To the Wild Frontier


Fort Bradley
Colchester
Federated Suns
April 3025

Comstar and ROM were in a tizzy trying to put out fires everywhere. While it was far too late to discredit or destroy the DEMETER CORE, they could still try to disrupt attempts at prototyping its open-sourced terraforming technology. Everyone from the ISF, Maskirova, LIC, ISF, ROM, etc. were trying to find out more and insert their own agents into the Eridani Light Horse.

If there was a group more confused than all of the intelligence agencies of the Inner Sphere, it would be the Eridani Light Horse 71st "White Horse" Regiment themselves. Through most of 3024, they had taken the brunt of fulfilling the Light Horse's commitments. Now they were being cycled back for rest and refit as the 21st and 91st regiments took over border security.

Fort Bradley had expanded by 50% since last year. Urbanmechs and Urbanmech-shaped things were running around the place. Civilianmechs were cutting down trees and processing lumber. Ultralight Urbanite mechs were helping like oversized infantry and workmen. All the newly refit heavy tanks had dome-shaped turrets. They had a new hippodrome for lectures and theatrical presentations.

We now have lostech out the wazoo, what?

Our lostech comes in the form of Urbanmech, what?

Barbara Mosley beat Natasha Kerensky, what?

She has an Independent Company now, what?

Natasha Kerensky is training our people now to plug the hole in our one-on-one fighting doctrine, what?

We have a 91st Regiment now, what?

We wiped out the 2nd Galedon Regulars, what?

We beat the Dragoons in space because we now have Assault Dropships, what?

We have new JumpShips, what?

We found a DEMETER CORE, what?

We released the DEMETER CORE to the public domain, what?

We wiped out the 11th Benjamin Regulars, what?

In our down cycle you're sending us out into the Davion Outback, what?

Colonel William Petersen, commander of the 71st, said "This is all vastly more complicated than how I have been informed. It appears too many decisions have been made without my being in the loop, and while I have no objection against majority rule this to me appears to violate the spirit of these rules, sir."

Armstrong nodded. "I agree. For the sake of operational security and interception of information too many things needed to be done quickly and without any prior warning. Now that you are back, it is time to get you all caught up on why the Light Horse is behaving like this."

"Yes, sir. Thank you sir. These Urbanmechs confuse me, sir."

"It is not that complicated," spoke Colonel Robert C. Fairchild, commander of the 121st Dark Horse. "They are surprisingly adaptable platforms once you start looking into their internals."

Petersen squinted, still in doubt. Fairchild was the youngest of all the regimental commanders, and was known for making bold and controversial decisions. It made sense for him to be so welcoming of this as he was also the most outspoken advocate of change in their tradition-bound RCT. However, while it was fine to disagree, Petersen refrained from saying anything that would imply he devalued the opinion of his fellow Colonel just for their age.

Petersen secretly hoped that he would eventually succeed Nathan Armstrong as Brevet General, and acted with dignity and achievement that would help others see them in that role.

"There is a better place to talk about this. Follow me."

A side room in the command center turned out to be an elevator. The three members of Eridani High Command entered, and then descended. Petersen felt momentarily weightless as the elevator moved at an unusual speed more commonly suited for high-rise buildings.

Ding.

The elevator opened to a nondescript hallway. They turned left and entered a room which had a wide conference table with holoprojectors facing towards the seats. The holographic figures stood up from their seats to attention as their superior officer entered the room.

"At ease. Been waiting long?"

"No, sir," replied Colonel Charles K. Winston. The old man sat back down on his conference chair somewhere in Harrow's Sun. "We have been looking forward to finally getting all of the regimental commands read into recent events."

"We have been talking over how things were going training with the 4th Deneb. The Marduk Militia… well, I can say they're rich in experience - no offense," spoke Colonel Edward Stimson.

"None taken," said Winston.

"But their mechs are just as aged. They're just to hold on until the Robinson Rangers or 1st Chisholm Raiders RCT can move. Marduk's swamps and jungles aren't a good fit for heavy mechs or large armies. ER PPCs are less useful here, apart from the lack of minimum range restrictions, but it's prime ambush ground anyway."

Once again, Petersen blinked. He personally did not feel that Edward Stimson would be a good fit as a regimental commander. Though he lived up to the reputations of his ancestors as a fighting line officer, he was a poor administrator and his unit often suffered from supply shortages and poor coordination. He had noted as such on the information docket he was provided, but had been outvoted in the formation of the 91st. He still had no idea why it was so urgent.

Then the destruction of the 11th Benjamins happened. He put aside any more thoughts of objection. Rarely did any regiment accomplish such total victory against another regiment, much less three complete victories in rapid succession.

