8
Chapter 3
WS Dire Wolf, L5 point
New Bergen, Free Rasalhague Republic
3 May 3050
“Two cards, please,” said Victor, forcing himself to pick them up with his left hand after they were dealt. He’d never felt like he’d adjusted to having only one hand, but somehow having two again felt even stranger. The graft had only occurred two days before, and the doctor had assured him that the clumsiness would subside over the next few weeks along with the itchiness and pins-and-needles so long as he followed his rehabilitation schedule. Which, in addition to specific exercises, involved just generally using the new appendage.
It’s shocking how quickly you adjust to new things, he thought to himself. A few months ago, regrowing a lost limb would have sounded impossible to him - even the Star League had never achieved it! - but here he was, annoyed that the new limb didn’t work perfectly the moment it was attached.
And so it took him longer than it should have to lift the cards although neither of the other Lyrans showed any impatience, and only one of the pirates. Victor liked to think that the patience was because he was generally a pleasant person and that the pirate was simply having a bad day, but he could still practically hear the Your Highnesses that his fellows were not saying.
He had come to the general bondsmen’s quarters about a week after the encounter with the Khan and the Precentor Martial, and found an uneasy truce in the barracks. An invisible line went down the room separating 10th Donegal MechWarriors from a handful of what were apparently pirates from Butte Hold. With the 5 from Victor’s battalion and another 4 from other battalions of the damned Tenth, the Lyrans outnumbered the 6 pirates, but the terrain favored the pirates: the Lyrans had arrived later and so their bunks were closer to the door, meaning that the pirates passed through them constantly, forcing the former Guards to be constantly vigilant. There had apparently been a great deal of fighting when the Lyrans had first arrived, but by the time Victor arrived things had simmered down to a fist fight once every few days - and no broken bones so far.
Sometimes Victor wondered why the Clanners allowed these goings on. It was impossible that they weren’t aware, but seemed happy enough to turn a blind eye so long as no one was late for their work rota. He sighed; he didn’t know much about these people, but what he did know seemed very strange indeed.
The card games had been his own idea, a casual way to hopefully reduce tensions. As contemptible as Victor found the pirates, little was gained from a cold war, and there weren’t enough Lyrans to defeat the pirates decisively - even if the Clanners would have allowed it, a question whose answer Victor had no idea of.
And it was working, mostly.
Gunther, a man from Here who had lost his mother to pirates from the Greater Valkyrate, did all he could just to restrain his hatred, and Victor could scarcely blame him. And Kenny Ryan, Redjack’s son and the notional leader of the pirate crew, seemed to resent that he had already been effectively removed from command even before a man named Griffin had used the Lyrans’ arrival to solidify his hold on the band.
But aside from those exceptions, things were surprisingly peaceful.
One of the Lyrans won the round, collecting a handful of work chits. Having no currency, they traded duty hours, though the value was not exactly universal as the Lyrans all had to perform personal tasks for individual captors in addition to the general scut-work that was assigned to Lyran and pirate alike.
As the next round was being dealt out, however, a voice called at the door, “Victor, come.”
He levered himself off the bunk, groaning as he put weight on his hand. As he passed Kenny Ryan on his way to the door, Victor heard the would-be pirate prince say “Good doggy”.
I wonder if they have pets, he thought to himself. He hadn’t seen any, but there weren’t many dogs or cats on military vessels in the FedCom either.
Katya was dressed differently. Instead of the normal gray jumpsuit, she was wearing what must have been a dress uniform. The fairly ordinary pants were a light brown, as was the jacket, except for a darker brown at the cuffs and in a broad pattern across chest and shoulders that hinted at a stylized wolf’s head. Hidden jacket buttons and red piping added a slick and jaunty tone that saved the uniform from being too bland, with small enameled squares on either side of her collar showing the two red stars of a Star Captain.
As she led him through the corridors, she spoke, “We are going to attend a very important ritual. I know that the Khan has encouraged you to ask questions, but it would be best that you hold your silence for a time; I will answer your questions afterwards.” She had a pensive look on her face.
That was strange, because Ulric did encourage him to ask any question that popped into his head, and encouraged Katya to answer them, as well as to ask any questions of her own. Between that and the uniform, they were clearly going to a formal occasion. A ritual, she said.
They came to a corridor unfamiliar to Victor, and took a lift that Katya had to enter a code to enter. He was fairly certain that this was the first lock he’d seen on the Dire Wolf aside from the one on the bondsmen’s quarters - and that one served to keep people in, not out.
He looked at the deck schematic displayed inside and realized the reason for the security - this lift led all the way to the bridge, which seemed to be their destination.
