Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II  (Read 205723 times)

Wrangler

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I just finished reading Betrayal of Ideals. I'll be happy when you start blending that and the 2nd Succession War stories into together.
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Mendrugo

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Most of the Betrayal of Ideals scenes are already reviewed in the first Succession Wars thread.  I'll cover the new scenes from the novel version here shortly.
"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  Unpublished.

VhenRa

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Some slight nitpicking. [I can't resist]

Historically, the FWLM bluff worked flawlessly, and the CCAF forces scattered, and the world was ruled by the League until 2888.  The size of the 2787 "mega bomb" is a trifle extreme - 200 gigatons.  By way of comparison, the Peacemaker-class warhead is 500 megatons (0.25% of the yield of the megabomb).  And yet, only a few dozen people died, and a field of wind turbines was destroyed, slightly inconveniencing the industrial facilities they powered.  (Granted - the Chicxulub meteor impact that caused dinosaur extinction had an estimated force of 10 million gigatons, so perhaps I shouldn't have expected a crater visible from space from just 200.)

I'm surprised that the FWL used DropShips as bombers.  I guess this warhead would have been too large for any standard capital missile to carry from a warhead, so the alternative would be to carry it in a DropShip cargo bay and pitch it out over iron sights (at 200 gigatons, the need for pinpoint accuracy is somewhat reduced). 

A Peacemaker is 500 kilotons, not megatons. Also could be a related term to Boomer, a 1SW term for dropships converted to fire capital missiles for orbital bombardment work. FWL was the one who coined said term.

The narrator's rifle is interesting - with a 25-bullet ammo clip, but the ability to fire 190 rounds a minute, the thing seems designed for either spray-and-pray or to be able to be rigged as a belt-fed pintle-mounted full-auto weapon.  Looking at the Tech Manual tables, there are no listed rifles with a 25-bullet magazine, so this sucker is definitely LosTech by 3073.

190 RPM that isn't spray-and-pray... thats aimed fire. An AR-15 (IE: M16/M4 system) or Kalashinkov have a RPM of ~600. WWII Submachine guns tend to go for RPMs of over 1000. 190 RPM is only just over 3 rounds a second. At 190rpm... you might be able to get close to it's fire rate in actual fire rate because it won't burn through the magazine faster then you can reload it. It would be something like Burst/3 in ATOW terms.

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #273 on: 01 September 2017, 08:21:42 »
Thanks for the correction on the bomb size.  In that case, assuming a linear relationship between bomb weight and yield, the mega bomb goes from 50 tons to 50,000 tons, definitely making the case for a specialized DropShip as a bomber - though a Union is out of the question when the bomb masses more or less the same as a Mammoth.  Did they use a Behemoth in orbit to drop the first one? 

As far as the gun goes, I was keying off the narrator's personal musings about the rifle, wondering how a gun could shoot 190 rounds a minute if it only has a 25 round clip.  The author may have meant to showcase the narrator's general unfamiliarity with guns (which, as it turns out, pretty much matches mine).
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Wrangler

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #274 on: 01 September 2017, 08:29:10 »
I take it there no stats for Boomer or something close to it?  I guess we could use Union Pocket Warship if we needed it and forego the using advance non-star league weapons.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
"No, it's a "Most Awesome Blues Brothers scene Reenactment EVER" waiting to happen." VotW Destrier - Weirdo  
"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #275 on: 01 September 2017, 10:29:04 »
Date: July 5, 2821
 
Location: Circe

Title: Betrayal of Ideals

Author: Blaine Pardoe
 
Type: Novel (Betrayal of Ideals)

Synopsis: At Chamberlin's Crossing, overlooking the village of Skavka, Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy reflects on the fighting against the Rasmussen Elite - a well armed faction that has proven to be competent fighters individually, but lacking in overall coordination.  Her aide, Marcelo Gao, reports the Elite have eight FrankenMechs, a company of armor, and two companies of irregular infantry.  McEvedy notes that she has five BattleMechs, including her Guillotine in her Wolverine's Bite command Star. 

SaKhan Dwight Robertson suggests waiting until the arrival of Sobral's Claw Star, but McEvedy worries that they could scatter and carry on the fight if the Wolverines delay.  The destruction of the massed Elite will end the faction for good.  She proposes challenging the Elite leader, Gustav Kran and goad him into engaging, drive him with artillery, then coordinate and concentrate fire to eliminate the foe quickly.  Robertson notes that such an action is in defiance of Nicholas' directive to engage the enemy in one-on-one combat.

McEvedy challenges Kran, but he refuses to take the bait, and calls on her to come into Skavka to get him.  McEvedy directs Daniel Hammerick's Ravager Battery to fire for effect.  Kran and the rest of the Elite come charging out of the now burning village en masse.  The FrankenMechs prove no match for the fresh Wolverine machines, and the battle ends in eleven minutes, at the cost of Lu Kosh, whose Lancelot succumbed to physical attacks by three Elite MechWarriors.

McEvedy's sense of triumph is shattered by a transmission from Nicholas Kerensky, who had watched the engagement without joining to assist.  He scornfully notes that the Wolverines violated his rules of engagement, casting aside honor when they concentrated their fire, and tainting their victory.  He says his rules are not subject to interpretation. 

Khan Mitchell Loris, of Clan Mongoose, joins the conversation, revealing that Kerensky has been broadcasting his chastisement in the open.  Loris accuses McEvedy of being egotistical.  McEvedy asks if he wants to discuss the matter in a Circle of Equals.  Nicholas cuts off the bickering by proclaiming that there will be new rules governing honor when the fighting ends, and promises that the Wolverine's tactics will not be tolerated again.

Notes: This is a new prologue section added when Betrayal of Ideals was published as a novel.

McEvedy's Wolverines weren't the only ones to ignore Nicholas' restrictive rules of engagement, which appear to descend from the Combine/Star League dueling culture that flourished throughout the First Hidden War.  "Dreams of Babylon" noted that Khan Khalasa of the Sea Foxes engaged in indiscriminate attacks of massed fire and saturation bombing during his siege of the city of Camlann, prompting the Coyotes to withhold aid from them.  On Dadga, we see the Goliath Scorpions massing fire from their armor auxiliaries on the forces of the McMillan Collective when they spring an ambush.

Early works on the Clans suggested that the one-on-one dueling culture was a reaction to how Nicholas Kerensky had died - surrounded by multiple opponents when he was killed.  This scene would suggest that the change came much earlier, at Nicholas' insistence.  Perhaps it's a reaction to how General Aaron DeChevalier died - ambushed by multiple rebels.  Elizabeth Hazen seems to have been the one most affected by his death (going on a rampage as she massacred rebels in revenge) - perhaps she was the one who counseled Nicholas on the rules of engagement for Operation KLONDIKE.
« Last Edit: 02 September 2017, 06:06:12 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 - Part II
« Reply #276 on: 01 September 2017, 11:48:31 »
Date: June 11, 2830
 
Location: Terra

Title: Intentions

Author: Paul Sjardin
 
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (The Second Succession War)

Synopsis: In Jerome Blake's shrine on Hilton Head Island, Conrad Toyama ponders the preserved corpse of his friend and mentor.  He sits by the body and confesses he is afraid of what is to come.  He worries that if he does nothing, the fighting will end, bit if he pushes it, the conflict may rage for a century more.  He worries how history will judge his actions. 

