AUTHOR'S NOTES: I got a case of writer's block along with the holidays, so I had trouble getting this chapter going. This one's a little shorter than the last. Rouge, thanks for the review. I just like to write…it'll do until I can get something real published.

Sentinels General Headquarters, Cold Harbour

Vantaa, Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth

16 June 3051

"I called you all here for one reason and one reason alone," Max Canis-Vlata said. "You know what that is. Sheila is a POW, and we have to free her."

He could see them shift uncomfortably at his words. All of the Snowbirds were present, save three: Terry Nutter, who had died on the operating table; Charles Badaxe, who was in the hospital after tangling with another Masakari, but expected to recover; and Sheila Arla-Vlata, who was a prisoner. In the space of three hours, the Snowbirds had experienced their first three casualties. They had lost 'Mechs before, and MechWarriors had been hurt, but never enough to be put into intensive care. They had never lost a man.

And their commander was a prisoner.

Elfa Brownoak, in temporary command of the Snowbirds after Sheila's loss, stepped forward from the assembled crowd. "Max," she said gently, "we all want Sheila back, but we have to look at the situation. Because the 133rd Falcon Fusiliers gave us such a bloody nose, we've had to abandon the Massanutten Valley, which forced us back from the Chickahominy. Sure, we're going to a new position on the Rapidan, but still—we can't just divert the entire battalion!"

"I'm not saying that, Elfa," Max countered, trying to keep his temper under control. "We can't move the whole battalion out of the line and head north—I know that. We'd never make it even halfway to Sharpsburg. We just need a few."

"Who? How?" Elfa asked.

"I don't know yet, dammit!" Max shouted. "God, do you think I've got all the answers? All I know is, the Falcons have Sheila!"

"And a lot of other people too," Elfa said. "Or have you forgotten? Or don't you care?"

No, Max thought, I don't love those people. He knew he wasn't acting rationally. It was true that there were many Vantaa Militia and Star Guards, and a few Sentinels as well, already being held in a known prisoner of war camp near Sharpsburg. The camp was also close to the Sharpsburg DropPort, and no one knew if that was merely convienience, coincidence, or that the Clans were planning to move their prisoners offworld. Few prisoners of the Clans had been able to escape, mostly when Twycross and Planting were retaken, but it was known that the Clans put their POWs to work, and usually moved them offplanet to prevent escape attempts exactly like the one Max was planning. Max was certain that a high-profile prisoner like Sheila would not be kept within reach long. If she was taken off Vantaa, it was almost certain he would never see her again.

The liberated prisoners had told of other things as well. Officers were often tortured. The Clans might have used the act of simple inquiry to ascertain what forces were on a world, but apparently all bets were off once planetfall was made. Those few officers who were still onplanet when liberated had told of being subjected to chemical torture, mind-altering agents that made it almost impossible to lie, but also caused short-term neurological damage. Some had been beaten. A few had been simply shot, though the latter was rare. Descendants of the SLDF or not, the Clans obviously didn't consider themselves signatories of the Ares Conventions or bound by them. Which meant, in a thought that chilled Max's blood, that Sheila could be being tortured as they spoke.

"Of course I care," Max told Elfa after awhile. "We can free them, too."

"And get most of them killed in an escape attempt," Kaatha put in. "Max, I want her back almost as much as you do, but roaring into that camp guns blazing is only going to get people killed!"

"I do not believe this!" Felisanna stood, eyes blazing. In defiance of every uniform regulation there was, she had recently gotten a neopunk mohawk and dyed it pink. She stomped down the steps she had been sitting on, to stand next to Max. "Sheila is our commander. If it was one of you in the slammer, she'd be screaming her head off to get together a recovery mission, not sitting on her ass like some people!"

"You be quiet!" Kaatha yelled at her daughter. Felisanna balled her fists and took a step forward.

"Enough!" Marion Rhialla's voice cracked across the auditorium they met in. Instant silence reigned. She got up and stood facing them. "Listen to us," she growled. "We sound like a bunch of fucking old women. Well, I am an old woman, and I say that both of you are right!"

