Clan Star Adder Khan Cassius N’Buta was certain this war council would not end well, but he sat up straight and tall regardless, as befit his station. The other thirty-five individuals in the assembly hall—sixteen khans, seventeen saKhans, and the Loremaster of the Clans—waited for Leo Showers, the new ilKhan, to call the Grand Kurultai to order. Cassius watched Showers with benign interest. An ilKhan had not presided over the Clans for just over a century; they had prospered long enough without one. What mattered now was whether Showers, former khan of Clan Smoke Jaguar and the seventh ilKhan in Clan history, would live up to the reputation of the Founder Nicholas Kerensky’s ideals. The muscular MechWarrior certainly had vision for the Clans, which had earned Cassius’s own vote and the vote of his saKhan, Tabitha Paik.
At the back of the uppermost tier of seats leading down to the ilKhan’s dais, Cassius waited through all of the pomp and circumstance that opened the kurultai. All the while he kept a close eye on individuals he did not see very often. The presence of the Blood Spirit khans for the invasion vote and the ilKhan’s election still amazed him. Throughout the previous thirteen years, he had never once seen Khan Karianna Schmitt or her saKhan in the flesh, and he could vividly recall only one time she had appeared virtually in the Grand Council, via real-time HPG to vote down a measure. The Fire Mandrill khans’ presence also surprised him, given their current state of internecine conflict. The Mandrill leadership seldom deigned to grace the Grand Council with their presence, but whenever they did the Mandrill khans that visited Strana Mechty were always different from the previous set of Mandrill khans Cassius had seen. And the mismatched pair had been at each other’s throats the moment they walked into the Hall of Khans for the invasion vote. The Ghost Bear leadership had also changed. Khan Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf had killed both previous Ghost Bear khans during his unsuccessful Trial of Refusal over the invasion vote. Neither of their replacements had been elected from either the Tseng or Jorgensson Bloodname Houses, who had led the Ghost Bears for countless decades.
This whole string of events—from the arrival of a wayward ComStar vessel in Clan space, to the invasion vote and the current war council—had been one string of surprises after another. Perhaps this ilKhan will surprise me as well, Cassius thought.
Discussion quickly turned to the matter at hand as the ilKhan addressed every member of the Grand Kurultai. “There is no doubt that all of those among us are mighty and have earned their rightful place in the Unity.” Showers’s commanding voice echoed throughout the chamber. “Each touman represented in this hall is worth far more than the military might of a single Great House of the Inner Sphere, but the Founder taught us the value in conserving our resources and steered us away from the sin of squandering our limited assets. He also instilled in us the virtue of prudent bidding, so that we might win with a skillful dagger thrust what the foolish would hope to win with the wild swing of an ax."
“Members of the Grand Council, I ask you this: how many of us need carry the illuminated banner of Kerensky into the corruption of the Inner Sphere? How many of us shall bring to heel the diseased militaries of those who tore the Star League apart and drove the Great Father into exile?”
The hall descended into cacophony as every khan—every one but Cassius and his loyal saKhan—tried to clamor for attention. Cassius felt the need to speak, but not now, not yet.
Showers quieted the mob with an upraised hand. “The Grand Kurultai recognizes saKhan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon.”
Cassius would have mistaken the husky man for an overindulged merchant if not for Crichell’s confident, regal bearing in his crisp Jade Falcon uniform and ceremonial, gold-and-malachite falcon mask. Cassius already guessed what Crichell would say, but he listened with intent, regardless.
“IlKhan, members of the Grand Council,” Crichell began, “as the foremost flagbearer of the Crusader movement, Clan Jade Falcon believes the toumans of two Clans will be sufficient to bring the Inner Sphere to heel.”
Cassius allowed himself a little smirk. Both the Falcons and the Smoke Jaguars spearheaded the Crusader movement that itched to invade the Inner Sphere. Crichell’s claim that the Falcons led the movement had to rankle the new ilKhan.
The floor turned to heated debate on Crichell’s bid.
“The Grand Kurultai recognizes saKhan Pazi Tchernovkov of Clan Coyote,” said the ilKhan.
“Esteemed Grand Council,” declared Tchernovkov, outspoken member of the opposing Warden faction, “two Clans will not be not enough. If invade we must, I foresee we will need the resources of at least five Clans in order to be successful.”
Interesting, Cassius thought, drumming his fingers atop the arm of his chair. Perhaps we are more alike than I first thought, Warden.
Another round of debates touched off, which culminated in the Falcon and Coyote khans arguing like usual. Cassius tuned them out; he had heard it all before and would doubtless hear it again before the kurultai adjourned. All the while, he kept watch on Ulric Kerensky, who had remained unusually silent throughout the proceedings thus far. The entire Warden movement seemed to pivot around the influential Wolf, yet he had not acted the same since the
Crusaders recently defeated him in his long-odds Trial of Refusal over the invasion vote. Silent and stoic, Kerensky had to be plotting something; that much Cassius was certain. But what?
