-From Meridian's Journal

  Due to the fact that Word of Blake needed as many operatives as possible within a short time, we needed to accelerate the training for our latest batch of assassins. The foolish Blakists thought that we were nothing more than a corporate enterprise or perhaps even a group of mercenaries that specialized in shipments of nuclear and biological weapons as well as providing cadres of trained assassins, but we were much more than that. We would provide the fanatics with what they needed because they would provide the catalyst for the devastation of both the Inner-Sphere and the Clans. In many ways, our aims were similar. Of course, when they were no longer of any use to us, we would discard them just as one would discard a broken sword after a battle.

  Although I hated having to rush the training of my operatives, our personnel were still in fact the best compared to anything that the Clans or the Inner-Sphere had had to offer. Each generation of assassins were better than the ones that preceded it and so far as I could tell, this particular batch possessed an excellent grasp of the dynamics of both the present and the past. They could be our best operatives ever.

  I had started out the lecture by explaining the birth of our profession. "The origin of the word assassin is actually a western corruption of the hashashin. This so-called band of Middle-Eastern fanatics was active at the time of Earth's Middle Ages. They were called hashashin due to the fact that they would take the drug hashish before committing their attacks in order for them to be in a state of ecstasy for they would never show fear in battle. The hashashin always fought in the dead of night and in many disguises. The Christian crusaders found their tactics to be lacking in chivalry and honor but these murderous fanatics were highly effective."

  "The hallmarks of the assassin is the very nature of speed and surprise; never fight in a fair manner. An assassin follows no code of conduct; in battle any sort of tactic, no matter how eccentric or unconventional, was the order of the day. In feudal Japan, secret teams of assassins called ninjas supplemented armies of samurai. In the 20th century, another from of assassin came about." I continued.

  One young student raised his hand and answered. "Were these called terrorists?"

  "Yes, that is correct." I added. "The terrorist was a different breed of assassin, one who would use the same tactics to achieve a political purpose. During that time of Earth's history, mighty nations controlled large and powerful conventional armies and some of the weaker nations as well as some separatist groups could only oppose them using unconventional methods such as terrorists."

  "But enough of history." I went on. "At the time of the present day, we have developed new systems and new technologies to increase our chances of securing a successful operation. But please remember, that technology is no substitute for training and mental conditioning. A weapon is only as good as the hand that wields it."

  "One particular aspect of the new systems that we have developed is our supersedure program. This is an infiltration system that can be used either as an assassination operation or may even be for long term purposes such as deep cover agents and even government figureheads."

  Another student, this time a woman, raised her hand. "You mean Thomas Marik?"

  I suppressed the urge to laugh. This batch was good. "Yes, quite right. Thomas Marik was an early example of our long-term supersedure program. Of course the methods were not yet perfected up to that point and now we shall soon see the consequences of that."

  "But were we not hurried due to the fact that ComStar wanted a replacement immediately?" The same woman asked another question.

  "Once again you are correct." I told the class. "Proper application of supersedure means that the original target must be eliminated and his remains completely unidentifiable prior to the implementation of the replacement. Unfortunately for our previous employers, the original target survived and in fact now holds a position of great power in direct opposition with that of the replacement. Of course, he himself has contacted us for our services, never knowing the fact that it was we that had tried to supersede him initially."

  The audience erupted in laughter. It was all so ironic.

  "Please refer to your textbooks." I continued. "Supersedure is essentially the replacement of an individual. In order to achieve this, the target must be observed and studied for as long as possible. Every movement, every habit must be learned by the replacement prior to supersedure; otherwise the target's friends, family and professional colleagues may be alerted that things may be amiss. Aside from plastic surgery to alter the replacement's appearance to equal that of the target in every way, great care must be taken to make sure that the replacement can withstand even biometric scrutiny. DNA samples, iris and retina implants as well as fingerprint grafts enable our replacements to pass the most stringent security checks possible."

