Hidden Hope (Golden Lion AU, Part 4)

[AlphaMirage]

Chapter 26 – Cascade
07:15
Katya’s forces were arrayed in orderly arcs of alternating trenches and earthen walls reinforced with gabion wall. Each arc intersected in a disorderly looking way anchored by concrete bunkers along the center and ends provided with clear lines of fire over and within the obstacles. Over both shoulders of her Hellbringer was a forward operating base from which half her artillery section operated. Long Tom howitzers hurled their high caliber shells into the fray, safe beneath Anti-Air Defenders and an armored firing position.

Ahead of them were a broad collection of combat vehicles and drones tied through the command van she was occupying and the more powerful and fully staffed comms gear at the airbase. She watched as the Brahmaputra’s SXR-robots fought hard in a grinding open field battle to stymie the advance of Wolf Dragoon’s Zeta Battalion, commanded by General Wolf, and reinforced by Barbara’s Marauder IIs. Precision guided Arrow IVs and Copperhead Shells worked in conjunction with the integral weapons of the units to tear into the assault Battalions. The enemy accomplished their mission as the rest of the force landed near Antares City.

While she didn’t trust the SXR-Brigade but even she admitted that for an open field battle with supporting assets they were serving their role, expendable assault troops. Even the Mongoose’s exceptional Mechwarriors they were not enough to withstand the inexorable advance of Wolf Dragoon’s Delta Regiment and the 21st Centauri Lancers.

Epsilon Galaxy did not rout however, nor did they accept certain defeat when withdrawal allowed a Warrior to gain Glory another day. Hovercraft swept up those they could while the SXR units spent themselves for time and to preserve the lives of valuable MechWarriors. “Foolish Mongoose, at least COMSTAR rid me of Asa Taney.”

She followed the action via the eyes of a Marker drone and keyed in the Battlenet of a now depleted Epsilon Galaxy. “Epsilon, this is Star Colonel Katya Kerensky, I am assuming command of your formation. We tried it your way now you are to follow my plan to hold this planet for as long as possible or until reinforcements arrive.
Withdraw and redeploy the MechWarriors to our overflow location. There are spare chassis available.”

Star Colonel Varyag Manaudou keyed on the same CommNet. “You must be crazy to think that you A Star Adder could be suitable for command of a Mongoose Galaxy. I would sooner charge Zeta’s guns than follow your orders and there are others who feel the same way.”

“If that is your choice, nothing is stopping you from doing so. The Star Adders are assuming control of this operation, and we will not let you stop us.”

“Then you will need to kill me.” Varyag howled over the Battlenet with affirmations throughout the fanatic Mongoose MechWarriors who refused to subordinate themselves to one of their rival Clan’s Officers. Katya muted the headset microphone, “which Mech is he piloting?”

The comms Tech turned the Marker’s camera and TAG laser to a Shadow Cat making best speed away from the enemy formation. “TAG it and order a Storm (SXR-20) unit to take him out.”
“Can you do that Star Colonel? He is on our side.”
“He did say I would have to kill him. Sounds like a Batchall to me.”
She looked over to the other women behind the consoles within the vehicle who all nodded in agreement. While they had never done so Star Adders had a long history of dropping precision artillery on Mongoose Mechs.  “Aff, Star Captain.”
Katya keyed back into the command as the comms operators sent encrypted comms through the drone to them and back to the robot momentarily hijacking the Brahmaputra’s command signals with a stronger local one.
“If you insist Star Colonel Manaudou. Bargained well and done.”

“What!”

Two Arrow IVs obliterated the Shadow Cat, guided unerringly via remote control, from the air conditioned vehicle. Shortly thereafter Epsilon and the Brahmaputra’s command authority were granted to her BattleNet Circuit. Katya departed from the vehicle to walk through heavily armored infantry rushing forward with heavy support weapons, ammo boxes, cooling water, and spare power cells.

Her Hellbringer waited nearby. The enemy would soon be upon them, so the formation assumed its final configuration and throttled their engines up to combat power. At her mech’s feet Technicians in reflective heat-resistant uniforms finished attaching the cooling hoses from their 235-Yeti Coolant Tractor to her mech and Tanya’s Hellfire before beginning the recirculation pumps. Both mech’s vital cooling fluids rushed through the tractor, pulling heat from the mech, and transferring it to the Yeti’s radiators and via a secondary loop into the trailer of non-potable water behind it.

Currently they and the other mechs along the secondary arc ran cold but that would change shortly. As she closed the cockpit and its armored shroud afterward Katya took a moment to take control of her breathing before donning her neurohelmet.

“All Star Commanders report in.” Beneath her the ground shook as flocks of Mongoose mechs passed through the lines with enemy mechs in hot pursuit. Her subordinates both new and old triggered their status reports which were passed through the comms van before reaching her.  “Just follow the plan.”

[PsihoKekec]

Artillery, such an elegant way to solve the chain of command disputes.

[AlphaMirage]

Artillery, such an elegant way to solve the chain of command disputes.

Agreed

----

Steam billowed out of the water trailers like an immense kettle heated by the waste energy from the three Battlemechs (Hellbringer, Hellfire, Shadow Cat) hooked into the Yeti cooling tractor. Katya’s limbs were warming as her cooling suit fought the heat around her to maintain her core temperature. Dragoon Delta Regiment had massed against her three Clusters and the Commander’s panel on her console was as red as the fully extended radiator fins jutting out of her Hellbringer’s back. Updates from her staff created an endless stream of incomprehensible codes to summarize the deteriorating conditions of the battlespace.

On their flanks the 21st Centauri Lancers sought advantage against the Star Adders’ numerous M-class Drones and C-class tanks deployed in concealed hull down positions or with heavy infantry dug into hillside trenches. With the Brahmaputra above maintaining the Battlenet and delivering situational awareness via its NCSS there was no way to mass enough forces to land a decisive blow before it was disrupted by Air Cavalry or Mongoose Mechs. ‘Big B’ was not in the clear however as COMSTAR and the AMC contested orbital space with the Mongoose Fleet Star above. Both sides were nearly spent after three serious engagements in as many days with more fighters being able to engage the Warships with standard weapons due to a lack of missiles.

Her own position was growing increasingly tenuous against her tenacious and numerous foes who had already Annihilated the Brahmaputra’s SXR Regiment (512 units because Scientist). Despite careful preparations damage was accumulating everywhere, supplies dwindled and coolant was drying up throughout Colonel Kerensky’s force. From her command console she could see the telemetry from the cooling truck her triad of mechs were attached to. It was running at the maximum rate and temperature that pumps and pipes could withstand and dangerously low on capacity.

She looked down at the Kinslaughters in her mech’s arms just visually she could see the heat mirages causing swirling turbulence in the white steam gathering around her. If she kept up this rate of fire they’d burn out before she ran out of targets.
“All Star Commanders this is Colonel Kerensky. Begin bounding withdrawal to our fallback positions.
Collapse the flanks onto us, maintain staggered columns, and clear lines of fire.
We are fighting pros they will seize upon every opportunity.

