OPREF Chpt 10

=Chapter 10 - Dealer’s Choice=
==Opalescent Reflections==
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===First Contact===
Sovetskii Soyuz Class Heavy Cruiser, CWS Dire Wolf
Near Periphery
15 January 3050
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Having reviewed the parts of the Wolf's Dragoons report dealing with ComStar, Ulric Kerensky wasn't surprised to find their emissary wore a heavy, hooded robe. He was surprised when the man threw the hood back. The report suggested someone like a merchant or a scientist, skilled in their ways but certainly not someone with the edge of a warrior.
 
But this man's eyepatch covered what was certainly a battle wound, and there were other scars, less severe. The man was older than Ulric, perhaps as old as the Nova Cat Khans, but he was clearly still vigorous and when they clasped hands in greeting, the calluses were those of an active mechwarrior.
"I am Ulric Kerensky, Khan of Clan Wolf." He introduced himself. "And you would be…?"
 
"I am the Precentor Martial of ComStar. My name is Anastasius Focht, my Primus has sent me to establish contact with you."
 
"You appear to have succeeded." Ulric gestured to seats facing each other, next to one of the small windows that looked out on the stars. There was no reason to be inhospitable. They might come to blows later, but first they would bargain.
 
Focht sat down, watching Ulric quietly, waiting for the Khan to speak.
"So now that we are in contact," he asked. "What does ComStar want with us?"
 
"Several things," Focht rumbled, rather than said. His voice deepened, sounding mildly threatening. "To begin with, we would like you to stop attacking our JumpShips. Our fleet is considerable, but letting people make off with them is a poor precedent."
 
"I do not recall that we have encountered any of your JumpShips before," Ulric mused out loud, wondering if Focht knew that it was a ComStar JumpShip that had been captured over Huntress. He had not thought to ask Leo Showers about the specifics of the interrogations of the crew, that may have been an oversight. "However, we have apprehended several pirate JumpShips in this area, it is possible that some of the other Clans may have mistaken your vessels. One JumpShip does look very much like another."
 
"Attacking JumpShips at all is problematic," the Precentor Martial warned. "All of the Successor States have agreed treaties limiting certain forms of warfare, in order avert a complete collapse of civilization. I will not claim that no JumpShip has been attacked since, but a willingness to do so usually opens one to retaliation in kind, or using weapons and strategies that would normally cause outrage. I would prefer not to encourage the Great Houses to believe that they have no option but to use weapons of mass destruction."
 
That, Ulric thought, escalated rather quickly. "We find that depriving bandits and their ilk of JumpShips limits the problem they pose considerably. However, there is a distinction between doing that to pirates and to a peer. If your JumpShips have been seized by other Clans, I will request their release. It might help me to arrange this if I knew more of your… organization?"
 
"We are an Order," Focht corrected him, voice more mild. "Established by Jerome Blake, a close companion of Aleksandr Kerensky, after your ancestors followed the General upon his Exodus."
 
Ulric's eyes narrowed. This ComStar was far too knowledgeable about the Clans. Had the Wolf's Dragoons been compromised?
 
"We play many roles within the Inner Sphere, working to maintain an interstellar civilization against the tide of destruction unleashed when the Star League fell," the ComStar representative continued. "We preserve, we maintain and sometimes we rebuild. Where our strength allows, we defend - the ComGuards are far from equal in numbers to the armies of the Successor Lords but we can at least deal with threats like pirates at times."
 
"Laudable," the Khan offered. "You say that your founder was known to the Great Father - Aleksandr Kerensky, quiaff?"
 
"Blake was the leader of efforts to maintain the HPG network during the Amaris Civil War," Focht explained. "After Amaris was defeated, he worked closely with Kerensky in relief efforts to rebuild the damage done during the war. His journals speak of Kerensky as a friend, regretting that the Exodus separated them. The first ComGuards were SLDF soldiers reluctant to leave the Exodus, charged instead to assist Blake in defending Terra and the Terran Hegemony. Unfortunately, it proved too late to do more than hold onto Terra."
 
"I see," Ulric observed. "And what do you do now? We have heard somewhat of ComStar, but only in the sense of operating HPGs."
 
Focht smiled. "That is what we're best known for and it remains the core of our activities. Almost every world in or near the Inner Sphere has one of our HPGs. It provides for a secure means of communication since our stations are neutral ground."
 
He frowned at this point, "Yes, this did concern me. How do you prevent the Successor Lords from seizing your HPGs so they can monopolize communications within their realms? I would not think that they appreciate your Order having that degree of influence."
 
"They did try," replied the old man. "However it became problematic when it came to communicating with each other and the HPGs on border worlds - or even deep within their territory - became strategic targets. HPGs under the control of the Great Houses were destroyed in considerable numbers, so when Jerome Blake began mediating the treaties that would end the First Succession War, he proposed that all the HPGs be restored to ComStar, to operate as a neutral organization. It was over a century before we could make good all the losses, even Conrad Toyama - Blake's student and successor - didn't live to see that work complete and we are still extending and improving our efforts."
 
Ulric nodded slowly. "We operate our own HPGs, as you may have guessed."
 
"We assumed that you retained the technology. If you wish to use ours, then that is open to you so long as you recognise their neutrality. We charge, which I suppose would need to be worked out, but in principle the option is there."
 
"And if we choose not to?"
 
Focht smiled slightly. "Then do as the Successor Lords do with the few they hid away rather than hand back to us. They are kept a very close secret and guarded carefully, because if one is located it is only a matter of time before someone tries to eliminate them. We interdict - decline the use of our HPGs - to those who attack ComStar but other people's HPGs are not under that protection."
 
"Terms for using your HPGs may be useful," Ulric said slowly. "A matter for negotiation. So your HPGs are defended only by the threat of being banned from them?"
 
"That would be rather impractical," the white-haired man corrected him. "We must concern ourselves with pirates - who are no respecters of our neutrality - and there are always the irrational. Security varies with the expected hazards. Many of the HPG stations along the periphery border are well fortified. In fact, on many worlds there are enclaves that have simply grown up around the HPG stations, relying on us for protection as well as other services."
 
"And the Successor Lords allow that as well? They must fight over the worlds, quiaff? I believe there is an entire realm in our vicinity that did not exist twenty years ago."
 
"So long as those conflicts do not enter into the territory we claim, we simply observe. And when they have finished, we usually find there has been an influx of new residents whose existing homes have been lost. The population of our enclaves may be tiny in comparison to an entire Successor State," Focht explained, "But many billions live in safety under our protection. That is no mean feat in the midst of the Succession Wars."
 
