Orbit, Engadin
Wolf Occupation Zone
3 September 3050
"Star Colonel Ramon Sender seems confident that he can handle Engadin's local defenses," Ulric noted to the Precentor Martial
as they watched the bidding. "You don't seem so confident however."
"To quote a certain Aleksandr Kerensky," the one-eyed ComStar general told him, "'Armor units have shattered many a Mech
commander's dreams of glory'."
"A Primer of Tactics and Strategy," Ulric said, placing the quote without difficulty. "Copies survive in the Inner
Sphere?"
Focht nodded. "It's required reading at every Academy worth mentioning," he agreed. "However, I suspect that the Star
Colonel is giving too little weight to that passage. The Engadine Defense Forces are fighting for their homes and while he is taking sufficient troops to
defeat them, he is unlikely to do so swiftly."
Ulric shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that will be a learning experience for him then." He stroked his beard. "How is your
survey of our military capabilities proceeding? It is interesting to hear the perspective of an outsider at times."
"I have certainly been impressed," Focht admitted. "The differences from the Inner Sphere's military practises, and the
differences between the various clans practises, are fascinating. I rather gather," he added wryly, "That there are some clans that you don't
feel particularly threatened by."
The Khan's lips twitched. "It has long been the custom of my Clan to blood our less experienced warriors against the Jade
Falcons," he said judiciously. "However, when we desire to pit warriors against a true challenge, then we confront the Smoke Jaguars and the Ghost
Bears."
"Mm," nodded Focht judiciously. "And how do you feel about Clan Star Adder?"
"They are not a clan to take lightly," Ulric said after a moment's thought. "Not among the strongest clans but they take a
longer view than most. Why the interest in them, Precentor Martial? So far as I recall you have never even met Khan Truscott."
"They are, if you will excuse my saying so, the most successful of the invading clans in some ways," Focht told him. "Yet
unlike the other invaders, even the Smoke Jaguars -"
"The Star Adders are not an invading Clan," Ulric said sharply, his eyes narrowing. "So far as I know they should not have
forces within a thousand light years of the Inner Sphere. I take it that I am mistaken?
Focht met the Khan's gaze evenly. "A group identifying themselves as the Star Adders have invaded the Commonwealth only a few score
light years from the Jade Falcons. Contrary to the agreement that I reached with your ilKhan, their forces have been seizing ComStar stations wherever they
find them. More than half of the ComGuards 143rd Division was on Poulsbo when contact was lost and the 34th Division's last report was that they were
surrounded by a force roughly equal to their own but with far more advanced weapons and equipment which matches closely that which the Invading Clans
use."
"Precentor Martial, I must confess that this is the first that I have heard of such an invasion. How many worlds have they struck
at?"
"Almost seventy, along almost all of the Commonwealth's Periphery borders," the one-eyed man answered, taking a guilty pleasure
in the wild look in the warlord's eyes as he wrestled with the notion that another Clan had conquered twice as many worlds as the Wolf Clan had. "The
latest news was that they had driven the 10th Lyran Guards off Buena. This is considered to be a relatively favorable outcome for the Federated Commonwealth as
very few of the troops that have encountered the Star Adders are ever heard of again."
Ulric brought himself under control. "I believe that I should bring this to the ilKhan's attention immediately," he said.
"Please return to your quarters, it would be best if you were not present for this discussion."
As Focht stepped through the hatch leading to the gangway he heard Ulric demand an immediate communications channel to the ilKhan.
"You have the look of a cat who just got the cream," Phelan Kell commented as he stopped leaning against the wall outside the
bridge where he had been waiting to escort Focht back to his quarters.
It was an odd arrangement, for someone who by Inner Sphere terms was a prisoner of war to be escorting an ambassador, but the Clans seemed to
see Phelan's current status as a part, however lowly, of Clan Wolf as superceding all his prior allegiances. There were times when Focht wondered if they
were right. Phelan had no idea how well he fit in amongst the Clans, the older man suspected. "Say rather that I have set the cat amongst the
pigeons," he said. "I had not mentioned this previously, but a fifth Clan invaded the Inner Sphere at the same time as the four that you are aware
of. Like the Falcons, they are attacking only the Federated Commonwealth."
"Great," Phelan grumbled. "All we need is another dozen or so and they'll all be here. So why didn't you mention them
before?"
"Unlike the other clans they have seized ComStar stations and in one case are presumed to have destroyed most of a ComGuards Division.
At first we were not sure that they were part of the Clans, but recently information obtained by the 10th Lyran Guards and other sources confirms that they
have identified themselves to their conquered populations as Star Adders. Since I met the Khan of Clan Star Adder while observing the invasion of Rasalhague,
the rest is hardly a deduction worthy of Moriaty."
"Holmes."
"Eh?"
"Holmes is the detective," Phelan corrected him. "Moriaty was his nemesis. Cousin Melissa sent me a book of Sherlock Holmes
stories when I was younger," he expanded, when Focht looked curiously at him. Centuries old literary detectives were not a subject he would have thought
that the young mercenary would have an interest in. "Where are they hitting the Commonwealth?"
