"I read that as a definite move to reinforce the front with the Clans."

"As Kurita moves the troops toward the fight, other troops move to Luthien." Melissa chewed on her lower lip. "A strike at Luthien could seriously damage the Combine's ability to fight. Their people are so tied to honor, they could start committing seppukuin droves out of shame for a fallen Luthien."

Hanse nodded. "Worse yet, you'd have a replay of the Ronin Invasions. Units would head out to avenge Luthien, without direction or supply. The front would be chaos, then it would collapse. This is very bad." My buffer with the Clans is about to disintegrate.

His head came up. "Assessment of the threat to Luthien, Justin?"

"Serious." Justin's hands curled down into fists, then opened again in a slow, rhythmic display of frustration. "At best, we show them with four line regiments, one political regiment, and another three weak regiments of reserves. The troops are some of their best, but we have no way of judging what the Clans will throw at them. The Wolves used three full regiments to pacify Rasalhague, but that was only a fraction of their available force. With the Clans' new strategy of hitting heavily defended worlds while skipping others, they will, undoubtedly, send whatever they need to take the world. With two Clans operating in that area, I have no doubt they will have the resources they need to do the job."

But Theodore is very crafty."What if Theodore successfully outbids the Clans, as was done on Wolcott?"

The Intelligence Secretary nodded. "A good point, but I doubt the Smoke Jaguars will let themselves be humiliated again. Given their defeat on Wolcott, I'd wager they chose Luthien precisely to redeem themselves."

"Luthien." Hanse felt goosebumps rising on his arms. "For years, I dreamed of capturing Kurita's Black Pearl, but now the idea of its fall fills me with dread." Or is it only that you hate the idea of someone else taking it instead?

"The implications of Luthien's fall are not good." Alex's quick fingerwork on the keyboard brought a holographic map burning to life over the Jable. "Luthien's loss means

Pesht would be isolated. If it goes, so does the whole Pesht Military District."

The top half of the Combine's red triangle went black. "If Theodore survived, he would have to pull all the way back to Benjamin to have a secure capital world. Benjamin, as a world, holds significance for the people of the Combine, so the loss of face would not be overwhelming. He could organize a defense from there, and with fewer planets to defend, he could hold out for a long while. However, he wouldn't have the industrial backing needed to defeat the Clans and reconquer the worlds he had lost. The Galedon District would go, leaving Theodore with the Benjamin and Dieron Districts, but no hope of ever again being a power."

The loss of the Galedon District reduced the map of the once proud Draconis Combine to a small rectangle of space roughly half again the size of the Capellan Confederation. The Clans' conquest of the Galedon District would put them directly on the border of the Draconis March, posing a direct threat to the Federated Suns portion of the Federated Commonwealth.

"Alex, I commend your projections, but do they take into account how long it would take for the troops that have been moved off the border to return to defensible lines?" Hanse studied the map closely. "Many of Theodore's troops could get caught without transport or supplies. That would accelerate the timetable of conquest, would it not?"

"I agree, Highness, it would."

"So, you're telling my husband and me that if Luthien falls, the Combine is destroyed?"

Justin nodded. "That is the long and short of it." He broke eye contact with Hanse and looked down. "Forgive me, my Prince, but I must now make a suggestion that I feel is my duty as your Secretary of Intelligence. We have fifteen regiments in position to consolidate the conquest of the Dieron District. If Theodore's time prediction for the strike on Luthien is correct, we could be at Benjamin and Galedon when the Clans hit."

Hanse felt an acid burn in his stomach. "Break my vow to Theodore? Hit the Combine?"

His face set in a mask of stone, Justin nodded solemnly. "They could not stop us. The Combine would be ours."

The Kurita curse lifted from my people forever!He pointed at the map. "Show me where we have units."

Little golden lights flared to life like muzzle-flashes all across the Draconis March and Isle of Skye borders. The line continued up the Rasalhague border, with two units deep in Rasalhague territory, and then traced a line that defined the Jade Falcons' incursion into the Lyran Commonwealth. Opposing his forces in the Dieron District, Hanse saw only a pitiful scattering of red pinpricks.

"The death of Luthien betokens the death of the Combine?"

Justin nodded with the finality of the Grim Reaper himself. "Without a head, how can the Dragon's body survive?"

The Fox shut his eyes as he came to a decision. "Orders will go out over my signature within the hour."

Melissa clutched his left arm. "Hanse, what are you going to do?"

"What I must do, beloved, just as with Thomas Marik. I have no choice." He stared at the gold sparks floating above the table. "I'm going to send them."

33

JumpShip Dire Wolf, Assault Orbit

Gunzburg, Free Rasalhague Republic

10 December 3051

 

Phelan Wolf could hear the thundering of his heart as it pulsed blood through his body. In the holotank, Natasha stood speaking with Marcos, against whom she would be bidding for the right to take Gunzburg. The young MechWarrior saw Marcos' fury at having been tricked in the Memmingen bidding, and he feared the worst. He and Natasha shook hands perfunctorily, then returned to their places.

"You didn't concede first bid to him, quinegVFrom the flicker of anger in her eyes, Phelan realized he had spoken out of turn, too quickly and sharply.

"Is that a concern of yours for some reason, Star Commander?" Natasha skewered him with a harsh, sidelong glance as she turned the bidding console toward her. "Don't worry. We'll win the bidding. You'll get your revenge."

Phelan knew he should back off, but anxiety overrode common sense. "Dammit, Natasha, you know I'm concerned about more than bearding Tor Miraborg in his den. I've seen the casualty estimates from Memmingen, and I'm not referring to our people. Marcos had a temper tantrum down there and decided to level two villages as an example. I know he's going to force the bidding close to the edge, and I just don't want to see us backed to the wall the way he was. I don't want to see Wolves killed, and I especially don't want to see civilians killed."

Natasha kept her voice so low that none but Phelan could hear it. "I share your concern, Phelan," she told him in clipped tones, "but this world is not yours for the bidding. Were your estimates of Tor Miraborg and his resources correct?"

"They were accurate this morning and I've updated them four times since then with COMINT from radio intercepts."

"You still maintain that two Clusters are not sufficient to take it, quinegV

Phelan punched the pedestal upon which his computer terminal stood. "No. Miraborg has half the Third Drak0ns, most of their air wing, the Gunzburg Eagles, and one reserve regiment. He's put guns on anything that can fly and every citizen has a rifle. They handed out 'fire and forget' inferno rockets that will have every city on that mudball burning down around our troops. The only way to beat the Iron Jarl is to deliver enough equipment that even he has no choice but to surrender for the sake of his people. That's the only way."


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