The Midden (Society Cell)

[KayEmm]

The chaos and disruption caused by the Society’s uprising devastated our worlds. Through their activities, be they direct assaults, the use of biological weapons, the disruption of key infrastructure and transport or whatever else, inflicted severe losses, the damage they did ran deeper in many ways. The loss of knowledge and information would hamper our reconstruction for years to come after the last of the dissidents were swept away. Be it through the disruption of HPG services or even just local information networks, a lot of what happened during the Society uprising went unrecorded.

This disruption would serve the Society well in shielding its strengths and capabilities. While their largest force would be the corrupted Coyotes and reborn Burrocks, there were innumerable smaller Society cells. Much of what we now know about the Society’s structure, its strengths and its influences has had to be reconstructed from recovered records, which has left us with a distressingly incomplete picture of their true strengths.

At the same time, we know that the Society formed alliances with numerous bandit groups across our worlds. The true extent of this collusion may never be known; after all, it is not like we have a full census of the so-called bandit caste to begin with. And while not every bandit group was allied with the Society, there were still plenty that did support them in some way. In many cases, this aid would come in the form of supplying the Society with raw materials, including slaves taken in attacks. Others would aid in the discrete transport of Society assets, allowing them to bypass Clan controls. And still others provided direct millitary support in the form of whatever battlefield assets they could muster. Many of the latter saw their forces augmented by the Society, who supplied them with BattleMechs and other weapons.

It has to be asked what benefits these bandits were getting out of the alliance. Sadly, in most cases, their motivations for aiding the Society will never be known for a number of reasons. However, several common motivations do emerge on analysis of those groups involved.

The first is of course, simple greed. These groups sought wealth and power, and the Society provided that through payment for their services. The second comes from a desire to escape destruction at the hands of the Clans. In many cases, the Society both  directly and indirectly supported this aim. Indirect support came in the form of shielding assets through misdirection and careful manipulation of information and intelligence to hide their allies. Direct support came through the disruptions that the Society created which of course diverted Clan attention. The third comes in the form of a desire for vengeance for perceived wrongs. There was a not insubstantial portion of the bandit population who were comprised of rejects from Clan society, such as Trueborn washouts. Many of those sought to air their grievances through striking back at a culture that they felt had failed them, a goal that the Society provided the means to fulfil. Finally, there were those groups who were simply coerced into following the Society with threats of destruction or exposure.

(A fifth, somewhat unwilling case exists of bandit collusion with the Society. In some cases, the Society tested new technologies, especially biological weapons, on unwitting bandit populations. A full discussion of such incidents is beyond the scope of this document)

The recent discovery and destruction of the Midden Cell illustrates just how much we still have to learn about the Society and its strengths. The Midden had remained undetected for a decade, lurking on an important world. Their detection had come about by pure chance through an unexpected failure by one of their allies, rather then any effort on our part. And while they were Annihilated by Clan forces, their destruction does not mean that there may not be other cells remaining in our midst.

This document is by no means a comprehensive listing of known Society cells and their allies. Rather, it aims to present a cross-section of their forces in order to present a better understanding of their strengths and capabilities.

-   Scientist-Historian Conroy, Clan Stone Lion

[KayEmm]

Midden
Description: Society Cell
Status: Destroyed

The so-called Midden cell has its origins in the Coyote branch of the Society, but ultimately traces out a web of connections and influences into other Clans. Furthermore, it maintained a network of allies in various Bandit groups that it used as its puppets to fulfil its aims. The Midden was able to out-last many of its contemporaries by a considerable degree due to a combination of careful planning, the use of its allies and its location.

At the head of the Midden was Scientist Shirow, a disaffected Coyote who sought not only to advance the Society’s cause, but also his own personal agendas. Through Society contacts among bandit groups, he learned of an abandoned and forgotten Mongoose mining facility (and mass grave) on Tokasha. Seeing the value of the facility, the Society established a cell in the ruins, hidden from the Clans that occupied the world at the time. Recovered records suggest that the facility was operational as early as 3063.

