I was never the athletic type, but due to the physical requirements for graduating in the NAIS, I had to take up a sport, any sport.

Most of the people in the medical faculty went for bowling, golf, or some other sedentary game that was technically a sport, but didn’t involve anything physical, at least to me. It was adhering to the letter of the law while breaking the spirit.

I wanted to get into a real sport, and I thought it’ll be interesting anyway. But I avoided team sports like basketball, soccer, and rugby, not least because I got beaten up bad during high school in every game I tried. I couldn’t help being a wuss.

I could have gone for the martial arts, but let’s face it. Most of those people who went in had already trained in their arts since youth. I wasn’t planning to be a live practice dummy either.

So it was with some trepidation that I finally decided on fencing. A real sport since it made me sweat, it was also less painful, or so I thought.

I was surprised when I took to it like a duck to water. I was pretty good, enough to help Coach Sandoval lead our team to victory over the NAMA in the ’59 tourney.

It was also something a certain military cadet at the NAMA, my rival for Clarice’s affections, never forgot.

-Collected Letters to Ian Calderon, Frank Meronac

 

Avalon City, New Avalon,

Crucis March, Federated Suns

15^th August 3068

 

“Ouch!” Frank yelped as he was struck again in the chest. The bruise there burned itself into his awareness. He felt a bit like fainting, but he forced himself to stay alert.

“Give it up, Frank,” His enemy in front of him said, “It’ll be better for all of us if you would just tell us what we needed to know.”

“No way,” Frank retorted, hoping he could back up his bravado in the face of torture.

“Then feel my sting of my blade.”

Moments later, a steel tip poked Frank in the stomach. Though there was padding over his stomach, it still hurt.

“Owww…” Frank groaned as he dropped his foil and stepped back, clutching his aching stomach as he fell back tiredly to the mat. “How come you keep aiming for my stomach?”

“Touché.” Duke Tancred Sandoval sighed as he lifted his faceplate, only breathing slightly harder than normal. “Frank, you have really regressed since I last saw you. I know you’re better than this.”

Frank used one hand to lift up his own faceplate, and gasped hungrily for air in the dry gym. He waved his hand in a gesture of surrender. “Forget it. I haven’t been practicing much, and I don’t have the time anyway. I knew this was a bad idea the moment you invited me for practice.”

Tancred grinned, “You’re not getting away that easily, Frank. How about some more info on what you found in the Periphery?”

“Sorry, coach. No way I’m giving that away for free,” said Frank. “Now, how about giving me a chance with epee rules instead?” Epee rules permitted full body targeting, while foil rules, which they were presently using, allowed only torso hits.

“No way,” Tancred shook his head, “You still managed to score a hit.”

“While you got five points in return,” Frank pointed out.

“Well, think of it as incentive to improve. Now get up, and let’s go at it again.”

Frank sighed in defeat, “Okay, just give me a moment to catch my breath.”

Tancred asked, “Didn’t your mechwarrior training toughen you up? You shouldn’t be out of breath so quickly.”

“I’m fitter than before,” Frank agreed, “But considering that I’m expending more energy on inefficient moves just on defense, I’m actually no better off than before.”

“Yes.” Tancred nodded slowly. “You were swinging pretty wildly on that last conversation.”

“Epee rules for me then, coach?” Frank asked hopefully as he stood up from the mat, doffing his mask and taking up his foil.

“No,” Tancred’s smile was visible for an instant before he placed his own mask back on, “It’s been too long since I’ve had a real challenge.” He executed his signature slash to start off the match.

Frank groaned inwardly as he went en garde. Tancred Sandoval was still the undisputed fencing champion in the Federated Suns, if not the entire Inner Sphere, with all three weapons. There were supposedly a few specialists with even better skills in the foil and the saber in the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League, but nobody was Tancred Sandoval’s peer in the epee.

Frank knew he wasn’t so bad himself, and even Tancred had commented that he had more potential if only he would apply himself, but right now, his lack of practice was showing.