"Neg, I find it remarkable." Ulric stroked his beard. "You seem to be well informed regarding the Clans."
 
"We have little current information," the Precentor admitted openly. "Most of what we know comes from those who fled Nicholas Kerensky's invasion of the Pentagon Worlds, over two hundred years." He stopped. "If it would not cause offense, we are curious - was he really Aleksandr Kerensky's son? We have no record of him having children before the Exodus, and he was rather old to father children by that time?"
 
Ulric stiffened. "He was indeed the son of Aleksandr Kerensky. I am his direct descendant. General Kerensky had hidden his family from his enemies, which proved foresightful when Amaris seized power. The Founder and his brother served their father during the first Exodus, and they led the Second Exodus away from the Pentagon worlds after his death."
 
"It is often difficult for the children of a great man or woman to live up to such a legacy," Focht observed. "But those who do rise are the more remarkable. Like Alexander the Great and Philip of Macedon."
 
What planet is Macedon? wondered the Khan. "So, to return to our earlier topic of conversation, besides communications what does ComStar do?"
 
"We fill many of the same roles as the old Bureau of Star League Affairs, I suppose. Since most interstellar news and financial transactions pass through our HPGs, we took to providing our own news as a neutral point of view… well, depending on the Primus there." Focht shook his head slightly. "I cannot say that some of our leaders haven't stretched the definition of neutrality in the service to our overall mission. Similarly, ComStar operates its own bank as well as giving access to Terran banks that are independent of us but benefit from being based on a world under our protection."
 
He shrugged. "Besides this, we operate a sizable JumpShip fleet that carry cargos all across the Inner Sphere, particularly in border areas where commercial shipping has to concern themselves with being drafted for military purposes."
 
"And were the JumpShips that you've lost in this area involved in that sort of trade?" He wondered what the Diamond Sharks would make of that. And, for that matter, what was the Bureau of Star League Affairs?
 
"No," admitted Focht. "We were looking for you. After all, if you've decided to make contact with the Inner Sphere after all this time, we may find ourselves asked to send messages to you. Or if your intentions are to wage war then we have something of an interest in establishing whether you are going to respect our neutrality."
 
"And if we were not to?"
 
"Obviously," the white-haired man said, "If you are going to try to seize our enclaves and other stations then we will defend ourselves. There is a reason that I have described the ComGuards only in broad terms. We do not go looking for fights, but there is a distinction between being peaceful and being helpless."
 
"Enlighten me," the Khan requested. "How would you define the difference?"
 
"The peaceful have the means to defend themselves: they are at peace when others dare not attack them, and because they do not themselves attack. The helpless have no such means and can only know peace when others give it to them."
 
Ulric Kerensky considered that. Considered it very carefully. "As the heirs to the SLDF, our goal is to re-establish the Star League," he said at last.
 
"Speaking as one of the last remnants of the Star League, we are not opposed to that," Focht declared. "Of course, every Successor Lord has claimed to be doing so, as they name themselves First Lord. You will forgive us if we do not assume you will be more successful than they have been."
 
"Among my people, I am considered a Warden. That means that I believe our purpose is to protect the Inner Sphere. To wage war on an organization that, as you describe it, has extended protection and aid to the people of the Inner Sphere, would go against my most sincere beliefs. I am not our overall leader, but I have some say. I will recommend that the Clans respect your neutrality, and I will have my own Clan do so."
 
Now Focht bowed his head. "Thank you, Khan Kerensky. I hope that this is just the first of many contacts between our two peoples - long separated, but each keeping the flame of the Star League alive in our own ways."
 
"Well said," Ulric answered. Very well said. A flame could bring warmth and comfort, but it could also bring dreadful destruction. Which the Clans would prove remained to be decided… and the same might be said of ComStar. He had seen too much to believe that they were as benevolent as this warrior suggested.
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===Outreach Summit===
Harlech, Outreach
Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth
31 January 3050
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Wei Rong's ground-car was escorted to the conference by six of the new Hippogriff Battlemechs, most of those completed so far. It was a statement of power: after decades of work the Successor States were just beginning to produce advanced versions of the Griffin from their own factories, but ComStar had been able to match this in a fraction of the time.
thumb|Hippogrif Medium 'Mech
Where both the 3M and 1DS models of the Griffin increased the size of the shoulder-mounted missile launcher, Focht's request had been for all-energy armament, copying the arrangement of the lasers used by the older 1RG variant but fitting them to the left arm rather than replacing the PPC. Before he left, the Precentor-Martial seemed very happy with the results provided by Skobel and hopefully it would seem impressive to those attending the conference. Wei's own satisfaction came more from the fact that the Hippogriff was considerably less expensive than its cousins, meaning that it was on track to keep the budget under control.
 
She had stayed at the 'Harlech HPG', which despite the name had no actual HPGs. The actual ComStar enclave on Outreach was an island north of the continent, but the branch office in the planetary capital was the 'face' of the Order here, housing one of the largest offices of the Mercenary Review Board and plenty of quarters for visitors. The Dragoons had brought an economic resurgence to Outreach and when business was booming - particularly trade in military materials - communications were generally in demand.
 
Colonel Wolf was waiting for her at the door to the conference hall. "So we meet for the first time," he greeted her and then looked up at the 'Mechs. "Those are new?"
 
"Freshly built," she confirmed. "Don't ask me how they fit into the ComGuards' doctrine, that's not my field."
 
"I would be more concerned with how they stand up to the Clans." Wolf pointed out.
 
Wei shrugged. "We didn't have that in mind when the design was commissioned. Our engineers are good, but it takes more than a few months for us to go from a design request to a new BattleMech ready to be deployed."
 
They stepped inside and out of Outreach's warmth. Though cooler than Terra overall, the worlds' two continents were equatorial and thus it had a temperate climate year round, warmer than Wei was used to at Hilton Head. As the co-hosts of the conference, they had to arrive first but careful scheduling didn't leave them waiting long.
 
James Teng was the first arrival, representing the Capellan Confederation, followed by Theodore Kauk. While Romano Liao had sent one of her senior military aides, Kauk was simply the Colonel of a nearby Marik Militia regiment. It suggested that the Free Worlds League wasn't taking this conference very seriously. On the other hand, Overste Maggie Gundersen was simply the Free Rasalhague Republic's representative at the mercenary hiring hall in Harlech - at least Thomas Marik had sent someone specifically for the conference.
 