Firmly ensconced within the Midden, Shirow began work on a number of projects to pursue his own goals. Alliances with bandit groups provided the raw materials needed to set up fabrication and construction facilities within the facility. And while it was never capable of building a full BattleMech or combat vehicle from scratch (or even pre-assembled parts) the Midden did sport advanced repair and maintenance facilities that allowed the cell not only to support their own forces, but also to modify existing Vehicles and even BattleMechs.

The Midden developed alliances with several different bandit groups, but two became key to their operations. The Mongoose Pirates served as their primary transport, giving them access to dropships and jumpships, and the ability to range across the entirety of Clan space. This group also served as intermediaries for the acquisition of raw materials, including slaves. At the same time, the Plague served as the Midden’s millitary arm, employed to aquire materials by force while also serving the Society’s objectives. Many of the Plague’s raids were cover for other operations, such as the theft of data or elimination of key targets.
Once the Society’s open revolt began, the Midden began operating more overtly. By this stage, the cell was fielding its own BattleMech and ProtoMech forces, supplemented by conventional infantry and vehicle forces. While the former were made up of society-aligned Coyote warriors, the latter consisted mainly of conscripts and slaves. These groups operated both independently and alongside the Plague, with efforts made to deliberately confuse the two groups.

At the same time, Shirow continued his own projects within the Midden. While these were supposedly following the objectives laid out by the society, the truth was that he was often only giving them lip service or making the most minimal effort. Instead he engaged in several pet projects, most of them Battle Armour related, including several that had been officially terminated by the Society as a whole. It is believed that this misdirection of resources prevented the Midden from reaching its full potential, but at the same time may have also contributed to its survival by keeping it below the radar and outside of society lines of communication.

This isolation saw the Midden survive the destruction of the Society and the Coyote purge, and instead remain fully operational. Reaching out to other surviving fragmented cells, Shirow offered them shelter within the Midden in exchange for their loyalty. This allowed him to not only continue his own research projects, but also to build a millitary force that would be loyal to him while also independent of the Plague.

For the next decade, the Midden would engage in a series of attacks across clan space, but usually targeted at the former holdings of now-defunct Clans, particularly the Steel Vipers. These seemingly random moves were aimed at harvesting data that would have otherwise been lost, while also gathering resources to allow Shirow to continue his pet projects. Given time, it is possible that the Midden could have continued to operate like this for several decades.
However, a rare mistake on the part of the Mongoose Pirates lead to the discovery of the Midden by the Stone Lions. Realising that there was an active Society cell operating on their homeworld, the Clan moved swiftly to end the threat. The Midden threw together a desperate and ultimately futile defence, with their forces being destroyed by the Clan in a series of short and bloody battles. The Stone Lions then seized and destroyed the facility, cleansing the Society’s taint from Tokasha.

Personalities

Shirow
Age: 62 (born 3023)
Position/Rank: Leader of the Midden Cell

A freeborn, Shirow was born into the Coyote Scientist Caste on Tamaron in 3023. From an early age he demonstrated a keen intellect that saw him excel at his various trials and achieve a position within the Clan’s scientists. An interest in mechanics and electronics saw him assigned to Battle Armour research, a field that he quickly embraced with his own ideas and plans.

What he found, however, was that the field was somewhat stagnant, even by the standards of the diminished Coyote Clan. Battle Armour research was seen as being of a lower priority than OmniMech technology, with the bulk of the work being focused on minute improvements to the already proven Elemental suit. While Shirow devised several designs of his own as alternatives, none of these attracted any real interest from the Clan’s leadership, largely due to their dwindling resource base as well as the feeling that the Elemental fully suited their needs.

This setback bred a degree of resentment from Shirow, who felt that his work was being overlooked by the Clan. This only grew after the Fire Mandrills successfully introduced the Salamander with its flame-resistant armour; to him it was seen as humiliating that the factitious, compartmentalised Mandrills had been able to achieve more than the Coyotes, the supposed scientific leader of the Clans.
His attitudes did attract attention from an unexpected quarter. The nascent Society saw Shirow as a potential asset, one who’s combination of ambition, intellect and resentment would be useful to them. They proved to be correct, as he willingly embraced their cause. Careful manouvering saw him given command of a research facility on Tokasha, concealed within a ruined Mongoose encalve. The so-called Midden would quickly become his private kingdom, one where he would be free to do what he wanted without interference.

