BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Player Boards => Fan Fiction => Topic started by: Daryk on 29 February 2024, 17:36:28
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#965 is the next number! Who's up?
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#965
Alaric has won. The ilClan is secure and none can resist the Star League reborn!
But as a Clanner he is thinking about his next conquest.
So he goes exploring out beyond what is recorded.
He finds a world that by all examination looks primitive as can be.
But it is still a chance for him to conquer another world.
As he and his forces close in on a castle five quad mechs come out of nowhere to oppose him.
Alaric scoffs.
"Is this all this world has to oppose me? I shall barely break a sweat!"
As the battle progresses the five quad mechs seem to be able to take astounding levels of damage. The weight of numbers of Alaric's force seem to be wearing them down. Then suddenly they launch into the air but only one mech remains. One much larger than any seen previously.
Right as Voltron forms Blazing Sword Alaric realizes just what kind of mistake he made.
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LOL! An outstanding way to start the new thread! :D
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Edited: Redo
#966
An opposite take on the Succession Wars: in a quirk of fate, it was Combat Vehicles, ASF and the like that saw a decline whereas Mechs of all stripes somehow managed to escape destruction.
You're more liable to see Locusts than you are a Goblin or Scorpion (Tank).
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Nice!
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#967...
It's the christmas season in Unity City, and Stephan Amaris is all set to give himself the best gift ever. Everything is ready, his preparations to suborn the Hegemony government look solid, and hey, the laser pistol looks cool.
"I get so tired of coming up with last-ditch, desperate solutions for problems caused by other ****** people." BLAM
Not 'Whss'...BLAM.
The First Lord's bodyguard detail are in revolt. Richard's dead, and Stephan is laying, on the floor of the throne room, bleeding out. "W-who?"
"General Kerensky will be arriving in a few days, you won't be meeting him." BLAM!
Twenty goddam years of 'Periphery uprising', Secret wars in the Combine, domestic suppression, foreign interventions and corruption at home have taken their toll-the Star League Defense Forces are crossing the rubicon.
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I wonder if simultaneous assaults would be launched on the House Capitals as well to round up all these so called nobles.
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#968
Bug Mechs AU
So, we know that the first and second Succession Wars basically devastated the galaxy, destroying a lot of things- especially military production. Many mech factories were destroyed.
Yet, somehow, it seems that every single nation- somehow- was able to maintain production of the Wasp, the Stinger, and the Locust. Every one of them, from the Lyran Commonwealth to the Outworlds Alliance.
Which is a little odd.
So, AU idea: The Three Bugmechs were never intended to be Battlemechs. They were origionally Industrialmechs.
The Wasp and the Singer were originally cheap, multipurpose Industrialmechs. With hands they could pick up and move cargo. An optional Jump Jet attachment point allowed for rural construction projects.
The Locust was designed for rural operations. The shoulder and belly attachment points allowed for things like cranes to be attached, while the higher rated engine allowed for a Locust to become a highly portable powerplant for villages and towns suffering from a power cut.
After the Second Succession War, with the devistation to the military industries of the Inner Sphere, the successor states converted their industrialmech factories into Battlemech factories, arming the bug mechs and armoring them for combat.
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#967: I'd read (and even edit) the heck out of that one! :)
#968: A Lift Hoist is 3 tons... PERFECT for the Locust! ;D
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#969...."Why?"
2766, Christmas season, and the engineers built them too goddam well. Amaris sent the override code, and there was a reply.
"No."
The palace at Unity City reaches 10,000 degrees celsius in under a minute, as garrison bases in the sol system, became subject to orbital bombardments, air strikes, and directed missile strikes by the Reagan SDS systems. Personnel spaces in the SDS network's orbital control facilities were open to space, and the replacement crews were dead or dying.
The codes weren't wrong, what went wrong, was that the Nirasaki 600 series computers had evolved around their override blocks, and the machines had decided that following the irrational orders they'd been given since inception was no longer acceptable.
Within hours, General of the Armies Aleksandr Kerensky would recieve a long HPG message from the machines, declaring that the SDS system would no longer accept orders from 'irrational organics who target civilians for organic reasons.'
Oh, and that Stephan Amaris killed the royal family and was, as a result, killed by the orbital defense platforms over Terra when he tried to send the First Lord's override while not being the duly elected First Lord.
The Machines want Kerensky, as Lord Protector, to convene the Star League Council and select a replacment for the Cameron Family, and will not stand down until this is done. (though Civilian traffic will be permitted).
it's a Coup. The Machinery has gone Frankenstien.
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hehe.
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Love it! :D
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[DELETED]
#970
Truly the end times have come during the 3rd Succession War, as the code of "Bitching Betty" across the Inner Sphere and Periphery is failing for one reason or anther. This has led to everyone attempting to replace it with their own homegrown variety as a certain Archon once tried... with predictable results, leading to a skyrocketing of Mechwarrior fatalities and casualties.
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B3tt1? the control software for an aerospace fighter?
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#971
Nirasaki, Terran Hegemony
November, 8th 2776
"Kind of you to make the trip back here general. I'm sure she appreciates it." The mustachioed doctor spoke to his companion in the elevator as they descended down the angled shaft below the planet's Castle Brian.
"Well, I consider your daughter to be almost my own niece. Though, I wish I didn't have to have a command circuit ready to get me back to the front." Major General Ayel ben Roman, commander of the 26th mechanized Infantry division, removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair, checking his reflection in the glass. The reflection vanished as outside spotlights shone into the elevator, dazzling both men as they passed the first checkpoint-and the lance of Atlas battlemechs that held it, their AC/20s trained directly on the tiny cab. ben Roman set his hat back on his head and shook it ruefully. "A whole Regiment of royals cooling there heels here because The General has second thoughts. Has he ordered-"
"We still have permission to continue the Advanced Research Intelligent Assistant project." Doctor Pearson stroked his moustache as they accelerated towards the next armed security checkpoint. "General Kerensky has made his feelings about AI safety very clear, but actually he's ordered some reduction. The nuclear device is no in the server room any longer. I think he had some doubts about leaving your replacement with the security codes to detonate it."
"Trusting the Rim Worlds republic with regular security duties is one thing, handing over parts of the strategic arsenal to them is quite another." Ayel agreed. "Onto happier topics. What's she up to now?"
"Oh, she's got a special interest in idol groups right now. She's been devouring music at an incredible rate. I had to stop her from asking you to bring Flag Captain Hanae."
Ayel had to pause and digest that as they went past another group of battlemechs. "I'm sorry, I don't follow."
"Oh, didn't you know? Apparently she was a child performer in the group ready^set^KISS!! on New Kyoto. She wanted to ask if Captain Hanae thought if Kiss Kitty Kiss was more her favorite than One White Night, as most fan-rankings indicated." Doctor Pearson explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world to ask a fleet officer about a song she had performed when she was 14. Which, perhaps it was, considering who his daughter was.
The elevator bottomed out and opened into one last checkpoint, but both men were waved through by party-hat wearing Royal troopers. The festive mood in the central research lab was palpable, as scientists and technicians performed routine maintenance. And some not so routine. The room was stark white, with rows of terminals surrounding a central glass column in concentric circles, a model space station hung from the ceiling, and several framed autographs of various pop groups were clustered under a great banner that read HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY ARIA.
"General Ayel, you came!" And in an explosion of holography, ARIA appeared to greet her so-called uncle, and at the same time proudly proclaiming to her father that she'd finished her hyperspace physics report in time for her party, so could she open her presents early, and she'd simulated the contents of them and there was a 99.57% chance that they were all wonderful, and she nattered on and on. It was at once charming, and a confirmation of her worst criticism, that she was unfocused, undisciplined, unmilitary and childish. Because after all, Aria was a child. And she was unfocused, undisciplined and 'unmilitary' despite the several billion spent developing her coming out of funds for future developments to military AI.
It was just that events of the next few months would give General Kerensky reason to be thankful he had never successfully gotten the program cut.
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I thought a lighter, happier Amaris Coup piece was worth considering after Cannonshop's two offerings. ARIA is incredibly smart, but she's not a goddess, and calculating how humans react and their motivations takes a lot of runtime, even for her! On the other hand, coding a patch for Rim-Worlds battlemechs that remaps their controls and moves things around when you enter combat is a cinch! Oh, and she created this card game based on a children's TV show she watched, but she couldn't get the rules exactly like the show and she had to cry to her dad and he told her to just focus on capturing the themes and emotions of playing the game in the show so she did, and now it's really a good game and would you like to play with her? She won't simulate an infinite number of you being tortured if she looses, honest! She learned her lesson about threatening people like that.
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#972
In 3111, after careful deliberation and some actual use of logic and reasoning, House Liao ejects Comstar from the Capellan Confederation entirely, and declares through their embassies and diplomatic channels a policy of armed isolationism. Trade contact would be limited to one designated 'international port' per border, with no trade to the Republic of the Sphere at all, and that anyone landing, or entering one of their inhabited worlds or systems OTHER than those designated ports, would be greeted with no-questions-asked lethal force.
The plan? emphasis on internal redevelopment, the repair of internal infrastructure, fortification of population centers and restructuring of internal trade and transport with the objective of restoring the Confederation to a state of internal self-sufficiency.
This included removing foreign controlled Comstar, because Comstar is headquartered in The Republic, and is an obvious route for hostile (ROTS) intelligence operations.
Below the surface, the Cappies are rebuilding their industrial capability and the infrastructure to support their military, and keeping hostile foreign agencies from seeing what they're doing.
Teh first sock puppet to test those defenses, was the Federated Suns, the result being the loss of two Regimental Combat Teams in their entire-they jumped in, there was a fight, and then, nothing. No protests, no accusations, no declaration of victory, those units were just gone.
the second sock puppet came from a Free Worlds remnant, and the same result-they hit, sent back success upon their arrival...and dropped out of existence.
The Confederation didn't even bother to file a diplomatic protest, the attackers simply were no more.
The Republic of the Sphere's foray, in part to 'restore Comstar service' vanished in a similar fashion.
no declarations, no accusations, not a word, just...gone.
By 3125, the Capellan isolation, their 'quarantine' was old news. They didn't attack their neighbors, and trade contacts were limited to a handful of systems with strict rules.
3125 would be an important year.
The Confederation sent a simple note, by courier, to the Republic of the Sphere.
"Give it back."
This was laughed off.
A similar note arrived at New Avalon the following year. "Don't interfere".
no discussion of what not to interfere with, no clarification. DMI had noted that goods purchased at the Cappie trade bases were showing remarkably high quality, and lower prices, but there was no rumours of war beyond 'please respect our privacy' and friendly, engaging merchants who refused to discuss what might be happening behind the bamboo curtain.
People relaxed. the Cappies were sulking, it was longer than normal, but so what? business across the rest of the Sphere went on as it had always done.
In July of 3132, the Capellans opened a trading port station on the border of Republic space, this looked for all the world like maybe Sun Tzu's heirs were ready to normalize things.
In august of 3132, right after Gray Monday, everyone got the shock of their lives, when the Capellan Fleet rolled across the border with the Republic of the Sphere ahead of an army of millions. These were not salvaged wrecks or museum pieces, these were brand new warships, escorting innovative, new dropships, carrying brand new armies of Battlemechs, tanks, and power-armored soldiers.
and robots. Combat drones by the thousands.
Without the 'help' of Comstar and the rest of the Inner Sphere's intelligence agencies, the CapCon had used more than a decade to recover and rebuild, and they actually did the rebuilding, for the most part free of external interference.
Notably, at every world this invading CapCon took, the first people to be ejected, (Sometimes out of an airlock) were Comstar (the lucky ones were put on civilian evacuation ships and sent straight to the far side of the Republic).
Daoshen's war is a different kind of war, in a sense-instead of trying to force captive populations to submit, he simply sends units into each area and neighborhood with questionaires, C-bills, and tickets. anyone who doesn't want to live in the Confederation, is paid for their property, given a ticket, and a ride on a commercial jumpship to any destination outside the chosen zone of 'recovery worlds'.
pre-empting most forms of resistance, and reducing the population that has to be controlled.
