AU: The letter from Juliette Von Strang was written by Gladiusone of Spacebattles.com. I really want to take this time to give him and Yellowhammer a shoutout as they have helped to make Clover Spear what it is.
“..Jade Falcon warriors have fought poorly in many circumstances and our warriors said that dezgra bandits were better in some cases. I have had to discipline more than few under my command who suggested that we should not have bothered to take bondsmen. While I tend to agree privately, they are still misguided trothkin, even if they are solahma by anyone’s standard, and in some way, they can still benefit the Clan. But yes, the state of their garrisons was pitiful to say the least, not to mention of their lower castes. Both Clans are on the verge of collapse in the Inner Sphere. Khans Kerensky and Ward were prescient in acting now before the 3rd wave of the Federated Commonwealth resumes.â€
Excerpt from the unpublished diary of Star Commander Anton Fetladral, 5th Wolf Guards Striker Cluster, dated November 9th, 3056
Results of the Clan Wolf “Land Grabâ€
October 3056
Quarell
Attacking Forces: 13th Wolf Guards
Defending Forces: 1st Falcon Velites
Results: The First Falcon Velites met the 13th on a series of rolling plains outside the planetary capitol of Hedemarr. The fight was short and brutal, with Kerensky leading a brutal attack on the Falcon left flank that buckled but did not break the Falcon line. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage, as the Falcons were slightly outgunned by the Wolves, they were more skilled, and as such, neither side could gain a ready advantage. Kerensky came close to breaking her bid and calling down the 24th Wolf Rangers, but after two days of inconclusive fighting, the commander of the 1st Falcon Velites, Star Colonel Serendice Helmer asked for a duel with Kerensky to decide the fate of the planet. Kerensky took a Mad Dog to face Prentice in his Thor. At first, it looked as if Prentice might win the duel, as he landed a couple of lucky SRM hits to the head of Kerensky’s ‘Mech, but Kerensky cored his right torso with a pair of Large Laser hits from the rear, and then put two racks of LRMs into the legs of his ‘Mech, destroying several actuators in the right leg, and toppling Helmer’s Thor. Kerensky made Helmer her bondsman, and then took the rest of the 1st as isorla.
November 3056
Toland
Attacking Forces: 37th Striker Cluster
Defending Forces: 5th Talon
Results: The 5th Talon did not respond to the batchall of the 37th’s commander, and thus, he grounded with his entire cluster, expecting the worst. He was not met with resistance initially, but the 5th massed for an all-or-nothing assault on the 37th’s dropships and landing zone. It was a 12-hour desperate fight on the part of the 37th to stop the enraged Falcons from overrunning the LZ. Little observance of the Honor Road was in evidence on either side and by the time the smoke had cleared, the 37th had taken 20% casualties, but the 5th was barely a half-dozen confused and wounded bondsmen whom were only taken after the intervention on their behalf of the commander of the 37th.
Steelton
Attacking Forces: 5th Wolf Guards Striker Cluster
Defending Forces: 5th Provisional Garrison Cluster
Results: Considered by Clan Jade Falcon to be one of their worst units, and little more than solahma trash, it was little surprise that they did not fight very hard to keep the 5th Wolf Guards Striker Cluster, with many members of the unit preferring to become bondsmen to Clan Wolf after desultory duels that were little more than surrenders en masse.
Maxie’s Planet
Attacking Forces: 11th Battle Cluster, 24th Wolf Rangers
Defending Forces: 8th Talon Cluster
Results: Maxie’s Planet was the closest the Wolves came to a disaster during the Land Grab. The Wolf Clan Watch missed the fact that the 8th Talon Cluster was being upgraded to a frontline cluster and had had a recent draft of experienced trueborns arrive to whip the unit into shape. Their lessons soon proved to be just in the nick of time, as the 11th soon arrived to bid for control of the planet. The 8th honored the 11th’s batchall, and the 8th gave them a good fight, forcing the 11th to break their bid twice, and then for good measure, call in the 24th Wolf Rangers, who by force of numbers, managed to finally force out of the planetary capital and back towards their dropships. The 8th took the hint and left hours later, bound for Trell I. The commander of the 11th was killed by a subordinate in a Trial of Position within hours of the departure of the 8th Talon Cluster.
Romulus
Attacking Forces: 4th Striker Cluster
Defending Forces: 7th Provisional Garrison Cluster
Results: The 7th was made up almost exclusively of older trueborns whom had been declared solahma and were looking for an honorable end. They answered the call of the 4th, demanding a series of duels to the death to decide who got the planet. Honors were about even after the duels were fought, but the Wolves managed to win two more duels than the Falcons, and under the terms of the deal, the 7th left for Evcilier two days after the last duel was fought.
