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BattleTech Player Boards => Novel and Sourcebook Reviews => Topic started by: Mendrugo on 21 October 2016, 15:56:40
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Date: May 17, 3025
Title: DropShips and JumpShips
Author: Clare W. Hess; Art by Steve Venters (cover) and Dana Knutson (ship design and illustration)
Type: Sourcebook (FASA)
Synopsis:
Escape Pod: A five ton, six-passenger craft capable of limited maneuvering, the “standard” escape pod model for the Inner Sphere was introduced in 2647. Life support can support the passengers for 20 days, though the onboard rations will be exhausted in twelve. It is capable of atmospheric entry and landing via a parachute, though it lacks landing gear. Some space stations have adapted spare pods to serve as passenger shuttles by adding a flight window.
Life Boat: Introduced midway through the Age of War (2476), the life boat is three times the length of the later escape pod, but lacks a propulsion system. It is intended to be picked up in space by friendly ships, with enough supplies to support six passengers for sixteen days, and life support sufficient for 24 days. It has effectively unlimited power, thanks to a small solar sail that doubles as a distress flag, making the tiny craft easier for rescue ships to locate.
ST-46 Class Shuttle: The ST-46 shuttle, introduced in 2528, can carry 9 passengers and 74 tons of cargo, and is a “Common” sight aboard stations, JumpShips, and transports. As an aerodyne, it is well suited to entering planetary atmospheres, but must have a prepared landing strip, because its landing gear is not sufficiently rugged for rough terrain touchdowns.
S-7A Class Bus: Introduced in 2602, the S-7A Bus is used exclusively for space operations (being unsuited for atmospheric entry), and is a “Common” sight at space stations and aboard JumpShips and DropShips. It can carry 10 passengers and 84 tons of cargo in underslung cargo bays that can be detached in an emergency, though this halves the ship’s structural integrity.
Mark VII Landing Craft: Introduced in 2841, the Mark VII Landing Craft has a frequency rating of “Rare,” being mass produced only in the Capellan Confederation, with smaller numbers made by the Lyrans and the Combine. Unlike the civilian ST-46 Shuttle, the Mark VII is designed for deployment of its cargo into combat, and can carry up to 65 tons of vehicles and equipment. It mounts a small arsenal to protect itself and its cargo, and the Capellans have modified some to be pure combat vessels, with a larger engine, more fuel, better guns, and no cargo bays.
KR-61 Class Long Range Shuttle: The KR-61, introduced in 2598, is an Uncommon sight in the Inner Sphere. It is designed to transport very limited amounts of goods and passengers from planetary bodies to distant jump points. Many shuttles fill this role – the KR-61 is just one example of this class. Much of its weight is consumed by the fuel necessary to make this long haul journey.
K-1 Class DropShuttle: Introduced in 2536, the K-1 is more frequently used than the KR-61, due to its greater cargo and passenger capacity. It can even dock with a JumpShip’s docking collar and hitch a ride to another system, rather than parking inside a small-craft bay. The DropShuttle can carry 55 tons of cargo and six passengers.
Notes:
Escape Pod: Escape pods were, of course, made an iconic part of space opera by the opening scene of 1977’s Star Wars. To my knowledge, they haven’t ever been featured in BattleTech fiction. Misjumps tend to be terminal events, and the one in Far Country resulted in the launch of all the ship’s Vulture-class DropShips, rather than escape pods. (The accidental transit to the Kaetetôã system aboard a Leviathan predated the introduction of escape pods, in any event.)
I like the idea of seedy, falling-apart recharge stations using retooled escape pods for barely-controllable seat-of-the-pants shuttles…Mad Max in SPAAAAAACE for real!
Despite being 1/3 the size of the life boat, it has the same mass. I guess the engine makes the difference, since the boat is just designed to drift. However, it has the same passenger capacity as the much larger lifeboat…and the lifeboat is described as “very cramped.”
Life Boat: As I noted above, the difference between the life boat and the escape pod clearly demonstrates the advances made by the Star League. Despite the design’s inferiority, it’s still a “Common” sight in the Inner Sphere in 3025. I would presume that the sidebar narrated by an AFFS gunner captured by the Taurian Defense Force at Tentativa featured his exit from his crippled WarShip aboard a life boat, which would have been all that was available during the Reunification War. The fact that he couldn’t maneuver – just drift and watch the rest of his fleet get ripped apart – explains why he was caught rather than trying to maneuver to a friendly ship and hope to escape.
This raises an interesting question – in the 3025 era, what sort of resources do the bare-bones navies of the Successor States have for policing up a vast area of space after a battle? In “The Sword and the Dagger,” the Capellan pilots who survive their fighters being disabled remain confident that they’ll be picked up by rescue ships afterwards, and their expectations seem to be borne out. Are DropShips typically assigned to search and rescue missions, or do they dispatch small craft with tow cables to cover a larger area (a key consideration if the various bits of high velocity debris are on ballistic trajectories away from the conflict zone and possibly towards a hostile gravity well)?
There are numerous examples of entire WarShip hulls being lost after a battle because no salvage crews arrived before it drifted off into deep space, crashed into something solid, or settled into a stable orbit out around uninhabited worlds.
ST-46 Class Shuttle: It’s unclear from either the description or the illustration whether the ST-46 can carry a vehicle, or if it’s limited to shipping containers. The side view doesn’t seem to support the idea that you could load a 70 ton tank onto this thing (though we know that the Capellans apparently do have small craft that can carry tanks).
An interesting design element is that the cargo bay is completely inaccessible from the cockpit and passenger compartment. This seems designed to thwart hijacking attempts, or to allow sadistic GMs to force players to spacewalk outside during an enemy attack to recover parts vital for fixing the ship.
S-7A Class Bus: It seems clear that the authors of DropShips and JumpShips wanted to give players and GMs sufficient different ship designs to fully populate jump points and orbital space. With all of these small craft having “Common” designators, I can imagine that major trading ports are swarming with these workhorse cargo shuttles – unloading Behemoths, hauling cargoes back and forth to stations and ships, moving almost in schools.
I see numerous possibilities for ships like this to be misused by commando teams attempting to infiltrate an enemy station. Unfortunately, with the exception of the Loren Coleman’s Capellan Solution books, scenes featuring takeovers of orbital stations have been rare, and that instance was more ‘shock and awe’ than subterfuge.
Mark VII Landing Craft: The Mark VII is yet another example that technological development did continue during the Succession Wars, with the Capellans launching this vessel a decade into the Second Succession War.
I misspoke in the Vengeance entry when I said we hadn’t seen any of the kind of transports described as being used to carry Capellan tanks from orbit down to the planet. Clearly, the author was thinking of the Mark VII, which means that a Capellan “Hard Rain” assault would max out at 65-ton vehicles. This means that the Manticore is about as heavy as the attack force is going to get, since the 75-ton Brutus and the 80-ton Schrek and Demolisher are too heavy. Having a battalion of tanks rain down in individual ships may make for a bad day for the planetary defenders, but the fact that it’s probably a battalion of Vedettes or Scorpions mitigates that threat, somewhat.
The inability of the Capellan Mark VII to carry the Brutus may have contributed to that tank’s relegation to second line deployments, and to the development of the 60-ton Po (3031), which tucks nicely into the Mark VII’s hold.
KR-61 Class Long Range Shuttle: The rarity of this design is most likely due to its wretched economies of scale. If you’re going to spend two weeks burning from planet to jump point (or vice versa), why not take a larger vessel that can haul a significant amount of passengers and/or cargo? Ships like this would seem to be relegated to being the private ships of the fairly rich (the ultra-rich go in for Princess-class ships with the null-gee swimming pools), or covert insertion of special agents.
I suppose ComStar might use this class of vessel extensively for its couriers (since HPGs are pretty lousy for package delivery) when they’re carrying time sensitive, highly valuable items. As the entry states, it can also be used for ferrying goods to and from the jump point when only small quantities are involved, and when dispatching a whole DropShip would be wasteful. (Sending up special payloads, mission specialists, etc.)
In other words, me hearties, if ye see one of these here long-range pigeons, it’s a fair-weather bet that she be haulin’ highly remunerative booty or ransom-worthy personages of interest. Yarrrr…
K-1 Class DropShuttle: The author concurs with my assessment of the KR-61, noting the greater utility provided by having more capacity in a long-haul vehicle. I would expect this sort of design to also be very popular with couriers.
One question, though. Since it has a docking collar, can it be put onto a JumpShip’s “small craft” bay, or will the docking collar equipment screw up the K-F drive?
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The docking collar on a K-1 is not a KF drive coil. Only jump drive coils or large amounts of refined/pure germanium affect nearby KF fields. DropShip collars (or the fluffy one on the K-1) don't.
As for long-range shuttles such as the KR-61, they're useful for patrol sweeps (see BC story Echoes in the Void (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Echoes_in_the_Void)), and possibly for those SAR operations for shot-up aerospace fighter jocks.
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Date: May 17, 3025
Title: DropShips and JumpShips
Author: Clare W. Hess; Art by Steve Venters (cover) and Dana Knutson (ship design and illustration)
Type: Sourcebook (FASA)
Synopsis: While there used to be a plethora of space stations in the Inner Sphere, they were major targets during the Succession Wars, and the ComStar report estimates that no more than 200 survived to 3025. It estimates that new stations are constructed at a rate of one every 2-3 years, just making up for combat losses.
Olympus: The Olympus is the largest station seen in the Inner Sphere, massing one million tons. It is usually found at the zenith or nadir jump points in a system, where it provides support and repair facilities for JumpShips and DropShips, and provides early warning to colonies in the system of any attack. It uses a massive solar sail to power its systems and charge its storage batteries. It can provide nearby JumpShips with quick-charges by transmitting power via microwaves to its jump sail, or via direct connection. Its sensors monitor for infrared radiation to detect inbound JumpShips. It carries 10,000 tons of liquid hydrogen fuel, which can be transferred to visiting ships either via direct connection or via shuttles. It can carry 159,200 tons of cargo, and perform maintenance on ships of up to 50,000 tons inside its dome, while a larger ship can drydock at its forward repair center. Its grav deck is 1,230 meters in diameter, and all crew accommodations, mess facilities, recreation rooms, travel agencies, shops, and businesses are located here. It has sufficient armor plating and weapons to discourage all but major invasion forces from attacking, and typically has a 6-fighter defense force, as well as a complement of six other small craft. Commandos often attempt to slip aboard ahead of an invasion to cripple the long range communications systems, preventing it from warning the planet of their attack.
Bastion: One of the few remaining stations designed for planetary defense, only one or two dozen remain in service at major worlds deep within the boundaries of each Successor State, whereas most major worlds had two during the Star League era. The ball shaped station has eight aerospace fighter launch bays, and it houses 36 fighters, four shuttles, and eight “assault craft.” The upper portion can accommodate smaller DropShips (width < 119 m, length < 151 m) in a pressurized drydock facility. All repair parts for the station can still be manufactured, but the central fusion power core has become LosTech. Its frequency rating is “Unique.”
Alliance: The Alliance is a repair station, designed to repair and construct DropShips and small craft in planetary orbit. It can accommodate up to two DropShips in the major repair facilities, and has another two berths for vessels needing minor repairs at the tail section. These valuable stations are prime targets for capture, and are at great risk for infiltration by commandos. It has eight small craft bays, which can accommodate shuttles, repair craft, and aerospace fighters. It is equipped with an arsenal to repel attackers, but is not a dedicated battle station. Its frequency rating is “Rare.”
Notes:
The sourcebook states flat out that there are no more than 200 space stations left in existence circa 3025. By my count (referencing the database I built for a comprehensive 3025-era campaign), various canon sources have listed 235 (listed below). No source lists the location of any Alliance-class stations, and Bastion-class stations are listed as only being on key “deep interior” worlds. (The Bastion featured in a Jihad-era engagement over Skye is noted to be “newly constructed.”) This list also omits the 18 “Snowden” class mobile mining stations in the Concordat, and the stations at off-map systems, like Dragon’s Field, Hamlin, Ral, and New Cleveland.
I would hazard to guess that the ComStar estimate of 200 isn’t “off by at least an order of magnitude,” but almost certainly is off by a hundred or more.
If the “Unique” Bastion = 12-24 (let’s say 20), and the “Uncommon” Olympus is around, let’s say, 300 (including those in the AFFS off-map express network), I would hazard that the “Rare” Alliance station clocks in at about 50-60 instances, with one being destroyed every 2-3 years, and a new one being built to replace it on that same timescale. Adding in the Snowdens and various other one-off stations here and there, and we’re looking at a total count around 400, roughly double ComStar’s estimate.
Olympus: Looking at the illustration, it would seem that the cargo bays and fighter bays are in the lower section, the 50,000-ton capacity repair yards are in the hollow section under the dome, the large repair yard is at the big door in the front, and the solar sail and batteries are at the tail. That leaves the dome as the location of the huge grav deck. (The stat bloc actually lists it as having two grav decks with a total tonnage of 1,000 tons). I would presume that the main grav deck rotates within the lower section of the dome, with the rotation machinery housed in the upper portion of the dome.
The entry notes that the Olympus is no longer being produced, so does that mean that the one made every 2-3 years to replace combat losses is a Bastion?
The description of the “quick charge” elsewhere in DS&JS suggests that the original FASA intent was for a “quick charge” to take about a day, greatly accelerating JumpShip travel times and making trade routes through systems with recharge stations “express routes” that had great strategic value. The current ruleset makes quick charging only marginally faster than using the solar sail, and the speed gain is mostly from not having to unfurl and retract the delicate sail mechanisms. This interpretation would make the Federated Suns’ chains of recharge stations in uncolonized outpost systems between major worlds a major asset for rapid redeployment of assets to achieve tactical surprise, without needing resource-intensive command circuits (essentially allowing them to reposition assets seven times faster than would be expected traveling one with the standard week-long solar recharges).
Bastion: If the fusion core for the Bastion is LosTech, nobody’s making new Bastions. And nobody’s making new Olympuses either. So, basically one Alliance gets built every 2-3 years?
The Bastion is listed as packing eight “assault craft,” but no “assault craft” are profiled in the rest of the book. The Mark VII landing craft (especially the Capellan “heavy fighter” modification) could fit the bill, as could the Aquarius and Lyonesse escort ships, as well as the later “Battle Taxi,” but I wonder what specific designs the author was thinking of when they wrote this? Were they suggesting that eight Assault DropShips (like the Avenger or the Achilles) could be parked inside the Bastion? (Unlikely, since they assign only 150 tons per bay in the stats bloc.)
Given the parameters (width < 119 m, length < 151 m), DropShips capable of fitting in the pressurized upper bay of the Bastion include the Fury, Gazelle, Condor, Leopard, Avenger, Achilles, Leopard CV, and Buccaneer. I would suppose, given the Bastion’s role, that an Avenger, Achilles, or Leopard CV would be the most common ship types to have tucked away up there.
No height limit is given, but I would suppose that the taller spheroids would be a no-go. Probably a max height of 50 meters if the circular bay is 160 meters across, based on the apparent height/width ratio of the upper dome in the illustration. This would rule out spheroids using this bay, at least when it is pressurized and closed. (The description says that any DropShip – presumably up to and including a Behemoth – can dock with the station, but only the smaller ones can fit inside the pressurizable bay.) Presumably when a larger DropShip docks, the “pop top” hatch remains open, exposing the docking bay to vacuum. Interestingly, the stats bloc lists two DropShip bays. Does the bottom open, too, or is the unpressurized bay large enough to accommodate two ships at once?
The plethora of small lasers on a design introduced in 2584 suggests that Capital Missiles were a major concern to the designers. Of course, the relatively anemic capital scale armor (12 points per facing) means these things would be popped like zits once they got ranged by naval PPCs, autocannon, or lasers. I presume during the First Succession war, standard operating procedure was for an attacked world’s two Bastions to launch their fighters and hope that 72 fighters, 16 assault ships, and 2-4 Assault DropShips would be a sufficient force to at least take out some of the enemy troop ships, making the fight easier for the troops on the ground. (That force composition is pretty much exactly what the “Nightriders” had when they attempted to defend Tikonov against the massive AFFS invasion in the 4th Succession War, suggesting that perhaps Tikonov had two Bastions at that point for the Nightriders to base out of.)
Alliance: Presumably, every firm that makes DropShips and every remaining shipyard has an Alliance in close proximity as part of the cluster of pressurized and unpressurized yards and orbital factories that make up the construction/maintenance site. I would presume that Alliances would also be present at any fleet base (the collections of military JumpShips loaded with fighter carriers and Assault DropShips). The FWL has 12 aerospace fleets under the LCCC’s aegis, so presumably they’d have 12 Alliances assigned to serve as dedicated support for those fleets.
A lot of the station profiles include descriptions of commando attacks, so presumably the author intended that game masters give their players missions of either being the commando team trying to take over/take out a strategic space station, or defending one against an enemy commando team. That being the case, I would have loved it if the book had included deck plans, like “Living Legends” did for the Aegis.
The station is described as being able to manufacture small DropShips, but are they full up factories (able to manufacture fusion engines, interplanetary drives, armor, life support, weapons, etc.), or just assembly shops where they fit together components delivered from factories elsewhere? I would guess the latter, since a big deal was made about the “mobile factories” deployed by the Combine in the latter stages of the Jihad.
Canon Recharge Stations:
Admiral Horusho Kensai Station (Delacruz)
Alarion Zenith
Albiero Nadir
Aldebaran Nadir, Zenith
Alexandria Zenith
Algedi Zenith
Algot Nadir, Zenith
Almach Zenith
Alpheratz Nadir
Altair Nadir, Zenith
Altoona Zenith
Alula Australis Nadir, Zenith
Alyina Zenith
Amity Nadir
Andurien Zenith
Angell II Nadir
Arboris Zenith
Arcturus Nadir, Zenith
Ares Zenith
Atreus Nadir, Zenith
Bad News Station
Barras Nadir, Zenith
Benjamin Nadir, Zenith
Betelgeuse Zenith
Bithinia Nadir
Bjarred Nadir
Blake's Truth Station (Luyten 68-28)
Blue Diamond Zenith
Bountiful Harvest Nadir
Brandenberg Station (Terra)
Brinton Zenith
Brisbane Nadir
Bryant Nadir
Buenos Aires Nadir
Caldrea Zenith
Calloway Nadir
Camlann Nadir
Canopus Nadir
Capella Nadir, Zenith
Carse Nadir, Zenith
Carver Zenith
Chahar Zenith
Chesterton Nadir, Zenith
Claybrooke Nadir
Coventry Nadir
Dante Nadir
Demeter Nadir
Dieron Nadir, Zenith
Donegal Nadir, Zenith
Dormandaine Nadir
Drozan Nadir, Zenith
Elgin Zenith
Epsilon Eridani Nadir, Zenith
Epsilon Indi Nadir, Zenith
Galax Zenith
Galedon Nadir, Zenith
Gallery Nadir, Zenith
Garrison Zenith
Gatchina Zenith
Gibson Zenith
Grand Base Zenith
Great X Nadir
Gronden Nadir, Zenith
Hachiman Zenith
Hall Zenith
Hardcore Zenith
Helen Zenith
Hephaestus Station (An Ting)
Herotitus Nadir
Hesperus Nadir, Zenith
Hoff Zenith
Hsien Zenith
Ingersoll Nadir
Irian Nadir, Zenith
Irurzun Nadir, Zenith
Ishtar Zenith
Jaipur Zenith
Kaifeng Zenith
Kathil Zenith
Kaznejov Nadir, Zenith
Keid Zenith
Kessel Nadir, Zenith
Kirchbach Zenith
Kittery Zenith
Kooken's Pleasure Pit Zenith
Lamon Zenith
Lesnovo Nadir
Lopez Nadir, Zenith
Lushann Nadir
Luthien Nadir, Zenith
Luxen Zenith
Malibu Nadir
Manteno Nadir
Marik Nadir, Zenith
Matar Zenith
Maxwell Zenith
Menke Zenith
Micanos Station
Mizar Nadir
Moritz Zenith
Mosiro Nadir
Murchison Nadir
Nanking Zenith
New Abilene Nadir
New Aragon Zenith
New Avalon Nadir, Zenith
New Delos Nadir, Zenith
New Ganymede Zenith
New Kyoto Zenith
New Olympia Zenith
New Rome Nadir
New Samarkand Nadir, Zenith
New Syrtis Zenith
New Vandenberg Zenith
Ningxia Zenith
Northwind Nadir, Zenith
Nova Roma Nadir, Zenith
Oliver Nadir, Zenith
Oriente Nadir, Zenith
Oshika Nadir, Zenith
Pesht Nadir, Zenith
Port Moseby Nadir, Zenith
Poulsbo Zenith
Principia Zenith
Procyon Zenith
Proserpina Nadir, Zenith
Qandahar Zenith
Quantraine Zenith
Radstadt Nadir
Rahne Nadir
Ramora Nadir
Rasalhague Nadir, Zenith
Regulus Nadir, Zenith
Robinson Nadir
Romita Zenith
Ross 248 Nadir
Ryde Zenith
Ryerson Nadir
Saiph Zenith
Sakhalin Zenith
Santana Zenith
Sarna Nadir, Zenith
Sevon Zenith
Sevren Nadir
Sheratan Nadir
Shimonoseki Zenith
Sian Nadir, Zenith
Sirius Zenith
Skye Nadir
Skye Zenith
Small World Zenith
Solaris Nadir, Zenith
St. Ives Nadir, Zenith
St. Loris Nadir, Zenith
Sterope Zenith
Styk Zenith
Suk II Zenith
Summer Nadir
Tabayama Zenith
Tamarind Nadir
Tancredi Nadir
Taurus Zenith
Terra Firma Nadir
Tetersen Zenith
Texlos Zenith
Tharkad Nadir, Zenith
Thessalonika Nadir, Zenith
Thraxa Nadir
Thuban Nadir
Tikonov Nadir, Zenith
Trondheim Nadir, Zenith
Tsinghai Zenith
Twycross Nadir, Zenith
Vega Nadir, Zenith
Versailles Station (Terra)
Vixen Zenith
Warlock Nadir, Zenith
Wei Nadir
Winfield Zenith
Wolcott Nadir
Xinyang Nadir, Zenith
Zurich Zenith
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As for long-range shuttles such as the KR-61, they're useful for patrol sweeps (see BC story Echoes in the Void (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Echoes_in_the_Void)), and possibly for those SAR operations for shot-up aerospace fighter jocks.
Good point about the role as a patrol ship. The Galtor Campaign BattleForce scenario pack gives a profile of the 12th Vegan Rangers, noting that around the time of Vega's founding, "rangers" working for Synthetic Victories Corporation (and presumably other outfits) "patrolled the vast areas of empty space between planets of a single system - a job suited for people who did not mind being alone for six months at a time." Long Range shuttles packed with six months of supplies seem like just the sort of vessel a ranger would travel in.
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That recharge station list will be an excellent resource, Mendrugo! Is that comprehensive?
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That recharge station list will be an excellent resource, Mendrugo! Is that comprehensive?
It hasn't been updated since about 2011, and, as noted, lacks the Davion outpost ones at Ral, Hamlin, and New Cleveland (plus whatever other unnamed outpost worlds are in the AFFS network), but it includes every station mentioned in planetary profiles and the fiction up to that point.
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Date: September, 3026
Location: Proserpina
Title: MechWarrior
Author: Peter Fokos
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Gideon Vandenberg tracks down Natasha Kerensky and her Black Widow Company at a crowded bar on Proserpina. Natasha stands out with thick, flowing red hair, a crystal spider pendant, and a black spider on a red field on her jacket. Based on what Kearny told him on Okefenokee, Gideon approaches Natasha and accuses her of killing his family in their raid on Ander's Moon. Natasha denies any knowledge of such a raid and, in fact, says she's never heard of his planet. Colin Maclaren asks Natasha's permission to pummel Gideon. Another Dragoon elects to act without asking permission, and he and Colin commence the beating.
Before matters can get too far out of hand, a woman in knee-high bioflex boots joins the fight on Gideon's side, lashing out with a stun lance and taking out Colin and three of the other Widows. Natasha draws a pearl-handled pistol and draws a bead on the woman, who responds by raising the stun lance setting to "kill" and holding it to Colin's neck. Natasha holsters her gun and lets the woman take Gideon away.
The woman introduces herself to Gideon as an MI6 agent named Tasha. After hearing Gideon's rationale for confronting the Widows, she claims that Kearny isn't an MIIO agent, but is working for the Combine's Internal Security Force, and was trying to get Gideon killed by the Black Widows. She reveals that the Combine isn't militarily interested in Ander's Moon. Instead, the instigator of the raid on Gideon's homeworld is Matabushi Incorporated.
Notes: The dates in the MechWarrior game are somewhat flexible. However, for Natasha to be out on the town enjoying the Draconis Combine's hospitality, this scene has to take place before the Black Widow Company is framed for war crimes against civilians in September 3026 (as shown in Wolves on the Border). After those Combine-orchestrated efforts to portray the Dragoons (and the Widows in particular) as honorless criminals, I don't think they'd be boozing it up in a Drac bar. The Wolves on the Border chapters show the Dragoons largely confined to their compound, which Gideon and Tasha wouldn't have been able to penetrate. Thus, I've placed this scene in probably early September, 3026. The location varies randomly each time you play the game, but to me, Prosperpina seems like the best bet, since it's close to the border region where the Widows are known to have been hitting Davion targets, and it makes sense for it to be a Widow staging world.
That being said, the ambient noise at that bar must be really loud, because I can't imagine any circumstances in which an MI6 agent would feel comfortable identifying themselves as such in public on a Drac world. Despite Natasha having never heard of Ander's Moon, it seems clear that Gideon Vandenberg is a household name in certain intelligence circles, since both Kearny and Tasha know who he is, and identify themselves as undercover intelligence agents (generally seen to be a no-no, especially when on foreign soil).
I have no idea what Peter Fokos intended when he described Tasha's attire as including "bioleather boots," but an Internet search in 2016 shows the term being applied to a leather-like material harvested from bacteria, rather than an animal skin. It's cutting edge science now, so it's pretty interesting that MechWarrior apparently predicted such a thing a quarter century ago. [Edit: Correction, a re-reading shows it to be "bioflex" boots, rather than "bioleather." Not entirely sure what that connotes - perhaps myomer-enhanced legwear for greater strength or speed?]
Tasha's stun lance appears to be a "special ops" version of the civilian law enforcement "stunstick," which can knock people out on contact by delivering a powerful neural shock. The difference is that the lance version has a "lethal" setting which is audibly different, while the stick is purely non-lethal.
Natasha's cameo in the original MechWarrior game was a nice touch (one of many) to tie the storyline into the mainline BattleTech canon. It probably inspired the plans for the upcoming BattleTech turn-based computer game to include its own cameo by Natasha, though I'm somewhat at a loss to explain what Natasha would be doing down in the Concordat/Magistracy/Capellan border region when the Dragoons are under contract to the Combine.
This shouldn't be the first time the player has heard of Matabushi, which has been mentioned in passing in previous News Net data dumps, mentioning it bankrolls an "elite team of specialists." In retrospect, this is the cover story being put out to conceal the activities of the Dark Wing.
Colin Maclaren drives a Marauder in Natasha's command lance of the Black Widow Company. Notably, Colin was one of the original members, along with Natasha, of the independent Black Widow Company (though it was not named as such until after Anton's death) after the rest of their Beta Regiment unit was wiped out by the Bounty Hunter during the Anton/Janos civil war.
Gideon has the opportunity to hire additional MechWarriors to join his Blazing Aces as he tracks clues across the Inner Sphere. However, the fact that he was all on his own in every scene strongly implies that Gideon didn't recruit any additional pilots or hire 'Mechs until he knew all the details of the Dark Wing and was getting ready to attack their final stronghold. If he'd had additional lancemates at this point, it would have been crazy not to bring them along as backup if Gideon was intending to stage a face-to-face confrontation with some of the deadliest mercenaries in the Inner Sphere.
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Space Stations:
I think the Alliance is arguably the least visited part of canon since DropShips and JumpShips was published.
Aside from Iron Wind Metals making miniature for it. I've not seen anything of Alliance, it was never shown in TRO:3057 or the Revised version. We definitely need something for it.
MechWarrior:
Man that was interesting encounter. I've not played the game since the early 90s, i completely forgot that Gideon ran into Natasha Kerensky. I was chuckling at though of Natasha not knowing where "Ander's moon" was given i think nearly entire Inner Sphere never heard of the place!
Gideon must have balls of steel or was ignorant how deadly Kerensky was suppose to be.
I wonder if the Blazing Aces and Gideon Vandenberg will ever become mainstream canon and get fleshed out in a book somewhere.
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Date: September 15, 3026
Location: Kawabe
Title: Fragile is the House of Cards
Authors: Dale L. Kemper, Blaine Lee Pardoe, Anthony Pryor, and John Theison
Type: Scenario (Sorenson's Sabres)
Synopsis: Following a popular uprising to overthrow the Combine government on Kawabe, the Combine dispatched Wolf's Dragoons and the Fifth Sword of Light to crush the rebels' strong points. Sorensons' Sabres were tasked with clearing the city of Mecklin.
Just prior to taking his full company into the city to face off against the rebel rabble, Daniel Sorenson discusses the campaign with Natasha Kerensky, who has also joined the campaign. She mocks Sorenson's valor, disdaining a mission involving an attack on civilians, and dismisses his explanation of duty to his Coordinator as hollow, saying that neither Kurita nor Davion are better masters. He asks Kerensky if she has any children, and she responds "None at the moment."
The Sabres charge into battle - most of them enthusiastic about the slaughter to come. Daniel is relieved they cannot see him weeping in his cockpit.
The Attacker consists of the entire Sabres company. The Defender rolls on a set of tables to determine the composition of the rebel forces, which number 12+1D6 units and eight hexes mined with vibrabombs. Infantry platoons and light tanks (Hunters and Vedettes) are the most likely outcomes on the table, with a 13% chance of a light 'Mech, and a 2% chance of a Medium or Heavy 'Mech. The infantry are most likely to have rifles or machine guns. The defending forces deploy as hidden units.
The battle is scored on points, with the Attacker getting one point for each city hex captured (by being the last unit to move through it by the end of turn 10), while the defenders score on the same basis, with bonus points for each Sabre 'Mech killed.
Notes: Hmmm. This is an extremely busy period for the Black Widows. Natasha is on An Ting on August 15. She's wherever Gideon meets her "having just finished R&R on An Ting." Then she's on Kawabe by September 15. A group of dead ringers for the Widows (down to Natasha's red hair and crystal spider pendant) wipe out the DCMS garrison at Greggville on New Mendham on September 19.
The logistics suggest that Natasha had access to a command circuit to get to Kawabe so fast after the rebellion, which took place in September. Given transit times, hitting the rebels less than two weeks after the event started suggests either a command circuit or a pirate point, or both.
Insofar as this affects the MechWarrior storyline, I would now propose that Misery makes a better locale, being about two jumps closer to Kawabe than Proserpina, and also one of the randomized options in the game.
The Kawabe campaign and the New Mendham action appear to be taking place simultaneously, raising the question of how Natasha could be in two places at once. Testimony from the 5th Sword of Light and the Dragoons could have discredited the holovid footage from New Mendham where the Black Widow impostors slaughtered the Combine troops. The odd thing is, in "Wolves on the Border," Natasha and the Bounty Hunter discuss the incident on New Mendham, and Natasha says she was elsewhere, but revealing where would compromise Dragoons security. Why would that be the case, if she was on Kawabe?
Or was Natasha on Kawabe at all? Perhaps Sorenson was talking with one of the Natasha Kerensky impersonators (perhaps the same one who gave the "exclusive interview" to Misha Auburn months after the Dragoons had signed on with the Combine and were burning towards Hoff). Going out of her way to banter with Daniel Sorenson could have been part of creating cover for whatever Natasha was really doing. (Fighting with Gideon Vandenberg on Proserpina?)
The Kawabe campaign is referenced in Wolves on the Border - it's one of the "war crimes" Samsonov charged the Dragoons with - slaughtering the populace.
We know, from "In Service to the Dragon," that the Combine commanders of this era are more than willing to sacrifice loyal troops to generate realistic propaganda to motivate their forces. The impostors on New Mendham were probably ISF operatives.
If the person on Kawabe was Natasha, her comment about having no children "at the moment" is very intriguing, given Clan eugenic practices. Ranna Kerensky (decanted in 3028) is Natasha's granddaughter, implying that at least one batch of sibkiddies was cooked up out of Natasha's giftake prior to her departure from Clan space, and at least one of those achieved sufficient distinction to have their genes used for Ranna's batch. Did Natasha get news from the Homeworlds about her "children"? Did her batch of sibkids all die off or otherwise fail? (With one, at least, dying heroically enough to justify Ranna's batch?) Of course, nothing we know about Natasha indicates she's telling the truth in this exchange, but it feels honest.
Like many of the Sabres' scenarios, this one is extremely challenging. Yes, the Sabres will almost certainly massively outgun the rebels, but it's hard for them to use that advantage. The scoring system forces the Sabres to keep on the move, covering as much of the city as they can every turn to score points. If they just needed to wipe out the defenders, they'd be well suited for that, but the territory grabbing mechanism forces them to run up to the buildings, where the infantry are waiting in ambush.
For the Sabres, I'd recommend forming a Lyran-style "long wall" and sweeping one city grid from end to end, concentrating fire on any infantry that pop out to ambush you, then wheeling to do the same to the other half. If you just run about helter-skelter, the rebels you miss will be able to emerge after you move on and reclaim territory. Better to do an organized sweep-and-clear operation, so you can hold what you take. Above all, don't let any of your 'Mechs go down. The rebels score huge points for taking out Sabres' 'Mechs, so if someone gets crippled (or even just a bit too banged up for comfort), pull them back to a secondary line following the main advance - they can still provide supporting fire, but won't be in the path of any ambushes.
For the rebels, your tactical options depend on how lucky you are with the random tables. In general, though, you should concentrate a lot of hidden units in one area and use them to ambush the Sabres. You want to kill as many Sworders as possible, because that's where the bulk of your points comes from.
I'm not sure how best to place your vibrabombs. Honestly, I never liked the whole concept. Entirely too easy to be either tramped over without going off, or set off accidentally by heavy units walking past several hexes away. Conventional and command-detonated minefields are much better, to my way of thinking.
Granted, there are some special circumstances (like where you know the enemy's force composition and can bait them in through the minefield with lights that won't set the bombs off) but command detonated is still more reliable.
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Date: September 19, 3026
Location: New Mendham
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Donegal Broadcasting Company reporter John Norris, and his holotech Berger, present their documents at a DCMS checkpoint in the town of Kempis, in Greggville Province, claiming they are en route to Seldez to do a story on Sergeant Yamato of the 11th Benjamin Regulars. The tai-i on duty buys the story and waves them through. In reality, Norris received a tip that an AFFS offensive is inbound, and he wants to get footage of the coming battle.
Combine troops deploy to defensive positions as a sentry reports a lance of inbound 'Mechs. A Warhammer, Marauder, Crusader, and Griffin in solid black are recognized as friendlies, and the troops stand down. As the tai-i waves a greeting, a laser bolt from the Warhammer incinerates him, and the rest of the lance opens fire as well. Berger films the attack, which continues until the entire garrison is dead (along with civilian casualties, though the attackers aren't going out of their way to kill civilians).
The Crusader drops a severed 'Mech arm with a Federated Suns crest on it, in an apparent attempt to frame the AFFS for the massacre. The Marauder spots the two newsmen and brings them to the attention of the Warhammer pilot. The Warhammer's hatch opens to reveal a woman with dark red hair, armed with an ivory-handled pistol, and with a black crystal spider pendant around her neck. She identifies herself as the Widow, and confiscates Berger's footage. She then boards her 'Mech again and leads the lance away, laden with loot from the shattered village.
Berger and Norris walk for hours through the agricultural district until they are overtaken by a DCMS Striker platoon coming from Kempis. The chu-i in command offers to take them to the free city of Greggville to file their story on the atrocity committed by the Black Widows via ComStar. Norris thinks the chu-i's bearing and appearance are unusual for a tanker, but he is so grateful for a ride that he dismisses it.
In Greggville, the chu-i escorts Norris and Berger through the House Kurita entrance, and they spend an hour recording their story and transmitting it. As the newsmen walk off, the chi-i orders his aide to "arrange an accident" for the pair near the business district. The man responds affirmatively, calling him "chu-sa," a mistake that causes the chu-sa to bristle.
A robed figure emerges from the building, and he greets her as Adept Sharilar. He hands her the cartridge of holofilm confiscated by the Warhammer pilot, along with a thick envelope. Sharilar says the video will be held in trust until needed. She states that the reporters' transmission was lost to the void due to "an improper ritual," but suggests that it could be recovered "at some future date" through "diligent prayers."
This transaction is observed by ragged derelict named Billy, who enters the ComStar station and pays with k-bills to send a transmission to the Bounty Hunter, on Solaris.
Notes: Like many of Charrette's "Wolves on the Border," and "Heir to the Dragon" chapters, there's just so much going on all at once.
The "Black Widows" that wiped out the DCMS garrison at Kempis are clearly not the real deal. The Natasha impersonator gets most of the details right (and Natasha's penchant for frequently changing appearance makes her easier to impersonate), but she has an ivory handled sidearm here, but a pearl handled gun when facing Gideon Vandenberg. That, and she was spotted on Kawabe (a good 4-5 jumps away) just four days earlier. Plus, the fact that the tape she confiscated ends up in the hands of an ISF chu-sa shortly afterwards identifies the crew as ISF agents.
I wonder if they were the same lance that murdered the DCMS MechWarriors on Alleghe in 3021 in "In Service to the Dragon" to build anti-Lyran fervor. It may also have been the same elite ISF MechWarrior unit that hit the Dragoons on Crossing during the final stages of the Tartarus Caldera battle.
New Mendham was one of the worlds lost to the Combine's First Succession War offensive and never recovered. It seems that 3026 marked a major campaign (not just a raid) to retake the world, with the 11th Benjamin Regulars defending against unspecified AFFS forces. Since New Mendham remains in the Combine, the offensive would appear to have been a failure.
The whole sequence of events is clearly an elaborate ISF plot to smear the Black Widows (and, by extension, the Dragoons). The tip that led Norris and Berger to Kempis was planted by the ISF, the massacre was played out for his benefit, and the reporters disposed of after filing their report.
Most interesting is that Sharilar Mori is using her status as a ComStar Adept to assist the operation. I wonder whether or not she had official sanction to do so? ComStar has no love for the Dragoons, especially not after the debacle with Vesar Kristofur in 3014, and might see the ruin of their reputation as an avenue to discovering their origins. Also, I wonder if Subhash Indrahar is aware of this operation, or if Jerry Akuma is giving orders to ISF assets on his own authority (or in Warlord Grieg Samsonov's name).
Mori is shown here as a ComStar Adept, and her profile in Masters and Minions states that she joined ComStar at the age of 14 (having joined the Order of Five Pillars earlier) and rose through the ranks of ROM. I would hazard to guess that she's on New Mendham liaising with ISF agents in her ROM agent capacity, with her superiors' knowledge, rather than as an O5P mole.
(That still leaves unresolved what Sharilar was doing dressed as, and serving as, an O5P Adept on Kagoshima in 3018, helping prep Tomoe Sakade for her "next mission." Covertly checking in with the Order? How closely does ROM watch its own agents?)
I was pretty surprised that the Combine would allow journalists from hostile states onto their worlds. That's one of the key advantages of ComStar's news service - due to their purported neutrality, they get access everywhere. However, the tai-i who inspects their IDs seems to find it normal to have war correspondents present - just not so far back behind the lines, where nothing's happening. I wonder if DBC is welcome to cover conflicts on the Davion/Kurita border, but would be denied access to a conflict zone on the Kurita/Steiner border?
The chu-i/chu-sa deception is an attempt by the ISF operation director to appear three ranks lower than he actually is, with chu-i corresponding to Lieutenant (platoon commander) vs. chu-sa corresponding to Lieutenant Colonel (XO of a regiment). The depth of the efforts at deception showcase the ISF as being far more than just DEST ninjas raining out of the skies. An equivalent Maskirovka operation would, by contrast, probably just try to blow up the Dragoon compound on An Ting.
Also of interest is that the Bounty Hunter apparently has a huge network of informants that provide him with both job leads and information about the whereabouts of the Black Widow, with whom he has unfinished business.
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Date: September 29, 3026
Location: Barlow's End
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Chu-i Isabella Armstrong commands Pouncer Lance during the Ryuken's first combat mission, engaging Davion forces in the thickly forested Shaw District on Barlow's End. Her Catapult is accompanied by Hiraku Jacobs' Whitworth, and MechWarriors Frost and Toragama in Panthers. They face a Davion lance consisting of a Thunderbolt, a Valkyrie, a Shadow Hawk, and Ostsol.
Outmatched, the Ryuken lance begins to withdraw. The Thunderbolt takes down the Whitworth, and Armstrong tries to draw off the Davion lance while the Panthers try to recover Jacobs. She calls back to Strike Command and reports hostile contact, but Minobu Tetsuhara reports no ground forces are available to assist, but aerospace forces can reach their location in six minutes.
After six minutes of sparring with the heavier Davion lance, Wolf's Dragoons' Blue Flight - two Lucifers commanded by Hamilton Atwyl - arrive and begin a bombing run against the Davion lance, enabling Armstrong to break contact.
Hours later, Armstrong reaches the rally point, where Pouncer Lance is waiting. Frost and Toranaga report that Jacobs is dead, though they recovered the Whitworth. Toragama comments that Jacobs died well, but Armstrong reprimands him, saying that Jacobs disobeyed orders and sought personal glory rather than providing honorable service to House Kurita. She reminds them that the mandate of the Ryuken is to focus on the mission, and to leave behind the DCMS traditions of blind obedience and personal aggrandizement.
Notes: This scene serves a number of purposes. We have it establish that the Ryuken is getting its first taste of combat as a unit, and that Minobu Tetsuhara is running the show directly. We see the painful efforts to implement the "Dragoon style" way of thinking during combat situations. We also see that there is a very cordial working relationship between Wolf's Dragoons and the Ryuken.
This is important foreshadowing, because it intensifies the sense of betrayal when these two allied units are later set against each other by the machinations of Jerry Akuma.
It appears that, despite this being classified as a "raid," the Combine sent both the Ryuken and Wolf's Dragoons' Alpha Regiment and the aerospace group - a lot of firepower for a LosTech grab'n'go. The other Dragoons are likely still on Kawabe, pulping freedom fighters underfoot, with whatever's left pulling garrison duty on Misery and An Ting.
Pouncer Lance's configuration suggests optimization for long range support fire, able to bring 50 LRMs and two PPCs to bear on enemies at range. Not exactly optimal for an ambush in heavy woods, where trees will block line of sight, removing the long range weapons' advantage.
It makes sense that Atwyl is with Alpha Regiment on Barlow's End, since "Fragile is the House of Cards" indicates that the rebels on Kawabe had air superiority.
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The battle went on for 24 turns after the first mech went down. In heavy forests and with all the remaining Kurita mechs being jump capable...that's actually somewhat realistic.
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You got hand it to, Robert N. Charrette. He wrote really good books.
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I noted in the review of Broken Blade that the Hunter was an anachronism. More recently, I've speculated that the "Broken Blade" Hunters were the Battledroids version, rather than the TRO: 3026 version.
Okay, revisiting this as I stumbled across something entirely new, featured and statted in the (undated) scenario "Lone Wolf" in the TCI Model Kit #1: Shadowhawk & Scorpion:
HNT-3R Hunter Assault Tank (wheeled) (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Hunter_Assault_Tank)
20 tons, 8/12 movement
VOX 130 fusion engine (5 tons) w/ 10 heat sinks
Controls (1 ton)
Armor factor 80 (5 tons): 32 front, 17 left/right side, 14 back
PPC (front)
:o
Nasty little bugger. And high-tech enough to assume it could be a late Terran Hegemony/early Star League design predating the LRM-armed Hunter.
Of course, Battledroids had statted the HNT-3R with a front-mounted LRM20 and Battledroids tanks invariably had 4 MP, or 3 if they wanted to fire on that turn.
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Cool find. Thanks, Frabby.
More reviews soon. I've been at a conference in Kyoto.
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Cool find. Thanks, Frabby.
More reviews soon. I've been at a conference in Kyoto.
Hope you get time to check out the sites. When i was waaaaaaaaaaay young in Yokosuka (stationed) i found a Japanese Battletech box set. Maybe you can get lucky!
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No shopping, but did some really nice temple tours in Nara and Kyoto in between telecommunications regulatory discussions.
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Date: September 30, 3026
Location: Barlow's End
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Minobu Tetsuhara receives a message from Colonel Wolf at the Ryuken field camp, wishing him success in his first campaign as head of the Ryuken. Major Kelly Yukinov notes that the operation is already behind schedule, due to a heavier-than-expected Davion military presence on Barlow's End. Jerry Akuma dismisses their concerns, and reports that the AFFS commander at the Achernar Proving Grounds in Landova plans to move Profesor McGuffin's prototype to a more secure location on October 4.
Minobu suggests attacking the proving grounds to make the AFFS forces drop their guard, then attacking the prototype convoy, not at the Shaw River Valley flood-control dam near the Renbourn Forestry Reserve (the best ambush site), but further up the road at Millon's Woods, where it won't be expected, using jump-capable 'Mechs only. After the ambush, the jumpers will be able to exfiltrate through the river valley, while other Dragoon and Ryuken forces feint at the city of Landova and the vacated proving grounds, and destroy the flood-control dam.
As the discussion continues, Akuma turns to his aides and tells them simply, "tonight."
Notes: The item in question - ostensibly the target of this raid, is being lampshaded as a mere literary trope. A McGuffin is any object that the hero is trying to acquire, be it a cursed ring or alien DNA. Having a prototype designed by "Professor McGuffin" is a shout-out to this trope.
The designation of the R&D site as the "Achernar Proving Grounds" sets it up as part of Achernar BattleMechs, a major AFFS defense contractor. They have their main manufacturing sites on Achernar, New Avalon, and Cahokia - none of which are anywhere near Barlow's End. Looking at Achernar's product line, there's a strong possibility that McGuffin's prototype is one of their communications systems or their targeting/tracking electronics packages. It's too early for them to be prototyping XL engines, ferro fibrous armor, or endo steel, and they don't make the kinds of double heat sinks (freezers) or enhanced jump jets that the AFFS was experimenting with in this timeframe. (Or maybe this is another go at re-creating the fabled "oscillation overcompensator" stolen by Maskirovka agents from another R&D facility a few years earlier.)
Whatever it's supposed to do, it seems likely that it is intended for use in a Locust, Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, or Enforcer - staples of Achernar's product line. My guess would be it's the Federated Hunter Mk. III T&T module, since the base Mk I model and the Mk II are already established circa 3026, but the next model fielded commercially is the Mk. VII on the Osiris. The seizure of the Mk III may have set back development, allowing the next generation to be ready before the III could be recreated.
Barlow's End seems like a very exposed location to be working on a prototype...almost as though it was intended as bait to draw raiders into a trap. Why not test it on Cahokia if you don't want to risk raids? If you want to field test it against the Dracs, put it on a test vehicle during a raid where you control the timing. The whole "McGuffin Prototype" situation just smacks of either horrendously bad planning, or an elaborate trap. Given who's on the Suns' throne (having just completed setting and springing such a trap on Galtor III the previous year), my Admiral Ackbar sense is tingling.
The Ryuken and Dragoons are working well with each other, showing respect, but also mutually improving the plan with good ideas and serious debate. Akuma, of course, is the fly in the ointment, and clearly planning to sabotage the plan somehow, to the detriment of the Dragoons and Minobu. Akuma is also very suggestively named, like McGuffin, since in Japanese it translates to "devil," "demon," or "evil spirit." One wonders exactly what his ancestors did to acquire that moniker. (In real life, I've actually met people whose last names translate to "son of a thief," "headache," "salt pork," "watermelon," and "cabbage" in their native tongues, so having such a name isn't outside the realm of possibility...but there's probably a heck of a story there.)
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This part of the Dragoon's story isn't too far away from the scenario against the Super Wasps and Griffins, is it? Achernar could very well have had a hand in building/ refurbishing those.
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The prototype is later described as a "jump stabilizer", so they're presumably researching into IJJs here. (Or the Manassas jump drive. :D )
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This part of the Dragoon's story isn't too far away from the scenario against the Super Wasps and Griffins, is it? Achernar could very well have had a hand in building/ refurbishing those.
That was on Hoff in 3023, but the identity of the Super Wasp and Super Griffin's manufacturer wasn't mentioned. Just the site - the Friden Aerospace Park. Interestingly, Team Banzai was also present on Hoff in the early 3020s doing Hatchetman testing, but at a different site.
Achernar's Prof. McGuffin could well have been in charge of the work at Friden, since the ELH was able to hold the Black Widows at bay long enough for the research team to strip the facility and evacuate. They may have relocated to Barlow's End to continue their IJJ research, per Frabby's note. That could explain why they're not safely on Cussar, since Barlow's End and Hoff aren't far apart.
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This thread is interesting reading. Though i vehemently disagree with the idea of "BioMechs" being even remotely canonical ;). As they are anyway... I can think of fun ideas with such...
Anyway, i had an idea of sorts, regarding how William Keith treated movement heat as strategic thing.
I was starting to read Decision at Thunder Rift, and noticed something in the background exposition in the beginning. It says BattleMechs can duel each other for hours. As anyone who has played the game knows, most duels are actually quite short, a minute or two max.
It occurred to me that perhaps Keith treated tabletop turns (if he as aware of the rules, he could have just worked from fluff) as extremely long. Not 10 seconds per round, but close to an hour per round. This obviously would cause problems with BattleMech speeds and their cooling capacity but otherwise, it would make it seem like the 'Mechs would heat up considerably over time.
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Whatever it's supposed to do, it seems likely that it is intended for use in a Locust, Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, or Enforcer - staples of Achernar's product line.
They also build Dervishes.
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This thread is interesting reading. Though i vehemently disagree with the idea of "BioMechs" being even remotely canonical ;). As they are anyway... I can think of fun ideas with such...
If they turned a Coventry boomer (giant kangaroo) into a biomech, you could mount a hold-out man-pack PPC in the pouch. ;)
Anyway, i had an idea of sorts, regarding how William Keith treated movement heat as strategic thing.
I was starting to read Decision at Thunder Rift, and noticed something in the background exposition in the beginning. It says BattleMechs can duel each other for hours. As anyone who has played the game knows, most duels are actually quite short, a minute or two max.
It occurred to me that perhaps Keith treated tabletop turns (if he as aware of the rules, he could have just worked from fluff) as extremely long. Not 10 seconds per round, but close to an hour per round. This obviously would cause problems with BattleMech speeds and their cooling capacity but otherwise, it would make it seem like the 'Mechs would heat up considerably over time.
Since some of his 'Mechs are shown overheating from simple walking, my theory is that he did what I did when I first started playing - had 'Mechs build up 1 heat point for each walking MP spent, and 2 heat points for each running MP spent. We revisited that rules interpretation after a Dasher spontaneously exploded (ammo cook-off) following a max-speed sprint.
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Date: October 1, 3026
Location: Barlow's End
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: At 0130, Dragoon MechWarrior Malcom Spence is interrupted in his monitor duty by a Ryuken trooper who introduces himself as Kahn. After some amiable chatting, Kahn uses a concealed needle in his ring to inject Spence with a tranquilizer.
Once Spence is out, Kahn begins recording the output feed of the security cameras. On the screens, a shadowy figure in Dragoon fatigues opens the hood of Minobu Tetsuhara's hovercar, does something, then vanishes into the darkness. Fourteen minutes later, the figure leaps over the perimeter fence, then returns and begins burying small objects around the grounds.
Satisified, Kahn injects Spence with a counteragent for the tranquilizer, and continues talking to the Dragoon watch officer, giving him the impression that he just faded out for a second. Khan soon departs.
Two hours, explosions rip through the Ryuken/Dragoon campsite. Yukinov tells Minobu it looks like a commando raid on the southwest fence. They board Minobu's skimmer and race off, but the sabotaged hovercraft twists sharply and crashes, throwing Yukinov off and pinning Tetsuhara underneath. Michi Noketsuna runs to their aid and calls for a medic.
Notes: Was the goal of Akuma's operation to kill Minobu, or just get him out of the way? If Akuma had wanted Minobu's exit to be permanent, why didn't the shadowy figure (probably a DEST commando) put a bomb under the seat, rather than just mickeying the control vanes? My guess is that Akuma wants Minobu to suffer, and a quick death was seen as too merciful.
Spence is fairly Clan-like in terms of his blindness to guile. While the previous chapter showed a close and friendly working relationship between the Dragoons and the Ryuken, Minobu and Michi were well aware that there were numerous ISF moles in the ranks. Would Minobu's honor have allowed him to share that knowledge with Jaime? Apparently not, since Spence had no qualms about letting the Ryuken warrior ("KAHNNNNNNN!") join him in the monitor shack.
As we've seen, the Clans are terrible about their electronic security, so it's not surprising that the ISF device is able to hack into the monitors. (If a lone Dark Caste assassin can slip through a spaceport perimeter and take out Nova Cats during their rituals from 500 meters away, the Clans have useless security monitor protocols.) Why didn't the Dragoons or Ryuken have physical patrols? Presumably Kahn knew the routes and times for the Ryuken ones, but did he have the inside scoop on Dragoon patrols? Or are the Dragoons so Clan-like in their protocols that they don't plan for commando infiltration - leaving everything in the hands of one guy on monitor duty and waiting for a formal batchall?
I'm surprised that Minobu was pinned "within" the skimmer. The illustration of the Skimmer in MW1E makes it appear like a hover-cycle (with windscreen and tailfin for maneuvering, moreso than a "car" with an enclosed cab. I would have thought that both riders would be thrown free.
The recordings are likely intended to allow Akuma to blame Minobu's injuries on the Dragoons, destroying the trustful relationship between the Dragoons and the Ryuken. Akuma seems to want not only to physically hurt Minobu, but to destroy everything he built, and make him suffer. Was killing Jaime Wolf (though they couldn't have know it was him) back in 3021 really so important to Akuma's sense of honor?
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Akuma is just a selfish dick, taking the easiest and least dangerous (to himself) approach here.
Arranging an accident that might kill and certainly will incapacitate Tetsuhara is a lot more suble and easier to conceal than an outright killing. We'll later learn that Akuma implicitly tried to kill the injured Tetsuhara on the outbound DropShip but was stopped by the doctor's skill and ethos.
Researching him when writing Feather vs. Mountain I determined that he lacks the supervillain attitude or style. He'll make other peoples' lives miserable out of sheer spite if he can do it with little effort, but he's too pragmatic to invest into otherwise unrewarding vendettas.
Fits that as a MechWarrior, Tetsuhara rated him "average at best".
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Date: October 1, 3026
Location: Verthandi
Title: Mercenary's Star
Author: William H. Keith
Type: Novel
Synopsis: To the sounds of triumphant martial music, the Gray Death Legion marches from Regis University's "Gate of Heroes" along Scandia Way to the airfield, on their way to depart the liberated world of Verthandi, now defended by the newly organized Free Verthandi Legion.
Grayson salutes Councilman Tollen Brasednewic and Councilwoman Carlota Brasednewic, and congratulates Tollen on transitioning from rebel general to head of state. Tollen renews his offer to give the Legion a permanent home on Verthandi and Grayson the job of building up the planetary army, but Grayson responds that Tollen has been doing well enough at that himself. He notes that Sue Ellen Klein has opted to remain with the Free Verthandi Navy - soon to consist of a pair of aging Lyran freighters. Grayson advises Tollen to be careful in his negotiations for the political future of Verthandi.
He recalls the events following the final battle at Regis more than a month earlier. The Verthandian forces besieged Admiral Kodo's surviving garrison at the spaceport for roughly a week, until the First Tamar Fleet arrived at the zenith jump point, led by the Invidious, along with warships, DropShips, and two 'Mech regiments.
Admiral Kodo's forces finally sued for peace once they were out of food and medical supplies. Two days later, however, Duke Hassad Ricol's flagship, the Huntress arrived at the zenith jump point escorted by the Draconis Combine's Fifth Fleet, which took position to counter any moves by the First Tamar Fleet against Verthandi, though the Lyran 'Mech regiments were already present on the ground.
Kodo's garrison withdrew offworld (leaving the loyalist "Blues" behind to be massacred by the rebels), and Ambassador Steiner-Reese offered to support Verthandi's independence from the Combine in exchange for mining rights to the world's vanadium deposits. Ricol countered that the mines were Combine property, and their appropriation would be considered an act of war. The negotiations continued for weeks, covering the mines and claims over the naval base on Verthandi Alpha. Grayson acknowledges that he rejected the offer to remain out of fear that the new government would trade away their hard won freedom in political back-room dealings that would see them back under the thumb of either the Combine or the Commonwealth.
Grayson continues to the Phobos (freshly refitted at the Regisport shipyards) and the Deimos, where the veteran Legionnaires will be joined by new troops recruited by Renfred Tor on Galatea and a significant number of former Verthandian rebels who opted to join up after the end of the occupation. Grayson notes that the Legion has grown substantially, having been granted wide-ranging salvage rights for abandoned Combine 'Mechs and equipment. Arm in arm, Grayson and his XO Lori (their relationship restored) board the ship and leave Verthandi behind.
Notes: This is a big finish to the Verthandi rebellion, with a number of elements thrown in that seem to set up a somewhat "alternate universe" feel than the one which eventually emerged as BattleTech canon.
The negotiations seem to have gone somewhat south for Ambassador Steiner-Reese. The 3028 map in the NAIS Atlas of the 4th Succession War shows Verthandi back under the Combine flag - being invaded by the 1st Lyran Regulars in the Follow Up phase of Operation GOTTERDAMMERUNG. Evidently, Steiner-Reese asked for too much, and Brasednewic opted to sign back on with the Combine. One wonders what sort of deal they got - local autonomy like the Azami? One also wonders if Brasednewic was executed and the Free Verthandi Legion destroyed by the 1st Lyran Regulars in 3028. Not really a storybook ending for Tollen and Carlotta.
One element of this epilogue that I always found to be very interesting were the actual naming conventions of the fleets. The Lyran one is called the "First Tamar Fleet" implying the existence of other Tamar fleets, and that the Lyran navy (what's left of it) is organized into regional fleet groups, so there'd be a 1st Tamar, 2nd Tamar, 1st Donegal, 2nd Donegal, 1st Skye, 2nd Skye, etc. Circa 3025, the Free Worlds League has 12 Aerospace Fleets consisting of 3-6 JumpShips and 10-15 DropShips each, with integral aerospace fighter complements. I would presume the Lyrans, being more powerful, would have more - perhaps 15-20 fleets of comparable size.
By contrast, the Combine fleet has a purely numerical designation, implying a lack of ties to any individual Military District, but the ability to be reassigned at the discretion of the Draconis Combine Admiralty. (Though it would also make sense, if the Warlords are in command of the military assets in their Districts, for each Warlord to have an equal number of fleets to play with - to maintain harmony - with additional fleets being free-floating and directed according to the mandates from the Coordinator - like the free floating regiments of the DCMS.)
Given the Combine's obsession with the significance of the number 5 and its multiples, I would presume that they'd have at least 25 fleets, probably given patrol and escort duties within the five Military Districts. The stronger ones would probably be assigned to active fronts, with smaller, weaker ones assigned to the Pesht district (at least one would probably be assigned to escort the Coordinator when he travels from Luthien).
The wording is also intriguing - since Keith refers to "warships" and "DropShips" separately, and notes that "combat between jumpships is rare in this era, because starships are a resource too rare and fragile to risk in combat." It is clear that the term "WarShip" to exclusively refer to armed/armored jump-capable craft had not yet come into canon. It's also possible that Keith was distinguishing between the "Assault DropShips" and the troop transport "DropShips," suggesting that the "warships" in question were not the JumpShips, but the Assault DropShips that made up the core of the fleet's fighting strength. There's also a reference to the Verthandi navy buying two old Lyran "freighters." That almost certainly means Mules or Buccaneers in modern canon, but one wonders if Keith was envisioning WarShip-style freighters (like the Carrack) when he wrote the line.
This isn't the first time he's made references to fleet activity - noting Trellwan as a good place for a Kuritan fleet to base and refuel (despite the lack of orbital stations), and indicating that the system would be 'blockaded by Lyran fleets' if the scheme were discovered and reported to Tharkad. The general lack of information on the Successor State fleet strengths circa 3025 (with the exception of the highly detailed Adventure Architects' entry in the House Marik book, and the itemized strength listings in the Periphery book) makes references like this akin to trying to measure an elephant by peering through a keyhole. Granted, the numbers are only relevant if you're trying to run a grand strategic campaign set in the era...but for those who want to do that, fleet strength estimates would be key data points, given the strategic implications of such transport bottlenecks.
Another early installment oddity is Ricol's statement that Lyran seizure of Verthandi's mines would be an "act of war," and that "after all, there was no current state of war between Luthien and Tharkad." So, did Takashi acknowledge Katrina Steiner as First Lord when nobody was looking? Or has the Third Succession War been officially declared "done" by Autumn 3026, placing this local conflict firmly in the mayfly-duration interbellum period between the Third and Fourth Succession Wars? Given the fact that the Dragoons are actively raiding the Federated Suns on this very day, it doesn't appear that the Third Succession War is over as far as the Combine is concerned.
One wonders where Tor got the money to hire new troops on Galatea? The revolutionary council's credit was no good by that point. And what recruiting pitch did he use? "Hey, there's a mercenary lance trapped on a Combine-occupied world, and they're getting torn to bits by the Combine garrison (last word we had). But there's vanadium in them thar hills, and Ambassador Steiner-Reese here is sending the 1st Tamar Fleet out to go grab it. Wanna come along?" Did Steiner-Reese loan Tor the cash for the signing bonuses?
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From what I remember, the political situation was a bit different. Verthandi was one of several systems the Lyrans had ceded to the Draconis Combine, hence were reluctant to take back by force or by openly supporting a pro-Lyran opposition. Because of that, the most Verthandi could seriously expect was to become recognized as Draconis Combine citizens instead of mere slaves. (Weird as that may sound.) Thus, Verthandi - with the limited support the Lyrans could or would grant - established a more independent government but couldn't fully leave the Combine, that option was never on the table.
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Well, let's see.
From the epilogue, "Verthandi was once again a free and independent planet." So it seems that independence was on the table. But Brasednewic screwed up and signed up for Combine domination again. (Though perhaps not - some maps from 3028 show an oval drawn around Verthandi - indicating still independent? -ish?) But then why did the LCAF invade in the 4th Succession War?
Perhaps, given that situation, Ricol's reference to the expropriation of the mines being an act of war was a reference to what would happen to the relations between the Combine and the newly independent Verthandian government, threatening that the Combine would declare war against Verthandi if its government gave the Combine-built mines to the Commonwealth.
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Date: October 3, 3026
Location: Barlow's End
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In Millon's Woods, on the southern bank of the Shaw River, Dechan Fraser leads a detached "light company" from Alpha Regiment in preparation to ambush the Davion technology convoy. Gossip among the troops focuses on the aftermath of the commando raid on the camp in the early hours of October 1. One speculates that Minobu Tetsuhara is dead, but another clarifies that medtechs took both Tetsuhara and Dragoon Colonel Yukinov to a Combine DropShip for treatment. Noting the evident injuries to Yukinov's leg, they predict Colonel Wolf will see to it that it is replaced with the best myomer prosthetic available.
Conversation turns to the fact that Colonel Jamison from Zeta is now running the show on Barlow's Folly, and they jokingly worry that he won't remember they don't all drive assault 'Mechs. Conversation turns to the Ryuken command staff, with some expressing displeasure with Satoh, Tetsuhara's XO, but relief that Akuma didn't assume command. The gossip fades as Major Chan informs them the spotters have sighted the enemy convoy, and the Dragoons mount their 'Mechs.
MechWarrior Johannson, in his Javelin, joins Dechan's Shadow Hawk as his wingman, and predicts this will be an easy operation, since the Feds don't have any better troops than the White Witches mercenary group, beaten soundly several years earlier on Quentin by Delta Regiment.
Dechan's screen shows the Federated Suns convoy approaching, escorted by a dozen BattleMechs and several hovertanks. Once the convoy passes his position, but with the rear guard still out of the target zone, Major Chan orders the Dragoons to atack. The first volley obliterates the convoy command vehicle, and the convoy grinds to a confused halt. The Dragoons engage the Saracen and Scimitar tanks bearing the White Witch insignia (a naked, white-haired sorceress), leaving them in smoking ruin, then start to tear the cargo trucks apart looking for crates marked with a black bird symbol.
The White Witch 'Mechs hang back, apparently thinking to block the roadway and trap the Dragoons. Fraser's lance instead heads for the Shaw River. As Johannsen's Javelin touches down on the river bank, energy beams converge from multiple directions and destroy it. Johannsen ejects, but his seat is lasered to ash during the ascent. Dechan takes evasive action to avoid the same fate, and sees the enemy fire track towards other Dragoons further down the valley, coming from a full company of new 'Mechs advancing down the riverbed. Dechan zooms in on the lead Centurion and sees the insignia of the elite Eridani Light Horse, who'd twice before fought the Dragoons to a standstill and prevented them from accomplishing their missions.
Back at the Ryuken Field Camp, Michi Noketsuna monitors the attack from Tai-sa Elijah Satoh's command hut. Noketsuna notes that Satoh is resplendent in his pristine uniform, but that his disdain for his junior officers is evident, a stark contrast to Minobu Tetsuhara, who was medivacked offworld on a DropShip two days earlier. Akuma left at the same time, appointing Satoh as both acting Ryuken commander and acting Dragoon liaison officer.
With the ambush underway, Colonel Jamison asks Satoh to give the light ambush forces some cover with the rest of the joint force. Satoh refuses, noting that the Ryuken is still busy encircling the Achernar Proving Grounds. Jamison notes that Zeta has already taken its objectives, and that the Ryuken are behind schedule. Satoh answers that a previously undetected mercenary force has contested the Ryuken's push into the city of Landova.
Word arrives that the "unidentified mercenaries" are actually the Eridani Light Horse, present in at least battalion strength. Jamison tells Satoh that the sham attack cannot be continued in the face of the new Davion mercenary threat, and that the Dragoons and Ryuken should regroup. Satoh refuses, and insists they stick to the original plan. Jamison angrily answers that Zeta has completed its portion of the plan to the letter, and considers its contractual obligations fulfilled, then storms out of the hut with his staff.
Satoh orders Michi to record the time and date that the Dragoon commander on planet abandoned his post. Michi obeys, though he notes that rigid adherence to doctrine goes against the Ryuken's founding principles, and that things would have gone much differently if Minobu were still in charge.
Back at the Shaw River, the surviving Dragoon ambushers are in a running battle with the advancing Horsemen, unable to reach Major Chan through heavy comm channel static. The Horsemen are coordinating closely with the White Witches to box the Dragoons in and keep them from escaping. Captain Stane's Phoenix Hawk goes down under heavy fire from a White Witch Zeus, leaving Dechan in command of the remaining eight 'Mechs of the light company and the eight from Stane's company.
With his 'Mechs battered and low on ammunition, Dechan elects to abandon the prototype and execute the emergency escape plan, falling back along the riverbed to use the terrain for cover. Before they can execute the plan, however, the White Witch Zeus catches up and opens fire, backed by its lancemates. Before they can massacre Dechan's troops, the Witches are hammered by heavy laser and PPC fire, forcing them to pull back. Dechan's spirits rise as he sees a Dragoon BattleMaster appear on the opposite bank, flanked by an Awesome and a Stalker. Zeta Battalion has arrived.
Dechan is patched through to Colonel Jamison, and reports that the prototype is unreachable, given enemy force strength and the condition of his troops. Jamison reports that the rest of the ambush force have been driven 35 km away downriver, and the support forces are unaccounted for. Jamison orders the Zeta troops to destroy the prototype, then pull out, leaving the Ryuken troops to the AFFS mercenaries.
Notes: Despite the Waco Ranger "Death Oath," the Eridani Light Horse has been the only unit able to match up to the Dragoons in multiple engagements. They first clashed during the Dragoons' first mission for the Combine, when the Horsemen delayed the Dragoon attack on Hoff's Friden Aerospace Park long enough for the prototype tech there to be evacuated along with the research staff. With a full "phonebook" profile in the original Mercenary's Handbook, it's clear that the ELH were being set up to be a major force in the BattleTech universe. Alas, this chapter is pretty much their only fiction until the Twilight of the Clans novels, and then they're left in Clan space to rot (written out of the universe due to a series of real-world unfortunate events which we will not go into here.)
One wonders if the ELH were good enough tacticians to predict and counter the Dragoon ambush, or if a little ISF birdie slipped them some intel.
The White Witches are another interesting force. We have a color scheme (light blue), an insignia (NSFW), and a skill level (Veteran), plus evidence that they were under contract to the AFFS from 3023-3026, at least. Yet they never appear in any sourcebooks. I can understand them being left out of the House Davion sourcebook, since that was probably being written in parallel with "Wolves on the Border," but the NAIS Atlas of the 4th Succession War doesn't show them, nor does the 20 Year Update, nor Brush Wars or the War of 3039. Were they destroyed off camera between 3026 and 3028? (Likewise for the Snake Stompers from earlier chapters).
Dechan Fraser gets his first major bit of page time here, and he first meets Janice Rand - whom he'd like to get to know better. (They later become a couple.)
It's interesting that the Ryuken have supposedly been indoctrinated and trained in Dragoon mentalities for flexibility and adaptability, yet when the shooting starts, they all immediately accept the hidebound orders from Satoh. Despite them being recruited from a pool of discipline problems and "free thinkers" throughout the DCMS, their academy training and cultural indoctrination leaves them unable to use the new skills that are supposedly their intended hallmark. Michi at least realizes that Satoh's orders are FUBAR, but he still carries them out. It would take Theodore Kurita's ascendancy to break the DCMS out of its suicidal rigidity, and even that was only partially successful.
The mention of Yukinov being slated for a myomer prosthetic reinforces the capabilities laid out in TRO: 3026 that myomer is top of the line - fully functional and normal looking. It again calls into question why the mechanical limb grafted onto Justin Allard is presented as cutting edge, when it's old tech that has to be programmed to interface with specific 'Mech piloting controls, rather than just letting the pilot use existing muscle memory as myomer would. The only reason I can think of for the metal arm is to hide the holdout laser and other presents from the "Q" department at MIIO inside, which would probably not be possible with a myomer arm.
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Date: October 4, 3026
Location: Barlow's End
Title: Wolves on the Border
Authors: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: At the Ryuken field HQ, Michi Noketsuna reports to Tai-sa Satoh that the Dragoons have broken contact with the Davion mercenaries and moved north towards the landing zone. Satoh slumps in his chair, unresponsive, not reacting to the news that the Ryuken are in danger of being surrounded.
Explosions rock the command hut as Davion advance forces reach the camp perimeter and engage the security detachment. When Satoh remains silent, Tai-i Wakabe takes command of the Headquarters Lance, while the rest of the staff scatter in all directions, leaving Satoh, Michi, and a commtech alone in the hut.
Satoh complains that he was promised it wouldn't be like this. The commtech reports that the ELH commander has demanded their surrender, but the frequencies are jammed, preventing a response. As Satoh listlessly shuffles through his campaign maps, Michi orders the commtech to find a rifle and fight. Once the man departs, Michi draws his service pistol and executes Satoh, clearing the way to take command of the Ryuken and save those who survive.
Notes: This is Michi's first real character defining moment, showing him as one of the few Combine officers who really internalized the flexibility of the Dragoon methods.
I wonder how many DCMS regiments were needlessly lost throughout the Succession Wars because their commanders mindlessly attempted to execute plans that had long since been overcome by events. Now,Max Liao (see my sigline) gets a lot of grief for doing this exact same thing at the tail end of the 4th Succession War. Yet, when Satoh does it, he's technically in perfect accord with the Combine's Dictum Honorarium.
Satoh's comment about "this wasn't what I was promised," makes me wonder what Satoh knew and when he knew it. Did Akuma promise that the Dragoons would ruin their reputation by bugging out, leaving Satoh to take all the glory when the Ryuken shattered the White Witches and seized the Achernar Proving Grounds? Did Akuma know that the ELH were onworld? He's ISF, so wouldn't he have had access to fresh reports on AFFS troop movements?
We know Akuma wants the Ryuken destroyed purely out of spite for Minobu Tetsuhara. But do DCMS hardliners (Black Dragon types) want to destroy the Ryuken experiment before it challenges traditional Combine combat doctrine?
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Date: October 10, 3026
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Simon Johnson, Chancellor of the Lyran Intelligence Corps, burns a report labeled "Ultra Secret" to ash while Archon Katrina Steiner looks on. Simon tells Katrina that he believes the report, personally sent by MIIO Director Quintus Allard, that House Liao produced a double of Hanse Davion and replaced the original. He notes that this would explain the difficulties during the Galtor Campaign and the lapse in relations with the Federated Suns.
Katrina asks if the same thing could happen in the Lyran Commonwealth. Simon answers that it would be possible, but it would require the involvement of so many people in the conspiracy as to disrupt normal government operations. He adds the caveat that it could be pulled off if Katrina were out of public view, such as while recovering from a serious injury. Katrina orders him to develop safeguards against such a scenario.
Katrina then asks if the LIC could pull off something like Operation DOPPLEGANGER. Simon answers in the affirmative - using a Lohengrin agent (a brainwashed orphan) as a deep cover agent. He cautions that, in his view, Liao's plan would have failed because the Liao agent wasn't a trained operative, but just a man who physically resembled Hanse, and whose mind was blanked and overwritten with Hanse Davion's memories. In Simon's view, the Liao doppleganger would have suffered a mental breakdown in short order, or would have been caught "thinking in a Capellan manner." Simon adds that the impostor's memories were probably just suppressed, not wiped out entirely, and could have driven him mad if they ever emerged. Simon posits that a trained Lyran operative could pull off a substitution with much greater chances for success.
He pulls out files on people that Katrina might wish to double, and informs her that Loki agents can obtain body doubles immediately.
Elsewhere on Tharkad, 24th Lyran Guards officer Jeana Clay races her bicycle through the hills, training for the Tharkad Triathlon. Next door neighbor Mr. Tomkins encourages her as she returns home. Entering, she showers following her morning workout, and is surprised when a Loki agent enters and fires a dart gun at her. Terrified, she wonders why an agent of State Terrorism has come after so long, and how they found her.
Jeana fights back and knocks the Loki agent down the stairs, knocking him out. A second agent manages to tranquilize her, and assesses her as an "excellent candidate."
Shortly thereafter, an air ambulance arrives and takes Jeana away. The driver reassures Mr. Tomkins that she has a chance, despite the heart attack brought on by the Yeguas fever.
Notes: Despite being set in Chapter 10 of Warrior: En Garde, this is a key establishing scene for the Warrior Trilogy, and it takes place chronologically before Chapters 1-9.
There's a nice bit of continuity in the reference to Ardath Mayhar's "The Sword and the Dagger." I'm still sort of confused by the ultra sci-fi tropes used in the LosTech setting. The technology to not only wipe/suppress a person's mind, but also to copy Hanse Davion's mind and superimpose it on the double's memories seems like it would be beyond the capability of House Liao. I mean, sure, they could have dredged up some LosTech doohickey that could do it, but my question is how House Liao would have gotten a detailed enough brainscan of Hanse to get all his memories? Also, what would be the point of putting a guy on the throne who had Hanse's mind? What you want is a guy who can pass for Hanse, but takes orders from Max Liao, not someone who thinks exactly like the original Hanse.
It's also interesting that Simon and Katrina assume that the doppleganger descending into madness would have been chalked up as a failure of the scheme. Since Hanse's heir is still Michael Hasek-Davion, having "Hanse" go nuts would place Mikey on the throne of the AFFS. Since he's shown a willingness to declare peace on the Capellan border (though Max may not have known that Michael dreamed of assimilating Liao territory into the "Federated Capellan Empire"), the Chancellor takes that as a win.
More importantly, this scene is delightfully subversive vis-a-vis Stackpole's usual portrayal of the Lyrans as shining good guys. Instead, we see Katrina and Simon cold-bloodedly opting to build on Max's DOPPLEGANGER scheme - not by recruiting an existing special forces operative, but by sending an agent of the State Terrorism division to seize an unwilling Lyran citizen and forcibly induct her into State service. Despite all the ostensible protections provided by the Estates General, the Lyran Commonwealth is a nearly absolute hereditary monarchy where the ends justify the means. Standards of living are higher than in the Combine, but a moral high-ground on a shining hill it ain't.
Jeana Clay's questions in the shower aren't the normal ones someone in her position might ask. Rather than "what? who? aaaaa!" it's "how did they find me? how do I kill him?" We later learn that Jeana's family was part of Heimdall - the anti-Loki underground movement that fought a covert war against state overreach during the reign of Alessandro Steiner.
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Satoh's comment about "this wasn't what I was promised," makes me wonder what Satoh knew and when he knew it.
Look at the situation:
Akuma is in a position to harrass the Dragoons, with Warlord Samsonov's blessings. But the Coordinator's orders weren't actually to crush them (this will come back to bite Samsonov and in a way Akuma; yet outwards, Takashi later wouldn't reveal that his subordinates screwed up royally or even pursued their own agendas over his orders so the impression lingers that Takashi had the Dragoons destroyed, when in reality he just couldn't prevent it from happening).
Also, Akuma doesn't get ISF support beyond what comes with his liaison officer position. The ISF is just interested in seeing if he's a Sons of the Dragon candidate. He ultimately isn't.
What happened on Barlow's end is that Akuma (only) tried to get Tetsuhara out of the picture for personal reasons. Once Tetsuhara had presented what seemed like a foolproof battle plan his car was sabotaged and Satoh was probably only promised that he couldn't lose the fight if he stuck to the plan.
Akuma was never wasteful, and I doubt he wanted the Ryuken to be crushed; but Satoh was installed as a fall guy if that defeat somehow happened while Akuma pursued his own agenda. That seems to have been a Plan B, where unwanted losses happen which, on the bright side, can then be laid at the Dragoons' feet.
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Date: November 2, 3026
Location: Galedon V
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: A meeting between Jerry Akuma and Warlord of Galedon Grieg Samsonov is interrupted by the arrival of newly arrived ComStar Precentor Alexandre Kalafon, who has come (officially) to present his credentials after replacing Precentor Jhi To Phud at the Galedon HPG.
Once Samsonov vouches for Akuma's trustworthiness, Kalafon describes the chain of events that led to Dragoon MechWarrior Fadre Singh becoming bitter and disaffected (having succeeded in a reckless attack on Hoff, then being relegated to service at an isolated outpost on Misery as punishment). According to Kalafon, Singh told a passing mercenary about the Dragoons' "Hegira" plan for a full-scale exodus from Kurita space. Kalafon asks nothing in exchange for the information, calling it a sign of good will. Samsonov notes that "good will is maintained through further good will," and the Precentor concurs, then departs.
Samsonov reflects on Akuma's history - having come to the Warlord's attention after one of his schemes disgraced his superior officer and, by extension, Samsonov's rival Warlord Yoriyoshi. Once the ISF confirmed his devotion to the Combine, Samsonov rewarded Akuma with a posting to the 8th Sword of Light, and then promoted him to be an aide on his staff. Though useful, Samsonov worries that Akuma is a fanatic fueled by hatred.
Akuma resolves to learn more of the Hegira plan, to provide the Coordinator with "insurance" against such an eventuality. Akuma further reports good progress with his campaign of harassment against the Dragoons - forcing them to abandon troops on hostile worlds, squeezing their revenues from An Ting by imposing an undeclared trade embargo, raising the cost of supplies, and replacing Tetsuhara with Satoh. Akuma notes begrudgingly that the Brotherhood physician on the DropShip was loyal to his professional code of ethics, and saved Tetsuhara's life. Akuma says he expects Satoh to successfully execute the plan and retain control of the Ryuken even after Tetsuhara returns to duty.
Samsonov approves, noting that the Ryuken may serve him as a counterbalance to the ISF in the future.
A report comes in with the result of the Barlow's End operation. Samsonov begins to rant about the Dragoons, while Akuma is shocked, but silent, having not expected the Dragoons to retreat. Samsonov vows to see the Dragoons destroyed for having humiliated him, and orders Akuma to summon Precentor Kalafon to plot strategy.
Notes: This scene confirms Frabby's analysis - Satoh was promised a foolproof plan to win him personal glory and permanent command of the Ryuken. Akuma wasn't out to destroy the Ryuken or sell out the Combine - he just wants to destoy the Dragoons as a way to hurt Tetsuhara.
The "mercenary" who was pumping Fadre Singh for information was almost certainly ROM. Singh's disgrace and reassignment to Misery seems fundamentally disconnected from the Dragoons' Clan roots. In the Clans, the ends justify the means, and victory validates the strategy and tactics by which it was achieved. A foolhardy charge into the enemy's teeth and a victory over superior odds are exactly the sort of thing that many Clan warriors dream about, and hope will be their ticket into the eugenics program and a Bloodname. Granted, the Dragoons have had decades to shift their ways of thinking away from Clan orthodoxy, but it really seems like he was being penalized for thinking too Clan-like.
The Dragoons do have a method for dealing with screwups - penal battalions. Zeta started out this way during the Davion contract, and then that role went to the Black Widow Company during the Marik Civil War. Why was Singh left to rot on Misery, rather than being given a 'Mech with a bullseye painted on the center torso and sent out into the field?
The reference to the "Brotherhood physician" is a nod to the Physicians of the Dragon profiled in the House Kurita sourcebook. With mystical trappings, they treat medical practices not unlike ComStar does advanced technology, but are nonetheless highly skilled. I wonder if Akuma ordered the Brotherhood physician to kill Tetsuhara and was refused, or tried to sneak in and sabotage the medical treatment, and was blocked. One would think that a Brotherhood physician might report an assassination attempt against a Combine officer.
Kalafon's visit clearly demonstrates that ComStar is still hurting over the failure of Vesar Kristofur's 3015 gambit to learn the origins of the Dragoons, and are now actively seeking to manipulate the Combine into destroying this troublesome unknown factor. The amount of hatred seems unusual, given that it's apparently unprovoked. The rumors of Wolverine descendants operating within ComStar to influence policy may be bolstered by this apparently weakly motivated obsession. The Cabal Wolverines (descended from the crew of the Zughoffer Weir may have recognized the Dragoons as Clan scouts, and sought to direct ComStar to destroy them.
It seems a bit late for word to be coming in from Barlow's End about the results of the campaign three weeks after the fighting ended. A HPG transmission should have arrived much earlier. To me, this indicates that the Combine does not trust ComStar with military communications, and instead relies entirely on dispatch couriers. You lose speed, but gain greater assurance of information security. As far as ComStar is concerned, the Combine hasn't forgotten the Bandersnatch incident.
There are some interesting questions raised by some of the elements of Akuma's backstory. How much control over the roster of the Sword of Light regiments would a District Warlord have? They control the Regulars assigned to their District, but would they have the authority to staff the free-floating regiments like the Sword of Light or the Night Stalkers? Does each of the Warlords have a "pet" Sword of Light regiment (linking the 8th to Galedon)?
Samsonov's musings about using the "dragon sword" against the "dragon's shadow" strongly hints that he's considering making a play for power against Takashi Kurita. This is one of the reasons that Takashi has been shown skillfully playing his Warlords off against each other, so that they won't go after him and try to repeat the Von Rohrs era with a new name on the Chrysanthemum Throne.
The note about revenues from An Ting strongly implies that the Dragoons were given the whole world as a landhold fur the duration of the contract, and that their pay is largely dependent on the world's revenues. The Eridani Light Horse was granted the unmapped world of Derby, Snord's Irregulars got Clinton, and McCarron's Armored Cavalry got Menke. What about smaller mercenary groups? What's the cutoff for getting a say in planetary government and skimming off from the planetary economy? Would smaller units get cities as landholds?
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The Dragoons do have a method for dealing with screwups - penal battalions. Zeta started out this way during the Davion contract, and then that role went to the Black Widow Company during the Marik Civil War. Why was Singh left to rot on Misery, rather than being given a 'Mech with a bullseye painted on the center torso and sent out into the field?
From TRO 3025 Centurion write-up, it appears that this was because Singh was successful and thus a 'hero'.
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From TRO 3025 Centurion write-up, it appears that this was because Singh was successful and thus a 'hero'.
Right, but my point is that his actions were stereotypically Clan (despite him being a Dragoon adoptee), and he should have gotten rewarded for it, had the Dragoons still adhered to Clan philosophies. The philosophical split ultimately resulted in the Dragoon Civil War of 3054, pitting Elson and Alpin's traditionalists against Jaime's loyalists.
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Date: November 15, 3026
Location: New Avalon
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Minister of Intelligence, Information, and Operations Quintus Allard meets with Hanse Davion in his palace's private audience chamber to discuss a message recently arrived from Michael Hasek-Davion. Allard plays the holodisc, in which Michael conveys a video clip he feels may be of interest, which his agent intercepted on Le Blanc while it was en route to a freelance bounty hunter named Sten Weller.
In a black and white video, a shifty, rumpled man named Billy confirms the destruction of Kempis and the eyewitness accounts of the deed being done by a woman matching Natasha Kerensky's physical description and piloting a black Warhammer. A man wearing battle armor emerges from the shadows and drops a wallet on the table, which Billy quickly snatches.
Michael reappears in the holovid to explain that the conversation was about the Black Widow having committed atrocities on New Mendham. He warns Hanse against trying to hire the Dragoons through their agents on Galatea.
Hanse openly doubts the story, noting that it doesn't fit with the character of the Natasha Kerensky he met while the Dragoons were under contract to House Davion. Quintus notes that the Davion mercenaries which attacked New Mendham did not report any contact with the Black Widows. Allard speculates that Michael is passing this message on at the behest of House Liao.
Allard notes that the Dragoons were present on Barlow's End, but reassures Hanse that their presence does not appear to be a reaction to Operation GALAHAD, which was the reason for the Eridani Light Horse's unexpected presence on the world. Quintus suggests that the Dragoons and the DCMS failed to learn anything about GALAHAD before they pulled out. He notes that the destruction of the prototype jump stabilizer has enraged both Professor McGuffin and Doctor Banzai.
Quintus adds that the Kurita troops on Barlow's End (the Ryuken) fought like fanatics, and that the FedSuns troops found the Kurita commander was found shot in the back of the head - which he speculates was a ritual killing, like seppuku.
Quintus reports some unusual behavior - by Dragoon assets - JumpShips appearing at systems scheduled for use by GALAHAD assets, and Dragoon surveillance of AFFS hiring procedures on Galatea. He notes that his attempt to slip an agent into the Dragoons by enticing them with a Hatchetman failed when the Dragoons gave the agent a cushy slot in one of their subcontractors, Carter's Chevaliers, and traded one of their custom Archers for the Hatchetman.
Hanse orders Quintus to edit combat footage from Barlow's End to emphasize the Dragoon withdrawal, and to leak it to a Kurita agent, in the hopes that the footage could exacerbate a split between the Dragoons and the Coordinator. He also tasks Quintus with delivering Michael's holovid to Jaime Wolf, to build credit with the mercenary commander with information about the plot to discredit his unit.
Notes: There are generally considered to be two classes of BattleTech novels. The "spine" novels focus on the main movers and shakers in the politics of the Clans and the Inner Sphere, following a number of units and characters through major conflicts and political machinations. The Warrior trilogy and Blood of Kerensky trilogy are examples of this type. Then there are the smaller scale stories, usually focusing on one unit fighting on one or two worlds. The Gray Death Legion books are of the latter type.
Wolves on the Border is a hybrid of the two types. While it primarily focuses on the Dragoons, it expertly weaves in a fair amount of interstellar intrigue and politics, as well as covering operations up and down the Combine/FedSuns border. And the content is very dense in the intrigue chapters.
In this one alone, we have the Bounty Hunter chasing down rumors about Natasha, Michael Hasek-Davion intriguing with the Capellans, discussions of Operation GALAHAD, Team Banzai's technological research, and efforts to infiltrate the Dragoons.
This is the first time the Bounty Hunter's armor has been described. It wasn't represented visually until the release of the MWDA pilot card. From the description (full body armor, electronically modulated voice), the Bounty Hunter is modeled on Boba Fett. The story of the Hunter is now known, more or less, but readers encountering him in "Wolves on the Border" can be forgiven if they feel like they skipped a chapter, since there are lots of references to the two having a history together (dating back to when the Hunter and his gang trashed Natasha's Alpha Regiment company during the Marik Civil War, stealing Natasha's Marauder and leaving only her and one other Dragoon from that company alive. I certainly know that when I first read Wolves on the Border, I was confused by the Bounty Hunter scenes, and thought I must have missed an earlier Dragoon novel. Yet when I hunted those down (The Spider and the Wolf, for example), nada.
We know from the "Tales of the Black Widow Company" scenario "Bounty Hunter," that Michael Hasek-Davion actually employed the Bounty Hunter to ambush the Black Widows on Le Blanc in mid-3025, so I'm guessing that Michael didn't get this from an "agent," but actually got the recording from the Bounty Hunter himself, probably in the hopes that FedSuns involvement could help him flush out the Widow. It seems very odd that the conversation between Billy and the Bounty Hunter would be recorded, and that it would have been sent to another bounty hunter. Was the Bounty Hunter using it to recruit a team for the operation? Or was Sten Weller using his own network of informants to keep tabs on the competition?
The revelation that Professor McGuffin's prototype was a jump stabilizer suggests to me that it was intended as a component to make the prototype Improved Jump Jets used on the Super Wasp and Super Griffin field-deployable. In addition to heating problems and a tendency to explode, the prototype IJJs may have also been hard to control - necessitating a jump stabilizer. The destruction of McGuffin's prototype seems to have really set back research in this field, since Improved Jump Jets weren't combat-ready until Clan Wolf-in-Exile introduced them in 3069. My guess is that Achernar and Team Banzai soon turned their attentions to the Helm data core and the "shovel ready" tech there, believing it to offer a better return on investment than trying to work out the kinks of IJJs. With the destruction of the jump stabilizer and the theft of the oscillation overcompensator (in "Remaining Unseen"), the IJJ project must have seemed cursed.
This is one of the few times we see Hanse scheming against the Combine - the Warrior Trilogy was very Liao-centric as far as Hanse went, and detente had more or less set in by the time of the Blood of Kerensky books. I remember from the Succession Wars board game that one of the key moves you could make was to break an enemy state's mercenaries away from their faction at a key point in the game. "Contract Ends" cards were so common that my standard move was to immediately send my mercs on suicide runs into enemy territory, removing their unreliable presence and hopefully taking several enemy units with them.
No dates have been given for Operation GALAHAD 3026, beyond the year. According to the NAIS Atlas, these exercises involved ten 'Mech regiments and one hundred infantry and armor regiments drawn from the AFFS. The ELH unit on Barlow's End was apparently one of the 'Mech regiments involved, and had just been transiting through the region when the DCMS forces attacked and the White Witches asked the ELH for support. GALAHAD '27 started in August of that year, so if the timeframes are the same, the exercises seem to have had a duration of about three months (August - October).
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Professor McGuffin? Seriously? Even by Battletech pun name standards, that's pretty bad.
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Professor McGuffin? Seriously? Even by Battletech pun name standards, that's pretty bad.
I noted previously that, since it's presented in conjunction with a mysterious item to be acquired, the Prof appears to be an explicit shout out to the literary trope of a McGuffin. Still, not even close to Ninh Tehn Do, as far as terrible BattleTech character name puns go.
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Date: November 24, 3026
Location: An Ting
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Minobu Tetsuhara, convalescing at Hoshon Mansion after surgery to replace his arm and leg with prosthetics, receives a visit from Jaime Wolf. Both show the strain of the events surrounding and following the catastrophe on Barlow's End.
Jaime tells Minobu that Yukinov has been back on active duty for a week, with a myomer prosthesis. Minobu reflects that the Brotherhood physicians were only able to provide him with less sophisticated metal limbs that allow him to pilot a 'Mech, but at reduced efficiency.
Jaime further reports that Alpha Regiment will be repaired from its losses on Barlow's End soon, despite significant losses. He complains, though, that Akuma continues to make trouble, spreading rumors around the Combine to lay the groundwork for another attempt to split up the Dragoon regiments. Feeling threatened, Jaime asks Minobu to use his influence with the Coordinator to prevent any effort to break up the Dragoons.
Minobu promises to try, but acknowledges that Samsonov will use the defeat on Barlow's End to lend weight to his arguments.
Notes: I know I keep harping on it, but the inconsistent level of access to prosthetic technologies continues to bug me. Myomer prosthetics aren't cheap, but they aren't LosTech, either. Yet mercenaries can afford them (even with Akuma imposing an informal trade embargo), while the Physicians of the Dragon won't spring for better than functional metal unit for the commander of an elite frontline regiment. And this isn't due to Akuma's interference - he acknowledged in a previous chapter that his attempts to influence the Brotherhood regarding Minobu's treatment had come to naught. Across the border, Duke Aaron Sandoval had both legs severed, and got full myomer replacements good enough to pilot a 'Mech with, while Justin Allard was told that the metal unit he received (which appears to be on par with Minobu's) is cutting edge NAIS technology.
Minobu's vase painting apparently puts him culturally at odds with most of the other DCMS officer corps. Handbook: Draconis Combine says that academy trained officers of the Combine tend to focus exclusively on martial pursuits, and disdain the arts. Of course, few Combine warriors have Minobu's faculty with ki.
Jaime's distress shows his commitment to his new mission (given during the last supply run) to staying in the Inner Sphere and preparing the Successor States for the Clan Invasion. If he didn't care about the Dragoons' reputation, they could execute Hegira immediately and book for Strana Mechty. Over the course of twenty years, he's forged a unit and accomplished deeds which a freebirth would never be allowed to even contemplate in the Kerensky Cluster, and clearly the distant Homeworlds have no nostalgic pull on him.
I wouldn't expect Minobu to be able to win a he-said/he-said faceoff with a Warlord, but given the mutual animosities among the DCMS top brass, one wonders to what extent Minobu could cultivate other Warlords to back the Dragoons as a means of tweaking Samsonov - whom they all despise. It must be an open secret that he was directly responsible for the downfall of Warlord Yoriyoshi after the Galtor Campaign, so I'm surprised that the other Warlords aren't looking for an excuse to preemptively knock him down a peg or two, out of a sense of self preservation, if nothing else.
There's nothing mercs like better than a chance to gossip when between contracts on Galatea. I wonder why so many merc units are willing to sign on with the Combine, given their proven track record of using company store tactics to impoverish and then absorb merc units, alongside their casual disdain. Are Combine pay rates really so much better than what the Lyrans or FedSuns will pay? Or does the Combine usually get units that are one step away from relocating to the Periphery as bandits, and can't get offers from more reputable employers?
The Clan ethos and the Combine's bushido philosophies have notable parallels (unsurprising, since the focus on ritual dueling was borrowed by Kerensky's SLDF from Combine "ronin" during the 1st Hidden War). I wonder how differently things would have gone if the Dragoons had started their circuit of the Inner Sphere in the Combine, back when they were comparatively "fresh off the boat" from the Kerensky cluster and far more indoctrinated in The Way of the Clan.
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The Combine is notoriously spartan. It makes sense for high tech myomer replacements not to happen there.
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Still, not even close to Ninh Tehn Do, as far as terrible BattleTech character name puns go.
I dunno, House Master Ty Wu Non (House Hiritsu) and Sang-shao Mai Tee Phyn (2nd CRC) could give him a run for his money.
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Date: November 27, 3026
Location: Kittery
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Kittery Training Battalion commander Major Justin Allard receives Private Robert Craon for a disciplinary hearing. Craon disobeyed Leftenant Andrew Redburn's orders to return to his watch post after Craon went on a racist rant against Allard (due to his half-Capellan ancestry) following Allard's dismissal of Sergeant Phillip Capet, the battalion's former leader.
Allard tells Craon that the racism isn't the problem, and explains that while the training battalion personnel looked up to Capet as a hero, his victory on Uravan took place in a fight that took place only because Capet disobeyed orders and endangered his unit while trying to rescue his own family. Allard notes that Capet was planning to hijack a JumpShip and take the training cadre on a suicidal revenge mission, necessitating Allard's action to dismiss him from the AFFS.
Craon apologizes to Allard and accepts a punishment duty of overseeing the other cadets in training exercises, and performing maintenance with the Techs.
After Craon leaves, Leftenant Andrew Redburn enters to complain about all the paperwork Duke Michael Hasek-Davion and his administrators require to conduct exercises. He jokes that Michael has let so many Capellans back into the Kittery government, that he may as well just give back the planet. Redburn reports 32 'Mechs ready for duty - a Valkyrie and a Spider, plus 30 Stingers.
In the 'Mech bay, Justin addresses the cadets, who have assembled under the supervision of Sergeant Walter de Mesnil. He reminds them that the goal of the AFFS is to get the native population to accept Federated Suns membership, and warns against using the natives' livestock for target practice.
In his Valkyrie, Justin gives the code phrase and powers up his system, then heads out at the head of the trainee column. Out in the field, several hours later, Private Sonnac reports odd magscan readings. Justin goes over the crest of the hill to investigate. Redburn reports an attack by a company of Cicadas coming in from the south, east, and north. Justin reports a Rifleman blocking the way to the west, and tells Redburn it's a trap. He orders him to get the cadets out, and moves to engage the Rifleman with his Valkyrie. On the other side of the ridge, Redburn orders the cadets to fall back to the west.
Justin's missile volleys damage the Rifleman, and he evades the return fire. Back in the valley, Redburn orders his cadets to charge the Capellan 'Mechs and use their jump jets to get behind them. The AFFS cadets get the better of the exchange, but take losses nonetheless. Still fighting the Rifleman, Justin pushes his Valkyrie hard to get around behind the Rifleman. He is shocked when the Rifleman's arms flip up and over, pointing into the rear arc and lasering his 'Mech's legs off.
In the valley, the Cicadas begin to withdraw. The cadet lance commanders report three dead, with varying degrees of damage to the remaining 'Mechs. Allard fails to check in, and Redburn leads a rescue party to the Major's last known position. Vectoring towards a plume of smoke, they find Allard's Valkyrie limbless torso prone on the ground, and see that Allard is alive in the shattered cockpit, but missing his arm from the elbow down. Both Craon and Redburn feel that it would have been better for Allard if he had died, rather than live without an arm.
Notes: As noted previously, the Federated Suns seems to be well behind the curve in terms of bionics in 3026. Despite the Free Worlds League's anti-bionic prejudices, it seemed like half the background characters in "The Spider and the Wolf" (set on New Delos) had metallic prosthetics. The Duke of Robinson lost both legs while commanding a tank, and they had him up and running a 'Mech in short order, but Redburn and Craon somehow feel that the son of the head of MIIO won't get similar access to medtech?
It's possible that Redburn and Craon are from Outback worlds, and would have had less exposure to modern medtech. (Redburn is from Firgrove, about which we lack sufficient detail to determine its Outback-ness. We don't know where Craon is from, but his evident prejudices suggest somewhere either heavily impacted by Capellan raids, or somewhere generally culturally intolerant.)
The high concentration of Cicadas is unusual for a Liao unit, since that design is only produced in the Free Worlds League. No unit in the CCAF is listed as using Cicadas as its primary BattleMechs.
The Rifleman is one of the most common 'Mechs on the battlefield (particularly in the Federated Suns), and has been since the waning days of the Star League. What does it say about Justin's education and experience that he's never heard of Riflemen being able to flip their arms before?
Uravan, where Philip Capet's family lived, lies at the tip of the lower salient into the St. Ives Commonality/Sian Commonality. At one point, Justin refers to the Federated Suns colonists who have settled on captured Capellan worlds as "carpetbaggers." The term originated as a derogatory term used by defeated Confederates to refer to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction, and reflected their fear that the victorious Northerners would loot and plunder the defeated Confederacy. Justin using that term about FedSuns immigrants reveals his fears that the Feddies are going to loot the conquered worlds (the fact that he has to warn his cadets about shooting up the native livestock implies there have been previous incidents along those lines), and that he may feel somewhat cynical about the actual intent of the Federated Suns to bring their vaunted "freedoms" to the conquered Capellan worlds, vs. their intent to make a quick pound. There's ample precedent, looking at how the Inner Sphere treated the Periphery worlds in the latter decades of the Star League.
Either the Rifleman was already damaged, or Justin Allard has incredible luck with his LRMs. With eight long-range missile hits, he destroys two weapon systems and inflicts a critical hit on the Rifleman's sensors. The Cicadas also seem to go down entirely too easily, particularly considering they're presumed to have Veteran pilots, going up against greenies in Stingers.
This tends to be one of the telltale differences between the spine novels and the local story books, in that the combat in the spine novels is more cinematic, and only covered shallowly, whereas the fighting is described in page after page of loving detail in some novels that try to adhere much more closely to the flow of the game upon which it is based. I know many readers get bored with the back and forth of laser blasts, etc., and skip ahead to the end of the battle, when the plot and intrigue pick up again. (Stackpole does go into great detail when a main character fights a one-on-one duel, such as in the Bloodname Trials in Blood of Kerensky).
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Allard notes that Craon was planning to hijack a JumpShip and take the training cadre on a suicidal revenge mission, necessitating Allard's action to dismiss him from the AFFS.
It was Capet that was going to do that, not Craon.
Might be worthwhile to note that the code phrase to start Justin's mech is one that is often used by Capellan intelligence.
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Thanks. Fixed.
It's interesting that there is so much paranoia among the Feddies, despite centuries of handing the Capellans defeat after defeat. I guess isolated victories like McCarron's Long March and insurgent movements like the Kittery Tong help maintain a healthy respect for the Capellan fighting forces, despite high profile expressions of disdain, like the "limp sword" banner.
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I felt it was more a result of dogged Capellan resistance and asymmetrical warfare that tends to continue long after the AFFS feels they have won (which the Capellans just refuse to acknowledge, having earned their citizen status and all that). Check the backstory of Count Anton Vitios (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Anton_Vitios), for example, to see what I mean.
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Date: December 1, 3026
Location: Luthien
Title: Heir to the Dragon
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: ISF Director Subhash Indrahar spars with Coordinator Takashi Kurita at their dojo. Subhash chides Takashi for being distracted by his son, Theodore, who appears to prefer the company of the Legion of Vega than life at court. Takashi feels he does not understand the demands of the realm. Subhash concludes that Takashi has not accepted that his strongarm tactics will never force Theodore to become the man his father wants him to be.
Subhash changes the subject to Operation GALAHAD, House Davion's military exercises over the past three months. He knows that Prince Hanse Davion must have more in mind than demonstrating military preparedness, but his ISF agents have come up empty. Subhash confirms the report's assessment that Houses Liao and Marik will be of little help if Hanse Davion starts a war.
On the subject of the Ryuken and the Dragoons, Subhash recommends expansion of the Ryuken, which will become important, along with the Genyosha, if the Dragoons cannot be retained. He reports that the Dragoons continue to amass debt due to the Combine's "company store" policy, and that the ISF has manufactured material for blackmail. Takashi reiterates that he does not want the Dragoons to leave the Combine.
They proceed to the meeting with the Warlords, with Subhash satisfied that their talk of the Dragoons has refocused the Coordinator on the true problems of the Combine, and away from his disappointment with Theodore.
Notes: The Combine has repeatedly been shown to inspire its officials and soldiers to consider the state itself to be more important than its ruler. Despite Subhash's obvious friendship with Takashi, he considers his first duty to be to the state, with even Takashi being expendable in service of that goal. (Subhash continues to conceal Theodore's secret wedding and children with O5P agent Tomoe Sakade).
I wonder to what extent the Warlords believe Subhash is their trusted supporter, favoring them above the others? Theodore likewise trusts Subhash, but the ISF spy chief would have him killed without a second thought if he thought Theodore posed a danger to the realm.
It's interesting that Takashi and Subhash are already discussing the importance of the Genyosha, since Takashi's envoy won't arrive on Echo V to summon Yorinaga Kurita out of exile to command the Genyosha for another month. I wonder what Takashi's backup plan was if Yorinaga opted to remain at the monastery?
Hanse and Quintus would be delighted to have confirmation that the ISF was utterly mystified by Operation GALAHAD, maintaining the obfuscating chaos being used to conceal troop redeployments required to stage troops for Operation RAT.
Indrahar's assessment of the other Kapteyn Accord states' military readiness is astoundingly accurate, in light of the actual course of the Fourth Succession War. I wonder if he could have anticipated Janos Marik's formal response to Max Liao's request for military assistance (hilariously detailed in "Historical: Brush Wars").
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Date: December 1, 3026
Location: An Ting
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Michi Noketsuna enters Hoshon Mansion, searching for Minobu Tetsuhara. Finding only shattered vases in his study, Michi is relieved to find Minobu in the tower, watching the sunset. Minobu tells Michi that he is disturbed by news just received from Luthien, that the Ryuken is to expand to six regiments, with each of the existing companies serving as a core that a cadre will build around. They will be assigned to An Ting, Capra, Misery, Thestria, Delacruz, and Marlowe's Rift, serving alongside the Dragoons.
Michi asks what about this construes bad news, and Minobu informs him that the six regiments will be directly controlled by Warlord Grieg Samsonov, with Jerry Akuma in charge of the Ryuken-ichi on An Ting, while Minobu will command the Ryuken-ni on Misery. Michi tells Minobu he cannot accept this insult, but Minobu informs him that the arrangements are the will of the Coordinator.
Notes: I wonder if the decision regarding the Ryuken was made in the Coordinator's meeting with the Warlords, and transmitted by high priority HPG relay, or if it had been made previously. I remain surprised that Samsonov was able to gain such an advantage in power over the other four Warlords. Takashi is generally pretty good about keeping them balanced against each other, but now the other four have just their own Regulars to command, while Samsonov suddenly has an extra six regiments at his beck and call. Takashi's focus on "not losing the Dragoons" must have led him to allocate the Ryuken to Samsonov to contain the Dragoons if they were to go to rogue.
Minobu's legendary ki mastery was evidently not sufficient to maintain his calm center after getting this news. Minobu has had previous dealings with DCMS power politics, such as when he was assigned to command the Ryuken in the first place, receiving rank tabs without stays as a way of communicating that the promotion was not just for show.
The question of the Ryuken expansion is, where are they going to get the troops for an extra 576 'Mechs, MechWarriors and support staff. Minobu had a very difficult time finding enough troops with the right mentality to adapt to the Dragoon fighting and command style. Not only were there a limited number of "diamonds in the rough," but many other unit commanders refused to allow their own strength to be depleted to transfer troops out to the Ryuken. I mean, sure, the men of the Legion of Vega would probably be very happy to transfer to the Ryuken, but it won't be getting anyone from the Sword of Light, or other prestigious units. (For that matter, the Genyosha is being stood up at the same time, creating a competing channel of demand for troops.)
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Date: December 15, 3026
Location: Albiero
Title: MechWarrior - Matabushi Ambush
Author: Peter Fokos
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Following Gideon's meeting with Tasha after the bar fight with the Black Widow, Gideon is faced with two individuals - Kearny and Tasha - both claiming to be Federated Suns intelligence agents (MIIO and DMI's MI6 respectively), giving him conflicting information about the motivation behind the attack on Anders Moon and who to trust.
This trend continues - some time after the bar fight, Gideon gets a message from his trusted family friend, who gave him a Jenner and set him on the path to seek the Chalice of Herne and his family's murderers, Jordan Rowe. Rowe confirms that the Kurita military is behind Jarris McBrin's power grab, and that the DCMS wants a strategic outpost from which to respond to Operation GALAHAD '27. He recommends contacting MIIO agent Kearny on Albiero for more information.
However, Tasha sends Gideon purported transcripts of intercepted communiques between Matabushi CEO Duke Ishi Tahiro, Trade Division CEO Marquis Tanji Koetsu, and Special Operations Director Hohiro Anato regarding Operation INROAD. The communications suggest that the small world would be of little interest to the DCMS, and thereby would provide a prime venue for smuggling, if the local government could be co-opted. When Duke Vandenburg (Gideon's father) refused to cooperate, Matabushi authorized the Dark Wing to eliminate him, having bribed both McBrin and Rowe to cooperate in the regime change.
With damning but contradictory evidence in hand, Gideon travels to Albiero in an attempt to make contact with Kearny, and follows a map to a landing site that was signed "a friend." Unsure of what to expect, Gideon sees seven Karnov VTOLs arrive in a desert canyon and the Kurita troops aboard begin to offload valuables from a massive vault built into the canyon wall.
Ambushers rise up around the convoy and attack, boarding some of the VTOLs and shooting one down as it attempts to take off. Gideon spots Tasha in the middle of the fight, running to board the lead VTOL. Gideon runs to join her, and catches hold just as it takes off.
Inside, Gideon finds Kearny holding Tasha at gunpoint as she pilots the Karnov. Tasha banks sharply and evades Kearny's aim. The two face off and notice Gideon for the first time. Both claim the other is an ISF agent and ask Gideon to help.
Gideon takes Tasha's side and she knocks out Kearny. Resuming control of the Karnov, Tasha explains that MI6 got word Matabushi was transferring gold bullion, cash for laundering, LosTech, and computer files. She says that the files contain the location of the Dark Wing and the Chalice of Herne. She gives it to Gideon with the expectation that he will be able to expose and disrupt Matabushi's operations on Anders Moon. She cautions Gideon to maintain secrecy, noting that MI6 does not officially exist.
Gideon later reviews the computer data, which confirms Tasha's story about Operation INROAD - to set up a cover operation in the Federated Suns for money laundering and smuggling, using Grig Griez's JumpShip and a special lance of 'Mechs, plus bribes for agents on Anders Moon, including Jordan Rowe.
Notes: This is the penultimate "scene" in the MechWarrior game, where all the subterfuge is laid bare and the scene is set for the final showdown in glorious VGA color.
The setup is left vague for dramatic purposes, since (like all the "Encounter" portions) the player has a choice to make, where the wrong option leads to death, and it's unclear who "a friend" is. While that works from a dramatic gameplay point of view, it seems unconscionably sloppy for Tasha to bring Gideon into a live fire shooting gallery without letting him know who was doing the inviting. So was her telling him "By the way, MI6 is top secret, so don't tell anyone," after having introduced herself as MI6 in a crowded Drac bar.
(Likewise, it's hard to reconcile the idea of MI6's existence being a closely held state secret, when there's both an MI5 and MI7 in the DMI TO&E, strongly implying the existence of an MI6 in there somewhere.)
Operation INROAD still confuses me. We know that it involved smuggling across the Davion/Kurita border in partnership with Grig Griez, Jordan Rowe, and a duped Jarris McBrin. The operation would net Matabushi an estimated 600 million C-bills per year, with the puppet government of Ander's Moon providing cover for the Stonebow and other smuggling ships by laundering the smuggling revenue and providing falsified customs checks. On the surface, all well and good.
But the question is, why go to all that trouble? Uninhabited systems are a smuggler's friend, and a distribution deal with someone like Griez in the Federated Suns would have allowed Matabushi to outsource the work of forging bills of lading and laundering the money. Heck, ComStar's neutral - would they even care where H-Bills came from when it was presented for conversion into C-Bills? And why would Tahiro have had to lean on the ISF for permission to go ahead?
I can only speculate that Matabushi was involved in moving some goods that may not have been, strictly speaking, in the Combine's best interests, possibly on behalf of the yakuza. However, in that case, why were DCMS troops and an ISF agent providing security, and why was MI6 so keen to target Matabushi and break up the plan? Was Operation INROAD just phase one as part of a larger plot to establish a base of operations behind the first line of defense in the Draconis March - much like Ricol's plan for Trell I?
The transfer of goods out of the Matabushi vault also seems odd to me. If you have a nice vault like that, why remove the contents, instead of doubling down on security? Where was all that gold, money (for laundering), LosTech, and computer data records going? Another Matabushi facility? The money would theoretically have been bound for Ander's Moon to be laundered. Was the gold to pay bribes? And why move the computer records (an artifact of Peter Fokos writing in an era predating networked computers - future of the '80s) and LosTech?
The LosTech cache is particularly intriguing. LosTech is generally treated as generic "TREASURE!" by BattleTech characters, who splice the best bits into their war rigs and sell the rest. But where does the "rest" go? Are collectors hanging mysterious "Left Handed Framistat XL39s" in their private galleries? Are R&D labs futilely trying to reverse engineer the items? One thing that bothered me is that we never saw any of this LosTech being deployed in the field circa 3025, where it could provide a decided advantage. Theodore Kurita got a Dragon from his father and an Orion from his aunt. Both were stock. One might think that the sole heir of House Kurita would rate an upgraded model. Surely a Great House would have some LosTech squirreled away for personal use, if Matabushi has a private collection. Or were the Kurita troops there because the LosTech belonged to House Kurita, and was being researched by Matabushi?
The revelation that Jordan Rowe was part of the plot against Gideon was fairly surprising, since he gave Gideon the Jenner and sent him off to track down the Dark Wing. Was he trying to keep Gideon in his back pocket in case Matabushi tried to betray him, so he could claim to have been working covertly to aid the rightful heir if word of his support for Matabushi came out? Otherwise, Rowe would have been strongly motivated to simply shoot Gideon back on Ander's Moon.
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It is a intriguing story, been decades since i read anything from the MechWarrior1 fiction. It's too bad this stuff isn't canon. :-\
Having a "hidden" war between spies and shadowy characters being backed up by small mercenary lances and other assorted rough type people is nice shade to add to the Third Succession War era.
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It is a intriguing story, been decades since i read anything from the MechWarrior1 fiction. It's too bad this stuff isn't canon. :-\
It hasn't been explicitly de-canonized. I believe the guiding principle is that if it fits within the theme of the BattleTech universe and doesn't explicitly contradict any of the established canon events of the BattleTech universe, and makes sense, then you can assume it happened (or at least something in those broad strokes).
There are elements that do not fit with the established timeline (references to the Gray Death Legion fighting on Verthandi prior to their getting a contract to go there, for example), but MechWarrior 1 fits into the BattleTech universe very nicely compared to MechWarrior 3050, or the SNES MechWarrior adaptation, or MechAssault 2.
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Date: December 27, 3026
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: One month after being blown out of his Valkyrie by an enemy Rifleman, Major Justin Allard awakens in a hospital on New Avalon. Dr. James Thompson and Nurse Alice Forrester inform him that his severed arm has been replaced by a steel prosthetic.
Notes: Kittery is a good seven jumps from New Avalon. With a one week transit up to the jump point in Kittery, and another week on the New Avalon end (assuming use of standard jump points), that means Justin must have had one heck of a command circuit to get him to New Avalon in less than two weeks (presumably they did the surgery and prosthetic attachment on New Avalon, rather than en route. This is definitely not standard operating procedure for the AFFS, which (per The Sword and the Dagger) tends to use LosTech cryo tubes to freeze soldiers during the long, slow slog back to rear-area worlds for treatment. The Prince's best friend, Ardan Sortek, was frozen and shipped to Tharkad, rather than being taken to an AFFS hospital.
So, tremendous resources have been expended to bring Justin back to New Avalon. Why? Because Justin is the son of Hanse's intelligence director, Quintus Allard. (It's entirely possible that House Allard descends from Mesillia Allard of Andurien, who fled her demesne and the lustful advances of Kalvin Liao in 2528, and could have relocated to Kestrel, the modern seat of House Allard.)
I know I'm flogging an equine that has shuffled off the mortal coil at this point, but having expended so much resources to bring Justin back to New Avalon, it baffles me that they'd cheap out on the prosthetic. Some explanatory text along the lines of "You weren't a good candidate for myomer replacement, because of your allergies/blood type/etc." would have cleared everything up, but with a Dragoon colonel getting myomers over in the pages of "Wolves on the Border" and Duke Aaron Sandoval of Robinson getting them as a youth (before he was the ducal title holder), there's one heck of a disconnect between the blackened steel lump on the end of Justin's arm and what is known to be within the Federated Suns' capacity.
Early in the scene, when Justin's eyes are bandaged (due to the medicines having dilated his pupils), he is terrified of being blind. And yet we have scores of images of BattleTech characters with bionic eye implants functioning as soldiers. Sure, circa 3025 they aren't very pretty, but they seem to work just fine.
Justin, of course, hasn't read the sourcebooks and doesn't know what's available, but this and other knowledge gaps make it seem like he's led an extraordinarily sheltered existence for the son of a Federated Suns diplomat - never having seen anyone with an artificial eye, not knowing that the ubiquitous Rifleman can flip its arms, etc.
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Date: 3026
Title: Ship Profile: FSS Gray Paladin
Author: Craig Reed, Jr.
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps Exclusive)
Synopsis: As part of Operation SILENT LANCE, the FSS Gray Paladin was one of several Union-class DropShips disguised as civilian cargo vessels that performed reconnaissance in the Capellan Confederation in support of Operation RAT. Calling itself the Star Mermaid, the MIIO recon vessel monitored Aldebaran, New Hessen, Algol, and Pleione from 3026 to 3028 under the command of Captain Martin Kelly (aka "Hookah" Vincences). Other key crew members profiled include computer specialist Lt. Mitchell "WaveGod" Bayer, shuttle pilot Lt. Rachel Reese, communications cryptanalyst Lt. Vas Kinnison, junior computer specialist Pendaran "Largo" Collier, and Rabid Fox detachment leader Lt. Megan Savage.
Notes: The existence of Operation SILENT LANCE strongly suggests that MIIO had not yet succeeded in compromising the Maskirovka as of 3026 - we have no data on when Alexi Malenkov (aka Alex Mallory) managed to infiltrate the Maskirovka, and Justin Xiang won't ascend to the "crisis team" until late 3027. So, rather than just having moles in the Maskirovka send in full reports, the Federated Suns had to rely on traditional spycraft.
It's also clear that preparations for Operation RAT are moving ahead at full steam, with both Operation GALAHAD and Operation SILENT LANCE laying the groundwork. I would imagine that planning began in late 3025, since Hanse would've taken being abducted, deposed, and replaced with a surgical double rather personally. The stunning thing is that neither ComStar nor the Kapteyn Accord members had the slightest inkling of what was coming. Sure, the Maskirovka had been compromised at the highest levels by 3027, but why was Subhash Indrahar's ISF asleep at the switch as well?
Overall, this is an excellent small unit profile that could be inserted into any campaign of the era, or serve as a model for other SILENT LANCE vessels working different areas of the Confederation - either as player units, NPCs encountered along the way, or the OpFor if you're running a Capellan team.
The heavy concentration of computer hackers is intriguing, since it implies the existence of computer networks on the worlds being targeted, whereas the House Liao sourcebook portrays a Confederation where most resources have been reallocated to keep the military just barely functioning, and where heat sink manufacture is prioritized over civilian refrigerators. With constant AFFS and mercenary raids, would maintenance of global or even regional computer networks be a priority for the Capellan government? Particularly given the low priority placed on free speech and the open sharing of ideas in the Confederation?
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Date: January 1, 3027
Location: Echo V
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Jiro Ishiyama journeys to a Zen monastery, a cold underground cavern complex deep beneath the barren, storm ravaged surface. At a teahouse in a rock garden, he sets up a traditional tea ceremony and, as part of the cha-no-yu ritual, rearranges the rock garden to send a subtle series of messages to his expected visitor - Yorinaga Kurita - who has been in exile here since his defeat on Mallory's World in 3016 and the Coordinator's refusal to permit seppuku. During the tea ceremony preparations, Ishiyama goes over the story of Yorinaga's final battle with Morgan Kell in great detail.
When all is in readiness, Ishiyama rings a gong softly, and Yorinaga enters, wearing a robe emblazoned with the image of a fierce yellow bird reflected in a dragon's eye. Ishiyama conveys the Coordinator's greetings to Yorinaga, and informs him that Takashi intends to form an elite unit of 50 men - The Genyosha - around Yorinaga to participate in a plan to destroy the Kell Hounds.
Notes: Interestingly, during the tea ceremony preparations, Ishiyama recalls that Coordinator Urizen Kurita II instituted Japanese cultural promotion in the Combine only after he avoided an assassination attempt because he had made an unscheduled detour to cut bamboo for a tea ladle, resulting in the mass adoption of ancient Japanese cultural elements. There is a body of evidence, however, that substantial elements of Japanese culture were highly popularized even during the von Rohrs dynasty, with the members of the first DEST units trained in the samurai mindset.
The pot used is said to have been hammered into shape out of armor scavenged either from Takashi Kurita's first 'Mech kill or the wreckage of the first 'Mech shot out from under him. Aligned crystal steel backed with a diamond alloy weave seems like a poor candidate to be reshaped by hand with a hammer. (Maybe Takashi popped some schmuck mercenary like the ones in the CityTech intro story, that had been forced to patch armor holes with scrap sheet metal that still read "Processed Chicken" and "SPAM").
Michael Stackpole had a lot of work to do to add character to the Draconis Combine. Granted, we'd already had both sympathetic and unsympathetic (yet nuanced) portrayals of Kuritans in "Wolves on the Border" and "Heir to the Dragon," but the Gray Death Legion books portray the Combine as the embodiment of evil in the Inner Sphere, with no redeeming characteristics (slavery, sadism, mass murder, repression, torture, betrayal, etc.). The focus on the spiritual side of Combine existence - the underground Zen monastery, the excruciatingly detailed tea ceremony preparation - give a window into the Draconian thought process and cultural ideals.
The scene also presents Stackpole with the opportunity to cinematically tell the story of the famous duel that led to the exile of both Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita, without having to start the novel with an excess of in-media-res prologues set years before the main action.
The early novels were very nicely woven together, plot-wise. The "Wolves on the Border" scene in late 3026 shows Takashi discussing his plans to form the Genyosha with Subhash Indrahar, and here we have the recruitment of its CO in an early chapter of "Warrior: En Garde."
The world of Echo was first settled during the Star League era. Given the wretched surface conditions, it's probably safe to speculate that it was a mining colony, rather than an agricultural center. Once the ore played out, it became the perfect site for Coordinator Urizen II to build a Zen monastery in his retirement. The cold temperatures imply that they are close enough to the surface for the above-ground weather to affect the temperatures in the caverns. The monks seem to regard it as part of their meditations - an incentive to master the art of ignoring the frailties of the body. Perhaps Urizen II thought digging deeper to gain more insulation would be a sign of both physical and moral weakness.
Ishiyama makes a reference to the Coordinator rejecting Yorinaga's annual request to commit seppuku. I wonder when Yorinaga sends the request? January 31 was the date of the duel (and therefore a logical symbolic date for renewing the request), but sending the denial on January 1 seems either one month early or 10+ months late. How does Yorinaga send the message? Is there a ComStar station on this rock? (They boast that they have every inhabited Inner Sphere world wired into the HPG network, but our discussions of the campaigns on Trellwan and Verthandi noted that many strategic decisions were made that reflected the lack of an HPG on those worlds.) Or does Yorinaga send a haiku with a supply vessel?
The battle description is very colorful, but ultimately comes down to Yorinaga's Warhammer rolling snake eyes on an alpha strike, and then the disbelieving player conceding the game. I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing once and asked if he'd ever played the board game much before writing the books. He responded "Just enough to learn to not let anyone get behind me." This is probably why the text attributes Yorinaga's inability to defeat Morgan to Colonel Kell's remarkable aptitude at dodging incoming fire - an option not available in the 2nd Edition board game ruleset of the time.
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The heavy concentration of computer hackers is intriguing, since it implies the existence of computer networks on the worlds being targeted, whereas the House Liao sourcebook portrays a Confederation where most resources have been reallocated to keep the military just barely functioning, and where heat sink manufacture is prioritized over civilian refrigerators. With constant AFFS and mercenary raids, would maintenance of global or even regional computer networks be a priority for the Capellan government? Particularly given the low priority placed on free speech and the open sharing of ideas in the Confederation?
I suspect they're there to hack into both military and civilian satellites (which there are no doubt plenty of, since these are heavily populated worlds they're monitoring), since that would massively increase their monitoring abilities.
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The battle description is very colorful, but ultimately comes down to Yorinaga's Warhammer rolling snake eyes on an alpha strike, and then the disbelieving player conceding the game. I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing once and asked if he'd ever played the board game much before writing the books. He responded "Just enough to learn to not let anyone get behind me." This is probably why the text attributes Yorinaga's inability to defeat Morgan to Colonel Kell's remarkable aptitude at dodging incoming fire - an option not available in the 2nd Edition board game ruleset of the time.
I always believed that reasoning behind Yorinaga's ability to hit Morgan was partially due to Warhammer malfunctioning. In real life, the stress of battle and being hit by weapons fire could easily broken systems, including the sensors. The original battle Morgan gained this trait (hard to hit) [this is me making that up!] both him and Yori had already been fighting beat heck out of their mehs.
I do recall that even Dan Allard managed to hit Morgan and Yorinaga with physical attacks. Can only imagine if Yen-Lo-Wang could have closed and used it's "hatchet" hand and punch it's opposing enemy whom was using the phantom ability.
More roleplaying wise, i'd say the player using Morgan's Archer is desperate keep it alive and used all his characters "Edge" to avoid crits and hits. Properly permaburned those edges to...until he got enough points in his campaign to get more. ;D
I do like having bit of the "unknown" "touch of the supernatural" in a story, which i think it adds some more depth to the story where it's appropriate. I am in minority given how folks (including staff) have treated this little quirk in the Battletech history.
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The "tone" of BattleTech has shifted back and forth over the years. Early BattleTech was very much "soft" pulp action sci-fi, with strong jawed heroes, acts of derring do, and wardrobes that would not have been out of place on Mongo. In such an environment, a bit of Shadowrun-style mysticism went along just fine. Psychic invisibility that affected electronic targeting systems. Levels of ki mastery that allowed trick shooting with a bamboo bow and (reputedly) throwing a foe across the room without touching them. Precognitive visions.
A lot of that fell by the wayside when the focus shifted towards hard sci-fi, with much more attention on trying to make BattleTech tropes conform to real-world physics. Phantom 'Mech was kicked to the curb, the Nova Cat "visions" were explained as "the Nova Cats just smoke a lot of strange stuff" and ki made no appearance in the ruleset. (This was about the same time that fusion engine explosions were noted as "illogical, yet deeply satisfying.") Subsequent to that, however, some mysticism has crept back in, with yet more instances of precognitive visions (possibly tied to certain genetic traits and exposure to K-F fields) and Phantom 'Mech reborn as a set of AToW traits triggered in very rare circumstances.
I like the current balance - just a touch of mysticism around the fringes, but enough of "something" going on that it can't be entirely discounted. If you want to go whole hog on the supernatural, set sail for the Nebula California.
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Date: January 8, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: MIIO Director Quintus Allard joins Hanse Davion in his private planning chamber, and Hanse detects Quintus' agitation. Though Justin is adapting to his new prosthetic, Quintus is upset with the arrival of a contingent of Michael Hasek-Davion's security personnel and lawyers that arrived on a DropShip that morning, bearing a holodisc with a message for Hanse. Quintus brought the disc to Hanse after placing Michael's men in isolation under the pretense of "quarantine."
Ardan Sortek joins Hanse and Quintus, and they view the recorded message. Michael demands that Justin Allard be tried as a traitor to the Federated Suns, and sentenced to death. He gives Justin's dismissal of Philip Capet as an example of Justin's treason, and says his investigators have proof that Justin arranged the ambush in an attempt to eliminate the Kittery Training Battalion, and was wounded due to his allies' incompetence.
Michael says that the people of the Capellan March feel that Hanse prioritizes the Draconis March over them, and fear he will strip troops and other defenses from them to fight the Combine. He warns that civil unrest could result if Justin is not publicly punished, as a sign of Hanse's commitment to the security of the March.
As the message concludes, Hanse and his advisors discuss response options. Quintus assesses the threat of civil war as an idle threat, but acknowledges that worlds in the Capellan March could resist sending troops to other Marches. He acknowledges that the MIIO's best efforts have failed to find any evidence that Michael is conspiring with Maximilian Liao, though there was a small window of a few hours when he could have met with Liao officials within the last few months.
Quintus trusts his son, but acknowledges that his heritage makes him a valuable target for Capellan co-option. Hanse tells Ardan and Quintus that Michael clearly wants to be First Prince and may be willing to work with Max Liao to achieve his goals. He admits he wants payback against Liao for Operation DOPPLEGANGER, and suggests using Michael to get at Max. To start with, they'll feed Michael fake troop movement figures, then watch to see how the CCAF reacts.
Notes: When I tried to suss out the chronology of "The Sword and the Dagger," this chapter was a key touchstone, but one that, unfortunately, couldn't be reconciled with other historical events. This chapter places the assault on Stein's Folly "eighteen months ago," suggesting that "The Sword and the Dagger" should have started in July 3025. Since the storyline has Ardan wintering on Tharkad during his recuperation, it seems that author Ardath Mayhar intended it to run from July 3025 through summer 3026, with the swap taking place in the summer of 3026. That would also match text in this chapter where Michael refers to Hanse's "bout with the Kentares flu last year" in January 3027, suggesting the cover story for the swap was disseminated in 3026.
The wrench in the gears is that the swap was stated to have taken place shortly after the commencement of the Galtor Campaign. The BattleForce scenario book covering the Galtor Campaign didn't give any dates, but the Turning Points: Galtor Campaign book gave a definitive start date of May 3025, and a conclusion of September 3025, meaning the swap had to happen in summer 3025, and forcing the "Sword and the Dagger" timeline to be heavily compressed, due to Catalyst's rule of thumb that more recent books overrule prior ones in cases where there are contradictions.
As a result, Quintus is clearly in error when he dates the assault on Stein's Folly to July 3025 - he should have said twenty-four months ago (there's some wiggle room in that he says the assault turned out badly eighteen months ago, so he's possibly referring to the success of the AFFS counterattack a few months later - but that interpretation would still have him off by a few months). Michael's reference to "last year's bout of Kentares flu" can be excused by his (possibly) having recorded the message in late December 3026. (Though this brings up the larger issue of why Michael would send the message to Kittery to be recorded by his agents there and couriered via command circuit to New Avalon, when he could simply have transmitted it to the ComStar station on New Avalon and had it delivered by ComStar courier.)
For all its vaunted prowess, the New Avalon Institute of Science seems to be woefully behind the times in certain fields. Quintus mentions that "Anasta over at the NAIS has done some interesting work with rapid, high-frequency transmission of data which is later slowed down and decoded." You mean like the "zipsqueal" transmissions that a rookie merc with almost no resources used last year on Verthandi? The NAIS also reports great progress on this "wheel" concept they're working on, though the "fire" team has become bogged down in acrimonious discussions of what color it should be. ;)
Hanse's outrage over the threat of artificially induced civil unrest is utterly hypocritical, considering that Hanse's schemes to foment civil unrest in the Free Worlds League are what led to a brief break in his friendship with Ardan Sortek. The Capellan March would, though be far more prone to civil unrest because so many Capellan March worlds once flew the Confederation flag. Plus, Michael's reference to the Capellan citizens as "indigs" and to Justin Allard as "half-caste" (a derogatory reference to a person of mixed race) suggests that Justin's concerns about "Davion carpetbaggers" abusing natives of conquered worlds may be quite justified, leading to increased unrest potential.
It's odd, though, that membership in a star-spanning political entity is defined primarily by race. Granted, in loose terms the Capellan Confederation stands in for "Imperial China IN SPAAAACE," but Capellan worlds are just a ethnically diverse as those of other states, with Poles, Spaniards, Malaysians, Russians, and Scots mixed in with Han Chinese and a pile of other ethnic groups. Is it the epicanthal folds? Would Michael be as biased against Justin if Quintus had hooked up with a slav from Tikonov or a good ol' girl from Old Kentucky? The worlds of the United Hindu Collective lie within the Capellan March. Does Michael consider mixed-race pairings within the Federated Suns anathema?
It would seem that Operation RAT got its genesis in this meeting, but in truth it seems to have been under way for some time, since Operation GALAHAD '26 was part of the cover for troop movements, and Operation SILENT LANCE was targeting Capellan worlds for intel gathering throughout 3026, explicitly in support of RAT. This seems to be an add-on for RAT, specifically targeting Max.
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Given that the Stein's Folly/TSaTD timeline is consistent save for the Galtor campaign, I'm inclined to single the Galtor campaign reference out as the problem that has to be fixed.
You could handwave the situation by assuming that the Doppelganger ploy had been simmering for some time, and preparations were being made including a "test run" during the Galtor campaign: Perhaps the Capellans substituted Hanse's operational control with their own mirror network to test its effectiveness, presumably with sufficient obscurement as to not actually reveal and endanger the agents involved. Seeing how that worked or didn't work they then made adjustments to the Hanse Davion simulation and properly started the real operation a year later.
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Given that the Stein's Folly/TSaTD timeline is consistent save for the Galtor campaign, I'm inclined to single the Galtor campaign reference out as the problem that has to be fixed.
The problem is that it's mentioned multiple times. The Galtor Campaign sourcebook notes that Hanse, previously very actively involved in the planning and operational control, seemed to lose interest shortly after the operation started. In Warrior: En Garde, Katrina and Simon Johnson discuss the DOPPLEGANGER report and sync it up with the difficulties fake-Hanse created in the FedCom alliance relationship during the Galtor Campaign.
Either way you cut it, some very specific references are invalidated. Going with the original timeline has the advantage of eliminating the assumption that Ardan had expensive command circuits at his beck and call, but then it screws up the references from "The Galtor Campaign" and the Katrina scene.
Plus, the Liao sourcebook appears to have been published at the end of 3025, and it refers to Operation DOPPLEGANGER as something that has been fully resolved in the past.
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Date: January 10, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Dr. Thompson checks in with Justin Allard as he performs tai chi chuan for physical therapy to adjust to his prosthetic. He hates the arm, because the limited control he has over it means he will never be able to pilot a BattleMech again. Dr. Thompson warns that the nerve damage his arm suffered limits his ability to manipulate the wrist and hand.
As Justin despairs that he's a useless cripple, Dr. Thompson suggests he become a "lab rat" for the latest prototype from the Biomechanicals division. He inserts a control chip into a hatch in Justin's hand and connects a jack into a test rod. He tells Justin to think about opening the artificial hand, and after a few tries, he succeeds.
Dr. Thompson has coded the chip to simulate a Warhammer control joystick, and he walks Justin through a simulated firing sequence. Justin is elated that he has the potential to someday pilot a 'Mech again.
His elation is short lived, as Count Vitios and a contingent of CID guards in riot gear burst into the physical therapy room and arrest Justin on charges of treason.
Notes: In a vacuum, this scene works fine (regarding the prosthesis). There's even some explanatory text for why Justin can't get full functionality from the Type IV arm. The question arises, taking "Wolves on the Border" and "TRO: 3026" into account, why they didn't use a myomer arm with a steel bone at the core instead of a prototype Type IV? Both Duke Aaron Sandoval and Colonel Kelly Yukinov got full leg Type V replacements, and Yukinov was back on duty less than a month later with no more than a slight limp.
So, it appears that the chip can interpret certain signals from Justin's brain as commands for specific finger movements that can be customized for whatever ride he's running. By contrast, it appears standard Type IV prosthetics attempt to mimic the missing organic nerve pathways to let the natural commands execute in the metal armatures.
Interestingly, in the decades since this scene was written, they've done some very interesting experiments with mental control of prosthetics. In one case, monkeys were restrained in a chair and implanted with sensors that could sense electrical impulses in their brains and feed signals to a robot arm. With practice, the monkey was able to train its brain to control the arm with sufficient dexterity to pick up a marshmallow and put it in its mouth. (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/science/29brain.html) Rather than trying to hardwire the hand to respond to certain signals coming through the upper arm, the NAIS should have put sensors in Justin's brain and let it learn how to send the necessary signals to the hand to get a full range of motion. (If only marshmallows weren't LosTech :( )
This scene also serves to introduce Justin's passion for tai chi chuan (which translates literally to "Supreme Ultimate Boxing"). A 2011 study found a link between tai chi and improved balance, so it makes sense that Justin would make it part of his routine.
Notably, when Vitios comes to arrest Justin, he's accompanied by a squad of CID troopers. CID (I believe) stands for the MIIO's Counter Intelligence Division (rather than DMI's Counter Insurgency Division). Since this is step one in Hanse's plan to screw with Michael and Maximillian, it makes sense to have CID do the arrest - not only to make it look like Hanse and Quintus are taking Michael's charges seriously, for the optics, but also to make sure Justin is safe during the process. If Vitios had taken a squad of Michael's bully-boys to arrest Justin, odds are that he'd be "shot while resisting arrest."
One question this raises is whether the arm was already equipped with the laser at this point. There seem to have been a lot of special features already incorporated into it without Justin's knowledge. One would think that a holdout laser would have to be engineered into the design from the beginning, rather than being an after-market upgrade.
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Date: January 11, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: LCAF Sergeant Jeana Clay (kidnapped by Loki agents in October 3026) wakes up in a brightly lit cell with no sense of time having passed since her abduction. A door opens in the wall, and she exits to find Katrina Steiner waiting in the antechamber. Katrina apologizes for the melodramatic means of Jeana's "recruitment" and offers her condolences for the death of her mother. She asks Jeana to undertake a dangerous mission that will require her to give up all aspects of her current life.
Jeana pledges herself to the mission, stating that everything she has comes from House Steiner. She confides in the Archon that she'd met her before, on Poulsbo, when Jeana was a young child and Katrina was fleeing Alessandro's assassins. Katrina recalls the events on Poulsbo, when she, Morgan Kell, and Arthur Luvon narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by then-Achon Alessandro Steiner with help from Heimdall. Jeana's father, codenamed "Grison" saved Katrina and died in a raid on the spaceport intended to get her off Poulsbo.
Katrina offers to withdraw the assignment, out of respect for her father's sacrifice, but Jeana demands to take the mission, citing her obligation to Arthur Luvon (Katrina's deceased husband) for having taken care of the Heimdall cell's families.
Convinced of Jeana's loyalty, Katrina reveals that the mission is to be a body double for Archon Designate Melissa Steiner, to have reconstructive surgery, and spend six months learning how to act exactly like Melissa.
An unspecified amount of time later, Jeana's neighbor lays a white rose on Jeana's gravestone, after the conclusion of the 24th Lyran Guards' burial ceremony. He whispers that she made all of Heimdall proud.
Notes: The scene between Simon Johnson and Katrina Steiner regarding the body double program was dated October 10, 3026, and Simon said they could grab a candidate "today." Yet Jeana seems to be just coming out of a drugged haze (still "feeling muzzy from whatever they hit me with") on January 11, 3027. Was there a typo in the date of the abduction, or did Loki keep Jeana drugged for three months? I can't imagine she's been awake all this time, since being held incommunicado in a Loki interrogation cell all that time might have led to a slightly less fawning meeting with the Archon.
As Roosterboy pointed out in the review for "Vanish," there are some discrepancies between Katrina's account of what happened on Poulsbo, and the narrative of what actually took place. Her claim to have been "just friends" with Arthur and meeting him by chance on Poulsbo is contradicted by "Vanish," which explicitly says the meeting was arranged to let the young lovers get together.
Katrina's account suggests that she, Morgan, and Arthur were on the run for days before stumbling on Grison's Heimdall cell. "Vanish" contends that Morgan made contact before the assassination attempt, and that they went straight to Grison's rendezvous point at the Pine Lodge, rather than meeting him in a dark bar "one evening." "Vanish" ends at that point, before baby Jeana would have entered the picture. I wonder if any of the promised Stackpole Kell Hound short stories will pick up where "Vanish" left off?
The two accounts are contradictory at several points. I would guess, however, that Katrina is not trying to lie to Jeana, but is telling the story how she remembers it. Studies have shown that memories are highly malleable, especially over time.
The scene begs the question - what would have happened to Jeana if she said no? Firing squad? Reassignment as inventory officer at Dogg Station (population: 1)? Another bump on the noggin and returned home as if nothing had happened?
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I personally desired since first reading Stackpole's story of describing the Red Corsair stuff that Stackpole himself would fully flesh this hint of a adventure that we've never read. Alot of the stories elements seeded the Warrior series had always had strong potential in my mind of great full on Battletech stories waiting to happen. I was disappointed in Vanished story. I guess few people can visit a element in our storied game bring it to life way the original author did in the day. Like like Pulp Science Fiction, its just not as published like that anymore. :/
Thank you for the wonder review, Mendrugo!
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Date: January 15, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Captain Daniel Allard (Valkyrie) leads his lance on patrol as a major storm approaches. With the weather worsening, Dan and his lancemates (Eddie Baker - Jenner, Lt. Austin Brand - Commando, and Sgt. Margaret "Meg" Lang - Wasp) return to the Kell Hound base outside Starpad, where the Hounds' DropShips (the Leopard-class Manannan MacLir and the Overlord-class Lugh) are parked on the makeshift landing platform.
Back at the base, Dan finds himself having to counsel Meg over how to proceed with her blooming romance with Austin Brand, given her promise to her mother and grandmother not to get involved with a MechWarrior. Dan wonders how he became the unit grandfather at age 28, then runs to reach the staff meeting.
In Lt. Colonel Patrick Kell's office, Dan is greeted by Major Salome Ward, Lt. Mike Fitzhugh, Lt. Austin Brand, Lt. Anne Finn, Sgt. Clarence "Cat" Wilson, and Patrick, who have already started a poker game. As the game progresses, they discuss business - a desire for a better duty station, Meg Lang's progress in adapting to the change from a Locust to a Wasp, and the logistics of mustering out Master Sergeant Nicholas Jones on schedule (to qualify for his bonus pay) without stranding him on Pacifica for six months until the next JumpShip arrives (the previous one departs one day before his mustering out).
Before that can be resolved, a messenger enters and delivers a message to Patrick, who passes it to Dan with his condolences. The note informs Dan that his step-brother Justin has been severely injured. The other officers commiserate over the news. Dan laments that Justin will never be able to pilot a 'Mech again. Patrick offers to send Dan to New Avalon on Kell Hound business, but Dan demures, noting that the message took more than a month to reach Pacifica even on the ComStar "A" circuit. The command staff offers support, noting that Dan was there for them during the Defection, when Morgan left for a monastery on Zaniah III and dismissed two thirds of the Kell Hound regiment.
Dan reminisces about Justin's fighting spirit and his philosophy that everyone is equal in a 'Mech cockpit. Patrick promises that Justin has a spot in the Kell Hounds, if he wants it. Dan hopes that Justin will bounce back from this, but personally resolves to find and kill whoever caused Justin's injury.
Notes: The Nuada Argetlan (the former DCS Fukushu, stolen on Murchison) is not present at Starpad. I wonder if it left during the breakup of the Hounds Morgan engineered. I also wonder if the Lugh or the Manannan MacLir started out as the DCS Bright Blossom, which was also stolen by the Kell Hounds during a raid on Murchison. Scratch a Kell Hound paint job, and you'll probably find a bullet-scarred Dragon emblem underneath.
The craft are both painted red and black, the Kell Hound colors. I can't help but imagine the Manannan MacLir bearing the A-Team van paint job.
(http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/hotwheels/images/1/12/Hot_Wheels_A-Team_Van_-_00738ef.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150910184009)
There are a lot of surprising details in this chapter, given what we now know about ComStar. For message to go from New Avalon to Tharkad on the "A" circuit takes about three weeks, according to the ComStar courier in "The Sword and the Dagger," due to "the immutable laws of hyperspace physics." The formulas given in the RPG material indicate that it should actually only take a week at most, and when enough money was thrown at the problem, live two way communication was possible during Katherine's reign. Pacifica certainly seems like one heck of a backwater world, with only one JumpShip arriving every six months, and with A-circuit messages taking a month to go from New Avalon to Pacifica (which is about half the distance from New Avalon to Tharkad...so much for the immutable laws of hyperspace physics). The JumpShip captain getting a contract to carry bulk messages for ComStar is also mystifying. Since when is ComStar in the business of subcontracting services to carry physical media? I know they have a courier service for worlds not on the HPG network, but that's mostly out in the Periphery, not in a Federation of Skye world just a few jumps from Terra.
I wonder if Infocom chose Pacifica for their Crescent Hawk's Inception game because it was featured in Warrior: En Garde, or if Stackpole used Starpad and Pacifica in the book because they were in the game. Both were released in mid-1988.
The tone of the reactions to battlefield injuries strongly suggests that there was no coordination between Stackpole and Charrette on the issue, since the Dragoon reaction to similar injuries is "They'll be good as new in no time. Colonel Wolf will spring for the good stuff," as opposed to "their career/life is over."
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Date: January 15, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: A red and black car drives through seedy, burned-out neighborhoods between Solaris City's Cathay and Silesia neighborhoods, and is given safe passage and fearful respect by the gangs who control that turf. When the car arrives at its destination, Gray Noton emerges and enters Thor's Shieldhall. The doorman lets him know that Mr. Shang is waiting in Midgard to meet him.
Noton disparages Midgard, the domain of the masses who tolerate tacky ambiance and overpriced drinks in the hopes of spotting a MechWarrior or noble on their way to Valhalla. Pushing through the crowd, he finds Tsen Shang in the holotheater, where a Valkyrie's battle against a Wasp is being projected.
Shang signifies his culture and wealth by growing his fingernails long on the last three fingers and decorating them with gem chips and gold leaf. Noton is aware that Tsen Shang serves the Maskirovka, operating a ring of spies on the Game World. Shang orders more plum wine, and a PPC for Noton. Noton refuses, preferring Timbiqui Dark.
Shang congratulates Noton on his victory on Kittery, noting that Justin Allard (who defeated Capellan forces on Spica) has been removed from the AFFS. He pays Noton with a bet on a match between Philip Capet and the Teng brothers (Fuh and Sze - both Maskirovka agents), which has been fixed so Sze will die.
During the conversation, Shang blissfully devours a bowl of kincha fruit. Noton notes this, and concludes that Shang's addiction to kincha marks him as one of Liao's "Lost Legion" that lost Shuen Wan (where kincha is grown) to House Marik.
Shang asks Noton to keep an eye out for information about Andrew Redburn, and Noton departs, leaving Shang to his kincha, and goes up the ramp to Valhalla, where a guard uses an identiscanner to verify his identity before allowing him access. Inside, long wooden tables flank a holographic bonfire in the center of the room, while curtains close off private alcoves along the sides.
