Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars  (Read 480689 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1230 on: 18 July 2016, 11:51:01 »
Date: March 3025

Location: Dustball

Title: Delivery on Dustball

Author: Peter Fokos

Type: Computer Game

Synopsis:  While traversing the entire length of the Draconis Combine with a package of contraband glued to his stomach, Gideon caches up on the news.  A report dated November 1, 3024 notes that anti-Combine rebels on Verthandi are making significant advances with the rumored support of the Gray Death Legion. 

On Albiero, the Combine mining firm Matabushi Incorporated's CEO, Duke Ishi Tahiro, announces the creation of an "elite team of specialists" to serve as troubleshooters for problems that may arise throughout the organization. 

Back on Ander's Moon, the Senior Council has to deal with a huge budget deficit, while the McBrin clan lobbies for relaxation of environmental laws.  The McBrins also host a meeting to build support for their new business policies, though Vandenberg supporters (including several major companies) refuse to attend, declaring the meeting a "rubber stamp committee" for the McBrins' organized takeover of the economy.

When Gideon finally arrives on Dustball, he is met by a man named Brown, who removes the pseudo-flesh, then pulls a laser pistol and tells Gideon Griez gave him orders to kill the young mercenary.  The laser is, however, no match for Gideon's kung fu style, and Gideon is only wounded in the arm.  At that moment, the contraband pouch explodes to release poison gas, forcing both Gideon and Brown to flee outside. 

Furious that Griez tried to kill him along with Gideon, Brown tells Gideon that Griez didn't want him to know about the smuggling JumpShip Stone Arrow.

Asking around at the nearest bar, Gideon find out that the Stone Arrow has made port at Dustball before, and is captained by Willard Puritan, aka "Kangaroo Jack."  The bartender has heard that Willard has a brother named Wendall who serves with Smithson's Chinese Bandits on Lesnovo.

Notes:  Sooooooo much plot armor...  If Grig just wanted Gideon dead, why not kill him on Delacruz, or smear contact poison on the inside of the synthflesh so he'd die in transit?  If he wanted Brown dead (for entirely separate reasons), why not put C8 into the packet instead of poison gas?  Why not contract the Malthus family and put out a hit?

Does Brown actually not know anything about the Dark Wing?  Why not give Gideon the full readout on them, rather than just a cryptic mention of a JumpShip name.

Gideon goes into full Bruce Lee mode, with "muscles honed for battle" allowing him to knock the laser pistol aside with a spinning "Dragon Whips Tail" kick.  Again, the game's bread and butter is the 'Mech simulator, but the out-of-cockpit action could have supported mini-fighting games all by themselves.

The news reports lay a lot of narrative pipe, setting up the Dark Wing's cover as "roving troubleshooters" for Matabushi and explaining the sinister motivations of Clan McBrin (We want more money, which we can exchange for goods and services.  Bwa ha ha ha ha!)

The date of November 1, 3024 for the GDL leading the Verthandian rebels to victory is more than a year too early, given that the events described better match the December 3025 - March 3026 timeframe.  (The GDL scenario pack puts the prisoner rescue mission on December 4, 3025, and dates the arrival of the GDL in the Norn system to October 25, 3025).
« Last Edit: 18 July 2016, 19:25:37 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 #1231 on: 18 July 2016, 12:19:24 »
Date: June 3025

Location: Lesnovo

Title: Brotherly Love, Or Lack Thereof

Author: Peter Fokos

Type: Computer Game

Synopsis:  Gideon tracks down Wendall Puritan on Lesnovo, where he pilots an SCP-1N Scorpion for the mercenary unit.  He and Gideon talk shop about 'Mechs for a while, then Gideon raises the issue of his brother, Willard.  Wendall hates his brother, and, figuring Gideon for an assassin, directs him to Okefenokee. 

On the walk back from the Bandits' compound, Gideon passes through a run down industrial center, past a vehicle lot where ten Saladin tanks are parked.  A sniper fires a gyroslug, narrowly missing Gideon as the tank platoon's guards return fire. 

Notes:  The location the game gives you for Wendall Puritan varies each playthrough.  Since the Chinese Bandits are, per canon, based on Lesnovo in 3025, it makes the most sense to use that as the location for the writeup.

Puritan's Scorpion is somewhat unique.  It has a PPC and SRM-6, but the author clearly wanted to do something with the weapon-like projections on the sides that are functional in the Dougram - Fang of the Sun show, but aren't used in the BattleTech conversion.  Fokos describes them as a SperryBrowning machine gun and twin auto-load heavy mortars.  Puritan notes that he's made a lot of modifications, and describes his 'Mech as "one of the last of her kind."  Per the TRO:3025 readout, we know this is because the design is terrible, with a well-deserved poor reputation.

The attack near the tanks is an opportunity for the player to do the wrong thing (if Gideon starts shooting back, he gets targeted and killed - the attacker was after the FWL troops, not Gideon).  My guess is that it was an effort to showcase the internal conflicts that were the FWL's primary personality trait in the early days. A news report from the following day identifies the tanks as belonging to the 5th Armored Rangers.  My guess is that it's part of the Lesnovo Static Defense Unit (the planetary garrison).

The distances involved make suspension of disbelief hard to manage when it comes to the Stone Arrow's routes.  It brought the Dark Wing across the Combine/FedSuns border to Ander's Moon.  It regularly smuggles goods across the FedSuns/Combine border, and makes port calls on the Lyran/Combine border (at Dustball)...and visits Okefenokee on the Taurian/FedSuns border often enough for Kangaroo Jack to have a woman there.  Whom he sees once every decade? 

In the Black Thorns books, the JumpShip captain makes a good point that running a ship is expensive, and she has to leave Jeremiah and his crew so she can get paying work hauling cargo when the Black Thorns aren't making raids.  (Hey, Jeremiah - I got a shipment of those red speedos you like...)  How is Kangaroo Jack making any money on these long-haul routes?  Does Grig/Matabushi just have him on retainer?
« Last Edit: 18 July 2016, 12:29:28 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 #1232 on: 18 July 2016, 14:02:47 »
Date: August 15, 3017

Location: Solaris VII

Title: Story of the Legend-Killer

Author: Randall N. Bills

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  In the second-to-last round of the Solaris Championship finals, Gray Noton takes his Rifleman into battle against Hoftsteder's Victor in a battle fought in the Steiner Coliseum. 

Gray keeps the battle at long range, playing to the Rifleman's strengths and the Victor's lack of long-range weaponry.  As the warrior from Fitzhugh Stables launches his assault 'Mech into the air on its jump jets, hoping to close to effective range, Gray tracks it and cripples its leg with amazingly accurate laser and autocannon fire, causing the limb to collapse when the Victor lands.

Gray reflects that he's been constantly underestimated, even after winning the championship and the name "Legend-Killer" in the 3016 championships. 

As he walks off the arena floor, Gray muses "Wait 'till my other Rifleman is ready.  Then I'll really own this world."

Notes:  A background note on the Rifleman design follows, noting that the RFL-3N went into widespread production for the SLDF.  It notes that Noton won championships from 3016-3022, reigning as undefeated champion for seven years. 

Amusingly, it also references rumors (raised here in the design forums from time to time) that Noton's "Legend-Killer" Rifleman must have been substantially modified, and perhaps upgraded with LosTech, in order for him to consistently win against 'Mechs that should have been able to easily defeat a standard RFL-3N.

Gray's internal monologue would seem to support this theory, since he anticipates his "other Rifleman" will have superior performance to the standard 3N he uses to beat Hoftsteder.