He reflects on the continued hostility between the Houses and the deaths of entire worlds.  Even worse, for Toyama, is the realization that the people of the Inner Sphere had learned nothing from the carnage.  He resolves to actively intervene in the Inner Sphere - to take risks for a purpose rather than waiting for the people of the Inner Sphere to come to a realization of the folly of their actions on their own. 

He directs Michelle to pass the package along to Jeanette, and exits the Shrine.

Notes: "Michelle" is Precentor ROM Michelle Dupreas, and "Jeanette" is Jeanette Marik, passing intel to the Free Worlds League that forced her brother, the Captain General, to resume hostilities and touch off the Second Succession War.

Interesting that Blake's remains ended up preserved in a situation not unlike Lenin's Tomb. 

Whereas Jerome Blake wanted an end to the fighting - hopefully by letting people experience the horrors of war firsthand, then helping them rebuild, Toyama feels that even the carnage of the First Succession War didn't burn pacifism into Spheroid hearts, and now feels compelled to trigger another round of warfare in an effort to achieve Blake's dream.  This represents the point of philosophical shift from "We have to let them fight until they're exhausted, then step in and rebuild," to "We have to make them tear each other down until they reach a state of barbarism, then show them the proper way back to enlightenment."
"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 - Part II
« Reply #277 on: 01 September 2017, 13:51:53 »
Date: October 1, 2845
 
Location: New Delos

Title: The Raven

Author: Jason Hardy
 
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)

Synopsis: Lt. Edgars tries to keep his unit together as chaos envelops the battlefield - he hasn't slept in five days.  Through the haze, he acts in accordance with the part of his brain that tells him what to do - what he calls "The Raven."  At this moment, it's telling him to head towards the towering black mountains ahead.  The surviving troops in his command follow.

Later, Edgars' troops report contact with enemy units to the north, and ask for orders.  His mind is a blank, until the words come in a rush - ordering a complex flanking maneuver.

Sometime later, Lt. Edgars proceeds through a shattered forest.  He hears a voice telling him mop-up operations against the Lyrans are almost finished.  He channels The Raven once more, telling his troops to rally and protect the industrial facilities against a breakthrough.  He desperately wishes he could rest, but he can't until The Raven orders him to.

Later, he hears a voice warning of ambush by anti-'Mech infantry, with 'Mech support.  Edgars channels The Raven and orders his men to pull together and head west, then requests assistance.  There is no response.  Another voice comes into his cockpit, telling him his unit is destroyed, and he must surrender.  He responds "Nevermore."

At the FWLM command center, Harlan Allison reviews incoming casualty reports, noting the death of Lt. Edgars, who'd been killed defending the southern perimeter.  He recalls that Edgars had been massively sleep deprived, and had been calling him The Raven over the comm channel - an old nickname that nobody ever uses to his face.  Allison takes pride that Edgars used his inspirational speeches to keep his men going against the Lyran tide, telling them they can never, never rest.

Notes: The story is undated and not given a location, but Harlan Allison's presence in battle puts it shortly before October 2 2845 on New Delos, since his primary claim to fame is being the last of the Ducal Allison line of Oriente, dying in that battle (p. 66 of 2nd Succession War).  I've dated it October 1, because if the southern perimeter has fallen, Harlan's card is probably pretty close to being punched.  (Harlan Allison is, of course, a shout out to noted sci-fi author Harlan Ellison.)  Allison was noted to be a staunch ally of Captain-General Gerald Marik. 

Earlier sources placed the Sixth Battle of New Delos in early 2843, but the date from The Second Succession War sourcebook (October 2, 2845) is the definitive one, being more recent.

The reference to the Lyrans being the foe is an artifact of the Iron Writer no-fact-check conditions, since the actual attackers were Capellans (being right across the border from the Confederation, and more than 120 light years from the Lyran border).

Duke Harlan Allison's sons both died in battle during the ComStar War, his his daughter and granddaughter died in a car wreck.  He designated his brother, Kendall, as heir, but Kendall was assassinated on October 4, before news of Harlan's death had circulated.  House Allison was succeeded as the Ducal rulers of Oriente by House Halas, a prominent MechWarrior family.

The Second Succession War is inconsistent regarding the identities of the attacker and defender in the Sixth Battle of New Delos.  The main text about Allison's death refers to it as a botched Capellan raid on New Delos, but the section on "La Reconquista" notes that the FWL had lost a lot of territory during the ComStar War, and pushed out aggressively to reclaim it - listing the 2845 fighting on New Delos as an "attack against the Capellan Confederation." 

Jason Hardy was clearly having fun with the allusions to Edgar Allen Poe's poem about a raven's voice driving the author to madness (starting with Lt. Edgars).
« Last Edit: 05 September 2017, 13:06:28 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 - Part II
« Reply #278 on: 01 September 2017, 18:21:25 »
Date: 2888
 
Location: Old Kentucky

Title: The Mouse that Roared

Author: Michael Miller
 
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars - Old Kentucky)

Synopsis: The CCAF has re-invaded Old Kentucky, supported by a large and well-organized guerrilla movement that seized the pro-Marik legislature and the SAFE planetary HQ.  Still to be dealt with - two battalions of FWLM 'Mechs (39th Marik Militia) and several regiments of conventional forces.  The germanium mines near Fort Knox are a rich target, but well guarded, and surrounded by angry sasquatches. Plus, a hero of the guerrilla movement has been imprisoned by the garrison commander, inviting rescue attempts.

Notes: Interestingly, 2888 isn't the first time House Liao has returned to Old Kentucky after losing it in 2788.  They attacked during the ComStar War and took it without a fight in 2837, as the FWLM abandoned the world during the consolidation of its forces.  House Marik retook Old Kentucky in 2850, midway through "La Reconquista."  According to the deployment tables, the 39th Marik Militia (Green/Questionable) garrisoned the world at the start of the 2nd Succession War, and had returned there during the Reconquista (dropping from 104% readiness to 66% during the world's recapture).  Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky does not mention its 13-year liberation in the middle of the Marik occupation.  (Not surprising, since TtS:OK predates the publication of the Second Succession War.)

The 39th Marik Militia is off the FWLM TO&E by 3014 (the only chart we have for the Third Succession War - in Historical: Brush Wars), so it appears they went from 66% to 0% when the pro-Liao guerrillas rose up and the CCAF dropped in, unless it met its ultimate end sometime during the prolonged fighting of the 2900s.

