Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II

[Dubble_g]

The single thing that disappointed me most about the Warrior series is the lack of any sense of threat or danger. It's almost GI Joe in its one-sidedness.

I think one of the issues is the BT universe never really settled on any one "realism level", e.g.
Gritty: Nobody's good, nobody's bad, anyone can die at any time (Some Battlecorps stories, Robert Charette's novels, Game of Thrones, etc.)
Heroic: Protagonists are good guys, and rarely die unless dramatically appropriate. Bad guys may win a few battles, but lose in the end (William H Keith, Starship Troopers, Lord of the Rings)
Cinematic: Heroes are superhuman, the best at everything. They wipe the floor with everyone but the level boss, who they beat with a little effort (Stackpole, Star Wars except Rogue One maybe, X-Men)

I started BT with the introductory box set, which led me to expect a gritty setting. It also seemed to encourage you to identify with any one of the five main factions. Then the Warrior series came along and totally undid that. "You can like any faction so long as it's Davion."

So I think that's why I find the whole series so unreadable now.

Anyway

Isn't it odd in retrospect that the duels all take place between Mechs in the 50-60 ton range? They had to bend over backwards when they wrote the Solaris sourcebooks to explain how Noton could ever become champion in a Rifleman.

[Mendrugo]

Isn't it odd in retrospect that the duels all take place between Mechs in the 50-60 ton range? They had to bend over backwards when they wrote the Solaris sourcebooks to explain how Noton could ever become champion in a Rifleman.

Based on the Awesome vs. Victor fight on Pacifica, it seems that Stackpole's vision was that Assault 'Mechs were vanishingly rare and devastatingly powerful.  This impression was probably heavily influenced by the text in TRO:3025:

"Assault 'Mechs are the kings of the battlefield.  Although rare and often kept out of battle because of it, one assault 'Mech is usually equal to a whole lance of other 'Mechs . The well-designed assault 'Mech does not fear anything, and its physical attacks can, at the very least, cripple any target."

The few Goliaths that were operational quickly become the property of their pilots, and only a handful are still in service today.

Thus, the total number of Victors produced has been determined to be nearly 1000 . Many were lost during Kerensky's exodus from the Star League, and still more were lost during the First Succession War.

The Terran Hegemony manufactured more than 5,000 Banshees in the next ten years. About a third of these still exist.

Someone once calculated that if a battalion of Stinger 'Mechs engaged an Atlas, the Atlas would retire for repairs an hour later, leaving only one Stinger still able to move.

--------------------------------------------------

The Mercenary's Handbook later gave some hard numbers, estimating the ratios of Light/Medium/Heavy/Assault as 30/40/20/10.  Thus, most Arena battles are between Mediums, because most 'Mechs are Medium.  Plus, the more maneuverable Mediums can put on a show and get better ratings, rather than just reducing everything to a slugfest between 100-ton pillboxes.

[Mendrugo]

Date: March 20, 3027

Location: Galatea
 
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Don't Forget Your Thermal Underwear
 
Author: Tom Sloper
 
Type: Encounter
 
Synopsis: Veteran merc Larman Sholest tells Herras that he's heard that Wolf Glupper has been laying low on a planet with two large icebound areas, waiting for things to cool down. 

Notes: This hint triggers a mission in which the player's first "Your Dark Winger is in another castle" chain can end.  It's an interesting design decision not to name the world, but instead to give a vague description - ostensibly to reward players who had taken the time to marvel at the designer's work on earlier missions and could recall which world had the unique feature mentioned in the clue. 

In a game universe in which more than a trillion people live scattered across more than 3,000 worlds, it's astounding to me that so many of the interactions are framed as though everybody knows everybody else.  It costs money to send HPG messages.  Does Sholest have his own network of informants scattered around the Inner Sphere, like the Bounty Hunter?  How many of these lookouts draw paychecks from 100+ mercs every time they get a lead? 

All of Herras' time, and money, and missions - his recruiting of paid informants, his intercepts of intel communiques, and his first break in ten years comes when a casual acquaintance wanders over in a bar and drops the information, unbidden, in his lap. 

I watched the Truman Show a few nights ago, and my runthrough of the SNES MechWarrior adaptation makes me feel like outside forces (probably ComStar) are manipulating our player through carefully controlled leaks of information to produce "The Herras Show" for the entertainment of the First Circuit.

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 8, 3027

Location: Misery
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis:  Colonel Jaime Wolf congratulates Dechan Fraser on his promotion to Captain, and asks him to head a special team for a fast strike mission, to recover the contents of a supply cache before the 7th Crucis Lancers can seize it and re-equip themselves, following their recent raid on Misery.  Fraser accepts.

Wolf tells Fraser to configure his ‘Mechs for combat on the desert world of Udibi, and be ready to depart in a week under conditions of extreme secrecy.  Fraser asks if the mission will breach the unit’s Combine contract, and Wolf explains that it’s legal – all the Dragoons are doing is making arrangements to secure supplies, per the contract.  Since the Combine might not understand about the “crossing the border” element, Wolf wants that kept quiet.

Notes:  Fraser’s task force is to contain elements of all the Dragoon regiments, as a statement to the Combine.  This seems odd to me, since the secrecy associated with the run would somewhat preclude making a “statement.”  It seems more likely that Wolf has sent elements of all the regiments because the real purpose of the Udibi mission is to make contact with the Federated Suns and begin laying the groundwork for escaping the Combine to friendlier territory. 

During the briefing, Fraser notes that mercenaries have primarily comprised the Davion OpFor along the Combine border for the duration of their contract to date, making encounters with AFFS regulars rare.  He notes that AFFS troops have been moving along the border, striking, and then winding up elsewhere instead of returning to their bases, but doesn’t know why.  This is, of course, the outsider’s view of Operation GALAHAD ’27.  The odd thing is, House Davion announced GALAHAD ’26 and GALAHAD ’27 as large scale military preparedness exercises.  Why would Fraser be confused as to what was going on?  Davion’s master stroke was hiding his preparations for Operation RAT in plain sight, leaving the Kapteyn allies expecting GALAHAD ’28 when the sky (and a bazillion RCTs) suddenly came crashing down on them.

