The year 3060 marked the death of a Clan. Two years prior to that, the Great Houses of the Inner-Sphere cast aside their differences and created a new Star League. Their combined armies quickly targeted the most brutal Clan that had dared to invade the Inner-Sphere, the Smoke Jaguars. After a merciless campaign that lasted almost two years, the Jaguars finally ceased to exist. With most of their warriors dead, their homeworld decimated and ultimately conquered by the other Clans, no one lamented their passing. The few Jaguar warriors that had either survived the relentless attacks or those that arrived too late were either absorbed as bondsmen to the other Clans or were taken prisoner by the Star League. A few turned rogue and joined the Dark Caste as bandits and pirates, venting their hatred and fury to anyone unlucky enough to chance upon them.
As the expeditionary forces of the Star League began to rampage across the Clan homeworlds towards the Smoke Jaguar world of Huntress, every available ship of the Smoke Jaguar Clan was dispatched to meet them. One ship, however, never made it to that battle.
Star Captain Brunil tightened his grip on his chair overlooking the bridge of the Blood Claw. The former Smoke Jaguar warship was about to make the jump towards the designated nadir point. Over the past 900 years, despite the fact that jumpships would travel faster than the speed of light by creating a space warp around their ships, some vessels would mysteriously disappear into the blackness of space, never to be seen again.
Despite the fact that he was a veteran of many jumps, the moments before the jump still made Brunil nervous.
"K-F Drive ready sir. All systems on standby." The ship's navigator stated.
"Prepare for jump." Brunil announced. "At my command, execute!"
When the ship lurched forward as the massive powercoils around its solar sails began to expel their charge, Star Captain Brunil's thoughts harkened back several years, to the circumstances as to how he and his ship had gotten to this point in time.
Seven years before, the Blood Claw was a newly recommissioned Essex class destroyer. Having been taken out of mothballs just a few months before the Star League attack, the Smoke Jaguar warship encountered difficulties with its K-F jump drive which facilitated the crew to make emergency repairs while it was still at the nadir of a pirate jump point at a gas giant near Belphegor. Once the emergency repairs were completed, the Blood Claw was finally able to make the jump into the Huntress system. But by the time it had got there, the battle was over. The Smoke Jaguar homeworld was decimated as the Star League forces moved on towards the cradle of Clan civilization, Strana Mechty. Seeing no further hope for their Clan, the former Captain decided to try to jump towards the remaining Jaguar holdings in Clan space, hoping to link up with any survivors but was intercepted by a Black Lion class battlecruiser under the banner of Clan Jade Falcon. The Falcons had apparently sent a warship of their own to try to secure some booty from the ruins of the Smoke Jaguar planet.
As both vessels pounded each other with massive naval autocannons and laser batteries, the former Captain of the Blood Claw was fatally injured when a laser barrage hit the bridge of the Smoke Jaguar destroyer. By virtue of its superior speed, the Blood Claw was able to retreat as its aerospace fighter wing sacrificed itself so that the vessel could live on to fight another day.
Months passed as the stricken destroyer jumped from pirate point to pirate point across Clan space, performing what repairs it could and attempting to learn about any news from charitable merchants about any Smoke Jaguar survivors. Alas, the news that the Jaguars were decimated and that the survivors were ultimately scattered prompted a fateful debate among the surviving crew. The First Officer that had assumed command upon the death of the original Star Captain ordered the ship into a suicidal attack against any Clan that would dare plunder the ruins of Huntress. Another small but vocal minority advocated that the Blood Claw and its crew become pirates, plundering their way across the galaxy. Yet another group advocated scuttling the ship and to part their separate ways.
In time, a full-scale civil war raged among the crew of the ship. Warriors and technicians who once belonged to one of the most powerful Clans now tore into each other like wild animals until only a few survivors remained. The only survivor of the command crew on the bridge was the helmsman, a young warrior named Brunil. With the remaining survivors realizing that the ship was doomed without someone knowing how to pilot and navigate her, they quickly elevated Brunil as Star Captain of the Blood Claw.
Star Captain Brunil soon got the decimated ship underway and the survivors were chanced upon by a Clan Diamond Shark merchant vessel a few weeks later. The Diamond Sharks were master traders and they had a very powerful merchant caste; unlike the other Clans, were warriors had the power, the Diamond Sharks were more democratic. A wily merchant named Cogliostro quickly secured a deal: the trading vessel would repair and refurbish the Blood Claw in exchange for Captain Brunil's personal loyalty to Cogliostro and to him only.
