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BattleTech Player Boards => Novel and Sourcebook Reviews => Topic started by: Mendrugo on 06 January 2013, 00:07:28
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Date: July 9, 2571
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: 93-year old Captain-General Albert Marik reflects on the success of having all six Inner Sphere Great Houses sign the Star League treaty, ending the Age of War. He ponders the task left to his heir, 70-year old Marion, as she works with the Camerons to maintain order among the six houses. Albert and Marion discuss Ian Cameron’s obsession with bringing the four Periphery realms into the League, and regard it as a reasonable possibility only for the Rim Worlds Republic.
He worries that Houses Steiner, Kurita and Davion will press for war as a means of expanding their power and wealth, and that diplomacy will be shunted aside. Three-year old Rhean Marik is introduced, alongside the power players of the new Star League, and tells Archon Viola Steiner she wants to be a Warhammer when she grows up.
Notes: The prologue of “Fall From Grace” presents excellent imagery juxtaposition that captures the essence of the Star League. A treaty dedicated to ending the “Age of War” and bringing peace is celebrated with a parade of BattleMechs through Geneva. And despite all the hand shaking and fireworks, there are still rifts among the Great Houses.
In line with the theme of this serial – “Fall from Grace” – the Star League and Rhean are both new and innocent, brimming with optimism and possibility, but already influenced by the omnipresence of the tools and tactics of warfare.
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Considering that the RWR was involved in bringing down the SL, bringing in the Periphery Nations was probably actually a bad idea
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: March 6, 2573
Location: Santiago
Title: What I Remember Most
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Not two years have passed since the signing of the Star League accords, and already ‘Mechs of the 17th Galedon Regulars have occupied the Outworlds Alliance world of Santiago in response to intel reports that the Outworlds Alliance was massing BattleMechs, and that bandit forces were using the OA to raid Combine and FedSuns border worlds.
Three months after the Santiago Massacre (December 14, 2572), the girl whose injury touched off the incident recalls the events of that day. She’d been a talented artist who, entranced by a stunning winter wilderness scene, hoped to capture it on canvas. However, by the time she returned with her supplies, a 17th Galedon Locust had passed through on patrol, destroying the natural beauty. Enraged, the girl chased after the Locust and threw her paint set at it, getting doused with caustic coolant in return, which permanently blinded her.
She notes that, from the Santiagans perspective, evil strangers marked with a serpentine dragon came and claimed the world, despite its lack of resources or strategic value. The DCMS forces claimed to be peacekeepers, there to head off the danger of war. She references burned out buildings, empty storefronts and the overhanging scent of old smoke – a reference to the rampant destruction inflicted on Santiago City as the DCMS ‘Mechs patrolled. (Despite the nearest reported “pirate” sightings being 12 parsecs from Santiago.)
Notes: There are a number of substantially different accounts of this event. The Periphery sourcebook indicates that on December 14, 2572, a DCMS Lance Corporal threw a canister of coolant from her barracks window at children who had been throwing snowballs at the building. A seven-year-old child (no gender specified) was badly burned, and Combine infantry fired into the angry mob of Santiagans that gathered, killing 27.
The Star League sourcebook, however, indicates that on December 14, 2572, local children were running between a Locust’s legs pelting the soldiers with snowballs, rocks, etc. A DCMS MechWarrior popped her Locust’s hatch and threw a can of coolant at a boy (gender specified) running alongside. The cannister burst open and sprayed the kid with coolant. The ‘MechWarrior tripped over a car while fleeing the gathering mob, and fired into the crowd, killing 27. (ComStar's Star League report indicates that “there have been many versions of this incident," and declares this one definitive. Historical: Reunification War reiterates this version.)
However, in “What I Remember Most,” the protagonist is a 13-year-old girl (12 at the time of the incident), who was doused directly by a stream of coolant poured from the Locust above, burning off her hair and blinding her. Generally, the narrative fiction is considered the definitive account, whereas sourcebook entries represent historical research that may contain errors or be based on bad reporting. Clearly, in Ian Cameron’s new Star League, the truth was one of the first casualties, and inaccurate contemporary reports misled ComStar historians centuries later.
The reports that the pacificst Outworlds Alliance, of all places, was amassing 'Mechs also seems hardly credible. As we'll see in "The Top of the Scrap Heap," the OA lacked the technology to build their own 'Mechs until after the Star League collapsed. If there were any "bandit" 'Mechs massing in OA territory, they probably originated in the Federated Suns.
One other item of note – the doctors say they can’t save the girl’s eyes, and that she’ll never see again. This presumably indicates that cybernetic eye replacement technology hasn’t yet matured (at least not in the Outworlds Alliance). Or perhaps there are some injuries that make cybernetic replacement unfeasible. Frederick Steiner (aka Anastasius Focht) opted for an eyepatch rather than a cybernetic implant, despite ComStar's well documented skills with cybernetics.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: March 19, 2575
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Captain-General Marion Marik reacts angrily to news that, in the wake of the Santiago Massacre, the Periphery realms have responded to Ian Cameron’s Pollux Proclamation with a hearty “Bring it on!” She’d thought it more likely that Ian would lose his temper and declare war, but the Periphery obstinacy has won them an early propaganda coup, and the Reunification War now appears inevitable with the Periphery states in the role of victims.
Young Rhean is excited by talk of war, and expresses worry that she’s too young (at age six), and will miss all the fighting. Marion is more pragmatic, and worries that the war will be a long one.
Notes: Continuing in her role as the personification of the Star League, Rhean shows desire for martial glory and belief that the Reunification War will be over quickly. The chess game in the background represents the maneuvering going on at this stage (politically and militarily), while also evoking the Age of War conceit that warfare is a nearly bloodless game of maneuver. (This may have been true when it was ‘Mech on ‘Mech, but as we’ve seen, infantry and tanks with BAR armor shed plenty of blood, not to mention what happens when DEST starts tossing fuel-air explosives around.)
[Insert mandatory reference to the fact that the Taurian Concordat and Magistracy of Canopus never signed the Ares Conventions. The early sourcebook statement that the Conventions were signed by ten states has been challenged a number of times by careful readers who noted that the Taurians proudly never signed and the Magistracy didn’t yet exist at the time of the Ares conference. Recent sourcebooks have clarified that signers #9 and #10 were the United Hindu Collective and the Principality of Rasalhague, which were subsequently absorbed by the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine.]
A reference is made to a William Liao marrying into the ruling line of House Marik, much to Ian Marik’s displeasure. Apparently Marik-Liao dalliances go back long before Sun-Tzu and Isis.
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----- 3 Years Later -----
Date: October 27, 2578 – October 28, 2578
Location: Caldwell
Title: So Costly a Sacrifice
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: TDF veteran tank commander (retired) Vincent MacLaren watches his young grandson Sammy play with toy ‘Mechs, and contrasts the innocence of play with the remembered realities of war. All three of Vincent’s sons are on active duty with the TDF, holding the front lines against the Star League.
News comes in that Ridgebrook, where his youngest son Andrew (Sammy’s father) serves in the 15th Fortress Battalion, has fallen to the SLDF. This ominous news is followed closely by the arrival of a delegation of TDF officers with news that his sons Andrew, Ryan and Daniel have all been killed in battle. As a final blow, the TDF serves him with papers recalling him to active duty.
Vincent reflects on what military duty has cost him. His wife died while he was out on maneuvers, and now his sons are gone. Despite his sons’ widows’ pleas to fight for a service deferment, he bids them and Sammy farewell and departs, vowing to fight to protect his remaining family with righteous fire.
Notes: The theme of personal sacrifice for the greater good is frequently found in BattleTech fiction, but this scene is highly effective in spotlighting triumph of the warrior’s dedication to duty despite the personal costs he’s already borne. Vincent notes that if he'd just lost one or two sons, he'd have worked through the grief, but stayed home to take care of their widows and children, but with all his sons gone, he feels the need to finish what they started. This is the kind of attitude that must have been widespread throughout the people of the Concordat, since they managed to continue the struggle for 20 years.
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One interesting thing to note is that at this point the TDF has had the Toro for a long time
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One interesting thing to note is that at this point the TDF has had the Toro for a long time
The only TDF 'Mech that appears in "So Costly a Sacrifice" is the Talos. It's interesting that the toy 'Mech Vincent gives Sammy is an Archer, which doesn't appear on the Historical: Reunification War RAT for the TDF.
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My point was more that from what I've heard the Periphery Nations are not supposed to have full blown BattleMechs yet, only primitive ones
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My point was more that from what I've heard the Periphery Nations are not supposed to have full blown BattleMechs yet, only primitive ones
The random assignment tables (RATs) in Historical: Reunification War indicate that the Periphery states now have access to a wide variety of 'Mechs in all weight classes. The entry for the Talos indicates that the TDF had been using a mix of captured 'Mechs and new production based on stolen/reverse engineered blueprints. The Taurians appear to have been notably more successful in reverse engineering enemy equipment than the Outworlds Alliance was 200 years later.
Most of the Reunification War stories we'll see show the various Periphery state militaries fielding full-fledged BattleMechs, but just not in as great a number or variety as the Inner Sphere forces. The exception is the OAM, which gets its BattleMech support from the AFFS-backed Pitcairn Legion. Keep in mind that, despite Star League propaganda, the RWR, TC, and MoC have levels of education and technology roughly comparable to that of the Inner Sphere states, and that the Reunification War takes place over a century after the BattleMech's introduction, giving the Periphery states plenty of time to catch up through battlefield salvage, tech-stealing, and in-house development.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: December 3, 2578 – April 3, 2579
Location: Electra
Title: So Costly a Sacrifice
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Vincent and the other recalled TDF veterans on Electra have little patience for TDF Colonel Bastian Gray’s bureaucracy and regulations. They know their business and they want to get into the field so they can get the job done. Vincent effectively shuts down a briefing on reintegration procedures, albeit at the cost of undermining Colonel Gray’s authority and earning his ire.
Four months into his posting on Electra, Vincent has resumed his SOPs from his pre-retirement days and has assumed a position of authority in the TDF garrison – even to the point of mentoring the younger troops and establishing rapport with the unit’s fighting men. He also uses the mentoring to divert himself from dwelling on what he’s lost.
He discusses the war with Corporal Saunders, who argues that the TDF is fighting this war to force the Star League to respect the Taurian people, and that the absence of the Ares Conventions from the conflict will place the TDF on even ground with the SLDF, even if it places Taurian citizens at risk.
By February 2579, the SLDF task force has driven the TDF’s Pleiades Fleet into full retreat, paving the way for a ground invasion. With limited assets (Augustus MBTs, Condor hovertanks, artillery, infantry and aerospace fighters, plus a handful of 'Mechs), the garrison commanders struggle to craft a defense strategy that will allow them to out-think SLDF commander General Wexworth and his six combined-arms regiments.
When the landings come, Colonel Gray fails to adapt to the tactical realities, and launches a doomed ambush against overwhelming numbers. The TDF garrison is crushed and forced to fall back. Colonel Gray is killed, leaving Vincent as the senior surviving commander of the Electra garrison.
Notes: The briefing scene does a nice job of exhibiting Taurian pragmatism and propensity for independent thinking. A similar CCAF or DCMS briefing would be greeted with reverent silence from the troops, while the equivalent Lyran briefing would be indistinguishable from a cocktail party. Vincent and his colleagues aren’t seeking glory, honor, promotion or wealth. They’re just there to keep their children from growing up under the Cameron star or Davion sunburst.
Based on his actions, Vincent appears to have shifted his parental role from his deceased sons to the troops now under his command, and by mentoring them, he is "raising" them as he raised his own sons.
Interestingly, Corporal Saunders frames the Concordat’s refusal to sign the Ares Conventions in the early 2400s as a measure to keep from being overwhelmed by Davion numbers, whereas Reunification War Era Digest characterized the decision as being due to distrust of Capellan intentions, with the memories of the then-recent no-holds-barred Rim War still lingering.
The battle scene is chronologically the first to show conventional tanks taking out BattleMechs, which to this point have been portrayed (when not fighting other ‘Mechs) as unstoppable war-god avatars, striding across the battlefields blasting armored vehicles into scrap with impunity. The process of phasing out BAR armor in favor of military grade armor probably has a lot to do with the change, since it greatly reduces the number of critical hit checks ‘Mechs will be able to make against tanks. The ‘Mechs aren’t pushovers, however, and an SLDF Wasp manages to kill a 50-ton hovertank by itself.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: June 17, 2579
Location: Eleusis
Title: A Veiled Betrayal
Author: Christopher Purnell
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: A team of FWL NIA agents infiltrates the city of Qurtuba on the Magistracy of Canopus world of Eleusis, hoping to win the world via political dealmaking with the Sultan of Eleusis, rather than armed invasion. The Qurtuba region is dominated by an Islamic theocracy, which has been chafing under the dominion of the Magistracy of Canopus (Qurtuban fundamentalist Islam and Canopian Hellenism/matriarchy being a poor fit). The NIA agents find Qurtuba’s culture restrictive, but hold out hope of winning the world away from the Canopians without bloodshed.
The NIA agents meet with a representative of planetary ruler Sultan Hossein, who admits hatred of the Canopians but notes great cultural similarities between the FWL and MoC, and asks why the Eleusians should exchange one infidel oppressor for another. The NIA team promises complete local autonomy as part of the FWL. The Sultan’s representative agrees, in principle, to allying with the Star League infidels to fight the Canopian infidels, pending the Sultan’s approval.
However, before a formal deal can be concluded, a Canopian street preacher provokes a riot that turns into a massacre, prompting a spontaneous general uprising in Qurtuba against the Canopian garrison. The Sultan is taken hostage by the MoC forces. In the confusion, the NIA agents manage to extricate themselves from the city and report the mission as a failure – control of Eleusis will be decided by war, rather than intrigue.
Notes: Just as the novel Ideal War drew heavily on imagery from the Vietnam war, the Canopian garrison troopers on Eleusis (as well as the FWL NIA team) demonstrate the effects of a cultural divide similar to that experienced by coalition forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq over the past decade. Interestingly, the FWL NIA agents sympathize with the Canopians (being more culturally in tune with them than with the Eleusians), but think, from a practical “hearts and minds” standpoint, the Canopians should have kept their views on Eleusian customs to themselves. (A similar level of culture clash is shown in the late-3050s between FedCom garrison troops and natives on Zurich.)
Despite the NIA’s (and SAFE’s) poor reputation in the 31st century sourcebooks, the NIA agents portrayed thus far (in “A Dish Served Cold,” “The Spider Dances,” and “A Veiled Betrayal”) have been shown to be intelligent, competent, and dangerous foes. If the NIA team leader has a failing in this story, it’s a compulsive urge to analyze enemy tactics and recommend improvements for how they should be doing things to be more effective.
Interestingly, while Eleusis is portrayed in 2579 as a predominantly Islamic society, the sourcebook writeup for the world indicates that, circa 3025, this is only true for the region immediately around Qurtuba, and that the dominant religion of the planet has become Hellenistic. Adherents worship Athena as a representation of a Gaian life force. This may be a direct result of Canopian missionary work. Canopian monks are seen preaching in the streets, and a gate guard (intentionally trying to give offense) wishes passers by the blessings of Diana. The venomous hatred directed towards the Canopians by the story’s Islamic characters may be a reaction to just how effective the Canopians are in religious conversion planetwide.
Christopher Purnell’s writing style is top notch in conveying the sights, scents and ambiance of Qurtuba, and also offers an interesting description of practical adaptations to hostile living conditions (a toxic morning mist).
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: July 19, 2580
Location: Oriente
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Under an assumed name, Rhean Marik attends classes at the Princefield Military Academy on Oriente. The heirs of noble families run roughshod over the children of wealthy merchants as the pecking order sorts out, and (being undercover as a merchant scion) Rhean repeatedly clashes with Lambert Allison, grandson of the Duke of Oriente, as she refuses to comport herself as his inferior.
Notes: Despite the rhetoric about the Free Worlds League having at least the trappings of democracy and representational government, it’s clear that many members of ruling families regard themselves as innately superior by right of birth. In this case, however, Allison’s attempt to put an uppity commoner in her proper place in the social pecking order looks likely to backfire massively once Rhean graduates and reveals her true identity.
Life at boarding school seems utterly unaffected by the fact that a massive interstellar war is being waged, other than Rhean looking forward to starting ‘Mech simulator courses in a few months. (I recall the Ken Burns Civil War documentary noting that daily life in the North was similarly unaffected.) The traditional elements of boarding school drama (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BoardingSchool) are in place, with Lambert playing Draco Malfoy to Rhean’s Harry Potter.
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----- 3 Months Later -----
Date: October 16, 2580 – October 28, 2580
Location: Electra
Title: So Costly A Sacrifice
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Eight months into the Electra campaign, Vincent reflects on the progress of the war. The TDF has battled General Wexworth’s overwhelming numbers with unorthodox tactics, volunteer human shields, booby-trapped buildings, and ambushes at chokepoints, but the SLDF continues to advance. Worse still, the defeat of the Concordat's Pleiades Fleet means that the SLDF can bring in reinforcements and supplies at will, while the TDF garrison is steadily whittled away in a war of attrition. Vincent’s aides predict total defeat within months. In an attempt to change the strategic calculus, Vincent authorizes the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons as part of a final stand between Wexworth and Subaru City.
On the eve of the final assault, a number of Vincent’s crewmen withdraw from the mission, citing moral objections to deploying nuclear weapons. On October 28, TDF Condors, LTV-4s, Tigers, and Augustus MBTs charge the SLDF lines, while the TDF’s few ‘Mechs (including at least one Talos) use a diversionary maneuver to bring the SLDF forces into the killzone.
The warhead arms, but the jury-rigged launcher fails. Thinking only of the defense of his family, his world, and his nation, Vincent hurls his Augustus at the onrushing SLDF ranks, detonating the warhead as the tank slams into a Thug.
Notes: Interesting that the TDF is fielding LTV-4s and Tigers – Hegemony and FedSuns designs, respectively. There must have been a substantial interstellar weapons trade during the Age of War. Alternatively, it’s possible that the Taurians are extremely good at obtaining technical specifications and making their own copies of other nations’ hardware. Note that some sourcebooks show the Concordat manufacturing Rommel/Patton tanks and the cutting edge Hatchetman BattleMech shortly after their debuts.
Despite Vincent’s sacrifice, Electra (and the rest of the Pleiades Cluster) fell to Wexworth within months, and the use of nuclear weapons seems to have removed any psychological barriers that inhibited Wexworth from ordering orbital bombardments. This reinforces the key point of the Ares Conventions – if one side violates them, all sides are free to escalate as they like, and the SLDF’s arsenal of forbidden weapons is a lot bigger and nastier than the Concordat’s.
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As far as I know the TC never actually signed the Ares Conventions, and it might be an usual treaty for a signority to use weapons banned by the treaty just because they were used against them
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I think that "So Costly a Sacrifice" was trying to convey that the Taurians had, to that point, held back from using nukes for moral reasons, rather than due to treaty limitations. A number of Vincent's troopers pull out of the mission on moral grounds. One of the young officers that sticks with Vincent is optimistic about this turning the tide, apparently not having gotten the word that Ian Cameron has already ordered the SLDF to ignore the Ares Conventions.
Neither the Taurians nor the Canopians signed the Ares Conventions. (The Taurians didn't trust the Capellans to abide by the restrictions, and the Magistracy didn't exist at that point.) However, you'll see the massive difference in the conduct of the war on the Taurian front ("So Costly a Sacrifice" and "The Theseus Knot") versus the nigh cordial conduct, partisans aside, on the Canopian front ("Fall From Grace," "Battlefields," and "A Veiled Betrayal"). The sourcebooks noted that the Combine only really got interested in the Reunification War once Ian Cameron scrapped the Ares Conventions, clearing the way for some good, old fashioned war crimes, dragon style.
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: December 19, 2581
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Far from the irradiated battlefields of Electra, now in Star League hands, Rhean Marik (still using the pseudonym of Frieda Moran) and friends enjoy the holidays on Terra at a Swiss chalet. The Princefield cadets had just concluded a month of inter-school cohesion building visits with Sandhurst, West Point, and St. Cyr (in France). Using the family estate in Troistorrents is a bit of a risk, since Rhean has already had to scramble to explain why she’s in a family portrait with Captain-General Marion Marik.
Rhean notes that it’s been 4.5 years since the Reunification War started, with no end in sight. She contrasts the “civilized” conduct of the Magistracy/FWL front against the no-holds-barred Taurian bloodbath, and expects to be thrown into the meat-grinder herself in another four or five years.
Unexpected visitors at the chalet bring news of her uncle David’s death in a car accident. His demise results in a reshuffling of the line of succession, placing Rhean’s father (and therefore Rhean herself) in line to inherit the throne of Atreus. Her cover is blown to her two best friends, but she’ll be able to continue as “Frieda” at Princefield, albeit now with a dedicated bodyguard and a thirty-man backup team.
Notes: The St. Cyr academy (located near Versailles) appears to have either lost prestige or been shuttered by 2750, as Field Manual: SDLF does not list it among the main Terran system military academies alongside West Point, Sandhurst, Frunze, and Forlough. It did apparently offer BattleMech training simulators that were cutting edge for the day.
One of the biggest fan questions prior to the fleshing out of the Reunification War with Historical: Reunification War and the fiction covering the period, was that of how the Periphery states had held out for an entire generation. To readers accustomed to the lightning-quick conquests of Operation REBIRTH, in which the Clans overran hundreds of worlds in a mere two years (taking time out to hold elections, for good measure), it seemed incredible that the mighty Star League could have taken a generation to overwhelm their outgunned and outnumbered foes.
This and other Reunification War stories help explain the slow pace. Attempts to go for a quick kill often resulted in an upset victory for the Periphery states (such as the crushing Taurian naval victory at Tentativa, or MAF commander Burquoy’s destruction of FWL supply depots on the Magistracy front). The SLDF realized that time was on its side, and resolved to conduct the war conservatively, without once again leaving themselves open to a devastating counterattack by trying to go too fast or do too many things at once. In addition, this predates FTL communications, so rear-area commanders could be working off reports weeks or even months old, forcing them to leave tactical authority to commanders on the ground, while taking a slow and plodding grand strategic approach.
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This fasinating, Thank you again for doing this project, Mendrugo.
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I think the answer to your question about St. Cyr is that it is not a main Star League facility. Who knows how many "secondary" or private facilities that were listed as such.
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I think the answer to your question about St. Cyr is that it is not a main Star League facility. Who knows how many "secondary" or private facilities that were listed as such.
I agree that St. Cyr is probably still around in 2750, but just not one of the leading institutions on Terra.
Field Manual: SLDF indicates that the SLDF operated 200+ academies (60 of which offered a comprehensive curriculum) and thousands of boot camps. All but three of the comprehensive academies were in the Terran Hegemony. The most prestigious were Sandhurst, the War Academy of Mars, and the Military Academy of Aphros.
My point was that it seems to have been good enough to have a student exchange with the ultra-prestigious Princefield in 2581, but isn't listed among the "best of the best" SLDF academies in 2750 - thus the relative loss in status. West Point and Sandhurst are still listed in the 2750 roundup, perhaps indicating that St. Cyr didn't keep pace over time.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: April 2, 2583 – April 5, 2583
Location: Cerberus
Title: Battlefields
Authors: Chris Hartford and Christoffer "Bones" Trossen
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Reunification War)
Synopsis: Three years into the Outworlds campaign, Delacour and Phillips (from the Federated Suns and Terran Hegemony, respectively) are SLDF infantrymen fighting their way through Charon City under the command of a former LCAF sergeant. They get into a firefight with an Outworlder sniper (losing their sergeant in the process), then use Inferno missiles and satchel charges to take down an Alliance Thunderbolt that had been giving an SLDF Griffin some trouble.
Notes: The hodgepodge nationalities of the troops in the squad are (probably intentionally) evocative of 1950s/1960s films about World War II, in which the squads would invariably be comprised of a multi-ethnic grab bag (Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos, etc.).
Anti-‘Mech infantry tactics have matured significantly since AFFS troopers first tried the satchel-charge-to-the-knee-joint tactic against a Hegemony Mackie in the 2450s, and got pulped for their audacity. Such tactics greatly reduce a ‘Mech’s ability to attack with impunity, especially in a dense urban environment. The Gray Death Legion got a lot of credit for "innovative" anti-Mech tactics in the 3020s, but it turns out they were just re-inventing the wheel (which, by that time, was LosTech in Trellshire ;) ).
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The Gray Death Legion got a lot of credit for "innovative" anti-Mech tactics in the 3020s, but it turns out they were just re-inventing the wheel (which, by that time, was LosTech in Trellshire ;) ).
I'm saving this for posterity ;D
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: May 2, 2584
Location: Canopus IV
Title: Battlefields
Authors: Chris Hartford and Christoffer "Bones" Trossen
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Reunification War)
Synopsis: While Rhean is riding simulators at Princefield, her grandfather, General Ian Marik, marches his Orion down the streets of Delphi City, taking small arms fire from MAF holdouts in a supposedly secured sector. Ian would clearly like to take the gloves off and lay waste to the city, but is reminded that Captain-General Marion Marik (his mother) has mandated adherence to the Ares Conventions.
Arriving at the Magestrix’s palace, he enters and is met by Magestrix Crystalla Centrella. Expecting a confrontation, Ian is thoroughly befuddled as the Magestrix seductively surrenders governmental authority to him. (Adopting a long-term stratagem of co-opting the occupier, rather than fighting them in the streets.)
Notes: This scene builds off the “Serious Business” sidebar in the Periphery sourcebook. The details are somewhat different, but that’s sufficiently covered by the sidebar being a second-hand account (that of Crystalla’s lady-in-wating) given 12 years later.
Of note, the Magestrix’s palace is in Delphi City in 2584, but has been relocated to the city of Crimson by the 31st century.
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----- 1 Month Later -----
Date: June 14, 2584
Location: Oriente
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: A month after the conquest of Canopus IV, Rhean Marik is back at Princefield, now with her personal bodyguard, Evangeline. She’s being put through an academic wringer to prepare her to eventually assume the mantle of Captain-General.
While her friends hit the pubs, Rhean puts in more time at the ‘Mech simulators, then hits the showers. A drunken Lambert Allison confronts her with rape on his mind, but is swiftly (and violently) dissuaded by Evangeline. He vows revenge and flees, still under the impression that he was putting a jumped up merchant kid in her place, as befits his noble status.
Notes: It’s telling that Allison gets off without punishment for his loutish and criminal behavior. The League, moreso than any of the other interstellar states, is a collection of powerful noble Houses whose members generally enjoy immunity from the repercussions of their actions. With a few exceptions (such as the obliteration of Regulus’ House Selaj after it was linked to a terrorist cell that tried to assassinate the leadership of House Marik), they maintain a “hands off” approach towards each other.
Of course, when exceptions happen in the League, they usually result in civil war.
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I can see a fanbook here,,,which it sould be. O0
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----- 7 Months Later -----
Date: February 18, 2585
Location: Panpour
Title: The Theseus Knot
Authors: Colin Donnelly and David McCulloch
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Commodore Theodore Rasmusen commands the Aegis-class THS Minotaur and joins the Congress-class FSS Klingenthal in battling a trio of Taurian Pinto-class raiders in the Panpour system, hoping to keep them away from a troop convoy bound for Tentativa. The Klingenthal is crippled by an internal explosion and subsequently destroyed by the Taurians, leaving the Minotaur to deal with them alone.
Rasmusen is haunted by the memories of his previous command, the THS Lakshmi, which was lost with nearly all hands in the battle for Flintoft four years earlier, when the Taurians deployed over a hundred nuke-packing “fireships” to destroy or cripple 16 SLDF warships.
Debriefing the few survivors, Rasmusen learns that the Klingenthal’s energy batteries discharged into its munitions bays, causing the explosion and rendering the ship powerless when the Pintos attacked. Given the good combat history of the Congress-class in general, Rasmusen and his officers suspect sabotage by Taurian agents. He would like to contact the main convoy and warn them of the Pintos, but their communications have been knocked out.
As the Minotaur pursues the Pintos and debates using the lithium fusion batteries to rejoin the convoy, a technical failure causes fuel to begin venting from the ship. Damage control engineers also find traces of a computer virus infesting several parts of the ship’s power net and control system. It turns out that a team of Taurian saboteurs had intended to sneak aboard the convoy’s flagship, but had been left behind when the convoy moved out ahead of schedule, and settled for wrecking the Klingenthal and Minotaur.
Rasmusen leads the charge to flush the saboteurs out of the engineering bay, and figures out that the Taurians likely planned to ambush the troop convoy at the jump point, once the flagship was sabotaged and the escorts were drawn off by the Pintos. He intends to use a pirate point to jump to the convoy and turn the tables on the Taurian ambushers.
Notes: The use of “fireships” – suicide cargo ships either equipped with a nuclear warhead or packed with scrap and conventional explosives – is an interesting development that presaged the creation of modern “pocket” warships. All that the fireships would have needed to achieve PWS status would have been to mount the nuclear warheads on ship-to-ship missiles, rather than relying on suicidal ramming attacks.
Terminology from this text suggests that the term “NL 55” refers to the bore-size of the laser emitter, referring to it as a “55 centimeter laser.” Does that imply that a standard Large Laser has an aperture 8 millimeters (0.8 centimeters) across? [Update: I've since come across references to Large Lasers as "8 centimeter lasers," so it seems that there's a non-linear increase in power output once you transition to capital-scale weapons that doesn't correspond to aperture size. The points of damage = diameter in centimeters equivalency seems to hold, however, when the order of magnitude conversion to capital scale damage is applied.]
Despite being driven from the Pleiades cluster in 2578, the Taurian navy is clearly still an active threat to SLDF troop deployments, though now reduced to planning elaborate ambushes rather than head-to-head engagements.
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: May 11, 2586
Location: Oriente
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: With graduation approaching, Rhean humiliates Lambert Allison in a capture-the-flag exercise, showing him that she doesn’t need her bodyguard to beat him in battle. Allison gets a further blow when Rhean not only beats him out for top honors at graduation, but is publicly revealed to be a Marik, and in line for the Captain-Generalship.
Notes: Princefield is shown to have fairly sophisticated infantry training courses, with exoskeletons that freeze up to simulate damage. A similar course appears in several scenes in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, used by Hanse and company on New Avalon.
Rhean’s training to eventually assume the mantle of Captain-General is evident here, as her primary concern, vis-à-vis Allison, is to take his confidence/arrogance down a notch in the hopes of making him a better line officer after graduation, rather than merely exacting personal revenge.
The Marik clan of this era appears to have significantly better familial relationships than many of the other Houses. Leonard Kurita's a drunken loon who raids Hegemony worlds looking for his bastard offspring, Viola Steiner has been totally absent from the life of her son, Kevin, while she commands the Rim Worlds front, and Ursula Liao doesn't have any children.
Thus, this graduation contrasts severely with that of Theodore Kurita, who gets top honors at Sun Zhang but is slapped down by Takashi, while Rhean basks in familial pride.
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----- 4 Months Later -----
Date: September 9-10, 2586
Location: Milvano
Title: Battlefields
Authors: Chris Hartford and Christoffer "Bones" Trossen
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Reunification War)
Synopsis: Alice Gallene, a pretty office worker on the Rim Worlds Republic world of Milvano, has to deal with the pressures of a foreign occupation by SLDF troops, officially there in a “peacekeeping” capacity. She goes with a friend to a local club, noting that drink, dance and debauchery has become routine since the occupation began, with life continuing as usual while the RRA regulars hide in the hills rather than fight the overwhelming firepower of the SLDF forces. She meets and seduces AFFS Major Thomas Hamilton and takes him back to her place...her place being a soundproofed room where her RRA cell can torture and interrogate her victim.
Notes: A later sidebar in the Historical: Reunification War sourcebook indicates that Alice managed to bag more than a dozen SLDF officers by 2588. These tactics certainly aren’t new to the Inner Sphere, having been employed against Terran Alliance marines by female partisans on Izar in the Outer Reaches Rebellion 250 years earlier, according to the Periphery sourcebook.
When meeting her victim, Alice speculates as to whether he’s an Elsie or Drac before he reveals himself as a Feddie. It’s interesting that DCMS troops would have been deployed to Milvano of all places, so close to the Free Worlds League border. From a logistics standpoint, it would seem to be more feasible to send them to assist in the fighting around Apollo, but the TO&E charts from H:RW would seem to indicate otherwise, showing four regiments of DCMS troopers assigned to Milvano. Alice’s use of the term “Elsies” for the Lyrans would seem to indicate that their preference for heavy, slow ‘Mechs has been noted and derided over the past century.
The framing of the RWR front as an occupation facing insurgents with significant popular support goes a long way to explain why the Rim campaign took 20 years to conclude. A large number of SLDF troops would have been tied down with counter-insurgency duty, making the RWR “hedgehog” fortress worlds in the core around Apollo nearly able to hold their own against the remaining forces the SLDF was able to bring to bear.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: March 19-21, 2588
Location: Wisconsin
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Now on the battlefield for real, Rhean takes part in a joint Capellan/FWL operation to crush Shepperton’s Freebooters – former CCAF regulars turned bandits – who have been using the newly settled world of Wisconsin as a base of operations. 19-year-old Rhean is a newly commissioned Lieutenant in the 1st Free Worlds Guards, and pilots a Guillotine. The Freebooters she battles surrender once they are promised that they’ll be held in FWL custody, rather than being returned to Sian.
After the battle, CCAF Colonel Sheng (CO of Cheng’s Chasseurs) enters into a dispute with the First Guards’ commander, Colonel Appleton, over the disposition of the prisoners, who expect to be beheaded if turned over to Capellan justice. Sheng is outraged to be casually rebuked by what he takes to be a junior FWLM officer, then shocked that she’s the Marik heir who calls his Chancellor “Auntie Ursula” and can swear in fluent Mandarin.
Notes: Both sides are using a hodge podge of equipment, rather than the standardization imposed by SLDF in its postwar organization. (Rhean’s lance consists of a Guillotine, Hunchback, Thunderbolt and Griffin.) The Freebooters facing the Guards are armed with a Lancelot, Crusader, and Dervish, with accompanying infantry support. Rhean’s lance destroys the infantry, Lancelot and Dervish, and accepts the Crusader’s surrender.
This account doesn’t quite match the writeup in the House Liao sourcebook, which describes the Freebooters being armed with 55 Wasps and Hornets. According to the sourcebook writeup, the bandits used their lighter equipment and greater numbers to outmaneuver the Liao/Marik taskforce’s heavier ‘Mechs and take down 16 before the last two light ‘Mechs surrendered.
Based on the Fall From Grace account, the ‘Booters had a variety of heavy and medium ‘Mechs, and were probably outnumbered by the attackers. I would hazard to guess that the 1st Free Worlds Guards and Sheng’s Chasseurs would have at least a battalion each in the field, putting the numbers at 72 vs. 55 (assuming the Liao sourcebook estimate of Freebooter strength was accurate). Since both units are commanded by Colonels, a regiment each would be more likely.
One possible way to reconcile the two accounts would be to assume that Shepperton’s Freebooters was originally at regimental strength, and that they had two battalions of light scout ‘Mechs, backed by a medium/heavy battalion. When the joint taskforce hit Wisconsin, the bandits’ 55 remaining Wasps and Hornets of the two scout battalions may have maneuvered to enjoy local numerical superiority over the League/Confederation forces as they closed in on the industrial complex that served as the Freebooters base, where the medium/heavy battalion was preparing an ambush.
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Fall From Grace - March 19-21, 2588
I've never read this short-story, but Mendrugo. Does it story read like the author was not aware or was ignoring the canon accounts from the old sourcebook material?
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The author, Chris Hartford, certainly knew the details of the sourcebook accounts. He's the author of Handbook: House Marik and thus the leading expert on all things Marik. (There's even an abandoned FWL system named for him - "Heart Fjord")
When there are discrepancies between sourcebook accounts and narrative fiction, I usually give the benefit of the doubt to the narrative fiction, and assume that the sourcebook accounts (which are usually presented as analytical reports and time-distanced third-party recountings) may be in error. ("ComStar got it wrong" is a good way to explain anachronisms and discrepancies that appear later on.) For example, the original account said that the Maskirovka detected the bandit base "near Wisconsin." Well, what does that mean? On a world within one jump of Wisconsin? In the Wisconsin system? On one of its moons? It gets sticky trying to adhere exactly to the sourcebook account, so just assuming that ComStar Demi-Precentor Adal Corvin (in-universe author of the Liao SB) meant "on Wisconsin" instead of "near Wisconsin" makes the narrative flow better.
I have no inside knowledge of what Chris Hartford's thought process in putting 'Mechs in the story in variance with the House Liao sourcebook account, but it may have been that sending the Marik heir into harm's way with only a battalion in the face of superior numbers didn't seem like something the Captain-General would do. In practical terms, it serves as a chronologically convenient backdrop for Rhean's coming of age into the Star League political/miliary arena.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: September 9, 2590
Location: Taurus
Title: So Costly A Sacrifice
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Young Samuel MacLaren enlists in the Ecole Militaire, intending to follow in the steps of his deceased father and grandfather in fighting for Taurian independence against the overwhelming might of the Star League. He’s greeted by Lance Sergeant Wembley, who served with Sam’s grandfather in the 4th Pleiades Hussars on Electra, and welcomes cadet Maclaren to the academy. Sam is surprised to hear his grandfather called a hero who inspired the men and women of the TDF to fight on against the odds.
Notes: It’s odd that Sam doesn’t know the details of the battle on Electra, where Vincent “Ram’n’Nuke” MacLaren died trying to strike a blow against Wexworth’s legions. Admittedly, without HPGs, and with the SLDF fleet keeping the system bottled up, there would have been no easy way for the details to make it off Electra (though some of the TDF troopers must have been able to extract, since the heavily scarred Wembley is now back on Taurus). If Sam’s awareness of how things went down on Electra is representative of the average Taurian-on-the-street, how was the story of Vincent’s heroic sacrifice supposed to boost morale in the Concordat? Was Sam’s mother trying to shelter him by keeping the details from him?
Also of interest, Sam has with him the toy Archer BattleMech that Vincent gave him before going off to war. He keeps it as a reminder of his heritage and duty. Yet Vincent was a tank commander, not a MechWarrior. Wouldn’t a toy Augustus MBT have had more meaning? (Not to mention that the RAT for the TDF during the Reunification War doesn’t include Archers. Still, it’s from the toyline accompanying the "Nebula Defender" kids’ show, which probably had as much in-universe realism as the later "Somerset Strikers" show, the "Immortal Warrior" series, "Kingdom of the Gypsies," or "The Adventures of Clan Spaniel," for that matter.)
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From my understanding there suppose to be a primitive Archer, so its possible the toy would been for that. Anyways, there always fantasy toys for children. Giant Robots is something child would like i would think. Just because tank would be appropriate doesn't mean they're going to give it to him.
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The Archer definitely existed during the Reunification War. My quibble was over it not being on the TDF's Age of War RAT, indicating that it wasn't considered a common Taurian design. Having it be the hero's 'Mech in "Nebula Defender" sets up a situation sort of like having James Bond driving a Russian Lada instead of an Aston Martin.
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: June 19, 2591
Location: Barcelona
Title: Memories of Rain
Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Archon Viola Steiner commands the Tamar Tigers, 25th Skye Rangers, and 4th Royal Guards, in conjunction with the SLDF’s 31st Armor Division in the campaign to “liberate” the RWR world of Barcelona from anti-Amaris partisans under the command of Franchetta Wong. However, Loki agent R. K. Jaishankar brings news that the Archon's son, Kevin, has been kidnapped by rogue members of the Estates General. Inaccurate LIC reporting places the blame on Selvin Kelswa and Aldo Lestrade – the Dukes of Tamar (since 2509) and Skye, respectively.
In unthinking rage, Viola mobilizes the 4th Royal Guards and, in her Warhammer, personally leads them in an assault against the Skye Rangers. Despite the protests of her aide, Heinrich Schwartzmann, Viola kills a Ranger sentry and then charges their encampment, guns blazing. The stunned Skye and Tamar forces fight back, and the Guards move in to protect the Archon. Heinrich tries to stop the Archon without hurting her, but she is beyond reason. The SLDF troops, under Margaret Beck, move to enter the fray, but restrict themselves to physical attacks to separate the combatants non-lethally, treating the engagement as a bar brawl.
Tamar Tiger commander Sabine Petrov attempts to talk the Archon down, but is eventually forced to engage Viola’s Warhammer, battering her cockpit with a laser and a storm of missiles from her Commando.
By the time the Archon regains consciousness, the battle has ended, and a cold rain falls upon the now quiet battlefield. She weeps, both from the pain of her shattered arm, the loss of her beloved son, and the realization of the crime she’s committed against her own people.
Notes: It’s not clear to what extent Loki is playing its own game in this scenario. Heinrich suspects that the LIC might have some ulterior motive in assigning blame to Houses Lestrade and Kelswa. The House Steiner sourcebook attributes the implication of the Dukes to wild rumors.
A further question is why a Loki agent is serving as the Archon’s LIC liaison in the field? Wouldn’t Diplomatic Security (assigned to protect high-ranking personnel) or the anti-terrorist Lohengrin be more appropriate than the LIC section that performs kidnappings and other acts of state sponsored terrorism? Perhaps Operation MAILED FIST was utilizing terror tactics against the Rim Worlds partisans and giving Loki free rein in the field in response to Rimmer terror tactics like those on Milvano in “Battlefields.”
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The Archer definitely existed during the Reunification War. My quibble was over it not being on the TDF's Age of War RAT, indicating that it wasn't considered a common Taurian design. Having it be the hero's 'Mech in "Nebula Defender" sets up a situation sort of like having James Bond driving a Russian Lada instead of an Aston Martin.
It may be that the Archer was produced in very small quantities, insufficient to make the 'Mech appear on RATs but sufficient to make those that were produced signature 'Mechs? It may be more akin to recognising the Aston Martin in the field of Morris Minors than the Lada amonst Aston Martins.
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Not that it's a big deal,,,but your 2905 date is a bit past the storys 6/19/2591.still good stuff though. O0
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Whoops. 2509. Fixed. Thanks.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: August 22, 2591
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the newly constructed Court of the Star League, Rhean visits with her Princefield classmates Madeline and Colin, and their new baby. They discuss the conduct of the war in the Magistracy, where insurgent bombings and sniper attacks continue despite the end of major combat operations in 2586. Melissa Humphreys (of the prestigious Humphreys family that will one day control Andurien) is mentioned to be serving as the Free Worlds’ administrator for the occupation.
Now that Rhean has her military training completed and has battlefield experience, the Captain-General feels it’s time to get a taste of Star League politics. Word of her Aunt Therese’s death (along with her unborn child) in a car accident brings home the reality that the political realm can be just as deadly a battlefield.
Notes: Therese was carrying the child of William Liao, and just as in 3054, the prospect of a Marik-Liao in the line of succession proved unpalatable to the House Marik upper management. Rhean knows that Therese liked to drive on manual, so her grandmother’s attribution of the death to a faulty autopilot chip rings false. It’s fairly clear to the reader that the Captain-General ordered the death of her own daughter to prevent the prospect of an interstellar succession crisis. Though cruel, it was somewhat prescient, given what happened a century later when a Davion-Kurita pairing led to a major border war.
The title of the series is “Fall From Grace,” and this is the moment at which the narrative begins to bear out that premise. Rhean, like the Star League, began with idealism, optimism, and innocence. Now, she’s beginning to see that the League is far from being the snowy white “good guys” in an interstellar drama, and that the moral high ground has long since been ceded in the interests of cold pragmatism and political opportunism.
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NP,,,,we Ravens love to broker' in information. ;D
Keep up the good work. O0
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----- 3 Months? Later -----
Date: November? 2591
Location: LCS Robert Dinesen, en route from Barcelona to Tharkad
Title: Memories of Rain
Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Viola regains consciousness aboard her personal DropShip, the LCS Robert Dinesen (named for her late husband). Her trusted aide, Heinrich, informs her of the loss of her arm, and briefs her on the ongoing LIC investigation into Kevin’s kidnapping. He also informs her that her rampage on Barcelona has become known as the “Day of Rage,” and that he hates her because she made him fire on his brothers in arms in order to protect her.
When she attempts to justify the attack as a necessary response to a revolt by her lords, he rebukes her with information that Kelswa and Lestrade have been exonerated by the LIC, and that Jaishankar’s report wasn’t actionable data or even an intelligence estimate – only a rumor. She caused hundreds of deaths for nothing. Horrified, Viola slips back into oblivion.
Notes: The section header says only “Unknown Place, Unknown Time,” but the Steiner sourcebook notes that the Archon lay near death for a month before requesting to return to Tharkad. Historical: Reunification War states that the Archon was fit for duty and requested a leave of absence in late October, to return to Tharkad. Dialogue in "Memories of Rain" clarifies that her aide, Heinrich, sent the request to withdraw to the SLDF in the Archon’s name (thereby confusing ComStar historians) as soon as she was well enough to travel, but while she was still in a coma.
It’s roughly ten jumps from Barcelona to Tharkad (nine, as the crow flies). They don’t arrive in Tharkad until mid-January of the following year, eight months after the Day of Rage. Historical: RW notes that, since they weren't on Star League business, no courier vessels were made available to the Archon’s convoy - preventing them from using a command circuit to return quickly. At a maximum, however, the trip would take 11 weeks (8 days outbound from Barcelona, 1 week to recharge at each stop, and 1 week inbound to Tharkad). This would put Viola near death from mid-June to mid-July, and then on Barcelona in a coma until departure in late October. That allows time for reports of her comatose state to reach Tharkad.
Lacking HPGs, it’s unclear how Heinrich got the LIC report about the Dukes’ innocence. Perhaps couriers with the news of their innocence were already en-route when the Day of Rage commenced, and arrived while the Archon was in a coma. The Intelligence Operations Handbook reports that the LIC began investigating the Estates General Steering Committee once they had orders to do so from the Archon, and timed their arrests to coincide with the Archon’s return to Tharkad. Coordination with the LIC probably used the SLDF courier network (just because she couldn’t travel on it doesn’t mean she couldn’t send messages ahead).
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Coordination with the LIC probably used the SLDF courier network (just because she couldn’t travel on it doesn’t mean she couldn’t send messages ahead).
Is there a canon source for the SLDF courier network? So SLDF prior to the event of the HPG commonally employed Command Circuits for communication purposes on regular basis?
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Historical: Reunifiction War p. 138, 2nd paragraph.
...though as this was not SLDF business [Viola] was not afforded the use of the SLDF's courier JumpShips and would instead require several months to return home.
p. 110 gives a duration of three days for a courier message from Terra to reach General Forlough on the Outworlds front.
Plus, there's a nice summary of interstellar communications issues on p. 25, in the "Lines of Communications and Trust" section, with details about the use of couriers and command circuits.
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Historical: Reunifiction War p. 138, 2nd paragraph.
p. 110 gives a duration of three days for a courier message from Terra to reach General Forlough on the Outworlds front.
Plus, there's a nice summary of interstellar communications issues on p. 25, in the "Lines of Communications and Trust" section, with details about the use of couriers and command circuits.
Ahh, i forgot about that. Thanks! I need re-read the book again. Been so busy lately.
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----- 2 Months? Later -----
Date: January 15, 2592
Location: Tharkad
Title: Memories of Rain
Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Estates General Speaker of the Assembly Henry Gram celebrates on the eve of his anticipated political victory, manipulating the Lyran parliament into voting to secede from the Star League. His triumphant reverie is interrupted by his associate, Ichabod Blau, who informs him that the LIC is starting to arrest all the conspirators involved in the kidnapping of Archon-Designate Kevin Steiner. Gram tries to calm Blau, noting that his steering committee has the LIC tied in knots, while Archon Viola, at last report from his spies, was still in a coma on Barcelona.
The two exit Government House through a secret corridor, only to find that it’s raining…’Mechs. (Hallelujah! ;D) The 4th Royal Guards are executing a combat drop on the Triad.
Up above, Archon Viola oversees Operation RIGHTEOUS FURY, coordinating with the LIC to seal off the roads around Government House, trapping the members of the Estates General. She’s terrified that Gram will kill Kevin if he isn’t apprehended quickly.
LIC agents apprehend Gram and bring him out to where the Archon awaits in her one-armed Warhammer. Rage consumes her, and when he attempts to give a speech about patriotism, she gives him the Geralk Marik treatment. SQUICK!
Afterwards, she seeks solitude in the Triad’s ‘Mech bays, and then solace in a flask of vodka. Heinrich confronts her, noting that she’d been drinking a lot in recent days. He takes the blame for the entire tragedy – saying he failed to protect her from whatever game Loki was playing, failed to protect her from the Commando’s missiles, and failed to protect the Archon from herself. He asks her, for the sake of her children, for the sake of her realm, to remain on Archon and not return to the war.
Viola hardens herself, and tells him that she intends to finish what she’s started.
Notes: January is stated to be Tharkan summer, which brings cold, drizzly storms. Incongruously, Prometheus Unbound earlier stated that March is Tharkan winter. So February is autumn?
As noted earlier, Blau points out that word of the Archon’s coming couldn’t have reached Tharkad ahead of her, rendering Gram’s spies ineffective in giving advance warning. However, since the Archon was presumably able to use SLDF couriers to coordinate the arrests with the LIC, it appears that Gram’s faith in his spies was misplaced, since there should have been ample opportunity for them to get a message to him via the SLDF couriers, which were pony-expressing back and forth while the 4th Guards plodded towards Tharkad.
Most likely, the couriers go back and forth from the front to Terra, and from Terra to and from the House capitals, but not from the front lines to the House capitals.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: October 3, 2593
Location: Canopus IV
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Duchess Rhean Marik is six-weeks into a tour of duty as an FWL-SLDF staff officer on occupied Canopus IV, now under the control of Melissa Humphreys. Despite an ongoing insurgency, Rhean finds life in the heavily fortified Delphi compound boring. After the briefing, discussion turns to League politics, including Leonard Kurita’s alcoholism, Ursula Liao’s disillusionment with the Star League and her efforts to impede the Reunification War’s progress, and Viola Steiner’s internal house-cleaning at the Estates General.
They are joined by a very pregnant Magestrix-designate Rinalla Centrella, who adopts more or less the same attitude towards Rhean as her mother Crystalla had towards Rhean’s grandfather Ian, to Rhean’s evident discomfort. Abruptly shifting from minx to Magestrix, Rinalla debates Humphreys over the merits of the Star League’s proposal to invest in jump-starting Canopian heavy industry and microelectronics construction, countering that the Canopians are quite happy with their “service” sector, which generates sufficient revenue that they can afford to import what they don’t make and is more fun, to boot.
Notes: Interestingly, the troops assigned to the occupation are quite multinational. A DCMS officer (of Rasalhagian descent) is shown giving an economic report to Governor Humphreys. The SLDF’s Canopian task force consisted of the SLDF VII Corps, backed up by the Marik Auxiliary Corps. According to the Star League sourcebook, the SLDF had a high level of prestige with Combine citizens, particularly once the Ares Conventions were removed, and many Combine officers jumped at the chance to liaise with and serve in it.
The main focus of the meeting is to lay the groundwork for the FWL’s “Marshall Plan”-style occupation, designed to rebuild the Magistracy as a close, friendly, prosperous ally and trading partner under the control of House Centrella. (Essentially the pre-war status quo, albeit with the Star League banner flying over everything.)
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----- 3 Years Later -----
Date: March 22-24, 2596
Location: Apollo
Title: Memories of Rain
Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: As the Reunification War winds down, Archon Viola Steiner leads the 4th Royal Guards in an assault on the 7th Amaris Legionnaires, which are defending the capital city, Terra Prime. Her trusted aide, Colonel Heinrich Schwartzmann attempts to ensure her safety, a difficult task given her apparent deathwish. Massive monsoons impede the Lyran progress, but Viola is determined to run the cut-off RWR battalion to ground before it can escape. Unfortunately, in the confusion of the storm, the Archon ends up firing on her own troops, killing battalion commander Aurelia Martinez.
The emotionally devastated Archon suggests a new plan to draw the Rim Worlder forces out of their fortifications. She plans to use herself as bait, unwilling to send anyone else to their death. Heinrich attempts to dissuade her, but he steps over the line and the Archon relieves him of duty.
The operation goes off as planned, but the Rimmers bring unexpectedly heavy firepower to ambush the Archon, using artillery to drop a canyon wall on the Lyran column. A communications failure at this crucial juncture prevents her from calling in the reserve forces to ambush the ambushers. At the reserves’ staging point, Heinrich begins to get nervous that the Archon’s call is overdue, and wants to ride to the rescue, but the new 4th Guards commander doesn’t want to disobey orders…and doesn’t really care whether Viola lives or dies.
In defiance of his orders, Heinrich takes his Striker to the ambush point and discovers the wreckage of the Archon’s escorts amongst the fallen rocks, then sends up an emergency flare (the communication jamming being still in effect). He reaches her side and drives away the Rim Worlds troops (which withdraw in the face of the late-arriving 4th Guards), but Archon Viola has suffered mortal injuries. She absolves Heinrich of responsibility, telling him “Even the finest bodyguard can’t shield his protectee from justice.”
Notes: While the original Periphery sourcebook and the Star League sourcebook indicated that Stefan Amaris, during his attempt to ingratiate himself to Richard Cameron, temporarily renamed Apollo to “Terra Prime,” in this story (and in Historical: Reunification War), Apollo’s capital city is also named Terra Prime. The only other previously named cities on Apollo are Eleazor (home to the Efrimal Long prison/barracks) and Smithtown.
The Periphery sourcebook indicated that many Republic worlds had been turned into massively fortified “hedgehog” worlds prior to the Reunification War, covered with hundreds of bunkers and other fortifications. Apollo seems to be the same, with “multiple gun emplacements and bunkers ringing the capital ” Each turret mounts twin AC/10s protected by what appears to be 2 tons of armor. The emplacements are sited in dense jungle with a cleared kill zone before them, spaced at 500 meter intervals. The turrets’ ability to traverse is limited to prevent overzealous gunners from accidentally hitting a neighboring emplacement.
The multinational nature of the SLDF operations is again evident, with reference made to support from Amaris loyalists and the 2nd Marik Corps, under the command of Duke Selaj of Regulus (not named in this story, but probably Narinder Selaj, who later plays a major role in "Fall From Grace"). Previous sourcebook accounts only mentioned atrocity laden DCMS support on the Rim Worlds front.
The RWR troops are shown using Ostrocs, Dervishes, Wasps, Victors, Griffins, and a captured SLDF Stalker. This is generally consistent with the RWR RAT in Historical: Reunification War, though that lists the Ostwar instead of the Ostroc. The Periphery sourcebook states that the Archon was overrun by rebel Warhammers and Ostsols, neither of which appear in RWR colors in this narrative (probably due to the Ostsol not existing until 2694, per TRO:3025 - good catch by author Steve Mohan, Jr.).
Given Heinrich’s use of a flare to call for help, one wonders why the Archon didn’t do the same when wireless communications proved unusable.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: July 9, 2598
Location: Canopus IV
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The Reunification War is over, and Rhean Marik continues to be posted on Canopus IV, now as Deputy Governor overseeing the Magistracy’s post-war reconstruction and incorporation into the Star League. Returning to Canopus from the funeral of her grandmother, Captain-General Marion Marik, Rhean warmly greets Rinalla’s Centrella’s daughter, Carla. Despite the initial awkwardness, Rhean and Rinalla have become close friends.
Despite the official end of the war and the closeness between the Mariks and Centrellas, security concerns remain prominent. Rhean notes that the DCMS liaison, Ragnarsson, died in a bomb blast in early 2597, and that sniper attacks on both herself and Governor Humphreys are frequent. During a horse ride with Carla through the parklands of the Magestrix’s Delphi estate, Canopian insurgents (having infiltrated Carla’s guard detail) wound Rhean’s bodyguard, Annalise, and attempt to abduct Rhean.
The attempt fails (largely due to superior bullet-proof jackets and Rhean’s quick shooting), and when Magestrix-Designate Rinalla arrives on scene, she forcibly repudiates the insurgency, noting that their “people’s war” is a war nobody wants, and that Canopus has never resorted to violence to achieve its aims.
Notes: Rhean’s bodyguard Annalise is mentioned as having had combat experience on the Taurian front and having a distinctive “Davion accent.” Given the vast array of cultures and worlds in the Inner Sphere, it’s surprising to hear that there’s an identifiable accent for the whole realm. Or perhaps the ruling Davion family has a particular accent, and Annalise happens to have the same inflection (implying that it’s more of a New Avalon accent).
Rhean’s recollections of Marion’s funeral cover a number of still active political rifts among the Star League members. Drunken maniac Leonard Kurita is absent from the proceedings, and Ursula Liao’s relations with Marion were strained (presumably over the fallout from the Wisconsin affair and the suspicious death of the unborn Marik-Liao child), while Ian Cameron and Alexander Davion were quite complementary in their eulogies. She also mentions her old Princefield nemesis, Lambert Allison, who continues to be a cad.
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I just wanted to say that I've been reading these voraciously since Mendrugo started posting them and this is honestly one of the best ideas for a thread ever. Keep this up, Mendrugo, this is some of your finest work yet.
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I hope the authors will be able to complete enough stories so they can make real books out of these stories. I agree with Kojak, Mendrugo. These reviews of short-stories are peeking my interests in them.
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There's plenty of content for years to come. At current count, my BattleTech fiction folder lists 4,681 files. My postings, to-date, cover 28 of them.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: January 2-15, 2600
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The Court of the Star League convenes on Terra, and the next generation of Inner Sphere leaders begins to come to the fore. Star League founder Ian Cameron still presides at age 86, as does 92-year-old First Prince Alexander Davion, with the assistance of his 19-year-old great-grandson, Zane, who became the presumptive heir when Ian Davion was assassinated. Norman Aris now represents the Capellan Confederation and Rhean’s father Brion speaks for House Marik, while Kevin Steiner-Dinesen (prematurely gray-haired since his ordeal with the Estates General) has the Lyran seat. Leonard Kurita is absent from the proceedings, so Rinalla Centrella rounds out the group in “observer” status.
Rhean, Kevin, Zane and Rinalla form the “kids’ clique,” forming inter-state bonds of friendship even as the members of the generation that ascended to power during the Age of War still jockey for position and call for military action against each other.
After a contentious council session in which Leonard Kurita is rebuked for his aggressive border maneuvers, the “kids’ clique” goes to Cavanaugh’s, a Unity City bar owned and operated by members of House Cameron, and a favorite hangout of the Star League elite. Kevin asks Rhean to bring her “sister” along – noting Rhean’s strong resemblance to her bodyguard Evangeline. Rampant flirting ensues, to Rhean’s discomfort and Rinalla’s delight.
After two weeks of council sessions, the “kids clique” has become fast friends, and makes after-hours sessions at Cavanaugh’s part of their routine – since it’s a place where they can relax and be themselves among peers, rather than having to focus on their roles as heads of state and/or heirs. At a going away party for Zane, the group is introduced to Lydia Petersen-Cameron and her security escort, Captain Tanya Kerensky of the Royal Black Watch. The mood of the party is dampened by Zane’s late arrival with the news that he’ll have to leave earlier than expected to escort First Prince Alexander home, so he can die on New Avalon, making Zane the new First Prince.
Notes: There must be one heck of a command circuit set up, since Zane thinks Alexander won’t live out the week, but plans to have him back to New Avalon within that timeframe. A dedicated pony-express command circuit of JumpShips could do it, but they’d have to be pre-positioned at pirate points both in the Sol and New Avalon systems, or he’d expire aboard a DropShip in transit to or from the Jump Point. If Lithium-Fusion batteries existed at this point, a ship could jump from the nadir/zenith point to a pirate point close to Terra, then jump out to join up with the command circuit, but I think this predates LF technology, so a ship would’ve had to be pre-positioned at the pirate point in anticipation of such an eventuality.
The philosophical differences between the generations are very evident here, with Rhean becoming the core of an international group of young leaders akin to Victor Steiner-Davion’s clique in the 3050s, while the older generation, which grew up during the active fighting of the Age of War, still views their neighbors as potential enemies. The Davion/Kurita split is the most contentious, due to Leonard’s drunken bellicosity and Alexander’s calls for punitive strikes.
Members of Houses Calderon, Amaris and Avellar are mentioned in passing as also being at Cavanaugh’s. They are also in “observer” status while their states remain in territorial status, rather than being full members.
Tanya Kerensky is mentioned in passing in the Star League sourcebook as a Council Chamber guard who was hit by accident when Leonard Kurita threw a bottle at First Lord Nicholas Cameron and was subsequently stabbed to death by the crazed Coordinator. "Fall From Grace" indicates that Kerensky’s ties to the Cameron family are somewhat stronger than her simply having been standing in the wrong place and the wrong time during a council session – identifying her as a member of the First Lord’s elite House regiment. (The Northwind Highlanders scenario book notes that House Cameron had kept the Black Watch tradition alive for centuries as their personal household guards, and formed that guard into a BattleMech regiment upon becoming First Lord of the Star League.)
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Notes: There must be one heck of a command circuit set up, since Zane thinks Alexander won’t live out the week, but plans to have him back to New Avalon within that timeframe. A dedicated pony-express command circuit of JumpShips could do it, but they’d have to be pre-positioned at pirate points both in the Sol and New Avalon systems, or he’d expire aboard a DropShip in transit to or from the Jump Point. If Lithium-Fusion batteries existed at this point, a ship could jump from the nadir/zenith point to a pirate point close to Terra, then jump out to join up with the command circuit, but I think this predates LF technology, so a ship would’ve had to be pre-positioned at the pirate point in anticipation of such an eventuality.
Per TacOps (pg. 323), the lithium-fusion battery debuted in 2531, so it's entirely possible that LF-equipped JumpShips were involved (and since we're talking about a Successor Lord here, I'd bet on it being a near certainty).
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Woah, i didn't think that Tanya Kerensky was also a Black Watch. For minute there i though her family could have Northwind Highlander blood in them.
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----- 3 Years Later -----
Date: December 19, 2602
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The Star League Council is in session again, and Rhean attends with her father, Captain-General Brion Marik. Rhean learns that House Marik worked to destabilize the FedSuns’ economy during the Age of War, and that House Davion is now bringing a formal protest before the council. Brion opines that the protest is a side effect of internal FedSuns politics, as young First Prince Zane attempts to show his strength to his March Lords, who chafe under the restrictions placed on them by Alexander Davion after the Varnay coup attempt. Brion justifies the FWL’s financial manipulations as a necessary gambit to force the Federated Suns into joining the Star League. Brion doesn’t want the League’s dirty laundry aired in a council session, so he asks Rhean to talk to her friend Zane to settle the matter in private. He frames it as a “test of her statesmanship.”
Rhean and Rinalla discuss the situation, with Rinalla teasing the Marik heir about being attracted to First Prince Zane. Rhean plans to have a “working lunch with a friend” to resolve the matter, framing it as a “diplomatic negotiation.” Rinalla responds that her mother, Crystalla, greatly enjoyed her “diplomatic negotiations” with Rhean’s grandfather on Canopus IV in 2584, during the occupation.
At the lunch, Zane and Rhean perform an intricate diplomatic dance that resolves the financial manipulation issue in the short term and significantly ratchets up the level of sexual tension between the two. A talented negotiator, however, Rhean gets what she wanted without having given anything away, while leaving Zane hungering for more.
Notes: The scenes between Rinalla and Rhean could be straight out of “Sex and the City” (Sex and the Star League? – Rinalla = Samantha; Rhean = Carrie; Zane = Mr. Big?) Victor/Isis evidently isn’t the first time Mariks and Davions have hit it off.
The “Fall From Grace” serial has, by this point, shifted from a “coming of age” story to galactic politics. The guns of the Reunification War have fallen silent, but political machinations and romance are in full swing. As the effective personification of the Star League, Rhean represents the alliance’s transition from a largely “all pull together to defeat the League’s enemies” attitude to more refined internal balancing of interests and desires. Her growing interest in Zane reflects her personal loss of “grace”/innocence, while the revelation that Albert and Ian used underhanded tactics to forge their “shining beacon of humanity” does the same for the League.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: September 1-19, 2604
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The story opens, in media res, just seconds after Leonard Kurita fatally stabbed Tanya Kerensky in the Star League Council chambers. Rhean and Zane are frantically providing first aid.
Flashbacks give an account of Leonard Kurita’s excesses (planet-hopping debauchery followed by abductions of children that look like him, provocative military maneuvers on border worlds, drinking and drugs). To lessen tensions, he stopped attending council sessions, leaving the duty of representing the Combine to Siriwan McAllister-Kurita.
However, Leonard chose to attend the 2604 session, and arrived late and drunk, clutching a bottle of whisky and ranting at Nicholas Cameron – accusing him of trying to gut the Combine and steal his children. He concluded by tossing the empty bottle at the First Lord, missing and hitting Tanya Kerensky instead as she jumped in front of Nicholas. The impact caused her laser rifle to trigger, singing Kurita’s robe. Enraged, he leaped forward and stabbed her in the chest. His aide, Yatomo, rushed Leonard out the door and prevented any security personnel from following as the rest of the council erupted into a furor. Zane, Rhean and Nicholas Cameron worked to save Tanya, but to no avail.
In the aftermath, a still shocked Rhean wonders what will come of the Coordinator’s parting statement – tantamount to a declaration of war against the Star League. She offers FWL support in any conflict with House Kurita.
Rhean ponders the injustice of a lout like Leonard Kurita (not dissimilar to her earlier antagonist Lambert Allison) enjoying power and impunity while a good person like Tanya is dead, leaving a three year old child without a mother. Zane Davion comes to comfort her, and the emotion of the moment drives them to kiss. Zane tells her he “knows a place.”
The place turns out to be a French villa, where Rhean awakens the next day with memories of champagne, a shuttle flight, passion on the lakeshore, and … oops … where are my pants? She finds Zane putting the finishing touches on breakfast. Rhean wonders what impact this will have on their legal issues from two years previously, noting that relations at this level aren’t just about sex – it’s politics. Zane responds that he never mixes business and pleasure. Further “diplomatic negotiations” commence, as Rinalla would say.
Two weeks later, still on Terra, Rhean attends the huge public memorial service for Tanya Kerensky in Red Square, Moscow. In the weeks since the murder, all the great families of the Inner Sphere have gathered to show solidarity with the Camerons and the Star League. Rhean is joined by her four brothers. Unfortunately for Rhean’s romantic entanglement with Zane, he’s joined by his wife, Elaine Romera, and their four-month-old daughter, Sarah.
Tanya Kerensky is interred at the Novodevichiy Convent, alongside such famous Russians as Chekov, Eisenstein, Gogol, Gorbachev, and Tikonov. Rhean can’t focus on the ceremony, however, as she’s enraged and hurt by the fact of Zane’s marriage. Zane apologizes, and says that he views marriage as an open arrangement, and that he’d assumed Rhean knew he’d been married for four years. He argues that Rhean could have had her intel service do a background check, if she’d really cared about such things. Zane and Rhean share a final kiss, then she slaps him in the face and breaks off their relationship.
Notes: If Tanya’s child is three in 2604, she was probably in early pregnancy when she first met Rhean in 2600. As the Black Watch consists of fanatically loyal, highly elite troops in House Cameron’s personal service, it’s not surprising that she’d be able to return to active duty after a maternity leave.
The Star League sourcebook account’s wording implies that the badly thrown bottle hit a council chamber guard and accidentally triggered the rifle shot. This account clarifies that Tanya was there as the First Lord’s personal bodyguard, and that she jumped in front of Nicholas to protect him from Leonard’s assault. A later mention is made that Rhean’s bodyguard, Evangeline, followed her out of the chambers, while Leonard had an aide named Yatomo watching his back.
This implies that each delegation had their own bodyguards with them in the council chambers, and that the council members weren’t subject to screening before entering the chambers (letting Leonard bring in a knife, for example). It brings to mind an anecdote from the Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary, noting that as political tensions increased in the 1850s, members of Congress began carrying personal sidearms when in session. How heavily armed were Star League council delegates and their bodyguards when in the council chambers? One would think that a strict “no-weapons except for neutral guards” (like the Clans’ Ebon Keshik) rule would be a good policy.
This still predates the establishment the HPG communications network, so it would have taken somewhat more effort for Rhean to catch up on FedSuns society pages than in the 31st century. Given the mention of courier ships in “Memories of Rain,” it’s probable that each capital was linked to Terra by dedicated command circuits of JumpShips on standby, allowing news of the attack to reach the centers of power quickly, and for the ruling families to reach Terra in time for the funeral. (One day travel time each way, plus 8-15 days of in-system transit time to/from jump points.) [Author Chris Hartford confirms that each House Lord had a command circuit set up between Terra and their capital world.]
Another mention is made of a distinctive Davion accent, which is described as having ‘crisp tones.’ It’s more understandable for such an accent to be applied to Zane, since he is a Davion, after all. I can’t recall whether Hanse, Victor or any other Davions were ever noted as having an accent. If not, it may be that the accent faded with the centuries. The Star League Standard English that Rhean and the others are speaking certainly changed over time, since the Clan sourcebooks note that the Clanner use of Star League Standard English (albeit without contractions) sounds archaic to the 31st century Spheroid ear. (Horrors! It could be that Hanse’s “Davion accent” isn’t remarkable because everyone talks like that in 3025! :o)
Interesting to see Oleg Tikonov in the list of famous Russians buried at the convent. I guess they managed to find enough pieces after the bomb blast, before the USSR was torn apart by the 2nd Soviet Civil War.
Chris Hartford has revealed a number of Easter Eggs seeded into this chapter: Rhean’s bodyguard Evangeline Sukhanov (Evie for short) is a distant ancestor of Zhang Sukhanov, founder of a Snow Raven bloodline. The balcony where Zane and Rhean have breakfast is the same one seen in the MechWarrior novel “Sword of Sedition,” where Caleb Davion pitches his father over the railing to his death. All of Rhean’s dogs through the story are named after characters from the Illiad.
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----- 3 Months Later -----
Date: December 22, 2604
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall from Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean’s brother Albrecht stops to buy flowers on his way to bring a secret document connected to the death of his aunt Therese (William Liao’s wife). Unaware of the irony, he notes that the document’s contents are “explosive.” Seconds after leaving the flower shop, his car detonates, killing him.
Captain-General Brion Marik is interrupted by his head of security, Ross MacArthur, who informs him there’s been an incident, and escorts him to where other Mariks in the palace have been gathered. Brion orders Rhean to liaise with the National Intelligence Agency in addition to her work coordinating the logistics for FWLM support for an SLDF war with the Draconis Combine.
Notes: Agent MacArthur seems a little too on top of the situation. The echoes from the blast have no sooner reached Brion’s ears than he enters with full details on the situation. (Literally seconds after the blast – not even enough time for Brion to reach for the intercom button.) Since it was probable that the document concerned Marion Marik’s involvement in Therese’s death and resultant pruning of the Marik-Liao branch of the family tree, it looks like the assassination order was done to cover it up, and that MacArthur is in on it.
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----- 5 Days Later -----
Date: December 27, 2604
Location: Marik
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean, abruptly promoted to “Warden of the Perimeter Defenses” following Albrecht’s death, presides over a strategy planning meeting of the Seven Sons of Solon at FLWM HQ on Marik, conferring with Duke Narinder Selaj of Regulus (whom she displaced as Warden), NIA Director Maria Kreiss, and her old nemesis Lambert Allison, now Duke of Oriente. They report that, as of December 12th, First Lord Cameron was massing the SLDF near Dieron, while rumors of mysterious deaths among the Kuritan ruling family have been leaking out of the Combine. If the Leonard Kurita crisis isn’t resolved diplomatically, the SLDF timeline calls for an offensive in March 2605, once the FWL’s task forces (Eagle and Hawk) arrive.
Rhean attempts to establish confidence in her command abilities, despite her lack of significant military command experience at this level. She discusses Albrecht’s death and says that the early investigations point to pirates that Albrecht was investigating. However, once she leaves the room, Lambert and Narinder exchange highly suspicious comments. Lambert still bears intense personal animosity towards Rhean from their time together at Princefield.
Notes: The command circuits used by Great House leaders can really get you where you want to go quickly! Rhean went from the surface of Atreus to the surface of Marik in five days. For reference, it’s 16 days from Atreus to its standard jump points, and nearly six from Marik’s jump points to the surface. The FWL must have had JumpShips on standby at pirate jump points close to each planet, as well as command circuits on standby between major worlds. Historical: Reunification War notes that the expense of maintaining so many command circuits of JumpShips was a factor that severely limited the size of Great House WarShip fleets during the Age of War and Reunification War.
Rhean probably transmitted news of Albrecht’s death immediately upon entering the system at a pirate jump point, since it’s doubtful a courier ship could have arrived before she did to bring the news from Atreus. (Not impossible, though, since the SLDF’s courier network was clocked at bringing a message from Terra to the Outworlds Alliance border in three days). Of course, there are other ways that Lambert and Narinder could know about Albrecht’s demise…
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Dec 27th 2604, Fall from Grace.
Did you get the impression that arthur may have goofed on how much of time glad there was suppose to be considered there no HPG and limits of a JumpShip courier service?
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Author Chris Hartford has stated that while the transit times are tight, he wanted to show that the pre-HPG era was characterized by vast networks of JumpShip command circuits for sending messages via couriers and for transporting VIPs. It was expensive, but seen as vital for allowing a central authority to administer a far flung star empire. Since speed would have been a priority, it wouldn't make sense to have the first-leg ship waiting at the zenith or nadir point, since that would add a week or more.
As Kojak pointed out, L-F batteries allowing double-jumps debuted in the 2500s, so the timing works if you assume that the rulers of the Star League had L-F battery-equipped personal transports that could link to command circuits. (In a later installment, Rhean notes that the trip to Terra involves making three jumps a day along the command circuit.)
The expense of having so many expensive JumpShips on standby means that only high priority message and the most important individuals can use the networks, while commercial goods and lower priority communiques have to go the slow way of jump-recharge-jump. Notably, even the Lyran Archon was denied the use of the SLDF courier network because her reason for travel was an internal Lyran matter, and not official SLDF business.
As far as word of Albrecht's death preceding Rhean, information can be transmitted to the zenith or nadir jump points much faster than ships can travel, allowing a courier on standby at the regular point to get the message and be on their way before Rhean could have gotten offworld to the nearest pirate point herself. The only issue there is that if the courier went out over the network from Atreus to Marik, then the ships would still be recharging when Rhean tried to follow the same route. (It's possible, I guess, for there to be substantial redundancy to prevent a heavily trafficked command circuit from being exhausted - further increasing the expense.)
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----- 6 Years Later -----
Date: November 2, 2610
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At a reception on Terra, Rhean (now 42) chats with Tomasina Cameron, who as a little girl provided the inspiration for the lopsided “Cameron Star” that became the Star League emblem. Rhean is accompanied by her fiancé, Baron Carlton Allison of Oriente, but despite his love for her, she doesn’t feel the same passion she felt for Zane. However, Captain-General-Dad Brion Marik has ordered her to get to work producing heirs (telling her to choose or have someone chosen for her), and the two are due to be wed in June of 2611.
Coordinator Sanethia Kurita is also in attendance, having ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne following Leonard Kurita’s sudden, and providential, death (rumored to have been engineered by the venerable Siriwan Kurita).
Amid the press of meet-and-greets, she ends up face to face with Zane Davion, with whom she’s not spoken since Moscow. He says that one of his aides is distracting Rhean's fiancé, and he just wants to talk. He advises her not to get trapped in a loveless marriage, like his. They argue. They kiss. Zane “knows a place.” “Diplomatic negotiations” ensue.
Notes: Another episode of “Sex in the Star League” (followed by an encore presentation of “Rinalla Does Regulus”). What is it with Marik women and Davion men? (Rhean/Zane; Isis/Victor)
There are a lot of quick references to major events elsewhere in the Sphere – notably the peaceful resolution of the Leonard Kurita problem, after he succumbed to the traditional chronic case of “bad eels” that crops up whenever the rest of the Kurita clan judges the Coordinator to be overdue for a dinner date with his revered ancestors.
Despite Rhean’s stated intent to reign alone and childless, passing the Captain-Generalship to one of her brothers or their heirs, her father is insisting that she have some of her own. Not an unreasonable request for House Marik, since two of Rhean’s brothers have already died – Brion is worried that there might not be any left by the time she’s ready to pass the baton.
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----- 5 Months Later -----
Date: March 27-28, 2611
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean joins her old Princefield classmate Madeline for breakfast. Madeline is now a Star League Commissioner, while Rhean has been Warden of the Perimeter Defenses for five years. She informs Madeline that Lambert Allison continues to be an argumentative bastard.
Rhean has been feeling unwell for months – headaches and now recurrent nausea. Madeline asks if it’s morning sickness (which would be awkward, given that the marriage isn’t for another three months), but Rhean denies it. She promises to get a medical checkup that afternoon.
Later, in the Parliamentary Grand Hall, Lambert Allison awaits Rhean’s arrival with his younger brother (Rhean’s fiancé) Carlton. He needles Carlton with the insinuation that Rhean and Rinalla Centrella are lovers.
After Carlton is paged and abruptly leaves, Lambert chats with Narinder Selaj, making cryptic references to “the Alliance” they had with Marion Marik, Rhean’s grandmother. Lambert notes that Selaj has been giving the orders and formulating policy, and admires him for being vicious, dangerous, and beloved at the same time. Their discussions are cut off by Narinder’s news that Rhean has been diagnosed with cancer.
The following day, Rhean still struggles to come to terms with the diagnosis of an aggressive and malignant brain tumor. Carlton Allison comes to comfort her and offer support, but she tells him she can’t marry him – saying it would be unfair to him. He protests, telling her he’ll do anything for her, get her anything she wants. As he departs, she whispers “Zane.”
Notes: Rhean earlier suspected that Marion had ordered the death of Therese Marik and her unborn half-Liao child. Now we have apparent confirmation that Marion Marik, Narinder Selaj and House Allison (probably Lambert’s father, since Lambert would have been too young to be involved in such activities) formed a secret Alliance when Marion was Captain-General. Albrecht was clearly killed because he’d stumbled onto evidence of the Alliance, implicating Marion.
Just imagine if it had been morning sickness, though? “Victor – we’ve got some unusual results back from the bloodwork on Isis, Thomas and Joshua. Joshua matches Thomas now, and Isis was confirmed as Thomas’ daughter after the bombing. However, Isis and Joshua don’t match. Thomas Marik is an imposter! Also, just for kicks, we ran Isis’ bloodwork against yours, and it turns out that you’re cousins!”
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: March 12, 2612
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: One year into chemotherapy for her cancer, Rhean has lost her hair and is gaunt and emaciated. Brion Marik argues with Rhean about whether she’s well enough to attend a session of the Star League council. Brion (whose own health is failing) needs to bring an heir, and suggests Rhean’s younger brother Quentin, and that he can’t risk her collapsing at a meeting with the Dukes of Regulus and Oriente in attendance. He relents, and allows her to attend, with Melissa Humphreys (a Duchess, but not linked to Andurien - which is a Capellan holding at this point) and her brother Quentin as advisors.
Notes: Cancer remains one of the unsolved scourges of mankind, even in the Star League era. The disease strikes Selanta Amaris in 2649, Michael Cameron in 2690,and Marco Steiner in 2952. Cancer isn’t terribly common in the Marik line, with only Stephan Marik – Janos & Anton’s father – noted as dying of it in 2990.
It’s interesting that with all the training and preparation lavished on Rhean, her brothers are regarded as significantly less qualified to fill her shoes. Slacking off on their “just in case” preparations seems a major oversight for a House that’s particularly prone to cases of “sudden onset regicide.”
Continuing the serial’s theme of having Rhean as the personification of the Star League, her cancer would seem to reference the growing corruption within the League. (The metaphor gets a bit temporally strained, though, since the Periphery tax shenanigans, secret border wars, and eventual Amaris coup won’t take place for more than a century.)
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----- 1 Month Later -----
Date: April 4 – July 2, 2612
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean and Melissa Humphreys talk during their DropShip’s entry into Terra’s atmosphere. Melissa addresses the Zane Davion situation, letting Rhean know that her “diplomatic negotiations” with him in France were reported by the security details, though Melissa chose to keep Brion out of the loop. Having spent 20 years as governor of Canopus, very little shocks her, and she offers Rhean a secluded place in Switzerland where she can meet Zane without risking a public scandal.
However, Zane fails to arrive at their rendezvous. His wife, Elaine, arrives instead. She warns Rhean to stay away from Zane, and says that she’s well aware of his “wandering eye.” He’s apparently bedded scores of palace maids and junior staffers. She’s more concerned that a falling out between Rhean and Zane could lead to war. She threatens to leak recordings of Rhean’s 2610 fling with Zane if she persists, and Rhean agrees to back off.
After weeks of council sessions, Rhean meets with Rinalla and Carla Centrella. Rinnalla reveals that she’ll be stepping down as Magestrix due to a cancer similar to Rhean’s, which will kill her inside of six months. She says she intends to go out partying.
As the spring session recesses for the summer, the delegations go their separate ways. Rhean and Rinalla watch “Sword-one” depart with Zane aboard. Rinalla and Rhean say final farewells, and the Magestrix exhorts Rhean to continue fighting to live.
Tragedy strikes again, as Rhean’s brother Quentin suffers a fatal heart attack. This leaves only her younger brothers David and Ward, plus Quentin’s 14-year old son Tomas, behind Rhean in the line of succession.
Notes: The section of Fall From Grace focuses on endings. More of the Marik family meet early ends (Brion dies little more than a year later), and the ever full-of-life Rinalla also succumbs. Rhean’s love affair with Zane is decisively terminated.
Zane Davion appears to have had more in common with Leonard Kurita than was previously thought, though at least he didn’t send troops to round up any children that may have resulted from his innumerable affairs. Elaine Davion’s reference to Zane as a ‘charming bastard’ turns out to be more correct than Rhean knew. According to Handbook: House Davion, the Star League courts finally ruled on the financial manipulations that the Mariks had engineered in the Federated Suns (and which Rhean and Zane were supposed to be resolving through “diplomatic negotiations”), awarding trillions of SL dollars in damages to House Davion (seizing and transferring FWL and Marik assets within the Federated Suns and Terran Hegemony to the Federated Suns) during the Captain-Generalcy of Rhean’s nephew Tomas, sending the FWL’s economy into a nosedive while Zane presided over a “golden age” for the Federated Suns.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: May 2 – June 10, 2614
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Captain-General Rhean Marik (since her father’s death in mid-February), attends yet another Star League council session, assisted by Duchess Melissa Humphreys (now in her 80s). She exchanges pleasantries with her peers – Archon Kevin Steiner, Coordinator Sanethia Kurita, and First Lord Nicholas Cameron, but acknowledges First Prince Zane Davion with cool formality.
This session is devoted to interstellar communications, and the debate over levying taxes on member states to pay for maintenance and expansion of the courier service. Kevin Steiner suggests research into drone JumpShips, which could improve communication times from Terra to House capitals from 3-4 weeks down to one week, with careful scheduling. Rhean puts forth the idea of sending radio signals through hyperspace, noting progress by the FWL’s Rhylene HyperTech on a theoretical model.
Towards the end of the spring session, Rhean catches up with Madeline. She complains that the business of the Star League is being complicated by feuding between Houses Calderon and Cameron, penny-pinching by Sundermann Liao, and tension between Rhean and Zane. Rhean laments to Madeline that Lambert Allison never misses an opportunity to comment on how she ruined Carlton’s life by breaking off the engagement. She mentions that the three leading families of the FWL – Marik, Allison and Selaj, once had a mutually supporting Triumvirate agreement, but that Albert Marik’s ascension to the Star League council had pushed the other Dukes to the background. Madeline suggests she have her brothers David and Ward look into whether Lambert and Narinder are up to something.
Notes: The technical discussions at the council meeting lay the groundwork for two key pieces of Star League technology – the HyperPulse Generator for instantaneous interstellar communications and the drone JumpShips which eventually evolved into the League’s Achilles heel – the automated drone warships that comprised the mobile element of the Hegemony’s space defense systems.
The ‘Triumvirate’ reference begins to shine some light on Lambert Allison’s reference to “the Alliance” with Marion Marik and Narinder Selaj. It’s interesting to ponder whether Marion made some special arrangements with the Dukes of Regulus and Oriente to take covert action to keep the FWL from getting sucked too deeply into Albert Marik’s beloved Star League. (For example – a Marik-Liao child in the line of succession could have been leveraged to further unify the states of the Inner Sphere, Federated Commonwealth-style, which is an outcome that many in the old guard would, and did, oppose.)
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: May 9-19, 2615
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean attends a soccer match with Magestrix Carla Centrella to watch Carla’s husband Curtis Yakubu play. The recently wed Carla is expecting her first child, though Rhean recalls NIA reports that Curtis has a “wandering eye” similar to Zane.
As the Star League council plows through economic and military planning issues the following day, Rhean collapses and is raced to the hospital. Nicholas Cameron suggests experimental gene therapy pioneered by House Davion. Rhean sees that Zane is in the hospital room, and the cold distance of the past few years evaporates.
Rhean lapses into a coma during treatment, going through an extended dream sequence. She envisions herself as a Warhammer, striding through a vivid green landscape, destroying a pristine forest. The scene shifts, and she’s now on Atreus (still as a ‘Mech). Striding to Parliament, she sees Lambert Allison on the steps, laughing at her. Enraged, she lays waste to the capital trying to get him, but fails. The scene shifts to the Court of the Star League. A demonic Leonard Kurita exhorts her to destroy it, while an angelic Rinalla cautions her to look elsewhere for the causes of her trouble. The scene shifts to Avalon City. Striding towards the palace, she finds her way blocked by Elaine and Sarah Davion. Sarah screams at Rhean – “You can’t have Daddy!” Banished from New Avalon, Rhean feels herself falling, then awakens in the hospital, with Zane bending over her. He informs her that the treatment seems to be working.
Notes: The dream sequence hearkens back to the story’s prelude, at which 3-year-old Rhean announced that she wanted to be a Warhammer when she grew up. All around her, she sees her family and friends creating life and going for what they want, but she feels that all she can do is destroy.
The success of the gene therapy against Rhean’s cancer is interesting, given the number of high profile cancer deaths among ruling families in the coming centuries. Either it’s not a full cure, only works for certain types of cancer, or else the treatment became LosTech during the Succession Wars.
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Its going to be interesting how this story going turn out. If we'll see if Rhean lived beyond 2616, with Handbook Marik mentioning how there conspircy theory she lived heck of alot longer.
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If you're impatient, you can buy the finale here: http://www.battlecorps.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2179 from the BattleShop.
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----- 7 Months Later -----
Date: November 17 – December 11, 2615
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean, still recovering from her cancer, attends a session of the FWL parliament on Atreus. She feels the antipathy of many of the MPs towards her – especially those from the Oriente and Regulus blocs. Speaker Shavpurtray asks how long until she departs for Terra again, causing her to think fondly of Zane.
At the end of the parliamentary session, in December, Lambert and Narinder discuss Rhean’s departure and the prospects for controlling young Tomas Marik – just seventeen years old and still at Princefield. They discuss the option of eliminating Rhean, should she interfere with their plans, and obliquely reference their involvement in the killings of Therese and Albrecht. Narinder mentions that NIA Director Kreiss supports the conspiracy, and views Rhean’s romance with Zane as a national security matter. Lambert and Narinder resolve to seek actionable evidence so they can indict Rhean and propel Tomas into the Captain-Generalcy while he’s still young and malleable.
Notes: Rhean torments the Regulan speaker of Parliament, who has hyperspace transit disorientation syndrome (aka ‘jump sickness’), with a description of the trip to Terra. It takes five days to make the 15 jumps, doing three per day along the command circuit. Going back to “Memories of Rain,” that means that the couriers between Barcelona and Tharkad could have put Viola on top of the Estates General in four days, rather than the 11 weeks it took to go it alone.
The fact that the NIA is working with a shadowy conspiracy is intriguing. The Intelligence Operations book says that the NIA helped House Marik stay one step ahead of opposing factions in Parliament, while routinely lying to Parliament about its activities and falsifying records of operations. The discovery of this double dealing led to a public scandal and the creation of SAFE. Yet here, the NIA director is assisting the opposing factions against House Marik.
The Covert Operations book adds more details, dating the beginning of the NIA’s corruption from 2588 and its disbandment to 2631. That timeline would seem to link it to Marion Marik’s shadowy “Triumvirate Alliance” with Selaj and Allison. Covert Ops says that the graft and corruption allowed NIA agents to pursue their own private agendas and those of their patrons – an apt description of Kreiss’ actions. This would seem to confirm that Brion Marik’s head of security, Ross MacArthur, was a little too efficient in responding to Albrecht’s assassination.
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----- 1 Month Later -----
Date: December 23, 2615 – January 19, 2616
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The gene therapy has allowed Rhean to recover enough to renew her affair with Zane on Terra. Zane no longer cares what Elaine thinks, and his daughter/heir Sarah has made her peace with the relationship.
Rhean realizes she needs to focus more on preparing Tomas to succeed her as Captain-General. At his 18th birthday in January, Rhean hosts a party for him in Unity City. She notices tensions between Tomas and her friend Madeline’s son Andrew – likely over Tomas’ relationship with Andrew’s sister. Her bodyguard, Evie, reveals that her own son Jake has been informally keeping an eye on Tomas at Princefield.
With delegations from most of the Great Houses in attendance (minus Avellar and Liao), Rhean formally designates Tomas as her successor as Captain-General and delegate to the Star League Council. At the party, Rhean and her peers chat, while their children bond (and flirt) as well – not unlike when Rhean was at the core of the “kids’ clique” in the Star League’s early days.
Rhean has to excuse herself from the party due to illness. Morning sickness, to be precise…
Notes: Dynastic unions have always been a major conflict driver in the Inner Sphere. Therese was assassinated to prevent a Marik-Liao from entering the mix, and now we have a Marik-Davion potentially in direct line of succession. A similar situation a century later led to a major Davion/Kurita border war over the question of succession. Not to mention the chaos that ensued from the whole Steiner-Davion business. (Hmmmm – seeing a common theme that adding “-Davion” to an heir’s name leads to carnage.) This probably isn’t going to end well.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: March 12-15, 2616
Location: Atreus
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Rhean breaks the news of her pregnancy to the ruling elites of the Free Worlds League, but does not disclose the identity of the father. However, it’s clear to her from the expressions on Lambert’s and Narinder’s faces that they suspect. Selaj questions whether the child’s lineage could create a diplomatic crisis.
In private, Lambert, NIA Director Maria Kreiss, and Narinder discuss options. Lambert suggests an ultimatum – resign within 48 hours or die. Kreiss worries that if she accepted resignation, the potential for political disruption would remain. Selaj says that anything that would get Rhean out of power and her child removed from the line of succession would be acceptable, and the conspirators resolve to build a coalition among the other noble houses and in Parliament to force Rhean out.
The next day, Rhean ponders the petition calling for her resignation, backed by everyone except for her brothers, Melissa Humphreys, and General Pagliarulo – her former commandant at Princefield. Tomas advises her to fight Regulus and Oriente, and says he doesn’t want the job of Captain-General. Rhean tells him that she’s been training to be Captain-General since she was thirteen, but her cancer has changed her perspective. Though her predecessors ruled for decades, she might have only months left, and would very much like to enjoy what time she has left.
On the 15th, Rhean signs a document announcing that she’s stepping down “for health reasons,” passing the Captain-Generalcy to her nephew Tomas. Lambert chortles over Rhean’s departure, and tells her to be gone as soon as possible. Narinder suggests that a camera crew could record a statement from Rhean for the press. Instead of the camera crew, however, Carlton Allison (Rhean’s former fiancé) enters and pulls a silenced pistol on Rhean and her unarmed bodyguard Evangeline.
Without warning, he shoots the two guards dead, and informs Rhean that Lambert had planned for the guards to kill them once they were off-world and out of public view. He reveals that Narinder Selaj gave the orders, and has been ordering similar assassinations over the years to protect the power of the Triumvirate – originally an alliance of the heads of Houses Marik, Allison and Selaj to subvert Parliament. He confirms that Marion Marik ordered Therese’s death in order to maintain the purity of the family line.
With some equipment (guns, uniforms, security passes) from Carlton, Rhean and Evangeline attempt to escape. Evangeline and Rhean switch clothes, since Evangeline looks enough like Rhean to serve as a body double. Evie draws off the guards, while Rhean makes for the exit in an escape van. Smashing through a security barrier, she speeds onto the streets of Atreus City and heads for the rendezvous point. However, a Triumvirate Griffin is waiting for her there, and destroys her vehicle, despite a last-minute attempt by a loyalist Locust to intervene.
Lambert and Narinder crow over their victory, once the DNA confirms Rhean’s death. They put out the story that Rhean died in her sleep, and begin making plans to deal with Tomas. Selaj later meets with Tomas and informs him of his status as a powerless figurehead, as long as Selaj controls the FWLM as the Warden of the Perimeter Defenses, noting that the FWL can get along without a Captain-General, if need be. Tomas shows some steel, however, reminding Selaj that he remains Duke of Atreus.
Notes: Uff da! A big finish to Chris Hartford’s massive “Fall From Grace” storyline. One that should, by all rights, be ranked along with the main spine novels like ‘Heir to the Dragon,’ given that both chronicle the life of an Inner Sphere leader and touch on pretty much every major event that took place in the Sphere during that period, giving it a living immediacy that doesn’t come from a dry sourcebook entry. The author notes that he modeled “Fall From Grace” on the structure of HttD, though Rhean Marik’s tale has more politics than action, compared to Theodore Kurita’s.
Of note, Rhean barely appears in the original Marik sourcebook, and just gets a sidebar listing in Handbook: House Marik, with a notation that some conspiracy theorists think she was the victim of an assassination plot. Hartford took that small blurb (which, granted, he also wrote) and fleshed it out into a novel spanning the founding of the Star League, Reunification War, and more politics than you can shake a stick at. Well done!
Though the antagonists come out on top, many of them have sown the seeds of their own destruction. Narinder Selaj’s hostility towards Tomas Marik foreshadows the coming showdown between the Mariks and the Regulan rulers, which peaks with the Regulan-backed Scourge of Death’s attempt to wipe out the Mariks wholesale by bombing a family retreat in 2678, and the subsequent expulsion of House Selaj from the Free Worlds League. Likewise, the NIA’s involvement in the Triumvirate conspiracy to undermine Parliament is what brings about its dissolution in 2631 and replacement by an intentionally handicapped SAFE.
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Wow, what ending for her. I kept thinking she escaped due to what the Family Tree suggested.
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He hasn't come to the epilogue yet.....*whistles innocently*
Seriously, this and Bonfire of Worlds were one of the best two reasons to have a BC Subscription.
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----- 9 Months Later ----
Date: December 2, 2616
Location: Bellatrix
Title: Instant Fame
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Scenario (Northwind Highlanders)
Synopsis: Ajax’s Avengers, disreputable mercenaries formed by troops demobilized in the post-Reunification War peace, had turned bandit and tried to take over the Capellan colony on Bellatrix. The Second Battalion of McCormack’s Fusiliers was dispatched to eliminate them, but found themselves facing a whole regiment. The Highlanders’ superior tactics turned the tide and put the Avengers to flight.
This scenario takes place during the mopping up on Bellatrix’s southern continent, pitting middle-weight Highlander ‘Mechs against eight Heavy/Assault ‘Mechs from Ajax’s Avengers. The terrain is fairly open, with clusters of woods providing some cover, and the Snowfall rules (+1 penalty on all to-hit rolls, +1 penalty on all piloting rolls, PSRs required when jumping into woods, +1 penalty to the TN when jumping into heavy woods) apply.
The Avengers’ goal is sheer survival. They get only 7 points for taking out a Highlander ‘Mech, while the Highlanders get 15 for bringing down an Avenger ‘Mech. The Avengers get a 5 point bonus for each ‘Mech that survives to the end of Round 15.
Notes: The sourcebooks refer to social problems that developed after the Reunification War ended. With no more enemies to fight, huge numbers of professional soldiers who couldn’t make the cut for the SLDF or the downsized House militaries hit the open market as mercenaries or, in many cases, bandits. It’s odd that Ajax’s Avengers believed that they could knock over the local militia and simply take over a member world of a Great House/Star League Member State without fear of retaliation, since their former colleagues in the SLDF (not to mention the CCAF) would be only too happy to get some action by putting them down hard. Perhaps they did something to take out the courier JumpShips in the system, and assumed that the system would just fall off the maps if nobody heard from it in a while. (Heck, it worked for ComStar during the 1st Succession War…)
As with the previous Northwind Highlanders scenario, “Rebirth,” the TO&E for the two forces is rife with anachronisms. Most designs are from TRO: 3050. The author’s goal, of course, was to show that Star League-era ‘Mechs were superior to 3025-era downgrades, and there was a limit to what ‘Mechs Randall Bills had to work with when he compiled the book. Given the greater details we now have of this era, the scenario should be seen as more of an approximation of a historical engagement, rather than an accurate recreation.
Using the Historical: Reunification War RATs, I’d recommend the following substitutions:
Highlanders
1st Company Command Lance:
STC-2D Striker -> STC-2C Striker
ON1-M Orion -> ON1-C Orion
DV-7D Dervish -> DV-6M Dervish
GRF-1DS Griffin -> GRF-1N Griffin
2nd Company Command Lance
ARC-4M Archer -> ARC-1A Archer
RFL-5D Rifleman -> RFL-1N Rifleman
OSR-2D Ostroc -> OSR-2C Ostroc
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk -> SHD-1R Shadow Hawk
Recon Lance
CLNT-3U Clint -> FRB-1E Firebee (The Clint debuted in 2607, but Capellan-aligned mercs probably wouldn’t have access to cutting edge designs intended for the exclusive use of SLDF regulars only nine years later.)
COM-5S Commando -> FLC-4N Falcon (The Commonwealth went to great pains to keep the Commando exclusively in Lyran hands during the Star League era, so the Capellan-made Falcon seems more appropriate.)
FS9-S Firestarter -> FS9-A Firestarter
Ajax’s Avengers
Command Lance
WHM-7M Warhammer -> WHM-6R Warhammer
ZEU-9S Zeus -> BWP-2B Ymir (the Zeus didn’t debut until 2787, per current canon)
HBK-5M Hunchback -> HBK-4G Hunchback
WHM-7S Warhammer -> WHM-6R Warhammer
Assault Lance
STK-5M Stalker -> STK-3F Stalker
VTR-9K Victor -> VTR-9B Victor
WHM-7S Warhammer -> WHM-6R Warhammer
TDR-9SE Thunderbolt -> TDR-5S Thunderbolt
Optimal strategy for Ajax’s Avengers would seem to be to cluster in one of the two large groups of woods on the eastern map and sit tight while trying to concentrate their fire on the Highlanders as they approach. If they rotate damaged ‘Mechs to the rear as they get critically damaged, they may be able to keep their numbers up to the deadline. They don’t have the speed to outrun the Highlanders, so forting up and relying on massed firepower would seem to be the order of the day. Aside from the Hunchback, the Warhammer-heavy force has plenty of long-range firepower, so if they position themselves where they have clear, overlapping lanes of fire, the Highlanders will suffer heavy damage on the approach.
The Highlanders enter from the west, and have less in the way of armor or long-range firepower. If the Avengers hunker down in the central eastern woods, the Capellan mercs could approach along the south, using the southeastern stretch of woods for cover until they get close enough to rush the Avengers’ positions. 1st Company’s Command Lance is LRM-heavy, so putting a spotter out of range on the western side of the map and softening up the Avengers before the charge would make things easier, depending on how close to the time limit you cut it. Charging the fresh, undamaged Avengers would probably be a slaughter (Running + Snowfall + Enemy in Heavy Woods = +5 TN penalty for attackers, vs. Standing + mobile enemies + Snowfall = +3 TN penalty, on average)
If the Avengers get aggressive, then the Highlanders have it made. Their vastly superior mobility can allow them to maneuver around the clusters of woods and bring superior numbers and firepower to bear on the Avengers as they get strung out and separated.
The Highlanders need to kill at least two Avengers to break even against the Avengers’ survival bonus, and take out one Avenger for every two Highlander ‘Mechs that go down in order to maintain pace in scoring.
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Mendrugo, have writers said anything about canonity of the scenario book pre-4th succession war events? That answer you got back from them about TPTB about "Rebirth" (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,25472.msg575393.html#msg575393) didn't sound good about book's content remaining canon.. I hope remains canon, just fixed..
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I haven't asked, but I assume that everything except "Rebirth" remains canon. The primary issue with "Rebirth" wasn't just that anachronistic units were used, but that the core premise of the scenario was that the FWL was field testing technology which, per current canon, wouldn't exist for nearly a century.
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I haven't asked, but I assume that everything except "Rebirth" remains canon. The primary issue with "Rebirth" wasn't just that anachronistic units were used, but that the core premise of the scenario was that the FWL was field testing technology which, per current canon, wouldn't exist for nearly a century.
It be easier TPTB could just say the original arthor made typo on the year. I found allot of the house books usually suffer from that.
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----- 4 Months Later -----
Date: April 9, 2617
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Grace
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Serialized Novel (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: An epilogue to Fall From Grace reveals that even the conspiracy theorists didn’t come close to the real story. Annalise’s Locust managed to hold off the Triumvirate Griffin long enough for Rhean to escape from the van and for Evangeline to throw a vial of Rhean’s blood into the wreckage to confuse the DNA analysis and effectively fake Rhean’s death. They successfully extracted to Terra, where Rhean is now living in Switzerland under her Princefield cover-name of Frieda Moran. Tomas knows she’s alive, as do Nicholas Cameron and Zane Davion, but to the rest of the Inner Sphere, she’s dead and buried.
Zane’s renewed pursuit of massive legal claims against the Free Worlds League is placed into context, reflecting his attempt to harm the conspirators who deposed Rhean and tried to kill her. Zane and his daughter Sarah visit Rhean’s safehouse in Switzerland, and Rhean presents Zane with his son – Albert Alexander Marik-Davion. Sarah immediately dotes on her half-brother.
Notes: A happy ending after all for Rhean and Zane. It’s interesting to speculate on the fate of Albert Alexander “Moran” and his offspring on Terra. It would be cosmically ironic if ComStar had recruited one of his descendants to stand in for the wounded Thomas Marik in the 3030s. (Hey Victor, it turns out ‘Thomas Marik’ isn’t related to Isis…but he is related to you.)
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----- 75 Years Later -----
Date: October 4-5, 2692 [See Notes]
Location: Buckminster
Title: Seventy
Author: Rhian Hunt
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Kawana Takauji and Shimobu Yoshitora study at the feet of their sensei, Nagamaru Okimoto. Okimoto has won sixty-nine BattleMech duels and, per the elaborate codes governing ‘Mech duels in the Draconis Combine during the relatively peaceful early Star League era, will be allowed to open his own MechWarrior dojo upon winning his seventieth battle. Okimoto was a Chu-i in the DCMS before the mass peacetime demobilization of 2650, and describes himself as a follower of the Way of the Bow and Spear.
For the seventieth battle, Okimoto selects SLDF officer Hans Badeau, who agrees good naturedly, having already defeated ten ronin in previous duels, eight of whom were so shamed in the battle that they committed seppuku afterwards. Many had similar track records to Okimoto’s own, and had been close to opening their own dojos. Okimoto contemplates defeat if he adheres to the path of the samurai, and suggests to Kawana that the path of the ninja might lead to victory, should Badeau’s ‘Mech be sabotaged before the fight. Kawana departs with a substance that, properly applied to myomer, will slow a BattleMech’s response time.
Badeau meets Okimoto at the controls of his Black Knight, while Okimoto pilots a Guillotine. The battle rages until Okimoto estimates that the myomer sabotage has taken effect. His alpha strike cores the Black Knight, but Nagamaru feels deep shame for having resorted to dishonorable tactics to claim victory.
That night, to atone for having strayed from the road of honor, he prepares to end his life with the seppuku ritual. However, he is interrupted by Takauji, who apologizes for not having carried out the sabotage. As this renders Okimoto’s victory honorable, the two rejoice and commence planning the creation of their new dojo.
Notes: The story’s datestamp of 2662 is somewhat questionable, vis-à-vis the sourcebook accounts. While the Edict of 2650 that capped House army sizes means that Chu-i Okimoto would have mustered out 12 years prior to this story, the Star League sourcebook and Field Manual:SLDF state that the first duel involving an SLDF warrior took place on Benjamin in 2681 – a good 19 years after “Seventy,” and no SLDF MechWarriors achieved a legitimate win until after the Gunslinger program graduates arrived in the Combine in 2687. (Daniel Allison, one of the best SLDF duelists, engaged in 60 duels over the course of 42 years, Wilbur Frews fought 19 in seven years, and Oha Heller fought 10 duels in four years, so Badeau’s 11 duels in five years would be in the ballpark.)
The story would work perfectly as written if it were set in 2692 instead of 2662 (albeit making Okimoto in his 60s or 70s, rather than his 30s-40s – though that’s not really an issue in an era when people regularly live active lives into their 90s).
Okimoto’s “path of the ninja” myomer slowing substance seems like a trick right out of the Solaris VII playbook. One might suspect that anyone searching the storerooms of the DeLon, Toranaga or Silver Dragon stables could find substantial quantities. It would be interesting to know whether it has any chemical similarity to the catalyst that causes triple-strength myomer burst into flame. It's fun to speculate as to its in-game effects: -1 MP to walking rate? -1 bonus on to-hit target numbers against affected targets? +1 penalty to piloting rolls made by the affected unit?
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: July 18, 2694 [See Notes]
Location: Buckminster
Title: The Pear
Author: Rhian Hunt
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Nagamaru Okimoto trains his students in the Way of the Bow and Spear at his dojo on Buckminster. An engagement between Kawana Takauji in a Champion and Shimobu Yoshitora in a Lancelot ends poorly for Kawana, when Shimobu violates engagement protocols on Okimoto’s orders to teach Kawana the dangers of complacency and assuming your opponents will play by the rules.
Okimoto follows the training session with a tea ceremony for his seven best pupils. Yoshitora contrasts sharply with Takauji. While Takauji strives for honor and subtlety on the path of the samurai, Yoshitora would prefer to slam back sake in an ukiyo with some geishas than perform tea rituals.
A message arrives from the Coordinator, asking for the dojo’s assistance in acting as bodyguards for a Combine negotiator named Kobota and his wife, Hisa, during sensitive talks with Star League envoys. Takauji is assigned to shadow Kobota, while Yoshitora will protect Hisa. After an uneventful day of guarding their charges, Yoshitora gets bored while Lady Kobota is shopping, and accepts a drugged cup of sake from someone in an SLDF uniform. When he awakens, Hisa is gone and her maidservant lies dead in the back of her limousine.
Tempers flare at the dojo, as the students call for vengeance against the Star League. Sensei Okimoto calms them by pointing out that having someone in an SLDF uniform do the drugging is probably just a clumsy ploy to shift blame to the League. Discussing the crime scene, Yoshitora recalls smelling a pear inside the groundcar where the maid was killed.
Okimoto declares his intention to seek assistance on this matter from the rival Kikuhonshi dojo, despite a history of tense relations. Kikuhonshi has more students, but the better candidates tended to gravitate to Okimoto.
At the Kikuhonshi dojo, Okimoto is greeted by the top student, Norizawa, who has a brutal reputation of killing and maiming his rivals. They meet with Kikuhonshi – a lean old man with snowy hair and a fearsome reputation as a MechWarrior. Norizawa (like Okimoto’s students) suggests an attack on the Star League. Kikuhoshi pledges his support for Okimoto, once he has determined what course to take. During the discussion, a student cuts himself with a katana, and is instructed to clean the blade with a pear, per the dojo’s tradition.
Okimoto departs, leaving a short haiku on his tatami. Kikuhoshi reads it and realizes that Okimoto has connected his dojo with Lady Kobota’s abduction. He orders his students to their ‘Mechs, knowing that Okimoto’s students will be attacking soon.
As nine Okimoto-dojo ‘Mechs approach the Kikuhoshi dojo, one of Kikuhoshi’s students emerges, returns Lady Kobota, apologizes for his incompetence in carrying out the abduction, and performs the seppuku ritual.
The ensuing battle between the dojos rages for hours, with each warrior striving not only for victory, but for perfect adherence to the dictates of bushido. For Okimoto, honor demands the extermination of Kikuhoshi and all his students. Six of the nine Okimoto-dojo ‘Mechs survive the battle to witness Kikuhoshi’s seppuku.
Notes: As the sequel to “Seventy,” this story inherits its chronology problems, and would work best set in 2694 instead of 2664.
Urizen II’s cultural impact is very evident in these stories. The House Kurita sourcebook notes that he implemented a new “National Learning” program which stressed Japan’s ancient history in its curriculum, spent lavishly on Japanese-style architecture for his growing new capital on Luthien, and inspired a renaissance of interest in bushido and the Way of the Sword and Bow in the 2650s. Though not all of the dojo students are totally enraptured with tea ceremonies and meditation, even Yoshitora thinks wistfully of sake and geishas, rather than ale and whores.
Urizen II also wanted House Kurita to become self-sufficient for its weaponry, without relying on imports. This obviously hasn’t been effectively enacted as yet, since Okimoto rides an FWL-made Guillotine, while his students run a Capellan-made Champion and a Terran-made Lancelot. On the battlefield, they face a Terran-made Kintaro and an Archer (probably from LexaTech – making it the only domestic product on the field), along with numerous unspecified Mediums. It was probably just this sort of reliance on imports that drove Urizen II to push for more domestic production.
The informal use of ronin cadets as security, rather than ISF, DEST, or even a few squads of Friendly Persuader candy-stripers raises a number of questions. (Granted, the Combine officially classified the ronin as ‘private security,’ to conceal their true role as off-the-book reservists, but was the Coordinator actually using them in that capacity?) What was Kuroda negotiating that couldn’t be taken care of in Unity City on Terra? If the negotiations were “off the record,” were there elements within the SLDF that wanted to discuss something without the First Lord getting wind of it? Or perhaps Urizen II wanted an incident to provoke a fight with the Star League. If that were the case, perhaps Kikuhoshi-sensei also got a message from the Coordinator regarding Kuroda. As Yoshitora mentions in the story, committing a dishonorable act on the orders of one’s master carries no dishonor, as giri trumps ninjo every time.
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----- 27 Years Later -----
Date: April, 2721
Location: Tharkad
Title: Destiny’s Call
Author: Loren L. Coleman
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: 20-year-old Alek Kerensky studies history and political science Tharkad University, mentored by his friend, Michael Steiner II, a researcher there. The story opens as Kerensky recovers from a beating administered by some of the Lyran-national cadets, who resent Alek’s skills and Terran origins. Alek refuses to divulge the identity of his attackers to Michael, and returns to his classes.
The “unnamed attackers” were led by Elias Luvon – a good warrior, but one whose weak academics are only overlooked on account of his father’s generous donations to the university. Alek notes his surprise when Alek shows no weakness following the beating…at least until he collapses into a three-day coma from a cerebral hemorrhage in the midst of a discussion of the Davion-Kurita succession crisis.
When Alek recovers, he’s interviewed by Colonel Baumgarten, commandant at the Nagelring, who invites him to transfer to the SLDF academy. Alek refuses, earning the disappointment of the commandant and further ire from Elias Luvon, who is also a cadet at the Nagelring. Within a few days, Luvon turns most of the rest of the student body against him, intimating that he feels that he’s “too good” for the non-Terran academy. The only people who’ll give him the time of day are Michael and fellow classmate Gabriella Bailey. She invites him to take her to the Spring Reception, the biggest social event of the year at Tharkad University.
During exams, Alek is disgraced as Elias Luvon plants a wireless transmitter under Kerensky’s desk, making it appear he was using it to cheat. An academic review clears him of having cheated, freeing him to continue at the University and attend the Spring Reception that night. (He gets full marks after a debate over the ronin attacks backtracks to Leonard Kurita, and it dawns on Professor Kleppinger that he’s talking to Tanya Kerensky’s descendant.)
At the reception, Alek dances with Gabriella and finds out that Col. Baumgarten ordered the academic review that allowed Alek to exonerate himself. He faces down Elias Luvon and takes Gabriella outside to watch the stars. However, as they move towards their first kiss in a secluded courtyard, Alek is attacked by Elias and three of his cronies. Alek simply takes the beating (and the broken ribs) and continues to calmly debate Luvon, but when the Nagelring cadet threatens to ruin Gabriella’s reputation, Alek lunges at Elias, sending him toppling over a ledge. He lands badly, impaled on his own dress saber, but survives (though he is subseqently expelled from the Nagelring).
Alek tells Commandant Baumgarten that he’s changed his mind, and would like to transfer to the Nagelring. He feels that if he was unable to restrain himself from fighting to defend himself and Gabriella, then he should learn how to fight correctly. The commandant replies that he cannot refuse Alek, given the special status conferred on Tanya Kerensky’s descendants.
Notes: Elias Luvon’s attitude showcases a substantial level of resentment within the Star League, as Royal units get preferential treatment, and places like Sandhurst on Terra are seen as far more prestigious than institutions such as the Nagelring, despite both being top level SLDF academies.
Current events in the Sphere are referenced – the Kurita-Davion succession debate, the launch of the Terran Hegemony’s prototype SDS, and the legal changes that permitted Inner Sphere companies to run rampant in Periphery states.
It’s interesting to see the greatest general in the history of the Inner Sphere as a bookish pacifist who works enough historical and literary quotations into his conversations to put a hardcore Blakist to shame.
The datestamp of the story is just 2721. One would assume that the “Spring Reception” would be in Tharkad’s spring season, but previous stories have placed Tharkan summer in January and Tharkan winter in March, so the date in question now is up in the air. (One strong possibility is that Tharkad’s seasonal cycles don’t correspond to a 12-month calendar, so winter might be in March one year and in October the next.) [Update: Further research indicates that Tharkad is on a "nearly two year" cycle, leading to lengthy seasons. Assuming a five month season, if winter is January-May in 2800, the next one would will be September-January of 2801-2802.] If it’s an annual event, it’s probably named according to Terran cycles – putting it in April-June. However, at one point, it’s mentioned that Kerensky has spent 18 months on Tharkad. If the TU term starts in September like most Terran universities, that would place the Spring Reception in late March or early April 2721.
The names of the characters in the story are a veritable who’s who of ancestors of main characters in the 31st century fiction. Luvon’s descendant Arthur married Michael’s descendant Katrina and gave birth to Melissa and thence the Steiner-Davion line. Nagelring cadet Patrick Ward is likely an ancestor of both Phelan Kell and the whole Ward bloodname house. And Kerensky, of course, is a distant ancestor of Natasha, Ulric, Ranna, Anastasia and the rest of the Kerensky Bloodname. (See the trope: Everyone went to school together (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether))
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----- 6 Months Later -----
Date: October, 2721
Location: Tharkad
Title: Destiny’s Challenge
Author: Loren L. Coleman
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Anthology Volume 1: The Corps)
Synopsis: Two months out of OCS summer school, Nagelring cadet Alek Kerensky pushes a Striker through its paces on a training course, paced by the drill instructor in a Pillager equipped with a Chameleon light polarization shield. A Nagelring tradition calls for a 5-km race back to the barracks once the instructor gives the signal by playing music.
Surprised and off to a late start, Kerensky angles for the high ground while the other cadets sprint neck-and-neck along the flats. Still getting the hand of jockeying a ‘Mech, he loses time with a slightly lopsided gait. Even so, his choice of route aids him, and he pulls abreast of the other cadets as they struggle up a steep rise that he avoided. However, their superior control allows them to race past him at full speed, and Alek finishes last.
Cadet Patrick Ward, one of his attackers while he was at Tharkad University, greets him with hostility in the locker room after the post-mission debriefing. Ward is still on probation, and Alek hasn’t had to deal with the physical harassment he faced at TU – a welcome respite, since he’s trying to catch up on academic courses at the Nagelring so he can graduate in only two years, rather than the usual four. Ward asks Alek what he’s trying to prove by taking on so much, and to whom. Alek answers that he’s trying to prove his ability to master himself, and to prove it to himself.
Ward tells Alek that he must be holding himself back, psychologically, since his field performance is well below what his neurological tests and simulator performance would predict. He says he wants to get to know Kerensky better, to see if he’s worth befriending.
In response to Ward’s accusation that he’s holding himself back, Kerensky finally admits, taking in the vast ‘Mech bay, that “The whole thing, all of it, scares the hell out of me.”
Notes: My guess is that Patrick Ward is intended to be a relative (father, uncle, cousin, etc.) of the Jal Ward who was in Nicholas Kerensky’s Wolf Clan during Operation KLONDIKE, as well as being an ancestor of Salome Ward->Phelan Kell.
This story, included as an exclusive new story in the first anthology of previously published BattleCorps stories – “The Corps,” continues Aleksandr Kerensky’s portrayal as a reluctant warrior with a deep philosophical background and a healthy respect for the BattleMech’s capacity for destruction.
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Those are two of my favourite BattleTech stories; though I must admit that I'm not nearly as well-read as you are on that front.
Is there any relevant info for Tharkad in that world's Jihad Turning Points pdf, that might help sort out the variations in the local seasonal climate?
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The writeup for Tharkad in Handbook: House Steiner notes that "An axial tilt of 31 degrees and a period of revolution of nearly two standard years means that the planet has long, long seasons. Summer days are long and cool under a wan and shrunken sun. Winter days are short and bitterly cold."
This would seem to support the idea that Tharkad's seasons don't stay in synch with Terra's 12-month calendar. One would presume that each season lasts about 5.5 months, explaining why January is summer in 2455, but March is winter in 2592.
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I remember reading the story, but the part 1 wasn't very appealing to me. Sections that appeared in Anthology were better to me as casual reader. Heavy handedness of the harrassement seemed bit over the top in somecases. Until i read the review, i didn't realize the instructor was using a Pillager with a Chameleon light polarization shield! I thought the Pillager was actually rare machine like Thunderhawk was, but have variant that disappears be pleasing to have in modern era and in a double blind game. ;););)
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Going back to the conclusion of "Fall From Grace," I was speculating on the possible roles the descendants of Albert Alexander "Moran" might have played in future events, and did a keyword search for Moran with the following results:
In "Decision at Thunder Rift," Renfred Tor refers to one of his crewmen as Moran.
The "Mercenary's Handbook" shows a Gene Moran as a Wasp pilot in the 5th Striker Battalion of the Eridani Light Horse.
The House Steiner sourcebook lists Kraig Moran as the Division Head of Defiance Maintenance (part of Defiance Industries).
The Periphery sourcebook lists Heloise Moran as the Chairman of the Alliance Borderers' third battalion.
Starterbook: Sword and Dragon lists a Captain Moran (Renfred Tor's old crewmate, perhaps?) as a DropShip pilot for the Fox's Teeth.
In "Natural Selection" a Kell Hound officer, Captain Michelle Moran (a tenacious fighter, but one that tends to hang in a losing fight slightly too long), reminds Victor of a Damien Moran who served with him in the Twelfth Donegal Guards and died on Trellwan fighting the Jade Falcons. Amusingly, there's either been a typo or some surgery, because Mercenary's Handbook 3055 lists only a "Michael Moran" as a Kell Hound Captain. (Given the Lyran setting, perhaps Michelle and Damien are Kraig's kids.)
Field Manual: Updates lists Ilya Moran as commander of the 3rd Raven Auxiliaries. (So Rhean may be the ancestor of a Snow Raven bloodname house, via its founder Kaori Moran - named in Historical: Operation KLONDIKE)
"Case White: The Voice of the Resistance" includes a Jacob Moran who serves as communications officer for an anti-Blakist resistance cell.
JHS:3076 lists Chris Moran as a Tai-sho in the DCMS, who fought to defend Isesaki Shipping's headquarters in Ukonsoi against the Opacus Venatori. Voice of the Dragon casts the battle as a DCMS victory, but does acknowledge that Isesaki Shipping's HQ was destroyed, and the commercial district was heavily damaged, resulting in 6,400 civilian casualties.
The MWDA dossier for Kenyata Woods lists "K.M. Moran" as a member of the Ghost Legion's Reconnoiter Lance. The Ghost Legion was Swordsworn, so perhaps K.M. is descendant of the Fox's Teeth DropShip captain.
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The writeup for Tharkad in Handbook: House Steiner notes that "An axial tilt of 31 degrees and a period of revolution of nearly two standard years means that the planet has long, long seasons. Summer days are long and cool under a wan and shrunken sun. Winter days are short and bitterly cold."
This would seem to support the idea that Tharkad's seasons don't stay in synch with Terra's 12-month calendar. One would presume that each season lasts about 5.5 months, explaining why January is summer in 2455, but March is winter in 2592.
Sounds reasonable; almost like the planet has a Martian orbit, but in a Terran Goldilocks zone.
I guess when someone on Tharkad says that "Winter is coming", they really mean it...
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----- 4 Years Later -----
Date: June 16-25, 2725
Location: Paris
Title: Way of the Champion
Author: Steven Mohan, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Lt. Aleksandr Kerensky leads Blue Lance in training exercises at the SLDF’s massive Fort McKittrick on the Draconis Combine world of Paris, facing off against Red Lance commander Paula Nilssen. Aleksandr is piloting his trademark Orion, and leading a lance of Phoenix Hawks, while Red Lance is composed of a Rifleman and another three P-Hawks. Despite Red Lance’s use of misdirection and duplicity, Kerensky manages to stall Paula long enough for his lance to take hers out and then double back and take her down, though he’s “killed” in the process with a low-power laser to the cockpit. Kerensky ends the exercise knowing that his actions have earned the respect of his lancemates. After the battle, he confronts Paula about her actions, worried that his fellow Gunslinger is overly focused on winning individual duels at the expense of the unit and the mission objective.
With this in mind, he files a complaint with base commandant Colonel Hermann Scheer. Unfortunately for Kerensky, the commandant disagrees with his assessment, and says that he respects Nilssen for her demonstrably superior dueling skills, which are more important (in his view) than grand strategic vision at a post that only faces single-combat challenges from ronin. Speaking of ronin, a Thug from a local dojo appears to announce a challenge, interrupting Kerensky’s meeting.
The ronin identifies herself as Mary Quinn. As a servant of Bushido, she seeks to challenge any SLDF warrior worthy to face her. Scheer sends Nilssen out to meet the ronin’s challenge. Thug vs. Rifleman. Do the math. Within minutes, Paula is dining with her ancestors, Mary Quinn is one battle closer to opening her own dojo, and Kerensky is promoted to new base champion.
Mary Quinn returns a week later for another challenge. Kerensky proves better at the challenge wordplay, and forces the ronin to come to a venue that favors his Orion. Aleksandr is in top form for the battle, debating his foe as he fights, and launching a barrage of quotations along with missiles and autocannon rounds. He fights well, but his ‘Mech is defeated. However, he’s won the philosophical argument with the ronin, and she leaves without killing him.
Notes: Kerensky appears to have worked through his inhibitions at the Nagelring, becoming such a crack MechWarrior that he earned a spot in the Gunslinger program, and a follow-on posting as a Lieutenant in the SLDF’s 564th Hussars. He drives his famous Orion, which the Star League sourcebook notes that he was issued at the War Academy of Mars in the Gunslinger program. Interestingly, the SLSB says that Kerensky “like many MechWarriors, had grown fond of his first ‘Mech and never willingly piloted anything else.” If that’s the case, why isn’t he in his “Destiny’s Challenge” Striker? ;)
Oddly, in this story he intersperses his conversations with Russian words and seems to speak with a Russian accent, both of which were absent in the Destiny’s Call and Destiny’s Challenge stories. It’s most notable when Kerensky says lines like “This is battlefield.” or responds to questions with ‘nyet’ and ‘da.’
One wonders if recitations of this story at Kerensky family bedtimes affected young Nicholas’ decision to implement formalized dueling rituals and bidding procedures for his Clans.
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Got the 3 battlecorps combined books due in no small part because of this thread....thanks, Mendrugo.
Also, about the Striker being his 'first' mech and not the Orion, I think that assault mech was just a training mech handed down to cadets rather then an assigned unit. Also, given his misgivings at the time, I don't think Kerensky had fully given over to the idea of him being a soldier and warrior. With him joining the Gunslingers etc, I think he has now fully accepted his role in life and so his first assigned mech, the Orion might be (in his own mind) his 'first' real mech.
Ach, went longer then I intended to. Anyway, another good write-up.
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I totally agree with you that Kerensky would've bonded more with his Gunslinger Academy ride than his "learn to drive" ride. (Otherwise, all the vaunted Gunslingers would be tooling around in Wasps, Chameleons, Crocketts and other training 'Mechs)
Glad you liked the writeup. There's such a wealth of fiction set in the BattleTech universe that many fans are largely unaware of. The focus of discussion on the site tends to be on the novels (and lack thereof since the end of the MWDA line), since that was how many of us were introduced to BattleTech fiction, but the short story e-fiction has long since eclipsed the print novels in terms of word count and breadth of scope.
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----- 4 Years Later -----
Date: July 14, 2729
Location: Royal
Title: Death of a Prince
Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson
Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)
Synopsis: The veteran forces of the 5th Benjamin Regulars face off against the elite Davion Heavy Guards in the immediate aftermath of First Prince Joseph Davion’s death on Royal. The DHG are battling for time to allow recovery teams to reach Joseph’s fallen Marauder and recover his body.
The defenders are, at a minimum, the First Prince’s command lance, headed by the Prince’s Champion in a tricked out HWH-3D Hammerhands, two heavies, and one player’s choice. At a minimum, the attackers consist of five ‘Mechs, including a customized Victor with an Elite pilot, and the other four Veteran. Given the descriptive text, one should be a Wolverine.
The DCMS goal is to take out the Heavy Guards’ command lance and drop the AFFS numbers to less than 50% before its own numbers drop below that threshold.
Notes: I hope the recovery team includes a Vampyr, considering the cause of death was a stream of depleted uranium rounds fired at point blank range directly into the cockpit. Those hoses for liquid suctioning would be handy.
This takes place in the context of the War of Davion Succession (see what could have happened, Rhean!). In 2725, the 11th Benjamin Regulars attacked Marduk after a Star League commission had fruitlessly debated the issue of whether Vincent Kurita-Davion or Richard Davion should inherit the mantle of First Prince for eight years. First Prince Joseph Davion retaliated with a deep strike against the Combine. Rather than falling back on defense, the DCMS intensified its assault and drove for New Avalon, steadily gaining ground while the Star League, under the mentally unstable Jonathan Cameron, failed to take action.
The AFFS forces found that the Combine’s “ronin” (Okimoto-dojo on deck!) were substantially bolstering their combat forces to a level well beyond the limits imposed by the Edict of 2650. The AFFS deep strike was hastily organized, and lacked much in the way of logistical support. The Combine push on New Avalon wasn’t halted until General Kessem (commander of Draconis March border forces) broke the Combine garrison on the key administrative center of Ludwig. As DCMS troops fell back to deal with Kessem, the AFFS salient force had to withdraw, while Joseph Davion’s ad-hoc “Army of Crucis” began to retake worlds.
Kessem and the First Prince linked up on Royal in 2729, inflicting heavy casualties on the main Kuritan taskforce in a surprise attack, which the First Prince insisted on leading personally.
Finally, following a failed coup by SLDF officers, Jonathan was galvanized to action and ordered the SLDF to prepare Operation SMOTHER to end the War of Davion Succession. However, before the League’s peacekeepers arrived, the First Prince had fallen in battle.
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----- 1 Month Later -----
Date: August 26, 2729
Location: Fallon II
Title: St. George Strikes Again
Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson
Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)
Synopsis: With SLDF forces (including a young Captain Aleksandr Kerensky) now keeping a lid on the DCMS with Operation SMOTHER, the AFFS has launched a renewed effort to retake worlds lost during the first four years of the War of Davion Succession. In this Track, the 1st Avalon Hussars hit the 4th Sword of Light on Fallon II in order to retake the Olympus XL fusion engine production facilities there. The Hussars field 2-3 lances, and the Sworders match them ‘Mech for ‘Mech.
The fight takes place in a heavy urban area, with an option to include a dust storm (for blowing sand modifiers) and initiative-modifying observation satellites. The Hussars are tasked with taking out the heaviest Sworders by turn 6 and knocking them below 25% strength before falling below that threshold themselves, and avoiding civilian casualties (since this is an occupied FedSuns world).
Notes: No published design makes use of an Olympus brand-name XL fusion engine, so perhaps the Olympus company made XL engines under license (keeping the original brand names), or both production plant and the designs that relied on it vanished into the crucible of the Succession Wars. It’s of interest that an entrepreneur chose to site a high-tech industrial plant on a world still undergoing active terraforming.
If the atmosphere is tainted and being terraformed, one would assume that the buildings are environmentally sealed. They can’t be in an environment dome, or the dust storm wouldn’t be an issue. Fallon went on to become one of the Federated Suns’ main administrative centers in the Draconis March, despite the terraforming having been left incomplete by the onset of the Succession Wars.
The scenario introduces a number of House-specific variant designs upgraded with advanced weaponry for use by each side’s commander. This implies that the House militaries largely were equipped with familiar 3025-level equipment throughout the 2600s, while the SLDF got the TRO:2750 advanced stuff, and the Royal units hogged the “optimized” upgraded units. Upgraded designs only started to trickle into the House armies starting in the first half of the 28th century, when shadow wars began to heat up. It’s possible that the TRO:2750 stuff got more general distribution in the 2700s, and that the variants herein represent House attempts to replicate “Royal” standards.
The SLDF’s delay in launching Operation SMOTHER had a number of serious consequences. Up to this point, the Combine had been the only faction cheating on its House army size with its “ronin” workaround. Following the War of Davion Succession, the Federated Suns decided it couldn’t rely on the SLDF for assistance, and decided to ramp up its levels of stockpiled armaments and planetary militias while keeping the number of active duty House soldiers under the cap. Thus, the legendary Davion “magic warehouses” were born.
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I couldn't help but give prop's for this write-up,,,,,nice work,good sir. ;D
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I couldn't help but give prop's for this write-up,,,,,nice work,good sir. ;D
Indeed! Mendrugo, your weaving the Era Reports, BattleCorp Stories, and other sources together into one Review has been eye opener and Amazing!
I look forward to this everyday now. Era Report:2750 was one my favorites since scenarios were also glimps of history and action happening in time no one has alot detail on. Amazing.
I do have request: If possible, could the author (if its known) be listed when you put lay down your Boiler plate description of story/subject your going be reviewed?
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More than doable. I'll go back through and add them in to ones I've already done, as well.
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----- 13 Years Later -----
Date: March 1, 2742
Location: Waldorff II
Title: Waldorff Warfare
Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson
Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)
Synopsis: The Third Shadow War (aka the Pirate War) is well under way, with state-sponsored “pirates” and House militaries false-flagged as bandits frequently hitting industrial concerns in rival states in order to secure a competitive advantage for their state’s domestic firms.
In this scenario, Combine-backed mercenaries - The Rabid Coyotes - have hit a copper mine on Waldorff II, and are trying to make it back to their LZ before the 1st Donegal Guards can catch them and get conclusive evidence that the Combine is sponsoring the “pirate” attacks.
The Donegal Guards field 1-2 lances, and the Rabid Coyotes match their numbers. Optional adjustments include fighting the battle at night under a full moon and giving the mercs 150% of the Donegal Guards’ strength. The Guards need to capture as many mercs alive as possible for interrogation, and knock out 50% of the merc band before its own numbers drop below that level. The Lyrans get to upgrade its equipment with advanced tech, while the mercs run with ‘Mechs from the Periphery RAT (often stuff that saw action in the Reunification War).
Notes: The Donegal Guards have to balance the traditional Lyran desire to field nothing but 100-tonners [Hogarth’s ears perk up] against the need to catch the mercenaries. However, looking at the setup and the stated objectives, there doesn’t seem to be any real reason for the two forces to have to fight. The Rabid Coyotes just want to break contact and get to their DropShips. So, why would they stop and fight the Donegal Guards, rather than simply turning and running off the board on round 1?
The victory points note that the Donegal Guards don’t get their bonus points for merc units that leave the battlefield, and the Guards have to destroy 50% of the Coyotes to get the other bonus – withdrawn units aren’t counted as destroyed, because Forced Withdrawal rules are in effect. If I were playing the scenario “in character,” I’d have the Coyotes flee immediately, rendering the scenario a 0/0 tie on Warchest Point awards.