This, of course, brings up a numbering oddity - the 30th Marik Militia was formed in 2980, per Field Manual: Free Worlds League.  Looking at the TO&E in Second Succession War, there is a 30th Marik Militia, so it may be properly said that the 30th and 34th were "re-formed" in the late 2900s and beyond.  Once dead, however, the 39th appears to have stayed that way.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #279 on: 01 September 2017, 20:02:24 »
Date: 3017
 
Location: New Avalon

Title: McGovern's Legacy

Author: Uncredited
 
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Jayce McGovern works to repair and repaint the McGovern's Legacy DropShip - his sole inheritance from his recently deceased father, General Jules McGovern of the Davion Guard. 

He recalls his father pretending to let him pilot the DropShip until he was nine, and noticed the real pilot operating a backup set of controls, and convinced his father to let him pilot the ship for real.  He further flashes back to seeing his father gunned down in the street outside their house by his father's aide - a Lieutenant with an eyepatch and facial scars.

Jayce finishes the repairs and paint job just before dawn, enabling the ship to take part in the missing-man formation flown by the Davion Guard aerospace pilots in honor of his father, part of the dedication ceremony for the statue of his father. 

Jayce swears to attend the academy and, someday, avenge the betrayal of his father.

Notes: This short entry was part of the 2009 Iron Writer contest, where writers at GenCon were given one hour to write a story on the theme of "Betrayal." 

I've dated it to 3017 because we have a situation where members of the Davion Guard not only have personally owned 'Mechs, but even a family owned DropShip.  This sort of ownership model was emblematic of the neo-feudal Third Succession War, when regiments were motley assemblages of MechWarrior families, with a noble commander drawing 'Mechs and troops from the demenses of his subordinate officers - all of whom are landed MechWarrior families.

In addition, 3017 is the year when the Dark Wing lance (from the SNES MechWarrior game) killed AFFS Colonel Joseph T. Ragen.  With no other touchpoint, perhaps the Dark Wing had gotten multiple contracts to assassinate high ranking AFFS officers in 3017, before going underground.  Jayce McGovern ends up with essentially the same motivation as Herras Ragen (go to the academy, get mad skilz, take sweet revenge), so it appeals to me to fit Jayce into that structure as well.  The killer is Lt. Wolf Glupper or Lt. Zach Slasher, perhaps?

No other references to a McGovern exist in the entire BattleTech canon (except for a 3071 news article on New Syrtis, mentioning an Agent McGovern). 

In the AFFS, "General" is the rank just below "Field Marshal" - generally assigned to command a March Militia RCT, and is considered a stepping stone to getting a Marshal's baton and command of a front line RCT.  Since General McGovern was attached to a Davion Guard unit, either he was a General who had been breveted to command the unit in lieu of a dead/absent Field Marshal, or served as the XO to the Field Marshal in command of the RCT.  This would explain why McGovern isn't listed on any TO&E - since only the CO is listed for any given RCT or regiment. 
« Last Edit: 01 September 2017, 20:36:09 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.

VhenRa

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #280 on: 02 September 2017, 00:10:51 »
Thanks for the correction on the bomb size.  In that case, assuming a linear relationship between bomb weight and yield, the mega bomb goes from 50 tons to 50,000 tons,

You do realise that 50 tons is for the missile itself. In the nuclear construction rules in interstellar operations the Peacemaker's warhead would weigh between 1015 kilos and 255 kilos. (Depending on tech level of the warhead.)

And your direct linear scaling is also wrong. 200 Gigatons is 200 Million Kilotons, or 400,000 times the yield of a Peacemaker. So direct scaling... it would be the size of 8 Leviathan-class Battleships. Using Int Ops, most efficient... It would be a mere 100,000 tons.  ::)

I take it there no stats for Boomer or something close to it?  I guess we could use Union Pocket Warship if we needed it and forego the using advance non-star league weapons.

The description we get for such tactics is actually when the Regulans revived it during the Jihad at Paradise. It was a modified Mammoths lobbing thousands of nukes. And in Int Ops... its modified Freighters. So better stat representation would be Mule Q-Ships.
« Last Edit: 02 September 2017, 00:29:24 by VhenRa »

Liam's Ghost

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #281 on: 02 September 2017, 01:18:18 »
Additional nitpick: Cray later commented that his original intent was a 2 gigaton warhead. 200 gigatons was a typo.

Also, the rules don't really go that big, so extrapolating things from those is questionable at best.
Good news is the lab boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show an immediate latency of 44.6 years. So if you're thirty or over you're laughing. Worst case scenario you miss out on a few rounds of canasta, plus you've forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face.

(indirect accessory to the) Slayer of Monitors!

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #282 on: 02 September 2017, 04:45:25 »
I hadn't realized there were official formulae for calculating warhead weight.  Thanks for noting it.

My original estimate for the Peacemaker warhead had been 250 lbs (0.125 tons), based on the Betrayal of Ideals scene with the two Widowmaker agents hauling one out of the Wolverine cache to their truck, several kilometers away through the wilderness.  Your lower end estimate of 255 kilograms (0.281 tons) means those guys' arms must have really hurt afterwards.

Plugging in the new numbers, we see a 0.000000562 ton = 1 ton of TNT equivalency for that tech level.  That gives us 112,400 tons for a 200 gigaton bomb.  If, as you say, Cray intended only a 2 gigaton bomb, that lops off two zeros, for 1,124 tons, which is still within the range of what a modified Union could carry, making the attempted deception fit perfectly, and suggesting that the linear scaling can be applied in this case.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #283 on: 04 September 2017, 09:52:45 »
Date: October 15, 3000
 
Location: Maldives

Title: Heir Apparent

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)

Synopsis: Lt. Walter de Mesnil reports to his portly, elderly CO, Hake Angleton, commander of the Angleton's Angels mercenary company, to raise concerns about their mission - to escort Litzau Enterprises heir Ivan Litzau in his coming of age ceremony that will make him eligible to become head of the corporation and, by extension, head of the planetary government.  Hake acknowledges that the gun-camera footage of Ivan's practice runs were underwhelming.

Moving out to a balcony overlooking the Nyqvist River valley, the Litzau corporate compound, and the city of Rivergaard (what can been seen on the surface - most of the capital city is located in underground man-made caverns), Hake tells Walter he took the job because the world is beautiful, and the pay is sufficient to get all the unit's 'Mechs back in fully working order.  He adds that he plans to retire on Maldives, and pass the unit on to Walter in healthy condition.

