"Easier than I thought," Lepeta said, tossing the pistol to the floor. The symbol on its handle glimmered slightly, the insignia of the Northwind Highlanders. "The Colonel needs a pretext to take control of Northwind and Marshal Bradford needs an excuse to land his Royals here." Lepeta surveyed the sprawled body of the former Planetary Consul and nodded in satisfaction. Twice before, he'd failed—once in the attempt to hit MacLeod in the park and once when the Highlanders had discovered that their 'Mechs were sabotaged. But this time he'd succeeded. I have given the Colonel exactly what he asked for—an excuse for the Davions to take Tara.
25
Tilman River Northwind
Draconis March, Federated Commonwealth
4 October 3057
"We ve got a new crisis," Colonel Catelli began, addressing the ranking officers of his, Mulvaney's, and Bradford's commands. "Normally, I'd never have called together our key officers with an enemy hot on our butts, but this is important. I received word an hour ago that Planetary Consul Burns was assassinated, apparently by rebellious anti-Davion Highlanders."
"How accurate is the report?" Marshal Bradford asked.
"My aide de camp in Tara is heading up the investigation personally. According to the report he filed with me, a Highlander weapon was found on the scene and he has turned up several witnesses who confirmed that the assailant was wearing the field fatigues of MacLeod's Regiment."
"Damn," cursed Marshal Bradford. "I know some of the Burns family. I was never close to Drake, but he was a good man. So, Colonel Catelli, this makes you the ranking member of the diplomatic staff. It looks like you'll be wearing the hat of both field commander and Consul at large."
"Yes, sir." Catelli suppressed a smile of satisfaction. This has been all too easy.
"I don't believe it," Mulvaney said coldly.
Bradford stared at her for a moment before speaking. "What do you mean? The Consul's own staff has implicated the Highlanders in the assassination. They have nothing to gain by making such an accusation."
"I heard the report, sir, but with all due respect that does not mean I have to sit and believe it It's true we Highlanders can be ruthless in combat. But such a cowardly killing is not the style or in the nature of any Highlander I know."
"Perhaps your former CO has changed the way he operates since your formation of the loyal Davion Highlanders," Catelli offered. "Perhaps Colonel MacLeod ordered the assassination because he thought he would lose to us in the field. I wouldn't rule out this Major Jaffray either. He's a Death Commando and you know what they're capable of. While he's here on Northwind doing who knows what Liao treachery, his own government has launched a war against the Federated Commonwealth. You must admit it's all very logical."
Mulvaney didn't like her people being called loyal Davion Highlanders, like somebody owned them, but now wasn't the time for that discussion.
"Logical is the last thing this killing is," she said. "MacLeod is also the last person in the Inner Sphere to order an assassination. He's direct and he's honorable. He's not a murderer. No sir, I think that this is a trick to make it look like MacLeod's people are to blame for this crime."
"What I know is this," Bradford said, raising his voice to show that he was the one calling the shots, "we made an agreement to keep Tara neutral. Now the Highlanders, either under orders from MacLeod or by an element acting on their own, have violated that agreement. Tara is now without a rightful leader and possibly lacking the ability to govern according to the will of the Archon Prince."
"How will you deal with this new situation, sir?" Catelli prodded, almost as if on cue.
"The Third Royal RCT is due in-system in several hours time. I propose that they divert from a combat landing in the field to a garrison posting in Tara."
"Sir, that's in direct violation of our agreement regarding Tara," Mulvaney protested quickly. "You initially said they'd land near Tara but promised to honor its neutrality.
The presence of the Third Royals in the city will incite those Highlanders still within the city proper. Need I remind you that all this is being done on hearsay evidence, with nothing to back any of this story up? For all we know it wasn't a Highlander who killed Consul Burns but the work of some mad person. It could have been anyone." She shot a quick glance at Colonel Catelli. You are the only one who stood to profit from the death of the Consul. I might never be able to prove it, but I'd bet my life that you're behind this murder and trying to make sure the Northwind Highlanders take the blame.
