Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars

[Wrangler]

LOL.  I love how you got pictures of brews for this scenario/story wrote up.   I had alot fun playing with MW1 Rpg rules, but i had good GM who made it more fun amusing I guess.

Bar brawls i think adds bit more flavor to the Battletech genre.  Specially for this scenario/rpg graphic novel book. Nice write up Mendrugo!

[Mendrugo]

I'm glad you liked the pics.  With a title like "Not a Drop to Drink," I couldn't resist attaching the Reed's Brew insignia and the others.

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: February 26, 3015 [See Notes]

Location: New Delos

Title: The Spider and the Wolf

Author: Gideon

Type: Graphic Novel (The Spider and the Wolf)

Synopsis:  At Anton’s HQ (in the city of Cienfuegos), Jaime Wolf meets with Duke Anton Marik.  Anton proposes that Jaime break up the Dragoons into smaller groups and combine them with his rebel forces.  Jaime refuses, saying it would violate their contract.  When Anton says he has no choice, Jaime responds that such a contract violation would justify the Dragoons leaving Anton’s service, and they’d still get paid by the brokers on Tau Ceti.  He offers a counter-proposal – an aggressive strategy of hit-and-run attacks by the Dragoons to keep the loyalists off balance.  Anton concedes, and tells Jaime to coordinate with his aide, Colonel Mendoza. 

After Jaime leaves, Precentor Vesar Kristofur enters Anton’s chambers, having been secretly listening in on the conversation.  Kristofur convinces Anton that the Dragoons have betrayed him, and they agree to implement “phase two” of their plan.

Notes: The datestamp on the front page of this scene is July, 3014.  This has since been superseded by Historical: Brush Wars, which dates the meeting to February 26, 3015. 

It’s interesting that Jaime refers to “brokers on Tau Ceti,” rather than to “brokers on New Earth” (the name of the colony founded in the Tau Ceti star system).  Perhaps his brokers are on one of the recharge stations there.

Colonel Mendoza is presumably the CO of the First Ducal Guards.

Anton shows signs of mental instability/desperation.  Starting with the Operation CONDOR debacle on Calloway VI, the war has been turning against the rebels.  It’s clear in retrospect that Janos’ malaise following the loss of his wife had convinced Anton that his older brother would give up after a swift campaign, and that the other provinces would declare for Anton immediately.  The rebellion seems instead to have been just what Janos needed to break him out of his funk and get back into the role of Captain-General.

This scene is at odds with the Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook account of it.  Jaime and Anton argue a bit, but not forcefully, and Anton gives every appearance of being reasonable, agreeing to Jaime's proposal and telling him to coordinate with his staff.  Dirk Rijksmaan's ComStar Research Team report, however, states that "The two men met behind closed doors, but the discussion soon turned into a shouting match for all to hear.  Each man began to accuse the other of violating the contract, and the argument ended abruptly when Wolf stormed out of the room."  So either Rijksmaan's research team was relying on misinterpreted hearsay among Anton's palace staff, or Vesar Kristofur was intentionally filing misleading intel reports on the meeting, trying to paint it as more antagonistic than it actually was.

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: February 27, 3015
 
Location: New Delos

Title: The Memory of Pain

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  At the Edel Compound, where the Dragoons are stationed on New Delos, Joshua Wolf and Natasha Kerensky enjoy a romantic dinner.  While normally professional and reserved in public, Joshua is lighthearted with Natasha in private.  He teases her about not having picked a name for “Kerensky’s Independent Company” yet.  He also remarks on her new hairstyle – blonde with a braid in back.  After the dishes are finished, they decide to find other uses for the kitchen counter.

Notes: This scene obiquely references the fact that Natasha never looks the same in any two pictures in the early FASA products.  There is a more direct reference in her 3023 interview with Misha Auburn (in Shrapnel as part of the “Bio-Medical Report on Natasha Kerensky” story) where she attributes it to lighting changes and hairstyles, while other analysts chalk it up to plastic surgery, or there being an entire corps of “Natasha Kerensky” impersonators.

This also confirms that references to “The Black Widow Company” in “Natasha’s Surprise” and “Not a Drop to Drink” are anachronisms, since Natasha hadn’t given them that name yet.  She probably did use the spider motif at this point, though, since her bio indicates that she’s taken to wearing variations of the old Widowmaker insignia as a show of rebelliousness. 