Sandoval swept in with a direct attack. Frank did not dodge, and parried while watching for the feint. Tancred swept his sword down to change the line of attack, while Frank kept his own weapon pressed against his opponent’s to carry out an envelopment, sweeping the two blades out to his right.

Tancred stepped back before Frank could complete the move, disengaging his blade. Frank took the opportunity to attack.

They swapped attacks for a whole minute, neither able to score a point. Frank realized belatedly that he was fighting better than in the previous match. Seems like I needed some time to get back up to speed, he thought.

He finally managed to land a blow on Tancred’s chest. “Point!” Frank shouted, then stepped back, panting hard. Both men pulled up their facemasks for a short respite. Frank knew he had pasted a wide grin on his face at his unexpected success.

“Not bad, Frank,” Tancred said, now panting equally as heavily, “This is what I knew you could do all along.”

Frank nodded in acknowledgement. “Still not as good as you are.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, Frank laid on his back, his arms spread on the floor, wheezing with his tongue hanging out. Tancred sat exhaustedly on a bench, sipping from a bottle of sports drink.

Tancred had won by 5 points to Frank’s 4.

“If you can just train intensively for another year, you can take over my position as champion.” Tancred was saying. “You know, you could take up a position at the NAIS as a faculty member to teach science and fencing.”

“No way,” Frank waved his right hand in the air in surrender, “Too busy.” He was so tired that he could barely string more than two words together.

“Too busy? Well, you could always hand over all the information on the alien technology to us.”

Having recovered enough of his breath back, Frank sat up, and looked at Tancred in the eye. “If I could, I would. But I have obligations to the other mercs, and we all agreed to share the wealth. I can’t just give you the info, not without getting something in return.”

“Frank, you were born in the Federated Suns. That has got to count for something. What you found could be crucial to our recovery after the civil war.”

Frank shook his head. “I really can’t.” He had his obligation to the other mercs, and he also knew that his future depended a great deal on whether he was able to amass enough money, hopefully enough to purchase a noble’s title in the Federated Suns.

Tancred said, “How about a barony in the Crucis March?” That got Frank’s attention.

He continued, “I know what you want, Frank. We have an intel dossier on you and every Federated Suns-born merc who survived the Falcons and the drones. You didn’t want to be a mechwarrior in the first place. It was only because Duke Ferguson did not approve of your relationship to Clarice that forced you to go to Outreach to try to get a fortune. And with a hefty sum of money, you thought you could buy a noble’s title and land. With a noble’s title in hand, Duke Ferguson would have no objections to your marriage proposal.”

“Where did you come by this?” asked Frank. He was more than a bit miffed that Tancred would pull this move. It was something he had half expected all along, but he had tried not to think about it, since he couldn’t be sure of his answer. After all, it was very, very tempting.

Tancred sighed, “It was all so obvious. I am your coach during your time here, after all, and it doesn’t take a genius to see what was going on.”

“And before you blame Tancred for it, it was my idea,” Princess-Regent Yvonne Davion entered the gym, dressed in a working suit.

Frank scrambled to his feet. “Your Highness,” he bowed respectfully in greeting.

“Hi, Tancred,” Yvonne smiled as she hugged Tancred for a moment. “Did you win the match?”

“By the barest of margins.”

“If you took the scores of both matches, it won’t even be close.” Frank pointed out.

“Modest as always, Frank.” Yvonne said as she sat down beside Tancred. “I remember the time when you had three matches with me, at a targeting handicap, and didn’t even concede a point.”

“Considering that Tancred could beat me silly,” Frank nodded to Tancred, “I’m in no position to brag.”

Ten years ago, Frank remembered, they were just a group of students attending Tancred Sandoval’s fencing course. There was him, Clarice, Eddie, and of course, Yvonne.

Now Yvonne was the Princess-Regent of the entire Federated Suns, Tancred her fiancé and Duke of the Draconis March. Eddie a major with the Davion Guards, Clarice a doctor making her mark in the NAIS. The rest of the class were all establishing what appeared to be successful careers.

