Author Topic: Chronological BattleTech Fiction Review - The Succession Wars - Part II  (Read 205641 times)

Mendrugo

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Date: November 20, 3027

Location: Kittery

Title: Warrior: Riposte

Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)

Synopsis: Andrew Redburn, along with Robert Craon, Andrew Montbard, Archie St. Agnan, Payen Montdidier, Hugh de Payens and Geoffrey St. Omer (non-commissioned officers of the Kittery Training Battalion) relax over tea in a private dining room of a Capellan restaurant in Shaoshan as they toast departing comrade Sgt. Walter de Mesnil, who has been summoned to rejoin the Kell Hounds under Morgan.

Montbard asks Andrew what he knows about upcoming assignments.  St. Agnan worries that they shouldn't be discussing sensitive information in a restaurant run by the Yizhi tong and technically off limits to AFFS personnel by order of the CID.  Andrew tells them not to worry, noting that his houseboy gave him a blanket his grandmother embroidered with their new unit insignia - causing him to speculate that their unit orders go to House Liao before reaching them.  Andrew announces that they've been posted to the Davion Light Guards, due to their stellar performance during Galahad '27.

This causes some confusion, since the Kittery battalion is a Capellan March unit - outside of the chain of command for House Davion's private forces.  Walter speculates that Andrew's actions in the Silver Eagle affair had something to do with it, but places most of the credit on the Galahad '27 exercises. 

Archie suspects politics - guessing that Hanse is trying to smooth Michael Hasek-Davion's ruffled feathers over the Justin Allard affair by naming Morgan Hasek-Davion as his best man and giving a Capellan March unit such a prominent position.

Andrew takes the bill and reacts with surprise - showing Walter that it bears the wax seal of Shang Dao, the leader of the Yizhi tong.  Montdidier pulls out three holdout pistols and a knife, noting that he doesn't stroll into Shaoshan naked.  Andrew tells the group that Shang Dao has sent a warning of a Maskirovka hit team waiting for them out front, and suggesting they take the back door out. 

As they leave the private dining room and pass through the main dining room, Craon sees the strike team through the front window and yells at the group to find cover.  Machine gun fire shatters the window and kills several customers.  Montdidier fires back and kills at least one of the Maskirovka agents.  Andrew shoots another gunman as he bursts through the front door.  The group retreats through the kitchen as Montdidier kills another Mask agent in the doorway.

Another Mask agent charges into the kitchen through the rear door, but slips on a grease spot, spoiling his aim long enough for Montdidier to drop him with two shots.  Walter seizes his sub-machine gun.  Craon reports to Redburn that the alley is clear and that the strike team is no longer at the front.  Redburn notes that Shang Dao is keeping his people out of the fight, suggesting that it's a rogue Maskirovka operation.

The buildings seem menacing as the team plots its exit vector.  Redburn feels Shaoshan seethe with danger, despite having been conquered by the Federated Suns a generation ago.  He laments how much he hates fighting outside a 'Mech, noting that between this fight and his on-foot battles against Kurita ISF ninjas, he might as well be in the jump infantry.

The remaining Mask agents attempt to flee the scene.  Archibald kills one, and Craon wounds the other.  The AFFS officers give chase, and follow the wounded agent into what appears to be a Maskirovka safe house.  The agent emerges and opens fire with an assault rifle, but is quickly killed by return fire.  Redburn leads his men into the house to see what intel they can obtain.

Notes: Walter is significantly changed from the last time we saw him in this column - his black hair is turning gray, and he has a patch over his left eye.  The patch wasn't mentioned in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," so he seems to have lost the eye during his campaigns with the Kell Hounds, and not during the final showdown on Maldive.

Craon notes that the Davion Assault Guards treat the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers as poor relations, and that the Crucis March people in general view the Capellan Marchers as frontier savages.  This is probably a consequence of sustained territorial advances on that front - with many of the Capellan March worlds populated with former Capellan citizens (even though the conquest may have been during the 2nd Succession War), the Feddies have taken to heart the assumption that their continued victories over the Confederation are due to inherent deficiencies in character, culture, governance, and fighting spirit of the Capellan people, labeling them as savages (with the dehumanization inherent in that label - though, granted, the Capellans don't do themselves any favors on that score by making their Minister of Economy wear blue skin dye).  (We'll later see FedCom carpetbaggers commenting on the local customs of the people of occupied Zurich, in "Bred for War," in a similar manner.) 

This is the scene where the Maskirovka really acquired its Stackpole-bestowed reputation for Keystone Cops buffoonery.  The choreography for the strike team's attack on eight mostly unarmed AFFS officers could have been set to Benny Hill's Yackety Sax.  There's never any real sense of menace - just quips between one-shotting Mask goons.  This tends to reinforce the aforementioned Feddie attitude towards the Capellans as being inferior in pretty much every respect. 

Stackpole likes writing about food, and prominently features restaurants in much of his work.  This is the third time (chronologically) he's  written a scene of an escape through the kitchen during a dinner interrupted by assailants - Vanish, Not the Way the Smart Money Bets, and now Riposte (and, technically, in the "About the Author" section of Warrior: Coupe, where Stackpole himself escapes from his ROM guards in Phoenix by getting them to stuff themselves at a Szechuan restaurant and then outdistancing them in a foot chase).  I haven't reread his Rogue Squadron books since college, but I'd be willing to bet there's a scene where the X-Wing pilots fight their way out of an Imperial ambush through the kitchen of an alien diner.  (I was actually surprised that young Walter de Mesnil never had to execute a kitchen evacuation in the Heir Apparent Catastrophe Unlimited series.)

Just as organized crime in other states doesn't really answer to the central government, the tongs apparently have their own agenda, rather than being extensions of the Maskirovka or the will of the Chancellor.  (The yakuza aren't friendly towards House Kurita until Theodore's bridge-building in the 3030s, and the Malthus cartel and other mafia-esque groups in the Lyran Commonwealth, Free Worlds League, and Federated Suns don't exactly work hand-in-hand with Houses Steiner, Marik, or Davion.)  The tongs aid to Redburn is due to the work Justin put into cultivating that relationship during his tenure on Kittery.

There appear to be both tongs and triads in the Capellan underworld, per the Solaris VII source material.  Per TV Tropes, the triads started as secret societies dedicated to restoration of the Ming dynasty, while the tongs began as underground support networks (modeled on the triads) for Chinese migrant communities in the United States.  Both have historically been involved in the traditional aspects of organized crime, though many are legitimate social organizations that have no criminal activities whatsoever. 

Given that setup, I can see the utility of such organizations on former Capellan worlds living under AFFS occupation.  Given Craon's attitude in "En Garde" and the generally colonialist/imperialist attitude held by the occupiers, the locals (their pre-existing caste structures presumably broken up by the military governor's edicts) would create underground networks to ensure the people's needs were met and that egregious abuses by the occupiers would suffer retaliation.  If AFFS troops demonstrate themselves to not be threats to the people protected by a tong, then the maintenance of that relationship would be in the people's best interests (as seen in Shang Dao's actions).

Plugging "Shang Dao" into Google translate for Chinese (simplified) -> English results in "Up to".  Given the tendency of non-English character names to have extra meaning, one might assume Stackpole wanted to imply that the tong leader was "up to" something, or that the fate of the team was "up to" Shang.  "Yizhi" translates as "always" or "straight," suggesting reliability and directness for the group.  (Not that there's any indication Stackpole chose the names to evoke those traits, but he certainly liked to pick evocative names for the yakuza clans he chronicled, so why not the tongs as well?)
« Last Edit: 28 June 2018, 08:57:48 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Mendrugo

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Date: November 24, 3027

Location: Galatea

Title: The Dark Wing is the Mercenary Underground

Author: Tom Sloper

Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)

Synopsis: A NewsNet report announces that House Davion is dedicating all available resources to combat the mercenary underground, vowing to eradicate every member, and offering rewards for information.

Larman Sholest informs Herras that key members of the Mercenary Underground are working on Quilon.