Given the Rifleman-3N's design flaws, the best upgrades Noton would be able to give, assuming access to LosTech, would be double heat sinks (the 3N overheats at the drop of a hat), ER Large Lasers in place of the regular Large Lasers, an XL engine (same speed but more weight available for the upgraded weapons), and Ultra-5 autocannons.  It would be very easy to underestimate the Rifleman, assuming it will have paper thin armor and overheating problems.  (It would also be easy to underestimate the Rifleman if you'd ever fought variants like the ones deployed by House Marik - four AC/5s with four shots of ammo.)

It's interesting that the championships are already at the final stages so early in the season - August 3017.  The Solaris VII boxed set indicates that the dates for the events can move around from year to year, but that they're usually held in the latter part of the year.  3017 must have been a year for unusual scheduling. 

Gray Noton is a major character from Warrior: En Garde, and even plays the role of mentor for Justian Xiang-Allard as he enters the games and earns his own place in Valhalla.  This short story introduces the idea that he previously served as a mercenary in the Periphery, where he was rumored to have found a LosTech cache.

This piece was written by Randall Bills for the MechWarrior Online website, and it has been confirmed to be canon fiction.
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 14:49:49 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.

Frabby

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1233 on: 18 July 2016, 15:13:54 »
Grig Griez is portrayed as an underworld kingpin of considerable power. The weird part is not the amount of control or knowledge he has (given that he works with Matabushi and their Dark Wing corporate hitmen as well as Kangaroo Jack who is a smuggler across at least three interstellar realms) - the weird part is that Gideon can meet him face-to-face after only a few months, especially when Griez could and should have used middle men. I think it's quite clear that Griez had something special in mind for Gideon that involved getting killed on Dustball, hence the courier mission.

Wendall Puritan, Kangaroo Jack's brother, is an extended cameo for a notable Scorpion pilot from TRO:3025.
While the gyroslug carbine didn't seem to make much sense, I had the distinct impression that the attack was in fact targeted at Gideon and simply didn't cause much of a ruckus because the news falsely figured it was aimed at the Saladin garages of the local FWL garrison (kind of the inverted mirror image argument of what you propose).

As for the locations in the MechWarrior game, some are randomized but not all, and there's always only a small number of candidates (between 2 and 4) for the exact world in question. I played the game several times on PC and noted down the worlds. Land's End is set as the place where Gideon is tipped off to Griez's whereabouts, as is Dustball as the destination of his courier mission. Lesnovo makes sense to assume due to other canonical information, and the MIIO raid against Matabushi invariably takes place on their established HQ world of Albiero.

I've covered the different possible locales to the best of my abilities in the game's writeup on Sarna. Edit: Turns out I misremembered; I simply left the exact world open wherever it isn't a specific location.
« Last Edit: 18 July 2016, 16:09:05 by Frabby »
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1234 on: 18 July 2016, 15:38:50 »
I had not realized that Wendall was a Notable Pilot.  Cool, thanks Frabby.

I'm still not sure about the Lesnovo attacker.  He fires another two shots after Gideon takes cover, but it's not specified what he's shooting at.  (He hits brick.)  From a storyline perspective, it makes sense that Gideon is the target, heightening the sense of danger.  However, if Gideon tries to shoot back, he gets killed, whereas if he runs, he lives.  To me, this implies that the attacker may not have been trying to get Gideon until/unless he becomes a threat by opening fire.  The scene is vaguely enough written for either viewpoint to be argued. 

Still, having the resources to call a hit in on Gideon on Lesnovo would imply an astounding foreknowledge of Gideon's movements and the ability to arrange assassination attempts all the way on the other side of the Inner Sphere.  Grig Griez may be a top notch smuggler in the Outworlds/FedSuns/Combine tri-corner area, but what pull does he have way out in Lesnovo?  Is there an InterGang in the Inner Sphere, with various gangs trading favors?  (There is an over-arching Yakuza organization, headed by the boss-of-bosses, in the Combine, but they seem to be a special case.  The various Capellan tongs and organized crime groups in the other Successor States go after each other on a regular basis.)

Griez's plan to have Gideon carry a capsule of poison gas all the way to Dustball and then have him killed by laser pistol, followed by having the killer die by the poison gas, seems way too convoluted.  Brown must have betrayed him somehow, and Griez must have some sort of "Saw" mentality for putting people in ironic deathtraps.  Any proper villain would note several key failures per the Evil Overlord checklist.  (The 'barely restrained violence' guy should have just decapitated Gideon on Land's End.)
"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 #1235 on: 19 July 2016, 12:17:34 »
Date: December 12, 2850

Location: Luthien

Title: Karma

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Coordinator Yoguchi Kurita returns to Luthien aboard his Leopard DropShip, accompanied by his command lancemates Karl Pettersen, Hachiko Osaki, and Jackson O'Connell.  The close comrades banter during the rough landing, mentioning Roweena Kurita and her People's Reconstruction Effort power base, and other aspects of court intrigue and power politics.  When one of his aides cautions him against unbuckling before the ship has landed, he laughs it off, saying that the kami that kept him from dying on Tishomingo would not kill him just as he returns to safety in Imperial City.

Roweena Kurita greets her older brother as his lance's battered 'Mechs arrive at the Imperial Palace, making a stark contrast behind her elaborate dress and rigid adherence to protocol, while Yoguchi and his lancemates are scruffy, bruised, and stained.  The Coordinator thanks Roweena for the timely arrival of her troops on Tishomingo. 

Yoguchi sees ISF Director Malcom Katsuyori watching, and thinks back to his lancemates' gossip that Roweena is sleeping with him.  He berates her for having usurped the power of the Coordinator instead of supporting the proper chain of succession, and questions her loyalty, and that of the ISF.  He instructs her to summon the High Command to plan a retaliatory strike against House Davion.

In Unity Palace, Yoguchi is greeted by his favorite courtesan, Snow Fire, whom he obtained at a Rasalhague ukiyo in 2848.  Over drinks, they discuss Roweena's activities during the months he was trapped on Tishomingo.

Once Yoguchi falls asleep, Snow Fire, aka "Denise" fetches a polymer knife and a unit insignia from the Fourth Royal Guards, and raises her knife to murder the sleeping Coordinator in retaliation for his son's annihilation of the 4th, per orders from "mother."

Notes:  On the ship, Yoguchi refers to Tsingtao, but this is probably a typo, since he was trapped on Tishomingo.  (Tsingtao is a Capellan world.)

The Snow Fire legend has had numerous versions, but this (being prose fiction, rather than a sourcebook) appears to be the definitive account. 

The Combine, embarrassed, put out the story that Yoguchi was killed while heroically fighting a team of assassins.  House Davion tried to take credit, with the story that she was assisted by a Davion agent codenamed "The Footman," but he/she doesn't make an appearance here, unless he was the head of the ISF.

Laurent Infomedia, a Free Worlds League publisher of popular conspiracy-theory books, put out a new edition in 3067 alleging that Snow Fire was a SAFE agent who put the 4th Guards patch on Yoguchi as a means of misdirection.  (So...motive is long-delayed retaliation for Helm, maybe?)  Since Denise thinks of her dead true love who was a soldier in the 4th Guards, the alleged SAFE ties (also mentioned in Handbook: House Marik) are clearly hokum.

The timeline for Snow Fire's mission in "Karma" doesn't exactly match the various accounts.  Here, she appears to have caught the Coordinator's eye immediately and become his lover in 2848, whereas official accounts suggest she was brought to Imperial Palace by a member of Yoguchi's staff and gradually worked her way up to increased prominence and the Coordinator's personal attentions.

What's nice about this story is that it takes the time, in seven short pages, to build Yoguchi's character.  He has friends and foes, has to deal with palace intrigue, matters of state, family politics, and personal feelings. 