And me, what am I doing? Frank thought. Just a mercenary soldier, one without a future? He shook his head slightly. No, dammit! I can do this. Get my share of money from the sale of the data or from merc contracts, buy a title, marry Clarice, and then I can settle down to practice medicine and do research on the side. No need to go around all my life strapped to a fusion reactor.

“So how about the offer?” Yvonne asked him. “All you ever wanted, there for the taking. Just give us as much of the data from the alien base as you can pilfer out.”

Frank closed his eyes. It was all so tempting. He wanted to say yes, to agree, but then he recalled how they got the data in the first place.

The initial discovery of the Spidercrabs, the days of fighting with the Falcons, Descartin’s arrival, searching for the alien base. The appearance of the rest of the drone forces, the final battle. Deserk’s last ride, in the glaring blaze of an orbital bombardment.

No, I can’t do it. Not after what so many people sacrificed for the data. It doesn’t just belong to me. It belonged to everybody who fought on Einstein, to all those who died.

Frank opened his eyes, and he said, “Sorry, but no deal. I wish there was some other way too, but there isn’t.” As he spoke, he was thinking of this one sentence pissing away his own future. But he couldn’t see any other choice. Not if he was going to stick to his principles.

“What about the Federated Suns? That technology could help a lot of people,” said Tancred. But Frank was not fooled.

Playing on my loyalties to the Suns? Sorry, but no go either. “I’ve already given enough to the Federated Suns. There’s no way I’m going to just give you the data.” Frank gritted his teeth. He was tired from the match, and the last thing he really wanted was Yvonne and Tancred pressing him on the issue.

Tancred seemed resigned. “We understand.” He exchanged glances with Yvonne. “But we had to try.”

Frank let out a long breath. “I understand too. For you, the Federated Suns comes first.” He shrugged. “I’m just glad you didn’t use other methods to make me agree.” In other words, torture.

“That would have made me no different from Katherine,” said Yvonne with a slight tinge of anger.

Frank recalled the year when Katherine was using a variety of methods to try to force Yvonne from the regency of the Federated Suns. Everybody had fallen for her schemes, and in the end Yvonne had been made to relinquish her regency.

And what that led to, was painfully obvious to any citizen of the Federated Commonwealth.

“I really wish I could do something for you and Clarice, but…” Yvonne held out her hands in frustration.

Tancred picked up for her, “Censuring Duke Ferguson for what is a private matter wouldn’t go over well with the other nobles in court.”

“Is he that powerful?” Frank asked.

Yvonne answered him, “Well, considering the large amount of political support he built up in the Outback worlds, and which he used to help us during the civil war, there’s nothing we can do to him without incurring a great deal of opposition from his supporters.”

Frank shook his head sadly, “I wasn’t expecting any favors from you, but thanks for thinking about it anyway.”

Tancred placed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t lose heart, Frank. Your original plan was a good one. You may yet succeed.”

“Yeah, I hope so too.”

“Oh, right,” Yvonne said, “I almost forgot. You asked me to check the House Davion family archives for the symbol you wanted, and I just got the results.”

“What did you find?” The pyramid with an eye inside it was an enigma to Frank. He had gone through the NAIS database, but nothing was found. Asking Yvonne to go through the private Davion archives was his last idea. Thankfully, Yvonne did not ask for anything for return, because they thought it was essentially a trivial matter.

Yvonne’s pretty face was puzzled as she said, “The symbol did show on the archive menu, but the entry itself was blank.”

“A blank entry? That doesn’t seem very likely,” said Tancred.

“But that was exactly what I got.” Yvonne protested. “I asked the historians about it, but none of them had heard of it either. I asked a tech to look through the records, and it turned out that the somebody tampered with the entry just before the 1^st Succession War. It was probably erased at that time.”

Chills ran up Frank’s spine. “Somebody erased it? Is that possible?”

“Certainly, if they could slip past our security.” Tancred frowned. “It was probably such a small matter that nobody bothered. After all, they all had more important things on their minds at the time.”

“Frank, just how important is this symbol?” Yvonne asked.

“I don’t know.” Frank admitted. “All I know is that somebody, or some organization, knew of the alien base, and led us by the nose to it. Who were these people, and what do they want? How much else do they know?” He slammed a fist into a palm. “Dammit, there’re so many questions left, and this symbol’s one of the biggest clues we have to getting the answers.”

