Chapter #9

Weeks of talking and sharing data, arguing, two fist fights, one biting, three attempted assassinations, and one attempt to drop a meteor on the grounded fleet. Things had been interesting to say the least as there had been some coupling between some of the delegates and one injury do to that. Trillian Steiner was very good in hand to hand combat it seemed, and her new and possibly accidental lover had a brace on his arm now from several fractures.

Duke Gregory had been taken back home to Skye with his new machine and a small force that had started training with the Wolfin forces. He'd not been happy that he wouldn't have full control for a while, the current controlling forces caring far more about the people than the ruler that had fled. His son Jasek had also paled after being told that any attempts to change rule of any planet in the Isle of Skye would end with him in a deep dark hole under the base on Skye. Liberated worlds were being offered choices and help just as Skye had been offered. Rulers ruled to benefit their people, not themselves, something that was an old and usually failed concept with Terrans.

Quite a few outside of the main meeting had thrown very undiplomatic fit when the same sort of stations that linked Skye and Summer were starting to appear in other systems now, though too close to the sun for most weapons to be a risk to them. In one case there had been a small fire fight near a station that resulted in several deaths and one Comstar station being raided by Wolfin forces. That had in and of itself caused a great deal of attempts at threatening and calls for violence against the Wolfin at the "acts of aggression and trespassing"

Comstar had not taken well to the full system broadcast that went to and past Terra, bouncing around the Inner Sphere by their own systems or jump-ships The Admiral had made a broadcast himself about that and broadcast the greeting and threats and then the initial weapons fire from the Comstar ships that weren't supposed to be armed. The violence that ensued was very efficient and brutal. "Until planetary governments and votes are made, there will be no planetary linkups to our systems. If any government or organization fires upon the civilian crews of these stations or the ships helping install them in close orbit to the stars...we will hunt down and eliminate those who do it and those who tasked them with it. You are attacking civilians tasked with a non-military job that is beyond important. If Comstar keeps attempting to threaten our people I will personally call for the liquidation of your entire organization." He'd spoken in english with several people standing around him, the monitors getting their reactions as some nodded and some gawked.

His face would grow hard as he looked around at the various cameras. "We tried our best for peaceful first contacts with Terrans, our analysts say we were a year off for viable peaceful contact. It takes a year to get from where my fleet launched to Skye. We lost Thousands of people as Terrans would put it...playing nice to the wrong people. I've quit playing nice, we're here to help Terrans and sadly at this moment cannot share openly what is being discussed with diplomats and delegates. I can at this point tell everyone that we are calling for any and all major factions of humanity to be..." He'd look over at Anastasia Kerensky, who blinked at him.

"You're asking me...I raided Northwind, I assaulted Terra...you want me in on this speech of yours..."

"This is live." Came from a tech.

Her face almost matched her hair in color as she moved to shove him from the podium. "Former Galaxy Commander of the Steel Wolves, and now General of the mixed ground forces for the expeditionary fleet. I have a small list of major parties that need to meet with us for talks. This will also be a rare time where you can either come and meet with us for talks....or you end up like Jacob Bannson...." She motioned a hand to the man glowering at her from the end of the line of dignitaries. "He woke up on a drop-ship, picked him up myself.....or we bring a fleet there and have a nice peaceful chat at your seats of power. Not a care in the world about the former clan wish of dominating the Inner Sphere or any of that. Binary Solution folks, talks need to happen, yesterday. Their plans were put behind by two years because of the Jade Falcons. All clans aside from the Falcons or Hell Horses are invited. Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Hell Horse will be shot on sight and any who Ally with them will also be added to the..." She trailed off as she looked around at the cameras, that wicked grin of hers showing. "Hunt."

And with that the questions came from the reporters that had been allowed in and searched to the point of feeling violated in most cases.

The following week had been quite boring as Jasek headed off to take care of some things on Skye and agreed to blend his Storm Hammers back into Skye's fold of military. That had left Tara Cambell drinking again until she'd been quite literally dragged into a bay none had been allowed into in the dreadnought. That had her staring and moving around the hidden monster of a mech for hours with Tara Bishop.

Janella Lakewood had taken to being known as the Republic's liaison to the Wolfin and had gotten all of the remotely relevant data from them that she could. Policies, military structures, standings, maps, some technical data on the ships and machines, and finally which parts of the Wolfin had actually followed behind the Admiral. Something she had argued with the Admiral about was being put on a Wolfin ship for transport home with her machine, though after given more data about shifts in groups and the emergence of the Com-Guard back into the fold...she agreed. One cruiser and two frigates would be her ride home, her machine loaded on the cruiser along with an linkup for the rapidly growing network of communication stations.

