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Bannister Cameron’s Residence
Unity City, North America
Terra, Star League Protectorate
5th May 3109

   Phones rang through the darkened personal residence of Bannister Cameron as the Duke scrambled out the side of the bed and grabbed the handset.  “If the world isn’t ending I’m hanging up.”  He promised whomever it was on the other side of the line.  After a moment Cameron was fully awake and sitting up out of the bed “can you say that again?”  He asked rising from the bed and heading into his personal study.  “Okay I want you to send me everything that you have as it comes in.”  He said as his wife Andrea appeared at the door wrapped in a bed robe “go back to bed my dear I’ll be along presently.”  He promised her covering the mouthpiece of the handset momentarily “listen very carefully I want a copy of everything the investigation brings up… no I said everything… yes, I am going to look into this personally, yes, independently of the Intelligence Command, no, I trust them implicitly but I sent that crew on this mission and I want the answers.”  He said cutting off the link.  For several minutes he sat in his study thinking things over according to the report the SLS Bremen had jumped into the Saffel system and exploded soon after its entry into the system with all hands lost.


   Three days later Bannister Cameron had looked over the initial salvage reports from the wreckage of the SLS Bremen.  So far the salvagers had found enough bio-matter to match the missing crewmen and the ship’s sensor data from its mission to Fenwick system.  But looking at how the Bremen had exploded he wasn’t convinced that it was the accident it had been reported as.  Instead now he stood in his work office in Unity City looking over the data as he waited for the communications system to connect.  Suddenly the large screen opposite him activated and an image beamed via one of Terra’s HPG arrays broadcast an image directly from Tharkad.  “Director Reece Kennic, it’s good to see you again.”

   â€œDuke Cameron, what a nice surprise” he said greeting the Protectorate leader “I trust your family is well?”

   â€œVery well, Director, thank you for asking.”  Cameron said pleasantly Director Kennic was the co-owner of Lockheed/CBM of Tharkad the producers of the Peter and Isis classes.

   â€œHow can I be of assistance?”

   â€œI am sending you a classified Star League Intelligence Data File in conjunction with this message Director.  I would like your people to analyse this and give me your findings.”  Bannister Cameron explained “Director, Star League Intelligence will likely also be contacting you regarding this please give them the same cooperation that you have given me.”

   â€œOf course, Duke Cameron, if I may ask this is very unconventional why are you doing this personally?”

   â€œI began this and I wish to see the end of it.”  Bannister explained he had trusted Simon Rosberg, gotten the mission confirmed, and very possibly gotten him killed.

   â€œOf course we will investigate as much as we can” the Director promised Cameron knew that the company would do all they could to find the cause of the destruction of the Bremen knowing that if it was a technical failure there could be a chance the other ships of the class could be susceptible.  Personally Duke Bannister Cameron hoped that it was not a technical defect.


   In the Fenwick Simon Rosberg was oblivious to Bannister Cameron’s personal crusade to discover what had happened to the Bremen instead he and the other sixty-one crewmen of the Bremen were getting used to “The Section.”  In the last couple of weeks Rosberg had learned much about his new surroundings the Section was a strange mix of hardened criminals who were sentenced to hard labour instead of the death sentence, those who wanted to make a little extra on their monthly income accepting a few days in the asteroid belt to boost their pay and thrill seekers who wanted to try something different.

The Bremen’s crew had been added to a work detail of those who wished to boost their income and all things considered it wasn’t a difficult job they had been given.  Each day they were collected from a converted Monolith-class JumpShip by small craft known as “Rockhoppers” they were taken to various asteroids in the massive belt of the Fenwick system where they dug out the metals.  So far Rosberg couldn’t work out what they were using with all the metals that were being dug out, while the space station and small craft would have taken resources all of these were old and had seen many years of service there was nothing that would explain to where the newly dug out metals were being used.  Their accommodations on the Monolith were actually quite comfortable and the guards quite lax Rosberg had already passed word to all his people from the Bremen that he wanted no heroics and no trouble, he still had hopes that the leadership of the Fenwick system would agree to meet with the leadership of the Star League Defence Force.

Promenade, Nova Cat Clan Hall
City of Andrey, Tukayyid
Clan Space Inner Sphere
12th May 3109

   The City of Andrey was a growing metropolis on Tukayyid and it showcased the best of Clan society with huge buildings housing the population and providing work spaces while leaving the outer world untouched by the Clan’s industry.  In the centre of the city there was the Main Clan Hall, the individual Bloodhouse Chapels and the individual Clan Halls all set into an area of space where the towering buildings overlooked them but none overwhelmed.  The grounds around the Main Hall and all others were protected by the Ebon Guard Clusters every day of the year.  None of the Clans were allowed BattleMechs, Armour, ProtoMechs or Battle Armour units in the area instead they were restricted to conventional infantry units to protect their own Halls and provide internal security this allowed the Ebon Guard to react instantly and overwhelm disturbances with force without causing too much collateral damage.

   It had taken Lucian months of planning and thousands of C-Bills to get him to Tukayyid.  He had then spend weeks restricted to the Inner Sphere visitor section several kilometres south of Andrey before finally things seemed to fall into place.  A Free Guilds work detail had been going to the city and Lucian had bribed a member of the work force to take his place claiming to be a rich trader who wanted to experience life as a Free Guilds worker for a day unsurprisingly the worker had agreed for a price and Lucian had gotten his way to the reserve around the Clan Halls.  Once out of the visitor section slipping away from the worker had not been difficult and Lucian was sure the man wouldn’t mind, if they were caught together then the worker would have faced some serious charges for assisting an Inner Sphere citizen.

   The sun was going down by the time Lucian made his move and despite the strong Ebon Guard presence he had slipped over the fence and through the reserve joining the ranks of workers and visitors who were making his way slowly up the steps towards the Clan Nova Cat Hall.  For years he had dreamed for this moment as he approached the hall, thinking about what he would do when he got here, how he would introduce himself to the Clan, how he’d make them accept him.  Even as he was lost in his thoughts twenty-five Clan troopers emerged from the building flooding the stairs with weapons pointed in his direction rapidly surrounding him to the dismay of the workers and visitors.  An elderly warrior unarmed warrior wearing the black uniform of the Nova Cats adorned by the Clan’s insignia stepped in front of him “Identify yourself” the man said despite being unarmed Lucian got the impression he was as dangerous as the others.

   â€œMy name is Lucian Allard-Liao” he said looking the warrior in the eye “my mother is Megan Allard-Liao, the Duchess of St Ives, and my father was Grayson Rosse.  By birth I am a member of the Nova Cat I claim that heritage.”  He said defiant over his position before he could speak another word the old warrior lashed out striking Lucian in the face knocking him out in a single blow.

   â€œI Star Commander Hunter Lenardon, I claim this surat as a bondsman to Clan Nova Cat.”  He said in a loud voice so all of the warriors and the lower castes could hear him.  “Take him inside, the Khan can decide what needs done.”

Coordination Centre
Vega, Vega Prefecture
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
20th May 3109

As the clock stuck 0900 just as the Vega Prefecture Command and Coordination Centre filled for the day a nuclear explosion originating from within the Command Centre wipes out the entire facility.  Along with the Vega Prefecture Command, the planetary Duke, Third Dieron Regulars Regiment and nearly three million civilians in the surrounding city are all wiped out in an instant.  With the Isle of Skye continuing to raid the Dieron Military District the destruction of Vega’s Command and Control causes issues throughout the Vega Prefecture.

Border Conflict
District of Regulus/Glasgow Commonality
Free Worlds League/Capellan Confederation
23rd May 3109

In an operation of asset denial the CCSS Wu Zetian, a Mandarin-class Battle-cruiser, jumps into the New Delos system and unleashes twin volleys of nuclear enhanced capital missiles at the former-CCSS Qin Shi Huang and its nearby guard the RS Kirc Cameron-Jones.  While anti-missile system knock down many of the incoming it is not enough to take out all the missiles which do enough damage to make both vessels not worth salvaging.  The Wu Zetian then remains in system as Warrior House Dai Da Chi and the Confederation Guard abandon the system to the District of Regulus.  Elsewhere mercenaries under Confederation contact land on Quemoy engaging the Sixth Orloff Grenadiers Brigade.  After several weeks of fighting on the planet the mercenaries are forced into retreat by the Grenadiers who maintain control over the world.

As the Capellans deny Regulus one of their WarShips and Oriente troops hold onto Quemoy the OPS Lancelot escorts the Seventh Oriente Hussars Regiment to Jasmine while the OPS Second Chance escorts the Sixth Fusiliers of Oriente to Fujidera bringing both worlds back into the District of Oriente.

Shadow_Wraith - yup I thought it was a decent introduction

Atmospheric insertion over Nasew
Vega, Vega Prefecture
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
6th June 3109

   As their DropShip Atlanta’s Hunt lowered through the atmosphere Major Morgan Christifori monitored the communications below hearing the chaos erupting below.  The nuclear explosion had wiped out the City of Neucason causing millions of deaths and creating a radioactive dead zone around the city.  Local services were trying to help the people there but they were being swamped and now across the planet’s second city Nasew a series of car bombs had exploded causing yet further troubles.  As the planet reeled from the loss at Neucason and now these new attacks the planet’s communications grids were being swamped with propaganda of the Word of Blake’s rise from the ashes which was causing more trouble.  “We’re going to need the whole group” Morgan said looking at the boards deep inside the Fortress-class DropShip “Captain, communicate with the Stoat have them return back to orbit and send a message to Odessa, we’ll need more than just our Battalion here.”  He commanded his XO Captain Cassadee Grann.

   â€œWhat are we going to do?”  Grann asked before leaving

   â€œWe’re going to see if we can pull the Third Dieron together and see if we can bring some order to the planet.”

   â€œThat’s not exactly our mission Major” she pointed out.

   â€œNo it isn’t” Morgan Christifori admitted looking at the screens “but I can’t watch that planet rip itself apart, I won’t watch it, we’ll land outside Nasew and try to contact the Third Dieron’s Second Battalion and try to coordinate with them.”  He said watching as the Atlanta’s Hunt’s sensors detected another massive car bomb explosion inside Nasew.  “Whoever is behind this going to pay but first we do what we can to help.”  He said as she nodded and left the room behind and above the Fortress the unit’s second DropShip a Leopard CV began to rise back into orbit.  From there the aerospace fighters could still assist the unit but the Leopard would be safe from the fighting on the ground if he could have done without the Hunt Morgan would have sent it back into orbit as well.

Thirty-sixth Star League Games
Star League Stadium, Solaris VII
Independent World
9th June 3109

   In the Thirty-sixth Star League Games Clan Wolf dominate the competition once more with Star Captain Beckham Kerensky, in his Tomahawk Assault OmniMech, once again showing that in a melee environment such as the one seen in the Star League Stadium the young Wolf warrior is on a level of his own.

   Elsewhere on Defiance Clan Wolf is also victorious in the Martial Olympiad ground campaign as the Clan shows that despite the lack of action coming from the Wolves that their Touman is ready for battle.  Missing from the entire Martial Olympiad are the Capellan Confederation and Draconis Combine both refusing to attend due to border issues with the Federated Suns.  In the space over Defiance the LCS Flygia of the Lyran Commonwealth is victorious for a second time in the modern era defeating all others for efficiency and combat readiness.

Border Fighting
Ozawa, Ashio Prefecture
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
14th June 3109

   The SM1 Tank Destroyer took off into the air as it jumped over a small hill on the insignificant world of Ozawa as the Federated Suns attempted to wrest the world back from the Draconis Combine.  Over the last few days fighting had once again flared up on the border as the Draconis Combine had raided Deneb Kaitos, Ankaa, Mallory’s World and Fellenin II the Federated Suns had retaliated but instead of raiding worlds had struck out at Ozawa, Mata and Romam with enough forces to take them back from the Draconis Combine.

   On Ozawa the Second Robinson Rangers RCT had been joined by the First McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry Regiment fighting against the Twenty-fourth Dieron Regiment.  As part of the Second Robinson Captain Duncan Sandoval was pressing his attack with his platoon of SM1 Tank Destroyers while the BattleMechs of his RCT and of the Mercenaries held the line.  The SM1s purchased by the AFFS from Clan Sea Fox gave his unit a boost in firepower and mobility that few other units could.  The SM1s ran quickly across the ground coming around behind a group of Dieron BattleMechs and Duncan lined his hovertank up on a Ryoken KU OmniMech “Striker Mikes fire on my go, three, two, one. Trigger! Trigger! Trigger!”  He commanded over the radio as all four hovertanks fired their assault autocannons targeting the backs of the Draconis Combine lance.  As they fired BattleMechs which had taken the Combine lances attention in the first place also fired combining their fire with the tanks obliterating the entire lance.  As the four SM1s ran past the wrecked BattleMech lance they crossed in between the BattleMechs turning behind them preparing for another run.  Their job was simple to keep the Dieron Regulars on edge as the main AFFS/Mercenary force moved through the Combine lines Ozawa would be a Federated Suns holding by the end of the day as would Mata and Romam as the AFFS fought battles it was guaranteed of winning.

Coordination and Command Centre, SLS Tiderace
Swartklip, Inarcs Theatre
Coventry Province, Lyran Commonwealth
21st June 3109

   The two SLDF WarShips had entered the Swartklip system four days before and started the slow burn towards Swartklip III the lesser of two planets that were inhabited in the system.  Swartklip V was the primary planet of the system with the majority of the population on a world that was comfortable for human life while Swartklip III was primarily a mining world surrounded by space stations.  Over the years several of these space stations had been turned over from cargo collection points to maintenance yards for the planets in the region with several companies beginning maintenance firms to support the spaceships that passed through the system.