The key requirement is to make Chairman Presumptive Ivan Litzau into a passable MechWarrior in three weeks.  Walter opines that it can't be done.  He's interrupted by Acting Director Alexandra Litzau (Ivan's mother), who insists it must be done.  She agrees that Ivan is not suited to be a MechWarrior, but explains that he does have the vision to reverse the cultural decline that is causing the colony on Maldives to fail.  She notes that the population of Maldives has dropped by 700 million over the last two centuries, with an elaborate system of primogeniture keeping all the world's wealth concentrated in the hands of the First Families and their hereditary corporations through arranged marriages and joint ventures and mergers.  She notes that her late husband wanted to change things, but died of lymphoma shortly after Ivan's birth.  Ivan wants to carry on his father's work, but can only do so if he shows himself to be a master of the family's ancestral Trebuchet, Destrier, by completing a symbolic tour of corporate holdings in it.  Walter's task is to serve as Companion - preparing him and then guiding him on the run through the course.

Walter asks why the corporate security force, the Litzau Lancers, can't supply a Companion.  Alexandra explains that the Lancers' members are drawn from the First Families, calling their loyalty into question.  She trusts her paid mercenaries more.  She implores Walter to help Ivan succeed, for the good of all Maldives. 

Walter agrees to do his best, and wants to get started immediately.  Alexandra halts him, however, and instructs him to first go to have his dress uniform fitted for that evening's reception, which kicks off a series of social events attached to the Investiture ceremonies. 

That evening, at Rivergaard House, Walter looks at himself in the mirror in his new uniform, and considers the life outlined by the medals on his chest.  Chris Eck, the unit's Jenner pilot, stops by on the way to dinner with his wife, Laurie, and daughter, Kaylee.  Walter asks Chris to see what Laurie can find out about Ivan Litzau through local gossip.

Walter feels trepidation as he heads to the reception, preferring social situations where a guest who says something offensive can be knocked out in a tavern brawl and stuffed in an outbound DropShip.  The ballroom in the palace's left wing has seven-meter ceilings and a fantastic art collection, many pieces dating back over 1,500 years, from ancient Terra.  Holoprojectors project a view of the night sky onto the ceiling, turning the orbiting rocks and space junk into a glittering crown. 

Circling to sample the hors d'oeurves, Walter is approached by Director Richard Oglethorpe, Captain of the Rivergaard Rangers (the capital city's home guard), who disdainfully identifies Walter as the Companion, and then turns to implore his companion, Ivan Litzau, to select a Companion who has a better understanding of corporate political nuance.  Walter acknowledges his lack of knowledge of the local situation, but pledges that he will be able to ably serve Ivan as Companion.  Ivan expresses confidence in Walter and dismisses Richard. 

In private, Ivan apologizes for Richard's behavior, explaining it as displaced anger towards Alexandra.  He admires Walter's directness, a sharp contrast to the formal politeness of Maldives high society, and explains that Richard was the original choice to be Companion, but was dismissed by Alexandra, who feared that Richard might try to assassinate her son during the Vetting.

Walter is shocked that a potential assassin would be invited to the fete, but Ivan replies that the guest list would be extremely short if everyone who had designs on greater power on Maldives were excluded.  Ivan points out, in particular, Capellan Consul Wen Xu-Tian, who hopes to bring Maldives into the Capellan sphere of influence as a means of ascending to the court on Sian.

Ivan excuses himself, and Walter is approached by a blonde woman who hands him a glass of dry red Zweigelt wine, introduces herself as an ecological researcher named Phee, and asks him to rescue her.  Watching Ivan converse with the Capellan Consul, she remarks on his intellect, and his pursuit of knowledge.  She asks Walter about his motivations for becoming a mercenary.  Walter responds that he fell into the mercenary lifestyle because he had nothing better to do at the time. 

The two are interrupted by a representative of the Federated Suns, Ambassador Quintus Allard, who thanks Phee for recommending Dr. Bitters to get his sons, Justin and Daniel, checked out.  Quintus tells Walter that his boys are at the age where they dream of becoming MechWarriors.  Departing, he surprises Walter by addressing 'Phee' as "Research Director Litzau."  [She never officially states her real name, but the text refers to her as 'Sophia' rather than 'Phee' thereafter.]  Walter admits to being an offworld bumpkin who didn't know to whom he was talking, but worries whether there might be political ramifications in the local culture if he dances with Ivan's younger sister.  She responds that Maldives isn't the Draconis Combine, and that a dance will be fine.

They join the other couples on the ballroom floor and dance.  While dancing, Walter points out Richard Oglethorpe and asks Sophia about his threat potential.  She notes that 75% of the senior staff at Litzau Enterprises would need to be killed off before Richard would be in line to assume control, so he's not a true threat.  She identifies Richard's dancing companion as her older sister, Abigail - who would have been the heir if Maldives' rules of primogeniture hadn't been patriarchal - and who begrudges Walter as part of the system that is preventing her from claiming her birthright.

They separate after the dance, and Walter decides to plead "jump lag" and retire early.  Sophia is confronted by Abigail, who chides her for making a spectacle of herself with the mercenary.  The sisters recount the besmirching of Richard's honor in their mother's choice to replace his as companion with a mercenary.  Abigail says she hates seeing the Dhivi corporate elite being subordinate to an off-worlder.  Sophia argues that, to change Maldives' hidebound ways, they must be united in support of Ivan.  Abigail hopes that Sophia's trust in Walter is well placed, as a failure on his part could doom their ambitions.

Notes: Heir Apparent starts off with three chapters of scene setting, establishing the power players in this tale of corporate palace intrigue. 

Stackpole attempts to break out of the stereotypes of the Periphery with his portrayal of Maldives.  The first thought I usually have when thinking of the Periphery is of hardscrabble communities clinging to a rural, unsophisticated existence - the kind seen on Randall's Regret.  This is a different kind of Periphery world - one that was highly developed during the Star League era, but was unravaged by war or invasion - just subject to a steady, slow decline over centuries.  They aren't even terribly isolated, with diplomatic representatives from the Capellan Confederation and Federated Suns present, and discussions of exporting wine as far away as New Avalon.  (Interesting that neither the Taurian Concordat nor the Magistracy of Canopus sent anyone to the Vetting.)  Presumably, the Litzau corporation had the assets necessary to send a hiring agent all the way to Galatea, and Sophia is well enough versed in Inner Sphere culture to make a joke about the Draconis Combine's restrictive social caste system.

Walter de Mesnil has been a long-time background character in Stackpole's Kell Hound stories.  He first appears in 3026 in "Warrior: En Garde" as a graying one-eyed MechWarrior sergeant with a gravelly voice, serving under Major Justin Allard in the 1st Kittery Training Battalion, leading his lance of cadets into battle against Capellan Cicadas.  In 3027, Andrew Redburn later toasts Walter as the best Sergeant the battalion ever had when he resigns to return to the Kell Hounds, once Morgan returns and issues the recall order to the Kell Hound diaspora.  He gets even more of a role in 3010, in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," appearing as a hovercab driver on Galatea who saves Patrick from being abducted by Free Worlds League agents.  (Patrick "looks him in the eyes" in that scene, so his missing eye probably won't be a souvenir of his adventures on Maldives).  While serving as the Kell brothers' primary aide, he notes that his Blackjack has been with the de Mesnil family for two centuries.

