The Charm Offensive (1)
Colchester
Federated Suns
Some time in 3025
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Natasha Kerensky scowled as she walked through the ELH base, Devlin Stone keeping step beside her.
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
"I don't know but I've been tooold~!" song-shouted the drill sergeant.
"~I don't know but I've been told~" returned the jogging trainees.
It just so happened that they were jogging in formation inside a troop of 15-ton Urbanite Ultralight Mechs. Natasha turned away from the dust kicked up by the passing machines which very much resembled eggs that just so happened to have arms and legs.
"Industrial Mechs?" she murmured. She supposed that was cheaper than a full-sized training mech. However, if it was just getting people used to a neurohelmet, simulators and their brainwave readings were very close to the real thing. The only thing simulators could not reproduce was the sense of forward and reverse acceleration from movement and impact.
Training with refitted industrial mechs or very stripped down battlemechs might even give trainees the wrong idea of how responsive mechs could be, because more mass meant more momentum to overcome.
"Myndo's got a Network Node~!"
"~Myndo's got a Network Node~!"
"Likes to push the on-off swiiiitch~!"
"~Likes to push the on-off switch~!"
"Dig that crazy kind of witch!"
"~Dig that crazy kind of witch!"
- the trainees sang as they continued off and away around the base perimeter.
Natasha frowned. 'Who is Myndo?'
"Myndo Waterly. Precentor Dieron. She is kind of totes cray cray."
'What?' Natasha looked down and squinted. "That was an expected question. You are not reading my mind."
The boy tilted his head to the side. "Of course?"
Natasha huffed and resumed walking a well-worn route towards the ELH hospital. "This is not in the SLDF standard training regimen," she mentioned offhand. "For such traditionalists as the Light Horse, I am surprised you would break with tradition this far."
She respected the SLDF as the root of the Clans, but not so much its martial prowess. The Clan way had already proved superior to the old SLDF style war. Nicholas Kerensky built the Clans over their shattered remains in their reconquest of the Pentagon Worlds in OPERATION KLONDIKE. The rebels had driven away Alexandr Kerensky, and the old man, the Great Father, died in bitterness. The Clans repudiate weakness and civilian rule from that unforgivable ungratefulness and insult.
"Scout mechs should be 20 tons. Who decided that?" Devlin responded.
Natasha blinked. Who did decide that, anyway? But "Scout mechs should be able to survive to deliver their intelligence. It is not enough to simply be fast."
"Speed is life," responded the boy. "If we didn't have this I would have to wait two years before being allowed to serve at all."
Take to the fight in barely-armored war machines at only the age of, what, sixteen? How Clan-like. Natasha Kerensky nodded in approval.
"Um, we are probably not thinking of the same thing…" said Stone.
"That is irrelevant. Let us not waste any more time."
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"Do not abandon me, Lady! Please…!" Colin MacLaren looked a far cry from the polished MechWarrior he was just a few short weeks ago, the perfect picture of a gentleman warrior as if ripped from the pages of ancient noble cavaliers. "Let me serve you in any way… I can still stand. Give me some time, I can still stand!"
He tried to lift his right arm in vain. He had almost no left shoulder to speak of, and his lungs were shredded. Burns scarred the lower left side portion of his face, including the chin and lips, and amputated his mustache. Hair would never grow there again.
Natasha Kerensky stared down stonily at him. She reached out and clasped his hand in hers, and though her face didn't change expression, her eyes showed all the pain and regret the Black Widow could never reveal as a weakness. "Yes," she replied softly. "I believe you. You are still strong."
But you will never be a MechWarrior again.
To the Clans, death would be far more preferable than to live a half-life full of humiliation and suffering.
MacLaren tried to smile with half a paralyzed face. "I will endure, Lady. For you…" He closed his eye as his sudden surge of strength began to leave him. "For… you."
"Colin!"
The hiss steady hiss of a respirator filled the room. The monitors showed his vital signs were stable.