The three colonels had just started speaking to each other quietly as they occupied one end of the table when the Federated Commonwealth delegate arrived. Marshal Alan Cline commanded the defenses of dozens of worlds, including Outreach. He was certainly the highest ranking attendee, even if he wasn't as highly placed as the Capellan representative. Teng bristled at the sight of a woman in the uniform of St. Ives among Cline's aides.
 
"The media will be covering this event," Wei mentioned before the Senior Colonel could protest about the inclusion of someone from the Capellan's break-away commonality. "Let us avoid doing or saying anything that might affect the dignity of our nations."
 
Arriving last was Tai-sa Ysabeau Johnson. The commander of the Ryuken-ni regiment bowed solemnly to Jaime Wolf when she entered the chamber. "Colonel Wolf. The Gunji-no-Kanrei has dispatched me here in the hope that this meeting will result in no misery."
 
The phrasing was awkward, Wei thought, but it conveyed the meaning: when the Wolf's Dragoons left (some would say were driven) from the service of House Kurita in 3028 the Ryuken regiments had been assigned to destroy them. Fought on the world of Misery, the result had been the near destruction of the Ryuken and heavy losses for the mercenaries. The commander of the Ryuken, fighting at the head of Johnson's own Ryuken-ni regiment, had been one of Jaime Wolf's closest friends. The tragedy had led to many repercussions and just being here risked the Coordinator's displeasure with Johnson, even if it was at his son's command.
 
Wolf returned the bow and replied in Japanese. Wei claimed no particular fluency but the tone was complimentary and the DCMS officer seemed pleased.
 
The representatives and their staffs - where they had brought them - settled into their seats. Careful thought had gone into making sure that they weren't close enough for quarreling, which left some difficult spacings.
 
Wei took the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen," she began, "I regret that Colonel Wolf and I have had to be somewhat vague in the purpose of this conference." Not least because she was the only head of state actually attending. She didn't like to think she was getting too attached to her dignity, but it would have been convenient to speak to decision-makers. Well, there would probably be a next time. "As not all of our facts had been confirmed, we didn't want to mislead anyone."
 
"So why have you called us here?" Marshal Cline folded his arms across his chest.
 
"After an absence of two hundred and sixty-five years, the descendants of Aleksandr Kerensky's Exodus Fleet are returning to the Inner Sphere," Wei told him. "Their stated mission is to re-establish the Star League. This seems to be of some interest to everyone in the Inner Sphere."
 
"Is this some sort of joke?" asked Colonel Kauk quietly.
 
Jaime Wolf stood. "No, Colonel. The Primus is entirely serious. Both her Order and my Dragoons have past history with the descendants of the SLDF. There is an army preparing to invade the Inner Sphere with the express intention of removing your governments from power. You are, to all practical purposes, facing the existence of a new Successor State and our latest information suggests that they may attack within a matter of weeks."
 
Teng grunted in disdain. "How do you know this?"
 
"In the case of ComStar," Wei told him, "We have sent missions to contact the Clans - as they call themselves - after they conquered the Oberon Confederacy, the Elysian Fields and the Greater Valkyriate last year. One of them finally made successful contact shortly before the new year. We had been broadly aware that Kerensky had founded colonies hundreds of light years away from the Inner Sphere for some time, but their arrival and the cultural changes were quite a surprise." She looked at Wolf.
 
"The Wolf's Dragoons," he declared, "Were sent to the Inner Sphere by some of the Clans fifty years ago to investigate whether we should re-establish contact. Based on our reports, the decision was no. rankly, they didn't think you were a threat." Wolf smiled, somewhat wolfishly. "For our part, the Dragoons were happier here in the Inner Sphere. We'd been in the Inner Sphere for fifteen years at that point, and most of us were much happier here. I don't think we'd really have been all that welcome if we returned anyway."
 
Cline sat up sharply. "You were spying on us?"
 
Wei sighed. "The Dragoons are mercenaries, Marshal. One of their regiments is currently under contract with the Free Worlds League, and they've previously worked for - and against - every Great House. Does learning they had a previous employer really come as a surprise?"
 
"That's different from them taking a contract with us, while actually acting on someone else's behalf!"
 
"We never fought for anyone other than our current employer," Wolf declared flatly. "Even when the Draconis Combine turned upon us, we waited for the contract to expire before taking anything but defensive actions. If sharing information we gathered mostly from public sources and our own operations constitutes betrayal, it will come as a surprise to hundreds of mercenary units that go in and out of employment every year."
 
"I discussed this with the Mercenary Review Board," Wei added. "Their lawyers have checked the Dragoons' contracts and records. There's nothing there to indicate that the Wolf Dragoons were doing anything that their contracts prohibited - and Ian Davion wasn't such a fool as to hire on five regiments of total unknowns without putting some fairly restrictive clauses into their first contract."
 
Tai-sa Johnson leant forwards. "I believe that Lord Kurita will take a dim view of Colonel Wolf's ties to the Clans." She paused just long enough to let everyone make the mental leap (more of a hop) that Takashi Kurita took a dim view of anything Jaime Wolf did, including breathing. Particularly that. "However, that is a matter for our political leaders. You said that the Clans are about to attack and stated that they currently control the bandit kingdoms corewards of the Free Rasalhague Republic and Lyran Commonwealth. That is some distance from the departure point of the Exodus Fleet. Where will the attack fall?" The two points were neatly to either side of the Draconis Combine, something that evidently concerned her.
 
Jaime Wolf frowned. "Unfortunately we were not entrusted with the exact locations of the Clan homeworlds, although they are corewards of the Inner Sphere. Their current location strongly suggests that the Free Rasalhague Republic will take the brunt of the attack, along with the Tamar March of the Federated Commonwealth and Alshain District in the Draconis Combine."
 
Overste Gundersen leant forwards angrily. "Because you reported us as a weak target?"
 
"No, Overste. Our last report was from before the Republic existed. If they were working from our reports, they would know your region of space as a heavily fortified and garrisoned border region." Wolf shook his head. "And we do not know the Clan's strategy. It is possible they will specifically strike at one state first, or that they will try to bypass worlds they see as insignificant to target more important targets."
 
"How much of a threat do they pose?" asked Cline, refocusing on this idea. "Kerensky took hundreds of regiments with him on the Exodus."
 
"We have some footage, courtesy of the Kell Hounds, that should give you all some insight into the Clans' capabilities," Wei told him. She'd anticipated this question.
The lights dimmed and everyone present - those at the table and the media in the gallery - was granted a view of Phelan Kell's doomed struggle against Clan Wolf. How informed the various reporters might be was something Wei could only guess at, but each delegation was headed by a mechwarrior who knew exactly how much Kell had been out-classed.
 