Artillery, smoke three tempo.
Evacuate all casualties and damaged assets to position five.
Infantry, Ammo, and Coolant on position three.
Pods and Plates at two.”

Sixty affs appeared on the console the first green on a console otherwise scarlet with reports and technical faults as she edged closer to the machine’s design limits. Smoke shells from artillery, missiles, and mortars erupted in thick white phosphorous clouds before the main line of defense. Mastiff and Myrmidon drone tanks with their shorter-range weapons reversed under teleoperation to pass between the second line of Chimera and Carnivore manned tanks and infantry desant riders. Those in turn withdraw behind the battlemechs who now stood at the fore in staggered double lines. Dragoons pressed against the rolling backward artillery barrage remaining tight, where their inferior weapons but superior armoring were maximized, until forced to disengage due to battle damage and smoke shells.

Katya and the other mechs kept pace with the slower Krakens accepting a loss of maneuverability due to overheating in exchange for unit cohesion around their formidable offensive firepower while it lasted. Steak Long Range missiles unerringly struck their targets as Marker drones and TAG equipped Mongoose mechs tagged flankers for Semi-Guided Mortars and Missiles from Mad Dog and Threshers. Doctrine for all Clans preached air dominance but against a well-equipped adversary with their own air power artillery and fire support weapons provided an offensive punch that could not be sustained on a Battlemech. Although it was derided as wasteful in ammunition and collateral damage compared to a precision bomb.

By dusk swathes of forest had been splintered, wilderness despoiled by spent brass, glades bore the ugly scars of tank treads and battlemech feet, and small wildfires erupted where battles had degraded into fearsome melees that nature was unable to withstand. Smoke rose above camp as Katya Kerensky washed her face in the stream as white ash fell from the sky to float upon its clear cool waters. Something seemed off about this creek though, she had been here many times while chasing COMGUARDs, but it was much lower than usual. The high muddy bank should not be the result of her cooling trucks refilling their tanks to serve their secondary function as fire apparatus if necessary, or was it?

Katya waved back at her Coregn and others shouting for the Galaxy Commander. She dipped her canteen in careful to avoid the ash, “If anything was wrong upstream someone would have told me.”

[Gorgon]

Oh Katya, so much misplaced trust in the ability of others to spoil ComStar trickery...

[AlphaMirage]

09:02
Ranna woke to their building shaking and an urge to use the restroom. “Diana, what was that!”
Diana paused for a moment as the sound moved and tremors lessened to a dull tremble easily offset by the buzz of the overhead light. “Tulwar Bombardment Ship.”
“How can you tell?”
“The sound moved, and it was big so it must be an aerodyne dropship. If it was loud and constant, then it would be a spheroid.

Almost all Clan combat transports are of the spheroid variety unless loaded with conventional troops or cargo and since everyone is deployed here it must be something different.

As for the Tulwar Katya probably wanted to keep it under air defense cover so it can lob Land Attack Cruise Missiles at your birthmother and keep her dropships away from Alba.
It likely arrived with damaged fighters that the Quicksilver needed to offload to a ground depot.

If it is anything like last night’s battle, there are many damaged ships, but it is hard to keep an orbital battle going if one part or another does not wish to remain engaged.”

“Hard to believe they are still fighting up there.”

“Plenty of space on the Warships for spare frames and techs to prep them. Fighters are just expensive ammunition in a battle like that, no different than missiles. Their pilots are what make them valuable, and Mongoose SAR is unmatched among the Clans, has been since our early history. If the AMC lets up Mongoose AeroWarriors would run roughshod over us.”

“Where is your team?”
“Airbase security is likely tight right now. Our shuttle is concealed in a nearby valley.
They will gather information while waiting for a lull in the action to make their move.”
“Hopefully before the Sheriff shows up and separates us.”
“This should have been an easy mission Ranna. Infiltrate via HAHO jump, disguise myself to grab you by force if you were turned, exfil, but now we are stuck here…waiting.
All because of your hunch.”
“Those were ROM agents last night Diana. COMSTAR is planning something, but nobody believes us.”
“Maybe they would if you had stayed, but that bridge is burned. Now we need to think of how we get out of this situation before either of us ends up on the wrong side of a brick wall.

I believe you but if Phelen had not told me how a ROM agent helped him, and the Hounds escape the Bears I would find it difficult as well.
Although it is within my expectations, the Watch would act similarly.”

“How did you end up in the Watch anyhow?”
“Now you want to know more about me?”
“Well, I can’t get any more sleep now that flight ops are underway.” Thrusters howled above them as fighters took off outside.
“My birthmother is a trueborn Scientist of the Pryde bloodhouse. Steel Vipers even though they have relaxed their standards are very strict on trueborns vs freeborns in frontline units, so I already had a demerit and had additionally spent to long with my mother on Tokasha.
I did not test into the primary MechWarrior program instead assigned to an experimental all-female Sibko like our AeroWarriors, which was quickly disbanded and joined with a co-ed Sibko.”
“What happened?”
“There were personality clashes that resulted in cadet casualties far exceeding expectations.
We did not play well with each other as you might say.
Nevertheless, I succeeded in our new Sibko and got a kill in my Trial of Position before Watch recruited me for my other skills. Those were still not sufficient to track down Phelen Kell in Elissa’s badlands though, much to my dismay.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten out if not for him. He said your commander might have done you in on her own.”
“That still doesn’t mean we are friendly with one another.”
“He just takes some getting used to.”
“I would rather coddle cobras.”
“That’s pretty harsh.”
“Just because you and other weak-willed women consider him a rich and handsome puppy dog. A younger version of his playboy uncle doesn’t mean anything to me.
Lieutenant Allard dispenses with all the pleasantries and just gets down to business.”

The door opened to a pair of individuals dressed in dark blue AeroTech jumpsuits and another crouched fiddling who had finished with the lock. “I told you I could get it open Caresh. All these prefabs have the same types of locks.”
“We never doubted you, Mel. now hurry up. We will keep an eye out for the Inquisitor.”

Ranna recognized Diana’s core Watch team, Caresh, Melanie, and Uther. Caresh and Uther kept their hands on the probable Gauss SMG concealed within their tool satchels and eyes low under their caps.
Mel used a master key for Patrol handcuffs to free their hands and passed them water, electrolyte powder, granola bars, and low profile micro-comm earbuds. “We can’t exfil you two yet.
Still too much activity on the tarmac but at least you will be ‘at will’ prisoners until we return.
Min(erva) and Raz(iel) are pulling as much as they can from the comms downlinks but outgoing comms are still locked down so we can’t call for help yet.
Good news is that the Sheriff and his deputies are busy hunting sensor ghosts and dealing with some sensor faults out on the plateau. The Inquisitor is sniffing for saboteurs but has a lot of other tasks on her mind presently.”
Ranna didn’t seem amused by this, “Did we cause these faults?”
“Neg, looks like COMSTAR tricks.”

