[Vehrec]

It's described as 'an elemental opened a valve' so no, it's not multiple holes in every tank as if they had been ventilated by machine-gun fire and that doesn't deal with the fact that hydrogen is lighter than air unlike petrochemical fumes so it goes STRAIGHT UP.  If the tanks have been sufficently perforated to leak enough hydrogen to air to burn explosively at ground level, then they're more hole than tank.

[DefianceIndustriesFTW]

It's described as 'an elemental opened a valve' so no, it's not multiple holes in every tank as if they had been ventilated by machine-gun fire and that doesn't deal with the fact that hydrogen is lighter than air unlike petrochemical fumes so it goes STRAIGHT UP.  If the tanks have been sufficently perforated to leak enough hydrogen to air to burn explosively at ground level, then they're more hole than tank.

Oh well, chalk it up to the armor vampires and fusion wizards.

[Maingunnery]

Just assume a liquid hydrogen leak in a wide sublevel.

[DefianceIndustriesFTW]

Just assume a liquid hydrogen leak in a wide sublevel.

Oh boy, exploding dirt!

[drakensis]

Imperial Palace Museum, Canada
North America, Terra
17 May 3046

Thomas Hogarth was not without courage. His Atlas strode forward with immense confidence, carrying more armor than anything Hilda Delf had ever seen. He was still using the dangerously unstable myomers that gave extraordinary carrying power. The Clans, as far as anyone could find out, hadn't bothered to reverse-engineer the gas that the AFFS had famously used to destroy the Capellan's last roll of the dice.

Fire crashed against the Atlas, something that Hilda was entirely happy to accept as the price of those shots not slamming into other, lighter 'mechs as they encircled the ancient fortifications.

It was ironic that the last Clan task force had ended up here. Stefan Amaris had been captured here almost two hundred and seventy years ago, the palatial residence he'd 'inherited' from Richard Cameron when he declared himself ruler of the Star League.

If Hilda remembered correctly, one of the SLDF generals had smashed the defenses open with an Atlas before Aleksandr Kerensky kicked down the palace's own gates with his Orion. Hogarth seemed eager to recreate the events, although massive plates of armor were shattering as he smashed one Clan omnimech after another with his guns

Hilda had placed the Leutnant-Colonel on the join of her formation to the Dragoons so as Hogarth's charge created a wedge into the Clans' forces, one side was made up of mercenaries and the other of Fed-Com RCT 'mechs.

The Clans had intermingled. The long march northwards, ahead of pursuit, had broken apart clusters, and even stars. Ice Hellions made up the bulk of the skirmishers, but did so alongside Coyotes and Diamond Sharks. They were outnumbered, but they had the high ground provided by the walls and berms built around what was now a museum about the Inner Sphere's most notorious tyrant.

There had not been a Dervish readily available. Production continued on New Avalon, but shipping one all the way to Inarcs would have made no sense, so Hilda had laid claim to an old Archer that had no upgrades, a good excuse to fight from behind the first ranks.

She would have appreciated the larger missile launchers but someone had butchered the old 'mech at some point, scaling back the armament to the same LRM capacity as her old Dervish and meddling with the secondary weapons in order to free up space for a bulky autocannon clutched in one fist.

"Keep pushing!" Hilda barked as the last of her LRM bins clicked dry, the contents filling launch tubes. She emptied those tubes, expending the last of her missiles in an opening salvo at something called a Coyotl - Blake alone knew what that might be! - and strode closer as the bays over her missile tubes snapped closed.

The Coyotl shrugged off the impacts of the LRMs, despite existing damage, and it marked her as its target. The autocannon built into its right arm spat tracer fire and the high-pitched whine of near misses was almost, but not quite, drowned out by the cracks as depleted uranium shells bit away at armor across one shoulder and then the glacis up above and behind Hilda's cockpit hatch.

In return, the general opened up with her own autocannon. It did less damage that quick-firing Clan model but there was a hefty difference in armor carried between the two and Hilda hadn't spared gunnery drills. Her shots crashed against the left arm and shaved away all remaining protection, biting into the myomers beneath.

The Clanner added laser and SRM fire to the engagement as range dropped. Hilda hunched the Archer over slightly, to soak up the damage. The medium laser to the side of her cockpit missed as a result, but it had been anemic to begin with. The autocannon was her real option, and her thicker armor was her main edge. An edge she knew wasn't going to last long even if most of the Coyote's autocannon fire missed this time.

There was a cry on the tactical channel. Hilda raked the Coyotl again and it used the damaged limb to soak up the shots, which wrecked the 'mech's left arm but didn't really change the situation.

Looking around, she saw that Hogarth's Atlas had fallen at last. A true rival - a Warhawk in Diamond Shark colors - had stepped up and its four ER PPCs had finished off the armor worn down by at least five Clan 'mechs and savaged the internals of the mighty assault 'mech. Reflexively, Hilda checked for an ejection seat and saw Hogarth's transponder coming back strong. Annoying as the man was, she was glad he'd survived - his showboating had been more than useful here, and he'd taken out several omnimechs before falling as well as drawing so much fire that the rest of her force was relatively lightly damaged.

"Is that your best?" a crisp voice bellowed out over the battlefield, the voice coming from the Warhawk.

Was that idiot showboating too? Hilda wondered as she exchanged shots again with Coyotl. Did the Clans have their own Hogarth?

A black Warhammer stepped in from the forward ranks of the Dragoons. "Nah," a very familiar voice replied. "He was what you might call the warm-up act." The Dragoon version of the Warhammer had the traditional profile, though it was apparently heavier than standard. Hilda would have known without recognising the voice that it was Natasha piloting: only she could make an assault 'mech strut.

This time the Clan autocannon stripped armor across both the Archer's shins, but Hilda managed to punch her own shells into the angular torso low on the right side, coming closer to the linkages to the weapon pod that replaced anything resembling an articulated limb. Her laser missed again, and she'd have been tempted to blame the awkward positioning except she'd hit perfectly well in training.

"So who are you?" Natasha asked, even as her PPCs flashed and sent charged particles across to smash into the Warhawk, which returned fire only with one shot from each arm, the mechwarrior inside apparently needing to cool after the massed barrage that had finished Hogarth. "I fought Diamond Sharks before, but I don't remember them being so pathetic they needed seven of them to bring down one loudmouth."

"None of my Clan have crossed paths with the Dragoons since our return," the man replied, side-stepping and avoiding one of Natasha's shots. "You must be one of the original generation of your force?"

"We have a savant here!" Natasha taunted. "Or is a Merchant riding along to think for you?"

The Coyotl rattled Hilda around, one of the SRMs finding her cockpit. However, this time her medium laser scored a hit and it was right where she needed it, breaching the shoulder supporting the autocannon. The limb wasn't severed completely, but there was no further stream of shells and that was the main point even if her autocannon had missed when the Coyotl twisted aside in response to the laser's damage.

The Diamond Shark roared, "I am the ilKhan of the Clans!"

With a moment to herself, Hilda stepped the Archer back - which left her opponent missing, having expected her to continue to close. "Leave the ilKhan to Natasha," she ordered.

"Hildy! You do love me!"

"I just hope he rids me of you," the general replied over the tactical channel, while at the same time, the Diamond Shark demanded:

"Who is Hildy?"

Natasha did not reply, unless opening up with both ER PPCs, a pair of lasers and her SRMs counted as a reply. Which, after a fashion, it was.

Hilda fired again at the Coyotl. It still had a laser and SRMs. That still made it a threat. The mechwarrior tried to hunch it behind the berm to shelter, but it kept its weapons clear to shoot. That left enough exposed for her autocannon to break through protection over the reactor. The thermal bloom wasn't the type that was fatal...