He's definitely not set up as a villain whose death we should celebrate.  He recognizes that his son Hugai (the one who wiped out the 4th Guards and forced its captured commander to beat his own younger brother to death, unaware who it was he was fighting) is a monster, and feels for the millions of Combine civilians on Tishomingo who died to keep him from being captured by the Federated Suns. 

Even Snow Fire acknowledges that he's not a bad guy, but carries out her orders as instructed.  In fact, all things considered, Yoguchi is a much better ruler than Denise's own Archon (who gave her the "kill" order), the recently deceased Claudius Steiner, who is rumored to have been poisoned by his own family members when they couldn't stand his fondness for torturing people with LosTech medical devices any more.  (Today, we're going to try out this device we call...Mister Thingy!)
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 14:57:10 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 #1236 on: 19 July 2016, 12:58:13 »
Date: October 8, 2855

Location: Tukayyid

Title: Lady of Steel

Author: Alan Brudage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Chu-i Henrietta Nashur of the First An Ting Legion attends a briefing from Sho-sa Donal Oyelami, a veteran officer with many years of experience on the Davion front, who is now commanding the Combine invasion of the valuable Lyran agricultural world of Tukayyid. 

With the defending Tenth Lyran Guard scattered into small units hiding across the face of the planet, Oyelami orders some of his troops to split off into recon lances and patrol overlapping corridors, while the rest of the invasion force moves deeper into the Lyran Commonwealth interior. 

Henrietta's commander, Tai-i Giam Nichols, informs her that her lance will begin its sweep in the region around Ollalu.  Henrietta is eager to be done with the mopping up, so she can face real opposition on the field of battle once more.

Notes:  The 1st An Ting is a cypher, with Field Manual: DCMS noting that the First was disbanded and its equipment was reallocated to other units late in the Second Succession War.  The An Ting Legions overall were formed during the rebuilding period after the First Succession War, so the Second War is pretty much it for the First Legion.

Tukayyid itself was colonized by the Azami, but there's no concrete evidence that it was ever formally a part of the Azami Brotherhood, and it didn't become part of the Combine at the same time the rest of the Azami worlds were annexed.
"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 #1237 on: 19 July 2016, 13:37:17 »
Date: October 31, 2855

Location: Tukayyid

Title: Lady of Steel

Author: Alan Brudage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  After three weeks of fruitless patrols, Henrietta's Tetsuko lance (Henrietta's Hunchback, Durant's Panther, Stakis' Panther, and Zataki's Jenner) is bored and frustrated.  At a forward position in the vicinity of Devil's Bath, they track a Lyran company through the geyser fields.  Zataki's Jenner finds a Lyran Locust, but is disabled by enemy fire from another two lances as he takes it out.

Henrietta radios in the contact report and requests backup, but Company Command reports it is bogged down with infantry at Kozice Ranch Station, and unable to assist.  Henrietta's lance fights well, but they are clearly outgunned as the 10th Guards' commander, Colonel Dak Rylski, joins the fray in his Warhammer.  A warrior born, Henrietta attacks the heavy 'Mech and manages to deal it severe damage before an internal explosion destroys her Hunchback and sends her ejection couch pinwheeling through a geyser of boiling mud.  With Durant and Zataki already down, Stakis cannot stand against the firepower of the entire Lyran force, and soon succumbs.

Notes:  Internal monologues during the battle scenes allow us to delve into Henrietta's backstory.  She's descended from an SLDF MechWarrior who defected to the Combine and was assigned to the 2nd Sword of Light.  Her assignment to the An Ting Legion would be considered dishonorable if she were a samurai of long-standing lineage, but as a relative newcomer to the Combine, and a woman to boot, she is grateful for the opportunity to prove herself.

Not all the SLDF defectors were so lucky.  "Broken Blade" notes that many of the SLDF defectors had their equipment seized and given to troops considered more loyal.  (Aside note - "Broken Blade" introduced the "18th Algedi Regulars" - a DCMS formation that hasn't appeared before or since in any source material.  The 1st Succession War book finally solved the issue, noting the regimental nickname of the 18th Dieron Regulars as the "Algedi Regulars."  This nicely sidesteps the problem of trying to fit a whole 18+ regiment-strong Regulars brigade into the Combine history, as well as eliminating the implication that the Combine planned to form an Algedi Military District.)

The fun of this story, of course, is seeing Lyrans and Kuritans battle in the same locales where ComStar and the Clans will decide the fate of the Inner Sphere in just under 200 years.

Stakis is revealed to be at least 80 years old, noting (just before dying) that he's been piloting his Panther for sixty years, and took part in the seizure of Hegemony worlds.  He describes himself as "an aged warrior of no worthy lineage."

The question this raises is, who in the Combine had "worthy lineages" at the start of the First Succession War?  Very few would have had the opportunity to prove themselves in battle, and those that went into the "ronin" dueling circuit were officially disavowed by the DCMS (but paid handsomely under the table).  Aside from troops that took part in the 2nd Hidden War (the War of Davion Succession), the DCMS consisted of nobles who used their influence to join the military and a few aces who demonstrated unusual ability. 
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 15:00:39 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 #1238 on: 19 July 2016, 14:38:19 »
Date: December 2, 2855

Location: Tukayyid

Title: Lady of Steel

Author: Alan Brudage

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Henrietta awakens at a Critical Care Unit in Kelly Springs on the Combine world of Tukayyid, in the Rasalhague Military District.  Her Tai-i, Giam Nichols, informs her that Zataki survived, but the rest of her lance is dead, and her left arm and leg have been replaced by "plastic and metal monstrosities."  She considers that she has truly become a "Lady of Steel" now.

He informs her, however, that her sacrifice delayed Colonel Rylski long enough for DCMS reinforcements to capture him, contributing to the ultimate Lyran defeat.  Henrietta tells him that there is no higher honor than doing one's duty.

Notes:  It's interesting that Tai-i Nichols says that Colonel Rylski has been captured and "will soon be enjoying the hospitality of the ISF."  This takes place more than a month after the battle at Devil's Bath, and Henrietta has presumably been in a coma (or at least heavily medicated) getting her arm and leg replaced by prosthetics.  Is the First An Ting Legion having to wait for an ISF interrogation team to be dispatched to the front?  You'd think they'd be part of the standard package that goes out with troops in the field, to conduct battlefield interrogations while the information is still fresh.

It sounds like Henrietta got a Type IV prosthetic arm and leg (since it's a mix of plastic and metal), because Type II and III are just plastic.  Type I is a peg leg or hook hand.  This is the same sort of advanced prosthetic that Justin Xiang and Candace Liao got - clearly not yet LosTech in an era when some people still have living memory of the Star League.  If she did actually get a Type IV, she'll be able to continue to fight in the last decade of the Second Succession War and the opening years of the Third.  If she sticks with the 1st An Ting, though, she's likely to be sidelined when the unit is disbanded and its remaining equipment transferred to other units.  Given her aggressive nature, it's likely she'd be one of the casualties in the Legion's final fight, screaming a battle cry as she led the charge.

The Combine certainly has a genius for inspiring outsiders to go to great lengths to demonstrate loyalty.  In the Capellan Confederation, and outsider can gain status with a sufficiently large payment to the government.  In the Combine, it must be earned every second of every day, and outsiders must demonstrate twice the fervor as the native born, to overcome the deficiencies of their origins.  And that goes double for women.  We also saw this in "The Face of the Enemy," where a Rasalhagian family is obsessed with having their son enter the DCMS to uphold their family honor.
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 15:04:35 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 #1239 on: 19 July 2016, 15:27:24 »
Date: May 3, 2895

Location: Sabik

Title: Family Honor

Author: Dylan Birtolo

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Chu-i Isamu Nakamura worries about his son, Jinichi, who had defected to the Lyran Commonwealth from the Draconis Combine years earlier.  He regularly checks ComStar casualty lists to see if he's been reported killed.