Even Diana wasn’t certain what to make of it, she clenched her fists, it would be a shoot on sight order if she left this room but her team was in and in comms now so she could assign them the mission. “I don’t think it is a trick, Mel. ROM agents were at the gate last night and tried to kill us. See if Min and Raz can figure it out and keep your eyes peeled. They know we are here and sent that HPG to lure at least one General Wolf to Antares.”

She looked over the Ranna and huffed, “I didn’t want to get involved but since we are in the area of effect, we have to treat them as a hostile force and figure out what they are up to.”
“We’ll update them when we meet up in an hour. Do you have an idea of what they might be planning?”

Ranna lit up with an idea, “Katya said they tried to lure her into damaging the chemical plant like the propagandists said but it never happened. I’ve been there and talked with the security chief, so I know she was telling the truth. They had to carefully edit that reel they released on INN.”
“We will look into it and parse through to find some anomaly.”

Mel pulled out her ruggedized noteputer, "According to the Adder reports no COMGuard units have landed on-world to assist the AMC yet. Most of them are still in orbit around the Dantes.”
“Maybe those transports were meant to pull people out, not land them.
The Two-Twenty Second Division disappeared after Katya refused to take their bait.”
“If they are leaving then they might care what happens on-world.”

A knock at the door signaled time was short, and so was Diana’s patience. They had to move fast while she and Ranna held tight. “We need some kind of evidence that COMSTAR is fighting their own war. See if you can find some.”
“Aff Khan Pryde. We will find something.”
“And Mel if things get bad out there signal Savanna and get clear. Don't come back for us. Ranna and I will find our own way out if we must.”
Mel nodded and set her cap low, eyes on the noteputer as she exited. “We’ll return Diana.”
The door locked behind them as bootsteps were heard on the hard concrete outside.

Five AeroTechs gathered at the paved smoke pit beside the canal exchanging gossip to one another during their 10:00 break period. Within the canal the depth gauges reduced slowly but by the time they finished were noticeable.

If only anyone was looking.

[PsihoKekec]

So they reduced/stopped the outflow of water to increase the water pressure behind the dam.

Come to think, straightforward combat must be downright therapeutic for Katya after prolonged torment by Adam Steiner and then 222th, not to mention all the mental baggage she brought from the Homeworlds.

[AlphaMirage]

14:50
A great roar shook the canopy above as another flight of Aerospace Fighters took off laden with bombs rockets, they followed shortly behind by Cruise Missiles lurching away from the sharp lines of a Tulwar Bombardment Ship. All of these threw up great dust clouds from the formerly tamped earth that formed its foundation. An older teen held a small bow and reel, both he and a younger boy carried large baskets with shovels tied to them behind. They picked their way through the shadowed brambles beneath the canopy while dodging stray branches and bogs.

The younger boy leapt over a muddy crick, “Are you sure it is safe to come here Gunther?”
“Do you want to eat something other than old bread today? or not Vico?”
“I do, but this seems dangerous.”
“It’s fine we are on the other side of the canal from the airbase. They’ve been fighting above us for days, if they were going to blow this place up, they would’ve done it already.
Ever since I got some money from Kate and working from Mrs Bakker I’ve been making and setting fish traps. So, it’s about time I show you how to do it.
We might soon have enough for more and I’m going to age out next year.”
“What are you going to do when you leave?”
“I’m not sure yet, depends on who wins the war. I can work in the paper mill and stay nearby.
It’s not like this planet has ever or is presently dripping in opportunity.
At least the Sheriff and Governor handled the mob, that made everything a lot easier.”
“Are you sure she’s the same lady you helped? You weren’t just making that up and did something bad to make a thousand Kroner?”
“I’m sure, Kate, Katya, I didn’t realize it at the time though.”
“Why would she disguise herself though? That’s still weird.”
“The Clanners are weird, but at least they are fair and mostly honest, unlike Nashan.”

They reached their destination, a deep pool in what would otherwise be a small stream now teeming with fish. “Wow! Gunther there’s so many! You are so good at this!”

Gunther put his hand over the boy’s mouth, they were still very close to the military base and even though it was on the other side of the canal it was better to be unseen and quiet while they worked. Vico calmed down as Gunther walked over to the little inlet where his fish traps were exposed along with dead fish trapped inside. “Its dry? but this is a pretty deep spar right off the canal. If these fish are dead, then it has been a while since the water went down.”

It was muddy all the way back to the canal where the pickled trunks of logs that had fallen off countless rafts breached the surface. All very strange and had explained why the fish had been forced to cluster in the nearest deep pool. “Did anyone say anything about the dam today Vico?”

Vico was already shoveling the fish into his basket and shoved the lid on it as Gunther handed him his, “There wasn’t an announcement in the newspaper, the Sheriff has been out in the canyonlands and I heard one of the Dragoons escaped from the INTER-LOGI people, but nothing about the dam. Why?”
“I was here a few days ago and it was normal. Yet, it’s almost three meters low out of the normal seven and there’s been plenty of rain and snow this year.”
“Why would that happen?”
“I don’t know but something is wrong with the dam.”
Months of foraging and collapse had made Gunther keen to his surroundings and there were human tracks nearby in the mud that led further into the forest. He drew the brushknife from its scabbard on his hip and passed his bow to Vico, “Hang on to this for a few minutes, will you?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m just taking a look.”
He picked through the shrubs for a few dozen meters and found a cache of large tan bags concealed in a shallow pit within them. Gunther had seen booby traps before having found plenty of caches in the forest that he was not meant to. This one had a collection of directional anti-personnel mines around it but those were easy enough to disable when you found them. There must be something valuable within these bags that might get him a bounty from the Sheriff or a tidy sum from the sale, maybe even enough to get off-world, or set himself up in business with enough toughs to keep competition at bay.

Gunther sheathed his machete and yelled back to warn Vico that there was a threat, but he’d deal with it. He inspected the bags and found no other tricks; the bag unzipped with some force to reveal a suit of armor with a strange insignia on it. A green bird with a sword clutched in its talons, it looked like something from the Clans but not any Clan he’d seen and there were many Clanners that had passed through the system. Within the bag was an incredibly heavy rifle with attached heat shroud and underbarrel grenade launcher. He’d only seen those before in the hands of the Elementals.
“Wow, a Mauser Nine Sixty Laser Rifle. So cool.”

A man’s voice came from the suit of armor, “Whoever is at our cache, we are only giving you one warning. Everything has a tracker, if you take it, we will find you.”
“How do you know I’m here?”
“Our Nighthawks has some of the most advanced sensors on this world. Your proximity triggered its emergency response to my headset.”
“Who are you guys?”
“I am Raziel of Clan Jade Falcon.”
Once more he hefted the rifle, “Raz do you guys have a ship? and are you recruiting? Because I have a bad feeling.”
“Depends, do you have something to offer us?”

The scope came to life showing the forest and its inhabitants in multi-spectral brilliance.
“Maybe I do.”
"Go on."

