21
Unity Palace, Imperial City, Luthien
Pesht Military District, Draconis Combine
17 March 3028
Constance Kurita looked at her face in the mirror. Though she had borne the responsibilities of the Keeper of the House Honor for only four years, she felt keenly the weight of responsibility. She searched for signs that the stress was beginning to show, but found none. That's a relief,she told herself. There is no time now to hide them with cosmetics.
When the servant called her name, she made one last check of her appearance before exiting through the door he held open. Walking along the veranda of the mansion, she unconsciously smoothed the line of her kimono.
The rhythmic beat of her heavy, double-tied ponytail against her buttocks was like a metronome to help Constance calm her thoughts. Only a few years back, just the idea of a meeting with the Coordinator had filled her with apprehension. She was glad now that time had strengthened her confidence enough that she could maintain the proper inner control. She had grown in her role as the conscience of the Coordinator. Though her cousin Takashi was her elder by twenty years, he no longer treated her like a child playing at being a grown-up. He even listened to her ... sometimes.
Constance found Takashi seated in the raked gravel garden at the end of the veranda. His black senior officer's uniform blended with the basalt bench where he sat. He was meditating, gaze fixed firmly on the dwarf cryptomeria tree standing against the low bamboo fence opposite his seat. As she stepped from the wooden porch onto the first slate of the pathway, he rose and faced her, bowing a formal greeting.
"You wished to speak with me, JokanConstance," he said as she returned the bow deeper, as befitted a servant of the ruler.
"I did, Tono.Thank you for taking the time." Constance hesitated a moment in token acknowledgement of the Kurita custom of beginning all conversation with only the most insignificant preambles. She and Takashi, cousins as well as functionaries of the state, had long passed the point where they needed that formality to gauge one another's state. "I am informed that you have not forwarded an invitation to Theodore," she said, going directly to the point.
"That is correct."
"This is an important occasion, Tono.The wedding of Hanse Davion, ruler of the Federated Suns, to Melissa Steiner, Archon-Designate of the Lyran Commonwealth and heir to the throne of that state, is an unprecedented event. Every head of state in the Inner Sphere will be there. This is an invaluable chance for your heir to meet them. An unparalleled opportunity."
"He remains adamant," Takashi stated flatly. In the set of his jaw, Constance read the irritation that he kept from his voice.
"As do you," she said sadly. There had been little communication between father and son since Theodore's banishment to the Legion of Vega over three years ago. "You treat him poorly. You are the Coordinator and he is your heir. If you do not prepare him well, you fail the Dragon and the realm."
"I am well aware of my duty to the realm, Jokan"Takashi snapped. "All that I do is with the sole purpose of molding my son into the kind of leader the Combine needs. He must learn."
"Exactly my point." Constance kept her tone calm and even. "He can learn much during the wedding festivities. He can meet the rulers of the enemy states bordering our realm. And it will give him the chance to meet and take the measure of our Kapteyn Accord allies."
Takashi's stillness told Constance that her words fell on deaf ears. This was not to be one of her victories. As she bowed and turned to go, Takashi spoke again in a firm, determined voice.
"He still has things to learn on Marfik. Let him stay there and miss all the excitement."
22
Massingham Valley , Marfik
Dieron Military District, Draconis Combine
29 August 3028
"We've got some excitement on the left flank," Fuhito Tetsuhara reported over the optic fiber link from his company's concealed position in DonnerBrau Forest.
Theodore rotated the "Revenant's" head to bring the sensor scan to bear on the disturbance. The compressed images on his 360-degree screen flowed until he had a view of the Legion's left flank in the center, where the image had the least distortion. Billowing dust confirmed Tai-iTetsuhara's report.
Theodore keyed open the link to his 'Mech force commander. "Eleventh Armored is raising dust," he said. "Why aren't they holding their positions?"
"I don't know, Sama"Olivares replied, his rumbling voice unmistakable even over the commlink.
"Well, find out!" Theodore snapped, his temper short from lack of sleep. As Olivares ordered Tetsuhara to send out a recon lance, he cut the comm link and turned his attention to the tactical map scrolling across his main screen.
Five days ago, Steiner DropShips had been detected heading for Marfik under high acceleration. Their JumpShips had made a perilously close transit into the system, appearing at a "pirate point" only a few thousand kilometers out from Marfik's orbital path. The proximity of the transit point had drastically reduced the flight time of the piggybacking
DropShips as they burned toward the planet. In using the "pirate point," the Lyrans had risked a large fleet of several JumpShips, not to mention the DropShips and the troops they were carrying. Those owing allegiance to House Steiner were known throughout the Inner Sphere as shrewd merchants, always aware of the balance between profit and loss. Clearly, they saw that the gains possible in the Marfik system were worth the gamble.
When Theodore had first seen the radar tracks, the number of invaders had startled him. There were dozens of DropShips. Fortunately, their masses and radar signatures indicated that the force was primarily composed of conventional forces. Few of the DropShips had been identified as 'Mech transports. To make a major assault using so few of the most potent weapons available under the Ares Conventions of War did not make military sense. Only the need for Steiner BattleMech forces elsewhere could justify it. That could mean only one thing: War!
He had been expecting it for some time. The expense of running the Davion Operation Galahad and Steiner Operation Thor military exercises was enormous, even for their wealthy realms. Theodore had been unable to discern the full intent of those massive military maneuvers, even with the Order of the Five Pillars funneling intelligence to him, but the shifting of unit positions hinted at in the reports was ominous. Now, surely, the war had come. When the Steiner DropShips appeared in the system, Theodore had burned incense at the local shrine to thank Buddha that the children had lifted for safety two weeks earlier.
Yesterday, a ComStar Adept had delivered a communique confirming his fears of war. The message disk had contained a full recording of the wedding toast in which Hanse Davion had offered the Capellan Confederation to his bride as a wedding gift. The toast was his announcement of the Federated Suns' assault on the Capellans. The timing was too close to the appearance of Steiner troops in the Marfik system. It had to be that Archon Katrina Steiner was supporting her Davion ally by opening a front to occupy the Dragon while Prince Hanse battered the Capellans. As yet, there had been no communications from the Dieron command announcing an invasion, but it was likely that Lyran troops were assaulting other border systems as well.