The fact that the Dragoons know of a previously unidentified cache in Davion space is yet another clue to the Dragoon origins.  As we now know, they arrived in the Inner Sphere with detailed records of the locations and dispositions of all the SLDF caches left behind during the EXODUS preparations.  There must have been one on Udibi that Wolf’s crew located, but (being freshly arrived), didn’t need to tap during their Davion contract.  Amusingly, though Udibi is just one jump from the Combine border (one from Thestria, two jumps from Misery), Wolf says it’s “quite a ways into Davion space.”

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 3, 3027

Location: Galatea
 
Title: SNES MechWarrior - A Garbled Note
 
Author: Tom Sloper
 
Type: Encounter
 
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from Zacapa having "taught Wolf Glupper a lesson he'll never forget," and vows to bring the remaining Dark Wing members to justice.  He finds not one, but two accidentally misdirected holovids in his inbox.  SAFE Agent Vermin Minter reports that Wolf Glupper was put "out of action" by an unknown assailant on Zacapa, who fled the scene immediately afterwards.  MIIO Agent Lana Mann tells her superior that the efforts by rogue mercenaries to disrupt the Kagran planetary government feels like it's part of a larger plot. 

Herras also gets a message from his paid informant, Roden Wull, who says a garbled note "just fell into his hands."  It includes the phrase "DWL Members" and the initials Z.S. and D.S.

Notes: Again, the "accidental" leads that find their way to Herras reach new heights of improbability.  In my first readthrough, I thought Herras had a network of informants feeding him data.  Instead, they rely on "holodisc someone left behind" and "compromised comm link" explanations.  Why couldn't Herras Ragen have spent part of the past ten years making contacts in SAFE and the MIIO to help him in his quest for justice?  That would have made so much more sense. 

Roden's intel, while it makes sense in the meta-game of helping the player identify the people on the initial cast of characters who will be his future targets, is laughable.  "You found a scrap of paper with illegible writing that has a pair of initials and the words 'DWL Members' on it?  What am I paying you for?!!!"  That's not actionable intel, it's an episode of Scooby Doo. Notably, the note lacks the initials Y.G. - since Gantor later manipulates Herras into working for him, it seems probable that Roden is feeding Herras intel directing his vengeance efforts towards the other two remaining Dark Wing members - possibly so Yerg Gantor can use Herras as a patsy to wipe out his former partners, so he can run the Mercenary Underground alone.

The question of what constitutes the "something larger" is never fully explained.  Yerg Gantor and the Dark Wing want to set up a Mercenary Underground to attack and destabilize worlds, mostly in the FedCom states.  But why?  Are they secretly working for the Kapteyn allies, with the hope of disrupting GALAHAD '27?  Or are they serving ComStar's ends by permanently discrediting independent mercs and those associated with the Mercenaries' Guild, allowing them to cement their monopoly on legitimate mercenary contract negotiations through the ComStar Mercenary Review Board?  And then, once the Merc Guild is discredited and nobody is willing to take a chance on a non-MRB mercenary contract, they manipulate Herras into killing Gantor and his lieutenants off, leaving their involvement untraceable?

I mean, nobody ever mentions ComStar, but they're the only ones who could be sending Herras so much information via "accidental" misdeliveries of classified intel field reports.

in addition, Herras "taught Wolf Glupper a lesson he will never forget."  So...is he dead?  Or did Herras swear vengeance on the people who killed his parents and sister, and then just slap him silly when they had their epic showdown?  Can a dead man learn a lesson?   

[Frabby]

The Udibi campaign may be the oldest BattleTech scenario ever. In the Battledroids rulebook, the Dragoons fought House Davion over a spare parts depot on "Mesa VII" in what is apparently the origin of this story; and The Fox's Teeth scenario pack contains Frank Woomack's troubles there. (I guess you'll come to the novelization of these events shortly.)

[Wrangler]

So that SNES scenario is actually from the old Battle Droids book?  I that old book/scenario considered still canon event? Since it's from a FASA book?

[Mendrugo]

So that SNES scenario is actually from the old Battle Droids book?  I that old book/scenario considered still canon event? Since it's from a FASA book?

Not the SNES scenario - the plot element from "Wolves on the Border"

[Mendrugo]

The Udibi campaign may be the oldest BattleTech scenario ever. In the Battledroids rulebook, the Dragoons fought House Davion over a spare parts depot on "Mesa VII" in what is apparently the origin of this story; and The Fox's Teeth scenario pack contains Frank Woomack's troubles there. (I guess you'll come to the novelization of these events shortly.)

Thanks for the context, Frabby.  I wonder if we can take that to imply that the star Udibi orbits is named Mesa, and Udibi is the 7th world out?

EDIT:  Hmmm, looking at the Mesa 7 setup, I'm not sure the Mesa 7/Udibi connection can be made.  Mesa 7 is referred to as a recently rediscovered world, and the Dragoons have "been there for quite some time."  By contrast, Udibi has been continuously inhabited since the 2300s, and in Federated Suns hands since 2808.  Plus, the Dragoons were there on an in/out raid, rather than guarding the base. 

I can agree that the Mesa 7 scenario certainly may have inspired the Udibi battle, but the details are significantly different.

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 10, 3027
 
Location: Tharkad

Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel

Synopsis:  The FSS Cougar lands at a military DropPort in Tharkad City in the middle of a blizzard, and its passengers, Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn, in full dress uniform, are greeted by Archon Katrina Steiner and Archon-Designate Melissa Arthur Steiner.  Melissa greets Ardan warmly.  Redburn feels very awkward in social situations, and confesses he feels more at home on the battlefield, where he can always shoot someone if he doesn’t know what else to do.  The Steiners laugh and escort their visitors to the royal palace.  In the hover limo, Melissa and the driver switch places, and the Archon introduces the driver as the real Melissa Steiner.

