"Robert E. Vardeman - Battletech - Mechwarrior - Dark Age 03 - The Ruins Of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vardeman Robert E)

system.

He fired another barrage of ten LRMs at the chest of theEnforcer , hoping the shock would further
shake up Dale. Armor shattered off in a cascade that made his IR display useless. Austin changed to
visual, brought the targeting reticule to theEnforcer , and fired again. He was rewarded with even greater
loss of armor. This salvo wouldnтАЩt penetrate the StarGuard CIV armor, but Austin wanted to keep Dale
from using his McCloud Special Jump Jets. Using them, Dale could dodge and dart through the slag
mounds and turn a toe-to-toe fight into hide-and-seek.

Austin fired his forward laser again. His heart skipped a beat when red lights winked on across his
control panel and new warning alarms sounded. His forward laser wasnтАЩt recharging.

That worried Austin just enough to cause him to hesitate.

This wavering allowed theEnforcer to grind about and open up with its BlazeFire laser. Austin
involuntarily threw up his arm to protect his face, although the searing blast never reached the cockpit. It
did destroy part of his Corean-B Tech targeting and tracking system. He lost fully half his displays in that
single attack. A quick status check showed he had also been stripped of a considerable amount of armor
on his right leg.

Austin turned theCenturion about to bring into play undamaged tracking elements. He saw theEnforcer
lifting its right arm, saw bright flashes as the autocannon fired, and then staggered when the heavy slugs
hammered into his тАЩMech. Alarms rang as the depleted-uranium shells ripped away even more of his
metallic flesh, leaving part of the metal skeleton exposed on his right leg. He twisted about, lost sight of
theEnforcer , then kept pivoting to avoid the punishment from the autocannon and to get the other
BattleMech in his sights again. As theEnforcer swung past on his targeting screen, he launched a salvo of
LRMs.

He didnтАЩt have to scan his sketchy readouts to know that he had missed.

Austin had no choice now. He cut to his left and kicked theCenturion into full speed. Glowing, ionized
air all around his тАЩMech registered on his instruments, but his outer temperature didnтАЩt surge. Dale was
firing and missing.

Good, Austin thought.Let him waste his energy and ammo.

The mapping he had done earlier aided him now. Mostly blind to the front because of the damage his
sensors had sustained, Austin let the navigation computer guide him back through the hillocks and small
mountains of dark slag as he kept a lookout to the rear. He had lost contact with theEnforcer but knew
only too well who was hunter and who was prey now. Austin had gained a small edge with his
preemptive attack and had lost it through damage and the difference in тАЩMech characteristics. The
Enforcer , with its jump jets, could get into the attack faster. Worse than this, Dale was more skilled with
long-range weaponry. If Austin wanted to bring down DaleтАЩs тАЩMech, he had to engage with not only his
missiles but also his autocannon and medium laser.

The coolant vest began to sizzle and hiss around him. Austin noticed it only when he slowed the
Centurion and started a complete damage tally. Whether DaleтАЩs laser shot had impaired the cooling
system or theCenturion тАЩs system had failed on its own hardly mattered. Heat began building in the