Both Seiduts and Zoetermeer fell without a shot, as the Falcon sponsored militias surrendered without issue to the Wolves en masse.
Grand Hall of Castle Davion
New Avalon
Federated Commonwealth
December 9th, 3056
“..how many can say they had a life well lived? I am happy to say; my parents didn’t have that problem. I’d like to think that’s why we loved them so much for it. Many will remember my father for the wars he started, and my mother for the wars she helped prevent. I just remember them as my Mom and Dad, and they were great parents, as well as leaders, and I hope, no, I pray I am half the parent they were when the time comes. â€
From the eulogy delivered by Katherine Steiner Davion at the state funeral for Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner Davion, December 9th, 3056
Katherine surveyed the wake for her parents. The ballroom was packed, and yet, it seemed few were willing to approach Katherine, except to say some whispered condolences, Galen was running interference for me today. God I need it after all that. It seemed all New Avalon had turned out for the state funeral, led by a single Albion cadet in full mess dress, carrying her father’s graduation sword on a white satin pillow with the Federated Commonwealth sigil, marching slowly and alone the length of Avalon Boulevard to the Peace Park, where both had said they had often wanted to be buried, overlooking the Silver Eagle memorial.
They’d been followed by a riderless horse, led by another Albion cadet, the horse had reversed boots in the stirrups, the clops of the horse on the pavement rang throughout the silent city, silent except for a wail or a sob. Then came a pair of horsedrawn herses, each with a single black coffin, with the Federated Commonwealth seal inlaid into the coffin. They were made of hardwoods from Tharkad for her mother, and New Avalon for her father. Thankfully, the laying in state was closed casket, I am not sure I would want to remember my parents like that. Behind the herses marched Katherine, Galen, Ardan Sortek, and Quintus Allard, as well as the rest of Katherine’s siblings. Yvonne was trying, and failing to hide her tears, but the rest managed, if only by force of will, their manner somber. Ardan and Galen wore full mess dress, their medals and brass gleaming in the winter day’s sun. Katherine wore a black dress but did not wear a veil. I want them to see my pain, to know I loved my parents, my family. How do I tell them without losing it?
Behind the family and close friends marched an entire company of infantry from the Davion Heavy Guards. Mechs from all the units of the New Avalon garrison lined the route. Half of them had been repainted in the Steiner Royal Guards scheme. All the infantry was in full dress uniform and everything gleamed in the sunlight. They marched perfectly in step, colors lined in black, and black armbands on every soldier’s left sleeve.
A single drummer, this time an Albion student from the Commonwealth, she had been told, beat a single steady somber beat on a military drum. The echo of the drum filled the streets. Behind her, marched the rest of the friends, well-wishers, and heads of state that were at the funeral.
The mood of the people was a mix of sorrow, and anger. Anger at the Capellans, who had been the cause of this funeral, and so, so many others on New Avalon, and elsewhere. Katherine had already attended funerals for at least three Avalon City police officers who had been killed trying to rescue people after the blast. They’d been caught in a collapse of rubble and crushed. They died trying to save people, my people. Their sovereign has a duty to be there. Many were dressed in black, with veterans saluting as the caskets passed. Some held hand written signs that read “God Bless You Hanse and Melissa†and “We’ll Miss You Bothâ€. Katherine felt a stab of pain at every one. Thank you, but seeing that, it just makes me want to bawl. How did my parents lead these people so well? And when will they figure out what a damned fake I am? she remembered thinking.
The service at the Grand Cathedral had been elaborate, but tasteful. Her parents staff, as their last act before handing in their resignations pro-forma (which Katherine had rejected out of hand), had done a marvelous job of planning the funeral. Katherine still had to approve everything, but she’d been surprised how little of her time the staff had taken up with the details of the funeral. Mom and Dad was beloved by them too. I really should say something to them. Ran Felsner, Ardan Sortek, Galen, James Sandoval, and a pair of very large soldiers from the Heavy Guards acted as pallbearers for her father. Her mother had Misha Auburn, her brothers Peter and Arthur, and some Lyran Guardsmen from the 10th Lyran Guards standing in for Victor. Please God, if you’re listening? Don’t let us have to have one for Victor, her mind had echoed.
