Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II  (Read 205665 times)

Mendrugo

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #30 on: 09 December 2016, 23:00:49 »
Date: October 4, 3026

Location: Barlow's End
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: At the Ryuken field HQ, Michi Noketsuna reports to Tai-sa Satoh that the Dragoons have broken contact with the Davion mercenaries and moved north towards the landing zone.  Satoh slumps in his chair, unresponsive, not reacting to the news that the Ryuken are in danger of being surrounded. 

Explosions rock the command hut as Davion advance forces reach the camp perimeter and engage the security detachment.  When Satoh remains silent, Tai-i Wakabe takes command of the Headquarters Lance, while the rest of the staff scatter in all directions, leaving Satoh, Michi, and a commtech alone in the hut. 

Satoh complains that he was promised it wouldn't be like this.  The commtech reports that the ELH commander has demanded their surrender, but the frequencies are jammed, preventing a response.  As Satoh listlessly shuffles through his campaign maps, Michi orders the commtech to find a rifle and fight.  Once the man departs, Michi draws his service pistol and executes Satoh, clearing the way to take command of the Ryuken and save those who survive.

Notes:  This is Michi's first real character defining moment, showing him as one of the few Combine officers who really internalized the flexibility of the Dragoon methods. 

I wonder how many DCMS regiments were needlessly lost throughout the Succession Wars because their commanders mindlessly attempted to execute plans that had long since been overcome by events.  Now,Max Liao (see my sigline) gets a lot of grief for doing this exact same thing at the tail end of the 4th Succession War.  Yet, when Satoh does it, he's technically in perfect accord with the Combine's Dictum Honorarium. 

Satoh's comment about "this wasn't what I was promised," makes me wonder what Satoh knew and when he knew it.  Did Akuma promise that the Dragoons would ruin their reputation by bugging out, leaving Satoh to take all the glory when the Ryuken shattered the White Witches and seized the Achernar Proving Grounds?  Did Akuma know that the ELH were onworld?  He's ISF, so wouldn't he have had access to fresh reports on AFFS troop movements? 

We know Akuma wants the Ryuken destroyed purely out of spite for Minobu Tetsuhara.  But do DCMS hardliners (Black Dragon types) want to destroy the Ryuken experiment before it challenges traditional Combine combat doctrine?
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #31 on: 10 December 2016, 00:25:24 »
Date: October 10, 3026

Location: Tharkad
 
Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: Simon Johnson, Chancellor of the Lyran Intelligence Corps, burns a report labeled "Ultra Secret" to ash while Archon Katrina Steiner looks on.  Simon tells Katrina that he believes the report, personally sent by MIIO Director Quintus Allard, that House Liao produced a double of Hanse Davion and replaced the original.  He notes that this would explain the difficulties during the Galtor Campaign and the lapse in relations with the Federated Suns. 

Katrina asks if the same thing could happen in the Lyran Commonwealth.  Simon answers that it would be possible, but it would require the involvement of so many people in the conspiracy as to disrupt normal government operations.  He adds the caveat that it could be pulled off if Katrina were out of public view, such as while recovering from a serious injury.  Katrina orders him to develop safeguards against such a scenario.

Katrina then asks if the LIC could pull off something like Operation DOPPLEGANGER.  Simon answers in the affirmative - using a Lohengrin agent (a brainwashed orphan) as a deep cover agent.  He cautions that, in his view, Liao's plan would have failed because the Liao agent wasn't a trained operative, but just a man who physically resembled Hanse, and whose mind was blanked and overwritten with Hanse Davion's memories.  In Simon's view, the Liao doppleganger would have suffered a mental breakdown in short order, or would have been caught "thinking in a Capellan manner."  Simon adds that the impostor's memories were probably just suppressed, not wiped out entirely, and could have driven him mad if they ever emerged.  Simon posits that a trained Lyran operative could pull off a substitution with much greater chances for success. 

He pulls out files on people that Katrina might wish to double, and informs her that Loki agents can obtain body doubles immediately.

Elsewhere on Tharkad, 24th Lyran Guards officer Jeana Clay races her bicycle through the hills, training for the Tharkad Triathlon.  Next door neighbor Mr. Tomkins encourages her as she returns home.  Entering, she showers following her morning workout, and is surprised when a Loki agent enters and fires a dart gun at her.  Terrified, she wonders why an agent of State Terrorism has come after so long, and how they found her. 

Jeana fights back and knocks the Loki agent down the stairs, knocking him out.  A second agent manages to tranquilize her, and assesses her as an "excellent candidate." 

Shortly thereafter, an air ambulance arrives and takes Jeana away.  The driver reassures Mr. Tomkins that she has a chance, despite the heart attack brought on by the Yeguas fever. 

Notes: Despite being set in Chapter 10 of Warrior: En Garde, this is a key establishing scene for the Warrior Trilogy, and it takes place chronologically before Chapters 1-9. 

There's a nice bit of continuity in the reference to Ardath Mayhar's "The Sword and the Dagger."  I'm still sort of confused by the ultra sci-fi tropes used in the LosTech setting.  The technology to not only wipe/suppress a person's mind, but also to copy Hanse Davion's mind and superimpose it on the double's memories seems like it would be beyond the capability of House Liao.  I mean, sure, they could have dredged up some LosTech doohickey that could do it, but my question is how House Liao would have gotten a detailed enough brainscan of Hanse to get all his memories?  Also, what would be the point of putting a guy on the throne who had Hanse's mind?  What you want is a guy who can pass for Hanse, but takes orders from Max Liao, not someone who thinks exactly like the original Hanse. 

It's also interesting that Simon and Katrina assume that the doppleganger descending into madness would have been chalked up as a failure of the scheme.  Since Hanse's heir is still Michael Hasek-Davion, having "Hanse" go nuts would place Mikey on the throne of the AFFS.  Since he's shown a willingness to declare peace on the Capellan border (though Max may not have known that Michael dreamed of assimilating Liao territory into the "Federated Capellan Empire"), the Chancellor takes that as a win.

More importantly, this scene is delightfully subversive vis-a-vis Stackpole's usual portrayal of the Lyrans as shining good guys.  Instead, we see Katrina and Simon cold-bloodedly opting to build on Max's DOPPLEGANGER scheme - not by recruiting an existing special forces operative, but by sending an agent of the State Terrorism division to seize an unwilling Lyran citizen and forcibly induct her into State service.  Despite all the ostensible protections provided by the Estates General, the Lyran Commonwealth is a nearly absolute hereditary monarchy where the ends justify the means.  Standards of living are higher than in the Combine, but a moral high-ground on a shining hill it ain't. 

Jeana Clay's questions in the shower aren't the normal ones someone in her position might ask.  Rather than "what? who? aaaaa!" it's "how did they find me? how do I kill him?"  We later learn that Jeana's family was part of Heimdall - the anti-Loki underground movement that fought a covert war against state overreach during the reign of Alessandro Steiner. 
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #32 on: 10 December 2016, 02:13:14 »
Satoh's comment about "this wasn't what I was promised," makes me wonder what Satoh knew and when he knew it.
Look at the situation:
Akuma is in a position to harrass the Dragoons, with Warlord Samsonov's blessings. But the Coordinator's orders weren't actually to crush them (this will come back to bite Samsonov and in a way Akuma; yet outwards, Takashi later wouldn't reveal that his subordinates screwed up royally or even pursued their own agendas over his orders so the impression lingers that Takashi had the Dragoons destroyed, when in reality he just couldn't prevent it from happening).
Also, Akuma doesn't get ISF support beyond what comes with his liaison officer position. The ISF is just interested in seeing if he's a Sons of the Dragon candidate. He ultimately isn't.

What happened on Barlow's end is that Akuma (only) tried to get Tetsuhara out of the picture for personal reasons. Once Tetsuhara had presented what seemed like a foolproof battle plan his car was sabotaged and Satoh was probably only promised that he couldn't lose the fight if he stuck to the plan.

Akuma was never wasteful, and I doubt he wanted the Ryuken to be crushed; but Satoh was installed as a fall guy if that defeat somehow happened while Akuma pursued his own agenda. That seems to have been a Plan B, where unwanted losses happen which, on the bright side, can then be laid at the Dragoons' feet.
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Mendrugo

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #33 on: 12 December 2016, 16:47:21 »
Date: November 2, 3026

Location: Galedon V
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis:  A meeting between Jerry Akuma and Warlord of Galedon Grieg Samsonov is interrupted by the arrival of newly arrived ComStar Precentor Alexandre Kalafon, who has come (officially) to present his credentials after replacing Precentor Jhi To Phud at the Galedon HPG. 

