"Stephen Mohan Jr. - Battletech - Echoes of Disgrace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mohan Jr Stephen)

“The DCMS is planning an attack on the Federated Suns world of
Scheat. We want you to lead it.”
Ukawa suddenly found his mouth was dry. “You want me to
fight?”
The woman smiled, a bright, beautiful smile. “Of course. What
do you imagine can wash away disgrace other than blood?”
“Why me?”
“It will be dangerous,” admitted the woman. “We cannot afford
to spare a frontline DCMS unit. Your ‘Mechs will be older and there
won’t be much support. Frankly, many of you will not survive. But
it is another chance to serve the Combine. And for those who do
make it back, your honor will be restored.”
“This is a bad idea,” murmured the little girl.
But neither Ukawa nor the woman looked at her.
BATTLECORPS Echoes of Disgrace • Page 5


Matar Planetary Militia Headquarters
City of Rain, Matar, Draconis Combine
15 July 2825

Elation flooded Ukawa’s soul, like the bright afternoon sunlight
that gleamed off the alpine meadow, turning the field of gently-
swaying grass a brilliant laser-fire green. The blue-gray mass of
Eisenberg rose up behind the field, the mountain’s flanks clothed
in the dark green of evergreen forests, its summit capped by fresh
white snow. Ukawa almost imagined he could taste the sharp bite
of the cold mountain air.
It was only a simulation, of course, but for the very first time
Ukawa believed the chance he’d been given for redemption was
real.
It had been hard to believe before. Even when they pulled him
out of the prison and quartered him with a collection of other pris-
oners and misfits, Ukawa still didn’t quite believe it. This would
be just like his tormentors: offer him a banquet of hope and then
whisk it away just before he took his first bite.
That’s what the little girl had told him before they’d pulled Ukawa
out of The House of the Absent Sun. And Ukawa had listened to
her. He didn’t know what dark crime had landed her in his cell,
but he had discovered that she spoke with an insight beyond her
years.
But now!
Surely the DCMS wouldn’t train them for an attack on the
Federated Suns unless they really intended Ukawa’s company to
strike at the enemy planet.
No, this was real and Ukawa was not going to let this opportu-
nity pass him by.
The mission objective was to take down the major economic
centers of Scheat one by one, starting with the mine just outside
the city of Valorie. If resistance was light, the Chain Gang would