CHAPTER THREE: WITCH HUNT
Three days ago this situation would have never entered the minds of the seven mechwarriors heading toward the capital city of Butler to intercept Lyran invaders. This was a Jade Falcon invasion, one that was years in the making. Who would've thought that during a civil war with the strongest successor state, the Lyrans would pull resources to counter-invade the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone after they crossed over?
Three of the Star Colonel's trinaries were sent to Derf, which seemed like madness at first to keep him with the smaller portion of his unit. But when he learned they were really pulled to help defend Twycross, he understood the overall strategy. While that sounded like fun, he was glad he had stayed behind because the capital of the Butler theatre was now under attack, and he was determined to make a grand stand.
His tech crew reported two forces of Lyrans converging on the city, one from the east, and one from the south. Because his command trinary was more familiar with the southern area, he stationed himself to intercept the one force while Star Captain Xel's trinary held up in the city proper.
But, as he hated himself for not seeing earlier, the southern force was just two measly lances sent to divert his troops, with the rest of them not far behind the first city team, outnumbering Xel's trinary in odds he did not want to think about. So, he left enough men behind to dispose of the diversion while booking it to the capital city, where he tried to get constant updates to determine his best point of entry. His Executioner was not particularly fast, especially when compared to his previously preferred 'mech, but his unit stayed in formation around him so that when they hit, they could hit hard.
"Star Colonel! We have been outmaneuvered. I pulled Alpha and Bravo Stars in to set up a new line, but the fighting has actually breached the city. Now the chance of civilian casualties is extremely high."
Zellbrigen was already abandoned in the city fight. It was unsure whether the Lyrans started with it or not, but once inside the city proper they concentrated fire to topple some taller buildings on some of Xel's troops when the opportunity presented itself. While distasteful, it was extremely effective.
What he saw on approach was mayhem, as several fires in the combat corner of the city spread slowly, engulfing the sky above it in dark smoke. "Star Captain Xel, where is the bulk of your opposition?"
"Here, I highlighted a nav point for reference. They have several assault 'mechs and two medium support lances that are running through the streets taking pot shots at our rear."
The thought of some freebirths running amok in medium 'mechs, successfully flanking his units insulted him. They were Jade Falcon, and they would be victorious in this invasion if they had to fight to the last man standing. Or so he kept telling himself.
To his left he saw something come out of the tree line, and instantly he addressed his unit, "There they are! Engage them at max range until we enter the city through that roadway at bearing 1-3-6."
Still lumbering away was his Executioner, as he saw from his right several PPC bolts and the dim visual touch of several autocannon rounds heading toward the advancing Lyran 'mechs. Some of the rounds hit, but more importantly, it forced them to slow down and reassess their entry route, which he would exploit. He needed every second once he hit the city proper, which was in just a few moments now.
The buildings were tall; tall enough to engulf his 95-ton war machine. But he was used to running through open terrain, and suddenly having surfaces rush by your cockpit from thirty meters away made you seem like you are running much faster than you were.
The remainder of his trinary fanned out, with the winners of the duels behind challenging the Lyran victors until one was standing last, like real warfare should be. So he was with just six of his men, but they did well. He maneuvered through some intersections completely devoid of vehicles and followed the sounds and flashes of the battle ahead until he knew he was within range to load the short-range warheads into his ATM launchers. Being a Star Colonel, he had the luxury of taking advantage of the more recent acquisitions by his clan, including weapons technology.
He slowed, and turned his torso to the left so that when he hit what was a central park area, he would be pointing down-range. And when he popped out, the world was an entirely different painting than he imagined. He nonetheless fired his 18-missile salvo into the nearest Lyran 'mech, hitting just over half of his shot and blowing more armor off the unsuspecting Bushwacker he thought he could with missiles alone.
The Lyran 'mech instantly altered course for cover as the smoking holes in its left torso left an obvious trail behind it sifting through the air. But his real concern was the topography. His men were in a bad spot, and he showed up much later than he wanted to if he knew how bad it was before he got here.
"Sir! An assault unit hit us from the east and hit the gas pipelines running in that area. Some buildings collapsed and it cut our exit off that way."
"Exit? We are not leaving Star Captain."
"That is not what I meant. But we can only maneuver west of this position."
"There is not much of anything west of this position. I just came from there."
"Exactly."
The tone used irritated him, but this was no time to argue with his men. He needed to salvage this situation, and quick. That meant initiative. And that meant relocating. "Everyone! Go southwest and regroup. Form a defensive and get the faster units clustered behind the heavier ones."
"Aff!" The response came in from multiple 'mechs at once as they started moving at the same time to another cluster of abandoned buildings. He was not used to urban warfare as much as he would like to be. The clans avoided it whenever possible, trying to keep collateral and casualties to an absolute minimum. Not that he particularly cared for freeborn civilians, but with the clans' inherent range advantage and targeting computers, open terrain almost always favored them more. Sadly, he had no choice of venue here, forcing him to kill spheroids in the presence of other spheroids.
On his way a building was hit from some kind of weapon's fire behind him and collapsed on one of his men piloting a Nova. He cursed in his head as the 'mech tried to limp its way out from under the wreckage, but failed. They kept moving and he knew they had to turn around soon to face the oncoming threat when an explosion to his left sent debris from another building into his cockpit windshield and more of it into the Warhawk behind him. Its left arm was damaged, and he was now getting very frustrated.
Turning around he noticed a heavy lance of Lyran 'mechs laying waste to the road around him, nailing the bases of buildings and abandoned vehicles in their wake. It did not take long to chew the ground surrounding him to rubble, but it would take a lot more than that to slow him down. That much he assured himself.
The upper floors of a building down a block to his right were hit by stray fire, forcing some of them to collapse in on themselves and causing a flood of people to evacuate from the ground floor. This must've been one of the main holdout buildings. He kept an eye on it while picking targets for his men to concentrate on. And upon finishing his initial battle-plan, he witnessed two more stories in that building collapse, causing the initial debris to crush over a dozen civilians and enshroud the area in dust. The screams were so loud that they came through on his external mic, which was not a good thing. No emergency response was going to happen, not with the roadways ordered empty. He wished they would simply shut up so he could concentrate easier on the task at hand, but the screaming was fairly constant from here on out.
A burst of concentrated Lyran fire hit his unit, doing the most damage to the Summoner behind him. Both its AC 10 and its PPC were now off-line, making it nearly useless offensively. He cursed again in his head, but kept aiming and firing, watching his heat.
Two of his heavy units ahead were nearly out of ammo and had to use their lasers more than he preferred on shots that were likely not to hit.
But then another explosion went off from underground. It must've been the gas pipelines that ran under the streets, as it went off right under the evacuating people and caused instant mayhem on the streets to his right.
Another shot took out the gyro of the already defunct Summoner behind him and sent it to the ground. Mechwarrior Wheaton dismounted and was instantly swarmed in a sea of civilians making their way from a damaged building behind.
He got his men forward for better firing arcs when Wheaton came in over the comm., "Star Colonel, there are bodies everywhere! Oh shit, we need a lot of assistance here."
"I am kind of in the middle of a battle now Mechwarrior, if you remember." He kept on firing and noticed that the Lyrans, who could not find as effective ground, were finally retreating.