Shirow remained fully committed to the Society’s cause and goals, and joined he rest of the group in their attacks on the Clans in their futile uprising. However, as the tide turned against the Society, he became more cagey and began to pull back his forces to preserve his own personal powerbase. Riding out the fall of the Society and the Coyote cleansing, he instead focused on building his own personal empire. He deliberately sought out other Society survivors, offering them shelter in exchange for their loyalty.

According to interrogations of Midden survivors, Shirow became ever increasingly egotistical and self-centred over the next decade. He came to see the Midden as his  own private kingdom, one where he ruled unchallenged. His moves seem to have alienated his allies, who none the less stuck with him as they had nowhere else to go.

Ultimately, this move would backfire as Shirow remained in the Midden during its assault by the Stone Lions. He died during its fall, ironically incinerated by a Lion Salamander point tasked with cleansing the facility.

Larsha
Age: 50 (born 3035)
Position/Rank: Midden field commander

Born to a middling Kufahl bloodline, Larsha washed out of the Warrior Caste during her final Trial of Position. However, her obvious intelligence saw her reassigned to the Scientist caste, a position she accepted with some trepidation. While glad to be serving her Clan and to have not ended up as a  Technician or Labourer, Larsha still desired to be a warrior.

Her opportunity would come in 3062 when she was discretely offered an opportunity to fulfil her dreams. The nascent Society needed loyal warriors who would be willing to serve their cause, and had begun recruiting from within the Coyote’s scientist caste. Being still relatively young and having only washed out at the last possible minute, Larsha was seen as being a prime recruit. She readily accepted their offer, eager to be behind the controls of a BattleMech again and serving her Clan.

Larsha would wind up being assigned to Shirow’s Midden Cell, where she was placed in charge of the group’s small millitary force. She was also introduced to Keith, a Wolf Warrior washout who was the leader of the Plague, a bandit force allied with the Midden. The two almost immediately developed a disliking for one another; despite similar circumstances, Larsha saw herself as being superior to Keith, as she had at least made it to her Trial of Position, and had not resorted to banditry. None the less, the two worked together, even if begrudgingly.

When the Society began operating openly, Larsha showed no hesitation in her actions. She gladly led attacks against the other Clans, all of which she had come to see as enemies of the Coyotes and the Society. While her actions were un-Clanlike, she readily justified them to herself as saving the Clans from themselves. Outwardly, it would seem that she had simply been won over by the Society’s propaganda. However, recovered records suggest that she had been offered a chance at a Bloodname in exchange for her actions.

Following the Coyote cleansing and the Society’s effective destruction, Larsha became somewhat resentful and self-loathing. She realised that she now was stuck with the Midden, alongside Keith (whom she still despised) and under the leadership of Shirow who was, to her mind, becoming increasingly detached from reality. Despite this, she also knew that she had nowhere else to go, and that her only other option would be to live as a bandit or fugitive.

Even despite these setbacks, she still threw herself into battle to defend the Midden when it was attacked by the Stone Lions, simply because she knew that the only other option was Annihilation at their hands. Despite her drive, the effectiveness of her leadership would be undercut by her feud with Keith, which saw their forces divided and unwilling to cooperate with each other. This in turn would hamper the Midden’s defence and lead to its downfall.

While her Osteon was disabled during the battle, Larsha apparently escaped from her OmniMech, and remained unaccounted for following the destruction of the Midden. Her present whereabouts is unknown.

[snakespinner]

Interesting to have a story on a society cell. :thumbsup:

[truetanker]

I too would like more...

TT

[Sharpnel]

An unusual name for a unit/cell.

[glitterboy2098]

An unusual name for a unit/cell.

agreed. i would have expected some culture-esque title, or something medical related. or both.

