“He’s on his way,” replied Kai Allard-Liao, walking over to the table. “He wanted to ensure his troops were billeted first.” Kai smirked. They joked privately that Christifori cared more for his men than anything or anyone else. It was an admirable trait, but on more than one occasion he had kept Victor waiting.
Victor flashed a fast grin. He expected that from the General. “For that, I can wait.”
Kai nodded and crossed his arms. “Have you given your idea any more thought Victor?”
“You still worried?”
“You’re asking quite a bit from him. After all he’s done for us so far, you may be asking too much. The Civil War has cost him a great deal as well—his sister and all.” There was a hint of hesitation in his voice, one that the Prince did his best to ignore.
“I know, Kai.” I know all too well, this war has cost many of us our families. “I know he wants in the middle of the big fight, but I need him to do this assignment. I know I’m asking him to go into harm’s way one more time. But if he does it, he might just be able to help us bring this fight to an end faster.”
Another officer, his arm in a sling, stepped forward and snapped to attention. “Your Highness. Major General Archer Christifori, sir,” the Leftenant said. Behind him a man stepped forward and offered Victor a salute.
The man seemed older than the last time that Victor had seen him two years ago. The Jade Falcons will do that to you. There was a little more white hair in his sideburns and a wrinkle or two more. When they had last met, Archer had assumed command of Operation Audacity, a plan to blunt and drive back a Jade Falcon incursion into the Lyran Alliance. He had performed brilliantly, far better than what Victor or his staff had anticipated. Christifori had punched into the Falcon occupation zone and had forced them to pull back or risk losing their honor. More importantly, he had won over his cousin Adam and had denied Katherine vital political and military support.
As Victor looked at the faded jumpsuit that the General wore, he could see that the man was weary, almost sagging in his salute. His eyes were sunken, dark, with bags under them and crows-feet marking their ends. He had gotten a tan somewhere, one that was fading and making his face appear almost leathery. The fight along the Lyran border had forced Christifori to forge an alliance with a difficult man, Adam Steiner. In the end Archer had managed to not only blunt the Falcons, but had won over Adam enough to have him back out of either his or his sister’s side in the civil war.
“General,” Victor said, planting a smile on his face, “I’m glad you were able to join us.” He extended his hand and as Archer took it, Victor reinforced his shake with his other hand as well. “You look good for a man who’s supposed to be on Graceland.”
Archer allowed himself a brief smile. “I take it that our little decoy still has your sister convinced?”
“Yes. Our own agents in MI5 say that you are still back there, far from her prying eyes.”
Archer looked around at the HQ area, then back to Victor. “I never thought I’d be back here again, on New Avalon.”
That’s right, he was in the Academy and NAIS. “I always knew we’d be here—again,” Victor replied.
“Yes sir. I’m sure you did.” He glanced over his shoulder at a lance of ’Mechs in the distance. “I’ll be damned. Is that our old unit?”
The Prince smiled proudly. “Tenth Lyran Guard. Fighting during the Clan invasion seems like a lifetime ago.”
“Things were easier then,” Christifori added. “With the Clans you had defined enemies. Good versus evil; that’s how it seemed anyway. You knew where you stood. Now with all of this,” he swept his arm out to where a salvage team was working to recover the remains of a destroyed Seventeenth Avalon Hussar’s ’Mech. It had been a victim of the fighting the day before and was now fair game for the technicians salvaging it for parts. The techs struggled with a stubbornly clinging strand of myomer that refused to let go of the actuator at which they were pulling. “You don’t always know who the bad guys are.”
Victor’s voice changed tone. “I want to congratulate you personally on your operations against the Jade Falcons. You performed brilliantly.”
Archer allowed himself a grin. “I appreciate the kind words, sir. But I assure you, I wasn’t the driving force.”
Victor gave him a nod. “I know. If it’s all the same, you still deserve the congratulations. Any man that can work side-by-side with the Wolf Clan, tangle with the Jade Falcons, and soothe the ego of Adam Steiner is a man that deserves congratulations.”
Archer paused for a moment, drinking in the memories of the last campaign. “There was a price for that victory, Highness. We accomplished our mission, but the cost was steep.”
“I haven’t gone over your readiness reports,” Victor replied. “What is your current status?”
“We started operations with three regiments, though realistically these were combined elements of militia, veterans, locals, a real cobbled together group. At this point, on paper, we’re at regimental strength. That’s on paper. Realistically, we’ve lost more personnel than equipment. The gear we do have is patchwork. I’m low on expendables and ammunition. If you want a realistic assessment, I would rate us at two reinforced battalions—tops.” His voice was weary. His words seemed mixed with memories of the campaign, the fighting, the deaths and perhaps even worse.
Victor understood. He had seen war at its worst and knew how commanders felt the pain of loss. Loss was something
