Fort Kershaw, Sinclair
Periphery
27 May 3050
Helen Candidy had never travelled by jumpship before she had been absconded away from Poulsbo. Mother always told me that I would get into
trouble hanging around with Jaime and his friends, she thought. I rather doubt that she thought I'd be shanghaied off to the far corners of the universe
after a bar brawl though.
She fingered the white cord around her wrist as she walked out of the dropship. There had been an explanation once she and the other girls in
the group woke up aboard a dropship heading away their homes. The cord marked her as a bondswoman to Clan Star Adder, which seemed to be a status somewhere
between slave and being declared mentally incompetant. If they worked hard and fit in then they would eventually become full members of the Clan, but until
then someone would always be acting as their guardians.
None of the girls had dared to kick up too much of a fuss about that - worlds less garrisoned than Poulsbo had been raided for slaves in
living memory - but when they saw the boys again, two had been missing. Apparently they had protested vehemently and resisted physically. The latter had been
totally pointless since the Star Adders seemed to include a disproportionate number of bodybuilders and the duo had been dragged off and never seen again.
Given how cramped the bondsmen and -women had found a dropship to be, that suggested that the two protestors had been disposed off in the permanent fashion
available to a dropship that was several million kilometres from the nearest planet.
The scene outside the dropship was not quite what she had expected. For reasons that Helen had no idea of the spaceport was not the usual
massive flat plain of concrete that she had expected from the media. Instead, it was tier after tier of levelled concrete rising up the side of a mountain,
over looking a military base not really all that different from what she had seen of Fort Bangor and a port city beyond it. The sky was grey and rain water
pooled here or there on the ground where it had not quite reached the drainage channels cut discreetly into the concrete - clearly the result of rain earlier
in the day.
After her pause to absorb the surroundings was cut short by the next bondsman in line pushed her roughly out of the hatch, Helen descended
the stairs to the concrete and the 'welcoming committee' that was staring up at them, annoyed looks on their faces. Even the women in the ten-strong
group seemed to be at least six feet high at the shoulder - the tallest of the men was at least a head taller than that - and their postures simply screamed to
the young biker than they considered themselves to be on an entirely different level from the new arrivals, regardless of whether they were bikers, captured
soldiers and in some cases their families or the scrapings of every juvenile detention centre on Poulsbo.
There were several hundred prisoners being brought in from Poulsbo just on this one dropship and from what little that Helen had heard there
were at least two more dropships carrying the human booty of these Star Adder's conquest of her homeworld. But even adding in more dropships to carry more
conventional loot and battlefield salvage wouldn't begin to account for how busy this port was. There were at least a score of dropships loading and
unworking, with space for far more than that.
On the concrete, Helen was pushed off to one side by the 'handlers' along with the rest of her friends, the juvies and several of the
near-adult children of the military types. The last caused a certain amount of agitation until one of the handlers pointed out that they had all been brought
here at no small expense and asked somewhat sarcastically whether "the humble telephone was now regarded as lostech in the Inner Sphere'.
With that settled the now ex-soldiers and their families were carted off in buses, an event that seemed to relax the handlers somewhat. Some
of the bondsmen also relaxed, feeling that this would make them safer. Helen, seeing the smiles on their new lords and master's faces was not so sure.
Those smiles were more predatory than welcoming.
"Form three lines!" shouted one of the handlers, his compatriots moving forward to push and pull the bondsmen into the desired
formation. "I am Drill Instructor Quinn! These warriors around you are also your drill instructors! When you speak to any drill instructor, the first and
the last words out of your mouths will be Sir! Do you understand me?"
There was a rumble of various responses from the bondsmen, then several cries of alarm as every drill instructor punched or kicked the
nearest available target.
"I did not hear that!" Quinn bellowed. "I know that you are all snivelling Inner Sphere brats, but you are all medically
capable of hearing me and of speaking at an audible level! Now, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Helen called along with some of the smarter bondsmen.
"What was that?"
"SIR, YES SIR!" every bondsman shouted with what could creditably be called enthusiasm. Enthusiasm not to become the next victims
at any rate.
Quinn nodded grudgingly. "Better," he said. "Not good. Not good at all. But better." He walked up and down, looking at
them suspiciously. "You are all here because a Warrior of Clan Star Adder believes that there is a small, small possibility that you might be worthy of
one day being considered fellow Warriors." He paused. "I believe that they are wrong. The nine warriors around you have been given the job of
knocking you into shape and bringing you to the condition expected of those who would be trained as warriors. I, however, have a very different responsibility.
My role is to find reason to remove every one of you that is not worthy of being considered a warrior from this training."
There was a ripple of unspoken confusion through the ranks.
"Oh?" Quinn sneered. "Some of you are thinking that you do not want to be warriors of Clan Star Adder?" He smiled.
"You would all do well to remember what I am telling you: there are five castes among the Clans. The Warriors are the highest caste. As bondsmen you are
members of the lowest Caste, the Labourers. If it is your earnest desire to spend your lives lifting and carrying then by all means, tell me now and you will
be quickly sent to where you can learn how to use a shovel to start cleaning sewers."
"Now that that is done with, it is time for you to visit your new homes," he concluded. "The barracks that you will occupy are
three miles away. A nice, bracing run to warm you up. Drill Instructor Maeve will lead the way. I will be taking up the rear. And anyone who cannot maintain a
pace I find satisfactory will be... motivated to find out if they are unfit or merely idle." The smile on his face made it clear whatever that motivation
would consist of in detail, in general it would be far more stick that carrot.
Romulus
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
3 June 3050
"What are you up to, Virgilia Truscott?" Leo Showers growled as the holo projector in the recreation room of the Jade Falcon
dropship Turkina's Command displayed a map of the valley that Elias Crichell had nominated as the Circle of Equals for the trial.
"Up to?" Virgilia said with an air of innocence. "I do not have time to get up to anything, Leo Showers. If I did not know
with absolute certainty that Elias would throw a tantrum for me not watching the Trial, I would be catching up with my paperwork right now. Even with Roderick
back in the Homeworlds handling the day to day matters, I am still supposed to stay on top of matters after all."
Showers sneered. "Of course. Well if it is such a distraction for you, then why did you challenge the Jade Falcons for their contract
with the Snow Ravens?"
The contract in question had provided the Jade Falcons with a quarter of the Snow Raven fleet to protect their supply lines against Inner
Sphere raiders during the invasion. It was an elegant solution that left the Falcon's own fleet of warships, such as the Turkina's Pryde that was a
currently in orbit over Romulus, free to fight the Inner Sphere's fleets at the spear head of the invasion. There was only one problem.
