A Clever Bit of Fiction

A Clever Bit of Fiction cover.jpg
A Clever Bit of Fiction
Product information
Type Novel
Author Michael A. Stackpole
Publication information
Publisher Catalyst Game Labs
Product code CAT35884NV
First published 27 March 2019
MSRP $3.99
Content
Era Succession Wars era
Timeline 15 November - 23 December 3010
Series Kell Hounds Ascendant (series)
Preceded by A Tiny Spot of Rebellion
Followed by If Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot...

A Clever Bit of Fiction, by Michael A. Stackpole, is the third installment of the Kell Hounds Ascendant Trilogy describing the inception of the famous Kell Hounds mercenary unit. (The 'trilogy' has since seen a fourth story published, If Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot..., that begins directly following the end of this story, on 24 December 3010.)

From the back cover[edit]

When Morgan is tasked with scouting locations for war games on the lush world of Zavijava, he figures he'll mix business with pleasure. But when Prince Ian Davion tags along, the stakes are suddenly raised. And when unknown DropShips land a regiment of 'Mechs intent on looting the planet's riches, Morgan must keep Ian alive long enough for them to be rescued. But Prince Davion has other plans — involving kicking the raiders straight off the planet….

Plot summary[edit]

Following their exploits on Galatea where they toppled an underworld kingpin's empire within days of arriving and then immediately deployed their nascent elite mercenary unit to resolve a religious rebellion with minimal bloodshed, Morgan and Patrick Kell are in a relationship with Veronica Matova and Laeticia Hamilton, respectively, and by 15 November 3010 - a mere six weeks after they first set foot on Galatea - reside on Tharkad as guests of Archon Katrina Steiner. The Archon and the brothers Kell trust each other absolutely. Because of this, and their impressive achievements on Galatea, the Kells are introduced to Prince Ian Davion of the Federated Suns at a state banquet. Although a rival Successor State, the Federated Suns does not share a border with the Lyran Commonwealth and Archon Katrina and Prince Ian have in fact come to consider each other natural allies against their shared enemies; the Prince mentions that it was actually his brother Hanse who pointed out that an alliance would make sense. But for now, they are cautiously measuring each other up. The Davions propose setting up war games to pit House Steiner's best against theirs, to send a message to their shared enemies and assess their response. Consequently, Morgan, Veronica Matova and a small staff of others are sent to the agricultural world of Zavijava to scout the location for the planned wargames under the guise of a vacation, with Ian Davion coming along incognito while a double of his embarks on an inspection tour of the Draconis Combine border. As part of the cover-up, Patrick Kell remains behind on Tharkad.

Unfortunately, by sheer coincidence as they are on-planet Zavijava comes under raider attack: MechWarrior Constantine Fisk has achieved some degree of stardom with the I, MechWarrior holovid series, but when the latest release VII, MechWarrior is harshly criticized for for "utterly unrealistic tactics" the team drunkenly outline a plan to stage a raid just to prove the reviewer wrong, as the actors all have at least rudimentary MechWarrior training. This caught the attention of their executive producer, Count Markham Somokis. Always concerned with budgets and analyses, Somokis determines that the crew actually does have sufficient experience to pull off a real raid against a weakly defended target; further, he projects that this would considerably increase their brand value. Constantine is strongarmed into cooperation through threats of replacing him due to his stalling career, and Somokis plans the raider unit - the "Ion Knights" - for maximum marketability including uniforms, paint schemes, nicknames, and a line of toys and merchandise. This battalion-sized force descends on Zavijava on 14 December 3010 on two Leopards and an Overlord for a series of objective raids, stealing high-value goods such as luxury wines and clashing with the overmatched local militia. As a PR stunt, they even adopt a "Robin Hood"-esque attitude and hand out stolen luxuries to the locals, which earns them some degree of support.

Morgan Kell and Ian Davion try to offer their help, but as it turns out the local militia commander is Colonel Chauncy Wittenberg, who has a hostile attitude towards Morgan Kell going back to their time together at the Nagelring Academy. When he refuses their aid and posits that the attackers might be mercenaries, possibly led by Patrick Kell, Ian Davion punches him, landing both Morgan and Ian in prison, suspected of being in league with the raiders. However, Wittenberg's forces are ambushed and scattered shortly afterwards, and Morgan and Ian are freed from prison by the raiders to recruit them for cargo loading. Still unsure if this is a genuine raid and wary that it might have something to do with Prince Ian Davion's presence, they attempt to delay the raiders, pointing out loot could be stored on-world and later be shipped out through agents. With help from Cat Wilson they later manage to steal raider 'Mechs and rally the militia. Fisk is worried by the setbacks, but Somokis has discovered "secret" files in the planetary computer network that were in truth prepared for the planned war games. These files posit that the Lyrans have a secret research facility on Zavijava that has developed revolutionary new targeting systems, and Somokis deduces that elite forces from this secret facility are responsible for the setbacks, confirming the existence of the facility. When this is reported back to Atreus for analyis, the scenario is taken for a fact and the Sixth Marik Militia regiment is immediately deployed to Zavijava.

Meanwhile on Tharkad, Katrina Steiner and Patrick Kell are extremely concerned when they hear a raid is taking place. When they learn of the Marik Militia regiment, Patrick goes to meet Hippolyta Marik, attaché to the Free Worlds League embassy on Tharkad (and implicitly, spymaster) with whom he had previously established a good rapport. He manages to convince her that there is in fact no secret research facility on Zavijava and that Janos Marik, operating outside his political base, is risking his political standing for nothing. As a result, the DropShips do not deploy their 'Mechs when the militia under Ian Davion, Morgan Kell and Chauncy Wittenberg has the raiders trapped on 23 December, allowing for a narrow victory that however still does not improve Wittenberg's preception of Morgan Kell.

In the aftermath, Morgan has decided on Christmas Eve that Veronica Matova is the one for him but when he enters the hotel suite she is nowhere to be found...

Featured Characters[edit]

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