An alarm blares, and Isamu scrambles to his family 'Mech, a Flashman, and joins Shield Company to defend the storage warehouses.  He commands a lance consisting of his Flashman, Keler's Jenner, Akumi's Spider, and Morgan's Dragon.  They engage the attackers - three Griffins and a Champion.  Despite an order from Shield Company's commander to retreat, Isamu succeeds in rallying his lance and destroying the attackers.

After the battle, his company commander disciplines Isamu for defying his direct order.  Isamu justifies it on the grounds that his actions saved the warehouse.  His tai-i responds that word of his victory has spread, and he is being reassigned to the front lines immediately, to lead a diversionary raid on La Blon.  The ISF will leak information about the raid to the Lyrans, allowing them to gather forces on La Blon, pulling garrison troops away from the real target, Sabik.

Recognizing it as a suicide mission assigned as punishment for disobeying orders, Isamu accepts - embracing death.

Notes:  This scenario seemed absolutely nuts the first time I saw it, but this is how they roll in the Combine.  (In the first Blackthorne comic, dispossessed troops are sent out on a suicidal human wave attack against a Lyran forward base.  When four have the audacity to not only fail to die, but to conquer the base and return to the Combine lines with four captured 'Mechs, they are informed that they were listed as dead ahead of the assault, and will now have to die by firing squad to ensure that they do not dishonor their commander for having put inaccurate information in the records.)

Throwing away troops is a long-standing Combine tradition.  The Chain-gang soldiers were expected to die to slightly delay reconstruction, and the Legions of Vega are described as prisons full of death row inmates who have been issued BattleMechs to die in.

Now decades into the Third Succession War, designs featured in Technical Readout 2750 are becoming vanishingly rare, occasioning comment when one makes an appearance on the battlefield.  Also, the presence of spare parts is now making otherwise worthless planets valuable targets for raids.

We also see that ComStar's News Service offers access to news feeds that people can access on planetary data networks, since Isamu is searching CNS casualty reports on his terminal at the DCMS garrison base.

Under what circumstances, therefore, does ComStar send a courier to recite messages verbally?  When do they deliver messages in vacuum sealed capsules?  When do they send verigraphs (and are those physically couriered or just transmitted and recreated at the receiving end)?  When are HPG messages delivered to your home terminal like e-mail or a text message on your personal comm unit? 
"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 #1240 on: 19 July 2016, 15:48:52 »
Date: May 12, 2895

Location: La Blon

Title: Family Honor

Author: Dylan Birtolo

Type: Short Story

Synopsis:  Nakamura and his lancemates walk across the ocean floor towards the shore of Elise island.  Coming ashore, they attack a Lyran coastal watchpost in the foothills of the Carbondale Mountains, bringing a Jenner, Catapult, Panther, and Flashman to the party.  They destroy the Griffins stationed there and continue to advance on the capital.

Lyran reinforcements are hot-dropped nearby, led by a Zeus, and the battle resumes.  The new Lyran lance is defeated, but not before destroying the rest of Nakamura's lancemates, and doing heavy damage to the Flashman.

As two more lances of assault 'Mechs arrive and order him to stand down, Nakamura charges to the attack, seeking to bring honor to his family once more.

Notes:  "'Til shade is gone, 'til water is gone, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the last day!"  The Combine has questionable resource management practices, but they can leverage honor to inspire utter fanaticism.  On the down side, the fanatical warriors we've seen tend to forget all their academy training and resort to screaming and charging.  On the up side, that works more often than you'd think.

This tactic is in line with one featured in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries - Combine troops stage a diversionary raid against a world, hoping to lure the enemy's reserves there so they cannot respond to the real raid.  The FedCom mercenary liaison in the game describes it as a common Combine trick.  One question, though - did Nakamura and company make enough noise to draw in the Lyrans as hoped?  They seem to have touched down and died within a day of first contact with the Lyran garrison.  An ideal tactic for such a raid would be to establish an operating base in a remote area, then execute several hit and fade attacks against soft targets.  Making a beeline for the capital just got Nakamura and company intercepted and terminated, albeit with an impressive body count by the end.

Nakamura must have used pirate points, since he's managed to get from Sabik to La Blon in just nine days, implying there was a charged JumpShip standing by at a pirate point (standard transit time in Sabik is 43 days, so without a pirate point he'd still be outbound, and transit time in La Blon is 9 days) and used a pirate point at the Lyran end as well.  The nine day interval, then, can be explained by the need for the ship to recharge and for the rest of the suicide squad to be assembled.
"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 #1241 on: 20 July 2016, 03:33:02 »
Date: 2786

Location: Brownsville

Title: I'm Not Dead Yet

Author: Michael Miller

Type: Adventure Seed

Synopsis: In 2786, the Capellan Confederation inserted a Maskirovka team to link up with anti-government rebel groups, provide support for attacks against loyalist military units, and spark a general uprising that would give the Confederation a pretext for annexing the world in the name of "liberation." 

Notes:  This adventure seed from "Touring the Stars: Brownsville" details the staggering obstacles that the hapless player character Maskirovka team faces, ranging from a well armed and experienced militia, rebels more suited to raging in online forums than taking to the streets, and a left-over pro-Amaris government proven highly effective in suppressing insurgency.  From all appearances, it would make a great setting for an A Time of War campaign.  (The look on the players' faces when they receive boxes containing the heads of their rebel allies packed in salt...priceless!)

Historically, the insurgency gambit was an utter failure, and the Capellans were forced to retreat.  They returned in 2789 with WarShips, and that proved a far more effective argument for "peaceful transition of governmental authority," particularly once Capellan Soyals began smashing moons apart with mass drivers.

We've seen the Great Houses use a variety of gambits for annexing Hegemony worlds, including outright invasion, suborning political leaders (Wyatt changed sides several times in this period under the fickle House Roark), backing rebel movements, or offering protection against the other Houses.  That must have made things easier for the Lyrans and Davions, given the standard operating procedure of the Combine, as demonstrated on Helm.
"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.

SCC

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1242 on: 20 July 2016, 04:06:14 »
Sorry for the late reply but something I really need to add here
Notes:  Honestly, I’m with Akuma here.  An enemy pilot of great skill has just exposed himself in the process of wiping out an entire company of your army, and you fail to eliminate him as a threat?  What about your giri to the Combine, Tetsuhara?  Or if not to the Combine, at least to your fellow soldiers whom this enemy will go on to kill.

The Archer pilot is, of course, Jaime Wolf.  Tetsuhara’s decision to spare his life will have massive consequences for the course of history for the entire Inner Sphere.
While leaving him be is not really the right course of action, killing would be far, far worse. Apart from pissing off the Dragoons it's actually illegal, doing so would expose you to civil murder charges at the very minimum.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1243 on: 20 July 2016, 05:03:01 »
Date: March 18, 2785

Location: Bolan

Title: Falling into Fire

Author: Herbert A. Beas II

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Sixth Bolan Defenders commander Colonel Salam Tutt tracks the collapse of the FWL defense perimeter from the Overwatch (formerly the SLDF planetary command center), two weeks into the Lyran invasion.  The 101st regiment is wiped out by firebombs and artillery as they attempted to defend the city of Calcutta.  He orders the FWLS Talwar, one of the two FWLN destroyers still active in the system, to target the Lyran DropShips near Calcutta, hoping to delay the Lyran advance on the capital city of Mumbai.