Back on Marduk, she'd have called a 'mech glowing up like that on infra-red dead. If her Archer took that sort of hit she would be looking for cover she could shut down behind. But that, in frontline service, was unusual. Most 'mechs had freezers now. The Coyotl did because its temperature dropped again before she could fire again. Not back to normal, but low enough to keep fighting - at least with the weapons it had left.

With more 'mechs bulling their way up through the fortifications, there were paths to get past the duel between Natasha and - Hawker? Was that the ilKhan's name? Hilda had heard the name but right now she could not remember.

The next exchange of fire saw the Clan laser punch through the armor over the left-side missile launcher. If Hilda had had missiles left, she'd have worried. At almost the same moment her autocannon ate through the gyro. She saw the Coyotl reel wildly and then the 'mech's canopy burst open and the mechwarrior inside was thrown clear of it in the ejection seat.

That created more room for 'mechs to pour through. Hilda didn't try, her Archer had taken a beating already, and she had to oversee the breakthrough. A whole lance of Commandos that had been waiting until they could survive the fury of the assault darted past her, using firepower impressive for their size on 'mechs already battered. The 'mechs were from the factory on Inarcs and had twice the weapons of the Lyran design.

Hilda kept one eye on the tactical display, seeing markers for 'mechs and elementals vanish as the Third Federated Commonwealth RCT 'mechs swept in. As the tank regiments encircled the last redoubt of Amaris and now the last redoubt of the invading Clans. As Landsknechts began to check buildings one room at a time.

Her other eye was watching Natasha and the ilKhan duel.

She had seen Natasha fight before and the only time she'd ever seen the woman disadvantaged had been that one mechwarrior on Marduk. It wasn't something Hilda liked to admit, but Natasha was incredibly skilled. Some of that was talent, but it was also the drive to improve.

In her heart, Hilda was sure the Black Widow would have destroyed the DCMS mechwarrior on Marduk if she fought her now, even without the advantages of her current Warhammer.

The ilKhan was also impressive. The general hoped very much she wouldn't have to fight him. He evaded Natasha's ER PPC shots about as often as she avoided his own. They had to be reading each other's moves, because at this range the flight time of the particle bolts was negligible.

Of course, he had twice as many ER PPCs as Natasha but his heatsinks weren't able to manage them, because he was cycling through them on a two-three pattern, which was smart. After all - if...

Hilda pulled up a report because now this was bugging her. Aha, she'd been right about the name.

If Ian Hawker's omnimech shut down or even significantly slowed down due to overheating, Natasha would tear him apart rather than trading PPC shots more or less equally.

Of course, the Black Widow wasn't restricting herself to the pair of ER PPCs. She was also making judicious use of lasers and SRMs as well and she was just as deadly accurate with them as might be expected. As Hilda watched, Hawker evaded both of Natasha's PPCs only for a pair of lasers to scrape armor away from his right arm. Damage had already built up and from the sparks, one of the PPCs in that arm must be out of action - something that had no immediate benefit since he couldn't use all four right away.

Natasha had also twisted aside to avoid Hawker's shots and he seemed to realize that the current exchange of shots was not in his benefit. He couldn't pull back - the two 'mechs were of a similar speed - and there was no one to cover him. The resistance around the Imperial Palace Museum was fading fast. And his only other weapon, the LRM launcher above the left shoulder, was probably out of missiles because he hadn't used it once.

Hilda saw a fractional hesitation in Hawker's shots and wasn't sure of the cause, but Natasha must have because she suddenly swept one arm up and all three of the Diamond Shark's shots hit her Warhammer's right arm, severing it above the elbow.

That concentration of fire was either unusually lucky or the result of sophisticated targeting systems. Perhaps both.

Despite losing her 'mech's right arm ER PPC, Natasha simply replied with her full armament and she too hit with unusual concentration of fire. Her remaining PPC might have shattered armor across the left hip of the Warhawk, but all five of her lasers seared directly into the left torso and ripped away everything in their path. For an instant that side of the omnimech looked like it might survive but then her six SRMs smashed into the Warhawk and at least some found the wound carved away.

Hawker's Warhawk stumbled as the left arm fell away. The loss of two-thirds of his remaining armament mattered much less than the shifting weight.

It took time for the gyro to adjust. It took time for even the best mechwarrior to correct.

IlKhan Ian Hawker was very very good, but he was up against Natasha Kerensky and the split second was long enough for her to fire again before he could bring his last weapon back to bear on her.

Hilda wouldn't have been surprised if Natasha played with him, took off the other arm perhaps? But no, she went right, taking advantage of the damaged left side to exploit the lack of armor.

Her second alpha strike didn't cause the Warhammer's heat to surge past normal capacity. Hilda noticed that briefly before the effects on the Warhawk became apparent. The reactor shielding was shredded and air rushed in. Automated systems scrammed the reactor but they couldn't vent the heat fast enough as air rushed in and superheated, expanding faster than it could escape again.

The Warhawk vanished briefly in a silvery-blue flash before what remained of it crashed to the ground in the middle of failure.

Glancing up, Hilda saw no ejection seat or parachute. "He didn't punch out?"

"Probably disabled it," Natasha said disinterestedly. "Some people's egos are too large."

"I'm disappointed," the general replied. "I hoped the ilKhan would at least be good enough to puncture your ego."

The Clan warrior laughed. "Hildy! No one is that good!"

"Tasha."

"Yes?"

Hilda looked around. "I think the war is over."

Natasha's Warhammer twisted, scanning the battlefield. Then there was a scream of despair that warmed Hilda's cold, twisted heart just a little.

On * Our * Wedding * Day

Tikograd, Tikonov
Tikonov Republic, Lyran Commonwealth
20 May 3046

Melissa Steiner-Davion relaxed against the pillows of the couch in her private quarters. She'd been a good girl, she'd done all her paperwork and found something that would keep Hanse distracted for hours (the local university was hosting a debate about renaissance italian poetry). So she had the evening to herself: just her, a box of sinfully rich chocolates and recordings of a holo-drama that she'd only watched half of.

"If anyone interrupts me now," she said to herself, making a throat-slitting gesture.

No one tried to open the door, so she shifted the pillows a bit more and picked up the remote for the holo projector.

Right as she hit play, there was a ping from her comm.

"I don't believe this!" She almost threw the remote but restrained herself and stopped the recording before picking up the comm. "Interrupting me right now is practically a capital offense. Who is it?"

"I'm sorry, Archon," her security chief reported. "It's Alex Mallory from the Intelligence Secretariat."

Damn, she actually liked Alex. And he probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't actually important. Not that she'd have actually executed some minor functionary who interrupted her for some triviality, but she had some pithy phrases she'd banked up for some deserving snot's performance review. "Send him in."

Melissa considered sitting up, and perhaps even putting her shoes back on but decided it wasn't worth it. She was dressed decently and she was fairly sure that the man had seen worse than her bare feet. He'd infiltrated the Maskirova, for god's sake!

"Archon," the spy said politely, as he entered the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt your private time, but you did give orders not to disturb the First Prince for anything that wasn't life threatening tonight."

She had given those orders, she reflected. Hanse needed his own time off, no matter what he thought. So it was her own fault, as well as her responsibility. "Fair enough, Alex. I suppose that excuses you for disturbing my first evening off this month. What's the crisis?"

"It's not exactly a crisis," Alex admitted, taking out a noteputer. "But formal notification has arrived from Terra. Colonel Wolf and Primus Everson have issued a formal statement that the fighting is over and other than security sweeps for stray warriors trying to go to ground, the Clans have been defeated on Terra." He swiped the screen. "And news of ilKhan Hawker's demise appears to have reached the other Clans. Khan Kufahl of the Coyotes and Khan Labov of the Diamond Sharks have sent messages expressing an interest in reaching agreements similar to those we have with other Clans."

