Dagda
Pentagon Worlds, Clan Homeworlds
25 December 3050
Star Commander Djef of the 421st Sentinel Cluster, Kappa Galaxy ran his Blood Kite, the prize from a long ago skirmish with Clan Blood Spirit, forwards as fast as he could. His Star had been despatched to secure a steep hill overlooking the principal approach to the Star Adder's main munitions factories on Dagda and it appeared that they had arrived barely in time. Reconnaissence flights by the local aerospace command confirmed that at least a binary of Coyote Mechs were approaching by this route but the 421st had to cover all routes and it would take time for the rest of the trinary to arrive.
To either side of him the other Mechs of his Star spread out and if he lacked numbers he could not complain about the weight of metal on his side. To his right, Mechwarrior Stavros was piloting one of the Dire Wolf assault omnimechs that had been left behind by the units tapped for the invasion of the Inner Sphere. Although among the most potent battlemechs ever built, the Dire Wolf was also slow and plodding. On Djef's other side, Mechwarrior Michelle's Stone Rhino was flanked by a second Dire Wolf and Blood Kite, all of the heaviest weight class and formidably armed.
Djef's plan was simple. They would take firing positions on the hill and rain death down upon the upstart Coyotes who planned to fuel their continued feud with the Adders by springing upon them while their finest warriors were thousands of light years away. On the ground just short of a kilometer away, he could see that the leading Star: a Viper and a Nova backing up a Fire Moth, Mist Lynx and Adder were being followed by an Attack Star of two more Adders and three Stormcrows. The Mechs were fast, but lacked the raw power of Djef's command: indeed although they outnumbered him two to one, the balance of tonnage was three to two in his favour. They were also just outside his range so he had made it just barely in time.
"Pick your targets and drop them!" he ordered. "No zellbrigen but these are lights and mediums so spread your fire at first, we need to whittle them down and most of them can't take a solid volley." He flared his jumpjets and the eighty-five ton Blood Kite arced through the air, covering almost a hundred metres to land in a copse of trees that would give him at least a little cover. Stavros took up a similar position a hundred or so yards behind him and Michelle led Alistair's Blood Kite into larger spread of trees that climbed one of the hill's two peaks. The last Dire Wolf, Mechwarrior Justine's ride, had no such cover as she took position a hundred and twenty metres to Djef's left.
In front of them, a steep cliff cut most of the side of the hill to a point that Mechs could not have scaled it save with jump jets. Only in front of Michelle and Alistair was it shallower, which should prevent most of the Coyotes from coming into close quarters. An oval lake spanned some of the ground between them which gave good open ground to fire across. At extreme range, Djef targetted the nearest Mech and fired all three of his large lasers at the Fire Moth. He missed the speedy Mech and none of his other warriors were quite in range yet. Only one of the Coyotes fired back and it was no more accurate, the Stormcrow's lasers missing Justine by quite a margin.
"Incoming heavies," she reported coolly and Djef scowled as he saw Timber Wolves, Summoners and a Hellbringer moving into view behind the others. A full Trinary. That made things harder.
"Ignore them for now," he ordered. "They aren't even in range of us yet."
The attack star was joing up with the slower of the scouts now, but the Mist Lynx and the Fire Moth were closing with their trademark lightning speed. Behind him, Stavros shifted forwards, trying to improve his position. Justine, Michelle and Alistair both fired on the Fire Moth - it was the only target in range so far. Hit by at leas three large lasers, the light mech was torn apart. In response to this open disregard for zellbrigen at least five mechs opened fire on Justine's Dire Wolf, which shrugged off the damage contemptuously. Djef fired on the Mist Lynx this time, two of his lasers and all three long range missile lanchers firing. He was firing swarm missiles, so if the missiles missed they might overshoot into an Adder that was close on the heels of the scout mech. He was disappointed however. Stavros fired at the same target but it was a chancy shot at best and he did no better.
Stavros continued to combine fire with Djef and their lasers tore the left arm off one of the Adders as well as brutalising it's chest. A Viper also lost an arm, this time to Alistairs lasers. Justine was the prime target as well and there was a flash as her gauss rifle's capacitors were hit, wrecking the entire arm. Combined with the other damage, she lost her balance and the one hundred ton omnimech hit the floor with a crash.
"Move back for cover," Djef ordered her. "You can't take that sort of pounding." She did not move however and Djef realised that she must have been knocked out by the fall. She would be the perfect target until or unless she could move back from her prominent location.
"Commander..." Michelle said pleadingly. She and Justine had been part of the same sibko.
"Hold your ground," he bit off. "None of our Mechs have hands so we can't drag her to cover. All you will accomplish is to make yourself a target.
The Viper took cover in the lake, presumably trying to avoid more damage. Djef doubted the wisdom of the move as the already damaged Mech might well flood, causing that very outcome, but he was in no position to complain since at least the Mech would be unable to fire up from below the water's surface.
The anti-missile system on Justine's mech hadn't been knocked out and it swatted the first volley of missiles to descent upon it. It didn't save her though and the Dire Wolf shattered as lasers and particle beams shredded it. Djef thought that the coup de grace was the explosion of a bin of short ranged missiles but it was impossible to be sure. He picked out a Timber Wolf that had sent a volley of long range missiles over the lake and into the fallen Dire Wolf and shapped off two laser shots and three clusters of long range missiles. The Timber Wolf crashed into the lake shore under the bombardment and several missiles missed only to lock onto the Stormcrow backing it up, but the heavy Mech was not permanently disabled, he was sure.
Now Djef was the focus of the Coyote's wrath and his electronic displays flickered as a particle beam ripped through most of the armour on his Blood Kite's right arm. Trees around him burst into flames and he was unable to target the other Timber Wolf, now storming towards the cliffside, effectively. A dozen missiles smashed into him and he was hard put to stay upright. The smoke was blowing backwards away from the Coyote Mechs and Stavros ran forward into it as it was blocking his view of them. Djef himself twisted and backed out of the trees. Hopefully the smoke would obscure him from the targeting of the Coyotes - it had to be better than surrounding himself with burning trees.
It appeared to work as he was ignored with the next salvo, which split between Stavros and Michelle's battlemechs. He and Stavros concentrated their fire on the Timber Wolf while Michelle and Alistair focused on the Viper as it waded out of the water. Neither Mech fell but both showed obvious damage from the fire. He fired again, but the heavy Mech seened disinclined to fall. It did fall back however, which made the Stormcrows working around the lake towards Michelle and Alistair the main threat. Michelle continued to fire at an Adder Mech, but the other three Star Adders bombarded the pair viciously, driving one of the two to its knees. Fire raged around the feet of Michelle's Stone Rhino as errant energy weapons set the trees aflame and she moved carefully out of them.