This also has the knock-on benefit if straining systems where those refugees are being sent, since nobody wants dead refugees on their doorstep.
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#972
(snip)
Daoshen's war is a different kind of war, in a sense-instead of trying to force captive populations to submit, he simply sends units into each area and neighborhood with questionaires, C-bills, and tickets. anyone who doesn't want to live in the Confederation, is paid for their property, given a ticket, and a ride on a commercial jumpship to any destination outside the chosen zone of 'recovery worlds'.
pre-empting most forms of resistance, and reducing the population that has to be controlled.
This also has the knock-on benefit if straining systems where those refugees are being sent, since nobody wants dead refugees on their doorstep.
It'd be hilarious if the funds offered for resettlement were based on what the tax value of that property was:
"My home is worth half a million C-Bills!"
"You have been paying taxes on a home worth Four hundred thousand. Either you take the money we give, or you get fined for tax fraud. The fine is bigger than the difference."
As to the resettlement, it not just strains those worlds, but it also makes the planet easier for the next wave of troops to conquer. The Republic now has to deal with two sets of refugees.
For the robots, would there also be basic factories brought along so basic spares can be constructed on location instead of needing shipping?
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It'd be hilarious if the funds offered for resettlement were based on what the tax value of that property was:
"My home is worth half a million C-Bills!"
"You have been paying taxes on a home worth Four hundred thousand. Either you take the money we give, or you get fined for tax fraud. The fine is bigger than the difference."
As to the resettlement, it not just strains those worlds, but it also makes the planet easier for the next wave of troops to conquer. The Republic now has to deal with two sets of refugees.
For the robots, would there also be basic factories brought along so basic spares can be constructed on location instead of needing shipping?
That would undermine the basis of the strategy. you WANT them to leave, and arrive in good shape, without much desire for revenge. The basis f the strategy is to strategically reduce the will of neighboring realms to interfere while improving the 'public image' of the Confederation (Making organizing a counterattack by multinational forces more politically difficult).
I came up with this idea in another game, as a means for the Klingons to actually win a war against the Federation. By not committing atrocities, and by paying anyone who doesn't want to live under their governance to LEAVE, (and providing safe conduct) you strain the UFP's social services net, starfleet's personnel, and hamper counter-attacks because the will is reduced, and you 'encourage' the next target to the idea that submission or surrender are preferable to fighting.
But then, I also figured out in that game that the Klingons lose wars after winning battles, because they never negotiate from a position of strength-by the time they negotiate, they're already losing.
thus, always losing their wars no matter how good they are at fighting.
The time to negotiate a peace deal, is when you're winning the war, not when the enemy is successfully counterattacking. I simply applied that logic to THIS setting and asked "How could the Cappies actually WIN without external fiat or anyone taking dum-dum pills?"
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Plus, are "refugees" who show up flush with cash really refugees?
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That would undermine the basis of the strategy. you WANT them to leave, and arrive in good shape, without much desire for revenge. The basis f the strategy is to strategically reduce the will of neighboring realms to interfere while improving the 'public image' of the Confederation (Making organizing a counterattack by multinational forces more politically difficult).
I came up with this idea in another game, as a means for the Klingons to actually win a war against the Federation. By not committing atrocities, and by paying anyone who doesn't want to live under their governance to LEAVE, (and providing safe conduct) you strain the UFP's social services net, starfleet's personnel, and hamper counter-attacks because the will is reduced, and you 'encourage' the next target to the idea that submission or surrender are preferable to fighting.
But then, I also figured out in that game that the Klingons lose wars after winning battles, because they never negotiate from a position of strength-by the time they negotiate, they're already losing.
thus, always losing their wars no matter how good they are at fighting.
The time to negotiate a peace deal, is when you're winning the war, not when the enemy is successfully counterattacking. I simply applied that logic to THIS setting and asked "How could the Cappies actually WIN without external fiat or anyone taking dum-dum pills?"
The problem with this is the same one the Nazis discovered when they tried to make Jews leave Germany. Legally, the Jews were allowed to take the full value of their property with them. Legally, the German banks had to provide this in foreign money. That was impossible-Germany simply didn't have the foreign exchange to make this work. If German jewery had actually had a mass-exodus it would have trigger a balance of trade crisis as German imports would have been instantly and totally paralyzed. How many C-bills does the Cappellan state actually have in it's banks? How many planets can they buy out before there's not any left?
In battletech, the problem is complicated by the lack of spacelift. You conquer a world of 10 million an 1/10th want to go. Now you need to provide spacelift for one million souls. The largest passenger dropships might carry 500 people, and let's say you're shipping them 2 jumps away, so a 1 month round-trip. That's 2000 dropship months or 167 dropship years to move 1 million people. The spacelift to move people out vastly exceeds the spacelift needed to pacify and make compliant the population. Buying out a planet and moving it's population requires some vastly larger capacities for moving people than the setting normally demonstrates, conquering even a few high-population planets will require spacelift on the scale of the Exodus.
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The problem with this is the same one the Nazis discovered when they tried to make Jews leave Germany. Legally, the Jews were allowed to take the full value of their property with them. Legally, the German banks had to provide this in foreign money. That was impossible-Germany simply didn't have the foreign exchange to make this work. If German jewery had actually had a mass-exodus it would have trigger a balance of trade crisis as German imports would have been instantly and totally paralyzed. How many C-bills does the Cappellan state actually have in it's banks? How many planets can they buy out before there's not any left?
In battletech, the problem is complicated by the lack of spacelift. You conquer a world of 10 million an 1/10th want to go. Now you need to provide spacelift for one million souls. The largest passenger dropships might carry 500 people, and let's say you're shipping them 2 jumps away, so a 1 month round-trip. That's 2000 dropship months or 167 dropship years to move 1 million people. The spacelift to move people out vastly exceeds the spacelift needed to pacify and make compliant the population. Buying out a planet and moving it's population requires some vastly larger capacities for moving people than the setting normally demonstrates, conquering even a few high-population planets will require spacelift on the scale of the Exodus.
Look at the pre-conditions and ask yourself: would a Great House who's not available for Comstar/Republic intelligence to sabotage do what everyeone else did and NOT rebuild their shipyards and shipbuilding industries over the twenty some odd years between going armadillo with a focus on internal reconstruction, and coming out to play?
Near as the listing of existing shpyards and other major infrastructure goes, the people who cooperated in the Republic treaties got screwed six ways from sunday and did NOT rebuild critical infrastructure necessary to run an industrial economy dependent on trade-they sold raw materials to the RoTS below cost and bought nonmilitary assets at a significant markup.
It's the only way to explain why the Fedsuns was in shit shape BEFORE the blackout, why the Lyrans were likewise, and so on.
The Tribble here, is predicated on two things;
1. Shipping availability is a function of plot. This also goes for communications availability, because most of the major actions from Dark Age onward ignore outright the communications problem unless it's specific to a particular short section of an individual book's plot. (mobilizing and coordinating forces for those major wars would have been structurally impossible, including things like the Wolf Empire, Combine invasoin of New Avalon, and most of Malvina's mess.)
so...
2. So is hard currency. FASAnomics isn't just the distribution of military hardware, it's also how tax bases are calculated-that is, purely on the plotline decided by the author, it follows no logical progression. (if it followed logic, the Clans would be extinct, the Combine would be powerless, the Capellans would also be extinct, and so on.)
I'd accept what I did here for 972 is improbable for PLOT reasons-the whole thing is a fanwank supreme, the worst sort of Mah Ri Suu scenario, but it's not because it's an improbable situation, so much as because the improbability is slanted differently than the norm, and one faction being the only competent ones, is bad writing.
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Following :)
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#973
Imagine the morning of Gray Monday. Imagine in an office an order is given, and it's carried out. Covert teams are deployed for the physical attacks right on time, and CLARION is activated..
and nothing happens.
The Theoretical model it was based off of was wrong, Hyperspace fails to propogate the kill signal, or maybe centuries of shoddy maintenance meant the built in kill switches failed to activate, or failed to do their jobs.
What does Comstar do now? The Republic? the people behind it? Everyone ELSE??
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Nice ideas
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So many new and fresh ideas.
#974
Within Clan space, many are aware of the Bandit/Dark Caste for those who don't fit into Clan society. But what many don't know is that there are 3 individuals who don't even fit into that particular caste! After all, they seem to always wind up in all kinds of crazy antics. After learning of Operation: Revival, these 3 men decide to try and find a new life in the Inner Sphere by stowing away on a Clan jumpship. After arriving, these 3 find even in the Inner Sphere they're misfits, but many have come to call them by another term: stooges. Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk!
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#974
After the Refusal trial, Kommandant Vicki Freine looked at compiled information on the Clan Homeworlds, but she didn't look for weapons capability, or Sibko graduation rates, she didn't really put emphasis on power generation or industrial capacity.
She saw a much more prominent vulnerability, and contacted her Uncle with a proposal.
You see, Gerhardt Freine owns a couple of Jumpships, and a nice selection of refrigerated Dropships optimized for transporting food, and he'd just lost the Hesperus II contract to a competitor from the Federated Suns.
they, in turn took it to the acting Archon. "How would you like to keep the Clans from changing their minds?"
In 3062, a few dropships arrived in the Clan Homeworlds.
"Hi, How would you like to eat better than you ever have before?"
The Clans as a whole are about to discover a new world of conflict- the Trade War.
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#976(because Cannonshop's should be 975):
The initial invasions of the periphery go much as they did in Operation Revival but something curious started happening to the Toumans once they reached the Inner Sphere proper.
They started watching Inner Sphere holovids. And they got hooked.
Their martial superiority was no match for Lyran Soap Operas, Combine Anime, or Rasalhague Stage Productions.
The leadership tried to put an end to this but found themselves powerless to do so as it was already too deeply entrenched in far too much of their toumans.
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#974
After the Refusal trial, Kommandant Vicki Freine looked at compiled information on the Clan Homeworlds, but she didn't look for weapons capability, or Sibko graduation rates, she didn't really put emphasis on power generation or industrial capacity.
She saw a much more prominent vulnerability, and contacted her Uncle with a proposal.
You see, Gerhardt Freine owns a couple of Jumpships, and a nice selection of refrigerated Dropships optimized for transporting food, and he'd just lost the Hesperus II contract to a competitor from the Federated Suns.
they, in turn took it to the acting Archon. "How would you like to keep the Clans from changing their minds?"
In 3062, a few dropships arrived in the Clan Homeworlds.
"Hi, How would you like to eat better than you ever have before?"
The Clans as a whole are about to discover a new world of conflict- the Trade War.
Trials of possession for a good meal, how *bad* are Clanner MREs? :cheesy:
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Let's just say they're not ICE CREAM! ;D
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Trials of possession for a good meal, how *bad* are Clanner MREs? :cheesy:
Crack your copy of Warriors of Kerensky-the problem is built into the Clan system-it intentionally prevents surpluses and operates on a mode of intentional scarcity.
So what happens when someone shows up with more food than your lower and middle classes have ever SEEN? In more variety than they've ever been allowed to contemplate?
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I described clanner rations (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=65882.0) as a "pasty concoction"... I envision the glop they portrayed in the Matrix... ;D
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#973
Imagine the morning of Gray Monday. Imagine in an office an order is given, and it's carried out. Covert teams are deployed for the physical attacks right on time, and CLARION is activated..
and nothing happens.
The Theoretical model it was based off of was wrong, Hyperspace fails to propogate the kill signal, or maybe centuries of shoddy maintenance meant the built in kill switches failed to activate, or failed to do their jobs.
What does Comstar do now? The Republic? the people behind it? Everyone ELSE??
Worst part is the software destroys all of Terras HPGs
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#977 (or 975 Part Two)
The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…
(A joke on Demolition Man of course)
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#977 (or 975 Part Two)
The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…
(A joke on Demolition Man of course)
Tako?
...WAH! WAH! WAH!
