Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars  (Read 480626 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #30 on: 30 March 2013, 23:05:09 »
----- 2 Years Later -----

Date: September 1  – December 31, 2794
 
Location: Eden

Title: Fall From Glory

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  At the Eden Academy, Instructor Andery Kerensky introduces a fresh class of cadets in basic riflemanship.  One of his most outspoken students is 22 year-old Dana Kufahl, Andery’s future lover.  Some of the cadets question the need to prepare for war if there aren’t any enemies to fight.  Andery says that the SLDF-in-exile must be prepared to deal with crime, and for any other unexpected contingencies that may arise.

Later, he talks with fellow instructor Paula Zinkski.  She commiserates with Andery over the commandant’s repeated denials of his transfer requests.  Andery resolves to give up his hope for a transfer, and concentrate on getting through the life Nicholas has pushed him into.

New Year’s Eve finds him partying with his students in the recently dedicated Cameron Park, surrounded by statues of members of House Cameron, trying to slam down some of Samuel Helmer’s moonshine made from local plants.  Helmer’s aristocratic attitude grated on Andery from the start of the term, and Samuel continues to show disrespect.  Dana, on the other hand, flirts with him, and the thoughts he entertains make him feel like a lecher (due to the student/teacher relationship and the five-year age difference).  Dana disappears into the crowd as Windham Khatib approaches.  The future Cloud Cobra advises Andery to pursue the relationship.   As the new year begins, Andery resolves to take control of his own destiny, rather than dancing to Nicholas’ tune.

Notes:  Dana Kufahl goes on to become the Khan of Clan Coyote, but suffers a mental collapse into crippling depression after Andery dies on Eden during KLONDIKE, and goes into a self-imposed exile.  Interestingly, she is stated to have regular visions which give her “unique insight and intuition into future events.”  She was orphaned when Amaris forces killed her resistance-fighter parents on Terra during the occupation, and she was adopted by the “Spirit of the Coyote” tribe in the North American deserts.  She makes Major by 2802 – fairly impressive to go from Cadet to Major in six years.  Kufahl is also given credit for creating the tenets of zellbrigen.

Samuel Helmer goes on to become part of Clan Jade Falcon.  His brew may be the prototype of the modern Clan fusionnaire – “a blend so volatile that only warriors as defiant as freeborns would place it near their lips.”

There are twelve statues in Cameron Park: Michael, Margaret, Raymond, Brian, Judith, Richard, Jacob, and Ian, among others.  (Not named, but probably there are Theodore, Elizabeth, Deborah, and Joseph – between Jacob and Ian).  Interestingly, for a park at the center of the capital of the Star League-in-exile, all the statues in the park (except Ian) are of pre-Star League Director Generals of the Terran Hegemony.  One would think that, as the “Star League-in-Exile,” they’d want to focus more on the First Lords of the Star League, rather than leaders associated with just one of the League’s member states.  (When the ethnic militias start to form, Hegemony enclaves rank along with Commonwealth, Combine, Confederation and the rest.  This sort of blatant Hegemony favoritism may have been the sort of thing that added fuel to the separatist movement.)
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:08:42 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #31 on: 31 March 2013, 23:13:22 »
----- 3 Months Later -----

Date: March 18-21, 2795 [See Notes]

Location: Eden

Title: Fall From Glory

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Despite his promise to change his destiny, Andery remains an instructor at Eden Academy.  He’s accepted a bet from Helmer and his cronies to face them in a one-on-four battle in the BattleMech simulator pods.  Dana comes to wish him luck, and it appears that Andery still hasn’t made any moves towards elevating his relationship with her over the past three months.  She makes the first move, kissing Andery and telling him to remember who he is.  He renews his resolve to get a transfer, if for no other reason than to remove the “student/teacher non-fraternization” barrier to their relationship.

In the simulator, Andery’s Exterminator faces off against Helmer and his lancemates.  Helmer taunts Andery that his position at the Academy and in Star League-in-Exile society come solely due to his family name.  In a rage, Andery tears the cadet’s Thug apart , and even disables his sim-pod by tearing the joystick out of the command console.

