OPREF Chpt 13

=Chapter 13 - Dealer’s Choice=
==Opalescent Reflections==
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===Falcon Clashes on Apollo===
Terra Prime, Apollo
Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone
15 June 3050
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Joanna had been wrong, which was always something that gave Aidan Pryde a little glow in his heart.
 
Just occupying the periphery worlds in their path had been enough to convince saKhan Vandervahn Chistu that securing the worlds liberated from the Successor Lords would be a drain on the resources of the galaxies fighting to continue the drive towards Terra. From Chistu the concern had gone to Elias Crichell, who had spoken to Leo Showers.
 
So, about a month after the main invasion force had set off, additional flotillas had set out carrying garrison units. Not to participate in the invasion, of course. No, that would break the bids that had been made. No, just to secure and pacify worlds that were now under Clan rule.
 
Granted, Aidan's cluster was spread across four worlds and he was functioning as a glorified Star Captain right now. But he was in the Inner Sphere.
This wasn't what he'd expected though, Aidan thought as he ran his Summoner along the side of a highway, trying to keep in sight of the Armored Personnel Carriers that had been recovered from the defeated planetary militia. The wheeled vehicles were quite a bit faster on a road than a Summoner, even if they couldn't traverse the same variant of terrain that the Battlemech would cope easily with.
 
Right now, in a straight-line run on a road, the sophisticated and powerful Battlemech was losing the race. Despite Aidan pushing the Summoner at the sort of speed that would make him an easy and predictable target if anyone fired him. It wasn't as if he was seriously concerned about being shot at right now, but it was frustrating.
 
"Star Colonel, the ComGuards are deploying ahead of us." warned Star Commander Brinton from where he was clinging to the top of one of the APCs. He was the only elemental in his star wearing his armor, the rest were riding inside the APCs and using standard field gear.
 
Aidan grimaced. "Stop the enemy from crossing the boundary if you can. Do not fire on or near the ComGuards unless fired upon and do not cross the border even if they do." The Smoke Jaguars had been forced to accept the presence of the spheroid group's enclaves in order to use their HPGs, but they weren't exactly getting a lot of cooperation otherwise. From what he had heard, many ComStar personnel were being maliciously compliant when it came to requests from the Clans. So far the other Clans were getting much more consideration and Aidan did not want to be the one to ruin that for the Jade Falcons. Let someone else incur the Khan's anger.
 
He could just barely see the APCs open up with their machine guns, short bursts of fire reaching ahead.
 
Traffic had already pulled off the highway and Aidan had to steer wider to avoid a cluster of groundcars. By the time he reached the border, the gunfire had ended and he saw the APCs had pulled up short of a barrier across the highway.
 
Or rather, what was left of the barrier. The van that was being chased had flipped onto one side and skidded across the line, smashing through one of the small buildings that separated lanes of traffic. On the far side, a pair of APC in ComGuards white were sealed up with their turreted machine guns aimed across the border at the three technically identical APCs that had been repainted with the Jade Falcon emblem.
 
"Sir," Brinton reported, his armor standing next to one of the APCs. The elemental had his machinegun lowered non threateningly. Not that he likely felt threatened: the two APCs with their attached troops would likely have difficulty stopping him alone. More than twenty of his peers would tip the balance entirely in his favor, which was not to mention Aidan and the other two 'mechs he'd brought with him. "We could capture them." he indicated where three ComGuards troopers were dragging an equal number of people out of the van.
 
"I have no doubt," Aidan told him. "However, our orders are different."
 
He dropped his Summoner to a kneel behind APCs and activated his speakers. "Is anyone injured?"
 
Another voice came from one of the white APCs. "Aside from the people your lot were shooting at? No - the guy in the booth got out of the way."
 
"Good." Aidan focused his cameras closer in on the van. The occupants were what he'd expected - two men and a woman, dressed sturdily for cold weather. All three had sidearms, although the ComGuards were promptly removing them.
 
"Those are ComStar's warriors?" the youngest of his three warriors asked as her Nova came to rest next to Horse's Summoner. She was freeborn and had only joined the Cluster right before they departed - Horse had taken the woman under his wing to an extent.
 