"It would be more accurate to ask where they aren't hitting them," Focht sighed. "Unlike the Wolf Clan, they are invading
on a broad front with what may be rather larger forces. Much of the Periphery March has already fallen, as well as several worlds on the border with the Free
Worlds League. Unless something unexpected happens, I can't see anything likely to stop them from punching into the Donegal March," he said
regretfully. "Hanse Davion is sending reinforcements, from the Federated Suns, but it will take time for them to arrive."
"The Kell Hounds?" Phelan asked, half hopefully and half in dread.
"I have no reports on their location, so they are almost certainly among those being redeployed," the Precentor Martial confirmed.
"I expect that the Jade Falcons will find themselves paying the price for the way that Clan Wolf mauled them last year."
Orbit, Engadin
Wolf Occupation Zone
5 September 3050
"They did what?" Robin Steele said incredulously as Leo Showers advised the small and entirely unofficial conference of selected
Khans of what Anastasius Focht had told him in a very detailed and very private meeting that the ilKhan had enjoyed even less than watching Ulric
Kerensky's Wardens carve their way through the Inner Sphere faster than his own Smoke Jaguars.
There were some very specific gaps in that assembly. No Star Adders, for obvious reasons. No Snow Ravens and only Garth Radick representing
the Wolves. Several more gaps where Khans that Leo suspected might sympathise with the Star Adders had not been advised of this discussion.
"Clan Star Adder has invaded the Inner Sphere," Leo repeated in a flat voice that betrayed exactly how much it took for him not to
scream the words. "If the reports of our 'allies' are to be trusted then they are invading on a front approximately as large as all four of the
Invading Clans and are sweeping everything before them." He held up a datapad for the cameras in the chamber to relay to the Khans not present in person.
"There would appear to be six somewhat understrength Galaxies carrying out the invasion, as well as a considerable number of garrison
units."
"Six!" spat Garth Radick in shock. "Six galaxies are making as much progress as the Touman's of four
Clans?"
Leo shook his head. "They are cutting into rear areas of the Federated Commonwealth," he growled derisively. "They obliterated
a few units that were pirate hunting and have faced nothing but militia and training forces since then. And since the Spheroids must face our invasion as well,
they cannot effectively reinforce the worlds in the path of the Star Adders."
There was a thoughtful look on Elias Crichell's face. "This places an interesting light on their recent trial against my clan,"
he pointed out. "Their supply lines must be much longer than ours. My own speculations centred upon the fact that they had a fleet of warships, but
perhaps they are interested in having more jumpships."
"The Nova Cats have supply lines in place to support their troops if we need them as reserves," Timur Malthus added throughtfully.
Neither Nova Cat Khan was present. "They offered us the use of them in return for worlds in the occupation zone. The Star Adders might be making use of
them as a supply line."
Leo slammed his fist down on the table in front of him. "So we have a conspiracy by perhaps three clans to violate the dictates of the
Grand Council and the ilKhan," he snapped. "This is infamous!"
"It explains where Khan N'Buta has been," Robin Steele said throughtfully. "Although he was ostensibly left in the
homeworlds to govern their holdings, he must be in the Inner Sphere leading this invasion while Virgilia Truscott was observing our own
progress."
"Where is she now?" Showers asked. "She left with those warships, which means that she has considerable firepower at her
disposal. The most likely explanation is that she is now also in their occupation zone."
"Yes," the Coyote Khan noted. "Their occupation zone. Along with all of their best warriors. Their forces in the Homeworlds
must be stretched thin." He noted the predatory smiles on other faces. "That can be considered at another time however. For now, ilKhan, we must ask
whether the Star Adders can be stopped and whether we should stop them. It is fair to say that this must be diverting resources within the Inner Sphere away
from combating your own invasion plan."
Timur Malthus frowned. "The only forces that could actively prevent them from continuing to invade would be those already committed to
our invasion corridors. I do not believe that it would be wise to divert those forces. With respect to your very cogent point, Khan Steele, while their other
holdings may be vulnerable, striking at them would simply force them to rebase themselves in the Inner Sphere where, at least for the moment, they all but
invulnerable to any military action."
The ilKhan drummed his fingers on the desk. "Which Truscott will know perfectly well. Well, if we can nnot directly intervene then that
leaves reasoning with her. She is only invulnerable in the short term and she is in violation of a resolution of the Grand Council. It is probable that her
support will vanish if the possibility of a Trial of Annihilation is floated there. I have been considering calling a meeting of the Council to discuss the
actions of Khan Ulric anyway. I have grave concerns about some of his actions, particularly his use of a bondsman as a close advisor. We will simply ensure
that the Star Adders are present and then require them to explain themselves."
Plain of Curtains, Twycross
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
10 September 3050
Victor Steiner-Davion swore and threw his Mech's arms back as a Thor stepped out from behind the Loki he had just shattered and fired its
particle cannon directly at his face. It was a beautiful shot and probably would have taken off the entire head of the eighty ton Victor, reducing the heir to
the conjoined thrones of the Federated Commonwealth to ashes, if his right forearm hadn't been in the way. As it was, it destroyed the barrel of the
autocannon in that arm, depriving Victor of the most powerful weapon in his battlemech's arsenal.
