Текст книги "Riposte"

Sian Commonality, Capellan Confederation

21 December 3028

Justin Xiang shut his eyes, deeply fatigued from a job whose demands never seemed to give him a moment's respite. I've not had more than six hours sleep in any one stretch since the Davion invasion began. And that was on the trip back to Sian– after spending twelve hours analyzing dishes for their "secret messages."He looked up at Tsen Shang and read the same physical and emotional exhaustion in his aide's brown eyes.

Between them sat a glowing holographic projection of the Capellan Confederation's holdings. What had begun as a chop across Tikonov's throat had widened on both sides. Half the Tikonov Commonality had been either conquered or was currently besieged by Davion forces. All the loyal worlds glowed with a savage green light, while the worlds taken in each successful wave of Davion assault burned in ever deepening shades of blue.

Tsen Shang pointed at the cerulean light that represented Tikonov. "Your estimates of Davion actions check out, Citizen. The Crucis Lancer Regimental Combat Teams have spread out and hit six targets in the third wave. On Menker and Achernar, they face nothing but militia ..."

"Great. Just great." Justin forced a weak smile. "I suppose we can console ourselves that they will capture no supplies."

Shang shrugged. "Face it. They won't expend any either." He pointed a long-nailed finger at the verdant world called Tigress. "House Hiritsu might do some damage, but that world's lost. Davion tossed two RCTs at it."

Justin massaged his right temple. "As I see it, even with this latest wave, we've still got one shot at stopping the Federated Suns. As you've suggested all along, all we have to do is hit the staging bases. If we can capture—or at least destroy—the Davion supply bases, it'll cut off support. We'll not be able to turn around and force the troops out, but we'll get the time we need to recover."

Shang sighed loudly enough to fill the small, dark chamber with the sound of his frustration. "But how do we get the Chancellor to listen? You heard him last time I broached the subject of sending out strike forces. 'We must crush the invader here, Citizen Shang. We must feed their flesh to our worlds so that what the enemy has made barren will flourish again.' He's obsessed with his dream of being the new Star League's First Lord—so much that he can't see his realm collapsing around his ears."

Tsen looked away. "I've even tried to get Romano to speak to him on behalf of my plan, but ever since the First Kearny Highlanders took off from Highspire, she's been in a nasty frame of mind."

"She should have known the First Kearny would head out as soon as they got the news about the Second Kearny getting hit on Jonathan. All the Northwind Highlander regiments feel a kinship with each other. I suspect it's only Pavel Ridzik's presence on Elgin that keeps McCormack's Fusiliers from running off to avenge Marion's Highlanders."

Shang nodded. "Well, they were wiped out without a trace. The Third Davion Guards RCT is nasty."

Justin backed away from the table and slumped down at the hase of the cool, sound-baffling black tiles. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "I guess we'll have to beard the Diablo in his den. You said Michael's latest information packet contained data that confirmed your earlier guesses?"

"I'm a bit uneasy about trusting the data. Michael did tell us what the troop assignments were for Galahad '28, but he didn't know the assignments were changed via sealed orders sent out from New Avalon. How much can we trust him or his information?"

Justin chewed his lower lip before replying, and when he did, liis voice sounded more tired than ever. "Well, we've had a couple of hints that he's undervaluing his own troop strengths, but those fictions are easy enough to correct. I don't trust him as far us I could throw the Chancellor's throne. Yet, Michael's not attacked us, despite having the resources to do so. He's keeping up his end of the bargain."

Shang, leaning heavily on the wartable, nodded with resignation. "True enough. Davion's maintained a two-month per wave schedule. The troop movements show something of a regular schedule for resupply, but most of the supplies go out in preparation for the next wave. This fourth wave, we both agree, should head out in early February."

"And that means Davion's larders will have to be full by the middle of January," Justin reflected. "And his storehouses are well behind his lines. That means that, in his arrogance, Hanse Davion believes them to be beyond our reach."

The conversation between the two Maskirovka analysts died as the room's only door whisked silently into the ceiling. A shaft of yellow light poured around the slump-shouldered silhouette of Maximilian Liao. A spear of lights fragmented into rainbow shards, reflected from a holodisc. Liao looked up as Justin rose from the floor, then nodded. "Good. You're both here. Citizen Shang," he said, extending the disk toward Shang. "View this!"

Justin stiffened as he heard the fury in the Chancellor's voice. "What is it, Excellency?"