The Inner Sphere apparently did not have any warships.
Every source, including that highly suspicious 'Precentor Martial' that Ulric Kerensky seemed to place so much trust in, agreed that
the last warships of the Successor States' once extensive fleets had been destroyed two hundred years ago. The result was that the Jade Falcons were left
with ten warships that they didn't actually need and were paying for this 'privilege' with hefty shipments of raw materials and finished goods to
Clan Snow Raven.
Enter Khan Virgilia Truscott, representing the only Clan that apparently cared so little about the invasion that they had only sent one of
their Khans along with it. Once it had become apparent that the Snow Raven ships were merely marking time, the Star Adder Khan had approached Elias Crichell
and challenged him for possession of the contract. The notion that Truscott was willing to pay an obscene sum for temporary control over ships that were a
thousand light years away from any legitimate activity by her Clan had been enough to persuade Leo Showers that this might be more important than riding herd
on the Wolves (who were getting ahead of the Smoke Jaguars, something that he found intolerable).
It had taken only a little juggling of schedules (which would not at all inadvertantly probably cost the Wolves at least a week to straighten
out) for him to arrange an improvised command circuit to Romulus, arriving just after the bidding was done.
"Can you imagine the paperwork involved in bringing a Naval Star all this way?" Virgilia asked with a shudder. "You must have
been glad to hand all that off to your replacement when you were elected IlKhan, Leo."
"I planned the entire invasion," he reminded her harshly only to be shushed before he could remember that that was entirely
irrelevant to his line of enquiry.
"They are starting," Virgilia reprimanded him, eyeing the holo table enthusiastically in a fashion that reminded Leo uncomfortably
of some of the lower castes he had seen watching replays of a Trial of Bloodright as if it had been entirely for their benefit.
Realising that he was not going to get anything useful out of her Leo sat back and watched as ten green dots and ten blue dots started moving
across the holograph, denoting the locations of the two points of infantry that each Clan had bid for the trial. One of the Star Adder points didn't seem
to be moving very much and the second had moved forwards just barely enough to screen them from the rapidly advancing Jade Falcons.
"I knew that your Clan are not the most practised in the use of infantry," Leo observed, "So I shall be generous and let you
know that having half your forces about to be pincered by all of the Jade Falcon Elementals is not a go- What in Kerensky's Name was that!?" he
exclaimed at the top of his voice as one of the Jade Falcon points suddenly sprouted damage icons around their representations on the holotable, despite being
well over two hundred metres from the nearest Star Adders.
-/-
Only a few kilometers away, that was more or less what Point Commander Ceden of the Jade Falcon Keshik was saying as he examined the damage
to his armour from behind what he sincerely hoped was adequate cover.
"Jeebers is dead," one of his point reported. "Two of those lasers hit him. Did the Adders sneak a Battlemech into the Trial
without telling us?"
"Two damn hits?" Ceden snapped in fury. The reality of Elementals fighting against Elementals were that any suit could usually
survive three seperate hits from the lasers that they carried. They also didn't have weapons that could reach more than two hundred meters. Those rules
appeared to have been revoked for the Star Adders.
His radio chimed. "Ceden," snapped Star Commander Mon Thastus. "What's keeping you? Their suits have us pinned down. Hit
their rear before the second point gets close enough to get involved."
"They are involved," Ceden told him sourly and raised his laser above the edge of the boulder, sweeping the gun camera across the
hillshide above the. He lowered his arm quickly as several more shots sizzled through the air over his head and swore as he replayed the gunsight pictures on
his HUD. "The other point is wearing some sort or reinforced armour and they are firing cut down Battlemech lasers at us. I have one dead and two
injured."
Mon Thastus paused. "They are over three hundred metres away from you," he said reasonably.
"Cut down medium lasers."
The silence this time was illustrative. Mon Thastus was of the opinion that swearing in front of his subordinates was undignified. Ceden
could almost hear the temptation in the silence before the Star Commander replied. "Very well. When I give the word, use your jumpjets to pop up and hit
the nearer star with your missiles then get back under cover. We will do the same. That may weaken them enough that we can overwhelm them."
Personally, Ceden was sceptical of this. On the other hand, what else was there to do? He gestured for his
point to spread out and on Mon's order, each fired their jump jets, soaring abruptly up into the air more than fifty metres. At the apex of their leaps,
they fired off the short range missiles mounted in their backpacks, raining high explosive missiles down onto the Star Adder battle armour. Combined with the
missiles from Mon Thastus' point, the explosions engulfed the Star Adders momentarily and Ceden hoped for a moment that they had been hurt badly enough to
prevent retaliation.
Instead, five lasers lashed out of the fire and smoke, slashing into three of the suits in Mon's point. One suit lost an arm
while another simply disintegrated as the laser bit into the backpack and the missile reload stored there. More lasers reached down the slope from the second
Star Adder point and two of Cedon's point hit the ground in pieces, leaving only himself and one other alive. At least Jade Falcon warriors were dead and
he didn't think that even one of the Star Adders had fallen.
-/-
Elias Crichell was self-controlled enough not to react obviously as three of the green lights on the display blinked out. Timur Malthus was
twitching irritably however, Virgilia noted with satisfaction. "It's been more than a hundred years since there was any significant improvement on
Elemental battle armour," she told Leo quietly. "My scientist caste suggested applying the last few decades' advances in laser technology to
them. It seems to work quite well, wouldn't you say?"
"That is true," Leo Showers admitted. Another green light winked away and there wasn't one that lacked damage markers. "A
shame you did not introduce them earlier. There are two seperate types, are there not?"
Virgilia nodded. "The Fang and the Long Fang. Both are quite a bit heavier than the standard Elemental - the scientists had to build a
whole new generation of jumpjets to bring the Fang up to the same level of mobility. They could just be exagerating their exertions of course, it is a
time-honoured tradition after all, but the results are quite impressive. The Long Fang was actually easier, or so I'm told, for all that it is almost twice
as large as an Elemental."
Leo nodded. "There is a jest amongst my clan regarding your clan's tactics, Virgilia Truscott. 'How does one disable a Star
Adder scout Mech?'"
"Oh?" she said. "Well, by all means share this secret Smoke Jaguar tactic with me, Leo Showers."
"'Shoot the Kingfisher when it slows down'," the ilKhan advised her. "Some how it does not surprise me that you have
overcome your distaste for infantry by making them larger."
A blue light winked out as the surviving Jade Falcon Elementals managed to get into close quarters with the Star Adder Fangs,
but so did two more of the Elementals.
