Chapter 1

Over the next couple of days, I read up on some of the particulars of the Clan Invasion, starting with their attack on the Barony of Streng and continuing on until their assault on the Sphere Proper. My father was right in that this section of the periphery needed to be unified and built up to actually resist the incoming invasion. Apparently, Clan Jade Falcon took everything up to the Lyran Border within a year of fighting. The local area was just too disunited and too incompletely equipped to handle a full-on invasion. If my father's writings were right, a lot of the worlds in the local area hadn't even had mechs defending them in the original timeline, and some that did only had one or two errents. It was no wonder he'd chosen to try what he had.

I also read up on the force composition of the Jomsborg Hussars and on my new Free Barony. The Jomsborg Hussars had a reinforced Combined Arms Battalion, a Support and Logistics Battalion, and an AeroSpace Arm. The Aerospace Arm was better equipped than the Combined Arms Battalion for the most part. Three Fortess-class Dropships and Three Achilles-class Dropships plus Aerospace Fighters comprising Stukas and Sabres. Meanwhile, the most powerful mech fielded by the Combined Arms Battalion was a Highlander, and even then, for all that it was Battalion Strength, the Battalion was light on Metal. Granted in the Periphery at the moment, it may as well be a massive force. The only peer opponent in this area of the Periphery was the First Oberon Guards. That wasn't enough to halt the Clans, though, not by a long shot.

My Barony was, thankfully, productive as hell. It was making one billion C-Bills a year in GDP. My father had also ensured that the regiments of the Barony were decently equipped, with one Baronial Guards Regiment and three Militia Regiments equipped mostly with a mix of license-produced Equipment and Lyran Surplus, including a pair of Mech Companies, though it contained mostly Light and Medium Mechs purchased from my father's Lyran Contacts. A lot of the Militia and Non-Mech Forces were using license-produced vehicles and weapons, like the Lyran Thumper Artillery Tube, licensed from Defiance Industries on Hesperus, or the Sentinel Ballemech used by one of the Mech Companies of the First Baronial Guards. The rest of the equipment, mostly in terms of AeroSpace Assets and the single lance of Heavy Mechs in the First Baronial Guards Regiment were Lyran Surplus purchases.

The piece de resistance of the Baronial Guards was the Baronial Independent Mech Company, the second of the two Mech Companies in the Baronial Forces. It was kept on Iron Land where Redjack Ryan, and more importantly, ComStar couldn't see. It was a good thing, too because the mech Company had two lances of SLDF Vintage Hussar Light Mechs, one lance of SLDF Vintage Griffin Medium Mechs, and one lance of SLDF Vintage Warhammer Heavy Mechs. After three and a half decades of foresight-enhanced LosTech Prospecting, that was the bulk of the Star League Era Mechs and technology that my Father had scraped together. Most of the rest of the time had been spent tracking down rumors of big caches like the Iron Land cache for future exploitation and focusing on salvaging spare parts and ammunition.

Production was another thing. Apparently, there was enough Industrial Capacity in the Barony to produce a company of Mechs a year, which was a big deal in the Periphery. Three small production lines had been set up, one on each world that could each produce a lance a year. There had been a larger production line on Butte Hold that could produce the same amount, but that was out of reach for now. Mostly, production was of combat vehicles, artillery, spare parts, and infantry equipment. Butte Hold had an AeroSpace Fighter Production Facility producing a squadron of Sabres and a Squadron of Spads a year, but that was lost to me as it stood. Beyond those plants, there was a lot of mining going on. Roughly twenty-five percent of the population of the Barony worked in one of my father's mines or factories. It was a neat little setup.

Really, Butte Hold had been the Jewel in my father's crown. Producing the same amount of equipment and materials as all three of my current holdings combined and then some. Butte Hold was also where most of the commodities production had been, producing a lot of things like Holovids, Textiles, and other such civilian goods. It also had over four times the population of the rest of my territories combined, boasting one-million-six-hundred-thousand Souls, the vast bulk of which had been menial workers from all across the Inner Sphere for a chance at a better life in my father's new and profitable industries. It had helped that my father had set pensions up for his workers and paid generously, something that attracted many from places like the Rasalhague Military District, Capellan Space, the FedSuns Outback, and the Southwest Trinity Worlds. Where conditions were poor, harsh, cruel, or some combination of the three. It was no wonder that Redjack Ryan moved fast to confiscate the holding when my father died.