To address this, I’d recommend requiring the Coyotes to enter one map edge and exit the opposite one, forcing them to run a gauntlet of ticked off Donegal Guards in order to make it to safety. Otherwise, there’s no raison d’guerre.
Waldorff is one of the few systems where multiple settled worlds in the system have been detailed in various sources. Waldorff II has a population of 875 million and is well developed technologically and industrially, but lacks natural resources. By comparison, the lush jungle world of Waldorff V is a popular vacation world (it’s the site of the final battle between the Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers in the late 3050s). In addition, Waldorff VII hosts a major mining operation to extract high-quality hydrocarbons, though the entire planet gets accidentally destroyed by Adam Steiner in a battle against the Jade Falcons in 3050.
As an in-joke, the mining site on Waldorff II is named Astoria (after the famous Waldorff-Astoria hotel). Given that, I was actually surprised that the moon wasn’t named Statler.
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How does Adam Steiner destroy the world? I don't remember that...
Wait, was that in the TV series...maybe?
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How does Adam Steiner destroy the world? I don't remember that...
Wait, was that in the TV series...maybe?
Got it in one. Per the sourcebook writeup, Waldorff VII was filled with volatile interconnected hydrocarbon deposits. Mining efforts tapped into it during the 3rd Succession War, but it was determined that it was too dangerous, because a single spark could ignite all the deposits, and the mining facility (and the planet) was abandoned.
Then along came Adam "Information is Ammunition" Steiner...
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As far i know, the 1st Somerset Strikes source book is treated as canon fiction in-universe, meaning Waldorff VII "destruction" never accrued, least not what sourcebook had indicated. Striker's actual exploits were differient from what I understand..(this early morning, not going remember what sourcebook say... :P)
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I know that the show itself has been cast as FedCom propaganda for children loosely based on the exploits of Adam Steiner and company, but I believe that the sidebars in the actual sourcebook reflect canon commentary attempting to tie the actual missions of the Strikers to BattleTech continuity. (For example, one sidebar features an AFFC commander complaining that Rhonda Snord has requested permission to go hunting for Camelot Command, but that he can't tell her not to bother without spilling the secret that the Strikers already found it years earlier. Plus, the Franklin Sakamoto/Black Dragon episode has been confirmed via the novel "Black Dragon.")
Sarna.net has the following, which draws on Masters & Minions and Era Report:3052 references:
Shortly after the Battle of Tukayyid, the Tharkad Broadcast Company would release a semi-fictionalized holoseries based on Adam's exploits during the invasion, mixing in the battles on Barecelona into his initial raid and recapture of Somerset. Intended as a morale boosting exercise, the poorly reviewed series would successfully help to instill national pride in the Lyran youth and sell trillions of S-Bills of merchandise in the process.
So Waldorff VII may have gone boom, or the event may have just been the creation of a TBC staff writer.
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As an in-joke, the mining site on Waldorff II is named Astoria (after the famous Waldorff-Astoria hotel). Given that, I was actually surprised that the moon wasn’t named Statler.
My working title for that track was "Waldorff Salad Days".
Yes, groan away. Puns are bad.
Aaron "Gravedigger" Pollyea
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----- 6 Months Later -----
Date: September 26, 2742
Location: Rasalhague
Title: Rasalhague Rumble
Authors: Aaron Pollyea and Joel Steverson
Type: Track (Era Report: 2750)
Synopsis: Following massive damage to agricultural facilities and transport infrastructure on a Lyran border world, the LCAF has hired its own pirates - a mercenary band known as the Terrible Twenties - to raid Rasalhague. They’re facing off against Combine-contracted mercs known as the Alpha Ophiuchi Brigade on a glacier field. Both sides are equal in strength and have Regular skills, though an optional modification is to boost the Terrible Twenties to Veteran. The battle may also be fought in blizzard conditions.
The Alpha Ophiuchi Brigade gets bonus points if it operates according to the Combine’s dueling code, which operates in a fashion akin to “High Honor” Clan rules of engagement. (Similar to the one-on-one duels fought by the Ryuken and Genyosha in Wolves on the Border and Warrior: Riposte.)
Notes: If you’re looking to wreck something, Rasalhague is a target rich environment. The world produces manufactured goods in its large industrial complexes, as well as exporting iron ore, exotic fruits, and majarfisch. Though the location of the battle isn’t specified, given the option for blizzard and the stated intent of wrecking some industries, it’s likely that the Terrible Twenties were aiming for Rasalhague’s largest industrial city – Ymir – which lies on the flat and icy arctic southern continent of Hammerfest. This is further supported by the recommendation of flatlands and light urban maps for terrain.
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For Waldorff Warfare I'd suggest taking Tear Gas SRM's if your op takes anything other then 'Mechs
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For Waldorff Warfare I'd suggest taking Tear Gas SRM's if your op takes anything other then 'Mechs
The setup has the Coyotes roll half their force on the Periphery RAT, and half on the Draconis Combine RAT. Since the vehicle table isn't faction specific, it would appear that the mercs/pirates are intended to be an all 'Mech force.
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----- 9 Years Later -----
Date: February 17, 2751
Location: Star’s End
Title: Pulsar
Author: Steve Mohan, Jr.
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Era Report: 2750)
Synopsis: First Lord Simon Cameron continues his round-the-Sphere goodwill tour designed to knit the Star League back together as the Third Shadow War continues to escalate. Simon tells his aide Sally McKenna-Croft that the trip seems to be working on the public, at least, despite opposition from the House lords. To celebrate, he pours a squeeze-bulb of champagne and proposes to Sally, who has been his lover as well as his aide since the death of his wife (Richard’s mother) a year earlier. She says yes.
Simon’s security chief, Major Carolina Devalis, updates him on the security sweep of the New Silesian asteroid mine he’s scheduled to tour. On the way to the shuttle, however, Devalis is struck by a powerful vision of the Cameron Star exploding, and begs First Lord Simon not to go to the asteroid. She says that the women in the Devalis family have a history of receiving visions. Simon reassures her that the Cameron Star will burn bright and steady for a thousand years, and has her rest while he continues on to the asteroid mine.
In the mine, Simon is invited to try out the controls for a 30-ton Digger 500 mining robot, which is harvesting ilmenite. After a ten minute briefing, he takes a seat at the control station and halts the machine’s labors. Without warning, it turns and races down the tunnel towards the command station, ignoring all further input from the command station. Even the emergency power shutoff fails, and the robot crashes through the viewport, blasting Simon and his entourage (including Sally) into the void.
Notes: The Devalis name may be familiar to Nova Cat fans as one of their bloodnames – tying in with that Clan’s penchant for mystical visions. Carolina is the mother of Isabella Devalis, one of the founders of the Nova Cat Clan. Devalis’ vision was of a Cameron Star going supernova and leaving behind a pulsar – a rapidly spinning neutron star of degenerate matter, screaming out its rage and pain at the universe. As Simon realizes at the moment of his death, the pulsar is his son Richard. (Despite the official explanation that “the Nova Cats just smoke a lot of strange stuff,” this would seem to add to the anecdotal canon for the Nova Cat visions having something to them.) One would assume that Devalis is part of the Royal Black Watch, just as Tanya Kerensky was when she was assigned to the First Lord's security detail.
The Third Hidden War was an escalating series of “pirate” attacks on industrial facilities that were, in fact, military operations intended to allow domestic industries a competitive advantage by sabotaging or destroying foreign competitors. As many of the “bandit” raiders were escorted by WarShips, Great House involvement was a given, but they maintained the pretense in the interests of plausible deniability. Simon Cameron’s goodwill tour was an attempt to force the House leaders to call off their tit-for-tat raids through public pressure for renewed peace and unity.
Of course, since this is the BattleTech universe, failure was the only option.
Recent products have moved from calling Cameron's death a "suspicious accident" to an "assassination." There are a number of suspects, but the leading candidate is House Kurita - given Star's End's proximity to Kuritan space, the long history of animosity between the Camerons and Kuritas, and the Coordinator's fear that Simon's scheduled trip through the Combine would create the same swellings of pro-Star League/anti-House Lord public sentiments that followed in the wake of his swings through the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth. Of course, Star's End was a Rim Worlds system, but various accounts give me the sense that Amaris was a skilled opportunist who made the most of this unexpected opportunity, rather than engineering it outright.
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Date: September 14, 2733 – May 5, 2734 [See Notes]
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: An Alliance Defenders Limited skunkworks team is frantically attempting to create a working Locust prototype, relying heavily on battlefield salvage, black marketed parts, and baling wire. ADL CEO Emma Jacobs and head technician Caleb Murphy doubt that the OAM will be charitable when it sees it in action. When OAM General Bashere observes a field trial, he glowers at its wobbly movement, sub-standard armor, electronics reverse-engineered from Tortugan equipment.
Bashere tells Jacobs that he understands that the lack of government and popular support has made the firm’s progress difficult, but that if they can’t come up with something better than the cobbled-together Locust in six months, he’ll demand her resignation. Jacobs and Murphy discuss their options, noting that no matter what they do, the Locust can’t be brought up to the level of the tech being used by nearby pirates within six months.
A month later, Jacobs meets with a mysterious contact, “Jerome,” to discuss her new initiative. He tells her that they’ve managed to pinpoint the location of a number of pirate gangs operating near Valasha and made contact with several, and negotiations are in progress.
However, two months later, Jacobs is on the run from security teams. She is captured and placed under arrest on charges of treason, piracy, and conspiracy against the Alliance. Four months later, still in detention, she meets with her lawyer, Brinson. She seems much calmer than usual, and asks him to make sure that her trial is pushed back beyond May 5.
On May 5, Brinson meets the OA prosecuting attorney, Velma Crawford, arriving at the prison at the same time. She got word that Jacobs wanted to make a plea deal. They’re interrupted by Caleb Murphy, who tells them that their questions will all be answered shortly. Seventeen minutes later, the prison commandant summons them and asks them to explain the BattleMech looming over the north wall of the prison.
Murphy introduces them to the captured AFFS Stinger, which is “the most powerful weapon in the entire Outworlds Alliance.” He informs them that, if Emma Jacobs is released and allowed to continue as CEO of Alliance Defenders, Ltd., she’ll reverse engineer it and build more for the Alliance. If not, the Stinger will trash the prison, free Emma, and then she'll scrap the ‘Mech and leave the Alliance at the mercy of pirates and other enemies. After three days of negotiations, Emma gets all of her demands.
Notes: The only way that this story can work as written is if the date is shifted back 50 years from the given timeframe of 2783-2784. The main point of the story is that bandit activity is rampant, and the Outworlds Alliance lacks BattleMechs of its own. This perfectly describes the 2750s, when the Third Hidden War had just ended, but mountains of military supplies remained in the hands of the formerly state-supported bandits and shady mercs. The profile of Alliance Defenders Ltd. in Handbook: Major Periphery States notes that ADL was founded in the 2730s and has made 'Mechs for the Outworlds Alliance ever since. H:LoT1 notes that the Outworlds Alliance Military then consisted of a scrawny five conventional regiments and four WarShips. However, H:LoT1 notes that the Secret Army brought the OAM up to 72 conventional regiments and 100 BattleMech regiments by 2765, backed by 15 WarShips. I can accept a stolen AFFS Stinger being the most powerful unit [WarShips: Harrumph!]…ground unit…in the Outworlds Alliance circa 2733, but not after nearly 11,000 other ‘Mechs have emerged from secret bases in the Deep Periphery.
If we reset the timeline to the 2750s, then that begs the additional question – was Emma part of Amaris’ pan-Periphery independence conspiracy? That would explain the sudden urgency for Alliance Defenders Limited to start making homegrown ‘Mechs for the Outworlds Alliance, despite the “lack of governmental or public support.”
A further question is, what exactly did the Outworlds Alliance conventional regiments have that was so vastly outclassed by a lone Stinger? Odds are, just rifle infantry and a collection of APCs, because any Age of War-era combat vehicle worth its salt could slaughter a Stinger. Heck, even the legendarily awful Capellan Suvorov could probably best a Stinger, one on one.
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Jason Hardy's story "The Top of the Scrap heap", most likely predates the H:LoTv1 & 2 in writing stages, right? Hardy won't have had the hard data to write his short-story to reflect military situation of the AO.
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Jason Hardy's story "The Top of the Scrap heap", most likely predates the H:LoTv1 & 2 in writing stages, right? Hardy won't have had the hard data to write his short-story to reflect military situation of the AO.
The Top of The Scrap Heap predates H:LoT by years, and it worked fine at the time. However, given the new details we have, some adjustments have to be made. This actually comes up a lot with the fiction and scenarios set during the Star League Civil War period. They were fine when the period was a blank slate, but often conflict with Historical report details.
My intent in suggesting changes isn't to take Jason or any other author to task about it, just to suggest how the narrative could be adjusted to more seamlessly fit into the overall storyline, now that more details are available.
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----- 8 Years Later -----
Date: April 12, 2762
Location: District of Donegal
Title: Greater Than Yourself
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Field Manual: SLDF)
Synopsis: SLDF Lieutenant John Hampton is being interrogated by the pirate band that wiped out his lance. He’s not sure where he is, and is sure that the pirates will kill him regardless, so he banters with them instead of giving them any information. He identifies one of the pirates as being a native of the city of Howell on Garrison (by his accent), and needles him about its reputation for prostitution.
Hampton tells the pirates that his SLDF comrades will hunt the pirates down and exterminate them, and this knowledge is a comfort to Hampton, who faces death knowing that he’s a part of something greater than himself. Realizing that no intel on SLDF operations will be forthcoming (or perhaps unsettled by the remark about prostitutes), Hampton’s captor shoots him in the face.
Notes: It’s interesting to speculate on the identity and motivations of the bandit group. Circa April 2762, there was a fair amount going on in the Star League. The Federated Suns’ war with the Capellan Confederation over the nuclear attack on Demeter ended in January. Richard Cameron had turned 18 on February 9, and had immediately tried to ram through a ban on any weapon more destructive than a grenade or laser rifle with the failed Executive Order 156. The Star League council was subsequently disbanded, and Richard began to rule by decree from Amaris’ “Star Palace” in the Canadian wilderness.
Given Archon Richard Steiner II’s outspoken opposition to Executive Order 156, and the fact that most of the “bandits” operating in the Inner Sphere had Great House backing, my guess is that the group holding Lt. Hampton is also “part of something greater than itself” – namely, the LCAF (or Loki/Lohengrin). It’s unlikely that they’re Rim Worlders, given the one bandit’s origins on the Lyran world of Garrison and their base of operations being in the District of Donegal. Their desire to learn the orders of Hampton’s unit may reflect Archon Steiner's fears that the First Lord might have ordered the SLDF to carry out his plan to disarm the Great Houses by force.
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----- 1 Year Later -----
Date: June 24, 2763
Location: Canopus IV
Title: Self Defense
Author: Jason M. Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Loon Resort is a prime example of the Magistracy of Canopus’ leisure economy. The lakeside resort boasts casinos, buffets, shows, music, dancing and drinking, and an amusement park 2 kilometers down the road for the kids (and soundproofed suites for the adults – this is Canopus, after all).
Star League Regional Deputy Consul Ronald Ekkers is a regular visitor to the resort, and believes that he has covered his tracks so as to be able to visit anonymously. However, a shift in the POV reveals that he has been identified by mysterious underwater watchers as a Star League tax collector. They resolve to “get rid of him” and do so by blackmailing him, since his companion in the room wasn’t the one on his marriage certificate. Ekkers resolves to execute his long-planned contingency against just such a blackmail attempt.
Said contingency, once approved by his superior at the Star League’s embassy, turns out to be an airstrike against the resort using a Cormorant WiGE seconded from the local SLDF garrison (the 219th BattleMech Division). Unexpectedly, the Cormorant crew picks up six inbound bogies. After warning the SLDF raiding party off, the bogies open fire, bringing down the WiGE with Eckers and crew aboard.
The POV shifts back to the blackmailers, who tell an out-of-the-loop compatriot that the aerospace fighters that took out the WiGE were mercenaries who had been on R&R at the Loon Lake Resort and had volunteered their services.
Notes: It’s telling that Eckers views Canopus as being a backwater, low profile posting – both for diplomats and military personnel. He views any Star League officers stationed there as weak/incompetent for having been exiled to the Periphery.
He may have a point. FM:SLDF notes that the 219th BattleMech division (the Bull Run Division) – assigned to garrison Canopus IV – became lax and lost discipline, to the point that a “Bull Run” has become the name of the unit’s regular 18-hour pub crawl through downtown Crimson. (Notably, the unit is one of the few not to get any special modifiers in the Rules Annex.)
Chronologically, it’s significant that Eckers is a Star League tax collector, because one of the most far reaching edicts issued by Richard Cameron (still in isolation with Amaris at the Star Palace) was his Taxation Edict of 2763, which placed an even heavier tax burden on the Periphery. When the Periphery states refused to comply, Richard ordered Kerensky to reinforce the periphery garrisons and personally take charge of enforcement. One would presume that the Loon Lake resort’s management is hostile to the League’s taxman because of well justified fears that he’d try to use force to enforce Richard’s edict.
The willingness of the Periphery people to engage in combat against the SLDF (even if this is an isolated incident) shows that the Periphery people have begun to cross a key threshold. The full-scale uprising is just two years away, and the SLDF's aura of invincibility is already tattered.
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Has the Cormorant WiGE ever been mentioned outside of this story?
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Has the Cormorant WiGE ever been mentioned outside of this story?
It's on p. 88 of TRO: Vehicle Annex, which notes it debuted in 2690 and was used as a cargo transport throughout the Federated Suns. Aside from the TRO entry and "Self Defense," I don't know of any other products that feature the design.
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: April 4, 2765
Location: New Vandenberg
Title: An Ill-Made House
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: SLDF Captain Aaron Dane, a graduate of the Gunslinger program, discusses secessionist propaganda being broadcast by Taurians on New Vandenberg with his CO, Major Talbert. Talbert informs Dane that General Kerensky is personally monitoring the situation from Fort Gorki, on the other side of the planet from Dane’s duty post at Fort James Miller in the city of Haganau. Dane would like to get to the task of breaking heads and gunning down revolutionaries, but Talbert cautions restraint, seeming to empathize with the Taurians. He orders Dane to take his company out for a patrol.
Dane’s company, uniformly comprised of Thugs, heads out on patrol and discusses the news that fighting has erupted at Fort Gorki, with a battalion of Taurian rebels attacking General Kerensky. Dane wishes he were there. The patrol encounters three TDF hovertanks, which pace them across the Elbe river. On patrol, Dane discusses the dismissal of the company’s former CO – Lt. White – who was arrested for conspiring with Taurian rebels.
Dane’s company is very multinational, including troopers from the RWR, OA, and the Great Houses. Accordingly, perspectives on the Reunification War and the current tensions vary. The discussion continues until the patrol unexpectedly runs into a reinforced force of Taurian ‘Mechs – mostly older designs, but headed by a cutting-edge Emperor.
Dane attempts to negotiate with the Taurian commander, setting the river as a red-line boundary. The Emperor’s pilot, having lost a daughter in the fighting around Fort Gorki, isn’t in the mood to parlay. When the Emperor lights his Thug up with its active targeting array, Dane issues a dueling challenge to the Taurian commander, despite the Emperor’s edge in armor and armament.
The scene shifts back to Fort James Miller, where Dane’s XO, Lt. Thomas Brake, reports to Major Talbert. He sees the battalion’s infantry complement geared up and standing by in their APCs. However, instead of riding to the rescue, Talbert orders Brake’s detention, and reveals that he’s a New Vandenberg native who has decided to back the Taurian rebels.
Dane wins the battle, targeting the Emperor’s XL engine, and finishing it off with a punch following a failed Death-From-Above attack. The Taurians withdraw, with a promise to be back the following day, and Dane begins to wonder where the rest of the battalion is. As the company returns to base, Major Talbert orders the fort’s perimeter defenses (quad-PPC turrets) to open fire. One of the Thugs takes heavy damage, and Dane moves to engage the turret after Major Talbert informs him that the fort is now a TDF installation.
Inside the fort, Lt. Brake disables his distracted guard and takes his rifle, attempting to assassinate Talbert with it, but misses as he is tackled by infantrymen. Talbert returns the favor by shooting Brake between the eyes with his own laser pistol, then pitches Brake’s body over the fort’s walls. Trapped between a rock and a hard place, Dane pulls back, intending to get to a communications center in Haganau and contact the large SLDF naval contingent in the system (four McKennas and a host of frigates and support craft). Half the company battles the Taurian ‘Mechs they faced down earlier, while Dane heads for the transmitter.
The communications center turns out to be hidden in a multi-faith chapel at the Bureau of Star League Affairs Civic Center – a secret resource intended to be used by troops during the post-Reunification War occupation in case of an uprising. Successfully contacting the fleet, Dane is given coordinates to rendezvous for resupply. The remaining ten Thugs move back across the Elbe, then destroy the bridge to prevent the Taurian ‘Mechs from following.
At the rendezvous point, an SLDF Union arrives to repair and rearm the Thugs. Intel reports that Taurian rebels are overrunning SLDF positions in Vandenberg City and all across the planet, with nearly 2,000 BattleMechs onworld. The company’s new orders are to reduce Fort James Miller to slag, clearing the way for the rest of the battalion to be dropped in to form a bridgehead.
Back at the fort, Major Talbert is running into problems getting the base’s technical staff to cooperate. With the Thugs laying waste to the fort’s fixed defenses, he orders his Taurian-loyalist infantry to evacuate in their hover APCs. Backed by a flight of TDF Cyranos, they try to shoot their way clear to the river. Despite taking heavy damage, Dane manages to blast the APC carrying Talbert. Only three APCs escape, each carrying one platoon of rebel infantry. As the rest of the battalion arrives, Dane readies his command to join the fight for New Vandenberg.
Notes: In addition to the Emperor, the Taurians in Haganau are packing a Guillotine, a pair of Sentinels, unnamed hovercraft (probably Maultiers, though possibly Condors or antiquated LTV-4s, given their use by the TDF during the Reunification War), and 12 Cyrano VTOLs. Fort James Miller’s turrets appear to consist of LRM turrets supported by AC/5 turrets (described as “light autocannon” hitting at shorter ranges than the LRM turrets), with each wall of the fort anchored by a single quad-PPC turret packing an estimated 10-13 tons of armor (it takes 21 PPC hits to destroy it). Based on the turret illustration in the Star League sourcebook, I’d guess that each missile turret is an LRM-10 or SRM-6, while each support turret packs an AC/5.
Given the description of Talbert’s vehicles as hover APCs capable of carrying a whole platoon, I’d guess they’re either Maultiers or Maxims. Probably Maultiers, since we know it was a design fielded by the SLDF in the Concordat. Each facing on a Maultier has enough armor to take one PPC blast, so either the Thugs scored two hits each against the APCs they took down, or managed to tag them with enough SRMs to blow the hover skirts on the Motive Damage Table.
Per FM:SLDF, New Vandenberg plays host to the SLIC’s Taurian HQ, the LVI Corps, the 95th Royal Jump Infantry Division, and the 329th BattleMech Division. Circa 2764 (when FM:SLDF was set), the First French Regiment was stationed on Paf, so their change of station to New Vandenberg must have been pretty recent.
Reference is made to the Fort Gorki fighting. TDF militia were stationed at Fort Gorki, and mistakenly fired on elements of the First French Regiment (an independent regiment attached to the LVI Corps). Fearing a counterattack (which wasn’t actually planned) the militia eventually decided to launch a pre-emptive strike, touching off the Periphery Uprising. Though no date for the incident beyond “2765” has been given in the sourcebooks, the immediacy conveyed in this narrative places it on or about April 2nd or 3rd.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: June 1, 2765? [See Notes]
Location: Taurus?
Title: Living Legends
Author: Diane Piron-Gelman, Chris Hartford, and Bryan Nystul
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Living Legends)
Synopsis: Major James Cromwell faces a court martial over his actions in the defense of Camp Somerset. Cromwell defends his decision to disobey orders as having been vital to retaining control of the planet. Kerensky responds that Camp Somerset was of little strategic value, and that Cromwell wasted hundreds of lives in pursuit of glory.
Cromwell argues that the media made the SLDF victory at Camp Somerset into a major propaganda victory for the Star League, and taunts Kerensky that his resulting status as pubic hero makes it impossible to prosecute him, as it will look like Aleksandr is making Cromwell a scapegoat for the failures on New Vandenberg.
Kerensky acknowledges that he can’t afford to court-martial Cromwell, and offers him a choice – either step down quietly, or be busted down to Captain and given command of a new “hero unit” full of glory hounds and discipline problems that will be sent into the teeth of the toughest and most hopeless battles Kerensky can find. Cromwell accepts the command, and vows to "live to see you all in Hell."
Notes: The background notes in the book state that in one of the early battles of the Periphery rebellion, Cromwell disobeyed a direct order from Kerensky to fall back to a stronger position. His unit was massacred as a result. Though he richly deserved a court-martial for his actions, General Kerensky knew that the public regarded Cromwell as a hero and that disciplinary action against him would have caused trouble that the SLDF could ill afford. Unable to prosecute Cromwell for his misdeeds, and unwilling to give him real command again, Kerensky chose to exact justice in another way. He placed Cromwell in nominal command of a new unit made up of misfits and disciplinary problems. Kerensky then proceeded to send this new unit on suicide missions, with the intent of allowing Cromwell to die in battle.
No date is given for this scene, though Cromwell’s jab at Kerensky indicates that the New Vandenberg fighting (which began April 3rd) is still recent. Giving time for the first wave of fighting to run its course and a tribunal to be convened, I've guesstimated it to be two months later, though that's pure speculation on my part.
The location is also unclear, though likely somewhere in the Taurian Concordat or in a Federated Suns border system. Though Cromwell's battle involved the defense of Camp Somerset, it can’t have been on the planet of Somerset, which was a Rim Worlds Republic colony at this point, and had neither rebels nor an SLDF garrison. Early in the course of the Uprising, Aleksandr Kerensky was on New Vandenberg, so I would guess that both the battle and the court martial would have taken place somewhere in the Taurian Concordat, and that “Camp Somerset” is named after something other than the RWR world. (After all, neither Fort Gorki nor Fort James Miller were named after New Vandenberg.) Cromwell's statement to Kerensky "your failure on New Vandenberg" implies that they're not on New Vandenberg in the tribunal.
The fact that Cromwell’s unit was later referred to as “The Lionhearts” may be a clue as to the unit they were in. FM:SLDF shows that the 328th Royal BattleMech Division (XLVI Corps, 19th Army) was stationed on Taurus, and was known as the Lion-Hearted Division. H:LoT1 notes that the 19th Army was “well prepared to face the Concordat troops when the tensions exploded into war, withdrawing from some hotspots but contesting others,” and that “the presence of General Kerensky in their midst kept the Nineteenth’s morale high.” Cromwell, therefore, appears to have contested a hotspot he was ordered to withdraw from.
If this is the case, H:LoT 1 & 2 shows Cromwell’s band of troublemakers earning their glory with the Nineteenth Army on Rio, Tybalt, Hean, Sirius, and finally hitting Terra, assigned to the Mongolia/China border region where they faced the brutal fighting for Xi’an and then tried to keep a lid on civil unrest in India. They led the landings in Victoria, Canada and pushed inland to Vancouver and Unity City. The 328th itself was part of the taskforce that went with Kerensky to besiege Amaris’ Imperial Palace and bring the war to an end. Unfortunately, a search for "Cromwell" in H:LoT 1 & 2 doesn't bring up any references.
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I don't know if it's just a coincidence or not, but it's ironic that the commanding officer of a ship with experimental new technology has the same name as the actor who portrayed Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact.
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Based on his characterization in Living Legends, Cromwell bears a striking similarity to Futurama's Zapp Brannigan, though Living Legends was published in 1995 and Zapp didn't come to screens until 1999.
(When Aliens Attack - Zapp: "When I'm in command, every mission's a suicide mission!")
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----- 8 Months Later -----
Date: February 15, 2766
Location: Mirach
Title: Infestation
Author: Ken' Horner
Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: A detachment of the 7th Crucis Lancers, responding to a bandit raid on a FedSuns settlement on Mirach, attacks Jade’s Rangers – Royal HAF veterans who now serve as the personal guard of the a local Terran Hegemony baroness – mistaking them for the bandits. Seven of the AFFS troops are put down by the elite lance, while the Feddies only manage to destroy one of the Baroness’ ‘Mechs and force another to retreat. The skirmish led to mutual recriminations and further retaliatory raiding over the following months.
Notes: The 7th Crucis Lancers’ presence in this scenario is an anachronism, since the entire Crucis Lancers brigade was only formed after Kerensky’s Exodus out of SLDF regulars that chose to swear allegiance to the Federated Suns. More likely is that they were elements of the Crucis March Militia.
The scenario is designed to showcase just how much better the HAF Royal troops were than the House militaries. Though the AFFS pilots have some decent skills, their equipment is fairly weak, offensively. They’ve got Riflemen (with the paper-thin rear armor), Blackjacks (AC/2s! Wheeee!), JagerMechs (More dakka!) and Shadow Hawks (AC/5, Med Laser, and SRM-2? Be still my heart!) On the other side, the Baroness’ lance has fairly good skills (averaging 2.75 for gunnery, vs. 3.25 for the AFFS pilots) and pilot a Marauder, a Catapult, an antiquated Kyudo, and a Thunderbolt.
[Update: The Crucis Lancers aren't the only anachronism in this scenario. The RFL-3N Rifleman didn't debut until 2770, meaning these should be the hotter-running -2N variant, and the JaegerMech wasn't invented until 2776. Those should also be swapped for RFL-2Ns]
The attackers enter from the east and have to cross a standard BattleTech map and a mountain river map to get at the defenders. Both sides have substantial amounts of ranged weaponry, but with better gunnery and the ability to use the water, trees, and ridges of the mountain for cover while the Feddies advance means that the defenders will connect more often and more powerfully than the Davion company.
The optimal AFFS strategy would be to cluster together and advance as a group. That way, all the units will enter the firing zone of the defenders at the same time, giving them too many targets to cover while maximizing return fire. If the AFFS units just charge in as fast as possible, they’ll get spread out, and the defenders will be able to concentrate their fire on the leading units and destroy them piecemeal. Since both sides operate under forced withdrawal conditions, all fire should be concentrated on one or two Hegemony units at a time, in order to force a withdrawal. (Plus, with the pop-guns the AFFS ‘Mechs are packing, concentrating firepower is the only way they’re going to do more than mar the paintjobs.)
For the defenders, concentrating fire and forcing withdrawals is also a good strategy, but hard to pull off if the AFFS troops rush their positions en masse. Given the large mountain they have to hide behind, the Hegemony troops could park the Thunderbolt (LRM-15) , Kyudo (LRM-20) and Catapult (2 LRM-15s) behind the ridge and have the Marauder get in the best cover possible and serve as a spotter, hopefully softening up the Feddies with a sustained missile bombardment while allowing three of the four defenders to come out with completely fresh armor once the engagement gets to close quarters.
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Notes: The 7th Crucis Lancers’ presence in this scenario is an anachronism, since the entire Crucis Lancers brigade was only formed after Kerensky’s Exodus out of SLDF regulars that chose to swear allegiance to the Federated Suns. More likely is that they were elements of the Crucis March Militia.
Well, we'll know for certain if Crucis Lancers were accidently retroconned into existence prematurely when the Field Report 2765: Federated Suns comes out. I hope scenario that you reviewed was fluke/typo on arthur's part. I'd hate see another part Battletech history throw out because someone forgot to read about the unit's background. This already happed with the Sword of Light regiments in one of BattleCorp's story of a regiment hadn't existed yet attacking Hesperus II.
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If you're talking about "Broken Blade," I did some research on the appearing-nowhere-else 18th Algedi Regulars. The DCMS officer in the story specifically mentions that she and her comrades got their high-tech equipment from SLDF defectors who'd opted to join the Combine. Whatever promises the Dragon made them, their equipment was seized and reassigned to more trustworthy DCMS regulars.
Looking over the "whatever happened to" table in the Star League sourcebook, it appears that a maximum of 29 'Mech regiments could have joined the DCMS in that fashion. It's possible that, while the AFFS took their SLDF defectors and formed a new Crucis Lancers brigade, the DCMS used their windfall of SLDF 'Mechs to outfit 18+ regiments in a new Algedi Regulars brigade, which was subsequently wiped out in the Succession Wars. (When you say the regiment in question didn't yet exist - you may be thinking of the Alshain Regulars.)
For me, "Broken Blade" only really has continuity problems with its set piece battle around a Hunter Light Support Tank assembly line, since the Hunter is fluffed as having been introduced during the "tech starved days" of the Succession Wars, rather than in the tech-rich days of the early First Succession War. The tank's about 200 years too early.
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If you're talking about "Broken Blade," I did some research on the appearing-nowhere-else 18th Algedi Regulars. The DCMS officer in the story specifically mentions that she and her comrades got their high-tech equipment from SLDF defectors who'd opted to join the Combine. Whatever promises the Dragon made them, their equipment was seized and reassigned to more trustworthy DCMS regulars.
Looking over the "whatever happened to" table in the Star League sourcebook, it appears that a maximum of 29 'Mech regiments could have joined the DCMS in that fashion. It's possible that, while the AFFS took their SLDF defectors and formed a new Crucis Lancers brigade, the DCMS used their windfall of SLDF 'Mechs to outfit 18+ regiments in a new Algedi Regulars brigade, which was subsequently wiped out in the Succession Wars. (When you say the regiment in question didn't yet exist - you may be thinking of the Alshain Regulars.)
For me, "Broken Blade" only really has continuity problems with its set piece battle around a Hunter Light Support Tank assembly line, since the Hunter is fluffed as having been introduced during the "tech starved days" of the Succession Wars, rather than in the tech-rich days of the early First Succession War. The tank's about 200 years too early.
If you look at Sorenson's Sabres, it has extensive history of the 5th Sword of Light. Unit's formation was 2796, the battle accrued 2787. Thats the problem.
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Dates on the SoL are all over the place. FM: DCMS says they were all formed during Kerensky's regency period, so the 5th should definitely have been around for Operation BROKEN BLADE.
Moreover, the House Kurita SB says that one of the Sword of Light regiments fielded the Combine's first 'Mechs on Nox in 2475 (so much for them all being formed during the Regency). A HKSB sidebar notes that there have been twelve Sword of Light regiments over the course of history, and that there are currently (circa 3025) five.
Given the pasting the Combine forces took during Operation BROKEN BLADE, it's entirely conceivable that the SoL regiments there were so mangled they were disbanded, and then the modern 5th SoL was reformed in 2796.
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Dates on the SoL are all over the place. FM: DCMS says they were all formed during Kerensky's regency period, so the 5th should definitely have been around for Operation BROKEN BLADE.
Moreover, the House Kurita SB says that one of the Sword of Light regiments fielded the Combine's first 'Mechs on Nox in 2475 (so much for them all being formed during the Regency). A HKSB sidebar notes that there have been twelve Sword of Light regiments over the course of history, and that there are currently (circa 3025) five.
Given the pasting the Combine forces took during Operation BROKEN BLADE, it's entirely conceivable that the SoL regiments there were so mangled they were disbanded, and then the modern 5th SoL was reformed in 2796.
One last wringle, if you read TRO:3025, Revised version, and TRO:3039..the Stuka. A very depleted elements 15th Sword of Light was finished off by squadron of ambushing Stukas while descending on to the Quentin. So there were likely more, the 15th was noted being ancient regiment. Perhaps left over regular Sword of Light? Who to guess. FR 2765: will hope clear things up. Hopefully.
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Doing the research, I came across one more anachronism in "Infestation." It has the AFFS fielding RFL-3N Rifleman models in 2766, yet Kallon didn't roll those out until 2770, four years later. To be accurate, they should be downgraded to RFL-2Ns. (Wheee - even more overheating problems!) The JagerMechs are also problematic, not debuting until 2774. Those should be turned into RFL-2Ns as well.
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----- 10 Months Later -----
Date: December 27, 2766
Location: Terra
Title: Rise of the Animal
Author: Christoffer “Bones” Trossen
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume I)
Synopsis: Major General Albert Kannenberg ponders the logistics of suppressing the Periphery Uprising – sending most of his command offworld and replacing them with Rim Worlders “augmentees.” Unexpectedly, Colonel Kulich Otolo, commander of the 39th Amaris Legionnaires, barges into his office. Otolo brings a “holiday greeting” that First Consul Amaris has extended to every SLDF base commander. He’s come to deliver it personally. Precisely at 15:00 Sao Paolo time Otolo pulls out his laser pistol and shoots Kannenberg in the head.
At home with his family, 3843rd SLDF reserve battalion commander Antonius “Tony” Zalman watches a tri-vid game and grades history exams. Suddenly, a newsfeed cuts into the game showing mushroom clouds rising over Sverdlovsk, Curitiba and Unity City (that last one would be Fort Cameron and most of the Black Watch going bye-bye). Zalman’s com-link buzzes, and he joins a conference call with his regimental commander, who orders him to mobilize his men. Mid-conversation, the regimental commander, Colonel George Loc, is taken out by Rim Worlders. His exec, Major Logan Dietz, takes command and orders him to mobilize and rendezvous in two hours.
One of his company commanders is incommunicado, but the rest agree to muster at the Alfonso Franco Preparatory Academy, where Zalman is an instructor. Tony gets his family ready to evacuate and calls his friend, Kalli Andrushka, a former jump infantry sergeant who lives in the neighborhood. Minutes later, while his family is still packing, Andrushka says that his team has mobilized, but warns Zalman that two RWR transports have just pulled up in the street outside. The SLDF troops catch the Rimmers in a cross-fire – identifying the would-be assassins as mostly local criminals under the command of an Amaris loyalist.
As Zalman and his people drive off for the rendezvous with his battalion, he gets an automated comm-link message from high command, informing him to mobilize.
Notes: It looks like Amaris is one of those people who gets the same gift for everyone.
The SLDF base scene demonstrates exactly why the coup was so successful in its early stages. The blind trust Richard placed in Amaris and his Rim Worlders had been mirrored by the SLDF high command as well, which enabled RWR forces to be perfectly positioned to backstab their “allies” and seize control of key bases, depots, and C&C nodes before the SLDF knew what was going on.
Zalman obviously makes it through the fighting on Terra, since he ends up as a founder of Clan Steel Viper and its first saKhan. His resistance group was apparently reduced to less than a battalion, but it managed to fight the Amaris forces on a number of fronts. Zalman was eventually promoted to Lt. General and put in charge of the battle to liberate Unity City. There’re some odd bits in his bio – the entry for Zalman in Historical: Operation KLONDIKE indicates that he traveled with his resistance cell to the planet of York to rescue civilians from the Amaris forces who were using them as human shields against Kerensky’s invading forces. York, for reference, is a Lyran world close to Alarion, further from Terra than Tharkad.
My guess is that Dr. Andrea Paliwoda (in-universe author of H:OK) confused the planet of York with the Terran city of New York, where taking human shields would have been par for the course for Gunthar “Vampire” von Strang, Amaris’ administrator for the Eastern seaboard. Von Strang got ganked trying to extract offworld through La Guardia spaceport as the North American landings were underway, though apparently his offspring were doing fine back in RWR space, since they went on to found a hardcore pro-Amaris colony on Von Strang’s World.
The delay in getting the mobilization orders out must have been a critical factor in Amaris’ success – most SLDF units probably weren’t as crazy-prepared as Zalman and the Sao Paolo contingent, meaning they were already approaching room temperature by the time the warning arrived. The automated message is reminiscent of the one in the Battlestar Galactica reboot that appointed Laura Roslin president upon the death of the rest of the Colonial government.
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Mendrugo do you have any insight into how the SLDF was structured? From what I understand BT uses the British Commonwealth Regimental structure across the board which wouldn't be handing out numbers to battalions (I think)
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Mendrugo do you have any insight into how the SLDF was structured? From what I understand BT uses the British Commonwealth Regimental structure across the board which wouldn't be handing out numbers to battalions (I think)
That's the number given in the story. Neither FM: SLDF nor the Star League sourcebook go into the designation conventions for reserve units.
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If we draw from the example of the ELH, Battalions also had numbers as well. If it helps, the Star League wasn't the Houses.
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Well, we'll know for certain if Crucis Lancers were accidently retroconned into existence prematurely when the Field Report 2765: Federated Suns comes out. I hope scenario that you reviewed was fluke/typo on arthur's part. I'd hate see another part Battletech history throw out because someone forgot to read about the unit's background. This already happed with the Sword of Light regiments in one of BattleCorp's story of a regiment hadn't existed yet attacking Hesperus II.
It was the "arthur's" first scenario and lacked any fact checking support.
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It was the "arthur's" first scenario and lacked any fact checking support.
No worries, Kit. When you wrote it in 2009, we didn't have things like FM:SLDF, Historical: Liberation of Terra, and other resources for the era. As mentioned previously, the objective in pointing out anachronisms in this thread is not to rake the authors over the coals, but to give guidance for any players that want to be historically accurate to the details in the new reference books, now that such information is available.
In my own 2nd Succession War scenario, I managed to get the name of the fortress wrong, mixing up its name with that of the state it was in, and I certainly can't blame that on a lack of data.
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----- Meanwhile, in the Pacific Northwest… -----
Date: December 27, 2766
Location: Terra
Title: Fall From Glory
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Scenario (Northwind Highlanders)
Synopsis: While an ambush eliminated most of the Royal Black Watch regiment, nearly a company fought its way free and raced to protect the First Lord, not knowing he was already dead. A nuke took out 2/3 of the Black Watch while they were still mobilizing at Fort Cameron, leaving only the one battalion on active patrol to try to secure Unity City. On Gorst Flats, a company of that battalion faced off against two companies of the 4th Amaris Dragoons (the other two companies of the Black Watch faced an elite RWR battalion in Unity City itself). Despite being massively outnumbered, the Black Watch company destroyed their foes, forcing the RWR forces to resort to dropping a nuke on their positions.
The 4th Amaris Dragoons is tasked with eliminating the Black Watch by the end of turn 19 without taking catastrophic damage themselves, with significant bonus points for completing the job before the end of turn 15. It’s a night fight, and the average Dragoon gunnery is 3.83, while the Black Watch averages 0.55 (they’re all Gunslinger graduates), giving the SLDF troops a significant advantage in accuracy. The Black Watch goal is to survive as long as possible, while taking down as many Dragoons as they can. The battlefield is a 2x2, with the Black Watch setting up in the River Delta/Drainage Basin and/or Desert Hills, while the Dragoons enter into the Lake Area and open plains maps. Night combat penalties apply.
Notes: At the time this scenario was written, the exact time of the coup hadn’t been stated – just the date. However, Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume I places it at precisely 9:00 AM in Unity City (in the pacific northwest). Sunrise on December 27 in the Seattle area is 7:57 AM, so the sun had been up for an hour already. Therefore, if you want to be historically accurate, the Black Watch has to lose one of its key advantages and fight without the cover of darkness.
As the elite bodyguards of the First Lord, the Black Watch probably should have had the best equipment possible. (FM:SLDF says that the Black Watch can select any ‘Mech or tank from the Royal tables.) Now that TRO:3075, TRO:3050U and Historical: Operation KLONDIKE have given stats to the Royal variants, the Black Watch roster should probably be updated as follows:
AS7-S Atlas -> AS7-D-H Atlas II
HGN-732 Highlander -> HGN-732b Highlander
HGN-732 Highlander -> HGN-732b Highlander
THG-11E Thug -> THG-11Eb Thug
BL-6-KT Black Knight -> BL-6b-KNT Black Knight
CRK-5003-1 Crockett -> CRK-5003-1b Crockett
CRK-5003-1 Crockett -> CRK-5003-1b Crockett
The rest (Guillotine and Flashman) remain in their TRO:2750 models, since they lack known Royal upgrades.