"For something that looks as if a Catapult mated with a Marauder, that is an impressive warmachine," Colonel Teng admitted cautiously, looking up at the final image. "If this is accurate."
 
"It is," Jaime Wolf confirmed. "The Dragoons were equipped from stockpiles of equipment considered obsolete by the Clans - and we still had some of the finest battlemechs in the Inner Sphere when we arrived. If we hadn't made rapid modifications, we would have been immediate targets for using as much lostech as the ComGuards do." He smiled slyly at Wei.
 
"Not being a soldier myself, I could not comment," Wei parried.
 
He nodded. "What you're looking at is an omnimech known as the Timber Wolf," he told the meeting. "It was designed by Clan Wolf just over a hundred years ago and it's the backbone of their heavy 'mech forces, in much the same way that the Dragon and more recently Grand Dragon are represented in the DCMS." Wolf took up a control wand and overlaid additional data onto the image.
"The Timber Wolf has a ground speed comparable to a Griffin or Dragon, though not quite as fast as the current production of the Grand Dragon. Its armor is comparable to that of a Battlemaster assault 'mech. The cooling system is on par with that of an Awesome, allowing it to use its firepower to full effect."
 
"Yes, and that's a remarkable amount of firepower," agreed Kauk. "That looks like forty LRM tubes across both launchers, then a large laser and medium laser in each arm?"
 
"And the lasers were hitting at much more range than I expected," Gundersen agreed, a worried look on her face. "Kell got close, but before that the initial targets were being hit from beyond what I would normally consider effective range. Significantly beyond."
 
Wolf nodded respectfully. "Clan weapons technology has advanced beyond that of the Star League. Their weapons are lighter, more compact, hit harder and do so at greater range. In many ways, this is where we - they - have advanced furthest. And before you ask, I cannot share that technology. Just as we were not entrusted with the navigational data for our homeworlds, we brought with us only the knowledge to maintain the older equipment we came with. If we had the ability to build omnimechs like the Timber Wolf - or the Hellbringers that you saw in the background earlier - then I could have rebuilt my Dragoons into a force that could seize any world in the Inner Sphere." He paused. "But even five regiments of Dragoons can only be spread so thin. The Clans have a qualitative advantage, but they are far from their homeworlds so the number of units they can bring to bear will be relatively small."
 
"You used the word Omnimech earlier, twice in fact," noted Kauk. "I don't understand its significance."
 
The mercenary switched to another overlay, highlighting the weapons that the Marik officer had identified. "Omnitechnology is the centerpiece of Clan logistics. These weapons are mounted in detachable pods. In the event of damage - or if the current weapons payload isn't suited to tactical needs - a technical crew can switch out the pods almost as quickly as armor can be repaired. So long as replacement weapon pods are available and no major structural damage has been suffered, an omnimech can be repaired and reloaded far faster than a conventional battlemech."
 
"Oh wonderful. That must give them a much higher operational tempo," Cline grumbled. "I suppose next you'll tell me that it's a Land-Air 'Mech as well."
 
"No," Wolf assured him. "Although jump jets, electronic warfare equipment and similar specialist hardware can be fitted in place of weapons. And if the available pods do not fit the needs then preparing new ones is just as cumbersome as you would expect."
 
"Wonderful." Colonel Teng leant back in his seat and smiled a little smugly at Cline. "And how many of these amazing machines are likely to be deployed against the Federated Commonwealth, Rasalhague and Draconis Combine?"
 
"Our information suggests that only four of the Clans are involved in the invasion. It's possible others haven't arrived yet though." Wolf answered.
 
"How many Clans are there in total?"
 
"There were seventeen when I last made contact," the mercenary told Tai-sa Johnson. "I have no reason to believe that it has changed."
 
"It is unlikely," Wei confirmed. "My representative met with their Grand Council - their equivalent of the Free Worlds League's parliament, with two seats for each of the Clans. There were thirty-five khans, which would translate to seventeen Clans plus one for their ilKhan. The equivalent of their Captain-General, if you will."
 
"Khans? Do they think they're the mongol hordes?" asked Kauk derisively. "They don't sound like the SLDF at all."
 
"The original SLDF was torn apart by national affiliations," Wei explained. "The founder of the Clans imposed a new social order and adopted ranks and titles that were used by none of them."
 
"We are getting away from the point," Gundersen snapped. "How many of those -" she jabbed a finger at the display of the Timber Wolf, "- are bearing down upon Rasalhague?"
 
"The standard tactical unit of the Clans is the Cluster," Wolf told her. "The Black Widow battalion's unique organization of five-strong lances mirrors that - typically forty-five or fifty battlemechs, supported by aerospace and infantry assets. Given the technological disparity, each Cluster is equivalent to a full regiment of the Inner Sphere - perhaps more. I would say that most Clans have between forty and sixty clusters and the four Clans participating are all relatively powerful. Assuming they send half their forces, which would be a considerable logistical challenge, the Clans we know of could deploy potentially a hundred and twenty Clusters for the invasion."
 
Teng whistled slowly. "I believe the only thing I can say is 'I'm glad I'm not you'," he told Gundersen. The entire Capellan Confederation's Armed Forces could barely field thirty regiments fit for frontline service, even including their contracted mercenaries."
 
"That isn't helpful," she spat. The Kungsarme of Rasalhague was barely half the size of the CCAF, at least in terms of regular battlemech regiments. And like every army in the Inner Sphere, their equipment fell far below the standards of the SLDF, much less what the Clans were demonstrating.
 
"I wasn't trying to be," Teng replied. "If the Clans get as far as the Confederation, I can only hope they've spent every bit of their supplies butchering the rest of you, because otherwise they'll roll right over us. Unless…" He looked at Wei. "Will ComStar be committing to this? Your brigades are the largest concentration of lostech equipment in the Inner Sphere. I assume that you're also manufacturing it, from those shiny new Battlemechs outside."
 
"For now I believe we're of more value to the Inner Sphere as a neutral body," Wei told him. The First Circuit was, unsurprisingly, unwilling to abandon the traditional stance of ComStar. If nothing else, millions of people lived in the Orders enclaves on worlds that the Clans would almost certainly take.
 
"Typical." Cline spat.
 
"However, one of the reasons I came here was to oversee negotiations to license our new Hippogriff to Earthwerk Incorporated, and to Kallon Industries. As the primary manufacturers of the Griffin, they were very interested in refitting their factories to provide us with spare parts and entire 'mechs should we suddenly need an influx of replacement battlemechs or supplies. While ComStar does reserve a right of first purchase under the terms of the licensing, I don't believe we'll be needing those 'mechs right away - it's more of a contingency for if the current factory provides insufficient." Wei smiled sweetly. "I imagine they… and any other manufacturers who purchase a license, might sell to… anyone else willing to pay."
 