Noton proceeds to his own alcove, marked by his sigil - a cartoon ghost centered in crosshairs, appropriate for his moniker of "Legend Killer." Inside, he finds Baron Enrico Lestrade of Summer and Contessa Kym Sorenson of the Federated Suns. Sorenson quickly excuses herself to allow Noton and Lestrade to discuss business. Once she departs, Noton castigates Lestrade for bringing a woman to a private meeting, and speculates that his uncle, Aldo Lestrade, keeps Enrico on Solaris to avoid causing trouble on Summer. He assures Noton that Sorenson is harmless.
Noton pulls up the Capet/Teng fight, and is pleased to see it has resulted in Sze Teng's death, but left Fuh alive to fight again (ensuring a large payoff for Noton).
Lestrade explains the rationale for the meeting, suggesting that a certain JumpShip might be profitably diverted off course. Noton suspects Dukes Frederick Steiner and Aldo Lestrade are behind the request. He says stealing a military JumpShip is impossible, but Lestrade clarifies that they want just some passengers from a civilian ship, to be identified with a two-to-three month lead time. Noton negotiates an advance of 135,000 C-Bills up front and a final payment of 300,000 C-Bills upon completion.
Noton suspects the target to be a courier from the Archon to Hanse Davion, to delay the FedCom alliance. He escorts Lestrade out, and is hailed by Philip Capet, who wants praise for his victory over the Teng brothers. Aware that the match was fixed, Noton insults him. Capet accuses Noton of cowardice and challenges him to fight, but Noton refuses him, warning that he'll die if he ever has to face Legend-killer.
Notes: This chapter was the BattleTech audience's first look at Solaris VII, and Mike Stackpole did not disappoint. So much is crammed in here to set the scene. Burnt-out neighborhoods run by warring gangs, spymasters rigging death matches, MechWarriors as media stars with groupies, Timbiqui Dark beer, PPCs (the drink), interstellar intrigue being plotted in smoky alcoves.
The HBS BattleTech game plans to implement Thor's Shieldhall and Valhalla in some form as an adjunct to their Solaris duel mode. High tier Kickstarter backers will get in automatically, and top ranked players can also ascend. I hope the atmosphere portrayed in this chapter is faithfully recreated, rather than it just being an exclusive chat forum.
With no children of his own, Aldo Lestrade probably relies on his nephew Enrico as his putative heir (though at the moment, he appears to be just the 'heir-rand' boy ^-^ .) This continues the Stackpole trope of the bad guys being either bumbling fools (Enrico) or hardened warriors with a distinct sense of honor (Yorinaga and Noton). Enrico (we later discover) has brought an undercover MIIO agent (Sorenson) he met last night at a party into the conspiracy meeting with Noton. He didn't even want her to leave. I'm not sure why Stackpole wanted our first glimpse of the Lestrade consipracy to be via his idiot nephew, except perhaps to convey the flavor of general incompetence associated with Lyrans who get jobs based purely on blood ties and social connections.
The bit about Tsen Shang being addicted to kincha fruit and having been a member of Liao's "Lost Legion" always intrigued me. The chronology of Shang being part of the unit that lost the world to the FWL puts the conquest within the 2990 - 3020 period. No brigade on the CCAF TO&E uses "legion" as a moniker except for the Shin Legions, which were first profiled in Field Manual: Draconis Combine.
Now, it seems apparent that the intent was for them to have been cobbled together from units shattered in the Fourth Succession War, which then fled Romano's regime for the Combine. However, other authors already accounted for all surviving units from the Fourth War. The surviving Tikonov Reserves and Chesterton Reserves became the Republican Guards under Ridzik's short-lived Tikonov Free Republic, and then became FedCom regiments. The St. Ives Armored Cavalry became the St. Ives Compact's armed forces. The Sarn Reserves were wiped out in place with no survivors because their transports had been stripped away for various operations, and there was never a prisoner exchange agreement. The Sian Reserves were never engaged.
That has led to my speculation that the Shin Legions were not post-war creations, but were poorly regarded garrison formations that had been around for a while, but didn't rate a listing on the TO&E of the CCAF - only being regarded as frontline forces because of the scarcity of military assets post 3030. In that scenario, there would have been at least four regiments of the Shin Legions, and one screwed up badly on Shuen Wan and lost the world in an embarrassing manner, leading to its derogatory nickname as the "Lost Legion."
Granted, the more likely scenario is that the Shin Legions were activated with 'Mechs scrounged from militias, black markets, and boneyards, plus a few production runs from the Confederation's remaining factories, but it seems puzzling why Romano would have approved arming a formation that publicly questioned her rule and was rated Questionable. It seems more likely that the desperate CCAF upjumped an unreliable garrison force with a checkered past in hopes of surviving long enough to rebuild a core cadre of fanatically loyal troops.
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This book had so much stuff in it, so much detail adding to the richness of the Battletech universe. It really was one the great novels of the franchise. I wish many of the touch points, details that Stackpole had snuck in there could be explored by him or other authors with same style that was presented in the book. It's what essentially got me into Battletech fiction.
The Legion reference I hope will be shown. The Legion was from the Capellans side of the Inner Sphere, but it ran off after the Fourth Succession War, so there hope perhaps the original from the book can be relinked with Shuen Wan.
In the Dark Age, the planet was reconquerored by the Confederation, thou i forget where it's ever mentioned in fiction. The world was independent world after the League was broke up, but by the 3130 it was in the clutches of the Confederation again.
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Date: January 20, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Count Anton Vitios leads the prosecution at Justin Allard's military tribunal. He calls Justin's XO, Andrew Redburn, as a witness, and uses the questioning to insinuate that a divide had opened between Justin and the cadets of the Kittery Training Battalion over Justin's dismissal of Philip Capet, prompting Justin to collaborate with Capellan agents to ambush and kill the cadets. Vitios notes that Justin regularly met with Shang Dao, the leader of the pro-Capellan Yizhi tong in the city of Shaoshan, and points out that contact with Capellan organizations is expressly forbidden by the CID.
He characterizes as suspicious Justin's decision to leave Andrew and the cadets behind in the valley to check out some readings over the ridge, and implies he was trying to get the cadets killed when he warned them not to try to escape over the ridge.
Before Justin's lawyer can cross-examine Redburn, Major General Sheridan Courtney calls for a recess, so that Redburn can attend an award ceremony that evening.
Notes: References are made to Major General Courtney having suffered embarrassment during the Spica campaign when his strategy failed and Justin's forces had to rescue him from the Capellans. I can't recall whether it's stated later in the book or not, but it seems 50/50 whether Courtney is either in on the MIIO scheme to use Justin as bait for the Maskirovka, or whether the MIIO selected him to be the presiding official at the military tribunal because of his personal bad blood with Justin.
There are nice continuity nods to the recently published House Davion sourcebook, with Andrew Redburn being sworn in using the Unfinished Book. This book greatly benefits from the massive amount of universe-building FASA did between 1986 and 1988, whereas all Ardath Mayhar had to go on was a slender folder of background material for "The Sword and the Dagger."
The Zhanzheng de guang wasn't formed until after the Fourth Succession War, but I wonder to what extent the various tong organizations on former Capellan worlds served more or less the same purpose throughout the Second and Third Succession Wars. It seems to be an untapped resource circa 3027, as it's later revealed that Justin was in contact with the Yizhi tong as part of his efforts to improve relations with the native population, and the tong reciprocates by warning the garrison about a Maskirovka hit squad.
I'm surprised, though, that Justin wouldn't have cleared his outreach efforts with his superiors or through the office of the Military Governor, if such contacts are expressly forbidden. I wonder to what extent the situation on Kittery is representative of the conditions on other Capellan worlds annexed by the Federated Suns or the Free Worlds League during the Succession Wars. Are the ex-Capellans keeping dao & triangle banners rolled up under their beds awaiting liberation, or do they go about their daily lives under the new regime without looking backwards?
Kittery appears to be a stand-in for Vietnam in the Warrior trilogy - with jungles, ethnic Asian insurgents, and young foreign troops getting addicted to heroin obtained through local crime cartels. It's not quite so blatant as "Ideal War," though, which gives a direct shout out to the Vietnam-era practice of measuring success through haphazard body counts.
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Date: January 22, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Justin Allard’s defense counsel, Lt. David Lofton, refuses Justin’s request to testify at the military tribunal, fearing that Count Anton Vitios would misrepresent everything he says, and that the presiding officer, Major General Courtney, would believe it due to his grudge against Justin over having himself and his command saved by Justin’s flanking action on Spica against the Blackwind Lancers.
When the tribunal resumes, Courtney grants Vitios permission (over Lofton’s objections) to present the expert testimony of Michael Hasek-Davion’s investigators on Kittery via holotape. Their testimony asserts that forensic examination of the ambush site indicates the ‘Mech that destroyed Justin’s Valkyrie was not a Rifleman, but an UrbanMech, based on laser damage to Justin’s armor and spent projectiles from an autocannon.
Next to take the stand is Justin’s father, and head of MIIO, Quintus Allard. Under oath, he testifies that he interrogated a captured CCAF MechWarrior named Lo Ching-wei, who claimed to be a member of the Yizhi tong of Shaoshan. Quintus admits that Lo Ching-wei told interrogators that an UrbanMech led the ambush, and that Justin Allard was a Capellan agent in the AFFS Shaoshan garrison, code-named “Ivory” (‘Xiangya,’ in Capellan). Quintus further confesses that an MIIO investigation found that Justin’s security code phrase for his ‘Mech was the Capellan phrase “Zhe jian fang tai xiao,” which translates as “The room is too small,” and is tong code for “someone is listening.”
When Lofton asks Quintus, in cross-examination, whether he thinks Justin is a traitor, Quintus responds that he doesn’t know.
Notes: It looks bad for Justin…unless you know that this is all play acting on Quintus’ part to make Justin attractive bait for the Maskirovka. I wonder if MIIO faked just the transcript from the interrogation of Lo Ching-wei, or faked the man’s entire existence to troll Vitios with the “incriminating evidence.”
Throughout the Warrior Trilogy, whenever a reference is made to Chinese being spoken, the characters refer to it as ‘Capellan.’ Later sourcebooks clarified that Mandarin Chinese is the official language of the Confederation, though Russian, Cantonese, English, and Hindi are all widespread enough to be classified as “dominant.” I noticed the contrast, because Vitios asks Quintus to translate the “Capellan” phrase into English, rather than into “Davion”. Likewise, when the Lyrans speak German or Italian, they call it German or Italian, not “Lyran.”
Most sources suggest that the Confederation didn’t passionately embrace Chinese cultural elements until the reign of Sun Tzu (when you get the Xin Sheng movement, along with Chinese language ranks, ‘Mech names, and cosmetic surgery to add epicanthic folds). Yet the interchangeable association of “Capellan” with “Chinese” suggests that there was an equivalent of Urizen II Kurita in the Confederation, who introduced and popularized Chinese language and culture into the otherwise ethnically diverse Capellan zone. One also wonders exactly when House Liao embraced its heritage. Romano, Maximillian, Victor, Elias, etc. aren’t the most traditional of Mandarin names. The founder, Elias, had parents from the UK (probably of Chinese origin), and his wife was Nepalese. Victor, first ruler of the Duchy of Liao, bore a katana and wore a kilt.
It’s unclear why Hasek-Davion’s “experts” are trying to claim the ‘Mech that killed Justin’s Valkyrie was an UrbanMech instead of a Rifleman. At the very least, they seek to discredit Justin’s testimony (though what he’d have to gain from lying about it is unclear), discredit his combat abilities (a Valkyrie should have made short work of an Urbie – outmaneuvering it and hitting it from beyond its effective range with missile barrages). One purpose could be to add credibility to the testimony of Lo Ching-wei, though that suggests that Hasek-Davion had access to the interrogation files in time to influence the outcome of the investigation. The results are fairly farcical, once you consider that they had shell casings that could have been analyzed to determine their caliber. Since a Rifleman packs AC/5s and UrbanMechs either pack an AC/10 or an AC/20, it should have been easy to rule out an UrbanMech.
The mis-identification recalls the story in Total Warfare (“Back End of Nowhere” by David McCulloch) where clueless Periphery villagers mistake an UrbanMech for an Imp, but decide to attack anyways with weaponized AgroMechs, and get slaughtered for their trouble. If Justin had launched his Valkyrie over the ridge to find an AC/20 packing UrbanMech, he could have been legitimately taken down in one shot if he landed within range, especially given the modification that Justin later makes to Yen Lo Wang on Solaris VII.
There’s an amusing “future of the eighties” moment in the courtroom, when Lofton gets so angry he contemplates throwing a stack of legal disks. Since most popular home computers in 1987 (when En Garde was written) lacked integral hard drives, removable media was the order of the day. It appears to have become LosTech by 3027, or Lofton would be packing a noteputer with all his legal files stored internally. (“Oh, yeah, hard drives… They had those in the Star League, but you can’t get ‘em today. Maybe I could bash one together for you, but it’d weigh three tons and fill half your ‘Mech’s right torso. Plus, we’d need to raid Atreus for the parts.”)
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Date: January 30, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: After another week of damning testimony, Justin demands that Lofton put him on the stand, so he can point out how the trial has been a travesty. Following Quintus’ statements, Justin tells Lofton he believes he made a mistake leaving his mother’s people to live with his father.
Count Vitios baits Justin with a racial slur (calling him “yellow”). Justin responds by framing Vitios’ hatred of Capellans in the light of his family having died during a Liao raid on his homeworld of Verlo. Vitios responds with a spittle-emitting rant about how sure he is that Justin is a traitor.
The rant is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Prince Hanse Davion, along with Ardan Sortek, Quintus Allard, and a cadre of CID guards. Hanse calls out Vitios as a bigot, and banishes him from New Avalon. Addressing the Tribunal participants and the spectators, he declares the trial to be a mockery of justice, and all the incriminating evidence purely circumstantial. Hanse suggests that Justin’s poor judgement in leaving his cadets should only result in him being stripped of command.
Justin protests, and begins a diatribe against the anti-Capellan prejudice inherent in the people of the Federated Suns, despite his loyalty and service. He colorfully describes the nobles of New Avalon as “ungrateful slugs” and Ardan Sortek as a “captive MechWarrior.” Hanse tells Major General Courtney he will override any sentence handed down, instead stripping him of his rank and exiling him from the Federated Suns for life.
Later that day, Andrew Redburn and Ardan Sortek watch Justin (now going by Justin Xiang) depart aboard the Sigmund Rosenblum. Sortek tells Redburn that Justin has a lot of pain to deal with, but will be with his own kind on Solaris VII. Sortek also informs Redburn that the two of them will be traveling together on an inspection tour to the Lyran Commonwealth before Redburn returns to take command of the Kittery Training Battalion.
Notes: Stackpole’s choice of the DropShip name is intentionally significant, since Sigmund Rosenblum is a pseudonym for Sidney Reilly, a British secret agent that was used as the inspiration for James Bond. He was described as the first 20th Century “super-spy.” Naming ships carrying spies after famous spies is something of a tradition in the BattleTech universe. One of the most famous Bug Eye spy ships was named the SLS Mata Hari.
The exchange between Hanse and Justin was, of course, carefully scripted. Impressive, since Hanse and Quintus only came up with the plan on January 8th, and Justin was “arrested” on January 10th, giving Justin just one day to commit to his part in the proceedings.
You can see that the anti-Asian racism and prejudice that resulted from massive territorial losses and a very real existential threat in the First Succession War, which peaked during those dark days and resulted in lynchings, pogroms, and attacks on all things perceived as Asian (including noodles) hasn’t quite worked itself out of the Federated Suns’ system, despite a two century track record of constant territorial advances against the Capellans. Being an occupying power, subject to regular insurgent attacks backed by intermittent raids from the Confederation, seems to have made the Feddies paranoid and intolerant, based on Vitios’ example. My guess is, based on how Justin was treated by Vitios and by members of his own training battalion, there was a certain core of true feeling that Justin was expressing in his outrage, and it wasn’t all just posturing for Vitios’ benefit.
The fact that there were observers in the Tribunal was somewhat surprising. I know they wanted the trial to be publicized so the Capellans would try to recruit Justin, but they were discussing results of interrogations – stuff that should be classified. I’m surprised that such information was disclosed in open court. Perhaps all the observers had high level clearances.
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Date: February 20, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Justin Xiang surprises Fuh Teng as he and his technician, Tung Yuan, work on their Vindicator’s PPC assembly, and says he wants to fight for Teng. Teng rejects him, explaining that he has no money to hire pilots, having spent all his resources to repair the Vindicator after the death of his brother. When Yuan speaks in Capellan, Justin responds by taking an R-4721 PPC Inhibitor and handing it to Yuan, as requested. He notes that the device will cripple the PPC, and concludes that Teng has been ordered to lose the fight. Teng confirms that the local tongs have made this request to protect their profits, and expresses hope that he will be allowed a chance to win when it suits the purposes of those running the Game World.
Justin thanks him for his time, then knocks him out with a blow from his prosthetic fist. Justin then tells Yuan to remove the inhibitor and prep the Vindicator for a new pilot, and to find a bookie to take a long odds bet for the upcoming fight at Steiner Stadium.
That evening, Enrico Lestrade and Gray Noton sit together in a private box at Steiner Stadium, where the fight between Fuh Teng and Billy Wolfson is on the ticket. Both Noton and Lestrade are aware that the fight has been fixed to give Wolfson – one of Philip Capet’s “Capellan Mafia” stable (officially the stable of Lord Brighton) – an easy victory, and to give Noton a massive payout through gambling winnings. Lestrade tells Noton he’ll be able to meet Wolfson later, as he’s invited the match’s winner to join them afterwards. He also notes that Contessa Kym Sorenson is with them in the box as well.
Pleased with the arrangements, Noton orders a Steiner PPC at the bar (four shots of grain alcohol, cut with two shots of peppermint schnapps). Sorenson joins him at the bar and orders a PPC as well. Gray explains that there are variations aligned with each House. While Steiner is with schnapps, Liao uses plum wine, Kurita – sake, Davion – bourbon or tequila, and Marik – ouzo. Sorenson has hers Marik style.
They turn their attention to the match in the arena, which resembles an ancient Roman coliseum, where three Medium ‘Mechs battle six Light ‘Mechs. Noton explains how the arena works – pointing out the detonator grid (a fine wire mesh) that prevents missiles from hitting the stands and siphons off PPC energy, and the windows made of high-impact plastic – the same used in ‘Mech canopies, which stops shells and reflects lasers.
The warm-up act finishes, and everyone prepares to watch the main event – Billy Wolfson in a Hermes II against Fuh Teng in a Vindicator. Wolfson enters to great applause, clearly the crowd favorite. Xiang, in the Vindicator, ignores the cheering and verifies that his prosthetic hand has successfully been wired into the control panel, having learned to pilot a Vindicator in simulator runs at the Sakhara academy. He notes the Hermes II’s autocannon, recalling the efficacy of the Rifleman’s on Kittery, and also its liquid-fueled flamethrower.
The match commences, and Xiang and Wolfson maneuver and hammer at each other. Xiang concentrates on Wolfson’s flamer, breaching the fuel tank. He opens a channel and warns the Davion warrior to surrender, but Wolfson refuses, citing his 100,000 credit bond against surrender. When Wolfson charges, Xiang dodges and tears its autocannon ammunition feed out with the Vindicator’s left hand, with the accompanying gyro damage sending the Hermes II flopping to the ground. Xiang ignites the leaking flamer fuel with his Small Laser, forcing Wolfson to eject.
In Lestrade’s box, Noton is horrified, having lost his entire payment from the Kittery job betting on the supposedly fixed match. He further expects to have to spend 15,000 credits to have Teng killed and to arrange a cover-up. Some of the nobles in the box, who also lost, complain that they were cheated once it becomes clear that Fuh Teng is not in the Vindicator, but Noton angrily corrects them, noting that the betting slips only name the ‘Mechs involved.
When Justin arrives in Lestrade’s box, many of the nobles angrily demand he leave, but Lestrade plays the role of the gracious host. Doris MacDougal of Firgrove accuses Xiang of cheating, noting his earlier treason against the Federated Suns. Sorenson comes to Xiang’s defense, and Lestrade invites any nobles who remain disgruntled to leave.
Xiang angrily tells Sorenson he doesn’t need her protection, and she counters that she was just using him to needle the other nobles, whom she regards as boors. She tells him she has been exiled by her noble father because she has made no secret of feeling that the Capellan Marchers are parasites on the Federated Suns. They become friends (and perhaps more) on that basis.
Sorenson introduces Xiang to Gray Noton, who congratulates Xiang on his win and comments that his unorthodox tactics should take Solaris VII by surprise.
That night, after the reception, Sorenson enters her Hurricane aircar, and uses the car phone to call into a computer server and deliver a message, “Contact.” After she hangs up, the door opens and Xiang joins her in the car – leaving his room at the Morpheus Hotel to join Sorenson at her apartment.
Notes: Justin must have caught a command circuit to get from New Avalon to Solaris VII in only 20 days, since the in-system travel alone would have taken two weeks. I suppose Hanse could have justified it by saying he wanted Justin out of his realm as quickly as possible.
The liquid-fueled Flamer on the Hermes II is (like the Firestarter’s), clearly intended by the artist to work as a Vehicular Flamer – running off a limited supply of ammunition, rather than what became the standard BattleMech Flamer, which has unlimited shots by channeling heat from the fusion engine.
The naming of the two MechWarriors as being from Teng Stables and Brighton Stables confirms that there are far more stables active on Solaris VII than the major and minor ones named in the sourcebooks. Even a group with only one ‘Mech can describe itself as a stable.
Justin notes that Vindicators once turned House Davion back on Tikonov, so it is fitting that he use one to embarrass the Federated Suns on Solaris VII. This is a nice shout-out to the TRO:3025 entry for the Vindicator. In my BattleCorps scenario “Conquer the Kremlin!,” I wanted to equip the Capellan forces with Vindicators, but had to scrap that because there have never been official record sheets (a scenario requirement) for the original configuration, which was all that was available during the AFFS’ siege of the High Kremlin.
There’s another hilarious (in hindsight) “future of the eighties” moment, when Sorenson hears the dial-up modem screech as she calls in to her MIIO contact from the car phone. Heck…car phones.
Everyone on Solaris is playing a role. Kym Sorenson is a MIIO agent assigned to infiltrate Lestrade’s inner circle and, now, assigned to keep tabs on Justin. It’s possible that her mission was to monitor Justin in the first place, but since she first made contact with Lestrade on January 14, and Hanse and Quintus only started formulating the plan on January 8, she would have had to already be in place on Solaris VII.
Chandra Ling’s Maskirovka seems to have developed a habit of severely undervaluing its agents and assets. The Mask cell on Solaris VII is headed by a disgraced exile who spends his days drowning his sorrows in kincha and hiring mercenaries for ineffective pinprick strikes against the Capellan March, and who is more than happy to sacrifice the lives of loyal Maskirovka MechWarriors to cut costs on his operating budget. This may be a reflection of Ling’s leadership, since she’s involved in the 3026 plot to kill Tormana Liao and replace him with a surgical double. This is in keeping with the philosophy of willing sacrifice for the Capellan state, but in the 3050s, Sun Tzu accurately points out that terminating Maskirovka operatives to punish them for failure doesn’t motivate the rest – it just deprives the state of its already limited assets.
The existence of such a device as the R-4721 PPC Inhibitor is interesting. The only legitimate use of such a unit would be for live fire training exercises – the PPC equivalent of putting paintballs in the autocannons and dialing the laser power down.
Speaking of PPCs, this scene introduces the House variants on PPCs. Noton has to explain them to Sorenson. Of course, the real purpose is to convey worldbuilding info to the reader, but it seems like Sorenson is effectively milking her cover identity as a clueless young noble to get Noton and others to explain everything to her, hoping they’ll let slip some actionable intelligence. (Not a bad bet, where Enrico Lestrade is concerned.)
Interestingly, the Capellan March seems to be far more culturally differentiated from the rest of the Federated Suns than any other region. Not only do they use tequila as their PPC mixer, but there seems to be a prevalent attitude in the Crucis March and the Draconis March that the citizens of the Capellan March are a drain on the resources of the nation. I suppose the Crucis March has remained fairly static for the duration of the Succession Wars, and the Draconis March has lost ground, but rallied back to a point close to its original borders, but the Capellan March has, through martial success, added more than a hundred worlds over the centuries, seized at gunpoint from the Capellan Confederation. There must be substantial suspicion harbored about the loyalty of these “liberated” citizens. Given the existential threat posed by the Draconis Combine (demonstrated with terrifying effect in the First Succession War), it may also be felt that resources used beating on the hapless/toothless Capellans would be better directed towards ending the ever-present threat posed by House Kurita.
Oddly, many of the characters on Solaris refer to “credits,” rather than S-Bills, C-Bills, or other currency. I suppose, since the C-Bill originated as the “ComStar Letter of Credit,” it may have become commonplace to call the C-Bill a “credit” as well.
The use of the term “aircar” for Sorenson’s Hurricane implies its ability to fly. An aircar was parked on the roof of the Davion summer palace in “The Sword and the Dagger,” and one is seen flying over what is presumably Hilton Head in “The Spider and the Wolf.” Though a standard sci-fi trope, flying cars never seemed to fit the technologically degraded Successor States, and they were quietly forgotten after the first generation of sourcebooks and novels. Despite the visuals from “The Spider and the Wolf” and the odd parking spot in “The Sword and the Dagger,” we can probably assume the Hurricane to be a luxury civilian hovercraft.
Noton’s description of the windows of the spectator box as using the same “high impact plastic” used in ‘Mech canopies suggests that there was no common reference for early authors. While Stackpole put forth the idea that the viewports are bulletproof plastic, William Keith describes them as purely cosmetic, with pilots relying on 360 degree viewscreens in the cockpit. These days, the most common description of the viewports is “ferroglass”. It’s entirely possible that all three versions are used on different ‘Mech models, given the proliferation of technologies and the spit’n’baling wire nature of field repairs as technology failed.
As described, the detonator grid seems fairly low-tech and vulnerable to catastrophic failure, since different sections protect against only certain types of damage. Sure, the fine wire mesh stops missiles and PPC strikes, but what happens when a laser cuts through it first, then lets a flight of LRMs hit the stands? I recall that one of the Easter eggs in the Crescent Hawk’s Inception game was the ability to target an “Enemy Spectator” in the stands during an arena match at Starpad, blowing a hole in the perimeter and allowing Jason to flee with a stolen Locust.
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Solaris VII is not a Lyran world, but an independent world under Lyran protection. It's also a cultural melting pot microcosmos. So it's conceivable that there would be an autonomous local currency, "credits", in addition to C, D, K, L, M and S bills.
In The Crescent Hawks' Inception you could steal any one borrowed 'Mech in this way, not only Locusts, and it was probably the only way to get an UrbanMech in the game if you happened to be assigned one (it happened extremely rarely, but I got one and stole it during my PC playthrough when writing the Sarna article).
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Solaris VII is not a Lyran world, but an independent world under Lyran protection. It's also a cultural melting pot microcosmos. So it's conceivable that there would be an autonomous local currency, "credits", in addition to C, D, K, L, M and S bills.
The Solaris VII Player's Book (p. 19) confirms your speculation about there being a local currency, "Solaris scrip," but it "is considered virtually worthless, accepted only by the homeless and working poor." It is theoretically based on the C-Bill, but its value fluctuates wildly as criminal syndicates and wealthy Solarans manipulate the value to make profits, causing the exchange rate to shift from 1 scrip = 1 C-Bill to 1 scrip = 0.01 C-Bill from week to week. Seems like a dicey currency to use to pay your henchmen.
Good show on grabbing an UrbanMech at the arena. I was never so lucky during my playthroughs on the Amiga version.
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Date: March 1, 3027
Location: Pacifica (Chara III)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Lt. Colonel Patrick Kell and members of the Kell Hound staff greet dignitaries arriving at the Starpad DropPort, including Haputmann-General Sarah Joss, Colonel Ardan Sortek, and Lt. Andrew Redburn. Patrick cheerfully informs the visitors that they are bait for Kuritan insurgents and elements of the 2nd Sword of Light, which have been orbiting Chara IV for the past two weeks, and are expected to land on Chara III in three hours. He notes that the Kell Hounds have suborned half the Kurita spies on Pacifica, and they know full details (strength, ETA, landing site) for two of the three incoming DropShips, and have prepared appropriate welcoming parties. He invites the visitors to mount their 'Mechs and join the fun.
That night, the Overlord-class DCS Kiken lands in the midst of an electrical storm and disgorges its 'Mechs, including a company of Panthers, 2K Shadow Hawk models and one of the new Grand Dragons. The light 'Mechs fan out to secure a perimeter, under constant observation from concealed Kell Hounds. Patrick orders his troops to attack, and they quickly disable the Kuritan Panthers near their sector of the perimeter, then move in against the Kuritan mediums. With six DCMS 'Mechs down, Patrick expects them to withdraw, but is surprised and horrified when a Sword of Light Awesome descends from the DropShip ramp.
The Awesome pilot opens a channel and recites a list of his battles and victories, challenging the Kell Hounds to fight him. Ardan Sortek, in his Victor, responds. The remaining Sword of Light 'Mechs and the Kell Hounds stop fighting, becoming spectators to the clash of the Assault 'Mechs, knowing that the battle would make history, and cherishing their ability to be present at a clash destined to make the pilots into legends.
The two 'Mechs exchange four volleys of fire, culminating in Sortek's point blank shot from his AC/20, which tears apart the Awesome's engine shielding, sending a geyser of silver-gold fire ripping up through the cockpit and sending a roiling cloud of golden super-heated plasma exploding free of the Awesome's shell, sending its limbs and armor shards flying with sufficient force to topple smaller 'Mechs and rip the leg off a Shadow Hawk 2K. Their morale shattered along with their champion, the Sworders retreat within the protective umbrella of the DropShip's guns and withdraw offworld.
Later that night, the Kell Hound command staff (Patrick Kell, Dan Allard, Salome Ward, Cat Wilson, Seamus Fitzpatrick, Richard O'Cieran) and their visitors (Redburn, Sortek, and Joss) discuss the results of the ambushes. Seamus Fitzpatrick reports that Kell Aerospace fighters, disguised as Combine ships, took a company of Panthers by surprise and wiped them out. Kell notes that the third DropShip, a Union, landed in Branson's Swamp, a swamp 100 km north of Starpad, where it was stuck for two hours, but eventually took off again. O'Cieran notes that his scouts found no indication that any troops offloaded, and estimated that the ship had the same mass leaving as when it arrived. Redburn suggests that the Combine ship may have offloaded its 'Mechs using jump jets to avoid leaving tracks, and pumped water from the swamp aboard to conceal its mass differential. Kell agrees, and orders his officers to proceed on the assumption that at least a company of Panthers operational on Pacifica.
Following the debrief, Sortek, Redburn and Allard meet in the 'Mech bay, where techs are repairing the damage to the Victor, using salvage from the Awesome to rebuild the gyro housing. Redburn and Allard console each other over the outcome of Justin's trial, and agree that neither believes he is a traitor.
Notes: What a difference ten tons makes. The early stages of the battle feature a 70-ton Warhammer and a 75-ton Marauder on the Kell Hound side, and nobody says boo. But when the 80-ton Victor and Awesome go at it, everyone freaks out. It seems like Stackpole was trying to create a mystique around the "Assault" category, based on their rarity and high mass, giving the implication that Assault 'Mechs are so rare that it's supremely noteworthy when two face off. One wonders if such legends are dominated by groups like Zeta Battalion, Cochraine's Goliaths, and other all-assault formations. This may just reflect the deeply ingrained Lyran obsession with size, but that wouldn't account for why the supposedly super-elite Sword of Light troops backed off and stopped fighting. (That can probably be attributed to the Combine's dueling culture, which dates back to the First Hidden War of the Star League era.) For the level of shock and awe expressed, though, I'd have expected the two champions to be at the helm of Rattler mobile weapons platforms, or at least Colossal-class superheavy tripods.
The Combine certainly demonstrated a surplus of PPCs in this strikeforce - Panthers out the wazoo, an Awesome, PPC-equipped 2K Shadow Hawks, Griffins, and the PPC-equipped Grand Dragon. It's a good weapon for a raiding force - hard hitting and not ammo-reliant. It seems the Hounds' primary advantage was that they used their ambush to get within the minimum range and hammer away with heavy autocannons (the ambushers included a Hunchback along with the Victor), taking advantage of the night penalties and minumum-range penalties to minimize their casualties.
I can buy Combine DropShips being able to hide in orbit around the next planet over, but I'm very surprised that the garrison on Pacifica failed to note the arrival signature of the Combine JumpShip. There's also an odd sidebar in which Patrick Kell says Janos Vandermeer spotted the Combine ships in orbit around Chara IV because he'd brought his JumpShip in closer into the system, "like they used to in the Star League era," to cut down on in-system transit time, despite the zenith and nadir jump points being "the most efficient places to recharge the K-F drive." From this, we can assume that Vandermeer used a pirate point close to the orbit of Chara IV (because jumping in at the standard point and burning in-system with the weak transit drive wouldn't have sped things up at all). Presumably, so did the Combine JumpShip that dropped off the strikeforce.
I still don't get the idea that being at the zenith or nadir points is the "most efficient" place to recharge the drives, since being in closer would deliver more solar radiation for the sail to collect. The reason ships don't go in closer (without a pirate point) is that the gravitational effects increase the risk of a catastrophic misjump.
This battle also gives us the catastrophic explosion of the Awesome, which would become the genesis for the "Stackpole Rule" (codified in the Tactical Handbook). Modern rulesets have explicitly noted that the real-world physics of a fusion engine would preclude such an explosion - noting that the "fireball" is only the brief ignition that takes place when the superheated plasma hits the outside atmosphere ("like a ton of wet sand dumped on a blowtorch"). However, the writers (while acknowledging that fusion explosions are non-scientific) retained the "Stackpole Rule" because of the immensely satisfying nature of a giant kaboom. Certainly the "release of hot gases" described in the modern rulebook wouldn't send a limb pinwheeling away with sufficient force to rip the leg off a medium 'Mech. (Notably, the wording in the Tactical Handbook says that 'Mechs are powered by "heavily shielded nuclear reactors," implying that the author may have thought the technology was fission, rather than fusion.) For an even more extreme example, you can look at the opening scene in "The Spider and the Wolf," where a Griffin's engine goes critical and explodes with such force that it creates a mushroom cloud, and its lancemates have to seek shelter in nearby bunkers. The Tactical Handbook rules effectively turned Light 'Mechs into bombs with legs, since there was a roughly 50/50 chance of explosion whenever a center torso went from undamaged to destroyed in one round.
Ardan Sortek does a lot better this time out. The last time he was shown at the helm of his Victor, he started by doing a faceplant into a bog, and then getting it shot out from under him by a Capellan MechWarrior who was decidedly un-fazed by facing an Assault 'Mech. I was half wondering if Ardan would go pale at the mention of Branson's Swamp, given what happened the last time he was in a swamp on Stein's Folly.
Aside from the company of Panthers up to no good in the swamp, the Combine forces again play the standard role of Kell Hound foes - to trip over their own feet and go down like ninepins in the face of the two-fisted square-jawed heroes of the Hounds. It would have been nice to have had some more background on how exactly the Hounds had found and compromised the ISF agents on Pacifica. Did they have help from the LIC, or did they take care of it all in-house? To my knowledge, the Hounds lacked integral intel assets (other than O'Cieran's infantry scouts) like the Dragoons' WolfNet. Or were the Kells leveraging local Heimdall assets as a de-facto intel corps?
There doesn't seem to be much of a reason for the raid. Was a reinforced battalion of the Sword of Light hanging around in the Chara system for weeks just to intercept General Joss and the Davion VIPs? The plot of the Crescent Hawk's Inception game suggests that this probe may have been the first Combine effort to find and secure the hidden Star League cache on Pacifica, and their spies (those that hadn't turned) may have been spending their time trying to track it down.
Stackpole clearly worked hard to incorporate elements from the newly published House sourcebooks and TRO:3025 - noting the Combine-specific Grand Dragon and Shadow Hawk 2K variants. He also drew on the House Steiner sourcebook for Hauptmann-General Sarah Joss, who is listed in "House Steiner - The Lyran Commonwealth" as the Aide to the CO of Wyatt Theater, General Victor Joss. Nepotism much, Lyrans? This isn't Joss' only appearance - the 20 Year Update and Objective Raids list her as the Commander of Wyatt Theater with the rank of Field Marshal. She's mentioned in a newsclip in "Measure of a Hero," in 3063, identified as Commander of Freedom Theater, with the rank of Kommandant-General. By Field Manual: Updates, she's the Margrave of Freedom Theater, with the rank of General.
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Date: March 1, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Special Party
Authors: Jim Brunk, Dale L. Kemper & Michael Lee
Type: Scenario (The Kell Hounds)
Synopsis: An interview by Thelos Auburn with Kell Hound warrior Michael Fitzhugh provides in-universe context, citing the Combine's hatred of the Kell Hounds (dating from the Battle of Mallory's World) as the reason for the 2nd Sword of Light incursion, and clarifies that Patrick leaked to identified Kurita informants that Hauptmann-General Joss and Ardan Sortek were expected to arrive on Pacifica for an inspection in a week. The informers got the SoL commander's plans two days later, and the turned ones passed it to the Hounds.
The setup section indicates that the 2nd Sword of Light was present as part of Coordinator Takashi Kurita's plan to get vengeance on the Kell Hounds and redeem Yorinaga Kurita's honor, noting that the Combine DropShips assumed station in orbit around Chara IV in late February 3027. The assault was delayed when the SoL commander received the leaked intel on the VIPs arrival.
The scenario focuses on the battle described in Warrior: En Garde, and pits the Kell Hounds' hidden BattleMech company (Thunderbolt, Orion, Marauder, Crusader, Wolverine, Catapult, Trebuchet, Rifleman, Valkyrie, Commando, Wasp and Jenner) plus their VIPs (Joss in a Warhammer, Sortek in a Victor, and Redburn in a Hunchback) against the Sword of Light (1st Battalion) elements in the DCS Kiken: 12 Panthers, 2 Griffins, 2 Shadow Hawk 2Ks, 1 Grand Dragon, and 1 Awesome. The Kiken lies off the map to the north, and the Combine 'Mechs approach from that edge.
The Combine player gets points for destroying Hound 'Mechs, and bonus points for destroying the 'Mechs of Redburn, Joss, and Sortek. The Defenders get points for each destroyed Kurita 'Mech, and reduced points for each 'Mech that withdraws.
Notes: This scenario is notable for introducing Hidden Unit rules (which had not yet been codified). The prototype version of the rules does not allow the "Point Blank Shots from Hidden Units" that makes ambushes so effective under the modern ruleset. Also, despite the scenario canonically taking place at night, there are no night combat modifiers applied in the scenario "Special Rules" section.
Play of this scenario is problematic if you're doing it with minis and maps, rather than MegaMek, since few players' collections are going to have twelve Panthers (if my collection is any guide, even super-collectors tend more toward "one of each" than large groupings of the same unit.) Even with my collection, I'd have to proxy 1/3 of the Panthers (after using up my metal, plastic, PlasTech, and cardboard fold-up Panthers).
The names given to the Combine troopers suggest that there's a strong bias towards promoting soldiers of ethnic Japanese descent into command positions. The three lance commanders are Ikia Torinaga, Noshia Toshiba, and Katuzi Noritoga. All their underlings have non-Japanese names. All of the Medium, Heavy, and Assault pilots are also of Japanese origin, based on their names. (Granted, Minobu Tetsuhara is decidedly not of Japanese ancestry, but his life story seems to be an outlier.)
This scenario pack predated the publication of official record sheets, so instructions are given on how to adjust the Shadow Hawk and Dragon designs to be the 2K and Grand variants, respectively. I recall the days of photocopying the blank record sheets and filling them all out by hand before a battle. Ah, the Sharpie fumes from filling in the armor bubbles... You kids and yer Solaris Skunkwerks and Heavy Metal Pro are so spoiled... :)
Strategically, the Combine would be well advised to keep their entire force in a tight group, and send out a sacrificial Panther to probe the enemy positions. When a Hound unit takes the bait, the Combine force should advance in lockstep and rain down PPC hell on it. The nice thing about them all having PPCs is that a closely grouped cluster can all hit the same target. Then, the other Hounds will either be forced to sit and wait for their exposed buddy to die while they wait to spring their own ambushes, or will have to break cover and ride the lightning as they advance towards the Combine force concentration. While sending lots of Panthers out in all directions would uncover the Hound ambush faster, there's no time limit built into the scenario, so a cautious advance putting only one Panther at risk is optimal.
Once the enemy is uncovered, concentrate your fire on one unit at a time - ensuring that you get a kill, rather than just sanding off armor. Prioritize the VIPs, but go for the easy shots whenever possible, and recall that Light 'Mechs give the same points as Heavies or Assaults. The winner is the one with the most points (without the usual margins of victory scale), so keep an eye on the math, and feel free to break off and retreat as soon as you're ahead on points.
For that reason, I would also recommend that the Hounds and their VIP allies should cluster the ambush force on the southern slope of hill (northern bank of the river) on the southern of the two maps. Staging the ambush on the southern map increases the odds that the Combine forces will have advanced too far to easily retreat back to the cover of the Kiken (a Japanese word which roughly translates as "dangerous" in English). You don't want to be all the way on the south side of the river, though. If the Combine is cautious, then your forces would dry gulch a lone Panther on the southern plain, while the bulk would be positioned on the top of the hill (with plenty of woods and ridges for cover) and able to sweep your position with accurate PPC fire. Your counter-charge would then be hampered by the river - a problem given how many AC/20s your side has. Placing your forces on the southern slope of the hill permits you to move north and take control of the cover, and thence pour down fire on the Combine forces. Put your long-range units in the south-slope ambush force (Marauder, Crusader, Catapult, Trebuchet, Rifleman, Warhammer, Valkyrie, Orion), and then put the close-range units (Hunchback, Victor, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, Commando, Wasp, Jenner) in a cluster together on the far left or far right of the map, where you can reveal yourselves once the Combine force engages the long-range units on the hilltop, getting in on their flank with AC/20s. The Commando, Wasp, and Jenner can harry wounded units that try to retreat. You only get points for totally destroyed units, and for retreating units that have lost at least 25 percent of their armor and taken five points of internal structure damage, so concentrate on one or two units each round, because overkill is the best kind of kill, and certainly better than just sanding off armor without scoring the points.
Try not to expose the VIPs to significant enemy firepower, since they'll be prime targets and can cost you points if they go down. If they get banged up, pull them back. You can even withdraw off any mapside except the north, without any point penalty.
Ardan Sortek is shown to be an excellent MechWarrior, with Gunner 1 and Piloting 2. Redburn is a bit more wet behind the ears, with Gunnery 3 and Piloting 4.
The Combine side comes in at 18 'Mechs, 780 tons, 60.65 million C-Bills of equipment, and a BV (adjusted for skills) of 16,521.
The Hounds come in at 15 'Mechs, 820 tons, 70.69 million C-Bills of equipment, and a BV (adjusted for skills) of 16,649.
The Hound command staff are super-ace pilots with gunnery skills of 0 and 1 at this point, which goes a long way to make up for their smaller numbers. They should take advantage of this by moving as much as possible every round and taking shots at long ranges - they can hit effectively, while their foes cannot respond. If you choose to apply modern rules to this scenario, I'd recommend "Night" and "Point Blank Attacks by Hidden Units." The night modifiers, in particular, would make the Hounds even more deadly, due to the relative skill disparity vis a vis the Combine cannon fodder (the 18 have only three pilots with a Gunnery of 2 Most in this "Elite" formation have Gunnery skills of 4).
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Ikia Torinaga, Noshia Toshiba, and Katuzi Noritoga. All their underlings have non-Japanese names. All of the Medium, Heavy, and Assault pilots are also of Japanese origin, based on their names. (Granted, Minobu Tetsuhara is decidedly not of Japanese ancestry, but his life story seems to be an outlier.)
One of the things that continues to bug me especially about the older publications is the cheerful ignorance of the Japanese language and muddled Orientalism. (The Japanese Combine's academies have Chinese names, while Chinese-culture Warrior House soldiers are described as carrying Japanese katanas).
The Sword of Light names are Japanese-sounding, but definitely not Japanese. The only one that's recognizable as a name is Toshiba, the rest are meaningless collections of syllables.
In reality, this is likely due either to lack of research on the writers' part, or desire to avoid real-life names (though they have no problem using real English names).
In universe, this suggests to me Tetsuhara was not an outlier, and in fact many people adopted Japanese names as a way of social advancement. If the Japanification of society happened spontaneously without central direction then maybe you'd see families hurriedly adopting Japanese sounding names without worrying too much about authenticity. At least, that's how I rationalize it.
BTW only just got caught up with this thread. Thanks very much for the trip down memory lane! I'm afraid that now you're into Stackpole most of my reactions will be variations on the theme of "argh" but deep down, I'm enjoying this. Really.
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Date: March, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Kirchbach
Title: MechWarrior - Matabushi Ambush
Author: Peter Fokos
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Data on the disk seized from the Matabushi cache, outlining Operation INROAD, has specific information about the location of the Dark Wing's base - Kirchbach. Gideon Vandenburg uses the money obtained from Tasha to assemble a formidable 'Mech lance and leads them on a strike against the Dark Wing base. Annihilating their 'Mechs and scattering the infantry garrison, Gideon breaches their bunker and burns open the compound's high security vault, revealing the sacred Chalice of Herne.
Notes: This is the final battle in the storyline campaign, though the open-ended nature of MechWarrior 1 allows Gideon to get sidetracked into various randomly generated missions for all five Houses as he tries to assemble and maintain a 'Mech lance of high quality than the old Jenner he started with. The version I've attempted to integrate into my master chronology assumes Gideon remained tightly focused on running down the clues to the Dark Wing, and didn't go on side missions as a mercenary until he had solid intel on the Dark Wing, and then used the five million C-Bills as seed money to build his final lance to go after the Dark Wing base (on Kirchbach in the playthrough I referenced in a YouTube "Let's Play" video, but randomly generated in each game).
I have dated this to March 3027, suggesting that recruitment and travel would take about three months, though the date could be pushed back until August 3028, realistically. The five year time limit doesn't expire until 3029, but I would imagine getting a commercial JumpShip to cross any borders once the Fourth Succession War kicks off in September 3028 would be an impossibility - with House Davion and House Steiner having impressed their entire merchant marine for the war, and the Capellans having their JumpShip assets misdirected by Ridzik, Max, Romano, Candace, and Xiang. Putting it in March allows Gideon to avoid the heightened scrutiny that would be directed at the borders during Operation GALAHAD '27.
The Dark Wing is an interesting unit. While other corporations have 'Mech-equipped security forces (Amphigean Agricultural - Amphigean Light Assault Groups; Defiance Industries - Defiance Self Protection Force), the first is hired out as mercenaries for their host House and other corporations, and the DSPF exclusively protects the Hesperus II factory complex in the Myoo Mountains. By contrast, the Dark Wing carries out covert operations against states hostile to the host House, but apparently not in coordination with the ISF or the DCMS.
If we choose to regard MechWarrior 1 and the SNES MechWarrior storylines to exist in the same timeline, the Dark Wing has a much longer history than just Operation INROAD. An earlier incarnation assassinated a high-ranking Davion officer in the 3017, then went underground to avoid retaliation, resurfacing in 3027 (after the destruction of Matabushi's new Dark Wing) in an attempt to create a renegade mercenary alliance (sort of a bandit version of the Allied Mercenary Command). One wonders what Matabushi's involvement with the other Dark Wing is - bankrolling the process of "getting the band back together," running the 3017 assassination and financing the identity protection of the first squad, etc.?
It's entirely possible that the Dark Wing destroyed at the Chalice bunker and the 3017 assassin lance aren't the entirety of the Dark Wing, which could actually be a much larger corporate security formation serving Matabushi across its many branches. It would be fun to see Clan Invasion-era engagements where Dark Wing detachments are mobilized to protect Matabushi branches from Clan forces.
One also wonders exactly why Matabushi was holding onto the Chalice of Herne. Gideon's rival would become the new Duke only if Gideon failed to return with the doohickey in time. The rival family doesn't need the chalice to assume permanent power. So why not just melt it down for tie clips? The name of the chalice is a bit of an in-joke, likely named for Herne the Hunter of Celtic lore, since Gideon spends the whole game hunting for the thing.
Gideon's name is probably also significant, since the Biblical Gideon is known for the military success of a small elite force against overwhelming numerical odds - much like Gideon Vandenburg leading a single lance against all odds to defeat the Dark Wing. Vandenburg translates from the Dutch as someone who lives near a fortress or castle. In this story, Gideon Vandenburg, then, is the leader of a small elite fighting force who has been exiled from his stronghold on Ander's Moon.
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Date: March 7, 3027
Location: Baxter IV
Title: Salvage on Baxter IV
Author: Lee B. Barton
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology #0201)
Synopsis: The 4th Proserpina Hussars assaulted Baxter IV in early March, expecting a quick victory despite the hostile climate, but stalemated against the 10th Skye Rangers. Supplies ran low for both sides, and scavenging was the order of the day.
A week into the fighting, a Skye Ranger lance under Lt. Erwin Zak fights a desperate holding action in the Groder Dune Sea region to keep Combine forces from claiming two downed Kurita 'Mechs - a Stalker and a Marauder that had fallen off a ridge (possibly lost during a dust storm or toppled by an earthquake), killing the pilots. Lt. Zak estimates that the parts salvaged from the 'Mechs could put a company of disabled Ranger 'Mechs back in the field.
On two basic BattleTech maps, this scenario pits elements of the 10th Skye Rangers against elements of the 4th Proserpina Hussars. Zak's lance begins next to the downed 'Mechs with a Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, and Spider. They receive reinforcements from Lt. Genghis Robb's Scout Lance - a Griffin, Phoenix Hawk, and Stinger, but the reinforcements do not arrive until somewhere between turn 10 and turn 15 (9 + 1D6). The Proserpina Hussars bring a Fire Lance to the party - Crusader, Wolverine, Panther, and Javelin.
The two forces have the option of trying to drag off the downed 'Mechs, or destroy them. The winner is the side that drags off more, either by getting both, or getting one and destroying the other. One each, or none each, is a draw. Salvage nets with tow cables have already been attached to the Marauder and Stalker. It costs 2MP to grab a tow cable, and 'Mechs can drag their prize only one hex per turn, through clear terrain. Shooting at the downed 'Mechs gets the -4 immobile target bonus, and 100 points of damage renders it unsalvageable.
Zak's Lance has 130 tons and 3,069 BV. Robb's Lance has 120 tons and 3,159 BV. The Hussars have 185 tons with 3,306 BV (the Rangers have excellent gunnery skills, 2 across the board).
Notes: One of the great things about BattleTechnology, especially the early issues, is that it proved a format where writers could push the boundaries of the format and try new things. I have to give Lee Barton credit for coming up with an unusual set of victory conditions and mechanisms. Despite credits for creativity, I don't think it's a complete success, however.
Trying to haul off a 'Mech is an exercise in futility. It puts one of your guys out of the fight (1/3 to 1/4 of your starting force, depending on your side), and prevents them from using their mobility. Since all the units are fairly mobile, their armor usually isn't maximized, and the dragger will quickly become a casualty of the enemy taking easy shots. If, somehow, a 'Mech gets close to the edge, it'll draw fire from all over the field to destroy it (getting the -4 to-hit bonus).
Despite the narrative that Zak's Lance is outgunned, the BV estimate (courtesy of Heavy Metal Pro) shows that the superior gunnery and mobility almost entirely makes up for the deficit in numbers and weight. Zak's forces should move to their full extent, making themselves as unhittable as possible while scoring hits on the Hussars with their superior gunnery. If any 'Mech tries to drag one of the wrecks away, burn them down, since they won't get any defensive movement modifiers. If any dragged 'Mech gets too close to the edge, take it out. Don't bother trying to haul off the booty with Zak and company. Just keep the Hussars busy until Robb arrives. Once that happens, you'll have a 2-to-1 advantage in BV, and should be able to sweep the enemy from the field. As Robb's forces get closer, however, the Proserpina player, unless they're somehow ahead on points, will be strongly incentivized to destroy both 'Mechs. To prevent that, charge the enemy and engage them at close quarters. Hopefully, the damage you've inflicted to this point has been lopsided, and you can break them with this attack, or at least distract them enough so they don't shoot the 'Mechs. Be willing to sacrifice your 'Mechs, since victory conditions are based on the salvage, not kills.
For the Hussars, this is a tough scenario. While the designer intended them to be demonstrably superior, force balancing in the early days was more art than science, and the BV calculations suggest that the Kuritans are facing a nearly even fight at the start, and then a hopeless one once the reinforcements arrive. If they get really lucky and are able to land crippling blows on the Skye Rangers in early exchanges, they might be able to start dragging the booty away, with two hauling and two providing cover fire. If the Rangers make full use of their mobility and better gunnery, it's unlikely that enough shots will land to put any out of the action, or decrease the enemy threat enough to make hauling the salvage away even close to safe.
It would have made a better scenario if the Rangers had been weaker, or if the Combine forces were equipped with heavier, better armored gear, so that they could wade through the Ranger fire, seize the salvage, and then have an interesting calculation about how to get back off their side of the map while denying the Rangers good shots at the mechanical carcasses. As it stands, though, my recommendation is just to concentrate your fire on the two wrecks until they become useless slag, then withdraw for a draw before Robb and company arrive, confident that you have, at least, kept a full company of Rangers from returning to the battlefield.
This scenario could be substantially modified and jazzed up using the modern ruleset. Dust storms and earthquakes are mentioned in the Baxter IV description. Why not have some of those take place during the battle (a dust storm, in particular, could make hauling salvage more of a viable prospect, because it severely restricts ranged attacks).
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Date: January 4, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Welcome to Club Zero-Zero
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: In 3017, AFFS Colonel Joseph T. Ragen was working to infiltrate and destroy the renegade mercenary cartel known as the Dark Wing. The mercenaries located his home and, on January 12, 3017, assassinated Colonel Ragen and most of his family, orphaning his 12-year old son, Herras. The strike team members covered their tracks by agreeing to disband the Dark Wing for ten years, at which time they would resume normal operations.
Ten years later, Herras Ragen has become a freelance mercenary, selling his services in pursuit of information about the identities and location of the Dark Wing Lance that killed his family. At the start of 3027, he arrives on Galatea (the Mercenary's Star) and goes to Club Zero-Zero in search of new leads.
Club Zero-Zero is so named because it is located on Galatea's equator at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude. Visiting mercenaries can view holovid messages, check the NewsNet, secure contracts, and listen to the club's constantly chattering maitre'd, Cearle Jamist.
Herras enters Club Zero-Zero and tells the proprietor he has been working for ten years to refine his skills to be able to face the Dark Wing Lance, which destroyed his family. The bartender introduces himself as Cearle, and offers a lead for a job on Galeton. He also recommends that Herras upgrade his 'Mech with homing missiles.
Notes: My goal for this thread is to summarize all the storylines that have been created for the BattleTech universe, and to see how they best fit into the overall whole, coming up with increasingly creative handwaving and logical leaps when different sources contradict each other.
While the original MechWarrior game from Activision did a very good job of fitting both the tone and the timeline of the BattleTech universe, the SNES remake has a number of serious issues in terms of continuity.
The game begins on January 4, 3027, and then advances the timeline three days every time Herras takes a mission. The creators must have presumed that Herras had access to a ship able to instantaneously transit the stars to reach the target zone for the mission, do the mission in about a day, and return in time to get a new mission.
Not only is this entirely incompatible with the 3027-era scarcity of JumpShips, but also lacks the necessary time for in-system transit and for jump-drive recharging. It isn't even internally consistent. NewsNet articles included in the game often directly reference touchpoint events from the novel Warrior: En Garde, and the 3 days/mission chronology results in some of these headlines being published before the events in question have even taken place.
This isn't the first time a BattleTech product's internal timeline needs to be ignored to make the storyline fit - the graphic novel "The Spider and the Wolf" had some serious issues on that score as well. So, I've re-flowed the chronology based on the Warrior: En Garde events referenced in the NewsNet stories. I have read that there are 50 storyline missions and multiple paths through the game, but my entries in this thread are based on the ones shown in the "Let's Play" video on YouTube.
Based on the amount of time between the NewsNet headlines, it appears that Herras has the ability to get off Galatea, reach a target world, do the mission, and return in about 8-12 days, on average. This still wreaks havoc with standard jump times, but is far more within the realm of possibility if you assume that Herras Ragen is quite wealthy and has invested a vast amount of resources to set up a commercial command circuit from Galatea to worlds within a few jumps, and is paying extra for captains able to make pirate point calculations. Once the timeline gets past Warrior: En Garde, there are no more NewsNet touchpoints, but keeping roughly the same spacing between missions allows the storyline to wrap up by the end of 3027 - making a nice one-year package. (It seems almost like the designers wanted the storyline to start and finish entirely during the events of Warrior: En Garde, which concludes in June 3027, and implemented the 3 days/mission mechanism so all the storyline missions could fit into less than six months, but that effort actually causes the game's NewsNet to get out of synch with the book it references. This would explain the lack of references to events in Warrior: Riposte.)
Joseph T. Ragen was, purportedly, the best MechWarrior in the best unit in the AFFS, and there was "outrage and shock in every home in the Federated Suns" when he was assassinated. One might presume that, in the neo-feudal setting of 3017, House Ragen had at least a knight's estate, household staff, and substantial incomes. Hanse would have, at the very least, seen that the sole heir to his best MechWarrior was financially taken care of. So in addition to whatever assets House Ragen has, Herras probably also has a substantial line of credit from the AFFS and/or the MIIO (especially given the apparent strong interest of the MIIO in the Dark Wing's activities over in the Activision game storyline).
Club Zero-Zero is described as a haven for mercenary MechWarriors and the dregs of the Inner Sphere. The location is a bit strange, given what has subsequently been written about Galatea. The star is super-hot, meaning the equator is scorched and lifeless, and most settlements on the world are on the shores of the landlocked seas and the attached rivers in the cooler (though still hot) polar regions. One the one hand, Cearle's air conditioning bill must be immense - the Club is likely a climate controlled dome. It seems a bit out of the way, given the various attractions and mercenary services available up in Galatean City and Galaport. On the other hand, perhaps the clientele of Club Zero-Zero likes the isolation, so they can carry out covert meetings and set up contracts away from prying eyes.
The contract signing is described as entirely automated - mercs pick contracts on the computer screen using the Club Zero-Zero facilities. I wonder if this is done through the auspices of the ComStar Mercenary Review Board, or if this is a surviving outpost of the struggling Mercenaries' Guild. Or perhaps Cearle is an independent operator, handling assignations of dicey contracts to bottom-feeding mercs.
Most of the worlds offered as mission locations (with the exception of Solaris) are non-canon - appearing on no maps. One possible explanation is that they're outpost worlds - like New Cleveland, Newbraska, Dragon's Field, etc. Alternatively, they could be inhabited moons in systems where the name is derived from better known colonies in the same system. "Galeton" is just one letter off from "Galedon," but the distance from Galatea to Galedon would preclude even a command circuit run out that direction and back.
Cearle's recommendation of "homing missiles" in 3027 is an artifact of the game mechanics (we'll not even go into how this game features the Raijin, Nexus, and Grand Crusader decades before their in-universe introduction). A convenient explanation is that Cearle is opining on the superiority of LRMs and SRMs with built-in guidance packages over, say, dead-fired unguided rocket volleys. It wouldn't make sense for Cearle to be selling LosTech Artemis IV systems in the Mech-it-lube attached to the Club Zero-Zero.
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Date: January 21, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Meet Larman Sholest
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: After returning from his mission on Galeton, Herras Ragen checks the NewsNet and sees that the Dark Wing Lance members have been declared outlaws. The other headline is that Lt. Andrew Redburn received the Silver Sunburst from Hanse Davion for heroism on Kittery.
When he enters Club Zero-Zero, veteran mercenary Larman Sholest introduces himself and gives Herras an envelope filled with money, saying it is from a good friend of Herras'. Cearle welcomes Herras back, and gives him a tip on a contract to the world of Zacapa.
Notes: While the in-game date for this event is January 7, Warrior: En Garde places the award ceremony on January 20. It's not clear how quickly news like this could/should disseminate through the NewsNet. Presumably the NewsNet is a service that draws its information from a variety of sources, all of which would be distributed via HPG. With Class-A stations broadcasting every six hours, and reaching up to 50 light years away, it's conceivable that news from New Avalon could reach destinations up to 200 light years away within 24 hours (further if the six-hour intervals aren't synchronized from world to world, meaning that a newly received message may not need to wait another six hours before being retransmitted, if the receiving world was already four hours into its six-hour cycle).
It's never explained why Larman Sholest hands Harras a bag of money "from a friend." Sholest's dialogue suggests he knows Harras and all about his quest, but the money seems to be a random element, because his next dialogue is an introduction to Harras that indicates he's hearing about him for the first time. One possible interpretation is that Larman may have been a friend of Joseph T. Ragen, or possibly that he's serving as a conduit from Hanse Davion or the MIIO to bankroll Harras' investigation.
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Date: January 22, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Lana Mann Reporting In
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Harras Ragen remains at the Club Zero-Zero, seeking leads on the Dark Wing. Cearle, the maitre'd, pulls out a holovid a mercenary accidentally left behind and shows it to Harras. In the holovid, MIIO agent Lana Mann reports that she's received and decoded her latest assignment, to bring the Dark Wing to justice. She informs her superiors she will report in from the planet Kagran.
Notes: The purpose of these clues is to trigger missions in the contract screen. Kudos to the writers for trying to create story-based leads, rather than just having lists of missions. On the other hand, the amount of actionable information that quite literally falls into Herras' lap pushes the boundaries of credibility. Having a mercenary leave a stolen holovid in the club's lost'n'found, and having Cearle just happen to show it to Herras while the information is still fresh enough to be actionable just grates me the wrong way.
Overall, I'd have liked it if Herras was able to take more actions of his own in the investigative side of the game. Perhaps a hacking mini-game to tap into the ComStar message database, or an out-of-'Mech arcade bit fighting your way into a gang's lair to retrieve data. I know the hardware and software capabilities were pretty limited back in 1993, but having Herras just sit at the bar slamming down lugen coladas (a Galatean specialty) until someone hands him his next clue makes it seem like the main character lacks agency.
Lana Mann is described in the "cast of characters" section as "The lovely spy from House Davion. Nobody can resist her charms." She seems cut from the same cloth as Tasha, from the 1989 Activision MechWarrior game.
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Date: January 23, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Team Up With Meece Yerta
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Meese Yerta introduces himself to Herras Ragen in the Club Zero-Zero lounge, and offers to let Herras join him on his next mission, promising a big bonus. Herras also receives a report from his paid informant, Roden Wull, who says the Dark Wing is staging a recon raid.
Notes: The "cast of characters" section identifies Meece Yerta as a sleazy merc who gets others to do the tough jobs for him, while Roden Wull is a professional informant, trading secrets for C-Bills. I can totally get behind Roden and his role in the game. For my money, there should have been an interface screen where players could recruit informants and direct their movements around to different worlds. That would make sense and be consistent with the universe (we've already seen that mercs like the Bounty Hunter maintain just such networks of informants on worlds across the Inner Sphere).
Meece, on the other hand, doesn't fit the narrative at all. Herras is supposedly taking only contracts that will lead him to information about the Dark Wing. Yet Meece doesn't promise any information - just a bonus payment. This is a common problem for sandbox games, but MechWarrior (SNES) is a fairly linear progression, with your choice of mission affecting the arcade elements, but not the overall progression towards the denouement of the plot. It brings to mind the Fallout games, where the player has an urgent task, but can take time out to retrieve MacGuffins, get jobs, build settlements, get cosmetic surgery, etc.
At this point, the player has mission options on Zacapa, Kagran, Rostov, and Zhada. The "Let's Play" video I watched had the player doing the Zacapa, Kagran, and Rostov missions, but there are only ten days between the two NewsNet touchpoint articles (Silver Sunburst on the 20th, Redburn Inspection Tour on the 30th) - definitely not enough time to squeeze in more than one mission.
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Date: January 31, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Meece is a No Show
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras traveled to Rostov, expecting to fight alongside Meece Yerta, but found himself alone against the enemy forces there. Returning to Galatea, he finds Meece in the Club Zero-Zero lounge. Meece apologizes for not meeting Herras on Rostov, explaining "something came up." He pays Herras the bonus, and says this is the start of a beautiful friendship.
Notes: Unlike the Activision game, the SNES version didn't allow for lancemates, so every mission is a solo run. Thus, there was never any potential for Meece to join Herras on the mission. Still, Meece is playing a dangerous game tricking rookie mercenaries into subcontracting on his missions - collecting a fee with no danger while the dupe completes the mission alone. Given what we've seen of Galatea thus far, Meece runs a substantial risk of getting shot in the face if one of his "partners" survives to return, and decides that "satisfaction" outweighs "payday." (Especially if Meece has the cash on him, in which case "satisfaction+payday" > "future paydays."
The fact that Herras went so far as to drop onto the target before discovering that he was alone without his lancemate calls into question Herras' planning abilities. Was he not suspicious when Meece didn't join him on the outbound DropShip? Were they just supposed to "meet up" planetside, having booked separate passage? No staging? Sure, it may be asking a lot of an SNES game, but many elements in this scenario just fail basic logic tests.
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Date: February 1, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Mercenary Uprisings
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: While hanging out and drinking at the Club Zero-Zero bar, Herras Ragen scours the NewsNet, which includes a press release about the departure of Andrew Redburn, Hero of Kittery, from New Avalon on a tour of the Lyran Commonwealth. The NewsNet also features an article about mercenary guerrilla uprisings on Puxi and Quilon, with a note that House Davion has ordered the offending mercenary units banished from their space, and is offering contracts to units willing to put the uprisings down. Herras takes the contract to suppress the revolt on Puxi.
Notes: The fact that the unrest is described as "mercenary uprisings," suggests that Quilon and Puxi might be outpost worlds used by Davion merc units for R&R, not unlike the world of Rahway II, featured in "Life in the Big City" from the CityTech rulebook.
If this Dark Wing is associated with the Matabushi covert ops division from the Activision MechWarrior game, then these uprisings may be associated with Operation INROAD. I can see the appeal for the Combine - having false flagged mercenaries under secret contract to the Combine through Matabushi take contracts for the Federated Suns and, once deployed to the AFFS staging outposts, run rampant and wreck up the place, would be an effective means of both damaging the AFFS' staging and R&R infrastructure, and have the chance to take out loyal AFFS mercenaries, as well as weakening the level of trust between the AFFS and the mercenary community.
The Word of Blake used exactly this ploy when it struck at Wolf's Dragoons on Outreach - infiltrating its mercenaries onworld (both as turncoat members of the Allied Mercenary Command and as TempTowners ostensibly looking for contracts), and then having them attack - throwing the Dragoons into chaos, weakening mutual trust among the AMC members and the mercenary community, and goading the Dragoons into their ill-fated revenge attack on Mars, which weakened the Dragoons enough to pave the way for the Blakist assault on Outreach itself.
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Date: February 9, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Whack-a-Merc
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from suppressing the mercenary guerrillas on Puxi, and is congratulated on his performance by Cearle. Veteran merc Larman Sholest overhears, and comments that the real action is on Quilion, but forgives Herras for making a rookie mistake.
Notes: It's interesting that House Davion would declare guerrilla actions illegal. Guerrilla warfare is explicitly an accepted mission type in the Mercenary's Handbook, and (according to "The Galtor Campaign") House Davion used "Johnny Team" units to support Galtorian insurgents during the initial liberation of Galtor III. Generally, though, House Davion doesn't have to resort to guerrilla warfare because it has the resources and strength to drop an RCT on its target, rather than muck around with asymmetric warfare.
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Date: February 18, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Just Another Merc
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras returns to Galatea after taking part in putting down the mercenary insurgency on Quilon. Cearle congratulates him on a good job, and gives him a soda on the house. He mentions that he heard some other mercenaries say that Wolf Glupper is working for House Marik on Dalview. Coincidentally, Herras also receives a message from his informant, Roden Wull, who tells him there seems to be some connection between Wolf Glupper and the Dark Wing Lance.
Notes: After the recent comments upthread about made-up last names, I thought I'd look up "Glupper," and was surprised to see it is a legitimate last name (albeit a rare one). The game intro gives him the evocative character thumbnail of "yet another merc." (More of a hangnail than a thumbnail, at that point.)
Cearle runs a real tough establishment for the scum of the Inner Sphere, givin' out complimentary soda pop. This is probably an artifact of regulations restricting depictions of drug and alcohol use in games marketed to certain age groups.
The only real point of interest in all this is that we now have rumors of a link between House Marik and the Dark Wing. This raises the possibility that the Dark Wing (which seems to be primarily raiding targets in the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth) is serving the interests of the greater Kapteyn Accord, rather than just Kurita through Matabushi. If SAFE is aware of House Davion's sponsorship of insurgent groups in the FWL in the 3020s, I'm sure they'd sign on to Operation INROAD with the hopes of getting some untraceable payback against the Federated Commonwealth allies via the Dark Wing.
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Date: February 28, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Emergency on Solaris
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from Dalview to find a mercenary named Yerg Gantor raging in the Club Zero-Zero lounge, ranting about how Wolf Glupper betrayed him, and swearing revenge, if it's the last thing he does.
Herras also...somehow...views a holovid from MIIO agent Lana Mann, informing her superior that an enemy spy has wired one of the MIIO's intelligence installations on Solaris VII with explosives that could go off if it's not disarmed immediately.
Notes: Yerg Gantor is described as a veteran mercenary, a "real tough cookie." Though his use of the phrase "betrayed me again" implies that he's not quite the "cross me and die" type he attempts to portray himself as, since apparently Wolf has betrayed him at least once before.
This is why the mechanism for incorporating Lana Mann's reports just...doesn't...work. Maybe I could buy Herras getting handed one holovid left behind in a bar after being stolen by a mercenary. But two? Three? How clumsy is this holovid intercepting merc?
The only possible explanation I can think of is that either the MIIO is feeding these messages to Herras via Cearle intentionally to get him to do missions for them, or that the Dark Wing is intercepting these messages and feeding them to Herras to keep him busy with wild goose chases that fail to advance his search for the Dark Wing. (Since the Dark Wing boss, Yerg Gantor, is sitting right there in the bar, my guess is that he's the "unnamed merc" who "left the disk behind" at the Zero-Zero Club.)
The message itself also makes no sense. If a building is about to explode, do you take the time to go down to the ComStar station and record a holovid message to your superior? Or do you take local initiative and oversee the bomb squad's operations yourself. Worse, the message triggers a contract to go to Solaris and fight enemy 'Mechs so that you can disarm the detonator and save the MIIO listening post. How in the name of Kerensky is Herras Ragen supposed to see this message of unknown age, hop on a DropShip/JumpShip command circuit to Solaris VII, land, find the MIIO building, and disarm the detonator if it could go off if not disarmed "immediately." If you're reading "immediately" on a holovid pulled out of the lost'n'found, it's too late for you to do anything.
This is where the Activision MechWarrior game had a decided narrative advantage - it actually sends Gideon Vandenburg all over the map of the Inner Sphere, meeting people in person and physically being present when events happen. Herras, by contrast, primarily is seen lurking in the Zero-Zero Club lounge waiting for data to roll in, and then he launches. This creates a severe temporal disconnect from the action. I could buy Gideon hearing from a local contact that their building - the one over there - is about to explode, and trying to do something about it. Herras, not so much.
Hmmm. I wonder if the post wired with explosives is the same control center to which agent Kym Sorenson reported "Contact" after hooking up with Justin Xiang?
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Hanse Davion has actively sponsored guerilla uprisings in the FWL, and in the Loyal Son series on BattleCorps the Word of Blake protagonist Raul Tinker executed captured Davion agents specifically to stop them from keeping their guerilla operations going and kill yet more people in the process. In the latter case the insurrections were bloody enough for Tinker to rationalize his war crime as the smaller evil. So yeah, House Davion has a history with guerillas.
As for a Marik connection... SAFE is so famously clueless and inept that I would suppose they got framed.
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Date: March 8, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Mercenary Uprisings
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from having (somehow) saved the day on Solaris VII, and finds a mis-addressed holovid in his inbox - a report from Agent Vermin Minter, who reports (to an unknown addressee) that SAFE intel connects Wolf Glupper with the guerrilla attacks on Zhada and Galeton. She notes that her team is working to identify his current location.
Herras scans the NewsNet and sees that militants on Galeton have launched an uprising believed to be connected to a rumored cache of stolen property on the world. House Davion has warned the mercenaries involved to stand down.
The NewsNet also reports that Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn were attacked by three DropShips of Kurita forces after arriving at Chara III (Pacifica).
Notes: The game intro says that Minter has "a compromised comm link with House Marik; her holovids keep winding up in your hands." While I can see a radio transmitter broadcasting on the wrong frequencies, this is a holovid presumably sent via ComStar. Having information relevant to his search just fall into his inbox shatters all suspension of disbelief. Seriously, my leading theory at this point is that ComStar ROM is involved and is either using selectively leaked messages to direct Ragen's activities, or are using Ragen as a training ground for ROM cadets - a field demonstration in the power of properly applied message leaks. Somebody's pulling Ragen's strings.
The writers over and over again miss the low hanging fruit when it comes to building on the BattleTech theme and mythos. Mercs fighting over stolen property? What are they, street gangs trying to move a few stray pallets of germanium that fell off the back of a DropShip? Why not say they're fighting over rumors of a hidden Star League cache? Mercs, bandits, House Regulars, and LosTech prospectors do that all the time.
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Still sounds interesting, despite it flaws. Another tidbit of info that could be used for an adventure. Not canon-able source. : :-\
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Date: March 20, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Justin Xiang, Fuh Teng, and Tung Yuan are working on upgrades to a newly purchased Centurion when Contessa Kym Sorenson, now dating Xiang, drops by for a visit, accompanied by Gray Noton. Xiang thanks Sorenson for the loan he used to buy the Centurion and pay for the refit. Noton comments on the armor redistribution from the left arm to the right, and warns that the LRM rack will not be useful in the Factory arena, and warns that the fight has been fixed to ensure he loses when he faces Peter Armstrong, one of Philip Capet’s “Capellan Mafia.” Xiang says he’s heard that, too, but will never accept any inducement to throw a fight. Noton promises to induct Xiang into Valhalla if he wins.
That night, in Montenegro’s “Factory” arena, Xiang takes the field in his modified Centurion, named Yen-lo-wang, after the Chinese King of the Nine Hells, against Peter Armstrong in his Griffin, the Ares. Xiang moves carefully through the debris-strewn ruin in search of Griffin, and settles into a nook to ambush his foe. He is prepared when the Griffin inches into sight, and, rather than launching a surprise attack, announces his presence over his loudspeaker and moves to engage with his autocannon. Armstrong invites Xiang to take his best shot, anticipating that his armor will easily shrug off the Centurion’s AC/10.
Unbeknownst to Armstrong, though, Yen-lo-wang’s autocannon has been upgraded to an AC/20 (at the expense of his LRMs – though the ports were retained for cosmetic appearances). The cloud of projectiles tears through the Griffin’s chest armor and damages both the engine shielding and the gyro. Armstrong’s return fire proves ineffective, and Xiang’s second volley destroys the Griffin’s PPC and destroys the engine shielding. Xiang wills Armstrong to punch out of the crippled ‘Mech, but Armstrong dies in his cockpit as reactor plasma from the breached fusion engine vents through it.
After the match, Noton congratulates him on the victory, but warns that customizing Yen-lo-wang as an infighter only worked because of the element of surprise, and that future foes will use long range attacks against him.
Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of an angry bookie and two goons, who have come to take vengeance on Xiang for not throwing the fight. Xiang quickly incapacitates both goons, and tells the bookie he will ruin him financially and kill him by degrees if he ever tries to fix another of his fights. Noton chuckles, as Justin explains the beating will make the Federats angrier and drive up the value of the purses for his matches. He frames his liaison with Kym Sorenson as achieving the same goal, but acknowledges that he has come to love her.
Together, along with Sorenson, they take Noton’s luxury car to Valhalla, which is decorated in mourning colors to commemorate Armstrong’s death. Armstrong’s chair is shrouded in black satin. Philip Capet (once a sergeant under Xiang in the Kittery Training Battalion, now Champion of Solaris VII), calls Xiang a coward and challenges his presence. Justin challenges Capet, and Billy Wolfson accepts on Capet’s behalf.
Xiang, Noton, and Sorenson sit at Noton’s private alcove. A waiter brings a bottle of fine Palos wine – reputedly the best in the Successor States - with a gift card identifying the sender as Tsen Shang, in Capellan. Noton promises to introduce Xiang to him, and notes that Shang owns two Heavy ‘Mechs, but lacks pilots.
Late that night, Sorenson slips out of bed and kisses Xiang (who she earlier drugged) before departing the apartment. She drives her Hurricane aircar to an apartment tower on Bunyan Road and goes through to shake any tails, emerging from the rear and proceeding through alleys to a restaurant on Twain Street. A speaker hidden in the cushions of her booth asks her to report, and she reports that Xiang has made contact with Tsen Shang, and that Xiang has proven susceptible to her drug – Nasodithol. Her MIIO handler orders her to encourage Xiang’s entry into Noton’s service, and to be aware of Fuh Teng, who is a known Maskirovka agent.
Despite Sorenson’s precautions, Gray Noton successfully followed her to the rendezvous (with the help of his network of agents). He muses that she is definitely more than a bored rich girl, and swears that her failure to fool him will cost her.
Notes: It’s significant that, prior to writing for FASA’s BattleTech game, Michael Stackpole designed and wrote the “Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes” RPG for Flying Buffalo. The work he did on that project is evident in his BattleTech work – which was the first to really get into storylines pitting intelligence agencies against each other. There aren’t any private eyes in Warrior: En Garde, but there are mercenaries and spies aplenty. At its heart, there are really two primary tales being told in the Warrior Trilogy – the rebirth of the Kell Hounds and the final resolution of the nigh-mystical conflict between Morgan Kell and Yorinaga Kurita; and the operation by the MIIO to insert Justin into the Maskirovka and cripple the Capellan Confederation before and during the Fourth Succession War. There are other minor plotlines, but those are the main two, and the Justin Xiang storyline is definitely a spy tale.
As usual for the style of the story, most of Justin’s opponents exist only to demonstrate how awesome the protagonist is – taking down the Griffin in a couple of volleys (honestly, who brings a long-range jumping sniper into a close-quarters arena expecting anything but disaster?) and disabling the bookie’s thugs singlehandedly without breaking a sweat. Stackpole only allows the “level boss” to serve as any credible threat – and while Yorinaga Kurita serves that function for the Kell Hound side of the story, Gray Noton fills the role for Justin, at least in En Garde.
This chapter features the birth of the famous Yen-lo-wang, albeit not quite as formidably as it would become in the hands of Kai Allard Liao. Despite his expertise, it’s interesting that Noton sees the heavier autocannon, and just thinks the increased bulk means more armor plating, rather than a weapon system change. If he has a network of agents watching Kym and other things of interest in Solaris City, why weren’t they keeping an eye on Teng Stables to see what parts they were bringing in?
Palos’ fine wines were revisited in Jihad Conspiracies, attributing them to Joyous Springs Wines, a firm that eventually became part of Chandresekhar Kurita’s vast and eclectic corporate empire.
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The single thing that disappointed me most about the Warrior series is the lack of any sense of threat or danger. It's almost GI Joe in its one-sidedness.
I think one of the issues is the BT universe never really settled on any one "realism level", e.g.
Gritty: Nobody's good, nobody's bad, anyone can die at any time (Some Battlecorps stories, Robert Charette's novels, Game of Thrones, etc.)
Heroic: Protagonists are good guys, and rarely die unless dramatically appropriate. Bad guys may win a few battles, but lose in the end (William H Keith, Starship Troopers, Lord of the Rings)
Cinematic: Heroes are superhuman, the best at everything. They wipe the floor with everyone but the level boss, who they beat with a little effort (Stackpole, Star Wars except Rogue One maybe, X-Men)
I started BT with the introductory box set, which led me to expect a gritty setting. It also seemed to encourage you to identify with any one of the five main factions. Then the Warrior series came along and totally undid that. "You can like any faction so long as it's Davion."
So I think that's why I find the whole series so unreadable now.
Anyway
Isn't it odd in retrospect that the duels all take place between Mechs in the 50-60 ton range? They had to bend over backwards when they wrote the Solaris sourcebooks to explain how Noton could ever become champion in a Rifleman.
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Isn't it odd in retrospect that the duels all take place between Mechs in the 50-60 ton range? They had to bend over backwards when they wrote the Solaris sourcebooks to explain how Noton could ever become champion in a Rifleman.
Based on the Awesome vs. Victor fight on Pacifica, it seems that Stackpole's vision was that Assault 'Mechs were vanishingly rare and devastatingly powerful. This impression was probably heavily influenced by the text in TRO:3025:
"Assault 'Mechs are the kings of the battlefield. Although rare and often kept out of battle because of it, one assault 'Mech is usually equal to a whole lance of other 'Mechs . The well-designed assault 'Mech does not fear anything, and its physical attacks can, at the very least, cripple any target."
The few Goliaths that were operational quickly become the property of their pilots, and only a handful are still in service today.
Thus, the total number of Victors produced has been determined to be nearly 1000 . Many were lost during Kerensky's exodus from the Star League, and still more were lost during the First Succession War.
The Terran Hegemony manufactured more than 5,000 Banshees in the next ten years. About a third of these still exist.
Someone once calculated that if a battalion of Stinger 'Mechs engaged an Atlas, the Atlas would retire for repairs an hour later, leaving only one Stinger still able to move.
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The Mercenary's Handbook later gave some hard numbers, estimating the ratios of Light/Medium/Heavy/Assault as 30/40/20/10. Thus, most Arena battles are between Mediums, because most 'Mechs are Medium. Plus, the more maneuverable Mediums can put on a show and get better ratings, rather than just reducing everything to a slugfest between 100-ton pillboxes.
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Date: March 20, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Don't Forget Your Thermal Underwear
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Veteran merc Larman Sholest tells Herras that he's heard that Wolf Glupper has been laying low on a planet with two large icebound areas, waiting for things to cool down.
Notes: This hint triggers a mission in which the player's first "Your Dark Winger is in another castle" chain can end. It's an interesting design decision not to name the world, but instead to give a vague description - ostensibly to reward players who had taken the time to marvel at the designer's work on earlier missions and could recall which world had the unique feature mentioned in the clue.
In a game universe in which more than a trillion people live scattered across more than 3,000 worlds, it's astounding to me that so many of the interactions are framed as though everybody knows everybody else. It costs money to send HPG messages. Does Sholest have his own network of informants scattered around the Inner Sphere, like the Bounty Hunter? How many of these lookouts draw paychecks from 100+ mercs every time they get a lead?
All of Herras' time, and money, and missions - his recruiting of paid informants, his intercepts of intel communiques, and his first break in ten years comes when a casual acquaintance wanders over in a bar and drops the information, unbidden, in his lap.
I watched the Truman Show a few nights ago, and my runthrough of the SNES MechWarrior adaptation makes me feel like outside forces (probably ComStar) are manipulating our player through carefully controlled leaks of information to produce "The Herras Show" for the entertainment of the First Circuit.
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Date: April 8, 3027
Location: Misery
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Colonel Jaime Wolf congratulates Dechan Fraser on his promotion to Captain, and asks him to head a special team for a fast strike mission, to recover the contents of a supply cache before the 7th Crucis Lancers can seize it and re-equip themselves, following their recent raid on Misery. Fraser accepts.
Wolf tells Fraser to configure his ‘Mechs for combat on the desert world of Udibi, and be ready to depart in a week under conditions of extreme secrecy. Fraser asks if the mission will breach the unit’s Combine contract, and Wolf explains that it’s legal – all the Dragoons are doing is making arrangements to secure supplies, per the contract. Since the Combine might not understand about the “crossing the border” element, Wolf wants that kept quiet.
Notes: Fraser’s task force is to contain elements of all the Dragoon regiments, as a statement to the Combine. This seems odd to me, since the secrecy associated with the run would somewhat preclude making a “statement.” It seems more likely that Wolf has sent elements of all the regiments because the real purpose of the Udibi mission is to make contact with the Federated Suns and begin laying the groundwork for escaping the Combine to friendlier territory.
During the briefing, Fraser notes that mercenaries have primarily comprised the Davion OpFor along the Combine border for the duration of their contract to date, making encounters with AFFS regulars rare. He notes that AFFS troops have been moving along the border, striking, and then winding up elsewhere instead of returning to their bases, but doesn’t know why. This is, of course, the outsider’s view of Operation GALAHAD ’27. The odd thing is, House Davion announced GALAHAD ’26 and GALAHAD ’27 as large scale military preparedness exercises. Why would Fraser be confused as to what was going on? Davion’s master stroke was hiding his preparations for Operation RAT in plain sight, leaving the Kapteyn allies expecting GALAHAD ’28 when the sky (and a bazillion RCTs) suddenly came crashing down on them.
The fact that the Dragoons know of a previously unidentified cache in Davion space is yet another clue to the Dragoon origins. As we now know, they arrived in the Inner Sphere with detailed records of the locations and dispositions of all the SLDF caches left behind during the EXODUS preparations. There must have been one on Udibi that Wolf’s crew located, but (being freshly arrived), didn’t need to tap during their Davion contract. Amusingly, though Udibi is just one jump from the Combine border (one from Thestria, two jumps from Misery), Wolf says it’s “quite a ways into Davion space.”
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Date: April 3, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - A Garbled Note
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from Zacapa having "taught Wolf Glupper a lesson he'll never forget," and vows to bring the remaining Dark Wing members to justice. He finds not one, but two accidentally misdirected holovids in his inbox. SAFE Agent Vermin Minter reports that Wolf Glupper was put "out of action" by an unknown assailant on Zacapa, who fled the scene immediately afterwards. MIIO Agent Lana Mann tells her superior that the efforts by rogue mercenaries to disrupt the Kagran planetary government feels like it's part of a larger plot.
Herras also gets a message from his paid informant, Roden Wull, who says a garbled note "just fell into his hands." It includes the phrase "DWL Members" and the initials Z.S. and D.S.
Notes: Again, the "accidental" leads that find their way to Herras reach new heights of improbability. In my first readthrough, I thought Herras had a network of informants feeding him data. Instead, they rely on "holodisc someone left behind" and "compromised comm link" explanations. Why couldn't Herras Ragen have spent part of the past ten years making contacts in SAFE and the MIIO to help him in his quest for justice? That would have made so much more sense.
Roden's intel, while it makes sense in the meta-game of helping the player identify the people on the initial cast of characters who will be his future targets, is laughable. "You found a scrap of paper with illegible writing that has a pair of initials and the words 'DWL Members' on it? What am I paying you for?!!!" That's not actionable intel, it's an episode of Scooby Doo. Notably, the note lacks the initials Y.G. - since Gantor later manipulates Herras into working for him, it seems probable that Roden is feeding Herras intel directing his vengeance efforts towards the other two remaining Dark Wing members - possibly so Yerg Gantor can use Herras as a patsy to wipe out his former partners, so he can run the Mercenary Underground alone.
The question of what constitutes the "something larger" is never fully explained. Yerg Gantor and the Dark Wing want to set up a Mercenary Underground to attack and destabilize worlds, mostly in the FedCom states. But why? Are they secretly working for the Kapteyn allies, with the hope of disrupting GALAHAD '27? Or are they serving ComStar's ends by permanently discrediting independent mercs and those associated with the Mercenaries' Guild, allowing them to cement their monopoly on legitimate mercenary contract negotiations through the ComStar Mercenary Review Board? And then, once the Merc Guild is discredited and nobody is willing to take a chance on a non-MRB mercenary contract, they manipulate Herras into killing Gantor and his lieutenants off, leaving their involvement untraceable?
I mean, nobody ever mentions ComStar, but they're the only ones who could be sending Herras so much information via "accidental" misdeliveries of classified intel field reports.
in addition, Herras "taught Wolf Glupper a lesson he will never forget." So...is he dead? Or did Herras swear vengeance on the people who killed his parents and sister, and then just slap him silly when they had their epic showdown? Can a dead man learn a lesson?
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The Udibi campaign may be the oldest BattleTech scenario ever. In the Battledroids rulebook, the Dragoons fought House Davion over a spare parts depot on "Mesa VII" in what is apparently the origin of this story; and The Fox's Teeth scenario pack contains Frank Woomack's troubles there. (I guess you'll come to the novelization of these events shortly.)
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So that SNES scenario is actually from the old Battle Droids book? I that old book/scenario considered still canon event? Since it's from a FASA book?
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So that SNES scenario is actually from the old Battle Droids book? I that old book/scenario considered still canon event? Since it's from a FASA book?
Not the SNES scenario - the plot element from "Wolves on the Border"
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The Udibi campaign may be the oldest BattleTech scenario ever. In the Battledroids rulebook, the Dragoons fought House Davion over a spare parts depot on "Mesa VII" in what is apparently the origin of this story; and The Fox's Teeth scenario pack contains Frank Woomack's troubles there. (I guess you'll come to the novelization of these events shortly.)
Thanks for the context, Frabby. I wonder if we can take that to imply that the star Udibi orbits is named Mesa, and Udibi is the 7th world out?
EDIT: Hmmm, looking at the Mesa 7 setup, I'm not sure the Mesa 7/Udibi connection can be made. Mesa 7 is referred to as a recently rediscovered world, and the Dragoons have "been there for quite some time." By contrast, Udibi has been continuously inhabited since the 2300s, and in Federated Suns hands since 2808. Plus, the Dragoons were there on an in/out raid, rather than guarding the base.
I can agree that the Mesa 7 scenario certainly may have inspired the Udibi battle, but the details are significantly different.
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Date: April 10, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: The FSS Cougar lands at a military DropPort in Tharkad City in the middle of a blizzard, and its passengers, Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn, in full dress uniform, are greeted by Archon Katrina Steiner and Archon-Designate Melissa Arthur Steiner. Melissa greets Ardan warmly. Redburn feels very awkward in social situations, and confesses he feels more at home on the battlefield, where he can always shoot someone if he doesn’t know what else to do. The Steiners laugh and escort their visitors to the royal palace. In the hover limo, Melissa and the driver switch places, and the Archon introduces the driver as the real Melissa Steiner.
At the palace Sortek congratulates LIC Director Simon Johnson on Jeana’s transformation into an exact double for Melissa. Jeana leaves through a secret passage behind a bookcase, and Melissa confesses feeling inadequate in Jeana’s presence – wondering if the older, more confident woman shouldn’t rule in her place. She feels the lack of MechWarrior training, having been washed out of the academy program for being too skinny. Redburn attempts to bolster her confidence by telling her she has what it takes to accept responsibility for her people.
The group proceeds into the Grand Ballroom, where the reception for the visitors from the Federated Suns is already in progress. Katrina welcomes the attendees, including Duke Frederick Steiner, Duke Aldo Lestrade, and Baron Sefnes – Michael Hasek-Davion’s personal representative on Tharkad. After the toast, the visitors mingle. Redburn and Sefnes argue over Hasek-Davion’s treatment of Justin Xiang Allard, and Sefnes stuns Redburn with the news that Xiang has been doing his best to kill every Federated Suns pilot he faces.
Sortek introduces himself to Frederick Steiner and Aldo Lestrade. Frederick complains about the scar by his right eye, and suggests that Sortek may still be suffering from psychological problems due to his experience on Stein’s Folly. Lestrade intervenes, noting that he’s suffered as well, losing an arm and a leg to a Kurita raid, leaving him with awkward metal prosthetics. Sortek comments how sorrowful Lestrade must have been that his father and all his elder siblings died, leaving him to inherit rule of Summer. Lestrade comments that the Archon’s policies have left Skye wide open to Kurita depredations, despite Sortek’s comment that the Kell Hounds stand ready to fight fiercely in the Commonwealth’s defense. Sortek tweaks Frederick and Lestrade by saying that their views on the need to protect the realm’s people align perfectly with the position of Hanse Davion.
Sortek and Redburn reunite with Melissa and her friend, Misha Auburn, and she invites them to dance, rather than get bogged down in political discussions. Redburn and Auburn immediately hit it off, and make a date to enjoy winter sports the following day.
Notes: Ardan notes that Melissa has grown lovelier in the “two years since we last met.” That would imply their previous meeting was in 3025, which supports the theory that Sortek’s stay on Tharkad in “The Sword and the Dagger” was relatively brief, allowing the plot to be wrapped up by mid-year. This statement is why I have the last scene on Tharkad in “The Sword and the Dagger” dated to April 10, 3025.
Nonetheless, my guess is that Stackpole’s understanding of the Sword and the Dagger chronology at the time he wrote Warrior: En Garde is that Ardan was wounded on Stein’s Folly in mid-3025, spent months being shipped in cold sleep to Tharkad, spent months more recovering, and then began his return journey (awake this time) in late 3025 – which would also match Sortek’s “two years ago” statement, going by calendar dates, rather than the exact number of months.
The greeting at the spaceport was clearly a field test of Jeana Clay’s ability to pass for Melissa with someone who knew her well. It’s not a surprise that the physical transformation worked – we saw in “The Sword and the Dagger” that a detailed physical examination couldn’t tell the two Hanses apart (especially not with parties unknown swapping the impostor’s DNA into the official NAIS records).
Whuh? Melissa was washed out of MechWarrior training because she was “too skinny,” and therefore seconded to infantry training? How waif-thin is Melissa? If Jeana is a perfect copy of her now, did they have to trim her down to size? (Because Jeana was clearly not too skinny for MechWarrior training). Plus – don’t infantry grunts have to heft rucksacks and go on thirty mile hikes with rocks in their packs? I’d think “too skinny” would apply to the infantry far more than to the MechWarrior program.
Frederick Steiner’s introduction in this scene places him firmly in the category of Aldo Lestrade’s nephew, Enrico – a minor player without a lot to recommend him. While Enrico is gregarious and foolish, Frederick is standoffish and bitter. Nothing can be seen of the man who will one day lead the Inner Sphere into battle against the Clans. Lestrade is strongly signaled as a power-hungry schemer – one dangerous enough to have killed most of his own family (including, in theory, Enrico’s father, if Enrico Sr. was ahead of him in the line of succession) without leaving evidence of dirty deeds.
I’ve said my piece on the inconsistency regarding prosthetic technologies between various BattleTech products. It seems that, compared to the rigid metal arm and limp-inducing metal peg-leg Duke Aldo Lestrade has, Justin’s functional hand is a technological leap.
The presence of Sefnes at this high level event is fairly intriguing. Michael Hasek-Davion is officially in charge of only the Capellan March, and yet he has holdings in the Crucis and Draconis Marches, gives orders to troops serving in the Draconis March, and has effectively sent a personal ambassador to the Lyran court. Sortek and Redburn seem to take it entirely in stride. I wonder if Aaron Sandoval has a representative here as well (off camera)? Or the Duchy of Andurien, for that matter?
Lestrade’s complaints seem twenty years too late, since his angst over being left unprotected would seem to be left over from Archon Alessandro Steiner’s disastrous “concentrated weakness” strategy. The House Steiner sourcebook places 13 front-line regiments guarding the Isle of Skye’s worlds circa 3025. Though, perhaps he’s chafing at the fact that the (vastly larger) District of Donegal has 45 regiments for its defense.
Misha was last seen presenting her analysis of Natasha Kerensky. If you’ll recall, based on the timeline of the Dragoon service in the Combine, she was almost certainly interviewing one of Natasha’s body doubles. It seems likely that she’s been entirely fooled by her friend Melissa’s as well. It may run in the family – her father Thelos Auburn spent a lifetime chumming around with Cranston Snord, and only learned on his deathbed about Snord’s Clan origins.
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Thus, most Arena battles are between Mediums, because most 'Mechs are Medium. Plus, the more maneuverable Mediums can put on a show and get better ratings, rather than just reducing everything to a slugfest between 100-ton pillboxes.
That's not the explanation given in the source material, no. When it came time to develop the Solaris VII box set the Player's Book fluff lists "historical" champions, who all drove Assault Mechs. This forced a retcon of Noton and his Rifleman, suggesting that (a) it was actually Assault weight class and (b) it was equipped with lostech. Makes Justin's final fight seem a lot less fair.
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The maneuverability = better show argument is actually from the announcer patter during Solaris VII matches in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries.
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Yes, the canonicity of the video games is a whole other can of worms isn't it?
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I was thinking about Melissa. Is possible that she started MechWarrior training when she was very young teenager. Like 12ish?
Why i suggest this Battletech story was written when underage teenagers were becoming MechWarriors. Maybe Melissa was not filled out by then, thus she became a infantry person. Its possible that she given the training so she had something of a military education.
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Yes, the canonicity of the video games is a whole other can of worms isn't it?
They're all officially non-canon (with the explicit exception of the upcoming HBS game), with the caveat that you can assume something along the lines of the overall story arc happened insofar as it doesn't contradict core canon. The details and story paths you experience during gameplay cannot be assumed to reflect the actual course of events in the BattleTech universe.
That being said, there are some that fit snugly within the confines of core canon (MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries; MechWarrior 3, MechCommander, MechCommander 2, elements of MechCommander 4, the Crescent Hawk games.). The MechAssault series strays farthest from canon.
For the purposes of this thread, I'm covering everything and trying to formulate explanations for how even the video game plots could be interpreted within established canon.
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I was thinking about Melissa. Is possible that she started MechWarrior training when she was very young teenager. Like 12ish?
Why i suggest this Battletech story was written when underage teenagers were becoming MechWarriors. Maybe Melissa was not filled out by then, thus she became a infantry person. Its possible that she given the training so she had something of a military education.
She was born in 3010. Per FM: Lyran Alliance, every citizen undergoes aptitude testing during their childhood using exams that measure their physical, mental, and psychological abilities. It sounds like Melissa's thin build somehow disqualified her for BattleMech piloting, so they shunted her into the Infantry branch. (Perhaps they thought she'd slide around too much in the seat if there were several empty inches on either side, rather than there being a snug fit? But those couches have to be somewhat adjustable... There are plenty of examples of grossly fat MechWarriors still able to squeeze themselves into their cockpits.)
Since she's only 17 in this scene, most likely her assessment was when she was around 10-12, and she was given training in tactics, strategy, and command principles for infantry, rather than actually being asked to dig field latrines, march over hill and dale, and pull KP and midnight guard shift duty. She was never expected to dive into a trench and fire an SRM at an oncoming 'Mech - but she was expected to know how to effectively command the professional troops who could.
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They're all officially non-canon (with the explicit exception of the upcoming HBS game), with the caveat that you can assume something along the lines of the overall story arc happened insofar as it doesn't contradict core canon.
Exactly my point. MW4's depiction of Solaris dueling is contradicted by the box set which, I realize I'm beating a horse that's joined the choir invisible at this stage, establishes that assault Mech champions are the norm, and then goes on to lampshade Noton's Rifleman by hinting it was non-standard.
Really didn't think this was a controversial point. Much like Thunder Rift's treatment of heat, Stackpole's treatment of dueling no longer sits well with the established canon.
Even disregarding that I mean, c'mon, a Rifleman? They look cool and all (probably why Stackpole chose it) but they're hardly the terror of the battlefield.
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Early FASA products - be they game supplementals or novels - were penned by a largish number of authors, and several continuity eddies or outright conflicts crept in. Most of these have been resolved in one way or the other.
Heat isn't one of these problems though. Depending on the ruleset, the heat scale acts very differently. You can get a notable heat spike from firing a medium laser under the old Solaris Dueling Rules, for example, and Battledroid rules handeld heat and heat sinks very differently, to the point where it was not unusual for even a bug 'Mech to suffer from heat woes.
As for Solaris and assault 'Mechs, yeah, there's been a power creep. In the beginning assault 'Mechs were scarce and notable. But as players loved them, they have become more and more common to the point of entire mercenary companies composed of Star League-era 'Mechs were shoehorned into the 3025 era in Combat Manual: Mercenaries.
Noton's Rifleman meanwhile remains an enigma, and I got the impression that TPTB are actually toying with the fans here and grooming that enigma with rumors (which I hasten to add I actually enjoy). It has been canonically established that Noton possessed and used several Riflemans, though if or how one of them was buffed (higher tonnage, better tech) we'll probably never know. It's been discussed in detail somewhere on this forum already, right down to him fielding an 85-ton FrankenMech with Rifleman parts put upon an unseen Longbow leg assembly and CT, with souped-up weapons and armor.
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A piece of canon fiction regarding how Noton won his championship, http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=27831.msg1237126#msg1237126 , shows that he won preliminary rounds againswith a stock Rifleman because the Assault pilots underestimated him. The story hints that he uses an improved Rifleman of some sort to win the championship match.
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Date: April 11, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In the afternoon, Ardan Sortek visits Andrew Redburn's suite, where Redburn and Misha Auburn have retired after a morning of skiing, to collect Redburn for a briefing with Lyran Intelligence Corps Chancellor Simon Johnson. Johnson informs Redburn that the Federated Commonwealth Treaty of 3022 contained a secret provision for Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner to be married on Terra on August 20, 3028. He notes that Melissa has only met Hanse once, on Terra, when the treaty was signed, and has been communicating with Hanse only through Sortek. The Steiners insist that Melissa travel to the Federated Suns to meet Hanse in person. Jeana Clay will double as Melissa and join Sortek for inspections, while Redburn accompanies the real Melissa back to the Federated Suns.
Later, in Melissa Steiner's quarters, she tells Jeana Clay that she will use the name Joana Barker as her pseudonym during her trip to Terra. She says she chose the name from "Sweeney Todd," after his daughter. Jeana says that the character in the story married a tall, handsome man and lived happily ever after, and chose it as an omen for her trip to meet her own future husband.
Notes: Johnson's concerns about the secrecy of the marriage clause seem valid (given the reaction it would create if the Kapteyn states learn of it before RAT was ready to launch), but since ComStar presided over the treaty signing, the entire First Circuit and a good portion of ROM certainly knows every detail. I'm only surprised that the Combine was blindsided, given that Sharilar Mori was well placed in ROM by this point.
So, looking at the calendar, Melissa was 12 and Hanse was 39 when they met on Terra and when, per The Sword and the Dagger, he whispered "The starbird cries at night" to her while they danced. (And, I can't help pointing out, when Hanse made a pass at Katrina.) Though not really in keeping with 20th century mores, BattleTech is a neo-feudal setting, and looking back at that period, arranged marriages among dynasties frequently featured similar age differentials, though in medieval times 12 was the age of the actual marriage, rather than the engagement, so their waiting until Melissa turns 18 is comparatively progressive.
If Melissa was looking for a literary character to forecast her fate, Clytemnestra would have been a better cover identity.
Johnson cautions Redburn to be careful to protect Jeana's identity while he spends time with Misha - noting that Jeana has successfully fooled the amateur historian so far, but says "the Auburns have an instinctive nose for conspiracy." This is laughable, since Misha has been fooled by not one, but two impostors (fake Melissa and fake Natasha), and Thelos worked closely with Snord's Irregulars without ever suspecting anything about their origins.
Johnson's security precautions are designed, of course, to add drama to the climax of "En Garde." Security through anonymity is all well and good, but Melissa is a widely known public figure with a recognizable face. The Prince & the Pauper routine may not cut it in a sci-fi setting where there may be facial recognition analytical software. Redburn's suggestion of sending her on a military DropShip crammed full of Richard's Panzer Brigade is a far more viable suggestion (with the huge exception that the Brigade's CO, Richard "Big Daddy" Whitman, is madly in love with Melissa, and if they'd gone with Redburn's suggestion, Melissa might have been abducted off into the Periphery for a shotgun wedding, and ended up as pirate queen of Antallos).
Hey, Hanse has a spare clone just hanging around, why doesn't he put him back on throne for a few months and come see Tharkad? ^-^
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Aren't the little loop holes in the logic of the story caused by the fact there were simply author could not have known about certain aspects of the universe since it was bit young (game itself)? He would have to dumpster dive through all house books find out little tidbit facts about what little inklings that made characters of the universe so interesting. Unless Stackpole was interviewed now how he wrote these books, i suspect he was writing from his own personal notes to come up with a good story.
The facial recognition analytical software would be interesting, so author would had to made some serious efforts overcome what / how tech worked.
Personally the "it was 1980s" is the reason why things seem off at times. Were so used to what we have in this day age, forget how much we DIDN'T have back then. The software was will experimental in the 1980s, i didn't hear of it until really came out of the MIT/Standford schools in the late 90s and early 2000s.
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Date: April 15, 3027
Location: Nashira
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: As Yorinaga Kurita reviews the 25 members of the newly formed Genyosha as they practice synchronized calisthenics, Sho-sa Tarukito Niiro informs him that ISF liaison Shinzei Abe has requested his presence. The two walk together to Yorinaga's office, where they find Abe. The room also hosts a bound and beaten prisoner, who stands and bows respectfully to Yorinaga. Abe introduces the prisoner as Narimasa Asano, one of Yorinaga's comrades from the 2nd Sword of Light, who traveled to Nashira without permission, seeking to join the Genyosha. Abe notes that Yorinaga's former associates were specifically excluded from the new Genyosha, and had Asano tortured on the assumption that he is a Davion or Steiner agent. He requests Yorinaga's permission to execute Asano.
Asano explains that he learned of the Genyosha from unofficial sources, but respected Yorinaga so much, he knew he must try to join, even though he risked death. He traveled undercover on commercial vessels and on yakuza ships, arriving on April 13, and has been tortured by Abe since then. Abe justifies not informing Yorinaga on the grounds that he was hoping Asano's fellow conspirators might reveal themselves. Tarukito scornfully reminds Abe that the Coordinator's orders to Abe were to ensure that all the Genyosha officers and men were totally devoted to Yorinaga, and points out that Asano's journey to Nashira proves he is exactly such a man. Yorinaga signs orders inducting Asano into the Genyosha.
Later, Asano thanks Tarukito as he settles into his new quarters, and receives his new Chu-i uniform. They discuss the battle on Mallory's World, and Asano describes how he watched Morgan Kell's Archer vanish from his tactical displays, not registering on any scanner mode, but still visible through the canopy. With Yorinaga's command lance members reduced in rank and scattered, he commanded only a single lance, and seriously considered seppuku when he was offered command of a Panther lance in service to Duke Ricol. Only hearing about the formation of the Genyosha gave him the will to continue.
Yorinaga joins them, wearing kendo armor. He hands a sheet of paper to Tarukito, who reads it with both horror and relief, and asks if he should transmit the news of Shinzei Abe's tragic death in a kendo accident immediately. Yorinaga shakes his head as Shinzei Abe, also in kendo armor, impatiently demands Yorinaga join him for their kendo session, so he can conduct his afternoon meetings and his investigation into Asano.
Notes: Stackpole's framing of this scene is very interesting - Yorinaga doesn't say a word in the entire chapter. He nods, raises an eyebrow, makes curt hand gestures, and hands over notes. Tarukito speaks for him, when exposition is required. This is how Stackpole represents "ki" in Yorinaga's context. An air of command, influencing the actions of others without touching them. He forces Abe to kneel with just a gesture, despite Abe's clear disdain for him.
Asano's description of the "Phantom 'Mech" effect apparently rejects William H. Keith's notion of the cockpit glass being purely cosmetic, while the pilots rely on viewscreens that compress the 360 degree view into a single digital display. If the Archer disappeared from all sensors, but remained visible to the naked eye, Asano would have had to be looking through a bulletproof plastic or ferroglass viewport.
There has been some speculation that Morgan achieved the effect using a LosTech doohickey he found during his travels in the Periphery with Arthur Luvon and Katrina Steiner (disguised as the "Red Corsair" pirate queen), since it was on that adventure that they found the Black Box at an abandoned Star League research station. However, since Yorinaga proved able to replicate it through meditation, it appears to be a "ki" thing, which Morgan had, Yorinaga developed, and (apparently), Ian Davion also triggered during his rear-guard fight on Mallory's World. Since, per "Guide to Covert Operations," "ki" superpowers are a thing within the game rules, this would also fall into that category - making "Phantom 'Mech" another "ki" grand master special effect. Most recently, however, in "The Duel" Track from the Mallory's World Turning Points book, Morgan's special "powers" are codified as having extra Edge, Natural Grace, and Combat Intuition - a far weaker combo than what is described in the Kell Hound scenario pack, and not quite matching the "fading from sensors" effect described here.
(Capellans would be the best equipped to deal with it - artillery and minefields don't care about "ki" messing with targeting systems.) The question arises - if Morgan knew he had this ability, why didn't they march him out and have him challenge the Clans for Trials of Possession for every Lyran world conquered in Operation REVIVAL? He'd win every single combat effortlessly, and be able to roll back the Clan Invasion singlehandedly. (He'd just have to deal with daily challenges from Nova Cats seeking to get their hands on him for their breeding program, since they'd go ga-ga for such a mystical effect.)
The Combine has something called the "art of vendetta," with descriptions of situations under which honor killings are permissible, as long as ritual is observed. Yorinaga's murder of Abe appears to be following those strictures. Without saying anything, just passing a note, he lets his loyal officers know that he is executing Abe for the depth of the dishonor and disrespect he displayed.
In early BattleTech works, the Combine effectively has four archetypes - the noble samurai (Yorinaga, Tetsuhara, Asano, Noketsuna), the hidebound traditionalist (Satoh), the scheming manipulator (Takashi, Indrahar, Akuma) and the uncultured, brutal thug (Abe, Samsonov). Theodore fits the "noble samurai" model, but is something of a mold breaker, being a visionary reformer, and good leader, as opposed to someone who rigidly adheres to ancient customs - keeping the honor, but not letting become a strait jacket that limits his options.
The mention of Duke Ricol and the Gray Death Legion is interesting. The fighting on Verthandi ended in October 3026, and the first mention we have of the Genyosha is in a conversation between Takashi and Indrahar on December 1, 3026. The way they describe it, the unit has already been authorized, but their envoy to retrieve Yorinaga to command it hasn't left yet. With Ricol having pulled his troops off Verthandi in early 3026, it's unlikely that Asano was being offered a Panther lance command under Ricol to fight on Verthandi. So, what was Ricol up to that made Tarukito assume he'd have been fighting the GDL if he had taken the slot? Ricol's next appearance is saving the GDL on Helm in May 3028. The next time we see Ricol is mid-3028's "Dance of Vengeance," which is just about Ricol recruiting a new henchman. Asano makes note that he used yakuza ships to get to Nashira. I wonder if he perceived that signing on to fight for Ricol would place him in service to a member of a shadowy underground conspiracy whose concept of what was best for the Combine would be far from the samurai ideal of honor.
My guess is that, since Keith did not put dates in his novels, Stackpole wrote this line assuming that the Verthandi revolution storyline would still have been ongoing in early 3027, rather than having wrapped up in mid-3026. We didn't get any official dates for Verthandi events until the release of the Gray Death Legion scenario pack.
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Aren't the little loop holes in the logic of the story caused by the fact there were simply author could not have known about certain aspects of the universe since it was bit young (game itself)? He would have to dumpster dive through all house books find out little tidbit facts about what little inklings that made characters of the universe so interesting. Unless Stackpole was interviewed now how he wrote these books, i suspect he was writing from his own personal notes to come up with a good story.
The facial recognition analytical software would be interesting, so author would had to made some serious efforts overcome what / how tech worked.
Personally the "it was 1980s" is the reason why things seem off at times. Were so used to what we have in this day age, forget how much we DIDN'T have back then. The software was will experimental in the 1980s, i didn't hear of it until really came out of the MIT/Standford schools in the late 90s and early 2000s.
I'm not trying to criticize Stackpole for not forecasting future technological trends - but you're right - many of the decisions made are due to the "future of the Eighties" aspects. He specifically names the Panzer Brigade, though, in Redburn's suggestion, and that was probably because the House Steiner sourcebook mentions a connection to Melissa (specifically that "Big Daddy" Whitman had the hots for her). That could have produced some drama in and of itself. "Hey, Big Daddy, here's a job for you. Escort the lovely Archon Designate, whom you lust after, to hand her over to her foreign future (but not yet) husband. And keep your hands to yourself while she's with you for a months-long journey surrounded by your loyal troops. Happy trails." There was a pretty small library of BattleTech products on the market at the time this was written - mostly just the five House books, a few novels, and some scenario packs, and it's clear that Stackpole mined the House books pretty heavily for details.
I mentioned the "facial recognition" because, as this story progresses, Melissa gets found out due to computer analysis that penetrates her pseudonym and identifies her instantly as a target of interest, partly based on biometric triggers. Stackpole was aware enough of tech trends at that point to make it a plot element. As we'll see, however, Simon Johnson had even more security breaches to worry about (in the SNES MechWarrior game storyline).
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Phantom 'Mech/Ki - Let's just agree to disagree on whether these are a supernatural thing in the BT universe, or simply a name for a perceived pattern that people want to see but cannot actually prove is really there (my take on the issue in the real world).
Takashi a schemer - Yes he is, yet as a character he also breaks the mold because he is, for lack of a better description, a noble schemer. Extremely smart, extremely on top of a boiling mess of intrigues, outsmarting Subash Indrahar, five district warlords, dear family like Marcus Kurita, and a score of sycopants on a daily basis while dealing with his rebellious son, all the while running a realm with strict adherence to his own honor code... you gotta respect the man. He may be monstrous sometimes, but he is never lets personal stuff get in the way of business. He is totally devoted to the Combine as he sees it, to the point of self-sacrifice. A key scene regarding Takashi's character, for me, was how he met Jaime Wolf during the Dragoon crisis. It genuinely hurt him to crush the Dragoons as he valued Wolf personally, but seeing how the damage was beyond repair already he still gave the orders and mused about how his position made him a solitary man who had to make hard choices.
Asano/Ricol timeline - News travel at the speed of plot. Remember how incredibly long it took for Takashi to receive word of the outcome of the Misery battle? Jaime Wolf actually overtook the news en route to the wedding on Terra. No wonder Takashi had heads rolling for this embarrassing snafu.
If Asano (a recurring minor character) was going by rumors and hearing things through the grapevine, some "temporal distortion" is to be expected, i.e. if his information is off by a few months then I don't see that as a problem.
PS: This thread is now at 54 pages. Shouldn't it be cut off on page 50 and branched off into a new thread?
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PS: This thread is now at 54 pages. Shouldn't it be cut off on page 50 and branched off into a new thread?
But just 5,000 more views and I take the title of 'most viewed thread' on the entire board from the "New Products" announcement thread! ;D
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Date: April 15, 3027
Location: Pacifica (Chara III)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: The Kell Hounds hone their skills with field simulation exercises, pitting Daniel Allard's scout lance against an OpFor represented by Ardan Sortek's Victor, now piloted by Patrick Kell. The assault 'Mech scores first blood, jumping from the edge of the jungle and landing atop Baker's Jenner, finishing it with an AC/20 burst to the cockpit. When Daniel tries to take the Victor from behind, it jumps up and guts the lighter Valkyrie with a single shot, coring its center torso and sending it crashing to the ground. As the Victor straddles the Valkyrie, preparing to deliver the finishing blow, other Kell 'Mechs come to the rescue, blasting Patrick's 'Mech with a cloud of LRMs and lasers.
At a staff meeting following the exercise, Patrick Kell, Salome Ward, Dan Allard, Seamus Fitzpatrick, Richard O'Cieran, and Cat Wilson discuss computer projections that suggest a company of Kurita Panthers remains on Pacifica. O'Cieran notes that his infantry haven't found anything in Branson's Swamp, but cautions that the region is known as a haven for yakuza and other outlaws, even when Pacifica was under Combine control.
Allard speculates that the hiding Combine company wasn't intended to be part of the earlier raid, which served as a diversion to allow this group to insert undetected. Kell guesses that, with the main raid having been repulsed, the remaining Panthers will either be extracted or reinforced before they make a significant move beyond raiding agro-complexes. Allard warns that if the Panthers attack, it will probably be aimed at Starpad. As a precaution, Kell orders O'Cieran to arm his infantry with Inferno missiles, and for all personnel to carry sidearms, in case the base is attacked.
Kell nexts asks Allard how he plans to get technician Nick Jones offworld on the Intrepid despite his tour of duty not officially ending until after the ship is scheduled to depart. Allard explains that he's rigged the base computers to skip May 25, and go from 24 to 26 - since official dates don't correspond to Pacifica's turbulent 14-hour days in any event. The base computers will then record Jones' departure on the "correct" day, and he'll make his rendezvous with the Intrepid.
In a hidden bunker deep in Branson's Swamp, the Legion of Doom... (kidding) ...Sho-sa Akiie Kamekura reads through a computer display tapped into the Kell Hound communications system. Technicians work to ready the Panthers in the bunker's 'Mech bays. A comtech finds the information he seeks - the Karasu (aka Manannan MacLir) is due to return on April 17, and Ardan Sortek's Victor is due to be transshipped to the Tsunami at the jump point. He confirms with his XO, Chu-i Bokuden Oguchi, that the Combine strikeforce is due to arrive in-system on May 25, and land on Pacifica on May 27. The Panthers will strike three agricultural centers to draw the Kell Hounds away from their base, and then the strikeforce will attack them and destroy them in detail.
Kamekura suggests attacking the Kell Hounds on the morning of May 26, bombing the barracks and slaughtering any MechWarriors that try to reach their machines. Oguchi approves, anticipating the recapture of large amounts of stolen Combine equipment from the Hounds.
Notes: Wow, so it seems that all of the Hounds DropShips, circa 3027, are stolen DCS vessels. The DCS Fukushu became the Nuada Argetlan, and now we have a reference that the DCS Karasu became the Manannan MacLir. That leaves the DCS Bright Blossom to become the Lugh.
It shows a great level of trust for Ardan to have left his Victor with the Kell Hounds while he's on Tharkad. Not that the trust isn't misplaced, but there does seem to be a kender-like tendency for other people's equipment to end up painted in Kell Hound colors. I wonder if any Kells had to leave Ireland in a hurry, just ahead of cattle rustling charges.
The existence of a pre-existing bunker deep in the swamp equipped with 'Mech bays is quite interesting. I wonder if it was built by the smugglers/pirates/yakuza of local legend, or if it dates back to the Star League civil war, when Emperor Amaris ordered his troops to build secret bunkers around the Hegemony and the Periphery from which to stage a generation-later counterattack in the event the Amaris Empire was defeated (as seen in "Last Stop"). The counterattack never materialized, but presumably many of the bunkers were built, and this seems like one. We know there's a SLDF cache elsewhere on Pacifica (under a small island to the northwest of Branson's Swamp), so it's possible that they followed SLDF Castle Brian protocols, and put outlying facilities (like this bunker) out on the periphery of the main cache (SLDF Castle Brians usually had four lesser "outpost" Castles guarding approaches to the north, south, east, and west, as geographically appropriate). Or, it could be that both the SLDF and Amaris built bunkers on Pacifica, independently. The yakuza/pirates etc. probably found this bunker at some point and used it as a base of operations, leading to its becoming known to the Combine. It's also very interesting that the bunker has an existing data tap into the Kell Hound computer system. It's hard to conceive that an antiquated bunker would be tied into recently installed computers, so there are probably un-turned ISF assets still at large in Starpad who spliced the raiders in.
It's odd that the Hounds would state that Pacifica was retaken from the Draconis Combine. None of the historical maps ever show the Combine in control of the world. It could be that it fell briefly during one of the Succession Wars, but was retaken before the end, thus the ownership change would not be reflected on the maps. The most likely period this could have happened would be during the Combine's major offensive into the Skye region, when it laid siege to Skye itself. The counterattack that forced it off Skye could also have retaken Pacifica.
Regarding Dubble_g's earlier comment about the protagonists of the Warrior series never facing any serious threat, here we see again that the Combine ambush is being set up to be foiled by pure dumb luck, due to the decision to screw with the base's calendar settings to help out the retiring technician. Fate itself has stacked the deck against the antagonists.
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Date: April 16, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Mercenary Infighting
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from putting down a mercenary uprising on Kagran, and checks out the NewsNet. The first story is that Lyran Intelligence Corps Chancellor Simon Johnson has briefed Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn on the plan for Melissa Steiner to visit her future husband, Hanse Davion, in the Federated Suns. The second story is that widespread reports of infighting among mercenaries have been filtering in.
Maitre'd Cearle Jamist asks if Herras has seen the latest NewsNet story, and comments that the Houses are trying to crack down on mercenary misbehavior. He gives Herras a tip on a mercenary gathering on Drena. Larman Sholest joins the conversation, and says not to listen to Cearle, who isn't always right. He recommends taking a planetary assault misssion.
Notes: And my head a'splode. Simon Johnson's top secret briefing, in which he mentions that only a handful of people know about the secret marriage clause, and charges Andrew Redburn with delivering Melissa to New Avalon under conditions of utmost secrecy...has just been broadcast in the open on NewsNet. In-universe, this has got to be ComStar messing with Herras - leaking top secret info to see what he does. Amazingly, instead of falling off his barstool with the news that his barely legal princess is going to wed foreign potentate Hanse Davion, Cearle focuses on the mercenary story.
The developers of the SNES MechWarrior story are to be commended for their efforts to tie the game into the main storyline - citing key touchpoints from Warrior: En Garde. But they just grabbed a few key scenes, without stopping for a moment to think whether the event in question would ever be reported on NewsNet. An actual NewsNet story like that, given Commonwealth-wide distribution, would point out a massive breach in LIC security, cause riots in the streets when the marriage clause was revealed, probably drive the Kapteyn Accord allies into closer and more effective cooperation, and almost certainly scuttle the planned visit to the Federated Suns, since operational security has clearly been massively breached. I mean, "NewsNet: Ardan Sortek and Andrew Redburn Attend Reception on Tharkad, hosted by Archon Katrina Steiner" would have been fine, and put both the timing and current situation in context. Instead, it breaks the fourth wall - clearly a shout out to the book using a reference that could never have made it on the air in-universe.
Stories of infighting among mercenaries raises the question - is this bands of mercenaries ostensibly working for the same employer fighting each other, or are individual commands being ripped apart? The methodology, if clarified, would point more clearly to exactly what the Mercenary Underground is trying to achieve.
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I give Stackpole a hard time (the action scenes remind me of nothing so much as the old GI Joe cartoon) but at least the Japanese is more or less correct.
The only one who is obviously Chinese or Korean and trying to pass for Japanese is Tarukito Niiro, whose name is almost right but he's stuck a "ro" on the end of it. Coincidentally Shinzei Abe has almost the same name as Japan's current PM, Shinzo Abe. What else did Stackpole foresee?!?!
On the topic, here's what some prominent names mean:
Kurita: Chestnut Field (sounds a bit rustic in Japanese. Is the family overcompensating for something?) The interior artist of the original House Kurita handbook sadly spelled it "Kurisu" on all their uniforms. Long live House Chris!
Tetsuhara: Iron Plain (hence Minobu is called the iron man by his troops)
Akuma: Devil/demon (not a real last name-a nickname?)
Satoh: one of the most common surnames. Help Wisteria is as close as I can get to translating.
Asano: Shallow Field
Oguchi: probably Tail Mouth
Kamekura: Turtle Storehouse (possibly due to its shape rather than the large number of turtles stored there)
Noketsuna: meaningless string of syllables
Mori: Forest
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With a centuries-long history of trying to merge Japanese and Swedish of all languages into "Swedenese" in the Combine, you can handwave pretty much anything. Pulp fiction-style made up names and name changes to more proper-sounding names (e.g. Hayes to Tetsuhara) are a real thing in-universe. At least that'd explain pun names like Loren Coleman's Capellans. Or the apparently German origins of the cave city names on Niomede in Karma (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Karma).
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The amount of hand waving required is proportional to the amount you know or care about the language, I guess.
I think one of the fundamental points a lot of the writers didn't grasp is that in Japanese meaning and pronounciation are inextricably linked. To take an example from the Kurita handbook, "Kitabatake" means north farm; "Kitabake" (the name used in the book) means north blahblahblah, because there is no character that can be read "bake" in Japanese.
Fantasy names of course are a thing, provided they're identifiable as names. Lord Toranaga, from Clavell's novel "Shogun" works as a name, because it has a clear meaning: tiger-forever. Jerry Akuma you can also let slide since it's a clear wink to the informed reader. "Kitabake" or "Shotugama" or "Utsonomiya" grate because there's no point or meaning to it.
As I said earlier in the thread the explanation that requires the least hand-waving is probably, that like Minobu's ancestor Hayes, other families also adopted Japanese-sounding names, but didn't do their research. Of course, this also implies written Japanese has largely been abandoned, since a lot of these names can't be written in Japanese.
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This is a thousand years in the future, so there's certain to be some changes in the language. I suspect that Combine Japanese is different from Terrain Japanese, given that both have had little contact with each other in those centuries, and I sure there's language drift during those times. While I doubt a Terrain Japanese speaker can't understand the Combine's Japanese, I suspect that the dialect of each speaker would be noticible to the other.
Craig
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If language drift works for you that's cool, but doesn't work as head canon for me for two reasons.
First, there's no evidence of drift in any of the Japanese we've been shown, other than names. Katana, samurai, Ryu, wakarimashita, Hai, iie, seppuku, kussotare etc. are all completely unchanged.
Second is the treatment of the Scots brogue. Bear with me a sec. As Craig points out, the people in BTech are as remote from us as we are from Chaucer. Yet we're given clear evidence (phonetic spelling etc.) That some people continue to speak in a Scottish accent. Which would be like one of us speaking Chaucerian English.
Even the Clans, who spend hundreds of years apart from the mainstream culture, return speaking a language that has only a few minor changes. So to me it looks as though language drift isn't a thing in the universe.
Anyway I feel like this discussion is kind of derailing the point of the thread, which wasn't my intention. Maybe we can make a new thread for this topic.
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Don't worry too much about thread drift. My favorite thing about this thread is when there's active discussion of points in the fiction under discussion. I'm much happier seeing a debate over the merits of story elements (including inaccurate Japanese) than just shouting my analysis into the void and moving on.
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Realistically, after a thousand years, ALL of the languages in Battletech would have drifted considerably from what we know today. But if you wrote the books that way, we the reader would barely understand it.
I mean, think about speaking in 2017 english to someone in 1017. They wouldn't have a clue.
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I think the internet and mass media along with universal education will significantly reduce language drift.
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I think the internet and mass media along with universal education will significantly reduce language drift.
Disagree. Have you listened to teenagers speak? If anything, it will increase.
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Slang comes and goes. The core of the language is more consistent with less drift.
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I think I've shot my bolt as far as the name thing goes, but I'll leave one minor point.
The House Kurita handbook says military uniforms have the name "Kurita" emblazoned on them in katakana (sadly misspelled "Kurisu" in the artwork). The only time you spell a Japanese name in katakana is when you're sounding it out phonetically for someone who can't read the characters. It's like House Steiner soldiers wearing a patch that says "Stye-nurr" or House Davion wearing "Day-vee-on" (or is it Dah-vee-on?).
Why would they do that unless *most citizens couldn't read the Chinese characters for Kurita (栗田)*.
Combine this with the random names and I think you can make a good head-canon that the Japanification of Combine society has actually been pretty superficial. People have random names, they can't read Chinese characters, uniform designers don't even know how to spell Kurita, etc.
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Date: April 20, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In Gray Noton's alcove in Valhalla, Justin Xiang reviews combat footage from the arenas. Reviewing one of Noton's fights, he recognizes the Rifleman that destroyed his Valkyrie on Kittery - Noton's own "Legend-Killer."
In the limousine on the way to the arena, Xiang mentions to Noton that he watched his fights in Legend-Killer, and that he lost his arm to a Rifleman on Kittery. Justin guesses that his opponent, Billy Wolfson, chose to fight in a Rifleman in the Cathay arena (The Jungle) in the hopes of scoring a psychological victory, but predicts that the jungle terrain will make target acquisition difficult, and warns Noton not to bet against him.
In the Liao arena, Justin powers up Yen-lo-wang, now further enhanced with titanium-sheathed blades on the fingers of the left hand, echoing the carbon fiber blades used by Tsen Shang. The match commentators note that Wolfson has never fought in a Rifleman before, but outweighs Xiang's Centurion by ten tons. If Xiang wins the match, the Solaris VII scoring system will qualify him for a challenge against Wolfson's mentor - Philip Capet.
As the match commences, Xiang soon finds Wolfson's position and moves to attack, but finds his massive autocannon jammed and useless. In Tsen Shang's box, Kym Sorenson is horrified, but Noton still thinks Xiang has a chance, if he uses his brain, and places additional bets on Xiang. Xiang retreats, covering his withdrawal into the jungle with the Centurion's rear-mounted laser.
Puzzled at the lack of pursuit, Xiang switches to infrared scanners and sees that Wolfson, unfamiliar with the Rifleman's heat curve, has overtaxed the cooling system. Xiang turns back towards his opponent and begins to circle Wolfson, using the useless autocannon arm to shield the rest of the Centurion's body. When Xiang comes in from behind, Wolfson repeats Noton's Kittery maneuver and flips his arms backwards. Unlike the lighter Valkyrie, however, Yen-lo-wang's armor absorbs the damage, and Xiang is able to close on Wolfson, using his titanium claws to rip through the Rifleman's paper-thin rear armor and destroy both the engine shielding and the gyrostabilizer. The fusion engine explosion reduces Wolfson's 'Mech to a fiery puddle.
After the match, Xiang meets Noton in the dressing room, and notes that the rearward shooting tactic looks flashy, but exposes the Rifleman's weak rear armor. Xiang asks about Kym Sorenson, but Noton says she'll catch up later, with a surprise.
At her cafe/listening post rendezvous, Sorenson reports in to the MIIO field office that she has evidence that Noton is the one who wounded Xiang, proving that he was not lying about the Kittery ambush. She cites Noton's worries about Justin falling victim to the same arm-flipping maneuver he used on him earlier. Her handler tells her to proceed normally, and wait for further orders, without telling Xiang.
As she leaves the cafe and retraces her route to her apartment, shadowy attackers incapacitate her and drag her into an alley. Noton tells Xiang that the cafe is where Davion agents get their orders, according to Maskirovka station chief Tsen Shang. Xiang demands Sorenson tell him what she was doing there. Sorenson tries to explain, but Xiang's metal-clad slap breaks her jaw, and he angrily accuses her of having betrayed him.
One of Noton's men takes out a gun and prepares to execute Sorenson. Xiang stops them, and instructs them to take her to the Davion embassy, with a message for Hanse Davion and Quintus Allard that he now considers himself their worst enemy.
Notes: Pretty gutsy (and/or careless) for Noton to take his championship machine on what was supposedly a deniable raid. Especially if he has multiple Riflemen in his asset pool (as hinted in the MechWarrior Online fiction piece, "Story of the Legend-Killer").
The 3025-era Rifleman has, as we all know, many, many flaws (insane overheating, weak rear armor). Only House Marik ever managed to make it even worse (equipping it with four one-shot AC/5s). It's been a staple of combat in the Inner Sphere since the late Star League era. So why would an ace MechWarrior like Wolfson be utterly unfamiliar with its performance profile? And why would Xiang have only thought of exploiting the weak rear armor based on an anecdotal comment Dan Allard once told him about one way to beat Riflemen?
My suspicion is that the academies and other informal training options in the Inner Sphere is severely lacking in combat performance analytics (perhaps such procedures have become LosTech). The Shrapnel story, "Painting the Town," where the Combine troopers battle mysterious pristine Marauders features one soldier who knows that pristine Marauder armor became LosTech centuries ago, but the rest were clueless. The one know-it-all is noted as spending her free time with her head buried in technical manuals - and is an exception to the norm. It appears that the vast majority of MechWarriors lack the intellectual curiosity to check out the specs on the kinds of equipment they might be facing, preferring to master the quirks of their centuries-old patched up war machines.
This would strongly suggest that, despite the New Avalon Herald's enthusiastic endorsement, ComStar's Technical Readout: 3025 is not required reading for either cadets or fully fledged MechWarriors. What's surprising, though, is that Justin falls into this category - being clueless about the Rifleman's ability to flip arms, and only knowing about its rear armor weakness anecdotally.
This scene proves that Kym was out of the loop regarding Quintus' plan to infiltrate Justin into the Maskirovka. He has to think fast to keep her from blowing his cover - breaking her jaw to stop her from talking. His internal monologue, earlier, focuses on how much he loves her, yet he must have been aware that she was MIIO and that she wasn't in on his mission. I wonder what his long-term game plan was. Take her to Sian? Hope she waited until he was extracted? I wonder if the local station chief knew the plan?
Justin notes, at one point, that he's using caseless ammunition in his AC/20. That gives him more shots per ton (a major consideration with an AC/20), but runs the risk of jamming the ammunition feed. Clearly, the Tactical Handbook rules were based on this chapter. On the other hand, the Tactical Handbook lists the date of introduction as 3055, so what is Yen-lo-wang doing with them in 3027?
Another interesting reveal in this scene is that Justin did not know about Noton's involvement in the Kittery raid and his maiming until now, meaning that his friendship with Noton was genuine, and not something cultivated to position himself for revenge. (Either it was genuine, or it was cultivated to get in good with Tsen Shang.)
I had a tabletop game where we had a result similar to Justin's match. A Wraith jumped in behind a Hitman and punched through the rear torso armor, getting a critical hit on the LRM-5 ammunition. We thought for a bit about where the Wraith would have been when the ammo cooked off (buried elbow deep in the Hitman), and decided that the explosion would have taken the Wraith out as well. Stackpole noted that Justin hurriedly threw Yen-lo-wang backwards to avoid that fate when the Rifleman blew.
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Mechwarrior training is another subject where it took some time for authors to agree on how to present. Decision at Thunder Rift presents it like training for a knighthood. Young Grayson serves as an apprentice since he was yea high to a Locust. Later novels and sourcebooks made Mechwarrior training to be more like present-day army training, with classes of cadets graduating from academies.
(Side note, but holy hell did early BTech owe a big debt to Frank Herbert's Dune: noble houses, weapons masters, a desert planet, a surprise attack aided by a traitor...)
In the mechwarrior as knight model, the scene with Wolfson works for me, because training is informal and highly personal. In the context of modern military training though, I agree it's just baffling, and would indicate a very basic level of training, with nothing on familiarizing cadets on potential opponents.
The other interesting thing to note for me here is the way the Solaris "scoring system" works. Seems much more like professional boxing than NFL, NBA, MLB, World Cup soccer or any other professional sport. The champion isn't decided by a tournament or season, but by challenging the current belt-holder. (Though I feel the flavor of the Solaris box set is quite different--maybe whoever is in charge changed the rules?) That feels about right to me, as Solaris is often presented as being pretty sleazy, and pro boxing's reputation is hardly spotless.
Makes Noton's winning streak less impressive, but maybe more believable, if all he had to do was bump off the occasional challenger.
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Insightful review. I forgot about the caseless ammunition. Too bad ammunition could not have different forms of caseless (experimental) that was briefly started/stopped through the years.
I had similar event in a demo game. Where i was using a Deva, where i managed to jump in the back arch of another player and used retractable blade and pentrated rear side so armor of someone who had ammo there. Didn't end well for the other guy, with only my blade broken in this attack. (first time ever using it.)
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Date: April 24, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Melissa Steiner, in disguise as Joana Barker, calls the Meier-Star Travel agency on a holophone to book passage to New Avalon. The clerk quotes her a 100,000 kroner price for the direct, three-week journey. When Melissa expresses sticker shock, given her cover identity's teacher's salary, the clerk recommends the Monopole Lines Silver Eagle, which will get her to New Avalon by summer and includes sightseeing excursions on Skye, Terra, Fomalhaut, and Mallory's World. It departs on the 26th and costs 8,500 kroner for a private room.
The transaction is recorded on Tharkad's central computer and transmitted to Monopole's corporate computer. A detailed analysis of "Joana Barker" is used to help Monopole arrange the flight to meet her expressed and projected needs and wants. The data is then sent to an LIC computer for a background check, and an Immigration computer to check her innoculation history against local diseases. During that check, hidden malware creates a copy and secretly stores it for several hours before sending it to another computer for analysis.
The analytical computer searches through genealogical records to verify Barker's identity, and finds red flags. It checks other databases for matches, and finds the Sweeny Todd connection. The data is then compiled into a report and sent through various networked machines (erasing its traces as it goes), until it reaches the desktop computer on Duke Aldo Lestrade's desk.
Lestrade reads the report and correctly surmises that Melissa is planning to travel to the Federated Suns. He sends orders to his nephew, Enrico Lestrade, on Solaris, to make arrangements to have Melissa kidnapped from a Federated Suns world, thereby destroying the Federated Commonwealth alliance.
That night, Andrew Redburn and Misha Auburn enjoy a romantic, candlelit dinner in her suite. They confess their feelings for each other, and resolve to enjoy being together while they can.
Notes: While Lestrade's successful penetration of various computer networks sets up the "princess in peril" climax of this novel, the creepier thing is the nigh-Orwellian lack of data privacy evidenced by the series of events. A private travel agency has complete access to databases containing medical history, food purchases, meals recently eaten in restaurants, food preferences, height, weight, social status, age, known interests, club affiliations, and education. Big Archon is Watching! Combined with the LIC's ability to cheerfully disappear their own citizens at will (unless a Heimdall operative trips up the Loki bag team), Hanse might want to be aware that he's (literally) getting in bed with a House with some disturbing attitudes towards personal liberty.
An intriguing reference is made to all this data being stored on "Tharkad's central computer." It seems as though, rather than having a distributed planetary Internet, they have one massive server in Tharkad City and everyone on the planet has a terminal wired into it. (Future of the Eighties strikes again.) This may go a long way towards explaining the massive loss of technology, knowledge, and records during the Succession Wars. If most colony worlds developed along similar lines, a nuke to the capital would wipe out all the data on the planet, except for what was stored locally on removable media.
At this point, it's very unclear why Lestrade hates the Federated Commonwealth alliance. As a leading noble in Skye, wouldn't he be in favor of having an ally to hammer/distract the Combine? He's not even the political ruler of the Isle of Skye - that's Duchess Margaret Aten. He wants to remove the Kell Hounds from Skye and then complains that not enough is being done to protect Skye against Combine raids. Is he angling to become the Warlord of the Skye Military District? Or to secede and rule an independent Federation of Skye? His motivations seem murky at this point in the story.
From the travel agent's description, the itinerary involves the Monarch-class Silver Eagle being delivered via command circuit for a good portion of its journey, then pausing for lengthy tourist excursions on four worlds. It sounds like they plan to spend at least ten weeks in in-system transit, counting the week getting out to the Tharkad jump point and the week getting in from the New Avalon jump point. If they spend a week touring the highlights of each world, then that's another month, putting Melissa's arrival in mid-August, which fits her July-August target arrival date.
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The way the computer system was described, it certainly sounds like a Main Frame sort of computer system. I thought when they were describing the health of the passenger, it was submitted for sake of space travel since that usually closely monitored. Weeks out of no where, your going want have enough medical supplies handle any particular medical needs.
Lestrade was known as very computer savy, rare skill from what my impression of the early novels. Thus why his son's later actions of out doing him computer wise seem to be sign of equal intelligence.
I totally agree, it didn't make any sense why Lestrade was stripping his defenses in Skye. He's almost as bad a Archon Alessandro Steiner whom came before Melissa. Taking page from Operation: Concentrated Weakness. He hates the Combine for his maiming, i don't get it either why he was leaving his nation open to attack to lure the Combine in to undermind FedCom Treaty. He lose alot more he would gain I'd suspect.
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The way the computer system was described, it certainly sounds like a Main Frame sort of computer system. I thought when they were describing the health of the passenger, it was submitted for sake of space travel since that usually closely monitored. Weeks out of no where, your going want have enough medical supplies handle any particular medical needs.
I can appreciate the need for the data to make the passengers' cruise more comfortable and tailored to their needs. But I don't think "Joana Barker" entered all that data on the terminal when buying her tickets - Monopole got it from what are apparently public databases with unbelievably detailed information profiles.
On the one hand, this level of access to personal information seems somewhat Orwellian - the LIC watching everyone all the time. Thinking it over, however, it's more likely the result of the aggressive capitalism in Lyran space. All data has economic value, and the Lyrans pride themselves on maximizing the use of anything with economic value. The database management firm probably pays the restaurants, stores, banks, hospitals, etc. to register all transactions and services, and then charges companies like Monople that want to use that data to microtarget customer needs. Customers probably get a percentage point or two shaved off their bill in exchange for giving up privacy rights regarding the transaction, and we've never met a Lyran who could pass up a discount.
Such a system would actually reward conspicuous consumption, since it would have a signaling effect and affect the algorithms the database uses to calculate your social status, granting you access into venues where social climbers could make contacts and peddle influence.
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It doesn't even have to be a discount for the consumer. I'd probably be down with that if every box of candy I got didn't have any of those ones I don't like, every hotel room had the right water pressure in the shower and type of mattress and every time I went to the store I could just look through the sizes that fit me.
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Date: April 26, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Andrew Redburn says his farewells to Ardan Sortek, Misha Auburn, and "Melissa Steiner" in the starport's VIP lounge. Redburn promises to return and Auburn promises to wait for him, then he boards the Silver Eagle.
Aboard the ship in his VIP suite, Andrew marvels at the palatial furnishings, noting the safety features included to accommodate zero-g conditions. He notes that the room is equipped with a holoviewer and discs of magazines he once mentioned he liked to LIC Chancellor Simon Johnson. He expects to enjoy the trip.
Melissa Steiner, traveling incognito as Joana Barker, is less pleased with her steerage accommodations, and actually bursts into tears over having to travel in a "rathole" with a small holovid viewer and a fold-out couch/bed, feeling she deserves better. Fighting back the tears, she checks her privilege and recognizes the arrogance in the sentiment. She resolves to see how her people live and endure what they do.
Up on the bridge, Captain Stefan von Breunig concludes his tour of the ship for Andrew Redburn. He notes that the ship carries 350 passengers, more than standard - at the cost of cargo capacity. Redburn notes that the dining area is common for all passengers, and Von Breunig responds that the seating is egalitarian, so the commoners can catch a glimpse of celebrities like Redburn. He ofers Redburn private dining accommodations reserved for VIPs, if he so desires, but Redburn says he wouldn't want to eat with people who'd ordinarily have nothing to do with him.
Notes: So...infantry training for Melissa, huh? I'm guessing that the Archon-Designate didn't exactly go through basic training with the other LCAF draftees, given her horrified reaction to the room's plastic paneling and shared bathroom, and her mention of it being like those "barracks she's heard about."
The emotion probably has more to do with the idea of heading off into the unknown to meet her arranged marriage partner who's twice her age, and who she met once when she was twelve. And doing all this without the support staff she's been accustomed to (guards, retainers, servants) all her life. Since she's only 17, she probably gets a pass...though it is a small sign of where Katherine Steiner-Davion got her entitled attitude.
Seeing how her people live could do wonders for Melissa's outlook, which has been colored by her massively sheltered existence to date. Imagine if she visited Pencader (as seen in "Straw Man") and saw Lyran citizens straggling through the meteor-bombed war-torn ruins of their cities, relying on bioluminescent light sources because the power grid is gone, and preyed upon by roving bandits, Marik Liberation Units, and rival noble warlords. It would sure put her run-in with her room's "plastic with pseudocellulose veneer" paneling in perspective.
Stackpole heavily milks the "common man" approach to build Redburn into a sympathetic character - painting a picture of Davion egalitarianism as a counterpoint to Lyran social stratification.
One thing that bugged me about the description of the accommodations was that, despite the evidence of zero-g precautions, there was no reflection of the fact that "down" would shift radically during the trip. For the Monarch, an aerodyne vessel, "down" is going to be towards the engines for most of the trip, when it is conducting in-system transits. However, when it enters planetary gravity, down will shift towards the ship's belly. So now, while parked on Tharkad, how are Melissa, Andrew, and the crew and passengers settling into their quarters when all the furnishings should be oriented towards the wall at this point? Are the quarters mounted on huge floating gimbals that reorient as gravity shifts? I would think they'd have acceleration couches for passengers to strap into during takeoff and landing, only inhabiting their quarters during transit (and brief periods of zero-g while docking with JumpShips for interstellar transit).
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Good point about DropShip design. The BTech universe has never been entirely comfortable with space travel I think. With aerodyne DropShips, I think we're all so used to space opera conventions in Star Trek, Star Wars, BSG, Firefly or whatever that it's easier for the writers just to follow those conventions rather than confuse readers with the science of how space travel would actually work.
Recharge and in-system travel times are two more aspects I think the writers never really liked. Recharge because it slows down the plot, so they have Pony Express command circuits everywhere. In-system travel because it eliminates the chance for surprise attacks, so militaries all move by pirate point, it seems.
Pity, because I think the neo-feudal concept of BTech only works if the central government has limited ability to project its power, forcing it to deputize local magnates and give them fancy titles. So slower space travel is one of the keys to the fluff of the setting. I'd give Stackpole credit here, but I know he's only doing it to set up the Styx scene later.
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Aerodynes maintain a second drive along the bottom of the hull so that reorientation is not needed for most aerodyne dropships. I got that from Page 175 of Tech Manual.
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Aerodynes maintain a second drive along the bottom of the hull so that reorientation is not needed for most aerodyne dropships. I got that from Page 175 of Tech Manual.
I understand that the secondary drive permits vertical take offs, so the aerodyne doesn't have to take off like the space shuttle, but there would be reorientation of "down" once the main drive kicked in, unless the aerodyne planned to travel to the jump point and back using only the secondary drive.
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That is exactly what TM states. Aerodyne dropships generally use the secondary drive at 1G unless more extensive maneuvering is required. Something that is a rarity for Monarchs, aye?
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That is exactly what TM states. Aerodyne dropships generally use the secondary drive at 1G unless more extensive maneuvering is required. Something that is a rarity for Monarchs, aye?
Got to hand it to the authors of TM, then. That is an elegant solution to the issue. Most artwork shows aerodynes using the primary drive exclusively, though that could generally be ascribed to combat maneuvers.
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A Monarch was used in MWDA Fortress of Lies novel. The ship was on it's way to land on the main planet, however it was diverted to planet's airless, low gravity moon. The ship dropped off the passengers on the moon, it used its maneuvering thrusters thrust it's nose nudge vertical and it fired it engine to take off.
