Hall of Khans, Katyusha City
Strana Mechty, Clan Space
7. September 3033
"...and in conclusion the momentary situation in the Inner Sphere can be summed up in a few sentences. Due to several factors I talked about earlier playing a role, the stalemate in the Inner Sphere continues on. The five Houses stand isolated from each other, all wanting to re-erect the Star League in their own image. While not really evenly matched, an example the Capellan Confederation and the Federated Suns, being the smallest and largest House respectively, short sighted chance-grabbing by all sides hinder a decisive advance by a single House.
If someday House Davion could overcome some of it´s disadvantages, given that it fields the largest forces in the Sphere, the FedSuns might pull ahead of the other Houses. But for now, the 5 Houses remain locked in a Grand Melee, everybody against the other.
The Techlevel remains below the Star League, the only 'great' development in the time between our last report and this one, is Houses Steiner and Kurita independently of each other recreating 2 lost terraforming techniques.
Starcolonel Natasha Kerensky, CO of Wolf Dragoons, out."
The holo-image of the Black Widow faded from the Projection and the discussion began.
"Great, this was report 18 in 30 years and once again the words stalemate continues on play a prominent role. We should help all of the Inner Sphere by breaking up the stalemate and dispose off the corrupt House Lords! Quiaff?
By the way, she and the Dragoons make a very good recon, but could someone from our Clan Wolf comrades tell Kerensky to not wear these rags when making a report? The insolence!"
A quiet by still audible laugh came from Jade Falcon Khan Yvonne Hazen. "I remember Natasha from the time when she was still here. She was not big on decorum even then. One of the reasons she was a perfect pick for going to barbarian space.
Anyway, I am all for going back to the Inner Sphere and putting the real Star League together again, but we cannot be rash, Gareth. We have to plan. I know the Smoke Jaguars and some other Clans present would not mind attacking the Great Houses blind, but in this case I am with the Wolfs and Cloud Cobras.
Just look at that report again. House Davion holds a some good cards and a large military gives us many chances for glory, but the Suns, a tempting target, are far away. The shortest way would be going through the Lyran Commonwealth and or the Draconis Combine. But the planets close to the Sphere there are not that good for staging a really big invasion force.
We would need to bring most goods in from the Homeworlds for quite a time. Another variant would be advancing through the Outworld Alliance or Circinus. These regions are 'advanced' enough that we would only need to bring in Hightech from the Homeworlds, bulk goods like food could be produced there in sufficient numbers. But as with the FedSuns, the distance is greater. And there are one or two other corridors with some potential. Which one shall we use? See, before we are not sure about the way in, we should wait and become sure. It is not as if the Inner Sphere is on the way to recovery from her sorry state. Considering that the Sphere goes on and on like centuries before, a decade or two more is okay as long as we find a good plan. And in the not too far future we will save them from the greed of the House Lords and free Humanity´s home."
Federated-Boeing Megaplex, Galax
Crucis March, Federated Suns
3033
Doctor of Engineering Matt Languedoc, Head of Federated-Boeing´s research division, sat in office. A coffee standing beside him on the desk, Galax´ Sun sending her rays through the window. The text he was composing was hard work, not everyday the First Prince asked you a question, so the answer had to be good, well even better.
After getting the order by courier, his division had began to run scenarios, pull out records and simple, but intense research. It had not taken more than 3 days to find the answer, but Matt did not believe New Avalon would see it as a happy one. Still, the doctor was proud that even the lauded NAIS had not been given this task. FB´s R&D was reinforced as the logistics wizard of the Federated Suns. Now was only the problem, how to package the less than ideal results.
"Your Highness! Even with the economic power of the Free Worlds League and the Capellans on our side, is it impossible to copy the economic undertakings of the Steiner-Kurita alliance in the same vein. We can, on a lower level, produce a facsimile, but only if we go a different way. It might be possible in the future to catch and overtake them, especially since we have more systems and population, but at the moment not only the larger industrial base held by the Fist and the Dragon in combination gives them a lead, there is more. For instance the shortage of Jumpships in the Concord of Oriente, the vast distances and the low pools of money in the Confederation and the Suns. From Maxwell in the FWL´s Abbey District to Delos IV in the Draconis March it is over the thumb a full 1000 Lightyears. Our Federated Suns already had a economy weakening Jumpship problem, with the new regions open to us it simply worsens that. While the FWL is a major key to rectify this, it will take many years, decades even with the help of the Helm Library.
