037. Mairi Ponders the Clans

There was a certain amount of... rush.

The Archon had sent through a message to the HPG. 

A message that hadn't even been sent off as priority.

Arriving after a month from its travel in-system given the Class-B HPG Blackjack possessed.

It was... it was, in simple terms, a bit of a shock to those of the planet. Especially when arriving dropships had broadcast messages of congratulations.

Just... what had the Archon been thinking?

Said thought had run through the heads of all in the room, as well as the rest of the people of the Commonwealth. One did not appoint a King, one of the same social standing as the King of Tamar, the King of Donegal, and the King of Skye and act so cavalierly in said appointment. Some said that it was because of the fact that the Lord was not a soldier or Mechwarrior. And thus a civilian, belonging to a people that the Archon ignored completely. Almost Clan-like really. 

In the LCAF, he didn't have the best of reputations because of Deep Raid. One that was getting worse because of the unofficially named Kalidasa fiasco. 

His reputation in the civilian sphere had started out rather positive and was now dipping as time went on. The people involved looking on with horror at what it was he thought he was doing. Marching into the Estates General and placing his demands before leaving.

Not conducting a full enrolment ceremony for Huu.

Stripping defensive garrisons from worlds to push onto his absolute focus, Kalidasa of all places.

The image of an Archon focused on a single issue to the detriment of everything else was problematic. Especially in this age of change, where the entire structure of the war that the Commonwealth had been used to for a century was changing. Changing so fast that a month could go by and new innovations would emerge onto the battlefield. 

Already armour had been issued to frontline units, plates welded wherever possible to counter Retro-cannon, superseded not a month later by steel integrated Standard Armour. Soft steel lamination with the traditional hard brittle steel. Like the ancient ship armour of Terra, hard and soft, for the best of both kinds of protection. Krupp Steel they called the process on Terra.

All had taken place over 3 months, the battlefield changing yet again as retro-weaponry was rendered temporarily ineffective. 

Until the introduction of Sabot round, a weapon designed to pierce truly stupendous amounts of armour, which returned the advantage to the retro-guns, the sabot piercing the soft/hard steel combination to do the same amount of damage to the boron-nitride plates underneath. Retro-guns once again reaching their stable point, the only change being that of ammunition... that needed a smooth bore barrel to fire from.

Innovation, from all successor states, was driving the war making potential of all sides and this Archon with his blinkered vision was causing many to consider...perhaps another would be more appropriate.

For Mairi Mackay, Vice-Lord of the Wolverines, Lord of the Veelvraat, and now Ritter of the Lyran Commonwealth, the matter was immaterial. 

The simple fact was that his lord had been sent forth into the Rasalhague Kingdom, to make the people of the region his own, to integrate them into the wider whole of the Commonwealth. 

For Mairi, he was sure the Clans would say something about integrating and killing those who refused, as simple and as brutal as the Pentagon Clans were. Not an ounce of subtlety in them. 

Really, from the tales of his gene-sire, it was all 'hit this' and 'hit that' and 'trial this' and 'trial that'. It was as if they had no other purpose in life that wasn't hitting things with cannon and laser. 

Founder, in the Clans, he wouldn't even be given a voice in a room such as this. Having no Bloodname that he could claim, not when his older sister in the sibko had defeated him and thus earned the right to carry their gene-mother's Bloodname. Every five years, of births would be grouped into sibkos, to compete for the right to carry their gene-mother's Bloodname onwards. 

Those who did not have a Bloodname could earn one through truly awesome acts of prowess. The tribe would vote and confer it, again, a necessity given just how large the Inner Sphere was. Mairi was hoping he would achieve this soon, the Lord had created a great number of enemies after all. All he held now was his 'Sphere Name', the surname that one needed for registration in the Commonwealth.

The changes to the Clan ways was a necessity he had been taught. Here, in the Inner Sphere, where the environment was different, so too were the predators and prey. And a true Wolverine adapted or perished. 

In any case, he stood, arms crossed, as more figures entered the room.

Preparing for their exodus, those that were intimately close to Huu Eggers, his Lord, were here to ensure it all went smoothly.

The first such meeting since his Lord had decided to expose himself to assassins as if it were a simple matter. In the end, he had been right that it wasn't an issue... but really, all it took was one lucky shot, and he would be dead. 

Like Nicholas Kerensky, one simple accident, and he had been rendered lifeless. His works dying with him, his dreams shattered, turned to ash by the Pentagon Clans.

The same could not happen to the dreams of Huu Eggers, the Nicholas Kerensky of this age. 

Around the table were sat Phan Eggers, Katherine Eggers, as well as the department heads of Eggers General Utility and their representatives. 

There was a pause before Phan Eggers decided that he needed to speak first.

"So. How exactly were there 49 assassination attempts on Huu? Before the entire semi-sucide thing he had going on, how exactly were there 49 attempts? What exactly was going on for this to... escalate like it has?" Frowning, he looked at the others who were in the room with them. 