Marshal Bradford seemed to be listening carefully. "What you say does have some merit, Colonel Mulvaney. But there's a war going on and we have to work with the best intelligence at hand. That data points to Highlander involvement in the death of the Planetary Consul and we are sworn to protect Davion interests on this planet The most effective way to do that is to divert the Third Royals to Tara and have them use the city as their base of operations."
"Sir, such a move would place them at risk. If MacLeod learns of it he'll divert his forces away from us and back to Tara."
Catelli was shaking his head. "I think that Colonel Mulvaney may be incorrect on that assumption, Marshal. Our recon scouts place MacLeod's Highlanders close behind us. They apparently still believe we're going to ground at The Castle. Our intelligence monitoring shows that MacLeod has not yet been able to reestablish communications with The Fort. If our plan goes well we can still tie them down out here for days or longer while landing the Third Royals undetected. If he thinks we're trapped in that old bunker he won't pull his forces away no matter what's happening in Tara—that is, if he ever finds out. Hesitate now, and he'll manage to get a communications link back to Tara and find out about the landing of the Third Royals."
Marshal Bradford nodded in agreement as Catelli finished. "MacLeod is still deaf and blind to what's going on in Tara. The Third Royals will secure the city and protect the loyalist civilians from any other outbursts on the part of MacLeod's Highlanders. MacLeod will probably detect the Third during their final approach, but without his sophisticated communications and regimental tracking gear he won't know their vector or landing coordinates. Once in Tara we'll be able to prevent him from establishing communications with The Fort. Without that link-up he won't be able to spread word of his little rebellion to the other Highlander regiments. From Tara, the Third can move out and keep MacLeod cut off from the city, pinching him when we do finally emerge from hiding."
Mulvaney saw that her argument had failed. "What about Stirling's Fusiliers, sir? They're due back for regimental rotation. Last reports had them still heading for Northwind."
"According to our long-range sensors, a task force of unknown composition emerged three hours ago at a pirate point close to the zenith jump point. It doesn't take an NAIS scientist to figure out that it has to be the Fusiliers; at least three days ahead of our estimates. We hadn't counted on them using a secret jump point, but at least they don't know about the Third Royals. Given the units' relative positions, it's unlikely that Colonel Stirling will detect them. Thus far they've ignored all transmissions made to them and are moving at maximum burn-speed to Northwind and are anticipated to land in eighteen days time. Knowing Cat Stirling's reputation, she'll probably wait to appraise the situation on solid ground rather than jumping in blindly. Or better yet, she'll be waiting for word from MacLeod about where to land ... word we may be able to provide her.
"The only thing we have working for us right now is MacLeod's inability to communicate with her. The Third Royals will be here ahead of the Fusiliers and should be able to land undetected. Once down they can position themselves to prevent the two forces from linking up once Stirling does make planetfall. Mulvaney, you will be critical after they've landed. You must get the Fusiliers to either join us or remain neutral in the fight. Otherwise we'll have no choice but to destroy them."
"Sir, that won't be easy. There's no guarantee that Colonel Stirling will accept Prince Davion's will concerning Northwind. I have no desire to see blood
shed, so I'll do what I can. But fighting them will be costly ... for you and Third Royals RCT. Even with Winchester's NAIS forces, the battle will be even and on the Highlanders' own turf."
"We can ill afford to hesitate," Bradford said harshly. "Another force has also jumped into system and managed to beat MacLeod's aerospace carriers to our diversionary force. The ships were ID'd as Capellan. Our decoy ships sustained some losses and managed to jump out of the system, but it means that MacLeod's fighters have turned around and are heading back to Northwind."
Marshal Bradford spoke in a low, almost menacing tone. "What are these Liao ships doing here? I don't know how Loren Jaffray managed to contact the Capellans, but if he did I'll make him pay dearly. Chances are these ships are linked to the message the Chancellor sent, perhaps to reinforce acknowledging the declaration of Northwind's independence. Their presence may cause us to change plans slightly, but it won't pose any real threat to our plan."
