Then came the disappointing verdict from the ComStar Mercenary Review Board. Declaring a no-fault, the mediators denied Takashi's demands for restitution and condemnation of the Dragoons for their actions prior to and immediately following the end of their contract with the Draconis Combine. Had the Coordinator found this decision too damaging to his honor and so returned to plotting against the Dragoons? "Regrettably, Tono,we have not been able to determine their whereabouts."

"Incompetence! I will not have it!" Takashi shouted, launching into a tirade. The taunts and imprecations were nothing new to Subhash, having become all too familiar in the last two years. Subhash drew on his hara,replenishing his serenity and strength. He settled back to let the Coordinator's irrational anger wash over him. Takashi stalked the room from one wall to the other, bellowing his outrage. Finally exhausting his vitriol, he slumped into his seat at the head of the holotable. "Perhaps you are incapable of doing your job. Will you fail me like the others?" Takashi asked, breathing heavily after his tirade.

"You worry unnecessarily, Tono"Subhash replied softly. Your words do not touch me, Takashi, but your lack of control is very disturbing. I have not failed in my duty to the Combine, however much you think that I have failed you. Have I not hidden your instability from our enemies?"I seek to serve the Dragon to the best of my ability, Tono.”

“Then get me that information!"

"I will try, Tono,"Subhash said. He keyed the table to display a stellar map of the Draconis Combine. "Consider, please, the situation in Pesht. Warlord Marcus is gaining strength. He is strengthening his ties in what Archon Steiner has left us of the Rasalhague District, playing on the fears of our loyal subjects. And he has contacted Warlord Chi again."

"That is no threat. Chi is too canny to fall in with Marcus." Takashi laughed. Suddenly he stopped and commanded, "Put a watch on Chi. He has ordered Galedon too well."

"Quite right, Coordinator," said Cherenkoff, his jowly face bobbing in approval. "The old goat must be watched."

Subhash noted the order on his datapad. Warlord Chi was unlikely to be part of any plot to topple the throne because he was too loyal to the Combine to endanger it. Marcus was a far more dangerous threat. "Pesht, Tono?"

"Marcus is a fool and a weakling. He had years here on Luthien to overthrow me and he couldn't do it. The closest he came was that sabotage of my BattleMasterin '25. But I was too clever for him. Too strong! I hold the reins of the Combine. It is mine!"

"Quite right, Coordinator. And so it must be," Cherenkoff boomed. In a softer voice, he added, "Until the day your heir takes over."

Takashi stood and slammed his palms against the table. Reports scattered. The Coordinator glared at his Warlord. Cherenkoff gulped air, clearly afraid of his lord's reaction.

Subhash wondered what the fat fool had in mind. Certainly, Cherenkoff hated Theodore for his successful defense of the Dieron District's border with the Lyran Commonwealth while the Warlord had remained on Dieron, failing miserably to mount any effective attacks against the weakened Davion border. To make matters worse, Theodore had acted behind Cherenkoff's back to win the glory that had eclipsed the Warlord's efforts.

"Coordinator, I meant no disrespect. I have always been your loyal supporter." Cherenkoff's voice dripped sincerity, but he would not meet Takashi's eyes. "Prince Theodore is wily. Perhaps he is using his office as Kanrei to operate behind your back as he did mine in the war. His people are always snooping around, poking, prying. And the company he keeps! That woman of his was bad enough. Now I hear he has given shelter to two of the infamous Wolf's Dragoons."

Takashi's lips drew back from his teeth, but he said nothing. Though the Warlord seemed oblivious to Takashi's reaction, Subhash knew that Cherenkoff had gone too far. "The persons you refer to are not Dragoons, Warlord. They are rebels who left Wolf's Dragoons after Misery."

Cherenkoff waved his hand in dismissal of Subhash's words. "They are not the real issue. Prince Theodore and his ambitions are what must concern us. Though he gained little for the Combine against the womanish Lyrans, he was awarded the Order of the Dragon. Then, when the ceasefire came, he was made Deputy for Military Affairs." Cherenkoff raised his eyes to the Coordinator's. "You create your own rival, Tono.Do you not see that he plays for your throne? Daily, his popularity grows ..."

"Enough, Warlord," Takashi ordered, straightening and turning his back to the table. "I am quite aware of the doings of my son. The ISF is well-informed."

Subhash bowed his head in acknowledgement of the hand Takashi thrust in his direction. If only you knew how well, my friend, you would not care for that knowledge.

"Do not seek to question my will, Warlord. All that I have done was with a strong purpose in mind. Our realm needed a hero in the early days of the war. Thus did I award my son the Katana Cluster, though I knew he could not have destroyed as many 'Mechs as reported. This gesture also underscored the Lyrans' failure to capture him. I shamed our enemy.

"You cry about his actions in Dieron, yet I did not replace you, did I? Many thought he should have had your position as Warlord. Instead, I awarded him the Order of the Dragon. A pretty ribbon to soothe his common soldier's ego.

"I know better than to give his ambitions a power base. What do you think he can do with the Office of Military Affairs? He has no political instincts. He will play with his toy soldiers, and be content. Because I see that he does have some littleaptitude on the battlefield and in the matters of military organization, I satisfy him, cut off his ambitions, and serve the Combine at the same time. He is a hero to the people and the soldiers. They will rally for him. And they will become a new army." Takashi spun to face Cherenkoff again. "But the army he builds will still be mine!"

The Warlord gave a ragged bow from his seat, a hesitant smile on his face. "As you say, Coordinator. It still disturbs me to see how the Genyosha and the regiments of the Ryuken are being rebuilt. They receive training only from Prince Theodore's hand-picked officers. Consider what such a force could mean in the hands of a rebellious general, even one without political acumen."

An injudicious push,Subhash observed silently. He expected another outburst from Takashi, but the Coordinator merely sat down again, calmly arranging the reports he had scattered in his earlier outburst. Takashi mused for a few minutes. A smile split his now-placid visage. "I shall order the training regiments dispersed, their troops to be scattered among the units of the DCMS. With no core of loyal regiments, my son will never have a military power base So you see, Warlord, there is no need to fear an armed coup even if Theodore could put together the political or popular support, he will never have the military strength."

44

Draconis Military Compound, Pauchung, Xinyang

Benjamin Military District, Draconis Combine

18 June 3031

The cavernous hall was filled with five rows of the massive, twelve-meter ovoids, and their gimbal-jointed frames. Technicians scurried among them, checking connections and monitoring coolant levels. They were careful to avoid touching the inner shells, lest a hand or finger be trapped and torn off by a sudden shift of orientation within the skeletal frame. They were also wary of burning themselves on the recessed patches of shell that glowed orange from the laboring heat simulators.