Three days later, Andery reflects on the simulator exercise results – fear and anger from the cadets, rather than respect.  He feels that his entire life has been lived according to his family name, circumstances, or his brother’s manipulations.  He resolves to stop reacting and start acting, beginning by scaling the exterior wall of Dana’s dormitory for a late night rendezvous.  “Diplomatic negotiations” ensue…  ^-^

Notes:  Despite referring to the New Year’s party in the past tense, the published datestamp on this section is also 2794.  I’m assuming it’s just a typo (and that the official chronology for this and the prior section is 2794-2795, rather than 2793-2794) because Dana Kufahl was born in November 2772, making her 21 in September 2794 – about the right age to start at the academy.  The actual dates don’t really matter, as long as they don’t put the two sections on top of each other.

Despite his fears that he’s not getting through to the cadets, he notes that they’re beginning to emulate his use of “Aff” in place of “yes,” transforming his childhood slang into chic vernacular.  Andery’s displeasure with Helmer’s disrespectful contractions also presages further lexical changes in local vernacular.  However, this clearly doesn't become universal throughout the Clans until well into the Golden Century.  Blaine Pardoe's "Betrayal of Ideals" has characters ending questions with "Question Affirmative?" rather than "Quiaff?"

I'm seeing a trend here that, with one exception, the Thug-class BattleMech is a "bad guy" 'Mech, due primarily to its name.  Vincent MacLaren (TDF) rams one with his nuke-tank when defending Electra against the SLDF in the Reunification War.  Aleksandr Kerensky battled a ronin Thug on Paris.  A RWR Thug attacks SLDF Exodus foragers during their stopover on Gutara V.  Brutal "kill-'em-all" samurai Tai-i Aiko Makita runs a Thug against a noble/idealistic Sentinel pilot on Hesperus II.  Andery's Exterminator takes one down with prejudice in a sim-battle in this scene.  And, as we'll see later in "Betrayal of Ideals," a Wolverine Pulverizer smokes a Wolf Thug in a politically motivated Trial.  The only time Thugs have been shown as the protagonist ride was in "An Ill-Made House," where the entire SLDF company was so-equipped - and it's possible to argue that the Star League wasn't on the side of right during the events leading up to the Periphery Uprising.
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:12:07 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Dragon Cat

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #32 on: 01 April 2013, 04:39:07 »
You make references to Clan society? Surely this is still Star League in Exile? As they are still on the Pentagon Worlds
My three main Alternate Timeline with Thanks fan-fiction threads are in the links below. I'm always open to suggestions or additions to be incorporated so if you feel you wish to add something feel free. There's non-canon units, equipment, people, events, erm... Solar Systems spread throughout so please enjoy

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Decoy

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #33 on: 01 April 2013, 04:41:32 »
The Thug's pretty much an optimized design, as far as 80 tonners go. If the opponent has one, then it's going to be a tough fight.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #34 on: 01 April 2013, 06:37:44 »
Second time I've done that.  Fixed.

Regarding the Thug, I'm totally in agreement with you when it's a scenario, and the stats are relevant for creating a challenge.  However, since the fiction generally doesn't get into the blow-by-blow of an entire battle, I think the Thug has frequently been chosen as a shorthand for characterizing the pilot.  Since there often isn't the narrative space to flesh out the background, motivations, personality, etc. of the enemy pilot, just putting them in a Thug is a quick way of saying "He's the bad guy."

Stats aside, when an author puts Pillagers, Marauders, Brigands, and Black Knights on one side, and Champions, Sentinels, Excaliburs, Lancelots and Galahads on the other side, which are you supposed to be rooting for?  Granted, most 'Mech names are fairly neutral on this scale, but I think the Thug has been an author favorite for antagonists because of what the name says about the pilot inside. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Wrangler

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #35 on: 01 April 2013, 09:24:55 »
Brigands?????? Thats a 3067 era Mech, thats big typo.
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Dragon Cat

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #36 on: 01 April 2013, 10:22:00 »
The Mechs above I'd vote with the bad guys nice designs there but you're largely correct going back as far as Decision at Thunder Rift there's a trend of authors picking Mechs that sound nasty name wise Duke Ricol the "bid guy" piloting a Marauder.  But that's really a topic for another time
My three main Alternate Timeline with Thanks fan-fiction threads are in the links below. I'm always open to suggestions or additions to be incorporated so if you feel you wish to add something feel free. There's non-canon units, equipment, people, events, erm... Solar Systems spread throughout so please enjoy

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,20515.0.html - Part 1

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,52013.0.html - Part 2

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,79196.0.html - Part 3

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #37 on: 01 April 2013, 11:22:15 »
Brigands?????? Thats a 3067 era Mech, thats big typo.