   Now the SLDF had moved into the system and would be creating their own facility to maintain Star League vessels and give them a listening post in the system.  Captain Chris Fisher monitored their progress from the command centre onboard the SLS Tiderace, one of the Star League Navy’s newest Antares-class Support Vessels, which would be the centre of the SLDF’s operations in the Swartklip system.

   â€œCaptain, we have a Union-class DropShip approaching, they claim to have the planetary duke on board.”

   â€œDuke Miller, we should be so honoured.”  Fisher commented “cut acceleration allow them to dock and for the Duke to board then cut them loose and keep us on course.  I’m going to go meet our guest.”  He commanded turning towards the exit.

   Below decks Fisher met with Duke Alano Miller the civilian leader of the Swartkilp system a slightly overweight man with dark grey receding hair with black rimmed glasses.  “Welcome onboard the SLS Tiderace, Duke Miller, I’m Captain Christopher Fisher the commander of this vessel.”  Fisher said offering him a salute as the Duke boarded the vessel.

   â€œThank you, Commander, a mighty vessel you have here” Miller replied “it is so nice to have support from the Star League Defence Force in this system a permanent military presence with be a welcome sight.”

   â€œWell the Tiderace will be here for the next few months the Strider is simply dropping off a few additional DropShips before she moves onto another assignment.”  Fisher explained as they moved through the ship he felt the gravity shift slightly as the ship’s acceleration resumed.

   â€œBut there will be a permanent military presence from the Star League here at Swartklip, that was part of the agreement!”  Miller snapped

   â€œThere will be Star League Defence Force personnel on the stations once they are operational and likely on the ground but there is no guarantee of a naval presence in the system.”  Fisher explained “if the naval vessels are required elsewhere they will be deployed.”

   â€œBut we are on the frontline against the Clans.  At least we have Tiderace here to support our defence.”

   â€œThe Lyrans are on the front-lines Swartklip will be in a position to support operations.”  He explained “Tiderace would do everything it could to protect this system but our ship is designed for support operations not front-line combat.”  He explained “until our bases are established the Star League Defence Force cannot take full responsibility for the system’s defence.”

   â€œWhich is why our system will not be accepted into the Protected Planets Accord?”

   â€œThat is one of the reasons” Fisher explained wishing one of the Diplomatic Corps had also attended this meeting “once the Star League Defence Force presence in this system has been established and the Estates Generals pass the decree Swartklip will officially join the Protected Planets.  Until then you will be under dual authority of the Lyran Commonwealth and the Star League.”

   â€œBut ultimately we will answer to…”

   â€œSomeone with a higher rank than me” Fisher admitted running out of things to say to Miller “Duke Miller, I just build things I don’t make policy.”

   â€œI understand, Captain, Inarcs, Tharkad and Terra will need to figure this out.”  Miller decided not to push it further “meanwhile, Captain, I’d like to extend a welcome to all of your people during their stay in this system.  We might not have much, Captain, but I’m sure we’ll have something to fit your needs.”  He said deciding to try the welcoming approach instead of trying to force the SLDF into their support.

Rest Period, Charles Martel (Modified Monolith)
Fenwick, Alya Prefecture
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
28th June 3109

   After a long days work Simon Rosberg returned to his quarters on board the modified Monolith-class JumpShip Charles Martel for a rest period only to find someone was waiting for him.  The person was dressed in work clothing of one of the ‘Section’ inmates but he didn’t recognize who it was, a woman, he realized as he entered the room.  “Erm, this is my room and I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to share.”

   â€œNo, you’re correct, we are not” she said turning round it took Simon a moment to recognize her under the grim.

   â€œDuchess Fenwick” he said in a low surprised voice recognizing the younger member of the Fenwick system that he had met on their primary moon.  “I’m sorry but what are you doing here?”

   â€œAny member of this system’s population can choose to work over the weekend I have decided to work” she explained looking quite happy with herself as she slipped off his bunk “and after the weekend is over we will be returning to Fenwick.”

   â€œWe?”

   â€œYes, one of my guards will remain in your stead until we sort this mess out.  The station guards area aware.”  She said seeing the confusion on his face under the grim.  “My mother believes she is protecting Fenwick with her actions but I believe that it is time for us to return to the Inner Sphere on our own terms before they choose to try and force us.”  She explained “I would rather we approach your Star League before they come here with an assault fleet or worse.”

   â€œI will not leave my people to rot here…” he began but she interrupted

   â€œWhile we worked I spoke with Captain Kinsey when we were working he agrees that ultimately they are his crew even if it is your mission.  He agrees that he will continue to follow your orders but that you need to come with me to Fenwick.”

   â€œDoes he now?”  Simon asked as Emily Fenwick slipped out of his room “let’s get through this weekend then the real work begins.”


   While Emily Fenwick was trying to sort her system out from within Duke Bannister Cameron was continuing to search for answers from outside the star system.  With his own investigation and the one undertaken by the Star League Intelligence Command Bannister was convinced that there was something else going on in the Fenwick system than “nothing here move on.”  According to the work done by Lockheed/CM of Tharkad the explosion which had destroyed the Bremen should never have originated from where it did as all crews had been briefed not to store dangerous items in that section of the ship.  According to the Star League investigation sensor data in the Saffel system showed there was nothing else wrong with the vessel physically with no visual markers which showed anything wrong with the ship.

   Using his remaining contacts in the military and his position as the leader of the Star League Protectorate Duke Bannister Cameron boarded the Navy’s newest Indefatigable-class Battleship, the SLS Warlock, moving through the vessel he entered the command centre of the vessel and instantly felt all eyes turn towards him.  “Duke Cameron welcome onboard” the vessel’s commander said greeting him this time they were not taking any more chances.

“Thank you, Commodore Vale; you have received the order packet?”

“Yes, sir, we are completely at your disposal and the Seventy-seventh Special Operations Group are on board and ready.” Nadia Vale said as Bannister approached the central holotank like most WarShips the Warlock’s central command was a large rectangular room with the crew sitting facing outwards while the commander stood or sat near the middle where they could monitor everything.  The room was dominated by a large holotank which showed the Warlock’s relative position in the system and everything else around it.  At the back of the room there was a secondary holotank which could also be utilized if required.

“Very good then when you are ready take us to Fenwick if you please.”  He commanded due to demands on the fleet the SLS Warlock only had two escorts the recently launched SLS Calais, a Dante II-class Frigate, and the SLS Foscari, a Hound-class Corvette.  As the three ships jumped clear of the Terran system Bannister was confident that the three WarShips, their support craft and the carried troops would be enough to overcome anything in the Fenwick system.

Time to blow open the secret of Fenwick.  Not the last story I will tell in this system but perhaps revealing a couple of secrets and explaining their initial secretive nature.

The last part is from James Tanaga continuing to expand the Fire Mandrill story

Bannister Cameron’s Quarters
Fenwick City, Fenwick
Star League Protectorate
3rd August 3109

After nearly a month of getting to know the people of Fenwick Duke Bannister Cameron was feeling accomplished as he packed preparing to leave the system the people of Fenwick had officially agreed to join the Star League Protectorate and they had agreed to the free travel rules of the Protected Worlds.  He still hadn’t met with Duchess Gloriana Fenwick but her daughter had said that the Duchess would not stand in the way of Fenwick’s return to the Inner Sphere.  There was a knock at the door “please enter!” Bannister called turning towards the doors moments later one of the palace guards opened the door and in entered who could only be Gloriana Fenwick.  She was perhaps in her early eighties, perhaps older, and wore a navy and silver gown with a purple sash across it.  “Duchess, you honour me” Bannister Cameron said bowing his head slightly in respect.

   â€œDon’t patronize me, Duke Cameron, I have ignored your presence at every step you know this despite my daughter’s insistence I was unwell?  I am correct?”  She asked Bannister nodded she was unlike her daughter, who had trained as a MechWarrior and routinely undertook trips across the system, Bannister was sure that she had lived a comfortable life here for most of her life and she didn't care about his position in relation to her.  “Good then you are not an idiot.”  She said walking into the room looking around “I hope you have found your accommodations comfortable during your stay?”

   â€œI have, Duchess, I understand your reluctance to invite outsiders to this world it is quite idyllic.  We have no intention of installing new leadership here no forcing you to accept masses of new immigrants.”

   â€œI know this…” she said crossing the room again “I do worry Bannister Cameron this world was founded as a retreat a place where civilization could be forever protected and the weapons that were created out there could not reach.”

   â€œI am aware” Bannister said remaining where he was “we will not volunteer the location of Fenwick that I have already promised your daughter…”

   â€œI am aware” she said repeating him cutting him off “however perhaps you are not fully aware of our reasons for wishing this system not to become too crowded…”

   â€œAm I not?” Bannister already knew Fenwick had secrets, secrets he had been willing to wait to be answered.

   â€œI believe not” she said suddenly stopping her pacing looking at him “I need you to trust me.  You must accompany me to the Cavalier and until I show you what we must protect beyond everything.  Your WarShip must remain clear, at least initially.”

   â€œAnd where are we going?”  Bannister asked more curious than worried if these people wished to hurt him they would have already done that.

   â€œNot far” Gloriana Fenwick said calmly

   â€œI agree” he said making his decision showing trust in this woman he had just met regardless of the risk he planned to see this through, he immediately through of Andrea and his children but duty came first, a contingency was in place should he never return the Star League would prevail.


Duchess Gloriana Fenwick’s ‘not far’ had been ten days onboard the Cavalier.  During that time Bannister Cameron had been given complete access of the WarShip and found exploring the huge WarShip an adventure all on its own.  The crew were perhaps a little more lax than what he had come to expect from the crews on SLDF vessels but then these crewmen had been locally trained and never faced an enemy who was willing to engage them in combat sight of the SLS Warlock was probably the first ‘enemy’ WarShip they had ever encountered.  That wasn’t to say that the crew was anything but polite with him still not the military officers and crew he’d need them to be before he could ever deploy the vessel as an asset of the Star League Defence Force.

Entering the command bridge Bannister saw that Duchess Gloriana already awaited him there.  The room was a little unconventional all of the consoles faced into the room’s centre while at the far ‘forward’ end of the room was helm, while down the starboard side of the room was weapons command, communications, internal security and sensors while at what the crew referred to as the ‘aft’ was engineering and damage control.  The entire port side of the command deck was taken up by a massive holotank, which was easily larger than any Bannister had seen on a WarShip, which detailed everything about the ship and the space around her.  In the Duke’s personal opinion while grand the holotank was a little overpowering.  “Duke Cameron, we are about at our location” she said as Bannister came alongside her she indicated for him to hook onto the console suggesting that the ship’s engines would soon stop.  He slipped his boots into special holders which would hold him down.  Very quickly the engine’s ceased their forward thrust and Bannister felt the lack of gravitational force slowly move over him, he hated zero-g and microgravity environments, but tried to ignore it as he looked over at the Duchess who also seemed to dislike it.  “Captain, if you please” she directed the ship’s commander suddenly the holo-tank pulled out from the Cavalier and began to show several items close to them.  First was the last planet of the Fenwick system then its nearest moon, which they were now behind according to the holo display in the dead space behind the planet he saw nearly three dozen objects and one larger one probably a space station.  As the resolution cleared he realized it wasn’t just a space station but it also appeared to be a shipyard.

“What is this?”  Bannister asked looking at what he was seeing.

“The Great Father commanded that Fenwick become a bastion for the Star League the last holdout for a past civilization all alone in the dark.”  Gloriana Fenwick explained “you didn’t think we would be that hold out with a couple of nuclear weapons and a single WarShip?”  She asked Bannister suddenly looked back at the holo-display and realized that the smaller objects were actually WarShips, more than three dozen of them!

“Great Father?”  Bannister asked having a good idea about who she was referring to but wanting to be sure.

“Aleksandr Kerensky, father of the Star League Defence Force, he made what is at Fenwick possible.” She explained nodding towards the ship’s commander and the display forcused on the smaller vessels.  “Initially the population believed that Kerensky was withdrawing to an SLDF Depot in the near Periphery so they concentrated on refurbishing as many ships as possible repairing four corvettes, two destroyers and three heavy cruisers in a short period of time.”

“I only count seven ships?”  He said not trying to sound ungrateful but not understanding why her count was out.

“Three Aegis-class Heavy Cruisers were sent into the Draconis Combine during what the Inner Sphere refers to as the First Succession War.  Nuclear weapons were employed against them and only the Tsesaevich returned heavily damaged after that the people began to strip the remaining weapons from the rest of the ships, drain them of their fuel and make their hulls air tight.”

“Putting them into preservation…”  Bannister whispered stunned as the holo display pulled out again “and the shipyard?”

“A plan made by the founder of this system Sir Roger Fenwick created.”  Gloriana Fenwick explained “while the work to strip the remaining WarShips kept the population employed and most of the ground equipment is stored away from people who could cause harm it they still needed a focus.  There was a single Stefan Amaris-class Battleship among the old hulls stored here, one that Kerensky had found at the back end of the Rim Worlds Republic, it was the largest and most capable hull left in this cache.”  She explained signalling to the ship’s commander and the holo-tank focused on a group of a dozen identical vessels. “He tasked his people to repair the ship which was completed by the time his son was born.  Seeing what his father accomplished his son William ordered the people of his generation to build another grand vessel for his first child.  Over the years it became something of a tradition.”