There was silence for another ten seconds, and then both Max and Elfa said, "Huh?" simutaneously.

"The Sentinel Light Infantry can go in and get her," Rhialla explained. "That's what they're trained for, after all. I think the Old Man wouldn't have a problem with that."

"Hey, yeah," Tooriu Kku spoke up. "The SLI can get in and out without breaking through their deodorant. The Clans won't even know Sheila's gone before she's a long ways off."

"I hate to be the devil's advocate," Elfa said, "but if the Clans know who Sheila is—and given that she piloted a unique 'Mech, they have to know—they're going to put her under the closest guard they can. Which means that she's probably smack dab in the middle of Sharpsburg, where the Clans have their headquarters. The SLI's good, but if they get trapped by 'Mechs, all we've done is add more prisoners to the bag."

"I'm with Felisanna," Tooriu growled, looking at his lover. "What's with all the gloom?"

"As temporary commander of this battalion," Elfa shot back, "I'm now responsible for you lunatics. Which means that I have to point out the flaws in the plan. I don't like this either, people! If it was up to me, we'd mount up the battalion right now and shoot our way into Sharpsburg to get Sheila. The problem is, I have to consider if that's best for the Sentinels as a whole—and how many people we'd lose in the bargain. We know that Khan dude Malthus has his headquarters unit onplanet. That means there's some mean badasses between us and Sheila. We've got to take that into account." She looked down at her boots. "We don't even know if Sheila is still on Vantaa. For that matter, we don't even know she's alive."

Max wanted to punch something, because he knew Elfa was right, except the part about Sheila being alive. He knew she was. The SLI was a great idea—Max kicked himself mentally for not having thought of it first—but Elfa was right there, as well. The SLI were light infantry, and while infiltration and objective raids was a specialty of theirs, even if they brought manpack SRMs with them, they wouldn't last long against armored Elementals and OmniMechs. "If there was only a way to get some damn 'Mechs up there!" he shouted in frustration.

"Um…there is." Maysa Bari hesitantly raised her hand. Everyone looked at her, and she blushed furiously. "Well…I was watching Immortal Warrior VIII last night, and—"

"Oh, God." Kaatha covered her eyes with her hands.

"Yeah, we can't just waltz in there with bows and arrows and a manpack PPC like Immortal Dumbass does," Charles Badaxe added.

"Wait a minute!" Maysa actually stomped her feet in frustration. "Okay, yeah, it was another 'rescue the POWs from the Kuritans' transvid! But he didn't fly a Warrior H-7 in this time. He had a 'Mech. He walked it under the ocean—there was this kinda kewl sequence when a Neptune sub came after him—"

"Never mind that!" Tooriu slammed a fist into his palm. "The Clans don't have subs! That's perfect, Maysa! We can walk the battalion—"

"A company," Elfa corrected. At Tooriu's sour face, she shook her head. "We can't spare the whole battalion. A company, we can. If you run into something that a company can't take on, then the battalion won't help anyway."

"Okay, fine, a reinforced company walks under the water. They pop up behind Sharpsburg, shoot their way in, we stick Sheila on a jumpseat, we walk back out. Easy."

"What if a 'Mech takes internal damage?" Elfa asked gently. She was beginning to warm to the idea.

"No one said we wouldn't get our hair mussed! I'm willing to leave my Awesome and hitch a ride home."

This time it was Frederick Matria who raised a hand. "Uh, I hate to be the jerk this time, but I should point out something. Obviously we're gonna need assault 'Mechs, right? Lights and mediums will get chewed up too quick. Well, it's 40 klicks from the coast to Sharpsburg. At a run, it's going to take half an hour for assault 'Mechs at least to travel that distance. They're gonna get detected, and that's the ball game."

"Simutaneous attack," Max said. "If the SLI hits first—" Then he winced. "Damn! That won't work either. The Falcons could eat up the SLI then chew on the Snowbirds."

"There has to be a way!" Felisanna snapped.

