SotU3 Chpt 31

=Chapter 31=
==State of the Union - Book 3==
Part Six - Wotan
Well, a friend once told me:
Men, they would follow any man who would turn the wheels.
Now the wheels are spinning out of
Control; what would they do if we held them still?
If you destroy the working parts, what you'll get is a broken machine.
A beacon of light from a burning screen.
Light Up The Night - Protomen, Act II
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Dropship Howaitobesu, Laurent system
Clan Wolf Occupation Zone, Federated Commonwealth
January 7th, 3068
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“I almost thought that you weren’t going to make it." Alys Rousset-Marik greeted Reinhardt Steiner, as the Twenty-Fifth Skye Rangers’ Brigadier entered the compartment.
The blond man shrugged. “I was beginning to worry about that myself.” His calm seemed forced.
Alys glanced at the head of the briefing room aboard the Genyosha flagship and saw that Tai-sa Laura Nelson didn’t appear to be about to start addressing them. The Genyosha officer remained in command of the SLDF task forces, as a compromise between the AFFC and Silver Hawks contingents. “What happened? Jumpship problems?”
“You could say that.” Reinhardt shook his head disgustedly. “There was a Free Skye cell waiting on the Jumpship that was supposed to take us from Summer. It was one hell of a mess and then all the rest of the jumpships we were supposed to use had moved on. If the Archon-Prince hadn’t ordered no less than four commercial Jumpships commandeered, I doubt we’d have reached Arcturus by now.”
“Free Skye…” Alys thought back to what little she knew of the dissident movement within the Federated Commonwealth’s most fractious province. “Why would they go after your jumpship?”
The commander of the Twenty-Fifth Skye Rangers sighed in frustration. “I can't tell you much at the moment. Security around the ongoing investigation, but most of the pleb-types had been fed some nonsense about objecting to 'their' Rangers being sent to fight the Clans when we should be in Skye, protecting them from the evils of the Free Worlds League, the Draconis Combine and - worst of all - the Lyran government.”
The Free Worlds League, which was currently fighting a civil war. the Draconis Combine, which was happily watching Peter Steiner-Davion pour forces into the fighting against the Clans, rather than against them. And the Lyran government, which was the only protector Skye had had for over two centuries of the Succession Wars. Alys would love to say it made no sense to her, but it felt very much like home. “I see we have no monopoly on stupidity.”
“It’s a resource that seems to be infinitely replenishable." Reinhardt answered cynically.
“What was that old saying? Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity… and I’m not sure about the universe.”
That finally got a smile from Reinhardt. “Nor am I, Colonel. Nor am I.”
Alys thought he might have said more but the lights dimmed, signalling Laura Nelson’s readiness to address them.
“Commanders." the Genyosha officer greeted them. “I have, as the saying goes, good news and bad news. The good news: while Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon are on the backfoot, we have not come all this way for nothing, the war goes on. The bad news: we will be spending more time crammed aboard our dropships.”
There were a couple of groans from junior officers who clearly hoped to remain anonymous.
Nelson smiled toothily. “Alas, we have been denied the honor of striking at Tamar, even though we are certainly close enough and I gather that the Archon-Prince grows concerned that our glorious Ghost Bear allies may reach the Wolf capital first. Generalfeldmarschall Victor Steiner-Davion himself has advised me that if the Bears seek to bid for the right to take the world, he would have to bid us away in order that it doesn’t look as if he’s bullying them.”
Alys frowned. Where were the Bears deploying? While they were also fighting under the banner of the Star League; so far as she was aware, they were barely coordinating with the Federated Commonwealth or their other allies.
As if reading her mind, Nelson brought a strategic display of the Wolf occupation zone. “The Hell's Horses haven’t made any moves since they retreated from Twycross." she began, indicating a sliver of worlds along the top of the map. “Whether that will continue, we don’t know. We do know that the Diamond Sharks have seized the jumpship yard at Star’s End - in fact they did so late last year, before the Wolf offensive broke - and they appear to be trying to finish off the pirate bands that have been using the asteroid belts in the system. As long as they hold to that, the Archon-Prince has indicated he’s willing to leave the system to them - it wasn’t under Federated Commonwealth control before the Clans invaded anyway.”
Alys looked at the map, which had historical borders marked, if only for reference. “That doesn’t seem to be restraining him when it comes to the old Free Rasalhague Republic’s borders." she murmured to Reinhardt.
He glanced at her. “It’s a face-saving reason not to drag another Clan into the fighting.”
Nelson moved her indicator to a line of worlds bordering the Ghost Bear occupation zone - or rather, the Rasalhague Dominion. “While the Bears have taken Memmingen -” in striking range of Tamar “- Diosd and Ramsau -” widening their link to the pocket of the Free Rasalhague Republic that had been spared conquest in 3052 by ComStar’s victory on Tukkayid “- the bulk of their efforts have been nearer Rasalhague itself.”
Six worlds, all within two jumps of Rasalhague, had been highlighted with the Ghost Bears’ banner. Others, some still within a single jump, remained untouched, but the result was to move the border between the two clans twenty or thirty light years into the Wolf Occupation Zone along a broad front.