Around Victor the rest of the 20th Arcturan Guards were fighting fiercely against the Jade Falcons, but these were frontline Clan mechs and
from the markings, the same elite unit that had nearly captured Victor on Trellwan four months ago. Grimly he checked his tactical display as he waited for his
lasers to cycle to ready. The Guards had been attached to the Twycross Task Force directly after been pulled of Aubisson where they had been skirmishing
against the DCMS so they had started the battle slightly understrength despite the addition of Victor, Galen Cox and a handful of other 12th Donegal Guards
mechwarriors who had been evacuated from Trellwan for wounds that had since healed. Now they were below half strength, First Battalion and Hauptmann-General
Kincaid had been torn apart almost before anyone realised that the Dropships weren't going to manage to seal off the Great Gash.
In return Victor's charge by Second and Third Battalions had wrecked fully a third of the Clanner Mechs and the artillery fire he'd
been calling in - bless Dan Allard for giving him absolute priority on fire support - was suppressing the Toad armored suits that the Jade Falcons used as
infantry. It was fortunate that they didn't have the Duergars used elsewhere in the invasion, Victor thought. They were allegedly tougher and might have
been able to fight on even under artillery fire.
Firing his lasers into the chest of the Thor made very little impact on the smaller Mech - the laser simply didn't have the power to burn
through even the battered armour left on the battlemech and his missiles missed completely, flying past the Thor to crash into the already wrecked Loki.
"Colonel Allard, if you have any good news, I'd like to hear it," Victor said wearily into the command channel as he backpedalled.
"We're holding them, but it's taking everything we've got."
"I'll have reinforcements for you shortly, your Highness," Dan replied in a distracted voice. "We're rolling them back
but they're fighting like demons and the 9th FedCom are taking a pounding, even with your tanks backing them."
There was a roar of rockets from Victor's left and the Thor was suddenly bathed in explosions as Galen Cox unleashed every missile his
Crusader could fire into it at optimum range. Much to the disappointment of both AFFC warriors the Thor stepped out of the explosions, shards of armour
tumbling from its frame, now exposing parts of the myomer muscles and metal bones beneath and unloaded the weapon in both arms directly into the chest of
Galen's Crusader. The PPC smashed through what was left of his frontal armour and then the shotgun-like submunitions blasted across the mech, several
penetrating the weak point created by the energy weapon.
"Oh dammit," Galen said, sounding unaccountably surprised as his Mech simply toppled backwards, still radiating the massive heat
from his alpha-strike but now with flames rising from the hole in its breast.
"Galen!"
"I'm okay. The reactor shielding's gone though, same for the gyro. I'm shutting it down and bailing out," Victor's
friend and aide reported calmly.
The Thor's pilot seemed disinclined to let Galen have the chance to do so, the green painted battlemech closing in and firing the
autocannon again. One of the submunitions cracked armour over the cockpit and Galen fell silent, either his radio or his life cut off. Fuming, Victor charged
forward, putting his Mech between the bloody-minded Clanner and the fallen Mech. He fired his lasers and missiles again, concentrating them upon the damaged
left arm. To his satisfaction, the volley seemed to hit something structural, for the arm went slack, the muzzle of the autocannon built into it aimed only at
the floor.
He had succeeded in drawing the Clanner's attention, the Prince noted wryly as the Thor's other arm came up and unleashed a bolt of
PPC fire into his chest, followed by a volley of its own missiles from the missile pack in its shoulder. Now all he had to do was survive that attention. It
was a touch unfair, he felt. Taking out his autocannon had left him reduced to secondary weapons only, but the Thor was still hitting out about as hard as he
could have if his Victor was unscathed.
Well maybe not in one way, Victor thought. One fragment of information - or rather one lack of information - that had energed while analysing
the Clan attacks on Sudeten during the conference that led to his attack on Twycross was that there were no reports of the Clans making physical attacks with
their Mechs. Not even one report of a punch at close quarters or kicking a fallen Mech while it was down. If they didn't use such tactics then they might
not be prepared to cope with them. And the Victor that he piloted was ten tons heavier than the Thor.
Jump jets roared and eighty tons (less battle damage) of battlemech soared into the sky with all the finesse of a mortar shell. Confirming
his guess, the pilot of the Thor halted for a stable firing platform to shoot up at the Victor rather than doing what an Inner Sphere pilot would have done -
firing their own jumpjets to get away.
Victor's cockpit display showed him the Clan Mechwarrior staring up through her cockpit canopy in bitter realisation a moment before the
fire of a jumpjet preceded the Victor's left foot through the canopy and reduced her to ashes and shattered bones.