“Well, wherever and whoever these people are, they are probably not to be trifled with,” said Tancred. “So what other plans do you have?”

Frank sighed, “I’m not sure. I did get some of the questions answered, but they all seemed to point to Terra. The Pyramids were first constructed by the ancient Egyptians in Africa, and then later on some people thought it was a swell idea and built them on worlds they had colonized.”

“So are you going to Terra?” Yvonne asked.

Frank blinked, “Terra? Uh, I don’t think so. I don’t quite believe that such an organization would operate under the Word of Blake’s nose. I mean, Comstar and Word of Blake would have known about them if they were on Terra.” He paused for a moment. “Wouldn’t they?”

Tancred rubbed his chin. “Nothing is so certain, especially when we know next to nothing about them. I wouldn’t rule out Terra so quickly.”

“Ah hell,” Frank cursed bitterly, “I don’t know what’s more silly. My trying to hunt down this secret organization all on my own, or the idea of going to Terra.” He shuddered. “I’ll stay clear of the Wobblies.”

“Frank,” said Tancred, “If you feel it is that important, then you should see this thing through to its end. But if not, then it doesn’t matter much. Whoever is behind this probably isn’t a threat to the Inner Sphere, and nobody will care much if you don’t find them either.”

Frank nodded. Tancred did have a point. It didn’t really matter if they found the masterminds or not. He supposed there were better things for him to do on New Avalon before Doc Banzai was ready to go with him to Einstein.

Like doing research. Relaxing. Spending more time with Clarice. Hmm… he thought, definitely spending more time with Clarice. Hopefully, her father won’t find out, or he was about to be skinned again.

And her father wasn’t the only person he might have to watch out for, he reminded himself.

 

“What do you think?” Tancred asked Victor Davion as they met in one of the many private conference rooms in the palace. They had tapped the entire conversation in the gym, and Victor had listened in from the room.

Even though Victor was no longer Prince of the Federated Suns, he was still allowed a great deal of latitude. In fact, members of the Davion Brigade of Guards still called him ‘Highness’, no matter how often he told them not to.

“He’s on the level.” Victor said firmly. “I don’t doubt him in the least.”

“Then the Star League and alien technology?”

Victor frowned, “It’s not really that important. After all, the technology could be bought in due time. All the Houses have already purchased what’s on offer at Outreach, and so has Comstar and the Word of Blake. And there’ll be more. No, what’s more important is the question of who set the mercenaries up in the first place.”

As the Precentor Martial of Comstar and the elder brother of the rulers of the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, Victor was privy to many secrets, but nothing as strange as the conundrum which had stumped Frank Meronac. The eye in the pyramid spoke of hidden power and knowledge, perhaps degrees of magnitude greater even than Comstar’s. Victor was worried about what that might portend. If that knowledge fell into the Word of Blake’s hands…

He was sure that the Word of Blake did not know anything of this, or else the alien technology would already be in their hands. Something that he really did not like to see happen. At least with the open sale of the data from the alien world by the MIB, everybody was on equal footing.

“Did you find anything on your side?” Tancred was understandably worried about the mastermind organization. Nothing about them had been found in MIIO’s files, and he hoped that Comstar might have better luck.

While Victor wasn’t very sure of his own findings, he nodded slowly, “I did find something.”

Tancred leaned forward in his seat eagerly. “What was that?”

Victor said, “It was only a very short entry, but it was pretty telling in its own way. The symbol was the insignia, emblem, whatever you want to call it, of the Illuminati, literally, the bearers of light. Supposedly, they were an organization that arose in the 18^th century in Terra Europe. There was nothing else in the entry.”

“That can’t be right. That’s so long ago!”

“My thoughts exactly,” Victor agreed. “But who can tell if they’re still around? There was no other information on their purpose, their history, or how they disappeared, if that was what happened to them.”

He continued, “One thing is for sure, that if any answers are to be found, they can only be found on Terra.”