For the example above, I wasn't going by era - just naming conventions. 
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Jaim Magnus

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #38 on: 01 April 2013, 15:01:51 »
You also swapped Helmer for Hazen.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #39 on: 01 April 2013, 15:48:51 »
You also swapped Helmer for Hazen.

Fixed.  Should be Helmer throughout.  Thanks.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #40 on: 01 April 2013, 23:12:04 »
----- 1 Year Later -----

Date: July 1, 2796

Location: Eden

Title: Fall From Glory

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Andery and Dana attend a memorial service for Katyusha Kerensky, three weeks after her passing from the Curse of Eden.  Aleksandr and Nicholas are also present, and the group is surrounded by what Andery estimates to be half a million people.  Andery reflects on his family’s dysfunction – his mother’s estrangement from both her husband and children, and the fact that Andery hasn’t seen Aleksandr for years.   Andery observes that Aleksandr seems very old, and that he appears to be a shell of his former self since arriving in the Pentagon cluster.

Nicholas berates Andery for having brought Dana to the memorial, framing it as a sign of weakness.  Andery wonders if Nicholas’ temper is a result of his own brush with the Curse of Eden, six years earlier.  Andery quails, but Dana stands up to Nicholas, displaying empathy and steel in equal measure, earning Nicholas’ respect.

Dana shares her assessment of Nicholas with Andery – he’s seen Aleksandr’s sorrow when those close to him died or betrayed him, and he has cut himself from such attachments, intending to remain strong by standing alone and choosing the path of least pain.

Notes:  Historical: Operation KLONDIKE  notes that Katyusha Kerensky died on June 9th, falling victim to the “Curse of Eden,” the same brain fever that Nicholas had contracted in 2790.  The writeup for Eden in The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky notes that the pathogen that causes the disease remains a part of the ecosystem, and that visitors must be inoculated.  The graveyard is described as filled with tombstones, implying that the Curse and other challenges encountered in the years spent mastering Eden’s environs took a grim toll on the settlers.  (The official death toll estimate for entire Exodus population during the colonization period is about 60,000.)

Andery sees the assembled multitudes as a sign of the authority, love and respect commanded by General Kerensky, and speculates that they would undertake any task the General chose to set them to.  Yet Kerensky sets no tasks.  Thus, the upcoming Pentagon Civil War can be viewed as a failure in leadership.  H:OK has Karen Nagasawa musing that “the idle and content mind is one prone to suggestion and to discord.”  Had Kerensky thrown his people en-masse into the colonization of the Kerensky Cluster, he could potentially forestalled the collapse of the Star League-in-exile.

It's interesting that Nicholas responds positively to Dana Kufahl standing up to him.  She evidently doesn't continue in that trend, since her bio in KLONDIKE says she becomes one of his most strident supporters.  Nicholas' paramour, Jes Cole/Jennifer Winson, seems to be following his orders exactly, though she clearly defied her "aunt" in Moscow who told her not to get mixed up with "Kolya."  When Sarah McEvedy defies him post-KLONDIKE, he manipulates events to lead to the destruction of her entire Clan (though, granted, he admits he admires her spirit, but says it's leading his Clans in a direction he doesn't approve).
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:15:13 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Decoy

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #41 on: 02 April 2013, 00:46:16 »
To be one's supporter doesn't mean to be one's brainless and spineless lackey. Here, Dana's just presented herself as someone who could tell him that he's full of it in a way Nicholas could take. That's not a bad person to have around.


Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #42 on: 02 April 2013, 05:20:46 »
To be one's supporter doesn't mean to be one's brainless and spineless lackey. Here, Dana's just presented herself as someone who could tell him that he's full of it in a way Nicholas could take. That's not a bad person to have around.

