116

Khan Ariel Suvurov did not wait for news from Galaxy Commander Julian Kirov to begin preparations for the migration of her Clan to new territories.

As soon as Kirov's forces departed, a very discreet but continuing upgrade of the available naval means began. Gradually, in the utmost secrecy, and using different explanations, such as replacing another WarShip, or planned maintenance, their fleet was brought to a full state of readiness being able to quickly move to any location.

At the same time, the various civilian JumpShips, available to all the Castes, received an overhaul in order to put them in the best condition possible for such a long journey.

Tremendous effort was made to hide their preparations from the Watch , in which they were helped by the fact that the best operatives were focusing on the operations in the Inner Sphere and the nascent conflicts in the HomeWorlds made the few operatives remaining there unavailable for anything else.

Dismantling the factories and preparing the necessary reserves for the trip was time-consuming, even more so, because the necessity of doing it discreetly, but fortunately it also went without incident.

Unlike the Ghost Bears, the Goliath Scorpions did not have the naval means to move the entire Clan, forcing Ariel Suvurov to make the difficult decision to leave behind the elders, the incapacitated and a few volunteers, who had the difficult mission of maintaining the illusion that the Clan was still present for as long as possible, while representing less than 10% of the total population of their Clan.

Still, it took tough negotiations with several Clans (some allied, some merely neutral) to gather everything needed. Fortunately everything went secretly enough even if not perfectly and the Goliath Scorpions managed to obtain the necessary equipment to begin the long journey, without their enemies or any predatory Clan discovering their true intentions before it was too late. In order to do that, they had to cut deals that were far from optimal and to give away most of their possessions.

On Dadga, they gave away their part of the system to the Star Adder, in exchange for JumpShips and DropShips, keeping only a small force on ground to create the illusion that they were present. Their natural allies, Clan Wolf, was also transferring forces to the Inner Sphere and had to use the same trick..

On Huntress, their territories went to the Jade Falcons and Star Adders, in exchange for JumpShips, DropShips and specific equipment.

On Marshall, a complicated game of moving units continuously was played to trick the forces of Clan Fire Mandrill and Clan Ice Hellion present on-world and this up to the last moment. They were helped in this game by Clan Star Adder.

On Roche, since both Clans Wolf and Goliath Scorpion were leaving the HomeWorlds around the same time (even though the Wolves had started earlier), the withdrawal was peaceful, which left the system abandoned until the other Clans found out and fought among themselves for the system.

Clan Goliath Scorpion gave up their enclaves on Tokasha to the Diamond Sharks, in exchange for JumpShips, DropShips and the CDS Speculator (Volga Class).

Note ...: the DropShips obtained were all civilian versions, which the Clans valued less but were still the best choice for transporting the population and equipment the Goliath Scorpions were able to carry.