Both Khans had to make several meetings with their people and had taken to practicing in their machines a great deal. There was a promise of great battle, even with the loss of their ability to drive for Terra, options and deals were offered to them and other clans for peaceful dealings, tech, and a chance to help guide humanity. They were military societies at heart and the two Khans present had agreed to work with the Wolfin, though that was after several trials, fights, and in a few cases an Elemental getting their armor ripped apart in a duel.

Many of the Clan warriors had a hard time accepting the large aliens, even with the Khans trying to keep the peace, it was a hard effort. The Highlanders had their own problems with handling close alien contact and such close quarters to the clansmen. With the lack of rank being shown on Wolfin armor, a few attempted trials and disputes turned interesting for the Wolfin and horrendous for those who acted too quickly. Unlike with the clans, there were no castes, and no qualms for a tech or worker to defend themselves against a soldier. There was also a great deal of trouble getting it through the clan warrior's heads that while in camp with the Wolfin and working with them...they had rules about trials.

Trials were perfectly fine to carry out, so long as it was done in the same respects as combat practicing. Killing your opponent wasn't allowed, and attempts to get around it finally came to a breaking point when Bannson's Raiders landed. A trial of grievance between a Spirit Cat warrior and Wolf warrior had been started with knife play involved within the growing encampment.

Shouts from the circle of equals and the noise of the duo fighting within it covered the growls and rapid pace of a lone Wolfin that moved for the crowd. The cooler evening air allowing his upper armor to be off as the two Khans called for the trial to be stopped and were ignored. By the time the fighters and crowd saw the concussion grenades tumbling into the circle it was too late. The shockwaves knocked the combatants down along with several of the ring around them. Flares were fired into the air from the surrounding ships letting the stunned and dazed crowd see that not only had the Admiral of the fleet, his mate and General of his forces, and the giant called Blade moved into the center of the ring...but the ships had emptied.

Soldiers and techs stood in and out of their hard suits, all carrying something they could melee with as over 2000 of them surrounded the clan warriors and highlanders that had been watching. Mechs stomped up including the monster of Tara Bishop. When one of the combatants made a move for the other, his words were ignored and his jaw broken by a clawed backhand that sent him spinning into his comrads. “I have tried...gods know I have tried to get you all to listen, even when your Khans agree to our terms you disobey even them. You say it goes against your honor, the Highlanders here are no better with their squabbles. You piss on my honor and whine about your own, you're no better than children...and when a child disobeys...you use something other than words."

The Admiral spun as his words echoed out. “This will be hand to hand....Melee weapons at most....defend your right to be impudent children and we will defend ours..."

A smile crossed the Admiral's maw as he was joined by both khans, Tara Cambell, an Elemental, and one of his own soldiers. “We do not kill our own!" “We fight together not against each other" Came from the encircling crowd that only grew larger. “We fight for Honor." “We fight for peace." “We fight to survive."

There was no formal call to begin, nothing else was said by the encircled commanders. Instead Blade and Dark rushed in opposite directions. Natasha went with her mate as the two khans joined them. Blades were drawn, metal bars, anything and everything was used against them as the commanders attacked with batons.

Jacob Bannson had for the first time in his years been grabbed from his highly gilded main offices and smuggled off world, which had been a mildly terrifying experience thanks to it happening seemingly so quickly. He'd accepted a meeting with an off world manufacturing company that needed heavy production capabilities, which is something he'd been buying as much of as he could. What he hadn't known was that the damned company was ALIEN. 

He'd gone to sleep one night in his bed, and woken up in a bed that wasn't his, in a ship that was already out of system. He'd thought his dreams had been odd with talking cats with odd colors and Anastasia Kerensky of all people leading a team in and tranquilizing half his guard staff as the others seemed to already be asleep. What he'd learned after the small panic attack and fit of enraged screaming was that he was being taken for business meetings and would be returned after. His own reactions to the gypsy colored alien felines and hulking canines only reinforced their point that this was the safest route for all parties to talk business. 