"There is."

They turned at the sound of a new voice. Standing in the doorway to the auditorium was Nicia Caii, the Sentinels RCT's Master Tech, dressed in the traditional pocket-filled jumpsuit of a tech. She came from the light gravity world of Quantraine, and as a result she towered over everyone there, even the enormous Tooriu, though he was nearly three times as wide, and Tooriu was not fat. Because hair tended to get in the way of the hot work of repairing 'Mechs, she shaved her head completely bald. She folded her hands over her breasts and smiled. "It just so happens that we brought some gifts home from Sharpsburg, and Planting."

"Such as?" Max asked.

Nicia looked at her fingernails nonchalantly. "Four Clan OmniMechs. Oh, they're a little dinged up and missing a few things, and we're supposed to turn them over to the House ASAP. However, I think I might could arrange to 'lose' them for another couple of days." Her smile widened as jaws dropped around the auditorium.

"I thought—when did this happen? Why didn't anyone know?" Rhialla said in shock.

Nicia's expression turned cynical. "Because, Miss Marion Rhialla, you'd steal a rose off your grandmother's grave. The last thing I needed was to come into the 'Mech bay on some morning and find them either stripped to the bones or gone entirely. House Steiner-Davion would really have my ass in a wheelbarrow if that happened."

Rhialla opened her mouth to say something short and to the point, especially given that Sentinel techs had a reputation themselves for stealing anything not tied down, and actually opening fire on teams of rival techs who tried to salvage from a Sentinel battlefield. Max cut her off. "Four Omnis, in working condition?"

"They can be, in about three or four days. That should give you some time to come up with something more workable than a cockamaney plan ripped out of twisted minds and bad holoflicks. Come by the bay in a few minutes and you can have a look…and bring those felons you call techs." She turned and walked out with a half-wave over her shoulder. Her smile faded once she was out of sight. Because, she thought, one of them is a traitor.

Jade Falcon Keshik Command Headquarters

Sharpsburg, Vantaa, Federated Commonwealth

16 June 3051

SaKhan Cavell Malthus looked over the holomap in the tank before him, warmed by the fireplace that took up one side of the room. He had taken over a hotel in Sharpsburg as a headquarters, not for its opulence, which was considerable, but because it was the last one still undamaged and standing.

The news was, overall, good. Thanks to Senefa Malthus and her 133rd Falcon Fusiliers, he had forced the Sentinels to abandon the strong position they had held along the Chickahominy and fall back to the Rapidan. It would be slow going there, due to the thick, virgin forests along the river, but there were no man-killing bluffs that would force an enemy to advance across a water barrier under plunging fire the whole way. Moreover, he could still use the Massanutten Valley to flank the position, though that would be slightly more difficult and take longer. In any case, time was not really his enemy.

He spared a quick curse under his breath for Clan Wolf in general and Khan Ulric Kerensky in particular. Ulric had agreed to split Vantaa between them, of course, with the fastest Clan the winner. It had never occurred to Cavell that perhaps Ulric never had any intention of taking Vantaa, but instead forcing the Jade Falcons to spend the blood necessary to take it. After all, it would be paying Cavell back in his own coin for what he planned for Clan Wolf on Planting. So now, while the Jade Falcons were forced to slog through forests and hills against a determined enemy, the two Wolf Clusters assigned to assault Vantaa's planetary capital merrily orbited. So far, they had frozen the two 10th Donegal Guards battalions in place, but once the Spheroids caught on that Wolf was leaving their "comrades" to twist in the wind, that would change.

No matter, Cavell decided. He would take the freebirth world himself, and to hell with Ulric Kerensky. When Vantaa was secured, he himself would go to the Grand Council and call Ulric a coward to his face.

"My Khan?" A tech waited at a respectful distance. When Cavell had acknowledged the man's presence, the tech saluted. "Sir, Star Colonel Senefa Malthus is waiting outside." He paused. "She has a visitor as well."