At the palace Sortek congratulates LIC Director Simon Johnson on Jeana’s transformation into an exact double for Melissa.  Jeana leaves through a secret passage behind a bookcase, and Melissa confesses feeling inadequate in Jeana’s presence – wondering if the older, more confident woman shouldn’t rule in her place.  She feels the lack of MechWarrior training, having been washed out of the academy program for being too skinny.  Redburn attempts to bolster her confidence by telling her she has what it takes to accept responsibility for her people.

The group proceeds into the Grand Ballroom, where the reception for the visitors from the Federated Suns is already in progress.  Katrina welcomes the attendees, including Duke Frederick Steiner, Duke Aldo Lestrade, and Baron Sefnes – Michael Hasek-Davion’s personal representative on Tharkad.  After the toast, the visitors mingle.  Redburn and Sefnes argue over Hasek-Davion’s treatment of Justin Xiang Allard, and Sefnes stuns Redburn with the news that Xiang has been doing his best to kill every Federated Suns pilot he faces.

Sortek introduces himself to Frederick Steiner and Aldo Lestrade.  Frederick complains about the scar by his right eye, and suggests that Sortek may still be suffering from psychological problems due to his experience on Stein’s Folly.  Lestrade intervenes, noting that he’s suffered as well, losing an arm and a leg to a Kurita raid, leaving him with awkward metal prosthetics.  Sortek comments how sorrowful Lestrade must have been that his father and all his elder siblings died, leaving him to inherit rule of Summer.  Lestrade comments that the Archon’s policies have left Skye wide open to Kurita depredations, despite Sortek’s comment that the Kell Hounds stand ready to fight fiercely in the Commonwealth’s defense.  Sortek tweaks Frederick and Lestrade by saying that their views on the need to protect the realm’s people align perfectly with the position of Hanse Davion.

Sortek and Redburn reunite with Melissa and her friend, Misha Auburn, and she invites them to dance, rather than get bogged down in political discussions.  Redburn and Auburn immediately hit it off, and make a date to enjoy winter sports the following day.

Notes:  Ardan notes that Melissa has grown lovelier in the “two years since we last met.”  That would imply their previous meeting was in 3025, which supports the theory that Sortek’s stay on Tharkad in “The Sword and the Dagger” was relatively brief, allowing the plot to be wrapped up by mid-year.   This statement is why I have the last scene on Tharkad in “The Sword and the Dagger” dated to April 10, 3025. 

Nonetheless, my guess is that Stackpole’s understanding of the Sword and the Dagger chronology at the time he wrote Warrior: En Garde is that Ardan was wounded on Stein’s Folly in mid-3025, spent months being shipped in cold sleep to Tharkad, spent months more recovering, and then began his return journey (awake this time) in late 3025 – which would also match Sortek’s “two years ago” statement, going by calendar dates, rather than the exact number of months. 

The greeting at the spaceport was clearly a field test of Jeana Clay’s ability to pass for Melissa with someone who knew her well.  It’s not a surprise that the physical transformation worked – we saw in “The Sword and the Dagger” that a detailed physical examination couldn’t tell the two Hanses apart (especially not with parties unknown swapping the impostor’s DNA into the official NAIS records).

Whuh?  Melissa was washed out of MechWarrior training because she was “too skinny,” and therefore seconded to infantry training?  How waif-thin is Melissa?  If Jeana is a perfect copy of her now, did they have to trim her down to size?  (Because Jeana was clearly not too skinny for MechWarrior training).  Plus – don’t infantry grunts have to heft rucksacks and go on thirty mile hikes with rocks in their packs?  I’d think “too skinny” would apply to the infantry far more than to the MechWarrior program. 

Frederick Steiner’s introduction in this scene places him firmly in the category of Aldo Lestrade’s nephew, Enrico – a minor player without a lot to recommend him.  While Enrico is gregarious and foolish, Frederick is standoffish and bitter.  Nothing can be seen of the man who will one day lead the Inner Sphere into battle against the Clans.  Lestrade is strongly signaled as a power-hungry schemer – one dangerous enough to have killed most of his own family (including, in theory, Enrico’s father, if Enrico Sr. was ahead of him in the line of succession) without leaving evidence of dirty deeds.

I’ve said my piece on the inconsistency regarding prosthetic technologies between various BattleTech products.  It seems that, compared to the rigid metal arm and limp-inducing metal peg-leg Duke Aldo Lestrade has, Justin’s functional hand is a technological leap. 

The presence of Sefnes at this high level event is fairly intriguing.  Michael Hasek-Davion is officially in charge of only the Capellan March, and yet he has holdings in the Crucis and Draconis Marches, gives orders to troops serving in the Draconis March, and has effectively sent a personal ambassador to the Lyran court.  Sortek and Redburn seem to take it entirely in stride.  I wonder if Aaron Sandoval has a representative here as well (off camera)?  Or the Duchy of Andurien, for that matter?

Lestrade’s complaints seem twenty years too late, since his angst over being left unprotected would seem to be left over from Archon Alessandro Steiner’s disastrous “concentrated weakness” strategy.  The House Steiner sourcebook places 13 front-line regiments guarding the Isle of Skye’s worlds circa 3025.  Though, perhaps he’s chafing at the fact that the (vastly larger) District of Donegal has 45 regiments for its defense. 

Misha was last seen presenting her analysis of Natasha Kerensky.  If you’ll recall, based on the timeline of the Dragoon service in the Combine, she was almost certainly interviewing one of Natasha’s body doubles.  It seems likely that she’s been entirely fooled by her friend Melissa’s as well.  It may run in the family – her father Thelos Auburn spent a lifetime chumming around with Cranston Snord, and only learned on his deathbed about Snord’s Clan origins.

[Dubble_g]

Thus, most Arena battles are between Mediums, because most 'Mechs are Medium.  Plus, the more maneuverable Mediums can put on a show and get better ratings, rather than just reducing everything to a slugfest between 100-ton pillboxes.

That's not the explanation given in the source material, no. When it came time to develop the Solaris VII box set the Player's Book fluff lists "historical" champions, who all drove Assault Mechs. This forced a retcon of Noton and his Rifleman, suggesting that (a) it was actually Assault weight class and (b) it was equipped with lostech. Makes Justin's final fight seem a lot less fair.