Leutnant-General Richard Johonson von Eilenburg opens a communication channel to demand Tutt's surrender.  He says that the Lyran "peacekeeping force" is there to destroy the Free Worlds League's weapons stockpiles at the Overwatch before they can be used against the Commonwealth.  He offers to treat the FWLM personnel according to the terms of the Ares Conventions, but threatens to obliterate the Overwatch from orbit if they refuse.  Tutt cuts off communications and orders his staff to evacuate to either outbound transports or disaster shelters. 

Having received Tutt's Omega Protocol orders, Force Commander Faisal Hasheem evacuates offworld with the rest of the Defenders, and watches Bolan recede in his viewport aboard his escaping DropShip, with the FWLS Talwar and FWLS Turk covering the Defenders' escape.  Omega Protocol authorizes the Overwatch garrison to unleash its nuclear arsenal to execute a scorched earth strategy, denying the Lyrans any gain from their conquest.  Hasheem worries that the same scene will soon be played out across the Inner Sphere.

Notes:  The First Succession War sourcebook notes that the Lyrans launched Operation ELBOW JOINT on March 7, 2785, to eliminate the Bolan Thumb, a deep salient into the Lyran Commonwealth carved out by a highly successful League offensive during the Age of War and locked in by the Star League peace treaties.  The sourcebook notes that the Lyrans were actually justified in their pre-emptive assault against the weapons stockpiles on Bolan, since Kenyon Marik was planning to use them to invade Lyran worlds adjacent to the thumb, widening the salient.  Only Kenyon's prioritizing Terran Hegemony worlds delayed the Bolan offensive long enough for the Lyrans to get in the first blow.

The sourcebook notes that the Overwatch launched its nukes against Lyran positions.  The Lyrans retreated at top speed and launched their own nuclear ordnance from the orbiting WarShips to destroy the Overwatch.  Only one battalion of the 6th Defenders escaped (with five League battalions from the 6th and 10th Bolan Defenders wiped out in the fighting and nuclear blasts), while the Lyrans lost four battalions.  Civilian casualties were estimated as high as eight million.  The Talwar and the Turk were destroyed covering the escape.

The Bolan garrison consisted of the Veteran/Fanatical 6th Bolan Defenders (The Bodhisattvas) and the Regular/Fanatical 10th Bolan Defenders (The Four Horsemen). 

It's interesting that the forces on Bolan feel like they are responsible for "crossing the line" vis-a-vis the use of weapons of mass destruction.  The Amaris forces unleashed torrents of WMDs during the Star League Civil War, both to clear out SLDF holdouts in the initial coup, and as part of Operation TRIPWIRE, designed to slow and weaken the SLDF forces liberating Hegemony worlds.  Sure, it's a first in the House-on-House warfare in the post-Star League era, but Capellan nationalists detonated a nuke on a Federated Suns world shortly before the Star League civil war, so Bolan isn't exactly a "first" within living memory.
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 15:12:46 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 #1244 on: 20 July 2016, 05:13:10 »
Sorry for the late reply but something I really need to add hereWhile leaving him be is not really the right course of action, killing would be far, far worse. Apart from pissing off the Dragoons it's actually illegal, doing so would expose you to civil murder charges at the very minimum.

Can you clarify the legal basis for this?  The Dragoons are engaged in an invasion of a Combine world.  If my guess about the identity of the attackers in "Painting the Town" is correct, they also tried to capture the Coordinator's heir, Theodore.  Jaime has just killed dozens of DCMS armor crewmen, and is momentarily overheated and unable to defend himself, but is nonetheless actively engaged in hostilities against the Combine.  What Combine court would bring civil murder charges against any Combine soldier who slew Jaime, a Lyran mercenary?

The Dragoons might well be pissed, but they're Clanners, and dying gloriously in battle is sort of their thing.  They really got pissed when Anton arrested Joshua and had him killed, but that wasn't battle, that was betrayal.  They also went Feral when Wayne Waco killed Jaime Wolf in one-on-one combat, but that also wasn't an honorable fight - it was a sneak attack that betrayed the Dragoons' trust in the conduct of the TempTown mercs.  The 2nd Sword of Light, had it killed Jaime, would have been engaged in a straight up fight that the Dragoons initiated, so really, no harm no foul.  (And the fact that Jaime would have been defenseless during the killing wouldn't have been known to the Dragoons, since there weren't any nearby, and the BattleROMs would have been destroyed or captured by the Sworders.)

Natasha might have taken command (due to her bloodname), or one of the other colonels, but the Dragoon mission was to recon all the Successor States, so they would have held to the mission and gotten a contract with the Kuritans in any event, despite the death of their commander.  (They worked for the Lyrans after losing huge numbers of troops on Hesperus II during their Cattle Raiding campaign).
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 15:17:04 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.

SCC

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1245 on: 20 July 2016, 06:03:20 »
Can you clarify the legal basis for this?  The Dragoons are engaged in an invasion of a Combine world.  If my guess about the identity of the attackers in "A Cover of Paint" is correct, they also tried to capture the Coordinator's heir, Theodore.  Jaime has just killed dozens of DCMS armor crewmen, and is momentarily overheated and unable to defend himself, but is nonetheless actively engaged in hostilities against the Combine.  What Combine court would bring civil murder charges against any Combine soldier who slew Jaime, a Lyran mercenary?
Jamie is defenseless and unable to act and in fact could not even refuse to surrender, and technically THAT battle is over. Note that civil charges are the lowest level of punishment he could face, performing that act could well be a war crime. For another example of this sort of thing, look at how the feud between the Dragoons and Wacco Rangers started, or rather the C* hearing on the events that started it.

The Dragoons might well be pissed, but they're Clanners, and dying gloriously in battle is sort of their thing.  They really got pissed when Anton arrested Joshua and had him killed, but that wasn't battle, that was betrayal.  They also went Feral when Wayne Waco killed Jaime Wolf in one-on-one combat, but that also wasn't an honorable fight - it was a sneak attack that betrayed the Dragoons' trust in the conduct of the TempTown mercs.  The 2nd Sword of Light, had it killed Jaime, would have been engaged in a straight up fight that the Dragoons initiated, so really, no harm no foul.  (And the fact that Jaime would have been defenseless during the killing wouldn't have been known to the Dragoons, since there weren't any nearby, and the BattleROMs would have been destroyed or captured by the Sworders.)
Except that he wouldn't be dying in battle, this would be similar to shooting someone passed out on the sidewalk, armed or not they are not a threat to you

Natasha might have taken command (due to her bloodname), or one of the other colonels, but the Dragoon mission was to recon all the Successor States, so they would have held to the mission and gotten a contract with the Kuritans in any event, despite the death of their commander.  (They worked for the Lyrans after losing huge numbers of troops on Hesperus II during their Cattle Raiding campaign).
Weren't the Dragoons under contract to the LC at this time? Wasn't that the reason they where raiding the planet?

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1246 on: 20 July 2016, 06:09:18 »
Date: March 11, 2793

Location: Binyang

Title: Pressure Play

Author: Herbert A. Beas II

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Sergeant Kacey Kadar pilots his Cyrano along with the rest of his VTOL flight to scout a Lyran landing zone for the FWL garrison.  They identify two lances of Lyran armor and BattleMechs, but begin taking heavy fire.  They call in artillery strikes in response. 

Based on Kadar's report, the firebase in Silong Village assigns Senior Lieutenant Cala al-Biden's Anvil Lance to join Hammer Lance and intercept the incoming Lyran column.  The League forces are confident in their ability to crush the Lyran raiders, until substantial Lyran reinforcements arrive.

