Warrior: En Garde (The Warrior Trilogy, Book One): BattleTech Legends, #57

by Michael A. Stackpole

  In and around the DropShips marched BattleMechs on sentry duty. Ten meters tall and humanoid in configuration, the heavily armored war machines moved steadily around the spaceport’s perimeter. Though the duke was too distant to hear the thunder of their heavy tread, he accurately conjured up the sound from memory. Each step raised a thick, red cloud of dust, but Michael saw it as a blood mist.

  I am the master of all this. I command those ships. My orders dispatch them to rendezvous with JumpShips, and my orders send those JumpShips hopping thirty light years at a burst to carry out my whims. And I command the BattleMechs of a dozen Regimental Combat Teams. I should be invincible. He glanced down at the note. How is it that this piece of paper can destroy me?

  He forced himself to continue reading. “Ordinary though the situation is, it will come as a shock. Yes, Michael, my years of bachelorhood come to an end next August. In Melissa Arthur Steiner, I have found a woman who is all that I have been looking for.”

  Michael’s fingernails scratched across the window’s casement as his right hand slowly tightened into a fist. You speak of your bride as though she is secondary to the whole situation. You call her a woman, but she’ll reach her majority barely six months before your wedding. Yet, I must agree that you speak true in saying she is all you have been seeking. She is the link that forges an alliance between your Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. You’d have married her as a babe in bed if her mother Katrina would have stood for it, or you would have wed Katrina herself were she capable of bearing you an heir.

  A purple storm cloud roiled overhead, cutting off the soft golden glow of New Syrtis’s nearest star. It robbed the angular landscape of its bright scarlet, bathing it in a deep maroon whose color reminded Michael of dried blood. Lightning spikes stabbed down into the earth with terrible power, forcing even the BattleMechs to retreat before the storm’s fury.

  Michael returned to his desk as the storm started the wind howling like a kalacine waiting its turn at a slaughterhouse. “I’m sure, Michael, that you see the political benefits of this marriage. With the Lyran Commonwealth tied more tightly to us, we will box in the Draconis Combine. This means, as you have long requested, that I will be able to shift some of my military resources to your Capellan March. Together, we can strengthen your domain so that the covetous Capellans will be persuaded to look elsewhere.”

  Michael smashed his right fist into the desk and then, raising it to his mouth, sucked at his bruised knuckles. No, Hanse, you’ll not sink your military talons into my realm. No. You seek to be Brutus to my Julius Caesar. You cloak your attempt to oust me with words of friendly intent, but I see beyond them. Once you have married Melissa Steiner, you will need fear no one.

  Michael glanced at the shelves behind his desk. There, in rare leather-bound originals or holodisc editions, he had amassed an enviable collection of histories, some dating from the time even before the Star League. His bloody knuckles tasted salty-sweet, but he barely noticed it as his mind raced on.

  It’s all there, Hanse. Don’t you think I know it? Man’s history has always been the story of conquest by war. The advent of BattleMechs some six centuries ago did not change this basic fact, yet you have ignored it. You consider ’Mechs to be a necessary tool, yet you do not see these glorious war engines for what they truly are—the highest evolutionary state of mankind’s drive for conquest. A warrior may not become one with his BattleMech—though that legend persists—but in his ’Mech, he can reach the pinnacle of his personal abilities.

  Michael dropped his hand and pursed his lips. Hanse, you ignore this fact and force me to join you in playing at politics. How much do you know of my ties with Maximilian Liao? If you knew I’d visited him, you’d have stripped me of my office and settled it like a noose around my captive son Morgan’s neck. You may have your suspicions about me, but you have no proof. Trust me, Hanse, you shall never have any.

  Michael walked over to a map of the Successor States and let the fingers of his right hand trace the slender wedge that marked his Capellan March. My realm, larger even than the Capellan Confederation. I should be one of the five Successor Lords, but you ignore me and the claims of my blood, Hanse. You have forced me to deal with Maximilian Liao because you have refused to give me the forces I need to conquer him. Had I the troops, I could destroy him. Ah, but then, having proved to the entire Federated Suns my ability to lead, I would be able to take your place on the throne so that our people could have a proper leader at the helm of our nation.

  The salty taste still lingered on the duke’s tongue as his eyes flicked over the other Great Houses pictured on the map. Already, Hanse, your hatchling alliance with the Lyran Commonwealth has drawn your three foes together. The Draconis Combine’s leader, Takashi Kurita, has forced Janos Marik and Maximilian Liao to set aside their bickering so they may deal with you and House Steiner. Their alliance is not as strong as yours, for suspicion continues to undermine the ties between the Free Worlds League and the Capellans but their alliance is far from impotent.