[Mendrugo]

----- 3 Days Later -----

Date: March 2, 3015

Location: New Delos

Title: The Memory of Pain

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Natasha, along with Colin Maclaren and Takiro Ikeda, review a new candidate for her company – Willard Andrews, who disobeyed an order to withdraw on Sophie’s World and continued assaulting Loyalist positions.  When his lance (which did withdraw) got ambushed in the process, Andrews attacked his CO, putting him in sick-bay for a month.

Andrews is insolent when he’s brought in by Dragoon security troops, but Ikeda likes the cut of his jib (Ikeda was also put in Kerensky’s company for exhibiting extreme aggression.)  Natasha welcomes Andrews to the company (assuming he survives the two week probationary period), and says he’ll have his Shadow Hawk back in a day or two.

Outside, Edel base is buzzing as four regiments of the Dragoons pack and prepare to ship offworld and execute Jaime’s raiding plan.  Ducking into an empty office with Joshua Wolf, Natasha kisses him and inquires about Brigit (Jaime’s daughter), who just had surgery.  Joshua says she’s fine, but that Jaime is still nervous.  Jaime’s wife Ellen will remain on New Delos with Brigit and Jaime’s other daughter while the Dragoons are out campaigning.  Joshua tells Natasha that he’ll also remain behind, in case Anton wants to try to renegotiate the contract again (and to reassure Anton that the Dragoons aren’t abandoning him).

Worried, Natasha asks what kind of support he’ll have, and is shocked that he’ll keep just a squad of security troopers, but no ‘Mechs.  She suggests that he keep her company on New Delos as security.  He rejects the notion, since it would bring their relationship out into the open and risk people saying Natasha got her position on the basis of her relationship with Joshua.

After some more teasing about her unit’s lack of a nickname, he tells her there’s something important he wants to ask her when next he sees her, on Second Chance.

Notes: The subtext of the Joshua/Natasha conversation is clear – wedding bells are in the offing on Second Chance.  It’s interesting to speculate about how such a marriage would have affected the course of events.  Would Natasha have gone back to the Clans when summoned if she’d had Joshua and (possibly) children remaining with the Dragoons?

The interview with Andrews is interesting.  There’s a “Michael Andrews” listed on the company roster in “The Spider and the Wolf” who pilots a Shadow Hawk, but no Willard Andrews.  His infraction on Sophie’s World implies that he was originally part of the Delta or Epsilon regiment.  In that campaign, the Third Marik Militia, Delta and Epsilon faced off against the Loyalist First Atrean Dragoons, Sixth Marik Militia and the Head Hunters.  The Head Hunters kept using hit and run attacks to draw the rebels into pursuing and overextending, at which point the heavy Atrean Dragoons and Sixth Militia could crush them.  Andrews was probably goaded into pursuing the Head Hunters.  Alpha Regiment was eventually brought in as well to crush the First Atrean Dragoons, at which point the Sixth Militia and Head Hunters retreated offworld.  That would imply that Andrews has been in the brig since September or October of 3014 (about six months, give or take).

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: March 3, 3015

Location: New Delos

Title: The Spider and the Wolf

Author: Gideon

Type: Graphic Novel (The Spider and the Wolf)

Synopsis:  Back at the Dragoon base in Edel, Ikeda’s lance is still washing the ‘Mechs as punishment for the bar brawl, currently attending to Natasha’s Warhammer.  Mirth complains that, because of Lynn’s fight, he’s lost the girl of his dreams (Muffy).  They’re interrupted by an urgent mobilization call from Natasha.  Shortly, Natasha’s company is assembled and do a roll-call.  They board their DropShips (three Leopards) and head for the jump point – a transit time given as 14 days, six hours.

Notes:   The roll-call introduces the company to the readers, but also brings up an anachronism.  Per the earlier scene, Nikolai Koniev was only just added to Natasha’s roster in February 3015, but he appears on the TO&E in the “Natasha’s Surprise” scenario on Calloway VI the previous November.  It’s also lacking new addition Willard Andrews (Shadow Hawk) from “The Memory of Pain.”  It’s possible that Michael Andrews and Willard Andrews are the same person, given the same last name and the fact that they both ride Shadow Hawks, but then that has the same anachronism as with Koniev, since Andrews (Shadow Hawk) is on the TO&E for "Natasha’s Surprise" on Calloway VI, when Willard was still in the clink because of his Sophie's World escapade. 