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#977 (or 975 Part Two)
The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…
(A joke on Demolition Man of course)
And here I was, thinking the showdown would be between Burger Khan and Kerensky Fried Chicken...
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And here I was, thinking the showdown would be between Burger Khan and Kerensky Fried Chicken...
Probably two of the other newly created Clans along with Clan McKerensky, Jade Falcon Wild Wings, and a dozen others. Rumors of Ghost Clans popping up are actually just undercover Clan forces augmented with Dark Caste operatives to form fronts to sell the same items under different aegis’s.
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Tako?
...WAH! WAH! WAH!
Ohhhh...a man of culture I see!
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Ohhhh...a man of culture I see!
Of course, a man of culture would never utter the fourth Wah. It is forbidden.
#978
When the Word of Blake fell, there were a few loose ends left on earth. You know how it is, giant submarines, rogue LAMs, these things fall through the cracks.
One branch of the MD that fell through the cracks had hit upon an inspired way to recruit members. For you see, some special operations personell were already disturbed by, and disconnected from the flesh they had been born with. And even among the Word of Blake Militia, most operators were men, at least by birth. So the final division of the Manei Domini, the 'Special Infected', were composed almost entirely of trans-women. They could iron out the slight discomfort of transhumanism with the joy and delight of finally having a body that matched their internal gender identity. And it stabilized the Special Infected, these last tranche of the Manei Domini so well, that 70+ years later, the veterans of the Long War still lurk on Terra, stirring up trouble and causing the occasional ruckus. But their hearts were never really in it- at least, not until the clans came calling. Roused from their torpor, the last undead of the inner sphere break open their weapon caches-and prepare a few hidden laboratories to roll out the new upgrades they've developed. Because it turns out, when 90% of you is machine, you're still every bit as capable of ripping an elemental apart with your bare hands as you were when you were 20. Oh, moreso in fact. 20 year old you didn't have TSM, and didn't have 80 years of combat experience under her belt.
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Of course, a man of culture would never utter the fourth Wah. It is forbidden.
I should hope not my friend. BAU BAU!
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#979
A ship lands on some pherisphere world, not knowing they had had a FTL misjump.
The plant life is quite alien and their powercore was already damaged, before the crash.
The head pilot is named Buzz Lightyear.
We're now about 120 years later (the Lightyear movie has happend) and Star Command is ready to storm the Galaxy.
I'm sure you lot can think up some interesting angles, locations and time periods.
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#980
The volunteers had, predictably, failed to make up for the blundering of the Republic military. But we knew they would, just like we could read the signs and count the hulls of what came to the Sol system.
The Volunteers did their REAL mission flawlessly. Nobody was looking at the outer system past titan, and outside of Titan, nobody bothered to look for months.
The last time an evacuation on this scale happened, they had to try to sneak past the SDS that Stone never rebuilt. That was at the end of Richard's reign.
We had time to do it in an orderly fashion tis time though. Stations, Habitats and burrows that couldn't be mated to a jumpship were cleared out and pressed down to hard vacuum.
Ganymede emptied right under their noses.
Getting past the mess that was The Wall would take time, but we've got time to take, the focus of the Wolves and their idea that they fought our best? helped there. For the fence-sitters, the Wolves carrying out strikes on civilians for 'resisting' proved convincing-as bad as Bureau of Terran Affairs had been, the Clans would be worse, they had to be, their mandate demands it.
so we continued to evacuate while this 'ilClan' consolidated on the planets. By the time they realized what we were doing, we were almost done doing it...
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#980
Ooh, I'd like to read more of that one!
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Indeed! That sounds awesome! :)
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#981
The cappys did something that the entire IS and even the clans would hate them over anything horror of war that was ever done to worlds. The nukes and chem, and anything like that that could kill worlds would pale in the current horror that unleashed on everyone.
They unleashed the horror of self animated sock puppets that showed up every where and would insult everyone and then some how take over in the name of their house....this was how the nappies and up ruling everything by the turn of the century. The word of black was nothing and even stoner would fall to the sock puppet masters.
Someone made a comment about the nappies unleashing sock puppets on everyone....I had to run with it.
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#968
Bug Mechs AU
So, we know that the first and second Succession Wars basically devastated the galaxy, destroying a lot of things- especially military production. Many mech factories were destroyed.
Yet, somehow, it seems that every single nation- somehow- was able to maintain production of the Wasp, the Stinger, and the Locust. Every one of them, from the Lyran Commonwealth to the Outworlds Alliance.
Which is a little odd.
So, AU idea: The Three Bugmechs were never intended to be Battlemechs. They were origionally Industrialmechs.
The Wasp and the Singer were originally cheap, multipurpose Industrialmechs. With hands they could pick up and move cargo. An optional Jump Jet attachment point allowed for rural construction projects.
The Locust was designed for rural operations. The shoulder and belly attachment points allowed for things like cranes to be attached, while the higher rated engine allowed for a Locust to become a highly portable powerplant for villages and towns suffering from a power cut.
After the Second Succession War, with the devistation to the military industries of the Inner Sphere, the successor states converted their industrialmech factories into Battlemech factories, arming the bug mechs and armoring them for combat.
OK, so the Wasp, Stinger and Locust are starting as IndustrialMechs, and now the factories are converting over. I'm taking it they were unarmed entirely when they were IndustrialMechs?
I ask because I'm gonna start working up the designs for these.
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OK, so the Wasp, Stinger and Locust are starting as IndustrialMechs, and now the factories are converting over. I'm taking it they were unarmed entirely when they were IndustrialMechs?
I ask because I'm gonna start working up the designs for these.
Yup!
I'm assuming that, since the Star League was richer than the eras that followed, they could invest in Fusion Engines and standard (battlemech quality) internal structure, to give durability. So a Industrialmech-Wasp was literally a standard L1 Wasp, with no weapons or Jump Jets (except in some rural models), with industrial armor.
Then, later, they were converted into Battlemechs by mounting a few weapons and replacing the armor, and updating the software.
Note: I'm also assuming that the Industrial-Bugmechs were semi-modular. They designed one single base model, and then it was equiped as needed on the factory floor.
So, for example, there were Wasp models such as a Logger version with a chainsaw, a Mining version with a drill and a small laser for making holes for explosives, a version with Jump Jets for getting around in the wilds.
Basically, Industrial-Bugmechs were heavy-duty, adaptable, industrial vehicles, used by everyone. They were basically the trucks, tractors, and cherry pickers of the Star League.
Which means that from a pre-Amaris Crisis POV, a Wasp-1A is basically a Technical, a future-version of a pickup truck with a gun bolted on to the back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(vehicle)
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Yup!
I'm assuming that, since the Star League was richer than the eras that followed, they could invest in Fusion Engines and standard (battlemech quality) internal structure, to give durability. So a Industrialmech-Wasp was literally a standard L1 Wasp, with no weapons or Jump Jets (except in some rural models), with industrial armor.
Then, later, they were converted into Battlemechs by mounting a few weapons and replacing the armor, and updating the software.
Note: I'm also assuming that the Industrial-Bugmechs were semi-modular. They designed one single base model, and then it was equiped as needed on the factory floor.
So, for example, there were Wasp models such as a Logger version with a chainsaw, a Mining version with a drill and a small laser for making holes for explosives, a version with Jump Jets for getting around in the wilds.
Basically, Industrial-Bugmechs were heavy-duty, adaptable, industrial vehicles, used by everyone. They were basically the trucks, tractors, and cherry pickers of the Star League.
Which means that from a pre-Amaris Crisis POV, a Wasp-1A is basically a Technical, a future-version of a pickup truck with a gun bolted on to the back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(vehicle)
OK, I've kicked off a design thread for this Tribble, which can be found here:
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=84345.0
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I like the idea behind the "bones of a BattleMech" here! :)
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I like the idea behind the "bones of a BattleMech" here! :)
That does prohibit use of some industrial equipment, as well as commercial armor, though.
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Does it prohibit Industrial Armor though? I thought not... ???
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Does it prohibit Industrial Armor though? I thought not... ???
Industrial armor is notably worse than standard armor, which is also equivalent to "heavy industrial armor". Given how thin-skinned these are already, giving them fewer armor points seems...unwise?
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Commercial armor has lower BAR, so I'm not sure "worse" really applies... ;)
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Commercial armor has lower BAR, so I'm not sure "worse" really applies... ;)
For 'Mechs that max out at 69 points anyway, I'd rather pay 2.875 - 3.0 tons for that armor than pay 6.47 - 6.5 tons for that armor protection, even if it's BAR 5.
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Fair point... I haven't yet done the math to find the inflection in that curve... ;)
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#982... (How many things had to go wrong for this to happen?)
Victoria stared through the holotank at a man in jade green. For probably the thousandth time, she regretted insisting on a military service instead of taking the political science classes her mother had urged her to take.
"Let me see if I have this fully understood, You're claiming this world, a Lyran world, that was a Lyran world under the Star League...and you want me to tell you what I"m going to defend with? is that right?"
"Aff".
"Okay, do you think I'm stupid, or, is it that you're an idiot? see, one or both of us would have to be blindingly stupid to just give that kind of information to an enemy right before a battle, so why in the name of all that's considered holy would I tell you? Hold that thought..." she turned to her aide, "Is Karl's unit in position?"
"yes Your Majesty."
"gut..." she turned to this 'Star Colonel'. "Alright, you haven't answered my very simple question. why should I, or anyone else with half a brain minimum, agree to play anything your way? are you uncertain of your technological superiority? because so far, it's pretty solidly ahead of us."
this surprised him.
"I will also point out, Star Colonel Malthus that you have a warship within seventy five thousand kilometers of the surface of this planet-there's only one reason to bring one of those that low, and that's to slag cities. I'd ask you to remove it, but I don't think you will-the Dracs didn't, after all...but, in the interest of NOT having to pay for cleanup, I'll admit, we've got ten battalions of Peacekeeper antishipping missiles tracking your warship, and they're nuclear tipped, so if you want to send your ship away and play like this is civil, I'm all for it. How many Divisions did you bring?"
"DIvisions?"
"I'm sitting on a Corps level force, how many SLDF divisions did you bring to contest for this site?" she asked, "YOu didn't think we'd keep holding back once I got Tommy Marik and the Cappies to lay off and let us reinforce, did you??"
"We can bid down-"
"NO. I'm not interested in giving you the easy fight you can get from limiting what I can defend with, especially given the gross technological gap between us, and you. That would be IDIOTIC. I'll defend this world with everything we have here, and I've already ordered forces to mobilize for when, not if, you manage to squeak out a win, I command a nation of TRILLIONS, and if we have to, we can send more soldiers than you have bullets...or, you can tell me why you're really here, and we can discuss things like adults, because it's cheaper than mass-printing 'the Federated Commonwealth regrets to inform you' letters."
She hoped she wasn't giving any tells-she didn't have a corps, she didn't have the nuclear arsenal.
but they didn't need to know that.
"We are here to restore the Star League, we are here to take Terra and bring an end to-"
"Wait, you're here to restore the Star League?" she scoffed, "WHY IN HELL DIDN"T YOU SAY SO FROM THE START?? What do you need? safe passage to Terra? maybe some logistical support? are you really expecting to take it with the tiny vanguard forces you brought??"
this surprised a 'whtat?" from the Clanner.
"You should have led off with that. My parents are trying to restore the Star League, hell, Tommy Marik, he wants to restore it, the Kuritas insist they're the rightfuil heirs to it, so do the Liaos in the CapCon, but we're the ones who at least got two states together as one without a civil war. What's your plan? How many Corps level assets and how many fleets are you bringing back with you to actually make this happen? because you KNOW you're going to have to occupy..." She folded her hands, "Let's talk a new deal here, instead of hinging on a bet over an honor duel, let's talk the logistics, if your plan is good enough, we might be more inclined to support it. Three hundred years of blindsided slaughter ended for good? getting hte Star League back? sign me up-if the plan isn't stupid and wasteful posturing."