"There is a way," Devlin Stone spoke up after a while.
Natasha Kerensky gave MacLaren's hand one last squeeze, as if trying to transfer her own body heat into his cold weak bones, and turned with a glare. For an adjutant, this boy was too free to offer his opinions. "What?" she hissed.
"We of the Eridani Light Horse value veterancy, and the old to manage to live through all sorts of battles are to be respected instead of discarded. A MechWarrior gets only deadlier past their thirties. Experience is to be preserved and shared as much as possible.
"As you know, the Magistracy of Canopus managed to keep most of the Star Leagues medical knowledge intact. For all that the Magistracy is known for sexual deviance, using that technology to create catgirls and mermaids and other fetishes… this is what they do in order to appear mostly harmless. The better to give every other power a share instead of being attacked in order to monopolize that power and ruin the very prize like the Succession Wars did. A lot of their medical tech deals with amputations and nerve reconnection.
"Our Major Steve Gray, for example, had taken a direct hit to the cockpit and ended up with his right arm and leg burned away. Surgeons attached bionic limbs and now he is fighting again with the 71st Regiment."
Natasha shook her head. The optimism of a child. "A human body, like a mech, if the core is intact, losing limbs is not as much of a problem. Without breath, no one is a warrior. If all they have is Star League medical technology, I do not share your confidence in their ability to treat my man's injuries."
Not even the Clans would be able to recover from this. Though mostly in the case they would not even bother. Warriors were inherently disposable. Every single one a competitor.
Devlin Stone smiled thinly and snapped a salute. "Ma'am what I am saying is - the Eridani Light Horse no longer has a reason to hold back. We too have direct access to improvements in Star League technology. We can rebuild him. Better. Faster. Stronger."
Natasha squinted down at him again. "Is this Armstrong's message? What do you seek to gain from this?"
"He might never be as good as a MechWarrior again, but honestly - people are too obsessed with Mechs. We would accept a bond of service for a time as a trainer-commander for augmented lances with dedicated armor support. You get to go back to the Dragoons. We get someone to continue your instruction for a while longer."
Natasha raised a finger to her lips. Would that count to Colin as abandoning him? On one hand, having an informant in the Light Horse would be useful. On the other hand, divided loyalties rarely pan out well.
"You are all fools to keep exposing your doctrine to your possible enemies," replied Natasha. "This tells me that your doctrine is new and untested, Armstrong should be wary of me deliberately engineering weakness into my teachings. If you are all counting on my pride to scorn not doing a good job of it, remember that my first loyalty will always be to Wolf's Dragoons."
Devlin Stone beamed. "Oh we are fully counting on you reporting every weakness to Jaime Wolf. In many ways, the Dragoons need our combined arms doctrine more than we the Light Horse do."
Natasha Kerensky scowled at him again. These ponies still make no goddamn sense.
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Hilton Head
Terra
Sometime in 3025
The First Circuit of Comstar was the ruling body of Comstar, composed of the chief administrators of the HPG stations which made up the Prime or First Circuit of the old Star League HPG network - New Earth, Barnard, Alpha C, Bryant, Procyon, and Dieron - as well as a Prime Administrator. In 3025 the First Circuit's power rested in the Advocate Precentors of each realm - speaking for all HPG stations in each of the Great Houses while nominally in charge of their capital world's HPG station, and exercising Comstar's authority and activity in each realm.
Precentor Sian for the Capellan Confederation, Precentor New Avalon for the Federated Suns, Precentor Tharkad for the Lyran Commonwealth, and Precentor Atreus for the Free Worlds League, and finally Precentor Dieron would represent the Draconis Combine. The Primus, elected from their ranks and confirmed by the First Circuit, represented Terra and gave direction for Comstar as a whole.
Julian Tiepolo, Primus of Comstar and formerly Precentor Atreus, was a tall and quiet man wearing round spectacles. He glowered across the table to each of the other members of the First Circuit as a holotape began to play.