After he'd calmed down and been allowed to dress in proper clothing, never would he sleep naked again after this. He'd gotten himself a personal tour of the ship, by none other than one of the few women he'd never hoped to meet. The Wolfin aboard were part of the ship's security team and the felines were psychic, which was why he'd had such odd dreams and gotten to watch himself be abducted. Though what had scared him more than coming awake on an alien ship was when he'd been told how many G's of acceleration the ship was under and which direction it was pushing. Humans do date didn't have any gravity systems other than the simple one G of thrust for standard. Hearing that they were at just over 100 G's of thrust and it felt just a tiny bit heavier than earth normal gravity...he'd not believed it, until he saw a live feed from outside of the ship's gravity fields bending the space around them.

His first instinct was to try and get his hands on the tech, though Anastasia's comment of: "They hate thieves, steal tech from them and you're likely to vanish in a puff of plasma fire along with you company HQ." She said just as calm and clear as ever, leaving him glaring mildly at her. She would talk with him, basically the only sophont that spoke to him the entire trip. She'd shared that there was trouble coming that meant humanity needed to get rearmed very quickly, also sharing that her lover...fiancee....mate? Terms were never fun to mess with...but he'd taken an interest in Bannson's history and personal drive for power along with a few other odd humans.

With the recent problems for Bannson with his "wife" to be and the combine's rather violent moves lately, he'd actually lost quite a bit of power in the debacle of the attempted wedding and then the chaos after of....having a wife try to kill you. One of the most trying times in his life had actually been turned into a saving grace with the information he'd been going over the last few days. He'd gotten permission to bring in a full unit's worth of his personal soldiers as the Admiral had put it, so long as they behaved by the rules laid out by the Wolfin.

While going over technical problems and as the Admiral put it....the pains of everything taking a year to get there. They needed production of things local for them. Skye was still being rebuilt and most of it's industry was being upgraded, but they didn't have the time to wait for the planet heal. Even with their support it would take at the least 6 months to get factories and plants retooled and refit to produce some of the complicated parts the Wolfin forces needed to refit Human machines. He'd also found out that like what had happened with them, the Wolfin also weren't just giving humanity a massive boost in tech. Aside from implant tech that the Wolfin had gotten from the felines. It still made him shake his head thinking of cats and dogs getting along.

The implants were shielded, dealing greatly with nano-tech. Hacking someone's implants was just shy of impossible considering it was locked to authorizations the person gave or medical Ai. Now that was something he'd absolutely love to get his hands on. Even the lesser systems that the Wolfin used compared to the felines could process more than human systems could. The felines produced AI's yearly for various reasons, but sadly like any sophont...the higher the intelligence....the more likely it was to go insane. Humanities attempts in the past hadn't gone very well with them, usually ending with the Ai going insane or just refusing to talk to the annoying organics. Humanity with the help of one of the Ai's could work at adapting human tech and advancing it. 

He was actually in a meeting with the Admiral when things suddenly seemed to stop, Bannson having felt this before when he'd been taken, yet this was far stronger. He watched as the Admiral and several others at the meeting laid their heads in their hands, Bannson himself getting up and watching as flares fired from the ships and lit the area. No one seemed to notice the ship that was currently hovering over the monstrous base camp, one he remembered the layout of thanks to a few days of travel inside it's hull. The Mind Spike was it's name, small as a Wolfin heavy frigate. The ship was filled with psychics though and no doubt dropping off another "guest" like Bannson had been. "So what is going on? Another trial..."

He would never get used to the feeling of getting yanked out of his own head, this time being brought to a mental projection of one of the elder felines as the battle took place below....yet no one moved. "Most humans are going to panic when you do this you know..." He'd look down at the fighting that wasn't happening and shook his head. "Letting them fight it out, yet not letting them get actually injured."

-With what is coming, you humans need to get your heads out of your asses and worry more about survival than power or honor. Binary Solution, you either figure out how to work together...or you all die in the next 10-60 cycles.-

"And you're cats so you don't care about us, but the Wolfin want allies and not to have to deal with this enemy on two fronts?"

-Correct, some of our people have grown to like a few humans, but overall your existence means little to us. The- The elder psychic said a name that made Bannson's brain hurt. -That reaction is so fun to watch though, but they want to offer humans a chance, but humans are stubborn and annoying at times.-

"Very true...." he watched as little by little the clan warriors seemed to pass out asleep, crumpling where they stood. This went on for nearly 10 minutes before the psychics loosed their hold on the minds of the people involved, leading to confusion for most of them including many Spirit Cats.

