Khan Vlad Ward was in the middle of a nightmare. This was the only explanation for the report that sat on his desk. The young mechwarrior who had given it to him had quickly withdrawn, fearful of the Khan's wrath. It was for the best, since Vlad would have rounded on the boy were he close enough to safely do so. Instead, he simply pounded his fist into the table, content to watch papers and datapads jump as if in terror.

For fifteen years, Clan Wolf and the rest of the Clans had stood by and waited for the terms of the Treaty of Tukayyid to expire. Technically, the invasion (and satisfying defeat) of Victor Davion's so-called "Operation Bulldog" had nullified the terms of their agreement with the upstart Inner Sphere, but Ward had known better than to rush in so swiftly. He'd bided his time and had honed his warriors carefully with small incursions into the territory of other Clans and into parts of the Inner Sphere that the freeborn there did not consider of vital interest. Now that the treaty had formally expired, Clan Wolf's warriors were prepared to make their move in a swift enough manner to bring them Terra and glory before any other clans knew what he was up to.

Unfortunately, that had not been borne out by the data that his own intelligence services, meager though they were, had provided him. The Smoke Jaguar clan, in a bold and daring move, had sent a small strike force straight to Kantares, a Davion outpost that just happened to be the current residence of their new leader, Richard III. At least, that was what he had gathered from a careful reading of the sketchy data available to him.

The problem, he mused, was not so much one of just Smoke Jaguar as it was that of their ally, the Jade Falcon. The Falcon and Wolves had been embroiled in a bitter rivalry for years that had, at times, bordered on open warfare. Yet there were also times, following the Refusal War when Ward had come to power, that the Wolves and the Falcon had worked together. It was unfortunate that such a time had long since passed. The Wolves had, as of late, found themselves bearing the brunt of incursions into their territory by Falcon warriors. And, in the Council, Marthe Pryde had seemed to be distancing herself more from Ward and working closer with Smoke Jaguar Khan Lincoln Osis, whose stance towards the Inner Sphere had seemed to warm, even on the heels of the near-destruction of his own clan.

But Smoke Jaguar was not the only problem that had been troubling Ward as of late. In the past few months, he had started receiving reports from some of his garrison outposts, on the fringes of Wolf territory, that unknown parties had been attacking and harassing them. Some of the attacks were serious incidents – one outpost had been almost completely lost and had had to be reinforced with a Trinary of battle-ready troops that Ward had preferred to save for the Inner Sphere. Some had been minor excursions – hit and fade attacks that looked more like the work of freebirth mercenaries than it did Clan warriors. Still, the unknown assailants had managed to keep their identities hidden so far. Ward suspected that they might have been dezgra units from the old Refusal War, but some of the mechs that had been spotted were fairly new designs. It was possible that they were undercover units that other Clans were sending, in an attempt to stir up trouble and divert frontline forces to contain them. Ward had seriously considered taking a Binary of elite forces and sending them undercover to perform the same task against the likely aggressors – Ghost Bear and the other Warden clans.

The sound of a throat clearing across the table brought Ward from his reverie. He gazed into the deep green eyes of his Loremaster, Katya Kerensky. "My apologies, Loremaster Kerensky. These reports do not speak of the happiest news for our Clan." Taking the datapad as one would take a dead mouse, he held it out before her.

She accepted, looking the information over rapidly, then handed it back to him. "Aff, my Khan. Our own reconnaissance reports are ready, however. We have determined that Ueda is currently garrisoned by a ComStar regiment at half effective strength from fighting off incursions. Their forces have lost many mechs and warriors in the past six months and their equipment is in serious need of repair and refit."

Nodding his head, Ward took a deep breath to calm himself. There was no sense in getting angry on the eve of one of the greatest operations in the history of the Clans and Kerensky himself. "When can we be ready to move, then?"