"Understood. I just--" And the sound of an explosion behind him overloaded the mic for a moment. It took a few more moments for Wheaton to come through over the screams of people around him. "I cannot see! The blood, it is everywhere! My eyes… Shit, I think the roadway is collapsing--!" And a deep rumble ended his transmission.
The shock of the update set him up for the next tragedy, which came in the form of ordinance pummeling the back of his 'mech and sending the damage readout to his right into chaos. Suddenly, an explosion so concussive that it instantly deafened him threw his 'mech violently into the building to his right. The second impact with the building saw him slam his head so hard into the panel next to him that it knocked him cold. With his actual hearing shocked to impotence, all he could hear was the screaming of the people below echoing through his mind…
He awoke what seemed like a lifetime later. In reality it was only several minutes, as his cockpit instruments had no problem informing him. But it surely didn't seem like several minutes. The almost musical sounds of war were absent now, replaced with the muffled screams of running civilians in the distance. Several wooden structures crackled from the fire engulfing them in the background while two random explosions in the distance started to audibly paint a landscape for him. His 'mech was on the ground having collapsed after that last hit and subsequent pilot blackout. With it on its side, he could finally focus his view and see people in the distance running frantically in several directions.
Another explosion, this one quite near, rocked his 'mechs chassis just a bit. He was going through every step possible to raise it again, but it was simply damaged too much to move. So, with a scowl, he unstrapped his harness to lean forward and get a better look down the street. As he did so the radio buzzed to life to allow the voice of a Lyran commander boom in his ear, "Commander, dismount your 'mech and meet your unit at the next intersection east of your location."
"What…?" he asked, very confused as to why this savashri freebirth was giving him orders.
"You have lost the battle. Dismount your 'mech and proceed to the next intersection."
He switched channels to raise the rest of his unit, desperately going faster and faster until he realized that none of his men were responding to his requests.
"What happened?!" he screamed back at the voice, starting to panic at having completely lost control over the situation.
"Your second in command surrendered your forces while you were unconscious. You have lost."
How dare this 'voice' tell me I have lost! "Do not lie to me you unworthy defect."
"Look around. Your unit was flanked by an assault lance and therefore outnumbered on all sides. He had to make a choice to either sacrifice both the lives of your men and all these people around, or surrender and save as many as we can. I already have response teams inbound for the wounded."
"Who cares about the wounded? This is not over between us! Come down here and we shall finish this hand to hand, do you hear me?"
A silence followed as he squinted to help him clarify the view of two of his mechwarriors on foot helping an elderly lady out from some rubble. Then finally, a response, "What a shame it is that you would choose to sacrifice everyone here for just one more moment of battle. I decline your offer and declare you property of the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces. Stay in your 'mech and watch for all I care. We will come for you when we see fit."
He didn't know what angered him more: the fact that he passed out and lost the battle because his subordinate Star Captain was a closet case philanthropist, or the fact that his men were out there with the Lyran responders helping the pathetic bystanders that got caught in this combat.
For a moment he considered bondsref, but decided that if he had this much hate to burn, his death would be wasteful, no matter where he would spend the next while. Because when this anger worked its way out, he was confident no prison could hold him.
If he only knew what awaited him in captivity, and the effect it would have on his mind, he would have reconsidered. He just may have chosen death.
Three days ago this entire situation was unfathomable, to have his clan castrated from behind in the midst of a war, the very thing he was bred for. I cannot believe it, he thought. Never in a thousand years…
…have I ever imagined this happening. Tech Reana reacted to the needler rounds punching into the bulkhead next to her by thrusting her weightless body across the corridor to the other side quick enough to let the marines behind her through. Chaos rang out in every direction as the invading forces somehow managed multiple 'faux' breaches to throw off the Falcon responders. When the security forces made their way to the next breach, the invaders hit them with gas grenades, incapacitating huge numbers of crew and security alike. What was once a very large, functioning crew was quickly relegated to frantic pockets of confused people, both marine and crew alike.
She knew one thing for sure: she had to get word to Falcon command, immediately. Before everything got hot and noisy, the bridge was unable to contact anyone outside the ship itself. It looked like both the main HPG relay and the backup were either destroyed or crippled, so they were isolated from the rest of the universe for a short time.
Ahead in the corridor she saw three invaders wearing gas masks engage a pair of Falcon security forces, with the range so close that rifle butts and fists were being thrown instead of ammunition. She decided it was best to move in that direction as opposed to the other one, which echoed gunfire and screaming without pause.
She pulled herself faster and faster up the hand-lines until the sight of an elemental using its propulsion jets rocketed past the opening ahead. That was when she knew the state of this vessel was much worse than originally thought.
But instead of shrinking in the cramped world around her, she mustered that arrogant Falcon pride they were all known for and clawed her way to the junction. The fighting marines were incapacitated now and another invader backed around the corner and fired a gas grenade into the hallway before him. These men, wearing plain combat uniforms and gas masks just moved on, unconcerned with a mere tech trying to escape the combat.
With a grunt and enough determination to drown out another explosion to her right, she burst across the perpendicular corridor into the access shaft that allowed her to move to the next level. She spun as she reached out for the guidance ropes at the other end, hearing the thwips of needler rounds darting past her face and hitting more of her crewmates in the distance.
Once inside the shaft, she moved up and hoped that the fighting had passed the outer level she was heading for, but was more annoyed than saddened to find that it hadn't. Gas was working its way down the right side of the new corridor in front of a lone invader. Reana adjusted her course and worked her way in the opposite direction as the sight of a Falcon elemental emerging from the smoke like the mythical figure with which it was named to impale the faceless gunman with its mechanized claw gave her a moment of relief.
There seemed to be no respite as her head turned to face her travelling direction to see another Falcon marine slam into the bulkhead from another corridor. He had no time to move before an invading elemental appeared and crushed him with the weight of its armor suit.
She knew she had no time to let herself get in the way of these two armored titans who were surely going to wreck the place in attempts to kill each other. Pulling herself along the ceiling Reana noticed the hum of the firing anti-air turrets on the hull cease, followed by several security doors dropping open.
Shit! They must've gotten the bridge already! She made her way to the door she was aiming for all along when the two elementals behind her clanged in impact. They opted to go hand to hand and not risk puncturing the walls with their mounted machine guns.
Once in the last hallway things got quieter. The warning klaxons behind her faded and no screams made their way from the mouths of the corpses floating ahead. Blood was making its way out from several of the bodies, Falcons and insurgents alike in clouds of droplets, enshrouding parts of the bodies themselves in a red mist and trailing behind them as they spun about randomly.
She thanked the heavens when she found one of the shuttle bay doors open. The lifeboat vessel was definitely not an object of escape for her, not with all those aerospace fighters outside. But the search beacon transmitters on these things were powerful. Powerful enough to eventually penetrate the transmission blackout and reach another naval star.
Wedging herself in the command chair, she brought up the menus that would activate the beacon. A prompt asked her if she would like to send an additional text with the signal to be encrypted and transmitted, and she hit 'yes'.
