Opalescent Reflections

House of Cards

Chapter 13

Hilton Head, North America

Terra, Sol System

10 October 3051

Anastasius Focht arched an eyebrow when he saw what Wei Rong wore to open the door to her apartment. "I don't mind this over the beach," he offered drily (it was a wet and windy day up on the surface of Hilton Head), "but do you have to dress as if you're going dancing?"

Wei glanced down at her cheongsam. "I wouldn't be wearing this much if I was going dancing," she said frankly. "Although if I wanted to, I'm not sure there would be anyone but DRUM agents and your soldiers in the club. It's hard enough to manage dinner and a show."

"A dark and noisy venue where the motives of those trying to get you alone might not be those that you'd approve of," the old man enquired. "I cannot think of one reason that your security would be upset."

"Yes, but they have much longer lists of reasons they don't want me off alone," Wei told him, ushering him into the lounge and turning off the Capellan string music she'd been enjoying. "You would not believe how they reacted when I suggested just assigning an agent or two to partake with me."

"Oh yes, I can." But his lips quirked upwards. "I could probably find volunteers but I don't think they'd be a useful level of security while engaged in what you have in mind."

Wei snorted. "I should run away, I really should." She folded her legs beneath her on the well-padded armchair facing Focht's seat. "So, what's the situation of the ComGuards?"

The Precentor-Martial folded his hands. "Officially we have three Level V units stationed on Terra, but in practise the combined size of the First, Second and Third Divisions isn't even a single Level V between them all and won't be up to that level until we graduate next year's expanded classes. Even bringing in soldiers from garrison postings, most of them don't have the needed speciality training. Depending on recruitment numbers, we're looking at four to six years to bring them up to the strength of the other nine divisions."

Wei exhaled. "I assume this is including the recovery of the long term wounded." The average strength of the other nine divisions was two-thirds of their paper numbers. Roughly half the ComGuards' field forces had been wiped away. There were hundreds of thousands more soldiers, but many were in light or mechanized infantry units that could guard their base HPG stations against little more than local criminals. Pirates, the Clans or - Blake forbid - the Successor States, were another matter entirely.

Focht nodded. "The variations depend on our recruitment numbers - I am actually quite optimistic there. Fighting the Clans to a standstill has left us with a degree of glamor. There was a surge in recruitment across almost all ComStar enclaves. I don't believe it will last though."

"But even after those four to six years, we are looking at only two-thirds of your former field strength," she asked. "Assuming we don't face any further challenges which…" She trailed off.

Focht nodded seriously. "Hard to predict. If we compare the expansion over the first ten years of my service with the ComGuards, this is quite slow, but that ate up a large amount of the prospective pool of candidates. And even if we managed to recruit that many, equipping them will be a challenge."

"I assumed as much."

He exhaled. "Other than the brigade of Ninth Division that's being sent to Mars, the rest of the ComGuards are filtering back out to duty posts. We'll only have a division each covering the periphery borders of the Free Worlds League and the Suns, but I agree that that's about as much as we can spare. Four divisions will give us some coverage of the enclaves above the Camlann line. As for the rest…"

Wei nodded. The old Hegemony region had been heavily fought over during the Succession Wars so many worlds there had enclaves that would now be only thinly guarded. "I imagine that the budgetary meetings for the next few years will be fraught."

It was a bitter thought that after she'd been hoping to gradually bring the ComGuards down to a more affordable level she was now going to have to fight to bring them up to their previous strength. Stronger, really, given the mammoth cost of the warship program.

Focht saw through her. "There is an old saying that the most expensive military force is the one that's second-best," he warned quietly.

"I see the logic," Wei said, voice clipped. Then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It takes more than that to offend me, Primus."

"If I don't hold myself to account, who will?" She ran her hands through her hair. "The brigade being sent to Mars are the replacements for the Wolf Dragoons?"

"Correct. The Dragoons seem eager to take up contracts facing the Clans rather than training roles, particularly after Luthien. It's understandable. The Level IV in question is equipped entirely with clan technology salvaged from Camlann, which should make them ideal as training opponents for the academy there."

"And also spares equipment for other units?"