The other option is that Willard and Michael are different people, and that Willard got left behind on New Delos because his Shadow Hawk wasn’t ready in time to ship out.  A character named “Andrews” gets a speaking role in the latter portions of “The Memory of Pain,” but there’s no first name attached, so it could be either Willard or Michael.  Per the New Delos scenario setup instructions, there’s only one “Andrews” in a Shadow Hawk attached to the company.

"The Memory of Pain" author Jason Schmetzer says that he doesn't recall using The Spider and the Wolf as a reference - just scenarios and the Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook.  In that context, the "multiple Andrews" situation makes sense, since the scenarios in The Spider and the Wolf just list "Andrews (Shadow Hawk)" without giving a first name.  Only in the comic itself does Gideon give Andrews' first name as Michael.  Since Jason never looked at the comic story, he wouldn't have noticed that detail, and fairly assumed that the first name was virgin territory.  Thus, "Willard."

MechWarrior Steve Tommersom of the Recon Lance runs a Hornet, but the ‘Mech pictured in the background bears no resemblance to the HNT-151 model, being a Macross-esque humanoid figure.  Looking online, it appears that the Hornet pictured corresponds with the original BattleDroids mini.

Looking at this roster, there’s some turnover in the company between 3015 and 3025: 
The Command Lance adds John Hayes (Griffin) to replace the exploded Bobby Hunnel; Fire Lance replaces Michael/Willard Andrews (Shadow Hawk) and Akira Harlowe (Thunderbolt) with Mikos Delius (Whitworth) and Delmar Lindstrom (Shadow Hawk), while Takiro Ikeda switches from an Archer to a Panther, and Nikolai Koniev switches from a Wasp to a Firefly; Recon Lance replaces Lt. Arthur Williams (Locust) and Steve Tommersom (Hornet) with Lt. John Clavell (Firefly), Simon Fraser (Stinger) and Mohammar Jahan (Stinger), while Piet Nichols switches from a Phoenix Hawk to a Hornet.  Since they’re using three Leopards as transports, it seems they haven’t yet been assigned the Union-class Widow’s Web.

Natasha’s DropShips must be taking things really slow – the House Marik sourcebook entry for New Delos gives its transit time as a mere six days rather than the 14 stated in this scene. (Six days, five hours, per the transit table entry for G8III stars).  It’s possible that the JumpShips simply aren’t in the system yet (on their way back), and that’s why the ETA to the JumpShips is so much more than just the transit time, but then why leave in such a hurry just to hang around at the jump point?  (My guess is that the transit time really is six days - see below - and that Natasha is just screwing with Tommerson.  Though why he wouldn't remember how long it took to get onworld in the first place...)

Applying the Historical: Brush Wars chronology to these events, we get:

Dragoons leave New Delos on March 3. 
Anton takes the Dragoon dependents hostage on March 6.
The Dragoons reach the jump point on March 9, dock, and jump to McKenna.
Upon reaching McKenna, they get a message from ComStar with Anton's ultimatum.
They recharge for seven days (March 9 - March 16), during which time (March 14), Anton executes the dependents.
They jump back to New Delos and burn in-system for 6 days, arriving on March 22 and beginning the assault.

[BrokenMnemonic]

Perhaps where Michael/Willard Williams is involved, it might be easiest to declare that his name was Michael Willard Williams (or Willard Michael Williams) and that at some point - perhaps as a part of joining the Dragoons - he decided to start going by his middle name rather than forename?

[Mendrugo]

That would have been an elegant solution, I agree.  However, the problem with Willard/Michael being the same person is that, per "Natasha's Surprise," Michael Andrews is fighting on Calloway VI in November 3014, while Willard Andrews is in the brig from September/October 3014 - March 3015.

The only way all the bits fit is that Willard Andrews was left behind because his 'Mech wasn't ready, and then died with Joshua and the other dependents.  That leaves Michael Andrews as the company's sole Shadow Hawk pilot on Calloway VI and New Delos.

[Frabby]

We've had a largish thread about that "Hornet" image and Tommerson's 'Mech on the previous forum. I'm told it's actually an Alpha Veritech and would have been unseen if this had ever been adopted for BattleTech. The Hornet that was later introduced into canon had nothing to do with this 'Mech that might have an apocryphal Battledroid connection.