Liao waited for the chamber door to slide down into place before growling a reply. "That idiot! He issued me an ultimatum. Do this or else! How dare he?"

Shang fed the holodisc into the wartable's port, then moved back as the political map dissolved into the head and shoulders of Colonel Pavel Ridzik. The room's hidden speakers flooded the room with the gentle yet firm tones of Ridzik's voice. Justin nodded. This man has the voice and manner appropriate to a leader of men.

"Chancellor Liao, I beseech you to listen to my plea. Tikonov has fallen, and with it go the hopes of the Tikonov Commonality. My people have not yet lost heart, and they believe in the ultimate victory of the Capellan Confederation. Now and forever, they wish to remain in union with Sian."

Ridzik's head came up and his eyes flashed with fire. He stroked his red beard, then narrowed his eyes. "The majority of this message is data outlining a campaign I ask permission to undertake. My sources point to a weakness in the Davion defenses of Tikonov, Menkar, and Jonathan. Davion forces have not solidified their hold on those worlds, but already these troops are treating their conquests as docile members of the Federated Suns."

Ridzik bowed his head almost deeply enough to be respectful. "I require that my own unit, Stapleton's Iron Hand—all three battalions—be transported up within striking range of Tikonov. I have included a list of stars that will take advantage of the Jump-Ships allocated to the Chancellor's command circuit for access to Terra. In addition, I will require the units that retreated to our worlds of Hamal, Woodstock, and Bharat. With these forces, I will retake Tikonov and begin the counteroffensive we so desperately need."

Ridzik's image smiled. "I know this plan will succeed. I urge you to accept it and order it. If you do not, I cannot say how long I can maintain my hold on Tikonov. As always, Chancellor, I am at your service."

His head exploded into a stream of alpha numeric data that the computer immediately translated into a new political map with symbols for military units moving about. Shang and Justin both studied it intently, the latter drifting in closer like a sailor entranced by a siren's song.

Justin nodded slowly as the plan unfolded before his eyes. It could work. It's daring enough, but it strips troops from the rest of the Tikonov Commonality. A dangerous gamble, but as they say in chess, it takes strong moves to counter a strong player.

Maximilian Liao stared at the plan, then spat in disgust. "His plan ... it is flawed, isn't it?"

Justin shot a quick glance at Shang, then nodded. "It works, but it's based on some suppositions we have no way to evaluate."

Liao raised his head. "For example?"

Shang smiled. "The Colonel cites his own intelligence sources as telling him the Eighth Crucis Lancers RCT is the only force garrisoning Tikonov." Shang pointed at a bound transcript of Michael Hasek-Davion's latest troop information. "Duke Michael's information differs with that. It is true that the Eighth Crucis Lancers RCT is the only complete force on the planet, but Duke Michael points out that the other seven Lancer RCTs left considerable amounts of infantry, armor, and aerofighters behind to help hold the world."

Justin nodded, then pointed his metal hand at the world of Teng. The planet glowed a haunting green down in the St. Ives Commonality peninsula. "The Colonel wants his own personal command transferred up to help take Tikonov. Aside from that being a logistical nightmare, under the best of circumstances, it is impossible right now. Virtually all the JumpShips have been stripped from the St. Ives Commonality to facilitate troop movements elsewhere. In fact, most of the remaining ships are set up in the command circuit you established for Duke Michael to visit Sian."

Maximilian Liao slowly folded his arms across his chest. "I sense Ridzik's personal thirst for power as a driving force behind this plan of his," he said, his expression darkening as he stared at the map.

Shang glanced over at Justin and the former Federated Suns MechWarrior nodded. Shang cleared his voice. "Celestial Wisdom, analysis of Duke Michael's data has pointed out a weakness in the Davion assaults that we might be able to exploit."

Liao did not move, and barely breathed for a moment, then looked at Shang with hungry tiger eyes. "What? What did you say?"

Shang punched two buttons on the wartable. Ridzik's map vanished, to be replaced by an almost identical one. "Duke Michael's troop strength and location report reveals the central weakness in the Davion plan."

Liao raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Citizen Shang?"

Shang smiled weakly. "We know the purpose of modern warfare is to destroy the enemy's capability to wage war. This can be done in two ways. The first is to destroy the enemy troops."

The Chancellor frowned. "This I know only too well, Shang. The Fox has aptly pointed this out to me."