Suddenly, she smelled something sweet. The odor crept into her nostrils slowly before her face started to go numb. She looked back and saw an air vent in the corridor behind her writhe with thin tentacles of the smoke they were using to subdue the crew. They must've gotten to life support and started to circulate it throughout parts of the ship. That was not good…
She typed in the simple message that she knew needed to get out.
ET-41 Nl overran. Enemy forces have full access. Crew disabled.
She got lightheaded and started to nod off when she swung her numbing arm into the panel housing the button to start the transmission. Her vision blurred as the progress bar to the encryptor swiftly filled and a percentage marker climbed telling her how much of the transmission was complete.
When it hit 100, it started to blink, but she only saw it disappear. The sweet, calming call of sleep finally pushed the world away, and she only felt animosity toward the forces that would take the sting of defeat away from her. It was that sting that would come back a thousand fold when she awoke.
Kael Pershaw used to hate deception and mind games. Being a warrior, such things were overlooked in training to make the perfect 'mech pilots. A straight up, small scale ancient Greek style of warfare resulted.
But when his body took a dive, he started to rely on his mental prowess to win battles. Battles of any kind: be them in the field, or political. And did he ever detest politics.
Over the years, though he would never admit it out loud, he started to enjoy his mental abilities. Playing with people's heads just to see their reaction was something he did anymore when bored, like in a waiting room or in the chow hall.
Now, in his holding tank, he sat and stared at the wall left of the door. For no real reason he just concentrated on a single spot while contemplating his situation. The guards outside were dumfounded when trying to figure out what was so interesting about that wall. And when they got tired of thinking about it, they just assumed he was growing senile and let it be. But he was interested. That wall stood still no matter how hard you stared it down. He was contemplating every angle of attack, every piece of history that can be used against him, every conceivable lie that could be used to skew the nature of his operations. He was at one point able to justify everything done under his care, and he had to find a way to project that to the clan council properly.
Alas, he was not a good speaker, and resolved to be like the wall: unmoving. A true warrior knows that there is substance behind one who never wavers.
The shop Thao broke into had been closed down for some time. Some useless items were left in there, but they were in disarray and caked in dust. It may have been a detail shop of some kind for automobiles, or a paint shop for other things that size, but he really didn't care. He just needed to get out of the cold rain for a bit, which had completely soaked through his clothes. After giving his jacket to Julian to pose as him and allow his getaway, he found out how much he really would have liked to have kept it.
He sat in the corner near the front window, going over his options again and again, finding a reason not to pursue each one every time. This was what Kael taught him to be the Socratic Method.
He would not track his team down, because he knew they were not held by the Katyusha security forces, and therefore had no clue as to their location. Other members of his former unit would probably be distributed all over Sigma Galaxy by now, and without access to a master directory and transportation off Strana Mechty, pursuing them was out of the question.
He kept studying the picture Shale kept for him, but he couldn't figure out its ultimate meaning. His trinary was just built from other transfers to replacing the one lost previously in that cluster. Only six faces were scrubbed out, with another four having X's over them. Berkau was definitely marked off the picture, along with close members of his unit. Thao's face was fine. In fact, his entire trinary was untouched, though Berkau's was scribbled all over. Shale was himself one of the few that were not defaced among them. The Star Colonel's face was simply circled for some reason, though no notation told him why. It was really useless as far as he was concerned, but knew it had some kind of relevance to this whole thing.
The only person with enough connections to make heads or tails out of it would be Kael Pershaw himself, who was also detained and most likely kept at a separate location. While he could not justify finding the rest of the unit, reward of finding his CO just slightly outweighed the risk of capture, making it difficult to justify. But no matter how much he tried to think of an alternative, this had the best shot at blowing open so many questions riding through his head.
So, with his course of action determined, he had to find out where Kael was, and that meant possibly interrogating one of these Falcon security forces trying to hunt him down. But that had its own risks involved. So he tried exhausting his only other chance at figuring out his destination, which lead him back here.
He exited the building and saw Eric's repair shop down the street. He had a feeling he would end up here again eventually anyway, so he just camped out close to save him the walk later. Call it years of problem solving resulting in a certain amount of intuition.
The shop's light was on, but Eric was nowhere to be seen. Thao took special notice that Eric claimed it was closed several hours ago yet it still looked open. So he took the time to work his way around to the back door, just out of caution.
That door was indeed locked, which made his entry all the more difficult. Luckily, he was actually getting pretty good at picking locks anymore since he had to do it so many times in the last 24 hours. Nothing beats experience.
Once inside, he tried to get into a shadow so he could pause and relish the shelter from the storm again. It died down a lot from earlier, but the wind still cut through the wet clothing like razors.
He made his way further in and decided to take his wet shoes off to eliminate the noise of his movements. Despite it feeling damn good to shed those things, a widened sense of agility overcame him, a kind of surprising yet accepted bonus. Further up the hall he found a room with its light on, with the door's position nearly closed allowing just a crack of light to escape across the hallway floor. Beyond that were the main assembly rooms, which he had seen before.
He approached the lit room and tried to peer in through the cracked opening. After his right eye adjusted, he decided that it was too narrow a field of vision to tell anything. So he slowly opened the door and visibly froze in shock at the sight of Eric, beaten and bound to a chair in the center of the room. His face was battered up pretty bad and blood from his mouth must've run down into his lap because he was sitting in a pool of it.
Under normal circumstances, whatever those were after a day like this, he would retreat and do more recon before deciding a course of action. But Eric did not lift his head, or make any movements indicating he was even breathing. Thao had to make sure he was alive. If he had risked the death of one more innocent person today he would lose it on the spot.
He made his way into the room as quickly and silently as he could, the wet surface of his socks making just a small number of audible slaps on the concrete floor. He approached Eric and knelt down, slowly lifting his head to examine his throat.
Relief overwhelmed Thao's face as Eric slowly opened his eyes to show he was alive. His throat was surprisingly unscathed, though he couldn't speak due to the gag in place. Thao tried to remove it when he noticed a shadow shift behind him.
He turned to see what it was when several thousand volts of electricity surged through his body, screaming the light in the ceiling to pure white and sending his body into convulsions. He completely lost physical control and hit the concrete, shaking all the while and trying to scream but failing. The pain started in his back and made its way to his brain, searing hot and cold at the same time.
Through his shaking he could make out two figures in another doorway to the room, one standing up and the other in front of him on one knee. He had a taser gun pointed at him, and though it answered the immediate question, he blacked out before even contemplating the scope of the larger one.
The unconsciousness was welcoming, as the fire subsided and waves of aether washed over him, welcoming him to the void. At least here he could get some rest, though the waves were too heavy to allow him thought. It was just a ride from here out.
The Jade Falcon clan hall on Strana Mechty was dimly lit, allocating most of the light to the ring around the center of the large circle. In the center was a raised dais for the Khan, saKhan, immediate staff, and Loremaster. Around it though were the spaces reserved for the Inquisitor, Advocate, and parties being charged. This was the also known as the 'ring of fire' for those familiar with Jade Falcon proceedings. Since most of the regular clan councils happened on Ironhold, this space was fairly unfamiliar to most of the bloodnamed warriors entering.
Marthe Pryde sat in the center with two of her staff members, having saKhan Samantha Clees in the Occupation Zone to keep immediate authority on hand there. Had Marthe obtained advance warning about this, she would have held it on Ironhold, panning the prep time out for Kael Pershaw and the Advocate, who this time was Star Colonel Arimas Malthus.