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Date: April 30, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Rejecting Meece's Dirty Work
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from his last mission to congratulations from Larman Sholest, who tells him that Meece Yerta intercepted a holovid with some vital information. Ragen asks Meece for the data, but refuses to pay him for it. Angrily, Meece tells Ragen he'll be stuck on Zhada without that information.
Notes: Given the structure of the game, it's clear that the author was at least trying to shake up the mission trigger dialogue from time to time, giving the player the option of paying Meece or not. But the outcome seems to be the same no matter what, so the decision path is fairly inconsequential. As long as you keep accomplishing missions, I don't think it's possible not to eventually track down all the Dark Wing members.
The high level of message intercepts severely calls into question ComStar's operational security on Galatea, assuming that my (mostly tongue in cheek) guess that ComStar is manipulating the data flow to Ragen for its own arcane purposes isn't correct.
Since Ragen seems to spend all his time in the bar, I'm starting to see the between mission interludes like episodes of Cheers.
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Date: May 1, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Mesa 7
Title: Skirmish on Mesa 7
Author: Patrick Larkin
Type: Scenario (BattleDroids)
Synopsis: Davion scouts surveying the abandoned world of Mesa 7 discover a Wolf's Dragoon base there. The AFFS attempts to eliminate the Dragoon garrison and claim the world for House Davion, while the Dragoons try to eliminate the scouting party and keep the base secret.
The AFFS scouts have a Wasp, three Stingers, a Phoenix Hawk, a Griffin, a Crusader, and a Warhammer. The Dragoons have a Wasp, a Shadow Hawk, a Griffin, and a Marauder, backed by three Vedettes, two Hunters, two Scorpions, and four jeeps armed with machine guns.
Notes: Appearing in the BattleDroids rulebook, this is the earliest scenario written for the game. Coming at least a decade before the first attempt at force balancing mechanics, it amazingly comes in fairly even, with just a 300 BV differential between the two sides.
Date-wise, this probably could have taken place any time between six months after the start of the Dragoons' contract with the Combine and 3027. I put it here because the overall circumstances seem similar to the BattleTech scenario "The Battle For Udibi" in the "Fox's Teeth" scenario pack, which is most probably dated to May 1, 3027. (The scenario pack dates it to 3029, but that seems to be a typo, since the raid is a tie-in to Wolves on the Border in the spring 3027 timeframe.) Both scenarios revolve around a secret Dragoon base in the Federated Suns being discovered by Davion forces, and I agree with Frabby that the Udibi scenario may have been inspired by the BattleDroids one.
For calculating the force strengths, I used the TRO:3026-versions of the vehicles, rather than the BattleDroids stats. I can't comment on how this would have played out using the BattleDroids rules, so I'll look at it as a BattleTech scenario. No skill ratings are provided, so I assume gunnery 4 for all pilots.
Both sides are highly mobile, with all but three of the 'Mechs having jump jets. The Davion forces have the edge here, and should use their mobility to dodge Dragoon fire and get in among the Dragoon ranks for maximum damage. The light 'Mechs would be ideal for overrunning the Dragoon vehicles and getting in the same hex, at which point the vehicles would be unable to fire on the 'Mech straddling them (the Hunters' LRMs would also be neutered by this tactic). Have your units jump to maximize enemy to-hit modifiers, and wipe out the vehicle platoon first. That will leave you with a slightly damaged 'Mech group that both outguns and can outmaneuver the Dragoon 'Mechs.
For the Dragoons, I'd recommend moving to seize the best cover available (heavy woods, if you can find it) and focus on whatever AFFS forces you can hit - letting the trees give you the same advantage the Davion 'Mechs are getting from jump-jetting around. If the Warhammer exposes itself, concentrate your fire and bring it down - it's the biggest threat on the board. Keep the tanks together. If an AFFS jumper tries to overrun the Hunters, the other tanks can bring their autocannons and machine guns to bear on the interloper.
It would be entirely consistent with the Dragoon mission protocol to find and reactivate old SLDF outposts in uninhabited systems and use them as staging bases for strikes against their enemies. This may explain how the Black Widows and other Dragoon elements were able to raid so deep and so long into the Draconis March - they had skeleton crews garrisoning staging bases (reactivated SLDF facilities) on worlds identified in Clan archives. Notably, Cranston Snord's original mandate was to scout out and assess these sites to see which were still viable, and communicate that to the Dragoons. Mesa 7 was probably on his itinerary.
No system named "Mesa" ever appears on any starmap (not counting "Mesa Verde" or "Mesartim" - the two closest hits), so it was probably just a SLDF staging base or fallback position. Given its location (presumably in the Draconis March), it may last have seen action during Operation SMOTHER before being stripped and abandoned during Operation EXODUS. Another possibility is that Mesa 7 was an Amaris fallback position (like the one seen in "Last Stop" and inferred to have been built throughout the Terran Hegemony and Rim Worlds Republic). The Exodus Fleet captured a full list of those locations in "Last Stop," so they could have been on Snord's checklist as well. (If the Dragoons had been there for "some time," they may even have set it up during their initial Davion contract, leaving Snord to pave the way only on the Marik/Steiner border region.
One wonders how many stars are listed as "uninhabited" on the charts within the territory claimed by the Great Houses, just waiting for LosTech prospectors to come seeking just such SLDF/RWR bases?
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Sorry to drone on about this kind question.
Is BattleDrone scenario considered to be a canon even or its has too many issues to qualify as canon recognized event?
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Sorry to drone on about this kind question.
Is BattleDrone scenario considered to be a canon even or its has too many issues to qualify as canon recognized event?
I generally take any published item from the line to be canon unless it conflicts directly with other, better established, canon events. The scenarios from the Northwind Highlanders scenario pack are generally the worst offenders in terms of canon conflict - primarily due to using anachronistic equipment in historical scenarios. If you assume that Mesa 7 was an outpost world in an uninhabited system, there's nothing in the writeup that feels out of place in the established timeline.
Various other sources name Federated Suns worlds that don't appear on any map - Ral, Hamlin, Dragon's Field, New Cleveland, New Boston, Newbraska, etc., so I've got no problem with adding Mesa 7 to the list.
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That, and the HBS game giving us the whole Aurigan Reach periphery area that somehow remained below the radar; the newly published Stackpole novel Heir Apparent is set on Maledive(s) and portrays it as a more or less pleasant garden world with some 300 million inhabitants and (semi-)regular off-worlds travel including hired mercenaries. Granted, the world's ongoing gradual decline is repeatedly mentioned, but that only means it was an even better place before, right up there with average inner sphere worlds and way surpassing the Davion outback worlds, for example.
It remains to be seen if the whole setup is declared fully canonical in the end as was intended, according to Randall; but at the very least it's official and thus at least apocryphal.
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It's odd, though, that membership in a star-spanning political entity is defined primarily by race. <snip> Capellan worlds are just a ethnically diverse as those of other states, with Poles, Spaniards, Malaysians, Russians, and Scots mixed in with Han Chinese and a pile of other ethnic groups.
Vitios asks Quintus to translate the “Capellan” phrase into English, rather than into “Davion”. Likewise, when the Lyrans speak German or Italian, they call it German or Italian, not “Lyran.”
<snip>
the interchangeable association of “Capellan” with “Chinese” suggests that there was an equivalent of Urizen II Kurita in the Confederation, who introduced and popularized Chinese language and culture into the otherwise ethnically diverse Capellan zone. One also wonders exactly when House Liao embraced its heritage.
One of the things that continues to bug me especially about the older publications is the cheerful ignorance of the Japanese language and muddled Orientalism. (The Japanese Combine's academies have Chinese names, while Chinese-culture Warrior House soldiers are described as carrying Japanese katanas).
The Sword of Light names are Japanese-sounding, but definitely not Japanese. The only one that's recognizable as a name is Toshiba, the rest are meaningless collections of syllables.
If "Capellan" is a dialect of Chinese (presumably centered on Capella or Liao), does that imply there's a "New Cantonese" dialect centered on New Canton? If the "Capellan" language were impressed on the whole Confederation from the top down, rather than growing organically from the bottom up, I imagine it would've been implemented by the Sundermann Liaos along with other compulsory elements of Confederation life. The centralized government and thorough indoctrination probably accounts for some of the Confederation's seeming homogeny.
The Capellan zone is ethnically diverse, and the carpetbagging Capellan Marchers are also ethnically diverse, but the fact that they're both diverse doesn't mean that any given ethnicity would be equally common in both places.
To be fair, I don't think Stackpole does much with the ethnic diversity of any of the Successor States.
Being as unfamiliar with Japanese as I am, I would've assumed "Torinaga" was meant to be Toranaga. Are the other names - Ikia, Noshia, Katuzi Noritoga, Shotugama or Utsonomiya - also plausible as mispellings? I'd generally prefer to read translation errors as a mistake by the author rather than something that's present in-universe, but the notion that Lord Kurita's subjects are really bad at Japanese (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56256.msg1293975#msg1293975) is a funny and fitting one.
(I would've thought "House Chris" would be an injoke... maybe some anime character? Or C.R. Green, who contributed to the House Marik, Liao and Davion books, and was an editorial assistant on those and DS&JS and the The Galtor Campaign?)
Based on the amount of time between the NewsNet headlines, it appears that Herras has the ability to get off Galatea, reach a target world, do the mission, and return in about 8-12 days, on average. This still wreaks havoc with standard jump times, but is far more within the realm of possibility if you assume that Herras Ragen is quite wealthy and has invested a vast amount of resources to set up a commercial command circuit from Galatea to worlds within a few jumps, and is paying extra for captains able to make pirate point calculations.
If this Dark Wing is associated with the Matabushi covert ops division from the Activision MechWarrior game, then these uprisings may be associated with Operation INROAD.
And my head a'splode. Simon Johnson's top secret briefing, in which he mentions that only a handful of people know about the secret marriage clause, and charges Andrew Redburn with delivering Melissa to New Avalon under conditions of utmost secrecy...has just been broadcast in the open on NewsNet.
I expect Galatea would be a traffic hub for that region of space. If Club Zero Zero were at one of Galatea's jump points (I realize that's unlikely), and if Herras owned a high-G shuttle just big enough to carry his 'Mech (which would explain why he doesn't travel with any other MechWarriors), then he might be able to do missions within two jumps just by hitching along with normal traffic. Alternatively, we could take the rapid turnaround as an abstraction of having multiple missions on the same world, in the same star system, or strung out along an out-and-back jump route.
The Dark Wing members seem to be operating on or about Galatea, and presumably have been for the last decade. Perhaps that makes it less surprising that one or more of Herras' Galatean acquaintances (whether paid or unpaid) would know of them.
Connecting the mercenary uprisings with Matabushi's Operation INROAD is neat, and suggests the other mercenary events are associated too- the cache of stolen goods could be one of Matabushi's vaults or something the Dark Wing hid when they went to ground, and the "mercenary infighting" could be part of the falling out between members of Dark Wing or maybe between the old Dark Wing and Matabushi.
In light of the mission to make contact with and assist MIIO's Solaris VII branch, I like your earlier suggestion that Cearle is Herras' MIIO handler. I doubt ComStar is involved; they shouldn't know any more about Simon Johnson's secret briefing than anyone else does. That news item could just as well have been fabricated as a ploy by SAFE, perhaps in response to discovering a tap on their Galatean agent's communications.
You're probably right about Yerg Gantor using Roden to aim Herras at the other members of Dark Wing. (How's this for a lark: Agent Lana Mann and Tasha are the same person, originally employed by Yerg Gantor to sabotage agent Kearny's operation against Matabushi, and now using Herras to tie up loose ends.)
Got to hand it to the authors of TM, then. That is an elegant solution to the issue. Most artwork shows aerodynes using the primary drive exclusively, though that could generally be ascribed to combat maneuvers.
Circa 3025, the Free Worlds League has 12 Aerospace Fleets consisting of 3-6 JumpShips and 10-15 DropShips each, with integral aerospace fighter complements. I would presume the Lyrans, being more powerful, would have more - perhaps 15-20 fleets of comparable size.
The Monarch entry in DS&JS talks about the belly drive too, but it doesn't call the transit drives "secondary" and the atmospheric manuevering drive "primary. ;)
Staying with DS&JS a moment, you mentioned a while ago (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=27831.msg1268600#msg1268600) that DS&JS and the SLSB give different dates for the Mammoth and Behemoth; the easy solution is that Krester's yards aren't known to have survived the war with Amaris. The Behemoth's 2782 date associates it with the SLDF Exodus, so Kerensky may have shared the design with House shipyards. My theory for the Mammoth is that Ceres Metals resurrected it in Capellan space, and then lost a couple shipyards to Davion and Marik encroachment.
Per the '87 House book, the FWL retains a reputation as the Inner Sphere's "gateway to the stars," so I'd expect the Lyrans to have less naval power than the FWL. I like your idea that the Combine would have 25 fleets - I would guess 2-4 JumpShips each.
"after all, there was no current state of war between Luthien and Tharkad." So, did Takashi acknowledge Katrina Steiner as First Lord when nobody was looking? Or has the Third Succession War been officially declared "done" by Autumn 3026, placing this local conflict firmly in the mayfly-duration interbellum period between the Third and Fourth Succession Wars?
Technically, I don't think the "Third" Succession War lasts to 3025; I think the original idea was that it ended long ago, and the people of the Inner Sphere simply stopped bothering to number the conflicts which followed. The latest interbellum (referring to major pushes, not regimental cattle raiding) would have have started with the signing of the FedCom Accords and the Kapteyn Accords in 3020-3022.
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The official stance is that the 3rd Succession War "ended" in 3025, but TPTB could never point to any particular event to link this to.
It's often said it had petered out; but a number of high-profile battles took place at the very end still: The Galtor campaign, Ricol's expansion into the Commonwealth, or whenever Marik decided to begin that mercenary war against Liao that saw the GDL conquer Sirius in early 3028.
If pressed for an explanation, I'd think that the polarization of the Houses into the FedCom and the Kapteyn powers must have been declared the end of the 3rd by historians. It is the only event (for lack of a better word) that really changed the status quo. But it's still hard to link that to the specific year 3025. Perhaps it was the year people realized that something had really changed.
Edit: M'okay, thought about this some more.
It could be argued that 2025 was the year that all official attemps among the Houses at conquest finally ended (namely, Ricol had been stymied by on Trellwan and Davion retook Redfield and Stein's Folly from Liao), thereby it could be said there was no Succession War going on anymore: After 3025 up until the wedding, I'm not aware of any battles that sought to expand territory or take territory away from another faction. Instead, the other notable military actions in that timeframe were raids, and didn't aim for conquest. (McCarron's Long March and the actions along the Kurita/Davion border) The only possible exception here would be Marik's mercenary war against Liao, but this was a clandestine war with deniable asset between two officially allied powers so it can be glossed over I guess.
Also, the Operation Galahad exercises in 3026 and 3027 could be used to argue that while raids and wargames were going on, the actual war had grown cold.
The only ongoing offensive that probably aimed to take worlds was the 5th Sword of Light's attacks on Davion border worlds such as Ozawa in 3026. Will have to re-check the Sorenson's Sabres sourcebook on that. But if it can somehow be construed that they didn't conquer territory then my point stands.
Edit 2: Reading up on the timeline in the Sorenson's Sabres scenario book (p. 13), the 5th Sword of Light launched attacks against Ozawa, Quinn, Towne, Glenmora, Quentin, Udibi, and Errai between August 3025 and October 3026 because of "increased pressure" from the Federated Suns and additional forces along the border suggesting a possible full-scale offensive. In reality, that would probably be the Galahad '26 maneuvers. It was neither Davion continuing the 3rd Succession War, nor was there a coordinated Kurita counter-offensive. It was merely the 5th Sword of Light tasked with raids to keep Davion off-balance. For a genuine offensive, Kurita would have mobilized more than just one regiment, and it's also noted how the 5th got more empty promises than actual supplies for the mission.
So the year 3025 does indeed mark the end of the 3rd Succession War in the sense of a war of conquest.
The last offensives have played out and all sides are now merely raiding across their borders, but have given up on pursuing the 3rd Succession War. (Because Davion and Steiner have a new idea and are preparing for the 4th, of course. But still, there's an actual discernible interbellum period between 3026 and mid-3028 where the largest actions are border raids and the Galahad maneuvers.)
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Being as unfamiliar with Japanese as I am, I would've assumed "Torinaga" was meant to be Toranaga. Are the other names - Ikia, Noshia, Katuzi Noritoga, Shotugama or Utsonomiya - also plausible as mispellings? I'd generally prefer to read translation errors as a mistake by the author rather than something that's present in-universe.
Utsonomiya isn't bad (Utsunomiya) but the others are pretty far off.
I think I mentioned near the start of the conversation that the real reason is likely ignorance and/or error. The challenge was to come up with a way of plausibly explaining it in-universe.
On Frabby's point, I thought the Long March was 3022-23 or so? I like his point about giving up on trying to capture territory. Wouldn't that make the Galtor campaign the final act of the Third War or have I got my dates wrong again?
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Yes, the Long March ended in 3023. But it was the last major Liao operation against Davion prior to Redfield/Stein's Folly, and it was a raid, not a war of conquest.
Galtor similary was just a raid that then devolved into an extended campaign for a Star League cache when neither side backed down.
Strictly speaking, the final acts of the 3rd Succession Wars would probably have been the Liao conquest of Redfield and Stein's Folly, and the subsequent reconquest by House Davion, in 3025. However, that timeline is slightly wonky, as determined in this thread. Alternatively, the final throes of the war could have been
1) Duke Ricol's expansion campaign against Steiner that ground to a halt on Verthandi after the Battle at Thunder Rift in November 3024. There is no established date for the later scenes when Ricol meets with Carlyle, or when Ricol actually leaves the planet with his remaining forces. But they talk about the return of the Invidious, so the talk happens at least one recharge cycle after the final battle. It is conceivable that the situation is only considered resolved after December, i.e. in 2025.
or
2) The Marik attack on Zaniah (if it was even aimed at capturing the world) that was repulsed with the help of Snord's Irregulars. However, the writeup for Marcus Shake (Rhonda's Irregulars, p. 25) describes it as only a "raid" where the capital was looted and left burning.
or
3) The apparently short-lived conquest of Pike IV at some point between implicitly mid-3024 and 3025 by Davion mercenaries, namely Burrow's Crashing Thunder Regiment, as narrated in Life in the Big City/A Tale of Two Cities (CityTech rulebook)
Or, going back to my earlier reasoning, perhaps the Concord of Kapteyn, which was ratified on August 10th, 3024, became effective on 1 January 3025, marking the end of the 3rd Succession War. These events directly follow one another in the timeline on p. 11 of the FCCW sourcebook.
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I'd forgotten I'd posited that Herras Ragen was an undercover MIIO operative. Looking back, that holds up far better than the "ComStar playing games" explanation, and covers a lot of the highly improbable "accidental" deliveries of holovids into Herras' inbox - if they're actually reports from other undercover MIIO agents being forwarded under the fairly flimsy pretense of 'accidental rerouting'.
If Cearle is his MIIO handler, and Ragen's actually an undercover MIIO troubleshooter assigned to crack the Mercenary Underground case, then it (remotely) makes sense for him to be tipped off via a "NewsNet" story that Melissa is expected to pass through his operational area in the near future, and to stand by in case a lightning fast response is required, 'Mech-wise. Since Herras only starts with 50,000 C-Bills in his account, he couldn't have afforded the command circuits himself, but I could buy MIIO setting up a rapid response fleet or two, if the Mercenary Underground was deemed a sufficient threat. After all, they sent a commando team into Combine space to ambush a Matabushi convoy and scarpered with tons of loot, so they're probably flush with sufficient funds to bankroll the "Ragen Express" in the Skye region.
In fact, the "MIIO troubleshooter" interpretation makes the intro text actually make sense, where it goes over the backstory for Herras Ragen, and then says "You don't need to be told any of this, for you are Herras Ragen!" Rather than fourth-wall-breaking exposition, it becomes a dossier on the agent's cover identity.
Club Zero-Zero doesn't work as a cantina on a jump point station, unfortunately, because it's explicitly introduced as being right on Galatea's equator, in pretty much the most inhospitable part of the planet. Such a remote location would probably make Zero Zero suitable for both an MIIO listening post (not unlike the diner on Solaris VII) and also attract the kind of lowlife mercs that would be likely to associate with the Mercenary Underground.
I can buy mid-3025 as the end of the 3rd Succession War, since it's the point at which most of the TO&E charts in the House books seem to be set - it would make sense to freeze the tableau at the point where the major conflict ended. There was at least one planetary conquest in the interbellum period - the DCMS conquered Ozawa in 3026 (they're referred to as occupation forces, rather than raiders), but only held it for two weeks before being driven off by AFFS reinforcements. Depending on your read of canonicity, Pacifica (Chara III) fell to the Combine long enough for them to inaugurate a new planetary government flying the Combine flag in early 3028. (Crescent Hawks' Inception)
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Date: May 1, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Udibi
Title: The Battle for Udibi - Hide and Seek
Authors: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison
Type: Scenario (The Fox's Teeth)
Synopsis: In early 3027, a Davion survey ship landed on the otherwise unremarkable world of Udibi to make emergency repairs, and discovered a spare parts depot previously known only to Wolf's Dragoons, which visited the world as needed over the preceding decades. The AFFS dispatched Vanur's Battalion of the 7th Crucis Lancers to Udibi to safeguard the depot while recovery teams cleared it out.
The three companies split up and set up camps. McKinnon's Company (the Fox's Teeth) got bored of frying the local lizards (quite tasty) and aggressively patrolled their section of the perimeter. On May 1, McKinnon's scouts spotted elements of Woomack's Company (from Wolf's Dragoons) carrying crates from the depot.
Woomack's Company has a Warhammer, Thunderbolt (TND-4T?), 2 Wolverines (WLV-4E?), 1 Wolverine (WOV-4E?), 2 Phoenix Hawk-Ks, an Archer, a Crusader, 2 Stingers, and a Locust (LCS-2T?), all in varying states of disrepair. McKinnon's Company has the full company roster - a Marauder, a Warhammer, 2 Phoenix Hawk-Ks, 2 Stingers, a Crusader, a Rifleman, 2 Wasps, a Griffin, and a Shadow Hawk.
The two companies are pitted against each other in a campaign of four scenarios. The Dragoons can repair some damage using the supplies from the crate of supplies. McKinnon's Raiders can draw on supplies from their base camp. During scenarios, the crate can be carried by either one or two 'Mechs, as long as at least two functional hand actuators are in the mix (sorry, Warhammer). Successful Charge attacks can make a crate carrier drop its load, as can any failed PSR by the carrier.
In the meeting engagement, "Hide and Seek," McKinnon's recon lance encounters Woomack's command lance, putting a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger against a Warhammer, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, and Phoenix Hawk. To win, the recon lance needs to get a line of sight to the crate for a turn, and then have at least one lance member escape. Otherwise, the Dragoons win.
Historically, the Dragoons set the crate down behind a hill and engaged the Raiders, but the Raiders' speed enabled them to skirt the Dragoon position and scan the crate, then withdraw.
Notes: The scenario pack dates this battle to May 1, 3029. Since that would pit the Dragoons against the Federated Suns in the middle of the 4th Succession War, and conflicts with the chronology of "Wolves on the Border," it's pretty easy to chalk this up to a typo, and set the actual date at May 1, 3027.
This scenario has a number of similarities to the "Skirmish on Mesa 7" scenario setup of "a Davion scout team happens upon a Dragoon supply base in FedSuns territory." However, aside from the names of the worlds, there are some significant differences. There weren't any Dragoon guards when the scouts found the base on Udibi, whereas the Mesa 7 base had a Dragoon garrison company to fight the AFFS scouts off. Also, Mesa 7 was a "lost" world that had been "recently rediscovered." Udibi was inhabited (albeit very sparsely) and under Federated Suns control for the bulk of its history, without any period during which it dropped off the maps.
This is one of the few times where a scenario is an explicit tie-in to a novel, filling in the gap in the storyline. This technique is a clear attempt at cross promotion, encouraging readers who want to get the whole story to buy the scenario pack and (hopefully) get into the game. TSR did this as well around the same time, with narrative gaps in the Dragonlance Chronicles novels filled in by the accompanying RPG modules. Usually, scenarios with novel tie-ins just re-create a key scene from the fiction.
There's something decidedly odd about the designations of some of Woomack's 'Mechs. It seems like the author lacked the reference material for the chassis codes, but only for some. This raises the question of whether these represent actual variants, or simply typos.
Given the Dragoons' actual backgrounds, one suspects that the freeborn MechWarriors in the "McLean's Giants" Medium Lance (where all pilots are at least 6'7" or taller) have ancestry traced back to failed Elemental sibcadets that tested down into the civilian castes. Which is painful, indeed, for Arthur Kaneko, since he pilots a Stinger, noted for having cramped cockpit conditions for normal-sized MechWarriors.
Since the crate can be placed anywhere on the map, putting it on the far western edge of the map behind the ridge would be optimal. The Warhammer and Thunderbolt could take up position on the ridge in front of the crate, while the Phoenix Hawk and Wolverine use their speed to engage the Raiders in a mobile battle. Chase down any Raider 'Mech that tries to rabbit towards the crate, with supporting fire from the ridgeline. When they stop for the scan, make sure all your units are in position to Alpha Strike the scanner, and turn it to scrap.
For the Raiders, I would recommend the Griffin, Wasp, and Stinger advance on the bounce, jumping as much as possible (but staying close together), with the Shadow Hawk running close behind (its jump of 3 won't let it keep up). Only fire to the extent that it won't generate enough heat to slow you down, and try to get all three of your lead elements in visual range of the crate on the same turn. That way, the Dragoons will have to spread their fire and you have a pretty good shot at getting at least one 'Mech off the edge (especially if you have the trailing Shadow Hawk run forward along the north edge of the map, so it can exit and score a win even though it was another 'Mech that did the scan.)
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Been rethinking the end of third succession war question a bit. Changed my opinion.
The third war is described as "marked with almost constant, but low-intensity, warfare" (quote from the Sarna wiki, which is not the canoniest of sources but serves the purpose).
If that's the defining characteristic, then the question is, was there ever a point where there was NO "low-intensity warfare"?
Our supposed interwar period is laughably, absurdly, farcically short (2.5 years vs preceding 160 odd years of fighting, less than 2%), but even in that eye blink, low intensity fighting continued.
So we're reduced to trying to find an excuse to say the war ended in 3025, when it should be the opposite: you find the event and that gives you the year.
The solution now seems clear to me: the third war ends with an event that causes low level warfare to end: 3028, the wedding of Hanse & Melissa.
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It's true that there was low level fighting from 3025-3028, but there was also low level fighting in the widely acknowledged interbellum periods between the 1st and 2nd Succession Wars and between the 2nd and 3rd. The Chain Gang raids, for example, took place firmly during the interbellum, and based on the maps and the fiction, the AFFS liberated one world from the Combine during the 1st-2nd interbellum. (It is listed as a Combine holding at the end of the 1st Succession War on all the maps, but is the target of a Chain Gang raid and is defended by AFFS forces in one of the BattleCorps short stories. The only way that works is if the AFFS retook it after the First Succession War ended.)
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Indeed. The low-key warfare between the Houses has been going on from the get-go, and thus doesn't seem to be a suitable criterium.
The question is, when did the Houses stop fighting the war that was the 3rd Succession War (and not just the usual raids)?
Two possible answers:
- Strategic answer: When the final offensive ended. It's a bit hard to determine what that would have been. The best guess is that it would have been the end of Ricol's campaign in 3024. I have difficulties postulating that the ill-fated Capellan offensive against Redfield and Stein's Folly should be seen as waging the 3rd Succession War.
Also, there's the Kurita operations in response to what I believe was Galahad 3026 where they attempted to capture Ozawa, though the wording from the Sorenson's Sabres book suggests it was more a probing raid. And the Marik mercenary offensive against Liao that you'd have to handwave as too clandestine *cough* to count. (See my comments above.)
- Historical answer: The ratification of the final wording of the Concord of Kapteyn in 3024 cemented the formation of two power blocks (FedCom vs. Kapteyn allies) where previously, five Houses had vied for dominance. This "reset" of the grand strategic situation marked 3025 the first year of a new political era. (A bit of a stretch though, as the 3rd SW would then technically have ended in 3024 already; you could at best say that 3025 was the first year after it had ended. There is nothing to suggest the Concord of Kapteyn would only become effective starting 3025, which would be a good explanation but sadly, well, it simply isn't supported by any evidence.
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It's true that there was low level fighting from 3025-3028, but there was also low level fighting in the widely acknowledged interbellum periods between the 1st and 2nd Succession Wars and between the 2nd and 3rd.
I think you're arguing with me now for the sake of arguing. I respect that. :)
In that spirit then:
The difference would be that while there may have been low-level fighting between the other wars, it was materially different in scope and intensity from the fighting that preceded it. The third war's whole point is that it was low-level.
Re: Frabby's counterpoints, I'd say again it sounds like we're working backwards: 3025 is the "official" year it ended and now we need to justify that.
The strategic answer doesn't work for me because you immediately have to begin hand-waving and hedging. Planetary assaults ceased except for ... but... excluding... If pin-prick raids are the sole characteristic of the third war, I have no problem counting Redfield and Stein's Folly, Trellwan, Ozawa or the GDL action on Sirius as part of that.
The historical one is weak as well, for the very reason you cited. The treaty was in 3024, not 3025. In addition, as the GDL campaign shows the putative allies continued sniping at each other even after it was signed. The FS-LC treaty was far, far more strategically significant, and it was signed in 3022 but didn't really go into full effect until ... 3028.
So for me it feels now (after rethinking I admit!) a bit neater not to try finding and arbitrary endpoint for the third war, but rather identify the start of the fourth in 3028 as the end of the third.
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I think you're arguing with me now for the sake of arguing. I respect that. :).
Not arguing just to argue - merely pointing out that we have had historical examples of recognized interbellum periods during which low-level raiding continued. I actually agree with you that there may not have been an interbellum period - with the end of the Third coinciding with the start of the Fourth.
There are many other touchpoints which could be said to be the "end" of the Third, but various sources have said that historians do not all agree. If you do want to look for possible touchpoints:
The Galtor Campaign was the last major multi-regimental planetary battle of the Third Succession War.
The conquest of Sirius was the last time a planet changed ownership before the 4th Succession War.
Operation DOPPLEGANGER was the last major operation by one Successor State against another which attempted to pose an existential threat to the target's political system.
Katrina Steiner's issuance of her peace proposal could be thought of as the end of the Third, even though the Mariks and Kuritas rejected it outright, and the Davions and Liaos offered only highly conditional acceptance terms.
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Not arguing just to argue
Oh poop. And I thought we were going to be great friends. ;)
I'd always thought of the third war as more of a historiography periodization, much like the "hundred years' war", than a definable period of operations.
Best thing about this conversation was it drove me back to my ancient late 80s box set (folding paper counters, oh yes) to see what it said. Surprised to find no mention at all of a "third" war, just succession "wars" in general.
Other obvious changes: clearly says battlemechs cannot be produced, mechwarriors are raised from birth not trained in academies, Hesperus II is a parts depot, "thousands" of worlds in the periphery have been abandoned, there were 7 member states in the Star League (who were the other two?).
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Probably the Outworlds Alliance and the Terran Hegemony. The other three Periphery states don't show up on early maps.
One issue with the Third War lasting until 3028 - Ricol states in 3026 that no state of war currently exists between the Lyrans and the Combine. Also, not sure what guidance Blackthorne got, but many of the characters in their 3025-ish era comics warn that various things could lead to war, implying there wasn't one already.
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One issue with the Third War lasting until 3028 - Ricol states in 3026 that no state of war currently exists between the Lyrans and the Combine.
Hmmm, true. Mind you, this is also a man who believed Trellwan to be perfectly positioned for a strike on Tharkhad, so his judgement on the strategic military situation is somewhat... suspect?
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Date: May 2, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Udibi
Title: The Battle for Udibi - Wolf Trap
Authors: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison
Type: Scenario (The Fox's Teeth)
Synopsis: After his scouts verified that the Dragoons, McKinnon plotted the Dragoons' likely route and laid an ambush at an oasis between the earlier skirmish and the large mesa projected to be the Dragoons' landing site.
Using sprayed-on armor sealant to keep sand out of their 'Mechs' joints and internal systems, the Fox's Teeth bury their 'Mechs under the dunes at the oasis, then emerge to ambush Woomack's forces and the crate of supplies.
Woomack's lance is the same one from the earlier engagement, with whatever damage it sustained (minus what could be fixed given the repair rules provided for the linked scenarios) - Warhammer, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, and Phoenix Hawk - entering from the east. The ambush force is McKinnon's command lance - Marauder, Warhammer, Phoenix Hawk, and Stinger.
To win, McKinnon's forces must capture the crate and get off the east edge of the first board. Woomack's forces can win by getting the crate off the west edge.
Historically, McKinnon's lance successfully seized the crate and retreated to their base camp.
Notes: The illustration accompanying the scenario is one of two (the other is in the AeroTech rulebook) that betrays the Warhammer's Destroid origins - the hatch on the right torso is open (Archer-style) and a cluster of missiles is ready to launch a full-on Macross Missile Massacre.
Strategy wise, I'd recommend burying McKinnon's troops right on the eastern edge of the map. With luck, you can have your heavies close enough to successfully charge the crate carrier, and one of your lights can get to the spot where it was dropped and make it back off the east edge before Woomack's troops know what's happening.
For Woomack, give the crate to your Phoenix Hawk or Wolverine, enter at the jump, and keep bouncing west, using the best cover available. Concentrate your fire on the enemy Stinger and Phoenix Hawk, because the Marauder and Warhammer can't carry the crate (no hands). (They can rig up a tow line, but that takes a lot longer). If you ever lose the crate, go for kicks to force PSRs - a failure makes the crate drop again and puts it back in play.
The Udibi campaign setup raises some questions.
How did Jaime Wolf know that the Dragoons' hidden supply base on Udibi had been found by Davion scouts? The BattleTech universe offers various possibilities - a hidden portable HPG at the site which was programmed to send a message to a WolfNet listening post; a satellite in orbit with a micro HPG that spotted the AFFS ship and sent a message to a WolfNet listening post; WolfNet observers who spotted the landing and used Udibi's HPG station to report this to Wolf; or (most likely) WolfNet agents have infiltrated the AFFS and reported it to Jaime once they learned of it from AFFS communiques.
The Dragoons certainly knew how to use HPGs (as evidenced by the 7th Kommando's raid on the HPG station in "Wolves on the Border"), and may have brought portable ones with them to the Inner Sphere. (The SLDF took a lot of portable HPG units with them on the Exodus.) Is that how they stayed in touch with the Watch to set up supply runs and meetings with Clan officials? As previously noted, the chronology for them leaving Marik space, going on a supply run, and then starting to work for the Lyrans doesn't work because, at one jump per week, they wouldn't even make it out of Lyran space before the chronology has them getting back. If there was a chain of HPG relays stretching from the Clan Homeworlds to the edge of the Periphery, where Watch agents man a listening post, the Dragoons could have requested that some Clan naval stars set up a command circuit for them through uninhabited systems as needed, allowing the chronology to work without modification. The Dragoons could have used a portable HPG to send messages to the listening post without tipping ComStar off.
That being said, it's doubtful that they brought enough along to stash at every hidden supply dump they set up throughout the Inner Sphere. Likewise - the use of HPGs in satellites was a ComStar trick used to warn of intruders approaching worlds the cabal wanted forgotten, like Jardine. I'm not sure the Clans would have had that technology, or sent it with the Dragoons. Plus, the satellites would trigger for any ship's arrival, and Udibi (all appearances to the contrary) isn't an abandoned world - it's listed on all maps back to the Star League era, and therefore would have a planetary government, an HPG station, and regular visits from trading vessels. The AFFS ship that crashed there was damaged, most likely couldn't make it to the main spaceport, and providentially crashed right next to the hidden Dragoon supply bunker.
Having observers camp out there and watch the site is possible, but seems a waste of the Dragoons' limited human resources - sticking a squad of troopies in an inhospitable desert with nothing to do but eat lizards and dehydrate, and saying you'll be back...maybe...in a few decades.
Thus, I think the "WolfNet's reading the AFFS' mail" is the most likely scenario.
The next question is, what was the AFFS up to on Udibi? There are some very, very strange elements of the scenario setup. A battalion arrives at the recently discovered base and then disperses into companies, and sets up a wide perimeter around the facility, but the troops are ordered not to patrol. This seems as though their orders were to make it look like they were guarding the depot, but intentionally leave vast gaps in the perimeter, through which most of Dechan Fraser's mixed-regiment strike force makes off handily with the crates from the depot. If they'd actually been planning to guard the depot, they would have parked the entire battalion on its front doorstep and maybe sent some scout lances out to plant remote sensors around a wider perimeter. This just smacks of intentional incompetence.
When Woomack is captured, the MIIO frees him and sends him back to Jaime with an offer to switch sides to the Federated Suns. One wonders if that was Plan B, with Plan A being to secrete the offer of refuge in among the crates, and let the Dragoons retrieve the supplies unmolested - proving the good will of the Federated Suns. McKinnon's disregard of his orders and resultant capture of Woomack may have forced a change in tactics, but with the same overall result.
Unless Udibi lacked any sort of deep space monitoring facilities, it would have had to monitor the arrival of the Dragoons in-system (from the energy pulse at the jump point), but McKinnon's company wasn't informed to expect incoming.
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Date: May 5, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Udibi
Title: The Battle for Udibi - The Fox's Lair
Authors: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison
Type: Scenario (The Fox's Teeth)
Synopsis: After losing the supply crate to McKinnon's Ambush, Woomack assembles his full company and attacks McKinnon's base camp, pitting the both companies against each other in a final battle for control of the crate, which contains "neural helmets and cockpit computers," among other items.
The base camp has 12 hexes designated as "stores," with the Fox's Teeth player secretly recording which contains the Dragoon crate. McKinnon scores points for each stack of "stores" that survives the battle, while Woomack scores points for each stack that is destroyed, but both sides are penalized if they fire a shot that destroys the stack containing the crate. Woomack's 'Mechs can spend a turn searching a stores pile by remaining in place and not attacking.
The Raiders begin in foxholes on the east side of the map, providing their 'Mechs partial cover. Woomack's forces come in from the west.
Historically, McKinnon's Raiders fought off the Dragoon attack and captured Woomack and several other Dragoons, retaining control of the crate.
Notes: As with the other Udibi scenarios, the official date of 3029 doesn't fit the established timeline, and should be 3027 instead.
The setup contains a transcript of the McKinnon's interrogation of Woomack after the battle was over. He's clearly lying at times, since he says that Jaime Wolf was in command of the operation, and also claims that the Dragoons had been in the process of clearing out the bunker when the AFFS scout ship landed nearby. This conflicts with "Wolves on the Border," which establishes that the scout ship landed and found the supply bunker, then Jaime ordered Dechan Fraser to assemble a strike team and go to Udibi before the bunker was looted by the AFFS. Since Woomack has every reason to lie, we can assume that many of the other details he supplies are equally questionable.
Among Woomack's claims - there were roughly 40-50 crates in the depot, some containing whole 'Mechs, and others with LosTech. ("equipment we haven't seen since the Imperium.") He claims that other Dragoon elements got away with all but this last crate, which he came back for because it was the only one with neurohelmets.
The Imperium? This was one of the very early scenario packs, and the writing probably began back when the game was still called BattleDroids, or very shortly thereafter. I wonder if there was ever a plan to call the Star League the Imperium. Or (quite possibly) if the writer got his universes confused and accidentally gave a shout out to FASA's "Renegade Legion" product line, where the "Terran Overlord Government" is an oppressive Roman-themed space empire controlling most of the Milky Way galaxy, and one of the games in the setting is "Circus Imperium". (It's not the only BattleTech shout-out to its sister game - one of the Rim Worlds units featured in "Historical: Liberation of Terra" has an insignia suspiciously similar to that of the Renegade Legion.)
No points are awarded for killing enemy 'Mechs, so it's all about the crate and the other supplies. For the Fox's Teeth, I would recommend piling the "stores" crates behind the ridges on the far eastern side of the map, so the Dragoons will have to be right on top of them before they can shoot at them. Then line the Raiders up in foxholes on the ridges, with the slow ones with long range guns in the best positions. This will force the Dragoons to advance into heavy firepower, with a strong disadvantage due to the Raiders' partial cover bonus. The Stingers and Wasps are somewhat wasted in the foxholes (given their fragility and lack of long range weaponry), so it would make more sense to quickly pull them back to use as a mobile reserve - bounding in to shut down any speedy Dragoon that seems likely to make it through the gauntlet and threaten the stores hexes. Putting everything on the far east edge of the map also pulls the Dragoons as far as possible from their home edge, so they can't easily pull heavily damaged units back off the map (their home edge is the western side).
By all means, avoid shooting any 'Mech that is in the crate's pile, since a missed shot has a chance of setting it on fire and costing you 6 points. You may want to try to put a sacrificial Wasp or Stinger on the pile where the crate is hidden, and expose it to enemy shots - hoping that Woomack's troops will miss and accidentally destroy the crate - incurring the 12 point penalty.
For the Dragoons, assuming the Raiders deploy as I've outlined above, take advantage of the defenders' lack of mobility and concentrate your force into a column advancing along either the northern or southern edge of the map. If the Raiders hold to their foxholes, you can achieve local superiority and crush the defenders while the other Raiders are only providing long range supporting fire. If they emerge from their foxholes, they'll lose their defensive benefits, and you can mix it up with them on equal footing. Send as many of your fast jumpers as possible to the crates, and have a lot of 'Mechs searching simultaneously. Casualties don't matter, points wise. Once you clear a crate pile, blast it to bits and move to the next (you have to spend a full turn stationary to search, so you can use your turn when you move to the next pile to shoot the last one). If enemy 'Mechs are standing on a crate pile, beware of a trap, and use only autocannons or (preferably) fists and feet to clear them off of it. Shove them, if you can - placing the crates on the edge gives them cover from the ridge, but opens 'Mechs there to being pushed off and inadvertently exiting the scenario, unable to return.
If Woomack was telling the truth about the depot containing LosTech (Imperium LosTech, no less :D ), that strongly points towards it being an old SLDF facility that was left behind during the prep for Operation EXODUS, rather than a new Dragoon storehouse set up between 3005 and 3010, during the Davion contract.
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Date: May 5, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Justin Xiang joins Gray Noton in a Cathay tenement, where Noton is using a translator named Shih to arrange payment of 30,000 C-Bills to an old man for the location of an ammunition cache hidden by his unit during a failed CCAF offensive against the Free Worlds League in 2977. Xiang points out that Shih has been lying to Noton, probably hoping to sell the information to Noton himself, after getting it from the old man. Noton pays the old man with a winning betting slip from Xiang's last match.
Impressed, Noton asks Xiang to join his operation, coordinating his efforts to play off the various intelligence agencies against each other.
He tells Xiang that Baron Enrico Lestrade asked him to take a mission to divert a DropShip from its intended course. Noton has his people standing by near Fomalhaut to take the ship, allowing Duke Frederick Steiner and Duke Aldo Lestrade to make their power play. He notes that his analysis of the passenger manifest showed other high value targets, including Andrew Redburn, and plans to sell them to the highest bidder.
Xiang agrees to join Noton's team as a partner, quipping "Till death do us part."
Later that day, Maskirovka station chief Tsen Shang enters Noton's office, ready for anything after Noton missed their scheduled meeting. He finds Noton in the office, dead with his neck snapped froma single powerful blow, and sees that Noton's safe has been carved open with a laser. He suspects that Xiang is the culprit, and vows to learn why and, if necessary, avenge Noton.
As Shang leaves the office, Xiang watches from the alley across the street, then returns to going through the contents of Noton's safe - C-Bills, travel papers for six cover identities, a set of magkeys, and an encoded diary of business transactions. He hides the loot in the lining of his jacket, then activates the self destruct "fire capsule" in the dossier with the details of the Silver Eagle operation to make sure the Maskirovka doesn't get it.
Notes: One interesting side note is that SAFE may or may not have a presence on Solaris VII, due to the cell's having split during the Anton/Janos civil war and wiped each other out.
Justin is having a very successful day - having gained Gray Noton's trust and infiltrated his mercenary black bag network on Solaris VII. It's interesting, though, that Noton doesn't share the details about the real target (Melissa), even though Lestrade's malware analytical routine flagged her. It would be a bit much for Xiang to read over a passenger manifest and make the Joana Barker connection, but the fact that Noton doesn't tell him either says that Noton is unaware of the real target (he probably doesn't know about Melisa or he'd be asking for a lot more money) or that he still doesn't fully trust Xiang (a fair bet, given the nature of his work).
Noton serves not only as an information broker, but also operates his own private mercenary crew he uses for raids, kidnappings, and other deniable operations. One wonders if (looking at the wider universe) he has any ties to the Dark Wing's Mercenary Underground. Whereas regular mercenaries get contracts through either the ComStar Mercenary Review Board or the Mercenary's Guild, the Mercenary Underground seems to specialize in false flag attacks and deniable acts of mayhem contracted off-the grid, which would seem to be a good fit with Noton's modus operandi. If Gray Noton and Yerg Gantor aren't working together, they would seem to be competitors.
This scene continues Stackpole's portrayal of Capellans as being sneaky and untrustworthy, with Shih trying to capitalize on Noton's lack of Capellan-language skills for extra profit, and the CCAF veteran happily selling military secrets for 30,000 C-Bills.
We have no details on what the 2977 operation was, but we do have some contextual information. It was during the last few years of Chancellor Ingrid Liao's regime (2950-2980). She'd initially had great ambitions of using massed aerospace fleets to turn the tide of the war, but those turned to dust on Lee at the Great Lee Turkey Shoot. With "elastic defense" proving unable to safeguard her limited industrial and military assets, she resorted to putting the Red Lancers and Prefectorate Guard units on frontline duty. We know that the world of Wasat fell to the Capellan Confederation during the reign of Captain-General Stephan Marik (2963-2991), and that Wasat was back under League control by 3025.
My guess is that the arrival of the Capellan Hussars on the front lines provided sufficient strength for a limited offensive strike (rather than the "elastic defense" fire brigade method of responding in force to raids while militia sacrifices itself to tie the invaders down), but the Hussars were called away after the initial success to put out other fires, leaving the old man's unit to hold Wasat, unsuccessfully, against the FWLM's counterattack. Hoping they could return the next time the Hussars were available, they cached and booby trapped their ammo and fled offworld.
Regardless of where the ammo was stashed, Noton's getting a great deal. 30,000 C-Bills buys 120 new long-range missiles. If there's more than one ton of ammo in the cache, Noton makes out like a bandit.
I wonder if Justin's murder of Gray Noton was part of his operational objectives, or just an opportunistic effort to disrupt the Silver Eagle plot. I was actually somewhat surprised that Justin didn't use his pre-established message codes to alert the MIIO about the operation - though I suppose he already knew that Noton would have all local agents under surveillance, while ComStar reads everyone's mail for offworld communications.
The lasered open safe is a bit of foreshadowing about Justin's arm's special features. He has three shots from the device. It doesn't seem incongruous that Justin would have a laser pistol on him, so the reader doesn't really connect the arm with the laser. I honestly think that the NAIS intentionally saddled Justin with the metal prosthesis instead of the myomer one so that they could put the laser in. Of course, that implies that Quintus planned this covert insertion mission even before Michael Hasek-Davion started raising a stink.
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I always thought these nuggets of actions Stackpole's characters were discovering or had done themselves in the past intriguing for scenario/campaigns or just add more richness to the universe.
I hope if it's covered, the 3rd Succession War stuff mentioned in the Warriors series (Spica campaign where Justin indirectly encountered Candace in mech fights) is actually entered into that historical so i can stays canon.
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Date: May 5, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Quintus Allard enters Hanse Davion's office as he is concluding a meting with Baron Robere Gruizot (Duke Hasek-Davion's liaison to New Avalon). Allard loads a holodisc into a player and briefs the two officials.
Allard reports that Xiang killed Billy Wolfson on April 20 and issued a statement which took 20 days to reach New Avalon via the news services. Allard shows the holovid of Xiang excoriating Philip Capet and Hanse Davion. At Hanse's question, Allard confirms that Xiang has killed six Federated Suns pilots in the games, but qualifies that figure by noting that they were scum which the Suns were well rid of.
Allard informs Hanse that MIIO intel has confirmed that Gray Noton used a Rifleman to ambush Xiang on Kittery. Hanse offers to recall Xiang and pardon him.
Allard answers that Xiang will not want to come home, and relates the circumstances under which Noton exposed the MIIO agent's cover and Xiang broke her jaw. Enraged, Hanse inquires about assassination, but Allard notes Xiang is well protected by the tongs of Cathay. Hanse orders Allard to recall their agent to New Avalon for a new assignment.
Finally, Allard reports that the Silver Eagle departed on schedule from Tharkad, and is expected to reach Fomalhaut around the 20th, with an arrival on New Avalon in mid-June. Gruizot asks why they are concerned with a passenger liner, and Allard chides him for not having kept up with the travels of Andrew Redburn, hero of the Capellan March.
Notes: This is, of course, elaborate theater conducted solely for the benefit of Gruizot, who will pass this data on to Michael Hasek-Davion and thence to the Maskirovka.
The message timing is interesting - Allard says it took 20 days for the news from Solaris VII to reach New Avalon, but it only took ten days for confirmation of the departure of the Silver Eagle to reach New Avalon from Tharkad, which is much further away than Solaris VII. My guess is that the message arrived much earlier, and Allard is lying about the delay to make it plausible that he would "just happen" to be briefing Hanse on it during Gruizot's visit.
It's odd that Michael would send a special representative to facilitate coordination between the Crucis and Capellan Marches. Isn't that what the Privy Council is for, where the Ministers themselves meet? Granted, Michael is described as being uninterested in the duties of running the bureaucracy and has delegated the role of Minister of the Capellan March to his younger sister Rebecca Hasek-Davion. (One further oddity - Michael is married to Hanse's stepsister Marie Davion, giving him the hyphen. Why is Rebecca hyphenating her last name? Or the Administrator of the Almach region, Y. Hasek-Davion? Did they also find Davions from cadet lines to hook up with?) I wonder if Rebecca attends meetings of the Privy Council in Michael's stead, or if Gruizot fills in there as well.
Given the stops scheduled for the Silver Eagle, and accounting for in-system transit time, there's no way it's getting to New Avalon by mid-June. Even if they only do an orbital overflight of the planets they "visit" without the week on the ground I'd assumed (and the automated checks for inoculations support the idea that time onworld is scheduled) the arrival time will be sometime in July. One might suspect that Allard is giving fake dates to screw with Gruizot, so that any plot against the Silver Eagle originating from Duke Michael will be off by a few weeks.
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Date: May 5, 3027
Location: Skye
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: At dinner, Andrew Redburn and "Joana Barker" join Erik and Hilda Mahler. Erik is awestruck that Redburn has chosen to eat with them, rather than at a table on the balcony with the other celebrities.
Hilda expresses admiration for Hanse Davion and for the Federated Commonwealth accords. Later in the conversation, Erik raises the subject of Justin Xiang, Redburn's former commander, and says his string of kills on Solaris VII is on par with a Combine vendetta, and marks Xiang as a traitor. "Joana" chimes in, agreeing that Xiang's anger is excessive, and recalling that he was declared innocent by Prince Davion.
Redburn tersely responds that Xiang is a true warrior, and so it is only to be expected that arena performers would die when they clashed. He justifies Xiang's expressed anger by asking Erik, himself a retired LCAF officer, how he would feel never being allowed to pilot a 'Mech, and having to deal with a permanent cloud of suspicion. Erik continues to condemn Xiang's venomous tirades against Prince Davion. Redburn blames it on politics and excuses himself.
Notes: Erik Mahler notes that Xiang has eliminated nearly every Federated Suns fighter on Solaris VII. So there were only 6-8 total on the whole game world? It's odd that the games are seen as being so disreputable circa 3027, given how much they're celebrated in the 3050s. I suppose the rampant match fixing and blatant ties to organized crime may have tarnished its image at this point in history.
It's not clear where this dinner is taking place. It appears to be in the dining area of the Silver Eagle, but that's never explicitly stated, and it could be during an excursion on Skye itself. Since there seems to be gravity, if shipboard, it's probably on the way to or coming back from Skye, since they'd be experiencing microgravity if they were at the jump point (though they should only be at the jump point long enough to undock or to dock).
The Mahlers are used to voice the opinion of the "average Lyran on the street" about the FedCom alliance and about Justin Xiang's situation. Stackpole re-uses the pair in the "Blood of Kerensky" trilogy, helping out Kai Allard-Liao and Dierdre Lear on Falcon-occupied Alyina.
Erik Mahler mentions his appreciation of a white wine from Nekkar during the dinner. Not much has ever been written about Nekkar, other than to mention it as a source of high quality wine and cheese. I'm picturing a world with a lot of art galleries, somehow...
My faith in Monopole's algorithms is a bit shaken by this scene. Despite its premise of using her personal profile to create ideal matches for her social engagements, it decided that a 25-year old schoolteacher off on a grand adventure would like to sit with a retired Hauptmann and his wife at dinner? Is her daily schedule a cavalcade of shuffleboard and hands of canasta, too?
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Notes: Erik Mahler notes that Xiang has eliminated nearly every Federated Suns fighter on Solaris VII. So there were only 6-8 total on the whole game world? It's odd that the games are seen as being so disreputable circa 3027, given how much they're celebrated in the 3050s.
It could be just that many with a strong affiliation to the FedSuns, with plenty more ex-Feddies (and other Houses) that play up their unaligned stable affiliation (or solo status) more. This was when folks in the Inner Sphere were a little more "Eh, new flag, need to change the Payee on our next tax check" instead of "Fight off the invaders with our bare hands!"
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Date: May 6, 3027
Location: Summer
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Andrew Redburn goes to Melissa's quarters to apologize for having left the previous night's dinner in a huff. She frostily chastises him for his lack of manners and hints that she may attempt to block his further promotion, which causes him to bristle with resentment.
The pain in Redburn's voice causes Melissa's anger to fade, and she allows Redburn to explain about his close friendship with Justin Xiang. After the trial and the killings on Solaris, he now wonders if he ever knew Xiang at all.
Melissa tells him that people sometimes change, and admits that she once abused her power over the courtiers on Tharkad and plotted to bend others to her will. She considers herself to have learned better, but admits that her experience with wielding actual power has been on a purely academic level up to this point. She tells Redburn that neither of them can alleviate Xiang's anguish, and that she would ask Prince Davion to pardon Xiang if she thought it would help.
Redburn thanks her, but fears that Xiang is lost to them forever.
Notes: It appears dinner was aboard the passenger vessel on approach to the Skye jump point, because the Silver Eagle is now in the Summer system.
Once again, we see that manipulation and a desire to bend others to her will and crush her enemies is a core part of Melissa's personality - thankfully mitigated in this case by a lack of competing siblings. Katherine Steiner-Davion may not have fallen all that far from the tree, however. Melissa says she saw the exercise of power as a game. I'm not sure I got that impression from Katherine, but she was certainly obsessed with it. I wonder if Katherine had Melissa blown up not just to get her out of the way of the line of succession, but because she perceived Melissa as a potential threat if mommy dearest ever realized what Katherine was up to?
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Wasn't the fighter on Solaris not that highly praised prior to the Warrior Series (era wise)? If i'm not mistaken, were they were in league showboaters verses actual Ace MechWarriors that Justin Xiang and Gray Noton were? Of course it changed since then, but i remember it was bit different since the best fighters were on the first line.
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It could be just that many with a strong affiliation to the FedSuns, with plenty more ex-Feddies (and other Houses) that play up their unaligned stable affiliation (or solo status) more. This was when folks in the Inner Sphere were a little more "Eh, new flag, need to change the Payee on our next tax check" instead of "Fight off the invaders with our bare hands!"
Capet's "Capellan Mafia" were Justin's primary targets. It may be that Mahler is thinking mostly of them, since they dominated the Open Circuit, with Capet the grand champion, and not thinking of lower ranked Feddies in other circuits.
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Capet's "Capellan Mafia" were Justin's primary targets. It may be that Mahler is thinking mostly of them, since they dominated the Open Circuit, with Capet the grand champion, and not thinking of lower ranked Feddies in other circuits.
Like all those AAA/AA Yankees that no one knows to hate? >:D
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Wasn't the fighter on Solaris not that highly praised prior to the Warrior Series (era wise)? If i'm not mistaken, were they were in league showboaters verses actual Ace MechWarriors that Justin Xiang and Gray Noton were? Of course it changed since then, but i remember it was bit different since the best fighters were on the first line.
Stackpole's portrayal of the fighters seems to have a consistent thread of them largely being MechWarriors who'd been thrown out of their own countries' militaries due to being involved in previous disgraces. Tsen Shang (while not a fighter himself) was in disgrace due to his connection to the "Lost Legion" debacle, Philip Capet had received a dishonorable discharge from the AFFS after plotting to steal transports and lead cadets on an unsanctioned revenge raid, and Quintus Allard refers to the rest of the Capellan Mafia team as "scum." Xiang fits right in - arriving on Solaris VII accused of treason. Who knows what early scandal led Gray Noton to the Game World, but given his extensive underworld ties, it was probably a doozy. A fair number of the Marik fighters probably backed Anton in the civil war. And the Liao fighters (the Teng brothers) are Maskirovka assets that (we are shown) are considered utterly expendable. The Lyran fighters are probably there because they made a major faux pas at the spring ball when they used the wrong fork and drank the contents of the finger bowls.
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Date: May 6, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Justin Xiang awakens to find Tsen Shang standing over his bed holding a pistol trained on him. Shang accused Xiang of murdering Gray Noton, and demands that Xiang turn over the documents Noton had agreed to sell him. Xiang refuses, explaining that he destroyed the documents because Noton was working with the Davion Central Intelligence Directorate to set up the Maskirovka, planning to use the fake document to trick the Maskrovka into committing resources to a doomed operation. He claims that two names on the passenger manifesto were cover identities commonly used for Quintus Allard and his wife when they travel. He explains that he knew it was false, because Quintus never traveled on the same ship with his wife, to prevent their children from being orphaned if there was a misjump.
He adds that, while he was in the NAIS hospital on New Avalon, he saw a man who looked exactly like Hanse Davion and one who looked like Quintus Allard - doubles prepared to deceive someone. He says he knows Davion wants revenge against House Liao, but not what for. Xiang sees Shang's eyes go distant, and knows he's allayed the Maskirovka cell-chief's suspicions long enough to keep Andrew Redburn safe. He tells Shang to open his jacket's pocket.
Shang does so, and finds the Federated Suns identification papers with Noton's image and description. Xiang claims Noton wanted to leverage his betrayal of the Maskirovka to get back into the Federated Suns and retire at a villa on Verde, so Xiang killed him. Shang expresses gratitude to Xiang for his actions, and pledges to be in touch.
Notes: When I first read the Warrior Trilogy, I was only able to find Riposte and Coupe in stores, so I mostly knew about the wedding and the war, and missed all the intrigue in En Garde. Reading through it in detail now, I can appreciate all the foreshadowing that Stackpole layered into the trilogy. This mention of "seeing a man who looked just like Hanse Davion" is both a shout out to the events of "The Sword and the Dagger" (another book I'd not yet read when I first encountered the Warrior books), and foreshadowing for Hanse's reveal of the doppleganger-Hanse at the end, which broke Max Liao's mind (see my sigline). We know from Ilsa Bick's "The Gauntlet: Descent" that the MIIO had fake-Hanse sequestered at an unspecified location as of April 3028, and that he was involved peripherally in the subterfuge around the wedding, but it seems that in late 3026/early 3027, he was being treated at a NAIS hospital. (Justin didn't actually see him, but heard rumors.)
This raises the question, if there was actually a duplicate Hanse at the NAIS in late 3026/early 3027...was the other part of the rumor true about there being a double for Quintus Allard? To what purpose? The same role as Jeana Clay plays for Melissa? We know that the NAIS swapped in a double for Thomas Marik's son while they were treating him, so they had the tech for surgical doubling (as does the Lyran Commonwealth, which did surgery on Clay to make her into Melissa's double, and the Confederation, which used it to make fake Hanse and to try to swap out Tormana/o Liao in "Think Like a Liao," and Wolf's Dragoons, which seems to have at least one Natasha Kerensky double in play...as does the Combine on its fake Black Widow ISF squad).
We see that Tsen Shang's trust in Noton was never more than skin deep, despite their successful track record. He's readily willing to accept the word of a relative stranger that Noton was plotting to betray him. This begins a running series of events in Stackpole's works portraying the Maskirovka as gullible in the extreme, and wasteful of assets, turning the organization described as quite dangerous in Rick David Stuart's "House Liao - The Capellan Confederation" into the Keystone Cops of the Inner Sphere - not to be redeemed until well into Sun Tzu's reign.
It's interesting that Justin's internal monologue refers to his story about Noton working with the CID to set up the Maskirovka to make it waste resources on a booby trapped target as "pure nonsense," since that's exactly what his own mission is - to get the Maskirovka to "steal" the flawed triple strength myomer from a FedSuns laboratory and make CCAF 'Mechs vulnerable to the catalytic agent that causes the myomer to combust.
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The name "Capellan Mafia" is oddly chosen. I think it's a reference to the Capellan March in the FS, but when I hear "Capellan" I immediately think of the CC. They sound like hardcore Liaoists rather than the opposite.
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Date: May 7, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Udibi
Title: The Battle for Udibi - If At First You Don't Succeed
Authors: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison
Type: Scenario (The Fox's Teeth)
Synopsis: This is a non-canon "what if" scenario framed as McKinnon describing what he would have done if the ambush on May 2nd had failed and the Dragoons had escaped with the crate. McKinnon would have broken contact and gotten ahead of Woomack's forces as they proceeded towards the mesa where their DropShip was parked.
Without time to set up an ambush, the scenario pits what's left of McKinnon's entire company against what's left of Woomack's company. On two standard maps, Woomack enters from the east, McKinnon from the west. To win, a force must take the crate off the opposite edge (west for Woomack, east for McKinnon). If McKinnon wins, the players are directed to play out "The Fox's Lair" for the Dragoon counterattack against McKinnon's base camp.
Notes: As with the other Udibi scenarios, the published date of 3029 is out of sync with the official timeline (where the Dragoons come over to the Federated Suns in 3028), and should be set in 3027.
At this stage in the campaign, repair parts are probably running low, and both sides will be feeling losses incurred in the two previous scenarios. Both should have at least one fresh lance that hasn't been engaged, so leading with them and keeping the walking wounded in the rear echelon is recommended - you can do more repairs between scenarios, but if a 'Mech goes down, it's lost for good. The Dragoons can afford to be much more aggressive, though, since if they win even a Pyrrhic victory, the campaign is over, but McKinnon still has another battle to fight if his company is victorious.
Both sides should try to engage as far forward as possible, to move the crate as close as possible to their side. I would recommend a flying wedge around the crate carrier to make them immune to kicks that might force PSRs and make the crate drop, keeping in mind that such a formation still leaves the carrier open to DFA attacks and massed fire for 20+ damage PSR checks. The encirclement does give the holding side better positioning to pick the crate back up when it is dropped, though.
One oddity is how McKinnon keeps getting ahead of Woomack. His Marauder and Warhammer aren't going to be setting any land speed records, and if they're "cutting them off at the pass," why wasn't Woomack taking the direct route in the first place? All I can figure is that the Fox's Teeth had their own DropShip nearby and was using it for tactical redeployment along Woomack's line of march. (This would also explain how they repaired en-route - using the equipment in the DropShip's bays.)
In his autobiography "McKinnnon: The Man, The Myth, the MechWarrior," (McKinnon certainly isn't short on ego...) Ian notes that he got a frosty reception from the other officers in Vanur's Battalion after his successful ambush, boasting "not many people like a maverick who's right." This would seem to support my speculation that McKinnon screwed up the mission, which was to let the Dragoons escape with the goodies, but have a friendly offer from House Davion tucked into the crates, so that the Dragoons would come to trust the Federated Suns and be willing to jump ship from the Combine. The lack of pursuit and hostile engagement would be proof of FedSuns intentions, but McKinnon's decision to violate orders and patrol anyways led to a running firefight and the capture of several Dragoons (along with probably a number of injuries and deaths), all of which would make any hidden Davion holovids in the crates seem like bait for a trap.
The frosty reception is puzzling, however, since it implies that the other commanders knew the real purpose of the mission, but McKinnon didn't. Were the others informed (by gossip) after the fact? Or was McKinnon just not paying attention during the initial mission briefing?
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The name "Capellan Mafia" is oddly chosen. I think it's a reference to the Capellan March in the FS, but when I hear "Capellan" I immediately think of the CC. They sound like hardcore Liaoists rather than the opposite.
I had the same thought. Perhaps it's because "Capellan March Mafia" is a bit of a mouthful and doesn't fit so well on a Burger King glass.
I think Stackpole was trying to establish that the Capellan March had a divergent culture from the rest of the Federated Suns - even their PPC drink recipe is different. This could be the result of House Hasek's efforts towards separatism (Michael's father George was also fairly corrupt and disloyal to New Avalon), or because the Capellan March incorporates so many worlds seized from the Capellan Confederation, resulting in ambiguous political loyalties.
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Date: May 8, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Zach Slasher's Planetary Assault
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from Zhada to find a message from his paid informant, Vermin Minter, who reports that his men have learned Zach Slasher is planning to launch a planetary assault, using either Escalon or Dalview as a staging point.
Notes: I guess it largely depends on the level of development of the planet in question, but a full-on planetary assault (intended to break through fixed defenses, crush the planetary garrison, and topple the government for replacement by the invader's puppet regime) seems a bit of a tall order for an independent rogue mercenary to pull off, even if he is gathering an ad hoc force of mercenary scum to back his play. It implies that the Mercenary Underground forged by the Dark Wing has far more in the way of money and manpower (not to mention transport) than most independent operators would be capable of. Even Gray Noton was only able to pull together a company of Cicadas for his Kittery operation - and that was an objective raid.
If the Dark Wing isn't getting financial and operational support from a Successor State, it probably has covert corporate backing - Matabushi, most likely.
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I had the same thought. Perhaps it's because "Capellan March Mafia" is a bit of a mouthful and doesn't fit so well on a Burger King glass.
I wish I had your faith in a restaurant chain that's already changed ownership about three or four times. In other news, Tim Hortons turns out to be the real power behind ComStar and the Lyran Commonwealth is actually a front for Dairy Queen. :))
Back when I had a MechWarrior campaign, after a hard day's saving the universe the heroes would retire to a chain of Mexican restaurants named -- you guessed it -- BattleMex.
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Fast food chains still exist in the Inner Sphere. Triple F sells whale meat burgers, and there is a Starbucks clone called JavaPulse Generator. And there is a Canopian chain with a monkey named Chippy as the mascot.
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Sadly, the last known supply of avocados was destroyed in the First Succession War. In space, guac is still extra.
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Sadly, the last known supply of avocados was destroyed in the First Succession War. In space, guac is still extra.
Not on Woodstock, where the Ixtapa Mexican restaurant (on the outskirts of the Charleston DropPort) serves enchiladas smothered in cheese and guacamole in "Sword of Sedition."
(Yay for Windows 10 ultrafast PDF keyword search)
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I could go for a Zeus Burger right now....
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I'm assuming Ixtapa found a secret supply or "Brian Mash" of the stuff.
Food doesn't get mentioned much in the fiction, though the PPC gets some air time. Anyone ever tried drinking one?
If I recall it's 2 shots (4?) Grain alcohol + 1 of flavor (sake, kerosene ha ha!, ouzo, tequila, etc.) Sounds moderately lethal. Kerosene is probably a reference to baijiu, which trust me, smells and tastes the part.
Also, to quote Inglorious Basterds: There's a special place in hell reserved for people who waste good sake. Using it as a mixer qualifies.
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It depends on the author, but a fair amount of cuisine has been referenced in BattleTech fiction.
ComStar gives wedding guests culturally appropriate lunch boxes on an excursion, giving Combine delegates sushi and giving the Feddies peanut butter sandwiches with quillar jam.
All the food on Dragon's Field is flavored with local shad seed.
Two soldiers have a debate about the best pizza place on New Avalon.
Several scenes on Sian are set at a restaurant modeled after one of Stackpole's favorite places in Phoenix.
Kincha addiction is a defining character element for members of Liao's Lost Legion.
And so on...
I think Vic Milan did the most detailed descriptions of food, to my recollection.
I compiled a table of various trade goods mentioned in the fiction (for a random loot generator for a pirate based campaign) and there are a fair number of foods on the list. The duplicate entries are because each entry was tagged by planet of origin in the database. The numbers are C-Bill cost per ton.
Vodniks
125
Donegal cherries
1150
Shad-seed
6650
Silver sable (furs)
2500000
Chromite ore
25
Wine
75000
Brandy
13250
Eden beavers
300
Burrocks
50
Widowmaker spiders
1000
Eden vultures
250
Jade falcons
7500
Fire mandrills
500
Oiseau de Tonnerre
250
Homme d'Tonnerre
4000
Nolans
5000
Cabolos
775
Cabolos wine
75000
Thunderbeast
250
Dobars
150
Wine
75000
Germanium ore
383333
Galatean moles
350
Lugen colada mix
10000
Beefalo
200
Ranger bull
500
Lobo plumados
250
Snallygaster leather
3500
Snallygasters
50
Night boars
2000
Sugar corn
1500
Katam corn
600
Protonaria
200
Fine furniture
200000
Glenlivit
15450
Glengarry Black Label Special Reserve
6500
Crogh
75
Crogh meat
500
Crogh leather
3500
Bloodpetal flowers
35000
Rock swine
50
Tree pumas
250
Razorback alligators
150
Surats
50
Reindeer
75
Reindeer meat
350
Reindeer leather
3500
Binsby berries
2500
Recreational vehicles
5000
Grausian bloodsuckers
50
Scruffers
45
Ironfish
600
Grumian clams
50
Gulkana geckos
300
Ebony wood
5333
Vindhaya nuts
12500
Kuranosuke silk
6000
Srinigar crystalware
10000
Tiger eels
45
Sea scorpions
2800
Borstal Boy (beer)
650
Hotei Black Label (whiskey)
6500
Swine
120
Gnu-oxen
65
Gnu-oxen meat
500
Bison
275
Bison meat
2500
Water horses
425
Winter-harvest riesling (wine)
90000
Meat lettuce
650
Ice hellions
5000
Great Helenic whales
5000
Mottled lemurs
20
Passion fruit
1000
Tigerberries
1250
Helm deep blue whales
50000
Helm deep blue whale meat
33500
Takooma
300
Coal
12
Lutefisk
6000
Gravlaks
6640
Gila toads
50
Gila toad leather
3500
Ortin marble
100
Mineral water
1200
Transe green tea
2000
Mineral water
1200
Prudholm dwarf deer
500
Fire lizard
250
Sheep
200
Swine
120
Horses
3000
Razor-caws
200
Ironhold nighthawks
3000
Fire falcons
450
Black lanners
750
Wine
75000
Perfume
65000
Cosmetics
125000
Drengkit flowers
35000
Pengrya blossoms
35000
Tetatae
250
Tatsugonchu
30
Kaifeng cows
75
Shimmer granite
15
Songbirds
3400
Ice plants
1000
Prudholm dwarf deer
500
Klima-beasts
2500
Eichhornchen
275
Wire
1500
Kendall honey
1000
Cereal grass
30
Kigamboni leopards
2200
Kikuyan devils
4500
Tri-vid sets
220
Godan
450
Stomach's Joy nutritional supplements
100
Home Helper canned foods
1000
Scarlet shrikes
120
Winter wolves
225
Mothers of the ocean
25000
Nessie
2000
Algae mats
20
Arrack (liquor)
20000
Bhang (narcotic)
2
Glass cobras
160
Tobacco
3500
Blue fire opals
3000000
Mailsloths
450
Mailsloth meat
500
Sheep
200
Thoroughbred horses
10000
Tea
2000
Cholach
1450
Razorback boars
85
Branth-rats
4500
Branths
10000
Carved totems
100000
Selkie furs
2500000
Selkie
650
Pelagic arthropods
120
Varan lizards
225
Gold panthers
3500
Cattle
50
Freshwater trout
500
Weave-tree textiles
500
Firestones
1350000
Leech locusts
50
Carp
30
Carp fillets
275
Denkaika
300
Tarises
70
Beer
750
Swine
120
Horses
3000
Beefalo
200
Beefalo meat
450
Brockway goats
120
Brockway goat meat
1000
Wine
75000
Plas-sculptures
225000
Abstract myomer art
500000
Kiffnuts
4500
Hurricane kelp
8000
Fire-kite
4500
Plastic-crystal sculptures
325000
Wine
75000
Wine
75000
Opium
2750000
Pachyderm
6500
Wine
75000
Nestor Gold liqueur
7500
Wine
75000
Sheep
200
Geef
60
Geef meat
500
New Avalon wheat
50
Silver Ice Snake-Weasel furs
2500000
Silver ice snake-weasels
750
Ice serpent
7500
Sprinter-killers
300
Grassbirds
30
Chewyweed
25
Buffalopes
225
Buffalope meat
2000
Stalkers
2500
Grand Avalon granite
15
Avalon redwood lumber
25
Fish
500
Apples
350
Carved ivory
100000
Swine
120
Gnu-oxen
65
Gnu-oxen meat
500
Bison
275
Bison meat
2500
Exford truffles
550000
Art
1000000
Personal music sets
20
Swamp otters
40
Swine
120
Chickens
60
Chicken meat
500
Ki-rians
3500
Armor bear
5000
Marlin
750
Tuna
1500
Hodson's Fliers
600
Sea bass
1750
Speckled hoodoo
1250
Lead-crystal glass
375
Samarkite
375000
Tamarlane melons
450
Blue raptors
400
Fuster lizards
250
Whale-sardines
35
Fine furniture
200000
Blue Lotus portable compads
250
Blue Lotus noteputers
500
Seluguwesa
600
Bufaali
225
Buffaali meat
2000
Malvern Black whiskey
6500
Cholobara wine
75000
Plum wine
75000
Shilovian seskratts
60
Kincha fruit
100
Leopards
2000
Giant pandas
750
Ranger bull
500
Ranger bull meat
400
Whale
2000
Kodiak bears
1500
Horses
5000
Simpson's Delight (spice)
7500
Sirius Ale
800
Blood oak timber
380
Fine furniture
200000
Viragos
160
Direbeasts
500
Direbeast furs
2500000
Nostia gems
1250000
Uleths
150
Wildweed
50
Vetchin
185
Smolensk bull
350
Schracks
225
Bloodfish
650
Bloodfish fillets
6000
Spina-wheat
40
Fine art
2500000
Stewart roses
35000
Stewart Malt Whiskey
6500
Cranas
50
Star adders
230
Ghost bears
1200
Snow ravens
150
Smoke jaguars
350
Strana Mechty wolves
350
Diamond shark
1250
Sea foxes
250000
Sawfish
10
Sawfish fillets
65
Ice cod
700
Ice cod fillets
6750
HarJel
250000
Perfumed herbal soap
7500
Buleen anchovies
100
Buleen anchovy fillets
875
White ivory
725
Whitetail deer
125
Art
1000000
Falcons
7500
Coyotes
400
Furs
1500000
Home automatic hair styler
150
Wine
75000
Bamboo
50
Prudholm dwarf deer
500
Seacats
450
Goats
55
Goat meat
400
Horses
5000
Reptile cow
40
Reptile cow meat
350
Turin-leaf (narcotic)
3
Gourds
4000
Gyru lizards
500
Ulan Bator java
7150
Tiger raptors
350
Frostwine
75000
Burrowing tortises
2000
Megasaur
10000
T-Rex II
25000
Tabiranths
450
Tabiranths
650
Horses
3000
Modenan wolves
230
Slug rats
15
Horses
3000
Camels
700
Chromite ore
25
Kevla
2500
Blueleaf tobacco
1500
Garlbean
2400
Grovacas
2000
Chirimsim
100
Industrial crystals
225000
Chocolate
16500
Wine
75000
Gold ore
6688000
Wine
75000
Bluestone
100
Tobacco
3500
Cigars
800
Woodstock private reserve (lager)
5000
Anti-radiation treatment kit
250
Blue ice
320
Horses
3000
Black reapers
800
Art
1000000
Tiger-raptors
450
Gorii-tuna
1400
Gorii-tuna fillets
13350
Speckled cockatrices
125
Toliks
75
Tolik meat
400
Petrified wood carvings
15000
Jaraals
2000
Holovid discs
5
Agrat
1000
Agrat fillets
10357
Alcoran swimmer fillets
10350
Beefalo meat
450
Blue snapper fillets
12500
Brockway goat meat
1000
Bucky Brown meat
500
Buffalo meat
2000
Chichiban whale meat
33500
Crocale meat
500
Crocale leather
3500
Gillarg meat
500
Goat meat
400
Goat meat
400
Grazer meat
500
Grumian clam meat
4000
Hodson's Flier fillets
5000
Hodson's Flier fillets
5000
Leather
3500
Mammoth meat
600
Mammoth meat
600
Mara trout fillets
4000
Marlin fillets
6326
Night boar meat
20000
Whale-sardine fillets
300
Ostrich meat
10000
Ranger bull meat
400
Ranger bull meat
400
Sea bass fillets
15000
Marinated sea scorpions
10000
Smolensk bull meat
450
Thorin bull meat
450
Troses fillets
10000
Whale-sardine fillets
300
Crowley lizard cow meat
500
Freshwater trout fillets
4000
Pelagic arthropod meat
9000
Six-legged crab meat
16000
Sturgeon fillets
1880
Fisherpike fillets
5000
Caribou
215
Caribou meat
1940
Hipposaur
2500
Riding kangaroos
1000
Ironfish fillets
4750
Mermaid fillets
4500
Speckled hoodoo fillets
10000
Jewel Bass fillets
4750
Kafa gold tuna fillets
13350
Compound bows
15
Crossbows
10
Cromarty Black whiskey
6500
Long-grass steers
55
Thoroughbred horses
10000
Fine furniture
200000
Barberries
9000
Jacotes
1500
Dune rats
25
Tressidan vipers
100
Sand crickets
25
Ironwood
4000
Aston-Martin luxury car
7407
Mara trout
500
Whale-sardines
35
Raxx
250
Raxxen meat
350
Caboa timber
25
Syramon thunderbirds
500
Oshika oxen
50
Oshika ox meat
400
Goji
20
Goji meat
150
Wine
75000
Palosian stirges
25
Tree shrikes
125
Miniature parrots
5850000
Pesht predator apes
1750
Pinard pinot
100000
Spice (narcotic)
2
Yomita herdbeasts
65
Yomita herdbeast meat
500
Poulsbo pythons
45
Champagne
4500
Tri-vid camera
375
Blood limpets
50
Dragon iguana
600
Crop devils
2
Bloodworm silk
6000
Bloodworm eggs
10000
Blue jade
1000000
Toxic life-forms
25
Radstadt pine
15
Toad-foxes
75
Slimy rock-huggers
20
Blue-tailed buzzards
225
Lion moles
300
Stone squirrels
25
Nurfers
100
Billiboos
250
Ostriches
1150
Pteroraptors
750
Red wolverines
250
Red wolverine furs
2500000
Waltabu Valley dietary supplements
8000
Anti-cancer medicine
250
Eligus diagnosers
165413
Titanium ore
200
Segine tempest swimmers
1250
Segine tempest swimmer fillets
10000
Shadow mongoose
125
Venom worms
25
Vampire bats
175
Skye boars
2000
Skye boar meat
20000
Skye boars
2000
Skye boar meat
20000
Deer
80
Caribou
215
Caribou meat
1940
Tharkan gazelle
40
Tharkan gazelle meat
350
Tharkan moonwolves
450
Wolves
75
Snowtiger furs
2500000
Coral
20000
Snowtigers
350
Nacht-lager
5000
Berry apples
2000
Aspergrot
1500
Sunset chimps
600
Oxen
50
Butcher beasts
250
Ox meat
400
Butcher beast meat
2750
Butcher beasts
250
Butcher beast meat
2750
Thorizers
175
Thorin bulls
60
Furs
1250000
Thraxan devourers
3500
Thraxan devourer hides
300
Whalan
7500
Whalan meat
33500
Blue potatoes
200
Badgers
750
Badger furs
2500000
Boars
2000
Timbiqui Dark (beer)
1000
Wine
75000
Whiskey
6500
Brandy
13250
Sheep
200
Tortugan wolverines
2000
Crossfield krait
75
Robsart shark
200
Robsart shark
200
Chickens
60
Chicken meat
500
Eiglotheriums
15000
Rodan
2500
Bloodwood
380
Slo-mo
600
Slo-mo meat
400
Frost Giant's Daughter (beer)
750
Trell spices
125
Chigga wood
25000
Industrial diamonds
135000
Musi-chips
4
Advanced forensic analysis kits
562500
Basic counter-forgery kits
175000
Electronics counter-forgery kits
225000
Standard subvocal microcommunicators
40000000
Wireless subvocal microcommunicators
60000000
Electronic codebreakers
500000
Advanced electronic codebreakers
6666667
Biomedical compounds
500000
Books
3
Sugar
275
Coat
32
Wool
14500
Cloud cobras
300
Steel vipers
250
Red granite
15
Cuchulain Irish Whiskey
6500
Cognac
25000
Arc-Royal Red (beer)
775
Arc-Royal Stout (beer)
845
Razorcats
350
Polar bears
125
Memory crystals
288000
Randall's roses
35000
Mammoth
750
Brace (addictive drug)
5
Blood oranges
1833
Wine
75000
Goats
55
Arabian horses
21425
Neodolphins
250
Kse'e
10000
Brandy
13250
Tapestries
250000
Atranas
2000
Tunna-beast
140
Tunna-beast leather
3500
Cactus juice
500
Talasi
75
Goliath scorpions
400
Mole-rats
20
Nibblers
25
Troses
1125
Diamond Negro (beer)
750
Mandre-stags
150
Wolfin
175
Tri-D projection systems
220
Wine
75000
Bharati dragon
25000
Bharati possums
750
Bharati mushrooms
15000
Petroleum
250
Megasaur
10000
Irish whiskey
6500
Iron ore
13
Swamp stunners
50
Spring water
750
Tobacco
3500
SeraVideo video entertainment centers
350
Mermaids
500
White Hart truffles
1000000
Harvest caviar
850000
Sturgeon
200
Tariq
150
Brockway goats
120
Crowley lizard cows
65
Jewel Bass
600
Hybrid wheat
40
Bucky browns
60
Six-legged mountain mules
250
Dune pups
350
Neomules
60
Mordred lizards
300
Chalice hunter
7500
Dress
31
Ginja wood
4000
Canopian roses
35000
Jade
1000000
Hodson's Fliers
600
Goats
55
Elwrith
4000
Bloodworms
25
Crocales
75
Red cedar
7
Teak
-
Nolan, Takooma, Ice Hellion, Tetatae?
That's a strange list of "Trade Goods", even if they're stuffed and even by pirate standards.
-
I could go for a Zeus Burger right now....
I recommend the Firestarter Burger with the sriracha sauce, but steer clear of the Locust Burger. Little bit crunchy for my taste.
-
Nolan, Takooma, Ice Hellion, Tetatae?
That's a strange list of "Trade Goods", even if they're stuffed and even by pirate standards.
There's a bit of a tradition of rich nobles trying to stock private menageries or zoos (like Tormano Liao's herd of Prudholm Dwarf Deer on his Solaris VII estate), so why not? Tetatae was only an option if there was a misjump that resulted in the ship being diverted to the Kaetetoa system.
The algorithm was designed to stock cargo ships with goods that would be found on the worlds in that system and neighboring systems (within three jumps). As players learned where the best stuff was, richer regions would attract more raids (in theory).
-
I recommend the Firestarter Burger with the sriracha sauce, but steer clear of the Locust Burger. Little bit crunchy for my taste.
I usually get a Harpy Meal for the free toy.
-
Date: May 11, 3027
Location: Fomalhaut
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Danica and Clovis Holstein meet with Captain William Pfister, aboard his JumpShip, the Meridian, and inform him that his chief technician, Kevin Mori, is an undercover ISF agent planning to sabotage his vessel's helium tanks to cripple the ship. Clovis pulls up Monopole Lines records that show an LIC advisory about Mori, with a comparison between his academy records and current picture, showing a different bone structure. Pfister worries that he won't be able to fulfill his contract to carry the Silver Eagle to Errai on May 21st. Danica offers to send her tech, Stephen Leigh, over from her JumpShip, the Bifrost, to repair his helium tanks.
Danica and Clovis depart aboard the shuttle Mistletoe and gloat over having deceived Captain Pfister. They order Leigh to take the shuttle Hemlock over to the Meridian and blow its helium tank seals, making it look like sabotage and timing it to kill Mori, who actually is an ISF agent. Clovis reports success in his efforts to designate the Bifrost as the alternate carrier for the Silver Eagle in the event that the Meridian is unable to jump.
Clovis expresses reservations about taking the Silver Eagle job for Gray Noton, reminding Danica that she's refused other jobs that would harm the Lyran Commonwealth in the past. Danica says they need the money to keep their Heimdall base in the Styx system operating, and says that if they didn't take the job, Noton would assign it to someone else. This way, she rationalizes, Heimdall can determine what the real objective of the DropShip diversion is, and decide whether or not to carry through with it.
Notes: This scene introduces one of Stackpole's recurring tropes for disabling JumpShips - blowing the helium seals. It gets used again by Frederick Steiner and Loki to disable a Combine fleet, and is responsible for Phelan Kell's being stranded in the Free Rasalhague Republic at the start of the Blood of Kerensky trilogy. From a narrative standpoint, it was necessary to have a way to disable JumpShips while still adhering to the edict that the LosTech leviathans never be permanently crippled or destroyed.
Naming their ship the Bifrost seems just a little blatant for a Heimdall cell, though Danica does note that most Lyrans don't even know about its existence. Loki certainly knows, however, so you'd think they'd subject any ship with that name to extra scrutiny.
Danica hints at her backstory - noting that she was rescued by Heimdall while she was pregnant with Clovis, barely avoiding a death that would have been blamed on a Kurita raid. Careful readers will have noted that Duke Aldo Lestrade gained his title when his elder siblings and parents died in a Kurita raid on Summer, and will have been able to connect the dots between Lestrade and the Holsteins at this point - a plot point that is paid off at the end of Warrior: Coupe. One wonders if it was the Heimdall extraction of Danica that cost Lestrade his arm and...other parts, since he appears to have been colluding with the Kuritans, and taking severe injuries in a raid he himself arranged seems careless.
It appears that Gray Noton's original plan was for the ship to be taken to Sirius, where it would be handed over to the Capellan Confederation - enabling them to get revenge on Andrew Redburn, and (unknowingly) satisfying Aldo Lestrade's goal of...um...er... making Katrina Steiner vulnerable to a coup by Frederick Steiner because...erm...Melissa has vanished? Still not entirely clear on his motivations or ultimate goals. Does he want to be the power behind the throne when Frederick takes over?
It seems questionable setting up a hidden base in a Combine system. Even if you're on an asteroid, any sensors on the main colony will detect the jump signature of Heimdall ships arriving. A fully uninhabited system would make a lot more sense. Clearly, this novel predated the rules for jump signature detection. Not to say that covert insertion is impossible - the Word of Blake managed it in Odessa for a decade or more.
One oddity in the scene setup also appears to explain how the Silver Eagle is getting through these systems so fast and still visiting planets. Danica tells Pfister she'll radio her ship as soon as her shuttle leaves planetary orbit. This establishes that the Meridian is in Fomalhaut's orbit, presumably at a pirate point. That would imply the Bifrost is in Fomalhaut's orbital space as well, and that they're expecting the Silver Eagle's carrier to arrive there.
I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing in the early 1990s, and he mentioned that the transit times were a problematic issue for story pacing, and that pirate points had been created to solve it, eliminating the weeks of in-system transit otherwise required. He also noted that, when a system proved to be inconveniently located for story purposes, FASA offered to move it.
The use of facial recognition scans by Loki and Bertillion analysis of bone structure would seem to make surgical doubles an invalid tactic. Why would Mori's surgery to make him look like the replaced Tech have failed to adjust bone lengths? Is that not possible? If not, wouldn't an ISF scan of Jeana Clay determine that she's not Melissa? Or couldn't they have used that technique to differentiate Hanse from Doppleganger Hanse? Also, if they can scan people with that degree of accuracy, wouldn't a scan of "Joana Barker" immediately match her Bertillion measurements with those of Melissa Steiner? Or was the ISF just cheaping out on the identity theft?
-
House Kurita is known to be a little behind technoligically. Perhaps they don't have the tech to do the bone changes or to do facial recognition...
-
Hrrm....just thinking about all the plot points about Styx and am throwing them all together here, because well...I can't wait.
A mercenary from a Heimdall affiliated mercenary command bankrupted Styk Mining Corporation and made that base available for Heimdall to use.
The Heimdall backed kidnappers take a mission out of character for them and then take their captives to this place.
Then the Heimdall affiliated mercenary group shows up, what a great coincidence!
...or not, considering that in the third book it's revealed that Simon Johnson is Heimdall
-
Date: May 16, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: SNES MechWarrior - Nosy Son of a Gun
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns to Club Zero-Zero and gets a tip from Cearle, the maitre'd, that something's up on Escalon. He expresses confidence that Ragen will go there to investigate, since he's such a "nosy son of a gun." Ragen reviews his inbox, and finds a message from his informant, Vermin Minter, who tells him there are four members of the Dark Wing Lance - but that neither Wolf Glupper nor Zach Slasher are the brains behind the operation. The file is damaged, and cuts off before it gets to the information about the other two members.
Notes: Trying to place this bare-bones "plot" into the larger context of the game universe, it seems oddly contrived that the information is clearly available early on, yet the reveal is delayed until more than a dozen missions later. Thinking logically, why wouldn't Ragen just send a message to Minter and ask him to retransmit the data? Minter sends an additional five messages before the end of the game, so Ragen's still in contact. Yet, faced with full information about the Dark Wing roster, he never picks up the thread.
It's not much of a revelation that a group called the Dark Wing Lance has four members. Of course, the Dark Wing had five 'Mechs in the final battle in MechWarrior 1, implying that the overall Dark Wing organization has far more than just four members. The "Dark Wing Lance" from the SNES game appears to be a separate operational unit than the one supporting Operation INROAD, but the name would imply a common organizational affiliation. It's possible that the Dark Wing group (a tiny little division of Matabushi Inc.) has several lowlife mercenaries on retainer, and assembles them into ad hoc groups for various operations - not unlike how the Bounty Hunter puts together a custom support crew for each mission.
In the SNES plot, the Dark Wing Lance appears to be the command group for the much larger "Mercenary Underground" organization - albeit one being hamstrung by internal conflicts between the members of the command staff - suggesting that Matabushi has lost operational control of this splinter group of the Dark Wing.
I wonder if there's any mechanism for getting ComStar to re-deliver a corrupted message. Copies theoretically exist at each HPG station along the chain of transmission, so if the data was corrupted during transmission at one point, wouldn't that be ComStar's fault? And shouldn't they be obliged to go back through the system and find a clean version of the file, and deliver it correctly? Since this evidently didn't take place, one wonders whether ComStar, in fact, is the one that corrupted the back half of the message. This brings me back to a potential theory about the Dark Wing - that at least one member of the Dark Wing Lance is actually an undercover ROM agent who intends to use the Dark Wing's Mercenary Underground to discourage Successor States from hiring any mercenary group not fully under the aegis of ComStar's Mercenary Review Board.
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The MW1 computer game for PC-DOS never had more than four opponents, and the final battle was against 3 BattleMasters and a Warhammer, iirc. I dimly recall, however, that the unit was previously described as four BattleMasters and a Warhammer within the game. It may also be noteworthy that the final battle is a mini-campaign of sorts, where you have to vanquish the Dark Wing twice in a row - once upon touching down on the planet, and then you have to fight three BattleMasters and a Warhammer again at the bunker holding the chalice. Game mechanics don't support actual campaigns, but the fact that the Blazing Aces cannot repair damage in-between these missions (can't remember if they could replenish ammo, but probably not) suggests that they take place within a very short timeframe, and maybe we're looking at six BattleMasters and two Warhammers after all.
Oh, and I seem to recall that Matabushi hired the Dark Wing, but didn't originally create it. Even prior to your analysis I figured the Dark Wing would be a Draconis Combine-based mercenary cartel of some sort, not registered with the MRB (either because of being a DC merc unit only, like the Aphigean Light Assault Group, or because they're straight criminals - which makes the Dark Wing the prototype Ghost Regiment).
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Date: May 19, 3027
Location: Benet III
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel
Synopsis: One week into a raid on the Federated Suns world of Benet III, the Black Widow Company is having a rough time. Natasha's Warhammer and the rest of her Command Lance come under fire from rifle-toting AFFS infantry as they move through a pass in Gakken County. Colin MacLaren scatters the AFFS troops with a burst from his Marauder's autocannon. Natasha tries to reach the rest of the Black Widows, but Recon is unresponsive, and Ikeda's Fire Lance reports that AFFS scouts have probed the landing site for the unit's DropShip.
MacLaren reports AFFS 'Mechs entering the valley. Natasha joins the rest of her Command Lance - Hayes' Griffin, MacLaren's Marauder, and Sheridan's Crusader - behind a boulder, where they prepare to ambush the AFFS lance. Massed fire shreds the lead Enforcer, forcing the pilot to eject from the smoking hulk. The rest of the lance retreats.
Ikeda reports no sign of the DCMS forces that were supposed to be supporting the Dragoons on the Benet III raid. Epsilon Regiment is being hard pressed, and Colonel Arbuthnot is preparing to withdraw offworld. Natahsa orders Ikeda to prepare to leave as well, and to call Recon home if they can make contact.
Descending the mountain by a firefighting trail, the Widows smash a Valkyrie and a VTOL 'Mech-hunter at a firewatch station, and shoot down a VTOL scout that finds them in the dark.
Just as Natasha thinks they'll get away clean, a boom upslope signals that the AFFS has detonated charges and triggered an avalanche. Natasha's Warhammer is swept off the mountain trail in a torrent of shattered granite. Sheridan, MacLaren and Hayes can find no trace of their commander.
Finally, Natasha responds, reporting that she had to rig up a spare antenna for her communications array. She reports that her 'Mech, Black Lady is heavily damaged, and can't ascend the rockfall slope. She asks them to link up with the Widow's Web and get a tacmap to find out where the canyon she's in exits. MacLaren directs her to a point 20 km to the northeast, and they plan to rendezvous there.
Before Natasha has gone 500 meters, she notes blips on her magnetic anomaly detector. Initially dismissing them as granite chunks on the canyon floor, she is surprised by a bright green Marauder painted with silver credit symbols - the distinctive markings of her arch enemy, the Bounty Hunter. His associates, an Orion, Quickdraw, and Shadow Hawk, emerge behind her. Rather than attacking, though, he asks to talk.
She recalls their last meeting - battling on Le Blanc over renegade technicians, losing two Black Widow Company members in the process, but leaving with the Techs. The Hunter suggests they call it even, but Natasha tells him he's cost her too much for them ever to be even. He points out that if he'd wanted her dead, she would be.
The Hunter explains that he has a specific contract on Natasha and she's surrounded. He knows that the DCMS support forces left the Dragoons to die, and that there's no way for the Dragoon DropShips to get offworld without heavy casualties unless the heavily guarded tracking station at Beaux Pawl is destroyed. However, the Hunter allows that his team has also been double crossed by its employers, and lost its ride offworld. He says he has an associate who can sabotage the tracking station, and will cancel the contract, in exchange for a ride offworld.
Natasha says she doesn't work with cold-blooded killers. The Hunter says that he's heard different - with a source placing her at a massacre on New Mendham eight months earlier. She responds that she was elsewhere, and he says he believes her, but she can't prove it. Natasha mentally acknowledges that she can't prove it without compromising Dragoon security.
The Hunter confides that there are contracts out on other Dragoon commanders, and he thinks they're being set up. He notes that his employer wore a badly disguised Waco Ranger uniform, but dismisses it as an obvious cover. He promises more info once he's safely out of the system. Natasha accepts, reluctantly.
Notes: Natasha muses that no one would get her to stand up to a BattleMech with nothing more than a rifle - ironic, given that such a match-up is exactly how most Clan warriors end their careers - in solahma infantry units.
The bit about not compromising Dragoon security implies that Natasha was on a secret mission (possibly related to the Clans) at the time. However...the official date given for "Fragile is the House of Cards" (Sorenson's Sabres scenario) definitively places Natasha Kerensky and the Dragoons on Kawabe four days before the massacre on New Mendham. Since the fighting on Kawabe was just starting, either Natasha was on Kawabe killing anti-Drac rebel civilians, or that was her body double (the one from Misha's interview) and she was on another secret mission. Girl gets around! The thing is, though, even if she was on a hush-hush glory to the ilClan mission, she has a definitive record of someone who can pass for her having a heart-to-heart with Sorenson's Sabres on Kawabe and being in action there at that same time, on an official Combine contract. The DCMS high command even uses the massacre there as a reason to hate the Dragoons when relations go south, so they must have battlefield records. All Natasha has to do is point out that "she was on Kawabe, killing Drac civilians," and she won't be blamed for...being on New Mendham, killing Drac civlians...okay, bad example. ;)
Natasha's claim that she doesn't work with cold-blooded killers is a bit of a joke, considering that at least one of her Widows was assigned to her unit because he was up on charges for murder. There's also a reference to the instructor in "Final Exam" being the only person to survive two encounters with the Black Widow - implying that the Widows go out of their way to kill their enemies.
The VTOL 'Mech-hunter isn't named or statted, but none of the VTOLs from TRO:3026 seem to fit that description. The Ferret certainly isn't a 'Mech hunter, and the Warrior H-7's AC/2 wouldn't seem to give it the oomph to go after 'Mechs (though it is a dangerous machine in open territory). I wonder if this is the mentioned, but not statted, Wild Weasel? Certainly, LosTech is required to make real VTOL 'Mech hunters, like the Yellowjacket or Hawk Moth.
It's never specified who triggered the avalanche. Since it was narrowly enough targeted to just get Natasha's Warhammer, I would suspect that the Bounty Hunter had somehow been tracking the Widows and planted explosives upslope along her projected line of march, intending to bring her into his trap and weaken her bargaining posture enough for him to get what he wanted. Yet, if swarms of AFFS troops couldn't find her (and the one VTOL that did quickly died), how was the Hunter tracking her? Did he put a satellite in orbit and use that to track her remotely? Was another associate running a drone carrier and shadowing her with PathTracks or NapFinds?
It's weird, though, that the Bounty Hunter was betrayed to a sufficient degree that it would be dangerous for him to remain on an AFFS world. If it was just that his transport departed, couldn't he mosey over to Beaux Pawl and contract a commercial transport back to Solaris VII? It appears that, for whatever reason, he's not supposed to be on Benet III as far as the AFFS is concerned, meaning that he has to avoid the local garrison, too. Since his name wasn't mud as far as the Feddies were concerned when he was under contract to Michael Hasek-Davion, one wonders exactly what changed.
The Bounty Hunter chapters were the most maddening for me when reading the book, because it made extensive oblique references to events with which I was utterly unfamiliar. Like watching a soap opera for the first time and having no clue that Julio is actually Teresa's surgically altered ex-husband pretending to be her dead son, and thereby being unable to make heads or tails of the big reveal - and for the backstory only available in a special issue of TV Guide. It was released March 1, 1989. The Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook also came out in 1989 to further flesh out this flagship mercenary unit. Many of the characters and backstories referenced in Wolves on the Border are incomprehensible unless you have the sourcebook open next to you as you read (which, of course, spoils the ending). Cross promotion is one thing, but the "story already in progress" bit was done to the extent that (prior to getting the Dragoon sourcebook) I felt like I'd somehow missed an earlier novel in the series. When I saw Charrette's "Heir to the Dragon" I thought - aha - this must be the book that explains what the heck happened between Natasha and the Hunter earlier. No joy (though still a spectacular roller coaster ride through the 4th Succession War and War of 3039).
I wonder why Natasha is so upset about there being a contract out to kill her. She's been circling the Inner Sphere slaughtering her foes by the bucketload for decades. Surely Wayne Waco isn't the only person with a grudge and some cash. I guess it's her Clan ethos showing - since killing in the course of fights is considered a normal part of daily life for the Warrior Caste, and doesn't bear thoughts of retaliation by the loser's sibkin, except to encourage them to fight harder and gain more glory if they can beat the killer in the next Trial. Civilian caste deaths are inconsequential - they should be grateful for being able to participate even peripherally in Warrior Caste activities.
The discussion of the tactical significance of the tracking station at Beaux Pawl implies that the AFFS forces on Benet III enjoy substantial Aerospace superiority. One wonders why it wasn't mustered to blunt the Dragoon insertion on arrival. Overall, the Dragoons do seem substantially understrength in terms of AeroSpace assets, with a ratio of support well below the 2 fighters per 12 'Mechs that was advertised as "standard" at the time. (It gets better if you factor in the LAMs, but still doesn't reach parity).
The other question is why the Dragoons didn't have better coordination with the DCMS forces they were supposed to conduct the operation with. Why didn't they stage together and launch only when all assets were in place? Why would the Dragoons have gone in against (apparently) substantial AeroSpace defenses without the full invasion force - an elite unit wouldn't send its forces into heavy defenses piecemeal. Given their concerns about the DCMS leaving them in the lurch several times before, why would Jaime agree to a plan where the Dragoons go in first and then get supported "later" by DCMS forces? It seems like the Dragoons should have been more wary about betrayal by this point, especially after what they went through with Anton Marik.
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The MW1 computer game for PC-DOS never had more than four opponents, and the final battle was against 3 BattleMasters and a Warhammer, iirc. I dimly recall, however, that the unit was previously described as four BattleMasters and a Warhammer within the game. It may also be noteworthy that the final battle is a mini-campaign of sorts, where you have to vanquish the Dark Wing twice in a row - once upon touching down on the planet, and then you have to fight three BattleMasters and a Warhammer again at the bunker holding the chalice. Game mechanics don't support actual campaigns, but the fact that the Blazing Aces cannot repair damage in-between these missions (can't remember if they could replenish ammo, but probably not) suggests that they take place within a very short timeframe, and maybe we're looking at six BattleMasters and two Warhammers after all.
Oh, and I seem to recall that Matabushi hired the Dark Wing, but didn't originally create it. Even prior to your analysis I figured the Dark Wing would be a Draconis Combine-based mercenary cartel of some sort, not registered with the MRB (either because of being a DC merc unit only, like the Amphigean Light Assault Group, or because they're straight criminals - which makes the Dark Wing the prototype Ghost Regiment).
The Operation INROAD files from Tasha specify one Warhammer and four BattleMasters. The final text mentions some ineffectual infantry as well, at the bunker. That's what I based my writeup on.
I tagged Matabushi as the creators of the Dark Wing because of this passage: "Matabushi has established an elite team of specialists not confined to specific divisions." Sounds like a good cover for the Dark Wing. None of the in-game text ever refers to the Dark Wing as mercenaries or them being hired (at least not according to the keyword search of my transcript). One Matabushi executive just requests permission to "exercise the Dark Wing option." Now, it is possible that the Dark Wing Lance went underground in 3017 and were given refuge by Matabushi, in exchange for providing the expertise for Matabushi to set up its own Dark Wing operations, and then the four originals re-emerged in 3027 to try to set up the Mercenary Underground (and to kill each other off trying to take sole control of the organization) - possibly still affiliated with Matabushi, or heading off on their own.
Alternatively, Matabushi could have created the Dark Wing sometime prior to 3017, and killing Joseph T. Ragen was another instance of Matabushi "Exercising the Dark Wing option," but then going dark on the unit until exercising the option again in 3024, with a different set of pilots (since Glupper, Slasher, etc. were still in some sort of identity protection program, off the radar).
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SNES MechWarrior is notably further down on the canonicity totem pole than MechWarrior for PC. That said, I'm all for including all sources, just like you.
The SNES game establishes that the Dark Wing existed long prior to Operation Inroad, and doesn't mention Matabushi at all. That doesn't preclude it being a Matabushi front; but I think it's circular reasoning to assume it was created by Matabushi because it is used in Operation Inroad later on. Given the available data, I maintain that the most likely scenario is a free-floating, possibly criminal, merc cartel or pirate band.
Natasha and the Bounty Hunter on Benet III is a big deal, in part because it is so understated. Yes, there's all that history between the characters that you need to know to fully appreciate the scene. But it's also the last time that the classic 3025 era Bounty Hunter makes an appearance. We're never told what happened after he boarded the Black Widow's DropShip; but the next time someone appears wearing the Bounty Hunter's PAL suit, it's none other than Michi Noketsuna on his Dragoon-sponsored revenge mission. This is a BattleCorps story waiting to be written.
Additional thoughts:
You'd think that the Bounty Hunter was hired by House Kurita at first; it would explain his extensive operational knowledge in the Benet III mission, his apparently excellent preparation, and why he can't simply walk away from the planet or the AFFS. Then again, it seems strange that Kurita would hire him for a hit on Natasha Kerensky, just to leave him stranded on Benet III with the objective in reach, as if they didn't want him to kill her after all.
This seems to suggest a third party hired him.
Or perhaps this was all some sort of ruse or setup enacted by Kurita together with the Bounty Hunter to make Natasha trust him enough to parlay with him and take him aboard her DropShip. But whatever the plan was, it apparently didn't work out.
The tactical situation can be explained away by the Black Widows having been lured into an AFFS trap deliberately. Keep in mind that this is the time period when Akuma and Samsonov were actively trying to company store the Dragoons, so bloodying them against the AFFS or putting them in situations where some of their MechWarriors are captured seems like a logical course of action.
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Since the next time we see the Bounty Hunter armor is on Michi...what do you suppose are the odds that Natasha put him on the "Widow's Web" and then spaced him and his team en route to the jump point, "freeing up" the armor as isorla?
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Since the next time we see the Bounty Hunter armor is on Michi...what do you suppose are the odds that Natasha put him on the "Widow's Web" and then spaced him and his team en route to the jump point, "freeing up" the armor as isorla?
Too simple. If that's what happened then Michi wouldn't have inherited the entire legacy. Even if they snatched "the book" out of his cold dead fingers I find it hard to believe that they could have enforced a smooth transition of the persona.
What I can totally see is Natasha drawing a circle onto the hangar deck on the way out, explaining something about a "Circle of Equals" to a nonplussed Bounty Hunter, then proceeding to beat the living feces out of him... and then making him an offer he couldn't resist. Breaking him, not killing him, is what I expect Natasha would do. And then she would make him pass the legacy on.
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Date: May 21, 3027
Location: Fomalhaut
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In the cockpit of the Silver Eagle, Melissa Steiner, Andrew Redburn, and Captain von Breunig look out at the Bifrost as the passenger liner makes its approach for docking. Redburn asks about the Meridian, and von Breunig responds that it had a helium failure.
The captain tells his staff to inform the passengers that they are 15 minutes from jumping, and invites Redburn and "Joana Barker" to join him in his quarters, if they don't need dralaxine to combat jump sickness.
In the captain's cabin, they can look through the transparent ceiling and look at the world of Fomalhaut V. They buckle into chairs, and prepare to go weightless once they dock and shut down the acceleration drive. The final warning tone sounds, and the ship jumps. Melissa perceives it as the stars blurring and flaring, then the fabric of the ship crushing in on her, then drawing away and stretching out like the distorted reflection in a carnival mirror.
When everything snaps back into focus, Melissa feels dizzy, and has to fight back nausea. She looks up and sees a man-made dome among the pockmarked cliffsides and canyons on a nearby planetoid. Hearing the worry in the crew's voices, she realizes something is very wrong.
Notes: It appears that Melissa is subject to Transit Disorientation Syndrome - aka "jump sickness." Linking this to my speculation in another thread that there might be a correlation between neurological conditions and jump sickness (and - very rarely - prophetic visions), recall that the Steiner bloodline has a genetic tendency towards manic depression, most notably expressed in Claudius Steiner.
It would be an interesting experiment to see if dralaxine (dramamine...IN...SPAAAAACE) would have any effect on Nova Cat luck/vision quests, or if it would counteract the effects of necrosia.
If the thruster orientations are as we've discussed before, the Silver Eagle is using its belly thruster to approach the Bifrost, and then (presumably) small maneuvering jets to align itself with the JumpShip. I wonder where the main docking collar is on the Monarch. Nothing that looks like a collar is shown in "DropShips & JumpShips" or "TRO: 3057". (TRO:3057 also shows the aft engines being used for thrust.) Since nothing appears on the dorsal surface of the Monarch in the 3057 illustration, one would presume that it's on the belly - though that would point the belly thruster right at the JumpShip hull.
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A mild dizzyness from jumping is normal. It's only when people are incapacitated for some time that it is called TDS. From my understanding we're looking at a sliding scale from nothing at all (rare, good to have for ASF pilots) via mild discomfort or weeks of agony all the way to psychosis, catatonia, and death.
Melissa doesn't qualify for clinical TDS. Her response it utterly normal.
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I am fairly sure most people are disorientated somewhat by Jumps.
I mean, you are telling physics to go screw itself with enough power to let you travel faster than light, its going to fight back as best as it can.
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It's interesting, though, that Melissa gets nausea and dizziness, but doesn't take dralaxine. So, would dralaxine be only for people who have TDS? Or just more severe symptoms that don't reach the level of TDS? DropShips & JumpShips states that it is not possible to mitigate the effects of K-F travel, but here we have the captain mentioning a medicine described as mitigating the effects of K-F travel. From the name alone, it would seem to be a hybrid of dramamine (for the nausea) and a relaxant (for the dizziness?). Taking dralaxine doesn't seem to equate to the heavy sedation prescribed against TDS in Jihad Conspiracies.
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Splitting hairs, it's probably impossible to mitigate the effects of K-F travel in the sense of preventively going after the cause (like, say, iodine tablets might prevent your body from absorbing radioactive iodine); but there seems to be reactive medication to treat its effects, in the sense of painkillers or making you sleep through it. Notably, such treatment of the (mild) effects wouldn't help against clinical TDS symptoms or the neurological effects that go beyond mild discomfort. And for active military personnel, esp. WarShip crews and ASF pilots, sedation isn't an option.
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Date: May 22, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: In the Valhalla section of Thor's Shield Hall, Philip Capet is interrupted in his efforts to remove the late Gray Noton's "Legend Killer" shield from his private alcove and replace it with his own by the arrival of Justin Xiang, Tsen Shang, and a crowd of Battle Commission officials. Capet reacts defensively, asking if Xiang has come to claim it for himself.
Xiang cites the traditions of Valhalla - that an alcove can only change hands following a formal challenge and battle in an arena, which Capet has not done. Xiang suggests that Capet may have had a hand in Noton's murder, and accuses Capet of getting many of his Capellan Mafia proteges killed by directing them to fight without ejection systems. Adding insult to injury, Xiang blames Capet's glory-seeking defense of his home village on Uravan for its destruction, noting that the Capellans would have ignored it if not for Capet's presence.
Enraged, Capet rips Noton's shield off the alcove wall and attacks Xiang with it. Xiang dodges and knocks Capet to the floor with a punch to the ribs. Xiang suggests a 'Mech duel for the right to Noton's alcove, and Capet accepts.
Notes: What this reminded me of most when I read it was the pre-fight conflict scenes on WWE. (I actually googled to see if Michael Stackpole had written anything for TSR's "Headlocks and Haymakers" pro-wrestling RPG, but it appears that product was just a joke reference in the Marvel Super Heroes RPG's character writeup for Forbush Man.)
One wonders, however, how Xiang knew Capet's plans far enough in advance to assemble a "crowd" of Battle Commission officials to challenge the shield's removal. Capet's pro-FedSuns "Capellan Mafia" stable (what's left of it) is unlikely to have ratted him out, though given Tsen Shang's presence, their support staff may indeed contain elements of the real Capellan Mafia (tongs), who leaked the plans to Shang. Alternatively, Capet may have filed a transfer request with the Thor's Shield Hall management, and they're the ones who called in the Battle Commission.
The theatrics in Valhalla make me wonder if the Solaris Broadcasting Corporation has reporters in Valhalla to cover scrums like this, which would make fantastic footage for fight vids, or if Valhalla is off limits to the press, giving the warriors a place to associate with peers in private.
There's also the question of Xiang's right to be in Valhalla. Previously, he'd been there as Noton's guest. With Noton dead, and Justin still not a full champion, would he have been granted his own Valhalla membership? What's the cut-off to get in? Ranked in the Top 20? What happens if your ranking slips? Thrown out into Midgard on your shield? If retirees like Noton are able to stay, do they clog the real estate? Is that only a privilege accorded to retired grand champions?
The Solaris VII games, circa 3027, have been depicted as thoroughly corrupt, with rigged fights being the rule rather than the exception. Given that fact, one might suspect that the Battle Commission is quite amenable to being bribed. I wonder why Capet didn't grease the skids appropriately before grabbing Noton's alcove.
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Certainly an interesting section of the book. I don't think we've heard much from the Battle Commission in the form Justin called up here.
Justin's son Kai stint on Solaris never brought it up and Illusion of Victory which was Solaris focus book never got into the Battle Commission when the riots happened.
I didn't get a chance to read it, but did Stackpole's short novelettes say much about the Solaris years which were just before the evens in this book?
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Are the Stackpole Kell Hound novellas out yet? I hadn't heard that.
The Battle Commission only appears in Warrior: En Garde. Based on the references therein, they mostly throw parties for popular MechWarriors, and adjudicate rankings and associated perks.
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Are the Stackpole Kell Hound novellas out yet? I hadn't heard that.
The Battle Commission only appears in Warrior: En Garde. Based on the references therein, they mostly throw parties for popular MechWarriors, and adjudicate rankings and associated perks.
The Battlecorp short story, "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" came out in 2008, but the printed version hasn't yet.
I thought there was a second one based on Solaris. But i think i'm wrong about it.
Sorry.
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Ah - there are actually supposed to be three more Kell Hound-themed novellas due out from Stackpole at some indeterminate time in the future, in addition to his HBS serialized novel.
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Date: May 23, 3027
Location: Luthien
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Subhash Indrahar interrupts Takashi Kurita's calligraphy session to report that Melissa Steiner may be in the Draconis Combine system of Styx. He says the information came from an inadvertent disclosure by Precentor Dieron Myndo Waterly, and that the ISF has independently confirmed the rumor - running pattern matching algorithms on the passenger manifest, and noting that "Joana Barker" is an exact physical and medical history match for Melissa Steiner, and that her profile was "too normal."
Takashi uses his ki to probe Indrahar for any hint of deception, but Subhash focuses his own ki and confidently proclaims that he knows Joana Barker is Melissa Steiner. He reports that an elite ISF unit of Jump Infantry is standing by on Dieron to move against Styx. Takashi approves, but orders Indrahar to send the Genyosha from Nashira as well, with orders to capture Melissa if the ISF fails.
Notes: Subhash and Takashi lay out some expository backstory, about Wayland Smith's Styx Mining Corporation defrauding investors in a played out asteroid mine in the Styx system and escaping to the Lyran Commonwealth with 25 million C-Bills in ill-gotten gains, leaving the abandoned mine to house malcontents.
In Norse mythology, "Wayland the Smith" is the "weird and malicious master craftsman" who forged the sword Balmung, among others, as well as magical armor and rings (and goblets from the skulls of his enemies' children). Between putting up rainbows as signals to other initiates, naming their ship Bifrost, and having an agent use a pseudonym from Norse mythology, it seems like Heimdall is way, way too enamored of its theme, and can't help but send up red flags, almost taunting Loki to find and eradicate it. The only reason it persisted, it appears, is that Loki was called off the hunt once Katrina became Archon.
An inadvertent disclosure to an ISF agent by Precentor Dieron? Clearly, ComStar knows Melissa has a double and is traveling incognito to New Avalon. (Heck, it was on their news broadcast on Galatea at Club Zero-Zero...) They brokered the marriage clause, after all.
But what motive would ComStar have to scupper the deal? Julian Tiepolo backed the FedCom treaty because he thought it would further the cause of reunifying the Inner Sphere if there were only two power blocs, rather than five. Waterly opposed him, feeling the consolidation of power could result in a political entity too powerful for ComStar to control.
So, option one is that Waterly intentionally leaked the information to a known ISF agent with the intent of shattering the FedCom accord and undermining Tiepolo's signature accomplishment.
Option two is that "one of [Indrahar's] people on Dieron" is none other than Sharilar Mori, undercover O5P agent in ComStar, who obtained the information in the course of her regular duties, and passed it on to the ISF via the O5P.
It's interesting that Indrahar refers to his Dieron strike team as "an elite unit of ISF jump infantry," rather than a "Draconis Elite Strike Team." DEST, after all, is a subdivision of ISF, and they're pretty much the definition of elite infantry commando teams.
Clearly, having insane amounts of personal information collected on central servers accessible by marketing departments is a huge security vulnerability for the Lyran Commonwealth - especially given the evident fact that the ISF has long since gotten hold of the database. If ISF algorithms can accurately identify LIC cover-identities as "too normal," then Lyran efforts to place undercover agents in the Combine would seem to be doomed from the outset.
I'm confused about the ki probing between Takashi and Subhash. I understand that Takashi is paranoid (given the numerous assassination attempts, and the messy deaths of a long list of his predecessors), but why does Subhash need to draw on his own ki to convince Takashi of his veracity? Is he lying to Takashi about something? Concealing Sharilar Mori's cover? Worried about launching an operation that has the potential to dramatically increase the hostility levels on the Lyran/Combine border?
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Wayland the smith - good catch! I hadn't made the connection (being sidetracked by Weyland-Yutani).
ComStar involvement - this is spelled out in no uncertain terms in the prologue of Riposte, where Waterly is chewed out by Tiepolo in the First Circuit for her careless approach to the Silver Eagle affair and leaking info to the Kuritas.
No DEST - the DEST are carefully selected teams tailored for specific missions, not some quick response commandos on standby. I guess Indrahar simply didn't have a DEST readily available.
Ki - No.
;)
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Intelligence Operations backs you up about ISF having non-DEST commandos:
Since the elevation of the ISF Director to the High Command, the ISF has used Draconis Elite Strike Teams on many occasions, but Wolfnet believes that the agency also operates non-military commando units.
However, I'm not seeing anything in Intelligence Operations that indicates that DEST teams aren't on standby for rapid response. It notes that the ISF dispatched large numbers of DEST operatives to seize ComStar's HPG stations during the roll-out of Operation SCORPION. Since they had to move fast, that would argue their use in a rapid response capacity. Intelligence Operations estimates that 4,000 - 5,000 DEST members are in the field at any given time, with another 500 at ISF HQ on Pesht, and 400 on Luthien to guard the Coordinator. If we assume that the DEST unit in "Far Country" is standard, a typical team is 12 members, split into four three-person "sections." That would place the number of active DEST formations at between 420 - 500 (with 41 on Pesht and 33 on Luthien). The fact that the DEST unit in Far Country has a number in the 6,000s, while the ones in "Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight" are numbered 1 and 2, suggests to me that numbers are retired when units are wiped out, and there's been a lot of attrition over the years (particularly during the ISF "shadow" civil war at the tail end of the 2nd Succession War).
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Elite jump infantry sounds pretty military for non-military commandos.
Wouldn't it make sense for super secret commando units to be numbered non-sequentially? To confuse the enemy about just how many such units exist.
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I think Intelligence Operations meant "non-military" in the sense of being under the ISF umbrella rather than the DCMS.
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As an adjective the word military means of or relating to soldiers, not necessarily the armed forces. Non-military commandos sounds like asymmetric warfare units, terrorist cadres or the like, but the point is it's a slightly silly wording. Like a nonviolent bomb or minor major.
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Date: May 23, 3027
Location: Styx
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Captain Stefan von Breunig, Andrew Redburn and "Joana Barker," along with several other Silver Eagle passengers, meet with Danica and Clovis Holstein in the command center of the mine complex. Danica tells the assembled group that a Combine ship has appeared at the Styx system's nadir jump point and dispatched a Fury troop-carrier DropShip towards the asteroid mine, on track to arrive in two days.
Melissa tells Andrew that the troops onboard are probably ISF jump troopers. Andrew conveys this observation to the Holsteins and suggests planning a defense to hold them off. Clovis calls up diagrams to explain how difficult it would be to defend the maze of mining tunnels. Danica suggests negotiating with the ISF to turn over whoever they're after.
Andrew volunteers to surrender himself, if he's the Combine's target, but von Breunig swears he will never surrender his passengers. Melissa reveals herself and swears nobody should die on her account. The Heimdall staff and passengers all drop to one knee. Clovis breaks the silence by noting that a second JumpShip has arrived, carrying a Combine Overlord.
Notes: Unless the meeting went ludicrously long, there's a glitch in the timing. At the outset, the Combine DropShip is said to be 48 hours away. When they later discuss trying to flee and jump out of the system, Von Breunig shoots down the idea by saying the Combine ship is only 12 hours away, and they'd be caught in space.
Von Breunig is perhaps being overly cautious regarding the charging. If they charge 75 hours (one more day, more or less), they could try to jump out with a TN of 5. Even if they get a snake eyes, the worst thing is loss of 60% of the charge - there's no chance of damaging the drive coils. The ship has already been charging for around 48 hours. If they do have 48 hours more before the Combine ships arrive, they could charge for one more day and try to jump out. If it fails, they're no worse off than before.
I'm kind of surprised to see the Combine ships here so quickly. It's been less than a day since Takashi and Subhash discussed the issue and decided on a plan of action. While both Dieron and Nashira are within one jump of Styx, such a rapid response would have required near instantaneous HPG transmission of the orders (while ComStar can rig up a pony express of transmission relays for rapid relay of messages, the cost must have been astronomical). Then, there must have been fully charged Invaders standing by at pirate points in orbit around Styx and Nashira, as well as fully fueled, crewed, and ready-to-launch DropShips available to mobilize.
All I can say is that the Arm of the Dragon can really hustle when it wants to.
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Date: May 24, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: The Kell Hounds give Master Sergeant Nicholas Jones a raucous surprise farewell party. Per their plan, they promote him to Captain just before his mustering out so his pension pay will reflect the higher rank.
At that moment, Meg Lang hacks into Pacifica's central computer and jiggers it so the calendar will skip over the 25th, going directly from the 24th to the 26th - allowing Jones to depart on the 26th (per his orders) but still make rendezvous with the Intrepid, which is scheduled to jump out on the 25th.
Notes: As appears to be the case with most of the jump mechanics in the Warrior Trilogy, the Intrepid must be at a pirate point in close orbit over Pacifica.
We also see another mention of a planetary "central computer." While this is probably just a reflection of the pre-Internet period in which it was written, with dial-up modem access to connect remote terminals to mainframes at universities and laboratories, it actually makes a lot of sense in the BattleTech universe - explaining how so much knowledge was lost - if the central computer is taken out (by nukes, fuel-air explosives, 'Mechs, or ROM's HOLY SHROUD agents), then all the knowledge therein gets wiped out and all the connected terminals go dead. Looking at how much Lyran businesses are shown to rely on interconnected databases and networked transactions, the destruction of the central computer would bring the planetary economy to a grinding halt, even if the environment remained hospitable.
The hardware could be replaced, given time and resources, but replacing the data would be nigh impossible without a backup memory core. (And given the fact that the discovery of the Helm and New Dallas memory cores were universe-changing events, it seems like off-site data storage was not a standard practice.)
If Kell Hound techs find it child's play to use a remote terminal to hack into the central computer and muck up something as elemental as the date, then perhaps HOLY SHROUD had an easier time of it than we thought - with ComStar's resources, one agent with access to a public terminal could delete the entire technological resource base of a colony in an afternoon's work.
On the other hand, perhaps the Kell Hounds had a contract that made them the titular rulers of Pacifica for the duration of the garrison contract (not unusual for mercenary units), which would explain why they had an all-access pass to the central computer's operating system.
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Date: May 25, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: At five minutes after midnight, in the hidden Branson's Swamp bunker, Chu-i Oguchi nervously reports to Sho-sa Akiie Kamekura that the computers report it is now May 26th. Kamekura orders the attack to go ahead as planned, with the ninja infantry scheduled to blow up the Kell Hound jump trooper barracks and slaughter the MechWarriors in the bed.
In the aftermath of the party at the Kell Hound base, Dan Allard points out to Cat Wilson that half of the jump infantry are drunk, and the rest are asleep, and expects it will be rough on them in a few minutes when their sergeant rousts them for a pre-dawn patrol.
Allard notes that an infrared sensor on the northern sector perimeter has gone out. Salome Ward takes over in the comm center, while Allard and Wilson gear up to go check it out.
They go first to the 'Mech hangar, and Allard spots a shadowy figure near his Valkyrie. They sneak up on the intruder, but hold their fire when they see it's only Nicholas Jones, who'd come down to the bay to say goodbye to the 'Mechs.
A massive explosion marks the destruction of the jump infantry barracks, and a secondary blast takes the 'Mech bay door off its hinges, letting black-clad figures pour in. Wilson opens fire with his sub-machine gun, taking down three ninjas in one burst. Allard takes a shot to the chest in return, but his bulletproof vest stops the bullet. The Kuritan ninjas draw their katanas and charge. Allard and Wilson fend off their initial charge, then dive for the floor as Jones fires an inferno launcher at the ninjas, sending two missiles at them, killing half and setting the rest alight.
Salome Ward runs in and reports that assassins also hit the MechWarrior barracks. Guards killed them all, but one stabbed Patrick Kell and collapsed his lung. She reports that the missing Panthers are inbound.
Kamekura exults as he sees the Kell Hound complex ablaze as his company approaches to visual range. Oguchi leads a lance to the 'Mech bay, but his triumph turns to terror as a Kell Hound Marauder emerges, PPCs blazing, with the rest of the Hound 'Mechs following behind. Seeing Oguchi's lance torn apart, Kamekura orders the rest of the company to withdraw. Under heavy fire, the withdrawing Panthers run into an ambush laid by O'Ceiran's jump infantry, and are wiped out.
As dawn breaks, Dan Allard supervises the loading of non-jumping 'Mechs aboard the Lugh, and the jumping 'Mechs into the Nuada Argetlan. Salome Ward reports a Combine JumpShip has arrived at the nadir jump point and DropShips are incoming. The Kell Hounds are going to evacuate aboard the Cucamulus, which Captain Janos Vandermeer will bring in close to the planet at a pirate point.
Later that day, aboard the Cucamulus, the Hounds' command staff reach the Command Center, deep in the heart of the Cucamulus. Captain Janos Vandermeer sits in the center of the spherical room, suspended in a magnetic field. He notes a display showing Kurita DropShips reorienting their vectors towards the Cucamulus. Lt. Brand reports eight Combine Slayers coming in hot, ETA two hours.
Vandermeer warns that, if the Combine planned the operation to wipe out the Hounds, all the jump points at nearby worlds are probably covered by Combine fleets. He orders Mr. Harker to load up "Jump Plan Four," and tells Mr. Garrison to jettison spare helium and agrodome debris. The ship jumps, leaving behind debris that Vandermeer hopes will make the Combine forces think the ship self-destructed in a misjump. He cheerfully informs the Hounds that they've jumped into Kurita space.
Notes: So...ninja infantry? I wonder if these were intended to be DEST. "Ninja infantry" seems an apt descriptor for DEST, compared to the standard Combine brownjackets.
The panic shown by the Hounds (loading up and fleeing within two hours) seems somewhat unreasonable, given that the nadir jump point is a nine day transit from Chara III.
Blind luck once again saves the day for the Kell Hounds - with the timing of the Combine assault thrown off by the date change, and surprise pre-dawn maneuvers saving the lives of the jump infantry.
The Combine forces - supposedly the elite products of harsh training (including killing a Pesht Predator Ape with their bare hands, for the DEST cadets) that produces the best of the best of the best - go down like Cobra cannon fodder to the guns of the Hounds.
Trying to piece together the original Combine plan, it seems like the Combine JumpShip was supposed to appear in system on the 25th and send DropShips in towards Pacifica. And then, at 4:00 AM on the 26th, the Panther company and the DEST team were supposed to hit the Kell Hound barracks. And then the Kurita reinforcements would have landed on June 4 to help the Panthers mop up any survivors and set up a new government? Wouldn't the arrival of the Combine ship on the 25th have put the Kell Hounds on high alert, making it less likely that the sneak attack would have succeeded on the 26th?
Clearly, the setting's rules/conventions for system transit were not worked out when this was written (or at least, not applied). There's no way those Combine ships could make a nine-day 1G transit from the nadir jump point in four hours (well, sure, by making a transit at 54 Gs...and arriving as spam in a can. LUDICROUS SPEED...GO!!!)
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The Kell Hound scenes remind me of the Battlecorps submission guidelines:
"It is unlikely that we will purchase vanity stories about personal units"
And this from Jordan Weisman himself, in the intro to shrapnel:
"...the Japanese storylines left my Western mind unsatisfied ... I wanted all the sides in the fight to be shades of grey, as opposed to a conflict between good and evil."
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Date: May 25, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Warriors of the Night
Author: Jim Brunk, Dale L. Kemper & Michael Lee
Type: Scenario (The Kell Hounds)
Synopsis: At 4:30 AM, Salome Ward and a Tech named Madsen discuss the possibility of Kurita ninjas being attached to the Combine company that went missing after the earlier raid over coffee in the main building's kitchen. Madsen's "how many ninjas to change a lightbulb?" joke is interrupted as a ninja bursts through the window and decapitates him with a katana.
The attackers are ISF Unit Ten, aka "The Dragon's Hidden Hand." There are 24 of them, each with a laser pistol, sword, and light body armor.
The Kell Hounds able to respond to the incursion are Patrick Kell, Anne Finn, Cat Wilson, Bethany Connor, Salome Ward, Mike Fitzhugh, Diane McWilliams, Mary Lasker, Daniel Allard, Austin Brand, Meg Lang, and Eddie Baker. Allard and Wilson are fully geared up and in the 'Mech bay. Salome has a pistol, knife (and a mean cup'o'joe) in the kitchen, and the rest are asleep with only a knife and laser pistol at the ready.
ISF Team Ten gets 10 points for killing a regular MechWarrior, 15 for a Command Lance member, and 20 points for Patrick Kell. The Hounds get 10 points per Commando killed.
The battlefield is the ground floor of the Kell Hound barracks/administrative building. A floor plan is provided, along with a key identifying each room and what weapons may be found in each.
The commandos enter in Room 7 (Commanding Officer's Office), Room 1 (Reception Room), Room 6 (XO's Office), and Room 11 (Kitchen). They must search each room before moving on.
The Hounds may move freely, but the asleep ones remain asleep until woken either by noise nearby, a perception check, or the alarm going off.
Notes: The infantry are explicitly described as "ISF commandos." But what is the difference between DEST and ISF commandos? Did Brunk, Kemper, and Lee not know they were reinventing the wheel? The illustration of a "ninja" bursting through the window shows a helmet with a faceplate very similar to the ones shown in use by DEST on the cover of "Far Country," down to the serrations on the sides. With 24 members, they'd seem to be equivalent to two DEST teams, assuming the structure of the team in "Far Country" is standard, with 12 troops in four three-man sections.
So Allard and Wilson left Salome to watch the comm center. Half an hour later, she's in the kitchen making coffee, leaving the comm center unattended. Perhaps lax discipline is to be expected for a unit that combines staff meetings with poker games.
Strategy-wise, the ISF commandos' best bet is to spend the first round searching (they have to), and then head out into the corridors and charge pell-mell down the corridors without entering any other rooms to beat Salome Ward to the security room (so she can't sound the alarm) and to the armory. If their commando in the kitchen can take her out, he can get the key and then they can seize the armory, then sweep the building for the poorly armed Hounds.
Salome just has to evade the one commando in the kitchen (the scenario more or less suggests stabbing him with a kitchen knife or clubbing him with a frying pan, though Salome does start with a laser pistol), and get to the security room. Then all the Hounds will be awake, and can storm the security room and gear up to fight back.
As described, the scenario seems like a pushover for the ISF side. I think there may have been some poorly worded bits of the setup - it would make much more sense for the ISF commandos to have to open every door they come to, enter, and sweep the room. Otherwise, they can just charge down the corridor to Salome and seize the most critical parts of the complex long before Wilson and Allard arrive as the cavalry. That will slow them down long enough for Salome to save the day and for the Kell Hounds to have enough gear to make a fight of it.
There's some discontinuity between the scenario and the book, since here Wilson and Allard come to save the day five turns after the attack, while in the novel they're heavily engaged over at the 'Mech bay, and don't even know about the fight at the barracks until Salome comes out and tells them all the attackers are dead, with the only serious injury being Patrick Kell's collapsed lung. And, even then, Patrick is still able to pilot his 'Mech in the 'Mech battle.
There's no time limit, and the victory is determined by who scores the most points. Thus, if you just want to win on points, wait until your side is ahead and then flee the building. Perhaps a time limit, or rules about withdrawal should have been included.
That aside, it's a pretty decent MechWarrior 1E scenario, though replicating the nearly bloodless outcome of the novel will be very difficult. Combat in MW1E was treated much like 'Mech combat, with body armor points marked off first, and then internal structure (skin/bones) taking hits, with critical hit tables listing "perforated spleen," "collapsed lung," "severed foot," etc. No wonder artificial limbs were so prominently featured in TRO:3026.
With the Combine troops outnumbering the Hounds two to one and having good weapons and armor, and better stats than the majority of the Hounds - who are in their underwear and armed with popguns and cutlery, it'll be a slaughter unless the rules are adapted to require the commandos to do a room-by-room search instead of sprinting directly for the security center. Even if the Hounds do manage to win, they'll likely be in no shape to fight off the incoming Panther company.
There's also some confusion about how many commandos are in the scenario. It states that there are 24 troops, but only give deployment data for 12. Presumably the other 12 were the ones that got barbecued out in the 'Mech bay. If there are only 12 in the barracks, then the Hounds have more of a fighting chance, especially if they can get the thermite grenades from the security office into play.
Even so, if they can get ahead on points, the Hounds should really just fall back through the tunnel towards the 'Mech bay, where they can get into their 'Mechs and render the ISF team's sidearm superiority moot.
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Date: May 25, 3027
Location: Chara III (Pacifica)
Title: Trick With Time
Author: Jim Brunk, Dale L. Kemper & Michael Lee
Type: Scenario (The Kell Hounds)
Synopsis: Mike Fitzhugh provides the setup - noting that he was awakened around 4:00 AM by the sound of shots fired in the 'Mech bay, and used his assault rifle to kill six "ninja dudes" in black robes en route to his Catapult, joining the rest of the Hounds in their efforts to repulse the Combine Panther company.
According to the sourcebook-style setup, the Combine plan was for a full Combine assault force to land on Pacifica on May 27. The panthers were to strike at three agricultural centers to lure the Hounds into the open, and the newly arrived battalion would destroy them. Kamekura changed the plan - opting to assault the Hounds' base at dawn on May 25 - led by "elite Kurita shock troops, who many called ninjas."
The attacker is Kamekura's Company, First Battalion, Second Sword of Light. 12 Panthers. 420 tons, C-Bill value of 29,828,520, and a BV of 8,400.
The defender is the Kell Hounds battalion - 12 'Mechs, two jump infantry platoons, and two mechanized infantry platoons. 620 tons, C-Bill value of 53,122,289, and a BV of 12,223. And that's not even counting the infantry platoons.
The two sides fight until there are no units of one side left on the map, then total points. The Combine forces may withdraw, but the Kell Hounds may not. The Combine gets 5 points for each Hound 'Mech killed and 1 point for each infantry platoon, and the Hounds get 3 for each Combine 'Mech downed.
If played as a follow-up for "Warriors of the Night," the Hounds only are able to field 'Mechs whose MechWarriors survived the fight in the Hound HQ.
Notes: Fitzhugh explains the Hounds' role in manipulating the date in a 3030 interview with Lyran historian Thelos Auburn. I wonder if this interview caused Jones to get busted for mustering out a day early - costing him his signing bonus retroactively. Oops.
The sourcebook description doesn't jibe with the novel scene, since Oguchi set his alarm for 12:05 AM on the 26th, not the 25th. The plan had always been to attack on the 26th. Also, how was the Combine battalion supposed to land on the 27th, if they came in at the nadir point on the 25th and had a nine-day transit ahead of them? Were they coming in at 4.5 gees to make the 9-day 1-G transit in two days? The Combine troops would barely have been able to stand, let alone fight, after a ride like that. (For reference, the Space Shuttle got up to 3-Gs during launch, for about 8.5 minutes.)
If played as a straight-up stand-alone scenario, it'll be a slaughter. The Combine forces are outgunned, outnumbered, and outskilled. The only way to make this scenario at all entertaining for the Combine player is to do the linked scenario, so that the Hound numbers can be whittled down by pilot kills, courtesy of the "ninja infantry."
As usual, I'm surprised that the Sword of Light troops are such bad gunners and pilots. Their skills are rarely better than baseline for Regular, and several appear to be Green. I was under the impression that troops don't get assigned to Sword of Light regiments straight out of the academy, but instead are placed into Regulars regiments, and the best of the best become candidates to join the elite Sword of Light. So how did Dean Towers and Tim Eagen (both 5/5 stumblebums) get in?
About the only way for the Combine to achieve a victory in a stand-alone scenario is to take advantage of the Panthers' ability to make massed long range PPC attacks. Have them deploy as far north as possible in a firing line and, and jump over the ridges to block line of sight to the Hounds. Keep bouncing back until you reach the woods on the northern map. As soon as any Hound comes into your long range, mass fire on them. Ideally, you'll take one down, and then you can bounce back off the map en-masse and win on points.
There'll probably be infantry in your rear area, but massed PPC and missile fire will do for them, too.
For the Hounds, I'd look at where the Combine sets up, and then put all the infantry hidden along the most likely path back towards the northern edge. When they make their initial jump, you'll be positioned for a point blank attack from hidden units, and can possibly kill one or two. They'll have jumped, and their PPCs will have minimum range issues, so you're likely only to take scattered missile hits. That'll put you up on points, so the Combine 'Mechs can't withdraw until they drop some Hounds.
If that is the case, lead the charge with your heavies that have good long-range attacks. Your LRM units can out-range the Panthers' PPCs, so move up to the outer edge of long range and bombard the Panthers from out of their effective response zone to soften them up. Then charge forward with your most heavily armored units and mass fire on enemy Panthers. With superior firepower and armor, you'll get the better of any exchange (especially once you've emptied your LRM racks into them).
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Jones didn't muster out early. As far as I recall, the Hounds reasoned that Morgan Kell being local duke gave him the legal power to adjust the date, giving Jones' "early retirement" a genuine legal leg to stand on. It's Morgan Kell who would have to answer questions, not Jones. I also seem to recall there was something about the date having to be adjusted anyways, just not so early.
What we've seen from the 2nd Sword of Light so far is a curious idea of an "elite" unit. They're pathetic backstabbing sycopa(n)thological brownnoses who will let mercs or subjugate units do all the real work for them and only step up to deliver the killing blow and reap all the glory. Simply being the 2nd SoL means they have the clout to steal other units' victories for themselves. By contrast, whenever they have to achieve on their own without another unit holding the silver tablet, they fail comically-catastrophically.
Average MechWarrior skills don's surprise me in this unit; I guess their resume, family ties and wealth are far more important factors for this particular unit.
Yet they're not totally incompetent and have a heavy 'Mech roster with a top-notch technical staff, that goes a long way.
Make no mistake, they are a very dangerous unit - you'll only face them if you're guaranteed to lose. They like to pick fights with inferior or decimated enemies, and then bask in the glory of mopping the floor with these and calling it a victory.
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In the 3025 House Kurita SB, one of the SoL regiments (8th I think?) is listed as Green/Fanatical I believe.
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I'm just looking at the House Kurita sourcebook sidebar on the Sword of Light:
"To be accepted into a Sword of Light regiment, a candidate must have spent at least five years in a lesser 'Mech regiment and have scored in the upper five percent of a rigorous battery of political, religious, and military tests. Those who manage to make their way into a Sword of Light regiment are the creme de la creme." - General Malvos Steinburg (LCAF ret.)
Also, the ComStar summation (from the text of the report): "The main requirement for a MechWarrior's admission to a Sword of Light regiment is fanatical devotion to the Kurita family, demonstrated by at least five years' flawless service in another 'Mech regiment. The applicant must then undergo a rigorous examination of his mental, physical, spiritual, and political abilities.
Field Manual: Draconis Combine says "For three hundred years the Sword of Light has remained among the Combine's most skilled BattleMech forces. The Sword of Light was forced to accept Regular and Green warriors to rebuild the regiments shattered by the Clan invasion." (This explains the Green SoL regiment)
Circa 3025, the 8th Sword of Light is listed as "Regular," though the 5th and 2nd are Elite, and the 7th and 1st are Veteran.
Since the rules establish the baseline skillset for Elite troops at Gunnery 2 and Piloting 3, I reiterate that the skills of the Panther company aren't up to par, especially for the "Elite" 2nd. Of course, this scenario is from just a few years after the scenario that gave the Black Widow a G/P score of 4/4.
My guess is that the examiners' priorities have shifted over the centuries. Whereas at first, they probably prioritized the necessary skills, by Takashi's era, they'd made political loyalty the primary criterion, letting gunnery skills slip.
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I think the Kell Hounds scenarios illustrate the challenges of integrating BattleTech the wargame with MechWarrior the RPG. Most fights in an RPG are by design one-sided, unless a sadistic GM is trying to lose friends. But in BTech, the cold unfeeling hand of statistical probability says every once in a while you're going to get an AC/20 to the head.
So the Kell Hounds scenarios sound like they're designed to be run like an RPG, with the GM controlling the OpFor and managing difficulty to keep the players from being wiped out.
Incidentally, this was always my issue with the old scenario packs: one player gets to play the cool, elite stars, the other player gets stuck with a bunch of faceless nobodies.
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I think calling a bridge elite depends on when it is.
Troops are withered down overtime. Perhaps the Panther Company was disposable troops that were attached the Sword of Light. I personally think the talk of SoL being elite of the Draconis Combine is true to sense of propaganda. It's like baseball team, you win the World Series one year and next you have new bunch of good skilled players who are green in-comparison to the vets who had left team previous year.
I think it's matter its a in-universe publication produced with perhaps propaganda mixed in like the Jihad books.
Grant you. This is from early source book vs Field Manuals we seen in 3085 and later 3145. It's has writers with a completely different mind set behind them.
Frankly, I'd would have found it rather boring as heck to have everyone of the regiments (even main and figurehead ones) nothing less than elite pilots straight through. Heck there been regiments with even lower skill sets than 4/5 or 5/6 and being called regulars. I think it was game balance and just away to make it beatable for an apposing player who going at them like their OP Force.
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I think the Kell Hounds scenarios illustrate the challenges of integrating BattleTech the wargame with MechWarrior the RPG. Most fights in an RPG are by design one-sided, unless a sadistic GM is trying to lose friends. But in BTech, the cold unfeeling hand of statistical probability says every once in a while you're going to get an AC/20 to the head.
So the Kell Hounds scenarios sound like they're designed to be run like an RPG, with the GM controlling the OpFor and managing difficulty to keep the players from being wiped out.
Incidentally, this was always my issue with the old scenario packs: one player gets to play the cool, elite stars, the other player gets stuck with a bunch of faceless nobodies.
I'm not sure the Hound scenarios were too heavily slanted in favor of the heroes. The battle with DEST in the corridors of the HQ has huge potential to cripple or kill a significant portion of the MechWarriors, and that (by extension) can result in the fight against the Panthers being more even.
The Sorenson's Sabres scenarios are among the hardest I've seen.
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An old battleforce rule to consider was that one third of a force was a level above their rating (unless capped) and one third of a force was a level below. This would mean that the 2nd Sword might have four veteran companies with four regular lances.
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I think calling a brigade elite depends on when it is.
Troops are withered down overtime. Perhaps the Panther Company was disposable troops that were attached the Sword of Light. I personally think the talk of SoL being elite of the Draconis Combine is true to sense of propaganda. It's like baseball team, you win the World Series one year and next you have new bunch of good skilled players who are green in-comparison to the vets who had left team previous year.
I think it's matter its a in-universe publication produced with perhaps propaganda mixed in like the Jihad books.
Grant you. This is from early source book vs Field Manuals we seen in 3085 and later 3145. It's has writers with a completely different mind set behind them.
Frankly, I'd would have found it rather boring as heck to have everyone of the regiments (even main and figurehead ones) nothing less than elite pilots straight through. Heck there been regiments with even lower skill sets than 4/5 or 5/6 and being called regulars. I think it was game balance and just away to make it beatable for an apposing player who going at them like their OP Force.
Both the original 3025 Kurita book and the 3059 Field Manual are fairly consistent in regard to the rigid qualifications for Sword of Light membership. I don't think it's propaganda, since we have quotes from the LCAF, DCMS, and ComStar independently corroborating the requirements.
In the case of the Elite 2nd (and the Regular 8th), it may be the case that personnel inducted had no demerits for five years, was fanatically loyal to the Coordinator, could quote verbatim from the Dictum Honorium, and were masters of the tea ceremony, but had spent those five years on a backwater garrison posting with no live fire engagement. The Combine equivalent of a Lyran social general. Looks the perfect samurai, but can't hit the broad side of a barn. (Skill advancement is, depending on the ruleset, tied to the number of engagements survived or the number of kills scored, so a backwater posting would have little opportunity for getting better.)
For the 2nd, perhaps the command staff recognize the existence of such shakai busō senshi, and assigns them Panthers, leaving heavier, better armed 'Mechs for pilots with the requisite gunnery skills. By burning through those mooks ("Welcome to the Sword of Light. Here's a nice suicide mission for you.") they can maintain their average Elite rating.
I don't think the engagement would have been boring if the Panthers had been better gunners. The Hound player, despite being heavier and better armed, would have had to approach very carefully - knowing that the Panthers would be jumping for a +2 defensive modifier and still able to reliably hit at range - a storm of 120 points of highly accurate long range fire at any Hound that pokes its head out. The maneuver phase would then become critical in surviving/winning, rather than it just being a race to splatter as many hapless Panthers as possible before the survivors can bug out.