Horse chuckled. "Police warriors, young Diana."
 
They weren't wrong, Aidan thought. All three ComGuards he could see were carrying more weight around their waist than he would have tolerated among members of his Cluster, even the support staff. But they were armed and at least seemed to know what to do with the weapons - keeping them out of the reach of the trio that the Falcons had been chasing.
 
"I req-"
 
Aidan's words were cut off as flames erupted from the back of the van. The ComGuards scrambled backwards in alarm, the oldest literally falling over backwards. They dragged their captives with them as the fire began to consume the vehicle..
 
"Stravag," Horse cursed. "They wired it to be destroyed."
 
"Aff," Aidan agreed. "I offer the assistance of my personnel and their fire extinguishers."
 
"That won't be necessary," the woman who'd spoke from the APC earlier. A moment later the back of each ComGuards APC opened and pairs of troops moved out, each carrying small fire-fighting kits emerged and began to spray the van down. A handful more headed for a building set back from the border, obviously to gather additional equipment.
 
Aidan nodded. "Brinton, pull your Star back and give us a perimeter. Inform the traffic they can get back on the road but this crossing may be out of use for the rest of the day - they can wait if they want or try another route."
 
"And those three?" The elemental gestured towards the trio across the other side of the pine marked on the road.
 
"We were just a little too late," the Star Colonel informed him. "I will take it from here."
 
He shut down his 'mech and unstrapped. "Horse, give me cover if anyone does anything stupid. Diana, you are with me."
 
"What if you are the one doing something stupid?" his old friend asked.
 
Aidan cracked his canopy and sniffed as the smell of smoke entered. "Even if it is me." Then he removed his helmet and started climbing down.
 
By the time he was dismounted and reached the border line, the ComGuards had run a hose back from their discreet guard post and were spraying down the blackened remains of the van. Seeing him, a woman in battledress walked over. He recognised the rank badge as that of an Acolyte XV before she saluted. "Section Leader Burzoe Sohma."
 
"Star Colonel Aidan Pryde," he said as he returned her salute. "The occupants of the van are insurgents against our government. I regret the damage they caused to your border post and request their return."
 
Burzoe - it felt wrong to use her family name, she was clearly not bloodnamed - shook her head. "They have requested asylum, Star Colonel. I must take that seriously."
 
He frowned. "You have your orders, of course. But is ComStar going to give sanctuary to those striking at our garrison. I understand that your Order claims neutrality."
 
"No, Star Colonel. However, we have strict rules."
 
"Assume I am unfamiliar with them and you will not be wrong," Aidan told her.
 
"They are criminals," mechwarrior Diana accused as she joined them.
 
"One woman's freedom fighter is another's criminal," pointed out Burzoe. She gave Aidan a questioning look.
 
"My… aide, Diana," he explained. "I am the garrison commander. Please explain your rules. Perhaps there is some middle ground we can agree upon." He doubted it, but a better understanding of ComStar's rules of engagement would be helpful to him and perhaps also to Diana.
 
Burzoe exhaled and adjusted the hang of the rifle over her shoulder. "Someone who claims asylum can take sanctuary within ComStar's enclaves and we do not allow others to recover them. We will provide you with their names, faces and other identifying marks for your own records. If they go back across the border, they're on their own - we won't let them back into the enclave and if they manage then we'll hand them back. Claiming asylum means that they're out of the war."
 
"They just walk away without consequence?" protested Diana.
 
"If you can provide evidence of crimes, we may be willing to extradite," the section leader allowed. "That's above my head - you'd have to take it up with the Precentor. It's pretty rare, you'd have to prove that they were committing crimes that aren't justifiable as political or military action. What did they do?"
 
"They attacked and stole from one of the government buildings." Aidan explained.
 
Burzoe shook her helmeted head. "That's pretty legitimate for warfare. I can give you their weapons back - they shouldn't need them."
 
"And the van?" inquired Aidan, indicating the wreck.
 
"Sure. Saves me removing it," she agreed immediately. "Your mech has hands?" the ComGuards officer asked Diana.
 
"Aff."
 