Stackpole reuses one of his favorite bits, having characters meet without realizing the position of the person they're talking to - allowing honest statements.  In this case, it's Walter and "Phee"/Sophia.  In "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" it was Laeticia "Lattie"/"Tisha" Hamilton and Patrick Kell.

It's not clear why the population has dropped 70% over 200 years.  Alexandra seemingly attributes it to lack of opportunity and heavy offworld emigration - as the sons and daughters of the elites are married off to offworlders by families hoping to gain influence with offworld ties.  I can see that thinning the ranks of the corporate elite First Families, but that wouldn't apply to the average citizens.  Certainly, with transport assets in desperately short supply, it would be unlikely for there to be mass emigration on that scale.  Perhaps an abnormally low birthrate?  Just seems off, to me.

We get some key cameos - future MIIO Director Quintus Allard, with a reference to his sons - both of whom will be Walter's commanding officer in the future - Daniel as a Kell Hound, and Justin as CO of the Kittery Training Battalion.   They're noted as being "half-brothers" - Justin's mother is Lady Xiang of Warlock, while Daniel's is Tamara Kearny of Kestrel.  Daniel, born in 2997, would be three at this point.  Justin is older, but his birth year is "classified."  Since Quintus was forced to divorce Lady Xiang when Justin was five, he may have been born as early as 2990.  Tamara doesn't make an appearance in this scene - staying with the boys instead of attending the reception. 
« Last Edit: 05 September 2017, 13:20:01 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 - Part II
« Reply #284 on: 05 September 2017, 12:58:17 »
Ken' Horner was clearly having fun with the allusions to Edgar Allen Poe's poem about a raven's voice driving the author to madness (starting with Lt. Edgars).

You're kind but I don't think I wrote that one. I recall my Raven story being about a young Capellan girl delivering a crate in the middle of a war zone.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #285 on: 05 September 2017, 13:01:27 »
You're kind but I don't think I wrote that one. I recall my Raven story being about a young Capellan girl delivering a crate in the middle of a war zone.

Thanks for the clarification - I sourced the authorship off Sarna - some confusion stemming from the fact that three different stories used Raven for the title.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #286 on: 05 September 2017, 13:02:44 »
Thanks for the clarification - I sourced the authorship off Sarna - some confusion stemming from the fact that three different stories used Raven for the title.

Yeah, that was the 'theme' that year. You'll probably see a trend matching titles with themes.

That kind of sounds like something Jason hardy might write....
« Last Edit: 05 September 2017, 13:06:28 by Kit deSummersville »
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #287 on: 05 September 2017, 13:06:51 »
Confirmed - it was Jason Hardy's.  Fixed.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #288 on: 06 September 2017, 09:54:38 »
Date: October 16, 3000
 
Location: Maldives

Title: Heir Apparent

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)

Synopsis: Walter meets Ivan at the Litzau Lancers' garrison base - half museum of the Concordat/Magistracy war (to which the Dhivi of Maldives sent troops) and half working military installation.  The hangar hosts Destrier, the hereditary Trebuchet of House Litzau, along with Walter's Blackjack

Walter tells Ivan that his callsign in the Angels is "Rail," (short for Azrail, the Angel of Death), but explains that it was bestowed after he wiped out a nest of cockroaches in the unit's billet, not for combat prowess.

Ivan explains that the Final Vetting is meant to recreate Augustine Litzau's defense of Rivergaard, but has evolved to symbolize Dhivi traditions and drive to survive.  Ivan notes that his father changed the Vetting from a combat exercise to an endurance run that can only be failed if it is aborted.  The actual sequence of events in the scenario is determined by First Family voting.  Rather than practicing in his 'Mech, Ivan has been running simulations to predict how the First Families will vote.

Walter jokingly asks if Ivan's simulations included DNA analysis.  Ivan, horrified, responds that DNA analysis is considered blasphemous on Maldives, since the First Families track genealogies as a matter of family honor.  He notes that traditions are the foundation of what will allow Maldives to rebuild back to its golden age (albeit only once certain traditions - like male line primogeniture - are abolished).

Walter dismisses Ivan's preparations as useless, since anyone planning to disrupt the Vetting would be likely to try something out of the box, that a predictive simulation wouldn't cover.  He also points out that any foes (known or unknown) would likely be running simulations of Ivan's likely course of action, and plotting their ambush accordingly.

Walter tells Ivan it's too late to train him up as a fully fledged MechWarrior, but he can get him good enough to survive the Vetting.  He suggests doing a 'Mech simulator run of the course today, followed by a live walk of the course in 'Mechs tomorrow, albeit with all data recorders wiped to conceal any skill improvement.  Walter promises to continue telling everyone Ivan is hopeless at the controls of a 'Mech, to throw off any opponent's simulations.  Ivan concedes that his mother's choice of Walter as his Companion was a prudent move.

Notes: The perils of allocating scarce and complex military equipment to pilots by dint of their birthright has been a longstanding theme in BattleTech fiction.  For every Duke Kai Allard-Liao, terror of the battlefield, there are plenty of social generals who go into battle with blind confidence in their own invulnerability (getting themselves and their lancemates ground into hamburger) or, worse, with post-it notes on the controls and the manual open in their lap.

Ivan Litzau is cut from slightly different cloth than, say, Thomas Hogarth (the most famous Lyran social general).  He knows he lacks combat skills, and instead tries to re-frame the challenge to suit his strength - making it into an analytical exercise rather than a combat maneuver.  (Hogarth, by contrast, was both blithely incompetent and supremely confident in his ability to defeat any foe - as long as his 'Mech outweighed theirs by 50% or more.)

We know, of course, that Walter has it in him to be an excellent trainer for new 'Mech pilots - becoming the training sergeant for the First Kittery Training Battalion under Justin Allard.  Whether or not he can get Ivan up to snuff in the cockpit in less than two weeks is another question.

"Destrier" appears to be a stock TBT-5N model.  That design was first produced by Corean Enterprises in 2799, making it surprising, but not impossible, that one would get all the way out to a backwater like Maldives in time for the 2813-2814 Magistracy/Concordat war.  (Augustine used it to fend off salvage raiders during that war.)

It hasn't been expressly laid out, but I can infer that the people of Maldives call themselves the Dhivi, and are descended from a commercial colony established on Maldives during the Star League.  House Litzau, in particular, has Austrian heritage they trace back to the 1500s.  The planetary ruler is given the title of Duke, and also holds the title of Chairman (as head of Litzau Enterprises).