Without Butte Hold, I would still be rich in periphery terms. With it, I would not only be rich by periphery standards but by Inner Sphere Standards as well. The Equivalent of a Graf or one of the Richer Barons in Lyran Space. Without it? Well, was looking at a wealth and prestige level of some of the Barons on the lower end of the middle of Lyran Society, not quite considered barely more than a Baronet, but it wouldn't take much for the Lyrans to classify me as that. Reconquering Butte Hold had to be a priority for me. Once I'd done so, I could prove to my Father's Lyran Contacts that he was more than just a single man who had made good on a series of lucky breaks. I could show them that he had founded a dynasty that was worth the name. I could then parlay that into legitimacy, something that Hendrik Grimm had tried to do, but failed once Redjack Ryan broke away from him. Once I managed to get hold of the Iron Land Cache, that would be a good first step toward that goal.

Speaking of LosTech, Past Prologue Ltd was the primary LosTech Prospecting arm of my father's operation. It had a single Jumpship, the Tramp-class Cardenia Claremont which was Captained by Captain Serena Gomez, a Cerillos Native who refused life as a homemaker on the Hacienda in favor of adventure. Reading her file, she was in her thirties and fiercely loyal to my father and his company. Apparently, he'd seen her worth as a captain when no one else had and she'd never forgotten about it. Aside from her and her crack Jumpship crew, there were three dropships, one Achilles-class, one Leopard-class, and one Union-class, three Squadrons of AeroSpace Fighters for anti-pirate defense, a Company of Security Troops, a Company of Technical Specialists, and a Company of Support and Logistics people.

As to the reason that Captain Gomez wouldn't arrive till tomorrow, that was due to one of the aforementioned larger Caches my father had found. Apparently, he'd had them jump to Epsilon Pegasus in the Deep Periphery, where the SLDF Columbus Research Base had been. A full three years before the ComStar Explorer's Corp would show up to claim the area. Captain Gomez had reported they had stripped and stowed away all LosTech and Data from the facility and that the K-F Drive was recharged and they were heading to the jump point some six days before my father had been assassinated. Since the jump point was nine days away, they still had three days' worth of in-system burn before they could even jump into Blackjack to pick me up when they got the word that my father had died and his instructions.

Interestingly, the datachip file I was reading had claimed that Gomez had sent the all-clear from a K-Series 'Black Box' Transmitter, one of the Non-HPG Transmitters that my father had put together based off the dreams he'd had. Just one more reason that ComStar would have had to have him assassinated if they'd known. Apparently, he'd only made three before he'd been killed. One was on Iron Land, one was on the Cardenia Claremont, and one was with the Jomsborg Hussars. My father also didn't write down the schematics, so his assassination may as well have rendered that LosTech even if ComStar hadn't known about it. Still, they were good to have for coordination's sake.

Unfortunately, the K-Series Transmitter didn't have a full accounting of all the LosTech found on Columbus, but it was apparently all related to deep space exploration and colonial technology. Things like disassembled storm inhibitors, disassembled water purifiers, and exploration vehicles were common, there were also at least two partial data cores with what looked to be several astrographic star charts and a number of schematics for terraforming tech on them. It wasn't anything of military significance, at least at first blush, but it would definitely help explore and settle worlds. The star charts might even lead to new cache discoveries. Apparently, Columbus had been turned into a major ComStar Explorer Corps Base in the original timeline and just from the partial manifest, I could see why. Especially in terms of building up a base from which to contest the Clans in the Periphery, this would be perfect.

Still, I wouldn't meet up with Captain Gomez until late tomorrow. For now, it was time for me to get some shut-eye. I'd been reading over the files on the Datachips for two days now, only leaving my flat to go out for a quick bite to eat at Roger's Cantina before coming back. Roger was technically my landlord, as my flat was on the third floor of the building he owned, a relatively modest low-rise compared to the huge hab blocks that most people lived in. Roger 'Hoss' Delgado had been a former Mercenary ASF Jock and had retired a decade ago, married his wife, Elaine, and bought this building. He ran a Cantina on the ground floor that made food from all over the Sphere, cooking having been a hobby of Roger's during his time as a Mercenary. He'd picked up Recipes from all over and the Cantina was popular with Cadets going to the Blackjack School of Combat. I'd been lucky enough to rent a flat from him for the past few years.