"I'll let you cross the line just far enough to pick it up and carry it back. If you try any further…"
 
The young mechwarrior smirked. "What would you do?"
 
Aidan reached over and smacked the mechwarrior lightly across the back of her head. "The section leader has a radio, mechwarrior. And we use their HPG. The khans will not value you more than that service. Go get in your 'mech and recover the van."
 
He watched the young freeborn head back towards the Nova and then turned back to Burzoe, shrugging apologetically. "She's young."
 
"Daughter? Cousin?"
 
Aidan frowned. "I do not understand."
 
"You're related, right? It's kind of obvious."
 
"I do not believe so. My genetic offspring are not old enough to join the invasion." His DNA had only been used in two sibkos, both times by minor bloodhouses in a patrilineal fashion so none would have any chance to claim the Pryde bloodname. His bloodname assured him of inclusion, but not of being used matrilineally by his own Bloodhouse.
 
Aidan frowned. Now that he thought of it, Diana did remind him slightly of his sibkin Marthe. But many Jade Falcons looked somewhat alike, as a result of the breeding programme. Probably some warrior washout was in Diana's recent ancestry. Or even a non-washout, although he would have thought he would have heard gossip about any trueborns fathering children. It was a Wolf trueborn that had fathered the notorious Jaime Wolf and Joshua Wolf, which did nothing to encourage the practice among Jade Falcons. "It is possible we are distantly related."
 
"If you say so." The ComGuards woman didn't seem convinced, but it was even less her business than it would be Aidan's. "What did they steal?"
 
The two of them backed away as Diana's Nova began to move. Burzoe issued a warning to her troops, who backed away from the no-longer burning van.
 
Aidan took the time to consider whether to answer the question. But it would have to be discussed with the Precentor anyway unless there was a lot of unburned…
 
The back of the van broke open as Diana lifted it, spilling burned C-bill notes out onto the road. Evidently someone had ripped open the stacks so that they'd burn in the fire.
 
Most hadn't been completely burned but as the wind scattered, Aidan didn't see any that weren't damaged to some extent. "I don't suppose that ComStar would accept these still?" he asked, catching one of them out of the air.
 
"Ah… no," Bursoe said drily. "Damaged letters of credit are invalidated."
 
"I thought not." Aidan crumpled what was left of it in his hand. "I think I will need to make an appointment with your Precentor to discuss how we pay for the use of Apollo's HPG in the future." To be fair, the planetary government's C-bill reserves were never going to last forever but until now that had been a problem for the future. Now it had become more pressing and Aidan had a suspicion that whatever he he agreed would turn into a precedent for the Jade Falcons or even for all the Clans going forwards.
 
Unexplored territory, he thought to himself. Like one of the explorers he'd read of in the ancient books he and Horse had uncovered.
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===Assigning a Mission===
Hilton Head, North America
Terra, Sol System
23 June 3050
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Lionel Singh was the third person to hold the position of Precentor Rho since Wei Rong took over as Primus. She hoped he would last longer than the others. He'd ticked the box of field operations, having lost one leg in the shadow war against MIIO and LIC that had raged for half of Wei's life.
 
Oddly, that didn't seem to have turned him against the Federated Commonwealth. The Regulan-born field operator had told Wei when she interviewed him that it was 'just business' and that the team of operators he'd been up against had paid the price for taking the matter more personally than he did.
 
Wei wasn't sure what it said about her that she hadn't investigated further, even though she certainly had the access to read the reports of that incident if she chose. Perhaps that she was, as Marik said, becoming more like Myndo Waterly.
 
In any case, while she didn't particularly like Singh, she respected his intelligence and his restraint. Dismantling the old Rho-Omicron strike teams was a delicate matter - these were some of the most dedicated and capable people ComStar had ever trained. Making them feel betrayed could - and in two cases she knew of had - turn into events better left for DBC spy-thrillers.
 
"How can I help you, Primus?" he asked, rising from his seat and bowing courteously as she entered his office.
 
Wei glanced appreciatively at the tapestry that decorated the wall of the office before answering. It was one of Singh's few luxuries, something he'd reportedly had to save up for years even on a relatively generous salary to have made for him. Wool and linen threads, with the occasional silk and metal displayed the history of the Order through subtle imagery that would seem innocuous to an outsider but spoke far more pointedly to those in the know.
 
"I have a mission for your division." she told him at last, sitting down facing the Precentor.
 
He returned to his own chair. "We serve, Primus. It is, if I may say, unusual for you to come here."
 
"Besides missing the chance to see your tapestry again, I'm not officially back on this side of the continent," she explained. "I'm not really needed at the conference right now - mostly it's talking details, or more technical matters that I'm not able to contribute to." Wei gave a slight smile. "I'm sure the Precentor Martial would have a great deal to say about the assault 'mech that Davion and Kurita's engineers are designing together, but I'm better leaving our own participation to the more technically minded of our adepts and Skobel's people."
 
"Who will, I am sure, be able to contribute to our own production of the… I believe it's being called a Gunslinger?" asked Singh wryly. "I have a few people there to make sure."
 
"I didn't doubt it." Wei assured him. "As host it's best if I'm believed to be on hand, but there are a few things I felt should be dealt with face-to-face. This is one of them."
 
Singh spread his hands, inviting her to continue.
 
"The Clans are preparing for a third wave of attacks," she set the scene. "And none of the lords or military advisors have much hope of stopping that. It'll still be months before the DCMS and AFFC are in position to mount a serious counter-offensive, assuming that they even plan one at this point. It means more worlds will come under the rule of the Clans and reports indicate that that's a very mixed experience."
 
"For both occupied and occupiers," Singh observed. "Precentor Cameron and I have had some interesting conversations and it doesn't appear that the Clans have had any significant outside contact in some time. Which is surprising given their economic situation. I would have expected them to have looked for other outlying colonies that they could pick off. The Explorer Corps has found enough lost colonies that there should have been some in their vicinity."
 
Wei gripped the arms of her chair. "My limited understanding of information gathering is that setting up infiltration of the new government arrangements will be easiest during this period of transition?"
 
"Yes and no." the former saboteur told her. "There are more openings to insert agents to be recruited into the new hierarchy, but with arrangements still fluid there is a greater risk of our choices being sidelined as the positions they occupy may be less important than we initially conclude. And of course, the uppermost levels of their leadership are reserved to the closed circle of imports from their homeworlds."
 
"As much as I present ComStar as being neutral towards the Clans, I don't believe that will last," she said quietly. "I want to be as favorably placed as possible when that break comes, but it will almost certainly mean that I'll need to form common cause with the Successor States."
 
Singh nodded. "It appears that you are wrestling with whatever you are going to ask of my division, Precentor."
 
"I suppose that I had the naive idea that I could lead ComStar without resorting to the more morally dubious… no, the more abhorrent options that are available to me as Primus."
 
"Speaking as someone who has carried out those options," he replied, "I am glad that you are not taking the decision lightly in either direction. My people operate far better knowing that there is a moral consideration behind their orders. We know, as those on Terra often do not, how ugly our missions are. We take a certain pride that we can carry them out, but only the very worst take pride in doing so."
 
Wei thought that that was a fairly fine distinction but if it worked for those involved then who was she to criticize? "In order to slow the Clans down, I wish to encourage resistance movements," she said. "My understanding is that we currently have something of a surplus of personnel with the sort of skills needed to cause problems for the Clans?"
 
That got a thin smile from Singh. "We've discussed that surplus more than once, Primus. Although even if I send everyone we haven't reassigned, barring the joint training cadre… I assume that you don't want to gut our future capabilities in that way?"
 
That was rather a strong assumption when using the word 'want', but Wei had to admit that since she was here and asking to use that capability, she would be foolish to actually follow through with the impulse. "Just the personnel available for long-term assignment without crippling other activities."
 
"That is a large number of people as such matters go, but the Clans have taken several dozen worlds and, as you say, they are likely to take more. They'll be spread thin," pointed out Singh. "What I would suggest is sending them prepared to recruit and train native insurgents. That would require them to operate relatively more openly, but it also means less exposure to direct action that could get them captured."
 
"Given that the Clans finding out who is behind them, reducing our risks there is a concern," Wei agreed. "How practical would it be to hide their allegiance from those that they recruit though."
 