Since the image looks somewhat like a modified Stinger and Tommerson canonically pilots a Stinger according to later lineups, it could be argued that his Hornet was out of commission at the time and that he piloted a Stinger as a replacement which became his permanent assignment.

[trboturtle]

That would have been an elegant solution, I agree.  However, the problem with Willard/Michael being the same person is that, per "Natasha's Surprise," Michael Andrews is fighting on Calloway VI in November 3014, while Willard Andrews is in the brig from September/October 3014 - March 3015.

The only way all the bits fit is that Willard Andrews was left behind because his 'Mech wasn't ready, and then died with Joshua and the other dependents.  That leaves Michael Andrews as the company's sole Shadow Hawk pilot on Calloway VI and New Delos.

Maybe Willard/Michael are brothers...

Craig

[Scotty]

At the very least family, I should think.  Why else would in the still rather hardscrabble time of the Third Succession War would anyone be passing 'Mechs from one person to another.

[Mendrugo]

At the very least family, I should think.  Why else would in the still rather hardscrabble time of the Third Succession War would anyone be passing 'Mechs from one person to another.

Keep in mind, these guys are all Clanners (mostly Freeborn) who grew up in the Kerensky Cluster or Pentagon Worlds.  They arrived with ships full of 'Mechs and have the ability to go get more as needed, and so didn't have the "treasured family heirloom" mentality of the spheroid MechWarrior Families from the Third Succession War era.  (Bobby Hunnel's unreasonable attachment to his Griffin notwithstanding)

That said, they certainly could be family.  Joshua and Jaime are perfect examples of siblings being assigned to the Clan recon mission, while Cranston and Rhonda represent a father/daughter assignment.

[Scotty]

Are all of them still Clan at this point?  By 3014, the Dragoons have been in the sphere almost a decade and only made one supply run, six years prior.  Replacing combat losses is something that the Dragoons weren't exactly shy about, though admittance was extremely exclusive for decades.  Exclusive doesn't mean non-existent, though.

On the "likely" scale, I'd rate it about a two out of ten being generous, but that's still better than zero.

[Mendrugo]

----- 6 Days Later -----

Date: March 9, 3015 [See Notes]

Location: McKenna (Nadir Jump Point)

Title: The Spider and the Wolf

Author: Gideon

Type: Graphic Novel (The Spider and the Wolf)

Synopsis:  Upon materializing in the McKenna system, the Dragoon fleet deploys jump sails for recharging.  Natasha and Maclaren watch from one of their JumpShip’s observation domes.  In another observation dome, Jaime Wolf receives Anton Marik’s message, threatening to kill the Dragoon dependents on New Delos  by March 20 unless Jaime agrees to place the Dragoons under the command of Anton’s officers.

Jaime briefs his command staff on the situation, and tells them that his plan is to make best speed back to New Delos and, if any of the Dragoon hostages have been harmed, to burn the planet to cinders.  He asks Natasha to stay afterwards, and tells her he knows she and Joshua are close.  He asks her to lead the strike force against Anton’s forces on New Delos, tasking her with doing so much damage that no future employer will ever consider taking Dragoon hostages again.

Notes: The title on the splash page is pretty much fully decanonized.  It gives the location as “Ariel – 15 days and 21 hours out of New Delos,” whereas it should read “McKenna – 6 days out of New Delos.”  If you look at the map below, you can see that it’s at least three (maybe four) jumps from New Delos to Ariel.  The Wolf’s Dragoons sourcebook notes that the Dragoons received the ComStar message upon their arrival in the McKenna system.

That’s certainly an…unusual…JumpShip the Dragoons are using.  Vesar Kristofur did point out that the Dragoons appeared to be using JumpShips of classes not seen in centuries.  Where do you suppose the DropShips go on this thing?  The relevant sourcebooks note that early JumpShips had cavernous cargo bays and carried smaller vessels inside, but this was later abandoned for the familiar JumpShip/DropShip combo.  Maybe this is one of those antiques?

Jaime also seems greatly distressed by the situation.  The graphic novel implies that he’s concerned for his brother, but given the context of “The Memory of Pain,” his thoughts are almost certainly of his wife and two daughters.

One odd element is that nearly all of the Dragoons appear to be wearing a sword (vibroblade, probably) as they walk around the recharging vessel.  It seems like they’d get in the way.