Armstrong nodded towards him as he took a seat. "So you have been training the 91st in dense foliage operations? Did the Marduk Militia take the delivery?"

"Yes, sir. The militia and Norse MechWorks in particular are happy to be donated a whole battalion of Pulse Laser Urbanmechs."

That was 72 million Cb worth of equipment down the hole right there, while the entire Eridani Light Horse only cost 20 million per month to maintain. He could just hear the AFFS wondering since when did the ELH get the stones to just throw away mechs like this?

Though in a little more reflection they would see it would turn out to be a 1:1 exchange with New Avalon anyway. The best thing you can do with salvaged Urbanmechs is to exchange them for better Heavy mechs.

"Great." Then he turned towards Petersen and Fairchild on the far end of the table. He made a beckoning gesture to the former. "You look like you have questions. Go ahead."

"Yes, Sir. First, sir… I have to ask - Colonel Winston. Colonel Stimson. You… you are still at Harrow's Sun and Marduk, correct?"

"Correct," said Winston.

"Yup, right in the middle of the Tillerbee jungle," replied Stimson.

"This is a real-time holo-conference. I had an idea that this was possible… but this… this would be both extremely expensive and insecure if we go through Comstar. How is this possible?"

"We have our own secure HPG network now," Armstrong admitted.

Petersen clasped his palms together and rested his elbows on the table. His head hung in an almost praying position. He looked up and whispered "So the rumors are true, then? We are reactivated by the SLDF?"

Both Winston and Stimson winced, while Fairchild leaned back on his chair with an eager little smirk. Armstrong sighed. "Not… by the SLDF. We are reactivated as the Third Regimental Combat Team, but not under the authority of the SLDF. To understand why the Light Horse is acting this way, you must understand… what actually happen to the SLDF after Kerensky's Exodus."

One of the walls of the sealed conference room acted like a screen. A presentation began playing, narrated by an oddly youthful voice.

-.

The presentation covered

- Kerensky's war fatigue and the reasons for the Exodus
- The Exodus Road
- The Kerensky Cluster
- The rebellion against Alexandr Kerensky
- The Pentagon Worlds
- Nicholas Kerensky and the Clans
- Their reconquest of the Kerensky Cluster
- The establishment of the Clans and Clan Society
- Their technological development
- Their societal regression
- The extermination of Clan Wolverine
- Their mores and traditions against 'wastefulness'
- The infiltration of Intelser
- The debate between Warden and Crusader Clans
- The arrival of Wolf's Dragoons

-.

Colonel Petersen felt nauseous and light-headed. He swallowed thickly, trying to keep himself from vomiting. He blinked, his eyes stinging and wondered if he was actually shedding tears.

He looked up to see no judgment on everyone else's faces, only sympathy and grief. Those hundreds of years of waiting and hoping, for what?

Everything that the Eridani Light Horse had done to preserve the light of the Star League so that when Kerensky's children returned they would be able to stand proud, it was all pointless. The SLDF was finally and truly dead.

"I understand. So this is our mission now. To defend the Inner Sphere against the monstrosity that the SLDF has become. Why have we not wiped out Wolf's Dragoons yet? We must stop any more information from being sent back to the Clans!"

"Wolf's Dragoons have actually violated their mandate and are trying to prepare the Inner Sphere for defending against the Clans. They have the foolish idea that since House Kurita is closest to the Clans in military philosophy and that they are on the invasion road, it is the Draconis Combine that is best suited to fight the Clans."

"That… that is an asinine conclusion," Petersen groaned. "It is bad enough that the Clans think they can win against the thousand worlds of the Inner Sphere with their mere dozens of barely habitable worlds."

"They benefit from three hundred years of stockpiling and technological progression, instead of regression," Winston noted. "They are, for the most part, united - while each of the Great Houses would have to absorb the invasion. They don't have to fight the entire Inner Sphere - only eat through Steiner and Kurita."

The Great Houses would have to fight this with only half their power because they need to keep reserves against the inevitable backstabbing by their historic opponents. This was part of the duelist's short-term thinking. But at least House Steiner could count on the AFFS backing them. House Kurita would have to hang by itself. Davion would be more able to cycle troops to the Clan front on the Steiner side or grab the now sparsely-defended border worlds as the Clans press on Luthien.

Stimson added "Also they have WarShips. All the SLDF WarShips. If they wanted to bombard worlds down to bedrock, it's only their own traditions and our own horrors of the Succession Wars that can stop them. If they seriously wanted to prevent anyone from recovering worlds, well - that's as easy as blasting DropShips out of orbit."

"Do… we… have WarShips?" asked Petersen.

Armstrong shook his head. "Not to that level and not to those numbers."