"Greetings, Prime Circuit of Comstar. I am Nathan Armstrong, Brevet General of the Eridani Light Horse Regimental Combat Team, and I come to you in the spirit of our shared roots in the Star League.
"The Light Horse offers respect to Comstar as the present successors to the Terran Hegemony, and your overt actions and vows to preserve technology and rekindle civilization across the Inner Sphere. Adepts of Comstar truly believe that they are working for the good of the common man.
"In that vein, we have a gift. We give you CORE DEMETER, a copy of a Department of Mega Engineering's Memory Core that contains everything necessary to terraform and maintain habitability for humanity across space. Everything including how to manufacture and maintain terraforming equipment from ground zero. This was how Terran Alliance learned to do this, and now everyone will know.
"Humanity's greatest enemy has always been hunger and disease and disaster, and civilization itself appeared as a measure of control over the natural world. We believe that it is immoral to withhold this information, even if it may be to the benefit of enemies.
"We have given this to our current patrons, the Federated Suns, of course. But even now diplomatic missions are on the way. CORE DEMETER will find its way into the hands of the Lyran Commonwealth, to the Free Worlds League, to the Capellan Confederation, to the Outworlds Alliance, Magistracy of Canopus and even the Taurian Concordat. And, inevitably, to the Draconis Combine.
"It is our hope that Comstar holding a second master copy would be able to serve to check that the cores have not been tampered with. It is our hope that Comstar uses this core to advance their efforts of rehabilitating and improving the lives of the downtrodden in the frontier where so many seek them out as legacies of the time when humanity was at its apex, and we turned our powers into more than war and violence.
"May we meet again as the Star League reforms.
"With all our regards, from the Eridani Light Horse."
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Tharkad
Lyran Commonwealth
Sometime in 3025
The Lyran Commonwealth. Often said that they would be the economic and military superpower of the Inner Sphere were it not for the sheer self-importance of their nobles and the stunning incompetence of their commissioned officers. Katrina Steiner's coup against Alessandro Steiner happened in 3007, well after the Eridani Light Horse left Steiner service in disgust from their gross incompetence by 2999.
Archon Katrina Steiner even approaching her fifties remained a stunning woman. She gave the representative a warm smile without any hint of duplicity. "Though the Eridani Light Horse have left our service, we bear you no ill will. We are still allies and friends, we hope."
The ELH diplomat bowed "You are a wise ruler, Katrina Steiner, and in that vein we of the Light Horse give you this gift… and something else, to make this partnership between the Federated Sun and the Lyran Commonwealth a more equitable and indispensable one."
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Sian
Capellan Confederation
Sometime in 3025
Maximilian Liao scowled down at the ELH diplomat from his raised throne. Balding and with beady suspicious eyes, most who looked at him now would forget the extraordinary levels of cunning he had displayed to give House Liao the strength it had. He reversed the collapse of the CCAF and secured the borders of the Capellan Confederation not through brute military strength but by making his enemies destroy themselves.
While House Liao remained the weakest of the Great Houses, the CCAF was once again a significant threat that could not be easily dismissed. The Concord of Kapetyn relaxed the tension at the Liao/Marik border, and Davion could not so easily raise forces to deal with the Capellan front without weakening their much more dangerous Draconis front.
"What makes a Davion dog dare to stand before us?" Maximilian Liao asked while pointing with a sharp long fingernail. "We remember well that the Eridani Light Horse has taken up arms against us. We do not easily forgive insults and you would be blessed indeed to leave with your head if what you say displeases us."
The ELH diplomat shrugged. "Eridani Light Horse. Wolf's Dragoons. MacCarron's Armored Cavalry. We can fight again and settle who is the best later. We mean no insult. This is the way of fighting men.
"Oh great and wise Chancellor Liao, we are here to offer our respects, and a gift, in the spirit of when House Liao and the Capellan Confederation were valuable members of our shared history under the Star League. This may somewhat displease House Davion - but we are doing it anyway."