We might, by concentrating resources, Jumproutes and personal on several key systems in our three Houses, create output very roughly comparable to Houses Steiner and Kurita. Systems like Galax, Calloway VI, Grand Base or Clipperton come to mind, please see the appendix list for further planets. But it still would not be the broad, realm spanning uplift these two Nations seem to aim for.
To copy that effort, if the information we work with is correct, the Federated Suns and her allies need a massive number of new Jumpships and some time and money consuming infrastructure work. Even if we had enough Jumpships and industrial capacities, regions like Kilbourne PDZ, Kearny Combat Region or the FWL Rim Communality among others lack so many basics, this has to come first. What would a factory be of use, if it is practically out in nowhere? The rift between advanced and Skid Row worlds is especially deep and obvious in our beloved nation. A disadvantage we can only stop with money and time, both of which are in short supply, if the offensive some reports spoke about is near. The conclusion is simple: Only a decades long, expensive program can produce the results you wish, my Prince."
Sincerely, Dr. Matt Languedoc
Wolf´s Dragoons Base, Gienah
Bolan Province, Lyran Commonwealth
6. January 3034
The Lyran courier never saw the effects his delivery had on the Mercenary command in the conference room he had left moments before.
4 persons in the room looked at the reinforced suitcase on the table. Natasha Kerensky, Mackenzie Wolf, Thomas West and Kathleen Dumont had thought after three decades in the Inner Sphere nothing could surprise them much anymore. They admitted that sometimes life had ways to ensure it´s very own pulse.
"The Steiners and Kuritas have a developed a variant of Superlight communication. Who would have thought this?" Thomas openly displayed his amazement.
"It has it´s limits, but the potential results... Can you imagine the face of Myndo Waterly when someday she gets the information that there is an alternative to Comstar? Maybe she does us the good deed and get a fatal heart attack?"
"Sure! And it is fully understandable that while they try to make the two realms halfway independent from Comstar, security is of importance. We can feel honoured. I doubt many other Mercenaries will get handed one for the duration of their contract. Like this courier said: Since your unit has always shown high grade professionalism and integrity, the Wolf´s Dragoons have earned the right to a Black Box Transmitter for as long as you are in the employ of either House Steiner or House Kurita.
I truly doubt that more than 2 or three other mercenary commands will get one or even the knowledge that these things exist. And Natasha...Natasha?"
The Black Widow´s eyes showed clearly that she had not heard a thing, contemplating something else. Then she focused on the other three persons in the room.
"Sorry, but do you recognize the other implications? As good as their secrecy around this transmitter might be, someday Comstar will get information about this technology. The House Lords do not know or intuit at best what the Order is - their main foe. A foe with a lot of material in the backhand. The Clans will come or it is the most probable way they might come through the Commonwealth and the Combine. And with a Comstar as an additional dedicated enemy, since Comstar will not let rest such technology in the hands of the House Lords, the results will not be pretty. And at first the other three Houses will not lift a finger.
If our Wolfnet´s predictions are correct, there is trouble ahead in at least 4 of the five Successor States. Self created, by other Houses - or by Comstar.
The massive uplift the Steiners and Kuritas try to implement is most certainly not aimed against the Clans, it is against their fellow Lords and with luck it might be against Comstar, if Katrina and Takashi are among those who suspect Comstar for what it is. Especially under this idiot Waterly. I still cannot get my head around the message from Wolfnet declaring that the most likely intent of Waterly is to break up the 5 Houses into smaller, warring nations to better control and subjugate them.
How mad have you to be. Even without the Clans, the universe is vast and only because we have not found a real alien intelligence so far, does not mean there is nothing out there.