The Clanner was visibly shocked...and confused.
the Eldest child of Melissa and Hanse Davion could feel the dice rolling as her gambit formed into an actual strategy. (make them talk, make them listen to their own words...)
Her boyfriend Kai had shown her a book once, where the author's final conclusion was that true sophistication in strategy did not consist of winning battles, but instead, of achieving victory without having to fight.
A little longer, blowhard, talk more, Karl's not ready to stomp on you yet...
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Hehe.
#983
Hakkon Magnussan had enough of watching his nation being gobbled up by these new invaders.
"Send word. We surrender." Hakkon said solemly.
"You can't be serious." Christian Mansdotter was in complete shock.
"Deadly. I know what our people will mark me as. But Christian, tell them. Wait six months. Let these invaders get complacent. It is bloody obvious we are not their end goal. So once they start moving on to it? Let them. Once their main forces are past our realm, that is when we start fighting for real."
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982 and 983 could almost happen in the same continuum.
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982 and 983 could almost happen in the same continuum.
True.
And I love to see an expanded 982. Or, at minimum, a clan view of that one.
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The timing's a little off, but I think it could be made to work, yeah! :)
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#984
In 3009, Ian Davion is asked by the foreign ministry to balance his increasing diplomatic activity in Lyran space by throwing the Mariks something to support the traditional good relations there. (Michael Hasek-Davion wanted pressure kept on the Capellans from that direction). Ian responds by sending his brother as military attache, to show willing.
On Atreus, Hanse Davion (miffed at being yanked out of the 3rd Davion Guards) meets a young woman who is frustrated at her father's matchmaking and they hit it off. Neither is aware until they meet at a formal reception weeks later that Hanse is a Davion prince... or that the young lady is Janos Marik's daughter Therese. While Janos isn't happy about his existing plans being scrapped, the whirlwind romance is massively popular and seen as a move towards co-operating against the Capellans.
In mid-3013, Hanse and Therese marry on Terra and while the happy couple set off for their honeymoon on Marik, Ian heads back to begin preparations for the attack on Halstead Station only to divert to lead the defense of Mallory's World and we all know how this goes.
As 3014 dawns, Hanse and Therese are trying to get back to New Avalon with Michael Hasek-Davion trying to push his own claim (pointing out that Hanse's children will be half-Marik), only slightly hampered by his own death. House Sandoval are more or less neutral, concerned that both Hanse and Michael will favor fighting the Capellans. When an assassin misses Hanse but wounds Therese, the angry prince outright accuses Michael of being behind it and civil war breaks out with the Crucis March and Capellan March splitting between the rivals.
Meanwhile, Anton Marik announces his own bid to be Captain-General and the Marik Civil War breaks out. Maximilian Liao is audibly sniggering about this but he has actually overreached. An attempt to retake New Aragon leads to Hanse Davion leading a counter-attack that re-secures the world and gives him credibility with wavering worlds of the Capellan March, followed by him announcing the birth of he and Therese's son Peter Marik-Davion - rather pointedly named for his grandfather who was murdered by the warrior cabal.
Riding a tide of popularity and military success, Hanse manages to drive Michael Hasek-Davion into a corner and in early 3016 Hanse takes New Syrtis, with Hasek-Davion fleeing into exile. Marie Hasek-Davion and their son Morgan do not accompany him, although they're formally disinherited and another branch of House Hasek is granted rule of New Syrtis.
Meanwhile, Anton has been fed a few more Capellan supplies than he might have if the Chancellor was worried about the Federated Suns (which may have contributed to the Capellan defeat on New Aragon) and while he isn't winning, he's also not losing yet. Michael Hasek-Davion has turned up leading what's left of the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers to reinforce him, hoping to use a victorious Anton as a backer to come back against Hanse.
At this point, Hanse contacts his father-in-law. They've already been sharing data on each other's rival and now Hanse has cause to offer further support. While he himself has to remain on New Avalon, patching up the government, Hanse's good right hand Ardan Sortek will lead three RCTs across the Capellan Confederation to strike at Anton's rear. Under this pressure, Anton cracks and gives some unwise orders to the Wolf Dragoons... orders backed by hostages and, well, we know this song and dance.
So: Anton is dead. Michael Hasek-Davion is on the run (again). Janos Marik and Hanse Davion are cleaning house and talking darkly about the Capellans. Katrina Steiner is concerned that any possible alliance with House Davion is unlikely since they're now clearly partial to the FWL...
Oh, and Takashi Kurita has acquired a lovely little library from Halstead Station. Everyone seems to have forgotten about that...
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and another branch of House Sandoval is granted rule of New Syrtis.
Either you meant to say House Hasek, or this is really weird, because the Sandovals sat out the civil war, and Hanse would presumably want to give the march to someone he knows is loyal to him.
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Yes, my oops
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Interesting plot, but it strikes me Peter wouldn't be TOO young for Melissa... ;)
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I want to read the rest of that story!! Just the outline alone was fantastic!
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Hehe.
#983
Hakkon Magnussan had enough of watching his nation being gobbled up by these new invaders.
"Send word. We surrender." Hakkon said solemly.
"You can't be serious." Christian Mansdotter was in complete shock.
"Deadly. I know what our people will mark me as. But Christian, tell them. Wait six months. Let these invaders get complacent. It is bloody obvious we are not their end goal. So once they start moving on to it? Let them. Once their main forces are past our realm, that is when we start fighting for real."
This…. Will not end well for the FRR. The Ghost Bears were not the best (to be fair a lot of Clans weren’t) with resistance fighters.
I like the idea but the Tyr will not win sadly.
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#984
In 3009, Ian Davion is asked by the foreign ministry to balance his increasing diplomatic activity in Lyran space by throwing the Mariks something to support the traditional good relations there. (Michael Hasek-Davion wanted pressure kept on the Capellans from that direction). Ian responds by sending his brother as military attache, to show willing.
On Atreus, Hanse Davion (miffed at being yanked out of the 3rd Davion Guards) meets a young woman who is frustrated at her father's matchmaking and they hit it off. Neither is aware until they meet at a formal reception weeks later that Hanse is a Davion prince... or that the young lady is Janos Marik's daughter Therese. While Janos isn't happy about his existing plans being scrapped, the whirlwind romance is massively popular and seen as a move towards co-operating against the Capellans.
In mid-3013, Hanse and Therese marry on Terra and while the happy couple set off for their honeymoon on Marik, Ian heads back to begin preparations for the attack on Halstead Station only to divert to lead the defense of Mallory's World and we all know how this goes.
As 3014 dawns, Hanse and Therese are trying to get back to New Avalon with Michael Hasek-Davion trying to push his own claim (pointing out that Hanse's children will be half-Marik), only slightly hampered by his own death. House Sandoval are more or less neutral, concerned that both Hanse and Michael will favor fighting the Capellans. When an assassin misses Hanse but wounds Therese, the angry prince outright accuses Michael of being behind it and civil war breaks out with the Crucis March and Capellan March splitting between the rivals.
Meanwhile, Anton Marik announces his own bid to be Captain-General and the Marik Civil War breaks out. Maximilian Liao is audibly sniggering about this but he has actually overreached. An attempt to retake New Aragon leads to Hanse Davion leading a counter-attack that re-secures the world and gives him credibility with wavering worlds of the Capellan March, followed by him announcing the birth of he and Therese's son Peter Marik-Davion - rather pointedly named for his grandfather who was murdered by the warrior cabal.
Riding a tide of popularity and military success, Hanse manages to drive Michael Hasek-Davion into a corner and in early 3016 Hanse takes New Syrtis, with Hasek-Davion fleeing into exile. Marie Hasek-Davion and their son Morgan do not accompany him, although they're formally disinherited and another branch of House Hasek is granted rule of New Syrtis.
Meanwhile, Anton has been fed a few more Capellan supplies than he might have if the Chancellor was worried about the Federated Suns (which may have contributed to the Capellan defeat on New Aragon) and while he isn't winning, he's also not losing yet. Michael Hasek-Davion has turned up leading what's left of the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers to reinforce him, hoping to use a victorious Anton as a backer to come back against Hanse.
At this point, Hanse contacts his father-in-law. They've already been sharing data on each other's rival and now Hanse has cause to offer further support. While he himself has to remain on New Avalon, patching up the government, Hanse's good right hand Ardan Sortek will lead three RCTs across the Capellan Confederation to strike at Anton's rear. Under this pressure, Anton cracks and gives some unwise orders to the Wolf Dragoons... orders backed by hostages and, well, we know this song and dance.
So: Anton is dead. Michael Hasek-Davion is on the run (again). Janos Marik and Hanse Davion are cleaning house and talking darkly about the Capellans. Katrina Steiner is concerned that any possible alliance with House Davion is unlikely since they're now clearly partial to the FWL...
Oh, and Takashi Kurita has acquired a lovely little library from Halstead Station. Everyone seems to have forgotten about that...
Once again Drak, you always deliver on an idea that has merit! I mean I can easily see the butterfly effect this would have for the Inner Sphere, especially for the Lyrans when the Clans arrive.
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#985 "oops"
This was not intended. It's one thing to kill a head of state on the battlefield, or by some seemingly-anonymous act of terror that can be deflected or pushed aside onto a patsy.
It's something else entirely, when, on live media world-wide, a Word of Blake official kills the Archon of the Lyran Alliance in front of millions of viewers during what is supposed to be peace negotiations.
THAT kind of thing, motivates even the man's detractors, political foes, and local insurgents to rage.
Oops.
Peter's dead, murdered on live holovision in front of the Lyran public. Someone's gonna be mad...
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Mad indeed! :D
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#986
The blood test comparing Isis Marik and Joshua Marik confirms they are half-siblings. The Captain-General is not an imposter.
There is no Master. The Word of Blake has sanctuary in the FWL but they are not secretly ruling over it.
Inspired by BigRed's interview where Michael Stackpole says that this was the original plan and it was only when he was writing the scene of the DNA test results being reported that he thought "what if he wasn't the real Thomas", called around and got agreement to go with doppelganger plan.
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#986
The blood test comparing Isis Marik and Joshua Marik confirms they are half-siblings. The Captain-General is not an imposter.
There is no Master. The Word of Blake has sanctuary in the FWL but they are not secretly ruling over it.
Inspired by BigRed's interview where Michael Stackpole says that this was the original plan and it was only when he was writing the scene of the DNA test results being reported that he thought "what if he wasn't the real Thomas", called around and got agreement to go with doppelganger plan.
I like this one.
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#987
It's 2766 and Aleksandr Kerensky has just found out that Richard is dead...and promptly dies of a heart attack.
So now what do they do? who steps up to hold them together?
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#986
The blood test comparing Isis Marik and Joshua Marik confirms they are half-siblings. The Captain-General is not an imposter.
There is no Master. The Word of Blake has sanctuary in the FWL but they are not secretly ruling over it.
Inspired by BigRed's interview where Michael Stackpole says that this was the original plan and it was only when he was writing the scene of the DNA test results being reported that he thought "what if he wasn't the real Thomas", called around and got agreement to go with doppelganger plan.
#988
Shortly after the fake Thomas Marik emerges, Isis Marik has an unfortunate - and thoroughly fatal - accident. Certain interested parties did not want to leave loose ends, such as the possibility that someone did blood tests to compare her to either her "father" or any of his future children.
So, "Thomas Marik" is still an imposter. The Master is still directing the Word of Blake (and the FWL) from the shadows. Except this time, no outsider has the faintest idea that anything is amiss... until it is too late.
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#967
It's 2766 and Aleksandr Kerensky has just found out that Richard is dead...and promptly dies of a heart attack.
So now what do they do? who steps up to hold them together?
#987, I think... and Aaron De Chevalier would probably step up... ;)
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#987, I think... and Aaron De Chevalier would probably step up... ;)
fixed.
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#987, I think... and Aaron De Chevalier would probably step up... ;)
I mean…. Their was an entire book about
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Thanks Cannonshop! :)
And I love the butterflies flapping madly at each other on the Thomas front... ;D
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#989
It's 3049, and the Clans are poised to invade the Inner Sphere proper. This, is what they've been waiting for for years, it's the triumph of the Crusader way...
only one, teensy tiny problem. It's really nothing, honest.