"It helps a little," Focht agreed.

Wei tapped her fingers together. "Can you support that unit - I imagine even as a trainng force they'll go through munitions and the like?"

"Not as much as they would in real combat," he qualified, "But yes. Estimates are that we'll be able to keep them going for a decade unless they have to go into battle. And they'll be fit for at least some real combat if we need them for that. I take it that Beta department are complaining?"

"They are." Wei found a smile somewhere. "I told them to shut up. They have thousands of tons of Clan equipment to study, and a generous budget to try to close the gap. If that isn't enough, taking more hardware from you won't help."

"That is appreciated." Focht admitted. "I know that your own battles can be fierce."

"Let's not even compare," she said, thinking back to the field hospitals she'd visited. "On the topic of equipment, while we could technically lay claim to just about every Hippogriff that's being built, that wouldn't make us many friends. With production kicking in, we can get a trickle from every factory but we're mostly on our own."

The white-haired man smiled slightly. "For all my contributions to the design, the Hippogriff alone isn't sufficient to rebuild all our battlemech forces, and there are a number of other unit types besides 'mechs. We can at least rely on Terran production."

Wei shoved second thoughts aside. "Also on Taussen. Another of our little secrets," she clarified. "The planet was abandoned by the Federated Suns colonists during the First Succession War, but after that ComStar managed to stabilize the terraforming and settled refugees there - it's been two hundred years and the world is thriving now. It was going to be our fallback production center for HPG components if Terra was lost."

"I see," he mused slowly. "And you plan to construct military factories there instead?"

"As well as - we can't afford to rely on Terra alone anymore," she corrected him. "The current plan is to build the Gunslinger assault 'mech that we share with the AFFC and DCMS, as well as Hippogriffs. With both being built at multiple sites already it should be less obvious we have other sources." She made a face. "That's the idea, anyway."

"In principle, there's merit to that," allowed Focht. "Just battlemechs?"

"No, the modified Corsair aerospace fighters will be built there."

"The CorStar?" he clarified. "Good. We only had a squadron over Camlann, but we still have most of the squadron, which speaks well of the design's merits. The ComGuards will need far more than just those designs, but they are a decent core to build around."

"Do you think we have the four to six years you were talking about?" Wei asked.

"No," the man said immediately. "The de facto truce along the edges of the occupation zone will last only until the Federated Commonwealth feels ready to counterattack - when exactly that will be I'm not sure, but it won't be that far away. The Draconis Combine would do so, but it will take them longer than that. And then there are the Clans to consider."

"You think that they'll break the agreement to stay corewards of Camlann?"

He shook his head. "Possible, but unlikely. They'll be looking for an aggressive outlet though, a way to prove themselves after this year's defeat. It might be a matter of them turning on each other - there are suggestions that their homeworlds may be doing that - or striking at targets above the line. I do not know where or when the current ceasefire will end, but I give it two years at most before someone acts."

"...and we have enclaves in the middle of that."

"To be fair, Primus, most of our enclaves towards the core are along the old Lyran-Draconian border," Focht pointed out. "If the Clan war extends laterally it will be into areas where most of the ComGuards presence isn't much more than security guards and or ComStar personnel outside the HPG crews themselves."

"That's some small consolation," Wei allowed. "I suppose that the main issues will be political, which are more my concern than yours. Alright." She sat up. "Without knowing what we'll be dealing with, I can't decide what to do there. I imagine there will be projections of what you need in terms of budget and diplomacy to get what you need?"

"They're being drawn up," the old man agreed. "There is one thing I wanted to bring up now because it's an opportunity that could be time sensitive. NETC have been working on a new medium tank, but development costs are getting out of hand and they're looking at putting it on hold in favor of the updated Vedette."

Wei made a 'go on' gesture.

"I think the tank has much more potential than the Vedette, it's sort of a… pocket-Manticore, if you will."

"Nasty, they're both tanks as far as I'm concerned," she said with a chuckle. "You want this… whatever it's called?"

"Myrmidon. And yes. Our medium tank forces took a beating on Camlann, this could be a solution to that. I don't want to wait five damn years for them to decide they can afford to finish the work needed." His eyes flashed.

