TGoaW-70

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==Chapter 70 - The Glow of a Worm inside a Child's Eye==
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Ripples...
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On 31st October, 3050, Tyra Miraborg used her Shilone aerospace fighter as an improvised anti-shipping missile, this canceled Leo Showers' life insurance policy as well as destroying Clan Wolf's best Naval commander. Some of the fallout from this led to events that influenced Melissa Steiner-Davion to recall Patrick Ngo to his Ducal seat, and influenced her decisions regarding the handling of the Jade Falcon POW's after consulting with her son Victor's notes on the Clans as explained by Jaime Wolf.
Ulric Kerensky's upgrade to ilKhan still happened, but this time, it happened because Elias Crichell showed everyone the ROMs from the battle of Blackjack earlier that year-the Naval Battle of Blackjack.
Simply put, the 'break year' was filled with new trials to change the reserve status for the Clans, with Clan Snow Raven's fleet taking over the spot previously held by Clan Steel Viper. The Warden Ravens didn't want to come, but the lure of possible Fleet Action with live fire. Instead of simulator battles and arguments settled by Elementals in the aftermath was too good for the Naval Clan to pass up.
Ulric assigned them to reserve status on the Jade Falcon corridor, counting on the Ravens warden leanings to serve as something of a brake on Falcon ambitions.
Thus, in mid 3051, while Baroness in waiting Elizabeth Ngo was beginning to create consternation and chaos in the Lyran Exchequer, and Patrick was organizing the integration of a Galaxy of Captured Falcons into 1st BDE, 171st Volunteers Division (Kowloon), Cutter 120905 KCS Bao Jennings was destroyed with almost all hands in an almost accidental encounter with a Snow Raven crewed Cameron Class Battlecruiser that was establishing patrol routes to engage possible naval infiltration into the Jade Falcon invasion corridor.
Neither side had been ready when it happened and the Sampan III Cutter simply wasn't up to eating the full power of a Cameron's broadside. The sole survivor of the cutter being the engineering officer, Warrant Officer 2nd Class Giao Pham.
So far, the Clans have not seen fit to announce this to their opponents.
Clan Smoke Jaguar's 'reserve' Clans were increased in numbers-their abysmal performance, and their mistakes early in the war, including Turtle Bay, left Ulric with little choice but to seek someone at least relatively competent at thinking ahead, if for no other reason than to reduce collateral damages (civilian deaths), somoene with a reasonably capable navy that isn't exceptional, but has a rational approach. Clan Star Adder got the nod, followed by an expressed order to get the Smoke Jaguar corridor into some kind of order and deal with the growing, increasingly violent, insurgencies in the former Draconis Combine.
In order to inflict a 'stall' on the Ghost Bears, the only clan close to matching Wolf's success, Ulric chose, not their long-term rivals in Hell's Horses, but instead, Clan Blood Spirit. The reason being everyone else has to deal with a Reserve Clan on their hip, and the Blood Spirits WOULD be a hindrance to the Bears, while also being a suitably 'crusader' choice to offset adding what were perceived to be two Warden clans to the field on a Crusader-backed project.
Clan Wolf itself, would take on Clan Nova Cat as partners, mostly assigning them worlds along the Wolf/Falcon border as a buffer.
The next directive from the new ilKhan, was an order to improve the logistics trains of each Clan, a task he placed in the hands of Clan Diamond-shark specifically to make that job harder, while appearing to solve the shortages.
3051 would see the Clans in the Inner Sphere reorganizing their supply chains and adapting to a less optimistic timetable for the invasion.
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