BattleTech FanFiction Tribble Emporium 3: It's a Trilogy!

[Daryk]

I described clanner rations as a "pasty concoction"... I envision the glop they portrayed in the Matrix... ;D

[Dave Talley]

#973 

Imagine the morning of Gray Monday.  Imagine in an office an order is given, and it's carried out.  Covert teams are deployed for the physical attacks right on time, and CLARION is activated..

and nothing happens.

The Theoretical model it was based off of was wrong, Hyperspace fails to propogate the kill signal, or maybe centuries of shoddy maintenance meant the built in kill switches failed to activate, or failed to do their jobs. 

What does Comstar do now? The Republic? the people behind it?  Everyone ELSE??

Worst part is the software destroys all of Terras HPGs

[Tyler Jorgensson]

#977 (or 975 Part Two)

The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…


(A joke on Demolition Man of course)

[Vehrec]

#977 (or 975 Part Two)

The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…


(A joke on Demolition Man of course)

Tako?

...WAH!  WAH!  WAH!

[Sir Chaos]

#977 (or 975 Part Two)

The year being 3151. The Homeworlds have been wracked by civil war and in the ensuring aftermath new Clans have emerged. Clan Triple F Burger leads the other Clans due to their huge economic power backed by their Touman strengthened by nearly a hundred years of massive wealth unseen in the Kerensky Cluster. But an emerging Clan Tako Bell seeks to make a power play…


(A joke on Demolition Man of course)

And here I was, thinking the showdown would be between Burger Khan and Kerensky Fried Chicken...

[Tyler Jorgensson]

And here I was, thinking the showdown would be between Burger Khan and Kerensky Fried Chicken...

Probably two of the other newly created Clans along with Clan McKerensky, Jade Falcon Wild Wings, and a dozen others. Rumors of Ghost Clans popping up are actually just undercover Clan forces augmented with Dark Caste operatives to form fronts to sell the same items under different aegis’s.

[SulliMike23]

Tako?

...WAH!  WAH!  WAH!

Ohhhh...a man of culture I see!

[Vehrec]

Ohhhh...a man of culture I see!

Of course, a man of culture would never utter the fourth Wah.  It is forbidden.

#978

When the Word of Blake fell, there were a few loose ends left on earth.  You know how it is, giant submarines, rogue LAMs, these things fall through the cracks.

One branch of the MD that fell through the cracks had hit upon an inspired way to recruit members.  For you see, some special operations personell were already disturbed by, and disconnected from the flesh they had been born with.  And even among the Word of Blake Militia, most operators were men, at least by birth.  So the final division of the Manei Domini, the 'Special Infected', were composed almost entirely of trans-women.  They could iron out the slight discomfort of transhumanism with the joy and delight of finally having a body that matched their internal gender identity.  And it stabilized the Special Infected, these last tranche of the Manei Domini so well, that 70+ years later, the veterans of the Long War still lurk on Terra, stirring up trouble and causing the occasional ruckus.  But their hearts were never really in it- at least, not until the clans came calling.  Roused from their torpor, the last undead of the inner sphere break open their weapon caches-and prepare a few hidden laboratories to roll out the new upgrades they've developed.  Because it turns out, when 90% of you is machine, you're still every bit as capable of ripping an elemental apart with your bare hands as you were when you were 20.  Oh, moreso in fact.  20 year old you didn't have TSM, and didn't have 80 years of combat experience under her belt.

[SulliMike23]

Of course, a man of culture would never utter the fourth Wah.  It is forbidden.

I should hope not my friend. BAU BAU!

[vianca]

#979
A ship lands on some pherisphere world, not knowing they had had a FTL misjump.
The plant life is quite alien and their powercore was already damaged, before the crash.
The head pilot is named Buzz Lightyear.
We're now about 120 years later (the Lightyear movie has happend) and Star Command is ready to storm the Galaxy.

I'm sure you lot can think up some interesting angles, locations and time periods.

[Cannonshop]

#980

The volunteers had, predictably, failed to make up for the blundering of the Republic military.  But we knew they would, just like we could read the signs and count the hulls of what came to the Sol system.

The Volunteers did their REAL mission flawlessly.  Nobody was looking at the outer system past titan, and outside of Titan, nobody bothered to look for months.

The last time an evacuation on this scale happened, they had to try to sneak past the SDS that Stone never rebuilt.  That was at the end of Richard's reign.

We had time to do it in an orderly fashion tis time though.  Stations, Habitats and burrows that couldn't be mated to a jumpship were cleared out and pressed down to hard vacuum.

Ganymede emptied right under their noses.