My stomach growled as I thought about Roger's Cantina, and with a Grunt, I got off my noteputer, freshened up a bit, and then headed down to the Cantina. As I walked in, I was greeted by the raucous noise of a rowdy crowd. Blackjack was currently on a break till the next set of classes arrived post-graduation, but it had also been a few days since my class had graduated. Most of the graduates who had spots in a Military somewhere had already left for their billets, which meant that those remaining were the ones who'd planned to go Mercenary on Graduation. That sort of crowd lent itself to a certain amount of rowdiness. As I bellied up to the bar, Roger slid me a drink. It was good stuff, high-proof, top-shelf whiskey that burned pleasantly as it went down.

I cocked an eyebrow and he nodded before saying, "On the house. I heard your old man died recently and I know you've had a rough time with it."

"Appreciate it." I nodded.

"Just make sure you look back fondly on ol' Roger now that you're a Baron, yeah?" Grinned Roger, pouring me a second drink.

Well, one drink turned into three and before I knew it, I had a decent buzz going on. Unfortunately, Drunk Me could be a bit of an asshole, so it was probably best to order some food to help soak up all the whiskey. Also unfortunately, before I could order food, I noticed one of the people I knew from my graduating class being harassed by a group of Cadets who'd just made it to their second year a few days ago. Katrina Watson and I had been friends before Blackjack, but we'd gotten closer ever since we'd been put in the same class together. A couple of times things almost boiled over into actual romance, but it was never the right time. Plus our situations were just a bit too different for that.

See, Katrina Watson was the Firstborn Daughter of Duke Johann Watson, the Lyran Duke of Apollo, whose family had been installed there by the Lyrans after their Conquest of that section of the former Rim Worlds Republic. Johann Watson was a good friend of my father's and had a lot of influence on Tamar, which translated to a decent amount of influence on Tharkad. Katrina herself was personable most of the time but could be ruthless to people who'd offended her. The problem was, she normally had a great hold over her temper, so much so that it took a lot for her to get ruthless, at least in a non-combat situation. Unfortunately, she was the heiress to a Duchy, whereas I was a Baron and a Periphery Baron at that. Even though our families were close and she and I were close, the power disparity was too much. A Periphery Count might be acceptable, but not a Baron.

Right now, she was trying to eat while a pair of idiots who thought they were hot shit just because they had managed to get through their first year at Blackjack were making passes at her. She was trying to ignore them, but I could tell these two morons weren't taking the cold shoulder as a reason to stop their quest to put a Duke's daughter up as a notch on their bedposts. I made my way over as one of them inferred something about them having a three-way in the most thinly veiled innuendo I'd ever heard and I saw Katrina's eye start to twitch. As I walked over, I practically loomed over them as my six feet of pure muscle had at least a couple of inches on the taller of the two.

"You guys ought to know better than to say shit like that to a Future Duchess. You could wind up with a deathmark like that." I intoned.

"Please, what would some up-jumped pirate's son know about what a future Duchess wants? Maybe you should let someone with proper breeding take a run at her first?" Scoffed the Taller of the two.

"Yes, I very much doubt the son of the lord of some periphery hovel can handle such a fine beauty like Lady Katrina." Agreed the smaller of the Two.

I clenched my jaw at that and ground out, "Don't you talk about my father like that."

"Please, your father may be the richest man in the Coreward Periphery, but everyone knows he's nothing compared to a proper noble." Sneered the Taller of the Two as the smaller nodded along.

"Oh no." Muttered Katrina under her breath.

She was right to do so because with these two assholes having spouted off like that about my dead father, my temper had gone from a simmer to a boil, helped along by the alcohol in my system. This called for action and only the fact that I was only a few drinks in stopped me from outright attacking the two of them.

"I'm gonna give you one chance to apologize for talking about my father like that. See, he died recently and where I'm from, speaking ill of a man's dead father like that are fighting words." I bit out.

"Apologize for the truth?" Scoffed the Taller of the Two.

"Certainly not." Spat the Smaller of the Two.

"You know, you're lucky I only just started drinking, if I'd have been really sloshed, I'd probably just have shot you and been done with this whole thing." I snapped.

"Was that a threat? Typical." Smirked the Taller of the Two.

"No, it was a statement of intent. For the sake of Lady Katrina, I'm gonna do this the proper way. You two idiots leave me no choice but to demand satisfaction. From both of you." I grinned Ferally.