“Operation North Star, a deep strike by House Davion’s Ceti Hussars, has been successful beyond all expectations.” Nelson indicated a cluster of worlds on the other side of the Wolf occupation zone. “Nine worlds have been liberated, but the Hussars are running short of supplies and have bypassed a number of important and presumably well protected worlds to achieve this. They’re also spread out holding and pacifying those worlds.”
“We’ll be accompanying a re-supply and reinforcement convoy to Feltre, the furthest point of their advance. From there, garrison units will disperse to free up the Ceti Hussars to assault the worlds they bypassed. Meanwhile, our regiments will move on to liberate worlds between the Ghost Bear advance and the worlds the Hussars have taken already. The hope is that the Ghost Bears will be less willing to contest a Star League Defense Force task force than they might be the AFFC.”
“Even if half our forces are from the AFFC?” asked Reinhardt.
The Second Genyosha’s commander shrugged. “It’s a theory. If they don’t back off, we’ll do this the old fashioned way.” She switched to another map, one that focused on just the corewards end of the occupation zone: the worlds along the edge of the Inner Sphere itself. “Our targets are these six worlds: Liezen, Bruben, Rodigo, St. John, Alleghe and The Edge. Intelligence suggests that the Wolf garrisons are unlikely to exceed a trinary of ‘Mechs with some degree of aerospace, but we can expect a large paramilitary force of infantry - most likely recruited from former FedCom worlds, in the same way that the Wolves stationed recruits from FRR worlds upon their FedCom conquests.”
Alys raised her hand for attention. “What are we authorized to offer them in terms of surrender?”
“If they lay down their arms." Nelson told him, “You can offer them repatriation to their homeworld; assuming it’s under Star League control or release into the custody of Khan Marcos Hall for those who wish to remain part of Clan Wolf. Other than that, I gather that there are extensive detention camps being set up on worlds a very long way from the other Clans.”
She paused. “There is one specific request from the First Lord, which the Commanding General has approved. Because the Clan’s educate their children in communal creches, it’s possible we may come across groups of children without any family units. Most probably trueborn children undergoing selection and training for a future in the Wolves’ warrior caste. Extracting these sibkos has been given a high priority, to the point that if you find it necessary to withdraw from your target world, evacuating these captives is to be prioritized over anything save for your own personnel. I have a direct promise from Hohiro Kurita and Peter Steiner-Davion to indemnify us for any equipment lost as a result.”
“Interesting priority." Alys muttered to Reinhardt. “Doesn’t Loki recruit extensively from orphans?”
The man gave her a sharp look.
“I’m just saying.” Aly added
“It might be some sort of deal with the Exiled Wolves." he suggested. “Most of the children would be from their bloodlines.”
Nelson tapped the display screen with her pointer. “Your attention please?”
The two of them returned their attention to the front of the room, Alys feeling as if she was back in school.
“Each of you will be assigned a LIC team to identify any sibkos or similar strategic targets." the DCMS officer told them. “Officially they are not there to spy on you, just to analyze data on the worlds you’re assigned to. You don’t have to accept any recommendations they make, but unfortunately you may have to explain why you decline any. I’ll back you as long as you’re not openly capricious.”
There were winces around the room, even from the AFFC officers present. No one liked having outsiders in nebulous authority over you - and spies were second only to politicians in the distaste felt for someone having a license to tell you how to do your job.
“We have six targets and only five commands." Nelson continued. “So, the Twenty-Fourth Lyran Guards will need to handle two worlds. I’ll leave it up to you if you wish to divide your command or handle them in succession, Hewitt.”
General Hewitt, who had been placed in command of the Twenty-Fourth following Sabine Steiner’s departure nodded, mind clearly already on the decision.
“Under the circumstances, I’m assigning you to handle Liezen and the Edge." the Genyosha officer continued. “The furthest from the Ghost Bears, so having to spread your ‘Mechs thinner shouldn’t matter too much. But you know how plans go awry.”
There were some chuckles.
“Brigadier Steiner, I’m assigning your Rangers to take St John, while I’ll be on Rodigo - in a central location for ease of communication. This leaves the furthest forward systems to our new comrades from the Free Worlds League.” Tai-sa Nelson looked at Alys. “Colonel Marik, your Krusher brigade is assigned to liberate Alleghe, which leaves Bruben as your target, Colonel Reissing.”
Out of the corner of her eyes, Alys saw the commander of the Lucky Thirteenth nod in understanding. “If the Ghost Bears arrive first." he asked, “Should we try to take the worlds away from them?”
“Personally, I’d go for it, but we’re not supposed to start a fight with the Bears. They’re technically part of the Star League now, after all. It’s different if they’re the ones that start anything.”
Alys sat back in her chair. “What about the sibkos? If the Bears are about to take one…” She frowned. “Could we offer a trial of possession for them? I know it’s kind of odd to be targeting children but at the same time, they’re a specific goal and the Clans get twitchy about their bloodlines. I heard something about some of their sibkos being purged of descendants of failed warriors…?”
Nelson paused and stared at her. Then she straightened her shoulders. “They’re not wrong. I remember from Wolcott - the Smoke Jaguars offered to execute the descendants of their defeated commander. Hohiro Kurita had to tell them he didn’t want that. Yes, I don’t know what the Bears will do to Wolf sibko. If you do encounter the Bears, try asking them at first - but if you need to fight to get the children out, then do it.”
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