Since Kael Pershaw was the subject of this council, and the charged party in the trial, Galaxy Commander Rosendo Hazen stepped up to temporarily fill in the rank of Loremaster for the proceeding. He would be needed to keep things in order and make sure all laws and customs are adhered to. Marthe suddenly felt glad she brought him back to the homeworlds with her from their last tour abroad.
The new face was Star Colonel Dev Iler, an aging but still fairly intimidating warrior. He was not an elemental phenotype, yet towered over his peers and had been mistaken for one more times than not.
He was a once disgraced commander who has since worked his way through the political ranks with impressive shows of efficiency and drive. He was the example of one who was bitten by tragedy and suffered failures not from his lack of leadership, but unfortunate circumstances beyond control. Every time he would be disgraced, he got back up and proved everyone wrong on their assumptions of inadequacy. In his role as Inquisitor, he stood donned with a full ceremonial leather uniform, complete with cape and helmet. Since he was in the ring, the lights reflected off his helmet to bring a certain luminescence to him. Unlike most, he kept it on until the trial started.
He stood the entire time, not enjoying the hard seat that so many others had retired to. All morning bloodnamed warriors from across the Kerensky Cluster filed in, filling the seated circle around the center with more bodies than this place has probably seen in decades. For the short notice of the proceedings, the showing was impressive to say the least.
With time counting down to the scheduled proceeding, the room went from a quiet assembly to a quick hush as the doors opened and Star Colonel Kael Pershaw entered under escort. Every eye was on him as he lumbered his near artificial leg next to his not much better real one to the chair he was given. Behind him were prominent members of the unit in question, the 32nd Special Operations Unit, A.K.A. the Nighthawks. Its commanders and a small number of subordinates followed him in and took their seats. The lead seat, held for their Star Captain in charge of the centerpiece 'mech trinary, was left empty in his absence.
Dev Iler waited for the acting Loremaster to announce the beginning of the council, and uttered the sacred words to initiate this time-honored tradition.
Then it was Dev's turn to slowly remove his helmet and expose in full those piercing eyes of his. They fit his posture perfectly, with a slightly pointed nose and jet-black hair slicked back into a short ponytail, he stood tall and rigid, like an actual falcon in an ivory mold. "Let it be known the reason Star Captain Thao Prentice is not present for the proceeding."
Arimas Malthus, standing next to Kael Pershaw spoke up to address the warriors around, "He was not detained by the called council's enforcement staff."
Dev almost started talking almost before Malthus finished his sentence, "And he did not show after knowing of such a council?"
Malthus shot a look back at him, and straightened his own posture, "It is any bloodnamed warrior's right to refuse attendance to a clan council if circumstances permit. He was not informed of his involvement in the proceedings themselves."
"But he was on leave here, quiaff? Or did he purposefully elude the team sent to retrieve him?"
"If your team had been efficient, we would not be having this dialogue right now."
Sensing his first of hopefully many victories by the faces of the arrayed warriors, Arimas Malthus kept his own straight, knowing that Dev was right. But he dodged his first blow by exposing incompetence. These little hints would be infinitely helpful later on.
"Yes, which leads me to one of many points today. His training in espionage and deceitfulness has served him well, and allowed him to temporarily escape judgment by the righteous will of the Clan."
Now the confusion set in among several of the viewers. While some heard hints of what this was about, the rest came on pure curiosity, knowing that Kael Pershaw was on trial and for crimes they were told could not be broadwaved over multi-clan space.
"Enough. This council will move according to written doctrine. Deviate again and there will be repercussions." Rosendo Hazen's voice boomed through the hall, concreting his figure as one of authority and providing a change of pace to those used to Kael's soft, yet painfully piercing words. His creepiness and demand for respect allowed him to act one way, but Rosendo had to prove himself using his own style.
Vid monitors were arrayed on the ceiling panels of the hall. The ceiling itself was a dome, and the screens, instead of being flat and hanging from the center like so many other halls, actually curved inward to conform to the dome's inside surface. Four of them were there, allowing each of the warriors arrayed to see the speaker's face up close, whoever they were. Numerous cameras were arrayed, mostly unseen, that could track and transmit anyone who was allowed to speak. The vid pictures could also be transmitted to the personal screens of the attendants if they so wished. A holographic projector was in the center of the ceiling to provide further, three-dimensional evidence if need be. It was rarely used, but today, it may provide a certain flavor to a relatively dull process.
"The charges brought forth," Rosendo started, "accuse Star Colonel Kael Pershaw, head of the Falcon Watch and overseer to the 32nd Special Operations Unit, and the unit itself, of war crimes including the second degree murder of 2.5 million non-combatants."
Now the faces of near all the warriors watching dropped, showing shock, disbelief, and complete surprise. If information like this were not done in secret, clan space itself would be converging on Jade Falcon held worlds, with the perfect excuse to disenfranchise the clan as a whole.
In the 3rd Battle Cluster's briefing room on Strana Mechty, Star Commander Hark watched the proceedings from his monitor. His commander, Maraig Binetti was in the council itself, but she had let him watch the proceedings before to groom him for clan practices when he himself gets a bloodname. While being an inquisitor or advocate was seen as a waste of time for most warriors, being pulled to play politics in something that does not concern them, he knew that a strong warrior voice and proper presentation in any proceeding would help his credibility, which was important for the 3rd Battle Cluster, the clan's Honor Guard unit.
Some other members of his unit were behind him, which he would have removed from the room if he were not shocked into silence at the charges arrayed against their Loremaster and clan-wide infamous Kael Pershaw. People died every day, especially freebirths, but this reeked of foul play. And knowing how close he worked with the khan, this could have broad repercussions.
Little did Hark know, somehow the vid feed was split before his briefing room's terminal, sending it over to the general transmission hub, and allowing several Jade Falcon planets around to view it. While there was a time delay through the satellite systems and naval hubs, almost half of the Falcon units in the Kerensky Cluster had access to it. What made it so interesting was having near all of their bloodnamed commanders jump at the opportunity to attend an emergency council. So curiosity won the day and more Falcons saw the council live than any in history.
"At first glance, the incident which grounds this case seems fanciful and implausible. So, to keep the seriousness and professional nature of the business here consistent, I will provide a brief history of the unit." Then Dev looked at Rosendo, "To give credibility and understanding to the current situation."
"Stick to the facts," Rosendo warned. With which Dev just nodded his head and started the holoprojector in the middle of the chamber.
The projector had an image of Lathan Crichell, and codex achievements listed beside him from his units and exploits.
"In 3057, the late Khan Vandervahn Chistu ordered Star Colonel Lathan Crichell to have his fire support elements execute a fire mission on Ulric Kerensky. This act ended the Trial of Refusal between the Wolf and Jade Falcon clans. For his obedience in such a dishonorable endeavor, Khan Chistu formed a new unit, called the 32nd Special Operations Unit, to answer directly to him. While the official mandate was destroyed, the unit's actions, under newly promoted Galaxy Commander Lathan Crichell, resulted in deceit, theft, several enemy infiltrations, two assassinations, sixteen abductions, and an attempt at baiting the Lyran Alliance into violating the fifteen year Tukayyid Truce."
