HidHop-21

== Book 2, Chapter 21 - Unwelcome Guests==
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===Somerset Rising===
Holly Field
Somerset, Clan Occupation Zone
03/13/3052
Snow had melted, spring rains arrived, green grass, flowers, and tree buds were growing upon Holly Field Haus. Lord Commandant/Star Commander Adam Steiner, Duke of Somerset, walked through his mother’s house alone. The only sound that of his bootsteps as he ascended the stairs to his office. His mother’s mansion had taken upon a grim character over the winter and not just because there were no children playing on grounds this Saturday. Now it was strung with concertina wire or patrolled by armored cars. No longer did his staff greet him as the family he considered them to be or sought him out for any but the most pressing inquires.
He opened his office window letting in the spring wind carrying the smell of flowers and felt the fading bruise on his chest where an armored vest had saved his life. His mother’s beautiful grounds had been churned up, transformed into ugly fortifications after an attempt on his life by resistance fighters last month. They had like those he had just witnessed hanged for the deaths of ten Constables during an escape attempt died with the words of his Stepfather, the Rasalhague Poet-Rebel, on their lips. 
A folded note in Xenia’s neat feminine script accompanied the electric kettle that roiled on his desk, He read it as his afternoon tea steeped. “A big surprise with three exclamation points. Will be back by four. Your lunch is in the cooler.”
Adam looked over to the cooler beside him, he had no appetite and hadn’t since Rachel left him to live with her sister in Taunton and Xenia was assigned to replace her. This was not aided by Raffael, Holly Field Haus’ chef, who had ceased to spice his food as vibrantly or express his creativity like before unless they were entertaining as passive protest to ‘The Commandant.’ 
‘The Commandant’ had no time to punish those he considered friends. He could bear their scorn and was only assuaged that his, likely now late, brother, stepfather, and mother could not see what he had been forced to become. The mask increasingly gave the man no other choice but to lean ever more into the Lyran Commonwealth’s original sin and Adam was frightened by how easily he slipped. On his orders pastoral Somerset and its enviable arcadian environment was becoming twisted into a police state employing serfs in industrial combines to forward Clan war plans.
Almost every page of those neatly organized papers piled on his desk was related to these plans and stamped with INTER-LOGI’s gear logo. The merchant caste had invested heavily into his world under the supervision of Rhonda. A woman whom Adam had mistaken as guileless but increasingly proved otherwise as she pursued advantage of her own as ‘The Commandant’ became increasingly isolated. 
Somerset’s underinvested transport infrastructure now densely connecting formerly placid towns in its hinterlands with intermodal hubs, highways, railroads, river quays, and airports. Small factories, offices, and other Merchant concerns sprung up wherever they could be built, as fast as they could be built, wherever they could find or assign enough people to staff them. Where there weren’t enough locals more, typically troublesome, civilians were transported from occupied worlds. Many of these civilians were suspected resistance fighters and some were involved in his near assassination. 
Manpower came in, war materiel went out, and each week Somerset received more Dropships and JumpShips than it had in six months prior to its occupation. It had been so for almost four months now and ‘The Commandant’ had kept order to avoid an external garrison from the Touman. Warriors of all types, from every Clan, visited while waiting for reassignment, but did so in segregated areas where their 'excesses' could be better reined in by a bloated Constabulary. Under his command the Somerset Constabulary had quintupled in size to five Brigades, each equipped with clantech small arms and light vehicles, with another brigade on the way as their mission of maintaining internal security and policing the growing population of ‘transports’ and POWs expanded.
Now that winter was over Rhonda had new plans to do the same in the North around Taunton and Hollyfield as had been done in the South near Somerport and Haskell. With each new completed project Adam knew he was strengthening the foundation of the very people that sought to bring war to his mother on Tharkad and beyond. He tried to avoid becoming numb to that fact as he signed off on the plans, but it was wearing on him each time he penned his name. It would be so easy to go numb and acknowledge he was in a bind. With the latest strategic reversals, he remained hopeful that Somerset might soon be liberated, that the Clans would fail, but it would not be an easy road to victory and there was still more suffering to endure.