The terminology of the ComStar message is somewhat odd.  The communications officer tells Wolf that the incoming ComStar message is “subspace across the ComStar relay.”  This is the only time I’ve seen the term “subspace” applied in BattleTech – a term more at home in Star Trek.  (Which FASA also had the license to at this point.)  The term begs the question – is the message coming from the HPG station on McKenna (beamed by radio) or is it coming in from the HPG station on New Delos (shot through hyperspace to McKenna where it’s received as radio)?  The term “subspace” would imply the latter, though the message was sent on June 6, three days earlier, arguing for the former.  (The McKenna HPG station received the message and waited until the Dragoons jumped in to deliver it.)

[Mendrugo]

Are all of them still Clan at this point?  By 3014, the Dragoons have been in the sphere almost a decade and only made one supply run, six years prior.  Replacing combat losses is something that the Dragoons weren't exactly shy about, though admittance was extremely exclusive for decades.  Exclusive doesn't mean non-existent, though.

On the "likely" scale, I'd rate it about a two out of ten being generous, but that's still better than zero.

I think most of them are of Clan origin, still, because they traveled with a fairly substantial civilian population (family members, etc.) who would constitute an in-house pool of potential replacements for battlefield losses.  The 27 left on New Delos were just Joshua, seven infantrymen (the security squad), Jaime's wife and two daughters, Willard Andrews?, and 16 wounded Dragoons that couldn't be moved.  That can't be anywhere close to the Dragoons' whole civilian population, which were on Second Chance, being guarded by Epsilon Regiment.

[Frabby]

The odd Dragoons JumpShip has been intriguing me ever since pretty much the same design was seen in Blackthorne's BattleForce #2 comic (the "archaeological vessel" Holocroft, apparently working for Duke Michael Hasek-Davion). What's more, said comic also features a bog-standard Invader so they knew what normal JumpShips look like.
Who knows if the Holocroft's appearance was inspired by The Spider and the Wolf.

I, too, like to think it's an ancient JumpShip design. There's also this vague resemblance to the Zechetinu-class WarShip, a later design of course but perhaps somehow related?

In the BF comic a DropShip or small craft detaches from the "nose" of the JumpShip.

[Mendrugo]

Thanks, Frabby!  I'd not even known such things (the BattleForce comics) existed.  One quick eBay search later, and both BattleForce comics and the three BattleTech comics are on their way, for inclusion in this review series. 

Just when you think your collection's complete...  :)

[Frabby]

Welcome. Though it's six Blackthorne BT comics plus two specials plus two BF comics (out of a projected trilogy that was apparently never completed).
Sarna is your friend: Blackthorne BattleTech comics

Your're lucky, btw: I found the two BF issues hardest to get; the others regularly pop up on Ebay.

Edit: Re-reading the comic, the Holocroft is actually the DropShip while the JumpShip remains unnamed.

[Mendrugo]

----- 5 Days Later -----

Date: March 14, 3015 [See Notes]

Location: New Delos

Title: The Spider and the Wolf

Author: Gideon

Type: Graphic Novel (The Spider and the Wolf)

Synopsis:  At Anton Marik’s HQ on New Delos, Anton’s guards have been savagely beating Joshua, who is bleeding heavily from the face and missing a tooth.  Anton is worried by Jaime’s lack of response to his ultimatum, but Kristofur reassures him that Wolf will cave in, and that if he doesn’t, they should just kill Joshua to demonstrate their sincerity.

Joshua tells Anton and Vesar that Jaime and the Dragoons will burn the planet to a cinder if they kill the dependents.  He breaks free of the guards, grabs a pistol and shoots one of them.  Vesar reacts quickly and burns a hole in Joshua’s torso with his own laser pistol. 

Anton is shocked, clearly not having intended to take things this far.  Kristofur reassures the Duke that Joshua’s escape attempt and death were just more proof of his treachery, and that it had to be done.  Kristofur then appears to order the execution of the other Dragoon dependents and the sending of a message to Wolf to taunt them about it, ostensibly to “catch them off guard.”  A still shocked Anton concurs.