The death from above attack knocked the pilotless Thor to the floor and Victor found his own Mech sprawling forwards as well, crashing chest
first into the ground and hurling him savagely against his command couch's restraints. Shaking off the impact, he rolled the assault Mech and tried to
bring it to its feet. It took him two attempts due to the damage taken. One of the Victor's feet was little more than a stump.
Standing only a couple of hundred metres away from him, a Clan battlemech was facing him with its weapons almost but not quite pointed at the
Prince's battered Mech. For a moment he thought that it was the same Thor that he had just crushed but then reason set in as he confirmed that the offset
cockpit was intact and that the wreckage of that Mech was in fact behind him.
"Inner Sphere mongrel," the voice of the other mechwarrior boomed out. "It will be a pleasure to rid the uinverse of
you."
Victor's eyes narrowed and he almost flicked the switch of his own loudspeakers. Instead he looked around and realised that only a
handful of his battalion were still moving. "Colonel Allard, the enemy are breaking through. I suggest that you watch your back."
"Understood, your highness. I've pried loose two tank companies to cover your retreat."
"Victor?"
"Kommandant Davion!" the Commander of the 1st Kell Hounds bellowed uselessly at his silent subordinate.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
11 September 3050
"We're beginning to get enough information to identify the Star Adder units," Justin told the war council. "They have
better operational security than the other Clans and the relatively small number of troops to have escaped them limit their responses, but it has been possible
to narrow down a few types of Mech. In general they seem to be operating several army groups, each with a distinct area of operation."
He tapped a control and arrows began to appear over the holographic map of the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth. "Two of these
groups entered the Commonwealth at Main Street and Kowloon respectively and have since them been moving Edgewards, more or less in parallel to the Jade Falcon
advance. For whatever reason, they are leaving a gap of at least seventy light years between themselves and the Falcons, which has left us with a
salient."
"Five more army groups are moving at right angles to the other clans, more or less parallel to the border with the Free Worlds League.
The one on the actual border is moving relatively slowly to concentrate its strength against our garrisons in the area, those further coreward have spread out
as they hit less protected worlds. "Our initial estimation was that each group comprised four or five of their combined arms regiments. However, now that
we have started to identify their individual regiments, there are at least six."
"Typically at least one Cluster is held back from each invasion wave to act as a strategic reserve or reorganise after losses. This is
particularly the case with units that have hit more than one world during an invasion wave. By this analysis, the 10th Lyran Guards defense of Buena will very
likely mean that the unit they faced will not participate in the next wave of the invasion. Unfortunately, there are at least forty other -"
Justin cut off as one of his aides burst into the room. "Excuse me," he said and turned to the younger man. "What is it?"
No one would interrupt a meeting of this level unless the news was of the utmost urgency or importance and if the building was on fire surely they would have
heard an alarm by now.
The aide handed him a slim leather document case. "A secure -" Which meant it had arrived via the Black Boxes rather than through
ComStar "- message from Marshal Hasek-Davion," he said. "It was marked highest priority, relay contents to Prince Davion and Archon
Steiner-Davion without delay." And that meant that Justin was fully expected to take it to the joint heads of state immediately not matter what he or they
were doing at the time. Given the lengthy travel times and inherent delays in any interstellar communications, there were very very few matters that required
that level of urgency. Justin hadn't seen anything of that level since he took over the Ministry from his father and predecessor to the post more than a
decade ago.
Calmly he opened the document case, extracted the papers inside and broke the seal without hesitating to check that no one had read the
contents other than the communications officer who received it. His flesh and blood hand tightened on the paper as he read it and before he had finished the
page he looked up. "Please clear the room," he ordered the rest of the War Council.
Hanse and Melissa, as the other men and women looked at each other, nodded to confirm the orders and waited until the doors had closed behind
the last officer before they looked questioningly at their closest advisor. Their friend.
"Morgan received the first report from Twycross this morning," Justin stated simply, not sparing a moment for Melissa's
widening eyes or the laser-like focus of Hanse upon his face. Nor did he try to cushion the news. "Victor is missing in action."
The Archon gave voice to a muffled sob and her fingers tightened around those of her husband, whose breath caught in his throat. He tried to
voice questions, but could not seem to form them.
"He's appended Dan's report," Justin added, touching the later pages that contained his half-brother's summary of the
action on Twycross. "But the summary is that one of the Jade Falcon's frontline regiments was on the planet unexpectedly. Victor and the 20th Arcturan
Guards held them off while the other three regiments handled the garrison and then turned to force the Falcons back into the mountains, but the Guards were
virtually wiped out. Dan found his Mech and he seems to have ejected, but after that, no one knows. He swept the area but with the Falcons holding out and
reinforcements on their way he had no choice but to withdraw. The report was sent before they departed."
He held it out and Melissa snatched it, reading it for herself through the tears that were running down her face. Her husband simply stared
expressionlessly ahead, face bloodless and eyes lidded.
"Your highness?" Justin asked the older man warily. Then, more urgently, "Hanse!"
