Opalescent Reflections

[The Wobbly Guy]

How did the Cats manage to sneak two clusters into the water? One at a time? From outside the circle of equals? Hiding on the riverbed all this time?

[Vehrec]

Hell of an update.  Maybe I shouldn’t have read the second half before bed.  It did do an excellent job of reminding one that even war in the Battletech universe is an awful, bloody affair best avoided.

TOO bloody, methinks.  Prince Steiner-Davion's unit is now combat ineffective, probably for at least 4 years.  50% losses is not sustainable.  Deaths of 90% of the crews of all vehicles knocked out is what we see quoted as a good outcome.  Realistically, it should be struck from the list and rebuilt from scratch at a later date, but such is not the way of Battletech.

[Daryk]

Well, that's one less clan to deal with, at least...

[Wrangler]

Cats have hard times accoming

[Gorgon]

That was brutal. But it did take care of the Cats. That's two Clans out of the invasion force dealt with, one way or another. And with the losses they've taken I doubt the Jaguars are long for this world, either. The repercussions are going to be interesting.

[Moriarty74]

Three dealt with though not two, right?  Smoked Jaguars, Nova Cats, and the Steel Vipers?

[Sir Chaos]

Three dealt with though not two, right?  Smoked Jaguars, Nova Cats, and the Steel Vipers?

I think he meant the Cats and Vipers. The Jags are technically still there, just in the process of being meticulously disembowelled.

[DragonKhan55]

TOO bloody, methinks.  Prince Steiner-Davion's unit is now combat ineffective, probably for at least 4 years.  50% losses is not sustainable.  Deaths of 90% of the crews of all vehicles knocked out is what we see quoted as a good outcome.  Realistically, it should be struck from the list and rebuilt from scratch at a later date, but such is not the way of Battletech.

On the other side of the ledger: What I assume is the surrender of an entire Clan? Or at the minimum the majority of Alpha Galaxy. With any luck there will be enough Omnimechs, Elementals and ASFs left to make a pair of ad-hoc abtahka clusters that can then pretty much immediately form the nucleus of the FedCom Nova Cats.

[Kujo]

The Trail was for the 'WHOLE' of the Nova Cats, which they fought a good deal harder then they did in the OTL, but yeah roughly 8.5 Galaxies were added to the AFFC MTOE which if used correctly will add most if not all of the green turkey's OZ to the FedCom (along with what ever industry they set up, logistics(not so much...) ect), while the Turkeys go on their death ride to Tharkad...

[DragonKhan55]

The Trail was for the 'WHOLE' of the Nova Cats, which they fought a good deal harder then they did in the OTL, but yeah roughly 8.5 Galaxies were added to the AFFC MTOE which if used correctly will add most if not all of the green turkey's OZ to the FedCom (along with what ever industry they set up, logistics(not so much...) ect), while the Turkeys go on their death ride to Tharkad...

Oooof. Okay that gives me ideas then. Consolidate the combat-ready Nova Cats into full-strength clusters (say you have about 20 of them left out of 8.5 Galaxies) and then attach them on a two clusters/RCT basis. A full on FedCom RCT with another 90 Nova Cat Omnimechs + attendant Elementals and Omnifighters would roll over any kind of resistance you may find short of a full Galaxy on the other side. Use your RCT as the big hammer formation and the Nova Cat clusters as the mobile units to either screen the RCT or go surat-hunting individual opposing trinaries/supernovas.

[PsihoKekec]

I wonder about the remaining Nova Cats in Homeworlds, once the news reaches the Clans they will be abjured and exterminated. Given how the negotiations went it's possible that Cats started evacuation with whatever transportation assets available months ago and perhaps Commonwealth and Cats will also delay breaking the news, to any Jumpships on the route to reach their worlds and pick up people or material they intend to evacuate. Still many of their warriors will get killed, but given that there is probably already a feeding frenzy over Jaguar and Viper holdings, thus distracting other clans, chances for maximum escapee numbers are good.

[drakensis]

Opalescent Reflections

Full House
Chapter 15

Wolf’s Den, Liezen
Clan Wolf Occupation Zone
2 October 3058

Dropships were hovering over Liezen’s deserts, mech’s and elementals dropping into the sand as fighters circled above them. They were all painted slate gray, only Zeerga emblems marking them as anything other than Wolves.

That was most likely the point, Ulric thought as he watched. “Get me a count,” he requested.

“Reports are coming in,” Evantha told him. The elemental was clinging to the back of his Gargoyle, along with four other elementals handpicked to provide him with a staff. “There are seventeen cluster-sized drops, exact strength still being identified.”

Ulric frowned, unable to scratch his beard due to the neurohelmet. The last intelligence before the Zeerga left the homeworlds left them with fourteen Clusters: five in each of the frontline galaxies, four in the second-line Omega Galaxy. Three additional clusters…

He had offered safcon, simply to keep the battle under control. The Star Admiral of his own Naval Star was confident of defeating the Zeerga warships, but less so about preventing a bombardment. If it was too hard for Radick to get her forces to grips with him, the possibility existed that she would resort to other means.

The Leviathan transports had some armament and despite - or because of - their ramshackle cargo and passenger facilities, they might be able to absorb massive amounts of firepower without losing mobility. And the Texas-class battleship Nicholas Kerensky had more armor than any other class of warship built by the Star League. Nuclear weapons had been considered, but there was no data on where the Zeerga had placed their genetic repository. If a nuke struck that, the repercussions would be a nightmare. The only precedent was annihilation, even if the circumstances were drastically different.

“It only took them four months to get here,” he said out loud.

There were chuckles of contempt from the Wolves listening to the command net, although honestly it would have been at least five or six weeks before the news of his location had spread across the worlds the Zeerga had been raiding. Then at least that long to regroup and get here… today was a little later than he had estimated but not by very much.

The Wolf forces had responded to those raids, returning to Liezen as quickly as they could when they arrived too late. Not all of his forces were here at the sprawling Kungsarme base Ulric had taken over at his headquarters, but that was alright. That was part of the lure. Any trap needed bait.

“They are down. Slightly over nine hundred ‘mechs, more than fifteen hundred elementals,” Evantha reported.

Ulric wasn’t sure how much of the difference between earlier estimates and the current strength were made up of fresh cadets who had never seen battle and bondsmen taken from Sigma and Theta Galaxies. Most likely Radick and Ward had blooded cadets fresh from the sibko in their earlier attacks.

“Khan Marialle Radick,” he called out on the channel used for the limited negotiations earlier. “Welcome to the Wolf’s Den. This will be our circle of equals.”

“We stand ready,” the woman known as the Death Vixen declared. “Come out and face the warriors you betrayed, Ulric.”

“I see no reason to give up my current tactical advantage,” Ulric answered.

“What sort of Khan cowers behind a fortified base?” challenged Vladimir Ward. One of the elementals traced the signal back to an Adder in the Cluster that was nearest to Ulric’s position, while Radick had an Executioner in the next Cluster over. “You expect a few turrets to protect you from us, quineg?

Ulric chuckled. The Clans rarely fortified a facility. If it was lost in a trial of possession fought outside it, the weapons would do nothing anyway, so it would be a waste. “We stripped the facility of armament after we took it from the Kungsarme,” he reminded them. “Otherwise they would have fallen into the hands of some insurgent. Zeerga may favor open plains but Wolves have dens. Come in and get us… Or wait out there until the supplies in your ‘mechs run out.”

“I should not have expected any honor from you,” Radick snarled.

“And I never expected much intelligence from you. When you bid every warrior you could bring with you, you ceded me the choice of battlefield. You thought I would choose ground that did not favor me, quineg?”

Fortification was an art, and while the Clans did not favor it, Ulric had access to Inner Sphere manuals and warriors trained to appreciate it. According to Phelan and others with academy experience, the Wolf’s Den was well designed. Even with the turrets stripped of their weapons, the walls and bunkers were still intact and would channel attackers into killing zones that could be fired on from sheltered firing positions from multiple angles.

“This will not save you,” the young Khan warned.

“Here they come,” warned Evantha.

Ulric grunted in understanding. The Zeerga formed a rough crescent around two sides of the Wolf’s Den and he didn’t need to see them move in, he could hear them, feel them. The rumble of hundreds of mechs moving was unmistakable. More than one galaxy deploying to a single battle was rare - the point of bidding for trials was to keep battles on this scale from happening. “Tell Phelan that it is time for him to get moving.”