16:00 came around fast and Adam had finally succumbed to hunger and fatigue. His lunch was carefully packed and cut with the care of a doting girlfriend. Xenia might have replaced Rachel in an official capacity as his assistant, but Adam had seen a want for more, whether genuine or coached, and the temptation was there after she had moved into one of the guest rooms. She was first into his office bursting through and bubbling with excitement. A bookish blonde complete with glasses and the girlish good looks of a college coed wrapped in cute office attire. “Adam, why are you are only now eating? It is almost dinnertime.”
Adam looked over to the completed piles of papers he had signed and sorted through, “I was busy.”
Rhonda followed slightly behind, and Xenia looked toward her with stern accusatory gestures. “Why do you give him so much work grandmother? He can hardly take care of himself. 
It is a good thing I am here to help him.”
Her cane hit so firmly the reverb echoed off the walls. “Do not be fooled, Xenia. Commandant Steiner is a capable man, he will not waste away for want of a missed meal, nor does he require the doting attention of anyone. However, if he requests a new domestic or administrative staff to ease his burdens, I could provide him with one.”
“I trust the staff I have Merchant Factor. We have grown up together, I regard them as family.”
The Merchant Factor ran her finger along the bookshelves and brushed the dust off onto her pants. “Your family does not seem to regard the maintenance of their house as a priority. That will need to change shortly.”
Xenia could barely contain her excitement as she stood beside Adam’s desk. “Can I tell him, grandmother?”
While continuing her patrol and adjusting things Rhonda looked toward them, “Go ahead, child.”
She turned to him with the bright eyes and the frantic gestures of a starstruck fangirl, “Leo Showers is coming to Somerset to see all the great work we have done.” 
The ilKhan here in person!
I am so excited!
“I must tell Samara and get her to make me a dress!” 
Xenia rushed away to make a phone call to her friend, the clothing Artisan, whom she couldn’t stop gushing about unless requested or redirected. 
They were left behind in the room as the door sprung back into place. The older woman took a seat opposite him, “We have three weeks to prepare for the ilKhan’s arrival. I will handle everything on my end. I expect you to whip your staff and this residence into prestige shape before then or I will replace them and do it myself.
 
You are The Commandant, prepare the Constabulary and your Somerset Strikers for a formal demonstration of arms before the ilKhan. He is apparently unsettled, so much so that he has summoned the Loremaster of the Clans for a formal board of inquiry into our recent…setbacks. 
No doubt he sees our investments in your world and wishes to deploy a garrison to safeguard them. If you do not want that to happen, then you had best put on a good show. Understood?”
Adam stared at the woman for a long moment, even though he outranked her as a Warrior and the Planetary Governor she knew how to play the game and would continue tightening his leash and limiting his options the longer she remained on his world. “Aff, Merchant Factor. Please tell ilKhan Leo Showers that I am honored by his impending visit and look forward to demonstrating my professional competence and conviction in our cause.”
Rhonda waited for a moment before standing, “I will, Commandant Steiner.Thank you for your continued hospitality.”
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===Reflecting on his state of affairs===
03/20/3052
Somerport was one of the segregated areas that Clan Warriors were allowed to roam in, they apparently found the Academy and its museum of great interest which was both exciting and draining for its curators. The Somerset Strikers who garrisoned it were also treated as curiosities for they did not resemble the Clans' Mechwarrior ideal. Chatterweb stories however spoke of them in high esteem giving them almost magical powers to control nature itself in order to defeat their enemies. Adam smiled at hearing the fanciful tales from Xenia. He did take pride in the Strikers who had very nearly handed the Clans their first defeat of the war during an honorable Trial with the Star Adders. Most of them would even return his calls something which was becoming a rarity elsewhere.
Despite it only being six months since his Trial against Katya Kerensky those Warriors he had met while on the grounds spoke of the early days of REVIVAL with an almost nostalgic view. All were equally eager to find a means by which to delay deployment until after the ilKhan’s visit. This kept 3rd Brigade Somerset Constabulary and local medical clinics busy handling an unprecedented increase in interpersonal un-augmented Trials and larger brawls that would not result in severe injury but were very detrimental to the town’s tranquility as 3SC trucks blared their alarms through the night.
Somerset was, until Anette’s scandalous exile and almost six years of tabloid fueling Penelope-like rejection of a constant stream of perspective suitors, known for its military academy, one of the smallest, least prestigious, but most forward-thinking martial institutions in an otherwise conservative empire. Duchess Anette Steiner never shared or supported her cousin’s fondness for military matters, nor that of her sons. She blamed their stepfather Walther’s gripping tales of fighting against the Draconis Combine on Radstadt as a member of the Rasalhague Resistance for their behavior. Adam remembered when she had seen Andrew off to his first deployment that she cursed the heavens for making both her boys so daft as to miss his point.
