"If we are to fight the Clans and win, we must understand their capabilities and tactics. The Dragoons are willing to show us how. I'm a practical man when it comes to survival. If someone hands you an effective weapon, I say it is your duty to use it."
- --First Prince Hanse Davion to
Captain-General Thomas Marik April, 3051, Outreach
Meeting
"Jaime Wolf was a traitor to us. Now he is a traitor to his former masters. He tells us this to reassure us that now he is telling the truth! I do not yet accuse him of being a lackey to the Federated Commonwealth. I have always been fair in my judgements. If he is not in Hanse Davion's pocket, he has only to prove it to me."
- --Romano Liao to her children
"The St Ives Compact will put its production facilities and its manpower behind the effort to keep invaders out of the Inner Sphere. You'd have to be insane not to see that we all are in the most deadly danger, and that this is no time for petty bickering...But since my sister is insane, there's no telling what the Capellan Confederation will do!"
- --Candace Liao to her
children
"You want the Free Worlds League to retool its factories to production of unproven designs of BattleMechs and war materiel. You want us to devote all possible production to turning out supplies for you to fight your war to save your frontier.
You have offered a plan whereby we see our first payment five years down the line. So while we support your war, we grow ever more beleagered in our efforts against acts of piracy and banditry from so-called indepenendent periphery systems.
No, no, Prince Hanse. The Free Worlds League did not grow strong by accepting investments which did not provide any return. You will have to prove to us that the Clans intend harm to House Marik.
And then in terms borrowed from the Friday Night Poker games, you'll have to sweeten the pot a little. What is in it for us?"
- --Captain-General Thomas Marik to First Prince Hanse Davion
"Jaime Wolf is a man of his word. He is one of the foremost military thinkers of our time. And he's on our side. I think you should be paying him well to lead you all in battle. But then, I have a prejudice in favor of winning battles. If you don't what are you doing here?"
- --Anonymous Mercenary
We don't call them spies. Our undercover people are journalists of the highest caliber. They must live for months or even years cut off from their families, working very hard at fulltime jobs which are not theirs, always in jeopardy lest they be discovered. We don't call them spies, we call them top reporters.
Yes, we do have undercover reporters. By going underground, BattleTechnology reporters have uncovered a covert PPC factory on Xanthe III, a slaver outlet from Port Krin in the Taurian Concordat, a smuggling operation on Alshain...
But no story has taken us longer to get than this one.
At the end of the Fourth Succession War, our former editor Bob Carter sent operatives to infiltrate Wolf's Dragoons. Three who attempted to join as MechWarriors were discovered and returned to our custody the worse for wear. Several others joined as cooks helpers, repair crew, even as techs. We had thought they were undetected. From time to time they've smuggled out a news item to us; mostly they've kept undercover waiting for a big story.
We thought it was lucky when they were all assigned to the Summit Conference. When Hanse Davion and Justin Allard fought through the Dragoon's live-fire course, one of our people was in target maintenance. When Romano Liao refused to believe thatthe Clans were Kerensky's descendents, one of ours was refilling water pitchers.
Enough 'lucky coincidences' add up to design. We knew all along that Jaime Wolf was smarter than most people. Now we have to admit that he's outsmarted this magazine. He knew who our people were, and he had them assigned where the news from this conference would leak out.
Wolf's Dragoons want the Inner Sphere to know the truth about the Clans. They informed every leader in the Inner Sphere. But just in case those leaders continue their usual policy of "We'll tell you whatever is good for you to know", the Dragoons are making certain that the news media are informed. Not because they love us, but so that you will be informed, and you will be prepared to fight back.
Our agents are still in place. We at BattleTechnology pledge to bring to you every bit of information we can possibly collect, information on the Clans, and information on the tactics and conflicts of the leaders of the Inner Sphere.
BattleTechnology News From the Front
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© Copyright 1992 by Pacific Rim Publishing.
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