"We don't have five years," Wei agreed. "I'll talk to them. We've always had good relations with NETC."

"They're no Quikscell," confirmed Focht.

"Speaking of whom…"

He winced. "They're available, so we probably can't avoid doing business with them but make sure the penalty clauses for quality control are harsh. Quikscell's lock on the missile carrier market is a pain in the neck."

Wei grinned. "I will see if we can leverage licensing from them. They manage to co-exist with JES, perhaps we can get some new manufacturers in." Even she'd heard of the epic legal battles where Quikscell, a notoriously shoddy combat vehicle manufacturer, had managed to run almost every competitor they had in the missile carrier market into bankruptcy over failure to pay license fees.

"I doubt they'll be amenable but we stopped the Clans, so maybe it's our lucky year," Focht agreed. "That's the only thing I'm looking at that is really time sensitive. You can expect a lot of paperwork in the next month though."

"I'll be waiting," she agreed. "Oh, and keep your schedule clear over Christmas."

Focht's one eye blinked. "I… if you say so?"

"Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion and her husband have proposed a third conference, to deal with the long term consequences of the Clans' presence in the Inner Sphere now that they've been stopped," Wei told him. "It's a good idea - she sent her message about a day before mine was about to go out." And rather than compete, she'd added an endorsement of the idea. "Rather than returning to Unity City, they propose to hold the meeting on Liao."

The Precentor-Martial scowled. "That will infuriate Romano Liao."

He wasn't wrong. Liao was the ancestral home of House Liao - well, they were from Terra originally, but it was on Liao they'd built their own realm until they eventually seized control of the nascent Capellan Confederation and the seat of power moved rimwards. Much like Wei's homeworld of New Canton, Liao had fallen under the control of the Federated Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War. One of Melissa's younger children had even been born there when (not yet the Archon) she had visited the world. "I suspect that that may be the point. Romano boycotting such a meeting will further isolate her."

"Hmm." Focht shook his head. "And will her nephew attend?"

"I believe that Duke Kai Allard-Liao has other things on his mind."

The young Duke had gone from Terra to Outreach and then the burgeoning war zone in under a month - somehow managing to mobilize two regiments of mercenary mechwarriors in that time. It was a scratch force, but they'd been totally outside Capellan expectations and his attack on Ares had been reinforced with infantry and armor from the Compact. It looked very much like the industrial world would fall - the sparsely populated neighboring Necromo already had.

Wei paused as that reminded her. "He will probably be represented though. He sent me a message, asking if we would be interested in joint talks to complete what he believes to be a warship construction slip partially assembled in the Necromo system."

Focht blinked again. "In Necromo?"

"It's hard to believe that Romano Liao would site a warship programme just one jump from the Federated Commonwealth," she agreed. "But perhaps that was her thinking. Or maybe she just had few choices. The only jumpship yard she has left is over Capella and that's not really any better location wise."

"A barely developed border world seems like another poor choice to me," the Precentor Martial mused. "But trying to follow the logic of House Liao has always been challenging." He shook his head. "Do you intend to follow up on this initiative?"

"It would be problematic when we don't know if Necromo will even remain in St Ives' hands," Wei observed. "And of course, it wouldn't be in line with ComStar's neutrality. Of course, if a few contractors happen to consult…"

"Politics," Focht said in a disgusted tone. "It never gets any cleaner."

"Well, I won't ask you to get too involved if there is an attempt to mediate between the two branches of House Liao," Wei told him lightly. "The Chancellor is hard to predict, but even if the AFFC isn't directly intervening as long as they protect the Compact's own worlds, there's little to stop the Duke managing local superiority so she can't expect to win this in the long run. Perhaps some quiet looming at my shoulder. Since we've shown off our military capabilities, I ought to at least make use of that."

"Two birds with one stone," he recognised and then frowned. "Three if you're going to insist on flirting with me as well."

"As if I need an excuse."

"Primus, you're in my chain of command."

"I am your chain of command. Speaking of chains…"

"No." He said flatly.