Between them, Earthwerks and Kallon operated factories across most of the Inner Sphere. The Griffin alone was built at five different factories under their ownership. Wei saw calculations going on behind the eyes of both Cline and Kauk - the primary beneficiaries of this would be the Free Worlds League and Federated Commonwealth.
 
"Neutrality, in the style of ComStar," Teng muttered.
 
"You don't have to buy them if you don't want to." Kauk snapped.
 
"And the Wolf's Dragoons will share our information on SLDF hardware," Wolf offered. "As well as recognition guides and what we can remember about the Clan's equipment."
 
"That will also help." Johnson inclined her head respectfully.
 
Wei tapped a control, removing the Timber Wolf from the display. "I do have one other piece of footage that I'd like to share today. Not technical data, but it may give you an insight into the thinking of the Clans' leadership."
 
Jaime Wolf frowned slightly. "What is this?"
 
"Precentor Focht recorded his meeting with the Clans' grand council," she told him.
 
His eyes widened and then he stepped back slightly. "Go ahead."
 
The display lit up again, showing a compact compartment that was crammed with seating for more than thirty individuals, clad in a wild melange of animal themed uniforms. A throne and a desk were positioned facing them, both occupied.
 
"The man on the throne is ilKhan Leo Showers," Wei told the meeting. "The warleader of the Clans. Behind the desk is Edmund Hoyt, their loremaster - essentially the chief judicial officer. The seats hold the Khans of each Clan. Note - even though we only know four Clans have come to the Inner Sphere, the leaders of every other Clan has traveled with them."
 
The display closed in, evidently recorded by a discreet camera on the person of someone in the room.
 
"Precentor Focht," a bearded man wearing a wolfshead helmet invited. "Please make your case."
 
A deep voice spoke from near the camera. "I am told that the heirs of Kerensky appreciate directness, so I shall speak bluntly. "The Khans of Clan Jade Falcon have confirmed capturing three jumpships and their associated dropships belonging to ComStar. What must I do to have those ships and their crews returned to us?"
 
"Why should we return our isorla to you at all?" a man clad in green sneered. "Why should we listen to some mystic who squats in our path? You and your organization are even less relevant than the Scavenger Lords."
 
The camera shifted slightly. "From what I have learned of your people, ComStar would represent something more akin to the Free Guilds who help to hold the Clans in unity without being pledged to any one Clan. We, like you, are what has grown from one of the pillars that once supported the Star League. If you do not respect that legacy, then what do you respect?"
 
"Enough!" barked Showers, cutting off any rejoinder from the Khan. "We have voted on this, Malthus. ComStar is recognized as a separate body - just as each of our Clans is free to chart its own path within our laws. If someone won the enclave your Clan hold on Huntress, would that give them claim on the rest of the world? Expecting ComStar to surrender their enclaves because you beat a garrison that holds the rest of the planet was never reasonable. If you want them, you must bid specifically for those enclaves."
 
"But nor is it reasonable for them to be given back what we took in Trials of Possession," Malthus pointed out. "We bid and claimed those ships through our strength of arms."
 
The ilKhan nodded. "And on that we agree. But there will be no insults upon the Star League and its memory."
 
Focht spoke again. "My understanding is that I may challenge Clan Jade Falcon for the possession of the ships and crews, is that correct?"
 
"You would challenge me?" laughed Malthus. "You are an old man. Far past your prime."
 
"War is a young man's game," the Precentor agreed. "Perhaps you should respect those who survive it to become old men."
 
Malthus strode forwards. "I accept your challenge. I will crush you here." There was a flutter of approval from the other Khans.
 
Focht turned to the occupant of the throne. "With your permission, ilKhan?"
 
Showers gestured scornfully. "By all means."
 
"Very well. As Khan Malthus has chosen the venue, I believe I may choose the means of battle?"
 
The room went still. The sitting Khan in green visibly grimaced, while the man who had welcomed Focht brightened. "That is correct," he asserted.
 
"It is normal that the challenger arrives at the prize," the loremaster said thoughtfully, "Thus defining the venue, and leaving the defender the right to set the forces for the Trial."
 
"Exactly," agreed Malthus.
 
"However," Hoyt added, "You are the one who insisted on the venue. And there is recent precedent that a defender may preemptively choose the venue, giving the challenger the choice of means."
 
Wei wasn't sure what was going on with that but it seemed to turn a lot of accusing eyes towards four Khans in particular.
 
"The Precentor has the right of it," Hoyt concluded. "You bid poorly, Malthus. Now it is his turn."
 
"I choose go," Focht declared. "Your ship's recreational system should be able to provide the means, Khan Kerensky."
 
"Of course," the man in gray agreed quickly and Wei shut the recording down.
 
"I won't make you sit through the game," she told the meeting. "We got our ships back."
 
"They accepted a trial by… board game?" Marshal Cline exclaimed.
 
"Trial by combat is the final legal resort to any dispute among the Clans." Jaime Wolf told them. "Although non-warriors usually choose other means to compare their skill. If Focht had let Malthus define the terms, he would probably have been beaten to death… but the Precentor outsmarted him. That is your chance."
 
Wei nodded. "And one other point to take away. That meeting was aboard a ship."
 
"Yes?" asked Gundersen. "I assumed as much from the fixtures."
 
"I didn't say it was a dropship," Wei told her. "They were aboard a Sovetskii Soyuz-class heavy cruiser… a Star League era warship. The Clans have a warfleet and I don't think any of you do."
----
===Trial of Frustration===
Silver Lake, Susequehanna
Rasalhague Province, Free Rasalhague Republic
12 March 3050
----
Sarah Weaver cursed as she chased after the faster 'mechs from the ComGuards.
 
It would have been vastly easier if the light 'mechs had engaged their weight peers, but for some reason the Mist Lynx and Arctic Cheetahs of her trinary had been engaged almost immediately by the heavy armor battalion from the planetary militia, leaving them tied down engaging the tanks.
There was no doubt that the Star she'd detached for that was going to win, but that left her chasing after 'mechs much faster than hers that were shooting only at long range, before falling further back to break contact until they could engage again.
 
Three of them had fallen so far, but it was looking very much as if the rest would slip away into the heavy cover of the woods ahead. Terrain where their shorter-range weapons would be less of a problem and where her heavier Timber Wolf might be more hampered.
->>"The cowards are escaping us, my Khan."<<-
 
"I noticed that," she snarled. "Bring them down!"
 