"This is wasteful," Showers said, deliberately raised his voice enough for the two Jade Falcon Khans to hear him. He
shook his head at the implied question in Crichell's inquisitive glance.
The senior Jade Falcon Khan placed one hand on Timur Malthus's shoulder and whispered a brief instruction, clearly prompting
the younger man to do something that he found distasteful. Grudgingly, Timur stood and bowed slightly in the direction of Virgila and the ilKhan. "Khan
Truscott, my forces have been defeated."
Virgilia stood and bowed before tapping her microphone. "Cease fire and break off," she ordered sharply, then looked
up at Malthus, who was giving similar orders. "Khan Malthus, your honourable surrender is accepted. Once again, Clan Jade Falcon have shown the sharpness
of their talons."
Malthus shook his head angrily. "It is your Star Adders who have shown their worth here," he growled reluctantly. On
the screen, only two green lights indicated surviving Elementals while eight Star Adder warriors were moving slowly back from their opponents. "I shall
advise Khan Lynn McKenna of the outcome of this trial and remove all Jade Falcon warriors from the warships."
"And what will you do with this fleet?" Leo Showers asked firmly. "I will not allow you to evade this question,
Virgilia Truscott. We have all been reminded recently of the power that even one warship possesses. Now you control ten such ships - four cruisers, three
transports and three corvettes. It is not a small force by any reckoning."
The Khan of the Star Adders smiled broadly. "ilKhan, I have advised you before that I feel your plans for the invasion are
doomed to failure. I will use this fleet to secure forward bases for my Clan to defend the Homeworlds in the Periphery rather than upon the sacred soil of the
Pentagon Worlds or even Strana Mechty itself."
ComStar First Circuit Compound
Hilton Head Island, Terra
20 July 3050
Myndo Waterly waved her hand to direct Sharilar Mori towards a seat in the Primus' office. For the room from which humanity's
homeworld was ruled, it was remarkably unassuming. As Waterly's replacement as Precentor Dieron and head of all of ComStar's stations within the
Draconis Combine, Mori was among the few that knew of Waterly's other, more opulent office located deeper inside the complex. This office was merely the
public face of ComStar's leader.
"The Precentor Martial has sent another communique from his sojourn amongst the Inner Sphere's newest players," the Primus
advised her. "It's really quite revealing."
She tapped at a control on her desk, reminding the younger woman irresistably of a spider touching its webs, and a holographic display of
ComStar's military commander appeared above what appeared to be no more than a simple coffee table. Anastasius Focht was a tall man and although his hair
was entirely white, there was no sign of weakness in him. He wore the red and gold-trimmed white uniform of a ComGuards officer without rank insignia: his
face, and the black patch covering what had once been his right eye was almost enough to identify him to his soldiers without any further hints.
"The Peace of Blake be with you, Primus," he said, the hologram still pointing his face towards the desk. "I received your
confirmation of the agreement reached with the Khan of Clan Wolf and the ilKhan has extended this agreement to cover the other invading clans: the Jade Falcons
in the Federated Commonwealth, the Ghost Bears along the border of the Draconis Combine and the Free Rasalhague Republic and his own Smoke Jaguars within the
Combine itself."
Sharilar looked sharply up at her senior who paused the recording. "Yes, interesting is it not? There is no mention of the fifth of
these Clans participating in the invasion, the one that is causing so much havoc in the peripheral regions of the Federated Commonwealth."
"A seperate group perhaps? There must be a connection given the similar battlemechs," Sharilar speculated. The Primus simply shook
her head and tapped at her controls, letting the message continue.
"I have been unable to obtain firm information on their homeworlds or civilian population but it is clear from their logistics that they
must lie a considerable distance away from the Inner Sphere. It would appear that they require relatively little direct supervision however, as I have heard
that the Khans of every Clan are present in the invasion, those whose Clans are not directly involved observing events here.While the ilKhan is the supreme
warlord of these people, his role seems to be more that of co-ordinating their efforts, something that can be difficult given their internal
disagreements."
"To give a recent example, the ilKhan recently had to travel into the worlds occupied by the Jade Falcons to settle a clash between that
clan and representatives of the Clan Star Adder. The latter Clan seems to be poorly thought of, but the information I have amassed from various remarks
indicates that they were successful in a clash of arms and had in some fashion undermined an alliance between the Jade Falcons and a Clan Snow Raven. The
underlying cause of this battle is unclear to me but the fact that the Star Adders had sufficient forces present to challenge the Jade Falcons may imply that
other Clans have forces waiting to join the invasion if needed."
Waterly cut the replay off. "There's nothing of any great importance in the rest of his report," she said in a casual voice
that didn't fool Sharilar in the least. "However, the fact these Star Adders are to all practical purpose in schism from the rest of their people
raises several interesting possibilities."
"The Jade Falcons are the nearest clan to their invasion routes," Sharilar noted. "And since they have already apparently been
defeated once, were they to learn of this then it might lure them into attacking their rivals."
"Indeed. It also suggests that the defeat of one Clan may well simply lead to the arrival of a replacement army," Waterly pointed
out, "Something that could be quite useful if the Successor States are too successful in combating the Clans. It will be interesting to see how Victor
Steiner-Davion's little counterattack progresses."
Sharilar frowned. "A counter attack?"
"Oh yes," the Primus smiled patronizingly. "They are being very cagey about the actual details, but the messages that they are
sending were quite easy for ROM's analysts to unravel. A small fleet of jumpships to carry a force of four regiments deep into the Clan occupation zone.
Very bold, very daring..."
"Prince Victor is very young," nodded Sharilar in understanding.
"Indeed." Waterly smiled cruelly. "There is an excellent chance that by overwhelming one of their garrisons that he will
awaken the Jade Falcons to the need for greater rear area security and better information on the movements of the Inner Sphere. Two needs that ComStar will be
well placed to fill and the information on the activities of their errant kinfolk would certainly be an excellent tool to bring this opportunity to their
attention, would it not?"
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
27 July 3050
Justin looked up in surprise as Melissa Steiner-Davion entered his study in the St Ives Embassy. "Is something the matter, Archon?"
he asked in a concerned voice. What could be so urgent that she would take time out of her busy schedule to visit him when she would surely see him in the
morning for the regular briefings that he provided and any time she could spare was almost invariably spent with the children who were still at
home.
"I was hoping to speak to Candace, before she left for St Ives," Melissa told him, "But I've missed her, evidently. I hope
you don't mind being second choice to speak to."
Metaphorically setting aside his role as Minister of Intelligence, Justin rose and ushered her to one of the armchairs that framed a small
coffee table. "I'm always glad to see you, Melissa," he assured her. "You're worried about Victor, I presume."