On the 4th Amaris Dragoons side, as was common in the NWH scenarios, models from TRO:3050 are used, creating anachronisms. Based on the RWR RAT in Historical: Liberation of Terra, the following substitutions are recommended for those wishing to be historically accurate:
1st Company
MAD-5D Marauder -> MAD-1R Marauder
CP-11-A Cyclops -> CP-10-Z Cyclops
GRF-3M Griffin -> GRF-2N Griffin
ON1-M Orion -> ON1-K Orion
STK-4M Stalker -> STK-3H Stalker
TDR-7M Thunderbolt -> TDR-5S Thunderbolt
WHM-7M Warhammer -> WHM-6R Warhammer
OSR-2D Ostroc -> OSR-2C Ostroc
CLNT-2-3U Clint -> PX-3R Phoenix (Clints don’t appear on the RWR RAT in any form)
COM-5S Commando -> MON-66 Mongoose (likewise, Commandos don’t appear on the RWR RAT)
COM-5S Commando -> MON-66 Mongoose (the 25-ton Jackrabbit also appears on the RWR RAT, but that unit’s description in the Nexus writeup indicates that Amaris only started issuing them to his troops en masse after the coup, so they’re not appropriate for this scenario)
2nd Company
FSN-S Firestarter -> FS9-H Firestarter
VTR-9K Victor -> VTR-9B Victor
RFL-5M Rifleman -> LNC25-01 Lancelot (the RWR RAT doesn’t include a Rifleman)
ZEU-9S Zeus -> RMP-5G Rampage (no Zeus, either)
HBK-5M Hunchback -> HBK-4G Hunchback
ARC-4M Archer -> ARC-2R Archer
DV-7D Dervish -> DV-6M Dervish
DV-7D Dervish -> DV-6M Dervish
ARC-5W Archer -> ARC-2R Archer
SHD-5M Shadow Hawk -> SHD-2H Shadow Hawk
OTL-4M Ostsol -> OTL-4D Ostsol
CLNT-2-3U Clint -> PX-3R Phoenix (No Clints on the RWR RAT)
SDR-7M Spider -> SDR-5V Spider
Having the Black Watch get Royal upgrades while the Dragoons get mostly lower-tech models helps to somewhat offset the loss of the night combat modifiers.
The optimal strategy for the Black Watch would be to stick together, but run as fast/far as they can each turn and get into the best cover possible, ramping up the modifiers to the point where the RWR to-hit numbers become nigh unreachable, while their crazy-good gunnery allows them to pile on the damage. Concentrate fire so that any units that come into range go down for the count in a single volley. If using the night combat rules, priority targets should be the Marauder, Shadow Hawk and Warhammer, since they have searchlights and could greatly increase the accuracy of Dragoon fire by lighting up the Watch’s units. Since the Black Watch MechWarriors also have great piloting skills, any opportunity to close with the foes and deliver assault-‘Mech kicks would likely result in a crippled, legless Dragoon. The Black Watch Guillotine has a search light as well, but it should be used sparingly, since the dark is your friend, and switching on the lamp will make it easy meat for the Dragoon swarms.
The Drainage Basin should be avoided, because it severely limits mobility, and the Black Watch needs to stay on the move. The Desert Hills offer the best opportunity for keeping screened from the bulk of Dragoon attacks while concentrating fire on and obliterating any that enter the mix. Point-wise, each Black Watch 'Mech needs to take out three Dragoons to maintain points-parity.
For the Dragoons, the key is to remember that you’re in a hurry, but there’s no need to panic. Avoid the temptation to charge in at top speed. Feeding your scout units into the Black Watch positions piecemeal denies you your numbers advantage and plays to the Black Watch’s strengths, allowing them to destroy your whole force in detail. If you keep together and take 7-8 turns working your way up the Lake Area map, using the woods and hills to screen you from Black Watch fire as much as possible, you should be in good shape to swarm the Black Watch. Despite the night fighting penalties (if used), getting into close range should allow enough of your attacks to connect to start to bring down even the mighty Royal equipment – especially if you use one of your four searchlight-equipped units to light up one target and mass your shots on that unit.
Of course, even if the Black Watch wins the battle, Colonel Armstrong Duket (CO of the Fourth Dragoons) calls in a nuclear strike at 0932, wiping out Hanni’s company. The only survivors of the Black Watch were Captain Elizabeth Hazen and five of her comrades who escaped the devastation of Fort Cameron and took to the wilds to regroup and plan counterattacks, becoming famous as the Ghosts of the Black Watch. (Note that Hazen’s group actually has no connection to the Northwind Highlanders’ Black Watch – the two groups shared a close relationship and had warriors serving in both organizations during the Star League era, but the NWH Black Watch had its own selection process.)
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Just FYI, there is a Royal Crockett, the CRK-5003-1b, which debuted in 2752.
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BL-6b-KNT came out a year before. It's in Operation: Klondike, IIRC
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Thanks. I'd just been going of the TRO:3075 list. I actually couldn't find the formal ref for the Black Knight. OP: Klondike just has the Crockett, and Sarna.net lists its source for the Black Knight as the MUL. Can anyone track down a source on the Knight?
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BL-6b-KNT came out a year before. It's in Operation: Klondike, IIRC
TRO 3050U.
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Awesome! Thanks, Kit!
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: February 22, 2774
Location: Terra
Title: Star Lord
Author: Donald G. Phillips
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Emperor Amaris sits uneasily upon the throne, in a chamber long since purged of all reminders of House Cameron. He contemplates a holomap of his empire, glowering at the “occupied” status of the Rim Worlds Republic systems and a ring of Hegemony worlds retaken by Kerensky’s SLDF, encircling the Terran core. Still, he knows that victory will be his, in the end.
He is joined by General Legos, commander of the Greenhaven Gestapo and one of the chief co-architects of the coup. He hopes that Legos brings good news, as many of his other advisors have had to be tortured to death after bearing bad tidings. Unfortunately for Legos, the news is that the city of Millilo on Saffel has fallen to Kerensky. Amaris orders the Saffel garrison commander returned to Terra for punishment, and to have aerospace forces obliterate the city to deny it to the enemy.
Legos also updates Amaris on the hunt for his wayward mistress, noting that his agents expect to run her to ground on Slocum shortly, despite the ongoing invasion by the 159th Royal BattleMech Division. Amaris rages at the news that his mistress gave birth to a boy on Altair in January, and orders their immediate destruction, worrying that his future heirs might be threatened by any illegitimate offspring or their descendants.
Notes: This throne is noted as being made of smooth, deep brown wood. This is the wormwood throne referenced in the Rhonda’s Irregulars scenario pack, which Amaris shipped from Apollo to Terra after the coup.
It’s interesting to see Amaris’ confidence level so high at this point, with Kerensky’s encirclement of the Hegemony nearly complete and only three years remaining before the SLDF’s landings on Terra itself.
Legos’ intel seems faulty. He reports that the 159th Royal BattleMech Division is assaulting Slocum. However, Historical: Liberation of Terra I reports that 10th Army was in charge of the Slocum assault, and FM:SLDF says that the 159th BattleMech Division is in 2nd Army, and isn’t a Royal unit. There’s a 159th Royal Mechanized Infantry Division in 3rd Army, and a 159th Jump Infantry Division in 14th Army, but neither was on Slocum. My best guess is that RWR intel (AsRoc? Krypteia? - See below) misidentified 10th Army’s 21st Royal BattleMech Division as the 159th. It's understandable that fog of war and the efforts of what's left of SLDF intel would confuse things, but given Stefan's tendency to order the execution of anyone that he thinks is lying to him, perhaps double and triple-checking would be necessary.
Additionally, H:LoT2 notes that the XXXIV Corps (Ninth Army) didn't land on Saffel until April, 2775. It states that the world possessed few standing defenses and just a brigade of defenders. The SLDF quickly pushed the Amaris forces out of the cities, despite the Rimmers unleashing nuclear and chemical weapon attacks. This was one of the few worlds where the Amaris forces surrendered or committed suicide rather than fighting to the death. Given the weak defenses, the February 2774 assault on Millilo could have been a resistance operation mistakenly attributed to Kerensky's troops, and the mass surrenders might have been due to the garrison commander's withdrawal, leaving the garrison brigade in even less capable hands.
One point of interest is that Historical: Liberation of Terra (I&II) describes Amaris’ intel service/secret police as a group called the Krypteia. No mention is made of the Rim Worlds Republic’s intelligence service, AsRoc, which is named in the original Periphery sourcebook and mentioned in the BattleCorps story "The Dark Night of the Soul." Since "The Dark Night of the Soul" mentions AsRoc being active in the Phillipines during the Amaris occupation, AsRoc and the Krypteia must co-exist somehow. Perhaps one is subordinate to the other in the 2770s, or else one is Military Intelligence and the other is State Intelligence (like the DMI/MIIO split in the Federated Suns).
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----- Meanwhile -----
Date: February 22, 2774
Location: Slocum
Title: Star Lord
Author: Donald G. Phillips
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Shera Moray is on the run with her infant son, Andrew, hoping to escape from the Amaris Empire before her son’s father catches them. The father, by the way, is Emperor Stefan Amaris, who impregnated Shera while she was a servant at the Court of the Star League. Upon learning that she was pregnant, she fled from Terra and managed to elude pursuit by jumping a cargo ship from New Earth to Altair, and now (four jumps later) is on Slocum - one of the front lines of the Star League Civil War.
She pays a local peasant woman a handsome fee to exchange identity documents. The other woman bears a vague resemblance to her, and has a child of roughly the same age. The native remarks that swapping documents is better than starving, and walks off, but is detained on the street by Amaris’ soldiers almost immediately. As the woman tries to run away with her son, the soldiers gun them both down. The thoroughly beaten-down populace makes no move to interfere.
Shera faces her brush with death with relief, and then swears that her descendants will one day right the wrongs of Stefan Amaris.
Notes: Technological regression seems to have happened very quickly in the Amaris Empire. Paper identification documents are used in place of digital ones. It’s possible that there’re some special anti-fraud elements in the small brown paper documents, but it’s doubtful. Verigraph technology survived even to the late Succession Wars and would make swapping papers pointless, as the fingerprint key on a verigraph would fail to activate for the wrong person. (This could be a local thing, since Slocum was experiencing unprecedented solar flare activity at this point in history, jamming communications and whipping up storm activity, so it could have been interfering with electronic document readers.)
The INN writeup notes that Slocum suffered under Amaris, with 50% of the population dying of starvation and the ravages of war. The food shortages are referenced by the other woman’s comment about starvation, but it doesn’t seem to synch with Shera pausing to inspect a fruit stand on the sidewalk. With a massive famine in progress, one would expect all food to be under lock and key at heavily guarded distribution centers.
If (per Legos’ report) the SLDF is actively assaulting Slocum (H:LoT1 indicates that landings took place between July-August 2772), Shera is probably trying to get out of the Amaris-controlled sector and into the SLDF beachhead. Given that context, the troops may have been looking for Shera, or may have been just patrolling for anyone with the wrong ID documents, hoping to sniff out SLDF scouts.
If the world has been under SLDF siege for 18 months at this point, with the Amaris forces holed up in the two Castle Brians that remained intact after the Coup, this raises some questions:
1. How did Shera get from Altair to Slocum? Was the SLDF allowing merchant traffic through if their fleet controlled the orbital lanes and jump points? Why would the SLDF have allowed a merchant vessel to land in Amaris Empire-controlled territory? We can assume that if Shera's DropShip had landed within an area controlled by the SLDF, she would have immediately gone over to them.
2. Where on the planet was Shera if Amaris troops were patrolling the streets and checking IDs, rather than holed up in a Castle Brian? Perhaps Amaris forces retained control over outlying non-strategic provinces with just infantry and secret police forces, while the SLDF focused primarily on the main combat forces in the Castles, and Shera was in one of the sectors still under Amaris Empire administrative control.
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----- 6 Years Later -----
Date: November 18, 2772 [See Notes]
Location: Milton
Title: Tactics of Betrayal
Author: David L. McCulloch
Type: Short Story (25 Years of Art and Fiction)
Synopsis: Captain Paul Rice leads a ‘Mech company in 2nd Battalion of the 18th Volunteer Regiment against Republican lines in the third month of the Milton campaign, trying to push through towards the capital of Paradise Foundation. The regiment is one of 36 attached to the 413th BattleMech Division. [See Notes for the continuity issues this raises]
Rice is a native of New Earth – a world yet to be liberated by the SLDF. He’s distracted throughout the battle, a fact commented on by his XO, Brian Mahone, as well as by another acquaintance, Benedict Clancy, back at the base camp. Rice’s internal monologue reveals that he feels a strong sense of comradeship with the other volunteer troops, but the time has come to betray them.
The division’s tactical genius, Brother Anthony Block of Gibraltar’s “Brotherhood of the Rock” (warrior monks), briefs the troops on the plan to take Paradise Foundation. The 18th is assigned the task of supporting an assault against the eastern heights of Paradise Foundation. After the briefing, Block puts Rice on watch at the command tent, where he compiles all the data on the planned assault and thinks about his brother, Peter – a civilian on New Earth. Three weeks previously, he’d received the photo of his family and a demand that he gather information and transmit it to the Republicans, or else his family would be killed. He prepares to send the data, but then halts and considers his duty to the SLDF, and decides not to send the data. Before he can log off from the communicator, somebody knocks him out with a blow to the head.
He awakens a few minutes later to find Clancy standing over him. The transmission window has closed, and he now has to worry about who knocked him out, and for what purpose. He checks the logs and sees that the transmission went out while he was unconscious.
During the assault, Rice expects to walk into a trap and be killed, but is stunned when the Republican forces maneuver poorly and end up badly out of position. Artillery strikes and a ‘Mech charge allow the SLDF forces to carry the day with minimal losses. Afterwards, Block tells Rice that he’s the one who knocked him out and sent the data, having deduced that Rice was being pressured to pass info to the RWR. The entire briefing was staged to put fake data in the RWR’s hands, via Rice. Block acknowledges that Rice made the decision not to transmit (forcing Block to knock him out and send it anyways), and promises to task assets inside the Amaris Empire with getting his family to safety. The story ends with Block proposing a plan to ferret out the RWR agent in the camp.
Notes: The accompanying planetary writeup notes that Amaris’ troops ransacked Milton’s industrial centers as part of a scorched earth policy, hoping to deny them to Loyalist forces.
Of note, the SLDF troops and volunteers use “Sharks” as a shorthand for Republican forces, just as “Snakes” is used for the Draconis Combine.
This story’s facts were perfectly fine when it was published, but there are a number of discrepancies between its timeline and the units involved compared to that presented in the Historical: Liberation of Terra series. The official Catalyst policy in such cases is that the newer products supercede the old one, so let’s see where the problems lie, and how we can reconcile them with the H:LoT accounts:
There’s a chronological discrepancy between the datestamp of this story and the timeline in Historical: Liberation of Terra I. HLoT1 states that 20th Army was responsible for Milton, and notes that it faced a relatively small garrison of mercenary and “Patriot” forces, rather than Republican regulars, and had little difficulty routing and eliminating the Republicans, throwing two divisions the planet. The maps in HLoT1 show that Milton was hit in July-August 2772.
However, “Tactics of Betrayal” dates the beginning of the Milton campaign to August 2774. The chronology works fine if we take the datestamp as a typo and have the story take place on November 18, 2772. (Rice mentions he’s been through seven years of hard fighting, with only six years having passed since the coup, but he could be including one year of fighting in the Periphery Uprising before that.) This means that this actually takes place prior to the Star Lord prologue chapters just posted.
This still raises the question of a three-month campaign being considered one of “little difficulty,” but perhaps the SLDF divisions were taking things slowly to avoid blunders like Admiral Braso’s suicidal strike into the occupied Hegemony shortly after the coup. Perhaps the Volunteers were sent in to establish a bridgehead and contain the RWR garrison in a perimeter while awaiting the two divisions of SLDF regulars that would be able to squash them quickly, with the delay largely attributable to the fact that the divisions doing so were transferred in from the Nusakan/Zebebelgenubi theater.
FM:SLDF notes that the 413th BattleMech Division was originally part of 11th Army’s XXVII Corps, and was noted for having a dedication to steampunk culture. However, HLoT1 places the XXVII Corps in the 15th Army Group, rather than the 2nd, with 11th Army assigned to the Zebebelgenubi/Nusakan operational area. Looking at the details of the Nusakan battle (where XXVII forces took part) most of the fighting seems to have been done by WarShips and aerospace fighters – major fleet engagements, airstrikes with nukes to drive the Republicans into their Castles Brian, etc. I suppose it’s possible that the 413th BattleMech division was temporarily seconded to Milton to oversee the volunteers as they fought the weak Amaris garrison, while their WarShips and other escorts were securing the Nusakan system. (Sending ground troops in before enemy space assets had been degraded proved costly – HLoT 1 notes that XXVII Corps lost 15 regiments of ground troops when their transports were destroyed en route to the planet. Perhaps High Command didn’t want to risk the ‘Mechs, and held them back until orbital insertion paths could be secured.)
In addition, H:LoT1 says only a small collection of mercenaries and Patriot forces were on Milton, but this story pits the SLDF against the 23rd Republican Division, which was split between Alioth (14th Amaris Dragoons & 23rd Battle Regiment) and Milton (43rd Amaris Hussars, 22nd Amaris Dragoons, 212th Amaris Cuirassiers – with supporting artillery and mechanized infantry, plus enough air cover to be able to deny the SLDF air superiority).
One “Hail Mary” to square the continuity issues would be to assume that Block was orchestrating an epic deception – falsifying unit numbers, orders, logistics records, etc. to bamboozle the Krypteia/AsRoc, and some of his tinkering may have led Victor Steiner-Davion and his research team down some false paths as they compiled H:LoT I & II, at least in areas where Block was active. Or, as part of the deception on Milton, Block had Rice and the other Volunteer Regiment troops so totally in the dark that they were misled about the identity of which army group they were part of, what divisions supported them, and which foes they faced…or even what year it was ;)
[It’s clear that this story, predating the Liberation of Terra Historicals, and tucked away in the massive “25 Years of Art and Fiction” anthology, was overlooked or disregarded by the Historical authors, leading to continuity issues. However, I generally try to figure out a way that the events depicted in the fiction could square with the sourcebook accounts, even if dates and the like need to be adjusted. Better suggestions for reconciliation of the accounts are welcomed.]
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: July 6, 2776 [See Notes]
Location: Procyon
Title: Desertion
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Private Ernest Nebfer is a Hegemony citizen drafted into the Republican Guards. He was dragged out of his home at gunpoint, put through basic training in four weeks, and then sent to the front lines. At some point during the battle for Procyon, he is put in charge of escorting a MechWarrior deserter to her execution. His conscience gets the better of him, and he lets her escape. As a consequence, he is assigned to the 405th Penal Battalion for 30 days – essentially a death sentence, since average lifespan in the unit is measured in hours.
Nebfer finds himself assigned to take Hill 215 from SLDF infantry. He and his fellow suicide troops are given a rifle, grenade, combat knife and satchel charge. Such human wave tactics have been steadily failing (at great cost in life) for two weeks. They’re given a mandate – “win or die” – as retreat is not an option. They’ll either be killed by the SLDF going forward, or killed by RWR regulars (The 88th Division – The Scythe of Amaris) if they try to run.
Nebfer charges up the hill, hoping to make it to the top and somehow stay alive. His comrades are massacred all around him, but he makes it to a wrecked ‘Mech leg, and prepares to throw his satchel charge into the SLDF trench, hoping that victory will mean life. He’s hit by incoming fire and falls to the ground. His last sight is the armed satchel charge lying in the dirt next to his head.
Notes: The datestamp on this story is November 6, 2775, which is too early, per H:LoT2’s timeline. H:LoT2 states that Procyon was invaded on in late February/early March 2776. It’s stated in the story that the battle for Hill 215 takes place around the time of the final SLDF assault, which the SLDF Fifth Army managed to wrap up by mid-summer 2776. Nebfer remarks that entire cities have been wiped out in the fighting, placing this after the main body of the 88th Republican Guards Division buttoned up in their Castle Brians and started lobbing WMDs via cruise missile. Pushing the date forward eight months takes care of the continuity issues.
It’s not clear what sort of strategic purpose is accomplished by sending penal units out as cannon fodder. Possibly just to put pressure on the SLDF units besieging the Castle Brians by making them defend their siege lines from human wave assaults, rather than focusing on degrading the Castle’s defenses. H:LoT2 says that once the SLDF’s 16th Fleet had orbital control, they blasted any RWR unit that wandered out of its fortifications with orbital bombardments, but perhaps this wasn’t possible in the immediate perimeter of the Castle Brians. (They may have still had active SDS surface-to-orbit batteries to prevent the Castles from being smashed from orbit.)
Nebfer observes that the Rim Worlders in command of the defense feel desperate and are resorting to ever more draconian measures. With Kerensky’s troops in charge of the Rim Worlds Republic, they have nowhere to go if they lose. It’s notable that information control seems to have been a hallmark of the Amaris regime. Despite having held a Hegemony-wide referendum (albeit a rigged one), Nebfer remarks that he’s heard only rumors about how Amaris became First Lord and about what happened to the Camerons.
Other sources (WizKids INN) on Procyon note that the Castle Brian near the planetary capital of Guilded Halls was reduced to ruins by orbital bombardment. If the Castles were, in fact, clobbered by orbital bombardments, the SLDF infantry on Hill 215 and other positions may have just been maintaining a perimeter, keeping the RWR forces penned up inside the kill zone while the 16th fleet slowly reduced the Castle Brian’s protective structures. The human wave attacks may have been an attempt to break out, which would allow the Scythe of Amaris regular troops to get off the bullseye and try to hide among the civilian populace.
The garrison commander tells Nebfer that the MechWarrior he let escape had information that she could pass to the SLDF to help them. Perhaps that info was something that allowed the SLDF to disable the Castle Brian’s orbital defenses, allowing the WarShips to begin the final bombardment.
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----- 1 Month Later -----
Date: July 31, 2776 [See Notes]
Location: New Earth
Title: Organic Ice
Author: Ken' Horner
Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: SLDF forces have begun infiltrating the New Earth system. On October 5, 2775, an SLDF fleet jumped into the system and disgorged small strike-teams to infiltrate the system and lay the groundwork for the coming assault. One of the targets was New Ganymede, a moon orbiting the gas giant Zeus. New Ganymede’s rivers of naturally occurring organic solvents are a strategic asset that the SLDF sees as a necessary asset prior to the main assault. A small SLDF combat group is sent to take the moon’s RWR defenders by surprise.
The SLDF team consists of one Heavy ‘Mech company, with an average gunnery of 2.75 (Veteran), and faces a Medium/Heavy company of the 12th Republican Guards with an average gunnery of 2.92 (Veteran). It’s a slugfest between two fairly evenly matched forces. The main twist of the scenario is the conditions – methane atmosphere, flammable rivers, low gravity, and low temperatures. The side that adapts best to the terrain will likely be victorious.
The “Aftermath” section notes that the RWR forces were defeated, but that the survivors managed to retreat offworld to New Earth, where they awaited the main assault.
Notes: While a fine scenario in its own right, it’s problematic to fit this into the timeline for the invasion of New Earth presented by Historical: Liberation of Terra II.
HLoT2 states that the invasion of New Earth took place on July 26, 2776, but that infiltration efforts had begun earlier in the year with the goal of covertly seizing control of the New Earth HPG station before the main invasion fleet arrived, thereby preventing Terra from learning about it and sending reinforcements. A strike team hitting nine months earlier and taking the moon to prepare for the eventual planetary invasion, and letting the RWR garrison get back to New Earth on top of that, just doesn’t fit into that narrative. This is hardly a covert insertion if they let the garrison extract. If they had hit that early, and then settled in to wait for the rest of the fleet for nine months, there’d be ample time for the Republican troops onboard the nearest Pavise to vector a few dozen Caspars over to New Ganymede to initiate aggressive urban renewal operations from orbit.
Plus, the scenario implies that General Kerensky personally commanded the New Earth invasion fleet, when that honor went to Ninth Fleet Admiral Dmitrios Rummolo. HLoT2 says that the 11th Army (rebuilt after the punishing campaigns on Nusakan and Zebebelgenubi) was assigned to crack New Earth, so the “ad hoc” company seen here is probably part of their TO&E, likely assembled by cherry-picking the MechWarriors with the most microgravity combat experience from a number of regiments.
One solution to the continuity problem would be to reclassify this operation as an objective raid to keep the RWR forces on the defensive and destroy the New Ganymede refineries to deny them to the enemy. That would imply that the company went in on some sort of stealthed DropShip to get past the Caspars, hit the RWR garrison, and then extracted after scuttling the refineries. However, H:LoT doesn’t mention any such stealth capabilities – at least not ones that were effective against the Caspars.
Another option (my preferred choice) would be to reset the date of the scenario to July 31, 2776, and cast it as a sideshow to the larger New Earth invasion. Re: Kerensky – the scenario doesn’t outright state that he’s leading the invasion – it just quotes a message from Kerensky to the invasion fleet and refers to them as Kerensky’s troops.
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Interesting stuff, Mendrugo! You write as if your one of the staff, thank you for continuing do these fastnating reviews!
Is possible to include the publish date/year of the scenario as part of your boilerplate for the review?
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I'm only peripherally "staff" as one of the volunteers on the fact-checking team. I used to be a FanPro Commando demo agent, but had to resign once I left the U.S. and started working in countries like Ukraine, Jamaica and Tajikistan that don't really have gaming culture.
The date of publication is listed on Sarna.net's list. Since the focus in this thread is on the in-universe chronology, I'd rather not clutter up the header further. Whenever a continuity issue arises due to later sourcebooks contradicting earlier stories, I'll address it in the notes.
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I'm surprised at how many of the stories set during the Amaris Coup seem to be at odds with the published data in the two Liberation of Terra volumes. Were these works not used as reference points when the sourcebooks were being put together, or are these disrepancies simply falling through the cracks left open by attempting to tackle such an ambitious project?
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I wasn't part of the fact-checking or development processes for H:LoT2, so I can't speak as to what led to the discrepancies. My guess is that the mandate for the H:LoT writers was to create a believable, internally consistent progression for Kerensky's campaign to liberate the Terran Hegemony. It's entirely possible that they looked at the previous fiction and decided that going by those dates would leave certain systems "behind the lines" still in Amaris hands, and others liberated too early. It's for cases like this that Catalyst's policy is that newer products supercede older ones when conflicts arise.
I'm certain the H:LoT writers were aware of at least some of these sources. General Legos of the Greenhaven Gestapo is named in the prologue chapters of Star Lord, and he plays a major role in the H:LoT books. It's deliciously ironic that the story with the most conflicts with H:LoT, "Tactics of Betrayal," revolves around purposeful dissemination of misinformation.
I'm loathe to simply throw anything out, so when conflicts arise, I'll see what I can propose (with the requisite level of "handwavium") to reconcile the accounts. Keeping in mind that my suggestions are just that, and in no way official or canon.
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----- 8 Months Later -----
Date: February 14, 2777
Location: Terra
Title: Hard Justice
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume II)
Synopsis: Megan Cole talks to her niece, Jess, during the SLDF liberation of Moscow. Jess has blood on her face, but says it wasn’t hers. She tells her aunt that she was watching the BattleMechs down by the river with Kolya – they wanted to see General Kerensky. Megan worries about keeping Jess safe, since she knows that “Kolya” has a connection to General Kerensky, and that such connections might endanger Jess, whose mother Helena had to give her up 12 years earlier into Megan’s care.
Notes: Kolya is the Russian diminuitive for Nicholas, so the “ragged boy” playing with Jess is almost certainly Nicholas Kerensky, who lived under an assumed name in Amaris-occupied Moscow. The identity of Jess is more of a mystery. She was given up by a woman named Helena in 2765, and Megan has been dodging assassins since 2767. Simon Cameron’s third child, Helena, was born in 2749, and would have been 16 in 2765. Richard Cameron’s bio in H:LoT1 notes that he despised Helena and that there were rumors that he began to abuse his sisters in his teens.
So, it would appear that Jess is the child-by-incest/rape of Richard Cameron and his younger sister Helena. The birth was covered up and the child passed off to Megan Cole. There’s no hard data on what happened to “Jess” afterwards, but Historical: Operation KLONDIKE notes that Nicholas’ wife, Jennifer Winson, is a cipher. There’s no record of her life in the Inner Sphere and only minimal information on her pre-Clan life in the Pentagon. The bio notes that it’s almost as if Nicholas and her brother Jerome deliberately sought to obfuscate the records, and mentions that there are theories that Jennifer is an assumed name and that she is, in truth, a descendant of the Cameron family. Her brother Jerome is noted as a native of Gallery, and was the officer who rescued Katyusha Kerensky and her sons from Moscow, though his bio raises questions about whether he was really her brother.
This would seem to add a lot of additional circumstantial evidence to the theory that “Jennifer Winson” = “Jessica Cameron,” rather than Richard’s legitimate daughter, Amanda, as some have speculated. From this story, we can speculate that when Jerome Winson reached Moscow to extract Katyusha, Nicholas and Andery, Megan Cole got him to extract Jessica as well. The early Jess-Kolya friendship eventually turned to marriage between “Jennifer” and Nicholas.
One of the characters in “Fall From Glory,” who serves as Nicholas' agent in triggering the Prinz Eugen mutiny within Kerensky’s Exodus Fleet, is named Major Jes Cole. Since “Jess” was being raised by “aunt” Megan Cole, it seems plausible that Jessica Cameron -> Jess Cole -> Major Jes Cole -> Jennifer Winson. (An awesome “blink and you missed it” Easter Egg that they’ve been laying the groundwork for since Historical: Operation KLONDIKE)
One wonders how this fits in with the story that Jerome’s wife, also named Jessica, opted to stay behind on Alarion (and, per the legend, turned into a tree) rather than joining her husband on the Exodus. Coincidence, or something more?
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Just read Op Klondike the other day and I remember the part about Jennifer Winson being a Cipher and a possible Cameron. I also remember the story in the Liberation of Terra II Historical but I never connected the two....wow, that does make some sense.....crazy but cool as well.
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----- 5 Days Later -----
Date: February 19, 2777
Location: Terra
Title: Hard Justice
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume II)
Synopsis: Two Amaris loyalists – a merc and a bureaucrat - are holed up in the Hegemony Congress building in Geneva, both having failed to escape Europe before the SLDF took control. The civilian is busily burning documents – tax returns, he says. He tells the merc that he was in media, in a “behind the scenes” capacity. After the merc leaves to sweep the perimeter, the bureaucrat returns to destroying documents – including those that reveal him to be Samir Njari, Chairman of Krypteia Operations.
Notes: The rats are trying to go to ground with the SLDF closing in and preparing to unleash some vengeance. Samir’s bio in H:LoT2 notes that his attempt to conceal his identity failed, and he was arrested when the Hegemony Congress fell in June 2777. He committed suicide in prison in 2781. Of note, he was trying to change his appearance in addition to burning his identity documents. His picture in the official bio shows a slender, handsome man with stubble, while the man described in this scene is “short, fat and clean-shaven.”
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----- 6 Months Later -----
Date: August 14, 2777
Location: Terra
Title: Hard Justice
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume II)
Synopsis: Roger Calvinson, a major player in the Hegemony financial markets, looks out over London and reflects on how things have come to pass. He recalls that he and other bankers, blinded by greed, financially backed Stefan Amaris’ schemes, and then came to realize that they wouldn’t ever get their trillions of Star League dollars back unless Amaris won, trapping them into further financing the Star League Civil War. Now, with the SLDF on Terra, an Amaris victory is a vanishingly small possibility, and Calvinson senses his financial ruin. In time honored tradition, he plans to end his career by jumping off a ledge 16 stories up.
Notes: This scene lays the groundwork to explain why the massively powerful economy of the Terran Hegemony collapsed after the war. So much capital had been poured into the Amaris war machine, creating nothing but ruined BattleMechs, burned-out cities, and mountains of debt. Since the Hegemony lay at the core of the Inner Sphere's economy as a whole, its ruin created massive recessions in the economies of the other member states.
H:LoT2’s “Crack in the World” sidebar recounts how Hegemony business leaders bought Amaris’ line that his goal was to build the greatest economy in the Inner Sphere. He removed all controls from corporate activities, and the businessmen threw themselves into the goal of reaching new heights of production quotas. The author of the sidebar, Anderford Howe Wakeman, says he took the word of the Amaris government that any reports of pillaging were isolated incidents, and would be prosecuted. He also says he and the other tycoons never realized that millions of Hegemony factory workers were sent to forced labor gulags. Since Wakeman’s account is published in 2785, we can assume he didn’t join his colleague Calvinson on a ledge.
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----- 2 Months Later -----
Date: October 11, 2777
Location: Terra
Title: Hard Justice
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra - Volume II)
Synopsis: After six months on the run, Hans Mikkelsen, a member of the infamous Greenhaven Gestapo, is apprehended in the back alleys of Rome, where he and his fellow mercs spent the occupation looting the Vatican and savaging the Catholic hierarchy and citizens of Rome. While Hans doesn’t have a nifty handle like his comrades Bernard “Ogre” Critchley or Alexis “Succubus” Adley, he apparently did sufficiently dirty deeds to have Lyrans, Davions, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in a killing rage.
Notes: The Star League SB tells that the Gestapo, after an attempt to extort money and riches from the already-stripped Rome and Vatican City, killed Pope Clement XXVII and many cardinals and bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in 2770. The Davion SB adds that they ransacked the churches for priceless art objects and historical artifacts, which they either carried off or shot up just for the fun of it. When Clement XXVII was put on trial by the mercenaries, the Vatican managed to broadcast a short message to ranking church members throughout the Inner Sphere, saying that the Holy Father was setting aside the mantle of the Church for the duration of the emergency, and gave cardinals in the capitals of the five member-states powers needed to carry on the workings of the Church.
Egocentric Cardinal Kinsey de Medici of New Avalon got a garbled version of the message, and believed he’d been given full control of the Inner Sphere’s Catholic Church, declaring himself Pope Thomas X. Interestingly, an NACC Pope named Clement XX is running the show by 2796 (per “The Purge” sidebar). So not only did New Avalon break with the rest of the Catholic Church in the Inner Sphere over a garbled HPG transmission, but they decided that the last eight Clements (and perhaps any number of other Popes in between) didn’t count, and reset the numbering.
Interstellar Expeditions has a slightly different account of events in the Vatican. It states that the Vatican entrusted most of its historical artifacts, texts, and portable treasures to the Swiss Guard, which then smuggled them offworld and fled to St. Andreas. Furious with the loss of the books, Amaris ordered the destruction of the Sistine Chapel and the execution of the College of Cardinals and the Pope.
Jihad Conspiracies also touches on these events. It includes an excerpt from a Dan Brown-style book, Dark Periphery, circa 2768 in which Vatican guards bribe Gestapo troopers to sneak shipments out through Rome’s Julius Caesar Spaceport, chortling over having managed to get the Vatican’s most precious artifacts away. A second scene indicates they were entombed on Randis IV, and the construction workers who made the cache were killed to preserve secrecy. Author Clive Cutler claims his works are based on historical research. The Jihad Conspiracies account blames the Gestapo for a 2768 massacre of six hundred Pauline Fathers who had been protesting the treatment of the Vatican by the Usurper’s forces.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is the modern name for the Catholic Church’s Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition. A group not inclined to grant much clemency to anyone involved in the murder of their Pope. “No one expects the Inquisition! Among our weapons are…”
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----- 2 Years Later -----
Date: April 18, 2779
Location: Terra
Title: The Dark Night of the Soul
Author: Christopher Purnell
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Father Jerome Zubalicarragui, a Jesuit priest, lived through the horrors of the Amaris occupation in the Phillipines. In 2770, anti-Amaris rebels led a protest march on Manilia hoping to convince the Amaris government to release Pope Clement (then the focus of a mock trial by the Greenhaven Gestapo in Rome). Hundreds of thousands of Phillipinos were subsequently massacred by a detachment of Ignis terror tanks in the Quezon Circle district. Even now, months after SLDF troops liberated the islands, Jerome still has nightmares about the Manila massacre to such an extent that he’s suffering a crisis of faith.
Following the massacre, Jerome went into hiding while AsRoc kill squads and local collaborators hunted unsuccessfully. His skill in evading sweeps earned him the nickname “ghost padre,” a nickname Jerome detests. He has what he feels is an undeserved reputation as a “hero of the resistance,” saying that he “made a few speeches” while others died.
Manila still bears the scars of street-by-street fighting between Republican and SLDF forces, though SLDF combat engineers have been working to restore the infrastructure. Fort Santiago, a former tourist trap, has become the Star League’s administrative headquarters for the region. Violence is still threatened by Amaris commandos, Rim Worlds diehards left behind, and Huk guerillas who assisted the SLDF, but have refused to disarm.
Jerome goes to the fort as an observer for Catholic relief agencies. Detainees (Republicans and local collaborators) and their families will be traveling by bus from the old stone fort to a more secure compound at San Fernando, out in the countryside. Jerome is worried that the Huk guerillas may try to take revenge on the detainees as they travel through the Pampanga region, rather than waiting for due process.
He speaks with Emily Wuerzel, a press photographer who was stranded in Manila en-route to the China front, then meets with the fort’s commandant, Captain Jules Marchand. The SLDF officer tells Jerome that he expects the Huks to attempt to intercept the lightly guarded convoy, but that with little weaponry on-hand (everything combat-worthy was sent to the still-active fronts in China) and with the Huks in possession of significant anti-armor arsenals looted from overrun Republican armories, he will have to rely on diplomacy, rather than firepower.
Twenty buses depart, crammed with accused collaborators along with their families, including young children. Jerome rides along with Emily Wuerzel, and the two discuss the socio-economic problems of the Phillipines, which remained severe even during the “golden age” of the Terran Hegemony. As the convoy enters the New City, it runs into a Huk roadblock. Jerome’s attempts to negotiate with the Huks come to naught, and a raging gun battle erupts. The Huks slaughter the SLDF escorts and kill the detainees and their families, burning them in their buses and hanging their corpses from lamp posts.
Jerome and Emily both survive, and the horror-stricken priest pours out his soul to the hard-bitten war correspondent. He tells her he didn’t organize the protest march…he tried to stop it. While the protest leaders believed that God would stop the Pope’s execution and protect them, Jerome hadn’t shared their faith. The massacre of the detainees causes him to again question how God could allow such a thing to happen. Emily responds that people do such things across all of human space. Yet, as a practicing Jew, she still has faith that the God who kept her people alive for four thousand years exists.
Notes: H:LoT2 dates the SLDF invasion of the Phillipines to January 2779, with special attention paid to taking out the SDS surface-to-orbit battery on Luzon. Six weeks of fighting by 20th Army sufficed to silence the battery and eliminate the Republican garrison, so Luzon became a rear-area liberated zone by late February.
Interestingly, despite secret police duties being handled by the Krypteia in H:LoT I & II, AsRoc (given as the name of the RWR intel service in the Periphery sourcebook) is mentioned here as being the local arm of the secret police. As I’ve speculated before, perhaps AsRoc served as military intelligence, while the Krypteia was a civilian agency, similar to the DMI/MIIO split in the Federated Suns. Or, perhaps AsRoc is a special-operations branch of the Krypteia (as the LIC has the Bondians, Loki, Lohengrin, etc.).
The timing meshes perfectly with the HLoT timeline. The China front was still active until the capture of Shanghai on May 29, 2779, and the T’ienchen Castle Brian remained under siege for an additional four months.
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Between BattleTech and Shadowrun, the Philippines can't seem to catch a break from Catalyst/Topps/old-FASA...
To clarify, who are the Huks?
And does the info on the country in the fiction piece (or in LoT2) state whether or not there is still a substantial Muslim population on the island of Mindanao, or does it focus more on events as they transpired on the island of Luzon?
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The Huks are socialist guerillas who want revenge against the wealthy elites who supported House Cameron and House Amaris in succession, retaining thier places at the top of Phillipine society by siphoning off tax revenues while keeping the majority impoverished. Father Jerome tells Wuerzel that the Huks hate the elite and powerful for keeping the people beggars in order to maintain the status quo, with the few ruling over the many. They rose up during the Amaris occupation and fought the Usurper's troops, then fought the SLDF when it attempted to carry out war crimes trials rather than just letting the Huks slaughter the collaborators.
Jerome describes them as "poor and simple people who are very angry and seek revenge on those they have reason to hate." He adds the caveat that their leadership has untrustworthy elements.
Despite a strong Catholic presence (at least before the massacre), Jerome describes the Philipine poplation as being Muslim majority. His father was a Catholic fisherman and his mother was a Catholic convert from the Yakan tribe. His father's family had emiraged to Basilan from Luzon, and they were still considered outsiders a few generations later. His father was killed by rival Tauseg fishermen.
The original Huks were anti-Japanese guerillas during World War II (Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon). Since these Huks have no beef with the Japanese, they might be the Hukbong Bayan Laban sa mga Amaris Imperyo (The Nation's Army Against the Amaris Empire). They're only called Huks in "The Dark Night of the Soul."
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I see, thanks.
I wonder if any of these undercurrents of Terran affairs remain in later eras. Would the Huks continue to be a force in the era of the Republic, or might they have faded into history long before then?
(And would there be any other militant groups or disgruntled voices "under the surface" on Terra itself, then or now?)
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The primary Terra-based insurgent group in the Republic Era appears to have been the conspiring nobles in the Senate. Fighting broke out between the Exarch's troops and Senate partisans prior to the erection of Fortress Republic.
No sources have addressed whether ComStar's Bureau of Terran Affairs or the Republic's Terran administration were able to successfully deal with ongoing socio-economic issues in the Phillipines. The Camerons seem to have just thrown money at the problem, without doing follow-up to ensure that real development took place. James McKenna wasn't any better - he bombarded it from space to prove a point to the Expansionist and Liberal parties, and then paid to rebuild what he'd blown up.
The description of the Huks implies that they rose up specifically to address the oppression by the Amaris occupation forces, with the Ignis massacre perhaps being the triggering event for the start of an active armed resistance movement.
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----- 5 Months Later -----
Date: September 29, 2779
Location: Terra
Title: Hard Justice
Author: Chris Hartford
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Historical: Liberation of Terra – Volume II)
Synopsis: Endgame. Elaine Young is a secretary in the Amaris Imperial Palace (formerly the Star Palace) near Lake Louise, Canada, where Emperor Amaris and his remaining Republican Guards have been surrounded by SLDF forces. Artillery blasts cause the walls of the underground bunkers to shake. Elaine is summoned by General Bridge, who instructs her to carry a message to Emperor Amaris. (Shoot the messenger is standard operating procedure at this point, so the lowest people on the totem pole are being chosen to bring in the bad news.) Elaine passes through the security cordon to the throne room, noting the evidence that previous messengers have met messy ends.
Elaine enters Amaris’ darkened throne room and finds Stefan sitting alone with a pistol. He makes reference to Elaine having “lots of spirit,” and compares her with Richard’s wife Elise and Elaine’s long-since fled co-worker Shera (from Star Lord). Stefan appears to be holding a conversation with the ghost of Richard Cameron. Amid his mad ramblings, Amaris tells Elise that Kerensky has come with his Wolves to kill them all. She informs him that Kerensky has requested that Emperor Amaris surrender in person.
Out in the courtyard, Kerensky watches Amaris walk out into the courtyard and approach the spot where his Orion stands. Stefan throws his laser pistol (the one used to kill Richard) at the ‘Mech’s feet, then is joined by his wife and children. Kerensky is tempted to dispense summary justice, but refrains – feeling that such a swift end would be too easy for Amaris. He orders his troops to take the mad Emperor into custody.
Notes: Nobody can seem to agree on how to address Aleksandr Kerensky on an intimate basis. His classmates and friends on Tharkad called him Alek (Destiny’s Call/Destiny’s Challenge); Amaris calls him Aleks, and H:LoT2 shows that advisors called him Alex.
The sourcebooks tell that Amaris and his family are held in custody until after Kerensky personally sees the carnage in the throne room, where the massacred Camerons had been sealed in for the duration of the war. Following his tour of the site, Aleksandr orders Amaris' execution, commenting that there will be "no sympathy for the devil." Amaris' remains end up in a Combine medical school.
Amaris was clearly far gone to madness by the end, but his comment about "Kerensky and his Wolves" could be taken as his having, through his madness, tapped into the same precognitive visions that the Nova Cats (via Carolina Devalis) and Jonathan Cameron were said to have.
Kerensky spends the subsequent years trying to put the Star League back together, but fails. The Star League Council meets one final time, but the House Lords can't agree who should be the new First Lord, and only manage to appoint Jerome Blake as head of the Ministry of Communications and to request Kerensky's resignation. The Council then disbands, never to convene again, bringing the Star League era to an end.
This concludes the Star League Era thread. The poll has been added, and further discussion of any of the works is welcomed. I will be starting a new thread tomorrow for the Succession Wars.