The Coyotes finally leaned their lesson and dispersed their formation. Djef punched two laser shots into the right side of a Stormcrow that waded into the lake and saw an Adder with huge long range missile launchers consumed by silvery fire as Alistair's missiles hit gaping holes in its armour. A moment later he was blinking up at his display screen as he realised that his Blood Kite had been knocked down. The armour on his right arm was paper thin - any more damage and he might well lose the missile launchers in it, he realised.
"Situation?" he demanded as he brought the Mech upright.
"We thought we'd lost you for a moment," Michelle reported. "My left leg is looking weak - not much armour left."
"Have not been hit at all," Alistair chimed in, sounding almost as if he was complaining.
Stavros finished off the roll call with: "Right side is a little weak but not serious."
"Understood," Djef confirmed. "Hit that Stormcrow then."
Their combined fire shattered the medium Mech's right arm and caved in its right side before falling over for a second time, this time out of the water. Unfortunately, return fire from a Timber Wolf caught Djef's right arm with both extended range PPCs and true to his expectations took the whole limb off, blasting almost a ton of armour from the shoulder to boot. His heat spiked in reminder that the arm had also contained several heatsinks and the coolant system suddenly had to struggle to maintain the cockpit temperature. He had to stagger his next volley carefully, but the Stormcrow collapsed in a way that indicated major internal structural damage that would prevent it from rising, or indeed doing anything more than twitching, without the attention of a large technical crew.
"Move back into more cover, Michelle," Djef ordered. "We can take this punishment longer than they can."
The lone Hellbringer was now in the lead of the Coyote advance. Thus far it had not been targeted at all and it's anti-missile turret defended it from all but a dozen missiles out of the volley that the Star Adders dropped on it. Behind Djef, Stavros fired all four of his large lasers into a Summoner, hitting with three of them and causing it to crash to the floor, taking even more damage.
Thus far the honours were more or less even, by the Star Commander's reckoning. Both sides had lost a fifth of their forces and had serious damage to about half of what was left. Given that his one Star was blocking a full quarter of the Coyote's attack force, that wasn't bad but it might not be good enough. And there was no hope of escape: the other Clan's Mechs were so much faster that they would run him down without any difficulty at all.
He fired into the nearest Adder and was pleased to see it tumble to the ground. Switching fire to the Hellbringer he was astonished to see every shot he or Alistair fired miss completely. Only Michelle hit it, with one of her pulse lasers. Fortunately for his nerves, Stavros was having more luck in a long range duel against the Timber Wolf trying to flank them around the lake and the Mech tipped forwards into the ground, both arms missing and the front almost entirely stripped of armour.
Surprisingly, it stood up and staggered even closer although Djef doubted that the mechwarrior inside had more than his machineguns and maybe a medium laser left to fight with. Stavros put even that out of the question with another brutal volley while the rest of the Star targeted the last Adder as it ran past the Hellbringer and tore it apart with lasers, missiles and Michelle's gauss rifles. "We may survive this yet," Djef muttered to himself, careful not to transmit that admission of concern to his subordinates.
Another Stormcrow ran forward, this one with a massive autocannon. Fortunately it missed Alistair's Blood Kite but despite the considerable firepower that rained down on it and the Hellbringer (whose charmed life had apparently run out), neither Mech fell. They fired again. This time the Hellbringer died under the lasers of Djef and Michelle while the Stormcrow missed again with it's deadly autocannon, the cannon silenced a moment later when one of Alistair's lasers cut through the arm that carried it at the elbow.
The Stormcrow turned to bring its lasers into play and Djef hit it with two volleys of missiles although his lasers failed to hit. What was left of the omnimech's reactor exited its rear armour in a way surely not intended by its designers. Beyond it he saw the Mist Lynx fall to the ground under Alistair and Michelle's guns and a moment later the remaining Timber Wolf followed it's lighter cousin's example as Stavros scored on its right leg, damaging the myomers that controlled it.
"Stravag," the Dire Wolf's pilot observed in a startled voice. "My engine's hit." The large Mech had strayed out of the smoke in it's eagerness for the kill and was paying the price. He gingerly backed up under the covering smoke again, practically glowing on Djef's infrared sensors. He fired three lasers at the Mist Lynx and missed entirely while Michelle finished off the Timber Wolf, both gauss rifles hitting it, one of them crushing the cockpit. Djef picked out the Viper at long range and blew it's remaining arm off while Alistair managed a head shot that didn't quite finish off the elusive Mist Lynx as it rose to it's feet but must have caused considerable damage to the systems around the cockpit.
Djef fired again and this time the Viper keeled over backwards, cooling rapid as the engine died. The rest of the shooting was desultory, with Michelle landing the only hit on the Nova, which had thus far never come close enough to register as a threat to anyone. Switching targets he failed to hit one of the Summoners lurking at the back of the group. The numbers were almost even and he was tempted to close the range, but the crash of Michelle's Stone Rhino hitting the ground was reminder enough that the Coyote's might be dogs but they hadn't been whipped yet.
"Are you injured?" he asked her.
"Not seriously," Michelle assured him and moment later the Mech staggered upright. "They got through the armour on my left leg where it was already weak, but the leg's still mostly sound." She proved it a moment later, firing a volley into the last Stormcrow, her pulse laser stitching holes through the last armour over its chest. The Coyote Mechwarrior managed to keep himself upright however.
Neither Blood Kite could afford the heat of firing missiles, but both pilots selected targets and fired all three of their lasers. Stavros fired a similar volley at the same Summoner that Djef was targeting and Michelle fired both gauss rifles into the Stormcrow which was peppering Djef's position with missiles. She missed, but Alsitair finally destroyed the Mist Lynx, one laser carving away what remained of one leg and up into the battered chest. Both sides of the battle knew that the fight was almost over, one side or another would have to concede soon as their damaged Mechs failed them.
A Summoner fell, and Michelle's Stone Rhino hit the ground again as her right shoulder disintergrated, the gauss rifle tearing itself apart and sending one arm spinning away. "Michelle, report your status," Djef demanded. In terrifying repetition of what had happened to Justine, she made no reply.
"Cover me," he ordered and jumped forwards, hoping that his distraction and the smoke would prevent the Coyotes from noticing the other mechwarrior's helpless state. The Blood Kite plunged off the cliff and only a fierce burn from his jumpjets spared him an ignominious end to falling more than three times the height of his own Mech. The sharp sound of the other gauss rifle's coils detonating above him told him that he had failed although at least some of the fire was redirected upon him, autocannon submunitions cracking armour all across his Blood Kite.
Sweat ran down his face as he twisted to face the Nova, which was using the cliff-face to mask it from Alistair's position above and unleashed almost every weapon remaining to him. The combined fire of Alistair and Stavros brought down the Stormcrow but an instant later, the beacon of Michelle's Stone Rhino vanished, silently signalling the younger warrior's fate. He could hardly breathe, engine shielding beginning to fail as the two Summoners and the Nova flailed him brutally with their weapons.
