BattleTech: Children of Kerensky: BattleTech, #70

By Blaine Lee Pardoe

A RACE TO VICTORY…

Terra. Birthplace of humankind. Cradle of the Inner Sphere. For centuries, it has been the Clans' ultimate prize. As prophesied by their founder, Nicholas Kerensky, the Clan that conquers Terra shall ascend above all others to become the ilClan, ruler over the rest of the Clans. And its leader shall become the ilKhan, and will lead the Inner Sphere into a new era.

And now, nearly a century after the Clan Invasion, two Clans race to be the first to reach Terra. On one side is Alaric Ward, Khan of Clan Wolf, a brilliant warrior and complex mix of the best of the Clans and the Inner Sphere. He comes to save the Inner Sphere from itself, intending to construct a new empire among the stars. His main adversary is Chingis Khan Malvina Hazen, the brutal, ruthless leader of Clan Jade Falcon. Forged in a tradition where only the strong survive, she leads her touman not to save the Inner Sphere, but to raze it to ashes and rebuild it according to her own twisted vision.

All that stands between them and a decisive victory that will reshape the Inner Sphere forever is the impenetrable barrier shielding Terra from invasion, not to mention the forces of the once-mighty Republic, which has no plans to surrender without a vicious fight…the only question is, who will reach Terra first? 
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
• Release date: Oct 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393548782

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

In reviewing the stunning events that unfolded in 3151, everyone focuses on the Great Houses’ responses and the events during and after the brutal fighting on Terra.

For me, a backwater historian from Van Zandt, it is tempting to make the Republic of the Sphere a sympathetic character, an innocent victim in the war that unfolded. Some historians have drunk from that cup, but I found its contents bitter. There is a lot of anti-Clan propaganda masquerading as history out there. I refuse to subscribe to many of the notions my so-called colleagues put forward. In my opinion—based on facts, I might add—Devlin Stone made his own bed, and was then forced to lie in it. A great deal of blood coats his hands, and we may never know just how much. While it will raise eyebrows in most circles, in some respects, the Republic of the Sphere deserved what it got.

The attack on Terra involved many parties: the Capellan Confederation, the Ghost Bears, the Sea Foxes, and the Snow Ravens, to name a few. Ultimately, two factions rose to prominence and demanded more investigation—Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf. I will also examine several secondary characters in this drama—Ramiel Bekker, Stephanie Chistu, Chance Vickers. I met with many of the combatants who survived, gaining their insights and, in some cases, twisted perspectives. My interviews gave me a complete but frightening picture of the events that took place on Terra.

The Jade Falcons and Wolves are more than the sum of the people who fought under those banners. What they took part in was something of a modern-day Greek drama, where the people were larger than life and the obstacles faced seemed insurmountable. If not the Greeks, than certainly the legends of King Arthur. Not all dramas end the way one thinks they will—some turn into tragedies. Look to the rise and fall of the Star League if you wish to see how a drama takes a dark and twisted turn. The problem with history is that when it happens, you rarely realize the importance and significance of those moments. Only in retrospect do you fully appreciate them.

You can’t just look at the Falcon and Wolf Clans without looking at their leaders in-depth. Both Clans’ fates were intertwined with their leaders, inseparable. Both Khans were marvelously gifted strategists. Both were successful military leaders, arguably the best of their generation. Both were embroiled in a centuries-old rivalry. Both studied the Clans’ past military failures and sought to overcome them, each in their own unique way. Malvina Hazen and Alaric Ward defined their people and what was to follow in the new era. To know Hazen and Ward, one must look at the people they surrounded themselves with.

That was never more obvious as it was in January of 3151. But to get there, to that moment when JumpShips started flickering into the Terran system, one must look further back, where the story begins, and peel this onion one layer at a time. One must understand Hazen and Ward beyond what one might read in some summary report or field manual. And to do that, one must go back to their beginnings…

—Excerpt from Terra Fallen: The Rise of the IlClan, by Dr. Randolph p. Checkers, Esq. (Institute of Inner Sphere War Studies, 3161)

CHAPTER

ONE

THE IRONBORN SIBKO CENTER

WAR COLLEGE OF TAMAR

BARBALE, TAMAR

CLAN WOLF OCCUPATION ZONE

16 MARCH 3121

Alaric’s training simulator rocked hard from a particle projector cannon blast, warning lights flickering from amber to red to show damage on his ’Mech’s right side. The sim increased the temperature around him, but his body was already slick with sweat, feeling the simulated loss of heat sinks from an earlier blast. He did not flinch as perspiration stung his eyes. In fact, the realism made him oddly happy.

