Marcus is a nice character to play with... because we know very little of him apart from the fact that he's a schemer.
And apparently a pretty good one. Though the novels don't say it, I think he lacks military expertise. Takashi had that. Theodore does, but he's overbold.
We have capable people on the borders. But what can they do against a Kurita v Kurita fight?
And now, for a very long Prologue for Book Two!
===================================
BOOK TWO
PROLOGUE
Lugh Overlord-class DropShip, Fedkirk Fire Chains, Lyons
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
17 June 3028
Morgan Kell sat beside her as the instruments slowly stilled one at a time. His eyes burned, his body ached, and the gnawing pit in his chest thudded painfully.
A week, only a week... Morgan squeezed her hand gently. The doctors said it could be months before she woke up, if her organs didn't fail... Another telltale beeped then silenced itself.
He closed his eyes and thought back. They had pushed the Legion back at severe cost. She was supposed to chase the harassers away and rejoin the main force. Instead, the Snake battalion turned around and charged them. He didn't know who to blame, the 12th Star Guards for their crude broadcast, or the Legionnaires for their bloodlust.
It had been a week since he rushed to her broken Wolverine and gently tore open the cockpit, mangled by a PPC blast. He stayed by her when he could spare the time, wanting to be there when her eyes opened again.
But she wouldn't wake. There was no life left in her hands, so he held on tighter. Some time in the last few days, as the casualties mounted, he imagined that his hands were her lifeline. Her way back.
Her pulse is so weak.
He gripped her furiously then, fighting the urge to shake her awake, to yell at her to come back. Morgan opened his mouth, but a shrill note sounded instead of his voice. All the lights stilled into lines and urgent alarms.
Salome Ward was dead.
The gnawing in his chest engulfed him. They found him on the floor, in the corner of her room, days, hours, minutes later, he couldn't tell. He rifled through the many memories he had with her--There weren't enough. There should have been a lifetime's worth.
Cat Wilson shook him.
Is he yelling? Morgan wondered, hearing the sounds but not the words.
One word made it through. Morgan knew it meant something, something important.
Genyosha.
It didn't matter anymore.
Cat Wilson, tears in his eyes, slapped him. It did nothing. Cat heaved him to a chair, securing him as familiar klaxons wailed in the background.
Moments passed. He imagined he was roaring at the loss. He felt heavy. Heavier. He couldn't breathe!
Good, Morgan thought, gasping for air. I'll be with her soon...
===================================
11th Legion of Vega Field Headquarters, Fedkirk Fire Chains, Lyons
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
17 June 3028
Yorinaga Kurita waited quietly as the reports from the Genyosha's aerospace fighters came in. He was pleased at the full aero-regiment they fielded. When the fighter wing arrived a month ago, he had sent one reply back to the DCA: When will the rest arrive?
The Kurokaze, the Black Wind, had a full wing of thirty six fighters, the best the Draconis Combine Admiralty had. It quickly grew to two Wings thanks to his visit with Warlord Dieron. And the Black Wind grew to a full aero-regiment, a rarity in the Draconis Combine, when another Wing was freed from somewhere in the Benjamin District.
He did not require the best fighter pilots. Only the most willing, and the Kurokaze had very eager pilots. They battered the mercenary fighters in orbit, chasing away the too-confident Vengeance fighter carriers in the first minutes of engagement.
Yorinaga let them go, ordering the fighters to punch through the atmosphere to avenge his nephew. The Lyons' HPG had broadcasted the mercenary's footage for nearly a week now. The news may have already made its way to Dieron. He would have to do something about that disrespect.
The systems blurred with an update: The Kell Hounds were leaving. Yorinaga let them go too, focusing on his duty. The other mercenaries, the 12th Star Guards, were still defiant. He ordered a battalion to drop in their headquarters.
He passed silent orders and disconnected from the command feed as the hangar doors opened. Yorinaga ran one final check of the jump pack attached to his Warhammer and then stepped clear of the DropShip.
Below him, the tatters of the 11th Legion of Vega ringed their stronghold. They hurled shells, missiles, and light at any and all-comers.
Smoke rose from the compound, pyres of fallen 'warriors in their 'Mechs and fighters. As he triggered the jump pack, his systems finally plugged him into the local command net. Surprisingly, it was still operational and in good order. No panicked cries, no shouts of celebration.
A battalion of the 12th Star Guards were pulling away. He had chosen to drop in their path, and soon an avalanche of 'Mechs joined him. Without requiring orders, the Genyosha 'warriors arrayed themselves into the formation Yorinaga wanted, leading with the heavy Rasalhague company.