  "But please remember that infiltration is but one component of your training. As a professional assassin, you must also be an expert in hand-to-hand combat. Each of you has passed through the most rigorous training in actual combat conditions; every person in this room has already killed dozens of slave fighters as well as actual training targets all across the Inner-Sphere even before your selection for this program. Your very bodies have been honed as weapons. Remember that the webbing between your thumb and forefinger, the lower palm of your hands as well as your elbows are the most dependable parts of your body in close combat; these body parts can be used to kill even when they are injured or broken. You have studied the anatomy of the human body very thoroughly; you can stun a man by delivering a swift kick to his hip where the femoral artery is located, you can kill by a blow to his throat and by using the special technique that I have taught you, you can deliver a devastating palm attack to crush his chest; thereby driving his splintered ribcage into his lungs and heart." I went on.

  "You have all been trained thoroughly in the use of every weapon; from knives to death wands. Each one of you is an expert marksman, capable of operating sniper rifles that will enable you to kill targets kilometers away. You have also received training in the use of biological agents and poisons should the need arise."

  "What about battlemechs?" Another student asked.

  "Although you have been trained as mechwarriors, a battlemech has very little use in assassinations, especially amongst heads of state. It is much too conspicuous and blunt for operations that require a precise touch. I can akin the use of mechs like that of trying to destroy a nest of cockroaches using a machinegun: very sloppy and quite inaccurate. There are more precise weapons that you could use." I answered. "But don't get me wrong; a battlemech can still be used if the situation warrants it, though it would not be the ideal weapon of choice for such things."

  "And of course, there is demolitions; the making of bombs and such. A number of us may scoff at using such an indirect method of killing a target. But there is very little risk of compromising oneself due to the fact that one need not to even be in the same area as the target. We have used bombs to devastating effect in previous operations, I can assure you."

  Another young man raised his hand. "Do you mean the Tharkad bombing that killed Melissa Steiner and injured Morgan Kell?"

  "Yes, absolutely." I was impressed once again. This class certainly knew our operational history. "The foolish Davions blamed the Skye separatists and vice versa. It was a textbook operation. No one ever realized that it was we, just as the Kuritas never realized that it was our assassin that killed Minoru with a single laser shot during the First Succession War. In fact, we even eliminated Ryan Steiner when his silly Skye Rebellion was no longer of any use to us."

  The young lady who asked a previous question queried again. "What of the man who eliminated Morgan Hasek-Davion during the Star League's Operation Serpent, Lucas Penrose?"

  "Yes, he was one of ours." I sighed. "But Penrose was unstable to begin with and it was a miracle that he died without revealing our organization. We have of course taken steps that a mentally unstable individual such as Penrose would never be cleared for operational duty ever again. But then, our employers were somewhat in a rush and Penrose was the only available operative we had at the time."

  "Which then brings us to the most important aspect of an assassin's training: mental conditioning. Although we have all been trained very intensively to the point that we can use our skills in our sleep, the stresses of our operations does take a mental toll on all of us. Some operations might entail long-term infiltration and deep cover to the point that we spend quite a substantial period away from our teammates and our home. The mental stress is intense. That is why almost none of us operates alone, we need a support team not only for backup in case of emergencies but also as a means of familiarity and comradeship; in a sense, a team is almost like a family, in its own way." I went on. "Man is a social animal and the team bond enables each operative to be able to bleed the stress of the job away and enables them to maintain a healthy social bond with their peers. The consequences of not having an outlet during the stress of operations can be devastating and self-destructive to an individual operative."

  "But then again, psychological warfare can be used as an effective weapon as well." I added. "The intimidation factor as well as convincing the enemy that they are fighting for a lost cause can have a powerful impact. Most heads of state are vulnerable to this form of warfare due to the fact that they are in a way detached from others because of their very position. With careful knowledge of the target's psychological profile, we can use a variety of techniques to unhinge his already weakened mental state, thereby enabling us to take advantage of his vulnerabilities by either killing him or making him do our bidding."

  Another student raised his hand. "You mean like Jinjiro and the doll?" He asked.

  I finally tilted my head back and laughed. This class had thoroughly done their historical research and made their conclusions that we had undeniably done a superb number of operations in the past. This was indeed the best class ever. I am quite convinced that they would do very well within the next few years for our Blakist hosts.