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Atreus
Free Worlds League
Sometime in 3025
Janos Marik was sixty-five, white-haired and weary, and had the eagle symbol of the Free World League tattooed on his forehead. It had been many centuries since the Eridani Light Horse left the service of House Marik, and he had no relevant feelings for or against the mercenaries.
He looked only mildly interested. If it wasn't for the rumors that the Eridani Light Horse were being a pet project of Hanse Davion, he would probably have put this meeting further back in his schedule. This was probably some sort of indirect way of communication from Hanse Davion trying to break up the Concord of Kapetyn.
As long as the Federated Suns were allies with the Lyran Commonwealth, they were inescapable enemies. The Eridani Light Horse had cost the FWLM many campaigns and had led many successful invasions into League worlds. It was not the hereditary grudge like with House Kurita, but the Eridani Light Horse would find no one in awe of them here.
He leaned his cheek on one fist and gestured. "Well? What is your purpose here?"
"Captain-General, in the interest of collective humanity, we present to you - CORE DEMETER."
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Canopus IV
Magistracy of Canopus
Sometime in 3025
Magestrix Kyalla Centrella was raised to despise everything regarding the Free Worlds League and view anything Inner Sphere with a great deal of suspicion. Considering how much the Inner Sphere saw the Periphery as yokels to be taken advantage of, this was a natural reaction.
The Eridani Light Horse being so faithful to the Star League could only have them be a reminder of a time of brutal conquest and economic servitude. The fall of the Star League saw the Magistracy secure against the wars of the Inner Sphere. They were needed, but far enough to not be a target for conquest. She pursued a "service for service" exchange, in which skilled technicians and scientists from other realms could come to Canopus to live in luxuriant and even hedonistic surroundings in exchange for supplying them with their own highly-regarded medical professionals.
Yet none of that could be seen on Kyalla Centrella dusky face. She leaned back on her throne, positioning herself to expose better her bosoms though the window of her satin dress. She had a trim and muscular body and knew how to use it, both on and off the sheets. She licked her lips and smiled. "What brings such a virile young warhorse so far from its minders I wonder?"
"Magestrix, things could be better between us. You can't be left hanging limp while everyone else gets a ride. Let this Vagabond Horse give a you a taste of the old world-"
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Taurus
Taurian Concordat
Sometime in 3025
The Star League was a golden age for the Inner Sphere, but it was a time of suffering and terror for the Periphery. In the Reunification War from 2577 to around 2597, of he Taurian Concordat fought with every means, even to the point of suicide, to hurt the vastly overmatching enemy. The Taurian forces were the most competent opponents the SLDF faced, doing much with their limited means and making it clear to the last man that the Star League's claims of a more enlightened humanity was a lie. They were not wanted there. In response, the SLDF prosecuted a strategy of scorched earth. Worlds died. Atrocities upon atrocities were laid upon the Taurian people. Many centuries later, the scars remained.
House Calderon would never forget nor forgive. But even among them, Thomas Calderon, a wide man with one eye (the other replaced with a cybernetic one after a hunting accident) was considered far too paranoid against the 'imminent' prospect of Davion invasion.
"You Davion bootlick! You devil of the Star League! You dare come here and tell me you don't intend any insult?! You insult me with your face! Give me a reason not to shoot you dead right now!"
"Father, please-" his eldest son, Edward Calderon, sighed. He at least did not share his father's mania about the perfidious Davions and cautiously extended to them a market for Davion goods. Everyone looked forward to his eventual assumption of rulership as a popular and competent leader.
Wandering Horse had noted that this made him a perfect target for assassination for certain interested parties to continue destablization of the Inner Sphere's powers or for certain parties inside the Taurian Concordat itself to continue their graft and embezzlement.
"In the name of the Light Horse, my life is yours to deal with. I was prepared for this. But also, this -" the diplomat held up the DEMETER CORE. "From water comes food. From food, manpower. From manpower, industry. From industry, the power to protect yourself from your terrible Davion incursion. From the halls of the Terran Alliance to chambers of Taurus - it is yours to do with as you see fit."