LIC, LCAF-MI, and LCAF-NI, the ones who were meant to be keeping tabs on those who would harm the Lord... and the Commonwealth's interests.

"There were no recognisable markings or any form of identification from them. If we didn't know better, we would have said that they had emerged from Hyperspace to conduct the assassination." LIC spoke up, face irritated by the fact that they hadn't been able to be... relevant.

crack

The sound of glass being crushed filled the room. 

Eyes turned to Katherine Eggers, who was gently wiping the glass from her gloved hand. Face bland, almost empty of expression.

If not for her skill in the cockpit of a Battlemech, Mairi would have thought her a pint-sized elemental. One of those from Clan Ice Hellion, bred for speed and not strength. 

"Are you saying we have no proof, even now... even after all of this in the last month?" 

It was as if the room were inhaling, unwilling or unable to breathe out.

"Not quite. Thanks to the efforts of Naval Intelligence as we've been able to locate, or at least identify, a black hole in our operational planning. It has proven invaluable to Naval Intelligence. We will be looking to acquiring self-contained computers from Eggers Media in the future to fill this void. The use of linked computers and a central mainframe has made our systems embarrassingly open to infiltration and subversion."

The meeting continued as the intelligence failures highlighted a single... group with great skills in electronic intrusion and with immense intelligence gathering capabilities. 

One would say that it rather... narrowed down the options. 

In any case, the look on Phan Eggers' face was bland, almost placid, one might say. As the one in the loop, it wasn't as if this was anything new. 

Katherine Eggers meanwhile was looking increasingly furious. Increasingly unable to control herself if the lack of any... fragile materials near her was any indication.

In the end it was too much. 

"34 assassination attempts since he's done something stupid like exposing himself. 1 orbital drop by... unknown mercenaries. Amateurish. All after my idiot of a son announced he was starting a jumpship mail business. The who is obvious. They. They, I will deal with in time. What about the ones I can deal with here?" Katherine's voice was deadly quiet.

"Given the brazenness of the Lord's actions, we've been able to identify 392 different individuals acting abnormally in relation to their standard actions. Out of a current population within 10 kilometres of each... picnic, of 900,000 individuals." 

Mairi considered the issue. 

One could weigh it, really, less than one percent of one percent of people wanted Huu Eggers dead. 

But when there was a population of billions in the Rasalhague Kingdom... well, that was a problem, wasn't it? Just how far would they take matters, exactly? Acting like the Clan law enforcement from the stories of his gene-sire would only cause uprisings. 

Allowing them to act as they wished without any kind of consequence, on the other hand? 

Well, that raised another set of issues. 

As Vice-Lord of the Wolverines and leader of the Veelvraat, thankfully that wasn't his problem. Direct threats against the Lord were, and... well, the manner in which those were dealt with... tended to be permanent in nature. The more finicky issues of just how to get a population to comply was the EDFs problem. The issues of vetting the population before they came into contact with his Lord? The Wolverines. 

He was here to offer... direct responses, to direct problems.

Still.

He could see the dual, contrasting approaches on the faces of the Lord's parents. 

The indifference of Phan Eggers, advocating for the continuation of the use of his son as bait. A cold man who put the safety of his wife above all, with the Commonwealth coming second, his son a distant third. 

Mairi didn't blame the man, he had seen the same from the exiles as they had arrived, indoctrinated as they were, it was difficult to get anything out of them except their one fixation. The one that they had replaced the clans with. 

His gene-sire had been much the same. 

On the other hand, he could see Katherine Eggers and the utter... all consuming need to devour her foes, consume them whole and leave nothing behind? Well, that, he too could understand. An Elemental in the same position would experience the same feelings.

Of impotence in the face of something greater.

Born to pilot an elemental suit, aggression was the core of their existence. If an elemental was not aggressive, that elemental was dead, or worse, a failure.

This thinking had infiltrated the Armsman pilots of the Veelvraat. Itself conflicting with the ideology of precision and patience over all. 

Those who were recently of the Clans, of the Dark Caste that had escaped to the Inner Sphere, were, themselves, espousing traditional clan tactics. That which they had been raised upon.

Comparatively, those who were born in the Inner Sphere, trained for the Third Succession war, itself a much less... intensive series of conflict compared to the singular ferocity of a Clan Trial. Focused on ensuring they were able to conserve their strength for the killing blow, to take that one opening with maximum force.

Both of these, ideologies were working their way through the Veelvraat and as its commander he had done nothing to prevent it. If anything, he encouraged it. 

It was only through competition that one became stronger, that one became more than the sum of their parts. 

Mairi, for his part, could see this very same dynamic playing out between Phan Eggers and his wife. 

One, utterly furious, demanding immediate action and annihilation of her enemies.

The other, who, was seeking to use this as a means of further pest-control. To seek the annihilation of threats to those he cared for most. He just needed the bait for it and trusted the Wolverines to keep said bait safe. 

