She licked her lips. “Ah, yes, gallantry under fire. That does indeed deserve a reward, and I think I know just what it shall be.”

I awoke the next morning feeling well rewarded if not fully rested. We skipped breakfast, save for some coffee that brewed while we were in the shower. We swung by Janella’s place to get her a change of clothes, then both reported to the briefing room we’d spent so long in two days earlier. Nessa and Consuela were both back, and I saw evidence of Wroxley’s handiwork as well.

A fifth person joined us for the meeting and I immediately bowed low and respectfully to him. “Konichi-wa, Kurita Kitsune-sama.”

The man returned my bow, with the overhead light shining from his shaved head. The traditional Japanese garb he wore bespoke his Combine origins more than the slight almond shape of his eyes. That Asian shaping was easy to miss, since the eyes were a brilliant gray that reminded me very sharply of Victor’s eyes.

Which was only natural, since Kitsune Kurita was Victor’s son by Omi Kurita. Kitsune had been born while Victor was off on the Clan homeworld, and his birth was hidden from his father when Victor returned. While a lot of people believe Victor knew of him, the two of them never met until Kitsune, being elevated to the rank of Knight of the Republic, asked for the honor being bestowed on him to be given by “one without whom I would be nothing.” Devlin Stone and the others gathered thought he was referring to one of his uncles, either Hohiro or Minoru Kurita, but instead he addressed Victor. “Father, it is from your hand that I would receive this honor.”

This revelation caused quite a bit of a stir in the Draconis March of the Federated Suns, where propagandists turned Omi into a succubus who had seduced Victor for nefarious purposes. The upset was even greater in the Draconis Combine, however, as certain reactionary elements had been looking to champion Kitsune as a rival to the current Coordinator, Hohiro. Once they realized that Victor’s blood ran in his veins, the divisive talk stopped and, rumor had it, two minor lords committed seppuku out of mortification because they had championed a Davion to replace a Kurita.

Straightening up, Kitsune extended a hand to me. “It is good to see you again, Mason. Your scores from yesterday are promising.”

“Promising more work, yes.”

He smiled, then bowed to Janella and shook her hand, too. “And your scores are promises fulfilled.”

“You honor me, my lord.”

We sat again, with Kitsune sharing the couch with his niece. Consuela let us get settled, then began. “There has been nothing truly significant that’s developed over the last twenty-four hours. Stone’s wisdom in limiting access to BattleMechs is proving itself to be providential. The scramble to consolidate those resources is one that is hard to hide. We’re taking steps to secure the supply of ordnance, but ’Mechs going on a rampage can cause a lot of damage regardless. Luckily most of the industrial conversions we’ve heard about do not have sufficient power to use heavy energy weapons.”

I nodded. BattleMechs have a fusion reactor as their heart and it puts out a lot of energy. Not only does the ’Mech rely on it for powering the myomer muscles that give it the ability to move, but it also fuels the energy weapons. Lasers, particle projector cannons and Gauss rifles could suck a small city dry of power, and the diesel engines of ’Mechs like Digger and Maria just can’t generate that much juice. While Maria’s small pruning laser was enough to kill that one terrorist, aside from bubbling up paint on a BattleMech, it wasn’t going to be much of a threat.

Janella leaned forward. “You’ve clearly anticipated moves to establish supply lines. Security has been increased at storehouses. I assume you’re covering production facilities as well.”

The Countess shifted her shoulders uneasily. “We are doing our best, but the lack of data is hampering us. For all we know, we are sending requests to garrison units that have already decided to take power by themselves. Industrialists may have already thrown in with one power broker or another, and plant security forces may have decided to hijack the factories themselves. If a factory puts out two ’Mechs a week, they could have two companies of fully armed ’Mechs ready to go. Given what they would be arrayed to fight, that’s a formidable force.”

“It is indeed, Countess.” Kitsune’s voice came softly, making me lean in to hear him. “And this problem extends beyond The Republic itself. In instituting his reforms, Stone-sama always had Republic forces ready to deploy against those who opposed him. Their power was seen in the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation, and it was enough, at the time, to cow forces in the Combine and Federated Suns. There is a difference, however, between feeling the lash and watching someone else get whipped. Those who only watched are now thinking the lash will never fall on them.

“As you know, the reformation of the Combine was declared early on, but forces resisted for the better part of another decade. BattleMechs were decommissioned, but in the Combine this did not have exactly the same meaning as it did elsewhere. To have a ’Mech destroyed would have been akin to asking a samurai to break his swords. A family’s pledge to retire a ’Mech was accepted and, for the most part, those pledges have been honored out of respect for Stone and The Republic.”

I rubbed a hand over my forehead. “With Stone gone and The Republic seeming to lose its grip, people are looking to get those ’Mechs back in working order. I don’t doubt museums throughout the Inner Sphere are being scoured for ’Mechs. Do we have any idea how many could be out there?”

Nessa shook her head and tapped a request for data into the keyboard. The holoprojector flashed up a cube that just bled numbers. “Exhaustive studies have been done concerning industrial capacity, demand for parts, munitions consumption rates, regimental muster sheets, everything. For centuries ’Mechs have been scrapped, salvaged, purchased new, stolen, shipped covertly to rebels, you name it. The gap between those we know are in service and being produced, and those that were decommissioned, destroyed and otherwise neutralized could be anywhere from a few hundred to thousands, even tens of thousands. And that’s just for the Inner Sphere records we can get our hands on. Clan figures are sketchy at best and if someone were to find some ancient Star League cache of equipment, all bets would be off.”

Consuela spread her hands. “So, not only do we have internal disputes here that could tear The Republic apart, but those who had been laying low for fear The Republic would land on them could be rearming themselves. For all we know, there could be dozens of skirmishes taking place right now.”

I shook my head. “It’s insane, though. If everyone just remained calm and at peace, no one would get hurt.”

Janella shot me a sidelong glance. “We’re talking about human beings, Mason, not angels.”

I winced. “True.”

Kitsune held a hand up. “But we are not talking about devils, either. Many people are just preparing to defend themselves, if it comes to that. It would be a pity were there devils among them who would exploit this drive for self-preservation. It is upon them we must focus.”

“So the trick is to identify them and then deal with them.” I sighed. “And we just have to hope that they won’t have sufficient momentum in their movement that nothing can stop them. If things go too far, the blazes that get touched off will just sweep through the Inner Sphere.”

Nessa sat back, her shoulders slumping. “Two to three potential devils per world, thousands of worlds, well, if that’s the task, we have lots of job security.”

“Yeah, until one of those devils shows up here on Terra and tells us our services are no longer required.” I stood and stretched. “I expect, if that happens, the severance package we’ll be given will include severing our heads from our bodies.”