[Dragon Cat]

Interesting stuff I enjoyed the write up

[KayEmm]

An unusual name for a unit/cell.

The idea came from their location; they're hiding inside a Mongoose "midden". Of course, the "garbage" in it was the bodies of Mongoose civilians killed by the Smoke Jaguars.

Most of the inspiration came from the maps in HTP: Tokasha, with the mention of "Mongoose mass graves"

[KayEmm]

The Plague

Description: Bandit group
Status: Destroyed

The Bandit group known as the Plague first rose to prominence during the early 3060s. As fighting spread across the Homeworlds, especially over the former Ghost Bear, Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat enclaves, there was an upswing in activity from Bandit groups who sought to take advantage of this chaos. The Plague was among those, launching attacks on a number of different former Smoke Jaguar enclaves for reasons that were, at the time, unclear. Their attacks focused primarily on gathering supplies and capturing civilians, but also served to disrupt activities. During the late 3060s and early 3070s they became more mobile, with confirmed sightings on a number of different worlds.

By the start of 3068, the Plague consisted of a mixed trinary of BattleMechs, vehicles and conventional infantry. Their equipment was primarily made up of older Clan designs, as well as some SLDF units that were either looted from caches or salvaged. Despite suffering losses during their raids, the Plague’s strength remained consistent, having apparently had access to near instant replacements.

It was not until the launch of the Society’s uprising that the truth behind the Plague became clear. The group were being supplied by the Society, while also receiving intelligence from them. In turn, many of their attacks were in fact supporting the Society’s aims while gathering material or information for them. The Society were also helping to support the Plague by replacing their equipment losses, although it also appears that their infantry forces included a number of unwilling conscripts.

During the Society’s revolt, the Plague acted in support of their forces, having apparently been further bolstered by the addition of at least one Society-controlled Trey to their ranks. During this period, the Plague roamed far and wide across Clan space, and were often involved in attacks civilian population centres and other ‘soft’ targets that were aimed at spreading chaos or disrupting legitimate forces. They also served to gather resources for their allies, while helping to harvest civilians for the society’s uses.

Following the Annihilation of the Steel Vipers, the Plague staged a number of attacks against the fallen Clan’s former holdings. Outwardly these appeared to be acts of opportunistic scavenging, given that for the most part they seemed to be merely picking over the rubble of what had already been destroyed. However, these were in fact carefully concealed targeted attacks, with the Plague serving to retrieve data that would have otherwise been lost.

The last verified sighting of the Plague was in 3077 on New Kent. The unit was sighted by a Watch vessel as they left the world, but their course could not be determined. After five years with no sightings, the group was assumed to be defunct in 3082. The truth was anything but.

Instead, the Plague had gone to ground with the Society Midden cell on Tokasha. Their activities remained low-key, engaging in attacks against outlying enclaves that used only portions of their forces and did nothing to suggest their identity or the existence of their ally. Elements of their strength were also used in off-world operations, with transport provided by their Mongoose Pirate allies. Through careful management of their forces and limiting their operations, they managed to remain undetected for a decade.

The Plague constituted a significant portion of the forces deployed in the defence of the Midden from the Stone Lion Annihilation of the facility. During the battle, their forces made little effort to cooperate with the Midden’s, resulting in a somewhat split defence that only served to aid the Stone Lion forces. Ultimately the Plague were completely destroyed on the battlefield, with the full destruction of their forces corroborated by the information recovered from the Midden facility. However, several of their members were captured alive and provided a wealth of useful information before being disposed of.

Personalities

Keith
Age: 57 (born 3028)
Position/Rank: Leader of the Plague

A Wolf Clan Trueborn, Keith failed his Trial of Position and so was relegated to the technician caste. For several years he served with a reserve unit stationed in the Homeworlds while the Clan’s warriors were fighting for glory in the Inner Sphere. Embittered and feeling that he had been denied what was due to him, Keith wound up killing a pair of solahma MechWarriors in a brawl before fleeing the Wolves. It was not until 3060 that he was seen again as a part of a Bandit Caste group. By 3063, Keith had risen to the leadership of the Plague, reportedly challenging and killing their prior leader for the position.