Mulvaney barely heard the Marshal's words. Her thoughts were of William MacLeod and his regiment and how fiercely they would fight to hold onto Northwind, the very womb of the Highlander regiments. Sun-Tzu Liao's declaration had no meaning to her. That was only the empty words of a politician far removed from the reality all around her on Northwind. Just words, and for Mulvaney, actions had more meaning.
She wondered if there was any hope even for the Royal/ NAIS troops if Cat Stirling was able to reinforce MacLeod. It could turn into a slaughter of the Davions, but they're too blind to see it coming. If Bradford can keep MacLeod and Stirling's forces separated and uncoordinated, the massacre might go the other way. Now the Capellans may have troops in the system as well. Will they sit this fight out or join in? Her mind conjured images of long-time friends and allies suddenly dead and buried ... all because of her actions or inactions.
"Now then," Bradford was saying, "everyone had better get to their 'Mechs and continue on according to our plan. The Despiser has shuttled most of our ground vehicles out of the area to the planned coordinates. I fully anticipate MacLeod trying to stop us from reaching The Castle. Thus far he still has no reason to believe we're going anywhere else and that mustn't change. If he hits, break off engagement and fall back to The Castle. Mulvaney's maps will lead you to where we need to go. Remember, we're on a tight timetable." Marshal Bradford saluted quickly and his ranking officers began to leave the makeshift HQ.
"Please stay a minute, Colonel Catelli," Bradford said as the last of the officers departed.
"Sir?"
Bradford stepped close so that no one could overhear his words. "When I ordered you to stage an incident that would let us seize control of Tara, I didn't give you authorization to kill our own Planetary Consul, Colonel."
The color rose in Catelli's face. "Sir, I'm shocked at your insinuation. I didn't plan or authorize the death of the Consul. My plans called only for the fire-bombing of several empty government warehouses. I was as stunned as you to learn of Drake Burns' death. We two might not have been close friends, but I had come to respect the man a great deal." I respected only his power, and now that power is mine,
"Indeed," Marshal Bradford said, pulling out one of his ubiquitous cigars and carefully inspecting its condition. "For what it's worth, I won't record this conversation in my report. I'm a military man, Catelli. One day I hope to muster out and retire into some sweet little diplomatic post not too unlike this one on Northwind. However, I assure you, Colonel, that you will never work on any staff of mine. And if I learn that you had any involvement whatsoever in the death of Consul Burns, you will be apprehended and held for trial. Know this, I do not want to find anything that might implicate anyone other than the Northwind Highlanders in this crime. Do I make myself clear, Mister?"
"Yes, sir," Catelli said softly. You won't be on Northwind for long, my dear Marshal. You toy soldiers are so poor at politics. You want an incident but only if you can keep your hands clean. You ask for plausible deniability. Fine. In return you'll do my dirty work and break the spirit and backbone of the Highlanders. When this is all over you'll be gone and Northwind will be mine. All I have to do is feed your ego until then.
* * *
Loren and Huff leaned over the portable field display and stared at the map. The small transportable electronic map was all they'd been able to salvage from the ruins of the command post, destroyed what seemed like weeks before. It had been patched together and barely worked, but it was the best they had and neither of the men complained. Since the ambush at the river, MacLeod's force had pushed Mulvaney and Catelli's forces at a faster pace up the Tilman River. Now it had become a race, a dash for The Castle fortress. But their foe had a sizable lead, and the dim green glare of light from the electronic map only seemed to confirm that reality for the two officers.
"What's the word on reestablishing communications with The Fort, Major?" Loren asked.
"Another ten hours or so at best. The biggest problem we had was that a squad of those power-armored NAIS goons backtracked our trail and destroyed two of the relays. That kind of fighting just ties up our limited resources and steals time we don't have."
"What's next?"
