Opalescent Reflections
Dealer's Choice
Chapter 9
CDS Terror of the Deep
Deep Periphery
29 September 3049
Dozens or hundreds of warriors and their support staff essentially trapped within their dropship for months were not a good combination. The crews of the dropships were somewhat used to the confinement, the jumpship and warship crews found it more or less normal - but even they were getting worn down by friction with the warriors who weren't.
Ace, like most of the officers gathered on Ian Hawker's flagship today, had spent months doing everything he could to distract the warriors under his command in order to keep grievances from reaching the point that half the forces they needed for the invasion were hospitalized or dead. Simulator duels were safer than unaugmented brawling… but that was less of an option for elementals.
Diamond Sharks being Diamond Sharks, there was a trade network exchanging favors for games, games for entertainment vids that might not have been watched a hundred times already, and if it were not for the contraceptive implants half the female warriors would be pregnant by now.
Ace had dug out the available reports from the Wolf Dragoons and since those were thinner than he'd like, he'd added the official reports and recordings from Operation Klondike - the eleven month campaign that had brought the Pentagon worlds under the rule of the Clans. Clan Diamond Shark - or rather Clan Sea Fox, since this was long before the change of name and totem - had fought for Babylon and accounts from the founders were still on file. Studying them would hopefully be profitable for his officers in ways other than trading the simulations they'd created from the reports had proven.
The war council was packed into a small wardroom: a dozen Star Colonels joining the Khans and Galaxy Commander Bikendi Vewas. The latter spoke rarely - Omega Galaxy had been included in the final bid only in an effort to bring the Diamond Sharks' bid in below those of other Clans in quality without sacrificing quantity. With the door closed it was possible to imagine that they were only a few meters from the warriors of Alpha Galaxy, half of whom were on the battleship's troop decks and attached dropships.
"The idea of establishing a command circuit between the Homeworlds and Pentagon would have many strategic benefits," Khan Sennet allowed after a proposal from one of her Star Colonels was heard out. "Unfortunately, it would also have several costs. Our merchant fleet has contracted obligations in between the homeworlds."
"Counting credits is hardly as important as supporting the invasion," cut in Ian Hawker.
"Aff," agreed Barbara Sennet. "But the fleet's contracts are supporting the invasion already - they are providing our Clan's factories with raw materials to construct the equipment we need to carry out Operation Revival and the credits they earn are being spent to purchase what we cannot provide from our own enclaves."
"A single chain of jumpships would also not be enough," Ace pointed out boldly. The comment drew eyes from around the room. "We would need two, because otherwise a single jumpship failure could cripple the command circuit and leave ships and cargo stranded far from any support. Convoys have less risk in that regard. Can we afford to reassign the number of jumpships required for a double command circuit, quineg?"
Hawker frowned and checked the numbers. "Neg," he admitted.
"If we had a forward supply base, periphery worlds we had secured in the way of the other Clans, then a shorter circuit might be feasible using jumpships from the Inner Sphere but unfortunately…" Ace spread his hands. Invasion corridors Alpha, Beta and Gamma ran through small periphery nations that clung to the edge of the Inner Sphere. Scouting units from Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Wolf and Clan Smoke Jaguar had torn through their defenses without too much difficulty - a single mercenary unit on The Rock and an especially cunning pirate on Santander V had been the only resistance worth mentioning. But no such settled worlds appeared to exist in Corridor Delta and when Ian Hawker had bid for the right to claim Porthos, the nearest such world in Corridor Gamma, the Smoke Jaguars had bid dangerously low only to find the world was protected by only a single mechwarrior.
He had died bravely, everyone agreed, under the guns of the Smoke Jaguar's saKhan Sarah Weaver.
"Aff," the Khan agreed. "We will have supply convoys explore other systems lying between ourselves and the homeworlds by varying the routes - the navigational data will be valuable and if we find a suitable world we can reconsider."
Sennet pursed her lips. "That could be advantageous," she agreed. "If we could relocate factories closer to the Inner Sphere it would make it significantly easier to resupply. Particularly if the world in question was unknown to the Successor States."
Hawker frowned. "The invasion will conclude long before factories could enter production on such a world."
"We may have reached Terra by then," observed Vewas quietly. "I doubt we will be without trials - either against the other Clans or against the Successor States. All four invasion corridors combined are perhaps one-eighth of the Inner Sphere by volume."
"We will hold Terra."
"I believe," Sennet told the senior Khan, "That Terra is currently held by an organization called ComStar. They do not appear to control the Inner Sphere so it is entirely possible that taking Terra will not lead to the submission of the Successor States."
Ian Hawker glared at her. "You may plan for this contingency. Now," he consulted his datapad. "Star Colonel Enders has a proposal to make."
Everyone looked at Ace, some of them with concern.
"I have been running some simulations," he began, loading a data disc into the holo projector. A map sprang up in the middle of the room, displaying the outline of Corridor Delta, overlaid on the latest data of the Inner Sphere's borders.
"I have heard about your Cluster's export of sims," Hawker told him. "Are you feeling an urge to be a merchant? Or a scientist?"
"If I live long enough to be surpassed," Ace replied. "I modeled our part of Operation Revival using SLDF strategic planning software and my officers and I have been exploring options for how the Combine could respond." Or to put it another way, they'd been playing strategy games against each other, but it was as realistic as he could manage given the available constraints.
Barbara Sennet leant forwards as Ace updated the map with unit markers. "What are your sources on the troop numbers?"
