Aidan shrugged. He was finding it difficult to look steadily at Kael Pershaw. The man's deformities, especially the half-face, were disconcerting. On the visible facial skin was a trio of deep scars running from the edge of the half-mask, over his nose and across his cheek, disappearing into his hairline.
Like all Clan warriors, Aidan dreaded becoming old. Yet his worst fears had never envisioned this kind of old warrior, one so damaged by battle that he had become at least half-monster.
Pershaw, perhaps sensing some of Aidan's reaction, carefully rearranged himself on his chair, using his good hand to settle his bad leg into a more upright position. He lifted the shoulder of his stiff arm so that the limb did not seem to hang as a weight.
"I can do nothing to remove this taint, Aidan Pryde, and I am here to convey a decision that will no doubt add to it. As you know, the Falcon Guards Cluster was nearly demolished by the action in the Great Gash on Twycross. This is the only major defeat Clan Jade Falcon has suffered in this invasion, and it has tainted the Falcon Guards, just as you are tainted. Dezgrais the word."
"Yes, but were the Guards not the victims of secretly planted demolition charges and—"
Pershaw nearly rose out of his chair in anger. "You do not make excuses for yourself, nor do you make excuses for the Falcon Guards! Adler Malthus was too arrogant. He should have scouted the pass properly before leading so many 'Mechs into a confined area. He should not have accepted an honor duel with an Inner Sphere freebirth nor stopped his command in the middle of the Great Gash."
"Kael Pershaw, who knows what command decision another commander—myself included—might have made in the same circumstances, with the same intelligence data."
Pershaw's visible eye blazed with fury. "Good! Good! Then perhaps, in your own arrogance, you arethe proper choice to command the new Falcon Guards!" He was almost shouting.
This time Pershaw did attempt to rise out of the chair, but unable to achieve the proper balance, he fell right back into it. Despite Aidan's intense dislike of the man, he was saddened to see the former superb warrior in such a diminished physical state. He was a rare specimen, so debilitated as to be unsuitable even for one of the old-warrior units often sacrificed as a delaying tactic in battle. Again he saw his own future as an old warrior, and he did not want to reach it. He would also hate to become such a physical wreck.
Then the meaning of what Pershaw had just said hit Aidan like a projectile with a delayed charge.
"I am to command the new Falcon Guards, Kael Pershaw?"
Pershaw's new laughter was low-down, mean. "That is the gist of the message for which I am messenger. All survivors of the former Falcon Guards will be transferred out and a completely new contingent will be formed, with you at its head. Do you see, Aidan Pryde, what I meant about taint? You are the only available officer who would not be insulted by such a command. And I can see in your eyes that you are not."
"The assignment means front-line duty, does it not?"
"Even more than you anticipate."
"That more than compensates for any taint."
"And that is why I chose you, Aidan Pryde. I knew you would feel no shame at the assignment."
"Youchose me? You are now a Khan?"
"And not just his messenger? You are right, Aidan Pryde, quite right. I was the only one, in fact, who could convey this message. Khan Chistu is busy at the moment, as you might imagine. To forestall any further questions, let me say that I am among the highest-placed advisors to our Khan. He selected me, even though I am a crippled old man."
"That is logical, given Vandervahn Chistu's reputation as an intelligent and crafty warrior. You were always known as a supreme military strategist, Kael Pershaw."
"I should say that you flatter me, but I cannot for it is true. If the Khan had not rescued me from mere bureaucratic duty, I would be buried alive somewhere. At any rate, I cannot talk further about my role in the present invasion. Let us just say that I chose you, Aidan Pryde, because your tenacity and uncommon skill at sometimes audacious maneuvers have the best chance of reviving the Falcon Guards. If you do not, nothing is lost. No shame you might bring to the role of unit commander could bring the Falcon Guards down any further."
"It is strange, Kael Pershaw. I should be wounded by your words, but instead I am eager to take the command you offer me."
"Just as I suspected. Make no mistake, you will start this new assignment with several disadvantages. In addition to the stained reputation of the Guards, you are being assigned subordinate officers and warriors who are not, may I say, among the best Clan Jade Falcon has to offer. Like you, each of them has some mark against him, some blemish to his codex. Many of them you would best eliminate immediately by putting them in your front lines against formidable odds.
"But how you handle this new duty is your responsibility. My task is merely to inform you that you are detached from your present duty to meet with your new, uh, warriors. They will be assembling on Orkney's southern hemisphere, at a training field called Mudd Station. You will not have much time to form up your Falcon Guards and whip them into any kind of shape. You will soon go into battle."
"How soon?"
"That has not yet been decided. The Khan has authorized me to brief you, but until all announcements are official, you must regard our conversation as secret. I have your rede, quiaff?"
"Aff."
"ComStar is no longer neutral. The ilKhan has informed them that our objective is Terra, and they refuse to allow us to occupy their home planet."
"Then we must be concerned about the ComStar administrators on our planets rising up against us."
"No. The ComStar Precentor Martial has issued a batchallto ilKhan Kerensky, which has been accepted. ComStar has arranged with ilKhan Kerensky for a single battle between the Clans and the ComStar military forces on a planet named Tukayyid. A Clan victory will mean that the prize of Terra is ours. But if we lose, the ilKhan has agreed that our forces will not advance for a period of fifteen years. And during all that time we must be content merely holding and administering the planets we have already conquered."
"The Khans of the other Clans have accepted this?" Aidan was a bit incredulous.
"Yes. IlKhan Kerensky has called a kurultaiof Clans Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, Steel Viper, Ghost Bear, Diamond Shark, and Wolf. The terms of the batchallwere ratified. In the bidding for objectives, Khan Chistu offered to use the Falcon Guards. That reduction in our forces earns our Clan the right to land on the first day."
As Kael Pershaw continued the briefing, it was all Aidan could do to concentrate. Already he was speculating on what he might do as commander of the new Falcon Guards.
18
Nobody knew the origin of the name Mudd Station. Before the Jade Falcons had taken it over, it was little more than an outpost constructed for some now-abandoned scientific study. Presently it served the Clan invaders' strategic purposes, with the addition of new landing areas, buildings, and the installation of a defense system.
Despite the improvements, Mudd Station was no more desirable a place than before. Every afternoon it was battered by a heavy rainstorm, whose downpour could knock to the ground anyone foolish enough to be out in it. The storm usually damaged some item whose repair took techs away from their main labors. Slogging around in the mud afterward, Aidan often wondered if the station's nearly continual ground condition had inspired someone to give the place its name.