The Nova jumped higher up the slope and he fired recklessly into the smaller Mech, hitting both arms and one leg with his lasers, then scattering missiles across its chest. The mechwarrior had misjudged his route and Stavros had a clear shot as the Coyote mech reeled, all four pulse lasers ripping into it, wrecking the left arm and tearing away the right side of the chest, which had been by far the better protected side of the Mech. Systems failing, Djef felt his Mech falling forwards but the last thing that he saw before the Blood Kite hit the ground head first was the Nova tumbling down the hillside.
When Djef woke he was on a Star Adder dropship boosting away from Dagda. He and Stavros were the only survivors of their Star but Stavros' Dire Wolf had been the only mech standing at the end of the battle. The rest of the Trial of Possession had been similarly apocalyptic: Sigma Galaxy, reinforced by the 421st Sentinels, had shattered the Coyotes Alpha Galaxy and driven them away from their holdings. However, they had taken thirty percent losses and a new challenge from Clan Fire Mandrill with a flotilla of Clan Ice Hellion dropships heading for Dagda with most of a Galaxy aboard made it clear that open season had been declared upon the Star Adders.
The 421st was being withdrawn to Sheridan, with enough Sigma Galaxy warriors in tow to rebuild to full strength. The rest of Sigma were remaining behind to bleed the scavengers as hard as they could and to buy time for technical crews to pack up the most vital factories onto a convoy of dropships that had been dispatched as soon as the situation became apparent.
The Adders had been hit hard. It was time to regroup, to bind their wounds and to make the other Clans pay a high price for the opportunism. Along with the 421st on their dropship was all but two warheads of the portion of their nuclear arsenal that they had quietly hidden on Dagda decades before. The factories that would be hardest to move were being evacuated entirely and would be destroyed to render as hollow as possible any victory for whoever finally managed to drive Sigma from them.
Zenith Jump Point, Outreach
Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth
30 December 3051
Hanse Davion had not enjoyed spending the first Christmas in more than a decade away from his family although he supposed that he was hardly the only one having a depressing holiday season. There had been a little party among the crew of the Camelot but it had felt a little flat so he had wished them all a merry Christmas and pled fatigue, which was closer to the truth than he liked. The trouble was that he had a suspicion that the crew would feel it was their duty to try to cheer him up tomorrow evening as well and he didn't want to be cheered up. He was losing his wife's realm world by world, his son and heir was missing in action - not that he'd seen all that much of him growing up as it was - and he'd just used another man's son to force him to send thousands of soldiers who'd never done anything to him to their deaths.
He was trying to shake off the dull feeling of guilt by reading the reports they'd picked up at Denebola when someone knocked on the door of his compartment. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn't one of the doctors that Melissa had insisted on sending with him - they visited as regularly as clockwork. And it wasn't as if any sort of disaster was likely in this star system of all systems. Someone would have to have a death wish to pick a fight with the Dragoons when all five regiments and their supporting units were in the system.
"Come in!" he called and the door opened to reveal a short man with thinning grey hair in the uniform of the Wolf Dragoons. "Colonel Wolf! How the devil did you get aboard!"
"The jumpship you'll be taking on your next jump is a Dragoon jumpship," Jaime Wolf explained. "I knew you would be passing through so I arranged to take a fast shuttle out here." He looked around. "I'd like you to delay your departure for a few hours. Perhaps for a full day. We need to talk."
Hanse examined the mercenary leader for a moment and then touched the intercom built into his desk. "Captain, please contact the jumpship and ask them to delay their jump while I confer with Colonel Wolf. I don't imagine that he will have any objections."
"Given the movement of troops you would need to spend a day or two over Terra Firma waiting for a jumpship to make a jump in your directions," advised Wolf. "This shouldn't delay your return to New Avalon."
"You're as well informed as ever, Colonel," observed Hanse, depositing the reports back in their binder and setting it aside. "I assume that you are here to talk about the Clans. Unless there's something else of sphere-shattering significance going on that ComStar are intent on hiding from everyone."
"If they are, then they're making a remarkably good job of hiding it from Wolf Net," Jaime said with a chuckle. "No, I'm here to discuss the Clans."
Hanse nodded. "This isn't just offering to fight them," he said. "You could have sent word to me of that any number of ways. You want to know... no, you want to tell me something about the Clans that I don't know. Not that we have encyclopedias of information on them already, admittedly."
Wolf nodded. "You're as shrewd as ever, Prince Davion," he returned Hanse's earlier words. "I was sorry to hear about Victor. Morgan Kell told me that he ejected so it is likely that he was captured rather than killed."
The Prince nodded. "We can hope, I suppose. So, what can you tell me about the Clans. The Dragoons have not been anywhere near the war zones so I presume that this is information you obtained through Wolf Net."
The leader of the Dragoons shook his head. "No. We have no more up to date information on the Clans than you do, your highness. My sources are older than that."
"Strange things come out of the periphery," noted Hanse with a piercing look in his blue eyes as he examined Wolf as if he had never seen him before. "Invaders... and almost fifty years ago, a small army of mercenaries. You've had dealings with the Clans before, out in the periphery."
"You could say that," Wolf said. "How much have Quintus Allard and his son managed to find out about our background over the years?"
"Nothing much. There has been some speculation, for obvious reasons, about Natasha Kerensky and General Kerensky's exodus from the Inner Sphere back before the Succession Wars, but none of your people from those days is talking. Besides, there really aren't all that many of your original warriors left after more than four decades."
"True enough," agreed Wolf with a grim expression. Among those who had perished were many good friends, and of course, his brother Joshua. "Well I suppose the place to start is with Natasha. She is, in fact, a direct descendent of Aleksandr Kerensky via his son Nicholas. As many people have speculated, Kerensky's followers established colonies out in the deep periphery."
"And they ran into the Clans?" Hanse asked.
Wolf shook his head. "No your highness. Those colonies became the Clans. The armies that are invading the Inner Sphere are the direct descendants of the old Star League Defense Force."
"What does that make the Dragoons?"
"We were sent here to assess your defenses," the mercenary admitted. "Wait!" he added as Hanse's face began to redden and not in a healthy fashion. "Not to undermine them, to strengthen them. There is a strong faction among the Clans that still believes that our mission is to defend the Inner Sphere, not to conquer it. When it became apparent that we weren't winning the debate over whether or not to launch an invasion, our leader Kerlin Ward played for time, offering to send a scout force to the Inner Sphere to provide them with information to help them plan the invasion. Instead he gave us secret orders to prepare you to face an invasion."
Hanse sat back in his chair. "Alright, for the sake of arguement say that I believe you, that you've been secretly working to build the various Successor States up defeat the Clans. I'm sorry to say that you don't seem to have made a great deal of progress. We're falling like a deck of cards."