The battle was over in minutes.
A telltale glowed on his comm panel.
"Welcome to Lyons, uncle," said Theodore Kurita.
===================================
New Ivaarsen
Draconis March, Federated Suns
17 June 3028
Hanse Davion stood on the shoulder of his BattleMaster, aware that eyes and cameras were on him.
He didn't participate in the fighting, at least not as a combatant. But he did command from the helm of his BattleMaster, the comm suites were upgraded just for that purpose; an expense that could've paid for a whole lance of 'Mechs.
It's good to be the Prince.
Below, citizens cheered at him. They gushed out of the villages and the cities that the Dragon had left untouched. In fact, the Dragon had only destroyed planetary defenses and New Ivaarsen's war-making industries. Hanse found it curious at first until he familiarized himself with Kester Hsiun Chi, the Warlord of the Galedon Military District that now swelled to nearly engulf Robinson itself.
He had a wedding to plan. An invasion to finalize. But the Dragon roared and he had no choice but to respond with garrison forces at the heart of the Federated Suns, stripping his borders and straining his JumpShips even further.
Communications with the Lyran Commonwealth was becoming trickier. JumpShips had been disappearing in the Skye Region, supposedly seized by pirates but pressed into Combine service. The same was happening all along the Draconis March, wreaking havoc at an already weakened economy and a frightened and angry populace.
An economy he weakened to prosecute the war against the Capellan Confederation. A people he abandoned to conquer the weak Capellan Confederation.
He waved one last time then made his way back to the BattleMaster's cockpit. The DCMS on the planet were just conventional units, and he had a hunch that most of the units had unfortunate loyalties to Grieg Samsonov, Galedon's previous--and less dangerous--Warlord. The Ryuken and other Regulars had lifted off, leaving the troops to their own.
Hanse admired the ruthlessness the Kuritans displayed even if he detested the means. The soldiers would be worth more dead than alive to Takashi--Hanse sensed his hand in this, if nothing more than just as a delaying tactic. Once the AFFS arrived the DCMS troops scattered, if there were any left.
From local reports, the DCMS had been standing down their presence ever since they came in to smash the 'Mech garrison. They assumed the Kuritans were slowly lifting off their force, since DropShips still arrived periodically. They had made no demands, no moves to secure more territory.
The only recent intel they had involved the seizing of construction equipment. Lots of drilling and excavating tools. But that had been a month ago, and the last DCMS DropShips arrived a week after that.
Hanse stared at the map of possible Kuritan locations. A flyover found new roads, some abandoned bases, and no sign of any Kuritans.
The overwhelming force he brought to bear on New Ivaarsen was unspent. He allowed Ardan Sortek to see the sites himself, but Hanse was planning to leave tomorrow at the latest.
He raised the BattleMaster's right hand in a wave then closed it in a Steiner fist.
Where the hell is the Dragon?
===================================
Imperial Institute of Technology, Pauchang, Xinyang
Benjamin Military District, Draconis Combine
17 June 3028
Chief Researcher Kowalski kicked the treads and immediately regretted it. The light tank sat undisturbed as he hopped around on one foot.
He took a far more critical look at the Tanegashima in front of him. It was an unremarkable, 35-ton vehicle, built on a frame Bulldog Enterprises had dug out of their storage spaces. It was squat, compact, and was one of the few new tank designs in the Inner Sphere that would use fusion engines.
His scientists had all proposed using hydrogen fuel-cells, but Kowalski knew the DCMS's Procurement Department would never bite. It was an additional complication to the already entangled logistics lines they had established--a fusion engine, while costly, had the advantage of being built using standard components.
Spares and tools would be plentiful, and they had to be. Theodore-sama's plan called for more warmachines. More capable warmachines.
Still, he succumbed to a compromise. The Tanegashima would be designed with a modular engine bay, increasing the cost slightly. The same frame would be able to use a fuel-cell or fusion engine, even an electric battery-powered one. In the end, it was an economist that convinced him the wisdom of this, that the DCMS's budget was separate from an individual planet's militia. The militia's salaries and equipment were paid for by their homeworld even when the DCMS sees fit to take a few regiments along.
The economists said that wealthier planets could afford the fusion engines, while the others could make do with fuel-cells without too much effort. Some would even rush at the chance to use fusion engines, even if it'd be more practical to use fuel-cells. And with that demand, technical expertise would rise on many worlds in the Combine. Meaning more factories, more jobs, and more tech. It would lay the groundwork for the rest of the new combat vehicles.
