The Gauntlet
Sarna News
| The Gauntlet | |
|---|---|
| Serialized novel by Ilsa J. Bick | |
| First Publication | |
| Published | 28 February — 6 June 2006 |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| Pages |
|
| Chronology | |
| Era | Succession Wars era |
| Timeline | 20 April 3022 — 25 December 3029 |
The Gauntlet is a serialized novel by Ilsa J. Bick that was published online on BattleCorps in ten parts from 28 February to 6 June 2006. The novel is divided in two books of five parts each.
Plot Summary[edit]
Book 1: Descent[edit]
| “ | The year is 3028. The historic Davion-Steiner wedding is just weeks away, a marriage destined to unite these two great Houses into the most powerful of the Successor States. Yet, in Rome, phantoms from the past threaten to derail this union by exposing explosive secrets: of forbidden love and unacknowledged desire; of a child who holds the key to the future; of a Catholic Church bent upon recapturing lost glory. Of murder, and Hanse Davion, gone mad. | ” |
Part 1[edit]
- published on: 28 February 2006
| “ | Ilsa Bick's Gauntlet. | ” |
On 8 August 3028, a man disguised as a priest walks the dark, humid streets near St. Peter's Square in Rome on Terra. He carries a rosary and a garrote, moving with purpose toward the Vatican walls. Having arrived on Terra under an alias, he has already murdered a real priest, Father Gambino, to assume his identity. He approaches St. Anne's Gate, where a young Swiss Guard requests identification. The impostor shows forged credentials, distracts the guard, and kills him swiftly with the garrote before dragging the body into the shadows. Taking the guard's torch and his own rosary, he slips deeper into the Vatican compound toward his real objective. The man is revealed as Hanse Davion, dressed in the cassock, carrying both rosary and pistol as he ascends the stairs toward the Pontifical Swiss Guard commander's quarters.
The story moves to Hilton Head, on 20 April 3022, where First Prince Hanse Davion meets Archon Katrina Steiner on the beach after formalizing the Federated Commonwealth Accords. They discuss ComStar's role in brokering their treaty and speculate about its ambitions and hidden influence. Katrina warns that religious institutions and leaders pursue power as much as nations do, drawing comparisons between ComStar, the Vatican, and the Successor States of the Inner Sphere. Their conversation turns personal as they walk together, revealing mutual attraction. Katrina reflects on humanity's fragility and the cycles of destruction. The meeting closes as the two leaders acknowledge their connection while aware of the political stakes surrounding them. Meanwhile, a ComStar Acolyte secretly observes their encounter from the Archon's suite and hides a sealed packet meant for her superiors, confirming ComStar surveillance.
Back in Rome, on 10 May 3027, Vatican officer Damien Tull engages in a dangerous sexual encounter with an unnamed partner. The scene ends abruptly when his partner responds ominously to Tull's remark that "the act might kill him".
Part 2[edit]
- published on: 7 March 2006
| “ | Gauntlet continues... | ” |
On 1 June 3028, a man held at a psychiatric facility on Milton kills his doctor and aide during an outburst that frees long-buried memories. He beats them to death, believing his identity exposed, he plans to leave the planet and reach Terra before it is too late. The man's thoughts turn to Katrina and Melissa Steiner, knowing that what he remembers could hurt them.
That same day in Rome, Detective Lieutenant Emma Fusco and her partner Nick Rossi investigate the murder of Dominico Pio, a retired Swiss Guard found in his grocery store with his throat slit. The scene suggests a planned murder rather than a robbery. The detectives discuss Pio's habits, the store layout, and the method of death, ruling out drug involvement. Fusco suspects more than one attacker and notices similarities to the death of Damien Tull, another former Guard whose case had been buried. Despite doubts, she agrees to reopen the investigation.
In London on 4 July 3028, lawyer Ian Blair argues with a mysterious Vatican client over secret financial transfers timed around the Davion–Steiner wedding festivities. When ordered to move big amounts of money and deliver all records, he worries that the operation is collapsing but complies while making contingency plans, in case he becomes a liability. On the next day, Blair arrives at a London church for the arranged hand-off. Instead of his contact, a masked woman appears and injects him with a paralytic. As he collapses, her team emerges to retrieve his data crystal and drag him inside. The woman methodically kills him while a watching priest struggles with guilt over their mission. Blair's body is found a week later in the Thames.