She's by no means a brainless/spineless lackey.  But she definitely transitions from telling Andery he should stand up to Nicholas and let him know he's full of it to ignoring a vision that possibly presaged Andery's death if KLONDIKE continued along the course set by Nicholas.  She also goes from questioning why the Star League-in-Exile should prepare for war without an enemy to fight, to withholding her support on the battlefield when there was an enemy to fight and letting several Sea Foxes (including their Khan) die because they didn't slavishly follow Nicholas' preferred combat doctrine.  I think resolving these contradictions ("How could I get so sucked into Nicholas' personal magnetism that I let Andery die?" etc.) may have been what led to her emotional collapse and self exile. 

The key difference (which, lacking the German ClanGrunder sequel to "Fall From Glory," we don't see) is that in "Fall From Glory," Andery supports Nicholas while Dana stands up to him, and later (per KLONDIKE) Andery stands up to Nicholas while Dana supports him.

I have no clue what Randall actually planned for the arc of the ClanGrunder series, but seeing Nicholas' overall pattern of self-serving plausibly deniable manipulations (Sun Tzu approves!  O0 ), I honestly wouldn't be suprised if the final novel was intended to end with Dana killing Andery on Nicholas' orders, and blaming it on Levic Ascendancy troops.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Decoy

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #43 on: 02 April 2013, 06:59:25 »
On one hand, what would you have her do? Bend heaven and earth to get to Eden and abandon her Coyotes on Babylon? Or take her Coyotes with her and make them complicit as well, in addition to making Babylon more of a mess than it already was?

I don't think that's going to fly anywhere. See how far the Novacats get when acting on their visions. The only thing that Dana could've done was perhaps beat the Smoke Jaguars. Even then, that might not be useful.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #44 on: 02 April 2013, 16:08:10 »
On one hand, what would you have her do? Bend heaven and earth to get to Eden and abandon her Coyotes on Babylon? Or take her Coyotes with her and make them complicit as well, in addition to making Babylon more of a mess than it already was?

I don't think that's going to fly anywhere. See how far the Novacats get when acting on their visions. The only thing that Dana could've done was perhaps beat the Smoke Jaguars. Even then, that might not be useful.

The wording in the story makes it clear that, whatever the validity of the vision, she interpreted it as a premonition of Andery's death, but nonetheless recommits herself to carrying out Nicholas' orders, no matter what.  With an attitude like that, you get an almost irresistable (to a BattleTech author) setup for a character's internal conflict between love and loyalty.  H:OK notes that Dana's increasingly dogmatic support of Nicholas caused a number of arguments between her and Andery during the Strana Mechty years, so it seems there was a track record of her having sided with Nicholas over Andery once Andery grew a spine.

Now, the timing for Dana having been involved in Andery's death has some problems - he dies on Eden in late 2821, and Dana's Coyotes were still engaged in combat operations on Babylon until April-ish 2822.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #45 on: 02 April 2013, 23:34:04 »
----- 3 Months Later -----

Date: October 22-28, 2796 [See Notes]

Location: Kentares IV

Title: Broken Sword, Wounded Dragon

Author: Edward McEneely

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Tai-sa Tokutaka Ito commands a Rasalhague Regulars infantry detachment, sweeping a farming district for any survivors.  He notes the wear and tear the extermination effort is placing on both men and equipment – the general issue swords are losing their edges and breaking, while suicides are on the rise.  In addition to ground sweeps, the DCMS is utilizing satellite imagery and recon aircraft.  On August [October] 26th, his unit uncovers a cave that had sheltered hundreds of civilian survivors, gunning them down as they make a last, desperate charge.  Despite receiving a congratulatory haiku from the Coordinator, Tokutaka is worried that some of his soldiers have begun asking atonement from their enemies, or going mad.