Aboard the LCS Vidar Eisenboot, in high orbit, Haumptmann Neva Romante and Kommandant-General Aric Hasseldorf monitor the battle in their holotank.  Lyran fighters wipe out the artillery battery at Silong, but take care to limit collateral damage so as not to scare the Leaguers into ordering another Omega Protocol scorched earth operation.

Notes:  The battle is between the 13th Bolan Defenders and the 16th Donegal Guards.  The Lyrans also bring the 9th Donegal Guards to the fight. 

The story serves as an introduction to the abstract combat system portion of Interstellar Operations, which allows players to run planetary conquest campaigns.  It effectively demonstrates the importance of reconnaissance, since the Lyrans (with their "god's eye" view from orbit) are able to draw the Silong garrison away from the artillery, letting air units destroy the batteries. 

One wonders, though, why the Free Worlds League forces don't have satellites, DropShips, or fighters of their own in orbit to coordinate the battle through a planetary defense center.  Looking at Field Manual SLDF, it seems there weren't any SLDF units garrisoned on Binyang - ergo no legacy military infrastructure to seize.  Though, oddly, there weren't any units assigned to Bolan either - or any of the Bolan Thumb worlds - according to FM:SLDF.  The 418th Mechanized Infantry Division does not appear at all in Field Manual: SLDF.  When was the 418th assigned to Bolan?  It must have been removed and disbanded at some point before the publication of FM:SLDF. 

This early in the First Succession War, both sides are deploying lots of units from TRO:2750 - the Ripper, Cyrano, Rhino, Fury, and even some Ymirs pulled out of mothballs by the Lyrans for the offensive.
"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 #1247 on: 20 July 2016, 06:23:06 »
Jamie is defenseless and unable to act and in fact could not even refuse to surrender, and technically THAT battle is over. Note that civil charges are the lowest level of punishment he could face, performing that act could well be a war crime. For another example of this sort of thing, look at how the feud between the Dragoons and Wacco Rangers started, or rather the C* hearing on the events that started it.

This is the same Draconis Combine that doesn't accept surrender.  The Dictum Honorarium indicates that any enemies cowardly enough to surrender should be executed.  In fact, most of the section regarding military conduct in the Dictum Honorarium indicates that any and all who oppose the Combine's glorious destiny should be shuffled off the mortal coil as expeditiously as possible.  Their ability to fight back is somewhat irrelevant, as demonstrated on Kentares.  I can guarantee that there would have been zero repercussions if Tetsuhara had greased Jaime. 

As far as the Waco feud, the Dragoons didn't take it that seriously, until it was too late.  John Waco was dumb, hoping for some glory by stopping Zeta Battalion with his recon lance, and then he was unlucky enough to take cover under a log just before a Dragoon 'Mech stepped on it.  Wayne assumed the Dragoons did it on purpose, and swore his "death oath," but never generated much of an emotional response, other than mockery, from the Dragoons.  (Until the TempTown massacre, by which point Wayne was too dead to care.)

Except that he wouldn't be dying in battle, this would be similar to shooting someone passed out on the sidewalk, armed or not they are not a threat to you.

More akin to seeing a guy with a loaded uzi and a bloody chainsaw lying passed out on the sidewalk surrounded by the bodies of several of your friends.  He's clearly done bad stuff and has the potential to do more bad stuff.  If you approach him and try to take him gently into custody, there's a non-zero chance he could wake up and do more bad stuff to you.  Smoke 'im.  (You can't call the cops in this example - you are the cops.)

Weren't the Dragoons under contract to the LC at this time? Wasn't that the reason they where raiding the planet?

Correct.  My point was that even if the Combine had killed Jaime Wolf in combat, the Dragoons still would most likely have taken a contract with the Combine, to carry out their orders from the Clan Council to recon the Successor States.  There wouldn't have been a feud because Dragoon personnel had died fighting the Combine, even if that personnel was Jaime.  The Dragoons always had contract clauses that prohibited them from fighting their previous employer, so they were always in the position of taking combat losses from their next employer.  They lost plenty of troops fighting the Capellans while under Davion contract, they took catastrophic losses while fighting League forces (though much of that was from Anton's betrayal), and took heavy losses fighting the Lyrans while working for House Marik.  They played the role of mercenaries to the hilt, and accepted deaths as part of doing businesses.
"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 #1248 on: 20 July 2016, 08:03:14 »
Minor point, but by this time the Dragoons had already done their final resupply run. Kerlin Ward had changed their mission to read "prepare the IS for a Clan invasion", and the Dragoons burned their bridges by purging all navigational data from their JumpShips that could serve to reach the Clan homeworlds. The rank and file weren't informed of this, but the Clan officer corps knew.

I reckon the Dragoons would still have gone to work for the Combine though. Their Lyran contract was remarkably short, as Jaime Wolf himself observes, but the reason is never elaborated upon. Some speculated the Lyrans may have tried to company store the Dragoons, or otherwise their shrewd business acumen didn't integrate well with the Clanners' feelings of honor.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1249 on: 20 July 2016, 08:57:31 »
Jaime may have figured that the Lyrans and the Dracs were in line to bear the brunt of a Clan invasion.  It only took him three years to assess that the Lyran social generals were unfit to face the Clan threat.  With orders to prep the Inner Sphere to repulse a Clan invasion, he may have been in a hurry to get to the Combine, which had an honor code, warrior culture, and caste system similar to that of the Clans.  (In fact, Star League-era Combine dueling culture appears to have greatly influenced the Clan Trial system).  He may have figured that the Combine would represent the best material to forge an anti-Clan shield for the Inner Sphere, believing the hype about Combine honor (before Samsonov proved him wrong).
"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 #1250 on: 20 July 2016, 09:59:54 »
Date: May 11, 2811

Location: Poulsbo

Title: Cutting Losses

Author: Herbert A. Beas II

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Colonel Raymond Hempstead, commander of the famed Stealths mercenary regiment, directs the defense of Poulsbo's capital city from the front lines in the Suquamish Badlands, his battered Flashman supported by Leutnant Carson's Lynx and Elisa O'Leary's Phoenix Hawk.

The Lyran mercenaries draw the League forces into a twisting maze of canyons, losing them for a bit while they stop at a concealed forward staging area, guarded by Kommandant Vera Kelly and Leutnant Hector Fadden, to repair and rearm, but find it lacking supplies.

Kelly reports that the Stealths fighters have launched a major air raid towards the Marik-held spaceports in the city of Bangor, for an overwhelming attack against the League transports.

Notes:  In one of the more inspired Lyran gambits of the First Succession War, the elite and highly mobile Stealths mercenary force was assigned to Poulsbo on R&R, while the LIC made it look like the planetary garrison consisted solely of militia.  When the League attacked with a reinforced regiment, the Stealths faked a retreat by sending their DropShips burning toward the jump point (with most of the FWL space assets in pursuit), and let the League seize Bangor as their base of operations.  Once the FWL air cover was drawn away from Poulsbo, the Stealths' aerospace assets, which had been hidden in mining bases in the moons and asteroids, returned to Poulsbo and smashed the grounded League transports.

Roughly two decades into the First Succession War, the exhaustion of supplies is clearly shown in this story.  Heavily damaged units are kept in the field because armor and munitions supplies are low. 

This is the first time we've had an appearance in the fiction by the famed Stealths, the ancestors of the modern-era Stealthy Tigers.  (The LCAF disbanded the Stealths in 2812 to serve as a training cadre, passing their skills and strategies on to the next generation of Lyran troops.)  While the majority of Lyran commands are famed for their weight and lack of maneuverability, the Stealths are heavy on highly mobile jumpers, like the Phoenix Hawk, Griffin, and Lynx.  They do have some heavier stuff, like a Zeus and Flashman, but I would suspect the average movement profile is 5/8/5.
« Last Edit: 25 July 2016, 15:21:53 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 #1251 on: 20 July 2016, 10:44:31 »
Date: May 14, 2811

Location: Marik

Title: Cutting Losses

Author: Herbert A. Beas II

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Captain-General Thaddeus Marik is enraged when he receives a report that his invasion force on Poulsbo has been shattered by the Stealths.  His mood does not improve when Colonel Bryce McLelland informs him that SAFE thought the Stealths were posted on the Combine border.  Marik says that, given the outcome, Poulsbo appears to have been a trap. 