Melissa rubbed her forehead and then pushed herself up. Alex extended his free hand to help her to her feet and then passed her the noteputer so she could see the messages for herself.

"That just leaves the Ice Hellions," the Archon mused as she read the diplomatic messages, which were almost unnaturally direct by the standards she'd grown up with. "What do we have on their status?"

He cupped his chin for a moment and then, without requesting access to any notes that he might have had with him, told her: "We haven't been able to verify yet if Khan Tyler is among the casualties on Terra, but it seems extremely likely. The elements of the ISF willing to talk to us claim that no one has seen frontline Ice Hellion forces on their occupied worlds." He paused and then frowned. "There are indications of Coyote and Shark movements near that region, if the Hellions stripped themselves to the point that the other Clans are taking advantage...?"

"Another absorption situation?" Melissa asked.

"Not impossible," he admitted.

Melissa passed him the noteputer and held up one finger in a request he wait while she thought. She walked across the room, the thick rugs warm beneath her bare feet and then walked back. "The Hellions hold Galedon? Or is that the Sharks?"

Alex checked the noteputer. "As of our last date, the Ice Hellions hold Galedon." He held it out, displaying the current border with the Ice Hellions.

Melissa nodded. "If the Hellions are collapsing and the other Clans are making a jump for those worlds, just letting them have them looks weak. I'm sure they'd be delighted if we considered it an internal matter, but I don't want them thinking that they're safe carving up each other's territory while we'll just sit back and let them play."

"I couldn't definitively say if it would undermine negotiations with those Clans over a border if the AFFC winds up clashing with them over contested worlds."

"As long as we observe the proprieties, any complaints would seem like weakness on their part," she told him and picked up her comm. "And taking worlds back will play very well with our new Combine provinces... pardon, I mean with the Alliance of Galedon."

"The... Alliance of Galedon? We don't hold Galedon."

"Not yet," Melissa said with a smile. "A little history lesson, Alex. When Shiro Kurita was first founding what we know as the Draconis Combine, he initially won support from Galedon by naming the state after them rather than his own homeworld. We've been looking for an identity for the region that wouldn't simply become Kurita nationalism again. Why not go back to a promise broken at the foundation of their realm: if we take Galedon then it's both evidence that we are still willing to fight the Clans but also legitimises the region as something distinct from the Kuritan dictatorship that emerged from Shiro's scheming."

"I see..." Alex admitted.

Melissa raised her comm. "I need to draft a priority instruction for Ardan Sortek," she directed. "Send for my aide and alert the HPG station please." ComStar could usually get a priority message sent quickly, but giving them notice so they could alert other stations in the chain forewarned often allowed more time for them to plan around any maintenance and other potential delays. Politeness didn't quite cost nothing, but Melissa knew the premium was worth it for reliability.

The AFC Hauptmann who entered only a few moments later didn't look as if she'd been dragged away from anything formal, but Runa Keika rarely did. A native of New Kyoto, the blonde had quit a fairly successful acting career there to enlist for the Clan war. She'd earned her commission in the ranks of the infantry and Melissa knew (because it had come up in security checks) that Keika had had an offer to return to acting as leading lady. Landsknecht infantry were new territory for the entertainment industry, but Lyran media was never slow to explore a new margin for profit.

"Archon, Secretary," Keika said politely, without a salute.

"Please take down a directive for Feldmarschall Ardan Sortek," Melissa said crisply. Her aide brought out the formality in her.

The younger blonde positioned her hand over the bracer along her left forearm that held a military grade noteputer. The design had originally been used by techs but then adopted by infantry officers and NCOs who wanted administrative tools that didn't have to be held in one hand.

"Ardan," Melissa recited. "We have reason to believe that Clan Ice Hellion's garrisons are in a distressed situation and may be targeted by Clan Coyote and Clan Diamond Shark in the immediate future. I am authorizing you to commit forces against Galedon and Hun Ho," - a world at the far end of the border with the Hellions, in easy reach of Clan Coyote - "for formal trials of possession against whoever holds them and to defend them as needed. By preference, mixed units of established AFFC units and newly pledged forces should be used. I don't want the Terran Legion involved."

The ComStar affiliated troops were useful in defensive roles, but if the fighting was dying down then there was no need to share any credit for victories. Further, from what Melissa understood, Ulthan Everson had committed to the defense of Terra only to see a significant portion of the ComGuards absent when they were needed. That would likely see the Legion withdrawn to be folded back into Terran defenses even if the Primus didn't find himself pressured to retire.

And if it came to it, Melissa would merrily announce Sharilar Mori's true allegiance to ensure the Precentor of Luthien didn't become Primus and give what was left of House Kurita control over ComStar. The precentor had been useful keeping the Order invested in the survival of the Combine until now, and expending her without need would be wasteful but the Archon was coming around to her husband's reasoning behind getting rid of Thomas Marik.

Hanse had already had genuine respect for Theodore Kurita, but hearing that he'd uncovered Operation Scorpion by way of Myndo Waterly's right-hand woman had left him almost incapacitated with laughter. Melissa had suspected that would have been the case when it was uncovered in her past life, but back then it had been too late to tell Hanse - and Mori had been too useful then to use the fact. That wasn't the case now.

"Negotiations with Clan Coyote and Clan Diamond Shark over territorial boundaries are being initiated," she continued, "so operations into their currently held worlds are to be suspended but the Ice Hellion worlds have no clear status right now. If one world must be prioritised, Galedon is the more significant. Where possible, meet the Clans on their own terms of bidding and zellbrigen. They're unlikely to ever be friends, but being seen as worthy foes is probably good enough. All the best, Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion."

Keika finished tapping on her noteputer and then read back the contents for verification.

Melissa nodded when she was done. "Perfect. Get it encrypted and sent as soon as possible."

"Jawohl!" the Hauptmann said with teutonic crispness and she clicked her heels before departing.

"One of Nondi Steiner's proteges?" Alex asked casually, watching the young woman leave.

Melissa sank back onto the couch. "A gentlelady ranker. She'll go far if she stays in, but I don't think the AFFC is willing to match the money she could make if she takes one of the movie deals she's been offered."

"Ah, Donegal Broadcasting?"

"Vista Buena," Melissa clarified. "She might be the first woman to headline the Immortal Warrior franchise. I hope she doesn't: an infantry veteran who's a native Japanese speaker would be invaluable in the Alliance of Galedon." She flicked her fingers. "Now shoo: I have chocolates to eat and holo-drama actors to devour with my eyes before my husband gets back from his poetry meeting."

[Wrangler]

Hilda loves to burn her Frienemy, Natasha.

The nice twist and turns on how things ended on Terra leaves a lot of openings for the war to continue sort of. Which the story is so good I hope there's more to come.

[drakensis]

Two more chapters and an epilogue.

[Daryk]

I'd be willing to bet Hanse will add to Galedon and Hun Ho as soon as he gets back from his poetry.  It's only 10 more worlds, after all, and they back on to another rift. :)

[Wrangler]

Is there a chance there will be a sequel to this one depending on how story unfolds? I'm curious how the kids turn out leading the FedCom in contrast to how the original brewd of heirs faired

[drakensis]

There's obviously scope for it but I don't have plans for one at the moment. There will be some information about the next generation as I wind up some plot threads.

[drakensis]

Operational Base Hydra, Arlanda
Snake Clans' Territory
4 July 3046

There had been talk of using the Hall of Khans on Strana Mechty as the hub for Grand Kurultai, but logistics made that nonsensical. Din Steiner wasn't attending personally, of course, but he would still have preferred remotely attending a meeting there, given the familiarity and the tie to their roots.