"I know," Wolf told him. "Believe me, I know. To be honest, a number of my people didn't even think that it was possible for you to bounce back as far as you have from all the losses taken in the Fourth Succession War. You've all come much further than I think you realise, but the gulf between you and the Clans is not a small one and clearly they have advanced even further since we left. Natasha is trying to make contact with Clan Wolf, the Clan we and Kerlin Ward were originally affiliated with, but since they are in the forefront of the invasion, I'm not sure how many of her old allies will still be in a position to help."
"But I can tell you that we aren't going to stand aside any longer. We needed time to prepare and to explain all this to the warriors who joined us in the Inner Sphere - as well as to send an expedition out to a cache of equipment we couldn't bring into the Inner Sphere at first - it was too advanced. Well we have it now and we're embarking for the frontlines. I can't promise that we'll only operate in the Commonwealth - you aren't the only ones under attack - but we will co-ordinate with you. And if there's some where you think we can help... well, I'm listening."
Nadir Jump Point, Montmarault
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
2 January 3051
Once again the Grand Council had gathered at the furthest point of advance by any of the invading clans, although this time due to the sparseness of worlds in this stretch of the corridor as well, perhaps, as a degree of competitiveness, the honour of playing hosts lay with Clan Jade Falcon.
"What nominations do we have for the post of ilKhan?" Elias Crichell asked formally.
Nikolai Djerassi stood. "Given how decisively she ordered us in our last gathering," he said coolly, "I nominate Virgilia Truscott. The Khan of the Star Adders has governed an invasion of unparalleled breadth over the last year and done so while herself being several hundred light years from her warriors. Clearly this will be a vital skill for our new ilKhan. The fact that she has also taken the opportunity to personally lead her Keshik in combat also weighs in her favour."
"Well put," Elias said. "Does anyone speak against the nomination."
He studied the lights that appeared in front of each of the Khans, noting which were requesting permission to speak and then raised one eyebrow in well-feigned surprise. This maneuver had been planned out in advance, almost two months ago. "Khan Truscott, you have the floor."
Virgilia nodded. "My fellow Khans... very few of you truly trust me. I am a wild card, unpredictable and already acting independently of the Council's preferences. Further, by apppointing me as the ilKhan you would be electing me to oversee your own attacks when they adhere to a plan that I have rejected. For these reasons I do not believe that I would be the best choice as ilKhan." She nodded to Elias. "I am not the most experienced of the Khans and I am not the only Khan to have made impressive gains during this invasion. Are we not gathered here at the foremost advance of all of us, a world taken by the Jade Falcons? Was it not Adler Malthus, commander of the Falcon Guards who was alone in successfully capturing the heir of one of the Scavenger Lords?"
Behind his own desk, Ulric stroked his beard. Virgilia was clearly making her own sales pitch for Elias Crichell. The senior Khan of Jade Falcons was more politican that warrior, no doubt he had plenty of other support in the chamber. Nikolai had neatly ensured that only a Khan from the invading clans would be elected. The Ghost Bear and Smoke Jaguar Khans were all relatively new to their roles due to casualties or simple demotion during the invasion and Roderick N'Buta was once again absent. That left the Wolves or the Jade Falcons. Ulric knew that the Crusaders would never elevate a Warden and Garth Radick did not command the necessary respect. That left Timur Malthus or Elias Crichell and if Timur was capable of unseating his senior Khan, he would have done so years ago. No, this vote could only go one way.
Elias at least had the patience to wait for his moment. "Thank you, Khan Truscott. Shall we call for a vote on this nomination?"
"Yes," Ulric said. "While Khan Truscott has made her position eloquently clear, she remains one of the foremost of all the Khans."
The only surprising thing about the vote that followed was how much support Khan Truscott had. Out of the thirty-three Khans present, only Ulric, Nikolai (who having nominated her could hardly back down now) and Khan Malavai Fletcher of Clan Hells Horse voted in favour of her election. The latter was a surprise - Ulric had only voted as he had because he was utterly certain that she couldn't win. Malavai was a hardcore Crusader and had been one of Leo Showers closer allies on the Grand Council until it became clear that the Hells Horses would not be participating in the invasion. With a sinking feeling, Ulric suspected that Malavai had realised what an unalloyed disaster for the Warden cause Virgilia would be as the ilKhan and was manuvering to align himself with her clan: given that she couldn't have won anyway, the fact that he voted against her preference would hardly be something to hold against him.
"I nominate Khan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon," Lincoln Osis rumbled reluctantly. The Smoke Jaguars had not covered themselves with glory in the same way as their fellow Crusaders, which meant that the burly Elemental didn't have the least chance of election. "I move that we vote without further debate."
The next vote was very nearly as lopsided as the last. No one became Khan without knowing how to read how a vote was likely to go and the only real alternative to Elias Crichell was to have no ilKhan at all. Virgilia abstained and Ulric voted against, as did the two Snow Raven Khans. No one else seemed inclined to break the consensus and the newly elected ilKhan requested a brief recess to allow the new Jade Falcon Khan to be called into the chamber. More specifically, Timur Malthus would be bumped up to senior Khan and another of Crichell's protege's, Vandervahn Chistu would take over Timur's previous role as main field commander of the Jade Falcon touman.
"Thank you for the confidence that you have shown in me," Crichell said once Chistu had taken his seat and the new ilKhan had occupied the chair that was now his own. "I believe that the first step that we must now take is to ensure that my vision of how the invasion should proceed is in accordance with the will of the Grand Council. While in general our progress has been good, it has been somewhat slower than anticipated and I feel that it would be wise to activate one of our reserve clans."
"As none of us will wish to share our invasion corridors and Clan Star Adder has claimed the outer regions of the Lyran Commonwealth for their own, it is my intention that Clan Steel Viper attack into the outer regions of the Draconis Combine, near its border with the Outworlds Alliance. Are there any objections to this plan of action?"
Ian Hawker of the Diamond Sharks looked like he wanted to speak but thankfully refrained. Ulric shook his head. That explained the Steel Viper's support for Crichell despite the general antipathy between their two Clans. It would also do quite a bit of damage to the garrison arrangements of the Ghost Bears, who had been contracting several of their garrison posts to the Steel Vipers, but they couldn't protest on that basis because it would be a sign of weakness.
"I support this measure," Virgilia said pleasently. "Such an attack will divert the resources of the Combine and allow Clan Smoke Jaguar to recoup some of their recent reverses. It will also reduce the number of troops that the Federated Suns can redeploy to defend the Lyran Commonwealth as such an attack will be close to their own borders."
And that settled that. No one wanted to argue with the Star Adders until they had a better feel for their capabilities. The Coyotes had shared some reports of their disasterous attack on Dagda and if those were merely the secondline forces not deemed fit for the invasion...