Melissa smiled. "Is it so obvious?" she said wryly. "I'm hardly the only mother with children in harm's way,
but..."
"I don't think until I understood how my father must have felt when we decided that I would be sent into exile until I realised that
I had agreed to sending Kai into the teeth of an invasion," Justin admitted. "At the time I felt it was my duty and I suspect that Kai and Victor
feel the same way, without any idea how much we want to recall them."
"Selfish of us, isn't it," Melissa asked sadly.
"It is a little harder for us. However much the other parents might wish that they could have their children brought home to them, we
are among the few who could give the order and have it happen. Well, have Kai brought home, anyway. I'm sure Victor would have to be dragged and no doubt
he'll be wary of that now."
She giggled like a school girl at that. "It was so very like Victor, wasn't it? Having to be knocked out and physically carried onto
a dropship to get him away from a battle."
"He was always stubborn," Justin agreed. "However, he's learnt more than a little of strategy, Melissa. The plan is a
sound one. Twycross is well behind the Jade Falcon advance and he will likely face only garrison forces. What reports we have of them make them considerably
less formidable than the elite units of their spearheads. And we need a victory. You've seen the same reports I have about the morale of the troops moving
to face the Clans."
"But why must he go!?" Melissa exploded. "He's the only eligible heir that Hanse and I have, he's... Justin, he spent
so many years on Tharkad - almost half a year at a time without either of us since mother died. Sometimes I think that I've barely been a mother to him,
the way I was to the others!"
Justin shook his head. "In many ways Victor has more of you in him than he has of his father," he said. "Hanse was the younger
brother, given freedoms that neither Ian, Victor or you could have. He was raised on Tharkad remember. He's fighting for his home and because he does so,
he will inspire others to do the same. I will grant you that Victor is young, but he is no less your son than you are Katrina's daughter. Andrew Redburn
told me of the Silver Eagle, how you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others then. Now Victor is willing to do the same, to stand between
civilians and harm. That's the duty of a soldier, but it is the duty of a ruler to lead soldiers in doing so."
"I cannot promise you that Victor will survive this, Melissa. But I can tell you that he has taken every precaution and that he did so
with Morgan Hasek-Davion poking holes relentlessly in those plans. And if he succeeds then Victor will have given us all hope that the Clans can be beaten,
that no matter how battered the Commonwealth is we can still stand up and trade blows against them."
"I've felt this same fear before, on Sian when Hanse was carving the Capellans apart. I knew how they hungered for any sign of hope.
That's why the attack on Sian succeeeded: Maxmilian Liao desperately needed to show his people a victory to give them heart and he didn't question the
good fortune of having Morgan as a prisoner until it was too late. Victor is not doing this for himself. He's doing this for his people and I'm sorry
Melissa. As a mother you may fear this but as his ruler you have no right to deny him it."
"Victor is going to Twycross and if you stop him then you will destroy him as your heir."
Buena War College, Buena
Periphery March, Federated Commonwealth
17 August 3050
This time Kai arrived in plenty of time for the briefing, enough time to take a seat well away from Deidre Lear. He still didn't know why
the woman hated him - something to do with his family she presumed for at their first meeting when they did not exchange names, she had seemed if anything to
enjoy talking to him. It was only when they were introduced at the New Year's Party that she's started treating him as if he'd killed her
dog.
He would like to think that his continued curiousity about the reason for her reaction was simply due to the fact that it had been impossible
for them not to see each other almost every day on the voyage out to the Periphery, but even through the two week field exercise that the Guards had run on
arrival to get their warriors back up to form after the forced inactivity of the journey he hadn't been able to shake the issue despite the fact that he
hadn't seen her at all: the medical staff had been settling into the facilites at the college.
A second exercise, this one to co-ordinate efforts with the War College's Training Battalions - one BattleMech unit and two each of
infantry and armour - had given Kai an appreciation for all the money that had been invested into the Commonwealth's newest Academy - the cadets were
rookies, but rookies who had been trained as well as most of his class at New Avalon Military Academy. He had to admit that it was a little disturbing how many
of them had gravitated towards him when they were not on duty, not pressing him about his social or political ties which he had long since learned how to
handle gracefully, but wanting to discuss his performance in the La Mancha simulation during his own final year at the Academy. The tale of the first ever
victory over the gruelling examination (followed a week later by a similar success by the heir to the Commonwealth) had apparently circulated through the
military grapevine.
Still, if the story inspired them, Kai was hard pressed to complain. The Clans had rolled right over some of the best regiments in the Inner
Sphere. If his presence, despite his complete lack of any actual combat experience, did anything to counter the impact that that had had on morale, then he was
all in favour of it. And at least they had a name for the invaders now: Clan Wolf right on the Rasalhague border, Clan Jade Falcon in Tamar and Clan Star Adder
out on the periphery. What those names signified was still a mystery however.
"Gentlemen, ladies," the commander of the 10th Lyran Guards said. "Thank you," he added as the room quietened.
"I'm sure that the rumour mill is already at work so I will keep this to the point. Six hours ago a force of Star Adders arrived at a pirate point
around the third planet in this system. They are currently making the journey from that jump point to Buena and are expected to arrive within the next two
days."
General Kaulkas was looking more satisfied than any member of the AFFC should at delivering the news that an invasion force was on its way to
the world with whose defense he was entrusted. "Allow me to clarify," he said loudly. "One Star Adder jumpship, carrying no more than four
dropships, arrived in the system. The data we have makes it clear than these 'Star Adders' require two seperate dropships to move one of their
frontline regiments. They cannot be deploying more than two such units against us, so it appears likely that they are not aware that they are facing an entire
Regimental Combat Team."
"Needless to say, this gives us an opportunity. It is clear from the reports that we have that the Clans have a formidable technological
advantage, however until now they have struck with comparable numbers to their targets. This time however, we have an advantage of two or three to one over
them, which should counterbalance this. Our strategy will therefore be to draw them away from their dropships, isolate portions of their forces and overwhelm
them with our numbers."
Kaulkas looked at their solemn faces. "This is for real, boys and girls. These reports that have made it off occupied worlds don't
report any prison camps for captured warriors. It is entirely possible that the Clanners aren't taking prisoners. Thousands of our fellow soldiers have
simply vanished in the wake of the invasion. Now they've screwed up and we can can give them back a little of what they've been dishing out. However, I
want prisoners. We need to know where they came from so that once they're stopped we can take the fight back to them."