"Forgive me, sire. I meant no disrespect." Shang hit a stud on the wartable's edge. Six worlds in the Federated Suns burned with a golden light. "Davion's supplies all run through these six worlds. We know, because of the schedule of advances and by what we know his forces captured, that the Davion war machine is not living off the land. His conquests have not won him the supplies he needs to continue his war."

Justin saw frustration and anger ripple through the Chancellor's slender frame. Justin lifted his metal hand to forestall an outburst. "Highness, Citizen Shang has hit upon a way to hurt Davion's advance and resupply our forces with the 'Mechs and parts they need to finally throw the invaders back out of the Confederation."

Shang nodded his thanks to Justin, then continued his explanation. "Kawich, Nopah, Basal, New Aragon, Algot, and Halloran V are Davion's storehouses. Using the troops we've evacuated from the worlds Davion has taken, we can hit his supply depots. We'll deprive his troops of the supplies they so sorely need and we'll replenish our own dwindling cache of weapons and 'Mechs."

As Shang began to describe the operation world by world, Justin picked up his notebook from the wartable's edge and began to copy down, in detail, the proposed series of strikes. The Chancellor glanced at him, then nodded. Shang watched Justin to make sure he got each point before continuing.

Shang smiled carefully. "Because we know, Celestial Paragon, that Davion's forces are solidifying their grasp on the worlds they have just hit, we know that no new wave will come until February. Davion has taken many worlds, but he's had to garrison each one. For this reason, supplies have to be stretched to their practical limits."

Shang pointed to the planet Halloran V. "This is the attack that will have the fewest forces. We can only send the one surviving company of Freemont's Cuirassiers, but the Duke's information indicates that the world lacks anything in the way of a garrison. Kawich gets the equivalent of four battalions, New Aragon gets a reinforced regiment built from what's left of the Chesterton Voltigeurs, and Nopah will be hit with two full regiments, including your own Second Capellan Hussars Regiment." As he spoke, the computer focused on each world, then unfolded a small chart listing all the forces assigned to the assault.

The Chancellor nodded slowly. "An interesting plan, Citizen Shang." A smile had crept onto Liao's face. "Do you concur, Citizen Xiang?"

Justin looked up from his notes, then turned to a new blank page. "I believe the whole campaign has been meticulously planned. I am in favor of it. . ." Justin's voice trailed off, drawing the Chancellor's attention to him.

"What is it, Citizen? I hear hesitation in your voice."

Justin smiled and pointed to a world a bit deeper in the Federated Suns. "Axton. McCarron's Armored Cavalry hit it four years ago when, at your direction, that mercenary unit raided throughout the Capellan March. Davion put lots of money into rebuilding the mines McCarron's people destroyed, but the cost of reconstructing them is out of line with what we estimate the projects should have cost."

The Chancellor's head came up. "Implication?"

Shang smiled. "It's Justin's Grail, Celestial Worship. Justin has been working to track down the location of a secret NAIS 'Mech research facility. He's heard rumors that it has created some very powerful 'Mechs."

Justin nodded as the Chancellor looked at him. "I've eliminated four of the six candidates I had for the world containing the research facility. I need a force to raid Axton to discover if it has the base on it. If it does, we can capture some of the new 'Mechs, or whatever it is that makes them so powerful, then use Davion's own technical efforts against him."

Justin looked at the world labeled Axton. "Axton is the logical target for us to hit. The Fourth Tau Ceti Rangers retreated its First Battalion to Highspire. From there, they can hit Axton easily. Either we get the technology, or we find out where it really is." Justin smiled, remembering that Candace had Axton as one of her plates at the wedding. It had to be a sign.

Maximilian Liao nodded carefully. "Your plans are ambitious, but based on more solid and convincing data and reasoning than those advanced by Ridzik. Let us proceed with them."

Tsen Shang held up one hand. "Wait. There are a couple of other angles we must consider." He pointed at the thin finger of Davion worlds running between the Tikonov Commonality and the Draconis Combine's Dieron Military District. "The Combine is fighting tooth and nail against Wolf's Dragoons in the Galedon Military District, but that's a strictly personal fight. General Cherenkoff is content to let Theodore Kurita stabilize the Steiner border, but he does nothing with the troops in his own Al Na'ir prefecture. If he could be persuaded to slash down into the Terran corridor, it would force Davion to pull troops back, troops he might be gathering for the fourth wave. Were this attack to come in ten days, it would allow Davion to react, giving us the breathing room we need for our operation to take place."