Ulric Kerensky and Virgilia Truscott glared untrustingly across the Council Chamber at each other.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
Pentagon Worlds, Clan Homeworlds
25 December 3050
Star Commander Djef of the 421st Sentinel Cluster, Kappa Galaxy ran his Blood Kite, the prize from a long ago skirmish with Clan Blood Spirit, forwards as fast as he could. His Star had been despatched to secure a steep hill overlooking the principal approach to the Star Adder's main munitions factories on Dagda and it appeared that they had arrived barely in time. Reconnaissence flights by the local aerospace command confirmed that at least a binary of Coyote Mechs were approaching by this route but the 421st had to cover all routes and it would take time for the rest of the trinary to arrive.
To either side of him the other Mechs of his Star spread out and if he lacked numbers he could not complain about the weight of metal on his side. To his right, Mechwarrior Stavros was piloting one of the Dire Wolf assault omnimechs that had been left behind by the units tapped for the invasion of the Inner Sphere. Although among the most potent battlemechs ever built, the Dire Wolf was also slow and plodding. On Djef's other side, Mechwarrior Michelle's Stone Rhino was flanked by a second Dire Wolf and Blood Kite, all of the heaviest weight class and formidably armed.
Djef's plan was simple. They would take firing positions on the hill and rain death down upon the upstart Coyotes who planned to fuel their continued feud with the Adders by springing upon them while their finest warriors were thousands of light years away. On the ground just short of a kilometer away, he could see that the leading Star: a Viper and a Nova backing up a Fire Moth, Mist Lynx and Adder were being followed by an Attack Star of two more Adders and three Stormcrows. The Mechs were fast, but lacked the raw power of Djef's command: indeed although they outnumbered him two to one, the balance of tonnage was three to two in his favour. They were also just outside his range so he had made it just barely in time.
"Pick your targets and drop them!" he ordered. "No zellbrigen but these are lights and mediums so spread your fire at first, we need to whittle them down and most of them can't take a solid volley." He flared his jumpjets and the eighty-five ton Blood Kite arced through the air, covering almost a hundred metres to land in a copse of trees that would give him at least a little cover. Stavros took up a similar position a hundred or so yards behind him and Michelle led Alistair's Blood Kite into larger spread of trees that climbed one of the hill's two peaks. The last Dire Wolf, Mechwarrior Justine's ride, had no such cover as she took position a hundred and twenty metres to Djef's left.
In front of them, a steep cliff cut most of the side of the hill to a point that Mechs could not have scaled it save with jump jets. Only in front of Michelle and Alistair was it shallower, which should prevent most of the Coyotes from coming into close quarters. An oval lake spanned some of the ground between them which gave good open ground to fire across. At extreme range, Djef targetted the nearest Mech and fired all three of his large lasers at the Fire Moth. He missed the speedy Mech and none of his other warriors were quite in range yet. Only one of the Coyotes fired back and it was no more accurate, the Stormcrow's lasers missing Justine by quite a margin.
"Incoming heavies," she reported coolly and Djef scowled as he saw Timber Wolves, Summoners and a Hellbringer moving into view behind the others. A full Trinary. That made things harder.
"Ignore them for now," he ordered. "They aren't even in range of us yet."
The attack star was joing up with the slower of the scouts now, but the Mist Lynx and the Fire Moth were closing with their trademark lightning speed. Behind him, Stavros shifted forwards, trying to improve his position. Justine, Michelle and Alistair both fired on the Fire Moth - it was the only target in range so far. Hit by at leas three large lasers, the light mech was torn apart. In response to this open disregard for zellbrigen at least five mechs opened fire on Justine's Dire Wolf, which shrugged off the damage contemptuously. Djef fired on the Mist Lynx this time, two of his lasers and all three long range missile lanchers firing. He was firing swarm missiles, so if the missiles missed they might overshoot into an Adder that was close on the heels of the scout mech. He was disappointed however. Stavros fired at the same target but it was a chancy shot at best and he did no better.
Stavros continued to combine fire with Djef and their lasers tore the left arm off one of the Adders as well as brutalising it's chest. A Viper also lost an arm, this time to Alistairs lasers. Justine was the prime target as well and there was a flash as her gauss rifle's capacitors were hit, wrecking the entire arm. Combined with the other damage, she lost her balance and the one hundred ton omnimech hit the floor with a crash.
"Move back for cover," Djef ordered her. "You can't take that sort of pounding." She did not move however and Djef realised that she must have been knocked out by the fall. She would be the perfect target until or unless she could move back from her prominent location.
"Commander..." Michelle said pleadingly. She and Justine had been part of the same sibko.
"Hold your ground," he bit off. "None of our Mechs have hands so we can't drag her to cover. All you will accomplish is to make yourself a target.
The Viper took cover in the lake, presumably trying to avoid more damage. Djef doubted the wisdom of the move as the already damaged Mech might well flood, causing that very outcome, but he was in no position to complain since at least the Mech would be unable to fire up from below the water's surface.
The anti-missile system on Justine's mech hadn't been knocked out and it swatted the first volley of missiles to descent upon it. It didn't save her though and the Dire Wolf shattered as lasers and particle beams shredded it. Djef thought that the coup de grace was the explosion of a bin of short ranged missiles but it was impossible to be sure. He picked out a Timber Wolf that had sent a volley of long range missiles over the lake and into the fallen Dire Wolf and shapped off two laser shots and three clusters of long range missiles. The Timber Wolf crashed into the lake shore under the bombardment and several missiles missed only to lock onto the Stormcrow backing it up, but the heavy Mech was not permanently disabled, he was sure.
Now Djef was the focus of the Coyote's wrath and his electronic displays flickered as a particle beam ripped through most of the armour on his Blood Kite's right arm. Trees around him burst into flames and he was unable to target the other Timber Wolf, now storming towards the cliffside, effectively. A dozen missiles smashed into him and he was hard put to stay upright. The smoke was blowing backwards away from the Coyote Mechs and Stavros ran forward into it as it was blocking his view of them. Djef himself twisted and backed out of the trees. Hopefully the smoke would obscure him from the targeting of the Coyotes - it had to be better than surrounding himself with burning trees.
It appeared to work as he was ignored with the next salvo, which split between Stavros and Michelle's battlemechs. He and Stavros concentrated their fire on the Timber Wolf while Michelle and Alistair focused on the Viper as it waded out of the water. Neither Mech fell but both showed obvious damage from the fire. He fired again, but the heavy Mech seened disinclined to fall. It did fall back however, which made the Stormcrows working around the lake towards Michelle and Alistair the main threat. Michelle continued to fire at an Adder Mech, but the other three Star Adders bombarded the pair viciously, driving one of the two to its knees. Fire raged around the feet of Michelle's Stone Rhino as errant energy weapons set the trees aflame and she moved carefully out of them.