Once Samsonov vouches for Akuma's trustworthiness, Kalafon describes the chain of events that led to Dragoon MechWarrior Fadre Singh becoming bitter and disaffected (having succeeded in a reckless attack on Hoff, then being relegated to service at an isolated outpost on Misery as punishment).  According to Kalafon, Singh told a passing mercenary about the Dragoons' "Hegira" plan for a  full-scale exodus from Kurita space.  Kalafon asks nothing in exchange for the information, calling it a sign of good will.  Samsonov notes that "good will is maintained through further good will," and the Precentor concurs, then departs. 

Samsonov reflects on Akuma's history - having come to the Warlord's attention after one of his schemes disgraced his superior officer and, by extension, Samsonov's rival Warlord Yoriyoshi.  Once the ISF confirmed his devotion to the Combine, Samsonov rewarded Akuma with a posting to the 8th Sword of Light, and then promoted him to be an aide on his staff.  Though useful, Samsonov worries that Akuma is a fanatic fueled by hatred.

Akuma resolves to learn more of the Hegira plan, to provide the Coordinator with "insurance" against such an eventuality.  Akuma further reports good progress with his campaign of harassment against the Dragoons - forcing them to abandon troops on hostile worlds, squeezing their revenues from An Ting by imposing an undeclared trade embargo, raising the cost of supplies, and replacing Tetsuhara with Satoh.  Akuma notes begrudgingly that the Brotherhood physician on the DropShip was loyal to his professional code of ethics, and saved Tetsuhara's life.  Akuma says he expects Satoh to successfully execute the plan and retain control of the Ryuken even after Tetsuhara returns to duty.

Samsonov approves, noting that the Ryuken may serve him as a counterbalance to the ISF in the future.

A report comes in with the result of the Barlow's End operation.  Samsonov begins to rant about the Dragoons, while Akuma is shocked, but silent, having not expected the Dragoons to retreat.  Samsonov vows to see the Dragoons destroyed for having humiliated him, and orders Akuma to summon Precentor Kalafon to plot strategy.

Notes: This scene confirms Frabby's analysis - Satoh was promised a foolproof plan to win him personal glory and permanent command of the Ryuken.  Akuma wasn't out to destroy the Ryuken or sell out the Combine - he just wants to destoy the Dragoons as a way to hurt Tetsuhara.

The "mercenary" who was pumping Fadre Singh for information was almost certainly ROM.  Singh's disgrace and reassignment to Misery seems fundamentally disconnected from the Dragoons' Clan roots.  In the Clans, the ends justify the means, and victory validates the strategy and tactics by which it was achieved.  A foolhardy charge into the enemy's teeth and a victory over superior odds are exactly the sort of thing that many Clan warriors dream about, and hope will be their ticket into the eugenics program and a Bloodname.  Granted, the Dragoons have had decades to shift their ways of thinking away from Clan orthodoxy, but it really seems like he was being penalized for thinking too Clan-like.

The Dragoons do have a method for dealing with screwups - penal battalions.  Zeta started out this way during the Davion contract, and then that role went to the Black Widow Company during the Marik Civil War.  Why was Singh left to rot on Misery, rather than being given a 'Mech with a bullseye painted on the center torso and sent out into the field?   

The reference to the "Brotherhood physician" is a nod to the Physicians of the Dragon profiled in the House Kurita sourcebook.  With mystical trappings, they treat medical practices not unlike ComStar does advanced technology, but are nonetheless highly skilled.  I wonder if Akuma ordered the Brotherhood physician to kill Tetsuhara and was refused, or tried to sneak in and sabotage the medical treatment, and was blocked.  One would think that a Brotherhood physician might report an assassination attempt against a Combine officer.

Kalafon's visit clearly demonstrates that ComStar is still hurting over the failure of Vesar Kristofur's 3015 gambit to learn the origins of the Dragoons, and are now actively seeking to manipulate the Combine into destroying this troublesome unknown factor.  The amount of hatred seems unusual, given that it's apparently unprovoked.  The rumors of Wolverine descendants operating within ComStar to influence policy may be bolstered by this apparently weakly motivated obsession.  The Cabal Wolverines (descended from the crew of the Zughoffer Weir may have recognized the Dragoons as Clan scouts, and sought to direct ComStar to destroy them.

It seems a bit late for word to be coming in from Barlow's End about the results of the campaign three weeks after the fighting ended.  A HPG transmission should have arrived much earlier.  To me, this indicates that the Combine does not trust ComStar with military communications, and instead relies entirely on dispatch couriers.  You lose speed, but gain greater assurance of information security.  As far as ComStar is concerned, the Combine hasn't forgotten the Bandersnatch incident.

There are some interesting questions raised by some of the elements of Akuma's backstory.  How much control over the roster of the Sword of Light regiments would a District Warlord have?  They control the Regulars assigned to their District, but would they have the authority to staff the free-floating regiments like the Sword of Light or the Night Stalkers?  Does each of the Warlords have a "pet" Sword of Light regiment (linking the 8th to Galedon)?

Samsonov's musings about using the "dragon sword" against the "dragon's shadow" strongly hints that he's considering making a play for power against Takashi Kurita.  This is one of the reasons that Takashi has been shown skillfully playing his Warlords off against each other, so that they won't go after him and try to repeat the Von Rohrs era with a new name on the Chrysanthemum Throne.

The note about revenues from An Ting strongly implies that the Dragoons were given the whole world as a landhold fur the duration of the contract, and that their pay is largely dependent on the world's revenues.  The Eridani Light Horse was granted the unmapped world of Derby, Snord's Irregulars got Clinton, and McCarron's Armored Cavalry got Menke.  What about smaller mercenary groups?  What's the cutoff for getting a say in planetary government and skimming off from the planetary economy?  Would smaller units get cities as landholds?
"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.

Skyth

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #34 on: 12 December 2016, 20:03:16 »
The Dragoons do have a method for dealing with screwups - penal battalions.  Zeta started out this way during the Davion contract, and then that role went to the Black Widow Company during the Marik Civil War.  Why was Singh left to rot on Misery, rather than being given a 'Mech with a bullseye painted on the center torso and sent out into the field?

From TRO 3025 Centurion write-up, it appears that this was because Singh was successful and thus a 'hero'.

Mendrugo

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #35 on: 12 December 2016, 20:32:57 »
From TRO 3025 Centurion write-up, it appears that this was because Singh was successful and thus a 'hero'.

Right, but my point is that his actions were stereotypically Clan (despite him being a Dragoon adoptee), and he should have gotten rewarded for it, had the Dragoons still adhered to Clan philosophies.  The philosophical split ultimately resulted in the Dragoon Civil War of 3054, pitting Elson and Alpin's traditionalists against Jaime's loyalists.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #36 on: 13 December 2016, 15:08:50 »
Date: November 15, 3026

Location: New Avalon
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: Minister of Intelligence, Information, and Operations Quintus Allard meets with Hanse Davion in his palace's private audience chamber to discuss a message recently arrived from Michael Hasek-Davion.  Allard plays the holodisc, in which Michael conveys a video clip he feels may be of interest, which his agent intercepted on Le Blanc while it was en route to a freelance bounty hunter named Sten Weller. 

In a black and white video, a shifty, rumpled man named Billy confirms the destruction of Kempis and the eyewitness accounts of the deed being done by a woman matching Natasha Kerensky's physical description and piloting a black Warhammer.  A man wearing battle armor emerges from the shadows and drops a wallet on the table, which Billy quickly snatches.

Michael reappears in the holovid to explain that the conversation was about the Black Widow having committed atrocities on New Mendham.  He warns Hanse against trying to hire the Dragoons through their agents on Galatea.

Hanse openly doubts the story, noting that it doesn't fit with the character of the Natasha Kerensky he met while the Dragoons were under contract to House Davion.  Quintus notes that the Davion mercenaries which attacked New Mendham did not report any contact with the Black Widows.  Allard speculates that Michael is passing this message on at the behest of House Liao.

Allard notes that the Dragoons were present on Barlow's End, but reassures Hanse that their presence does not appear to be a reaction to Operation GALAHAD, which was the reason for the Eridani Light Horse's unexpected presence on the world.  Quintus suggests that the Dragoons and the DCMS failed to learn anything about GALAHAD before they pulled out.  He notes that the destruction of the prototype jump stabilizer has enraged both Professor McGuffin and Doctor Banzai. 

Quintus adds that the Kurita troops on Barlow's End (the Ryuken) fought like fanatics, and that the FedSuns troops found the Kurita commander was found shot in the back of the head - which he speculates was a ritual killing, like seppuku.