Vermin Minter, Herras' informant, lets him know that the head of the Dark Wing Lance is behind the Mercenary Underground, and is using it to expand Dark Wing operations.

Notes: Hmmmm....  If House Davion is offering reward money for information about the Mercenary Underground, why is Larman just giving it away to Herras for free?  Why is he telling it to Herras at all instead of heading to the FedSuns embassy in Galatean City and cashing out?  Perhaps Larman knows (as I've postulated) that Herras is a DMI agent, and that Club Zero-Zero is a Davion intelligence listening post, making it more convenient to pass the info that way, rather than being seen going in or out of the closely observed Davion embassy.  One might expect Cearle Jamist (the maitre'd) to discreetly hand Larman a large sack of C-Bills after he "casually mentions" the information to young Herras.

Given that the Mercenary Underground/Dark Wing seems to be operating around Terra (within easy reach of Galatea, making most targets Lyran), why is House Davion taking the lead on extermination efforts?  Shouldn't ComStar's Mercenary Review Board be declaring all registered mercenaries known to be involved with the Mercenary Underground to be renegades, zeroing out their ratings, banning them from entering into contracts, and hiring bounty hunters to bring them in?  That's essentially what the MRBC did to mercs that hired on with the Blakists during the Jihad.

And what role does the weak, but still extant, Mercenary's Guild play in this?  Do they see the Mercenary Underground as like-minded free spirits, fighting the good fight to keep the mercenary trade free of ComStar's control, or as competitors for what little business remains on the outskirts of the Review Board's purview?  It would have been fun if this game had picked up on that little throwaway nugget in the Mercenary's Handbook and set the game interface in a Mercenary's Guild hiring hall on Galatea, rather than in Club Zero-Zero, and explored the mercenary life beyond the clean-cut contracts of the Review Board (much like HBS did with their BattleTech campaign game).
"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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Date: December 2, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: At the Portland Training Center on Arcadia, Donegal Broadcasting Company reporter Donner Hale interviews Private Frederick "Sniper" Jones, the gunner on a Schrek in Halsten's Brigade.  Hale asks Jones how he makes the incredible shots that have earned him the reputation as "the killer on the Marik border" and "the scariest monster since Stefan Amaris."

Jones is uncomfortable with that characterization, but Hale persists, comparing his kill record to Natasha Kerensky, with 47 'Mechs downed, mostly from PPC hits to the cockpit.  He asks if Jones gets a cut of the millions of kroner in salvage that the Brigade gets under the terms of its contract with the Commonwealth.  He notes that House Marik has put an assassination contract on the Brigade's prominent officers, including Jones.

Jones angrily answers that he and his crew are on the front lines every day, while Hale sits in safety and disparages them.

Hale counters that the Lyran people are paying for Jones to be there, and that they should have a right to know the character of those receiving that money.

Jones stands to leave the interview, telling Hale that Marik MechWarriors don't care about Lyran rights, just about killing them.

Hale goads Jones, name dropping Frederick Steiner, and calling Jones a backwoods hick, an animal, and a piece of equipment to be used. 

Jones punches him and leaves the interview, with the staggered reporter calling him a "nobody" as he departs.

Notes: This story is an expansion of the "notable pilot" section of the Schrek in Technical Readout: 3026, where he was noted for having the uncanny ability to always put all three PPC shots squarely onto the cockpit of an enemy 'Mech.  Jones was also named in the Dragon Magazine preview article for TRO:3026, "Running Guns."

Halsten's Brigade is noted in TRO:3026 as being one of the largest and best-known all-vehicle mercenary units in the Inner Sphere.  They appear to still be active into the Dark Age, having earned a reference in the TRO's of that era as well.

It's somewhat difficult to grasp Hale's attitude towards Jones, except to speculate that he associates himself with Lyran elites (like Frederick Steiner), for whom military service equates with driving the heaviest 'Mech they can get their hands on, and then going on to command duties.  In the Third Succession War era (as has been pointed out in various fiction pieces), infantry die by the truckload, but MechWarriors can reasonably expect to come through a battle alive, even if their 'Mech is shot out from under them.  Jones' ability to tear away that feeling of safety and invulnerability must be deeply troubling to people in the MechWarrior class and their associates.

Hale seems to have something of a reputation as a war correspondent for the DBC.  We've seen DBC crews get unprecedented access - even going behind Kurita lines to film DCMS operations on a world being contested by the AFFS in "Wolves on the Border."  Perhaps Hale spent time covering FWLM operations and began to feel empathy towards the MechWarriors that Jones has been picking off.

There's also the element of romanticism about 'Mechs - seeing the pilots as larger-than-life heroes and villains, modern knights in towering suits of armor, etc.  Having them reduced to scorched carbon traces by someone in as unromantic a vehicle as a Schrek may be hard to take for a MechWarrior groupie.

We've seen past references to assassination contracts being placed on enemy troops, but generally only in the context of those who have committed war crimes.  Many of the Kurita troops who took part in the Kentares Massacre were tracked down and killed by bounty hunters hired by the Federated Suns in subsequent years.  But smoking Marik MechWarriors engaged in offensive operations against Lyran holdings doesn't seem to qualify as a war crime.  Perhaps the FLWM determined that the cost would be too great to kill Jones and other standout members of the Brigade on the battlefield, and so sought to assassinate them instead.  Since Jones is still alive, we can assume that SAFE was assigned the job.  The FWL doesn't appear to have any of the assassin societies like the Saurimat or the Nekekami that proliferate in the Draconis Combine, and Arcadia is a long way from the known assassin guilds that operate in the Periphery (Santander's Killers and the Jarnfolk).
"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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Date: December 5, 3027

Location: Galatea

Title: Bombs Planted at Installations

Author: Tom Sloper

Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)

Synopsis: Vermin Minter reports to Herras that the mercenary underground has planted bombs at a number of installations on Zhada, and rumors place the detonator somewhere on the planet.

Notes: Urrrrrgh!  Another setup so woefully inappropriate for the established mechanics of the BattleTech universe.  Granted, the plot hook fits the mechanics of the game itself (drop onto Zhada, wander around blasting baddies until you stumble across the Objective, win), but makes less than no sense when placed in the context of the broader setting.

The setup can be used effectively - as seen in Babylon 5 when the Drakh planted bombs all over Centauri and used the threat of their detonation to blackmail Londo Mollari into letting them place a Keeper on his neck and control his actions for most of the rest of his reign as Emperor. 

Here, though, what does the mercenary underground stand to gain?  Are they demanding a ransom?  Are they demanding that House Davion back off and stop hunting their members?  These bombs aren't cloaked with Shadow tech, and sweeps of key buildings would probably turn them up, so the "expires by" date on this threat is pretty short term - certainly not on the timeframe where it would make sense for Herras to leap onto his DropShip, burn for orbit, dock with a JumpShip at a pirate point, jump to Zhada, land, and sweep randomly across the entire planetary surface until stumbling over the detonator. 

If you're hearing about an urgent crisis and you're light years away, there's nothing you can really do to affect the outcome.

Narratively, all this really does is to establish the mercenary underground as card carrying "bad guys" who engage in extortion and terrorism, albeit in so heavy handed a manner that the hook may as well add "Look for a man in a black hat twirling his mustache."
« Last Edit: 28 June 2018, 15:25:44 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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Date: December 11, 3027

Location: Marfik

Title: Heir to the Dragon

Author: Robert N. Charrette

Type: Novel (Heir to the Dragon – FASA)

Synopsis: Three years into his command of the Legion of Vega, Theodore Kurita prepares for the arrival of fresh personnel, sending his XO, Sho-sa Olivares, to the landing field.  In the command hut, he meets with Ninyu Kerai, an undercover ISF agent sent by Subhash Indrahar to run interference for Theodore.  They discuss the recent departure of his secret wife, Tomoe Sakade, to deliver their second child with the help of Brother Nitti and visit their firstborn son, Hohiro.  Ninyu congratulates Theodore on having purged the unit of hopeless cases, and instilled discipline and raised morale in the rest, allowing the Legion to function less like a mob of condemned prisoners and more like a professional front-line military unit.