He waited for either the crowd to react or Rosendo to stop him. Neither really happened, and Kael Pershaw's face was as emotionless as ever.
"Upon Chistu's death, Elias Crichell assigned them to the Steel Viper held worlds in our occupation zone, letting them infiltrate and collect years worth of data concerning the other clan's activities and allowing them to disrupt certain operations when the Vipers made too much progress in pre-determined areas.
"Under Marthe Pryde, the units stayed active in their roles, continuing to execute most of the mentioned activities within this time.
"In 3059, Lathan Crichell returned to the homeworlds with part of his unit and ordered to the Falcon Eyrie base on Huntress to assist in defense if need be, and provide any distanced Intel he were to observe regarding the fake SLDF's activities and troop components."
Dev had a dramatic pause to help his presentation, then continued, " He never reported to the Falcon Eyrie base. Official reports said his dropship was shot down upon entry, but another, more recent development outside the boarders of the Kerensky Cluster have brought his name up again, suggesting conspiracy and collusion with the Smoke Jaguar Scientist General--"
"That is all speculation," Rosendo interrupted.
"Aff. I apologize." Dev reset himself and continued. "After the Steel Viper incursion of 3061, Marthe Pryde called the remainder of the unit together to find most of them either killed or captured by the Steel Viper Watch, never to be found again. Investigations on the occupied worlds turned up stories of sabotage and black bag operations. It was deemed unworthy of Falcon ranks and disbanded. Until Star Colonel Kael Pershaw asked for its reinstatement in 3066.
"The mission statement had changed from a foggy, uncertain mess to the official status of 'Offensive Information Warfare Unit'. While it sounded glamorous, it nonetheless continued its previous atrocities."
"You must provide proof, Inquisitor." Hazen was again pulling in the reigns.
"Yes, Loremaster." The projection changed from its previous image to that of Kenton. "This image was taken from the Kerensky's Blues, our resident Fredasa class warship. Star Colonel Kael Pershaw ordered it from its post to jump to a Lagrange point in the Lyran periphery to extract his team. The planet of Kenton was home to over three million residents of Psyonic Syndications Incorporated, a private entity within the Lyran Alliance. PSI instituted a state of emergency and the LAAF responded with a naval blockade. When the 32nd penetrated the blockade, Lyran command had found their presence to be an operational security risk of the highest level and initiated their top level containment procedure."
The image spinning in the center of the chamber changed to reflect five swirling cloud images on its surface.
"Thermal readings from the warship indicate massive nuclear fallout. Zooming in to the assumed central population centers resulted in no known human activity or survivors." The image showed the zoomed recon, using infrared and high resonance readings, both of which showed thousands of cooling bodies strewn along the landscape, but none surviving. It panned from the blast craters to the outskirts of the cities.
"How can this be pinned to the Nighthawks, Inquisitor?" Hazen again kept the presentation grounded.
"Easy. The inhabitants apparently intercepted a transmission from the on-site Lyran commander and tried to send it back to Kowloon. The Lyran naval forces erased the authentication codes from the satellite ring surrounding the planet, but didn't intercept the message entirely. It ended up retransmitting to each satellite in sequence after hitting a wall every time it attempted to outward transmit, and is probably still doing it today."
Every screen in the hall lit up with the message Kirsa had sent to the Lyran Alliance proper. It also had Thames' personal message they intercepted from Brevan's data stick and the files of the experimented individuals.
To: Operational Command
From: Jeffrey Thames, Colonel, LAAF
Listed within this document are the results of random population infection. Each gender, age group, lifestyle, and treatment is recorded to provide the initial data of the virus Kerschell, A.K.A. The White Death.
Problems developed at several ground sites that prohibited the proper lockdown of the planet Kenton. It has been concluded that a foreign intelligence agency has made planet fall and attempted to weaponize said virus. It is imperative that we secure appropriate samples and data pertaining to symptoms and effects for immediate processing at an approved LAAF research facility within the Lyran Alliance proper.
If this virus has indeed fallen into enemy hands, this data will prove crucial to our cure development and proper identification of mass infection.
This information is classified and not to be shown to any personnel under security clearance level eight. All information therein is deniable under the Ethical Exceptions clause in the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Containment Protocol.
Supporting documentation is attached and will be sent prior to phase three of the ground operation.
I take full responsibility for civilian casualties and have personally ordered Operation: Whitewash into action. Please refer to LA code 14069b.4 when processing. Procedural orders strictly follow said protocol and protect me from consequential charges outside a private board panel assembled under the NBC Containment Protocol guidelines.
"The Fox class Warship seen in the surveillance footage was more than capable of carrying such a payload, and the files indicate regional infection with an astounding fatality rate. The virus in question was so potent, that when found weaponized by a foreign intelligence unit…" he paused to let everyone eye the Nighthawks arrayed before them, "the extermination of the remaining population was ordered. Had this unit of known despicable tactics not forcefully invaded their planet, those people would be alive today. Had they simply not been sloppy enough to get caught, this trial may not be underway."
"Advocate? Your response?"
Star Colonel Arimas Malthus stood up and addressed the warriors present. "Fellow warriors, this man intends to skew the facts and mislead you. Star Colonel Kael Pershaw had nothing to do with the previous incarnation of the 32nd, let alone its activities. Though, let it be known," and he stood a second to allow everyone listening to absorb the following details, "that it was that unit's Intel that formed the basis for the planning of our counterattacks against the Steel Vipers. We may have lost the occupation zone without them, as despicable as their actions were."
This prompted thought among many. The way this Intel was attained would probably sicken most of them, but none of them could fathom losing the OZ and being pushed from the Inner Sphere. It was, in essence, their entire reason for being here. It was their beachhead in the war of liberation.
"And the response on Kenton was not the result of the Nighthawks, but another unit that infiltrated the planet."
"Is there any evidence supporting this claim?" Rosendo asked.
"Aff. In testimony."
Lex Barret entered the hall quietly with only his boots echoing off the walls as everyone eyeballed him from afar. He was amazed at the construction of the place, having a deep emerald marble in the walls in streaks and the array of the monitors and holoprojector not intruding on its overall architectural majesty.
He was directed by Rosendo Hazen to take a seat at an empty enclosure in the ring of fire, which he did so. Not but a moment after he planted himself the Inquisitor approached, "State your name for the warriors assembled."
He realized he had to speak, but there was a sudden dryness in his throat. The members of the Nighthawks he knew were sitting before him, looking mostly defeated. "Dr. Alexander Ryan Barret."
"And your planet of origin?"
"I was born on Melissia."
Of course, he could not have expected the multiple grimaces around the hall at the mention of a natural birth. All the briefings in the world cannot put a stigma on what has been socially acceptable for thousands of years in all your known cultures, with this one exception.
"Born, yes. What was your specialty?"
"Microbiology."
"And what were you doing on Kenton?"
"I was hired by Psyonic Syndications Incorporated to head the biological research department in the backup lab in Danner. We were to study natural phenomena and safeguard the population from any crisis involving the planet itself."