How can someone purposefully try to bring down civilisation further, alien or no alien out there? For all they have done, the Houses still stand after centuries. Reducing them to a rag of principalities will only bring more danger of a complete breakdown of civilisation. Comstar is deluded if they think they can get the genie back into the bottle if they let it free."
"What do you mean, Tasha?"
"I did not want to shy the horses early, but while the worst scenario I see for next one or two decades will likely not come to be, it still could. That there is chance of that happening, forces my hand. Tom, send a message to Tharkad and Luthien, max coded, that I want an audience with both of the Lords together. Time to test what this baby on the table can do."
First Circuit of Comstar, Terra
Sol-System
6. January 3034
"Phase Two of Operation Free Inner Sphere is only 4 days away. And since the sixth January has a long religious tradition, I think celebrating the nearing time of Comstar´s rise to leadership of the Inner Sphere is in order, even if we have to wait some more years until we can pluck the fruits we will spread at and after the tenth January."
Myndo Waterly was in a very happy mood. Primus Tiepolo with his insistence on not weakening the Houses below a certain level, had been a coward. After he died, she had been given the mantle of Primus and she saw clearly that the Houses had to be reduced to rumps, husks, before the enlightenment of Comstar could send out a new dawn for humanity.
Even before Tiepolo´s death in 3029, she had started a radical version of Operation Holy Shroud II in her then domain, the Combine. While results had been in sharp decline after the Combine and Commonwealth started to cooperate on a deeper level, Myndo was confident, that Comstar could destabilise the Houses to such degree that they toppled.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Primus, but was Phase 1, the test, not a failure, considering that the Steiners and Kuritas are now even in closer cooperation?" Ulthar Everston, did not beat around the bushes, neither in success nor failure.
While her smile faltered for a second, Waterly´s mood stayed sunny.
"Ulthar, that was just a bit of bad luck. Besides, we had some success. Their are strong indications, despite the propaganda of Dragon and Fist, that the 26th Lyran Guards were destroyed defending Tok Do and must be rebuild. We should let the Fox and Janos Marik get this information by accident.
And now we can station our Comguards openly without suspicion from the Houses. All in all, it was a success."
"We lost three regiments, since our Guards are not on the level of the House Armies for now."
"Yes, but we can soak this damage, the Successor Lords cannot. We must act before this Helm Library leads to an innovation drive by the Houses and we will succeed."
Archon´s Palace, Tharkad
District of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
28. February 3034
Unlike many spectators, who walked normally, Ariane von Florbach had to limp to one of the Throne room's exits. The doctors reassured her that with time she would regain full use of her right leg, but the wait was maddening for her.
Von Florbach! Minutes earlier she had been ennobled. Hundreds of cameras from all major news and gossip outlets in the Inner Sphere had been present, when the survivors of the 26th Lyran Guards were honoured. Not only the Archon gave out the commendations, but the Coordinator, leaving his son the Kanrei as proxy on Luthien, had travelled to Tharkad as well, since several members of the 26th received honours only the Combine Lord himself could bestow.
It had been a great show, with a retelling of their desperate battle against the barbaric marauders and the final triumph, saving Aichiyama and the lives of millions. Ariane, her comrades and the people in the room kept a silent honour minute for the lives lost in this heinous invasion.
Then the two House Lords, Takashi Kurita already having adopted the Eagle´s Feather for the Combine units, introduced three new unit commendations for extraordinary service against enemies of the realm. The "White Flag Sword" would be in the eyes of all persons present the commendation most seldom awarded. Simply because of lack of opportunities. Fights against the Capellans were rare for both LCAF and DCMS. The commendation itself showed the CapCon Crest with a white flag fluttering on a brittle, rusted Dao sword.
The next one was the "Supernova Ribbon". It showed a sun gone nova with pieces of a ripped apart sword flying around. Unsurprisingly the commendation was for victories against House Davion. The first recipients on the Lyran side were the 3rd, 6th and 15th Lyran Guards, who had defended Hesperus II during the Lestrade Uprising, on the Combine side the firsts were the 5th Sword of Light for Hesperus also and the units which had taken Marduk, Quentin and Mallory´s World.