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Date: May 25, 3027
Location: Styx
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Melissa Steiner, Clovis Holstein, and Andrew Redburn review the holographic display of the mining base, trying to figure out where the Combine forces will try to enter. Redburn feels frustrated with a situation suited for infantry, and him without a BattleMech.
Following Melissa's revelation, the Holsteins had confessed to being Heimdall. Working together, they determined that Aldo Lestrade was behind the plot to have Melissa vanish from a Davion-controlled world, souring relations.
Melissa receives a report of an atmospheric leak from the small docking bay. She orders Echo One to retreat back to Echo Two's checkpoint and ready a trap. All non-essential personnel evacuate to the Silver Eagle.
Redburn grabs a rifle and tells Melissa he's going to join Team Tiger, leaving Melissa with her bodyguards in the command center. She pleads with him to remain, saying she's not ready to be in charge of 750 people. Redburn tells her she has a responsibility to the people who believe in her.
Clovis reports contact on Echo Level. Echo Team springs its trap, and the sound of rifle fire comes over the communication system. Baker One and Four report a large breech, with infantry pouring through. Melissa dispatches mobile Teams Panther and Leopard to support Baker.
Melissa checks on Echo, and hears only silence. Clovis reports the radios are dead. On the tactical display, Echo's icons wink out, as do Baker's, Panther's, and Leopard's. Melissa directs Jaguar, Puma, and Bobcat to the fight on Baker level, and Tiger to Echo.
On Echo level, Redburn's team gets into a firefight with ISF ninjas, and are forced to fall back in the face of superior firepower. A satchel of explosives arcing towards him is the last thing he sees before the world goes black. In the command center, the Tiger icon disappears.
Notes: I still don't know how Lestrade expected to benefit from soured relations between the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth. Coordinated attacks through the Terran corridor stand to expand the holdings in the Isle of Skye.
I'm guessing Melissa's "infantry training" was purely theoretical - strategy, tactics, and logistics. She mentions that arranging the deployment of the defense teams was "like a game," so that's probably how it was handled during her training.
In her position, I'd have had teams on the outside in suits. Once the ISF boarded, a strong (and unexpected) counterattack on the surface might have been able to seize control of (or at least cripple) the Fury. The rest of the Heimdall and Silver Eagle passengers could have then booked on the Monarch and the Bifrost, and the Fury would have been unable to follow. That still leaves the issue of the Overlord, but it takes the ISF out of the equation. If the Fury was captured, it could be plotted on a collision course with the Overlord, with escape pods launched at the last minute (for pickup by the Monarch).
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Date: May 25, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: I'm Watching Zach's Every Move
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns to Club Zero-Zero, and discusses the political situation in the Inner Sphere with the maitre'd, Cearle Jamist. Checking his inbox, he finds a message from Roden Wull, his paid informant, who confirms that Zach Slasher is a member of the Dark Wing Lance and is en route to Cawdor. Ragen also gets a report from MIIO Agent Lana Mann, who calls Ragen "Sir" and says she's infiltrated an underground network on Puxi.
Notes: Mann's use of "Sir" by Lana Mann, given the fact that Ragen lacks an official rank in the AFFS, seems to support the speculation that Ragen is actually an undercover troubleshooter for the MIIO.
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I'm not sure the Hound scenarios were too heavily slanted in favor of the heroes. The battle with DEST in the corridors of the HQ has huge potential to cripple or kill a significant portion of the MechWarriors, and that (by extension) can result in the fight against the Panthers being more even.
... You just said as a one-off scenario it's heavily slanted in favor of the heroes??? You also mentioned the need to artificially slow down the commandos to keep the battle fair. Which sounds like the role of a GM to me.
The second point about scenario packs isn't the difficulty level, it's the fact that one player controls the guys with detailed backstories and interesting history, the other plays a bunch of faceless nobodies. So it was a lot less fun for whoever was the OpFor. At least that was our experience, which is of course subjective.
However I note subsequent scenario pack-like products have moved away from pregenerated teams to letting players use their own forces, which might be a result of the same feedback among the wider player base (access to maps, minis also...).
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The first (MechWarrior) scenario is, as written, heavily slanted against the heroes. The second (as a stand-alone) is heavily slanted against the Combine. As a pair, a strong performance by the Combine in Scenario 1 can make Scenario 2 much more equal, or even a blowout by the Combine if Scenario 1 turns into a massacre.
The reason I suggested a modification to the Combine rules is that the scenario just about defaults to a massacre that the Hounds can't survive if the Combine doesn't have to check every room they pass. The Hounds have a supposed advantage that they can move freely, knowing where everything is, while the Combine has to stop and search every room they enter. But the player, of course, will know exactly where the Hound bunks are located, so there's no incentive to check any other rooms - just race straight to the barracks, overwhelming and killing Salome en-route. I was just arguing that, as written, the restriction on the ISF forces had no real impact, and it should be reinterpreted to work as I believe the author intended. If played as written, my guess would be that Scenario 2 would almost always pit the four infantry platoons and two 'Mechs (Allard and Wilson) against the full Panther company.
The MechWarrior engagement is not the most unbalanced scenario I've reviewed (the worst one would be the Black Widow attack on Anton Marik's compound - where the Widows can easily kill Anton in about two turns, before his guard 'Mechs even have a chance to power up.) And, as with any linked scenario, having one side pile it in early on can ruin the balance of succeeding scenarios.
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Date: May 26, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Fuh Teng, Tung Yuan, and Justin Xing take an early morning stroll through Montenegro to Gray Noton's warehouse, where his personal Rifleman, Legend Killer, awaits.
Later, at the set of "Pregame Palaver," Xiang and Philip Capet sit for a pre-fight interview. The host, Kevin Johnson, introduces Capet as the reigning Open Class champion, with 24 kills in the arenas. He introduces Xiang as having fought and killed seven foes, all from the Federated Suns. During the commercial break, Johnson exhorts the two fighters to make it entertaining. He asks Xiang what 'Mech he will fight in, but Xiang says his contract doesn't require him to reveal that information.
Back on the air, Johnson gives an overview of the Ishiyama ("Stone Mountain") arena in the Kobe District, a three-dimensional maze of tunnels, hidden passages, and movable walls. Capet last fought there eight months earlier, but it will be Xiang's first time. Xiang needles Capet about the destruction of his home village on Uravan, prompting Capet to charge towards Xiang. Johnson intervenes, but Capet drops him with a roundhouse punch, and swears Xiang will die in the upcoming match.
The match begins, and Xiang marches his Rifleman into the arena. He maneuvers through the maze of tunnels using infrared sensors to try to spot his foe, also piloting a Rifleman, in the darkness. Xiang's heat spikes after the first exchange of fire, and Xiang proceeds cautiously.
When he spots Capet again, Xiang opens a channel and tells his foe that the match has ended. He is answered by Capet's mocking laughter as a Firestarter and an UrbanMech emerge from the darkness, flanking Xiang's position.
Xiang evades the trap by pushing the Rifleman forward off a ledge, dropping 20 meters and scouring off his rear armor. Elevating his lasers, he targets the Firestarter's fuel cells, causing it to explode. The UrbanMech jumps down into the crevasse after him, only to be cored by Xiang's alpha strike.
Limping and overheated, armor in tatters, Xiang again challenges Capet to come face him. Xiang walks the Rifleman backwards along the corridor, with his gun arms reversed. Capet emerges from a side tunnel and alpha strikes into what he believes is Xiang's thin rear armor, only to have it absorbed by the still intact front armor. Xiang laughs, and centers his fire on Capet's cockpit, annihilating the Fedrat warrior with laser and autocannon fire.
In the locker room afterwards, Xiang finds a gold and black silk robe waiting for him - a gift from Tsen Shang. Two of Shang's tong henchmen escort him to their boss, waiting in a Feicui aircar outside. Shang conveys the gratitude of the entire Capellan Confederation and they share a celebratory drink. Shang provides Xiang a set of fake documents in the name of Thomas Yuan. Xiang then passes out, due to drugs in the drink. The last thing he hears is that this is done on the orders of those who find Quintus Allard's son too valuable to kill.
Notes: The exposed fuel tanks on the flamer assemblies in TRO:3025 really seem to have spoken to Stackpole. This is the second time in Warrior: En Garde that Xiang has defeated an enemy 'Mech by targeting the fuel pods.
Theoretically, Ishiyama is run by representatives of House Kurita. With Xiang establishing himself as anti-FedSuns, why would the arena staff have permitted a FedRat champion to bring extra 'Mechs into the arena. I imagine that in the eternal Kuritan balance between ninjo and giri, a healthy wad of C-Bills goes a long way towards tipping the scales.
There's no evidence of any special "LosTech" equipment on Legend Killer in this engagement, despite rumors that it was enhanced, somehow. It seems to have the standard overheating problems inherent to the standard 3N (and 2N) models, so it probably doesn't have double heat sinks. He notes a short supply of autocannon ammunition, so the ACs may be Ultra models. Hitting Capet in the cockpit with both the lasers and the autocannons suggests some sort of targeting computer, but that's ClanTech, not LosTech.
I can understand the use of an UrbanMech for the ambush - especially if it is one of the UM-R60L models with an AC/20 (great for close-quarters ambushes). But why a Firestarter? Medium lasers and flamers, plus a heap of jump jets in constricted tunnels? Why not a Hunchback?
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Date: May 26, 3027
Location: Solaris VII
Title: In the Champion's Shadow
Author: Bryan Nystul
Type: Scenario (First Strike)
Synopsis: Quoted in Hard Luck Stories of Solaris VII, Volume Ten, Bart "Quasimodo" Marston tells why he hates Justin Xiang. Marston's big, career-making match was scheduled at Steiner Stadium opposite the Xiang/Capet grudge match in Ishiyama. The stands were half-empty, with Solaris City's attention focused on the "monkey business" over in Kobe.
Amid the rising and falling walls and pylons of the Coliseum, a two-on-two match pits the Mavericks against the Bad Bloods.
The Bad Bloods are the Marston siblings (Angela and Bart) in a Jenner and a Hunchback, while the Mavericks are Jason Yasbek and Hohiro Tanaka in an Enforcer and a Panther.
The Mavericks have 85 tons with a BV of 2,172. The Bad Bloods have 85 tons, but a BV of 2,068. Pretty close, but (as the scenario setup says) making the Mavericks the favorites.
Historically, the Bad Bloods won handily, their 13th straight victory. However, the lack of betting and terrible ratings resulted in a miniscule purse, and the Marstons were forced out of the dueling circuit for financial reasons shortly thereafter. Even in 3052, Marston is bitter against Xiang for having inadvertently ruined his career.
Notes: This scenario is included in the First Strike scenario pack, intended to give new players an introduction to the variety of venues for combat. Most of the setup repeats the rules from the Solaris VII boxed set on how Steiner Coliseum works, and how to replicate it on a standard BattleTech map.
In the close-quarters fight, Marston's Hunchback is poised to dominate with its AC/20. On the other hand, all the other 'Mechs are jump-capable. Initiative will play a major factor in the fight, and the Mavericks should stay away from "Quasimodo" until they win initiative, and then jump in behind him for back-shots.
I wonder if Bart got his own interview on "Pregame Palaver?"
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Date: May 26, 3027
Location: A2341 CA (Uninhabited system in Combine space)
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: The Kell Hound command staff discuss their next move, now that Captain Janos Vandermeer has jumped into an uninhabited system to escape the DCMS assault on Pacifica.
Daniel Allard calls the move crazy, but Patrick Kell says desperate measures were needed, since the goal of the attack was the total annihilation of the Hounds.
Richard O'Cieran worries that the system is close enough to Dieron for scout ships to flood all the uncolonized stars in the area, and is sure the Combine forces will backtrack and find them. Allard notes it will take 204 hours to recharge the jump drive. Vandermeer explains that they could actually recharge in 16 hours, at the risk of damaging the K-F drive at the molecular level. He describes "hot-loading" procedures as theoretical from the New Avalon Institute of Science, and that there are only rumors of other ships having attempted it, very few successfully. He also notes that the Cucamulus is over 300 years old.
They plan to jump to the Styx system, where a former Kell Hound, Wayland Smith, conned Kurita authorities out of a lot of money. Dan Allard voices his suspicion that Patrick plans to reach a Heimdall base - knowing the connection.
As they continue their discussions, Vandermeer reports that a Kurita ship has jumped in at the Nadir point and released an "Invader-Class" DropShip, which will reach the Cucamulus' position in 21 hours.
Hours later, in the starboard agrodome, Meg Lang and Austrin Brand report to Dan Allard that their 'Mechs are all ready to deploy in the Nuada.
With the Combine ship coming into range, the Kell Hounds prepare to jump out - hoping that the full charge in the K-F coils did not cause molecular damage. Patrick Kell tells his troops they will jump into Styx and expect to receive a warm welcome from the mining base there. If not, the Nuada will have ten 'Mechs ready to deploy, while the aero wing will guard the Cucamulus while it begins another hot-load recharge.
They jump - but something feels wrong to Dan Allard.
Notes: This chapter reflects the numbers from the Quick-Charge table in DropShips & JumpShips (p. 117). Based on that table, the Hounds needed a 7 or better on 2D6. Had they rolled snake eyes, the worst result would have been an 80% charge loss - no chance of molecular damage.
Interestingly, the quick charge does make the sensation of jumping feel different. Rather than the typical "mosaic of soft, melting pastels," Dan Allard experiences it as "hard, crystalline daggers of intense color, with glittering fragments of reality raking like nettles, catching and tearing, then winking out of existence." Going back to my earlier musings that K-F jumps may be somehow connected to rare instances of accurate precognitive visions - perhaps some can discern meaning from the glittering fragments of reality.
There are a number of oddities in this chapter. First off - the Invader-class DropShip is an error - probably meant to be an Intruder assault ship, since the Invader is a JumpShip class.
It's also somewhat surprising that a Combine JumpShip shows up in this system within three hours of the Cucamulus' arrival. That would mean that the Combine got the word out to Dieron, and Dieron had sufficient fully-charged JumpShips to dispatch to every system within jump range of Pacifica (including the ones deeper into Lyran space). The claim of Dieron's ability to do this argues strongly against the kinds of numbers put out in DropShips & JumpShips, and recalls the "Snord's Irregulars" claim that House Marik had sufficient fleet assets to completely blockade the Lyran border.
The DropShips & JumpShips book, written by ComStar, makes numerous references to quick charging - both in the context of using onboard fusion reactors or getting microwave energy beamed from a recharging station. Since the report was declassified in May 3025, one wonders why Patrick Kell believes it's just an unproven NAIS theory.
In a nice bit of cross-product continuity, checking the Kell Hounds roster in the sourcebook, Wayland Smith was a Regular-skill Scorpion pilot in the Assault Lance of the 2nd 'Mech Battalion's 2nd Company, prior to the dissolution of the regiment following Mallory's World.
The level of technology aboard the Cucamulus seems significantly higher than Inner Sphere standard for 3025. Internal ship communications are conducted by holoprojector. Vandermeer commands from command chair magnetically suspended in the middle of a vast, spherical bridge. And the agrodomes feature park-like conditions with apple trees, rather than the algae vats and racks of hanging plants I'd have expected.
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Date: May 26, 3027
Location: Styx
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel
Synopsis: Upon arriving in Styx, Patrick Kell tells his troops that there are two Kurita JumpShips at the zenith point, as well as multiple DropShips in-system. Scans of the mining planetoid show BattleMechs moving on the dark side, en route to the mining facility.
The Hounds make a combat landing on the dark side and quickly annihilate the Combine Panthers. The Kurita pilots eject into the vacuum, rather than be captured.
Inside the mining complex, ISF ninjas breach the last of Melissa's defensive lines. Captain von Breunig goes down with a chest full of bullets. Erik Mahler guns down a charging ninja, but is taken out by a blow from the hilt of another ninja's katana. The ninja greets Melissa in the name of Coordinator Takashi Kurita, but his gloating is interrupted as Melissa opens fire with her pistol.
Abandoning the unconscious Erik, Melissa follows Clovis Holstein into the computer ventilation ducts. Emerging into a tunnel, Clovis tells Melissa not to forget their rifles. She refuses, saying she's seen enough killing and bemoans that people have died for her. Clovis is initially angry, but tells her they're fighting for a better future than what the Kuritans offer, and insists she has to be willing to fight for that future as well.
Melissa takes up the autorifles and follows Clovis to Echo level. Clovis hopes they can find a "small boat" owned by Viscount Monahan, and use it to hide on another asteroid. A ninja gets the drop on them, and Melissa quickly surrenders to keep him from killing Clovis.
Before they get far, the ninja takes a bullet in the shoulder. When he is distracted, Melissa draws her pistol and empties it into his stomach. The bloodied form of Andrew Redburn emerges from the tunnel, and Melissa runs to him.
They continue to the docking bay, with Clovis brandishing the dead ISF commando's tanto. They proceed through battle-scarred corridors. Melissa vomits amid the blackened bodies of the rest of Andrew's fire teams.
When they reach the corridor to the docking bay, Melissa breaks into an elated run, but halts as she sees a Combine Panther blocking their way. The 'Mech bows and accepts their surrender.
It soon turns out, however, that the Panther is a captured Combine 'Mech piloted by Kell Hound Austin Brand. Daniel Allard directs Meg Lang to take Melissa, Andrew, and Clovis back up to the surface and await extraction by the Manannan MacLir. It will take them to the Cucamulus, which will try to jump with 48 hours of charge.
Dan Allard and the rest plan to provide a rear guard to make sure Melissa escapes. They receive a transmission from Sho-sa Niiro Tarukito, who demands their surrender. Invited forward under a flag of truce, Dan sees a ring of Panthers, along with a Warhammer and a Crusader, surrounding the Silver Eagle and the JumpShip Bifrost. Niiro threatens to kill all the Silver Eagle passengers if Melissa isn't turned over in an hour.
The Kell Hounds wait out the hour to give Melissa more time to escape, and then attack. Patrick leads the charge, coming in from the docking port and using the heavy autocannon to chew through the Combine Panthers. Daniel Allard leads the rest of the Hounds in support.
Austin Brand reports that his targeting computer has no read on Patrick Kell's Victor. Dan watches the Victor dance through a hail of PPC bursts without a scratch, and realizes it is just like Morgan on Mallory's World. His sensors show no thermal image, and his crosshairs do not acknowledge the Victor as a target.
The Kurita Crusader destroys Diane McWilliam's captured Panther, and the Hounds swarm it. Dan Allard, however, notices something familiar about the Warhammer. When he puts his targeting reticle over it, it too fails to register. Dan warns Patrick that the Warhammer's pilot must be Yorinaga Kurita.
Yorinaga appears unaffected by the targeting problems, and his blasts strike the Victor true, destroying the engine shielding. Patrick ignores the Warhammer, and continues thinning the ranks of the Genyosha Panthers. Dan tries to help, but his Valkyrie is felled by a PPC bolt. The Victor's fusion core detonates, flooding the bay with radiation and setting off its ammunition. Fire and shrapnel burst through the Victor's faceplate.
Dan Allard ejects from his Valkyrie, leaving it to explode as all remaining missiles detonate. The force of the explosion cuts Yorinaga's Warhammer in half.
Allard regains consciousness as the Silver Eagle doctor tends his wounds. Patrick Kell lies nearby, mortally wounded with internal injuries. Salome Ward reports that the Kuritan forces have retreated to their JumpShips. Patrick passes command to Dan Allard and charges him to tell Morgan that he finally understands, tells Melissa he's sorry she won't be at the wedding, then dies.
Notes: Presumably Melissa's fire teams were fighting to delay the ISF commandos while the Hounds were recharging.
This chapter has one of only two BattleTech references to using an ion trail to track a DropShip's movement in-system (the other being in "Call of Duty" in the Odessa system). I wonder how long the ion trails persist. From Wookieepedia: "Ion trails are used in most space sci-fi genres to various effects. Star Wars ships can only locate a direction of travel, while Star Trek ships can sometimes identify a class of vessel or which race produced the vessel simply by the ion trail it produces."
I'm surprised that the Genyosha pilots are exhibiting Minnesota Tribe-style suicide-before-capture maneuvers. Especially since they're supposedly some of the most skilled MechWarriors in the Combine, killing themselves by ejecting into vacuum deprives the Combine of valuable assets. (Also, in terms of force multipliers, why put your best MechWarriors in your faction's weakest 'Mechs?)
These scenes further confirm that Melissa's "infantry training" was almost entirely a mix of classroom theory and trips to the small arms firing range, with no live-action field training. I'm confused as to why the ISF ninja in the corridor lowered his blade while Melissa still had her pistol in the holster on her right hip. The unarmed dwarf seemed to be (to him) more of a threat than the armed female. A sign of Combine sexism?
I wonder what the Combine executive's abandoned "small boat" is. It can't be a lifeboat - those lack propulsion systems. Perhaps a long range shuttle.
The setup with the Genyosha just twiddling their thumbs while the Manannan MacLir makes away with Melissa doesn't seem in-character to me. Wouldn't the Combine ships notice the Mac coming in and then booking for the Cucamulus? Y'know - following that thar ion trail? And wouldn't they have alerted the Genyosha and ISF team of this fact? For being "the best of the best of the best" of the Combine, these guys seem to be clutching onto the idiot ball pretty tightly.
The fact that the Silver Eagle and the Bifrost get captured while in the hangar suggests that my earlier note that the ships should have run in the hours they had before the Combine arrived was correct. Especially given the demonstrated ability to execute jumps after limited quick charges, the Bifrost could have charged while running away, and the Silver Eagle could have tried to hide out on one of those other asteroids that Clovis suggested reaching with the "small boat."
Also of interest - the Bifrost is held in its docking bay with "invisible magnetic threads," suggesting that in its early days, BattleTech (at least Stackpole's interpretation) featured technology not unlike tractor beams.
This is the main scene when Phantom 'Mech syndrome appears. While the 'Mech doesn't disappear from visual screens, it doesn't register on targeting systems as a potential target, and doesn't give off a heat signature (except for one flash when the Victor's engine shielding is damaged and the heat output spikes). Yorinaga seems perfectly able to target Patrick's Victor - either because he has the Phantom 'Mech ability himself and it cancels Patrick's out, or because he's a great gunner and can place his shots over iron sights. Looking at the alternate sensor rules from the Tactical Handbook, I'm guessing that the EM sensors would be similarly jammed, but what about seismic? Also, from playing the MechWarrior games, I know that you can fire your missiles before the "target lock" sign lights up. If you can put the targeting reticle over the image of the 'Mech on the targeting screen, you can then just pull the trigger once you get it aligned. It sounds like most MechWarriors are habituated to using auto-targeting systems.
We also have a continuation of the early "high radiation fusion core explosion" that has since been decanonized. I'm also a bit surprised that the Valkyrie's self destruct of its missile loads caused such a blast that it tore Yorinaga's Warhammer's legs off, but somehow failed to do any damage to Patrick Kell or Dan Allard. (It may have contributed to Patrick's internal injuries - but force capable of ripping off a heavy 'Mech's legs should have reduced Patrick Kell to spam.)
It also seems like the Cucamulus isn't out of the woods just yet. If the Warlord of Dieron really did dispatch JumpShips with assault DropShips to every system within one jump of Pacifica, there aren't many places the Cucamulus could go from Styx without being intercepted yet again.
I'm unclear exactly what about the way Yorinaga's Warhammer moves makes Dan Allard aware of the pilot's identity. I'm not sure how this is. Dan wasn't with the Hounds during the Morgan/Yorinaga fight on Mallory's World. To my knowledge, Dan has never seen Yorinaga fight before. Even more, how would he know that Yorinaga had developed Morgan's ability? Dan seems to be making quite an intuitive leap.
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Date: May 26, 3027
Location: Styx
Title: Phantom 'Mechs
Authors: Jim Brunk, Dale L. Kemper & Michael Lee
Type: Scenario (The Kell Hounds)
Synopsis: The accompanying fiction focuses on the Kell Hounds discussing the battle afterwards, in the rec room of he Silver Eagle. Austin Brand says he saw Patrick's Victor through his viewport, but the 'Mech didn't register on any of his sensors. Meg Lang and Dan Allard concur that "it was a gift." Dan speculates that Morgan knows about this "thing" that makes 'Mechs and their pilots invisible. Meg Lang ponders what price would have to be paid for that kind of power.
The situation brief diverges from the novel, indicating that the Hounds were attempting to "allow the Archon-Designate to flee aboard the Silver Eagle," rather than the Manannan MacLir, as depicted in the novel.
The scenario recreates the fight in the Styx Complex DropShip Bay. It pits the Genyosha against the Kell Hounds.
Yorinaga Kurita is given a Gunnery of 3 and a Piloting of 2. The average gunnery among the "best of the best" Genyosha is 3.66. They all pilot Panthers except for Yorinaga (Warhammer) and Chu-i Minoru Akiri (Crusader).
The full Kell Hound company is involved, with five piloting captured Panthers instead of their usual rides.
The Genyosha wins by destroying or disabling the Victor and taking down at least six Kell Hounds (so, the Victor and five others). The Hounds win by destroying at least seven Genyosha 'Mechs and getting at least seven Hound 'Mechs aboard the Silver Eagle.
Yorinaga is required to engage Patrick's Victor until it is destroyed. Both Yorinaga and Patrick have the Phantom 'Mech Ability.
Notes: Yorinaga Kurita seems to have gotten rusty during his decade-long stay at the monastery. Historical Turning Points: Mallory's World gives him a Gunnery of 1 and a Piloting of 2.
It's odd that the scenario would stray so far from the novel scene. I wonder if they changed it up because the novel scene was too much of a curb-stomp to make a good scenario, or if they were working from Stackpole's notes on the scene, which changed prior to final publication of "En Garde."
There's no reason to try to get aboard the Monarch. There are Combine ships outside that could burn it down. Plus, it's got a whopping 20 armor points on the engine - three Panthers firing together could make the getaway vessel so much junk. The changes made to the scenario vs. the novel do not enhance it. The goal of saving the hostages aboard the Monarch and delaying the Combine forces while Melissa makes her getaway aboard the Mac is far more plausible. (Though, again, having the Combine be clueless about that whole maneuver even though they had ships in the area requires a lot of incompetence on the Combine's part and luck on the Hounds' part.)
The scenario also suggests an odd scale. The Monarch is depicted as being at least 16 hexes long, but the mapscale silhouette in DropShips and JumpShips show it as 6 hexes long. Perhaps the Solaris VII dueling-scale rules should apply to this scenario. (Though that nerfs the Combine even harder, since PPCs take forever to cycle in the Dueling rules, and PPCs are what the Genyosha's all about.)
Plot and logic issues aside, the Combine forces should target the Hound Panthers. They're easier to hit than the other Hound Lights and less armored than their Heavies and Mediums. Mass fire with your Panthers on a single target to ensure you get takedowns, and keep away from the Victor - don't let Patrick get that AC/20 into play. Let Yorinaga play tag with the Victor - he's unlikely to hit (given the apparent degradation of his Gunnery since Mallory's World), but he's required by the ruleset to do so. If the Hounds do get seven of his 'Mechs aboard the ship - shoot out the engines and make up for the technical loss by citing the new reality that the goalpost has been moved.
I wonder why Patrick wasn't given the geas of ignoring Yorinaga and only targeting the Panthers, as in the novel?
For the Hounds, there are two options - one is to just chew through the Panthers until you run out of them. Hound gunnery substantially exceeds the mostly Regular Genyosha mooks, and their firepower is substantially heavier. Yorinaga's Warhammer is really a non-element because the Victor can just bounce around for maximum defensive modifiers and go after the Crusader and the Panthers while PPCs blaze by impotently.
Another is to go for style - bum rush Yorinaga. Suffer the slings and PPCs of the Panthers and surround his Warhammer, hammering the legs with Kick attacks and unloading at point blank. Even with Phantom 'Mech, Yorinaga won't be able to withstand that for long. Then have the Hounds play dodge-em with the Panthers - getting maximum movement modifiers and engaging at long range to take advantage of the Panthers' lesser Gunnery skills, while the unhittable Victor rages in their midst.
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Er...Dan was on Mallory's world. He's on the 3015 roster. He'll also rant at Morgan Kell at the after effects of his plan in the next book.
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Er...Dan was on Mallory's world. He's on the 3015 roster. He'll also rant at Morgan Kell at the after effects of his plan in the next book.
You're right. I missed him. Still, a bit of a leap to assume Yorinaga developed Morgan's power.
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The homages to the battle of Hoth (Melissa's command center, the "Echo" level) are amusing.
It's also somewhat surprising that a Combine JumpShip shows up in this system within three hours of the Cucamulus' arrival. That would mean that the Combine got the word out to Dieron, and Dieron had sufficient fully-charged JumpShips to dispatch to every system within jump range of Pacifica (including the ones deeper into Lyran space). The claim of Dieron's ability to do this argues strongly against the kinds of numbers put out in DropShips & JumpShips, and recalls the "Snord's Irregulars" claim that House Marik had sufficient fleet assets to completely blockade the Lyran border.
The DropShips & JumpShips book, written by ComStar, makes numerous references to quick charging - both in the context of using onboard fusion reactors or getting microwave energy beamed from a recharging station. Since the report was declassified in May 3025, one wonders why Patrick Kell believes it's just an unproven NAIS theory.
There may be hundreds of stars within 30LY of Pacifica, but that doesn't mean Dieron needs hundreds of ships.
- Whoever decided the ISF should go to Styx could have anticipated nearby Lyran regiments coming to Melissa's relief, and predicted that--for the Kell Hounds--star A2341 would be the most logical path.
- Patrick believes that "Janos' knowledge of non-standard jump points" is enough for the Kuritans to follow them from Styx at any moment--how, exactly, isn't said. It could be that pirate points put peculiar limits on KF navigation; it could be that the Cucamulus is an old Kurita ship and the Kuritans therefore know the limits of his starcharts.
- The Cucamulus didn't arrive at star A2341's optimal charging point, which suggests their navigational knowledge of uninhabited systems is limited. If they're relying on observations they made themselves from Chara, the Kuritans only need to check whatever subset of stars can be adequately (whatever level of detail that might entail) observed from Chara.
- A ship's emergence and departure signatures may hold enough clues for a clever navigator to estimate the path of the jump. (As when the Dragoons appeared in 3005, for instance.)
(It's an intriguing passage; thanks for calling it out.)
Rereading the chapter, I think Patrick is referring only to the *molecular damage* as an unproven NAIS theory. The fact Janos can estimate chances of failure for charging at different rates seems to indicate practical knowledge of the process; stories of success or failure may be coming from the Lyran spacer community rather than the NAIS.
I'm surprised that the Genyosha pilots are exhibiting Minnesota Tribe-style suicide-before-capture maneuvers. Especially since they're supposedly some of the most skilled MechWarriors in the Combine, killing themselves by ejecting into vacuum deprives the Combine of valuable assets. (Also, in terms of force multipliers, why put your best MechWarriors in your faction's weakest 'Mechs?)
<snip>
The setup with the Genyosha just twiddling their thumbs while the Manannan MacLir makes away with Melissa doesn't seem in-character to me. Wouldn't the Combine ships notice the Mac coming in and then booking for the Cucamulus? Y'know - following that thar ion trail? And wouldn't they have alerted the Genyosha and ISF team of this fact?
I didn't reread far enough to see if the Kuritan ships are positioned to see the Manannan MacLir, so I can't speak to that point; but I will point out that Yorinaga's peculiar honor (with regard to the Kell Hounds) and his willingness to die are central to his character, that he hand-picked the Genyosha pilots, and that the Genyosha do not seem keen to cooperate with the ISF.
As for the Panthers, well, it's not like they're Stingers or Locusts. Even if all fifty Genyosha piloted Panthers, fifty should be a fair enough match for a medium battalion like the Kell Hounds.
-
Something that just occured to me.
Fox's Teeth says Drac Agents convinced a Captain in the Davion Guards to turn traitor on Hanse in 3013, shortly after he got back after hearing of Ian's death. Specifically, an assassination attempt.
House Davion says Michael Hasek-Davion made a similar assassination plot, in 3013, under similar circumstances.
Now it occurs to me.. was Hanse Davion even ever on New Avalon after Ian's death in 3013? Because he left for Halstead Station campaign shortly there after.
And did House Kurita AND Michael Hasek-Davion both kick off an assassination plot at the same time?
Just an idle thought.
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Ian dies on October 21. Hanse appears to arrive on Addicks as First Prince on November 12. 23 days is pretty tight, but Hanse could have been recalled from being military governor of New Aragon, coronated, and sent back out to Addicks using command circuits.
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Yeah... so my suspicion is the plot the Fox's Teeth took out... was actually MHD's Plot that no one figured out yet.
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Date: 2788
Location: Tyrfing
Title: It's A Party in the Valley and Everyone's Invited!
Author: Herbert A. Beas II
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Tyrfing)
Synopsis: Four of the five Successor States (all except the Combine) tried to claim the strategically valuable world of Tyrfing during the First Succession War, battling with each other, as well as native Tyrfing citizens armed from old HAF caches. The Free Worlds League claimed it first, but both Lyran and Capellan forces heavily raided it, and Davion sent troops as well, leading to a months-long battle that stretched from July 2788 to February 2789, wrecking the world in the process. The fight culminated in a massive multi-sided battle in the Great Crystal Valley, which involved eleven regiments fighting for six days in what had been a pristine nature preserve.
Notes: The planet had already been heavily damaged during the Star League civil war due to nuclear and chemical weapon deployment, and firebombing of industrial centers. Reconstruction was hampered by lack of resources and growing storm activity due to the damage to the terraforming infrastructure.
The Adventure Seed can be used for a wide variety of conflict scenarios - alliances of convenience between rival factions, covert operations to disrupt enemy alliances, and efforts to either stop the foe from deploying weapons of mass destruction, or efforts to successfully deploy your own.
Historically, Tyrfing was so wrecked during the fighting it dropped off the maps, leaving only primitive villages of survivors huddled up in the mountain peaks, where the de-terraformed air was still breathable.
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Date: 2788
Location: Old Kentucky
Title: The Bomber Comes at Midnight
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky)
Synopsis: Having dropped a 200-gigaton nuclear weapon on Old Kentucky in 2787, the Free Worlds League returned in 2788 with DropShips painted to resemble bombers, hoping to intimidate the planetary defenders and seize the world through conventional means.
Players running the FWLM invasion force have to contend with extreme weather conditions, CCAF forces discovering the ruse and mounting an effective response, and/or dealing with CCAF garrison forces fighting a determined rear-guard action to allow valuable germanium supplies to be evacuated.
Notes: Old Kentucky has been previously detailed (slightly) in the original Hot Spots contract book - mostly involving organized crime groups (the Rostakov Tong) and special forces in the jungles.
Historically, the FWLM bluff worked flawlessly, and the CCAF forces scattered, and the world was ruled by the League until 2888. The size of the 2787 "mega bomb" is a trifle extreme - 200 gigatons. By way of comparison, the Peacemaker-class warhead is 500 megatons (0.25% of the yield of the megabomb). And yet, only a few dozen people died, and a field of wind turbines was destroyed, slightly inconveniencing the industrial facilities they powered. (Granted - the Chicxulub meteor impact that caused dinosaur extinction had an estimated force of 10 million gigatons, so perhaps I shouldn't have expected a crater visible from space from just 200.)
I'm surprised that the FWL used DropShips as bombers. I guess this warhead would have been too large for any standard capital missile to carry from a warhead, so the alternative would be to carry it in a DropShip cargo bay and pitch it out over iron sights (at 200 gigatons, the need for pinpoint accuracy is somewhat reduced).
If we extrapolate from the Betrayal of Ideals scene showing two men carrying a Peacemaker-class warhead to indicate that it weighs around 250 lbs, that works out to half a pound per megaton. That would suggest that the 200 gigaton warhead would weigh 100,000 lbs, or 50 tons. Seems like it'd fit in a 'Mech drop capsule just fine and be able to be spat out from orbit. (The Russian Tsar Bomba, at 100 megatons, weighed about 55 tons, but we're presuming that FLWM researchers have somewhat superior materials and manufacturing techniques to show for seven centuries).
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Date: October 1, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 1
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The unnamed narrator reports that he and a group of refugees - 87 adults and 69 children - have taken shelter in an abandoned mine outside of the city of Harwell, hiding their one BattleMech, a Javelin with no missiles left, under a rock pile. The leader is referred to as "Old Man Fuller," who killed a DCMS solider and took his katana, but lost his son, Zach, during the fight.
The author notes that the Seventh Crucis Lancers pulled out after they killed Minoru, learning this information from some deserters, just before the DCMS forces descended on Kentares IV en masse.
Notes: The journal - unearthed from a collapsed mine on Kentares IV in 3073, during the Jihad, was published to give the people of the Federated Suns hope during the Blakist siege of New Avalon.
The Journal is undated, but the massacre is said to have started in September 2796. With Minoru Kurita having just died at New Snowfield on September 14, 2796, and the massacre not having started until Jinjiro arrived onworld to give the order, travel time factored in places the start of the killing to late September, so I'm placing the start of this journal at October 1. The amount of time between each entry also isn't specified, but the chronology works out pretty well assuming one entry per week, so I'll go with that.
The journal was posted serially in the BattleCorps news feed, but wasn't given author credit. If anyone associated with BattleCorps knows who wrote it, I'd love to update the attribution.
There were 52 million people living on Kentares IV at the start of the Massacre. Only a few thousand by the end. Those who survived did so by hiding (or being hidden by sympathetic DCMS personnel).
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Date: October 8, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 2
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Several dozen infantry from the militia, escorting 100 women and children, join the author at the mine. They are still shell-shocked from the destruction of Harwell over the past few days. They report that the Combine attacked with light tanks and infantry with laser rifles, overrunning militia positions, and began burning buildings down, shooting any who attempted to leave. Any military personnel who tried to surrender or negotiate were summarily executed.
Notes: Looking at the Master Unit List, the Combine doesn't have a wide variety of known light tanks circa 2796. What they do have includes the Harasser and the Chi-Ha. Since they have infantry attached to the tanks, it makes the most sense that the light tanks would be Chi-Ha Infantry Combat Vehicles, though they are fairly primitive by post-Star League standards.
The DCMS actions towards the militia officers are entirely consistent with the mandates of the Dictum Honorium - "If they try to surrender, kill 'em for cowardice."
Reading this, I got a very strong Battlestar Galactica vibe - scattered civilians with military escorts meeting up at random while fleeing annihilation. Except there's nowhere to go. This story could have been set on Caprica, during the fall (except Jinjiro wanted the personal touch, so didn't authorize the Ghost Rain protocol.)
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Date: October 15, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 3
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The militia troops, led by Sergeant Owens, left en masse the previous night, going out on a raid into the burning ruins of Harwell, and failed to return. Old Man Fuller tried to talk them out of going, but Owens said they had to try to help.
Fuller noticed the author with a pistol one of the militia troops gave him, and asked if he knew how to use it. The author decided it was time to learn.
Notes: One of the hardest things for the survivors to deal with, at least once they've found a hiding place, is the loss of agency, and the knowledge that they have weapons, but are hiding while their fellows are being carved into sushi. After a week of sitting, with their civilian charges in a defensible, hidden location, the psychological toll became too great, and Owens felt compelled to return to the fight.
At least they got respect from the Dracs before getting lasered into ash, for going out facing the enemy on their feet and fighting. To carry the Galactica parallels further, the militia are equivalent to the Pegasus - leaving their civilians behind in the effort to get back into the fight.
The prolonged era of peace under the Star League shows, here. While the Civil War was ruinous, it really only affected Terran Hegemony worlds. Kentares IV hadn't been at war since the Age of War, and had enjoyed generations of peace. Thus, the author has no idea how to use a firearm. Circa 3025, it's unlikely you'd find any citizen over the age of 10 on a border world who doesn't know basic firearm usage, barring the odd pacifist sect here and there.
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Date: October 22, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 4
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The author records having seen planes fly overhead towards the city of Winton, and hearing tremendously loud detonations. Sharing the watch with a man named Hakama, they discussed their thoughts on mortality.
Hakama morosely observed that they're going to die here. When the author responded that he didn't ever plan on dying anywhere else, though he'd thought it would be of old age, Hakama clarified that he's focused on the fact that the DCMS troops are going to kill them. The two stared at the trees and rocks, lost in their own thoughts.
Notes: They've had ten years by this point to get used to the idea that the Draconis Combine wants to rule over the Federated Suns by force, but the Massacre is something new - prior to Minoru's death, it didn't feel like the DCMS wanted to personally kill the civilians - just overthrow their government and destroy their military. (Of course, this just means that stories about the Combine's use of the "Ghost Rain" protocol on Helm and other worlds either weren't widely disseminated, or weren't believed.)
Despite the rhetoric about the troops being ordered to use swords to kill the civilians, at this point the DCMS is still carrying out bombing campaigns against remaining population centers. Even if they brought in dozens of regiments, swords would be far too slow to kill 52 million on the Combine's timetable.
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Date: October 29, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 5
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The author reports that the refugees at the copper mine are running out of food, having run through the pre-packaged supplies the militia brought from its armories. The leftover stew is rapidly approaching hot water with scraps of color.
Richie, the Javelin pilot, has become sick, and the author worries what will happen if he gets too weak to drive.
Old Man Fuller suggests sending out hunting parties, but the refugees don't have any bows, and worry that rifle shots would attract attention from DCMS patrols.
Notes: Despite the disappearance of the militia troops, it's clear that the presence of the hidden BattleMech has given the refugees a sense of security - an ability to unleash armored death on any Combine troops that might attack. Suddenly having their only MechWarrior fall ill rips that comfort away from the author.
The initial mass assaults probably killed off more than half the planet's population in the major cities, perhaps up to 75%. The rest of the Massacre was a protracted mopping up operation, trying to cover every square inch of ground to find hiding places.
Per the chronology of "Broken Sword, Wounded Dragon," this is the week when that main character's DCMS unit conducted the mass execution of the population of a small, isolated mountain village. Once all those are gone, they'll begin beating the bushes, and laying traps.
The real world parallels of guerrilla war (think trying to find Bin Laden in Tora Bora) demonstrate the difficulty in finding groups hiding in deep cave networks, concealed basements, ruins, etc. Thus, there would have been a lull in the killing at this point, until successfully hidden refugee bands began to deplete cached supplies, and were forced to venture out to scavenge or hunt.
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Date: November 5, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 6
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator prepares scouting with Hakama and some others to find food at hunting cabins, armed with an assault rifle. He plans to practice in a makeshift firing range in a side-tunnel.
The narrator wonders if the confident-seeming Hakama is as scared as he is.
Notes: Despite their fear, the refugees are dealing with necessities, and making plans for the future. They haven't lost hope as yet.
The narrator's rifle is interesting - with a 25-bullet ammo clip, but the ability to fire 190 rounds a minute, the thing seems designed for either spray-and-pray or to be able to be rigged as a belt-fed pintle-mounted full-auto weapon. Looking at the Tech Manual tables, there are no listed rifles with a 25-bullet magazine, so this sucker is definitely LosTech by 3073.
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Date: November 12, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 7
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: One week out in the field, and the scouts have surveyed the ruins of Harwell, Winton, Edgars, and New Isaacson, finding them to have been completely wiped out. The narrator says he understands why the militia troops moved out so soon - now that he's seen the mass graves, and the bombed schools and hospitals.
Combine DropShips move across the sky constantly, watching over infantry patrols and columns of DCMS vehicles. He wants to kill the Combine troops, but only has 90 bullets. He wonders how many bullets the DCMS troops have, compared to Kentares' 52 million citizens.
Notes: Cut off in the abandoned copper mine, the refugees knew intellectually what was going on, but beyond the carnage of the opening days, the narrator missed the full brutality. This scout trip is bringing home the reality of the genocide being perpetrated.
Other sources have indicated that bombing the schools and hospitals last was to ensure that as many refugees sought shelter in those buildings before they were destroyed, economizing on the use of ordnance.
Matching this up against the two BattleCorps stories set during the Massacre, this is a week or two after the Combine troops have started to evidence discipline and morale issues. In the early days, they were fighting militia troops and armed civilian bands, experiencing some risk while exacting righteous vengeance for the death of their beloved Coordinator.
But by now, all the militia groups with fight in them have been sent to dine with their ancestors, and the mass killings (carpet bombings of densely populated areas) have been completed. The killing is now much more up close and personal - tracking and killing small groups and lone survivors. When a Draconis Combine Admiralty pilot unloads a pallet of inferno bombs on a hospital, he/she doesn't see the carnage below - just reports mission completion. It's different, even for the hard-bitten Combine troops, when you're decapitating your hundredth unarmed child of the week.
There's no longer any hint of glory or righteous vengeance in this operation - just sheer, bloody minded slaughter. The toll this took on the honor-obsessed DCMS troops, as much as the hatred-fueled fighting spirit it engendered in the AFFS, is what led to the Combine's collapse of the FedSuns front in the latter years of the First Succession War.
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Date: November 19, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 8
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Another week of scouting has taken the group to New Derry and Gould, again without any sign of survivors. More than 100,000 citizens had lived in Gould - all were dead - left to rot in the streets. The narrator notes that the holovid dramas have showcased the horrors of war, but even HV is nothing like seeing it in person.
The narrator worries that Hakama's sanity is fraying, noting his compulsive bullet-counting and rifle-cleaning. They've been avoiding DCMS patrols by following behind those they encounter - assuming that another patrol won't cover the same ground so shortly after the first passes through. Using this technique, they came across a recently burned church - further damaging Hakama's sanity.
The group has decided to head back to the copper mine.
Notes: Based on what they've seen, all these Kentares Massacre survivors have serious cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. Hakama's tough talk impressed the narrator back at the mine, but it's clear that Hakama's rhetoric concealed a more fragile psyche than the narrator's.
The Stackpole books portrayed Omi and Victor as star-crossed lovers. Since Victor was the protagonist, the readers rooted for him to find happiness with his li'l Omi-kun, and booed at the bigoted FedCom characters who opposed their happiness.
Those characters, of course, were holding things like the Kentares Massacre front and center in their minds when considering the family tree of the First Prince's beloved.
Kentares seems to have been a pretty sparsely populated world. 52 million, spread out around a globe, is pretty thin on the ground. The narrator is awed by the size of a city 100,00 people, so presumably pre-war Kentares was more about farming than bright-lights/big city livin'.
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Date: November 26, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 9
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator records that there's a DCMS patrol, about 20 in number, camped between Harwell and Gould - directly between the scouts and the copper mine, with an armed half-track.
Hakama advocates killing the DCMS troops, but they realize that six scouts aren't a match for three Combine infantry squads, and they decide that revenge isn't worth dying for. Besides, they found rations in an armory in Gould to carry back to the mine.
Notes: It's interesting that the narrator reports the scouts had been using vehicles to move around - scavenging abandoned rides and using them until the gas runs out. Even at the peak of the Star League era, fusion engines hadn't displaced internal combustion for civilian vehicles, evidently.
The DCMS half-track is probably a four-ton Limpet, produced by Buda Imperial Vehicles. Functionally identical to the Taurian Rock Rover, the Limpet mounts an SRM launcher instead of the Rock Rover's support laser.
It's interesting that none of the DropShips flying overhead noticed (or, at least, cared to investigate) a civilian vehicle traveling on the roads. More than two months in, does the DCMS just assume that any vehicle traveling openly is in Combine hands?
At this point, the refugees' plan is to scavenge enough food to wait out the Combine occupation - hoping that the DCMS troops will leave when they can't find any more Kentareans to kill.
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Date: December 3, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 10
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator reports the grim news that the rations they took from the armory had been poisoned by the DCMS. Hakama, Dulles and Riley died within three hours of eating, leaving only three survivors in the patrol.
The leave the food (being unwilling to risk the smoke plume from burning it) and hike back towards the mine, the narrator taking Hakama's rifle. He notes that Hakama never got to kill any Dracs, and vows to try to make it up to his friend by using his rifle to kill as many as possible.
Notes: While the Combine may have a great line of rhetoric about bravely facing an armed enemy and engaging in the rituals of honorable combat, we've seen time and time again that setting traps at supply dumps is a standard Combine operating procedure.
The Combine forces on Verthandi set up ambushes at supply depots for both Frances Marion's Swamp Fox and for Grayson Carlyle's Gray Death Legion. Heck, the Combine even designed a variant of the Mobile HQ where the sides fold down and AC/20s come out, designed to ambush enemies who think they're capturing a valuable DCMS battlefield asset. Here on Kentares, they're putting out poisoned food caches to passively eliminate scavengers that the DCMS patrols have been unable to winkle out.
To be fair, this is standard practice for occupation forces in the BattleTech universe. When Kai Allard-Liao was trapped behind enemy lines on Falcon-occupied Alyina, he notices new supply caches popping up, and presumes they're bait set out by the Falcons to lure surviving FedCom MechWarriors into a trap. (Not clear, though, whether that was a Clan tactic, or one pioneered by Clan-employed local bounty hunters like Harry Truper.)
Had the Combine forces wanted to be really fancy, though, they could have put locator beacons in the ration packs, and monitored them to see if they start moving. That would get them both the scavengers and the location of their home base.
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Date: December 10, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 11
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator reports that the three remaining scouts took a DCMS patrol by surprise as it ransacked a hunting cabin six miles from the refugees' copper mine, and killed them all, taking their equipment, including a pair of radios, though he acknowledges they'll be of limited use if they can't understand Japanese.
Notes: This action gives the narrator his his friends their chance at payback - the best they've had so far - they have the element of surprise and they know the terrain.
However, what they don't consider is that the disappearance of the DCMS patrol will alert local commanders that there are still Kentareans living in the vicinity of the copper mine - the cabin is only six miles from their home base.
The killing may have been satisfying (though the narrator's reaction is more pragmatic than gleeful), but has put the entire group of refugees in mortal peril. When the militia shooters went out in week two, there was so much activity going on that their suicide run was just background noise. Nearly three months in, this will stand out like a floodlight.
There are clearly no more population centers to attack - all remaining Kentareans have gone to ground. Patrols are hitting isolated cabins, and getting bored and sloppy without their daily ration of FedRats to bayonet.
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Date: December 17, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 12
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: When the patrol returns to the copper mine, they learn that half of the refugees (primarily the children) there have died in the month the scouts have been out, mostly from dysentery after the water purification chemicals ran out and the purifiers got clogged.
They distribute the food (having buried the poisoned rations) they've found and report what they saw. Fuller begins to make plans to send out another foraging party to get more food.
The narrator begins to have hope that they can make it through the Combine occupation alive.
Notes: The narrator is shocked by the idea that dysentery could be a problem "in this day and age." After a life lived with Star League-era medical technology and infrastructure, with a life expectancy of 107 (on average), the thought of being vulnerable to diseases from contaminated water hadn't even crossed his mind - especially after a month being primarily focused on the threat of death from guns or other human-guided agents of death.
Despite the losses, the narrator seems to feel that he's finding his groove in this new reality. He's killed his first Drac, evaded patrols, and brought food back for his people.
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Date: December 24, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 13
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator reports that the refugees' sole MechWarrior, Richie, recovered from his dysentery. After he briefs Richie on what the patrol saw, the Javelin pilot opens up about his feelings of inadequacy - positing that he could use his 'Mech to crush every DCMS infantry patrol within sixty kilometers.
The narrator refrains from telling Richie that the Javelin has no missiles for its launchers, and that there are still five 'Mech regiments on Kentares. He doesn't have to - Richie already knows.
Notes: A running theme of the Kentares Massacre is that many of those involved (on both sides) feel powerless, and that they should be doing something. Even if that action is suicidal - they feel they have to do whatever they can, despite the personal consequences. Locally, this has resulted in the deaths of the militia troops in week two, the death of half the foragers, and Richie's feeling that he should be out using his AFFS training to kill Dracs, rather than lying in a cave, being a burden.
Individually, of course, these impulses are self-destructive. The optimal recourse would be to hide, scavenge, and hope to make it through unnoticed. However, these vignettes are intended to reflect the national espirit that arose in the people of the Federated Suns in response to the Massacre. Whereas a string of massive military defeats had left the AFFS broken in spirit and crippled with defeatism, the urge for vengeance led troops - individuals, then squads, then entire regiments - to load up and vector for the front without orders and, once there, to fight with resolve and determination unseen in the first decade of the war. Without organized logistics, or proper support, many surely gave their lives in futile attacks, but they kept coming (helped, no doubt, by the vast fleets of JumpShips that still existed at this stage), and began to drive the DCMS troops back by sheer weight of numbers.
By contrast, on the Combine side, the shame of the genocide being waged on Kentares warred with all the deeply ingrained cultural teachings about honor. Despite their feelings of duty to Coordinator Jinjiro, the soldiers of the DCMS were less willing to engage in a suicidal charge for glory and honor - what honor could such a charge bring, when Jinjiro had already asked his warriors to surrender their honor in service of his cruel vengeance? (We even see Combine troops acting directly contrary to orders and taking actions to protect small pockets of civilians on Kentares IV).
In truth, it is this sort of drive to resist that the publisher of the work hopes to elicit in 3073, during the Word of Blake's siege of New Avalon. The message is not "hope." That would be counter productive - as we'll see, the refugees begin to feel hope and plan for the future, and die anyways. The message is "Resist!" If all Federated Suns citizens were to rise up and hurl themselves at the Word of Blake, heedless of the personal cost, then the Blakists would be engulfed by the sheer numbers and ferocity of the Suns, and victory could be achieved.
How Capellan of them... >:D
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Date: December 31, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 14
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator reports that they're running out food, and Richie volunteers to join the next foraging group, using his Javelin and a stolen Skimmer. Fuller doesn't think it's a good idea to take the 'Mech out, but he's so sick he's only occasionally coherent. The narrator told Richie where the caches were located, and hopes he can make it back with more food and medicine. Out of the original 256 civilians that sought refuge in the copper mine, only thirty are left.
The narrator has elected not to join the scouts. The image of the dead DCMS soldier he shot haunts his dreams.
Notes: 88.28% casualties is pretty stiff for a three month period without combat. Looking up real-world mortality rates on persistent dysentery combined with malnutrition, studies have found rates around 14%. Most likely, the polluted air (they mentioned not having been able to vent smoke from cookfires) and the post traumatic stress disorder and other psychological factors stemming from the Massacre also contributed. Real world studies on populations that have suffered genocide suggest an 11% increase in suicidal tendencies. It could also be that the mine's water had other contaminants - such as acid remaining in the water table as a side-effect of earlier mining activities (they note that the filters have gotten clogged and the purification chemicals have run out).
This also suggests that the population of the Federated Suns and the rest of the Inner Sphere were utterly unprepared for the horrors of the First Succession War. Handling a weapon was a foreign concept, and killing someone - even an enemy soldier - remains traumatic. The catastrophes visited on the Terran Hegemony during the Star League civil war was just something that happened to other people on the holovid news.
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Date: January 7, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Kentares Massacre Journal - Week 15
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The narrator reports that he was on guard duty at the mouth of the mine shaft when a 'Mech walked out of the forest. Thinking it was Richie, the narrator stood up and waved at it, only afterwards realizing it wasn't a Javelin.
The 'Mech blasted the mine entrance with its arm cannon, collapsing the tunnel for a dozen meters, trapping the remaining 24 refugees inside. With no way out, and the air growing thick, they ate the last of the food and drank all the alcohol (which they'd been saving as a disinfectant).
The narrator writes that he doesn't want to suffocate. He counts his remaining bullets - 98 rounds - and assumes it should be enough.
Notes: A dark ending for the Kentares Massacre Journal. Had the narrator been more alert, or less visible, there's a chance that this group might have made it - the Combine occupation ended a month later. Of course, the presence of a Panther right at the mine entrance may not have been a coincidence. It would have been easy to backtrack the traces left by the Javelin to the mine - especially if the foragers got caught.
This journal was published by a Federated Suns news service explicitly to boost morale during the early years of the Blakist Jihad, when New Avalon was besieged. The utter lack of a happy ending would seem to belie this goal, however.
As I alluded to before, though, the real message may be to emulate the militia shooters and the Javelin pilot. It doesn't matter if you're massively outgunned and outnumbered. Hiding and waiting only crushes morale and gets you just as dead, when your food, medicine, and air run out. If you hit the enemy with whatever you have, you'll probably end up taking a few of them with you, and that will make it easier for the next group of resisters to take them on, eventually wearing them down to the point where they'll lose.
Mass resistance by civilian populations isn't a new thing for the BattleTech universe. The Taurian populace engaged in several instances of mass resistance to the Star League during the middle stages of the Reunification War - human wave attacks against 'Mechs, armed with nothing more than improvised satchel charges. Clogging the streets of major cities with civilian volunteers to trap 'Mechs in intersections that had been pre-plotted for artillery strikes. Of course, these tactics were only effective up until the SLDF commanders resorted to orbital bombardments.
I'm reminded of one of the lines from Babylon 5's "In the Beginning" movie: "When they ran out of ships, they used guns. When they ran out of guns, they used knives, and sticks, and bare hands. They were magnificent. I only hope that when it is my time, I may die with half as much dignity as I saw in their eyes at the end."
With AFFS command and control decapitated, and the Haseks and Sandovals playing their own games and fighting their own wars, the news organization hopes to inspire the same sort of reaction that saved the Federated Suns at the midpoint of the First Succession War - rekindling the drive to fight, to resist, even without sufficient firepower, hoping to win through by dint of numbers and determination.
This was one of my favorite pieces to come out of the now-defunct BattleCorps site's news section. I only wish the author had been credited - their writing really brought the tragedy and emotional impact of the Kentares Massacre to life - whereas before it had just been covered in history-textbook fashion in sourcebooks, or from the DCMS viewpoint in a pair of BattleCorps stories.
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Date: 2807
Location: Mizar
Title: The Bar Tab
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars: Mizar)
Synopsis: During the First Succession War, tourism dropped precipitously, crushing Mizar's economy. Only the ultra-wealthy could afford to regularly visit the paradise world. In 2807, one of those visitors was Duc Savallo, Earl of New Lundun on Tamarind, who arrived expecting that his status and wealth would lead to his every need being catered to.
Unfortunately, his party plans were thwarted due to his lack of documentation, and various other complications, stranding him at the spaceport hotel with his entourage and his Assault 'Mech, creating a delicate (and potentially explosive) situation when local authorities arrived to arrest him after he trashed the hotel.
Notes: This Adventure Seed provides a far lighter reprieve from the grim mega-destruction of the First Succession War. Players could either take the role of the noble's household guard come to bust him out (fighting the capable Mizar militia), or play Mizarian security forces trying to rein in the Earl and keep him from destroying the bank where his debts are recorded, without creating an interstellar incident that gets Mizar added to Kenyon Marik's target list. There are even options for AeroTech engagements as Mizar's space forces try to interdict the arrival of the Earl's guards.
A lot of fun options to showcase the rich and famous of the Inner Sphere behaving badly.
Given the ongoing total war between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League, though, why would a League noble feel like he could drop in on a Lyran resort world? Especially when the League offers equivalent hospitality services on Kyeinnisan (the "Gambler's World" - home of Four Card Drax and the feared "Holy Rollers" security force).
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Glad you're back to doing these again :)
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Date: August, 2810
Location: Snowdon
Title: Flight of the Raven
Author: Øystein Tvedten
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: The RWS Raven, a JumpShip carrying refugees from the world of Snowdon, prepares to execute an emergency jump from the nadir jump point as pirates close in. Aboard the ship, a crewman named Helmut buckles up, noting that these must be the same pirates that sacked and destroyed Snowdon and other worlds of the Far Rim Coalition.
The ship jumps out before the pirates reach them, but still two hours ahead of optimal charge time, risking a misjump.
Notes: Øystein Tvedten has long been know as BattleTech's map guru, so this story gave him a chance to use some of the worlds he'd added to the maps when crafting the Rim Worlds Republic maps for Handbook: Major Periphery States.
Helmut's musings essentially serve as a brief sourcebook entry for the five-world Far Rim Coalition (FRC). Mao provided food, Snowdon and Heidelburg provided raw materials, and Hirtshals and Boara had heavy industry to convert the raw materials into finished goods.
However, with the forced relocation of millions of people from the outer worlds by the SLDF, the destruction or dismantling of all industry capable of being retooled for military production, and the annexation of most of the more developed worlds by the Lyran Commonwealth, backwater systems like those of the FRC were left defenseless and lacking self-sufficiency.
Hirtshals succumbed to economic collapse as the volume of imported raw materials proved insufficient to keep its factories running. Mao succumbed to plagues brought by refugees from other Rim Worlds Republic worlds. Boara, Heidlburg, and Snowdon were hit by pirates that systematically stripped worlds of advanced terraforming technology, leaving the inhabitants to die as the environment became inhospitable.
Two hours isn't much when it comes to jumping out early. The risk of a misjump is close to 0%, and the table for misjumps shows a tiny risk of a failed jump and losing a small percentage of the accumulated charge. (Granted - not optimal if pirates will be on you and blowing in your airlocks before then, but not too much of a technical risk.)
We have anecdotal accounts of a number of Rim Worlds Republic worlds trying to reform into political entities. In "Starfire" from the 25 Years of Art and Fiction book, the world of Rosetta is noted as the core of the short-lived Ptolemean Province. The Rim Collection (centered on Slewis) is one of the few that achieved stability, along with the Oberon Confederation and Greater Valkyriate. The Circinus Federation could also be considered a successful RWR remnant, at least up until 3080. It would have been fun if Handbook: Major Periphery States had devoted a few pages to charting the rise and fall of various multi-world proto-states in the Rim Worlds wreckage.
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Glad you're back to doing these again :)
Been doing an insane amount of work travel this year - made it hard to keep up with the fun stuff. (So far this year - Paraguay, Malaysia, France, Thailand (twice), Mexico, Denmark, and Vietnam; with upcoming trips to Argentina, France, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea.)
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Been doing an insane amount of work travel this year - made it hard to keep up with the fun stuff. (So far this year - Paraguay, Malaysia, France, Thailand (twice), Mexico, Denmark, and Vietnam; with upcoming trips to Argentina, France, Thailand, and Papua New Guinea.)
Wow, almost as much travel as my cousin (currently in South Africa)......
Craig
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Date: August, 2810
Location: The Rift, Survey Site 3187-A
Title: Flight of the Raven
Author: Øystein Tvedten
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Following the jump, Helmut unbuckles and proceeds to the bridge, where the Raven's captain is being harangued by the captains of the DropShips being carried by the JumpShip. The captain tells them not to worry, then has Helmut (identified as head of security) and his second clear the bridge.
Helmut asks the captain what happened, and the response is that pirates had been waiting at the jump point in ambush. Due to the lack of a complete charge, he jumped into the Rift.
Helmut is stunned, noting that the Rift is dead space, with no colonies, and stories that nobody ever comes out after going in.
The captain says that it's the perfect place to recharge safely, hoping to quick charge and be gone before the pirates come looking for them.
Notes: "The Rift" is probably the genesis for what later became the "Aquila Rift" in Interstellar Players 3 - a region noted as "a dark interstellar cloud made up of molecular dust clouds dense enough to obscure the stars that lie beyond it from astronomical observations."
The jump mechanics seem a bit non-standard (befitting an Iron Writer story, where detailed K-F rule research would cut into writing time). There's no reason that the Raven should have needed to jump into the rift instead of towards its intended destination. It's not as though the pirates were blocking their vector - with K-F, a ship simply disappears one place and reappears another. Anything too close gets fried.
Perhaps the captain was worried there was an ambush party waiting at the jump points of the inhabited worlds nearby - like Zanbasa, Salisberg, or Windhoek. Still, why not jump to an uninhabited system further rimward, rather than making an anti-spinward jump into the rift?
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Date: September, 2810
Location: The Rift, Survey Site 3187-A
Title: Flight of the Raven
Author: Øystein Tvedten
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: A month after the RWS Raven jumped into the Rift, it remains stranded there due to a fault in the K-F drive. The extended stay in space has been hard on the refugees. Survivors of the plagues on Mao, aboard the RWS Conwy, started a fire during religious services, leading to a small riot when security forces intervened. Rationing led to increased tension, and the potential for more onboard violence.
Security Chief Helmut discusses the situation with the captain, noting that with 20,000 refugees aboard, they have two months of food and four months of water left.
The chief engineer enters the bridge, excitedly claiming his team has completed repairs, and quadruple checked the systems. He pronounces the ship ready to jump. The captain shares the news with the passengers and crew later that afternoon, informing him of his plan to jump to the Mao system at 7:00 AM the following morning.
Notes: So, with 20,000 passengers, at 7 tons/month/passenger, the RWS Raven looks like it started out hauling about 400,000 tons of consumables. I'm not sure how they cram all that in. The class of the Raven isn't given, but the JumpShip captain is shown being harangued by six other individuals, implied to be the DropShip captains. That would imply it has a capacity of at least 6, suggesting Star Lord class. Mammoths were only first manufactured two years earlier, so the most likely cargo DropShips they can be carrying are the older Mule, with a capacity of 8,500 tons each in their cargo bays. Filling those with consumables would leave them short of supplies for a three month haul by 90%. One possibility is that the JumpShip is a Monolith with three Behemoths (each taking two hard points) and three Mules attached. That would still only provide 238,000 tons of cargo space (as well as calling into question how the refugees got into orbit to board the Behemoths, which can't enter planetary gravity).
So, the implication is that even with an optimal loadout of cargo ships, crowding is intense and food is scarce (reaching a three month supply only with very tight rationing).
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Date: September, 2810
Location: The Rift, Survey Site 3187-A
Title: Flight of the Raven
Author: Øystein Tvedten
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: The Raven gives the one-minute warning for the jump to the Mao system.
Notes: The 3047 epilogue shows an Explorer Corps vessel surveying the Mao system, and noting the wreckage of a civilian JumpShip with six DropShips attached powerless and adrift.
Clearly, the repairs were insufficient - either blowing again more permanently and leaving the ship stranded in the Mao system while food riots tore it apart from the inside out, or creating a K-F field instability that caused a misjump that skragged the fusion engine, making everyone suffocate when life support backup batteries eventually failed.
Presumably, the Raven was the last bus out of the doomed Far Rim Coalition, so there wasn't anyone left alive down on Mao to answer any calls for help, and no merchants scheduled to stop in for the next two hundred years.
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Date: May 15, 2819
Location: Terra
Title: Intentions
Author: Paul Sjardin
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (The Second Succession War)
Synopsis: Conrad Toyama joins the dying Jerome Blake at a cabin in the Green Mountains, going in for last words after Michelle Dupreas (Head of ROM) and Herman Schwepps (Toyama's chief rival to succeed Blake). The two men make small talk while Toyama neutralizes all the cameras and listening devices in the room.
Conrad confesses to Jerome that he doesn't feel ready to take over ComStar, and worries that the Houses may target Terra when the next round of fighting flares up - each seeking a technological advantage. They speculate that, had ComStar Precentor Mordiki not publicized the Kentares Massacre, the Federated Suns would have collapsed, and the Combine would have conquered the entire Inner Sphere. Blake tells Toyama that mankind needs to experience the full horror of war so it can burn the desire for it out of its collective soul.
When Toyama inquires about the prospect of Kerensky's return to reforge the Star League, Blake says that Kerensky didn't plan to return for centuries, if ever.
Blake proposes to let mankind burn civilization down, but for ComStar to retain the lost knowledge as a secure repository, to make the rebuilding process much faster. He says Mordiki acted too openly - that direct involvement in Inner Sphere politics would only make ComStar appear a threat, and invite attack. He advises Toyama to take the long view - a five-hundred year plan.
Toyama worries that such a long-range plan won't be able to survive intact beyond the lifespans of its architects. Blake says he has a solution - create a religion to ensure the endurance of the plan. Get people to put faith in ComStar as the only hope of preserving the future of human beings in the Inner Sphere. All it needs is a saint.
Toyama is horrified, and refuses to turn his friend into a symbol. Blake counters that he's been a symbol for most of his life, and says that one final sacrifice will serve to be useful for the cause. Blake gives Toyama two noteputers - one with his real journals, and one with a new version that will support the religion plan with a prophetic flavor.
Blake advises Toyama to gain Dupreas' support, and to make an example of Schwepps, who views ComStar from the perspective of a businessman and a politician. He also cautions that Toyama will have to be careful in the selection of his successor, so as not to create zealots and touch off a religious war.
A few hours later, Jerome Blake has passed on. Toyama looks at the noteputers, and takes one, along with the sealed order naming him as sole successor, then goes outside to confront Schwepps and the rest of the First Circuit, and introduce them to Toyama the tyrant.
Notes: Wow. Simply...wow. The original ComStar sourcebook strongly suggested that Conrad Toyama was a religious zealot who probably smothered Blake in his deathbed and then took ComStar down a religious rabbit-hole that Jerome never intended.
"Intentions" turns all of that on its ear with a far more nuanced look at what Blake was actually trying to do, and what he intended. It almost seems like he was channeling Hari Seldon - trying to set up the Foundation to speed the technological recovery after the fall of the Empire.
Blake was quite prophetic in his warning about the dangers of creating a religion and the importance of choosing a successor. Toyama was succeeded by Raymond Karpov, whose brutal reign pushed the Order deep into zealot territory.
This scene has a lot of nice tie-ins with established lore. The "original journals" of Jerome Blake found by Anastasius Focht in 3052 make their debut appearance here. Blake mentions a secret operation by ComStar at Gabriel (revealed during the Jihad to be a secret WarShip repository and refitting station in the Odessa system).
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I just finished reading Betrayal of Ideals. I'll be happy when you start blending that and the 2nd Succession War stories into together.
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Most of the Betrayal of Ideals scenes are already reviewed in the first Succession Wars thread. I'll cover the new scenes from the novel version here shortly.
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Some slight nitpicking. [I can't resist]
Historically, the FWLM bluff worked flawlessly, and the CCAF forces scattered, and the world was ruled by the League until 2888. The size of the 2787 "mega bomb" is a trifle extreme - 200 gigatons. By way of comparison, the Peacemaker-class warhead is 500 megatons (0.25% of the yield of the megabomb). And yet, only a few dozen people died, and a field of wind turbines was destroyed, slightly inconveniencing the industrial facilities they powered. (Granted - the Chicxulub meteor impact that caused dinosaur extinction had an estimated force of 10 million gigatons, so perhaps I shouldn't have expected a crater visible from space from just 200.)
I'm surprised that the FWL used DropShips as bombers. I guess this warhead would have been too large for any standard capital missile to carry from a warhead, so the alternative would be to carry it in a DropShip cargo bay and pitch it out over iron sights (at 200 gigatons, the need for pinpoint accuracy is somewhat reduced).
A Peacemaker is 500 kilotons, not megatons. Also could be a related term to Boomer, a 1SW term for dropships converted to fire capital missiles for orbital bombardment work. FWL was the one who coined said term.
The narrator's rifle is interesting - with a 25-bullet ammo clip, but the ability to fire 190 rounds a minute, the thing seems designed for either spray-and-pray or to be able to be rigged as a belt-fed pintle-mounted full-auto weapon. Looking at the Tech Manual tables, there are no listed rifles with a 25-bullet magazine, so this sucker is definitely LosTech by 3073.
190 RPM that isn't spray-and-pray... thats aimed fire. An AR-15 (IE: M16/M4 system) or Kalashinkov have a RPM of ~600. WWII Submachine guns tend to go for RPMs of over 1000. 190 RPM is only just over 3 rounds a second. At 190rpm... you might be able to get close to it's fire rate in actual fire rate because it won't burn through the magazine faster then you can reload it. It would be something like Burst/3 in ATOW terms.
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Thanks for the correction on the bomb size. In that case, assuming a linear relationship between bomb weight and yield, the mega bomb goes from 50 tons to 50,000 tons, definitely making the case for a specialized DropShip as a bomber - though a Union is out of the question when the bomb masses more or less the same as a Mammoth. Did they use a Behemoth in orbit to drop the first one?
As far as the gun goes, I was keying off the narrator's personal musings about the rifle, wondering how a gun could shoot 190 rounds a minute if it only has a 25 round clip. The author may have meant to showcase the narrator's general unfamiliarity with guns (which, as it turns out, pretty much matches mine).
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I take it there no stats for Boomer or something close to it? I guess we could use Union Pocket Warship if we needed it and forego the using advance non-star league weapons.
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Date: July 5, 2821
Location: Circe
Title: Betrayal of Ideals
Author: Blaine Pardoe
Type: Novel (Betrayal of Ideals)
Synopsis: At Chamberlin's Crossing, overlooking the village of Skavka, Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy reflects on the fighting against the Rasmussen Elite - a well armed faction that has proven to be competent fighters individually, but lacking in overall coordination. Her aide, Marcelo Gao, reports the Elite have eight FrankenMechs, a company of armor, and two companies of irregular infantry. McEvedy notes that she has five BattleMechs, including her Guillotine in her Wolverine's Bite command Star.
SaKhan Dwight Robertson suggests waiting until the arrival of Sobral's Claw Star, but McEvedy worries that they could scatter and carry on the fight if the Wolverines delay. The destruction of the massed Elite will end the faction for good. She proposes challenging the Elite leader, Gustav Kran and goad him into engaging, drive him with artillery, then coordinate and concentrate fire to eliminate the foe quickly. Robertson notes that such an action is in defiance of Nicholas' directive to engage the enemy in one-on-one combat.
McEvedy challenges Kran, but he refuses to take the bait, and calls on her to come into Skavka to get him. McEvedy directs Daniel Hammerick's Ravager Battery to fire for effect. Kran and the rest of the Elite come charging out of the now burning village en masse. The FrankenMechs prove no match for the fresh Wolverine machines, and the battle ends in eleven minutes, at the cost of Lu Kosh, whose Lancelot succumbed to physical attacks by three Elite MechWarriors.
McEvedy's sense of triumph is shattered by a transmission from Nicholas Kerensky, who had watched the engagement without joining to assist. He scornfully notes that the Wolverines violated his rules of engagement, casting aside honor when they concentrated their fire, and tainting their victory. He says his rules are not subject to interpretation.
Khan Mitchell Loris, of Clan Mongoose, joins the conversation, revealing that Kerensky has been broadcasting his chastisement in the open. Loris accuses McEvedy of being egotistical. McEvedy asks if he wants to discuss the matter in a Circle of Equals. Nicholas cuts off the bickering by proclaiming that there will be new rules governing honor when the fighting ends, and promises that the Wolverine's tactics will not be tolerated again.
Notes: This is a new prologue section added when Betrayal of Ideals was published as a novel.
McEvedy's Wolverines weren't the only ones to ignore Nicholas' restrictive rules of engagement, which appear to descend from the Combine/Star League dueling culture that flourished throughout the First Hidden War. "Dreams of Babylon" noted that Khan Khalasa of the Sea Foxes engaged in indiscriminate attacks of massed fire and saturation bombing during his siege of the city of Camlann, prompting the Coyotes to withhold aid from them. On Dadga, we see the Goliath Scorpions massing fire from their armor auxiliaries on the forces of the McMillan Collective when they spring an ambush.
Early works on the Clans suggested that the one-on-one dueling culture was a reaction to how Nicholas Kerensky had died - surrounded by multiple opponents when he was killed. This scene would suggest that the change came much earlier, at Nicholas' insistence. Perhaps it's a reaction to how General Aaron DeChevalier died - ambushed by multiple rebels. Elizabeth Hazen seems to have been the one most affected by his death (going on a rampage as she massacred rebels in revenge) - perhaps she was the one who counseled Nicholas on the rules of engagement for Operation KLONDIKE.
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Date: June 11, 2830
Location: Terra
Title: Intentions
Author: Paul Sjardin
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (The Second Succession War)
Synopsis: In Jerome Blake's shrine on Hilton Head Island, Conrad Toyama ponders the preserved corpse of his friend and mentor. He sits by the body and confesses he is afraid of what is to come. He worries that if he does nothing, the fighting will end, bit if he pushes it, the conflict may rage for a century more. He worries how history will judge his actions.
He reflects on the continued hostility between the Houses and the deaths of entire worlds. Even worse, for Toyama, is the realization that the people of the Inner Sphere had learned nothing from the carnage. He resolves to actively intervene in the Inner Sphere - to take risks for a purpose rather than waiting for the people of the Inner Sphere to come to a realization of the folly of their actions on their own.
He directs Michelle to pass the package along to Jeanette, and exits the Shrine.
Notes: "Michelle" is Precentor ROM Michelle Dupreas, and "Jeanette" is Jeanette Marik, passing intel to the Free Worlds League that forced her brother, the Captain General, to resume hostilities and touch off the Second Succession War.
Interesting that Blake's remains ended up preserved in a situation not unlike Lenin's Tomb.
Whereas Jerome Blake wanted an end to the fighting - hopefully by letting people experience the horrors of war firsthand, then helping them rebuild, Toyama feels that even the carnage of the First Succession War didn't burn pacifism into Spheroid hearts, and now feels compelled to trigger another round of warfare in an effort to achieve Blake's dream. This represents the point of philosophical shift from "We have to let them fight until they're exhausted, then step in and rebuild," to "We have to make them tear each other down until they reach a state of barbarism, then show them the proper way back to enlightenment."
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Date: October 1, 2845
Location: New Delos
Title: The Raven
Author: Jason Hardy
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Lt. Edgars tries to keep his unit together as chaos envelops the battlefield - he hasn't slept in five days. Through the haze, he acts in accordance with the part of his brain that tells him what to do - what he calls "The Raven." At this moment, it's telling him to head towards the towering black mountains ahead. The surviving troops in his command follow.
Later, Edgars' troops report contact with enemy units to the north, and ask for orders. His mind is a blank, until the words come in a rush - ordering a complex flanking maneuver.
Sometime later, Lt. Edgars proceeds through a shattered forest. He hears a voice telling him mop-up operations against the Lyrans are almost finished. He channels The Raven once more, telling his troops to rally and protect the industrial facilities against a breakthrough. He desperately wishes he could rest, but he can't until The Raven orders him to.
Later, he hears a voice warning of ambush by anti-'Mech infantry, with 'Mech support. Edgars channels The Raven and orders his men to pull together and head west, then requests assistance. There is no response. Another voice comes into his cockpit, telling him his unit is destroyed, and he must surrender. He responds "Nevermore."
At the FWLM command center, Harlan Allison reviews incoming casualty reports, noting the death of Lt. Edgars, who'd been killed defending the southern perimeter. He recalls that Edgars had been massively sleep deprived, and had been calling him The Raven over the comm channel - an old nickname that nobody ever uses to his face. Allison takes pride that Edgars used his inspirational speeches to keep his men going against the Lyran tide, telling them they can never, never rest.
Notes: The story is undated and not given a location, but Harlan Allison's presence in battle puts it shortly before October 2 2845 on New Delos, since his primary claim to fame is being the last of the Ducal Allison line of Oriente, dying in that battle (p. 66 of 2nd Succession War). I've dated it October 1, because if the southern perimeter has fallen, Harlan's card is probably pretty close to being punched. (Harlan Allison is, of course, a shout out to noted sci-fi author Harlan Ellison.) Allison was noted to be a staunch ally of Captain-General Gerald Marik.
Earlier sources placed the Sixth Battle of New Delos in early 2843, but the date from The Second Succession War sourcebook (October 2, 2845) is the definitive one, being more recent.
The reference to the Lyrans being the foe is an artifact of the Iron Writer no-fact-check conditions, since the actual attackers were Capellans (being right across the border from the Confederation, and more than 120 light years from the Lyran border).
Duke Harlan Allison's sons both died in battle during the ComStar War, his his daughter and granddaughter died in a car wreck. He designated his brother, Kendall, as heir, but Kendall was assassinated on October 4, before news of Harlan's death had circulated. House Allison was succeeded as the Ducal rulers of Oriente by House Halas, a prominent MechWarrior family.
The Second Succession War is inconsistent regarding the identities of the attacker and defender in the Sixth Battle of New Delos. The main text about Allison's death refers to it as a botched Capellan raid on New Delos, but the section on "La Reconquista" notes that the FWL had lost a lot of territory during the ComStar War, and pushed out aggressively to reclaim it - listing the 2845 fighting on New Delos as an "attack against the Capellan Confederation."
Jason Hardy was clearly having fun with the allusions to Edgar Allen Poe's poem about a raven's voice driving the author to madness (starting with Lt. Edgars).
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Date: 2888
Location: Old Kentucky
Title: The Mouse that Roared
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Seed (Touring the Stars - Old Kentucky)
Synopsis: The CCAF has re-invaded Old Kentucky, supported by a large and well-organized guerrilla movement that seized the pro-Marik legislature and the SAFE planetary HQ. Still to be dealt with - two battalions of FWLM 'Mechs (39th Marik Militia) and several regiments of conventional forces. The germanium mines near Fort Knox are a rich target, but well guarded, and surrounded by angry sasquatches. Plus, a hero of the guerrilla movement has been imprisoned by the garrison commander, inviting rescue attempts.
Notes: Interestingly, 2888 isn't the first time House Liao has returned to Old Kentucky after losing it in 2788. They attacked during the ComStar War and took it without a fight in 2837, as the FWLM abandoned the world during the consolidation of its forces. House Marik retook Old Kentucky in 2850, midway through "La Reconquista." According to the deployment tables, the 39th Marik Militia (Green/Questionable) garrisoned the world at the start of the 2nd Succession War, and had returned there during the Reconquista (dropping from 104% readiness to 66% during the world's recapture). Touring the Stars: Old Kentucky does not mention its 13-year liberation in the middle of the Marik occupation. (Not surprising, since TtS:OK predates the publication of the Second Succession War.)
The 39th Marik Militia is off the FWLM TO&E by 3014 (the only chart we have for the Third Succession War - in Historical: Brush Wars), so it appears they went from 66% to 0% when the pro-Liao guerrillas rose up and the CCAF dropped in, unless it met its ultimate end sometime during the prolonged fighting of the 2900s.
This, of course, brings up a numbering oddity - the 30th Marik Militia was formed in 2980, per Field Manual: Free Worlds League. Looking at the TO&E in Second Succession War, there is a 30th Marik Militia, so it may be properly said that the 30th and 34th were "re-formed" in the late 2900s and beyond. Once dead, however, the 39th appears to have stayed that way.
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Date: 3017
Location: New Avalon
Title: McGovern's Legacy
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Jayce McGovern works to repair and repaint the McGovern's Legacy DropShip - his sole inheritance from his recently deceased father, General Jules McGovern of the Davion Guard.
He recalls his father pretending to let him pilot the DropShip until he was nine, and noticed the real pilot operating a backup set of controls, and convinced his father to let him pilot the ship for real. He further flashes back to seeing his father gunned down in the street outside their house by his father's aide - a Lieutenant with an eyepatch and facial scars.
Jayce finishes the repairs and paint job just before dawn, enabling the ship to take part in the missing-man formation flown by the Davion Guard aerospace pilots in honor of his father, part of the dedication ceremony for the statue of his father.
Jayce swears to attend the academy and, someday, avenge the betrayal of his father.
Notes: This short entry was part of the 2009 Iron Writer contest, where writers at GenCon were given one hour to write a story on the theme of "Betrayal."
I've dated it to 3017 because we have a situation where members of the Davion Guard not only have personally owned 'Mechs, but even a family owned DropShip. This sort of ownership model was emblematic of the neo-feudal Third Succession War, when regiments were motley assemblages of MechWarrior families, with a noble commander drawing 'Mechs and troops from the demenses of his subordinate officers - all of whom are landed MechWarrior families.
In addition, 3017 is the year when the Dark Wing lance (from the SNES MechWarrior game) killed AFFS Colonel Joseph T. Ragen. With no other touchpoint, perhaps the Dark Wing had gotten multiple contracts to assassinate high ranking AFFS officers in 3017, before going underground. Jayce McGovern ends up with essentially the same motivation as Herras Ragen (go to the academy, get mad skilz, take sweet revenge), so it appeals to me to fit Jayce into that structure as well. The killer is Lt. Wolf Glupper or Lt. Zach Slasher, perhaps?
No other references to a McGovern exist in the entire BattleTech canon (except for a 3071 news article on New Syrtis, mentioning an Agent McGovern).
In the AFFS, "General" is the rank just below "Field Marshal" - generally assigned to command a March Militia RCT, and is considered a stepping stone to getting a Marshal's baton and command of a front line RCT. Since General McGovern was attached to a Davion Guard unit, either he was a General who had been breveted to command the unit in lieu of a dead/absent Field Marshal, or served as the XO to the Field Marshal in command of the RCT. This would explain why McGovern isn't listed on any TO&E - since only the CO is listed for any given RCT or regiment.
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Thanks for the correction on the bomb size. In that case, assuming a linear relationship between bomb weight and yield, the mega bomb goes from 50 tons to 50,000 tons,
You do realise that 50 tons is for the missile itself. In the nuclear construction rules in interstellar operations the Peacemaker's warhead would weigh between 1015 kilos and 255 kilos. (Depending on tech level of the warhead.)
And your direct linear scaling is also wrong. 200 Gigatons is 200 Million Kilotons, or 400,000 times the yield of a Peacemaker. So direct scaling... it would be the size of 8 Leviathan-class Battleships. Using Int Ops, most efficient... It would be a mere 100,000 tons. ::)
I take it there no stats for Boomer or something close to it? I guess we could use Union Pocket Warship if we needed it and forego the using advance non-star league weapons.
The description we get for such tactics is actually when the Regulans revived it during the Jihad at Paradise. It was a modified Mammoths lobbing thousands of nukes. And in Int Ops... its modified Freighters. So better stat representation would be Mule Q-Ships.
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Additional nitpick: Cray later commented that his original intent was a 2 gigaton warhead. 200 gigatons was a typo.
Also, the rules don't really go that big, so extrapolating things from those is questionable at best.
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I hadn't realized there were official formulae for calculating warhead weight. Thanks for noting it.
My original estimate for the Peacemaker warhead had been 250 lbs (0.125 tons), based on the Betrayal of Ideals scene with the two Widowmaker agents hauling one out of the Wolverine cache to their truck, several kilometers away through the wilderness. Your lower end estimate of 255 kilograms (0.281 tons) means those guys' arms must have really hurt afterwards.
Plugging in the new numbers, we see a 0.000000562 ton = 1 ton of TNT equivalency for that tech level. That gives us 112,400 tons for a 200 gigaton bomb. If, as you say, Cray intended only a 2 gigaton bomb, that lops off two zeros, for 1,124 tons, which is still within the range of what a modified Union could carry, making the attempted deception fit perfectly, and suggesting that the linear scaling can be applied in this case.
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Date: October 15, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: Lt. Walter de Mesnil reports to his portly, elderly CO, Hake Angleton, commander of the Angleton's Angels mercenary company, to raise concerns about their mission - to escort Litzau Enterprises heir Ivan Litzau in his coming of age ceremony that will make him eligible to become head of the corporation and, by extension, head of the planetary government. Hake acknowledges that the gun-camera footage of Ivan's practice runs were underwhelming.
Moving out to a balcony overlooking the Nyqvist River valley, the Litzau corporate compound, and the city of Rivergaard (what can been seen on the surface - most of the capital city is located in underground man-made caverns), Hake tells Walter he took the job because the world is beautiful, and the pay is sufficient to get all the unit's 'Mechs back in fully working order. He adds that he plans to retire on Maldives, and pass the unit on to Walter in healthy condition.
The key requirement is to make Chairman Presumptive Ivan Litzau into a passable MechWarrior in three weeks. Walter opines that it can't be done. He's interrupted by Acting Director Alexandra Litzau (Ivan's mother), who insists it must be done. She agrees that Ivan is not suited to be a MechWarrior, but explains that he does have the vision to reverse the cultural decline that is causing the colony on Maldives to fail. She notes that the population of Maldives has dropped by 700 million over the last two centuries, with an elaborate system of primogeniture keeping all the world's wealth concentrated in the hands of the First Families and their hereditary corporations through arranged marriages and joint ventures and mergers. She notes that her late husband wanted to change things, but died of lymphoma shortly after Ivan's birth. Ivan wants to carry on his father's work, but can only do so if he shows himself to be a master of the family's ancestral Trebuchet, Destrier, by completing a symbolic tour of corporate holdings in it. Walter's task is to serve as Companion - preparing him and then guiding him on the run through the course.
Walter asks why the corporate security force, the Litzau Lancers, can't supply a Companion. Alexandra explains that the Lancers' members are drawn from the First Families, calling their loyalty into question. She trusts her paid mercenaries more. She implores Walter to help Ivan succeed, for the good of all Maldives.
Walter agrees to do his best, and wants to get started immediately. Alexandra halts him, however, and instructs him to first go to have his dress uniform fitted for that evening's reception, which kicks off a series of social events attached to the Investiture ceremonies.
That evening, at Rivergaard House, Walter looks at himself in the mirror in his new uniform, and considers the life outlined by the medals on his chest. Chris Eck, the unit's Jenner pilot, stops by on the way to dinner with his wife, Laurie, and daughter, Kaylee. Walter asks Chris to see what Laurie can find out about Ivan Litzau through local gossip.
Walter feels trepidation as he heads to the reception, preferring social situations where a guest who says something offensive can be knocked out in a tavern brawl and stuffed in an outbound DropShip. The ballroom in the palace's left wing has seven-meter ceilings and a fantastic art collection, many pieces dating back over 1,500 years, from ancient Terra. Holoprojectors project a view of the night sky onto the ceiling, turning the orbiting rocks and space junk into a glittering crown.
Circling to sample the hors d'oeurves, Walter is approached by Director Richard Oglethorpe, Captain of the Rivergaard Rangers (the capital city's home guard), who disdainfully identifies Walter as the Companion, and then turns to implore his companion, Ivan Litzau, to select a Companion who has a better understanding of corporate political nuance. Walter acknowledges his lack of knowledge of the local situation, but pledges that he will be able to ably serve Ivan as Companion. Ivan expresses confidence in Walter and dismisses Richard.
In private, Ivan apologizes for Richard's behavior, explaining it as displaced anger towards Alexandra. He admires Walter's directness, a sharp contrast to the formal politeness of Maldives high society, and explains that Richard was the original choice to be Companion, but was dismissed by Alexandra, who feared that Richard might try to assassinate her son during the Vetting.
Walter is shocked that a potential assassin would be invited to the fete, but Ivan replies that the guest list would be extremely short if everyone who had designs on greater power on Maldives were excluded. Ivan points out, in particular, Capellan Consul Wen Xu-Tian, who hopes to bring Maldives into the Capellan sphere of influence as a means of ascending to the court on Sian.
Ivan excuses himself, and Walter is approached by a blonde woman who hands him a glass of dry red Zweigelt wine, introduces herself as an ecological researcher named Phee, and asks him to rescue her. Watching Ivan converse with the Capellan Consul, she remarks on his intellect, and his pursuit of knowledge. She asks Walter about his motivations for becoming a mercenary. Walter responds that he fell into the mercenary lifestyle because he had nothing better to do at the time.
The two are interrupted by a representative of the Federated Suns, Ambassador Quintus Allard, who thanks Phee for recommending Dr. Bitters to get his sons, Justin and Daniel, checked out. Quintus tells Walter that his boys are at the age where they dream of becoming MechWarriors. Departing, he surprises Walter by addressing 'Phee' as "Research Director Litzau." [She never officially states her real name, but the text refers to her as 'Sophia' rather than 'Phee' thereafter.] Walter admits to being an offworld bumpkin who didn't know to whom he was talking, but worries whether there might be political ramifications in the local culture if he dances with Ivan's younger sister. She responds that Maldives isn't the Draconis Combine, and that a dance will be fine.
They join the other couples on the ballroom floor and dance. While dancing, Walter points out Richard Oglethorpe and asks Sophia about his threat potential. She notes that 75% of the senior staff at Litzau Enterprises would need to be killed off before Richard would be in line to assume control, so he's not a true threat. She identifies Richard's dancing companion as her older sister, Abigail - who would have been the heir if Maldives' rules of primogeniture hadn't been patriarchal - and who begrudges Walter as part of the system that is preventing her from claiming her birthright.
They separate after the dance, and Walter decides to plead "jump lag" and retire early. Sophia is confronted by Abigail, who chides her for making a spectacle of herself with the mercenary. The sisters recount the besmirching of Richard's honor in their mother's choice to replace his as companion with a mercenary. Abigail says she hates seeing the Dhivi corporate elite being subordinate to an off-worlder. Sophia argues that, to change Maldives' hidebound ways, they must be united in support of Ivan. Abigail hopes that Sophia's trust in Walter is well placed, as a failure on his part could doom their ambitions.
Notes: Heir Apparent starts off with three chapters of scene setting, establishing the power players in this tale of corporate palace intrigue.
Stackpole attempts to break out of the stereotypes of the Periphery with his portrayal of Maldives. The first thought I usually have when thinking of the Periphery is of hardscrabble communities clinging to a rural, unsophisticated existence - the kind seen on Randall's Regret. This is a different kind of Periphery world - one that was highly developed during the Star League era, but was unravaged by war or invasion - just subject to a steady, slow decline over centuries. They aren't even terribly isolated, with diplomatic representatives from the Capellan Confederation and Federated Suns present, and discussions of exporting wine as far away as New Avalon. (Interesting that neither the Taurian Concordat nor the Magistracy of Canopus sent anyone to the Vetting.) Presumably, the Litzau corporation had the assets necessary to send a hiring agent all the way to Galatea, and Sophia is well enough versed in Inner Sphere culture to make a joke about the Draconis Combine's restrictive social caste system.
Walter de Mesnil has been a long-time background character in Stackpole's Kell Hound stories. He first appears in 3026 in "Warrior: En Garde" as a graying one-eyed MechWarrior sergeant with a gravelly voice, serving under Major Justin Allard in the 1st Kittery Training Battalion, leading his lance of cadets into battle against Capellan Cicadas. In 3027, Andrew Redburn later toasts Walter as the best Sergeant the battalion ever had when he resigns to return to the Kell Hounds, once Morgan returns and issues the recall order to the Kell Hound diaspora. He gets even more of a role in 3010, in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," appearing as a hovercab driver on Galatea who saves Patrick from being abducted by Free Worlds League agents. (Patrick "looks him in the eyes" in that scene, so his missing eye probably won't be a souvenir of his adventures on Maldives). While serving as the Kell brothers' primary aide, he notes that his Blackjack has been with the de Mesnil family for two centuries.
Stackpole reuses one of his favorite bits, having characters meet without realizing the position of the person they're talking to - allowing honest statements. In this case, it's Walter and "Phee"/Sophia. In "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" it was Laeticia "Lattie"/"Tisha" Hamilton and Patrick Kell.
It's not clear why the population has dropped 70% over 200 years. Alexandra seemingly attributes it to lack of opportunity and heavy offworld emigration - as the sons and daughters of the elites are married off to offworlders by families hoping to gain influence with offworld ties. I can see that thinning the ranks of the corporate elite First Families, but that wouldn't apply to the average citizens. Certainly, with transport assets in desperately short supply, it would be unlikely for there to be mass emigration on that scale. Perhaps an abnormally low birthrate? Just seems off, to me.
We get some key cameos - future MIIO Director Quintus Allard, with a reference to his sons - both of whom will be Walter's commanding officer in the future - Daniel as a Kell Hound, and Justin as CO of the Kittery Training Battalion. They're noted as being "half-brothers" - Justin's mother is Lady Xiang of Warlock, while Daniel's is Tamara Kearny of Kestrel. Daniel, born in 2997, would be three at this point. Justin is older, but his birth year is "classified." Since Quintus was forced to divorce Lady Xiang when Justin was five, he may have been born as early as 2990. Tamara doesn't make an appearance in this scene - staying with the boys instead of attending the reception.
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Ken' Horner was clearly having fun with the allusions to Edgar Allen Poe's poem about a raven's voice driving the author to madness (starting with Lt. Edgars).
You're kind but I don't think I wrote that one. I recall my Raven story being about a young Capellan girl delivering a crate in the middle of a war zone.
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You're kind but I don't think I wrote that one. I recall my Raven story being about a young Capellan girl delivering a crate in the middle of a war zone.
Thanks for the clarification - I sourced the authorship off Sarna - some confusion stemming from the fact that three different stories used Raven for the title.
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Thanks for the clarification - I sourced the authorship off Sarna - some confusion stemming from the fact that three different stories used Raven for the title.
Yeah, that was the 'theme' that year. You'll probably see a trend matching titles with themes.
That kind of sounds like something Jason hardy might write....
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Confirmed - it was Jason Hardy's. Fixed.
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Date: October 16, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: Walter meets Ivan at the Litzau Lancers' garrison base - half museum of the Concordat/Magistracy war (to which the Dhivi of Maldives sent troops) and half working military installation. The hangar hosts Destrier, the hereditary Trebuchet of House Litzau, along with Walter's Blackjack.
Walter tells Ivan that his callsign in the Angels is "Rail," (short for Azrail, the Angel of Death), but explains that it was bestowed after he wiped out a nest of cockroaches in the unit's billet, not for combat prowess.
Ivan explains that the Final Vetting is meant to recreate Augustine Litzau's defense of Rivergaard, but has evolved to symbolize Dhivi traditions and drive to survive. Ivan notes that his father changed the Vetting from a combat exercise to an endurance run that can only be failed if it is aborted. The actual sequence of events in the scenario is determined by First Family voting. Rather than practicing in his 'Mech, Ivan has been running simulations to predict how the First Families will vote.
Walter jokingly asks if Ivan's simulations included DNA analysis. Ivan, horrified, responds that DNA analysis is considered blasphemous on Maldives, since the First Families track genealogies as a matter of family honor. He notes that traditions are the foundation of what will allow Maldives to rebuild back to its golden age (albeit only once certain traditions - like male line primogeniture - are abolished).
Walter dismisses Ivan's preparations as useless, since anyone planning to disrupt the Vetting would be likely to try something out of the box, that a predictive simulation wouldn't cover. He also points out that any foes (known or unknown) would likely be running simulations of Ivan's likely course of action, and plotting their ambush accordingly.
Walter tells Ivan it's too late to train him up as a fully fledged MechWarrior, but he can get him good enough to survive the Vetting. He suggests doing a 'Mech simulator run of the course today, followed by a live walk of the course in 'Mechs tomorrow, albeit with all data recorders wiped to conceal any skill improvement. Walter promises to continue telling everyone Ivan is hopeless at the controls of a 'Mech, to throw off any opponent's simulations. Ivan concedes that his mother's choice of Walter as his Companion was a prudent move.
Notes: The perils of allocating scarce and complex military equipment to pilots by dint of their birthright has been a longstanding theme in BattleTech fiction. For every Duke Kai Allard-Liao, terror of the battlefield, there are plenty of social generals who go into battle with blind confidence in their own invulnerability (getting themselves and their lancemates ground into hamburger) or, worse, with post-it notes on the controls and the manual open in their lap.
Ivan Litzau is cut from slightly different cloth than, say, Thomas Hogarth (the most famous Lyran social general). He knows he lacks combat skills, and instead tries to re-frame the challenge to suit his strength - making it into an analytical exercise rather than a combat maneuver. (Hogarth, by contrast, was both blithely incompetent and supremely confident in his ability to defeat any foe - as long as his 'Mech outweighed theirs by 50% or more.)
We know, of course, that Walter has it in him to be an excellent trainer for new 'Mech pilots - becoming the training sergeant for the First Kittery Training Battalion under Justin Allard. Whether or not he can get Ivan up to snuff in the cockpit in less than two weeks is another question.
"Destrier" appears to be a stock TBT-5N model. That design was first produced by Corean Enterprises in 2799, making it surprising, but not impossible, that one would get all the way out to a backwater like Maldives in time for the 2813-2814 Magistracy/Concordat war. (Augustine used it to fend off salvage raiders during that war.)
It hasn't been expressly laid out, but I can infer that the people of Maldives call themselves the Dhivi, and are descended from a commercial colony established on Maldives during the Star League. House Litzau, in particular, has Austrian heritage they trace back to the 1500s. The planetary ruler is given the title of Duke, and also holds the title of Chairman (as head of Litzau Enterprises).
The rigid social stratification, enforced by intermarriage among the elite to keep property and monetary assets ensconced within the upper classes, and corresponding lack of opportunity for those not connected by blood ties may be what has led to a mass exodus of the planetary populace during the relative peaceful span (in this neck of the Periphery, anyways) of the Succession Wars. It seems likely that the cultural taboo on DNA analysis is likely due to the fact that some of the First Families' family trees have roots about as stable as the Entwood.
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Date: October 20, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: Hake and Walter share a bottle of whiskey as they commiserate over the oddities of their Maldives contract. Walter notes that Ivan continues to be indecisive - overthinking everything - down to his choice of callsign. He acknowledges that Ivan has intelligence and talent, but would need four years of experience to qualify to join the Angels.
Talk turns to the Dhivi, with Walter opining that if you put two Dhivi in a room, you get four conspiracies. Hake dismisses it as empty posturing, getting the sense that the First Families will accept Ivan as Chairman with the promise of greater stability in the future.
Hake turns the conversation to the future of the Angels, and his plans to turn it over to Walter and retire. He recommends Walter take a garrison contract with Ivan after he becomes Chairman and earn some easy cash to bring the unit to full strength before seeking new contracts on Galatea.
Hake asks Walter for inside information on Ivan's prowess, hoping to make some money in the active side-betting markets. Walter recommends Hake bet on Ivan taking out his targets with missiles, and reminds his CO that his own attacks will be factored into the scoring, which will boost Ivan's score.
Meanwhile, Sophia and Ivan discuss Walter's performance during a uniform fitting. Ivan confesses that Walter's directness has led him to view many things on Maldives and in his own life from a fresh perspective. He asks Sophia if she trusts him enough to bring him in on their secret work to further their father's plans. She advises waiting to see how Walter performs in the Final Vetting, and to make the decision on how to proceed from the vantage point of Chairman.
At the Rivergaard Rangers Security Services HQ, Richard Oglethorpe welcomes Lt. Aaron Doukas into his office, where they pretend (for the benefit of those watching through the glass office wall) that Doukas is being chewed out for poor performance. Doukas reassures Oglethorpe that the Rangers' loyalty to him is unquestioned. Oglethorpe looks at a picture of his father, and recalls that when Thomas Litzau was presumed lost during his Final Vetting, his father had become the leading candidate to assume the Chairmanship in the political infighting that followed.
Doukas, an offworlder, tells Oglethorpe that his father would have been a great Chairman, and that he is as loyal to Richard as he would be to his own family. Oglethorpe orders Doukas to revoke the Rangers' leave for the rest of the Vesting Celebration and schedule them for more training.
Notes: The October 20 chapter is all about plans. Hake's plans for a peaceful retirement on Maldives. Walter's plans to get Ivan through the ceremony (lying to Hake about Ivan's performance to throw off any spies listening in). Ivan and Sophia's plans to carry out their father's mysterious plan. Richard's plan to have the Rivergaard Rangers prepped for action - possibly in pursuit of his own elevation to Chairman.
We've had references in the past to Ivan's father, Thomas, having undergone an unusual ordeal during his Final Vetting, and subsequently changing the test to largely eliminate the combat element. From the context of this conversation, he and his Companion disappeared during the event, leading to all the potential rivals emerging to claim his title. This would likely have left them exposed and vulnerable when Thomas reappeared unexpectedly, and probably led to reduced status for those who had seriously overstepped their bounds.
Sophia and Ivan comment on their father's worry that his plan would be at risk if there were offworld involvement. Given those introduced in the previous chapters, suspicion immediately falls on the Capellan Consul and the Federated Suns Ambassador.
The politics of the Rivergaard Rangers begin to become apparent in Richard's statement that "You earn a berth in the Rangers. It's not a birthright." We've previously been told that the members of the Litzau Lancers are drawn exclusively from the First Families, implying that heredity is the primary consideration. I wonder if the Lancers get better equipment than the Rangers, due to their role as a showcase unit for planetary nobles.
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Is it weird that Hake talks about returning to Galatea for new contracts, instead of some other, closer, merc world? That's a long way to go to find work.
with 20,000 passengers, at 7 tons/month/passenger, the RWS Raven looks like it started out hauling about 400,000 tons of consumables. I'm not sure how they cram all that in. The class of the Raven isn't given, but the JumpShip captain is shown being harangued by six other individuals, implied to be the DropShip captains. That would imply it has a capacity of at least 6, suggesting Star Lord class. Mammoths were only first manufactured two years earlier
Two months of standard rations would be about perfect for six Mammoths, so rationing might make up the difference. (Although DropShips & JumpShips dates both the Mammoth and the Behemoth to around the end of the Star League, the Star League sourcebook pushed them back to around 2650. I forget how you decided to resolve that discrepancy.)
Another option is for the RWS Raven to be a primitive design with an arbitrarily large amount of cargo within its own hull.
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Is it weird that Hake talks about returning to Galatea for new contracts, instead of some other, closer, merc world? That's a long way to go to find work
Stackpole is trying to set up Walter's presence on Galatea in 3010 in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets." Circa 3000, Galatea is the merc hub of the Inner Sphere. The other major merc hiring halls of the time are regional affairs - catering to mercs contracting on specific borders, and often only seasonally functional (tied to periodic MechWarrior Games).
Two months of standard rations would be about perfect for six Mammoths, so rationing might make up the difference. (Although DropShips & JumpShips dates both the Mammoth and the Behemoth to around the end of the Star League, the Star League sourcebook pushed them back to around 2650. I forget how you decided to resolve that discrepancy.)
Another option is for the RWS Raven to be a primitive design with an arbitrarily large amount of cargo within its own hull.
The preponderance of the evidence is that the Mammoth and Behemoth were late-Star League/Early Succession War designs. The 2650 date might refer to prototypes that were shelved and didn't go into full production for over a century.
Mammoth: Another example of a design that debuted in the latter part of the First Succession War, when (ostensibly) most shipyards had been wiped out and industry had been shattered across the length and breadth of the Inner Sphere.
Strangely, the profile of Krester’s Ship Construction in The Star League sourcebook indicates that Krester’s designed both the Behemoth and Mammoth in the mid-2600s, and put a Mammoth prototype into flight in 2658, and the prototypes were stolen under suspicious circumstances (suggesting that Krester’s organized the theft of their own prototypes to allow them to be sold on the open market…though the date given in 2650, eight years before the prototypes were manufactured). That being the case, why would the Behemoth not have formally debuted until 2782 and the Mammoth until 2808?
The Master Unit List attempts to split the difference by listing the 2658 prototype separately from the 2808 “Standard” version, but there’s no text explaining the rationale. If we’re going with the “most recent source is correct,” then TRO: 3057 (Revised) swings the introduction date to 2808, more or less invalidating the paragraphs on Krester’s Ship Construction in the Star League sourcebook.
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Ahh, I'd forgotten that (on both counts). Thanks. :)
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One possibility is that, when Krester's efforts to get the ship on the open market ahead of Star League regulatory approval came to light, the ship's production got caught up in legal entanglements and the designs were shelved until the collapse of the Star League bureaucracy unintentionally unencumbered the blueprints, allowing firms to begin full production.
The "stolen" prototypes may have been successfully shipping cargoes during the Star League era, but sightings would be vanishingly rare.
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I'm assuming Ixtapa found a secret supply or "Brian Mash" of the stuff.
Food doesn't get mentioned much in the fiction, though the PPC gets some air time. Anyone ever tried drinking one?
If I recall it's 2 shots (4?) Grain alcohol + 1 of flavor (sake, kerosene ha ha!, ouzo, tequila, etc.) Sounds moderately lethal. Kerosene is probably a reference to baijiu, which trust me, smells and tastes the part.
Also, to quote Inglorious Basterds: There's a special place in hell reserved for people who waste good sake. Using it as a mixer qualifies.
actually it's "aviation fuel" in the book.. which given that Victor Milan's Cabellero trilogy has frequent references ot the Combine using Ethanol based fuels as a standard, probably is alchohol based. though it's probably the kind of alcohol that'll make you blind. (could be a reference to how Russian troops in ww2 used to drain their aircraft's de-icing systems when they couldn't get real booze.. the de-icing systems of the time using alcohol blends.)
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Date: November 6, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: As Walter inspects his woodland camo painted Blackjack in the Litzau Lancers Garrison hangar, he is interrupted by Sophia, who expresses confidence in him as Ivan's Companion.
Walter confides that he's modified the beacons in the 'Mechs, so the satellite displays tracking their progress for a planetwide audience will show them a kilometer west of their true position. She promises to keep his secret, and kisses him goodbye.
Walter mounts his 'Mech and uses his voice authorization code to activate its systems. He signals Ivan that "Rail" is ready. Ivan responds with his callsign - "Spurs" - and marches "Destrier" out to join Walter's Blackjack. The Angels salute as the two 'Mechs exit the hangar.
En route to the trial course, they march past cheering crowds lining the streets of Rivergaard. Pausing before a reviewing stand, Ivan receives his mother's benediction and pledges not to fail. The two 'Mechs then set course for Hard Luck Point, a narrow pass on a plateau near the headwaters of the Nyqvist River, where Augustine Litzau killed some raiders, according to local tradition.
Four hours into the Vetting, Walter and Ivan stop to make camp at a pre-arranged site, festooned with holocameras for the benefit of the watching populace. Over a dinner of ration packs, Ivan tells Walter his father chose one of the Litzau Lancers has his Companion and subsequently married her. He notes that his sister Abigail served with distinction in the Lancers, but resigned because she resented the expectation that she would be the Companion, rather than the Heir.
A noise cuts their conversation off, and Walter tells Ivan to mount up as two Stingray fighters pass overhead to the southwest, strafing the forest right where Walter's altered signal indicated they were camped.
Back at the Litzau Lancers Garrison, in Rivergaard, Sophia hears aerospace fighters pass overhead, followed by the sounds of nearby gunfire. Armed figures in masks stormed into the Lancers museum, and Sophia flees out the back. Smoke rises over Rivergaard as fighters strafe the city.
Running down the street, she sees a Locust in Rivergaard Municipal Constabulary[/i] colors approaching the garrison hangar, reaching it just as an Angel Commando emerges. The mercenary Commando attacks the Locust, toppling it into the street. Sophia concludes that the Commando pilot is working with the attackers. The masked attackers catch up with her, and a rifle butt catches her in the head, knocking her out.
Back in the Nyqvist Upland Preserve, Walter finds himself having to dodge laser fire as raider infantry attack their campsite. Firing blindly, Walter manages to disarm one of the attackers, then returns to climbing the ladder to the Blackjack's cockpit. He feels warmth on his back and braces for the end, then realizes it is the Trebuchet's lasers, which proceed to burn the raiders to ash and core their Packrat LRPV.
Reaching his cockpit, Walter tells Ivan to seek shelter in a ravine to the northwest, and to pull his radio and transponder - explaining how to do it as he does the same - rendering them invisible to the enemy aerospace fighters.
In the ravine, Ivan points out chunks of wreckage from Augustine's famous battle during the Concordat-Magistracy War. Walter realizes that the widely scattered metal pieces will make their 'Mechs invisible on magres. This theory is borne out when a pair of aerospace fighters passes by overhead without diverting to attack.
Ivan leads Walter towards a lake in a protected nature preserve, marked as Lac du Vallee on the topographical map. "Destrier" marches into the lake and waves at Walter to follow, before disappearing below the surface. Walter pushes his Blackjack in after Ivan, hoping he can assist his youthful charge, and is stunned to find himself sinking down to a ferrocrete landing pad on the lake floor. He follows Ivan up a ramp and into a manmade chamber with eight 'Mech bays.
Walter disembarks and finds Ivan pale and vomiting from shock, following his first combat experience. He congratulates Ivan on saving him, and asks about the secret base. Ivan answers that only a handful of people on Maldives know about the base, and that it's probably why someone wants him dead.
Walter finds some food and tries to break Ivan out of his shock, telling him he's proven himself as a warrior and proper heir to Augustine's tradition, and that instead of emotionally retreating into numbness, he should get angry that someone is trying to kill him and seize his family's company.
Ivan leads Walter through doors secured by biometric locks to a command center - in the heart of a project started by Ivan's great-grandfather nearly a century ago. He explains that the Dhivi avoided choosing sides in the Taurian-Magistracy War. The fighting nonetheless came to Maldives, causing economic and environmental damage. The survivors concentrated power with the First Families as they worked to rebuild.
He notes that by the third postwar generation, those born to privilege and wealth considered it a birthright, rather than an obligation. Critics of the oligarchy were stripped of their power and station, and exiled. Calling up a display, he explains that the project has been illegally collecting DNA records for eighty years. The data shows many incriminating examples of male heirs born on the wrong side of the sheets, and not actually genetically linked to the patriarch they succeeded. Ivan notes that such information could cause tremendous upheaval in the primogeniture-based power structure. Ivan's grandfather's plan was to use this information, when conditions were ripe, as blackmail material to force through massive social reforms.
Walter speculates that the attack in the woods may not have just been an attempt to replace him as Heir, but an attempt to bring down Maldives' entire social structure.
Ivan's attempts to call up feeds from planetary broadcasts fail to detect a signal initially, but then resolve into a message from an organization calling itself The Collective. The speaker identifies its members as the disenfranchised population of Maldives.
The scene shifts to Litzau Enterprises corporate headquarters and the remaining Litzau Lancers being obliterated by massed airstrikes. The speaker then claims his troops have killed Ivan. Black-painted BattleMechs patrol Rivergaard, and soldiers herd shellshocked citizens into custody. The speaker demands obedience to the new order and promises vengeance on any supporters of the Planetary Board.
Ivan tells Walter he fears for his sister and the Angels, because he recognizes the black 'Mechs in the streets as the Rivergaard Rangers - Richard Oglethorpe's regiment. Walter speculates that Richard has decided to be proactive about removing the 75% of the corporate headquarters staff that stand ahead of him in the line of succession for chairmanship of the Planetary Board.
Seeing that Ivan is on the verge of a breakdown, Walter refocuses him on his successes in evading the ambush and reaching shelter undetected. He acknowledges that Ivan's family and his own mercenary unit are probably dead, but suggests that Sophia would be a good candidate for being taken prisoner, rather than killed.
Ivan updates Walter on the base's assets - spare parts and ammunition dating back to the Magistracy-Concordat war, and its existence erased from all historical references. Only Sophia knows its location.
Walter sets about making plans set up a secret escape route should Sophia talk to the invaders, and to scout the enemy's activities in the region. Ivan suggests that the base has the equipment to let Walter search more efficiently, with lower risk.
Notes: The information that Ivan is wearing the same spurs his father wore in his Final Vetting suggests ties between House Litzau and the AFFS, which has a tradition of wearing spurs in 'Mech cockpits.
For such a short-conflict (the eight-month Taurian-Magistracy War), it's odd that the Taurians would go to the trouble of building a logistics base on a neutral world. From what was written about it in the First Succession War sourcebook, the fighting was only eight days in length (the remaining 7.75 months spent with troops in transit) and often embarrassingly one-sided.
For an unaffiliated Periphery world, Maldives is exceptionally well armed. Not only does it have hired mercenaries (the Angels), but also a 'Mech-equipped corporate security force (Litzau Lancers), a 'Mech-equipped planetary capital garrison (Riveraard Rangers), and a 'Mech-equipped city police force (Rivergaard Municipal Constabulary). This is in 3000, when many Inner Sphere worlds were considered sufficiently garrisoned by a combined-arms company, and a typical Capellan planetary militia detachment was described as two battalions of infantry (primarily to man fortifications), with one company of light armor.
Granted, this is supposed to be a prelude to the Harebrained Schemes BattleTech game, which will feature copious 'Mech on 'Mech combat throughout this region. If 'Mechs were as rare as the original 3025 source material made them out, there'd be a dearth of 'Mech combat in a 'Mech combat game.
I was surprised to see Stingrays involved in the attack, since they're noted as being primarily in Marik and Steiner service, with other Houses having "a few in inventory." One might suspect that either the League is backing The Collective or, more likely, House Liao supplied The Collective with captured Marik equipment to shift attribution.
The reveal of the DNA mapping scheme is all kinds of weird. It makes the Dhivi (short for Maldivians?) seem as obsessed about their genealogies as the Clans are about their codexes and Blood houses. By implication, there would be legal basis for the disenfranchisement and exile of many prominent families if their status as bastard offspring were revealed. Who would enforce this, though? It seems more likely to trigger a civil war, especially if so many families have been concealing genetic traces of hanky panky. Unless House Litzau can prove its own legacy is pure (and who'd trust any records they produced about themselves?), they'd lack the moral high ground to force the targeted families to accept societal change. In fact, given the taboo about collection of DNA, any blackmail attempt would more than likely rebound as the Dhivi elite band together to expunge House Litzau for engaging in the forbidden science of DNA research. (How very Frank Herbert...begin the Maldivian Jihad!)
It's odd that such a minor world would care so much about this, when House Kurita both fell and rose again due to the ascendancy and legitimization of bastard offspring. Each world to their own, I suppose. The Zurs (of Zurich) believe in executing rapists at the moment of their child's birth to provide a soul for the resultant offspring.
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It'll be interesting to see if, when and to what extent the HBS content is canonized for BattleTech proper. (I'm lumping Stackpole's story in with the HBS story because it's published via HBS, and also because I expect it will tie into the main story arc of the game somehow.)
That said, current BattleTech canon has the world's name down as Maldive (without the "s" at the end), it was a Capellan world that dropped off the map sometime during the 3rd Succession War judging from the maps in Handbook: House Liao. A text search didn't turn up any information beyond that.
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That said, current BattleTech canon has the world's name down as Maldive (without the "s" at the end), it was a Capellan world that dropped off the map sometime during the 3rd Succession War judging from the maps in Handbook: House Liao. A text search didn't turn up any information beyond that.
Entirely possible that Maldive and Maldives are different systems, not unlike the Garrote and Garotte systems. In roughly the same general vicinity, but spelled slightly differently. Being a Capellan system for most of the Succession Wars wouldn't match up with being a battlefield during the Taurian-Magistracy war.
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Entirely possible that Maldive and Maldives are different systems, not unlike the Garrote and Garotte systems. In roughly the same general vicinity, but spelled slightly differently. Being a Capellan system for most of the Succession Wars wouldn't match up with being a battlefield during the Taurian-Magistracy war.
First Succession War mentions combat in the Taurian-Magistracy War only taking place on four worlds, all of which are named, so that's another problem with making this canon, unfortunately.
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It's possible that the Taurian resource raid that was repulsed by Augustine Litzau was a side-event to the war - no MAF vs. TDF action (all four of which were recorded in First Succession War), but two lances of TDF troops establishing a small firebase on Maldives and using it as a staging point to raid the neutral Dhivi for supplies and parts during the Taurian-Canopian conflict, but not as part of it.
One might assume they did something roughly akin to taking out the main fusion reactor on Tharkad (Jihad-era) in the process, since their depradations apparently damaged the planetary ecosystem and put the world's economy and population levels into a steep decline, despite Augustine Litzau singlehandedly shattering both lances with his trusty Blackjack.
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Is it positively confirmed that those who attacked Maldives were TDF? I'm wondering if it could be a rogue unit/group of deserters/pirate band in TDF colours?
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The attackers are described as "salvage raiders" of unspecified origin, but it's stated that the secret base with eight 'Mech cubicles was built by the Taurians.
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Hmm. Would it be a stretch to suggest a facility built clandestinely by the TDF, but found and used by someone else?
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Here's what we've got from "Heir Apparent"
Ivan: "This was originally a Taurian facility; built before the war, halfway up a mountain, overlooking a river valley some glacier gouged into the landscape an ice age ago. During the war the Magistracy took out some hydroelectric dams to cut power to Rivergaard. The subsequent flood put the lake here, drowning this place."
Regarding the raiders: "Destrier had been owned by the Litzau corporation since before the Concordat-Magistracy War. Chairman Augustine Litzau had used it to fend off salvage raiders during the war, and was credited with saving Rivergaard."
Re: the fighting on Maldives: "The Concordat-Magistracy War may have ended a hundred and ninety years ago, but Maldives still bore proof of the fierce fighting that had characterized the conflict. Ample amounts of wreckage still littered the landscape."
So, it appears in this book's backstory, there was a fifth, apparently unrecorded by ComStar, battlefield in the Taurian-Magistracy conflict. The Taurians set up a base on Maldives prior to the war, and then the Magistracy attacked (making the "salvage raiders" MAF, by extension) and trashed the planetary infrastructure (hydro dams), flooding the access shaft to the TDF outpost. There were presumably other TDF installations on Maldives that got smoked by the superior MAF firepower. Once the TDF garrison was waxed, the Litzau security forces mopped up what was left of the MAF raiders.
Conclusion A: ComStar missed a portion of the war in its historical reports. There's precedent, but it's a bit of a handwave.
Conclusion B: Heir Apparent exists outside of the standard BattleTech continuity. Which would be a shame, reflecting a lack of coordination between HBS and Catalyst, since the whole appeal of a shared universe is internal consistency.
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I don't recall any canon sources that described the Canopean-Taurian war as "Fierce". The word I think would be most descriptive is "comical".
So as a third option, perhaps the fighting on Maldives was omitted by Comstar because it didn't fit their narrative of two bumkin states ineffectively flailing at each other.
Though I think separate continuity is going to be most accurate. The Hairbrained schemes plotline might punch up the details of the Canopean-Taurian war in order to better fit their backstory and lay the groundwork for the campaign.
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Catching up on some Warrior Trilogy stuff I missed. Like, if Janice Rand is Yeoman Rand, then have I been wrong about Hanse Davion all this time? Is Captain Dechan Fraser the one true Jim Kirk analogue?
Rarity indicators were standard for products like this at the time, such as TSR's Monster Manuals. One problem, as you can see, is that once specific numbers of unit X are codified as existing, future authors run the risk of over-using rare units.
The high concentration of Cicadas is unusual for a Liao unit, since that design is only produced in the Free Worlds League. No unit in the CCAF is listed as using Cicadas as its primary BattleMechs.
The Rifleman is one of the most common 'Mechs on the battlefield (particularly in the Federated Suns), and has been since the waning days of the Star League. What does it say about Justin's education and experience that he's never heard of Riflemen being able to flip their arms before?
why would an ace MechWarrior like Wolfson be utterly unfamiliar with its performance profile? And why would Xiang have only thought of exploiting the weak rear armor based on an anecdotal comment Dan Allard once told him about one way to beat Riflemen?
My suspicion is that the academies and other informal training options in the Inner Sphere is severely lacking in combat performance analytics (perhaps such procedures have become LosTech). The Shrapnel story, "Painting the Town," where the Combine troopers battle mysterious pristine Marauders features one soldier who knows that pristine Marauder armor became LosTech centuries ago, but the rest were clueless. The one know-it-all is noted as spending her free time with her head buried in technical manuals - and is an exception to the norm. It appears that the vast majority of MechWarriors lack the intellectual curiosity to check out the specs on the kinds of equipment they might be facing, preferring to master the quirks of their centuries-old patched up war machines.
This would strongly suggest that, despite the New Avalon Herald's enthusiastic endorsement, ComStar's Technical Readout: 3025 is not required reading for either cadets or fully fledged MechWarriors.
In the mechwarrior as knight model, the scene with Wolfson works for me, because training is informal and highly personal. In the context of modern military training though, I agree it's just baffling, and would indicate a very basic level of training, with nothing on familiarizing cadets on potential opponents.
There's a Solaris VII fight near the beginning of En Garde between a Rifleman and two Vindicators (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56256.msg1289227#msg1289227), that I'm wondering if maybe the Vindicators were originally meant to be Clints but got changed because of the Clint's rarity.
The Cicada is hard to quantify. Capellan manufacturing isn't well documented before the 3060s, so we don't actually know if they were manufactured in the Confederation or not, and the Free Worlds League produces so few that it'd be trivial to match them. TR:3025 does at least note Liao's use of Cicada variants, and it's not like any CCAF regiments list UrbanMechs as their primary unit either.
The Rifleman's status may be deceptive. TR:3025 says that new production is only recently making the 'Mech common again: even if the Kell Hounds have the newest copy of that TRO, the training battalion might not; and so much of the data in our real-life version of the TRO is anecdotal (or outdated, or otherwise suspect) to begin with that I don't find Justin's reaction at all incongruous. I think it springs from the scope of the setting. In an age of centuries-old patchwork 'Mechs, you can't hope to have hard data on everything you'll encounter, which means a lot of your information will necessarily be word of mouth, you'll be used to relying on word of mouth, and there's no guarantee that unfamiliar types will behave exactly as reported.
Plus, I don't think you can read too much into Wolfson's mistake. He's said to like running his 'Mechs hot and apparently got angry enough to lapse into those old reflexes--more a lack of discipline and practice than a lack of knowledge. (I'd say something similar about Justin, but I realize that looking too hard at this stuff is kinda the point of the thread, and that it's not all 100% serious.)
Noton proceeds to his own alcove, marked by his sigil - a cartoon ghost centered in crosshairs
If only marshmallows weren't LosTech :(
;D These are great separately and even better together.
Once the man departs, Michi draws his service pistol and executes Satoh, clearing the way to take command of the Ryuken and save those who survive.
<snip>
I wonder how many DCMS regiments were needlessly lost throughout the Succession Wars because their commanders mindlessly attempted to execute plans that had long since been overcome by events.
I wonder why so many merc units are willing to sign on with the Combine, given their proven track record of using company store tactics to impoverish and then absorb merc units, alongside their casual disdain.
I talked with Mr. Stackpole at a book signing once and asked if he'd ever played the board game much before writing the books. He responded "Just enough to learn to not let anyone get behind me." This is probably why the text attributes Yorinaga's inability to defeat Morgan to Colonel Kell's remarkable aptitude at dodging incoming fire - an option not available in the 2nd Edition board game ruleset of the time.
There's a fan theory I quite like, that the Combine's overall strategy is based on attrition, and that's why they're often willing to expend troops. The Mercenary's Handbook claims that the Combine tends to win (which I assume translates to more plunder and fewer losses) which offsets their company store tactics.
I appreciate the parallel between Michi's action here and Yorinaga's on the other front (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56256.msg1293527#msg1293527); I hadn't thought to connect them with the Combine's formal rules of vendetta. Your points about Yorinaga's "ki" and the four Drac archetypes are also really interesting. I read Shogun for the first time recently, and it's easy to see some influence.
I wonder if Morgan and Yorinaga's backstory grew out of an RPG campaign; En Garde has a 1988 copyright, and the 1986 edition of MechWarrior allows players to spend XP before a roll (their own roll, or that of any friend or foe within LOS) to modify that single roll by up to +/-5. That would seem to cover Phantom Mech skill, Minobu Tetsuhara's Ki, and could partly account for why Stackpole has lighter combatants pause to watch assault 'Mechs fight. "Whether characters call it a stroke of luck, a triumph of strategy, or divine intervention, adjustments to die rolls can often make the difference between life or death" (page 24). It's interesting, if not surprising, that the rule mentions the in-character perception of the effect without committing to any particular flavor for the objective physics of the event. If we extend the mechanic to strategic or psychohistorical forecasting, then it also creates an avenue for precognitive visions.
It’s significant that, prior to writing for FASA’s BattleTech game, Michael Stackpole designed and wrote the “Mercenaries, Spies, & Private Eyes” RPG for Flying Buffalo. The work he did on that project is evident in his BattleTech work – which was the first to really get into storylines pitting intelligence agencies against each other.
Kym Sorenson is a MIIO agent assigned to infiltrate Lestrade’s inner circle and, now, assigned to keep tabs on Justin.
he must have been aware that she was MIIO and that she wasn't in on his mission. I wonder what his long-term game plan was.
Interesting; I wonder how well MS&PE works with the MechWarrior RPGs.
I don't think Justin had any long term plans about any of his activities on Solaris VII. They all seem opportunistic. It's a neat bit of plotting on Stackpole's part, how taking advantage of Justin's disgrace left a gap in the surveillance of Lestrade, which creates the opening for the Silver Eagle incident.
Solaris VII is not a Lyran world, but an independent world under Lyran protection.
If Trellwan and Verthandi are anything to go by, that may be true of most worlds in Lyran space. Could be an arrangement similar the one in the Star Trek episode "A Piece of the Action."
Since she's only 17, she probably gets a pass...though it is a small sign of where Katherine Steiner-Davion got her entitled attitude.
That's a good catch.
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Date: November 8, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: At the Golden Prosperity Re-education Camp (formerly the Rivergaard Municipal Arena), Sophia's broken cheek is treated by Laurie - wife of Walter's now deceased lancemate Chris in the Angels, and mother of Kaylee, who has accompanied her to the camp.
A woman identified as Madam Proctor announces a re-education lecture on the evil methods used by the First Families to harm the people of Maldives, followed by denunciations and confessions, and then work parties to make amends for ongoing resistance attacks. As the proctor departs, Laurie tells Sophia that she should run if she gets a chance, having assessed Golden Prosperity as a death camp.
Notes: The fury felt by the proctor appears real, so she seems to have a real beef with the overthrown planetary elites. This is certainly understandable - since the First Families have used elaborately forged family trees to justify their stranglehold on the planetary wealth for centuries.
The demands for the elites to confess to "crimes against the people" and denounce them suggests that the revolutionaries feel they still lack sufficient legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of the planetary population, and are launching an propaganda campaign to address that deficiency. The propaganda value of the captured elites is probably the only reason they're still alive, since the revolutionaries certainly don't seem likely to try to institute a slave-labor based economy or to try to boost tourism running their version of the Hunger Games.
One wonders exactly what Laurie and Chris went through during past Angels contracts that she knows the signs of a death camp. In the crumbling tail end of the Third Succession War, mercenaries were more likely to be ransomed than to rot in an internment camp. That means that ideologically-driven insurgencies are less common than ones driven by political machinations of the Great Houses.
That being said, the rhetoric being spouted by Madame Proctor could have come out of the John Candy/Tom Hanks movie "Volunteers (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/volunteers/)" (Capitalist Imperialist Running Pig Dogs! Ptui!!) This would suggest that the revolutionaries have had substantial amounts of indoctrination in political and economic theories to justify armed insurrection. The anti-corporate bent and emphasis on class warfare suggests a populist, possibly communist bent (though none of the states near Maldives is communist - a throw-away line from the Liao sourcebook indicates the term "Commonality" is a relic from a brief flirtation with communism.)
Given the cameo by a Capellan ambassador earlier, one suspects that this is part of a Maskirovka operation. These folks might be a primitive version of the zhan zheng de guang - locals with legitimate grievances supported by the Maskirovka and indoctrinated into rising up on behalf of the Capellan Confederation.
The mention that the "unrepentant corporate lackey comrades continue their repressive war against the people," strongly suggests that loyalist forces are still active as of November 8th, two days after the loyalists in the Rivergaard garrison, the Angels, and the Litzau Lancers were annihilated.
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Date: November 11, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: In the Nyqvist Upland Preserve, Walter scouts around the perimeter of the hidden Litzau outpost in the Lac du Valee, downloading data from holovid cameras positioned in the vicinity years earlier to study local wildlife. There is no sign of continuing searches by the Collective, and Walter reasons that 36 hours of torrential rains have concealed any trail left by his and Ivan's 'Mechs.
Ivan analyzes the images of the Collective agents captured over the previous week by the cameras, noting that many have criminal records, and none are from the ranks of the planetary elite. Walter suspects the ones not in Ivan's database are mercenaries.
Ivan analyzes the metadata on the Collective propaganda broadcasts, which suggests that loyalist guerrillas managed to destroy the primary Collective transmitter, forcing them to rely on a back up facility.
Ivan tells Walter he has to leave the bolt hole. He says his plan was to get through the Vetting, then change things on Maldives. Now, he sees that the citizens are being forced into re-education camps, and that there is still armed resistance, and he feels he has a duty to support the resistance and free his people.
Walter cautions that charging in with two 'Mechs would be suicidal. He asks Ivan to put his analytical skills to use on where and how to hit the Collective where it will have the most impact. Ivan says he needs more data, and Walter proposes a recon mission to get it.
Notes: We see at work here the same psychological factors that led the Kentares militia troops to leave the refugee hideout in the copper mine and make a suicide run into the teeth of the Combine extermination campaign (see my earlier entries on the Kentares Massacre Journal). Walter and Ivan are safe, for now, but they have friends and loved ones out there still in imminent danger, and they feel compelled to use what tools are at their disposal to do something, anything.
On the USIIR scale, Maldives would probably rate at least a B for technological sophistication, with planetary holovid networks and capabilities for metadata analysis, whereas on some worlds in the Davion outback, people who'd never seen a hologram thought they were being attacked by ghosts when a traveling theater company came through from offworld. As previously noted, there's also an impressive concentration of military force on Maldives for 3000, considering that on many backwater worlds circa 3025, two 'Mechs would be able to topple the planetary government without breathing hard.
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Date: November 15, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Heir Apparent
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Heir Apparent)
Synopsis: Walter and Ivan's recon mission takes them to a small farm on the edge of the preserve. Collective propaganda touts peace and unity, while showing work gangs of "volunteers" under guard cleaning debris. Facial analysis shows many of the "safety officers" are from the ranks of the planetary elite (the "Preferred").
Equipped with a cache of gold and platinum coins and civilian clothes from a compartment in his command couch, Walter hopes to become an "everyman" that can blend in. Ivan has dyed his hair and gotten as scruffy as possible. Together, they're "Wall-eye Wilson" and "Carl Spurling."
Approaching the farm, they're confronted by the farmer and his two sons. They claim to be unaware of the coup, or the outcome of the vetting. The farmer recommends they go back to where they came from (they claim it's the town of Swindon), and offers breakfast in exchange for some wood splitting and stable mucking. Over breakfast, the farmer inquires if they escaped from a work detail. From the farmer's description, Walter surmises they are digging mass graves over by Swindon.
At noon, Ivan and Walter leave, headed for Swindon over a winding 20+ km route. As dusk approaches, they reach the outskirts of the small ranching community (corn, vegetables, sheep), with a cottage industry in wool spinning, weaving, and knitting. Ivan points out a large mansion as "August House," House Litzau's High Summer home, where he and Walter had planned to use secure data connections to access the planetary network. It is lit up brightly, suggesting unusual activity.
Ivan maps out how they can get in unnoticed through the sewage blockhouse, and one picked lock later, they enter a concealed "panic room" lined with computer consoles. Ivan inputs a virus to eliminate records that might lead back to the farm they visited in the morning, and gather up all newly changed records.
Video monitors show prisoners burying corpses in the gardens, under heavy guard. Ivan calls Walter's attention to one of the prisoners - Sophia, and says they have to go do something. Walter talks Ivan out of rushing in impulsively.
Calmer, Ivan notes the controls in the room can lock and unlock doors, manipulate the electrical system, and provide access to hidden safe rooms. Walter instructs Ivan to identify the professional mercenaries (for priority targeting), and to distract the guards by monkeying with the lights and doors, while he goes to try to extract Sophia.
Walter moves out, focusing on the job. He notes that he doesn't hate the Collective troops - they're just obstacles between him and mission completion for his employer. Noting the irony, he compares his lack of emotion to Maldives' corporate governance, which engendered the coup through its treatment of the people as faceless labor units.
Silently killing two sentries, he reaches the truck where Sophia is getting another body for burial. He signals Walter to douse the lights, kills another guard, and tells Sophia to run to the house. The prisoners scatter as the inexperienced revolutionary guards fire wildly into the darkness, often targeting their comrades' muzzle flashes. In the house, Sophia tells Walter she's stunned to learn he's alive, since the Collective broadcasts the details of his death on an hourly basis.
Ivan uses the hallway sound system to interrupt their reunion, warning them to get back to the truck and take it. A door opens (thanks to Ivan), they run together through the darkness to the truck, which Walter starts without incident in the midst of the ongoing chaos. Shots hit the truck as it begins to drive off, but stop when all the lights come back on at full intensity, blinding the surviving guards.
Just as Walter thinks they've gotten away cleanly, a Rivergaard Rangers' Wasp appears out of the gloom 100 meters away, pointing its laser at the truck. Walter stops the truck and raises his hands in surrender.
Notes: The farm, as described, suggests a small-scale family farm, rather than an industrial agribusiness. 20 hectares under cultivation, a small dairy to make butter and cheese, and a smokehouse, plus a still for homemade firewater, and evidence that this is supplemented by poaching on the nature reserve.
I would have presumed that, on such a corporate world, all commercial operations would be controlled by the First Families' megacorps, and be thoroughly modernized and bureaucratized. Perhaps this is an example of the small scale economic activity that gets the regular people by on the margins of the First Families' oligarchic system. Without access to corporate financing, they have to make do in standard Periphery fashion, with low-efficiency subsistence farming.
Walter also notes the discrepancy, opining that while the farm is low-tech, it has the advantage of being stable and self sufficient, unlikely to be affected by the fighting and disruption of supply and trade networks, and destruction of infrastructure.
The attempted rescue of Sophia has many of the hallmarks of past Kell Hound stories by Stackpole - the enemy has the numbers, but not the skills, and the good guys have a secret ace in the hole that gives them an edge. In contrast to the Warrior novels and Not the Way the Smart Money Bets, there isn't a successful fighting exit through the kitchens, but (for once) a failed escape attempt.
(To be fair, this is not dissimilar to Kai Allard-Liao's capture on Alyina - though there the protagonist was about to lose when a surprise intervention gets him arrested instead, while here Walter was about to successfully extract when he gets stopped.)
Much of Maldives' non-First Family economy seems to be centered around 19th century technology levels focused on local production and consumption. The fighting in the unrecorded greatest battle of the Taurian-Canopian war must have shattered the planetary infrastructure to the point where future generations elected to go with self sufficiency rather than put themselves at risk in the event of another war coming and wrecking anything built with technologically-interlinked efficiency in mind. Rather than than the gradual decline suggested in the book, an argument could be made that there was a catastrophic mass die-off when the Canopians trashed the planetary infrastructure, and the population stabilized at a level where it could be sustained by 19th century subsistence agriculture.
The presence of "Preferred" among the ranks of the guards suggests that the Collective was able to suborn a number of the former elites with promises of protected status during the coming/ongoing purge. Setting former elites against each other will leave the prior structures weak even if there is a counter-insurgency by loyalists, leaving the world vulnerable to offworld annexation (Capellan, one surmises?).
The gold and platinum coins are interesting - raising the question to what extent are precious metals still precious at the dawn of the 31st century? Is there always a market for such coins on worlds of the Inner Sphere and Nearby Kingdoms in the Periphery? Many worlds have local scrip, not to mention the House currencies and the almighty C-Bill. Will local banks/trading posts/HPG Stations readily accept precious metals in exchange for more convertible forms of currency? Would use of such currency be red flagged by local institutions as an indicator that the owner was on the losing side of a recent battle?
If Walter's tactic is common among professional mercs, the next time your troops find a dead MechWarrior still strapped into his escape seat, there may be some extra loot concealed inside. (Extra bonus if your troops are Bandit Kingdom cannibals...lunch and spending money)
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Date: November 15, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: The Collective-aligned Rivergaard Rangers Wasp fires its jump jets, illuminating the rest of its lance, following close behind. Walter and Sofia escape from the truck cab and run towards the house. They reach the shelter of a small hill just as a pair of short range missiles explodes behind them, the pressure wave sending them flying.
A Stinger in red and yellow joins the fight, firing at the Ranger Wasp. A Ranger Whitworth supports its smaller comrade, crippling the rogue Stinger.
Walter and Sophia retreat to the blockhouse that conceals the entrance to the mansion's hidden security control center, where Ivan is waiting. Sophia tells Ivan the swelling in her cheek interfered with the Collective's facial recognition, and that her captors didn't know who they had. Ivan tells her he's created new identities for them in the global computer network - she's now Felicia Fisher, a gardener from Swindon.
Voices from outside demand entry, and Walter hides the computer consoles before opening the door to admit Rivergaard Ranger security troops, who efficiently search the three and disarm them, then lead them back to where the truck remains idling in the road.
In the gardens, illuminated by two Ranger 'Mechs, Walter sees scores of bodies, men, women, and children, filling four shallow pits. Collective guards are kneeling at the edge of pits with their hands behind their heads, while the prisoners stand further back, treating the wounded from the recent firefight.
A Ranger lieutenant tells the kneeling Collective guards to look at what they've done. One woman angrily answers that it's payback for what the First Families have done to them for generations. The Ranger Lt. shoots her, then orders his men to kill the rest.
Walter is shocked, since this runs contrary to the norms of the Third Succession War - where extrajudicial murder is frowned upon because the shooters might be the people kneeling by the pit the next time around. He can't fathom what would make the Rangers split from the Collective less than two weeks after the coup.
The lieutenant introduces himself as Calvin Garza, and offers to take the liberated workers to a refugee camp. He suggests Walter might find work as a fighter, and justifies the executions by saying they were a mix of mercenaries hired to overthrow the planet and collaborators who betrayed their families. At his signal, the 'Mechs use their lasers to incinerate the bodies in the pits.
Notes: Apparently the Collective's facial recognition tech is behind the times, considering that Lyran identity confirmation tech circa 3027 uses skeletal structure analysis (per the Warrior Trilogy), which wouldn't be affected by temporary inflammation of soft tissue.
Stackpole laid the ground for this scenario (where the Rangers first support the coup, then turn against it) with early dialogue that established that when you get two Dhivi together, you end up with three conspiracies. One might suspect that the CO of the Rangers initially backed the Collective so they could eliminate all the people who stood between himself and the position of Planetary Chairman, then planned to betray the Collective and play on their atrocities and his key role in the counterinsurgency to head the post-counterrevolution government.
That begs the question - what side was the red/yellow Stinger on? Local security? A third rebel faction that just happened to get in the way? A roving Collective patrol? Presumably the Ranger lance was accompanied by ground vehicles carrying infantry, because troops on foot wouldn't have been able to keep up with a jump-capable 'Mech lance, and 'Mechs alone wouldn't have been as effective in subduing the Austin House Collective garrison.
The Rangers' final actions, incinerating the bodies with lasers, begs the question - why was the Collective making a mass grave in the first place? From a narrative standpoint, it quickly paints the Collective as all caps BAD GUYS in the Nazi/Khmer Rouge model, but the existence of 'Mech grade lasers suggests a much quicker, more permanent method of corpse disposal through vaporization.
One can argue that the process of digging up the gardens and burying the bodies there is a psychological maneuver...but for whose benefit? As Walter said, the work crew is likely to be the last ones into the pit once its filled, so it's not to break their spirits. It could be symbolic - just as the Union created Arlington National Cemetery on the grounds of Robert E. Lee's family estate, but that was a method of placing the blame for Union dead at Confederate hands. This seems intended as an act of desecration - destroying beautiful gardens built for the enjoyment of elites (while low status Dhivi eked out a meager existence) by filling them with the corpses of those elites.
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Date: November 16, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Having been transported via hovertruck to a Ranger processing center at the Prism Energy Solutions compound, Sophia finds herself left in a dark, cold shack, handcuffed to a metal chair.
A voice over a speaker begins an interrogation, noting that her "Felicia Fisher" cover identity is a falsehood, and ignoring her steadfast denials. The voice accuses her of being a Collective sympathizer or agent. She asserts her status as a former Collective prisoner, since she finds it safer to be an anomaly, rather than the presumed dead sister of the Chairman Presumptive.
She remains confused about the Rangers' loyalties, since they're clearly now in opposition to the Collective, but she recalls seeing 'Mechs in Rangers colors patrolling the streets of Rivergaard in support of the Collective during and after the coup, and using the same brutal tactics as the Collective subsequently. She hopes sticking to the Fisher identity will help her avoid further entanglements in politics.
Walter and Ivan, for their part, are being kept in chains in another building. They are also sticking to their cover identities, suspecting listening devices. Lt. Galarza enters and begins picking men out of the crowd, removing their restraints, and moving them to a loading dock. Fearing they will be split up, Walter demands that Ivan join him. Galarza doubts Ivan can be an effective fighter, but Walter vouches for his success taking out a Collective patrol. Ivan does his best to act the part of a homicidally insane killer. Galarza relents and puts both of them on perimeter patrol.
Once outside, Walter assesses the situation, and concludes that the facility isn't being used as a military installation, but possibly as bait for a Collective attack. He asks Galarza what he should look for. Galarza pulls a needler pistol on him and tells him he's seen too much already.
The door to Sophia's shack opens, and a Rivergard Rangers lieutenant enters and apologizes for the interrogation, noting the need for security in the face of the Collective threat. He introduces himself as Lt. Aaron Doukas, and says he recognizes her as Research Director Sophia Litzau. He orders her released, and his companion reveals herself as Sophia's sister, Abigail, whom Sophia had believed dead alongside their mother.
Outside, being held at gunpoint by Lt. Galarza, Ivan tells the Ranger officer he is making a mistake. He reveals their true identities. Galarza is doubtful, since all reports were that they'd died. Taken aback, Galarza turns his aim towards Ivan, allowing Walter to overpower and disarm him.
Ivan begs Walter not to kill him, and Walter, after some discussion, relents. He warns Ivan, however, that his Vetting is still ongoing, and Walter's job remains to keep him alive. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of another Ranger officer, who invites them to speak with the Colonel.
Inside Abigail and Sophia hug. Sophia asks why she was interrogated by Lt. Doukas. Abigail explains they thought she'd died in the attack, and suspected an impostor. Col. Richard Oglethorpe enters, and explains that he and Abigail had conspired to get Richard selected as Ivan's Companion. During the planning process, they became close and were married in secret during the Vetting.
Sophia reveals that Ivan's alive and was taken, along with herself, at August House, under the names Spurling and Wilson. Richard orders Lt. Doukas to find them, but not to reveal their identity.
Sophia asks about the Ranger 'Mechs that attacked the Litzau Lancers, and Richard explains those were false-flagged Collective 'Mechs. He notes that after the wedding, he repainted the real Rangers 'Mechs with a modified crest to reflect the marriage. The attack on August House was a recon-in-force that spotted the rescue attempt and called in support.
Sophia tells them about the massacre of the Collective personnel. Richard guesses it was Galarza, and notes that the Collective captured and executed his wife and three children. He promises to deal with Galarza.
He notes that many of the leaders of the First Families died with Sophia and Abigail's mother, but many Families still have powerful household and/or corporate security forces, with which they are defending their own little fiefdoms. Some are making alliances of convenience with the Collective, and others are settling old grudges. Everyone's military forces are being worn down, without the tech base to properly maintain it. Richard says he hopes he can find a way to save Maldives soon, or the damage done will be irreversible.
