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Chapter 71 - Self Configuring Modular Robot[]
A Pause, a breath...
...Ulric Kerensky has killed Leo Showers. The trial was held on a world in the Wolf Corridor, and the Grievance? "Gross Incompetence", a list of charges beginning with a strategic analysis of the invasion plan, lack of reasonable resupply for Clan forces, and failure by the ilKhan's Clan to make headway. It was further exacerbated by bringing up the topic of Turtle Bay and Clan Smoke Jaguar's use of orbital bombardment on civilians when their military efforts stalled.
In a sense, Ulric's refusal was an indictment of much of the Crusader leadership-but only indirectly. His charges were narrowly specific to the failures of Leo Showers as ilKhan and the losses directly related to that, carefully avoiding indictment of any other Clan forces, including the Jade Falcons.
What made it palatable to the other Clan leaders, was Ulric's statement of declaration that he did not seek to supplant the ilKhan, simply he wished to remove a commander whose blunders had cost whole clusters and most of a Galaxy for alarmingly little gain against an inferior opponent.
Ulric killed Leo Showers on the ground...and this caused a pause.
The Clans needed a new ilKhan to lead the invasion, and that means needing ALL of the Clans to elect one.
The leadership had to pull back and travel for months to Strana Mechty, so they could elect a new ilKhan.
Thus, in 3051 and well into 3052, The Clan Front, was remarkably quiet.
Quieted enough, even, that some people could spend some money on things they might have hesitated to, when facing the onslaught.
On a world in the CapCon, the Heir of the Celestial Wisdom was overseeing the building of a laboratory to compete with the FedCom's Snark IV facility. This was far from his only job, Sun-Tzu Liao had other irons in the fire, including a back-door diplomacy with his estranged Aunt, Candace Liao.
He has help. His mother may have dismissed Hanse Davion's little 'project' of gathering genius candidates, but Sun-Tzu didn't. His focus sorted through Servitors and political prisoners, his gathering were taken away from State Schools to be given the kind of access that his mother would classify, if she only understood his intent.
He has already termed his great project 'Xin Sheng', or 'Rebirth', and it is focused on fighting the NEXT war-the war he believes will be won or lost on the strength of knowledge, and intellect, instead of purely a contest of violence and resources.