Stepping out of the lift brought them into a narrow corridor, featureless and empty but for 10 Elementals, lined up in their armor on either side of the room like statues. The ones on the left were painted in green and gold, while the squad - Point - on the right were an unfamiliar gray, dark irregular spots like a leopard’s scattered across their head and shoulders. None reacted as the pair walked through the room to a large pair of doors, which swept open as they approached.
The room beyond was enormous. The far end was a single large window filled with the blue, green, and white of a Terra-similar planet. Victor couldn’t recognize any of the continents, but that was hardly surprising. The walls were lined with banks of monitors and controls, tended by industrious men and women whose shoulders bore the stylized gear that was the symbol of the Technician Caste.
Opposite the viewport the walls opened into a wide, roughly circular space. The center was filled with an enormous holotank, easily 6 meters across; Victor had never seen the like, even at the NAIS or the Triad. Dozens filled the room, mostly wearing the same dress uniform as Katya; one man, tall and dark-skinned, wore gray instead. The outsider walked with Ulric, making violent motions with his hands as he spoke; Ulric listened impassively. Briefly catching Katya’s eye, the Wolf Khan gave a quick shake of his head, before turning to leave the immediate vicinity of the holotank. Victor saw the Precentor Martial join the pair on their way out. Even after just a few moments, he already boiled with questions, but kept them close as instructed..
Still, Katya had noticed, and answered his silent questions.
“That man is Leo Showers of the Smoke Jaguars. He is the ilKhan, the khan of khans. He has come to the Dire Wolf in order to advise on our affairs, suggesting that Ulric set Marcos Radick against Lara Ward instead of Darren Fetladral.” Very little of that had made sense, but the emphasis on “advise” and “suggesting” made it clear how welcome the advice had been.
As she explained, Katya guided them towards a blonde woman in her late 20s or early 30s. Tall and with the holo-star good looks Victor had come to associate with Clan Warriors, she bore three stars at her throat, and Victor was a little surprised to see her fingernails painted a flat black. I didn’t figure that they’d go in for that kind of vanity.
Katya made quick introductions, and Star Colonel Lara Ward gave Victor an appraising look. “I have seen the BattleROM. You fought at Chateau with honor and skill.” After speaking, she gave a sharp nod; Victor did not treat it as an invitation to reply. The two women discussed the readiness of their troops - it seemed that Ward was Katya’s commanding officer - in tones that sounded more like pleasantries at a cocktail party than a discussion of military matters.
After only a few minutes, a single tone sounded and Lara turned to approach the ‘tank, Katya giving an ironic-seeming salute to her back.
Star Colonel Marcos turned out to be Marcos Radick, of the 37th Striker Cluster of Delta Galaxy. About Ward’s age, he wore his short black hair smoothed tight to his scalp.
A woman that Victor didn’t recognize announced, “The planet of New Bergen lies before us. Major General Geston has informed us that it stands defended by the entirety of the New Bergen Armored Brigade and the New Bergen Mechanized Infantry Brigade; large forces, if inferior. Star Colonel Ward, in deference to Alpha Galaxy, the opening bid is yours.”
“Vehicles and infantry though they may be, a force of two brigades must be taken seriously. I bid the entirety of the Golden Horde,” she announced, projecting her voice to be heard in every corner of the room. Before her in the holotank, several icons flashed to life, easily visible from Victor’s vantage against the wall. Organized into 5 rows were a series of the eight-pointed daggerstars. Four rows held red daggerstars; in the first, the diagonal points were green. A last row held 2 daggerstars in blue and white.
Radick did not wait before responding, “You are correct, Star Colonel Ward. We strive for skill and honor, but it is a foolish wolf indeed who closes his eyes to the truth. I also bid every Blood Kit.” Star Colonel Radick’s Cluster, it transpired, held two rows of 3 pure red stars, one of 3 red-and-green, and one of 3 blue.
It was still not clear to Victor what was occurring, but it was Lara’s turn again.
“As the 37th is so much smaller than the 279th, I find myself needing to make sharp cuts if I am to match my comrade-in-arms. My apologies to Star Captain Rotheran, but please remove my fighters.” The two blue stars disappeared.
Radick’s face grew red from the insult.
“If my esteemed colleague does not fear the sky, then neither do I!” he practically shouted. Three blue stars blinked out.
Ward’s side of the tank now displayed 11 red stars, 2 of them with the green; Radick’s held 9, 3 of them with green.
“Well,” Ward said at length. “An honorable bid.”
Radick started to grin until Ward said, “It seems I must bid 9 stars. Please remove Binary Command.” Her two red-and-green stars disappeared, and with them Radick’s grin. He now looked as though he’d been punched. Over on the side of the room, the ilKhan’s face paled enough that it could be seen beneath his dark skin.
No one spoke for at least two minutes, and then Radick spoke in a low voice, “I…I concede the bid to Star Colonel Ward.” At the ilKhan’s side, Ulric gave Ward a firm nod. Focht looked deep in thought.