The rigid social stratification, enforced by intermarriage among the elite to keep property and monetary assets ensconced within the upper classes, and corresponding lack of opportunity for those not connected by blood ties may be what has led to a mass exodus of the planetary populace during the relative peaceful span (in this neck of the Periphery, anyways) of the Succession Wars.  It seems likely that the cultural taboo on DNA analysis is likely due to the fact that some of the First Families' family trees have roots about as stable as the Entwood.
« Last Edit: 06 September 2017, 10:05:07 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #289 on: 06 September 2017, 11:30:00 »
Date: October 20, 3000
 
Location: Maldives

Title: Heir Apparent

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)

Synopsis: Hake and Walter share a bottle of whiskey as they commiserate over the oddities of their Maldives contract.  Walter notes that Ivan continues to be indecisive - overthinking everything - down to his choice of callsign.  He acknowledges that Ivan has intelligence and talent, but would need four years of experience to qualify to join the Angels.

Talk turns to the Dhivi, with Walter opining that if you put two Dhivi in a room, you get four conspiracies.  Hake dismisses it as empty posturing, getting the sense that the First Families will accept Ivan as Chairman with the promise of greater stability in the future.

Hake turns the conversation to the future of the Angels, and his plans to turn it over to Walter and retire.  He recommends Walter take a garrison contract with Ivan after he becomes Chairman and earn some easy cash to bring the unit to full strength before seeking new contracts on Galatea.

Hake asks Walter for inside information on Ivan's prowess, hoping to make some money in the active side-betting markets.  Walter recommends Hake bet on Ivan taking out his targets with missiles, and reminds his CO that his own attacks will be factored into the scoring, which will boost Ivan's score.

Meanwhile, Sophia and Ivan discuss Walter's performance during a uniform fitting.  Ivan confesses that Walter's directness has led him to view many things on Maldives and in his own life from a fresh perspective.  He asks Sophia if she trusts him enough to bring him in on their secret work to further their father's plans.  She advises waiting to see how Walter performs in the Final Vetting, and to make the decision on how to proceed from the vantage point of Chairman.

At the Rivergaard Rangers Security Services HQ, Richard Oglethorpe welcomes Lt. Aaron Doukas into his office, where they pretend (for the benefit of those watching through the glass office wall) that Doukas is being chewed out for poor performance.  Doukas reassures Oglethorpe that the Rangers' loyalty to him is unquestioned.  Oglethorpe looks at a picture of his father, and recalls that when Thomas Litzau was presumed lost during his Final Vetting, his father had become the leading candidate to assume the Chairmanship in the political infighting that followed.

Doukas, an offworlder, tells Oglethorpe that his father would have been a great Chairman, and that he is as loyal to Richard as he would be to his own family.  Oglethorpe orders Doukas to revoke the Rangers' leave for the rest of the Vesting Celebration and schedule them for more training.

Notes: The October 20 chapter is all about plans.  Hake's plans for a peaceful retirement on Maldives.  Walter's plans to get Ivan through the ceremony (lying to Hake about Ivan's performance to throw off any spies listening in).  Ivan and Sophia's plans to carry out their father's mysterious plan.  Richard's plan to have the Rivergaard Rangers prepped for action - possibly in pursuit of his own elevation to Chairman.

We've had references in the past to Ivan's father, Thomas, having undergone an unusual ordeal during his Final Vetting, and subsequently changing the test to largely eliminate the combat element.  From the context of this conversation, he and his Companion disappeared during the event, leading to all the potential rivals emerging to claim his title.  This would likely have left them exposed and vulnerable when Thomas reappeared unexpectedly, and probably led to reduced status for those who had seriously overstepped their bounds.

Sophia and Ivan comment on their father's worry that his plan would be at risk if there were offworld involvement.  Given those introduced in the previous chapters, suspicion immediately falls on the Capellan Consul and the Federated Suns Ambassador. 

The politics of the Rivergaard Rangers begin to become apparent in Richard's statement that "You earn a berth in the Rangers.  It's not a birthright."  We've previously been told that the members of the Litzau Lancers are drawn exclusively from the First Families, implying that heredity is the primary consideration.  I wonder if the Lancers get better equipment than the Rangers, due to their role as a showcase unit for planetary nobles.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #290 on: 06 September 2017, 15:23:27 »
Is it weird that Hake talks about returning to Galatea for new contracts, instead of some other, closer, merc world? That's a long way to go to find work.

with 20,000 passengers, at 7 tons/month/passenger, the RWS Raven looks like it started out hauling about 400,000 tons of consumables.  I'm not sure how they cram all that in.  The class of the Raven isn't given, but the JumpShip captain is shown being harangued by six other individuals, implied to be the DropShip captains.  That would imply it has a capacity of at least 6, suggesting Star Lord class.  Mammoths were only first manufactured two years earlier

Two months of standard rations would be about perfect for six Mammoths, so rationing might make up the difference. (Although DropShips & JumpShips dates both the Mammoth and the Behemoth to around the end of the Star League, the Star League sourcebook pushed them back to around 2650. I forget how you decided to resolve that discrepancy.)

Another option is for the RWS Raven to be a primitive design with an arbitrarily large amount of cargo within its own hull.
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #291 on: 06 September 2017, 15:46:52 »
Is it weird that Hake talks about returning to Galatea for new contracts, instead of some other, closer, merc world? That's a long way to go to find work

Stackpole is trying to set up Walter's presence on Galatea in 3010 in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets."  Circa 3000, Galatea is the merc hub of the Inner Sphere.  The other major merc hiring halls of the time are regional affairs - catering to mercs contracting on specific borders, and often only seasonally functional (tied to periodic MechWarrior Games).

Two months of standard rations would be about perfect for six Mammoths, so rationing might make up the difference. (Although DropShips & JumpShips dates both the Mammoth and the Behemoth to around the end of the Star League, the Star League sourcebook pushed them back to around 2650. I forget how you decided to resolve that discrepancy.)

Another option is for the RWS Raven to be a primitive design with an arbitrarily large amount of cargo within its own hull.

The preponderance of the evidence is that the Mammoth and Behemoth were late-Star League/Early Succession War designs.  The 2650 date might refer to prototypes that were shelved and didn't go into full production for over a century.

Quote
Mammoth:   Another example of a design that debuted in the latter part of the First Succession War, when (ostensibly) most shipyards had been wiped out and industry had been shattered across the length and breadth of the Inner Sphere. 

Strangely, the profile of Krester’s Ship Construction in The Star League sourcebook indicates that Krester’s designed both the Behemoth and Mammoth in the mid-2600s, and put a Mammoth prototype into flight in 2658, and the prototypes were stolen under suspicious circumstances (suggesting that Krester’s organized the theft of their own prototypes to allow them to be sold on the open market…though the date given in 2650, eight years before the prototypes were manufactured).  That being the case, why would the Behemoth not have formally debuted until 2782 and the Mammoth until 2808?

