Fire Four,
you're in. Take a position one hundred twenty meters behind
mine, and plaster anything that's not in cammo white.
Otherwise, stay loose and pray that the rest of the
Headhunters show up sometime this century."

"Understood, Command Six."

I switched back over to Pursuit One's frequency, and ordered
Killerman to let Minski through. I then sat and waited for
the next assault.

It was Tony that spotted them first this time. "Contact,
Boss, and they brought friends."

I could only stare as better then two companies of 'Mechs
came into view on the opposite shore. The first 'Mech I saw
was a coal-black Marauder, and I felt my stomach tightening.
Walker was leading the parade this time. The Marauder was
followed by a battered Cyclops, which my intel listed as
belonging to Haylor.

They stopped at the edge of the ice, like a pack of wolves
following a scent. They stood there for several moments, and
I knew I had to do something, or they might figure out that
the lake still wasn't safe to cross. I moved my 'Mech out
into the open, and switched on the external speakers.

"Hey, Walker!" I said into my comm mike. The words
reverberated around us in a echoing mass of noise that
caught them by surprise.

Walker took several seconds before he answered. "Identify
yourselves," he ordered. "Why did you fire on my people ?
I'm--"

I cut him off. "Gag it, Walker. One of the mines got a
message off, and we know what happen."

"Oh," he snarled. "And who the hades are you ?"

"We've met before, in an office several weeks ago. By the
way, how are your ribs? Still tender from Major Hart's
demonstration of her hand-to-hand combat skills ?"

Walker snarled a curse, and began to move his 'Mech out onto
the ice. Haylor followed him, and after several seconds of
hesitation, the rest followed. They came at us like a pack
of vicious dogs after a meal.

I keyed the commlink. "Delta Command, Beta Fire four, focus
all fire onto the Marauder when it comes into range. Let's
see how good Walker really is."

Several of the vibrobombs exploded early, as they were
triggered by 'Mechs heavier than they were set for. For
several crucial seconds, most of the Warlords disappeared
behind a cloud of ice, snow, and flame. As soon as I saw the
form of the Marauder coming out of the cloud, I opened fire.
Both the ERPPC and the large laser missed Walker, as did the
fire from my lancemates and Minski. The heat scale barely
flickered, and I thanked my luck for the extreme cold
weather that was helping keep our heat down. Without it,
both Tony and myself would have cooked in our cockpits.

I cursed again and keyed the commlink. "All right, forget
him for now and take as many of the supporting cast out as
you can."

The lead Warlords were less then three hundred meters away
now, and there were still too many of them. A couple more
Warlord 'Mechs had fallen prey to the vibrobombs, and one or
two had disappeared into watery holes in the ice, but the
majority had cleared the minefield. Ignoring the Marauder
for the moment, I targeted my old friend the Trebuchet, and
opened fire.

This time, the Trebuchet caught the ERPPC beam high on the
left shoulder, sending molted armor and sparks in every
direction. The large laser hit the Trebuchet in the head,
causing a small explosion that scattered a good portion of
the head onto the ice. It stood there for a second, stiff
and inflexible, then almost gracefully fell over, smoke
rising from its head.

I had just focused on my next target, Haylor's Cyclops, when
Mikki's voice come across the commlink. "Woz, my ammo is
running low."

"How much left?" I asked, feeling a sense of dread
overcoming me.

"Three more reloads."

"Corlin?"

"Same," he grunted.

"Minski?"

"Six for each launcher, Sir."

"Okay," I said with more authority then I felt. "Mikki,
Corlin, Minski, drop back to the Pursuit Lances. Tony and I
will cover you. When you get into place, cover us as we fall
back."

"Then what?" asked Mikki.

"Then we'll come up with plan B."

"Understood, Woz. Good luck." The two Diamondbacks hit their
jump jets, and joined the Archer in moving away.

For the next minute, we were too busy to talk. The Warlords
had closed to within two hundred meters now, and their own
fire was beginning to find us. My status board was beginning
to show some warning lights, and my position was slowly
crumbling. It was now or never.

"Tony, fall back and cover me."

"But Boss--"

"Later, Tony."

"Understood, Delta Commander."