Getting past the mess that was The Wall would take time, but we've got time to take, the focus of the Wolves and their idea that they fought our best? helped there.  For the fence-sitters, the Wolves carrying out strikes on civilians for 'resisting' proved convincing-as bad as Bureau of Terran Affairs had been, the Clans would be worse, they had to be, their mandate demands it.

so we continued to evacuate while this 'ilClan' consolidated on the planets.  By the time they realized what we were doing, we were almost done doing it...

[Euphonium]

#980

Ooh, I'd like to read more of that one!

[Daryk]

Indeed!  That sounds awesome! :)

[ckosacranoid]

   #981

The cappys did something that the entire IS and even the clans would hate them over anything horror of war that was ever done to worlds.  The nukes and chem, and anything like that that could kill worlds would pale in the current horror that unleashed on everyone.

They unleashed the horror of self animated sock puppets that showed up every where and would insult everyone and then some how take over in the name of their house....this was how the nappies and up ruling everything by the turn of the century. The word of black was nothing and even stoner would fall to the sock puppet masters.

Someone made a comment about the nappies unleashing sock puppets on everyone....I had to run with it.

[Giovanni Blasini]

#968
Bug Mechs AU

So, we know that the first and second Succession Wars basically devastated the galaxy, destroying a lot of things- especially military production. Many mech factories were destroyed.

Yet, somehow, it seems that every single nation- somehow- was able to maintain production of the Wasp, the Stinger, and the Locust. Every one of them, from the Lyran Commonwealth to the Outworlds Alliance.

Which is a little odd.

So, AU idea: The Three Bugmechs were never intended to be Battlemechs. They were origionally Industrialmechs.

The Wasp and the Singer were originally cheap, multipurpose Industrialmechs. With hands they could pick up and move cargo. An optional Jump Jet attachment point allowed for rural construction projects.

The Locust was designed for rural operations. The shoulder and belly attachment points allowed for things like cranes to be attached, while the higher rated engine allowed for a Locust to become a highly portable powerplant for villages and towns suffering from a power cut.

After the Second Succession War, with the devistation to the military industries of the Inner Sphere, the successor states converted their industrialmech factories into Battlemech factories, arming the bug mechs and armoring them for combat.

OK, so the Wasp, Stinger and Locust are starting as IndustrialMechs, and now the factories are converting over.  I'm taking it they were unarmed entirely when they were IndustrialMechs?

I ask because I'm gonna start working up the designs for these.

[Atlan]

OK, so the Wasp, Stinger and Locust are starting as IndustrialMechs, and now the factories are converting over.  I'm taking it they were unarmed entirely when they were IndustrialMechs?

I ask because I'm gonna start working up the designs for these.

Yup!
I'm assuming that, since the Star League was richer than the eras that followed, they could invest in Fusion Engines and standard (battlemech quality) internal structure, to give durability. So a Industrialmech-Wasp was literally a standard L1 Wasp, with no weapons or Jump Jets (except in some rural models), with industrial armor.

Then, later, they were converted into Battlemechs by mounting a few weapons and replacing the armor, and updating the software.

Note: I'm also assuming that the Industrial-Bugmechs were semi-modular. They designed one single base model, and then it was equiped as needed on the factory floor.
So, for example, there were Wasp models such as a Logger version with a chainsaw, a Mining version with a drill and a small laser for making holes for explosives, a version with Jump Jets for getting around in the wilds.

Basically, Industrial-Bugmechs were heavy-duty, adaptable, industrial vehicles, used by everyone. They were basically the trucks, tractors, and cherry pickers of the Star League.

Which means that from a pre-Amaris Crisis POV, a Wasp-1A is basically a Technical, a future-version of a pickup truck with a gun bolted on to the back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(vehicle)

[Giovanni Blasini]

Yup!
I'm assuming that, since the Star League was richer than the eras that followed, they could invest in Fusion Engines and standard (battlemech quality) internal structure, to give durability. So a Industrialmech-Wasp was literally a standard L1 Wasp, with no weapons or Jump Jets (except in some rural models), with industrial armor.

Then, later, they were converted into Battlemechs by mounting a few weapons and replacing the armor, and updating the software.

Note: I'm also assuming that the Industrial-Bugmechs were semi-modular. They designed one single base model, and then it was equiped as needed on the factory floor.
So, for example, there were Wasp models such as a Logger version with a chainsaw, a Mining version with a drill and a small laser for making holes for explosives, a version with Jump Jets for getting around in the wilds.

Basically, Industrial-Bugmechs were heavy-duty, adaptable, industrial vehicles, used by everyone. They were basically the trucks, tractors, and cherry pickers of the Star League.

