I am Jade Falcon Read online

  Ravill Pryde took his foot off the chair and stood before them, his hands held in front of him. His stance resembled the battle-ready position of a pilot, and his small stature made the stance seem faintly ridiculous—to Joanna, at least.

  "I knew it was imperative that I dispose of the first foe quickly. I went forward slowly, deliberately lumbered so that, to my enemies I would look uncertain, as if severely disoriented by their unexpected appearance on the other side of the canyon. Near the edge of the canyon, I fired off the first of my PPC barrages. My timing was good and I sliced off a good bit of armor from the Gargoyle's right torso. It staggered him a bit. He was standing so close to the canyon edge that a rain of armor pieces plunged down into its depths. I hammered at him with my PPC while his SRMs did a fair bit of damage on me. I will not bore you with the details, since the Gargoyle turned out to be such an easy mark. Its next burst was way off target, and I knew that something had to be wrong with the pilot. A stray shot, perhaps, had pierced the cockpit and maybe wounded him.

  "I knew what I had to do. If I continued knocking armor off the torso, I could get to something vital, the fusion engine or the gyro, but that would waste a lot more ammunition. I backed away four or five steps from the canyon, then bent my torso, a feint that allowed me to aim my PPCs directly at the Gargoyle's lower legs. I let off a punishing fusillade, forcing the legs backward and the upper body forward. More firing on the lower legs and I sent the Gargoyle toppling. As I had figured, it fell forward across the canyon, its head, face down, and its shoulders on my side of the canyon, the lower part of its legs on the other. And you know what I did then?"

  Ravill Pryde surveyed the blank looks of his audience, then announced smugly, "For a moment while the Gargoyle was stretched insecurely across the nine-meter gash, it formed the makeshift bridge I had planned for it to be. Since my Timber Wolf had fine running capability, I ran it across the back of the Gargoyle and, in three or four steps, was on the other side. I did not slow my stride but immediately ran straight at the other two 'Mechs, a Warhawk and a Summoner. My weight had been too much for the fallen Gargoyle, and I heard it fall into the canyon behind me."

  There were several sharp intakes of breath as Ravill Pryde described his derring-do with a cavalier enthusiasm.

  "That strategy," Castilla said, her voice awed, "it was like Aidan Pryde using 'Mechs as stepping stones in the middle of the Prezno River on Tukayyid so that our forces could get across and capture the bridges."

  Ravill Pryde smiled. "I suppose so. Of course that had not happened yet. I doubt that Aidan Pryde knew anything of my achievement, but perhaps he did. Anyway, here is the kicker. I ran straight at the Summoner, so that its pilot would think he or she was to be my next foe. I was feeling really fine by this time. I was already a qualified MechWarrior, was I not, so that anything I did now would not take away my essential victory. But I wanted more than anything to excel in my Trial, to make it a Trial that would be remembered. I kept my PPC firing, and the Summoner landed several hammering blows on me. My armor was getting paper-thin. I kept coming. At short range the Summoner was devastating. In a moment it would have finished me off.

  "But see, up to this point I had not used my Streak SRMs. When I got close enough to the Summoner, I suddenly veered to the right, upped my speed, and started running into the space between the two 'Mechs. I knew my heat levels were raising rapidly, but I was also certain my Timber Wolf could take whatever the other 'Mechs had to offer and be done with it before heat reached the danger point.

  "The Summoner's pilot saw I was creating a melee and started firing his large pulse laser at me. My armor was chipping away so fast, and in such big chunks, that in spots there was none left. I was extremely vulnerable, but that did not matter. As soon as I had stepped just a bit past the line, so that the melee was created, I used my Timber Wolf's superb adaptability to come to an abrupt stop and step back across the line so that I ended up directly between the Summoner and the Warhawk. Without waiting for my Timber Wolf's feet to settle, I twisted to the right, launching my Streak SRMs, and even before they impacted, I twisted left and engaged the Warhawk with my PPC. The Warhawk exploded. Again I twisted and brought my crosshairs down on the Summoner, finishing him off. I was pretty much done, too. My heat was high and only stubbornness kept me from ejecting. But I had won. It took me a moment before I began to relish the fact that I had earned a Star Captaincy."