Quintus reports some unusual behavior - by Dragoon assets - JumpShips appearing at systems scheduled for use by GALAHAD assets, and Dragoon surveillance of AFFS hiring procedures on Galatea.  He notes that his attempt to slip an agent into the Dragoons by enticing them with a Hatchetman failed when the Dragoons gave the agent a cushy slot in one of their subcontractors, Carter's Chevaliers, and traded one of their custom Archers for the Hatchetman.

Hanse orders Quintus to edit combat footage from Barlow's End to emphasize the Dragoon withdrawal, and to leak it to a Kurita agent, in the hopes that the footage could exacerbate a split between the Dragoons and the Coordinator.  He also tasks Quintus with delivering Michael's holovid to Jaime Wolf, to build credit with the mercenary commander with information about the plot to discredit his unit.
 
Notes: There are generally considered to be two classes of BattleTech novels.  The "spine" novels focus on the main movers and shakers in the politics of the Clans and the Inner Sphere, following a number of units and characters through major conflicts and political machinations.  The Warrior trilogy and Blood of Kerensky trilogy are examples of this type.  Then there are the smaller scale stories, usually focusing on one unit fighting on one or two worlds.  The Gray Death Legion books are of the latter type. 

Wolves on the Border is a hybrid of the two types.  While it primarily focuses on the Dragoons, it expertly weaves in a fair amount of interstellar intrigue and politics, as well as covering operations up and down the Combine/FedSuns border.  And the content is very dense in the intrigue chapters.

In this one alone, we have the Bounty Hunter chasing down rumors about Natasha, Michael Hasek-Davion intriguing with the Capellans, discussions of Operation GALAHAD, Team Banzai's technological research, and efforts to infiltrate the Dragoons.

This is the first time the Bounty Hunter's armor has been described.  It wasn't represented visually until the release of the MWDA pilot card.  From the description (full body armor, electronically modulated voice), the Bounty Hunter is modeled on Boba Fett.  The story of the Hunter is now known, more or less, but readers encountering him in "Wolves on the Border" can be forgiven if they feel like they skipped a chapter, since there are lots of references to the two having a history together (dating back to when the Hunter and his gang trashed Natasha's Alpha Regiment company during the Marik Civil War, stealing Natasha's Marauder and leaving only her and one other Dragoon from that company alive.  I certainly know that when I first read Wolves on the Border, I was confused by the Bounty Hunter scenes, and thought I must have missed an earlier Dragoon novel.  Yet when I hunted those down (The Spider and the Wolf, for example), nada.

We know from the "Tales of the Black Widow Company" scenario "Bounty Hunter," that Michael Hasek-Davion actually employed the Bounty Hunter to ambush the Black Widows on Le Blanc in mid-3025, so I'm guessing that Michael didn't get this from an "agent," but actually got the recording from the Bounty Hunter himself, probably in the hopes that FedSuns involvement could help him flush out the Widow.  It seems very odd that the conversation between Billy and the Bounty Hunter would be recorded, and that it would have been sent to another bounty hunter.  Was the Bounty Hunter using it to recruit a team for the operation?  Or was Sten Weller using his own network of informants to keep tabs on the competition?

The revelation that Professor McGuffin's prototype was a jump stabilizer suggests to me that it was intended as a component to make the prototype Improved Jump Jets used on the Super Wasp and Super Griffin field-deployable.  In addition to heating problems and a tendency to explode, the prototype IJJs may have also been hard to control - necessitating a jump stabilizer.  The destruction of McGuffin's prototype seems to have really set back research in this field, since Improved Jump Jets weren't combat-ready until Clan Wolf-in-Exile introduced them in 3069.  My guess is that Achernar and Team Banzai soon turned their attentions to the Helm data core and the "shovel ready" tech there, believing it to offer a better return on investment than trying to work out the kinks of IJJs.  With the destruction of the jump stabilizer and the theft of the oscillation overcompensator (in "Remaining Unseen"), the IJJ project must have seemed cursed.

This is one of the few times we see Hanse scheming against the Combine - the Warrior Trilogy was very Liao-centric as far as Hanse went, and detente had more or less set in by the time of the Blood of Kerensky books.  I remember from the Succession Wars board game that one of the key moves you could make was to break an enemy state's mercenaries away from their faction at a key point in the game.  "Contract Ends" cards were so common that my standard move was to immediately send my mercs on suicide runs into enemy territory, removing their unreliable presence and hopefully taking several enemy units with them. 

No dates have been given for Operation GALAHAD 3026, beyond the year.  According to the NAIS Atlas, these exercises involved ten 'Mech regiments and one hundred infantry and armor regiments drawn from the AFFS.  The ELH unit on Barlow's End was apparently one of the 'Mech regiments involved, and had just been transiting through the region when the DCMS forces attacked and the White Witches asked the ELH for support.  GALAHAD '27 started in August of that year, so if the timeframes are the same, the exercises seem to have had a duration of about three months (August - October).   
"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.

Kojak

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #37 on: 13 December 2016, 20:42:02 »
Professor McGuffin? Seriously? Even by Battletech pun name standards, that's pretty bad.


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Mendrugo

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #38 on: 13 December 2016, 21:44:24 »
Professor McGuffin? Seriously? Even by Battletech pun name standards, that's pretty bad.

I noted previously that, since it's presented in conjunction with a mysterious item to be acquired, the Prof appears to be an explicit shout out to the literary trope of a McGuffin.  Still, not even close to Ninh Tehn Do, as far as terrible BattleTech character name puns go.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #39 on: 14 December 2016, 14:04:25 »
Date: November 24, 3026

Location: An Ting
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis:  Minobu Tetsuhara, convalescing at Hoshon Mansion after surgery to replace his arm and leg with prosthetics, receives a visit from Jaime Wolf.  Both show the strain of the events surrounding and following the catastrophe on Barlow's End. 

Jaime tells Minobu that Yukinov has been back on active duty for a week, with a myomer prosthesis.  Minobu reflects that the Brotherhood physicians were only able to provide him with less sophisticated metal limbs that allow him to pilot a 'Mech, but at reduced efficiency.

Jaime further reports that Alpha Regiment will be repaired from its losses on Barlow's End soon, despite significant losses.  He complains, though, that Akuma continues to make trouble, spreading rumors around the Combine to lay the groundwork for another attempt to split up the Dragoon regiments.  Feeling threatened, Jaime asks Minobu to use his influence with the Coordinator to prevent any effort to break up the Dragoons.

Minobu promises to try, but acknowledges that Samsonov will use the defeat on Barlow's End to lend weight to his arguments.   

Notes: I know I keep harping on it, but the inconsistent level of access to prosthetic technologies continues to bug me.  Myomer prosthetics aren't cheap, but they aren't LosTech, either.  Yet mercenaries can afford them (even with Akuma imposing an informal trade embargo), while the Physicians of the Dragon won't spring for better than functional metal unit for the commander of an elite frontline regiment.  And this isn't due to Akuma's interference - he acknowledged in a previous chapter that his attempts to influence the Brotherhood regarding Minobu's treatment had come to naught.  Across the border, Duke Aaron Sandoval had both legs severed, and got full myomer replacements good enough to pilot a 'Mech with, while Justin Allard was told that the metal unit he received (which appears to be on par with Minobu's) is cutting edge NAIS technology.     

Minobu's vase painting apparently puts him culturally at odds with most of the other DCMS officer corps.  Handbook: Draconis Combine says that academy trained officers of the Combine tend to focus exclusively on martial pursuits, and disdain the arts.  Of course, few Combine warriors have Minobu's faculty with ki.

Jaime's distress shows his commitment to his new mission (given during the last supply run) to staying in the Inner Sphere and preparing the Successor States for the Clan Invasion.  If he didn't care about the Dragoons' reputation, they could execute Hegira immediately and book for Strana Mechty.  Over the course of twenty years, he's forged a unit and accomplished deeds which a freebirth would never be allowed to even contemplate in the Kerensky Cluster, and clearly the distant Homeworlds have no nostalgic pull on him.

I wouldn't expect Minobu to be able to win a he-said/he-said faceoff with a Warlord, but given the mutual animosities among the DCMS top brass, one wonders to what extent Minobu could cultivate other Warlords to back the Dragoons as a means of tweaking Samsonov - whom they all despise.  It must be an open secret that he was directly responsible for the downfall of Warlord Yoriyoshi after the Galtor Campaign, so I'm surprised that the other Warlords aren't looking for an excuse to preemptively knock him down a peg or two, out of a sense of self preservation, if nothing else.