The ComGuard's Hussars, Hermes and Mongoose Battlemechs were no different from the sort of trash that would be deployed by poorer Clans in their garrison units. Even a single hit from her large lasers would cripple them, but they were also fast enough to be difficult targets.
One of the mechwarriors made the mistake of staying in view long enough for Sarah to lock on with her LRMs. She fired a full salvo the moment the crosshairs went gold and her both Timber Wolf's missile launchers spat twenty missiles up into the air.
 
The Hermes dodged wildly, trying to get away. If she was inclined to give a spheroid credit, Sarah might have conceded some skill on their part as one volley of missiles lost lock and went wild.
But the other did not and more than half the missiles smashed into the thin armor of a 'mech that relied on speed not durability for survival. The 'mech lit up on thermal sensors as its reactor vented, the shielding destroyed. No longer able to evade, it fell prey to a further wave of missiles from Sarah's mech.
 
Another kill. Not that she was planning to count. Spheroid 'mechs died too easily for it to be worthwhile.
 
The Smoke Jaguar saKhan might have felt more satisfaction if she wanted to fight the ComGuards. Not that she was favorably inclined towards the warriors or the civilians that they perversely chose to serve. They were just another blight on the Inner Sphere, and would need to be erased eventually.
 
But the key word was eventually. One of the most basic precepts of strategy was to divide enemies and engage them a few at a time. So long as ComStar was content to meekly provide their services to the Clans and keep their inexperienced warriors divided into penny-packets, they could be swept up at leisure. There was no need to confront them until the Successor Lords were smashed and Terra lay at the feet of the ilKhan.
 
Lincoln Osis thought otherwise, stating that ComStar was weak enough to be picked up at the same time as the defenders of each world, and that their weakness made them unworthy to be trusted with the communications of Clan Smoke Jaguar. It would hardly be unlike the Diamond Sharks and other Clans prone to underhanded behavior to pry data out ComStar's hands… and then there were the Scavenger Lords.
 
It was hard to argue against that point, and to a point Sarah agreed with him. ComStar's day would come. But in the meantime, the number of Hyperpulse Generators in the possession of Clan Smoke Jaguars was limited and much of their reserve was committed to maintaining connections back to the homeworlds. All four of the invading Clans were competing to acquire additional units from the Clans with the facilities to build them - even Clan Diamond Shark, who were one of the major manufacturers.
 
If I had been back there, Sarah thought. I could have won the trials for possessing the units we need to do without ComStar.
 
But the fact was, she was not. Clan Smoke Jaguar had committed all their best warriors to the Invasion, where Clan Diamond Shark had retained one frontline galaxy there and it had let them beat off almost every Trial of Possession the Smoke Jaguar garrison units attempted. ComStar's HPGs were needed… and the senior Khan of Clan Smoke Jaguar did not trust them, at least not while ComStar was operating them.
 
And so here she was, fighting a pack of cowardly ComGuards who had abandoned the heavy tanks of the militia to die and…
 
<<"Khan Weaver!">>
 
The shout came on the trinary command channel, not from anyone in her own Star. Sarah twisted the control that moved her own transmission to that channel. "Report."
 
<<"This is Baker-Three. The enemy tank force is crippled, but the ComGuards aerospace fighters have returned and we have no cover!">>
 
"Do not panic!" she ordered, thinking rapidly. Her own aerospace fighters were outnumbered, she only had two compared to four in the ComGuards bid, but surely Clan pilots should at least be able to keep that many busy! Unfortunately, most of her lighter 'mechs had insufficient long-range firepower to effectively deter air attacks. "Take cover and coordinate with our own pilots."
 
(("Khan, our aerospace support is not responding. I must assume they are no longer combat effective. And there is no cover here!"))
 
She had accepted the choice of battlefield because there was little cover for ambushes and other underhanded tactics. Aside from the forests, there was little enough… Wait, the lake. "Take cover in the water," she directed them. "You will need to wait until we can regroup. Orders understood, quiaff?"
 
))"Aff, my Khan."(( the junior warrior reported.
 
And for that matter… "Why is Baker-One not communicating this?"
 
))"Baker-One has fallen."((
 
"Stravag!" she screamed. Losing a warrior to militia and a token aerospace element, while she was chasing after a few cowards…
 
Forcing calm on herself, she switched back to her own Star. "They think the forest will cover them, but the Smoke Jaguar is a predator born for such terrain."
 
The Smoke Jaguars extended their line as they reached trees, ensuring they would each have sufficient room to maneuver through the heavy forest. Smashing aside the trees would be plausible, but it would also eventually ablate away some of the foamed metal armor used on their 'mechs and make their positions obvious. Not ideal for a hunting party.
 
Sarah felt her lips draw back from her lips as she waited for the remaining ComGuards to emerge. They had nowhere to go, unless they exited the forest from the farside, something that would be counted as a concession.
 
If that happened, a full binary of Elementals would drop from a dropship orbiting above the HPG station, taking the surrender or taking the Hyperpulse Generator, whichever was easiest. The city that had grown up around the complex might delay getting reinforcements to them but Sarah was sure she would be able to get there in time. The city around it - marked on the maps as Star City - was large, but it sprawled inefficiently and lacked defensive walls like the other settlements on this world. In fact, other than the HPG station and the associated ComGuards garrison fort, there were no defenses at all.
 
Star City wasn't quite the largest city Sarah had ever come across, but it came close. Katyusha was larger (and certainly far better organized), but nowhere on Huntress was close. This was a rich world, a great addition to the Smoke Jaguar's domain. Star City - suitably renamed and reorganized - might even have been worthy to be their capital here, if it were not for Terra.
 
Were there even greater worlds and cities deeper into the Inner Sphere? This was merely one of their first conquests, after all. It was the edge of the Inner Sphere. Terra must surely be even grander. Unity City - the heart of the entire Star League - that ancient capital must be even grander than Katyusha!
 
Thinking of future glories was not enough to distract the Khan from one of her 'mechs suddenly dropping off the tactical map. A few instants later, she heard a detonation. "Charlie-One!" she snapped. "Report!"
 
(("Able One, this is Charlie-One,")) the Star Commander reported. (("Charlie-Two's transponder is gone, the explosion was from her location. I am investigating."))
 
"Move cautiously, this could be an ambush!" She turned her Timber Wolf aside, shifting to advance further towards Charlie Star only to pause as something caught her eye. "Able, Charlie Stars - take defensive positions. Elementals! Dismount and establish a perimeter." She focused one of her video sensors on the wire she had spotted. "The enemy has seeded the forest with traps for us."
 