"You're no fun," Wei pouted. "But I meant jump-chains. I don't think we can rely on moving the ComGuards back into position as quickly as we did previously. Frankly, we ate a lot of cancellation charges to bring them in and if we're going to pay for expanded training and equipment purchasing, that has to stop. Can you look into options for short term postings within 200 light years of Terra along the Combine and League borders? A presence there might deter any local urges to adventurism…"

Chang-an, Liao

Sarna March, Lyran Commonwealth

23 December 3051

After hours of formal ceremonies, Victor was glad to put aside the heavy formal cape and scepter he'd been invested with and go back to just wearing an AFFC dress uniform. Normally, he'd consider that uncomfortable, but the regalia of a March Lord put that into perspective.

Released from the care of valets, the newly minted Duke of Sarna made his escape into the banquet hall. House Liao had built it on a great scale eight hundred years before and it had survived the centuries - housing diplomats from neighboring realms, vassal lords from nearby worlds and then the nobility of the Tikonov Commonality when members of the Great House returned to their roots. Rich heavy woods and ivory inlays marked tall pillars, with windows and mirrors high above even the galleries lighting up the chamber.

Victor saw that already there were quite a number of officials, nobles and military officers forming little clusters - and around the edges little knots of elaborately dressed women watched each other with the air of feral dogs about to fight over some morsel. He shuddered slightly, knowing who their target was.

"Well, if it isn't the guest of honor."

Victor turned at the greeting, glad it wasn't loud enough to draw attention. "Hauptmann-Kommandant."

Galen grinned. "Hauptmann-Kommandant," he returned the greeting. "Congratulations for catching up on my lofty rank."

"I almost wish I hadn't," he admitted. There was only room for one Hauptmann-Kommandant in the Tenth Lyran Guards 'mech regiment so the promotion had cost him his battalion. It wasn't clear he'd ever have a permanent unit assignment now.

"Well, if my cursory knowledge of your lofty rank is right, you could have claimed a Field Marshal's tabs," the Tamar native pointed out.

Victor made a face. Customarily, as March Lord it was his right to claim control of either the associated Ministry or of the military forces stationed in the Sarna March. He didn't feel ready for either and had endorsed the current incumbents but his parents had made it clear that sooner or later he would need to personally choose the successors, and preferably take one of the offices. "I don't think I've earned that rank."

"For what it's worth, Victor," Galen told him, "I think you're right."

"Thanks."

"One day, yes. But you're only twenty-one. Take the time you have to make sure that you are ready."

"Yeah," Victor agreed. "I guess you're right." He looked around. "How about we take a walk around the gallery, maybe grab some drinks before I go down there."

Galen chuckled. "Sure. Just as long as you do head down there. We both know that that's part of you getting ready."

"I know," Victor sighed. "But maybe if I wait a little, some of the ambushers will take each other out."

"Some people don't have women lining up looking for our attention."

"You can have one of them if you want," he offered as they walked around the gallery towards the section that opened up into the upstairs bar. "Heck, take three if you can swing it."

Galen laughed and smacked him on the back.

The bar was carpeted and while most of those below were from the Federated Commonwealth, the bar was apparently a refuge for a smattering of representatives from the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds League. Few had attended Victor's investiture, but the follow up reception was a prelude to the conference that was the real reason most had come to Liao.

Victor brightened as he saw two familiar faces sat at one of the tables. The Coordinator of the Draconis Combine was flanked by two aides that were evidently really guards, but his attention was on the woman facing him.

Omi looked up and saw Victor, then said something to Minoru, who turned his head slightly. His face was stiffer than it had been when they spoke by HPG but the Coordinator rose from his seat and strode across the bar towards them.

"Please tell me you didn't knock his sister up," Galen murmured as everyone turned to look at what must look like a confrontation between ancestral enemies.

"Dammit, Galen." He'd been a complete gentleman. If that had happened there would be a war, it was just a matter of how large it would be. It wasn't as if he was some dumb leutnant out on the town, and Omi was definitely not the sort of woman to fall for a young officer, even if they'd not had all their family history to think about.