He and five other Khans were gathered here on Arlanda, but twice as many were on Luthien. Other Khans were scattered around. Not many would be on Strana Mechty. Din wondered if he had unknowingly attended the last time the Grand Council would ever all be in the same room at the same time. So much had changed.

The room used was a grand hall that he recognised from a prior meeting, one of the halls of the Kurita's Imperial Palace, but someone had redecorated. The silk panel walls had once been marked with dragons and abstract fantasies from some era Din didn't recognise and wasn't sure had ever existed. Now they displayed a wilderness ecosystem that didn't completely make sense.

The ghost bears, snow ravens and wolves on the walls were all native to Strana Mechty and could, in theory, be found in the same areas. Coyotes were rare but not unknown there, though it was unlikely they would be found in the same northern climes as the others. The same was not true of goliath scorpions or hell's horses. Those species were found on entirely different worlds.

More significantly... Din scanned the walls of the holodisplay around them. No other Clan totem was represented.

"No Steel Vipers," Perigard Zalman noted. "In fact, no snakes at all..."

The six of them had been projected into a single block of seats. Thirty Khans should be here, and the expected twelve in physical attendance formed a solid arc across one side of the hall. All their Clans were represented in the artwork. That was the message: this was their territory, and the other Khans were merely visitors.

The Diamond Sharks filled out that half. Angus Labov glanced around and then gave Din a slight nod.

The final Khans to appear were those on Strana Mechty: a haggard looking Elias Crichell and Edmund Hoyt heading the Jade Falcons and Smoke Jaguars, an unusually serene Ajax Drummond of the Nova Cats, a Fire Mandrill who Din didn't recognise, and Carlos Hutchinson who was apparently now leading the Ice Hellions despite the fact he'd been a Burrock recently.

Cyrilla Ward moved to the loremaster's position. A different Wolf sat at Ulric's side, another Ward from the look of him - much younger. Someone who must have come up through the fighting. "Trothkin," the white-haired loremaster declared. "We attend under the martial code, yet there is question whether we are at war. This is the first matter we must decide."

"Of course we are at war!" snarled Hoyt.

"Are you planning to lead your Clan to victory here?" Hutchinson asked drily. "As I understand it, you have less than a hundred battlemechs left and no territory left off Strana Mechty to rebuild from."

The Smoke Jaguar went white and he half-rose before Cyrilla slammed her gavel against the desk she was sat behind. "Enough. Your private grievances can be settled privately."

"Private grievances?" asked Crichell. "Half the Clans here have preyed upon us, preventing us from rejoining the fighting!"

"We did so in order to continue fighting," countered Terrence Kufahl. "However, that is no longer enough. No Clan represented here is able to continue. There are gaps in our other capabilities, but the fact is that continued conflict with the Federated Commonwealth will consume what we have left and will not deliver victory."

Angus Labov raised his hand for the right to speak rather than just yelling. Cyrilla recognised the mechwarrior and he stood slowly. "My Clan has established a truce with the Federated Commonwealth," he declared. "It will not last forever, but it gives us time. Is there one clan here that still has territory bordering the Commonwealth who has not made that agreement?"

"Technically, we do not," Hutchinson pointed out.

"Isesaki will be ours within the week," Kufahl countered. That was the only Ice Hellion worlds that hadn't been trialled for by the Coyotes, Diamond Sharks or Federated Commonwealth... until now. "And it is more than a jump from the nearest Federated Commonwealth world."

"...perhaps," the Khan of the Hellions allowed. "If we retain it, then we have no such arrangement but one might be wise."

Crichell's hands were pale on his desk. "Have you all betrayed the unity?"

"The majority of the Clans have concurred on the need for this," Labov observed. "It seems that you are the one outside the unity, not us." He looked around. "Two ilKhans and every single Clan has done all that they can to make the invasion succeed. It has not been enough and we cannot change that fact by ignoring it."

Din cleared his throat. "What do you suggest, Khan Labov?"

"If any Clan wishes to continue fighting right now, they do not require consent from this Council," the Diamond Shark told them. "But the Clans as a whole are not able to continue fighting so let us acknowledge that. We are not at war."

"I call the vote," Din declared before the rest of the Council could start bickering.

Cyrilla complied and other Khans voted, leaving the Jade Falcons and Smoke Jaguars as the only Clans who wanted to keep fighting. Since they lacked the ability, the outcome was overwhelming.

"Our next business is that some Clans are no longer viable," Kufahl rumbled with satisfaction.

"We vote against the absorption of the Jade Falcons," Hoyt asserted firmly.

Crichell nodded. "And likewise we will not support the absorption of the Smoke Jaguars. Any vote to absorb requires every other Clans to approve."

Kufahl sighed heavily. "You cannot deploy a full galaxy between you. Your warship fleets and enclaves off Strana Mechty are gone..."

"The law is the law," the Jade Falcon spat bitterly.

"Then wither as we claim your remaining legacies and warriors," the Coyote said heavily.

Labov leant forwards. "There is a third Clan that is suffering similarly. Khan Drummond, I -"

"We accept," the Nova Cat said directly.

Everyone blinked.

"You... accept?" Din asked quietly.

Drummond' voice was too calm. "The time when a single Clan can stand alone is nearing its end. Yet we are unable to unite as one. The only future when the Nova Cats exist is where we join another Clan. We do not have the resources to demand equal status. So yes, Khan Labov. My clan accepts absorption into Clan Diamond Shark. No vote or trial is required."

"Founder," Cassius N'Buta whispered.

Din could not disagree with the shock, but nor could he deny the Nova Cat's words. The reason the Steel Vipers, Star Adders and Cloud Cobras were working together was that they could only survive was as an alliance. Collectively they had barely the homeworld holdings of a clan like the Ice Hellions at the moment. Developing their tiny holdings near the Inner Sphere was only possible using their combined assets.

Khan Drummond and his saKhan rose. "We no longer have a place here, my trothkin," Drummond said solemnly and with even greater shock, Din saw the man was weeping. "Khan Labov, I will communicate with you directly to make this matter as smooth as it can be."

"Is there any other Clan you wish to dissolve?" Cassius asked, which was a door Din would have preferred be left closed. Fortunately, no one spoke up.

"A question, Khan Kerensky," Din changed the subject. "This chamber's decoration speaks of a... selective presence of some Clans."

Kerensky shrugged and looked over at Nornian Tseng. "It is the work of Clan Ghost Bear, but it is -"

"We have a new future," the Ghost Bear Khan interrupted him, almost unprecedentedly. "We have made a new home here. From this chamber, our Clans govern our enclaves."

Hoyt leapt up. "You have created your own private council," he accused.

"Khan Hoyt, you cannot bar Khans from meeting privately," Cyrilla pointed out.

"We have created a council here," her Khan admitted. "Our six Clans have agreed to maintain consistent laws in the administering of our enclaves, to ease the transitions that we have struggled with. Further, we have established new free guilds to administer functions that are best not handled by any one Clan."

Zalman clenched his fists. "Will you elect an ilKhan of your own next?"

Kerensky chuckled. "We elect our leader, Khan Zalman, but he is merely first among us and is in no sense an ilKhan. Merely... the voice of unity among six Clans. We call Khan Tseng our Unifier of Worlds and we call our holdings the Clanlaw."

"This is unthinkable," Crichell snapped.

"Start thinking," the Ghost Bear suggested.

Din whistled appreciatively. The Jade Falcon almost folded up under the impact of those two words. "I demand a vote to condemn this factionalism," he ground out.

The vote was entirely predictable.

"We have not re-established the Star League," Din said quietly. "But we have crushed one of the Scavenger Lords. We still have our homeworlds. We have not lost, we have simply won less than we hoped. It is now time to do what our founder did when he first led the Second Exodus to Strana Mechty. It was twenty years before he was ready to return to the Pentagon. We may need as long before we can break the Federated Commonwealth, or longer. We need not be ashamed of that, we must simply not throw away what we have achieved and maintain a clear view of our objectives."