Under Keith’s leadership, the group formed an alliance with what we now know to be the Society. It appears that Shirow met him personally and played on the shared history between the Wolves and the Coyotes to win him over, and sweetened the deal with the offer of new BattleMechs to make up losses. The deal worked out well for Keith, who was able to remain as the unchallenged leader of the Plague for over twenty years. However, by the latter stages of their self-imposed exile in the Midden, it appeared that relations between him and Shirow had broken down. It is entirely possible that the Plauge’s lack of cooperation during the Annihilation came down to a personal dispute between the pair of them.

Keith was a very stubborn and argumentative man who possessed a short temper and no small degree of resentment over his failure to win a proper place in the Warrior Caste (and in doing so, missing out on operation REVIVAL). His distaste at living as a bandit and later a society pawn was somewhat tempered by his being able to resume what he saw as his rightful place as a MechWarrior.

For much of his bandit career, Keith piloted an ancient Woodsman OmniMech, the exact origin of which is unclear. Initially the machine sported a jury-rigged configuration made from whatever weapons he could acquire that included a battery of Rocket Launchers. However, it was later reconfigured to carry a loadout that included Improved Advanced Tactical Missiles and a Nova CEWS. Ironically, this OmniMech would also be his downfall; the failure of its MASC system lead to it being disabled during the Midden Annihilation.

Consequently, Keith was captured alive by the Stone Lion forces. Under interrogation he yielded a wealth of information before being terminated and disposed of.

[Dragon Cat]

Anotger good write up

[DOC_Agren]

Interesting very interesting   this might make a goof fanfic

[KayEmm]

Interesting very interesting   this might make a goof fanfic

Thank you for that. I have a summary of the mini-campaign I played with a friend that I will post, but I haven't thought about turning it into a full-blown fanfic. Maybe I'll shake out those rusty writing muscles.

[KayEmm]

Mongoose Pirates

Description: Bandit group
Status: Destroyed

The exact origins of the Mongoose Pirates bandit group remain unknown, even to them. According to their own folklore, the group were originally composed of a band of survivors from the Mongoose Merchant Caste who fled the Absorption of their clan. They then adopted the name both as a reminder of their past and how the Clans had turned on them, but also as a symbol of defiance. However, these claims cannot be verified, and there is no tangible proof of any connection to the dead Clan.

The Mongoose Pirates are an entirely space-based operation, serving as smugglers and traders between bandit groups. The core of their operation was a trio of elderly, decrepit Jumpships that serve to transport a fleet of equally slipshod dropships between systems. A handful of Aerospace fighters served as their only offensive capability, and primarily functioned as escorts for their fleet. All of their equipment dated back to the Star League, and was in poor repair.

What can be said for certain is that the Mongoose Pirates were active from the turn of the century onwards. The group was lead by a council of captains, who appointed a ‘fleet admiral’ from within their number. While most of the captains were raised from generations of crews, the bulk of their personnel were press-ganged or slaves traded from other groups. Despite the run-down nature of their ships, the Mongoose Pirates were adept at using normally risky pirate jump points to help shield their movements.

The primary operations of the group was to act as transports, moving both illicit cargoes and allowing various Bandit groups to move between different systems. It appears that the Mongoose Pirates were a part of the Burrock arrangement with the Bandit Caste, and may have received direct assistance from the Clan. While it appears that the group distanced themselves from the Burrocks following their absorption, it now seems more likely that they were simply biding their time.

Among the groups that the Mongoose Pirates supported were the Plague, who they provided with transport between raids in exchange for a share of their takings. This alliance would continue after the Plague aligned themselves with the Society, with the Mongoose Pirates providing transport to the Midden Cell. Following the Coyote cleansing, the Midden became completely dependant on the Mongoose Pirates as their sole source of transport.

The pirates would continue to operate mostly unharmed for a decade, with their captains becoming very adept at slipping into and out of the Tokasha system while remaining undetected. Their planetside operations were concealed among the ruins of the Mongoose enclave that the Mdden used for their headquarters, making detection of their operations difficult.