  The young warriors, obviously inflamed by the tale, looked at Ravill Pryde as if they wished to be him.

  "And so I am not exaggerating when I say that I may credit my success to Aidan Pryde, whose name I did not even know until much later, but whose later heroism became even more legendary than his daring cadet exploits."

  Several young warriors seconded the reverence by mumbling ritualistic and awed praise.

  "Star Colonel Ravill Pryde?"

  "Yes, Star Captain Joanna?"

  "When you turned the Trial into a melee so that you could fire on the other 'Mechs ...”

  “Yes."

  "What happened to the other trainee, your Trial-mate?"

  Ravill Pryde's face became grim. "She lost, I am afraid."

  "And did her loss have anything to do with your invocation of the melee?"

  Ravill Pryde seemed uncomfortable. "It was unfortunate, but she was defeated by her trio of foes once the melee was initiated. But mine was a fair tactic, and my Trial-mate praised me for it."

  "I do not doubt that. Where is she now?"

  "I am not really sure."

  "You have no idea?"

  "She is a tech somewhere.”

  “Is she content, do you think?”

  “How would I know that?"

  "Oh, just a question—though the answer, it seems to me, is obvious. I mean, what cadet who had nearly become a Jade Falcon warrior and lost only because of circumstances would be satisfied ending up as a tech? Sorry to interrupt."

  "You express half-formed opinions rather freely, Captain Joanna, especially for—well, I will get into that later. I will treat your remark as the normal initiation, the normal Trial of Greeting, as it were, for a newcomer to your garrison. That is what it is, quiaff?"

  "Oh, aff. Definitely aff."

  Joanna was not sure why she had even spoken. The fate of a cadet during a Trial of Position was of no concern to her. Everyone in a Trial took the chance that something would interfere with a probable success. That was what a Trial was about. It was like war in that respect. Stray shots finish off heroes, terrain controlled some battles. Still, she felt that she had provided a troubling footnote to Ravill Pryde's egotistic tale.

  "Tell us about the winning of your bloodname, Star Colonel," Haline asked, her eyes wide. "It is incredible to win one so soon after a Trial of Position."

  Ravill Pryde seemed pleased by her question, but he said, "I think one story at a time is sufficient. I will save that one for another idle night, although I hope we do not have too many of those."

  The other warriors, including the veterans, gave a small cheer at those words. Jade Falcon warriors did not relax well. To them, the truce with the Inner Sphere was like a serious illness eating away at what was, for them, a vital organ: the need for war. It was, after all, what they were bred for.

  Ravill Pryde made an expansive gesture that seemed to include the whole roomful of warriors. "I thank you, my fellow Jade Falcons, for making me feel so at ease in your midst. I know it is not always easy to welcome a commanding officer, especially after all that many of you have been through together. I am honored."

  Unused to such politeness, the veteran warriors exchanged confused glances. The young ones, though, reveled in the new officer's manner and words. Joanna thought that their admiration, so openly displayed on their faces, was revolting.

  "I would like to get down to work now. I know it is evening and we are off-duty. But the way of the Clan cannot abide wastefulness and I believe in using all my time for the good of the Clan. I will be setting up my barracks
office now. Star Commander Horse, I would see you in my office in a half hour, prompt, quiaff?"

  "Aff."

  "And Star Captain Joanna, please see me in one hour, quiaff?”

  “For what?"

  "We will discuss that then, quiaff? Quiaff?”

  “All right, aff."

  The new warriors frowned at Joanna, making it clear that they unanimously despised her. That did not particularly bother her. She had always drawn the hatred of others. Still, she had not confronted such open hostility since her days as a falconer at Crash Camp on Ironhold, when even cadets from sibkos not under her supervision hated her thoroughly. Well, no matter. When it came to hatred, she had always given back more than she got.

  Ravill Pryde marched briskly out of the room. Joanna asked Horse and Diana to meet her outside on the parade grounds.