The first shots were fired over the walls of the base - mechs standing on the walls that were shielded from the hips (or sometimes shoulder) down by the mass of ferroconcrete, unleashed salvos into the advancing Zeerga, whose return fire sometimes struck home but more often hit the walls.

Up in the sky contrails marked the efforts of the Zeerga to get above the walls and fire down at the Wolves, only to be intercepted by their Wolf counterparts. That would leak, whoever won in the end, but that was why Ulric had every Naga he could deploy armed with anti-air missiles rather than artillery.

Alpha Galaxy’s fire was reaping a harvest, but they were taking losses. Ulric watched and said nothing, leaving the command of each section of wall to the officers. They could see the ‘mechs and elementals closing in. They knew the ranges and they could see the damage being accumulated on the ferrocrete in front of them. Much like the armor on a ‘mech, the outer wall was intended to ablate attacks - not to withstand them indefinitely.

Before long, the trinaries started to fall back towards the second line of defenses, linking up with the bunkers where their elementals were waiting, along with the two clusters of Beta Galaxy that had returned so far… along with another surprise.

As the first breakthroughs took place, Ulric moved his Gargoyle forwards to join that line.

“My khan,” Evantha warned.

“I need to be there,” he said simply. “We need them focused on me.”

A cluster marked as the Third Zeerga Guards smashed directly through the damaged wall, heavy and assault mechs battering holes with their guns, hammering them wider with their limbs and emerging into the C-shape… and emerging into the open center of the bastion only to find another wall ahead of them,

Shots hammered into them and then the flood of medium and light ‘mechs that followed, carrying the Zeegra elementals. The battle armor jumped free and swarmed forwards to try to reach the Alpha ‘mechs under the covering fire. In response, Wolf Elementals opened up with their SRMs - not enough to kill their Zeerga counterparts but weakening armor and distracting them.

Ulric reached the corner of the firing line and opened up on the elemental force with his autocannon and SRMs. Again, he wasn’t going to inflict many kills, but Elementals with compromised armor or missing limbs would struggle against their counterparts.

At the other corner he saw white-painted tanks doing the same, Wolf’s heads painted over the ComStar badges. Missiles and autocannon swept across them as the Zeerga ‘mechs saw vulnerable targets, but as Omnimechs charged towards the vehicles, lasers and PPCs from the wall crashed into their ranks, the Wolf mechwarriors of Alpha Galaxy keeping their munitions for in reserve until the range was point blank.

When they did open fire with that reserve of firepower, Zeerga numbers were cut in two…

But more of them poured through and now the black and white ‘mechs were trimmed in gold. Radick’s Gold Keshik.

Her Executioner leapt over the choke point and a Gauss Rifle cracked the turret on a Brutus.

“ComGuards?!” she snarled and the  assault ‘mech opened up on an SRM Carrier with its lasers, tearing the thin-skinned machine apart.

“Phi Garrison Galaxy,” Ulric replied urbanely on the same channel. “Blake’s Wrath - we have a large number of bondsmen from the ComGuards.” Most of them were not willing to fight for Clan Wolf - but after the Zeerga destroyed a second enclave, smashing through the city to reach the HPG, a compromise had been found. Phi Galaxy would exist only for this battle, survivors repatriated to surviving enclaves when the Wolves won.

If the Zeerga won, then Ulric would not be able to uphold the contract, but that victory would be over Phi Galaxy’s dead bodies so it hardly mattered.

Radick wheeled on him. “Ulric!” she challenged and the Executioner charged towards him, myomer accelerator circuitry activating to send the larger assault ‘mech charging at more than eighty kilometers an hour.

“Evantha! Take over!” he shouted and backed the Gargoyle around the corner before the first salvo from Radick could crash into his armor.

The five Elementals leapt away from him, leaving the two Khans to duel in the narrow corridor between two armored walls.

The close quarters favored neither of the pair of ‘mechs - the towering Executioner was hard to miss at this range and it was equipped with large, slow-cycling weapons intended to reach out and slay targets at long distances. Ulric’s Gargoyle was more compact but its primary armament was SRMs and LB 5-X autocannon, both of which were excellent for targeting vehicles and elementals, but less good against the thick armor of an omnimech. The small laser in the chest was the weapon that did the most pinpoint damage.

Ulric was well used to this though and had his own ways of employing the weapons against ‘mechs. As both mechwarriors tried to use the limited traverse available to them to avoid fire, he focused his crosshairs on the upper body of the Executioner. Volleys of SRMs and cluster munitions blasted against the upper chest and shoulders of the larger assault ‘mech, some of each pattern striking at the skullface and shaking the cockpit behind it.

The taller and wider omnimech had less ability to dodge and Radick would be bounced against her restraints by every impact. No one could take that forever - sooner or later either she or the delicate electronics would suffer for it.

In the meantime, her own gunnery was little less precise. Gargoyles were common enough in the Wolf touman that she must have had a good idea of their strengths and their weaknesses. In this case, it was that the weapons were almost all mounted in the arms.

The Zeerga’s second salvo ripped open the armor across the right arm of the Gargoyle and the second smashed the elbow and the cabling that let Ulric connect to the weapons there.

Raising the arm that held the other half of his arsenal, the graying Khan pointed it like a lance at the Executioner’s cockpit and fired everything, but a sudden impact knocked the arm to the side at the last instant and both missiles and cannon shells astray - engaging her MASC, Radick had closed just close enough to bat at his arm with the muzzle of her gauss rifle.

A second later the Executioner’s twin lasers fired squarely in the center chest of the Gargoyle, cerulean beams of energy shaving away two thirds of the armor plating in instants.

Ulric swept his one remaining arm around, keeping the Gauss Rifle from being brought to bear on the weak spot, but Radick was ready for him and her jump jets flared to life.

Ninety-five tons of battlemech arced up into the air and one massive foot crashed into the compromised armor plating, the knee barely missing the snout of the wolf-like head Ulric had had retrofitted years ago.

“Armor-breach!” the automated system warned. “Reactor damage. Shielding compromised.”

Ulric had been sent staggering, barely keeping the Gargoyle on its feet. He spun the ‘mech through ninety-degrees to cover the damaged chest with the right shoulder as Radick settled her Executioner smoothly onto the ground behind him.

Before he could bring the guns around, the Zeerga ‘mech unleashed everything it had and alarms went off as the right side of the chest was ripped apart.

A new alarm shrilled and he had barely enough time to brace himself before the ejection seat tore the entire head of his ‘mech free, hurling it skyward as the reactor containment failed and superheated air exploded out of the Gargoyle’s chest.

As the Gargoyle’s severed head rocketed up into the sky, Ulric had a brief bird’s eye view of the battlefield. Unlike a normal ejection, he had his sensors with him and the screen in front of him dutifully updated with new data.

He saw the green carets of the Wolf forces in the Den were riven into pockets. Red markers showed Zeerga forces flowing through breaches in the lines, taking flanking shots that winnowed them further, but driving deeper and deeper into the Wolf’s Den.

But they were in stars, binaries and trinaries, most often depleted by casualties and battle damage - not formed clusters of troops. Not, in short, like the fresh forces of Epsilon Galaxy who were moving out of the hangars and barracks they’d been hidden in to avoid being spotted by Zeerga dropships and aerospace fighters. Guided by reports from technicians monitoring the network of redundant sensors that would let the Wolves move confidently through the chaos of what was essentially street-fighting.

And nor were they in the good order of Phelan Ward’s Theta Galaxy, who were flowing out sally ports from tunnels that exited the fort kilometers outside of the obvious perimeter. A position that put them right in the rear of the Zeerga’s rear guard… who were mostly focused on trying to get into the fortifications as fast as they could - fortifications they had compromised to the point they’d be little use in keeping the mass of second-line warriors and Rasalhague volunteers from following them.

Then the cockpit began to descend and Ulric clutched his seat in anticipation of the landing.

As programmed, the thrusters expended their last fuel in the seconds before impact, softening it. It was better than a normal parachute landing but he was flung against the restraints in much the way he would have if his Gargoyle had fallen. Still, he was alive.

Removing his neurohelmet, Ulric disconnected his mechwarrior suit from the plugs that connected coolant lines and medical sensors to the cockpit’s systems. He knew roughly where he was, it shouldn’t be hard to get into a bunker or one of the underground passages. The Wolf’s Den was as much dug into the ground as it was built upon it.