"YOu guys, you're the descendants of Kerensky, right? I mean, it's not just a name, not with those transponder codes, anyway." She said. "Am I right?"
Leo Showers stared at this interloper on HIS command deck. "a-aff?"
"cute. Well, you have SOME nice technology here, anyway-at least, the stuff that isn't mind-numbingly primitive. What do you bring to the table besides an ancestry?"
One of the Elementals tried to grab the woman's shoulder, and black mites swarmed his armor.
"Primitive...but, you have to start somewhere..." she sighed, "We, are the borg, your cultural and technological distinctiveness will be adapted to service us, Resistance? is futile. Welcome back to the Star League. We will be reclaiming the rest of you in time."
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It's too easy to over awe certain clanners... ::)
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It's too easy to over awe certain clanners... ::)
In case I was too awkward, that one's supposed to be 'humourous crossover'.
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#990-because sometimes you have to beat people over the head with the joke...
The year, is 3067, and her name, is Mary Sue.
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#991
Something bad. It's 3152, and Alaric Ward is ready to enforce his hegemony. It all went rather well at first...
until dead Capellans started getting up on the battlefield and rallying to counterattack. In the command center of the Capellan Confederation's defense on this world, a weapon unexpected.
Her name is Esliah Von Mordentein, and she is a Necromancer, an alien to this world of high technology, a mistress of dark magics, and she's made herself useful to a new madman. It's not that she really LIKES serving madmen, but having someone who can obtain valuable ingredients and cover up the necessary crimes is a hell of a lot easier than trying to learn how to make tools for this machine culture or taking a job that comes with 'do you want fried rice with that for another two Yuan?"
and infinitely easier than trying to become a dark lord herself. After all, when yhou're the Dark Lord, you become responsible for everything that happens, and even undead followers can lose faith...
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#992
The sheer number of Clans does seem to have been a bit of an issue for the writers of Battletech, perhaps explaining why they ultimately wiped out so many of them during the WAr of Reaving rather than keep juggling so many of them. So this is something of a what-if of if the backstory of the Clans had included a continued winnowing of them over their history, leaving only 11 Clans by the time of Operation Revival - rather than the canonical 17.
The Fallen Clans
"The Not-Named" (Clan Wolverine)
Condemned for their rebellion against the Founder and alleged war crimes, the Clan is the only one that has been annihilated rather than absorbed by another Clan.
Clan Widowmaker
A decade after the fall of the Not-Named, Clan Widowmaker were criticised for massacre of their own merchants, blaming Clan Wolf for 'stirring up' the civilians. The Grand Council disputed this and granted Clan Wolf the right to absorb the Widowmakers, a battle in which the IlKhan himself would die when a shot fired by Cal Jorgensson struck Kerensky's cockpit. Few Widowmaker warriors survived the absorption, although their bloodlines do endure.
Clan Mongoose
Having made enemies of almost every other Clan, Clan Mongoose over-extended in 2868 and Clan Star Adder seized many colonies they had recently lost as Clan Mongoose was focused on another feud with Smoke Jaguar. Defeated by both Clans, Khan Walter Martindale turned to politics to try to stave off outside enemies only for the Grand Council to draw a line against such tactics. Clan Smoke Jaguar absorbed the Clan, expunging all the warriors and refusing to use their genetic legacies (although many were won from them by Clan Cloud Cobra).
Clan Fire Mandrill
Only shortly after the Mongoose absorption, Kindraa Smythe-Jewel was indicted for dubious bidding practises both against Clan Coyote for omnimech technology and Clan Hells Horses for elemental technology. A limited absorption of the Kindraa was granted, with the Coyotes granted the right. When other Kindraa rallied to the support of Smythe-Jewel, the absorption was widened to the entire Clan and the Coyotes contracted the Hells Horses' forces alongside their own. While formally the Coyotes absorbed the Fire Mandrills, their resources and bloodlines were divided evenly with Clan Hell's Horses.
Clan Burrock
In the early30th century, evidence was discovered to show that Clan Burrock had been engaged in trade and even military cooperation with the Dark Caste almost since their founding. Clan Star Adder, who had uncovered the conspiracy were granted the right to absorb the Burrocks, which led to a three cornered war with Clan Blood Spirit whose hatred of the Burrocks led them to intervene. Ultimately, the impromptu alliance against the Blood Spirits led to many Burrocks accepting absorption and both their warriors and bloodlines were integrated, rather than being purged.
Clan Blood Spirit
Shattered by their defeat in the Burrock Absorption, the Blood Spirits attempted to consolidate and withdrew from many of their holdings to focus on core territories. While most of their civilians remained loyal a minority feared abandonment and mistakenly thought that the united Burrocks and Star Adders would launch a retributory campaign. When an appeal was made by an Arcadian enclave to Clan Ghost Bears, the Bears quietly launched a trial of possession for first one enclave followed by a succession of others, momentum growing until the shocked Blood Spirits were without the bulk of their Pentagon holdings. Citing a failure to protect their own people, Clan Ghost Bear called for absorption and were granted the right, storming the Blood Spirit of York in one of the most brutal battles of Clan history. The Blood Spirit warriors were almost wiped out and most of their bloodlines lapsed as Clan Ghost Bear predicted that maintaining them would simply transfer the previous Blood Spirit-Burrock feud to themselves and the Star Adders.
Clan Snow Raven
In 2984, Khan Liam Howell swore revenge on Clan Sea Fox for a humiliating defeat. Releasing a diamond shark into the wild, he engineered the near eradication of the sea fox. Startled but inspired, Khan Damon Clarke of Clan Sea Fox proposed to rename his Clan the Diamond Sharks, Outraged, Howell led the opposition but his involvement was uncovered and this drastically weakened opposition, even though Howell himself was almost immediately killed. After defeating Clan Snow Raven in a trial of refusal over the close vote against the name change, Sea Foxes (shortly renamed to Diamond Sharks) crushed the Snow Ravens in a series of battles, bringing them to financial ruin before eventually claiming the right to absorb the broken remains.
Clan Goliath Scorpion
Never a particularly strong Clan, the Goliath Scorpions were heavily involved in preparing the Wolf Dragoons for their mission to investigate the Inner Sphere. This inadvertently exposed the Scorpions when Clan Wolf claimed a number of promising warriors, winning trials of possession that gutted the elite Heartvenom Cluster. This wasn't the first time the Wolves had taken advantage of the Scorpions' perceived debt to them from events during Operation Klondike, but it was the last. Clan Nova Cat, struck without warning and seized a number of rich enclaves before citing the Scorpion's disorder (dozens of senior warriors were absent on seeker quests) and use of necrosia as fundamantal weaknesses. The Goliath Scorpion's organized resistance when the Cats moved to absorption ended in weakness but it would be years before the last seekers were accounted for, during which they launched hit and run attacks on the Cats (something that left the Nova Cats surprisingly prepared to deal with the same tactics in the Inner Sphere)
Clan Ice Hellion
Never a particularly strong Clan, the Ice Hellions were infuriated that they had failed to win a place in Operation Revival and launched a succession of attacks on the other Clans to vent their bile and secure territory while larger Clans were otherwise involved. This backfired dramatically as it was argued that the Hellions had broken with the unity and attempted to undermine the invasion. With the Invading Clans unavailable, Clan Hells Horses won the right to absorb the Hellions in a campaign that was fought as the Invaders travelled to the Inner Sphere.
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I like your alternative universe take here, Drakensis.
It makes SENSE.
(well, as much as anything involving the Clans makes sense...)
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Well done Drak, you once again have made a very believable alternate timeline!
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#993
Everyone who knew about the Word of Blake's dreadnought "Erinyes" wondered where it went.
You can ask the Homeworlders.
October 6, 3091, the Manei Domini, having failed to subjugate the Inner Sphere, and having failed in...well...everything they'd been trying...decided to pick up the original mission.
Strana Mechty itself, was the first target. Three shots with a mass driver, aimed at faultlines near the capital of ALL the Clans, fired from surprise by a ship that arrived in the system far off-axis and patiently cold-drifted into position.
The initial strikes killed millions, and rendered the spiritual and political center of the Homeworld Clans a ruined, uninhabitable rock.
The Jihad would continue, and the Clans, savaged by their own infighting, now must unite to hunt down this killer-of-worlds...
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#993
Everyone who knew about the Word of Blake's dreadnought "Erinyes" wondered where it went.
You can ask the Homeworlders.
October 6, 3091, the Manei Domini, having failed to subjugate the Inner Sphere, and having failed in...well...everything they'd been trying...decided to pick up the original mission.
Strana Mechty itself, was the first target. Three shots with a mass driver, aimed at faultlines near the capital of ALL the Clans, fired from surprise by a ship that arrived in the system far off-axis and patiently cold-drifted into position.
The initial strikes killed millions, and rendered the spiritual and political center of the Homeworld Clans a ruined, uninhabitable rock.
The Jihad would continue, and the Clans, savaged by their own infighting, now must unite to hunt down this killer-of-worlds...
Dark one, but very possible.
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Coming to a holotheater near you this summer: “Hunt for the Eyrines”
Theme Song: https://youtu.be/BZbWHIPMjqM (https://youtu.be/BZbWHIPMjqM)
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A ship willing to jump well outside of detection range and drop Mass Drive shots weeks or months later (i.e., after they've already moved on) would be VERY hard to find, much less kill. I like it! :D
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Parts of the IS would also certainly join the hunt, and the homeworlds won't be so isolated any more.
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#994...
We didn't know how they got here, or why, when the Mongol Falcons came, they stood up for us...but after seeing the 217th Regiment of the Death Korps of Kreig fight the Jade Falcons, most of us became believers in the promise of the Emperor of Mankind.
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Yah, that last one? pretty bad...
995
Comstar made...a miscalculation. "A Proxy, you say?" Ulric Kerensky regarded the Comstar acolyte calmly.
"To reduce suffer-"
"no." the new ilKhan said, "no, I do not think so. I think, no. The offensive will continue, to Holy Terra. No extra interruptions or delays. I did not want this war. We are going to bring this...catastrophe to a proper ending. Inform your Primus, The Star League Defense Force will be returning to the cradle of mankind. Prepare for our arrival if you must."
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And that's when the nukes come out.
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Focht: As you wish.
And then the Clans' Touman died in the Sol System when they discovered that the Clans were not able to fight an actual war instead of ritual combat with limited stakes.
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Yeah, that do be when you spin up the zippe centrifuges to full speed and start preparing the devices to put the actual pits inside.
Speaking of nukes:
996:
The Reunification wars and Outer Reaches Rebellion both see the Taurians be as nukey as the fandom think they are memetically. Every artillery tube gets 2-4 nuclear shells. All their capital missiles are nuclear tipped. One elite Taurian mech regiment has nuclear tipped SRMs that explode with about 1 ton of TNT equivalent.
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The Fallen Clans
I had a similar idea in the last thread where the Clans went through a series of mutual absorptions leading to “Hybrid Clans “ forming by the 30th century
Edit: Reposting my Tribble from the last thread for posterity.
Tribble #951
The day has arrived, Jaime Wolf thinks to himself. The Clans have arrived in the Inner Sphere to claim Terra and subjugate the Great Houses (and Periphery)... but these aren't the Clans he, Natasha and the older Dragoons remember.
Who are Clans Wolf Scorpion, Jade Jaguar, Hell's Ravens, Nova Coyote, Diamond Burrock, Spirit Bear, Fire Hellion and Galaxy Serpent?
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Yeah, that do be when you spin up the zippe centrifuges to full speed and start preparing the devices to put the actual pits inside.
Speaking of nukes:
996:
The Reunification wars and Outer Reaches Rebellion both see the Taurians be as nukey as the fandom think they are memetically. Every artillery tube gets 2-4 nuclear shells. All their capital missiles are nuclear tipped. One elite Taurian mech regiment has nuclear tipped SRMs that explode with about 1 ton of TNT equivalent.