-You humans will learn to work together in a proper fashion or you will get no support from us and can die to what is coming.- Many screamed out as their minds were suddenly filled for a brief moment with the monsters that were coming. Something Bannson wasn't fond of himself, but unlike those below he didn't scream out, flinching as he would suddenly be looking around the room.

The two Khans, Countess, along with the Admiral and Anastasia Kerensky all looked tired and were silent as the drank heavily from their drinks. Anastasia was first to speak after shaking her head. "That was just so damn weird...but fun. I vote we do it again if the crew of the Mind Spike is up for it." That got a round of agreements from the others at the table. “Alright then back to business, now lets bring up the fun of where there's gas giants that we can tap for fuel."

“What sort of fuel do you use? I thought Wolfin ships used Fission and Fusion still." Came from one of the major trade ambassadors at the table.

The Admiral opened his mouth, but closed it when Bannson laughed softly, the shorter human speaking with a bit of his fire back. “If you had read over all of the files on what is in the uplift agreements, you would see that the primary fuel they use is Helium-3. Fission and a sort of power plant I'm not going to try and figure out myself. Fusion and Fission are backup systems."

That made Darkmoon grin and nod. “And that Mr Bannson, is why I had you brought here. But yes we need fuel, sending it from home is quite...costly. There's also the mining rights we're going to need to buy, and techs and crews that will need to be trained."

“I would say you could have asked me to come..." Bannson would sigh. “But I wouldn't have."

“Precisely why I came to get you myself. We also have word from agents that House Davion is willing to meet on neutral ground. The Draconis Combine which is in the most danger, is being stubborn and nearly killed our agents, though with a push will come around. Ghost Bears have accepted leaving Vega be and are willing to meet like the Davions. The Nova Cats...whats left of them, have been routed to Skye. Clan Sea Fox is willing to talk, they rather hate Falcons. The Senate remnants didn't like your terms to halt their attacks, but are trying to gain favor. We're also waiting for the Paladin's word on your proposal to the Exarch. The Capellans which are in the second most danger have actually killed our agents."

“Then lock down any and all trade with them and add a trade restriction with them into every treaty. Once their government is dissolved then we can help save the people that are left." Darkmoon said calmly.

“That's a little harsh don't you think?" Came from one of the diplomats sitting at the table.

“Not at all, I do not have the forces to move in and wipe out their government myself and orbital strikes would kill too many innocents. I'm here to help humanity as a whole survive what is coming. Thanks to the Jade Falcons and bad timing...I do not have the time to play nice. Would you like to loose a several billion souls or half your race?"

“You still haven't shown all of us what we're supposed to be fearing." Came from another, making the Admiral snort. “What's so funny?"

“Transmission starts in..." Darkmoon looked over at Blade, who made an odd sound. “Three weeks. Then all of humanity gets to see the horrors of an enemy that views you as nothing but food and biomass." He watched the tradesmen and diplomats pale some. “Now back to business."

(((((((((((

The star-port in Geneva hadn't argued too much with the authority of a Paladin, and then a call from the Exarch's office made things quite smooth for the frigate that was shooting through the atmosphere. With it being 3am there was at least no real air traffic to get in the way as the ship moved around the city and to a private landing area at the knights facility.

Janella Lakewood didn't quite run from the frigate's boarding ramp, the pack on her back and her lack of sleep the last 24 hours giving her authorizations to several stations, space traffic controllers, and military. Bringing an alien ship to Terra wasn't the best idea, but it was definitely the fastest. The several week trip had taken less than a week with no high-G stress on her or the crew. Though spending a week in a military ship that was running full tilt had been quite interesting, watching it scream at stars and use them to hurl itself faster through space...she'd stayed in her room for that.

The cool damp air was welcome after getting several cold shocks when she'd gone into a room other than her quarters without her hard-suit on. A suit which she currently had on aside from it's helmet that hung off a belt on her waist, a practice she'd gotten into the last week. Like the Wolfin's own way of designing armors, hers lacked any sign of rank on it, not that she needed to show her rank to get past the stupefied guards that kept looking between her and the ship. Guards which panicked lightly at the sudden odd canine sounds that made her stop, weapons slowly being drawn before she raised her hand. "Put your weapons away!" She ordered before turning and sighing as she looked at the monster walking down out of the ship.