"Not too difficult," he said. "False flagging operations is fairly routine as these things go. It's virtually certain that the LIC have action teams being sent into Tamar for exactly this sort of thing, and the same in the Combine and the Republic, so our people would fit right into what the locals would find plausible."
 
"Doesn't that raise the risk of running into genuine operatives?"
 
Singh gave Wei a look of polite toleration. "That is also normal. On an interstellar scale, knowing what the fingers on one hand are doing is good coordination. The other hand, much less the feet, are usually a mystery to those on the ground. Sometimes due to poor organization, sometimes due to competing factions and sometimes simply because redundant cells not aware of each other is good tradecraft. In the Combine worlds, for example, the actual ISF might be mildly annoyed at a 'rogue cell' having been sent by one of the more conservative elements in their society, but they will not be surprised or actively hostile."
 
"I will be more than happy to take your word for it." Wei told him.
 
"Thank you." Singh glanced over at the tapestry. "The fact that you've given us broad directions and latitude to do our jobs has been welcome to most of my immediate subordinates. We're used to a more hands-on approach from the First Circuit level and there was concern that not having a single Precentor ROM would increase it."
 
She shrugged. "If I could do your job better than you could, I'd have probably made a poor choice in assigning you - and since senior personnel decisions all cross my desk that would likely mean I wasn't very good at my own job."
 
The man chuckled. "That's a very practical approach. The other advantage, at least as I see it, is that if we're sending teams that are intended to recruit and direct native resistance then we can tap into pools other than direct operators. That means we'll actually be sending more people than we would otherwise… by which I mean, the people who we've been trying to steer out of mischief."
 
Wei arched her eyebrows. "By directing their mischief at others."
 
"I believe it is said that the Christian Devil makes work for idle hands," he observed. "More seriously, even the operators who realize that not being sent into the field just means that things are going well can get a little twitchy when they've not got something to do. They'll be very happy to be sent out and feel useful again."
 
"If you think it'll work," she told him. "I'd prefer if we can bring them all back after a few years, although I can't guarantee that."
 
Singh raised his eyebrows. "Even if they're problem-children?"
 
"I'm doing well if only forty-nine percent of the Order are unhappy with the direction I'm taking the order," Wei pointed out. "And I don't intend to be one of the Primus' who try to crush alternative viewpoints. It's not as if I'm always wrong. My concern with the former Omicron personnel isn't that they're disloyal to ComStar, just that they might try to destabilize the Order in misguided attempts to 'save' it from me."
 
He snorted. "Well, I may put a few teams together that are like-minded and hint that you had to be talked into authorizing this sort of operation. It'll make them feel better to know you can be persuaded."
 
"That strikes me as proper personnel management," she told him. "Obviously if any of them are caught and it comes out that they're from ComStar…"
 
"Suicide methods are standard." Singh assured her without batting an eyebrow. "And if it comes to it, they know you'll disclaim them as renegades."
 
Wei shook her head. "It's a peculiar sort of loyalty that doesn't expect the same from me in return."
 
"It's the nature of black operations," Precentor Rho told her quietly. "Think of it as them receiving that loyalty in advance - the training, trust and equipment we give them is a downpayment for them to repay in the field. As long as you keep them in mind - in aggregate, if not individuals - then you'll be doing as much or more than most of the Successor Lords."
 
The Primus kept her shoulders from slumping. "Yes. Speaking of whom, I have a flight due to take me back to supervising the lot of them."
 
"I hope your supply of long spoons holds out."
 
She looked at Singh in a questioning way.
 
"'When you sup with the devil…'" he quoted.
 
"Ah." Wei shook her head. "I believe that the problem here is that we all have very long spoons. Too long to feed ourselves… but if I can keep them on point then perhaps we can all feed each other."
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===Bidding for the Third Wave===
CWS Dire Wolf, New Oslo
Clan Wolf Occupation Zone
4 July 3050
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The command bridge of the Dire Wolf was a tense place.
It never helped the mood of the technicians and warriors crewing the cruiser, the pride of Clan Wolf's fleet, to have the ilKhan stalking around the room as if looking for something to find fault with. Intended at one time for an admiral commanding a squadron, the command bridge's holotank had quite a lot of space for stalking around, unlike much of the rest of the Dire Wolf. Like any warship, the vessel was intended to be more functional than comfortable - at least outside of the crew quarters. Ulric Kerensky suspected his old rival liked to stake out the bridge for that reason rather than to needle at the crew, since they weren't important enough for Showers to worry about. But he wasn't entirely sure.
 
