I wonder if the Hellions will be updating the HPG's in the FS.
They unfortunately did not have time to pack those things before the Star Adders attacked Hector
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02/10/3070 07:18 Location – Triad, Tharkad, Wolf EmpireKatherine and the recently arrived Vladimir Ward walked past exotic multicolored plants within one of the greenhouses of the Triad complex. Air blissfully warmed and humidified by the ample steam generated from the modernized nuclear reactor below one of the mountains that ringed the city while just past a few centimeters of glass Tharkad was still tightly gripped by winter’s icy grasp. The Triad had dozens of tunnels or sky-walks connecting the sprawling estate’s buildings to one another so no one needed to walk across the frozen cobbles.
“The Triad looks different than last time Katherine.”“When I left, it had been heavily damaged by Cameron St Jamais’ Blakists. It took them a year and a half to repair all the damage. I requested some changes be made rather than rebuild as it was. Partially to confuse people used to the old layout and to make my own impression on the grounds.”
“People like your Trothkin?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I cannot even count on blood to remain true. We have more pressing matters at hand than acting on our feud however. At least for now.”Vladimir had been off world since the Final Whitting Conference when his marriage to Katherine became public. He had carried the wedding ring around his neck since a month before that time having only worn it twice in that time. It was a nice token and he was fond of his 'wife' although it still felt strange. They had maintained correspondence when they were not in close proximity and had regularly scheduled time together when opportunity presented itself.
His Wolves and Marthe Pryde's Jade Wolves had fought The Word of Blake the length and breadth of the Commonwealth. Now the Wolves, Sharks, and Horses were gathering for the final strike on Terra and the fabled endgame of the Crusader Clans. Tharkad was just the first marshaling area although he was ahead of schedule as he missed Katherine and their children.
“I would like to inspect Tau Galaxy Star Captain. Make sure they did not turn soft while in Niflheim. They are still my Wolves and their teeth need to be sharp.”“Star Colonel Waters has run a tight ship my Khan. We can hurry there but,” She grabbed his shoulders to pull him into a lingering kiss,
“the boys are out on maneuvers near Mount Wotan till late afternoon.”He roughly pulled her into him kissing and crushing the breath out of her,
“It can wait till tomorrow.”02/19/3070Nine year old Morgana “Em” White crouched and looked beyond the corner of Government House but saw nothing but serene snow covered cobblestones and sculptures. A piece of frosty platinum blonde hair was sticking out of her balaclava. Annoyed she tucked it back in although the snow melted down her neck giving her shivers. She looked back to the other girls wearing white military style uniforms with pink-purple armbands while carrying a bag of lavender colored snow balls. Half were Wolf sibkin the rest from the nearby Alera Marsden Girl's School where she had been taking classes desperate for social interaction after a period of long and boring isolation on Dagda.
Despite only being on planet for a little more than a month the other girls voted her team leader for today's event. Slightly more than a hundred children were engaged in a massive snowball tag battle within the Triad complex ultimately ending with a hot chocolate lunch buffet and dinner later in The Great Hall. Notably her mother, Katherine, would be absent which was a relief she had spent to much time with her on Dagda and needed some time to grow and be herself.
“My brothers are out there somewhere. We should not have to worry about Marcus or Gia. Alaric and Sig are the real threat.”Anne, the most popular of the AMGS girls, whispered,
“Could they be working together?”
“No they want to show off and win. Niki bring the map out again. Everyone keep an eye and ear out for the others.”Niki and Em were the oldest wolves in this team the others were one or two years younger. All Wolf Sibkin had learned basic overland navigation early on via 'field trips' and had given the other girls a crash course. The 'she-wolves' had taught the AMGS girls a lot the civie girls learned fast but needed to do more PT, as far as the wolves were concerned they got winded to fast.
“The Garden of Archons Em?”
“Sig is probably holding there and sending out teams from a central location waiting for Al or me to come to him. It will be tough to get to him through that cover. Al likes to move so he's probably looking for easier targets among the civvies. He has the largest number of trueborns on his team.”One of the younger girls tapped the pair on the shoulder whispering,
“We spotted five boys nearby. Looks like Al's team.”Niki wrapped the map up quietly and Morgana peered over a short wall with binoculars she had taken from the armory earlier when no one was looking. Five boys in Wolf arctic uniforms wearing gold armbands, Al's squad color.
“That's them all right. Niki take eight around Government House toward the West Mansion. Keep low and quiet but move fast. If I can draw him and give you an opportunity to get him I will. Otherwise I'm going to keep an eye out for him especially.”
“Aff.” Niki pointed to eight other girls and gave them the hand signal to follow her leaving six girls including Em.
“Wait till they get real close. We'll only have one chance to get them out.”The four Wolf boys crept closer in proper small unit formation for built up environments. The flankers looked up at the roofs and balconies regularly while the Pointman looked for tracks. The rules of engagement stated that they were to remain outside except for The Great Hall and on the ground but Clanners were flexible about such things when you could win. The boy spotted odd tracks in the powder and knelt down,
“Smaller boots but deep in the snow. Looks like the girls concealed their numbers and facing by going in single file.” He pointed in the opposite direction of the waiting ambushers,
“They backtracked this way I think.”
“Em, Quaiff?”
“Aff.”The larger boy used a small hand mirror to catch the faint sun and send a signal back to some unseen location in the rear line.
“Don't reveal yourselves unless they come this way. Niki's team can deal with them.”The four of them grabbed a few golden snowballs from their bags and remained low as they turned their backs to Em's position. She could see that they each already had three armbands, green, as isorla/trophies from 'Kills.' That was most of green team for just this group. They were probably from a creche on icy world of Kandis in the Wolf Empire since they were clearly good at this game.
As they turned the corner they were pummeled with dozens of lavender colored snowballs. They were many shouts of Clan curses not suitable for sibkin. Niki shouted something about telling their Packmaster of their poor behavior. The four Wolves marched back, their white snow suits covered in lavender dyed snow without their gold armbands which had been taken as trophies.
“You think he is going to come out.”
“He'll come. This is a challenge he will want to deal with personally; and soon too he's probably hungry by now.”Al(aric) slowly crept closer to his sister's last known location using snowbanks as cover. He had the best boys with him each had collected a half-dozen armbands personally. Al had ten including the bands of each team leader. He had already dealt with his brother and most of the civies but she had evaded his patrols thus far. What she probably didn't know was that they were the last two teams still in play and he only had a dozen hungry, high strung, and anxious boys left on his team. They were split into four teams of three, he needed to increase the front size to find her and trusted that his trueborn teammates would be good enough to deal with some soft freeborn girls.
He heard shouts from his outlying teams, what he couldn't see was that each outside trio was under attack by almost eight girls. The center teams were good enough to deal with most of them but not all, Al's team mates had been hit with the lavender purple dye that would wash out but was a silly color for a boy. Alaric was the last man standing having used a nearby snowbank for cover. He counted the 'fallen,' one girl was missing.
“Where's Em!”The snowbank he was using for cover came to life and a lavender snowball was pressed into his balaclava.
“Gotcha!”
“You were there the entire time?”
“Aff. Didn't you notice no one was throwing snowballs at you?”He took a moment to remember the past 'engagement' there was lavender stained snow nearby but not anywhere near him. He spit out the snow and even though the dye was harmless his teeth and face would look purple until he washed them both out.
“That's a dirty trick.”
“I know but purple looks good on you.” She took his armband and wrapped it around her belt,
“and gold looks good on me.”Alaric grabbed his final gold snowball and pushed it into her while knocking her back into the snowbank.
“I agree.”