At the age of nine, the sibko members spent much of their time in simulators, personal combat drills, and coursework. Before they chose a specialty, members of a sibko trained in all disciplines: BattleMechs, aerospace fighters, naval strategy and tactics, combat vehicles, and even infantry. Those that chose BattleMechs as their discipline would be indoctrinated into piloting real BattleMechs. For now, though, Alaric’s mind focused on the battle at hand.

The sim was a battle of mixed Stars: five ’Mechs on each side, both a mix of Clan OmniMechs and older, decrepit, Inner Sphere-model BattleMechs. The intent was to train the Wolf pups on a wide range of BattleMechs, both from a pilot and a target perspective.

Alaric’s Stormcrow was equipped with six medium lasers and an Ultra-class autocannon. Designed to devastate an enemy, the weapons loadout and Alaric’s gunnery skills had done just that, taking out an Inner Sphere Panther in less than a minute. Its companion, the heavier Catapult, had lasted only a few seconds longer against his next barrage.

The battle was conducted on rolling, grass-covered hills—some cover, but not much. As he dipped behind a low rise to avoid being shot again, Alaric glanced at his tactical display. Only he and one other cadet from his Star remained: Chance. Against him was Wallace, piloting a heavier Warhawk that had already taken some damage.

Alaric allowed himself a wry grin at seeing Chance’s name. Of course she is still in the fight. Of all his sibkin, her cunning most closely mirrored his own.

Chance, swing around behind that low ridge, and close on me, he said, as he made sure that Wallace could not get line of sight on him.

Complying. I am not much help to you. My weapons are gone. I am pretty much worthless to you other than as a distraction.

Do not sell yourself short just yet. On the simulator’s display he saw her Rifleman IIC and the charred stubs where its lasers had been. His sensors told him Chance’s torso armor was still mostly intact, but without weapons, her assessment would be right—but only for traditional tactics. They both had trained on a Wolf Clan tactic where the weaker cub sacrificed itself to save the rest of the pack. They had learned that lesson together. In this case, I am the rest of the pack…

Alaric’s thoughts danced through the complex mathematics of battle, attempting to find a solution. Wallace had to be taken down for Alaric to claim victory, but more than that was at stake today. Wallace had irritated Alaric his entire life. He was faster than him; Alaric conceded that. He was also stronger. Moreover, he used these qualities to intimidate others in the sibko. Alaric had not succumbed to such intimidation yet, nor did he intend to this day.

He contrived a plan, a quick one, but one with some odds of working. Chance, form up directly in front of me. I need to get in closer.

"You want me to get his attention, quiaff?"

"Aff…essentially, Alaric said. You will be my shield. We are going to run straight at him, juking in unison. Your BattleMech will absorb his incoming fire until you fall or I get close enough."

For a moment, there was no response other than her ’Mech closing on his position. "Aff. Ready when you are."

Alaric swung in tight behind her battered Rifleman. Sprint—angle at fifteen degrees. Prepare to juke left twenty degrees on my word. The stump-armed Rifleman IIC took off, and he did as well, staying as close behind the ’Mech as he could. As he ran, Alaric tracked the movement of the Warhawk coming up the hill before them. Almost…almost… Now!

Wallace rose slowly over the lip of the hill, firing one of his extended-range PPCs. The brilliantly charged blast narrowly missed. The pair of BattleMechs raced forward, closing nearly 125 meters before Alaric called, Juke left in three, two, one…juke!

Chance swung hard to the left, with Alaric almost glued to her movements. One of Wallace’s ER PPCs found its mark, savaging what armor she had left on her right leg. He saw her buckle mid-step, but she caught herself.

He is tearing me apart, she said over their tactical channel.

At the same time Wallace broadcast in the clear. Do not be a coward, Alaric.

Alaric gritted his teeth at the insult. He senses victory and is savoring it, which is his first mistake. The two stood at the top of their sibko rankings, and Wallace seemed determined to knock Alaric off the list entirely. I want him!

Ignoring the opportunity to respond to his rival, he spoke to Chance. Go hard right in three, two, one…juke!

She swung her Rifleman hard over, and Alaric matched her move. His tactical display showed he was closing. But I want to be closer.

The Warhawk unleashed a devastating salvo of its four ER PPCs. One shot went wide, but the other three slammed into Chance’s battered Rifleman. The simulator made it feel real, with sound effects of rattling armor bits pelting his Stormcrow. Her BattleMech toppled back into his, and he rushed forward to help her keep upright.

I am out! she said as her Rifleman fell to his right side, leaving him alone on the hillside, facing the much larger Warhawk.

Alaric’s instincts kicked in, and he locked his targeting reticle onto Wallace before his foe could get him. He unleashed everything he had at his 85-ton enemy. His massive autocannon belched a roaring stream of shells into the Warhawk’s damaged right arm, sending it flying away from the elbow joint down. His six ER medium lasers stabbed brilliant red beams at the Warhawk’s upper torso. Two of the crimson beams missed, but the rest savaged the squat chest of Wallace’s OmniMech, leaving ugly burned rents in the armor.

The Warhawk lurched as a wave of heat blasted into Alaric’s cockpit, and warnings chirped from his temperature indicator. The loss of so much armor at once often toppled BattleMechs, and for a full second it looked as if Wallace was about to defy his struggle with gravity. He staggered back a half-step, then lurched forward, overcorrected his balance, and sent the OmniMech crashing to the ground.

Alaric had counted on gravity and the mass of Wallace’s ’Mech doing additional damage as he struggled to rise again. Alaric closed range slightly, venting heat, and locked onto his foe’s cockpit. Another wave of laser fire stabbed downward at his prone opponent, savaging the torso and cockpit.

Simulated death came quickly, and with it, a smile of immense satisfaction from Alaric.

Twenty minutes later, Alaric and Chance sat before their lead instructor, Star Captain Rowland. He had been their instructor since they left their crèche, and had bonded them in a way Alaric did not fully understand or resist. Perhaps it was a father-like role, as if a Trueborn could understand that concept. Rowland bore the scars of battle; the one on the right side of his neck went up from under his uniform into his thinning hairline. He had seen battles and victories long before Alaric and the other sibko members had emerged from their iron wombs. One does not live to old age in the Clans without having a high degree of skill and guile.

Rowland was not harsh, but he was firm, and Alaric and the others hung on every word he spoke. You two are quite the pair, he said, standing before them with crossed arms. "You have both impressed me, and you know that is no small feat. That little maneuver…I would have expected it from your sibko two or three cycles from now. It showed keen strategic thinking, Alaric. Sacrifice is sometimes called for in a fight, but few have the stomach to make it, Chance."

Both uttered "Aff, sir," in unison.

"You each have gifts and can learn from each other. I am going to pair you together for some of the more advanced simulations. I will also dedicate some private one-on-one tutoring time with each of you. Such potential should be rewarded, quiaff?"

"Aff," they said again. Chance smiled much more broadly than Alaric.

We shall see if my intuition is correct about both of you. If I am wrong, I will have wasted a few hours of time. If I am correct, then Clan Wolf will be well served.

Alaric looked intently into Rowland’s eyes as he spoke, reading the pride on his face. He then looked over at Chance, who nodded at him.

Perhaps we can make a good team together…

---

EMERALD DAWN SIBKO

JADE FALCON SCHOOL OF CONFLICT

BLACKJACK

JADE FALCON OCCUPATION ZONE

1 NOVEMBER 3114

Falconer Kitazawa ran his fingers across the thin stubble of graying hair that clung to the sides of his bald head. The smooth, shaved skin was a reminder of his age, something he could not hide. Nor did he try. As the leader of the Emerald Dawn sibko, he saw Malvina stare at his smooth pate, then bring her eyes onto his own like a target lock.

His office was small and cramped, deliberately so. The desk had been used by the military before the Jade Falcons wrested the world from the Lyran Alliance. Its gray-painted surface showed the grooves, cuts, stains, and cigarette burns of uncounted prior owners. The insignia of the Blackjack School of Conflict, a military academy destroyed more than half a century ago by the Steel Vipers, was still barely visible under the dull gray paint on the desktop. The Jade Falcons had wrestled the world from the Vipers, yet strangely the furniture remained – a testimony to the clans abhorrence of waste. Kitazawa thought the desk would outlive him. With each passing year that seemed to be more of a reality.

Jamie Hazen stood at his side, a solahma instructor like him, somewhat shorter, much more muscular for her stature. Together they had trained three sibkos for their Clan. In all of that time they had not come across a fledgling like Malvina. There is something about her, a spark of greatness. Jamie refuses to see it, but I do. Perhaps it is her size.

Malvina was the shortest member of the sibko, far from intimidating, but her size often worked to her advantage in exercises. With almost-white hair and piercing blue eyes, she did not physically appear dangerous. Her sibkin often misjudged her capabilities, and Kitazawa admired that. She uses her stature and looks to mislead. I have seen her do it during trials.

Malvina, he said calmly, studying her face for any change of expression. I was just informed that your exercise today broke one of the vertebra in Kerek’s neck. The surgeon says it will take months to regrow. I am told it is a most agonizing procedure.

Her face offered no change whatsoever as she took in the words. "That is all, quiaff?"

There is no regret, no remorse… Remarkable.