“Three Clans, then,” newly elected Smoke Jaguar Khan Lincoln Osis countered, without waiting for official recognition by the ilKhan. “The assets of three Clans should be sufficient to reach Terra and restore the Star League.”
Steel Viper Khan Natalie Breen shot to her feet. “Neg. The Wardens have the right of it this time. Five Clans must go.”
Cassius knew Breen—neither Warden nor Crusader—only felt this way to pave her own Clan’s path to the Inner Sphere. The more Clans chosen, the higher chance the Vipers would have to be included in the invasion force. Breen had the right attitude, he decided, but her motives were not as pure as his own.
“Clan Burrock bids that four Clans must represent Kerensky’s legacy,” said Jocelyn Siddiq, a khan currently subscribing to the Crusader camp.
Karianna Schmitt from Clan Blood Spirit jolted to her feet and stared daggers at the Burrock khan. “What I believe Khan Siddiq means to say is the Burrocks do not believe enough in their own strength and, should they gain a place in this invasion—via perfidy, most likely—they must rely on the might of three other Clans to remind them that they are the Burrocks’ betters. Khan Siddiq’s Clan does not embrace the Founder’s vision of self-sufficiency. Clan
Blood Spirit bids for three Clans to participate in the invasion.”
“Three is not nearly enough,” replied Snow Raven Khan Lynn McKenna, who was a Warden when the movement’s politics suited her goals. “If we must continue with this charade, I call to reinstate the Coyote bid at five Clans.”
The Hall of Khans once more devolved into argument. The Nova Cat khan Severen Leroux shouted at Jaguar saKhan Sarah Weaver. Hell’s Horses Khan Malavai Fletcher and Ghost Bear Khan Karl Bourjon nearly had each other by the throat. The Goliath Scorpions, the Cloud Cobras, and even the Diamond Sharks all added their voices to the din.
Only Cassuis—and his saKhan, at his silent urging—remained quiet.
Children, he thought. All of them. They cannot see past their own noses, and the Unity is all the poorer for it.
Once he could no longer pick out individual words from the noise, Cassius decreed he had finally heard enough. Unlike the other khans who all spoke without the ilKhan’s leave, he pressed a button on his seat’s console and petitioned for the official right to be heard.
Showers raised his fist and cut through the dissonance with a resounding war cry that startled even Cassius with its volume and abruptness. The kurultai became a tomb as all eyes focused on the ilKhan’s ferocity.
“The Grand Kurultai formally recognizes Khan Cassius N’Buta of Clan Star Adder,” Showers said.
Cassius cleared his throat politely and smoothed the front of his plain, unadorned uniform as he rose amid the deafening silence. He did not smile beneath his black onyx mask. He did not frown. Instead he faced his peers with honesty. Upon his hesitation, saKhan Paik offered him a subtle nod of encouragement.
“Trothkin,” he began, sweeping his gaze across the khans of all sixteen other Clans, “this is a momentous time in our history. Not since the days when we descended upon the Pentagon worlds to right the wrongs visited upon them have we contemplated such a monumental military undertaking such as this. I argue not about returning to the cradle of humanity and extinguishing the flames of war with the light of our purity, as the Great Father once wrote. Instead, I argue that we do ourselves a gross disservice by dividing our assets piecemeal. In the ancient days of Terran warfare, armies consisted of
many different troop types—footmen, archers, halberdiers, cavalry… To underutilize one troop type was to court disaster. In this invasion, we will need all of our troops if we are to succeed.
“Nova Cats,” he said, pointing to Khans Leroux and Carns, “you are our archers, capable of efficiently dispatching foes before they can close.” He gestured to Falcon Khans Yvonne Hazen and Elias Crichell. “Falcons, you are our light horse; Jaguars, you are our heavy horse. The Ice Hellions are our skirmishers, the Coyotes our heavy armor, the Hell’s Horses, our light armor, the Ravens our siege engines, the Cloud Cobras our scouts and observation towers. The Burrocks will be our spies; the Ghost Bears, our shield wall; the Fire Mandrills, our demoralizers. The Diamond Sharks will bring diplomacy during the day, while the Goliath Scorpions become our nocturnal assassins. The Steel Vipers will give us vision; the Blood Spirits, our morale; the Wolves, our conscience.
“My fellow khans,” Cassius said, “if we are to have any hope of achieving our goal, we will need all of us, working together in solidarity. To confront the corruption of the Inner Sphere with only three or four facets of our total strength, as the rest of you advocate, is to embrace madness and invite our own eventual destruction. To go to war with only archers and footmen and leave behind our cavalry and siege engines is utmost folly. We must face this threat together, with one mind, as the Founder’s Unity intended.”
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Tronword, on 24 August 2015 - 04:51 PM, said:
