Chung glanced over at his passenger. "You said you had passage for us into the Compact from Daniels?"
His guest nodded. "Bring up a system chart. The Jump-Ship is supposed to be waiting in a wide orbit around the fourth world."
Chung punched up the chart for the Daniels system and touched the icon of a JumpShip near the fourth planet. "The only thing there is the FCSS valiant Heart,and it's at 2 AU from the world. Is that it?"
"Steady as she goes, Captain Chung."
Chung's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. That's a Federated Commonwealth JumpShip. It will be heading out toward the front with the Clans, not into the Compact."
"Chung, even Hanse Davion acknowledges the seriousness of my mission. The Valiant Heartis waiting for us."
Chung set a course and started his ship accelerating toward the warship. "I hope you know what you are doing."
"Rest assured, Chung, I do. 'An eye for an eye' is a concept simple enough for even Romano to understand on first pass." A low laugh sounded from the corner. "Too bad it will be her last!"
20
Fort Ian Training Center , Port Moseby
Virginia Shire, Federated Commonwealth
21 March 3052
Even though the shadows of the briefing room shrouded him, Shin Yodama felt conspicuous among so many Federated Commonwealth officers. Seated at Victor Davion's left hand, across the dark table from Galen Cox, he wished he were invisible. He noticed that the seat next to him remained vacant and only Galen had made an attempt to engage him in conversation before the briefing began.
The tension in the room was so thick it almost smothered him. For a half-second, he imagined it was focused upon him, then rejected the thought with a quick, involuntary shake of his head. Not focused on me, but on this end of the table.
Hovering directly over the center of the rectangular briefing table, holographic BattleMechs went through their paces. The exercise footage, taken from the gun-cameras mounted in Locustsused for observation, showed the incredible firepower of the assembled BattleMech unit. In highly coordinated assaults, they combined their fire to reduce targets to scrap in seconds.
Shin, though he had been present at the exercise, took time to review his assessment of this unit, Victor Davion's Revenants. They had been reorganized into a reinforced battalion of just over fifty 'Mechs. The unit was further divided into a fire support company, an assault company, and two fast-response "sprint" companies. Victor's command lance was made up of swift 'Mechs, making it a complement of the sprint companies.
And what 'Mechs they are!Shin knew from conversations with Victor that even the Prince had not expected his unit to be refitted so quickly and well. In the holographic battle being waged above the table, Shin saw BattleMechs that had never before appeared in the battles of the Successor States. Axmen, Marauder II's,and a host of other new 'Mech models populated the Revenant ranks, making the holovid of the training session look more like a commercial HV release than a record of a unit in action.
Victor's own DaishiOmniMech was the jewel of the lot. Shin had seen pictures of its condition after Alyina, and yet its refitting was now amazingly complete. The squat, boxy torso showed none of the damage it had taken in battle with the Clans, and the right foot had been replaced. Though the 'Mech's birdlike legs gave it an odd gait, Shin saw in Victor's steady piloting a deadly intent that the Daishi'scrushing firepower fulfilled. Its array of missiles, lasers, and autocannons made the OmniMech well-suited for anything from indirect fire-support missions to the fiercest infighting.
Even the normal 'Mechs that had survived Alyina, like Galen Cox's Crusader,had been swapped out for the new and unusual avatars of their former selves. The Crusaderlost some firepower in the revamping of its short-range missile systems and the removal of one machine gun, but the addition of a flamer and an anti-missile system more than compensated the loss. More important, the new Crusaderfeatured jump jets, which gave the huge 'Mech far more mobility. Double-strength heat sinks meant it would not overheat as quickly, increasing its ability to sustain an assault during battle.
Victor hit a switch as the holovid ended, and slowly brought up the lights. Shin noted the seriousness of Victor's expression as he gazed at the officers who commanded his lances. If he has changed in the time since we trained on Outreach, it is only in his maturity. It is the Dragon's good fortune that the Fox's son plots with us and not against us.
Victor pointed toward where the 'Mechs had been battling. "You've all seen the holovids before, but I wanted us to review that section together to let you know I'm very pleased with our progress. Your people are meshing well together, and everyone has come up to speed on their new 'Mechs far more quickly than I expected. This is good, and I commend you all for this level of improvement." He toyed with the zipper of his olive jumpsuit. "Letters of commendation have been entered in all your files over General Kaulkas' signature."
That brought smiles to the officers' faces, but did nothing to dispel the tension in the room. Shin felt the gathered officers waiting for the other shoe to drop, and Victor's hesitation, feigned or not, increased the suspense. Shin suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the man.
"Rumors have begun to circulate among the Revenants concerning the nature of our training," Victor said finally. "I have been pushing you and your people hard and plenty of them have sensed a purpose in these exercises. Yes, each is different, in that we're hitting a simulated Clan force with a different approach each time, but we're always on a mission with a time limit. Our job is to land, hit the enemy hard, keep reinforcements at bay long enough to evacuate someone, then we pull out ourselves."
Victor glanced over at Shin. "Many of your people have also noted the arrival of ShosaYodama and his people. They're uneasy about being observed by Combine officers, and everyone on this base knows I've spent a lot of time talking with ShosaYodama. The rumor shop has been busy forging links between our training and the Draconis Combine. Rumors will really begin to fly fast and furious when Yodama and his people form yet another lance and start working with us in equipment they brought or we have lent to them."
That statement produced whispered oaths and an isolated cheer from the assembled officers. Several stared daggers at Shin, but the yakuza turned them away with a smile. One or two blushed and lowered their gazes, while the older officers stared at the Kuritan in open challenge.
Victor ignored these unspoken exchanges. "What I'm going to say goes no further than this room for the time being. What we have been doing in these training exercises is preparing for a mission that will take us a long way from here. I haven't yet received permission to launch the operation, but I will be meeting with General Kaulkas today, and then Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion inside two weeks to discuss it. Before I do that, however, I must be certain you're all behind me."