Falcon Guard

"And you had to ask me to keep this secret? Even if you stood on top of a mountain and shouted this rot through a loudspeaker, who among Clan warriors would want to hear any of it? It has no relation to what we do, what we are. We fight, that is what we do. We are warriors, that is what we are. We do not worry about right and wrong. If we think, it is our hobby, and that is all. Permission to leave?"

Aidan nodded. Joa

"No."

"He didlook old the last I saw him."

"It was not age that did him in. He was killed on Twycross, sometime during the Camora campaign. Blown up, I understand."

"You understand?"

"He was not attached to my unit when it happened. The slimy freebirth, tricky as ever, transferred out just when I had given up asking him to."

"He was a good tech, a—"

"He was a freebirth, and that is the end of it."

As Joa

"Who is it?" Joa

The responding voice was that of Horse, who entered when Aidan called out permission. He was carrying a sheaf of papers, which he handed to Aidan.

"There is an uprising in Vreeport," he said. "Some citizens who have found a cache of I

Aidan sighed. It was the normal kind of mop-up operation that had apparently become his specialty.

"Can we negotiate with them?"

"It has been tried, according to the report. There seems to be only one choice."

"A

"Yes."

"Well, perhaps that will not be necessary. Let us go. Star Commander Joa

Joa

"We are eager for battle, Star Colonel, but the general directive says to be merciless in dealing with uprisings."

"That is true."

"So why not a

"They are our enemy, yes, but that does not make them less human. We must treat them with the same respect we give our foes in BattleMechs."

"But do we not strive to a

"Only when we have to."

"I never strove for anything else."

Aidan stared at Joa

Warmed by the Quarell wine and Aidan's confidences, Joa

7

The small settlement of Vreeport was located in a clearing so surrounded by tall, leafy trees that it would easily have escaped the eyes of a 'Mech pilot operating exclusively on visuals. Believing visuals unreliable, Joa

Stepping her Mad Dogout of the forest, she came upon Vreeport in its clearing. The rest of her Star, all BattleMechs, emerged just after she had guided her 'Mech through the last of the trees.

"Looks quiet," Joa

"Request denied," Joa

She switched to external speakers. "If any citizen still remains in Vreeport, it is my duty to inform you that our commander, Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, grants you immunity if you come out immediately. Whatever you have been told by the propagandists of the I

But neither do we have patience with lower-caste scum who dare take up the arms of a warrior."

"But you are willing to make slaves of us!" came a voice from inside the fortress, also amplified but without the resonance provided by a 'Mech's external speakers.

"What does he mean?" Diana asked.

"That we shall find out," Joa

* * *

In the Command Center, Aidan sat with Demi-Precentor Melanie Truit, the ComStar representative charged with administration of the conquered population of Quarell. ComStar officials on Quarell, as on the other Clan-occupied planets of the I

"What do you know of this?"

Truit wrinkled her nose, a rather prominent one that looked out of place on her delicate face. "Less than you, I suspect. We of ComStar are only to administer and govern according to the rules of you, the Clan conquerors. You must realize, Colonel Pryde, that your bondsman custom goes against what any self-respecting I

Aidan nodded. "I have selected several enemy warriors as bondsmen. Why would anyone protest? It is honorable to serve the Clan, even for a conquered enemy. They should be proud."

Demi-Precentor Truit smiled, an attractive smile that revealed even white teeth. If she had been Clan instead of ComStar, Aidan might have asked her to accompany him to his quarters tonight.

"In the I

"Of course it is slavery, but being a bondsman and becoming part of a Clan is better than being enslaved and with dim prospects on one's own planet, is it not?"

"You forget. I am not Clan either. I do not see the distinction. Nor need I, since I serve only ComStar." Despite Demi-Precentor Truit's politely neutral ma

"You seem to agree with this foul point of view."

"I am not permitted to say. As the ComStar representative on this planet, I am completely neutral. Do not grunt at me like that. It is quite true."