The Master Unit List attempts to split the difference by listing the 2658 prototype separately from the 2808 “Standard” version, but there’s no text explaining the rationale.  If we’re going with the “most recent source is correct,” then TRO: 3057 (Revised) swings the introduction date to 2808, more or less invalidating the paragraphs on Krester’s Ship Construction in the Star League sourcebook. 
"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 - Part II
« Reply #292 on: 06 September 2017, 15:53:53 »
Ahh, I'd forgotten that (on both counts). Thanks. :)
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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #293 on: 08 September 2017, 13:37:30 »
One possibility is that, when Krester's efforts to get the ship on the open market ahead of Star League regulatory approval came to light, the ship's production got caught up in legal entanglements and the designs were shelved until the collapse of the Star League bureaucracy unintentionally unencumbered the blueprints, allowing firms to begin full production.

The "stolen" prototypes may have been successfully shipping cargoes during the Star League era, but sightings would be vanishingly rare.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #294 on: 20 September 2017, 20:56:32 »
I'm assuming Ixtapa found a secret supply or "Brian Mash" of the stuff.

Food doesn't get mentioned much in the fiction, though the PPC gets some air time. Anyone ever tried drinking one?

If I recall it's 2 shots (4?) Grain alcohol + 1 of flavor (sake, kerosene ha ha!, ouzo, tequila, etc.) Sounds moderately lethal. Kerosene is probably a reference to baijiu, which trust me, smells and tastes the part.

Also, to quote Inglorious Basterds: There's a special place in hell reserved for people who waste good sake. Using it as a mixer qualifies.
actually it's "aviation fuel" in the book.. which given that Victor Milan's Cabellero trilogy has frequent references ot the Combine using Ethanol based fuels as a standard, probably is alchohol based. though it's probably the kind of alcohol that'll make you blind. (could be a reference to how Russian troops in ww2 used to drain their aircraft's de-icing systems when they couldn't get real booze.. the de-icing systems of the time using alcohol blends.)

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #295 on: 22 September 2017, 13:37:46 »
Date: November 6, 3000
 
Location: Maldives

Title: Heir Apparent

Author: Michael A. Stackpole
 
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)

Synopsis: As Walter inspects his woodland camo painted Blackjack in the Litzau Lancers Garrison hangar, he is interrupted by Sophia, who expresses confidence in him as Ivan's Companion. 

Walter confides that he's modified the beacons in the 'Mechs, so the satellite displays tracking their progress for a planetwide audience will show them a kilometer west of their true position.  She promises to keep his secret, and kisses him goodbye.

Walter mounts his 'Mech and uses his voice authorization code to activate its systems.  He signals Ivan that "Rail" is ready.  Ivan responds with his callsign - "Spurs" - and marches "Destrier" out to join Walter's Blackjack.  The Angels salute as the two 'Mechs exit the hangar. 

En route to the trial course, they march past cheering crowds lining the streets of Rivergaard.  Pausing before a reviewing stand, Ivan receives his mother's benediction and pledges not to fail.  The two 'Mechs then set course for Hard Luck Point, a narrow pass on a plateau near the headwaters of the Nyqvist River, where Augustine Litzau killed some raiders, according to local tradition.

Four hours into the Vetting, Walter and Ivan stop to make camp at a pre-arranged site, festooned with holocameras for the benefit of the watching populace.  Over a dinner of ration packs, Ivan tells Walter his father chose one of the Litzau Lancers has his Companion and subsequently married her.  He notes that his sister Abigail served with distinction in the Lancers, but resigned because she resented the expectation that she would be the Companion, rather than the Heir.

A noise cuts their conversation off, and Walter tells Ivan to mount up as two Stingray fighters pass overhead to the southwest, strafing the forest right where Walter's altered signal indicated they were camped.

Back at the Litzau Lancers Garrison, in Rivergaard, Sophia hears aerospace fighters pass overhead, followed by the sounds of nearby gunfire.  Armed figures in masks stormed into the Lancers museum, and Sophia flees out the back.  Smoke rises over Rivergaard as fighters strafe the city. 

Running down the street, she sees a Locust in Rivergaard Municipal Constabulary[/i] colors approaching the garrison hangar, reaching it just as an Angel Commando emerges.  The mercenary Commando attacks the Locust, toppling it into the street.  Sophia concludes that the Commando pilot is working with the attackers.  The masked attackers catch up with her, and a rifle butt catches her in the head, knocking her out.

Back in the Nyqvist Upland Preserve, Walter finds himself having to dodge laser fire as raider infantry attack their campsite.  Firing blindly, Walter manages to disarm one of the attackers, then returns to climbing the ladder to the Blackjack's cockpit.  He feels warmth on his back and braces for the end, then realizes it is the Trebuchet's lasers, which proceed to burn the raiders to ash and core their Packrat LRPV.

Reaching his cockpit, Walter tells Ivan to seek shelter in a ravine to the northwest, and to pull his radio and transponder - explaining how to do it as he does the same - rendering them invisible to the enemy aerospace fighters. 

In the ravine, Ivan points out chunks of wreckage from Augustine's famous battle during the Concordat-Magistracy War.  Walter realizes that the widely scattered metal pieces will make their 'Mechs invisible on magres.  This theory is borne out when a pair of aerospace fighters passes by overhead without diverting to attack.

Ivan leads Walter towards a lake in a protected nature preserve, marked as Lac du Vallee on the topographical map.  "Destrier" marches into the lake and waves at Walter to follow, before disappearing below the surface.  Walter pushes his Blackjack in after Ivan, hoping he can assist his youthful charge, and is stunned to find himself sinking down to a ferrocrete landing pad on the lake floor.  He follows Ivan up a ramp and into a manmade chamber with eight 'Mech bays.

Walter disembarks and finds Ivan pale and vomiting from shock, following his first combat experience.  He congratulates Ivan on saving him, and asks about the secret base.  Ivan answers that only a handful of people on Maldives know about the base, and that it's probably why someone wants him dead.

Walter finds some food and tries to break Ivan out of his shock, telling him he's proven himself as a warrior and proper heir to Augustine's tradition, and that instead of emotionally retreating into numbness, he should get angry that someone is trying to kill him and seize his family's company. 

Ivan leads Walter through doors secured by biometric locks to a command center - in the heart of a project started by Ivan's great-grandfather nearly a century ago.  He explains that the Dhivi avoided choosing sides in the Taurian-Magistracy War.  The fighting nonetheless came to Maldives, causing economic and environmental damage.  The survivors concentrated power with the First Families as they worked to rebuild. 

He notes that by the third postwar generation, those born to privilege and wealth considered it a birthright, rather than an obligation.  Critics of the oligarchy were stripped of their power and station, and exiled.  Calling up a display, he explains that the project has been illegally collecting DNA records for eighty years.  The data shows many incriminating examples of male heirs born on the wrong side of the sheets, and not actually genetically linked to the patriarch they succeeded.  Ivan notes that such information could cause tremendous upheaval in the primogeniture-based power structure.  Ivan's grandfather's plan was to use this information, when conditions were ripe, as blackmail material to force through massive social reforms.