Lt. Doukas escorts Walter and Ivan to Richard's command center, along with a restrained Lt. Galarza. There, Ivan, Sophia and Abigail embrace. Richard Oglethorpe congratulates Walter on his performance as Companion. Walter asks about the Angels - Richard reports most died in Rivergaard, some revealed themselves as Collective agents, and their DropShip, the Vulture's Egg lifted for orbit, but has remained there rather than burning for a jump point.
Richard orders Walter out so he can begin planing a campaign against the Collective. Walter insists on staying, but Richard insists he is untrustworthy. Ivan orders them to stop and fully endorses Walter as a trusted comrade whose presence is required, while also supporting Richard as a competent military commander.
Turning to the campaign, they report that word of Abigail Litzau's survival hasn't generated much support, and that the Collective is countering with propaganda about Litzau crimes. Richard suggests announcing Ivan's survival would give them more legitimacy in the patriarchal society. Walter warns that it would make them a major target.
A strength assessment indicates the Collective has more than twice as much firepower as the Rangers, while the Rangers are more than twice as powerful as any of the other fiefdoms. The Collective's forces are generally light, but have the advantage of controlling the main industrial and logistics centers. There is evidence of independent resistance movements in both the rural regions and in Rivergaard itself.
Sophia confirms that counterrevolutionaries were generally executed, and their families were sent for re-education. She notes that the Collective didn't seem prepared for any resistance, and lacked the skills to process captives or reference databases.
Walter speculates that the "Collective" has been building as an underground movement since Ivan's father died, or longer, and is composed of separate factions. The largest is those who have no power in the existing structure, and want to destroy the system. He adds that the Capellan Confederation and/or offworld corporate interests could be supporting the Collective. He suggests that each splinter faction may have its own motivations, and learning more about them could reveal weak points to exploit.
Notes: Michael Stackpole revisits one of his early setups from the Blood of Kerensky trilogy - a prisoner interrogated by unseen voices. Sophia isn't drugged or wired to sophisticated monitoring equipment, like Phelan aboard the Dire Wolf, but the unnerving power imbalance is the same.
I wonder if Galarza and/or Doukas are the names of the winners of the Kickstarter tier that let top donors name characters in the book.
The shattering of central authority on Maldives into dozens of small First Family-led independent fiefdoms makes it sound a lot like the feudal patchwork on Novo Franklin, albeit with significantly higher tech and way more firepower.
Beyond Novo Franklin, Maldives resembles the Inner Sphere in miniature in a variety of ways. A central authority shattered by betrayal from within, rival factions forming a shifting web of temporary alliances, battling for increasingly scarce resources as society overall collapses amid a tide of brutality - initially ideological, but later motivated by revenge for the other side's previous atrocities in a perpetual cycle. The splintering of ideological groups even parallels the Word of Blake coalition, prior to the Master's consolidation-through-assassination campaign.
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Date: November 19, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: At the Green Nova Proving Grounds (one of the Rangers' strongholds), Ivan and Walter discuss the strategic situation. The central records office in Rivergaard has been destroyed, hampering intelligence collection. Ivan rejects the idea of using the Litzau DNA archives to pressure other First Families, since it would be more likely to make the Rangers a target - pulling the Families together against Ivan, rather than behind him.
Ivan notes that the various factions have adopted populist methods to keep the people in their territory content - providing supplies and services from reserves, and hoping the fighting will end before everything runs out. For now, the fighting is stalemated - unless an offworld player - Capellan Confederation, Federated Suns, or Aurigan Coalition - backs one or more factions to gain influence.
Ivan details two strategies - destroy the other factions' ability to provide services and publicize evidence of atrocities (denying the moral high ground and the citizens' contentment), or bunker down and wait for the economy to collapse on its own in the long term. Walter suggests using the Rangers as a reaction force to stop atrocities, to gain legitimacy in the eyes of the populace.
Lt. Doukas summons them to the briefing room, where Abigail, Richard, Sophia, and Galarza are waiting. Richard reads a list of charges against Galarza, who uses his statement to apologize to Walter and Ivan and blames his actions on the death of his family at Collective hands. Abigail and Richard vote for his execution. Ivan asks them to reconsider - in the interests of bringing justice back to Maldives. Abigail changes the sentence to 25 years-to-life.
Walter notes that Ivan has grown a lot as a leader in a very short time, and tells him he's proud to know him.
Notes: This chapter sets the stage for the next phase of the story - giving some background information on the "new normal" on Maldives and showing Ivan progressing apace along his personal "hero's journey."
This is the first time the Aurigan Coalition has been mentioned in print - a Periphery kingdom that will be central to the plot of the upcoming Harebrained Schemes BattleTech computer game. From this mention, circa 3000, it appears to be a regional power player that would stand to benefit from greater influence on Maldives. Per the HBS map of the region (circa 3025), there are 23 systems in the Coalition, which abuts the Taurian Concordat's and Capellan Confederation's borders. Notably, however, Maldives is not one of them. (The map does show the Capellan system of Maldive, though.)
The maps in the Handbooks are snapshots of borders at the end of the wars. Maldive appears in Capellan control in 2750, and at the end of the First and Second Succession War, but vanishes by the end of the Third Succession War. On the one hand, this would support the idea that Maldive = Maldives (or that the world added an "s" when it went independent as a corporate fiefdom). In this scenario, the world wasn't dead, but had become independent due to withdrawal of Sian's authority during the Third War.
However, this is hard to square with claims that the Taurian Defense Force built installations on Maldives during the Star League Era and then got wiped out during heavy fighting during the brief Taurian-Canopian War of the First Succession War era. One possibility is that Taurian rebels infiltrated Maldives during the Periphery Uprising, intending to use the world as a staging base for further strikes against SLDF positions. They were able to consolidate their control over regions of Maldives while Sian's attention was riveted on the Star League Civil War. Then that control was lost when the MAF hit Maldives looking for supplies, and, brutal fighting shattered the world's infrastructure, letting it limp on as a Capellan world in name only (unable to contribute significant resources to the CCAF during the Succession Wars, and strategically irrelevant), until finally the Capellans gave it up as not worth the effort in the Third War.
An alternative theory is that Ivan's history is wrong, due to records losses in the attack that made House Litzau famous, and confusion about what was happening. Perhaps it wasn't the TDF that built a base on Maldives - it was the Taurian Freedom Army (TFA - the "secret army" that launched the Periphery Uprising). Circa 2750, Maldive was just a jump from Taurian space. The TFA could have built numerous secret bunkers there as staging bases for the Uprising. The SLDF 51st Jump Infantry Division would have been close by on Yuris, and their counterstrike could have resulted in wide-ranging fighting across the planet that wrecked the infrastructure and sent the world into long-term decline.
Taurian propaganda may have painted all the damage as the fault of the League and, later, when it served their interests (having been spanked in the Canopian-Taurian war), changed the propaganda to blame the damage on the Canopians. With local records a shambles, and offworld media cut off due to the destruction of the HPG and other infrastructure, that would have been the story that promulgated down through the centuries. As has been noted, "fierce fighting" is not an apt description of the TDF-MAF conflict, but the TFA was noted as one of the most capable and vicious terrorist organizations in the Periphery. This would also explain why the fight on Maldive was not included in historical accounts of the Magistracy-Concordat War.
Thus, the fighting that wrecked the planet's infrastructure and ecosystem would have been during the Periphery Uprising, while Augustine Litzau's fight against the salvage raiders would have been later - possibly during the Taurian-Canopian War. This would explain why the widespread destruction is conflated in popular memory with that war, since it ties into both aspects of the current regime's origin story.
If Maldive = Maldives, then it appears that the Confederation succeeds in reclaiming Maldives circa 3025, renaming it to Maldive again, per the HBS map of the 3025 Aurigan Coalition. Since Walter ends up on Galatea ten years later short an eyeball, I'm guessing Ivan doesn't end up running the show on Maldives. (Unless he's willing to become a Planetary Diem under Capellan authority.)
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Could Stackpole had been simply been mistaken about where the planet was and was using outdated information? Could he have missed the info from the later source books like Handbook Capellan Confederation and Periphery handbook? 2nd and 1st Succession War books may been not have been out yet by the time he wrote the story.
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It's right on the Taurian/FedSuns/Capellan border, so it's in the right location for the events of the story. And it was a "dead world" per the Capellan Confederation Handbook, circa 3000.
The details of the Canopian/Taurian war appear (with varying degrees of detail) in the assorted Periphery sourcebooks (1st, 2nd, Handbook).
Stackpole appears to have been trying to write a very local story, totally self-contained, that wouldn't require much research and wouldn't trip over any other authors' toes. The issue appears to be that the few references to the planet's history get tangled up in what little is known about the region, suggesting that somebody either recorded propaganda as fact at one point, or the history was intentionally falsified by the victors of one of the conflicts (note that the Dhivi do have a tradition of avoiding looking at historical facts too closely, so as not to destabilize their claims to hereditary power).
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Date: November 20, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: As the Rangers set up in a new temporary HQ, at an old estate in Carnarvon National Park, Abigail thanks Walter for being Ivan's Companion. She admits she agreed to marry Richard as a fallback, in case Ivan failed his Ordeal, and asks Walter if he sees a way out of the current crisis.
He responds that Ivan is the wrong kind of leader for a guerrilla war, and says the problem is with Dhivi culture, which is based on hero-worship of the legendary Augustine Litzau. To win an Augustine-style military victory, Ivan would need to ally himself with the Federated Suns or Capellan Confederation - a politically unpalatable option. As an alternative, he suggests that the survivors of House Litzau and their loyalists go into exile on another world, wait 30 years for the Collective's brutality to generate discontent, and then send the next generation of Litzaus back to reclaim their world.
Abigail dismisses both options as unacceptable, but says she and Richard also concluded the dynastic solution was the most viable. Their worry was that too much could happen in thirty years.
She asks about Walter's status as a mercenary with no paymaster. He says, for now, he's concerned with liberating any surviving members of Angleton's Angels and killing any Collective agents that get in his way. Abigail asks if he'd be willing to throw in with a bankrupt family of refugees for the long run. He answers that he likes Ivan and will be there for him as long as Ivan needs him, as long as he can take care of his Angels business at the same time.
Later that evening, Walter is awakened by a thunderstorm, and sees a red dot crawl over the fabric curtains of his cabin. Drawing his needler, he sees the silhouette of an armed man outside during a lightning flash. He awakens Ivan and sends him out the back window, following him into the pouring rain, taking shelter in a barn. He tells Ivan mercenaries have infiltrated the camp to take prisoners, and orders him to get Sophia to safety.
Before they can leave the barn, a concussion grenade arcs inside and detonates, knocking Walter unconscious.
Notes: Despite the two options being unpalatable for Abigail, other noble families on the losing side of local conflicts have taken them. House Hargreaves of Chesterton has been patiently waiting for their triumphant return to Chesterton for close to 800 years. House Winfield had to leave the world named after them when Clan Jade Falcon took it over, but retained hope of liberating it someday. Heck, the Clans themselves are the outcome of a leader who took the "dynastic solution" route for the whole Inner Sphere.
Calling in support from the Federated Suns or the Capellan Confederation would only bring more destruction to the local scene, since the other side would feel compelled to back opposing factions, creating a proxy war situation with greatly enhanced firepower and destruction on both sides. One option, however, would be to covertly contact one of the Great Powers and get them to send covert assistance - a Davion "Johnny Team" or a team of Death Commandos. Based on the descriptions of the Death Commando exploits in the field of regime change, the amateur-hour stumblebums of the Collective would be begging to surrender within a week.
Failing that, why not reach out to the Taurians? Play on their paranoia over the Federated Suns and get some assistance in restoring order. Why not align with the Taurians? They're on the verge of a major expansion wave through new colonization, have an enlightened, liberalized society with great education and health care. Planetary history even casts the Taurians as the world's defenders, when Augustine's "salvage raiders" came calling.
Or why not offer ComStar basing rights for the Explorer Corps if they serve as an arbiter in the local conflict and bring in mercenaries to crush the "bandit" forces? As a "neutral" faction in the Succession Wars, there wouldn't be the "hook" (circa 3000) to justify the Capellans or FedRats trying to further destabilize the local situation. Plus, doing so would risk an interdiction.
There are more fish in the sea than just the Cappies and Feddies. Walter and Ivan shouldn't be discounting that option so quickly. Heck, if you can get word out to Galatea, hire the Knights of St. Cameron. They like hard luck cases who can't pay.
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Date: November 30, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Walter recovers from his concussion at the Golden Prosperity Reeducation Camp, on the campus of Litzau University in Rivergaard. He's been feigning idiocy, and has been assigned menial tasks around the camp. Most prisoners are held in underground chambers, with access to sunlight considered a privilege. Genders are strictly separated, except during communal meals. Any infraction risks "disassociation," the Collective's preferred euphemism for execution. Educational session consist of endless repetitions of pro-Collective mantras and broadcasts of show trials for enemies of the state.
Walter located Ivan, on kitchen detail. Ivan informs him he's made contact with a Federated Suns citizen named Conason, who served in the Litzau Lancers and has Power Armor experience, and recommends recruiting him for an escape attempt.
Ivan also recommends Ashleigh "Ash" Knight, who promises to find Sophia (aka Felicia Fisher), who offers to drive any vehicle the group steals and asks to bring one of her friends with her when they escape.
Walter's final recruit is Raymond Angelis, an ace Tech assigned by the Proctors to fix the camp's mechanical systems - not trusting him with their BattleMechs. Angelis tells Walter the Collective had him "fixing" things by taking off safeguards so they could use them not as intended.
With his Dirty Half-Dozen committed, Walter listens to news broadcasts in hopes of finding his opportunity to make a break for it. The Collective broadcasts are all propaganda, claiming victory and offering redemption in exchange for surrender. He works out the ebbs and flows in the underground economy within the camp, and hopes to obtain blackmail material to gain leverage over the proctors.
On November 30, Walter sees Ash, with Sophia in tow, and is gratified that a key element of his plan is now in place. Before he can speak with her, however, he is summoned by Calvin Galarza, now dressed in a High Proctor's uniform. Galarza escorts him to a large, richly furnished aboveground office.
The man inside greets him as Wall-eye Wilson, a poacher and small-time thief. He introduces himself as Commissar Ian Levine, the camp administrator, and a former professor of psychology at the University. Based on the fake records Ivan inserted into the planetary networks, Levine surmises that "Wilson" is a sociopath, and he has use for such an individual.
Levine says he took the position of camp director because it is a potential gold mine of secrets, obtained by torturing information from the prisoners. He wants "Wilson" to infiltrate the prisoner population and become trusted enough to be invited to join escape attempts, then inform Levine about them.
Notes: This scene has a major continuity problem. How in the world would Conason have power armor experience in 3000? Sure, there are assorted exoskeletons (profiled in TRO:3026), but the only military grade personal powered armor (light) known to exist in 3000 are the Bounty Hunter's custom PA(L) suit, ComStar's top secret Tornado PA(L) suits, and any vanishingly rare surviving LosTech SLDF Nighthawk PA(L) suits.
I suppose it's remotely possible that the AFFS experimented with full suits of ballistic plate armor combined with a light exoskeleton to help wearers move under the weight of the ballistic plate, but no sourcebooks have detailed anything like that.
Rather than reacting "Power armor? What's that? Was he some kind of MI6/Rabid Fox supercommando with access to hoarded/cutting edge LosTech?", Walter takes it fully in stride, and presumes Conason has good basic infantry skills. This is clearly an artifact of Stackpole knowing that Battle Armor has been a long established part of the BattleTech universe since nearly its inception, and forgetting to account for the fact that this story is set significantly prior to its introduction in the main setting. Walter's reaction would be perfectly normal in 3060, but is a huge anachronism in 3000.
It's unclear exactly what Angelis was doing that caused him to morally object to the Collective and try to escape, but my interpretation is that the Collective is following in the footsteps of Claudius Steiner - repurposing industrial/medical/etc. equipment as torture devices. Thus, any built in safeguards intended to prevent operator injury would need to be disabled.
Levine seems to be cut from the model of a Batman villain. An unconventional professor of psychology who is enraged at having been denied tenure, manipulated other staff to prevent himself from being fired, and now plots to do horrible things to the prisoners under his sadistic control. Put a scarecrow costume on him and he'll be scampering through the streets of Gotham swinging a scythe in no time.
Galarza's a bit of a cypher. Was he Collective from the start? Unlikely, since he directed the execution of a lot of Collective troops and helped prisoners escape. It's possible that was an elaborate ruse to enable the Collective to find and strike at the Rangers, but Galarza was already on the inside at that point, and the attack nearly cost him his life. It's more likely that the Collective forces that hit the base saw that Galarza was a prisoner and took him in on the premise that "enemy of my enemy is my friend."
No doubt, Galarza will get his own redemption by dying heroically to aid the escape, thereby repaying Ivan for his earlier mercy. (If I'm reading the trope tea leaves correctly.)
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This scene has a major continuity problem. How in the world would Conason have power armor experience in 3000?
I think you're too entrenched in BattleTech rules thinking here. Power armor is a natural precursor to 'Mech technology and was a thing even before the ubiquituous IndustrialMechs came up. You've named the known canon examples yourself. I reckon some sort of exoskeleton or power suit was always around, albeit probably low-tech and possibly non-military, but didn't make enough of a difference to warrant their own tabletop rules. It would be the top-tier regular or mechanized infantry and follow regular infantry rules.
(Regular infantry probably have to wear some sort of protective gear on a BattleTech battlefield so they don't go blind, deaf or outright dead in the presence of 'Mech grade weapons and even DropShips landing and taking off. Not to mention air filtration or respirators for alien worlds. And on high-g worlds, a power suit exoskeleton is probably a must.)
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Maybe it's a exoskeleton with improvised armor attached to it. We don't have really rules i know for it do we? It be silly we didn't. I think they were common at all because their bulky with all the reduction of Succession War Era technology was like.
However, i think Stackpole just isn't as intuned with the universe as he used to be.
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We have a fair number of visuals for infantry in combat and XTC armor. However, nothing I've ever read suggested that the armor is boosted with power-enhanced musculature (unless you generously interpret the "bioflex boots" from the MechWarrior game as using powered myomers to enhance leg strength for running/kicking/style).
From the MechWarrior Companion: "Ballistic Plate Armor - designed for use by police and special forces in highly dangerous areas, it is considered too encumbering for infantry."
I can see the guy having "armor experience" if he was in special forces and used Ballistic Plate Armor. But the comment about it being too encumbering for infantry suggests that it was never standard practice to mate it with a light exoskeleton to overcome that limitation.
In the March 30 scene from Lethal Heritage, on Turtle Bay, Shin Yodama reports detecting infantry on magscan, and suggests they may be equipped with inferno missiles. He fires a machine gun at one, and thinks he missed when the bullets ricochet, noting that a 50-caliber round will go through any body armor a man can wear. He then zooms in and realizes he's looking at a suit of infantry armor.
The line about infantry armor being useless against 50-cal rounds suggests that powered armor wasn't a thing in the Inner Sphere, since you'd need the enhanced musculature to mount sufficient armor to survive such a hit, and Shin declares that impossible circa 3050. Let alone circa 3000.
Looking at the more comprehensive A Time of War tables, Myomer Armor is indeed powered, but is listed as X for availability in the Succession Wars.
Now, AToW does say that exoskeletons occupy the same place - straddling a line between standard combat armor and vehicular units. Looking at the Gorilla/Salrilla entry in the Vehicle Annex, we get this statement "After the development of the powered armor suit in the early 3050s,
manufacturers across the stars scrambled to be the first to apply the new technologies
to the primitive exoskeletons in use in the latter days of the Succession Wars."
None of the TRO:VA Inner Sphere exoskeletons were fielded until after the 3050s tech renaissance.
About the only explanation that could make the conversation work is if the AFFS did use troops equipped with light exoskeletons (from TRO:3026), covered by ballistic plate (which is still not enough to survive 'Mech-grade weaponry hits) as special forces.
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cleanup
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the closest thing i can think of is that brief bit in heir to the dragon where Theodore Kurita and Michi Noketsuna encounter a yakuza piloting a heavy exoskeleton fitted with armor plate and some MG's while fleeing through a "sewer"* from another group of yakuza they'd ticked off.**
but that was presented as unique and unexpected, and only really useful in close confines like the 'sewer'* due to the heavy Exo's limited mobility.
*probably actually a storm drain system for moving rainwater or diverting an overflowing river, than a true sewer.
**they'd gone looking for a yakuza boss to recruit for the ghost regiment concept.. and arrived right after a power shake up where said boss had been deposed. the pilot of the "minimech" made from the heavy Exo turned out to be from the deposed boss's faction of loyal soldiers.
i'm beginning to think the story was first written as a post-clan war piece, and he just re did the dates and added a few references to the new game's elements to re-purpose it. would explain some of the oddities like the mech forces density and the remarkably high tech systems the society there is using.
i'm assuming the "power armor experience" was meant to reflect some sort of high quality military training? in Stackpole's succession war trilogy, as with most of the succession war era novels, 'jumptrooper" filled that role.. elite soldiers, but not always special forces.
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in Stackpole's succession war trilogy, as with most of the succession war era novels, 'jumptrooper" filled that role.. elite soldiers, but not always special forces.
How elite, exactly? ;)
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hey, i'm just reporting the tone from the books. jump troops were generally treated as if they were some of the best around before you got to actual special forces. presumably because it takes a lot of training to fly a jumppack properly, and the packs give infantry really good mobility. you'd want to ensure you got the most battlefield result out of your training investment, and would want your most mobile troops to also be the ones most likely to give decisive results.
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I understand, but your comment was too good a setup for that pic from the Periphery sourcebook to pass up.
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Rocketmen of the Periphery. ;D
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Date: December 2, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Sophia Litzau, still using her Felicia Fisher cover identity, uses code phrases to discuss Walter's abrupt disappearance on the 30th with Ash, who informs her that they're planning a breakout. They agree that they'll need civilian clothes.
Walter suffers through some inexpert torture at the hands of Levine's former graduate students, including waterboarding. After three days of interrogation, he returns to the camp dormitory. He allays the suspicions of other prisoners by using his "Mop Boy" persona, and claiming he was beaten for malingering.
Days consist of heavy labor, group therapy, and reeducation lectures. Following Levine's directive, Walter observes the other prisoners, and notes that none appear to be working on escape plans, due to lack of expertise and rampant paranoia.
He rejoins Ivan in the kitchens, where young Litzau has been gathering intel listening in on proctor dinner meetings as a waiter. The Collective has consolidated Rivergaard, largely, and fighting in the outer areas has brought a flood of refugees into the city. When head chef Jacques threatens them for talking out of turn, Walter disarms the man and beats him until he agrees to obey Walter's orders.
Notes: Walter notes that "if the planet's leaders had been as incompetent as in the reeducation lectures, Maldives would have been absorbed by the Federated Suns or Capellan Confederation centuries ago."
Walter, however, does admit that his knowledge of Maldives history is pretty sketchy, which is why he wouldn't know that Maldives (aka "Maldive") was a Capellan holding through around 2900 or so, albeit apparently a neglected outback one after the damage during (in theory) the Taurian Freedom Army attack during the Periphery Uprising. (Since blaming it on the MAF vs TDF fighting during their war doesn't match any account of that war or those militaries.)
The waterboarding is a shout out to Guantanamo Bay, of course, and the "enhanced interrogation" techniques practiced there. The last time we saw a scene of torture/interrogation in BattleTech fiction, it was decidedly more medieval, using hot irons in a dungeon on Verthandi.
The behavior of the Proctors suggests that the core cadre of the Collective has a puritan fundamentalist bent that rejects regular human behavior and prefers its people to behave as homogenous automatons. Not sure if that is just part of the breaking process for the former elites, or part of some applicable-to-all philosophy. It suggests that the brains behind the Collective have a utopian vision of reshaping human society along egalitarian lines for optimal efficiency, without wasting time on emotional baggage. So...not Canopians, then. (I wonder if the puritannical types that shut down the vice industry on Herotitus in "Star Lord" were exiled Collective Proctors...the stellar geography seems about right, though the timing's 50 years in the future.)
There's a description of days passing, and the next scene is on the 12th, so the "understanding" reached with Jacques is probably on December 9-10, or thereabouts.
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Date: December 12, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Walter, having bludgeoned Jacques into preparing roast duck with peppers, reports to Levine that his proctors are eating fancy, elitist food, and suggests that the Commissar use this information to increase his leverage over them. He offers to have some soporific jimsonweed sprinkled into the proctors' food, so that they will test positive for the illegal substance and be further under Levine's control.
Walter also suggests that a proctor noted for child abuse be arrested and put in with the general population to be killed. Levine agrees, and tasks Walter with gathering 24 people he can trust over the next four days, to take part in a secret plan.
Walter recruits his escape crew for the plan, but leaves Sophia out for the time being. After an interlude of an unspecified number of days (at least four), Walter and his crew are summoned to the surface to play a soccer game on the campus green.
During a time-out, Conason points out Commissar Levine walking with a ComStar Precentor, there to check on the welfare of prisoners. Approaching their group, Walter is introduced to Precentor Allen Roberts, of Ward, Capellan Ambassador Wen Xu-Tian, and FedSuns Ambassador Quintus Allard. He plays the role of well treated prisoner. Jim Conason joins him, and says he was treated fairly, despite having been a FedSuns expat mercenary employed by the Litzau Lancers.
Ambassador Allard demands Levine provide a report on all Federated Suns citizens in custody, and suggests the Capellan Ambassador would want the same. Levine pledges to do so, and the group continues on with their tour.
Walter congratulates Conason on making contact with Allard, and says his odds of escape have risen now that Allard knows about him and will be working to secure his release.
Notes: Interesting that Maldives is culturally of Austrian cultural descent (based on the scene in the museum at the reception, pre-coup), but refers to the game as soccer, rather than football. I would presume that the inspiration for this scene was the "Death Match," an exhibition soccer game staged during the Nazi occupation of Kyiv. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Match)
Walter notes that denying ComStar requests to check on prisoner welfare could risk being cut off from the rest of the Inner Sphere. However, the Precentor introduced is the one from the station on Ward, rather than a local representative, suggesting that ComStar doesn't have an HPG on the world. Thus, Maldives is already cut off from the Inner Sphere. Unless ComStar is in negotiations with the Collective to build a Class-C station here, they would seem to lack leverage.
The stellar geography also raises some questions - why Precentor Ward? The map (http://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/9/99/RimwardPeriphery3025.jpg?timestamp=20170221195513) of the region from HBS shows Ward to be nowhere near Maldive. Why not Precentor Zanzibar, or Precentor Yuris, which are right next door? Ward only has a Class-B station, so it's not likely Precentor Roberts is the senior ComStar official in the region.
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I guess Maldives is on a mail route, like Pacifica. It's also possible that Maldives sends messages with independent traders, who pass the messages on when they reach a system with an HPG; and if Maldives does business with planets which do have HPGs, ComStar can exert pressure on those business partners.
Precentor Ward makes sense for a world fought over in the TDF/MAF war, and he was no doubt chosen for his proximity to HBS' videogame. It makes less sense with Maldive where the map says it is, but I think we've seen Precentors travel to Terra before. Perhaps the trip to Maldives is just a detour on a longer journey (maybe he's newly assigned to Ward)?
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Where does it say Pacifica is on a mail route? The only reference I'm familiar with is the Crescent Hawk game, and that features a ComStar HPG station at Starpad.
(https://www.myabandonware.com/media/screenshots/b/battletech-the-crescent-hawk-s-inception-7ql/thumbs/battletech-the-crescent-hawk-s-inception_4.png)
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Hmmmmm....
Looking at the HBS map, it includes the world of Maldive and the world of Valdives.
Betcha two C-Bills Stackpole accidentally portmanteau'd Maldive and Valdives into Maldives.
Precentor Ward's presence makes more sense (though still not perfect) if the venue for this story is Valdives, though the FedSuns diplomatic presence gets harder to justify. (Still, there is a FedSuns embassy on Helm in The Price of Glory, so they must have them all over the place.)
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Date: December 21, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Following the soccer match, the players (including Sophia) get better quarters and treatment, and Proctor Soamstone is put on trial for abusing children and sentenced to Golden Prosperity as an inmate.
Walter and Sophia enjoy a happy reunion and continue planning their group's escape. Their plans are very shortly interrupted, however, when Chef Jacques tells them that Proctors seized Ivan from the kitchens, saying they knew who he really was.
Walter races to High Proctor Calvin Galarza's office with a sandwich and a concealed knife. He threatens Galarza, who admits he knew who Walter and Ivan really were, but denies he had Ivan taken. He says that after being mistaken by the Collective as a political prisoner, he scraped the captured Ranger records clean of references to Ivan, Walter, and Sophia.
Galarza calls up computer records and sees that Ivan has been identified as Simon Blythe-Xin, son of a Liao oligarch, scheduled to be released to Ambassador Wen Xu-Tian in four days. He surmises that the Capellan Ambassador recognized Ivan and had his agents hack into the Collective records to set up a way to get Ivan into Capellan hands.
Walter tells Galarza to change Sophia's records so the Capellans can't pull the same trick with her. That accomplished, he asks Galarza to arrange for transport for a dozen people so they can get Ivan and escape Golden Prosperity before the Capellans arrive in four days.
Notes: Interesting that the term used in the BattleTech universe for computer hacking is "code slicing." This is the same terminology used in the Star Wars expanded universe - suggesting that Stackpole brought the term over from his X-Wing novels.
Narratively, this scene gives Walter and his crew a tight deadline to escape from the camp, and reveals Galarza's situation and motivations.
It's surprising that a High Proctor assigned to Golden Prosperity wouldn't have more security. Walter has no problem bringing a knife into Galarza's office.
It becomes clear that the Collective's backers aren't the Capellans, or they'd just be able to demand custody of Ivan without having to go through the complex ruse. That leaves the Feddies (though if they'd been behind the whole shebang, it's unlikely Walter would countenance working for the AFFS 27 years from now), the Free Worlds League (unlikely - they've not been mentioned by name, and there's nothing tying them to it other than the presence of Marik-built Stingrays in the Collective's arsenal), or the Aurigan Coalition.
Given that this is a tie-in novel to the HBS BattleTech game, which is set in and around the Aurigan Coalition, and that the Aurigans have been explicitly name-checked as a regional power that has an interest in Maldives, my guess would be that they'll be revealed as the power behind the Collective.
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I've never read this story, but wow does this thing sound complicated. Not that's a bad thing but it certainly has alot of intrigue going on with it.
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I can buy the Valdives/Maldives mix-up, but you're right, the positioning is only a little better.
It becomes clear that the Collective's backers aren't the Capellans, or they'd just be able to demand custody of Ivan without having to go through the complex ruse.
Other options are a second factions of Capellans, or Aurigans posing as Capellans. Don't know if the story means to get that complex though.
Where does it say Pacifica is on a mail route? The only reference I'm familiar with is the Crescent Hawk game, and that features a ComStar HPG station at Starpad.
It's in Warrior: En Garde (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=56256.msg1289172#msg1289172), when they're talking about getting the retiring Tech outsystem.
"ComStar would have our tails in a sling. Somehow that lowlife merchanter weaseled a contract to haul bulk-messages to backwaters like Pacifica, and that's made him inviolate. He's afraid, though, that shipping a Steiner Tech aboard his ship would prompt the folks we know and love as the Combine to confiscate his ship-—or worse. ... And, in the meantime, the Intrepid jumps out of here and won't be back for another six months."
Dan receives a message from ComStar about Justin's injury, but this is while the courier is still in system, and the message is stamped as coming from the Wyatt HPG. (Incidentally, Dan also says "That message took more than a month to reach us here, even traveling through ComStar's 'A' circuit," which implies the existence of slower 'B' circuits.)
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Notes: Interesting that the term used in the BattleTech universe for computer hacking is "code slicing." This is the same terminology used in the Star Wars expanded universe - suggesting that Stackpole brought the term over from his X-Wing novels.
probably. but IMO it works. the other terms would be "hacking" or 'cracking", which to me would imply a fairly brute force or at least clunky approach. "slicing" sounds more covert, more refined.
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However - recall that this is the Maskirovka we're talking about - the guys who blow up skyscrapers to get one target. Not really a reputation for "covert/refined" ;)
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However - recall that this is the Maskirovka we're talking about - the guys who blow up skyscrapers to get one target. Not really a reputation for "covert/refined" ;)
That depends on your point of view. The Maskirovka would argue that this only shows they're not shackled by ethics, and have no qualms about a brute force approach if they think it works best. At the same time the impression I got is that they can be as covert/refined as the mission requires.
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I dunno...the list of Mask failures is impressive
- trying to replace Tormano with a double, but not taking precautions to whack/disappear the real Tormano
- sending a team to assassinate Quintus Allard and getting thwarted by a guard dog
- sending a team to gene-test Joshua Marik and getting caught by a SAFE agent (undercover as a nurse) who was suspicious about their inappropriate shoes
- setting loyal agents up to die to facilitate the money laundering of payments to mercenaries through betting on fixed matches
- trying to pressure a Solaris gladiator into throwing a match, but giving too much information away in the process
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Don't forget:
Allowing a foreign agent to become a key cog their organization.
and
Allowing their director to take a nice buy-out from a foreign government along with a mess of intel.
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Don't forget:
Allowing a foreign agent to become a key cog their organization.
and
Allowing their director to take a nice buy-out from a foreign government along with a mess of intel.
I left out the whole Justin Xiang situation because they weren't technically in the Maskirovka - they formed a "Crisis Team" that reported directly to Max, rather than interfacing with Director Chandra Ling at all. If anything, she seemed to report to Justin, Alexi, and Tsen.
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i doubt the terminology is maskirovka specific though. as a general term for covertly breaching the security of a computer system and altering data, 'slicing' certainly sounds a lot more stealthy and refined than "hacking" or "cracking".
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The term itself is fine. My only beef is that it’s a Star Wars term, so having it show up in BattleTech dialogue creates the same disconnect as would having Luke direct Dack to “open fire on those Imperial quad BattleMechs”
Looking at the A Time of War entry for the Computer skill, the verb used there is “hack,” rather than “slice.”
That doesn’t make Stackpole’s usage wrong, or inelegant, but it seemed unusual when I first read it in his X-Wing novels back in the 1990s, and its reappearance here was equally jarring - being a notable Star Wars-ism. Akin to having Ivan call the Proctor a nerf herder.
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Date: December 23, 3000
Location: Maldives
Title: Apparent Catastrophe
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Apparent Catastrophe)
Synopsis: Walter informs Commissar Levine he's been approached about an escape attempt scheduled for December 25th, but claims he won't have details until later.
Walter later meets with Sophia and Ash, and provides them with civilian clothing and identification, telling them to rendezvous at tunnel 9C, in the Admin building. Then, he and Jim Conason go to the detention center, disable the guards, take their uniforms, arm themselves, and free Ivan. Walter also opens Soamstone's cell, and draws a knife as he tells the pedophile ex-Proctor that they have unfinished business.
With many of the on-duty Proctors mentally impaired by Chef Jacques' addition of jimsonweed to their food, Walter is easily able to catch up with the other escapees in the university's horticulture wing. The escapees meet up with Galarza in the vehicle garage, and Walter explains that he's been on their side since they were captured. He also reveals Ivan's true identity to the shocked group.
Galarza says their ride should be arriving soon, but instead a voice over a loudspeaker demands they surrender, passing on a message from Commissar Levine that "Wilson" isn't as smart as he thinks he is.
Levine oversees the besieged garage from his office, and tells Proctor Hazleton to proceed as necessary. The Collective forces begin peppering the garage with laser bolts. With satisfaction, Levine reviews the thought processes that led him to deduct that the escape would take place tonight, and that "Wilson" had been lying to him.
A Proctor knocks and enters, reporting that there are a dozen escapees, from the soccer teams. Levine orders him to have them executed. The Proctor, Soamstone, instead draws the knife Wilson gave him and tells the Commissar he isn't as smart as he thinks he is.
Inside the besieged garage, as the garage doors begin to melt, the group decides to fight, rather than surrender. As they prepare to go down standing, explosions announce the arrival of Galarza's transportation - a hovertank in Rangers colors scattering the Collective forces with barrages from its missile launchers. Two panel vans follow in its wake, and quickly load the prisoners aboard.
They head for the spaceport, intending to rendezvous at Landing Bay 27 Delta. Explosions rock Rivergaard's northeast quarter as anti-Collective forces launch a diversionary attack. Walter thinks he sees BattleMechs involved.
Outside the landing bay, Captain MacDonald welcomes them, explaining to Walter that she'd left the planet with the Vulture's Nest on a Federated Suns contract after the Angels were destroyed, but returned for this extraction. She gives the escapees new ID, and they pass through spaceport security without incident and proceed to the Vulture's Nest, where Ambassador Allard is waiting.
Before they can board, a Collective official and six troopers run through the checkpoint and demands they return to the terminal. He introduces himself as Captain Theodore Percival Carnarvon, and insists that all outbound traffic be suspended until the incident in the city is resolved. Quintus Allard informs Carnarvon that the landing bay is sovereign territory of the Federated Suns, since the Vulture's Nest is chartered to the Federated Suns Diplomatic Corps. Carnarvon stands his ground, noting that the Collective has not ratified any treaties signed by the previous government.
Galarza, still garbed as a Proctor, threatens Carnarvon with arrest and detention at the Golden Prosperity reeducation center, noting with malice Carnarvon's repeated use of "I" rather than the Collective-ordained "we". He claims that he has been tasked by Commissar Levine to escort Federated Suns citizens to the ship for repatriation. Carnarvon maintains his insistence on his authority to stop the ship from leaving, but his squad of guards is convinced by Galarza's threats, and they stand down.
Galarza, still playing the role of a pompous Collective Proctor, wishes Walter and the Litzaus farewell, since he will be staying on Maldives to carry on the fight. Aboard ship, Ivan swears that no matter how long it takes, he'll be coming back for Galarza.
Notes: The Rangers hovertank isn't named, but its profile description matches the J. Edgar hover craft. With the Vulture's Nest described as "egg shaped," that marks it as likely being Overlord-class. Somewhat oversized for a mercenary company, but perhaps the Angels were larger in the past.
Walter and company are certainly coming back to Maldives, since he has his Blackjack (currently in the Taurian-built 'Mech base) on Galatea in 3010.
Frankly, I'm surprised that Allard was content to try to bluff Carnarvon (probably named after the Welsh castle) with claims of diplomatic immunity when he had a fully armed Overlord at his back. I'd expected some proper gunboat diplomacy. He may have been afraid that such a move would push the Collective into a full alliance with the Capellan Confederation. (Indeed - the HBS 3025 map shows both Maldive and Valdives - whichever one corresponds to Maldives - as Capellan worlds.)
The bit with Soamstone and Levine was a bit odd. Soamstone's message from Walter ('Wilson') to the Commissar was clearly intended as a rebuttal to the Commissar's own mocking message to Walter, but there's no way Walter could have known Levine would catch them or convey such a message. My guess is that Walter didn't actually give Soamstone any message - just directed him to assassinate the Commissar in exchange for his freedom. Soamstone probably heard the "you aren't as smart..." message when it went out over the loudspeaker, and ad-libbed the "message from Wilson" on the spot.
This brings "Apparent Catastrophe" to a close. I'm hoping that the next two installments contain more of the regional politics and large-scale scheming that are what I like best about the BattleTech fiction. So far, we've had a groundhog's eye view of what's going on - a very local, personal story. Stackpole's previous works had those as well, but they were intermixed with scenes where political leaders on far-off capitals discussed operations in progress that placed the local action in a larger context. Here, we're largely lacking the larger context - getting a storyline told along the lines of "Decision at Thunder Rift," with only vague allusions made to the greater backdrop of the Succession Wars.
Getting offworld seems a good step toward rectifying that situation. It would be great if part three follows Ivan on a "exiled princeling" tour, hat in hand, to try to gain support from the Federated Suns, Taurian Concordat, Magistracy of Canopus, and Aurigan Coalition (they'll probably give Sian a pass - though it would be a fun scene to put Ivan together in a room with Victor Hargreaves, since House Hargreaves has been trying to lead an army of liberation to Chesterton since the Age of War. "Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it."). It'd be a good chance to introduce people new to the universe who are just coming for the HBS game to the local factions that will be involved in the single-player storyline, and reveal who's behind the Collective's coup. (My money's on the Aurigans.)
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Date: 2822
Location: Wynn's Roost
Title: We Want Your Bulldozers
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Hook (Touring the Stars: Wynn's Roost)
Synopsis: In 2822, Wynn's Roost served as the administrative capital of the Outworlds Alliance's "Traders' Domain" district. While it was able to provide for the needs of the worlds in its district, neighboring areas weren't so fortunate, and resorted to raiding to secure needed supplies. In 2822, the mining world of Ammon launched a raid to steal earthmoving equipment to keep its germanium industry functioning.
Ammon first sent a spy cell of inexperienced librarians and sheriff's deputies to gather intel on the bulldozer factory, leading to close calls with Rooster police. The attack finally came when Ammon pirates landed in a Mule and attacked the factory in the city of Turner's Toe. The Rooster militia that responded to the incursion had to contend with Ammon troops rampaging through a factory filled with both bulldozers and panicked civilians.
Notes: Wynn's Roost is one of a handful of worlds named after BattleTech authors, like Slewis (Sam Lewis), Heartfjord (Chris Hartford), or Jordan Wais (Jordan Weisman). In this case, the world is an homage to Patrick Wynne, aka "Roosterboy" on these forums. (Making it especially appropriate that the inhabitants are called 'Roosters.')
The dynamics of the Periphery economic system collapse still remain murky. The early explanation - that the Star League had intentionally imposed an unsustainable economic system on the Periphery, forcing worlds to specialize and trade, thereby holding worlds hostage to the threat of a crippling trade embargo, has been tossed out as non-canon. In lieu of that, this account notes that many worlds had been settled only in the last century along economic plantation models, producing a limited number of commodities and trading for all necessities.
Ammon's MiningMechs were apparently worn out and needed to be replaced, and they felt that Wynn's Roost's diesel bulldozers would be sufficient to continue the germanium refining operations. If Ammon specialized in germanium mining, there must have been a plethora of JumpShips dedicated to bringing in supplies and carrying away the germanium. If the Ammonites still want to produce germanium, they must anticipate future trade. Not to mention - they came on a JumpShip - why couldn't they take a few extra months to mosey to Alpheratz where they could buy the equipment they needed to build their own tractor factories with fresh pallets of refined germanium? Alpheratz maintained 'Mech building capacity throughout the Succession Wars, so the tech wasn't lost.
We do get a note that Inner Sphere trading fleets were diverted to serve the war, but there must have been Independent tramp freighters still serving the Trader's Domain and other backwaters. Ammon is noted as a "habitable but cold" world with 55,000 inhabitants tenaciously dedicated to their planet. The turn to banditry just seems extreme if all they needed was industrial equipment, when they had a JumpShip and germanium to trade. All they had to do was go a bit further afield.
Strategy-wise, all the Rooster Militia really has to do is knock out the mostly unarmed Ammon Mule. Once the Mule can no longer take off, pull your people back, let the Ammoni troops withdraw to their landing zone with a cargo of diesel tractors. Once they are safely away from the civilians at the factory, the Mule can be besieged. (Even better if the militia that hits the Mule plants remote detonated explosives inside - taking out the defenders even as they try to fix the engines.) The technicians working at the factory and the equipment to make more tractors are more important than a single production run.
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Date: 2833
Location: Wynn's Roost
Title: Acid Test of Battle
Author: Michael Miller
Type: Adventure Hook (Touring the Stars: Wynn's Roost)
Synopsis: In 2833, suspected Onverwacht mercenaries attacked the fusion reactor facility Wynn's Roost had just completed on an island in a dormant volcano, hoping to carry off a fortune in portable (albeit primitive fusion reactors). With their own mercenaries interdicted by the central government on Alpheratz, the Roosters were unable to prevent the pirates from suppressing the defending militia.
However, when the pirates called in their DropShips for extraction, one crashed into the factory, destroying both the facility and the adjacent training school, and killing all the irreplaceable technicians.
Alpheratz's blocking of the mercenary garrison and its failure to stop Onverwacht from similarly arming itself were the final straws that led to Wynn's Roost seceding, along with the rest of the Trader's Domain, from the Outworlds Alliance in 2835.
Notes: The Onverwacht mercenaries are described as executing a combat drop, yet their DropShip is described as being a Mule. I'd assumed you needed dedicated 'Mech bays to do combat drops, since you need the pods and the drop chute mechanisms. Sure, a Mule could be retrofitted for those, but it's doubtful that Onverwacht would have that sort of capability by this point.
One alternative explanation is that the crashed Mule was empty, and had come to load up with fusion reactors. That would imply that the mercs came aboard a dedicated 'Mech carrier - a Union or Overlord, depending on how large you want the battle to be - which remained in orbit after dropping its 'Mechs.
This debacle recalls a sidebar from the Objective Raids sourcebook, which noted that most surviving factories were either massively fortified or dug deep underground or into mountains for protection. Any that were exposed (like this one) had long since been blasted into non-existence.
The defenders have missile-armed patrol boats, infantry, and tanks. The attackers have 'Mechs. Sea Skimmers (packing SRM-4s) would be the most likely template to use for the Rooster patrol boats. For the tanks, the Field Report Periphery 2765 RAT suggests GAL-100 Galleons, Chevaliers, Prowlers (the amphibious adaptation would be highly appropriate, given the location on a lake), T-12 Tigers, Bulldogs, Gallants, Von Luckners, Demons, Manticores, Pumas, Rhinos, Furys, and Alacorns.
Given the weaksauce militias that would have remained in the Outworlds backwater by this point, I'd avoid the heavier equipment and give the factory a company of amphibious Prowlers, backed by a lance of ancient Tigers defending the landing pad. (The terrain is noted as being so rough that only infantry can traverse it, so APCs would be pointless, and other fast tanks wouldn't have room to maneuver.)
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they came on a JumpShip - why couldn't they take a few extra months to mosey to Alpheratz where they could buy the equipment they needed to build their own tractor factories with fresh pallets of refined germanium? Alpheratz maintained 'Mech building capacity throughout the Succession Wars, so the tech wasn't lost.
Alpheratz would likely be getting their tractors from Wynn's Roost (or another world like it) too, anyways; so why not buy the tractors directly from Wynn's Roost, or convince the Rooster manufacturer to establish a second factory on Ammon? Either the Ammonians lack the wealth (perhaps their Germanium has been drying up), or there's a shortage in Outworlds tractor manufacturing capability; or perhaps both. You'd think the Outworlds Alliance would take steps to secure their domestic production of Germanium, but maybe that much planning and central control would be out of character.
I agree that the Ammonians could have tried going further afield, but the further into the Inner Sphere they go the less they can trust the Successor States to not commandeer the JumpShip. (I wonder what Ceres Metals was doing at this time, and if they would've seen Ammon as a customer or competitor.)
The early explanation - that the Star League had intentionally imposed an unsustainable economic system on the Periphery, forcing worlds to specialize and trade, thereby holding worlds hostage to the threat of a crippling trade embargo, has been tossed out as non-canon.
Huh? I've heard of one specific example - that of a world producing nothing but left boots - being deemed an in-universe myth, but I don't recall the overall principle getting nixed.
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What Ammon really needed were WorkMechs. If Alpheratz retained the ability to make BattleMechs, they could make WorkMechs, compact fusion engines, and other advanced products. They wouldn’t have needed primitive tractors or fusion engines from the Roost - those were intended for the worlds of the Traders’ Domain.
Handbook Major Periphery States p. 41 notes that spare parts for advanced tech came from the Inner Sphere - HPGs, water purifiers, agrodomes, etc. An earlier sidebar noted that the post-Reunification War reconstruction period led to the introduction of lots of high tech infrastructure that depended on imported parts. When factories were destroyed and shipping collapsed due to ship shortages, the infrastructure on hundreds of worlds failed and the colonies either regressed or died off.
My point is that the idea of Planet A making all the toilet paper for its Periphery region while Planet B made all the widgets has been axed.
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My point is that the idea of Planet A making all the toilet paper for its Periphery region while Planet B made all the widgets has been axed.
Only in the literal sense - Comstock producing shoes for interstellar distribution seems way over the top at face value.
However, the underlying idea - that the Star League deliberately kept the Periphery underdeveloped through overt and covert measures - still stands. The fluff for the 3200 ton Danais DropShip explicitly says that the Star League dictated what the periphery worlds could or couldn't build. At 3200 tons it was small enough to be permissible. Hyperspecialisation and a borked infrastructure tailored to keep planets from becoming self-sufficient would make sense in this context, and go a long way to explain why the periphery was so much slower in recovering from the lostech era despite individual islands of hightech (e.g. the Quatre Belle shipyards).
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So just drawing a line between distressing levels and comically disastrous levels? Okay, that's less surprising then.
If Alpheratz retained the ability to make BattleMechs, they could make WorkMechs, compact fusion engines, and other advanced products.
That's not necessarily true. The experienced technicians who normally operated the facility may have been recalled to (or poached by) more important sites outside the Alliance, other now-inaccessible corporations may have been responsible for some on-site processes or tools, the facility may not be equipped to build units larger than 20 tons or types of equipment not required by 20-ton bugs, and they may lack the material or personnel to expand production or the willingness to substitute WorkMechs for BattleMechs.
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All the OA talent was home grown (per "The Top of the Scrap Heap"), so it wouldn’t be recalled by Inner Sphere corporations. They reverse engineered BattleMech tech from a captured AFFS Stinger and were able to parlay that into multiple lines that, per the original Periphery book, made up to Heavy ‘Mechs.
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Date: January 19, 3017
Location: Clinton
Title: Permanent Losses
Author: Aaron Cahall
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Thelos Auburn arrives at Cranston Snord's Irregulars' base on Clinton, and is warmly greeted by Cranston himself, who explains the frenzied preparations at the spaceport as being for an upcoming raid on Loric. Thelos asks after Cranston's daughter Rhonda, then tells Cranston he feels his historical research and writing accomplishes nothing, and envies the oasis of permanence at the museum on Clinton, where Cranson's exploits have gathered innumerable historical artifacts.
Thelos conveys Archon Katrina's appreciation for Cranston's efforts on behalf of civilization, and wishes him well on his mission to Loric. He tells the mercenary commander that he's going to use the museum collection to research the works of Silvio Guttuso (2618-2640) for the Lyran Academy of Art. Snord confides that he hates the man's work, but collects them for their rarity.
Notes: Cranston notes that Rhonda is now 17 (corresponding to her established 2999 birthdate) and "almost ready to join my Irregulars." This creates a bit of a continuity issue (one I should have caught earlier, since her birthdate is known), since Rhonda is shown leading a mission in 3010 in the "To the Rescue" scenario from the first scenario book. Of course, the mission was unauthorized, and the Irregulars had to come pull her fat out of the fire when the mission went pear shaped. It's possible that Rhonda decided to go all "sibko ristar" and did actually take out a 'Mech without permission at age 11. (That's still a bit young, even by Clan standards - Aidan and Marthe's sibko didn't start combat training at Crash Camp until they were 16.)
Alternately, the 3010 date from the old scenario pack needs to be thrown out, and re-dated to, say, 3020. Cranston's comments here about Rhonda "starting with this jaunt to Loric" would suggest that the date in the scenario pack is just plain wrong. It's implied that Rhonda has spent most of her life since arriving in the Inner Sphere at the Irregulars' base/museum complex on Clinton, rather than accompanying the unit into the field.
This isn't the first time an official birthdate has screwed up sourcebook event chronology. The House Liao sourcebook has members of the Liao family blamed for causing an economic recession at age two and dying in combat at the controls of a BattleMech at age four, due to disconnects between the family tree timeline at the back and events referenced in the core text.
Snord's appreciation for the work of writing the stories of warriors living and dying as "worthy of remembrance" is a sly shout-out to the Clan Remembrance, which is exactly what Snord describes - the stories of warriors.
Thelos notes that he's working with the Lyran Academy of Art. This institution is never formally mentioned anywhere else, but the Steiner Handbook notes "Thanks to the strength of the Lyran economy, the government has maintained a long tradition of funding and supporting artists of every stripe" and "wealthier worlds support dozens of academies and schools devoted to honing these budding young artists." The Lyran Academy of Art is probably an academy funded by the central Commonwealth government on Tharkad.
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At age ten, wouldn't her legs be too short to work the pedals? Also, Sneede's in that scenario too, and he's only a couple years older than Rhonda.
All the OA talent was home grown (per "The Top of the Scrap Heap"), so it wouldn’t be recalled by Inner Sphere corporations. They reverse engineered BattleMech tech from a captured AFFS Stinger and were able to parlay that into multiple lines that, per the original Periphery book, made up to Heavy ‘Mechs.
Their 'Mech force is too small for heavy 'Mech production on Alpheratz to make sense. (They'd be building scarcely one or two of each chassis per year.) I suspect that reference is a relic of an earlier draft, before they decided the Outworlds would focus on aerospace fighters.
Perhaps "on Alpheratz" survived by being mistaken for "on Alphard?" Per the first RPG, the Alphard Trading Corporation produced 30 BattleMechs a month for Amaris, "dabbled in Periphery politics," and was ruined in the fall of the Star League. From your description, "The Top of the Scrap Heap (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,25853.msg621848.html#msg621848)" seems to center on the lack of homegrown Outworlds talent; given the period of that story, I'd be surprised if Alliance Defenders didn't receive assistance from Amaris' suppliers.
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Looking at the Sarna.net entry for the Irregulars, I see that they've noted another conflicting reference that suggests Rhonda and Cranston went with the Dragoons on the 3009-3011 supply run. Given Rhonda and Shorty being a tad young for combat at this point, and conflicting canon dates, I'd be fine relocating Uhuru to 3020 (making 3010 a typo) and overruling the FM:FWL reference.
The Periphery book includes a lot of elements that clash with other canon source material. It mentions that most of the manufacturing is light designs, except for some heavy chassis made on Alpheratz. We later learn that the Merlin went into production out in the OA around 3010, but no info on volume was provided. Objective Raids ignored the reference to the heavy chassis production and just replicated the bug-'Mech production centers outlined in the original Periphery book. I can see there being some Solaris Garage-style manufacturing of a few heavy designs, but without more than a handful being produced every year.
Certainly not Alphard - that's on the opposite side of the Inner Sphere, and the reference in question was in the Outworlds Alliance section of the sourcebook. According to Liberation of Terra, OA-based revolutionaries fielded more than 10,000 'Mechs during the Periphery Uprising. Even if the SLDF and loyalist troops (the Traders' Domain and many other OA outer provinces remained loyal to the League) blew up most of those, there'd still be enough around to reverse engineer.
"The Top of the Scrap Heap" is officially dated to the 2780s, after the end of the Civil War, but as I noted in that review, it would make no sense at all for 'Mechs to be vanishingly scarce in the OA with 11,000+ having been rampaging around during the Periphery Uprising just a few decades earlier. Pushing the date back to the 2750s makes the chronology work better, but also suggests that no Inner Sphere arms manufacturer built plants in the OA during the Star League era, so there wouldn't be any "call the techs home" move that would deprive Alpheratz or the other OA worlds of their workers. United Outworlders Corporation isn't a subsidiary of any Spheroid firm.
I'd say the issue was largely that OA industry wasn't set up to manufacture key parts, and had been relying on the vast Star League shipping fleets to supply high-tech elements that weren't economical (or were prohibited from being manufactured in the Periphery). When those shipments turned off, the weak OA central government lacked both the vision and resources (they'd still be primarily focused on picking up the pieces after the Periphery Uprising) to launch a campaign of domestic industrial development to locally produce the items in short supply.
That said, the storyline in "Top of the Scrap Heap" suggests that the OA was capable of manufacturing all the components of a BattleMech domestically, but that the quality was second rate (their scratch-built Locust was ultimately deemed a failure) and local plants were probably phased out in favor of more efficient imports.
I'd still say, though, that tractors should have been something Alpheratz could have built in sufficient quantities to remove the need to raid the Roost, if the miners were only willing to make a few extra jumps. Heck, Onverwacht and the Roost both managed to remotely contract mercenaries to come in. Why couldn't they remotely order a delivery of tractors or fusion engines?
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maybe the heavy mech production it mentioned was actually the OA salvaging and rebuilding some heavies from the remains of the old army.. and the rest of the inner sphere just never investigated closely enough to tell they were refurbished antiques rather than new builds. (especially since for the IS at the time, the distinction between the two types of output was fairly small anyway)
as far as the "why raid when you can rebuild".. well that would probably involve getting into politics, but it isn't hard to see the people in power in that situation preferring to go the quick and comparatively cheaper path of stealing from offworld rather than the effort needed for restructuring their society to support rebuilding. you see that sort of thing all the time in the real world. and if they were using fear/dislike of offworlders as a political prop at the time, a raid would be a political ploy to keep the people happy, somethign that would not be as notable if they just ordered a batch.
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Salvage is the simplest way to reconcile their "heavy production," yeah.
The Periphery book includes a lot of elements that clash with other canon source material.
Fewer than its reputed to, though.
Certainly not Alphard
Well that depends. The Hegemony certainly shipped 'Mechs from Terra out to the frontiers, and Amaris was no less motivated. If you find direct shipping too implausible, I think it's realistic to at least expect the ATC to supply 'Mechs to the Magistracy, which get shared with the Concordat, and then - as years and decades pass - have contingents leave the Concordat for the Outworlds.
Heck, Onverwacht and the Roost both managed to remotely contract mercenaries to come in. Why couldn't they remotely order a delivery of tractors or fusion engines?
Well for starters, there'd been 11,000+ 'MechWarriors rampaging around the Outworlds Alliance who suddenly needed work, and the same's just not true for tractors.
I agree that Alpheratz would have had the industrial base to produce tractors, and I agree the story is possibly being a little silly in making tractors the object of the raid. But that said, Alpheratz has a really small population in a nation defined by small populations and low industrialization - their manufacturing capacity is bound to be tight. I don't think we can automatically assume they'd have capacity for both their military and civilian needs.
That said, the storyline in "Top of the Scrap Heap" suggests that the OA was capable of manufacturing all the components of a BattleMech domestically, but that the quality was second rate (their scratch-built Locust was ultimately deemed a failure)
Your summary said the prototyping team relied heavily on salvage and imports. That doesn't suggest they're already capable of producing all the parts domestically. ???
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The initial scenes show them trying and failing to get a Locust prototype functional. The main issue was that it had been reverse engineered from a destroyed Locust seized from pirates. (Probably had a 100-point bomb dropped on it). So the techs at Alliance Defenders Ltd. were trying to develop the tech for combat grade fusion engines, military armor plating, myomers, actuators, etc. working from analysis of damaged originals, and not making much headway. They advanced much faster after they got their hands on a stolen AFFS Stinger in either the 2750s or 2780s, and were certainly capable of making 'Mech parts domestically circa 2800 - but only on major worlds like Alpheratz.
(All in all, "Top of the Scrap Heap" raises more questions than it answers - technologically, it reads like it should have taken place in the 2580s, not the 2780s, because there's really no excuse for the OA to be on a "LosTech" footing in 2780 or even 2750. The disruption in trade didn't take place until the 1st Succession War got rolling, and various accounts have indicated that controls on military sales to Periphery states were loosely regulated, so there would have been no need for Alliance Defenders to steal an AFFS Stinger - they could just have ordered one from Earthwerks and had it delivered. In fact, Handbook Major Periphery States more or less decanonizes TotSH with a note that "Alliance Defenders Limited began its operation in the 2730s and has provided 'Mechs to the Alliance Military Corps ever since."
Oddly, the Liberation of Terra books don't give any casualty statistics for the Hidden Periphery Armies, but one would have to assume that the SLDF's massive WarShip superiority would have resulted in massive losses from orbital bombardment - all those Royal and regular SLDF units getting shipped out to the Rim would have exacted a fearsome toll on the comparatively poorly trained and equipped rebel armies. So there probably weren't all that many survivors of the Periphery Uprising still active in the OA. It's not specified what happened to the remnants once the SLDF pulled out to fight the Amaris Civil War, but my guess would be they consolidated under whatever post-Star League government was running the now free Territorial States and stood guard against the SLDF's return. Once Kerensky skedaddled, they probably were put on the border to make sure the Succession Wars didn't spill over, then eventually demobilized as supplies to maintain them in the field ran short. (That would have put them far away from backwater provinces like Onverwacht and the Traders' Domain).
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At the start of the Taurian-Canopean War, the two states had fewer than ten battlemech regiments available (as detailed in first succession war). Given the strength of their hidden army troops at the start of the periphery uprising, that suggests over 90% losses during the uprising. Both sides practiced total warfare and used weapons of mass destruction (The SLDF avoided population centers, and both sides stopped short of doing things that would cause long term harm to the worlds). SLDF losses were apparently over twice those of the periphery regulars (one hundred divisions lost compared to the fifty divisions of the hidden army).
It was an ugly, ugly mess.
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Some how a company on Alpheratz had to get a production line for building Pinto Class Corvettes prior to Civil War breaking out. Won't the assembly lines still be there or were they raided during the Succession Wars? I don't recall a big raid into Outworld Alliance during that time.
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Most likely, exposed infrastructure like that (can't build an orbital shipyard under a mountain for defense) got destroyed during the Periphery Uprising - either by rebels who wanted to deny it to the SLDF, or by the SLDF after rebels seized it.
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Some how a company on Alpheratz had to get a production line for building Pinto Class Corvettes prior to Civil War breaking out. Won't the assembly lines still be there or were they raided during the Succession Wars? I don't recall a big raid into Outworld Alliance during that time.
I imagine that the yards got destroyed in the same way as the Quatre Belle Yards.
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I imagine that the yards got destroyed in the same way as the Quatre Belle Yards.
I thought the shipyard at Quatre Belle was mothballed, the Snow Ravens restored it.
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They advanced much faster after they got their hands on a stolen AFFS Stinger in either the 2750s or 2780s
Did that short story continue past the jailbreak? Apologies, but your summary made it sound like that was the final scene.
there's really no excuse for the OA to be on a "LosTech" footing in 2780 or even 2750.
Well, the Reunification War hit the OA's industrial sector unusually hard; I think the implication is that it never recovered. What's odder yet is that Alliance Defenders Limited began operations a century before the Alliance formed its military.
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Most likely, exposed infrastructure like that (can't build an orbital shipyard under a mountain for defense) got destroyed during the Periphery Uprising - either by rebels who wanted to deny it to the SLDF, or by the SLDF after rebels seized it.
Even if it survived, I imagine that the houses would take such an asset out during the Succession Wars just to make sure it could never be used against them (Finmark is an example of that). It wouldn't even take a significant application of force to do it, given how wrecked the periphery militaries were in the uprising.
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Did that short story continue past the jailbreak? Apologies, but your summary made it sound like that was the final scene.
Well, the Reunification War hit the OA's industrial sector unusually hard; I think the implication is that it never recovered. What's odder yet is that Alliance Defenders Limited began operations a century before the Alliance formed its military.
Back then, I was trying to do entire stories in one go, rather than scene by scene. I may have to go back and redo them in my modern style. The story ends with the jailbreak and the implication that the legal challenges to ADL’s methods were withdrawn at gunpoint.
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Am I right in thinking that the site manufacturing Pintos in Alliance space was an Outworlds company, while the yard at Quatre Belle was an SLDF facility? It may well be that the Quatre Belle yards survived because the SLDF supported them during the Uprising, while the SLDF may well have destroyed the Pinto facilities themselves as a hostile foreign asset.
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Am I right in thinking that the site manufacturing Pintos in Alliance space was an Outworlds company, while the yard at Quatre Belle was an SLDF facility? It may well be that the Quatre Belle yards survived because the SLDF supported them during the Uprising, while the SLDF may well have destroyed the Pinto facilities themselves as a hostile foreign asset.
The OA manufactured Pintos at an unnamed (and no longer extant) shipyard in the Alpheratz system, per Field Report 2765: Periphery, p. 5, "Strategic Update".
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Date: February 14, 3017
Location: Clinton
Title: Permanent Losses
Author: Aaron Cahall
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Thelos Auburn studies a folio of the works of Silvio Guttoso in the Museum of the Irregulars, but is interrupted by the sudden intrusion of a Marik Orion coming through the wall. Auburn barely manages to find shelter under the table before the roof collapses.
He regains consciousness as an Irregular infantry squad pulls him out of the rubble. Sergeant Owen Hyland tells Auburn to accompany them to the armory. Auburn is shocked at the destruction wrought on the priceless items in the museum, and races to take a 30 kg case containing a first edition of Copernicus' On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres from its display stand, telling the aghast soldiers that the priceless artifact wouldn't survive the snow falling through the collapsed roof.
The squad moves out and tries to get past a League gun nest on the street outside. Private Rishard commends Auburn for saving the book - one of Cranston's favorites. Racing across the street, the case's bulk causes Auburn to fall, and Rishard is gut shot pushing him out of the line of fire. As Rishard dies, Thelos' first thought is to worry about the case having been breached by a bullet.
Sergeant Hyland chews the historian out for his callousness and misplaced priorities, but Auburn stands up for himself, noting that the treasures of the museum are worth protecting, with lives if necessary, and that if the focus is only on skirmishing, the result will be spreading barbarism.
Sergeant Hyland announces his plan to reach the base's ComStar substation and use its communications equipment to call in a DropShip from the spaceport to eradicate the Marik raiding party. The squad moves out, but they are still in the blast radius when an airstrike hits, tossing Auburn through a cafe window.
When he awakens, he sees Marik soldiers loading looted artifacts onto a truck. For fun, the troopers take a Faberge egg out of a case and smash it with a piece of debris, playing baseball. One suggests burning Snord's treasures, but the other says Snord will be angrier if his collection is dispersed - sold to other collectors, with the proceeds used to hire mercenaries to fight the Irregulars.
Horrified by the barbarity of the Marik plan, Auburn waits for the soldiers to move off, then makes his way towards the ComStar substation, hoping to link up with Sergeant Hyland. Luck is with him, and he finds them in a park near the ComStar facility. Auburn suggests using the HPG to call Cranston on Loric, so he can return, drive the Mariks off, and launch an effort to recover his stolen treasures. Hyland prefers his plan, to destroy the Mariks before they leave (though any treasures they have will be destroyed as well).
The soldiers scamper across the open parkland near the substation, firing SRMs at a Marik Firestarter. Return flamer fire incinerates two of the squad members, and pins down the rest of the squad. Auburn, separated, is the only one in position to advance, and is able to reach the substation, where he is greeted by a pair of ComStar acolytes.
Notes: According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_revolutionibus_orbium_coelestium) there were 228 surviving copies of the first printing of Copernicus' work (out of a print run of 400) as of 2004. Initially printed in 1543, Snord's copy would have been 1,474 years old.
The Diamond Trellis Faberge Egg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Trellis_(Faberg%C3%A9_egg) ) is currently in the collection of the British Royal Family. One wonders to what extent the treasures of Terra were scattered by the looting that accompanied the Amaris Civil War, when RWR forces took what they wanted across Terra. We know that key relics and treasures from the Vatican vaults were sent offworld for safety, and that a load of musical instruments were given the same treatment, but crashed on a Marik world.
The attitudes of both Sergeant Hyland and of the Marik troopers go a long way towards explaining how so much knowledge became LosTech. The immediate focus on tactical victories in skirmishes over territory, and the desire to destroy looted items to cause further harm to enemies, has cost humanity a significant percentage of its cultural and historical artifacts.
The Liberation of Terra books suggest that the RWR forces occupying Terra took the opportunity to loot the planet. They built large vaults on Terra where they stashed much of it (along with, allegedly, political prisoners who were left to cannibalize each other in the dark tunnels), but many of Terra's treasures may have been sent offworld for safekeeping (like the Vatican collection) or relocated to a family stronghold by RWR commanders. Oh, what a "National Treasure" scavenger hunt that would make for an enterprising Goliath Scorpion Seeker.
I was surprised to see Thelos Auburn stand up for himself - making it a defining moment for the character. He's usually been portrayed as a meek and bookish individual, and the setup seemed to be aiming towards showcasing his prioritization of relics over human lives, and having him realize that his focus has been misplaced. Having him forcefully stand up and argue that the relics are important and worth dying for shows strength of conviction, a rare "big picture" view, and the presence of a backbone.
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one would presume that after the Amaris civil war ended, there were any number of "monument men" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monuments,_Fine_Arts,_and_Archives_program) type programs running to try and recover some of the lost treasures. whether to return them or give them to their own successor lord/nobles would depend on who funded the programs, obviously.
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SLDF troops certainly found the treasure vaults on Terra (and the cannibal horror tunnels beneath them).
I think it’s doubtful that, with the whole of the Hegemony in ruins and records destroyed, Kerensky would have allocated scarce resources to treasure hunting beyond Terra.
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no, but i could see proto-Comstar working to recover them, and the successor lords working to find and claim them for their own.
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no, but i could see proto-Comstar working to recover them, and the successor lords working to find and claim them for their own.
I concur, but probably not until after the Exodus. Accounts note that Capellan troops landed on FedSuns worlds during the First Succession War with lists of priority items to loot.
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Date: April 13, 3017
Location: Clinton
Title: Permanent Losses
Author: Aaron Cahall
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Cranston Snord joins Thelos Auburn at the gravesite of Sergeant Owen Hyland, where Thelos has been making weekly visits for the past two months. Thelos muses that, without historians to tell their stories, people end up simply dates on a grave marker, slowly worn away by time.
Snord thanks Thelos for having overheard the Marik troops talk about their plans for the stolen artifacts, and tells him that the Archon has approved his plans for Operation JUNK YARD DOG. He invites Thelos to join him on the mission. Thelos accepts, on the condition that his presence there be kept secret, so he can write the Irregulars' history in the objective third person.
Notes: I recently had the opportunity to see the movie "Monuments Men," which focuses on the real life efforts of a special unit of art experts to recover stolen art during the last years of World War II. There's a scene there which echoes the debate between Thelos and Sergeant Hyland - whether soldiers' lives are worth risking for art. Like Thelos, the unit commander argues that the risk is worth it to preserve the physical manifestations of the culture that the troops are fighting to preserve.
In this scene, Thelos notes that Hyland and his men laid down their lives to protect pieces of history, and rededicates himself, as a historian, to fill in the blanks in the story told by the artifacts Cranston has gathered, so future visitors can remember both the items, and the people who died for them.
I had the opportunity to discuss this story with author Aaron "Cubby" Cahall, and he explained that his mention of Rhonda being "almost ready" to join the Irregulars in combat was an intentional statement to try to clean up the internally wonky chronology of the Cranston Snord's Irregulars and Rhonda's Irregulars scenario packs.
Aaron noted that Rhonda's presence on Uhuru in 3010 was fine in the original scenario pack, but is not reconcilable with information presented in Rhonda's Irregulars - namely that Rhonda's first major combat experience wasn't until 3024, and that she was born in 2999, making her 10 or 11 in 3010. Since the general standard is that the more recent book is correct, Rhonda's Irregulars supersedes Snord's Irregulars.
Since FM:FWL specifically references the fight against Snord's Irregulars on Uhuru in 3010, the best explanation (suggested by Aaron) is that the Snord's Irregulars vs. Marik Militia campaign on Uhuru did take place in 3010, but Rhonda's presence on the battlefield there is a tall tale spun by Snord in an effort to humiliate the Marik Militia. ("Hey, you know how you got shot out of your 'Mechs on Uhuru? Didja know the pilot of the 'Mech that beat you was a prepubescent girl?")
The final line of the story is that "Auburn turned as he walked, glancing back at the receding graves rapidly becoming part of the past." Given that "Permanent Losses" was the last piece of fiction released on the BattleCorps platform, it's an almost prescient "famous last words" for the site. Fortunately, the new line developers have ambitious plans for new fiction - both novels and short stories - starting in 2018.
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Date: July 26, 3017
Location: Callison
Title: A Measure of Clarity
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the field HQ of the Falcons (elements of the Silver Hawks Coalition provincial military), Able Company CO Captain Pareen Malik watches Lt. Abel Blume and Sergeant Avery play a game of four card drax. Malik is stressed about the prospect that her depleted force will be crushed by an anticipated Lyran assault on Callison - a follow-up to a punishing raid six months earlier that wiped out two thirds of the Falcons' third battalion (including Malik's husband Madhu, whose Hunchback was killed by a Lyran BattleMaster), leaving only Able Company under the overall command of the planetary ruler, Earl Jonathan Grayson III (CO of the Comital Guard).
The game is interrupted by a message to Malik from the Callison Defenders First Squadron, reporting incoming bogies on trajectory to land in three hours. She orders her troops to finish their card game and prepare to move out.
At the planetary capitol, The Rotunda, Baroness Fabienne Grayson prepares to attend a strategy session chaired by Earl Jonathan, and attended by Callison's upper crust, including its parliamentary representative, Liane Parkinson. Jonathan announces that LCAF troops are landing in force, with enough firepower to overwhelm the FWL/Silver Hawk garrison, and calls for a debate on the course of action. He estimates the garrison's strength at a 'Mech company, an armor battalion, and an infantry regiment.
MP Parkinson reports there will be no reinforcements, with the LCCC preferring to retake the world later, rather than defend it now, the other Silver Hawk units pinned down by simultaneous Lyran assaults, and the mercenary contract with the Fire Bugs having expired after the previous raid, six months earlier, though the mercs are still onplanet.
Fabienne calls for staunch resistance - fighting in the field as long as possible, then waging a guerrilla war until reinforcements can be obtained. Jonathan dismisses her as young and inexperienced, and suggests surrendering to Lyran control. The subsequent vote narrowly favors Fabienne's proposal for war, but no sooner is the result tallied than Earl Grayson shoots Councilor Parson, a leading voice supporting Fabienne, through the head.
In the Bollard Foothills, Captain Malik mans a Trebuchet in her company's entrenchments, defending the capital city, Fallosha, against elements of the 17th Arcturan Guards. Aerial recon projects the Lyrans to hit their lines in ten minutes. Malik refrains from ordering napalm strikes along the Lyrans' line of advance due to rules-of-engagement restrictions that prohibit offensive action without explicit orders from further up the chain of command.
When the Arcturans arrive, they emerge from the treeline without firing. Malik's requests to Hawk Base for permission to engage go unanswered initially. She is shocked when she receives orders to stand down. Despite her anger over her husband's death at Lyran hands, she obeys and orders her troops to withdraw.
At the Grayson estates in Fallosha, Fabienne is in shock from the massacre of the pro-war Council elements following the vote. Still convinced that war is the correct line of action, she takes her father's Orion "Callison's Pride" from the garage and fights her way clear of the Comital Guard, disappearing into the dusk shrouded forests.
In the Bollard Foothills, Captain Malik receives a transmission from Kommandant Kruger of the Arcturan Guards, who announces his intention to receive her formal surrender.
Fabienne, meanwhile, uses the Orion's comm system to liquidate her financial assets and deposit 200 million into the Fire Bug mercenary account on a contract to her. That accomplished, she vectors to intercept the Silver Hawk Irregulars.
On the verge of formally surrendering to Kruger, Captain Malik receives a transmission from Fabienne, who informs her of Earl Grayson's coup and countermands the surrender order. Malik enthusiastically obeys the orders, seizing the chance to take revenge for her husband's death. Taken by surprise, the Lyrans pull back. Malik orders her support troops to set the Grayle forest on fire.
As the fighting rages, Fabienne links up with the Falcons, reporting that, at least for the moment, her Orion is the only support. There is still no word from the Fire Bugs...until napalm detonations begin ripping through the Lyran lines and mercenary 'Mechs deploy from their Leopard, holding station overhead.
The fire eliminates the Lyrans in the forest handily, and the Falcons and Fire Bugs take care of those on the perimeter. Once the rains put out the blaze, Captain Malik and her troops sweep for survivors, finding few. Malik finds the hulk of the Arcturan BattleMaster that killed her husband six months earlier. Seeing the pilot's blackened skull through its cracked neurohelmet lifts her spirits.
Notes: I really enjoy Lee's works for their deep immersion in the BattleTech lore. I've played a few games of four card drax, using the rules in the House Marik sourcebook. I have to say, the value shifting mechanism didn't end up affecting things as much as I'd hoped, since the whole hand changes based on face cards dealt, leaving straights unaffected, and having pairings affected only by the Lancer cards impact on individual suits (which, at four per deck, rarely factor in). I was hoping for something more like Sabacc, though that's admittedly hard to do without electronic cards.
The weakened state of the FWLM is understandable, with the Janos/Anton civil war having ended only 18 months earlier. The Lyran strikes are probably retaliation for Wolf's Dragoons' "cattle raiding" campaign, which hit the LCAF resupply depot on Dixie in 3016.
Lee excellently captures both the FWL's reputation for democracy and its legacy of violent internal political schisms. They hold a vote on how to proceed, then the losing side starts shooting the winners as soon as the ballots are tallied. The FWL's nobles have a long legacy of switching sides in BattleTech fiction, going back to "A Soldier's Privilege" on Wyatt in 2791. Then again, the Lyran world of Timbiqui surrendered to League control without a fight in 3029 under similar circumstances, in Jason Hardy's "Timbiqui Dark."
The Lyran/League border has been the site of massive and merciless battles over the centuries, but much of it seems driven by profit motives, rather than cultural clashes. No Draconis March world's elites would ever consider surrender to a DCMS invasion force in the hopes of retaining their ranks and privileges. Not after Kentares.
Malik feels constrained by the Silver Hawk Irregulars' rules of engagement, which prevent its troops from firing before receiving orders from above, and discourage tactics such as setting forests on fire. She blames the restrictions for the death of her husband. These restrictions seem to be a rare formal codification of the "limited war" that grew out of the scarcity conditions of the Third Succession War - a loose approximation of the Ares Conventions statutes.
There's a slight anachronism towards the end of this scene, where they describe finding hulks of Patton tanks in the burnt ruins of the forest. Considering that the Patton didn't go into full production until 3027 (and wasn't prototyped until the early 3020s), having them in action circa 3017 suggests a fact-check oversight or some hanky panky by Interconnectedness Unlimited's time travel division. (The same crew of temporal jokesters responsible for the Succession Wars-era Vedettes and Demolishers in the Star League-era depot on Helm.)
According to Historical: Brush Wars, the Falcons were Green/Questionable in April 3014, but rode out the entire civil war without taking part in the fighting. The Fire Bugs aren't listed as being on either side, so either they were too small to be counted, or they arrived in League space too late to participate.
200 million Eagles seems an astounding sum for a single 'Mech company. For comparison, the Mercenary's Handbook shows House Davion offering to pay the Highland Raiders' Regiment a paltry 6.5 million C-Bills for a four month contract on Galtor III in 3025. The Raiders appear to field 543 squads of combat and/or combat support troops. I guess it's a seller's market when you're the only game in town.
Given that the Fire Bugs never parlayed that oversized payday into becoming a major mercenary regiment, one wonders if they lived to collect on it, or if Earless (?...seems less like a title and more like a description of someone having suffered head trauma) Fabienne Grayson clawed the money back once the existential threat had passed. (Gosh, there was an unexpected explosion at the Bugs' main napalm depot that killed them all, and since the contract wasn't negotiated through ComStar and no bond is on record with the Mercenary Review Board...backsies!!!)
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the setup seemed to be aiming towards showcasing his prioritization of relics over human lives, and having him realize that his focus has been misplaced.
In some original brainstorming for this story, I did consider going that way. But one of the things I've been cautious of across just the few short stories I've written is making the main character's epiphany too "big." That is, 6,000 to 7,000 words isn't a lot of space to really explore and sell a major shift in a character's personal worldview.
Thelos deciding that the physical manifestations of history aren't all that important after all was just too huge a leap to make in the space I had to work with. If I had the word count of a novella or novel, maybe. But in just 7k words, such a change would risk making Thelos seem flaky. Instead, I based the story's conflict around the day's events (and a testy sergeant) directly challenging Thelos' belief in the importance of historical preservation. That belief may evolve in deeper ways, but it doesn't abruptly do a 180.
The final line of the story is that "Auburn turned as he walked, glancing back at the receding graves rapidly becoming part of the past." Given that "Permanent Losses" was the last piece of fiction released on the BattleCorps platform, it's an almost prescient "famous last words" for the site. Fortunately, the new line developers have ambitious plans for new fiction - both novels and short stories - starting in 2018.
At the time I wrote it, I had no idea that my story would either be the last of the "Gray Markets" cycle or the last BC story. And until you pointed it out, I hadn't considered the story's coda as a farewell to BC as a whole--it does seem a little haunting now, doesn't it? In any event, I too am very glad that new fiction is on the horizon. Who knows, maybe I'll get the chance to follow up on Cranston's and Thelos' adventures during Operation JUNK YARD DOG...
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Date: July 27, 3017
Location: Callison
Title: A Measure of Clarity
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the Grayson Estates in Fallosha, Fabienne confronts her father, who is handcuffed and escorted by two armed members of the Comital Guard. She excoriates him for his disregard of planetary laws and illegal coup. He responds that the Lyrans will be back shortly, and will slaughter them all.
Fabienne answers that she has supplied battleROMs to Parliament, where, following deliberation by the League Central Command and Coordination (LCCC) office, the decision was reached to reinforce the world with additional federal troops, who are already en route.
She leaves her father raging that he should have strangled her at birth and turns to the work that remains to be done to make Callison safe.
Notes: The term "comital" was unfamiliar to me, and turns out to mean "relating to a count or earl." Earlier in the story, I'd assumed the "Comital Guard" was the name for the local Static Defense Unit - the official FWL term for planetary militias - which vary widely in size and composition depending on the world's wealth and proximity to the front lines. Based on their name, they appear instead to be the Grayson household troops.
The enumeration of forces only listed Comital Guard elements, the Falcons, and the Fire Bugs - implying that either Callison lacked a Static Defense Unit, or that the Comital Guard served in that capacity. I wonder to what extent planetary militias are bankrolled and commanded by a world's noble ruler, rather than financed by taxes and administered by the planetary government? There's a limited tradition of wealthy nobles outfitting a unit and then taking it on the road (Ricol, for example), but that would strip the homeworld's garrison if they were doing double duty as household troops and militia.
Man, the FWL works fast...a little too fast in this case. The fighting ended after sundown the previous day. And yet, Fabienne has sent the battlefield footage to Atreus, had it received by Parliament, debated, analyzed by the "Seven Sons of Solon" on the LCCC command staff, had the decision made to redeploy a Marik Militia unit away from its garrison on another world (leaving that world less defended), and had that unit packed up and offworld, with a message sent back to Callison by teatime the following day?
I'm not sure what "federal forces" were sent, but the 3025 TO&E still only lists the Falcons as the defending forces, so any Marik Militia redeployment was short-term at best. Callison was one of the worlds that fell to the Lyran Commonwealth in 3029, during the Fourth Succession War, and remained in Lyran hands until liberated by Operation GUERRERO in 3057.
The 17th Arcturan Guards weren't wiped out by the forest fire on Callison. Most likely, only a few companies had been dispatched, with armor support, given the fact that advance negotiations had suggested the local Earl could be cowed into standing down. Given how active they were in battling Wolf's Dragoons during their "cattle raiding" period, there wouldn't have been time to completely rebuild the entire regiment, had that been necessary. (The 17th destroyed an entire battalion of Beta Regiment by downing a Dragoon Overlord over Wyatt in 3016, and went on to inflict serious losses on Zeta Battalion and the Black Widow Company on Lamon in 3019.) Given that level of skill and reputation, they probably would have returned to Callison to wreck up the joint if they hadn't been forced to play defense against the Dragoons.
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Could be the FWLM was already intending to move troops there, but was being blocked by the count until the news about the strike arrived. That it was reviewed and approved and such might have been twisting the truth a bit to rub metaphorical salt into the wound. (Assuming any troops actually were on the way.. It could have been a ploy to dissuade the lyrans from coming back by telling the populace troops were on the way, so lyran informants would send back word or delay an invasion. And this all assumes the lyrans actually were coming as he claimed)
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The problem with that is that the scene on July 26 shows the MP telling the assembled council that the LCCC has denied Callison support from federal troops, preferring to retake the world later instead of defending it now. So the LCCC reversed its earlier decision after seeing the battlerom. That's fine, but such a quick processing of the new info and 180 degree reversal on the prior decision is hard to find credible, given the League's reputation for the bureaucracy and slow decision making that come with maintaining the trappings of representative democracy. (For example, the world suddenly losing the protection of the Marik Militia unit in question would certainly want its MP to weigh in on the debate.)
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Date: October 19, 3021
Location: Alleghe
Title: In Service to the Dragon
Author: David G. Martin
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Over Corraine City, on the Rasalhague Military District world of Alleghe, Sho-sa Sander Lund - a native of Alleghe - prepares to deploy in response to a distress call from the planetary governor, reporting that the planetary militia had fought a raiding Lyran 'Mech company to a standstill at Corraine City. Lund notes that they haven't been able to establish communications with anyone on the surface since arriving in-system three days earlier. The Lyrans are presumed long-gone, and Lund's mission is described as investigating how the militia drove off the Lyrans.
Lund, in his Dragon, is joined in Vargr Lance by Tikona (Panther), Relit (Jenner), and Kin (Quickdraw). Together, they vector towards the mostly darkened city through a driving rainstorm. They find the spaceport and city abandoned, with no power sources or heat signatures beyond maintenance lights.
Moving towards the governor's mansion, they pick up faint signatures at the edge of sensor range, and move to investigate. At the mansion, they find a Lyran Atlas waiting for them. The Lyran 'Mech makes short work of Kin's Quickdraw, and Tikona reports finding the wreck of Relit's Jenner. Lund speculates that either the militia commander or the governor must have betrayed the Combine.
Vargr Lance retreats to the spaceport, wondering what happened to all the residents of Corraine City. They find a Zeus along their line of march back to the DropShip, but good teamwork allows them to finish it just as the pursuing Atlas catches up. Tikona reports that their DropShip is preparing to take off. When Lund radios to ask what's going on, the captain informs him that his services to the Dragon are almost complete, and will result in a groundswell of recruits and anti-Lyran hatred, once the story of the Heroes of Alleghe's brave sacrifice is circulated.
Tikona fires her PPC at the lifting DropShip, but is destroyed by the vessel's return barrage, leaving Lund alone. The DropShip captain tells Lund there never was a raid, and that the "Lyran" 'Mechs on the ground are a secret unit controlled by Warlord Sorenson. Despairing, Lund sits and awaits his end at the hands of the Atlas, feeling sorry for himself.
Notes: The setup for this story highlights the fact that no guidance for Combine militia detachments has ever been put to paper. While the old House books went into a fair amount of detail for the FedSuns Planetary Guard Units, CapCon Home Guard and militia units, and FWL Static Defense Units, the Combine glossed over that info. Here, it's suggested that all the militia had to work with was a company of conventional forces, including three tanks dating back to the Second Succession War. The world must have been massively reinforced once it became part of the Free Rasalhague Republic, since it fielded at least two tank regiments (2nd Alleghe and 5th Alleghe) and one infantry regiment circa 3050. (Not that it helped...) Presumably the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Alleghe tank regiments were attached to other FRR line units.
This story takes place in 3021, only two years after Sorenson replaced Marcus Kurita as Warlord of Rasalhague. Sorenson himself got the position of Warlord after using his Grasshopper to rescue Coordinator Takashi Kurita from a sabotaged DropShip on Radstadt and fatally disrupt the Council of Gems' attempt to tie Theodore to Rasalhague nobility and install him as Coordinator. The mass executions that followed probably didn't make Sorenson the most popular figure in the restive District.
This may explain the need for a false flag raid and the "heroic" sacrifice of Vargr lance. Giving the Voice of the Dragon solid documentary evidence of Lyran atrocities would turn Rasalhagian anger outwards, he hopes, and give him time to consolidate his power base, lest he be edged out by his rival Warlords in the power games on Luthien. (The other Warlords would, of course, resent the standing he gained with Takashi when he saved his life.)
Warlord Grieg Samsonov uses his own false flag unit on New Mendham in 3026 to make it appear that the Black Widow Company wiped out a DCMS garrison and the populace of a small town there. Another unit posing as the Black Widow company was spotted on Thule in 3024. Added to the renaming of elite units to trick the Clans on Wolcott and the frequent use of bogus supply dumps as ambush bait, and it seems like the Capellan reputation as the masters of sneakiness and misdirection might be misplaced.
One wonders, though, what happened to the entire city's population. If they were just relocated, someone would talk. If death squads swept through, why are there no signs of combat or struggle? At the spaceport, "unmanned service vehicles dot the landscape, some with cargo spilling out." This leads me to suspect that Sorenson's death squad gassed the whole city, including the spaceport, then spent the next month policing up all the bodies. The Combine deployed huge plumes of nerve gas on Mallory's World during the Third Succession War, rendering a large chunk of the world uninhabitable, so gassing a small metropolis isn't out of character.
Corraine City is the planetary capital, however. So what did they do about the local ComStar HPG? They'd have had to gas it, too, and blame it on the Lyrans. (In fact, given the proven ability of the DCMS to conscript troops, there's really no need to fabricate an atrocity to increase the flow of volunteers to recruiting stations - the purpose of this exercise was undoubtedly to generate BattleROM footage of "Lyran" 'Mechs smashing Vargr lance when they come to investigate the dead city, in hopes of tricking ComStar into sanctioning the Commonwealth.)
And what about the other settlements on the world? Did nobody go to the capital on business or to find out why the news broadcasts stopped? Did no trading vessels stop in during the month following the "raid?" None of the outlying settlements on the world had communications equipment? (Granted - communications equipment capable of reaching the jump point is restricted in the Combine - in "Mercenary's Star," Grayson had to mount a raid on a DCMS facility on Verthandi to contact his ship, and if this was Sorenson's play, he would have had all such equipment onworld disabled.)
"Vargr" is Old Norse (and, presumably, Swedenese) for "wolf/evildoer/destroyer." It's never stated what unit Vargr Lance is detached from, but they're probably Rasalhague Regulars. (Though, given their apparent expendability, being a Legion of Vega unit is also a possibility.)
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Wow, that depressing. It's not wonder why the Kuritans of the era were so hated.
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If they carried through with the false-flag operation in full Combine fashion then they probably gassed the HPG compound as well, or otherwise left ComStar intact but also believing the attackers to have been Lyrans. In fact, it's in the Combine's interest to fool ComStar into spreading the news.
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The problems with leaving the HPG station intact are:
1: It leaves witnesses for the policing up of the bodies - something raiders wouldn’t do
2: It would allow the Precentor to call for help. There would be a ComStar disaster relief team there in the middle of Sorenson’s ruse.
(Of course, there should have been one there anyways, if the station has missed its scheduled transmissions for a month)
3: It wouldn’t be consistent with the lack of communications from the planet. Survivors at an HPG station would have the equipment and motivation to hail an approaching DropShip. (Though it is possible the captain faked the “no response to our hails” bit to avoid tipping off Vargr lance.)
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...yeah. It's easier to give Vargr Lance false intel. They're going to be sacrificed anyways, so no need for their briefing to be long-term watertight.
As for ComStar, they do have that neutrality thing going. As long as nobody enters their compound and pays them for it there won't be a transmission. They wouldn't bat an eye when Party A seals off the compound with armed forces to prevent Party B from going there. We've seen that on An Ting in Wolves on the Border, implicitly on Trellwan in Decision at Thunder Rift, and most recently on Clinton in Permanent Losses.
As long as nobody crosses their doorstep, ComStar won't get between the Draconis Combine and the Lyran Commonwealth. They remain neutral and do not care.
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Date: March 8, 3025
Location: McGehee
Title: Murphy's Method
Author: Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: After landing at the Tutone Flats spaceport, AFFS Leftenant Collin Parsons-Davion arrives at Fort Derroe, in a side canyon amidst the Turlough Mountains of McGehee, reporting for duty as liaison officer with Murphy's Highlanders. He is met by Corporal Seldon Pesky and Lt. Riona Murphy, the CO's daughter.
Parsons-Davion is shocked by the lack of discipline. Riona takes him to meet the command staff - found playing cards in a makeshift bar. Major Baltair Murphy introduces his command staff - XO Krissy, Yo-yo, Mars, Bones, and Xin.
Notes: There's a brief mention that Parsons-Davion is replacing Captain Oehler as liaison officer. I wonder if that was random coincidence, or a shout-out to Scott Oehler, one of the co-creators of FASA's "Spider and the Wolf" graphic novel/scenario pack.
Murphy's Highlanders are certainly not the spit and polish mercenaries of the Eridani Light Horse. With this introduction, they appear more along the lines of Wilson's Hussars, though perhaps with a trifle less pathetic desperation. Riona's battle dress implies she's seen service in the Lyran Commonwealth, Draconis Combine, the Federated Suns and, surprisingly given their general disdain for mercenaries, the Outworlds Alliance. So the unit has survived at least four contracts, despite their apparent slovenly habits.
Collin's last name implies a certain amount of prestige - a cadet line of the Davion family. The Davion House book notes that each mercenary unit has a Liaison Officer from the Department of Mercenary Relations. Liaison officers are almost always chosen for their links with the Davion family, because the presence of a Davion, no matter how distantly related to the Prince, is a sign of the AFFS's eagerness to listen to the merc unit's problems. Kudos to Craig for doing his research! I wonder what Oehler's link was, since he's not referred to as Oehler-Davion.
Right on the Combine/Suns border, the world has traded hands multiple times during the Succession Wars - last returning to the Federated Suns during the Third Succession War, where it stays until recaptured by the Combine in 3145.
The Highlanders command staff hits all the standard BattleTech mercenary tropes. Krissy is "blonde, beautiful, well-endowed, and dressed like a strip-club waitress" and Riona is a "young, attractive redhead with deep green eyes," while Baltair is a cigar-chomping large man, and Yo-Yo is "short and stocky with a scarred face and several gold teeth." Marshigama's Legionnaires, eat your heart out. (Former "Miss Ningpo" Ju Lei Marshigama mandated that all her female MechWarriors be beautiful, and all the male ones be ugly.)
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Date: April 22, 3025
Location: McGehee
Title: Murphy's Method
Author: Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: A month into his liaison officer assignment, Lt. Collin Parsons-Davion reviews the Highlanders' understrength battalion - ten battered 'Mechs, six tanks that are more pillbox than assault vehicle, and infantry that resembles a street gang, under the indifferent command of Major Murphy and his motley "command staff."
Parsons-Davion has spent most mornings in the nearby town of Derroe Pass, paying out damages for drunken brawls and soothing the civilians while Riona and Pesky gather up hung-over mercs. Afternoons have been spent with Pesky trying to sort out the mercs' supply situation, while Krissy intermittently attempts to seduce him. Major Murphy has only peripherally been present, usually seen at his floating card game.
On this day, Parsons-Davion finds the card game in the 'Mech hangar, near the Major's Highlander. He demands to speak to Murphy about how the Highlanders are imploding. Murphy abruptly changes demeanor - listening to a comm unit hidden in his ear, and announces that it's "showtime." The card game abruptly ends, and the staff scatter with pre-assigned duties under Plan ALAMO. Chief Tech Yo-Yo estimates that all the 'Mechs can be fully functional within ten hours. Murphy informs Parsons-Davion that multiple DropShips are inbound, and invites him to join the briefing in the command center.
In the cavern, Pesky announces the room has been swept as Riona joins the group around the holotable. Murphy explains that Pesky and the previous liaison officer, Oehler, are MIIO agents, who have been setting a trap for the Combine for more than a year - presenting ISF spies on McGehee with the appearance of a valuable mining complex guarded by lazy, drunk and incompetent sellswords. Murphy tells Riona she was kept in the dark because, frankly, she's a terrible actress. He notes that the floating card game was a way to feel false intel to ISF listening devices, while real discussions were limited to sessions at the 'Mech bay.
Pesky adds that Oehler was reassigned to roll up the ISF network, and Parsons-Davion was brought in as a credible source of reports detailing the Highlanders' lack of combat readiness - reports the ISF was sure to see. Now that the Dragon has taken the bait, it's time to prepare for the fight.
Notes: Craig's over-the-top usage of time-worn tropes in the first scene is revealed here to have been an intentional ruse, playing off those themes' overuse. Krissy zips up her Cannonball Run-style jumpsuit and exclaims her relief at not having to dress like a stripper anymore.
The MIIO connection answers my earlier question about Oehler's placement in the Department of Mercenary Relations. One wonders, though how he managed to stay undercover on McGehee when the ISF knew his face (from the year of surveillance) and would find it suspicious that he hadn't been transferred back to HQ or to liaise with another merc unit. One suspects that his transfer was to a security bunker in a C3 capacity, rather than going into the field.
The Capellans took the Russian term "Maskirovka" ('the purposeful dissemination of misinformation') as the moniker for their intel service, but as we've seen, the FedSuns loves to play that game as well - not just here on McGehee, but also over on Galtor III, where FedSuns agents are even now putting the finishing touches on a fake SLDF cache and leaking its location to the ISF. Interestingly, Quintus Allard became Acting MIIO Director in 3022, leading one to suspect that it was his hand guiding the ruses on Galtor III and McGehee, as well as the masterstroke of deception that underpinned Operation RAT.
Contrasting the use of deception by the Combine and the FedSuns, Quintus seems to prefer to create a situation where the enemy sees an opportunity and is enticed to exploit it, only to find the jaws of a trap closing around them, or that they've swallowed a poison pill hidden in a shiny apple. The Combine's efforts at deceptions (it's unclear if Subhash Indrahar and his ISF had anything to do with Samsonov's false flag massacre on New Mendham or Sorenson's false flag massacre on Alleghe) create a real atrocity, then seek to shift blame. Strange that the more totalitarian state would be the one focusing on swaying public opinion, since centralized control of the media (Voice of the Dragon) would let them claim a massacre without actually having to go to the trouble of nerve gassing a planetary capital, and nobody would be the wiser...if they knew what was good for them. (Of course, the Combine uses baited traps as well - setting up ambushes around supply depots and even designing a fake Mobile HQ with concealed heavy weapons.)
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Interesting twist in the story!
How common were liaison officer per faction? Aside from the Davions and the Combine. I don't read much about them. Not everyone got them from what i read per novels. Though it may have been a mistake not add them or it was too many characters already i guess.
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Date: April 27, 3025
Location: McGehee
Title: Murphy's Method
Author: Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: In his Enforcer, Parsons-Davion joins Riona (Valkyrie) and Rob Arce (Commando) in the defense of Gamma Pass and the McCotter Mining Corporation, hoping that the revitalized mercenaries and the traps laid in the canyons will be sufficient to repulse the Fourth An Ting Legion. The plan is to withdraw through the canyons in the face of the Legion's eight-to-one numerical advantage, bleeding the Dracs as they go, then make a final stand in Derroe pass.
Parsons-Davion's recon group is backed by a lance of heavy armor - a Bulldog, a Schrek, and two Manticores. The mercenaries crush the first wave - a Stinger, Whitworth, and two Javelins, then falls back through chokepoint SIERRA, pursued by a Trebuchet, Hunchback, Vindicator, Wolverine, two Dragons, a Crusader, and a Grasshopper. Once the mercenaries are clear, they detonate explosives in the chokepoint, then fall back to chokepoint TANGO.
Two assault lances (Chargers, Stalker, BattleMaster, Atlas, Awesome, Thug, and Banshee) make the next push, braving landmines and smokescreens at TANGO. One of the Manticores is disabled, and all the mercenary units are damaged before they can break contact and withdraw to UNIFORM. Ammo-dependent weapons are down to a handful of shots, and Parsons-Davion tells Riona they won't be able to hold for long. Their last stand fails to materialize, however, and Major Murphy reports the Legion is pulling back with heavy losses.
Notes: It seems odd that the Legion would split up in this instance. It can make sense to split up if you're trying to corral a mobile foe, but they're attacking a fixed target. Perhaps the canyons are narrow enough that they thought three points of advance would triple their firepower, but it gives the defenders the same force multiplier, and risks having the mercs concentrate in one canyon and actually outgunning one of the three elements, allowing them to destroy it in detail.
Fixed defenses and booby traps can be absolutely brutal. I had great fun trying out the bunkers and other defensive installations from the McCarron's Armored Cavalry "Ring of Death" campaign. I particularly loved the 'Mech Traps - concealed depth three pits that could be lined with landmines, equipped with a bomb chute, or filled with gasoline and torched. I wasn't quite as impressed with the remotely-activated one-shot SRM banks.
Had I been running the An Ting forces, I would have had the Assault forces lead the advance through one canyon with all the LRM-equipped forces in the second wave, leaving one security company at the mouth of each of the other two canyons to interdict possible flanking maneuvers. The Assaults would be best equipped to weather any booby traps, and could act as spotters to rain down indirect missile fire on any defenders that didn't immediately run. I suppose that, since their ISF reports indicated the mercs were combat ineffective, they succumbed to over-eager bloodlust and split their forces in the face of the enemy.
The Fourth An Ting is a medium regiment, and their only source of new troops, the An Ting Academy, was destroyed in 3015 by Sun Zhang cadets. (Duuuuude! We totally whipped those Alpha Taus for beating us at the Kensai Kami. And we stole their mascot! [holds up enraged denkaika] Sake kegger!!! Whooooo! Go Sigma Zeta!!)
I was surprised to see so many Assault 'Mechs in the medium force, though I'm aware that the term "medium" describes the average weight, rather than being an exclusionary term.
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Interesting twist in the story!
How common were liaison officer per faction? Aside from the Davions and the Combine. I don't read much about them. Not everyone got them from what i read per novels. Though it may have been a mistake not add them or it was too many characters already i guess.
Per the Mercenary's Handbook, officers from the employer's military staff are seconded to the merc outfit. Without command authority, these officers act as liaisons to confirm or refute excuses that the mercs might advance to cover delays or other problems.
This is far from universal, however. Highly regarded and trusted mercenary units may be granted Independent Command.
Smaller merc units may be incorporated into a larger force under the orders of the commander of the larger force - Mercenary Command. (This is what we see when the lone survivor of Team Venom takes a subcontract under the tutelage of Hansen's Roughriders in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries' tutorial levels)
Under House Command, the unit is placed under the orders of an officer of the employer's military. (This is what the DCMS and Anton Marik kept trying to do to the Dragoons).
Integrated Command is when the unit is directly incorporated into household forces, and House troops and officers may replace or augment the mercenary forces. Effectively, McCarron's Armored Cavalry switches to Integrated Command when it becomes a Liao House Unit. Likewise the Amphigean Light Assault Group, after the Death to Mercenaries edict makes it hard to stay corporate and still remain in Combine service. (Any unlucky merc unit that falls victim to the Combine's company store tactic eventually succumbs to Integrated or House command.)
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Date: April 28, 3025
Location: McGehee
Title: Murphy's Method
Author: Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Back at Fort Derroe, Parsons-Davion joins the celebratory card game. Major Murphy introduces him to Major Oehler, who reminds him that he was never there.
Oehler explains that the An Ting Legion withdrew from the battle when a battalion of March Militia 'Mechs, which had been training on the uninhabited northern continent, feinted towards the Legion LZ, where the Combine DropShips were exposed. While the March Militia troops present didn't have the firepower to actually threaten the mutually supporting DropShips, the Legion believed they were under threat and retreated offworld.
Murphy reports five dead and six injured, with two 'Mechs destroyed, three damaged, and one tank damaged. He reports five Legion 'Mechs salvaged. Murphy asks if Parsons-Davion will be continuing as liaison officer, and he replies that he expects not to be bored in the remaining eleven months of his assignment.
Notes: Rotating the liaison officers on a yearly basis actually makes a fair amount of sense - career officers don't want to be sidelined from their regular unit for too long, and the rapid turnover helps expose any scams that a corrupt officer may be running.
The ending is a clear sequel hook, especially since Craig took the time to establish romantic tension and mutual availability between Parsons-Davion and Riona during the defense of chokepoint TANGO.
In my experience, the AFFS forces probably had sufficient firepower to cripple at least one of the DropShips. Since two Battalions arrived, that's either two Overlords, one Overlord and three Unions, or six Unions. Regardless of the composition, if the AFFS 'Mechs had stayed out at long range and engaged in a missile duel, they'd get a -4 bonus for hitting an immobile target and could run around to avoid the return fire. Careful positioning could get them into a pocket where only one of the DropShips could fire at them. Critical hits on the Dropper have the potential for crippling its ability to take off (at least, that's the case using the BattleTech Compendium ruleset for attacking DropShips - which was the standard the last time I attempted it).
I really enjoy Craig's (aka 'trboturtle') work - his research is impeccable, and his resulting works fit very smoothly into the lore of the BattleTech universe. He's been doing this for quite a while, of course, assuming that he's the same Craig Reed who wrote a scenario and short story in BattleTechnology #21 ("Snake Dance" and "Snake, Rattle & Roll"), when the Clans were brand new.
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Integrated Command is when the unit is directly incorporated into household forces, and House troops and officers may replace or augment the mercenary forces. Effectively, McCarron's Armored Cavalry switches to Integrated Command when it becomes a Liao House Unit. Likewise the Amphigean Light Assault Group, after the Death to Mercenaries edict makes it hard to stay corporate and still remain in Combine service. (Any unlucky merc unit that falls victim to the Combine's company store tactic eventually succumbs to Integrated or House command.)
Neither of these examples quite nails it, imho. When the Big MAC became a house unit, they, well, became a house unit. And the Amphigean Light Assault Group is a very special irregular formation - since you can't go merc in Kurita space, at least not in the regular MRBC sense. You can, however, become one of those intra-Kurita "merc" units who can only hire out in Kurita space. The ALAG, too, ended up in that strange position somewhere between corporate, militia and quasi-merc unit.
But you're right in that Integrated Command is when your merc unit is almost indistinguishable from a House unit, typically through a long-term contract and under circumstances where you wouldn't expect the unit to seek another employer anytime soon. The Big MAC in Liao employ - before they became regular House troops - is a good example, or the Lexington Combat Group (for House Davion). Or the Northwind Highlanders. And units caught in the company store web and bound to the state against their will are another good example.
I really enjoy Craig's (aka 'trboturtle') work - his research is impeccable, and his resulting works fit very smoothly into the lore of the BattleTech universe. He's been doing this for quite a while, of course, assuming that he's the same Craig Reed who wrote a scenario and short story in BattleTechnology #21 ("Snake Dance" and "Snake, Rattle & Roll"), when the Clans were brand new.
He is, but after BattleTechnology he didn't write for BattleTech until his first BC story, The Lance Killer, was published in 2009.
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Date: March 18, 3024
Location: Steelton
Title: Gustrell Switchback
Author: Chris Hussey
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: In the Cregan's Bluff mercenary cantonment, Captain Lyle Hadric, CO of Hadric's Hucksters, discusses the unit's dire financial situation with his XO, Benett - stuck at the "ass-end of the Commonwealth" after seven years of bad contracts, with one week's payroll and two weeks of food on hand. Hadric suggests selling their ammo and spare part reserves at their base back on Winfield, But Bennett cautions it'll leave them with just the supplies on Steelton. Suspending pay is also a dicey proposition, with Hadric noting they nearly lost the entire unit the last time they did that.
Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of a Lyran officer - Hauptmann Jorn Eskagaard of the 30th Lyran Guard - who has a job offer for the Hucksters.
Notes: Another entry in BattleCorps' last themed series - "Gray Markets" - Gustrell Switchback introduces a merc unit very much in the mold of Wilson's Hussars - broke, desperate, and going nowhere fast.
The 30th Lyran Guards are the appropriate unit to be making the offer on Steelton - based on next-door Icar following a successful campaign earlier in 3024 against the Dieron Regulars on Sevren. Sending a company commander (Hauptmann) also fits.
Aside from the Hucksters, Steelton's only defenders appear to be militia, since the 3025-era TO&E doesn't list any front-line forces garrisoned there.
Cregan's Bluff isn't described in any detail here, but the Jade Falcon sourcebook notes it as the planetary capital. While there was heavy fighting on Steelton during the Reunification War, the last recorded battle there was in 2866, when the DCMS launched a diversionary raid against it. The low threat potential is probably why the pay grade is so low for the mercenary garrison.
One wonders, through - can't the Hucksters do basic math? If they have fixed + variable expenses over the term of the contract totaling X, why would they accept any contract that paid less than X? Why would they have been unaware of how bad their finances were until they hit the one-week-to-insolvency precipice? (And where's Fabienne Grayson and her 200 million M-Bill contract when they need it?)
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Date: March 22, 3024
Location: Steelton
Title: Gustrell Switchback
Author: Chris Hussey
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Aboard the DropShip Carpetbagger, the Hucksters are introduced to Hauptmann Eskagaard and JumpShip Captain Kelly Hunt. Hadric informs his MechWarriors that their mission is to rescue a group of Lyran diplomats from a bandit lord Toju Bort on the Oberon Confederation world of Gustrell, in the partially abandoned capital city of Sarah. Captain Kelly describes the world as heavily wooded, with several scattered settlements, and only one city of note outside of Sarah. Once the diplomats are clear, the Lyrans will transport the Hucksters back to their base on Winfield.
MechWarrior Brendon McGurk is rebuffed by Eskagaard when he asks how the diplomats were captured in the first place. McGurk loudly disparages the assignment as a suicide mission, and is only silenced when Huckster XO Bennette tackles him and removes him from the discussion by jumping further up into the hold in the microgravity.
Following the briefing, Hadric privately tells Eskagaard that he shares some of McGurk's trepidation, and asks for confirmation that Lyran forces will be supporting his unit. Eskagaard says there will be, but only a few (to avoid the risk of the Draconis Combine reading the deployment as preparations for an attack) in an advisory capacity.
Notes: The microgravity environment implies that the Carpetbagger is already docked with the Lyran JumpShip and preparing to jump out. That would place (by inference) the Steelton jump point 4 days out. Per the tables in Explorer Corps, that's about right for a KV orange main sequence star, with a transit time of 4.12 days (implying the Hucksters got moving pretty quick...not that they had much in the way of supplies to load).
Hadric is more diplomatic than McGurk, but he has the same worries - that his unit is being assigned the mission because the LCAF considers it to be expendable. Employer betrayal of a merc unit only matters for the employer's reputation if there are any survivors to tell the story.
Other descriptions of the Oberon Confederation in this era have been limited, since the political entity was snuffed out long before FASA, FanPro or Catalyst started doing deep dives on factions outside of the main eight. It appears that the term Confederation has been applied literally - each world is run by a bandit lord who pays fealty to King Grimm on Oberon VI, but aside from supplying levies to bolster the Oberon Guards, are left largely to their own devices. In the lead up to the incident on Trell I (with negotiations ongoing right about now, in fact), Lyran diplomats negotiated a garrison contract with Grimm, but the ISF/Duke Ricol managed to get Grimm's vassal on Sigurd to betray him and substitute Ricol's team for the Oberon garrison force.
One wonders if the Lyran diplomats on Gustrell were part of the Lyran effort to negotiate the Trell I garrison deal. The timing would fit, but why would they have been on Gustrell instead of Oberon VI? It would have been a fun bit of continuity if Captain Hunt had been a free trader with House Mailai, rather than a Lyran, since Decision at Thunder Rift established House Mailai as the leading trading network in this part of the Lyran cis-Periphery, and this story predates their use by Ricol to wipe out Carlyle's Commandos.
I'm unsure why Eskagaard cares what the Combine will think about Lyran deployment into the Periphery. Lyrans hunt pirates in that region all the time, as does the Combine. Plus, the Third Succession War is still ongoing, so it's not like a Lyran deployment in force would risk starting a war - the current one hasn't ended yet. I imagine the Hauptmann's concern is more about the signal that Icar's defenses would be left understrength, tempting Combine aggression in the region.
I'm also confused about the description of the planetary capital, Sarah, as "mostly abandoned." Why would the planetary capital be depopulated? The world first appears on the 2750 map, suggesting it was colonized during the Star League era. It makes sense for it to have had a lot of cities and advanced infrastructure that were unable to be maintained after the collapse of the Star League and the Rim Worlds Republic. So perhaps Sarah is like the city of Kuroda on Kagoshima, where large swaths are filled with burnt-out ruins, dominated by vagrant gangs, but what remains is still better than the other city, or any of the post-fall villages out in the woods.
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I'll just say that you have read the name Kelly Hunt before...
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I'll just say that you have read the name Kelly Hunt before...
The captain shows up again in “Unholy Union,” but this seems to be his first appearance, chronologically.
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I'm also confused about the description of the planetary capital, Sarah, as "mostly abandoned." Why would the planetary capital be depopulated? The world first appears on the 2750 map, suggesting it was colonized during the Star League era. It makes sense for it to have had a lot of cities and advanced infrastructure that were unable to be maintained after the collapse of the Star League and the Rim Worlds Republic. So perhaps Sarah is like the city of Kuroda on Kagoshima, where large swaths are filled with burnt-out ruins, dominated by vagrant gangs, but what remains is still better than the other city, or any of the post-fall villages out in the woods.
or it could be rather like Detroit IRL.. where the city used to be booming and growing, but then conditions changed and the city population moved away leaving lots of unused buildings and a population far smaller than the city had been built for.
considering it went from a semi-independent but closely tied part of the RWR to a vassal world the oberon confederation, one would imagine many of its trade networks collapsed in the late 2700's when the RWR was snapped up by the Lyrans, and didn't grow much after. the world could well have experienced a cycle of economic boom-and-bust's right up to the point Clan Wolf took over in 3049.
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Date: March 31, 3024
Location: Gustrell
Title: Gustrell Switchback
Author: Chris Hussey
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: On the outskirts of Sarah, Hadric deploys his forces - one lance clearing a path for infantry to reach the central government hall, and the other lance+platoon doing the same towards the main garrison base. The Lyran forces are designated as reserves, though Hauptmann Eskagaard is directed to stay with Hadric's command lance (something Hadric had insisted on to lessen the likelihood of betrayal).
The Hucksters proceed unchallenged through the "almost dead" city, where crumbling facades and collapsed frames suggest long neglect, and reach the government hall in the city center. Second Lance reports that the base appears to be deserted.
Gustrell forces rise from hiding and attack with tanks, irregular infantry, a Crab, and a Wolverine. Heavily pressed in the urban fighting, Hadric asks Eskegaard to bring in the Lyran reserves. A cat and mouse battle through the ruins ensues, with the Hucksters taking damage, but coming out ahead. Hadric notes that Eskagaard has pulled back to the city's edge.
The battle tilts against the Hucksters as Lord Bort brings his BattleMaster into the fray. Eskagaard encourages Hadric to focus on the Oberon assault 'Mech, hoping to decapitate the defenders' leadership. Eskagaard repositions to keep the tanks at bay. Pushing forward, Hadric has to contend with not only ambushes from buildings, but piles of rubble concealing anti-'Mech pits.
Trapped and with Bort's BattleMaster and supporting armor engaging him, Hadric calls on Eskegaard for support, but does not believe the Lyran's assurances. Bort charges in to get under the range of Hadric's PPCs, but the Huckster commander meets the challenge, delivering a punishing punch by his Awesome to the BattleMaster's weakened torso.
His 'Mech crippled, Bort surrenders and requests honorable treatment. Hadric demands the release of the diplomats, to which Bort replies, with confusion, "What diplomats?" Eskagaard interrupts, demanding that Hadric kill Bort. Hadric refuses, noting that Bort has just surrendered.
Hadric receives a private communique from his XO, Bennett, warning him that Eskagaard and his Lyrans are retreating to the DropShip. Hadric orders his fast units to pursue, and not let them escape.
McGurk's Jenner harasses Eskagaard's Centurion, striking at its weakened legs. Hadric sends an open broadcast demanding Eskagaard's surrender, prompting the other Lyrans, aboard the Carpetbagger to take off without him.
Notes: Hadric notes that he grew suspicious of merchant captain Kelly Hunt when he jumped into an "uncharted system" with a long-dead RWR colony and a still functional automated recharging station. Looking at the Star League-era maps, the abandoned RWR system directly between Steelton and Gustrell is Iron Land. However, "Touring the Stars: Iron Land" shows that Iron Land is still inhabited (by secretive, pranking "leprechauns" no less) circa 3051, so either Hadric got the wrong impression about the world's status (which is "regressed" rather than "extinct"), or Iron Land isn't Hunt's recharge-stopover point.
The bandit troops' armor support is largely made up of tanks manufactured in the Successor States neighboring the Oberon Confederation (Hunters from the Lyrans, and Saladins from the Combine). It's interesting, though, to find a FedSuns-made Striker in the mix, since the design debuted only in 3006, and were primarily sold to the AFFS. One wonders how ended up half way across the Inner Sphere in the last 18 years.
Gustrell doesn't seem to have much of an edge on Sigurd, comparing the ragged infantry irregulars' uniforms and the inexperience demonstrated on the battlefield. Lori Kalmar (in the Gray Death Legion books) described Sigurd's forces as primarily young, untrained conscripts serving the military dictatorship that has ruled the world since putting down a brief but bloody popular uprising (in which she was orphaned).
Probably only the Oberon Guards, under Grimm's command, are a real line unit. We don't know their skill level circa 3024, but the 1st Oberon Guards are listed as Veteran in 3050, with the 2nd "Regular" and the 3rd "Green." The planetary guard forces (if other Oberon-centered fiction is anything to go by, they're called the "Planet" Guards, so these would be the Gustrell Guards) are somewhat more rag-tag, and not significant enough to be listed on the Oberon Confederation TO&E.
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the striker combat vehicle seems fairly simple on the surface.. basically a heavy truck with a missile turret. so i could see there being some less well known 'knockoffs' being built in other successor states in small numbers. especially by 3024, when the concept had been proven viable.
since the IS relies heavily on their 'warbook' programs for battlefield ID, knockoffs might well show up as the original type on such programs.
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There's an odd technological mismatch here.
The Crab is an extinct design in 3024 that most MechWarriors probably won't even recognize. In any case it is a 'Mech that stands out. Crabs were among ComStar's gifts to the Draconis Combine and in the War of 3039 were part of the reason why the FedCom wet their pants and called off the offensive.
The automated recharge station is also a much, much bigger thing than the story makes it out to be. This is the tech-starved periphery.
Remember that House Mailai essentially based their wealth and influence on the sole JumpShip repair yard in the general area. A facility like this must surely be a secret pirate asset, presumably of the Oberon Confederation (we do know that Kelly Hunt is an Oberon associate).
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The Crab is most likely a downgraded CRB-20 (from the 3058 revised printing of TRO:3025). Since the SLDF was engaged in heavy action occupying the Rim Worlds Republic, it's not out of the question that a few were left behind there and (since the design requires less than half the maintenance of other designs in its weight class) that this one was passed down through the centuries in the possession of various bandits.
This is the tech-starved Periphery, but in a region littered with abandoned systems and the left over infrastructure of a major power. (Note the fully functional pirate shipyards in nearby Star's End.) Iron Land's entry in "Touring the Stars" specifically states that the system does not have a recharging station (automated or otherwise). That being the case, though, I'm hard pressed to see what abandoned RWR colony Kelly Hunt used to get from Steelton to Gustrell in the timeframe stated. New Alborg is the only other abandoned system in that area, and going there would necessitate yet another jump to Butte Hold - risking a run-in with Redjack Ryan.
Thus, either Iron Land actually does have an automated recharging station in 3024 (and lost it before 3150, when the writeup is dated), or Hunt used one of the "off map" systems that was colonized by Amaris' secret army as a staging/training/manufacturing point, probably not far from Iron Land (since that's still the direct path to Gustrell from Steelton).
My guess is that its location is known to smugglers and pirates in the vicinity, but that there's a general agreement to leave it alone for mutual benefit, so that various groups of marauders can quickly get in and out of the Lyran Commonwealth when going on raids.
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As shown in Unholy Union, Kelly Hunt is on good enough terms with Redjack Ryan to be not shot at sight. Hendrik Grimm even uses him as a messenger to Ryan. So he could conceivably travel via Butte Hold.
The "uncharted" star system could in fact be a faux RWR facility that was in fact constructed by ComStar, either for the Explorer Corps or directly to support local piracy as part of their Operation Jolly Roger. In any case, I reckon Jolly Roger was where Kelly Hunt learned of the facility.
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Date: April 2, 3024
Location: Gustrell
Title: Gustrell Switchback
Author: Chris Hussey
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The Central Hall in the city of Sarah hosts a trial hearing, with Captain Lyle Hadric presiding. The captives, Lord Bort and Hauptmann Eskegaard, are joined by Bort's chamberlain, Okuma Ayaka. A ComStar representative, Adept Saburo, stands witness.
Hadric and his unit are stuck on Gustrell for at least a month, until the next scheduled trading vessel arrives. Kelly Hunt is long gone. Eskagaard informed Hadric that there were no Lyran diplomats being held hostage on Gustrell. In actuality, Bort had broken away from the Oberon Confederation (though Bort denies this), and Lyran diplomats had offered to send a mercenary unit to eliminate the upstart bandit lord, then abandon the expendable force so that the Oberon Guards could kill them and salvage their equipment. In exchange, Grimm's pirates would stop raiding Lyran worlds and concentrate on Combine worlds exclusively.
Hadric angrily outlines his situation - Eskagaard lied to him and isn't planning to pay him, Bort may be lying to him, and Grimm is coming to kill him. He proposes a solution, asking Saburo to contact Grimm and inform him of the events transpiring on Gustrell, letting him know that his "gift" will now consist of a Lyran Hautpmann for ransom, rather than a mercenary unit.
To resolve the issue with Lord Bort (who claims he's loyal) and Chamberlain Ayaka (who claims he's a traitor), Hadric releases them both and tosses them each a pistol, telling them he doesn't care which of them is telling the truth. While Bort is still working through his confusion, Ayaka shoots him in the forehead. Hadric then asks Saburo to inform Grimm that Chamberlain Ayaka now rules Gustrell in his name.
The newly minted Lord Ayaka offers her world's hospitality, but warns that Grimm will still want their 'Mechs. Bennet, Hadric's XO, suggests that "no reserves is better than no unit." Hadric tells Ayaka he has something that will make Grimm happy.
Notes: Grimm's payoff isn't clearly stated, but the implication is that Hadric will provide the Oberon Confederation with intel on the cache of supplies and parts currently in storage at the Hucksters' abandoned base on Winfield.
Given the level of deterioration in Sarah, frankly I'm surprised that Gustrell has an HPG station - particularly given that all communications from the Oberon Confederation ceased around 3045. This implies that whatever pirate war broke out just prior to the arrival of the Clans, the normally inviolate ComStar compounds were seized or destroyed.
According to the Periphery sourcebook, the actual diplomatic negotiations between the Lyrans and the Confederation are taking place on Nyserta at this very moment - culminating in an agreement to dispatch elements of the Sigurd Guards to garrison Trellwan. (Ending with Grimm being betrayed by the Lord of Sigurd - suggesting that Grimm spends most of his time trying to keep his subordinate "lords" in line.)
Now, I dunno about Hadric's overall outlook on life, or his commitment to the mercenary trade, but it seems to me that a few more rounds discharged and one HPG message pledging fealty would set him up as Lord Hadric, Bandit King of Gustrell, with a more substantial army than ol' Bort had. (Gotta be a Simpsons reference - "We need more 'Bort' license plates in the gift shop." "No, my son is also named 'Bort.'")
I'm not sure why Hadric doesn't think he'll get his pay. ComStar witnessed the broken Lyran contract, and the Hucksters should have been working through ComStar's Mercenary Review Board, which should have been holding his remaining pay (minus advances) in escrow until contract completion. All Hadric has to do is file a complaint against the Commonwealth, get a judgement, and collect his pay. (Granted, the unit's down to eating tree bark for months if the Commonwealth lawyers up, but...)
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Now, I dunno about Hadric's overall outlook on life, or his commitment to the mercenary trade, but it seems to me that a few more rounds discharged and one HPG message pledging fealty would set him up as Lord Hadric, Bandit King of Gustrell, with a more substantial army than ol' Bort had.
That's how I understood the ending. Given that the Oberon Confederation was on the brink of legitimacy at the time, and that ComStar had witnessed and presumably verified the Lyrans' betrayal of Hadric's unit, it is conceivable that he might properly hire on with Hendrik III without getting blacklisted. (Wilson's Hussars openly worked for Redjack Ryan after going rogue over a contract dispute with Kurita, and then openly worked for Helmar Valasek of all people, yet still weren't blacklisted.)
As for the HPGs, Gustrell isn't known to have a planetary HPG, nor does the story neccessarily imply that. In the entire Oberon Confederation, only Oberon VI is known to have a HPG (which is enough to send orders out to the other planets though - it's getting a response, or any message, that requires HPGs on other worlds).
I would presume that the ComStar presence on Gustrell is what we know as a Class D station - a representation office that will take (and distribute) messages, but doesn't actually operate a HPG, instead receiving messages from nearby HPGs and using pony-express style message delivery (in all directions) otherwise.
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One problem with the pony express theory - the story states that no JumpShips are due in-system for at least a month.
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...which is kinda consistent with the time lag often postulated for ComStar's service. The story doesn't indicate when (or even if) Hendrik III received Hadric's message.
I know that messages travel at the speed of plot, but out here in the periphery it is easiest to imagine the Mad Max lostech universe initially portrayed for the game:
My take on the (near) Periphery border was always that it was defined by the edge of the HPG grid.
Gustrell is just over 30 ly from Butte Hold which may or may not have a Class B HPG (it's listed for 2750 and the Dark Age, but apparently not in the 3025 timeframe); and it's within 50 ly from Oberon VI so could receive messages from a Class A HPG on Oberon but not a Class B, unless there was an intermediate relay station (a ship with a mobile HPG on stationary duty, a HPG satellite like the DRUM network satellites, something like that). Oberon supposedly has a Class B station.
Oberon and Butte Hold are the only worlds in a 50 ly radius that were ever said to have a HPG, so barring a HPG relay station or mobile HPGs these are the only worlds from where Gustrell can receive HPG messages. It may not be worthwile for ComStar to operate a pony express out there, but Gustrell must somehow be connected to other worlds - if only to be a member of the Oberon Confederation. So they're definitely using JumpShips that drop by to ferry messages.
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Date: April 14, 3025
Location: Cylene
Title: The Check is in the Mail
Author: Uncredited
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: On the outskirts of the city of Caine, a recently dispossessed mercenary named Erik finds shelter in a burned out church and switches his rescue beacon to a back-up frequency, hoping to attract the attention of a rescue team.
He reflects that his mission had been to recon an arms depot for a potential future raid, then extract. However, the depot garrison was substantially stronger than expected, and he'd been forced to eject from his crippled Wasp and flee on foot. He grouses that if he dies, his ex-wife will get his death benefits, and wishes he'd retired on New Avalon after the divorce, rather than taking to the mercenary trade in a decrepit scout 'Mech.
His internal tirade is interrupted by the arrival of a Combine Panther, which smashes through the wall of the ruined church. Looking down the barrel of the 'Mech's PPC, he hopes that his ex-wife Marla chokes on the check.
Notes: This being an "Iron Writer" story, it was written in the space of an hour at GenCon and published without any fact checking. That is probably why the pursuing 'Mech is painted red, suggesting it's with the Sword of Light, when the 3025 DCMS deployment tables show the 9th Dieron Regulars - which use a parade scheme of white with golden stripes and appropriate camouflage when in the field - as the planetary garrison.
Aside from that, the details (such as they are) largely check out. The presence of a church might be questionable on a Combine world (where Christians are an often marginalized minority), but the world was a Federated Suns holding for much of the Third Succession War, with the Combine taking control some time after 3007 - explaining the ruined church - a remnant of either the Combine invasion or of Combine repression/intimidation as they impose their caste system on the conquered populace.
It's interesting that this independent mercenary scout was hired by corporate interests through a mercenary liaison on Towne, rather than going through the main channels on Galatea or on Le Blanc, which "Heir to the Dragon" established as one of the primary mercenary hiring hubs on the Drac/Feddie border. Erik suspects that the "corporate" employer may have been a Drac front, used to lure mercenaries into attacking Combine strong points to give the garrisons some live fire combat experience. This suggests that Erik did not negotiate the contract through ComStar's Mercenary Review Board, and lacked the legal protections that would have provided.
If the scout contract was bait to secure 'Mech salvage, it recalls a similar mission from MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, where bandits advertise a contract with terms too good to be true, and then ambush any suckers that take the bait. At this same time period, Matabushi, Inc. is serving as a front for covert military operations against the Federated Suns - I wonder if Matabushi might be behind the contract that lured Erik to Cylene. (Though the red 'Mech color scheme wouldn't match the dark blue "Dark Wing" color scheme shown on the MechWarrior game box cover...)
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...which is kinda consistent with the time lag often postulated for ComStar's service. The story doesn't indicate when (or even if) Hendrik III received Hadric's message.
I know that messages travel at the speed of plot, but out here in the periphery it is easiest to imagine the Mad Max lostech universe initially portrayed for the game:
My take on the (near) Periphery border was always that it was defined by the edge of the HPG grid.
Gustrell is just over 30 ly from Butte Hold which may or may not have a Class B HPG (it's listed for 2750 and the Dark Age, but apparently not in the 3025 timeframe); and it's within 50 ly from Oberon VI so could receive messages from a Class A HPG on Oberon but not a Class B, unless there was an intermediate relay station (a ship with a mobile HPG on stationary duty, a HPG satellite like the DRUM network satellites, something like that). Oberon supposedly has a Class B station.
Oberon and Butte Hold are the only worlds in a 50 ly radius that were ever said to have a HPG, so barring a HPG relay station or mobile HPGs these are the only worlds from where Gustrell can receive HPG messages. It may not be worthwile for ComStar to operate a pony express out there, but Gustrell must somehow be connected to other worlds - if only to be a member of the Oberon Confederation. So they're definitely using JumpShips that drop by to ferry messages.
Your reasoning is solid. It's just that explicit references in the story to ComStar Adepts rarely leaving their secretive compounds and Hadric's instructions to "send a message to Grimm" implied (to me at least) that there was a ComStar compound on Gustrell and that it had the capability to dispatch messages in the short term. (Would a Class-C message drop/courier office really need a "compound"? I've seen them described as storefronts - like the satellite ComStar office where Kai and Dierdre were briefly detained on Alyina.)
The fear is that Grimm is coming to scoop up the Hucksters as his promised salvage, and the goal of the messages is to divert that plan to another target - the cache on Winfield. If they have to wait for a merchant ship to show up in a month to send that message, there's no point, since they can extract back to Lyran space aboard that ship.
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Date: July 1, 3025
Location: Timbuktu
Title: Snipe Hunt
Author: Troy Garner
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps Iron Writer)
Synopsis: Rookie MechWarrior Justin patrols through the rain in his JagerMech, and stops to investigate a sensor ghost. Though initially dismissive, he radios Corporal Talbot at HQ when he sees a point of light outside the fence line, and receives instructions to investigate.
The light and sensor readings continue to appear and disappear, and Justin recalls academy stories about new recruits being sent on "snipe hunts" - their sensors fooled by base personnel targeting the rookie's sensors with low power targeting lasers.
Returning to base, he radios Talbot to open the gate, but gets no response. More "ghost image" lights continue to flash. Moving around to the western gate, Justin finds a Hunchback standing there, not giving off any heat signature or magscan readings. He demands the pass phrase, and threatens to open fire.
The Hunchback responds that he's from the garrison over the pass to the west, and was pranking Justin as part of a long-standing rivalry. He provides the pass phrase, "Thank Monkey."
Notes: This being a non-fact-checked Iron Writer story, Troy Garner understandably went light on the setting details. I've put it on Timbuktu, since the pilot mentions being fresh out of the Nagelring (putting it in Lyran space), and because that's near a known area with bandit activity, where the garrisons would tend to be bored and prone to tomfoolery. The date of July 1, 3025 is pure conjecture, selected because none of the 'Mechs exhibit any LosTech equipment.
The Iron Writer events were usually themed, and the 2008 event required each writer to end their story with the awkward phrase "Thank monkey," which required some unusually convoluted writing and plotting to accommodate.
Despite the Hunchback pilot's story that it was all a prank, it's unclear how the not-terribly-spry 50-tonner was able to outmaneuver the JagerMech and to stay off his scanners. Was the Hunchback pilot using a Chameleon Light Polarization unit and Null Signature system? Seems like a rare bit of LosTech to be wasting on bandit-watch out in the Lyran backwater. Was the Hunchback pilot gifted with "Phantom 'Mech" powers? How else would he not register on magscan at close range?
Or had Corporal Talbot sabotaged Justin's scanners - being in on the joke. (The radio silence in response to the request to open the gate would tend to support this theory - though one would hope Talbot also switched the JagerMech's lasers to low power and put paint rounds in the autocannons, just to make sure nobody would get killed if a panicked rookie decided to shoot first and ask questions later.)
Another oddity is the use of a JagerMech - a design primarily seen in the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation, with "relatively few found in the other Great Houses."
I wonder if Troy Garner is related to David-Stansel Garner. Troy appears as the author of a pair of Iron Writer entries - the other being "An Old Sergeant's Motives."
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I wonder if Troy Garner is related to David-Stansel Garner.
Husband
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Date: June 3, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Zach Slasher Esacpes
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns to Galatea's Club Zero-Zero after trying to run Dark Wing member Zach Slasher to ground on Cawdor.
Checking the NewsNet, he sees that House Davion has put Slasher on its "Most Wanted List" due to his alleged connections with the Dark Wing. The NewsNet also has a story about Melissa Steiner and Clovis Holstein rescuing Lt. Andrew Redburn on Styx.
Ragen gets a report from Miss Lana Mann, who reports that Zach Slasher escaped from Cawdor, but appears to be heading to Rostov.
To pay the bills, Ragen accepts a job from Meece Yerta to recover a cache he left behind on Qutang.
Notes: The NewsNet entries that reference the events of Warrior: En Garde serve as useful touchpoints for establishing the actual chronology of the SNES MechWarrior plot (rather than the 3-days-per-mission in-game chronology), but tend to give information that no news organization would ever give out.
I can see why the news story would report on Melissa and Andrew - since they've been established as media celebrities - princess and war hero. But who would care about Clovis Holstein? Given his role in Heimdall, I'd have thought that the Kell Hounds and Melissa (out of respect for her father) would have completely covered up the Heimdall cell's role in the Silver Eagle incident, and not breathed a word about Clovis.
Besides, the "saving" amounted to shooting one overconfident Drac trooper, then being found almost immediately afterwards by the Kell Hounds. The FedSuns news reporting would have focused on the Hounds' rescue of Melissa - as commemorated by the statue on New Avalon.
It's clear that the leads are pretty much randomly generated. The previous session's leads were from Lana Mann (MIIO agent), who had infiltrated an underground network on Puxi. Now, she's reporting that Slasher has escaped Cawdor and is en route to Rostov. What was she doing on Cawdor if she was busy infiltrating a Mercenary Underground network on Puxi?
Despite the loopiness of much of the SNES MechWarrior plot, the concept of a Mercenary Underground is interesting. It somewhat presages the creation of the Allied Mercenary Command (albeit by pulling together the kinds of shady mercs who'd otherwise be turning bandit, rather than the Dudley Do-Right types of the AMC). As we've seen in "Gustrell Switchback" and "The Check is in the Mail," the 3020s were a hard period for mercs to place trust in their employers.
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Your reasoning is solid. It's just that explicit references in the story to ComStar Adepts rarely leaving their secretive compounds and Hadric's instructions to "send a message to Grimm" implied (to me at least) that there was a ComStar compound on Gustrell and that it had the capability to dispatch messages in the short term. (Would a Class-C message drop/courier office really need a "compound"? I've seen them described as storefronts - like the satellite ComStar office where Kai and Dierdre were briefly detained on Alyina.)
The fear is that Grimm is coming to scoop up the Hucksters as his promised salvage, and the goal of the messages is to divert that plan to another target - the cache on Winfield. If they have to wait for a merchant ship to show up in a month to send that message, there's no point, since they can extract back to Lyran space aboard that ship.
perhaps the world had a mobile HPG at the time, unofficially? comstar might not always advertise where such things were.
or perhaps a message was sent out on an outbound jumpship, and the response came in from one of the nearby HPG's? (since you don'y need anything fancy to pick up the messages in the target system)
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There is one account that supports ComStar using a mobile HPG out in towards the Periphery - a TRO:3026 entry that describes ComStar relocating its HPG after bandits run across it, but the bandits returning and stumbling across the HPG again and again.
Since normally these HPGs are huge, immobile fixed facilities costing a billion C-Bills to build, the only way it would make sense for ComStar to move one repeatedly (after recovering it from the bandits) would be for it to be a mobile unit.
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Date: June 5, 3027
Location: Northwind
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: En Garde)
Synopsis: Quintus Allard, Director of MIIO, visits his son Dan in a military hospital on Northwind, where Dan is healing his broken collarbone with the aid of a NAIS-designed electro-impulse bone knitter.
They discuss the events on Styx, noting that Patrick Kell told the Hounds, the Silver Eagle passengers had been loaded onto the Manannan MacLir and evacuated to the Cucamulus during the hour granted to make the surrender decision, but the passengers had actually hidden elsewhere on the asteroid while the Kell Hound DropShip made a phantom pickup run - enabling Patrick to taunt the DCMS forces that their quarry had slipped away, goading them into a rash attack wherein Patrick whittled down the Combine numbers by sacrificing himself. The Cucamulus jumped to Northwind with Combine forces in hot pursuit, but the local AFFS aerospace fleet forced them to retreat. Once the Combine pulled out of the region, the Silver Eagle was able to travel to Northwind attached to the Bifrost, with the surviving passengers, Hounds, and Heimdall members aboard.
At a signal from the valet, Quintus escorts Dan to an office, where First Prince Hanse Davion awaits.
Hanse welcomes the Allards to his makeshift office, where Cat Wilson, Andrew Redburn, Clovis Holstein, Salome Ward, and Melissa Steiner are also present. Hanse announces his plans to honor the sacrifice of those who lost their lives on Styx - Patrick Kell most of all, but to maintain a cover story that the Silver Eagle was carrying a Lyran official to the NAIS for medical treatment. He swears all present to secrecy. The group drinks a toast to Patrick's memory.
Hanse announces rewards - Andrew Redburn has been promoted to Captain; and the Heimdall cell has been pardoned and offered medical care and repatriation to the Commonwealth. The Kell Hounds will receive the Dragon Slayer's ribbon and the fallen MechWarriors will receive the Medal Excalibur, to be awarded after the wedding. Hanse asks the living Hounds what reward would suffice, and Dan suggests a scholarship for MechWarriors. Cat and Salome concur, and Melissa pledges a matching scholarship in the Lyran Commonwealth.
Notes: The office used by Hanse is freshly whitewashed, but has wooden pillars supporting the ceiling and an unfinished wooden desk in the center of the room. Why wouldn't Hanse have planted his flag in "The Fort" - the old SLDF Castle Brian that the Northwind Highlanders used as their HQ upon returning to their homeworld? Had the AFFS let a major LosTech installation like that fall into ruin? I'm guessing that any installation built to Star League standards wouldn't have wooden support pillars.
The scene between Quintus and Dan essentially serves as a massive exposition dump. My guess is that Stackpole was up against a hard page limit, and didn't want to waste space on a post-climax description of how the Hounds once again pulled the Combine's shorts over its head and wedgied it hard.
Based on the description of the action, it would seem that the Combine has technology enabling them to accurately track JumpShips through a jump - calculating their destination based on the energy signature of their hyperspace transition...and that they were also able to hot-charge and follow the Cucamulus shortly after its departure, when it hadn't had anywhere near enough time to do a regular recharge.
It would also seem that the DCMS (DCA?) flotilla pursuing the Hounds either lacked significant aerospace fighter assets (or else the Manannan MacLir would've been shot down en route to the Cucamulus), or that the AFFS had a Fleet Wing stationed at the recharge station in the Northwind system.
The bit about the supposedly "best of the best of the best" Genyosha blindly accepting the Kell Hounds' taunts about everyone having gotten out on the Manannan MacLir and abandoning the Styx asteroid base en masse (leaving the valuable and still functional Silver Eagle and Bifrost behind) fails to track, unless the surviving Genyosha and ISF troops had formed a cult of personality around Yorinaga, and seeing him beaten and wounded shattered their morale.
Dan's request for a scholarship in Patrick's name is a nice sentiment, but his stipulation that it go for "potential MechWarriors with the same sort of 'heart' as Patrick" seems rather vague. In the Commonwealth version of the scholarship, I can see whichever social general is in charge of disbursement determining the level of a particular applicant's "heart" as directly correlated to the size of their bribe, or the strength of their social connections (running directly contrary to the presumed intent).
Do you suppose Phelan attended the Nagelring on the Patrick Kell Memorial Scholarship (before getting kicked out)?
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Date: June 10, 3027
Location: Sian
Title: Warrior: En Garde
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: En Garde)
Synopsis: Justin Xiang and Tsen Shang don formal court dress before proceeding together for an audience with the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation, Maximilian Liao. Justin is still woozy from being drugged on Solaris VII, and aching from multiple hyperspace jumps.
Entering the cavernous throne room, they behold Chancellor Liao on a huge throne carved from a solid piece of mahogany.
Liao stands and greets Justin, expressing pride in his arena victories, and confers upon him Capellan citizenship. He expresses admiration for both Justin's fighting skill and his unique insight into how Hanse Davion thinks. He explains that he has recalled Tsen Shang to serve as a Maskirovka analyst, and offers Justin the same position, to process intel on the Federated Suns. He says he knows he can trust Justin, because of the way the Federated Suns tried to break him in the earlier trial.
Justin accepts, and he and Tsen follow Maximilian through a door into a dining room, where, to Justin's astonishment, Duke Michael Hasek-Davion awaits in a bright green uniform. The group drinks a toast to the destruction of House Davion.
Notes: Only two weeks have passed since Justin was drugged on Solaris VII. It's 5.18 days to the standard jump point in the Solaris system, and another 10.43 days from the standard jump point to the surface on Sian. I can believe a pirate point entry in Sian, but they probably had to use standard routing in Solaris, meaning they made the trip from the Lyran/League border down to the Capellan capital in about eight days - necessitating a pre-established command circuit.
Known symptoms of Transit Disorientation Syndrome mostly include nausea, headaches, and disorientation, rather than muscle aches similar to a flu - suggesting that (despite Justin attributing them to hyperspace) they're a side effect of being drugged.
Justin describes the back of the throne as "carved from a single piece of mahogany" and covered with symbols from Capellan mythology, describing the universe.
Here's the throne in question (with Sun Tzu aboard): (http://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/4/4f/Celestial_Presence_Sun-Tzu_Liao.jpg/250px-2k8keohuw19fwihn485egxm3pti7gr6.jpg?timestamp=20110613144723)
Taking a look, you've got a coiled dragon around the outside (Chinese-style - long and sinuous), some suns with orbiting planets, crosshatched gold lozenges, and a couple of imps/demons/monkeys staring out from around the corners of the red cushions. Not really getting "the universe" from that, though the resolution on this pic is somewhat low. The mahogany checks out - Terran-grown trees can get up to 12 feet in diameter. (I imagine an adapted specimen on the low-gee Capellan world of Tall Trees could be even larger.)
Justin also describes the walls as glowing a "warm red" from diffuse lighting, whereas the walls behind Sun Tzu's throne are white/gray marble/stone blocks. Sunny must have redecorated. (Romano probably just had heads on spikes as her central decorating motif.)
It would seem that Michael is wearing the standard green Federated Suns duty uniform (seen here on his grandson, George):
(http://cfw.sarna.net/wiki/images/6/6e/George_Hasek_II.jpg?timestamp=20100219204517)
as opposed to the blue blinged out dress uniform here:
(http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/thumb/f/f5/Davionuniform3025dressuniform.png/237px-Davionuniform3025dressuniform.png)
I wonder if the servants who help Justin and Tsen get dressed for court were Servitors, or if court duties have sufficient prestige that even menial jobs there are assigned to more trustworthy castes. There is the strange story, from the 3070s, of a group of Servitors who commandeered a Po and used it to rescue survivors after the Celestial Palace was bombarded from orbit, thereby gaining citizenship. So we at least know it's not unusual for Servitors to be in the vicinity of the palace.
Interesting that the crack analysis team here seems to be only focused on the Federated Suns. Does Max have another team of crack analysts poring over Free Worlds League intel in another part of the palace? ("So, we're thinking...maybe not a good plan to grant dominion over the Ohren and Zion Warrens to a House named "Sian-Marik"?)
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Date: June 15, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: An Island in the Shape of a Bat
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Having missed Zach Slasher multiple times, Herras Ragen returns to Club Zero-Zero and is informed that he just missed Zach at the club. Cearle, the bartender, says Zach was talking about two planets - Kagran and one that has an island shaped like a bat.
Roden Wull corroborates Cearle's account, noting that someone is trying to hire mercenaries for riot duty on a planet that has an island that resembles the shape of a bat. He suspects that that "someone" is the elusive Dark Wing member, Zach Slasher.
Notes: I suppose this was some sort of in-game puzzle, where players would be challenged to remember the images displayed about the planets made up for the game, and would then be directed to Galeton. The Crescent Hawks' Inception did something similar, with the final solution dependent on realizing the significance of a wavy green line connecting certain planets on the game manual. That said, though, this method of adding challenge really takes one out of the in-universe immersion.
I suppose referring to a world as "the one with the island shaped like a bat" isn't completely beyond the pale in a universe that features a world named "Great X" because its primary continent is shaped like a giant X. Looking at a screengrab of Galeton (attached)...phew, my congratulations to anyone who figured out that this thing was the "island shaped like a bat" without using a guide.
Taking this mission results in a climactic battle with Dark Wing member Zach Slasher, and moves Herras Ragen one step closer to exacting revenge on the mercenaries who killed his father.
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Known symptoms of Transit Disorientation Syndrome mostly include nausea, headaches, and disorientation, rather than muscle aches similar to a flu - suggesting that (despite Justin attributing them to hyperspace) they're a side effect of being drugged.
More likely, a result of high-g burns from Solaris VII to the jump point and/or on approach to Sian. I think pirate points are over-used in the fiction given their inherent dangers; with a command circuit in place there is no reason whatsoever to put a VIP transport at risk by using pirate points. If you're really trying to cut some travel time (because the Chancellor said so), I reckon it's a much better idea to burn at more than 1g for a time.
Makes me wonder... do designated high-g courier vessels exist with a cruising speed of, say, 6 (= 3g) and luxury quarters with acceleration couches? Off the top of my head I can only think of the Intruder-class DropShip.