Theodore hopes they'll be ready soon.  He predicts that the Steiner-Davion wedding will trigger a joint offensive against the Combine by the unified Federated Commonwealth.  Ninyu anticipates a glorious war, and Theodore smiles as he sees a chance to prove himself to Takashi on the battlefield.  He asks Ninyu to move Tomoe and his children to a safer world, further from the Lyran border.

Olivares reports that the recruits have arrived, and Theodore and Ninyu emerge from the hut to greet them.  The new Legionnaires are from all branches of the Combine military, many bearing unit patches showing them to be veterans of the disastrous Galtor campaign.  Another group have no uniforms, and Theodore surmises they are former members of the merceneary unit Kelly's Killers, working off their debt to the Combine.

Theodore tells them that they can either view their time with the Legion as their personal hell, in which case that will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, or they can see it as a fresh start on the path to redemption.  He tells them to be prepared for an individual interview, then dismisses them to their barracks.

Finding a familiar looking face in the crowd, he summons the man - a dark-skinned Chu-i (recently demoted from Tai-i) who introduces himself as Fuhito Tetsuhara.  Theodore notes that one of his instructors was Minoru Tetsuhara, and Fuhito confirms he is Minoru's son. 

Theodore takes Fuhito as his first interview, and notes that he was required to transfer Chu-i Sandersen to the Ryuken when Minobu formed it, the first such transfer since the Genyosha was formed.  He asks about what happened on Galtor, and Fuhito describes the infighting between Warlords Yoriyoshi and Samsonov, and his personal disgrace when he defended Yoriyoshi's retreat at the board of inquiry. 

Theodore asks Fuhito if he would act differently, knowing the consequences, but Fuhito says no, citing his personal honor as a priority.  Satisfied with Fuhito's character, Theodore promotes him back to Tai-i and assigns him to command First Battalion's recon company.  He responds affirmatively when Fuhito asks if he can use his family Panther, Katana Kat, instead of the Griffin used by the previous company commander.

Notes: The second child in question is, of course, Omiko (Omi) Kurita, while Hohiro was born in 3023. 

Brother Nitti would theoretically be a member of the Physicians of the Dragon (also referred to as Brotherhood physicians).  They treat medical lore somewhat like ComStar treats communications and military technology - with religious reverence, even if they aren't anywhere close to having the mastery of their specialty their Star League-era forebears achieved.  While the Brotherhood wasn't able to give Minobu Tetsuhara more than metal prosthetics (which measured up poorly against the myomer replacements the Dragoon medtechs gave their wounded), they did save his life and refused a bribe to let Tetsuhara die.

Speaking of Tetsuhara, we get information that Fuhito's brother Minobu has recovered from his injuries and returned to command the Ryuken-ni, while his other brother, Yoshi, has "received the red-and-black banner."  This refers to "The Glory of the Fallen Samurai," a banner awarded to the next of kin of a great leader who fell in battle. The banner itself was a black-and-red dragon banner and was awarded to the next of kin by the direct superior of the deceased.

The talk of transfers to the Ryuken and Genyosha seems chronologically challenged.  Theodore says he gave up troops to the Genyosha and then to the newly formed Ryuken, but the Ryuken were formed in 3026, and the Genyosha not until 3027.  (Also, the Genyosha put out the call for the Combine's best and most honorable warriors...so why would they draw from the disgraced mob assigned to the Legion of Vega?)  It makes much more sense for Legion staff to be seconded to the Ryuken, since Minobu was looking for unconventional thinkers, and was having trouble meeting his quotas, since regular line units were unwilling to let their troops go - mostly meeting the levy with troops that had discipline problems or were otherwise square pegs in round holes.  The Legion pretty much consists of nothing but discipline problems, so...perfect match.

Theodore has been creating bonds of personal loyalty with his men on Marfik, rather than generic loyalty to the Combine.  This gives him a loyal cadre of troops (if not ones of Genyosha quality), and secures his personal power base.  I wonder if he ever leaves Marfik to conduct inspections or reviews of the other two Legion regiments stationed on Vega itself. 

His relationship with Olivares has certainly improved since his arrival in 3024, when he faced down Olivares' challenge to his authority by shooting a decorative feather off his head.

Subhash Indrahar continues to allocate ISF resources to maintain the strength of the Kurita lineage despite the best efforts of Takashi, letting Ninyu purge any Takashi-loyalist elements and informants from the unit, and redirecting their reports into the round file.  Clearly, "The Smiling One" is betting on the next generation, rather than his old friend, Takashi.

Per the Galtor Campaign book, when the tide began to turn against the Combine forces on Galtor, Samsonov issued orders prioritizing the withdrawal of his District troops, making Yoriyoshi's forces fight a punishing rear-guard action at the back of the boarding queue.  Yoriyoshi objected to the sacrifice of his troops to save Samsonovs, and brought in DropShips to pull his troops out more quickly, leaving the tail of Samsonov's column exposed to AFFS flanking attacks, which inflicted grievous damage.

I'm surprised that the board of inquiry took two and a half years to run its course, however, since the Galtor Campaign took place in the summer of 3025 (kicking off just before Operation DOPPLEGANGER put an impostor in Hanse's place), and Tetsuhara only now was reassigned to the Legion. 
« Last Edit: 29 June 2018, 15:31:59 by Mendrugo »
"We have made of New Avalon a towering funeral pyre and wiped the Davion scourge from the universe.  Tikonov, Chesterton and Andurien are ours once more, and the cheers of the Capellan people nearly drown out the gnashing of our foes' teeth as they throw down their weapons in despair.  Now I am made First Lord of the Star League, and all shall bow down to me and pay homa...oooooo! Shiny thing!" - Maximillian Liao, "My Triumph", audio dictation, 3030.  Unpublished.

Frabby

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The talk of transfers to the Ryuken and Genyosha seems chronologically challenged.  Theodore says he gave up troops to the Genyosha and then to the newly formed Ryuken, but the Ryuken were formed in 3026, and the Genyosha not until 3027.  (Also, the Genyosha put out the call for the Combine's best and most honorable warriors...so why would they draw from the disgraced mob assigned to the Legion of Vega?) 
The Ryuken were initially only a training cadre of battalion (or was it regiment) size. After the Barlow's End battle they were expanded (on paper) into five regiments mirroring the five regular regiments of Wolf's Dragoons, and stationed alongside them respectively as watchdog units (this was also when Tetsuhara was removed from his position as Wolf's Dragoons liaison following his injury, and was then slighted by being placed in command of second regiment while Akuma got first regiment). This all happened in late November 3026 and sparked a recruiting frenzy for the Ryuken - they had to increase their number five-fold, which turned out badly as it diluted their competence.

Perhaps Theodore is referring to these newly formed Ryuken regiments as the new Ryuken. The formation of the Genyosha was a much more rapid process, they were a spur-of-the-moment Yorinaga fan club aping the Kell Hounds while the Ryuken were a much better planned attempt at carbon copying Wolf's Dragoons.

With this in mind, it's easy to see how competent honor minded glory-hounds first left the Legion for greener pastures in the Genyosha (hey any assignment is better than that dead-end), as the Genyosha basically took anyone who was a competent MechWarrior regardless of social status; and then the Ryuken specifically sought out the square-pegs-in-round-holes that basically made up the Legion for their expansion program over a somewhat longer time, drawing all the competent practically-minded glory hounds. There is considerable overlap between these two groups (namely, being competent), and the combination would have drained the Legion of their most competent MechWarriors - Genyosha first, as it was a more rushed recruitment, and then the more carefully selection for Ryuken candidates.