On * Our * Wedding * Day

Harlech, Outreach
Tikonov Republic, Lyran Commonwealth
12 August 3046

Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner-Davion sat side-by-side at the head of the table at what was apparently now being informally called Mjolnir's Den. It didn't work mythologically, but not all mixtures of Suns and Lyran customs would make sense and Hanse knew there wasn't any point trying to change a nickname through official means.

"Are there any prospects of crushing this new Clanlaw region the way we did the Clans that invaded Lyran space?" he asked instead. "Because some rather ill-advised opinions have been expressed in the media and I want to be able to give solid answers."

"Let's start with logistics," Frederick Steiner decided from the far end of the conference table. "Nelitha?" His tone was just a little softer than usual as he addressed his wife.

"Actually," Nelitha Steiner-Davion disagreed. "I'm going to pass that to my deputy, since she's going to be taking over from me shortly. Consider this a final exam, Lisa."

The woman next to her had the typical Steiner look, even if she was taller and a little harder-faced than Melissa. It looked well on her, but Hanse naturally preferred his wife. "It's a good job I've been studying," Nondi Steiner's only daughter noted. She was well known to the royal couple, both because of kinship and because her own daughter Sabine's first military assignment had been to attend Albion with their son Andrew and help draw him out of his shell a little.

Holographic displays sprang to life along the table. "On paper, we're in a good position," Lisa began. "Overall, we have large reserves of material and except for losses on Terra, we're well on our way to rebuilding all our frontline forces."

"You say, on paper," James Sandoval noted. "And off paper?"

The younger officer turned slightly towards the Deputy Commander of the AFFC. "Because that papers over a lot of cracks, sir. A considerable amount of the reserves are made up of older equipment. Even more is in depots that will take months to ship to locations where they would be useful for such operations - months, if we had jumpship capacity. We'd be scraping them out of corners."

Hanse sat back and folded his arms. "How bad is it?"

"Short-term replenishments over the last year have been drawing on stocks of less successful variants that were intended for refit before they went to planetary militias," Lisa said flatly. "Not all of them, but enough."

Hanse winced. During the darkest days of the Third Succession War, far too many 'mechs had been kept in service through improvisations and through attempted solutions to the lack of lost technologies. Those problems had been mitigated over the course of his reign but not entirely. There shouldn't have been that many of those lemons left, but if they were being assigned out...

Lisa nodded as she saw her point was understood. "We're also taking on what remains of the DCMS but their logistics is largely built around machines that we largely don't have parts for, because they were intentionally shipped off to support Rasalhague years ago."

"The consequences of our own decisions," Melissa murmured.

Hanse nodded ruefully. They'd intentionally expended or sold off material they didn't expect to need. Now, they needed it and were coming up short. "I take it that that's not the entirety of the old DCMS regiments?"

"Upwards of a third of their 'mechs," Lisa clarified. "But the rest are uneven in their status. Further, there's manpower. Again, on paper we have enough people for our current units - if we ignore the planned expansion of the Arkab, An Ting and Proserpina commands. But that's because we've pulled the majority of mechwarriors and NCOs who we can send against the Clans without it being more merciful to just send them in front of a firing squads. Our losses among inexperienced soldiers were far higher than they should have been."

"So these are problems that need time," Hanse concluded. "Ones that I need to phrase in ways that don't make us look weak."

"I believe that is your problem," Nelitha noted with a smile. "Well done, Lisa. We'll call that a pass."

Hanse's distant cousin's retirement was because she had decided she was going to have children before it was too late for her to raise them properly. Actual pregnancy would have been risky, but it didn't take NAIS to replicate the Clans' Iron Wombs. The Wolf Dragoons had their own program and licensing the design out helped them to offset their costs on New Valencia. Nelitha had elected to have a son and a daughter at once, since it wasn't as if she'd have to carry them and take the risk of twins dividing nutrients between them in her womb.

To the best of Hanse's unofficial intelligence gathering, Frederick had not been consulted on any of this, simply delegated the task of ensuring suitable housing for the expanding family. Fortunately, as a Duke whose world hadn't been occupied but had been close enough to get profitable supply contracts, the head of the AFFC was entirely able to acquire a suitable estate outside the city of Harlech and modifications were underway to meet their requirements. He seemed happy enough with that division of labor.

"The piracy situation is also out of hand," Ran Felsner added. "Ardan warned you about that, Hanse."

"He did," the First Prince agreed. "And that's been left alone too long because of the Clans."

"Sending units to root out some of the pirates will also be a good way for inexperienced soldiers to integrate with veterans," added Melissa. "We need to put our house in order."

Frederick leant forward. "And then there's the Free Worlds League. We can't afford to keep covering their border with Cadet Cadres and sink units."

"I thought we were also sending units to rebuild there," James Sandoval asked mildly.

"Sink units," Frederick repeated. "Until they claw their way back. The best replacement go to units that don't need to be sent back to rear areas."

Hanse considered telling Frederick to be more nuanced, glanced at his wife and saw her shake her head very slightly. "As I understand it, some of those units were sent to Terra," he said instead. "And did well."

"I moved the Third FedCom there to try to stabilize the border," the Marshall of Armies explained. "Same with the Seventeenth Avalon Hussars."

"That's Ardan's old command," warned Hanse.

"And about a tenth of them remember him," Frederick grunted. "They got more or less flattened on Port Moseby. Between that and natural retirement, they're doing very well but still not a unit I'd have sent to Terra if I had better options. Their infantry carried them at New York, and credit to the new CO for reporting that truthfully."

"Oh," Lisa noted. "And equipping DCMS... former DCMS infantry commands with Landsknechts? That's going to take a while."

"I said you passed," Nelitha told her. "Not that you were perfect."

"So," Hanse began. "We need to finish rebuilding our frontline forces and redistribute them to cover our other borders as well while we have the chance. Our supplies and reserves need to be rebuilt. We need to finish integrating the old DCMS into the AFFC."

"And then there are warships," Klaus Essen noted. "We have eighteen operational warships that can be deployed. Short-term repairs and completing the fourth bloc will significantly improve those numbers, but that only brings us to parity with what ComStar had left. Given the Clans and the developing FWL fleet..."

Frederick nodded. "I would strongly recommend against any significant offensive until the next bloc of warships is complete, which means 3048. Obviously we should prepare contingencies in case someone else starts a war, but that is also time to carry about redeployments."

Hanse grinned. "I can work with that. If it comes to it, I'll just have Melissa tell me -"

"Hanse, stop," his wife said firmly.

"Yes, say that in public," he agreed cheerfully. "Everyone knows how whipped I am."

"Only when you're very mischievous."

No one seemed willing to look at them. "Cousin," Lisa said in an embarrassed tone. "We don't need to know that much about your personal life."

"He brought it up," Melissa said shamelessly, pointing at Hanse.

"Moving on," Hanse told the embarrassed staff, who were taking the innuendo entirely too seriously, "How much of a threat can we expect from the Clans in the next five years."

"Reports from agents across the border indicate that the Clans are largely also in a consolidation phase," Alex Mallory told them. "The four Clans along the periphery border of the Lyran Commonwealth seem to be mostly settling their relatively modest holdings and surveying other abandoned worlds for useful resources. They don't have a lot to work with, so we're expecting them to up raiding to fill gaps, which is allowed under the Archon-Emetrius' treaty."

"Not unexpected," Melissa noted. "They're doing good work clearing out pirates in the area and some of those raids are going to be... not scripted, but we're in contact with their merchants and shipments they expect to need will be visible and government-owned, with some potential prizes laid out for us. It should give units in the area  a relatively soft experience against the Clans."