Opening the hatch, Ulric was about to exit when a sixth sense alerted him to throw himself backwards, dragging the canopy closed again. A moment later, machine gun fire hammered into the Gargoyle’s decapitated head and it was all the Khan could do to dog the hatch before the impacts shook it open.

He stared up and saw the towering shape of Marialle Radick’s Executioner, distinctive with the scarred armor around and on the deathshead face, looming over him.

“Khan Ulric,” her voice rang out. “You cannot escape me.”

Reaching down to the comm panel, Ulric activated the loudspeakers. “You have the firepower to have finished me, Khan Radick.” The machine guns had damaged the canopy, but the Executioner’s lasers could have penetrated easily. The gauss rifle would have torn it apart completely. “What do you want?”

Radick laughed cruelly. “I am not offering you your life, Ulric. Just a chance to make amends. Accept defeat and renounce the creation of the Zeerga. As one clan, there is no more need for Wolf to kill Wolf. Do this, and I will not move to reave your bloodright, nor to purge your bloodline.”

“You may not,” he said doubtfully. Radick might not, but Vladimir Ward was likely less forgiving and he must have considerable support to be her saKhan.

“As the winner of this battle, I will not be overruled,” she told him proudly. “I will lead the Wolves to greatness - once you are out of the way. Why mar that for the sake of petty vengeance?”

Where was this foresight when you forced my hand, he wondered. “My radio isn’t powered by a fusion reactor any more,” he warned her. “I will need you to reduce power to your ECM or the signal may not get through.”

Radick’s voice was triumphant. “Understood.” He could hear the background sounds of her adjusting her controls. “You are clear to address our Clan.”

Ulric set his comms to general broadcast. “This is Khan Ulric Kerensky,” he announced clearly. “I hereby transfer command to Galaxy Commander Phelan Ward.”

Marialle Radick screamed in rage and the frequency was drowned in static as she went to maximum jamming. She knew perfectly well what Ulric meant by appointing an abtakha former-mercenary to take over the lead in the battle. It meant no compromise.

Looking up through the cracked glass of his canopy, Ulric saw the foot of her Executioner descending.

“You lose,” he whispered, with his last breath of air.

[drakensis]

Hilton Head, North America
Terra, Sol System
15 November 3058

Despite the fact she’d never been more than a few light-hours from an active HPG station during her trip to the Outworlds Alliance, Wei had a stack of paperwork waiting for her when she got back to Terra. Some of it was too sensitive to be sent out by HPG when anyone might pick up and decipher the side-scatter at the receiving stations. Some of it just wasn’t considered important enough.

Her staff had done the usual fine job of organizing it into batches of descending urgency, interspersed with less urgent but more interesting material so that she didn’t take a sudden urge to run out of her office, dive into the Atlantic and swim for freedom. (This was probably for the best as Wei didn’t claim to be a strong enough swimmer to reach the mainland, much less the far side of the Atlantic).

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Serebryakov told her, opening the door to Wei’s working office - which was adjacent to the formal office that lacked the functional shelves of reference material, extra screens and stacks of inboxes and outboxes. “Precentor-Martial Focht asked if you could meet with him.”

“Remotely or in person?” Wei asked, setting down a report on recruitment figures from the Free Worlds League.

“He’s outside.”

She tossed the report back into the inbox. “Send him in.”

The door opened wider and Anastasius Focht entered. “Thank you for seeing me, Primus.”

“If you’re being this formal, it can’t be good news,” Wei groaned. “Take some weight off your feet, Nasty.”

The Precentor Martial sighed as he sat down. “Unfortunately you are correct.”

“How much alcohol will it merit.”

“Maybe a small beer.”

Wei sniffed and opened a cooler on the side of the office, passing him a sealed can from his preferred brewery on Summer. She cracked open a miniature of plum brandy for herself and emptied it into a shot glass. “Alright, who are we drinking damnation upon?”

The white-haired man gave her a mildly reproving look and cracked the can open. “To the brave soldiers of the Alshain Avengers, who deserved better officers.”

“Dammit.” Wei raised glass. “May they rest in peace. What happened?”

“It is not officially being called mutiny, but all three regiments decided that rather than attack Altenmarkt as ordered, they would take their jumpships and make for Alshain itself.”

Wei frowned. “They’re a few jumps apart, aren’t they?”

Focht nodded. “But without HPGs no one expected immediate responses. Their commander left a sealed message advising of his intentions, to be opened fifteen days after they jumped out. By that point it was too late to stop them.”

Alshain had been a district capital of the Combine since the formation of the Free Rasalhague Republic, and before that it had been the functional capital of Rasalhague District due to distrust of the Rasalhague people in recent generations. The Alshain Avengers were all that remained of the old Alshain District Regulars and wanting to reclaim their homeworld wasn’t beyond understanding.

“I don’t recall that the DCMS treats mutineers well,” the Primus said after a moment. “Of course, it is only mutiny if one fails.”

“Generally, yes. Unfortunately it’s worse than them just failing. Altenmarkt was one of the first Rasalhague worlds being targeted for relief by Task Force Ruby. Leaving the garrison there endangers the advance and General Mansdottir is fit to be tied.”

“It’s a slap to his face right after he was pressured to accept the Republic falling back under Combine ‘protection’,” Wei agreed. “How badly did the Smoke Jaguars beat the Avengers.” Alshain was the Smoke Jaguar headquarters in the Inner Sphere

Focht shook his head. “They didn’t.”

“I don’t care how enigmatic you are, you don’t get another beer until you finish that one.”

Narrowing his one eye, he drained the can. “The Ghost Bears are the ones who crushed the Avengers.”

Wei blinked. “The Ghost Bears are helping the Smoke Jaguars?” So far as she was aware there was no love lost between the two.

“No, the Avengers apparently stumbled into a three-sided fight with both Clans. The Bears seem to be launching their own invasion of the Smoke Jaguars. So far we don’t know why, but it’s not the only world that has changed hands. The Avengers finding out is one of the few pieces of good news.”

She sat back in her chair, drink half-forgotten in her hands. “Would that suggest that the Bears are weakening their defenses facing the Combine?”

“It would, but the Avenger’s mutiny will make rallying support for renewing operations there an up-hill struggle.” Focht tossed the empty can into Wei’s wastepaper basket. “I’m no politician, but there is considerable ill-feeling. Mitchell Avellar has already retracted his offer to send aerospace forces to aid in the attack on Galedon, since he now feels he can’t be sure that they’d be properly supported.”

“How badly will that hurt the Combine?”

“It’s not good. If the Sharks deploy a warship there, it could leave the entire attack force cut off since the Combine has none of their own.”

“And I’m not keen on hazarding some of ours either.”

Focht spread his hands. “Task Force Ruby is also down three brigades, a major blow.”

“And correct me if I’m wrong, but Alshain is on one of the few reliable routes corewards?”

“That’s one of the reasons that it was judged to be the furthest points we could consider advancing to before this happened,” the Precentor-Martial agreed. “In that regard it may not be a huge blow to Ruby’s operations but there is the risk of the Bears trying to take liberated worlds from the Combine.”

“And the most likely reinforcements are from the troops about to hit Clan Wolf. Spectacular.”

“You understand completely. To go back to your earlier question, less than a regiment of the Alshain Avengers escaped on their dropships - out of three mech regiments and six conventional. I have no specifics but it is likely the officers elected to fight and die rather than face the Coordinator’s wrath. To all practical purposes, the entire force is a loss. Survivors will likely be folded into other units if they make it back safely.”

Wei narrowed her eyes. “And how did we hear about this?”

“Official DCMS traffic from the HPG station on Chandler. How the data got there is a good question.”

“Their mysterious FTL comms,” Wei murmured. “The First Circuit will go spare. I suppose it is possible that we are misunderstanding and jumpships carried the news…”

“We have not confirmed that they have their own HPGs or an alternative, but it is increasingly suspicious,” Focht agreed. “DRUM will have to make a report soon.”

“I’ll be braced.” Wei looked down at the glass in her hand and drank half of what remained. “There are FWLM and AFFC troops due to move out of the OWA to cover the Combine border, this may affect that… perhaps not the FWL troops - Marik wants the Kurita vote too much when it comes to pushing for the FedCom to lose its second vote. On the other hand, it gives leverage to Hanse Davion…”

Focht shrugged. “It would make some sense to send the First FedCom to reinforce the salient created by Task Force Ruby,” he allowed. “I’m not sure about the politics of it.”

