Chris bowed formally. "Greetings, Highness."

Victor aped the bow with crisp precision. "Gomen nasal, shitsurei shimashita. "

Chris straightened up, a smile slowly curling up the corners of his mouth. "There is no reason to excuse you, Highness. You have not been rude. I must say, though, that your Japanese has greatly improved."

Victor smiled. "I spent some time with Shin Yodama and Hohiro Kurita after Teniente. Though reluctant, they proved able teachers."

"I was pleased to hear they both survived the Clan war. When Mac and I were training the lot of you, we never dreamed your group would survive intact. Both Ragnar and Kai gave us a scare, but they made it, too."

Dan cut in quickly. "I know you and Caitlin want a chance for some racktime after coming in. Despite your economy measures, the trip must have been exhausting. I just wanted to get you here for a report before I try to sort out base gossip. How does Deia look?"

Chris clasped his hands at the small of his back. "Deia is in good shape. Zimmer's Zouaves were able to bring their 'Mech battalion up to full strength with the supplies we sent them. They've got a great working relationship with the Deia Volunteers and have attached scout lances from the militia to each company. Using a force-in-being strategy, they've scattered supply depots over some of the nastiest territory on the world. Hit by anything this side of a Clan Galaxy on a surprise drop, they'll hold them off for over a month."

"Good." Dan paused, then frowned. "What did they do about Hauptmann Sagetsky?"

Chris smiled. "Kommandant Zimmer sacked him while he was still in the hospital."

"Hospital?" Dan's blue eyes glittered. "What happened?"

Caitlin scowled. "He heard about my birthday before heading out on the inspection tour with Chris. He said he had a present for me."

"You didn't. ..."

"No, Colonel, I didn't." Caitlin let a slow smile light up her face. "He made the remark at a reception and within earshot of his wife. He was drunk at the time, as usual, and she christened him an idiot with a bottle of champagne. Cracked his skull."

Chris nodded. "Kommandant Zimmer agreed that Sagetsky needed to retire. They brought an officer over from the militia to take his place and the Zouaves seemed to welcome the change. Morale was good when we left." The young mercenary officer looked at the Prince. "Your frown betrays concern, Highness."

Victor blinked, then forced a smile. "I do not doubt your report, Major, but I've been wondering about your program of sponsoring these little mercenary units. Your subsidies have been most generous, which, it seems to me, has prompted all sorts of people to create units just to get them."

Chris raised his head. "I am not certain I understand your concern."

"Take these Zimmer's Zouaves, for example, Victor said. I recall seeing a readiness assessment of them— and, granted, it was before your recent trip there—but it said the Zouaves were two parts AgroMech drivers, one part retirees, and one part cashiered officers. Though some of their equipment is very good, I hear they've got two full lances of Locustswhose parts come from more than thirty-five different machines.

"You can't take untrained warriors, stuff them into BattleMechs, and expect them to come out a fighting unit. Officers like Sagetsky will ruin potential warriors in training, and get them killed in combat. I know you have spare equipment and are on a sound financial footing— both because of the Kell family money and with what Justin's Solaris corporation is sending Dan—but I wonder if you aren't wasting money on a hopeless situation. This is, what, the fifth unit you have sponsored this way?"

"Fourth. The Legion of the Rising Sun has instituted a similar policy and has also sponsored a unit." Dan Allard folded his arms and leaned back on the briefing table. "We have been very pleased with the results of the program, in terms of both the military and collateral benefits."

Chris nodded. "The program was based on the work your father started when he created training battalions."

Anger flashed over Victor's face as he waved Chris' comment off. "I do not think you can consider short-term contracts for a rabble the same as a full-fledged training program, can you? Your little battalions do not have the facilities, supplies, and personnel the AFFC can offer."

"True, Highness," Dan countered, "but the training battalions start with raw recruits drawn from a pool of people who have already had 'Mech training of one sort or another. Perhaps you believe that our instructors are inferior because they are retired MechWarriors, but look what good use the Clans make of their old warriors by turning them into instructors for those who are up and coming. I would also point out that citing an officer like Sagetsky as indicative of a trend is a canard. Sagetsky was fired."

Caitlin also wanted to have her say. "We're doing a bit more than just forming a training battalion,Victor. We're giving the people of Deia some security."

"Security? I hardly think Zimmer's Zouaves will be much of a match for the Jade Falcons. I doubt they'd even be able to stop the bandits who hit Kooken's Pleasure Pit and are now apparently in the process of attacking Pa-sig."

Chris frowned but said nothing. He heard in Victor's voice a resistance to what did not conform to his idea of the universe. This did not surprise Chris as much as it disturbed him. Having lived his life on Murchison under the shadow of the powerful Federated Suns, he understood the fear of people on border worlds like Deia. Local organizations like the militia or the yakuza Ryu-no-inu-gumigave those populations a sense of security that let them live on a day-to-day basis with the overwhelming threat they faced purely because of the location of their world.

"But, Prince Victor, their purpose is not to defeatsuch forces. Their job is to tie them up long enough for us to respond." Dan Allard twisted around and sat in his chair. "You and Kai, when facing the Clans, successfully pointed out that in space there are no borders. The key to meeting and defeating an enemy is forcing him to attack you at a point where you are strong."

"Yes, Colonel Allard. That's why we hit Twycross with a huge force. The Zouaves are not that sort of force."

"But they don't have to be. On Tukayyid, the ComStar forces showed that the Clans were not set up to fight long campaigns. The Com Guards strung them out and ground them down. You spotted that situation right off the bat on Trellwan, and the Combine also used it when Hohiro went into hiding on Teniente."

Victor nodded, then leaned forward on the table. "True, but the Clans have also been known to shift their tactics to face a new threat. The Wolves did it."

"Agreed, but the Wolves are not the Jade Falcons, and the Falcons have shown themselves to be one of the more traditional Clans out there. That aside, the key to what we are doing is this: Zimmer's troops can hold a force off for at least a month. It will take us less time than that to mobilize the Kell Hound Regiments and deliver them to Deia. By letting the Zouaves occupy the Clan unit, we pin it in place and then deliver the kind of overwhelming force used on Twycross."

The small Prince nodded, but the concern had not left his expression. "Your strategy is sound. We did the same thing on Morges, where the Skye Rangers and Arcturan Guards stayed alive just long enough for us to get the Dragoons in and smash the Jade Falcon force. But the Kell Hounds are operating without a contract. Deia isn't even in the Donegal March. Morgan would only accept a garrison contract for Tomans, nothing more. Perhaps, when he steps down, you will see the wisdom of having steady employment."