Brunil accepted and gave his rede, an honor bound promise of loyalty to the merchant lord. He was a Clan warrior without a Clan, a man who was lost, both materially and psychologically. In Cogliostro, he sensed a kindred spirit, one who burned with vengeance in his heart as much as Brunil did. In time, his loyalty to the Diamond Shark merchant became absolute to the point of fanaticism and Brunil considered him as trothkin, his peer. Wherever Cogliostro would lead, he would follow.
As the Blood Claw emerged into a dimly lit star system, Brunil and the crew once again adjusted their senses after experiencing a momentary lapse in thought that was a common side effect due to the hyperspace jump. The system's Red Dwarf star cast an eerie crimson light into the view ports of the Blood Claw that gave a reddish tint to the ship's interior. Some of the crew thought that it was a hellish omen but it didn't matter either way, they were home.
Once the ship had retracted its solar sails, Brunil ordered standard thrust as the Blood Claw plowed through thick clouds of flowing stellar dust. This area was known as the Dark Nebula and it was located at the edge of the Jade Falcon occupation zone in the Inner Sphere. Within half an hour, the ship sighted a small, rotating planetoid.
As the vessel edged closer, the Blood Claw began to activate her maneuvering thrusters towards the black, cratered surface until the outlines of an ancient naval base could be seen from the bridge. The insignia of the old Star League, the Cameron Star, could be seen on the concrete equator. This base was called Camelot Command and it was now under the complete control of Cogliostro.
Centuries before, the first Star League had created this naval base as a use for both the refit and repair of capital ships during its war against the now defunct Rim Worlds Republic. As the first Star League collapsed, it was abandoned and stood idle for centuries until the Clan invasion. A mercenary unit called Snord's Irregulars recently rediscovered it. The Irregulars were able to take control of the station and successfully defended it for some time against the Jade Falcons. When the Fedcom Civil War began, the Irregulars abandoned the station and initiated a computer virus to destroy all known coordinates leading to it on both the databases of ComStar and the Clan information nets. For all intents and purposes, the Irregular's ploy was largely successful because the Falcons were unable to pinpoint the location of the base and the Federated Commonwealth was too busy fighting with itself to send any troops to take it.
But the wily Cogliostro had other plans, upon learning of the existence of a base in the Dark Nebula; he quickly set up an intelligence network within the Lyran Alliance for the purpose of gathering enough information on the general whereabouts of Camelot Command. After several years of painstaking work, he took the Blood Claw and a small group of merchant ships to the Dark Nebula; within a span of a few weeks, they were able to successfully find and take control of the base.
As the Blood Claw successfully attached itself to the port of the eastern horizon of the base, Star Captain Brunil left his captain's chair and proceeded to the main airlock. Within a few minutes, the airlock cycled its atmosphere to match the surroundings and opened with a whoosh of cold air. Stepping into the base with a limp from his old injuries, Brunil came face to face with a short, wiry man with a pointed beard dressed in an ocean blue Diamond Shark merchant's uniform.
Brunil bowed to the man. "Lord Cogliostro, I am so honored that you have chosen to meet me personally."
"Rise, my friend." The merchant lord said. "Have you gathered the necessary supplies?"
"Aff, my lord. It took us considerable time for we had to pass through Rim Collection space so that the Lyrans would not be able to track us." Brunil answered.
"Walk with me. I would like to show you our progress so far." Cogliostro beckoned.
"At once, my lord."
As the warship captain and the merchant lord walked along a series of corridors, they could notice that the area was teeming with activity: merchants of many Clans were seen either helping to unpack crates as technicians were doing work on machinery which lined the walls of the base. Former Clan warriors as well as mercenaries would also be seen either on guard duty or supervising the loading of weapons on the Blood Claw.
"I am impressed, Lord Cogliostro. It seems that your followers have doubled in number for the last two months since I have been away." Brunil observed.
"Aff, it does seem that way. I have been busy recruiting members of the Dark Caste as well as Inner-Sphere mercenaries. Quite a few of the warriors are former Jaguars like yourself. A few Hells Horses mechwarriors have joined us. They are apparently not too happy with their new Khan." Cogliostro smiled as they continued walking.