“A tradition to build Battleships…” she whispered stunned now the reason why the mines and the factories continued to operate made sense to him.  “This is a gold mine if it had ever been discovered during the Succession Wars they would have burned this entire system to gain access to it.”  He said still surprised that no-one had ever discovered this system and exploited its secrets.

“Which is why we have been so secretive about what is in this system and taken measures to stop anyone who discovers us leaving” she said her voice finding a new menacing edge “those who have refused to surrender have died and those who have surrendered but remained a threat to us have been sectioned.”  She explained Bannister nodded he knew from speaking to Major Rosberg that the people of “The Section” were a mixed bag of thrill junkies who wanted new experiences and prisoners he could believe that many had died mining the asteroids.  “We have also seeded the entire area with nuclear weapons” Gloriana warned “they are still there to this date.”

“This is when you expect the rest of my people to jump in and try and seize control?”  Bannister asked

“The thought had crossed my mind.  Your Warlock may be still in Fenwick’s gravity well but we detected what we believed was a Hyper Pulse Generator aboard the vessel.”  She explained “the battleship’s sensors are powerful enough to find all the open space in this system and find the places that you could jump into.”

“We have no plans to invade Fenwick.”

“The more you say that the more I believe you.”

“However I do believe we have found the first place that the Star League Defence Force would like to put some resources.”  Bannister said looking at the ships and the shipyard.  “We have a Newgrange-class Yardship and a Fleet Support Vessel we could deploy to this system and kick start the refit process bringing the first visitors to this system and bringing new work to the system.”

“That could be acceptable”

“How did you find the germanium to construct the K-F cores for those Battleships?”

“Some of the ships we built using salvage taken from some vessels that were too badly damaged to be made safe.  For others I will need you to send a message to the Warlock so they don’t panic when they see us jump away from Fenwick.”  She explained as she did the Cavalier’s engines activated once more turning the WarShip away from the ship depot.


An hour later the ship’s K-F Drive activated sending the Cavalier through a jump into deep space far from any star.  “Welcome to Section Omega our most remote mining outpost” Duchess Gloriana Fenwick explained as the ship emerged back into real space near a converted JumpShip which had been turned into a space station which hung over what appeared to be a shattered planet.  We believe this planet once belonged to the Fenwick system many millennia ago how it broke the way it did we do not know.  We actually discovered it by accident one of our JumpShips miscalculated a jump towards another system which it believed was twenty-nine light years away in fact it was two hundred-and-ninety light years away.”  She explained how such a mistake was made beyond Bannister “they were stranded in deep space for nearly eighteen days as their fusion engine charged the K-F core manually during that time they discovered Omega.  Its core is made of pure germanium worth billions on the open market and priceless to Fenwick.”

“How do you get people to work out here?”

“Volunteers all of them, even the criminals who are sent here,” Gloriana said “a prisoner can work off ten years of his sentence at this facility in six months and they get to pilot some of the smartest IndustrialMechs ever created.”  She boasted the lack of atmosphere meaning the prisoners out here probably piloted converted BattleMechs to do their work relying on the heat from its fusion engine to keep operating.

“Truly all of this is impressive.”  Bannister Cameron said looking at the operation displayed on the holographic display.  “I cannot believe that it has been hidden away for so long.  Duchess I will be happy to accept you all into the Star League Protectorate, I am beyond happy” he said “I have one snag”

“A snag?”

“Yes, we cannot call the Battleships the Stefan Amaris-class.  Across the Inner Sphere and beyond his name is reviled.”

“I understand” Gloriana Fenwick agreed “locally we call them the Aleksandr Kerensky-class.”

“Which is fine for Fenwick but beyond that name would likely also create conflict” Bannister explained thinking the Clans would hate that as much as Stefan Amaris while the Inner Sphere would question even more where they had come from.  “How about the Fenwick-class?”

“While that may appeal to some of the younger generation those who have past would roll in their graves at the prospect and once Fenwick’s place became known I am sure that the Draconis Combine would wish a piece of what has been under their noses for so long.”

“Then how about we use the Otey-class? It means father in Russian Kerensky’s native tongue and given that it was the father of your family line who set you on this path.”  Bannister Cameron suggested after a moment knowing that the Stefan Amaris-class could not remain in SLDF service.

“I accept” she said for the first time since Bannister had met her she smiled he hoped the first time of many now that Fenwick was part of the Star League’s Protected Planets.

Food Riots
Vega, Vega Prefecture
District of Dieron, Draconis Combine
9th August 3109

   With the planetary HPG destroyed few realize how bad the situation on Vega truly is as food riots break out across the globe.  In the city of Roccer an entire battalion of the Third Dieron Regulars is mobbed as rumours the DCMS have food stashed in their base spreads like wildfire.  Unable to stop the hoards of angry, scared civilians the Battalion is massacred by the mob.  Even as Morgan Christifori’s SLDF unit scrambled to try and maintain the peace the Third Dieron’s military commander Hojo Ujimasa commands his troops to open fire if further mobs form resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties.

   With Vega’s primary spaceport destroyed aid shipments were landing at alternate facilities at Nasew were being stretched to their limit.  Unfortunately when systems and people are pushed to and beyond their capacity accidents happen.  The Fury-class DropShip Truant carrying medical personnel attempted a landing as the Buccaneer-class DropShip Maine attempted to take off.  With neither vessel able to alternate their course a collision was inevitable causing the destruction of both vessels and closing the landing area for several hours as repair crews attempted to clear the wreckage and repair the damage.

   At one of Vega’s jump points two Tramp-class DropShips arrive and deposit several DropShips worth of supplies for the people of the system.  Several days later the Bear DropShips land on the planet’s surface and offload their supplies before leaving the ground before the remaining Dieron Regular troops can oppose the landing zones.  The supplies left are made up of food, water and medical supplies enough to help several thousand civilians for a few days lessening the load being put on Vega’s spaceport.

Recovery Ward, Medical Treatment Facility Four
New Barcella, Nova Cat’s Den
Periphery
14th August 3109

   Canin Rosse stirred as he laid on the bed the pain coming from his left side and more specifically his left arm slowly bringing him to consciousness.  Looking around the room the Khan knew he was in a medical facility meaning the battle had not gone well.  Closing his eyes he tried to remember the last moments of the battle with saKhan Katrine Devalis he remembered the weapon impacts which tore the left leg assembly from the saKhan’s Demios and her final particle cannon shots slamming into his Dragon Cat’s torso burning into the gyroscope and then his OmniMech falling.

   â€œDo not go back to sleep my Khan.”  A female voice said off to his right bringing him around once more.  He looked over and saw a battered saKhan Katrine Devalis sitting on the chair.

   â€œI congratulate you on your victory, Khan Katrine” he said weakly

   â€œNeg, it has been decreed that it was a draw.”  She answered “My OmniMech was downed at the same time when you severed my left leg” she explained remaining at the side of his bed.  She did not sound one bit angry about the battle's result.

   â€œBut I was left unconscious” he said looking down at his own left hand realizing that the lower part of his arm was gone and budded over with thick bandages “and obviously I was badly injured” he said he felt further pain down his left side but everything else was intact.  “You were victorious you are now, Khan.”

   â€œNeg, I refuse the position, our battle was over a disagreement it was not over the leadership of our Clan, you maintain the support of the council and of me you are the right man to lead our Clan.”

   â€œI am seventy-one years old perhaps it is time for my rule to end…”  He said despite his current injuries Canin Rosse’s body was as healthy as a man twenty or thirty years younger.

   â€œNeg, we disagree once more Khan Rosse” she said interrupting him “you have the drive and vision to see where our Clan should be in the universe more so than anyone else.”

   â€œPerhaps it is time for that vision to change.”  He said glancing away from her he had been in command for a long time, perhaps too long, many Nova Cats jumped at the challenge to strike at the Draconis Combine perhaps his peaceful attitude towards the Federated Suns was slowly strangling his Clan.  The problem was he didn't know if he was the man who could change that.

   â€œThat is your choice my Khan but you are still the leader of the Nova Cats and me.”

   â€œA leadership you have weakened.”

   â€œAff, weakened but not broken” she reminded him “you are still Khan of our Clan" she repeated again as if she intended on convincing him of the fact herself.  "Another left hand and lower arm are already being grown” she said stepping forwards leaning forward over him “you can still be Khan if you want to be.  It is your decision” she said finally “and it is mine to continue to command our operations against the Combine and the Ravens with your public support and without interference.”  She said taking what she wanted from the victory.

   â€œIf you became Khan then you will not need support” he reminded her challenging her once more “you have always wanted to be Khan why now when you have this golden opportunity you are not taking it?”

   â€œMy vision” she said quietly “it continues to inform my decisions daily and for now I know that my future is not Khan of the Nova Cat Clan.”

   â€œWhat is your future?”  Canin asked wondering is Katrine knew herself

   â€œThat has not been decided” she half joked turning to leave “I wish you well my Khan and hope you decided to continue to serve our Clan.” 

   â€œAnd if I make choices as Khan that threatens what you believe is in your best interests?”

   â€œI came close this time to beating you Canin Rosse, next time I will make sure that you do not recover from your wounds.”  She promised him finally before leaving him on the bed to contemplate his future.

In the coming weeks and months Canin underwent several operations to repair the damage done to his left arm and to heal other wounds.  Once he had recovered sufficiently the Khan was challenged three times by ristars in the Clan’s Touman who wished to lead the Nova Cats and saw a weakened vulnerable Khan.  Each time Canin faced his challenges in single combat and in each case he was victorious showing that although Katrine Devalis had come close to beating him he still had fight.

While many had been swayed by Katrine’s battle against him as it had been classed as a draw few could use it to show he was unfit for command.  By the end of the year Canin Rosse had successfully defeated an additional two challenges to his rule and cemented his continued control over the Nova Cat Clan.  These distractions keep Canin Rosse focused on maintaining control over the Nova Cat Clan for the remains of 3109 while Katrine Devalis continues her own path.
   
Border Conflict
Draconis March, Federated Suns
Military District of Benjamin, Draconis Combine
21st August 3109

   On Robinson Duke Duncan Sandoval free from his obligations to lead the Draconis March is seen in downtown Robinson City with Major Ariana Steiner, of the McCarron’s Armoured Cavalry, despite the age gap the two appear completely comfortable in each other’s company.  Media agencies in the Federated Suns question whether the Duke should be stepping up to his heritage instead of trying to bed a mercenary.

   While Sandoval enjoys Steiner’s company the Draconis Combine raid Sadalbari, Fellenin II, David and Raman while the Federated Suns itself raids New Mendham, Barlow’s Folly, Ludwig and Junction.  The Seventh New Avalon Guards RCT and the Fifth Robinson Rangers LCT successfully capture Barlow’s Folly and New Menham destroying two Benjamin Regular units while the DCMS capture Sadalbari, David and Raman only failing to capture Fellenin II as the Second New Ivaarsen Chausers LCT.

Salvatore Incorporated (Rim Motors), Space-station Michael
Layover, Tikonov Operating Area
Crucis March, Federated Suns
28th August 3109

Countess Vicki Famito of Layover floated in microgravity as she silently looked out the window with pride, as both Fulcrum prototypes begin to dock to the Michael the huge space-station she was currently aboard hovering above Layover as the world spun below. The Fulcrums were beasts, weighing sixty thousand tons, with speed matching a destroyer, and their weapons systems and onboard aerospace assets allowing them to compete with smaller warships. Something both her nation and the Rim Collection had demanded.

And the staff here delivered. While she knew the Federated Suns Navy would still need to approve the design for their use, she smiled, for the Rim Collection Touman representatives had already approved the design for the Collection’s own use and they were willing to stomp up the money to pay for the craft. They only requested a minor design change to allow for the inclusion of one of their mobile HPGs.

She smiled as she thought about the fortune that had finally shone on them. Layover had once been a major industrial concern for the Federated Suns in the First Star League, providing for much of the Federated Suns’ heavy naval manufacturing, until its fall and the First Succession War which had seen the world invaded by the Draconis Combine and pillaged by their troops. Afterwards, however, the world and her family’s company, along with its fortune, had met near-nonstop misfortune time after time after time.

Four and a half years ago, Vicki had been forced to declare Salvatore Incorporated, the economic life blood of Layover, bankrupt. She was in despair yet she had little choice the company, her house and family had little to offer and could not pay debts owed from loan after loan over the last few years.

What she expected happened. The Ministry of Commerce and Trade sent feelers out to other companies as they begun the process to disassemble the company and sell its assets to the highest bidder. What she wasn’t expecting, though, was Rim Motors’ public call for the return of Layover’s Golden Age and in doing so, riled up not just the population of Layover, but also of the Federated Suns into supporting their proposal.  Rim Motors who originated in the far off Rim Collection had attempted to purchase companies across the Federated Suns as the small periphery nation attempted to broaden its base of suppliers and extend its reach far beyond its borders.
And now, she was glad for their intervention. Though Salvatore Incorporated was no more, Layover was now bustling with excitement, as the Rimmers and their Monkeys continued their methodical approach to return Layover to its Golden Age.  She’d found it strange when she first found out that members of the Rim Motors team were actually Clansmen members of Clan Fire Mandrill that resided inside the Rim Collection.  Technically on visitor passes to enter the Federated Suns they shouldn’t be working for any corporation but because the Mandrill’s did not treat money the same way as the people of the Inner Sphere so there was that tiny loophole that Rim Motors made the most out of.