[PsihoKekec]

The previous caches the meddling kid found were Comstar, I presume?

[AlphaMirage]

The previous caches the meddling kid found were Comstar, I presume?

Probably organized crime or valuables caches from refugees or rebels.

02:18
A shop-light hung tenuously above Diana and Ranna casting erratic shadows over them with each launch of Bullfrog fighters or Cruise Missiles from the Tulwar. The air inside in the drying shed was dry but still smelled of damp earth and wood from outside. Inquisitor Phoebe had made a grand show of locking them in with a large heavy padlock on the door, but it was nothing a sustained pulse from a laser couldn’t handle. Light from wildfires could be seen reflected in the clouds above showing that the battle was still far from over during their short walk from the main installation.

“At least we are closer to the Mechbay Diana.” Ranna whispered over the general buzz of activity around them.

Diana sat across from her cross-legged upon the debarked logs set against the wall even as Ranna paced. Both were a relief from their earlier joint restraint to the table, although once semi-freed they both could steal a few hours of shuteye while awaiting their fate. “While remaining apart from the main Security contingent. Presumably they sought to confound my fireteam by moving us.”

“There is still an Elemental out there.”
They both saw the shadow of an Armored Elemental standing guard just outside his form momentarily illuminated by rocket engines.

“My people can handle them.”
“When are they coming?”

Another fighter roared off into the black causing a slight tremor in the concrete floor followed by the walls shaking slightly as a missile arced off into the night. Distant rumbles of explosions from far away battles could be heard when the night air was still and the base momentarily silent.

“When they are ready and not a moment before.”

“We have been stuck together for almost twenty-four hours now!”
“This is no vacation for me Dragoon. If we had followed the plan I would still likely be here but in my Nighthawk suit, spreading carnage. Rather than picking at my nails.”

She pulled out a broken emery board from the sleeve, “At least this cage is more spacious and drier than the one Phelen stuck me in for weeks.”

My clothes also smell less terrible,” she sniffed the sleeve of her stolen MP uniform, “I couldn’t wait to burn my fatigues after we returned to Astrapolis.”
“You were trying to kill him!”
“Capture him.
I was only authorized to kill him if he resisted capture. Even then I was to bring proof of his death back with me. Preferably a hand, so they could take metrics and ensure he was deceased. Heart was also acceptable as was an eye but only if it still had the nerve attached.”
“Gross!”
“He said you liked his eyes.”
“Not like that you freak.”

“You sound very stressed for someone who is not awaiting execution for treason.”
“Right now, Katya Kerensky is trying to kill my family! You’re damn right I’m stressed. I want to get into that fight. How can you be so calm!?”
“I’ve long accepted my inevitable death, I have faced it many times, as a girl on Tokasha, in Sibko, within the wilds of Elissa, and upon the battlefields of the Inner Sphere. This situation is little different beyond the company I share.” She blew the dust from her now smoothed nails and returned the emery board to her pocket. “Do you think you can beat Galaxy Commander Kerensky? Mechwarrior Kerensky.”

“I don’t want to! That’s the problem!
I just want her to stop fighting Maeve!
I’d have trouble if either of them died, Katya is not a bad person like COMSTAR told us she was. Problematic yes, not a nice person, yes, but not evil.”

“Who do you think the real enemy is?”
“ilKhan Leo Showers.”
“By Clan Law, only a Khan or SaKhan can challenge the ilKhan.”
“Is that why you are pretending to be a Khan?”
Diana stood and walked toward the back of the shed, “I am the Khan of Clan Jade Falcon.”
“Well then where are your Warriors!”

Diana reached down and pulled a Mauser 960 up from the floor, with some effort she braced the massive laser rifle complex on a log facing the door, then put a finger to her lips. Ranna dove behind a log just as she heard heavy footsteps on the concrete beside the shed. C8 demo charges surgically breached the sheet metal sides embedding micro shrapnel into the logs and mildly deafened the MechWarrior but not Diana who immediately loosed a burst of microgrenades that blasted the door off its hinges.

Five dark shapes set upon the surprised Elemental disabling his laser with a myomer powered logging hook. Thick chains wrapped around it immobilizing it long enough for a coup de grace to be delivered via a Man-Pack Particle Beam to the helmet.
“You took long enough Raz.” Diana said as she approached the Armored Falcons.
“We had to recover the Nighthawks and confirm suspicions with Savanna. Looks like the canal is running dry so we had her check the reservoir level. It’s elevated from what our intel and local source thinks it should be during this point in the season.”
Melanie returned after a quick walk to a recover a concealed duffel dropping it at Diana and Ranna’s feet. Inside were both Diana and Ranna’s MechWarrior Combat Suits and sidearms. An alarm blared nearby at the sign of the prison break and an incoming air raid. “So, get changed MechWarriors because we might need to cling to your mechs if that dam fails.”

“Right here?”
Diana was already stripping down, “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten shy after all we’ve been through.”
“No, its just…” Ranna pulled her shirt off and saw herself reflected in one of the Falcon PA(L)'s visors, “Screw it let’s move.”

[PsihoKekec]

Got to admit it, Ranna has great sense of dramatic timing when it comes to proving herself wrong.

[AlphaMirage]

Dragoon Aerospace Fighters dropped their bombs and strafed at Anti-Aircraft positions cratering the runway and damaging the Clan Star Adder’s flimsy but mostly abandoned mobile command structures. The larger HPG Transmitter and sky-search RADAR was backlit lit an eerie green as tracers streaked toward the fighters from the Flak Guns. Airborne Arrow-IVs had set fire to several of the drying sheds, cooling trucks, engineering vehicles, and firefighting robots responded to the raid. They had to search far and wide for water however and the conflagration continued unabated.

Diana and Ranna ran between the Jade Falcons and their Nighthawk suits, “Did you know this raid was coming Caresh!?” Ranna shouted as a bomb burst and sent a small firefighting robot flying before it landed with a crash on the runway spewing out its firefighting foam like a burst can of shaving cream.

“Aff, we had some forewarning. We could not call it off or we would have been discovered by the Inquisitor. You were safer outside than in that shed. General Wolf would have been displeased if she found out both of you had been killed so wastefully.”

Although much of the wood had been cleared from the timberyard there were still huge piles of it now ablaze and spreading toward the aircraft’s revetments. VTOL Pilots and Ground Crews battled the blaze as they rushed to lift off before their craft were damaged, but their haste and rotor wash only fueled flames elsewhere.

Inquisitor Phoebe was likely busy with the other Elementals using fire-resistant exoskeletons that were becoming increasingly common in the Inner Sphere, but which had been standard for the Clans for centuries to control the damage. This was her airbase, and its continued operation was her responsibility. It was a perfect time to put some distance and make a run for the Dragoon lines before the Clans could respond.

Something twisted in Ranna’s stomach however as she witnessed the devastation around her. This was also the perfect time for something else bad to happen while the occupying Clan Forces were distracted. “Raz, Min, did you install a means to get into the command system?”
“No, we expected the Dragoons to blow them up or for us to leave so we didn’t want to risk it.”
“Damn, then I’ll have to do it. Assuming Katya didn’t revoke my privileges.”