Which means that from a pre-Amaris Crisis POV, a Wasp-1A is basically a Technical, a future-version of a pickup truck with a gun bolted on to the back.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_(vehicle)

OK, I've kicked off a design thread for this Tribble, which can be found here:

https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=84345.0

[Daryk]

I like the idea behind the "bones of a BattleMech" here! :)

[Giovanni Blasini]

I like the idea behind the "bones of a BattleMech" here! :)

That does prohibit use of some industrial equipment, as well as commercial armor, though.

[Daryk]

Does it prohibit Industrial Armor though?  I thought not... ???

[Giovanni Blasini]

Does it prohibit Industrial Armor though?  I thought not... ???

Industrial armor is notably worse than standard armor, which is also equivalent to "heavy industrial armor".  Given how thin-skinned these are already, giving them fewer armor points seems...unwise?

[Daryk]

Commercial armor has lower BAR, so I'm not sure "worse" really applies... ;)

[Giovanni Blasini]

Commercial armor has lower BAR, so I'm not sure "worse" really applies... ;)

For 'Mechs that max out at 69 points anyway, I'd rather pay 2.875 - 3.0 tons for that armor than pay 6.47 - 6.5 tons for that armor protection, even if it's BAR 5.

[Daryk]

Fair point... I haven't yet done the math to find the inflection in that curve... ;)

[Cannonshop]

#982... (How many things had to go wrong for this to happen?)

Victoria stared through the holotank at a man in jade green.  For probably the thousandth time, she regretted insisting on a military service instead of taking the political science classes her mother had urged her to take.

"Let me see if I have this fully understood, You're claiming this world, a Lyran world, that was a Lyran world under the Star League...and you want me to tell you what I"m going to defend with?  is that right?"

"Aff".

"Okay, do you think I'm stupid, or, is it that you're an idiot?  see, one or both of us would have to be blindingly stupid to just give that kind of information to an enemy right before a battle, so why in the name of all that's considered holy would I tell you?  Hold that thought..." she turned to her aide, "Is Karl's unit in position?"

"yes Your Majesty."

"gut..." she turned to this 'Star Colonel'.  "Alright, you haven't answered my very simple question.  why should I, or anyone else with half a brain minimum, agree to play anything your way? are you uncertain of your technological superiority? because so far, it's pretty solidly ahead of us."

this surprised him.

"I will also point out, Star Colonel Malthus that you have a warship within seventy five thousand kilometers of the surface of this planet-there's only one reason to bring one of those that low, and that's to slag cities.  I'd ask you to remove it, but I don't think you will-the Dracs didn't, after all...but, in the interest of NOT having to pay for cleanup, I'll admit, we've got ten battalions of Peacekeeper antishipping missiles tracking your warship, and they're nuclear tipped, so if you want to send your ship away and play like this is civil, I'm all for it.  How many Divisions did you bring?"

"DIvisions?"

"I'm sitting on a Corps level force, how many SLDF divisions did you bring to contest for this site?" she asked, "YOu didn't think we'd keep holding back once I got Tommy Marik and the Cappies to lay off and let us reinforce, did you??"

"We can bid down-"

"NO.  I'm not interested in giving you the easy fight you can get from limiting what I can defend with, especially given the gross technological gap between us, and you.  That would be IDIOTIC.  I'll defend this world with everything we have here, and I've already ordered forces to mobilize for when, not if, you manage to squeak out a win, I command a nation of TRILLIONS, and if we have to, we can send more soldiers than you have bullets...or, you can tell me why you're really here, and we can discuss things like adults, because it's cheaper than mass-printing 'the Federated Commonwealth regrets to inform you' letters."

She hoped she wasn't giving any tells-she didn't have a corps, she didn't have the nuclear arsenal.

but they didn't need to know that.

"We are here to restore the Star League, we are here to take Terra and bring an end to-"

"Wait, you're here to restore the Star League?" she scoffed, "WHY IN HELL DIDN"T YOU SAY SO FROM THE START?? What do you need? safe passage to Terra? maybe some logistical support? are you really expecting to take it with the tiny vanguard forces you brought??"

this surprised a 'whtat?" from the Clanner.

"You should have led off with that.  My parents are trying to restore the Star League, hell, Tommy Marik, he wants to restore it, the Kuritas insist they're the rightfuil heirs to it, so do the Liaos in the CapCon, but we're the ones who at least got two states together as one without a civil war.  What's your plan?  How many Corps level assets and how many fleets are you bringing back with you to actually make this happen? because you KNOW you're going to have to occupy..."  She folded her hands, "Let's talk a new deal here, instead of hinging on a bet over an honor duel, let's talk the logistics, if your plan is good enough, we might be more inclined to support it.  Three hundred years of blindsided slaughter ended for good? getting hte Star League back?  sign me up-if the plan isn't stupid and wasteful posturing."