Within Tokutaka’s operational area, Father Connolly attempts to carry on the work of the Church of St. Augustine on Kentares IV.  Rumors of horrible massacres taking place elsewhere on the planet have reached his ears, and large numbers of Catholic Rasalhagians have come to him seeking absolution for their sins.  It is for this sole purpose (in the interests of troop morale and combat effectiveness) that Tokutaka has allowed him to live.  Unbeknownst to the DCMS, a handful of Kentarean survivors and an AFFS MechWarrior (Leftenant Smalls, a former Javelin pilot with the 7th Crucis Lancers who was left behind when she was shot out of her ‘Mech fighting a rearguard action during the retreat offworld) are hiding in the crypts under Father Connolly’s church.

Tai-sa Tokutaka returns to Father Connelly’s church and accuses him of having poisoned the minds of his soldiers by driving them mad with guilt and preventing them from doing their duty as samurai.  Pushed too far, Connelly tells Tokutaka that God knows that they are sinning, and that duty to God overrides duty to any officer, king, or other man.  During the argument, Tokutaka discovers the entrance to the crypts and fires through the trapdoor, exchanging fire with Lt. Smalls.  The Kuritan loses an ear, but kills the AFFS trooper. 

Connelly kneels by her corpse to grant absolution.  Tokutaka comments that she died honorably, in battle, as a soldier should, and demands to know if there are others.  Connelly, having palmed Smalls’ pistol, informs Tokutaka that he’ll never know.

Notes:  It’s interesting that Lt. Smalls speaks reverently about her pistol as a “Star League model” and “not cheap knockoff stuff you see now.”  It’s only been twelve years since the Exodus, and given the rampant stockpiling done by the Great Houses from 2760 onward, one would assume that tech-shortages wouldn’t be an issue just yet.  Granted, she does refer to it as “Terran-built,” and those would have been largely off the market since the Coup (now nearly 30 years past).

According to Handbook: House Davion, Coordinator Minoru Kurita died on August 9th, 2796, and his son Jinjiro ordered the massacre on September 11, 2796.  The massacre ran for five months, through February 15, 2797. The Kurita SB notes that it was in the second month of the massacre that military discipline began to waver.  Thus, the date for this story should probably be October 22-28, rather than the dates given (August 22-28), which would have the massacre taking place before Jinjiro ordered it.  Of course, hard facts for the massacre have been somewhat loose since the beginning.  The Wasp entry in TRO:3025 says that the massacre started in April 2796, and the Javelin entry says that it was the 2nd Crucis Lancers fighting on Kentares in March 2796, rather than the 7th.  Most likely, Mr. McEneely based his story date on the April-September 2796 timeframe implied in the Wasp TRO:3025 entry or the vague “late summer” reference in the House Kurita sourcebook.

In 2009, BattleCorps posted a powerful series in its news section  – the Kentares Massacre Journals.  Presented as a diary unearthed in 3072, it chronicles the final months of a small band of survivors on Kentares IV who take refuge in an abandoned mine.  Some try to fight back, and die.  Some try to negotiate their surrender, and die.  Some go to scavenge for food and come across poisoned caches left by the DCMS.  Whole cities are bombed into rubble, with the schools and hospitals saved for last.  Those in the mine begin to die from dysentery, once the water purification tablets run out.  Starvation also takes its toll.  Finally, a DCMS ‘Mech finds the hideout and collapses the entrance.  As the air gets thick, the remaining survivors consume the last of their supplies, write the final journal entry, and then commit suicide en masse.

Hiding underground seems to have been a common tactic for those that survived (understandable, given the use of satellites and aerial recon).  Ten families survived after DCMS Talon Sergeant Tarna Oza forced them into a mine and then blocked it with her ‘Mech for 20 days.  Other survivors were let go by remorseful DCMS troops, or survived by following in the wake of the sweep teams, trying to stay a step behind them (though how these latter groups avoided the satellites and aerial recon, I don’t know).  Not all the DCMS troops were remorseful, however.  TRO:3025 recounts that First Sword of Light Wasps practiced systematic butchery in hard-to-evacuate high-density population centers, including hospitals and high-rise apartment buildings, backed by “waves of Jenners and other fast ‘Mechs.”
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:26:32 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

russtarvin

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #46 on: 03 April 2013, 15:21:03 »
Thank you for all of this.  Your analysis of the stories and the history is very well done. Again thanks.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #47 on: 04 April 2013, 05:20:26 »
----- 1 Week Later -----