Minoru was first to speak, and he did so while offering his hand. "You saved my sister, my brother's swords, and thousands of House Kurita's most loyal and capable followers. House Steiner-Davion is fortunate to have such a capable heir."

Victor reached for the hand and shook it. "Our ancestors were each other's most powerful enemies, but when we work together, I believe our Houses are unstoppable."

"Slick," Galen muttered and then stared in bemusement as Minoru also offered him a handshake.

"It has been some time since Terra," Minoru continued, as Victor shook hands with Omi - crisp and professional. Nothing to suggest anything more than a personal connection. Then she smiled and Victor had to fight to keep his face straight.

"I hope you've been made as welcome here as we all were by ComStar," Galen said.

The Coordinator gave them a fleeting smile. "The hospitality has been excellent. I think it was wise to agree to meet here rather than in one of the Marches bordering the Draconis Combine."

Omi nodded. "Everyone on New Avalon was very polite, but it will be a long time before anyone there forgets the history between our houses."

"Perhaps that's for the best," Victor said and saw a flicker of surprise from both Kuritas. "We can be reminded of what we've forgotten. But if we can build a working relationship while keeping our past in mind then perhaps we can avoid mistakes of the past."

"Very diplomatic," Minoru said approvingly. "You've been practising."

Victor shrugged slightly. It was true of course. The preparations for the investiture and the conference had been as gruelling as the final exams at the Nagelring.

"Is it true that Kai Allard-Liao will not be attending?" the Coordinator continued.

He nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, he's kind of busy. Capellans won't defeat themselves."

"Some might say that that's exactly what is happening," Omi chided slightly. "I met his sister Kuan-Yin on New Avalon and I believe she would have been happier if he had returned to his family first, before throwing himself into war against their aunt."

"Vengeance can drive a man - or woman - to make decisions they may later regret."

She looked away sharply at Galen's words and Victor nudged the man slightly in reminder that the Kurita's had both lost their own parents only a year ago. They probably understood Kai's feelings better than he did. Although… Galen's parents were also dead, he remembered. He was the only one of the four of them that wasn't orphaned by war. "I hope not to find out," he said. "For what it's worth, unless Romano has more in reserve than McCarron's Armored Cavalry, I don't think he's in any more danger than we faced on Luthien."

With four other potential hostile neighbours - the Taurian Concordat, Magistracy of Canopus, Free Worlds League and Federated Commonwealth - the Capellans couldn't afford to strip all their borders to face Kai's offensive. It wasn't likely that any of them would invade, but it wasn't impossible and Romano Liao's paranoid tendencies made her more likely to expect it than to dismiss the idea.

"How are your hardliners taking the current alliance we're enjoying?" he asked, to change the subject.

Minoru's smile slipped. "Perhaps not quite so well as your Draconis March," he said judiciously.

Victor winced. James Sandoval had been increasingly vocal about this being the perfect opportunity to deal with the Draconis Combine. The Duke had never been happy about the reverses of the Fourth Succession War or the War of 3039 - if his father hadn't died three years ago, the 'Old Duke' would probably be taking the opportunity of being retired to make a scene on New Avalon.

The sad thing was that the Duke of Robinson was faultlessly loyal to the Federated Commonwealth. He just had a very specific idea of what was good for the Federated Commonwealth: it involved the cessation of the Draconis Combine's existence. And for most of his life, Victor had broadly agreed - it was a matter of when and how, not if.

And then the Clans came.

"Well, Tancred Sandoval is representing his father," he offered cautiously. "I don't believe there will ever be great friendship between our nations, but I doubt he wants the Draconis March to experience what the Combine has."

"I have attempted to avoid bringing anyone inflammatory with me," Minoru told him. "For the moment, I can silence the more obvious voices by inviting them to lead their personal forces to the worlds bordering the Clans, but I can only do that so much or they will be concentrated in sufficient strength of arms to be a problem in that regard."

The Coordinator paused in thought. "I wish to stress that I do not believe for a moment that you or my sister would act unharmoniously, but there have been words said outside my hearing regarding the reasons she is on New Avalon."

"They're suggesting that she's a hostage?" asked Galen.