  The planet Sudeten, with its erratic weather patterns, was favoring its inhabitants with a warm but windy evening. The previous night it had been raining, rain with some sleet in it, battering the barracks walls so hard it had kept Joanna awake.

  Wind velocity picked up within seconds of the three warriors coming together. Joanna felt it pounding at her back, giving added emphasis to her spirited words.

  "What do you two think of this ... this Ravill Pryde?" she asked the only two friends she had. It did nettle her that they were both freeborn. She had never adjusted to freeborns the way Aidan Pryde had, but he was an anomaly among Jade Falcon warriors.

  "Ravill Pryde is unusual."

  "Why do you say that, Diana?"

  "Well, it is rare to see any Jade Falcon warrior boast, but there is something different in the way he does it. It is not just telling tales of his prowess, it is more like he is trying to create a mythic image of himself long before he has done enough to have his genetic legacy accepted into the gene pool."

  Horse looked amused.

  "What do you say, Horse?"

  "I am not sure. He does seem to be promoting himself as a hero, yes, but there is something I admire in him, a touch of Aidan Pryde per—"

  "Oh, come on, Horse," Joanna exclaimed angrily. "Aidan was your comrade. How can you even begin to compare him to—"

  "Let us say then that Ravill Pryde has some potential. I will wait and see."

  "And the two of us are wrong to judge him so harshly on short notice?"

  "In a way, Joanna, in a way. Don't forget that he did win his Trial and bloodname rather convincingly and that he is a star colonel, however young and inexperienced in war itself. These are accomplishments."

  "Can you not see? He has no rage in him. A Clan warrior should have rage. At least under the surface, ready to erupt. Ravill Pryde does not show even an iota."

  Horse smiled. "How can you tell what form rage will take?"

  "I can tell. Believe me, I can tell."

  Joanna felt frustrated. She wanted Horse to agree with her, and here he was waffling on the matter. That was not like Horse. This Ravill Pryde was affecting them all.

  "Go away, both of you. I need to think."

  Diana and Horse were used to Joanna in such a mood. There was no point in arguing with her. They simply left her alone.

  She began to walk. It is wrong for Ravill Pryde to earn a bloodname so young, especially when a bloodname has been denied me. And his youth guarantees he will hold the bloodname for years. Even if I am too old now, I would sacrifice anything to win a bloodname, even if it only came on the last day of my life.

  Thoughts of age created a sick knot in her stomach. Joanna was not used to being affected by pain, even from the wounds of war. Now her stomach often hurt, and she got headaches.

  She nearly tripped on a fallen branch that had been wrenched off a nearby tree by the progressively fierce wind. The wind burned her skin and made it difficult to stand straight. She picked up the branch, which was twice as long as her arm. Like all the branches on this planet, all the trees, it was quite heavy. If it had been leaf-bearing, it would have been too unwieldy to lift. Its bark was rippled with sharp points, which cut into the skin of her hands.

  Holding the branch up, a task achieved with some exertion, Joanna felt the powerful force of the wind bending it and pulling her forward. She ran a few steps, adjusted her control of the branch to the wind, and stopped.

  How old is the tree this comes from? Could I saw that tree open and count its rings? Would it be older than me? Would this branch be older than me? She strode to a nearby tree and began to slam the branch against its trunk.

  I cannot be this old. I cannot be plagued with stomach aches, headaches. I was never meant to be this old. I should be many years dead. In battle I have always fought well. I have always risked all. I should have died a thousand deaths. How has it come to this? Am I like this branch, broken away from the tree, but still intact? Will I live out this life in some lower caste or in some Galaxy of ancient warriors, or die in bed with my body wrinkled and emaciated? That cannot happen. It cannot happen. I will not let it. It cannot happen. I will not let it. It cannot happen. Cannot!

  Over and over Joanna slammed the branch against the tree trunk. The contact of wood on wood was loud and echoing. Eventually she realized that the stinging pains in her back were not signs of age, but a sudden hailstorm of small but plentiful pellets. Throwing the branch as hard as she could, she let the fierce wind take it high and away.