"Duel both of us? Please, I'll gut you myself and you won't even get to fight David. Swords tomorrow morning. Ten O'Clock. Meet at Lott's Revenge Memorial Square. David will stand for me." Sneered the Taller of the Two.

"I accept as well. Same terms, should you by some miracle defeat Miles, I'll handle you after. I'm sure I can persuade my manservant to cancel his morning plans to stand for me." Nodded the Smaller of the Two, David.

"But who will stand for you? Some pirate from the periphery? Please." Scoffed the Taller of the Two, Miles.

"I will be Jozef's second. You two have annoyed me quite enough and if he hadn't interjected, I likely would have." Sniffed Katrina.

That took the pair off-guard before Miles nodded. "Very well, if the lady wishes to lie down with the dogs, she cannot fault us if she gets fleas." He spat.

"Tomorrow, try not to let it slip from that thick periphery skull." Snorted David. Then the pair walked off. I turned to Katrina and she sighed at me.

"What am I going to do with you?" She opined.

"Back me up clearly." I smirked, foul mood vanishing with the pair of irritants.

"You know who those were, don't you?" Questioned Katrina.

"Not a clue." I shrugged.

"Miles Brickey and David Grayson. Their fathers are Earls in the Free Worlds League, of Autumn Wind and Callison respectively. They can expect to inherit landholdings that dwarf yours. Have you been drinking?" Asked Katrina.

"Roger gave me a few drinks on the house since my father died and all." I sighed.

"You know you won't get to inherit his barony if you die tomorrow morning yes?" Pressed Katrina.

"Please, I can handle those two in my sleep." I scoffed.

"Good. I'd hate to have stuck my neck out for a dead man walking. Now sit and eat something, and no more drinks tonight. I'm not going to be your second if you're hungover." Nodded Katrina.

"As you wish." I intoned and sat down next to her.

"Thank you though. Those two were treading on my last nerve. I may have actually taken your suggestion and purchased them a deathmark if they continued. Honestly, that had to be some of the worst innuendo I'd ever heard." Offered Katrina.

"Tell me about it. Who tries to make an innuendo out of that Tripod Frankenmech that Instructor Boyle is always working on?" I agreed.

"I know. Talk about your tortured metaphors." Groused Katrina. My food arrived next, a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs based on a recipe Roger picked up from a garrison stint on Nova Roma. Silence descended for a bit with both of us eating until eventually I spoke up.

"So. . ." I began.

"Yes?" Queried Katrina.

"Why haven't you shipped back to Apollo yet? I thought you had some big posting to the Ducal Guards waiting for you?" I questioned.

"Because you're my friend and you were hurting? I wanted to stay and make sure you were all right with your father's death. Only you barely ever left your flat long enough to do more than pick up a food order." Frowned Katrina.

"I appreciate it." I thanked.

"Are you? All right, I mean." Pressed Katrina.

"I think I've turned the corner." I answered.

"At least enough to challenge people to duels, anyway." Grinned Katrina.

"Yeah. My Jumpship to take me to my new Barony arrives tomorrow night, though. I should be in good enough shape to make it. It isn't like a pair of fresh second years can beat me in a duel." I offered.

"You know it occurs to me they likely chose swords because they don't think you're good with them." Pointed out Katrina.

"Man, are they in for a rude awakening." I chuckled.

"Definitely. I'm glad you're doing all right." Smiled Katrina.

"It's getting easier every day." I agreed.

The rest of the night passed in quieter conversation over good food with good company. I didn't have another drink, sticking to cola the rest of the night. About an hour before I headed upstairs to bed, Katrina gave me the rundown of the two idiots I'd be fighting. Both favored the sabre, which really only played into my hand. I'd been learning Polish Saber for years and knew a number of dirty tricks on top of that. The two morons didn't stand a chance. I'd carve the apology I wanted out of their hides and they wouldn't be able to stop me. It was almost too perfect.

Then afterward, I would finally meet up with Captain Gomez to start my Quest. . .

XXXX

AN: Chapter one is done. A bit of information about various things, a bit of a peek behind the curtain regarding LosTech Prospecting operations, and the promise of some action.

Katrina Watson is someone we'll run into again. Her dad is the Lyran Duke of Apollo, which makes him one of Jozef's dad's primary contacts, after all. The two are really close, but him being a Periphery Baron and her being the heiress to a Duchy means they couldn't be anything more than friends.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the two duels.

Stay tuned. . .