Meanwhile, in Vatican City, Colonel Friedrich Reinhardt, commander of the Swiss Guard, reprimands the young Corporal Benito Luzi, using the minor infraction to set up a record for later use. Reinhardt reflects on the suspicious death of his predecessor Damien Tull, officially ruled accidental, and on his alliance with Cardinal Adler. He plans actions that will implicate others and prepare the ground for a strike timed to Cardinal Flynn’s upcoming visit and the Steiner-Davion wedding. In a nearby apartment, his wife, Francesca Romano, meets a woman who confirms that "the package" will be delivered.
Two days later, Ardan Sortek arrives at a psychiatric facility on Milton. Following a trail of death and decay, he realizes the escaped man is the same one once under their care and that his timing, weeks before the royal wedding, is no coincidence.
On 10 July 2028, Doctor Erl Karns travels by ferry toward Maria Island. After disembarking at the Darlington historic site, he blends with tourists moving through the old penal colony. When the group heads off to another restored building, he breaks away and walks toward the Fossil Cliffs. The wind increases as he climbs, and he eventually reaches the edge of a high bluff that drops to basalt rocks below. Karns senses someone nearby, and a woman steps up beside him who Karns recognizes as his contact, Precentor Dieron Myndo Waterly. They speak in a guarded way while the wind lashes the cliffs. She reminds him that she and her people saved him from both the Lyrans and the Maskirovka. She presses him for respect. Karns finally states his conclusion about the Hanse Davion Double they are trying to locate. He explains that the man, will not appear at an upcoming wedding but will go instead to the place where his mind keeps returning. Karns identifies that place as the Vatican. His answer unsettles her, and she tells him the price may be higher than he thinks before killing him.
Part 3[edit]
- published on: 18 March 2006
| “ | Gauntlet continues... | ” |
In Rome on 12 July 3028, Nick Rossi finds that several bags of sugar and flour are missing from Pio's grocery records. Emma Fusco dismisses the detail until she realizes the ingredients could be used to mix drugs. Nick argues they should keep investigating despite Vatican pressure to bury the investigation, but Emma doubts they can get anywhere. Their argument softens into quiet humor before they return to work, both aware that the case is far from over.
In London, Father Michael Conley hides above a curry shop, haunted by the murder of Ian Blair and the blood he washed from his hands. The data crystal Blair carried is incomplete, and the missing financial information prevents Conley from tracing who was involved. The Cardinal Protector calls and orders him back to Rome to prepare for Ardan Sortek's visit. The Cardinal assures him that Blair's death will be disguised as a disappearance. Conley complies but feels growing guilt and fear as he leaves for his flight.
At New Scotland Yard, Detective Inspector Kip Collins reviews the remains found in the Thames. The torso is male, middle-aged, and unidentifiable, weighted with money and stones. Forensic expert Dawson jokes grimly about the difficulty of identification. They speculate that the victim was wealthy and that the placement near St. Paul's Cathedral and the stones mixed with cash might be symbolic. The detail about the stones, a type of Caen stone used in ancient churches, stands out, hinting that the killing is more than random.
Aboard a orbital shuttle for Hilton Head, Myndo Waterly studies the same case report and recognizes the victim as Ian Blair. She sees his death as confirmation that her plans remain undiscovered. Watching the aurora from orbit, she reflects on her power within ComStar and her belief that controlling a certain child could destroy the Federated Commonwealth before its inception and bring her closer to becoming Primus of ComStar.
Elsewhere in-system, Gloria reads the same news and fears discovery. She recalls how narrowly she escaped Blair's fate and suspects that both the Vatican and ComStar are eliminating witnesses. Watching over a young boy in her care, she resolves to finish her mission and flee before she becomes expendable.
In Terra's orbit, Ardan Sortek reviews a recording of the murdered doctor's final therapy session. Hanse Davion's double's rambling mentions of tunnels, the Eye of God, and protecting a child linger in his mind as he prepares for the Davion–Steiner wedding, sensing that the danger surrounding the event is only beginning.