To my right, a plume of smoke rose into the still-snowy air
as Tony triggered his jump jets. As he left, I suddenly
became the only target, and all Warlord fire concentrated on
my position. My status board went to mostly amber, then red,
looking like a drunken Christmas tree. I spotted movement on
both flanks, and I knew that the time had come to go.

I triggered my jump jets and felt myself being pushed back
into my seat as the Headhunter started to rise. I adjusted
my jump to take me away from the intense fire, praying that
none of them were any good at skeet shooting. I landed a
hundred and eighty meters from my former position, just in
time to see the Warlords, led by the Marauder, come over the
small ridge we had been holding.

I fired at the Marauder, and grinned as the blast bit deep
into its right side. The grin died when the Marauder turned
towards me. Suddenly, I found myself staring down the
business end of the 'Mech's PPCs. I hit my jump jets again,
but before I could get more than half a dozen meters into
the air, the Marauder fired.

I was slammed into my seat as I tried to regain control. It
was no use. The Marauder's shots had bitten deep into my
'Mech's internals, and my status board was a solid red now.
I caught a glimpse of the sky through the smoke and snow as
my 'Mech fell hard on its back, forcing the air from my
lungs. Intense pain shot up my left arm, and I could taste
the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth.

I must have lost awareness for several seconds, because the
next thing I saw was the Marauder standing over me, ready to
finish me off. With agonizing slowness, it pointed its right
arm at my cockpit, and I knew that at this range he couldn't
miss. I started to free myself, praying he would gloat just
a little longer, but deep inside I knew he was going to kill
me.

Suddenly, the right side of the Marauder seemed to explode
into fragments as the 'Mech staggered under the impact of a
massive missile barrage. Before Walker could recover,
Minski's Archer charged into view and slammed into it,
sending both of them crashing to the ground. Hot on Minski's
heels, the rest of my company charged into the Warlords, and
the area came alive with lasers and explosions.

Tony's Headhunter landed next to me, ready to cover me.
"Woz," he asked, his voice full of concern "Are you all
right?"

"Oh, yeah," I snarled, switching over to secondary, and in
some cases tertiary controls. "I just did something stupid,
and nearly ended up eating a PPC for it. I'm hurt, angry,
and above all, embarrassed. My 'Mech has more holes in it
then Sun Tzu Laio's sanity report, and I think I have a
broken arm. Other then that, I'm having a great time."

"Can you get up?"

I glanced at my status board. "There's still too many red
lights for my taste," I replied, "but I think I can make
it."

Tony covered me while I slowly got my 'Mech back on its feet
again. Around me, the swirling snow was a serene backdrop
for a bloody, no-holds-barred battle. My company's charge
had rocked the Warlords back on their heels, and the
Headhunters were not letting up. By now, three more Warlord
'Mechs were down, but so was at least one of the
Rattlesnakes. The Warlords were now pairing off and going
back-to-back in an effort to protect their thin rear armor
from the Rattlesnakes and Raptors. My company's 'Mechs, on
the other hand, were acting like a bunch of terrain sharks
in a feeding frenzy, and those Warlords that didn't move
fast enough ended up joining the growing assortment of
downed 'Mechs.

Oblivious to the savage brawl going on around them, Minski
and Walker had squared off in single 'Mech combat. Both had
suffered damage in the collision, but neither of them were
holding back. They were blasting away at each other, all
thoughts of strategy or objectives driven from their minds.

Tony snapped me out of the daze my injuries and the sight of
the battle had slipped me into. "Trouble."

As he spoke, I spotted Haylor's Cyclops break free from the
battle, and run past us. A Griffin and a Panther followed,
and my heart sank. Despite what we had done, there were too
few of us to hold back the Warlords, and now the dam was
beginning to break.

I was just about to order Tony to follow me in pursuit of
the fleeing Warlords, when the Cyclops started up a small
rise several hundred meters from us. As it reached the top,
it disappeared in a cloud of missiles, lasers and autocannon
rounds. Under that assault, the Cyclops seemed to
disintegrate in a riot of color and sound. The Griffin and
Panther stopped dead in their tracks, shocked at the
unexpected carnage.