"With your permission, my Khan, my Galaxy can be ready to move within a standard week. Once we embark, our arrival time at Ueda is two weeks from our departure." She had spent the past month going over Ward's battle plan with Delta Galaxy – her Galaxy – which had won the right to strike the first blow at the Inner Sphere through a Trial of Posession. Kerensky herself had taken part in the trial, besting two other Galaxy commanders for the coveted right. The runner-up in the trial, Galaxy Commander Styles of Theta Galaxy, had fought as tenaciously as she had but his Loki had been too badly damaged during the fighting to successfully best her Summoner. As a result, Theta Galaxy had earned the right to strike at the secondary targets while coordinating with her attack.

He gave her another nod, pulling a pad from among those on the desk and placing it in front of her. "These are the battle plans you drew up. Do you have any changes to make to them?"

"Neg, my Khan. If there are any final changes, I will inform you by HPG. You will be moving out with Alpha Galaxy once we have secured the remaining FRR worlds, qui-aff?"

"Aff, Loremaster. With luck, by the time I arrive the remaining Khans will have come to their senses and will have named me ilKhan. All the clans know that Wolf is the strongest – this move should help them wake up and realize that. If you have no further questions, you may return to your command and begin final preparations." Giving her a dismissive nod, Ward turned to look out the window of his office as Kerensky withdrew back to the familiar confines of her Galaxy.

Much of what happened with the Clans went on behind the scenes, which had always suited Ward fine. Though the older Khans would complain of such shadow-play, few realized that Ward had actually played a part in setting up what was supposed to be Smoke Jaguar's downfall at the hands of the Inner Sphere's "Operation Bulldog". He had sent in token support to assist the Jaguar, but the bulk of his forces had been preparing to mount their own offensives against the Inner Sphere. Raids, strikes, and skirmishes had helped give his new warriors a taste of blood. Relying on intelligence that a "special agent" -- the phrase he used to think of his lover in charge of the Lyran Alliance, Katrina Steiner – had provided him, Ward had known exactly where and when the Inner Sphere was going to strike. When they had done so, he had struck out against a dozen garrison worlds in the form of raids.

It was the least he could do to undo what had almost been permanently done to his clan during and after the invasion. Poor bidding against Ghost Bear had weakened the Wolf forces taking the Free Rasalhauge Republic, leaving six worlds of the small territory out of his hands. Though the Capellans and Lyrans had also suffered at the hands of Wolf forces, ComStar's treachery in intervening at Tukkayid had cost the Clans the initiative and made them wait fifteen years. Following this, there had been trouble within the clans as well. Jade Falcon had sought to absorb the Wolves, and for a time had successfully done so. It had only been by his own hands that the remaining Wolf forces had managed to take back their clan name and honor.

In the time that had followed, Ward had rebuilt the Wolf forces stronger than they had ever been. Though, as he'd pointed out, the Wolves had won their own Challenge against ComStar and thus had the right to continue the invasion, he had waited and bided his time. Now that time was up. He had seen one of his rivals bloodied, and the Inner Sphere forces wounded in the process. Soon they would again feel the fangs of the Wolf.

Returning himself to the daily business that marked a Khan's existence, Ward smiled to himself despite the tediousness of the job. His plans were nearly complete, his secret ally poised to strike. The Star League's resurrection, with himself and Clan Wolf at its head, was not far off now.

"Attention honored members of Clan Wolf. We have been chosen by our gallant Khan to bring the glory of the Clans to the wayward freeborn of the "Inner Sphere". This plan was conceived by our noble khan and he has seen it through up to this point. Now, noble warriors, it is our time to fight and show our enemies the ferocity and strength of a wolf pack!"

"Many of you remember the disgrace that our clan suffered at the hands of these scum fifteen years ago. Many of you remember the Trial that our clan went through -- the Trial that our leader faced -- against the Jade Falcons and their ways. We have lost many brave warriors in our struggle to reach this day, but at long last it has come. We must not forget those "Wardens" who have defected to the side of our enemies – Nova Cat and Ghost Bear – and have thus abandoned the way of our noble founder, Kerensky!"