Walter speculates that the attack in the woods may not have just been an attempt to replace him as Heir, but an attempt to bring down Maldives' entire social structure.

Ivan's attempts to call up feeds from planetary broadcasts fail to detect a signal initially, but then resolve into a message from an organization calling itself The Collective.  The speaker identifies its members as the disenfranchised population of Maldives. 

The scene shifts to Litzau Enterprises corporate headquarters and the remaining Litzau Lancers being obliterated by massed airstrikes.  The speaker then claims his troops have killed Ivan.  Black-painted BattleMechs patrol Rivergaard, and soldiers herd shellshocked citizens into custody.  The speaker demands obedience to the new order and promises vengeance on any supporters of the Planetary Board.

Ivan tells Walter he fears for his sister and the Angels, because he recognizes the black 'Mechs in the streets as the Rivergaard Rangers - Richard Oglethorpe's regiment.  Walter speculates that Richard has decided to be proactive about removing the 75% of the corporate headquarters staff that stand ahead of him in the line of succession for chairmanship of the Planetary Board.

Seeing that Ivan is on the verge of a breakdown, Walter refocuses him on his successes in evading the ambush and reaching shelter undetected.  He acknowledges that Ivan's family and his own mercenary unit are probably dead, but suggests that Sophia would be a good candidate for being taken prisoner, rather than killed. 

Ivan updates Walter on the base's assets - spare parts and ammunition dating back to the Magistracy-Concordat war, and its existence erased from all historical references.  Only Sophia knows its location.

Walter sets about making plans set up a secret escape route should Sophia talk to the invaders, and to scout the enemy's activities in the region.  Ivan suggests that the base has the equipment to let Walter search more efficiently, with lower risk.

Notes:  The information that Ivan is wearing the same spurs his father wore in his Final Vetting suggests ties between House Litzau and the AFFS, which has a tradition of wearing spurs in 'Mech cockpits. 

For such a short-conflict (the eight-month Taurian-Magistracy War), it's odd that the Taurians would go to the trouble of building a logistics base on a neutral world.  From what was written about it in the First Succession War sourcebook, the fighting was only eight days in length (the remaining 7.75 months spent with troops in transit) and often embarrassingly one-sided.

For an unaffiliated Periphery world, Maldives is exceptionally well armed.  Not only does it have hired mercenaries (the Angels), but also a 'Mech-equipped corporate security force (Litzau Lancers), a 'Mech-equipped planetary capital garrison (Riveraard Rangers), and a 'Mech-equipped city police force (Rivergaard Municipal Constabulary).  This is in 3000, when many Inner Sphere worlds were considered sufficiently garrisoned by a combined-arms company, and a typical Capellan planetary militia detachment was described as two battalions of infantry (primarily to man fortifications), with one company of light armor.

Granted, this is supposed to be a prelude to the Harebrained Schemes BattleTech game, which will feature copious 'Mech on 'Mech combat throughout this region.  If 'Mechs were as rare as the original 3025 source material made them out, there'd be a dearth of 'Mech combat in a 'Mech combat game.

I was surprised to see Stingrays involved in the attack, since they're noted as being primarily in Marik and Steiner service, with other Houses having "a few in inventory."  One might suspect that either the League is backing The Collective or, more likely, House Liao supplied The Collective with captured Marik equipment to shift attribution. 

The reveal of the DNA mapping scheme is all kinds of weird.  It makes the Dhivi (short for Maldivians?) seem as obsessed about their genealogies as the Clans are about their codexes and Blood houses.  By implication, there would be legal basis for the disenfranchisement and exile of many prominent families if their status as bastard offspring were revealed.  Who would enforce this, though?  It seems more likely to trigger a civil war, especially if so many families have been concealing genetic traces of hanky panky.  Unless House Litzau can prove its own legacy is pure (and who'd trust any records they produced about themselves?), they'd lack the moral high ground to force the targeted families to accept societal change.  In fact, given the taboo about collection of DNA, any blackmail attempt would more than likely rebound as the Dhivi elite band together to expunge House Litzau for engaging in the forbidden science of DNA research.  (How very Frank Herbert...begin the Maldivian Jihad!)

It's odd that such a minor world would care so much about this, when House Kurita both fell and rose again due to the ascendancy and legitimization of bastard offspring.  Each world to their own, I suppose.  The Zurs (of Zurich) believe in executing rapists at the moment of their child's birth to provide a soul for the resultant offspring.
"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 - Part II
« Reply #296 on: 22 September 2017, 14:36:22 »
It'll be interesting to see if, when and to what extent the HBS content is canonized for BattleTech proper. (I'm lumping Stackpole's story in with the HBS story because it's published via HBS, and also because I expect it will tie into the main story arc of the game somehow.)

That said, current BattleTech canon has the world's name down as Maldive (without the "s" at the end), it was a Capellan world that dropped off the map sometime during the 3rd Succession War judging from the maps in Handbook: House Liao. A text search didn't turn up any information beyond that.
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Author of the BattleCorps stories Feather vs. Mountain, Rise and Shine, Proprietary, Trial of Faith & scenario Twins

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #297 on: 25 September 2017, 07:55:33 »
That said, current BattleTech canon has the world's name down as Maldive (without the "s" at the end), it was a Capellan world that dropped off the map sometime during the 3rd Succession War judging from the maps in Handbook: House Liao. A text search didn't turn up any information beyond that.

Entirely possible that Maldive and Maldives are different systems, not unlike the Garrote and Garotte systems.  In roughly the same general vicinity, but spelled slightly differently.  Being a Capellan system for most of the Succession Wars wouldn't match up with being a battlefield during the Taurian-Magistracy war.
"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.

BrokenMnemonic

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #298 on: 25 September 2017, 16:04:25 »
Entirely possible that Maldive and Maldives are different systems, not unlike the Garrote and Garotte systems.  In roughly the same general vicinity, but spelled slightly differently.  Being a Capellan system for most of the Succession Wars wouldn't match up with being a battlefield during the Taurian-Magistracy war.
First Succession War mentions combat in the Taurian-Magistracy War only taking place on four worlds, all of which are named, so that's another problem with making this canon, unfortunately.

It's more interesting than optimal, and therefore better. O0 - Weirdo

Mendrugo

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Re: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II
« Reply #299 on: 25 September 2017, 16:16:22 »
It's possible that the Taurian resource raid that was repulsed by Augustine Litzau was a side-event to the war - no MAF vs. TDF action (all four of which were recorded in First Succession War), but two lances of TDF troops establishing a small firebase on Maldives and using it as a staging point to raid the neutral Dhivi for supplies and parts during the Taurian-Canopian conflict, but not as part of it. 

One might assume they did something roughly akin to taking out the main fusion reactor on Tharkad (Jihad-era) in the process, since their depradations apparently damaged the planetary ecosystem and put the world's economy and population levels into a steep decline, despite Augustine Litzau singlehandedly shattering both lances with his trusty Blackjack.
"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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