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Oddly, nobody ever seems to call Aleksandr "Sasha", which is the common Russian nickname for Aleksandr.
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The quick answer to that may be the question "How many of his friends were Russian or were aware of Russian customs?" A twelve year old girl who spent all of her life in Moscow and probably has Russian as her first language would know that Kolya is the pet form for Nikolas. Many of Aleksandr's acquaintances may be too hung up on the western form of the name and go by that. *shrugs*
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I've got a slightly different take on the "Kerensky has come with his Wolves to kill them all" bit but that belongs in a different thread
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----- Meanwhile, Back in Good Old 2766… -----
Date: December 27, 2766
Location: New Dallas
Title: Houston, We Have a Problem
Author: Joshua C. Perian
Type: Track (Historical: Turning Points – New Dallas)
Synopsis: As the First Lord took a laser to the frontal lobe and the Royal Black Watch ate a nuke on Terra, the Amaris coup (Operation APOTHEOSIS) was unfolding simultaneously throughout the rest of the Terran Hegemony. On New Dallas, General Benboudaoud sent her elite 154th Amaris Dragoons to seize the Caddo City HPG and SLDF administration buildings, hoping to cut the planet off from the rest of the Hegemony.
The Dragoons have a 25% strength advantage, and are attempting to destroy the HPG building and at least half of the the SLDF admin buildings by turn 12. Historically, the attack failed because the commando team failed to secure the HPG, alerting the New Dallas militia.
Notes: This is a very well designed Track, with a wide range of strategic options. My first thought when reading this Track was that the Amaris forces could eke out an easy win by spamming the board with troops. Since they’ve got a strength advantage, but the number of target structures doesn’t change, the larger number of attackers would make it even easier to break through the defenders’ line and trash the admin buildings and HPG. However, I then noticed that Mr. Perian thought of that and cut the time limit if the Rim Worlders field more than a company.
The Republicans also can’t just rely on sending in a company of Ignis tanks to set the targets aflame. Since buildings on fire only lose 2 CF per turn, they can’t burn to the ground within the Track’s time limit. LRM carriers and/or artillery would seem to be essential components for RWR success, since they’d allow indirect strikes from maximum range at the targets, minimizing the risk of exposure to return fire. The night-fighting modifiers get pretty well offset by the immobile target bonus. Packing some incendiary warheads would be nice, since you could set the target buildings on fire right off the bat, and thereby whittle down their CF while you advance, switching to explosive ordinance after the first volley.
For precisely this reason, the Star League/Hegemony player might want to salt in a few fire engines to extinguish any buildings that get set aflame. The understrength Hegemony forces really just want to run out the clock, so anything they can do to slow the Rimmers down is great. Thus, FASCAM/Thunder rounds to fill the approaches through the city streets with minefields would be perfect. If you’re using raw numbers of units to balance forces, then you want as many assault units as possible.
However, if you’re using tonnage, BV, or C-Bills (Star League Dollars in this era), infantry would be fantastic. In a dense urban environment, if SRMs are raining down out of every window along the boulevards (while suicide squads take to the streets to prevent Republican units from moving through the hex), the RWR advance can be slowed to a crawl. You’d want to mix in a few fast response units to go after any rear-area concentrations of indirect fire units (like LRM carriers or artillery pieces). Ripper VTOLs would be the era- and faction-appropriate unit, and would be able to get right on top of the enemy and drop infantry squads on them, zipping over the rooftops while the RWR ‘Mechs/tanks slowly wind through the streets below. If the RWR forces deploy off-board artillery (hey, they’re Periphery scum – they don’t play fair) you could use Rippers to easily overrun their guns and take them out of the equation.
Interestingly, the Amaris Dragoons’ stated goal in destroying the HPG is to prevent New Dallas from communicating with the rest of the Terran Hegemony. However, at this point most of the other Hegemony worlds were being hit by similar strikes, and had either already fallen into RWR hands or were in the midst of combat, so having New Dallas shout a warning would be of little consequence. The real danger, I would think, would be calling for help across the border – the Free Worlds League – and getting the word out to the SLDF fleets before the Caspars and SDS batteries were fully under Amaris Empire control.
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----- Later, That Same Day… -----
Date: December 27, 2766
Location: New Dallas
Title: Operation REPRISAL
Author: Joshua C. Perian
Type: Track (Historical: Turning Points – New Dallas)
Synopsis: The 154th Amaris Dragoons, having failed in their sortie against the capital, have fallen back to their revetment at Fort Resolute to await reinforcements. New Dallas’ SDS batteries made short work of the Amaris WarShips in orbit, clearing the way for the enraged Loyalist forces to attack the Usurper’s troops. The New Dallas militia’s objective is to take out the fort’s HQ and commander, and drive the enemy troop strength below 50%.
The SLDF forces now have a numerical advantage, but the Dragoons can (optionally) deploy a significant number of turrets, though taking that option makes the SDLF troops more numerous and better skilled. Both sides can put their commanders on the field, and get bonus points for taking out the enemy commander.
Notes: If the Rim Worlders want to be manipulative, they could put just a small token force (say, one Ignis) on the field, and then put in all the Castle Brian Weapon Emplacements and fixed weapon emplacements allowed by the scenario. Since the number of attackers appears to be based off the number of defenders (not counting the turrets), the tiny SLDF force would be easily wiped out by the turrets.
This is an issue for the Track format in general, since the number of turrets usually isn’t scaled up/down along with the flexible force sizes used, either making them irrelevant – 2 turrets against a battalion – or decisive – 10 turrets against a lance. Mr. Perian has attempted to address this by boosting the size and skill of the attackers if the defenders deploy turrets, but game balance could still be ruined if the defenders opt for a tiny footprint. The Track also doesn’t specify whether these are Class “E,” “F,” or “G” fixed weapon emplacements. Since “E” class turrets have 6 tons of weaponry, while “G”-class turrets have 100 tons of weaponry, that makes quite a difference.
It would actually be sort of fun to see the Rim Worlds player set up the strongest possible defenses for Fortress Resolute (8 class-G turrets and two of the hardened Castle Brian turrets [packing 135 tons of weaponry each, counting ammo] from JHS:Terra), plus a battalion of House Amaris’ best troops, then see a Rattler Mk I (dispatched from Fortress Goliad, down the coast) lumbering over the horizon. Line Developer Herb Beas confirmed that Rattlers were deployed “wherever they were needed, but weren’t considered standard equipment for a Castle Brian,” so there could have been one at Goliad.
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----- Two Weeks Later -----
Date: January 14, 2767
Location: New Dallas
Title: Hold the Line
Author: Joshua C. Perian
Type: Track (Historical: Turning Points – New Dallas)
Synopsis: Two weeks after the 154th Amaris Dragoons’ demise, their reinforcements arrive – 30 RWR WarShips (representing nearly 10% of the entire RWR WarShip fleet) and up to two M-3 Caspar drones. The defender has up to eight M-3 drones, up to two nuclear missiles, and an absolute swarm of Mk. 39 Voidseeker drone fighters (2/3 the strength of the Amaris fleet deployed in the engagement).
Historically, the RWR fleet smashed through the New Dallas drone fleet and then systematically bombarded all the fortresses and other militia strongpoints, paving the way for the world’s successful occupation.
Notes: The setup says that the Rim Worlds Navy units are regulars and use any Rim Worlds RAT. However, there is no RAT for WarShips (for any faction). The tables in H:LOT 1 & 2, Era Report:2750, and Era Report: Age of War only cover AeroSpace fighters and DropShips.
Line Developer Herbert Beas II has clarified that the RWR force in this track is exclusively comprised of DropShips and aerospace fighters (unless the special options are used to add Caspars and an Aegis to the fray). This actually makes a fair bit of sense. Unlike the multi-threat modern WarShips, the Star League-era craft were generally very weak against fighters, so driving thinly armored (and largely impotent) corvettes and destroyers into a cloud of Voidseekers would risk unacceptable losses. The main role of the WarShips in this era is to serve as carriers/transports for the fighters, and to use their capital batteries to bombard and destroy hardened strongpoints on the planet’s surface.
Prior to Herb’s clarification, I ran the numbers for a hypothetical engagement in which the RWR committed the full task force (assuming 1 battleship, 2 cruisers, 2 M-3 Caspars, 3 frigates, 12 destroyers, 12 corvettes, backed by a mix of Achilles assault DropShips and Leopard CVs carrying Vulcan ASFs) and, based on the BV force parity ratio, got a rough estimate for the New Dallas SDS of over 1,500 Voidseekers, eight Caspars and two nukes. Hope your weekend’s free…
H:LoT1 recounts that Task Force Commonwealth sent its fleets against New Dallas in 2773. Commandos snuck into the system aboard captured Republican ships and managed to board the Pavise SDS control station at one of the jump points, disabling the main drone fleet there. Once the SLDF achieved orbital superiority, New Dallas resistance fighters rose up and helped the SLDF slaughter the elite Republican brigade garrisoning the world.
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Prior to Herb’s clarification, I ran the numbers for a hypothetical engagement in which the RWR committed the full task force (assuming 1 battleship, 2 cruisers, 2 M-3 Caspars, 3 frigates, 12 destroyers, 12 corvettes, backed by a mix of Achilles assault DropShips and Leopard CVs carrying Vulcan ASFs) and, based on the BV force parity ratio, got a rough estimate for the New Dallas SDS of over 1,500 Voidseekers, eight Caspars and two nukes. Hope your weekend’s free…
Mendrugo, did you run that scenario with that force? How did it turn out? Was it realistic?
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I have not run the "full fleet" Track variant. Even using the old BattleSpace rules for simplified squadron combat, that would put nearly 300 units on the map boards. The largest space battle scenario I've ever run had 33 pieces on the table (5 WarShips, 1 space station, and 27 fighter squadrons), and that took about six hours to run.
Perhaps if Alpha Strike or Interstellar Operations offer simplified rules for mass naval engagements (BattleForce Space...aka BattleFace), you could make such a scenario manageable.
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The StratOps Record Sheets allow you to form DropShips into squadrons, not reason that it shouldn't be possible to do the same WarShips
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The DropShips and WarShips aren't so problematic. The 250 squadrons of Voidseekers and 100+ squadrons of Vulcans are what would cause the bog-down. Record Sheets for entire wings would be a good start.
I did create a BV based mass combat resolution algorithm that could model the battle and project a winner, but you're not really playing the battle at that point.
(Each unit tracks offensive BV at short, medium and long range, as well as defensive BV, and in a battle has each unit use its speed to try to stay at its optimal range - so LRM boats try to hang out at medium range, while flashbulbs close to knife-fighting range...though units can have orders to mountain a certain distance issued. Pilot XP is tracked from 1 to 100, as an indication of how effectively the pilot is using the equipment. In each combat round, each unit randomly picks a unit within range - Clan units can be set to pick the same one each time and not gang up - and deals damage equal to their BV score at that range, modifies by XP. So if a unit has a Medium Range offensive BV of 500 and an XP of 50, it would deal 250 damage to the target.
After all damage is subtracted from the targets' Defensive BV, any that have dropped below 0 are considered destroyed. Any that have fallen below the Critical threshold - base defensive BV modified by XP - check for disabling damage. If they fail the check, depending on the Margin of Failure, the results range from crew/pilot stunned to unit inoperable but salvageable to unit going up in flames. Even if they make the check, offensive BV is degraded by the percentage by which the Defensive BV below the threshold has been marked off. Damage received above the threshold is essentially just armor damage.
After each round of combat, each side assesses its losses and makes a morale check to see if it breaks and runs or surrenders. A unit's Loyalty rating comes into play here.
The effect is that Elite pilots - XP 100 - can deal more damage and absorb more punishment than greenies. That Stormhammer commander in one of the MWDA books who took a Jupiter into battle with post-it notes on the console and the operator's manual open in his lap represents XP 1.)
With this system, I can effectively model a huge battle, but I haven't used it to model this scenario as yet. (My final exam in Russian is in a week.)
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So? Just makes the "Squadrons" the size of wings
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----- Eight Years Into the Star League Civil War -----
Date: September 18, 2774
Location: Hood IV
Title: Call or Fold
Author: Cody Ouellette
Type: Short Story
Synopsis: The mood in the Kyrano Base barracks is grim, and Republic Captain Ivan Eoghan has lost his appetite. He exits the mess and watches a trainee exercising in a Wasp. He is joined by Sevan Stine, a Phoenix pilot. Stine's initial jocularity soon fades, and he sighs at the news that the Lyrans have renewed their annexation of Republic worlds. Ivan wonders aloud if the Lyrans will leave anything for their comrades in the Terran Hegemony to return to. Sevan quips "We're too stubborn to fall," but without conviction.
Notes: Kerensky's first action in the Star League Civil War was to invade and subdue the Rim Worlds Republic, and to use it as a staging ground to reorganize and rearm a Star League Defense Force battered by years of hard fighting against the Periphery Uprising and cut off from its logistical support. Once the SLDF was prepared, however, it left the Rim Worlds Republic with just a skeleton garrison, since every 'Mech and AeroSpace fighter was needed on the front lines to retake the Hegemony.
Once Kerensky's forces left, according to Handbook: House Steiner, the opportunistic Lyrans moved in and began annexing Republic worlds, shattering any Republic government or militia that resisted, and ignoring Kerensky's demands that they respect Republic sovereignty. We know from Last Stop that the RWR had established hundreds of fall-back bunkers stocked with war materiel, from which Republican partisans could launch attacks. The Steiner Handbook went on to say that the Lyrans had to deal with persistent and aggressive attempts by Republic patriots to try to reclaim Lyran-occupied worlds and to re-assemble a central RWR government. The Rimmers put up such a fight, in fact, that when the Commonwealth received reports of fresh attacks out of the Periphery in 2786, they shifted much of their strength to contain what must have appeared to be yet another RWR insurgency (actually Combine-equipped bandits), and were caught flat footed by a major DCMS push across their border.
One of the sourcebooks posed the question "Where did the Rim Worlds go?" Answer - the Commonwealth ate it, then spat out the gristle.
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The DropShips and WarShips aren't so problematic. The 250 squadrons of Voidseekers and 100+ squadrons of Vulcans are what would cause the bog-down. Record Sheets for entire wings would be a good start.
I did create a BV based mass combat resolution algorithm that could model the battle and project a winner, but you're not really playing the battle at that point.
(Each unit tracks offensive BV at short, medium and long range, as well as defensive BV, and in a battle has each unit use its speed to try to stay at its optimal range - so LRM boats try to hang out at medium range, while flashbulbs close to knife-fighting range...though units can have orders to mountain a certain distance issued. Pilot XP is tracked from 1 to 100, as an indication of how effectively the pilot is using the equipment. In each combat round, each unit randomly picks a unit within range - Clan units can be set to pick the same one each time and not gang up - and deals damage equal to their BV score at that range, modifies by XP. So if a unit has a Medium Range offensive BV of 500 and an XP of 50, it would deal 250 damage to the target.
After all damage is subtracted from the targets' Defensive BV, any that have dropped below 0 are considered destroyed. Any that have fallen below the Critical threshold - base defensive BV modified by XP - check for disabling damage. If they fail the check, depending on the Margin of Failure, the results range from crew/pilot stunned to unit inoperable but salvageable to unit going up in flames. Even if they make the check, offensive BV is degraded by the percentage by which the Defensive BV below the threshold has been marked off. Damage received above the threshold is essentially just armor damage.
After each round of combat, each side assesses its losses and makes a morale check to see if it breaks and runs or surrenders. A unit's Loyalty rating comes into play here.
The effect is that Elite pilots - XP 100 - can deal more damage and absorb more punishment than greenies. That Stormhammer commander in one of the MWDA books who took a Jupiter into battle with post-it notes on the console and the operator's manual open in his lap represents XP 1.)
With this system, I can effectively model a huge battle, but I haven't used it to model this scenario as yet. (My final exam in Russian is in a week.)
Did you do this in XL? Can I see the file? (I love looking at game aids and mechanics...helps when designing my own)
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I have an Access database rigged up to DreamWeaver-built webpages, with ColdFusion handling the interface.
Every known or implied 3025-era regiment and cluster is detailed in tables down to the individual 'Mech/tank/infantry squad with skill, morale, and loyalty values, as well as BV broken out into defensive, Short Range Offensive, Medium Range Offensive, Long Range Offensive, and Extreme Range Offensive (artillery and cruise missiles, basically).
When two units are put into the arena to fight it out, I have the code run down the list, figure out the range to the enemy line from the current firer, pick a random target in the available range brackets (picking randomly those in the range zone at which the firer would do the most damage), adjust the damage done by XP and range, and assign it - degrading the recipient's defensive BV appropriately and checking against the threshold for critical hit chances.
After each round of firing, any surviving unit over its Threshold goes into Forced Withdrawal. If a sufficient percentage of the unit is destroyed or in forced withdrawal (determined by the Loyalty rating - so Fanatical units hang in the fight longer while Questionable units will head for the hills at the earliest opportunity), there's a growing chance the whole unit will fail a morale check and rout.
Under this system, I've seen Elite companies chew up and spit out Green regiments, which fits the pulp nature of the setting.
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Holdover setup from SWs? IF it is, that's a heck of a resource.
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Holdover setup from SWs? IF it is, that's a heck of a resource.
Gigs and gigs of it. Plus whole datasets for star systems, planetary bodies in those systems, moons, asteroid belts, factories, forts, rail networks, cities, seaports, etc. I got my sandbox Inner Sphere looking fine...just ran out of time and skill to code up a reactive AI so garrison units wouldn't just stand there waiting to get overrun by invaders.
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----- The Next Day -----
Date: September 19, 2774
Location: Hood IV
Title: Call or Fold
Author: Cody Ouellette
Type: Short Story
Synopsis: In the midst of a game of Apollo Hold 'Em, Captain Ivan Eoghan has to deal with defeatist talk from Lieutenant S.G. Iulius Timotej, who argues that the Republic is barely holding itself together since Amaris abandoned it. He notes Hood IV hasn't been visited by a trading vessel in years and has only two AeroSpace fighters to fend off pirates. With arrival of a LCAF DropShip in the Hood system, Timotej advocates surrender rather than dying in the name of a Republic without a president or a capital world.
As weak cards surface on the table, Ivan folds, as do most of his staff officers. Sevan Stine laughs, calls, and raises - contending with Iulius and Battalion Commander Thanesdottir for the pot. Iulius continues his defeatist talk, saying even if the Lyrans lose this invasion, they'll just send another task force. Thanesdottir responds that their duty is to defend the people of Hood IV, regardless of what's going on elsewhere in the Republic. Iulius folds when Thanesdottir raises, leaving just Thanesdottir and Stine, who wins when Thanesdottir is revealed to have been bluffing. When the cards are shown, Iulius groans when he sees he would have had a winning hand, and Ivan tells him he gives up too easily.
Notes: Apollo Hold 'Em uses BattleMechs as the face cards including a BattleMaster and an Atlas. By contrast, Four Card Drax uses the Great Houses as the suits (omitting Liao), and has images of the royal family on the face cards. The choice of 'Mechs is interesting, since at this point in history, the Atlas is a fairly recent development, designed as a symbol of Star League military superiority.
The lack of trading vessels is telling, and probably one of the key factors in the collapse of the Rim Worlds Republic, along with the Lyrans and general pirate predation. Many terraformed worlds were dependent on shipments of irreplaceable parts from offworld, and had to be abandoned when those parts stopped arriving. My guess is that Kerensky and the SLDF seized most of the RWR's merchant marine and pressed it into service for the liberation of the Terran Hegemony.
In this scene, the troops refer to themselves as members of the People's Army. I wonder if that's just a local designation for the Hood IV planetary garrison under the provisional civilian government, or if it's the official name the Rim Republican Army took after the SLDF forced the regent to surrender.
While the Hood garrison is slipping deeper into malaise, other RWR systems are taking different paths, few of them good. On Gutara V, the RWR forces are digging in at their secret bunker and preparing for a counterattack (not knowing that they'll be steamrolled by the SLDF on its way out of the Inner Sphere). On Erin, House Von Strang is beginning a generations-long effort to turn the world into a fortified camp that will eventually be known as Von Strang's World. The world of Haublan was abandoned. Ingvolstand balkanized into fiefdoms controlled by self-styled warlords and dictators (not unlike the Pentagon worlds during the civil war there). A junta seized power on Syrstart, and disease and fires swept the world. Civil wars broke out between city states on Fredotto. A plague nearly depopulated Vannes. Cut off from its export markets, the agricultural world of Paran faced isolaton and technological decline. The underwater cities of Far Reach failed, one by one, and were abandoned.
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----- 4 Days Later -----
Date: September 23, 2774
Location: Hood IV
Title: Call or Fold
Author: Cody Ouellette
Type: Short Story
Synopsis: Lt. S.G. Iulius Timotej displays terrible piloting skills as he staggers through Hood IV's dense foliage in his Whitworth, trying to make contact with the Lyran scouting force. By sheer accident, he flushes a Lyran Commando.
Back with the main body of the Battalion, Catpain Ivan Eoghan is unable to reach Timotej, and worries that his unit will have to spend months tracking the Lyran raiders through the stench-filled forest. Timotej radios in and warns that he's made contact. Ivan orders his troops to move up to engage. The Lyrans charge the Whitworth lance, having broken RWR communications encryption and identifying it as a vulnerable fire support lance. As they approach point blank range, the Whitworth lance reveals its deadly surprise - the LRM racks have been replaced with SRM racks, turning fire support 'Mechs into close assault terrors.
In another part of the fight, Sevan Stine leads his lance against a Lyran Griffin, bracketing it with fire from a Thug, Phoenix, and Marauder. The Griffin falls, but Stine's Phoenix takes a severe hit to the cockpit from a Commando's laser. As the battle continues to rage around him, Stine taps into the Lyran communications network and offers to provide detailed information on the RWR defenses on Hood and neighboring Barcelona in exchange for ten million kroner and passage offworld. The Lyran officer agrees, and asks why.
Stine responds that if you can't win, it's better to fold than to keep playing.
Notes: This appears to have been about the last time anything happened on Hood IV. The 15th Lyran Regulars were garrisoned here in 3025 and were returned to garrison duty after a brief stint on the front lines of the 4th Succession War. Hood IV gave them little to do except crush an occasional pirate raid in the early 3050s and face down one Jade Falcon raid. Looking at the map, Hood IV appears to have been one of the last acquisitions by the Commonwealth, with Herbania across the new border left on its own. Circa 3025, it's on the outer edge of the Commonwealth's Periphery border.
The RWR "People's Army" seems to use SLDF organizational principles, though they group similar 'Mech types by lance, rather than by company or battalion. Stine tells the Lyrans the RWR garrison consists of five combined arms battalions, and one training company. Observed 'Mech types include the Phoenix, Rampage, Thug, Marauder, and the close-assault WTH-0 Whitworth variants. TRO:3039 says that only 24 were ever made, and were assigned to the Amaris Dragoons as terror weapons. Perhaps the "People's Army" is the regimental nickname for a unit of the Amaris Dragoons, though circa 2765, Hood IV didn't rate a line regiment garrison, according to Field Report 2765: Periphery. Even more interestingly, the TO&E of the RWR didn't in 2765 didn't include any Dragoon regiments, implying they were all part of the "secret army." Five Amaris Dragoons regiments were assigned to defend the RWR while the main army was occupying the Terran Hegemony. Perhaps the "People's Army" is one of those five, or perhaps it is a militia unit that incorporated elements of a Dragoon regiment after its defeat by the SLDF.
I'm curious how the Hood IV garrison is getting news about the course of the invasion. Do they still have a SLCOMMNET node? Did refugees from the fighting arrive with word of the fall of Apollo in 2767, seven years before this story?
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I find the "only 24 ever made" hard to believe given that we're looking at what seems to be a simple and easy field modification. Perhaps only 24 WHT-0 were factory-produced and after that they simply didn't bother and just mass-produced the WHT-1, knowing they can easily be refitted.
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Given that the Republic's hidden production capacity seems to have been pretty monumental and even now is still largely unknown, I'm rather inclined to handwave oddities involving unit composition in their units because there's no way we can really disprove anything. Or those Whitworths could be field refits, like Frabby said.
One of the things that makes me look forward to the Succession Wars historicals is that they might potentially give us a good feel for how the Periphery states declined - which worlds vanished from maps and when, and maybe more information on which ones simply declined, vanished, or were the site of battles. I don't think there are any maps that show the full extent of the Outworlds Alliance or Rim Worlds Republic after the end of the Hegemony Campaign, and seeing some of the small proto-states that formed in the Rim area and never managed to make it would scratch a curious itch very nicely.
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----- In the Midst of the "Good Years" of the Star League -----
Date: May 8, 2643
Location: Tharkad
Title: Other Perspectives
Author: Herbert A. Beas II
Type: Short Story
Synopsis: With pageboys announcing his coming and nobles applauding on all sides, Archon Kevin Steiner enters the Archon's hall and approaches the Lyran throne, flanked by twin Griffin BattleMechs. He strides down the central corridor, past the tombs of previous Archons embedded in the floor of the throne room, noting the most recent one - just before the throne - where his mother lies entombed. The several-hundred strong members of the Estates General are watching in person, while billions more are watching at home on the trivid. He notes his sister, Sarah Steiner-Dinesen, standing by the throne, and reflects on how both of them are starting to show signs of age after fifty years at the helm of the Lyran Commonwealth.
He mounts the podium, and addresses the members of the Estates General and the Terran Hegemony, welcoming them and noting that this day marks a turning point in the fate of the Lyran people.
Notes: This is the prologue to a story in which it is revealed this is a holo-documentary being critiqued for accuracy by Lyran historian Bertram Habeas in the early years of the Jihad.
The context for this event is found in Handbook: House Steiner, which notes that Archon Kevin Steiner-Dinesen brought up the issue of disbanding the Commonwealth government, which many members of the public and Estates general, unified as the "Decentralist Movement" were beginning to consider an unnecessary duplication of effort, given the success of the Star League. In his speech, Kevin pleaded for the Commonwealth's continued existence. The final vote by the Estates General was 160 to merge with the Terran Hegemony under the Star League, and 161 to remain independent.
The sidebar on page 29 contains a quote from the speech:
“My friends, we here are all businessmen in one way or another. We know the value of most things. We are admired throughout the Star League as the shrewdest of industrialists. We even feel a secret pride when someone chides us as 'Money Demons' or as 'Pirates of Profit', do we not? Well then, why should we, of all the League's people, forget what it means to invest for the future or to set aside emergency money? How could we fail to realize that some of today's profit might be needed tomorrow?
Yes, these have been sainted years, filled with peace and the sound of money filling our coffers. But are we so naïve as to expect the shower of money to go on forever? No! And if the shower should end—as showers always do—and the hot sun of misfortune should reappear to evaporate the profits of everyone, everywhere—what then? Do you for a moment believe that cooperation and trust will reign to save the day?
“Banks are something that you and I understand. Consider the Commonwealth government as a bank not of money but of a future where we may store good fortune now, to be used later when times get rough, as surely they will.”
In the vein of "Empires Aflame," it's interesting to speculate how things might have changed if the Lyrans had chosen to merge with the Terran Hegemony during the Good Years. Without question, the Hegemony would have sealed the deal with an immediate tidal wave of preferential business deals and technology transfer (not that this wasn't already happening - Tharkad was the first non-Terran world to have an HPG installed). The edge granted the Lyrans by their strengthened ties to the Hegemony would probably have kept the Third Hidden War from taking place, since (as far as I can tell), the cross-border pirate raiding with WarShips never took place on Hegemony border worlds (too much of a chance that the Caspars would take out the raiders). Other realms might also have been convinced to follow the Lyran example - the Free Worlds League and the Federated Suns. I can't see the Draconis Combine ever even considering such a move. The Capellans might have gone along once both the FWL and FS were reaping rewards and hemming the Confederation in.
The Rim Worlds Republic would probably not have been able to infiltrate the entire Terran Commonwealth (Lyran Hegemony? Terran Overlord Government?), and would have likely called off the whole revolution as a bad idea. Presumably, once the Lyran government was declared redundant, House Steiner and their heirs would become regional administrators, but all eyes throughout the Lyran sector would look to Terra, not Tharkad. If Amaris wanted to launch a civil war, he'd have had to recruit a substantial number of Lyran dissidents in addition to getting cozy with Richard Cameron.
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Since the Lyran Commonwealth would have merged into the Star League government not the Hegemony government, that would probably have also weakened the Terran Hegemony government to be consistent as the Star League government organs took over Lyran government functions. It's quite possible there would have been some pressure for and against other areas doing the same - some of the Periphery worlds that were pro-Star League, or for nightmares, what if part of the FWL wanted to do the same while the rest didn't?
Amaris would probably propose to do the same and position himself for a high post in the SL government, in preparation for more self-promotion.
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Things would still would have "went south" with Richard Cameron being neglected by General Kerensky and lovely raised by Amaris. Commonwealth would suffered even more so and ultimately would had hodge-podge military force to raised to deal with the Republicans and eventual Succession Wars to come.
Its does go against game balance as well, without build in game development, it would been possible i think but not finite done deal.
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I can't recall offhand, but the presence of the Terran Hegemony "special guests" at the vote implies, to me, that the proposal was to merge the Hegemony and Commonwealth under one governmental bureaucracy.
Presumably, up to this point, the Lyrans paid their taxes to the Lyran government, which used most of it to pay for governmental services, and then gave a chunk to the Star League central administration, which provided additional services. Undoubtely, in such an arrangement, there was a fair amount of needless duplication of effort. Lyrans, of all people, are averse to wasting money, and would be able to get behind the idea of streamlining the bureaucracy by cutting out the Lyran portion and dealing directly with the Star League administration.
I don't think the Lyran state would have been weakened substantially by the merger. The SLDF worked in conjunction with the LCAF to keep the peace in its territories. After the Reunification War, the House troops contributed to form the SLDF became League forces administratively. So the LCAF would be folded into the SLDF, but would retain its existence. If the HAF units were still distinct as "Royal" units within the SLDF, the LCAF-origin units could probably also get a national champion status and largely be relegated to operations within Lyran borders. One of the elements that made the Star League Civil War worse was the refusal of all five Great Houses to help Kerensky overtly. If there had been this sort of bond, and direct administratie control over the former LCAF, the RWR would have had at least the Lyrans to contend with alongside the SLDF.
Also, the Lyran bonding would have probably included some backdoor clauses for succession. In the event that House Cameron ceases to be able to fulfil its role as First Lord, the logical successor would then be House Steiner. Through the merger, the Archon would probably get an honorary "Second Lord" title and a role in the line of succession.
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----- 26 Years After Directive 41 Removed Restrictions on Exploitation of the Periphery -----
Date: 2748
Location: Iron Land
Title: Iron Land Wildcatters
Author: Eric Salzman
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps Unit Digest)
Synopsis: This Unit Digest profiles an insurgent group on the Rim Worlds Republic world of Iron Land. In the quarter century since Directive 41 removed the restrictions on commercial exploitation of the Periphery by Inner Sphere corporations, Commonwealth Mining has turned the mineral-rich planet into its private corporate fiefdom (starting in 2737). A revolt organized by the Iron Land Miners' Guild in 2743 was crushed by House Amaris' AsRoc, but a second one in 2747 is still going strong.
The digest details the group's armed WorkMechs, scouts, technical support crew, and offworld "technical advisors." As befits scrappy insurgents on a mining colony, they have Dig King MiningMechs and Copper SecurityMechs, along with Buster HaulerMechs, Corx Mobile Tunnel Miners, jeeps, and skimmers. With this equipment, they raid Commonwealth Mining facilities and scout for untapped germanium lodes they can mine and sell to offworld smugglers in exchange for supplies and weapons. The Wildcatters' latest supply of weaponry came with technical advisers of mysterious origin - apparently from the Rasalhagian underground, given their use of Swedenese - who offer training in the use of heavier weaponry soon to come.
While most of the Rimmers are fighting for justice or revenge, the offworld advisers have their own agenda. They're actually an undercover ISF team assigned to covertly assist the Iron Land insurgents with the goal of driving Commonwealth Mining off the planet - not to restore the local mining industry, but to clear the way for the Combine's Metals of the Earth to move in and begin strip mining the whole world.
Notes: I had a number of goals when I composed this Unit Profile. First, I wanted to elaborate on the sort of corporate abuses perpetrated against the Periphery that ultimately led to so many joining the anti-League uprisings. I knew Commonwealth Mining had been a major firm during the Star League era, but went bankrupt during the Succession Wars. It seemed natural to have a Lyran firm (given their reputations for corporate rapaciousness) petition to have the League council to declare that the Iron Land germanium deposits were a "vital League resources" being "inefficiently" exploited by the native miners, and to grant exclusive mineral rights to Commonwealth Mining (which, of course, had dropped substantial bribes on the necessary League officials to ensure such a result). Having a League corporation move in and tell all the native firms they are now squatters on their own lands, and that they must either vacate or pay hefty licensing fees to CM for the privilege of continuing to eke out a marginal living under crushing taxes, would be the sort of thing to trigger uprisings.
I also wanted to tie this into one of the other major events going on at this point - the Third Hidden War, in which League member states equipped/trained bandit forces or used false-flagged elements of their own military (up to and including WarShips) to deniably strike at each other's economic interests. Having the Rimmer insurgency get co-opted into Third Hidden War maneuvering between the Combine and the Commonwealth seemed to me to perfectly fit into such a narrative. Metals of the Earth's involvement also helps explain why Iron Land vanished during the Succession Wars. Metals of the Earth is known for having depleted entire worlds in the Combine through deep core mining, leaving economically ruined husks whose primary use is as training grounds for DCMS troops. With inside knowledge of the insurgents, they could immediately wipe them out and set about reaping the world's riches for the glory of the Coordinator.
A Guide to Covert Ops' writeup on Mimir implied that Rasalhagian underground had continued to exist and to struggle (ineffectually) for Rasalhagian independence since the Combine annexed the Principality of Rasalhague. If they're still active during the Star League, they'd have the skills, experience, and networks to smuggle weapons, and would be a logical buyer for black-market germanium. Thus, they also make a plausible cover for the ISF.
I also wanted to get AsRoc involved to explain how House Amaris had kept their sector quiet while the rest of the Periphery had highly visible anti-League protest and insurgent movements. In my backnotes, I had it down that when AsRoc rounded up the Iron Land Miners' Guild leadership in 2743, they didn't kill or imprison them, but instead incorporated them into whatever form of "secret army" may have existed at the time, being unwilling to let them run loose and draw League attention, but also being unwilling to waste a cadre of citizens with leadership skills and a fighting rage against the League. In my personal "what happened next" narrative, AsRoc swoops in and stops the Wildcatters as they're on the verge of sabotaging seismic stabilizers to drop Commonwealth Mining's headquarters dome into a crater. Like their predecessors in the Mining Guild, the Wildcatters (minus the swiftly spaced ISF team) are inducted into the secret army. To my mind, Amaris keeps his sector quiet during the buildup by having AsRoc sweep up insurgents and giving them a...more productive...outlet for their grievances.
Finally, I wanted to showcase the kind of support vehicles that would be used by insurgents. I incorporated a whole raft of rarely seen designs (many from Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex), but alas, few if any had Catalyst-produced record sheets, so much of that detail was cut. The MechWarrior 1st Edition RPG featured mining robots that had a movement of 5/8 and a bank of ten Small Lasers, which seemed like an appropriate item with which to equip the miners. Likewise, the Corx Mobile Tunnel Miner, MiningMechs (the Dig King mentioned as the Dig Lord's predecessor), and Coppers salvaged from CM security forces. For the scouts, I thought the Skimmer (from MW1E and FASA's Record Sheets Volume 5 - Vehicles) would be perfect - essentially a faster (18/27) Savannah Master that skimps on the armor, but adds a rear-mounted flamer to complement the forward small laser.
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Gigs and gigs of it. Plus whole datasets for star systems, planetary bodies in those systems, moons, asteroid belts, factories, forts, rail networks, cities, seaports, etc. I got my sandbox Inner Sphere looking fine...just ran out of time and skill to code up a reactive AI so garrison units wouldn't just stand there waiting to get overrun by invaders.
Most likely would be considered overkill, but you might look at neural networks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_neural_network).
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----- Four Years into the Star League Civil War -----
Date: 2770
Location: Rim Worlds Republic
Title: RWS Krait
Author: Matthew Hawk
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps Ship Profile)
Synopsis: This BattleCorps exclusive product profiles the RWS Krait, a former Terran Hegemony surveillance ship sold to Amaris-loyalists during the Reunification War and subsequently mothballed, prior to its reactivation in 2764 during the build-up of the secret army. Following the 2766 coup, it was assigned to engage and destroy any Star League ships entering Republic space. Lacking significant combat capabilities, the ship often blended in with civilian shipping vessels (as it was designed to do), waited for Star League flotillas to arrive at jump points and for the WarShips to depart for the system's primary settlement, and then attacked the relatively defenseless SLDF JumpShips.
The profile details the Krait (under Captain Marc Birch), the signals section under Lt. Della Burgess, the transport section under Lt. Mickey Whitcombe, and the marines under Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Paasch. The Krait is escorted by an Intruder assault ship and a Leopard CV fighter carrier. Based on the carrying capacity, that adds eight fighters and four small craft, along with four infantry platoons. The small craft were probably ST-46 shuttles, which debuted in 2528, and were modified to add weaponry. The fighters were probably the RWR's home-built Vulcans.
The story of the Krait is that it was given orders to maintain radio silence from 2766 onwards, and to ambush Star League ships. The crew didn't learn about about the death of Richard Cameron, or the start of the Civil War, until 2769, at which point most of the crew backed a plan to mutiny against the Rim Worlds Republic and flee into the Deep Periphery.
Notes: The Tracker-class surveillance vessel was rendered obsolete by the end of the 25th century, and the Terran Hegemony phased out its last few by the end of the Reunification War. With a movement rating of 4/6 and a popgun weapon array supporting one main NL45, this ship is only capable of harassing larger vessels or limiting itself to hitting DropShips and civilian JumpShips. A single NAC/20 shot would carve the ship open from stem to stern, so the appearance of any other WarShip should send this ship scurrying for cover, defiantly spitting extreme range Barracudas from its aft launch tube. By contrast, its sister ship-design, the Nightwing, was slower (3/5), but sported some real firepower and 56% more armor protection. For that matter, the Krait's Intruder DropShip carries 2/3 as much armor as its mothership, and actually outguns the Tracker at short range.
Field Report: 2765 - Periphery indicates that this is the sole Tracker in the Rim Worlds Republic fleet.
Historical: Liberation of Terra gives the timeline for Kerensky's invasion of the Rim Worlds Republic as beginning in 2767, pitting 2,500 regiments against 50 RWR defense regiments. While the hardcore political troops fought - striking from 20 Castles Brian - many units professed loyalty to the Rim Republican Army, surrendered to the SLDF, and then aided it in rooting out the loyalists. The League took all the Republic shipyards capable of providing WarShip support in 2768. A popular uprising against Amaris' regent, Mohammed Selim, began in October 2768. By late 2769, all the Republic's worlds were in SLDF hands and the campaign officially concluded. The Krait's most notable action was when it ambushed an SLDF flotilla in the battle of Erewhon, which took place around March/April 2768.
According to the Krait profile, the ship was operating under radio silence, and didn't even learn about the Amaris coup until 2769, by which time the RWR had been completely conquered by the SLDF (Apollo fell in late 2768, leaving only mopping up operations). At this point, the Krait took off for the Deep Periphery. The Tracker's large cargo bay would have supported independent operations for 5+ years, so an isolated existence is feasible. They have 23,810 tons of cargo and 2,800 tons of fuel (enough for 141 days of transit operations). If 6,000 tons (5% of the ship's weight) is for spare parts, that leaves 17,810 tons. With 334 crew (in both the WarShip and the DropShips), they consume 1.67 tons per day, so a five year food supply is only 3,047 tons. The rest of the cargo bay was probably filled with additional Barracudas and extra fuel (if it was all fuel, they could get an extra 745 burn days from the left-over cargo space - 50 trips in-system and back).
But if the Krait was capturing JumpShips, from where were they getting their prize crews? And where did those ships go? Did the Krait have a Galactica-style entourage? Were they sent to Secret Army staging grounds, like Outpost #27? Were they just immediately recaptured by the swarming masses of the SLDF at the next system? With radio silence in place, how did they coordinate any actions? Just bounced around hoping to be in the right place at the right time?
Having isolated units continuing to fight on without communications isn't unprecedented. Isolated groups of Japanese soldiers continued to be spotted into the 1950s (even becoming a plot point on Gilligan's Island). I recall a sidebar from ComStar noting that the RWR deep range colony of Trentwash II still flew RWR colors and was unaware of the fate of its parent state, three centuries later.
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Thank you for the write up, i never had chance to purchase those individual Warship profiles.
Question on Cynthiana, i went to look up the planet. Where was it the Explorer book. Interstellar Explorers doesn't mention it, so i'd image its forgotten or name dropped?
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Thank you for the write up, i never had chance to purchase those individual Warship profiles.
Question on Cynthiana, i went to look up the planet. Where was it the Explorer book. Interstellar Explorers doesn't mention it, so i'd image its forgotten or name dropped?
Sorry. Half-remembered reference on my part. Wrong world name and wrong sourcebook.
Trentwash II (founded by Cynthia Amaris), p. 45 in the ComStar sourcebook (in a section referencing the Explorer Corps).
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Sorry. Half-remembered reference on my part. Wrong world name and wrong sourcebook.
Trentwash II (founded by Cynthia Amaris), p. 45 in the ComStar sourcebook (in a section referencing the Explorer Corps).
Hopefully they weren't completely wiped out, but the little bit info did say they burnt the city after local went nuts. I guess, it was too minor of world to make it into Interstellar Expeditions.
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Hopefully they weren't completely wiped out, but the little bit info did say they burnt the city after local went nuts. I guess, it was too minor of world to make it into Interstellar Expeditions.
Regrettably, Interstellar Expeditions' section on the section of space between the Inner Sphere and the Clans mostly focused on items demarcated on the maps showing Clan outposts and supply stations, so it failed to update fluff-only entries from ComStar and Explorer Corps that would have fit there perfectly. (Interstellar Expeditions was fantastic in every other respect, however.) So the individual worlds like Trentwash II and even multi-world trading coalitions like the Khwarazm Empire got no attention. When I asked about it, Herb first responded "Wait, that wasn't in there?" then indicated that it must have been destroyed "off camera," and therefore did not justify a writeup. (Most likely they were accidentally forgotten by the writers who were fleshing out the Chainlane Isles, RWR Outpost #27, and a pile of Clan, JarnFolk, and Hanseatic League holdings.)
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----- Four Years Later -----
Date: 2774
Location: Amaris Empire
Title: RWS Tadeo Amaris
Author: Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps Ship Profile)
Synopsis: This BattleCorps ship profile looks at the RWS Tadeo Amaris, an Aegis Heavy Cruiser that served the Terran Hegemony for over a century before being mothballed in orbit around Titan. It was one of the ships given to the RWR in 2763 by Richard Cameron, and was designated the flagship for the Third RWR Defense Squadron. In that capacity, it led the squadron in hunting down SLDF WarShips in the Hegemony during the coup, raiding SLDF supply lines during Kerensky's conquest of the Rim Worlds Republic, and continuing to strike at SLDF fleets during Kerensky's drive to liberate Terra.
It is escorted by an Achilles, an Elephant, and two Leopard CVs. The Elephant is a relatively fast (5/8) heavy tug/assault ship with impressive firepower and equally substantial cargo capacity. The Achilles is even faster (8/12) and can massacre whole wings of aerospace fighters in a single volley. The Aegis and its DropShips carry 28 fighters and 16 small craft (which could be shuttles, or could be Lyonesse/Aquarius-style escort craft). Rather than the RWR's signature Vulcans, they have heavier Tomahawks, Rapiers, and Ahabs.
Notes: A distinct change of pace from the previous Ship Profile, here we have an Amaris WarShip that is wholeheartedly committed to Stefan Amaris, rather than declaring a mutiny in the name of the Rim Republican Army and skedaddling into the Deep Periphery. What's impressive is that not only did it fight in the initial conquest of the Hegemony, but returned to the Republic to participate in the fight against Kerensky there, returning to the conquered Hegemony after the fall of Apollo. The writeup for the Krait indicated that Amaris sent his best ships and crews to the Hegemony, and this is borne out by the Elite status of the Tadeo Amaris' captain/crew, under Amaris' cousin, Richard Amaris.