The destruction of the Mongoose Pirates would come about largely by chance. A Stone Lion fighter star on exercises blundered into their dropships as they were planetbound. After alerting defences, the Stone Lion pilots engaged the dropships, crippling most of them and destroying the rest. A Stone Lion assault force then seized the Mongoose Pirate jumpships before they could escape. Furthermore, the information found on board these ships lead to the discovery of the Midden cell.

At present, the Mongoose Pirate jumpships have been placed into storage by the Stone Lions. Given their poor condition, it is more likely that they will be scrapped for parts than returned to service.

Personalities

Jaster
Age: Unknown (approximately 65)
Position/Rank: Fleet Admiral of the Mongoose Pirates

Very little is known about Jaster, the last leader of the Mongoose Pirates. The organisation’s record keeping was poor at best, with oral traditions and word of mouth being more important than actual historical records. Information recovered from their ships, as well as from interrogating survivors, showed that he claimed to be descended from a Clan Mongoose bloodline, although which is unclear. Furthermore, Jaster apparently held the Absorbed clan up in an idealised light, seeing them as some sort of bastion of rebellion against the Grand Council.

By all reports, Jaster was born about 3020 on onboard one of the pirate band’s ships. His family had been spacers for several generations prior, and he was raised into their trade. He was able to rise through the ranks of the organisation, becoming a crew chief, then a Dropship captain and eventually a Jumpship captain. However, it appears that his rise was based less on any ability and more of his being in the right place at the right time. During that time he built his own contacts with the Bandit Caste, as well as the Burrock leadership that opened up opportunities for the organisation.

Sometime around 3065, Jaster made contact with the Society, and entered into an alliance with them. In 3068 he was appointed as Fleet Admiral of the Mongoose Pirates following the accidental death of their previous commander. However, there were rumours that Jaster had engineered hi demise, and of blackmail against the other candidates. None the less, Jaster quickly solidified his position, backed by their newfound Society allies.

During the Society revolt, Jaster would serve as a transport link to enable the Society and their Bandit allies to quickly and discretely move troops and materials between worlds. In return, he was promised aid, as well as upgrades to their vessels or even entirely new ones. It also seems that the Society played to his romanticising of the Mongoose Clan, and may have promised to recreate them much as they had the Burrocks.

Following the collapse of the Society revolt and the Coyote cleansing, Jaster scaled back operations in order to avoid destruction at the hands of the Clans. He focused his operations on the Midden cell, providing transport for their operations, as well as delivering supplies to them. Furthermore, rather than remaining on a Jumpship where he could easily escape in an emergency, Jaster would often travel down to the Midden. This odd loyalty was the result of Shirow playing to his ideals, paying Jaster off in Mongoose artefacts that had been discovered in a cache during the expansion of the Midden.

Jaster was killed over Tokasha when his dropship broke up on re-entry while under attack by Stone Lion Aerospace fighters.

[KayEmm]

The fall of the Midden

It is somewhat remarkable that the Midden had managed to remain operational and undetected for so long, especially on the capitol world of one of the Clans. Much of this longevity was owed to several factors.

The first and foremost was its location; a Mongoose mining facility that had been closed following the absorption of the Clan (the Jaguars having apparently had no interest in it other then using it as a mass gave for Mongoose civilians). Records of its existence had been lost with the destruction of the Smoke Jaguars, although it is possible that the nascent Society branch within that Clan had deliberately hidden records in order to use the facility for their own purposes. Furthermore, its location in the Bearded Mountains, away from any major population centres, made it unlikely that any group would just happen to stumble onto them.

The second was the operations undertaken by the Midden following the fall of the Society. At no stage did the group undertake operations on Tokasha itself, knowing full well that doing such would likely attract attention to themselves. Rather, they would attack targets elsewhere in Clan space, often focusing on abandoned enclaves or remote locations while leaving little evidence as to their point of origin. The Midden were especially active in picking over former Steel Viper holdings, including sifting through the ruins of New Kent.