The ELH representative had already previously cleared this with Edward Calderon, of course. They had done all checks to make sure that the Memory Core was not some form of bomb. He dropped to one knee in a bow to lay the Memory Core down to the ground and then stood up straight to salute.
For the rebirth of the Star League, he was fine if he did end up being shot dead at that moment. May it be one freed from the sins of the first and not repeat its mistakes.
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Alpheratz
Outworlds Alliance
Sometime in 3025
Niel Avellar was a long-faced man who looked continually out of his depth. The Outworlds Alliance was considered the weakest of the Periphery powers, a podunk and backwards agricultural nation in love with pacifism. They barely had any military and disdained battlemechs as hateful symbols of war, but they did possess the most skilled aerospace fighter forces in the Inner Sphere.
Sandwiched with Davion and Kurita on their borders, it was a continual dance trying to hold off on being absorbed by much greater powers. It was only the fact that making moves on the Outworlds Alliance meant weakening the direct border between these two bitter enemies that allowed the OWA to survive these many centuries since the fall of the Star League.
"That… that doesn't make sense. This is too valuable. Won't… won't Kurita want to take it? If we do this, that would just make us bigger targets for pirates! This is too much! We don't want war. We don't want any of the luxuries of the Inner Sphere. Take it away!"
"I was told that everyone has the right to 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. Just because people are content does not mean their lives are not already hard, short, and full of suffering. They already cannot protect themselves, because you overlook here that slaves are also a currency. Being ignored as lacking value only lasts until there is someone strong enough to care about having weak prey to dine on. Kurita and Davion will not come to rescue you, the avowed neutral.
"Since the fall of the Star League, the Outworlds Alliance lost over half its worlds not through war but from starvation and sickness. With the powers of DEMETER, Goddess of Harvests and Agriculture, feed your children well and let them grow up strong. Only they can decide your future."
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Hilton Head
Terra
Same time
"The Eridani Light Horse are a known quantity, you said. There is nothing interesting in them using lostech, you said. It is just Davion showing more favor and field testing their scraps from Hoff, you! Said!"
As Julian Tiepolo, Primus of Comstar spoke, Hutrin Vandel, Precentor New Avalon, grimaced and shrank back as if being slapped.
After a while he rallied back "No one could have predicted this! They are just three regiments of mercenaries, a light combined arms RCT. A decent assault regiment could push them off a world just fine! They had never been unbeatable. Who would ever predict they would dig up some Memory Core and instead of selling it House Davion, give it to everybody in the Inner Sphere? Who would do that? This kind of generosity is nonsensical!"
"Can we do something with the cores? If we have the master copy, we can engineer flaws, could we sabotage attempts to duplicate the tech, and make this all sound unviable or a trap by the Davions?" asked Ulthan Everson, Precentor Tharkad.
"No. If our copy differs in a way that both the Steiner and Davion cores agree upon, that would make it too obvious that our copy is the one being manipulated." Primus Julian Tiepolo adjusted his glasses. "We are backed into a corner."
"Where did the Eridani Light Horse dig this up?! It is suspicious that Hanse Davion would allow this. Where do these mercenaries get the gall?" hissed Pedrigor Aliz, Precentor Atreus.
"The ELH only did this after their loss on Hoff," Myndo Waterly, Precentor Dieron, spoke up. Her eyes glittered with mad glee. "Many times before they had always been destroyed, but they never did anything unusual. Only after meeting the Dragoons did they stop holding back. Something happened there on Hoff!"
"You mean, they discovered something about Wolf's Dragoons?" Aliz asked in an arched tone.
Julian Tiepolo flicked his gaze up, and Myndo smirked at even that minute expression of interest. Wolf's Dragoons and his failure to uncover their origins had always rankled him. That House Kurita was interested in absorbing Wolf's Dragoons into their own troops was obvious. Tiepolo had already sent instructions to the new Precentor Galedon, Alexander Kalafon, to help it along. Warlord Grieg Samsonov was provided access to a potential turncoat within the Wolves.