This profile also puts the lie to the claim that Amaris completely abandoned the Rim Worlds Republic. The Tadeo Amaris probably wasn't the only RWR raider sent to harrass the SLDF's preparatory efforts to strike back at the occupied Hegemony. With the Caspar drones providing security for the Hegemony, the 300+ ships of the mobile Amaris fleet could use uninhabited systems to strike at SLDF troop convoys. In fact, had the RWR fleet remained totally on the defensive within the Hegemony's borders, there would have been no need for a secret staging base (Gabriel) at Odessa. The SLDF could have staged openly.
This might even answer one of my earlier questions - what the heck were RWR troops doing taking hostages on York, way out in the Lyran Commonwealth? If elements of the RWR fleet did travel back to the RWR to help fight Kerensky's takeover, they would have traveled through Lyran space. Notably, one of Kerensky's main staging worlds in the Republic was Circinus, so a raider looking to hit SLDF shipping could have been ranging in the vicinity of York. Why they would have taken human shields there of all places is still a mystery, as is why the LCAF didn't get involved and let Kerensky's troops execute the rescue with the help of Antonius Zalman's resistance crew. (Of the four sources that reference the York operation, three just say "York," and one says "a Hegemony world," leaving open the possibiliy that there's a secondary planet in a Hegemony system named York, and that the accounts aren't talking about the Lyran world at all.)
Author Craig Reed nicely covers the operational realities of the Tadeo Amaris, which resupplies from the ships it attacks, since it spends much of its time operating behind enemy lines as a raider. It's never been detailed, to my knowledge, but WarShip fighter bays must have substantial arrays of repair and machining equipment with which to conduct repairs and maintenance. Having all the WarShips in the squadron equipped with LF batteries (for a double jump) would be vital, as would having an onboard HPG to send reports and receive intel on SLDF fleet movements and shipping from AsRoc/Krypteia intelligence.
The Aegis is something of a glass cannon in the Star League era. Its firepower is awesome - a single broadside can dish out 380 damage in a single round - enough to can-opener even a flying brick like the Texas or the Nightlord. Conversely, it has only 101 armor on its sides, meaning that if two Aegis cruisers went to guns, the almost certain outcome is mutually assured destruction. This reality had to strongly affect combat tactics (or at least it should have) to disincentivize ship-to-ship exchanges, and to focus more on maintaining distance while sending in waves of fighters to cripple a target, supporting it with less accurate long-range fire. I've only played one engagement with an Aegis, and in it, my Yorks were forced to hang back at extreme range, sniping ineffectually with nose lasers while their 100 fighters attempted to overwhelm the 40 fighters escorting the two Aegis cruisers. Had my capital ships moved to effective range with the two Aegis cruisers, they would have been vaporized in short order, leaving nowhere for my fighters to return. Fortunately for its opponents, the Aegis' weak engines (2/3 movement) mean that it's not going to be able to catch any WarShip that doesn't want to be caught.
Given the accompanying art, this vessel, unlike the THS Repulse and the SLS Manassas, is one of the "new aesthetic" Aegis cruisers. If you look at Technical Readout 2750 and Technical Readout 3057, you see that most of the ships were radically redesigned between the two books. It's unclear why Duane Loose redid all the WarShip art originally done by Dana Knutson, but the fact that art directors changed from Dana Knutson to Jim Nelson in the interim may have something to do with it. However, TRO: 3057 didn't come out all that long after the BattleSpace boxed set, and that prominently uses the TRO: 2750 versions.
Initially, fan reaction (for those who cared) was to handwave the aesthetic changes away as being part of the ClanTech upgrades the ships underwent. However, in more recent years, the BattleTech developers have said that the designs underwent cosmetic refits during the Star League era, so that the TRO: 2750 pictures reflect how the class looked when they debuted, while the TRO: 3057 art shows their final form. The fact that the old-look Manassas (from Living Legends) and new-look Tadeo Amaris were contemporaries indicates that the cosmetic upgrades were not universally applied. This could help to account for sourcebook images that use the old art for Clan WarShips in action during Operation REVIVAL - not all the Clan ships got the cosmetic upgrades either.
The profile states that the ship began its service as the SLS Athens, but since its service dates were from 2415 to 2544 (predating the Star League), it must have been the THS Athens.
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Woah, Amaris must got alot sweet talking. I thought the Elephant was excursive to SLDF from the fluff form 3075 and Revised version of the TRO:3026.
Nice write up, Mendrugo!
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Woah, Amaris must got alot sweet talking. I thought the Elephant was excursive to SLDF from the fluff form 3075 and Revised version of the TRO:3026.
I'm pretty sure Richard wouldn't have denied Stefan anything he asked for. Alternatively, the RWR could have captured the Elephant in 2766 and assigned it to the Tadeo Amaris as a replacement at some point (similar to how the Tomahawks were upgraded to heavier fighters through battlefield salvage).
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Regrettably, Interstellar Expeditions' section on the section of space between the Inner Sphere and the Clans mostly focused on items demarcated on the maps showing Clan outposts and supply stations, so it failed to update fluff-only entries from ComStar and Explorer Corps that would have fit there perfectly. (Interstellar Expeditions was fantastic in every other respect, however.) So the individual worlds like Trentwash II and even multi-world trading coalitions like the Khwarazm Empire got no attention. When I asked about it, Herb first responded "Wait, that wasn't in there?" then indicated that it must have been destroyed "off camera," and therefore did not justify a writeup. (Most likely they were accidentally forgotten by the writers who were fleshing out the Chainlane Isles, RWR Outpost #27, and a pile of Clan, JarnFolk, and Hanseatic League holdings.)
In fairness, the book does make clear just how serious the post-Reaving difficulties are for any Inner Sphere (or near Periphery) groups attempting to operate in the coreward sector of the Deep Periphery, with both the Council of Six and Homeworld Clans stepping up their WarShip patrols and shifting decidedly towards a shoot-on-sight posture.
Plus, it is hinted at in the book that there may be additional pieces of information which the "official" volume does not show, from an in-universe perspective. While the real-world explanation may be a case of unfortunate oversight, the lack of any details here could inadvertently open the door for some sort of further explanation, if or when the interdiction is lifted on new published data from that direction of space.
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Date: July 12, 2698
Location: Rasalhague
Title: The Face of the Enemy
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At Stenberg Manor, in the city of Reykjavik, young Thorsten Stenberg receives a bokken practice sword from his older brother Mikkel on his twelfth birthday. The two spar before the party starts, and Mikkel presses Thorsten hard to teach him the lesson that the enemy will never go easy on him. Though Thorsten complains at first, his dream in life is to be a soldier of the DCMS, and he admits the wisdom in Mikkel's methods.
Notes: It's interesting that Thorsten should be so focused on joining the DCMS in 2698. During this period, so many soldiers had been mustered out during the "Good Years" that they turned to private "warrior society" dojos and honor duels against each other and the SLDF garrisons to achieve martial glory. The Combine wouldn't be engaged in a major military operation until 2725, during the War of Davion Succession, and hadn't previously had major field operations since the Reunification War ended. An yet he wants army playsets, toy 'Mechs (hey, don't we all?), and other martial trappings.
Living in a Manor, Thorsten is clearly of the Rasalhague elite, but he and Mikkel speak a mix of Japanese and Star League Standard English to each other, rather than Swedenese. Notably, this scene takes place just seven years after the death of Coordinator Urizen Kurita II, who was most notable for his campaign to reshape Kuritan society and culture along the lines of feudal Japan. It would seem that his efforts were a smashing success with the Stenbergs.
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Date: August 31, 2698
Location: Rasalhague
Title: The Face of the Enemy
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Thorsten returns from bokken practice at the family dojo to find his father raging at his brother Mikkel, who is wearing a Star League Defense Force uniform, rather than the DCMS browns to which the Stenbergs had assumed Mikkel aspired. Their father roars that the SLDF is an occupying force preparing for the eventual conquest of the Combine.
Mikkel stands up for the ideals of the Star League, and contends that the SLDF is a vital component of the Combine's defense against pirates and corrupt local governments. His father disowns and banishes him. After Mikkel's abrupt departure, their father comes to Thorsten and tells him that the duty of continuing the Stenberg's honorable service to the Dragon. Still shocked by his brother's abandonment of the DCMS, Thorsten swears to uphold his family's honor.
Notes: The downsizing of the Great House militaries appears to have had a number of unintended consequences. The first (not referenced here) is the creation of the Warrior Dojos (see "Seventy" and "The Pear"). Another is that the Great Houses became dependent on SLDF garrisons for anti-piracy and anti-insurrection operations. (Real pirates - the Third Hidden War where the "pirates" were false-flagged House regulars didn't start until 2741).
The SLDF also served as a primary draw for people of a warrior mindset, who found limited opportunity to serve in their House's armed forces. As a corollary, it would seem that the House militaries, with an artificial cap on membership, became prestige postings, limited to people with high-level social connections, or the occasional "warrior born" prodigy.
Another interesting tidbit is that, even during the "Good Years" of the Star League, we have "corrupt local governments" causing problems. When I went through MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries earlier this year, many of the earlier missions give the impression that the Great Houses' empires are very loosely held together, forcing the central government to expend significant effort to keep local governments from breaking off on their own or jumping ship for a neighboring state that offers better tax breaks.
I would think that the SLDF would explicitly let such anti-insurgent operations be the province of the House militaries, since their charter prohibits interference in domestic conflicts. Pirates and peacekeeping duty on the borders is more the SLDF's beat. That's why they stayed out of the Marik Civil War and took so long to interfere in the War of the Davion Succession, and it's also why the "Freebooter War" (hunting down rogue CCAF veterans turned pirate on Wisconsin) was a joint operation between the FWLM and CCAF, without SLDF involvement.
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Date: September 4, 2704
Location: New Samarkand
Title: The Face of the Enemy
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Now a cadet at the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy on New Samarkand, Thorsten Stenberg gets two message discs during mail call. The first disc is an older message from Mikkel, who is now in the the Ninth Army, Twelfth Corps, Thirty-second Infantry Division on Sackville. He congratulates Thorsten on getting into Sun Zhang, and confesses garrison duty on the Periphery border in the FWL feels boring and purposeless, with no real enemy to fight.
The second, more recent, disc is from his father, who sorrowfully tells Thorsten that Mikkel has been killed in action in combat against bandits. Emotionally shattered, Thorsten blames the SLDF for his brother's death.
Notes: To be fair to Thorsten, he has numerous personal reasons to resent he SLDF. His brother's choice to join sundered their family, not only denying him the pleasure of his bug brother's company, but also putting a massive weight of new responsibilities "to uphold the family honor" on his twelve year old shoulders.
Handbook House Kurita notes that the Sun Zhang Academy notes that more of its alumni became Champion duelists with seventy or more victories in one-on-one 'Mech combat. Accordingly, the school probably has a more hawkish philosophical bent than some of the other, lesser, Combine academies. The Handbook also notes that the curriculum emphasizes strict military discipline and bushido. Duels to the death are authorized for slights to a cadet's honor.
Message formats reflect BattleTech's "future of the 80s" motif. Restrictions imposed by the academy limit the file size of incoming messages, delivered on discs as grainy low-res video. These messages arrive simultaneously, despite having been sent at different times. This would imply that the messages were either physically couriered, or significantly delayed while being transmitted through the interstellar HPG network (either Starlight Communications - the civilian network, or the SLCOMMNET - the military network). Jihad-era references to removable media often reference both vid-chips and holodiscs, so optical media is still going strong.
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Date: April 7, 2722
Location: Luthien
Title: The Face of the Enemy
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Thorsten Stenberg, now a Tai-i in the Second Sword of Light stationed at Fortress Sanethia on Luthien, feels somehow unfulfilled, despite having achieved his dream of martial service to the Combine and Coordinator.
He dons his dress uniform and goes to a meeting of the 2nd Sword senior staff, which is also attended by SLDF Major Steydlitz, liaison to the DCMS from the 131st Royal Mechanized Infantry Division (also stationed on Luthien). In a pre-planned act, Thorsten interrupts Tai-sa Sanaka to decry the SLDF garrison on Luthien as a disgrace, and demand a chance to duel their champion to gain satisfaction for the death of his brother. Sanaka dismisses Thorsten from the DCMS and snaps his katana (thereby freeing him to make the challenge as a ronin).
Thorsten takes his Lancelot to Fort Luthien, the SLDF base, to make his challenge, following in the tradition of Amanda Kazutoyo, the first ronin to challenge a SLDF garrison forty years earlier. He arrives to find a crowd of spectators gathered and an SLDF Champion waiting for him, piloted by Captain Jia Lin Kwan, a Gunslinger program graduate.
After some initial banter, they have at it, and Thorsten proves the superior combatant. Kwan's Champion lies at his feet, with the Captain trapped in the cockpit, unable to eject. He targets her with his laser, but the image of his brother flashes in his memory, and he pictures his brother in the cockpit with Thorsten's Lancelot in the role of the bandit who murdered him, and powers down his laser. He salutes the SLDF Captain and says it has been an honor fighting her.
Notes: Combine dueling culture is a favorite subject of BattleTech authors for the Star League era - primarily because it's the main source of "Battle" in BattleTech during the so-called "Good Years" before the Second and Third Hidden Wars (not counting the Marik Civil War). It does strike me as odd that the SLDF liaison would act so shocked by Thorsten's banishment, given the 40 year history of "ronin" attacks. Surely the Star League Intelligence Corps must have seen through the pretense by this point, especially with the SLDF Gunslingers getting equally into the competitive spirit of the First Hidden War.
It is worth revisiting the rationale for having such a large SLDF garrison presence in the Combine (roughly 100 divisions). As previously noted, Mikkel's claim that they suppress insurgencies by corrupt local governments doesn't match the SLDF's policy of non-intervention in purely domestic conflicts. Responding to bandit raids is also a bit of stretch - Field Manual SLDF shows that the worlds on the Combine's Periphery border are sparsely garrisoned. The garrisons are far more densely concentrated near the borders with the other Great Houses. This leads me to believe that the SLDF forces in the Combine are there to react to any Combine aggression (albeit under the pretense that they're there to keep the peace and to respond to any Lyran or FedSuns aggression).
This final scene is set only three years before the outbreak of full-blown hostilities between the Combine and the Federated Suns in the War of Davion Succession. The Combine mobilized large numbers of "ronin" as highly skilled auxiliaries in that conflict, which was ultimately quashed by the Star League's Operation SMOTHER. Thorsten was, clearly, not exactly wrong when he accused the SLDF of trying to thwart the Combine's warrior destiny. I wouldn't be surprised if Thorsten was recalled to duty for the war.
It's also interesting that the Combine rewards Thorsten with a million Star League dollars to ensure that his wife and three children will be taken care of if he dies in the battle. (Though, you would think the family's existing wealth and Thorsten's role as the sole heir would have made money a non-issue, given that they were wealthy enough to have a mansion, private dojo, etc.)
Also...Star League dollars? Did they avoid paying in ryu to maintain the illusion of an arm's length relationship between the Combine government and the "ronin"? I can see them doing that to maintain the pretense for honor's sake (and minimally plausible deniability).
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Brings up interesting question about Thorsten. If should a Ronin win his battle against "evil" SLDF champion...what does the pilot do from there on out? So he won, he now ronin. Is he outcast forever? Does he get allowed to come back or join the DCMS or his he banished forever to fend for himself or forced to commit Seppuku to project his family from his "disgrace" being ronin in the first place?
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Most of the source material indicates that he carves a notch in his belt and continues challenging other ronin and SLDF MechWarriors until he scores 70 victories, then opens his own dojo and teaches his methods to the next generation of ronin - paying the bills by hiring himself and his students out as "private security" forces.
The million ("One Million Space Bucks!") that would have gone to support his family can now be used to pay for repairs in his continuing dueling career, or seed money for starting his "security" firm.
The Combine mobilized large numbers of "private security" ronin as auxiliaries during the War of Davion Succession (aka the "Second Hidden War")
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Date: July 25-27, 2722
Location: Lone Star
Title: What a Pleasant Breeze
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Seed
Synopsis: The SLDF's XLIV Corps began to establish a beachhead at the city of Swartzhof on July 25, 2772. A massive three-day dust storm coincided with the SLDF's arrival, providing cover for Amaris garrison forces to stage devastating attacks against the liberation force. The Adventure seed provides details about the city and its surroundings, as well as environmental conditions affecting players outside of their vehicles, and visibility conditions affecting the battlefield units.
Notes: According to Historical: Liberation of Terra (vol. 1), the First Liberation Army under General Sibeliy Amaris took charge of Lone Star Province, with support from the 2nd and 4th Patriot Divisions from the Imperial Liberation Army. Lone Star itself has five Castles Brian and an SDS system.
In 2772, The SLDF 16th Army hit Lone Star after several Republican naval squadrons withdrew from the system rather than face the overwhelming numbers of Admiral Brandt's 70-ship SLDF fleet, but the fleet still took weeks to fight its way through the system's SDS Caspar fleets and achieve orbital control in a final battle against Liberation Army aerospace fighters based on the moon of Vespa and the planet itself. Attacks against DropShips during the naval battle wiped out the entire 138th Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, leaving the XLIV corps with the 299th Royal BattleMech Division, the 355th BattleMech Division, the 1st Infantry Division, the 1216th Mechanized Infantry Division, and the 131st Mechanized Infantry Division. The initial invasion was accomplished with four of the Corps' six Divisions, and the commander called up the two reserve divisions after losing the 138th during the naval insertion and another five brigades due to nuclear strikes against the staging area.
Historically, the fighting at Swartzhof was focused on a major air campaign by Amaris garrison forces against the SLDF beachhead. Amaris fighters (probably predominantly the RWR-staple Vulcan attacked in sufficient numbers to drop three nuclear warheads on the staging area, destroying several DropShips and prompting the XLIV Corps' commander to call in his reserves. (Five brigades were lost "before the fight really began," but it's not clear if the nukes wiped out five brigades or if that number includes losses during the naval battle.)
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Date: 2752
Location: McEvedy's Folly
Title: Terrorform
Author: Aaron Pollyea
Type: Adventure Seed
Synopsis: The Star League's Department of Mega Engineering (DoME) brings vast amounts of highly valuable equipment to McEvedy's Folly for Project SAGITARIUS UMBRELLA (2740 - 2752). In 2752, an unknown force entered the system and attacked the DoME facilities, wiping out the security forces and looting the supply bunkers. This Adventure Seed provides sufficient setup information for groups to play as either the security forces or the raiders.
Notes: Touring the Stars: McEvedy's Folly details the history of this Deep Periphery planet. The world had long captured the eyes of BattleTech fans, due to the fact that the last Khan of Clan Wolverine was Sarah McEvedy. Since the trail of the Minnesota Tribe/Wolverines went cold somewhere in the vicinity of the Magistracy of Canopus, this world was the center of intense speculation. The TtS writeup dashes the hopes of Wolverine fans (though the actual Wolverine base world is less than a jump away), but provides a great showcase for the Department of Mega Engineering, the Star League organization which is responsible for a lot of the LosTech wonders which still festoon the Inner Sphere and Deep Periphery after three centuries of Succession Wars.
During the Star League Era, the main focus is on the effort to make the world livable for humans, and fending off space pirates trying to boost the construction materials. This far out in the Deep Periphery, the bandits could be either independent or, potentially, operating out of the Alexandrian Covenant. This would be about fifty years after the First Upheaval, which turned the bicameral republic into a matriarchal dictatorship, but didn't significantly reduce their technology level.
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McEvedy's Folly....i wonder if the mad scientist was related to the Khan.
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McEvedy's Folly....i wonder if the mad scientist was related to the Khan.
I hope so it would make things much more fun....
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There was a mention in passing in one sourcebook that people tracking the Minnesota Tribe went to McEvedy's Folly, and the locals sad the Tribe had visited, but moved on, they knew not where. Since the base world is just 20 light years away, it looks like they made one more jump.
A family connection could explain why the Tribe, led by a horribly burned but still living Sarah McEvedy, would have gone there.
Trish Ebon: Where can we go now, my Khan?
Sarah McEvedy: There's this planet out past the Magistracy my uncle/brother/cousin was terraforming. He'd give us refuge.
They arrive.
Trish Ebon: My Khan, it is an entire world of Clan Totem Animals.
Sarah: Righty ho - one more jump, then.
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Date: 2742
Location: Butte Hold
Title: Business is Business
Author: Aaron Pollyea
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Butte Hold)
Synopsis: Lyran and Terran Hegemony intelligence agents back-track pirate forces that have been raiding the Commonwealth to Butte Hold, and the 12th Lyran Regulars are sent to clean out the bandits' nest, with support from mercenary and black ops forces.
The Lyran task force establishes orbital superiority, but faces difficulties spotting the bandits, which are hiding in cave networks under the vast Throline Desert, and enjoy support from the locals. Once it locates a pirate base, the standard Lyran frontal assault ensues, followed by mopping up across the desert.
Notes: This is set during the so-called Third Hidden War, when the Successor States (primarily the Lyran Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, but the other three as well, to a lesser extent) covertly financed and equipped "bandit" forces (often just false flagged military regulars) to strike at the commercial interests of their trading rivals. Given the location, the "bandits" on Butte Hold were actually Combine mercenaries.
Archon Steiner and Coordinator Kurita came to blows at the 2742 Star League Council Session over the Butte Hold incident, as LIC agents had confirmed Combine-ties to the "bandits" there. The fisticuffs, however, didn't stop the Third Hidden War (the Iron Land Wildcatters Unit Digest records a Combine attempt to destabilize Commonwealth Mining's operations on Iron Land in 2748), which continued until Simon Cameron's death in 2750.
The Rim Worlds Republic seems to have had little control over Butte Hold at this point, purportedly not even learning of the Lyran invasion until six months later.
In an interesting side note, it's indicated that Butte Hold had an HPG at this point, but no regular staff for it. Pretty expensive bit of hardware just to lock up until someone in the vicinity with authorization needs to use it.
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Perhaps ComStar closed down the HPG for security reasons, seeing how nobody could guarantee the safety of the staff on this increasingly lawless and hostile world.
Or alternatively, perhaps good ComStar didn't want to be associated too deeply with what was alternatively a Kurita false flag base of operations or a genuine nest of pirates.
(Then again... no, I'm not quite buying this myself.)
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Perhaps ComStar closed down the HPG for security reasons, seeing how nobody could guarantee the safety of the staff on this increasingly lawless and hostile world.
Or alternatively, perhaps good ComStar didn't want to be associated too deeply with what was alternatively a Kurita false flag base of operations or a genuine nest of pirates.
(Then again... no, I'm not quite buying this myself.)
This predated ComStar. It would have either been an SLCOMMNET military facility or a civilian StarLight Communications office.
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Date: October 10, 2780
Location: Terra
Title: I, Kerensky
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Nicholas Kerensky bitterly recalls the exact sequence of events at the Star League High Council meeting where his father, Aleksandr, was stripped of his title.
He recalls that the great lords were tall and terrifying (and that Barbara Liao was smoking a ginkohl root). He recalls that all attention was on Aleksandr as he stood, after the revocation of his position as Protector of the Star League. Nicholas was stunned when General Kerensky sighed, removed the honor braids from his uniform, and dropped them on the floor, followed by his epaulletes, medals, and rank insignia, then strode wordlessly from the room, not looking back.
Nicholas recalls being stunned, having never seen his father run from a fight, and develops, at that moment, a hatred for the "general who was," who betrayed everything Nicholas had believed in life to that point.
Notes: The exact date isn't given, just the year - 2781. It's not clear if that was intended to be when Nicholas was flashing back from, or if that was intended as the date of Kerensky being stripped of his title. The Council session pictured actually happened in October 2780, while the council continued to meet for another 11 months after that, before finally disbanding in September 2781.
Additional clues at the place are given towards the end, when Nicholas thinks "Even here, near the end, I feel the urge to rail at the stars..." He also makes reference to his father having passed and his last mementoes of the Inner Sphere being reduced to ash in an incinerator, which would put the flashbacks post-Klondike. It almost sounds like the unspecified author was trying to convey a deathbed flashback, but Nicholas didn't get one of those - he took a Widowmaker laser to the face, which doesn't leave much time for reflection.
A trifle dark to learn that Nicholas kept a suicide pill taped to the underside of his nightstand.
Nicholas' hatred for Aleksandr Kerensky shows that Nicholas was raised to revere Aleksandr as the distant war hero, fighting the bad guys in an effort to come home - always doing the right thing, never retreating. Nobody could hope to live up to those sorts of expectations, let alone a tired, academic-type micro-manager who struggled to make emotional connections throughout his life.
What we see here is the moment at which Nicholas began planning for his own version of the future - one that undercut whatever Aleksandr was planning, purely out of spite. Fall from Glory showed that, while Nicholas didn't create the factional tensions in the Exodus Fleet, he certainly worked to exacerbate them and to facilitate their breaking out into open warfare.
As a caveat, it's never specified who the speaker is, on that he's Kereknsky's son, so technically this could have been Andery's monologue and remembrance, but it seems very out of character for him, given what we saw in Fall from Glory.
Looking sideways at the "Alternate Universe" story "The Shot Heard Around the Sphere," this change of heart (feeling betrayed by Aleksandr's cutting and running) at the Grand Council session would have been what started Nicholas on the path of arranging for Aleksandr's assassination and the cancellation of the Exodus, whereas in the mainstream timeline, he settled for hijinks aboard the Exodus Fleet, culminating in the Prinz Eugen mutiny.
So, what to make of the dark musings at the end? Was Nicholas suicidal in the aftermath of the Wolverine extermination? Was all this going through his mind in the split second before he became a crispy critter in his cockpit? Is he just tripping after smoking a ginkhohl root spleef?
Clearly, young Nicholas wanted his father to refuse to obey the authority of the High Council, and to convert the remnants of the Terran Hegemony into a military dictatorship, using the full might of the SLDF (such as remained). As we've seen in the alternative timeline, there's a chance that could have worked. Nicholas had a good grasp of the force strengths and logistical assets, but failed to take into account just how weary and sad his father had become. The early Kerensky fiction always portrays him as more of a philosopher than a warrior, and he always preferred talking to fighting. (He even preferred talking while fighting, and got shot out of his 'Mech at least once while carrying on a running philosophical discussion with his opponent.)
The sourcebooks show that Kerensky did not, in fact, give up, and that he spent several more years engaged in shuttle diplomacy trying to get the Council to reconvene, without success. (Probably while Nicholas seethed at his father's impotence.)
As an alternative theory - this story could be from the parallel timeline where Nicholas arranged his father's death. Then it could be a proper deathbed freakout. (Of course, then the line about burning all his Inner Sphere mementoes doesn't make any sense, so...)
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Was that considered to be actual canon? It was competition, was it the winner or these stories declared a canon story? I'm not saying your wrong, I'm just wondering.
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It is explicitly non-canon, like the rest of the iron writer entries. That being said, they were mostly the work of the core staff. Given his work with Nicholas in Clangrunder, I wouldn't be surprised if this was Randall Bills' entry. It provides insight into what the core writers were thinking at the time.
In general, this is a thread to review and discuss BattleTech fiction, even stories lacking official sanction as canon (taking care to note such divergences), and while iron writer stories weren't fact checked, they're still a cut above fanfic.)
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Date: July 1, 2766
Location: Dicallus
Title: The Emercity of Betrayal
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Old Man Butler tells a crowd gathered at a bonfire that he's heard from Fred Jackson that the Star League will arrive on Dicallus next month. Paul Jepson advocates trying to flee offworld, while Annie Wang objects that Dicallus is their home.
Butler announces that he fought pirates on New Vandenburg 50 years ago, and that the Dicallus natives can do the same. He pledges his 'Mech, Justice, and the contents of an old arms depot. The formerly argumentative crowd is swayed, and begin cheering and dancing.
Notes: The story is undated, but identifying the enemy as Star League puts this during the Periphery Uprising, since Dicallus wasn't on the Reunification War-era maps. The reference to "50 years ago on New Vandenburg" would seem to place this 50 years after the Periphery Uprising, but that's well into the First Succession War, by which time the Star League wasn't putting any boots on the ground in the Concordat.
Dicallus was written up, in brief, in Objectives: Periphery. From that writeup, we can see that there was a Bowie Industries Gabriel factory there at some point.
One odd note that struck me is that the citizenry knows the League is coming in a month. Erm, how? The Objectives: Periphery writeup gives the transit time as 9 days, so the League can't already have entered the system. (To be fair, this is a non-fact-checked Iron Writer story that predated Objectives: Periphery, so Kevin Killiany may have intended that the system's transit time be 30 days.) Perhaps Taurian listening posts in the Organo, Celentaro, Norman's World or Logan's Land systems noticed the SLDF troops passing through and sent a warning to systems within one jump.
Or perhaps Fred Jackson has an eyepatched brother (Samuel L.) in the espionage game, who tipped him off to a pending League raid. 8)
One of the people at the bonfire is noted to be a Lumberjack pilot. This fits well, since the design dates back to 2489. Justice is presumably the 'Mech (later revealed to be a Phoenix Hawk) Butler piloted against pirates on New Vandenburg.
Looking at Field Manual: SLDF, the 364th BattleMech Division (The Zulu Division) was stationed on Dicallus prior to the outbreak of the Periphery Uprising, coming increasingly under sporadic attack from an "increasingly brazen" enemy. None of the legal TDF units was posted there (per Field Report 2765). One scenario that seems plausible is that Taurian rebels, staging from the Badlands cluster, hit and crushed the Zulu Division, after taking a few years of raids ahead of the uprising to size it up. The rebels then moved on in search of other SLDF units (or to support fellow rebels that were taking it on the chin), without leaving a garrison force on Dicallus (the Gabriel, while a nice hover scout, isn't that strategically critical of a unit). When the SLDF counterattack got going, it dispatched a force to reclaim the Bowie Industries factory and pacify Dicallus, leading Old Man Butler to throw together a scratch planetary defense force.
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"emercity"?
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"emercity"?
Must have been an Iron Writer in-joke. No fewer than three entries used it in the title.
The Emercity of Betrayal
The Emercity of Space
The Emersity of Monkey (note the spelling change - suggesting it was based on a verbal exchange among writers)
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Oh right, I kinda vaguely remember that now. IIRC it came from some malapropism of Randall's (possibly for enormity?) or something like that.
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Date: July 15, 2766
Location: Dicallus
Title: The Emercity of Betrayal
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Old Man Butler oversees efforts to convert an AgroHauler for combat, welding on machine guns and a rocket launcher. Annie Wang tells Butler she's worried, but he reassures her that he'll have a full battalion of WorkMechs combat-ready by the time the League force arrives - sufficient to obliterate the outnumbered SLDF units with volleys of fire.
Notes: The AgroHauler has never been statted (not surprising for an Iron Writer creation), but appears to have an open air cockpit in front of a cargo bin. I would presume it's an agricultural variant of the MWDA Mining Mech that looks like a humanoid 'Mech wearing a dump truck bed on its back.
The Rocket Launcher apparently became extinct after the Terran Alliance became the Terran Hegemony, was reinvented (in Primitive form) by Pentagon Civil War factions, and finally reintroduced in modern form to the Inner Sphere in 3064. From this, it appears to have also played a role in the Periphery Uprising. The AgroHauler's arsenal seems to consist of two RL15s, plus three Machine Guns, based on Butler's comments.
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Date: August 1, 2766
Location: Dicallus
Title: The Emercity of Betrayal
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: As the SLDF forces approach, Butler and his Phoenix Hawk lie in ambush with the Dicallus army, a motley collection of 13 armed WorkMechs and 20 armed civilian vehicles. A dozen light and medium SLDF 'Mechs approach their position in a column. When they pass the ambush site, Butler gives the command to attack. He engages in a running fight with a Wasp, determined to get a kill to demonstrate to his people they could win against the League. His laser takes the Wasp's leg off, but his triumph is interrupted by desperate cries from his troops, wondering where he went.
Returning to the ambush site, he finds, instead of his forces raining rockets on the hulks of the SLDF 'Mechs, eight SLDF 'Mechs tearing the remnants of his force apart (implying that the ambush got another three SLDF 'Mechs), while a dozen helicopters fire lasers and missiles into the Dicallan positions from the south. On the ridges above the valley, on both sides, dozens of silhouettes signal the arrival of enemy reinforcements.
Butler orders his troops to keep fighting. One protests that they're being slaughtered, before cutting off in static. An SLDF Phoenix Hawk engages Butler, who realizes that the people of Dicallus have been betrayed by their own ignorance.
Notes: I still can't decide whether this was intended to be a Periphery Uprising story or a Reunification War story. Calling the SLDF forces Inner Sphere invaders and being totally unaware of their capabilities sounds Reunification War-esque, but again, Dicallus wasn't settled during the Reunification War (appearing first on the 2750 map of the Taurian Concordat).
The SLDF column consisting of a mix of 'Mechs is a bit odd, considering that uniformity was the standard operating procedure for the League, and the entire company should have been composed of one design type. It's possible that the massive losses during the early stages of the Periphery uprising forced SLDF commanders to form ad-hoc companies with different design types mixed in, formed from shattered mono-type commands.
I wonder exactly what went on when Butler fought the pirates on New Vandenburg fifty years earlier. He seems to think that morale is the biggest issue, and that deficiencies in equipment can be overcome by fighting spirit. Perhaps he saw his TDF unit break and run on New Vandenburg, panicked by first exposure to real combat, and was simply falling into the trap of fighting the last war in the engagement on Dicallus.
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Oh right, I kinda vaguely remember that now. IIRC it came from some malapropism of Randall's (possibly for enormity?) or something like that.
Yeah, it was from a short story he wrote as a teenager and was unearthed at GenCon where authors took turns reading the tortured prose to the crowd. Steve Mohan Jr. stole the show when he rode his section in the voice of William Shatner.
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Yeah, it was from a short story he wrote as a teenager and was unearthed at GenCon where authors took turns reading the tortured prose to the crowd. Steve Mohan Jr. stole the show when he rode his section in the voice of William Shatner.
Yeeeessss... I do remember that now that you mention it. And I even think I was there for that GenCon. Boy, what a marvelous and frightening thing it is getting old.
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I would have LOVED to see someone having youtubed that telling of the story.
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Date: May 4, 2765
Location: Carthage
Title: Siege of Fire Base San Antonio
Author: Robert Pigeon
Type: Scenario (Commando Quarterly #3)
Synopsis: Roughly a month into the Periphery Uprising, dozens of Taurian Freedom Army divisions joined the fighting and attacked isolated SLDF forces, including elements of the SLDF 8th BattleMech Division garrisoned at Firebase San Antonio.
The TFA has two companies of light and medium 'Mechs, universally low-tech (TRO:3025) models. It includes a few veteran pilots, but the skill levels suggest they are mostly Regular or Green. The TFA 'Mechs are, however, equipped with self-destruct devices that, when triggered, do damage to the surrounding hexes, based on engine rating.
The San Antonio Garrison has one combined arms company - Crockett, Emperor, Highlander, Thug, Black Knight, Lancelot, Orion, Flashman, 2 Schreks, 1 Zephyr, and 1 Long Tom Mobile Artillery piece. It also has 15 minefields (5 standard, 5 command detonated, and 5 command detonated EMP). The firebase is surrounded by walls with two retractable doors that allow units to move in and out of the base.
The setup notes that the TFA forces were able to approach the firebase undetected under cover of Carthage's "freakish" weather, which caused frequent communications blackouts and technical failures in automated SLDF listening posts and observation posts.
The TFA gets 50 points for each SLDF 'Mech destroyed and 10 for each vehicle. The SLDF gets 10 for each TFA 'Mech destroyed.
Notes: I've recently added the scenarios and short fiction from the Commando Quarterly to the Chronological Fiction Review schedule. While now considered apocryphal, when written, the Quarterly was intended to be in-universe content along the lines of BattleTechnology. (Volume 2's two issues were explicitly non-canon, and those issues were not written from an in-universe perspective.) Any contradictions with canon material will be noted.
Carthage doesn't appear on any maps until 3040, and the Star League-era reports don't show it as an active colony. The scenario is framed as the report of Dr. Thom Wilson, Director of Archaeology at the University of Carthage roughly circa 3065, whose team has excavated the ruins of the firebase.
The 8th Division was stationed at Tancredi IV in the Federated Suns in 2764, but was listed as "Destroyed in the Periphery Uprising in 2765" in the Star League sourcebook. The scenario fits that timeline, but it seems odd that the SLDF would race the unit all the way from the FS/DC border to garrison an outpost in Taurian space, when the Outworlds Alliance is right next door (Tancredi being a former Alliance world annexed by the Federated Suns during the Reunification War). They would have had to use a command circuit to get there between the start of the uprising and the 30-days later that they apparently died.
Suicide troops also are not consistent with what we know of the Periphery Uprising, where the Periphery units attacked with overwhelming numbers to surround and contain the SLDF garrisons in their bases, offered them the chance to surrender, and then nuked them if they refused.
The composition of the SLDF unit is also inconsistent with standard SLDF doctrine. This early in the conflict, the unit should have had standardized equipment - all the same unit type, rather than the scattered "one of each" mix seen here. (Of course, the scenario loadout was designed with a typical FanPro Commando's miniature collection in mind, which was far more likely to run along the "one of each" lines.)
The Schreks are a definite anachronism - with that design not debuting until 2813. Burkes would fill the role more canonically.
No statistics are given for the firebase's walls or doors, so it's unclear how durable they should be. The map is a 2x2, with the Military Base #1 and 2 from Map Set 7 north of the Rolling Hills maps.
I would recommend that the SLDF troops remain within the confines of the base. Take advantage of the partial cover bonus from the fighting platform and lay down heavy fire (concentrating on a few units at a time to maximize chances of a take down rather than just armor damage). Once the TFA comes over the walls, pull back inside the buildings and shoot from inside. I'm not sure how useful the Long Tom is, since its shots will likely destroy your own minefields as they scatter over the target region.
For the TFA forces, I would recommend grouping your units by speed and movement capabilities, and advancing in columns, to minimize your chances of hitting a minefield. Move at maximum speed to reduce SLDF gunnery. Once you crest the walls, surround the outnumbered SLDF 'Mechs (your primary targets) and kick their legs to pieces, functionally immobilizing them, and making them easier to finish off with a self-destruct.
The self-destruct will be tricky to utilize, since you secretly announce its triggering in place of a physical attack one one turn, but it doesn't go off until the fire phase of the next, so you can't be sure to win initiative and trap an enemy unit. If the opportunity presents itself, after priming the explosive, jump into the middle of a dense enemy group that has already finished movement, for maximum impact. It's generally not worth losing a 'Mech just to sand the armor off a lone League unit.
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Would a booby trap work for the self-destruct, since regular self destruct doesn't do alot damage other than unit itself? The booby trap would take someone down, even with a low tech mech.
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This scenario ruleset appears to use the damage scores from the Tactical Handbook (which first codified the "Stackpole Rule" with the later rules for self destructing).
The Tactical Handbook rules turn 'Mechs into bombs with legs, and this modification allows even large-engined 'Mech to go boom almost at will. If a 'Mech with a 400 rated engine gets in the same hex as the target when it blows, the epicenter hex would take 400 damage (in 5 point groups), the next hex ring out would each take 200, and the outer hex ring would take 100. For a Wasp (120 engine), that's 120 -> 60 -> 30, but a Wolverine would do 270 -> 135 -> 68. Pretty good if your targets are bunched up.
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Tancredi being a former Alliance world annexed by the Federated Suns during the Reunification War).
Tancredi is a bit of a muddle. Historical: Reunification War describes it as a quiet world that had changed hands several times prior to the Reunification War, with the OA using it as a clandestine route for buying weapons in the 2570s. However, in the 2530s when the Davion Civil War was going on, Tancredi was the regional capital of the Draconis Combine and Laura Davion's seat of power (House Davion: The Federated Suns refers). In the 2500s the Tancredi War College was founded there, and the Tancredi regiments were packed with loyalists, and Alexander Davion kept the Tancredi Loyalists regiments active throughout the Star League era (Field Report 2765: AFFS), which is a bit.. odd.
I did ask a question on the Ask The Writers forum about this a while ago, but didn't get a response, unfortunately.
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Interesting history on Tancredi. I was mostly just noticing that it's so far from the Taurians, and so close to the Outworlds, that having it fight the TFA just seems like madness.
Attempting to flt the scenario, as written, into existing canon is pretty much hopeless, given information that's come out since it was written. Options for salvaging it include:
1) Change the unit involved to one that FM: SLDF shows being based in the Concordat. Change the world to a Taurian colony that was active in 2764, rather than one not settled until 3040.
or
2) Keep the 8th BattleMech Division as the parent unit, but change the setting to the Outworlds Alliance and the OpFor to OA rebels.
or
3) Make the SLDF unit a "Main Guardian Defense System," centered on the Mobile Long Tom, and build the unit around its artillery assets.
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Date: September 14, 2733
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At a workshop in the city of Carolinas, Emma Jacobs and Caleb Murphy look at a prototype BattleMech with a critical eye. Jacobs notes that the legs are too thin and the metal seems to be recycled scrap haphazardly welded together.
Murphy is defensive, contending that the 'Mech will move, shoot, and make quick work of infantry and most vehicles. When asked if it will trip when it goes off-road or break its legs when it runs, Murphy answers that it will do what it is supposed to, and work better than it looks.
Notes: The dates given in the story are for 2783, rather than 2733. However, other sourcebook material indicates that 'Mechs were manufactured in the OA by Alliance Defenders Limited from the 2730s, and 2783, post-dating the Periphery Uprising, ignores the thousands of 'Mechs in the OA "secret army" that would have been around for analysis. Changing the 8 to a 3 erases all those continuity issues.
Murphy and Jacobs are looking at the OA's first attempt to make a home-grown BattleMech - which has been reverse engineered from a Locust taken from pirates. By this time, every other major power has their own 'Mechs, but the OA notably had none in the Reunification War - relying instead on the Pitcairn Legion - a volunteer force from the Federated Suns - to battle the SLDF on their behalf while their homegrown troops flew hang gliders and used other low-tech weaponry. Basically, the Outworlders were Ewoks.
The Top of the Scrap Heap wasn't advertised as being part of the "Proliferation Cycle," but it fits thematically, since it tells the story of how the Outworlds Alliance acquired BattleMech technology.
The lack of resources on Alpheratz in the 2700s always struck me as odd - since historically this was Alpheratz at the peak of its power, ruling an OA four times as large as it was in the 3000s. All I can figure is that the Star League laws restricting the militarization of the Territorial States would have made a "Build-a-Mech Workshop" program illegal, or at least politically touchy. Thus, United Outworlders would have given this project a shoestring budget so as to keep it off the books until after it could demonstrate success.
Honestly, though, even the centuries-earlier efforts to bolt guns onto WorkMechs seem more formidable than this home-grown Locust.
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Given the OA's political outlook, it isn't surprising that they aren't diving into BattleMech tech ("BattleTech"?) headlong; it's surprising they bother at all.
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If im not mistaken they were building their own Warships in form of the Pinto class Corvettes if i read the Field Reports 2765 Periphery right. The story sounds more like it predates stuff covering late Star League era when Catalyst had its year of the Star League with backfill new star league era material.
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This story definitely predates the publication of "Liberation of Terra" and the 2765 Field Reports. FR: Periphery 2765 notes that, by the signing of the Treaty of Cerberus, the Alliance had only a single tank factory to its name, and all of its 'Mechs were pre-war imports from the Draconis Combine and Federated Suns.
Lushann Industrials opened after the Reunification War and made lasers. Other corporations failed due to interference from the FS and DC. Alliance Defenders Limited got Hegemony funding and brought true BattleMech manufacturing to the otherwise lacking Alliance, originally for the purpose of easing logistical problems in replacing field losses for the SLDF's 18th Army. It makes Locusts, Wasps, and Stingers, and output has been steadily growing since the 2730s.
The page on the OA military says most of the OAM's BattleMechs are ancient, with some dating back to the Reunification War, with newer ones coming from SLDF sources, cast-offs from neighboring Houses, or limited shares from Alliance Defenders Limited. Most end up as FrankenMechs due to maintenance issues.
This being the case in the most recent sourcebooks, yes, I would have to agree that this story is jarringly at odds with continuity. It would have made more sense if it were set in the run-up to the Reunification War, rather than after the fall of the Star League, but as noted in FMP2765, Alliance Defenders didn't open until 2730.