[Mendrugo]

The maneuverability = better show argument is actually from the announcer patter during Solaris VII matches in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries.

[Dubble_g]

Yes, the canonicity of the video games is a whole other can of worms isn't it?

[Wrangler]

I was thinking about Melissa. Is possible that she started MechWarrior training when she was very young teenager. Like 12ish?
Why i suggest this Battletech story was written when underage teenagers were becoming MechWarriors.  Maybe Melissa was not filled out by then, thus she became a infantry person.  Its possible that she given the training so she had something of a military education.

[Mendrugo]

Yes, the canonicity of the video games is a whole other can of worms isn't it?

They're all officially non-canon (with the explicit exception of the upcoming HBS game), with the caveat that you can assume something along the lines of the overall story arc happened insofar as it doesn't contradict core canon.  The details and story paths you experience during gameplay cannot be assumed to reflect the actual course of events in the BattleTech universe.

That being said, there are some that fit snugly within the confines of core canon (MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries; MechWarrior 3, MechCommander, MechCommander 2, elements of MechCommander 4, the Crescent Hawk games.). The MechAssault series strays farthest from canon.

For the purposes of this thread, I'm covering everything and trying to formulate explanations for how even the video game plots could be interpreted within established canon.

[Mendrugo]

I was thinking about Melissa. Is possible that she started MechWarrior training when she was very young teenager. Like 12ish?
Why i suggest this Battletech story was written when underage teenagers were becoming MechWarriors.  Maybe Melissa was not filled out by then, thus she became a infantry person.  Its possible that she given the training so she had something of a military education.

She was born in 3010.  Per FM: Lyran Alliance, every citizen undergoes aptitude testing during their childhood using exams that measure their physical, mental, and psychological abilities.  It sounds like Melissa's thin build somehow disqualified her for BattleMech piloting, so they shunted her into the Infantry branch.  (Perhaps they thought she'd slide around too much in the seat if there were several empty inches on either side, rather than there being a snug fit?  But those couches have to be somewhat adjustable...  There are plenty of examples of grossly fat MechWarriors still able to squeeze themselves into their cockpits.)

Since she's only 17 in this scene, most likely her assessment was when she was around 10-12, and she was given training in tactics, strategy, and command principles for infantry, rather than actually being asked to dig field latrines, march over hill and dale, and pull KP and midnight guard shift duty.  She was never expected to dive into a trench and fire an SRM at an oncoming 'Mech - but she was expected to know how to effectively command the professional troops who could.

[Dubble_g]

They're all officially non-canon (with the explicit exception of the upcoming HBS game), with the caveat that you can assume something along the lines of the overall story arc happened insofar as it doesn't contradict core canon.

Exactly my point. MW4's depiction of Solaris dueling is contradicted by the box set which, I realize I'm beating a horse that's joined the choir invisible at this stage, establishes that assault Mech champions are the norm, and then goes on to lampshade Noton's Rifleman by hinting it was non-standard.

Really didn't think this was a controversial point. Much like Thunder Rift's treatment of heat, Stackpole's treatment of dueling no longer sits well with the established canon.

Even disregarding that I mean, c'mon, a Rifleman? They look cool and all (probably why Stackpole chose it) but they're hardly the terror of the battlefield.

[Frabby]

Early FASA products - be they game supplementals or novels - were penned by a largish number of authors, and several continuity eddies or outright conflicts crept in. Most of these have been resolved in one way or the other.

Heat isn't one of these problems though. Depending on the ruleset, the heat scale acts very differently. You can get a notable heat spike from firing a medium laser under the old Solaris Dueling Rules, for example, and Battledroid rules handeld heat and heat sinks very differently, to the point where it was not unusual for even a bug 'Mech to suffer from heat woes.

As for Solaris and assault 'Mechs, yeah, there's been a power creep. In the beginning assault 'Mechs were scarce and notable. But as players loved them, they have become more and more common to the point of entire mercenary companies composed of Star League-era 'Mechs were shoehorned into the 3025 era in Combat Manual: Mercenaries.
Noton's Rifleman meanwhile remains an enigma, and I got the impression that TPTB are actually toying with the fans here and grooming that enigma with rumors (which I hasten to add I actually enjoy). It has been canonically established that Noton possessed and used several Riflemans, though if or how one of them was buffed (higher tonnage, better tech) we'll probably never know. It's been discussed in detail somewhere on this forum already, right down to him fielding an 85-ton FrankenMech with Rifleman parts put upon an unseen Longbow leg assembly and CT, with souped-up weapons and armor.

[Mendrugo]

A piece of canon fiction regarding how Noton won his championship, http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=27831.msg1237126#msg1237126 , shows that he won preliminary rounds againswith a stock Rifleman because the Assault pilots underestimated him.  The story hints that he uses an improved Rifleman of some sort to win the championship match.

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 11, 3027
 
Location: Tharkad

Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel

Synopsis: In the afternoon, Ardan Sortek visits Andrew Redburn's suite, where Redburn and Misha Auburn have retired after a morning of skiing, to collect Redburn for a briefing with Lyran Intelligence Corps Chancellor Simon Johnson.  Johnson informs Redburn that the Federated Commonwealth Treaty of 3022 contained a secret provision for Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner to be married on Terra on August 20, 3028.  He notes that Melissa has only met Hanse once, on Terra, when the treaty was signed, and has been communicating with Hanse only through Sortek.  The Steiners insist that Melissa travel to the Federated Suns to meet Hanse in person.  Jeana Clay will double as Melissa and join Sortek for inspections, while Redburn accompanies the real Melissa back to the Federated Suns. 

Later, in Melissa Steiner's quarters, she tells Jeana Clay that she will use the name Joana Barker as her pseudonym during her trip to Terra.  She says she chose the name from "Sweeney Todd," after his daughter.  Jeana says that the character in the story married a tall, handsome man and lived happily ever after, and chose it as an omen for her trip to meet her own future husband.