The service had been full of the usual pomp and circumstance, with the Pope of the New Avalon Catholic Church presiding, but with some allowances made for Melissa’s Lutheran faith. The Pope had talked of her father’s faith. Of how he and her father had spoken of both’s love of the Unfinished Book and how Hanse, for all his roguish nature, and his being a ‘Mechwarrior, had become a true father, husband, and leader of his people. He spoke of his mother and told a story of how she had offered to convert to the New Avalon Church, but that both Hanse and the Pope had talked her out of it, admittedly, as much for political reasons, as both men were believers in the Unfinished Book, and felt such a thing was anathema to its tenets.
Then began the eulogies. Ran Felsner went first, he spoke of meeting Hanse for the first time as a Major General in 3010, how even with all his accomplishments, he was still as nervous as a firstie at NAIS. Hanse’s advice? “Fake it till you make it, Ran, and knowing you, that won’t be long.†Ran spoke of how he, Ardan Sortek, and Hanse would often have drinks in Hanse’s drawing room in the palace after working hours, trying to solve the problems of the Inner Sphere..and often getting fairly tipsy, but occasionally getting a good idea out of it. He spoke of Melissa, and how they first met at the wedding, and how she seemed quiet and bookish, but had a spine of steel, and a heart of gold, and how it was evident in her children.
Ardan Sortek spoke of knowing Hanse as a boy, and as a younger man, he asked Melissa to forgive him those trespasses, and to know, she was the best wife and mother Hanse could have asked for. He laughed when he remembered a few things from Hanse’s bachelor party that he swore he would tell no one until after Hanse and Melissa had passed and the kids were old enough to understand. They weren’t particularly ribald, more sophomoric hijinks that Katherine could never picture her father having a hand in, or at least the Hanse Davion she knew. Filling Myndo Waterly’s swimming pool on Hilton Head with a mix of Jello and lunchmeat? Inspired Dad, inspired. I do wonder what Mom thought when she found out just how close you guys came to order MIIO to do it!
Then it came to be Katherine’s turn. She’d written and re-written her eulogy a dozen time the night before. She still wasn’t happy with it. It was some proforma thing that the Press Office had cleared, and it well, wasn’t her. But she didn’t have the luxury of being her. Or at least she didn’t think so, till she looked over at Galen once she reached the lectern, and he smiled weakly, and mouthed “be yourself.â€
Katherine nodded, and tossed away the speech, much to the gasps of the crowd. “That’s better. Apologies to my speechwriting staff. I know you guys work hard, but this was my Mom and Dad. And well, I am going to talk about them as my Mom and Dad, not great personages of history. At least, not yet. Everyone OK with that?â€
The cathedral was silent as a tomb
Katherine cleared her throat, and sniffled a bit, holding back tears. “My Mom and Dad were wonderful people. They raised five kids to inherit one of the toughest family businesses in the Inner Sphere. They did it with grace, humility, and still managed to find time for each other even with the demands of state and us five pains in the rear, and yeah, we were hellions at times.†That got a chuckle from the crowd.
“Mom was brave beyond words sometimes. She knew the lives we would lead, lives we did not choose, and lives some of us aren’t sure we wanted. But she showed us that those lives were accidents of birth, and those lives didn’t make us better, or superior. I remember once, I was going through a bratty phase when I was 7, and I tripped one of the maids in the palace just to do it. Poor woman hurt herself badly with a knee injury. I thought it funny. It wasn’t, and Mom made sure I knew that. She gave me a hiding I deserved, and I never thanked her for it, because I deserved it…and I needed it. Well, I am thanking you now. Thank You, Mom. You made me a woman. A woman who mourns her mother as the strong, wonderful mother and ruler she was.â€
She remembered smiling weakly as she thought of her father “My father. If ever there was a roguish influence in my life, it was him. Daddy, and yes, to me, he will always be Daddy, well, for all the tough Mechwarrior exterior, was a ball of mush when it came to his daughters. I will never forget how he snuck out of the palace one Christmas to buy us the “it toy†that year. He did it himself with a small security detail, and a elaborate disguise. I am happy to say; Yvonne and I had that toy under the tree! He doted on us perhaps too much, but he showed me, and Yvonne never settle for a man who won’t treat you like he did. I am glad to say, I found him Daddy!â€
“I know we can all ask; how many can say they had a life well lived? I am happy to say; my parents didn’t have that problem. I’d like to think that’s why we loved them so much for it. Many will remember my father for the wars he started, and my mother for the wars she helped prevent. I just remember them as my Mom and Dad, and they were great parents, as well as leaders, and I hope, no, I pray I am half the parent they were when the time comes.â€
The cathedral filled with applause.