Mallory pursed his lips. "It's also letting us slip agents into those worlds. They don't seem aware of the fax machines, and without HPGs, that's critical for our intelligence gathering."

"We probably could push them out if we didn't have to worry about it destabilizing relations with the other seven Clans," Frederick added.

"At the moment, having relatively stable neighbours in that area does more good than harm," Melissa told him. "The more they build in the area, the more we stand to gain if we do decide it's worth fighting for those worlds."

It would also put the Taurians even more on edge, and Janice Calderon was a relatively reasonable leader of the pugnacious nation, Hanse thought. The Federated Commonwealth had been through the fires of war and stood to gain more from peace than they did from war,

"The Diamond Sharks are in a similar state, but on a larger scale," Mallory continued. "They're dealing with worlds largely neglected by the Combine. They don't have a lot to work with, but five years from now I expect New Samarkand to be the heart of an industrializing nation with considerably more capability. They're reaching out to the Outworlds Alliance, which isn't likely to achieve much in the short term, but in the longer term it might be an avenue to indirect trade through the Outworlds as a middle-man."

"That would strengthen the Outworlds," Sandoval noted. "But if the Sharks went for the throat, they'd probably win quite easily."

"Less aerospace losses," Hanse agreed. "But the bigger problem is this Clanlaw mess."

Mallory grimaced. "The problem is that it isn't a mess. The six Clans involved appear to have found a way to cooperate in rationalizing the fractured economies they inherited. By establishing what they call Free Guilds, they've begun reintegrating an area and are now only squabbling over output, not the means of production. The prize of that is Luthien Armor Works. The new Black Pearl guild running it is expected to start building battlemechs again this year - Shadow Hawks and Griffins, but Clan models. That means significant easing of supply lines for the Clans. We believe multiple ventures like that are handling everything from consumer electronics to battle armor to... well, it seems at least four shipyards are being upgraded to handle warship construction as well as keeping merchants fleets active."

"Six Clans in a single state seems unwieldy," Melissa noted. "But the Lyran Commonwealth sprang from three states working together, and this whole Unifier of Worlds title they gave their leader..." She shook her head. "I think they're onto something, Hanse."

"We've had major challenges before," he reassured her. "And we're in an infinitely stronger position now than we were twenty years ago."

[Daryk]

So... how does a clan get destroyed without a formal absorption?  That seemed to be what the Coyotes were implying...

[drakensis]

If you have no genetic legacies left to create sibkos, you can't have trueborn warriors. If you have no bloodnamed warriors left, you can't elect khans.

If you have no touman, and no one eligible to vote on the Grand Council... are you really a Clan?

[Wrangler]

I think that's feeling like there's a gap between the defeat on Terra and the formation of the Clanlaw.  I think (for me) there's not much understanding of what's happening outside of the Inner Sphere for the reader that gives a firmer understanding of why these Clans in the Inner Sphere are behaving that they have been essentially cut off from the homeworlds seemly to me. The build up for the push to Terra led by Ice Hellion with a coalition of Clans for Trial of Terra seems to not quite firmate how impactful it was for them to be defeated.  We know that they were stretched logistically, however in previous Canon timeline that was never quite a problem because they still had some support from the homeworlds well not so strong that they had to take a year off to essentially regroup despite it being an excuse to elect a new ikKhan. In OOWD AU, they're larger gains of significant more strain on them but there it does feel like there's some kind of disconnect from after the events of Terra and Clans acting they were Abjuration or cut off from Clan Space.

Hope that makes sense, sometimes I trouble expressing what I'm thinking especially on the phone.

[drakensis]

Just to be clear, the six Clans of the Clanlaw retain their homeworld holdings. They're just establishing a distinct method of administering their Inner Sphere holdings - which are much larger, but they've been struggling to assimilate.

[misterpants]

So... how does a clan get destroyed without a formal absorption?  That seemed to be what the Coyotes were implying...

Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons about to learn the difference between de jure and de facto

[Daryk]

One thing that's been overlooked here and in canon is Brocchi's Cluster.  That's 40 worlds right there.  That alone would be a challenge for the clanners to absorb.

[Intermittent_Coherence]

Smoke Jaguars and Jade Falcons about to learn the difference between de jure and de facto

Smoke Jaguars have always known. They've done the same before. To Clan Mongoose.
And now the wheel turns.

[misterpants]

A nonstarter, but the thought of Aidan and Horse sending a missive to the remaining jade falcons along the lines of "Come over to Warrior House Ion Sparrow, we have cookies fresh mechs" amuses me

[drakensis]

Zenith Jump Point, Palladaine
Andurien March, Federated Suns
19 August 3046

The Wolf Dragoon warship Centaur was a tribute to the hard work of the shipyards at Kathil, having been patched up with parts from one of her sister-ships. The corvette wasn't intended to impress anyone with its size - it was a stubby, blocky vessel that dwarfed only earlier and less capable corvettes.

However, the corvette was available. Committing one of the limited number of Ajax-class battlecruisers would have removed a powerful vessel from the frontline with the Clans. The invasion might be over... but the word might was less than certain. It had not protected Terra.

Jaime Wolf had been generous in allowing Melissa to borrow Centaur once its repairs were done. The Wolf Dragoons had signed a new contract with the Federated Commonwealth, one that made it clear they were not allies or vassals. They were contractors and their warships were not part of that bargain. They would be the Dragoon's final card in case they were betrayed, as had happened twice before.

Melissa had no intention of being the third. And she had used the earlier examples as lessons to her children.

The compartment Melissa was using was usually a cargo hold, although that was hard to tell with curtains covering the walls and rugs on the floor - all secured so that they wouldn't be dislodged in zero gravity.

Doors on opposite ends of the improvised chamber opened at the same time, and admitted the representatives who had boarded in unison, docking on opposite sides of the Archon's borrowed flagship. Marik entered like the soldier he was, sword-straight and precise in his moments. Humphreys, old and grey, moved more slowly but she had the grace of experience and as she saw the older woman's eyes, Melissa thought that the Duchess of Andurien missed little.

"Join me, please," Melissa invited from where she drifted in the air, hands lightly gripping a rail from which was suspended the banner of the Federated Commonwealth. Two rails faced hers, and each other. One with the eagle of House Marik and the other held three stars, the emblem of the Trinity Alliance. In zero gravity, none of them would need to sit, or lower each other below the other. It also had some virtue of novelty.

Once they were all anchored, Melissa produced a letter that bore three seals. "I am Melissa Steiner-Davion, Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth and your chosen mediator." She pressed her thumb to the first seal and let them see the verigraph confirm her identity.

The Marik accepted the document and did the same. "I am Photon Marik, Captain General of the Free Worlds League." The seal's reaction lit up appropriately.

Finally, the oldest of them applied her own thumb. "Duchess Catherine Humphreys, Minister of Foreign Relations for the Trinity Alliance."

"And a rebel against my government," Marik observed.

The old woman laughed wryly. "At what time does a rebel become a legitimate government, youngster?"

"That is what we are here to decide," Melissa pointed out.

Marik grimaced. "If, rather than when, Archon." He turned his head slightly to face Humphreys. "We have the ability to conquer your worlds and those of your allies. I believe our use of warships against the Canopians demonstrates that advantage. Why should we not do that?"

"You have less advantage than you think," Humphreys told him. "Some of those warships need to cover your other border now that the Clans aren't threatening the FedCom. And you aren't the only one with a fleet."

It was a generous way to describe the Clan's current situation, but Melissa was more interested in watching the young Captain-General's reaction. Although... young was unfair. He was only four years her junior. Still, he didn't have the extra quarter century she and Hanse had been gifted by the universe.

"That is easy to say," the Captain-General said after a half beat.