Notes: Johnson's concerns about the secrecy of the marriage clause seem valid (given the reaction it would create if the Kapteyn states learn of it before RAT was ready to launch), but since ComStar presided over the treaty signing, the entire First Circuit and a good portion of ROM certainly knows every detail.  I'm only surprised that the Combine was blindsided, given that Sharilar Mori was well placed in ROM by this point.

So, looking at the calendar, Melissa was 12 and Hanse was 39 when they met on Terra and when, per The Sword and the Dagger, he whispered "The starbird cries at night" to her while they danced.  (And, I can't help pointing out, when Hanse made a pass at Katrina.)  Though not really in keeping with 20th century mores, BattleTech is a neo-feudal setting, and looking back at that period, arranged marriages among dynasties frequently featured similar age differentials, though in medieval times 12 was the age of the actual marriage, rather than the engagement, so their waiting until Melissa turns 18 is comparatively progressive.

If Melissa was looking for a literary character to forecast her fate, Clytemnestra would have been a better cover identity. 

Johnson cautions Redburn to be careful to protect Jeana's identity while he spends time with Misha - noting that Jeana has successfully fooled the amateur historian so far, but says "the Auburns have an instinctive nose for conspiracy."  This is laughable, since Misha has been fooled by not one, but two impostors (fake Melissa and fake Natasha), and Thelos worked closely with Snord's Irregulars without ever suspecting anything about their origins.

Johnson's security precautions are designed, of course, to add drama to the climax of "En Garde."  Security through anonymity is all well and good, but Melissa is a widely known public figure with a recognizable face.  The Prince & the Pauper routine may not cut it in a sci-fi setting where there may be facial recognition analytical software.  Redburn's suggestion of sending her on a military DropShip crammed full of Richard's Panzer Brigade is a far more viable suggestion (with the huge exception that the Brigade's CO, Richard "Big Daddy" Whitman, is madly in love with Melissa, and if they'd gone with Redburn's suggestion, Melissa might have been abducted off into the Periphery for a shotgun wedding, and ended up as pirate queen of Antallos).

Hey, Hanse has a spare clone just hanging around, why doesn't he put him back on throne for a few months and come see Tharkad?  ^-^

[Wrangler]

Aren't the little loop holes in the logic of the story caused by the fact there were simply author could not have known about certain aspects of the universe since it was bit young (game itself)?   He would have to dumpster dive through all house books find out little tidbit facts about what little inklings that made characters of the universe so interesting.  Unless Stackpole was interviewed now how he wrote these books, i suspect he was writing from his own personal notes to come up with a good story.

The facial recognition analytical software would be interesting, so author would had to made some serious efforts overcome what / how tech worked. 

Personally the "it was 1980s" is the reason why things seem off at times. Were so used to what we have in this day age, forget how much we DIDN'T have back then.  The software was will experimental in the 1980s, i didn't hear of it until really came out of the MIT/Standford schools in the late 90s and early 2000s.

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 15, 3027
 
Location: Nashira

Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel

Synopsis: As Yorinaga Kurita reviews the 25 members of the newly formed Genyosha as they practice synchronized calisthenics, Sho-sa Tarukito Niiro informs him that ISF liaison Shinzei Abe has requested his presence.  The two walk together to Yorinaga's office, where they find Abe.  The room also hosts a bound and beaten prisoner, who stands and bows respectfully to Yorinaga.  Abe introduces the prisoner as Narimasa Asano, one of Yorinaga's comrades from the 2nd Sword of Light, who traveled to Nashira without permission, seeking to join the Genyosha.  Abe notes that Yorinaga's former associates were specifically excluded from the new Genyosha, and had Asano tortured on the assumption that he is a Davion or Steiner agent.  He requests Yorinaga's permission to execute Asano.

Asano explains that he learned of the Genyosha from unofficial sources, but respected Yorinaga so much, he knew he must try to join, even though he risked death.  He traveled undercover on commercial vessels and on yakuza ships, arriving on April 13, and has been tortured by Abe since then.  Abe justifies not informing Yorinaga on the grounds that he was hoping Asano's fellow conspirators might reveal themselves.  Tarukito scornfully reminds Abe that the Coordinator's orders to Abe were to ensure that all the Genyosha officers and men were totally devoted to Yorinaga, and points out that Asano's journey to Nashira proves he is exactly such a man.  Yorinaga signs orders inducting Asano into the Genyosha. 

Later, Asano thanks Tarukito as he settles into his new quarters, and receives his new Chu-i uniform.  They discuss the battle on Mallory's World, and Asano describes how he watched Morgan Kell's Archer vanish from his tactical displays, not registering on any scanner mode, but still visible through the canopy.  With Yorinaga's command lance members reduced in rank and scattered, he commanded only a single lance, and seriously considered seppuku when he was offered command of a Panther lance in service to Duke Ricol.  Only hearing about the formation of the Genyosha gave him the will to continue.

Yorinaga joins them, wearing kendo armor.  He hands a sheet of paper to Tarukito, who reads it with both horror and relief, and asks if he should transmit the news of Shinzei Abe's tragic death in a kendo accident immediately.  Yorinaga shakes his head as Shinzei Abe, also in kendo armor, impatiently demands Yorinaga join him for their kendo session, so he can conduct his afternoon meetings and his investigation into Asano. 

Notes: Stackpole's framing of this scene is very interesting - Yorinaga doesn't say a word in the entire chapter.  He nods, raises an eyebrow, makes curt hand gestures, and hands over notes.  Tarukito speaks for him, when exposition is required.  This is how Stackpole represents "ki" in Yorinaga's context.  An air of command, influencing the actions of others without touching them.  He forces Abe to kneel with just a gesture, despite Abe's clear disdain for him. 

Asano's description of the "Phantom 'Mech" effect apparently rejects William H. Keith's notion of the cockpit glass being purely cosmetic, while the pilots rely on viewscreens that compress the 360 degree view into a single digital display.  If the Archer disappeared from all sensors, but remained visible to the naked eye, Asano would have had to be looking through a bulletproof plastic or ferroglass viewport. 