He is paralyzed now and will undergo painful treatments to be functional again, Jamie said. Does that mean nothing to you?

Malvina glared up at her. "It was an exercise, and he was injured. Pain is part of learning… You yourself have said so. It is the way of sibkos."

Kitazawa weighed in. "Aff. Injuries and death are part of our training. Falconer Hazen is merely wondering the same thing I am. You did not have to use such force on Kerek, yet you did. We are curious as to why."

Her eyes offered nothing. He and Aaron often tormented me. He will do that no more.

"So you injured him deliberately, quiaff?"

There was a slight pause, a millisecond as she grasped at the words. I—did not intend to injure him. I wanted to beat him and make him remember it, even if that memory was short-lived. A gleam flickered in her eyes.

For Kitazawa the message was clear. She had intended to kill him. "His death would have been a loss to the warrior caste. Such waste is against our rede."

Malvina shrugged. We have lost many others. You have told us it is part of the Jade Falcon Way…that only the strongest and best rise to the top of our caste. If he died, it meant he was unworthy of being a warrior. There is no waste. If we were switched, he would feel the same way—or at least he should. She spoke flatly, without anger, as if the words were a hardwired response to his question.

We train fledglings to be desensitized. Death is all around them. Almost all possess some self-reflection, some obscure hint at guilt. Malvina has none. She did not have to try killing him, but did. Even in the universe of the sibko, where death was strikingly common, it was rare for a fledgling to deliberately try to kill another. This was an instinct to be nurtured, fostered, and expanded on.

Jamie Hazen’s cheeks reddened at the child’s response. Malvina, a fledgling’s goal should never be to kill one of their own, she scolded. "It is not your purpose in your sibko to cull those you deem weak."

The words fell like a missile salvo that had no time to arm, thudding off of Malvina’s emotional armor. We fought all out, as is our way. I also did not let the opportunity pass. He would have done the same to me if the chance had presented itself. Now he never will get that opportunity.

Jamie was ready to respond, but Kitazawa raised a hand to silence her. "We are in the process of adjusting our ranking of your sibko members. Right now, you and Aleksandr are at the top of your sibko. We are attempting to qualify why you should be ranked over him. He would not have crippled or tried to kill Kerek. He would have shown restraint."

She nodded once, using that moment to gather her thoughts. I respect Aleks, perhaps too much, but his ‘restraint’ is a weakness.

Explain.

You taught us that strength is honor. Those were your words. Restraining strength is restraining honor. I do not hold back when I train because doing so would stain my honor and the Jade Falcons’.

Hearing his own words thrown back at him was sobering. For a moment, the Falconer said nothing. Very well. Return to your studies.

Malvina spun on her heels with crisp military precision and left his office.

She is dangerous, Jamie warned once the door closed.

She is marvelous, Kitazawa countered. She is the epitome of a Jade Falcon warrior. There is much work to be done with her, but she takes everything we give her and embeds it in her psyche. Malvina never regrets her actions—she simply moves on, regardless of the results. There is no looking backward, only forward. You heard her, she embodies ‘strength is honor.’ She lives those words.

But her psychological profile says she is a sociopath. While many fledglings have some sociopathic tendencies, she is at the top of the scale. You have taken her under your wing, which is your right. But you are stripping her of any shred of empathy for others. A good warrior needs the ability to acknowledge mistakes, reflect on them, and use that knowledge going forward. Malvina does none of that. Were she to be thrown out of the warrior caste, she might very well end up a serial killer. She loathes the lower castes, and you have done nothing to teach her of our role to protect them. You use the word ‘bellycrawler’ for them, which she has adopted for describing them. You are experimenting with a child’s mind, how she thinks. You will set things in motion that cannot be stopped once she leaves our tutelage.

Kitazawa offered a thin smile from his chair. "You imply that I am somehow creating her. I am merely bringing out what is already in her. She is a Hazen, after all, perhaps the purest Hazen of all. Her tendencies began long before I started working with her. You have read her profile. As for not reflecting on mistakes, tell me, what mistakes has she made? She is culling the weak, as we trained her to do. And for the record, I am not ‘experimenting.’ I am fulfilling my duty to create the best warrior possible for our people. I have trained a number of sibkos, as have you. We have seen warriors forged here. They go off and nothing changes. Our Clan is as it always has been.

"Malvina is unique. I am removing her hesitation and regret because they hold her back. Compare her to her sib Aleks. He is the only one that can best her in a fight…not always, but enough to keep her in check. He is the type of warrior our sibkos have been producing for generations. Where does that kind of honor get us? Are we any closer to Terra and the ilClanship? Neg! Perhaps there are too many Aidan Prydes in our Clan and