As he walked across the grounds of Somerset Academy, Adam remembered that his mother had sought to shut it down on multiple occasions. Every attempt was thwarted and corresponded with a promotion for Roman Steiner who championed it from his own disgraceful exile. The tabloids and gossip circles soaked it up and Roman’s status rose among the military despite his ‘difficult’ start.
With this string of promotions and Archon Katrina’s politicking he was put in command of the Third Royal Guards where he achieved resounding success against the Draconis Combine. His successes in turn provided room for her daughter and present Archon Melissa to establish an uneasy peace with Luthien that had held for more than a decade. Without the Draconis Combine threat, an ongoing Capellan Civil War, and with a marriage between Ian Davion and Corrine Marik the LCAF had lost its edge and the Clans had taken advantage of their lack of vigilance and vision. 
This lack was not the fault of their General of the Armies however, almost a decade ago Melissa Steiner appointed Roman to the post. He proposed a series of reforms to modernize the military, but she never championed the politically difficult and expensive changes he sought to enact within the Estates General. There were rumors that Roman hand delivered her his resignation letter along with other uncomfortable material from her military record that would be made public if she continued her stonewalling. Archon Steiner had only just begun granting him the authority and funds to enact his Reforms despite much complaining and handwringing within the Estates General who sought to reduce their tax burden while retaining privileges. 
Fortunately, none of the Warriors roaming Somerport were curious enough to inspect the monument that had its back to the rising sun standing within one of its parade grounds. He was thankful there had been no calls to remove it, use it as an artillery target, or crush it beneath a Battlemech because it was a solid reminder of what and who he could be. Upon Roman’s ascension to General of the Armies the Somerset Academy Alumni petitioned Anette to allow them to fund a statue in his honor. She initially protested but acceded under pressure from Tharkad, but only if she could choose the sculptor and would have final veto on the design. 
Adam stood before that very statue, only just installed last summer when Roman’s daughter General Sarah Steiner, who was responsible for his exile by her existence, helped unveil it while she was on leave from Chateau with her family. Although he probably knew about it or had seen it in pictures from afar Roman had yet to see his statue up close and in person. He had not even set foot on his homeworld for longer than Adam had been alive.
Maybe he would finally be able to see it in person when Somerset was free again.
Right now, however ‘The Commandant’ had to toe the line amidst the maelstrom.
Adam saluted his cousin,“Godspeed, General Steiner, and may god have mercy on us all”
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===Receiving Honored Guests===
03/31/3052
Most of the staff had left for the night but Xenia still looked both ways before exiting her room craving the adventure of doing something she wasn’t supposed to even though she lived here. Her new heels clicked on the floor, she halted at the sound they made on the mansion’s hardwood floors. Nothing stirred despite the click-clack of her heels seeming to carry uncomfortably far before it was overcome by the faint hum of air conditioning. 
She huffed looking down at the glamorous shoes, the first purchase she had made with her ‘paycheck.’ “What was the point of sneaking out the door if I am wearing heels anyway?” 
Xenia balanced carefully on them having only received her first pair after accepting Rhonda’s request to replace Rachel as Adam’s ‘executive assistant’ as it seemed the norm for a woman in that role. A role she only agreed to perform when her grandmother also authorized her to select any outfits wanted from the Artisans’ Limited List rather than the regular catalog of goods. A privilege that Natalie and Veronica envied just as much as her personal room within a fully staffed mansion in the countryside rather than sharing an apartment in Taunton with them.
After a moment she mustered up the courage to continue despite the click-clack that reverberated around her. Instead, she hummed the catchy melody of a song she had heard while in Taunton yesterday but to which she didn’t understand the lyrics. Xenia paused at one of the vases of cut flowers and looked around before leaning in to smell their gentle fragrance. When she looked up the butler Gustav stared at her behind his well-groomed mustache before silently continuing with his rounds. Her face turned as red as the roses elegantly placed within the finely crafted vase.
Holly Field Haus had never been so vibrant or beautiful in the six weeks she had lived in it. Everything seemed to be shining despite the lowered lights and it being dark outside. Xenia peeked through the blinds trying to spot the Constables hidden in the dark and following the lights of a patrol vehicle as it rounded the perimeter. She descended the stairs holding firmly to the railing to keep her balance, on the lookout for Gustav or another of the resident staff before slipping into the parlor. 