There has been some speculation that Morgan achieved the effect using a LosTech doohickey he found during his travels in the Periphery with Arthur Luvon and Katrina Steiner (disguised as the "Red Corsair" pirate queen), since it was on that adventure that they found the Black Box at an abandoned Star League research station.  However, since Yorinaga proved able to replicate it through meditation, it appears to be a "ki" thing, which Morgan had, Yorinaga developed, and (apparently), Ian Davion also triggered during his rear-guard fight on Mallory's World.  Since, per "Guide to Covert Operations," "ki" superpowers are a thing within the game rules, this would also fall into that category - making "Phantom 'Mech" another "ki" grand master special effect.  Most recently, however, in "The Duel" Track from the Mallory's World Turning Points book, Morgan's special "powers" are codified as having extra Edge, Natural Grace, and Combat Intuition - a far weaker combo than what is described in the Kell Hound scenario pack, and not quite matching the "fading from sensors" effect described here.

(Capellans would be the best equipped to deal with it - artillery and minefields don't care about "ki" messing with targeting systems.)  The question arises - if Morgan knew he had this ability, why didn't they march him out and have him challenge the Clans for Trials of Possession for every Lyran world conquered in Operation REVIVAL?  He'd win every single combat effortlessly, and be able to roll back the Clan Invasion singlehandedly.  (He'd just have to deal with daily challenges from Nova Cats seeking to get their hands on him for their breeding program, since they'd go ga-ga for such a mystical effect.)

The Combine has something called the "art of vendetta," with descriptions of situations under which honor killings are permissible, as long as ritual is observed.  Yorinaga's murder of Abe appears to be following those strictures.  Without saying anything, just passing a note, he lets his loyal officers know that he is executing Abe for the depth of the dishonor and disrespect he displayed. 

In early BattleTech works, the Combine effectively has four archetypes - the noble samurai (Yorinaga, Tetsuhara, Asano, Noketsuna), the hidebound traditionalist (Satoh), the scheming manipulator (Takashi, Indrahar, Akuma) and the uncultured, brutal thug (Abe, Samsonov).  Theodore fits the "noble samurai" model, but is something of a mold breaker, being a visionary reformer, and good leader, as opposed to someone who rigidly adheres to ancient customs - keeping the honor, but not letting become a strait jacket that limits his options.

The mention of Duke Ricol and the Gray Death Legion is interesting.  The fighting on Verthandi ended in October 3026, and the first mention we have of the Genyosha is in a conversation between Takashi and Indrahar on December 1, 3026.  The way they describe it, the unit has already been authorized, but their envoy to retrieve Yorinaga to command it hasn't left yet.  With Ricol having pulled his troops off Verthandi in early 3026, it's unlikely that Asano was being offered a Panther lance command under Ricol to fight on Verthandi.  So, what was Ricol up to that made Tarukito assume he'd have been fighting the GDL if he had taken the slot?  Ricol's next appearance is saving the GDL on Helm in May 3028.  The next time we see Ricol is mid-3028's "Dance of Vengeance," which is just about Ricol recruiting a new henchman.  Asano makes note that he used yakuza ships to get to Nashira.  I wonder if he perceived that signing on to fight for Ricol would place him in service to a member of a shadowy underground conspiracy whose concept of what was best for the Combine would be far from the samurai ideal of honor. 

My guess is that, since Keith did not put dates in his novels, Stackpole wrote this line assuming that the Verthandi revolution storyline would still have been ongoing in early 3027, rather than having wrapped up in mid-3026.  We didn't get any official dates for Verthandi events until the release of the Gray Death Legion scenario pack. 

[Mendrugo]

Aren't the little loop holes in the logic of the story caused by the fact there were simply author could not have known about certain aspects of the universe since it was bit young (game itself)?   He would have to dumpster dive through all house books find out little tidbit facts about what little inklings that made characters of the universe so interesting.  Unless Stackpole was interviewed now how he wrote these books, i suspect he was writing from his own personal notes to come up with a good story.

The facial recognition analytical software would be interesting, so author would had to made some serious efforts overcome what / how tech worked. 

Personally the "it was 1980s" is the reason why things seem off at times. Were so used to what we have in this day age, forget how much we DIDN'T have back then.  The software was will experimental in the 1980s, i didn't hear of it until really came out of the MIT/Standford schools in the late 90s and early 2000s.

I'm not trying to criticize Stackpole for not forecasting future technological trends - but you're right - many of the decisions made are due to the "future of the Eighties" aspects.  He specifically names the Panzer Brigade, though, in Redburn's suggestion, and that was probably because the House Steiner sourcebook mentions a connection to Melissa (specifically that "Big Daddy" Whitman had the hots for her).  That could have produced some drama in and of itself.  "Hey, Big Daddy, here's a job for you.  Escort the lovely Archon Designate, whom you lust after, to hand her over to her foreign future (but not yet) husband.  And keep your hands to yourself while she's with you for a months-long journey surrounded by your loyal troops.  Happy trails."  There was a pretty small library of BattleTech products on the market at the time this was written - mostly just the five House books, a few novels, and some scenario packs, and it's clear that Stackpole mined the House books pretty heavily for details.

I mentioned the "facial recognition" because, as this story progresses, Melissa gets found out due to computer analysis that penetrates her pseudonym and identifies her instantly as a target of interest, partly based on biometric triggers.  Stackpole was aware enough of tech trends at that point to make it a plot element.  As we'll see, however, Simon Johnson had even more security breaches to worry about (in the SNES MechWarrior game storyline).

[Frabby]

Phantom 'Mech/Ki - Let's just agree to disagree on whether these are a supernatural thing in the BT universe, or simply a name for a perceived pattern that people want to see but cannot actually prove is really there (my take on the issue in the real world).