The Clanner was visibly shocked...and confused. 

the Eldest child of Melissa and Hanse Davion could feel the dice rolling as her gambit formed into an actual strategy.  (make them talk, make them listen to their own words...)

Her boyfriend Kai had shown her a book once, where the author's final conclusion was that true sophistication in strategy did not consist of winning battles, but instead, of achieving victory without having to fight.

A little longer, blowhard, talk more, Karl's not ready to stomp on you yet...

[monbvol]

Hehe.

#983

Hakkon Magnussan had enough of watching his nation being gobbled up by these new invaders.

"Send word.  We surrender."  Hakkon said solemly.

"You can't be serious."  Christian Mansdotter was in complete shock.

"Deadly.  I know what our people will mark me as.  But Christian, tell them.  Wait six months.  Let these invaders get complacent.  It is bloody obvious we are not their end goal.  So once they start moving on to it?  Let them.  Once their main forces are past our realm, that is when we start fighting for real."

[Cannonshop]

982 and 983 could almost happen in the same continuum.

[paulobrito]

982 and 983 could almost happen in the same continuum.

True.
And I love to see an expanded 982. Or, at minimum, a clan view of that one.

[Daryk]

The timing's a little off, but I think it could be made to work, yeah! :)

[drakensis]

#984

In 3009, Ian Davion is asked by the foreign ministry to balance his increasing diplomatic activity in Lyran space by throwing the Mariks something to support the traditional good relations there. (Michael Hasek-Davion wanted pressure kept on the Capellans from that direction). Ian responds by sending his brother as military attache, to show willing.

On Atreus, Hanse Davion (miffed at being yanked out of the 3rd Davion Guards) meets a young woman who is frustrated at her father's matchmaking and they hit it off. Neither is aware until they meet at a formal reception weeks later that Hanse is a Davion prince... or that the young lady is Janos Marik's daughter Therese. While Janos isn't happy about his existing plans being scrapped, the whirlwind romance is massively popular and seen as a move towards co-operating against the Capellans.

In mid-3013, Hanse and Therese marry on Terra and while the happy couple set off for their honeymoon on Marik, Ian heads back to begin preparations for the attack on Halstead Station only to divert to lead the defense of Mallory's World and we all know how this goes.

As 3014 dawns, Hanse and Therese are trying to get back to New Avalon with Michael Hasek-Davion trying to push his own claim (pointing out that Hanse's children will be half-Marik), only slightly hampered by his own death. House Sandoval are more or less neutral, concerned that both Hanse and Michael will favor fighting the Capellans. When an assassin misses Hanse but wounds Therese, the angry prince outright accuses Michael of being behind it and civil war breaks out with the Crucis March and Capellan March splitting between the rivals.

Meanwhile, Anton Marik announces his own bid to be Captain-General and the Marik Civil War breaks out. Maximilian Liao is audibly sniggering about this but he has actually overreached. An attempt to retake New Aragon leads to Hanse Davion leading a counter-attack that re-secures the world and gives him credibility with wavering worlds of the Capellan March, followed by him announcing the birth of he and Therese's son Peter Marik-Davion - rather pointedly named for his grandfather who was murdered by the warrior cabal.

Riding a tide of popularity and military success, Hanse manages to drive Michael Hasek-Davion into a corner and in early 3016 Hanse takes New Syrtis, with Hasek-Davion fleeing into exile. Marie Hasek-Davion and their son Morgan do not accompany him, although they're formally disinherited and another branch of House Hasek is granted rule of New Syrtis.

Meanwhile, Anton has been fed a few more Capellan supplies than he might have if the Chancellor was worried about the Federated Suns (which may have contributed to the Capellan defeat on New Aragon) and while he isn't winning, he's also not losing yet. Michael Hasek-Davion has turned up leading what's left of the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers to reinforce him, hoping to use a victorious Anton as a backer to come back against Hanse.

At this point, Hanse contacts his father-in-law. They've already been sharing data on each other's rival and now Hanse has cause to offer further support. While he himself has to remain on New Avalon, patching up the government, Hanse's good right hand Ardan Sortek will lead three RCTs across the Capellan Confederation to strike at Anton's rear. Under this pressure, Anton cracks and gives some unwise orders to the Wolf Dragoons... orders backed by hostages and, well, we know this song and dance.

So: Anton is dead. Michael Hasek-Davion is on the run (again). Janos Marik and Hanse Davion are cleaning house and talking darkly about the Capellans. Katrina Steiner is concerned that any possible alliance with House Davion is unlikely since they're now clearly partial to the FWL...

Oh, and Takashi Kurita has acquired a lovely little library from Halstead Station. Everyone seems to have forgotten about that...