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I think you have it exactly - high-gee runs while he was unconscious and strapped to a couch would explain the muscle aches. Since an estimated 80% of TSD cases are judged to be psychosomatic, the sedated Xiang shouldn't have even noticed jump sickness-related effects.
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Date: June 22, 3027
Location: Udibi
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel (Wolves on the Border)
Synopsis: Captain Frank Woomack, of Wolf's Dragoons, chafes at his confinement at a Federated Suns base on Udibi following their capture during a battle over supplies five weeks earlier. Woomack is joined by Corporal Kathy Keegan and MechWarrior Steve Geiger. The arrival of a column of AFFS hovercraft lead to speculation that Colonel Wolf has sent a rescue party, or that their ransom is in the offing.
Summoned to meet Major Whitfield, Woomack enters, prepared for another 2-3 hour interrogation session. Instead, he finds Whitfield joined by a white-haired stranger in a business suit. Woomack recounts the details of his unit's battle with McKinnon's Raiders over the supply cache, and asks for the formal ransom customary for captured mercenaries. He expresses no confidence in Major Whitfield's assurances that it will be arranged without delay, noting the weeks that have passed since that promise was first made.
The white haired man interrupts, explaining that the delay was his fault, and introduces himself as "Allard," one of Hanse Davion's ministers. He promises to return Woomack and his companions, along with what's left of their 'Mechs, to Le Blanc with no ransom, if Woomack will perform a task for Allard.
Suspicious of the lack of ransom, Woomack angrily tells Allard that Dragoons don't betray their employers.
Allard clarifies that the job is just a courier mission, to bring a lucrative employment offer to Colonel Wolf.
Notes: This is a direct follow-on to the multi-part May 1-7, 3027 campaign in the Fox's Teeth scenario pack (conclusively proving that the 3029 date in the scenario pack is in error).
The discussion among the mercenaries centers on the practice of ransom, which is mentioned in the RPG sourcebooks, but rarely shown in any of the fiction. It would appear that, circa 3027, the standard practice would be to hold captured troops only until someone (their unit, their employer, a wealthy benefactor, etc.) paid their ransom, returning not only them but (depending on the circumstances of their capture and the size of the payout) their BattleMechs. This was clearly put in to emphasize the "neo-feudal" aspect of the Late Third Succession War era, echoing the historical practice of ransoming captured knights, their armor, and horses.
While this fits an era where semi-autonomous MechWarrior families pledge fealty, service, and 'Mechs to their lords in exchange for landholds and titles, it seems to have fallen out of fashion during and after the Fourth Succession War, and may not have been universally applied, even in the Third War era. The Capellans never exchanged any prisoners at the end of that conflict, and ComStar had to broker prisoner exchanges among the other warring parties. The Combine's "Dictum Honorium" would seem to preclude such ransoms, since it mandates the immediate execution of any foe cowardly enough to surrender. The Feddies, apparently, are softer touches.
"Minister Allard" is, of course, Quintus Allard - Hanse's spymaster. (It's a good month for House Allard - Quintus just made an ultimately successful approach to the Dragoons, and Justin has been ensconced in the upper echelons of the Maskirovka.)
The mention of Le Blanc is a tie-in to later scenes in Charrette's "Heir to the Dragon," where Le Blanc (portrayed as a semi-autonomous smuggler's den, free port, and mercenary hiring center) is used as a staging area for the DCMS counterattack during the War of 3039. Charrette set the world up to be a counterpart and competitor to Galatea, but later sourcebooks listing major Hiring Hall worlds for mercenaries always leave it out. Perhaps competition from Outreach, along with the lack of demand on the Drac side of the border after the "Death to Mercenaries" order, and the negative consequences from the War of 3039 gambit led to a collapse of the mercenary market there.
The Dragoons have a strict (Clan-based) code of honor. One might suspect, however, that employers should be very careful around ransomed troops serving in less scrupulous mercenary outfits, who might have returned to duty with a new set of instructions from their former captors.
One wonders, though, why the offer of employment would have been made in person through such a channel. Why wouldn't the AFFS Mercenary Liaison Office just make a formal contract offer through the Dragoon point of contact on Galatea? "Hey, once you're done beating on us at the end of your current contract, how about signing up for another FedSuns hitch with better pay and bennies?" Sure, the Combine would probably catch wind of it if done that way, but given the Dragoons' reputation, why would such an offer be at all suspicious - it'd be crazy if the Dragoons didn't have offers from every Successor State on the table at the conclusion of their current contract.
It seems like the main target of this secrecy isn't the Combine...it's ComStar. The only reason for Quintus to go to Udibi in person, rather than just sending instructions via HPG, is to keep ComStar completely out of the loop - probably to keep them from monkeying with the message contents and scotching the deal. (MIIO may well know of ComStar's obsession with the Dragoons, dating from the Anton-Janos civil war). My guess is that AFFS recruiters have a parallel offer - but not a very competitive one - submitted on Galatea through formal channels (and reported to ROM by ComStar's Mercenary Review Board), with the real offer being delivered this way for extra credibility.
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Date: June 29, 3027
Location: An Ting
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel (Wolves on the Border)
Synopsis: Minobu Tetsuhara, accompanied by his aide Michi Noketsuna, his Ryuken-ni XO Charles Earnst, and a squad of security troopers led by Dela Saraguchi, enters Dragoon Administrative HQ in the planetary capital, Cerant. They restrain the receptionist and burst, unannounced, into a meeting of the Dragoon senior staff.
Natasha Kerensky reacts with open hostility, but Colonel Wolf is willing to hear Minobu out about a communique he has received from Warlord Grieg Samsonov, who claims the Dragoon raid on Udibi in May 3027 was a violation of the terms of their contract, and impugned his personal honor. Minobu reports that the Warlord has filed a formal protest with the Coordinator's office, alleging breach of contract, among other charges.
Colonel Wolf denies that the Dragoons have taken any actions that violate the strict wording of the contract. Minobu, disappointed that Jaime is using legalistic interpretations to evade responsibility, rather than denying the charges openly, as a warrior, warns the Dragoons that Samsonov has sworn to destroy the Dragoons if they break faith with House Kurita, and that he may be driven to take drastic steps to assuage his wounded honor.
The Dragoons discuss this news. Natasha says the Dragoons can "kick his butt to Aldebaran and back" if Samsonov tries anything. Wilhelmina Korsht suggests breaking their contract and forfeiting the bond, and many officers signal their agreement. Patrick Chan opines that nobody will fault the Dragoons for leaving House Kurita.
Jaime disagrees, warning that none of the other Successor States will trust the Dragoons if they get a reputation for breaking their contract when they get unhappy, turning the Dragoons into cheap sellswords. He commands the Dragoons to keep the contract, to the letter, until such time as the Combine breaks it. With a few exceptions (Kerensky and Korsht), the Dragoon officers concede the point.
Minobu commends Colonel Wolf on his devotion to honor, and then informs him that Lord Takashi Kurita has summoned him to Luthien to account for his actions.
Notes: The Government House (seat of Kurita planetary authority) faces the Wolf's Dragoons Administrative Headquarters across Cerant's central plaza. Earlier, it had been noted that the Dragoons were granted An Ting as their fiefdom for the duration of the contract, with their pay drawn from taxes on the world's economy and offworld trade. (Throttling offworld trade and undermining the planetary economy were listed as tactics used to push the Dragoons into the "company store" scenario.) So, why are the Dragoons in an administrative office building across the plaza, rather than having set up shop in Government House?
I suppose Government House provides continuity for the planetary bureaucracy in between the arrival and departure of short-term "lords" who've been given the world as a landhold.
The Clan lack of subtlety shows clearly here. The deputized representative of the Combine's Professional Soldiery Liaison is here, backed by security troopers and his officers, and the Dragoons start openly discussing breaking the contract and fighting DCMS units. This is, on the one hand, a statement of how comfortable they feel around Minobu - feeling he's "one of us" (despite the strained relationship following Minobu's injury and reassignment), and, on the other hand, a reflection of the kind of culture that developed the batchall - laying everything out in front of the enemy, with no attempt at subterfuge, in expectation of a challenging fight with opportunities for glory.
The "legalistic argument" Jaime is making is that the contract authorizes the Dragoons to "make arrangements to secure supplies." While the expected channels would seem to be things like the Dragoons' supply contracts with Ceres Metals and General Motors, Jaime is interpreting an objective raid on a supply cache as falling under this heading as well. However, Wolf cautioned Dechan Fraser, when he assigned him to form and lead the raiding party (in April 3027, on Misery) to do it covertly, because the Combine "might not understand" about the "crossing the border bit." Being freeborn, Jaime clearly isn't quite the stickler about intent vs. letter as a trueborn would be.
The April chapter on Misery and the June chapters on Udibi and An Ting move the story forward, but rely on the Fox's Teeth scenarios to tell the story of the raid itself - an early FASA effort at cross-promotion of products. However, not having even known of the existence of the Fox's Teeth scenario pack when I first read this story, I felt like I was missing chunks of the narrative (the same as with the Bounty Hunter scenes), and even checked the page numbers to make sure none had fallen out.
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Date: July, 3027
Location: Keid
Title: Blind Man's Bluff
Author: Thomas S. Gressman
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology 0203)
Synopsis: LCAF Lt. Brian "Dark Horse" Scully reports back to Major Mariah "Phalanx" Thibeaux that his Hatchetman has reached the outskirts of the city of Bel and he is beginning his effort to infiltrate through the Capellan perimeter to locate the spare parts dump inside.
In an underground bunker near the city center, CCAF Captain Daniel Gyory waits for repairs on his Centurion to be completed, fixing the damage suffered from Lyran strafing runs during their initial landing the previous day. The Centurion is the only Capellan 'Mech remaining in Bel, with the rest of the company having deployed to defend Port Anderson (30 km south) against the main thrust of the Lyran attack.
A technician reports that an inbound Lyran 'Mech has been detected, and conveys orders from Commandant Deng to destroy the intruder.
Two kilometers away, Scully's Hatchetman is intercepted by a militia jeep, which fires a pintle mounted SRM launcher at the Lyran, but fails to survive the laser barrage that returns, exploding in a greasy fireball.
Gyory, still preparing, receives the final report from Recon Jeep V-7 - cut off mid sentence. He powers up the Centurion and emerges from the bunker, ready to do battle.
Scully anticipates that the diversionary attack on Port Anderson will have drawn away most, if not all, of Bel's garrison - leaving only infantry and soft-sided vehicles like the jeep. He estimates it will take him only another 30 minutes to reach the supply dump, and another 30 minutes to withdraw with the data on its location.
Gyory, having reached the site of the jeep's destruction, is unable to locate the Lyran 'Mech with sensors, and has to try to outthink his foe. He races west at top speed, hoping he's going the right direction.
Scully arrives in the vicinity of the parts warehouse, but is interrupted in his search by his magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) alerting him to a large mass in his rear arc. He slips into the shadows of a large building, hoping to conceal his signature in its mass, unsure if anyone is actually nearby, and worried about keeping to his mission timeline.
Gyory approaches cautiously, wondering if the brief sensor contact was nothing more than a radar ghost.
Both 'Mechs step into the street at the same time, and open fire at each other. Scully, outgunned, fires his jump jets and escapes to the next street over. He raises the 'Mech's hatchet and prepares to strike as the Capellan 'Mech approaches in pursuit. Gyory blocks the strike with the Centurion's left arm, which buckles, but his return fire leaves the Hatchetman's armor in tatters as it again jets away to safety.
Scully curses the Capellan's quick reaction time, and exchanges fire with the Centurion once more, jetting away amid the cloud of exploding missiles and falling debris from stray cannonfire. The two MechWarriors lose contact with each other as the Hatchetman plummets through the roof of the building it was trying to jump over.
After several minutes of searching, Gyory detects movement inside the building, and begins shooting blindly into it, hoping to hit his target. Sully's return laser fire is more accurate, however, and the follow-up charge slams the Centurion into the building across the street. The Hatchetman clubs the battered Centurion down twice as it attempts to stand, detonating the missiles, killing Gyory, and throwing the Hatchetman back into the intersection.
Once he recovers, Sully sends an "enemy destroyed, mission in progress" zipsqueal to Phalanx at HQ, and limps away into the night.
Notes: The date of the battle is described from a 3028 perspective as having taken place "last year." I have put it arbitrarily in July.
Brian Scully is identified as a "Lieutenant," though being the LCAF, his proper rank should be "Leutnant."
The narrative gives Keid a single moon...which appears to have disappeared by the time of its official MWDA WizKids profile. (Efficient, those Capellan moon miners...)
The appearance of the SRM-2-firing recon jeep suggests that Gressman was working from the list of conventional forces listed in MechWarrior RPG 1st Edition, which included skimmers, wheeled scouts, jeeps, Vedettes, Hunters, Manticores, Demolishers, B2 Heavy Transports, Command Vans, and an assortment of robots.
I'm surprised that Gyory didn't call in additional recon jeeps and infantry to defend the warehouse. It was a close battle, and some extra SRMs pounding the Hatchetman could have made the difference. (Except, of course, this is 3027, and the only constant in this era is that House Liao loses every battle.)
Given the detailed blow-by-blow, I wouldn't be surprised if Gressman played out the battle between the Hatchetman and the Centurion and simply wrote up the results as dictated by the dice. Other authors, like William Keith, tend to skip over the details of the fight (enabling the heroes to take down foes in a single volley) so that the story narrative doesn't bog down. This short story goes the opposite direction, chronicling every autocannon burst and missile volley (something you'd only see in a novel for a final-chapter boss battle, and still not at this level of detail).
Gressman was an early contributor to BattleTechnology, and ended up writing several of the Twilight of the Clans novels (mostly those that focused on the Eridani Light Horse).
It's unusual to see a Lyran vs. Capellan battle, but Keid is close enough to the Lyran border for a raid to be conceivable. What's odd is that the Lyrans actually staged a diversionary raid to draw off the garrison and then sent in a scout to infiltrate the target. Lyrans aren't known for diversionary tactics and misdirection. They form a long wall and stampede forwards with the heaviest 'Mechs possible, confident in their ability to crush all in their path. This focus on maneuver and scouting suggests this unit has had the benefit of AFFS military advisers - courtesy of the FedCom treaty.
The story is framed as a "BattleTips" article written by Greggson DuVall, a military historian who interviewed pilots, Techs, and eyewitnesses on both sides. I'm surprised the normally closed-off Capellans granted such access, especially since it showcases their loss of precious LosTech.
The setup - that Gyory's Centurion had been less damaged in the strafing than the other members of his company, and had been the last to enter the repair bay (and consequently been left behind) - runs contrary to the description of the standard 'Mech repair protocol of reverse triage - those with the least damage get treated first so they can get back into the fight as quickly as possible and don't get stuck waiting behind wrecks that need days-long full overhauls to even stand up again.
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Date: July 6, 3027
Location: Corella
Title: Battle of Kilgour
Author: Uncredited
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0101)
Synopsis: The Battle of Kilgour is a BattleForce (1st Edition) scenario that pits the Scotian Highlanders (3 battalions) against the 2nd Kearny Highlanders (2nd and 3rd Battalions), south of the town on Kilgour on Corella II.
Full rosters for the Scotian Highlanders and the 2nd Kearny's two battalions are provided. The Scotians have 76 'Mechs and 20 tanks. The Kearny forces have 80 'Mechs and 24 tanks.
An unhexed map of the region is provided, with a scale indicator showing it to be 3.5 x 4 km, with BattleForce hexes being .18 km for movement calculations. Players are expected to recreate the map on blank BattleForce hexes, and then place and move their forces around this map.
The Kearny Highlander battalions begin on or west of Kilgour Heights (northwest corner of the map), while the Scotians begin with one battalion on Sumner's Ridge (in the center of the map), with two supporting battalions hidden on Grierson's Hill and on Venable's Ridge (to the south and north of Sumner's Ridge, respectively).
The path of least resistance invites the Kearny battalions to move southeast towards Sumner's Ridge, where they'd have a two-to-one advantage over the Scotians. Attacking there, however, would allow the hidden forces on the wings to surge out and envelop the Kearny forces.
The ideal option for the Kearny forces would be to advance through the woods, crushing the battalion hidden there. However, the rules of the scenario require infantry scouts to be sent in first to locate the Scotian forces there, which may only be engaged once a sufficient number of detection rolls are made.
The Scotians claim victory if the Kearny Highlanders lose more than 2,000 tons of equipment. The Kearny forces win if they destroy more than 2,000 tons of Scotian equipment. If both sides suffer roughly equal damage, and have lost more than 1,000 tons of equipment, then the Scotians win.
Historically, the 2nd Kearny sent one battalion against the Scotian center, holding the other in reserve.
The scenario is accompanied by a "BattleTac" article that gives extensive background on the conflict:
On July 5-6, 3027, House Liao's 2nd Kearny Highlanders (2nd and 3rd battalion) raided the Davion world of Corella II - a major food producer and logistics hub for Operation GALAHAD '27. Maskirovka intel identified a gap in the world's garrison as units were shuffled around, and inserted the Kearny forces when the planet was guarded only by its militia and a short regiment of mercenaries - the Scotian Highlanders.
Liao agents seized the spaceport and the Scotian DropShips there, enabling the Kearny forces to land unopposed and move south from Port Corella towards the grain depots. The two forces met at the crossroads near the small town of Kilgour, where the Scotian commander opted to wage a mobile defense.
On July 6, the Kearny forces advanced against Scotian positions on Sumner's Ridge, which held for more than two hours before retreating east to the Bloody Field, with the Liao forces in pursuit. The Scotians held their reserve battalions back until the Liao reserves were committed into the trap, but the Kearny commander did not give the order. Liao scouts found the Scotian battalion in the trees to the north, but their threat was discounted by the Kearny commander.
The Scotians, near breaking, called in their reserves, and the battered Kearny battalion on the Bloody Field was caught out of position and broke, fleeing west up Sumner Ridge, their retreat covered by their reserve battalion, and the Liao force, though still stronger than the Scotians, withdrew to Port Corella.
Notes: This is an interesting experiment, and one of the kinds of articles that make the early issues of BattleTechnology such fascinating "what could have been" resources. Rather than being limited to published mapsets, the authors ginned up a battlefield, set objectives, restrictions, etc. and gave the players freedom to maneuver, with restrictions that keep it from being too easy for one side or the other. I wish more of these had been done at this level of detail.
While non-canon, the chronology fits reasonably well into the official timeline, and the damage inflicted on the 2nd Kearny isn't so drastic as to put them out of commission for the 4th Succession War. (Heck, all they really did there was switch sides and beat on some Sword of Light troops on Northwind, anyways.) The only major continuity issue is what happened to the Scotian Highlanders, since they're not listed on the Feddie TO&E for the NAIS Atlas of the 4th Succession War.
Strategy wise, the Kearny forces would be best advised to seize the ridge in the center, then rain long-range fire down on the Scotians on Bloody Field while scouts sweep the trees on the northern flank. Once troops there are identified, the reserve battalion can go in and the two can pincer it, relying on terrain bonuses to keep the other Scotians back. That should put the Capellans in a good position to make a unified advance without having to worry about flank attacks. There's no time limit, so a cautious, thorough sweep isn't a problem.
For the Scotians, the ambush is a good plan if the Capellans get impatient and aggressive. If they start sweeping the forests, go for broke and charge the center with everything. Your northern battalion will get chewed up, but you'll savage the Kearny's southern battalion in exchange, leaving you with the advantage and control of the ridge.
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Date: July 6, 3027
Location: Corella
Title: Randall's Charge at the Bloody Field
Author: Uncredited
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0101)
Synopsis: A BattleTech scenario set amidst the larger BattleForce scenario in "The Battle of Kilgour," Randall's Charge at the Bloody Field takes place at midday on July 6, when elements of the 2nd Kearny Highlanders' 3rd Battalion broke through the Scotian Highlanders' lines on the Bloody Field. Captain Randall's company is sent in to seal the breach and shore up the Scotian line.
The Scotian forces have a Phoenix Hawk, Vulcan, Panther, Stinger, Wasp, and Shadow Hawk, with 30 points of armor damage distributed at their player's discretion ahead of time.
The Kearny force consists of a Thunderbolt, Catapult, Rifleman, 2 Vindicators, Commando, 2 Phoenix Hawks, Stinger, Locust, Shadow Hawk, and Cicada, with pre-existing damage and 50 points of missing armor distributed as the player desires.
The Scotians win a decisive victory if they destroy all the Kearny 'Mechs, and a major victory of the Kearny 'Mechs are forced to retreat. The Kearny forces win a decisive victory by destroying all the Scotians. If the Kearny forces are ordered to withdraw, the victory level depends on losses suffered at that point.
Kearny forces may not fire on the Scotians until the turn after the Scotians first attack, or the turn following a turn when a Scotian comes within 5 hexes. Every time a Kearny 'Mech is destroyed or disabled, a 2d6 roll of 9+ results in recall orders.
Notes: I get the feeling that the Scotian force was pared back at some point in editing, because the TO&E lacks anyone named "Captain Randall" - though he was still alive when the Scotian commander gave the order. I would suggest adding an Elite "Captain Stuart Randall" to the Command Lance with a Victor, as shown in the pre-battle TO&E. Otherwise, we have to assume that Captain Randall died en route to this fracas. (And how can we have "Randall's Charge" without Randall?)
Without Randall's Victor, the light-to-mid-weight Scotian force is both outnumbered and seriously outgunned, and likely to be cut to ribbons by the Capellan force without inflicting significant casualties.
For the Scotians, the only chance seems to be to form a blob and advance towards the Kearny forces until you get into a good range bracket, then fire en-masse to get a kill. Keep your group together and mass fire on your best target each time, hoping for a kill. Even as your numbers dwindle, each kill gives you a chance to roll on the recall table. You pretty much have to hope you get lucky, given the force imbalance. It's highly unlikely that the official lineup would be capable of destroying all the Kearny forces, and only slightly more plausible if the Victor is restored.
For the Kearny forces, dump all your armor damage on one or two units, and park them well to the rear. Then charge your unit forward to get within five hexes of the Scotians, so you can trigger the "I get to fire next turn" condition at a time of your choosing, not theirs. Whenever your units get beat up, pull them back and charge in with the rest of your troops. You might even want to dump ammo right off the bat for many of your smaller guys, to avoid the risk of ammunition explosions, and just rely on the lasers. There's no cover on the map, so keep even the people you pulled back running around unless they've lost so many MP that going prone is superior cover.
Once you've triggered the "I get to shoot" conditions, you have a choice to make - if you get aggressive, you can keep the battle on the eastern map, keeping your walking wounded on the western map in reasonable safety. However, if you do take a loss and roll poorly, then your forces are engaged far forward, and you have a lot of ground to cover - with loss conditions growing for each unit you lose during the retreat.
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Date: July 6, 3027
Location: Corella
Title: Holding the Line
Author: Uncredited
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0101)
Synopsis: Also set during the events of the Battle of Kilgour, this scenario is set shortly after the Scotian commander fires flares to summon his hidden reinforcements from the Kearny flanks. The Scotians try to hold the line until fresh troops arrive, while the Kearny troops try to break through and escape the encirclement before the net closes.
The Scotians have an Archer, Phoenix Hawk, Enforcer, Valkyrie, Commando, and Whitworth
The Kearny forces have a Stalker, Wolverine, Commando, Grasshopper, Blackjack, Phoenix Hawk, Spider, and Wasp.
The Kearny forces win a decisive victory by eliminating all Scotian forces and moving at least four 'Mechs off the east side before turn 12. Otherwise, the Scotians win a major victory. After turn 12, Scotian reinforcements are en route, and the Kearny objective becomes to either withdraw without losing more than three 'Mechs, or to completely eliminate the Scotian force (winning a major victory).
The battle is fought on two blank map sheets, with no cover or other terrain features.
Notes: Both sides are fairly mobile, with a few exceptions, and tend towards Elite/Veteran, so gunnery and piloting scores will be boosted. Both sides have pre-existing damage - more for the Kearny forces, but they have more units on which to spread it around.
For the Scotians, the Archer and Whitworth won't be setting any land speed records, so set them up at the rear providing stationary fire support with missile barrages, while your mobile units bounce around en-masse, hammering anyone that tries to target the rear duo. The Scotian goal is to run out the clock, so keep your distance and move as much as possible. It doesn't matter if the Kearny forces move 'Mechs off the eastern edge if they don't fully eliminate the Scotian force, so all you really have to do is keep your jumpers alive while whittling down Kearny targets of opportunity as you are able.
For the Kearny force, this is going to be tough - you've got the skills to hit your foes, but 2/3 are a bunch of bloody jumping beans that are skilled enough to hit your crew on the bounce. You need to drop as many of them as possible as quickly as possible, so get up to the mid-field (where your guns will be in range) and then remain stationary to get better "to hit" modifiers. Concentrate on the most hittable target you can find with everyone, and, ideally, you'll have all six targets down by turn 9 or 10 (it helps that you're fighting in a shoebox with no cover). If one of yours gets close to dead, pull it back, but your hope is that you can sweep the field clean and still have time to move off the eastern edge by turn 11. Move your slower units up to a point where they can clear the eastern edge in two turns of running, and start moving them forward no later than turn 9, even if there are targets remaining. Your worst case scenario is being up against the time limit and having the Scotian Phoenix Hawk and/or Valkyrie bouncing back to the west side, out of range.
To make the targets more stationary, send in your Wolverine, Spider, Wasp, and Phoenix Hawk to get next to their speedy jumpers, and take as many kick opportunities as possible. With luck, they'll fail the PSR and fall, meaning they can't jump and will be easy meat the next turn. Or, you might take the leg off, turning them into a bullet magnet.
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Date: July 10, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Watch Your Back
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Following the battle against Zach Slasher on Galeton, Herras Ragen muses that he'll have to be more covert to get the last two Dark Wing members, since the surviving members will certainly target him if they know he's been killing their comrades.
That plan lasts all of five minutes, as Cearle (the bartender) warns him that other mercenaries are touchy about how he killed Zach, who was one of their own. Ace SAFE agent Vermin Minter is the only one that seems clueless (so...SAFE, basically), reporting that whoever killed Slasher probably also killed Wolf Glupper.
House Davion puts out a call for mercenaries to perform riot control on Cawdor.
Notes: The authors of the SNES MechWarrior game referenced key scenes in Warrior: En Garde in the NewsNet postings up to this point, but for some reason didn't go on to reference any scenes from Warrior: Riposte - all future NewsNet posts are just in-game contract hooks. Without any other anchors for continuity, I've spaced the remaining missions out so the narrative finishes by the end of 3027. (Though, in a parallel track, the other Dark Wing lance died defending Matabushi's bunker roughly three months prior to Zach's demise, as best I can figure.)
The Davion contract hook is very politely worded, for some reason. "The House has respectfully requested the aid of any willing mercenaries to help with riot duty on Cawdor." Why not just post a standard contract announcement? As listed, it sounds like they're hoping for free assistance in massacring rebellious civilians.
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Date: July 15, 3027
Location: Rollis
Title: In For a Penny...
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Scenario
Synopsis: The Rollis Home Guard, under Subcommander Rodney Piet defends the city of Vidalla Bay against a raid by the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers, which has brought some new MechWarriors to get live fire experience against the ill-equipped Capellans.
The AFFS force has an Enforcer, Marauder, Dervish, and Centurion.
The CCAF troops have a Cataphract, Vindicator, Wasp, and Jenner, as well as two Hetzers and two Scimitars.
Historically, the Home Guard lost all four tanks and two 'Mechs, but captured two Davion 'Mechs in exchange as salvage, and forced the Fusiliers to retreat.
Notes: This is a nice little fight, and we rarely if ever see Home Guard units on the field in canon material. It doesn't quite align with what we've seen in the era, however.
I was surprised that the AFFS unit was the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers in 3027, given that Michael is still en route back from his "To Evil, Gentlemen!" moment with Max, Tsen, and Justin, and his signature achievement since getting in bed with Max has been to cut the raiding way back and more or less declare peace on the Capellan March frontier. This sort of nuisance raid seems like exactly the kind of action that Duke Michael would have put the kibosh on as part of his deal with Max.
(Granted, the world is out on the back end of beyond, bordering the Taurian Concordat, so the Syrtis Fusiliers are the local line units of record, but the timing would suggest this was part of GALAHAD 27, and with all the shuffling going on, any unit could be used.)
Secondly, I was surprised to see 'Mechs in a Home Guard unit. The 3025-era (just two years earlier) Liao sourcebook describes Home Guard units as having two battalions of infantry (jump/mechanized) and one battalion of armor. Confederation 'Mech assets are pretty limited, so I'm surprised that any would be assigned to a Home Guard unit - especially one on such a remote system. I'm even more surprised that the 'Mech in question is one of the brand spanking new CTF-1X Cataphracts.
The Aftermath reports that the Cataphract pilot gets promoted up to the St. Ives Armored Cavalry afterwards...but his Home Guard unit is operating in the Sian Reserves sector, so why wouldn't he have been promoted within that chain of command?
I agree that Hetzers make perfect sense for the Home Guard. The Liao sourcebook just lists Vedettes and Manticores, but there are many other vehicles that are Liao staples that should be included. For close assault vehicle platoons, I'd recommend SRM carriers, Hetzers, and Demolishers. For long-range fire support, Manticores, LRM Carriers, Vedettes, Brutuses, Schreks, and Behemoths. For scouting/cavalry - Pegasus, Condor, J. Edgar, and Swift Wind Scout Cars.
It would also make perfect sense for Home Guard vehicle battalions to have attached Guardians in a 2 planes/1 company "air lance" ratio, giving a typical Home Guard six fighters.
The Scimitars have always felt more "Combine" and "League" to me (being manufactured on Al Na'ir and also in the FWL), whereas the Condor is a core Capellan hover tank.
The Davion force has significant amounts of medium-to-long range firepower, and doesn't want to get into knife-fighting range with the Hetzers. There's no time limit, so make a unified advance across the northern portion of the map, concentrating fire on any Liao units that poke their heads out. (Keeping north prevents the Hezers from directly engaging, since they can't cross the river or lake, and will have to move around the southern edge of the lake, at which point they can be potted before getting into range.) The Cataphract is the only Liao unit with much durability, so mass fire on the weaker units and pick them off.
For the Liao units, you need to use your superior mobility - make hit and run attacks with your speedsters, trying to get them to split up and chase you. Hold the Hetzers back behind cover until the enemy is in range, then go in guns blazing. If you can concentrate fire on the Marauder and take it out first, the rest have fairly unimpressive gunnery.
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Date: July 15, 3027
Location: Terra
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte)
Synopsis: Precentor Dieron Myndo Waterly is called before the First Circuit to account for her actions of May 22, and for the Circuit to determine whether her actions warrant excommunication and death.
Primus Julian Tiepolo charges her with informing the ISF that Melissa Steiner was present in their territory, using covert information gathered by ROM. He alleges that her leak risked exposure of ComStar's intelligence gathering methods and violated ComStar's neutrality, while also serving to undermine the FedCom treaty endorsed by ComStar, but loathed by Waterly.
Waterly responds that ComStar has used targeted leaks for centuries, but Tiepolo reminds her that political meddling can only be authorized by the Primus, not a "renegade Precentor with delusions of divinity." He admonishes her that such intervention must be subtle.
Waterly mocks Tiepolo, arguing that the FedCom and Kapteyn Accord treaties brokered by ComStar were the very opposite of subtle. She also worries about the security risks posed by hosting the Davion-Steiner wedding on Terra, opening access to the world to so many outsiders.
Tiepolo claims he has counterbalanced the FedCom treaty by helping to insert Justin Xiang into Maximilian Liao's court - pairing good news about Xiang's victories with depressing messages to the Chancellor, creating Max's obsession with the Davion exile. Tiepolo expects Xiang's analyses to hamstring MIIO operations against the Confederation.
Waterly argues that she was equally subtle - merely joking to a known ISF agent about why the Combine tolerated bandits in the Styx system, and letting the ISF take it from there. She notes that, aside from some dead ISF troops and mercenaries, nothing of consequence happened, and Quintus Allard was able to circulate a cover story.
Tiepolo worries that, with Patrick Kell dead, Morgan Kell might return from his self-imposed exile to battle Yorinaga Kurta, sparking a conflagration even ComStar cannot control.
The First Circuit absolves Waterly of any guilt. Waterly vows to be more subtle the next time she tries to undercut Tiepolo's power.
Notes: More plottin' and schemin' in the First Circuit. May 22 is just one day after the Bifrost jumped to Styx. Clearly, ComStar knew the full details of the abduction well in advance and Myndo simply waited until she had confirmation that it had gone off as planned, then tipped the ISF.
Interesting that Tiepolo is so easily distracted. He charges Waterly with 1) potentially exposing information gathering methods, 2) violating neutrality, and 3) undermining the FedCom treaty.
For #1 - sure, she didn't come out and say "we're reading your mail," but wouldn't Subhash Indrahar begin to wonder "Wait, how did ComStar know there are bandits based in the Styx system?" She seems guilty as charged on that point.
Not that anyone had any question about that - House Marik proved ComStar was leaking info to their enemies, and got themselves Interdicted when they retaliated. Quintus Allard's recent trip to Udibi would seem to indicate that those in the know already know not to use HPGs for anything sensitive.
The fact that ComStar was taken completely by surprise by the 4th Succession War suggests that ROM apparently only reads the HPG mail, and has let other sneaky-Pete skills atrophy due to over reliance on SIGINT/ELINT.
For #2 - her actions don't seem to have violated neutrality on the surface, but the fact that the ISF went there looking for bandits and found Melissa Steiner would suggest to Subhash that ComStar left them a valuable present (albeit one that slipped through their fingers), certainly causing the Combine to wonder about ComStar's motives. The fact that Melissa wasn't gift wrapped keeps ComStar from seeming a clear ally, and the presence of the Hounds may make the ISF suspect ComStar baited them into attacking to try to test or destroy the new Genyosha.
For #3, Waterly's flippant answer that "nobody important got killed and there's a cover story" doesn't answer the third charge at all. Sure, she failed to disrupt the FedCom treaty, but the fact remains that she tried - she meddled in politics without the Primus' permission. She should have been Excommunicated and remanded for trial and possible execution on the spot.
Instead, Tiepolo had a senior moment and started trying to defend himself. At the end, he meekly accepts her arguments and lets her off with a warning after getting unanimous thumbs-ups from the First Circuit Precentors.
I was very surprised by Tiepolo's reaction to Patrick Kell's death. He predicts the return of Morgan Kell and the coming of a conflagration. Was the legend of the bowing, unkillable Archer on Mallory's World so powerful? Was Tiepolo awed by reports of Phantom 'Mech Ability? Why does he think that a grudge match between Yorinaga and Morgan would destabilize the sphere-wide political situation? (If they both are unhittable, wouldn't the battle be like the Jack Sparrow vs. Barbosa skeleton fight at the end of Curse of the Black Pearl - two pristine 'Mechs endlessly circling each other rolling metaphysical snake eyes?)
Of course, with his eyes on the Morgan/Yorinaga rematch, Julian completely misses everything Hanse and Katrina are cooking up with Operations GALAHAD and THOR, in preparation for Operations RAT and GOTTERDAMMERUNG.
Waterly makes an excellent point about the security risks of having outsiders on Terra. Not only do they let all sorts of spies in along with the high ranking officials and members of the wedding party, but they host everything on Hilton Head...and they fail to suspend secret ComGuard training operations, enabling multiple spies to stumble onto the existence of the LosTech legions beneath the HQ complex.
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Date: July 21, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Person of Interest - Duff Skully
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Larman Sholest warns Herras that some of "the boys" are planning an attack, and are stockpiling supplies on Solaris. Roden Wull reports he's "been asking around for people with the initials D.S." and that "Duff Skully" fits the bill.
Notes: The phrase "Nintendo Hard" is often applied to the Mario games and their ilk, but it certainly doesn't fit the SNES MechWarrior game. If only the SNES system's capabilities (and those of its programmers) had allowed for a wider range of interactions, the game would be far less stilted. Rather than sitting on his can at Club Zero-Zero, Herras could have been given the option of traveling to the 12 non-canon systems in the game and spending money on developing local contact networks - informants, etc. Then getting this ludicrous level of accidentally encountered info/hints back at Club Zero-Zero would make sense - and add a mechanic for having to weigh the tradeoffs of building a better intel network to crack the secret of the mercenary underground/Dark Wing or getting a more powerful 'Mech.
Stuff like that certainly would have been possible on the system - 286 PCs were capable of running "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" so an SNES could have been programmed to do a "Where in the Inner Sphere is Wolf Glupper?" mechanism to add variety between the generic 'Mech battles. I guess most of the SNES players were just looking for arcade action, rather than an RPG experience.
Lacking the more sophisticated overlay of gathering info, players are forced to suffer through reports from informants who view finding a matching set of initials as master spycraft. Braindead informants giving excessively vague clues just utterly fails to capture the sense of intrigue and tradecraft that Stackpole was inserting into Warrior: En Garde (drawing on his earlier work on "Ninjas, Spies, and Private Eyes"). The crazy thing is that the developers directly referenced Warrior: En Garde in the NewsNet announcements. They had the blueprint in their hands, but failed to follow it.
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Date: 3027
Title: Unit Profile - Killian's Commandos
Author: Christopher Purnell
Type: Sourcebook (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: This BattleCorps exclusive e-product showcases Killian's Commandos, a company-sized unit active in the Third and Fourth Succession Wars, circa 3027. It takes the format of the Field Manual series writeups, but is presented as a "Mercenary Today!" profile annotated by Adept VIII Martin, of ComStar.
Under John Foster Killian, the unit has three 'Mech lances and an infantry security force. Command staff profiled include CO John Foster Killian (heir to the Janus Brewhaus on Timbiqui), Michael Harper (a LAM pilot desperate to keep his LosTech ride operational), Freddy Marsh (an exile from the Magistracy of Canopus), Luys Claessens (indebted to Killian for rescuing him from New Capetown, but critical of Killian's tactical decisions), Miho Sadamori (a renegade from the Draconis Combine), and Angus McPherson (a Caledonian with ties to Free Skye in his shadowy past).
Notes: The Commandos appeared in two of Christopher Purnell's BattleCorps stories - "Dingane's Day" (chronicling how Luys joined the unit) and "A Cover of Paint" (describing how the unit got involved in a Magistracy-backed political assassination on Mosiro).
Based on this writeup, one other mission the unit has undertaken was fighting against Liao guerrillas on Carver V (implying the FWL occupied Carver V at some point between 3010 and 3027).
The introduction assesses the unit as a "typical" Inner Sphere mercenary unit, and notes that it stays off the radar by taking contracts from planetary nobles, local militias, and minor corporations. This explains why it was absent from the 3025 TO&E tables in the ComStar-written House books.
The recurring theme in the command staff back-stories is people who fled their homes because they felt out of place or unwilling to live within the strictures imposed on them there. Killian would rather play mercenary than become a beer baron. Luys, living as a person of color on an apartheid planet, sought basic civil rights (and ownership of his mother's Locust). Sadamori chafed against the Combine's restrictive attitude towards women. Freddy fled the Magistracy because the Magestrix was trying to force him into an arranged marriage.
I liked this experiment in having individual units profiled on BattleCorps, without having to be shoehorned into a Field Manual Update. (Plus, this allows the coverage of eras outside those featured in the 3058-onwards Field Manuals or the retro Star League era ones).
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Date: August 1, 3027
Title: BattleTechnology 0101
Author: William H. Keith Jr. (Editor)
Type: Magazine (BattleTechnology)
Synopsis: Presented as an in-universe "Magazine of Combat in the 31st Century," the magazine describes FASA as a "Earth-based publisher of combat simulations." BattleTechnology is described as a small publishing house based on Exeter, in the Federated Suns, with affiliate branches in the other Successor States.
Hiring Hall: This column is intended to give mercenary readers information about potential employers, rating Need, Pay, and Conditions on a scale from A (best) to Z (worst). The inaugural outing looks at Alcyone (really needs mercenaries, average pay, average conditions). The world's primary strategic resource is the Hobson-Redeye laser factory.
Duke Leopold Ransom is presented as the heir to a noble family that has ruled Alcyone since the early succession wars, under both Davion and Liao control. With the recent reversion to Davion control again, the populace has launched an insurgency to remove House Ransom, which is associated in the public view with Liao oppression. Duke Ransom feels he cannot rely on the militia (the Alcyone Reds) for counter-insurgency or security duty, and has taken to hiring mercenaries. Ransom is offering a 6-9 month retainer, placed under the orders of Baron General Fitzhugh Ransom.
BattleTechnology recommends against this contract, despite the above average pay and living conditions, due to the high likelihood of being caught up in a popular revolution.
Worldbook: The Worldbook column is intended to give setting details for blank slate worlds. Written by J. Andrew Keith, the initial entry profiles Weisau, aka "Brimstone."
The writeup is very detailed, listing ethnic groups, religions, orbital radius, mass, government, government structure, economic structure, exports and imports, transportation, life expectancy, defense budget and planetary militia composition, geology, ecology, and history, concluded by general notes. It is presented has having been excerpted (with permission) from ComStar's 32-volume "The Navigator's Guide to the Inner Sphere." (Volume 8 - The Cis-Alpheratz Sector)
In summary, 12.6 million people (100% English speakers, 62% Church of Blake worshippers, 1 major city - Port Erebus, mining colony, one moon - "Fire", planetary merchant fleet of two shuttles, 54 year life expectancy, and declining population levels, 12% adult literacy. Planetary militia consists of one infantry regiment, six aerospace fighters, and three DropShips.) Frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions result from the influence of its satellite - Fire. The air is noxious - but breathable.
Settled as a Combine mining colony in 2640, its hydroponic dome infrastructure was shattered by the AFFS during an occupation in 2858, and again in 3015, forcing it to import food. The garrison commandant is seeking mercenaries to supplement his forces in advance of an anticipated Davion offensive.
BattleTac: This column presents the "Battle of Kilgour" as background/setup for the BattleTech and BattleForce scenarios later in the issue. I have covered this separately as a scenario.
Sidearms: This column expands the variety of personal weaponry available in the BattleTech universe, ostensibly quoting from the New Avalon edition of the "Galactic Consumer's Report, Vol. 27, Number 5). The initial column includes:
M2412A1 Starflash (laser pistol licensed for manufacture on 250 worlds across the Inner Sphere)
Kogyo-Khorsakov Model 2898 "KK 98" (laser pistol made on Luthien and common in the Combine)
Mark XXI Nova Laser Pistol/Carbine (heavy laser pistol favored by mercenaries and paramilitary forces)
Berelter 49S Ultra (budget mass-produced laser pistol with shoddy chips that require frequent maintenance)
TK 70 (heavy laser pistol for military use, manufactured on Tharkad, New Avalon, and Skye)
Martell Model X (military-grade laser pistol optimized for cutting)
Notes:
Hiring Hall: If this is the first issue, how do reader surveys indicate that 32.6% of BattleTechnology readers are mercenaries?
The planetary writeup for Alcyone presented here is considered apocryphal. While no conflicts have been created between the planetary description as presented here and canon sources, the planetary timeline is non-canon. BattleTechnology states that Alycone was taken by Davion from Liao in 2807 and held until around 2900, at which point it reverted to the Confederation until 3025, when it returned to the Federated Suns. The Second Succession Wars maps show Alcyone as a Capellan holding until 2835, at which point it was conquered by the Federated Suns and held thereafter, excepting a brief Liao recapture in 2861. Assertions that it was raided by Capellan fleets in the First Succession War (when it was a Capellan world) have BattleTechnology's journalistic credibility off to a bad start.
The adventure hook presented here could be leveraged into a challenging campaign (which was the intention), and gave a strong flavor of the kinds of work being offered to mercenaries circa 3027.
No author is listed, so I'm assuming it was by William Keith.
Worldbook: The chronology on this one actually works out quite well, with a Federated Suns offensive taking nearby Niles in 2855 (per Second Succession War), making a brief occupation in 2858 perfectly timed.
I don't know how representative Weisau's militia is, since the Kurita sourcebook does not describe a "typical" Combine garrison. One regiment of infantry per 10 million people seems a good rule of thumb, though.
What's interesting is the ratio of DropShips to fighters - 2-to-1 - the same as you find for Unions and Leopards. This early in the lore, the three 'Mech carriers may have been the only DropShips in the book, so it would have made sense to have a trio of Leopards and six fighters. On the other hand, subsequent elaboration of DropShip types suggest that the garrison defense group could have been one Leopard CV, six fighters, and two Assault DropShips. (Granted, it seems overkill to assign rare Assault DropShips to a garrison a backwater mining colony, rather than maintaining them as part of the Draconis Combine Admiralty's fleets.)
BattleTac: Rather than just the usual sidebars to set up a scenario, Keith was able to allocate four pages to setup, backstory, and the ebb and flow of the campaign, along with pictures of the model-kit miniatures beating on each other.
Sidearms: The MechWarrior 1st Edition RPG was somewhat sparse in terms of the arsenals available to player characters. This adds a selection of laser pistols to the mix. One of the oddities of the magazine being so committed to staying "in character/in universe" is that the author neglected to provide game statistics for any of these pistols. Such things as range and magazine capacity can be reverse engineered from the stats given, but damage requires converting from megajoules per second to "hit points" without a frame of reference.
Starflash - never appeared in official supplements, but the Starflash is a standard model of Medium Laser in canon.
KK 98 - Never mentioned again
Mark XXI Nova - Appears to have been imported into canon as the "Sunbeam Nova Laser Pistol," though the Sunbeam is a post-Clan invasion sidearm designed to fight Elementals, while the XXI is a product of Magna Industries circa 3027. Both share the moniker "Nova" and have greater firepower than most laser pistols.
Berelter 49S "Ultra" - Never mentioned again.
TK 70 - Never mentioned again, though this entry does explain what "TK" stands for - Thorvald & Koch. TK manufactures a wide variety of slug-throwing pistols and rifles in canon, mostly for the Lyrans.
Martell Model X - While the Model X is never mentioned again, Martell is listed as a manufacturer of 'Mech grade lasers in canon.
Next Installment: "What is Hanse Up To?"; "MechWarrior: Mind and Machine"; "Mastering the Inner Fire"; "Technical Readout - FLC-4N Falcon"; "Repair Bay - Engine Swaps"; "BattleTech Simulator - MechWarrior: Training and Experience"; and "More Than Warriors"
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Date: August 1, 3027
Title: BattleTechnology 0101
Author: William H. Keith Jr. (Editor)
Type: Magazine (BattleTechnology)
Synopsis:
What is Hanse Up To?: This article, by "Special Correspondent Wallis Hasek" looks at the impact of the GALAHAD 27 exercises, in which AFFS expeditionary forces carry out planetary invasion maneuvers in the Fallon, McGehee, Groveld, and dozens of other systems in the Draconis and Capellan Marches, in a follow-up to the GALAHAD 26 exercises.
Hanse Davion, at the Summer Palace at Stirling (on Argyle), announced the exercises as defensive in nature, intended to protect the people of the Federated Suns from the "forces of Darkness and tyranny" that beset them on every side. Though the announcement was made in August, maneuvers began in July.
Hasek takes the position that the exercises are needless, and squander precious resources needed elsewhere, further depleting the stores of parts needed to keep precious LosTech functioning. Critics note that the Third Succession War is still ongoing, and question whether fighting the actual war wouldn't be better training. The estimated cost of GALAHAD 27 is 250 million C-Bills, not counting the DCMS and CCAF raids that may be provoked by the GALAHAD exercises.
Hasek quotes the Combine Ministry of Information's statement that "Davion's posturings and saber-rattlings are meaningless," and Pavel Ridzik's announcement that "Davion's threats and warmongering are of absolutely no account."
A sidebar features Minority Leader Naomi Gavin Rollings, who argues that the Third Succession War has been deadlocked for at least 20 years, leading to the promise of peace through sheer exhaustion. She worries that Hanse Davion may waste money, time, and resources with his wargames, and may prompt a resumption of high intensity military activity on the borders. Rollings suggests Davion can end the fighting either by launching an all-out crushing invasion of House Kurita and House Liao, or seek peace with his exhausted neighbors. She dismisses GALAHAD as being unhelpful for either option.
A rebuttal features General J. Wesley Fairfax III, of the Davion Command Staff on Klathandu IV. He defends GALAHAD as vital for verifying combat readiness of the AFFS. Rather than provoking new attacks from enemies, he predicts that the demonstration of AFFS might will encourage those enemies to refrain from invasion. He notes that the cost of the maneuvers is far less than the damage that would be suffered if enemies thought the Federated Suns was ripe for invasion.
MechWarrior: Mind and Machine: MechWarrior Keith Douglas summarizes his interview with Colonel Kuan Li-Po (Ret.) to give an overview of training processes for new MechWarriors.
Poor worlds often go without training. Bandit kings often press-gang recruits and shove them into a 'Mech cockpit, with predictably poor results. Great Houses have elaborate training facilities where cadets get years of intensive training in simulators, but only the best graduate to command House-owned 'Mechs.
The creation of the BattleMech came well after the development of the WorkMech - machines that took no real skill to operate. The neurolinkages of the BattleMech, however, make the motions of the BattleMech instinctual, making it an extension of the user's body. While anyone can handle a BattleMech competently after a minimum of training, it takes more to make a soldier into a true MechWarrior.
Li-Po recommends physical training to toughen the body and hone reflexes, operational training to understand how to use the 'Mech, and mental training to help the Warrior become part of his 'Mech.
Martial artists apparently make good MechWarriors, due to the physical and mental discipline they develop. Dispossessed MechWarriors generally make good scouts, due to their physical training.
A good MechWarrior should have trained in operating not just bipedal 'Mechs, but also in quads, armless units, and specialty units like LAMs. If they cannot master a wide variety, they should concentrate on one type of chassis and become a specialist.
To get the most out of neurohelmet operations, operators must think clearly and precisely to avoid feedback loops or overloading the system with extraneous impulses. Martial arts helps with this kind of mental discipline, which lets them suppress emotions, ignore temperature extremes, and pilot by instinct. One who has mastered mental control can also abandon it, becoming a short-term berserker.
House Liao's training is ineffective, due to manpower shortages. Most troops get a bare minimum of training - 3-4 months of boot camp, except for a few elite units. Elite units draw from the five major academies in Liao space, including the Tikonov Military Institute. They learn ju-jitsu and karate, along with the philosophy of the Golden Way.
House Marik's training system is politically fragmented. Oriente troops get the best training. Most cadets attend privately-owned academies.
House Steiner's state-owned academies teach tactics and strategy, with a focus on the Neo-Zen philosophies of the late 28th century which promise the "union of flesh and thought." However, only the top 20% get such instruction, while the rest (militia, rank and file, and mercenaries) get just the basics.
House Kurita's training is modeled on the Bushido code, which urges excellence in the military sciences, inner harmony, and art to be in touch with their inner selves. Neo-Zen philosophies are also taught.
House Davion trains their warriors in the art of "Quick-Kill," a synthesis of karate, judo, aikido, and savate. Since 3015, the New Avalon Institute of Science has added instruction in tactics, operations, strategy, and leadership.
In current trends, longstanding traditions focusing on bloodless maneuver and static defense are giving way to aggressive tactics that unleash total annihilation, as demonstrated by Natasha Kerensky and Grayson Death Carlyle.
A sidebar focuses on apprentices/squires. Young candidates are taken into a military household (like a MechWarrior family) between the ages of 8 and 10, and serve as laborers or servants in exchange for military training. Manpower shortages in mercenary units and feudal armies make this practice expedient. The quality varies according to resources available. Grayson Death Carlyle is presented as an example of a successful apprenticeship.
Notes:
What is Hanse Up To?: Wallis Hasek is clearly carrying water for his relative, Michael Hasek-Davion, in writing a condemnation of Hanse's GALAHAD plans. The last thing Michael wants at this point is Hanse stirring up trouble on the Capellan border.
It's interesting that the Summer Palace is back in operation, just a few years after its security was so massively breached during Operation DOPPLEGANGER. Hanse's speech is clearly modeled on Ronald Reagan's "evil empire" speech re: the Soviet Union.
The cost of the exercises is estimated at 250 million C-Bills. Yet the cost of launching a two-week battalion-sized raid against Scheat was estimated at 800 million C-Bills. By that metric, shuffling dozens of regiments around for 250 seems pretty cheap. (Was the Scheat cost estimate including the property damage done on Scheat to the Combine? Unless the entire AFFS force was wiped out, including their DropShips and JumpShips, there's no way the AFFS suffered that much in terms of material losses.)
There have been debates as to when the Third Succession War ended. Clearly, in William Keith's view, it was still a going concern as of mid-3027, and probably only really ended when the Fourth Succession War began, without a formal interbellum period.
The existence of an opposition leader suggests the presence of political parties in the Federated Suns High Council. Since the High Council is described as more or less a rubber stamp for the Prince's policies (albeit one bogged down in parliamentary maneuvering), one would assume that the "opposition" party is a minority that favors Michael over Hanse. (Each planet gets to send one representative to the High Council.) I wonder if there's a Skid Row caucus in the High Council?
There's a bit of clear foreshadowing for Operation RAT in the opposition party sidebar, noting that one of Hanse's options is to utterly crush his foes with an all-out invasion.
It's clear that the concept of H-Bills hadn't been developed at this point, since the opposition leader makes a point of noting that Hanse is wasting the "C-Bills" our citizens pay in taxes. It's doubtful that the Federated Suns would use C-Bills, rather than D-Bills (aka Pounds).
MechWarrior: Mind and Machine: I wonder to what extent the House sourcebooks (which each had info on training academies) were completed and available to Keith when he wrote this? Was he summarizing and adding on to what was in the sourcebooks, or making it up in parallel? He references the Tikonov Martial Institute and the NAIS, but doesn't namecheck any other academies, suggesting he was on his own, for the most part. Certainly, his concepts of "Neo Zen," the "Golden Way," and "Quick Kill" didn't jump the gap into the mainline canon.
I like the explanation that a MechWarrior can run a 'Mech competently, but that the difference between the Hogarths of the world and the Kai Allard-Liaos comes down to mental focus, martial training, and operational experience. It's unclear, though, as described here, whether the 'Mech just uses the signals from the neurohelmet to aid the gyro in balancing the unit, or if the MechWarrior can speed reaction times and improve other functions with specific thoughts through the helmet. The passages on that topic can be interpreted both ways.
I heard once that the original intent had been for the Capellans to be dogged, skilled troops, undercut by a lack of resources. That profile seems to have been transferred to the DCMS samurai, leaving the CCAF as a cadre of unskilled stumblebums that the AFFS can tear through like a vibroblade through silk.
The authorship isn't listed, but given the shout outs to Grayson Carlyle (who, at this juncture, runs a minor merc unit that has two battles under its belt), it's a pretty sure bet that it's by William Keith, BattleTechnology editor and author of the Gray Death Legion trilogy.
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Lordy, I did like BattleTechnology despite some minor quirks to it.
If we had something like that continues being published, even in PDF form now. The community would be less restless I would think until the next big thing came out.
Wishing that thou is like wishing for world piece and 3250 to drop. #P
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Date: August 1, 3027
Title: BattleTechnology 0101
Author: William H. Keith Jr. (Editor)
Type: Magazine (BattleTechnology)
Synopsis:
Mastering the Inner Fire: Retired AFFS Colonel Kuan Li-Po advises readers on how to use their minds as weapons. He advises against over reliance on analytical thought and reason, instead advocating for honing instinctual reactions, then using reason to control the base emotions associated with instinct (hate, anger, impatience) leaving only the pure Spirit - the animal within. This is the core of the AFFS "Quick Kill" martial art.
Kuan promises that anyone who can master the "Freedom of Spirit" will become Death Incarnate, ignore pain, stimulate self-healing, and become a berserker. The Editor notes that Kuan admits he has not achieved that level of mastery, so these effects could not be demonstrated.
Drop Into Hell: Covered independently as a Short Story.
Technical Readout: This column is used to introduce additional 'Mechs beyond the core 16 and those found in TRO:3025. The inaugural entry is the FLC-4N Falcon, written by Dale Kemper.
The Falcon was introduced as a "Bugkiller" in 2536 to combat Wasps, Stingers, and Locusts. Never produced in great numbers, barely 200 are still functional as of 3027. It has the speed to keep up with the Wasp and Stinger, with twice their armor. It mounts one medium laser, two small lasers, and two rear-mounted machine guns.
House Davion Valkyries used LRMs to defeat Liao Falcons in a 3002 raid on Korrion. Bandit raiders on Murcheson were hunted down by Kurita Falcons in 3010. Variants drop the machine guns for more armor, or drop the small lasers for another jump jet, or hybridize the chassis with wrecked Ostscouts, Ostsols, or Ostrocs.
Marcus Bellisaurius pilots a Falcon in the 12th Tau Ceti Rangers, having captured it as an infantryman on Hsien in 3013, replacing the destroyed head with one from a Commando.
Lt. Jeremy "Bushwacker" McNee serves in the 10th Sword of Light with his Falcon "Gutstomper II," and is an expert tracker and hunter.
Repair Bay: This column gives advice to readers on how to customize and repair their 'Mechs given available materials. The inaugural column discusses repairing and changing out the engine.
Repairs to the engine core shielding and mechanisms require repair platforms, derricks, or gantries. Failing that, 'Mechs can lie down on the ground so a tripod hoist can be rigged above them.
Game rules are provided as "Optional Rules Variant 0101-A" for the MechWarrior RPG 1st Edition.
Engines of identical ratings can be swapped in if salvaged from another 'Mech with a successful Technician skill check, if all the tools are available. Making a tripod hoist takes 60 minutes, but a friendly 'Mech can serve as one. Friendly 'Mechs can also carry up to 10% of their weight, if they have hands, and can team up to carry their combined weight.
Repairing a damaged engine takes 300 minutes per critical hit. Swapping out the entire engine for a new one takes 200 minutes.
MechWarrior: Training and Experience J. Andrew Keith notes that the Earth-based FASA company creates a role-playing simulation called MechWarrior, and presents modifications to the character creation rules as Optional Rules Variant 0101 B.
This variant replaces the MechWarrior 1E RPG system of budgeting 150 CPs for each character with a 125 + 10 * 2d6-2 roll for CPs, giving characters anywhere from 125 to 225 to spend.
Players spend these points (and pick up free skills) as they choose to take Initial Training (0 years), Standard Military Training (15 + TRN/2 years), Apprenticeship Training (8 + TRNx2 years), Martial Arts Training (3 years), Academy Training (4 years), and/or NAIS Training (6 years).
A 4D6-4 determines starting Experience, which is multiplied by 100 to spend for character improvement for Regular, Veteran, and Elite characters.
Battle of Kilgour Covered separately as a scenario.
Randall's Charge at Bloody Field Covered separately as a scenario.
Holding the Line Covered separately as a scenario.
Deep Trouble Covered separately as a scenario.
More than Warriors This column is dedicated to art created by Warriors. The first installment looks at music - in this case, a camp song. This verse is dedicated to Major Sergei "Death's Head" Vang, Senior Weapons Master at the Meistmorn Academy on Doneval II.
Notes:
Mastering the Inner Fire: Kuan's "Freedom of Spirit" abilities actually made it into canon as "ki" abilities in the Covert Operations sourcebook, presented as the product of decades of martial arts study by masters, allowing healing, poison touches, and being able to focus your ki to punch another person from across the room.
The editor's description of these abilities as "pseudo-mystic" suggests that the number of master-level adepts of Quick Kill serving in the AFFS totaled approximately zero circa 3027. The fact that game stats exist for realizing them in RPG games, however, opens the door to supreme mental focus (as described by Yuan) opening up other abilities, like Morgan, Patrick, Yorinaga, and Ian Davion's Phantom 'Mech Ability. (Though only Yorinaga achieved it through meditation - it seemed to appear spontaneously under stress in the other three.)
Technical Readout: The Falcon was ported over into canon via the Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook, and then TRO:3050 (for the upgrade). The design specs were mostly ported over intact, but some of the backstory was altered. Rather than debuting in 2536, it becomes an SLDF-commissioned unit for the Reunification War in 2582, per the MUL.
Murcheson is easily understood as Murchison, but there's no Liao world that comes anywhere close to "Korrion."
The 12th Tau Ceti Rangers joins with the 1st Tau Ceti Rangers (Mercenary's Handbook) to suggest that Dale Kemper, at least, envisioned the TCR as having been a large brigade. Later writeups indicate that the there were never any other TCR units except the 4th.
The Kurita sourcebook lists the 1st, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Sword of Light regiments as active in 3025. The existence of a 15th Sword of Light disbanded in 2899 suggests the canonicity of the 10th Sword of Light, but it shouldn't be referred to as an active unit circa 3027. McNee's entry with "Gutstomper II" could be changed to the past tense to avoid a canonicity conflict.
The Variants section is highly questionable, given that it suggests adding more jump capacity to the 6/9/6 unit (violating the construction rules) or hybridizing the 30-tonner with a 60 ton Ostroc or Ostsol chassis. (Maybe a Falcon torso on Ost legs could work, but spindly Falcon legs would collapse under an Ostsol/roc torso.)
Repair Bay: Playing at UC Davis in college, I met people for the first time who had BattleTechnology issues, and kept bringing up an assortment of rules variants found nowhere in my dog-eared copy of the BattleTech Compendium. This first entry created rules that were soon ported over into the mainstream ruleset - conducting engine repairs, carrying things with hands, salvaging components, and replacing damaged components wholesale.
I was somewhat surprised that the entry didn't cover options for downgrading or upgrading the engine (giving a 55-tonner a 275 instead of a 220 to boost speed from 4/6 to 5/8, or downgrading an engine to make more room for guns).
MechWarrior: Training and Experience Andrew Keith's motivation for writing this appears to be to correct the situation in which any character created with the MW1E rules was a green rookie, fresh onto the battlefield. This system gives players and GMs the ability to start characters at later points in their careers.
In structure, it encapsulates the core of what later became the Life Path system for later versions of the RPG, and may have served as the inspiration for that character generation mechanic.
Holding the Line There's one chronological anomaly in the setup - a magazine with an in-universe date of August 3027 quotes a New Avalon Press article from 3028.
More than Warriors Vang was mentioned in TRO:3025 as the only MechWarrior to survive more than one encounter with the Black Widow, and was featured in a scenario in Tales of the Black Widow, taking his recently graduated cadets into battle against the Black Widows. His cadets are also featured in one issue of the Blackthorn comic.
Given the stats assigned to the Meistmorn graduates (Gunnery 7) in Tales of the Black Widow, Vang seems to have focused more on choir practice than the firing range. Also, casting the cadets at Meistmorn as "apprentices" rather than academy cadets may explain why the surviving cadets ask Vang to join their newly formed mercenary unit at the end of the comic, and may explain why their skills are so terrible (given the earlier article in BattleTechnology that describes apprenticeship as mostly performing drudge labor in exchange for martial training, with inconsistent results.)
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General note about BattleTechnology:
The magazine was originally advertised as an official supplement to FASA's BattleTech line. The fact that the editor was one of the key authors and that many of the rules and equipment featured in early issues supports this characterization. It also expanded the scope of the still bare-bones Inner Sphere with articles about current events, politics, etc. to give the reader a sense of "you are there" as the universe's timeline moved forwards from the 3025 starting point, and helped flesh out some of the events set up in the novel line.
With Keith's departure as managing editor, those duties fell to Hllary Ayer, who shifted focus from shining a spotlight onto the nooks and crannies outside the novels and sourcebooks to providing more in depth coverage of events portrayed in the novels and sourcebooks. (Perhaps a sign that FASA was getting concerned about rampant contradictions between its source material and that being generated by Pacific Rim Publishing.)
As noted above, many of the variant rules eventually appeared as core rules, since they covered areas the main rulebooks hadn't yet touched, and created some equipment that was later canonized. The dates and locations, as was common with early FASA work, do not match the modern BattleTech universe chronology or cartography in many cases.
At best, we can consider the events chronicled in BattleTechnology to have happened roughly along the lines portrayed, though not exactly, and not along the timeline or in the locations presented. If it comes to a canonicity shootout, BattleTechnology loses to more recent publications.
That being said, the presence of a "and you are there" style of current events presentation allowed both the Fourth Succession War and the Clan Invasion to be sprung on readers from the perspective of characters reading about it unfolding in real time around them. (Ideally, readers who hadn't read the Stackpole Warrior or Blood of Kerensky trilogies first, spoiling the suspense.) I, personally, liked the return to that style with the Jihad sourcebooks - the collections of news articles put me in the head of someone actually living through the confusion and uncertainty of that war.
Keith maintained a very intense effort to ground the magazine and its contents in the universe, to the extent of pretending that FASA was an Earth-based battle simulator publisher responsible for Tales of the Black Widow and The Fox's Teeth, and not providing game statistics for the personal equipment. They also didn't put any advertisements in the magazine, instead filling page space with ads for in-universe companies, and sign-up forms for the MechForce fan club.
It reminded me of early issues of The Dragon, TSR's gaming magazine. The first dozen or so issues were all D&D all the time, with Gary Gygax's editorials loudly proclaiming the superiority of D&D to all other games on the market. Then they were informed that advertising material didn't qualify for bulk rate shipping, so they broadened their scope to cover the gaming industry as a whole. BattleTechnology focused on just BattleTech, but seemed intended to fill the same niche for the BattleTech game line as Dragon did for D&D - presenting new settings, items, characters, plot hooks, etc. for enterprising game masters to adapt to their local campaigns.
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Date: August, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Elidere IV (Ander's Moon)
Title: MechWarrior - Duke Vandenburg Returns to Ander's Moon
Author: Peter Fokos
Type: Encounter
Synopsis: Back on Ander’s Moon, the Chalice and the data disk on Operation INROAD clear the Vandenburg name, and the family title and honor is restored.
(https://magisterrex.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/blogmechwarriorvictory.jpg)
Notes: I've put this at August 3027 for the same reason that I put the final battle on Kirchbach in March 3027. It implies that Gideon returned to Ander's Moon in plenty of time before the five year time limit expired in 3029, but gets him back across the border before GALAHAD 27 ramps up in July (he would have crossed in late June/early July, and it would have taken about a month for the fallout to settle and the parade to be organized), which could have resulted in Gideon getting accidentally bagged either by AFFS troops on the move, or by jumpy Draconis Combine Admiralty forces watching the border.
Gideon gets a big parade, and House McBrin is presumably ruined and mass-arrested or at least put into exile, ending the tradition of trading the Dukeship back and forth between House McBrin and House Vandenburg.
Gideon goes on to have a relationship of some sort with someone named Maria. (Wife, daughter?) One scenario is that Duke Gideon "gets the girl" in standard adventure hero fashion and marries MI6 agent Tasha (Kym Sorenson+Morgan Hasek-Davion is an example that this sort of MIIO+FedSun Noble hookup happens often enough, not to mention Theodore Kurita getting an O5P agent as a bride), and has a daughter named Maria.
Fast forward to the Clan Invasion, and we see Gideon again, having just had his Blazing Aces wiped out, and himself mortally wounded. He tells Jason Youngblood to "Find Maria. She knows where the 'Mechs are hidden." A long outstanding plot hook...
So, where does Gideon go from here? He's apparently a Duke - one of only 25 or so such individuals with that title in the Federated Suns, unless "Duke of Ander's Moon" is just a local title that isn't an official Federated Suns peerage rank. So he has some serious administrating to do of his world and the others in his demesne - an average of eight systems, per the source material.
So what is he doing playing mercenary in the FRR in 3051? Well, one key event in the timeline is that Elidere IV falls to the Draconis Combine during the War of 3039. Presumably, Luthien was not interested in retaining House Vandenburg's administrative services thereafter, so Gideon and his retinue had to hit the road. I would guess he reformed the Blazing Aces out of the remnants of his household guard, and took mercenary work in the 3040s to raise money to try to build a force to liberate Ander's Moon (a path similar to that taken by House Winfield when the Jade Falcons threw them off their homeworld). That would explain why he was in the path of the Clan Invasion during the "Crescent Hawks' Revenge" storyline.
The Activision MechWarrior game was a huge success, with a good 'Mech simulator arcade mechanic, an RPG component revolving around managing a small mercenary unit, and a sprawling spy-noir storyline that criss-crosses the Inner Sphere, with numerous shout outs to elements in FASA's sourcebooks. It set the standard for BattleTech-based computer games, and paved the way for the cutting edge MechWarrior 2 a few years later. (It also inspired the SNES MechWarrior game, with less stellar results - probably due to the limitations of the platform and a lesser familiarity by the design team with the source material.)
The status of the game's primary antagonists is an open question. The Dark Wing seems to have been Matabushi Inc.'s in-house special operations team, but also was used as the cover for money laundering and smuggling schemes into the Federated Suns, and had ties with organized crime syndicates throughout the Inner Sphere. Factoring in the Dark Wing's "mercenary underground" from the SNES game, and it appears that perhaps Matabushi's Operation INROAD was only a small part of what the Dark Wing was pulling together - trying to dominate the criminal underworld throughout the entire Inner Sphere by leveraging ties with intelligence agencies (like the ISF), the services of a wide array of rogue mercenaries, and extensive work with smugglers, terrorists, and other underworld groups (ranging from the Malthus syndicate to the yakuza, and including anti-government rebels in the Free Worlds League).
Gideon only disrupted the Dark Wing's operations with Matabushi, but the mercenary underground continued to be a going concern at least through the end of 3027, when the last of the founders was tracked down and killed by Herras Ragen. I would assume that the surviving rank and file of the underground found ready offers of employment in the Fourth Succession War and in the brush wars that followed.
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Maria Vandenburg - In the end sequence following the Battle of Luthien in The Crescent Hawks' Revenge, Morgan Kell tells Jason Youngblood that he will inform Maria of her father's death, establishing that she's Gideon's daughter.
As for timing, I think finishing the game by August 3027 is... ambitious. Save-scumming speed run style ambitious. I mean, look at the setup. Gideon literally has to travel all across the Inner Sphere on his quest, and this actually made me lose the game a couple of times (as in, not recovering the Chalice in time) because travel times are very long - and you have to raise the merc unit on the sidelines that can beat the Dark Wing in the showdown. A walkthrough suggestion is to sell the Jenner immediately, ignore the mercenary sub-game and concentrate on following the quest until you've located the Matabushi/Dark Wing base and secured support and a boatload of money from Tasha. Then, and only then, use the money to raise a merc unit, get some plum contracts to get a heavy lance together, and slam into the Dark Wing. This is far more difficult than it sounds within the five-year timeframe that turns out to be pretty short after all.
I like the idea that "Duke" on Ander's Moon isn't a federal title, but rather a local affair. Given that Ander's Moon isn't exactly a high-profile world, I can't see Gideon getting formal rule over several other worlds, much less on the Kurita border, and still be mercenary. Though technically we're never told if he took the mantle, or kept the office - perhaps he found that he liked being mercenary too much, and refused the title or stepped down.
A thought I had about Elidere IV was that maybe it's a gas giant (fourth planet in the system) with one or more inhabited moons around it, and Ander's Moon one of them - perhaps even the capital moon. Would explain the naming scheme.
As for the Dark Wing, my gut feeling is that they're another example for the Draconis Combine brand of corporate mercenaries. There seems to be some problem with going really independent MRB-style merc in Kurita space, presumably because of their If-You're-Not-With-Us-You're-The-Enemy mindset. Look at the convoluted background of the Amphigean Light Assault Group - they were the next best thing to Kurita-raised mercenaries but it's unthinkable for Kurita citizens to hire out to someone outside of the Combine so they're in a strange middle world between merc, militia, corporate and state unit. Now where the Amphigean Light Assault Group may have been on the professional side of things, the Dark Wing was apparently more on the merc underground dregs/pirate end of the Kurita mercenary spectrum. Tolerated as a wetwork unit, even needed by Matabushi as a deniable asset, but ultimately just criminals on a leash.
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Thanks for the clarification on Maria.
The mid-3027 finish time was indeed based on the assumption that Gideon dedicated himself to tracking down the chalice, and didn't spend time on side-quests taking contracts, then using the big post-Matabushi reward to trick out the Aces as Wing-killers, for the following reasons:
1) He's under time pressure, so scrounging for C-Bills would seem to be a needless distraction, as long as he had enough cash for the interstellar transit
2) Whenever he gets into trouble during the cut-scenes, he's always alone. Most of those ambushes would have had significantly less dramatic impact if he'd had a mercenary crew backing him up. ("Grim Jim looms out of the shadows...and is blown away by a hail of bullets fired by your four lancemates.")
3) I timed out the transits to the official and the most-likely random locations based on in-universe official transit times, rather than the ones used by the game, which are often slower (thus your difficulty in meeting the 5-year deadline), and he can make the full circuit and even take revenge on Griez by late 3026, giving him about half a year to build his Aces with the Matabushi reward money and hit the Dark Wing. I admit that it's not within the spirit of the game (which is to provide a framing device for lots of 'Mech combat), but it makes more sense for Gideon to stay on task, rather than trying to build a merc unit and a rep while finding the chalice. First things first.
4) In-game NewsNet articles never mention anything about the 4th Succession War. Plus, I'm not sure there'd continue to be a steady stream of merc contracts scattered all over with Operations RAT, GOTTERDAMMERUNG, and (to a much, much lesser extent) DAGGER in full swing. Thus, the deadline of being done by January 3029 is actually pushed back to mid-3028, when the 4th Succession War kicks off.
5) Gideon has to have his late-game meeting with Natasha Kerensky shortly after her R&R on An Ting (a 3026 scene in Wolves on the Border), strongly suggesting the few remaining cutscenes take place in late 3026 and early 3027, though the potential remains for that being extended with procedurally generated mercenary missions.
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4) In-game NewsNet articles never mention anything about the 4th Succession War. Plus, I'm not sure there'd continue to be a steady stream of merc contracts scattered all over with Operations RAT, GOTTERDAMMERUNG, and (to a much, much lesser extent) DAGGER in full swing. Thus, the deadline of being done by January 3029 is actually pushed back to mid-3028, when the 4th Succession War kicks off.
The newsnet actually does mention the 4th war when the time comes around (at the very least the early waves). I assume the fact that the contracts don't change (and neither does the map) is more due to the software limitations of the day. They had to fit this all on a single 3.5" floppy disk, after all. Every byte is precious.
Also, one could make the argument that the stream of small merc jobs all over the place would actually increase during a major war. With the regular armies committed elsewhere, you need someone to put out the brushfires they normally handled.
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Thanks - I had not known that. I never had the game (my family had Commodore 64s and then Macs) and based the review on a Let’s Play video that finished in 3027, before any of those NewsNet articles appeared.
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Date: August 2, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: LosTech Left Behind
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen accepts a subcontract from Meece Yerta to recover a piece of LosTech said to be on Zacapa. Lana Mann (MIIO) reports that the mercenary underground has been laying low since word of Zach Slasher's murder came out on the News Net. She recommends offering garrison assignments on Zhada to keep the peace.
Notes: Mann's analysis doesn't seem to take the recent mercenary underground preparations for an attack on Solaris into account, though being MIIO, she may only be watching FedSuns worlds, rather than Lyran ones.
I truly wish that the programmers had been willing to put more detail into the assignments. "There's LosTech on Zacapa. Find it; There's a bomb on Solaris VII. Stop it from exploding." "Your princess is in another castle." The writers knew enough about the universe to reference LosTech, but failed to frame the missions in a manner consistent with the established universe.
Why not use a set up like: "Group A is rumored to be transferring a LosTech Whoziwhatzis to black market buyers on Zhada. I'll uplink the details of where and when the deal's going down. Be careful - both sides are bringing security. Bring the whoziwhatzis back here when you get it. I've already got a buyer lined up, and will cut you in for a rich share of the payout."?
That would fit the style of the universe, and imply that sufficient information had been provided to Herras to actually undertake the mission. And heck, if the whoziwhatzis is a 'Mech weapon system, Herras could even make a choice between giving it to Meece for the payout, or plugging it into his 'Mech for better performance. Instead, we have a vanilla setup for a vanilla mission.
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Date: August 11, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Snitches Get Stitches
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Meece Yerta congratulates Herras on retrieving the LosTech, and pays him his share. Herras overhears Yerg Gantor planning to ambush and kill a "young son of a gun" who "squealed on 'is mercenary buddies."
Notes: This is the first appearance of Yerg Gantor, who seems to primarily be differentiated by his accent, which appears to be going for a low-class cockney effect, droppin' 'is 'ayches, an' puttin' 'postrophes ev'erwher'.
This brings up the issue of accents as class identifiers. In jolly olde Englande, numerous dialects developed, but those aspiring to the upper class took pains to speak only "the Queen's English," with other dialects and accents derided as "low class." ("My Fair Lady" chronicles the effort of a dialect coach to get a low-class girl to speak in a high class dialect.) The writer seems to be using the accent marks to identify Gantor as an underworld thug.
Yet, what is the linguistic standard in the Inner Sphere of 3027 for upper class speech? Star League Standard English was the benchmark for centuries, but it was noted that when the Clans returned speaking it, their accents and verbal mannerisms sounded archaic, implying that the "Standard English" of 3027 has evolved beyond SLSE, just as Star League Standard English probably sounds a lot different from what was spoken in North America in 1988. Perhaps Yerg is actually speaking archaic but formal high Star League Standard English, and the takeaway should be that he fancies himself a retro purist Terran Hegemony-phile. (Probably not, though. He's more like Badger from Firefly, with his 'very fine hat.')
In a universe where "Danstun Porgha" translates in some language to "ship's laundry," anything is possible.
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Date: August 16, 3027
Location: Harpster
Title: Strike at Wittengate
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0202)
Synopsis: Armored elements (the 4th Cavalry) attached to the 2nd Ceti Hussars attack a DCMS supply depot at the crossroads of Wittengate, on the Anglic Steppes (on Harpster's Anglica continent) being guarded by the mercenary Brion's Legion.
While the bulk of Brion's Legion pushes against the Hussars' 'Mechs and artillery to the south, an AFFS hover cavalry unit strikes at the invasion force's supplies behind their lines.
Historically, the 2nd Hussars looted the depot, destroyed what was left, and took down two 'Mechs, while only losing two hover tanks, gaining sufficient supplies to keep the AFFS garrison on Harpster fighting until reinforcements arrived.
The 4th Cavalry assigned to this raid consist of a Condor, a Pegasus, two Whirlwinds, one Harrier, two heavy trucks, and two rifle platoons (in the trucks).
The Wittengate security garrison, from Brion's Legion, consists of a Phoenix Hawk, Wolverine, and rifle platoon. Rules for loading supplies into trucks and using infantry satchel charges to destroy supplies are provided.
No stats are provided for the Heavy Trucks (B2 Heavy Transports from the MechWarrior RPG probably suffice). The Whirlwind is presented as a 45 ton 8/12 hover tank with 2 AC/2s and 2 Medium Lasers in the turret, along with 3 tons for an infantry platoon compartment. The Harrier is a 50-ton 10/15 hover tank with a front mounted Large Laser and SRM-4, and a rear-mounted Medium Laser.
Night rules are in effect, adding a +1 penalty to all vehicle and 'Mech attacks, and a +2 penalty to all infantry attacks.
Notes: Victory points are allocated for enemy units killed and for supplies stolen/destroyed. While you can try to make a hit-and-run raid to get in and get out with supplies, the surest route for a Davion victory is to take down the 'Mechs and defending infantry, whatever the cost, then make up their losses by claiming maximum points for the supplies.
Given the high mobility of the hover and 'Mech units, plus the night combat modifiers, the infantry will be useless against them. My recommendation would be to put the infantry in the Whirlwinds from the outset and leave the trucks off on the edge, in standby mode. Blaze into the depot with the Whirlwinds and drop off the infantry, which can then shoot it out with the Kurita infantry at a 2-to-1 advantage, then get down to blowing supplies up. Get into the Heavy depot building as quickly as possible to avoid getting too shot up when out in the open.
The Condor, Harrier, and Pegasus can duke it out with the mercenary 'Mechs, with the Whirlwinds joining in when they're finished dropping off the infantry.
If the 'Mechs try to deal with the infantry, they'll lose mobility and you can hammer them. If they come out to play tag with your tanks, play the initiative rolls. When you lose, scoot away and hide behind cover. When you win, swarm in and tear up their rear armor. (Using that tactic, I once took out a Goliath with a Pegasus.)
Once the 'Mechs are down and the infantry has been massacred, you can bring in the trucks and work out how best to optimize the destruction/theft of the supplies. Since you lose points for every ton of vehicle destroyed, make any unit that gets seriously damaged hang back, as much as possible, letting those with fresh armor take the lead. Concentrate on one 'Mech at a time, so you aren't just hammering fresh armor, but are degrading their ability to shoot back at you.
For Brion's Legion, you've got a tough fight ahead. You're outgunned and outnumbered, and are trying to defend a fixed position that is very vulnerable. I would recommend a meta-approach - focusing on the heavy trucks. If you can blow up the trucks (which are nowhere near as maneuverable as the hover tanks) first, you may be able to kill the infantry aboard, and severely limit the carrying capacity of the AFFS troops, so they'll be stuck getting 2 points per supply factor for destroying it, rather than 3 for capturing it.
Once the trucks are splashed, hang together and trade fire with the hover tanks. Cover each other's backs to prevent them from swarming an unprotected rear arc. If you're using the modern motive hit tables, you'll be able to degrade their speed (with a decent likelihood of blowing out air skirts) and reduce their efficacy. Just keep moving as much as possible yourself. There's no time limit, but you're down a lot of points for losing a 'Mech, so keep those defensive modifiers up for yourself.
The scenario is framed as part of the defense of the Federated Suns world of Harpster against a Kurita raid, and notes that "reinforcements arrived and pushed the Kuritas back across the border." Only problem...Harpster is a Combine world circa 3025, and has been since the Age of War. The "Cavalry Raid on Harpster" sidebar seems to bear that out, noting that the 4th Cavalry had not seen much action "since our set-down on Harpster" and that the Ceti Hussars had "established their foothold" on the Anglica continent.
My guess would be that, as part of GALAHAD '27, the 2nd Ceti Hussars raided Harpster, which was garrisoned by Brion's Legion at the time. (So much for the Prince's proclamation that the exercise was purely defensive in nature.) The raid seems to have successfully pushed Brion's Legion off of the Anglica continent (probably what "pushed back across the border" meant, in context) and the Hussars maintained a foothold there until DCMS regulars arrived to drive them off following the GALAHAD exercise.
The Whirlwind and Harrier did not transition into mainline canon.
With a good gunnery crew and some open road, the Whirlwind can be used in the same niche role as the Warrior H-7 - a long range harasser that can whittle away at the enemy (especially enemy fortifications) with its AC/2s without taking any return fire. Its infantry compartment gives it extra utility - I'd take one of these over a Maxim (machine guns and missiles in all directions) any day.
The Harrier lacks a turret, so its attacks will be modeled on those used by the Saladin. Charge full speed at the enemy and try to tag them, then hit them from the rear with your rear gun when you pass, then come around for another run. With 10/15 speed, you can really make good use of the times you win initiative, stabbing that Large Laser into the target's thin rear armor.
Harpster's a blank slate, so none of the apocryphal descriptive details (the continent of Anglica + the crossroads at Wittengate) contradict canon info.
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Date: August 20, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Ambush Foiled
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Cearle congratulates Herras on having put an end to Yerg Gantor's planned ambush. The News Net reports that House Davion has launched an assault against Rostov, in pursuit of Dark Wing member Duff Skully, who has stolen top secret documents from a high security section of a Davion installation. MIIO agent Lana Mann reports she will not be able to join the hunt on Rostov, but will be investigating the disappearance of one of her informants on Jelenia.
Notes: So much for the mercenary underground laying low. Since the target of Skully's raid was a Davion installation, it seems likely that this branch of the Dark Wing is still taking orders from either Matabushi or the ISF - in service to House Kurita, in any event.
The framing device of Cearle telling Herras "Hey, look at all these classified intelligence briefing holodiscs that ended up in my lost and found! You want 'em?" every single week was poorly thought out. There's suspension of disbelief, and there's keeping such an open mind that one's brains fall out.
It would have worked so much better if Herras was a handler for the MIIO, and could take missions to recruit spies (like the Bounty Hunter has, per Wolves on the Border) who would then be tasked with reporting in to him. Cearle and the mercenary barflies at Club Zero-Zero could have given him a few starter leads, but then if Herras lacks informants on Solaris, he doesn't get contract hooks from Solaris. Add in the ability to task informants with moving to other worlds in search of likely prospects, and some scripted self-relocating, and you get a far more plausible setup with Herras being the hub of a major MIIO-backed intel gathering operation - dispatching Herras as the troubleshooter whenever they get a solid lead on the mercenary underground or the Dark Wing ringleaders.
The only two canon worlds in the game are Galatea and Solaris. The other worlds could, perhaps, be explained as outpost worlds - not abandoned colonies, but worlds with small, off-the-books pirate bases on them, serving as staging areas for pirates working the former Terran Hegemony sector. Not unlike the off-map R&R world for AFFS mercenaries, Rahway II, or the staging world of Dragon's Field. These would be natural hangouts for the mercenary underground.
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Date: August 27, 3027
Location: Scheat
Title: A Dagger's Death
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology 0102)
Synopsis: Captain Alaya Addison recounts the August 3027 defense of Scheat V against a Davion raid during GALAHAD '27.
Addison recalls the moment when the DCMS line broke on Galtor III, with Captain Rodgers' urging Dagger company to rally to him before his Dragon is shattered by missiles, while Lt. Morgan Falk had ordered his lance to pull back. Addison recalls taking the initiative and leading the Recon Lance to counterattack, repulsing the Davion thrust and breaking through to where a Davion Marauder was savaging Rodgers' downed Dragon. Driving the AFFS 'Mech away, the survivors of Dagger company recovered Rodgers' legless body from the wreck and extracted to their DropShips. For his valor, Addison was promoted to Captain and put in command of Company B in the Daggers of Death - jumping over Lt. Falk.
Addison explains that the Daggers of Death is a mercenary "short regiment" (two 'Mech companies - A and B) under Colonel Joab Keen, and that Keen had decided Falk's decision to retreat caused the loss on Galtor III, removing him from consideration for company command.
Following the debacle on Galtor III, the Daggers were reassigned to garrison the industrial spaceport city of Kallair, on the shore of Scheat V's Polar Sea. When word came that the AFFS was using GALAHAD '27 to repeat their GALAHAD '26 assault on Scheat, Addison faced supply, staffing, and morale issues. He notes that, while the Daggers recruit troops from Kurita worlds, they get the lowest priority for supplies and parts, which are generally reserved for House regulars.
Worst of all, Addison recalls having to deal with Morgan Falk, who is bitter at having to serve under a woman. Puzzled by the bias, Addison proposes discharging Falk to Col. Keen, but Keen refuses, citing the already critical manpower shortage.
Planetary aerospace assets proved ineffective against the wall of fighters deployed to cover the AFFS insertion. The invasion fleet dropped 'Mech at high altitude as diversions, then landed DropShips at major spaceports, while the fighters used their air superiority to strafe fortresses and bunkers.
When two Unions were detected inbound for Kallair, the Daggers of Death scrambled and deployed along Hill 091 (a low, rocky spur with no cover and little strategic value) to intercept two reinforced companies.
Outnumbered and outgunned, the Daggers got the worst of the exchange of fire. Realizing the danger of being flanked, Colonel Keen ordered the Daggers to withdraw and regroup. Addison is unable to comply when her Thunderbolt's leg fails during a duel with the same Davion Marauder that killed Cpt. Rodgers on Galtor III.
Addison managed to restore power at the last minute, and engaged the Marauder at close range, but to no avail. Her 'Mech was downed in short order, and the Marauder moved in for the kill...only to be interrupted by a desperate charge from Falk's Griffin. Together, Falk and Addison downed the Davion 'Mech, but Falk's Griffin suffered a fatal missile cook-off at the end, destroying both machine and pilot.
The Daggers drove off the raiders and saved the Kallair munitions factory. Looking through Falk's personnel files, Addison finds that he was from the world of Unity, settled by religious fundamentalists who believed women should be sheltered and protected.
A sidebar profiles Captain Addison, noting her service with the Chichibu militia and two tours with the Benjamin Regulars prior to signing with the Daggers of Death in 3026. She was born in the city of Warrior's Way, on Chichibu, in 2998.
Notes: The Daggers are a very short "regiment." It would seem that Addison meant short Battalion, except Keen styles himself a Colonel, rather than a Major.
Establishing the Daggers of Death as being formed in 3026 neatly sidesteps the issue of not being listed in the 3025 House Kurita book, but implies they were either disbanded/destroyed or otherwise unimportant during the 4th Succession War, due to their non-listing in the NAIS Atlas of the 4th Succession War. (I can imagine that they disbanded in the wake of the "Death to Mercenaries" order, since they had only their Combine ancestry to protect them, rather than the Amphigean Light Assault Team's corporate benefactors.)
Objectives: Draconis Combine covered Unity from an industrial point of view, but not a cultural one, so the apocryphal data on its founding and fundamentalist culture hasn't been contradicted. Chichibu was profiled in WizKids' planetary profiles, but nothing in that writeup precludes there being a city named "Warrior's Way."
I was surprised by the story section that had Addison remotely bypassing an electrical short (due to battle damage) from within the cockpit. The onboard computers in a 'Mech are clearly capable of a wide variety of functions.
Having grown up in the Combine, I'm amused that Addison is surprised by patriarchal attitudes towards women - something that's a core cultural element in much of the Combine, not just among religious fundamentalists. More to the point, I'm surprised the Combine tolerated the continued existence of a religious fundamentalist sect on Unity, since sourcebooks indicate that most Combine citizens are Buddhist, and that other religious are persecuted, while extremist cults are annihilated. (Requiem for the Dead Heads of Terrapin Station...)
Interesting also that the Combine chose to dispatch mercenaries to raid Galtor III at the outset of GALAHAD. Perhaps they wanted to test the AFFS' much-vaunted "readiness," and perhaps to regain some small sliver of honor following the disastrous outcome of the 3025 Galtor Campaign. The fact that they lost could, perhaps, be attributed to the numbers and composition of the AFFS garrison there being different than expected, due to the reshuffling associated with the kickoff of GALAHAD '27 in July.
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It's not the only time battle damage has been fixed from the cockpit like that. In one of the Grey Death Legion books, Alexander does it as well.
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Date: August 27, 3027
Location: Scheat
Title: Dagger's Edge
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0102)
Synopsis: This scenario re-creates the Battle for Hill 091 dramatized in "A Dagger's Death," in which Lt. Morgan Falk sacrificed his Griffin and himself to protect his commander, Captain Alaya Addison, from an AFFS Marauder. His sacrifice allowed the Daggers to reform their line and blunt the AFFS strike at Kurita munitions stockpiles.
Rather than using one of the standard mapsheets, the scenario presents a contour map and recommends using transparencies with hex grids on them overlaid on the contour map, or just using regular BattleTech map sheets and ignoring all terrain features.
The Daggers field Captain Addison in her Thunderbolt (with pre-existing damage) and Lt. Falk in his Griffin (with minimal pre-existing damage). Falk may only enter on a turn where the Dagger player rolls a 5 or 6 on 1d6.
The AFFS fields just Major Wendell Jones in his nearly pristine Marauder.
The scenario presents special rules for damaging nearby units if a unit explodes while engaged in a physical attack, or when simply adjacent to another 'Mech.
The Marauder wants to destroy both the Thunderbolt and Griffin, and exit the east edge of the map before Turn 11, but will settle for those results by Turn 20.
The Daggers want to destroy the Marauder and take no losses, but will accept a withdrawal with no losses, or even a withdrawal of one of the two 'Mechs without destroying the Marauder, as a victory. Historically, the Daggers achieved an "Expensive Victory" - killing the Marauder but losing the Griffin in the process.
Notes: The explosion rules are interesting. If there's an internal ammunition explosion during the physical attack phase, count up the total damage done by the exploding ammunition, reduce it by the number of internal structure points remaining, and then do half that total to the other 'Mech in five point increments.
(This situation actually came up for me once, when a Scarabus hatcheted through the backside of a Hitman and critted the LRM ammo.)
If the explosion comes outside the physical attack phase, divide by six instead of two, and apply the damage to every unit in an adjacent hex to the exploding one.
This rule never made the jump to canon, but has some similarities to the Tactical Handbook's handling of "Stackpole rule" engine explosions. The legacy carries on today with the modern, toned down, engine explosion collateral damage rule, and the self-destruct device rule.
I can see some potential for abuse of this rule - stripping a Wasp or Locust of its armor and weapon systems, and loading as many critical slots as possible with machine gun ammunition, hoping to turn it into a bomb with legs that can charge into the center of enemy formations and detonate.
It seems like it would be very difficult to replicate the events of the story, since you'd have to count on a lucky crit in the Griffin's right torso while taking damage from a successful charge attack. Ultimately, the proximity ammunition explosion rules are interesting, but unlikely to be decisive in this engagement.
The AFFS Marauder pilot has a gunnery of 3, partially offsetting the minimum range penalties from the main guns. The Thunderbolt is missing its Large Laser, but since the 3025-era Thunderbolt has serious heat issues, it's probably better off without it in this close-range fight.
I would recommend that the Thunderbolt charge in and try to land some solid kicks on the Marauder's legs, while spraying it with Medium Laser fire. At point-blank range, the PPCs and AC/5 will both suffer minimum range penalties. The Marauder will kick back, but odds are against their main guns consistently plonking you, and if the Griffin gets in soon enough, you can both work over the damaged leg and bring it down that way.
You're going to be engaging at close range no matter what. You start close, and if you back away, the Marauder can catch up (with you backing away at a walk) or plug you in the rear armor (if you turn and run). Better to dive in and try to leg the Feddie.
For the Marauder, you want to finish this quickly, before the Griffin can join the battle. You have a significant edge if you stay outside your minimum range, but hanging back risks the Thunderbolt surviving long enough to bring the Griffin in as a supporting unit. I would recommend closing quickly to start kicking the Thunderbolt, following up with your lasers and autocannon. Don't overheat, and keep slamming the same leg, if possible. You do 10 more damage per hit than the Thunderbolt, so use that to your advantage.
(Granted, you do more damage with PPCs and AC/5 than with a kick, but the kick damage will be concentrated in one place where you only have to hit 2-3 times to deal crippling damage, whereas the Thunderbolt can take PPC hits scattered across its body a lot longer.)
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Date: August 29, 3027
Location: Luthien
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel (FASA)
Synopsis: Jaime Wolf arrives at the Unity Palace on Luthien, in response to the Coordinator's summons, accompanied by Major Sanford Blake (intelligence chief), Major Olga Kormenski (security chief), and three 7th Kommando special forces troops. They are greeted by an Otomo squad, which escorts them through immaculately manicured gardens into the looming teak palace.
The Otomo tai-i directs Blake to enter his report into a terminal, while Colonel Wolf enters the meeting room alone. Wolf analyzes the brusque treatment and concludes that the Coordinator will not be willing to listen to the Dragoon side of the story regarding the Udibi raid.
When guards escort Colonel Wolf into the meeting room, he is joined by Warlord Grieg Samsonov and Jerry Akuma. Together, they enter the inner audience chamber, where Coordinator Takashi awaits, and greets Wolf warmly, offering him the opportunity to face his accuser - Warlord Samsonov.
Samsonov alleges that the Dragoons have displayed cowardice and used overly conservative tactics to preserve their own equipment, to the detriment of potential Combine gains. He warns that such behavior, left uncorrected, could cripple Combine border defenses against the Federated Suns. With assistance from Akuma, Samsonov cites his evidence in a tirade that lasts more than an hour, and ends by calling for the elimination of Dragoon leadership.
Takashi asks Akuma for his input, but he merely comments that it has been difficult serving as the Professional Soldiery Liaison to the headstrong Dragoons, apologizes for any areas needing improvement, and withdraws with the Coordinator's permission.
Colonel Wolf simply advises the Coordinator that the Dragoons will accept no other leaders than their own, noting that you cannot remove a family's father and expect them to accept a new head. He refers to the report entered by Major Blake, rather than voicing specific rebuttals to Samsonov's charges, explaining that he sees no point in arguing when the Dragoons are prejudged.
Samsonov demands that the Dragoons be placed under his direct command, that Korsht and Dumont be relieved of their regimental commands, and that Arbuthnot and Kerensky be tried and sentenced to death for killing civilians on Kawabe.
Takashi flatly rejects his demand, and rules in favor of the Dragoons, admonishing the stunned and enraged warlord to remember his duty to the Coordinator.
As Samsonov withdraws, Takashi invites Jaime to join him on a balcony overlooking Imperial City. Takashi addresses Jaime as an old friend, and asks where the kindred soul he met on Quentin has gone. He tells Jaime that the Combine wants to retain the services of the Dragoons, and offers better liaisons, more resources, and higher paying assignments. Jaime offers only evasive replies, and rebukes the Coordinator - noting that the actions of his subordinates have stained his honor.
Takashi invites Jaime and his retinue to stay in Imperial City for a week while they consider his offer, then allows the Colonel to withdraw. Watching the Dragoons leave through the gardens below, Takashi concludes that Wolf has not taken the offer seriously. He resolves that Wolf will be sent back to An Ting as slowly as possible, rather than by the command circuit which brought him. Speaking into a hidden microphone, he orders the holo of the meeting to be delivered to ISF Director Subhash Indrahar, then ponders the competing pulls of what he wants to do ninjo and what he must do, for the good of the state - giri.
Notes: The room where the Dragoons wait is adorned by five Fudo statues. Fudo is a classical guardian spirit (myo-o) from Buddhist mythology - the king of wisdom. Five is a symbolic number in Japanese culture, and in the Combine culture created by Coordinator Urizen II, which was heavily modeled on that of feudal Japan. Interesting that five is also a significant number in Clan society - being the base unit for military organization (the Star). That, along with ritualized honor dueling and a rigid caste structure, make the Combine one of the most similar societies to Nicholas' Clans.
The entry doors to the lesser audience chamber are teak, carved with scenes from the history of the Kurita clan. It's interesting to contrast this with the palace decor in the Celestial Palace on Sian. While House Kurita touts its deep roots in history and its accomplishments, centuries of retreat and failure have led House Liao to focus more on escapist fantasy - adorning their throne with images of a mythical cosmology that purports to show the head of House Liao as a divine being at the center of the universe.
Takashi is wearing a kimono of glistening daigumo-spider silk. Google translate's only marginally helpful here, but would that more or less translate into "long spider"? (If "daikyu" is long bow while "hankyu" is short bow, then "dai" can be understood as a modifier meaning "long"? "big"? - I get this mental image of Unproductives being tasked with collecting silk from nests filled with horse-sized spiders as a punishment) I wonder if the kimono is, as a result of using alien spider silk instead of silkworm output, bullet resistant.
I presume the balcony is sited to overlook the palace district, rather than the industrial sector or the Tumbledowns, where the Unproductives live. Charrette describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the Inner Sphere," but later accounts cite the sharp dichotomy between the lovely palace district and the utilitarian hideousness of the rest of the city (and the rest of the planet, for that matter - the phrase "Black Luthien" is as much a condemnation of the air pollution from runaway industrial development as of Kuritan morals.)
The Combine's Dragoon fiasco ultimately comes down to ambitious subordinates misinterpreting the Coordinator's desires. Takashi truly respected Jaime Wolf and felt him to be a kindred spirit (an impression aided, no doubt, by the deep similarities between Clan and Combine culture).
He wanted to keep the Dragoons under contract no matter what. However, at this time, the standard practice by the Combine for binding mercenaries to them is to use "company store" tactics to ruin them financially and make them indebted to House Kurita, and to place them into no-win situations on the battlefield, where they have to sacrifice autonomy as a way of atoning for their failures. Lacking imagination, Samsonov just went ahead with Plan A, with Akuma spitefully supporting him as a way to gain revenge against Tetsuhara.
Takashi notes that Wolf seemed distracted - his thoughts elsewhere - throughout the meeting. Likely, Jaime was considering the bigger picture - how to keep his unit alive and operating, where to go next, and how to fulfill his operating orders - to prepare the Inner Sphere to repulse the coming Clan invasion.
As usual, Charrette compressed an enormous amount of universe-building into seven pages, again portraying Takashi Kurita as a lonely man who views himself as sacrificing friendship, father-son relations, and all personal rewards in favor of manipulating people and events to ensure the survival of the Combine. The assassination of his father early on taught him to trust nobody - a lesson reinforced by the dozen-plus assassination attempts against himself along the way.
Samsonov's ravings about Dragoon cowardice and tactical ineffectiveness clearly don't mesh with reality, and therefore undercut his credibility with Takashi (who has, no doubt, been getting more cogent battlefield assessments from Subhash Indrahar). However, Samsonov's warnings about the defenses on the Davion border being weakened come as Operation GALAHAD '27 is in full swing, punctuated by raids on Scheat and Harpster in just the last few weeks, and cannot be ignored.
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Daigumo would be "great spider". The "dai-" prefix refers to things that are great in either stature (a Daikyu would be a "great bow") or great in status (a daimyo can be roughly thought of as "great lord").
Specifically, the kanji character means "Large". So it's either a really big spider or a really impressive spider.
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Or a really large, really impressive spider.
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This is the Draconis frickin' Combine. Of course they have at least one planet inhabited by kaiju-class spiders.
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Robert N. Charrette always wrote a really good stories, rich in detail.
This is the Draconis frickin' Combine. Of course they have at least one planet inhabited by kaiju-class spiders.
I'd love have read the Handbook with entry for one of the planets with one those spiders. ;D
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Daigumo silk harvesting in progress:
(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/2/2f/Giant-movie-monsters-kumonga-godzilla-final-wars.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20151219092605)
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Aww, Godzilla has a big spider balloon.
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Date: August 30, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Agent Mann Captured
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen views a holovid left behind in Club Zero-Zero, which contains a plea for help from MIIO Agent Lana Mann. She has been captured by the same group that previously captured her informant on Jelenia, and is being held hostage in exchange for plans she stashed on Cawdor.
Notes: So.... MIIO agents go in to check on sources without backup or a control team from HQ coordinating the operation? And the goombas holding her decide the best way to get what they want is to let her record a plea for someone to recover the plans on Cawdor and deliver them, then have that disc slipped into the lost-and-found in Club Zero-Zero? Is SAFE running this operation? ::)
The only way this makes any sort of sense is if, as I've previously postulated, Herras Ragen is an MIIO troubleshooter and the lost-and-found at Club Zero-Zero is actually a dead drop for his agents.
The narrative suffers from the extremely skimpy writing in the framing scenes. Activision's MechWarrior had extended, detail-filled scenes that moved the plot forward and added depth to the universe. MechWarrior 2 had entire sections of the "The Falcon and the Wolf" scenario pack quoted verbatim to set up mission context. MechCommander had detailed briefings on the mission, its context, and the overall operation. Here, we're not even told what the plans are, where on Cawdor they might be stashed, and where to deliver them.
It's possible the cartridge-based game hardware imposed severe restrictions on text displays - limiting messages to one page with a hard character count, but the overall effect is that much of the context that would make these missions anything more than randomly generated FPS frag-fests is sorely lacking.
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Date: September 3, 3027
Location: Carver V
Title: Caught in the 'Mech Flush
Author: Dale L. Kemper
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology 12)
Synopsis: Sub Commander Clarson Kelly of the 10th Chesterton Reserves recounts his engagement with a cadre of bandits known as the 'MechPirates on Carver V in mid-3027. Kelly estimated the bandit strength at 7 'Mechs, compared to about 42 Chesterton 'Mechs onworld.
The bandits landed near Desmond, a village used by the Chesterton forces as an emergency supply point, and overwhelmed the local infantry garrison, which fled after its support weapons were destroyed, leaving the bandits free to loot the two warehouses there.
Kelly's CO, Commander Gunther, led the Pursuit Lance to rendezvous with Captain Miller's Command Lance 30 minutes after the bandits touched down, and they deployed in rough terrain, near the Molito Reservoir, along the most likely path for the bandits to take back to their LZ, on a grassy plain 15 km from Desmond.
As the bandits approached, mostly in ragged FrankenMechs, the concealed CCAF troops observed three continue to move forward, carrying their stolen 'Mech parts, while another four, members of the "Backstabber" recon lance, dropped their loads and concealed themselves underwater in the reservoir, clearly intending to ambush any pursuing CCAF forces that overtook the lead elements.
Miller ordered Pursuit Lance (Kelly - Javelin; Gunther - Trebuchet; Franklyn - Wasp; and Higgins - Cicada) to engage the bandit ambush force under water, while the Command Lance intercepted the bait elements. It went poorly, and Higgins slippped and fell into the water. Kelly went to help, but was surprised by the sounds of banging metal. He heard the hiss of underwater laser fire, and the crump of underwater missile detonations.
Moving blindly through the murky water, Kelly encountered a bandit Centurion, and hammered it with his missiles. The bandit withdrew, revealing the shattered wreck of Higgins' Cicada.
Trying to find his unit, Kelly followed the sounds of battle and found Gunther's Trebuchet in a crossfire from two bandits - a Stinger and a Panther. As Kelly moved to support his lance leader, he was struck from behind by the Centurion.
Kelly fought desperately against the heavier 'Mech, but was forced to fall back until Franklyn arrived with his Wasp to even the odds, tackling the Centurion and sending crashing facedown into the mud. A solid kick from the Javelin breached the cockpit.
With the Trebuchet still engaged with the Stinger and Panther, Franklyn and Kelly turned their attention to the fourth bandit, a Whitworth. Water pressure caused the Javelin's missiles to misfire, destroying the launcher.
Approaching the Whitworth to engage it hand to hand, Kelly noticed a strong current pulling at him, and realized that it signaled danger. He motioned to Franklyn to warn him, and then grabbed hold of the sunken wreck of an ancient ground vehicle, while the water in the reservoir surged through the now broken dike, which had collapsed from the impacts of stray shots and the vibrations of the 'Mechs fighting nearby.
Fifteen minutes later, the reservoir was completely drained. Kelly saw Franklyn and Higgins both survived, as did Gunther (albeit with a skull fracture). The bandit Stinger pilot was the only survivor on that side, and he surrendered without further combat.
The three leading bandits managed to escape, but had to drop the supplies they'd stolen. Kelly was made acting Lance Commander until Gunther returned to duty, and was granted a ten-day furlough in Dalensport.
Notes: This is Dale Kemper's only short story. His other work includes scenarios (Kell Hounds and Sorenson's Sabres) and TROs (3025, 2750, and 3050), as well as a few more scenarios for BattleTechnology.
The 10th Chesterton Reserves is not a canon CCAF unit. The Chesterton Reserves was a brigade that included the Ariana Fusiliers, the Chesterton Voltigeuers, Hamilton's Highlanders, Lothar's Fusiliers, Sung's Cuirassiers, and Kingston's Legionnaires. Those not destroyed in the 4th Succession War defected with Pavel Ridzik and formed the core of the Tikonov Free Republic's armed forces, later the AFFC Republican regiments. The 3025 Capellan sourcebook doesn't list any front line force as being posted to Carver V.
The infantry garrison is noted to be equipped with a tower-mounted "Strident Anti-Air Missile Launcher." I wonder if that means it was equipped with a Garret D2J targeting and tracking system, given that system's notional superiority for anti-air use?
Under the modern ruleset, Miller's orders are insane. The Javelin has no functional weapons underwater (assuming it's not the Fire Javelin variant), and the Trebuchet loses the use of its LRMs. Far better to ambush the ambushers when/if they come out of the water, taking advantage of their relative immobility slogging through the shallows to hammer them with missiles - any armor holes combined with falls into water would result in flooded sections and likely insta-kills.
The accompanying Rules Variant section on Underwater combat acknowledges that non-energy weapons can't be fired under the standard rule-set, but proposes an optional rule where ballistic and missile weapons can be fired, but must make a 9+ on 2D6 each time it is fired to prevent the barrel from exploding, rendering the weapon non-functional for the rest of the engagement.
Frankly, the bandit tactics greatly confuse me. If you have air superiority (the setup explains that the 10th Chesterton Reserves' aerospace assets were deployed to another world), why not land directly adjacent to the village, let your troops scatter the defending infantry, and be gone with your prize before the garrison can react? Was the DropShip in such bad shape that the lone Strident SAM site was an existential threat? (Could be, but that should've been clearly stated, if so.)
I suppose that the village could be completely surrounded by sufficiently rough terrain as to make a proximity landing unfeasible, but still - it's not like villages are typically super-dense. The central square would probably have sufficed to touch down.
Backstabber lance is pretty slow for a recon lance - mostly 4/6/4 (assuming the Centurion's retrofitted jump jets are maximized), and a lone 6/9/6. If any pursuit force came by that was fast enough to overtake the lead elements, they'd leave the Backstabbers in their dust (though, perhaps the idea would be to have the Backstabbers fall on the pursuers once the battle began).
Running the D.R.A.G.O.N. game club at UC Davis in the 1990s, I had these rules sprung on me unexpectedly - the GM had us pick our forces, then rolled on a table for terrain conditions. I ended up with a set of LRM-20 variant Catapults (no lasers) and some Vindicators guarding an underwater base against an attacking Awesome and support units. The GM ruled that I couldn't have the Catapults equipped with torpedoes, since I hadn't declared that before terrain was chosen. (OpFor was run by GM's best friend...Grrrrr). I came away with a strong distaste for both underwater combat and the GM.
Things didn't improve when I played out the British Isles campaign in Fall of Terra - I lost more than a company of ComGuard cadet 'Mechs trying to cross a wide river - getting stuck, falling, getting torso breaches, flooding.
As for the CCAF force - one question is why they went down into the muck to fight the bandits hand to hand. It would have been much more effective (especially given the background that the reservoir had been abandoned centuries ago) to simply shoot out the dike and pick off the 'MechPirates once the water finished draining.
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Date: September 3, 3027
Location: Carver V
Title: Flush and Flood, Mud and Blood
Author: Dale L. Kemper
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 12)
Synopsis: This scenario accompanies the short story "Caught in the 'Mech Flush" in the same issue of BattleTechnology. It pits Kleinholt's Battalion of the 10th Chesterton Reserves against a light company of the 'MechPirates.
Backstabber Lance fields four 'Mechs with varying pre-existing damage: Centurion with a broken rear laser and intermittently functional AC/10, Whitworth with a broken head laser and only 50% jump capacity, Panther with a misfiring PPC, Stinger with no armor on the right leg. They deploy on the north side.
The 10th Chesterton (Kingston's Legionnaires?) lance is undamaged, fielding a Trebuchet, Javelin, Cicada, and Wasp. They presumably enter from the south, but it's not specified.
The CCAF force wants to destroy all the 'MechPirates or force them off the map. The 'MechPirates' goal is to destroy the CCAF lance underwater, in order to launch the ambush on the other CCAF lance.
If the reservoir dike is destroyed, the side with the most intact 'Mechs wins (still able to move and fight).
The map is two standard BattleTech maps side by side. All hexes are considered to be Depth 3 water, except existing water hexes, which are considered to be shallows. Underwater, ACs and lasers have 1/2 range, flamers and machine guns do not work. All other weapons operate normally.
From Turn 5 onwards, a D6 is rolled at the start of each turn. The dike breaks on a 6, forcing a PSR check at a +3 penalty. Failure results in a five-hex skid towards the eastern edge, which can be halted on subsequent turns by a PSR at a +5 penalty. Going off the map to the east results a Level 3 fall, with accompanying damage.
Movement is halved due to deep mud conditions, following the drainage.
Notes: This clarifies that the CCAF force isn't a pair of short battalions, but one reinforced battalion. It may be the case that two shattered battalions were condensed into one reinforced battalion, and that this training rotation was for the purpose of getting the two formerly separate commands to work more effectively together as an integrated unit.
Of course, since there is no unit designated as the 10th Chesterton Reserves, its existence is quite non-canon. That being said, there are ten Chesterton Reserve units, with the 10th listed in the Liao sourcebook being Kingston's Legionnaires. It only has two battalions circa 3025 (under Majors Kingston and Loo), but perhaps they stood up a third battalion under Major Kleinholt by 3027, which would explain the training assignment.
The pre-existing damage on the bandits fits their FrankenMech description, but the total lack of armor on the Stinger's leg, if used under the standard rules, renders it immobile from the get go, since the section will flood and the actuators will short out as soon as it steps into the shallows. With that sort of damage, it shouldn't have been assigned to the underwater ambush from the start.
It's interesting that the special rules for weapons fire underwater presented in the same issue aren't more directly referenced, especially the 9+ check to use a non-energy weapon. My guess is that those rules were written after the scenario was finished, as an expansion on the weapon restrictions presented therein.
Under these conditions, LRMs and SRMs effectively function like torpedoes without any modifications required, and PPCs dominate the underwater, being fully functional without range restrictions.
It's unclear why the mud terrain restriction only goes into effect after the water drains away (the duration of the draining isn't given - five turns, perhaps?). The mud was there all the time - just covered by a lot of water. Given some of the descriptions in the alternate rule section, Dale Kemper appears to have envisioned the water having a buoyant effect on 'Mechs, letting them float.
If operating under the standard rules, the scenario is nearly unplayable. Jump jets will not work, the mud will overwhelm the Piloting 5 MechWarriors, so they'll be stuck and immobile. There will be a painful slog through the muck to reach effective firing ranges for anything, and victory will go the side that manages to breach the others' armor and flood them. Most likely, the dike will collapse long before the combatants reach each other, and then it will be a battle of the PSRs to avoid being dragged off the edge.
If you play only under the constraints given in the scenario (with all units assumed to have torpedoes and underwater-optimized PPCs), then the battle should be for control of the western edge, since you don't want to be anywhere near the dike when it goes. Backstabber lance has 155 tons of equipment, against 145 tons of CCAF, but many of the bandit weapons don't work.
The two sides are pretty well matched on long range firepower, each able to lob 30 LRMs downrange. The Backstabbers add a semi-functional PPC to that. If the bandits can concentrate fire on the Trebuchet and make it flood, they can gain a significant edge on the Capellans, whereas it's harder to take the three long-range bandits down that way.
After the Trebuchet, the Javelin is the biggest threat (especially since all the individual hit locations for the SRMs will each cause breach checks), so massing the long range fire on it as it approaches would be recommended. The Cicada and Wasp are limited to half-range lasers.
It seems like it would be optimal to simply wait until the enemy is in position, then shoot the dike, but that's not an option in this scenario.
For the CCAF, you have the luxury of time. Have the Trebuchet hang back and provide suppressing fire with the LRMs (LRTs?) while your troops go prone for better cover. Gunther will be more accurate at long range with Gunnery 3, and has the potential to hole the enemy 'Mechs with missile fire, neutralizing them without them being able to get off a shot. The Whitworth is the obvious primary target, since taking it out removes 2/3 of their missile launchers from play. The Panther's PPC will only fire on a 7+ to begin with, so the Centurion is the secondary target.
Come in on the southwestern edge and move to long range with the missiles, then trade volleys until the dike breaks. The damage done while being dragged along the reservoir bottom should result in more flooded body sections (since the water isn't gone immediately).
All in all, this is an interesting concept with unique challenges. However, there are a number of areas where the rules are maddeningly unclear:
Is the movement restriction the entire time, or only after the water drains?
How long does it take for the water to drain?
If you succeeded in the first PSR to avoid getting swept away, do you need to make it again every turn?
Is the bandit Stinger's leg flooded and immobile from the start?
The range restrictions are presented as being from the energy dissipating in the water, and the cannon shells facing drag effects in the water. Yet the fiction calls the water murky and hard to see through - shouldn't there be LOS limitations?
Why are missiles treated as torpedoes?
Why does it matter how much damage a 'Mech takes when it goes over the edge, since it's out of the scenario at that point?
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Does the lack of Torpedo and underwater rules info mean the scenario predates these rules set?
I wasn't playing yet when this magazine was published, but it does sound like it was assumed torpedoes could be swapped into the regular missile launchers.
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The article in the issue on underwater combat discusses torpedoes, but the scenario explicitly tells players to treat missile weapons as they would above water. The scenario was probably authored before the article, and wasn’t revised before publication.
Torpedo and other underwater rules were included in the original BattleTech Manual, which collected the rule sets from BattleTech, CityTech, and AeroTech into one volume, and which predated BattleTechnology 12’s publication.
The optional rules in the magazine allow autocannons and missiles to fire underwater, but with critical misfires from rolls of 8 or less each time they are fired. Those rules, however, aren’t explicitly referenced by the scenario’s “Special Rules” section.
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Date: September 9, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Intercepted Information on Solaris
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Larman Sholest tells Herras Ragen that one of his informants says someone is after information that a spy intercepted on Solaris. He says it doesn't make any sense to him, and asks Herras what he makes of it.
Notes: Larman Sholest is billed in the "cast 'o characters" in the introduction as "an experienced merc who knows his stuff." One the one hand, he does have his own network of informants (just as the Bounty Hunter and, apparently, most other lone-wolf mercenary types do). On the other, he seems unable to comprehend a fairly elementary situation, and passes it to Herras as a referral. Again, I know it's just a framing device to set up a mission, but the writing is so simplistic that it makes Larman look brain damaged.
From Warrior: En Garde, we already know that Solaris VII is a hotbed for interstellar espionage. Why is it so hard to comprehend that a spy intercepted some information and that at least one other interested party wants it?
The fact that the information was intercepted means it was probably a hard copy (or a data core) that was being physically transported, rather than being sent via ComStar. So, there's a spy who bushwhacked a courier and stole some data, and someone is offering money to whack the spy and retrieve the data. This sounds like a tasking for the Solaris City Police Department, rather than dispatching someone from Galatea to take it by force. How would Herras even make it there in time to do any good? And how does Herras know where to go on Solaris VII?
With additional details, this could have been a good scenario hook - "A spy intercepted a [faction]
courier and stole [data type] on Solaris. [faction] is offering a reward to get it back. My trusted informant on Solaris tells me that [insert name here] Stables is protecting the spy while he tries arrange to sell it to the Dark Wing. I don't have the firepower to take on an entire stable, but I bet you could pull it off."
These SNES hooks just chap my hide (not a pretty sight!) because they're set in a universe that broke new ground in terms of the immense amount of world-building that FASA did in the 1985-1990 timeframe (House sourcebooks, novels, etc.), but the SNES interludes are excessively vague in the mission descriptions and, when they do cherry pick elements from canon fiction, they misuse them (including details of a top secret meeting in a NewsNet feature, for example.)
I'd be curious to know what sort of creative interaction FASA had with the developers, but my guess is "little to none." What makes this so odd is that the SNES MechWarrior is essentially a remake of the Activision MechWarrior game, which showed evidence of massive collaboration between the developers and FASA. Why was that model not continued?
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Date: September 18, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Rescued Spy Pinpoints Duff Skully
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: MIIO agent Lana Mann sends a message to Herras thanking him for saving her from her captors. She offers Herras the location of Duff Skully - Cawdor - as a reward.
Notes: Sigh. This interaction between Mann and Herras pretty much discounts the attempt to reframe Herras as an MIIO troubleshooter, since Mann would have passed him the data because of their shared mission, rather than as a reward for services rendered.
Though, perhaps the explanation can be salvaged if we assume a high level of compartmentalization at MIIO. She may be in Information Gathering, while he's in Covert Operations...or perhaps she's MIIO and he's DMI - an MI4 "Stealthy Fox," chalking up Lana's offer of the info as a reward to a failure of MI7 (MIIO Liaison) to keep the Ministry in the loop about Herras' operation on Galatea.
Still, it makes it clear that her "lost" holodisc intel reports weren't being intentionally dead dropped at Club Zero-Zero by Mann, since she had no idea who Herras was prior to the rescue. Perhaps MI7 was obtaining her reports through routine inter-agency information sharing and they were dead dropping them at Club Zero-Zero for Herras.
It's not clear from the YouTube "Let's Play" video what Herras did to rescue Mann. Did he assault the HQ of her captors and break her out? Or did he assault the HQ of whoever had the data the bandits wanted, and meekly deliver the ransom to get her freed?
Herras takes this information and slaughters Skully in a boss fight on Cawdor, leaving only the as yet unnamed leader of the Dark Wing lance to bring to justice.
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Date: September 25, 3027
Location: Wyatt
Title: The Fifth Kill
Author: Thomas S. Gressman
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology 0201)
Synopsis: Captain Kensie Shaneyfelt recounts a battle over Wyatt to BattleTechnology reporter Greggson DuVall.
Shaneyfelt, a Corsair pilot in the 10th Skye Rangers, relates that he grew up on his grandmother's tales of Celtic folklore, especially those of the Irish hero Kensie, who was killed by a rival chieftan that had been turned into a giant red eagle by a druid.
In July 3027, a Commonwealth military intelligence officer arrived on Wyatt with a report that the 4th Defenders of Andurien may be planning an attack against the world. Kensie took special notice of the information that one of the FWL double-ace pilots, Major Dmitri Pawoloski, always painted his fighters to resemble red eagles.
He began having nightmares about being killed by the Red Eagle, and never getting the fifth kill that would mark him as a combat ace. His performance began to slip, resulting in a non-fatal downing by a bandit Sparrowhawk and being sent to sickbay by Flight Leader Maria Entz for psych evaluation.
With no sign of improvement after several days, the flight surgeon grounded Kensie, relegating him to manning the radio shed. The nightmares continued.
On September 25, the 10th Skye Rangers' aerospace squadron was scrambled to intercept incoming fighters and DropShips. Kensie watched his squadron launch without him, and monitored the battle from the ready room.
Hearing reports that Major Pawoloski, the Red Eagle, has been spotted, Kensie grabbed a flight suit and ordered his Tech, Dieter Jurgens, to prep his Corsair.
Kensie launched into a furball, where a swarm of Stingrays, Thrushes, and Sholagars were pushing the Skye Ranger squadron back with sheer numbers, and entered the fray by shooting down a Stingray - kill #4.
Kensie spotted a Slayer painted as a red eagle closing on Luke Kurtz's (Kensie's wingman) rear, and executed a maximum burn to interpose his ship between the Slayer and Kurtz's fighter, losing most of the right wing's armor. Kurtz and Judy Haring counterattacked against the Slayer, but an autocannon burst destroyed Kurtz's Corsair, and then the Red Eagle went after Haring, tearing her ship apart.
As the Slayer turned back towards Kensie, Pawoloski broadcast a taunting challenge, expressing condolences that Kensie would have to die before getting his fifth kill. Kensie pulled out of a power dive into Wyatt's gravity well and vectored towards the Slayer head on, firing all lasers. Damaged, the Marik pilot tried to break contact, but Kensie managed to close and fire, exploding the Marik ship with a point-blank barrage.
Kensie managed to bring his crippled fighter in for a landing on the planet's surface. Once grounded, Kensie learned that the rest of Blue Squadron had managed to drive off the Andurien DropShips, and that Luke survived his orbital ejection. Given his performance, Kensie's grounding order was lifted, and he never had another nightmare.
Notes: Editorial was a bit loose in this story, which refers to Kensie's unit as the "10th Sky Rangers" and the FWL unit is written as the "4th Defenders of Andarien" - pretty much par for the course, given similar misspellings in TRO:3025 and TRO:3026.
This is one of the few aerospace-themed stories to be seen in BattleTech fiction, and fits the space combat theme of issue 0201 (a cross-promotional effort with the AeroTech boxed set). Gressman added several major aerospace scenes in his novels, featuring Star League vs. Clan fleet actions during Operation SERPENT.
I was surprised that the only FWL-specific fighter in the story was the Stingray, with the rest of the Andurien fleet being Liao and Kurita fighters (ostensibly there either as salvage - the Thrushes - or brought there by defectors - the Sholagars and Slayer).
The fact that the 10th Skye Rangers' aerospace elements seem to be primarily Corsairs was also surprising, since that's a core AFFS fighter. This may be the result of increased trade between the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, and a unit close to Terra, like the 10th Skye on Wyatt, would be positioned to be an early beneficiary of such trade.
The choice of OpFor was also a bit odd. Dame Humphreys was legendary for citing the Home Defense Act and refusing to release her provincial troops to use for anything but the defense of her Duchy. Yet, here they are attacking the Lyran border. The Sirian Lancers or the Silver Hawks would have been a more credible OpFor, given the stellar geography and House Humphreys' reticence to support House Marik's military adventures.
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What good sounding story, i wish it were canon. :(
House units were always raiding during the late Succession Wars. Maybe the raid if this was the Defenders, was part their method of training. Though it did sound like there as bit of vanity-Jealousy mixed in there with the Marik pilot.
Even if the Corsair was primarily a AFFS Aerospace fighter, the odd ball fighter will likely end up in service with someone else.
The Slayer was more known to be a Kurita fighter than a Marik one.
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What good sounding story, i wish it were canon. :(
House units were always raiding during the late Succession Wars. Maybe the raid if this was the Defenders, was part their method of training. Though it did sound like there as bit of vanity-Jealousy mixed in there with the Marik pilot.
Even if the Corsair was primarily a AFFS Aerospace fighter, the odd ball fighter will likely end up in service with someone else.
The Slayer was more known to be a Kurita fighter than a Marik one.
Pawoloski was explicitly noted to be an ex-Kurita aerojock that defected (not clear if to the FWL in general, or to the Duchy of Andurien in specific).
One or two Corsairs would have been par for the course, but the entire 10th Skye aerowing seemed to be made up of only that model. It's not surprising, though, in the context of the parts of the FedCom treaty that promote free trade between the two nations.
You make a good point re: training. Having the Defenders get some extra live-fire training in makes sense in light of Duchess Catherine Humphreys' ambitions to secede. And the Concord of Kapteyn makes getting that training by raiding nearby Capellan systems politically untenable, leaving the Lyrans as the only feasible option (unless she wants to take a swipe at some Marik Militia formations and kick things off early).
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One or two Corsairs would have been par for the course, but the entire 10th Skye aerowing seemed to be made up of only that model. It's not surprising, though, in the context of the parts of the FedCom treaty that promote free trade between the two nations.
Plus it's a Star League design, they tended to be spread out a bit in the Succession Wars.
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Date: September 25, 3027
Location: Wyatt
Title: Kill Zone Over Wyatt
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology 0201)
Synopsis: FWL Admiral Janos Kleber launched this raid-in-force against Wyatt to relieve LCAF pressure elsewhere on the Steiner/Marik border, hoping to eliminate the salient into Marik space it represented. His intent is to screen his DropShips to enable them to land on Wyatt intact and deploy the 4th Defenders of Andurien.
General Felix Mario Radnor, commander of the Wyatt garrison, deploys a squadron of new Davion-made Corsairs along with the militia fighters. In a straight up fighter engagement, the Steiner forces have the edge, but would be overwhelmed if the attack force's four Unions get involved.
Lt. Sharlene Gurtman recounts that the 4th Andarien [sic] pilots came in at high-G and swarmed the defenders, led by the fearsome Red Eagle.
The FWL flotilla has 1 Slayer, 8 Stingrays, 2 Thrushes, 2 Sholagars, and 4 Unions. The LCAF has 6 Corsairs, 3 Seydlitzes, 2 Lucifers, and 2 Chippewas. They deploy on the standard AeroTech map, ignoring the moon and gravity effects marked there.
The FWL scores 100 points per DropShip that lands on Wyatt, and 1 point per ton of fighter destroyed.
The LCAF scores 1 point per ton of fighter destroyed, 1 point per 5 points of damage done to a Marik DropShip, and 500 per DropShip destroyed.
The FWL is forced to retreat once 390 tons of fighters have been lost. The Marik forces also withdraw if Admiral Kleiber's command ship is lost.
Slayer Pilot Dmitri Pawoloski's reputation is such that enemy pilots falter as they get close enough to see his Red Eagle paint scheme, applying a +1 to-hit penalty at medium range and a +2 penalty at close range.
Kensie Shaneyfelt's Corsair can only join the battle after a Steiner fighter is damaged by Pawoloski's Slayer.
Notes: So, it seems that my guess that the Corsairs are the fruit of the FedCom treaty was right on the nose. The garrison seems to have just 2 Lucifers and 2 Chippewas, while the 10th Skye contributes the Corsairs and three Seydlitzes.
This "raid in force" seems a bit understrength - only one reinforced battalion. Where are the rest of the 4th Defenders of Andurien? And where are the other fighter carriers? The FWL force has 13 fighters, but the four Unions only have room for 8. Did the other five fighters come from the small craft bays on the FWL JumpShips? There should have been at least one more Leopard CV in the FWL lineup.
And where are the rest of the 10th Skye Rangers? If the ratio of 2 fighters per company holds, then there are 4-5 companies of Rangers onworld, plus another two companies of militia forces. If that's the case, why are 6-7 companies of LCAF forces worried overmuch about 4 companies of Defenders, given the 10th Skye's veteran status?
Interestingly, none of the pilots have skill levels. Was Gunnery not used in the original AeroTech ruleset?
The statement of motivation explains why Wyatt is being hit - to facilitate strategic maneuvering on the Lyran/League border. But this makes the unit choice very out of character. Since taking power, Dame Catherine Humphreys has routinely withheld her provincial forces (the Defenders of Andurien) from the FWLM, citing the need to retain them under the Home Defense Act. Why would she green-light the use of the 4th Defenders on a raid-in-force intended to affect the strategic balance on the Lyran border?
On tactics, I would recommend that the Lyrans concentrate on the DropShips. They're Victory Point fountains. Burn at top speed to get to the Droppers and concentrate on one at a time. Watch to see if the Mariks are particularly protective of any particular one, and focus on that (angling to win the engagement in one fell swoop by smoking the Admiral). Form a compact group and hit the target ship from one direction - doing damage to the same armor facing and only taking return fire from one facing's weapons. With luck, you can cripple or destroy a DropShip in a single pass. The first pass will, of course, be the most effective, with Marik fighters tearing at your flanks. On the plus side, the Thrushes and Sholagars are only minimally armed. The Stingrays and Slayer are the main threats.
For the League, I would recommend sending your fighters in well ahead of the DropShips to try to thin out Steiner numbers. Have three DropShips follow in a second wave, with the fighters of the first wave doubling back to escort them. Have the fourth DropShip hang further back. The Admiral's command ship should be one of the Second Wave ships, with the lagging one a decoy that may draw off some of the Lyran fighters.
If the Lyrans swarm your ships, take the opportunity to concentrate your fire and rack up points on kills. If any of your DropShips gets hammered, make sure to reorient to have your strongest armor facing their attacks. Keep up the pretense if they go after the Admiral's ship - don't give any sign that you're particularly protective - but perhaps bring in the decoy closer to make it a more attractive target. You only have to cross 20 hexes, so if you can trick the Lyrans into splitting their focus, most of your force should land intact.
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And where are the other fighter carriers? The FWL force has 13 fighters, but the four Unions only have room for 8. Did the other five fighters come from the small craft bays on the FWL JumpShips? There should have been at least one more Leopard CV in the FWL lineup.
As demonstrated by House Liao in The Sword and the Dagger, aerospace fighters can travel for long distances using external tanks, without exposing their carriers.
Alternatively, one of the Unions may be a Union CV refit. These exist in canon. See TRO:3025, Corsair entry.
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I recalled the use of external fuel tanks for system transit in Sword and the Dagger, but my main question was how the fighters got to the Wyatt system in the first place.
A Union CV is a possibility I considered, but then you take a company of ground troops away from a Defender battalion that's already outnumbered two to one by the garrison. Not good odds if you're trying to seize the world.
That brings up the question of what the FWL is actually trying to accomplish. If they really wanted to take Wyatt and trim off the Lyran salient, they should have brought about two regiments (to get the three-to-one advantage recommended for offensive operations). Hitting it with a reinforced battalion seems intended to cause a ruckus and pull in Lyran reinforcements, denuding other areas of the League/Lyran border where the Seven Solons feel there's a threat (the threat was probably the one demonstrated by Operation THOR, which repositioned 130 regiments - 30 'Mech, 100 infantry and armor - in 3027 and scared the FWL enough to put them on a full war footing).
But the two battalions of ground troops (estimated) on Wyatt should be able to deal with one battalion of FWL raiders without needing that much in the way of reinforcements, and who's to say the reinforcements would come from other border worlds, rather than the Lyran interior?
It would seem that the Seven Solons wanted to poke the LCAF with a small stick to see what would happen in the aftermath of THOR. The fact that they went to a formal war footing may have been what forced Humphreys to cut loose one of her battalions. An Andurien unit then makes sense - the other FWL border garrisons are needed to keep an eye on the Elsies, and the 4th Defenders won't be missed on the generally quiet Capellan border in the post-Kapteyn period.
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Date: September 27, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Recruited by Yerg Gantor
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras celebrates the death of Duff Skully (reduced to a "smoldering mess" according to an intercepted report from Vermin Minter) at Club Zero-Zero, and predicts that the last surviving member of the Dark Wing will be the hardest to track down, since nobody knows his real name.
Cearle Jamist, the bartender, tells Herras that Yerg Gantor (the cockney accented merc whose ambush Herras foiled earlier) is looking for him, and passes along a holovid. On the vid, Gantor offers top dollar and the location of the Dark Wing leader in exchange for running a mission on Quilon.
Notes: This brings up the question of mercenary reputation. Most mercenaries seeking to make a name for themselves trumpet both their real name and their callsign far and wide. Natasha Kerensky, the Black Widow, for example. Others, however, prefer to work anonymously, and rely entirely on their concealing persona. The Bounty Hunter is a key example, always seen in his LosTech PA(L) suit. The head of the Dark Wing also seems to prefer anonymity - perhaps out of fear of retribution, or perhaps because he's come up from the ISF and prefers the shadows.
Of course, since every character listed in the manual is, by now, either an informant or #P, it's not a huge leap to figure out that [SPOILERS! ::)] Yerg Gantor is the Dark Wing leader.
The odd thing is that Gantor appears to have been trying to kill off his former Dark Wing partners in any event (a falling out among thieves?). Vermin Minter even attributes the murder of Duff Skully to the Dark Wing (stating "The Dark Wing has struck again!")
One wonders why Herras didn't just shoot the leg off of Yerg Gantor's 'Mech and then, I dunno, interrogate him to find out who the last member of the gang is? I just get the feeling that if a Death Commando had been in Herras' place, the entire Dark Wing and Mercenary Underground would have been rolled up and dead/surrendered within a month.
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Date: October 3027
Location: Port Moseby
Title: NightShadow
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Encounter (BattleTechnology 0102)
Synopsis: Presented as an in-universe training tool for MechWarriors and trainees using FASA's MechWarrior RPG, this Encounter gives referees the tools to incorporate the Nekekami into their "simulations."
Kelvin Horst, owner of Horst Metals Enterprises and last living member of House Horst, lives in his palatial country estate at Horstwald - a refitted fortress dating from the Age of War. He sends his representative, Sendic Henning, to hire mercenaries to guard a valuable delivery (a book-shaped item wrapped in paper) from the time it arrives to when it can be shipped onto another freighter the following day - amounting to roughly 20 hours of sentry duty at Horstwald to supplement his 20 servants and bodyguards.
A map is provided, showing Horstwald's layout and giving details on the alarm system, the main building, the west wing, the servants' quarters, the garage, the gatehouse and gate, the estate wall, Lake Horst, the patio pool, and the surrounding woods.
A second map gives interior details of the west wing, where the package is being stored. It features an entry hall, bathroom, conference room, dining room, kitchen and storage pantry, offices, a den, bedrooms (with Horst's having a secret elevator to the vault), a house security room, a wine cellar (with a secret door to the outer vault), the outer vault, and the inner vault.
The mercenaries have full authority to deploy the seven guards and themselves as they see fit.
Once the defenses are set, the game master will follow the Encounter guidelines to have the Nekekami agent test the mercenaries' defense plans.
The Nekekami will infiltrate Horstwald and try to slip by or neutralize sentries, enter Horst's bedroom, drug him to get details of the security plans, then take Horst to the Outer Vault and eliminate the guards there with grenades and gas.
Upon opening the vault and discovering the prize is not there, he will interrogate Horst again to learn that it is hidden in plain sight in a fake book back in Horst's library. Once he has the book, he will kill Horst and then lie low until the search has died down, or steal a guard's uniform and blend in. If flushed, he will make for the woods (relying on traps he placed on the way in to slow pursuit - mines, explosives, tripwires, etc.), or go for the garage to steal a vehicle.
If forced into combat, the Nekekami has a dagger, three throwing knives tipped with nerve poison, a silenced pistol, climbing claws, 20 meters of climbing rope, 10 caltrop mines, three lengths of tripwire, a vial of truth serum, two gas grenades, and three flashbombs.
If the mercenaries thwart the Nekekami entirely, Horst will reward them handsomely. If Horst dies, Horst Metals Enterprises will tie the payout up in court. The Nekekami will try to commit suicide if trapped. If the mercenaries do take him alive, the LIC will collect him and be a source of future contracts.
The package is a list of senior ISF agents in the Draconis March, along with identifiers, code words, and call signs. Horst's intent is to put it aboard a Horst Metals Enterprises ship bound for New Avalon. If Horst dies and the mercenaries retain the book, they will soon be targeted by the ISF and more Nekekami.
At the referee's option, Sendic Henning may be an ISF agent, serving as an inside man for the Nekekami.
A brief bio identifies the Nekekami agent as Hanzo Lee, an expert in traditional weapons who avoids unnecessary bloodshed.
Notes: The Nekekami are given a full article in the same issue. Successfully transitioning to canon, they appear in Heir to the Dragon and the Twilight of the Clans series (a quartet having been slipped aboard TASK FORCE SERPENT). They appear to have originated in BattleTechnology, since they don't appear in canon fiction until Heir to the Dragon (published in 1989), while BattleTechnology 0102 was published in 1987.
Keith had a penchant for creating societies of ruthless assassins in the Combine. Mercenary's Star featured an exile from the Saurimat - a more Azami-themed group of assassins (later retconned into temple guardians, with the assassins being a renegade sect that was quickly snuffed out). For the Nekekami, Keith went full ninja.
One plot hole immediately stands out - why are the freighters bringing the item to the DropPort on Port Moseby and having it wait there until it can be loaded onto another freighter? Why not just keep the DropShip out at the Jump Point until the second freighter arrives, and transfer the goods through a ship-to-ship umbilical, or aboard a shuttle? What is gained by hauling it all the way in-system? In deep space, at least, nobody is going to be sneaking up on you.
Essentially, this MechWarrior RPG scenario tasks the players with defending their castle against Batman. Just on first blush, it's going to be pointless to maintain a wide perimeter - he'll just take out guards or slip by them. A better option would be to concentrate your security at key chokepoints (Horst's bedroom, the outer vault, the inner vault) and hope to overwhelm any intruder with massed firepower. Put a reaction team in the wine cellar. If he gasses the team in the outer vault, the reserve team can open the secret door and storm in while the Nekekami agent is trying to use Horst's handprint to get the vault door open. (Even more fun - wait until the Nekekami agent is in the inner vault, then sneak in from the wine cellar and slam the outer vault door shut, tossing in some knock out gas of your own, first.)
Having spent the 80s and 90s reading Dragon Magazine, I always felt that BattleTech's RPG-side was undersupported, compared to what TSR was producing for D&D in its periodical. It's clear that, in this second issue, William Keith was clearly trying to establish Pacific Rim Publishing's BattleTechnology up as a source for RPG scenarios.
This initial offering looks like a lot of fun, assuming the GM doesn't go out of his/her way to screw the PCs with a betrayal by Sendic Henning. (A betrayal is warranted, though, if the PCs come up with a plan that, when paired with the Nekekami guidelines, will end the scenario prematurely in a curbstomp.)
The only problem I see is with the setup. (Granted - without a setup, there's no scenario, but...) Horst could have handed the book straight to the LIC, which is openly coordinating with MIIO at this point. The setup even states that the LIC has a large listening post on Port Moseby. Horst could have given the book to the Davion Ambassador on Port Moseby. (If Helm has a Davion Ambassador, Port Moseby has one.) Scan the book into a digital file and summon a ComStar courier to take it to the local HPG for transmission to the New Avalon.
I'm not even sure what good this data will do when it arrives. Horst's plan is to ship it via one of his own freighters to New Avalon. From Port Moresby, such a journey will take weeks (assuming the freighter is a DropShip getting Pony Expressed between JumpShips) or months (if the freighter he's using is a JumpShip going there jump-recharge-jump). As soon as the ISF became aware of the book's theft, they would have begun changing codes and alerting their agents. By the time that the book gets to the MIIO on New Avalon, 90% of its contents will be old news.
I do think content like this suffers from the contrivance that BattleTechnology is an in-universe publication. While that helps add immediacy to the news articles and interviews, it makes anything presented as game support material (presumably the primary role) awkward, since game stats wouldn't fit in an in-universe publication, and makes it unclear if the events in the "simulation" were based on canon in-universe events.
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The choice of OpFor was also a bit odd. Dame Humphreys was legendary for citing the Home Defense Act and refusing to release her provincial troops to use for anything but the defense of her Duchy. Yet, here they are attacking the Lyran border. The Sirian Lancers or the Silver Hawks would have been a more credible OpFor, given the stellar geography and House Humphreys' reticence to support House Marik's military adventures.
The Home Defense Act only allows a province to retain 75% of its forces within its borders. The scenario may have meant to use the 5th Defenders, who were stationed on Nestor in mid 3025, or perhaps (like the Lyran forces on Wyatt) regimental postings had changed by 3027.
painted his fighters to resemble red eagles. <snip> His performance began to slip <snip> With no sign of improvement after several days, the flight surgeon grounded Kensie
I wonder if the story was inspired by the TOS episode "Balance of Terror," or (especially since the main story points are fairly different) if they're both drawing on a common source.
The FWL force has 13 fighters, but the four Unions only have room for 8. Did the other five fighters come from the small craft bays on the FWL JumpShips? There should have been at least one more Leopard CV in the FWL lineup.
Yeah, a Leopard CV fits better than anything else, I think. Given the flight *is* short a fighter already, it'd be easy to handwave the CV as too damaged to enter the fight.
And where are the rest of the 10th Skye Rangers? If the ratio of 2 fighters per company holds, then there are 4-5 companies of Rangers onworld, plus another two companies of militia forces. If that's the case, why are 6-7 companies of LCAF forces worried overmuch about 4 companies of Defenders, given the 10th Skye's veteran status?
<snip>
The statement of motivation explains why Wyatt is being hit - to facilitate strategic maneuvering on the Lyran/League border.
The Davion book says RCTs only keep about half their forces on their HQ world, with the rest scattered around nearby worlds - no reason to think the Commonwealth would be different, especially with Davionists assisting in the Lyran war games. Also, some of the fighters could be an indepenent wing (not attached to any ground unit); and if Wyatt is being used as a jumping-off point (the 3025 deployment tables place two regiments there), the bulk of its normal forces may currently be jumped off.
It wouldn't surprise me if Wyatt had no more 'Mechs than the invading Free Worlders do. For what it's worth, 3:1 odds may be rare; MW1e gives a range of roughly 1:1 to 2:1 for attackers trying to assault a world. (I suspect unfavorable odds come down to the attackers having superior skills, weight, ambition, or an ignorance of last-minute changes in the garrison.)
Interestingly, none of the pilots have skill levels. Was Gunnery not used in the original AeroTech ruleset?
Average piloting rating of 5 and average gunnery rating of 6, with the option to randomize skill levels (similar to the one in BattleTech). Improvement works by committing to improving one skill or the other, then completing five kills to improve piloting by a point, or ten skills to improve gunnery by a point. (Wonder how well that works with TR:3025 Notables which mention kill counts.)
One plot hole immediately stands out - why are the freighters bringing the item to the DropPort on Port Moseby and having it wait there until it can be loaded onto another freighter?
<snip>
Horst could have handed the book straight to the LIC, which is openly coordinating with MIIO at this point. The setup even states that the LIC has a large listening post on Port Moseby. Horst could have given the book to the Davion Ambassador on Port Moseby.
<snip>
As soon as the ISF became aware of the book's theft, they would have begun changing codes and alerting their agents. By the time that the book gets to the MIIO on New Avalon, 90% of its contents will be old news.
Are you sure the item was brought in-system by a Horst ship? It may have needed to reach trusted hands before passing out-system again (or maybe it originated on Port Moseby). The LIC/MIIO may have preferred Horst's shipping over ComStar for various reasons, and decoding the book was going to take time anyways... it'll have some retrospective value, helping to sift through already-out-of-date intel. Also though, the communications lag works both ways. It'll take time for ISF code changes to propogate.
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Horst’s contacts that stole the book were killed shortly after they passed it to one of Horst’s couriers. The book arrives on one Horst freighter, stays 20 hours, and then takes off on a different Horst freighter. Given transit times, the pickup freighter must have already been inbound from the jump point when the first freighter arrived.
Perhaps one came in at the zenith and the other at the nadir, making it more efficient to meet in the middle, while giving Horst the opportunity to verify the book’s authenticity.
For the Wyatt garrison, I was speculating about their ground strength by assuming they’d have two fighters per company - the “standard” ratio for the Third Succession War era. I can certainly buy that the 10th Skye is scattered among several worlds for garrison duty, but the ratio-based estimate suggests 4-5 companies of Skye Rangers alone, not even counting the tanks, infantry, and artillery of the Wyatt garrison. I can buy four Defenders companies for a quick smash-n-grab raid or recon in force, but it’s not enough to make Wyatt call for enough reinforcements to affect the strategic balance along other parts of the border.
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I know that's the only way we have to estimate forces, I was just trying to show how many factors can throw it off. Also, a simple measure of the ground forces doesn't give a good picture of what the strategic ramifications will be; the effectiveness of the attackers depends on what the ground targets are, and the effectiveness of the defenders depends on how they're distributed among those targets. (If I remember correctly, Wolf's Dragoons damaged an aerospace facility of some kind on Wyatt something like a decade earlier; and the 3025 deployment tables put two regiments of Lyran troops there.)
Taking the book from the zenith to Wyatt and then out again to the nadir would be a good explanation, but I think you're misremembering. The package didn't arrive on Wyatt under Horst's auspices.
Oh, I forgot to say! It's neat how the titular "fifth kill" from the aerospace story lines up with the rules for improving aerospace skills.
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You are correct - it just says it was “mailed” to Horst by his agent. Since there aren’t regular Draconis Postal Service runs into Lyran space, that implies it was aboard a ComStar courier vessel, which also explains why the ISF couldn’t strike at the ship prior to delivery. Good catch.
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Reading through Catastrophe Unlimited now. It immediately resolves one of the issues we discussed in the reviews of Heir Apparent and Apparent Catastrophe. The Litzau homeworld is “Maldive” - not Maldives or Valdives. I wonder if it was my unanswered question about it on the HBS forums that got it fixed.