Takashi a schemer - Yes he is, yet as a character he also breaks the mold because he is, for lack of a better description, a noble schemer. Extremely smart, extremely on top of a boiling mess of intrigues, outsmarting Subash Indrahar, five district warlords, dear family like Marcus Kurita, and a score of sycopants on a daily basis while dealing with his rebellious son, all the while running a realm with strict adherence to his own honor code... you gotta respect the man. He may be monstrous sometimes, but he is never lets personal stuff get in the way of business. He is totally devoted to the Combine as he sees it, to the point of self-sacrifice. A key scene regarding Takashi's character, for me, was how he met Jaime Wolf during the Dragoon crisis. It genuinely hurt him to crush the Dragoons as he valued Wolf personally, but seeing how the damage was beyond repair already he still gave the orders and mused about how his position made him a solitary man who had to make hard choices.

Asano/Ricol timeline - News travel at the speed of plot. Remember how incredibly long it took for Takashi to receive word of the outcome of the Misery battle? Jaime Wolf actually overtook the news en route to the wedding on Terra. No wonder Takashi had heads rolling for this embarrassing snafu.
If Asano (a recurring minor character) was going by rumors and hearing things through the grapevine, some "temporal distortion" is to be expected, i.e. if his information is off by a few months then I don't see that as a problem.

PS: This thread is now at 54 pages. Shouldn't it be cut off on page 50 and branched off into a new thread?

[Mendrugo]

PS: This thread is now at 54 pages. Shouldn't it be cut off on page 50 and branched off into a new thread?

But just 5,000 more views and I take the title of 'most viewed thread' on the entire board from the "New Products" announcement thread!   ;D

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 15, 3027
 
Location: Pacifica (Chara III)

Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel

Synopsis: The Kell Hounds hone their skills with field simulation exercises, pitting Daniel Allard's scout lance against an OpFor represented by Ardan Sortek's Victor, now piloted by Patrick Kell.  The assault 'Mech scores first blood, jumping from the edge of the jungle and landing atop Baker's Jenner, finishing it with an AC/20 burst to the cockpit.  When Daniel tries to take the Victor from behind, it jumps up and guts the lighter Valkyrie with a single shot, coring its center torso and sending it crashing to the ground.  As the Victor straddles the Valkyrie, preparing to deliver the finishing blow, other Kell 'Mechs come to the rescue, blasting Patrick's 'Mech with a cloud of LRMs and lasers. 

At a staff meeting following the exercise, Patrick Kell, Salome Ward, Dan Allard, Seamus Fitzpatrick, Richard O'Cieran, and Cat Wilson discuss computer projections that suggest a company of Kurita Panthers remains on Pacifica.  O'Cieran notes that his infantry haven't found anything in Branson's Swamp, but cautions that the region is known as a haven for yakuza and other outlaws, even when Pacifica was under Combine control. 

Allard speculates that the hiding Combine company wasn't intended to be part of the earlier raid, which served as a diversion to allow this group to insert undetected.  Kell guesses that, with the main raid having been repulsed, the remaining Panthers will either be extracted or reinforced before they make a significant move beyond raiding agro-complexes.  Allard warns that if the Panthers attack, it will probably be aimed at Starpad.  As a precaution, Kell orders O'Cieran to arm his infantry with Inferno missiles, and for all personnel to carry sidearms, in case the base is attacked.

Kell nexts asks Allard how he plans to get technician Nick Jones offworld on the Intrepid despite his tour of duty not officially ending until after the ship is scheduled to depart.  Allard explains that he's rigged the base computers to skip May 25, and go from 24 to 26 - since official dates don't correspond to Pacifica's turbulent 14-hour days in any event.  The base computers will then record Jones' departure on the "correct" day, and he'll make his rendezvous with the Intrepid.

In a hidden bunker deep in Branson's Swamp, the Legion of Doom... (kidding) ...Sho-sa Akiie Kamekura reads through a computer display tapped into the Kell Hound communications system.  Technicians work to ready the Panthers in the bunker's 'Mech bays.  A comtech finds the information he seeks - the Karasu (aka Manannan MacLir) is due to return on April 17, and Ardan Sortek's Victor is due to be transshipped to the Tsunami at the jump point.  He confirms with his XO, Chu-i Bokuden Oguchi, that the Combine strikeforce is due to arrive in-system on May 25, and land on Pacifica on May 27.  The Panthers will strike three agricultural centers to draw the Kell Hounds away from their base, and then the strikeforce will attack them and destroy them in detail. 

Kamekura suggests attacking the Kell Hounds on the morning of May 26, bombing the barracks and slaughtering any MechWarriors that try to reach their machines.  Oguchi approves, anticipating the recapture of large amounts of stolen Combine equipment from the Hounds. 

Notes:  Wow, so it seems that all of the Hounds DropShips, circa 3027, are stolen DCS vessels.  The DCS Fukushu became the Nuada Argetlan, and now we have a reference that the DCS Karasu became the Manannan MacLir.  That leaves the DCS Bright Blossom to become the Lugh.

It shows a great level of trust for Ardan to have left his Victor with the Kell Hounds while he's on Tharkad.  Not that the trust isn't misplaced, but there does seem to be a kender-like tendency for other people's equipment to end up painted in Kell Hound colors.  I wonder if any Kells had to leave Ireland in a hurry, just ahead of cattle rustling charges.

The existence of a pre-existing bunker deep in the swamp equipped with 'Mech bays is quite interesting.  I wonder if it was built by the smugglers/pirates/yakuza of local legend, or if it dates back to the Star League civil war, when Emperor Amaris ordered his troops to build secret bunkers around the Hegemony and the Periphery from which to stage a generation-later counterattack in the event the Amaris Empire was defeated (as seen in "Last Stop").  The counterattack never materialized, but presumably many of the bunkers were built, and this seems like one.  We know there's a SLDF cache elsewhere on Pacifica (under a small island to the northwest of Branson's Swamp), so it's possible that they followed SLDF Castle Brian protocols, and put outlying facilities (like this bunker) out on the periphery of the main cache (SLDF Castle Brians usually had four lesser "outpost" Castles guarding approaches to the north, south, east, and west, as geographically appropriate).  Or, it could be that both the SLDF and Amaris built bunkers on Pacifica, independently.  The yakuza/pirates etc. probably found this bunker at some point and used it as a base of operations, leading to its becoming known to the Combine.  It's also very interesting that the bunker has an existing data tap into the Kell Hound computer system.  It's hard to conceive that an antiquated bunker would be tied into recently installed computers, so there are probably un-turned ISF assets still at large in Starpad who spliced the raiders in.