Having lost confidence in SAFE's ability to provide accurate intelligence, he worries that there are similar traps waiting on all the Lyran worlds he'd planned to invade.  He looks at the star map and grimaces at the Bolan Thumb region, most of its worlds either colored blue to show Lyran conquest or having been so heavily damaged as to be on the path to uninhabitability.

He suggests to Colonel McLelland that perhaps it would be better to send nukes instead of 'Mechs, if the Lyrans have prepared ambushes.  The Colonel responds that earlier FWL deployments of WMDs in the Bolan Thumb actually led to the loss of hearts and minds among the previously fanatically pro-League citizens of the Thumb.

The Captain-General decides to call off the planned invasion, and instead has the units that were to have joined the offensive take up defensive positions and focus on preventing any Lyrans from invading League space.  He orders the remaining Bolan Defenders regiments to join the defense of Acrux, carrying substantial nuclear arsenals.  He intends to have the Bolan Thumb and Bolan Defenders go out with a bang.

Notes:  The First Succession War book clarifies that the 8th and 12th Bolan Defenders, and the 32nd Marik Militia successfully repulsed the 19th Lyran Regulars and the 20th Skye Rangers on Acrux in 2809-2810, but were wiped out in 2811, when the 9th and 16th Donegal Guards joined the assault.  Thaddeus' orders regarding tactical and strategic munitions do not seem to have been carried out, because the fighting on Acrux was concluded without any additional Bolan Defenders joining the garrison, and without the use of WMDs, at least per the table on p. 71 of the First Succession War report.

SAFE does seem to be really bad at its job.  The Steiner-Nelson Report (House Steiner - The Lyran Commonwealth) indicates that the Stealths were transferred from the Combine front to the League front in 2788, hitting Sirius, Graham IV, and Oliver in 2790, and spending the next decade attacking and raiding Marik worlds.  Unless they were transferred back to the Kuritan front between 2800 and 2810 (not outside the realm of possibility - that period isn't described by the Steiner-Nelson report), SAFE is operating on data that is now 23 years old.  (Granted, the Marik worlds listed are close to the Kurita front and far from Poulsbo, but those were hit 21 years ago - still not looking good for SAFE).
"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 #1252 on: 20 July 2016, 12:33:23 »
Date: May 11, 2788

Location: Helm

Title: Ghost Rain

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  In the city of Freeport, Rowan Keeler's Orion dodges bomb blasts as enemy fighters bombard the city.  Company command reports that Fort Albert has been nuked.  Rowan is stunned when the enemy fighters are ID'd as Combine Slayers instead of the Lyran Chippewas she'd expected.

When Charlie Company regroups at the ruins of Government House, they speculate that the Kurita taskforce has come to Helm in search of the same Star League cache that Kenyon Marik had earlier sought, without success.  Without any recon assets, they anticipate a heavy raid while the Combine searches for the cache, but can't be sure of the enemy's strength.  They plan to link up with Baker battalion (redeploying from Port Wayland) and the planetary militia to defend Freeport, while Alpha and Gamma battalions assault the Combine LZ at Durandel, leaving the LZ at Helmdown alone for the time being.

Notes:  In the nadir era of the late Third Succession War, the constant refrain was that the Successor States had fallen far from what capabilities they had before the Succession Wars.  In my recent reviews of the First Succession War fiction, we see again and again massive intelligence failures, units with no air support, no satellite networks, no recon assets, and no planetary sensor networks capable of detecting and identifying units in orbit.  Perhaps Fort Albert had such equipment, and it's now radioactive and on fire, but it doesn't seem like the troops on Helm have it much better in 2788 than their descendants have during the Gray Death Legion battles in 3028. 

The First Succession War should have been a period when all sorts of cutting edge technologies that the Houses have been working on (and stealing from the SLDF) get unveiled and thrown at the enemy.  Sure, everyone mobilized their warship fleets and did a lot of infrastructure damage before the big mutual annihilation-fests at Cholame and Hesperus, as well as tossing around WMD like they were going out of style, but I would have expected the massive buildups of the late Star League era to have resulted in every world having communication and sensor satellites, Bastion-class battle stations, ground relays with multiple redundancies, vast underground storehouses of arms and equipment, and surface-to-orbit defense batteries.  This is why I placed the BlackThorne comic about the BioMech (armored and cybernetically enhanced megafauna trained to follow orders) in the 1st Succession War, because it smacked of exactly the sort of cutting edge (though not necessarily well thought our or beyond prototype stage) technology that the Houses should have been throwing at each other in the early stages.

So, where is this stuff?  Sure, the Hegemony worlds had it, along with the drone fleets that proved their undoing, and much of that was based on proprietary Terran Hegemony technology.  Bolan had some satellites and surface-to-orbit guns at the Overwatch command center, but that's a SLDF facility, not something built by the League.  Bastions, commsats, etc. would have been generally available to the Great Houses. 

My guess is that all the Houses, as they bulked up their armies, may have paid lip service to the idea that these forces were "for defense," but really intended them to be the vanguard of a conquering force.  Just as the French military poured the bulk of its defense budget into the Maginot Line because it anticipated a defensive campaign, the House Lords seem to have poured all their resources into WarShips and 'Mech regiments, with little attention given to planetary defense infrastructure, because they all, in their heart of hearts, assumed that any war that broke out would be fought exclusively on enemy territory as their righteous ranks smashed through the cowardly and inept lines of enemy troops.  Plus, money spent on bunkers and surface-to-orbit batteries adds maintenance expense, but doesn't add shiny new systems to your empire.

Also, the Periphery states had invested heavily in fixed planetary defenses in the Reunification War, and they still lost when fighting against the mobile forces of the new SLDF.  Entire RWR planets were turned into "hedgehogs" with bunkers, depots, artillery emplacements, etc., but they all fell in the end, though it took 20 years for the SLDF/LCAF to get through them all. 

I wonder, though.  Did the Star League's restrictions on member state military size take into account fixed defenses?  If not, it would have been very easy for the Great Houses to boost the number of trained troops by building space defense systems and listing the troops (who'd be, just by happenstance, cross-trained as MechWarriors or Aerospace pilots) as SDS facility staff.  (Janitorial Corps)
"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 #1253 on: 20 July 2016, 12:54:13 »
Date: May 19, 2788

Location: Helm

Title: Ghost Rain

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  On the shores of the Yehudan Sea, Charlie company engages advancing Combine 'Mech forces.  Charlie Six - Ana Julian's Hoplite - goes down as a Warhammer and Bombardier double team it, and then they, and a Panther, turn their attentions to Rowan's Orion.  Rowan takes out the Panther as it attempts to flank her, and is joined by Lieutenant Harrison's Marauder as the battle continues to rage.

Notes:  The plan for the two FWL battalions to overrun the Durandel LZ appears to have failed, if Combine forces are now moving against Freeport in strength.  (Either that, or they came from the Helmdown LZ). 