The last one was the "Pirate Banisher", showing a ribbon with a pirate being hung from the "arm" of a Warhammer. Needlessly to say the first giving out of the commendation began the ceremonies for the 26th.
Several officers, including herself, had been made Barons, while noncoms and enlisted men had received livelong knighthood. The unit itself had been bestowed with the Unit Citation of Merit, gaining all members the McKennsy Hammer or the McKennsy Groundpounder medal.
All members of the 26th had been given a daisho (a Katana and a Wakizashi) in wonderful quality from the Combine, recognizing them as Samurai and were made Knights of New Samarkand, a honour given to those who fought on against dire odds.
Ariane had been extremely moved when Archon Katrina Steiner shook the hands of all members of the 26th and she saw the joy, dignity and the sadness for the lives lost in her Lord´s eyes. Katrina Steiner felt for her people.
Limping towards her exit, Ariane von Florbach saw that beside the two House Lords and their typical entourage, Natasha Kerensky, the commander of the Wolf´s Dragoons with 2 of her aides, lingered about. As far as she knew, the Dragoons were based on Gienah, so it was a bit of a travel. While representatives from other units had come to the ceremony as well, mercenaries seldom did so in general. It was a sign of respect from the Dragoons, but she could not shake the feeling that there was more to this visit by the Black Widow here. Unfortunately Ariane had no reason to stay, but she hoped that soon there would be information available. Where Natasha Kerensky was, action normally waited just around the corner.
The Archon´s private office, TharkadDistrict of Donegal, Lyran Commonwealth
28. February 3034
After the Award Ceremony for the 26th Lyran Guards was over, Natasha Kerensky met Katrina Steiner and Takashi Kurita under "four" eyes in the Archon´s private office, due to all the countermeasures taken against eavesdropping probably the most safe room for this in the Commonwealth.
It actually showed in every corner of the room, the multiple personal touches here and there, that only a selected few persons would gain entry and none would "blab" about the things seen. Because some magazines would kill for knowledge of the souvenirs in this office and up to now nothing ever surfaced. At least the Black Widow had never found information that an extremely colourful T-Shirt from Katrina Steiner's Mechwarrior days showed the printing "I broke a nail - in your ribcage" before. There where holopictures from hundreds of planets on the walls and some of those showed vistas which were definitely not from the Inner Sphere. Something Natasha would investigate personally later on. The bookcases along the walls were well-filled with real books and datastick editions. And that it were often read books was clear in the unruly way they stood there.
There was a corner with changes of clothes, old and current, especially the memorabilia ones Kerensky had problems connecting with the Katrina Steiner of now. Some of them were quite daring above the norm from even Mechwarriors. It seemed to the Commander of Wolf´s Dragoons that researching the Archon would be interesting, if just to satisfy her personal curiosity.
But more important things came first. Two of the three persons in the room were House Lords, so a certain decorum had to be maintained, but since all three were successful Mechwarriors, if in the case of Katrina and Takashi semi-retired, this levelled the rank differences quite a bit. Due to the length of the commendation ceremony a lunch had been served, during which the three made some light small talk. When dessert had been over and they sat together with a cup of Vorzel hot cocoa before them, a question to Natasha about her children she took as the opening move of this very important talk.
"Thank you, Lord Steiner, they are happy and ok. Goodness, some days I think they grow ten centimetres every five minutes!"
Good-natured laughter sounded in the office. Katrina Steiner's and Takashi Kurita´s children were already grown up, but they remembered such times well.
"Actually children, yours, others and mine, their futures, are the reason I requested this meeting. When I saw the Black Box transmitter you gifted us, and I thank you sincerely for the trust you showed the Dragoons, practically at once I recognized the potential conflict that someday could arise with Comstar over this. The 'Robes' will someday find out, no matter how good security measures are and will not be pleased. And after all these years in so many corners of the Inner Sphere, I am convinced that Comstar is far from harmless in more ways than one."
There she said it and with this let the test balloon loose. How naive or not to the danger Comstar presented would the two House Lords be?