On Layover the transformation had been slow but was already making an impact.  In the last year three separate companies had been brought online bringing manufacturing of weapons, vehicles and DropShips back to Layover transforming the world’s economy and bringing new blood to the world.  The Federated Suns had already placed certain restrictions on what could and could not be sent out of the nation and in what quantity, and had deployed an entire New Avalon Guards RCT to the world to enforce this, but even with these restrictions and over watch from the AFFS the Rim Collection was coming out well ahead of what they could produce in their own nation.  One of the Rim Motors “Rimmers” had explained to her that a world like Layover had a population three times that of some Rim Collection worlds they had access to trade routes with dozens of systems and because much of the weapons went to the AFFS they had the support of the Federated Suns Government which added together far outstripped what could be produced at home.

The news on Layover conveyed that on a daily basis reminding people that while Salvatore Industries was technically a name of the past and while some of their weapons were being shipped out with the Federated Suns their world was once more contributing to the gross product of their nation instead of living on handouts from other worlds.  During this little enterprise the Collection had unveiled its first two home-built Odyssey-class JumpShips to the Inner Sphere sending them across the Inner Sphere to show how far they had come and how far their ambitions extended.  As part of the deal to transport weapons out of the Federated Suns Countess Vicki Famito knew that the Rim Collection, and Clan Fire Mandrill, had agreed to sell one of the Odyssey’s to the Federated Suns Military but it seemed like a small price to pay especially considering the new levels of defence the Fulcrums would bring to the nation.  Famito suspected that the Rim Collection must also be making similar agreements with the Star League Defence Force and Lyran Commonwealth so they could travel through their space but she knew that such agreements could only be good for the system of Layover.  Finally its name was being spoken on a dozen different worlds not because they needed help but because finally the system was beginning to return to its routes.

I decided to tell the whole periphery story in one section instead of breaking it up through the month.  If it's a little hard to follow let me know and I can break it out into its own story thread with dates for each section.

Refugee Crisis
Altenmarkt Province
Rasalhague Dominion
4th October 3109

   In the space of four days three JumpShips enter the Rasalhague Dominion from the Draconis Combine each carrying full loads of DropShips.  Unlike previous incursions by the Draconis Combine these JumpShips do not carry troops of war instead they are each carrying thousands of civilians who immediately declare their surrender and request asylum within the Rasalhague Dominion.  Without exactly knowing how to take these requests the local Rasalhague Dominion garrison commanders on Accrington, Port Moseby and Buckminster place these civilians in internment camps and call on Alshian for assistance.

Main Meeting Rooms
Granada, Nueva Castile
Deep Periphery
8th October 3109

   It had taken a week to travel to Granada under the escort of the strange Goliath Scorpion WarShip from there they had been directed to make camp no closer than five kilometres from the main enclave and send their commander to the base where they were given a small office to work from.  Alex Lassenum had found their procedure strange but had agreed to go along with it and instead of making any trouble had waited his time until he entered the main meeting room.

   The room was dominated by a wooden circular table which had a hollow centre and was open on one side.  Alex was first to arrive and had been directed by the Goliath Scorpion lower casteman to one of the seats there he waited until the “others” that the Scorpions had invited to this bid, the prize that Alex still didn’t fully know.  Over the course of the next hour three more individuals were escorted in one Alex recognized as a Clan Sea Fox warrior/trader, while another wore what appeared to be Clan fatigues but he didn’t recognize the insignia she wore while the last wore all white robes which Alex guessed made him a representative of the Word of Blake.  Alex remained silent as the others took their seat waiting for the Scorpion to arrive, they didn’t need to wait long before the self-styled Khan of the Goliath Scorpion Clan Ingo Yeh entered the room the representative of the Word of Blake rose to his feet but the others remained seated and quickly the man returned to his position.

   â€œI thank you for coming” Ingo Yeh said speaking to all of them “the Goliath Scorpions with to rebuild their strength and become the Clan that we once were beginning with the conquest of the Nueva Castile, but to do this we need further resources and weapons.  To that end we are willing to trade three of our four Scorpion II-class WarShips, vessels that are the same class as the vessel that escorted you in, we are willing to trade these to you for the right price and we welcome your bids from the Sea Fox Clan, the Blood Spirit Clan, the Word of Blake and the Stone Spirit Clan.”

   â€œStone Spirits?” Alex almost instantly snapped looking at the young woman in the strange uniform “who the hell are you?”  He demanded suddenly ignoring the others in the room.

   â€œI am Star Colonel Sarah Campbell of the Stone Spirits” she answered defiantly

   â€œStone Spirits…” Alex repeated “as in Omega Galaxy?”  He asked rising from his chair “you traitorous bitch!”  He snapped remembering what the people of his Clan had called the members of Omega Galaxy who had abandoned their Clan and the Homeworlds during the assault on York.  Without another word Alex about turned and walked out of the room returning to the side office his Clan had been assigned.

   Several hours past before Khan Ingo Yeh sent for Alex Lassenum.  He walked back along the corridors returning to the meeting room finding only the Khan remaining within the room.  Alex sat down at the same chair he had before and looked at the Goliath Scorpion leader.  “That was quite a display, Star Colonel”

   â€œI apologise Khan but things that have happened to our Clans has made it easy to lose tempers when confronted by their results.”

   â€œI know this, Star Colonel, I am the Khan of a Clan that has two Galaxies on paper” he explained the truth hurt far more with only a single galaxies worth of troops and equipment filling out these troops.  “I am willing to trade away the majority of my Clan’s naval strength to keep it operational much like your Blood Spirits once did.”  He explained “now I am willing to overlook your previous outburst but further trouble will not be tolerated.  Do I make myself clear quiaff?”

   â€œAff, Khan, quite clear.”  He said

   â€œVery good, the bidding process begins in three days time, have your bid ready.”


   Over the next three days Alex avoided Sarah Campbell like she carried the plague he didn’t need to see her and be reminded about what her people had done to his Clan.  At the same time he and the small detachment of Blood Spirits that had been allowed into the Goliath Scorpion enclave had tried to learn as much as they could about the others and their bids.  So far they had learned that the Stone Spirits and Word of Blake representatives had made similar offers with equipment and the promise to clear out the Nueva Castile for the Goliath Scorpions on the table.  The Word of Blake representative Demi-Precentor Robert Zurbin had also approached the Scorpions about moving the Clan closer to Terra to co-habit a world the Word of Blake continued to operate from within one of the Succession States.

The Sea Foxes who had come from the Clan’s Coral Skate Khanate, which Alex understood was roughly representative of a Galaxy in the reorganized Clan, had offered the Goliath Scorpions weapons and equipment for access to their WarShips.  When Alex had spoken to the warrior he had admitted that he was surprised to hear that the Blood Spirits continued to contest the Homeworlds believing that all Clan presence had been destroyed.  During their discussion they had also enquired with Alex about the fate of the Armageddon, a Hell’s Horses Potemkin-class Troop Cruiser, which had been taken by the Sea Fox Clan and then gone missing when the Clan evacuated the Homeworlds.  It had been Alex Lassenum’s duty to inform the Sea Fox warrior/trader that the Armageddon, its crew and passengers currently served the Society within Clan space with the ship itself known to be a Society Research facility which would no doubt enrage both the Sea Fox and Hell’s Horses Clans but there was little he could do.

From the Fox trader Alex learned that eight other Clans, not including the Stone Spirits, remained active in the Inner Sphere and periphery and almost all of them had given up hope of returning to the Homeworlds instead they had continued to strengthen their own positions, deepening their ties with the worlds they had conquered and routing out the Society threats that still remained within their Toumans.  In some ways Alex hated the other Clans for abandoning the Homeworlds but in others he envied them for their current good fortune.

When it came to the Blood Spirit bid Alex found himself sitting in the meeting room once more waiting for Khan Ingo Yeh.  He could not offer the Goliath Scorpion survivors the weapons or resources that the others had offered instead he had chosen another tactic – hope.  “Star Colonel, welcome” Yeh began

“Thank you Khan” Alex began “I am not here to offer you weapons or resources.”  He said judging Yeh’s reaction he could tell the man wasn’t too impressed “my reasons are simple.  A Clan that can’t stand on its own is not a Clan.”  He pointed out “I have heard that the so-called Stone Spirits have offered to conquer Nueva Castile for you Quiaff?” Yeh nodded “and once they have finished the will leave you in peace Quineg?  It is not our way to abandon what we have won in combat.”

“Not counting your personal prejudice against them.”  Yeh noted “we do not have the resources to police the Nueva Castile so it is not something I was considering.”

“While I hear that the Sea Foxes are willing to give you the equipment you need.”  Alex carried on showing that his people had paid attention to what the others were willing to provide.  “While the Word of Blake, your wildcard invitation, are willing to offer you a place in the Inner Sphere.”

“Aff” Yeh admitted impressed that the Blood Spirit warrior knew so much.

   â€œYou do understand that if you took their offer you would never be a Clan again.  The Word of Blake were once part of ComStar which was bad but actions that the Word took in the Inner Sphere have made them Dezgra to all Clansmen.”

   â€œWe are not currently considered Clan.  We were Abjured.  We are Dezgra too.”

   â€œBecause of the Serpents, my Clan is willing to overlook that decision.”  Alex admitted he didn’t for certain know if the Old Khan would agree with him on this choice but her choice to fly all Clan flags on Colleen, including the Wolverine’s, made him think that she would.  “We cannot help you conquer this nation it would waste resources that we do not have.  However, we could offer you a place back within the Homeworlds.”

   â€œExplain”

   â€œReturn with us to the Homeworlds.  You will be given territory on our world” he explained “there the Goliath Scorpions will stand with the Blood Spirits.”  He suggested “if your Clan fights alongside mine you will be able to rebuild at a pace your people are comfortable with and  when the Homeworlds are once again ours you will have won your right to be part of them.”

   â€œAnd what of the others?”

   â€œYou promised them a weapons demonstration correct?”

   â€œAff” Yeh admitted all of the parties wanted to see the Cruisers in action.

   â€œThen you give them one.”  Alex said coldly taking Yeh by surprise by the change in Alex’s demeanour and the immediate edge to it.


   A couple of days later the Goliath Scorpions had gathered all of the parties together in the main auditorium along with several of the designers of the WarShips and Scorpion traders.  Yeh had ordered his people to mingle with their guests but the numbers of Scorpions had also gone a long way to hiding a number of Blood Spirit warriors who were among the crowd.  To maintain security the Scorpions had deployed several Elementals in full Battle Armour around the room, though no trouble was expected, Khan Yeh was apparently taking no chances.  On large screens images of what the Scorpion WarShips were doing near Granada’s moon.  Alex Lassenum remained near the other negotiating parties waiting for the right moment he glanced across at Khan Ingo Yeh who nodded ready quickly Alex Lassenum acted raising his communicator to his mouth “Echo, Delta, Tango” he said speaking the code phrase which translated simply to “Execute Designated Targets” without a moment’s hesitation Alex drew his sidearm and pointed it at the back of Demi-Precentor Zurbin’s head pulling the trigger on the pistol sending a burst of shots into the Word of Blake officer.  He spun quickly smashing the weapon into the face of Sarah Campbell knocking out the Star Colonel.  However even as Alex surveyed his immediate successes in taking out his two rivals a large blow slammed him in the back rolling out of the fall Alex twisted and got back to his feet only to see the bloodied Demi-Precentor Zurbin standing there looking enraged.  Half of the man’s skull appeared to be missing since Alex’s attack and instead a massive metal plate had been exposed.  The man’s eyes had an almost demonic red tone to them.  Not hesitating Alex fired another burst from his sidearm into the man’s chest shredding the clothing and skin there but this time Zubin didn’t go down instead he looked at the bullet holes and the blood oozing from the wound before raising his right arm towards Alex where his hand had been a large barrel of a concealed weapon had been exposed.  Even as Alex fired again he shouted at the Elementals to act as Zubin’s concealed laser blast tore across the space between him and Alex narrowly missing.  Immediately the two Goliath Sorpion warriors fired bursts of weapons fire into Zurbin from their support machine guns knocking the man to the ground for a second time.  Unfortunately there was no way for the troopers to control the spray of bullets and nearly a dozen other Goliath Scorpions were struck by the weapons fire some fatally. As Khan Yeh crossed the room the entire facility shook as heavy weapons fire struck the ground nearby.

   â€œYou said this would be as bloodless as we could make it.”  Yeh said accusingly looking at Alex as medics rushed in to tend to the wounded.

   â€œI didn’t expect a monster to rise in the place of the man” he said noting that the bombardment was continuing outside.  “What is happening outside?”

   â€œNone of them expected the WarShips to be so close our shuttle transmissions put them off unfortunately his people are still active and moving away from their landing sites.”  He explained looking down at the fallen Yeh had not agreed with Alex’s plan to use their WarShips to bombard all other visiting parties and to hide where the Goliath Scorpions were going but had eventually agreed.  He hated targeting the Sea Foxes most of all but there was no way to inform them of their plan without the others finding out.  The four Scorpion II-class Cruisers had positioned themselves above the Clan’s enclave running without their main sensors or transponders active instead leaving small craft near the moon to provide fake readings.

   â€œFine, we will do it the old fashioned way” Alex Lassenum decided raising the communicator to his mouth “Lassenum to all Spirits get to your Mechs.”


