When he stood up, Ardan almost fell. His head began its interior rocking, like a vessel on a stormy sea. But he was determined to stand, to walk. To get away while his attendant was gone.

Even as he made his legs cooperate, Ardan wondered about his situation. He was a captive. Surely the MedTechs knew what their medications could do. Why had they left him alone just when he would be regaining consciousness?

He shook his errant mind back into order. Whatever the reason, he had to get out. Find his unit again. There was so much to do...and he had no idea how the attack had gone.

Beyond the curtain was an empty hallway. At the end of it, behind a closed door, he could hear voices. He crept into the corridor and turned in the opposite direction. Doors lined the way, some open into empty chambers like the one he had left, some closed. Pushing one open, Ardan found himself staring at a bandaged shape spreadeagled on an orthopedic rack.

He moved on, trying a door from time to time. At last, he found one that led into another passageway. This was dark, as if little used. Glass-windowed doors on either side let dim light into the corridor, and he stepped to the one on his left and peered through into the room beyond.

It was a big chamber, filled with unusual and somehow disturbing equipment. Glass-fronted cubicles lined the side wall, and there was the throb of motors, as if compressors were operating beneath the floor.

The sound was echoed faintly from one of the cubicles. He turned awkwardly, trying to see through the faint frost that covered the glass.

Someone was inside. Someone...familiar...? He moved closer, pressed his hands to the glass, and set his face between them, peering hard at the dim shape. As if summoned by his attention, the light intensified around the body inside.

"Hanse!" he whimpered, scrabbling at the glass with his numbed fingers. "Hanse, what have they done to you?"

BATTLETECH

08602

THE SWORD AND THE DAGGER

Ardath Mayhar

To Jordan Weisman, Margaret Weis, and Tracy Hickman…

sine qua non

Battlefield technical writing by: William H. Keith

This book is published by FASA Corporation

P.O Box 6930

Chicago, IL 60680

Cover Art by:     David R. Dietrick

Illustrations by:  Duane Loose

                       David R. Dietrick

Maps by:          Dana Knutson

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Copyright © 1987 FASA Corporation.

This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America.

BATTLETECH is a Trademark of FASA Corporation.

PROLOGUE

It is the year 3025. Man now inhabits the stars, but has taken his warlike nature with him. The thousands of worlds radiating out from Sol, first sun of the human race, were once bound together in a Star League that fostered technology, expansion, and prosperity for all. With the fall of the League in 2781, a Dark Age descended, as each of the five surviving star empires began warring for dominion. To this day, more than 200 years later, none of the five Successor Lords has been able to triumph decisively to become supreme Lord over the others.

The leaders of these five great star empires are known today as the Successor Lords of Houses Davion, Kurita, Steiner, Liao, and Marik. The devastating battles they have been fighting among themselves almost continuously for over two centuries have come to be called simply the Succession Wars.

To fight their wars, the Successor Lords have armies of BattleMechs, vaguely humanoid but gigantic battle machines bristling with lasers, particle projection cannons, long- and short-range missile launchers, autocannon, and machine guns. Though these walking tanks rule the battlefields, intrigue and plots rule the courts of the Inner Sphere, as each ruler seeks to win by deceit what he cannot achieve through force.

For a time, the endless Succession Wars brought death and destruction to civilization and to nearly all the learning and high technology of the Star League era. Better days may lie ahead, however, because the Successor Lords are now seeking to reestablish universities and to recover the scientific knowledge and technology long believed lost.

Most powerful among the five Successor States is House Davion, ruler of the Federated Suns. Since the start of the Succession Wars, House Davion has managed, through skillfully conducted military campaigns and subtle diplomacy, to double the number of star systems under its control. The current Prince of the Federated Suns is Hanse Davion, who ascended the throne unexpectedly in 3013 when his older brother Ian was killed in battle.

At 42 years of age, Hanse Davion is the youngest of the current Successor Lords. Based on his accomplishments so far, the accident of fate that made him Prince Davion twelve years ago may have been one of the great turning points in the history of the Successor States. Under his leadership, the Federated Suns have reached new heights of power, with Hanse becoming known as The Fox by both enemies and friends. He is, of course, a brilliant military strategist and a skilled negotiator, but his nickname also stems from Hanse's skill in playing the deadly games of intrigue and power that are the order of the day. For example, it is believed that Davion's agents provocateurs are responsible for fomenting unrest among the Free Worlds League, which has tied up House Marik's best military units trying to suppress the rebellions.

The Lyran Commonwealth, formed in 2341, is ruled by Katrina Steiner, Archon of the Commonwealth and Duchess of Tharkad. A woman of middle age, Katrina is a strong and determined leader who once trained as a MechWarrior, and who has since proven herself a canny strategist both militarily and politically. Realizing that Hanse Davion would make a potent ally, she negotiated ceaselessly to bring about a peace treaty with the Federated Suns. Steiner and Davion have also signed a secret treaty betrothing Hanse Davion in marriage to Melissa, Katrina's daughter and the Archon-Designate.

At this point in history, the border world of Stein's Folly, belonging to the Federated Suns, has been overrun by the forces of the Capellan Confederation, ruled by Chancellor Maximilian Liao. This is just the latest in a series of moves and countermoves toward worlds belonging to the other that has brought Davion and Liao into open conflict

Though the Capellan Confederation is the weakest of the five Successor States, Maximilian Liao is nevertheless a shrewd and crafty leader who is currently engineering a plot to unseat Hanse Davion and undermine the power of the Federated Suns. Liao's allies against Davion are House Kurita and House Marik. Though neither of these is actively involved in the current plot, both would benefit by anything that weakens the Federated Suns. Takashi Kurita, descendant of a long line of ruthless forbears, rules the highly military Draconis Combine with an iron hand. Janos Marik is leader of the Free Worlds League, which is slowly coming apart at the seams because of internal strife.

Even Michael Hasek-Davion, Duke of New Syrtis, might take an interest in the plot against his brother-in-law Hanse. Though he is the appointed ruler of the Capellan March, the ambitious Michael dreams of one day becoming the undisputed head of the Federated Suns. Prince Davion has no heir, and so the Duke would ascend the throne if anything were to happen to him. Hanse Davion publicly expresses only the greatest confidence in his relative, but Michael believes some of the Prince's recent military moves against the Draconis Combine were aimed at reducing his own influence and power. Not only did Hasek-Davion resist requests to reinforce the Davion offensive against Kurita, but it is rumored that agents of Maximilian Liao have paid several visits to the palace at New Syrtis.