EMCOTS-2 17

=Emergence (Concertverse) Book 2 - Chapter 17=
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==A Nomination==
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===Preparing for a Suicidal Enemy===
Getman Amphitheater
Getman, Lansky Continent
Chukchi, Wolf Empire
9th August, 3143
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Alaric entered the amphitheater like a predator. His steps were fierce and determined, his gaze hungry, and his mouth curled into an intent expression that was not quite a snarl. This did not reflect his internal state of mind but was a carefully-arranged presentation. His fellow Wolves had to see he was hungry, he was ready to fight, and be suitably impressed, cowed, or both. His eyes scanned the room and noted with approval that some of the others had indeed noted his efforts. He hoped it would sway them.
He knew nothing could sway the glowering figure on the podium. A lectern had been hastily decorated with a Clan Wolf flag sat in the middle, and there stood Liam Ward. As Loremaster he would direct the Council, as they had no Khan at present, though they had enough of the Clan's Bloodnamed to form a quorum for the Council given the majority of the frontline galaxies were present.
It used to be easier. Before Gray Monday, HPGs would allow for a real-time attendance of the entire Clan Council across Clan Wolf's holdings. Now, it was much harder to manage these things, not without altering the Clan's very way of life by removing Bloodnamed warriors from their frontline commands. Alaric had heard the suggestion mooted with approval, in hushed remarks and "jokes" by younger warriors. After all, they had Bloodnames, let them govern the Clan and give more billets for younger, better warriors to earn glory and their own Bloodnames. But none had dared to call for it publicly. Not yet anyway.
Warriors were still filing in when Liam brought the microphone towards his mouth. "Before we begin, trothkin, we must ensure only voting members of the Council are in attendance. I see at least one Unblooded warrior present." His eyes focused squarely on Alaric.
Alaric rose. "Loremaster, I am the commander of Beta Galaxy. While I cannot vote, the Council will undoubtedly wish my presence for planning our defensive strategy."
"And when it is ready to ask anything of you, Galaxy Commander, you will be summoned. Until then, you have no place here." Liam grinned. "Besides, your position is highly irregular as it is. Galaxy command rightly goes to Bloodnamed warriors, and perhaps we should return to that honored practice."
Alaric didn't rise to the bait. "I earned my position as a warrior, through Trials. Like any other warrior. Though we had little regard for one another, even Seth Ward recognized my talents in that way."
"And now he is dead." Liam gripped the lectern and leaned in.
"So he is. That means a Bloodright trial must be held."
"It will be. Until then, you should leave. If we summon you back, I will see to it that it will be to discuss the methods by which you extracted the offer of hegira from the defenders of Tharkad."
Alaric's nostrils flared, and it was not all for show. The insult rang in his heart. "Loremaster, if I were not too busy training for my forthcoming Bloodright Trial, I would call you to a Circle of Equals this very moment."
"Perhaps you should spend more time seeing to your command than preparing for a Trial you may not have earned." Liam sneered. "Indeed, had you spent more time preparing your warriors for battle, Tharkad may have fallen, and our Khan may have lived."
Alaric returned the sneer. "The warriors of Beta Galaxy are proud of their performance on Tharkad. Our codexes proudly display our victories, the most of any frontline galaxy. Together with Alpha Galaxy we blooded the best of the Arcadian, Lyran, and Davion troops, and made them regret their pursuit."
"The fact you had to combat pursuit shows what I mean! You were defeated, Galaxy Commander Alaric." Ward gripped the lectern tightly. The banter was clearly over. "You have no place here, and you never will. The Ward Bloodhouse does not reward failure!"
By all rights Alaric had more than enough grounds to demand a Circle of Equals. Better to bait the trap yet further. "The Ward Bloodhouse seeks the best warriors for its Bloodrights, and my codex is a list of great victories in battle. I have bested many of the finest MechWarriors in the Inner Sphere. I claimed Anastasia Kerensky as a bondswoman. Tell me, Loremaster Ward, that I would not strengthen our Bloodhouse and entire Clan with my genes."
At that point, he imagined Liam would back down or at least change his tactics. The moment Liam's face paled with rage, he knew he'd provoked him. "You are a chalcas fraud unworthy of your rank!" Liam thundered. "Your entire career has been from the influence of that ancient solahma that Vlad Ward burdened the Wolves with! On Tharkad you used dezgra methods to extract a hegira you did not earn, and I will not see you elevated further in the Clan! I will see to it that any member of the Ward Bloodhouse who nominates you for that Bloodright faces a challenge!"
And there. Alaric had more than ample justification to fight Liam here and now, and he fully intended that Liam would not be alive when the fight ended. But before he could bellow his challenge, the voice of Elise Ward rang out. "Alaric Wolf has my nomination, Loremaster, and if you wish we can go to our 'Mechs now."