"So, you worked for a private company. What was the situation prior to your introduction to the 32nd?" Dev moved around the enclosure with his hands behind his back. He had these questions fluidly memorized, which actually put a bit of pressure on Lex to respond in kind. He knew he was going to be used to disenfranchise the team that saved his family, and tried to steer clear of answering things in a way that would further incriminate it.
"The main non-vegetative food source suffered a massive spike in its mortality rate. They were dying off faster than we were replacing them."
"And you attributed this to a virus?"
"Not initially. It could have been any number of natural occurrences."
"Until Kenton City…"
Shocked that he knew as much as he did about the events on Kenton, Lex continued cautiously. "Yes. Something wiped out that entire region. Only some video footage made it out, with a communication recorded by the militia commander before he… died."
"This is when you made first contact?"
"No. I was heading up the auxiliary research center when I ran into a female member of the unit."
"Her name was Star Commander Ashley, and she was with the 26th."
"… yeah. Anyway, she showed up in time to help me out of the research complex before it exploded."
"Why would she save you before blowing up your center?"
Lex shot a look of distaste at Dev, knowing that he knew the truth and was now playing games with him, putting him on the defensive and trying to ruin his credibility. "She did not blow it up. There were other people there. She opened a route for me to escape."
"Ah, other people. How convenient. And who were these 'other people'?"
"I don't know."
Dev smiled as the contraction hit the nerves of some of the spectating warriors present. He expected one to slip out eventually.
"So, they could have been planetary militia? You claimed in your report that PSI militia showed up at the time of the explosion."
"Those were rogues. They broke off from the main militia because they thought the Lyrans were setting the entire thing up."
"Oh," Dev replied. "So these 'rogues' were against the Lyrans profiting from this unfortunate accident, and blew up the PSI research facility. This seems rather plausible, quiaff?"
Luckily, Lex had heard that phrase enough to be able to respond to it. "Yes," he said with a sigh. "But…"
"But what? What evidence do you have that the rogue militia units, with an obvious motive, were not behind all the activity there?"
Lex dropped his head, "None."
Dev smiled and moved on. "There were two Falcon Watch teams on planet. One landed before the other. You met a member of the first team, the 26th. But you eventually met a member of the other. Can you identify him here today?"
Lex hesitated, but then raised his hand and pointed to Julian, who looked pretty battered from his stand in Katyusha. Multiple bruises and a glaring cut on the left side of his face decorated it in a way some war documentaries would have portrayed him.
"When you followed him to his base camp, you found the scientists there to already have samples of the virus and a working understanding of its functionality. Is this correct?"
"Yes."
"But before, the Lyrans lost a considerable amount of troops to a weaponized version of this very same virus." He let his words sink in a moment. "How quickly do you think they were able to weaponize it?"
"They did not weaponize it. They were actively synthesizing a cure."
"Right. Something your scientists were unable to do. Yet they, only having been there for a few days, knew more about it than you did. Interesting."
Lex showed obvious frustration.
"After the team secured what they were looking for, they had to make it off planet. How was this done?"
"They took some trucks and loaded onto one of the departing dropships."
"Ah. And what happened to the people originally assigned to the trucks?"
Lex was getting agitated now, "They were killed." Some of the warriors looked angry, others were just absorbing this all. The death of freeborn contractors was not really getting under their skin. But then he continued, "By the team that was originally going to use them to get off planet. We came in and removed the killers so we could leave instead."
"Nice," Dev said with a smile. "And did you see the PSI crew members killed?"
"No."
"Then how can you prove, again, that this was another team? Was it not the rogues that you claimed earlier?"
"The way they fought, no way."
"Tell us then," Dev circled a little more, "What combat training experience have you had? And what real world combat have you been involved in?"
Looking confused, "None. Why?"
"I will be asking the questions here. Is it possible that due to the incompetence of the unit before you, that mere rogues, or even PSI contractors could mount such a resistance when faced with intentional murder?"
"Anyone fights to the death when threatened by it. That says nothing."
"It says everything."
He circled one more time before stopping and asking his final question, "By the way, how did the 32nd get to Kenton?"
"I believe they arrived in a Lyran assistance vessel."
"And… what did they do with the crew of that vessel?"
Now he was confused, but answered carefully, "I was not present, so I do not know."
"But you were with the Lyran military commander at the time, were you not? What did the report say?"
"The report was made hastily and warranted further investigation."
"What did it say?"
Looking angry at being forced to answer, "It said that the crew was dead."
"Dead in the crash, or murdered?"
Now the crowd looked intently on Lex, awaiting his answer. "The report just said dead."
"It did not specify how? I have the initial debrief you had upon entering the Kerensky's Blues, if you would like me to play it. Maybe your memory is unable to recall--"
"It said some were shot."
"Shot and killed? Like executed?"
"Not executed. Just shot."
"In the head, perhaps?"
Lex just sighed and sat there for a moment.
"You will answer the question," Rosendo pushed.
"Yes."
"So, they killed off a Lyran crew, landed, infiltrated your lab before it exploded, weaponized the virus, and then murdered their way off planet?"
"That is not what I said."
Dev then smiles, "But these events did happen nonetheless. And you cannot prove otherwise. Tell me, Lex, how many people were on Kenton before the LAAF was forced to destroy it?"
Lex took a deep breath, "Near three million."
"After dealing with Colonel Thames, do you believe he was capable of writing the noted message?"
"Yes."
"Then is it safe to say that the 32nd special operations unit's involvement in Lyran matters led him to that decision?"
Lex waited, trying to word it right, "If he knew it was them--"
"Did the involvement of a foreign intelligence unit who weaponized the virus force him to kill everyone on that planet?"
"Yes."
"And if there was no such unit?"
"They would probably still be alive." Lex hated to play into this. But he couldn't lie. Being a freeborn spheroid in a clan council was bad enough, he had to be assertive because any weakness on his part would hurt the Nighthawks more.
Dev waited for Lex to say anything else, but he didn't. So he just turned from him and walked away, "That will be all from me Loremaster."
The Advocate, Star Colonel Arimas Malthus approached trying to unravel a fairly negative testimony. He knew he was going to fight a losing battle, but the idea was to minimize the damage if any voting was to result.
"Dr. Barret, how did the Nighthawks come across to you, personally?"
A little surprised at the question, Lex answered, "Professional. They definitely discarded the image of bloodthirsty warmongers like the Lyran media would have us think."
"Did you see, firsthand, any member here assault or otherwise harm any non-combatant?" This was where Lex would shine, and Arimas knew this.
"No. That man over there risked his life to save my daughter, a freebirth spheroid who owes her life to the 'crusader liberators'."
That response even shocked Arimas, though he liked what he heard. Lex was using the humanitarian approach of the Nighthawks to feed on the concept of the good of the crusade, something even Dev couldn't touch. "Oh, then what made you think the men on the trucks during your escape were not Lyran contractors?"
"They had automatic weapons and grafted prosthetics. They were coordinated, and fought with a grace that I have never seen before."
"So, despite your lack of combat experience, these individuals the Inquisitor would claim to be humanitarian aide workers shocked you after decades of over-the-top produced action cinema portraying martial artists and wartime combat?"
"What does this have to do with anything?" Rosendo asked.
"I am trying to explain that the Inner Sphere entertainment industry is known for creating smoothly choreographed combat scenes that have otherwise desensitized the majority of civilians to real standards of warfare."