"Estimates based on the reports from the Wolf Dragoons. Five elite regiments - their Sword of Light brigade. Forty-five Regular regiments, mostly concentrated in Dieron, Benjamin and Galedon Districts…" The three military districts that faced the Federated Commonwealth. The invasion would have to fight through Benjamin and Dieron districts to reach Terra, but they would first encounter the less protected Alshain and Pesht districts. "A further fifteen regiments of second-line units and mercenaries. This may be optimistic."
"You expect mercenaries to be a challenge for us?" barked Hawker.
Yes, Ace thought. The Dragoons' reports made it clear that there had been other regiments of mercenaries that were as good - or better - than those of the Great Houses. "They may be used as a first wave to force our warriors to expend munitions and take armor damage before House units engage," he said diplomatically. "One point that emerged during the simulation was these worlds."
The map updated again, highlighting eight worlds within the Combine - all near but not inside the invasion corridor.
"What is their significance?" asked Bikwendi. "Luthien, I have heard of - the Combine's capital."
"Pesht, Benjamin and Dieron are all district capitals," Sennet informed them all. "I assume that the other four worlds are similarly important, Star Colonel."
Ace nodded in confirmation. "Kagoshima, Algedi, Ashio and Al Na'ir are all industrial worlds and prefectural capitals. As such they are ideal staging areas for counter-attacks into the invasion corridors."
"We would crush them," declared Star Colonel Lionel Arlond heartily.
"Yes, but Clusters that are fighting against such counter-attacks are not advancing towards Terra." Ace indicated the twelve clusters of warriors committed to the invasion. "Luthien alone is within a single jump of three worlds within the corridor and Pesht the same. To secure each of those worlds against a multi-regiment attack would require a cluster each - and if we limit ourselves to tripwire forces while nodal units respond, those tripwires will be crushed by sheer weight of numbers. Losses we cannot easily replace."
Vewas stroked his chin. "And if we hold Omega Galaxy back entirely to respond to such attacks?"
"If we have no forces on these worlds then do we really control the corridor?" Ace asked. "The worlds in reach of Luthien are going to be key for our supply lines unless we rely on uninhabited systems - Luthien is on one of the few routes crossing between the Rasalhague rift and the Draconis rift." He highlighted the jump routes through the Draconis Combine, indicating the gulfs where no single jump routes existed across large swathes of space. Certainly jumpships could use abandoned systems or even deep space, but if anything went wrong the jumpship would be left stranded. That was one of the major problems already being faced just in reaching the Inner Sphere and why no Diamond Shark jumpships were traveling alone.
"I take it that you have an alternative?" Hawker asked irritably.
Ace nodded. "The key point is that these worlds are close to our planned route through the Combine. I propose that we should shift our axis of advance to include the capture of these worlds. There are three advantages of this: firstly, it deprives the Draconis Combine of convenient staging areas. I doubt it would prevent them from attempting attacks on our exposed flank, but it would make it much harder for them."
Vewas frowned. "It also adds those worlds to those that we must secure against counter-attacks. And the Combine will be highly motivated to regain them."
"Making them relatively predictable," Star Colonel Arlond pointed out. Ian Hawker was rubbing his chin, looking back and forth between the speakers.
"It is no guarantee that other worlds will be spared, but it is likely that recovering these worlds will be a high priority," Ace agreed. "And this leads to the second benefit of striking at them. The Combine would lose that industrial output and we would possess it."
Khan Sennet shook her head. "The production facilities will be unable to manufacture the equipment required by our 'mechs," she told Ace in a testing tone.
"But they can be used to restore the 'mechs and combat vehicles that we salvage on the battlefields," he pointed out. "And by moving garrison warriors forwards as soon as we are allowed, without the bulk of their equipment, we can quickly build up additional garrison units to provide security to the full corridor against both trials and against insurgencies. The latter is extremely likely, the records of the Pentagon campaign shows that not everyone will recognise the superiority of the Clan way. In fact, since many of these worlds have vastly larger populations than the Pentagon did, it may be months or years before some of the inhabitants see even an administrator from the Clan, much less a warrior. It will be important to have inexpensive and easily maintained forces available on every world to quell such activity without having to commit the touman's more limited number of frontline - and even secondline - warriors."
The saKhan sat back, looking satisfied. "Well argued."
"And the third benefit you mentioned?" enquired Arlond.
Ace adjusted the controls and a new set of worlds were highlighted. "These are the national, district and prefectural capitals of the Draconis Combine. All the military and political control of House Kurita goes through these worlds. Between the existing corridors and the proposed expansion, only nine of them would remain under Kuritan control. Two-thirds of their command and control would be stripped away. They would not only have lost staging areas, they would have lost the facilities to control much of the regions being fought over. Without a national capital and four of their five district capitals… they would have to completely rearrange their chains of command."
"Imagine if our Clan lost the offices and records of two out of every three leadership figures within the castes," Sennet said drily, as officers frowned. "Including the Clan Council. It would be chaos, we would need weeks to make contact with everyone and try to identify what our resources and obligations were. And that is across less than a dozen worlds. House Kurita has hundreds of worlds."
"Aff," agreed Khan Hawker, leaning forwards. "This interests me, Star Colonel. However, it does mean breaking with the plans established by the ilKhan. And your information is not current. Would your current plan call for changes to the initial waves? I see that the first of these worlds is Pesht, near our fourth and fifth wave targets."
"Neg, Khan Hawker," Ace confirmed. "The first two waves would be unaffected. Only on the third wave would we need to amend the deployments of frontline forces so that they are positioned to attack Pesht as part of the fourth wave."