“You mean you do want to send somebody to Terra to check it out?”

Victor shrugged, “I doubt the Word of Blake would like Comstar agents on Terra. Or MIIO agents, for that matter. However, there is somebody we can send there. Who has a stake in all this already, and the best part of it is that he’s essentially a neutral.”

“Frank Meronac.”

“Yes. There’s no reason for the Word of Blake to deny him entry when he could go there as a simple tourist.”

Tancred scoffed. “And the fact that he’s an important member of the Mercs in Black? What’s to prevent the Word of Blake from just grabbing him and turning him?”

“A change of name, and a simple database addition to the citizen registry files should be sufficient there,” Victor answered. “While I’m sure ROM keeps track of the agents we have, I doubt they will be so vigilant about a mere NAIS doctor.”

“Victor, one more thing,” Tancred noted.

“And that is?”

“Why would he want to go in the first place?” Tancred folded his arms. “He’s made it clear that he wants nothing better than to stay on New Avalon until he gets recalled to Outreach or Einstein.”

“I think I can make it worth his while,” Victor said, as a plan came to him. Comstar had been trying to find out what the Blakists were doing on Terra, without much success, and here was an opportunity to kill two birds with a single stone. While Victor had an ace up his sleeve, he did not want to jeopardize that highly ranked operative without a really good reason, which was also why he did not mention it to Tancred. Only he and Focht knew who that operative was.

So he was left with Frank Meronac. Victor hated doing this, but he could hardly see any other choice here. Not if they needed to find out more about the Illuminati, not if he needed to know what was happening on Terra.

Just a gamble with the life of a good man, Victor thought again unhappily.

 

“Well, so that was how I managed to survive the Periphery,” Frank said to his audience of enthralled listeners around the table as he finished his tale.

Eddie shook his head in disbelief. “Wow, that was some adventure you had. Almost makes me wish I had gone with you. Almost.”

His girlfriend Sophia Langford looked at him sternly, “Eddie, do you want to get yourself killed? The civil war was bad enough.” She turned to Frank, “One thing I just don’t get. How did you survive so many fights?”

Frank shuddered visibly as he finished off the last of his ice cream dessert. “I was lucky. Simple as that. Damn lucky. A lot of good men died out there.” He thought of Deserk, Captain Vansen, and all those warriors, mercenary and Jade Falcon, who had paid the ultimate price during their war against each other, and later against the drones.

“Well, just be glad that you’re still alive. I know I am.” Clarice added as she squeezed one of his hands reassuringly.

Frank smiled weakly, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Eddie had organized the double date at the pizza house, and they had just finished their dinner while Frank regaled them with tales of his life so far as a mercenary.

Obviously, he had left out certain details. Details that all the mercs, and even their buyers, had agreed to censor from the official account. As much as he wanted to tell his close friends the true story, he couldn’t.

And their overall plan was coming along quite well. Ian had already told him of his initial contacts in the Taurian Concordat, and it seemed that the outlook was favorable. However, Frank was a bit worried because he thought he could detect signs of apprehension in Ian’s letter. About what, though, he had no idea.

Meanwhile, Descartin Winters had reached Luthien safely, and he had sent only a short message that he wasn’t able to find the man he was looking for, and staying for the moment on Luthien. Frank was puzzled when he had received two messages, one from Descartin, and one from Yoshino. Apparently, they had separated, and while Yoshino was looking for Descartin, Descartin seemed adamant to stay away, not even giving hints of his present location on the Black Pearl. Well, Frank thought, at least he’s not in any trouble. I hope.

“So,” Clarice brought him back to his immediate surroundings, “How long are you staying here?” Her voice carried hints of worry, which was completely understandable because they all knew as a mercenary, Frank would probably be caught up in fighting again.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It all depends on how our reorganization is going. Once Colonel Feehan can get one regiment up and running, I’ll probably have to head back to Outreach. I think it’ll be at least three more months before we’re ready to take on contracts as a unified merc unit.”

“Well, provided you can find any contracts at all,” Eddie said. “Things are very quiet nowadays.”

“You prefer the mess of the previous few years?” Clarice asked.

