Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction, not to be sold or otherwise circulated for profit. The Battletech and Mechwarrior franchise is owned by WizKids and their respective licensees.
Acknowledgements: Thanks are due to the many writers who have brought this universe to life, most prominently for this work the novels by Michael Stackpole, and the writers, editors and artists of the invaluable 20 Year Update (itself published very nearly twenty years ago). This story would have been incomparably reduced without the discussion, crticisms and assistance of the many who commented upon its planning and the initial drafts upon The Fanfiction Forum, SpaceBattles Creative Writing, Drunkard's Walk Other People's Fanfiction and Classic Battle Tech Fanfiction forums. I would very probably not have written it even half as swiftly without the motivating influence of NaNoWriMo. Thank you all.
For those not familiar with Battletech, I recommend the Warrior and the Blood of Kerensky trilogies by Michael Stackpole as they cover the Fourth Succession War and the canonical Clan Invasion as well as backstory for several important characters here. The Jade Phoenix trilogy by Robert Thurston is also quite good for a view of Clan Jade Falcon.
This story, although set in the 31st century's familiar setting of armoured combat, is an Alternate Universe which diverges in the last year of the 30th Century. Please strap in, read safely and enjoy the ride.
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Star Adder Symphony
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Hall of the Khans, Strana Mechty
Kerensky Cluster, Clan Space
2 October 3000
The star around which the home world of the Clans spun was low in the sky as its light lit up the western side of the Hall of the Khans. The gothic architecture of the centre of their government was not of concern to the two warriors sitting on a simple stone bench that provided the only seating on the balcony they occupied. The Hall had many private nooks such as this one - intentionally so since it provided for the private meetings and discussions that would frame the debates that periodically rocked the Grand Council's chamber.
Gerik N'Buta's jacket of almost seamless black leather that closely resembled snakeskin, lay on the bench next to him and he could feel the warmth of the stone behind him through his thin white shirt. The Khan of Clan Star Adder was short for a mechwarrior, but his skin had an almost ebon black hue that was rare among the ethnic mix that had produced his sibkho, rare but highly prized by the N'Buta bloodline as that sported by their founder. His colleague, Kershaw Lahiri was smaller still, with the slightly disproportionate head that marked him as a product of one of the lineages focused upon producing pilots for the Clans aerospace fighters.
"Kerlin's proposal is a good one, quiaff?" Kershaw observed. "Foresightful as a Kerensky, for all that he is a Ward."
"Neg," his elder disagreed. "He is wise, to see that our intelligence services lack the data necessary to truly evaluate the situation within the Inner Sphere. But foresightful? I cannot call him that, to deny we Crusaders the chance to invade in our lifetimes."
Kershaw started. "So long?" he asked and stood from the bench to look at his senior in astonishment. "Five years, perhaps ten..."
"Not less than twenty five years," Gerik advised him gently. "It will take no less than two years to properly prepare the forces required and then a long slow voyage back along the Exodus Road. Three to four years merely to begin their expedition, with Kerlin slowing them all the way. Then years to gather data upon which to base our plans."
"That is outrageous!" The saKhan of the Star Adders was some thirty-one years old. Holding a bloodname, much less a high political office, would extend his career considerably, but the chances that he could still call himself a warrior when he reached the age of fifty-six were remote. The notion that Gerik N'Buta, fourteen years his elder, might do likewise was simply laughable.
"He is right." Gerik's voice was calm and barely ruffled by regret. "I do not forgive him for this, of course. To see the Hope of Kerensky fulfilled, to see the Inner Sphere myself... This I have dreamed of for many years, Kershaw. But... Kerlin is right. We need to know and we need to prepare. Consider - we will be engaging in a campaign more than a thousand light years from our homes against enemies that will be superior, at least in numbers, to our own forces."
The saKhan frowned. One might rise through the ranks of other clans through nothing more than skill as a warrior, but among the Star Adders it was expected that a senior officer understand more than elementary tactics. "I do not know what demands that would make upon our logistics," he admitted at last. "We would need to establish a forward base... years of work."
Gerik's eyebrow crooked at the suggestion. "That is certainly one possibility," he agreed. "The fact is that no Clan has ever considered such a feat of logistics or a conflict waged on such a tremendous scale. Perhaps the Star League's would-be successors have fragmented and will fall readily to us one at a time. Or perhaps they have not - the reports we have gathered have been few and far between, never from reliable sources. And even if it means that I will not live to see our return, I cannot commit to any plan that would expose us to possible disaster."
"Disaster?" Kershaw asked. "Is that not a trifle alarmist, Gerik?"
"Is it?" Gerik watched the younger man struggle with the question. "We do not know, quineg?" He shivered slightly and noticed that the sun had dipped below the horizon and that the wall he leant against had cooled significantly. Standing, he shrugged on his jacket.
The aerospace pilot chuckled. "You are getting old, my Khan," he chided.
"Can I convince you to come back and warm my bed while we discuss this further?" the forty-five year old leered mockingly and rolled his eyes when Kershaw shook his head. "You must be right. When I was your age all you young warriors loved my company."
"You are simply not my flavour of choice," Kershaw defended himself, moving to open the door back into the hall.
Gerik shrugged. "You are almost as staid as some of the civilian castes," he protested, following his junior Khan.
"There is no need to be insulting," grumbled Kershaw. "On another subject, some of the scientists tell me that the Goliath Scorpions are onto something new in the lasers field," he commented, shifting the subject less likely to attract attention in the more crowded interior of the Hall of the Khans.