Victor looked to his own side, at Katya. Her face held unalloyed excitement and anticipation.
Lara Ward walked towards them. “You are very unhappy with my absence from the field, quineg?”
Katya smiled, “I mean no offense, Star Colonel, it is simply that…”
“Simply that this is your first time commanding more than a Trinary. Do not be too excited; I will still be in touch by radio.”
Understanding came: the top row of paired daggerstars had been Lara Ward’s command element. By bidding herself away, the Star Colonel had apparently left the Star Captain of Trinary First in command of 9 stars. Victor did some quick math, arriving at 45 Mechs, from the 15 she normally led. She has been promoted from Hauptmann to brevet-Kommandant, he thought to himself, A path that perhaps I should have followed.
He tried to put the thought from his mind. No one could have stood against the Wolves. The other two battalions had fallen into disarray despite being led by experienced officers; he would still have been in his Victor and still ended up in the rearguard, likely as not. Regret served no one.
After the ilKhan had stepped away to enter a tight conference with Marcos Radick and another man, Ulric beckoned the three of them over.
“Bargained well and done,” he said to Star Colonel Ward. “Few commanders will bid themselves away.” The object of his praise blushed in embarrassed gratitude.
“I could not dishonor my Elementals,” she said by way of explanation. Victor had no idea what that meant, but Ulric and Katya both gave grave nods.
He turned to Victor.
“Did you understand what you just witnessed?”
I thought I did, until just now, he thought to himself before responding aloud, “Two commanders place bids to invade the planet, like a sort of auction. Each bids fewer and fewer forces in turn, until they feel that they can take no fewer and still win.”
“Very good,” replied Ulric with a small smile. “You learn quickly and see much. What else?”
What else? Is he talking about the politics?
Not wanting to tread in such waters, Victor attempted to give a different response in order to lay a trail away.
“Katya - that is, Star Captain Kerensky - will be leading the forces.” At the Khan’s bland look, he continued, “She’s being tested.”
The blow to his head was not hard, but it was still unexpected and he staggered a step forward before catching himself.
“You will watch your language, bondsman,” said the object of their discussion casually. Victor was confused for a moment before he realized that she had been referring to the contraction.
He stepped back into his position in the small circle, looking around. Neither Ulric nor Lara seemed to have reacted at all. He spent a moment pondering whether the weird formality was more or less strange than the apparent acceptance of casual violence. He wondered if she would strike an underling or technician in the same way, or whether his status as a bondsman made him a particularly appropriate target.
When no one spoke, Victor repeated himself, “She is being tested. I suppose she is on some sort of fast track?”
This time it was Lara who spoke, “The Star Captain is a ristar.”
Victor waited, but she did not elaborate.
Ulric looked once more at Victor. The once-prince felt the blue eyes drill into him.
“What else?”
With an internal sigh, Victor placed his foot into the bear trap.
“There are factions here,” he said. When the Khan signaled to continue, he did. “You are in one, the ilKhan in another. Star Colonel Ward and Star Captain Kerensky are in yours, and Star Colonel Marcos is in the other, along with that other man, the tall one.”
“Conal Ward,” supplied Katya, “Commander of Delta Galaxy.”
“Conal Ward,” echoed Victor.
The Khan gestured again for Victor to continue. Seriously?
“The two factions are at odds?” Victor ventured, but a slight scowl showed Victor that this was not what was hoped for.
He further speculated, “Winning the bid brings influence to your faction. Kat - Star Captain Kerensky told me that the ilKhan forced you to include Marcos in the bidding. Was Darren Fetladral also in your faction?”
Ulric shook his head slightly, “No, Star Colonel Fetladral keeps himself studiously neutral in this matter. But had the ilKhan substituted for Lara instead, he would have missed an opportunity to embarrass us. Instead, Lara Ward’s honor and the Golden Horde’s skill will see the Crusaders hoisted upon their own petard. It is well that you see these things, bondsman Victor.”
He turned to Katya. “And you, Star Captain, have a battle to prepare for, do you not?”
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Not much extra to add here. The main thing is that instead of each side having 15 Stars of Mechs like in Lethal Heritage, I gave each Cluster the forces listed in the Wolf Clan sourcebook. We ended up at the same result, though!
Lara Ward's command element is a Supernova Binary. Her saying she couldn't dishonor her Elementals comes from this idea I had that sometimes people would bid away the Elementals in a Nova to make it an ordinary Mech Star, but that this was humiliating to the Elementals, since it made it seem that they were just support troops, instead of an integral part of the Nova like they're supposed to be.
Victor sees more of what's going on politically than Phelan did, having been trained to it. And Ulric wants Victor to grasp the politics as quickly as possible as well, alongside Katya.
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