The Khan nodded, eyes distant for a moment. Then he nodded and looked at Ace - really looked at him, not just flicking his eyes towards him as if keeping a threat from escaping him. "In that case, review and update your proposed strategy once we have firsthand data on the Draconis Combine and their Mustered Soldiery." He pronounced the unfamiliar words carefully. "I will discuss this with the ilKhan and determine how much flexibility we can show. Leaving unconquered worlds between ourselves and the Smoke Jaguars would be almost as dangerous as the staging areas you have pointed out."
"As you command, my Khan." Ace shut down the projector and retrieved the data disk. That had gone well. Would Leo Showers approve the Diamond Sharks taking an independent route? He didn't know - he'd never met the ilKhan. But even if Showers refused, the ilKhan's power over a Clan's specific military operations was limited. If enough of the Diamond Sharks' officers approved - and Ace thought that he had won support here - then both Showers and Hawker might find themselves forced to accept the plan.
Hilton Head, North America
Terra, Sol System
9 October 3049
It wasn't the first negotiation that Wei had carried out, far from it. But for the most part she had negotiated with businessmen or politicians. She had been fortunate that in the few years of her Primacy, she had not had to deal with any of the Successor Lords.
Granted, the man she was about to bargain with was no Successor Lord - but he was a soldier and except for Precentor Martial Focht and his subordinates she had little experience of them. She suspected he would respect forthrightness, so it was unfortunate that she was going to have to bluff and lie.
There was a short countdown before the screen that took up all of one wall of the small room lit up, revealing another room. The man facing her wore a black jacket and pants, the latter with a red stripe down the outside seams. The jacket had an embroidered wolf head and pelt on the left shoulder, left revealed by a cape that was cinched across his chest with a silver chain. Each side of his collar bore a wolf's head, and each sleeve bore three silver stars.
"Colonel Wolf," she greeted him, not caring for status games of seeing who would be first to give up and speak.
"Primus Rong," Jaime Wolf greeted her flatly. He was not good at hiding suspicions, it seemed.
Wei gestured to the seat behind her. "Shall we sit? This may not be a quick conversation."
"If you are trying to hire my regiments, it probably will be short," he told her. "I can think of no other business that we might have."
"Then I assume that you haven't heard from Colonel Morgan Kell recently," she told him.
"We both know he hasn't been to Outreach in years," the mercenary told her. "And I am sure you would know if he had sent me a personal message."
"So you know nothing of this?" Wei asked, and tapped a control that replaced the image of her that he would be seeing with the final images received from Phelan Kell's BattleROMs.
Whatever Jaime Wolf had expected, it was not to be face to cockpit with the gray-painted 'mech that ComGuards analysts had nicknamed the 'Mad Cat'. He took a half-step back and Wei could read his face well enough to know that he recognised it.
A heartbeat later, she removed the image. "That was the last data received from Morgan Kell's son," she said soberly. "Clan Wolf has reached the edges of the Inner Sphere and it does not appear that they have come in peace. That concerns me, and I believe it concerns you."
"That… I have no idea who this Clan Wolf is," Wolf declared, recovering his poise. "Do you imagine a connection simply because my family name happens to be Wolf?"
Wei looked him squarely in the eye. "Please don't insult my intelligence, Colonel. You may not be directly tied to Clan Wolf - after all, the Dragoons haven't visited the Periphery in almost thirty years - but there are too many coincidences. And when I showed you that 'mech, you knew exactly what you were looking at. I do not know if your unit came to the Inner Sphere to avoid them or as their agents, but you have encountered Nicholas Kerensky's Clans before. And the one thing they are not is unimportant."
The two glared at each other for a moment.
"If you prefer," Wei observed, "I can discuss this with Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion. I believe she would be curious about a potential threat to her realm, particularly one who may have killed or captured her young cousin Phelan. That is ultimately a conversation that I will have to have, would you rather I have to report that you have been intransigent on the subject?"
Jaime Wolf scowled at her and then shook his head. "Very well, Primus. You are at least as manipulative as your predecessors."
Ouch. "In that case, let us hope that we are on the same side in this," Wei told him seriously. "Now can we please both sit down? I'm not good at standing still for a long time. I get pins and needles. You're not that much taller than me, but I'd get a crick in my neck if I sat and you didn't."
As she had hoped, the personal confidence softened Wolf's demeanor. "In the interests of mortal frailties then." Both sat down in the chairs provided for that purpose. "I take it that your Order's knowledge of the Clans is why ComStar's neutrality has always been somewhat slanted against the Dragoons?"
Wei shook her head. "I'm fairly sure Julian Tiepolo had never heard of the Clans. What information we had had been mostly forgotten until Phelan Kell's last message gave us the hook that led to it. The Primus when you arrived in the Inner Sphere simply detested mercenaries and those who thought that you might be a lead to the SLDF were happy to use that. A number of your people and ours suffered for that."
"So ComStar knew what happened to the Exodus… and lost the information?" Wolf asked, incredulously.
She sighed. "In simple terms, yes. It was over two centuries ago and the Primus at the time felt it was best not made public, at least right away. He sealed the records and… well, I'm sure you know how putting off a decision can become habit. I don't know if he informed his successor, but somewhere along the way knowledge that the files even existed was lost."
Wolf's face tightened for a moment. "And why did he not want to tell anyone about us?"
"So, you do originate with the Clans," Wei said brightly and smiled brightly as he scowled. "Let's trade information, Colonel. Answers for answers. You've just given me some information, so I'll answer your question next, then it's your turn. Does that sound fair?"
"I make no promises to answer every question," he said slowly, "But in principle, yes."