Today the situation was exacerbated because there were more Smoke Jaguars aboard. Most of the bridge crew were absent to make room, leaving only those operating the holotank itself. The other crew, along with dozens of other warriors from both Clans had found their way to the observation level above.
 
The door onto the command bridge opened and Ulric let the standard-bearer through. All the formalities were being observed, so Mechwarrior Poul was wearing dress uniform, with a wolf-skin cape as he carried the flag of Clan Wolf into the bridge.
 
Through the door, Ulric could see a second warrior mirroring Poul's entry, this one carrying the Smoke Jaguar flag and similarly clad in the furs of the other Clan's totem. It was a solemn moment, suitable to the seriousness of what they were here to do. Both flags were carried towards the ilKhan, who stood equidistant between the doors at the side of the holo-tank. At the same moment, the two standard-bearers reached Showers, saluted, and then turned to stand flanking him.
 
Ulric took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and made his own entrance.
 
Across the bridge, he saw Lincoln Osis entering. The door hatches were sized for elementals to enter in armor if they had to, but between his personality and his bulk, the Khan of Clan Smoke Jaguar seemed to fill the doorway completely. It was a reassurance that the formality of the occasion would preclude any direct violence, because Ulric had no delusions that he could best the younger Khan in an unaugmented Trial of Grievance.
 
Fortunately, this was another sort of challenge - one where wits and experience would count for more than brute strength. Not, he thought, that Osis was without some intelligence. Even in the Smoke Jaguars, one could not become Khan merely on strength.
 
The two Khans walked out into the holotank and stopped facing each other. Osis glared. Ulric smiled a touch tolerantly. This was his home ground, not the Smoke Jaguar's. Both turned as one to salute the ilKhan.
 
Showers returned the salute sharply. "Welcome trothkin," he declared - speaking more to the gallery than to those sharing the room with him. "We are here in prelude to the invasion of one of the greatest targets we face in our invasion so far, the world of Rasalhague. Since before the days of the Star League, this world has been a jewel of the Inner Sphere. Today it stands as a national capital, a center of industry and wealth. The inhabitants of this one world alone exceed in numbers all the people of the Kerensky Cluster. Bringing the Way of the Clans to them is a great work, a noble deed."
He paused and the holotank lit up, displaying the globe of the planet ahead of them. "Rasalhague does not stand undefended. While it is not seat to one of the Great Houses, they still must be counted one of the chief scavengers upon the remains of the noble Star League. Our intelligence reports have measured the defenders as two full regiments of the Kungsarme's battlemechs, along with an additional frontline battalion, as many as four battalions of militia battlemechs and more than twenty regiments of infantry and armor. ComStar's Precentor-Martial has stated his inability to confirm the degree of aerospace forces present beyond an estimate that they are formidable in number, including at least one elite formation - the Flying Drakons."
 
Ulric thought that unfair to Focht - he had given more information than that, citing that the numbers were at least a hundred. Showers knew that, but it did not please the ilKhan to show more respect to ComStar than he had to. The costly battle of Susquehanna had not been the 'test' that Osis and Weaver claimed, and neither Smoke Jaguar would have bid for control of a ComStar enclave without clearing the decision with the ilKhan.
 
"My staff has determined the cut-down for the invasion at five Clusters." Showers declared. Icons sprang up to indicate both the defenders as well as the forces that Showers was suggesting would be needed. "In addition, additional aerospace fighters and warships to provide cover for the landings. The defender's numbers, added to the extent of settlement, suggests that a lengthy campaign will be required. Forces may need to be committed for as many as six months, making them unavailable for three waves of the invasion."
 