"That… finish it quickly." Rosendo was stretching it.
"That is my point entirely. I will spend no more time on it."
Then he turned back to Lex, "At what point did the unit weaponize the virus?"
"They didn't." Again, another contraction.
"Wait… so the 32nd landed on a planet with the deadliest known virus in history, and managed to develop a cure, safeguarding the Occupation Zone and potential points in the Successor States?"
"Yes. Finding a cure was their only priority."
"Good. One final question, Dr. Barret."
"Go ahead."
"Despite the story the Inquisitor threaded together from your details, having known the clans from a negative point of view previously, what do you now think of the Clans, Jade Falcon in particular, from your experience with them?"
"Until this council, compassionate, honorable, and efficient."
"That is all I need." And Arimas sat down, hoping it would dent the prosecution.
"My Khan, I have also called a character witness in to testify," Dev told Marthe at her station.
"Why?"
"Ma'am, I aim to prove not only that the Nighthawks' involvement killed those people, but that they were capable of it in the first place. If this one incident were out of place, they would get the benefit of the doubt, even from me. But their history of known deceptive tactics generates an entirely different form of possibility. And…" he stopped for a moment, adding the magic spark, "to prove that they were operating alone without sanctioned support."
Marthe was between a rock and a hard place. A lot of these details were new to her too, but she knew that Kael had not gone off the deep end and trained a unit of assassins to run amok acting like the lowest form of Inner Sphere mercenary filth. She did, however, need to confirm to everyone that she was unaware of the particulars of these activities. By simply 'assuring' everyone present, she would not only appear weak, but like she had something to hide. If Dev Iler did in fact distance her from the unit during his questioning, he would be doing her a favor and containing this mess. She was sure he was doing that just to get her to allow the witness its testimony, as he never made hint of her non-involvement with the first one. Sneaky little bastard…
"Very well."
Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko entered the Clan Council hall wearing her full ceremonial Star Adder dress. The deep blue and black leather was a change from the jade and yellow filling the room. Her hair flowed behind her and her walk was brisk and confident.
Upon entering the enclosure she saw Julian in his seat, bruised and silent, like he had already been defeated. She never thought that man could ever be defeated, but here he was, here all of them were.
Dev approached her in the same manner as he did Lex, "State your name and rank for the assembled warriors."
"Star Colonel Gretchen Talasko, 300th Adder Sentinels, Kappa Provisional Galaxy, Clan Star Adder." Her voice was crisp.
"How did you first meet the 32nd? Or any of its members…" Dev began.
"One of its members infiltrated my unit under the guise of an armored vehicle crewman."
"He lied to you about his identity?"
"Aff."
"And what was your first impression of the unit as a whole?"
"Excuse me?" She too was trying not to run into traps.
"What was the first thing they did that caught your attention?"
"They intercepted another unit masquerading in Jade Falcon 'mechs."
"Hmm… that particular detail never made it into the official report… So can you tell me, Star Colonel, what your unit specializes in?"
Looking slightly confused, she answered, "Kappa Galaxy is fluent in Inner Sphere combat paradigms, acting as the OPFOR in training other units to combat unexpected tactics."
"Ah," he started pacing, "So you your role in your clan sees you well versed in dezgra warfare… professionally speaking."
"Professionally speaking, aff."
"So you can identify these same tactics when used against you, or anyone else, quiaff?"
"Aff."
He stopped in front of her and turned so their eyes met, "So I ask: How did the Nighthawks intercept the unit in question?"
She nearly rolled her eyes in slight frustration, "With an ambush."
Dev pulled out a data pad and read from it, "It says here, 'Star Captain Thao Prentice ordered his support units to cover the ridge so he could bottleneck the enemy and cripple it in one salvo.' Did it work?"
"What work?"
"The ambush?"
"Neg." She was trying to figure out where he was going with this, and why he was pinpointing just this information when there was so much involved in the incident…
"You mean, tactics such as these, with no introduction, no force bidding, and nothing but utter disregard for any instance of our honored way of combat did not meet his objective?"
"Neg. They survived."
"So, after a member lied to you about his identity and had the rest of his unit ambush this team with," he was reading again, "numerous missile salvos and group firings, they had to rely on the Star Adder air forces to intercede and push their victory?"
"Aff. But after seeing the skill of their adversary--"
"You will answer only what I ask, Star Colonel."
A bitter look shot across her face, but she complied.
"As for competence, how many of the unit survived the final confrontation?"
"Eight."
"Ahh, and out of those eight, how many had functioning 'mechs?"
"Three."
"So, out of their entire deployed trinary, only three 'mechs were still moving after their combined force, plus the ordinance of thirty Adder bombers took down their targets?"
"Aff."
"Would you call this competence?"
"Excuse me?"
"Maybe I am not communicating properly," Dev was getting cynical now, "After taking the weight of Zellbrigen, dueling, and bidding off their shoulders, and adding the firepower of an entire trinary of aerospace assets, they still ended in nearly a draw? How bad must a unit be to fight like bandit dogs and still--"
"That will be enough, Inquisitor." Rosendo stood up to make sure his voice was heard, though he knew his mic would transmit it throughout the hall.
Thao Prentice suddenly appeared in the doorway, still cuffed and escorted by armed officers. He was instantly greeted with hostility.
A warrior stood up in the audience and spoke out, despite the requirement for getting permission from the Loremaster, "Has your unit ever succeeded in a mission?"
A small uproar made some unmistakable white noise while Rosendo Hazen replied, "The tract record of the unit is not under trial here--"
Another stood up, "Where did you learn to fight?"
More voices rose up. "Have you ever infiltrated our units?"
"Do you keep track of how many people you have killed?"
"Does the Khan even know what you are doing out there?"
That was it. Khan Pryde stood up intending to quell this chamber and stop them from invoking absurd charges against them. "That will be enough! Your conduct should not be of question here in our sacred hall. Do not muddle like bandit waste."
Thao sat down while he received the hated stares of a lot more bloodnamed warriors at once than he thought he'd ever see through his career, nonetheless in the same room. Then he saw Dev Iler, forgetting just how large the man was and feeling a sudden hate build within. He had the world crash on his head as some pieces of this puzzle he didn't even know exist suddenly fit together. Dev made eye contact with him as well, and just slightly smiled.
Everyone got quiet except for one man, who stood and rallied them, "I call for a vote!"
Many instantly agreed, with some applauding and others audibly approving. "If Star Colonel Kael Pershaw has indeed been running amok with our warriors and staining our history with dezgra warriors no better than Amaris's army, I say we purge him and his dezgra unit from our ranks!"
Now Kael Pershaw was concerned. He knew how to nullify most of these arguments given the opportunity to speak, but the Advocate didn't even get a chance to cross-examine Gretchen. Dev's tactic worked: anger and impulse. He used the secretive nature of his unit against him without an opportunity to explain themselves.
Marthe's eyes suddenly went wide reading her console in front of her. She typed something in, waited a moment, then got up and abruptly left the council hall altogether.