This is a straightforward combat scene, though we still get some worldbuilding with a note that Ana Julian's Oriente accent sounds "musical" to Rowan.
"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 #1254 on: 20 July 2016, 14:22:17 »
Date: May 26, 2788

Location: Helm

Title: Ghost Rain

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis: At Point Epsilon, an FWLM field camp 350 km southwest of Durandel, Rowan chokes down rations as she watches Stanic's briefing.  A second Combine regiment surprised the two League battalions and destroyed them.  Charlie Company barely survived the retreat from Freeport, and Captain Stanic is now the commander of what's left of the militia. 

The Combine has dug in at several major settlements, and nuked the rest.  They are searching records for clues about the cache, and using mass executions to pressure the civilians into revealing its whereabouts.

The nine surviving MechWarriors have no chance of liberating Helm or saving the civilians, but their recon notes that only a single Combine company is guarding the Durandel LZ, and they decide to mount a revenge raid. 

Notes:  Per my earlier point, had the FWL been properly prepared, there would have been concealed fallback positions, supply caches, pre-deployed remote sensors, etc.  The original writeups noted there was a huge SDLF aerospace fighter base facility in the asteroid belt.  Where are its fighters?  It may have been incidents like this which incentivized the League member states to push through the Home Defense act, which limits how much of their regional forces may be deployed outside their home territory, because it certainly seems as though the Stewart Commonwealth should have had more forces arrayed to defend Helm, especially if they suspected there was a SLDF depot there, somewhere.
"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 #1255 on: 20 July 2016, 14:59:57 »
Date: May 28, 2788

Location: Helm

Title: Ghost Rain

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis:  Charlie Company takes the Combine garrison in Durandel by surprise and wipes out a lance, but the Combine responds by nuking Freeport as an object lesson to the insurgents.  Feeling vengeful, Rowan executes a Combine MechWarrior rather than taking her prisoner.  The rest of her group reports the Dracs are withdrawing to their DropShip. 

The FWLM forces hold in Durandel for hours, expecting a counterattack, but then see the glorious sight of lots of DropShips burning for orbit, and know that the Dracs are leaving.  Victory!

...or not.  Abord the DCS Honor of Pesht, Tai-sho Olav Nansen informs the Coordinator that his troops have been unable to find the cache.  The Coordinator suggests that Nansen "chastise" the target.  Nansen issues orders to execute Ghost Rain protocols.  As the DropShip fleet ascends, they fire a volley of cobalt-salted nuclear tipped missiles, which is followed by a massive bombardment by the orbiting WarShip fleet.

On the ground Rowan Keeler is tossed around in her Orion's cockpit, suffering broken bones before the ejection system blasts her free. 

Notes:  Combine code-names are so poetic.  Rather than House Marik's businesslike "Omega Protocol," we have the Ghost Rain protocol.  (Their prisons are also named thusly - Castle of Unheard Screams, Pain Mountain, Lotus Blossom Correctional Facility, etc.)

There's a slight discrepancy in the sourcebook write-up, which says that the insurgents hit Freeport, rather than Durandel.  Perhaps insurgents hit Freeport at the same time as Rowan's group hit Durandel.

The sourcebook indicates that two destroyers accompanied the two regiments of the Combine strike force.  Nansen is shown having a real-time conversation with Coordinator Minoru Kurita "aboard his distant ship."  It's not specified in the text, but it's implied that the Coordinator was at one of the jump points aboard his personal WarShip, with K-F drive primed to jump out if a FWL flotilla came calling.
« Last Edit: 15 August 2016, 15:39:57 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 #1256 on: 20 July 2016, 15:24:28 »
Date: March 24, 2826

Location: Atreus

Title: Ghost Rain

Author: Chris Hartford

Type: Sourcebook Fiction

Synopsis: A ComStar News Bureau crew interviews Rowan Keeler, now in her sixties, for a documentary about Helm.  She was six when the Star League Civil War began, and nineteen when it ended, a Terran-ancestry civilian living on Helm where her grandfather had constructed the Nagayan Mountain storage facility for the SLDF.  She recalls how her boyfriend was conscripted into the 4th Marik Militia and died in the Capellan attack on Anegasaki, and that she was inducted into the Helm militia.

She tells the story of the Combine invasion of Helm and the "Ghost Rain" they unleashed upon their departure.  Tears running down her face, she recounts that millions died, but she's not sure how many.  Freeport and Port Wayland were turned into irradiated ruins, and the Yehudan sea drained away, leaving salt flats. 

She estimates that only ten million died in the nuclear strikes and bombardments, while another sixty million died in the winters that followed, without infrastructure to survive.  The survivors faced cold and starvation, and ended up killing each other to stay alive, fighting for scraps. 

She says she knows she should argue for peace, but she can't.  She wants vengeance, to make the Combine suffer as Helm's people did.

Notes:  The sourcebook estimates Helm's total casualties at 90 million.  By comparison, only 52 million died in the Kentares Massacre. 

I can understand Captain-General Kenyon Marik and the central government on Atreus being slow to respond, focused as they were on the wars against the Capellans and the Lyrans.  But what excuse does the government of the Stewart Commonwealth have?  If any Successor State should have been able to send relief missions quickly, it would have been the Free Worlds League, since each province has its own government, own budget, and own resources.  The other Stewart worlds hadn't been hit - just Helm.  What the blazes was the Stewart Commonwealth government doing if it ignored the conditions on Helm for three years before restoring order?

The First Succession War notes that the Stewart Dragoons' Helm Cuirassiers regiment had been sent to Calloway VI, where they intercepted the Capellan's Task Force Devlin, and contributed to the shattering of the Capellan WarShip fleet.  But there's no data on what the rest of the Dragoons were doing in the First Succession War, and no indication that the FWL had stripped away civilian ships for the war effort that early in the conflict. 

Appropriately, the Stewart Confederacy (the Stewart Commonwealth's predecessor government) was annexed forcibly into the Free Worlds League because its people didn't much care for the authoritarian government, which made the trains run on time, but at a fearsome cost to society.  It appears that the government hasn't improved since then, though their commitment to the trains being on time seems to have fallen by the wayside. 

This interview is something of a programming coup for the ComStar News Bureau, which was just formed about a year earlier.  It probably didn't win them many viewers in the Combine, though, what with the call for the Combine's people to suffer.  (Of course, when you consider the living conditions of the Unproductives, it looks like the Coordinator has already graciously fulfilled Rowan's request.)
« Last Edit: 20 July 2016, 15:26:54 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 #1257 on: 20 July 2016, 18:12:54 »
Amazing update, Mendrugo!  Covering so much of the First Succession War's opening stories and harsh fighting of the War.  I was so surprised it was the Draconis Combine doing a deep raid into the Free Worlds League of all places.

Brutal fighting of Bolan area was also a interesting conflict campaign.   It's nice read about the Stealth's in action as well.  Maybe we will see in the future a novel featuring these actions as flash back story-novels as much i rather look ahead to future beyond the Dark Age.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1258 on: 20 July 2016, 19:33:55 »
Testsuhara's refusal to kill Jaime Wolf while Wolf was helpless was one of mutual respect.  There was no issuance of surrender, nor was there any indication Wolf would have accepted such.  Tetsuhara allowed Wolf to live in recognition of his extraordinary skill.  Remember Minoru Kurita's example: he invaded the Federated Suns in earnest during the 1st SW because it was the most worthy adversary.  The pursuit (and recognition of) a worthy adversary is one of the most honorable things for a samurai to undertake.

Takashi's abuse of bushido as his own personal insult/feud generation engine is not the norm, nor should it be considered such.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #1259 on: 20 July 2016, 20:01:56 »
I understand Tetsuhara's motivations - he wanted to live by the code of bushido and test his skills only against the best of the best, at their best.  But from a purely pragmatic point of view (I align myself with the Capellans, after all), smoking Jaime right then and there would have been the best move for the Combine, at least in the short term.
"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.