Part 4[edit]
- published on: 21 March 2006
| “ | Gauntlet continues... | ” |
On 7 August 3028, Father Conley walks across the Vatican's Swiss Guard courtyard toward St. Anne's Chapel. A month has passed since his return to Rome, and the murder of Ian Blair has faded from public attention. He notes a new nun, Sister Elsebeth, speaking closely with a young guard named Feller and makes a mental note to remind her superior about propriety. Inside the confessional, Conley listens as Corporal Luzi enters to confess. After a long pause, Luzi admits his confession concerns Colonel Reinhardt.
Elsewhere in the Vatican, Sister Margaret struggles in the kitchens beneath the Swiss Guard barracks to perfect the intricate sugar sculptures for the upcoming Davion–Steiner wedding cake. Exhausted and frustrated, she reflects on the endless design revisions from both Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner. The work demands flawless precision, and her sugar mixtures keep turning the wrong color. With the wedding and Cardinal Flynn's arrival approaching, she worries her failure will bring humiliation to the Vatican.
Later that night, Emma Fusco and Nick Rossi work a quiet shift at their precinct in Rome. Their banter is interrupted by a call from dispatch about a woman claiming to need Emma specifically. The caller turns out to be Francesca Romano, Reinhardt's wife, who says she must escape the Vatican with a baby her husband brought there. Before she can explain further, she panics and ends the call. Unable to trace it, Emma concludes the woman is in the Vatican barracks and insists on going there herself despite lacking jurisdiction. Nick warns her that entering Vatican territory without authorization could end her career, but she refuses to ignore the plea. After a brief, emotional exchange in which Nick confesses his feelings for her, they decide to go together to investigate, unaware of the danger waiting beyond the Vatican gates.
Part 5[edit]
- published on: 28 March 2006
| “ | Gauntlet continues... | ” |
Later that night, Colonel Reinhardt, his wife Francesca, and Gloria wait in their Vatican apartment with a sedated infant. Francesca grows anxious and wants to abandon their plan, fearing exposure. Gloria insists the child will stay asleep and that their arrangements are intact. Reinhardt tries to reassure her but loses his temper when he suspects Francesca has secretly called for help. When she denies it, he becomes violent, striking and choking her until Gloria intervenes. Their fight is interrupted by a knock at the door, leaving the confrontation unresolved.
Elsewhere in the Vatican, Sister Margaret finishes her work for the night and heads toward her quarters. Passing Reinhardt's apartment, she notices the faint smell of burning metal and a light from his half-open door. Before she can enter, she glimpses a man in a cassock slipping down the stairs. Inside the apartment, she discovers a horrific scene and screams as alarms begin to sound across the Vatican.
At the Swiss Guard command center, Major Pius Costa notices that St. Anne's Gate has been left open and its guard, Feller, is missing. As he investigates, he spots two intruders on camera, Emma Fusco and Nick Rossi, approaching the Vatican from the street. Realizing who Fusco is, he panics and orders all gates sealed.
Outside, Emma and Nick find blood near the open gate and the body of Feller before hearing a scream from the barracks. They rush inside as alarms blare. Reaching the second floor, they find a group of panicked residents gathered around a weeping Sister Margaret outside the open apartment door. A shaken priest warns them that what lies beyond is "a piece of hell". When Emma steps forward, the smell of burnt metal and blood confirms he is right.
Book 2: Crucible[edit]
| “ | The year is 3028. Multiple people have been murdered at the Vatican. A nun witnessed Hanse Davion fleeing the corpses - a man now missing. Also gone are a Vatican official, and a young baby in his custody. Now, Ardan Sortek must work with the local police to clear his prince's name, even as the Vatican works to cover up the very events Sortek is trying to investigate.... | ” |
Part 6[edit]
- published on: 9 May 2006
| “ | "But I can guarantee, whatever happens? It's going to be a hell of a ride." | ” |
Just after midnight on 8 August 3028 alarms wake the Vatican. Emma and Nick confirm that an unknown person has murdered two people in the Swiss Guard barracks: Francesca Romano and Benito Luzi. Colonel Reinhardt is missing. A nursery shows clear signs that a child was there. Meanwhile, Ardan Sortek and Father Conley arrive at the crime scene.
Conley interviews Sister Margaret. She is shaken but coherent. Her account does not place Corporal Luzi as the killer. Another figure was at the scene, a face she knows from endless images: Hanse Davion. Conley and Sister Elsebeth trade a look, and Conley files the claim without comment. Sortek, Emma, and Nick respond with rejection to Sister Margaret's claim. Major Costa, who has rushed to the scene, pushes the police officers off the Vatican grounds to contain a potential scandal. Emma and Nick give ground, then keep working from the street.