"Send her in, by all means." Cavell allowed himself to smile. He had known his protégé would do well once she recovered from her slight misstep on Planting, but on Vantaa Senefa was simply phenomenal. Calla Bighorn-Vlata's sudden, mad attack on the dropzones had caught Cavell off guard, but somehow the Falcons had held, even if the Sentinels had overrun one of the zones and pushed the Falcons back into Sharpsburg itself. Though he was able to replace lost 'Mechs with the remounts brought on the DropShips, and drive the Sentinels off, he had been quite vulnerable once the Sentinels caught their breath. In the space of only a few days, Senefa's aggressive actions in the Valley, despite being outnumbered and in constant danger of being cut off, had savaged the 12th Star Guards and bloodied the Sentinels as well, returning the initiative squarely to the Jade Falcons. And now she had even captured her nemesis, Sheila Arla-Vlata, Calla's daughter. Yes, Senefa was doing well. She already had her Bloodname and her Cluster. If things continued to go well, Cavell might could arrange a Galaxy command for her. And then saKhan? Why not? If the Nova Cats managed to kill the ancient Elias Crichell, the Clan would be Cavell's. He would arrange to put the hated Vandervahn Chistu out to pasture and Senefa in his place.

He pushed those thoughts from his mind as Senefa walked in, a look of obvious distaste on her face. Trailing in her wake was a man dressed in a suit of green, a much lighter green than that of Senefa's uniform and plumed cape. The suit was cut in an Asian style, with a mandarin collar and slightly baggy pants that stood out against the crisp, military trousers everyone else in the room wore. He was also something few Clanfolk were: fat, though he tried mightily to hide it. The man himself was not Asian; his skin was pale and he was sweating nervously, but he had pasted an obviously artificial smile on his face. As they drew closer, Cavell noticed the emblem embroidered on his chest: a mailed fist holding a curved sword, against a green triangle bordered in yellow. Dimly, Cavell remembered from ancient transvids that this was the symbol of the smallest of the so-called Successor States, House Liao.

Cavell ignored him and turned a genuine smile on Senefa. "Star Colonel, you are to be congratulated on your success in the Massanutten Valley. Not only have you forced the Sentinels to retreat from the Chickahominy, you have also captured Sheila Arla-Vlata."

Senefa's smile was tight, but also no less genuine. She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, my Khan. I was wondering when I could return to the front. Star Captain Henderson is skilled and experienced, but I would feel better if I were at my Cluster's head." She glanced sidelong at the man in green, who had enough tact to stand far enough away to give Cavell and Senefa some privacy. He had occupied himself looking around the room and exchanging pleasantries with the techs, who ignored him; they had also switched off the holotank. If the man was a spy, he would carry nothing back to enemy lines. Cavell chuckled softly when he saw the Liaoist looking more than a little nervously at the hulking, fully-armored Elemental who stood at the doorway.

Cavell dropped his voice. "Your losses?" he said in a whisper.

"Two Stars, though the techs believe we can salvage over half of those."

"Good. Your wounded?"

"I brought them back with me, ovkhan. Local doctors are rather unenthusiastic about treating them."

"Aff." That was a problem that was becoming increasingly annoying, and one the Jade Falcons were not really equipped to deal with. Despite Cavell's orders to treat the civilian population with respect, the locals seemed none too pleased with being "liberated" by the Clans. Around Sharpsburg, this was confined to a few acts of vandalism and the occasional rock or dog droppings hurled at the Keshik's Elementals. Even though three young people had already been killed by Elementals, who were not inclined to simply ignore any projectiles thrown in their direction, that had enflamed the populace even more rather than cowing them. Closer to the lines, the problem was worse. Vantaa militiamen who had been cut off or their units overrun had not surrendered, but taken to the hills. Even though they were armed with light weapons, sniper attacks and mortar shells lobbed into Clan laagers had already forced the Jade Falcons into not going beyond their encampments in groups smaller than five people. Towns were quieter—the militia seemed reluctant to let civilians get caught in the crossfire—but there the locals were sullen and did everything they could to ignore the Falcons entirely. Clanfolk seeking food were forced to pay exorbitant prices and doctors seemed to find other places to be rather than treat Clan wounded. Cavell had ordered his troops to take what they needed if the locals proved uncooperative and to force doctors to work at gunpoint, knowing that this would not improve the situation, but needing supplies more. If it continued, he would be forced into making an example.