I'm surprised that the board of inquiry took two and a half years to run its course, however, since the Galtor Campaign took place in the summer of 3025 (kicking off just before Operation DOPPLEGANGER put an impostor in Hanse's place), and Tetsuhara only now was reassigned to the Legion.
The Draconis Combine has untold opportunities for disgraced officers. And given the matter at hand, high command probably wasn't terribly interested in a quick and thorough investigation of the Galtor debacle, dragging things out.
Perhaps he languished in a prison or dishonorable position somewhere, or in a dispossessed status - not too unlike his brother who was dispossessed by order of House Kurita and thus sidelined for years before being assigned to the Dragoons as a PSL officer.

Note: The senior Tetsuhara's name was Minoru, not Minora. He's a hardliner who will later refuse Michi Noketsuna's gift (Samsonov's severed head), stating that House Kurita had every right to treat his son Minobu as they did.
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Mendrugo

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Thanks for the clarifications, Frabby.  Another case of OCR glitches changing a character's name.

I still question the Genyosha pulling from the Legion.  Yorinaga wanted 50 of the best of the best of the best.  The Legion, at the time (before Theodore's reforms) had the reputation as the worst of the worst of the worst. 

Also, I thought troopers were basically sentenced to the Legion of Vega as a punishment.  Your phrasing suggests they can leave of their own accord.  I would assume Theodore would have had to approve their transfer requests. 

(Given the "cannon fodder-level" performance of the Genyosha in Warrior: En Garde, perhaps that's where Theodore sent the honorless Legion scum he and Ninyu discuss in the command hut, all the while telling cousin Yorinaga that these are definitely the best warriors for his new command.)
"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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I still question the Genyosha pulling from the Legion.  Yorinaga wanted 50 of the best of the best of the best.  The Legion, at the time (before Theodore's reforms) had the reputation as the worst of the worst of the worst. 

Also, I thought troopers were basically sentenced to the Legion of Vega as a punishment.  Your phrasing suggests they can leave of their own accord.  I would assume Theodore would have had to approve their transfer requests. 
But that's the point: There's a myriad reasons why you might end up in a dead-end career dump like the Legion of Vega. In the Combine, it takes little to be a troublemaker - being of non-asian descent, being a woman, being a foreigner, having violated some arcane honor code, having insulted a superior, having a superior who's after your wife, having a superior who doesn't like you, having a distant relative in the ISF's crosshairs, being linked to some disgraceful problem or underperformance, you get the idea.

But no MechWarrior in the Legion of Vega is incompetent or illoyal to the Combine. If you were any of these, they'd just shoot you and assign your 'Mech to a dispossessed loyal underling.

So you are a competent samurai who by some misfortune ended up in the Legions of Vega. All you want is to serve House Kurita. Your career chances, however, are nil.
Then the Genyosha pops up and they'll consider you if you're good enough in a 'Mech. Whatever reason they had for dumping you in the Legion of Vega, it wasn't incompetence so many competent MechWarriors will have jumped at the chance the Genyosha gave them. I imagine Yorinaga actively avoided the typical Sword of Light elitist types and raised a personal fan cadre from the best of the best of the best of those who weren't blindly touting the party line.

They couldn't leave of their own accord. But the Genyosha was so much higher up the totem pole (and apparently was accepting applications from the Legion) that the Legion was in no position to deny Yorinaga Kurita a transfer he requested.
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Author of the BattleCorps stories Feather vs. Mountain, Rise and Shine, Proprietary, Trial of Faith & scenario Twins

skiltao

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The Genyosha transfer is a reference to Yorinaga's son, right?
Blog: currently working on BattleMech manufacturing rates. (Faction Intros project will resume eventually.)
History of BattleTech: Handy chart for returning players. (last updated end of 2012)

Frabby

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The Genyosha transfer is a reference to Yorinaga's son, right?
That is possible. Then again, that "transfer" was him going essentially AWOL from the Legion to join the Genyosha - a very special case. Not sure if Theodore would mention it in this context.
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Liam's Ghost

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The Ryuken were initially only a training cadre of battalion (or was it regiment) size. After the Barlow's End battle they were expanded (on paper) into five regiments mirroring the five regular regiments of Wolf's Dragoons

Regiment. And it was expanded to a total of nine regiments with all of them "newly formed" by the time the Dragoon's contract expired and four destroyed by the Dragoons on the way out.

(Source: Combat Manual Kurita)
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!

glitterboy2098

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That is possible. Then again, that "transfer" was him going essentially AWOL from the Legion to join the Genyosha - a very special case. Not sure if Theodore would mention it in this context.
Yorinaga declared it legal in the book though, when he accepted his son into the unit.. i suspect that the Genyosha proceeded to file all the appropriate paperwork to make it a retroactive transfer so that said officer wasn't going to be arrested anytime they made port.

Mendrugo

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Date: December 12, 3027

Location: Galatea

Title: Bigger Than We Ever Imagined

Author: Tom Sloper

Type: Encounter (SNES Mechwarrior)

Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from defusing bombs on Zhada to find three messages waiting for him at Club Zero-Zero.  Paid informant Vermin Minter reports that the mercenary underground is being run by the Dark Wing Lance, which has started subcontracting other mercenaries to carry out operations.  MIIO agent Lana Mann reports to her superiors that the head of the Dark Wing Lance has been hiding in plain sight. 

The last note is from Yerg Gantor, who congratulates Ragen on carrying out his last mission, and tells him to meet on the base planet that has a battle arena, and he will set up a meeting with the head of the Dark Wing, as promised.  The holomessage ends with Gantor laughing maniacally.

Notes: This sets up the final boss fight in the SNES MechWarrior game.  This combination of messages intercepts should make it clear to the player that he's been unwittingly carrying out missions on behalf of the Dark Wing, and is now walking into a trap.

It's (as usual) unclear to whom Lana Mann was sending her report on the Dark Wing, or how it got "accidentally mislaid" at the Club Zero-Zero.  A healthy dose of handwavium would allow the explanation that Zero-Zero Maitre'd Cearle Jamist is actually a Davion DMI handler, and the whole Zero-Zero operation is a false front for running covert message drops to DMI special agents in the field, allowing them to be dispatched as troubleshooters on foreign soil by operating as mercenaries, Galatea being a Lyran holding.  Backing this up is the fact that MIIO used a similar setup to give orders to Kym Sorenson on Solaris VII, using a nondescript cafe in a rundown neighborhood of Solaris City.

Yerg Gantor only appears in two previous Encounters at the Club Zero-Zero, so it's not quite clear how he's been "under our noses," unless he's a regular at the club.  If that's the case, it's quite the intel failure by DMI/MIIO not to have scooped him up in the parking lot at some point.
"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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Date: December 12, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: At the LCAF's Portland Training Center on Arcadia, Private Frederick "Sniper" Jones of Halsten's Brigade serves at the gunner aboard a Schrek PPC Carrier.  His driver, Sergeant Cabot, brings the tank into range, and Sniper hits an enemy BattleMaster with all three PPCs, shattering its transpex canopy and ending the simulation in a victory for the tank crew.  As the crew exits the sim pod, a technician asks Jones if it felt real.  Jones reflects that it felt better than the simpods he'd originally learned on, but hadn't been truly real.  A man on the catwalk calls out to him mockingly, noting that "even trained monkeys get it right from time to time," but Jones stalks away, ignoring him.

Later, at the training center's bar, Cabot finds Jones drinking himself into oblivion, alternating PPCs and Timbiqui Dark.  Cabot says Colonel Halsten sent him to see if Jones was ready to come back onto the line.  Jones answers that he doesn't like killing, but Cabot admonishes him not to think like his father, asserting that "killing is what we do."

At the Brigade's laager, Cabot and Jones see a mix of tanks being readied for operations - Schrecks, Demolishers, and Brutus Assault Tanks.  Cabot notes that the crews are mostly new, and introduces Jones to them as "the Sniper."  He tells the crews that a company of Marik 'Mechs has landed near the coastal city of Castleton on what appears to be a recon raid related to Operation GALAHAD, and that Halsten's Brigade will be sending in the heavy armor company with two companies of cavalry in a recon-by-force.