But to split attention now between the Dragoons and the Light Horse…
Vandel said with a sigh "It is quite suspicious that very soon after, the Eridani Light Horse were able to beat the Dragoons. Not in regimental combat, but in space."
"WarShips?!" Aliz gasped in alarm.
Vandal shook his head. "No. Some form of super Assault DropShip. It is however another mystery where those DropShips came from."
"Do you have anything, anything at all, that is new and useful about the Eridani Light Horse?" asked Everson.
Vandal shrugged. "It is rumored with some support that the ELH uncovered an extensive Star League cache even with new DropShips. It makes sense, but it is difficult to trust the veracity of all the rumors."
"Why is that?" Everson asked again.
"Because they all involve far too many Urbanmechs."
Everyone in the First Circuit stared at him. This sounded like a total non sequitur.
Vandal shrugged even harder, raising his hands well above shoulder height. "Those are the reports! Apart from several conspicuous meetings between Armstrong and Hanse Davion, the Eridani Light Horse had done nothing unusual - all easily explained as reconstructive efforts after their loss on Hoff. Then they did this." He waggled his hands helplessly. "No one could have predicted this!"
"I… reluctantly agree," said Everson. "Tharkad had observed nothing unusual about the ELH."
"I agree as well," said Aziz. "Precentor New Avalon did not commit anything that could have been a mistake by not monitoring the Eridani Light Horse more closely. They were a predictable component."
"But they are not now!" said Waterly. "Is it not easier to insert operatives into the Eridani Light Horse than Wolf's Dragoons?"
"I will handle it!" Vandal responded swiftly. "This is under my remit, my territory, Precentor Dieron!"
Myndo only sniffed and smirked again. "So be it. May you have a better time chasing after the Horse's supply source than the Dragoons."
Julian scowled at the obvious indirect insult. He spoke "In truth, this situation is not as severe as it first appears. Terraforming technology is a danger to our missionary doctrine. If people are not desperate and fearful of enemy raids, they would not flock under our banner for protection and relief from hunger. However, be reminded that it was the First and Second Successions Wars, in the height of plenty, that were also the most destructive. The DEMETER CORE had been shared to all powers. Let them build up resources so that the conflict may intensify and Blake's prophecy come closer to fruition. The status quo is retained."
"Is it, Primus?" Myndo Waterly asked archly. "The Federated Commonwealth can leverage their manpower and economic might to revitalize their worlds. The weight is already too stacked in their favor as it is!"
"Do remember that the Free Worlds League is relatively at peace and with a working economy," said Aziz. "The Concord of Kapetyn is weaker than the FedCom alliance, but until now had lacked an effective counterweight. Lyran money and Davion might. Now Marik could just spend money to make Liao and Kurita fight. As holders of the master copy and with our inherited knowledge from the Terran Hegemony, I believe we have the perfect opportunity to more directly insinuate ourselves into terraforming efforts."
Julian Tiepolo, as former Precentor Atreus, just stared silently at him.
It was up to Everson to raise the unspoken question "Are you asking that we throw economic support to the Free Worlds League? Do you remain impartial, Precentor Atreus?"
"I do. Janos Marik is only a reluctant ally of Maximilian Liao. But relaxing the Liao border means they can return to the traditional ambitions of the FWLM, breaking through into Steiner space. The harder Marik can distract Steiner, the less they will be able to offer aid to the Davions."
Julian Tiepolo nodded. "I agree. The balance remains, only intensified."
Myndo Waterly crossed her arms. "I… do not have any serious objection. However, someone should still do something about the Eridani Light Horse!"
Tiepolo turned to her and nodded. In a cold voice he added "In that we also agree. By doing this, the Light Horse had proclaimed themselves our enemy. And they will pay for it, and even to the end never knowing for what sins they are now brought to ruin."
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