BattleTech: A Clever Bit of Fiction: Kell Hounds Ascendant 3 (Kell Hounds Trilogy) by Michael A. Stackpole

Author:Michael A. Stackpole
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs
Published: 2019-03-27T05:00:00+00:00

Morgan rested on the cell’s cot. Across a small corridor, Ian leaned against the front of his cage. He rested his forearms on crossbars, his knuckles still red. The two of them had been strip-searched and given orange jumpsuits to wear.

The Prince sighed. “I would have told them who I was, but I suspect then they’d just have sent me for a psych evaluation.”

Morgan found himself laughing. “It wasn’t your punch that landed us in here. Chauncy was angling that way once he decided he could claim we were with the enemy. It was more about using his power against me than anything else.”

“But he’s being willfully blind.”

“True.” Morgan sat up. “You’ve heard it said that the worst generals are the ones who are fighting the last war, right?”

Ian nodded. “Hanse is fairly vocal on that point.”

“Yeah, well, the worst general isn’t the one fighting the last war. He’s the one fighting the ideal war. He’s a guy who can’t or won’t take into account variables that don’t weigh in his favor. He thinks his troops will always rise above, or the enemy will make a mistake. I’m sure he’s taken Eric’s fight and spun that into a story about how things will go at Ravensburg. He’ll catch them out, hammer them, drive them away. That’s the way it has to be for him, so that’s the way it will be.”

Ian butted his head against an iron bar. “But that can’t be the way it is. Eric gave us a very good picture of the militia on the way down. The battalion commanders have seen some combat. The rest of the militia is made up of kids looking for glory or old men trying to recapture it. Asking them to attack is so much more dangerous than asking them to repel attackers. Wittenberg has to see that.”

“He doesn’t.” Morgan shook his head. “You think about the famous generals down through history. We laud the conquerors. We celebrate the warriors who are the spear point, we don’t praise those who are the anvil upon which the others are broken. Name a general who mounted a great defense. I can’t. I can recall the names of battles where conquerors were defeated, but the leaders who inflicted that defeat, not a chance.

“And that’s what Chauncy is looking for. A victory is a chance for him to redeem his life.”

“And if his command is slaughtered?”

“They failed him, not the other way around.”

The lock on the far end of the corridor buzzed and the steel door swung open. Leutnant Rosen, his expression grave, stepped through. He looked at both men, then glanced down. “I don’t know what to think here.”

Morgan came to the front of his cell. “Think what you need to, Leutnant. I couldn’t let you know who my companions or I were. Operational necessity. Our presence has nothing to do with the raiders. That’s just bad luck on our parts.”

“The colonel is convinced you’re with the raiders. I don’t think the whole hanging thing will go through, but .

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