Date: November 6, 2796 [See Notes]

Location: Kentares IV

Title: Echoes of Disgrace

Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Tai-i Junshi Ukawa is a senior officer among the DCMS forces assigned to carry out Coordinator Jinjiro Kurita’s orders to “Kill them all” on Kentares IV.  He’s arrived in an isolated town in the Carmelite mountains where advance teams have already rounded up the populace and set them kneeling in three even rows to await their execution – men, women and children.  Master Sergeant Kuzmin, a sadist who appears to be enjoying the massacre, hands Ukawa with a needler – reveling in Ukawa’s discomfort.

Ukawa was pleased to do his duty to the Dragon in the fight against Davion soldiers, but his warrior’s sense of honor is becoming increasingly damaged by killing helpless civilians.  He almost wishes the townsfolk would rise up and try to escape or overwhelm their captors, so that his killings would be in a fight, rather than just executions.  In his mind, he attempts to dehumanize the enemy, and proceeds with his duty mechanically.

Ukawa snaps as a young girl begs for him to spare her five-year old brother, throwing herself in front of his shot in an attempt to save his life.  He orders his men to spare the children.  Master Sergeant Kuzmin reminds him of Jinjiro’s orders, and draws his weapon, intending to force Ukawa to continue the executions.  Ukawa turns and shoots Kuzmin first, and is then tackled by the other men of the execution squad.  He hears the sounds of the remaining townsfolk being gunned down, and knows that his gesture was both pointless and personally ruinous.

Notes:  The date given for this story is November 6, 2797.  However, Handbook House Davion says the massacre ran from September 2796 to February 2797, so November 2797 is a bit late for Ukawa to be gunning down Kentarean civilians.  Changing it to November 2796 fits the canon timeline.

The story setting is given as “Unnamed Town” in the Carmelite Mountains, but the only named location in the Carmelite Mountains of Kentares IV is New Snowfield, so this may be that settlement or another one nearby.  New Snowfield was, of course, where an AFFS sniper killed Coordinator Minoru Kurita, triggering the Kentares Massacre.  (Though, perhaps putting the venue as “Unnamed Town” was an intentional choice to help convey Ukawa’s POV, where he’s trying as much as possible to dehumanize the people he’s been ordered to massacre.  He doesn’t know the town’s name, and he doesn’t want to know.  Naming a place makes it real, which is something he can’t handle in his current emotional state.)

Junshi’s not the first DCMS soldier to reject the massacre of civilians.  Just a week earlier (based on adjusted dates), Tai-sa Tokutaka Ito reported problems with his troops committing suicide or asking their victims for atonement.  This may be one of the first cases of a DCMS officer being involved in a Kentares-related fragging incident, however.
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:32:31 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #48 on: 04 April 2013, 08:53:06 »
Thank you for all of this.  Your analysis of the stories and the history is very well done. Again thanks.

You're welcome.  I'm having a great time doing it, and am learning a lot of new things about the BattleTech universe in the process of doing the cross-referencing and background research.

Lots of BattleTech fans just play the game and remain largely unaware of the rich backstory.  I've spent years amassing the sourcebooks and fiction pieces (just need Scrye #88 to complete the collection with Herbert Beas' "Another Day on the Firing Line," since Mike Stackpole's GEnie-hosted story about young Nelson Geist, which he plugged in the foreword of one of his novels, appears to have vanished into the aether), but I'm well aware that most people have just read the novels and some of the core sourcebooks.  I wanted to provide a sort of "Cliff's Notes" (Mendrugo's Notes?) for BattleTech fiction to raise awareness of the backstory and where each piece fits into the overall centuries-long narrative.