Zeus lumbered out in his armor, though the four legged monster's helmet was mostly off, leaving only the armored skull plate and throat section. He didn't pay any attention to the human with the noise maker, instead going with the nice human he was sent to protect, which meant her going without him was earning her a look. Speaking any other language than his own was almost totally impossible, which meant that he'd speak....and then get to listen to what he said. What he didn't know is that a tech had been playing with his suit, so at first the usually deep gentle rumble...came out like a chipmunk. "Greetings human..." And then he was turning away and snarling at the ship until his collar beeped.

Janella swatted his armored side to get his attention. "Would you quit that...it's bad enough you're the size of a Terran horse. Jala was doing work to your suit earlier oh lord of impatience...behave, be nice...no biting limbs or heads off of people." As she spoke the guards just moved further away."

Zeus would just huff. "They moved." Came from his collar in a much more fitting voice for the monster. "Excuse us humans. Places to go, people to wake up." His large form moved with a predators grace as it followed his human charge down the halls. A few people peaked out at them. "So this is a school where you train your military ambassadors that help force people to stop arguing?"

"They don't force them.....ok it's more forcing them to play nicer. We've gone over this Zeus...I know most human customs are odd to you and your people." She'd look over her shoulder at him. "Not to mention talking to a 4 legged as you put it...is still odd for me."

A soft snort and a nose bump to her shoulder. "Just because you walk on two legs and make funny noises that you call a language, doesn't mean you're the only sophonts in the galaxy that are intelligent. Damn cats have better technology than us, and they don't share much other than the implants freely." Though his ears raised as he heard her trying to stifle a laugh.

"Cats and dogs not getting aloPUTMEDOWNYOUFURBALL!" The last coming out in nearly a scream as Zeus had tilted his head to the side and grabbed hold of her hips to jerk her up into the air. He'd also stopped in the middle of the long hall and let her flail and yell at him as he patiently waited with the flailing yelling human in his maw. She'd also demanded that she be put down, only to have several of those living in the rooms along that hall end up watching the beast wagged his tail and held her high up off the floor. It was a spectacle for all to see as the Paladin was subdued in such a fun manner.

Finally she'd slump and scratched where she could along his muzzle. "You're not a dog...I know...quit being so sensitive. Please put me down Zeus."And she'd finally find herself back on her own two feet, a quick look around left many rapidly shutting doors. "Now come on...we have to get down to the secure room."

"No calling me a dog...ever, silly leg humping fools." He grumbled as he followed her, looking about at the various things as they moved down a side hall, then another, and finally came to a hidden heavy elevator. "Is this a joke about my weight human? I can read your language."

"You weigh far more than a human and you are again...the size of a damned horse, so in the moving metal box with you." She said and got a lick from her armored chest to he hairline, making her groan and wipe her face off as he moved inside. "And no speaking firmly to you...or you go canine on me."

"Works very well with you humans....cats hate it even more." There was a dash of cheer to his voice as they went down the elevator.

((((((((

Humanoid aliens kin to wolves being met in a hostile action with Jade falcons, the race having better tech, heavier ships, and a faster means of travel than humanity was mildly unnerving. The footage, files, and now the communications network that was rapidly spreading across Terran space was a new prospect that had been a political pain in the Exarch's side. Jonah Levin had been dealing with the senate rebellion, trying to save what was left of the republic, and now aliens. He'd gotten word and later seen the broadcasts of the Admiral telling people to leave their stations alone and mildly threatening Comstar, which had been more annoyances for him.

Then thanks to Emil, he'd gotten word that the tales of another race working with the Wolfin was quite true and that his cover was still secure. What the Ghost Paladin hadn't mentioned was that he'd personally been contacted by an agent, and given over a feline that demanded a nice hot path, lavender soaps, and a food coloring based black dye. All of this happening before the feline ever said it's adopted name, or why it was there, oh and goats milk and chicken. Something he'd finally found out was that the feline agent had not been able to bathe due to the dye, lavender working quite like an antihistamine for that race, and lack of proper food meant the cat wasn't being nice. Things had calmed and Emil had ended up having quite a long conversation with the agent, finding out that it was indeed female and for humans went by the name of Rose. Her chosen name having a small bit to do with the vibrant red and greens that made up her fur colors.

As people and stations were moved around and information flowed, the whereabouts of certain people were slipped to those hunting them. Meaning several non-republic agents quickly found themselves bound and gagged and in the trunks of vehicles, others suicided, some were killed fighting it out. Those that refused to deal with the Wolfin had heavy losses of spies, and Capellan spies and agents outside of their territory were becoming extinct.