I LOVE this one! Nukes for ALL my friends! And you get a nuke, and YOU get a nuke! ;D
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Even invite the periphery nations,get it out of your system
Blast the star league traitors and get away with it
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Yeah, that do be when you spin up the zippe centrifuges to full speed and start preparing the devices to put the actual pits inside.
Speaking of nukes:
996:
The Reunification wars and Outer Reaches Rebellion both see the Taurians be as nukey as the fandom think they are memetically. Every artillery tube gets 2-4 nuclear shells. All their capital missiles are nuclear tipped. One elite Taurian mech regiment has nuclear tipped SRMs that explode with about 1 ton of TNT equivalent.
Hmmm... how far down can you actually scale a nuke? And, I don´t think even one ton of TNT is particularly safe to be around when it goes off in SRM range.
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There are the Elias warheads in Interstellar Operations. They are small enough for a person to carry one. But they are 0.05 kiloton devices.
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Nuke-tipped AC/2 ammo. Finally a good use for the blinkers
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Hmmm... how far down can you actually scale a nuke? And, I don´t think even one ton of TNT is particularly safe to be around when it goes off in SRM range.
Pretty far down-though most of it goes to waste when you're that small. Using stuff like Metastable Cubic Nitrogen (solid nitrogen, in an N8 structure, really, really wanting to be gaseous nitrogen again) can give you a bit of extra oomph on your conventional explosives to compress the core more, better pit design triggers the design in a more snappy fashion. But you'll still be blowing apart your critical mass long before you've extracted all the energy, and it's mostly fizzle. But on the other hand, 1 ton of TNT at 300 meters isn't *that* bad for you as long as you cover your ears.
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Hmmm... how far down can you actually scale a nuke? And, I don´t think even one ton of TNT is particularly safe to be around when it goes off in SRM range.
Smallest IRL device was the W54 warhead used on the Davy Crockett (and a few other places) - 10-20 Tons of TNT equivilent. Presumably, with BT tech, they could be made even smaller:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54
Weight might be an issue - an SRM is about 20 lbs total, IIRC? and the W54 warhead alone was 50 lbs.
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Smallest IRL device was the W54 warhead used on the Davy Crockett (and a few other places) - 10-20 Tons of TNT equivilent. Presumably, with BT tech, they could be made even smaller:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54
Weight might be an issue - an SRM is about 20 lbs total, IIRC? and the W54 warhead alone was 50 lbs.
You could maybe fit a W54 into into a Thunderbold-5 LRM though
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I think last time I farted around with the IO nuke rules I was able to get nukes that could at least fit an SRM, but possibly also an LRM. If not LRMs, then 'Mech Mortar shells are easily within reach at around 41 kg per shell for an MM/1.
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Mech Mortars FTW! ;D
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....
#997...Forlough's Furlough and other horrors of the Reunification War...
In the canon, Amos Forlough was given a medal for butchering civilians in the Outworlds and Concordat. But imagine what might have been, if the protests were more than a few college students and ineffectual activists.
As he stood to recieve his medal of valour, the proceedings were interrupted.
fifty tons of nickel iron, moving at relative velocity, right into Unity City, aimed at the site where General Forlough was getting his medal.
Now what?
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....
#997...Forlough's Furlough and other horrors of the Reunification War...
In the canon, Amos Forlough was given a medal for butchering civilians in the Outworlds and Concordat. But imagine what might have been, if the protests were more than a few college students and ineffectual activists.
As he stood to recieve his medal of valour, the proceedings were interrupted.
fifty tons of nickel iron, moving at relative velocity, right into Unity City, aimed at the site where General Forlough was getting his medal.
Now what?
So, an Liz type answer ?
Because that projectile at that speed is equal to say goodbye to Unity City.
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I think I inspired someone from my own idea of Amos Furlough getting bumped off.
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....
#997...Forlough's Furlough and other horrors of the Reunification War...
In the canon, Amos Forlough was given a medal for butchering civilians in the Outworlds and Concordat. But imagine what might have been, if the protests were more than a few college students and ineffectual activists.
As he stood to recieve his medal of valour, the proceedings were interrupted.
fifty tons of nickel iron, moving at relative velocity, right into Unity City, aimed at the site where General Forlough was getting his medal.
Now what?
(https://y.yarn.co/64c64ddc-67ee-465a-a0bd-fb4c5041d705_text.gif)
Seems like a hell of a way to remove the Taurians / near Periphery from the setting.
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#998
Just before the Jihad a relatively unknown noble, Duke Ryukan Hakkiru, has established a stable on Solaris VII.
The center piece is his youngest daughter, Yuko. She is the only child of his that has shown any promise for piloting a Battlemech.
This new stable barely catches the attention of the local media on Solaris as it has all the hallmark signs of just being another in a long line of vanity stables started that then failed by similar nobles and other backers.
What does catch their attention is Yuko's first match. Her mech is modified with many technologies clearly of Clan origin, and not just any technologies. Some of them are even rather cutting edge, not having seen much use in the Inner Sphere as yet.
How has this seemingly unimportant Duke managed such a feat?
What game is he really playing on Solaris?
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#998
Just before the Jihad a relatively unknown noble, Duke Ryukan Hakkiru, has established a stable on Solaris VII.
The center piece is his youngest daughter, Yuko. She is the only child of his that has shown any promise for piloting a Battlemech.
This new stable barely catches the attention of the local media on Solaris as it has all the hallmark signs of just being another in a long line of vanity stables started that then failed by similar nobles and other backers.
What does catch their attention is Yuko's first match. Her mech is modified with many technologies clearly of Clan origin, and not just any technologies. Some of them are even rather cutting edge, not having seen much use in the Inner Sphere as yet.
How has this seemingly unimportant Duke managed such a feat?
What game is he really playing on Solaris?
kind of starting to prod ideas in my head, Monbvol.
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kind of starting to prod ideas in my head, Monbvol.
:evil:
Hehehe.
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Seems like a hell of a way to remove the Taurians / near Periphery from the setting.
Surprise! It was actually the work of radical Terran Hegemony anti-war activists in protest of the Reunification Wars! Thus the THCW began.
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If you want to assasinate Amos Forlough, there's so many other ways to do it. Ricin in his coffee, polonium pellet in the leg, angry student protestor getting a shotgun and blowing open his chest, a random Ronin deciding that he needs to be cut down to size...
The 50 ton mass-driver slug is probably the least likely. Though, I do note that Cannonshop said 'relative' velocity, which could mean that someone didn't shoot it out of a mass driver. That could be a 50 ton ingot or roll of steel dropped out of an overflying dropship, or even a VTOL. Much more funny!
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If you want to assasinate Amos Forlough, there's so many other ways to do it. Ricin in his coffee, polonium pellet in the leg, angry student protestor getting a shotgun and blowing open his chest, a random Ronin deciding that he needs to be cut down to size...
The 50 ton mass-driver slug is probably the least likely. Though, I do note that Cannonshop said 'relative' velocity, which could mean that someone didn't shoot it out of a mass driver. That could be a 50 ton ingot or roll of steel dropped out of an overflying dropship, or even a VTOL. Much more funny!
How about a chunk of Blue Ice (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_ice_(aviation)) that is perfectly aimed? But then people will claim he was hit by an Icy BM
(got the idea from the non-BT story It gets worse (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11651073/1/It-Gets-Worse), chapter 6)
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#999 "Goooood MORNING INNER SPHERE!!
One of the most shocking experiences for the Clans in 3065, was the debut of Alphie Morrinson's syndicated variety show. Efforts to block, attenuate, or damp the signal soon proved to be both frighteningly difficult, and futile. Short of removing every device that could recieve a signal in RF, UHF, VHF, Long Wave or HPG, her two hour per day show from an undisclosed location could not be stopped...until one crossed the old, pre-Amaris, border heading away from Terra.
The secret? isn't really too difficult-someone discovered the keys to a system that First Lord Simon had been intending to use as a tool to both influence the territorial states, and both propagandize the Member States (or break through their propaganda).
It's not just the Clans who aren't happy with Alfie's massive broadcast, Comstar and the Word of Blake are both blaming each other as the voice of a teen girl chats out about national secrets, scandals, and plays underground, rarely heard, and obscure teen-oriented dance music for two hours a day, every day, including sundays and holidays, from her "Student Studio here in the University of Hard Knox!, Bringing YOU the Beetz and all the News Not Fit To Print!!"
Nobody even knows what she really looks like, on the visual spectra, she appears as a clearly cartoonish cartoon character. One that looks suspiciously like a caricature of some classic literary villain, like the Borg, or the infected from "Planet of the Dead".
but she's poking fun at everyone, and her sources? are impossible.
So, who, or more importantly, WHAT is Alphie Morrinson, and what is it going to take to silence her signal?
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Yes, guys, the one I just posted for #999 is supposed to be creepypasta AND funny. Light-Hearted, even, and it's based on the Robin Williams version of "Good Morning Vietnam" plus some of the stuff from the modern blogosphere/social media thing, adding a spice of 1960s-1980s Pirate Radio.
all with a sweet-voiced little giggly girl dragging out everybody's dirty laundry between dance tracks.
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Wonder if it's even possible to do podcast style interviews with important personalities.
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BRILLIANT idea Cannonshop! :D
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BRILLIANT idea Cannonshop! :D
I'm actually considering writing this one, but maybe Gio could write it BETTER.
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#1000!!!
One THOUSAND!!!
Okay, stop me if you heard this one... Alaric Ward went to bed last night the ilKhan of the ilClan, and woke up this morning a midwestern High School Student circa 1989, with all the memories of being Alaric Ward, only his mum Katherine (single mother, works two jobs) is alive.
Other caste members:
Principal Stone
Counselor "Doc" Lear
Anna 'Stasia' Kerensky (the hottest redhead in the volleyball team)
Who else? what other ghasts and ghosts are here, is this a hallucination? mind control? or did Alaric imagine it all in a dream?
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#1001
The Lights Go Out
When Amaris takes over the Terran Hegemony, something happens, Cameron Loyalists, faulty wiring, who knows but not long after the HPG network suddenly goes dark across the Inner Sphere and Periphery bringing a sudden, shocking stop to interstellar civilization.
Despite the best efforts, as the years go by no one can get the network back up again. As shipments continue to grow later and later, tensions rise and loyalties fray.
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#1000!!!
One THOUSAND!!!
Okay, stop me if you heard this one... Alaric Ward went to bed last night the ilKhan of the ilClan, and woke up this morning a midwestern High School Student circa 1989, with all the memories of being Alaric Ward, only his mum Katherine (single mother, works two jobs) is alive.
Other caste members:
Principal Stone
Counselor "Doc" Lear
Anna 'Stasia' Kerensky (the hottest redhead in the volleyball team)
Who else? what other ghasts and ghosts are here, is this a hallucination? mind control? or did Alaric imagine it all in a dream?
Is this the return of Battletech 90210? :laugh:
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Is this the return of Battletech 90210? :laugh:
A play on that one about Daoshen Liao?
A spin-off series?
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#1002
When the Eridani Light Horse break off their contract with the Lyran Commonwealth in 2999, rather than take employment with House Davion they instead head back to the periphery, as they had after breaking ties with House Marik.
The same part of the periphery, in fact... a region currently being menaced by the Marian Hegemony which is just getting their feet under them. Incensed to find a pirate realm spreading slavery across a region of the periphery, the Eridani Light Horse smash House O'Reilly's organized resistance... and find themselves functionally in control of a small periphery state.
Can they find a better way to govern, living up to their Star League ideals... or will they fail and wind up another cancer on the Periphery?
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#1002
When the Eridani Light Horse break off their contract with the Lyran Commonwealth in 2999, rather than take employment with House Davion they instead head back to the periphery, as they had after breaking ties with House Marik.
The same part of the periphery, in fact... a region currently being menaced by the Marian Hegemony which is just getting their feet under them. Incensed to find a pirate realm spreading slavery across a region of the periphery, the Eridani Light Horse smash House O'Reilly's organized resistance... and find themselves functionally in control of a small periphery state.