"Bad timing?" Thao asked Kael as he rounded the corner and found his empty seat between his commander and his most trusted officer. Bree's face sparked with relief that seemed to have built up an obscene amount of tension within her when she finally made eye contact with Thao. It was short lived however, as she quickly reset herself and nodded in acceptance of his presence.
Kael did not reply however, as he was busy to Rosendo Hazen to get a grip on the council. But it was too late. Numbers started pouring into the monitors ahead, with the voting for innocent or guilty mounding up. They knew already that they were screwed, and with Marthe suddenly leaving, she had no power to put a stop to it and get it back on track.
The final vote count was 194 guilty and 53 not guilty. Truth be told, Thao was shocked they even got that many who gave them the benefit of the doubt. While he had not heard the testimony, he could tell upon entering just how popular they had become.
Rosendo Hazen tried to order everyone down, but his voice just didn't carry enough. Then other voices started filling the room, speaking about why Marthe left, what she had to hide, how low they've sunken as a clan. Dev Iler could not have dreamed it any better. He planned on this part being much more orderly, but the crowd was reacting as Jade Falcon warriors tend to: with rage.
The outbursts continued, "The punishment is execution!"
"Hang them from their 'mechs!"
Arimas Malthus further reminded them that they had, under clan law, the opportunity for a proper rebuttal, but no one listened. It seemed that this fire could not be extinguished.
Until Kael Pershaw stood, slowly and carefully. It actually shut most everyone up. His sudden movement told them he was alive, and reminded them not only how old he was, but of the legends they heard and the demeanor he possessed.
His words ate through the hall, soft spoken they were, everyone heard them. "I formally request a trial of refusal. My men are honorable, and they will get a chance to prove themselves."
"The trial should be today! I bid my unit to undo this travesty."
"Wait. I can set up a database for you to keep it together."
"The trial--" Rosendo Hazen started when Marthe re-entered the hall.
Her presence again silenced them, this time entirely to where her footsteps could be heard around. Many of the warriors were anxious to hear what she had to say, to see if she would again stick up for Kael or execute the will of the clan. Part of this fell on her shoulders as well.
She sat down, accessed another screen and studied it intently. There was a slight hint of concern with the way she walked, though her face was as emotionless as ever. Then the screen changed and she visibly dropped her shoulders and looked angry. Just slightly, but her face contorted enough to give that image off.
Then she spoke, "There will be no trial… now. Bloodnamed warriors of his hall, you are to leave now and report to your section commanders for further orders."
"What?!"
"You have got to be kidding me!"
The dissent almost instantly started up again, but Marthe's voice, transmitted through the PA system was enough to get them quiet. She stood as she spoke, "My orders are not negotiable. If you wish to head your units in the upcoming mess, you had better obey now, or I will gladly commission you to guard duty at every solahma outpost we have!"
Kael knew something was going on. He had never seen her like this before. He knew this had nothing to do with his sentencing, and now, with the apparent shit hitting the fan, his unit was inactive until it won its trial or refusal.
Her comment and the fervor with which she spoke it shocked the assembly. Just then one of her aide staff charged through the door. "Ma'am!" he started. "They have taken the Emerald Talon!"
Eyes across the hall were now wide with surprise. Something indeed was going on, and this was apparently not a drill.
Marthe thought for a moment, then repeated her order.
The Nighthawks remained still as everyone started to leave, Gretchen included. But, as they were moving out the door a large holoprojection filled the hall and spoke to Marthe directly.
"Greetings Khan Pryde. I hope I am not interrupting. This is Khan Nicole Hoskins of Clan Steel Viper. I hereby challenge you to a trial of possession: for your clan's holdings on Strana Mechty."
Most of the remaining warriors turned and looked at Marthe, who was standing to receive the transmission. Strana Mechty was shared between all the clans, as a sign of their common heritage and capability of co-existing despite their individual stances. What Nicole Hoskins was asking for was serious, and infuriating to most.
"I will see you in battle. One on one. My staff will send you the location coordinates." Her face was cold as ice.
"Very well. We will meet shortly. To the victor goes the glory."
Marthe shot a look to the warriors to get to their section commanders and prepare for war. She was most definitely not messing around.
They emptied out and she approached the Nighthawks. "Kael, I apologize for the proceedings."
"I would too," He replied, telling her full well how he felt about everything.
"I just lost contact with near 60 of our holdings here in the homeworlds. Intel says they are currently defending against a wave of Steel Viper invaders, coordinated over several planets at the same time."
"Well," he started, "They picked a great time. Most of our commanders are here, on Strana Mechty instead of with their men on those outposts."
"Exactly."
Thao just sat, trying to comprehend the scope of everything and how they could fit into it. His biggest fear now wasn't death, but being left out.
"Something to look into later however. I have a mission for you," Marthe stated.
"But I am under the impression that my unit is inactive until it wins its trial of refusal."
"This is your trial of refusal. You are to retake the Emerald Talon."
Thao almost choked on his own saliva at that one, "Excuse me? Khan Pryde, we do not have the resources at hand for a naval opera--"
"That is the point. With the odds against you, if you survive this, you will have earned your place in the clan in the eyes of its warriors."
Kael thought about it for a moment, then replied, "Yes, my Khan. We will start preparations immediately."
"You do that."
"Ma'am, I may require some additional supplies for my unit."
"Give my staff a requirements listing. I will accommodate you as I see fit."
"Understood."
"Now, I have a trial of my own to win." She started to walk away when she partially turned for a final word, "And Kael?"
"Yes?"
"You are the only people I trust to do this right. I want my ship back."
He just nodded as she turned to leave.
Thao approached Kael and gave him the picture he got from Shale. "Star Colonel, I have a development."
"Yes?"
"This is my former unit, the one you pulled me from back in 3067. Several members have been murdered or hospitalized."
"Oh," was all Kael said when he saw the picture, and the commander showcased within it.
"Aff. Star Colonel Dev Iler. He was my former CO."
"Interesting."
"Sir, I can have--"
Kael raised his hand to silence him. "I will take care of that. I need you to get the unit together and plan this warship infiltration."
Thao hesitated, really wanting to get on with the grand scheme of things. But he knew that if this was considered their Trial of Refusal, it had better be immaculate. So he complied.
Upon leaving the hall, Kael was approached by Gretchen Talasko, who was waiting for him near the door. She pulled him aside to speak with him privately.
"Yes, Star Colonel? Please make it quick, I have a lot to do."
"I received approval from Galaxy Commander Jenica Turgidson to temporarily re-assign me to your unit if need be."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"I have a vow of indebtedness to fulfill to Julian Buhallin for saving my life on Huntress."
"That is nice, but the details of our mission are above any security clearance I would approve--"
"With all due respect, I know more about your unit than you would like to admit. If there is any way I can help, and now looks like the only time I may be able to, please give me the opportunity."
Kael stopped and thought. "Are you sure? We are going on a suicide mission."
She just half-smiled and handed him the data stick containing her permission for temporary reassignment, "Sounds like fun."
"You will have to take orders from a Star Captain however…"
"Knowing Star Captain Thao Prentice, I would consider it a learning experience."
Then he turned and started walking away from her, "Very well. Follow them to their briefing room and talk to Thao about securing a 'mech."
"Aff." This is going to be one hell of a ride, she thought to herself. But after surviving her last encounter with these guys, she expected nothing less.