“What makes you think she didn’t Ranna.” Diana said as they stopped beside the large barn which had become the airbases’ ersatz Mech Bay. They both drew their sidearms as the Nighthawks prepared to breach the keypad locked door via a ram. “Because I don’t think she thinks I am going to escape, and I happen to agree with her.”
“You what! No, no, no Ranna we did not go through all this for you to decide you don’t want to get rescued now.”

“I was never really in danger yet Diana. If we live through what I fear is going to happen they are going to come after her even though it’s not her fault.”
“That sounds like her problem Ranna. I doubt she will take you back.” The Falcon Commandos breached the door and followed through to clear the bay.

“All clear MechWarriors, looks like there is a Rifleman for you Khan Pryde along with Ranna’s Warhammer.”


They holstered their weapons and rushed inside closing the door behind them to the chaos outside the hanger doors. Diana poked a finger into Ranna’s vest as the Falcons detached the repair harnesses from each Battlemech. “Look if I must kidnap you Ranna, I am inclined to do so. I’ve ran out the sedatives, but I still have my fist.”

“Diana, if anyone understands why someone might want to switch sides it should be you!”

Minerva appeared beside them after hearing the argument, “Do you want me to knock her out and tie her to the Battlemech Khan Pryde.”

“I think she probably could use a sharp jab to the skull, because she is not thinking straight.
I left because the Steel Vipers abandoned me, and I had no other choice but defection or death.
You are leaving the Dragoons to what, join the Star Adders as an Abtaka!”

Diana held a knife out toward Ranna who kept her hands clear of the pistol on her chest, “because that would make you the enemy and we still have unfinished business.”
“No, I am doing it for Katya, but if I was an actual Bloodnamed Clan MechWarrior wouldn’t that solidify Clan Jade Falcon’s and your own claims?”

Strained emotions played on the MechWarrior’s face, a rare instance of being flustered, before she sheathed the knife forcefully behind her. “It is a very long shot Ranna Kerensky. This is a Phelen level terrible plan.
I think it will fail and I am still highly tempted to just knock you out and call in our shuttle to evac. However, it is not my place to deny you a choice. I can always capture you later.
General Wolf will however be pissed at all of us.”

“I know, but she has to trust me and let me do what I think is right.”

“She doesn’t have to do any such thing; it is likely she would keep you locked up on Outreach for the rest of your life if I returned you to her. However, I think that would be a waste.”

“You do care.”

“Absolutely not! It is a waste, that is factually…demonstrably true.”

Ranna’s Warhammer and the Rifleman powered up at the touch of the Commandos armored gloves. “Ranna, whatever you are planning to do better happen fast. There is likely to be a second wave and retaliation against the AMC forces once they get things under control.”

The Falcons opened the doors and set out toward the South steering clear of the raging inferno made worse by the winds blowing through the reservoir canyon that channeled the North-South wind from the mountains. Although it was dark there was no reflection of fire on the canal, shadowed as it was on a low ebb. Decades of accumulated junk lay exposed since its last dredging complicating the water retrieval process to temper the flames.

“Anytime now.”
Ranna struggled through the manual, it had been a long time since she last attempted to use the Black Widow’s DI computer for anything fancier than putting PPCs on targets even though it was capable of much more. Its O/P 3k communications suite, used so extensively by House Kurita, was a complete mystery to her and it was in Russian which she could read but not quickly, so it was rapidly translated to Standard instead. Watch codeboxes were running in the cockpit beside her attempting to enable her weapons and external communication.

Internal Clan Networks were open to her, and she was listening in on the various skirmishes raging through the forest between Katya and Maeve’s forces. She switched over to Patrol channels and overheard the alerts, the fires were growing uncontrollably, and the airbase needed to be abandoned and the other material put on its trailers and relocated to safety. “Come on. It is still not what I am looking for!”

Another network appeared on screen after some searching, The Clans’ Civil Infrastructure Unit maintained a robust, low bandwidth radio relay for the different sensors they had installed to monitor everything for power production to reservoir level. Ranna had spotted Sheriff Jason when he was inputting his passcode and it still worked so she could access the secure CIU portal. Laser systems had been set up to monitor the water levels remotely throughout the valley as part of the CIU’s survey operations on Antares, but they disagreed with Nashan Power and Water System’s internal network which showed the canal levels as below normal but not empty like they very clearly were, and the reservoir level was still rising, dangerously close to the overflow point which alone would be dangerous assuming it worked.

While it could not model a dam break the computer’s topographic maps were up to date with the latest satellite imagery and it was very clear that if the dam broke it would take a larger portion of the extended refugee town outside Alba with it. It could even take a portion of Ridgeside with it and cause major damage to the chemical plant nearby which had halted operations while awaiting raw materials.

She pinged the Sheriff’s personal pager with his own name, ‘Emergency! The Dam is in Danger! Evacuate the refugees and airbase personnel to higher ground immediately. RK’

Ranna flicked her spotlight toward Diana who responded in kind, a low resolution but reliable communication method. They stood beside one another in their cockpits with canopies open. Her Rifleman’s weapons did work and there were Dragoon fighters inbound, reluctantly Diana agreed to exfil with her shuttle using the fighters for cover and escort back to friendly ships above. They would warn the others that there might be a disaster brewing as soon as they could.



Katya woke from a cat nap to one of her staff officers standing over her with a radio handset, “Ranna wishes to speak with you Galaxy Commander.”
Her Bondswoman had been detained already at the airbase along with the Traitor Diana whom she was operating alongside. “What does this Traitor have to say?”
“I have not betrayed you Galaxy Commander, I remain on world and in danger and so do you.”
“What danger do I face beside the Dragoons?”
“The Alkan Ridge Dam is dangerously close to failure levels, and I think it has been compromised by saboteurs based on the false readouts of the CIU and NPW’s sensors. You need to order a withdrawal, or our Galaxy will drown before it can break sky.”

“You would have me surrender my superior and prepared position on a hunch? To your birthmother.”

“Aff, Galaxy Commander. If I did not wish to see you succeed, I would not have stayed behind.
I would have escaped with Diana. Yet I remain here near Alba in the custody of the Sheriff knowing full well what might come and with no other options but for you to trust me.

Call down the dropships from the Brahmaputra Katya, you do not have much time.”

The mere thought of fleeing from battle with the Dragoons filled her with such revulsion. Her hand clenched until her nails left behind red marks on her palm. “Put Jason on.”
A sound came from the speaker as it was passed between them, “Sheriff, what do you make of Ranna’s claims?”
“She surrendered herself to us without a fight this time.
Diana has escaped so she had ample opportunity to do so as well, yet she remains here.

We sent a survey team up in an Anhur and they confirm the reservoir is rising and the canal is drying up, so they are working on a solution. There is no guarantee we can save the facility, so I have begun evacuations to higher ground out of an abundance of caution and abandoned our bases.

