CS3056-2

==Chapter 2 – Clover Spear - The Story of the '56 War==
Book 1- A Time to Plan, A Time to Plot
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Situation Room
Fox’s Den, Mount Davion
New Avalon
Federated Commonwealth
February 20th, 3054
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Dad, I really hope you are right about this. A furrow of genuine worry creased Victor Ian Steiner-Davion’s 24 year old face, making him, for a moment, look older than his father. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Now I know why you had me read Shakespeare, Dad. It is good training to be a ruler in this nutty little Inner Sphere of ours.
The main situation room had been used for centuries for moments great and small in the history of the Federated Suns. It was dominated by a large, oval table made of New Avalon maple, with sturdy legs, and custom chairs that could bring up personal holographic displays to bring up information of interest to the user. The wall was also covered in flat screen holodisplays that could be used to display troop movements or situation reports.
Victor was right now listening to the First Prince Daily Brief or FPDB, being presented by a team from DMI’s MI2, MI7 and MIIOs Department of Information Gathering. Surrounding Victor was representatives of the FC General Staff, the Federated Suns State Command, the Privy Council, as well as Quintus Allard (who purportedly never missed one of these meetings since being named to the post of Minister of Intelligence in 3022).
It was why Victor was damn glad he had Katherine to his right, and Galen to his left. Katherine was very good at seeing the political implications of things, and she was going to make a good “executive officer” when Victor got kicked upstairs in the near future. Galen was good at seeing through the “bovine scatology” but had, over drinks, asked Victor “Victor, my friend, my comrade, whatever did I do to you to get posted to this godforsaken nuthouse?”
Victor smiled, and simply said “This is for hitting me on Trellwan.”
Right now, Victor was listening to the intelligence implications of new Marik agricultural and medical assistance to the Capellan Confederation. The analysts, who looked to a man like guys who did not enjoy much sunlight, or the company of the opposite sex, were to a man and woman, pasty white, and way, way too excited about their subject matter. Quintus, what the hell were you thinking letting this lot present today? This is something that could have been dealt with at the ministerial level…
“…the amount of civil and surprisingly, military traffic in these humanitarian shipments can only be characterized as alarming, and suggest that we have underestimated both the Free Worlds League’s  medical and agricultural output by a factor of 1.5, and their jumpships by a factor of three, which, even with recent windfall profits from their arms sales to the rest of the Inner Sphere, are impossible in such a short amount of time.”
Katherine raised her hand. Victor blanched, Uh oh, guess I get another lesson by little sis in what I don’t know about politics and economics…
“Um, excuse me, Dr. Felton, I hate to interrupt this very complete, and fascinating report, but did you say we have grossly underestimated both the civil productive capability as well as the jumpship capacity of a major enemy of the Federated Commonwealth?” Katherine queried, there was a look of concern on her face..one that suggested a slowly growing sense of alarm.
Dr. Felton, who was a pudgy, bespectacled individual, who struck Victor as a bit of an eccentric, swallowed loudly, glanced at Quintus Allard, who simply nodded his approval. “Yes, ma'am, that is exactly what we are saying.”
Victor’s stomach bottomed out. “How in the hell did we miss this?”
Dr. Felton chuckled nervously..”Uh…well..your Highness, we only just began applying a new method of traffic analysis to the problem. Whomever was doing this, they knew our old methods…and that’s not easy, or public, sir. And that should scare this even more.”
Marshal Jackson Davion leaned forward, his face being bathed in hololight as he didn’t bother to turn his personal display off. “Any idea who is backing them?”
“Sir, we are running some financial forensics, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Justice, and the early indicators..mind you, sir, they are preliminary..but it might be the Word of Blake, they are-“
Victor cut him off with a wave “We all know who the Word of Blake are, but, Dr. Felton, but do they really have the financial wherewithal to pull this off?”
Dr. Felton simply stated “We have no reason to believe otherwise.”
Victor shook his head in disgust. Damn you, Sun-Tzu. Well, you are a crafty little slimeball. I really need to commend all involved here. This was a damn good catch. I would have missed this easily, but not Katherine. I guess NAIS Poli Sci IS a good department.
“Ok, here is what is going to happen.” Victor intoned softly, but with an air of command in his voice. An unofficial rule of the Fox’s Den is that there was to be no raised voices in the Situation Room. No member of the Davion family had ever broken that rule. 