It's odd that the Hounds would state that Pacifica was retaken from the Draconis Combine.  None of the historical maps ever show the Combine in control of the world.  It could be that it fell briefly during one of the Succession Wars, but was retaken before the end, thus the ownership change would not be reflected on the maps.  The most likely period this could have happened would be during the Combine's major offensive into the Skye region, when it laid siege to Skye itself.  The counterattack that forced it off Skye could also have retaken Pacifica.

Regarding Dubble_g's earlier comment about the protagonists of the Warrior series never facing any serious threat, here we see again that the Combine ambush is being set up to be foiled by pure dumb luck, due to the decision to screw with the base's calendar settings to help out the retiring technician.  Fate itself has stacked the deck against the antagonists.   

[Mendrugo]

Date: April 16, 3027

Location: Galatea
 
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Mercenary Infighting
 
Author: Tom Sloper
 
Type: Encounter
 
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from putting down a mercenary uprising on Kagran, and checks out the NewsNet.  The first story is that Lyran Intelligence Corps Chancellor Simon Johnson has briefed Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn on the plan for Melissa Steiner to visit her future husband, Hanse Davion, in the Federated Suns.  The second story is that widespread reports of infighting among mercenaries have been filtering in. 

Maitre'd Cearle Jamist asks if Herras has seen the latest NewsNet story, and comments that the Houses are trying to crack down on mercenary misbehavior.  He gives Herras a tip on a mercenary gathering on Drena.  Larman Sholest joins the conversation, and says not to listen to Cearle, who isn't always right.  He recommends taking a planetary assault misssion.

Notes: And my head a'splode.  Simon Johnson's top secret briefing, in which he mentions that only a handful of people know about the secret marriage clause, and charges Andrew Redburn with delivering Melissa to New Avalon under conditions of utmost secrecy...has just been broadcast in the open on NewsNet.  In-universe, this has got to be ComStar messing with Herras - leaking top secret info to see what he does.  Amazingly, instead of falling off his barstool with the news that his barely legal princess is going to wed foreign potentate Hanse Davion, Cearle focuses on the mercenary story. 

The developers of the SNES MechWarrior story are to be commended for their efforts to tie the game into the main storyline - citing key touchpoints from Warrior: En Garde.  But they just grabbed a few key scenes, without stopping for a moment to think whether the event in question would ever be reported on NewsNet.  An actual NewsNet story like that, given Commonwealth-wide distribution, would point out a massive breach in LIC security, cause riots in the streets when the marriage clause was revealed, probably drive the Kapteyn Accord allies into closer and more effective cooperation, and almost certainly scuttle the planned visit to the Federated Suns, since operational security has clearly been massively breached.  I mean, "NewsNet: Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn Attend Reception on Tharkad, hosted by Archon Katrina Steiner" would have been fine, and put both the timing and current situation in context.  Instead, it breaks the fourth wall - clearly a shout out to the book using a reference that could never have made it on the air in-universe.

Stories of infighting among mercenaries raises the question - is this bands of mercenaries ostensibly working for the same employer fighting each other, or are individual commands being ripped apart?  The methodology, if clarified, would point more clearly to exactly what the Mercenary Underground is trying to achieve. 

[Dubble_g]

I give Stackpole a hard time (the action scenes remind me of nothing so much as the old GI Joe cartoon) but at least the Japanese is more or less correct.

The only one who is obviously Chinese or Korean and trying to pass for Japanese is Tarukito Niiro, whose name is almost right but he's stuck a "ro" on the end of it. Coincidentally Shinzei Abe has almost the same name as Japan's current PM, Shinzo Abe. What else did Stackpole foresee?!?!

On the topic, here's what some prominent names mean:
Kurita: Chestnut Field (sounds a bit rustic in Japanese. Is the family overcompensating for something?) The interior artist of the original House Kurita handbook sadly spelled it "Kurisu" on all their uniforms. Long live House Chris!
Tetsuhara: Iron Plain (hence Minobu is called the iron man by his troops)
Akuma: Devil/demon (not a real last name-a nickname?)
Satoh: one of the most common surnames. Help Wisteria is as close as I can get to translating.
Asano: Shallow Field
Oguchi: probably Tail Mouth
Kamekura: Turtle Storehouse (possibly due to its shape rather than the large number of turtles stored there)
Noketsuna: meaningless string of syllables
Mori: Forest

[Frabby]

With a centuries-long history of trying to merge Japanese and Swedish of all languages into "Swedenese" in the Combine, you can handwave pretty much anything. Pulp fiction-style made up names and name changes to more proper-sounding names (e.g. Hayes to Tetsuhara) are a real thing in-universe. At least that'd explain pun names like Loren Coleman's Capellans. Or the apparently German origins of the cave city names on Niomede in Karma.

[Dubble_g]

The amount of hand waving required is proportional to the amount you know or care about the language, I guess.

I think one of the fundamental points a lot of the writers didn't grasp is that in Japanese meaning and pronounciation are inextricably linked. To take an example from the Kurita handbook, "Kitabatake" means north farm; "Kitabake" (the name used in the book) means north blahblahblah, because there is no character that can be read "bake" in Japanese.

Fantasy names of course are a thing, provided they're identifiable as names. Lord Toranaga, from Clavell's novel "Shogun" works as a name, because it has a clear meaning: tiger-forever. Jerry Akuma you can also let slide since it's a clear wink to the informed reader. "Kitabake" or "Shotugama" or "Utsonomiya" grate because there's no point or meaning to it.

As I said earlier in the thread the explanation that requires the least hand-waving is probably, that like Minobu's ancestor Hayes, other families also adopted Japanese-sounding names, but didn't do their research. Of course, this also implies written Japanese has largely been abandoned, since a lot of these names can't be written in Japanese.