If CIU can stop the dam from failing by opening the diversion tunnels and sluices we might just make a big marsh, but it will not be a catastrophe. If not though, everything downstream for dozens of kilometers will be scoured away including Epsilon Galaxy and the AMC attackers.”

04:11
The forest had been blasted and burned into oblivion around them forming a glade that still smoked in the running lights of two Battlemechs. A Wolf Dragoon Battlemaster halted at one end of the scorched earth an took a knee mirroring that of the Star Adder Hellbringer opposite it.

Galaxy Commander Katya Kerensky’s lean almost predatory features were sharp in the spotlight from her Hellbringer’s shoulder as General Wolf confident and assured emerged from the shadows of her own machine to stand before the younger MechWarrior. “General Wolf, I extend Hegira to your forces for now. Although these are not the circumstances I would have preferred. Our fight is not yet over however, I have unfinished business with your Dragoons.”

Maeve Wolf had learned from among the most esteemed Commanders in the Inner Sphere, Jaime Wolf, and held his own domineering countenance although much of her time had been spent on Staff, she was no less the Warrior for it. Although older even Katya respected her stance and spirit while they stared at one another, Maeve in her red and black cooling suit compared to Katya’s coyote tan, the Dragoon’s Wolf’s Head Logo staring right at the former Wolf.
“Galaxy Commander Kerensky, I do not know why Ranna has chosen to remain with you besides the malign influence of Clan brainwashing at your orders, but I accept your offer of Hegira given our present circumstances.

Know however that there will be others and the Dragoons will not stop until we have fulfilled our Oath to Khan Kerlin Ward. The ilKhan’s banner will never rise over Tharkad or Terra in anything other than our triumphant victory parade trampling over it. Know also that another day I will ensure that Seventh Kommando comes for Ranna, and they will follow my orders, unlike a certain Clanswoman.”

Although both were unarmed the Dragoon General was clearly not done with her fight having despite all intentions lost her daughter to this strange woman and her barbarous ways. Katya was coiled about ready to give in to her long nurtured hatred of those that had killed her Clan and made her an exile as a girl. Instead, she spit at the name Kerlin Ward, the Khan responsible for the act, and both swallowed their pride for the betterment of their soldiers this day.

“Bargained Well and Done.”

06:48
Alkan Ridge Dam suffered a catastrophic breach as the sluices had been welded shut and the foundation of the main pressure wall compromised by precise explosions at weak points. Ranna watched in horror alongside many others in the early hours who had gathered on the ridge with their possessions. A massive wave swept large portions of the industrial paper mill off their foundations, scattered massive pieces of fixed infrastructure, and cozy cottages that the refugees had constructed over the past months like they were so many twigs. Tall trees toppled under the wave’s impact ripped from their roots via the scouring action of the water as it moved across the landscape.

The whole process of flooding and receding took three days of inundation. All while the people of Alba could do nothing but stare in horror upon the devastation that came dangerously close to wiping out their placid river valley and the people dwelling within it. It only ceased when the Clan CIU was able to access and close off upstream dams to capture more of the Alkan River’s flow. Dropships landed upstream in the high badlands as Anhur, Heka, and Sekmet VTOLs airlifted INTER-LOGI, the injured, and other Clan personnel to the dropships then upward to the Brahmaputra while shuttling relief supplies to the now doubly displaced citizens of Antares City.

Ranna’s was the last group to leave mostly because it contained the Sheriff and Inquisitor that were overseeing operations and maintaining security. She had never moved so many crates of supplies in her life and everything was sore from her escape and return to Clan life conducting what limited rescue operations her mech could contribute to. None of those boxes were nearly as heavy as Katya’s personal effects however and Galaxy Commander Kerensky as part of the terms of Hegira was forbidden as was Maeve from setting foot on the planet until the disaster had been handled. This impasse had given COMSTAR the perfect opportunity and they had staged equipment, personnel, and supplies just outside the disaster zone waiting for the perfect opportunity to fix what Ranna was certain they had caused.

05/18/3052
Ranna Kerensky had been on Warships before but never a Clan Warship of this size or with so many gravity decks. The Volga-II SLS Brahmaputra had enormous cargo and factory bays capable of supplying a Galaxy level command for months with everything they might need when they need it. It had been the homebase of the 2nd Special Project Robotics Regiment but that had gotten wiped out by Delta Galaxy and Barber’s Marauders. It was not the one that had wiped out the 12th Star Guards, which was good because she had friends in that formation and there was no telling where they had been moved to or how far she was willing to go to avenge them.

Her escort was a wiry Espatier from the Nova Fox contingent that had already fought the Dragoons twice, once over Atocongo and again over Antares. He had no weapon not even the spiked tomahawk that was common in boarding parties but the hovering drone behind him did and she wasn’t sure it was under his control. Not that there was anywhere to flee to if this hairbrained scheme of hers didn’t work out. She had made her choice and now she was going to find out if it was a good one.

Although she was a ground commander Katya had taken up residence in the XO of the Brahmaputra’s office. Many expensive pieces of equipment and a vital strategic position had been lost under her command. Ranna was grateful it had been more than four days since she had last seen the Galaxy Commander. Perhaps her fury had abated.

It was apparent however that was not the case as the hatch opened to reveal a mess of clothes meant only for burning and a desktop that was piled high with reports. A viewscreen in the one corner showed a constant channel of projections regarding their stellar position and the general status of the ship. She did not look up from the container of what was either soup or tea magnetized to her desk. “Point Leader. Ensure that my personal effects are not opened before they are transferred to deep storage.”
“Aye Ma’am!”

He joined the members of Delta Galaxy that had been transferred onto the ship as it was designed to carry large numbers of personnel on extended voyages to the stars and maintain them in good condition throughout. With its robots gone and enough supplies scavenged from the planet there was no threat of deprivation of anything but privacy onboard. The hatch was dogged behind her and Ranna felt incredibly uncomfortable like she had been caged in with a monster. Katya rose up to stand before her, the slightly older Galaxy Commander preparing herself as to scold a disobedient younger sibling. “Why! Why should I not just push you out of an airlock and let Maeve recover the corpse? You voluntarily went with Diana at first, yet you remained behind while she left?

I do not understand. Are you now so eager to take up arms against your fellow allies that you want to be made a full MechWarrior of Clan Star Adder? The Dragoons were responsible for the death of Clan Wolf.”
“No, then Star Colonel Leo Showers was the one who killed Star Colonel Ulric Kerensky. I read the hidden Remembrance you wrote. Your enemies are mine too. Our next fight is not against the AMC or COMGuards or the LCAF. It will be a Clan internal matter and we both know it!”

The intercom chimed, “Galaxy Commander Kerensky, you have an HPG from Loremaster of the Clans, Kael Pershaw. He has issued you a summons and is going to meet us around Pasig for your transfer to SLS Gunslinger.”

[PsihoKekec]

Ranna and Katya could start a headcase anonymous club.