Ulric saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. Up in the gallery, young Phelan had reached the front and was looking down at them. The Khan of Clan Wolf was betting on the bondsman's analysis against that of the ilKhan's entire staff… which would probably offend the Jade Falcons and Smoke Jaguars who made up most of that body.
 
"Rasalhague's location is within Gamma corridor," the ilKhan noted. "However, Clan Wolf has bid successfully on other worlds along the border between Beta and Gamma corridor, including the world we currently orbit." Showers almost didn't sound angry about that. Almost. New Oslo was actually closer to Terra than Rasalhague, so Clan Wolf was not only encroaching on the Smoke Jaguars' corridor, they were also ahead. "Khan Kerensky, is it still your desire to bid for the right to invade Rasalhague."
 
"My ilKhan, I confirm my willingness to claim this honor."
 
Leo Showers bared his teeth. "Khan Osis, do you yield?" he asked in a cursory fashion."
 
"Neg," the Elemental spat. "Clan Smoke Jaguar will yield no more of our corridor to Khan Kerensky's greed."
 
"Very well." The ilKhan folded his arms. "Then I confirm the two of you as the parties bidding. Khan Osis, as this is your corridor, you are the Bidder Prime and may begin."
 
Osis took up one of the control wands and a new array of icons appeared beside Rasalhague. Cluster after Cluster of the Smoke Jaguars - all of Delta and Epsilon Galaxy, backed by two of the Clan's destroyers and their escorting aerospace forces. A conservative bid - and it would be hard for the Smoke Jaguars to take the rest of their targets with only Beta Galaxy to carry the rest of the Third Wave.
 
"I have no intention of waging a slow campaign," the Smoke Jaguar Khan declared. "We will crush Rasalhague before the Third Wave ends - and…" he adjusted the wand, adding one additional daggerstar of forces. "I invite the ilKhan to see the Smoke Jaguars take Rasalhague in person."
 
Showers inclined his head slightly in acceptance.
 
Bidding the ilKhan himself? That was more bold than Ulric had expected. Leo Showers was determined to take the world for his clan, regardless of the fact that an ilKhan was supposed to remain neutral. Not that any had ever been, as far as Ulric was aware.
 
He ignored the Smoke Jaguar bid, considering the globe that spun before him. The southern continent, with its own formidable defenses, was in view. From what Phelan said, those forces would be unavailable at this time of year. A seasonal disease would render them irrelevant - they could not fight back effectively for the next month. It was why Ulric had paced his Clan's advance so that he could strike at the northern continent now.
 
The forces to the north, around the capital of Reykjavik, were precisely as Ulric expected. The strongest point on Rasalhague… but if it was taken, the key to collapsing the other defenders.
 
"I agree with Khan Osis," he said quietly. "I too feel that Rasalhague can be taken in weeks, not months. My bid."
 
The added icons of his bid appeared in the holotank, facing Osis' like two rival armies - which was exactly what they represented.
 
Alpha Galaxy, backed by just the Dire Wolf, and no additional aerospace forces at all. Half the Smoke Jaguar bid, and precisely upon the cutdown - the recommended minimum forces.
 
Leo Showers' eyes narrowed in calculation, but Lincoln Osis glowered in humiliation at having his initial bid undercut so far. With a snap of his wand, Epsilon Galaxy vanished from the display, as did the ilKhan's own bodyguard unit. The Smoke Jaguar galaxy was smaller than Clan Wolf's making this a narrowly lower bid than that which Ulric had made. But it was also clearly a selection of some existing units from the bid - not a prepared drop to a calculated force. And still heavier on aerospace - clearly Osis was taking the Rasalhague fighter strength more seriously than Showers had. "My new bid," the elemental growled.
 
Ulric nodded in understanding, then replaced Alpha Galaxy's numbers with a truncated force of just four Clusters. He could imagine the muttering up above in the gallery as he so cavalierly went below the cutdown.
 
"Khan Kerensky, beware of overconfidence," warned Leo Showers, his tone warning Ulric that the Smoke Jaguars would not cede Rasalhague lightly - not even to this.
 
"Overconfidence?" he asked and adjusted his bid further, removing the Dire Wolf. "I am certainly confident in this bid, ilKhan. Although perhaps the Inner Sphere would say I was 'nuts', quiaff?"
 