Cavell dismissed those thoughts as counterproductive and returned his full attention to Senefa. "And what of Sheila Arla-Vlata?"

"She was slightly wounded in our combat. The medtechs believe she suffered a concussion, and advise that we not use any sort of chemicals to interrogate her. I was about to question her."

"That is fine." Cavell figured they would get little from Arla-Vlata in any case. She was only a battalion commander, and though Clan medtechs were trained in the art of chemical torture—Cavell had seen the tapes of how they had broken a hard case like Phelan Wolf—there was probably little Sheila knew of use. The tactical situation had already changed in the 24 hours since she had been captured. "I do not want her damaged." He said it nonchalantly, but it was a warning to Senefa.

"She will not be. I merely want her to know her situation, quiaff?"

And who placed her in it, Cavell thought. Senefa was trying not to show it, keeping her usual cool reserve, but Cavell could tell that capturing her nemesis meant far more to her than her victory in the Massanutten Valley, perhaps more than anything but her Bloodname. "Aff." Finally Cavell turned his attention to the Liao man. "Who is he?"

"Oh." Senefa grimaced. "He is a worm."

"That I can see, quiaff? But which worm is he?"

"An emissary from the Capellan Confederation, House Liao, ovkhan. He surrendered to us outside Winchester, and said he would speak with only you. He has verigraphed orders from his leader, and says neither Marshal Sarah Steiner nor Commander Calla Bighorn-Vlata knows of his mission." Senefa looked like she wanted to spit. "He is no warrior, of that I can assure you, my Khan. He has done nothing but chew my ear and mouth platitudes since we took him."

"A diplomat." Cavell sighed. "Well, I suppose politeness requires I at least hear him out. Perhaps he has something of use." Cavell personally doubted that. "Dismissed, Star Colonel—unless you want to listen to the man."

"Only if ordered, my Khan. I have already heard enough of his talk."

Cavell laughed softly. "Very well, then. Dismissed. Tell me what Arla-Vlata says—we shall have dinner tonight, if that is agreeable."

"It is." Senefa came to attention, saluted, then strode from the room. Cavell could not help but notice the way the Jade Falcon uniform hugged Senefa's rather shapely legs. To his surprise, he felt ashamed for having the feelings of a normal man—indeed, it would not be unusual in the slightest if he were to ask Senefa to couple with him after dinner, nor surprising if she accepted. Their difference in rank would be the only reason any other Clanfolk might frown upon it, but again it was not unknown; Elias Crichell was not all cybernetic parts and skin grafts, and it was known that he preferred his lovers barely out of the sibko, let alone anything close to his own rank. Yet to Cavell, the idea of sleeping with Senefa turned his stomach, almost as if it was incestous.

Smiling wryly to himself at that thought, he walked over to the Liaoist. "I am told you were sent her to speak with me." He saw no reason for formal niceties.

The Liao man turned to him, the grin instantly returning, followed by a deep bow. "It is a honor and pleasure to finally meet you, Khan Cavell Malthus, leader of the Jade Falcons!"

Faces colored all over the headquarters, Cavell's among them. When the man finally straightened up, Cavell cleared his throat. "You are misinformed, sir. I am merely second-in-command of the Clan, not its leader."

The man bowed again, less deeply this time. "Forgive me, Khan Malthus…though you are the leader of Jade Falcon forces here on Vantaa."

"That is true. What brings you here, Mister…?"