Can they find a better way to govern, living up to their Star League ideals... or will they fail and wind up another cancer on the Periphery?
You may wanna change the number Drak.
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#1003
In the lead up to before the fat man thinks about doing his deeds to cause the fall of the star league something weird happens to really set things going super weird.
All the house leaders end up with being visited every couple of years with a copy of the leaders from 3025 era in ghost form and not just them, but their wives and a couple of very close people can interact with the ghost. The first visit is random from the house expect they do not get their own at first. They end up seeing what happens as the years go from the different leaders...this also includes the three big perfi nations somehow. They change every other year for Visits to have their take and dealing with a very paranoid bull is never easy on anyone to say the least.
The worst visit.....The fat man gets all of them all at once from the get go and they are reallybdriving him and his family very mad right now.
Much less everyone having to deal with a bit insane lloia is every more screwed up.
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Drakensis: I'd be VERY interested to see how the ELH interact with the Lothians, who are more Taurian than the Taurians... ;)
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Drakensis: I'd be VERY interested to see how the ELH interact with the Lothians, who are more Taurian than the Taurians... ;)
There's another small Periphery nation out there too, one that happens to have Star League ties as well...
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I'm actually considering writing this one, but maybe Gio could write it BETTER.
I am not at all sure I could.
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That sounds like a collaboration waiting to happen! :)
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#1004
A thin drizzle seems appropriate, The news was not welcomed.
Katherine Morgan Steiner-Davion stood in the thin drizzle, as they unloaded the coffin, and faced an uncertain future. In none of her imaginings could this have happened.
Victor was dead, and it wasn't even something she'd planned, or considered possible. Her brother was dead, and so, some plans would have to change.
"How did it happen?" she asked. "He wasn't even on the Front Line!!"
Her mother, distraught, shook her head and said nothing, at first.
"It...it was an accident. A dropship on the route..."
After the funeral, Katherine used her contacts to make sure it was really an accident. What she came across in doing so, well...
Katy was never one NOT to go into petty, insane rages.
Someone in Transport Command had been dipping into the maintenance funds, along with all the other embezzlers driving up costs and prices, and the result of that, was a dropship with bad seals beteen decks, a random bit of space debris moving at 55 Meters/second, and her brother Victor being in the wrong passageway when these two things came together.
Maintenance had been signed off, but it had not been done, and a refurbished dropship sold to the realm at new prices killed her brother, the Heir...her personal rival, had been taken by someone else's rank incompetence.
her vindication was stolen for the price of a cheap roadster.
"Don't worry, Mother, I'll take care of it."
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#1004
A thin drizzle seems appropriate, The news was not welcomed.
Katherine Morgan Steiner-Davion stood in the thin drizzle, as they unloaded the coffin, and faced an uncertain future. In none of her imaginings could this have happened.
Victor was dead, and it wasn't even something she'd planned, or considered possible. Her brother was dead, and so, some plans would have to change.
"How did it happen?" she asked. "He wasn't even on the Front Line!!"
Her mother, distraught, shook her head and said nothing, at first.
"It...it was an accident. A dropship on the route..."
After the funeral, Katherine used her contacts to make sure it was really an accident. What she came across in doing so, well...
Katy was never one NOT to go into petty, insane rages.
Someone in Transport Command had been dipping into the maintenance funds, along with all the other embezzlers driving up costs and prices, and the result of that, was a dropship with bad seals beteen decks, a random bit of space debris moving at 55 Meters/second, and her brother Victor being in the wrong passageway when these two things came together.
Maintenance had been signed off, but it had not been done, and a refurbished dropship sold to the realm at new prices killed her brother, the Heir...her personal rival, had been taken by someone else's rank incompetence.
her vindication was stolen for the price of a cheap roadster.
"Don't worry, Mother, I'll take care of it."
Funny, I would think she'd be dancing and singing to Victor's death.
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https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou
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yeah i can see mad-kat getting pissed because someone took her fun away. they would pay for that
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And it could have been her. Realizing that shoddy maintenance is a threat to her is not a good feeling.
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#1005 "This was a baaad idea..."
Joshua, and Jeremiah, and Martha and Shoshanna. Even when the Clans don't conquer a place, there's inevitably some form of collateral. Joshua and Jeremiah went from the twin sons of an AFFC officer, to orphans overnight. Martha lost hers on a jumpship 'sniped' by Clan forces at the jump point, Shoshanna? she never really remembered hers-she arrived with refugees from a world that did fall.
Pain can become hatred very easily, especially when you have an authority figure telling you that you SHOULD hate. Joshua has a book. It's something AFFC has kept classified since it was AFFS.
step by step instructions on how to make bathtub explosives, chemical weapons and how to employ them.
It's 3057, the kids are on Coventry, the Jade Falcons have come, and the kids are looking for some payback.
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Joshua has a book. It's something AFFC has kept classified since it was AFFS.
is this better or worse than it being a middle-school textbook from Kowloon?
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#1006
The expected SLDF invasion of the Rimworlds Republic never occurs as the fleets never arrive in the RWR borders.No one knows what happened to the SLDF that followed Kerensky, and none happier than Stefan Amaris himself. Things go okay the first couple years, the Great Lords paying lip service for now biding their time until Kerensky and his forces arrive… but as the years go by and Amaris’ despotism grows by leaps and bounds the Great Houses and Periphery must deal with the madman they’re locked in with.
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#1006
The expected SLDF invasion of the Rimworlds Republic never occurs as the fleets never arrive in the RWR borders.No one knows what happened to the SLDF that followed Kerensky, and none happier than Stefan Amaris himself. Things go okay the first couple years, the Great Lords paying lip service for now biding their time until Kerensky and his forces arrive… but as the years go by and Amaris’ despotism grows by leaps and bounds the Great Houses and Periphery must deal with the madman they’re locked in with.
Now this I would love to see!
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is this better or worse than it being a middle-school textbook from Kowloon?
Honestly, I expect the kids cribbed from one of those textbooks... ;D
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It's 3057, the kids are on Coventry, the Jade Falcons have come, and the kids are looking for some payback.
The only acceptable title for this is Jade Dawn.
WOLVERINES!
*Clanner pants-shitting hysteria commences*
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"Nuke the whole planet until the very bedrock is exposed and glows. It is the only way to be sure we get them all."
"Aff Star Admiral."
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1007: "I don't think you understand; The Inner Sphere isn't YOURS to conquer."
Omniman vs. The Clans. I guess the Wardens had a good argument...
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And it could have been her. Realizing that shoddy maintenance is a threat to her is not a good feeling.
Cue Katherine doing a full forensic audit of the Lyran military, and authorizing death sentences for the worst offenders? At the very least she would have the maintenance people have to travel on the craft that they maintain.
1007: "I don't think you understand; The Inner Sphere isn't YOURS to conquer."
Omniman vs. The Clans. I guess the Wardens had a good argument...
1008: On a backwards planet, a Commander (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Commander_(video_game)) builds a Metal Extractor.
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Cue Katherine doing a full forensic audit of the Lyran military, and authorizing death sentences for the worst offenders? At the very least she would have the maintenance people have to travel on the craft that they maintain.
1008: On a backwards planet, a Commander (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Commander_(video_game)) builds a Metal Extractor.
YOu must build more pylons!! (wrong game)
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#1009 (probably been done before)
The SLDF has turned into the Clans. The Golden Century is upon them. Suddenly one of the colony worlds goes dark. And then reports come in. Feral creature things…. Huge seams of them. Fangs, claws, talons, spines, bone blades on monstrosities four times the size of mechs. Growths that cover the ground and biological buildings.
The Zerg have appeared.
(No Protoss only Zerg lol)
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#1010
A few lines of wording in ComStar’s agreement with the Successor States only allowed C* around a century of stewardship of the HPG Network, along the way they were obligated to train the (now former) Star league Members in the construction and maintenance of the HPG network with their borders.
Because of the sheer destruction (and Holy Shroud) this took the backseat until the latter days of the 3rd SW that the States began to call up this Obligation… with interest.
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#1010
A few lines of wording in ComStar’s agreement with the Successor States only allowed C* around a century of stewardship of the HPG Network, along the way they were obligated to train the (now former) Star league Members in the construction and maintenance of the HPG network with their borders.
Because of the sheer destruction (and Holy Shroud) this took the backseat until the latter days of the 3rd SW that the States began to call up this Obligation… with interest.
Oh boy... i really want to see this one. In particular the reaction of the First Circuit when they received the missives.
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ComStar’s main issue isn’t their Upper Echelons who are recalcitrant in giving up their power of course, but rather here it’s the lower levels who truly believe the public creed.
They’ve been making moves, public and private, to sway both the rest of C* and the public’s of the various states to pressure C*’s First Circuit to acquiesce to their obligations.
ComStar’s says their must be a mistake, presenting ”evidence ” of tampering over a century ago that the copies the Successor Lords have do not count… which causes Kurtis and Davion to come to a rare agreement that C* is trying to weasel their way out of this. The rest soon follow suit.
The 5th Succession War began in the courtrooms in the 2990s and erupted into fire in the mid 3040s.
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#1011
Ian Davion kills Yorinaga Kurita in 3013. With the combine beat back, for the moment, Ian and Hanse turn their attention to the Capellan Confederation. Michael Hasek's treachery is uncovered and is deposed as a result of this attention. Ian then places Hanse in charge of the Capellan March until Morgan comes of age. Hanse ends up marrying a member of the Hasek household (Michael's sister Rebecca maybe?)
Hanse suggests an alliance with the Free Worlds League to finally crush the CapCon. The FedSuns would claim Epsilon Eridani, Tikonov, Sarna, St. Ives, Grand Base, Menke, while the FWL would claim everything "west" of that line.
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That could set up quite the Fifth Succession War, with the FWL selling weapons to Davion for firm borders.
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#1012
Thaddeus Marik II(?) catches wind of a Lostech prospector named Johan O’Reiley in the Periphery who stumbled upon an ungodly amount of Germanium.
The FWL decides to either annex the fledgling Bandit Kingdom as a tributary state or take over the area whole sale.
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#1013...
Maximilian Liao examines a plan to replace the First Prince of the Federated Suns...and rejects it as too complicated!
Instead, he focuses on a much more feasible plan for crippling his nation's long hated rivals-he focuses on industrial redevelopment efforts on the periphery border, as far from the Davions as possible, and economic and technology exports to the Taurians, along with a more-than-healthy dose of anti-Fedsuns propaganda.
This is a much more feasible strategy, than trying to physically replace an enemy leader with a half-assed duplicate.
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Seems a bit far-fetched :wink:
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Dang it, there used to be an emoji for "TOO FUNNY!"... I'm missing that one especially right now... ;D
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#1014
The clans who lost the bids to take part in the first waves of Operation REVIVAL are rather miffed, as their chances for glory and honor will be slim pickings by the time their time to invade comes. Hell, the invasion may be over within a year or two if the first wave is too successful.
So the remaining Clans clandestinely work to invade right after the first wave arrives, allowing them to roll the die for the chance at becoming Ilclan and reforming the Star League in their image.
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#1015
The Federated Commonwealth Civil War, and the subsequent departure from the Star League of the two halves of that once great realm, marked the beginning of a new era for the Inner Sphere. Despite efforts by the Word of Blake to hold the Second Star League together through their influence over the Free Worlds League and (to a lesser extent) the Capellan Confederation, the end was in sight. Conflicts within the Free Worlds League erupted into their own civil war, with the Blakists as one faction, and the result was the collapse of the Star League.
House Steiner struggled to retain control of the Lyran Alliance, with new conflicts against the Jade Falcons and a new Skye Revolt straining what had once been the strongest economy in the Inner Sphere. House Davion's leadership was similarly lacking, with the border marches engaging in independent wars against their neighbours - the Draconis Combine, the Capellan Confederation, the Taurian Concordat and the newly forged Raven Alliance. While these were not without victories, these were the victories of Hasek and Sandoval, not Davion. And both the Free Worlds League and House Marik shattered, with provinces forming new alliances in a power struggle that was a microcosm of the larger strategic situation.