Notes: Kristofur’s comment “There are still several hours left” would imply that this scene takes place just hours before Anton’s 14-day deadline expires on March 20, but Historical: Brush Wars sets Joshua’s death on March 14, a good six days before the deadline.  (Brush Wars also sets the date of the dependents' abduction as March 6, so by any reckoning, Vesar’s comment about “several hours left” is off by an order of magnitude…unless by “several” he meant nearly 150.)  The timing is constrained by the ComStar sourcebook statement that “when [the Dragoons] arrived in-system, Marik informed them the hostages were already dead.”  Since the Dragoons would have arrived in the system on/about the 16th of March (before the deadline expired), the 14th fits that chronology, whereas the 20th wouldn’t.

The series of events depicted here was apparently covered up by ROM.  The Wolf’s Dragoons sourcebook, presented as a 3030 report by ComStar Archivist Dirk Rijksmaan, says “The maddened Anton did not waste time in arresting Joshua, whom he tried for treason by drumhead court martial.  Then he ordered Joshua Wolf and his 27 compatriots shot.  Exactly what happened remains a mystery.  Many accounts claim that Duke Anton never really intended to kill Joshua and he others, but that the threat was meant only to intimidate Wolf.  Vesar Kristofur, in testimony before a ComStar disciplinary board, claimed that Joshua’s death was the accidental result of an escape attempt.  ComStar investigators believe that Kristofur himself killed Joshua to force Wolf to attack, thereby weakening the mercenary’s forces enough to require a second supply run.” 

The ComStar sourcebook, presented as a 3055 report from ComStar Archivist Adept Nonda Toolippi and Adept Adien M’Ripon, says that “[Anton Marik] gave Joshua Wolf a mockery of a treason trial, then shot him and had the rest of the Dragoon staff killed.  The official version of events implies that Duke Marik himself killed Joshua Wolf, but Precentor Kristofur may have been responsible.” 

The Word of Blake commentary insert presents a counter-argument:  “There is only slim evidence implicating Precentor Kristofur in the death of Joshua Wolf.  Two eyewitnesses claim that he fired the shot that killed Wolf, but these individuals also died in the subsequent Dragoons’ raid.  All the ROM files related into the investigation of their deaths were accidentally deleted from the ComStar archives, so the truth may never be known.”  (Yes, “accidentally deleted.”  Oops.  Not suspicious at all.)  Amusingly, the Word of Blake commentary goes on to note that the Blakists issued the “Order of Kristofur” medal to outstanding ROM agents.)

It appears that Vesar and Anton are unaware that they also have Jaime’s wife and daughter (daughters?) among the dependents.  Otherwise, they’d probably have them front and center with guns to their heads as well, rather than relying just on Jaime’s affection for Joshua.

[Mendrugo]

----- 7 Days Later -----

Date: March 22, 3015

Location: New Delos

Title: The Memory of Pain

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  The Dragoons have returned to New Delos with a vengeance, and is now laying siege to Anton’s capital at Cienfuegos, raining artillery on Ducal Guard positions while Alpha and Gamma regiments are battering down Anton’s fixed fortifications.  Natasha’s company remains on standby three kilometers away, denied permission to engage.  Jaime’s Archer can be seen at the head of a battalion in the second echelon forces, waiting for a breakthrough to exploit.

Natasha is in a cold rage, because the 7th Kommando has confirmed that Anton Marik’s men executed the Dragoon dependents.  She vows to herself that Anton Marik will die for what he’s done.

Notes: The wording here implies that Jaime had two daughters with his wife Ellen – Brigit and one other (unnamed), plus his son Mackenzie (who remains safe on Second Chance).  It’s unclear how many actually died.  Natasha refers to “twenty-seven people remaining behind to oversee final disposition of Dragoon assets and the few medical cases that couldn’t be immediately moved,” but also refers to “nineteen dependents.”  Since the count of Dragoon personnel appears to be Joshua, Willard Andrews?, seven security troops, X administrative personnel, X wounded, and nineteen dependents, the total would be 28 + the admin people and wounded.  So the total killed must have been 46 (27 Dragoon personnel and 19 dependents).

In this scene of “The Memory of Pain,” Natasha appears to have been sidelined because of Jaime’s worries that she’ll do something rash because of her rage over Joshua.  However, the previous scene in the McKenna system had Jaime putting Natasha in overall command of the assault (implying that Jaime was pretty broken up by the news).  Perhaps Natasha lost it when she got the confirmation from the 7th Kommando that Joshua was dead, and Jaime sidelined her from operational command as a result.

[Scotty]

It occurs to me that 19 dependents, plus Joshua, plus seven security troops equals 27.  Given that 27 gets bandied about literally everywhere else, I'd be inclined to take it as the correct figure.

