Lucas raised a finger. "How, exactly, did he figure that out?" "I was stupid," Dan grimaced. "I put too much of my old Axion designs into the Prowler. Draco knows my style better than anyone, and in my arrogance, I made a mech that resembled an old Axion design I never got around to building." "So, what now?" The voice belonged to Commander Telbus. He stood with Dan near the front of the room, next to Mallet and a few other commanders. Mallet gave Martin a curt nod. "For now, we resume operations as usual." Mallet's gaze shifted around the room once more. "We're going to make a supply run next," she announced. "Government finance is tight and we desperately need new IRON chips. Black market dealers are willing to sell us shipments, but the prices are getting higher as Axion cracks down on knockoff chip-makers." Another murmur swept the room. It was true, then, that we were low on IRON chips. That meant that it likely wasn't just my supply that had been half-empty. "There is a

Ahead of us, the two other dropships faded into oblivion, camouflaged. We were an invisible convoy on a much-needed errand. Lucas pushed my feet aside and thumbed a button on the console. The hum from the nuclear reactor deadened slightly. "Adaptive camouflage activated and nuclear signal masked," he grinned. "We are off the radar both physically and electronically." He leaned back in his seat. "Now we wait." Behind me, Kitt sighed dramatically. "Are we there yet?" "I'll toss you from the hangar and you can swim home," Lucas glowered. In reality, the trip from Canada to Italy would take no time at all. The dropship, when pushed to its absolute limit, could fly several times faster than sound. At minimum, it could comfortably fly faster than even the most powerful pre-war airplane. The dropship's stealth, combined with its speed, made the transport easily deadlier than the fighter jets of old, though less maneuverable. Had someone decided to strap weapons to one of these, the Iro

A short time later my Crusader landed on its feet, stumbling slightly in the dry soil of the drained riverbed. Dust flew up around me, a small sandstorm's worth to any human nearby. Three other plumes of dust and three ready signals told me the rest of the squad had touched down in their mechs unharmed. This wasn't like the infiltration of the Lighthouse powerplant. We weren't hiding anymore. If there were enemies, they were likely now alerted to our position. It would be an all-out battle. I rotated my Crusader's body, trying to get a feel for the British mech. Its large shield hung at my side, ready to defend me at the push of a button. This particular Crusader came equipped with two bulbous plasma launchers, the same weapon I had used on my Prowler. At least I was comfortable with the mech's weapons, if not the Crusader itself. My heads-up display flashed blue as my Crusader's cameras scanned the barren landscape. Because, unlike Moscow, there was very little radioactive inter

The district was a jumble of buildings, some squat, flat warehouses and others high-rises of gleaming glass and steel. The center of the mining district was divided by yet another set of bridges. These short, wide platforms had once been used to transport raw ores across an emergency drainage channel in the days when the swift river was a source of worry. The emergency channel below the bridges, like the river itself, was empty, long dried out when the dam had been closed. Now those bridges served to divide something else. They divided us from our enemy. I was certain that there were many more Apollo left-more suicide mechs ready to wipe us off the face of the planet. Ironically, our biggest advantage against the enemy was Harlow's constant bragging. "Feeling rattled, Quinn?" Harlow crooned. "I should hope so. That explosive power was made for busting bunkers. Each Apollo can overcharge their reactor with the force of an anti-tank mine!" That confirmed my suspicions. More Apollo w

I watched in horror as Kedrick's command capsule shot into the sky. So much for plan B. "Oh Jax," a mocking singsong voice crooned, "we have unfinished business!" "Harlow is here!" Kitt shouted. "How did a mech that large sneak up on me?" "Doesn't matter," I replied. "Taewi, see if you can keep him busy. I'll try to lose these Apollo!" The remaining six Apollo were closing in on my position. They were getting smarter, herding me in the direction they wanted by advancing on me from different sides. Every so often a mech would drop back and fire a shot or two of compressed air, keeping me from travelling in one direction for too long. "Jax!" Alyx shouted. "Swing down the closest street to the edge of the district. Lay 'em out and I'll blast a few away!" "But the Legion!" I protested. "If you step out of cover to shoot it'll take you out!" "No time, Jax!" Alyx roared. "My Lynx can take a lick or two, if not I'll just come back in something bigger!" "Harlow's headed your way!" Taew