  Michael smiled slowly. But then, your rivals do not know your alliance has fledged, do they? News of your impending marriage will galvanize them. They will bind together and they will come to crush you. Michael took a step back from the map. But how may I benefit from this turn of events?

  The Duke of New Syrtis tapped his index finger against his chin. Studying his map, he saw how the borders of the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds League were poised like the jaws of some fierce hunting animal to snap the life from the Lyran Commonwealth, Davion’s ally. As his thoughts raced, he slowly nodded to himself.

  Yes, I must inform Liao of your betrothal. I will continue to forward the information you send me on strengths and positions of your troops, and I will continue to undervalue the strength of my own troops in the same reports. I will convince Liao that the Lyran Commonwealth could fall to a combined strike by Houses Marik and Kurita.

  Liao, that little viper, will agree to this because it means that Marik will shift troops to the Lyran border, giving him a chance to recover some of the worlds his Confederation lost to the Free Worlds League over the past century. Liao, so confident that he knows my own strength, will pull forces from my border to launch an attack on his enemy.

  Michael touched the long border between the Davion and Kurita realms. Hanse will strike at the Draconis Combine to relieve pressure on the Lyran Commonwealth. He might even finance some insurrections in the Rasalhague Military District, for haven’t they always resented House Kurita’s domination? No matter what he does, though, his war will be a stalemate, because he does not possess enough strength to defeat the Draconis Combine.

  The pain forgotten, Michael balled his right fist and punched it into the palm of his artificial hand. When the people grow weary of a war that cannot be won, a war launched to help the Lyran Commonwealth and Hanse’s child-bride, I will strike at the Capellan Confederation and crush it. I will be the Federated Suns’ conquering hero. In one bold stroke, I will prove myself Hanse’s superior militarily. I will negotiate a peace and the people will proclaim me the new Prince of the Federated Suns.

  Michael returned to his desk, where he took from a drawer his leather-bound copy of the Lyran classic, Origins of the Three Great Families, by Thelos Auburn. Without committing anything to paper, he mentally composed the message he wanted to send. Then, thumbing through the book, he assigned a three-number code—corresponding to page, paragraph, and word numbers—for each word in the message.

  As he did so, he cupped his artificial hand in his good hand and pressed his flesh and blood fingers against the joints of their artificial mates. Executing simple, natural, and almost undetectable motions, he recorded the appropriate numbers in a RAM cache that Capellan scientists had implanted in his hand during his first visit with Maximilian Liao. Even the closest observer would see nothing more suspicious than the duke skimming a book while massaging his artificial hand.

  The Capellan engineers had also equipped the
hand with a tightbeam, high-speed data pulser that would broadcast information in one incredibly short burst. Limited to a range of about four meters, its onboard programming prevented operation unless activated by a signal sent from a receiver—a receiver of the type built into the local Capellan ambassador’s prosthetic leg. Then, by pressing his thumb to the base of his little finger, the duke could pulse the message out.

  Michael closed the book and returned it to the desk drawer. Scanning the stacks of documents on his desk, he quickly selected one showing the local Capellan ambassador’s letterhead. Michael read the text, then stabbed the button on his personal intercom. “Agnes, tell Ambassador Korigyn that I expect him in my audience room in two hours.”

  His personal secretary hesitated, her fear almost crackling through the speaker. “Forgive me, Your Grace, but the ambassador is not in the capital right now—”

  “I don’t want you giving me his excuses, Agnes!” he snarled. “If that idiot thinks we’re going to increase his embassy’s yearly shipment of vodka from the Confederation just so he can sell it on the black market here to keep his mistress, he is sadly mistaken. Two hours, Agnes, or there will be hell to pay.”

  Michael never heard her reply. He patted his left hand and smiled to himself. In two hours, the ambassador will get this information Hanse has so graciously supplied me. Korigyn will turn it over to ComStar and their hyperpulse generators will flick it across the stars via their communications network. Liao should have it in a matter of days, and then he will act. Through him, I shall light the fuse that will throw the Successor States into one final chaos, and from the ruins will I rise to rule supreme over all…

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  BattleTech Legends: Warrior: Riposte

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  NOVELS

  Decision at Thunder Rift by William H. Keith Jr.

  Mercenary's Star by William H. Keith Jr.

  The Price of Glory by William H. Keith, Jr.