"Impressive. So how do we stand in terms of military forces?" Brunil asked.
"We have nearly two clusters of mechs and armored vehicles. As far as Elementals, perhaps about seven points. With naval assets, we now have six omni-fighters, three jumpships and of course, we have the Blood Claw."
"And I am also certain that the defensive turrets around Camelot Command are now fully operational?"
"Absolutely. It will take a major attack from either the Jade Falcons or the Lyrans to dislodge us from this base."
"But since they are at each other's throats and not to mention the fact that they have forgotten about us, that pretty much means that we have the time to finish our project, quiaff?" Brunil asked rhetorically.
"Aff. Within two months, Hydra will become a reality and by then it will be too late for them." Cogliostro stated as they entered a newly built wing of the base.
After placing their hands on the biometric scanner on the side of the heavily fortified airlock, the door opened and they quickly entered a sealed chamber. In contrast to the rest of the base, the corridor that they walked along was painted stark white and there was an antiseptic smell found in the purified air as they passed through a second airlock.
Once the airlock behind them was electronically sealed, Brunil and Cogliostro walked into a large laboratory. Scientists who were formerly affiliated with many other Clans could be seen milling about, performing experiments while others were doing a number of medical simulations on their computers.
One particular man in a white lab smock strode over to both of them. He wore thick glasses and it was apparent that he hadn't shaved for days. After greeting Brunil in customary Clan fashion, he handed a set of papers to Cogliostro.
"Is this good news?" Cogliostro asked the scientist as he read the reports.
"Aff. We have been able to isolate the mutagen. This means that we can begin the process of manufacturing the immune serum within a week's time." The man answered.
"Excellent. This means that once we have delivered the immune serum to all of our allies amongst the merchant, scientist, tech and worker castes, we may then unleash the Hydra virus all across Sphere and Clan space." Cogliostro said.
"How sure are we that this serum is effective?" Brunil asked.
"Very sure." The scientist answered him. "The reason why we named the virus Hydra in the first place was because it could have multiple mutagen strains. By isolating the mutagens, we can place them into a permanent state of hibernation so to speak. They will be completely harmless to one who has been exposed to the serum."
"At the same time, the virus has been created specifically to attack the original 800 Bloodnamed among the Clans. On all the tests we've done, anyone who has the codex of the original 800 will be the most susceptible to Hydra. Unrelated humans will have a better chance of surviving than the original Bloodnamed." Cogliostro added as the scientist went back to his research.
Brunil frowned. "I understand, but I still don't like it. There is no honor in killing someone by pestilence."
"Honor? Don't lecture me about honor!" Cogliostro fumed. "This ridiculous code of Clan honor is what got us into this in the first place! Can't you see? The Clan way of life is finished. We have been beaten by the Inner-Sphere time and time again! And the fault lies in the warrior caste; they have let us down despite our superior technologies. It is now time to replace the ruling Bloodnamed with a more democratic culture, a united leadership that will dispense of this silly concept of honor and fair play. With the superior technology and the combined might of all the Clans, we can easily crush these barbarians. You and I will both bring a new change to the Clan way of life. The time of the warrior caste is now over my friend. Surely you realize this, quiaff?"
"Aff my lord. You are right." Brunil answered. Cogliostro was always right. The warrior castes did nothing except squabble amongst themselves. Even as his own Clan, the Smoke Jaguars were fighting for their lives, the other Clans did not raise a finger to help them. But once the Bloodnamed would be done away with, a new revolution would happen and the Clans would be reunited and led by the merchant castes this time. Cogliostro had called his own kurultai, his own merchant's council among all the other Clan merchants and all had agreed. Once the warriors were gone, the merchant caste would take over and lead a unified Clan front.
But of course, because the other Clans were firmly in control of their respective warrior castes, the other merchants could offer no more than symbolic support for Cogliostro's cause. Even the merchant lord himself kept his operations secret from his own Khan, lest his dealings be found out and would result in his execution. Some merchants, especially the Jade Falcon ones, did send support materiel and intelligence over to his network every now and then but it was sporadic at best. Nevertheless, Cogliostro's ambitions would come to fruition in the end, he was confident about that.
Both men left the laboratory in order to ready their respective roles. Once Hydra was unleashed, the Clans would tremble.