Conley studies Reinhardt’s apartment. Burnt carpet from a dropped cigarette. A snifter spilled across the floor. He reads the room like a timeline and decides Reinhardt had been there before the violence. Shot or taken remains unclear. When Conley circles back to Sister Margaret, he coaxes one more detail that confirms a second man in the appartment. He stores it for later. Alone, Conley turns over the year behind him. Ian Blair’s money trail. The murder in London. A pattern that points toward Rome. He wonders what the Cardinal knew and when. The thought leaves him cold. He breaks discipline for the first time and calls Sortek, asking for a private meeting off Vatican ground.
In a darkened window high above the courtyards, Cardinal Protector Franz Adler surveys the grounds and takes reports. Two deaths. A vanished child. Reinhardt unaccounted for. Ardan Sortek will not cancel Cardinal Flynn’s visit. The audience stays on the calendar. The Cardinal decides to ride the events rather than halt them. He moves to block any wider role for the police to keep the Church clear of public stain. He decides to let Emma Fusco run, expecting his asset to shadow her to Reinhardt and the child. The institution will appear clean while others take the risks. Then he meets a covert operative who works inside the Swiss Guard while disguised as a nun. Her surveillance failed in Reinhardt's apartment and on his comms. She also reports that Conley met Ardan Sortek and then left Vatican City. The Cardinal Protector withdraws protection from Conley and resets priorities. Follow Fusco. Secure the child. If recovery fails, neutralize Reinhardt. If the man in the cassock truly was a prince, he is not to be harmed. If Conley obstructs, kill him.
Meanwhile in London, Detective Inspector Collins wakes to a scheduled data drop from the late Ian Blair. The packet outlines secret ComStar banking movements and lays out a path for a financial investigation that runs alongside the cases in Rome.
Emma, Nick, Sortek, and Conley meet in a hover car near the Colosseum and compare notes on the Swiss Guard murders, the missing child, and Reinhardt. Conley admits a yearlong plot but withholds sources and affiliation. Discussion turns to whether Church watchers want the case handled outside Vatican control. Emma presses on the child's parentage. Sortek concedes it may be possible that Hanse Davion is the father. Working through Sister Margaret's sighting and a therapist's "Eye" and "river" clues, Emma links them to a place where the dead lie beneath the Eye of all gods along the Tiber. She orders everyone to buckle in as they move to intercept.
Part 7[edit]
- published on: 16 May 2006
| “ | "You think they're going to just sit back and let us waltz away? Not on your life. They'll kill us the first chance they get." | ” |
In a flashback before midnight, Reinhardt opens his apartment door and finds Corporal Luzi aiming a Kerensky Star Beretta at his forehead. Luzi accuses him of bullying and shoves him back into the living room. Reinhardt watches the trigger finger and waits for a mistake. Francesca rushes in and cries for help. Luzi's head turns. Reinhardt slams the gun aside, drives a kick into Luzi, and batters him over the sofa. The struggle goes to the floor. Reinhardt pins him and smothers him with a throw pillow until Francesca kicks him in the face. A silenced shot drops Francesca, then Gloria steps in and shoots Luzi in the head.
Hours later, Reinhardt leads Gloria through Kerensky-era tunnels and catacombs beneath the Tiber. He carries a torch and bleeds from a head wound and a broken nose. Gloria follows with the infant harnessed to her back and keeps the captured pistol on him. They climb through damp rock and pass sealed ferrocrete niches of fallen warriors. She questions the route. He says the tunnels are the only unseen crossing. He promises money through hidden ComStar accounts and plans to reach a spaceport once they surface. He thinks about killing her but holds for level ground and watches for pursuit in the dark.