"But we do have them," Petersen said with muted hope. "If it is not the SLDF that is supporting us, who is it? The Terran Hegemony? Has Terra and Comstar secretly been our supporters this whole time?"

"Oh nooo…" Stimson groaned.

"He doesn't know…." Fairchild moaned. "I am sorry in advance…"

"Prepare yourself," said Winston.

"Right. I am sorry to have to say this. It gets worse," said Armstrong.

Petersen scowled "What could be worse than knowing the honorable and professional SLDF have turned into fetishic techno-barbarians?!"

The presentation on the wall switched to another topic.

- The formation of Comstar
- Jerome Blake's engineering of Comstar as a religious order
- Conrad Toyama's more militant doctrines
- The messianic rule of Comstar after the 'inevitable' societal collapse of the Inner Sphere
- Operation Holy Shroud
- The insecurity of HPG communications despite Comstar neutrality
- The use of HPG interdiction as a means of pressure upon the Great Houses
- The ComGuards
- Operation Holy Shroud II
- Fostering conflict and civil war across the Inner Sphere
- Would end up supporting the Clans in their invasion by administrating their worlds
- All to weaken the Inner Sphere for their ascendance
- If prevented from achieving their goals, would probably try to achieve it through deliberate apocalyptic action
- The Clarion Note Protocol
- The Clans can only invade and conquer. Comstar can end interstellar civilization on a wide scale and would do it in a fit of pique if ever denied their prophecy or on the verge of their own destruction.

-.

"Why are we not burning to retake Terra right now?!" Petersen roared. To hell with a calm dignified manner befitting a leader. "Comstar is half the reason for the Succession Wars! Every HPG station is an infection! A dagger pointed straight into your own heart. Comstar is the disease that will kill humanity if left unchecked! I thought the Clans were idiotic, but this is deranged. The only way they see themselves winning is by ruling over ashes! We must end them, and quickly, for the safety of all humanity!"

"ComGuards may be green, but Terra still has fifty regiments in their rolls. Five thousand battlemechs," Fairchild said with a reluctant sigh.

"They *also* have WarShips," Stimson had to say. "And unless Comstar has its own civil war, the moment someone tries to take Terra, the whole HPG network goes down and the Clarion Note would prevent even new HPG stations from operating."

"Comstar has the ability to hold the entire human civilization hostage and that is something not even the Clans can manage. The Clans can be beaten militarily. Comstar?" Armstrong made an eloquent shrug, "They are a problem that requires more finesse than what the Light Horse is capable of right now."

Petersen stared at the Brevent General of the Eridani Light Horse RCT for several long moments. "You said right now. This implies something different in time. Is there actually a plan for the future? Even if it is not the Terran Hegemony that is supporting us with new equipment, it is clear that *someone is*, and that they are aware of this. It is clearly not Davion. Who are we secretly taking orders from?"

"No one. The Eridani Light Horse is reactivated fully as the germinate for what will be the second SLDF in service of the Second Star League. Do not misunderstand. *We are all that is left.* We *are* the SLDF in all its totality. We are all *that is necessary*."

"How?"

Stimson interjected "We have a Cameron."

One could almost see the moment Petersen's heart stopped and then restarted with fresh and propitious power.

"That has not been proven and all the tests show otherwise!" Armstrong hissed at Stimson.

"Sir, with all due respect, with all the bullshit that surrounds Devlin Stone, the boy being secretly a Cameron brought out of coldsleep is the least unbelievable thing there is! You know his name anagrams into Devil in Stone. What's a devil in stone? A gargoyle. What's a gargoyle? Something that doesn't move. In stasis. In cold sleep. You know Robotnik plays stupid games like this!"

"He could be an Amaris, you know. Doctor Robotnik was very insistent that Stone is neither a Cameron *nor* an Amaris. Or… actually - have we compared his bloodwork to Natasha Kerensky?" mused Robert Fairchild.

Armstrong groaned and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Results are… inconclusive."

Stimson crowed "Oh! Ohoho! Have we tested Stone's genetic markers against ALL of the Great Houses? That's one way to have a First Lord, by being related to all of them."

"No. We have not. And I don't think a clone would be viable for rulership by blood rule anyway, that sets a bad precedent."

Petersen asked "Who is Devlin Stone? Who is Doctor Robotnik?"

This time, the wall did not switch to a different presentation. All the heads of Eridani High Command turned towards Petersen, and instinctively he held up his hands defensively.

-.

"All right. I know this is serious. You would not be lying to me." Petersen slammed his fists down on the table. "BUT THIS IS THE MOST BULLSHIT THING YET!"

Their muted chuckles did not help. He pointed accusingly at each of their faces. "Some genius that is contemporary to Kearny and Fuchida themselves, brought himself to the future with the power of some green magical wishrock, helped found the Star League, saw its demise as inevitable, brought himself into the future again, missed his exit point by accident, and died while leaving the Eridani Light Horse with the complete endowment necessary to found a new SLDF and a new Star League with functionally unlimited production capacity."