“The threat might be enough to sway the Kurita vote - but I’m not actually sure it matters enough to the Steiner-Davions,” Wei observed. “Votes may be equal in theory, but the Federated Commonwealth can’t help but have disproportionate influence within the Star League Council. If they are pushed too hard and withdraw then it would be hard for the new Star League to survive.”

“You think that that will matter more than Marik’s pressure on the scales?”

“I don’t know,” the Primus allowed. “Marik may also be convinced to leave a second vote to the Federated Commonwealth if he can get an agreement that his House has the sole right to represent the Free Worlds League on the Star League Council.” The balance of power between House Marik and Parliament had tipped towards the former through the Succession Wars, but there were many in the latter who saw an end to the Succession Wars and the formation of a new Star League as leaving cracks in the constitutional basis of the Captain-General’s authority.

Focht adjusted his eyepatch. “Is that our problem?”

“I don’t know. If things go well, it doesn’t really affect us directly. If they don’t then it will be everyone’s problem.”


Motor City, Pesht
Diamond Shark Dominion
13 December 3058

The damage done to Motor City during the invasion had been made good. It had been around eight years, so Ace supposed it would have been something of a problem if the streets were still marked by the occasional fallen ‘mech. The palace where he had fought Ian Hawker had been repurposed and was now the property of a film studio, with the city’s administration relocated to a new building erected on a street that had seen some of the fiercest fighting.

Ace had seen the building work begun on previous visits. He hadn’t realized until returning there that there was a bronze statue of him to one side of the main entrance. It was an odd feeling to realize that people no longer saw him as just a former-bandit made good - not that he had any direct hand in banditry, having been too young at the time - but as a figure to look up to.

The rooms that held the Khan’s working space were on the inner ring, looking out over a garden that was fully encircled by the building. A fountain in the middle sprayed water over another statue, this one of a leaping Diamond Shark, making it glisten in the sunlight.

It felt awkward to sit in Barbara Sennet’s own chair, so Ace leant upon the desk as the holographic display spun up - first with the Diamond Sharks totem beast and then with the face of the khan.

The dusky woman had a medical dressing along the left side of her face, and her hair had been cropped short on that side of her head. She looked at him coolly and then over at the desk. “Sit down, Galaxy Commander.”

Ace looked over at the chair and then went around the desk to sit gingerly in her place.

“You took a real risk of not having enough forces on Irece,” Sennet told him. “However, your judgment was sound. We have word from New Samarkand and the DCMS are attacking Galedon V in sufficient force that the rest of Epsilon Galaxy is needed.”

“Just Galedon V?” Ace asked curiously.

“The forces committed seem limited. Star Colonel Labov’s estimation is no more than ten regiments of battlemechs and three times that in conventional forces. With elements of four galaxies available there is no immediate cause for concern,” Sennet told him. She reached up to scratch at the bandage, stopping herself at the last minute. “Has Ellison Enders’ report on his negotiations with ComStar reached you?”

“It caught up with me on Luthien.”

“Good.” The Khan’s eyes narrowed. “She seems willing to negotiate regarding restoring HPG services if we can strike the right bargain.”

Ace nodded. “I have the same impression, but the price may not be one that we want to pay. We would be better off without ComStar’s presence…”

“In the abstract, I agree. It may not be practical.” Sennet paused. “The enclaves along the border have not officially lifted the interdiction but they are clearly still active and have been willing to share information about the movements of the Hellons and Horses.”

“At what price?”

“So far, none.”

Which meant that the price had yet to be paid, Ace understood. There would be one. “Was the information useful?”

“It was accurate,” Sennet admitted. “The Horse’s main supply base was on Bjarred, now it is ours and they failed to reclaim it.”

That was excellent news. “Dependence on ComStar is a critical weakness we cannot afford, but tolerance of them need not be dependence.”

“Agreed. I see no reason to restore the HPG stations we now control, but once we have our own HPGs network fully active their enclaves have less strategic importance - they are mostly on the fringes of our space.” Sennet paused. “And they may be a useful interface with the Inner Sphere in the future. I think few of the other Clans delude themselves that they can conquer the Inner Sphere now.”

Ace felt the corners of his lips curl up. “Not even the Ice Hellions and Hells Horses?”

“I believe they are seeing the error of their ways.” The Khan looked serious. “I believe ComStar’s aid indicates that they would prefer not to have more Clans with a foothold in the Inner Sphere.”

“There are some unconfirmed reports from the Wolves that support that.” Ace offered.

“That has not reached me,” she noted, looking intrigued.

Ace opened the desk’s workstation. “I will send the files, but it is rumored that ComGuards units fought alongside the Wolves against the Zeegra.”

“The Zeegra most likely offended them as much as they did everyone. Your point stands though. I believe that most of the Clan Council would not object to leaving the enclaves in place, so long as ComStar is no longer in a position to sever our communications.”

“I tend to agree.” The Diamond Sharks were used to having enclaves of other Clans on their worlds anyway - Ace’s homeworld had been divided between the Sharks and the Burrocks all his life, at least until the absorption had made it a solely Diamond Shark territory. ComStar enclaves wouldn’t be too much of a complication.

Sennet nodded sharply. “And speaking of the council, there is the matter of the vote.”

Ace didn’t have to ask which vote. “Have the counts been collated?”

“Not all of them, unfortunately.” She pursed her lips. “There is something of a pattern.”

“That doesn’t sound like a clear outcome.”

“The homeworld votes are solidly in favor of Diamond Shark overall,” the Khan reported. “However the votes on Priori, Vinton and Albion were all fairly close. It didn’t change the outcome since the worlds are lightly populated…”

“Albion is the old Burrock capital,” Ace noted. “Possibly they see it as being Burrocks under another name, although that’s not the goal. I am not sure about the other two.”

“You are rather popular on Priori,” Sennet told him drily. “Founder knows why. As for Vinton, the civilian castes are excited about liberalizing from Smoke Jaguar norms and see the Sea Fox proposals as more steps away from that. We had to hold another round of votes for the new enclaves - you heard that we control the whole world now, quiaff?”

“Neg.” Ace shook his head. “We took advantage of the attack on Huntress.”

“Not precisely, but that was the effect.” Then the Khan grew more serious. “There is a significant Diamond Shark minority vote on most of the worlds I have visited.”

“Meaning a Sea Fox majority,” Ace clarified. “I am not sure I would have said the minority vote was significant on worlds around New Samarkand. Perhaps more so here and on Luthien.”

“The population of the Inner Sphere vastly outnumbers that of the homeworlds,” Sennet pointed out. “A decision forced on the homeworlds by our new conquests will be problematic.”

Ace spread his hands helplessly. “As would ignoring their votes.”

“This remains your fault,” she told him. “The Smoke Jaguar threat is negated?”

“They have no further presence on this side of the Rasalhague rift. Reports from beyond it suggest they are disintegrating - there have been four Khans elected since Showers’ death and none lasted more than a month.”

Sennet smiled with grim satisfaction. “Then leave Nagasawa in charge - he has done well - and bring a galaxy of whatever troops can be spared towards Albiero. See if you can come up with a clever solution to the vote’s outcome while you are at it. I will have more specific orders when you get there, but I believe with a little more pressure we can bring Fletcher and Taney to terms.”

“Bargaining from a position of strength,” Ace said with a smile.

“Correct. But do not go too far - unlike the Smoke Jaguars, they may be future customers. We have few enough allies among the Clans.” Her lips parted and revealed teeth as white as a shark’s hungry grin. “There are other places they can carve out enclaves in the Inner Sphere… and if that leaves them dependent on us then so much the better.”

[drakensis]

How did the Cats manage to sneak two clusters into the water? One at a time? From outside the circle of equals? Hiding on the riverbed all this time?

They predicted where the crossing would be and snuck the Clusters into the river and then up (and down) stream to the right positions the previous night.

[PsihoKekec]

They are going to point Horses and Hellions towards the Jaguars to seek the IS occupation zone there? Since Jaguars have spent themselves fighting Sharks and must be pulling everything they have into fending off Bears and Star League, the Periphery border of their occupation zone must be wide open.

“Their mysterious FTL comms,” Wei murmured. “The First Circuit will go spare. I suppose it is possible that we are misunderstanding and jumpships carried the news…”

“We have not confirmed that they have their own HPGs or an alternative, but it is increasingly suspicious,” Focht agreed. “DRUM will have to make a report soon.”