Emma, Nick, Sortek, and Conley reach the Piazza della Rotonda and face the Pantheon. They talk through the Passetto escape from the Vatican to Castel Sant'Angelo and the downstream tunnel network that Kerensky's troops used to got into Rome. Emma explains the oculus, the drainage, and why an exit would tie into the building's dry points. Inside the rotunda they listen for water under the floor and sweep for quiet tiles. Conley finds a spot near a tomb. The group identifies the "Tomb of Kerensky's Unknowns", a memorial for the unidentified soldiers killed in the re-taking of Rome, and a marble sculpture of an Orion head with an inset grid of numbered studs. Sortek says the mechanism mirrors a 'Mech hatch and needs a code. The team crowds the niche while Sortek searches the panel. Muffled voices echo from below, then weapons fire, then a child's wail. Emma urges Sortek to hurry.
Outside, the Cardinal's operative arrives, stashes gear, climbs a fire escape, and sets up with autoloader magazines and a backup laser. She plans fields of fire onto the steps and doors and waits for the team to reappear with the child.
Part 8[edit]
- published on: 23 May 2006
| “ | He had eight choices, and one shot. | ” |
In another flashback, Hanse Davion's Double reaches Reinhardt's appartment in the Swiss Guard barracks, smells cordite and blood, and confirms the child is gone. He moves through the rooms, notes warm bedding and talc, then hears a nun on the stairs and slips out into the night as alarms rise. He runs the colonnade, finds a blood marked niche, triggers a hidden catch, and enters the Passetto. He follows faint light and the sound of water toward Castel Sant'Angelo, reaches the chamber marked with a Cameron Star, and chooses the third arch by reading the star's long axis. The catacombs lights pulse on sensors as he descends. Fresh muddy foot prints show two persons ahead.
Reinhardt guides Gloria and the child through the tunnels below Rome. When the slope steepens, Gloria slips, and the child hits a rock and starts crying. Her pistol skitters and discharges. Davion's Double closes the gap. He hears voices and a child's wail and accelerates up a long rock tongue toward the sounds.
At the Pantheon, Sortek works the Orion panel. Sortek links the code to Kerensky's Exodus date and keys in 8 July 2784. The monument splits and reveals a stair. Sortek and Emma descend with weapons and lights while Nick and Father Conley hold the entrance above. Gunfire echoes from below as they move toward it.
In the tunnels, Reinhardt and the Hanse's Double collide. They tumble and fight at close range. Reinhardt clubs with a flashlight. Davion staggers but breaks two fingers from Reinhardt's choking hand. Reinhardt reaches for the fallen pistol. Davion throws a rosary chaplet around Reinhardt’s neck and hauls back. Reinhardt convulses and weakens. When Sortek and Emma arrive, Gloria grabs the slipped weapon, places the barrel in her mouth, and fires. Emma reaches the child, checks his breath, and loads the pack onto her own back. Sortek sprints after the struggle and finds Davion's Double straddling Reinhardt with the rosary. He shouts Davion's name which leads to the Double releasing Reinhardt, who drops on the ground and lies still. Sortek braces the Double as he collapses from exhaustion. Asking Sortek about the child, he confirms that it is safe. The part ends with Emma moving the child toward the opened stair while Sortek supports the Double on the way out.
Part 9[edit]
- published on: 30 May 2006
| “ | "I don't have to worry about explaining anything. That's not my job. My job is justice." | ” |
Nick and Sortek help the Double to the surface at the Pantheon while Emma bandages his torn hands and Father Conley holds the sleeping child. They argue about hospitals and publicity. Sortek insists on secrecy. Conley agrees and keeps the child close.
Across the piazza, the Cardinal Protectors operative is settled on a fire escape with a scoped rifle and a backup laser. She watches the group string out toward their police hover car and selects targets. Her orders forbid shooting Hanse Davion, so she lines up on Father Conley instead.
The first shot snaps past Conley. Hanse's Double shouts a warning and drives into him, taking the priest and child to the pavement behind a fountain. Emma calls directions while Sortek dives for cover and draws his laser. The sniper fires again at Emma but Nick shoves her aside and takes the round meant for her. He drops behind Emma in a spray of blood. Emma sprints for the hover car and powers it up. She swings the vehicle to face the shooter and floods the fire escape with its beam headlights, taking away the operative's night vision advantage. Sortek uses the opportunity to fire his full powered laser and burns her right shoulder, forcing a retreat down the stairs.
Conley and the Double shield the child while Sortek keeps the shooter pinned. Emma races the hover car to the shooters postion and brakes under the fire escape, bails out, and rushes the stairwell. The sniper tries to descend while firing bursts to keep Sortek down. She reaches the third landing. Emma meets her at the turn and shoots first. The scene ends with Emma alive over the fallen sniper.