The Coyotes finally leaned their lesson and dispersed their formation. Djef punched two laser shots into the right side of a Stormcrow that waded into the lake and saw an Adder with huge long range missile launchers consumed by silvery fire as Alistair's missiles hit gaping holes in its armour. A moment later he was blinking up at his display screen as he realised that his Blood Kite had been knocked down. The armour on his right arm was paper thin - any more damage and he might well lose the missile launchers in it, he realised.
"Situation?" he demanded as he brought the Mech upright.
"We thought we'd lost you for a moment," Michelle reported. "My left leg is looking weak - not much armour left."
"Have not been hit at all," Alistair chimed in, sounding almost as if he was complaining.
Stavros finished off the roll call with: "Right side is a little weak but not serious."
"Understood," Djef confirmed. "Hit that Stormcrow then."
Their combined fire shattered the medium Mech's right arm and caved in its right side before falling over for a second time, this time out of the water. Unfortunately, return fire from a Timber Wolf caught Djef's right arm with both extended range PPCs and true to his expectations took the whole limb off, blasting almost a ton of armour from the shoulder to boot. His heat spiked in reminder that the arm had also contained several heatsinks and the coolant system suddenly had to struggle to maintain the cockpit temperature. He had to stagger his next volley carefully, but the Stormcrow collapsed in a way that indicated major internal structural damage that would prevent it from rising, or indeed doing anything more than twitching, without the attention of a large technical crew.
"Move back into more cover, Michelle," Djef ordered. "We can take this punishment longer than they can."
The lone Hellbringer was now in the lead of the Coyote advance. Thus far it had not been targeted at all and it's anti-missile turret defended it from all but a dozen missiles out of the volley that the Star Adders dropped on it. Behind Djef, Stavros fired all four of his large lasers into a Summoner, hitting with three of them and causing it to crash to the floor, taking even more damage.
Thus far the honours were more or less even, by the Star Commander's reckoning. Both sides had lost a fifth of their forces and had serious damage to about half of what was left. Given that his one Star was blocking a full quarter of the Coyote's attack force, that wasn't bad but it might not be good enough. And there was no hope of escape: the other Clan's Mechs were so much faster that they would run him down without any difficulty at all.
He fired into the nearest Adder and was pleased to see it tumble to the ground. Switching fire to the Hellbringer he was astonished to see every shot he or Alistair fired miss completely. Only Michelle hit it, with one of her pulse lasers. Fortunately for his nerves, Stavros was having more luck in a long range duel against the Timber Wolf trying to flank them around the lake and the Mech tipped forwards into the ground, both arms missing and the front almost entirely stripped of armour.
Surprisingly, it stood up and staggered even closer although Djef doubted that the mechwarrior inside had more than his machineguns and maybe a medium laser left to fight with. Stavros put even that out of the question with another brutal volley while the rest of the Star targeted the last Adder as it ran past the Hellbringer and tore it apart with lasers, missiles and Michelle's gauss rifles. "We may survive this yet," Djef muttered to himself, careful not to transmit that admission of concern to his subordinates.
Another Stormcrow ran forward, this one with a massive autocannon. Fortunately it missed Alistair's Blood Kite but despite the considerable firepower that rained down on it and the Hellbringer (whose charmed life had apparently run out), neither Mech fell. They fired again. This time the Hellbringer died under the lasers of Djef and Michelle while the Stormcrow missed again with it's deadly autocannon, the cannon silenced a moment later when one of Alistair's lasers cut through the arm that carried it at the elbow.
The Stormcrow turned to bring its lasers into play and Djef hit it with two volleys of missiles although his lasers failed to hit. What was left of the omnimech's reactor exited its rear armour in a way surely not intended by its designers. Beyond it he saw the Mist Lynx fall to the ground under Alistair and Michelle's guns and a moment later the remaining Timber Wolf followed it's lighter cousin's example as Stavros scored on its right leg, damaging the myomers that controlled it.
"Stravag," the Dire Wolf's pilot observed in a startled voice. "My engine's hit." The large Mech had strayed out of the smoke in it's eagerness for the kill and was paying the price. He gingerly backed up under the covering smoke again, practically glowing on Djef's infrared sensors. He fired three lasers at the Mist Lynx and missed entirely while Michelle finished off the Timber Wolf, both gauss rifles hitting it, one of them crushing the cockpit. Djef picked out the Viper at long range and blew it's remaining arm off while Alistair managed a head shot that didn't quite finish off the elusive Mist Lynx as it rose to it's feet but must have caused considerable damage to the systems around the cockpit.
Djef fired again and this time the Viper keeled over backwards, cooling rapid as the engine died. The rest of the shooting was desultory, with Michelle landing the only hit on the Nova, which had thus far never come close enough to register as a threat to anyone. Switching targets he failed to hit one of the Summoners lurking at the back of the group. The numbers were almost even and he was tempted to close the range, but the crash of Michelle's Stone Rhino hitting the ground was reminder enough that the Coyote's might be dogs but they hadn't been whipped yet.
"Are you injured?" he asked her.
"Not seriously," Michelle assured him and moment later the Mech staggered upright. "They got through the armour on my left leg where it was already weak, but the leg's still mostly sound." She proved it a moment later, firing a volley into the last Stormcrow, her pulse laser stitching holes through the last armour over its chest. The Coyote Mechwarrior managed to keep himself upright however.
Neither Blood Kite could afford the heat of firing missiles, but both pilots selected targets and fired all three of their lasers. Stavros fired a similar volley at the same Summoner that Djef was targeting and Michelle fired both gauss rifles into the Stormcrow which was peppering Djef's position with missiles. She missed, but Alsitair finally destroyed the Mist Lynx, one laser carving away what remained of one leg and up into the battered chest. Both sides of the battle knew that the fight was almost over, one side or another would have to concede soon as their damaged Mechs failed them.
A Summoner fell, and Michelle's Stone Rhino hit the ground again as her right shoulder disintergrated, the gauss rifle tearing itself apart and sending one arm spinning away. "Michelle, report your status," Djef demanded. In terrifying repetition of what had happened to Justine, she made no reply.
"Cover me," he ordered and jumped forwards, hoping that his distraction and the smoke would prevent the Coyotes from noticing the other mechwarrior's helpless state. The Blood Kite plunged off the cliff and only a fierce burn from his jumpjets spared him an ignominious end to falling more than three times the height of his own Mech. The sharp sound of the other gauss rifle's coils detonating above him told him that he had failed although at least some of the fire was redirected upon him, autocannon submunitions cracking armour all across his Blood Kite.
Sweat ran down his face as he twisted to face the Nova, which was using the cliff-face to mask it from Alistair's position above and unleashed almost every weapon remaining to him. The combined fire of Alistair and Stavros brought down the Stormcrow but an instant later, the beacon of Michelle's Stone Rhino vanished, silently signalling the younger warrior's fate. He could hardly breathe, engine shielding beginning to fail as the two Summoners and the Nova flailed him brutally with their weapons.