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But right on the first page they anachronistically stuck Walter in a COM-3A (which isn't supposed to exist for another 24 years). Ah well. Still reading. New BT fiction is always good. Still curious if this will end up being canonized.
Edit: Looks like there is actually a lot of universe building in the book, with interesting information that actually makes sense and fills in some logic holes. Like how the "ComStar Tiers" are explained, or the downgraded show equipment on Solaris instead of the oh-so-invaluable real combat ammo & armor.
So as to not derail this thread, I've openened a new thread here: Catastrophe Unlimited (http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=60550.0)
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Speaking of anachronisms, why is Gray Noton hot stuff on Solaris VII in 3001? Given a birth date of 2985, he’s only 16. The story claims he arrived with his own ‘Mech and capped a contender...at 13 or 14? That’s getting into Rhonda Snord levels of precociousness.
Walter comments that Noton “was a merc” - but canonically, Noton’s Merc period was 3010-3015. In 3001, he’s barely started his impressive minor league career. It seems as though this was written to take place around 3018, not 3001. (Of course, that can’t work either, since Walter joins the Kell Hounds in 3010)
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I wonder if that book will be published as one book with all three novelettes merged together.
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It'll be four segments in total, since they met all the stretch goals.
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Date: January 31, 3016 [See Notes]
Location: Mallory's World
Title: Archer Lore
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (MechWarrior Online)
Synopsis: On the Oregon plains of Mallory's World, Morgan Kell accepts defeat and awaits his death at the hands of Yorinaga Kurita's Warhammer. The acceptance leads him to a sense of calm that he feels in his soul, and even in his bones - feelings he's not experienced since his time in the Periphery. He wistfully thinks of a woman named Tempest, and recalls the joy they experienced together.
Yorinaga launches an Alpha Strike, but misses with all his shots. Even though he is stunned at still being alive, Morgan's combat reactions are swift, and he fires a full barrage of missiles at the point-blank range Warhammer. A second Alpha Strike from the Warhammer also fails to connect, leading Morgan to wonder if he is already dead.
Notes: Though the MWO "Lore" articles have been advertised as canon (the fiction, at least, if not the Hero 'Mech variants), the date given - February 23, 3016, contradicts the one given by the "Historical Turning Points: Mallory's World" Track "The Duel," which puts it on January 31, 3016. The non Turning Points source material just puts it in "early 3016," so it can be assumed Randall checked the Kell Hound scenario pack, but missed the reference in the Mallory's World book. While the general rule of thumb is that "the more recent source is the most canonical," in this case, I'll assume that the official Catalyst product supersedes an online forum post, keeping the official date on January 31. (Or, since the death date of Ian Davion also kept switching around in the early source material, this could be more evidence that Interconnectedness Unlimited is using time travel to muck with historical events on Mallory's World. ;) )
The story cuts off just before Morgan's famous 'Mech bow and Yorinaga's surrender. Stackpole's accounts have previously given us the point of view of other Kell Hounds and of Yorinaga, but this is the first time we get to see the "Phantom 'Mech" incident from Morgan's point of view. The trigger event for Phantom 'Mech seems to be a zen-like calm and acceptance of death. If we're looking for an in-universe explanation, it would seem possible that that mental state interacts with the neurohelmet to create a targeting system disruption field, or something along those lines.
Equally interesting, Morgan thinks back to spending joyous times with "Tempest" in the Periphery. Presumably, this was during the time he, Arthur Luvon, and Katrina Steiner spent gallivanting through the Periphery as the "Red Corsair" and her consorts. It's really a shame that ROC and FASA nixed Stackpole's proposal to write a novel of that story. So far, all we have of it is a few references in Warrior: En Garde and the prologue, "Disappear," in the special edition of A Time of War. "Tempest" probably isn't "Tempest Storm," of Snord's Irregulars, since she was only born in 3009.
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Date: November 19, 3018
Location: Zaniah III
Title: Archer Lore
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (MechWarrior Online)
Synopsis: At St. Marinus House on Zaniah III, Morgan Kell awakens screaming from a nightmare of the battle on Mallory's World. He attempts to calm his panic with deep breathing exercises, but fails, leaving him questioning his sanity as he ponders what happened.
Curling into the fetal position, he rides out the painful panic attack repeating the mantra that he must remain in exile until he can figure out the phenomenon, lest it prove too dangerous for himself, his family, and his unit.
Notes: The setup in Warrior: En Garde focuses mostly on the fact that Morgan disbanded 2/3 of the Kell Hounds and left without explaining why to Patrick and Salome. This vignette shows that Morgan was teetering on the edge of insanity from the implications of the Phantom 'Mech Ability, suffering from physically painful panic attacks, and fearing that the phenomenon could harm himself and those for whom he cared.
He may not have explained what was going on to Patrick and Salome, not because he was coldheartedly following a zen vision quest to go on an inner journey (which was somewhat implied in the resentful dialogue between Patrick and Salome in En Garde), but because he was falling apart and didn't want them to see what a wreck he'd become, or because he feared that proximity to him might negatively affect them.
The Kell Hound scenario pack, which includes rules for Phantom 'Mech Ability, suggests that any Player Character that develops the ability become an NPC thereafter, because they'd become overpowered. This shows that they'd also be better off as an NPC, because they'd have to be loaded up with a baker's dozen of Negative Trait - Psychosis modifiers.
Based on Morgan's state of mind two years later, it's interesting to speculate what would have happened if Ian Davion had survived his fight with Yorinaga Kurita, during which Ian also manifested Phantom 'Mech abilities. Would Hanse have had to become First Prince after Ian went stark raving mad? Would the Federated Suns have suffered under the rule of an insane monarch, forcing Hanse to team up with Michael Hasek-Davion to overthrow him? The aims of the Dragon might have been better served by letting Ian win on Mallory's World...
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PTSD is that bad. But I still don't buy into the faux PMA mysticism.
That said, even assuming PMA is real for argument's sake - what's the evidence Ian Davion had it?
Oh, and can you provide links to those canonical MWO "Lore" snippets? The MWO website structure is... not my friend when trying to actually find information.
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PTSD is that bad. But I still don't buy into the faux PMA mysticism.
That said, even assuming PMA is real for argument's sake - what's the evidence Ian Davion had it?
Oh, and can you provide links to those canonical MWO "Lore" snippets? The MWO website structure is... not my friend when trying to actually find information.
Historical Turning Points: Mallory's World gives Ian a pile of combat modifiers to simulate a toned down Phantom 'Mech ability in the Track that pits him against Yorinaga and company (The Defeat of Nobility (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=27831.msg756524#msg756524)). The ability combo given to Ian is nearly identical to what Morgan gets in the later Track, The Duel (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=27831.msg797390#msg797390), strongly implying that Morgan and Ian both manifested Phantom 'Mech Ability. If anything, Ian had it more strongly, since he gets 10 points of extra Edge, while Morgan only gets 5.
Sun Spider (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/260094-sun-spider-lore/)
Hellspawn (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/256866-hellspawn-lore/)
Thanatos (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/255753-thanatos-lore/)
Viper (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/227456-viper-lore-and-blueprint/)
Roughneck (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/240673-roughneck-lore-and-blueprint/)
Bushwacker (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/236304-bushwacker-lore-and-blueprint/)
Huntsman (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/230498-the-huntsman-lore-and-blueprint/)
Night Gyr (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/229400-night-gyr-lore-and-blueprint/)
Kodiak (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/222865-kodiak-lore-and-blueprint/)
Archer (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/217430-archer-blueprint-and-lore/)
Story of the Legend Killer (https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/214318-story-of-the-legend-killer/)
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Date: April 28, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: In the city of Fallville, Walter de Mesnil and Ivan Litzau audition to join a 'Mech stable with a simulator battle against the stable's star performers, Snorri and Aniki. Ivan puts in a passable but unimpressive display in a Wasp, while Walter uses a COM-3A Commando to finish off a Locust and a Firestarter.
Stablemaster Simon Traeger rejects Ivan outright, and tells Walter that he's a good soldier, but would make a terrible arena fighter - being too efficient a killer in a setting geared for entertainment. He suggests that Walter's merchandising appeal could be boosted if he had a compelling backstory.
Aniki enters the office and suggests that Walter could replace Nick (who is too drunk to fight) at the South County Fall Fair. She suggests that his backstory could be as an amnesiac "man of mystery."
Walter thanks Aniki, who compliments his simulator performance and tells him she thinks Ivan is cute.
Departing, Ivan tells Water he got what he needed, and should have confirmation in a week. Walter answers that he hopes the Collective will be very surprised when their longshot plan comes together.
Back at the Vulture's Egg, Captain Isolde MacDonald reports to Sophia Litzau that Walter and Ivan have returned. She recounts that of the original crew and escapees from the Golden Prosperity Reeducation Camp, only Isolde, Raymond Angelis, Ash Knight, and chef Jacques accompanied them to Solaris, with the rest dispersing throughout the Inner Sphere.
In the ship's mess hall, Walter reports that he got hired by the 'Mech stable. Ray reports he's got a job offer from Paradigm Shifters, a 'Mech speed shop that just lost their best tech to Gray Noton's stable. He says he'll be able to use their equipment to have their 'Mechs in top condition.
Isolde reports that it would be feasible to refit portions of the DropShip as a luxury hotel, to bring in extra money and built influence.
Notes: Walter argues that Gray Noton was a mercenary, and asks why his own mercenary background wouldn't be good enough as a merchandising hook. The problem is, this story is set in 3001, while the Solaris VII box set establishes that Gray Noton (born 2985 - so only 16 at this point) came to Solaris VII as a stowaway, had a good run in the minor leagues, then left and did a mercenary hitch from 3010-3015 before returning to become a record-breaking champion. So, circa 3001, Noton is neither a mercenary nor someone who should have much, if any, name recognition on Solaris.
Given Traeger's insistence that every fighter should have a hook for marketing purposes, it's possible that Noton's "hook" is "teen mercenary." (He's death personified in a Rifleman, and plays bass in a boy band!) If he has the skills to pull it off, that may explain why he got a pretty good run in the minor leagues before leaving to make the lie into reality.
The COM-3A Walter pilots is also an anachronism. Per the MUL, the 3A variant debuted in 3025. While it would certainly be possible that such a configuration had been created through a field modification during the design's 500+ years in service, and you can have any configuration you like in a simpod, this weapons mix wasn't formally dubbed "3A" until 3025.
I was initially surprised to open the book and find Walter and Ivan on Solaris VII, since I'd assumed they'd follow the Victor Hargreaves/Viserys Targaryen model of bumming around the Inner Sphere, hat in hand, looking for support to liberate their homeworld. That model (with House Hargreaves entering its fifth century of exile from Chesterton) doesn't seem to be terribly successful, so the Solaris VII detour is as good a gambit as any. (Not to mention, this is a tie-in novel to the HBS BattleTech game, which was originally intended to have a PvP online mode set on Solaris VII, so of course they're going to show off the Game World in the novel rather than doing a whistlestop tour of Inner Sphere capitals that you can't visit in the game.)
It's not clear if Fallville is on the Grayland or Equatus continent. It's out in the rural regions, where the residents don't have the opportunity (or funds) to go to the Class 5 arena fights in person. Most of the "circuit" fights are described as weaponized IndustrialMechs going at each other. The corruption in the games is just as evident as it was depicted in Warrior: En Garde, with fixed fights a common occurrence. (As it remained until Kai Allard-Liao cleaned things up in the late 3050s.)
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Date: May 3, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: Walter and Ivan join Aniki Sturludottir at the Bentlyville county fair to perform as part of the Windfall Warriors Unlimited stable. Looking at the 'Mechs, Walter notes that the armor panels used are small, ceramic, and modular, for ease of replacement, and don't have much stopping power. To compensate, Aniki explains that the autocannons shoot vulcanized rubber rounds, lasers and PPCs are powered down to be more light than heat, and missiles are more like fireworks. Ivan questions the safety equipment, noting that Gray Noton killed his opponent in his second fight on Solaris, and Aniki clarifies that Noton was in a heavyweight fight involving military spec 'Mechs. She adds that their pantomime fights fit in well among the pie, livestock, and produce contests.
Alexandra Fujitaka of the 'Mech Battle Commission briefs Walter on the code of conduct attached to his provisional license, including random drug testing. She orders him to report to her if Simon Trager involves him in any illegal dealings.
Walter watches Snorri enter the Grind in a COM-3A Commando, starting off against a four-legged, two-armed Industrial FrankenMech (locally termed a MuttMech) named "Mabel." Snorri gives a good show, finishing Mabel off with flair after letting it get some good shots of its own in. Walter asks if he'll also run a Grinder, and Aniki says he'll be in a different fight, in the role of "The Rabbit."
Notes: Aniki notes that the fair hosts a special fight - the Grind - placing one 'Mech against all comers, with the last one standing winning. This is clearly a reference to the demo games run by Catalyst Agents at conventions - the Grinder.
Based on what we see going on in Warrior: En Garde, the 'Mech Battle Commission is largely toothless, with games routinely being fixed as a means to launder money between criminal syndicates and their operatives.
Walter notes that the Commando has a holographic sensor package, giving the pilot a 360 degree view of his surroundings, and ensuring he can't be blindsided by a rear attack. William Keith's GDL books described it slightly differently, implying that the sensors had a 360 view, but that the image was compressed into a forward mounted flatscreen view, giving the pilot a 360 degree picture, but with distortion related to the compression that took some getting used to. This sounds like there's a mini holo-tank on the cockpit's dashboard showing an aerial view of the Commando and its surroundings.
The structure and aesthetics of the battles on Solaris in Catastrophe Unlimited are very reminiscent of those in "Real Steel" - starting out with county fair matches and working their way up for a shot at the big time.
The MuttMechs sounds like heaps of fun. A good kitbash project for anyone with a bucket of MWDA industrials lying around.
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Money, warriors, and recognition are to be had at Solaris. All five houses maintain embassies (even if Kurita's is a little bit under the radar). Many warriors aren't adverse to seeing a little real action now and again if the price is right. As for money....fix the right matches?
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Date: September 7, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: At the Greater Harrison Regional Exposition, Walter takes a LCT-1S Locust in the Rabbit Run event, trying to survive as long as possible in the abandoned landfill while putting on a good show. The pursuing 'Mechs go after him and each other, in equal measure, and though the downing of Walter's "Rabbit" technically ends the fight, the remaining four 'Mechs pound on each other until only one remains. Ivan warns Walter that their stablemaster, Simon Traeger, is angry, because the blue 'Mech that survived longest wasn't supposed to win.
Once out of his downed Locust, Walter reunited with Sophia Litzau, with whom he's formed a strong relationship. She tells him that the current guests at the DropShip/hotel have come out from Solaris City to see Snorri And Anki, "The Lethal Twins." They also discuss the growing romance between Aniki and Ivan, and rumors from Maldive that the Collective is trying to end the fighting with dissident factions by proposing a constitution and forming a representative parliament.
That night, Walter and Sophia host their guests at dinner in the Vulture's Egg DropShip/hotel. Enver and Marie Barrington (nobles from New Syrtis), their friend Robert Hart, and his fiance and her sister Caroline and Ulrike Rissel. The ship's chef, Jacques, presents chipotle-yam soup, salad, mauveberry-fattened pheasant, venison, and gelato. They discuss the difference between MechWarriors and the "MechFighters" of Solaris. Snorri explains that since many of the performers have never gone to war, MechFighter is a more apt appellation. Enver expresses interest in making toy figurines of the MechFighters when they become Solaris champions. The nobles agree to extend their stay a few days to spend time with Aniki, Snorri, and Walter, though it means missing a dinner with Gray Noton.
Notes: The various 'Mechs participating in the Rabbit event are a mix of MuttMechs (Industrial FrankenMechs), Iron Men (FrankenMechs made from salvaged BattleMechs) and Traps (unassuming 'Mechs that conceal a powerful weapon and usually are commanded by a skilled pilot). It's too bad that the original Solaris VII boxed set and the expansion, "The Reaches" primarily focused on the military-grade deathmatches in Solaris City, since events like the Grind and the Rabbit sound like they'd be a lot of fun to run. (It also would have been a fun format for matches if the Solaris multiplayer element had been retained in the HBS game. Perhaps in a future expansion...)
The spelling of the name of the Litzaus' home planet, Maldive, clears up the confusion from books one and two, which spelled it "Maldives." The map posted by HBS showed both a world named "Maldive" and one named "Valdives," making it unclear which corresponded to "Maldives." This clarifies that it is the one on the border of the CC and FS, near the Taurian border as well, which makes by far the most sense, as "Valdives" is far from the Taurian border, making it even less likely that the Taurians would have built Ivan's hideout there.
Sophia's plan to build influence with nobles who could be helpful seems to be paying off handsomely. Perhaps House Hargreaves could learn from her example.
The reference to Gray Noton again underscores that, in this version of the BattleTech universe, he's a big name on Solaris VII in 3001. I seem to recall that Randall Bills announced these stories were intended to be canon, but it keeps running afoul of previously established canon, calling that pronouncement into question. (If the info in the Solaris VII guidebook is accurate, Gray is only 16 in 3001, and arrived as a stowaway. In this backstory, he arrived after a successful mercenary career with his own 'Mech and was fighting in military-grade matches right off the bat - similar to Justin Xiang and Jeremiah Rose. Not to mention the references to someone having "BattleArmor" experience 50 years before BattleArmor was reintroduced to the Inner Sphere.)
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At first I thought Noton's backstory might be doctored; Traeger's role in the story seems to imply almost every Solaris MechFighter adopts an interesting arena persona that is more or less an act.
However, unlike many other BattleTech sourcebooks, the Solaris Boxed Set Player's Handbook doesn't purport to be an in-universe document. So we should probably take the information therein at face value.
But flipping through the book (and the GM book) I find that the champions are kids. The O'Bannon sisters are 22 and 23 years old, respectively; Kelley Metz was a Davion MechWarrior, then a mercenary, then a star in the arena and she's now a whooping 19 years old. Among the Top 20 in those death matches with military grade equipment there's another teen (Michael Karufel, age 18) and almost all others are in their 20s; only three are in their (early) 30s. Strangely, many of them will have long careers at the top tier right into the Jihad which raises the question what happened to the next generation of teen top-stars.
Anyways, in this context a 16-year-old Gray Noton "swiftly rising through the ranks" (as per S7 Player's Handbook) isn't so weird anymore. Perhaps he made himself older than he really was at the time and claimed to have been a mercenary to cover up the extra years.
Some general context notes about the 3001 timeframe:
The people in power in this time are
- Ian Davion, Hohiro Kurita, Alessandro Steiner, Janos Marik, Maximilian Liao
- Protector of Taurian Concordat as of 3001 unknown; possibly Zarantha Calderon (Thomas' mother) who died in 3017
- Magestrix of Magistracy of Canopus as of 3001 unknown; possibly Tamara Centrella (Kyalla's mother) who died in 3012
- ComStar Primus: Allen Rusenstein
- Hans Schleinning is (or will be) the 3001 Champion of Solaris; the 3000 title is held by Brett Hartenberger
On the elusive planet Lincoln, two Capellan Warrior Houses contain and drive off Davion forces (implicitly capturing the planet in the process).
In the periphery beyond the Steiner/Kurita borders, ComStar is implementing their Jolly Roger plan beginning in 3001.
House Marik will launch its second infamous raid-in-force against Solaris VII in 3002, but like the 2998 raid it will fail and cause only loss and embarrasment to House Marik.
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So young master Noton must have somehow stowed away with his mercenary ‘Mech and parlayed his possession into a major league fight, won that, then killed his foe in his second match, making his rep. He probably wasn’t at the Class 5 arenas, but may have been at Death Dance, Four Cross, or Laserclasm (from MW2: Mercenaries).
Instead of “Legend Killer,” he was probably going by “Kid Vicious” or some such.
It could be that the current generation of yakuza/tong/triad/mafia match fixers found teen prodigies far easier to control in terms of arranging who takes a fall and when. Gray is clearly an old hand at the rigged fight game by 3027.
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Date: November 10, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: Walter prepares for an upcoming two-on-two fight in BattlePark City, in an arena called The Gallery, which allows well heeled spectators to bid on art pieces in a 'Mech sized gallery, then watch as the 'Mechs rampage through it, making their purchase (if it survives) unique through battle damage. Walter is paired with Maisie Lee-Kerr, and will face off against Rich Carson and Irina Koyota.
Ivan provides a statistical analysis of their opponents, based on past performance. Carson, a Vindicator pilot, appears to have lost his will to fight following a bad loss to Gray Noton, while Koyota is a flashy, but reckless, short-range fighter in a Firestarter.
The briefing is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Agent Fujitaka, who requires Walter to take a urine test.
As the battle is about to begin, Ivan alerts Walter, in his Blackjack, to a request from stablemaster Simon Traeger, who wants Maisie's UrbanMech ("Lil Slugger") to go out before Irina Kyoto's Firestarter. Walter questions the wisdom of selling out his partner with Agent Fujitaka watching the match.
Maisie takes out Carson, while Walter, disregarding Simon's wishes, takes out Fujitaka while Maisie is still functional.
After the battle, Maisie goes to celebrate the win at the Lethal Locust, stopping to sign autographs for her fans on the way. Walter follows, and is surprised to find that he's started to draw his own groupies as well.
At the bar, Ivan and Walter drink Timbiqui Dark. Ivan notes that Aniki is fighting in The Quarry and training for the Platinum Crown Tournament, which she hopes will make her a big enough name to make it to the championship matches in Solaris City.
They discuss the potential option of giving up on liberating Maldive, and instead settling down on Solaris with Aniki and Sophia. Walter reminds Ivan that their plan on Solaris to build a story around House Litzau to excite people and lay the groundwork for a triumphant homecoming of liberation.
Simon Traeger interrupts their conversation, joining them in their booth and demanding to know why Walter failed to let Irina take out Maisie. He notes that Walter's actions violated an agreement with some people, and tells Walter he's fired.
Walter asks Traeger how much of his own money he put on the fight, and speculates that it was a significant amount. He offers to help get the bookies off Traeger's back in exchange for 75% of the stable. He notes that Ivan has records of Traeger relaying an order to fix the fight.
Trager is unfazed, claiming to have both the battle commission and ComStar in his pocket. Aniki joins them as well, and notes that the civil courts on Solaris will honor her "moral turpitude" clause, allowing her and Snorri to leave Traeger's stable, leaving him with heavy debts and no fighters.
Ivan further explains that the reason he was so bad in the initial simulator match is that he was using the system access to hack the stable's computers, building a backdoor through which he's been monitoring Traeger's betting. By counter-betting in this last match, they won everything Traeger lost.
Traeger signs the agreement, then says he has to leave to take care of business. Ivan notes that he also found and froze Traeger's Bank of Luthien accounts as a precaution.
When Traeger leaves, Aniki asks if Walter and Ivan will ever tell him that they were the "silent partners" who bribed him to fix the fight.
Notes: I wonder what banned substances they're testing for. I once ran a character in an online RPG campaign that was taking QwikStim, getting bonuses on piloting and gunnery, but then he botched a WIL role and freaked out mid-battle, attacking whoever was closest. He had to be retired to NPC status and was shuffled off into the Free Skye underground. KZ (aka KrayZee), various Kurita battledrugs, and standard illegal stims would probably also be on the banned list.
Traeger is another in a long line of Stackpole antagonists who have their shorts hoisted over their heads by the heroes, who have been thinking things out ten moves in advance. (Aldo Lestrade, Ivan Steiner, Max Liao, Tommy Volmer, Haskell Blizzard, Tor Miraborg, etc.)
The Gallery is a fun-sounding venue. Stackpole certainly adds a lot of creativity and variety to the list of canon Solaris arenas beyond the Class Fives from Warrior: En Garde, the lesser venues in "The Reaches" and the ones in BattleCorps fiction "Lion's Roar" and "The Season at Rankar's Deep." The takeaway is that Solaris VII is positively festooned with arenas catering to all types of audiences.
The tidbit about Traeger's "Bank of Luthien" accounts used for money laundering was interesting. Looking at Handbook: House Kurita, most banks are government-run, aside from Matabushi Finance. If Traeger was working through Combine government banks, as a Lyran citizen, he was making a lot of assumptions about how secure his funds would be, given the lack of official relationships between foreign citizens and the Combine government. More plausibly, he may have been dealing with Matabushi Finance (the largest private finance firm in the Combine), though the name "Bank of Luthien" would fit a government institution better. This is set roughly 23 years before Matabushi launched Operation INROAD, but you can already see they could have ties to unsavory types around the Inner Sphere.
Traeger's claim that he's bribed members of the Battle Commission may have some weight, given how corrupt that group is portrayed circa 3027 in Warrior: En Garde. The curious bit is his claim to have ComStar in his pocket. While some Precentors have certainly proven susceptible to bribes (such as in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets"), Traeger doesn't seem like he has enough pull to buy a single acolyte, let alone anyone with enough pull to blacklist Walter through the Mercenary Review Board. He was probably just bluffing.
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So young master Noton must have somehow stowed away with his mercenary ‘Mech and parlayed his possession into a major league fight, won that, then killed his foe in his second match, making his rep. He probably wasn’t at the Class 5 arenas, but may have been at Death Dance, Four Cross, or Laserclasm (from MW2: Mercenaries).
Instead of “Legend Killer,” he was probably going by “Kid Vicious” or some such.
Look no further than BattleTechnology #0203, p. 28. Noton arrived as a 14-year-old, apprenticed himself to a class 1 stablemaster, and was just that good. The infobox also mentions that he avoided becoming a "Mayfly", i.e. overextending himself in a higher class arena at a young age and having a 1-year-career. Instead, Noton carefully accumulated experience in the lower class arenas over many years and established himself as a household name.
Of course this is apocryphal now, but still...
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Date: December 17, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: In Solaris City, Walter sits for an interview the day after a battle in "The Big Tournament," set in The Maze South arena, along with James "Lightning Jack" Caine. Hostess Allison Tamretsu begins with Caine, noting his return to Solaris VII after a mercenary career with the Hell Raisers. She then turns to Walter (aka "Wallace Richards") and notes his rise from the circuit battles and his "Mystery Mercenary" marketing.
A flashback shows Walter's defeat in the previous match in the Maze, a labyrinth where viewers could pay to manipulate the shape of the arena and attacks from gun emplacements to give advantage to their favorites. Walter gets hammered by fans of "Lightning Jack" and goes down to defeat. In the post-match interview, Walter accepts his defeat with grace and charm, and Caine acknowledges that his victory was due to the fan support, rather than any lack of skill on Walter's part.
After the interview, Walter leaves in a limousine provided by the studio. Entering, he finds it occupied by a small Asian man - Wen Xu-Tan, the former Capellan Ambassador to Maldive. Wen explains that he fled to escape retribution after the failure of his gambit to secure Ivan Litzau and bring Maldive into the Capellan Confederation. While on the run, he saw holovids of Walter's matches on Solaris VII, and, after some digging, found pictures of Ivan and Sophia as well, and came to Solaris to use the knowledge of House Litzau's continued existence as leverage. He demands ongoing favors/money from Walter, to be determined later, or else he will have that information released to the authorities on Sian and Maldive.
Notes: It doesn't appear that the "Hell Raisers" are related to the "HeavyHell Raisers," which were formed after Operation GUERRERO in 3057.
The Big Tournament is a Solaris VII reality show tournament, featuring 64 contestants fighting single elimination battles in a tournament that spreads over six weeks, with four divisions - Solaris champions, mercenaries, soldiers, and open. The champions of each division face off in the semifinals, and the winner gets the last open slot in the Platinum Crown Tournament - a bigger contest that provides a pathway into the Solaris Championship circuit.
This sort of structure, implying that you only fight in the five major arenas and compete for the annual championship when you've proven yourself to be the best of the best in lesser circuits calls into question the ease by which Justin Xiang got into the championship circuit in 3027 and Jeremiah Rose got bookings in Steiner Stadium in 3056, not to mention Grady Kiefer in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries and Spectre in MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries. (Though, to be fair, Grady didn't fight in any of the major stadiums in 3049.)
The Maze strikes me as an interesting business model. Yes, it costs money for fans to manipulate the defenses and help their favorites. But, since gambling is allowed (and encouraged) on the games, how does it affect the spread when you can theoretically win more from gambling than you spend on helping your favorite. If you make a large enough bet, you can freely spend to curbstomp your guy's foe without him having to lift a finger, and still make a profit. Pay to win. Yet, the bookies must be aware of this, so do they even take bets on contests like this? What does the Gaming Commission think about it? Someone with enough resources can effectively determine the outcome, making their "bet" more or less a sure thing. (Aside from that, it sounds very "Hunger Games"-esque.)
I wonder if venues like "The Maze," "The Gallery," and "The Rabbit" (the figure eight track through a landfill) will ever become part of a Solaris VII module for the HBS game.
Ambassador Wen was probably right to flee, given the Maskirovka's willingness to expunge even loyal agents (as shown in Warrior: En Garde), though the "kill all who fail me" was far more of a state policy under Romano than Max, and was disavowed as a foolish waste of assets by Sun-Tzu.
Looking at the House Liao sourcebook, there's no mention of diplomatic relations other than that the Ministry of Trade and Exchange is responsible for maintaining mercantile relations with other Successor States, so perhaps the diplomatic corps is part of MTE, or a formal branch of the Maskirovka, or directly under the Chancellor's authority. Capellan diplomats study languages at the Capellan Institute of Linguistics on Geifer.
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Date: December 20, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: Walter and Sophia go out for dinner at a Czech restaurant named Praha, in Solaris City, to celebrate Sophia's success with the Vulture's Egg luxury hotel project, despite Walter having washed out of the tournament. Walter notes that he's effectively unemployed until the circuit revs up again in March 3002.
Sophia notes that there's little news about Maldive, despite the fortune she's spent on ComStar newsfeeds, but she says she hasn't given up on the idea of liberating her homeworld. She still feels responsibility for its citizens, based on her hereditary role in planetary leadership. She and Walter speculate that Ivan will marry and have children on Solaris VII, though it is an open question whether those children will have an interest in pursuing a campaign of liberation for a world they don't know. She asks what Walter's long-term plans are, and he tells her he still considers himself to be bound by his sworn duty to Ivan as his Companion.
Simon Traeger interrupts and informs Walter that his performance in The Big Tournament was good enough, despite his loss, that he's been booked in a "losers bracket" contest called the High Noon Tournament. Traeger projects that a good performance for Walter would allow him to headline in the Circuit next season, alongside Snorri and Aniki, with ancillary marketing rights.
Traeger leaves, and Walter explains to Sophia that he, Ivan, Aniki, and Snorri seized a majority interest in Windfall Warriors Unlimited, making Traeger their employee. He suspects that Traeger has some schemes going on the side, but isn't worried as long as Ivan has all his known funds locked down.
Later, at an exclusive social club, Traeger approaches former Liao Ambassador Wen Xu-Tian, and tells him he knows the Ambassador is shaking Walter down, and wants in on the scam. He offers to help both of them make a lot of money by rigging the upcoming fight. Xu-Tian responds that he looks forward to doing business together.
Notes: A lot of Stackpole's stories set on Solaris focus on the massive corruption in the games. If it's such an open secret, one wonders why the betting around the games hasn't long since completely collapsed. There's also the question of what happens when rival criminal syndicates pay off opposing fighters to take a dive. Do the tongs, mafia, and yakuza share notes ahead of the matches to avoid having both fighters trying to lose? Does the Gaming Commission aggressively whitewash the games' reputation offworld, so that the bets continue to roll in despite the outcome being fixed more often than not?
The difficulty of launching a generational campaign of liberation comes up. Looking at House Hargreaves, they certainly kept their passion for Chesterton alive through the centuries, but never had any forward movement towards its liberation. (Of course, the Hargreaves had a powerful patron in House Liao, and were able to rely on incomes from holdings in other parts of the Confederation and influence from being at the Court on Sian, neither of which apply to House Litzau.)
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Date: December 22, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: As the date of the Christmas Eve "High Noon Tournament" match approaches, Walter feels uneasy due to a combination of impatience and weariness. He realizes this applies to both the fighting on the Solaris circuit, the plans to liberate Maldive, and developing a future with Sophia.
Walter's musings, at "The Club at the Graveyard" are interrupted by the arrival of one of his competitors, Bloodstone. They talk shop, with Bloodstone complementing Snorri and Aniki's chances in the Platinum Crown warm-up matches, but disdaining the venue.
The Graveyard has been in service as a Solaris arena since the 2950s, starting as "The Grand," but changing to "The Graveyard" after three champions in a row died in fights with unknowns at the venue. The owners built memorials for them, then redecorated the elegant, modern styling to gothic Halloween-themed structures at 'Mech scale, allowing massive gravestones to be used as cover, and steel "spiderwebs" to tangle up unwary fighters.
They watch the action on the monitors - one of which shows Snorri and Aniki staging in a region called the Morgue, in 'Mechs painted a ghostly white, battling Moll Hamner and Hank Styles, piloting an UrbanMech and a Hermes, respectively. The match begins, and both teams race to the large open courtyard in the center, eschewing combat in the cramped confines of the peripheral tunnel networks. Making efficient use of the terrain, the twins quickly put down both opponents without breaking a sweat.
Wen Xu-Tian interrupts and asks to speak with Walter privately. After Bloodstone reluctantly leaves, the former Liao official gives Walter some very specific instructions for the upcoming fight.
Notes: I know that HBS dropped the Solaris VII module from their initial release of their BattleTech game, but it would be fun if it appears in the future as a DLC module, especially if it includes a wide variety of venues to fight in beyond just the five Class-Six arenas.
The fact that Snorri and Aniki have to work so hard to move up in the Solaris rankings to qualify for even a remote shot at the title calls into question how Justin Xiang-Allard managed to go straight into Championship matches when he arrived on Solaris VII in 3027. He had no rep, no rating. Perhaps Fuh Teng was championship ranked, and Justin entered the first match in his stead, then built off that victory (which, by beating another championship ranked fighter, gave him his own standing). Though why the Maskirovka would be willing to sacrifice championship-ranked fighters in fixed matches that leave one dead and the other injured...
Snorri and Aniki aren't bound for success as they climb the rankings. The 3001 champion (already crowned by this point) was Hans Schleinning, and Terri Bates is about to start an impressive run, taking the title from 3002 - 3005. Gray Noton, for all his notoriety, doesn't take his first title until 3016.
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Do u think these stories from Stackpole will be considered to be canon? This sounds like its a good story with Walter.
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So far as I can tell, the only non-canon elements are 1) a reference to Battle Armor experience circa 3000 and 2) references to Maldive and the Aurigan worlds - which may or may not be added to Catalyst canon in the future. (There's precedent - the system of Silver appeared on official maps after MechWarrior 3: Pirate's Moon came out.)
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Date: December 24, 3001
Location: Solaris VII
Title: Catastrophe Unlimited
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Catastrophe Unlimited)
Synopsis: Less than an hour before the High Noon battle begins, Agent Fujitaka, of the Solaris Gaming Commission, arrives in Walter's locker room and informs him that there is heavy betting against him in the upcoming fight. She says the betting is running heavily in favor of him being the first of the four combatants to be taken out, suggesting he may be planning to throw the fight. She asks if he is under duress.
Walter denies it, while reflecting that his instructions from Wen Xu-Tian were to lose, but didn't mention going out first. Knowing that Sophia and Ivan would be in mortal peril if their true identities were revealed, he refuses Fujitaka's offer of protection. She tells him that the only way to clear the cloud of suspicion over him would be to win.
Walter speculates that Wen leaked word that Walter would throw the fight and go out first, but would try to maximize his income by betting on Walter coming in second or third, winning bets against those betting on him being first out. He guesses that if he does lose first, Wen will be ruined and will reveal the Litzaus' identities in revenge. He decides to try to make Wen rich, then figure out how to deal with him after that.
The battle takes place in the Aftermath arena - built specially for holovid broadcast with no spectator seating. It resembles a ruined city, with broken water mains, blazing gas lines, piles of rubble, and other war zone elements. It reminds Walter of Rivergaard during the coup, after Angleton's Angels were destroyed. He faces Bloodstone, Camilla Heiniger, and Steve Quarry, all with former military experience as a mercenary, in the FWLM, and AFFS respectively. Random assignments give Walter a Valkyrie, and pit him against Quarry's Spider, Heiniger's Javelin, and Bloodstone's UrbanMech.
Bloodstone takes down the Spider with an autocannon burst, and Walter evades incoming fire while ignoring an attempt by Traeger to contact him. Bloodstone takes out the Javelin just as Heiniger is on the verge of finishing off Walter's heavily damaged Valkyrie, leaving just the two mercenaries. As the UrbanMech advances towards Walter, it is surprised by the recovered Spider, which takes out the autocannon. Walter shoots past the crippled UrbanMech and takes out the Spider for good. Bloodstone concedes the match, knowing he can't take down the nimble Valkyrie with his remaining armament - a Small Laser. Walter briefly rejoices, then realizes that with Wen Xu-Tian ruined, the Collective will know where Ivan and Sophia are hiding.
As he disembarks from his 'Mech, Walter is confronted by a furious Traeger, who tells him that he bet on Walter winning, but that his instructions on day one were to only take a dive when Traeger told him to, and to let him know if others approached him. He reveals that he got into Wen Xu-Tian's confidence, not to get revenge on Walter, but to protect him. He tells Walter that the former Liao ambassador is likely to soon be part of the Graveyard's decor. Traeger reassures Walter that no information will go out in the event of Xu-Tian's death, since he used his contacts with ComStar to get ahold of Wen's contingency files. He hands them over to Walter, noting that the arena victories have earned him far more than any of his shady side deals ever could have.
Camilla Heiniger, the Spider pilot, meets them at a corridor intersection, and Traeger leaves them to talk. She says she'll be back next year, after racking up some points in the BattlePark City leagues, and asks Walter why he went after her instead of Bloodstone. He answers that taking out d'Artagnan was easier than beating Porthos.
They part at the dressing rooms, and Walter finds Sophia and Ivan waiting in his. Ivan estimates that their good fortune will advance their ability to finance a mercenary army of liberation by five to ten years. Their celebration is interrupted by a ComStar Acolyte with a message for Sophia. They step outside for privacy, while Ivan shows Walter that his popularity profile rise matches that of superstar Gray Noton, implying that he'll be qualified for Solaris City matches full time by 3003.
Sophia returns to the room with dire news - the Collective on Maldive has captured their older sister, and are putting her on trial.
Notes: As is standard in Stackpole stories (neither a good or bad thing, but a recurring element of his work), the bad guy's schemes come crashing down around his ears as the good guys are revealed to have been twelve steps ahead of him - either due to advance planning, an unforeseen triple cross, or unexpected aid from a friendly third party. You'd think Traeger, having set things up to thwart Xu-Tian, would have warned Walter about it so he wouldn't be tempted to throw the match. (It's possible that Traeger's attempt to communicate with Walter during the match was for exactly that purpose, but it implies that Traeger didn't have all the ducks in a row until the match was already underway - calling into question what was going on during the evening of the 22nd and the 23rd.
Despite its reputation for neutrality and cloistered mysticism, ComStar (as presented by Stackpole) seems to be a fairly worldly and corruptible organization. If ComStar officials on Solaris VII and on Galatea (in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets") are amenable to taking bribes to screw with communications, that would seem to undercut that mystique.
Looking at the ComStar sourcebook, it notes that Acolyte recruitment had dropped to an all-time low by 3000, with most new recruits hailing from primitive, backwater worlds on the Periphery, where much of the First Circuit's attention was focused (setting up the Jolly Roger program in 3002). Primus Rusenstein was described as a weak leader who hoped to play the Great Houses against each other by manipulating communications.
Perhaps it isn't surprising that a ComStar increasingly populated by "hicks from the sticks" being indoctrinated in policy guidance that supports "screwing with communications for fun and profit" was susceptible to bribery. They probably figure that any consumer complaints about lost messages can be effectively answered with: "Blessed Blake alone comprehends the full mysteries of the holy HPG. Perhaps a prayer was misspoken. The Peace of Blake and a 10% discount on your next transmission be with you."
This installment ends on a cliffhanger, with events back home drawing the crew back to the situation on Maldive, which will presumably be wrapped up in the fourth and final novella. Based on what we know of Walter's future, he'll get out of Maldive with his Blackjack, but without Sophia, and end up driving a taxi on Galatea and giving advice to the Kell brothers by 3010. (He's missing an eye in Warrior: En Garde, when he's an AFFS sergeant for the Kittery Training Battalion, but it's unclear when that happens. His physical description in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" doesn't mention the missing eye, so that may have happened between 3010 and 3027.)
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Date: August 14, 3020
Location: New Hessen
Title: River Crossing
Author: John A. Thiesen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #2)
Synopsis: Twelve hours after arriving on the dustbowl planet of New Hessen, Lieutenant Sandusky Sorrell (recently transferred to the front lines from the New Avalon Institute of Science) reports for duty and is assigned by Lieutenant Mikhail Gorodny to the command lance of Galt's Grenadiers, of which Gorodny is the XO. He tells Sorrell to draw a ration card and prepare for night maneuvers prior to going into combat. Major Galt arrives, and informs the group that he expects combat operations the following morning. Sorrell is impressed by Galt's subsequent briefing, and resolves to follow him anywhere.
Sorrell is joined by MechWarrior Miguel Castillo, who is busy fixing the ventilation unit on his neurohelmet. While he works, Castillo briefs Sorrell on the Grenadiers' TO&E. They are joined, briefly, by Lt. Ludmilla Janonka, sole survivor of another company and temporarily assigned to Galt's unit. She treats Sorrell disdainfully, which Castillo explains is a result of him being assigned to the roster slot formerly occupied by her recently deceased lover, Hughes.
At the evening muster in the company bivouac, Sorrell meets the rest of the Grenadiers. He takes special notice of "Crazy Jack" Deever, who is either a braggart or the greatest MechWarrior who ever lived (to hear him talk), and Robyn Fielding, a petite red-head full of impulsive confidence. Sorrell powers up his Shadow Hawk, the Gopher, and joins the company in practicing attack formations in the dark until two hours before dawn, focusing in particular on setting up overlapping fields of fire.
Notes: Stardate is an interesting artifact of BattleTech history. FASA's core product lines in its early years were Star Trek and Dr. Who (followed by Renegade Legion - which was basically a bunch of Star Wars-esque material with the serial numbers filed off after they got beaten out by West End Games to get the Star Wars RPG license). BattleTech was launched as a "beer and pretzels" giant robot fighting game, and became an unexpected hit. FASA initially licensed Reluctant Publishing, Ltd. to publish supporting material for their games - primarily Star Trek and BattleTech - an arrangement that lasted until FASA switched over to Pacific Rim Publishing's "BattleTechnology" magazine.
Stardate Volume 3 #2 was billed on the cover as the "Official BattleTech Issue," and publisher R.A. Brazeau promised future issues would include more articles and features on BattleTech, including errata. Stardate's primary BattleTech author was John A. Theisen, one of the co-authors of the core faction sourcebook - House Kurita: The Draconis Combine. That being said, this story and the accompanying scenario are now considered apocryphal (meaning something like this may have happened in the BattleTech universe, but perhaps not exactly as depicted, and it loses out in any conflict with official material.)
Thiesen's description of New Hessen as a "dustbowl" doesn't match its Dark Age description as a lush world where chronic hay fever is a serious issue, but perhaps Sorrell's half day on the world has been in an arid region. Canon write-ups of New Hessen describe it as a tropical world with a thick atmosphere.
The unusual focus on night maneuvers might give this unit a special bonus in dark conditions (like the FM unit bonuses). However, one might assume they're just working on building unit experience with coordination using spotlights, and/or EM or Infrared sensors. The DarkScan unit described in Cranston Snord's Irregulars as enabling a 'Mech to fight at night without any penalties has been ruled as apocryphal.
Lt. Sorrell being a transfer from the New Avalon Institute of Science, with a 'Mech and the ability to pilot it, but without tactical experience, calls into question his training regimen. We only have data on the 1st NAIS Cadet Cadre from 3025 onwards. It's possible that, circa 3020 (when this story is set), the recently established (3016) NAIS hadn't organized the cadre yet, but just provided its students with simulator and field exercises. This would explain Sorrell's familiarity with his 'Mech without ever having been in the field. Assuming a four year course, Sorrell would have been part of the Institute's first graduating class.
It's not clear what unit Galt's Grenadiers is part of. It appears to be a battalion-sized force (appropriate for his rank of Major), with first company being "Galt's Company." One would assume that it's part of a regular AFFS regiment, since it would be odd for a NAIS graduate to be transferred to a mercenary unit.
Circa 3020, this would be during Hanse Davion's heavy push (spearheaded by mercenaries) against the Capellan Confederation, and before Michael Hasek-Davion's efforts to secretly negotiate a cease fire on the Capellan front. Looking at TRO:3025, the J-27 Ordnance Transport entry notes that Liao's 125th Deadmen kept the Liao forces in a defensible position during battles against Davion invaders on New Hessen in 3020, so this seems to be part of that campaign.
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Date: August 15, 3020
Location: New Hessen
Title: River Crossing
Author: John A. Thiesen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #2)
Synopsis: The night training exercises ends two hours before dawn, and the unit returns to the forward base for maintenance and combat readiness. Lt. Sorrell notices that Major Galt is absent, probably with one of his other companies. Everyone falls out for six hours of sleep, reporting for a tactical briefing an hour after they awaken.
Major Galt briefs the unit, noting that their objective is to cross a river, neutralize the defensive fortifications and support forces, scavenge supplies, and move on. The Liao fortifications are manned by four companies of foot infantry, manning nine bunkers equipped with artillery cannons and other heavy weapons. A lance of CCAF 'Mechs is rumored to be in the area.
Three hours later, Galt's Company moves towards the river as the day heats up. When they get to the river bank, within 200 meters of the nearest fortification, it opens up with an artillery cannon, hitting Castillo's Rifleman in the torso. The infantry opens up as well, but with less effect. Still dodging the incoming fire, Sorrell finds himself facing off against a Capellan Vindicator in his Shadow Hawk. Sorrell charges the CCAF 'Mech and shoves it, causing it to fall into the river and become stuck in the soft mud, while Sorrell peppers it with missiles and autocannon shells, thinking to himself that this is a real live-fire battle, not just a simulation.
The rest of Galt's Company systematically destroys the fortifications, taking out five of the nine in the first minute of combat, while the larger 'Mechs begin mopping up the scattered infantry. Sorrell notices that he accidentally turned his radio off, and hastily turns it back on, explaining it to Lt. Gorodny as a technical problem. Gorodny orders him to help clear out the remaining bunkers while the recon lance investigates reports of another enemy force to the northwest. Major Galt formally welcomes Sorrell to Galt's Company, making him feel at home.
Notes: Sorrell's reactions during the fight show that he's only had simulator experience and (perhaps) field exercises using powered-down weapons. This engagement is his first contact with an enemy who is trying to kill him - further evidence (albeit from a non-canon source) that the NAIS Cadet Cadre wasn't an active vehicle for giving cadets field experience from the get go.
The artillery cannons are described as being based on Long Tom artillery (nicknamed "Tom Thumbs"), but having been jury rigged for direct fire, giving them the range of an AC/2 but the hitting power of a Long Tom, albeit at the cost of the ability to do indirect fire, and with the chance of a catastrophic explosion when firing.
Having infantry man the forts is entirely consistent with CCAF strategy of the 3000s - having planetary militia primarily consist of infantry that mans fixed defenses at key strongpoints, intended to weaken and delay enemy forces long enough for mobile reserves to be brought in.
Per the internal chronology of the narrative, the night operations started after dark on the 14th and lasted until two hours before local dawn on the 15th. At that time, everyone got six hours of sleep, had a briefing an hour later, and then attacked three hours after that. The accompanying scenario places the battle at 1030. Doing the math...does that mean that local dawn is at 2:30 AM? That's the only way I see it working out, unless the narrator is using Terran Standard Time or some New Avalon equivalent that makes little to no sense when applied to field operations. (Given his lack of field experience, accidentally turning his radio off during combat, etc., he may just be green enough to track time by TST or NAST.)
The Capellans probably could have held the river crossing if they'd only invested in stronger armor plating on their bunkers. The Tom Thumbs sound powerful enough, but if a single Company was able to smoke five bunkers in less than 60 seconds, they weren't well protected. (Granted, the accompanying scenario notes that only two of the nine bunkers had Tom Thumbs, while the rest were just infantry bunkers.) If the bunkers are too weak to hold up against sustained fire, there's no way they'll be able to fulfill their mission - delaying the enemy. A 60 second delay isn't going to buy sufficient time for the cavalry to come riding over the hill.
Given all the character sketches presented in the story, it seemed clear that John Thiesen planned a series of stories and scenarios chronicling the exploits of Galt's Grenadiers in Stardate, and they do make a return appearance in Volume 3 #5.
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Date: August 15, 3020
Location: New Hessen
Title: River Crossing
Author: John A. Thiesen
Type: Scenario (Stardate Vol. 3 #2)
Synopsis: This scenario accompanies the "River Crossing" short story in the same issue, and takes place at 1030 hours, August 15, 3020 at Buck's Crossing on the New Lick River.
The Attacker is Galt's Company (Marauder, Warhammer, Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, Crusader, Archer, Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, Wasp, Stinger, Locust), which deploys on the south side of the river. They win if they destroy six or more Capellan bunkers and exit any two Recon Lance 'Mechs off the northern edge of the western map board within 15 game turns.
The Defender is elements of House Liao's 459th Infantry Regiment (1 Foot SRM Platoon, 2 Foot Laser Platoons, 2 Foot MG Platoons, 7 Foot Rifle Platoons) and the 29th Independent 'Mech Lance (2 Vindicators, 1 Wasp, 1 Stinger), set up on the north side of the river. They also have nine bunkers (Medium buildings with a CF of 40), two of which house Tom Thumb artillery pieces (direct fire cannons that have the range of an AC/2, do 20 damage, and explodes if a 2D6 roll - made prior to the To-Hit roll - is less than the number of times the cannon has fired in the scenario, doing 30 damage to the structure and killing the crew). They win if they can keep more than three bunkers intact until Turn 15 and prevent more than one AFFS Recon Lance member from exiting the Western map, and destroy at least three AFFS 'Mechs.
Any other result is a draw.
The map appears to be a custom job intended to be either drawn on the blank sides of regular BattleTech hexmaps, or photocopied from the article and enlarged. It features a river of uncertain depth three hexes wide, with Level 2 and Level 3 cliffs along most of its expanse, on both the north and south shores.
Notes: In the accompanying story, Galt's Company wiped out six bunkers in the first minute of combat, took down the Capellan 'Mechs, and scattered the infantry, achieving a victory.
The depth of the river isn't given - but the accompanying illustrations show 'Mechs at most knee deep, so I'm guessing the water is Depth 1. (I'm not sure why "Buck" would make a crossing here, other than that the river is shallow, since no improvements have been made to the grade of either the north or south slopes to make it more fordable.)
For the Capellans, your main goal is to keep the bunkers intact and kill at least three members of the Scout Lance. I would recommend placing your bunkers (crammed with infantry) behind the ridges on the western map - meaning that the Davion forces will have to be right on top of them to attack them. That also means that your infantry will be able to effectively fire back. Putting the bunkers along the river bank is aesthetically pleasing, but just makes them sitting ducks for 'Mechs with significantly longer ranges.
Now, if the height differentials on the river banks are actually 3+ hexes (3 Elevation, 1 Depth), they can't be traversed by 'Mechs using standard rules, which limit 'Mechs to 2 level changes per hex traversed. This means the Capellans really only have to worry about the jumpers - the two Shadow Hawks, the Griffin, the Phoenix Hawk, the Wasp, and the Stinger. Even better, the Recon Lance contains a Locust, which can't get off the northern edge of the western map (using standard rules - the Climbing rules would fix this). Using this rules interpretation, the Capellans have a pretty good chance if they hide behind the ridgeline on the western map and create a densely packed killing field to take on any Grenadier jumpers that intrude.
For the Grenadiers, your tactics depend greatly on the deployment of the Capellans. If they place the bunkers out in the open, it's a shooting gallery - plink the ducks from a safe range (prioritizing the Tom Thumb emplacements) and claim your kewpie doll, and send your Scout Lance jumpers through the shattered ruins.
If they hide the bunkers (as I recommended above), you'll need to send your jumpers into harm's way. Send the Shadow Hawks, Griffin, Phoenix Hawk, Wasp and Stinger across the river on the eastern map, out of the sights of the bunkers on the western maps (the Shadow Hawks will lag, so let them catch up). Spot for the Archer and Crusader's LRMs and try to get the Wasp and Stinger off the northern side of the western map, jumping and using terrain to avoid getting splattered by defensive fire. You can speed up the destruction of the bunkers by jumping your Medium 'Mechs on top of the bunkers, letting your weight collapse the 40 CF structures while you fire at others. Between the Griffin and the Shadow Hawks, you should be able to collapse three bunkers per turn, hitting your target of six before you take significant return fire. Only engage the CCAF 'Mechs once you've achieved your victory conditions. If any of your jumpers get heavily damaged, pull them back to safety under the protection of the guns of the Warhammer and Marauder.
If the Grenadiers get all six bunkers killed and get two Scout 'Mechs off the target edge, they should pull back and simply snipe at any CCAF 'Mechs that expose themselves until the timer runs out on Turn 15.
While, historically (per the short story), the AFFS force made short work of the defenders of Buck's Crossing, the CCAF would eventually repulse the AFFS invasion force, thanks to the efforts of units like the 125th Deadmen, keeping New Hessen in Liao hands until the 4th Succession War.
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Date: February 10, 3021
Location: New Hessen
Title: A Whole Lotta Flak
Author: John A. Theisen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #4)
Synopsis: Captain Matthias Livingstone and his driver, Corporal Kunstler survey a barren wasteland at the head of a column of six tracked transports carrying the recruits of B Company, 177th Infantry Regiment ("Livingstone's Vigilantes"). Livingstone authorizes a 30 minute break to stretch and eat rations.
As the column polices its garbage and prepares to move out, a lookout named Surgov warns of approaching aircraft. Livingstone's aide, Ramon Echiverra, tries to identify them from a hardcopy recognition manual, but Livingstone, looking through binoculars, is the first to identify them as Liao Transits.
He orders the infantry to abandon their trucks and disperse, taking cover in the sand. Sergeants receive orders to destroy the trucks with grenades, giving the Liao aerojocks the impression that their attack run has completely wiped out the column.
The Liao attack run destroys the trucks, and the Transits move on, seeking their next target. MacPurdell helps Captain Livingstone up and sees he is uninjured, but is concerned about his maniacal shouting and screaming.
Some time later, at the forward operating base where Galt's Company is stationed, Lt. Sandusky Sorrell and his friend, Miguel Castillo, are performing maintenance on their 'Mechs when Sorrell is summoned to the command hut by Lt. Gorodny, the company XO.
In the hut, Major Galt, Lt. Gorodny, Lt. Jacobs and an infantry officer are reviewing a map. Gorodny orders Sorrell to gather the rest of the available unit combat personnel except for Castillo.
Galt introduces the assembled troops to Captain Matthias Livingstone, who reports the aerospace attack on his infantry company in the wilds near Buxtern Ridge.
Galt notes that the planet has three primary continents - Wenda (controlled by House Liao), Kalinga (controlled by House Davion), and Sokowe (disputed for the last two years with a series of feints, skirmishes, and organized withdrawals). He points out that there has been an undeclared rule banning aircraft in the low-intensity fighting - a rule that House Liao now appears to be breaking, possibly indicating that the CCAF intends to escalate combat operations.
Galt proposes luring the Liao fighters into attacking a prepared position, ambushing them with concentrated anti-aircraft fire, and sending the message to CCAF command that introducing fighters into the fighting on Sokowe would not be cost effective.
Lt. Jacobs asks Livingstone why his troops didn't attempt to shoot the Transits down. The infantry commander answers that his unit was hunting suspected Liao infantry, and wasn't equipped with the man-portable short-range missile systems that would have been required.
The briefing is interrupted by the arrival of Castillo, wild eyed and enraged. He rushes to attack Livingstone, and has to be restrained by Walter Collins and Sorrell as he screams at Livingstone about getting his men killed with mindless heroics.
Castillo is sedated by MedTechs, and Sorrell asks Collins about the incident. He explains that Castillo's younger brother, Lucio, had failed to get into a MechWarrior academy and instead ended up serving in the infantry, under Livingstone. His unit took heavy casualties from air attack, and had been unable to return fire because Livingstone had banned them from using their supply of missiles after a near-fatal training accident. Lucio died in that attack, and Miguel blamed Livingstone. Collins opines that Livingstone is actually a good commander, but prefers tactics that are too conservative to be effective.
After the briefing concludes, Galt's Grenadiers begins a crash construction project that continues all afternoon and into the night.
Notes: The setting for the story is a backwater border world contested by the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation since at least 3019, with the AFFS in firm control of one of the world's three continents, the CCAF in firm control of another, and most of the fighting taking place on a contested third. It may be intended to be New Hessen, which was the setting for the first Galt's Grenadiers story, but that is not made explicit in the narrative. The opening scene in a sandy, barren desert wasteland matches the earlier description (in "River Crossing") of New Hessen as a dry world - though that description doesn't match later official write-ups.
The story is not dated, but Sorrell Sandusky's first scene is punctuated by a note that he joined Galt's Grenadiers almost six months earlier. Since the "River Crossing" scenario was dated August 15, 3020, that would place this story around early-to-mid-February, 3021, so I've arbitrarily put it at February 11. It's unclear what the time gap between the convoy's destruction and Livingstone's arrival at the Grenadiers' bivouac is, so I've arbitrarily placed it at being later that same day, though arguments could be made for it being up to a week earlier, depending on how much time it took for Livingstone to snap out of his screaming fit.
The infantry tracked transports seem to have been unarmed, or at least lacked any armament capable of serving an an AA capacity. They could be standard Tracked APCs or Sherpa Armored Trucks, since the machine guns on those would be suitable for the expected anti-infantry work, but ineffective against the Transits. Still, if two grenades suffice for each one, they could well be soft-sided tracked transport trucks, with no guns or armor plating to speak of.
Given what happened with Lucio, Livingstone's screaming fit would seem to be triggered by a serious case of "NOT AGAIN!!!" To Collins' point, there wasn't much Livingstone could have done in that instance that he didn't do. Once one side voluntarily gives up air cover, the other side enjoys air superiority for the rest of the campaign (until something changes that dynamic). Wolf's Dragoons demonstrated this when they tricked the Sword of Light into keeping their aerospace assets grounded in favor of an "honorable" fight on the ground, not knowing that the Dragoons were still using their assets for reconnaissance from orbit.
This article reveals Galt's Grenadiers to be a mercenary unit, and not part of any AFFS line force. That calls into question why one of the first graduates of the NAIS chose to join a mercenary force, particularly since it's noted that Sorrell was "transferred" from the Institute to the Grenadiers. I wonder if Sorrell is serving in the capacity of AFFS Mercenary liaison officer, replacing the dead Hughes, and serving as the eyes and ears of the AFFS while being embedded in the unit, just as Minobu Tetsuhara was in his early work with Wolf's Dragoons.
Their mercenary status makes sense, since the Federated Suns relied heavily on mercenaries to lead their offensive against the Capellan Confederation in the second decade of the 31st century.
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Date: February 11, 3021
Location: New Hessen
Title: A Whole Lotta Flak
Author: John A. Theisen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #4)
Synopsis: Dawn breaks over Buxtern Ridge, near the site of Livingstone's Vigilantes' annihilation, revealing six four story buildings overlooking the plain below, crafted to resemble water storage tanks.
Inside, the buildings are revealed to be plastic-and-metal husks, concealing six Grenadier 'Mechs (Marauder, Warhammer, Shadow Hawk, Crusader, Archer, and Griffin), laying in ambush for the Liao fighters, along with SRM-armed infantry. The Grenadiers and Vigilantes settle in for an ambush.
Notes: NAIS graduate Sorrell refers to the fake water storage shooting blinds as "Liquid Oxygen-Hydrogen (LOH)" tanks (Gee, why not call them "Dihydrogen Monoxide chemical storage pods," NAIS-nerd?), implying that they'll be taken for good strategic targets on the arid world of New Hessen. However, official writeups indicate that New Hessen has 60% surface water coverage and has a tropical climate, suggesting that water isn't that strategic of a resource in general, though it might be useful in this desert region of Sokowe.
It appears that the Grenadiers lack any engineering vehicles or WorkMechs, since they use their BattleMechs extensively in the preparation of the ambush infrastructure.
I wonder what the other two Grenadier companies are doing while Galt is on standby in a shed out in the desert?
In an odd move, Sorrell notes that Castillo has been excluded from the operation (presumably due to his antipathy towards Livingstone, and the very real possibility of an unfriendly "friendly fire" incident. Yet, he runs a Rifleman, so they're prepping their anti-aerospace ambush, and sidelining their sole dedicated, Garrett D2J T&T system-equipped, anti-aircraft platform.
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Date: February 22, 3021
Location: New Hessen
Title: A Whole Lotta Flak
Author: John A. Theisen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #4)
Synopsis: For ten days, the six MechWarriors on duty take skimmers and jeeps out to the ambush site from the Grenadier forward camp before dawn, spend the day in their cockpits waiting to ambush any attackers, then head back to the laager just before dusk, turning site security over to Recon Lance and the infantry for the night. By the afternoon of day eleven, tempers are fraying as the Grenadiers long for some action.
Lt. Sandusky Sorrell's readthrough of a romance novel titled Belladonna Heartache is interrupted by a report from infantry spotters that a column of vehicles is approaching from the valley below. Captain Livingstone reports to Major Galt that the Liao armor is an hour away, at current speed. Galt admonishes him to keep an eye out for aircraft, but Livingstone's radio soon falls silent, and he is unresponsive to hails.
Lt. Iain MacPurdell, Livingstone's XO, finally reports in that aircraft are inbound, and that Captain Livingstone has become paralyzed with fear, unable to do more than scream "Here they come again!" Galt orders MacPurdell to get Livingstone to an evacuation transport and to take command of the infantry company.
Four Transits come in low to get a close look at the buildings, turning the recon pass into a strafing run once the ruse becomes evident and their sensors detect the BattleMechs. The Liao attack heavily damages Jacobs' Crusader and wipes out most of the unit's jeeps and skimmers, and inflicts heavy casualties on the infantry (leaving only four survivors out of 26 in the unit), but three Transits are soon flaming craters on the valley floor, and the lone survivor turns and heads back for its base, as does the armor column.
Sorrell tells MacPurdell how sorry he is for the loss of his friends, and weathers the grief-stricken man's resentment of the MechWarriors, protected in their 'Mechs and not having suffered any losses.
Sorrell apologizes to Major Galt for his poor marksmanship against the Liao fighters, and pledges to conduct extra simulator training. Galt acknowledges his poor performance, but commends Sorrell on his display of compassion for MacPurdell.
Notes: The story ends with two MechWarrior 1st Edition record sheets for Major John Galt and Cadet Sandusky Sorrell, circa February 3021. Per these, Galt was born in 2976 on Taggart's World in the Periphery, and is an Elite Marauder pilot. Sorrell was born in 3001 on Kathil, and is a Green Shadow Hawk pilot. He's noted as a cadet, rather than a Lieutenant, as stated in the story. I suppose it's possible that, prior to the creation of the NAIS Cadet Cadre, cadets who'd finished two years at the Institute were sent out for a field practicum - in this case with a mercenary unit under contract to House Davion.
Galt's Grenadiers' insignia is pictured - a stylized "GG" atop a spherical black cartoon-style bomb with a lit fuse.
Given the long-range firepower on the ambush forces, I'm surprised they let the Transits come in for a strafing run before opening up and starting to pot them out of the skies with PPCs and LRMs. They're lucky the Capellan column didn't try to attack at night, since the Scout Lance and infantry alone would have been no match for the Transits, and the Liao fighters would have been long gone by the time the ambushers made the 30 km trip from the laager.
The reliance on MechWarrior 1st Edition as source material is evident in the references to skimmers and jeeps, both of which are featured as combat support units in MW1E, but neither of which made it into any of the TROs.
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I wish some items didn't need a TRO entry. The jeeps and skimmers were basic vehicle, a 1 line of information can cover. MW1 had its flaws for sure, but it opened roleplaying possiblities without too many headaches. MW2ed was one i was using for bit with my GM, but the college crew my gm was running (i was a guest) nearly broke the system to level of hilarity, but my GM managed.
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Given the long-range firepower on the ambush forces, I'm surprised they let the Transits come in for a strafing run before opening up and starting to pot them out of the skies with PPCs and LRMs.
Actually, this follows the aerospace rules for around when the story was written. Back in the day, Aerospace used it's own map where each hex was one Battletech mapboard. A ground unit could only shoot at an ASF if it was on the unit's board (Both units were in the same aerospace hex). ASF's could only ground attack units in the same aerospace hex. Basically, the only time that the ASF's could be shot at is when they were in the middle of their strafing runs. (Not to mention strafing with energy weapons was downright nasty-towards the targets).
ASF's were also a lot more durable. Surprised they managed to down 3 out of the 4 of them.
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I wish some items didn't need a TRO entry. The jeeps and skimmers were basic vehicle, a 1 line of information can cover. MW1 had its flaws for sure, but it opened roleplaying possiblities without too many headaches. MW2ed was one i was using for bit with my GM, but the college crew my gm was running (i was a guest) nearly broke the system to level of hilarity, but my GM managed.
The MW1E vehicles (except for the robots) were given official record sheets in FASA's Record Sheets Volume 5 - Vehicles, but didn't graduate to the later, much thicker Record Sheet books, which drew exclusively from the Technical Readouts, and didn't include any of the orphan designs that only appeared in MW1E or the various scenario packs (such as the Devastator tank, or the GDL hover tanks).
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Date: August 8, 3021
Location: Teng
Title: Terminus
Author: John A. Theisen
Type: Short Story (Stardate Vol. 3 #5)
Synopsis: Following several boring months of garrison and relief duty on New Hessen, Galt's Grenadiers has been transferred to a raiding campaign against the Capellan world of Teng.
Lt. Sandusky Sorrell is overseeing repairs being performed by Tech Sergeant Adkins on his Shadow Hawk, "Gopher," when Tony Altwasser (an orphan picked up in a ruined city and adopted into the unit during a 3019 campaign) pulls up on a skimmer and delivers a letter from home to Sorrell. Too busy to read it immediately, Sorrell continues to help with repairs being done on Lt. Mikhail Gorodny's 'Mech by his Tech, Abboid Tuathal and his fellow MechWarrior, Miguel Castillo.
Later in the afternoon, the Scout Lance Locust returns in a great hurry, and its pilot, George Bester, races into the command hut. In passing, Bester tells Sorrell that the Liao forces garrisoning the city of Cassor Nivel have pulled back. Once Bester passes the message to Major Galt, the unit is swiftly summoned for a briefing.
Galt reports that the battalion's other two companies have forced the local Liao garrison - a company of the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers - to withdraw within the last 32 minutes - opening up a short window of vulnerability for an objective raid.
Galt orders the company to come in from the south and perform a grid search, using their 'Mech hands to seize any loot, with the handless 'Mechs providing fire support. He orders Collins to have his Griffin drop its handheld PPC to maximize loot hauling potential. The company's lone Sabre aerospace fighter will fly overwatch, and report any movements by the Tau Ceti Rangers back towards the suburb. If and when the Rangers return, the Grenadiers are ordered to fall back without engaging.
After completing the pre-mission check on Gopher, Sorrell remembers his letter from home. He notes that he's been sure to write them twice a month since being deployed, but hasn't heard from his family much. He is surprised by the letter's contents, in which his sister Xenia chastises him for not having written at all, mentions that his father is ill, and that their cousin Col has taken over the family business. Sorrell resolves to write back immediately after the mission.
The Grenadiers move out towards Cassor Nevil, an underdeveloped village without roads or hoverpaths - just scattered buildings surrounding a cluster of medium and heavy buildings, the tallest only three stories high. Sorrell notes that the inhabitants had all been evacuated when the CCAF turned it into a military command post and repair center.
Sorrell and the other Grenadiers begin smashing buildings open and sweeping the interiors with spotlights. His efforts to use the Shadow Hawk's hands to open individual drawers are interrupted by a loud explosion, and Lt. Fleming reports that his Phoenix Hawk stepped on a land mine.
Reports continue to come in of both loot caches and booby traps. As the damage to Fleming's 'Mech mounts, Galt orders him to withdraw. Disappointed, David Fleming swears under his breath and mutters the word "Terminus."
Lt. Ludmilla Janonka incinerates a House Liao banner flying from the roof of one of the buildings at the village center. Galt places her on report.
Sorrell has no luck in his searches, triggering an alarm and causing a house to collapse on top of him. After fifteen minutes of scavenging, scouts report company strength BattleMech forces inbound, and the Grenadiers retreat.
As the sun sets, the Grenadiers catalogue their loot, the best of which is Robyn Fielding's complete fusion engine assembly. Sorrell asks what "Terminus" means, and Janonka answers "the end of the line."
After the debriefing back at camp, Sorrell is in the midst of making a journal entry when Miguel Castillo enters with a captured CCAF Colonel's dress uniform and tells him to put it on, saying he's got a date with their lancemate, Robyn Fielding, who will be wearing some captured civilian clothing.
Notes: Given the demonstrated susceptibility of ComStar personnel to bribery, one might suspect, from the contents of the letter, that Cousin Col has been arranging for Sorrell's correspondence home and any outgoing letters from his parents to be intercepted, though it's not clear how Xenia's missive got through, in that case. I'm not sure why Sorrell thinks writing back will help matters, if none of his previous letters made it through.
It's possible that this letter arrived through the AFFS military courier service, rather than ComStar, since Sorrell peels his family seal off both sides of the letter before reading it, and finds a "flat holo" inside the envelope. That would then imply that someone inside the AFFS is intercepting Sorrell's communiques for fun and profit. Sorrell makes a vague reference to his family supposedly being descended from royalty, but that only Cousin Col takes that seriously. (Dunh dunh DUNH!!)
Sorrell tells Castillo that he's a graduate of the NAIS and, as such, he's sworn to serve House Davion forces or allied mercenaries for no less than ten years. This, at least, explains why Sorrell is with the Grenadiers instead of with an AFFS line unit. It would seem that the NAIS regards mercenaries as good training cadres for recent graduates, and will probably recall Sorrell for service as a House Regular once he gets some seasoning in the field (assuming he doesn't die, first).
There's ample precedent for mercenaries providing cadre duty - such as the opening missions in MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, where the player gets trained by Hansen's Roughriders.
The story ends with more record sheets for unit members, including Miguel Castillo, an Elite Rifleman pilot born on Chesterton in 2986; and Mikhail Gorodny, an Elite Warhammer pilot born on Sian in 2975.
Robyn Fielding was highlighted as a romantic interest in "River Crossing," and this concluding scene shows that the relationship has, slightly, progressed in the year Sorrell has been with the unit.
It appeared that author John Theisen was planning future installments for Sorrell and Galt's Grenadiers (Will Cousin Col seize the family farm and marry off the fair Xenia to Snidely Hasek-Whiplash?!! Will the Grenadiers be crushed like a grape when McCarron's Armored Cavalry blows through town on their Long March?!!), but "Terminus" is appropriately the "end of the road" for this series, with Stardate abruptly changing its name to Stardrive two issues later, and then ceasing publication altogether (having lost its imprimatur as the "official BattleTech magazine" to BattleTechnology (and possibly getting harassed by Paramount over use of the term Stardate.)
Of note, however, Sandusky Sorrell does appear once more in "Assault on Jump Station Kusari" in the pages of BattleTechnology. I wonder if Theisen gave this story the title "Terminus" and included the in-story dialogue explaining the term before or after learning that Stardate was ending. If the answer is "before," I want him picking my Lotto numbers.
It's interesting to see mention of the Griffin's PPC being removable - a legacy design element from Dougram Fang of the Sun that didn't get official BattleTech rules until years later. They seem to have forgotten, though, that the Phoenix Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger also have handheld guns.
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Date: August 8, 3021
Location: Teng
Title: Terminus
Author: John A. Theisen
Type: Scenario (Stardate Vol. 3 #5)
Synopsis: Set on one CityTech map, this scenario pits Galt's Grenadiers against the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers in the village of Cassor Nevil.
The Defenders consist of the 4th TCR's G Company (Third Battalion), consisting of twelve Vindicators that arrive if a roll of 5D6 is less than the number of the current Search turn.
The Defender places 85 hexes of Medium Buildings and 15 hexes of Heavy Buildings on pavement hexes, and secretly places Treasures and Traps in various locations on the board.
The Defender scores one point for every point of Internal Structure damage inflicted on the Grenadiers.
The Attacker consists of eleven Grenadiers (all but the Recon Lance Locust) - Marauder, Warhammer, Rifleman, Shadow Hawk, Crusader, Archer, Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger. They score points for each Treasure found and safely transported off the south side of the map. The scenario ends when all Attackers have left the map.
Treasures include:
Case of Medical Supplies (1 point)
Field Surgery Kit (2 points)
Armored bodysuit and short bow (1 point)
Ceremonial swords and daggers (1 point)
1d6 x 1,000 yuan (2 points)
A heavily used Medium Laser (3 points)
A well-maintained Medium Laser (4 points)
A Flamer (2 points)
Small arms and ammunition (1 point)
A broken LRM-5 (1 point)
One ton of SRM ammo (5 points)
One defective jump jet (1 point)
Two heat sinks (1 point)
1 ton of armor plate (1 point)
1 unarmed jeep with no rear armor (3 points)
1 worn Class 30 fusion engine (1 point)
1 worn Class 60 fusion engine (3 points)
Full blueprints for 215 and 315 fusion engines (11 points)
'Mechs can carry up to three items per hand, except for the jeep, which completely fills two hands. 'Mechs can take a search turn to exit off the south side of the map and dump off its treasure into safety, then re-enter the following turn.
Traps include:
A vibrabomb rigged for proximity detonation (so...a regular mine, then)
An AC/10 shell rigged for proximity detonation
Three Inferno missiles with proximity sensors
A false floor that will drop a 'Mech into the building's basement.
Two alarm klaxons (that have no effect in the game)
A booby-trapped Hermes II arm, set to detonate its flamer fuel on contact.
A severed Wolverine arm rigged to detonate its autocannon magazine on contact.
Each turn of searching lasts one minute, during which each Grenadier may search any of the 100 building hexes, with a base 50% chance of success (if there's anything there) that increases to 93+% after 4 minutes, with bonuses for MechWarrior experience and penalties for lacking hands. Once Liao units are on the board, turns revert to 10 seconds in length.
Solitaire play rules are included, with building hexes, Traps, and Treasures randomly assigned.
Notes: Going strictly by the scenario rules, it would appear that the best option for the Liao player would be to put all the traps in one location, so that there'd be an excellent chance of vaporizing any 'Mech that entered.
Remember, you get points only for internal structure damage, and nothing for just hitting armor. The Grenadiers will be able to shrug off scattered hits from widely distributed traps with nothing more than a ruined paintjob, but if you designate one building as having a false floor and then declare that all the traps point into that basement, the unlucky searcher there is likely to be completely destroyed, granting you a whole 'Mech's worth of internal structure damage points.
For extra fun, you could put the most valuable treasure(s) in the kill zone, too. Odds are, once they lose an entire 'Mech there, they won't send another in for follow-up. It's kind of a jerk move, but hey, you're House Liao. It's how you roll.
To maximize the chances of someone wandering into Ground Zero, stack your buildings high (the story says nothing's over three stories, but there aren't any restrictions in the scenario rules) and have the death zone on the ground floor of one close to the southern edge the Grenadiers enter.
The 5D6 mechanism means that the Rangers won't enter until at least Search Turn 6, and only have a 50% chance of arriving before turn 18. If the Grenadiers put all 11 on the job of searching, and give them each two turns to search (raising the success probability to 75%, pre-modifier), they can cover all 100 hexes by that time, so your best hope is to set up one or two death zones with multiple traps, and hope to score big IS damage points that way, since the Grenadiers are probably going to find most of the treasures.
For the Grenadiers, the Warhammer, Rifleman, and Marauder are fairly useless, with a -30% penalty due to no hands, meaning that a three minute search will only have a 57% chance of success). Assigning them to do four-minute searches, while the other eight do two-minute searches, should allow you to cover 85 of the 100 hexes before the Rangers have a 50% chance of showing up.
Start with the buildings on the north side, since that's the side the Rangers will enter on and work your way south systematically. That will place you close to your exit-edge on the south when the Rangers to arrive, and allow you to withdraw without having to come under heavy PPC fire.
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Nasty trap...i forgot how different rpg could be in older editions of Battletech. In way i think they were cooler.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 3 #4)
Synopsis: The manual opens with a letter to new cadets from Acting Dean of Admissions, Colonel Vernon Stivers. Stivers informs the cadets they are among the best in the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth, in terms of core skills, but warns them that NAIS will not be easy, and says that the attached manual provides an overview of the NAIS curriculum - Battlefield Technology, BattleMechs, tactics, unit compositions, and historical battles.
A second letter is from Major Vance Lyte, Curriculum Director. He orders the cadets to forget everything they have ever learned, because it's all garbage. He promises that cadets open to new ways of doing things will be able to learn from the best MechWarriors and Technicians in the business, and get to fight in the NAIS Training Cadre.
The next section is written by Thelos Auburn, and provides a historical introduction. He notes that the Succession Wars have been raging for nearly two centuries, resulting in a reversion to feudalism and technological development less than that of the 22nd century. He characterizes the NAIS as a bold venture to regain LosTech, with unknown possibilities for the future. He says that the NAIS students are an integral part of the project - and will participate in both the technological gains and learning to put them into effect on the battlefield, with the goal of bringing the Succession Wars to an end.
Auburn (presumably) continues with a section on the BattleMech. He notes that the technology of these machines, which have dominated the battlefields for over 200 years, is largely not understood at this time.
He notes that while each 'Mech has a different layout and configuration, the controls are fairly standard across the class.
He describes the structure as ultra-light foamed aluminum covered with a silicon carbide monofilament enclosed in a titanium steel shell casing, which serves as the connection point for internal systems. Reactor housings and scanning systems are reinforced for greater protection.
Joint actuators produced since 2900 have been of inferior quality to Star League versions, consisting of circuit packages mounted directly on relays attached to the skeleton. Power transfer systems directly link to the myomers that control movement. Star League quality equipment can be repaired, but new manufacturing can only produce serviceable but inferior mechanisms. These sensitive joints are vulnerable to damage, leaving 'Mechs unable to move.
Myomer bundles are polyacetence fibers that contract when exposed to electricity, mimicking human tendons and ligaments. Dr. Randolph Stafford, in the NAIS Medical Division, has managed to purify and refine myomer production, but current production capabilities are far inferior to Star League standards.
Myomer bundles are of three types - heavy duty for large movements (like legs), coordinational bundles attached to actuators and the gyro and sensors, and hand-strung, delicate groupings for small movements - such as the fingers. NAIS is studying 'Mechs recovered from the Galtor Bunker to duplicate Star League era stringing techniques.
Modern ceramic heat sinks are, likewise, described as inferior to the Star League versions. Auburn notes that the Star League versions, based on Shaldon Industries' model (lost when the factories were bombed in the First Succession War), were nearly three times more efficient. BattleMechs vent heat through shielded conductive myomer tubing, called ventilation fibers, that conduct the heat from the reactor and weapons to the heat sinks. Auburn notes that the sinks themselves are well armored and rarely damaged, but become ineffective when the ventilation fiber network becomes cracked.
The Gyro is the core to a 'Mech's ability to balance in a combat system, and its destruction will permanently cripple a 'Mech. Current technology can only repair and partially duplicate legacy systems, but can't produce new ones.
The engine generates power for all major functions, generating heat in the process. Damage to the engine's heat/radiation spatial shielding releases heat into the internal systems, eventually leading to overheating and shutting down. For this reason, the engines are heavily armored, making deliberate destruction of a 'Mech engine uncommon. The engines leak some radiation, and hundreds of MechWarriors die every year from long-term exposure. Star League cockpits were protected with a liquid foam radiation sealant buffer that automatically pumped onto the engine shielding in case of leaks.
Fusion reactors are equipped with heat sensors that trigger automatic shutdowns when they reach temperatures that might lead to an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. Manual overrides are possible, up to a certain point.
Modern armor, according to Auburn, is still up to Star League standards - consisting of a layered series of boron microfilaments with diamond interlacing, capable of resisting both energy and physical weapons. Post-Star League armor plating is less pure, and provides less protection. Replacement armor plating is often shoddily attached, leaving gaps and creating weak points.
Auburn notes that most MechWarriors fail to use their scanners to spot such weaknesses, or for other vital uses. Standard 'Mech sensor packages are capable of 360 visual views, infrared, ultra-violet, audio scanning, transmission monitoring and tracking, motion sensing, determining light intensity, analyzing moisture concentration, and sensing atmospheric disruptions. Sensors can be used to detect enemy force locations and identify overheating units, but light intensity scans can detect weakened armor plates, moisture sensors can identify tactically important bodies of water for better heat sink venting, atmospheric scanners can backtrack sources of indirect fire, and ultraviolet scanners can jam enemy communications (microwave based ones, at least).
Notes: I'm including this series in the Chronological Fiction because, while apocryphal, it's written in a magazine that, at the time, was the main FASA licensee for BattleTech material; is written in an "in universe" style and perspective; and is the work of core BattleTech author Blaine Pardoe.
Major Lyte's admonition to "forget everything you know" seems to come out of frustration developed from working with cadets who'd been brought up in "the old school" of apprenticeship by their household's Master at Arms. Rather than leveraging such built-in skill for what it can be worth, the NAIS appears to be taking the approach that they want more standardization in their graduates, to enable the troops to work together more harmoniously, and to stamp out bad habits. Of interest, long before Ciro Ramirez was berating Kylie at the Nagelring for cross-training in 'Mechs and Aerospace fighters, Sandusky Sorrell's MechWarrior stat sheet shows that this particular NAIS graduate has both "Piloting - Mech" and "Piloting - Fighter" skills under his belt, bearing out the idea that the NAIS plays by its own set of rules.
Thelos Auburn's estimate that the Succession Wars have lasted nearly two centuries would place the date of this manual around 2990, about 25 years before the NAIS even existed. (Later articles mention the Hatchetman, placing it solidly in 3025, with a mention of the Galtor Campaign being recent putting this in September 3025, or thereabouts). Chalk it up to a fluid timeline in the early days...or Thelos' legendary absentmindedness. ("Wait, what year is it, again?")
While it is true that many Outback worlds regressed technologically to 19th century levels, Auburn's rhetoric is a bit thick for students sitting in the NAIS campus on one of the wealthiest and most advanced of the Federated Suns' Golden Five worlds.
Much of the lecture on BattleMech systems repeats the refrain - we can't make these anymore, and what we can make isn't as good as what the Star League had.
For Myomers, "polyacetence" seems to be a typo for polyacetylene, which would make sense, since polyacetylene was demonstrated to be an electro-active polymer, which both conducts electricty and contracts when it runs through it, in 1977. There weren't really any superior myomer technologies in the Star League era - Triple Strength Myomer was a late Succession Wars innovation with no Star League equivalent.
Hrmmm. Shaldon Industries Triple Heat Sinks? Or does "nearly triple" translate to 2x in practical game terms? In any event, it foreshadows the Freezers and Double Heat sinks from future rule sets. The description of the heat sinks being connected to heat generating items by myomer fibers is interesting, and justifies the designers' ability to locate guns and heat sinks anywhere they want in a design, and still have a heat sink in the left foot vent heat generated by a laser mounted in the right arm.
The assertion that no new Gyros can be manufactured just doesn't hold water, unless you go back to the original BattleDroids setting, which posited that no new 'Mechs could be built at all. This would suggest that Gyro production was the key bottleneck in the BattleDroids setting, and that 'Mech production could have been restarted even there if they'd been able to reverse-engineer Gyros. (Periphery Tech: "So, we installed the rotisserie spike by the engine where it'll get some good heat for browning, put a lamb-meat cylinder on, and have the pita bread ready to go...I still don't understand why it won't stay balanced. According to this "Joy of Cooking" technical manual I found, we've got everything we need to make a gyro...")
The description of hundreds of MechWarriors dying from radiation leaks every year matches numerous early sourcebook accounts of MechWarriors suffering radiation damage (such as that suffered by Aldo Lestrade, rendering him sterile). I can see the reservoirs of anti-radiation liquid foam being drained or cracked open through the course of the Succession Wars...but did nobody think of simply lining the cockpit floor with lead?
Auburn's suggestion that modern armor was up to Star League standards, but often hung poorly, suggests that Blaine's FASA source material at the time hadn't yet envisioned Ferro Fibrous armor. The inferior armor sounds a lot like BAR armor (ranging from BAR 8 & BAR 9 heavy armor with impurities, all the way down to BAR 2 sheet metal stripped from a delivery truck, still labeled "Processed Chicken")
The section on sensors is interesting, and suggests that BattleMech sensor packages are more versatile than simple iron-sights vislight cameras. Of course, this description leaves out some of the more exotic sensor modes from the Tactical Handbook - like EM sensors and seismic sensors.
All in all, the NAIS Handbook is a far more detailed look at the BattleMech systems than was available in the sourcebooks of the time, in a manner that tries to give physics-based explanations for game-mechanic-based design elements. This is part one of four in the series.
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I think the armor thing is a reference to 1st edition Mechwarrior. A bad roll on armour repair permanmently reduced the armor of the section by 1d6.
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I wonder if the Tom Thumb was the original inspiration for the later Artillery Cannons, and the reason artillery cannons had such an early canon introduction. 3011 for the first functional lyran prototypes is plenty of time for the Capellans to try their own version in 3020.
Also, Tom Thumb is a great name.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 3 #5)
Synopsis: The overview of BattleMech systems continues.
Jump Jets are described as jet propulsion systems housed in their own armor with all fuel systems and feed lines contained within units connected to the 'Mech exterior, as jump jet systems integrated into the 'Mech structure pose the risk of spilling combustible liquid fuel into the interior, exploding and causing crippling damage.
'Mech hulls are dotted with access hatches that provide maintenance crews with systems access, and allow the loading of ammunition. The hatches are made of armor plate and are secured by computer codes to limit the potential for sabotage. Codes are entered by inserting a small disk into the lock mechanism. Hatches that pop open during combat represent priority targets for enemy attacks.
Ammunition loading systems in the BattleMech route reloads through the body, though the further it has to travel, the greater the chance of a jam. Star League-era systems used pneumatic gas to move the rounds through flexible tubes. Succession Wars era 'Mechs use gears and chains to physically pull mobile feed racks within the 'Mech along pulleys and guides. These are easier to build and repair, but increase the likelihood of a jam. Pneumatic systems are still possible to make, but are not considered cost-effective.
BattleMech cockpits are cramped and uncomfortable, but still serve as the working and living space of the MechWarrior. Life support equipment, mostly positioned in the rear of the cockpit, protects the MechWarrior from heat, gas, and radiation during combat. Cockpit systems pump fresh coolant through the MechWarrior's vest. Ejection systems vary - most eject the seat forwards and upwards, others drop the seat out the bottom, and others fire out the rear or one of the sides of the head. It is always a manual, pilot-initiated procedure.
The reason for the cramped conditions is that Succession Wars-era equipment tends to be far bulkier than the Star League equivalents. A diagram shows a Star League-era Archer cockpit reconstructed from original design blueprints unearthed on Galtor. Standard cockpit accessories in the diagram include: water rations (8 liters); several kilos of pre-packaged rations; fire extinguisher; emergency kit (medkit, radio beacon, clothing, fire kit, emergency rations, hunting knife, "survival staff," a "fibra/plastic" slug thrower + 5 clips of ammo, and room for local currency or gold); emergency coolant flooding system, in case of extreme overheating; IFF Transponder controls; cockpit ventilation controls (the AC system); scanner viewscreen; scanner controls; communications speaker; BattleComputer relays (Star League only); weapons status monitor; manual gyro adjustment controls; opponent status monitor (modern units are far bulkier); Targeting System; heat indicators; manual heat sink throttles; incoming fire indicators (there's a red thingy moving towards the green thingy...I think we're the green thingy); emergency ejection controls; BattleComputer readout; foot pedal controls (for walking and running); fire control stick; balance and limb movement stick; exterior light controls (spotlights, floodlights, whitelight, and IR illuminators); communications systems; coolant lines for the vest; cockpit life support controls; flares (for illumination, signalling, or distress); the control couch itself; and, mounted on the aft bulkhead, the life-support connection main panels and manual overrides, weapon subsystem readouts, and a locker for personal gear, tools and spare parts.
During the Star League era, 'Mechs weren't encoded for security, but once they became irreplaceable relics, elaborate security systems were installed. Codes are a series of movements of the machine entered through the neurohelmet, performed in a particular sequence. Failure shuts down the fusion reactor and sounds an alert. Procedures vary - some involving hand actuators, simple motions, head turns, etc. House Davion Regulars use just hand and arm motions.
MechWarriors can either begin a standard start-up, or a combat emergency start-up. The standard procedure gives the MechWarrior three minutes to close the cockpit, turn on the environmental systems, put on their neurohelmet, secure coolant lines, and deactivate the security system. Then it takes 20 seconds to turn on the fusion pre-heat routine, another five to activate the power plant, fifteen seconds to activate the heat sinks, 20 seconds to turn on the BattleComputer and run diagnostics, fifteen seconds to turn on communications and spin up the gyro, twenty seconds to bring weapons online, 25 seconds to test sensors and scanners, 30 seconds to do a final systems checklist and engage the gyro, with movement initiated at the five minute, thirty second mark.
The combat emergency startup process gives MechWarriors 12 seconds to put on their helmet and deactivate the security system, 10 seconds to pre-heat the fusion plant, spin up the gyro, and attach coolant lines, 8 seconds to turn on the powerplant, activate the BattleComputer, and fasten the seatbelt, 15 seconds to pre-heat the weapons, activate the heat sinks, and orient the gyroscope, 15 seconds to activate scanners and do a 360 degree sweep, 20 seconds to activate life support and communications, and 40 seconds to engage the gyroscope, with movement commencing at the two minute mark.
Maintenance is described as half of a MechWarrior's job, due to the loss of trained personnel in the Succession Wars. The NAIS manual emphasizes a rigid schedule of preventative maintenance. The recommended schedule is: BattleComputer diagnostic (every 10 days); Gyro stabilization tested (every 10 days); targeting system check (every 20 days); neurohelment and cockpit control test (every 20 days); coolant replacement and life-support inspection (every 20 days); actuator inspection (every 20 days - with a light coating of Dolanex applied before resealing); heat sink inspection (every 40 days); ammunition feed system inspection (every 40 days); jump jet inspection (every 40 days); myomer bundle retensioning (every 150 days); armor inspected for weakness, damage, or fatigue (every 150 days); actuator overhaul (every 150 days).
For battlefield maintenance, on the other hand, Dr. Henry Walten III of the Battlefield Technicians Department ranks systems according to their importance to the 'Mech's functionality: neurohelmet and cockpit controls, including the BattleComputer; then powerplant and gyros; then actuators and jump jets, then weapons and fire control, then heat sinks, then armor and myomer, then communications systems. The ranking is intended to inform Technician efforts to perform triage on repairs - whether to send a 'Mech to a rear-area repair depot, scavenge it for parts, or use parts scavenged from other 'Mechs to return it to battle.
Notes: The description of Jump Jets as having self-contained liquid fuel reservoirs is a radical departure from the mainline canon description of them being hooked to the fusion engine for power, with thrust being provided by venting superheated plasma.
The concept of access hatches offers a logic-based explanation for the game results when rolling a 2 for hit location and getting a critical hit result on a section that hasn't been breached. A lucky snake eyes shot sprung a hatch and allowed the damage to penetrate to the interior without having to chew through the rest of the armor plating.
The rear-oriented ejection seat appears, in canon, only on the Crab as far as I know. The downward facing ejection seat could only work on a quad, like the Scorpion, or something with a torso-mounted cockpit where it's mounted to the front of the fusion reactor), since otherwise it'd drop the MechWarrior right into the fusion engine chamber. Side-ejection seats would seem to pose a strong risk of a snapped neck.
It makes sense to have rations in the cockpit, for long-term deployments in the field. The emergency kit, however, seems poorly placed in the Archer diagram. Though it notes it has security straps in case of ejection, that would require the MechWarrior to have the clarity of thought during the catastrophic failure of their ride to grab the kit and strap it on, then eject. In the fiction, the kit is far more logically placed in a compartment that is part of the command couch, which leaves the cockpit with the pilot. Not sure what a "survival staff" is, nor what a "fibra/plastic" slug thrower might be, other than that it might be a pistol made of plastic, so it won't show up on a magscan.
The emergency coolant flooding system presages the introduction of the emergency coolant flush unit, for quick one-shot cooldowns. Heat sink throttles suggest that pilots can adjust venting - an important consideration when Triple Strength Myomers are involved (though I'm not sure of the practical utility in the Star League era, other than to prioritize heat routing to heat sinks immersed in water).
The foot pedal controls, which note that they strap onto the MechWarrior's feet for secure and smooth operation, imply that the leg controls are much like those in Pacific Rim, where the pilot's actual leg movements control the legs, rather than simply opening up the throttle and letting the computer handle the leg movements.
The exterior lighting controls suggest that most 'Mechs have spotlights, not just those like the Warhammer, Vulcan, and Guillotine, which sport spotlights as highly visible structural elements.
The communication systems entry again implies that 'Mechs have the capability to jam enemy voice and data transmission and reception, as well as quick identification of battle languages and codes. Battle languages were a core element of Frank Herbert's Dune, but have never (to my knowledge) been referenced in BattleTech fiction. Communications security is generally arranged by using laser links between units within sight of each other.
The standard start-up sequence works out to 33 turns of game time. If you try to do that under fire, you'll be long dead before you start moving. The emergency start up process takes only 12 turns. Not great if you're trying to power up a stolen 'Mech in an enemy hangar (as Grayson did in "Decision at Thunder Rift"), but doable if there's nobody hammering autocannon rounds into your torso while you're doing it. Best for when enemy troops are dropping from orbit right on top of you.
The security system description adheres to that described in "The Sword and the Dagger," where knowledge of the proper start-up procedure for the Prince's BattleMaster was the key evidence that exposed the impostor. However, Stackpole's novels relied instead on voiceprint recognition, with specific code phrases. Considering the two methods, the voiceprint seems substantially more secure, since the movements of the arms and hands would be visible to external observers - and depending on what type of cockpit you have, your head movements would also be visible. Turning your head an exact number of degrees would also seem to be difficult to replicate, especially under stressful conditions. The Stackpole systems seem to have become the default for the canon fiction.
Battlefield triage is also discussed in TRO:3025, though there it's noted that the guiding principle is "reverse triage," where quick repairs that get 'Mechs back into battle are prioritized, while those with heavier damage that will take longer to fix are put at the back of the priority list, due to limited repair resources. This section does note that Dr. Walten's prioritization tables haven't been implemented as standard operating procedure in the AFFS. Looking at the repair time estimates in the current ruleset, we see:
1: Targeting & Tracking Systems (150 minutes) + Life Support (120 minutes)
2: Fusion Engine (300 minutes) and Gyros (240 minutes)
3: Actuators (120 minutes) and Jump Jets (120 minutes)
4: Weapons (100 - 250 minutes) and Ammunition (15 minutes to reload, 100 minutes to fix critical hits)
5: Heat Sinks (120 minutes)
6: Armor (30 minutes) and Myomer (N/A)
7: Communications (N/A)
Under the principles of reverse triage, the order would be:
1: Ammo reload
2: Armor
3: Weapons (lightly damaged) and ammunition feeds
4: Actuators, Jump Jets, Life Support, Heat Sinks
5: Weapons (moderately damaged)
6: Targeting and Tracking Systems
7: Weapons (heavily damaged)
8: Gyros
9: Weapons (totaled)
10: Fusion Engines
So, the NAIS does things its own way, but there seems to be a strong possibility that AFFS repair bays would be jammed up with 'Mechs getting engine overhauls while 'Mechs that just need fresh armor plate sit around and wait. If the Dragoons hadn't taken on the DCMS all by themselves and if the CCAF hadn't been compromised by Davion moles, using the NAIS triage system could have ruined AFFS efficiency ratings during the 4th Succession War.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 3 #6)
Synopsis: Having completed the overview of BattleMech systems, the NAIS Manual shifts focus to tactics.
The author (presumably Thelos Auburn) notes that BattleMech tactics have been developed over the course of five hundred years, and that the Succession Wars have improved knowledge of deployment and maneuver, with tactics determined by the loss of technical sophistication.
The initial section opens with an assessment of tactics for a lone BattleMech - a unit capable of exceptional mobility, yet with the ability to project accurate and lethal fire. Depending on the weapons package, BattleMechs have up to three fire zones. The outermost sphere is long range - typically LRMs. Combat at this range is based more on defense than attack, with units packing LRMs concentrating fire on approaching units from the earliest opportunity. The mid-range is the area which can be reached by all weaponry the 'Mech mounts - where skill may still count more than weight of fire. The inner ring is the distance at which physical attacks are possible.
The article lists all the 'Mechs from TRO:3025 and identifies at what range (in meters) they are effective in the 1st sphere (maximum range), 2nd sphere (optimum range), and 3rd sphere (close range). Other considerations include speed, hands/arms, armor weight, and ammunition dependence.
The author notes that BattleMech sensors can keep track of ammunition expenditure by an enemy target, albeit not as reliably as similar systems used during the Star League. They suggest that pilots can hold their fire and pretend to be low on ammunition, luring enemies into killing range.
On the subject of heat management, the author quotes NAIS Professor Taublus as equating heat control to a "grand thermal ballet." He describes a NAIS-developed algorithm that gives a real-time projection of heat build-up and venting, but notes that the computer required to run it is half the size of a 'Mech.
For close combat, Auburn recommends three general precepts: kick the legs of enemy 'Mechs to disable their speed, though four-legged 'Mechs can kick backwards; Arms can be used to push and punch, but care should be taken not to damage the arm in the process; hands allow the use of trees, steel beams, and 'Mech arms and legs, but only the strongest 'Mechs will find the use of a club worth the extra stress on arm and hand actuators. "Death From Above" attacks can be devastating, but should be rare, due to the potential for self-inflicted harm.
'Mechs can function in a variety of environments - stormy seacoasts hip-deep in surf, frozen arctic mountains and crevasse-riddled glaciers, alkali deserts thick with abrasive dust, vacuum-scoured moons, and steaming fetid jungles that can corrode armor in a week. Terrain awareness is necessary to dominate any battlefield. Elevated positions are the most defensible, and can serve as strongpoints or fortresses. Valleys can be conduits for unobserved movement. Ridges can shield 'Mechs behind them. Water increases cooling efficiency, but may separate a 'Mech from support troops. Forests offer superior concealment, even from aerospace attack, and can serve as a vector for strategic use of fire. Cities are killing grounds for unwary 'Mechs, offering ample concealment for ambush by assault troops, and should be assaulted with overwhelming force, if at all.
Weather also plays a key role - hot planets (jungle or desert) slow the pace of combat. Arctic climates allow greater weapon efficiency, but uncertain footing, while restricting the ability to deploy support forces. Precipitation degrades sensors and restricts vision, as well as slowing movement and causing loss of command control. Weather can both inhibit attacks and aid counterattacks by permitting staging of ground troops without the risk of aerospace attack. Flash floods, lightning storms, and tornadoes can all shatter even mighty BattleMechs.
Notes: This section aims to fill in many elements that were missing from the core game in the early years. Weather effects were added piecemeal over time (with a lot of them introduced in the Fall of Terra scenario pack). The calculation of effective ranges and combat capabilities is a crude strength measurement tool that previews the later Combat Value and Battle Value (1.0 and 2.0) systems.
Professor Taublus' 10-ton heat curve calculator seems like a bit of a stretch, since thermal measurements of the various systems shouldn't be hard to calculate, and measured against heat sink output. Real-time projections of heat build-up and venting are both a key element of the standard 'Mech record sheet, and of the heads up display in the various MechWarrior sims.
The admonition against physical attacks being risky echoes the note in TRO:3025 that jump kicks can cause shearing stresses on leg struts. There's no game rules that reflect the purported wear and tear on arms and hands from punching and using clubs (one passage cautions that cracking a foe's head open may risk crippling the arm performing the roundhouse punch), though self-inflicted damage is a core part of charges and death-from-above attacks.
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I had no idea these detailed "Training Manual" articles existed! Thanks for finding and reporting on them. The maintenance article is especially interesting.
Considering the two methods, the voiceprint seems substantially more secure, since the movements of the arms and hands would be visible to external observers
Hm. Does the article opine on whether or not cockpit windows exist, and are transparent in both directions?
Thelos Auburn's estimate that the Succession Wars have lasted nearly two centuries would place the date of this manual around 2990, about 25 years before the NAIS even existed. <snip> Chalk it up to a fluid timeline in the early days
A few entries in TR:3025 seem to use that same timeline (like the BattleMaster, which claims to have been built for the Star League in 2830). It'd be interesting to compare linguistic markers in the StarDate article and the TR:3025 entries to see if Blaine Lee Pardoe wrote both.
It's interesting to see mention of the Griffin's PPC being removable - a legacy design element from Dougram Fang of the Sun that didn't get official BattleTech rules until years later. They seem to have forgotten, though, that the Phoenix Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger also have handheld guns.
Hm. BattleDroids had a rule about damaged hands being unable to fire handheld weapons or pick things up, but nothing about an occupied hand otherwise being unusable. Perhaps they assumed such weapons could be holstered.
Also, Tom Thumb is a great name.
Seconded.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardrive Vol. 1 #1)
Synopsis: This final section of the MechWarrior Training Manual introduces field maneuvers in three categories - historical maneuvers, modern tactics, and specialized situations. In this review, we'll look at the historical tactics.
Concentration is one of the most common small-unit tactics - applying all available firepower against the most threatening enemy target. Taking out the heaviest enemy threat is also likely to eliminate enemy command staff, disrupting their coordination. It can be thwarted by feinting or attacking from in other quarters, forcing the enemy to switch targets and break up its unity. Bounding overwatch can obscure which 'Mech is the greatest threat. Concentration is an effective opening tactic, as the loss of a major asset to combined fire can be a devastating blow to unit morale. House Liao troops, Ngyuen's Freebooters, effectively used concentration to repel the 14th Davion Guards' attack on the city of Shallow Heights in 2899, on St. Andrews.
Volley Fire focuses on 'Mechs in line, column, or echelon formation firing one type of weapon in unison, then moving together, hitting high-priority targets while advancing. In practice, one lance fires while another advances, forcing defenders to switch fire from one to the other, while keeping up steady fire without overheating the attacking force. NAIS feels volley fire is obsolete, however, due to the reduced rate of fire it imposes. House Liao's 17th Chesterton Reserves forced Marik forces to withdraw from Sappho using volley fire in the defense of Trevor Hill.
The Rush is defined as having heavy 'Mechs lay down covering fire at medium-to-short range, while Light jump-capable 'Mechs storm the enemy position for point-blank fire or physical attacks. Once the enemy is thus engaged, the heavies provides close fire support or executes a rear-area attack. It can be countered by having flankers disrupt attacker troop concentrations, or falling back to more defensible positions, but it has the advantage of nullifying long-range weapons. House Kurita tried it on Cylene in 2977, attempting a "super rush" against the 4th Crucis Lancers near the city of Lox, but was stymied when the Lancers took up positions in the river and used their superior cooling to crush the attack with high rates of fire. Successful Rushes have been recorded on Calantha and Gan Singh (on the Marik/Liao border) and on Baxter (on the Lyran/Kurita border).
The Piledriver is a term for a columnar advance into and through the enemy line of battle, usually in company strength. It is best used when the enemy has limited mobility and short sight-lines. A successful Piledriver advance can open a hole in the enemy line and reach sensitive rear areas. On the downside, the lead 'Mechs in the column can be shattered by defensive fire, and assembling a full company for such an attack can leave other sections of the battlefront vulnerable to a counterattack. Fluid defensive lines and flank attacks on the column can also stop a Piledriver manevuer in its tracks. Piledrivers into cities are only effective when supported by conventional forces. The Capellan March Militia punched through St. Ives Armored Cavalry lines around the city of Novii on the world of Chaste in 3002, but the pursuit through the surrounding farmland, also using Piledriver formations, led to CMM forces being surrounded and chopped to pieces by the mobile defenders.
A Flank Sweep positions troops with long range weapons to cover the movement of close assault troops as they charge a heavily defended position, ideally forcing the defenders to split their attacks, or to retreat. A failed assault can withdraw under the cover of the long range supporting fire. A successful one will result in the assault troops consolidating the ground taken, while the support forces move up. This works well in urban terrain or against slower defenders, but is risky in the face of a mobile defense, as a counterattack could cut off and destroy the close assault force. Cartford's Crushers, Kurita mercenaries, used the tactic on Wheel in 2850, defeating the 14th Lyran Guards in fighting across the eastern continent.
The Fade is a tactical retreat in the face of superior numbers - walking backwards while continuing to face the enemy, firing as you go. Lances must stay together during this maneuver, lest they risk becoming isolated and destroyed in detail. 'Mechs with long range weapons are particularly valuable in covering such a retreat. The tactic requires the unit to have somewhere to which they can withdraw, must have sufficient ammunition to maintain fire while they withdraw, and must have sufficient accuracy to make their shots count. The 20th Davion Cavalry (now disbanded) successfully Faded in the face of a flank attack by the 10th Kurita Guards in the Battle of Randal's Canyon on Holt in 2975. They wore down the Kurita UrbanMechs, then counterattacked and destroyed the Kurita unit.
The Square is a defensive maneuver where a company forms a three sided formation that covers the approaches while guarding their comrades' backs and maintains command control. The formation sacrifices mobility and makes it an easy target for artillery or airstrikes, and does not prevent a jumping 'Mech from overtopping the "wall" and having a plethora of rear armor shots. It is often a "last ditch" defensive measure used to prevent a complete rout. Cartha's Panthers formed a square in the Sli river valley on Ermista to defend against House Kurita troops. Though they were destroyed, they inflicted four-to-one losses against superior forces, possibly weakening the Kurita assault force enough to enable House Steiner to maintain control of the northern continent.
A Free For All is a chaotic melee wherein the entire force is directed to engage the enemy by any means possible. This can work if the attackers outnumber the enemy and when they can move to close range, and when the goal is to dislodge defenders from advantageous terrain, break up enemy formations, or pin them to allow other troops to move past. Defending forces should avoid this tactic, since the chaos facilitates efforts by the attacker to penetrate to the rear. It is difficult to end the chaotic fighting unless troops involved are aware of an observable objective, and have been trained to fall back into formation once that objective is achieved. A Square may be useful when restoring order to the unit. House Kurita is known for this tactic, such as when the 13th Pesht Regulars attacked the 3rd Deneb Light Cavalry in the city of Marshalton on Er Rai in 2944. Three days of chaotic city fighting caused significant casualties on both sides, but did force the DLC to retreat from the city after trying, but failing, to find and target the coordination center for the Kurita battle (there wasn't one).
Notes:
Concentration: I've always found concentration to be the most effective tactic in BattleTech - anyone reading my Scenario reviews knows I generally advocate for its heavy use, if applicable to the scenario objectives. In the Crescent Hawks' Revenge game, concentration is the optimal deployment for pretty much every battle - forming a 3x4 block and positioning it where it can wallop enemies at short range as they come around a corner.
The "early days" writing and lack of official status shows in the historical example, using both a non-existent planet and non-existent units.
There's a New St. Andrews out beyond the Free Worlds League, but not on the Davion/Liao border (it's likely a typo for St. Andre), and the Davion Brigade of Guards only goes up to the 5th, not the 14th.)
Volley Fire: I can see volley fire being effective when you've got a bunch of Stalkers, for example. The 3025-era designs have atrocious heat management, so you'd want to advance them while firing LRMs, then switch to their laser arsenals once the range closed. Alpha-striking is likely to end up with an involuntary shut down, if not an ammunition explosion. That being said, there's no reason for 'Mechs to have to volley fire in that fashion unless they're really, really awful on heat management (like the Rifleman, for example, or the Supernova). In the above example, both lances of Stalkers could advance firing Long Range weapons, then switching to short range as they closed. The only time volley fire would make sense would be for one Stalker Lance to Alpha Strike and develop dangerous heat spikes while the other Stalker lance advances without firing (cooling down), then switching.
No date is given for the Liao victory over Marik on Sappho, but canon accounts have Liao briefly recapturing Sappho from House Marik in 2805, only to lose it again to a Marik counteroffensive in 2806.
The Rush: To my mind, sending Lights in to disrupt enemy formations isn't a sustainable tactic. The volume of fire coming from the defensive line is likely to kill or cripple most of the attackers as they approach, and any that manage to close to physical attack range will be torn apart by the heavier defenders (My Wasp executes a 4 point kick! Banzai! <k'tink>)
Covering fire isn't really a thing in BattleTech, unless you have sufficient firepower concentrated that makes doing anything but chewing turf behind a ridge suicidal, in which case you have enough firepower to advance en masse, without having to send in suicide scouts.
A better option might be to send in fast Heavies and mobile Mediums (plus a few odd ducks like the Charger), which will really get the defenders' attention, while your jumping Lights go over the defensive line and either hit them from behind, or go deeper to tear up their rear area support units.
Gan Singh and Baxter check out, but there's no close match for Calantha. (Well, except for Marantha, but that's a Canopian world, not one on the Marik/Liao border). Interesting that the article doesn't reference the attempts to prove the utility of "Horde" tactics - sending massed waves of Light 'Mechs forward to overwhelm defenders - by DCMS strategist Mercer Ravannion from 2019 to 2023, all iterations of which ended in abject failure (as noted - the Lights were shattered by defending fire, and had too little firepower or mass to occupy the defensive line for a sufficient amount of time.)
The Piledriver is a decent method of advance, but you have to slow down if you want to be successful, since your troops at the head of the line should be heavily armored (and therefore pretty slow). The speed isn't that much of an issue, since it allows you time to fire back at the enemy while, presumably, they're pouring fire into your oncoming Atlas, and your company can inflict significant damage on the enemy line in that interval. It does, however, allow mobile enemy reserves to be brought up to contain your thrust.
There's no world with a name even close to Chaste (Shasta, maybe - though it's in the middle of the FWL, not in the St. Ives Commonality). I wonder what maps Blaine Pardoe was working from that showed worlds like Gan Singh, Baxter, and Sappho, but had few enough other worlds that he felt the need to add new worlds.
Likewise, Holt is on the map, but in the middle of Marik space, and not likely to be fought over by two non-canon Kurita and Davion commands. (Though the Davion unit might be an ancestor of the Federated Suns Armored Cavalry, which debuted in 3013.)
The Fade can be a very useful tactic if you can both outrange and outrun your foe. Best used against slowpokes like the Annihilator and UrbanMech, it can also serve against the 3/5 class of Assault, as long as you can walk backwards at least 4, ideally 5. At that range, a Griffin has similar firepower to an Atlas, and can keep the PPC bolts coming longer than the Atlas' LRM racks will hold out.
The Fade is roughly equivalent to the tactics mandated when a Scenario involves Forced Withdrawal conditions - troops being withdrawn can still shoot while walking backwards until they rout a second time, at which time they have to turn and flee for the home edge. One early-days oddity is Blaine's mention that 'Mechs can either walk backwards or walk forwards, but with their torsos completely reversed. I guess the plastic models could do that, but...
The Square: One problem with the Square is that it doesn't protect anyone's back armor at all, unless you're using the optional rule that lets adjacent troops shield their ally's 'Mech with their own. All you have to do is rush one facing of the Square and then shoot the opposite facing's units in the back. Keep some troops facing that side, so they can't simply turn. Yes, you'll take return fire, but all your units will be pointing front armor at the enemy.
No world named Ermista appears on any map. Er Rai is presumably an "early days" mistyping of Errai. There probably was a 13th Pesht Regulars, but the 11th Pesht wasn't commissioned until 3040, so having a 13th in 2944 seems anachronistic. The 3rd Deneb Light Cavalry is a canon unit, but appears to have been disbanded prior to 3025 - possibly following their defeat on Errai.
Free For All: The "Kurita Rush" seems unusual for the Combine's regimented style of warfare, where the buso-sensei strive to distinguish themselves with ritualized one-on-one duels, if the enemy consents (as seen in Wolves on the Border). Wild, chaotic attacks seem more like a Rasalhagian berserker charge (like the Tyr regiment's preferred mode of operation, all brandishing melee weapons).
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Hm. Does the article opine on whether or not cockpit windows exist, and are transparent in both directions?
It doesn't go into details. Various models have been described in the fiction - either having a dummy "viewport" on the outside that's actually armor plate, while the pilot uses viewscreens; using a cockpit viewport constructed of transparent bulletproof plastic; or using a cockpit viewport constructed of bulletproof ferroglass.
Pilot motions could be done in complete privacy in the first case, not in the second two.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardrive Vol. 1 #1)
Synopsis: In this section, we'll look at NAIS' Modern Tactics.
The Sweat Box is a defensive maneuver where 'Mechs take cover and maintains irregular fire at the enemy, making sure to stay cool and conserve ammunition, while forcing the enemy to move and fire constantly, reducing their effectiveness. This only works if the defenders can find adequate cover to make up for the loss of mobility. It can also be used offensively if the enemy can be pinned into a restricted area. House Liao's 200th Mobile Defense Group's defense of the Pendrake Mines on Luytun was overwhelmed by "The Hussars" use of the Sweat Box to disrupt the defensive lines and then launch an frontal assault.
Selective Retreat has a unit give way before an enemy advance, with the heaviest 'Mechs at the center, while the lighter forces move to the flanks. The OpFor is allowed to enter the killzone, at which point the heavies stop retreating and the lights sweep in on the flanks. This can be dangerous if the enemy is advancing in a line, as the "horns" of the envelopment can themselves end up being flanked. It is best employed during night combat or when conditions are right for ambush. Enemy recon elements will also need to be neutralized. In 2966, the 12th Avalon Hussars used this tactic against the 1st Capellan Commandos in Jonathan's Sund Highlands, drawing the CCAF forces away from their landing zone and crushing them in an ambush, forcing the CCAF to disband the Commandos.
Close and Engage, or 'thrash and bash,' calls for a force to engage in no-quarter physical combat. Historian Thelos Auburn notes that commanders who order it win respect for determination and guts...often posthumously. While sometimes ordered in desperation after ammo runs out, success requires having highly skilled MechWarriors, equal or greater mass compared to the enemy forces, low probability of enemy reinforcement, and light enough pre-existing damage that one good hit won't put down a friendly unit. NAIS studies indicate that this tactic generally inflicts 75% casualties before the losing side can withdraw. If ordered in desperation, the attacking side can be the one on the losing side of that equation. While this tactic was once commonplace, the shortage of 'Mechs has limited its use. Of note, during the 2950-2999 battles for Rochelle, rain and rugged terrain limited ranged combat between the LCAF and FWLM, forcing both to resort to close-range combat with frequent physical attacks. Attrition was terrible.
Selective Withdrawal: The Lyran Long Wall would be an effective counter to a selective withdrawal. It's unlikely that the 12th Avalon Hussars were terribly active on Jonathan in 2966, since current canon has them being disbanded during the Second Succession War.
Bounding Overwatch: Thelos Auburn notes that this tactic is one of the most universally effective, both on offense and defense. While half of a unit holds position and fires, the other half moves - advancing when on the attack, retreating when on defense. Once the movers reach pre-designated positions, they stop and open fire, while the other group begins to move. Davion mercenaries called Zabadendi's Rangers used it on Weisau, when the unit flushed a lone Kurita 'Mech from the city of Wajona. Using Bounding Overwatch to pursue, the lead elements ran into an ambush by the 4th An Ting Legion, but were able to withdraw intact thanks to covering fire from the other half of the unit.
Pairing is a variant of Bounding Overwatch developed by First Prince Hanse Davion. Two 'Mechs, one heavy, one light, are permanently assigned together and intensively train to work together. The 'Mechs are chosen for their overlapping combat abilities - one with long range ammo-based guns, the other with energy weapons, or one with heavy armor while the other has speed and jump jets. In theory, the team will be able to react to battlefield conditions with a wide variety of capabilities. In practice, however, critics note that the any situation where the configuration of one unit is well suited may seriously degrade the efficacy of the partner, cutting their effective firepower in half. Nonetheless, Hanse has ordered more research into his tactic in the interest of advancing "scientific" warfare. He first implemented it during the 3020 battle for Royal, when the Avalon Hussars drove back the Dieron Regulars from the Hunchback Mountains. While it achieved its strategic goals, the tactic was noted for having driven up the loss-rate for lighter 'Mechs. It also restricted reconnaissance, as the heavier partner couldn't keep up with the lighter one.
Notes:
Sweat Box: Given that Liao was the OpFor, the Hussars could have been either the Ceti Hussars on the Davion side, or the Oriente Hussars on the Marik side. It's not clear what world Luytun is meant to be. I find it unlikely there was a Liao-centric fight on Luyten (the closest match), since that's a secret ComStar outpost world.
An unspoken corollary to the "Sweat Box" is that the stationary force should be at medium to long range, so that the foe has a much harder time hitting them behind their cover, enabling them to maintain a steady stream of harassing fire without getting picked out and picked off by massed defensive fire (which, in this example, seems like they expect the OpFor to have no sensor locks and to be firing blindly into the underbrush). Sweat Box tactics get much deadlier once Stealth Armor comes into play.
Close and Engage: The FWL took Rochelle from the Lyrans in 2418 and never lost control until 3075, when it was absorbed into the Blake Protectorate. You'd think the Lyrans would have thrived in such an environment, since their scout lances are stereotypically led by Zeuses. The sheer weight of metal should have allowed them to regularly overwhelm Marik Orions and Awesomes with Atlases and Banshees.
This would have been an excellent section to talk up the Hatchetman, a cutting edge design with heavy NAIS involvement in its creation that greatly improves its Close and Engage efficacy through the addition of a reusable armored hatchet (compared to a tree trunk, which breaks after one use).
Bounding Overwatch: From commentary in the Historical Tactics section, it's clear that Thelos Auburn endorses Bounding Overwatch as one of the best tactics ever. This is especially true when you have low-skill pilots with short-range, inaccurate equipment in the 3025 era (when some scenarios show cadets hitting the field with Gunnery scores of 6-8). LosTech recovery and the introduction of ClanTech removes a lot of Bounding Overwatch's advantages, with Targeting Computers, Pulse Lasers, and Artemis guidance systems making it more likely that MechWarriors will be able to hit their targets at long range while on the move, removing the necessity of having half your forces surrender mobility to gain accuracy.
Pairing: Putting two dissimilar units together has significant challenges. Yes, they may cover each other's deficiencies, but they also restrict use of each other's strengths, as noted in the article. A better use of pairing would be units with different, but complimentary pairing of weaponry. The Trebuchet and Centurion are noted for working well together. The Trebuchet can lay down heavy long range firepower, which the Centurion can support with its own smaller LRM rack. At closer ranges, the Centurion takes the lead with its AC/10 and lasers, while the Trebuchet backs it up with its own laser battery.
While advancing technology limits the utility of Bounding Overwatch, it enhances the power of Pairing - with TAG-Arrow IV combos and C3 network links facilitating a good one-two punch.
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Date: September 5, 3025
Location: New Avalon
Title: New Avalon Institute of Science - MechWarrior Training Manual
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Sourcebook (Stardrive Vol. 1 #1)
Synopsis: This entry covers the NAIS Manual's section on specialized tactics.
The Supernova is a Marik tactic developed to defend against a 2825 Liao Guards invasion of Les Halles, a world where cities are widely scattered and the terrain is difficult and generally worthless. The unit exchanges fire once with an enemy, then scatters in all directions. Those pursued skirmish with the enemy, while the rest circle around and hit the foe from behind. If there was no pursuit, the unit reassembles at a pre-selected rally point. It works well for guerrillas, allowing them to isolate, surround, and incapacitate enemies, but only if the MechWarriors involved are well trained (Veteran or Elite), and have a thorough knowledge of local terrain.
Overload is a tactic aimed at blinding the enemy's sensors. Launching large numbers of LRMs, SRMs, autocannon shells, artillery shells, pre-set charges, metallic smoke, and fire simulators, a force can produce a "sensory hash" that overloads the enemy's BattleComputers. Once this is achieved, faster jump-capable 'Mechs can advance and flush the enemy from cover, flank strongpoints, and penetrate into the rear area. The "sensory hash" also affects the attacker, so they will need to fully work out their plans in advance. The process also consumes a large amount of expendables. House Marik favors this tactic, and the Regulan Hussars used it on Phecda in 2988 to drive the 123rd Skye Rangers out of their strongholds in the Causin Mountains, burning out their BattleComputers at the battle for Mount Tear. On the downside, the resources required to fill the skies with shells required a supply train thousands of kilometers long, which proved vulnerable to Lyran airstrikes, rolling back the Marik advance.
The Trojan Horse requires captured transponders, enemy recognition codes, the cover of darkness, and/or disrupted enemy lines to allow raiders to launch a deep penetration raid to gather intelligence and/or launch a surprise attack against the rear area. Though potentially effective, getting a raiding party through enemy lines is chancy - best attempted when the enemy has a large operational area with some fronts only lightly held. Auburn notes that the tactic is technically illegal, a violation of the Ares Conventions, which forbids posing as an enemy's units for any purpose. A successful Trojan Horse gambit often will result in defeat for the defending side, as when the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers slipped through Liao lines on Wei in 2990 and destroyed the Liao artillery, opening the CCAF strongpoint up to a successful frontal assault.
Luring and Trapping is an intelligence-centered maneuver that leaks false information to an enemy that lures a significant portion of its forces to a pre-prepared location, where it can be ambushed by a superior force. The opportunity for victory is promised, then snatched away. Even if the enemy survives the encounter, they will hesitate to take advantage of real weaknesses they see in future engagements, fearing it is bait for another trap. Preparation is key, so that the "too good to pass up" opportunity isn't recognized as an obvious trap. In 2876 on New Kyoto, the 19th Lyran Guard's 10th Brigade (?) used reports of ammunition shortages to lure the 3rd Defenders of Andurien into an assault on the Lyran landing zone, where they were enveloped and lost a company before surrendering. On Kearny's Plains of Grif in 2985, the Draconis March Militia attacked a lightly guarded mass-train, but were surprised by two lances of Rasalhague Regulars' Rainbow Brigade hiding inside the freight cars.
Notes:
Supernova: While the Liao Guards did battle House Marik forces in this region during the First Succession War, they were the defenders, not the aggressors, and the FWL did not take control of Les Halles until the Second Succession War. The Liao Guards wouldn't have been active on Les Halles in 2825 (right in the middle of the interbellum pause between 1st and 2nd Succession Wars), since the FWLM nuked them into oblivion during the First.
Not mentioned is that Les Halles (per the decades later WizKids entry) is a frozen world with underground cities and few resources, mainly dedicated to servicing traders due to their strategic location.
Also not mentioned is that any unit attempting to pull off a Supernova should be fairly mobile, or they risk having elements successfully pursued and destroyed in detail before the rest can circle back for a flank attack.
Overload: According to this entry, putting too many targets in the air can burn out a post-Star League BattleComputer, effectively immobilizing a 'Mech unless the pilot manually reduces the sensitivity level. Seems like that would be an easy fix, making the tactic totally useless.
The most notable canon implementation of an "Overload" style attack was on Wolcott, where the defenders used strips of metal hung in trees to produce so many sensor ghosts that the Smoke Jaguars had to resort to fighting blind.
Supply trains thousands of kilometers long seem somewhat implausible, given that the FWL was assaulting a Lyran world. If the invasion force came from offworld, why not land closer than a few thousand kilometers away. Was the FWL using captured local munitions plants to make new projectiles?
At its largest, the Skye Rangers had 25 regiments - nowhere near the 123 implied by the Overload history section. Picking any two of the numbers gets you the 12th or 13th Skye Rangers, or even the 23rd.
Trojan Horse: Thelos Auburn's interpretation of the Ares Conventions differs from canon source material. The text we have mentions no such prohibition against false flagged attacks. In fact, in terms of espionage operations, it only banned outright assassination. Even more to the point, the Ares Conventions were revoked at the outset of the Reunification War and never formally re-imposed. Grayson Carlyle certainly didn't have any legal concerns about infiltrating Verthandi disguised as a DCMS freight hauler. Nor did ComStar have any qualms about impersonating the Death Commandos during their raid on the NAIS complex. (Of course, that was a False Flag raid intended to shift blame, not an attempt to convince the NAIS guards that the DC force was friendly.)
Luring and Trapping: This is basically Selective Retreat writ large, in one sense. However, in a larger sense, it's exactly what Hanse Davion is about to do to House Liao. Stardrive was published in February 1988, while Warrior: Riposte came out in October 1988, revealing the intelligence operation that lured Max Liao with the promise of both the son of his hated foe's spymaster and the chance to tip the scales of battle with cutting edge new technology trapped him with not one but two moles in his intelligence directorate and booby-trapped myomer that crippled his elite forces rather than empowering them. Given Blaine's note that it's "more of an intelligence operation" than a military tactic, I can't help but think he knew FASA's outline for the events of Operation RAT at the time he wrote the NAIS Manual and planted this Easter Egg here eight months ahead of its payoff.
Blaine frequently referred to units as "Unit X" Yth Brigade. Generally, I re-wrote that as the "Yth Unit X" - so Avalon Hussars 2nd Brigade becomes 2nd Avalon Hussars. However, the account of New Kyoto refers to the 19th Lyran Guards 10th Brigade, breaking my system. Since a BattleTech Brigade (following the SLDF model) is at least three regiments, that terminology doesn't hold up in the Succession Wars era.
There is a world named Kearny, but it's in the middle of the Free Worlds League, and thus an unlikely venue for a Draconis March Militia vs. Rasalhague Regulars battle in any event. (Plus, what were RR forces doing outside of the Rasalhague Military District, which doesn't border the Federated Suns?) There's a remote possibility the two forces could have met up during the all-state free-for-all that took place during the ComStar interdiction of the Free Worlds League during the Second Succession War (there was a Davion-Liao battle on New Dallas, after all), but that doesn't apply to 2985.
The Rasalhague Regulars' Rainbow Brigade makes a fair amount of sense, given their Nordic heritage and the importance of the Bifrost in that mythology. (With Heimdall members signalling each other with rainbow motifs - as seen in "Vanish," it's clearly a 'thing' in the BattleTech universe.) Notably, Blaine Pardoe was one of the primary writers on the Cranston Snord's Irregulars scenario pack, which features the 27th Marik Militia's "Rainbow Company," so this seems to be a recurring motif in his work.
It appears that the series was cut short by the failure of Stardrive to get past its first issue, and unlike Lt. Sandusky Sorrell, the NAIS MechWarrior Training Manual did not reappear in BattleTechnology. Based on the introductory letter, Blaine covered BattleTechnology, BattleMechs, and tactics, but had to stop before getting to unit compositions and historical battles.
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It appears that the series was cut short by the failure of Stardrive to get past its first issue
Keep in mind that Stardrive was formerly the StarDate magazine. It apparently fell out of favor with FASA (possibly over BattleTechnology) after having previously featured increasing amounts of BattleTech content. The magazine editors apparently had a falling-out with FASA, the magazine was renamed Stardate for one (final) issue, and closed up shop after that. Given that they're the same magazine, I suppose Blaine Pardoe's contributions had been submitted to the editors' slush pile long before, during the StarDrive days, and then the slush pile dried up.
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Right - but my point was that John Theisen continued his Sandusky Sorrell series in the pages of BattleTechnology, while Blaine did not continue the NAIS Manual entries there, despite there being at least two more installments planned (based on the letter from the Dean of Curriculum).
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Date: 3025
Location: N/A
Title: Before the Succession Wars
Author: Patrick Larkin & Jordan Weisman
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 1 #5/6)
Synopsis: Subtitled "A Background for FASA's Battledroids Game," the account is presented as part of the work "A Time of Troubles" by in-universe author Tamar Chadrasekar.
Introduction
A Dark Age has engulfed the Human Sphere following more than two centuries of warfare following the splintering of the Star League into five Successor States. Thousands of planets have regressed to barbarism along the periphery. Science is forgotten and learning mocked. Universities are empty or smoking rubble, and what was child's play for our ancestors is now impossible. No new starships have been built for more than two centuries. BattleDroids can no longer be built, and wrecked machines must be stripped for needed parts.
I. Prequel (2010 - 2025)
Marshal Oleg Tikonov's death in November 2011 touches off a civil war in the Soviet Union, with rebel groups receiving weapons from Western Alliance intelligence agencies. The Red Army splinters, and several ICBMs fired by local commanders are shot down by orbital defenses. Joint NATO and Japanese military strikes seize control of Soviet missile sites.
By June 2013, with 15 million Russians dead, the Western Alliance launches a humanitarian ground invasion, ending hostilities by March 2014. Reconstruction begins in April 2014, with the former Republics recognized as sovereign states, and most occupation forces are withdrawn by 2020, though Moscow is occupied until 2024.
During this period, Alliance Space Command establishes a permanent lunar settlement, sends manned missions to Mars, and sends robot probes to the asteroid belt and Jovian moons. Practical fusion power plants are invented, and orbital solar power stations provide clean power. Kearny and Fuchida publish groundbreaking physics papers, but are ridiculed. The defunct United Nations is not replaced, but the Western Alliance strengthens ties among its members.
II. Unification (2025-2100)
The Western Alliance develops a fusion drive in 2026 and launches the WAS Columbia from Crippen Station in October 2027, capable of making the trip to Mars in 14 days. Goddard Shipyard begins construction in Earth orbit. Outposts are constructed on Mars, Jupiter's moons, and around Saturn. The Magellan Program sends automated interstellar probes to ten nearby stars, discovering habitable worlds around Tau Ceti, Epsilon Eridani, and Epsilon Indi by 2050.
Exxon Interplanetary and Alcoa Metals begin relocating metal-rich asteroids from the belt to Earth-Moon orbit for mining in 2051, and private spacecraft outnumber government ships by 2055. Researchers on the moon and at the L5 colony develop dense, lightweight materials to improve spacecraft and space stations. PanAm, Bechtel, and Westinghouse develop small, portable fusion reactors. Myomers (bundles of polyacetene fibers) are developed, but are deemed impractical for human muscle replacement/enhancement, and research is abandoned.
Chinese General Secretary T'eng Liao's reforms allow small private enterprises and some political freedom, and he negotiates a trade partnership with the Alliance Parliament. He crushes a coup attempt by communist hardliners and opens reunification talks with Taiwan. China joins the Western Alliance in 2041 and installs Liao's son as his successor.
The Western Alliance becomes the Terran Alliance in 2086, and dispatches Terran Military Command units to forestall a coup against the pro-Alliance government of Brazil in 2098.
III. Exodus (2100 - 2300)
Scientists use Kearny/Fuchida research papers to make faster-than-light travel breakthroughs. The Alliance Parliament puts billions of Alliance Credits into the Deimos Project, straining the finances of poorer member states. South American and African nations try to revise the rules governing Parliamentary representation in 2015, but the legislation is blocked by the Europeans, Russians, and the U.S. Riots break out in Buenos Aires, Santiago, Luanda, and Johannesburg.
TAS Pathfinder makes its historic voyage in 2108 (an event nicely animated in the opening of the HBS BattleTech game), traveling to Tau Ceti and surveying New Earth. Shipyards begin producing FTL colony ships. An outpost is established on New Earth in 2111, and it becomes the first interstellar colony in 2116. Corporations receive permits to build K/F drives in 2123. The Bolivar Foundation's privately funded Liberator disappears in 2128, prompting the Alliance Parliament to require naval escorts of all colony ships and make independent colonization projects illegal.
More than 100 colonies are registered by 2172 in a sphere 120 light years across. Parliament cedes more power to appointed governors, due to the three-month delay in communications. Governors find they have to grant extensive home rule to the colonists.
Water shortages hamper development, and purification technology is expensive. In 2177, Rudolph P. Ryan introduces Iceships. He uses tankers to form an artificial iceberg in orbit around Telos IV and attaches several K-F drives, then jumps the berg to New Samarkand and sells it to the colony there. This technique opens up additional worlds for colonization and makes the Ryan Cartel the most profitable firm in the Alliance.
By 2234, there are more than 1,000 registered colonies, and messages from the frontier take eight months to arrive on Terra. A coalition of colonies along the periphery declare independence, and repulses the Alliance's efforts to put down the rebellion. The Expansionist Party loses a no-confidence vote, and the new government withdraws all Terran troops and administrators from worlds on the frontier. The abandoned colonies revolt against Earth's authority. By 2242, the Alliance controls only a handful of worlds adjacent to the Terran solar system. Neither major political party can form a stable government.
Hard times and political chaos spur emigration from Terra, leading to more than 4,000 new planets being colonized - the most distant, Rio Bravo, more than 480 light years from Sol. Scientific research lags as resources are devoted to colonization, with the Alliance's best and brightest being the most likely to emigrate.
IV. Consolidation (2300-2400)
The Terran Alliance collapses in 2314 after a short war between rival political factions. In 2314, Fleet Admiral James McKenna intervenes and declares himself Director-General of the Terran Hegemony in 2315 and launches a campaign of expansion. By his death in 2339, the Hegemony rules more than 100 worlds. Michael Cameron becomes the new Director-General in 2340.
Other alliances form, starting with the Crucis Pact in 3117. By 2389, ten states with strong central governments have emerged beyond the Hegemony. Most are dominated by single families, and hereditary succession becomes the norm. By 2394, the eleven states have expanded to the point of contacting each other's borders, leading to disputes. Naval and ground forces of the Capellan Confederation and Free Worlds League clash over Andurien in 2398.
The Terran Hegemony launches new research programs in 2340, while the other ten states' efforts are hampered by low population densities. Ceres Metals Corporation begins developing workdroid prototypes in the Sol System's asteroid belt.
Notes: This history appears to be the first draft of the main BattleTech timeline, albeit for the far more grimdark setting of BattleDroids. A modified version of this appears in both the House Kurita book and the history section of the MechWarrior RPG book (1st Edition) - with a specific note that the MW1E version is a reprint of the StarDate article. This expands greatly on the truncated history presented in the BattleDroids rulebook itself.
Introduction: As we can see, the BattleDroids setting was far more regressed than what became BattleTech canon. No new 'Mechs, JumpShips, or DropShips being constructed. A strong anti-technology sentiment in society and no serious efforts to rebuild.
Prequel: The MW1E version skims over the details of the Soviet Civil War, not mentioning Tikonov (who is described as the Soviet Premier, rather than a Marshal, in the BattleTech timeline) or the ICBMs (though those would be featured in more detail in DropShips & JumpShips, given the role of Crippen Station and WODeN), and not mentioning Japan's role in the Western intervention. MW1E says the UN was replaced by the Alliance Parliament, while the BattleDroids history says the UN was abandoned and not replaced.
Unification: MW1E drops the specific call-outs to real-world companies, describing them generically as "private multinational corporations." The Brazilian coup was dropped from the MW1E history, but prominently featured in the Periphery sourcebook. The largest change regards China, since the official FASA accounts (largely in the Star League and Kurita sourcebooks) write that China attempted to set up its own "Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere" in 2023 and nearly ended up in a shooting war with the Western Alliance over Japan. House Liao has never been mentioned in canon histories as having prominent ancestry prior to Elias Liao becoming the president of the Hong Kong Free Republic.
Exodus: The expansion of the Human Sphere in the BattleDroids history was substantially faster than for the BattleTech canon. By 2172, there were 100 settled colonies in an 80 light year radius (MW1E), compared to a 120 LY radius in StarDate. The MWIE 2235 survey recorded 600+ worlds as settled, compared to 1,000+ in BattleDroids. The post-Outer Reaches Rebellion colonization wave added only 1,500 worlds in a 150 LY radius from Sol in MW1E, compared to 4,000 worlds in a 480 LY radius.
The StarDate version goes into more technical detail about the Ryan Iceship, implying that he mounted K-F drives on the icebergs themselves, after forming them with modified tankers. The MW1E version says the tankers were given K-F drives and used to deliver the water.
Consolidation: MW1E adds more information about James McKenna's character and goals, which was absent from the StarDate version.
In the MW1E version, Ceres Metals isn't mentioned in the development of the prototype WorkMech, nor that the prototype was space-based.
The MW1E account moves the Crucis Pact's origin date back from 3117 to 2317 in an obvious typo correction. (Or else Interconnectedness Unlimited has some serious explaining to do regarding its Republic of the Sphere-era time travel experiments.)
The writers probably intended the 11 states to be:
1) Terran Hegemony
2) Capellan Confederation
3) Federated Suns
4) Draconis Combine
5) Free Worlds League
6) Draconis Combine
7) Rift Republic (This state, ruled by House Amaris, seems to have been considered an Inner Sphere state bordering the Hegemony in BattleDroids)
8) Taurian Concordat
9) Magistracy of Antares
10) Outworlds Alliance
11) Rim Worlds Mercantile League
Looking at the canon histories, we have the following states extant circa 2389:
1) Terran Hegemony
2) Free Worlds League
3) Draconis Combine
4) Federated Suns
5) Lyran Commonwealth
6) Capellan Confederation
7) Taurian Concordat
8) Rim Worlds Republic
9) United Hindu Collective
10) Principality of Rasalhague
11) Illyrian Palatinate? (2350 founding...but so small)
All of the other organized proto-states had been absorbed by their neighbors by 2389, or had not yet been founded.
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Date: 3025
Location: N/A
Title: Before the Succession Wars
Author: Patrick Larkin & Jordan Weisman
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 1 #5/6)
Synopsis: "A Time of Troubles" continues...
V. The Age of War (2400-2550)
The Andurien War (2398-2404) is the first of many. More than a dozen border wars break out between 2400 and 2410. In 2412, heavy civilian casualties on Tintavel prompt all eleven states to sign the Ares Conventions to govern the conduct of interstellar war. It banned fighting near heavily populated areas and prohibited attacks against civilian economic targets.
War becomes formal as major conquest campaigns are too costly, and efforts to form alliances, such as the 2423-2425 Thousand Worlds Coalition (CC + TC), are short lived. The eleven major states are fairly stable during this period, except for the Rift Republic, which sees House Durant ousted and executed by Lady Terens Amaris in 2482, after a series of defeats by the Taurian Concordat (???!!). Terens is succeeded by her daughter, Melicanthe, as First Citizen in 2517.
The Terran Hegemony wins a quick victory in the Kentares War of 2431 and crushes a FWL invasion force on Oriente in 2477, and is left in peace thereafter, declaring neutrality in the other nations' conflicts. By 2500, it assumes the mantle of mediator. Ian Cameron became Director-General in 2549.
The Hegemony's military superiority is based on the development of the first BattleDroid on New Earth in 2439. Based on older mining WorkDroids, they are more mobile and more adaptable than conventional armored units. The Hegemony has exclusive control of BattleDroids until 2455, when several are captured during a raid on Hesperus II by a criminal cartel interested in selling the technology to all bidders. Despite the proliferation, Hegemony BattleDroids benefit from ongoing research, and are faster, better armored, and more heavily armed.
VI. Imperium (2550-2575)
Ian Cameron successfully mediates the end of the 4th Andurien War in 2551. In 2556, the Terran Hegemony, Free Worlds League, and Capellan Confederation sign a non-aggression/trade pact. Ian Cameron's diplomacy between 2556 and 2569 leads to a cessation of all hostilities in the Inner Sphere by 2570. The four Periphery powers refuse Terran friendship.
In June 2571, Ian invites six heads-of-state to a conference on Phobos. A month of negotiations garners agreement to his plan to form a Star League and reunify all human-settled worlds. Officials from all seven governments meet from 2571 - 2572 to work out the details.
Per the terms, House Cameron becomes First Lord, and the other six leaders form the High Council. Each of the seven member states retains domestic policy authority, but will adopt a common currency and calendar. Each member state contributes existing troops to the Star League Regular Armed Forces, while retaining household troops as an internal security force. Each Council Lord is allowed to pick their chosen successor.
From 2573 to 2575, the League ground forces are equipped with the best BattleDroids the Hegemony has to offer, and these troops are deployed to the borders of the Periphery states, which have joined together in an anti-League alliance.
VII. The Reunification War (2575-2600)
The High Council issues an ultimatum in August 2575 against the periphery states - the Outworlds Alliance, the Taurian Concordat, the Magistracy of Antares (?) and the Rim Worlds Mercantile League (?). All four reject the ultimatum by October 2576. SLDF war preparations begin in November 2576.
The SLDF strikes deep into enemy territory, capturing key military and industrial bases, and making dramatic advances at little cost. Resistance stiffens as the fighting moves closer to the Periphery capitals. A League task force is badly mauled in a deep thrust against Imbros III, forcing the SLDF to become more cautious. They hammer their way closer to the four capitals from 2579 to 2583. New Vandenberg, capital of the Magistracy (?), falls in 2584 after a five week battle that inflicts heavy casualties. The SLDF's 2586-2588 offensives consolidate control of the Magistracy, and bring SLDF forces in striking distance of Aurelius II, the Mercantile League capital - forcing the ruling faction there to surrender in 2589.
The League launches its final offensives against the Taurian Concordat and Outworlds Alliance from 2590 - 2592, replacing losses with new BattleDroid regiments and new WarShips, while the periphery armies make do with equipment of lesser quality and quantity. The Concordat Fleet is destroyed in the battle of Flannigan's Nebula in 2593, and the League occupies the Concordat homeworld - Port Fallon (?) - with heavy losses on both sides.
By 2595, the Outworlds Alliance stands alone, and sues for peace after a crippling series of defeats. They sign the articles of surrender in May 2596, after which fully half of the SLDF is assigned to occupation duty in the defeated Periphery states, which are divided up into six Territorial States administered by First Lord-appointed governors. A propaganda campaign builds popular support for the Star League, allowing occupation forces to withdraw from most worlds by 2606.
Ian Cameron dies in 2602, succeeded as First Lord by his son, Nicholas.
VIII. The Good Years (2600 - 2750)
Territorial Reconstruction runs from 2601 to 2632, integrating the conquered worlds, but administration is hampered by communications delays. Nicholas Cameron appoints Joshua Hoshiko as Minister of Communications, who spends 15 years creating the League Communications Network, cutting communications lag to less than six months to most worlds (longer to backwater planets).
Low cost water purification technology facilitates settlement on marginal worlds, and 1,000+ new worlds are settled by 2700, expanding the Human Sphere to 540 light years in diameter.
By 2640, most WarShips have been mothballed or scrapped due to the lack of an enemy, but BattleDroid regiments remain at full strength. In 2649, new First Lord Michael Cameron learns Tadeo Amaris' Rift Member State is rapidly expanding his personal army. The High Council imposes an Edict restricting household force sizes in 2650. Regular Army BattleDroid regiments maneuver on worlds bordering the Rift Member-State, and intelligence reports indicate Amaris begins disbanding his regiments shortly afterward.
Trade and commerce surge from 2600 to 2750 due to the adoption of a universal currency and removal of trade barriers. Water purification tech, however, results in the Ryan Cartel's bankruptcy. Trade efficiencies are such that worlds become dependent on others for food and water purifier maintenance.
Research on myomers facilitates development of human-usable bionic artificial limbs. By 2700, the average lifespan is 115. The best-selling book of 2746 is J. Paulo Terraine's "A Golden Age: The Coming Century."
IX. Twilight (2750 - 2765)
First Lord Simon Cameron dies by explosive decompression in February 2751 while inspecting a mining colony on New Silesia, leaving his eight-year-old son Richard as his heir. The High Council appoints the commander of the League Army, General Aleksander Andreyovitch Kerensky, as Regent and Protector.
The Council rules by decree from 2751 to 2761, amending the Edict of 2650 to allow an expansion of household forces. They grant themselves a greater share of tax revenues, while increasing levies on the six Territorial States. Unrest increases in the Territorial States, and two governors are assassinated by secessionist movements in 2758.
Richard Cameron ends the regency when he turns 18 in 2761, plotting to abolish the High Council and reforming the central government to make himself Emperor. Kerensky advises him to refrain, but is ignored. Richard issues Executive Order 156 in 2762, ordering the disbanding of all household armies. Stefan Amaris of the Rim Member-State supports it, but the other Council Lords refuse, forcing him to rescind the order.
The situation in the Territorial States continues to decline, and more League troops are relocated there to suppress unrest. In 2764, Stefan Amaris signs a secret agreement with Richard to protect Terra against the other Council Lords.
In 2765, New Vandenberg and several other worlds secede from the Star League, and Amaris advises Richard to send Kerensky there to stamp out the rebellion.
Notes: I will note where the StarDate article differs from later accounts (especially the adaptation in the opening pages of MechWarrior 1st Edition) and other canon sources.
The Age of War: MW1E adds some details to the Ares Conventions, but has the signing take place on New Olympia, and only involves ten states. (Sorry, Illyrian Palatinate.) Later accounts retcon the signing as being on the world of Ares, on the continent of New Olympia.
The Thousand Worlds Coalition is dropped from the MW1E account, but survives as a brief, albeit cryptic, reference in the Periphery sourcebook.
The MW1E keeps the story of Terens Amaris' coup against House Durant, but drops Melicanthe's name, and introduces the official name change from Rift Republic to Rim Worlds Republic as one of Lady Terens' reforms. Later histories have the shift from House Durant to House Amaris be a peaceful transfer, due to a lack of Durant heirs. Also gone is the mention of heavy combat losses to the Taurian Concordat, meaning that FASA had finalized their interstellar cartography and realized that such a conflict no longer made any sense. (Though the Mercenary's Handbook did feature the Oberon Confederation dispatching the hapless Wilson's Hussars on a deep, deep, deep, deep raid against the Taurian Concordat.)
MW1E also changes the theft from Hesperus II to being a Lyran Commonwealth commando raid rather than a criminal syndicate's operation.
Later accounts call the Terran Hegemony's "Kentares War" the "Tybalt Campaign," noting that it lasted from 2431-2440. Other known Hegemony battles of the Age of War include: The Draconis Combine attacked Styk in 2443; the Federated Suns attacked Basalt in 2445; and the Capellan Confederation attacked Ningpo in 2457. Aside from the Hesperus II raid, we don't have any record of Lyran aggression against the Hegemony in this period.
