Situation Room
Fox's Den, Mount Davion
New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth
November 6th, 3056
As the briefing droned on with news of an inconclusive battle here, a Blakist or Capellan terror attack there, the litany all meant one thing to Katherine. It's all on my damn watch, and I am dancing to Sun-Tsu's tune. She drummed her fingers as she reached through her mind. She'd been mostly a passive observer in the military and intelligence briefings, still a bit in shock over the events of nineteen days before. She'd given Nondi more autonomy on the Clan front, and Nondi in her last communication said that the Steel Vipers "..were horribly telegraphing their intentions". Whatever the hell that meant.
Victor was still in a coma, and Katherine made a point of reading to him by his bed, a chapter a day from the classics. Katherine smiled at that, he wasn't much for classic literature, but now? Now I think he's a bit of a captive audience. They were on the third chapter of Moby Dick, but reading to Victor just reminds me how I miss him, and how I am on the damn backfoot because of that murderous jackal on Sian! And Peter, Yvonne, Arthur? Jesus, they're in godddamned seclusion! I can't even send a message to them! I can't be the big sister I need to be, the ruler I need to be? All I can be is angry, impotent..and…
There was a SNAP, Katherine hadn't realized it, but she had snapped her stylus from the anger over the fate of her parents. All the heads in the Situation Room turned. A thought came unbidden to Katherine. "Ladies and Gentlemen, can everyone but the principals clear the room?" Katherine queried. It wasn't long before a rustling of papers and chairs commenced as the veritable army of junior aides, briefers, and clerical personnel cleared the room. Katherine waited for all of them to clear the room. Once the last of them left, the door closed with a snick, it seemed louder to Katherine that it possibly could have. She took a deep breath, surveyed the room. Time to show them the nutcase has some teeth after all.
"Ladies and Gents, to put it in terms my father would have said, these last three and a half weeks have been a terrible ass kicking. I intend we begin to put an end to it: Now."
Quintus Allard cleared his throat, his deputy Alex Mallory rustling through his papers expecting a request from his boss for information to back up a point his boss to make. "Your Highness, as much as I would like to, it's been a little tough just keeping ahead of all the Capellan and Blakist terror cells loose in the Sarna and Capellan Marches. And with Sarna under Capellan control…"
"I am aware of these challenges, but my family has been murdered, my brother clings to life in a hospital bed, and worse, our people cower in fear of almost daily terror attacks. No Quintus, I am done reacting. We are going to start taking control of this mess back. And that begins now." Katherine reached for an old, tattered olive green mapcase, it was standard Davion issue, and had a faded patch of the 3rd Davion Guards, a bird of prey soaring with a sword in it's talons. She opened it and removed a folder and placed it on the table. Alex Mallory leaned over and picked it up, and then leafed through it, his face slowly going white.
"Who compiled this, your Highness?"
"My father, he did so with the cooperation of your office. He just compiled names he saw in the daily briefs he still received. I suspect he knew we might need this. I am sad to say that he was right. I want all the names on this list dead by the end of the month, Alex. And no, damn the consequences!"
"Your highness, some on this list are prominent citizens of the Free Worlds League, two are members of their Parliament. One is an adviser to Thomas Marik. We can't just…"
Katherine saw red. "Yes, we can, Alex. I am tired of having open season declared on my family. Of letting that little bastard on Sian call the tune! He decided the type of war he wanted. Well, now he gets it. And if Thomas wants to give aid and comfort to the doers? Then a little of this is going to splash on him. And no, if that means war with him too, then so be it. He should know better. I will give him the chance to hand these people over to us before we take them out, but if they aren't in our hands by the end of the month, then they will have seen their last sunrise. No ifs, ands, or buts, Alex."
Alex blanched "Your Highness, this could hurt our agent networks in the League."
Katherine breathed "I am aware of that. I know it's a big risk for those men and women we have sent there. But, it's what we have trained them to do. And its cold comfort that we ask them to do it simply for queen and country, but ladies and gentlemen, this goes beyond politics as usual in the Inner Sphere. If we don't do this, no one and nothing is safe. The Blakists hit a damn shopping mall on Kestrel a week ago full of Christmas shoppers. No, we need to make it very unhealthy for these people. And Alex?"
"Yes, your Highness?"
"I want the targets to know who and why they are dying. Instruct the agents to tell their targets, or leave a calling card that says, "Greetings from Hanse and Melissa Steiner-Davion." And I want two Capellan names added to that list. Kali Liao, and Dina Ferarra."
"You want us to kill the head of the Maskirovka and the Chancellor's sister?"
"She planned the operation that killed my parents, and he needs to know the pain of losing family." Katherine said serenely. "After this, Alex, no more killings. We win this war clean. But now, we let them know they chose this war and the form it takes. We get to choose our form of retribution, and we will choose the form in which it ends. And I fully intend for it to end in our favor."