"Likewise." Wei tapped her fingers. "Obviously I can't ask Primus Toyama his thinking, but his recorded concerns seem plausible to the era he lived in. He learned of the Clans in the mid-2820s, a time when living memory of the Star League was fading. In place of the reality, popular culture replaced it with the image of an unalloyed golden age. Reverence of House Cameron, the SLDF and in particular Aleksandr Kerensky had risen markedly, particularly in contrast to the horrors of the First Succession War and the impending Second Succession War. At its extremes, that view led to the formations of cults - arguably the transition of the Ministry of Communications into ComStar was one of them."
Wolf uttered a barking laugh.
"I'll deny saying that if you repeat it," Wei warned him wryly. "Anyway, Toyama's fear was that the revelation that the SLDF wasn't waiting somewhere to return and put right everything that had gone wrong since… well, pick your date. The knowledge that the SLDF had done to themselves what the Inner Sphere was already doing would have been a tremendous shock to many people. It might not have been a realistic hope, but for some people it was the only hope they saw left. The Primus felt there was a risk of mass hysteria, perhaps even a wave of suicides as that prop was kicked away. To be honest, I'm sure there would have been some. Perhaps not as many as he feared, but I can understand not wanting to find out."
"It's so like ComStar to think that only they can deal with truth," Wolf snorted.
"There were at least four suicides within the ranks of those who did learn the truth," Wei admitted. "Perhaps they were anomalies… but it's hard to be sure. Similarly, while the Successor Lords were probably not actually restrained by any expectation Kerensky would return, the reverence towards what remained of the Star League was one of ComStar's tools. Toyama had already found it necessary to interdict Tharkad briefly in order to defend the Order. While he didn't record any such concerns, I suspect that my predecessor felt that if the SLDF's memory was tainted then it might encourage one of the Successor Lords to think that they could seize Terra." She shrugged. "Speculation on my part, but I think it's plausible. So… why did you never tell the Successor Lords about the Clans? You've certainly had the opportunity."
Wolf frowned in thought. "You don't have any more recent information, do you?"
Wei narrowed her eyes and feigned annoyance. If he was so stupid that he couldn't make that connection, she doubted he'd be alive after forty years as a mercenary.
The mercenary nodded, confident in his deduction. "To give you some background, almost fifty years ago, a significant faction within the Clans argued that they should return to the Inner Sphere and reunite it in the same way that our ancestors had the Pentagon worlds. It was a controversial view, but it gained a great deal of traction. The matter was to be put to a vote within our senior leadership and it might have passed. Those who opposed the idea decided that directly confronting it would likely fail, so instead they argued that it would be reckless. Before returning to the Pentagon worlds, the Founder and his advisors had gathered extensive information, but we knew almost nothing about current circumstances within the Inner Sphere."
That made considerable sense to Wei, but she said nothing. Letting Wolf fill the silence.
"The Dragoons were a compromise. A group of volunteers who would enter the Inner Sphere and gather information. Those who sent us knew it would be decades before the mission ended and hoped that the wait would cool interest in the topic." He spread his hands. "We faced quite enough suspicion without declaring ourselves spies from a potentially hostile nation."
Wei nodded. "I see. I'm tempted from what you've just said to ask you what changed, but you didn't know the Clans had arrived until I told you. Are you still in contact with them?"
Wolf gave her a sour look. "As amusing as it would be to tell you that we have the means of communicating across many times the range of an HPG, no. We rendezvoused with messengers in the Periphery twice - firstly towards the end of our first contract and then again… Wait. It's my turn to ask a question."
"Didn't you just learn that our data is rather dated?" she asked slyly.
"Well, to answer your question, no. Our own last contact was almost thirty years ago."
The Dragoons' last supply run then, in 3019. A generation ago, but much more recent than Wei's data. A great deal could have changed over those two hundred years.
Wolf studied her. "How did you - your predecessor - learn of the Clans."
"When the Pentagon worlds were invaded by your ancestors, some of the survivors saw that they couldn't defeat the Clans but also didn't want to join them. I couldn't say how many managed to get away, but one small convoy reached the Inner Sphere. ComStar happened to make first contact with them and once their origins became clear, Primus Toyama was informed as quickly as possible. Our founder, Jerome Blake, had always regretted not knowing what happened to General Kerensky so the standing order was that any news should be sent to the Primus as soon as possible."
"Alright, your turn then," he accepted.
Wei saw no sign that he suspected her of dissembling. For the best, really. Finding out how Wolf would react to learning some of Clan Wolf's ancient enemies had reached Inner Sphere was not on today's agenda. "The question I'm sure that almost everyone will ask once this comes out: where your loyalties lie now. After a lifetime in the Inner Sphere?"
"My last orders from Khan Kerlin Ward were to break off communication and prepare the Inner Sphere for the possibility that the Crusaders might rise again and this time have their way. If Clan Wolf have reached the edges of the Inner Sphere then I have to assume that that time has come." Wolf looked into the middle distance. "I cannot honestly say that I've made much progress, but the Wolf Dragoons will support anyone who needs our help against the Clans." His lips quirked. "At discounted rates. We are mercenaries, after all. And yourself? What will ComStar do?"
"Our purpose is to provide neutral communications," she told him. "We will attempt peaceful communication, and fight only if we must. However, part of that communication is to share news that is of public interest. I believe that a great many people will be interested in the Clans. If you are willing to share your knowledge of the Clans with not only ComStar but also the Great Houses then I would be willing to put our influence behind that message… and against any attempt to target you for past associations."
Wolf looked at her suspiciously. "That's surprisingly generous."
Wei leant forwards and let all humor fall away. "I said we would fight only if we must. I do have a bottom line, Colonel Wolf. If the Clans cross that line then ComStar will fight with every tool we have. Even if I have to drag the First Circuit kicking and screaming into that decision."