[Mendrugo]

It occurs to me that 19 dependents, plus Joshua, plus seven security troops equals 27.  Given that 27 gets bandied about literally everywhere else, I'd be inclined to take it as the correct figure.

But then what about the wounded troops and administrative staff?  They're servicemen/women, not dependents.

[Scotty]

Vocabulary drift?  I wouldn't call any of them "combatants" if they're too wounded to be moved off-planet, or administrative staff.  What's the opposite of combatants?

[Mendrugo]

When I think of "dependents," I think of spouses and children, rather than support staff.  On a military base, the guys "in the rear with the gear" are still part of the military organization, whereas spouses and children aren't. 

I agree with you that the count of 27 should be the canon figure, but Natasha's description of nineteen of the as "dependents" throws that into question, since the support staff and wounded generally aren't placed in that category.

[Scotty]

Well, perhaps it then falls to the distinction between Clan and Inner Sphere ways of thinking?  Administrators in Clan units that don't do fighting are very much... well, they don't happen very often.  I can see how to the Clan way of thinking, anyone not actively available to fight would be considered a "dependent".

Of course this is all to rationalize what's almost certainly a mistake by the author, but hey.  It's fun.

[Decoy]

It's Battletech. Dependents often served as squire /apprentices/ astechs/whathaveyous.

[Mendrugo]

----- 1 Day Later -----

Date: March 23, 3015

Location: New Delos

Title: The Memory of Pain

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  A day later, Jaime is near collapse as the Dragoon assault grinds on against Anton’s defenses.  At a staff meeting, Colonel Wilhelmina Korsht suggests a flanking maneuver with Beta Regiment, moving through the heavy forest to hit the walls from behind.  Major Blake reports that Marik has set fire to the entire forest, using napalm. 

Natasha requests permission to join the assault.  When he again denies her, she demands to speak to him in private.  Jaime admonishes Natasha that “this is not the 328th,” and tells her that he can’t let her throw herself at the walls of Cienfuegos and die trying to avenge Joshua.  Natasha offers to challenge him to a Clan-style Trial of Refusal right there.  He denies the challenge, as it would endanger “the mission.”  Natasha screams her throat raw in fury after he departs.

Notes:  The mention of “the 328th” is a reference to the name of Natasha’s former unit.  The Wolf Clan sourcebook notes that “She rapidly rose through the ranks of the Wolf Clan as a member of the 328th Assault Cluster, displaying such aggression and individuality that she became a favorite topic of discussion in the other Clans.”   The 328th Assault Cluster is nicknamed “The Lion-Hearted,” marking it as a direct descendant from the Star League’s 328th Royal BattleMech Division (part of 19th Army’s XLVI Corps). 

The unit doesn’t appear in the Clan Field Manuals, implying that it was wiped out either at Tukayyid or (more likely) during the Refusal War with the Jade Falcons.  In that case, the SLDF 328th Royal BattleMech Division actually outlasted their Clan descendants, since it’s probable that the crew of the temporally-displaced SLS Manassas, The Lionhearts, were part of the Lion-Hearted Division.  Even more interestingly, the Lionhearts (featured in Living Legends) were a Black Widow Company/Zeta Battalion-style penal unit full of hard-fighting headcases, thieves and malcontents.

[Wrangler]

Has Living Legends been confirmed to be canon event?  A temporally-displaced SLS Manassas, hasn't been appeared in the toumans of any of the Clans from the Field Manual: Updates to tWoR source books from what i have seen.

[Mendrugo]

Has Living Legends been confirmed to be canon event?  A temporally-displaced SLS Manassas, hasn't been appeared in the toumans of any of the Clans from the Field Manual: Updates to tWoR source books from what i have seen.

That's because the canon outcome of the adventure is the destruction of the Manassas by Clan Smoke Jaguar and the seizure of any surviving crew by ComStar.

[Frabby]

Has Living Legends been confirmed to be canon event?  A temporally-displaced SLS Manassas, hasn't been appeared in the toumans of any of the Clans from the Field Manual: Updates to tWoR source books from what i have seen.

It's a FASA product so it's canon. And like Mendrugo said, the adventure makes it quite clear that the SLS Masassas doesn't survive intact (if it does, against all odds or because the players blew the mission, then it will blow up anyways in yet another technical malfunction).

SLS Manassas