Hanse Davion slumped back into his chair, the pain in his chest almost overwhelming the less literal pain in his heart. The last thing he
heard before the blackness took him was Melissa screaming for a doctor.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Wolf Occupation Zone
3 September 3050
"Star Colonel Ramon Sender seems confident that he can handle Engadin's local defenses," Ulric noted to the Precentor Martial
as they watched the bidding. "You don't seem so confident however."
"To quote a certain Aleksandr Kerensky," the one-eyed ComStar general told him, "'Armor units have shattered many a Mech
commander's dreams of glory'."
"A Primer of Tactics and Strategy," Ulric said, placing the quote without difficulty. "Copies survive in the Inner
Sphere?"
Focht nodded. "It's required reading at every Academy worth mentioning," he agreed. "However, I suspect that the Star
Colonel is giving too little weight to that passage. The Engadine Defense Forces are fighting for their homes and while he is taking sufficient troops to
defeat them, he is unlikely to do so swiftly."
Ulric shrugged his shoulders. "Well, that will be a learning experience for him then." He stroked his beard. "How is your
survey of our military capabilities proceeding? It is interesting to hear the perspective of an outsider at times."
"I have certainly been impressed," Focht admitted. "The differences from the Inner Sphere's military practises, and the
differences between the various clans practises, are fascinating. I rather gather," he added wryly, "That there are some clans that you don't
feel particularly threatened by."
The Khan's lips twitched. "It has long been the custom of my Clan to blood our less experienced warriors against the Jade
Falcons," he said judiciously. "However, when we desire to pit warriors against a true challenge, then we confront the Smoke Jaguars and the Ghost
Bears."
"Mm," nodded Focht judiciously. "And how do you feel about Clan Star Adder?"
"They are not a clan to take lightly," Ulric said after a moment's thought. "Not among the strongest clans but they take a
longer view than most. Why the interest in them, Precentor Martial? So far as I recall you have never even met Khan Truscott."
"They are, if you will excuse my saying so, the most successful of the invading clans in some ways," Focht told him. "Yet
unlike the other invaders, even the Smoke Jaguars -"
"The Star Adders are not an invading Clan," Ulric said sharply, his eyes narrowing. "So far as I know they should not have
forces within a thousand light years of the Inner Sphere. I take it that I am mistaken?
Focht met the Khan's gaze evenly. "A group identifying themselves as the Star Adders have invaded the Commonwealth only a few score
light years from the Jade Falcons. Contrary to the agreement that I reached with your ilKhan, their forces have been seizing ComStar stations wherever they
find them. More than half of the ComGuards 143rd Division was on Poulsbo when contact was lost and the 34th Division's last report was that they were
surrounded by a force roughly equal to their own but with far more advanced weapons and equipment which matches closely that which the Invading Clans
use."
"Precentor Martial, I must confess that this is the first that I have heard of such an invasion. How many worlds have they struck
at?"
"Almost seventy, along almost all of the Commonwealth's Periphery borders," the one-eyed man answered, taking a guilty pleasure
in the wild look in the warlord's eyes as he wrestled with the notion that another Clan had conquered twice as many worlds as the Wolf Clan had. "The
latest news was that they had driven the 10th Lyran Guards off Buena. This is considered to be a relatively favorable outcome for the Federated Commonwealth as
very few of the troops that have encountered the Star Adders are ever heard of again."
Ulric brought himself under control. "I believe that I should bring this to the ilKhan's attention immediately," he said.
"Please return to your quarters, it would be best if you were not present for this discussion."
As Focht stepped through the hatch leading to the gangway he heard Ulric demand an immediate communications channel to the ilKhan.
"You have the look of a cat who just got the cream," Phelan Kell commented as he stopped leaning against the wall outside the
bridge where he had been waiting to escort Focht back to his quarters.
It was an odd arrangement, for someone who by Inner Sphere terms was a prisoner of war to be escorting an ambassador, but the Clans seemed to
see Phelan's current status as a part, however lowly, of Clan Wolf as superceding all his prior allegiances. There were times when Focht wondered if they
were right. Phelan had no idea how well he fit in amongst the Clans, the older man suspected. "Say rather that I have set the cat amongst the
pigeons," he said. "I had not mentioned this previously, but a fifth Clan invaded the Inner Sphere at the same time as the four that you are aware
of. Like the Falcons, they are attacking only the Federated Commonwealth."
"Great," Phelan grumbled. "All we need is another dozen or so and they'll all be here. So why didn't you mention them
before?"
"Unlike the other clans they have seized ComStar stations and in one case are presumed to have destroyed most of a ComGuards Division.
At first we were not sure that they were part of the Clans, but recently information obtained by the 10th Lyran Guards and other sources confirms that they
have identified themselves to their conquered populations as Star Adders. Since I met the Khan of Clan Star Adder while observing the invasion of Rasalhague,
the rest is hardly a deduction worthy of Moriaty."
"Holmes."
"Eh?"
"Holmes is the detective," Phelan corrected him. "Moriaty was his nemesis. Cousin Melissa sent me a book of Sherlock Holmes
stories when I was younger," he expanded, when Focht looked curiously at him. Centuries old literary detectives were not a subject he would have thought
that the young mercenary would have an interest in. "Where are they hitting the Commonwealth?"