Twelfth Donegal Guards Headquarters, Trellwan
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
19 October 3049
The waiting room outside Colonel Hawksworth's office was quiet, the secretary clearly focused on her own work. The only other officer present was a tall, blond Hauptmann who'd given Victor Steiner-Davion a second look after hearing his name before returning to the six month old copy of Lyran Arms and Armor that he was reading.
After the crowded conditions on the dropship, Victor was content to enjoy the moment of peace. From what his father and cousin Morgan had told him, he'd probably be buried in work once he finished reporting in. He'd be the most junior leutnant in the Twelfth Donegal Guards, which from various stories probably meant that every unpleasant duty that required a commissioned officer would be passed down to him. It was a rite of passage, in its way. Between that and leading his own lance, Victor suspected it'd be almost as bad as hell week at the Nagelring.
"Leutnant," the secretary called. "Colonel Hawksworth will see you now."
Victor blinked in surprise. He'd expected the Hauptmann would be called for first - he'd obviously been waiting a while if he was bored enough to be reading a magazine that old. Giving the other officer an apologetic look, Victor thanked the secretary and went through the indicated door.
Colonel Jeremy Hawksworth looked exactly like his profile picture, a trim competent officer. He was standing next to the national colors rather than sitting behind his desk and returned Victor's salute crisply.
"Leutnant Steiner-Davion, reporting for duty, sir."
The colonel studied him for a moment and then nodded. "Welcome to the Twelfth Donegal Guards, leutnant. No problems on your way here?"
"No sir." It was the most time Victor had spent on a dropship - even the voyages between Tharkad and New Avalon had been expedited along shipping lines - but that wasn't what he'd call a problem.
"Good." Hawksworth gestured to the seat facing his desk and sat himself behind the cluttered workstation. "I just told you a lie, do you know what it was?"
A lie? "No sir," he said again.
"No one wanted you here, Leutnant. Or at least, no one who doesn't think they can ride your coat-tails to a better assignment. I hope that number is small, but people being people there will be some. More common are the ones who think you'll expect to be waited on hand and foot -"
Victor saw red. "I don't expect special treatment. Sir."
"You're royalty. You will get special treatment, most likely in ways you don't want. You were born with it and it would be easier for you to grow another thirty centimeters than change that fact." The Colonel gave him a dour look. "For example, any failure on your part will reflect upon the entire chain of command from your company commander up to whoever has to tell your great-aunt about it. The more intelligent of my officers are quietly terrified you will do something stupid that will sink their careers."
"That won't…"
"I am aware that your immediate family will not hold it against us," Hawksworth cut him off. "But 'let the heir to the Federated Commonwealth get his head shot off' will still be read on our records by every superior and promotion board any of us had. I am not blaming you for any of this - it is completely outside of your control. However, you need to understand that the immediate response from the other officers when we learned you were assigned to us was 'What did we do wrong to deserve this?'"
Victor gripped the arms of his chair. Was this what he'd been headed for? Being judged before anyone even met him.
"I've read your Nagelring transcripts," the colonel continued. "And those from New Avalon. Based on those, I believe that you can overcome that impression - everything on them suggests that you have the potential to be an excellent officer. But I would never send one of my officers into battle without providing them with all relevant intelligence, and you need to know what you're getting into."
"Thank you, sir." At least Hawksworth was going to give him a chance.
"The easiest way to deal with you would be to simply never put you in a position where you can fail, but that would do you - and potentially the entire Federated Commonwealth - a tremendous disservice. You cannot learn the lessons of being a junior officer if you're wrapped in tissue paper."
Victor felt a wave of relief. That was what he'd dreaded more than almost anything.
"At the same time, we don't give new graduates complete freedom of action. If we do pull you back, consider that your commanders have to do this with all leutnants. Allowing you to make a mistake that would cost lives when we can prevent it would be inexcusable. Most, if not all, the restraints you are under will be the same we would apply to any new officer."
"I'll do my best sir."
"Of that I have no doubt." Hawksworth tapped his desktop terminal and consulted a file. "I'll introduce you to your company commander. In addition to the duties he provides you, I'll send you a list of social events coming up this month. By tomorrow I want a list of eight that you'll be participating in - four AFFC events and four civil events. This will be the normal expectation while you're with the Twelfth."
Victor was on his feet before he realized it, "Sir, I'm here to be a soldier, not to socialize!"
The colonel tilted his head to one side, studying Victor as if he was some poisonous object. "Respect for officers above you in the chain of command is expected to go somewhat further than calling them 'sir', leutnant."
He took a deep breath. "My apologies, sir. It won't happen again."
"Good." Hawksworth watched him sit down. "Before you make any further protest, this is the same expectation I have placed on every new officer joining the unit. The old LCAF regulations that required all officers to attend a certain number of social events may have been retired but there was always a sound reason behind them, even if it became abused. Socializing amongst each other is one of the ways that soldiers build esprit d'corps. Regimental dinners, sporting competitions and the like are opportunities for you to meet and get to know your peers, subordinates and superiors. Ways to make a good impression."
Victor flushed. A better impression than he had just made. "And civilian events, sir?"
"The Guards will see action perhaps two or three times a year at most. Possibly much less. It is wise to keep the civilian authorities - both the formal government and those who informally influence them - favorably inclined. If all they see is reports of young soldiers getting drunk and misbehaving, or of accidental property damage when we drill and exercise then that becomes harder. Reminding everyone on Trellwan that we are professionals here to protect them is another part of our preparations to deliver that protection. Not more important than training, maintenance and other such activities, but not so very much less."