Ever after the potentially lethal shadowboxing with Allessandro, which drove her into the Periphery before returning to overthrow him, Katrina Steiner listened very well to what people said or hinted at. And the Archon had a well developed nose for reading how other people were. Neither Takashi nor she considered Natasha Kerensky a 08/15 mercenary, easily dismissed. No, there was more to the Black Widow than her public image. Katrina felt this to be a test and answered with a test of her own.
"Thank you for your opinion on this, Oberst Kerensky, but dependency on Comstar is just another form of non-harmlessness, isn´t it? Something to change the status quo has to be done, if not at once. One step was the development of the new transmitters. What do think about this?"
Natasha let the words linger for a moment, caught the meaning and answered.
"I´m relieved you see the danger Comstar, despite their propaganda, represents. There are leaders in the Sphere, who do not see. So this widespread building and repair spree is aimed at the Order?"
"In part. We have enough of this slow slide into the abyss of Chaos. The Coordinator´s and my 'building spree' is to get our realms back into the shape they once were, but we would be idiots if we do not plan for conflict and our realms advantage. We doubt that the Fox or the other Houses will let us be. At the moment, their industry cannot match ours, so we need to build up a lead as large as possible.
And Comstar, there is something unwholesome about their neutrality. Besides, the fact that non of our ancestors or the other Houses conquered the Sol-System shows that they must have a trump hidden. The 2 first Succession Wars were, as we all know, fought with less restraint."
They suspect, but do not know the true extent. Well, we do not too, but if only half of what Comstar hides since the Fall of the Star League is available...
Their motives are less than really pure, but Steiner and Kurita at least try to stop their parts of the Inner Sphere from going totally down the drain. Jaime, why did you have to die so early? You could do this with more political finesse. But I will see this through. Compared with the other Powers, the Combine and the Commonwealth for once try to do the right thing.
"My Lords, Comstar is just one reason I wanted to talk with you. Comstar is even just an important side topic, important, but still a side topic. I am no politician, so I drop an pretence to that. Your realms are in grave danger. The SLDF will be coming back." Natasha hastened her speech to prevent the questions from being voiced. "Please let me tell this tale first, I will answer all of your questions afterwards. If you need proof, I can give you some. Let me tell you about the fate of the SLDF after the Fall of the Star League, a planet called Strana Mechty and why there is a Damocles sword hanging over us...
2 hours later
"...and so I decided to warn you before it is too late."
Despite having answered questions in the last half hour, Natasha felt that Katrina Steiner and Takashi Kurita were still a bit stunned by what they learned. But that was not surprising. You did not learn everyday that your realm is the target of 3 allied, if rather loosely, Great Houses, a Comstar with more bad surprises in it´s pockets than thought and being in the way of a High Tech, totalitarian pseudo-SLDF with a serious grudge.
"I know we asked it before, but why did you decide to help us? You were their 'eyes', so what changed, please tell us again."
"When I first arrived in the Inner Sphere, I was, as all Dragoons were, fully for freeing the people from the yoke of the evil House Lords. But over time, I made the discovery, sometimes with painful learning, that the Inner Sphere had the right to her own ways of life. The Clans had lost the right to speak for the SLDF and the Inner Sphere when they did not return home after the First Succession War, Second the latest. Then they would have made a difference and could have stopped your forebears from going too far.
Now my brothers and sisters delude themselves into thinking they represent the will and ideals of Alexandr Kerensky, not seeing that they will bring just more sorrow. I would have waited a little longer with the reveal, since I wanted to present it to all House Lords and Comstar, to build a unified front, but the fact that you two have build up a low level, but functioning concurrence to Comstar forced my hand. And you have to be far along with the Black Box Net, if you can grant some to trusted mercenary commands.
Now we can never be sure that Comstar will play by the rules, seeing itself endangered, because if we try to build up a unified defence by all IS powers, knowledge about the Black Boxes will get out. But then again, I doubt we are naive enough to think Comstar, especially under Myndo Waterly, will be helpful in any case. Far more a sell-out and a backstabber."