[Gorgon]

You'll need at least three for a proper club - better invite Diana in. They could even give it a cool mascot, a Jade Wolf or something.

[PsihoKekec]

Those two make Diana look like paragon of mental health and rationality, so they will need someone else to make it a trio.

[AlphaMirage]

We are all mad here in the Clan Touman. It is the only way to survive.

-----

Interlude – Under Pressure
05/13/3052 | Cloudliner Nahid, Venus, Sol System[/b]

Prince Andrew Davion had earned his wings in the AFFS, but it was a completely different experience to look out at the sun lit clouds of Venus while floating in its atmosphere. Cloudliner Nahid was a completely different experience than piloting his fighter, or even being aboard the starships he had taken to Sol or elsewhere in his travels.

Aboard a spaceship one only had to worry about the things leaving, not entering, and COMSTAR had turned the Nahid and its innumerable sister airships into the most bizarre constructs in the perhaps the whole of the Inner Sphere. Riding high at almost 50 kilometers and 340 km/h the atmosphere around the Nahid was a marvel of engineering in this universe. Graceful and elegant but powerful and sturdy enough to resist the wind and acid clouds.

He adjusted his collar and returned his hands to parade rest behind the Castleton green AFFS uniform decorated with golden brocade admiring the light reflecting off the clouds. A women’s voice came from behind him, in halting, uncertain Standard, “You need to wear sunglasses or lower the blinds, Prince Andrew, or you might ruin your eyes.”
“Lady (Kurita) Ayame, I tried to bring my aviators, but ROM confiscated them when I arrived at Aphrodite Station. Security risk they said.” He rolled the dial that adjusted the polarization of the thick windows made of the same material as his fighter’s or a Battlemech’s cockpit. “No more so than the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine’s top diplomats being aboard the Primus’ cruise ship in the Sol System. Perhaps one day we can set foot on Terra, but I do find this cruise oddly calming.”
“My husband knew what he was getting into when he accepted the Coordinator’s mission.”
“So did I when I accepted my brother’s. Unfortunately, I think it will be difficult for Tancred to stomach. There is too much bad blood between our empires to settle with a single agreement.”
“I understand Andrew, but to me you have done much to earn Hohiro’s respect even if he would never acknowledge it. Your agreement is but the first of many that might build lasting peace.”
“Nothing like the threat of imminent death from Pirates on the Rim or the threat of Venetian atmosphere to build camaraderie.
Thank you for the letter, Lady Ayame, it touched me deeply.”
“That was my intention.”
“Until this evening then.” A pair of white painted COMSTAR Tomahawk Fighters and a Mowang Shuttle approached the hanger built into the Cloudliner’s ray-like wings. “I suppose the Primus expects us to greet her.”
“It would be the appropriate and honorable thing to do. I will go and rouse my husband.”
“Have our weeks of negotiations so exhausted the Prince?”
“His restlessness has little to do with you Prince Andrew.”
“I see…glad you are both using this opportunity to the fullest. We might not get an opportunity to visit Venus again.”

Primus Myndo Waterly and Princes Andrew Davion and Hohiro Kurita stood around a wide hexagon table bolted down into the floor of the Nahid’s conservatory filled with diverse and exotic plants from across the Inner Sphere rich in bloom and perfume. All were dressed in their proper formal uniforms with even the Primus adopting the blue and white/platinum COMGuard uniform that had become so commonplace in media throughout the Inner Sphere. AFFS Green and Gold and DCMS Red and Black all stood in sharp contrast to one another accustomed as they were to being on the opposite side of the Inner Sphere’s longest running military campaign. An intermittent but intense war over a dozen worlds formerly in the Federated Suns captured and occupied in 3039 by a surprise invasion by a suspiciously well-equipped DCMS.

A camera drone hovered nearby catching the trio along with Sigma and Gamma Branch facilitators in attendance alongside the diplomatic representatives of two Great Houses. Primus Waterly addressed the core tenants of this new negotiated peace between the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine. One that would see the DCMS withdraw from occupied planets in exchange for a large but reasonable ransom paid (to ensure Isoroku’s occupation governments didn’t rebel) to Luthien’s Ministry of the Treasury. Further addendums also contained a framework to eventually see ambassadors exchanged and consulates established between regional and imperial capitals for the first time in their blood soaked and centuries long history.


05/14/3052 | Skytower City, Luthien, Draconis Combine

Coordinator Theodore Kurita stared out from the middle ring of Skytower City’s Arcology toward the Buda Weapon’s Environmental Reclamation Project. “Is it done Tomoe?”

Tomoe Sakade had made no noise entering the room, but her husband was keen. She had made sure of it when Constance ordered her to before she fell in love with him and gave him three children. “Hohiro and Andrew have signed the pact as negotiated. Our treasury is liquid again and disaster averted for now.”

“For now, will do love.” They stared as the sun peaked above the young forest consisting of trees engineered to bioaccumulate nitrates and other industrial waste left behind from his predecessors before turning it into something beautiful. “My only goal is to put the Draconis Combine in a better place than I found it. Even we cannot stand by and let the Clans succeed in their goals. Has Haakon been informed and given authorization?”

“Precentors Luthien and Rasalhague have confirmed it. Full certified copy of the treaties have been approved by The Riksdag.”
“Good because I am about to send an army into his territory, again via Alshain. We don’t want any misunderstandings.

Both of us risk to much with this gambit for it to falter in the final meter.”

[AlphaMirage]

Interlude – Troubled Waters
05/18/3052 – City of Alba, Antares, Contested World
COMGuard trucks, half-tracks, and armored vehicles had to wait for the floodwaters to recede before they were able to reach the City of Alba. It hadn’t stopped the Karnov tiltrotors or Ripper VTOLs from rescuing those that had managed to survive the initial flood by clinging to debris or to deliver what cargos they could carry internally and on external sling loads. Armored engineering vehicles pushed aside logs blocking the road and deployed their bridges to facilitate the travel of vehicles unable to ford water obstacles. One of the first vehicles on site was a stormy blue green Skulker Scout Car towing an incident command trailer. Both of which had wheels covered in muddy clumps that threatened to bog them down on unimproved surfaces.

Demi-Precentor Carol Summers disembarked from the ramp as they arrived near the former Clan Airbase that had been swept away by the tragic dam failure. She lifted her tanker’s goggles to reveal a scoured muddy landscape that looked no different than any battlefield on four worlds her COMGuard Tankers had fought against the endless armored horde of Clan Hell’s Horses. In the distance the dam stood despite being hollowed out by the millions of tons of water that had rushed through its megalithic structure. Nearby the Clan’s heavy communication and sensor equipment was a tangled mass of metal and wires, a sad fate for their mobile HPG but COMSTAR would replace them and bring Antares back into the Inner Sphere shortly.