Finally, it needs to be said that the Mongoose Pirate group that provided the Midden with their transport were very skilled in a number of fields. Their jumpships used pirate points wherever possible, both to shield their arrival while also minimising transit times to the planet. As they were dropping in a remote location, their Dropships were undetected in their somewhat risky approach over the mountains. Those same mountains also helped to conceal launches, minimising the window for potential detection.

Ironically, it was the activities of the Mongoose Pirates that would lead to the discovery and destruction of the Midden. In October of 3085, by pure chance, their dropships were detected while inbound to Tokasha by a flight of Stone Lion aerospace fighters undertaking exercises. The fighters quickly reported the situation, while also ordering the bandit dropships to surrender. Rather than doing such, the bandits chose to make a dash towards the planet, being far close to it than their jumpships.

The Stone Lions dispatched two groups of reinforcements; the first to intercept the Dropships, while the second were sent to locate their source. Realising the depth of their situation, the Mongoose Pirate ships launched fighters in an effort to buy themselves some time. This proved ineffectual; the bandit fighters were ancient SLDF craft that were not only technologically outmatched, but their pilots were completely outclassed by the Stone Lions.

Having brushed aside the fighters, the Lions turned their attention towards the incoming dropships. Within minutes, three of them were crippled, and another destroyed outright after an internal explosion. The last of them made a mad dash for the planet while under fire. Damaged, it broke up on  re-entry. Calculating its likely trajectory, the Stone Lions estimated that it had been intending to put down in the Bearded Mountains, and immediately ordered an aerospace sweep of the area.

Meanwhile, thee second Stone Lion force managed to locate the Mongoose Pirate jumpships at a pirate jump point. The ships were quickly disabled and boarded, with their crews proving to be no match for the Elemental boarding parties. The survivors from both groups were quickly rounded up and interrogated to determine their intent.

The Stone Lion recon flights located a disused mining complex in the mountains, one that curiously did not appear on their records. Furthermore, the facility sported what appeared to be a makeshift dropship landing pad, one that was clearly intended to be concealed when not in use. At the same time, information yielded by the captive survivors of the ship crews confirmed that this was their intended destination, and that the facility was home to a still-active Society cell.

Assuming that the Society group were now aware of what happened, the Stone Lions quickly mobilised their forces to eliminate this threat. The biggest problem was that while they were aware that there was a Society cell, they also were unaware of its strength or location. Furthermore, the mountainous terrain of the region would make any approach difficult. None the less, the Stone Lion leadership was not willing to give the Society a chance to escape or prepare their defences, and moved quickly.

Dropships ferried the 229th Iron Guard Cluster to the region, establishing a foothold at the best available landing site. Recon elements were dispatched to locate the Society’s forces while also establishing an approach to thee facility. The first encounter with hostile forces confirmed the intelligence harvested from the captives, as a recon star made contact with a trey that included a Cephalous OmniMech. The Society force was able to escape, aided by a force of light vehicles that moved in to support them. While poorly trained and armed, the sheer weight numbers managed to occupy the Stone Lion star long enough for the trey to make its escape.

Inside the Midden, the Society leadership grasped the full extent of the situation, correctly predicting that the Stone Lion forces would not stop for anything short of the complete Annihilation of their cell. Their plan was to slow the Clan assault and make it as costly as possible in order to buy time. The best-case scenario was that they halted the Clan attack for long enough to stage a full evacuation and relocation of the Midden. However, such a move was unlikely, given the volume of material that would need to be moved. Regardless, the Midden were determined to fight to the death.

In order to delay the Stone Lion forces, the Midden looked for likely approaches and strategic strongpoints that they could use to their advantage. One likely location presented itself in the form of Hydro Plant GS21, a facility that had been damaged and abandoned in the Reavings. The facility would provide the Stone Lions with a vital river crossing, and denying it to them would buy the Midden precious time. Defence of this location fell to the Plague, a Bandit group aligned with the Midden, who were in turn augmented by a trey each of ProtoMechs and Vehicles.