One attempt at handwaving this situation is (as noted in the first entry) to reset the date from 2783 to 2733, and to consider Jacobs and Murphy as being a shoestring-budgeted off-the-books effort by the OAM to use the new Alliance Defenders facilities to make their own 'Mechs, since the output from ADL was earmarked for the SLDF 18th Army. The Hegemony investors wouldn't be happy to have their resources diverted to the Alliance's military, so Jacobs and Murphy had to try to cobble their prototype together from salvaged/stolen scrap, without using the modern production equipment and parts from the other side of the factory. This presupposes that the Hegemony investors sent a cadre of overseers to safeguard their interests and keep the indigs from doing more than serving tea.
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Date: September 18, 2733
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: General Bashere of the Outworlds Alliance Military watches with a critical eye as the ADL Locust prototype wobbles across the training grounds. Jacobs claims it's comparable to an Inner Sphere Locust, but with armor comprised of scrap metal and a non-standard targeting computer, since the Inner Sphere has imposed draconian measures to keep targeting software from being exported.
When Bashere asks where they got theirs, Jacobs hesitantly answers that they reverse engineered it from a 'Mech obtained from the Tortuga Dominions along with the comm system and the firing controls...and confesses that most of the parts are from Tortuga as well.
Bashere explodes in rage, throwing his binoculars to the ground, and says the ADL 'Mech may as well be held together with chewing gum. Composing himself, he tells Jacobs that he knows the lack of government and popular support is making it hard for ADL to make progress, but he says that six more months is all he can give them to produce something better than the Locust. If they fail, he'll ask the Board of Directors to fire Jacobs and find someone else to helm the project.
As he leaves, Jacobs considers ordering the 'Mech pilot to demonstrate its firepower by destroying Bashere's motorcade, but ultimately decides against it.
Notes: The chronology for the Tortuga Dominions sourcing works out well, since it was founded by deserters from the Reunification War fighting, and they'd still have Reunification War-era equipment, much of which would be in wretched condition after 150 years of heavy use.
Bashere's comment that the ADL project lacks government and popular support suggests either that he's referring to it being exclusively funded by Hegemony investors, or that this project is secret, and thus the resources he can offer are limited to what he can slide off the official books. (On the other hand, we don't know what Bashere's real motivations were. Perhaps he has ties to insurgent groups and is seeking the creation of a production line that will be capable of funneling off-the-record 'Mechs to the nascent secret army.)
As noted in the discussion, the Hegemony funded ADL's creation for the express purpose of simplifying support logistics for the 18th Army. It still boggles the mind that Jacobs found it easier to grab a pirate 'Mech rather than diverting a few production models from the Hegemony-funded side of the shop.
There ought to have been a sufficiency of Locust parts floating around the Star League's black markets, since the design debuted in 2499, more than two centuries earlier.
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Date: September 19, 2733
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Jacobs and Murphy discuss the arrival of the new Alliance Defenders Limited CEO and how they'll meet Bashere's six month deadline. Jacobs opines that they could tinker with the Locust for half a year, but it won't be good enough, given the quality of the materials they have to work with. She notes that they'll never get ahead by playing by the rules, and that it's easier to get tech when you steal it.
Murphy mutters agreement, but doesn't notice Jacobs' fingers drumming on her desk as she tries to keep her excitement off her face. The discussion has sparked a new plan that she feels they should have pursued from the start. All that can go wrong is imprisonment or execution, but her career prospects are worth some risks.
Notes: It's interesting that Jacobs refers to Alpheratz/The Outworlds Alliance as "our godforsaken corner of the universe." The OA would have been fairly prosperous circa the 2730s, since the really rapacious new laws regarding exploitation of the Territorial States hadn't yet come out of the Star League Council. Given the revised story date required to make this narrative match the canon founding date of Alliance Defenders Limited, this was still well into "The Good Years" of the Star League era. (Though the tensions are building - the "Second Hidden War" has just wrapped up on the nearby Davion/Kurita border, the Marik Civil War is raging, and the SLDF and "ronin" are dueling their hearts out in the ongoing "First Hidden War." The "Third Hidden War" kicks off in less than a decade.)
Sourcebooks written subsequent to this 2007 story have made its continuity a hot mess. If the Hegemony funded the factory specifically to produce parts and 'Mechs for the 18th Army, they would, of course, have provided all the by now ubiquitous technology to get the plant up and running. There would have been absolutely no need for an ADL skunkworks to jury-rig their own tech from salvaged scrap. Even if Jacobs is thinking of stealing the tech she needs, there'd be no need to go offworld - just boost something from the Hegemony warehouses next door.
Again, all I can think of to handwave this is that ADL and General Bashere were working on a project to have the OAM develop their own non-Hegemony-controlled supplier of 'Mechs, possibly with a mind to building up the secret army down the road, though the 2730s seems a bit early for such a project. The OAM would want their own 'Mechs because the Hegemony tried to force dependency on the Territorial States by restricting manufacturing licenses for key components, forcing them to import those parts from the Hegemony, and thereby limiting the number that could be manufactured by local producers. In the event of a rebellion, the part supply gets cut off and the rebel manufacturing base is crippled.
Having the capacity to make their own machinery would be a necessary stepping stone for the OAM to function independently as a rebel state - another sign that Bashere may have been having covert meetings with the Taurian Freedom Army and other Periphery insurgent groups.
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Date: November 23, 2733
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Emma Jacobs arrives at a nondescript coffee shop for a clandestine meeting and nervously awaits her contact. A man greets her as "Irene," and she responds, calling him "Jerry." (aka "Jerome")
Jerome informs Jacobs that he's used the military intel her contacts gave him to identify good candidates among the pirate gangs operating near Valasha. He reports successful contact with one band, and used the bribe money (supplied from Jacobs' personal accounts) to convince them to raid the Federated Suns. He notes that his lead negotiator is still meeting with the pirates' representatives.
Jacobs concludes that this represents significant progress.
Notes: Using pirates to accomplish surreptitious tasks has been used throughout the history of the Inner Sphere (and on Terra of old, as well, during the "Letters of Marque" period of raiding the Spanish Main). ComStar outfitted a number of pirate bands with better equipment and tried to direct their efforts in what became known as the "Jolly Roger Affair" (which blew up on them when the pirates decided they didn't like taking orders). Likewise, both the Combine and the Commonwealth tried to court Hendrik Grimm's Oberon Confederation to work on their behalf. While Grimm signed a deal with the Commonwealth, one of his underlings signed their own deal with the Combine.
The question arises - exactly whom is Jacobs hiding from? Sure, consorting with pirates is generally illegal, but would the Outworlds Alliance have plainclothes police monitoring conversations of defense industry workers? (I mean, they should, given what we saw in "A Dish Served Cold"...) It just seems out of character for the traditionally laid back and very much non-authoritarian Outworlds government.
My guess is that she's trying to avoid being noticed by the "slicks" (as the agents of the Star League Intelligence Corps - SLIC - were known). When the SLIC found evidence of a large-scale rearmament program in the Rim Worlds Republic, the SLDF staged massive exercises on its borders, and House Amaris backed down and mothballed its new gear. The SLIC would be on the lookout for similar efforts to build off-books military strength in the other Territorial States, and this definitely fits that model.
Valasha makes a lot of sense as a target for pirate operations, since it's a major port of entry for goods coming in from the Inner Sphere, and the system's jump points are cluttered with merchant ships and recharging stations. (You'd think this would justify the deployment of the 18th Army's associated fleet elements for security - a destroyer squadron at each jump point would be enough to dissuade most opportunistic pirate raids).
And, per FM:SLDF, the League agreed - assigning the 318th BattleMech Division to Valasha, where its large complement of LAMs can assist the aerospace assets guarding the jump points. Interestingly, the OAM doesn't have anything deployed there, leaving security as the exclusive province of the SLDF. With 100+ aerospace fighters and LAMs guarding the system's jump points, I can't see that any rag-tag pirate bands would have any chance of getting in, hitting something, and withdrawing before the 318th homed in on their position and fragged them, unless they could calculate pirate points in orbit and had lithium-fusion batteries - which is asking a bit much for pirates.
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Date: January 11, 2734
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Emma Jacobs flees security agents, leading them on a brief chase through a stairwell in the Alliance Defenders building before being apprehended at gunpoint.
One of the police officers tells her she's under arrest on charges of treason, piracy, and conspiracy against the Alliance.
Notes: So..... something seems to have gone wrong with her "secret" plan to work with the pirate bands around Valasha.
The charge of "conspiracy against the Alliance" indicates that the charges stem from her association with pirate bands known to have attacked the Alliance world of Valasha in the past, though the dialogue in the previous scene indicated that she'd tried to get them to shift their focus to the Federated Suns. One interesting omission is that she's not being charged with conspiracy against the Star League. (Granted, when this story was written, the original date would have placed it after the collapse of the Star League.)
However, in the context of resetting the date to the canon years when Alliance Defenders began operations with Terran Hegemony funding, we can assume that the charges leveled against her are only because of the pirate dealings, and not because the League found out she was trying to help the Alliance develop their in-house armaments program in contravention of Star League policy towards the Territorial States.
Was the arrest a smokescreen to give the Alliance plausible deniability in the event that the Star League got upset about the independent development of BattleMech technology outside of the heavily controlled Hegemony-funded manufacturing operation? (House Avellar: "It wasn't us, my Lord Cameron. This woman was a traitor in league with pirates, and we've dealt with her appropriately.")
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Date: April 8, 2734
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Brinson, Emma Jacobs' lawyer, meets with her in her prison cell to discuss her plans for the treason/piracy trial. In a sharp contrast with her demeanor for the past two months, he notes, she now reassures him that there's nothing to worry about as long as he can push the trial proceedings beyond May 5th. Emma asks Brinson to return on May 5th to work out some fine legal points, but refuses to provide further details.
Flabbergasted by his client, Brinson leaves the cell muttering about filing an insanity plea.
Notes: If all of Emma's communications are monitored, one wonders exactly how she's so sure about the May 5th date? Even if she made a plan with compatriots on the outside to have something ready by May 5th, how would she be so certain that her surprise is on schedule?
The possible answer ties in with the handwavium required to shoehorn this story into continuity. If certain elements of the OAM are trying to develop domestic 'Mech production capacities, they could be covertly supporting the project, even while publicly wagging their finger at Jacobs and screaming "treason!" for the benefit of the SLIC agents. The only way she'd be so smug was if someone smuggled intel into her cell that her plan was on schedule and ready to launch May 5.
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Date: May 5, 2734
Location: Alpheratz
Title: The Top of the Scrap Heap
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Brinson arrives at the prison compound's main entrance, and is surprised to see Velma Crawford, the prosecutor, arriving at the same time. Velma says she has come at Emma's request to discuss a plea deal, which is the opposite of what she told Brinson.
Their conversation is interrupted by Caleb Murphy, who introduces himself as "an associate" of Emma's, and says they will soon see why she asked them to come. Alarms ring out, and seventeen minutes later, an armed man collects them at the prison door and leads them to a vehicle, in which he drives them in a circuit of the prison perimeter until they reach the northern wall. There, he points at something silhouetted in the rising sun and asks them if they can tell him what it is, since its pilot is on their comm channels, and has been asking for them.
The object rockets into the sky and lands two kilometers from them, revealing it to be a humanoid figure wielding an enormous gun, currently pointed at the vehicle. Murphy responds to the pilot's hail, acknowledging that he has the lawyers.
The pilot informs them that they're looking at a Stinger, captured intact from the Federated Suns. He proclaims it as the most powerful weapon in the entire Outworlds Alliance by far, and the sole possession of Emma Jacobs, who can either reverse engineer it for the OAM, or destroy it, at her whim.
Crawford angrily responds that Jacobs can do what she wants for it, but she will not be let out of prison in this manner. She continues protesting for three days, right up until the Alliance government releases Emma Jacobs and reinstates her as the head of Alliance Defenders Limited.
Notes: Similar to Kevin Killiany's "The Emercity of Betrayal," numerous anachronisms make it hard to place when this story could take place. The given date of 2783-2784 makes no sense, since ADL has been making 'Mechs for the OAM since the 2730s, and 11,000 secret army 'Mechs had just been fighting SLDF forces throughout the Alliance during the Periphery Uprising.
The shock and awe with which the Stinger is regarded seem far more appropriate to a story set during the Age of War. However, Alliance Defenders Limited didn't exist until 2730. Also, they mention the Reunification War as being in the past, since they get their 'Mechs from Tortuga, which was founded by troops going AWOL in the Reunification War.
Setting it in the 2730s fits with the chronology of ADL, but doesn't explain why the project seems secret and meeting with government disapproval, since the Hegemony explicitly funded the ADL project to build 'Mechs and parts to ease the logistical strain on SLDF forces stationed in the Alliance. Plus, the pilot's statement that the Stinger represents the most powerful weapon on Alpheratz is nuts, since the OAM has plenty of aerospace fighters and even a small fleet of WarShips. As portrayed, it's as though the pilot assumes the veteran Avellar Guards are mostly armed with slingshots and water balloons. (Not to mention that the entire 287th BattleMech Division is stationed on Alpheratz.)
The best I can think of to shoehorn this somehow into the chronology is that it takes place in the 2730s, once the ADL corporation has been established, but in parallel to the Hegemony-funded parts-production operation. The project involved the director of ADL (who may not be Alliance-born, since she describes it as a backwater) so that she could have the necessary access to hide the operation from Hegemony accountants and overseers (and the SLIC).
Emma's real goal wasn't just to have ADL make Stingers, but to have it develop the capacity to make all the components on its own, rendering the OAM independent of the restrictive SLDF licensing arrangements. (This has undertones of laying the groundwork for passing those designs and tech specs on to secret factories, which is where a lot of those 11,000 Secret Army 'Mechs came from - though many were covertly sourced from Inner Sphere providers as well.)
The Locust that they first reverse engineered was perhaps too damaged to be useful for the program, since its stability was questionable, but the main problem seems to have been that it was built out of scrap metal, and its combat worthiness was in question. The choice of second-rate materials may have been the result of the lack of resources due to the secrecy involved, but if they only have access to lousy materials, why would a reverse engineered Stinger perform any better? (Perhaps the pirate Locust had long since lost all of its layered diamond-steel armor, and been reduced to using salvaged sheet metal, so they couldn't reverse engineer the armor.)
Emma's arrest can be explained as a smokescreen by Emma's supporters in the Alliance government, so that all attention would be focused on her and not on the Stinger-acquisition project. Once that bore fruit, and she proved to the OAM's satisfaction that she could deliver what they wanted, she'd be rewarded with freedom and exoneration. She could then go ahead and oversee the production of Locusts, Wasps, and Stingers in the Hegemony-financed production facility, all the while using what data she could glean to supplement the reverse-engineered Stinger and Locust details, thereby enabling the ADL factory to keep producing once supplies of key parts from the Hegemony were cut off in the 2770s.
(The way the Hegemony set things up in the Periphery was akin to how a Coca-Cola bottling plant works - they get shipments of the syrup, and supply their own water, carbonation, and bottles, but the formula stays in the vault back in Atlanta.)
The remaining question, if this was the OAM's goal, is to what extent they anticipated a Periphery uprising, and whether they had contact with groups like the Taurian Freedom Army at this point. (It's too early for Stefan Amaris to be in the mix...but perhaps his mother Cynthia?)
Short and sweet, this is a troublesome story for the overall continuity. Though it didn't really conflict with anything published at the time, later supplements dealing with the Outworlds Alliance and the Star League era have decisively contradicted this story.
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Date: 2731
Location: Sherwood
Title: On the Defensive
Author: Aaron Pollyea
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Sherwood)
Synopsis: The SLDF's Third Army has been hunting for pirates in the dense woods of the Loxley Forest Preserve since 2676, but has been unable to root out the Titanium Blade, which has grown to a combined arms demi-brigade. Orbital scans couldn't penetrate the forest canopy, and there were planet-wide protests in reaction to an SLDF admiral's suggestion to wipe out the entire preserve with an orbital bombardment, due to their love of their planet's ecosystem. Restricted by SLDF policy after the protests, the 3rd Army has stationed its 'Mechs and tanks at key strategic objectives, leaving it with just infantry and other light support forces to go after the pirates.
The Adventure Seed allows players to take the role of the SLDF, trying to come up with a plan to be able to respond to Blade raids before the bandits can fade back into the woods, or trying to figure out how to bring enough light, mobile forces into the woods to beard the Blades in their own den. Alternatively, it allows the players to play the Blades, planning raids, gathering intelligence, and trying to keep public opinion on their side.
Notes: Author Aaron Pollyea has embraced the Robin Hood mythos for Sherwood. Not only is the pirate lair in the Loxley Forest Preserve and the main city named Marion, but the SLDF ends up playing the Sheriff of Nottingham to the Blades' Merry Men. If you wanted to get very meta about this campaign, make sure the Blades have J. Edgars (which debuted in 2722, so the timing works), since its "Battle History" says "in an unknown battle on an unknown planet" the J. Edgar pilot known as "Roebinood" attacked a much larger force, varying depending on the teller, but including at most 20 Atlases, 27 'Mechs of various sizes, and even a giant mobile weapons platform. (The standard tale is 12 J. Edgars vs. 30 heavier tanks.)
Imagine the fun if you had the Titanium Blades, under the command of Roebinood, hit the SLDF 3rd Army in a battle involving a Rattler-class mobile structure.
I set this in 2731 in my chronology, despite no official date being given, because the setup states that the 3rd Army has adopted a static defense, which fits with the post-protest doctrine. The situation remained unchanged until the bandits scored a major victory in 2759. (If you wanted to do the Roebinood scenario in the late 2750s, you could even include the Atlases, which debuted in 2755.) In actuality, it could be set anywhere between 2676 and 2759.
For the Blades, thematically appropriate units would include Archers (natch), CRD-1R Crusaders (primitive versions from the 2590s) if you're going with the "Robin of Loxley returned from the Crusades" storyline, J. Edgars (because of the Roebinood story), and at least one Sand Devil hovercraft (to represent Azim). Granted, hovercraft and heavy woods don't mix well, but we can assume that the Blades, living in the forest, know the hidden trails that will allow those units to traverse the terrain unimpeded.
For the 3rd Army, unfortunately, the Sheriff infantry support tank doesn't come out until 3098.
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Date: 2761
Location: Sherwood
Title: Walking Through the Woods One Day...
Author: Aaron Pollyea
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Sherwood)
Synopsis:
Following the 2759 Montfriar debacle, the SLDF redeployed the 132nd Royal Jump Infantry Division (1321st and 1322nd regiments) to Sherwood under Major General Jonas Tyler. For two years, Tyler took the initiative, leading his infantry from the front lines, supported by swarms of VTOLs and swarms of LAMs. The Blades were soundly defeated by 2763. Nicknamed "Sherwood's Sheriffs," the 132nd received massive support from the planetary population.
The Adventure Seed takes place shortly after the 132nd's arrival. If players take control of the SLDF forces, they have to plan an infantry-led assault into the deep woods, planning to avoid getting lost, friendly fire, local fauna encounters, or running afoul of the local environmental laws.
Notes: If you ever wanted to do BattleTech scenarios in a Vietnam-style setting, this is your seed. Infantry squads deployed via VTOL into the dense tree-cover. (No using Agent Orange, though, or the planet-wide protests will get you bounced immediately.) The bandits are, in parallel, getting support from a hostile foreign power - in this case the Taurian Freedom Army. ("We have a secret plan to end the war by bombing the Calderon Trail.")
Leave the 'Mechs and heavy tanks in their cases, and bring out the Rippers, Nightshades, and Cyranos, as well as all those LAM minis, alongside the jump infantry, and go to town on your Heavy Woods maps.
If you've played through the previous Adventure Seed as the Titanium Blades, this can represent the next level of difficulty. (Celts and fire arrows galore.) If you plan to use this as a lead-in to the Periphery Uprising and the Star League Civil War, you can really get a lot of mileage out of the covert support from the Taurian Freedom Army, and surviving Blades could be folded into the TFA and get revenge down the road.
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Date: August 2, 2776 [See Notes]
Location: Caph
Title: Falling
Author: Nadin Brzezinski
Type: Short Story (MechForce Quarterly Volume 5 #3)
Synopsis: Aboard the DropShip SLS Harrow's Sun, Major Michael Ward anticipates the coming battle to retake Caph from the Republican troops occupying it. Master Sergeant Joe Alvarez tells him that his Highlander isn't fully repaired, and offers to transfer him to Sergeant Argenti's Atlas. Ward reluctantly agrees, noting his preference for his Highlander.
Following the landing, at 0900 hours, Ward is leading the assault on Republican lines around the city of Taurus when communications go silent and a mushroom cloud rises over the SLDF rear-area base camp. Ward's Atlas weathers the blast, being at the far periphery of the shockwave's radius. With Colonel Anders dead, Ward rallies his troops and continues the advance against the Republican line, pushing through murderous fire and artillery barrages. He drops a Thug and continues to lead his troops to seize Hill 772.
Three hours later, near the city of Taurus, Colonel Andrea Dobson gives Ward a field promotion to Colonel and assigns him to command the now half-strength 20th Dragoon Regiment in the assault against the city. The battered column of 'Mechs enters the ruined city, facing ambushes by Republican Guard infantry detachments. In the city center, they find civilians huddled near City Hall, where a tattered Terran Hegemony flag flies over the square and dozens of Republican Guard infantry have been bludgeoned to death with rocks. The scene is deeply affecting for Ward.
Notes: This is a non-canon story written in the late 1990s for the final issue of the FASA-produced MechForce Quarterly fan club magazine. Nadin Brzezinski is also listed as one of the playtesters for the Classic BattleTech RPG (MechWarrior 3rd Edition).
Though the story is dated July 26, 2776, I have dated it here as August 2, 2776. Looking at "Liberation of Terra," the assault on Caph began with the arrival of the 4th and 5th fleets on July 26, 2776, swiftly crushing the SDS and jumping in to pirate points surrounding Caph itself. Third Army arrived hours later and spent a week burning in to the world while the fleet bombarded Republican strongpoints and SDS installations from orbit. So, the date given for this story is about a week too early, since the ground forces didn't land until early August. The Republican forces are noted for their extensive use of WMDs against the Third Army, so that scene also fits.
Having Ward be part of the 20th Dragoon Regiment fits quite well. Although FM:SLDF has them posted to the First Army's X Corps as an independent regiment, it specifically notes they were reassigned in 2763 and expected to move to the Third Army in the Outworlds Alliance by 2765. I can't help but think that Jason Schmetzer and the other FM:SLDF authors intentionally put in that extra text about the 20th Dragoons to bring this story into canon as much as possible.
It's interesting that the sight of a Hegemony flag gets a strong emotional reaction from Ward. Granted, he was stationed in the Hegemony until his unit transferred to the Outworlds Alliance, and that would be a symbol of home. However, it was my impression that Amaris didn't obliterate the Hegemony flag, but just declared himself the new ruler of the Hegemony. There are accounts of the Star League flag (the Cameron star) being lowered and replaced with the Amaris shark flag, but no mention of the Hegemony flag itself being torn down. Especially since Amaris' propaganda line was that he had "ended the tyranny of the Cameron dictators, returning the Terran Hegemony to its people."
Hill 772 is probably a reference to the Battle of El Guettar, pitting Patton's U.S. II Corps against the German Army Group Africa and the Italian First Army in south-central Tunisia. It was the first battle in which U.S. forces defeated German tank units. Hill 772 was one of the two original Italian strongpoints, and the Italians called in the German 21st Panzer Division when Patton's forces attacked.
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Date: March 27, 2779
Location: Bryant
Title: What's in a Name?
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At Lantren Developmental Laboratories in the city of Apopka, midnight has passed and Lucia Cavaletta is still hard at work on the GHR prototype's tensioner subassembly. Incomplete prototype chassis frames loom around her in the cavernous workshop, still lacking an official name, though Ghost Hunter, Grim Reaper, and Harvester have all been floated as possibilities - the first reflecting a failed attempt to incorporate stealth technology, and the latter two reflecting both Byrant's agricultural industry and the machine's hunter/killer role. Lucia herself prefers her suggestion of 'Grasshopper' - the bane of every farm on the world, at least until Amaris forces destroyed the weather control satellites.
The component on her work table, representing more than sixteen hours of labor, will be slated for installation in prototype five. Proud of her accomplishment, she uses a laser etcher to begin burning her name into the housing. Her work is interrupted by a shout, as Jennings, the night security guard, staggers into the workshop, tells her to run, and then collapses.
Lucia crouches behind a desk and listens as figures appear in the doorway. Their conversation reveals that they've jammed communications and cut phone lines, and are hoping they can force her to help them find what they're looking for. She stealthily crawls through the lab and finds a hiding spot beneath a curved section of armor plating on a metal component shelf.
She listens to the intruders comment on the list of name possibilities - Gryphon, Gray Hawk, Grendel, and Ghost Hunter. She realizes that if they're being so casual, all the security guards must be already dead. She hears buzzing coming closer, but can't identify it. Suddenly agony rips through her as the intruders electrify the metal shelf she's lying on, and she cries out, revealing her hiding place. The intruders pull her out and identify her as Control System Design Specialist Lucia Cavaletta.
They tie her to a chair and lay out tools to torture the information out of her. She ignores their words, and focuses her determination on not allowing these people, whether they serve Amaris, Steiner, or Liao, to steal a weapon of war they could use against Bryant.
Nine hours later, Lantren Industries Research Operations Supervisor Aaron Bosworth watches as forensics technicians carry Lucia's corpse out of the workshop. An SLDF officer introduces himself as Captain Scarlatti and thanks Bosworth for coming. Bosworth shudders as he sees how much blood and body parts the technicians are cleaning up from Cavaletta's workstation. Scarlatti estimates the torture lasted for up to two hours, and says the evidence suggests Defiance Industries, acting on its own. He says that it could mean another House is trying to implicate Steiner, or that Steiner was trying to establish plausible deniability.
Scarlatti asks Bosworth about the 'Mech Cavaletta died to protect. He says she fought well, but her fingerprints and blood are on the keyboard, so she clearly gave them something. Bosworth opens her computer and checks the logs - finding that she gave the intruders "Ghost Hunter" - the failed stealth-tech Prototype One plans. Scarlatti is surprised she gave them a heavy with stealth technology, but Bosworth explains that it looked good on paper but catastrophically failed in field tests, frying the testbed mainframe and setting the project back a year.
Scarlatti sees that Cavaletta held out so long so that the intruders would believe that the Ghost Hunter was the prize they sought. He sees the list of proposed names on the wall chart and suggests that they honor her sacrifice by giving Prototype Five her preferred Grasshopper designation.
Notes: Interesting that Defiance Industries would be so strongly affiliated with House Steiner at this juncture. While it was constructed as a Star League/Commonwealth joint venture in 2577 and jointly run thereafter, I would have assumed that Kerensky's people would have been calling the shots there for the duration of the Civil War. With fighting still taking place in pockets of Terra, Defiance should be focused on making equipment to replace SLDF losses, rather than striking at another SLDF-aligned production facility. House Steiner didn't put the Brewers in charge of Defiance until after the Star League disbanded, so this seems like some sort of rogue operation mounted by a pro-Steiner cabal within Defiance - perhaps an extension of the Third Hidden War that wracked the latter decades of the Star League and focused primarily on punitive raids against economic resources and false-flagged piracy.
Stealth technology did exist during the Star League era. The Chameleon Light Polarization Shield was created by the Terran Hegemony in 2630, but was jealously guarded by the SLDF, used only on the Exterminator and possibly some Royal units. The Null Signature System likewise debuted in the Star League era, and wasn't shared outside the Royal units. I can, therefore, see how defense contractors affiliated with one of the Great Houses would have been particularly interested in seizing stealth tech - presuming that it would be easier to boost it from Lantren than from the General Systems plant on Caph.
With the Amaris forces having been driven back to Terra and the fighting there still ongoing (not concluding for another six months), Lucia Cavaletta's mindset is probably typical of most denizens of the Inner Sphere - that all this fighting will soon be over, and the Star League will return to its former glory and fix all the damage. She assumes, without any doubt, that the League will replace the storm inhibitors that keep the weather on Bryant under control. Of course, once the League shattered, the SLDF launched its Exodus, and the Succession Wars broke out, such devices became LosTech, and Bryant became nearly uninhabitable.
One interesting bit is Lucia's comment that grasshoppers are the bane of Byrant's crops. One wonders how the grasshoppers got to Bryant. If they're Terran stock, how would they have gotten to Bryant? Accidentally included in poorly screened seed grain? We do know that pest species have migrated from world to world aboard DropShips, not unlike how rats spread across Terra aboard sailing ships. Usually, however, the Terraforming process is followed by the introduction of genetically adapted crops that can grow in the planet's unique soil chemistry. This implies a careful, scientifically monitored seeding process, rather than just blasting seeds straight off the DropShip out of a crop-duster. My guess is that the grasshopper accidentally imported from Terra well after Bryant's agro-industry was established, and all quarantine and control efforts failed to fully eradicate it.
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Woohoo! Legacy makes its appearance :D
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Minor but relevant point about this story is that Cavaletta means Grasshopper in Italian, and Lucia Cavaletta was only half serious when she originally proposed the name. The implication is that the design that she essentially created that night by inventing a critical component, and then died to protect, was named in her honor.
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One further question derives from this story. If the "Ghost Hunter" was the GHR-1X, and what became the Grasshopper was the GHR-5X prototype, does that mean that the WHM-6R evolved from the WHM-6X - the sixth prototype in the WHM series?
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I don't think all companies have the same numbering policies.
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Agreed, the KGC-000 King Crab certainly wouldn't fit that naming convention.
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This is a bit late but conveniently before the Warhammer, there exists 3 BattleAxes and 2 Hammerhands variants. Considering the Warhammer is based on those 'Mechs, the designation number 6 is rather appropriate.
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Date: December 16, 2769
Location: RWR Outpost #25
Title: Off the Grid
Author: Herbert A. Beas II
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Escape From Castle Wulfensteiner)
Synopsis: General Roland Offenbach pits his Warhammer against Major Grossman's Guillotine in a practice engagement pitting RWR forces against an OpFor emulating the Hegemony Armed Forces. Grossman is taken by surprise as "HAF" artillery pounds the battlefield, hitting their own troops. He argues that the "Terries" would never shell their own forces, and that Kerensky would never have the guts for such a maneuver. Offenbach responds that the RWR certainly would use such tactics, and they should never make the mistake of underestimating the lengths to which an enemy might go. The battle scenario ends in a HAF victory. As the troops stand down and the clean-up crews move in, Offenbach's conversation with Grossman is interrupted by an Omega-Ten priority call from RWR Outpost #25's command center - The Stone.
Notes: The RWR Outposts were first teased in the original "Hot Spots" supplement for Mercenaries Handbook 3055, shown on a map as RWR Outpost #27, but without a corresponding contract. (Presumably one was planned, but didn't make the final product, and FASA didn't feel like changing the starmap.) Later sourcebooks indicated that the inclusion in the Hot Spots book was an accidental leak by ComStar Cartography, and that the Adept responsible had been severely punished. The Interstellar Expeditions book added several more RWR outposts, and Shrapnel added the fictional RWR Outpost #666 as part of a MechAssault holovid.
RWR Outpost #25 appears to have been one of the secret deep periphery staging/training grounds for Amaris' secret army. In this case, however, rather than joining the rest of the Amaris war machine in its seizure of the Hegemony, the Omega-Ten alert sets up a mysterious event that leads explorers there centuries later to delve into the mystery...and perhaps never to return.
The dialogue between the RWR officers sheds some light on how the rank and file of the Rim Worlds viewed the SLDF and Kerensky, and why they felt confident that their lord's scheme would work.
It's unclear whether the practice engagement is using simulated weapons or is a live fire drill (with or without powered-down weapons), but several blasts cause buildings to collapse and the Guillotine is smoking at one point, so it certainly seems like the Rimmers play rough with their toys.
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Date: October 17, 2772
Location: Terra (AE)
Title: Fall From Glory
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In Moscow, under the rule of the Amaris Empire, young Kolya and his mother wander through the city, dropping off anti-Amaris leaflets. Young Kolya, already agitated by the family's frequent moves since the "big thing" that happened recently, goes to play in a nearby park and meets a girl his age and a slightly older boy, arguing over a game called First Lord, a tag variant where the first one caught is the First Lord, and is ruled dead, while the last caught is Amaris, and the rest have to carry him around. Kolya clarifies that the dead First Lord is Ryszard Semyonovich - a name that confuses the older boy, but makes the girl very scared.
As Kolya leaves, the girl's caretaker, Megan, slips out of the park with her "niece," Jes, and wonders how, out of all the people on Terra, she'd run into that particular family. She worries that after evading assassins for years, all her efforts could be ruined by a chance encounter.
"Kat" - Kolya's mother - has watched the scene from afar, and noted Megan's panic as she approached the children. She wonders if Megan could represent another potential contact for the underground cell she's establishing. With the other children gone, she collects Kolya and takes him for ice cream and they return home, checking their backtrail for pursuit.
In their apartment, she decides it's time to tell Kolya the truth - that his real name is not Kolya (the name she's used for him all his life), but is actually Nicholas Kerensky, and that he, like his father, is destined for greatness, once Aleksandr returns at the head of the Star League Defense Force.
Notes: So, here we begin to see the origins of Nicholas' father issues. Raised to keep secrets and await the day his great hero father would arrive, only to be sorely let down by Aleksandr's unwillingness to fight further to keep the Star League together. Starting early, the habit of secrecy and manipulation will become a core part of his character.
Jes, of course, first seen in Liberation of Terra II, is the illegitimate daughter of Richard Cameron, allegedly with one of his sisters, sent to be raised in secret because of the scandal. As a blood heir of Richard Cameron, she'd of course be hunted by assassins, since Amaris was determined to exterminate the entire family line. While Megan never joined Katyusha's rebel cell (describing Kat as "crazy" in Liberation of Terra II), Jes and Nicholas will become the closest of friends during their time in occupied Moscow.
Andery is, at this point, not let in on the secret, and was left with a babysitter during their excursion. That leaves the weight of the kept secrets on Nicholas' shoulders alone.
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Date: November 12, 2772
Location: Zebebelgenubi (LC/TH)
Title: Conflicts of Interest
Author: Joel Steverson
Type: Short Story (Eridani Light Horse Chronicles)
Synopsis: After five years of vicious fighting, the battered Eridani Light Horse musters on Zebebelgenubi as part of the SLDF's efforts to liberate the Hegemony from Stefan Amaris. Major Astric Karlsson marvels at Captain Calhoun's ability to have scrounged up dress uniforms for the honor guard as the Rim Worlds Republic flag is lowered amidst the ruins of Ulsop Robotics' Ultracom training complex - where SDS operators were trained.
ELH CO Colonel Ezra Bradley gives a lecture about duty, noting the values spread through the Hegemony's Modern Chivalrist movement, and the betrayal of Amaris the Usurper. He cites the dedication of the Ultracom staff who gave their lives to halt the Republic's efforts to use the facility to train RWR personnel to operate the SDS systems, and notes that the Rim Worlders responded by turning the ruins into a death camp. He describes the Rim Worlders' acts as having desecrated the world, but says that the population's perseverance has brought them through six years of tyranny to freedom. At Bradley's signal, the RWR flag is lowered and burned, and the Star League flag is raised once more.
While watiing for a shuttle back to the ELH field HQ, Astrid and Captain Maeve Ramirez (CO of Maeve's High Flyers rapid scout company) commiserate over the destruction of the ELH's 19th Striker Regiment, which had been wiped out by the RWR garrison during a raid against Talitha, costing Astrid her nephew. Astrid offers advice on dealing with emotional trauma - Maeve's unit had been the one to liberate the death camp.'
Colonel Bradley joins them at the shuttle pad, and advises Maeve that hating the Rim Worlders isn't the solution. He admits that the Amaris Dragoons are monsters, but says the average RWR soldier isn't too different than most, with up to 1/3 of their forces consisting of conscripts. He recommends Maeve form a support group to help herself and her peers to get through the long and difficult road ahead.
Notes: The opening epigraph identifies Zebebelgenubi as being part of the Lyran Commonwealth's Federation of Skye. However, per Historical Liberation of Terra I and II, prior to the Amaris coup, Zebebelgenubi was a jointly owned planet, and wouldn't be formally annexed by the Commonwealth until years later (2783). The fact that the Star League flag is raised instead of the Lyran one strongly suggests the Lyran-only epigraph is...premature. Especially since none of the Great Houses, Steiner included, provided direct materiel or logistical support to the SLDF, so there wouldn't be any Lyran administrators on hand to oversee the world's rehabilitation under the Isle of Skye's aegis.
Zebebelgenubi was a tough nut to crack. Per Liberation of Terra I, it had two Castles Brian, but lacked an SDS (strange for the main training center for SDS operators to not have one they could train with...). Despite the sabotage efforts, the facility trained several thousand RWR officers in SDS operation, and were able to bring all the Hegemony's SDS systems fully on line, so the partisans' sacrifice didn't really make that much of an impact.
Per LoTI, Bradley is correct - there are lots of conscripts in the RWR military - tens of thousands of unwilling HAF citizens pressed into service as infantry, overseen by loyal officers.
Zebebelgenubi was hit by the 15th Army Group's 11th Army. While the ELH is normally assigned to the XI Corps, which was in a completely different army group, this is explained by a line of dialogue that the 71st ELH Regiment had been temporarily transferred from the XI to the 11th Army's V Corps for the assault. The free-floating nature of the ELH allows them to be active outside their standard slot in the SLDF TO&E. With the full V and XLIX Corps hitting the world, the RWR forces were overwhelmed, despite the protection afforded by the Castles Brian.
The stress of not only the battle for Zebebelgenubi and witnessing Rim Worlder atrocities, but also the years of fighting to conquer the Rim Worlds Republic is reflected in the tattered state of both the uniforms and their mental fortitude. Interestingly, the ELH's V Corps wasn't involved in any of the Periphery Uprising campaigns - their first action would have been in 2767, when Kerensky sent Army Group Fourteen (including the ELH's 11th Army) against the Rim Worlds. Due to the gross mismatch in troop strengths (789 SLDF BattleMech regiments, 882 SLDF conventional regiments vs. 15 RWR BattleMech regiments and 36 RWR conventional regiments), there wasn't much fighting, as the truly hard-core troops had gone to Terra with Amaris. So, the hard fighting and mental wear/tear must be almost entirely from Zebebelgenubi and witnessing the death camps, though the death of the 19th Striker suggests that the ELH may have spent the years following the fall of the RWR raiding into the occupied Terran Hegemony to gather intel and support resistance groups, and that would more fully account for the stress and wear that's shown here.
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Truly a brutal war. I hope more stories are done or novella about aspects of it come out for it.
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Date: November 14, 2772
Location: Van Diemen IV (TH)
Title: Conflicts of Interest
Author: Joel Steverson
Type: Short Story (Eridani Light Horse Chronicles)
Synopsis: Aboard the SLS McKenna's Pride at the Van Diemen system's zenith jump point, SLDF Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky records a congratulatory message for Colonel Bradley, then issues orders to rejoin the 21st Striker and 151st Light Horse to support SLDF troops against the Amaris Dragoons on Lyons.
Notes: It's interesting that the epigraph notes Kerensky to be at the Zenith Jump Point for "Van Diemen IV." The ComStar Cartography Corps' naming conventions vary wildly from system to system. Some include the number of the primary settlement in the starmap designation - "Hesperus II" and "Van Diemen IV" being ready examples. The question is, in this case, is the "IV" appropriate? Or should Kerensky have just been at the "Van Diemen Zenith Jump Point," since the relative position of the main colony is irrelevant to the McKenna's Pride?
Historical: Liberation of Terra shows Lyons being hit by the 16th Army, under the 20th Army Group. The 25th Amaris Dragoons and supporting Patriot battalions anchored their defense on the world's Castle Brian and liberally deployed biological and chemical weapons. The siege of the Castle took two months before the last of the Amaris holdouts were cleared from its tunnels. The Patriot forces were supplemented by thousands of conscripts, forced to man turrets and barricades under threat of having their family members tortured if they refused. As a result, the SLDF forces tried to use non-lethal weaponry against the Patriot forces whenever possible.
The rapid transfer of the ELH around the active theater as a fire brigade shows. After helping mop up on Lyons, they get transferred all the way across the Hegemony to support the besieged CAAN regiment at the Quantico fortress on Carver V, which has been holding out since the coup. If they were ragged and exhausted after Operation Intruder (recon raids that preceded Operation Chieftain), imagine how shredded they'll be by the end of Chieftain.
The note on use of non-lethal rounds leads me to wonder - what did the SLDF have on that score circa 2772? Are/were there 'Mech-scale sonic stunners? Or mostly just gas-warheads for LRMs, SRMs and artillery shells? Rubber bullets for machine guns? The reckless abandon the Dragoons showed in deploying chem/bio attacks suggests they had plentiful stocks of environmental suits, so sleeping-gas strikes would be unlikely to have much effect, unless the Patriot brigades were underequipped and lacked protective gear.
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Date: July 15, 2773
Location: Carver V (TH)
Title: Conflicts of Interest
Author: Joel Steverson
Type: Short Story (Eridani Light Horse Chronicles)
Synopsis: Astrid and Maeve engage Rim Worlders on Austera Island in Carver V's Sarmentosa Archipelago, along with the rest of the 16th Recon Battalion, while the rest of the ELH continued on to Imbros III with the 16th Army. The 16th Recon is supporting General Saul van der Kolk's Cavalry, Armor, Aerospace and Naval (CAAN) regiments, operating out of the Quantico Marine Fortification, keeping Amaris' Republican Guards from fully conquering the planet, despite a six year struggle.
A Rim Worlder ambush places the irreplaceable LAMs of Maeve's lance under threat, so Astrid orders her unit to withdraw, much to Maeve's displeasure. Astrid reminds her subordinate that the LAMs will be of far more utility providing recon data than blowing up Rimmers. Astrid also notes that seeing the big picture and obeying orders are part of being a good commander.
Notes: The action in this scene provided a rare glimpse at long vanished technologies, by modern standards, with Firebees, Phoenix Hawk LAMs, Jackrabbits, and Demons dominating the field.
Historical: Liberation of Terra I notes that the ELH began launching raids on Carver V by the end of March 2773, in support of the CAAN forces, keeping them intact in the face of strong Amaris reinforcements through '73 and '74. According to the table on p. 81, Carver V had neither a Castle Brian (the Quantico Marine Fortification did not qualify as such) nor a Space Defense System. That means that the SLDF fleet would have been able to enter the system and escort the ELH to orbit without the risk of the transports being smashed by Rimmer aerospace or WarShip elements. (The Rim Worlders lost most, if not all, of their aerospace assets during their failed attempt to take Quantico out with nuclear strikes at the outset of the coup.)
The statement "With such a heavy naval presence, though, Kerensky's forces held on with few problems, further staging additional raids deep into the heart of the Hegemony core" suggests that the SLDF had more or less full control of the Carver system, and was able to use it as a staging point for further raids even while the Rim Worlders remained in control of the capital city of Korce and other portions of the planet. One wonders, then, why the SLDF didn't move its ships into high orbit and begin pounding Rimmer positions with orbital bombardment to further support the CAAN troops. (Perhaps they did - that might explain why the ambushing RWR troops are shown coming out of hidden tunnels to attack.)
However, the concerns about a lack of spare parts for the LAMs suggests that, at least circa mid-3073, there was no such overwhelming SLDF naval presence in the Carver system. (Or that the SLDF, in general, was already running out of LAM parts, no matter how secure their supply lines were.)
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The statement "With such a heavy naval presence, though, Kerensky's forces held on with few problems, further staging additional raids deep into the heart of the Hegemony core" suggests that the SLDF had more or less full control of the Carver system, and was able to use it as a staging point for further raids even while the Rim Worlders remained in control of the capital city of Korce and other portions of the planet. One wonders, then, why the SLDF didn't move its ships into high orbit and begin pounding Rimmer positions with orbital bombardment to further support the CAAN troops. (Perhaps they did - that might explain why the ambushing RWR troops are shown coming out of hidden tunnels to attack.)
Well, if they control the population centers there is a very easy method to make someone trying to liberate an area hold their hand from the usage of ortillery.
Move your troops into said population center.