Liao nodded. "I see that. I will communicate with Takashi Kurita immediately. A number of systems will be his for the taking." He smiled easily. "Consider the attacks done."

Suddenly the Chancellor stiffened. "I should have seen it before," he said, turning back toward the wartable. "I know what Pavel Ridzik meant to do. Yes ... it is so clear." The Chancellor smiled coldly, then looked from one analyst to the other. "As clear as crystal."

Justin shuddered inwardly. He feels inspired. What madness can he be concocting now?

The Chancellor pointed to Justin's notebook. "You will order your assault, timed to take full advantage of the Combine's attack on the Terran corridor. Call it Operation Riposte. Include your attack on Axton. We will strangle Prince Davion with his own supplies and research. Lastly," Liao said with a cruel smile, "we will eliminate the most dangerous threat to the Capellan Confederation."

Justin frowned in puzzlement and Tsen Shang looked equally confused. The Chancellor, lost in his revelation, paid no notice to either one of them. "He wanted his own troops so that he could recapture Tikonov, then declare the whole Commonality an independent nation-state. He would have all the troops in Tikonov with him for the assault, then he'd turn and march on Sian. He'd strike a deal with Davion, much as I have with Duke Michael. He believes he can replace me!"

Liao's voice dropped to a hissed whisper. "The Fox has learned well from my example, but not well enough. Ridzik's plan has forewarned me of the coming treachery and betrayal. I will not have it." He looked over at Justin. "Write it down so that it may be recorded for all posterity. On this day, I, Maximilian Liao, order the death of Colonel Pavel Ridzik for the act of treason he plans to commit."

Chuckling to himself, the Chancellor spun on his heel, then strode out of the room. The door slid down behind him, abruptly cutting off his laughter.

"Either he's a genius," said Shang, "or he's totally mad."

Justin shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Fifty-fifty chance he's right about Ridzik. After all, we do know Ridzik has betrayed the Chancellor in bed. Who's to say the Colonel doesn't want a clear claim to the Chancellor's wife?"

Shang nodded. "Well, we've got our work cut out for us." He sighed. "Writing the orders for these attacks is going to take all night."

Justin tapped the notebook. "Do you want my notes?"

Shang touched a finger to his right temple. "Got it up here. You write up the orders for the Axton strike and I'll holler if I need help with the rest. It's my plan, after all, so I'll do the work."

Closing his notebook, Justin smiled. "Hoped you'd feel that way."

Justin looked up from behind his desk as Alexi Malenkov entered the office. "What are you doing up? Didn't we work you hard enough earlier?"

Alexi glanced at his chronometer, then frowned. "Hell, Justin, it's not even midnight. The last three months have been so bad that I can never get to sleep until dawn. Besides, until Duke Michael transmits some new data, and with you and Tsen sequestered away in the map chamber, I actually get to take it easy."

Justin extended his right arm and stretched it. "You must lead a good life, Alexi, because there certainly is no rest for the wicked."

The tall analyst laughed. "Maybe I can change my image." He nodded toward the notebook, then looked at the computer console. "Got anything you need me to do?"

Justin hesitated for half a second, then smiled. "Sure." He tore one page from the notebook, then handed the book to Alexi. "I've got orders to write it all up, but the rest of these notes need to be transcribed." Justin held up his metal hand. "This thing reduces me to hunting and pecking, and so my typing speed is horrid. Just enter the notes as is and transfer the files to my section. Destroy the notes and make no copies."

Alexi nodded. "Standard operating procedure. Roger, Citizen boss. Code word?"

"The first thing goes under Operation Riposte." Justin thought for a moment. "The other thing you have there should be code-worded: Judas Retribution."

Alexi raised an eyebrow. "Sounds nasty."

Justin shrugged. "Triage. Like amputating a limb before the infection in it can kill the whole body. After you're done, give me a readout on all the Maskirovka termination technicians we have in Tikonov, preferably on Elgin and preferably an attractive female."

Alexi bowed from the waist. "Your wish is my command. Should have everything for you within the hour."

"Good, Alexi. Good." Justin smiled despite his weariness. "If all goes as planned, Hanse Davion will have some big surprises to start off his new year." He leaned back in his chair as Alexi left the room. Operation Riposte and the death of a traitor. How fitting that thus ends the year of the Rat. . .