Since it was an interior room, she was allowed to raise the lights and did so before standing beside a high-backed chair that featured in the painting across from it. Within that chair sat a woman whose face she recognized after looking under some of the covered paintings and through the society and culture magazines scattered about. She had collected them all in her room to read them in secret only to later share them with her friends who hinged on every word and savored the glossy pictures within. Xenia repositioned a mirror nearby and attempted to emulate the elegant stature of this woman clasping her hands, crossing her legs, and craning her neck as she did, except all of that really hurt or made her numb and dizzy after a time.
After the lights were lowered, she opened the door, once more on the lookout for the staff, before realizing that was silly since she couldn’t be quiet anyway and they probably didn’t care. Click-clack on the tiles as she walked through the ground floor before arriving before grand wooden doors, gilded along the sides, and with a knocker in the shape of a ‘Griffon’ leading to the ballroom. 
Xenia tried to pull the door open but lost her balance, falling backward onto the tile. Her first thought was to check that the heel was intact. It was! Thank the Great Father. A sigh of relief escaped her upon realizing the only damage caused by her misadventure was to her pride and posterior. She undid the heels and tried again straining against the heavy door that she had seen Adam open so effortlessly. Success! 
Even though the light was low everything was still so beautiful, intricate crystal, delicate lace, colorful tapestries, gleaming brass and silverware, all just arranged so perfectly. Something about the chairs too was different as she sat down in one to put her shoes back on. After doing so she stood on the polished floor taking it all in, twirling until she had to catch her balance or crash into and ruin it all. 
She paused and looked down at the shoes, although they were glamorous and Samara had used them as inspiration for her dress, if she were to trip in the presence of the ilKhan she might immediately die of embarrassment. Everyone was going to be dressed to their best for his visit and she would have to be as well. Her mind recalled an article in one of the magazines about how dancing could improve your coordination and she desperately needed that. For that she also needed a partner and someone to catch her, and fast. The ilKhan was already in system and she wasn’t ready yet.
Her mind raced through possibilities; the butler probably knew how to dance considering his long service in this house. He was busy preparing the house and had barely spoken to her all this time, there is no way he would even entertain the notion. There was only one other possibility, but it was so late! and awkward! She clenched her opposite elbows in her hands, suddenly cold despite her racing heart.
Through the trip upstairs dozens of scenarios flashed in her mind ranging from Adam slamming the door in her face to waking up naked beside him in the ballroom in the morning when the staff arrived a possibility which caused her to blush uncontrollably that she could even consider such a thing. Xenia checked herself in the mirror, she had already taken her makeup off for the night so she hoped the low light would conceal that. She took a deep breath to calm the nervous shivers running through her.
“His light is still on! Even at twenty-two hundred.” She whispered as a tense silence settled upon the house. Xenia glided across the hallway stepping gently on the carpet that ran through the hall, leaning uncomfortably far to knock on Adam’s door. A moment passed and no response came, “So he is just going to ignore me?” Once more silence settled upon the hall, Xenia stepped forward and more firmly knocked on the door. She heard something inside and froze up as Adam opened the door in his nightshirt, even with her heels on she was still only as tall as his chest. He looked at her, tilting his head in confusion. “What are you doing up so late, dressed like that Xenia?”
“I…was…” Xenia stammered for a moment, nervous shivers threatening to consume her, “I was…”
“You were what?”
“Iwaswonderingifyouwouldliketodancewithme!” Erupted forth as rapidly and loudly as a machine gun. She put her hands over her mouth at the utterance of such gibberish.
“You are going to have to slow down.”
“Adam, will you dance with me? Please?”
“Now?”
“Your schedule is very full tomorrow and for the rest of the week.”
Adam kept her in suspense as the shivers returned threatening to knock her over, “Okay,” he began to close the door on her, “but I have to change.” Then it was done. Xenia launched her hands up in celebration before retracting them just as quickly because she almost knocked herself over, again.
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===Anticipation of a Meeting===
An Excalibur burned down into the otherwise vacant Somerport Starport, its incredible thrusters one of the largest SLDF dropships ever deployed roared over the garrison town despite the torrents of water being unleashed upon the ferrocrete to tame its noise and heat. It was marked by a Golden Daggerstar which shone in the sun as the mist settled around it. 