As a newly appointed Ritter as per his Lord. A knight, an expert in the field of arms. A warrior of the greatest honour, he could agree. As a Veelvraat?

Unthinkable. 

"As it is now, we can do a clean sweep of those who are counted as suspicious. But. But, most of those are from different successor states, corporations, or other groups of interest. They aren't exactly after Huu with... malevolence in mind. In fact, judging by the fact that many of these are particularly attractive according to the Huu Metrics, I think it is safer to say they were here with a more... carnal nature in mind. Leverage, in other words." Sandra S. Mathiasen, Lady of the Wolverines, spoke. His superior and the one in ultimate command of their Lord's protection detail.

"There are no threats for me to... annihilate?" 

"Apologies Duchess, but the Wolverines have dealt with them and handed the ones left alive to LIC." His Lady looked calm in the face of impending death. 

Katherine von Eggers clenched her fists before relaxing. An almost tranquil expression on her face. Settling back down, pausing, like a predator waiting for new prey.

For his own part, Mairi felt the same general distaste as those of the Inner Sphere had towards the idea of bigamy. A consequence of being born in this time and place. The idea that these... men and women would try to use their own bodies to achieve someone else's aims? Distasteful. Why did not the Lords and Ladies come forth and use their own bodies for seduction? To achieve their goals with great honour! Not this skulking and relying on patsies!

Comparatively, those of the Clans, as they arrived... were... well... much more frivolous? Or was it promiscuous? No, promiscuous came with negative connotations. It was more accurate to say that they considered sex as something to deepen friendship, natural even. To not be willing to... fornicate with your friends was to be abnormal. 

Free with their affections.

The first thing that one did when integrating the Pentagon Wolverines into the Inner Sphere was to give them a run down of... well... social norms. Like, not walking up to those they might consider attractive and asking for sex. 

Or treating the elderly with respect, it was not as if this were still the harsh Clan Worlds. Where those that could not contribute to the Clan itself were cast aside to die. Like the elderly, or those born with genetic illnesses or deformities.

A great deal of acclimatisation was required for them to be released into wider society... like one would catch and release wild fish. With the same sexual proclivities as wild fish, at that. Fertilising a batch of eggs and leaving them under a rock to hatch. 

A surprisingly apt analogy. He would need to relay it in the future to his Sibko. They would, no doubt, find great humour in it... and disseminate it yet further. Fish-Born they could call the Pentagon Clans. But it could not be traced back to him, what if his Bloodname was for humour, Mairi F.B. Mackay. Mairi Fish-Born Mackay. He would not be able to bear it.

In any case, Mairi wasn't here just to ponder Clan morals, not when he had to deal with the Lord's move to the Rasalhague Kingdom. 

Really, the problem was that out of the worlds they could choose, there was a list of bad options... and worst options. 

One only needed a single successful strike out of a population of billions for Clan Wolverine to, once again, be without a Great Father to guide them. Or an empty rock with very little in the way of infrastructure and allowing massive armed forces to drop on them while they were fortifying. Two options, both with great, if different risks.

Which, is why, with great shock, Huu Eggers... had announced New Oslo as his capital. 

The one Battlemech factory in the Rasalhague Kingdom. 

The one place, therefore, where there would be a truly ridiculous level of infiltration by the ISF, the Dragon... ugh.

Mairi just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, if that was what the Lord wished, then so be it.

This meeting was a matter of how Eggers General Utility would respond to this change in their circumstances. 

Of them, the most difficult to move were Eggers Orbital Construction and Eggers Education. Everything else, due to the simple nature of either using retrotech, or just being so spread out in the first place, would just require a shift of the corporate flag.

'This is the new headquarters' and done. 

Naturally, the Lord had chosen the simplest... and most effective option.

To simply build another set of structures over and on New Oslo. Why haggle over details when one could solve them? 

Now it was a matter of administration. Mairi here to make sure that the journey was safe for the Lord. He... had a habit of just moving. Not pausing and waiting, just moving forward and threatening to get himself hurt and injured. Through what appeared to be blind... trust in the Veelvraat.

It couldn't be that he didn't consider the consequences of his actions. 

That was ridiculous.

The Lord had prepared himself quite thoroughly for the conquest of the Rasalhague Kingdom. Doing what the Pentagon Clans were simply unable to consider, winning the peace. 

Making them essentially... his. 

Turning a population that should, by all rights, hate him. 

Into one that... was... not overwhelmingly positive. But better than the average, which... considering the Combine's indoctrination of its people, truly impressive.

He mentally shook his head. 

It wasn't that the Lord was impetuous and didn't think ahead. 

No, with all that Mairi had seen, the Little Lord just trusted the Wolverines to keep him alive. To have such overwhelming trust placed in oneself... it was more than a little humbling.

Still, now that he thought about it.

What would the Lord do with the Panther factory on New Oslo and their owners, Gorton, Kingsley, and Thorpe Enterprises.