The Nova jumped higher up the slope and he fired recklessly into the smaller Mech, hitting both arms and one leg with his lasers, then scattering missiles across its chest. The mechwarrior had misjudged his route and Stavros had a clear shot as the Coyote mech reeled, all four pulse lasers ripping into it, wrecking the left arm and tearing away the right side of the chest, which had been by far the better protected side of the Mech. Systems failing, Djef felt his Mech falling forwards but the last thing that he saw before the Blood Kite hit the ground head first was the Nova tumbling down the hillside.
When Djef woke he was on a Star Adder dropship boosting away from Dagda. He and Stavros were the only survivors of their Star but Stavros' Dire Wolf had been the only mech standing at the end of the battle. The rest of the Trial of Possession had been similarly apocalyptic: Sigma Galaxy, reinforced by the 421st Sentinels, had shattered the Coyotes Alpha Galaxy and driven them away from their holdings. However, they had taken thirty percent losses and a new challenge from Clan Fire Mandrill with a flotilla of Clan Ice Hellion dropships heading for Dagda with most of a Galaxy aboard made it clear that open season had been declared upon the Star Adders.
The 421st was being withdrawn to Sheridan, with enough Sigma Galaxy warriors in tow to rebuild to full strength. The rest of Sigma were remaining behind to bleed the scavengers as hard as they could and to buy time for technical crews to pack up the most vital factories onto a convoy of dropships that had been dispatched as soon as the situation became apparent.
The Adders had been hit hard. It was time to regroup, to bind their wounds and to make the other Clans pay a high price for the opportunism. Along with the 421st on their dropship was all but two warheads of the portion of their nuclear arsenal that they had quietly hidden on Dagda decades before. The factories that would be hardest to move were being evacuated entirely and would be destroyed to render as hollow as possible any victory for whoever finally managed to drive Sigma from them.
Zenith Jump Point, Outreach
Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth
30 December 3051
Hanse Davion had not enjoyed spending the first Christmas in more than a decade away from his family although he supposed that he was hardly the only one having a depressing holiday season. There had been a little party among the crew of the Camelot but it had felt a little flat so he had wished them all a merry Christmas and pled fatigue, which was closer to the truth than he liked. The trouble was that he had a suspicion that the crew would feel it was their duty to try to cheer him up tomorrow evening as well and he didn't want to be cheered up. He was losing his wife's realm world by world, his son and heir was missing in action - not that he'd seen all that much of him growing up as it was - and he'd just used another man's son to force him to send thousands of soldiers who'd never done anything to him to their deaths.
He was trying to shake off the dull feeling of guilt by reading the reports they'd picked up at Denebola when someone knocked on the door of his compartment. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn't one of the doctors that Melissa had insisted on sending with him - they visited as regularly as clockwork. And it wasn't as if any sort of disaster was likely in this star system of all systems. Someone would have to have a death wish to pick a fight with the Dragoons when all five regiments and their supporting units were in the system.
"Come in!" he called and the door opened to reveal a short man with thinning grey hair in the uniform of the Wolf Dragoons. "Colonel Wolf! How the devil did you get aboard!"
"The jumpship you'll be taking on your next jump is a Dragoon jumpship," Jaime Wolf explained. "I knew you would be passing through so I arranged to take a fast shuttle out here." He looked around. "I'd like you to delay your departure for a few hours. Perhaps for a full day. We need to talk."
Hanse examined the mercenary leader for a moment and then touched the intercom built into his desk. "Captain, please contact the jumpship and ask them to delay their jump while I confer with Colonel Wolf. I don't imagine that he will have any objections."
"Given the movement of troops you would need to spend a day or two over Terra Firma waiting for a jumpship to make a jump in your directions," advised Wolf. "This shouldn't delay your return to New Avalon."
"You're as well informed as ever, Colonel," observed Hanse, depositing the reports back in their binder and setting it aside. "I assume that you are here to talk about the Clans. Unless there's something else of sphere-shattering significance going on that ComStar are intent on hiding from everyone."
"If they are, then they're making a remarkably good job of hiding it from Wolf Net," Jaime said with a chuckle. "No, I'm here to discuss the Clans."
Hanse nodded. "This isn't just offering to fight them," he said. "You could have sent word to me of that any number of ways. You want to know... no, you want to tell me something about the Clans that I don't know. Not that we have encyclopedias of information on them already, admittedly."
Wolf nodded. "You're as shrewd as ever, Prince Davion," he returned Hanse's earlier words. "I was sorry to hear about Victor. Morgan Kell told me that he ejected so it is likely that he was captured rather than killed."
The Prince nodded. "We can hope, I suppose. So, what can you tell me about the Clans. The Dragoons have not been anywhere near the war zones so I presume that this is information you obtained through Wolf Net."
The leader of the Dragoons shook his head. "No. We have no more up to date information on the Clans than you do, your highness. My sources are older than that."
"Strange things come out of the periphery," noted Hanse with a piercing look in his blue eyes as he examined Wolf as if he had never seen him before. "Invaders... and almost fifty years ago, a small army of mercenaries. You've had dealings with the Clans before, out in the periphery."
"You could say that," Wolf said. "How much have Quintus Allard and his son managed to find out about our background over the years?"
"Nothing much. There has been some speculation, for obvious reasons, about Natasha Kerensky and General Kerensky's exodus from the Inner Sphere back before the Succession Wars, but none of your people from those days is talking. Besides, there really aren't all that many of your original warriors left after more than four decades."
"True enough," agreed Wolf with a grim expression. Among those who had perished were many good friends, and of course, his brother Joshua. "Well I suppose the place to start is with Natasha. She is, in fact, a direct descendent of Aleksandr Kerensky via his son Nicholas. As many people have speculated, Kerensky's followers established colonies out in the deep periphery."
"And they ran into the Clans?" Hanse asked.
Wolf shook his head. "No your highness. Those colonies became the Clans. The armies that are invading the Inner Sphere are the direct descendants of the old Star League Defense Force."
"What does that make the Dragoons?"
"We were sent here to assess your defenses," the mercenary admitted. "Wait!" he added as Hanse's face began to redden and not in a healthy fashion. "Not to undermine them, to strengthen them. There is a strong faction among the Clans that still believes that our mission is to defend the Inner Sphere, not to conquer it. When it became apparent that we weren't winning the debate over whether or not to launch an invasion, our leader Kerlin Ward played for time, offering to send a scout force to the Inner Sphere to provide them with information to help them plan the invasion. Instead he gave us secret orders to prepare you to face an invasion."
Hanse sat back in his chair. "Alright, for the sake of arguement say that I believe you, that you've been secretly working to build the various Successor States up defeat the Clans. I'm sorry to say that you don't seem to have made a great deal of progress. We're falling like a deck of cards."