"Oh?" Gerik said, lechery forgotten at the prospect of a new weapon in his clan's arsenal. "That must have slipped past me. What are they talking about?"
"How would you like an extended range laser with twenty percent more power and range, but only eighty percent as heavy as the old Newharts?" Kershaw asked with a knowing grin. "I can assure you, I would like a pair of those on my Kirghiz."
Gerik's smile was that of a predator. "Hah! I like the idea very much, Kershaw. We will want to have those ready for when our respective offspring are able to begin our Crusade into the Inner Sphere."
"We shall have to get hold of them first," cautioned Kershaw. "The Khans of the Scorpions are well aware of the advantages of such weapons. They will not relinquish them lightly so I wish to take my Keshik and obtain them myself."
"Kershaw," the elder Khan warned as they descended one of the broad, shallow steps that connected the many galleries of the Hall of the Khans. "There is a time and place for a Khan to take the battlefield. Any Star Colonel can bid a simple trial like that. How else will they learn enough to step into our shoes one day?"
"Hn," Kershaw grunted unhappily. "I have hardly had any time in the cockpit since I last tested to keep my warrior status." He considered for a moment. "Since I have been outbid, how about sending Edwina Banacek? She has been spoiling for a fight since the whole business with the Coyotes, and if she sharpens the Seventy-Third any more, they will start cutting themselves."
Gerik chuckled. "You must be really annoyed with the Scorpions. You know they are firmer on Zellbrigen than we are and Edwina makes the two of us look like Jade Parrots."
Kershaw squawked derisively and then sneered at the scowls directed at him by a pair of warriors in Jade Falcon colours. "I think that Edwina might be quite useful," he said. "If she can handle this business with the Scorpions then she might be just the person to build us a permanent opposing force to train against?"
"Are Kappa Galaxy not enough for you?" asked Gerik. The secondline Galaxy was often used as a proving ground for newly graduated warriors, somewhere where they could show their merits before being moved up into the frontline units. What units were not on detachment elsewhere often provided opposition for warrior tests and Trials of Position.
Kershaw shook his head. "Kappa is organised in the manner of all Clan soldiers," he explained. "To prepare to fight the Inner Sphere we need something like the unit that Khan Ward proposed, a force organised and equipped like the old Star League Defense Force, like the troops of the Inner Sphere, for us to test our fangs upon. And we need them to fight…" he hesitated, seeking a word, "unpredictably, viciously even. If the old SLDF manuals in our archives are any guide, they would use any tactic or weapon that worked. We must assume that the Inner Sphere will do likewise."
"Edwina is the right person for that," Gerik snorted and gestured for Kershaw to precede him into his office, an anonymous little room like any of a hundred others in the Star Adder wing of the Hall. There was no decoration inside, only a wooden desk with one simple chair behind it and a small computer terminal assembled at one side where it would not obstruct the view of one sat behind the desk. "I do not think that our good friends in the other clans would approve however. After the Coyote scandal the last thing we should do is give them ammunition to use against us."
"That is the beauty of what I have in mind," Kershaw explained. "I said earlier that we would need a forward base. When we find a suitable world, we can establish the training unit there and unless the other Clans stumbled over it, they would never know what we are doing there."
"You mean to keep it a secret?"
"Absolutely. A secret colony, one that can fill many roles for us," nodded Kershaw enthusiastically. "Imagine it, Gerik! Factories to support and replenish our touman. Farms to feed them. Training grounds to prepare them for the battles to come. And all placed only a few jumps short of the Inner Sphere, so that we can stage from it directly into the invasion."
The Khan nodded. "You have vision, Kershaw. But you must find a suitable world first, and colonising it without the other Clans knowing will be hard."
"We have years to do this," Kershaw said simply. "Even by taking small and discreet actions much can be accomplished in such a span of time."
"A quarter century at least," the Khan agreed. "Perhaps more. It is unlikely that either of us will lead the Star Adders when that day comes. Tell me your plans, Kershaw."
Kershaw gathered his thoughts. "We can begin simply," he said. "Obtaining the lasers is a good start - once we have them, we can pressure our scientist caste to start applying their principles to other weapons. If Scorpion scientists can create such a weapon then we must drive our own to surpass them in creativity. When the time comes for the technicans to retool their factories to produce the new weapons, we can easily hide the parts for additional factories. In the meantime though, we need to find our forward base. Eric Lahiri -" The Star Adder's Naval Adjutant and effectively commander of their fleet of warships and jumpships "- was in the same sibko as I. She can slip a small flotilla out of sight and send it out to find a suitable place to begin from."
Gerik nodded. "Somewhere near what was the Rim Worlds Republic, or perhaps the outer reaches of the Draconis Combine," he advised. "We should not extend ourselves too far, but areas near the border between the Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth will probably be well patrolled if those nations still exist."
"That would make sense," agreed Kershaw. "We can keep things small for now. When Edwina has done with playing with the Scorpions – and any other clan whose scientists are developing useful weapons - we can assign her to help the Wolves train their spies. It is an honorable assignment and will let tempers cool but few of our cousins will see it in that light. No one will be surprised if she drops out of sight after a task like that - they will assume that she was disgraced and chose to become solahma. She and those like her will be at the heart of our preparations, quiaff"
"Aff." Gerik looked at the desk in front of him. "There is another possibility that this forward base should be considered for."
"What?" Kershaw asked.
Gerik smiled humorlessly. "If the other Clans decide one day to destroy us," he said. "Then it might well need to become our last refuge. Make sure that it is a worthy world of such a destiny, Kershaw. And well hidden also."