Hawksworth paused before adding. "I expect you to do your part in all such matters, leutnant. Your presence is likely to draw the wealthy and well connected from worlds within reach of Trellwan. This is not a bad thing for you or for the Twelth Guards, this is an opportunity to do better. And I would be negligent to ignore any advantage you may provide to my command. Are we clear."
"As glass, sir."
"Good. At this point I would usually remind a young leutnant of the perils of early parenthood, but I imagine that you are at least aware of how many people will be stalking you in hopes of obtaining an engagement ring. May I assume that you are sufficiently prepared for that battlefield."
"Yes sir."
"Very good," the colonel said approvingly. "I hope not to hear that anything has gone wrong in that regard, but if it does then it is much better for me to learn directly from you than from a third party. And infinitely better than my learning about it via a tirade from the General of Armies."
Victor winced. His great-aunt's temper was legendary.
"Now that you are sufficiently tenderized, I'll introduce you to Hauptmann Cox." Hawksworth tapped his intercom. "Kathy, please send Cox in to face his karmic justice."
What did that mean?
The door opened to admit the Hauptmann that Victor had seen waiting outside. He saluted, with somewhat less than academy precision. "Sir."
Hawksworth rested his hands on the desktop. "Hauptmann Cox, it is the unanimous opinion of your superiors within the Guards that you have displayed energy, ability and initiative since - and indeed before - taking command of C Company. How do you plead?"
Cox didn't seem phased by this bizarre statement. "I plead guilty and throw myself upon the Colonel's mercy."
"I sentence you to take charge of our newest leutnant, who may prove as irredeemable as yourself, and may God have mercy upon your soul." With that Hawkworth gestured dismissal with a jerk of his chin.
"Yes sir, thank you sir," Cox replied with a smile. "Come along, leutnant."
Victor rose to his feet obediently and followed the taller officer, wondering what new surprise he should expect now. Then again, the nature of being surprised was that he wouldn't expect it.
Cox led Victor out of the building and down to a jeep. "Is that your Victor?" he asked, indicating a heavy transport rolling past.
Victor blinked and realized that he was right. "Yes, that's it."
"Hmm. I can work with that." Cox hopped into the jeep and revved it up. "We'll follow it to the hangar. Each battalion bases some distance away from the others so it's a bit of a drive." He pulled away before Victor had finished putting on his safety belt, pulling in behind the transport - close enough that Victor was glad of the windshield to deflect the worst of the dust kicked up.
"My office isn't soundproofed the way the Colonel's is," Cox told him. "So this is a way for me to have a chat that no one can overhear."
"Such as…?"
"I assume Hawkworth goaded you a bit? It's how he's handled every new leutnant I've come across so far."
Victor nodded. "I'm glad I'm not the only one."
"He says it's so he knows what your temper is. I didn't much like it myself, but it seems to work for him. Most new leutnants who get assigned out here are frustrated that they don't get assigned somewhere more exciting - the border with the Combine, League or at least the Confederation. A backwater where the main threat is pirates or a very bold Rasalhague raider."
Remembering his complaints to his family about the posting until his father explained the political signaling going on between House Steiner-Davion and House Kurita, Victor flushed. Posting heirs with excellent academy scores to the border would suggest that they were ready to pick up where they'd left off fighting in 3040. It had been something of a surprise for Victor that his father hadn't any intentions of finishing off the Draconis Combine, so it wasn't difficult to imagine that the Draconis Combine would be even more suspicious.
"There is a reason green leutnants generally don't get those postings," Galen continued. "It's bad enough dealing with a mechwarrior who's never been under fire before, the last thing any sane officer wants is a lance or - Blake forbid - a company commander going through their trial by fire when they're supposed to be issuing orders. However accurate simulations are, nothing prepares you for being shot at."
"So we're sent out here to deal with that where the stakes are lower?"
"I wouldn't suggest saying that to the Trellwanese, but yes. Although if you think I'm putting the lives of three mechwarriors on the line just on the off chance that you won't freeze up, think again. The Davions used to have a six months probation for new officers and that's more or less what we do, even if it's no longer an official process."
Victor opened his mouth to speak angrily, then thought back to Hawksworth's office and reined the impulse in. "So what will I be doing?" he asked in what he hoped was a calm voice.
Cox glanced towards him, the jeep veering slightly out of lane before he corrected it. "For now you'll be my lance second - you shouldn't have any trouble keeping up with my Crusader. That autocannon on your Victor should discourage anyone trying to get up close with my lance - we're heavy on LRMs. Once I'm sure you'll be able to keep your head - either because you have, or you've had a few months experience so we can get used to you, then we'll look at giving you lead on a lance. Probably with an experienced NCO to back you up. Any questions?"
"I don't have an autocannon on my Victor, it's a VTR-9D model," Victor corrected him. "That's a gauss rifle."
The Hauptmann glanced ahead and then pulled the jeep out of lane again, racing the engine to catch up with the transport and look up at the Victor's right arm. "Hmm. So it is. That should be a nasty surprise for someone. Are there any other changes from a 9B?"
"A little more armor, pulse lasers and better ammunition stowage - I shouldn't lose the reactor even if the ammunition takes a hit."
"Very nice. Although…" Seeing oncoming traffic, Cox slowed the jeep and tucked back in behind the transport. "I assume gauss rifle ammo doesn't explode so it's less vulnerable to that anyway."
Victor winced. "Let's just say I don't want to take a hit to the gauss rifle's capacitors. It's not as bad as the old autocannon's magazine but it's not great either."