The reply of the Successor Lords had been conveyed by the Precentor Martial, who had been quite courteous in explaining its brevity, referring to a - perhaps apocryphal - conflict of Terra's ancient past. The Goliath Scorpion khans had been fascinated and had left the meeting as soon as they could, apparently eager to see if they could find reference to Bastogne in their archives. Most of the other Khans had been more infuriated by the implied insult.
 
"The arrogance of the Successor Lords will be their undoing. Do not make that mistake yourself."
 
"Arrogance is indeed the undoing of many leaders," Ulric agreed with the ilKhan. "So far we have taken fewer than seventy worlds over two waves and we have advanced only a few jumps into the Inner Sphere. My Clan has taken fewer worlds than the Jade Falcons or Diamond Sharks -" Only one less than Ian Hawker had boasted of though, and more than the Smoke Jaguars - thanks to careful bidding along the boundary of the corridors. "- so perhaps they do not take us seriously. I intend to show them that they are wrong."
 
Or, he thought, provoke you into a bid you cannot win with. If Rasalhague repels you, the Crusader cause will be undermined. How superior will we look if the weakest of the Successor States can defeat the mighty Smoke Jaguars?
 
Lincoln Osis made a slashing gesture, shaving away one of his own warships, then an entire Cluster - and stripping away the 'mechs from another. It left him four clusters on paper, plus the aerospace support detached from their parent warships. One of those clusters would be light on hitting power, with only elementals and aerospace power, but for fighting in the cities of Rasalhague, elementals might be more important than 'Mechs.
 
 Ulric looked at the map again, eyeing Reykjavik. If Phelan had predicted the reactions of the Republic's Elected Prince correctly then leaving the capital uncovered would lead him to relocate his government. It might even be a better move than fighting, taking the long view that a world could be retaken. But that would leave the garrison force there as irrelevant.
 
 Of course, if Phelan was wrong, then Reykjavik might require a brutal and costly siege. The Khan imagined what he knew of Haakon Magnusson. The man was reportedly already on his way back from meeting the other leaders of the Successor States. He knew his capital was on the frontlines… and he must realize he was heading into the fire.
 
 Would a man doing that withdraw?
 
 It seemed counter-intuitive, but Ulric thought that his bondsman was correct. The Free Rasalhague Republic was very much the work of Magnusson, he had been its only ruler so far. He was returning because he felt only he could take the lead. Given an out though, he would justify departing again to himself.
 
"Khan Kerensky, do you wish to bid again?" asked Leo Showers impatiently.
 
"Oh?" Ulric looked up. "Yes, I was merely considering the campaign to be fought." He reached out and used the wand to bring out his final bid.
 
Three clusters, unsupported, hung in mid-air. Enough to sweep the northern continent, save for Reykjavik. To take that city if it was evacuated. And enough to move south later, when the local disease had run its course.
 
Lincoln Osis stepped forwards, almost overlapping the icons of his own last bid. "I bid this!"
 
The last of the Smoke Jaguars warships was gone from the bid, and then one of the intact clusters.
 
Leo Showers' face twisted into a scowl. Barely half the recommended ground forces and no warships to anchor the landing. He clearly thought his successor as khan was being far too reckless.
 
Ulric thought for a moment. "That is indeed a very confident bid." He was careful to visibly consider his own last bid, comparing it to that of the Smoke Jaguar.
 
"So?" demanded Osis.
 
It might be enough. If Osis knew everything Ulric did, if he had a strategy at least as effective… and if he was willing to take heavy losses. Which… well, that last might be.
 
"I believe," the Khan of the Wolves said thoughtfully, "That I might be able to take Rasalhague with the forces you have bid… but not with even one point less. Let the bidding end here: Clan Wolf recognises that Rasalhague has been won as an objective by Clan Smoke Jaguar."
 
Up in the gallery, Smoke Jaguar warriors howled in triumph.
 
Ulric wondered how many of them would live to see victory on Rasalhague; assuming, of course, that Osis proved capable of taking hold of the world at all.
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Chapter 13