All eyes turned to the commander of Gamma Galaxy. Alaric fought to keep the surprise from his face, but knew some showed.
"Galaxy Commander." Liam's voice betrayed his own shock. "You cannot mean to nominate Alaric for such a prestigious Bloodright?!"
"Why not? He is correct. His codex sings with victories far more than it laments defeats. He killed Thaddeus Marik. Julian Davion and Nathaniel Steiner fell to him. Anastasia Kerensky, a warrior whose genealogy is rich with strength and power, is his bondswoman after his victory over her. He is worthy of a shot at a Bloodname. That is the Way of Kerensky, is it not?"
"But he is chalcas! A base intriguer and manipulator—!"
Elise laughed. "He will fit well with the Council then. Intrigue and manipulation are but weapons in a Bloodnamed warrior's armory, quiaff? Unless said warrior chooses not to bid into the battle of politics, at least."
Alaric glanced back to Liam and was rewarded with the sight of a man stuck between apoplectic fury and complete shock. Neither of us imagined Elise would come to my support, did we?
"I regard this as a matter for the Ward Bloodhouse more than the Clan Council," Elise continued, "and wish to begin speaking on more urgent matters. Unless, of course, you wish to challenge me on Alaric's nomination, Loremaster?"
A few seconds passed, each undoubtedly devoted to considering his response. Finally Liam spoke. "Yes, we shall discuss the nominations for the forthcoming Bloodright Trials amongst the Wards. Let us move on to our business. The enemy has reclaimed Thuban and Gallery and will undoubtedly advance soon. We will now consider our defensive strategy."
He will yet cause trouble, Alaric thought to himself. But at least this hurdle is past. As the Council regarded the defenses, Alaric waited to present his plan. Garner Kerensky was said to be en route with reinforcements drawn from the new galaxies Alaric had helped form, galaxies meant for a plunge towards Terra when Tharkad's fall had seemed so likely. Now they would replace the losses taken in that failed invasion and, hopefully, provide a means to resist the onslaught building int he heart of Lyran space.
Alaric spared Elise another glance. She did not reciprocate. She is being prudent. We are not allies, will never be allies, but she understands better than Liam the threat our Clan faces, and our need for unity. She will turn on me just as readily if I threaten that.
Perhaps that will make her my enemy one day, but not right now. The future of the Clan, our Empire, and my ambitions lie in the balance. But there is a route to victory, I am sure of it. The enemy's leadership is weak. If we bite hard enough, it will make them reconsider their pledge to destroy us. I must see this brought about, or everything I strive for will be lost.
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===Stirring to pleasant company===
Arc Royal, Lyran Commonwealth
The sun of Arc-Royal was already over the horizon and shining through the blinds when Eva stirred. The haze of sleep gave way to the shifting of weight on her bed, and the sensation of warmth now pulling away from her. She opened her eyes to the sight of a foam pillow still containing the impression from the head no longer laid upon it. "Mmmm?"
"Marissa, you woke her." From beyond the foot of the bed, Dominic was already partly dressed, though he had yet to cover what was to Eva the appealing sight of his muscled chest and arms. Beside him, Rachel finished zipping her jumpsuit up, though her hair was still a disheveled mess.
Eva followed Rachel's eyes to where Marissa leaned over by the bed, picking up a discarded piece of clothing that she began slipping on. It was, like Dominic, an appealing sight, which brought to Eva's mind fresh memories of even more appealing moments. Marissa smiled wolfishly at Rachel and then Eva. "Ah, well, it will keep her from sleeping in. Liaison duty is lax enough, we would not want her to get so used to avoiding morning call that she loses her edge, quineg?"
"Way to rub it in," Eva muttered through her smile. She briefly thought about remarking about what else Marissa had rubbed, and how much she'd enjoyed it, but held back.
"Aff, Marissa knows how to rub many things," Rachel teased while working her hair into a band. "Now if only we could get her to not worry about contractions so much."
Eva snickered at the remark. Right. They don't have quite the same awkwardness we get about ribald jokes.
"It would seem I have much to learn, however, from the Arcadians' warriors," Marissa said. "For a Spheroid Eva is quite good at coupling. Very experienced."
Eva grinned and sat up. She was the only one in the room unclothed at the moment, and fully intended to take her morning shower before dealing with that matter. "And if my instructors at the Nagelring had found out how much experience I was getting, I would have been issued so many demerits for conduct I'd have been lucky to get a posting with the Dragoons. And if you are worried about my edge, I've already booked field time in my 'Mech today. I don't want to spend all my time smiling for holocams and shaking hands."
"Are you inviting us to a training duel?" Rachel asked, grinning. "We would not want to embarrass you."
"I am keeping sharp, no worries there. I'll be going back to the Sunhawks at some point, after all, and they will have expectations."
