"Pursuit, what is your status?"

Angus drew a circle in the dirt with his toe. Knowing that the rest of the unit had suffered tremendous casualties, he was slow to report. "Both 'Mechs are fully functional, sir. Both pilots are combat-ready." Rose thought that the young man stressed the word combat too much, but he let it pass.

"Very good. Battle, give me the bad news."

Esmeralda shifted, apparently searching for a more comfortable position. Perhaps she found it because much of the pain Rose had heard in her voice earlier was gone. "Battle Three is dead. As you already know, the gyro was destroyed. But we've just found out that the remaining seven million pieces were scattered all over the engine compartment, ruining the engine shielding. Hawg did a good job of shutting down the reactor before the shielding went and the engine blew. It'll take a new gyro and the better part of a new engine to get it running again."

Rose looked at Hawg, but he remained very calm as Esmeralda described the destruction of his family heirloom. He wanted to say something, but now was not the time. Instead he just nodded as Esmeralda continued.

"Battle Two can be repaired, but not without a full electronics bay. Any ejection is hard on the system, but when the clamp failed, it destroyed most of the communications and tracking system. Houston is the only place on the planet where we can get that kind of gear."

"Can we get it mobile?"

Esmeralda considered the option. "If we took a VTOL and replaced the command chair, we could probably patch something together, but we'd have to pilot with visuals only, and shooting would be impossible.

"My 'Mech is down, too," she said. "The leg could be repaired, but again, we'd need a full repair bay to do it. The break came right about here." She drew a finger through the green gel on her leg, indicating that the break had occurred across the middle of the thigh. She left the gash in the gel as she continued talking. "We could reattach the leg and weld it back on with the vehicle repair gear the militia is carrying, but it wouldn't hold if stressed. It can walk, but that's about it. Even running would probably snap the leg in half.

"Hawg and I are combat-ready, but O'Shea is out because he can't use either arm. He could pilot the damaged Shadow Hawkif we got it going again, but it could only move at a walk and both arms would be useless."

Esmeralda finished and began smoothing out the crease in the burn gel with a careful finger. Normally Rose would have looked to Rianna to provide the report on the command lance, but he took the duty instead.

"Command Two is fully functional. Command One can be repaired, but with the tools we have available, it will take a couple of hours. The leg will be the worst problem, but I think we can get it back into operation. Rianna and I are both combat-ready."

Rose paused. The entire unit already knew they'd been mauled by Morgain and his 'Mechs, but hearing the results was a hard mental blow. Many 'Mech pilots went their entire careers without ever facing the kind of toe-to-toe fire fight they'd just been in. Of the ten engaging 'Mechs, seven had been either killed or knocked out. Rose didn't mentally count the pursuit lance since it had been kept out of the battle. Seventy percent casualties were unheard of in modern war. Hell, thought Rose in anger, seventy percent had always been unheard of, no matter what the century.

He rubbed the stubble on his chin and picked himself up off the foot of the Banshee.Despite having gone more than forty hours without sleep, he felt surprisingly alert. His unit didn't seem to share his energy, however. He'd ordered all six pilots to sleep at least four hours prior to the meeting and most of them looked as though that had only primed them for more. They didn't look like a team that had just been mauled, but they weren't especially confident about what the future held. Now was the time to rally the troops.

"All right, that means we're down to six pilots and four 'Mechs." He paused and walked into the midst of the group. "I can live with that." All eight heads came up at the same time. "You've all had a little sleep and some hot food and for the last hour you've been inspecting your 'Mechs for damage."

Rose paused and looked each Black Thorn in the eye. "Well, the light duty just ended."

With a sudden whirl he faced Esmeralda and pointed an accusing finger. "Esmeralda, forget about repairing the Warhammerfor the time being. What do you know about Marauders!"Esmeralda stood there with her mouth open. Finally she began to stammer an answer, but Rose cut her off.

"It was a rhetorical question. It doesn't matter what you know, or don't know for that matter, because you're our new Marauderpilot. The head of that beast was savaged by Mister Bell when he saved my butt from Morgain. I think it can be repaired, though. When the meeting's over, find out.

"Hawg, I know that I can't replace your 'Mech, but I'm willing to try. About five hundred meters from where we stand is a fully functional BattleMaster.You just became the new pilot."

If Rose had turned blue and floated into the air, Hawg could not have been more surprised. Rose returned Hawg's sudden smile and soon the two men were beaming at one another. "Until the Chargeris fully repaired, the BattleMasteris our best repair vehicle. The BattleMasteris the only 'Mech with two hands. We're going to need it for salvaging parts from the downed 'Mechs."

Hawg snapped Rose a formal, parade-ground salute. Rose knew the Zeuswould be missed, but for the moment Hawg would be too busy to mourn the ancient machine. That left only two items to finish.

"Black Thorns, I have the privilege of announcing that a new recruit has offered his services to the unit and has been accepted for immediate duty.

"Welcome aboard, Antioch Bell."

Now it was Bell's turn to be amazed. "I didn't volunteer for anything. Besides, even if I did, my side was taking shots at you this morning, or don't you remember?"

Rose remembered, but he knew he had little to fear from the former member of Morgain's band, and the rest of the Thorns probably felt the same way. After all, Bell had always been a friend to the unit and he hadn't fired on any of them during the fighting. "I'm sorry about that, Mister Bell. Perhaps I should explain myself better.

"Black Thorns, a Mech Warrior of considerable experience has announced his presence with uncharacteristic resolve. He saved the Black Thorns from destruction and probably saved my life in the process. Do we want that type of ability in our unit?"

"Yes!" The unanimous chorus was deafening.

"There you go, Mister Bell. A fine example of military protocol in action. You've been accepted by the Black Thorns, whether you want it or not. Consider yourself drafted."

Rose gave the unit a few moments to shake hands with the stunned Bansheepilot. Like Hawg, Rose wanted to give his friend some kind of direction, even if only temporary. As the mercenaries sat down again, Rose continued the meeting.

"With that out of the way, we have only one more thing to discuss. The Clans. While you were sleeping, Colonel Bahlyard transmitted his report to the Council. I'm sorry, but the Black Thorns were destroyed. I, of course, died fighting. The rest of you were captured." Rose stood in the middle of the unit, striking his best heroic pose. A chorus of boos made him break his pose as the mercenaries groaned at the sarcasm.

Rose checked his watch and continued, relaxing as he went. "The Bristol is leading a single Clan DropShip toward Borghese. Both ships will hit the spaceport tarmac in six hours." Rose could see McCloud light up at the mention of her ship. "Colonel Bahlyard has been summoned back to the capital, where he is ordered to turn over his prisoners. He's also been ordered not to interfere with the Clan 'Mechs he's going to find in Houston."