"No," Minoru corrected him. "They suggest that if Hanse Davion's grandson was also the grandson of Theodore Kurita then that grandson would be heartbeat from the Dragon throne."

"Ah."

Victor gave Omi an apologetic look. "And there are those here who whisper of Mary Davion's situation."

At the height of the Star League the daughter of the First Prince had fallen for a samurai she met on Terra… who had been a younger son of the Coordinator. Mary Davion had renounced her inheritance rights in order to marry the man she loved, but after her death there had been claims made that this did not extend to her son Vincent. The disputed succession had led to a four year war and the death of a reigning First Prince, dragged from his cockpit and decapitated on the battlefield.

Before 2730, the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns had been rivals. After that year, they had been enemies.

"Well," Galen said brightly. "There is only one thing for it."

"What's that?" Victor asked, suspiciously.

"You and Minoru are the most eligible bachelors in the Inner Sphere," Galen told him. "There's a hall down there with a large number of women who will no doubt find you irresistible."

Victor exchanged looks with Minoru. "The obvious issue there is that finding women who care for me rather than my rank is a bit challenging."

"House Kurita customarily keeps our family matters private."

Galen sighed theatrically and looked over to Omi. "They're hopeless. Fortunately, I have a Plan B?"

"And that would be?" she asked, sounding amused.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked, sounding entirely too charming.

Omi considered that and then nodded. "Since we are now allies, enjoying Lyran largesse would be in order."

Victor tried very very hard not to glare at his friend's back.

Imperial City, Luthien

Clan Diamond Shark Occupation Zone

27 December 3051

Hard wood clattered against hard wood. Ace retreated, glad of the protective gear.

After three exchanges, he missed a block and his opponent's sword tip smacked hard against his shoulder. Fortunately it was made of wood and his padded gear reduced the impact to bruising. Even so, he'd be feeling it for a while.

Not the worst lesson he'd had, but it was still annoying against someone twice his age. "Your point," he confirmed and glanced at the judge. "And match, I believe?"

"Correct," Precentor Andrew Norris confirmed. "Time for one more?"

"Tempting," Ace admitted, "But if I don't start cooling down now, I will not get the chance. My schedule is unforgiving."

He and his opponent exchanged bows and then left the training mat to other students in the dojo. Despite the Combine styling of the building, it was property of ComStar so Ace could be reasonably sure no one would attack him here. A breach of ComStar's neutrality would require them to side against the insurgents - not to the point of helping Ace find them, but they'd have to stop extending their protection to those who made it here.

Neither side wanted that, so Ace's semi-regular kenjutsu lessons were relatively safe.

Norris followed Ace to the side of the room. "I gather we won't be seeing you here in the future?"

Ace gave him a questioning look.

"We do hear things," Norris admitted. "Omega Galaxy rotating in while you are going one way and, forgive me if I have misunderstood, Alpha Galaxy is going somewhere else?"

"A little more complicated than that." There was a degree to which this was military information that shouldn't be shared, but at the same time it would be fairly well known soon. "And I gather you will be moving to Pesht to act as Precentor-Advocate for our Clan?"

"Touche," Precentor Luthien acknowledged. "Yes, it rather surprised us that you decided against basing that on Luthien but I suppose the insurgent problems are a little less on Pesht."

"We are working on it," Ace confirmed. And since Norris had shared some information, he could be forthcoming himself. "There is some rather overdue reorganization going on. I was never going to retain Alpha Galaxy in the long run - it is traditionally the Khan's command. Honestly, keeping the post for a full year is longer than was planned originally."

Norris nodded. "I had heard some rumor that you would receive Omega Galaxy instead, but clearly that is not the case."

"Neg, Seth Marghar will be arriving to take over. I do not know him," Ace admitted. The Galaxy Commander had led one of the Burrock garrison galaxies and would be one of the relatively few senior Burrock officers to be keeping his rank. Bikendi Vewas had already departed - the saKhan typically led Beta Galaxy and they were back in the homeworlds. It was probably best to have one of the two Khans back there with the way things had been heating up.