There was a hint of something in the voice of the Black Widow during the last sentences, which was acknowledged by Katrina and Takashi as an old wound.
"How long have we?"
"I cannot say. We never had real contact with the Clans after 3019, so I do not know if the Crusaders or the Wardens are in the lead. We just send reports every two years back, which since that time are very creative. If nothing happens out of the ordinary, on assumption that the political landscape in the Homeworlds did not change much, I´d say a decade or two, with luck longer."
"This is not long enough to do all we need, especially not if all other major Powers stand or will stand against us."
"Yes, even if you talk to and convince the other Houses of the danger the Clans represent, they will wait, since first non of their assets are in danger and second, knowing Katrina and I have to look out to the Periphery again, might- bah- will give them ideas."
"And with Comstar in the mix, Waterly might get the idea to "help" the Davions, Mariks and Liaos decide their problems with us once and for all and then look out for the time when the Clans come. While I doubt this scenario comes to be, we have to think about such a problem. Hanse Davion might be open enough to see why a concerted action against the Clans would be the best, but the other leaders, especially Waterly, I doubt that they would see beyond their short term gains."
"They are right!" Thought Natasha a bit dejectedly. The Inner Sphere was in a precarious, but halfway stable balance in the moment, with the chances for Combine and Commonwealth getting better in the long run with their advance in recovering LosTech. A new factor, like the reveal of the Clans to all sides would be, could be damaging far more than helping. So the Black Widow made a decision, which later historians would call historic, but was first interrupted by Takashi Kurita´s short laugh. Both Natasha´s and Katrina´s eyes shifted onto him.
"I just recalled the time when I thought about your peace overture. One of my biggest questions was if we Combine Samurai would still be able to gather as much honour as before. Now it seems we are in for the greatest haul of battlefield honour since our realms existed, because we are allied! How fate plays out..."
Katrina could see the humour in that, having updated her knowledge of Combine customs in the years of alliance, but stayed practical.
"You know, Takashi, that this changes everything? All plans we made so far have to be revised and even new ones created-" She stopped, then made a short laugh of her own. "You know, I tried my offer to bring more peace for the realms signing it and now when we are succeeding in that, fate forces me to commit to the greatest military build-up in the history of the Commonwealth."
For Natasha, this gallows humour was interesting. For one, she saw that while the two Lords might not be friends per se, over the years they became comfortable enough around each other to joke around. And second, they knew the two states were in a dire position, with the Clans the game changer. The alliance between Commonwealth and Combine was actually a close to perfect one. Both nations complemented each other, as could be seen for years now. Able to hold their own against the other three Great Houses, even if Comstar was in the mix, if the alliance had more time. But the Clans that was too much, from too many sides, without help.
So Natasha was even more convinced that she had to play the counterbalance.
"My Lords, I do not make this proposal lightly, since it goes against much I believe the Dragoons should be, but the current situation leaves few choices.
1) I will not speak with the other Leaders of the Inner Sphere about the Clans until necessary, but I reserve the right to decide when there is necessity.
2) I will give you a complete database about the workings of Star League Era and very early ClanTech, even better than the Helm Library. Your industries should be able to produce them soon after a retooling phase. Real ClanTech is too advanced for now, but with the database, your creative scientists should soon develop their own variants of Star League Tech.
3) I am willing to commit the Dragoons to the service of your two Houses if we retain a good deal of operational freedom and a base fiefdom of substantial size. We can hammer out the details later.
4) If you agree with me, we need to work out the new plans and revise the actual ones as soon as possible. Because if we really want to have a chance, we have to do it right from the beginning. I still hope we can get the other Houses into the defence of the Inner Sphere against the Clans at a later date, but if it boils down to just Commonwealth and Combine, we have a Mechload of problems to solve."
"Well, Herzogin (Duchess) Kerensky, you are right on that." Both the Archon and the Coordinator stood up to shake Natasha´s hand. "We will call in a secret emergency meeting of the men and women who need to know. But," and here both Katrina and Takashi had determined grins on their faces, "do you know who just volunteered, no matter if we can convince Hanse Davion or the others to help, to command the defences against the Clans?"