Eddie shook his head, “Of course not. Just stating a fact. I just feel very bored right now.”

“Hey, Eddie,” said Frank, “You could always quit the AFFS and join me as a merc.”

They all blinked for two seconds, before Sophia protested, “No way!” She stared at Eddie, “I’ll dump you if you do go off like that,” she warned.

Eddie gulped, “Okay, okay. I promise I’ll not go with Frank. I won’t even think of it. Happy?”

“Oooh, big bad mechwarrior is actually a cuckolded man who submits to his girlfriend’s every whim!” Frank grinned.

“Oh yeah, and you’re not?” Clarice asked with a smirk.

Frank took a look at her, saw the implied threat, and said in a small voice, “Point taken.”

They all laughed at that.

An hour later, they left the pizza house. Eddie and Sophia departed together, while Frank waited beside Clarice’s car in the car park while she went to the washroom.

Frank glanced up at the night sky, admiring the stars he could see despite the glow from the city lights. It had a been a good day, and he looked forward to the rest of his time on New Avalon.

Suddenly, he felt something wrong, and he turned his eyes back to his surroundings. His senses were screaming at him, but he wasn’t sure what was wrong.

“Hi there Frank,” a voice spoke, which sent Frank spinning around to face it.

A dark figure stepped out from a darkened corner. Frank didn’t need to see him to know who he was. He could recognize the voice.

“Jacques Viler.” Frank said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Jacques was taller than Frank, had blond hair, and was extremely athletic. He was a renowned mechwarrior in the Crucis Lancers, and he wore a lieutenant colonel’s rank insignia.

He was also Frank’s rival for Clarice’s affections, a noble by birth, and a NAMA graduate cum laude. Furthermore, he had Duke Ferguson on his side. Clarice’s father had firmly believed that Clarice would be better off with Jacques than with Frank, and every one of their encounters had been colored by that fact. It didn’t help that they all knew that in the ways that mattered to Duke Ferguson, Jacques was in every way the better man.

Other than Clarice and fencing, Frank had never beaten Jacques in anything, and he was getting a bit worried in the deserted car park. He thought, he couldn’t be spoiling for a fight, could he?

The only time Frank had beaten him was in the fencing competition back in 3059. Frank had won by the slimmest of margins, and he knew Jacques had never forgiven him for that, just as he had never forgotten that Clarice had chosen Frank instead. It was a quiet seething hate that sent shivers up Frank’s spine whenever he met Jacques. In some way, Frank knew he had it coming to him.

Frank tried to keep his voice light as he asked, “So, had dinner already?”

“Yeah,” Jacques replied as he walked nearer, “I had mine. I was a bit surprised to see you here. I thought you’ll be a rotting corpse in the Periphery by now.”

Frank tried to ignore the churning sensation in his stomach as the other man walked up. “I got lucky.”

“So you’re back to put the moves on my girl?” Jacques asked with a tinge of anger.

“What do you mean, put the moves on your girl?” Frank retorted, “Clarice isn’t your girl any more than she’s mine. She made her choice, and I think you should respect that.”

“Yeah?” Jacques asked. “Then respect this!” Jacques swung his fist in a swift arc towards Frank’s head.

Frank had been watching for the attack, but he was still shocked by the move. Whatever happened to plain talking?

Frank stumbled backwards to avoid the blow, and he fell butt-first onto the floor. He continued to tumble backwards to carry himself out of range, before standing up several meters away.

“Woah!” Frank exclaimed, “We don’t have to fight about this! Can’t we just talk it over?”

Jacques had closed the distance with frightening speed, and he smiled as he replied, “No. This is something I’ll enjoy.”

Frank managed to block the first few punches, but Jacques moved in and kneed him in the stomach, which sent Frank doubled over and gasping for breath.

He couldn’t remember anything else for the next few moments, only an incessant torrent of pain. He barely noticed when it stopped, and he realized belatedly that Jacques had stopped beating him when he felt Jacques grab his hair with one hand and lifted up his head from the ground.