There's nothing mercs like better than a chance to gossip when between contracts on Galatea.  I wonder why so many merc units are willing to sign on with the Combine, given their proven track record of using company store tactics to impoverish and then absorb merc units, alongside their casual disdain.  Are Combine pay rates really so much better than what the Lyrans or FedSuns will pay?  Or does the Combine usually get units that are one step away from relocating to the Periphery as bandits, and can't get offers from more reputable employers?

The Clan ethos and the Combine's bushido philosophies have notable parallels (unsurprising, since the focus on ritual dueling was borrowed by Kerensky's SLDF from Combine "ronin" during the 1st Hidden War).  I wonder how differently things would have gone if the Dragoons had started their circuit of the Inner Sphere in the Combine, back when they were comparatively "fresh off the boat" from the Kerensky cluster and far more indoctrinated in The Way of the Clan. 
 
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #40 on: 14 December 2016, 18:42:54 »
The Combine is notoriously spartan.  It makes sense for high tech myomer replacements not to happen there.

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #41 on: 14 December 2016, 20:22:51 »
Still, not even close to Ninh Tehn Do, as far as terrible BattleTech character name puns go.

I dunno, House Master Ty Wu Non (House Hiritsu) and Sang-shao Mai Tee Phyn (2nd CRC) could give him a run for his money.


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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #42 on: 15 December 2016, 14:13:11 »
Date: November 27, 3026

Location: Kittery
 
Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: Kittery Training Battalion commander Major Justin Allard receives Private Robert Craon for a disciplinary hearing.  Craon disobeyed Leftenant Andrew Redburn's orders to return to his watch post after Craon went on a racist rant against Allard (due to his half-Capellan ancestry) following Allard's dismissal of Sergeant Phillip Capet, the battalion's former leader. 

Allard tells Craon that the racism isn't the problem, and explains that while the training battalion personnel looked up to Capet as a hero, his victory on Uravan took place in a fight that took place only because Capet disobeyed orders and endangered his unit while trying to rescue his own family.  Allard notes that Capet was planning to hijack a JumpShip and take the training cadre on a suicidal revenge mission, necessitating Allard's action to dismiss him from the AFFS.

Craon apologizes to Allard and accepts a punishment duty of overseeing the other cadets in training exercises, and performing maintenance with the Techs.

After Craon leaves, Leftenant Andrew Redburn enters to complain about all the paperwork Duke Michael Hasek-Davion and his administrators require to conduct exercises.  He jokes that Michael has let so many Capellans back into the Kittery government, that he may as well just give back the planet.  Redburn reports 32 'Mechs ready for duty - a Valkyrie and a Spider, plus 30 Stingers. 

In the 'Mech bay, Justin addresses the cadets, who have assembled under the supervision of Sergeant Walter de Mesnil.  He reminds them that the goal of the AFFS is to get the native population to accept Federated Suns membership, and warns against using the natives' livestock for target practice. 

In his Valkyrie, Justin gives the code phrase and powers up his system, then heads out at the head of the trainee column.  Out in the field, several hours later, Private Sonnac reports odd magscan readings.  Justin goes over the crest of the hill to investigate.  Redburn reports an attack by a company of Cicadas coming in from the south, east, and north.  Justin reports a Rifleman blocking the way to the west, and tells Redburn it's a trap.  He orders him to get the cadets out, and moves to engage the Rifleman with his Valkyrie.  On the other side of the ridge, Redburn orders the cadets to fall back to the west.

Justin's missile volleys damage the Rifleman, and he evades the return fire.  Back in the valley, Redburn orders his cadets to charge the Capellan 'Mechs and use their jump jets to get behind them.  The AFFS cadets get the better of the exchange, but take losses nonetheless.  Still fighting the Rifleman, Justin pushes his Valkyrie hard to get around behind the Rifleman.  He is shocked when the Rifleman's arms flip up and over, pointing into the rear arc and lasering his 'Mech's legs off. 

In the valley, the Cicadas begin to withdraw.  The cadet lance commanders report three dead, with varying degrees of damage to the remaining 'Mechs.  Allard fails to check in, and Redburn leads a rescue party to the Major's last known position.  Vectoring towards  a plume of smoke, they find Allard's Valkyrie limbless torso prone on the ground, and see that Allard is alive in the shattered cockpit, but missing his arm from the elbow down.  Both Craon and Redburn feel that it would have been better for Allard if he had died, rather than live without an arm.

Notes: As noted previously, the Federated Suns seems to be well behind the curve in terms of bionics in 3026.  Despite the Free Worlds League's anti-bionic prejudices, it seemed like half the background characters in "The Spider and the Wolf" (set on New Delos) had metallic prosthetics.  The Duke of Robinson lost both legs while commanding a tank, and they had him up and running a 'Mech in short order, but Redburn and Craon somehow feel that the son of the head of MIIO won't get similar access to medtech?

It's possible that Redburn and Craon are from Outback worlds, and would have had less exposure to modern medtech.  (Redburn is from Firgrove, about which we lack sufficient detail to determine its Outback-ness.  We don't know where Craon is from, but his evident prejudices suggest somewhere either heavily impacted by Capellan raids, or somewhere generally culturally intolerant.)

The high concentration of Cicadas is unusual for a Liao unit, since that design is only produced in the Free Worlds League.  No unit in the CCAF is listed as using Cicadas as its primary BattleMechs.

The Rifleman is one of the most common 'Mechs on the battlefield (particularly in the Federated Suns), and has been since the waning days of the Star League.  What does it say about Justin's education and experience that he's never heard of Riflemen being able to flip their arms before?

Uravan, where Philip Capet's family lived, lies at the tip of the lower salient into the St. Ives Commonality/Sian Commonality.  At one point, Justin refers to the Federated Suns colonists who have settled on captured Capellan worlds as "carpetbaggers."  The term originated as a derogatory term used by defeated Confederates to refer to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction, and reflected their fear that the victorious Northerners would loot and plunder the defeated Confederacy.  Justin using that term about FedSuns immigrants reveals his fears that the Feddies are going to loot the conquered worlds (the fact that he has to warn his cadets about shooting up the native livestock implies there have been previous incidents along those lines), and that he may feel somewhat cynical about the actual intent of the Federated Suns to bring their vaunted "freedoms" to the conquered Capellan worlds, vs. their intent to make a quick pound.  There's ample precedent, looking at how the Inner Sphere treated the Periphery worlds in the latter decades of the Star League.

Either the Rifleman was already damaged, or Justin Allard has incredible luck with his LRMs.  With eight long-range missile hits, he destroys two weapon systems and inflicts a critical hit on the Rifleman's sensors.  The Cicadas also seem to go down entirely too easily, particularly considering they're presumed to have Veteran pilots, going up against greenies in Stingers. 

This tends to be one of the telltale differences between the spine novels and the local story books, in that the combat in the spine novels is more cinematic, and only covered shallowly, whereas the fighting is described in page after page of loving detail in some novels that try to adhere much more closely to the flow of the game upon which it is based.  I know many readers get bored with the back and forth of laser blasts, etc., and skip ahead to the end of the battle, when the plot and intrigue pick up again.  (Stackpole does go into great detail when a main character fights a one-on-one duel, such as in the Bloodname Trials in Blood of Kerensky).
« Last Edit: 15 December 2016, 22:46:48 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.

Skyth

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #43 on: 15 December 2016, 17:48:24 »
Allard notes that Craon was planning to hijack a JumpShip and take the training cadre on a suicidal revenge mission, necessitating Allard's action to dismiss him from the AFFS.

It was Capet that was going to do that, not Craon.

Might be worthwhile to note that the code phrase to start Justin's mech is one that is often used by Capellan intelligence.

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #44 on: 15 December 2016, 22:51:29 »
Thanks.  Fixed.

It's interesting that there is so much paranoia among the Feddies, despite centuries of handing the Capellans defeat after defeat.  I guess isolated victories like McCarron's Long March and insurgent movements like the Kittery Tong help maintain a healthy respect for the Capellan fighting forces, despite high profile expressions of disdain, like the "limp sword" banner.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #45 on: 16 December 2016, 01:52:22 »
I felt it was more a result of dogged Capellan resistance and asymmetrical warfare that tends to continue long after the AFFS feels they have won (which the Capellans just refuse to acknowledge, having earned their citizen status and all that). Check the backstory of Count Anton Vitios, for example, to see what I mean.
« Last Edit: 16 December 2016, 01:54:37 by Frabby »
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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #46 on: 16 December 2016, 15:08:24 »
Date: December 1, 3026

Location: Luthien
 
Title: Heir to the Dragon
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: ISF Director Subhash Indrahar spars with Coordinator Takashi Kurita at their dojo.  Subhash chides Takashi for being distracted by his son, Theodore, who appears to prefer the company of the Legion of Vega than life at court.  Takashi feels he does not understand the demands of the realm.  Subhash concludes that Takashi has not accepted that his strongarm tactics will never force Theodore to become the man his father wants him to be. 