   Nearly an hour later Alex Lassenum was in the fight for his life.  He was seated in his Osteon OmniMech and locked in a battle with the Word of Blake unit while surrounded by Blood Spirit and Goliath Scorpion units.  Despite the orbital bombardment which struck their landing zone the Word of Blake unit had survived and were at this moment pressing against the Clansmen hitting far harder than they had expected.  What did not help was that each of the Word OmniMechs appeared to be of classes that were not in any battle library available to the Clansmen they faced meaning it was nearly impossible to guess their tactics.

   As a group of tightly packed long range missiles slammed into his Osteon Alex turned to see a Goliath Scorpion Linebacker fall under enemy fire.  He turned on the strange looking OmniMech that had attacked the Linebacker and looked at his sensor image from what he could tell it was it was no heavier than fifty tons and had particle cannon weaponry with some sort of blade attached to one of its arms.  That made the Mech at least thirty-five tons lighter than his own assault design.  He targeted the enemy design with his Mech’s four large pulse lasers and burned down the side of the enemy BattleMech burning the armour and removing the Mech’s right arm and leg under the vicious assault Alex’s immediate fire being too much for the enemy OmniMech.  Even as the enemy fell his OmniMech was hit by two gauss rifles which tore over the torso of the Mech ripping into the armour.  Turning he saw something that resembled a King Crab in some ways but had its arms arranged above the chassis instead of below Alex’s warbook named it as a Vanquisher just before two red laser beams burned into his Osteon’s right arm.  Alex fired a group of pulse laser blasts into the one hundred ton BattleMech burning its armour as he cut to the right as his Mech cut through the undergrowth a group of particle cannons from a Word of Bake Brutus Armoured Vehicle cut into his Mech.  Firing his pulse lasers again this time into the tank he felt a wave of heat rushing through his cockpit glancing at his sensors Alex knew he was in trouble with rising heat and slowly being surrounded by enemy unit’s.

   â€œAll units FIREFLY, I repeat FIREFLY” he commanded calling the retreat code “enclave command Omega Delta on my position in two minutes!”  He commanded giving the code for further orbital bombardment as he began to try and back away from the enemy this time only firing two of his pulse lasers this time into the Vanquisher.

   â€œStar Colonel Lassenum repeat your last!”  The command base’s radio officer repeated Alex cursed inside his cockpit at the man’s use of his name hoping that the Word of Blake hadn’t penetrated their communications.  He was snapped out of his cursing as two more gauss rifle slugs slammed into his Osteon’s ferro lamellor armour.

   â€œFine I’ll spell it out to you!”  Alex snapped “all units are to fall back” he said looking at the cockpit clock “and I want orbital bombardment on this position in two minutes!”

   â€œThat is not in the Clan’s agreed engagement instructions” the man replied a moment later.

   â€œI don’t care we’ve broken Clan Engagement Rules already today doing you stavag!  Tie your targeting on my transponder, find this position and get those ships to fire when I asked.” He demanded firing his weapons this time into the Brutus which had turned its attention on a Blood Spirit Adder savaging the light OmniMech some how the light Adder remained standing under the assault.  Around him he could see units were trying to disengage but that the Word of Blake were continuing to press.  Taking a chance he launched the Osteon into the air flying into the centre of the enemy formation crashing down on top of a squad of Longinus Battle Armour troopers scattering them.  He looked down at his clock and saw 01:30 displayed he twisted the Mech’s torso firing two pulse lasers into one unknown OmniMech before twisting the other way and firing another two pulse lasers into another target as weapons fire continued to fly all around him.  The momentary confusion caused by his jump now over as an autocannon blast scattered across his Mech’s armour causing little damage he smirked thanking the Ferro Lamellor not for the first time as he twisted to face the enemy Mech and fired both pulse lasers again this time at his newest attacker with one connecting with its target he looked at the clock 01:00.. 00:59 ignoring further targets he jumped his OmniMech into the air trying to reverse his jump as missiles flew towards his Osteon.  Landing near his original position he immediately jumped again 00:40 this time stopping to turn and engage another enemy Mech this one identifiable as a lightly armoured Excalibur which his pulse lasers had little trouble exploiting as they burned through the armour triggering an ammunition explosion.  Before the enemy Mech succumb to its internal explosions another gauss rifle shot flew between the two Mechs ripping up the left arm of the Osteon destroying one of the large pulse lasers.  Alex Lassenum ignored the damage firing another barrage of pulse laser fire this time into a Word of Blake hovercraft before launching into the air again 00:20 remaining.

He looked at his distance to two hundred and eighty metres still too close he thought as more laser fire struck his OmniMech.  Ignoring the newest attacker he jumped again intending on increasing the gap as much as possible as his OmniMech rose he felt the Mech rock as more weapons fire struck its back.  Only the Ferro Lamellor armour stopped a breach in the torso armour while one blast struck the Osteon’s head.  On any other OmniMech Alex had piloted it would have meant that he was a dead man but not the Osteon with its torso mounted cockpit.  Unfortunately the loss of the head section also saw most of his instruments including his clock short out as the OmniMech lost its sensors and suffered power failures.  Bringing the OmniMech down in a heavy landing he staggered the Osteon forwards as munitions from the orbiting WarShips began slamming into the ground consuming several enemy units in their initial blasts.  Alex had no idea how close the blasts were landing to him so he staggered forwards completely blind as more naval autocannon and naval lasers tore through the ground near the Word of Blake unit annihilating several of them.

As Alex continued forwards he couldn’t see the bombardment but he could feel it as the ground continued to shake for several minutes he just continued walking the Osteon in the same direction hoping he was heading the right way.  He felt something strike his OmniMech and then what felt like a weight move over his Mech’s back before he could react he heard someone tap into his Mech’s communications system “Sir, you can stop the bombardment has broken the Word’s back and the JumpShip has left the system, it’s over.”  The voice stated after a moment he realized that an allied battle armoured trooper had landed on his OmniMech.

“It is over for now” he said wondering if they had made another enemy.

Medical Ward, Washburn Royal Infirmary
Washburn, District of Marik
Free Worlds League
18th October 3109

   Duchess Lucy Marik lay on her side looking across the bed at the small medical cot where her daughter Kaylee Marik quietly slept.  Behind her father sat on a chair watching his daughter and newest grand-daughter Duke Bernard Buckwell had remained quiet until now “does he know she’s been born yet?”  He asked

   â€œYes” she said “he’s surprised at what one night can produce but he sounded happy in the message I got.”  She replied surprised that her husband’s guards and spies had done as she requested and kept quiet about the pregnancy.  “He said he will have to order a review about our security arrangements here.”

   â€œOver my dead body” her father replied “although he has a point.”  He admitted why the guards had not reported what they had to have known was beyond Bernard Buckwell he hadn’t tried to buy them off but it appeared that these men and women were more loyal to their Duchess than their Captain-General something that likely would not continue.

   â€œWhatever” she whispered quietly

   â€œPerhaps it is time to reunite your family.”  Bernard Buckwell said prompting the conversation in the direction he wished his daughter rolled over to look at him “I love having you hear Lucy.  With your mother passing the last few months have been hard I’ve questioned many things but your place is with your husband ruling the Free Worlds League.”

   â€œProbably not for much longer the elections will see Regulus rule us to our doom they will bring us fully into the conflict with the Capellans broadening our attacks on them.  We will see war on all fronts something this League cannot survive.”

   â€œThat’s all the more reason for you to be with your husband and to show a united front for the nation.  To bring everyone together little Zach has had enough time to recover from his operation it is time that his brother’s and sisters got to know him, including your newest addition.”  He said looking over at baby Kaylee.

   â€œBut, what about you, who will look after you if I’m not here?”

   â€œYour brothers and sisters are not that far away.  It’s about time I began to bring Matthew up to speed on how to run this place anyway.”

   â€œDon’t talk like that” she said scowling at him “you’ve got many years to go yet.”  She said not bearing to lose him as well as her mother.  Lucy Marik knew that her father was correct in what he had said ever since Joseph Marik had visited in January she had felt like there was a part missing from her life

Clan Nova Cat Command
Farstar, Nova Cat Occupation Zone
Periphery
25th October 3109

   Since arriving back on Farstar Katrine Devalis had been in a worse mood than most of her warriors had seen her since she led them to the world and the invasion of the Draconis Combine.  “I should have killed him” she said angrily looking at the reports and then to Galaxy Commander Malcolm West, her strongest supporter and the commander of Zeta Galaxy.

   â€œUnfortunately the Khan is well within his right to recall the 450th Assault Cluster and the 109th Striker both commander require rest and refit which we still struggle to accomplish here.”  West replied “the four clusters of additional troops that you brought with you should offset their loss.”  He spoke of them like a combat loss.

   â€œTwo combat hardened commands replaced with four Clusters of men and women who have not seen enough fighting and have too many vehicles among them.”  She said disgusted by her replacement units both the 450th and 109th had bled to hold this territory, though she wondered how dedicated they were to her cause.

   â€œThen we blood them and show the Draconis Combine that there is more in these commands that inexperienced warriors.  I especially look forward to the debut of the Strix and the SM-6 they should work well together.”

   â€œAff, the Khan certainly must believe that considering he allowed their developments in the first place.”

   â€œThey are simple weapons” Malcolm West said “we could never use them against the other Clans but against the Inner Sphere, it is something they will never expect.”  He said relishing the new surprise the two vehicles, which were equipped with stealth armour, would bring to a new surprise to the Draconis Combine.

   â€œWe will send them to Leyland and Harshill and show the Combine that we still have claws.”

   â€œThe Sixth Sword of Light and Third An Ting are deployed over those two worlds.”  West cautioned her.

   â€œThen our four new Clusters will have their work cut out.”  She declared smiling “deploy the Aspect of Glass with our troops they will take care of any naval resistance and provide aerospace fighter support but no naval bombardment, we are not barbarians.”

   â€œI will ensure the ship’s complement is clear on your command.”  West said leaving the room leaving Katrine Devalis to ponder her next move, despite Khan Canin Rosse’s efforts her people were stronger than ever, she would prove to their Clan that the Nova Cats had the might to take on the Draconis Combine and win.  A few days later the the new Cluster available to the saKhan assaulted Harshill and Leyland assaulting the veteran command of the DCMS losses were high among the troops of the Seventieth Nova Cat Roar Cluster and the Sixteenth Nova Cat Vision Cluster but overall the operation was a success with the Sixth Sword of Light completely destroyed in the fighting and the broken Third An Ting Legion forced into retreat.

   Elsewhere the Nova Cats expanded into two of the worlds of the Cat’s Tail further expanding the Nova Cat’s influence over their periphery region.  The Nova Cat’s expansion both at their Den and in the Occupation Zone further shows that the Clan are not ready sit quietly on the sidelines.

Finally an update with some Falcon trouble from marauder and some trouble for the Draconis Combine by Vition - thanks to both for their contributions

Command and Control
Snow Raven, Snow Raven-class Battleship
Dante, Raven Alliance
5th December 3109

“My Khan, we have received the Dragon’s response,” his commtech reported, forwarding it to the khan’s console.

Reading the reply, Khan Vir Sukhanov looks up, “It is as I expected, they have rebuffed our last proposal, they will not budge.  The Dragon has brought this on themselves by refusing to surrender the systems rightfully ours.  Send the order to begin Operation Portent.  Then prepare the jump to Kazanka.”  It was time to fulfill his promise to the Alliance.

 The Snow Raven along with its escorts jump through the occupied zone, using an uninhabited star as a quick stop before using their LFBs to jump to Kazanka.

Shortly thereafter, seven of their nine galaxies move around the occupied zone, with four of them preparing to begin the invasion.  Gamma and Delta Galaxies are preparing a pincer move to cut off the Combine’s easy access to the rest of the pocket.  While, the Outworlds and Long Road Galaxies were preparing to push into the pocket itself each of these four are bolstered by a trio of warships, a Potemkin-class troop cruiser and a pair of destroyers, frigates, or cruisers.  This causes the borders with the Federated Suns and the periphery to be lightly defended, but the Federated Suns focus on the Combine and Confederation and the periphery having been scoured of pirates, neither are considered threatened.
The rest of the fleet had been assigned to one of four groupings, the Fleet Command Star, Montbatton Naval Assault Star, Corsair Star, or the reserve Cruiser Star.  The Fleet Command Star would be positioned in Kazanka to bolster the coreward assault, with the William Adams detached to Chirala as a quick warning for an expected Combine counter-attack.  The Montbatton Naval Assault Star would be basing out of Dante, boosting the system’s defenses as well as providing support to the rimward edge of the assault.  The Corsair Star would function similarly to privateers, hitting military targets of opportunity as the situations arose.  Lastly the Cruiser Star would be sent to bolster the Spinward assault as soon as the many newer ships passed their shakedown tests.

Clan Wolf Raids
Star League Protectorate
18th December 3109

   In what could only be described as the first probing raids Clan Wolf assault the Star League Protectorate worlds of Marcus and Nathan marking their first attempts at striking Star League held territory.  Both worlds are under defended by the SLDF with only Guard Regiments and mercenary commands defending them but the Wolves have no intention on attempting to hold the planets instead they practice insertion runs and planetary landings against the worlds testing their aerospace defences and the SLDF Guard’s willingness to try and resist invasion.  In both cases the Wolves retreat from the planetary surfaces within hours of their initial landings retreating quickly towards their Jump Points.  In neither of the attacks do the Wolves declare their intentions, announce a Batchall with the defenders or fight along the lines of Zellbrigen.