Three great houses had shown weakness and this undermined the entire order of the Inner Sphere.
House Kurita was the next to fall. The death of Hohiro Kurita facing Clan Ghost Bear in the Second Dominion War left a disputed succession. Clan Nova Cat supported Minoru Kurita, claiming the needs of stability, while Omi Kurita's son Kitsune narrowly avoided becoming a puppet of the Black Dragon Society. With such uncertainty, the Dragon's proud ambitions tore the Combine apart, with warlords calling on their own adherents to 'defend the frontiers' as they carved out private empires.
The Ghost Bears were in no position to exploit this, the divisions between Rasalhague and the Clan brought out during the war and leaving them in a position of retrenchment as they struggled to establish the identity of their new nation and to hold off probing raids from the Wolves, Horses and other neighbours - not to mention the brief invasion of the Ice Hellions as part of the larger War of Reavings that were similarly tearing apart the Clan Homeworlds.
Khan Vladimir Ward's ambitious attempt to establish a Wolf Empire tore into his distracted neighbours, coming close to taking Tharkad and further shaking Lyran stability, only for Ward to be dragged down by Jade Falcon, Diamond Shark and Hells Horses seizure of key industrial worlds for themselves, unwilling to see Wolf elevated above them by such victories.
House Liao stood as the last united Successor State and for over a decade they achieved much of which Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao hoped, reclaiming worlds lost for decades of centuries. However, with enemies on every flank there was always potential for disaster. That disaster finally emerged in the Terran front, fighting the Blakist Protectorate.
In an era of instability, the Blakists had continually picked up support from ComStar adepts who wanted something more certain than the limited visions of the Precentor Martials. By this point, ComStar had been forced to relocate from Tukkayid, much as they had once been driven from Terra, and their headquarters had been centred on Outreach with the mighty ComGuards shrunken to little more than a mercenary command. Fighting under Capellan colors, the Waco Rangers mercenary regiment struck at Wolf Dragoon and ComGuards forces that had been hired to protect some of the few independent worlds, right as the Word of Blake Militia made their own invasion. The result was a three-sided conflict that spiralled out of control to draw the Capellan March and the Orloff-Zion Pact into the fighting.
The Capellan Crusades killed Sun-Tzu Liao, Victor Steiner-Davion and many other leaders, further shattering the region. It also left the unstable and megalomaniac Daoshan Liao on the throne of Sian, rapidly alienating his mother and sister on Canopus, his cousins on St Ives and most importantly House McCarron, who were increasingly influential among the CCAF's forces on the frontlines. Insurrections broke out as Daoshan tried to roll back some of his father's reforms to take tighter control of the Confederation.
By the early 32nd century, the five Great Houses control perhaps a third of the Inner Sphere between them. In the spaces between them, smaller realms have splintered away. It is an age of chaos, an age of war. Far from a resurgence of prosperity and strength, the 31st century proved a false-start. The Succession Wars are over, the Secession Wars have gutted worlds over and over ago.
A new generation has arisen, the chance to emerge as regional hegemon is open to new and dynamic rulers from the Great Houses or from those who stand against them. It is an age of ideologues, mercenaries and explorers. Without any unifying force behind them, each HPG station is a hub of communications that must be protected because they are no longer inviolate, instead making them desirable targets to seize or destroy.
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If HPGs aren't inviolate, I don't see how they survive outside of heavily defended core worlds.
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Overall, I suspect this is going to devolve into a level of violence comparable to the First or Second Succession Wars in short order, what with the nascent WarShip fleets, introduction of Pocket WarShips, nuclear stockpiles, etc all being a thing in this era.
It’s going to be of critical importance what’s gong on with the Homeworld Clans.
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#1106
December 18th, 2776
A week before Amaris attempts to pull off his coup that Terra's HPGs pick up messages from General Kerensky from the Periphery. He claims he has made First Contact with an Alien polity that governs a sizeable portion of the Orion Arm. They overall appear to come in peace and will be sending an ambassadorial detachment to meet with the Star League Council for trade and a non-aggression pat and law enforcement cooperation.
To say Amaris is peeved would be an understatement.
Edited
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#1107
Not as big as the other changes, but how about a mercenary unit serving in the Rasalhague Republic and buying food from the locals.
But one week while there, a mudslide (or other natural disaster) happens and several families in a nearby town have damage to their homes. As a kindness the mercenary unit donates some of the food they received from the local farmer.
The mercenary unit makes sure everyone in the dining hall knows who the food came from, and thanks to others the mercenary unit is able to prove that the food was not tampered with after the mercs received the food.
But before people can get in line to start getting a free hot meal, the farmer has to tell everyone to stop. The farmer had put in an additive in the food that would cause the merc unit to get very sick because Rasalhagians don't like mercenaries. Result is that all the hot food that was going to be served to hungry people now has to be secured as hazardous waste, the farmer is disliked by the crowd, and the mercs show that they can play dirty too.
(The mercenaries suspected something like that would occur, so had brought along a LOT of rations and testing supplies. After the first few batches of food tested positive, the mercs knew what was going on.)
#1015
The Federated Commonwealth Civil War, and the subsequent departure from the Star League of the two halves of that once great realm, marked the beginning of a new era for the Inner Sphere. Despite efforts by the Word of Blake to hold the Second Star League together through their influence over the Free Worlds League and (to a lesser extent) the Capellan Confederation, the end was in sight. Conflicts within the Free Worlds League erupted into their own civil war, with the Blakists as one faction, and the result was the collapse of the Star League.
House Steiner struggled to retain control of the Lyran Alliance, with new conflicts against the Jade Falcons and a new Skye Revolt straining what had once been the strongest economy in the Inner Sphere. House Davion's leadership was similarly lacking, with the border marches engaging in independent wars against their neighbours - the Draconis Combine, the Capellan Confederation, the Taurian Concordat and the newly forged Raven Alliance. While these were not without victories, these were the victories of Hasek and Sandoval, not Davion. And both the Free Worlds League and House Marik shattered, with provinces forming new alliances in a power struggle that was a microcosm of the larger strategic situation.
Three great houses had shown weakness and this undermined the entire order of the Inner Sphere.
House Kurita was the next to fall. The death of Hohiro Kurita facing Clan Ghost Bear in the Second Dominion War left a disputed succession. Clan Nova Cat supported Minoru Kurita, claiming the needs of stability, while Omi Kurita's son Kitsune narrowly avoided becoming a puppet of the Black Dragon Society. With such uncertainty, the Dragon's proud ambitions tore the Combine apart, with warlords calling on their own adherents to 'defend the frontiers' as they carved out private empires.
The Ghost Bears were in no position to exploit this, the divisions between Rasalhague and the Clan brought out during the war and leaving them in a position of retrenchment as they struggled to establish the identity of their new nation and to hold off probing raids from the Wolves, Horses and other neighbours - not to mention the brief invasion of the Ice Hellions as part of the larger War of Reavings that were similarly tearing apart the Clan Homeworlds.
Khan Vladimir Ward's ambitious attempt to establish a Wolf Empire tore into his distracted neighbours, coming close to taking Tharkad and further shaking Lyran stability, only for Ward to be dragged down by Jade Falcon, Diamond Shark and Hells Horses seizure of key industrial worlds for themselves, unwilling to see Wolf elevated above them by such victories.
House Liao stood as the last united Successor State and for over a decade they achieved much of which Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao hoped, reclaiming worlds lost for decades of centuries. However, with enemies on every flank there was always potential for disaster. That disaster finally emerged in the Terran front, fighting the Blakist Protectorate.
In an era of instability, the Blakists had continually picked up support from ComStar adepts who wanted something more certain than the limited visions of the Precentor Martials. By this point, ComStar had been forced to relocate from Tukkayid, much as they had once been driven from Terra, and their headquarters had been centred on Outreach with the mighty ComGuards shrunken to little more than a mercenary command. Fighting under Capellan colors, the Waco Rangers mercenary regiment struck at Wolf Dragoon and ComGuards forces that had been hired to protect some of the few independent worlds, right as the Word of Blake Militia made their own invasion. The result was a three-sided conflict that spiralled out of control to draw the Capellan March and the Orloff-Zion Pact into the fighting.
The Capellan Crusades killed Sun-Tzu Liao, Victor Steiner-Davion and many other leaders, further shattering the region. It also left the unstable and megalomaniac Daoshan Liao on the throne of Sian, rapidly alienating his mother and sister on Canopus, his cousins on St Ives and most importantly House McCarron, who were increasingly influential among the CCAF's forces on the frontlines. Insurrections broke out as Daoshan tried to roll back some of his father's reforms to take tighter control of the Confederation.
By the early 32nd century, the five Great Houses control perhaps a third of the Inner Sphere between them. In the spaces between them, smaller realms have splintered away. It is an age of chaos, an age of war. Far from a resurgence of prosperity and strength, the 31st century proved a false-start. The Succession Wars are over, the Secession Wars have gutted worlds over and over ago.
A new generation has arisen, the chance to emerge as regional hegemon is open to new and dynamic rulers from the Great Houses or from those who stand against them. It is an age of ideologues, mercenaries and explorers. Without any unifying force behind them, each HPG station is a hub of communications that must be protected because they are no longer inviolate, instead making them desirable targets to seize or destroy.
This was an excellent read.
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#1108
As the Dragoons are arriving in the Inner Sphere in 3005, Kerlin Ward dies in a Dropship accident. His replacement as Khan of Clan Wolf, while still a warden is either unaware of his secret plan or unwilling to carry it out. Thus after the battles on Misery the Wolf's Dragoons vanish like a fart in a fan factory, with none of it's members to be seen for over ten years.
As the Draconis Combine and the two halves of the Federated Commonwealth alliance are preparing to face off against each other in 3039 reports of an assault of Richmond led by the Black Widow - now claiming to be a "Galaxy Commander" - reach Luthien.
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#1109
16, November, 3042, the place: Palace, New Avalon. The event: Katherine's 10th Birthday.
the diversion: Little Katy Steiner-Davion gets a birthday present that changes her whole life.
"Doctor Wondertainment's Patented Chemistry Set!!"
triggering an obsession with science, medicine, and all things man was not meant to know...but Katherine will tell you, "It doesn't say woman shouldn't."
Instead of immersing herself, as her canon counterpart did, into politics, political activist causes, and fawning sycophants, Katherine changes, becomes socially awkward. Her Birthday present in 3044 being a 'Build your own robot' kit from the now hunted-nationwide 'Doctor Wondertainment'. in 3045, her birthday presents included a mysterious 'Doctor Wondertainment's Super-Science and Investigation Kit!! (with scale model HPG generator and working remote controlled jumpship model!!).
By 3047, it's clear that Hans and Melissa's oldest daughter and middle child is uninterested in anything except her mad science projects. She discovered boys and decided she needed to build her own boyfriend...with Dr. Wondertainment's super-duper artificial intelligence lab and computer kit!tm it was easy.
so, how does the intrusion of SCP's change things for the coming Clan invasion, and what does a Mad Scientist tm Katherine Steiner-Davion look like?
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I almost thought this was going to be a BT x GG (Girl Genius) crossover/fusion.
#1110
Someone in ROM switches out a software update that will be rolled out to all HPGs in 3020 with a near identical one. There version is effectively indistinguishable unless you know what to look for, and this close to crunch time no one wants to be the one to delay the HPG updates and send the Sphere into a recession.
This update secretly seeds encryptions in a variety of mail being transmitted across known space. Eventually, someone in ROM, ISF, SAFE, MIIO, Maskirovka, LIC etc. catch onto the encryptions and figure out what has been hidden for all these years.
And what has been found will shock Humanity...
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I almost thought this was going to be a BT x GG (Girl Genius) crossover/fusion.
"We are Clan Jade Falcon. What forces defend this world?"
"Hey dere, sveethot. Ve heard hyu iz fun to fight. Vant to come down and play?"