Subhash changes the subject to Operation GALAHAD, House Davion's military exercises over the past three months.  He knows that Prince Hanse Davion must have more in mind than demonstrating military preparedness, but his ISF agents have come up empty.   Subhash confirms the report's assessment that Houses Liao and Marik will be of little help if Hanse Davion starts a war.

On the subject of the Ryuken and the Dragoons, Subhash recommends expansion of the Ryuken, which will become important, along with the Genyosha, if the Dragoons cannot be retained.  He reports that the Dragoons continue to amass debt due to the Combine's "company store" policy, and that the ISF has manufactured material for blackmail.  Takashi reiterates that he does not want the Dragoons to leave the Combine. 

They proceed to the meeting with the Warlords, with Subhash satisfied that their talk of the Dragoons has refocused the Coordinator on the true problems of the Combine, and away from his disappointment with Theodore.

Notes: The Combine has repeatedly been shown to inspire its officials and soldiers to consider the state itself to be more important than its ruler.  Despite Subhash's obvious friendship with Takashi, he considers his first duty to be to the state, with even Takashi being expendable in service of that goal.  (Subhash continues to conceal Theodore's secret wedding and children with O5P agent Tomoe Sakade). 

I wonder to what extent the Warlords believe Subhash is their trusted supporter, favoring them above the others?  Theodore likewise trusts Subhash, but the ISF spy chief would have him killed without a second thought if he thought Theodore posed a danger to the realm. 

It's interesting that Takashi and Subhash are already discussing the importance of the Genyosha, since Takashi's envoy won't arrive on Echo V to summon Yorinaga Kurita out of exile to command the Genyosha for another month.  I wonder what Takashi's backup plan was if Yorinaga opted to remain at the monastery?

Hanse and Quintus would be delighted to have confirmation that the ISF was utterly mystified by Operation GALAHAD, maintaining the obfuscating chaos being used to conceal troop redeployments required to stage troops for Operation RAT.

Indrahar's assessment of the other Kapteyn Accord states' military readiness is astoundingly accurate, in light of the actual course of the Fourth Succession War.  I wonder if he could have anticipated Janos Marik's formal response to Max Liao's request for military assistance (hilariously detailed in "Historical: Brush Wars").   
« Last Edit: 17 December 2016, 05:50:15 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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #47 on: 18 December 2016, 12:29:43 »
Date: December 1, 3026

Location: An Ting
 
Title: Wolves on the Border
 
Author: Robert N. Charrette
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: Michi Noketsuna enters Hoshon Mansion, searching for Minobu Tetsuhara.  Finding only shattered vases in his study, Michi is relieved to find Minobu in the tower, watching the sunset.  Minobu tells Michi that he is disturbed by news just received from Luthien, that the Ryuken is to expand to six regiments, with each of the existing companies serving as a core that a cadre will build around.  They will be assigned to An Ting, Capra, Misery, Thestria, Delacruz, and Marlowe's Rift, serving alongside the Dragoons. 

Michi asks what about this construes bad news, and Minobu informs him that the six regiments will be directly controlled by Warlord Grieg Samsonov, with Jerry Akuma in charge of the Ryuken-ichi on An Ting, while Minobu will command the Ryuken-ni on Misery.  Michi tells Minobu he cannot accept this insult, but Minobu informs him that the arrangements are the will of the Coordinator. 

Notes: I wonder if the decision regarding the Ryuken was made in the Coordinator's meeting with the Warlords, and transmitted by high priority HPG relay, or if it had been made previously.  I remain surprised that Samsonov was able to gain such an advantage in power over the other four Warlords.  Takashi is generally pretty good about keeping them balanced against each other, but now the other four have just their own Regulars to command, while Samsonov suddenly has an extra six regiments at his beck and call.  Takashi's focus on "not losing the Dragoons" must have led him to allocate the Ryuken to Samsonov to contain the Dragoons if they were to go to rogue.

Minobu's legendary ki mastery was evidently not sufficient to maintain his calm center after getting this news.  Minobu has had previous dealings with DCMS power politics, such as when he was assigned to command the Ryuken in the first place, receiving rank tabs without stays as a way of communicating that the promotion was not just for show. 

The question of the Ryuken expansion is, where are they going to get the troops for an extra 576 'Mechs, MechWarriors and support staff.  Minobu had a very difficult time finding enough troops with the right mentality to adapt to the Dragoon fighting and command style.  Not only were there a limited number of "diamonds in the rough," but many other unit commanders refused to allow their own strength to be depleted to transfer troops out to the Ryuken.  I mean, sure, the men of the Legion of Vega would probably be very happy to transfer to the Ryuken, but it won't be getting anyone from the Sword of Light, or other prestigious units.  (For that matter, the Genyosha is being stood up at the same time, creating a competing channel of demand for 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.

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #48 on: 09 January 2017, 16:35:30 »
Date: December 15, 3026

Location: Albiero
 
Title: MechWarrior - Matabushi Ambush
 
Author: Peter Fokos
 
Type: Encounter
 
Synopsis:  Following Gideon's meeting with Tasha after the bar fight with the Black Widow, Gideon is faced with two individuals - Kearny and Tasha - both claiming to be Federated Suns intelligence agents (MIIO and DMI's MI6 respectively), giving him conflicting information about the motivation behind the attack on Anders Moon and who to trust.

This trend continues - some time after the bar fight, Gideon gets a message from his trusted family friend, who gave him a Jenner and set him on the path to seek the Chalice of Herne and his family's murderers, Jordan Rowe.  Rowe confirms that the Kurita military is behind Jarris McBrin's power grab, and that the DCMS wants a strategic outpost from which to respond to Operation GALAHAD '27.  He recommends contacting MIIO agent Kearny on Albiero for more information.

However, Tasha sends Gideon purported transcripts of intercepted communiques between Matabushi CEO Duke Ishi Tahiro, Trade Division CEO Marquis Tanji Koetsu, and Special Operations Director Hohiro Anato regarding Operation INROAD.  The communications suggest that the small world would be of little interest to the DCMS, and thereby would provide a prime venue for smuggling, if the local government could be co-opted.  When Duke Vandenburg (Gideon's father) refused to cooperate, Matabushi authorized the Dark Wing to eliminate him, having bribed both McBrin and Rowe to cooperate in the regime change.     

With damning but contradictory evidence in hand, Gideon travels to Albiero in an attempt to make contact with Kearny, and follows a map to a landing site that was signed "a friend."  Unsure of what to expect, Gideon sees seven Karnov VTOLs arrive in a desert canyon and the Kurita troops aboard begin to offload valuables from a massive vault built into the canyon wall.     

Ambushers rise up around the convoy and attack, boarding some of the VTOLs and shooting one down as it attempts to take off.  Gideon spots Tasha in the middle of the fight, running to board the lead VTOL.  Gideon runs to join her, and catches hold just as it takes off. 

Inside, Gideon finds Kearny holding Tasha at gunpoint as she pilots the Karnov.  Tasha banks sharply and evades Kearny's aim.  The two face off and notice Gideon for the first time.  Both claim the other is an ISF agent and ask Gideon to help.

Gideon takes Tasha's side and she knocks out Kearny.  Resuming control of the Karnov, Tasha explains that MI6 got word Matabushi was transferring gold bullion, cash for laundering, LosTech, and computer files.  She says that the files contain the location of the Dark Wing and the Chalice of Herne.  She gives it to Gideon with the expectation that he will be able to expose and disrupt Matabushi's operations on Anders Moon.  She cautions Gideon to maintain secrecy, noting that MI6 does not officially exist.

Gideon later reviews the computer data, which confirms Tasha's story about Operation INROAD - to set up a cover operation in the Federated Suns for money laundering and smuggling, using Grig Griez's JumpShip and a special lance of 'Mechs, plus bribes for agents on Anders Moon, including Jordan Rowe.

Notes: This is the penultimate "scene" in the MechWarrior game, where all the subterfuge is laid bare and the scene is set for the final showdown in glorious VGA color. 