In unison, the codex bracelets worn by all three Wolf warriors lit up with red light. A second passed before the smiles melted from their faces. Eva glanced to her identity bracelet which had also lit up with red. "Not good?" she asked.
"It is a general alert," Dominic said. "Arc-Royal is under attack."
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====Heated Demands====
City of Old Connaught
Arc Royal, Lyran Commonwealth
Evan Kell stood at the main holotank in Defense Command, and beheld a situation that seemed born from his darkest nightmares.
Nestling in the lee of Thorwatch like a curse, more than a score of JumpShips — more flickering out of hyperspace even as he watched, at precisely staggered intervals — were already shedding DropShips. Fighters and NL-45 gunships swarmed off carrier decks, forming into a broad protective array around the vulnerable transports. And every icon burned the hateful jade of the Falcons. At least a Galaxy, his mind supplied, as type IDs flashed up on the tank's light-codes, probably more.
But that wasn't the worst of it, not by a long shot.
The worst hung between Arc-Royal and the Falcon JumpShips, the identifier CJF BC-01 stark beside it on the tank. Turkina's Pride. Battlecruiser, Cameron class, born in the waning days of the first Star League. Almost unbelievably ancient, armed with a weapons array that could immolate cities in minutes. Its very presence a lethal threat.
Evan forced himself to calm, closing his eyes for a moment and listening to the chatter of reports and open comms from the orbital forces.
"Meridian and Sunrise Batteries report twenty minutes to manned and ready status. Dusk Battery reports thirty minutes …"
"Thirty-second Interceptor Binary in the air, boosting for orbit in ten …"
>>>"Voice of the Seraph here. Orbital guard squadron forming up for an attack run on that battle cruiser …"<<<
"Battlestations Perseus and Andromache out of position, checking orbital angles …"
He opened his eyes again as Andromeda Brahe — in full cooling suit, neurohelmet tucked under one arm — and Commodore von Hammer joined him at the tank, their expressions mirrors of his own grim mien. "Status?"
"We got lucky, ground forces wise." Andromeda assayed a smile before continuing. "The One-Second Hounds and First Wolf Legion were running a counter-invasion exercise, so they're already in position. I've got reload teams with live ordnance en route to them now. And the alert came down mid-pay parade, so all the rest of our people are present and accounted for." Evan nodded. That was the most he'd been expecting to deal with for the next few days; the usual array of post-payday complaints from the military and civil police, and Old Connaught's Chamber of Commerce. Guess this'll teach me not to wish for more interesting work. "SaKhan Shaw has the First Strike Grenadiers and Thirteenth Wolf Guards mobilizing at Wolf City. She's also activated and armed the older mechwarrior and Elemental sibkos."
That drew a collective wince. It was logical enough — the Falcons wouldn't spare the sibko barracks their fury — and gave Arc-Royal's defenders the equivalent of another three Clusters of troops, but throwing sibbies up against Falcon veterans was going to cost. Heavily.
"Aerospace is not so good," von Hammer said, maintaining his eternal calm, level tone. "Without the battlestations' firepower, we can't stop that battle cruiser short of nuclear weapons. Those we have are being brought up from the arsenal vaults, but our first strike is going to have to succeed. With the strength of their screening elements, we won't have enough left for a second." He paused, considering the holotank briefly. "As for contesting a landing, we can at least stop them dropping directly on Wolf City or Old Connaught, probably cost them troops on the way in. However, with the need to maintain strength for an anti ship strike, stopping them is unlikely."
"Aspect changes in primary targets," one of the sensor techs called. "Here they come!"
It was like watching a rockslide, slow inevitability transitioning to crushing speed as the Falcons burned in. Sapphire and steel icons worried at the Falcon formation's flanks, but not enough — not yet — to punch through the phalanxes of fighters and gunships.
As transmission lag dropped below a brace of seconds, the visage of Isaac Roshak appeared on the screen. He was full-clad in Mongol black, of course, and wore the Falcon Khan's insignia with it. The blacks fitted him well, and it might even have been possible to call Roshak handsome, if not for the mocking cruelty writ plain on his face. //"Evan Kell,"\\ he sneered. //"Good, I need not wait for an underling to find you. I will be blunt; this is no batchall. All I require from you is to stand aside, as per our agreed upon truce."\\
"You got a lot of balls trying to claim the protection of a truce you're pissing all over," Evan snarled out. "Were you dropped on your head when you were decanted, boy?"
The muffled sniggers from the Defense Command staff didn't seem to affect Roshak any. //"Ah, the famous Kell wit,"\\ he replied, not sounding amused at all. //"In any case, I am not. My business is with the traitor Wolves, who were not included in that truce, and so cannot claim its protections."\\
"You must be dumber than advertised if you really think I'm going to just stand aside and let you butcher our allies." Evan snapped, determining to brazen it out.