Much later that day, the Brigade vehicles form a column plowing across the blue-green Arcadian landscape en route to Castleton, still 200 kilometers away (400 km having already been traversed).  Despite the risk of throwing tracks by driving the tanks the whole way, Halsten felt it was better to have the tanks combat ready rather than mounted on trucks, since the exact location of the Marik raiders is unknown. 

The column catches sight of another vehicle as they clear a ridge.  Swinging his turret to cover it, the optics resolve the logo on the side of the civilian vehicle to be that of the Donegal Broadcasting Company.  Cabot orders the vehicle to stop or be fired upon.  Its driver identifies himself as Donner Hale, a reporter embedded with the Brigade to cover the upcoming action.  Jones flashes back to a previous unpleasant encounter with Hale, and Cabot warns him to leave the area, since they have no orders regarding the embed and there could be imminent enemy action.  Jones prepares to target the DBC news van.  Hale offers to present a verigraph from Colonel Halsten, and Cabot orders the column to halt while he reviews the credentials. 

Notes: "Sniper" Jones is one of the oldest characters in BattleTech, having first appeared in the Dragon Magazine preview article for TRO:3026.  Jason Schmetzer took the very brief thumbnail sketch from the TRO notable pilots entry and fleshed out the character.  Notably, since he was famed for making lethal headshots, Jason gave Jones crippling guilt about killing other soldiers.  This may seem odd for a wargame, but keep in mind that the survival rate for MechWarriors is extremely high, at least during the Third Succession War, when the combat was low intensity and MechWarriors were far more likely to survive an ejection and be able to be ransomed (unless fighting a Combine foe operating under the rules of the Dictum Honorium).  Here, on the Marik front, survival and ransom would be the order of the day - making the triple PPC headshot specialty uniquely catastrophic.

Amusingly, for someone who is an expert with particle cannons, Jones' favorite drink is also the PPC (likely the Steiner variant - cut with schnapps). 

With 600 km to travel from the laager to the Marik LZ, with speed dictated by the 4/6 heavy tanks, and going off-road to boot, they're looking at a good 15-20 hours of overland travel time (more if the terrain's particularly rough at any point).  Also, while the Schrecks and Brutuses have fusion engines, the Demolishers are ICE beasts, so they'll have to stop to refuel periodically.  Unless the plan is to find a staging point near Castleton where they can rest and prepare to hit the Marik company, the Brigade's troops should be exhausted by the time they make contact with the enemy.

The presence of so much fresh meat in the heavy tank company speaks to the fact that, per game rules, taking out a tank usually kills the crew inside as well.  Halsten's Brigade keeps itself in the field by constantly bringing in new tanks and crews to replace losses - figuring that in a war of attrition, the enemy will have a harder time replacing 'Mechs and MechWarriors.  Not great for mental health or morale, though, as evidenced by Jones' condition.
"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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Date: December 13, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: On the outskirts of Castleton, in the darkness of night, Cabot and "Sniper" Jones watch as Hale and his holovid crew interview the Brutus crews, avoiding the bright lights to preserve their night vision.  Abruptly, one of the Brutuses explodes, and the Brigade tanks scramble into action.  A Demolisher follows into oblivion as Cabot frantically searches for enemy contacts.  Jones realizes that the tanks are exploding due to satchel charges planted by sappers.  Jones fires at a signature on the thermal scan and detonates a tree, revealing a Marik Hunchback hidden under its canopy.  The FWL 'Mech charges towards the tanks, supported by a heavy LRM barrage from as yet unseen support units. 

Jones identifies a Quickdraw as the probable lance commander and knocks it to the ground with a triple PPC strike.  While the Demolishers engage the Hunchback and the the Brutuses engage in a missile duel with the fire support unit, Jones' Schreck reverses to keep from being overrun as a Marik Centurion joins the fray. 

Faster than the Brigade's heavy tanks, the Marik 'Mechs begin to withdraw, their sensors detecting the approach of the Brigade's fast cavalry units.  Cabot orders the company to press the attack, seeing the exchange of a few tanks as more than fair for taking out a medium lance.  Moreover, he doesn't want the FWL unit to make it back to its parent unit with intel on the Brigade's composition and tactics.  As the hover cavalry comes into communication range, Cabot orders them to pursue the medium lance, but to avoid being drawn into an ambush.  The heavy company turns about and retreats towards its laager to assess its losses.

Notes: It's unclear whether Cabot is ordering the tanks back to where they were parked on the outskirts of Castleton, or all the way back to their main base 600 km away.  Since they haven't yet cleared out the Marik raiders, my guess would be the temporary basecamp.

The heavy company appears to have been relying on its hover cavalry to provide perimeter security, but the screening force failed to prevent Marik infiltrators from sneaking into the laager and planting satchel charges on several of the tanks while the crews were distracted by the DBC camera crew.  In general, the Brigade seems to be somewhat lax on discipline.  (Discipline might be hard to enforce in a relatively green unit - due to turnover - that is so willing to suffer casualties in the service of achieving its goals...and a completion bonus for Colonel Halsten.)

One interesting takeaway is that the sensor packages on the tanks are significantly inferior to those on the 'Mechs.  Not clear if the advantage is from better electronics, or simply having a much higher observation platform. 
"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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Date: December 13, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Hard Steel

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: This scenario, written by Jason Schmetzer to accompany Panzer, depicts the pre-dawn engagement on the outskirts of Castleton in the aftermath of the sapper attack on the laager with satchel charges.

The setup specifies that the Marik recon force (seeking intel about the GALAHAD exercises) included a company of Marik Militia 'Mechs and a company of scouts/infiltrators.  Castleton is described as a "small town", and it is clarified that the Brigade had set up a temporary laager to rest their troops prior to pushing into occupied Castleton.  The detonations of the satchel charges were the signal for the 'Mech lance to attack.

The map setup is a 1x2 layout with open terrain on the north and the classic map on the south.  The Marik 'Mech consists of a 4/4 Quickdraw, 5/4 Hunchback, 5/4 Centurion, and 4/3 Trebuchet.  Halsten's Brigade fields four Schrecks, three Demolishers, and three Brutuses.  Night rules apply on the northern map (burning tanks illuminate the southern map), and all tanks and 'Mechs have searchlights.

The attacker wins by destroying or immobilizing all the tanks.  Destroying 50%+ earns a partial victory.  The defender wins if the Marik forces withdraw with 5 or fewer tanks destroyed.  Driving the Marik 'Mechs off after losing more than five tanks results in a partial victory. 

Withdrawal conditions are triggered when two or more 'Mechs have armor breaches, two or more 'Mechs lose a limb, or one 'Mech is fully destroyed. 

The Aftermath notes that the Brigade tanks rallied around the outstanding gunnery of "Sniper" Jones and pushed on towards Castleton in the morning.

Notes: Despite lauding Jones' gunnery as "outstanding," the scenario gives the Schrecks gunnery of either 3 or 4, and doesn't give Jones any special gunnery abilities.  Unless his gunnery skill was just a bit of luck combined with an aggressive media campaign launched by Colonel Halsten, I'd give him at least a Gunnery of 1, or always let him roll hit locations against 'Mechs on the Punch Location Table, or both. 

The night effects are unlikely to have any significant impact on the scenario.  Since everyone has searchlights, the night effects will be eliminated for any unit taking fire, at least until stray shots start shattering the lenses. 

For the Brigade, I would recommend leading with the Demolishers and Brutuses, while the Schrecks remain stationary and provide covering fire.  (An argument can also be made for keeping the Brutuses back as well to provide missile support, but then the Demolishers run the risk of getting locally outnumbered and overrun and stomped on by the Marik 'Mechs.  Also, their close-in firepower is significantly heavier than just the one LRM-20 rack.)  Concentrate your fire on one or two 'Mechs to trigger the withdrawal conditions as quickly as possible.  If any of your units are getting savaged, make sure to take advantage of your turrets to turn fresh armor towards the enemy and keep firing.