Kowalski harrumphed at the thought. The only reason he needed was that it was a good warmachine for Theodore-sama.
He glanced at the turret, recently redesigned to accept the Lord's Light PPC instead of the Part-Kill Heavy Cannon the engineers originally installed. It had a longer barrel, and it cost more, but the Lord's Light was one of the most common weapons in the Draconis Combine and was supplied at a discount.
Alshain Weapons were positively drooling to get a chance to look at the Extended Range PPC's specs. Not that they'll be able to make one anytime soon.
Still, the tank was fast, carried a respectable weapon, and could be churned out by next year.
Chief Researcher Kowalski nodded to the engineers as he limped his way back to his office, continuing to ignore the buzzing of the scientists that had been harassing him all that time.
===================================
Downtown, New Bonhom, Carse
Tamar Pact, Lyran Commonwealth
17 June 3028
Ninyu Kerai stopped and examined the hawker's wares before turning away, shaking his head.
He followed the aroma of cooking and lined up to buy. The vendor seemed to be doing brisk business even in the off-hours, and Ninyu had plenty of time to choose from the menu and fish out the correct change in hard currency.
The Cold Cycle on Carse was just turning down, and people were enjoying the sunlight from the system's two stars as they took a mid-afternoon snack break. Despite living this close to the Combine, despite being targeted in raids and invasions, the people were happy. Almost unafraid.
The people ate, lightly bundled in cold-weather clothing. They were living freely.
He took a seat beside some similarly dressed fellows and bit down on the polish sausage he ordered. He made it a point to try out the local street cuisine, it paid to know what to eat and what everyone else did.
Ninyu ate as he watched the people.
A pair of police officers drifted by, each ordering the polish sausage as well and continued on their patrol. The citizens didn't fear them. A janitor sat beside a well-dressed lawyer, chatting about their plans once the Cold Cycle winds down completely. A man spoke on his comm using his native tongue, japanese, and the people didn't bat an eye. He looked like a local, and Combine traders were not unknown on Carse in any case.
Soldiers, officers by their bearing, amiably disparaged each other's choice in condiments. One spoke with a non-local accent, but both wore the 23rd Arcturan Guards' patch on their shoulders.
Ninyu stood, moving closer to the officers as he deposited his garbage. He chewed and smiled gratefully at the owner and cook of the stand, who asked him how his meal was.
The food became tasteless as an unpatriotic thought blossomed deep in his mind. The proprietor handed him a mint and he banished the thought, smiling at the friendly woman.
Checking his ring-chrono and pretending to be late he nodded to some familiar looking faces, people he had briefly spoken with in the last few days, and moved on.
He was two blocks away when the explosions shook the streets.
===================================
Sevren Interstellar StarPort, New Cartis, Sevren
Rasalhague Military District, Draconis Combine
17 June 3028
At first, Warlord Ivan Sorenson resented the plans Takashi Kurita appended to his orders to raid the Tamar Pact. The plans were copies of those submitted by Theodore Kurita, the revolutionary upstart, when he was stationed in Rasalhague.
Warlord Sorenson viewed himself as a samurai, and he was utterly devoted to the Coordinator. He only worried that Theodore's corrupting influence was begin to affect Takashi's resolve.
Still, he did his duty and studied young Theodore's plans.
It called for aerospace supremacy. Sevren would be garrisoned by the 8th Donegal Guards according to ISF reports, but the world lacked a local aerospace presence. The plan called for two Achilles Assault DropShips and two Leopard-CVs; he increased that to three Achilles and used a Vengeance to dominate the planet from orbit.
They arrived the day after the 8th Donegal Guards jumped out.
The nadir recharge station was quickly occupied with marines. For weeks, incoming DropShips were ambushed on the way to the planet, but not before the marines--DEST trained--seized the JumpShips.
Since they made planetfall, the Warlord oversaw the stripping of Sevren's industries and the shattering of its economy. The planet had borrowed heavily to pay for the cleaning of the nuclear fallout following the Kuritan's previous occupation. The debts were to be paid in refined ores and heavy equipment Sevren specialized in. Now the factories and mines that made those were stripped of all useful equipment. Their shipments seized, their places of business burnt down.
He left the farmers unmolested, taking only enough to send as a tribute to Luthien.
Now he stood, staring at the night sky, waiting for the 8th Donegal Guards to return from their raid. They would find their new homeworld prepared against them.
Grudgingly, Ivan allowed that Theodore had some good ideas.