So it was not cowardice, she thought. The ComGuards sacrificed their allies, but they have done so to draw my most powerful units into the same sort of pre-prepared terrain that handed Lincoln Osis his only defeat during the Revival Trials. I should thank the Goliath Scorpions - perhaps Trial for the genetic legacy of their Cateran Cluster's commander, so that his bloodline lives on within the future ilClan.
 
There was a second explosion, closer but lesser in magnitude than the last. None of her 'mechs reported damage or vanished from the display, but one of the Elementals had apparently found one of those traps the hard way.
 
(("Able-One, Charlie-Two's Warhawk fell into a pit lined with vibromines. It may be salvageable, but Charlie-Two is confirmed as dead."))
 
The loss of a bloodnamed warrior in such a way set Sarah's teeth on edge. "Mark the location, then pull back to the edge of the forest." She consulted the weather and bared her teeth as she found the wind-direction was acceptable - if not quite ideal. "And set as many fires as you can on the way."
 
While she had no flamers mounted on her Timber Wolf, Sarah's lasers and missiles were quite sufficient to set trees alight - and several Elementals were carrying flamers in place of their lasers. The result was that by the time she backed out of the trees, there were blazing trees across a stretch of forest at least a kilometer across.
 
(("All units clear of the forest.")) the Star Commander reported.
 
"Good. If the defenders flee, we will march on the HPG. If they fight, we kill them." An alarm let her know that the surviving ComGuards aerospace fighters were moving on them now that Baker Star was - she assumed - under the cover of the lake's water. "And destroy those fighters if they come into range."
 
Sarah tilted her Timber Wolf's torso back and swung her weapons up to aim in the direction of the inbound aerospace fighters. Unlike the light 'mechs that were being bullied earlier by the fighters, she had four weapon systems with the reach to pose a threat if they came low enough to strafe her position - two extended range large lasers and a pair of missile launchers.
 
Rather than closing in, the fighters circled out of range. "What are they doing?" Sarah wondered out loud.
 
(("My Khan,")) Able-Four suggested. (("It is possible they are reporting our positions to the enemy ground forces so they can escape from the forest without us detecting them."))
 
She grimaced. That was possible. If she spread out enough to cover the entire edge of the forest then it was possible the ComGuards could overcome some of her force in detail. It hadn't occurred to her that they would try to exit the forest without engaging her 'mechs. But it was possible they might have prepared other locations to fight from.
 
"I have no choice then." Switching to the command frequency, Sarah addressed Star Colonel Perez of the 267th Battle Cluster - the officer she'd bid against to win the right to carry out this attack. "Diane, the enemy have proven wily. I must request terms to bring in forces up to my previous bid in order to avoid wasteful losses." She hated doing this.
 
<("You have already lost Baker Star, my khan. I would say that you have already incurred wasteful losses.")> Diane Perez sounded unreasonably smug. <("In order to serve our Clan's interests I will cede you the right to bring in the stated reinforcements in return for your assurance to withhold your command trinary from bids to participate in the second wave.")>
 
Sarah slammed her fist against the console. Forcing her to sit out of the next attacks? That was savage! Then her mind caught up, what did she mean Baker Star had been lost?
 
When she checked her display, she had lost contact with all four of the remaining 'mechs in Baker Star. How had that happened? Focusing on the immediate threat must have kept her from noticing. "Bargained well and done, Star Colonel." She switched channels and ordered in the other eight fighters of the star she'd drawn on for her previous air support. "Star Commander, you are cleared to engage," she told them. "I want aerial dominance and reconnaissance."
 
<<"Aff, my Khan. We will be overhead in five minutes.">>
 
As tempting as it was to demand they be faster, Sarah restrained herself. Trying to micromanage pilots had never worked out for her.
 
Instead she grouped her own Star up and marched westwards, sending Charlie Star east. With each star concentrated they should be more than able to withstand any counterattack, and by moving further from the woods they would not be caught off guard.
 
The fighters circled above, but still didn't dare try to engage against either Star. Sarah could see the moment that they saw the eight vengeful fighters of Clan Smoke Jaguar bearing down upon them, for the pair of Ironsides turned and boosted upwards to meet them.
 
No, whatever else she could say of them, it would not be accurate to call the ComGuards cowards - and to have managed equal kills in the air, their pilots were clearly more capable than their mechwarriors.
 
-("Khan Weaver,")- Charlie-One called her. -("The enemy are trying to break out to the east. We are moving to intercept.")-
 
Of course they would attack the weaker of my Stars, Sarah thought. But there was nothing else for it. Wheeling her Timber Wolf, she pushed it to maximum speed to reinforce the four Omnimechs and their supporting elementals.
 
As her little command raced into battle, her tactical map lit up. There were more 'mechs than she had expected, and dozens of combat vehicles with them. Reflexively she dodged to the side a moment before a Demon heavy tank lined up its main gun and the gauss rifle slug blurred past her 'mech. Returning fire, Sarah ripped open its side with her lasers, before her missiles ripped through what remained of the armor and gutted the sixty-ton vehicle.
 
Fortunately, most of the heavier vehicles were far less capable than the elderly tank. Her warbook threw names at her that she didn't recognise, a tank with four autocannon in the turret hurling streamers of tracer towards her. One struck home but Sarah declined to engage it as a point of Elementals were already swarming over the 'Partisan'. Instead she drew a bead upon a Chevalier light tank and blew it apart with another full salvo, sending her heat spiking.
 
A Sentinel turned away from Charlie-Four's Mad Dog, which it had been blasting at without regard for honorable combat, since two other ComGuard 'mechs were also firing at the heavy omnimech.
Sarah snarled as shells from the ultra autocannon ripped into the left arm of her Timber Wolf and closed in faster. Spheroids seemed to think that this made them safer from her missiles for some reason and the Sentinel pilot made the same mistake, angling to try to avoid fire from the lasers in her right arm.
 
Sparing her heat, Sarah used only the left arm lasers and both LRM racks to fire into the smaller 'mech. She'd faced Sentinels before and knew they were inferior machines. The SLDF had only used them in secondary roles and the barrage of missiles at point blank range smothered this one in explosions, shredding armor across its front in many places. Her laser struck one of these breaches with clinical precision and ripped apart the right side of the rounded torso, dropping the right arm and its autocannon into the long grass as the structural supports for the shoulder were severed.
 
The Sentinel pilot lowered his left shoulder and raced closer with suicidal resolve. Not sure what his purpose was, Sarah tried to cut away, planning to turn and rake his rear. However, the ComGuard moved into her turn and rammed his forty-ton machine into her own.
 