Clan Blood Spirit had not taken the Burrocks being absorbed almost bloodlessly well. Working together against a common enemy was working doing to bond the Diamond Sharks and the… new Diamond Sharks, but it was making it harder to bring troops forward into the Inner Sphere, which had been the entire point of the absorption.

"So what greek letter will you be leading?" asked Norris as they both unstrapped their gear. While he'd judged Ace's match, the Precentor had participated in several earlier matches. "Your people seem as fond of them as we are at times. Delta?"

"No, Delta is in the homeworlds," Ace said and then cursed himself for giving that away. Still, if he'd answered at all then it would have suggested that. "I am receiving Epsilon Galaxy."

"Epsilon…" mused the Precentor, opening the hamper where used padding was to be placed for cleaning. "I don't recall that unit on your roster from the invasion, so I assume you're expanding your presence now. Should we be worried?"

"It was pretty clear that we had not brought enough forces," Ace told him and handed his own pads over. Delta and Epsilon Galaxy were both frontline galaxies that were being assembled out of the warriors and equipment made available by disassembling the Burrock touman. Delta would be almost entirely made up of former Burrocks, while Epsilon would have an even split - enough warriors and equipment for two clusters were on their way to rendezvous with the Twenty-First Assault and Twenty-Seventh Cruiser Clusters, both of which would transfer from Alpha to act as a cadre.

Barbara Sennet would be integrating a similar group of reinforcements into Alpha Galaxy and once that was done, Ace gathered that a pair of garrison galaxies would be transferred along the 'Revival Road' to bring the Occupation forces up to an acceptable level. After Camlann the priority had been bringing forward administrators and local garrisons but it was fairly clear that more was going to be needed soon.

Honestly, Ace would prefer more, but there had been a succession of Trials of Possession fought for territory and resources of the expanded Clan Diamond Shark. Nothing significant had been lost, but if this kept up it was only a matter of time and sending more forces to the Inner Sphere would only open more opportunities to the other Clans.

The two men began stretches calculated to help their muscles settle down from the earlier exertions. Ace was still feeling the strain from the unfamiliar exercises, but he did feel that he was beginning to get a more functional grasp of how one used a katana. Having more options for trials was something he needed to work on, and if it helped him to get to grips with how the Combine thought then that was all the better.

"Have you ever met Minoru Kurita?" he asked Norris.

"Only once," the Precentor admitted. "He'd left for training at an academy before I was stationed here. It was only shortly before you took Luthien that we had any chance to meet, and of course he left before you arrived."

"I suppose he would be trained in kenjutsu?"

"Oh, absolutely. The nobility of the Combine consider that to be normal and even if for some bizarre reason he hadn't been trained by his family - Takashi Kurita was a very respected swordsman," Norris added as an aside, "- it is covered by every reputable academy in in the Combine. You simply can't graduate without learning kenjutsu."

Ace nodded. The mindset of a swordsman was an aggressive one. The katana was not really used for parrying, even if sword contact came up fairly often in training. One might wait for an opponent to move first in order to find an opening, but the emphasis was on striking decisively to eliminate the foe.

The chances of the Draconis Combine waiting for the fifteen year truce to expire were minimal - the agreement never bound them anyway. That being the case, it would be better to strip worlds - particularly industrial worlds - from their control now rather than later. Ace doubted that they would be caught as unprepared as they had been at the start of the invasion, but the addition of more advanced technology and graduation of new classes meant that the DCMS would be more dangerous every year going forwards.

He looked forward to discussing this with Angus Labov once his former commander arrived from the homeworlds. Now that he had returned to active warrior status, the Star Colonel had stated his intent to reclaim the Twenty-First Assault Cluster, which was fine with Ace. It would be a little odd to be in charge of Labov, but it had been over two years since they last met. There were a few more Diamond Sharks coming with the flood of former-Burrocks - Ace had requested Tomori, his long ago subordinate from the Fifteenth Cruiser Cluster as well.

Sharks had to keep swimming, he thought.

Straightening up, Ace concluded that he had finished just in time. "I may see you on Pesht," he told Norris, "But it depends where I wind up taking Epsilon Galaxy. And the enemy does get a vote in that."

"Which enemy?" the Precentor asked.

"Good question," he admitted.