The Comstar still doesn't know about Black boxes?

[drakensis]

Can you imagine how ballistic some of ComStar would be if they knew that they no longer had a monopoly over interstellar communication for the Successor States.

[Daryk]

Well, Wei at least knows it, if not how... ;)

[drakensis]

Opalescent Reflections

Full House
Chapter 16

Nadir Jump Point, Topaz
Deep Periphery
3 January 3059

Waiting at Topaz to refuel and shift cargo between ships had been a calculated risk.

There were other reasons, Tyra reflected as her Sulla raced towards the smoke-gray mass of the warship ahead of Valkyrie squadron. Some of the wounded would do better in gravity and natural sunlight after the race through deep space from Huntress. Hydroponic greenhouses left on the barren world had raised a crop while they were away, adding to food supplies.

Most of all, the Task Force needed a rest. Huntress had been more than a quick hit and run raid. Weeks of fighting had taken a strain on everyone. Squadrons, crews and lances had been shuffled and re-shuffled, shipments of loot from Smoke Jaguar factories and stores had sent up and stowed in frantic haste, not always accurately or clearly labeled.

The time had let them take stock and prepare for the long voyage home.

It had been a calculated risk, but their math had been just a hair off.

Aerospace fighters were closing in behind Valkyrie squadron, a ten-strong star of Visigoths from the Lola-III destroyer that had jumped into the star system. How Topaz was found remained a mystery - perhaps it was just dumb luck - but the Snow Raven ship had boldly issued its challenge despite being outnumbered by the remaining escort.

CSRS Spur was no match alone for CSS Los Angeles, CSS San Jose and CSS Salt Lake City, even with the battle damage the three had suffered in the fighting over Huntress that had destroyed or crippled their sister-ships. The Spur was basically the same design, upgraded by the Clans rather than ComStar, but originally a Lola-III that had once served the Star League. The boldness might have meant that the commander was showing the arrogance that might be expected of the Clan’s paramount warship fleet… but from the comm-chatter, Alain Beresick thought that it was more likely that the destroyer had an HPG and was calling in aid.

Flares of light marked jumpships disappearing from the Topaz system. All of them had been retracting their jumpsails before the Spur jumped in - a few more hours and the Snow Ravens would have missed the fleet entirely.

Tyra saw the Visigoths closing the range. The Snow Raven fighters couldn’t accelerate as fast as Valkyrie squadron’s lighter fighters - the four surviving Cor-Stars and a pair of Smoke Jaguar Sullas captured on the ground during the fighting on Huntress - but that didn’t matter much when the Valkyries were slowing so that they didn’t overfly their destination.

“Clear the rear!” she ordered and all six of the Flying Drakon aerospace fighters flicked their noses to open fire on the Visigoths. Already flying ‘backwards’ as they slowed, it didn’t take much adjustment. Lasers raked through space and the Snow Ravens fired their own drives to evade, interrupting their interception angles.

“That won’t keep them long,” Tyra warned. The Clan pilots must have expected this and there wasn’t much time to engage. The aerospace fighters had to be aboard their carriers before the fleet jumped out or they would be left behind.

No one wanted that, but the jumpships and their cargoes could not be risked for a few pilots.

“It doesn’t have to,” Steffers told her, jiggling the Cor-Star’s rear to spray more laser fire from his nose guns in the direction of the nearest Snow Raven. “That was the last of the jumpships.”

Checking her display, Tyra exhaled slightly in relief when she saw that her second-in-command was right: the last of the delicate jumpships was gone, leaving just the friendly warships sharing the jump-point with the lone Snow Raven.

“If they’re smart, they’ll break off,” she predicted. “They aren’t packing nukes as far as I can tell.”

Cowley sounded less than confident. “Unless they’re crazy enough to ram.”

Closing speeds were dropping rapidly and Tyra could see the warships they were heading for without much magnification now. Doing so meant she was first to see the flashes of light. “They’re opening up!” she shouted. “Tuck in close!”

Like the veterans that they were, the rest of the squadron nudged their thrusters and closed into formation with her.

“Damn bucket had better be aiming right,” Cowley grumbled.

“They have the pick of their gunners,” Tyra told him. “And it’s the dropships as much as the Bucket of Bolts.”

The most junior of the squadron’s officers didn’t seem reassured: “Yeah, but the droppers can’t erase us with a single hit!”

The volleys of fire tore through space around the Valkyries and this, at last, was too much for the Visigoths. Flying in pairs, which was more discipline than Tyra had seen from Clan pilots before, the star of fighters peeled away, accelerating into a loop that took them away from the rear-guard of the fleet.

Tyra watched them for any parting shots, but there was no sign of them trying to spin and take the opportunity. There was a double flash from behind them and Steffers announced: “That was Los Angeles.”

Two destroyers left.

“The Ravens are out of reach,” Tyra decided. “Hard burn now, we don’t want to be left behind.”

“No way, no how.”

“Can’t keep the boss lady from her date.”

Tyra knew they couldn’t even see her glaring, but she tried anyway as the squadron pushed their throttles wide open. “It’s not a date, it’s a win-win proposition.”

“You’re having dinner with him, lead,” Steffers pointed out.

“If his attempt at swedish meatballs is the disaster I expect, then I’ll have a case of the best beer in the Clan Homeworlds,” she countered. “And if it turns out he can really cook, I’ll be enjoying swedish meatballs while you’re chowing on whatever the canteen provides.”

“You’re a wicked woman, boss,” the lojtnant admitted. “But what if the prince has someone cooking for him?”

“That’s why I’ll be watching him in the kitchen.”

“And what do you lose if he can cook?” Cowley asked curiously.

Tya chuckled. “Two bottles of Franklin Black Label. Can you believe he claims to like the stuff? Mechwarriors, am I right?”

“Last woman who knew that much about my drinking habits, I married her,” Valkyrie Two warned. He was new, a replacement for their one casualty, slotted in as Tyra’s wingman since they both had Sullas issued to replace their lost fighters.

“Shut your face, Biggs,” she shot back.

Cowley grunted. “I didn’t know you were married,” he admitted. “Where is she now?”

“How would I know? I got dear johned and divorced when I signed up for this mission. Two or three years away was a dealbreaker.” Biggs didn’t seem too cut up about it,

The massive grey hull was upon them now, dotted with the many dropships docked with it. At first Tyra thought the flash of light in the distance was another destroyer leaving, but then she saw it was too far away.

“More warships!” Beresick announced from the ship they were closing on. “Valkyrie squadron, you’re the last to land, get aboard now.”

“You heard him!” Tyra called and turned the Sulla around. “Berth and lock, we are out of time!”

Their destination wasn’t the ship itself - the Valkyrie’s last parent ship, CSS Boise, had been sent into the fiery grave of Huntress’ star after it was deemed too damaged to jump again without repairs they could not make with the limited time and resources available. Leaving a salvageable hull for the Clans was unacceptable. Their new home had been captured from among the dropships that had carried Sarah Weaver and her forces back to Huntress. Unimaginatively called a ‘Carrier-class’ by the Clans, the little dropship had room for more fighters than just the Valkyries, making it relatively spacious for them.

The hangar doors were wide open and Tyra lined herself up before cutting the fusion thruster.

Momentum carried her into grasp of mechanical restraints before she was fully into the dropship, a system that dragged the sleek Sulla inside and then down into one of the bays. Valkyrie Two was right behind her, Biggs’ fighter pulled over hers and then into the next bay.

Finally Cowley’s Cor-Star coasted in after them, clamps seizing and locking it in place before it could overshoot.

The hangar doors clanged shut so fast that Tyra felt it even in the depressurized hangar and the nauseating feeling of a K-F drive activating swept across her. Beresick must have been counting the seconds.

The transition seemed to take forever and no time at all.

“We made it,” Biggs breathed.

“This time,” Tyra muttered. “They know where we’re going.”

But she was wrong. “All hands,” Beresick announced, voice sent from the command deck of the warship once known as Osis’ Pride but since rechristened by popular vote SLS Bucket-of-Bolts to every deck and every attached dropship. “We cannot risk a direct line to the Inner Sphere now that the Snow Ravens have a lead on us. We have jumped an easy twenty light years spinwards of Topaz, which they will hopefully not guess. From here we will head for an Explorer Corps base deep in the periphery to resupply - it will take us longer to get home, but going via Columbus Base gives us a much better chance of making it.”

“I guess the high command was ahead of you, boss-lady.”