"It would be more accurate to ask where they aren't hitting them," Focht sighed. "Unlike the Wolf Clan, they are invading
on a broad front with what may be rather larger forces. Much of the Periphery March has already fallen, as well as several worlds on the border with the Free
Worlds League. Unless something unexpected happens, I can't see anything likely to stop them from punching into the Donegal March," he said
regretfully. "Hanse Davion is sending reinforcements, from the Federated Suns, but it will take time for them to arrive."
"The Kell Hounds?" Phelan asked, half hopefully and half in dread.
"I have no reports on their location, so they are almost certainly among those being redeployed," the Precentor Martial confirmed.
"I expect that the Jade Falcons will find themselves paying the price for the way that Clan Wolf mauled them last year."
Orbit, Engadin
Wolf Occupation Zone
5 September 3050
"They did what?" Robin Steele said incredulously as Leo Showers advised the small and entirely unofficial conference of selected
Khans of what Anastasius Focht had told him in a very detailed and very private meeting that the ilKhan had enjoyed even less than watching Ulric
Kerensky's Wardens carve their way through the Inner Sphere faster than his own Smoke Jaguars.
There were some very specific gaps in that assembly. No Star Adders, for obvious reasons. No Snow Ravens and only Garth Radick representing
the Wolves. Several more gaps where Khans that Leo suspected might sympathise with the Star Adders had not been advised of this discussion.
"Clan Star Adder has invaded the Inner Sphere," Leo repeated in a flat voice that betrayed exactly how much it took for him not to
scream the words. "If the reports of our 'allies' are to be trusted then they are invading on a front approximately as large as all four of the
Invading Clans and are sweeping everything before them." He held up a datapad for the cameras in the chamber to relay to the Khans not present in person.
"There would appear to be six somewhat understrength Galaxies carrying out the invasion, as well as a considerable number of garrison
units."
"Six!" spat Garth Radick in shock. "Six galaxies are making as much progress as the Touman's of four
Clans?"
Leo shook his head. "They are cutting into rear areas of the Federated Commonwealth," he growled derisively. "They obliterated
a few units that were pirate hunting and have faced nothing but militia and training forces since then. And since the Spheroids must face our invasion as well,
they cannot effectively reinforce the worlds in the path of the Star Adders."
There was a thoughtful look on Elias Crichell's face. "This places an interesting light on their recent trial against my clan,"
he pointed out. "Their supply lines must be much longer than ours. My own speculations centred upon the fact that they had a fleet of warships, but
perhaps they are interested in having more jumpships."
"The Nova Cats have supply lines in place to support their troops if we need them as reserves," Timur Malthus added throughtfully.
Neither Nova Cat Khan was present. "They offered us the use of them in return for worlds in the occupation zone. The Star Adders might be making use of
them as a supply line."
Leo slammed his fist down on the table in front of him. "So we have a conspiracy by perhaps three clans to violate the dictates of the
Grand Council and the ilKhan," he snapped. "This is infamous!"
"It explains where Khan N'Buta has been," Robin Steele said throughtfully. "Although he was ostensibly left in the
homeworlds to govern their holdings, he must be in the Inner Sphere leading this invasion while Virgilia Truscott was observing our own
progress."
"Where is she now?" Showers asked. "She left with those warships, which means that she has considerable firepower at her
disposal. The most likely explanation is that she is now also in their occupation zone."
"Yes," the Coyote Khan noted. "Their occupation zone. Along with all of their best warriors. Their forces in the Homeworlds
must be stretched thin." He noted the predatory smiles on other faces. "That can be considered at another time however. For now, ilKhan, we must ask
whether the Star Adders can be stopped and whether we should stop them. It is fair to say that this must be diverting resources within the Inner Sphere away
from combating your own invasion plan."
Timur Malthus frowned. "The only forces that could actively prevent them from continuing to invade would be those already committed to
our invasion corridors. I do not believe that it would be wise to divert those forces. With respect to your very cogent point, Khan Steele, while their other
holdings may be vulnerable, striking at them would simply force them to rebase themselves in the Inner Sphere where, at least for the moment, they all but
invulnerable to any military action."
The ilKhan drummed his fingers on the desk. "Which Truscott will know perfectly well. Well, if we can nnot directly intervene then that
leaves reasoning with her. She is only invulnerable in the short term and she is in violation of a resolution of the Grand Council. It is probable that her
support will vanish if the possibility of a Trial of Annihilation is floated there. I have been considering calling a meeting of the Council to discuss the
actions of Khan Ulric anyway. I have grave concerns about some of his actions, particularly his use of a bondsman as a close advisor. We will simply ensure
that the Star Adders are present and then require them to explain themselves."
Plain of Curtains, Twycross
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
10 September 3050
Victor Steiner-Davion swore and threw his Mech's arms back as a Thor stepped out from behind the Loki he had just shattered and fired its
particle cannon directly at his face. It was a beautiful shot and probably would have taken off the entire head of the eighty ton Victor, reducing the heir to
the conjoined thrones of the Federated Commonwealth to ashes, if his right forearm hadn't been in the way. As it was, it destroyed the barrel of the
autocannon in that arm, depriving Victor of the most powerful weapon in his battlemech's arsenal.