"Ah, forgive me, Khan Malthus. I am Douglas Everson, and I come at the request of the Dear Leader of House Liao, Her Highness Chancellor Romano Liao." He reached into his sleeve and produced a roll of paper so quickly that the Elemental came close to gunning him down. It was a formal scroll, and he unrolled it, clearing his throat. "Her Celestial Wisdom bids you welcome to the Inner Sphere, and regrets that she could only send this unworthy one to entreat with you. She also deeply regrets the war that is currently being waged, and hopes that the futile aggression of the Federated Commonwealth have not closed your ears to peace." Cavell could not keep the look of shock off his face. The Clans had started this war, unashamedly so; if anything, he preferred the Federated Commonwealth to be aggressive. "With this in mind, she would like to begin negotiations for a nonaggression treaty between Clan Jade Falcon, House Liao, and the Isle of Skye."

It was so staggering that Cavell motioned for the scroll. Everson happily handed it over. Looking over it, Cavell could see that the man was quite serious. The scroll was in formal handwriting, though by its blocking it was almost certainly not written by the Chancellor herself. The signature at the bottom was, however, in both English and Chinese characters, and bore the holographic sheen of an unforgeable verigraph. Cavell found himself in the unlikely position of being on the defensive to this fat joke of a person. "I, ah…" He fought for time. "As I recall, the Isle of Skye was not independent." The Clans had been cut off from recent news of the Inner Sphere; had their enemies began to unravel?

"It is not, my lord—not yet. However, there are some elements within it who have no truck with the Clans, and indeed would prefer an alliance with them rather than continued subjugation under the boot of Hanse Davion. There are many who feel this way in House Steiner, my lord." Everson nodded, as if to reassure himself that was true. "Moreover, Chancellor Liao feels that we have a common enemy in Hanse Davion. With the Clans pressing him on one front and Liao troops on the other, we can crush the Fox between us."

Who is this Fox he's referring to? Hanse Davion? Interesting. Cavell remembered something from Phelan Wolf's interrogation. "I had thought that House Liao was allied to House Kurita, who is fighting my allies, the Smoke Jaguars." He noticed he was not alone in fighting down a smile at that one; the Smoke Jaguars were about as allied as Liao and Davion were.

"My Dear Leader believes they too can be induced into an alliance as well, my lord."

"I see," Cavell said, although he did not; the samurai of House Kurita were not likely to cave in to the Smoke Jaguars, and more power to them. "If the Isle of Skye should rebel and succeed, what do they offer the Clans?"

Everson was at something of a loss at that. Finally, he said, "I do not know the particulars, my lord. I am only an emissary. I can only speculate—"

"Then do so." Cavell's voice was suddenly hard.

"Ah, I believe they will pledge to a nonaggression pact…possibly free passage through their territory in return for no occupying force, or ah, perhaps a token one." Everson smiled hugely again. "But please, my lord! Such details can wait. If you are interested, perhaps you can send an emissary with me! I have ways off Vantaa the onplanet forces have no idea about. It would be child's play to get your emissary to the court on Sian in less than three months!" Cavell was not reacting, so Everson decided to sugarcoat it a bit. "We have spies everywhere, Khan Malthus! Even within the Sentinels themselves!"

Actually, Cavell was ignoring him, thinking about the possibilities. What this silly man did not know, indeed no Spheroid could know, was that the Clans were intent on one target, and one only: Terra itself. The rest of the Inner Sphere would fall as well, but first was Terra, the cradle of humanity and the true seat of the Star League. According to Clan law, the first Clan to reach Terra would become the ilClan, the Clan exalted above others and the one able to impose its will on the others. An independent, friendly Isle of Skye would make it quite simple to leap ahead of even Clan Wolf and reach Terra first. The Khan that did that would win immortality, which was really the best any Clan warrior could hope for.

Then, as suddenly as it had come, Cavell dismissed the idea. If he reached Terra that way, his victory would always be tainted. While the other Clans fought their way through to the prize, he would use treachery and diplomacy to gain it. Elias Crichell might be willing to make that sacrifice, but not Cavell Malthus, who was indeed a Clan warrior. There was no honor in it. In practical terms, he doubted that Skye could even do such a thing, if the entire province was not united in the idea of secession—and given the way Skye units had fought against the Clans, Cavell was not as inclined as Everson to believe that they would simply let the Clans waltz through. This was either a betrayal waiting to happen, or wishful thinking. Either way, Cavell would have none of it, even if he had the power and authority to agree to it, which he did not.