"Today, Wolves, we return to avenge ourselves and bring the upstart Star League under our rule. Today, at long last, we shall have our revenge on the Inner Sphere. Let us go forth, heritage and history at the forefront of our minds, and commence Operation Houndstrike."

The words of Katya Kerensky, one of those who had been honored with the bloodname of the founder of the Clans, echoed across every Dropship and Warship in the fleet of fifteen. Over a million military personnel heard her words, cheering them and cheering the opportunity to at last resume the conquest they had been so bitterly denied in the past. At a prearranged signal, the Kearny/Fujita drives on the two armadas, numbering a total of fifteen ships, ignited and sent the fleets propelling towards their destinations.

On the bridge of the Black Lion-class battle cruisers Stealthy Kill, Kerensky watched the stars change around them as the ship lurched and the strange sensations of the jump drives pulled at her disorientingly. Unlike those who had cheered her on the bridge, Kerensky felt listless, as if something was not right. Many in the Wolves dismissed the so-called "warrior instinct", but Kerensky had learned over time that the instinct was more often right than wrong.

The problem, she decided after a moment, was the FRR worlds that lay before them for the conquest. Although the FRR worlds were weak, they were guarded by elite ComStar forces. Intelligence had given her unit strengths and data for the forces she was to face on Ueda and she had committed those numbers to memory. Yet the intelligence arm of the Wolf clan had proven sketchy at times, and Kerensky could remember more than one occasion that she had found the intelligence data wrong… for the worse.

It was not as if she did not want to believe her intelligence data. According to reports, ComStar had only one regiment currently on Ueda, the 119th. They were reported to be at half-strength after a series of raids that had been launched by Wolf forces on the other side of the border, and both men and machines were already seriously worn down from the fighting. It may have seemed like overkill to send in an entire Galaxy to deal with a half-strength regiment, but if her intelligence was wrong she preferred to err on the side of caution. It was for this reason that she had brought her own backup along, in the form of the 103rd Striker Cluster of Gamma Galaxy, commanded by Star Colonel Cathleen Jorgensson.

Sighing, the Loremaster rubbed her temples and looked down at the computer console in front of her. There was still much to be done before they arrived in orbit over Ueda, even though it was at least two weeks away. Readiness reports had to be finished, tactical plans updated, and commanders briefed on their respective roles. While most of it could be delegated to her subordinates, Katya knew from experience that it was better to take an active hand in the paperwork. Sometimes detailed knowledge of one's forces was the one thing necessary to turn the tide of a battle.

Fear can drive a man to perform great accomplishments. In the fifteen years since the Treaty of Tukkayid, ComStar had been developing and testing new technologies for use if and when the Clans resumed their invasion. In cooperation with several of the Inner Sphere houses, they had developed a new type of forward reconnaissance vessel. The Encrypted Transmission was one such vessel.

Built around a portable HPG generator with a transmission range of 100 light-years, the Encrypted Transmission and her sister stealth vessels were also equipped with listening devices and sensor platforms. Lurking near the Wolf marshalling point, her sensitive equipment had detected the movements and every word of the transmission that had been sent to the Wolf Forces. The crew of five had friends and relatives in the FRR. Some were pilots of mechs. Some were technicians. The fear of the Clan invasion kept them all on edge.

Though ComStar had been weakened by the flatering Word of Blake movement, it could not simply sit by and watch as the Inner Sphere was destroyed by the Clans. ComStar had been created to guide and protect the Inner Sphere, and it would do them no good to sit back and watch as everything they had built came crashing down. It was for that reason that ComStar had challenged the Clans at Tukkayid. It was for that reason that the crew of the Encrypted Transmission now turned their ship and it's portable HPG generator in the direction of the nearest ComStar facility.