Tyra pulled off her helmet. “As long as they’re ahead of the Clans, I’m okay with that.” Besides, and she looked at the tactical display that updated her on the other fighters of the squadron, I’m already home.


Landing, Polcenigo
Diamond Shark Dominion
17 February 3059

It was often easy to under-estimate dropships when you saw them from the inside or in the distances common in space. Up close even the smallest dropships towered over a battlemech.

Of course, most of Ace’s personal experience was with dropships intended to carry battlemechs, so being larger was something of a prerequisite. The Overlord-C dropships that made up the bulk of the inbound flotilla each towered more than ten times the height of his Huntsman. They were scarred by battle, but they wore those scars as proudly as they did the emblems of Clan Ice Hellion.

“How is your math?” Ace asked quietly.

The reply came from the command tower of the drop-port. “I swear on my life, those dropships are running at less than half their full cargo tonnage. Even with the Ice Hellions penchant for smaller ‘mechs, they are still under full load.”

“Harry is very good at math,” Thomas confirmed sagely. “He occasionally has trouble tying his boot laces, but then, his eyes are much further from them than most peoples.”

“You are just jealous of my superior intellect and tactical prowess,” the elemental protested cheerfully. Although they came from different sibkos, the pair shared a patrilineal ancestor and squabbled exactly as if they had been raised together.

“I hope you are correct, it will make this much easier,” Ace observed before Thomas could continue the friendly bickering. “They are low enough now. Inform them of where they are landing.”

The dropships were low enough that their fusion torches were already making the air noticeably warmer around the drop port. In just a few moments they would be down on the ground, and they had only a limited combat patrol in the air to escort them down. Why would they? After all, they had been told that Clan Smoke Jaguar had no objection to their presence.

Ace had worried that the Hellions would smell a rat, but apparently whoever was in command up there thought that the Smoke Jaguars were friendly… or perhaps, that they were so desperate for aid that they would refrain from the usual dominance plays. More fool them.

“Ice Hellion dropships,” Harry transmitted from the control tower, which had been evacuated of everyone else. “I regret to inform you that this drop port and this world are now in the hands of Clan Diamond Shark. You are landing without our consent, and I command that you depart!”

The radio cut off and Ace saw glass shatter as the elemental dove through an armor glass panel overlooking the port, firing his jump jets only after he was clear to maximize his distance. That was a wise decision, because a moment later one of the aerospace fighters opened up on the control tower and obliterated it.

Ace’s Huntsman and the other ‘mechs were already moving out of the hangars and warehouses they had been hidden in. Lights on his tactical display marked aerospace fighters taking off in the distance where they had been hidden. It would take precious moments for the fighters to arrive and the entire situation might be resolved by then.

If, of course, the Ice Hellion commander responded wisely. That was… not a given.

“Ice Hellions!” Ace declared on the general broadcast. “You have dared to fire without provocation upon my officer! Epsilon Galaxy! Omega Galaxy! Destroy these interlopers!”

The moment had been picked carefully: the dropships weren’t quite at the point where they couldn’t abort the landing, but they had no time to discuss the matter. Every dropship commander would have to decide on the spot if they were going to keep landing in a drop port that was suddenly swarming with Diamond Shark forces or if they were going to break for orbit.

As Ace’s Huntsman raced towards the landing fields, he saw a Broadsword raise its nose and fire the aft thrusters, fighting for altitude. The small dropship was only the first, and more dropships responded as the commanders - or sometimes the pilots - decided that for all their firepower and armor they did not wish to be immobile targets on the ground.

Not all of them made that choice, though. The Clans were aggressive by default and four Overlords continued to descend, supported in that decision by a pair of Unions and a single Broadsword and Carrier - the latter two aiming for the long runways rather than the pads.

But even as they settled down, the dropships did not open their hatches. Some of their mechwarriors might be in their cockpits, but at a ‘friendly’ drop port it was unlikely that all would be. And after the reports of running battles across the Diamond Shark Dominion… many might not be fit for battle.

Every ‘mech opened fire on the dropships as they landed - they could hardly miss such targets. Ace focused his own PPCs on one of the turrets of the Union-C nearest him, the bolts of energy digging into the armor plating and buckling the barrels of the aft gauss rifles.

Not far behind, Michel’s restored Warhawk opened fire on the next turret, stitching the LRM launcher with pulses of coherent light that shredded the boxy system before it could fully extend and be brought to bear.

Over a hundred other ‘mechs were doing the same. Their weapons were mere pin-pricks in comparison to the firepower that would have been brought to bear by other dropships, and most of the mechwarriors weren’t showing the precision of Ace and Michel. More than half his force had been pulled from garrison units - Kevin Nagasawa had volunteered one of his clusters to fight alongside the Ivory Skate, but he had to keep most of his warriors to rebuild the ragged ranks of Omega Galaxy.

But there were a lot of pinpricks… and they were close enough now that just opening the hatches into the ‘mech bays would open the way for Diamond Sharks to get aboard.

One of the Overlords did so anyway and as Ace shifted his aim to one of the secondary thrusters higher up the globular hull of the Union, he saw a star of light battlemechs charge right up the ramps and into the ‘mech bays, elementals clinging desperately to fast moving Incubus and Piranha ‘mechs that were not intended to cary them.

The Overlord could have been carrying as many as forty-five battlemechs between their three bays. In the close confines, Ace didn’t think much of the chances of the Diamond Shark mechwarriors making it out again if many of the defending 'mechs were manned. But the dropship would take serious damage and now there were twenty-five elementals inside, which would be lethal against the crew and dismounted mechwarriors.

Guns were firing back now from the dropships as the crews reacted, but many of their turrets were placed to fire up at targets ahead of the dropships, and the other turrets had either been knocked out or were drawing fire exactly because they were fighting back.

“Incoming fighters,” Harry warned and Ace looked up, seeing winged shapes descending from the sky. It was too soon for this to be friendlies and his sensors confirmed it - the fighters were coming on attack runs, most of them Visigoths. While the design was too common to be unknown among the Diamond Sharks, Ace’s aerospace trinaries were dominated by the lighter Turk and Sulla, production of heavier fighters was still lagging.

“Treacherous Sharks!” a voice called out as the Hellions descended to defend the landed dropships the only way that they could. There were only ten of them, and they had to know it was too late to save the dropships. Even if they managed to take off, over a hundred Diamond Shark fighters were incoming. But the Hellions attacked anyway and Ace saw a Sabutai diving towards him.

Throwing his Huntsman to one side, Ace fired his jump jets to make a long and low jump away from the incoming fire. It would be almost impossible for such a fast moving craft to track him…

But the Sabutai turned sharply to keep him in the fighter’s path anyway and it opened up with pulse lasers, particle beams and even a gauss rifle. The shots hammered into Ace’s Huntsman, carving away armor all across his front and knocking him off course, he landed badly and barely managed to twist and fire one PPC back at the Sabutai as it climbed again, infrared signature glowing from the heat generated by those massive salvos.

Ace wasn’t the only one firing back - three of the Visigoths plowed into the ground, one of them at such a low angle that it skipped up again and smashed into the wing of the landed Broadsword. Another exploded as it hit the ground, carrying enough munitions that the blast knocked two Diamond Shark ‘mechs near the crash to the ground.

Almost casually firing his other PPC towards the Union and defacing the Ice Hellion badge on its armor, Ace kept his eyes on the Sabutai as it looped up into the sky. The fighter was a Smoke Jaguar design and they didn’t give them out lightly - whoever was in it had to be a leader.

While they were clearly inept enough to get into this mess, that didn’t mean he wanted them to escape. And the pilot clearly felt the same way as they rolled the fighter over and came right down at him once more.

This time Ace maneuvered to put the Union at his back - shots that missed him might hit the dropship. If he had expected that to deter the Ice Hellion though, it didn’t. They held their pulse lasers back but the gauss rifle crashed against the Huntsman’s anti-missile system, wrecking it. One PPC stripped away more armor on the left leg, penetrating the knee, although the other missed and dug into the Union’s armor.

Ace’s own PPCs didn’t miss. Properly braced, he sighted in on the forward canards either side of the cockpit and both of them were obliterated by the powerful bolts of charged energy.

Deprived of its control surfaces, the Sabutai fought to climb again, but it was coming in too aggressively and Ace hopped the Huntsman aside before the stricken fighter could crash right through him.