Around Victor the rest of the 20th Arcturan Guards were fighting fiercely against the Jade Falcons, but these were frontline Clan mechs and
from the markings, the same elite unit that had nearly captured Victor on Trellwan four months ago. Grimly he checked his tactical display as he waited for his
lasers to cycle to ready. The Guards had been attached to the Twycross Task Force directly after been pulled of Aubisson where they had been skirmishing
against the DCMS so they had started the battle slightly understrength despite the addition of Victor, Galen Cox and a handful of other 12th Donegal Guards
mechwarriors who had been evacuated from Trellwan for wounds that had since healed. Now they were below half strength, First Battalion and Hauptmann-General
Kincaid had been torn apart almost before anyone realised that the Dropships weren't going to manage to seal off the Great Gash.
In return Victor's charge by Second and Third Battalions had wrecked fully a third of the Clanner Mechs and the artillery fire he'd
been calling in - bless Dan Allard for giving him absolute priority on fire support - was suppressing the Toad armored suits that the Jade Falcons used as
infantry. It was fortunate that they didn't have the Duergars used elsewhere in the invasion, Victor thought. They were allegedly tougher and might have
been able to fight on even under artillery fire.
Firing his lasers into the chest of the Thor made very little impact on the smaller Mech - the laser simply didn't have the power to burn
through even the battered armour left on the battlemech and his missiles missed completely, flying past the Thor to crash into the already wrecked Loki.
"Colonel Allard, if you have any good news, I'd like to hear it," Victor said wearily into the command channel as he backpedalled.
"We're holding them, but it's taking everything we've got."
"I'll have reinforcements for you shortly, your Highness," Dan replied in a distracted voice. "We're rolling them back
but they're fighting like demons and the 9th FedCom are taking a pounding, even with your tanks backing them."
There was a roar of rockets from Victor's left and the Thor was suddenly bathed in explosions as Galen Cox unleashed every missile his
Crusader could fire into it at optimum range. Much to the disappointment of both AFFC warriors the Thor stepped out of the explosions, shards of armour
tumbling from its frame, now exposing parts of the myomer muscles and metal bones beneath and unloaded the weapon in both arms directly into the chest of
Galen's Crusader. The PPC smashed through what was left of his frontal armour and then the shotgun-like submunitions blasted across the mech, several
penetrating the weak point created by the energy weapon.
"Oh dammit," Galen said, sounding unaccountably surprised as his Mech simply toppled backwards, still radiating the massive heat
from his alpha-strike but now with flames rising from the hole in its breast.
"Galen!"
"I'm okay. The reactor shielding's gone though, same for the gyro. I'm shutting it down and bailing out," Victor's
friend and aide reported calmly.
The Thor's pilot seemed disinclined to let Galen have the chance to do so, the green painted battlemech closing in and firing the
autocannon again. One of the submunitions cracked armour over the cockpit and Galen fell silent, either his radio or his life cut off. Fuming, Victor charged
forward, putting his Mech between the bloody-minded Clanner and the fallen Mech. He fired his lasers and missiles again, concentrating them upon the damaged
left arm. To his satisfaction, the volley seemed to hit something structural, for the arm went slack, the muzzle of the autocannon built into it aimed only at
the floor.
He had succeeded in drawing the Clanner's attention, the Prince noted wryly as the Thor's other arm came up and unleashed a bolt of
PPC fire into his chest, followed by a volley of its own missiles from the missile pack in its shoulder. Now all he had to do was survive that attention. It
was a touch unfair, he felt. Taking out his autocannon had left him reduced to secondary weapons only, but the Thor was still hitting out about as hard as he
could have if his Victor was unscathed.
Well maybe not in one way, Victor thought. One fragment of information - or rather one lack of information - that had energed while analysing
the Clan attacks on Sudeten during the conference that led to his attack on Twycross was that there were no reports of the Clans making physical attacks with
their Mechs. Not even one report of a punch at close quarters or kicking a fallen Mech while it was down. If they didn't use such tactics then they might
not be prepared to cope with them. And the Victor that he piloted was ten tons heavier than the Thor.
Jump jets roared and eighty tons (less battle damage) of battlemech soared into the sky with all the finesse of a mortar shell. Confirming
his guess, the pilot of the Thor halted for a stable firing platform to shoot up at the Victor rather than doing what an Inner Sphere pilot would have done -
firing their own jumpjets to get away.
Victor's cockpit display showed him the Clan Mechwarrior staring up through her cockpit canopy in bitter realisation a moment before the
fire of a jumpjet preceded the Victor's left foot through the canopy and reduced her to ashes and shattered bones.