"Yes."

"Although we call the K/F Drives the Kearny and Fuchida means of FTL and their theories the foundation for hyperpulse generation, the actual names of the engineers responsible for designing the first actual FTL drive in Project Deimos are lost to time," noted Colonel Winston.

"Not that it would help, because Robotnik is obviously a pseudonym," said Fairchild.

"Robotnik is a perfectly valid Polish name," replied Winston.

"The man makes sassy robots," retorted Fairchild.

Winston shrugged. Fair enough.

"Wait, if Stone turns out to be a Cameron… being Robotnik's son, wouldn't this mean Robotnik *is* also a Cameron? *The* Cameron? If you think about it, that makes a lot more sense why he would be wiping his own involvement through space and time and why he can authorize the creation of Port Stone and command the SLDF 331st Battle Regiment in the first place," Stimson noted.

"If he was a Cameron, then he should just have lived," replied Armstrong. "A genius like that dying of deliberate radiation poisoning? The Inner Sphere is diminished from his passing."

"Unless… sorry sir, we're both the ones who managed to personally speak to the man, but as much as he was ostentatious and bombastic - well, I know people who have nothing left to lose can also get cheery just before they end their lives. A man like that, surviving through whole centuries and letting the Star League die because even with all his power he could only make it worse if he tried? That's some big survivor's guilt right there. He focused so much on raising his son into the weapon to beat the Clans and the tool to remake the Star League *because* he didn't want to survive to do it himself. A genius is the one that forgives themselves the least for making mistakes."

"On behalf of Robotnik, I am offended of this crude armchair psychology," said Amstrong.

"Sorry sir."

Armstrong sighed. "But in some way, I also feel that's right. We have the power now. So we have all the responsibility. Stones… shatter, if made to support a load by itself. As adults and fighting men of the SLDF, it's our duty to carry that burden."

-.

"Wait, my question was not answered," Petersen belatedly realized as they were leaving the room. "Why are you sending half of the 71st out into the Periphery instead of cycling back into the fight now that we have assured House Kurita *has* to retaliate in force or lose face?"

Armstrong paused and turned. "The truth is…" he clacked his teeth "we have too many Urbanmechs."

"That… does not actually explain things," Petersen said.

Armstrong reached out to clutch the other man's shoulder with one outstretched arm. His fingers dug in painfully. "Far, far too many Urbanmechs," Armstrong said again, looming over the other man with a dark glower.

-.

-.

Fort Bradley Training Base Adjunct
Colchester
Same time

Rocco Ali was born in Belgrade, Terra, but his papers and his accent said that he was proud Media City, Donegal-born. His life history showed someone that started off as a reporter covering mercenaries transitioning into being a mercenary himself, becoming fully absorbed in the lifestyle. He had his own mech, a Hunchback of the 'Swayback' variant filling in the AC/20 shoulder bin with banks of Medium Lasers instead of a massive AC/20. He was, of course, an agent of Comstar ROM.

He looked around the room and the collection of new ELH recruits. Most of them looked much more crisp and veteran than he did, slouching there in a red leather jacket with the sleeves pulled up. Some of them were so obviously people from the House militaries ejected with the purpose of infiltrating the ELH. Perhaps by being so obvious, they planned on just earning their way with military action and feed their handlers drabs of information, and as a distraction for other and more subtle agents.

One lady in particular, tall and blonde, looked so Steiner that it was easy to guess she was actually a Kurita agent from Rasalhague. Another was even wearing a blue Sikh turban. Although SAFE was incompetent as far as intelligence agencies go, they were probably not that incompetent and this one was someone genuinely believing in the Eridani Light Horse's propaganda of fighting the good fight; for the sake of all that is good in the Inner Sphere instead of just selfish House interests.

It was just that most everyone outside of House Kurita agreed that sticking it to the Draconis Combine was for the common good as well.

The ELH representative entered. After settling the attention, he informed the gathered group:

"Congratulations to you all! Everyone here has passed the competency tests and security checks, and are probationary Eridani Light Horse combat team members. You have signed the confidentiality agreements, and in the preliminary contract you have also signed you have agreed that the Light Horse may refit or order you to use BattleMechs different to your own personal machines."

The representative gestured towards the positioning of the chairs. They were in four groups of four.

"You have been chosen because everyone in this room is a spy for one or more of the powers in the Inner Sphere or the Periphery, and as such you are assigned to the 71st Training Battalion, deploying out into the poorest regions of space. To educate, to help and build, because real professional soldiers can do more than just destroy."

What.