The impact was tooth-jarring and Sarah had to fight to keep her 'mech upright. The Sentinel was also staggered, having struck something much larger than it. But the pilot drew back the one arm that their 'mech had left and then tried to punch Sarah's cockpit.
 
Who did that?!
 
Skipping the heavy omnimech back, Sarah brought up the weapon pods of her arms and centered her crosshairs over the Sentinel's cockpit. She was so unaccustomed to fighting at this sort of range that even though she could almost see the ComGuards Mechwarrior through the glass, her left arm lasers missed low - ripping into the interior of the Sentinel's chest.
 
The right arm did not miss and the two lasers clawed through the comparatively thin protection, ripping through the cockpit's electronics as well as the mechwarrior inside.
 
The Sentinel collapsed and Sarah had no time to worry about it - Charlie-Four's Mad Dog was on the ground with both legs savaged. One of its opponents was also on the floor, but the Lancelot was trying to pick off elementals with its PPC and lasers.
Sarah dropped her crosshairs over the angular 'mech and cycled through the lasers deliberately, firing one after the other, carving slash after slash across the center mass. Once she saw the inner workings of the Lancelot - and it had turned its weapons against her, carving away armor from the Timber Wolf's chest, right leg and right arm - she triggered her missiles.
 
The bulk of the missiles wasted themselves against the heavy 'mech's armor or missed, but several found the gaps she'd carved and the Lancelot stumbled, tumbled and crashed to the ground as the gyro proved to be in no state to keep it upright.
 
Sarah looked for another target, and saw that there were no remaining ComGuards 'mechs upright and few of their vehicles were still moving. Around a few armored personnel carriers, infantry were firing at a vastly smaller number of elementals, but the missiles and lasers of the elementals were wreaking havoc on the ComGuards. As she watched, one Elemental got close enough to use his flamer and three of the infantry were turned into screaming torches for the brief moment until someone (ComGuards or Smoke Jaguar, she was unsure) mercifully put them out of their misery.
 
Looking up, she saw no sign of the hostile aerospace fighters. "Star Commander Holland, what is your status?" she demanded.
 
(("Both hostiles downed, one of my own returning to base for repairs,")) the pilot replied. (("We see a binary of enemy 'mechs near the lake, I am moving to engage."))
 
Near the lake? No doubt that explained what had happened to Baker Star, Sarah thought. Were they waiting under the water? This entire battle was a trap!
 
She fired into a vehicle that her warbook claimed was a Vedette tank. It blew up almost immediately, but there was no satisfaction to it.
 
"ComGuards," she called on the general channel. "This is saKhan Sarah Weaver of Clan Smoke Jaguar. I offer you the chance to surrender."
 
After a moment, during which she wondered if there would be a reply at all, a raspy voice spoke up. ->>"This is Adept-Maniple Collins. Are you offering us retreat… hegira, I mean?"<<-
 
"Neg." Sarah idly traced the signal back to a battered Wyvern that was trying to bring itself upright, despite one leg being gone at the hip, while the other ended just below its knee. She waved off Charlie-Five when the mechwarrior seemed about to gun the crippled 'mech down. "We will take you as bondsman. But I will not let you go to fight again."
 
->>"You haven't beaten us all,"<<- the man offered in half-hearted defiance. ->>"The Regal Death are still on the field."<<-
 
"If you mean the 'mechs by the lake, our aerospace fighters are already on them. They will not last much longer."
->>"You bloody bitch!"<<- Collins said bitterly. ->>"Your bid was just two fighters."<<-
 
Sarah snorted. "Rejoice. You forced a Khan of Clan Smoke Jaguar to break her bid. I will bear that humiliation for the rest of my life, but it does not change anything. Clan Smoke Jaguar will take this world, and your enclave, and the HPG - and there is nothing you can do to stop us. The only question is how many of you we kill before that is done."
 
Collins chuckled darkly. ->>"Well, two out of three isn't bad."<<-
 
Sarah snapped her lasers into line with the Wyvern. "I am trying to be reasonable, but if I have to kill everyone here to let the next spheroid to fight me know that I'm serious…"
 
->>"Oh, you have our surrender."<<- Collins' Wyvern ceased moving and she saw the reactor begin to cool. ->>"But you don't have the HPG."<<-
 
"Stop speaking in riddles."
 
->>"When you brought in more forces than agreed,"<<- the Adept-Maniple told her, ->>"So did we. Specifically, Precentor Rochefort and a quarter ton of demolition charges."<<-
 
Sarah stared at him. "What did you demolish?"
 
->>"Like I said. Two out of three. You may have Susquehanna and our enclave, but the HPG is so much smoking wreckage."<<-
 
For an instant Sarah hovered on the very edge of killing Collins. Then she forced herself to release the triggers. "I will kill your Precentor for this treachery."
 
->>"Too late. Precentors take far more stringent oaths than we do,"<<- he replied. ->>"Rochefort would have been right next to the charges. If you wanted the HPG, you should have stuck to your bid."<<-
 
"That is not how trials work!" she shouted in frustration.
 
A light lit up on her console. An inbound message with high priority. "Charlie-One, take charge," she ordered. "Star Captain Ott, secure the HPG station." Then she hit the controls to accept the inbound message. "This is Khan Weaver."
 
<<"You disappoint me, Sarah.">> The familiar voice of Leo Showers filled her cockpit.
 
"IlKhan, the spheroid's treachery is…"
 
<<"That is not under your control,">> he cut her off. <<"And ComStar has more resolve than we expected. That they destroyed the HPG on the first excuse they found is something we will have to consider, but that is no fault of yours. What disappoints me is that you bid so poorly. Their first view of Clan Smoke Jaguar is of weakness, and that is where you bear the blame.">>
 
"Aff, my ilKhan." she whispered.
 
<<"We will save face for the Clan,">> he instructed her. <<"Secure the bondsmen and they will be interrogated until we know everything they do of ComStar. For now, we have no choice but to tolerate them.">>
 
"Khan Osis will not accept that."
 
<<"Lincoln Osis will obey me or I will replace him,">> Showers told her flatly. <<"The Smoke Jaguars are mine. And until you redeem yourself, do not think that I will see you elevated to senior Khanship.">> He paused. <<"You will have until the third wave to think of a way to show that you are better than this, Sarah. I suggest that you find one. I will not see your weakness deny us our rightful place as the ilClan.">>
 
The channel went dead and Sarah Weaver made sure her microphone was turned off before unleashing a scream of frustrated rage at her superiors, her enemies and her own failure.
----
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Chapter 10