The setup is left vague for dramatic purposes, since (like all the "Encounter" portions) the player has a choice to make, where the wrong option leads to death, and it's unclear who "a friend" is.  While that works from a dramatic gameplay point of view, it seems unconscionably sloppy for Tasha to bring Gideon into a live fire shooting gallery without letting him know who was doing the inviting.  So was her telling him "By the way, MI6 is top secret, so don't tell anyone," after having introduced herself as MI6 in a crowded Drac bar. 

(Likewise, it's hard to reconcile the idea of MI6's existence being a closely held state secret, when there's both an MI5 and MI7 in the DMI TO&E, strongly implying the existence of an MI6 in there somewhere.)   

Operation INROAD still confuses me.  We know that it involved smuggling across the Davion/Kurita border in partnership with Grig Griez, Jordan Rowe, and a duped Jarris McBrin.  The operation would net Matabushi an estimated 600 million C-bills per year, with the puppet government of Ander's Moon providing cover for the Stonebow and other smuggling ships by laundering the smuggling revenue and providing falsified customs checks.  On the surface, all well and good.

But the question is, why go to all that trouble?  Uninhabited systems are a smuggler's friend, and a distribution deal with someone like Griez in the Federated Suns would have allowed Matabushi to outsource the work of forging bills of lading and laundering the money.  Heck, ComStar's neutral - would they even care where H-Bills came from when it was presented for conversion into C-Bills?  And why would Tahiro have had to lean on the ISF for permission to go ahead? 

I can only speculate that Matabushi was involved in moving some goods that may not have been, strictly speaking, in the Combine's best interests, possibly on behalf of the yakuza.   However, in that case, why were DCMS troops and an ISF agent providing security, and why was MI6 so keen to target Matabushi and break up the plan?  Was Operation INROAD just phase one as part of a larger plot to establish a base of operations behind the first line of defense in the Draconis March - much like Ricol's plan for Trell I?

The transfer of goods out of the Matabushi vault also seems odd to me.  If you have a nice vault like that, why remove the contents, instead of doubling down on security?  Where was all that gold, money (for laundering), LosTech, and computer data records going?  Another Matabushi facility?  The money would theoretically have been bound for Ander's Moon to be laundered.  Was the gold to pay bribes?  And why move the computer records (an artifact of Peter Fokos writing in an era predating networked computers - future of the '80s) and LosTech? 

The LosTech cache is particularly intriguing.  LosTech is generally treated as generic "TREASURE!" by BattleTech characters, who splice the best bits into their war rigs and sell the rest.  But where does the "rest" go?  Are collectors hanging mysterious "Left Handed Framistat XL39s" in their private galleries?  Are R&D labs futilely trying to reverse engineer the items?  One thing that bothered me is that we never saw any of this LosTech being deployed in the field circa 3025, where it could provide a decided advantage.  Theodore Kurita got a Dragon from his father and an Orion from his aunt.  Both were stock.  One might think that the sole heir of House Kurita would rate an upgraded model.  Surely a Great House would have some LosTech squirreled away for personal use, if Matabushi has a private collection.  Or were the Kurita troops there because the LosTech belonged to House Kurita, and was being researched by Matabushi?

The revelation that Jordan Rowe was part of the plot against Gideon was fairly surprising, since he gave Gideon the Jenner and sent him off to track down the Dark Wing.  Was he trying to keep Gideon in his back pocket in case Matabushi tried to betray him, so he could claim to have been working covertly to aid the rightful heir if word of his support for Matabushi came out?  Otherwise, Rowe would have been strongly motivated to simply shoot Gideon back on Ander's Moon.
« Last Edit: 10 January 2017, 10:46:53 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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #49 on: 09 January 2017, 20:53:44 »
It is a intriguing story, been decades since i read anything from the MechWarrior1 fiction.  It's too bad this stuff isn't canon.  :-\

Having a "hidden" war between spies and shadowy characters being backed up by small mercenary lances and other assorted rough type people is nice shade to add to the Third Succession War era.
« Last Edit: 09 January 2017, 20:55:27 by Wrangler »
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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #50 on: 10 January 2017, 10:42:00 »
It is a intriguing story, been decades since i read anything from the MechWarrior1 fiction.  It's too bad this stuff isn't canon.  :-\

It hasn't been explicitly de-canonized.  I believe the guiding principle is that if it fits within the theme of the BattleTech universe and doesn't explicitly contradict any of the established canon events of the BattleTech universe, and makes sense, then you can assume it happened (or at least something in those broad strokes). 

There are elements that do not fit with the established timeline (references to the Gray Death Legion fighting on Verthandi prior to their getting a contract to go there, for example), but MechWarrior 1 fits into the BattleTech universe very nicely compared to MechWarrior 3050, or the SNES MechWarrior adaptation, or MechAssault 2.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #51 on: 13 January 2017, 10:02:47 »
Date: December 27, 3026

Location: New Avalon
 
Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: One month after being blown out of his Valkyrie by an enemy Rifleman, Major Justin Allard awakens in a hospital on New Avalon.  Dr. James Thompson and Nurse Alice Forrester inform him that his severed arm has been replaced by a steel prosthetic.

Notes: Kittery is a good seven jumps from New Avalon.  With a one week transit up to the jump point in Kittery, and another week on the New Avalon end (assuming use of standard jump points), that means Justin must have had one heck of a command circuit to get him to New Avalon in less than two weeks (presumably they did the surgery and prosthetic attachment on New Avalon, rather than en route.  This is definitely not standard operating procedure for the AFFS, which (per The Sword and the Dagger) tends to use LosTech cryo tubes to freeze soldiers during the long, slow slog back to rear-area worlds for treatment.  The Prince's best friend, Ardan Sortek, was frozen and shipped to Tharkad, rather than being taken to an AFFS hospital.

So, tremendous resources have been expended to bring Justin back to New Avalon.  Why? Because Justin is the son of Hanse's intelligence director, Quintus Allard.  (It's entirely possible that House Allard descends from Mesillia Allard of Andurien, who fled her demesne and the lustful advances of Kalvin Liao in 2528, and could have relocated to Kestrel, the modern seat of House Allard.)

I know I'm flogging an equine that has shuffled off the mortal coil at this point, but having expended so much resources to bring Justin back to New Avalon, it baffles me that they'd cheap out on the prosthetic.  Some explanatory text along the lines of "You weren't a good candidate for myomer replacement, because of your allergies/blood type/etc." would have cleared everything up, but with a Dragoon colonel getting myomers over in the pages of "Wolves on the Border" and Duke Aaron Sandoval of Robinson getting them as a youth (before he was the ducal title holder), there's one heck of a disconnect between the blackened steel lump on the end of Justin's arm and what is known to be within the Federated Suns' capacity.   

Early in the scene, when Justin's eyes are bandaged (due to the medicines having dilated his pupils), he is terrified of being blind.  And yet we have scores of images of BattleTech characters with bionic eye implants functioning as soldiers.  Sure, circa 3025 they aren't very pretty, but they seem to work just fine.

Justin, of course, hasn't read the sourcebooks and doesn't know what's available, but this and other knowledge gaps make it seem like he's led an extraordinarily sheltered existence for the son of a Federated Suns diplomat - never having seen anyone with an artificial eye, not knowing that the ubiquitous Rifleman can flip its arms, etc.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #52 on: 13 January 2017, 10:41:17 »
Date: 3026
 
Title: Ship Profile: FSS Gray Paladin
 
Author: Craig Reed, Jr.
 
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps Exclusive)
 
Synopsis: As part of Operation SILENT LANCE, the FSS Gray Paladin was one of several Union-class DropShips disguised as civilian cargo vessels that performed reconnaissance in the Capellan Confederation in support of Operation RAT.  Calling itself the Star Mermaid, the MIIO recon vessel monitored Aldebaran, New Hessen, Algol, and Pleione from 3026 to 3028 under the command of Captain Martin Kelly (aka "Hookah" Vincences).  Other key crew members profiled include computer specialist Lt. Mitchell "WaveGod" Bayer, shuttle pilot Lt. Rachel Reese, communications cryptanalyst Lt. Vas Kinnison, junior computer specialist Pendaran "Largo" Collier, and Rabid Fox detachment leader Lt. Megan Savage.

Notes: The existence of Operation SILENT LANCE strongly suggests that MIIO had not yet succeeded in compromising the Maskirovka as of 3026 - we have no data on when Alexi Malenkov (aka Alex Mallory) managed to infiltrate the Maskirovka, and Justin Xiang won't ascend to the "crisis team" until late 3027.  So, rather than just having moles in the Maskirovka send in full reports, the Federated Suns had to rely on traditional spycraft.   