The rest of the service had been a blur, the graveside service, the honors rendered, though the young Leftenant who had handed her the flags for her parents on “behalf of a grateful Commonwealth†had tracks of tears running down his face and had apologized for it. Katherine smiled and whispered “It’s alright, Leftenant, we just buried the soul of the Commonwealth today. I think tears are the order of the day.â€
And now, there came the wake. “Galen, dear, thanks for running interference.â€
Galen smiled, “Hon, I know you have to greet some of these people, but it it wrong if I get to say “not now?â€
Katherine shook her head “I get it, with Omi reading to Victor now, I kinda want some alone time with you after all this. Been trying not to lose it all day, and well, I need to.â€
“Me too, Katherine, me too,†as Galen took her hand gently in his.
Later that evening
Katherine surveyed the roomful of cards and flowers that filled the private sitting room of her mother. I really don't know what the hell I am going to do with this place? She wanted to do something other than a stuffy old granite memorial to her parents. Something alive, something that continues their legacy. If I do anything with my time here, it's that. She surveyed the heaps of cards, well wishes, and condolences. One in particular, marked with the unique sigil of the Von Strang family caught her eye. That crazy pirate even sent condolences? Oh, this I gotta read. She grabbed a letter opener off of a nearby table, and opened the black and silver envelope deftly in a single motion, and carefully removed the finely weighted paper. It was high quality, with the note penned with what could only be a high quality pen. Jeez, that Von Strang woman went all out.
29 October, 3056
Princess,
We have not met, but I spent several days negotiating with your mother. She was a brilliant, honest and powerful woman, and the Inner Sphere is a lesser place without her. As someone who has also lost a parent to murderous barbarians, you have my most serious condolences.
I never had a chance to meet either your father or brother, but your fathers reputation for war and politics echoed even to my fathers halls as I grew, and your brothers valour against the Clans is unquestioned. Such strength is not easily conquered: he will recover to rain hellfire down upon the spawn of Hazen again, I am certain.
My Legion is reforming on Sudeten, preparing to resume the drive to rid your worlds of the Tanker plague, and then to hound them through the Periphery until they are driven back to their cold, barren holds in the deepest black. This is accomplished through the will of your mother, the wit of your father and the prowess of your brother. You are of that same stock: you will not fail them, or your people.
Perhaps I should not have written thusly: I do so only with the recommendation of your cousin, Colonel Morgan Kell, whom I count as both mentor and friend. Yet I felt compelled to speak, as one ruler, one orphan, one woman, one seeker of vengeance to another: you will prevail.
I saw the video of Kali Laois death: it is a good start. You are doing well ... for a Spheroid.
Sincerely,
Colonel the Baroness Juliette von Strang, Sudeten.
Secure wing of New Avalon General Hospital
New Avalon
Federated Commonwealth
December 9th, 3056
“I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.†Omi Kurita smiled as she read the passage in Moby Dick. What a very Kurita statement, for such a Gaijin? Did Hohiro or Minoru go to their end laughing? Did Father? I do not know whether I wish they did..or did not. And as such, is me wishing they had not made their sacrifices, that I still had them here, does that stain the honor of what they did?
Omi’s sleep had been troubled of late with these questions and more. She had attended the funeral for Victor’s parents in disguise, it was thought best by both Shin Yodama, as well as the head of Katherine’s security detail. They had made up a fictional identity as a minor noblewoman from Ozawa who had come to pay her respects, as well as get her title of nobility confirmed at the hand of the Archon-Princess herself.
The funeral had been very unlike Combine affairs, more a celebration of life of the deceased, rather than a focus on the afterlife. She’d come to appreciate it, and it made her think about her future with Victor. I love him, and there really is no other. If what I believe is true, then if he does not return from his sojurn in the land of the dead, then I shall join him there. Lady Fiona has gone mad with everyone trying to restrain her from doing so with Hohiro. I will not share that fate.
Omi put the book down and smiled at Victor, he looked better than he had when the doctors briefed her as to his condition. Most of the smaller bandages were gone, and he was off the ventilator, she helped the nursing staff do what they could for him, to Omi, nobility did not preclude hard work.
She heard a gasping noise...ie, could it be? No, the doctors said he was probably not going to come out of his coma anytime soon! She heard it again. It was clearly coming from Victor. He had made random noises before, and his eyes opened and closed randomly, but there was no spark, no consciousness behind them. But this time..the eyes opened as gummy slits, and the rasp was making a sound, Omi dropped the book in shock, throwing the chair aside, and rushing to his bedside. She smiled and leaned over his head.
Victor rasped “My love, what are you doing here?â€
Omi lunged for the call button, tears and giggles of joy warring as her prayers had been answered.
