But when he finishes, I think he'll be in a stronger position. I also suspect Vlad wouldn't have made that deal without Phelan's knowledge. It looks to me like reuniting the Wolves was the first actual act of reconciliation with the IS...
not necessarily. See, Phelan/Vlad uniting Wolf is one Clan. Marthe got two Crusaders and two Warden clans to follow her lead in doing something that before the conference was
literally unthinkable among the Clans as a whole, even the Liberal ones, even the Liberal
Wardens, while retaining control of one of the most
conservative Crusader Clans.
She overturned something Nicholas meant to stand
forever, without imploding Clan society (much), and then had the class
not to ask for the ilKhan Job herself.The impression I got of Marthe Pryde from the books, is she's
smarter than Elias Crichell-she's got the "Clan Honor" bug, but she's
intelligent. so, for that matter, is Vladimir Ward (and yeah, Phelan too). Where she differs from those two, is a grasp of
strategic vision. Let's be honest here, Vlad's vision extends to Clan
Wolf's interests, and Phelan doesn't look much further out than he does.
a bit further, but not appreciably much further, he's a good Khan, or SaKhan, but Marthe's taken the "With Falcon Eyes" thing
very seriously.
Vlad reconciled with the Warden wolves in a shotgun marriage of necessity: his Crusaders just got their collective asses handed to them AFTER subdividing, he's the junior partner mainly because Phelan's remnant was more numerous and in better shape and hadn't just had their central base overrun by killer robots.
Marthe's base was overrun too, but she managed to pull a strategic move by getting the rest of her Touman in motion
while being invaded, and got rescued by her
own Clan's reinforcements, then held on to command and kicked the Steel vipers out of her house, negotiated a cease-fire with the AFFC (No small feat) without also negotiating a surrender to them, or their affiliated forces.
These things translate into a position of strength, moreso because she cut a series of deals by trading off homeworld holdings and concentrating her Clan into their occupation zone (taking advantage of that cease-fire, but also cashing in for political capital in the Grand Council.)
The sum result being the ability to
get away with calling the Annihilation into question as a matter the Grand Council must address, while at the same time NOT calling for the destruction of the Wolves for failure (MORE capital, also a greater show of strength-'we don't need to absorb them'.)
Luck is the confluence of preparation plus opportunity. Her 'embassy' on Kowloon got her the opportunities to set up a public forum she could lead and control among the other Clans (Exploiting, among other things, their envy), as well as having the only
recognized embassy in the Inner Sphere, giving her an effective position of...
strength.
Preparation plus opportunity-unlike Phelan, she is a Trueborn, unlike Phelan, her link into the power-structure of the Inner Sphere is not by blood relation, but earned and won (appealing to Clan sensibilities).
her deft manipulation of Elizabeth, (a problematic spheroid with a well known hatred for the Clans as a whole and an army and navy far out of scale to what would be considered by the Clans or House Lords appropriate) further solidifies this image of strength. Placing one of her men at Elizabeth's ear in a public manner just hardens this image among the more intelligent and politically savvy Khans-building her reputation further.
Finally, the grand gesture of sitting with Victor, and reinforcing Liz's line about 'which side of the line you are on'. On this side: Fight for the survival of the Human Race. On that other side? everyone else, implying everything the Clans as a whole disdain. (Weakness, Cowardice, dependency).
Vlad followed her to that side, because it strengthen's Wolf's position-they're in the Inner Sphere, and if he sits with Victor, then he's less likely to need to defend his back from an attack by the Inner Sphere, and doesn't have to defend against Falcon incursions or challenges, that's two borders effectively secured by plopping his ass in a seat, but it also (again) makes Marthe look like the stronger.
Kabrinski
had to do what she did, by insisting on the fight, for Honor's sake. Taking the beating and then joining Marthe, Vlad, Victor and presumably the guys who are fighting the killer robots was an act aimed at survival for her Clan, but it also made 'that side' the stronger side, as Ghost Bear took the least damage from the attacks of anyone, and was/is the strongest in sheer physical
force of the invading Clans, with potentially the second if not first least disrupted occupation zone (fewest uprisings, best integration.)
Gaining the Snow Ravens was a trick, but thanks to Clan Wolverine and the Bismarck record, Marthe pulled it off. (helps they had long-running good relations and such), and Nelson Elam could see the tide, wanted access to the archives, and is a Warden presented
with the external threat Wardens claim to want to defend against.There's a huge amount of political capital in play here, and Marthe Pryde's positioned herself as the Banker, without so much as suggesting a candidacy for the IlKhanship.