The death from above attack knocked the pilotless Thor to the floor and Victor found his own Mech sprawling forwards as well, crashing chest
first into the ground and hurling him savagely against his command couch's restraints. Shaking off the impact, he rolled the assault Mech and tried to
bring it to its feet. It took him two attempts due to the damage taken. One of the Victor's feet was little more than a stump.
Standing only a couple of hundred metres away from him, a Clan battlemech was facing him with its weapons almost but not quite pointed at the
Prince's battered Mech. For a moment he thought that it was the same Thor that he had just crushed but then reason set in as he confirmed that the offset
cockpit was intact and that the wreckage of that Mech was in fact behind him.
"Inner Sphere mongrel," the voice of the other mechwarrior boomed out. "It will be a pleasure to rid the uinverse of
you."
Victor's eyes narrowed and he almost flicked the switch of his own loudspeakers. Instead he looked around and realised that only a
handful of his battalion were still moving. "Colonel Allard, the enemy are breaking through. I suggest that you watch your back."
"Understood, your highness. I've pried loose two tank companies to cover your retreat."
"Victor?"
"Kommandant Davion!" the Commander of the 1st Kell Hounds bellowed uselessly at his silent subordinate.
Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
11 September 3050
"We're beginning to get enough information to identify the Star Adder units," Justin told the war council. "They have
better operational security than the other Clans and the relatively small number of troops to have escaped them limit their responses, but it has been possible
to narrow down a few types of Mech. In general they seem to be operating several army groups, each with a distinct area of operation."
He tapped a control and arrows began to appear over the holographic map of the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth. "Two of these
groups entered the Commonwealth at Main Street and Kowloon respectively and have since them been moving Edgewards, more or less in parallel to the Jade Falcon
advance. For whatever reason, they are leaving a gap of at least seventy light years between themselves and the Falcons, which has left us with a
salient."
"Five more army groups are moving at right angles to the other clans, more or less parallel to the border with the Free Worlds League.
The one on the actual border is moving relatively slowly to concentrate its strength against our garrisons in the area, those further coreward have spread out
as they hit less protected worlds. "Our initial estimation was that each group comprised four or five of their combined arms regiments. However, now that
we have started to identify their individual regiments, there are at least six."
"Typically at least one Cluster is held back from each invasion wave to act as a strategic reserve or reorganise after losses. This is
particularly the case with units that have hit more than one world during an invasion wave. By this analysis, the 10th Lyran Guards defense of Buena will very
likely mean that the unit they faced will not participate in the next wave of the invasion. Unfortunately, there are at least forty other -"
Justin cut off as one of his aides burst into the room. "Excuse me," he said and turned to the younger man. "What is it?"
No one would interrupt a meeting of this level unless the news was of the utmost urgency or importance and if the building was on fire surely they would have
heard an alarm by now.
The aide handed him a slim leather document case. "A secure -" Which meant it had arrived via the Black Boxes rather than through
ComStar "- message from Marshal Hasek-Davion," he said. "It was marked highest priority, relay contents to Prince Davion and Archon
Steiner-Davion without delay." And that meant that Justin was fully expected to take it to the joint heads of state immediately not matter what he or they
were doing at the time. Given the lengthy travel times and inherent delays in any interstellar communications, there were very very few matters that required
that level of urgency. Justin hadn't seen anything of that level since he took over the Ministry from his father and predecessor to the post more than a
decade ago.
Calmly he opened the document case, extracted the papers inside and broke the seal without hesitating to check that no one had read the
contents other than the communications officer who received it. His flesh and blood hand tightened on the paper as he read it and before he had finished the
page he looked up. "Please clear the room," he ordered the rest of the War Council.
Hanse and Melissa, as the other men and women looked at each other, nodded to confirm the orders and waited until the doors had closed behind
the last officer before they looked questioningly at their closest advisor. Their friend.
"Morgan received the first report from Twycross this morning," Justin stated simply, not sparing a moment for Melissa's
widening eyes or the laser-like focus of Hanse upon his face. Nor did he try to cushion the news. "Victor is missing in action."
The Archon gave voice to a muffled sob and her fingers tightened around those of her husband, whose breath caught in his throat. He tried to
voice questions, but could not seem to form them.
"He's appended Dan's report," Justin added, touching the later pages that contained his half-brother's summary of the
action on Twycross. "But the summary is that one of the Jade Falcon's frontline regiments was on the planet unexpectedly. Victor and the 20th Arcturan
Guards held them off while the other three regiments handled the garrison and then turned to force the Falcons back into the mountains, but the Guards were
virtually wiped out. Dan found his Mech and he seems to have ejected, but after that, no one knows. He swept the area but with the Falcons holding out and
reinforcements on their way he had no choice but to withdraw. The report was sent before they departed."
He held it out and Melissa snatched it, reading it for herself through the tears that were running down her face. Her husband simply stared
expressionlessly ahead, face bloodless and eyes lidded.
"Your highness?" Justin asked the older man warily. Then, more urgently, "Hanse!"
Hanse Davion slumped back into his chair, the pain in his chest almost overwhelming the less literal pain in his heart. The last thing he
heard before the blackness took him was Melissa screaming for a doctor.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.