If my writeup for a particular piece piques your interest, I heartily advocate dropping a few bucks and getting the full piece at the BattleShop at www.battlecorps.com.  (Totally self serving - if BattleCorps gets more money, they'll put out more fiction for me to read and review.   O0)
« Last Edit: 04 April 2013, 08:59:32 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #50 on: 04 April 2013, 13:27:29 »
Nelson Geist story

I've got that one, but is it the same "young Nelson" story that Stackpole was plugging?  That one was apparently integrated into the manual for the online BattleTech game on GEnie.  Did Stackpole just repurpose the text for the "Ghost of Christmas Present" story?
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

russtarvin

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #51 on: 04 April 2013, 15:57:08 »
The rich backstory is the only reason I still buy Battletech.  I personally have collected it for over 20 years.  Books and magazines not minis. Jihad has hit me pretty hard as all the things I grew to love have been either beat like a seal or destroyed, but I am moving thru my levels of grief and coming to terms with the epic story that the Jihad is.  Your reviews are helping me rekindle that fire and get me back into the history.  I appreciate your work, thanks.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #52 on: 04 April 2013, 16:56:13 »
The rich backstory is the only reason I still buy Battletech.  I personally have collected it for over 20 years.  Books and magazines not minis. Jihad has hit me pretty hard as all the things I grew to love have been either beat like a seal or destroyed, but I am moving thru my levels of grief and coming to terms with the epic story that the Jihad is.  Your reviews are helping me rekindle that fire and get me back into the history.  I appreciate your work, thanks.

I must admit I'm largely the same the story got me into BattleTech, the start of the Jihad and the format annoyed me.  But as it continued I enjoyed the Jihad more and more.
My three main Alternate Timeline with Thanks fan-fiction threads are in the links below. I'm always open to suggestions or additions to be incorporated so if you feel you wish to add something feel free. There's non-canon units, equipment, people, events, erm... Solar Systems spread throughout so please enjoy

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,20515.0.html - Part 1

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,52013.0.html - Part 2

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,79196.0.html - Part 3

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #53 on: 05 April 2013, 05:49:09 »
----- 4 Years Later -----

Date: November 8-28, 2800

Location: Eden

Title: Fall From Glory

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Andery continues to teach at Eden Military Academy.  The teacher/student fraternization issue was solved by Dana’s early graduation, but it’s resulted in physical separation as she’s been assigned to Admiral McKenna’s explorer corps in the Kerensky Cluster.
 
Two MPs – Lieutenants Hardy and Tillmook, approach Andery as his last class of the day lets out.  They ask about his whereabouts the previous evening.  His friend, Major General James Carson, is a suspect in a murder that took place at Castle Brian IV, which may be connected to incidents of military equipment being smuggled out of the cache.  The MPs tell Andery that one of Carson’s former soldiers was arrested after a demonstration in favor of forming planetary militias got out of hand.  (The individual arrested was Jill [aka Jes Cole], whom Andery met briefly back in 2788, after she’d washed out of the testing.)  The MPs suspect that the demonstrations were intended as a distraction to cover the theft of armaments.

A few weeks later, Andery meets Windham at the Java House café.  They note university students passing by, holding placards showing support for Unity and Federation – a political movement calling for the military governorship to be abolished and replaced with elected civilian leadership – increasingly popular among civilians hailing from the Federated Suns.  Andery tells Windham that he’s seen graffiti in Little Cathay (the Capellan sector of Novy Moscva) , which shows the Chinese ideograms for “It has failed.”

Even as Windham dismisses it as childish pranks, two rival protest marches (one Davion, one Liao) crash into each other and quickly degenerate into a violent mob.  Andery and Windham help the café staff to barricade the doors and windows.  Given Nicholas’ role in triggering the Prinz Eugen revolt, Andery wonders whether his brother has had a hand in starting this new spate of violence.

Notes:  Various sources give different explanations for the rising inter-ethnic tensions.  Some claim that there were food shortages.  Others, that there were shortages of longed-for luxury goods.  Another theory is that it was the very success of the colonies that doomed them, as people became prosperous enough to focus on things beyond the daily struggle for survival. 

Of course, if a highly placed, mentally disturbed individual were intent on helping things along in order to create a “controllable catastrophe,” that would also be plausible.  My personal theory (based on Randall’s writings) is that Nicholas felt threatened by the calls for an elected civilian leadership, and manipulated the Davion/Liao tensions to create a flashpoint.  He gets credit from the Clans for having ended the Exodus Civil War, but it appears that he may have started it as a way to so shell-shock the survivors that they would unquestioningly accept his sovereignty.
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:36:11 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #54 on: 05 April 2013, 14:04:09 »
Just found this thread and I like it. How far are you planning to go with this? 3025?