  "That, my dear Horse, is rage," she whispered.

  She felt better.

  7

  Falcon Guard Compound

  Pattersen, Sudeten

  Jade Falcon Occupation Zone

  1 July 3057

  Joanna encountered Horse a few steps from the door to Ravill Pryde's quarters.

  "So that fraud is taking over the Falcon Guards," she said abruptly. "In the place of Aidan Pryde?"

  "That is correct."

  "But he is not battle-tested."

  "He has commanded many engagements—for genetic legacies, for—"

  "All back in the homeworlds, quiaff?”

  “Aff."

  "That is not battle experience. It is play."

  Horse, unusually serious, took a deep breath. "It is the way of the Clans, Joanna. You know that. Rank is all."

  "But the command should go to a proven veteran, like Star Captain Alejandro."

  "His promotion is recent, more recent than Ravill Pryde's earned rank. Alejandro is not yet bloodnamed. Ravill Pryde is. In fact, Joanna, look around at our units. How many bloodnames do you count?"

  When Aidan Pryde had been given command of the Falcon Guards, the troops he'd been given with which to reconstruct the unit were warriors either too old or whose codexes carried some taint. The result was that the new Falcon Guards possessed few bloodnames.

  "True enough, Horse. But there will be no joy in following Ravill Pryde into battle."

  "When did you ever feel joy, Joanna? Your bitterness is, in some ways, the same as mine, but I hide it and you don't. Of course you will follow Ravill Pryde into battle. You're a Jade Falcon officer, a BattleMech pilot—one of the best I've ever seen—and you are Clan. You'll do what you must."

  He let the words stand and awaited a response. How ironic that these sentiments should come from Horse. There had, after all, been a time when Joanna had hated Horse. Yet in the years that had served together, observing his prowess and his loyalty to Aidan Pryde, seeing him protect Diana, she had ceased hating him somewhere along the line. She felt no affection for him, but she did not hate.

  She did not hate Diana either. Even in their first real encounter, when Joanna had taught Diana some lessons in a Circle of Equals, she had admired the young woman's spirit and skills and began noticing a resemblance to Aidan. Diana was so complete a Jade Falcon warrior that it was hard to view her as a mere freeborn.

  There must be something wrong with my life, if all I can claim after all this time—instead of glory, instead of a bloodname, instead of an honorable death—is the friendship of two stravag freebirths.

  "Joanna?"r />
  "You are right, Horse. I will do what I must, you know that. But, if you use one more contraction, I will tear out your heart, you freebirth scum."

  He smiled. "That is better. Sounds more like you."

  "What would you know, stravag?"

  He laughed. "Why not keep your appointment with our new leader?"

  Joanna started to walk past Horse, then stopped and looked over her shoulder at him.

  "What did he want to see you about?"

  Horse hesitated, which was very unlike him. "I wanted to wait to tell you," he said slowly. "He wants me to resume my old role in the command Cluster."

  "Transfer you from my Star?"

  "Yes."

  "The bastard."

  Horse flinched. Bastard, with its freeborn connotations, was an especially forceful curse word within the Jade Falcons.

  "You must transfer?”

  “Yes."

  "It is stealing, Horse. He does not want you in my unit. There is already resentment from—"

  "No, it is not stealing. Why would a trueborn officer want to steal a freeborn from another trueborn officer? It is because of Aidan Pryde. I was Aidan's closest friend. The idea of having me in his unit seems to give Ravill Pryde some kind of, well, comfort. Of course I'd rather remain in your Star, but in a way I am flattered."

  Joanna wanted to smash something. "You almost like Ravill Pryde, do you now, Horse?"

  "No, but I respect him—"

  "Leave me," Joanna growled.

  Horse walked away without a backward look.

  "The bastard," she muttered, and even she was not certain whether she meant Horse or Ravill Pryde.

  * * *

  Ravill Pryde let his bombshells fall quickly and forcefully.

  "I am to remind you that your rank is based on your codex. After the normal review, it has been determined that your place is as a star commander. You revert immediately to that rank and will wear the proper insignia."