   Days after the Wolf raids Mizar announces it has joined the Star League Protectorate.  The binary holiday world had reportedly been straining under the high taxes levied by Skye and House Kelswa-Steiner and the lack of development in the world and defence from new technologies.  On the other hand the Star League Protectorate was offering a standing guard and advanced technologies to defend Mizar from all threats that could come to threaten their leisurely lifestyle.

Second Battle of Donegal
Donegal, Donegal Province
Lyran Commonwealth
21st December 3109

   In the annuals of history what has been dubbed the Second Battle of Donegal will go down as a footnote.  In what was little more than a reinforcement of both the Jade Falcon and Lyran Commonwealth positions turned into a pitched battle as both sides picked areas within striking distance of their opposition and both suffered losses as opportunistic warriors attempted to gain glory on both sides.

   On the morning of the 21st Lyran reinforcements landed on Donegal’s North Eastern Flatlands trying to take advantage of the large open area which thus far had been untouched by Falcon invasion.  Unfortunately just because an area has been untouched does not mean it is still not hazardous as Jade Falcon aerospace forces harassed Lyran DropShips belonging to the Second Royal Guards RCT as the unit attempted to reinforce the defenders positions there.  Only the heavy Lyran aerospace fighter wings and assault DropShips assigned to the RCT stopped the Jade Falcons causing heavy damage to the command but even then a Gazelle was forced into a crash landing which resulted in a fireball which killed the crew and destroyed the crew, a Union-class vessel landed heavily crushing its Mechbay door trapping the Mech Company inside for several hours, and three other DropShips sustained enough damage to force them to return to orbit to effect temporary repairs.

   On the evening of the same day the Jade Falcon’s Fourteenth Talon Cluster landed at Mair’s Farm south west of the capital in a cattle field.  The landing of the Cluster’s DropShips appeared to be uncontested initially but that only lasted until the last Union C-class DropShip touched down.  As the DropShips began to disembark from their DropShips command-detonated mines buried throughout the area by the defenders were detonated instantly killing the first units to disembark and two of the DropShips while damaging several others.  The Lyrans were not finished as scout teams equipped with target accusation gear guided in wave after wave of artillery which destroyed the remaining DropShips amd the remaining Falcons of the Fourteenth Talon.

Jade Falcon Raid
Westerstede, Donegal Province
Lyran Commonwealth
22nd December 3109

“Gotcha you son of a…!”  Staff Sargent Greer could not help but celebrate as he caught the bright green and yellow Puma in his sights.  His Wolfhoud 2H computer chimed as he fired his Mech’s heavy PPC, the bolt of energy a brighter white/blue thanks to the added power provided by the capacitor worked into the heavy cannon.  Ignoring the surge of heat that flooded the cockpit he added both ER mediums to the mix and was rewarded with a heavy explosion as the Puma’s missile ammo went up, its right arm falling away before the Clan Mech staggered and collapsed in a welter of smoke and fire. 

“Danger close! Danger close!”  The Mech’s computer, the good ‘ol Bitching Betty had picked up the next Clan Mech before Greer had even brought his Warhound around.  It was one of the Falcon’s newer ones that some MechWarriors called ‘Chicks’ due to their stunted, vestigial arms but long legs which gave them a strange appearance and a weird gait when they moved.  The Clanner was at the apex of its jump, ATM’s and ER lasers flaring, cutting divots into Greer’s Mech’s armour, blasting chunks of dirt out of the ground around him as several of the missiles missed but enough hit to cause worry. 

The 2H packed a wallop but the Mech’s coolant system was working overtime to deal with the heat surge of his near alpha strike against the Puma growling, Greer threw his Mech into reverse, buying space and time, answering the Clanner’s fire with a neat cut across its chest from one of his lasers even that caused another heat bloom to enter the cockpit.

But the gaudily painted Clanner wasn’t giving him an inch, it closed the distance, pelting him with light laser fire that would have murdered infantry but was also slowly nibbling through the armour on his Mech’s chest and arms before it reared back and there was an almighty CLANG then a horrific screeching of metal on metal.

“What the hell!”  Greer screamed as he fought to control his BattleMech as metal connected with metal as the Falcon’s BattleMech kicked his Wolfhound with its own.

“Whats up Sarge?”

“This bastard kicked me!” Clanner’s didn’t kick, they didn’t punch unless they REALLY had to and even then you could see they hated it, but this damn Chick had gone and deliberately charged and kicked.  Greer snarled, mashing his finger down on the firing stud for his particle cannon, the blast cutting the Clanner’s ATM ‘arm’ off in a blast but the Chick kept coming as another wave of heat threatened to overwhelm the Wolfhound’s systems Greer slammed the heat override determined that heat would not kill him.  “McCaffrey, get your ass over here, gonna need help, my legs shot, knee’s out, lower legs damaged and he crushed some of the coolant flow systems!”  He warned properly seeing the damage done to his BattleMech this was a fight he wasn’t going to win alone he just hoped the Falcons hadn’t learned concentrated fire along with their physical attacks, so far it didn’t look like it but who the hell knew with these unpredictable Falcons.  Even as McCaffrey turned to assist Greer saw the Falcon BattleMech charge in again this time firing its remaining ATMs and lasers on approach he knew what was coming as the Falcon BattleMech kicked out again at his damage leg snapping the Wolfhound’s limb above the knee.  With an opponent willing to engage in physical attacks Greer had no choice but to eject and hope that the Clan warrior would not try and swat his cockpit module from the sky.  He ejected he saw McCaffrey’s Hollander II blow the back out of the Jade Falcon BattleMech with his gauss rifle ending the Clansmen’s fight.

The Falcon assault on Westerstade was deemed a success, a spoiling attack against Lyran forces that had been building up for a presumed counter-stroke against the Falcon advance and further threatened the defences around Donegal and Tharkad.  The Turkina Keshik supported by the Falcon’s Nest the Falcons had hit with the intent of raiding, not conquering.  The Korbin’s Kommandos Mercenary Battalion and the Lyran Militia put up a brave fight but with aerospace superiority lost to the Falcons they were corralled, cut off and ravaged.  With their units damaged and supplies wrecked the Lyran counter attack was thrown into ruin and the Falcon’s withdrew as quickly as they came, only pausing to salvage their own losses, not bothering to take any of the Lyran or Mercenary Mechs with them save to make sure they were wrecked beyond reasonable repair.

Star Captain Victor Malthus saluted as Khan Jana Pryde came into the planning room.  Some joked that he was an Elemental that got placed in the wrong Sibko, others said there was Jaguar blood in his veins, but no one ever said that to his face.  If they did, they wouldn’t be alive for much longer.  The big blond Mechwarrior was devoted to Khan Ward and was part of her Command Star despite his modest rank.  Instead of seeking a higher rank, even though it would have been easy to win one, he had spent his time and energy making sure the Khan stayed alive both on the battlefield and off.

His modified Jade Hawk a yellow and deep crimson brute he called ‘Sabertooth’ did little to dissuade the whispers about his blood origin, but no one would argue with his effectiveness.

“My Khan”

“Ahh, Star Captain, I wonder if I should reprimand you.”

“Why my Khan?”  He asked with false confusion.

“I had that Mech trying to flank me; once I dispatched her colleague she was next.”

“Aff, but I saw her as a threat, and you were having too much fun ripping that Atlas apart…I thought it…prudent, after all I did not want to end your sport.”

She snorted but grinned “Aff, I do enjoy the responsiveness of the Grand Summoner but I miss my Flamberge.”  She said knowing fine the new heavy OmniMech was exactly what she and her Clan needed in a Mech.

“You are the Khan; you can take what ever you want.”

“Hmm… A good point Star Captain… my quarters, fifteen minutes.”  Jana Pryde said smiling knowingly at the big warrior.
Star Captain Victor grinned broadly “I will consider that an order my Khan, and will see you soon and I will take the liberty of clearing your schedule... for at least the next two hours after."

"Feeling bold Star Captain?"  She asked turning to walk down the corridor away from the big warrior.

"Always my Khan, I am a Falcon" he said loud enough for her and anyone else in earshot to hear Jana Pryde didn’t care if anyone else knew of their plans to couple Victor Malthus’ self confidence could only be good for her Clan’s morale.

In Transit to Jump Point
Wild Swan, Potemkin-class Troop Cruiser
Dante, Raven Alliance
23rd December 3109

Anger and excitement clashed in his head as different aspects of the mission bore into his mind.  He and his Thirteenth Stoop were to be invading Morthac, but the glory wouldn’t be his alone, along with him travelled the Thirty-third Raven Battle Cluster and the Fourth Raven Guards.  Both were new formations with only a smattering of true veterans though many of the rest were skimmed from the premier sibko cadets of the Alliance training facilities.  By all rights and traditions the position of galaxy commander should have been his.  But the khan had deemed otherwise.

The upcoming conflict would be a test of each star colonel’s metal, and he or she who was best performing would earn the rank and position of Delta’s galaxy commander.  To Bran’s particular chagrin, the Star Colonel of the Fouth Raven Guards was a recent graduate of Columbia Academy on Alpheratz, and not even bloodnamed!

Each cluster had already been assigned their targets, with the Thirteenth Stoop pulling the command battalion of the Ryuken-san, the Fourth Guards targeting the second battalion of the Ryuken-san, and the Thirty-third being left the pickings of the command battalion of the Second Midway Regulars.  With the greater chance at glory Bran MacTiernen was ready for battle.

HPG Transmission, Imperial Palace
New Samarkand, Tabayama Prefecture
Midway Military District, Draconis Combine
26th December 3110

“My lord Minoru Kurita, I feel the need to update you on the situation here along the Raven border,” Tai-shu Ivor Stollarude, the Warlord’s representative on New Samarkand, began nervously, pausing to gather himself.
“Speak,” the Warlord’s word was quiet but held the full weight of the leader of the Draconis Combine.

“We’ve received reports of the Ravens moving much of their forces around the occupied zone, including mobilizing most of their warship forces around the area.  Akira has assumed command of the forces nearby and ordered a temporary reorganization of our warship forces.  He’s currently cutting orders to ten regiments, and all ten of the nearby warships.  He appears to be readying them for a counter-attack, once the Ravens have committed.”

“Hmm, the whelp is molting and showing some teeth…” Minoru Kurita muses to himself, to Ivor. “Allow Akira to spread his wings, we were never going to hold those systems anyways, we just needed them to prepare our listening posts.  You will serve as his aide; you are to make sure we don’t suffer too much from the conflict.  Allow the forces to meet the Ravens in battle, but order them to cede the systems to the Ravens after blooding them.  Akira will learn to temper his actions.  Keep me up to date on the conflict.”

“Absolutely my lord” Ivor confirms as Minoru cuts the line.  ‘This will be an excellent test of the future coordinator’s strategic abilities’ Minoru thought as he turns back to the reports around the Terran corridor.

Around the occupied zone and the area surrounding New Samarkand, Combine troops ready themselves for combat.  The six regiments in the zone ready themselves to face the Ravens, and are given orders to pull back to Quantraine upon facing superior forces.  While another three regiments prepare themselves to counter-attack around the Chirala salient the warship forces are split into two groups, one is sent to Quantraine to make attacks of opportunity against lone or paired Raven warships.  The other bases out of New Samarkand, intended to support the operation against the Chirala Salient, and defend New Samarkand itself against potential assault.

pfft.... limitations there are none to your imagination.

Into February 3110 - I've got a massive thanks for marauder (Dominion) and Vition2 (Raven) sections here both did a marvellous job with their contributions.  And for those who think the Combine is beginning to hurt... yes they are.

Surprising as it is both marauder and Vition2 came up with these sections/ideas themselves.  I have no idea if they colluded behind the scenes but they just happened to land at exactly the same time.  There are reasons behind it.  Originally there was a temptation to delay one section or the other but I decided to run them both at the same time.

You'll also note a lack of the SLDF being mentioned in these updates despite it being a "Clan aggression" story exactly what the SLDF was built for.  That will be addressed shortly.

Vition2 has also created the Splendid variants below (which we'll hopefully share soon)


Command Complex, Imperial Palace
New Samarkand, Tabayama Prefecture
Midway Military District, Draconis Combine
2nd February 3110

Akira paced back and forth in front of the holo-table in the command center, impatiently waiting for the latest updates from the occupied zone.  He was particularly anxious to find out the of the state of the Shiro Kurita demi-flotilla, which had disappeared after sending an unintelligible message.  But that wasn’t the only issue bothering him; the Ravens had played their hand well, covering their assaults with heavy warship forces and without the warships of the demi-flotilla they were virtually unopposed in the occupation zone.

Intelligence reports placed a heavy star of warships covering both sides of the zone, severely curtailing potential counter assaults in those areas.  Meanwhile the only force still capable of carrying out offensive maneuvers was itself under a semi-blockade, with at least three different Splendid-class warships being seen at the various jump points at different times - they’d even managed to ambush and capture a pair of JumpShips carrying support and combat DropShips to where they were needed.

“Sir, we’ve received the reports.”  Tai-Sho Stollarude spoke as he entered the command room.

“And…”  Akira asked, the impatience virtually dripping from his words.

“Still no word from Cho-Sho Shogura, and the Third Sword of Light’s last transmission said they were about to lose control of the HPG facility on Rushaven.”  And with the loss of the HPG the command would be completely cut off and finished as a command.

“We must do something to knock the Ravens off balance, are the Ryuken-go and Second Genyosha ready to go?”