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #55 on: 05 April 2013, 14:44:14 »
Just found this thread and I like it. How far are you planning to go with this? 3025?

Each thread corresponds to one of Catalyst's designated Eras for BattleTech.  (Age of War, Star League, Succession Wars, Clan Invasion, Civil War, Jihad, Dark Age)  So, this thread will take us up to 3049, or thereabouts.  Once we get the Clan foundation and Wolverine annihilation out of the way, there's actually fairly slim pickings for the 2nd and 3rd Succession Wars.  I think there's enough material for the Succession Wars that this thread will continue until at least the end of 2013, putting up one scene per day.
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #56 on: 06 April 2013, 04:50:22 »
----- 1 Month Later -----

Date: January 1, 2801

Location: Eden

Title: Fall From Glory

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)

Synopsis:  Following the Little Cathay riots, Andery confronts his father at the Star League government building.  Aleksandr has withdrawn from contact with society since Katyusha’s funeral, and his lack of leadership is destabilizing the society that formed around his cult of personality.  Nicholas and the command staff of his 146th Division have disappeared. 

Seeing Aleksandr wallowing in bitterness and depression, Andery demands to be returned to active duty, and his confused father grants his request (he didn't even know Andery was an instructor at the Academy).  As per his usual style, Kerensky attempts to justify his inaction by quoting Russian philosophers – Pushkin, in this case.  Andery responds with another quote that Aleksandr dismisses as being unrealistically optimistic.  As he leaves, Andery tells Aleksandr that the words were, in fact, Aleks’ own.

Notes:  This short scene covers a fair amount of ground.  It confirms that Nicholas has been the real power behind the throne for years, and that he’s been manipulating Andery in Aleksandr’s name without their father’s knowledge.  Nicholas’ disappearance, in conjunction with the looting of a Brian Cache and the outbreak of riots (due to two rival demonstrations being “accidentally” routed into each other) leads me to believe that Nicholas had been laying the seeds for his Second Exodus for quite some time, and applied the same rationalization to civil unrest on the Pentagon worlds as he did to the unrest aboard the Exodus Fleet – artificially ramp up the problem to create a flashpoint under controllable conditions, allowing him to prepare and take actions that will leave him in a stronger position afterwards, having stolen a march on any potential rivals.

The dueling quotes tie in the serial’s name, “Fall from Glory,” to Aleksandr’s personal condition.  He’s no longer the intellectual pacifist and reluctant warrior of “Destiny’s Call,” the passionate tactician of “Way of the Champion,” or the implacable and stern military commander of “Living Legends” and “Hard Justice.”  His spirit has been broken by the collapse of the Star League, the loss of his wife, and the unraveling of his attempt at a fresh start.  Andery’s use of his own words, spoken in better days, illustrates the General’s personal fall from glory, to a point all he wants is for it all to finally be over, and for his burden to be lifted from him at last.
« Last Edit: 30 April 2013, 17:37:48 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #57 on: 06 April 2013, 05:26:14 »
Reading your breakdown of "Fall of Glory" really makes me wish that Randall had finished that trilogy; I doubt he ever will, now.


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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #58 on: 06 April 2013, 06:20:56 »
Reading your breakdown of "Fall of Glory" really makes me wish that Randall had finished that trilogy; I doubt he ever will, now.

I'm working ahead, so I'm now putting together commentary on the tail end of "Betrayal of Ideals," and both that story and the various KLONDIKE short stories all keep referencing Andery's role as Nicholas' conscience.  Since he only starts to stand up for himself (thereby earning Nicholas' respect) at the end of "Fall From Glory," there was clearly a major character arc planned for Andery, which we don't get to see play out.  Herb did indicate that, since book #2 is written and published in German, there's a chance it'll be serialized on BattleCorps, albeit "when Randall gets to it."  (So probably not before Interstellar Operations comes out.)
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #59 on: 06 April 2013, 07:07:17 »
More i read the Fall of Glory. More hate Nikolas Kerensky, no wonder Star League-In-Exile fell in the first place.
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