"I know," Wolf told him. "Believe me, I know. To be honest, a number of my people didn't even think that it was possible for you to bounce back as far as you have from all the losses taken in the Fourth Succession War. You've all come much further than I think you realise, but the gulf between you and the Clans is not a small one and clearly they have advanced even further since we left. Natasha is trying to make contact with Clan Wolf, the Clan we and Kerlin Ward were originally affiliated with, but since they are in the forefront of the invasion, I'm not sure how many of her old allies will still be in a position to help."
"But I can tell you that we aren't going to stand aside any longer. We needed time to prepare and to explain all this to the warriors who joined us in the Inner Sphere - as well as to send an expedition out to a cache of equipment we couldn't bring into the Inner Sphere at first - it was too advanced. Well we have it now and we're embarking for the frontlines. I can't promise that we'll only operate in the Commonwealth - you aren't the only ones under attack - but we will co-ordinate with you. And if there's some where you think we can help... well, I'm listening."
Nadir Jump Point, Montmarault
Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
2 January 3051
Once again the Grand Council had gathered at the furthest point of advance by any of the invading clans, although this time due to the sparseness of worlds in this stretch of the corridor as well, perhaps, as a degree of competitiveness, the honour of playing hosts lay with Clan Jade Falcon.
"What nominations do we have for the post of ilKhan?" Elias Crichell asked formally.
Nikolai Djerassi stood. "Given how decisively she ordered us in our last gathering," he said coolly, "I nominate Virgilia Truscott. The Khan of the Star Adders has governed an invasion of unparalleled breadth over the last year and done so while herself being several hundred light years from her warriors. Clearly this will be a vital skill for our new ilKhan. The fact that she has also taken the opportunity to personally lead her Keshik in combat also weighs in her favour."
"Well put," Elias said. "Does anyone speak against the nomination."
He studied the lights that appeared in front of each of the Khans, noting which were requesting permission to speak and then raised one eyebrow in well-feigned surprise. This maneuver had been planned out in advance, almost two months ago. "Khan Truscott, you have the floor."
Virgilia nodded. "My fellow Khans... very few of you truly trust me. I am a wild card, unpredictable and already acting independently of the Council's preferences. Further, by apppointing me as the ilKhan you would be electing me to oversee your own attacks when they adhere to a plan that I have rejected. For these reasons I do not believe that I would be the best choice as ilKhan." She nodded to Elias. "I am not the most experienced of the Khans and I am not the only Khan to have made impressive gains during this invasion. Are we not gathered here at the foremost advance of all of us, a world taken by the Jade Falcons? Was it not Adler Malthus, commander of the Falcon Guards who was alone in successfully capturing the heir of one of the Scavenger Lords?"
Behind his own desk, Ulric stroked his beard. Virgilia was clearly making her own sales pitch for Elias Crichell. The senior Khan of Jade Falcons was more politican that warrior, no doubt he had plenty of other support in the chamber. Nikolai had neatly ensured that only a Khan from the invading clans would be elected. The Ghost Bear and Smoke Jaguar Khans were all relatively new to their roles due to casualties or simple demotion during the invasion and Roderick N'Buta was once again absent. That left the Wolves or the Jade Falcons. Ulric knew that the Crusaders would never elevate a Warden and Garth Radick did not command the necessary respect. That left Timur Malthus or Elias Crichell and if Timur was capable of unseating his senior Khan, he would have done so years ago. No, this vote could only go one way.
Elias at least had the patience to wait for his moment. "Thank you, Khan Truscott. Shall we call for a vote on this nomination?"
"Yes," Ulric said. "While Khan Truscott has made her position eloquently clear, she remains one of the foremost of all the Khans."
The only surprising thing about the vote that followed was how much support Khan Truscott had. Out of the thirty-three Khans present, only Ulric, Nikolai (who having nominated her could hardly back down now) and Khan Malavai Fletcher of Clan Hells Horse voted in favour of her election. The latter was a surprise - Ulric had only voted as he had because he was utterly certain that she couldn't win. Malavai was a hardcore Crusader and had been one of Leo Showers closer allies on the Grand Council until it became clear that the Hells Horses would not be participating in the invasion. With a sinking feeling, Ulric suspected that Malavai had realised what an unalloyed disaster for the Warden cause Virgilia would be as the ilKhan and was manuvering to align himself with her clan: given that she couldn't have won anyway, the fact that he voted against her preference would hardly be something to hold against him.
"I nominate Khan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon," Lincoln Osis rumbled reluctantly. The Smoke Jaguars had not covered themselves with glory in the same way as their fellow Crusaders, which meant that the burly Elemental didn't have the least chance of election. "I move that we vote without further debate."
The next vote was very nearly as lopsided as the last. No one became Khan without knowing how to read how a vote was likely to go and the only real alternative to Elias Crichell was to have no ilKhan at all. Virgilia abstained and Ulric voted against, as did the two Snow Raven Khans. No one else seemed inclined to break the consensus and the newly elected ilKhan requested a brief recess to allow the new Jade Falcon Khan to be called into the chamber. More specifically, Timur Malthus would be bumped up to senior Khan and another of Crichell's protege's, Vandervahn Chistu would take over Timur's previous role as main field commander of the Jade Falcon touman.
"Thank you for the confidence that you have shown in me," Crichell said once Chistu had taken his seat and the new ilKhan had occupied the chair that was now his own. "I believe that the first step that we must now take is to ensure that my vision of how the invasion should proceed is in accordance with the will of the Grand Council. While in general our progress has been good, it has been somewhat slower than anticipated and I feel that it would be wise to activate one of our reserve clans."
"As none of us will wish to share our invasion corridors and Clan Star Adder has claimed the outer regions of the Lyran Commonwealth for their own, it is my intention that Clan Steel Viper attack into the outer regions of the Draconis Combine, near its border with the Outworlds Alliance. Are there any objections to this plan of action?"
Ian Hawker of the Diamond Sharks looked like he wanted to speak but thankfully refrained. Ulric shook his head. That explained the Steel Viper's support for Crichell despite the general antipathy between their two Clans. It would also do quite a bit of damage to the garrison arrangements of the Ghost Bears, who had been contracting several of their garrison posts to the Steel Vipers, but they couldn't protest on that basis because it would be a sign of weakness.
"I support this measure," Virgilia said pleasently. "Such an attack will divert the resources of the Combine and allow Clan Smoke Jaguar to recoup some of their recent reverses. It will also reduce the number of troops that the Federated Suns can redeploy to defend the Lyran Commonwealth as such an attack will be close to their own borders."
And that settled that. No one wanted to argue with the Star Adders until they had a better feel for their capabilities. The Coyotes had shared some reports of their disasterous attack on Dagda and if those were merely the secondline forces not deemed fit for the invasion...
Ulric Kerensky and Virgilia Truscott glared untrustingly across the Council Chamber at each other.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.