Out of the smoke and snow, Major Hart's Battlemaster,
followed by the rest of her command lance, made their way
past the remains of the Cyclops, and bore down on the two
Warlord 'Mechs. The Panther pilot was smart, and punched
out. The Griffin, however, wasn't, and fired on the Major.
The return fire by the entire Command Lance turned the
Griffin into a blazing pile of junk.

As the rest of Alpha moved up to join us, I activated my
commlink. "All Delta units, this is Delta Command-six.
Disengage and regroup at the lake ridge." I watched them
dart away from the Warlord 'Mechs, and smiled. With the
Warlords between Delta and Alpha, it was over. Or so I
thought.

I refocused my attention on Minski's fight with Walker. I
don't know how they were still standing. The Archer's right
arm was gone, as was most of the armor on both legs. Steam
rose its heat vents, indicating Minski was running red-hot.
The Archer was on the verge of being crippled, and I felt my
stomach twist at the thought of Minski's death. I glanced at
my status board, hoping I still had enough of a 'Mech left
to aid Minski, but my 'Mech was too badly damaged to fight.

It wasn't all one-sided, however. The Marauder's left arm
and torso armor was nonexistent, and the right arm moved
stiffly. Both 'Mechs had suffered enough damage to disengage
if this were a normal battle, but this was now personal,
their sole purpose to kill the other.

Abruptly, Minski charged the Marauder. Caught by surprise,
Walker hesitated a fraction of a second too long. Firing its
remaining laser, the Archer closed the distance faster then
I thought possible. The sound of the impact rocked the
frozen air, and sent a shiver down my spine.

Both 'Mechs managed to stay standing, though the Marauder
had to take several steps back in order to keep its balance.
Seizing his chance, the Archer stepped forward and started
to pummel Walker's 'Mech with its remaining fist. Again and
again, the Archer's huge fist slammed down on the Marauder's
battered armor. The crab-like 'Mech tried first to defend
itself, then to counter the jackhammer-like attack, but it
had taken too much damage. I watched the Marauder's armor
start to buckle under the pounding, while it tried to blast
the Archer at point-blank range with weapons unsuited to the
task. Finally, a blow struck deeply into the Marauder's
torso, and a hideous sound, the popcorn-popping noise of an
ammo explosion, began. Minski had just enough time to
disengage and step back before the Marauder exploded. The
blast sent pieces of the 'Mech in all directions, and I knew
that Walker hadn't a chance of surviving.

The Archer stood there for a long moment, looking at the
body of its fallen foe, before it turned around walked
towards us. I keyed my commlink. "Minski, are you all
right?"

"Yes." The voice was drained of all emotion. "It's over."

After that, the surviving Warlords, without Walker and
Haylor to lead them, surrendered without a fight.

----------
And that's it. The remaining Warlords were locked up until a
detachment from Broken Wheel HQ showed up to take them into
custody. In addition to Walker and Haylor, the Warlords had
lost twelve 'Mechs--including two that had to be pulled out
of the lake--and seven Mechwarriors. Their dropship was
found in a crater right where Captain Maasin said it would
be. It surrendered after Mitchell Mansfield, Gamma's CO,
threatened to drop half a mountain on them, a threat which
he would have carried out without hesitation. We also
recovered a large number of gems from their 'Mechs. The mine
owners, shaken by the attack, allowed us to keep a small
percentage of them as a reward.

As for me, I spent a week in the hospital with a broken arm,
three broken ribs, and a concussion. The news was better
with the rest of the company. While we had lost two
Rattlesnakes, and all of our remaining 'Mechs were damaged,
we didn't lose any pilots. The Major scowled at me, and
mumbled something about grey hairs, but at least she didn't
shoot me out of hand.

It was Minski's turn to visit me in the hospital. He was
quiet and thoughtful about the battle, and I knew he had
passed his trial by fire. On that battlefield, he had become
a Mechwarrior in deed as well as in rank. We talked for a
while before Marcy Brown showed up to drag him back to Beta.

I had five minutes of quiet before my lancemates showed up
to see me. We were discussing the battle when the nurse came
in to chase them out.

"Well, it could've been worse, Boss," Tony said, as they
headed for the door.

"How?" I asked.

"Walker could've won."

And that is something I NEVER want to think about again.