Her comm-operator peeked out from the Skulker’s armored rear door. “The Star Adders have left orbit Demi-Precentor; seems they are in a rush and no longer wish to contest our Warships or those of the AMC.”
“The fewer complicating factors the better. Has General Wolf insisted on returning to the surface?”
“Negative ma’am. The AMC is presently holding position with our Flotilla.”
“Then I suppose Antares is now a COMSTAR Protectorate since we have our boots on the ground.”
“Seems that way Demi-Precentor.”
“Very well then, I want comms up and this situation triaged. Deploy the drones and give us an up close view of the disaster area. I want distribution centers set up by nightfall and ready for breakfast tomorrow morning.”
“Aye ma’am!”

05/23/3052
COMGuard blue helmets stood in close order with bayonetted rifles at the ready as the citizens of Alba massed across the widened muddy river that separated the former Clan Star Adder airbase and Nashan Diversified land from the refugee resettlement area and Alba municipal borders. Armed UTVs shared space with PA(L) equipped heavy weapon teams as the citizens of Alba twice or thrice displaced by disaster came out with rifles and other Clan-spec equipment left behind in the Clan’s hasty evacuation. Those that weren’t bearing rifles had banners up with ‘COMSTAR/Nashan go home!’ or ‘Leave us alone!’ and similar slogans crudely scrawled across them.

Carol watched it all through binoculars while standing atop an armored engineering vehicle. “I don’t understand. Do they want the Clans back rather than us?
Even after all we did for them.”

[PsihoKekec]

She has no idea just how much the Comstar has done to for them.

[AlphaMirage]

OOC - Address from the Author

I've been absent for almost a month but fret not I am still working on this story. Unfortunately the next chapter has several instances of political violence/terrorism including the assassination of some Lyran aristocrats by Commonwealth subjects, the return of the Dancing Joker, and Melissa Steiner. In wake of recent events I'm going to sit on those for a little bit longer. I'll return to the story after Olympics and hopefully nothing crazy happens during then.

[PsihoKekec]

hopefully nothing crazy happens during then.

And now you jinxed it

[AlphaMirage]

And now you jinxed it

Well lets see if we can get ahead of the next one. The real world often ends up as warped as our fiction.

Chapter 27 – Emergent Threats
06/03/3052 – Triad, Tharkad, Lyran Commonwealth
Duchess Anette Steiner walked slightly behind Archon Melissa Steiner as she walked through the Palace’s Hedges where flowers were emerging as her throne world’s spring began in earnest. News from the front had her confused, angry, and hopeful all at the same time. “What is Roman going to do about this Duchess!”
“Nothing, considering he has focused all his efforts on extricating the Steel Vipers from the deserts and Casbahs of Bessarabia with Azami volunteers.

The LCAF is not a peacemaking force under his command it is a war winning one. This one is on us in the Capital. We need to assure the populace that all can be well. There are already signs of impending internal crisis.”
“What set these rebels in the liberated worlds off?”

Anette consulted her comm-pad reports from the COMSTAR personnel manning mobile HPGs that linked LCAF Forward Command to Tharkad. Each had a neat compilation of the recent casualties due to ‘rebel activity’ along the lengthening ‘iron river’ of Lyran (or Liberated) worlds and ships that flowed from Arcturus to the LCAF front snaking along the Rasalhague border.

“Each was a noble that abandoned their planet prior to the Clans’ arrival.”
“Roman figured they would keep the DCMS out and put down any Clan stay behind forces with their retainers. I suppose he was wrong; they couldn’t even handle their own population.”

“There are a few reports of Clan Watch Operatives, but they have been unsubstantiated. According to ROM or MI the masterminds were likely already politically volatile and organized quickly on their own. Most were serving long indenture terms in penal colonies within their planet’s free zones for agitation or other crimes. The Clans swept away the authorities in these colonies during their occupation and let them out. As they departed the Clans left behind hordes of powerful small arms and that was enough to overwhelm household retainers and freelance mercs. Ultimately their failure resulting in the noble and his main retinue’s death by gunfire or gruesome execution.
Fortunately, ROM chose not to send us the videos.”

“And now a group of Anti-Commonwealth Pro-Clan Rebels are in command of even more firepower including Battlemechs that could be repurposed against the LCAF. No doubt the Watch will find them more weapons and ammo should they circle back and leave Operatives behind if they haven’t already.
Precentor Naval has already told us that he cannot guarantee the Clans won’t deploy more Corvettes under Watch Command like the one that raided Arc-Royal and that he is hardly able to keep his Warships in action supporting the COMGuards and the Wolf Dragoons' ships have taken serious damage.”

She put her Commpad down, pausing for a moment in the hedge maze that held many secrets. Molehunters and Diplomatic Guard regularly checked it and the rest of the Triad for bugs and not the kind one could kill with insecticide. No other footsteps mirrored theirs and no immediate sign of surveillance from anything other than the sharpshooters on the roof could be discerned.
“Their foolish deaths might give greater caution to the others who fear they might befall a similar fate and that could be useful if exercised adroitly.”

Melissa stopped to admire the blossoms upon the tangling vines and trees that were the weave of the hedge. “Perhaps but it is not a card we can play easily, Lady Kelswa holds much sway upon ‘The Homeless’ that remain and her father’s gallant last stand against Clan Ghost Bear has only increased her standing as ours have waned. She will no doubt see this as an opportunity to weaken my power base.
I cannot act against her as it would be seen as weakening the war effort by causing division. After all it must be my policies that infuriated my subjects to rebellion rather than the selfish interests of certain aristocrats.”

“The Skye Rangers have still not deployed due to ‘DCMS developments’ so that strengthens her own hand. No doubt she has promised support to nobles or titles to superior officers as you did claim that the Homeless’ titles were up for grabs if those worlds can be brought back into the Commonwealth.”

“How do I stop her then? She has always been one step ahead.”
“Perhaps Patrick has some ideas.
Unless he has twisted my beloved Walther’s mind with some already or has him drunk before teatime. I swear sometimes he is a cad; Patrick always is.”
“At least you have him here. Thomas is still on Coventry planning next steps with Lady Kell.”
“What dreadful times that we are forced to rely on mercurial mercenaries for our salvation.”

“Some of their loyalty can only be rented but the Kell Hounds will always be in your favor Melissa.”
“For better or worse.
Often, I feel unworthy of it. I am not my mother, and this is greatest challenge that I have thus encounter.”
“Just do not prove to be unworthy of it, Archon. You have allies here. Stay your path, trust in them to carry through with your assistance.”
 
They exited the hedge striding across the pavers beside orderly rows and intricate spirals of beautiful fragrant plants. Both passed gardeners in blue jumpsuits, faces hidden under wide brimmed hats as they labored anonymously with their tools and ladders. Under the vigilant but limited eyes of the Diplomatic Guard that failed to see the one snake in the grass.

[PsihoKekec]

When you mentioned guards in Nighthawks I thought it is forshadowing of DJs method of infiltration, but I guess even for him, learning to operate a PAL in a way as not to show himself a novice would be a bridge too far.

[AlphaMirage]

Also those are super secret mostly lostech artifacts so not known by the public.