“Katherine, form a team to study this. You saw it before the rest of us did, figure out the implications of this, with attention to the Word of Blake, and present me a personal report within 10 days, Dr. Felton, consider yourself on this team. By the way, this thing just became a codeword access level project. If the Blakists are involved, I don’t want a damn word of this going out via HPG, couriers or FAX only.”
Everyone nodded.  “And Doctor Felton? Use small words, will you. I know you guys worked very damn hard on this thing, but honestly, ‘COMINT meta data analysis? You are making this ‘Mechjock’s eyes glaze over.” Everyone, including Dr. Felton, had a chuckle at that.
“I apologize, your Highness. We in the Traffic Analysis section of IDG get really, really excited when somebody calls us to the Fox’s Den. Not a lot of people get what we do.” 
Everyone had another chuckle, Victor raised his hand again and spoke “Dr. Felton, if this bears out, you have discovered a major threat to the Commonwealth, and at the right time. Be proud of that. My sister and her staff can help you polish this thing. But it is solid, it must be if Katherine and Quintus are that concerned. Thank you Dr. Felton.”
With that, Dr. Felton’s team grabbed their papers and made for the exit, as there was one more presentation to be made. And in the light of this new information, it made that decision more difficult to make. 
Hanse Davion strode into the Situation room like he had never left. His posture, though stooped by age, was still fairly erect. His now grey hair shone like stars in the sky, and he proudly wore the uniform of his beloved 3rd Guards, and it gleamed, gleamed so brightly that a NAMA drill instructor would have wept. And his eyes…Hanse’s eyes burned with a cyan fire that Victor had not seen in them since he was a boy. Putting on quite the show, Dad. Now, can you deliver the goods?
Hanse flashed his winning smile at the room, it was genuine, he was glad to be back in his element, planning a massive military operation that, again, could change the very face of the Inner Sphere, whether it succeeded, or failed.
“Hello everyone, I will admit it is good to be back, haven’t seen this place in a while. I will spare all of us the wool gathering of an old man, and get right to it: We have let the Clans dictate the nature, and tempo of this conflict for far, far, too long.”
The room filled with murmurs and the assembled generals and ministers looked at each other incredulously.  
Katherine was the first to speak “Father, how in the world do you expect to change that, they have brought low some of our best regiments, and taken hundreds of worlds, I am not trying to sound defeatist, but-“
Hanse held up his hands in a gesture of supplication. 
“Katherine, I will get to that, but first, a minor, and hopefully, brief history lesson.”
Hanse produced a remote for the main holoprojector from his pocket and clicked a button, a slide appeared that. 
read simply: “Clan Advantages” in black text against a soft blue background.
“When the Clans arrived in the Inner Sphere, they had, as far as conventional military wisdom is concerned, three main advantages, we are going to examine them, and address why, well, those advantages are either overstated, or in some cases, non-existent at this point.”
Hanse then clicked a button on his remote and text appeared on the slide that read simply, “1. Surprise”.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this was one of the major Clan allies in their whirlwind conquest of their occupation zones. Surprise. They had it in spades. We knew little to anything about them. Hell, you all remember the rumors. We thought they were damned aliens, until Jamie Wolf had his little meeting with us.”
Victor winced uncontrollably at the memories of the pain some of the training inflicted. Yeah, that was fun, but in some ways…a waste. Sure it encouraged some unity among us, but Sun-Tzu Liao..it did nothing for him…The very mention of Sun-Tzu had caused Victor’s right fist to curl in anger. Careful, Victor, he is something of your blind spot, focus on the Clans. They are more of a threat then that madman will ever be.
“As the old saying goes, ladies and gentlemen, ‘the best way to know someone, is to fight them’. I would say we know the Clans pretty well now. Well enough for me to present our other two points, with a fair degree of confidence.”
“We know the rules behind their warrior culture, we know how it functions, and more importantly, we know why. We know if functions on artificial rules, and a monopoly of violence that is even more pronounced than anything found in the Inner Sphere, even in the Capellan Confederation. And even the Capellans, ladies and gentlemen, do not radically shortchange their own citizenry to the degree the Clans do to keep their warrior class going. Just look at the Clan logistical collapse on Tukayyid. What many of you don’t know is that for the first time in hundreds of years, there were food riots on Tamar? Tamar, a breadbasket world..had no food? Why, because the Clans collectivized the farms under their Merchant caste. This is but one example. Their logistical system is a shoestring, and it will collapse under another major strain. One this plan intends to provide.”
Hanse then clicked the button again, and another point appeared on the slide “2. Training”.