Part 10[edit]
- published on: 6 June 2006
| “ | Ardan's mind was filled with questions he dare not ask. | ” |
On 9 August 3028, Emma keeps vigil at Nick's side in a private clinic in Rome. Nick is intubated and in a coma after the fight in the Pantheon. She studies the tubes and bandages and argues with herself about justice and the cost of the rescue. Sortek arrives after midnight. He listens, then presses her on loyalty, power, and what justice can actually reach. He offers quiet help for Nick' s long recovery and a way forward that keeps the truth buried in public while securing care and safety in private. After a hard discussion, Emma agrees. When they part in the corridor, a stray detail clicks for her. She runs back and tells him the key is the sugar used for the ceremonial confections, that has been poisoned to kill Cardinal Flynn of the New Avalon Catholic Church.
On 16 August 3028, the Cardinal Protector reviews the events of the week in private. Reinhardt is dead. The child and Conley have disappeared. The official version blames a troubled corporal and a failed affair. This requires him to pull some strings to protect the Sodalitium Pianum and probe ComStar's Myndo Waterly. Unfortunately, Emma's discovery of the poisoned sugar thwarted the poisoning attempt on Flynn, but he sees the bigger game continuing beyond Rome.
At Hilton Head on 19 August 3028, Precentor Dieron Myndo Waterly watches the Unity Palace reception and notes who mingles and who slips away to talk. An acolyte brings her a velvet box and a letter sealed with a cross. Cardinal Protector Adler writes that their alliance is severed and warns her to stay silent or he is forced to release proof of her involvement. Inside the box she finds a tiny sugar likeness of herself in delicate pieces. Furiously, she vows that Blake's fire will obliterate both Church and the Davions.
Meanwhile, Sortek briefs Hanse Davion. They speak of the child's engineered lineage and of how the trigger tied to marriage and questions of heirs broke open a buried Capellan scheme in the psyche of the Double. Sortek advises leaving ComStar inquiries for another day. Davion accepts the end of this episode and turns to the future of his wedding and the coming war.
On 20 December 3029, on a quiet world somewhere in the Inner Sphere, Conley lives by the sea with a housekeeper and the rescued boy, Joshua. Emma reads to Nick, who who is still recovering. He works through speech and movement and writes her name as his answer to cherish on a crossword. Peace returns by slow degrees.
On Poulsbo on 25 December 3029, the Hanse Davion Double walks the chalk cliffs with his physician. When she calls him Davion, he corrects her stating that his real name is Daniel. He says it again, savoring the moment.
Featured Characters[edit]
- Cardinal Protector Franz Adler
- Ian Blair
- Detective Inspector Kip Collins
- Father Michael Conley
- Major Pius Costa
- First Prince Hanse Davion
- Hanse Davion Double
- Sister Elsebeth
- Detective Lieutenant Emma Fusco
- Gloria
- Doctor Erl Karns
- Corporal Benito Luzi
- Sister Margaret
- Barry Murdock
- Dominico Pio
- Colonel Friedrich Reinhardt
- Francesca Romano
- Nick Rossi
- Ardan Sortek
- Tommy Stafford
- Archon Katrina Steiner
- Melissa Steiner
- Joshua Steiner-Davion
- Former Colonel Damien Tull
- Precentor Myndo Waterly
- Forensic Expert Dawson
- Feller
- Cardinal Flynn
- Pope Benedict XIII (mentioned)
- Pope Victor XXVII (mentioned)
- Stefan Amaris (mentioned)
- Former First Prince Ian Davion (mentioned)
- Former First Prince John Davion (mentioned)
- Primus Julian Tiepolo (mentioned)
- Former Primus Conrad Toyama (mentioned)
Featured Units[edit]
- Greenhaven Gestapo (mentioned)
Featured Places[edit]
- Milton
- Poulsbo
- Terra
- New Avalon (mentioned)
- Port Moseby (mentioned)
- Small World (mentioned)
- Terra Firma (mentioned)
- Tharkad (mentioned)
Featured BattleTech[edit]
BattleMechs[edit]
- BLR-1G BattleMaster (mentioned)
- ON1-K Orion (mentioned)
- VTR-9B Victor (mentioned)