He squinted through swollen eyes at his assailant’s sneering face, as Jacques spoke, “Compliments of me and Duke Ferguson. In other words, Meronac, stay away from Clarice as we told you last year. Or else you’ll have to look forward to seeing me more often.” He then put Frank’s head down on the ground.

The next thing Frank knew, he was in Clarice’s apartment.

 

“Yowch! That hurts!” Frank yelped and jerked as Clarice swabbed one of his many wounds with antiseptic soaked cotton.

“Stay still. You know as well as I do that the pain means that the medicine’s working.” Clarice scolded. “How did you get into a fight with Jacques? You should know better than that.”

“A fight?” Frank rolled his eyes, “It was a slaughter. I didn’t ask for a fight. He just walked up to me and gave me a beating. Not that I’m unfamiliar with beatings, mind you.”

Not the first time, Frank cursed himself for being a wimp in a fistfight. Sure, he could fight pretty well if he had something in his hands, but bare knuckled combat always ended badly for him. He had plenty of experience with that in his high school days.

“Do you want to make a report?” Clarice asked. “I mean, he practically assaulted you.”

“Well, at least he didn’t try to kill me.” Frank pointed out. He remembered Jacques’ last words, “And I think your father could probably buck any call against Jacques. He hates me that much.”

Clarice said brokenly, “I’m sorry, Frank. I didn’t think that they’ll resort to this.”

Frank tried to crack a grin, “Hey, don’t worry, I’m used to it.” He winced briefly as a spasm of pain hit him. “Maybe I should have heeded their warning last year and stayed away instead.”

“Well, I don’t care for these bully tactics,” she said firmly, “I’m going to tell my father to stay away, or else…”

“Or else what?” Frank asked tiredly. “There’s not much we can do. Blame it on the system.” He smiled weakly to reassure her. “Don’t worry. I’ll prove your father wrong. Just be patient.”

 

“How’re the preparations coming along?” The female officer asked her subordinate. “Are the men ready for action?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he answered, “We’re as ready as we can be. We only need the word to move out.”

She nodded in satisfaction. Yes, they’re as ready as they could be to take down Victor Davion once and for all, in a perverse way fulfilling the orders given to them by Katrina Steiner back when the Civil War started.

If only she didn’t feel so trapped. Not for the first time, she regretted ever using the nuclear weapons on Axton, and then Marlette, which had inexorably brought her to this moment, where she had no other choice but to kill Davion.

There was the other choice, of course. She could refuse the commands given to her by her new masters, but they could simply reveal the location of her unit to the Federated Suns, and she knew that a war crimes trial would not be far away if that happened.

Her men deserved better. Every single one of them deserved better. If she had thought putting all the blame on herself would help exonerate them for their participation in the disasters on Axton and Marlette, she would have given herself up back on Marlette.

But in the end, it didn’t matter. Somebody had offered her a way out on Marlette, and like a fool she had taken it, not realizing that she had walked into a well orchestrated trap.

She still didn’t know who her masters were, but she was quite sure they were from the Word of Blake, though she had no proof. All they wanted was for her unit to kill Victor at an opportune moment. Or else, they would turn her and her troops over to the Federated Suns authorities.

It had come down to this, a single strike against Avalon City with a reinforced battalion of mechs and two combat commands. Kill Precentor Martial Victor Davion, and get out. Her masters had promised that with that accomplished, the survivors would be given new identities in the periphery and allowed to live their own lives.

She admitted to herself that there was no better moment for such an assault. With the end of the civil war, the military of the Federated Suns had been greatly diminished, and even now there were only two mech regiments on New Avalon.

They were only two jumps away, in transports marked as civilian ships. The plan called for them to drop right on top of Avalon City, kill their target, and pull out. It was an extremely simple plan, one that had every chance of success. The use of nuclear weapons would not be needed, and she shuddered at the thought of using them in a populated city like Avalon City.

It was that, or death by trial and execution. Not much choice there. She steeled herself. There was nothing to do but to walk the path laid out in front of her. All that was needed was her command to proceed.

“Move out,” ordered Annette Leyland of the 5^th Federated Commonwealth RCT.

 

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