It's also clear that preparations for Operation RAT are moving ahead at full steam, with both Operation GALAHAD and Operation SILENT LANCE laying the groundwork.  I would imagine that planning began in late 3025, since Hanse would've taken being abducted, deposed, and replaced with a surgical double rather personally.  The stunning thing is that neither ComStar nor the Kapteyn Accord members had the slightest inkling of what was coming.  Sure, the Maskirovka had been compromised at the highest levels by 3027, but why was Subhash Indrahar's ISF asleep at the switch as well? 

Overall, this is an excellent small unit profile that could be inserted into any campaign of the era, or serve as a model for other SILENT LANCE vessels working different areas of the Confederation - either as player units, NPCs encountered along the way, or the OpFor if you're running a Capellan team.   

The heavy concentration of computer hackers is intriguing, since it implies the existence of computer networks on the worlds being targeted, whereas the House Liao sourcebook portrays a Confederation where most resources have been reallocated to keep the military just barely functioning, and where heat sink manufacture is prioritized over civilian refrigerators.  With constant AFFS and mercenary raids, would maintenance of global or even regional computer networks be a priority for the Capellan government?  Particularly given the low priority placed on free speech and the open sharing of ideas in the Confederation?
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #53 on: 13 January 2017, 11:56:32 »
Date: January 1, 3027

Location: Echo V
 
Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: Jiro Ishiyama journeys to a Zen monastery, a cold underground cavern complex deep beneath the barren, storm ravaged surface.  At a teahouse in a rock garden, he sets up a traditional tea ceremony and, as part of the cha-no-yu ritual, rearranges the rock garden to send a subtle series of messages to his expected visitor - Yorinaga Kurita - who has been in exile here since his defeat on Mallory's World in 3016 and the Coordinator's refusal to permit seppuku.  During the tea ceremony preparations, Ishiyama goes over the story of Yorinaga's final battle with Morgan Kell in great detail.

When all is in readiness, Ishiyama rings a gong softly, and Yorinaga enters, wearing a robe emblazoned with the image of a fierce yellow bird reflected in a dragon's eye.  Ishiyama conveys the Coordinator's greetings to Yorinaga, and informs him that Takashi intends to form an elite unit of 50 men - The Genyosha - around Yorinaga to participate in a plan to destroy the Kell Hounds. 

Notes: Interestingly, during the tea ceremony preparations, Ishiyama recalls that Coordinator Urizen Kurita II instituted Japanese cultural promotion in the Combine only after he avoided an assassination attempt because he had made an unscheduled detour to cut bamboo for a tea ladle, resulting in the mass adoption of ancient Japanese cultural elements.  There is a body of evidence, however, that substantial elements of Japanese culture were highly popularized even during the von Rohrs dynasty, with the members of the first DEST units trained in the samurai mindset.

The pot used is said to have been hammered into shape out of armor scavenged either from Takashi Kurita's first 'Mech kill or the wreckage of the first 'Mech shot out from under him.  Aligned crystal steel backed with a diamond alloy weave seems like a poor candidate to be reshaped by hand with a hammer.  (Maybe Takashi popped some schmuck mercenary like the ones in the CityTech intro story, that had been forced to patch armor holes with scrap sheet metal that still read "Processed Chicken" and "SPAM").

Michael Stackpole had a lot of work to do to add character to the Draconis Combine.  Granted, we'd already had both sympathetic and unsympathetic (yet nuanced) portrayals of Kuritans in "Wolves on the Border" and "Heir to the Dragon," but the Gray Death Legion books portray the Combine as the embodiment of evil in the Inner Sphere, with no redeeming characteristics (slavery, sadism, mass murder, repression, torture, betrayal, etc.).  The focus on the spiritual side of Combine existence - the underground Zen monastery, the excruciatingly detailed tea ceremony preparation - give a window into the Draconian thought process and cultural ideals. 

The scene also presents Stackpole with the opportunity to cinematically tell the story of the famous duel that led to the exile of both Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita, without having to start the novel with an excess of in-media-res prologues set years before the main action.

The early novels were very nicely woven together, plot-wise.  The "Wolves on the Border" scene in late 3026 shows Takashi discussing his plans to form the Genyosha with Subhash Indrahar, and here we have the recruitment of its CO in an early chapter of "Warrior: En Garde." 

The world of Echo was first settled during the Star League era.  Given the wretched surface conditions, it's probably safe to speculate that it was a mining colony, rather than an agricultural center.  Once the ore played out, it became the perfect site for Coordinator Urizen II to build a Zen monastery in his retirement.  The cold temperatures imply that they are close enough to the surface for the above-ground weather to affect the temperatures in the caverns.  The monks seem to regard it as part of their meditations - an incentive to master the art of ignoring the frailties of the body.  Perhaps Urizen II thought digging deeper to gain more insulation would be a sign of both physical and moral weakness.

Ishiyama makes a reference to the Coordinator rejecting Yorinaga's annual request to commit seppuku.  I wonder when Yorinaga sends the request?  January 31 was the date of the duel (and therefore a logical symbolic date for renewing the request), but sending the denial on January 1 seems either one month early or 10+ months late.  How does Yorinaga send the message?  Is there a ComStar station on this rock?  (They boast that they have every inhabited Inner Sphere world wired into the HPG network, but our discussions of the campaigns on Trellwan and Verthandi noted that many strategic decisions were made that reflected the lack of an HPG on those worlds.)  Or does Yorinaga send a haiku with a supply vessel?

The battle description is very colorful, but ultimately comes down to Yorinaga's Warhammer rolling snake eyes on an alpha strike, and then the disbelieving player conceding the game.  I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing once and asked if he'd ever played the board game much before writing the books.  He responded "Just enough to learn to not let anyone get behind me."  This is probably why the text attributes Yorinaga's inability to defeat Morgan to Colonel Kell's remarkable aptitude at dodging incoming fire - an option not available in the 2nd Edition board game ruleset of the time.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #54 on: 13 January 2017, 13:27:07 »
The heavy concentration of computer hackers is intriguing, since it implies the existence of computer networks on the worlds being targeted, whereas the House Liao sourcebook portrays a Confederation where most resources have been reallocated to keep the military just barely functioning, and where heat sink manufacture is prioritized over civilian refrigerators.  With constant AFFS and mercenary raids, would maintenance of global or even regional computer networks be a priority for the Capellan government?  Particularly given the low priority placed on free speech and the open sharing of ideas in the Confederation?

I suspect they're there to hack into both military and civilian satellites (which there are no doubt plenty of, since these are heavily populated worlds they're monitoring), since that would massively increase their monitoring abilities.


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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #55 on: 13 January 2017, 13:47:26 »
The battle description is very colorful, but ultimately comes down to Yorinaga's Warhammer rolling snake eyes on an alpha strike, and then the disbelieving player conceding the game.  I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing once and asked if he'd ever played the board game much before writing the books.  He responded "Just enough to learn to not let anyone get behind me."  This is probably why the text attributes Yorinaga's inability to defeat Morgan to Colonel Kell's remarkable aptitude at dodging incoming fire - an option not available in the 2nd Edition board game ruleset of the time.
I always believed that reasoning behind Yorinaga's ability to hit Morgan was partially due to Warhammer malfunctioning. In real life, the stress of battle and being hit by weapons fire could easily broken systems, including the sensors.  The original battle Morgan gained this trait (hard to hit) [this is me making that up!] both him and Yori had already been fighting beat heck out of their mehs.

I do recall that even Dan Allard managed to hit Morgan and Yorinaga with physical attacks.  Can only imagine if Yen-Lo-Wang could have closed and used it's "hatchet" hand and punch it's opposing enemy whom was using the phantom ability.

More roleplaying wise, i'd say the player using Morgan's Archer is desperate keep it alive and used all his characters "Edge" to avoid crits and hits.  Properly permaburned those edges to...until he got enough points in his campaign to get more.  ;D

I do like having bit of the "unknown" "touch of the supernatural" in a story, which i think it adds some more depth to the story where it's appropriate. I am in minority given how folks (including staff) have treated this little quirk in the Battletech history.
« Last Edit: 13 January 2017, 13:51:30 by Wrangler »
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Mendrugo

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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #56 on: 13 January 2017, 14:47:29 »
The "tone" of BattleTech has shifted back and forth over the years.  Early BattleTech was very much "soft" pulp action sci-fi, with strong jawed heroes, acts of derring do, and wardrobes that would not have been out of place on Mongo.  In such an environment, a bit of Shadowrun-style mysticism went along just fine.  Psychic invisibility that affected electronic targeting systems.  Levels of ki mastery that allowed trick shooting with a bamboo bow and (reputedly) throwing a foe across the room without touching them.  Precognitive visions.