"The Colonel asked that I go over these plans with you. If we're going to hit them it will have to be soon. Our recon forces upriver have them moving at flank speed," Huff said, running his hands back through the stubble of his crew cut hair. "We're also seeing indications that they might be using their DropShip to shuttle troops and vehicles."
"What do you and the Colonel propose?" Loren said, twisting his neck slightly. Wearing a neurohelmet for seemingly days on end had left his neck muscles tense and tight. They'd gone slowly trying to avoid the occasional mine and other booby traps in their pursuit of Mulvaney, but now the time had come to take the risks and try and stop her once and for all.
"We have almost a full battalion that we can throw at them if we push them to the red line. Colonel MacLeod has asked me to take the lead on this. He also asked that I use you as my number two." Huff reached out and pressed the controls on the battered field map. The image showed the lines of attack as well as the icons representing Mulvaney's and Castelli's forces. Loren studied them carefully. Where could all this go wrong? What are we assuming that we shouldn't? If we know this much, then Marshal Bradford does too. How will he counter? Loren would have liked to review the plans in greater detail, to try to plan contingencies against all the possible countermoves and tactics. But this was a battlefield, one that was highly mobile and one where they no longer had the luxury of time.
"You know they'll be expecting us."
"Yes," Huff replied curtly. "Colonel MacLeod and I fully expect them to either dig in or make an all-out run for The Castle. Either way we have to be there. I expect you to coordinate with the First Striker Company and take what's up front of the Regimental Command Company. You'll have the south bank of the river, I'll have the north. Hit them, punch through their line and get between them and The Castle. They're on the south bank of the river and I want to get on their flank and force them to a halt. Destroy their momentum and they'll be ours."
"Lieutenant Fuller told me a little bit about this bunker complex they're heading for," Loren said. "The entrance sounds like it's a holy terror to get through."
"You might say that," Huff said, almost letting himself smile. "The entrance is at the bottom of the falls and is only wide enough for two 'Mechs to pass through at a time. In Star League times they had a mechanism that diverted the waterfall to allow direct entry. Now it's broken and you have to enter underwater."
"And the firing platform? Sounds like some sort of breastworks for 'Mechs."
"Halfway up the falls is a ledge with heavy armor plating. From there, a handful of 'Mechs can hold off eight or nine times their number."
"So, Major Huff, do you want me to bypass the falls and move on the tunnel entrances on my side of the river?"
"Negative. The Colonel and I feel that blindly charging into those tunnels would be disastrous. They're to
o easy to mine or set up with fire traps. You can't get up the bluffs surrounding the falls, either. They're so steep that only the best jumping 'Mechs have even a chance of getting up them in one piece. And trying to go around the cliff faces will cost you three kilometers in either direction."
"What about cutting off their escape, Major?"
"Escape?" Huff asked, surprised at first, then his eyes sparked with realization. "Don't tell me you still think they're going to make a break for the mountain camp. I told you, Jaffray. We reviewed the possibility and flushed it. Their troops have been on the run for days and been pushed to the limit. They'll go the ground because they can't risk pushing themselves even farther."
Loren gave a small shrug to say he wasn't convinced. If he were in Mulvaney's shoes he'd never dig in at a bunker complex like The Castle. The key to the success for a small unit fighting against a bigger one was to stay on the move. Burrowing in at The Castle, regardless of how easy it was to defend, simply did not make sense. It would force a resolution of the conflict. No. Mulvaney was too much like him. She was a MechWarrior and she had been the Executive Officer of an elite fighting 'Mech regiment. She'd never make such a blatant tactical error. She would want to win on her own terms, and The Castle was not the place for that.
"I realize that you don't think there's any merit to my theory, but why not cover those tunnels anyway? I might be wrong, Major, but there's very little to lose making sure you're right. Deploy some of your forces on those exits."
Huff was obviously becoming irritated, his face flushed and his motions quick and jerky as he spoke. "Listen, Jaffray, I respect you as a fellow MechWarrior, but you're a visiting officer in this unit, not a bonafide Highlander. I told you that the Colonel reviewed your plan and ruled it out."
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