"This is what we came here for. Now it's time to make your families, your Archon, and most importantly me proud of
you."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Periphery
27 May 3050
Helen Candidy had never travelled by jumpship before she had been absconded away from Poulsbo. Mother always told me that I would get into
trouble hanging around with Jaime and his friends, she thought. I rather doubt that she thought I'd be shanghaied off to the far corners of the universe
after a bar brawl though.
She fingered the white cord around her wrist as she walked out of the dropship. There had been an explanation once she and the other girls in
the group woke up aboard a dropship heading away their homes. The cord marked her as a bondswoman to Clan Star Adder, which seemed to be a status somewhere
between slave and being declared mentally incompetant. If they worked hard and fit in then they would eventually become full members of the Clan, but until
then someone would always be acting as their guardians.
None of the girls had dared to kick up too much of a fuss about that - worlds less garrisoned than Poulsbo had been raided for slaves in
living memory - but when they saw the boys again, two had been missing. Apparently they had protested vehemently and resisted physically. The latter had been
totally pointless since the Star Adders seemed to include a disproportionate number of bodybuilders and the duo had been dragged off and never seen again.
Given how cramped the bondsmen and -women had found a dropship to be, that suggested that the two protestors had been disposed off in the permanent fashion
available to a dropship that was several million kilometres from the nearest planet.
The scene outside the dropship was not quite what she had expected. For reasons that Helen had no idea of the spaceport was not the usual
massive flat plain of concrete that she had expected from the media. Instead, it was tier after tier of levelled concrete rising up the side of a mountain,
over looking a military base not really all that different from what she had seen of Fort Bangor and a port city beyond it. The sky was grey and rain water
pooled here or there on the ground where it had not quite reached the drainage channels cut discreetly into the concrete - clearly the result of rain earlier
in the day.
After her pause to absorb the surroundings was cut short by the next bondsman in line pushed her roughly out of the hatch, Helen descended
the stairs to the concrete and the 'welcoming committee' that was staring up at them, annoyed looks on their faces. Even the women in the ten-strong
group seemed to be at least six feet high at the shoulder - the tallest of the men was at least a head taller than that - and their postures simply screamed to
the young biker than they considered themselves to be on an entirely different level from the new arrivals, regardless of whether they were bikers, captured
soldiers and in some cases their families or the scrapings of every juvenile detention centre on Poulsbo.
There were several hundred prisoners being brought in from Poulsbo just on this one dropship and from what little that Helen had heard there
were at least two more dropships carrying the human booty of these Star Adder's conquest of her homeworld. But even adding in more dropships to carry more
conventional loot and battlefield salvage wouldn't begin to account for how busy this port was. There were at least a score of dropships loading and
unworking, with space for far more than that.
On the concrete, Helen was pushed off to one side by the 'handlers' along with the rest of her friends, the juvies and several of the
near-adult children of the military types. The last caused a certain amount of agitation until one of the handlers pointed out that they had all been brought
here at no small expense and asked somewhat sarcastically whether "the humble telephone was now regarded as lostech in the Inner Sphere'.
With that settled the now ex-soldiers and their families were carted off in buses, an event that seemed to relax the handlers somewhat. Some
of the bondsmen also relaxed, feeling that this would make them safer. Helen, seeing the smiles on their new lords and master's faces was not so sure.
Those smiles were more predatory than welcoming.
"Form three lines!" shouted one of the handlers, his compatriots moving forward to push and pull the bondsmen into the desired
formation. "I am Drill Instructor Quinn! These warriors around you are also your drill instructors! When you speak to any drill instructor, the first and
the last words out of your mouths will be Sir! Do you understand me?"
There was a rumble of various responses from the bondsmen, then several cries of alarm as every drill instructor punched or kicked the
nearest available target.
"I did not hear that!" Quinn bellowed. "I know that you are all snivelling Inner Sphere brats, but you are all medically
capable of hearing me and of speaking at an audible level! Now, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Helen called along with some of the smarter bondsmen.
"What was that?"
"SIR, YES SIR!" every bondsman shouted with what could creditably be called enthusiasm. Enthusiasm not to become the next victims
at any rate.
Quinn nodded grudgingly. "Better," he said. "Not good. Not good at all. But better." He walked up and down, looking at
them suspiciously. "You are all here because a Warrior of Clan Star Adder believes that there is a small, small possibility that you might be worthy of
one day being considered fellow Warriors." He paused. "I believe that they are wrong. The nine warriors around you have been given the job of
knocking you into shape and bringing you to the condition expected of those who would be trained as warriors. I, however, have a very different responsibility.
My role is to find reason to remove every one of you that is not worthy of being considered a warrior from this training."
There was a ripple of unspoken confusion through the ranks.
"Oh?" Quinn sneered. "Some of you are thinking that you do not want to be warriors of Clan Star Adder?" He smiled.
"You would all do well to remember what I am telling you: there are five castes among the Clans. The Warriors are the highest caste. As bondsmen you are
members of the lowest Caste, the Labourers. If it is your earnest desire to spend your lives lifting and carrying then by all means, tell me now and you will
be quickly sent to where you can learn how to use a shovel to start cleaning sewers."
"Now that that is done with, it is time for you to visit your new homes," he concluded. "The barracks that you will occupy are
three miles away. A nice, bracing run to warm you up. Drill Instructor Maeve will lead the way. I will be taking up the rear. And anyone who cannot maintain a
pace I find satisfactory will be... motivated to find out if they are unfit or merely idle." The smile on his face made it clear whatever that motivation
would consist of in detail, in general it would be far more stick that carrot.
Romulus
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
3 June 3050
"What are you up to, Virgilia Truscott?" Leo Showers growled as the holo projector in the recreation room of the Jade Falcon
dropship Turkina's Command displayed a map of the valley that Elias Crichell had nominated as the Circle of Equals for the trial.
"Up to?" Virgilia said with an air of innocence. "I do not have time to get up to anything, Leo Showers. If I did not know
with absolute certainty that Elias would throw a tantrum for me not watching the Trial, I would be catching up with my paperwork right now. Even with Roderick
back in the Homeworlds handling the day to day matters, I am still supposed to stay on top of matters after all."
Showers sneered. "Of course. Well if it is such a distraction for you, then why did you challenge the Jade Falcons for their contract
with the Snow Ravens?"
The contract in question had provided the Jade Falcons with a quarter of the Snow Raven fleet to protect their supply lines against Inner
Sphere raiders during the invasion. It was an elegant solution that left the Falcon's own fleet of warships, such as the Turkina's Pryde that was a
currently in orbit over Romulus, free to fight the Inner Sphere's fleets at the spear head of the invasion. There was only one problem.
The Inner Sphere apparently did not have any warships.
Every source, including that highly suspicious 'Precentor Martial' that Ulric Kerensky seemed to place so much trust in, agreed that
the last warships of the Successor States' once extensive fleets had been destroyed two hundred years ago. The result was that the Jade Falcons were left
with ten warships that they didn't actually need and were paying for this 'privilege' with hefty shipments of raw materials and finished goods to
Clan Snow Raven.
Enter Khan Virgilia Truscott, representing the only Clan that apparently cared so little about the invasion that they had only sent one of
their Khans along with it. Once it had become apparent that the Snow Raven ships were merely marking time, the Star Adder Khan had approached Elias Crichell
and challenged him for possession of the contract. The notion that Truscott was willing to pay an obscene sum for temporary control over ships that were a
thousand light years away from any legitimate activity by her Clan had been enough to persuade Leo Showers that this might be more important than riding herd
on the Wolves (who were getting ahead of the Smoke Jaguars, something that he found intolerable).
It had taken only a little juggling of schedules (which would not at all inadvertantly probably cost the Wolves at least a week to straighten
out) for him to arrange an improvised command circuit to Romulus, arriving just after the bidding was done.
"Can you imagine the paperwork involved in bringing a Naval Star all this way?" Virgilia asked with a shudder. "You must have
been glad to hand all that off to your replacement when you were elected IlKhan, Leo."
"I planned the entire invasion," he reminded her harshly only to be shushed before he could remember that that was entirely
irrelevant to his line of enquiry.
"They are starting," Virgilia reprimanded him, eyeing the holo table enthusiastically in a fashion that reminded Leo uncomfortably
of some of the lower castes he had seen watching replays of a Trial of Bloodright as if it had been entirely for their benefit.
Realising that he was not going to get anything useful out of her Leo sat back and watched as ten green dots and ten blue dots started moving
across the holograph, denoting the locations of the two points of infantry that each Clan had bid for the trial. One of the Star Adder points didn't seem
to be moving very much and the second had moved forwards just barely enough to screen them from the rapidly advancing Jade Falcons.
"I knew that your Clan are not the most practised in the use of infantry," Leo observed, "So I shall be generous and let you
know that having half your forces about to be pincered by all of the Jade Falcon Elementals is not a go- What in Kerensky's Name was that!?" he
exclaimed at the top of his voice as one of the Jade Falcon points suddenly sprouted damage icons around their representations on the holotable, despite being
well over two hundred metres from the nearest Star Adders.
-/-
Only a few kilometers away, that was more or less what Point Commander Ceden of the Jade Falcon Keshik was saying as he examined the damage
to his armour from behind what he sincerely hoped was adequate cover.
"Jeebers is dead," one of his point reported. "Two of those lasers hit him. Did the Adders sneak a Battlemech into the Trial
without telling us?"
"Two damn hits?" Ceden snapped in fury. The reality of Elementals fighting against Elementals were that any suit could usually
survive three seperate hits from the lasers that they carried. They also didn't have weapons that could reach more than two hundred meters. Those rules
appeared to have been revoked for the Star Adders.
His radio chimed. "Ceden," snapped Star Commander Mon Thastus. "What's keeping you? Their suits have us pinned down. Hit
their rear before the second point gets close enough to get involved."
"They are involved," Ceden told him sourly and raised his laser above the edge of the boulder, sweeping the gun camera across the
hillshide above the. He lowered his arm quickly as several more shots sizzled through the air over his head and swore as he replayed the gunsight pictures on
his HUD. "The other point is wearing some sort or reinforced armour and they are firing cut down Battlemech lasers at us. I have one dead and two
injured."
Mon Thastus paused. "They are over three hundred metres away from you," he said reasonably.
"Cut down medium lasers."
The silence this time was illustrative. Mon Thastus was of the opinion that swearing in front of his subordinates was undignified. Ceden
could almost hear the temptation in the silence before the Star Commander replied. "Very well. When I give the word, use your jumpjets to pop up and hit
the nearer star with your missiles then get back under cover. We will do the same. That may weaken them enough that we can overwhelm them."
Personally, Ceden was sceptical of this. On the other hand, what else was there to do? He gestured for his
point to spread out and on Mon's order, each fired their jump jets, soaring abruptly up into the air more than fifty metres. At the apex of their leaps,
they fired off the short range missiles mounted in their backpacks, raining high explosive missiles down onto the Star Adder battle armour. Combined with the
missiles from Mon Thastus' point, the explosions engulfed the Star Adders momentarily and Ceden hoped for a moment that they had been hurt badly enough to
prevent retaliation.
Instead, five lasers lashed out of the fire and smoke, slashing into three of the suits in Mon's point. One suit lost an arm
while another simply disintegrated as the laser bit into the backpack and the missile reload stored there. More lasers reached down the slope from the second
Star Adder point and two of Cedon's point hit the ground in pieces, leaving only himself and one other alive. At least Jade Falcon warriors were dead and
he didn't think that even one of the Star Adders had fallen.
-/-
Elias Crichell was self-controlled enough not to react obviously as three of the green lights on the display blinked out. Timur Malthus was
twitching irritably however, Virgilia noted with satisfaction. "It's been more than a hundred years since there was any significant improvement on
Elemental battle armour," she told Leo quietly. "My scientist caste suggested applying the last few decades' advances in laser technology to
them. It seems to work quite well, wouldn't you say?"
"That is true," Leo Showers admitted. Another green light winked away and there wasn't one that lacked damage markers. "A
shame you did not introduce them earlier. There are two seperate types, are there not?"
Virgilia nodded. "The Fang and the Long Fang. Both are quite a bit heavier than the standard Elemental - the scientists had to build a
whole new generation of jumpjets to bring the Fang up to the same level of mobility. They could just be exagerating their exertions of course, it is a
time-honoured tradition after all, but the results are quite impressive. The Long Fang was actually easier, or so I'm told, for all that it is almost twice
as large as an Elemental."
Leo nodded. "There is a jest amongst my clan regarding your clan's tactics, Virgilia Truscott. 'How does one disable a Star
Adder scout Mech?'"
"Oh?" she said. "Well, by all means share this secret Smoke Jaguar tactic with me, Leo Showers."
"'Shoot the Kingfisher when it slows down'," the ilKhan advised her. "Some how it does not surprise me that you have
overcome your distaste for infantry by making them larger."
A blue light winked out as the surviving Jade Falcon Elementals managed to get into close quarters with the Star Adder Fangs,
but so did two more of the Elementals.
"This is wasteful," Showers said, deliberately raised his voice enough for the two Jade Falcon Khans to hear him. He
shook his head at the implied question in Crichell's inquisitive glance.
The senior Jade Falcon Khan placed one hand on Timur Malthus's shoulder and whispered a brief instruction, clearly prompting
the younger man to do something that he found distasteful. Grudgingly, Timur stood and bowed slightly in the direction of Virgila and the ilKhan. "Khan
Truscott, my forces have been defeated."
Virgilia stood and bowed before tapping her microphone. "Cease fire and break off," she ordered sharply, then looked
up at Malthus, who was giving similar orders. "Khan Malthus, your honourable surrender is accepted. Once again, Clan Jade Falcon have shown the sharpness
of their talons."
Malthus shook his head angrily. "It is your Star Adders who have shown their worth here," he growled reluctantly. On
the screen, only two green lights indicated surviving Elementals while eight Star Adder warriors were moving slowly back from their opponents. "I shall
advise Khan Lynn McKenna of the outcome of this trial and remove all Jade Falcon warriors from the warships."
"And what will you do with this fleet?" Leo Showers asked firmly. "I will not allow you to evade this question,
Virgilia Truscott. We have all been reminded recently of the power that even one warship possesses. Now you control ten such ships - four cruisers, three
transports and three corvettes. It is not a small force by any reckoning."
The Khan of the Star Adders smiled broadly. "ilKhan, I have advised you before that I feel your plans for the invasion are
doomed to failure. I will use this fleet to secure forward bases for my Clan to defend the Homeworlds in the Periphery rather than upon the sacred soil of the
Pentagon Worlds or even Strana Mechty itself."
ComStar First Circuit Compound
Hilton Head Island, Terra
20 July 3050
Myndo Waterly waved her hand to direct Sharilar Mori towards a seat in the Primus' office. For the room from which humanity's
homeworld was ruled, it was remarkably unassuming. As Waterly's replacement as Precentor Dieron and head of all of ComStar's stations within the
Draconis Combine, Mori was among the few that knew of Waterly's other, more opulent office located deeper inside the complex. This office was merely the
public face of ComStar's leader.
"The Precentor Martial has sent another communique from his sojourn amongst the Inner Sphere's newest players," the Primus
advised her. "It's really quite revealing."
She tapped at a control on her desk, reminding the younger woman irresistably of a spider touching its webs, and a holographic display of
ComStar's military commander appeared above what appeared to be no more than a simple coffee table. Anastasius Focht was a tall man and although his hair
was entirely white, there was no sign of weakness in him. He wore the red and gold-trimmed white uniform of a ComGuards officer without rank insignia: his
face, and the black patch covering what had once been his right eye was almost enough to identify him to his soldiers without any further hints.
"The Peace of Blake be with you, Primus," he said, the hologram still pointing his face towards the desk. "I received your
confirmation of the agreement reached with the Khan of Clan Wolf and the ilKhan has extended this agreement to cover the other invading clans: the Jade Falcons
in the Federated Commonwealth, the Ghost Bears along the border of the Draconis Combine and the Free Rasalhague Republic and his own Smoke Jaguars within the
Combine itself."
Sharilar looked sharply up at her senior who paused the recording. "Yes, interesting is it not? There is no mention of the fifth of
these Clans participating in the invasion, the one that is causing so much havoc in the peripheral regions of the Federated Commonwealth."
"A seperate group perhaps? There must be a connection given the similar battlemechs," Sharilar speculated. The Primus simply shook
her head and tapped at her controls, letting the message continue.
"I have been unable to obtain firm information on their homeworlds or civilian population but it is clear from their logistics that they
must lie a considerable distance away from the Inner Sphere. It would appear that they require relatively little direct supervision however, as I have heard
that the Khans of every Clan are present in the invasion, those whose Clans are not directly involved observing events here.While the ilKhan is the supreme
warlord of these people, his role seems to be more that of co-ordinating their efforts, something that can be difficult given their internal
disagreements."
"To give a recent example, the ilKhan recently had to travel into the worlds occupied by the Jade Falcons to settle a clash between that
clan and representatives of the Clan Star Adder. The latter Clan seems to be poorly thought of, but the information I have amassed from various remarks
indicates that they were successful in a clash of arms and had in some fashion undermined an alliance between the Jade Falcons and a Clan Snow Raven. The
underlying cause of this battle is unclear to me but the fact that the Star Adders had sufficient forces present to challenge the Jade Falcons may imply that
other Clans have forces waiting to join the invasion if needed."
Waterly cut the replay off. "There's nothing of any great importance in the rest of his report," she said in a casual voice
that didn't fool Sharilar in the least. "However, the fact these Star Adders are to all practical purpose in schism from the rest of their people
raises several interesting possibilities."
"The Jade Falcons are the nearest clan to their invasion routes," Sharilar noted. "And since they have already apparently been
defeated once, were they to learn of this then it might lure them into attacking their rivals."
"Indeed. It also suggests that the defeat of one Clan may well simply lead to the arrival of a replacement army," Waterly pointed
out, "Something that could be quite useful if the Successor States are too successful in combating the Clans. It will be interesting to see how Victor
Steiner-Davion's little counterattack progresses."
Sharilar frowned. "A counter attack?"
"Oh yes," the Primus smiled patronizingly. "They are being very cagey about the actual details, but the messages that they are
sending were quite easy for ROM's analysts to unravel. A small fleet of jumpships to carry a force of four regiments deep into the Clan occupation zone.
Very bold, very daring..."
"Prince Victor is very young," nodded Sharilar in understanding.
"Indeed." Waterly smiled cruelly. "There is an excellent chance that by overwhelming one of their garrisons that he will
awaken the Jade Falcons to the need for greater rear area security and better information on the movements of the Inner Sphere. Two needs that ComStar will be
well placed to fill and the information on the activities of their errant kinfolk would certainly be an excellent tool to bring this opportunity to their
attention, would it not?"
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
27 July 3050
Justin looked up in surprise as Melissa Steiner-Davion entered his study in the St Ives Embassy. "Is something the matter, Archon?"
he asked in a concerned voice. What could be so urgent that she would take time out of her busy schedule to visit him when she would surely see him in the
morning for the regular briefings that he provided and any time she could spare was almost invariably spent with the children who were still at
home.
"I was hoping to speak to Candace, before she left for St Ives," Melissa told him, "But I've missed her, evidently. I hope
you don't mind being second choice to speak to."
Metaphorically setting aside his role as Minister of Intelligence, Justin rose and ushered her to one of the armchairs that framed a small
coffee table. "I'm always glad to see you, Melissa," he assured her. "You're worried about Victor, I presume."
