Jaime Wolf's report to the Grand Council was a masterpiece of theatre. State by state he built up a picture of the Successor States' triumphs and defeats, not failing to detail the enormous numbers of regiments of BattleMechs, tanks and infantry that would need to be defeated. Each Successor Lord and their likely successors was analyzed, stressing the treachery of Liao, the factionalism of Marik, the blooming alliance between Davion and Steiner and most especially the perfidity of Kurita.
Ulric Kerensky, the young Khan of the Wolf Clan knew that the presence of the Dragoons was contrary to the last orders of Kerlin Ward but could not afford to admit that his predecessor had given orders that conflicted with those of the Grand Council. He had to sit quietly as Jaime described the wealth of worlds that the Dragoons had fought across, the vast campaigns of the Fourth Succession War and the vices of the Great Houses: calculatedly inspiring avarice, envy and contempt in the assembled Khans.
The common thread through all of this were the Dragoons. Every battle was displayed, culminating in the terrible clash of arms on Crossing when the Dragoons, outnumbered four to one, had fought for days, the survivors left to sleep exhausted on the field of victory, guarded only by Jaime's battered Archer. he full record was displayed for the Clan Councils of almost every clan and it was clear to all of them that this had been an epic campaign. While Ulric schemed in the Grand Council chamber, Conal Ward was speaking eloquently to his fellow bloodnamed, building up Jaime as an example of every virtue that Clan Wolf prized.
When the long recitation was done, saKhan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon moved that the Grand Council complete the promise that they had made so many years before be upheld: that Jaime Wolf be granted a bloodname for him and his heirs. With apparent humility, Jaime offered Bloodhouse Vickers the genetic heritage of his brother Joshua to be held jointly by the two bloodnames, in memory of the brothers' Warrior father, Jon Vickers. The Vickers accepted the offer and in return offered prime stock from their own reserves to be used in creating the first sibkos of the Bloodname Wolf.
Before the Grand Council could take a recess, Khan Royce Chapman of Clan Steel Viper asked the question that was on everyone's mind: "The invasion of the Inner Sphere is possible, quaiff?"
Jaime Wolf bowed his head and unleashed Ulric's nightmare. "An invasion can succeed."
The following morning the first order of business was obvious: Khan Lincoln Osis called for the Grand Council to vote on whether Jaime Wolf should be ordered to draw up a plan to invade the Inner Sphere for consideration. While in theory the Council could then reject the plan, everyone knew that by that point the momentum would be almost irresistable.
The Crusaders were intent on minimising debate and pressed for an immediate vote. Naturally, the Smoke Jaguars voted first and in favour, followed by the Jade Falcons. The Coyotes, firm Wardens, opposed it of course but the Ghost Bears were similarly in favour. Neither Blood Spirit Khan had attended (due to their extreme isolation they were actually oblivious, having not yet learned of the Dragoons' return, and having ignored the summons to the Grand Council as they had so often before).
The Star Adders had supported the Dragoon Compromise and been planning ever since how to carry out the invasion so it was no surprise that they were eager to hear Jaime's plans. Balancing them, the Cloud Cobras although wild cards due to divisions within their Clan had elected Warden Khans. The Goliath Scorpions followed suit, although they had supported the Dragoons now their Khans decided for whatever reason that they would not back an invasion.
The next to vote were the Steel Vipers, Hells Horses and Snow Ravens. To the surprise of the Wardens both the moderate Vipers and Ravens voted to invade, feeling that now that information had been gathered it would be practical to do so. The Hells Horses, strong Crusaders, were also in favour. With fourteen Khans against only six opposed, Ulric realised that he would potentially be facing a difficult Trial of Refusal unless most of the remaining Khans were willing to support him.
Typically the Fire Mandrill Khans disagreed and split their votes. The Nova Cats had previously pledged support to Ulric on the grounds of dreams of Wolves howling triumphantly, but with Jaime Wolf's report they now reversed course and secured a majority in favour of the plan. Clan Burrock then voted against the plan despite their Crusader leanings, reckoning that they were not undermining their actual interests but could look to Ulric for gratitude at reducing the odds against him. This was slapped in the face when Ulric's own saKhan Jenna Vickers elected to support Jaime Wolf.
With the Diamond Sharks and Ice Hellions voting in favour of planning an Invasion, the vote ended with a clear majority of twenty-two out of thirty-four Khans. Ulric predictably called for a Trial of Refusal, not unreasonably hoping that with odds of only 2-1 now, bidding would reduce this opposition to something manageable. However the Crusaders had known that this was coming and when Ulric named the Third Battle Cluster to carry out the Trial only a single bid was made to oppose them.
Jaime Wolf bid his own Wolf Dragoons and the 4th Striker Cluster from Conal Ward's Delta Galaxy.
The trial would be a civil war within Clan Wolf.
