The two old men at the peak of the Word of Blake sat in the comfy sofas that had been placed there for them. On one side you had Oracle DiNozzo, a relic of another era but still a competent military commander, the Precentor Martial of the Word of Blake. The cybernetic eyes, glowing red, contrasted with the rest of his body which always seemed tired. Opposite him was Muthal Ali, former Primus who had abdicated a few years ago, with his bleached white clothes and hair, a sign of devotion to Blake. An outside observer would have believed the young woman bringing them tea was just an orderly and not the current Primus of ComStar.

Catalyna Romenskaya’s existence was an accident, and her current position was even more of one. The “girl child” was an experimental vatgrown created out of genetic material from Jerome Blake and Myndo Waterly. She should have been simply another test subject for the Word of Blake military, added to the many combat units ready to take revenge against the Inner Sphere.

It had, however, not been the case because of an accident of her birth, on the very day the HPG network in the Inner Sphere collapsed. The former Primus, good old Muthal Ali, saw this as a prophecy and elevated Catalyna to a position which no other vatgrown could have ever dreamed of. Now “of age”, she had been given the position of Primus as the entire Word of Blake organization was moving again.

“We sent a full Level IV to attack the Aurigan Trade Alliance and now have nothing to show for it other than what is left hiding with the Magistracy of Canopus.” Oracle DiNozzo was the first one to breach the actual subject of today’s meeting, after taking a sip of his mint tea. Muthal had to reply: “On the other hand, we sent a single Level II to observe the Steel Vipers and test weapons, and they conquered Circinus for us.” Both men started laughing, not knowing what else to do. The Precentor Martial continued; “That Level II is part of a radical group, and you know it. Unlike our more ‘traditional’ people, they have desired that go far beyond just fighting the Inner Sphere.”

The young Primus was next to go: “Maybe that is the smarter way to go. Vengeance and making a path of destruction might feel righteous to some, but the Peace of Blake cannot come from this. The mistakes of Thomas Marik cannot be repeated.” Neither Muthal nor Oracle wanted to contradict her. War for war sake was not going to help here, and the military deployment from the previous year showed that the current brand of the Word of Blake was not going to win in the same way. It was Muthal that broke the silence: “The Vipers are really the only ones that did anything good last year. Clan Snow Raven is too much for the Blood Spirits and the Mandrills. The Hellions blindly rushed their army into the Goliath Scorpion’s arms. The Republic has just now gotten their forces to start reclaiming their old worlds.”

Precentor Martial DiNozzo had to break it up: “Yes, but we are not here to put the blame on anything or anyone. The Sphere is not falling apart with the Wolves having taken Terra. While the major powers are all shook, from that vacuum came some leaders that know what they are doing.” Catalyna decided her opinion could be warranted: “We must get a foothold in the near Periphery, and those ‘radicals’ as you call them gave it to us. We have agents in various places in the Sphere, same with the Republic. We can weaken them over time, but we must have a place for our devoted to come and meet with us.”

DiNozzo nodded: “The Steel Vipers are basically giving us control over a few worlds near where they are establishing themselves. Circinus is getting purified by atmosphere scrubbers and fallout reclaimers. The planet has a few factories that the local pirates were using and still has infrastructure we can use.” Muthal raised his hands to the ceiling: “A blessing of Blake given to us, truly. But what have the Vipers asked in return?” It was the Primus who replied: “AsRoc and the Gestapo simply want the radicals to keep helping them, all the while testing their own superweapons. The Vipers are perfectly okay with that.”

The holomap on the table between the sofas showed a few worlds in the Marian Hegemony and in the nearby periphery. The retired Primus went on: “The Radicals… they have a Level III ready for action now, along with a frigate. The Vipers are hitting those three worlds, Blantleff, Maximilian and Valerius, with a galaxy and a warship ready at the ready on Blantleff and Maximilian. Valerius is the bigger threat, but they want to secure their rear before moving to a semi-fortress world.” Oracle DiNozzo zoomed in on Valerius: “I would not expect a Level III to be able to take this world on their own, but if they simply tie down the Legion’s forces there, the Vipers will be able to take their world quickly enough, then move on. Manei Domini tactics, Shadow Divisions tactics. We do not need to destroy the I Legio on Valerius, just make sure they are scared and not ready to attack our allies.”

The plan was set. Technically, the main factions of the Word and ComStar would not sacrifice anything for “the enemy”, as many still saw the Clans as. Those radicals were their own thing with their own ideals. They still served the Word and lived the dream of Blake. The other Level IVs were getting ready for operations, which might span more of the Periphery. Helping the Steel Vipers could give them a foothold they needed.

Every word spoken there had been committed to memory by Justinian Amaris, sitting pretty in the office. The young offshoot of the Amaris family had decided to gamble his political future and position at court by getting close to the Word of Blake. Most people simply thought of him as a pretty face with not much else going for him. Unlike his brothers, he had not gone into the military to win honors or business to grow their wealth. No, Justinian had gone the same way as the Matriarch, going into higher education and getting a degree in history and communications. Like all Amaris, he had dreams of power and leadership, but his path was going through the Word of Blake, courting the young Primus.

The two old men had barely paid attention to him, outside of his preparation of refreshment. Even Catalyna had not given him anything more than a sly smile once during this whole discussion. This whole operation was being put on the shoulders of a group of radicals, but the Greenhaven Gestapo were now close to these “strange Blakist”. The Republic needed more control over their religious ally, and this could very well give them the chance they needed.