The Wolves were not as stealthy as they had hoped, however. Hiding in deep space, eyes focused on the Wolf planets, the crew of the ComStar forward recon vessel Encrypted Transmission had caught sight of the Wolf forces departing. Their communications gear had picked up the message sent by Commander Kerensky to all her forces. The crew of five had friends and relatives in the FRR; some of them were mech pilots garrisoned on those planets and tasked to defend them to the death. ComStar, though weakened by the faltering Word of Blake movement, could not stand idly by and watch the Inner Sphere be destroyed by the Clans. Making sure that the Clan ships were out of range, they deployed a portable HPG unit, pointed it at the ComStar capital world of Terra, and sent off their message…

At the Dark Ranger base deep within Davion space, preparations were nearing completion. An FRR jumpship was slated to arrive in-system within three days to "pick up" the Rangers' two dropships. They would not travel alone however; the FRR and Comstar together were sending two additional regiments and a second merc group was rumored to be helping out as well. Michael and his crews were entering final preparations as gear and equipment were loaded on board the two dropships on the surface of the moon. Sitting in the command couch of his Mad Cat Mk. II, Vortex led the command lance into the dropship's mammoth mech bay. The command lance was the first on and the first off, or so the tradition went, and this time would be no different. Right behind him was the seemingly ungainly Awesome piloted by Harbinger. In stark contrast to the two giants, the low Bushwhacker seemed out of place as third in the line, piloted by Hunter. Rounding the lance out was the Mk. II's older and smaller brother, an original Mad Cat, piloted by Blackeye's replacement, Commander Jessica "Angel" Young, the XO of his regiment.

Bringing the mech to a halt within the dropship's massive cargo bay, Michael expertly shut its systems down as a gantry crew approached to lock the mech in place. The significant forces acting on the dropship and its occupants as they proceeded through space would be enough to toss anything that was unsecured around the bay like a child's temper tantrum. Opening the canopy of his mech, the leader of the Dark Rangers nimbly exited his mech and hurried to the command center of the dropship.

Things were abuzz in the command center. The crew of the dropship was busy preparing for launch while the staff of the mercenaries completed final arrangements for the transportation of mechs and materiel. Halfway across the circular room, Michael could see his XO talking animatedly with the ship's communications officer. As Harbinger noticed him, she waved him over quickly in a manner that suggested to him that there was business to attend too.

Rounding the corner and dodging a pair of techs who were immersed in their checklists, Michael approached behind the chair of the communications officer. Holding her hand up, Harbinger handed him a paper printout on a clipboard. "This is the latest update on materiel and personnel. We should be ready to lift off in twelve hours. That's the good news."

"What's the bad news?" Michael asked as he looked over the flimsy quickly before handing it back, almost not wanting to hear any bad news at this juncture but knowing that such was inevitable.

"ComStar sent us an update; their jumpship is going to be quite crowded. They're running at full capacity as it is and the ship's captain assured me that he can fit our two jumpships in but it's going to be tight as it stands. The ComStar rep informed me that they will be in-system within 60 hours."

"We knew this when we took the contract, Julie," Michael reminded her but frowning all the same. "ComStar is worried about the state of affairs on Ueda, what with their proximity to the Clan occupation zones. We know that with the failure of Bulldog, the Clans are chomping at the bit to take another bite out of the Inner Sphere. Can't exactly fault ComStar for wanting to reinforce their troops as much as they can, even with the infighting among the Inner Sphere. I guess that, in this case, we'll just have to suffer for a few weeks in cramped quarters. Before you know it, we'll be there and things'll be different."

"I sure hope you're right," Julie remarked with a slightly sarcastic grin. "Three weeks with me in close quarters might drive you slightly insane."

"Been there, done that, got the shirt," Michael grinned and patted her on the shoulder. "Keep me updated. As soon as we have everyone aboard, I want to pull out. We've got a long trek ahead of us."