Once again, the pilot proved their skill… or perhaps fanaticism. They could have ejected, but instead they slewed the damaged fighter to the side and as it belly flopped onto the ferrocrete, the wreck skidded right towards the limping Huntsman.

Ace tried to avoid the collision with his jump jets but the damage to the left leg was just too much and it was clipped by one of the vertical stabilizers, sending him sprawling ignominiously.

“Not the most glorious kill of your career,” Michel observed, loping his Warhawk over to join Shiro in covering Ace as he brought the Huntsman upright.

“This is not supposed to be glorious,” Ace answered. “It is supposed to break them.”

The fire from the dropships was dying down and as he watched, the last pair of Visigoths decided that discretion was indeed the better part of valor, going vertical as they tried to catch up with the dropships that had decided not to land. Ace didn’t like their chances, but he wasn’t a pilot and perhaps they had learned something useful.

With a sigh, he opened communications again. “This is Galaxy Commander Enders signaling the Ice Hellion Khans.”

After a long moment, a woman replied: “This is Khan Danielle Lienet. Your dishonorable trap does your Clan no honor.”

“Honor to the honorable, Khan Lienet. Your Clan joined a coalition to stab us in the back. Does Khan Taney have nothing to say?”

“Khan Taney’s fighter was flying with our combat air patrol,” Lienet told him. “His fighter is not among those in the air, so he is… unavailable. You may have a better idea of his state than I.”

Ace looked at the burning wreck that wasn’t quite underneath the Union but was certainly dangerously close. “Did he pilot a Sabutai, by some chance?”

“Aff,” she replied shortly.

“Then I suppose he is busy conversing with Leo Showers.” Ace’s eyes narrowed further. “We claim this world, Khan Lienet. But we make no claim on the worlds further into the Smoke Jaguars’ invasion corridor. You may have free passage to them and the same to your friends in the Hells’ Horses. Perhaps you will receive help from the Jaguars or perhaps you will need to fight them for supplies and bases. Either way, it is not our business.”

“You want me to turn against our allies?” Lienet exclaimed. “Do you think our honor is so lacking?”

“I do not care. Showers is dead and from what I hear, Weaver is also dead. I could not tell you who the Smoke Jaguar’s khans are now. For all I care you can go all the way to Rasalhague, it is only three jumps or so.” Ace paused. “But get the hell out of our Dominion. You are not welcome here.”

For a moment he thought Lienet was done with the conversation, but then she asked: “Do you Sharks really think you can keep so vast an empire? You are surrounded by enemies.”

“If you like your chances, come down here and fight,” he offered. Barbara’s best estimate was that half the forces the Hellions had brought to the Inner Sphere were dead or otherwise unable to fight. As much as half of what remained was penned up in their dropships in front of Ace. “Otherwise, leave us to get on with ruling that empire.”

Khan Danielle Lienet did not, in fact, come down and fight. By the time that the Ice Hellion fleet departed Polcenigo, those within the dropships had surrendered and were being processed as bondsmen, as their remaining equipment was similarly being cataloged for repair and use by the Diamond Sharks.

[drakensis]

Imperial City, Irurzun
Benjamin Military District, Draconis Combine
18 February 3059

Minoru’s first warning was that he didn’t recognise either of the guards guarding the door that led down to the black room.

Sometimes the press of business and protocol was such that new members of the Otomo couldn’t be presented to him before they served their first duty postings. It was unfortunate, but unavoidable. But in that case they should be paired with a veteran.

Even then, Minoru’s first thought was that there had been a mistake, something he would have to gently chide Carlos Kinnison over and that the commander of the Otomo would verbally eviscerate the officer responsible for.

Then the palace was rocked by an explosion, the first of several. And even then he didn’t truly see the threat until the two guards, having first moved to shield he and Atsuko with their bodies, started to hustle them away from the door and the shelter it offered.

Soft, some whispered about him. More a scholar than a warrior.

He had been careless, Minoru admitted in a small part of his mind. Lowered his guard.

But this was no time for that. Whatever they thought, he was a Kurita.

The first of the fake-Otomo found his throat opened by the Coordinator’s wakizashi.

The second was beyond Atsuko, he had his hands on Minoru’s wife!

A heartbeat later, Minoru Kurita had his hands on the man. He lifted, turned… and then dropped to his knees.

Delivered head first to the ground with all the weight of his body-armor, weapons and other gear at the exact wrong angle… the imposter’s neck snapped.

Real Otomo would have been better, Minoru thought before he realized that Atsuko was screaming. He caught her in his arms and ran back towards the door. His wife closed her mouth as the first shock wore off and she clutched hold of him. The coordinator only needed a hand free to open the door, the handle coded to his fingers. Atsuko ducked her head as they went through, panic banished after the first surprise.

He set her down as the door closed behind her. “Minoru?”

“A moment,” he asked, tapping controls on the panel next to the door. Another door opened at a right angle, leading down the stairs. “We need to go. Stay close.”

“Always,” she promised and followed him down, never more than a step behind him. Minoru could feel her warmth.

Stair after stair, each sealed by another armored door. Some of the landings were gratings, intended to draw away gasses or liquids that might be poured down them. He felt his heart beat sixty times before they were at the bottom and climbed one further flight to reach the door into the Black Room.

Atsuko had never been here before, but she wasted no questions about it. “Our enemies?” she asked instead, standing by the door - she would not be able to open it now without him, but did not dare the table. “The Clans are not so subtle, Davion is bold but…”

“But not when we are between him and the most powerful Clan remaining,” Minoru agreed, leaning on the table and taking a deep breath. Then he flipped on the console built into it and started checking comms and security. There were red and amber lights almost everywhere. “This is pushback.”

His worst fear.

“Pushback?” Atsuko stepped closer, pulled back the seat at the table and offered it.

Minoru sat down, but did not look back at her. “Hugai Kurita let the nobility run wild after ComStar humiliated him. Hohiro Kurita - Hugai's son and my great-grandfather, not my brother - empowered the military to rein in the nobility. And my grandfather allowed the nobility influence with the DCMS, to divide them and the high command, pitting them against each other to rebuild House Kurita’s dominance.” He paused. “My father’s reforms were more blatant, a professional military answerable to the Coordinator. But there are those who remember near-sovereign nobles and a high command to whom the Combine was the army’s logistical train and little more.”

Atsuko swallowed. “Are they mad? If you come to harm, your brother will never forgive them.”

“Ah, but I am young and easily led.” The first explosion had been the Otomo barracks, the second the comms center, he saw. Up above, soldiers in black Otomo uniforms were moving to secure every ministry, every entrance. Battlemechs in gold-trimmed black were exiting the hangars to take hold of choke points. It was the textbook security lockdown that should follow such an attack - such a shame that not one face under those helmets was familiar to Minoru. “Clearly it is evil advisors who have led me astray. When the righteous officers and officials are able to stand at my side and my back, traditional values will be restored.” Cynicism dripped like poison from his lips.

She stared at him for a moment, then reached out and placed her right hand over the back of his. “You have feared this for a long time.”

Minoru stared down at their hands, the console below it. “I had hoped that leading our people to victory over the Clans would reduce the threat of this. Instead, I may have released them from the pressure to remain united.”

His right hand was still dancing over the console and he managed to access the security cameras for the offices used by senior military officers who were attending court. He saw familiar faces at last, but not in a way that he had hoped. Boris Petrov had not gone quietly into the night: three of the faux-Otomo lay dead around him… but the Warlord of Benjamin was still on the floor, red blood soaking the front of his white uniform jacket as he sprawled on his back in the lobby, chest not rising or falling.

Atsuko covered her mouth with her free hand at the sight. “What can I do?”

Minoru looked up at his wife, seeing himself reflected in her eyes. “For now, keep doing what you’re doing.” Her fingers closed slightly over on his hand.

The palace was a loss. The Coordinator forced himself to accept that and activated a private communications system that had been built into the city from the beginning, hidden in the vast construction programme that had erected it. A way for him to reach out beyond the palaces to the wider communications net of Irurzun.

A moment later, and the screen lit with a very different scene. The desk of his cousin’s secretary, backed by a large Combine flag. The man behind the desk was less immaculate than usual, a lock of hair loose from his usual tight bun, but he was no less efficient. His eyes met Minoru’s and there was a moment of recognition. “Lord Kurita,” he said. “The Coordinator is in the line.”

The camera was yanked sharply around, the secretary replaced with the round features of Chandrasekhar Kurita. “Tono, I feared for your life and freedom.”