Humphreys' smile was just a little smug. "Mediator, please mediate," she requested.

Melissa raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

The old duchess' smile slipped a little. Perhaps intentionally. "Please confirm the facts as you understand them," she asked.

This time Melissa spoke. "I can confirm that two modified Athena-class cruisers have been completed by the Trinity Alliance. I cannot speak for their current location or readiness for battle."

Marik's eyes narrowed sharply. "Completed... with your help?"

"Some technological exchanges have been made," she agreed calmly. Predominantly, they had assisted in completing the lithium-fusion batteries used on the two cruisers. While the Athena was an ancient design, it resembled the Ajax in the sense that Aphrodite and Artemis sported much larger drive systems than the original. They were also loaded heavily with capital missiles. If they chose to employ nuclear weapons, that would make the Trinity's small fleet extremely destructive.

"And you claim to be a neutral party here?"

"The Federated Commonwealth has agreements, individually, with both of your governments," Melissa answered him. "I do not pretend we have no interests, only that I have agreed to mediate your discussions."

Marik scowled and looked across at Humphreys, no doubt calculating the odds of losing FWLS Agamemnon and FWLS Menelaus if the war continued. The two cruisers were the only part of the Free Worlds Navy that had been committed against the Trinity, providing cover for the invasions of Marantha, Booker and Bass - worlds that posed a new and dangerous front of the war.

Regulus and Andurien were both under threat, but now the Free Worlds were only a few jumps from Canopus, exposing the last capital of the Trinity to invasion. Frederick and Hanse's staff were both in agreement that Photon Marik's claim that he could complete the conquest of the Alliance had a great deal of truth to it. The question was whether he could stomach the cost.

"I came all this way," the Captain-General said at last. "It would be a waste not to hear you out."

Humphreys nodded. "Obviously we would like the return of all worlds previously part of the Principality of Regulus and Duchy of Andurien. A white peace, if you will."

Marik sneered, an expression that made him look a great deal like his maternal grandfather. "I would be crucified on the steps of Parliament," he said bluntly. "Unless you mean that both those regions return as provinces of the League?"

For a moment, the duchess looked regretful. "I cannot offer you that, Lord Marik. I also have a parliament to answer to."

"Then we have little to offer each other."

"Except, potentially, compromise," Melissa observed.

"If our war continues," Marik asked her. "What will the Federated Commonwealth do?"

"We have a great many options," she told him. "We could provide material assistance to either, or even both of you. We could deploy military forces against either one of you - or both of you. Or we could do absolutely nothing except watch. I am not going to tell you which we have decided on, or even if we have made such a decision."

The man's hands tightened on the rail in front of him. "If Kerensky's Clans had pressed on for one more year, this war would be over."

"I can think of a great many ifs that would have ended the war in other ways," Humphreys said wearily. "Some to your liking, others not. But we are not in those universes, Captain-General. We must live in this one."

Marik ran one hand through his hair. "I will concede the continued independence of Regulus, Andurien and the worlds of their current provinces not under federal occupation," he offered, "If the other worlds forced out of the League by your rebellion are released to return to us."

"You assume that they would be willing," the duchess countered. "Not to mention that it would leave Regulus surrounded and cut off from the rest of the Alliance."

"We have been able to re-integrate worlds back into the Free Worlds League," he countered.

"Not all your governors have been doing as well as you did," she told him.

Marik dipped his head slightly at that point but countered: "Then I know how to correct them."

Melissa tapped her rail. "May I suggest that you start your discussion with smaller matters that may be more easily agreed on. If you cannot agree on everything, it would at least offer you something to take back to your respective governments."

"We could exchange prisoners," offered Humphreys in a tone of reason. "That is always popular."

"It favors you more than it does me," he grumbled, clearly as aware as either woman that the Trinity's armed forces were in dire need of veteran soldiers.

The old duchess didn't point out that just about any agreement short of actively resuming the war would favor them, since that would only weaken their case. "Some would say that a Captain-General owes those captured in service to House Marik. Though I am sure your grandfather doesn't see it that way."

Marik's eyes narrowed again. "I will have my staff draw up a draft agreement for yours to consider."

Better than having the two bog down in the many many details of such an agreement, Melissa agreed.

"However," the man said firmly. "I am reminded that unlike the Free Worlds League and the Federated Commonwealth, the Trinity Alliance is not signatory to any treaties limiting the use of weapons of mass destruction. Since even the savage Clans have come to terms on that principle, I believe that that should be our next step."

"As I understand it, that was agreed at gunpoint," Humphreys observed, giving Melissa a sharp look.

"My mother did not threaten them with force," the Archon replied with a firm look. "She simply killed one of their leaders who was being unreasonable. Perhaps not how we should handle this?"

"Touche," the silver-haired duchess agreed wearily. "I assume that we can use the applicable terms of the Ares Conventions as a starting point?"

Marik nodded wordlessly.

"I'll instruct my staff," said Humphreys. "So, shall we discuss the confiscations of the personal assets of my family and of Lynn's family?" Janos Marik had followed the same course he took in his brother's rebellion, regardless of the mixed results then. The extended families of Catherine Humphreys and Lynn Cameron-Jones had seen most of their property outside their territories seized by the federal government, and they were only the most obvious targets.

"No," the new Captain-General said immediately. "I wish it had not been done, but the water cannot be unspilled and there is no way I can compensate rebels."

"It is your family's tyranny that pushed us into rebellion," the duchess argued.

Melissa decided to let them get this out of their systems. Two agreements was a start and for the first time in years, she had time to spare.

On * Our * Wedding * Day

Outside Avalon City, New Avalon
New Avalon Province, Federated Suns
10 September 3046

It was essentially unavoidable for Candace Liao to have an estate on New Avalon. She was an archduchess and needed to visit occasionally and on those occasions she was expected to entertain. In subtle rebellion, the main mansion was made available for the Ministry of the Andurien March to handle affairs on the capital as needed and the actual residence was a separate building that, among other things, had no view of Castle Davion.

Candace already felt like the First Prince was looking over her shoulder half the time. She didn't want him to have the literal ability.

The sun was low in the sky as she and Jasmine stretched and worked through the tai chi exercises that Justin had taught them. It was just the archduchess and her youngest daughter this morning. Justin was on St Ives, teaching at the Academy of Martial Sciences and a seasonal flu had been sufficient excuse not to bring Cassandra this time. That would probably make the middle daughter happy, she disliked New Avalon on principle and she'd have access to Justin, something she and Kuan Yin sometimes competed for.

Candace and Justin's eldest daughter had an even better excuse: she'd elected to follow in her father's footsteps and so she was now Cadet Kuan-Yin Allard-Liao, attending Sakhara Academy in what was still technically the Draconis March. How long that would still be a march was an interesting question, but at least the site of the Academy was somewhat safe from the Clans now.

After completing their sets, mother and daughter headed up to the patio where breakfast was being laid out for them. Candace rested one hand gently on Jasmine's back. The girl was sweating lightly, but they would shower after they'd eaten and napkins existed for a reason. "Are you looking forward to a day of schooling?" she asked.

She expected a withering look from her daughter, but Jasmine actually skipped lightly and answered: "Yuh-huh!"

Oh dear. This could only mean one thing.

Servants seated both of them and a traditional Capellan breakfast was laid out for both of them. Candace also had a briefing to the side of her plates. Nothing urgent, just a reminder of her schedule for the day.

The Liao matriarch split her attention between eating, checking her workload and observing her daughter.

This morning, Tormano would be visiting her to discuss various Capellan cultural interest groups they both sponsored. That would certainly stray into matters of commerce, and time was allocated appropriately.

Jasmine was using her chopsticks enthusiastically, eating heartily and washing it down with milk rather than her usual orange juice. It was worse than Candace's first impression.