For the Marik Militia, I would recommend turning off your searchlights and pulling back to long range for LRMs.  If the tanks stay on the southern end of the map, they'll be lit up, and if they keep their spotlights on, they'll also be lit up.  Launch a lot of missiles at the enemy tracks - ignoring the Demolishers to begin with and hammering their long range units.  Once the Demolishers get within about 12 hexes, start hammering them as well, maneuvering for side shots to get a better chance of taking out a track, and fall back towards the northern map edge to keep out of the range of their AC/20s.  The Motive Hits Table is your friend. 

If any of your units starts getting banged up, pull them back towards the northern map edge.  You want to delay the triggering of withdrawal as long as possible, so it's best to stay at long range and accept a lot of missed shots of your own to ensure that the enemy tanks are missing a lot as well.

The weird thing about the Marik troops doing a recon raid to check out the effects of GALAHAD are: 

1) It's been five months since GALAHAD wound down, so it's a bit late for an immediate after-action assessment.
2) This is in Lyran space.  GALAHAD was only held in the Federated Suns.  The Lyran half of the joint exercise was called Operation THOR '27. 
« Last Edit: 13 October 2018, 07:20:17 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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Date: December 14, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: The morning after the battle, Jones, Cabot and Hale survey the damage, noting that the company lost three tanks and their crews to the infiltrators' satchel charges.  Hale condescendingly tells Cabot they needed better pickets.  Jones joins the conversation and notes that Hale and his holovid crew were serving as a distraction.  Hale reiterates that it's their fault for taking 25% losses.  Cabot responds by radioing Landau and ordering him to destroy the empty Donegal Broadcasting Company news van, then asking Hale if he'd like to be reported lost in combat along with his vehicle.

Hale backs down, and Cabot tells him he'll be riding in the tracks from now on, so he can truly appreciate how things are for the troops.  Cabot says their dead are dead, but that the unit still has a mission.  The unit presses on towards Castleton.

Notes: In many ways, the Lyran state is presented as a prosperous, tolerant, representative constitutional monarchy.  They, along with the Federated Suns, are clearly the "good guy" factions of the pre-4th Succession War era.  And yet, we keep getting flashes of a wide totalitarian streak running through the Commonwealth.  Having Loki disappear a citizen to become a body double for the Archon's heir.  Tracking the movements, associations, and preferences of every citizen in centralized databases.  And suppressing freedom of the press whenever it proves inconvenient. 

This scene doesn't totally track with the scenario, which only had two of the tanks (one Demolisher, one Brutus) knocked out by the infiltrators. 

I wonder if pay is significantly higher for vehicle crews in Halsten's Brigade.  The repeatedly expressed willingness to suffer heavy casualties and soldier on must be a selling point with employers (to the tune of bonus pay), but the heavy casualty rate would seem to be a disincentive to signing on to be spam in a can, unless there was a substantial signing bonus.  One also wonders where this espirit de corps ("the dead would want us to get on with the mission") comes from, since so many of the crews are greenies (do they get indoctrination?) and we've seen a backbiting attitude between Brigade members ("even a blind monkey gets it right sometimes").  One might almost suspect that Colonel Halsten is black marketing "chem courage" pills from the Combine to get his newbies into the groove.
"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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Date: December 15, 3027

Location: Tianjin

Title: Payback

Author: Michael T. Herbert

Type: Scenario (Rolling Thunder)

Synopsis: A series of raids by a bandit group known as the Red Wolves has upset the FWL's offensive timetable against the Lyran Commonwealth.  Rolling Thunder was diverted from its preparations to raid Poulsbo and deployed for a retaliatory strike against the Red Wolves' basecamp on the Periphery world of Tianjin. 

Rolling Thunder hit the basecamp at 0630 and caught the garrison napping while the Red Wolves 'Mech assets were elsewhere.  Rolling Thunder consists of a BattleMaster, Victor, Hunchback, Hermes II, Awesome, Archer, Warhammer, Firestarter, Ostsol, Ostroc, Shadow Hawk, and Wolverine-M. 

The Red Wolves' planetary garrison consists of four Harasser Missile Platforms, four Scorpion Light Tanks, two Hunter Light Support Tanks, four Galleon Light Tanks, four Rifle Infantry Platoons, and four Machine Gun Infantry Platoons.  Infantry starts hidden, if desired.  They are deployed to protect three Parts Depots (Medium), four Vehicle Garages/Repair Bays (Heavy), a Transmission Tower (Medium), and two Control Centers (Medium).

The Red Wolves get three points for every 'Mech destroyed/disabled.  (Oddly, it says they get 2 points for every Rolling Thunder vehicle destroyed or disabled, even though the RT company doesn't include any vehicles.)  The chart at the end ignores the earlier scoring setup, and instead grants five points for disabling/destroying a Rolling Thunder 'Mech, three for withdrawing a friendly unit off the map, 2 points for every turn that each side remains on the map after turn 15, and 25 if reinforcements arrive.  Rolling Thunder gets points for damaging or destroying the buildings, but nothing for taking out Red Wolves units.  If they wipe out all the buildings, they get a maximum of 69 points. 

The Red Wolves begin to roll for reinforcements starting on Turn 13, with the chance increasing each turn until it automatically happens on Turn 20, consisting of 740 tons of equipment of the Defender's choice.  (These units are being occupied by heavy aerospace attacks during the Thunder's insertion).

Notes: Tianjin is specified as being in the Periphery, and should not be confused with the Lyran world of Tainjin.  (Sarna.net identifies Tainjin as the baseworld of the Red Wolves, but it's not in the Periphery, and a world 270 light years from the Marik border seems a poor choice of staging world for raids into the FWL...unless you're from the Red Duke school of thought and agree that Trell I is an excellent staging base for attacks on Tharkad.)

The scenario is undated, but the unit timeline specifies that it was deployed to the Lyran border for offensive operations in October 3027.  Thus, mid-December seems an appropriate time for them to have been pulled away from that posting for this side mission, especially since they're back on for the Poulsbo raid by January 6, 3028, but any time from mid-November to mid-December would work.  This also places the ongoing Marik Militia raid on Arcadia into context - the FWL wasn't just doing reconnaissance to check on the aftermath of GALAHAD, they were planning a broad offensive to gauge whether LCAF fighting capabilities had been improved as a result of Operation THOR '27.  There's also action on Ford on December 25, so it seems clear that the FWL did indeed unleash raids all along the Lyran border in December 3027 - January 3028 to assess their capabilities.

Although Rolling Thunder is specified as having inserted under cover of darkness, local time is 0630 at the time of the engagement, so no "night fighting" penalties apply.  (Poor planning on the FWL's part, since it would have been so much easier to get in, smash the immobile buildings, and get out unscathed with that extra +2 TN penalty.)

Hilariously, given the way the point table assigns results, the Red Wolves could force a draw by positioning their troops on the map edge and walking off on Turn 1, scoring 66 points immediately.  69-66 = 3, which is a Draw. 

Assuming neither player is planning to metagame things to quite that extent, it seems clear that Rolling Thunder wants to get in, do heavy damage, and get back out before Turn 15 (ideally before Turn 13).  The Transmission Tower and Control Centers are the primary targets, worth 10 and 15 points (fully destroyed) respectively.  WIth CFs of 30 and 40 respectively, 110 points of damage should take them out in short order for a gain of 40 points. 

While the FWL side isn't explicitly granted any points for killing Red Wolves units, in practice each unit killed is worth three points.  The Rolling Thunder can't just take out the high value buildings and skedaddle, because otherwise they'll get killed on points from the withdrawal score.  I would recommend, then, that the Thunder charge into the tanks and infantry guns blazing, and only take shots at the buildings if they have an otherwise unoccupied gun in range that has a terrible to-hit number against a mobile target but can still put some hurt on a building with the -4 immobile target bonus.  Around turn 10, start pulling back and concentrating on any remaining buildings, making sure to fully down the high value ones, and at least get to the 50% "damaged" threshold for the low value ones. 