//"No, Colonel Kell, I expect you won't," Roshak's sneer intensified. "We will see how long your arrogance lasts when I burn Old Connaught to ash from orbit."\\ With that, he cut the link.
"Well," Evan commented into the sudden silence, "it's good to know exactly where we stand. Release the First Legion from their deployments; get them moving back to Wolf City. Andromeda, once you've confirmed that's happening, get down to the transient barracks and hiring halls; get any units worth a damn ready for this fight. And someone get me Colonel Stefanidis!"
"We're trying," one of the staffers replied. "But he wasn't in his billet and we're still -"
"I don't care if he's balls-deep in the Andurien hiring agent, you get him here!" Evan roared. "And make sure he brings his damn Black Box with him!"
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====Bolstering Courage====
BattleMech Hangar Iota
Wolf City
Her plans for the day meant Eva's 'Mech was already prepped and her cooling suit ready for her when she got to the hangar. Marissa joined her and several other warriors on a technician-driven tram that drove them to the stalls. Her Paladin stood out among the Clan designs, in one of the reserve overflow stalls employed by Marissa's assigned trinary. Still have to decide on a name, she thought idly, a brief distraction from the very real issue.
A technician in Wolf insignia met her at the base of the gantry. "Everything is ready," she said. "I just finished swapping the missile bins, you'll be carrying live ammunition."
"Good," Eva said. She looked back up at her machine, still colored in the sky blue and white of the Strikers. The orange-and-yellow toned hawk on a yellow sun disc was prominent on each shoulder, and over the heart the crowned white hawk bearing a quill and a sword - her family's traditional insignia - now rested on a shield of bisected red and blue. The Defiance V1200 Variable-Focus PPC mounted in the OmniPod space below was mirrored by twin SRM launchers, six-salvo ones, on the left side of the chest, while the sternum bore a Defiance P6M pulse laser. A similar laser was mounted beside the hand pod on the left arm while the right arm had the larger Vickers-Armstrong Mk. 16 extended range laser. Maybe I should have asked for a different loadout since I'm not fighting alongside a vintage AWS-8Q this time, but it'll do.
"It has been a challenge to keep your weapons prepared," the tech confided, taking a spot in the gantry cart to control the cage that would lift Eva to her hatch. Eva stepped beside her and listened as the cart rose steadily. "I had to hand-machine a focusing lens for the chest laser since it was not able to take one of our pulse laser lens. But I promise you, everything checks out. Fight well and come back alive, warrior."
"Thank you, and stay safe," she said as they reached the hatch. She pulled it open and clambered in. A twist of the wheel slid the hatch lock into place and she went to the typical procedure, working by rote in attaching the medical sensor wires to her suit's ports for them, hooking up the coolant lines, and attaching the neurohelmet. Once she was strapped in, she pulled the lever to her left. Inside her 'Mech's belly, hydrogen slush flooded into a sphere, magnetic fields activated, and a miniature star was born. The Paladin came to life around her.
After the initial startup, "Bitching Betty" issued its challenge. <{"Provide checkphrase."}>
Most MechWarriors went with something simple. The name of a favored childhood pet. A lover. A beloved lost relative. A word they liked. She recalled her ancestor, Sir Alexander, admitted to her parents that he was more pretentious and typically went for flowery prose (which his wife Lady Raachel reportedly laughed at hearing). Some just went with a default alphanumeric passcode they could remember. She'd typically done that.
Timkovichi changed that.
"Be brave," she said to the computer, or rather, to herself, while in her head the Jade Hawk of Stephanie Chistu appeared as a phantom through her cockpit ferroglass, preparing to administer the kill shot. "You're supposed to be dead anyway."
<{"Checkphrase confirmed. Voiceprint recognized. Reactor online, sensors online, weapons online. All systems nominal."}>
A green light outside her cockpit told her the final gantry braces were retracted. She gently set her 'Mech into a walk. Light wand-wielding technicians waved her into line behind Marissa's new 'Mech, a Warhound from Eva's side of the Glass. The line didn't come close to stopping. They've been training for this kind of thing since they were adolescents, Eva reminded herself as she stepped out of the hangar.
In the distance, the first explosions were already hitting, and the drive trails of descending DropShips were visible in the air. The fight was already beginning. A voice with a Clanner accent spoke through her comms. >>"Sunhawk-One, you are on sibko barracks protection detail with Star Commander Marissa."<<
"Sunhawk-One confirms," Eva replied. She double-checked the road map on one of her displays and followed Marissa back towards the warriors' residential district. The icy fear formed slender fingers on her heart. She drew in a breath and banished it. Be brave, you're already supposed to be dead. Be brave…
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EMCOTS-2 17