“We have all been hearing how the Clan warrior is the epitome of warfare. They are unstoppable paragons, and we just got lucky. Nonsense!”
The room, for the first time in hundreds of years, exploded in an uproar.
Hanse put up his hands again..”Quiet please, ladies and gentlemen, QUIET!” Hanse’s command voice came out, and all, even his own children obeyed, and sat meekly down. Sure, Hanse wasn’t First Prince anymore, but he still could engender the loyalty and respect of one with a simple voice or gesture. 
“I know I have not faced them across a battlefield, ladies and gentlemen. I understand that. But everything I have read, and seen. The Clans produce men and women whom are very good individual warriors. But ask yourselves? Those of you who have faced them, what kind of real operational or strategic ability have they shown? Their bidding system is a unique way to guarantee economy of force, for example, but it doesn’t encourage mass at all, and their dueling system while a morally satisfying means of warfare, only works when the opponent is willing to reciprocate, and is inferior technologically, if the Clans had the same technological standard we had, they would lose.”
“Our doctrine, our way of making war, it is based on thousands of years of refinement and development. Everyone from Sun-Tzu, to Clauswitz, to Kerensky. The Clans are of the opinion that if it did not come from Kerensky, it must be rubbish. I am willing to go out on a limb and state that I do not think the father would have approved of what the son created. The Clans, when it comes to the doctrinal underpinnings of war, or the strategic and operational principles of said same, know nothing, and are happy to remain ignorant, mainly because their technology is so dominant.”
Hanse then pushed the button on his clicker again, and a third point appeared “3. Technology”. 
Hanse exhaled, and took an offered glass of water, of which he drained greedily. “The Clan technological advantage is steep, but history is filled with nations who were technologically advanced, but still lost wars because they refused to pay more than lip service to the other Principles of War. Nazi Germany is one that comes to mind. The Clans, in fact, are making the same mistake. They are counting on own ‘decadence’ to do their work for them. They had counted on being greeted as liberators, while enslaving entire populations and calling it a lofty name like “bondsman”. Their logistical system is so bad, that they are living off the land like the Mongols, or an ancient army, certainly not an army of the 31st Century. It is why they failed at Tukayyid and to a lesser extent, Luthien. To continue the Nazi Germany analogy, right now, the Clans have fallen short of their goal, Terra. They have survived the winter, but now, their entire enterprise lacks any strategic direction. It is a military endeavor without a goal, really. They claim they are going to Terra, but ComStar has barred that door. They have yielded the strategic initiative, we must, for the future of the Inner Sphere, pick up the baton..and ram it down the throat of the Clans.”
Hanse then clicked his remote once more, and a map of the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone soon materialized, then one by one, colored arrows appeared, denoting proposed movements of forces against target worlds. The plan was focused, ambitious, but it was a sledgehammer. The proposed force ratios were brutal, as much as anywhere from 4 to 6 to one against the Jade Falcons or Vipers. It was the opposite of the Clan way of war. It was not meant to take worlds back so much, as it was to destroy the ability of the Jade Falcons and Vipers to make war, probably for all time.
Victor whistled softly…  “Dad, keep going…you have our attention.”
Hanse Adrian Davion smiled, but it was not a mirthful smile. It was one that promised terrible, awful things to come for those who had dared to hurt, and enslave his people. I dedicated my life to defending the people of the Federated Suns, and later the Commonwealth, as first a soldier, then a ruler. The Kuritans, the Capellans, I understood, but even they, they are not what the Clans are. They are a threat to our very humanity. No..this time, we finish this. What no one knew is that Hanse had seen footage taken by MIIO, LIC and DMI operatives of the Jade Falcons engaging in “thamzing”. Hanse had launched a war once on a moral point..there had also been practical ones..but he had never forgiven the Liaos, or their brood, not for what they had done to his double. But now, this, this was a cancer, that needed to be cut out.
And cut out it would be.
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;*I remember the temperature dropped ten degrees after Hanse began to smile. I hadn’t seen that smile on his face since the first wave of Operation RAT. I knew that the Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers were about to have a very bad day. The average age of the Clan warrior class was 25, and learning from their past did not seem to be their strong suit...Clan Loremasters and their "Remembrance" not withstanding...They say the best teacher is the enemy. I got the feeling we were about to teach what we had learned to the Falcons, in spades.
Ardan Sortek, “Reflections of a Soldier”, New Avalon Press, 3071
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