For the Red Wolves, you simply lack the firepower to make much of a dent in Rolling Thunder's Heavy and Assault 'Mechs.  The Scorpions, Galleons, and Harassers will implode once those PPCs and Large Lasers start landing.  Your best bet for victory is to position your infantry (hidden) near the edge, and most of your tanks there as well, and exchange long range fire with the Thunder, targeting the Hermes II and Firestarter in particular (swarming any strays with the fast-moving Harassers).  Use the hidden infantry to bushwhack any of their scouts who try to overrun your tanks.  If you can take one 'Mech down with massed firepower and then bail, you'll end up with 71 points to the Thunder's maximum potential 69, resulting in a final score of -2, and a Red Wolf minor victory.

If, for whatever reason, the Rolling Thunder is still on the map when the reinforcements arrive, they're pretty much toast, points-wise.  Not only is there the 25 point penalty from them just showing up, but they could all immediately just step back off for 3 more points per unit.  If the Wolves player wanted to really bury the needle on the points, he could make it all infantry platoons (3 tons each) and score 740 more points for overkill bragging rights.
« Last Edit: 13 October 2018, 08:52:40 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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Date: December 16, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: On the outskirts of Castleton, a young Lieutenant from the recon detachment reports to Cabot and the rest of the unit that the Marik 'Mech company is based at an abandoned quarry on the far side of the city, but there is no sign of any Marik DropShips.  Hale asks how the slower tanks are going to chase down the Marik forces, and Cabot responds that he'll dangle some nice juicy bait in front of them, and get them to come to him.  The Demolishers and Schrecks will form a column across open terrain heading towards the quarry, while the Brutuses cover them from concealment and the hover platoons sweep out on the flanks to find their transports and cut them off from their ride offworld.

Cabot gives Jones a pep talk, encouraging him to grow beyond just being an ace gunner to become a leader.  He feels the unit will need leaders like Jones soon, and says that the large scale exercises and the curtailment of Lyran raids into other Successor States means something big is coming.  Jones adamantly insists he's just a gunner, and doesn't want to be a killer on a larger scale, in charge of a whole company.

Notes: Another slight inconsistency between the scenario and the story - the Lt. calls Castleton a city, while the scenario calls it a small town.  It apparently has a spaceport of its own, so the "city" designation seems more appropriate.

Cabot notes that Jones has been a Private longer than most troopers have been in Halsten's Brigade, re-emphasizing the extraordinarily high churn rate of personnel loss and replacement in the unit.  Halsten's crew is starting to sound like a vehicular version of the Legion of Vega - but instead of getting disgraced troops from other units, they sign up either the young and foolhardy (or people who have terminal diseases and have just taken out huge life insurance policies).  Being a Brigade member seems to be more or less a death sentence with a 1-5 year slow-burn fuse.   (Of course, given the rules on crew death, it could be that most if not all vehicle units in the Inner Sphere operate on this model and mindset.)

Cabot also tells Jones that he's "a hell of a gunner, the best anyone's ever seen."  This definitely doesn't track with the Gunnery skill of 3 assigned to Jones in the Hard Steel scenario.  With that sort of qualifier, we're looking at 0-1 territory, either with the "always rolls on the Punch Location table" or the "can make a called shot on a mobile target" ability.
"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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Date: December 17, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: At two minutes to dawn, outside Castleton, the Brigade column approaches the quarry with "Sniper" Jones' Schrek in the lead.  A Marik Hunchback approaches from the right flank and shatters most of the armor on the trailing tank.  Jones immediately returns fire and takes out its autocannon.  The Demolishers close on the enemy as the Brutuses and Schreks pour fire into the enemy 'Mechs - two medium lances.  By the time the tank column clears the Marik ambush site, two tanks (a Schrek and a Demolisher) are out of commission.  At Cabot's command, the tanks turn and counterattack against the Marik positions.  Hale screams that the maneuver is suicidal. 

A Marik Quickdraw jets away to safety, while two Centurions move to engage a Demolisher.  One goes down missing a leg, while the other staggers under several PPC impacts.  Cabot reports that the scouts have found the Marik DropShip.  Jones gets back in his "Sniper" zone and expertly drops a Wasp.  The Marik troops begin to fall back as missile barrages from the Brutuses contribute to the destruction.  Six Saladins from the recon platoons join in as well, and Jones gets on with the killing.

Notes: On the one hand, the Brutuses are more effective at closer ranges, but the argument can be made that if they were added to the column, the Marik forces may not have sprung the ambush.  Their LRM indirect fire, in the dark, and fired without the benefit of spotters, is marginally effective at best. 
"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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Date: December 18, 3027

Location: Arcadia

Title: Panzer

Author: Jason Schmetzer

Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)

Synopsis: Hale films the wreckage at the ambush site while Jones and Cabot discuss whether the losses taken were worth it.  Cabot asserts that it met the terms of the contract.  They are surprised as Colonel Halsten himself appears from behind a burnt out tank and congratulates Jones on getting the job done and killing all the Marik 'Mechs, while Halsten's tanks chased the DropShip off.

Halsten tells Jones he wants him in a command position, so he can read the battle and use his troops most effectively.  He asks Jones why he fights, and Sniper answers that it's because he's good at it.  Halsten tells Jones they should be fighting so that someday the other guy will be defeated and the fighting will stop.  He says he's sending Jones to officer candidate school on Goshen so he can be something more than just a gunner.

Notes: The War College of Goshen is located in the Federated Suns, and its OCS curriculum focuses on military history and strategy to create well-rounded officers.  Its writeup suggests that recruitment for the academy is through word of mouth, with multiple generations in warrior families going there.  One might suspect that Colonel Halsten is a Goshen graduate. 

It's good for Jones that the Saladins showed up, because the heavy tanks wouldn't ever have been able to run down faster 'Mechs like the Quickdraw.
"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.

skiltao

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Interesting points on attrition and the psychological toll.

Schrecks, Demolishers, and Brutus Assault Tanks
Halsten's Brigade is noted in TRO:3026 as being one of the largest and best-known all-vehicle mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. 

It's a little weird to see a relatively new Capellan tank in a Lyran unit.

TR3026 describes Halsten's Brigade just as "a heavy armor unit." You may be mixing it up with the Pike entry, which describes a different unit (Kenski's Raiders) as "one of the largest vehicle users in the Inner Sphere," and TR3039's Savannah Master which describes Halsten's Brigade as mercenaries in service to Steiner.

Do BattleCorp's Sniper Jones  stories refer to the brigade as large, well known, mercs, or give any sign they've worked for another House?
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Mendrugo

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The Brutuses get a shout out as being a new acquisition and a rarity outside the Confederation. 

Halsten's Brigade is mentioned in the Schrek notable pilots section (which introduces "Sniper" Jones).  It is also mentioned in one of the 3150-era TROs, so they're still alive and kicking (and getting their crews killed) in the Dark Age.  Halsten's Brigade was previously featured in Jason Schmetzer's "Sniper" BattleCorps story (where Jones' crew dies but he survives during action on Poulsbo), and I may have gotten the data on them being a large vehicle unit from there.  (They fielded two battalions in that story).
« Last Edit: 13 October 2018, 17:07:07 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.

Mendrugo

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Date: December 20, 3027

Location: Sian

Title: Warrior: Riposte

Author: Michael A. Stackpole

Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte)

Synopsis: Justin Xiang and Tsen Shang burn the midnight oil working on Maskirovka crisis team reports, reviewing shipping costs for Hatchetmen being moved from the Commonwealth to the Federated Suns.  He notes that the Lyran Monopole Company reported earnings far above industry standards.  He suspects that Monopole may have hidden Hatchetmen inside ships going to the Kathil shipyards for refit.  Shang notes that the payments are similar to what Monopole received when House Davion commandeered some of its ships for GALAHAD '26.

Justin continues to search for clues to a secret NAIS BattleMech development facility working on myomer muscular fiber.  He postulates that, due to the tension between Duke Michael and Prince Hanse, such a research center wouldn't be any further from Terra than Daniels, because if it were closer to New Syrtis, Duke Michael would have heard about it and passed the intel on to the Maskirovka.  To avoid Kurita raids, it wouldn't be closer to the Draconis March than Chesterton, and wouldn't be too far from New Avalon.  His leading candidates are Goshen, Axton, and Bethel.  Shang suggests recon raids to investigate.