“Yes, my Lord, in particular the Second seems to relish the idea of avenging their predecessor.” Stollarude stated mentioning the elite unit which had been surrounded and overwhelmed during the last conflict with the Ravens.

“Good, send them to take Chirala, detach the Takao as an escort.  Then have the Ryuken-go target Pondicherry, let them know they will also have warship support.  Concentrate the rest of them on Quantraine, we’ll make it a fortress and bleed the Ravens dry if they decide to test it,” Akira ordered.

 â€œMy lord, it is my duty to point out that concentrating our forces like that makes them a very tempting target for orbital strikes.  It also won’t be long before they blockade the planet, it wouldn’t take long to starve out those regiments.  Not to mention while castled up on Quantraine they won’t be able to participate elsewhere, effectively being off the rolls.”
Akira waved his hand as if the points were worthless, “They’ll only have to hold out until July, with the Katsuragi’s deployment we’ll have the firepower to force our way in and withdraw our troops.  Perhaps by then we’ll have another couple of regiments to pressure the Ravens with.”

With that Stollarude left to relay the orders.  As he walked away he had similar concerns the heir did, how could the Ravens be so efficient and coordinated, and how can we make that ours.

Little more than a week later, the DCS Takao fought the William Adams, a Raven Whirlwind-class destroyer.  The Raven WarShip put up a desperate fight against the larger Kirishima II-class Battle cruiser, but the Takao destroys the Raven WarShip handily, though the forward sections of the DCN vessel suffers significant cosmetic armour damage.  On the ground the Second Genyosha faces off against Epsilon Solahma, which fights as though possessed.  The Raven war machines wade into battle using tactics aggressive enough to be reminiscent of the the bloodiest medieval battles, to include using trees and even the limbs of the fallen as weapons to batter the Genyosha with.  In the end the ferociousness tells on the Genyosha, with them suffering staggering casualties, but coming out on top, with the cluster being utterly annihilated.

On Pondicherry the Ryuken-go suffers a different misfortune.  The Raven’s Eigth Garrison cluster quickly goes to ground, and avoids direct contact with the Ryuken.  In space the DCS Okimbo, a Tatsumaki II-class destroyer takes control of the orbitals, but a pair of Raven WarShips descend on the world a few days later.  The DCS Okimbo comports itself well, crippling the Bradley before it falls.  Here the Ravens do not withhold orbital bombardment, causing heavy damage to the Ryuken causing the survivors to scatter through fear of further bombardment.  The Bloody Talon functions as a go-between for different elements of the Raven forces on planet and coordinates ambushes.  Attrition here slowly going in the Combine’s favor, regardless of Raven naval support.

Dining Room, Cameron-Jones Residence
Regulus City, Regulus
District of Regulus, Free Worlds League
5th February 3110

   Life could not be greater for Lester Cameron-Jones he was Captain-General of the Free Worlds League and his District had more money coming into it than ever before, he had a beautiful loving wife and their first born daughter Anita had just joined the District of Regulas military.  He moved through his home and found his wife sitting at the dining room table there was something on the table in front of her that he initially didn’t recoignize but what he did see was his wife had been crying.

   â€œHoney what’s wrong?”

   â€œWere you ever going to tell me the truth?”  She asked before he could question she activated the holographic projector in the middle of the room.  It began to play a clip that Lester hoped would never surface.  It showed a pair of men dragging an elderly male’s limp body up the side of a Battlemaster BattleMech and into the cockpit before leaving the Mech.  Moments later two Wasp BattleMech’s entered the courtyard and opened fire with machine guns strafing the cockpit of the BattleMech as they did charges placed on the legs and arms of the Battlemaster detonated causing enough damage to cripple the arms and legs.  “My father was dead before he reached his BattleMech an order that you issued.”

   â€œYes I did” he admitted looking at the woman he loved more than anything else in the world.

   â€œWhy?”  She asked staring at him daring him to lie.

   â€œHe would never have surrendered McKenna to you or endorsed Regulan’s annexation of the system from Oriente.”  He said wondering how she’d gotten that footage and what she would do next.  “I needed to ensure that Oriente and the people of McKenna accepted our rule your father was a roadblock in that path.”  He said coldly Saadia looked away from him.  “If I had not acted then your father would have failed his world, Oriente would have failed that entire system, Regulus was the only way to protect it.”  He said trying to justify his actions.  History was on his side Regulus had absorbed much of what Oriente had once controlled including the area where McKenna was situated during Oriente’s conflicts with the Capellan Confederation but his actions had caused a rift with his wife.

   â€œAnd now you have accomplished everything that your family has failed to do.  You are the Captain-General of a united Free Worlds League.”  Saadia said standing up he knew she was not congratulating him “for the sake of our nation, of the Free Worlds League and of our children I will keep your secret.”  She said angrily “but what we had before today” she said staring at him “is over.”  Finally she walked past him leaving the room leaving Lester to watch what remained of the recording of his “victorious” Regulan troops seizing the citadel on McKenna.  Now he desired more than anything to discover who had dug up this sixteen year old clip and who had shared it with his wife and make them pay.

Bridge, DCS Shiro Kurita, Omi-class Carrier/Quatre Belle Shipyards
Lagrange Point 2, Pluto Orbit
Quatre Belle, Raven Alliance
13th February 3110

 â€œSensors!”  Cho-Sho Shogura ordered as they completed the transition to Quatre Belle using the coordinates located within the OPERATION DANTO orders packet.  His navigation officer had calculated that the jump would leave them danger-close to the Raven’s Quatre Belle shipyards.  He had the entire ship at the highest ready conditions within the Combine’s combat doctrines waiting for their emergence into the system.

“Sir, navigation’s calculations were very close, the shipyards will be within range in 32 minutes and 14 seconds at maximum combat thrust.  More detailed scans are populating the area now… I’m detecting five operational warships in the area; it looks like two of their new corvettes and a trio of Splendid-class cruisers.  We’ll have more details on the defenses of the yards themselves in another few minutes.”  Sensors reported, reading off the descriptions the tactical computer was giving him.

“Close the distance; prepare the fighters to begin launching ten minutes out.”  Shogura leans back, presenting a relaxed facade hiding the anxiety he felt over the operation.  Something felt wrong, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end moments before all the sensor-connected screens went completely white.  Shooting back up ramrod straight, the anxiety clearly showing, “What happened?  What’s going on?”

The sensors station didn’t respond, the three station specialists’ fingers sprinting across their keyboards.  It took an agonizing seconds for one of them to speak up, voice trembling, “Sir, 90% of the external sensors have overloaded and been burnt out, the rest of the flotilla reports worse sensor damage… we’re blind.”  Shogura paled at the statement in hostile territory and suddenly disaster had struck.

One of the other sensor technicians spoke up timidly, “I might have a solution.”

“Speak.”

 â€œWe ought to be able to rig up sensors on some our small craft, and route them through the C3 channels.  They engineers may not be able to work under the current conditions though.”  The tech suggested.

“Give the order, and reduce acceleration to 1.5 gravities.  Have a third of the ASF fighters deploy now to provide overwatch until we get sensors back up.  What blinded us?” 

The first sensors tech spoke up again, “I can think of two options, the more likely of which is a series of massive neutron bombs.  The second is much more worrisome, annihilation devices.”

Shogura paled even further at that comment.  Antimatter, no one had been able to reliably weaponise such a device, that the Ravens may have advanced far enough to produce mines like these suggests far reaching and horrible possibilities.  “Order the Teibo to reverse course, and set off back to the Combine with the reports, this is of highest priority.”  Even if he failed here, at least the rest of the Combine would know of the possibility and be prepared.

“Star Admiral, we just detected an emergence wave less than fifty thousand off the yards.  Details are still coming in, there are a total of five ships, but one of them is massive, more than 1.5 megatons.”  Star Admiral Rhai McKenna received the report as she stepped into the command room in the Quatre Belle shipyards, wiping sleep from her eyes.  Rhai’s career had started out strong, having become star captain of the Swiftsure-class’ premier warship of its class before she was twenty-five.  But since the last Combine-Raven war and the destruction of her ship, her star had waned, leading her to the command chair of the shipyards.  Shortly after the loss of the Sword of Orion she challenged and defeated Adam McCorkell, and in the year and a half since, she had funneled resources to various special projects - the Khan didn’t care, as long as the WarShips were completed on schedule.

 â€œShow me where the mines are” as the display lit up she began running the projected trajectory the interlopers, now known to be Combine warships, including an Omi Kurita-class carrier.  “They are going to travel directly through the minefield.  Prepare to detonate them when they will have the greatest effect.”  She let her staff determine the specifics; they were more knowledgeable about the capabilities of one of her projects.  She did not see much use for these in typical combat situations, but they were lucky today, unfortunately the mines were untested. 

Noting the Sceptre moving towards an intercept, she commanded them, “Star Captain Gerry, cease maneuvers, you may intercept after the mines detonate.”  As an afterthought she added, “You may want to step down your sensors.”

A short time later a score of blasts lit up her screen, small expanding areas remaining cloudy and diminishing the ability for the station to collect details, but the Combine fleet quickly travelled through them, the smallest of them splitting off from the others as the Sceptre begins moving towards the enemy.  As it became clear the Combine flotilla was not stopping, an idea occurred to her, and she walked out of the command station.

“The first pair of modified small craft are launching now.”  Navigation reported, “they should be deploying external naval C3 in another 30 seconds.”

Cho-sho Shogura waited on anxiously, but outwardly calm as the information feed began showing on the screens.  The data was grainy, and not entirely consistent, but it would serve for today’s purpose, the flotilla still had a much heavier amount of firepower than the Raven Force.  As the screen continued to populate the area it quickly noted single massive object hurtling through the void directly towards the flotilla, travelling at more than 55 km/s, and less than a minute from the flotilla.

“Weapons! Get a lock on that object, it must be one of their Splendids, and find me the others!”

“We’re not going to get a hard lock, we don’t have enough C3 small craft active nor in position yet.  A soft firing solution is all I’ll be able to manage.”  The weapons officer reported, his fingers flying across the screen attempting to narrow down the firing solution.

“Do what you can, and put a flight of bombers in front of it, order them to open up with everything they have across her path.”

With little more he could do but watch the WarShip’s pass and respond to its damage, Shogura leaned back into his command chair, forcing himself to relax.  His eyes remained steady on the screen, he noted the DCS Susanoo, his Kirishima II-class battlecruiser, move to an intercept position, placing itself between the DCS Shiro Kurita and the incoming warship.  Shogura made a note to recommend Captain Dougan for the Bushido Blade for his courage.

The Raven warship continued, laying down fire as it drew within engagement range, the Combine warships returning fire.  With the DCS Susanoo covering the DCS Shiro Kurita, he was sure the carrier would suffer minimal damage.  Four streams of naval autocannon fire and more than a dozen smaller weapons were released from the Raven warship, two of the larger cannons went wide, missing the DCS Susanoo and DCS Shiro Kurita entirely, but the others bore down directly on the Kirishima II.  One stream of fire striking through the ventral portion of the engines section of the warship, the other striking just above the bridge the second stream of cannon fire continued on into the carrier, mauling its port side opening several sections to space before internal doors closed.  The drive plume of the DCS Susanoo wavered, before flickering out, though power continued throughout most of the warship and the vessel was able to counter attack against the Raven vessel causing damage to the speeding vessel.

Aboard the WarShip damage and warning lights flared throughout the bridge, reports were coming in about hull breaches in a number of sites along the port side.  More importantly it looked as if one of the autocannon shells had detonated directly inside one of the hangers, it was entirely unusable and most of the fighters and small craft had been turned to scrap.

Sensors spoke up, “Sir, I hate to layer on the bad news but our small craft sensor net is up.”

“How is that bad news?” Shogura asked as he glanced away from the damage reports and back to the sensor displays.  A trio of warships moved towards them, in a triangle formation, the exact size and masses of them were unidentifiable as around them a virtual cloud of aerospace fighters and small craft surrounded them.  A fourth warship hung well behind and above, staying near the station.

With as many small craft and aerospace fighters in space as his own when it was fully functional, he realized what he got wrong, “They’re not Splendids, it’s the new classes we’ve received reports on, the one hanging back is the carrier sub-class, the one that just passed us must have been a Sceptre sub-class, that leaves the last as either their cruiser sub-class or the battle carrier.  We will need to be careful; their capabilities are unknown as yet.”

“I know how careful we have to be” Shogura snapped back this mission had gone from bad to worse in the space of minutes if the Susanoo could not regain power to its engines then he would be losing at least the battle-cruiser in this fight.

With the small craft sensor net up Shogura ordered the remaining flotilla to remain at ballistic speeds, keeping the DCS Susanoo in formation.  Even damaged his force should still be able to defeat the pair of corvettes and cruisers, at which point a massive volley of missiles would overwhelm the defenses of the station - and if the DCS Susanoo could get its engines fully back on line they’d definitely outgun the Ravens and chase down their enemies.

As the two flotillas closed on each other, the DCS Shiro Kurita slowly fell behind the other vessels, allowing DCS Asuma and DCS Battle of Alshain to take the vanguard, supported by the damaged DCS Susanoo and Dragon’s aerospace fighters with a small number of LAMs and combat DropShips.  With the forces coming together, the space between the warships becomes a complete fur ball, with ASF and small craft dodging everywhere and firing every kind of weapon at their disposal.  Into this struggle the Kite and Unkindness waded, opening fire against dropships, fighters and small craft with abandon.  The Raven DropShips strangely holding back with the Superb as it continues slowly forward.