  Warrior: En Garde by Michael A. Stackpole

  Warrior: Riposte by Michael A. Stackpole

  Warrior: Coupé by Michael A. Stackpole

  Wolves on the Border by Robert N. Charrette

  Heir to the Dragon by Robert N. Charrette

  Lethal Heritage (The Blood of Kerensky, Volume 1) by Michael A. Stackpole

  Blood Legacy (The Blood of Kerensky, Volume 2) by Michael A. Stackpole

  Lost Destiny (The Blood of Kerensky, Volume 3) by Michael A. Stackpole

  Way of the Clans (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Volume 1) by Robert Thurston

  Bloodname (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Volume 2) by Robert Thurston

  Falcon Guard (Legend of the Jade Phoenix, Volume 3) by Robert Thurston

  Wolf Pack by Robert N. Charrette

  Main Event by James D. Long

  Natural Selection by Michael A. Stackpole

  Assumption of Risk by Michael A. Stackpole

  Blood of Heroes by Andrew Keith

  Close Quarters by Victor Milán

  Far Country by Peter L. Rice

  D.R.T. by James D. Long

  Tactics of Duty by William H. Keith

  Bred for War by Michael A. Stackpole

  I Am Jade Falcon by Robert Thurston

  Highlander Gambit by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Hearts of Chaos by Victor Milán

  Operation Excalibur by William H. Keith

  Malicious Intent by Michael A. Stackpole

  Black Dragon by Victor Milán

  Impetus of War by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Double-Blind by Loren L. Coleman

  Binding Force by Loren L. Coleman

  Exodus Road (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 1) by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Grave Covenant ((Twilight of the Clans, Volume 2) by Michael A. Stackpole

  The Hunters (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 3) by Thomas S. Gressman

  Freebirth (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 4) by Robert Thurston

  Sword and Fire (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 5) by Thomas S. Gressman

  Shadows of War (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 6) by Thomas S. Gressman

  Prince of Havoc (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 7) by Michael A. Stackpole

  Falcon Rising (Twilight of the Clans, Volume 8) by Robert Thurston

  Threads of Ambition (The Capellan Solution, Book 1) by Loren L. Coleman

  The Killing Fields (The Capellan Solution, Book 2) by Loren L. Coleman

  Dagger Point by Thomas S. Gressman

  Ghost of Winter by Stephen Kenson

  Roar of Honor by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  By Blood Betrayed by Blaine Lee Pardoe and Mel Odom

  Illusions of Victory by Loren L. Coleman

  Flashpoint by Loren L. Coleman

  Measure of a Hero by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Path of Glory by Randall N. Bills

  Test of Vengeance by Bryan Nystul

  Patriots and Tyrants by Loren L. Coleman

  Call of Duty by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Initiation to War by Robert N. Charrette

  The Dying Time by Thomas S. Gressman

  Storms of Fate by Loren L. Coleman

  Imminent Crisis by Randall N. Bills

  Operation Audacity by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  Endgame by Loren L. Coleman

  A Bonfire of Worlds by Steven Mohan, Jr.

  Embers of War by Jason Schmetzer

  NOVELLAS

  A Splinter of Hope by Philip A. Lee

  The Anvil by Blaine Lee Pardoe

  ANTHOLOGIES

  Shrapnel: Fragments from the Inner Sphere

  Onslaught: Tales from the Clan Invasion!

  The Corps (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 1)

  First Strike (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 2)

  Weapons Free (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 3)

  Fire for Effect (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 4)

  Counterattack (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 5)

  Front Lines (BattleCorps Anthology vol. 6)

  BattleTech: Legacy

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

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  BATTLETECH LEGENDS: EN GARDE

  Cover art by Marco Mazzoni

  Design by Matt Heerdt & David Kerber

  ©2018 The Topps Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. BattleTech & MechWarrior are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of The Topps Company, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions LLC. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Copyright Owner, nor be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published.

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  Also by Michael A. Stackpole

  BattleCorps Anthology

  BattleTech: The Corps

  BattleTech Legends

  BattleTech Legends: Lethal Heritage

  BattleTech Legends: Blood Legacy

  BattleTech Legends: Lost Destiny

  BattleTech Legends: Natural Selection

  BattleTech Legends: Assumption of Risk

  BattleTech Legends: Bred for War

  BattleTech Legends: Grave Covenant (Twilight of the Clans, #2)

  BattleTech Legends: Prince of Havoc

  BattleTech Legends: Malicious Intent

  BattleTech Legends: Warrior: En Garde (The Warrior Trilogy, Book One)

  BattleTech Legends: Warrior: Riposte (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Two)

  BattleTech Legends: Warrior: Coupé (The Warrior Trilogy, Book Three)

  Shadowrun Anthology

  Shadowrun: Spells & Chrome

  Shadowrun: World of Shadows

  Shadowrun: Drawing Destiny