“You are informed, then?”

“I have many contacts,” the industrial magnate admitted. “None that warned me of this, but some who would contact me only under the direst of circumstances. The message I had but moments ago was that you could not be reached with an urgent report. There are few reasons for this.” He shrugged helplessly. “Fewer that are good.”

“Then in summary, the Otomo have been compromised or destroyed, the palace is in hostile hands.” Minoru closed his hands into fists. There was only one other DCMS formation on Irurzun that could act as a rallying point and, most importantly, was equipped to retake at least part of the Imperial City quickly. “Can you make contact with the Ryuken?”

Chandrasekhar’s face was pale, but his voice was steady - if more serious than usual. “Director Indrahar’s call - on a private number I did not know he was aware of - was to find some way to inform you that the Ryuken barracks have been gassed. Casualties were almost total. He did not say who has access to their equipment... which implies that it is not good news.”

Minoru closed his eyes for a moment. What had once been a powerful corps of five ‘mech regiments had taken the brunt of buying time to rally against the Diamond Sharks. The five surviving battalions were on Irurzun as an honor: trusting them with the security of the capital beyond the Imperial City - and to give them time to rebuild. Almost two hundred capable, loyal mechwarriors with some of the best equipment available. Their reward had become a death sentence.

“Tono, you must leave the capital,” his cousin insisted. “I can arrange a shuttle and there are several jumpships that can take you to a loyal regiment. Whoever is behind this cannot have corrupted many units.”

He swallowed. “I cannot.”

“Tono… Minoru.”

“I. Can. Not,” he repeated. “It is not a matter of will, it is a fact.” His eyes went to the console. “Every exit from the Black Room has been compromised. They have not yet started trying to blow the doors open but once they do, it is only a matter of time before they enter.”

Atsuko gasped. All Minoru could offer in comfort was to reach over and place his right hand over hers.

There was a ping from her pocket and she looked embarrassed.

“You had better answer,” he told her. No one would randomly get a call to a personal comm inside the Black Room. The only way to get such a call through the sophisticated electronic security was to control one of three comm nodes, one of which was still under Minoru’s control and possibly still a secret. The others were the palace and the military comm centers.

Atsuko’s comm unit was sleek and modern. She raised it to her ear. “Moshi moshi… ah, otousan.”

Her father. Minoru looked at the screen and saw understanding on Chandrasekhar’s face. He looked back and saw his wife’s face growing gray as she listened to Oda Hideyoshi. Saw understanding dawn upon her.

“I will tell him,” she said quietly when her father was done and she cut the comm.

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

“My father,” she said quietly, “Offers his services to mediate with those currently controlling the Imperial City. He apologizes that it is not within his means to place his sword at your service at this time.” And then: “It is too soon for him to be placed to do so unless he was already aware.”

“Treason,” Chandrasekhar said simply.

“Yes,” Atsuko admitted. “My father has betrayed you.”

Minoru opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then gave her the same honesty. “My duty to the Combine does not include handing its rule over to a treacherous cabal.”

“Of course not.” She looked into his eyes, “There is no escape?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Minoru sighed. “I can open the doors sequentially from here, let you get out. Your father is probably placed to protect you.”

Atsuko had never taken a seat. Now she fell to the floor, resting on her knees. “I had no part in this!”

“I know. But you need not die with me.” Putting it into words hurt. He was going to die now. There would be no decades growing old with Atsuko. No gentle retirement, passing the throne to a son when one was ready. Just death.

“My lord,” she told him, not looking up. “We do not know that I am not with child. If they cannot have you, then your child would be a rallying point against alternatives.”

“And if you are not pregnant?” Chandrasekhar said bluntly. Atsuko might be out of his view but he could clearly hear her.

“Then no doubt it will be ensured quickly enough that I am, to present a claim.”

Breath left Minoru’s lungs at the brutal implication of that. He reached down for Atsuko, hands finding her long hair loose around her shoulders. “I…”

“I promised to live my entire life with you,” she said in a small voice.

“It would seem that you married a true samurai,” his cousin said sadly. “I will contact Director Indrahar and see if he can find a way, but…”

Minoru pushed his chair away and crouched to put his arms around Atsuko. “I had hoped for, planned for, that life to be longer.”

“Death,” she said in a trembling voice, “Is lighter than a feather.”

He stood, drawing his wife to her feet. “Take the shuttle you mentioned, cousin. Take word to those who are loyal. Take my last commands: purge the Combine of this corruption. Tell Sorenson to spread his reforms to those who will welcome them. And tell my… tell Franklin that the Combine will need a sound foundation to reclaim more than Galedon. I trust him…”

“Do you wish me to record a message?”

Minoru buried his face in his wife’s face. Thought of the demolition charges buried in the foundations of this room and also of the buildings above. Of the limited time left.

“Yes,” he said at last. And, at Chandrasekhar’s nod, he looked into the camera. Not caring that Atsuko would be in the camera’s view. “Let the people know that we have been betrayed. Let the soldiers bleeding to free our worlds know that traitors lacked the courage for our struggle. A coordinator may die, but the dragon will live on. I, Minoru Kurita, am no longer free to discharge the duties leading House Kurita. For this, I will answer to my ancestors. As of this moment, I name my brother Franklin Kurita as the thirty-second Coordinator of the Draconis Combine…”

[The Wobbly Guy]

Stupid black dragons. At least ensure he has a heir to grab first!

[Giovanni Blasini]

Damn.  I really liked this take on Minoru, so of course he and Atsuko had to die.

[Gorgon]

This one really stings. And what a way to start the day off. But we (hopefully) get Coordinator Franklin, and that's not something you see often.

[worktroll]

Another Khan done by the Ender of Failures.

[Cannonshop]

This will present some...difficulties for the BDS, methinks.  Minoru did something that is certainly appropriate, but hardly common, especially among Lords and Leaders. 

They dun ****** up.

[Vizzer]

Another Khan done by the Ender of Failures.

Does this make him a "Ace of Khan's - Hawker, 2 Burrocks, Showers and now an Ice Hellion 🥇

[Sir Chaos]

Does this make him a "Ace of Khan's - Hawker, 2 Burrocks, Showers and now an Ice Hellion 🥇

And Natasha Kerensky can add "I survived Ace Enders" to the long list of reasons why she is a living legend.

Actually, I wouldn´t put it past her to have an "I survived Ace Enders" t-shirt made, and to wear it in public.

[Cannonshop]

And Natasha Kerensky can add "I survived Ace Enders" to the long list of reasons why she is a living legend.

Actually, I wouldn´t put it past her to have an "I survived Ace Enders" t-shirt made, and to wear it in public.

would he get a cut of the royalties?  (for those who don't get this, there was a linebacker with the Seahawks named Brian Bosworth in the 1980s who sold merch insulting himself to Bronco fans before a seahawk game.)

[Daryk]

And Natasha Kerensky can add "I survived Ace Enders" to the long list of reasons why she is a living legend.

Actually, I wouldn´t put it past her to have an "I survived Ace Enders" t-shirt made, and to wear it in public.

Who can we commission to draw Natasha wearing that shirt!?! ;D

[Moriarty74]

The downside to killing all those Khans for poor Ace Enders is that he is going to end up being elected as a Khan himself whether he wants it or not.  He's got just too much of a reputation and kill record to NOT get it.

[PsihoKekec]

Ace sure is Ace of Khans now. And the scene with elemental jumping out of control tower, right before it is destroyed deserves to find itself in the action holovid.

Damn, I liked Minoru here, out of all POV characters I didn't expect him to die (also Ace and Wei). Caught completely off guard as he was, he didn't let himself be overwhelmed and denied his enemies the victory.
 Black Dragons messed up doubly, first because they tried, second because they failed so thoroughly. Minoru's death and the manner of it, will turn those who are not directly connected to BDS, but were inclined to support them, against them. Franklin has carte blanche to dig after the real and supposed BDS member down to the proverbial bedrock and hammer down their base of support with reforms. However in the short and medium turn this will hurt the DC immensely, giving the Sharks and the Bears time to prepare for prolonged stay.
The question is how hard resistance will the BDS offer, they killed Otomo and Ryuken, taking over their equipment plus the regiments they control, but once the news is out that the Coordinator and his wife committed honourable suicide, rather than being taken alive, they should now that they lost, even if they pick up a cadet branch Kurita as a pretender. So will they fight to die with some honour, or will they still try to somehow win this?