With the entrance of the two Raven Corvettes the fur ball is quickly turning in favor of the Ravens, as the combat DropShips are quickly destroyed.  The DCS Susanoo, still unable to maneuver, lays fire into the Unkindness causing heavy damage to the smaller vessel.  It spins attempting to present a new broadside but a lance of Draconis fighters manage to put a couple of missiles into the holes in its hull one of which explodes directly below the bridge.

Noting the fragile condition of the DCS Susanoo, a star of Raven fighters line up missile shots against it, with its anti-missile system down all the missiles hit, finally destroying the power grid within the battlecruiser.  With the heavy warship down and the DCS Asuma joining the fray, the Raven DropShips scattered their overlapping ECM shadow diminishing to show a massive battleship.  The Arbitration-class battleship Dauntless lumbered forward seeking out the remaining three Combine WarShips.  The arrival of the DropShips had swung the fur ball strongly in the Raven’s favor, while the addition of the battleship, Cho-sho Shogura gave the order to do as much damage as possible accepting that this was a fight they could not win.

The remaining combine aerospace fighters turn away from their opponents and begin to drive straight towards the Raven warships.  Their singular focus sees many of them shot down before reaching their targets, but quite a few still manage to reach the Raven WarShips.  The couple which manage to strike the Dauntless tear off chunks of armor much larger than they should have, the incomplete warship showing some weakness, but continuing on. 

Meanwhile the DCS Battle of Alshain maneuvered above the battle and accelerated directly towards the shipyards.  The Snow Raven vessel Superb attempts an intercept but is barely able to rake the Combine vessel with extreme range fire before it is out of range.  As the Kyushu-class warship continues to near the shipyards, a huge number of capital-scale missiles rise from the station, firing as quickly as they can be reloaded.

The Dauntless with the last operable Unkindness-class corvette move on to strike at the DCS Omi Kurita and DCS Asuma, with the still large number of supporting fighters, DropShips, and small craft, they don’t stand much chance.  Though only half of its armaments have been emplaced the Dauntless still has more than enough firepower to decimate the destroyer, leaving the carrier and battleship to pound at each other.  The supporting DropShips, though low on munitions at this point target weapons on the hull of the DCS Shiro Kurita as the two massive ships traded blows.  As the outcome seems inevitable Cho-sho Shogura overloaded the fusion reactors, ordering the crew to leave in escape pods.  The spike in power causes the Raven WarShips to pull back, as the carrier explodes.

The DCS Battle of Alshain seeing the waves of death coming at it continues to maneuver, and releases its last flight of fighters with another companies worth of LAMs, the last in its bays.   As they close on the shipyards additional defenses light up, striking down four of the LAMs leaving the eight remaining LAMs to charge down on the facilities below.  As they close additional defences light up knocking out half of the LAMs before they can reach their targets.  Those that do drop bomb loads of munitions onto the shipyards before converting into their BattleMech modes and opening fire on the shipyard slips causing heavy damage to two of the slips before being brought down by the fixed defences and Snow Raven aerospace forces.  In the confusion caused by the LAM attack both the DCS Teibo and DCS Battle of Alshain manage to escape the system.

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     Reading through his own damage reports, Star Captain Gerry Harper pondered the amount of damage his ship could have inflicted on the Dragon’s flotilla had his high-velocity tracking arrays been working properly - the primary issue forcing his Sceptre to stay behind.  “The Dragon showed its teeth today” he remarked “we can reclaim worlds but they show what they are capable of with this attack.”

Research and Development
Beta VII, Sea Fox Territory
Occupation Zones
14th February 3110

   In the heart of the Clan Sea Fox Occupation Zone sibkos of Fowler Bloodhouse Warriors were being trained not as aerospace fighter pilots, like generations before had been, but instead as the next generation pilots of ProtoMech which would serve the Clan.  Alongside them the Foxes had created a new Exclusive ProtoMech Bloodname the “Cook” bloodline while warriors would be able to train as aerospace pilots if they wished their future was aligned towards ProtoMechs.

   The Sea Foxes also continued construction of a new type of ProtoMech, the Arion, a unit that appears to look like the Shadow Hawk BattleMech but weighs only fifteen tons.  The Arion is armed with an arm mounted small pulse laser, a ProtoMech sized autocannon and a triple tube long range missile launcher giving it reasonable firepower for a unit its size.  The Sea Foxes plan use the ProtoMech in their own forces and to sell it to any of the other Clans who wish it.

Border Conflict
Clan Borders
Lyran Commonwealth
22nd February 3110

   While Clan Jade Falcon continues to raid their shared border with the Lyran Commonwealth.  The Isle of Skye opens up a second front by attacking Clan Wolf’s territory in the Gacrux system with the Second Isle of Skye Guards RCT and the LCS Glasgow in support.  Unfortunately the Wolf vessel Razor’s Teeth was in position near the system’s nadir point and it was more than a match for the Corvette.

   With its superior weapons array the Razor’s Teeth quickly overwhelms the LCS Glasgow and causes heavy damage to two of the Skye Guards JumpShips before they can escape the system.  The Skye Guards DropShips attempt to run towards the planet past the Dire Wolf-class Heavy Cruiser and are torn to pieces by the naval weapons of the Wolf WarShip.

Funeral service
Rasalhague City, Rasalhague
Rasalhague District, Rasalhague Dominion
28th February 3110

The streets of Rasalhague City were lined with silent crowds, the flag of the Dominion hanging from the street lamps was half shrouded in black cloth whilst overhead the contrails of patrolling Aerospace fighters could be seen. The crowds were thickest at the road leading to the Blood Chapel, the Khan and Prince’s final resting place.

At midday, the funeral started.  For those who still clung to the ways of the Clans, this was in essence a waste of time, but the Civilians had demanded it, as had the Royal Family, this would happen.  Not some quiet ceremony, but a show of unity, even in the face of adversity.

A quartet of four Kodiak’s moved slowly down the main walkway towards the Blood Chapel, all four machines painted a matt black, fitted with an array of dampening baffles and very highly tuned actuators to reduce their footfalls to gentle thumps, whilst giving their pilots extreme control and precision.  In their midst was the final member of their ‘Star’, a large hearse which also carried the Prince’s immediate family.

Soldiers and Warriors of the Dominion snapped to attention as the precession approached and then the drums started.  At first it was just a single drummer, beating out the slow funeral march of the four Kodiak’s escorting the Hearse.  Every fifty metres, on both sides of the procession and dressed in full dress uniform, a drummer stood at attention and added to the slowly swelling rumble that echoed over the silent procession.  The slow, sonorous beat echoed off the buildings, filling the air like the slow heartbeat of a great beast or Rasalhague herself as Khan and Prince Ragnar Magnusson was interred in the great and sombre Blood Chapel. 

Some civilians cried, others threw flowers whilst ranks of Warriors slammed their boots together, coming to attention and saluting as one.  Whilst mourners would not be allowed inside, they could approach the chapel and leave flowers or mementoes outside. 

The entire funeral was broadcast across the Dominion and select guests were invited to attend.  It was also decreed that the Dominion’s flag would fly at half-mast for a week until the new Prince was crowned and a new Khan and SaKhan elected.  To many of the Clan citizens it was a strange procedure to the native Rasalhagans thought it was only fitting.
With the death of so many Bloodnamed there was a flurry of Trials of Bloodright as well as hurried promotions as the Dominion tried to rebuild its near decapitated military.  Star Admiral Albert Tseng oversaw the Trials and reshuffling as young Warriors skipped several ranks.

The bombing had the added effect of killing many of the more experienced warriors, three Galaxy Commanders, were dead, a dozen Star Colonels and many lower ranks had been killed or badly injured in the blast, the source of which was still being investigated.

Whilst the public was angry at the loss of the Prince, the military was furious and was a serious effort to constrain the anger of those not at the blast to not lash out.  The Watch was heavily involved, scouring the blast site, watching the recordings of the explosion, trying to piece together what happened and what had occurred with Josh Snuka to see just what had happened.  His quarters were off limits to all but a few personnel under penalty of death without Trial and the Watch was going over Josh Snuka’s belongings with a fine-toothed comb. 

Now the Dominion had many ex Star Captains and Colonels being promoted up the ranks whilst Trials were placed for their former ranks as the Dominion sought to re-establish order in its sundered chain of Command. 

A state of alert was issued and entire Tourman was on 6 hours-notice to deploy and move.  The Solhama units and PGC’s were also put on high alert with newer Mech’s being issue from the war stockpiles of New Oslo and Bergen, whilst every visiting dropship was halted and boarded before being granted permission to dock or land.

Of course this had a knock-on effect with the economy and the Kroner fell sharply in value due to the slowing of trade.  The flood of refugees continued to stream in though from Vega and there were several sharp skirmishes in space between Dominion pickets and Combine dropships detached from DCMS JumpShips that had chased after refugees although the arrival of the Leviathan quickly put an end to any ‘rogue elements’ chasing refugees into Dominion space.

When the Dominion didn’t turn away the refugees fleeing the Vega Prefecture it seemed to open the floodgates as independent Jump and DropShip Captains scented profits to be made from the masses that just wanted to escape the growing chaos and unrest.

Whilst many Captains charged reasonable fees, some took all they could get with the fee for a ‘berth’ on some DropShips, usually just a space on the deck of an empty cargo bay, being ‘what do you have?’  But these Captains tended not to last long, one was killed by an angry crowd and another was replaced in a bloodless mutiny, still unscrupulous Captains exploited the desperate on more remote worlds.

The Dominion, for its part was caught without any preparation for the sudden surge of refugees that now poured across the borders.  With the attack on the Bloodnamed there was serious concerns that hostile agents might be hiding with the civilians in an attempt to insert themselves into the Dominion and ferment discontent. 

To counter this the Refugees were routed to Toffen and Pulkhua, both of little strategic value and with small populations.  Here the refugees would be sheltered, fed and checked for any sign of infiltration.  Whilst the camps were established but the number of refugees soon made these camps crowded whilst straining the resources being brought into them.


“And you’re live in three, two……”

“This is Kristen Yansdottir reporting for DNN from one of many refugee camps on Toffen that have been constructed to house civilians fleeing the chaos in the Vega Prefecture.”

The reporter for DNN (Dominion News Network) was dressed in what could be called field fatigues as she walked through the Camp.  The buildings were simple prefabricated ones made of tough plastics that kept the worst of any cold out whilst letting air flow through them.  There were tents set up that would serve as large communal eating areas as well as showers and toilet facilities.  The area was swarming with civilians, young, old, man and woman, mostly speaking Japanese and shying away when the cameras turned on them.

“As you can see this Camp is nearly full and it one of several on Toffen.  Elements of the local constabulary, many equipped with Constable Pacification Suits, have been brought in to make sure that there is no trouble in the camp whilst local administrators are trying to find quarters for everyone and keep families together.  I managed to speak with the head administrator of the Camp earlier today.”

The image changed to a rather spartan office, a man somewhere in his thirties sat behind a desk heaped with reports and data pads.

“Administrator Burke what would you say the main challenges here are?”

“At the moment our main problems are getting enough shelters built, whilst Toffen is temperate and we have not had much rain, the rains are coming.  The inhabitants of Goodwood City have also been kind enough to hold collections of food and blankets to be given over and I had the pleasure of seeing one of our Elementals hauling a big bag full of cuddly toys for the children here.”

The scene shifted to the outside of the Camp, it was surrounded by forests and there were no obvious fences, just a large ditch surrounding the camp.

“We were also able to speak with several Combine refugees, but at their own request we have had to conceal their faces and voices out of fear of ISF reprisal against family members still in the Combine.”

The camera view shifted to a darkened room with a figure with a blacked out face, although the person’s build was definitely feminine.

[Kristen Yansdottir] And how are you finding the facilities here?
[Kuritan Refugee] I will be honest, it is not home, but… our home is gone.
[KY] What happened to your home?
[KR] My husband was in the DCMS and when the bombs went off and food started becoming sparse the local commander, my husband’s commander ordered that food be given over to the soldiers by the Civilians as was our duty.  But they wanted more and….not just food…
[KY] I… see… and what of your husband?
[KR] He disagreed with what his commander was doing and was punished for it.  I and my children had to flee as I knew they would come for me next. But… my eldest… he was caught in a sweep and… recruited.  I…I don’t know if he’s… I pray for his safety every day.
[KY] And you say conditions here are not good?
[KR] As the Clanners say neg, but they are not bad.  Some young men tried to take more than their share, or asked for ‘favours’ off people in return for food.  I had the pleasure of watching some Dominion security troopers beat the crap out of them before executing the ringleader.  Since then no-one’s tried to take more than they should.
[KY] And do you want to return to the Combine after this is brought under control?”
[KR] …I …I have put much thought into it, but… I fled, my husband was executed my eldest taken to serve… no… there is nothing for me there.  I just hope there is something here for my children hope is all I have left.

“At this point we had to leave our interview as our time was up but it does paint a picture of what life is like here, and what life was like in Vega.  And now, back to Erik back in the studio.”

Outer System
New Samarkand, Tabayama Prefecture
Midway Military District, Draconis Combine
28th February 3110

     In a flash of light a solitary WarShip appears roughly 20 AU from the capital of the Draconis Combine.  The vessel does not move from its position instead it sits and watches the system a vengeful eye preparing for its moment.

Nice update.