Just as Shang stands to leave, a disheveled Alexi Malenkov bursts in to report that the MIIO has wiped out a Maskirovka cell on Kittery after the failed assassination of Andrew Redburn in Shaoshan, capturing enough data from the storehouse to destroy the entire Mask network onworld.  He notes that the assassination team was sent by Romano Liao.  Tsen notes that she suggested assassinations months ago, but he recommended against it. 

Justin orders Alexi to prepare a fake inventory of items lost on Kittery to present to Chancellor Liao, and tells Shang to send orders to units on Taga and St. Loris countermanding and canceling plans to invade Kittery to confuse Davion intelligence.

To calm his nerves after hearing Alexi's news, Justin goes to the palace garden and goes through a t'ai chi chuan regimen in the light of the four visible moons.  He wonders why Romano targeted Andy Redburn, and suspects that she may have wanted to cause an incident that could cause harm to the St. Ives Commonality as a way of striking at her sister, Candace, who holds title to those worlds.  He decides to have Alexi begin passive surveillance of her activities.

His musing is interrupted by the arrival of Candace Liao, who accuses him of spying on her when she sees him in the shadows.  He respectfully explains that he had been exercising here before her arrival.  She asks him to leave so she can meditate, but he refuses and chastises her for bringing her anger into the peaceful garden.  He resumes his exercises, and shortly thereafter, she apologizes, and blames her anger on her sister, Romano, for provoking Hanse Davion into attacking St. Ives Commonality worlds.  Justin reassures her that internal Federated Suns politics will probably result in Hanse and Michael ignoring each other's demands to send their own household troops to retaliate against the Confederation.

Justin recommends Candace try t'ai chi to find inner peace.  She says that she lacks the necessary grace due to a 'Mech injury, but he notes that he is able to perform it even with his artificial arm.  She shows him that her left shoulder is a mass of scars (with the deltoid and tricep rebuilt with myomers), following a severe injury when ejecting during fighting 11 years earlier on Spica, during the siege of Valencia.  They realize that they fought each other during that battle - her in a Vindicator and him in a Blackjack.  Both admit that they later had nightmares about that battle.

Justin asks if she ever had physical therapy, and she notes that none of the medical staff were willing to push her through the pain.  He suggests T'ai chi could restore her arm's mobility, and accepts her request to teach her.

Notes: The "future of the 80s" vibe is strong in this scene.  Justin's computer seems to be more or less analogous to an Apple II or TRS 80, with a monochrome green CRT screen and a keyboard he holds on his lap.  (We can attribute the more "futuristic" looking computers in more recent sourcebooks to the Helm Memory Core renaissance - using flexible display screens and keyboards that can be retracted into a cylinder for easy transport.) 

In a nice bit of foreshadowing, we see Tsen Shang completely misread the Monopole financials.  He notes that the payments are identical for when the AFFS commandeered Monopole ships for GALAHAD '26, but for some reason goes with Hatchetman smuggling instead of assuming more Monopole ships were commandeered for GALAHAD '27.  As we know, Hanse did indeed commandeer Monopole (and other commercial trading cartel) ships for GALAHAD '27, but didn't return them afterwards, instead continuing to use them over the following year to provide logistical staging support for OPERATION RAT.

I'm confused as to how MIIO or DMI would intercept orders sent to units on Taga and St, Loris.  From what we've seen in the books, they send a courier to the local ComStar HPG station, input the message, and then ComStar transmits it.  At the receiving station, they print the message out, put it in a pressurized cylinder, and have it delivered directly to the unit CO, who then breaks the seal in the presence of the courier.  ComStar knows the contents of the message, but it doesn't really get put into electronic communications except when ComStar is involved.  This would rely on there being MIIO moles inside both military command structures at fairly high levels.  Because when the courier delivers a message to the 2nd St. Ives Lancers 3rd Battalion and (presumably) the Taga Home Guard (no 'Mech unit is stationed there circa 3025) to call off the invasion plans, what do they do with that information?  There aren't any plans to cancel, so an MIIO mole in the logistics department won't see any new orders coming in to call off the staging operations.  How does a CO go about disseminating orders to stop doing what they weren't doing in the first place?  Are they just figuring that MIIO has agents inside ComStar?

Oddly, Sian seems to have lost a number of moons between 3027 and 3067.  Tsen describes "four visible moons" appearing as red and blue slivers in the sky, with a large white one rising on the horizon, implying that there may be other moons hidden below the horizon.  Sian's official profile in Handbook House Liao, however, only lists three moons - Fu Hsi, Nüwa, and Shennong.  Curse you Hanse Davion!  Not satisfied with stealing over 100 star systems from the Confederation, you made off with half of Sian's moons as well!

The fact that Candace is the titular ruler of the St. Ives Commonality brings up a question - why weren't Tormano and Romano each given a Commonality to run as well?  Why did Romano just get Highspire?  (Given the events of "Think Like a Liao," I can see why Tormano wasn't trusted with a demense, but what did Romano do to get a lesser holding than her sister?)

Justin notes that the Candace's canopy only partially blew away when she ejected, turning the canopy safety glass into jagged razors and causing Candace's arm injury.  But...that would only apply to cockpits like the BattleMaster's, Shadow Hawk's, Griffin's, etc.  Looking at the Vindicator, it's got a solid metal dome over the top, and just a narrow "eyeslit" viewport in front.  Why would the ejection seat have gone through the front viewport?

While Justin and Candace have met in previous scenes, this is the true start of their relationship, which ends somewhat better for Candace than Kym Sorenson's dalliance with Justin did on Solaris.
"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.

skiltao

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I suspect Candace is Prefector of St Ives (and duchess of the Liao homeworld, and controller of the national bank and treasury) because she's Max's current heir.
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Frabby

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I always took the Hatchetman smuggling at face value. Tsen Shang's analysis is corroborated by a ComStar report that large freighters were moving through the Terran corridor, suspected to be filled with Hatchetmans. (In TRO:3025, I think)
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Mendrugo

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I believe there was Hatchetman smuggling, to be sure.  However, since the payment Tsen is looking at exactly matches the compensation given for use of the vessels during GALAHAD '26, why wouldn't Tsen have made the connection to those vessels being used again during GALAHAD '27?  Wouldn't it be odd that the Hatchetman shipping bonus would exactly match the '26 compensation outlay?  One of the key bits of the pre-RAT coverup (outlined in the NAIS Atlas) was that Hanse kept ahold of the JumpShips he'd seized in '27 and used them to launch the opening phases of RAT, without the ISF, SAFE, or the Maskirovka noticing.  I thought this might be a bit of a shout out to the Mask missing the forest for the trees.
"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.

skiltao

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The passage just says it "tallies" with Galahad '26. It doesn't say "exactly," or over what span of time, and Shang is only just then confirming the coincidence is real; too soon to say what he does or doesn't make of it.

I think you're right that it's a shout-out, mind you, just not one that besmirches Shang.
« Last Edit: 14 October 2018, 16:43:41 by skiltao »
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Decoy

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As far as Jone's 3 gunner rating, add into it perhaps the Marksman SPA and the PPC Specialist SPA. Jone's genesis is far between both of these though.

As far as intercepting orders is concerned, how hard is it to bribe the couriers taking those orders to the HPG stations to get a little peaksy? Something tells me this was something all houses do. Andrew Redburn wasn't really surprised when his servant presented him with a gift incorporating his new unit's logo before he knew where  he was reassigned, for example.

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As we've seen, it is indeed possible to infiltrate ComStar.  Heck, O5P's mole ended up as Primus.

That being said, Redburn actually had a new unit, so orders would have been cut through a chain of personnel offices, logistics bureaus, etc., with the chance of interception by a mole or paid informant at each step along the way.  With fake orders to stop doing something you weren't doing, it'd take a lot of real orders to start putting a strike in motion and then calling it off to pass any sort of sniff test.
"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.