He was brought back to the here and now by Everson's last words. "Spies, you said?"

"Oh yes, my lord." Everson was relieved. He had seen the play of emotions on Cavell's face and had not been encouraged. "House Liao's matchless intelligence service, the Maskirovka, infiltrated several spies into the Sentinels years ago. Even now, they engage in acts of sabotage and intelligence gathering—a resource that could be turned to your benefit, my lord." Everson felt better now; he had been briefed to sell this point to Malthus, and was back on home ground.

"What?" Cavell's face flushed with anger. "Sabotage?"

"Why, yes, my lord." Everson was confused; how was this not a good thing? "It is common practice in the Inner Sphere."

"It is not common practice in the Clans!" Cavell was infuriated. If the Sentinels were being crippled by equipment failures, then that tainted Senefa's victory in the Valley, and would indeed taint the entire conquest of Vantaa. The Wolves would learn of it—undoubtedly through their ComStar allies—and the Jade Falcons would never hear the end of how they needed the help of filthy spies to win a battle.

Everson had survived in the court of Sian, and the way to do that was to ingratiate himself with Romano Liao; seeing the same sort of fury on the Clan leader's face, it was time to do the same. He bowed deeply, almost kowtowing. "A thousand pardons, Khan Malthus! We were not informed of this. We had no idea the Clans felt so. We shall instruct our spies to withdraw immediately! As I said, we can easily do this, as easily as we can send your emissary to Sian—"

"I have no intention of sending anything to Sian but an invasion force!" Cavell roared.

This time, Everson did kowtow. "Please, Khan Malthus, forgive this unworthy one. There is much we can learn from each other. We should not be enemies. I can help you, my lord!" Everson scrambled for some sort of assurance. "Such as this Sheila Arla-Vlata! Are you aware that she was a member of the Junior Officers' Strategy Group?"

Cavell stayed his first reaction, which was to deliver a boot to Everson's face. "And what is that?" he asked coldly. "Get up, you fool!"

Everson got to his feet with one last bow. He licked his lips nervously. "Sir. The JOSG was a think-tank made up of Steiner, Davion, and mercenary officers, all of them young people, in an effort to find new strategies and tactics to defeat the Clans. It was thought that, as older officers were used to fighting enemies such as Houses Liao, Marik, and Kurita, that younger officers might not be as bound by practice and tradition." It was obvious that Everson was reciting from memory. "Sheila Arla-Vlata, given her success in small unit actions on Persistence and Rasalhague, and her status as a Nagelring classmate to Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, was brought onboard. She is also recently returned from Outreach, where all the leaders of the Inner Sphere are currently planning a new defense strategy for the resumption of war with the Clans. She was involved intimately with training the heirs to the Successor States, my lord."

Cavell looked at Everson. That was interesting. Interesting indeed. Still, he would have to wait until Arla-Vlata was recovered from her wounds before he could ascertain for certain; using drugs on her now would be more likely to kill her rather than make her talk, and Cavell very much wanted Sheila Arla-Vlata alive. Now even more so. He nodded absently, making Everson fight down a sigh of relief.

"Elemental Star Commander Vornzel," Cavell spoke.

The Elemental instantly came to attention. "My Khan!"

"Please escort Mr. Everson outside…"

Everson grinned. "I am glad we could come to an agreement, Khan Malthus—"

"…and shoot him." Cavell gave Everson a pitiless gaze. "I, sir, do not truck with rebels, or traitors, or spies, or saboteurs—and certainly not liars." He tossed the scroll into the fire as Vornzel grabbed the screaming emissary with the Elemental suit's claw and dragged him out the door. He ordered the holotank switched back on as a muffled gunshot was heard. The Liaoist had been useless, but his information was a different story.