A lot of that fell by the wayside when the focus shifted towards hard sci-fi, with much more attention on trying to make BattleTech tropes conform to real-world physics.  Phantom 'Mech was kicked to the curb, the Nova Cat "visions" were explained as "the Nova Cats just smoke a lot of strange stuff" and ki made no appearance in the ruleset.  (This was about the same time that fusion engine explosions were noted as "illogical, yet deeply satisfying.")  Subsequent to that, however, some mysticism has crept back in, with yet more instances of precognitive visions (possibly tied to certain genetic traits and exposure to K-F fields) and Phantom 'Mech reborn as a set of AToW traits triggered in very rare circumstances.

I like the current balance - just a touch of mysticism around the fringes, but enough of "something" going on that it can't be entirely discounted.  If you want to go whole hog on the supernatural, set sail for the Nebula California.
« Last Edit: 13 January 2017, 14:50:57 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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #57 on: 18 January 2017, 11:03:40 »
Date: January 8, 3027

Location: New Avalon
 
Title: Warrior: En Garde
 
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel
 
Synopsis: MIIO Director Quintus Allard joins Hanse Davion in his private planning chamber, and Hanse detects Quintus' agitation.  Though Justin is adapting to his new prosthetic, Quintus is upset with the arrival of a contingent of Michael Hasek-Davion's security personnel and lawyers that arrived on a DropShip that morning, bearing a holodisc with a message for Hanse.  Quintus brought the disc to Hanse after placing Michael's men in isolation under the pretense of "quarantine." 

Ardan Sortek joins Hanse and Quintus, and they view the recorded message.  Michael demands that Justin Allard be tried as a traitor to the Federated Suns, and sentenced to death.  He gives Justin's dismissal of Philip Capet as an example of Justin's treason, and says his investigators have proof that Justin arranged the ambush in an attempt to eliminate the Kittery Training Battalion, and was wounded due to his allies' incompetence.

Michael says that the people of the Capellan March feel that Hanse prioritizes the Draconis March over them, and fear he will strip troops and other defenses from them to fight the Combine.  He warns that civil unrest could result if Justin is not publicly punished, as a sign of Hanse's commitment to the security of the March.

As the message concludes, Hanse and his advisors discuss response options.  Quintus assesses the threat of civil war as an idle threat, but acknowledges that worlds in the Capellan March could resist sending troops to other Marches.  He acknowledges that the MIIO's best efforts have failed to find any evidence that Michael is conspiring with Maximilian Liao, though there was a small window of a few hours when he could have met with Liao officials within the last few months.

Quintus trusts his son, but acknowledges that his heritage makes him a valuable target for Capellan co-option.  Hanse tells Ardan and Quintus that Michael clearly wants to be First Prince and may be willing to work with Max Liao to achieve his goals.  He admits he wants payback against Liao for Operation DOPPLEGANGER, and suggests using Michael to get at Max.  To start with, they'll feed Michael fake troop movement figures, then watch to see how the CCAF reacts.

Notes:  When I tried to suss out the chronology of "The Sword and the Dagger," this chapter was a key touchstone, but one that, unfortunately, couldn't be reconciled with other historical events.  This chapter places the assault on Stein's Folly "eighteen months ago," suggesting that "The Sword and the Dagger" should have started in July 3025.  Since the storyline has Ardan wintering on Tharkad during his recuperation, it seems that author Ardath Mayhar intended it to run from July 3025 through summer 3026, with the swap taking place in the summer of 3026.  That would also match text in this chapter where Michael refers to Hanse's "bout with the Kentares flu last year" in January 3027, suggesting the cover story for the swap was disseminated in 3026.

The wrench in the gears is that the swap was stated to have taken place shortly after the commencement of the Galtor Campaign.  The BattleForce scenario book covering the Galtor Campaign didn't give any dates, but the Turning Points: Galtor Campaign book gave a definitive start date of May 3025, and a conclusion of September 3025, meaning the swap had to happen in summer 3025, and forcing the "Sword and the Dagger" timeline to be heavily compressed, due to Catalyst's rule of thumb that more recent books overrule prior ones in cases where there are contradictions.

As a result, Quintus is clearly in error when he dates the assault on Stein's Folly to July 3025 - he should have said twenty-four months ago (there's some wiggle room in that he says the assault turned out badly eighteen months ago, so he's possibly referring to the success of the AFFS counterattack a few months later - but that interpretation would still have him off by a few months).  Michael's reference to "last year's bout of Kentares flu" can be excused by his (possibly) having recorded the message in late December 3026.  (Though this brings up the larger issue of why Michael would send the message to Kittery to be recorded by his agents there and couriered via command circuit to New Avalon, when he could simply have transmitted it to the ComStar station on New Avalon and had it delivered by ComStar courier.)

For all its vaunted prowess, the New Avalon Institute of Science seems to be woefully behind the times in certain fields.  Quintus mentions that "Anasta over at the NAIS has done some interesting work with rapid, high-frequency transmission of data which is later slowed down and decoded."  You mean like the "zipsqueal" transmissions that a rookie merc with almost no resources used last year on Verthandi?  The NAIS also reports great progress on this "wheel" concept they're working on, though the "fire" team has become bogged down in acrimonious discussions of what color it should be. ;)

Hanse's outrage over the threat of artificially induced civil unrest is utterly hypocritical, considering that Hanse's schemes to foment civil unrest in the Free Worlds League are what led to a brief break in his friendship with Ardan Sortek.  The Capellan March would, though be far more prone to civil unrest because so many Capellan March worlds once flew the Confederation flag.  Plus, Michael's reference to the Capellan citizens as "indigs" and to Justin Allard as "half-caste" (a derogatory reference to a person of mixed race) suggests that Justin's concerns about "Davion carpetbaggers" abusing natives of conquered worlds may be quite justified, leading to increased unrest potential.

It's odd, though, that membership in a star-spanning political entity is defined primarily by race.  Granted, in loose terms the Capellan Confederation stands in for "Imperial China IN SPAAAACE," but Capellan worlds are just a ethnically diverse as those of other states, with Poles, Spaniards, Malaysians, Russians, and Scots mixed in with Han Chinese and a pile of other ethnic groups.  Is it the epicanthal folds?  Would Michael be as biased against Justin if Quintus had hooked up with a slav from Tikonov or a good ol' girl from Old Kentucky?  The worlds of the United Hindu Collective lie within the Capellan March.  Does Michael consider mixed-race pairings within the Federated Suns anathema?

It would seem that Operation RAT got its genesis in this meeting, but in truth it seems to have been under way for some time, since Operation GALAHAD '26 was part of the cover for troop movements, and Operation SILENT LANCE was targeting Capellan worlds for intel gathering throughout 3026, explicitly in support of RAT.  This seems to be an add-on for RAT, specifically targeting Max.
"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: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #58 on: 18 January 2017, 12:10:23 »
Given that the Stein's Folly/TSaTD timeline is consistent save for the Galtor campaign, I'm inclined to single the Galtor campaign reference out as the problem that has to be fixed.
You could handwave the situation by assuming that the Doppelganger ploy had been simmering for some time, and preparations were being made including a "test run" during the Galtor campaign: Perhaps the Capellans substituted Hanse's operational control with their own mirror network to test its effectiveness, presumably with sufficient obscurement as to not actually reveal and endanger the agents involved. Seeing how that worked or didn't work they then made adjustments to the Hanse Davion simulation and properly started the real operation a year later.
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Re: Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars
« Reply #59 on: 18 January 2017, 13:00:20 »
Given that the Stein's Folly/TSaTD timeline is consistent save for the Galtor campaign, I'm inclined to single the Galtor campaign reference out as the problem that has to be fixed.

The problem is that it's mentioned multiple times.  The Galtor Campaign sourcebook notes that Hanse, previously very actively involved in the planning and operational control, seemed to lose interest shortly after the operation started.  In Warrior: En Garde, Katrina and Simon Johnson discuss the DOPPLEGANGER report and sync it up with the difficulties fake-Hanse created in the FedCom alliance relationship during the Galtor Campaign.

Either way you cut it, some very specific references are invalidated.  Going with the original timeline has the advantage of eliminating the assumption that Ardan had expensive command circuits at his beck and call, but then it screws up the references from "The Galtor Campaign" and the Katrina scene.

Plus, the Liao sourcebook appears to have been published at the end of 3025, and it refers to Operation DOPPLEGANGER as something that has been fully resolved in the past.
« Last Edit: 18 January 2017, 13:04:22 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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