As expected, the Stone Lions moved to take control of the river crossing. For the Midden, any hopes of a decisive victory quickly evaporated as the fighting began. Coordination between the Midden and Plague forces was nearly non-existent, with the two groups effectively fighting separate battles and not supporting each other. The Stone Lions quickly figured out what was going on, and pivoted their forces to take advantage of this division and focus their attention on the Plague. The majority of the Bandit BattleMechs fell quickly, with their leader being crippled and then disabled. Their vehicles and infantry failed to last much longer, the latter forced to contend with the ferocious Stone Lion Elementals.

Swinging around, the Lions were then able to focus their attention on the Society forces, delivering a series of heavy blows. After losing several ProtoMechs, the Society troops broke and ran, again sacrificing their conventional vehicles (most of which were crewed by drug-addled conscripts and slaves) to cover their retreat. These forces managed to inflict some damage to the Stone Lions, but ultimately it was not enough to stop their advance. The Society survivors retreated back to the Midden itself, while the few survivors from the Plague simply melted away into the countryside.

Taking control of the facility, the Stone Lions engaged in a hasty repair and refit before continuing their advance towards the Midden itself. Hit-and-fade harassment attacks from Society ProtoMechs, mostly survivors from the previous battle, helped to slow their advance, but also cost the Midden troops that they could not replace.

Their sacrifice did serve some purpose, as it bought extra time for the Midden to prepare their defences. The entirety of their small BattleMech force were arrayed around the facility, alongside their surviving ProtoMechs and conventional vehicles, rounded out by conventional infantry that were augmented by combat drugs. Finally, the Midden boasted a number of weapon emplacements; while their equipment was salvaged from wrecks that were otherwise too far gone to be made useful and their crews were poorly-trained, unwilling conscripts, they still presented an obstacle.

Knowing that they were facing a Society force that had likely had a decade to prepare for this, the Stone Lions took no chances. A number of their OmniMechs had been reconfigured with ECM suites to disrupt enemy Nova CEWS units. They had also bought a dedicated Artillery Binary with them, feeling that such weapons were appropriate to use against a dezgra foe. Finally, their aerospace forces were bought in to provide additional support, but the level of shielding provided by the terrain around the Midden meant that they inflicted only minimal damage.

The Stone Lion assault started with a wave of artillery missiles that focused on disabling or destroying as many of the fixed positions as possible. Jump-capable BattleMechs, ProtoMechs and Battle Armour did their best to circumvent the terrain and close in with the enemy, rather than having to fight uphill to get to them, as well as clearing the way for their compatriots.

With many of the Midden’s advantages neutralised, the Lions’ combination of superior skill and numbers gave them the upper hand early on in the battle. However, unlike their previous engagements, the Midden’s forces chose to fight to the death, knowing full well that they would be shown no mercy for their crimes. As a result, the battle was a bloody one, with the Stone Lion forces taking more casualties than they would have otherwise as they were forced to put down every last defending unit.

Knowing that the threat was still not over, the Lions sent pathfinder teams of Battle Armour and ProtoMechs into the Midden itself. These small groups worked their way through the labyrinthine tunnels in an effort to discover and destroy the heart of the Society corruption. They were not unopposed either, encountering small bands of drug-enhanced and mutated infantry, as well as several points of an unknown type of Battle Armour. Eventually, they were able to make it to the core of the facility, where they destroyed the last of the cell’s leadership.

Following the victory, the Stone Lions catalogued all of the recovered material in order to gain a full understanding of what the Society cell had been working on for the last decade. After confirming that they had gained all that they could from the Midden, they destroyed the equipment inside it before collapsing the structure.

[Dragon Cat]

Interesting story and end.  I may use a couple of the names in my AU if you're alright with that?  I have some more homeworld storylines coming up

[KayEmm]

Interesting story and end.  I may use a couple of the names in my AU if you're alright with that?  I have some more homeworld storylines coming up

Thank you for that. The summary is based on a mini-campaign I played in MegaMek with a friend.

However, I would prefer it if you did not use my characters for your fic. Nothing against you; just personal choice. Good luck with your writing no less!