"I guess that's a privilege of being the heir to the Federated Commonwealth. Who do I have to kill to get a Crusader with all those toys?" Cox asked him.
"Probably someone with more of a bounty than Redjack Ryan," the prince told him. "We're building them on Oliver but the price tag is a bit steep. About half again what my Victor costs."
Cox whistled. "That's a little rich for my budget."
"TharHes are working on something more affordable," Victor offered and then changed the subject. "Do you think I will see action? You said this is a backwater."
"I can tell you barely ever left court," the Hauptmann said tolerantly. "On the major borders everyone is very careful not to cause a flare up. Even a probing raid is weighed and considered before it's tried. It does happen, maybe every year or so there might be something somewhere on the borders. Ambergrist, a few years ago. Ryde, more recently. I was there for that one," he added. "Right before we got sent out this way."
"And here?"
"Funny thing is, it's both less tense and harder to say who's behind a particular raid. Nothing's definite, but I haven't heard about any raids out of the Greater Valkryate for six months or so. We're probably due for something, but whether you get involved will be a matter of luck." Then the tall man tapped the steering wheel with the heel of one hand. "Touch wood, Morgaine doesn't decide to try taking you hostage or something. We'd beat them, but they have three battalions of 'mechs and fair fights are for Solaris, not the battlefield."
CWS Dire Wolf
Near Periphery
15 January 3050
Having reviewed the parts of the Wolf Dragoons report dealing with ComStar, Ulric Kerensky wasn't surprised to find their emissary wore a heavy, hooded robe. He was surprised when the man threw the hood back. The report suggested someone like a merchant or a scientist, skilled in their ways but certainly not someone with the edge of a warrior.
But this man's eyepatch covered what was certainly a battle wound, and there were other scars, less severe. The man was older than Ulric, perhaps as old as the Nova Cat Khans, but he was clearly still vigorous and when they clasped hands in greeting, the calluses were those of an active mechwarrior.
"I am Ulric Kerensky, Khan of Clan Wolf." He introduced himself. "And you would be…?"
"I am the Precentor Martial of ComStar. My name is Anastasius Focht, my Primus has sent me to establish contact with you."
"You appear to have succeeded." Ulric gestured to seats facing each other, next to one of the small windows that looked out on the stars. There was no reason to be inhospitable. They might come to blows later, but first they would bargain.
Focht sat down, watching Ulric quietly, waiting for the Khan to speak.
"So now that we are in contact," he asked. "What does ComStar want with us?"
"Several things," Focht rumbled, rather than said. His voice deepened, sounding mildly threatening. "To begin with, we would like you to stop attacking our jumpships. Our fleet is considerable but letting people make off with them is a poor precedent."
"I do not recall that we have encountered any of your jumpships before," Ulric mused out loud, wondering if Focht knew that it was a ComStar jumpship that had been captured over Huntress. He had not thought to ask Leo Showers about the specifics of the interrogations of the crew, that may have been an oversight. "However, we have apprehended several pirate jumpships in this area, it is possible that some of the other Clans may have mistaken your vessels. One jumpship does look very much like another."
"Attacking jumpships at all is problematic," the Precentor Martial warned. "All of the Successor States have agreed treaties limiting certain forms of warfare, in order avert a complete collapse of civilization. I will not claim that no jumpship has been attacked since, but a willingness to do so usually opens one to retaliation in kind, or using weapons and strategies that would normally cause outrage. I would prefer not to encourage the Great Houses to believe that they have no option but to use weapons of mass destruction."
That, Ulric thought, escalated rather quickly. "We find that depriving bandits and their ilk of jumpships limits the problem they pose considerably. However, there is a distinction between doing that to pirates and to a peer. If your jumpships have been seized by other Clans, I will request their release. It might help me to arrange this if I knew more of your… organization?"
"We are an Order," Focht corrected him, voice more mild. "Established by Jerome Blake, a close companion of Aleksandr Kerensky, after your ancestors followed the General upon his Exodus."
Ulric's eyes narrowed. This ComStar was far too knowledgeable about the Clans. Had the Wolf Dragoons been compromised?
"We play many roles within the Inner Sphere, working to maintain an interstellar civilization against the tide of destruction unleashed when the Star League fell," the ComStar representative continued. "We preserve, we maintain and sometimes we rebuild. Where our strength allows, we defend - the ComGuards are far from equal in numbers to the armies of the Successor Lords but we can at least deal with threats like pirates at times."
"Laudable," the Khan offered. "You say that your founder was known to the Great Father - Aleksandr Kerensky, quiaff?"
"Blake was the leader of efforts to maintain the HPG network during the Amaris Civil War," Focht explained. "After Amaris was defeated, he worked closely with Kerensky in relief efforts to rebuild the damage done during the war. His journals speak of Kerensky as a friend, regretting that the Exodus separated them. The first ComGuards were SLDF soldiers reluctant to leave in the Exodus, charged instead to assist Blake in defending Terra and the Terran Hegemony. Unfortunately, it proved too late to do more than hold onto Terra."
"I see," Ulric observed. "And what do you do now? We have heard somewhat of ComStar but only in the sense of operating HPGs."
Focht smiled. "That is what we're best known for and it remains the core of our activities. Almost every world in or near the Inner Sphere has one of our HPGs. It provides for a secure means of communication since our stations are neutral ground."
He frowned at this point, "Yes, this did concern me. How do you prevent the Successor Lords from seizing your HPGs so they can monopolize communications within their realms? I would not think that they appreciate your Order having that degree of influence."