Once the mist settled and ferrocrete cooled large ramps capable of bearing the heaviest of tanks were lowered on the flanks. From these a Binary of Ebon Keshik Elementals were disgorged marching in unison before taking up parallel lines in front of the Somerset Strikers in brilliantly waxed Omnimechs.
Star Commander Adam (Steiner) stood at the end of these lines in his black and silver Star Adder uniform with its red Daggerstar and one gold bar on the shoulder, a saber at his side. The many Clan Warriors on world stood at his back standing proud in their own formal uniforms, and bruises. Just outside the group was a large security detachment of 4th Brigade Somerset Constabulary also in their dress blues but fully equipped to repel any assassination attempt. 
As the central ramp lowered every Warrior saluted as The Oathmasters of the Clans descended, their ornate robes enhancing the stature of the elder Elementals. ilKhan Leo Showers stood at the top of the ramp. The Warriors behind Adam shouted so loud that he felt he would go deaf, and they mute before the ilKhan made it to the end of the lines. 
Leo Showers descended and every Warrior he passed turned to follow him in a close formation. As Leo neared Adam could make out even more of his most hated enemy, his sleeveless armored outfit was battered and dull, unlike those of Inner Sphere Lords. The ilKhan evidently took pride in its combat damage as much as his dark skin covered with intricate tattoos and raised scars, black dreadlocks ornamented with bone and metal hung from his head. He looked every bit a Pirate Warlord rather than the leader of a large army of Warrior Clans. 
Leo waited for a moment as he stood within arm’s reach of Adam before returning the salute and calling for silence. He nodded and the ornaments in his hair clattered hollowly, his voice was low and menacing, like a bestial growl. “Commandant Steiner, thank you for receiving me with such hospitality.”
“I am only giving you what you are due.” Adam said as he thrust his saber into the ilKhan’s chest. Leo collapsed onto him as hot blood ran down his hands. The last thing Adam saw was a flash from the cameras followed by the Warship above as it incinerated his homeworld.
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Adam woke up with a start, dizzy from the rapid motion and sweating. He looked beside him at an empty bed within his Academy quarters relieved at his own fortitude. After spending some unguarded private time with Xenia over the past days had made her less flirty but more intimate toward him after long discussions on shared or personal challenges. They were both surrounded by enemies and a wrong word could have easily led to his first mistake of the day. 
His uniform was hanging within his bathroom, clean and pressed, along with the Commandant’s saber, he splashed cold water on his face and stared in the mirror, the clock ticked down as he awaited the ilKhan’s arrival. Adam opened the window to see Somerport at rest contrasting with his own restlessness. “It is almost showtime Somerset. Can you feel it?” 
Somewhere above him the McKenna’s Pride and ilKhan Showers loomed waiting for their opportunity to pounce. He might not be able to protect the Commonwealth, but he could protect Somerset. The ilKhan would get his show even if it cost him his soul. Until then he would bide his time and do what he could, without losing more people he cared for, forgiveness or justice could come later after they won this war.
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===Unwelcomed News===
04/08/3052
Rewland was bright and loud with nightlife down below in the city as more cruise ships and yachts appeared on its docks as Tropicana filled up. High above them in the hills there was only the song of nightbirds and sound of windchimes around a cozy cottage in the woods. Duchess Anette Steiner took a rare moment to read a novel on her porch enjoying an unusually warm night. Walter whittled beside her each trying to avoid facing the challenges before them and longing for past nights on Somerset. Anette nodded off but was woken by the dreadful sound of her phone ringing.
Walter was still at his task his strong hands carefully shaving the wood within, “Do you want me to answer it?”
She really did, there were no good phonecalls these days, “No, I will do it.”
“I’ll be right here.”
“I know.” She kissed him, “Thank You.”
Anette Steiner rose to enter her house and pick up the ornate, graceful styling of a retro-style telephone, “This is Lady Steiner.” The voice on the other side told her the most incredulous things and she summoned Walter from the porch. “Adam is alive!”
“That’s fantastic news, Anette.” Something was off though he could sense it in his long time companion, “but why aren’t you happy.”
“There’s a video with him that the One Star Faith has just distributed.”
“And?”
She left the phone out its cradle, “It shows him with the ilKhan, on Somerset, in my house.”
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