The current balance between the Lyrans and the Feddies was an odd one. Normally the former were the richest and the latter the most militant, but right at the moment the Steiner half of the Federated Commonwealth had seen huge swathes of territory fought over, while their partners had been raking in the economic benefits of their major trading partners being disrupted and needing to buy what they could usually have acquired locally.

Naturally, Candace had encouraged her march's industries to take advantage but now that the situation was changing they would need to adapt and as little as she liked her little brother, the fact was that the Duke of Liao had his finger on the economic heartbeat of the Federated Commonwealth.

"Mother," Jasmine asked. "Could I stay on New Avalon to study?"

Her youngest girl had never expressed any enthusiasm for academia. "Are you really Jasmine?" she asked, refilling her soup bowl. "You don't sound like her." Precautions existed to check if a substitution had been carried out. That would be worse than what Candace thought was probably happening, but it wasn't very likely. Alas, it couldn't be definitely ruled out without a check.

"Mother!" the girl complained.

"Where did this sudden interest in school come from?" Candace enquired, flipping past the briefing on what Tormano was up to. This afternoon was blocked out for court ceremony... military in nature. Hours in the company of Hanse Davion... well, it was necessary.

Jasmine studied her bowl. "I just... like it here," she claimed.

No, you like someone here. Well, there was a simple solution: "So who is my future son-in-law?" she asked, expecting blushing confusion from the eleven year old. A first crush on New Avalon? No, absolutely not. Her daughters would marry appropriately in order to maintain House Liao's position.

As predicted, Jasmine went red. "Mo-mmmm!"

"I was a girl myself once." Romano had been too, but that was not a memory she was fond of.

This was not a prospect that Jasmine was apparently eager to contemplate. "There's no s-son-in-law," she said. "I just made friends and there's a good school here."

"I know it's a good school," Candace replied. As if she would send her daughter anywhere that wasn't, even if it was only temporary placement. The Federated Suns' annual court meant thousands of attendees travelling here  to New Avalon. Besides such basics as residence, many noble families brought children and thus the academies around New Avalon were accustomed to having temporary students around this time of year. "But the idea that you're interested in a school's qualities is a new one, so tell me about this friend... friends," she corrected skeptically.

There was no immediate response, which wasn't a surprise.

Candace could wait. She ate spoonfuls of soup, reviewing the arrangements for the afternoon. The specific occasion was the formal acceptance of fealty from the five new Warrior Houses being formed from volunteering prisoners of war... wait, the Clans called themselves bondsmen.

In any case, the use of (her) Warrior Houses as a template for bringing the Clans into the AFFC had worked well with the four set up on Tharkad so of course, Hanse Davion had decided to one-up his wife and create five more. No, she paused and corrected herself. Like the man or not, the First Prince was probably not establishing one more than his wife for petty reasons. More likely that was just the number suitable for the volunteering bondsmen.

Each of the eight original Warrior Houses and four newer Warrior Houses had sent five volunteers to help form cadres. They weren't split evenly, but the Tigor Raptors, Serpent SIrens, Silver-Furred Walruses, Marsh Owls and Plains Lions would have have some injection of values from the Capellan origins of the Warrior Houses... even if they sounded far more like miniature Clans.

Candace wiped her lips with a napkin and was surprised Jasmine hadn't broken yet. "Dear, I understand," she said sweetly. "You're just eager for your mother's attention. Why don't you stay out of school today? I have a long meeting with your uncle that you can sit in on."

Jasmine paled.

"And then there's an immense parade outside the Royal Court with thousands of soldiers swearing themselves to the First Prince and the Federated Commonwealth. Standing in the reviewing box for a few hours will give you plenty of time with me, even if we'll be in view of everyone and can't really talk much."

"No, mother, please!"

Candace didn't smile smugly. She simply gave her daughter a look of warm concern. "Jasmine."

"I... I want to marry Alexander!"

Maybe her daughter being abducted and replaced wouldn't be so bad? Then Candace dismissed that idea. Abduction had far too much risk of leading to a permanent consequence... although if Jasmine was older then Candace would be very worried about entirely different consequences. "Alexander?" she asked. Perhaps there was another Alexander other than the obvious one.

Jasmine nodded suddenly. "He's really athletic and patient. And we've got lots in common, both being youngest."

"Alexander Steiner-Davion?" Candace said slowly.

Now she got an entirely predictable roll of her youngest daughter's eyes. "He's the only Alexander in my class, mother."

"You're both a little young for marriage," she told the girl. The youngest of the four sons (there was no point trying to remind Jasmine of Jennifer's existence) of the First Prince and the Archon was several months older than Jasmine - his twelfth birthday was only a few days away. With a chill, Candace recalled that she'd previously given consent for Jasmine to attend the party, never realizing what a colossal mis-step that was.

Jasmine finished emptying her bowl. "I don't mean right now. But we could go to the same schools and maybe academy." The eleven year old met Candace's eyes at last. "He says he's thinking of going to Tikonov's School of Martial Discipline and you said you wanted Cassandra and I to go to Capellan schools since Kuan-Yin is away on Sakhara."

Candace took all her concerns and packed them away. This was clearly more serious than she'd thought, but at the same time, it was a first crush. It could be that the entire thing would fall apart before they were due to return to St Ives. "I hadn't heard that he was thinking that."

"Tikonov's right in the middle of things," Jasmine lectured her, as if Candace was unaware of basic geography. "They're even going to get their own cadet cadre like the big four!"

"Interesting," she allowed. "We're some years from you picking your academy." The archduchess pushed back her seat. "Let's get cleaned up and I will think about you maybe staying on New Avalon. I'm not very happy with the idea of you staying here on New Avalon without me."

"Cassandra stayed on St Ives."

"Cassandra is a bit older and your father is there."

Jasmine sighed at her mother's cruel and unfair use of logic that didn't put the universe into what was clearly a neat and tidy pattern that gave her what she wanted. "I could stay with grandpa Quintus."

"Have you asked grandpa Quintus if he wants you to move in with him?"

"Well, no..."

To be fair, if Jasmine did need to stay on New Avalon, she wouldn't be without family. Candace wasn't enamoured of the idea of leaving a daughter to be raised by the former head of MIIO and his second wife, although they hadn't done dreadfully with their own children. But Justin's half-sister Riva would be here... when she wasn't engulfed in her work at NAIS.

"For now," she said, ushering her daughter towards the bathroom. "You will be going to school so get cleaned up. I'm sure you don't want Alexander smelling you the way you do right now..."

Candace watched her daughter trot off ahead and checked her watch. This was going to prey on her all the while that she was talking to Tormano, but she had no intention of letting her brother know about this. Still, he might know if Jasmine was right about the Tikonov School of Martial Disicipline being expanded even with the war against the Clans over.

And she could ask Hanse before the review if Alexander was thinking of going there.

The archduchess looked at herself in the mirror of her private bathroom and allowed herself one wicked smile. She could send word to Sian and check if her father had started spinning in his grave, at the idea of a Liao girl wanting to marry a Davion. Knowing the man, if he'd learned of this alive, he'd have immediately started plotting how to use that fact so perhaps it was for the best that Maximilian Liao wasn't around to interfere.

[Wrangler]

Love reading on how Candace and her brew of children were doing.  I am little surprised she plans to steer her daughters into arranged political marriages.  I guess politicians who are nobles got keep designs on their family dynasties somewhat on course.  I suspect that she'll be surprised with her daughter decides to do regardless of what she has in mind! 😂 😆

[Daryk]

Melilssa will be lucky if Marik and Humphries don't come to blows "getting it out of their system"... ;D

[mikecj]

Alexander & Jasmine Liao-Steiner-Davion has a nice ring to it...

Plus it would make Ryan lose his mind