"They did try," replied the old man. "However it became problematic when it came to communicating with each other and the HPGs on border worlds - or even deep within their territory - became strategic targets. HPGs under the control of the Great Houses were destroyed in considerable numbers, so when Jerome Blake began mediating the treaties that would end the First Succession War, he proposed that all the HPGs be restored to ComStar, to operate as a neutral organization. It was over a century before we could make good all the losses, even Conrad Toyama - Blake's student and successor - didn't live to see that work complete and we are still extending and improving our efforts."
Ulric nodded slowly. "We operate our own HPGs, as you may have guessed."
"We assumed that you retained the technology. If you wish to use ours, then that is open to you so long as you recognise their neutrality. We charge, which I suppose would need to be worked out, but in principle the option is there."
"And if we choose not to?"
Focht smiled slightly. "Then do as the Successor Lords do with the few they hid away rather than hand back to us. They are kept a very close secret and guarded carefully, because if one is located it is only a matter of time before someone tries to eliminate them. We interdict - decline the use of our HPGs - to those who attack ComStar but other people's HPGs are not under that protection."
"Terms for using your HPGs may be useful," Ulric said slowly. "A matter for negotiation. So your HPGs are defended only by the threat of being banned from them?"
"That would be rather impractical," the white-haired man corrected him. "We must concern ourselves with pirates - who are no respecters of our neutrality - and there are always the irrational. Security varies with the expected hazards. Many of the HPG stations along the periphery border are well fortified. In fact, on many worlds there are enclaves that have simply grown up around the HPG stations, relying on us for protection as well as other services."
"And the Successor Lords allow that as well? They must fight over the worlds, quiaff? I believe there is an entire realm in our vicinity that did not exist twenty years ago."
"So long as those conflicts do not enter into the territory we claim, we simply observe. And when they have finished, we usually find there has been an influx of new residents whose existing homes have been lost. The population of our enclaves may be tiny in comparison to an entire Successor State," Focht explained, "But many billions live in safety under our protection. That is no mean feat in the midst of the Succession Wars."
"Neg, I find it remarkable." Ulric stroked his beard. "You seem to be well informed regarding the Clans."
"We have little current information," the Precentor admitted openly. "Most of what we know comes from those who fled Nicholas Kerensky's invasion of the Pentagon Worlds, over two hundred years ago." He stopped. "If it would not cause offense, we are curious - was he really Aleksandr Kerensky's son? We have no record of him having children before the Exodus, and he was rather old to father children by that time."
Ulric stiffened. "He was indeed the son of Aleksandr Kerensky. I am his direct descendent. General Kerensky had hidden his family from his enemies, which proved foresightful when Amaris seized power. The Founder and his brother served their father during the first Exodus, and they led the Second Exodus away from the Pentagon worlds after his death."
"It is often difficult for the children of a great man or woman to live up to such a legacy," Focht observed. "But those who do rise are the more remarkable. Like Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon."
What planet is Macedon? wondered the Khan. "So, to return to our earlier topic of conversation, besides communications what does ComStar do?"
"We fill many of the same roles as the old Bureau of Star League Affairs, I suppose. Since most interstellar news and financial transactions pass through our HPGs, we took to providing our own news as a neutral point of view… well, depending on the Primus there." Focht shook his head slightly. "I cannot say that some of our leaders haven't stretched the definition of neutrality in service to our overall mission. Similarly, ComStar operates its own bank as well as giving access to Terran banks that are independent of us but benefit from being based on a world under our protection."
He shrugged. "Besides this, we operate a sizable jumpship fleet that carry cargos all across the Inner Sphere, particularly in border areas where commercial shipping has to concern themselves with being drafted for military purposes."
"And were the jumpships that you've lost in this area involved in that sort of trade?" He wondered what the Diamond Sharks would make of that. And, for that matter, what was the Bureau of Star League Affairs?
"No," admitted Focht. "We were looking for you. After all, if you've decided to make contact with the Inner Sphere after all this time, we may find ourselves asked to send messages to you. Or if your intentions are to wage war then we have something of an interest in establishing whether you are going to respect our neutrality."
"And if we were not to?"
"Obviously," the white-haired man said, "If you are going to try to seize our enclaves and other stations then we will defend ourselves. There is a reason that I have described the ComGuards only in broad terms. We do not go looking for fights, but there is a distinction between being peaceful and being helpless."
"Enlighten me," the Khan requested. "How would you define the difference?"
"The peaceful have the means to defend themselves: they are at peace when others dare not attack them, and because they do not themselves attack. The helpless have no such means and can only know peace when others give it to them."
Ulric Kerensky considered that. Considered it very carefully. "As the heirs to the SLDF, our goal is to re-establish the Star League," he said at last.
"Speaking as one of the last remnants of the Star League, we are not opposed to that," Focht declared. "Of course, every Successor Lord has claimed to be doing so, as they name themselves First Lord. You will forgive us if we do not assume you will be more successful than they have been."
"Among my people, I am considered a Warden. That means that I believe our purpose is to protect the Inner Sphere. To wage war on an organization that, as you describe it, has extended protection and aid to the people of the Inner Sphere, would go against my most sincere beliefs. I am not our overall leader, but I have some say. I will recommend that the Clans respect your neutrality, and I will have my own Clan do so."
Now Focht bowed his head. "Thank you, Khan Kerensky. I hope that this is just the first of many contacts between our two peoples - long separated, but each keeping the flame of the Star League alive in our own ways."
"Well said," Ulric answered. Very well said. A flame could bring warmth and comfort, but it could also bring dreadful destruction. Which the Clans would prove remained to be decided… and the same might be said of ComStar. He had seen too much to believe that they were as benevolent as this warrior suggested.