The ilKhan’s Peace: Part One
Cassius N’Buta’s first act as ilKhan was to declare a moritorium on trials for territory and Bloodnames between Clans. Without these objectives to fight for, the size and scope of trials would be greatly reduced, as the use of a single legacy or production output could not justify the use of entire clusters.
Khan Leo Showers of the Smoke Jaguars sought to refuse the edict, but upon seeing the Council’s overwhelming support for the measure and recognizing the immense odds he would be against, he backed down. With the measure passed, the ilKhan could move on to the most important task ahead of him: Planning for the invasion.
N’Buta ordered every Clan to begin stockpiling war material in unheard of quantities. Each galaxy was to have enough munitions to sustain a month of high-intensity trials, with at least a cluster of spare frontline-quality mechs. He referenced the journals of Absalom Truscott during his planning of Klondike, extrapolating the scale of the operation and even going beyond to take into account any unforeseen setbacks.
The Khans were not pleased, to say the least. While the larger Clans could easily keep up with the production required - and even surpass it, in some cases - the smaller Clans would lag behind by years. Khan Schmitt of the Blood Spirits suggested that the larger Clans share their factory output, but was quickly shouted down. The weaker Clans should fight for what they lacked, argued Khan Hazen, and if they were too weak to keep up they should be left behind.
The Council was nearly derailed by another series of trials before Khan N’Buta intervened, declaring his intention to re-open the Strana Mechty MechWorks and overhaul it to produce older model Omnimechs to fill the production gap. Again, Khans Hazen and Showers sought to interfere and derail the ilKhan’s plan, but their objections were silenced when Khan Kerensky of the Wolves offered the schematics of the Woodsman Omnimech to the program - as well as declining his Clan’s share of the production.
“We Wolves have more than enough factory production to meet the ilKhan’s quotas. Unlike some Khans present, we do not fear putting our fellow Clans on a more even footing. I am confident of my warriors’ ability to demonstrate their superiority… though, I can see why Khans Hazen and Showers may not hold the same confidence in their own warriors.”
ilKhan N’Buta swiftly overturned Khan Showers’ call for a Trial of Grievance, pointing out that it would be a waste of time to interrupt such an important Kurultai for a minor slight, and called for a vote. The measure passed unanimously, with both Falcons and Jaguars forced to cooperate by the Wolf’s taunts. They, too, were quick to turn down their alloted share of the production, stating that the quality of anything coming out of such an old factory would not match up to their standards.
With the voting settled, the ilKhan called for more ‘Mech nominations. There were four production lines in the mothballed facility, and so far only the Woodsman had been offered. The Coyotes were quick to offer the Coyotl and Lupus, two of the first Omnimechs ever made and centuries out of production, and the Hell’s Horses offered to fill the last line with the Nova - knowing it would free up space in the Tokasha Mechworks if they no longer needed to produce spare parts for the outdated Omnimech.
With the matter settled, the ilKhan dismissed the council and made preparations to re-open the mothballed facility. While most of the Clans seemed happy with the way it had gone, the tensions and hostility that had characterized the previous years still ran strong - and they were more dangerous to the coming operation than any logistical shortcomings could ever be.