Melissa smiled. "Is it so obvious?" she said wryly. "I'm hardly the only mother with children in harm's way,
but..."
"I don't think until I understood how my father must have felt when we decided that I would be sent into exile until I realised that
I had agreed to sending Kai into the teeth of an invasion," Justin admitted. "At the time I felt it was my duty and I suspect that Kai and Victor
feel the same way, without any idea how much we want to recall them."
"Selfish of us, isn't it," Melissa asked sadly.
"It is a little harder for us. However much the other parents might wish that they could have their children brought home to them, we
are among the few who could give the order and have it happen. Well, have Kai brought home, anyway. I'm sure Victor would have to be dragged and no doubt
he'll be wary of that now."
She giggled like a school girl at that. "It was so very like Victor, wasn't it? Having to be knocked out and physically carried onto
a dropship to get him away from a battle."
"He was always stubborn," Justin agreed. "However, he's learnt more than a little of strategy, Melissa. The plan is a
sound one. Twycross is well behind the Jade Falcon advance and he will likely face only garrison forces. What reports we have of them make them considerably
less formidable than the elite units of their spearheads. And we need a victory. You've seen the same reports I have about the morale of the troops moving
to face the Clans."
"But why must he go!?" Melissa exploded. "He's the only eligible heir that Hanse and I have, he's... Justin, he spent
so many years on Tharkad - almost half a year at a time without either of us since mother died. Sometimes I think that I've barely been a mother to him,
the way I was to the others!"
Justin shook his head. "In many ways Victor has more of you in him than he has of his father," he said. "Hanse was the younger
brother, given freedoms that neither Ian, Victor or you could have. He was raised on Tharkad remember. He's fighting for his home and because he does so,
he will inspire others to do the same. I will grant you that Victor is young, but he is no less your son than you are Katrina's daughter. Andrew Redburn
told me of the Silver Eagle, how you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others then. Now Victor is willing to do the same, to stand between
civilians and harm. That's the duty of a soldier, but it is the duty of a ruler to lead soldiers in doing so."
"I cannot promise you that Victor will survive this, Melissa. But I can tell you that he has taken every precaution and that he did so
with Morgan Hasek-Davion poking holes relentlessly in those plans. And if he succeeds then Victor will have given us all hope that the Clans can be beaten,
that no matter how battered the Commonwealth is we can still stand up and trade blows against them."
"I've felt this same fear before, on Sian when Hanse was carving the Capellans apart. I knew how they hungered for any sign of hope.
That's why the attack on Sian succeeeded: Maxmilian Liao desperately needed to show his people a victory to give them heart and he didn't question the
good fortune of having Morgan as a prisoner until it was too late. Victor is not doing this for himself. He's doing this for his people and I'm sorry
Melissa. As a mother you may fear this but as his ruler you have no right to deny him it."
"Victor is going to Twycross and if you stop him then you will destroy him as your heir."
Buena War College, Buena
Periphery March, Federated Commonwealth
17 August 3050
This time Kai arrived in plenty of time for the briefing, enough time to take a seat well away from Deidre Lear. He still didn't know why
the woman hated him - something to do with his family she presumed for at their first meeting when they did not exchange names, she had seemed if anything to
enjoy talking to him. It was only when they were introduced at the New Year's Party that she's started treating him as if he'd killed her
dog.
He would like to think that his continued curiousity about the reason for her reaction was simply due to the fact that it had been impossible
for them not to see each other almost every day on the voyage out to the Periphery, but even through the two week field exercise that the Guards had run on
arrival to get their warriors back up to form after the forced inactivity of the journey he hadn't been able to shake the issue despite the fact that he
hadn't seen her at all: the medical staff had been settling into the facilites at the college.
A second exercise, this one to co-ordinate efforts with the War College's Training Battalions - one BattleMech unit and two each of
infantry and armour - had given Kai an appreciation for all the money that had been invested into the Commonwealth's newest Academy - the cadets were
rookies, but rookies who had been trained as well as most of his class at New Avalon Military Academy. He had to admit that it was a little disturbing how many
of them had gravitated towards him when they were not on duty, not pressing him about his social or political ties which he had long since learned how to
handle gracefully, but wanting to discuss his performance in the La Mancha simulation during his own final year at the Academy. The tale of the first ever
victory over the gruelling examination (followed a week later by a similar success by the heir to the Commonwealth) had apparently circulated through the
military grapevine.
Still, if the story inspired them, Kai was hard pressed to complain. The Clans had rolled right over some of the best regiments in the Inner
Sphere. If his presence, despite his complete lack of any actual combat experience, did anything to counter the impact that that had had on morale, then he was
all in favour of it. And at least they had a name for the invaders now: Clan Wolf right on the Rasalhague border, Clan Jade Falcon in Tamar and Clan Star Adder
out on the periphery. What those names signified was still a mystery however.
"Gentlemen, ladies," the commander of the 10th Lyran Guards said. "Thank you," he added as the room quietened.
"I'm sure that the rumour mill is already at work so I will keep this to the point. Six hours ago a force of Star Adders arrived at a pirate point
around the third planet in this system. They are currently making the journey from that jump point to Buena and are expected to arrive within the next two
days."
General Kaulkas was looking more satisfied than any member of the AFFC should at delivering the news that an invasion force was on its way to
the world with whose defense he was entrusted. "Allow me to clarify," he said loudly. "One Star Adder jumpship, carrying no more than four
dropships, arrived in the system. The data we have makes it clear than these 'Star Adders' require two seperate dropships to move one of their
frontline regiments. They cannot be deploying more than two such units against us, so it appears likely that they are not aware that they are facing an entire
Regimental Combat Team."
"Needless to say, this gives us an opportunity. It is clear from the reports that we have that the Clans have a formidable technological
advantage, however until now they have struck with comparable numbers to their targets. This time however, we have an advantage of two or three to one over
them, which should counterbalance this. Our strategy will therefore be to draw them away from their dropships, isolate portions of their forces and overwhelm
them with our numbers."
Kaulkas looked at their solemn faces. "This is for real, boys and girls. These reports that have made it off occupied worlds don't
report any prison camps for captured warriors. It is entirely possible that the Clanners aren't taking prisoners. Thousands of our fellow soldiers have
simply vanished in the wake of the invasion. Now they've screwed up and we can can give them back a little of what they've been dishing out. However, I
want prisoners. We need to know where they came from so that once they're stopped we can take the fight back to them."
"This is what we came here for. Now it's time to make your families, your Archon, and most importantly me proud of
you."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.