Imperium: The MW1E section follows the StarDate chronology, but adds in the names of the Liao, Marik, and Cameron heads of state involved.
The math is corrected, as the StarDate article came up with seven founding Star League members, rather than six, pitted against four Periphery realms.
Perhaps House Amaris could be considered the seventh, since they were pro-Cameron and battling anti-League rebels alongside the SLDF expeditionary forces - essentially counting the Rim Worlds Republic as one pro-League faction, and the Rift Republican Army rebels as an anti-League Periphery faction...or perhaps Jordan Weisman's early drafts included a sixth Successor State, now lost to history.
Reunification War: The BattleDroids history accounts are a fascinating look at BattleTech's first draft. MW1E updates many, many references, changing the Magistracy of Antares to the Magistracy of Canopus and the Rim Worlds Mercantile League to the Rim Worlds Republic. Interestingly, the StarDate article calls the Rim Worlds Mercantile League the "Rift Republic" during the Age of War, suggesting that either its name/political structure changed prior to the Reunification War, or that Jordan Weisman and Patrick Larkin wrote separate sections and didn't sufficiently proofread for internal consistency. Having New Vandenberg be the Magistracy capital is interesting, given how central to Taurian history that world becomes in canon accounts. Aurelius II and Port Fallon vanish from existence, replaced by Apollo and Taurus. Given its reluctance to do any fighting at all in the main history, it's kind of ironic that the first draft had the Outworlds Alliance fighting on to the bitter end.
Another key difference is that the League administratively divided the four periphery realms into six Territorial States. In the main chronology, there are just four Territorial States - one for each Periphery realm - maintaining the territorial integrity of each.
The MW1E account avoids getting tangled up in the messy details of the Reunification War by skimming over it in two sentences, noting that it lasted 20 years, ending in 2597 after the fall of the Taurian capital in the Hyades cluster.
The Good Years: One major difference is the introduction of hyper-pulse generators by 2630, rather than Hoshiko's League Communications Network. (So, apparently the BattleDroids universe never had HPGs.)
Colonization was more limited in MW1E, with new purification tech facilitating 750+ new colonies, rather than 1,000+ (which, added to earlier estimates, would put peak colonization in BattleDroids at 5,000+ worlds, compared to the 3,200-ish upper limit reached in the BattleTech chronology - though you could argue equivalence if you count unmapped independent colony worlds in the Periphery). It also omits mention of the size of the Human Sphere, which by this point is about 1,000 LY in diameter, rather than the 540 in StarDate.
MW1E corrects the name from Rift Member-State to Rim Worlds Member-State.
MW1E makes no mention of the near elimination of the Star League WarShip assets.
Twilight: The MW1E section adds more details, noting that New Vandenberg was joined in secession by 17 other Periphery worlds. The name of the "Rim Member-State" is updated to the "Rim Worlds State."
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Date: 3025
Location: N/A
Title: Before the Succession Wars
Author: Patrick Larkin & Jordan Weisman
Type: Sourcebook (Stardate Vol. 1 #5/6)
Synopsis: "A Time of Troubles" continues...
X. Civil War (2765-2780)
75% of the Regular Army was deployed in the Periphery by November 2766 - more than 12 months' journey from Terra. Stefan's Household Guard replaced League BattleDroid regiments sent to the Periphery front, outnumbering the League Regulars guarding Terra.
In late December, 2766, Amaris launches a coup, assaulting Terra and capturing the First Lord and most of his immediate family. The League troops on Terra surrender after a week of fighting, and Cameron and his family are executed afterwards. Anyone related to House Cameron is hunted down and killed.
Amaris declares himself First Lord in January 2767 and seeks support from the five Council Lords, but all take a neutral stance. By the end of 2767, the remaining Regular Army forces in the Hegemony are defeated by the end of 2767. Kerensky only learns of the coup by late 2767, but receives replies of neutrality by August 2768.
Kerensky gathers his army from the Territorial States from 2768 - 2770, stripping every garrison of ships and BattleDroids. Amaris troops fortify key systems around Terra. In March 2772, Kerensky captures Cylene IV and six nearby worlds, driving a wedge between the Terran Member-State and the Rift Member-State (?). By 2773, the Rift is completely isolated, cutting off supplies of new troops. Amaris counterattacks at Mallory's World, but his offensive is defeated, and the other Member-States forbid him from crossing into their territory.
Kerensky takes his task force through other Member-States, capturing Oriente as a staging point, then capturing key communications and manufacturing centers. The Amaris forces are routed by 2775, as occupied systems revolt and many of his troops surrender after only token resistance. Stefan controls only the heavily fortified worlds around the Sol System.
Kerensky launches his final offensives in 2776, capturing Sarna VI in October 2778. A special assault force seizes New Earth in December 2778 in a seven-week battle. In June 2779, Kerensky lands BattleDroid regiments on Earth and battle the Amaris Household Guard until Stefan's army collapses in September. Amaris is hauled, unconscious, from his command bunker wreckage in mid-October 2779. A military tribunal condemns Stefan the Usurper and the adult members of his family to death in January 2780. Younger Amaris members are given memory-wipes and exiled to isolated worlds in the Periphery. Senior Amaris officials and officers are also executed, and Kerensky assumes power as Protector. He summons the High Council to convene an emergency meeting in February 2780.
XI. Succession Crisis (2780-2785)
As of October 2780, the Star League was in crisis - 100 million dead, communications to the Territorial States cut, and League administrative machinery damaged. When the High Council convenes, it removes Kerensky as Protector, ordering him to disperse his troops, and appoints Jerome Blake as Minister of Communications, charging him with restoring the League Communications Network to full operation. The Regular Army scatters across the Hegemony.
Meeting from October 2780 to July 2781, the High Council fails to elect a new First Lord. Kerensky urges them to select an outsider, but is ignored. The Council dissolves in August 2781, return home, and begin expanding their armies with former Amaris troops now working as mercenaries. They begin bidding for the services of Regular Army troops in 2783. Kerensky objects, and the Lords demand his resignation.
In February 2784, Kerensky summons his officers to a secret meeting, at which he directs League purchasing officers to buy hundreds of transports and other starships. The Lords are distracted by fighting that breaks out between Davion and Kurita in May, and spreads to include all five factions.
In November 2784, almost all the remaining Regular Army regiments rendezvous at New Samarkand, then depart into the Periphery, shaking pursuit after leaving the Free Worlds (?) Member-State.
XII. The Succession Wars
In December 2786, Minoru Kurita declares himself First Lord of the Star League, as do the other Lords. Border skirmishes escalate to open warfare by March 2787. In April 2797, Kurita forces begin occupying industrial worlds and abandoned SLDF bases around Terra.
The First Succession War lasts from 2787 - 2821 wrecking industries, cities, shipyards, manufacturing plants, and research centers with orbital bombardment and ground combat. Hundreds of millions of civilians are killed.
In 2796, Minoru Kurita's troops advance to within 40 light years of New Avalon while Davion's household troops are fully engaged with House Marik (?) and House Liao. On the eve of a decisive victory, Minoru is assassinated while visiting the industrial world of Kentares IV in April 2796. Jinjiro Kurita orders his troops to slaughter its 50 million inhabitants, but Davion reinforces his troops while the Kentares Massacre plays out, and forces Jinjiro's troops to retreat with an ambush at Harrow's Sun.
By 2815, most of the Successor States have lost the ability to build FTL-capable WarShips, and all have curtailed civilian good production. Interstellar trade collapses, causing worlds relying on purification plants to resort to water imports from ice ships. The war ends through exhaustion in 2821. The Houses rebuild from 2821-2827, and fighting resumes in 2828, with the official start of the Second Succession War recorded as 2830.
From 2830-2863, the Second War kills hundreds of millions more, but only a few dozen worlds change hands. Human knowledge declines, causing the Successor States to revert to a level slightly above that of 20th century Terra. No state can manufacture advanced computers, fusion power plants, or starships, forcing the rival warlords to cannibalize damaged equipment.
Medical technology also regresses, and average lifespans decrease from 115 to 80 years, though bionic limb replacement technology improves in service of putting wounded DroidWarriors back in action. Psychologists note that DroidWarriors with bionic limbs grow more machinelike and less human over time.
The Third Succession War starts in 2866, and the Inner Sphere evolves into a feudal society controlled by Successor Warlords and the ComStar organization, which was formed during Jerome Blake's efforts to restore the League Communications Network. Blake had seized Terra in 2788 with hastily recruited mercenaries and declared it neutral, and pledged the neutrality of the Communications Network in exchange for being left in peace. Blake reorganized the Network into ComStar - a commercial organization selling communications services to the Houses for profit by 2807. Jerome Blake dies in 2819 without successfully reopening communications with the Territorial States. The ten members of the First Circuit select Conrad Toyama as his successor. ComStar interdicts House Marik from 2837 - 2839 in retaliation for an attack on ComStar personnel. Over time, it becomes a semi-religious organization. Julan Tiepolo becomes Director by the ten-member First Circuit in 3021.
Hundreds of worlds lose contact during the Succession Wars, and the House Lords delegate authority to regional rulers once it is clear that strong central governments are no longer feasible. Paul Davion appoints Damien Hasek the Duke of New Syrtis in 2829 in exchange for the services of his BattleDroid regiment. Other Warlords follow suit, establishing a feudal society.
The Bandit Kings of the Periphery appear in 2841, when several Steiner regiments are forced to retreat into the Periphery. By the time House Steiner locates them in 2853, the troops had occupied several planets and their commander, Colonel Hendrik Grimm, had declared himself king of Oberon VI. His BattleDroids began raiding the Successor States for water and spare parts in 2855. Other mutineers and bands of Periphery DroidWarriors became Bandit Kings by 2863.
By the end of the 30th century, the Inner Sphere is ringed by more than 100 small kingdoms and principalities, where piracy and brigandage are rife.
As of 3025, the borders of the Successor States are almost exactly where they were more than 230 years ago.
Notes: I will note where the StarDate BattleDroids history was changed when reprinted (in part) in the opening pages of the MechWarrior RPG book (1st Edition), and where other canon sources diverge.
Civil War: The MW1E account is updated to reflect the immediate execution of Richard and the existence of HPGs to inform Kerensky of the coup. It drops the details of the preliminary campaign, giving only the date of Earth's liberation, as well as cutting the mind-wipe and exile of Amaris' children (and you thought the chain of events in Star Lord was weird...).
The cuts get rid of many elements that didn't hold up once FASA drew the official starmap, such as Oriente being 50 LY from Terra, and Sarna being 30 LY from Terra, as well as the Rim Worlds Republic sharing a border with the Terran Hegemony around Cylene (a world on the FedSuns/Combine border).
I'd kill to see what general reference materials Jordan Weisman and Patrick Larkin were using when they came up with the BattleDroids version of the core history.
Succession Crisis: The MW1E version notes that the appointment of Jerome Blake resulted in the formation of ComStar.
Kerensky's fleet is clarified from "hundreds" to 200+.
The original Kerensky Exodus seems substantially different, with active tracking of his ships until he shook the pursuers in the Periphery, and a route indicator that he cut across the Inner Sphere from New Samarkand and exited through the Free Worlds League. So, if you count the BattleDroids universe as a parallel reality, would their Clans have invaded along the FWL/Lyran axis or the FWL/CC route? And would their Minnesota Tribe be hiding out near the Elysian Fields?
The Succession Wars: The MW1E entry notes that "the warring Lords cast aside the Ares Conventions" - though those had actually been torn up at the start of the Reunification War.
The MW1E account backs away from the BattleDroids total loss of tech, noting that "it was no longer easy to build advanced computers, large fusion power plants, and starships" and setting the technology level at early 21st century Earth, rather than late 20th century.
The details of the campaigns were cut, saving MW1E from having to explain why House Davion's troops were too busy fighting House Marik to defend New Avalon. (Gotta see the map those guys were using...)
MW1E adds a section on informal rules, similar to the Ares Conventions, that evolved in the Third Succession War, prohibiting JumpShip attacks, allowing surrender and ransom, fighting battles in stages, and avoiding damage to factories.
The number of Periphery kingdoms is cut down from 100+ to 60+, and the details of the rise of Grimm and Hasek were trimmed.
ComStar's details were relegated to an appendix in MW1E, which greatly expands on the organization's history and operations, and served as the basis for the later ComStar sourcebook. Later sources correct Julian Tiepolo's start-date to 3006, rather than 3021, as well as changing the title from Director to Primus.
MW1E drops any mention of the dehumanizing effect of bionic limb replacement. It was reintroduced in Jihad-era supplements, but primarily for extreme cases like the Manei Domini, rather than the average Joe Pegleg. It seems like it may have been intended to be a major theme in BattleDroids - zombified cyber-DroidWarriors stomping their FrankenDroids through ruined cities, heedless of the destruction wrought on the cowering frails.
All in all, "Before the Succession Wars" is a fascinating glimpse of the first draft of BattleTech's history and lore. A lot of its details were left on the cutting room floor (sorry, Magistracy of Antares), but Larkin and Weisman clearly had a huge historical sweep worked out that, largely, became the core of the current game's backstory when this was published in 1985. Kudos to them both!
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The Terran Hegemony wins a quick victory in the Kentares War of 2431 and crushes a FWL invasion force on Oriente in 2477, and is left in peace thereafter, declaring neutrality in the other nations' conflicts. By 2500, it assumes the mantle of mediator. Ian Cameron became Director-General in 2549.
The Federated Suns launched an offensive to recapture Kentares in 2440s, according to the Manatee TRO entry. The Hegemony also hit the Federated Suns again in 2515 - a raid killed the Prince of the Terran March, Charles Leighton, and all his family, which led to Nikolai Rostov becoming the Prince of the Terran March in the buildup to the Davion Civil War.
The League launches its final offensives against the Taurian Concordat and Outworlds Alliance from 2590 - 2592, replacing losses with new BattleDroid regiments and new WarShips, while the periphery armies make do with equipment of lesser quality and quantity. The Concordat Fleet is destroyed in the battle of Flannigan's Nebula in 2593, and the League occupies the Concordat homeworld - Port Fallon (?) - with heavy losses on both sides.
Port Fallon crops up again in Historical: Reunification War - it's noted on page 53 that Marion Marik's sister Shannon was killed in action on Port Fallon in 2593.
By 2700, the average lifespan is 2700.
Well, that's terrifying.
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Typo fixed to 115.
The Kentares attack was the opening move in the broader Tybalt Campaign, per the Star League sourcebook, taking worlds from both the Feddies and the Cappies.
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Date: July, 3026
Location: Istmar III (Imbros III?)
Title: Bitter End: The Defense of Connor's Pass
Author: William H. Keith Jr., J. Andrew Keith, and/or Richard Meyer (Uncredited)
Type: Scenario (Game News #8, October 1985)
Synopsis: During fighting between the DCMS and a joint Lyran/Federated Suns mercenary battle group on the contested world of Istmar III, a lack of coordination between the mercenary forces allowed the DCMS to break through at the city of Hannisport.
Two days later, Lyran mercenaries Hansen's Roughriders withdrew from their position on the plains around Hannisport and called in their transports to escape, with Kurita forces (led by the Black Widow Company) in hot pursuit.
Hansen left an omega company to hold Connor's Pass to the last man, delaying the Dragoons long enough for the rest of the Roughriders to escape.
At 0930 (Terran Standard Time), Lt. Chang positions his Marauder alongside Major Qaffad's Crusader at the pass. Chang feels bitter about being assigned to the omega company - the price for being second best, even though he knows that none of the 'Mechs in the omega force could have outpaced the ferocious Widow pursuit. He resolves to hold the pass or die trying.
The Roughrider omega company, under Major John Qaffad, has nine 'Mechs, all damaged.
Crusader - hip actuator out, right arm LRM out, only 7 heat sinks active
Marauder - +2 modifier on all PSRs, left arm PPC out
Rifleman - only three heat sinks operative
Archer - hip actuator out
Warhammer - 12 heat sinks operative, SRM launcher out
Shadow Hawk - 7 heat sinks operative, needs PSR to move at all, no jumping
Griffin - Can only jump. Engine heat doubled (?)
Phoenix Hawk - 3MP to change facing costs, only 3 armor on CT(r), Large Laser at +3 penalty to hit.
The Roughriders position themselves anywhere they want on either of two standard BattleTech maps connected at the narrow edge, with the top being North. Lake hexes are treated as Light Woods.
The Black Widow Company fields the following roster:
Recon Lance
- Rifleman
- Phoenix Hawk (left arm ML fails to fire on 10+, generates 4 heat)
- Stinger
- Stinger (4 armor missing from RT)
Fire Lance
- Archer
- Archer (missing 1 heat sink, only 10 armor on left leg)
- Wasp
- Stinger - Foot Actuator out
Command Lance
- Warhammer (Kerensky's)
- Marauder
- Crusader (+2 heat per turn)
- Griffin (can only jump 3 hexes instead of 5, generates 2 heat per hex, PPC fails to fire on 10+)
The Widows enter on the south edge of the southern map.
The Roughriders get 1 point each turn they survive, and 5 points for each Widow destroyed. The Widows get 10 for each Widow 'Mech that exits the north edge of the northern map. The game ends when all Widows are either off the map or destroyed.
Notes: Advertised in the magazine as an excerpt/preview of FASA's upcoming scenario pack, Tales of the Black Widow Company, the scenario presented followed the format of the product, but did not actually appear in the final version.
Like a lot of planets named in the early scenarios, Istmar III didn't make it onto the official maps. Having the battle be a joint FedCom operation against the DCMS, it's likely that Istmar III = Imbros III, which is in the right stellar neighborhood....and has an 'I' at the start and a 'III' at the end.
This represents a rematch between the Roughriders and the Widows, following a 3019 battle on Hesperus II, where Hansen's troops were instrumental in turning back a Dragoon thrust towards the Defiance Industries factories. No wonder the Widows are out for blood.
In terms of alignment with canon, this is semi-problematic (not just because Istmar III is a non-canon locale), because the Dragoons generally secured a line-item in their contracts that let them avoid fighting against their prior employer. In the service of House Liao, they attacked the Free Worlds League. Under contract to the League, they did some "cattle raiding" into Lyran space. Under contract to House Steiner, they exclusively hit Combine targets. And under Kurita, they fought throughout the FedSuns' Draconis March (that one odd battle against pirates in the coreward section of the Rasalhague district notwithstanding). So, it wouldn't be consistent for them to be on a world on the Lyran border.
That being said, it's possible Imbros III (a long-held Combine world) was the target of a joint Fed-Com mercenary strike, and the Widows couldn't resist a chance for payback against the Roughriders. (Meaning the Combine force was liberating Hannisport, not conquering it.)
For the Roughriders, I'd recommend establishing the main defensive line in the central light woods (the converted lakes) on the southern map. Your damage means you aren't going to be able to outmaneuver the Widows. The Widows will certainly use the ridge on the southwestern corner of the map to screen their advance, but you can park your Archers on the northwestern ridge to provide covering fire on that flank.
Hold back your Griffin and Phoenix Hawk as your chasers. If a wounded but functional Dragoon gets past your position in the central woods, they can jump over and engage it, hopefully taking it out before it gets off the northern edge.
Have the heavies in the woods prioritize shots at the Dragoon bugs (3 Stingers, 1 Wasp) as well as the Phoenix Hawk and the Griffin. If you can smoke them, or even just slow them, your chasers will have an easier time of blocking their rush for the northern edge.
For the Widows, you may feel that you have some time pressure to deal with due to the 1-point-per-turn Roughrider victory counter, but keep in mind that getting just one of your guys off the northern edge is worth 10 turns.
Keep your light 'Mechs in reserve, and lead with your heavies. If the Roughrider Griffin or Phoenix Hawk are exposed, prioritize them. Concentrate your fire and whittle the enemy numbers down. Once their mobile reserves are smoking hulks, then, and only then, send the speedy units ahead to make a run for the border. At that point, the Roughrider wrecks shouldn't be able to mount an effective pursuit.
If the Roughriders deploy closer to the northern edge, your job gets easier. Use the terrain to mask your approach, get within firing positions, and then hammer the Roughriders until they're dead. Rotate damaged units on your side off the firing line to avoid giving the Roughriders kills. If they advance (unlikely, given their pre-existing motive damage), pull back to cover, continuing to fire. Once they are effectively neutered, send your bugs north to score points. Whatever you do, don't risk your bugs by exposing them to enemy fire, since they're far more valuable as point-scoring vehicles than as another medium laser on legs.
Given the scenario title, it would be safe to guess that the historical outcome was the slaughter of the omega company, but the continued existence of the Roughriders suggests they held the Widows off long enough for the bulk of the regiment to make it to their DropShips and evacuate offworld.
I dated this scenario to October 3025, since the roster matches that given for the company circa 3025, and the magazine came out in October.
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If this preview was provided by FASA, does that mark the scenario as canon even when it wasn't reproduced in the actual sourcebook?
The setup - a combined Davion/Steiner operation - has Galahad '26 written all over it, and would presumably depict a recon raid against a Kurita world on the Davion/Kurita border, somewhere in the Dragoon garrison area. (A later date seems unlikely given the company store ploy by House Kurita and the souring relationship starting 3027 at the latest.)
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The front cover blurb says "BATTLETECH War Game Scenario from FASA Corp."
I'd guess it's extra content written for the book but left on the cutting room floor when they ran out of room, then farmed out to Game News as an advertisement. It describes BattleTech as "the second edition rules set for BattleDroids, completely rewritten with new statistics and rules."
It also advertises other upcoming products - 1604 - BattleTech - $15.00; 1605 - Tales of the Black Widow - $7.00; 1606 - The Fox's Teeth - $7.00; and 160 - BattleTech Poster - $3.00, with FASA's P.O. Box address in Chicago and a note to add $2 for postage and handling if ordering directly from FASA. It announces that "Each BattleTech scenario pack contains history, background, statistics, and 15 scenarios for two of the toughest 'Mech companies out there." This would, then, be a 16th Black Widow scenario, probably cut for space.
On dates, I concur that this sounds very much like a Galahad '26 operation. However, that takes place in August 3026, while Wolves on the Border has Natasha definitively located on An Ting by August 15, 3026. Perhaps it's a preliminary operation, since it involves mercenaries only. It could fit into July 3026, which has nothing canon listed for Natasha's operations.
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Date: March 11, 3025
Location: Galtor III
Title: Scavenger Hunt
Author: Richard Meyer
Type: Scenario (Tales of the Black Widow Company)
Synopsis: House Kurita has dispatched two battalions of Wolf's Dragoons to the barren world of Galtor III on a punitive raid against an AFFS staging point there. The Dragoons found the Davion garrison, the 21st Illician Lancers, dug in and prepared to fight.
On the morning of this engagement, Graham Gilliam's Recon Lance intercepted the Recon Lance of the Black Widow Company, and the pitched battle left six disabled 'Mechs on the field.
Graham returned to friendly lines and reported the situation to Captain Levon Grant, who takes his lance to claim the salvage, meeting the Black Widow's Fire Lance, which arrives with the same intent.
The Lancers have two Stingers, 1 Griffin, Levon Grant's Archer, and Graham Gilliam's damaged Archer (8 shots of LRM ammo left, only left LRM works, has only 10 heat sinks, and has substantial armor damage).
The Widows have two Archers, a Wasp, and a Stinger.
To win a Decisive Victory, a side must destroy three enemy 'Mechs without losing more than one of its own. A side can offset its losses by carrying disabled 'Mechs off the field. Gilliam's wounded Archer does not count against the Lancers if it is disabled. Any side must withdraw as soon as it loses two units, under Forced Withdrawal conditions.
Two jump-capable 'Mechs can pick up a 'Mech carcass and jump away with it at normal jump speed. A single 'Mech can drag a wreck off at 3 MP/turn. They may return after spending four turns off the friendly map edge.
Notes: The description of Galtor III as a barren world doesn't match the extraordinarily detailed writeup that accompanied the BattleForce scenario pack - "The Galtor Campaign" a few years later.
Various explanations have been put forth for this discrepancy - the one that works the best for me is that the AFFS staging point hit by the Dragoons was on one of Galtor's moons, which is barren, and could have been used as a staging point (saving fuel for the ships not having to climb out of Galtor's gravity well).
The interest paid to the moon's staging point by the ISF may have given Hanse the idea of using the whole world of Galtor III as a trap a few months later.
This is a fairly straight up lance-on-lance battle in a broom closet (one standard BattleTech map). Both sides should do their best to concentrate fire and take down one foe at a time.
The salvage mechanism is interesting, but somewhat short-circuited by the fact that Forced Withdrawal is triggered as soon as a side loses two 'Mechs. It's also not clear if destroyed 'Mechs can also be salvaged. The rules make it fairly easy for the bug 'Mechs to make off with lots of salvage, but their absence for four turns while they leave and return puts their side at a significant disadvantage.
Also, why wouldn't the side remaining in control of the battlefield be credited with offset-point for all the remaining carcasses? If that holds up, then the only way to win, really, is to control the battlefield, making the salvage mechanism a somewhat irrelevant sideshow.
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Date: October 15, 3025
Location: New Aberdeen
Title: Queen's Gambit
Author: J. Andrew Keith
Type: Scenario (Tales of the Black Widow Company)
Synopsis: A three month campaign on New Aberdeen (roughly September - November, 3025...estimated) pitted the invading Wolf's Dragoons and other Kurita forces against the Davion garrison, which included the elite Eridani Light Horse. The ELH holds a perimeter around the strategic fresh-water lake known as The Firth.
In this skirmish, the Black Widows draws an ELH company under Captain Anton Stedman into an ambush 50 km from Firthaven. Following the battle, ELH survivor Jake Redmond (who lost an arm when he went up against Natasha) maintains that the ELH could have defeated the Widows if the AFFS had given them just five more minutes. He blames the ambush on Captain Stedman's obsession with taking out Natasha.
Stedman's Company of the ELH fields a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Stinger (damaged), Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, Phoenix Hawk (damaged), Stinger (damaged), Wasp, Stinger (damaged), Wasp (damaged), and Wasp (damaged). The three lances begin scattered around the two maps.
The Black Widows field a Warhammer (Kerensky), Griffin (Hayes), Crusader (Sheridan), Archer (Ikeda), Stinger (Ward), Mararuder (Maclaren), Archer (Miklos), Wasp (Koniev), Rifleman (Clavell), Phoenix Hawk (Nichols), Stinger (Fraser), and Stinger (Jahan). They deploy in four groups on the western map.
On the first turn (the ambush), no ELH 'Mechs can move, and can can only fire at two Widow 'Mechs.
The ELH gets 10 points for every friendly that exits the maps, 5 for every Widow, and 50 for destroying Natasha's Warhammer.
The Widows get 10 points for every ELH 'Mech taken out, and 10 for each surviving Widow. The game ends when all the ELH 'Mechs are destroyed or escaped.
Notes: Schmidt's Lance (Stinger and two Wasps) start the closest to the Dragoon ambush positions, and make easy pickings.
The Dragoons have a Crusader, 2 Archers, a Marauder, a Stinger, and a Wasp parked on the eastern edge of the western map, while their targets are spread between the west, center, and east of the field. Natasha's Warhammer and Hayes' Griffin are in the middle of the western map, and the Recon lance is at the far west.
For the Dragoons, I would run the easternmost troops forward, fire on the mid-East cluster troops, and kick the snot out of the poor scouts on the western-East cluster. Finish off the scouts with long range support fire from Recon and have Natasha and Hayes either support the attack on the mid-East cluster or contribute to the doom of the western-East cluster. Don't bother with long range shots at the eastern-East cluster on round one. The return fire will be concentrated on only two units, so keep Ward's Stinger and Koniev's Wasp out of LOS from the mid-East and eastern-East clusters. The Dragoon heavies can take the hits from the return fire.
If all goes well, the scouts should be exterminated (30 points) and the mid-Eastern cluster should be heavily damaged (0-40 points, depending on how badly they get smacked). Going forward under normal rules, the Widows will have the advantage in both numbers and firepower, forcing the ELH (unless their player is suicidal) to play at a significant points disadvantage.
Hold Natasha back, to avoid shifting momentum the other way if she gets Golden-BB'd by a lucky shot.
For the ELH, this is a tough scenario. If, as expected, you end up with significant losses in the first turn, it'll be hard to win on points just by running. One option would be to go for broke and try to smoke Natasha by throwing everything you have at her, but Warhammers are durable, and she'll have plenty of support. Odds are that you'll lose more than 5 more 'Mechs trying to get her one. If the Dragoon player sends Natasha barreling in, then by all means have at her, but she'll want you exposing your troops by madly chasing her through a gauntlet of Dragoon fire, and that's a sucker's bet.
I would begin Round 2 by pulling back what's left of your force to a sheltered area near a map edge (perhaps the southwestern ridge on the East map) and digging in. From there, you can try to pick off exposed Dragoons with concentrated long range fire, and be in a good position to immediately withdraw any ELH troops that get too banged up, allowing them to inflict maximum damage without giving any points to the Dragoons unless they get fully taken out before they get a chance to retreat. If the dice break your way, you can pull out a win, but this scenario is clearly the Dragoons' to lose.
The dates for the New Aberdeen campaign were based on the Mercenary's Handbook mention that the ELH was out of action and rebuilding on their baseworld of Derby for the first half of 3025. Fall of 3025 doesn't have any canon Widow or ELH actions that would interfere with the New Aberdeen fight taking place then.
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Date: November 20, 3025
Location: New Aberdeen
Title: Flesh and Steel
Author: Claire W. Hess
Type: Short Story (StarDate Vol. 3 #4 )
Synopsis: MechWarrior Edward Yamada accompanies a convoy of House Kurita's 35th Infantry Battalion through the Sorin river valley towards Carmin Canyon, en route to a rendezvous with their DropShips. Captain Hagen, of the 35th, reassures Yamada that he'll be back in his 'Mech in a few more hours, Yamada having been shot out of his Wasp earlier. He worries that he'll have to join the infantry if Captain Engelhart won't issue him another 'Mech.
The convoy halts as forward scouts return with a report. Yamada approaches the area where the scouts are reporting to Hagen, and hears them telling him that other units have received orders from Regimental to pull back to the DropShips and pull out, but the 35th has been ordered to deploy by Major McKenzie.
Confused, Hagen nonetheless orders his convoy to set up a perimeter and prepare to hold the canyon entrance. Yamada asks if he can help, and Hagen tells him to stay out of the way.
Sergeant Peter Krauss introduces himself, noting that the MechWarrior seems troubled. Krauss hands him a spare RT-211B automatic rifle and suggests he'll fit in better once he gets familiar with it. Yamada does feel better, and thanks the Sergeant.
When Hagen returns, he tells Yamada that one of their DropShips was delayed, creating a logistical bottleneck. Since infantry is lowest priority in any event, they're assigned to guard the canyon until the queue clears up. Davion forces are estimated to be two days from their position.
A supply truck arrives from Regimental and troops begin unloading crates. Yamada is curious, since Hagen acknowledges the 35th has plenty of food and ammunition already. One of the support troops unloading the crates tells Yamada the delivery is at the orders of Major Gutreaux. Yamada sees the crates contain man-portable SRMs, mines, and grenades.
Yamada returns to Hagen, and confirms his suspicion that the 35th is being left behind as an omega unit, meant to hold back attacking 'Mechs. While Hagen goes to a staff meeting, Yamada scouts the surrounding terrain, trying to identify the optimal approaches he would have taken in his Wasp, hoping to optimize the placement of the mines and other defenses. He hits on the idea of setting fires to overheat 'Mechs on the edges of the river valley, and force them to come directly through the center. He pitches the plan to Hagen, and is told, dismissively, that the staff meeting hit on the same idea.
Yamada asks Hagen why he hates him, and complains that the infantry Captain can't understand what it is to have the power of a 'Mech and then lose it. Hagen walks away in silence.
Notes: Credited here as "C.W. Hess," author Claire W. Hess was also the author of DropShips & JumpShips and one of the co-authors of TRO: 2750.
Given the Kurita general retreat, this seems set at the end of the three-month campaign on New Aberdeen. (The exact dates aren't given in either "Queen's Gambit" or "Flesh and Steel" - just the three month duration in the Black Widow scenario.) Since I put the ELH/Widow scenario at the middle of the campaign, when House Kurita was still on the offensive, this story must fall at the end of the campaign, which I'm placing in June 3025.
Canonicity-wise, this story is by an established BattleTech author in a magazine that was the primary vehicle for licensed content at the time, so it's apocryphal, but fits in pretty well.
A lot of the early fiction built on the tensions between infantry and the MechWarrior elite, probably due to the game line slogan of the time - "Life is cheap, BattleMechs are expensive." The Sandusky Sorrell stories, also in StarDate, feature heavy casualties among infantry auxiliaries and resentment of the well-protected Mechjocks.
Looking at what we know of DCMS military doctrine of this era, the 'Mech forces take the lead on offensives, and are assigned multiple regiments of ad hoc support forces that are deployed in support of the 'Mech force's needs and goals. If the 35th needs to die to delay the enemy long enough for the main troop body to load up and leave, then that will fulfill the dictates of giri. It's not like the Combine is the only faction that assigns suicide missions to rear guards - we just looked at Hansen's Roughriders issuing identical orders in an effort to prevent Natasha's Widows from penetrating Connor's Pass and overrunning their LZ.
Interestingly, there's no sign of any Urizen II-imposed samurai culture among the troops of the 35th. The men joke freely with each other (lacking the ultra-serious/fatalistic mood that has traditionally been used to characterize DCMS troops), and one is noted for having a Texan drawl.
The Kurita RT-211B automatic rifle is only mentioned here. The House Kurita sourcebook notes that the Gorton, Kingsley and Thorpe factory makes rifles for the Combine, but no sourcebook gives it any identifiers. It could be that the GK&T factory makes the RT-211B line for the DCMS (though, again, the details from this story are considered apocryphal).
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Date: November 21, 3025
Location: New Aberdeen
Title: Flesh and Steel
Author: Claire W. Hess
Type: Short Story (StarDate Vol. 3 #4 )
Synopsis: MechWarrior Edward Yamada wakes the next morning to find Captain Hagen pouring coffee in the pre-dawn twilight. Hagen gives him some infantry fatigues to replace his skimpy MechWarrior coolant vest and cockpit shorts. As Yamada eats breakfast, Hagen tells him Sergeant Krauss' Bravo Recon Team is overdue. Yamada expresses concern for Krauss' welfare, noting that he is a good person.
Yamada starts to apologize for his outburst the previous evening, but Hagen cuts him off. He explains that he was a rifle platoon leader four years earlier when they ran into an enemy Locust that pinned them down with laser and machine gun fire. Hagen had passed out during the assault and woke up in a MASH unit, having been rescued (along with two other survivors) by a recon team led by Sgt. Krauss, while all the rest of his men had been hunted down and killed by that single 'Mech.
Hagen tells Yamada he's made arrangements for Yamada to return to the LZ on the supply truck. Yamada thanks him, but says he prefers to stay. Hagen says they'll try to down an enemy 'Mech for him, so he won't go home empty handed.
Later, the 35th digs trenches and prepares emplacements for their support weapons, including an Arlite-Trojan Mk VII autocannon. Explosives down knock down trees, creating free-fire zones. Sgt. Harrison reports to Captain Hagen that enemy 'Mechs are inbound - two mediums and two lights about 15 kilometers away.
Harrison relays a new report that Sgt. Krauss is alive, but wounded. Krauss asks if Yamada still has his rifle, and wishes him good luck.
Yamada rushes to a fox hole as fires ignite on the two flanks of the river valley. The enemy recon lance - a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, and two Stingers, appear on the horizon. Hagen orders his men to prepare to fight.
Notes: The Arlite-Trojan Mk VII's presence shows that the authors were ready to introduce field guns for infantry support, even if the ruleset wouldn't get around to that for many years to come. The accompanying scenario defines it as a towed AC/5.
We know for sure that, whatever unit the 35th is attached to, it's not the Legion of Vega. They'd never send out scouts to recover survivors, or have a functioning MASH unit to heal them. (The apocryphal "The Way We Die" even indicated that Legion commanders would order suicide charges and execute any survivors to avoid having to correct the paperwork.)
I was somewhat surprised that Yamada only had his coolant vest and short-shorts, since the NAIS MechWarrior Manual in the same magazine indicated that spare clothing was packed into the survival kit, in case of ejection. Perhaps Combine cockpits lack the creature comforts of those in the AFFS.
The discussion sheds light on what Yamada yelled the previous evening - Hagen has indeed had the experience of having something that he cared for taken away from him - his first command. His antipathy towards Yamada is explained by the trauma of knowing his men were all killed by a MechWarrior who hunted them down one by one as they tried to flee. The reason Hagen is being much nicer in the morning (offering coffee, clothing, and breakfast) is that Yamada's outburst showed him they actually had something in common - shared senses of loss.
All four of the Davion scouts have jump jets, so I'm not sure what bottling up the valley and canyon entrance accomplishes. The four 'Mechs could just jet up the valley wall and proceed on the ridgetop. To boot (and this applies to the "Defense of Connor's Pass" scenario, too), a single lance wouldn't have the firepower to take on the DropShips and pickets at the LZ. The recon lance probably has an assignment to destroy the DCMS defenders at the canyon mouth so that non-jumping forces can be brought up through the canyon with firepower capable of shattering the forces still at the LZ, or at least proving an existential threat to the DropShips, throwing the withdrawal into chaos, with partially loaded ships buttoning up and taking off without adequate air cover, and leaving thousands of tons of materiel and hundreds (or thousands) of troops and support personnel to be captured and/or destroyed in detail.
If the recon lance just bounds in on its own - "Enemy contact! Two Stingers inbound, jetting over the canyon wall! LRM-20s online...tracking...target acquired...firing! Bandit one splashed! Bandit two splashed. Sound all clear."
Knowing this, and having evident access to a fair amount of munitions, one wonders why the DCMS didn't get the 35th busy rigging Carmin Canyon with explosives, and then give the AFFS pursuers a Falcon Guard burial upon entry. The 35th could then set up defensive positions at the other end of the canyon, to deal with follow-on forces picking their way through the shattered terrain.
Also, if all the 35th has is primarily short-range weaponry...why aren't they establishing a defensive position in the canyon itself, where range won't be an issue? The fires are a way of restricting the path of the enemy 'Mechs so they will be funneled into the minefield, but wouldn't the canyon walls do that more efficiently? Put men with SRMs on the canyon ridges, and a minefield below. Rain SRMs down on them while they pick their way through the field, and then detonate explosives to collapse and seal the canyon (pulling back the SRM Infantry above, first).
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Exodus: The expansion of the Human Sphere in the BattleDroids history was substantially faster than for the BattleTech canon. By 2172, there were 100 settled colonies in an 80 light year radius (MW1E), compared to a 120 LY radius in StarDate. The MWIE 2235 survey recorded 600+ worlds as settled, compared to 1,000+ in BattleDroids. The post-Outer Reaches Rebellion colonization wave added only 1,500 worlds in a 150 LY radius from Sol in MW1E, compared to 4,000 worlds in a 480 LY radius.
Interesting; I know House Davion: The Federated Suns (second paragraph of the second page of its history chapter) also mentions four thousand worlds as a stage of expansion. (Although there it's four thousand total, not whatever came before plus another four thousand.)
gone is the mention of heavy combat losses to the Taurian Concordat, meaning that FASA had finalized their interstellar cartography and realized that such a conflict no longer made any sense. (Though the Mercenary's Handbook did feature the Oberon Confederation dispatching the hapless Wilson's Hussars on a deep, deep, deep, deep raid against the Taurian Concordat.)
<snip>
The math is corrected, as the StarDate article came up with seven founding Star League members, rather than six, pitted against four Periphery realms. <snip> perhaps Jordan Weisman's early drafts included a sixth Successor State, now lost to history.
<snip>
Aurelius II and Port Fallon vanish from existence, replaced by Apollo and Taurus. Given its reluctance to do any fighting at all in the main history, it's kind of ironic that the first draft had the Outworlds Alliance fighting on to the bitter end.
Another key difference is that the League administratively divided the four periphery realms into six Territorial States. In the main chronology, there are just four Territorial States - one for each Periphery realm - maintaining the territorial integrity of each.
I see Fallon near the Suns/Draconis/Outworlds border; maybe the Outworlds and Concordat merely traded names.
MW1e's account confirms six Territorial states (second paragraph on page 7), and the old periphery sourcebook does indeed show six major territories (http://skiltao.blogspot.com/2017/11/forgotten-periphery-states.html) on its map (plus a seventh which I believe demarcates the Vandenberg revolt). With there also being an extra Member State (perhaps a predecessor to Rasalhague, given its adjacency to the Draconis Rift?), I have to wonder if FASA originally envisioned its starmap as a D6 (http://skiltao.blogspot.com/2018/02/six-sided-periphery.html). That would've made each House adjacent to four others instead of just two, and would make those "deep" raids much less deep.
That mention of a "Rim Worlds Mercantile League" is fascinating. I wonder if it has anything to do with the territory surrounding the remains of the Alphard Trading Corporation.
The Good Years: One major difference is the introduction of hyper-pulse generators by 2630, rather than Hoshiko's League Communications Network. (So, apparently the BattleDroids universe never had HPGs.)
Does the StarDate article describe Hoshiko's network operating in some other way (couriers?), or are the HPGs just a case of later material getting more specific?
It also advertises other upcoming products - 1604 - BattleTech - $15.00; 1605 - Tales of the Black Widow - $7.00; 1606 - The Fox's Teeth - $7.00; and 160 - BattleTech Poster - $3.00
Neat. It isn't easy to find publishing dates for many earlier products - does this ad happen to say which month those products were expected to be released?
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Date: November 21, 3025
Location: New Aberdeen
Title: Flesh and Steel
Author: Claire W. Hess
Type: Scenario (StarDate Vol. 3 #4 )
Synopsis: The battle takes place on the two maps drawn in the scenario, in an north-south river valley that narrows as it approaches level 20 cliffs at the southern edge.
Elements of Cornell's Company of the 4th Crucis Lancers - a Griffin, Shadow Hawk (armor damage on Left arm and leg), Stinger (pilot hits and right arm armor damage), and Stinger. They enter on the north edge of the northern map, but are not allowed to know the layout of the 35th before designating their entry hexes.
The 35th Infantry Battalion designates 20 hexes on the northern map as being on fire, six hexes (anywhere) as being mined, four woods hexes as being "cleared," and eight as having entrenchments (improved infantry positions). They field 13 SRM platoons, 1 wheeled scout vehicle, one towed LRM/5 launcher, 1 towed SRM-6 launcher, and 2 towed AC/5 launchers. The infantry automatically wins initiative on Turn 1.
The Lancers score 20 points for each 'Mech that exits off the southern edge of the board by turn 10. 'Mechs that exit after Turn 10 are worth only 10 points. Each defending unit destroyed is 2 points, except the wheeled scout, which is worth 5. Every immobilized 'Mech costs 20 points, and each 'Mech that suffers movement reductions costs 5 points. Every 10 points of damage taken, and every critical hit taken, costs 1 point. A final score of 50+ is a Lancer victory, 30-49 is a draw, and 29 or less is a Kurita win.
The mines are command detonated and deal 10 damage each, resolved as two 5-point Inferno rounds that need a "to-hit" roll - giving the target 10 extra heat for three turns per hit.
The trenches give platoons located there a +2 defensive bonus.
Infantry in the same hex as a 'Mech may launch a a close assault. Defending 'Mechs can make a physical attack on each assaulting infantry unit. Any surviving infantry can perform the assault, doing 1 damage per 4 troopers to a location chosen by the attacker, with odds of success dropping from 4+ to hit leg armor or joints, to 10+ to hit the head.
Notes: The scenario includes a Planetary-Invasion scale map of New Aberdeen (attached). It's not clear, to me, based on this map where you'd find the strategic freshwater lake the ELH was guarding.
This scenario also introduces rules for anti-'Mech infantry attacks before they appeared in regular BattleTech rules.
Defenders are specifically prohibited from putting units atop the cliffs. Given those restrictions, I would put the AC/5s in the woods on the western hilltop on the southern map, the LRM-5 in the woods on the eastern hilltop on the southern map, and the SRM-6 on the hill in one of the woods hexes, covering the norther opening.
There are a lot of options, given all the fire hexes, entrenchments, etc. You can't really expect to win a long range sniping contest against a Griffin and a Shadow Hawk. They'll silence your AC/5s and LRM-5 pretty quickly, and then hang back plinking at your SRM crews from beyond effective SRM range.
To avoid the siege, I'd go for broke and forward deploy your troops, with your support guns in the rear as specified. Since the Lancers will have to walk/run on, rather than jumping on, on turn 1, that's your best chance to catch 'em. Make double row of flaming hexes between the two woods clusters on the northern edge of the northern map. Fill each woods with entrenched infantry. Put command detonated inferno mines to the east of the eastern woods cluster. Clear the three woods on the eastern side and one of the woods on the central western hill, to deny the attackers cover once they get through the fire.
If the Lancers walk through the conflagration, they'll get hot and slow down, and your troops can advance and rip into them with the full force of all your infantry, with the LRMs and AC/5s helping from afar. If they try to come in from the far east, they'll get infernoed and still get slowed down by the heat. If they come in through the woods, your guys will be ready to execute devastating anti-'Mech attacks against their leg joints (remember - you get points for inflicting motive system damage).
The flames have to be on the northern map, and if you try to establish a defensive line further back, the Lancers will just whittle it down with long range fire and use their superior mobility to just jump right over it. At least by forward engaging, you catch them at their least mobile and have a chance of catching them while they're slowed by heat effects (which are nothing to sneeze at in 3025).
For the Lancers, I'd try to enter over on the far right of the northern map. The terrain screens you from long range support fire, and you'll probably only encounter half the enemy force that way. Do what you can to break contact with any forward deployed troops, use the Griffin's and Shadow Hawk's long range guns to silence the towed field pieces, and then follow up with long range barrages against the infantry until you open a hole in their lines large enough to slip through - all the while using your superior maneuverability to keep out of close contact with the SRM troops.
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I see Fallon near the Suns/Draconis/Outworlds border; maybe the Outworlds and Concordat merely traded names.
That would be consistent with the Concordat having beaten up on the Rift Republic, although I'm suspecting that the Rift Republic was actually seen as being an Inner Sphere state, not a Periphery realm, by at least one of the co-authors.
MW1e's account confirms six Territorial states (second paragraph on page 7), and the old periphery sourcebook does indeed show six major territories (http://skiltao.blogspot.com/2017/11/forgotten-periphery-states.html) on its map (plus a seventh which I believe demarcates the Vandenberg revolt). With there also being an extra Member State (perhaps a predecessor to Rasalhague, given its adjacency to the Draconis Rift?), I have to wonder if FASA originally envisioned its starmap as a D6 (http://skiltao.blogspot.com/2018/02/six-sided-periphery.html). That would've made each House adjacent to four others instead of just two, and would make those "deep" raids much less deep.
The count of seven founding states and mention of the Rift Republic having a shared border with the Terran Hegemony strongly suggests that the 1st Draft Star League was: Terran Hegemony, Rift Republic, Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation, Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth vs. the Taurian Concordat, Rim Worlds Mercantile League, Magistracy of Antares, and Outworlds Alliance. That totally reframes the coup - rather than being a Periphery lord seizing power, it would be Terra's neighbor and Inner Sphere Great House taking control, and throwing the Periphery states to the winds once they'd served their purpose of distracting Kerensky, without abandoning their own, nearby, holdings.
That mention of a "Rim Worlds Mercantile League" is fascinating. I wonder if it has anything to do with the territory surrounding the remains of the Alphard Trading Corporation.
Unfortunately, the StarDate article lacked any cartography. About the only directional indicator it gave was that Kerensky's Exodus left the Inner Sphere through the Free Worlds League, so either the BattleDroids Exodus Road was out towards the Cygnus Loop, or the FWL was originally in a coreward position, relative to Terra.
Does the StarDate article describe Hoshiko's network operating in some other way (couriers?), or are the HPGs just a case of later material getting more specific?
It didn't describe how the communications system worked, only that it was slow. There's mention of Hoshiko spending mightily on infrastructure, but not what kind, and it still took six months to get a message from the Periphery to Terra after he finished.
Neat. It isn't easy to find publishing dates for many earlier products - does this ad happen to say which month those products were expected to be released?
The magazine has a publication date of October 1985, and all products are advertised as "Now available from FASA."
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Date: August 13, 3025
Location: Clinton
Title: The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord's Irregulars - The Bribery Gambit
Author: Blaine Lee Pardoe
Type: Scenario (StarDate Vol. 3 #6)
Synopsis: House Marik hatches a plan to kidnap Misha Auburn during her annual visit, with her father Thelos, to Clinton, and use her to pressure Thelos to assassinate Archon Katrina Steiner and Archon Designate Melissa Steiner. However, the LIC captured a SAFE agent on Skye in June 3025 and learned of the plan. In response, Katrina secretly returned Cranston Snord's Irregulars to Clinton to prepare an ambush. A week after the Auburns' arrival on Clinton, a bandit DropShip is spotted inbound, and the Irregulars move to engage the eite Marik commandos, letting Thelos accompany them in a Crusader the Irregulars captured on Phecda. Battle is joined on the Ferrald Slopes, in the narrow straits of Ferrald.
The Marik commandos are Strike Company Zeta, under Lt. Ralph Wilson (P2, G3). They have a BattleMaster, Warhammer (right PPC out), Marauder, Shadow Hawk, two Thunderbolts, two Von Luckners, two Galleons, a Patton, and a Locust. They start on the northern side of the northern map. (It's not clear what the map arrangement is - it just says "Lay out the maps as indicated," but doesn't provide any illustration. It seems to be two blank-side BattleTech maps laid end to end north to south, with the east/west edge hexes being 2 elevation, and 1 elevation within two hexes of the edges to recreate the long valley of the Ferrald Slopes.
Against them are Cranston Snord's Archer (P7, G6), Walmer's Warhammer (P5, G5), H'chu's Thunderbolt (P6, G7), Storm's Wolverine (P4, G5), Thomlinson's Rifleman (P6, G6), Sneede's FrankenMech (P5, G4), Rhonda Snord's Shadow Hawk (P4, G4), Windall's Crusader (P5, G4), Malvinson's Phoenix Hawk (P5, G4), McDonald's Wasp (P5, G4), Malvison's Wasp (P4, G4), Neuron's Locust (P4, G6), and Thelos Auburn's Crusader (P4, G2).
Deb H'Chu will only attack the Marik BattleMaster, due to her ardent hatred of the design. Marik stun gas still pervades on the battlefield. Any cockpit or turret hit forces a D6 check, with a 1 reducing Gunnery and Piloting skills by 2 points each.
Zeta wins by exiting five units off the southern edge of the battlefield. Any other result is an Irregular victory.
While the battle raged, Irregulars aerospace fighters hit the Marik LZ and crippled their DropShip, stranding the raiders.
Notes: If you look at the Irregular skills, it would seem that somehow Cranston has succumbed to senility and glaucoma (or that most of the Irregulars had taken big whiffs of the stun gas), while Thelos Auburn is well on his way to winning the Solaris Championship. What appears to have happened is that Blaine listed the MechWarrior skill levels, rather than the BattleTech base target numbers. The Irregulars book lists Cranston as having a 7 for 'Mech piloting and a 6 for 'Mech gunnery, but corresponding target numbers of 1 and 2, respectively.
The corrected skill levels should be: Cranston Snord's Archer (P1, G2), Walmer's Warhammer (P3, G3), H'chu's Thunderbolt (P2, G1), Storm's Wolverine (P4, G3), Thomlinson's Rifleman (P2, G2), Sneede's FrankenMech (P3, G4), Rhonda Snord's Shadow Hawk (P4, G4), Windall's Crusader (P3, G4), Malvinson's Phoenix Hawk (P3, G4), McDonald's Wasp (P3, G4), Malvison's Wasp (P4, G4), Neuron's Locust (P5, G3), and Thelos Auburn's Crusader (P5, G7).
Thelos has undergone quite a character arc with the Irregulars. In 3017's "Permanent Losses," he lived through a Marik attack and focused on saving a relic at the museum, but had to rely on Irregulars infantry to keep him alive. He ended that story planning to accompany Snord on his deep raid into the League to recover his stolen treasures. Now, eight years later, he's charging a 'Mech into battle alongside Snord.
This is the third time (at least) that Janos Marik has sent troops against Clinton. The 3017 raid was the worst, stealing a significant amount of treasure and destroying many irreplaceable antiquities. The 3019 raid ("A Present from Janos") dropped two lances of drug-crazed burnouts in falling-apart 'Mechs onto Clinton, accomplishing next to nothing for Janos. This 3025 raid is far more ambitious - trying to set up the assassination of a rival head of state and her heir, the fiance of the leader of another major state. I wonder if Janos was pressured into this move by his new "allies" in the Concord of Kapteyn. This sounds like a Subhash Indrahar scheme, designed (if successful) to bring the wrath of the FedCom down on the Free Worlds League, relieving pressure on the Combine's borders. Astoundingly, after the assassination plot was revealed, Janos still got an invitation to the wedding on Terra.
The setup seems inconsistent in parts. Thelos recounts how he and the Irregulars met the Marik commandos in front of the great museum. However, the scenario description says the Irregulars descended from the Ferrald Highlands and engaged the Marik force in the narrow straits of Ferrald. Sounds like an odd place to stick a museum...(which, per "Permanent Losses," was in the middle of the Irregulars' compound).
The Marik force has to get five units off the southern edge of the map to win. The Galleon Tanks and the Locust are the best bet, given their speed, but even if they survive running the Irregular gauntlet (possible with the borked gunnery skills, pretty much no way with the corrected ones), that's only three out of the five needed. Instead of making a blind run for it, I'd recommend holding the lights back and advancing in a Lyran-style Long Wall with the heavier stuff. The Marik forces have a weight advantage, and can throw a lot of fire downrange. Keep a steady advance in a line and hope the dice break your way. If you get into close combat with the Irregular 'Mechs, throw punches, hoping for lucky cockpit hits that will gas the pilots, rendering them significantly less of a threat.
For the Irregulars (not really knowing what the intended map layout was), I'd let H'Chu go after the BattleMaster (no choice, under the rules), and form two groups - the 'Mechs with long range firepower should engage at maximum range and steadily withdraw, pounding the Mariks as they advance. Once you reach about halfway back on the southern map, dig in and hold the line. Hopefully, the sustained missile barrage will have significantly weakened the Mariks and blown holes in their lines, so that you can have a strength advantage when they close to short range. Have your lighter, faster troops advance and try to get around or go over the Marik troops, then strike at them from behind. They'll have to turn their backs on one threat or the other - the Mariks have substantial short-range firepower, however, so keep moving. Try to target the Galleons and the Locust, since they have the greatest chance of slipping past the defensive line.
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Date: February 1, 3026
Location: Rasalhague
Title: Water, Water, Everywhere
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: The players, members of a green mercenary lance, meet with Duke of Rasalhague Kerchak Mosiloff, who offers them a contract to guard the small outpost world of Minos IV on the Kurita/Steiner/Periphery border. He offers 50,000 ryu per month, but will go up to 80,000 if the players negotiate well. Players can opt to have a lower base-pay rate in exchange for combat bonuses, and have the option of being paid in parts instead of cash. Kerchak assigns Private Alaira Christianson as their liaison officer, and immediately dispatches them to Minos IV.
Notes: This scenario is completely non-canon, since White Wolf was not an official FASA licensee (whereas StarDate, BattleTechnology, Blackthorne and Malibu were). Nonetheless, it's one of the few published RPG adventures for BattleTech, so let's take a look.
The lack of any FASA input or oversight shows in numerous details. In FASA canon, there is no "Duke of the Rasalhague District." Each Military District's military affairs are controlled by its Warlord - in Rasalhague's case, Ivan Sorenson. Its political administration is left to the District Governor, in this case Mies Kurita, who holds the title of Duke of Rasalhague.
In Wieck's defense, this RPG adventure was published before the House Kurita sourcebook came out, so correcting the contracting authority from Mosiloff to Mies would fix the canonicity issues. (If you want to set it earlier, swap in Mies' father, Malcom Kurita.) Names aside, however, I would assume the Duke of Rasalhague has far more important things to do than handle contract negotiations with a green mercenary lance. That would fall to a representative of the Professional Soldiery Liaison (such as Christianson or her direct superior).
No official date is given for this adventure. I've started it in February 3026, because it is set during Redjack Ryan's bachelor bandit period. It's about five jumps from Rasalhague to the region around New Caledonia where Minos IV is supposedly located, so the story picks up on Minos IV about five weeks later.
The Combine will provide transportation for the mercenaries, if they lack transport of their own, for one month's pay (50-80,000 ryu). That's actually pretty fair, since the Mercenary's Handbook lists the fee for hiring a DropShip for planet->JumpShip->planet as 60,000 C-Bills, and the JumpShip transport rates as 50,000 C-Bills per DropShip per jump. So, the total cost to relocate the lance from Rasalhague to Minos IV would normally be 310,000 C-Bills, but the Combine's only charging them as little as 40,000 C-Bills (once you adjust for the ryu-C-Bill exchange rate) for the trip. Unusually generous, for the Combine. Of course, as we'll see, the contract offer is a ludicrous lowball, so a cheap ride is the least they could do.
This encounter is a great opportunity to try out the various negotiation frameworks presented in the Mercenary's Handbook, Mercenary's Handbook 3055, or Field Manual: Mercenaries. The most relevant rule-set for the era would be the Mercenary's Handbook. Looking at their costs, the four Green MechWarriors would have a monthly salary cost of 400 x 4 = 1,600 C-Bills. Monthly maintenance costs for four 'Mechs can range from 300,000 C-Bills to 4,500,000 C-Bills, though these costs are only if maintenance is completely outsourced.
Assuming that the average # of support points required per 'Mech is 75, they'll need 60 support squads, with a salary expense of a mere 12,000 C-Bills/month. Consumables for 64 squads works out to 32,000 C-Bills, bringing monthly expenses to 45,600. 15% overhead adds 6,840, for a total of 52,440 C-Bills per month. (It'd be cheaper to have fewer, but more skilled techs, but this is explicitly a Green lance). At that rate, the players really have to go for the 80,000 payout, which will (once converted to C-Bills) cover all expenses and give them a slim profit margin...though it won't do anything to cover the expenses associated with combat operations.
Having four new Light 'Mechs with Elite techs, by contrast, would require just two support squads, with a salary expense of 3,000 and consumable costs of 3,000, making monthly costs 8,740 C-Bills and making field operations far more sustainable - so the economics of the situation may dictate the lance composition.
The players should definitely ask for generous salvage rights, so that they can (if successful) make up for expended ammo and shattered armor by claiming downed bandits/Lyrans as salvage. I wouldn't go for a low base pay in exchange for combat bonuses, unless the players can get the GM to offer six-figure payouts at the very least.
The offer of being paid in parts sounds like a trap. There's no guarantee the parts will actually work, given the Combine's reputation for company store tactics, and mechanical failures could place the PC unit in breach of contract (unable to field what they promised), making them vulnerable to Combine repossession of their assets, or making them indentured servants in debt-bondage to the DCMS. On the other hand, there's no guarantee that Minos IV has any parts for sale, so having a fistful of ryu doesn't help when you have a busted knee actuator and no suitable replacement within 30 light years.
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Title: The Further Adventures of Cranston Snord's Irregulars - The Bribery Gambit
Fascinating scenario. Is the timestamp given in the scenario, or is it conjecture? I need to work this (and the above scenarios) into the respective merc units' Sarna articles - epecially if this is apocryphal bordering on straight canon.
I agree that the skills and target numbers must be switched.
Thelos has undergone quite a character arc with the Irregulars. In 3017's "Permanent Losses," he lived through a Marik attack and focused on saving a relic at the museum, but had to rely on Irregulars infantry to keep him alive. He ended that story planning to accompany Snord on his deep raid into the League to recover his stolen treasures. Now, eight years later, he's charging a 'Mech into battle alongside Snord.
It feels very wrong to have Thelos Auburn in a 'Mech to begin with, and I don't recall him participating in the harbrained Operation Junk Yard Dog - is this really mentioned anywhere?
In typical Snord's Irregulars style, they had only a wispy plan for Junk Yard Dog and no escape strategy, and once more survived (and succeeded) due to sheer luck more than skill or planning. The Irregulars should have died from their antics many times over, and Thelos Auburn would have been an additional liability on this mission.
The setup seems inconsistent in parts. Thelos recounts how he and the Irregulars met the Marik commandos in front of the great museum. However, the scenario description says the Irregulars descended from the Ferrald Highlands and engaged the Marik force in the narrow straits of Ferrald. Sounds like an odd place to stick a museum...(which, per "Permanent Losses," was in the middle of the Irregulars' compound).
The museum may be on the Irregulars' compound, but that compound in turn was erected in the middle of nowhere, its position determined by a secret Star League facility (possibly even a Castle Brian) underneath that Cranston Snord had found on Clinton. He requested and was granted the otherwise worthless area as landhold, and wisely kept the Star League facility hidden. Thelos Auburn would die in the Star League operations room below the museum following his stroke, and I think the Irregulars also stored all the Star League-era equipment here that they stole from House Steiner over the years, primarily from the Colossus DropShip wreck, before rolling it out falsely declared as salvage from a fight against Com Guards somewhere. (Yep. Both Wolf's Dragoons and Snord's Irregulars got away with lying to, betraying, actively working against, and embezzling from their employers. Clanners...)
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Fascinating scenario. Is the timestamp given in the scenario, or is it conjecture? I need to work this (and the above scenarios) into the respective merc units' Sarna articles - especially if this is apocryphal bordering on straight canon.
The intro has an August 13, 3025 timestamp.
It feels very wrong to have Thelos Auburn in a 'Mech to begin with, and I don't recall him participating in the harebrained Operation Junk Yard Dog - is this really mentioned anywhere?
Cranston extends the invitation to Thelos to come along on Junk Yard Dog at the end of "Permanent Losses." BattleCorps died before we could see if he took them up on the offer. (Not that BattleCorps was ever that good at picking up on dangling plot hooks...)
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Title: Water, Water, Everywhere
The lack of any FASA input or oversight shows in numerous details. In FASA canon, there is no "Duke of the Rasalhague District." Each Military District's military affairs are controlled by its Warlord - in Rasalhague's case, Ivan Sorenson. Its political administration is left to the District Governor, in this case Mies Kurita, who holds the title of Duke of Rasalhague.
It's a bit more complicated than that. A lot more complicated, in fact.
There's Dukes (civilian administrators for single planets), Archdukes (Duke over several planets), and the Warlord position (DCMS/military leader).
The overall Rasalhague District Governor was Ottar Sjovold until 3019. While Duke Hassid Ricol was a Duke in the district, he wasn't the District Governor. The incumbent Warlord was Marcus Kurita.
Then, in September of 3019, came the botched assassination attempt by Marcus Kurita and Ottar Sjovold upon Takashi Kurita's arrival for Theodore Kurita's wedding to Anastasi Sjovold. Marcus betrayed Ottar and couldn't be linked to the attempt; Ricol extricated himself from the situation by killing Sjovold and claiming he had thereby saved Theodore Kurita's life. Takashi Kurita was saved by Ivan Sorenson and what followed was a major shakeup:
- Marcus Kurita was removed from the Warlord position and recalled to Luthien, to be kept on a very short leash; Ivan Sorenson was installed in his stead as a reward for saving the Coordinator.
- Ottar Sjovold had been killed; his entire family (including Anastasi) and everyone suspected to be somehow involved were put before a firing squad to leave no loose ends. In his stead, Malcolm Kurita was installed as District Governor and was soon followed by his son Mies Kurita.
- (Arch)Duke Ricol remained an influential person but wouldn't be either District Governor nor Warlord while the district lasted - the 4th Succession War and Ronin Wars totally redrew the map soon afterwards.
(Like Yorinaga Kurita, Duke Ricol was written into the fiction via novels but wasn't mentioned in the Housebook. They both stick out like sore thumbs in the supposed political and military structure of the Combine and had to be shoehorned in through later sources.)
No official date is given for this adventure. I've started it in February 3026, because it is set during Redjack Ryan's bachelor bandit period.
Born in 2988, Ryan "purchased himself" a battalion command in the Oberon forces, but Hendrik III was fed up with him by 3017 and sent him "on the farthest assignment he could find" which would be Fianna. There, Ryan's attitude led to the Fianna massacre and he had to flee and set up his own independent pirate realm on Butte Hold, which happened by 3019 at the latest. By this time he was already a seasoned pirate - planetside as well as in space.
In any case, as of 3026 his "bachelor bandit period" is long past. If you're aiming for this, 3019 would be a better fit - presumably the first half of the year, when Sjovold was District Governor and Marcus Kurita was Warlord.
Edit: Typos
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The mission takes the PCs from Rasalhague to Minos IV to Butte Hold, so it could be any date between Ryan setting up shop there and the formation of the Greater Valkyriate.
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Date: March 15, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Water, Water, Everywhere
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: The players arrive on Minos IV, which has two primary settlements on opposite sides of the planet. The capital, Borlan, is a major mining center dominated by the powerful Synguard Corporation. The other settlement, Duetora, is located in a lush valley, and depends on agriculture and water purification plants, also owned by Synguard. Both cities have infantry-based militias bolstered by mercenary 'Mech lances hired by House Kurita. The PCs will be based at Dorlan, at an abandoned military landing pad south of the city.
Shortly after their arrival, Colonel Mariam of the Duetora Militia greets the players in person and invites them to attend a musical recital and dinner in the city that evening, where they will beet Duetora governor Count Agitus and several city councilmen.
Notes: Wieck is doing what he can based on the limited universe-building material presented in MechWarrior 1st Edition, where both Redjack Ryan and the Synguard Corporation were profiled. Synguard is noted as a medium-sized trading corporation operating along worlds in the outer reaches of Kurita and Steiner space from Alphecca and Duran to Moseby, Ozawa, and Luthien. Their operations are frequently attacked by bandit kings, and it has increased its corporate-security force to include more 'Mechs. It has nine jump-capable ships, including three Monoliths. While other profiled firms - the New Earth Trading Company and Ceres Metals - were profiled in later sourcebooks, MW1E and White Wolf are the only places Synguard is ever mentioned. The attached logo is canon (from a watermark underneath the text), but the colors are my guess.
A poorly defended world with water, food, and refined metals, right on the border of bandit territory. Yeah, the players are in for some action.
Players would be advised to contact the mercenary lance guarding Borlan and find out the lay of the land, since the Borlan lance just finished a rotation in Duetora, and would be knowledgeable about Duetoran politics. It would also be recommended to make contact with Synguard, since it's their assets the PCs will be primarily tasked with guarding. It would also be good to find out more about the onworld shipping, since there must be frequent deliveries of food and water from Duetora to supply the mines on the other side of the planet. Those linkages could represent significant vulnerabilities in the event of a pirate raid.
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Date: March 17, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Water, Water, Everywhere
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: At dawn, Colonel Mariam radios the PCs with a report of a bandit Wasp in the fields north of town. Fifteen minutes later, Mariam reports two DropShips - a Leopard and a Union - landing at the Synguard water purification plant south of the city, along with a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, and Stinger. The bandits bear the shuriken/star emblem of Redjack Ryan.
The Union's water pumps are malfunctioning, so even if the PCs attempted to engage the northern Wasp (the decoy), they can get to the water plant before Ryan's forces complete their water raid. The Union will take off eight turns after the players arrive (if they've come from chasing the Wasp through the fields), or 18 turns after the players arrive if they came directly from their bivouac. Once the Union is off, the surviving bandits will retreat to the Leopard further south. PC Aerospace Fighters will not have had time to get acclimated to planetary conditions to take part in the battle.
Notes: Ryan's troops are in terrible shape, and aren't very skilled, either. The Wasp has a P/G of 6/6, only has 50% of its armor, and has just two shots for its SRM. Ryan regarded the decoy as a suicide mission, and assigned a Dispossessed trooper to a scrapheap 'Mech. The water raiders aren't much better - the Griffin is P4/G5, the Shadow Hawk is P5/G5 and can't jump, and the Stinger's laser has to roll 7+ on 2D6 to successfully fire, or else it just generates heat without doing any damage.
There's no set strategy, since it depends on the PC's lance composition. The remuneration offered by the Combine is only going to cover the expenses of a Medium Lance at best, if you go by the Mercenary's Handbook charts for operating costs, so the players will probably be on an even footing against Ryan's bandit lance, though (hopefully) with better quality equipment.
There's no indication that the city militia is sending any troops to either engagement. The problematic element is that a Medium PC mercenary lance is probably quite capable of driving off the Ryan 'Mechs, dealing with two DropShips is an entirely different matter. The Leopard and the Union together can massively outgun anything a Lance can throw at them, unless you've brought Blackjacks and JaegerMechs to the party for AC/2 plinking from beyond the DropShips' effective range. To boot, light extreme range fire isn't going to cause crippling damage to either DropShip in 8-18 turns, unless you get a Golden-BB result, and trying to charge a Union with a Medium/Light lance is suicide - even if the PCs survive, they'll be financially wrecked.
I'd probably focus on inflicting crippling damage on the bandit 'Mechs, and then exchanging long-range fire with the DropShips while running and using cover (with their immobility to-hit bonus offsetting your movement penalties), and hoping for lucky critical hits against its systems.
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It didn't describe how the communications system worked, only that it was slow. There's mention of Hoshiko spending mightily on infrastructure, but not what kind, and it still took six months to get a message from the Periphery to Terra after he finished.
The magazine has a publication date of October 1985, and all products are advertised as "Now available from FASA."
Thanks!
I'm suspecting that the Rift Republic was actually seen as being an Inner Sphere state, not a Periphery realm, by at least one of the co-authors.
The count of seven founding states and mention of the Rift Republic having a shared border with the Terran Hegemony strongly suggests that the 1st Draft Star League was: Terran Hegemony, Rift Republic, Draconis Combine, Free Worlds League, Capellan Confederation, Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth vs. the Taurian Concordat, Rim Worlds Mercantile League, Magistracy of Antares, and Outworlds Alliance. That totally reframes the coup - rather than being a Periphery lord seizing power, it would be Terra's neighbor and Inner Sphere Great House taking control, and throwing the Periphery states to the winds once they'd served their purpose of distracting Kerensky, without abandoning their own, nearby, holdings.
Unfortunately, the StarDate article lacked any cartography. About the only directional indicator it gave was that Kerensky's Exodus left the Inner Sphere through the Free Worlds League, so either the BattleDroids Exodus Road was out towards the Cygnus Loop, or the FWL was originally in a coreward position, relative to Terra.
Agreed. Though perhaps the Free Worlds League or Rim Worlds (and the Taurian Concordat) would be "above" or "below" the Hegemony, rather than coreward.
MW1E and White Wolf are the only places Synguard is ever mentioned.
Well, the Steiner book (in the profile for the Lyran Free Traders Association) does name it as an example of a "major corporate trader," but all that tells us is that it's a cartel and cartels exist; and MW2e merely repeats the corporate profile from MW1e. (It adds an extra note to Ceres Metals' profile, but not SynGuard's.)
So yeah - if other mentions exist, I'm not familiar with them either.
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Date: March 30, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Anything for a Buck
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: The fallout from the raid on Duetora lasts for weeks. One of the radar operators in Borlan accused to taking a bribe to let Ryan's ships land undetected, and prosecuted for treason.
Synguard spokesman Kerrard Leon files a lawsuit against the Duetora city council, citing an ancient ordinance that holds the city liable for property damage inflicted by enemy military action, seeking compensation of 130,000 ryu and any captured bandit equipment, including the DropShips.
At best, with a successful Diplomacy roll, the PCs may get to keep half the salvage, and the courts force Duetora to pay Synguard.
Notes: Despite Minos IV being a Combine outpost, the culture feels very Lyran, due to the primacy of rule of law, rather than the dictatorial structures that are common on other Combine worlds. In other Combine-ruled corporate-dominated settlements portrayed in fiction, the local corporate representative is the defacto ruler, with little check on their authority. (In "Where the Honor Lies," on Kawabe, Kawanashi Enterprises' Lord Prefect has the authority to sentence Combine citizens to slavery in company-owned mines and brothels and to have unlicensed merchants skinned alive. Simply serving a subpoena to the city council seems...un-Combine.)
Per the background section in the adventure, Synguard Corporation owns most of the land and industrial assets on the planet, which makes Kerrard Leon's actions quite restrained, by comparison. It's possible that Synguard's standard operating procedures (those applied company-wide) have to accommodate the fact that it operates in the Lyran Commonwealth as well, and acting like Kawanashi Enterprises would get it accused of crimes against humanity and see its trading license yanked by House Steiner.
The question of competing legal claims arises. Per the old city law, the council may be obligated to compensate Synguard for losses. But why would that include the 'Mechs and DropShips? Also, the PCs' mercenary contract has legal standing, and was (apparently) signed by the Duke of the Rasalhague District. Given standard practice at the time, it was probably notarized by ComStar. That contract should have included provisions for salvage rights that would take precedence over the local compensation claim, which almost certainly would just be for cash, rather than military assets.
130,000 ryu works out to about 100,000 C-Bills ($1.17 million in 2018). Seems like chump change, considering the Combine spent at least three times that just to send a Green lance out to Minos.
The goal, of course, is to instill a grudge against Synguard in the players' minds, which pays off later in the adventure. Still, if I were the PCs, I'd fire off a quick message to the ComStar HPG station in Borlan asking for a ruling by the ComStar Mercenary Review Board, with the salvage held for safe keeping by either the Duetora city council or ComStar until the legal issues are resolved.
The issue of the radar operator taking a bribe from Redjack Ryan's crew is feasible, especially for an outpost world that only has two settlements. However, the adventure notes that the PCs get reports from Combine military ships (Draconis Combine Admiralty vessels?) or their own integral assets (if they have their own transports) about the arrival of a Synguard vessel...so why wouldn't any of those have reported the arrival of a Ryan's Rebels' jolly roger at the jump point? It must have come in unobserved at a pirate point. (It's not as though the system is bustling with traffic.) This also raises the question - once the raid was underway, why wouldn't any Combine military vessels present in the system have intercepted the outbound DropShips? Perhaps the DCA fleet arrived in-system after the raid (in response to it) and before the arrival of the Synguard ship.
The fact of the bribe also suggests that Ryan has active agents in Borlan, and probably in Duetora as well, which has the potential to make things interesting for the players, since they're now on Redjack's radar.
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Date: April 15, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Anything for a Buck
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: An Invader-class Synguard JumpShip has arrived in the Minos system on its monthly schedule and dispatched three DropShips to the surface to make deliveries and collect shipments of food, water, and ore.
The PCs see a Synguard Union land at the silo shipping plant north of Duetora. When the players go to the landing site to collect their monthly pay packet, they find that the DropShip also has a shipment of parts there were part of the remuneration deal with the previous mercenary lance garrisoning Duetora (which rotated to Borlan when the PCs arrived).
The PCs can acquire the parts if they outsmart the not terribly bright clerk at the depot, but if their Professional Soldiery Liaison Officer, Alaira Christiansen, finds out, she'll dock their pay for far more than the market value of the parts.
Notes: Wieck does a nice job at setting up conflicts for the PCs. Yes, the parts are a bonus, but then they have to spend a lot of effort evading the scrutiny of their PSL officer. When the Dragoons violated their contract and withheld salvage from the Combine after a battle, they had to bury it until the end of the contract to avoid ruining their reputation and causing House Kurita to lose face. (Though that latter consideration was far less of a concern by the time the contract actually ended.)
One extra wrench the GM can throw in is that the mercs in Borlan will be wanting their parts, and won't take kindly to the greenies in Duetora having filched them. Sure, Borlan's on the other side of the planet, but what else is there to do for fun on Minos IV? Clever GMs may be able to stir up anything from an escalating rivalry of pranks and snubs, to making this the start of a blood feud.
Given the references to there being a ComStar HPG compound on Minos IV (non-canon, of course), I'm somewhat surprised the mercs are being paid in sacks of cash, rather than just having money transferred electronically to their accounts by ComStar. Minos IV must not have a planetary computer network or the infrastructure for electronic funds transfer, making it a cash-based frontier economy.
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Date: April 20, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Anything for a Buck
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: News comes to the players that the Synguard JumpShip has left the system, but that one of its three DropShips has gone missing - never having made its scheduled pick-up of ore at Borlan nor food/water at Duetora.
Players who question Kerrard about its status are told that it is still at Borlan. If they check with Borlan and disprove that assertion, he will claim it is undergoing maintenance in space.
Conducting an investigation in the vicinity of Duetora will bring players into contact with a farmer, who recalls seeing a DropShip with a Synguard emblem passing over his fields, but does not know where it landed.
If asked about landing sites in the vicinity, Colonel Mariam refers the players to Sgt. Joeseph Mannerick, who once ran a now-abandoned military communications station in the desert west of the mountain ridge that demarcates the edge of the Duetoran Valley. He can mark its exact location on the map, but cautions the players not to trespass there without proof that the DropShip is there.
If the players investigate the site, they will find it protected by a vibrabomb minefield around the exterior fenceline, along with a Synguard lance (freshly painted in Redjack Ryan's livery) consisting of a Warhammer, two Wasps, and whatever bandit 'Mechs Synguard obtained during the lawsuit, along with three squads of security infantry (Kerrard's bodyguards).
If the players are forced to retreat, the fake "Ryan's Rebels" 'Mechs will destroy the grain silos at the shipping yard and file a claim against Duetora for restitution of damages (despite having removed the grain for safekeeping).
If the players crush the Synguard lance, local authorities will arrest Kerrard and several other local Synguard officials. Synguard executives claim Kerrard had gone rogue, and deny corporate responsibility. The players will be celebrated as heroes in Duetora.
Notes: There's a hefty amount of "early installment weirdness" here, owing to the author only having MW1E as source material. One such instance is the note that the desert base was used by the DCMS as a military communication station, but abandoned it after ComStar set up services on the world.
Circa 3025, the Combine certainly didn't have their own HPG or even black boxes, so what sort of communications were they doing that could be supplanted by ComStar? All I can think of is that they may have been operating surface to space communications, and ComStar offered to take over that role for a lower fee than it would cost for the DCMS to keep the base staffed and operating. (Additionally, the base's equipment may have been failing, and not worth the expense of maintaining once ComStar arrived to do the job.)
The Synguard ship's low pass over the fields can probably be explained as an attempt to get lost in ground clutter and not appear on radar. But wouldn't it have been tracked up to the point it reached that low altitude? Plus, wouldn't that radar have tracked the ship if, indeed, it had stayed in space for maintenance? Kerrard's cover story seems ludicrously easy to disprove.
I'm also finding the economics of the situation to be questionable. Sure, the city's law requires the compensation payments for damage sustained. But burning down your own house for the insurance payments only makes sense if you aren't planning to live there anymore. If you just invest the money in rebuilding, there's no profit on the bottom line. Even the dodge of pulling the grain out and claiming it was destroyed isn't sustainable for profit, since the cost of reactivating and manning the desert base (which, recall, was closed by the DCMS as uneconomical) and refurbishing the bandit 'Mechs probably well exceeds one DropShip-load of grain.
All I can figure is that Synguard plans to abandon its operations on Minos, figuring that Redjack Ryan will eradicate their infrastructure on the planet in the near-to-mid term in any event, so they might as well get some extra value from it by destroying it themselves before Ryan has the chance. That would fit with their apparent desire to put the squeeze on a settlement that they (presumably) extract a profit from by owning and operating the local production centers and controlling the offworld trade. Why bankrupt the the settlement with overblown damage claims unless you figured they'd all be dead or slaves on Butte Hold in a year or two?
I've never been a fan of vibrabombs - they always seemed to me to be too random. If you set them too light, they blow when your targets are still outside the blast radius. Too heavy, and they don't go off as your foes thunder right over them. About the best use I've ever found for them was to have Assaults charge forward to set them off while enemies were passing over, but even then, command-detonated units would be far superior.
The ones in the battle are rated at 50 tons, meaning the Warhammer will have to stay well back from the fenceline or risk blowing a hole in his own defenses, though the Wasps can frolic out there with impunity. Assuming that (based on the payscale) the players are, at best, running a medium lance, their 'Mechs are in danger of being in the vibrabomb sweet spot. A long-distance snipe-fest would be recommended, except for the presence of that Warhammer - the twin PPCs make it likely the players will come out behind, especially since the battle is in alkali flats (the back side of the standard map sheet), with no cover. For all hexes within 10 hexes of the fenceline, there is a 1-in-3 chance of it being mined (checked when a player 'Mech first enters). Even if the players are outgunned at range, they should resist the urge to close - the last thing they want is to have a leg torn off by a vibrabomb, and most Medium 'Mechs can't stand up to a Warhammer's 14-point kick, so keeping at a distance, running around, and concentrating fire on the Warhammer is your best bet. If the Wasps (and bandit salvage) come out to play, take your best shot, but always keep moving.
The author goes out of his way to keep the players' aerospace assets out of play, suggesting that the base is fully camouflaged by tarps and cannot be seen from aerial flybys, and having Synguard sabotage the player air assets. It seems that, just as editorial steps were taken to remove SDS batteries and WarShips from the equation in mainline BattleTech source material (because there's no game if your unit gets swatted while still inbound towards the planetary surface), early scenario writers were hard pressed to maintain game balance when bombing runs are introduced into the equation.
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Date: April 25, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Anything for a Buck
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: In the days following the battle at the communications base and the exposure of Kerrard's scheme, the Synguard Corporation loudly proclaims its innocence, fingering Kerrard as a rogue agent.
However, the players might find Synguard's protestations somewhat hollow, as Synguard thugs attack the players if they walk the streets alone, or try to lure them into an ambush, with the goal of either intimidating them into not testifying in court, or simply killing them.
If the players survive to testify in court, Kerrard is found guilty and sent to prison.
Notes: Since I hadn't really previously seen the Combine as a "rule of law" society (more a "rule of tradition" society, with nobles doing as they like and the Friendly Persuaders used to beat down anyone who doesn't like their assigned role in society), I decided to look into the Combine's legal system.
Handbook: House Kurita says that justice in the Combine is overseen by the Ministry of Peaceful Order and Honor, which dictates civilian laws and runs the Halls of Swift Justice (criminal courts). Per that entry, those accused of crimes have the right to counsel, the right to confront their accusers, and the right to cross-examination. Those accused are presumed guilty, and must prove their innocence.
Cases with military implications are referred to the Assembly of the Grand Inquisitor (where those deemed guilty simply disappear). Any case involving a noble goes to "Guaranteed Honor for Kurita's Servants" (noble court), which weighs noble testimony far more heavily than the words of mere commoners.
In this case, Kerrard would be assumed guilty and (since he actually is guilty) would have a hard time escaping that outcome, especially with Synguard throwing him under the bus from the get go. All the players have to do is show up to guarantee he can't weasel out with his trademark highly transparent explanation.
Since he was using a former DCMS base and fielding BattleMechs for the purposes of raiding a Combine outpost, however, there's a good chance that this would actually be referred to the Military Court, meaning that the players attend a drumhead court overseen by the city militia commander.
Kerrard doesn't seem to be a noble. If he were able to get it kicked up to Noble Court, I wonder if the Duke of Rasalhague, as the mercs' employer, would be called on to testify.
While Synguard basically owns the land and factories on Minos IV, the Combine has to be making its production and tax quotas off this outpost, or they wouldn't let the trading cartel operate with impunity. Whatever token local administrator represents the Coordinator on this hunk of rock probably is happy to accept the cartel's offer of Kerrard as a sacrifice to avoid upsetting the apple cart. (Synguard putting all the blame on Kerrard can be seen as a form of yobitsume - the yakuza ritual of atonement involving cutting off one or more digits. Kerrard's the digit, in this case.)
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Since the Handbook House Kurita wasn't around when this was written, what did the House Kurita (The Draconis Combine) source say about their legal system in comparison? If i remember right, it's under "Social Problems" which didnt' get into super detail if i remember right.
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It's pretty much the same text, word for word, in both books. Both are under the section on Ministries, in the subsection on Justice.
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Date: May 20, 3026
Location: Minos IV
Title: Now You're Gettin' Nasty!
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: A DCMS Union DropShip arrives in-system attached to an Invader under orders from the Duke of Rasalhague.
When the Union lands on Minos IV, under the command of Colonel Barakor, a Knight of the Wing, it collects the two mercenary lances garrisoning the capital city of Borlan. Barakor takes a shuttle jet to Duetora to order the players to accompany him on a punitive raid against Butte Hold.
The players will either use their own DropShip or be assigned to a DCMS Leopard for this operation.
Notes: Having "sword nobles" holding the title of "knight" (and getting a tiny landhold for his/her "castle") has been a long-established part of the BattleTech universe, but this is the first time I can recall seeing a Combine character with that appellation.
"Knight of the Wing" could imply that there are either ascending knightly ranks, or parallel orders of knights (Knights of the Claw? Knights of the Eye? Knights of the Tooth? Knights of the Tail?) in the Combine, roughly parallel to the Federated Suns' Warrior Societies. We know that there are elite orders within the upper echelons of the Combine, including the Sons of the Dragon.
Efficiency is not, apparently, a requirement for induction into the Knights of the Wing. Why take a shuttle jet to Duetora rather than just sending the players their orders while inbound from the jump point? The only reason I can think of for Colonel Barakor to come to Duetora in person is that the ISF considers the local communications network compromised by Redjack Ryan's agents (not a bad bet, considering how the space radar operator was suborned), and wanted to keep the retaliatory raid off the commnet to ensure the raiding force has the element of surprise.
It's also interesting that Colonel Barakor only commands a single lance on this operation, backed by three unaffiliated mercenary lances, given that his rank would usually correspond with regimental command. Either he's the Combine equivalent of a "social general," or he's risen through the ranks on the intelligence side of the house - perhaps as a DEST hotshot. (We'll have to see if his personal lance lives up to that rep, or if the players will have to pull his fat out of the fire.)
Also interesting that the Duke of Rasalhague is the named source of the orders for the retaliatory raid. Reading the Combine sourcebooks, the District Warlord has authority in all military matters, while the civilian administrator (the Duke, in this case) must be subservient to the Warlord's authority. That's why Duke Ricol's semi-independent operations with his own private army was so out of character in the Gray Death Legion books, given the headaches his autonomy would have created for Warlord Sorenson.
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Date: June 20, 3026
Location: Butte Hold
Title: Now You're Gettin' Nasty!
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: En route to Butte Hold, Barakor briefs the players on the mission parameters. The player unit is to execute an orbital drop on a small equatorial town named Gehenna and secure a landing pad. Once the pad is secure, the Barakor's Union will land and his lance will lead the mercenary company to destroy Gehenna.
As the two DCMS DropShips approach Butte Hold's orbital space, they may (at GM discretion - primarily as a way to give any player aerospace assets a workout) have to fight their way past Ryan's Rebels' aerospace fighters attempting to intercept.
Once the orbital lanes are clear, the player 'Mechs are dropped onto the Gehenna spaceport (a landing pad, a hardened two-story building with an AC/5 turret, a Light one-story vehicle hangar, a Medium two-story infantry barracks building, and a Medium three-story 'Mech bay.
The landing pad garrison consists of two foot rifle infantry platoons, one foot SRM infantry platoon, a Manticore, an Ostroc, an Ostsol, and an Ostscout. (If player aerospace assets survived the orbital battle, more pirate aerospace assets should be added to the fray, though the setup notes that "Redjack's Air Force is rather pitiful.")
If the players are defeated by the defending forces, Colonel Barakor abandons them on Butte Hold and returns to the Invader at the jump point. If the players succeed, the Union lands and Barakor disembarks his company.
As the Combine raiding force, including the player 'Mechs, stages for the push against Gehenna, the city garrison uses a Long Tom artillery gun to fire a fission-bomb-tipped missile at the landing pad. The bomb detonates in the high atmosphere, creating an EMP field that shuts down every unit on the pad, and makes any unprotected personnel suffer from radiation poisoning.
The Gehenna garrison dispatches a 'Mech lance and supporting infantry to annihilate the neutralized Combine raiders. Colonel Barakor orders his men to retreat into the mountains on foot.
Notes: The main Butte Hold settlement in this adventure is named "Gehenna," but (naturally) the canon maps for Butte Hold (in Touring the Stars: Butte Hold) show no such city. Named settlements on that map include Raider's Roost (Ryan's HQ), Mater, 'Urt, Grennid, Thieves' Harbor, Yonker Oasis, and Singlestown. (Interestingly, Raider's Roost is also the name for the planetary capital of Tortuga Prime - another hive of scum and villainy on the other side of the Inner Sphere. Typo or intentional copy? You decide!) Thieves' Harbor is probably the best canon stand-in for Gehenna, since it's near mountains and one of the closest settlements to the equator. (There is a canon "Gehenna City" in BattleTech, but it's located on the Kerensky Cluster world of Hellgate.)
So...where to start? The author clearly holds some antipathy towards aerospace assets in the campaign - routinely having maintenance issues or sabotage sideline them. In this phase, he describes the Ryan's Rebels aerospace assets as "pitiful." By contrast, the "pirate operations" section of Field Manual: Periphery notes that aerospace assets are the most important part of a proper space pirate's arsenal when going after valuable cargoes aboard JumpShips and DropShips. 'Mechs are only useful for guarding the home base and for raiding planetary targets.
The only canon reference we have to Ryan hitting a JumpShip, however, is in the Periphery sourcebook, when he appears to either be using a militarized JumpShip or (more likely) an Assault DropShip to hit a commercial JumpShip that strayed into the Butte Hold system after getting caught in an ion storm. Since there was no mention of fighters in that action, Ryan's Rebels' fighter assets may indeed be pitiful.
Regarding using a Long Tom to launch a nuclear missile at the landing pad, two things:
1) Huh?
also
2) What?
Trying to translate this into canon, we could be looking at a Davy Crockett-M, which can actually be launched in shell-form (though not as a missile) from a Long Tom. On the other hand, the rules also state that DC-M attacks are always ground bursts, meaning that they can't be used for this sort of high altitude airburst to create EMP and radiation effects.
Since it was stated that the warhead was launched on a missile (discounting the Long Tom reference), we're looking at a Santa Ana (the Alamo is described as being designed for launch from a fighter) mounted on a White Shark. One thought is that the White Shark could be jury-rigged to be launched from atop a Mobile Long Tom chassis, which would satisfy both the airburst capability and the statement that it was launched from a Long Tom.
Either way, Ryan having nukes implies that he found and looted at least one SLDF or Amaris (or even Reunification War-era) doomsday bunker out in the Periphery, like the ones on Garrote or Cermak, since I don't see Butte Hold itself manufacturing much beyond compressed krill rations (Butte Bricks). The adventure confirms this, noting that "Ryan found an ancient fission bomb" and fired it aboard "an ancient missile." It may even date back to the Reunification War, when the RWR turned many of its border worlds into "hedgehog" planets, dotted with fortifications capable of launching cruise missiles.
The ruleset from Jihad Hot Spots: 3070 indicates that the airburst can be up to 18 km up from the surface and still affect the ground below. However, the canon secondary effects are both nastier and shorter lasting than depicted here. Unarmored personnel suffer 25-100% casualties, rather than just getting radiation sickness. The worst result on the Secondary table automatically shuts 'Mechs down, but also kills the pilots and inflicts 1D6 critical hits. Barakor isn't leading anyone into the mountains after that. If the worst effects are avoided, all unprotected personnel still die, but pilots only suffer four hits, and must make a shutdown roll with a TN of 10+. A glancing blow only kills half the unprotected personnel, gives pilots two hits, and forces a shutdown check at 6+.
Since the shutdowns aren't any longer than usual, there'd be no reason to abandon the afflicted 'Mechs - they'll restart in a turn or two (unless the TN remains at 10+ - the table isn't clear on that). Since the 'Mechs do get abandoned, we have to assume that they took a hard hit that resulted in a persistent 10+ TN for shutdown and four pilot hits apiece. With fresh 'Mechs inbound and no guarantee that his 'Mechs would restart any time soon (c'mon 10, 11, or 12!), I can see Barakor fleeing. I'm just surprised that they would be able to evade Ryan's 'Mechs, which would be able to outrun dismounted MechWarriors on foot (wearing, at best, survival clothing from their ejection seat emergency lockers) in no time flat.
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Date: June 21, 3026
Location: Butte Hold
Title: Now You're Gettin' Nasty!
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: Once the Combine/Mercenary survivors break contact with Ryan's Rebels in the aftermath of the nuclear strike, Colonel Barakor develops a plan based on the idea that nuclear missiles have been outlawed by treaty between the Five Houses. He orders the players to split off from the main group, evade the pursuing Ryan's Rebels' infantry, and infiltrate the town of Gehenna.
In Gehenna, the players' goal is to reach a ComStar relay station which can transmit messages to the Class B station in orbit. Barakor believes that once House Kurita learns of the use of a nuclear device, it will dispatch a punitive expedition to crush Ryan.
Notes: Hrrmm. Yet another example of how much more refined the concepts of HPGs, ComStar, and the Ares Conventions have become since the early days, when authors only had the capsule universe guide from MechWarrior 1st Edition.
Why would Ryan care about the Ares Conventions? He certainly wasn't one of the original signatories, and his authority doesn't derive from any of the Houses that signed it. Not to mention, it was formally suspended at the outset of the Reunification War and never re-imposed. No references support the idea that comprehensive five-party nuclear weapons limitation treaties were signed in the post-Reunification War era either. Even if they had been, Ryan's a pirate, and he didn't sign those either.
Stephan Wieck certainly couldn't have foreseen the contents of Touring the Stars: Butte Hold, but the description of ComStar manning a messaging station in a bandit kingdom sounds dicey, especially if he was going off the info in MW1E, which states on p. 130: "There are well over 50 'A' stations scattered throughout the Inner Sphere. In addition, there are stations capable of transmission and reception over a 20- to 30-light-year span. These are the 'B' stations located at every inhabited world in the Inner Sphere, except the independent worlds of Butte Hold, Redmond, Unuk al Hay, Santander, Oberon, and New Silesia."
So, per canon, there certainly shouldn't be a Class B orbital HPG being run by ComStar. TtS: Butte Hold does, actually, reference the presence of an HPG on the planet, but describes the Star League-era Class B station as "abandoned" circa 3026, noting that Ryan built his fortress directly on top of it. The legacy facility wasn't restored to operation until 3120. Even if the HPG were functional in 3026, I think it might be beyond the capabilities of a team of irradiated mercenary MechWarriors without 'Mechs to infiltrate Ryan's fortress at Raider's Roost, penetrate to the sub-basement, and fire up the HPG to send a distress call. (And if it is within their capabilities, the GM should be clear at the outset of the adventure that the players are an elite "Blake's Wrath" special forces team under cover as green mercenaries.)
One alternative would be to have the players make a run for an ISF safehouse in Gehenna, and rely on the crew there to send a courier out to make contact with the Combine. Or, taking a page from Grayson Carlisle on Verthandi, have the team target an in-system communications facility and send a message to the DCMS Invader theoretically still at the jump point (since it won't have Lithium Fusion batteries for a quick jump-out) asking it to go for help.
In terms of motivation, rather than a desire to crush Redjack Ryan, I'd think the Combine's ears would perk up at the mention of the ancient nuclear missile, since it suggests Ryan may be sitting on additional LosTech that would look nice in the Coordinator's personal vaults, or may know where to get it.
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Date: August 1, 3026
Location: Butte Hold
Title: Now You're Gettin' Nasty!
Author: Stephan Wieck
Type: Encounter (White Wolf Magazine #8)
Synopsis: After the players succeed in sending a distress call (by whatever means the GM works out), they have to spend the intervening period either trying to survive in the slimy alleyways of Gehenna or playing cat and mouse in the Tholine Desert with Ryan's search teams as they try to link up with Barakor's group in the mountains.
When the Combine relief expedition comes, it is swift, powerful, and devastating to Redjack Ryan. Surviving characters will be well paid and have their 'Mechs fully repaired. Their reputations will be substantially enhanced if they successfully seized the landing zone (the original mission objective), making them eligible for more lucrative missions from House Kurita in the future.
Notes: In addition to surviving the mean streets of Gehenna or trying to find the elusive Colonel Barakor, the GM could tempt the team to spend the intervening month searching the Tholine Desert for LosTech. Per TtS: Butte Hold, Combine raiders stashed equipment in salt caverns across the planet during the Third Hidden War, and locals have been discovering them since the 2800s. While TtS suggests that the booty isn't great (ammunition, small arms, rations), Ryan did find that nuclear missile somewhere... Plus, he stashes his loot from his raids in the caves as well.
The massive Kurita invasion (probably a regiment of Rasalhague Regulars) could be interesting to play out. Entries on Ryan note that nearby governments were reluctant to hit Butte Hold directly for fear of him executing hostages and/or deploying chemical weapons against the invaders. If he's willing to use nukes against raiding forces, that's probably a justified fear. Kurita may be inclined to simply bite the bullet, though, and accept the losses in order to lance the boil that Ryan represents.
While this is non-canon (from a non-licensed gaming magazine), a heavy Kurita raid that smashed his infrastructure and forced him to flee for a time may have been what led him to more seriously consider an alliance with Maria Morgraine, with whom he'd go on to form the Greater Valkyriate in 3028.
It would actually be a fun campaign to pit Ryan's Rebels against the Rasalhague Regulars, with the Regulars trying to pin down the wily Redjack with superior numbers, while Redjack tries to escape with as much of his crew and booty as possible, strategically employing his limited military assets alongside his collection of ancient WMDs. A good chance to roll out the chemical and nuclear weapons rule sets from the Jihad sourcebooks. Those looking to fit this into the canonical timeline can assume Ryan fled with most of his troops intact, and then returned to Butte Hold a year or so later, once the Combine had burned his fortress down and departed. (His booty remained sealed in secret tunnels, and he'd only built the fortress in 3017, so an easy construction job to rebuild it.)
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The nuke - I don't think there is even reason to believe every nuke in the BattleTech universe falls under those types that we've got rules for. As a strategic, plot-level weapon, any nuclear device with basically any stats is fine by me. Depending on the distances involved, hey, why not a rocket/missile based airburst warhead that's fired from a Long Tom.
The fact that Ryan can use a nuke he found is way more unbelievable than that such a nuke existed.
Ryan's aerospace assets - He was an established space pirate, not only from that testimony but also from his (brief, and victorious) war of vengeance against Monopole Lines (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Monopole). His boarding DropShip was gutted by an explosive charge anti-pirate system on a Monopole JumpShips, Ryan destroyed three other Monopole JumpShips to bring a message across, and Monopole subsequently abandoned their anti-piracy program as inefficient. (FM:Periphery, p. 125)
Apocryphally, Redjack Ryan aerospace is mentioned in the scenario going with TCI model kit (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/TCI_Model_Sets) #5, with the scenario fiction told through the eyes of a downed Redjack Ryan pilot.
HPGs - Oberon VI was also frequently listed as possessing a class B station, though it mysteriously went dark in 3045 (apparently intended by the authors to foreshadow the Clan Invasion, but four years early with no proper explanation ever given). So I'd take that MW 1st Ed. list with a grain of salt.
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We actually have rules for creating nuclear weapons, and the fact that it's described as a fission device suggests it's not a standard weapon (those are fusion weapons). The easiest way to fit it in would probably be a custom tech C warhead.
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I'd say, then, based on the description given, we're looking at something in the Davy Crockett class of yield with a rocket boost that kicks in after it leaves the artillery tube so it can get high enough to airburst - sort of like a huge gyrojet with a nuclear payload.
Still, the idea of firing off an ancient weapon mounted on an ancient missile sounds risky in the extreme. It would have denied the players agency and cut the adventure short, but it would've been wonderful if there had been a sidebar with the following text:
GM: Roll 2D6. On a 4 or less, read the following text to the players. "As you begin marching towards Gehenna on your mission of destruction, there is a bright flash from the center of town that momentarily blanks your sensors and causes your transparisteel viewport to automatically darken to opacity. When you can see again, you note that a blast wave has flattened most of the structures in the city and set the rest on fire - smoke from which rises to join the towering mushroom cloud looming over the doomed settlement. Mission accomplished, and you didn't even have to cross the city line! That'll teach those bandits to play with ancient packages marked 'Danger!'"
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Date: June 18, 3023
Location: Les Halles
Title: Hot City Night
Author: Kevin O'Neil
Type: Scenario (Breakout! Magazine #31)
Synopsis: The setup notes that Maximilian Liao plans a major incursion into the Free Worlds League, and first needs to secure Les Halles as a staging base for strikes against industrial and political targets deeper inside the League.
In June 3023, the mercenary unit Farnsworth's Fusiliers, under Liao contract, engaged two companies of Marik mercenaries - elements of Caesar's Cohorts - in the large city of New Nelson. After CO Larry Farnsworth ordered a frontal assault on the superior Marik positions (which were supported by LRM turrets rigged on many of the taller buildings), Lt. James Xenon disobeyed orders and instead flanked the Marik lines and hit a staging area where two Marik reserve lances were stationed.
The battle pits Xenon's lance (Crusader-L, Wolverine-M, Trebuchet, and Blackjack-D) against Caesar's Cohorts' "Red Glare Fire Lance" (Archer, Dervish, Dervish, Stinger) and "Brush Breakers Light Recon Lance" (Phoenix Hawk, Ostscout, Locust, Locust). Red Glare was taken by surprise out of their 'Mechs, and those units may not move or fire, and are considered shut down, for the first four turns.
The battlefield is the original CityTech map with 30 buildings on it, ranging in height from 1 to 4 stories.
The battle takes place at night, with all applicable modifiers, with the exception that all city hexes and adjacent hexes are illuminated by street lights.
Caesar's Cohorts score 2 points for each Fusilier destroyed, 1 point for each Fusilier 'Mech disabled (unable to walk or fire), and 1 point for each Cohort 'Mech that exits the map after turn 9.
The Fusiliers score 2 points for each Caesar 'Mech destroyed, 2 for each Caesar 'Mech incapacitated, and 1 point for each Caesar 'Mech still on the board at the end of game turn 15.
In the style of early FASA scenario packs, we also get brief bios and stat-blocs the Fusiliers' lance members.
Lt. James Xenon (G3/P3) - Age 39, from Kagal. Completely bald due to a neurohelmet malfunction.
Teela Cavendish (G4/P3) - Age 27, from Arcadial. Older brother joined ComStar, inherited her father's Wolverine when he died.
Igor Zissus (G4/P4) - Age 21, from Thorin. Huge (7 feet tall) and ugly, he was abandoned as a child and sees Xenon as a father figure. Shaved his head out of loyalty to his CO, and convinced the rest of the lance to do so as well.
Dang Fo (G3/P4) - Age 20, from Ovan. A shifty rogue with a secretive background.
Notes: As could be expected in a non-canon unlicensed scenario, the initial setup doesn't fit the universe. There was no way, circa 3023, that Max Liao was planning a "McCarron's Long March"-style heavy raid through a number of Marik systems. The ink was still wet on the Concord of Kapteyn (signed October 13, 3022) that, in theory, bound the Capellans, Leaguers, and Combine together into an anti-FedCom alliance. While some minor border raids may still have taken place on the Marik/Liao border after the Concord was signed, there's no way Max would be launching a major shock-and-awe raid through the backyard of his new ally.
Playing out the scenario, the obvious first move by the Fusiliers is to go after the Fire Lance and take them out while they're immobile. Make best speed to their bivouac, taking any shots you can, and get up to physical attack range, then kick their legs off (or get behind them and blast through that thin rear armor to get the tasty missile rack criticals inside). Aside from the Phoenix Hawk, the rest of the Brush Breakers aren't going to do much more than muss your paint jobs with their medium lasers.
Assuming that the Fire Lance is mostly ruined before they power up, then turn your attention to chasing down the Brush Breakers - all of which can outrun you in a zone packed with hiding places. Odds are you won't be able to do much to them if they keep buildings between you and them, but you can at least keep them busy until they bug out on turn 10+.
For the Cohorts, you can't effectively impede the Fusiliers' approach towards Red Glare's starting point, since they all have jump jets. Fall back to join the Red Glare 'Mechs and make the Fusiliers pay if they try close assaults against your fire lance. Shoot up their backsides and try to draw fire from Red Glare in the hopes that one or two will be relatively intact at the start of turn 5, at which point you can assess your options for taking them on head to head or engaging in a fighting retreat.
It's unclear why the author would chose some canon systems (Ovan and Thorin) as homeworlds and make up others (Arcadial and Kagal). Given the roughness of the art, I'm guessing the backstory about sympathetic head shaving was to cover the artist's lack of confidence in their hair-drawing abilities.
If we take the power-up sequence from Blaine Pardoe's NAIS training manual as even semi-canon, then the Fire Lance troops are in their 'Mechs already and eight rounds into the 12-round emergency start-up procedure at the start of the scenario. (So no option of machine gunning them as they sprint from the barracks across the tarmac towards their 'Mechs.)
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Date: June 19, 3023
Location: Les Halles
Title: A Question of Honor
Author: Kevin O'Neil
Type: Scenario (Breakout! Magazine #31)
Synopsis: Upset about Lt. James Xenon's insubordination during the assault on New Nelson, Captain Larry Farnsworth challenges Xenon to a duel, with the winner remaining and the loser departing in disgrace.
The two duelists meet at dawn in the shadow of Mount Guano. Farnsworth (P5/G4) gains a +2 on the first turn's initiative roll, while Xenon (due to a hangover) rolls at a -1 penalty for initiative for the entire scenario. Xenon pilots a Crusader-L while Farnsworth is in a Victor-B.
The duel lasts ten rounds, with the winner being the one with the highest point total at the end.
1 point - each armor hit on the front or side
2 points - each internal structure hit on the front or side
2 points - each critical hit
2 points - each physical attack made
3 points - each physical attack made on the rear
3 points - getting first blood
-4 points - each weapon attack against the rear
Points are cumulative, so a physical attack against the rear that and scores a critical hit would be worth 7 points. (2 for physical, 3 for physical from the rear, 2 for critical hit).
Historically, Farnsworth used his initiative advantage to win handily, maneuvering to deny Xenon a clear shot at him, then getting in close and Alpha striking with his AC/20, lasers, and feet, felling the Crusader. Defeated, Xenon left the Fusiliers.
Notes: Assuming this is fought on a standard BattleTech map (the setup just says "use the map shown below from Map Set 1" but there is no accompanying illustration), the Crusader is at a substantial disadvantage.
Xenon's Crusader-L has two LRM-10s, 2 SRM-4s, two Medium Lasers, and a 4/6/4 movement profile. It can only Alpha Strike with all its weapons effectively when the target is in the sweet spot at Range 6 (Medium Range for the SRMs and Lasers, and Short +1 for minimum range for the LRMs). Given the initiative penalties, Farnsworth will be controlling the engagement range in most rounds, especially the first.
Since the Victor is a short-range brawler, Xenon wants to keep his distance as much as possible. Jump away as much as possible and pepper the Victor with LRM fire. Since you outrange him, it should be easy to score the "First Blood" points.
To game the point system as much as possible, you can turn your back on the Victor once it closes to effective shooting range for its weaponry. He'll get a -4 penalty for every shot he takes, and you can still torso twist and fire off one arm's worth of LRMs. Just don't keep your back turned once he gets close enough for physical attacks.
Once you get backed into a corner (and you will, as you keep losing initiative and you're fighting in a one-map broom closet), hope you've done enough ranged damage to make the contest more even.
For Farnsworth, you want to close as quickly as possible. You can also game the point system by jumping towards the Crusader backwards, denying him any point-making opportunities from LRM fire. Once you get into weapons range, land facing forwards and rip into him with your AC. If he's playing the same "show him your backside" game, keep closing until you're up close and personal, and either pound his rear armor with physical attacks, or hit him from the front with an Alpha Strike. If he tries to shield his rear by backing up against the map edge, just shove him off and win by default.
Overall, a mismatched scenario designed to result in the intended outcome, with an odd point system that can result in bizarre tactics generally not seen on the battlefield.
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Date: May 1, 3025
Location: Planting
Title: Revenge
Author: Kevin O'Neil
Type: Scenario (Breakout! Magazine #31)
Synopsis: More than a year after his defeat and dismissal from Farnsworth's Fusiliers, James Xenon is serving in a Steiner fire lance assigned to put down a Kurita-backed insurgency on Planting. While defending a hill, Xenon comes face to face with Larry Farnsworth and his command lance, now under Kurita contract.
The two square off for a rematch.
The Fusiliers Command Lance is Farnsworth's Victor-B, along with a Thunderbolt (P5/G3), Rifleman (P5/G4), and a Locust (P4/G4). Xenon's Fire Lance is his Crusader-L, a standard Crusader (P5/G4), a Catapult (P5/G5), and a Wasp (P5/G3).
Points are scored as follows:
+1 - Each shot fired by Xenon or Farnsworth that hits the other
+15 - each crippled enemy 'Mech (can't walk more than one hex per turn, or can't fire)
+20 - each destroyed enemy 'Mech
+5 - each enemy that leaves the board after its leader is eliminated
+5 - Having your leader take out the other leader
+10 - each 'Mech left on the board five turns after their leader dies.
When a side's leader's 'Mech is destroyed, Forced Withdrawal conditions apply, and the losing side (depending on a 2D6 roll) gets a 0 to -2 initiative penalty.
Historically, Xenon put both fists through the Victor's cockpit, killing Farnsworth. The Fusiliers approached Xenon later that night, noting that Farnsworth had no heirs, and offered him command of the unit, which he renamed The Shanghai Express.
This scenario takes place on a single BattleTech map that has a river cutting through the middle. The two sides start on opposite sides of the river.
Notes: While Farnsworth's lance starts with a slight weight advantage, Xenon's fire lance starts with a massive range advantage, thanks to all its LRMs. Optimal deployment would be for the missile 'Mechs to hide behind the hill while the Wasp jumps about and spots. Keep that up until either the Fusiliers ford the river and close in, or the Wasp gets pot-shotted, or you run out of missiles, and then take your relatively fresh heavies out against Farnsworth's (hopefully) battered crew. If possible, direct your missiles at Farnsworth's Victor, since taking him down basically wins the scenario unless you've taken catastrophic losses beforehand.
For Farnsworth, Have the Thunderbolt and Rifleman stay still while the Victor and Locust advance. Use your greater accuracy and long-range firepower to snipe the Steiner spotter, forcing the missile launching 'Mechs to come out into the open. Then charge - you're mostly close-range, so try to push them up against the edge where you have a decided firepower advantage. A long range slugfest gives the Steiner forces significant advantage.
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<Posted in error, and I can't find the delete button>
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I'll put you down as Team Farnsworth. ;)
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I have a physical copy of Breakout #31 -- picked it up at a con years ago. The only issue I ever saw of that magazine....
Craig
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I’ve been lurking on eBay, trying to get a complete set of the old gaming mags with BattleTech content. The Mechforce NA and UK periodicals have proven highly elusive.
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I'd imagine you have go to Gaming conventions where players sell their stuff. Those magazines aren't common place stuff, they were more likely thrown out since they weren't as well known and solidly made unlike other magazines.
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Date: October 1, 3027
Title: BattleTechnology 0102
Editor: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Magazine (Pacific Rim Publishing Company)
Synopsis: Written (mostly) from an in-universe perspective, BattleTechnology 0102 is brought to us by editor William H. Keith (author of the Gray Death Legion novels). In his opening editorial, he explains the magazine's various departments and issues a call for readers to send in articles.
Hiring Hall - Hassid Ricol: The Red Duke (William H. Keith, Jr.)
The Hiring Hall column evaluates the potential of Duke Hassid Ricol as an employer, noting that he has a nearly constant need for mercenaries of various types ("B" rating for "Need" on an A to Z scale), offers excellent compensation ("C" rating for "Pay"), but pairs that with hardship postings to hostile environments or remote garrisons ("T" rating for "Conditions"). The article notes that Duke Hassid Ricol treats his mercenaries much more fairly than is standard for the Draconis Combine.
Ricol holds the title of Archduke, with title to 14 worlds in the Rasalhague Military District, including Kufstein's World, the Edge, Verthandi, Chekaar, Basiliano, Dahlgren, New Caledonia, Harvest, and 5 other worlds seized from House Steiner between 2997 and 3027). He makes his ducal seat on Rodigo, in the city of Alexis. House Ricol was part of the original settlers on Rodigo in the late 2200s. General Henn Ricol became the first Duke of Rodigo in 2785, and Hassid became the 12th "Red Duke of Rodigo" in 3011. (The Red Duke moniker derives from the color of House Rodigo's crest, and has been an official title since the reign of Stefani Ricol, 3rd Duke of Rodigo.)
A flamboyant figure who has cultivated a reputation for both political and military skill, he has survived five assassination attempts since 3019, and many of his enemies have had convenient accidents, or simply vanished. He has an efficient network of spies and informers, and uses mercenaries more than other Combine nobles.
In 3024, he sent his troops to Trell I, posing as Oberon Confederation bandits, and drove out the Steiner mercenaries there, setting up the opportunity for "friendly" Combine forces to "rescue" the populace from the bandits. The plan failed due to resistance from the local militia (aided by mercenary survivors and Oberon defectors), which delayed the Combine takeover long enough for word to reach the Lyran garrison at Antares. This was followed by an uprising on Verthandi which forced Ricol to grant the world semi-autonomous status.
These setbacks have jeopardized his standing at the Court on Luthien. While observers expect him to act to settle the Verthandi matter, rumors hint that a secret project in Marik and Liao space may have his attention.
Ricol is presently seeking mercenaries to suppress unrest in his holdings, and seeking freelance spies and bounty hunters to keep him informed on what's happening elsewhere in the Inner Sphere. Mercenaries can expect offers of anti-rebel operations (ranging from fighting rebel forces, invading rebel worlds, besieging rebel cities, and riot duty/crowd control), defense against Steiner invasions, garrison duty, training cadre duty. Contract durations range from six to twelve months. Pay is handled through ComStar, but may also include landholds on rebellious worlds. Liaison officers will be attached during operations. Transportation will be provided by House Ricol once the unit arrives on Rodigo.
BattleTechnology gives Ricol a marginally favorable recommendation, noting that the pay and opportunity is substantially offset by the high casualty rates among his past employees, with rumors that some were hired with the intent of liquidating them for political gain.
BattleGear - Sidearms - Submachine Guns (William H. Keith, Jr.)
Due to the technological decline of the Inner Sphere, lasers have been largely supplanted by far simpler, yet still lethal weapons like the submachine gun, which can be built and maintained with a 20th century technology base.
The New Avalon Edition of the Galactic Consumer's Report, Volume 27, Number 5, lists the following models:
Bereiter Model 14 (M14) - a light-weight, concealable SMG used by MechWarriors, security forces, intelligence agents, bodyguards, anti-terrorist teams, marine boarders, and commando squads. The high rate of fire can burn through a clip in 2.5 seconds (though at full-auto "buzzsaw" mode, the recoil destroys accuracy and leads to jamming).
Imperator 2894A1 - rugged and reliable, the Imperator SMG is commonly used by military, special ops, and security forces. The weapon's chief feature is a sound suppressor, though this does reduce damage and armor-penetration.
Rugan SMG - Common in the Periphery or backwater Inner Sphere planets, due to the ease of manufacture and maintenance. They are generally manufactured locally under license from Rugan Enterprises of New Earth. It uses caseless rounds, allowing more rounds to be fitted into a magazine and reduces the chance of jamming, though sourcing caseless ammo from unlicensed sources may result in feed jams, misfires, and a reduction of the weapon's hitting power.
Rorynex Industries 3-mm Sliver SMG Model XXI (RM-3/XXI) - designed as a close assault weapon (for ranges less than 100 meters), this SMG fires caseless explosive slivers. It is lightweight and inexpensive, and thus popular with planetary militias. It also sees use with line infantry, special ops forces, MechWarriors, and security forces. The main problem is availability of the caseless ammo on less developed worlds.
Kogyo-Khorsakov Special Purpose Weapon, M-920 - Favored by Kurita special ops and security forces, including the Otomo, it can be silenced and can mount a bayonet.
Thorvald & Koch MP SMG - One of the finest SMGs in the Inner Sphere, it is produced on New Avalon, Tharkad, and Skye in limited numbers. It fires large rounds - either hollow-point or explosive. Its short bullpup configuration makes it ideal for close-quarters fighting where heavy firepower is needed. Davion and Steiner commandos favor it heavily.
MechTac - BattleTips - The David Ambush (William H. Keith, Jr.) (covered separately as a Short Story)
Black Luthien (William H. Keith, Jr.)
Written by in-universe author Roger van Nuys, this profile fleshes out the history and culture of Luthien. Before becoming the site of the new Combine capital in 2617, the world featured uninhabitable equatorial deserts, shallow seas, and steamy polar swamps where fewer than three million farmers harvested bamboo, rubber, Jukwood, and Tushani crustaceans.
Today, 70% of the land area and much of the shallow seacoasts are covered by industrial facilities and manufacturing centers - creating tremendous output, along with pollution that has most native species on the brink of extinction. These industrial zones are surrounded by "housing utopias" - vast slums with poor living conditions.
Tashiro Smith, with the Luthien Ministry of Information, presents an alternate perspective through the lens of Imperial City - rising out of reclaimed swampland, it is a cluster of magnificent palaces of teak, marble, quartz, ediobony, and granite amidst parks of imported sequoia, birch, and traverswood trees lining the Daimyo Canal. He notes it took five years to drain the swamps, with each building and monument a unique work of hard built mostly by hand. He asserts that the construction ignited an explosion of interest in old Japanese customs, traditions, art, and architecture which was spread across the Combine by Kokogaku ("National Learning") edicts. He views the extinction of the Tushani xenocrustaceans as a small price to pay for the gleaming glory of Imperial City.
Smith complains that the Combine's reputation has been besmirched by Davion propaganda, and cites the Galahad wargames as proof that the Combine has to endure a constant state of siege. Per Smith, the Combine's citizens see themselves as stubborn, courageous, and independent people surrounded by hostile outsiders.
A sidebar notes that House Davion launched GALAHAD '27 in August 3027, engaging in extensive "training and preparedness exercises" primarily along the Combine/Suns border. Many cross-border raids and other incidents have taken place during GALAHAD. Addressing Combine protests that House Davion wants to exterminate the Draconian people, Federated Suns representatives noted only that the Third Succession War has not ended.
The Nekekami (Thomas S. Gressman)
Tomo Ochiba, a professor of history at the University of Luthien, provides an in-depth profile of the Nekekami - the "spirit cats" of the Draconis Combine as part of a larger manuscript on the Nekekami he plans to publish later in 3027. He died of heart failure at age 39, apparently of natural causes, as this article was being published.
In 3026, House Kurita successfully raided the machine tool plant at Cantaba, on Lyons' southern continent, stealing millions of C-bills worth of industrial goods, using intel provided by an infiltrator who penetrated the Rangers' fortress and breached the headquarters vault - a chamber carved from solid rock and guarded by checkpoints and sentry stations. The infiltrator left behind a calling card - origami of a crouching black cat - the sign of the Nekekami.
The Nekekami is a blanket term for several family clans of professional spies and assassins who have been occasionally employed by House Kurita and other nobles. Though a small clan, their record of outstanding success in seemingly impossible missions has given rise to an unmatched reputation, as well as rumors that they can make themselves invisible, induce temporary comas to reduce the need for oxygen, and walk through walls.
The detailed information in this profile comes from an interview with a Nekekami informant who died "of natural causes" in his prison cell within hours of granting the interview.
One cannot join the Nekekami - they must be born into the clan, though only a few from each generation are chosen for training as Nekekami warriors at age 10. From 10-14, they train physically, learn unarmed combat and how to use ancient weapons, and work to solve puzzles and riddles. They also learn stealth and psychology. At age 15, they train with projectile, melee and energy weapons, as well as poisons and explosives. They absorb a philosophy of accomplishing missions with a minimum of bloodshed, teaching "If a Nekekami draws steel, his mission has failed."
The Nekekami prefer to use their bare hands or ancient weapons. The longbow is a favorite, and all are skilled with the sword, knife, crossbow, and throwing blades. Though familizarized, the Nekekami regard lasers, missile launchers and flamers as "inelegant."
They are master poisoners, skilled with ferro-cyanide, strychnine, sodium meta-choline, Eniffian Gremlin Viper venom, and "The Dragon's Tears" - a few drops of which will drive the victim insane.
Though the clan lacks the resources of the ISF, they have demonstrated proficiency with highly sophisticated electronic lockpicks (though C-96 plastic explosive or highly corrosive acid will work for old fashioned mechanical locks).
Climbing claws and grappling hooks help the Nekekami scale seemingly sheer walls, while pulleys, harnesses, and ziplines allow them to cross between buildings. They are also skilled at HALO drops. Once inside a target facility, the Nekekami infiltrators have proven adept at memorizing the data they find, without the need for electronic recording devices.
The Nekekami are also skilled at sabotage, such as when they infiltrated an AFFS garrison on Conroe and disabled the leg actuators of the heavy BattleMechs there, leaving them helpless before a Kuritan follow-up attack. In September 3025, Davion techs on Talcott discovered a shaped charge of plastic explosive molded atop the fuel tank of a jet used by the Council President, which had apparently been put in place two years earlier when the plane was being built.
Once a mission is complete, the Nekekami are trained in escape and evasion. Cached equipment helps them swiftly traverse rough terrain, and small anti-personnel mines and other booby traps can be laid to discourage pursuit.
Being captured alive is a Nekekami's greatest disgrace. Once a Nekekami trainee attains Warrior status, they sever all ties with their family and are, by tradition, considered already dead. When capture seems imminent, Nekekami commit suicide using fast-acting nerve poisons sewn into their garments. Some captured unconscious/wounded were later able to use their body control to stop their own hearts.
Nekekami are mercenaries who command high prices. A single operative may charge 200,000 C-bills per mission. While they have never been officially connected with the Combine government on Luthien, they have also never hired out to employers outside the Combine. It is speculated that they are frequently employed in the palace intrigue within the Combine - dispatched by warlords, high-ranking nobles, and other factions to advance their own positions within the Combine's rigid hierarchy.
A Dagger's Death (covered separately as a Short Story)
BattleMechanics - BattleColors (William H. Keith, Jr.)
This article explains how to paint forest camos for a variety of climates, and notes worlds where each scheme would be particularly effective.
Green Woodland Camo #1 - a broken pattern of greens and browns designed to blend in with the leaves and brush - is recommended for the following:
Verthandi - The lowland forest in the Silvan Depression is dense, though the camo would need to be adapted to change the olive to blue-green or dark blue, since the local vegetation has evolved a blue-green chlorophyll analogue.
Tall Trees - Most of Tall Trees land area is covered by deep woods which stretch from sea to sea and nearly pole to pole. Low gravity allow Xenosequoias to grow to over a kilometer in height, with diameters of over 60 meters. The high level canopy blocks most of the sunlight before it reaches the ground, making surface vegetation sparse or non-existent.
Dehgolan - A jungle planet with a hot, fetid atmosphere, settlements are clustered on the shores of its seas to avoid the vicious predators of the Deep Jungle. BattleMechs are recommended for those who wish to return from an expedition. Fighting between Combine and Steiner forces in 3015 resulted in 60% casualties as damaged 'Mechs blundered into deep swamps or were destroyed by local wildlife.
Kesai VI is a desert world, but does have scattered forests and woodlands along the coasts of its small seas. Though desert camo is most appropriate in general, the garrison at the Shalmirat spaceport uses forest camo because of the surrounding woodlands, where the local chlorophyll variant gives the vegetation a yellow cast.
BattleMechanics - Technical Readout - Devastator (Dale L. Kemper)
A Star League-era upgrade of the older Demolisher tank, the DVE-5B Devastator "Mech Slayer" still exists in Successor State arsenals and wealthy planetary militias, despite the production run having only made slightly more than 500 before the collapse of the League.
Upgrades include a 240-rated fusion power plant, a Medium Laser, two Small Lasers and a Flamer for anti-infantry work, and an SRM-4. Armor and speed remain roughly the same compared to the Demolisher.
Devastators are employed in planetary defense and open country assaults, but should avoid rough terrain, city fighting, or other areas involving restricted maneuvering. House Liao organizes its remaining tanks into "Guards of Honor" to lead parades.
The lack of spare parts is sidelining more and more Demolishers and Devastators, and both designs are likely to become extinct.
BattleMechanics - Combat Salvage - The Wolfman (William H. Keith, Jr.)
Valdis Ullman of the Legion of Vega took heavy damage to his Wolverine in 2986, during the 2nd Battle of Ryerson on Bergman's Planet. Unwilling to part with his family 'Mech and join the ranks of the Dispossessed, he worked with his Tech, Sharis Brand, to salvage parts from a Davion Rifleman. With a BattleMaster serving as a scaffold and astechs from a nearby base assisting, they grafted the Rifleman and Wolverine together - a pairing that quickly became known as a Wolfman.
The jury rigging resulted in numerous shortcomings (as is typical for a FrankenMech), but it gave Ullman a 'Mech to fight with in rearguard actions at Kestio and Oswald. When he died in 2988, the Wolfman was assigned to a Legion of Vega training cadre and is, at present, serving in the Labrea planetary militia.
Similar efforts to create the Wolfman configuration have been attempted four more times, but only two are still functional - one in Marik and one in Steiner space.
BattleTech Simulator - Ranged Combat: Maximum Range (William H. Keith, Jr.)
Framed as additional rules for FASA's simulations (FASA being an in-universe publisher of military training tools/games), this is Optional Rules Variant 0102-A: Ranged Combat - Maximum Range.
This article addresses the disparity between the in-game ranges (which often fall short of historical firearm performance) and the maximum potential range of the weapon, explaining that targeting system limitations limit weapons to their "effective range" rather than their "maximum range." (Which is still not the maximum distance the projectile will travel, but is the maximum distance at which there's even a remote chance of connecting with what you aimed at.)
This leads to the concept of "Extreme Range" - which adds a distance multiplier to be applied to the stock "Long Range" value, and given a +8 target modifier, which can be reduced through taking multiple turns to carefully aim, using sights, etc. Tables show multipliers to be applied to bows, pistols, and rifles.
The article notes these rules are likely to be used mostly when a sniper is involved in a scenario, such as bounty hunters trying to assassinate a target from a kilometer away.
William Keith does not recommend applying these rules to BattleTech except under very special circumstances. Given the +8 modifier, snipers will only hit if they are very good, very lucky, or carry very special equipment.
BattleTech Simulator - MechWarrior Weapons Update (William H. Keith, Jr.)
This table provides new range brackets for Extreme Range and Maximum Range, along with damage fall-off estimates at those ranges.
BattleTech Simulator - Nightshadow (William H. Keith, Jr.) (covered separately as an RPG Encounter)
BattleTech Simulator - Hide and Seek (William H. Keith, Jr.) (covered separately as a Scenario)
BattleTech Simulator - To Save the Dragon (William H. Keith, Jr.) (covered separately as a Scenario)
BattleTech Simulator - Dagger's Edge (William H. Keith, Jr.) (covered separately as a Scenario)
More Than Warriors - Untitled Poem (Thomas S. Gressman)
This poem is presented as rising from the essence of bushido - the way of the warrior.
The poem tells the tale of the descendant of samurai warriors from Iga, carrying his family's honor among the stars. The samurai expresses disappointment that there is no glory in battle, a warrior cannot see his foes, and honor dwells in few. Nonetheless, he rededicates himself to his duty and the service of his lord.
More Than Warriors - DropShip Thunder (William H. Keith, Jr. and Nina Barton)
A marching/drinking song of Combine origins, it tells the tale (in verse) of a planetary assault, shattering the enemy defenders, salvaging parts, and pushing for the victory that will earn them landholds.
A final refrain (added later, per the editor), points out that once they have landholds to defend, they'll be in the position of hopelessly defending those landholds against enemy DropShips thundering in.
More Than Warriors - Haiku (Heather L. Keith)
The BattleMech strides
Across war-molested plains
Arrogant and proud
Notes:
Hiring Hall - Hassid Ricol: The Red Duke (William H. Keith, Jr.)
While now considered apocryphal, the profile of Duke Ricol gave William Keith a chance to flesh out the backstory of his main antagonist in the Gray Death Legion trilogy. (Though, notably, there's no mention of his activities as "Ruby" in the Black Dragon cabal that tried to assassinate Takashi and install Theodore as Coordinator after marrying him into Rasalhague nobility, so that was apparently kept quiet enough that it stayed off BattleTechnology's radar.)
While not all of the world in the "Duchy of Rodigo" are named (and two of those named - Chekaar and Dahlgren - aren't on the maps), looking at worlds around Rodigo that were Lyran in 2822 and Combine in 3025 (based on the maps of those eras), we can see the best candidates to flesh out the Duchy. Dahlgren and Chekaar can be assumed to be outpost worlds - hosting small industrial or military facilities, but without recognized civilian governments. See the attached map - confirmed Ricol holdings (pre-Mercenary's Star) are in yellow, probable holdings are in blue. The white worlds were all Combine holdings circa 2822, and the article expressly states that the additional 13 (beyond Rodigo) were all Lyran worlds taken since 2997.
The article's reference to a secret project in Marik/Liao space, of course, is a teaser for "The Price of Glory," where Ricol does a heel-face turn and saves Grayson's unit (in exchange for cache booty and a copy of the LosTech data core).
The mention of Antares as the Lyran world that received the call for help suggests that Keith intended "Drune II" to be in the Antares system. However, the maps show Antares to be about five times as far away from Trell I as Baker VII (which the German translation of "Decision at Thunder Rift" substitutes for Drune II) - making that the more likely location, given the turnaround time shown in the novel. I wonder how far the FASA crew got into the fiction before they realized they really had to nail down the interstellar geography?
BattleGear - Sidearms - Submachine Guns (William H. Keith, Jr.)
I found it hilarious that Rugan SMGs are listed as being manufactured "under license" on Butte Hold. I can just see Redjack Ryan signing the contract and handing over the royalties now...
Keith's description of the advantages of caseless ammunition notes that the propellant is completely stable, and can only be fired by its electric detonator, making it immune to "cook offs" when the weapon overheats. I wonder why they didn't use this propellant in the prototype caseless autocannons from the Tactical Handbook, since those were prone to ammunition explosions.
The Rorynex gun sounds more like a needler than an SMG, given the ammo characteristics. (A needler with explosive ammo.)
Black Luthien (William H. Keith, Jr.)
The back cover of this issue advertises the House sourcebooks, noting that the House Kurita sourcebook will be available soon. The Luthien profile, then, offers a preview of the Luthien profile there. (Keith presumably got advance text to make his entry fit.)
There are still some oddities, however - the map from Jihad Turning Points: Luthien shows Imperial City sitting on the equator, whereas this entry describes it rising out of the steamy polar swamps (the equator being uninhabitable desert).
It's interesting that Smith claims the promotion of Japanese culture was spontaneously inspired by Imperial City's architecture, since that would seem to discount the leading role that Coordinator Urizen Kurita II played in the Combine's cultural reformation during his 2620-2691 reign. "Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight" and the prelude chapter in "Far Country" also suggest there was a substantial Japanese cultural influence in the Combine dating back to the Age of War.
The Nekekami (Thomas S. Gressman)
The Nekekami haven't made many appearances outside of BattleTechnology, but they've definitely been adopted into the canon. Theodore Kurita pretends to be a Nekekami in "Heir to the Dragon," and is sent a potentially lethal warning by the spirit cats. Thomas Gressman brings them back out of the shadows in the Twilight of the Clans series, where they help apprehend the mole who assassinated Morgan Hasek-Davion, and also infiltrate the Smoke Jaguar command center on Huntress to disable the Clan's planetary defenses.
BattleTechnology made a running joke of their staff being assassinated and their offices being bombed in the aftermath of this article being published, ostensibly part of a campaign of revenge by the Nekekami - who also appear to have poisoned Professor Ochiba before his manuscript could be published.
It's interesting to see the different authors' takes on similar material. Gressman, here, has created a clan of principled ninjas who like to show off (with the origami) and try to avoid killing. Contrast that to the William Keith's also-Combine-based Saurimat (the death-cult offshoot, at least), which sought to deliver death to as many people as possible.
Interestingly, Helmar Valasek runs an "assassin for hire" business out of Santander V, with his "Santander's Killers" outfit. Given their position, geographically, the Combine would seem to be his primary (if not only) customer base (unless the farmers of the Elyssian Fields feel like hiring some assassins...) One wonders how their skill-set matches up against the Nekekami, and what makes a Kurita noble choose a spirit cat over a pirate assassin.
In terms of training, the Nekekami process bears a strong resemblance to the Capellan Warrior House model (though again, the Capellan focus would be less on finesse and origami, more on KILL KILL KILL).
BattleMechanics - BattleColors (William H. Keith, Jr.)
William Keith actually found a way to world-build in a column on how to paint woodland camo. Again, this comes well ahead of the publication of the House books with the first real planetary write-ups.
BattleMechanics - Technical Readout - Devastator (Dale L. Kemper)
These are the areas where the apocryphal articles start to run headlong into later canon. When written, all we had on the Demolisher was a silhouette in MW1E and some stats, along with the huge honkin' four-tread miniature that looked like it could eat LTN-G15s and crap THR-1Ls. The Devastator even canonically found its way into one of the Sorenson's Sabres scenarios.
However, looking at the Master Unit List, we see that the Demolisher was actually a post-Star League tank designed expressly to be a lower-tech option for worlds and factions that lacked the tech and industrial base to support 'Mechs. Rather than dying out, it's flourishing as 'Mechs get more scarce.
TRO:3039 formally established the Devastator as a canonical variant of the Demolisher, noting it as a third-generation upgrade first fielded in 3003.
Even with the upgrades, I still question the utility of putting this thing out in the open field. With a maximum effective range of 9 and a movement profile of 3/5, this 80-ton death machine is easy meat for any unit that can both outrun and outrange it (i.e. - anything with LRMs, a Large Laser, most autocannons, etc.). Close quarters - including cities - is where it shines.
BattleMechanics - Combat Salvage - The Wolfman (William H. Keith, Jr.)
A fun FrankenMech design, it follows on the model set by Shorty Sneede's thingamabob in Snord's Irregulars and the hybrid Hansen's Roughriders Riflehammer (Warman?) shown in MW1E's color plates.
Looking at the stats, it seems to actually be more effective than the standard Rifleman, being both faster, better armored, and able to use its full arsenal without instantly shutting down. A superior mobile skirmisher.
The only lore issues are the depiction of the Legion of Vega as having a training cadre. Assignment to the Legion is punishment for screwing up in another unit. Nobody enters a training program hoping to get into the Legion. It's a penal brigade - not much better than the old Chain Gang units. To boot, current canon has them only formed in 3011, so Valdis Ullman is 25 years too early to be in the Legion.
BattleTech Simulator - Ranged Combat: Maximum Range (William H. Keith, Jr.)
Even early on, it was clear that the ranges on BattleTech weaponry were more suited to Napoleonic clashes than sci-fi/modern technologies. Of course, if you gave everyone the weapon ranges that they felt approximated reality, the movement rates couldn't keep up, and battles would be resolved by functionally immobile bipedal weapons platforms hurling death at each other from opposite ends of a basketball court festooned with mapsheets. Personally, I'm fine with playability having taken the lead over realism.
More Than Warriors - Untitled Poem (Thomas S. Gressman)
The Combine military (at least prior to Theodore's reforms) seems to be a huge exercise in setting up impossible expectations and then crushing them, almost as an exercise to see who can handle the mental strain.
Look at the scenes at Theodore's academy in "Heir to the Dragon." Everyone pays strict attention to having the perfect form. They are told that they are the best of the best of the best - the ultimate samurai - and the tools of the Coordinator's inevitable victory. Then they go out on the front lines and find themselves being sacrificed meaninglessly to serve the ambitions of one warlord or another, or getting their teeth kicked in by honorless mercenary scum.
Honestly, the best thing Theodore ever did to bolster the psychological state of mind of his buso-sensei was slapping a kabuto on a Charger and proclaiming it the Hatamoto-class. Much easier to feel the bushido in such a 'Mech than in a lowly Panther.
More Than Warriors - DropShip Thunder (William H. Keith, Jr. and Nina Barton)
Nina Barton is listed as Associate Editor and Art Director. She also knew how to put William Keith's verses to music.
Given the theme of unending warfare, the final refrain seems quite appropriate.
More Than Warriors - Haiku (Heather L. Keith)
Handbook: House Kurita notes that most of its warriors lack an appreciation for art, and look down on those who practice it. Minobu Tetsuhara had a different kind of sensei, and felt a samurai could not be truly complete without art (thus the painting and other artistic pursuits). Thus the saying goes - all samurai serve the Coordinator, but not all who serve the Coordinator are samurai.
Since the haiku is written from a Combine perspective, I'm not sure if "arrogant and proud," as a descriptor for a 'Mech, is intended to be positive or negative. I can see some Combine troops who would appreciate arrogance and pride as good traits.
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That's alot interesting stuff Keith put into his magazine. I wish more of it had become canon. Wolfman sounded pretty good, but i liked the Nekekami background information the most.
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Regarding using a Long Tom to launch a nuclear missile at the landing pad, two things:
1) Huh?
also
2) What?
You can find "Copperhead" systems in Tactical Operations, Maximum Tech, and (I didn't know this until just now) real life (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M712_Copperhead).
the fact that it's described as a fission device suggests it's not a standard weapon (those are fusion weapons).
Don't the 3070 nuke rules include radioactivity? I thought BattleTech lore was pretty consistent about the early Succession Wars using radioactive bombs. You'd think this warhead would be useless after so many years, though; maybe Ryan's Rebels found an inert device, and furnished it with new fissile material.
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I was aware of the Copperhead (I later mentioned the Long Tom launched Davy Crockett-M). The issue was that the device was described explicitly as an ancient fission warhead on top of an ancient missile, launched from a Long Tom. My incredulity was about fitting an ancient missile (full of ancient rocket fuel?) down the barrel of a Long Tom and having it survive the concussive force of the launch from the barrel intact.
It seemed like the author was merging two distinct and incompatible delivery systems for the warhead (though having the nuclear shell be a gyro jet design could combine ballistic launch with rocket boost, and provide the air burst capability that the Davy Crockett-M Long Tom fusion device munition explicitly lacks).
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Don't the 3070 nuke rules include radioactivity? I thought BattleTech lore was pretty consistent about the early Succession Wars using radioactive bombs. You'd think this warhead would be useless after so many years, though; maybe Ryan's Rebels found an inert device, and furnished it with new fissile material.
The core "physics package" works on battletech's magical protium fusion (fusion through using ordinary hydrogen) which isn't going to decay. A fusion detonation will still irradiate any material caught in the blast, such as the ground in the case of a ground burst, and produce radioactive fallout.
You can also "salt" your bomb with a specialized metallic jacket that will saturate an area with long lived radioactive isotopes to render it toxic for years or centuries as desired, no fission required.
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Apologies Mendrugo. Your initial remark seemed to ignore the Arrow IV component of the copperhead delivery system. Your concern about the missile's reliability is clearer in the follow up comment.
I suppose the missile could've been designed to work with Star League Long Toms in the first place, but yeah, it's more likely that it's part of BattleTech's motif of patchwork technology.
Liam's Ghost, thanks for the explanation. Some googling reveals more factors too; something to look into more when I read through the early Succession Wars, I guess.
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Date: October 10, 3027
Location: New Syrtis
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Duke Michael Hasek-Davion rages in his private office after receiving a message from his brother-in-law, First Prince Hanse Davion. The message informs him of the impending nuptials of Hanse and his fiancé – Melissa Arthur Steiner – in August 3028. Hanse pledges additional military support for the Capellan March once closer cooperation with the Lyran Commonwealth forces the Draconis Combine onto a defensive footing.
Michael wonders how much Hanse knows or suspects about his secret alliance with Maximilian Liao. He begins crafting a strategy to benefit from the news, and concludes that the anti-FedCom alliance – the Concord of Kapteyn (Combine, League, and Confederation) – will overcome their mutual antagonism and firmly bond into a strong mutual defense alliance once they learn of the wedding. He decides to leak the information to House Liao and suggest that a joint Marik-Kurita offensive against the Lyrans could crush Hanse’s ally, and give House Liao an opening to reclaim some prize systems from their distracted Marik “allies.” Michael is confident that he can throw the entire Inner Sphere into another Succession War, from which he can emerge as the First Lord, to rule over the ruins.
He takes a copy of Thelos Auburn’s “Origins of the Three Great Families” and composes a message from the text by referencing page, paragraph, and word numbers, encoding into a device built into his prosthetic hand by Capellan engineers. He then orders his personal secretary, Agnes, to summon Capellan Ambassador Korigyn to be in his audience room in two hours, intending to transmit the message from his hand to a receiver in the Capellan official’s prosthetic leg.
Notes: Since its profile in the original House Davion sourcebook, New Syrtis has been clearly defined as an arctic world locked in ice, with the capital (Saso) deep in the frozen regions, and the only temperate zone a narrow equatorial belt dominated by mining operations.
So…clearly Michael Stackpole didn’t have an advance draft of that manuscript when he wrote Warrior: Riposte. From the detail in this text, he seems to have been modeling it on the Arizona deserts where he lived (being a resident of Phoenix). Michael’s office has white adobe walls (to reflect heat) and an open arch overlooking the New Syrtis Spaceport, where patrolling ‘Mechs kick up thick red clouds of dust from the bright scarlet angular landscape. Basically, in this early installment, New Syrtis is Sedona, AZ. This actually tracks with what was shown in the Blackthorne comics, with Michael strolling through lush outdoor gardens adjoining his estate. Not really an option in Saso, so that would have to be on the equator as well. The imagery (adobe, red desert lashed by fast moving lighting storms, etc.) matches the “southwestern” aesthetic that the early material tried to give the Capellan March, noting that it cut its PPC grain alcohol shots with tequila.
One possible way to square this scene with all later write-ups is that Duke Michael has an office adjacent to New Syrtis’ primary equatorial spaceport, which is located in an arid region prone to storms. Since other fiction established that Michael has mansions on worlds in the Draconis March, and even on backwater outposts like Dragon’s Field, I can see him having multiple homes on New Syrtis. This is probably his winter retreat – when he wants to get away from the bitter cold of Saso. Unfortunately, this bit of handwavium doesn’t really work, since Agnes tells Michael that the Capellan Ambassador isn’t in the capital at the moment, and will be unlikely to make the meeting in just two hours. That would imply that Michael, his adobe office, and the red desert spaceport are in the capital – albeit one that looks and feels nothing like the Saso we know.
There’s some cognitive dissonance going on. Michael has a total freak out in his office, yelling about Hanse, throwing things, and lashing out at the furnishings to the extent that his knuckles start bleeding. Yet, later, when he is encoding the message by massaging his hand, he notes that any spy observing him would see nothing but him massaging his hand. He doesn’t seem worried that a spy would have observed his temper tantrum after reading the letter. Yelling “Damn you, Hanse Davion!” and punching the wooden furniture doesn’t seem like something a person concerned about being observed would do.
When Michael looks out at the distant DropPort, he notes ‘Mechs loading through cargo ports aboard twelve egg-shaped DropShips. The only DropShips that are properly egg shaped circa 3027 are the Overlord and Excalibur, each capable of hauling roughly a battalion into combat. So to where, exactly, is Michael transshipping four regiments? (12 Excaliburs would give them 144 ‘Mech bays, 864 vehicle bays, and infantry bays for four regiments. Retrofitting some vehicle bays for infantry use would make this fleet capable of transporting a whole Regimental Combat Team minus the aerospace assets, and you could move this group with as little as two JumpShips (though four Invaders would probably be the most common). The question remains, where is a whole RCT going, and why? GALAHAD ’27 is over by now, and Hanse intentionally didn’t move the units involved back to their original garrisons.
During his rant, Michael reassures himself of his power by noting that he commands twelve RCTs. I’m not quite sure where this figure comes from. Looking at the 3025 deployment tables, we have 13 full RCTs in the Capellan March, technically under Michael’s authority as Field Marshal: 20th Avalon Hussars (New Aragon); 2nd Crucis Lancers (Mira); 6th Crucis Lancers (Moravian); 5th Crucis Lancers (Kathil); 6th Davion Guards (Lee); 7th Crucis Lancers (Weekapaug); 5th Syrtis Fusiliers (Kittery); 6th Syrtis Fusiliers (New Syrtis); Davion Assault Guards (Frazer); 39th Avalon Hussars (Aucara); 15th Deneb Light Cavalry (Verlo); 3rd Ceti Hussars (Immenstadt); and the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers (Avigait). The reliability rating is their attitude towards Hanse, and only the Kathil CMM, 5th Syrtis Fusiliers, New Syrtis CMM, 6th Syrtis Fusiliers, 1st Capellan Dragoons, Sirdar CMM, 8th Syrtis Fusiliers, and the Warren CMM are rated as Questionable (meaning they may follow Michael if a conflict with Hanse were to develop). That’s three RCTs, four March Militias, and one independent regiment. Odd that he’s so confident, especially if he’s dispatching the 6th Syrtis Fusiliers somewhere en masse. It is probable, however, that the shuffles resulting from GALAHAD ’26 and GALAHAD ’27 ended up leaving only 12 RCTs in the Capellan March.
Michael Stackpole’s earlier work doing the “Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes” sourcebook for another RPG line continues to inform his Warrior Trilogy plotting – with secret devices hidden inside everyone’s prosthetics, and diplomatic offices primarily used to conduct espionage. Given his surname and apparent love of vodka (getting a once-a-year shipment from the Confederation), Ambassador Korigyn is probably from Tikonov, where the vodka is presumably distilled from the local blue potatoes. (On the other hand, 'Korigyn' is a Slovakian name, while Tikonov was a Russian colony. The only world with established to have a Slovakian population is Denebola - on the Lyran/FWL border.)
One final issue is raised – Michael receives the message as a letter printed on paper. He envisions the Capellan embassy using ComStar to send it via HPG to the Confederation. I wonder if Michael received his paper copy as a printout from an HPG message to him from Hanse, or if it arrived courtesy of an Intelligence Ministry courier?
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Date: October 4, 3027
Location: Romulus
Title: Dragonslayers on Guard
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology #0202)
Synopsis: The Draconis Combine invaded Romulus in the second half of 3027, and seized control of the Voltan Reservoir - giving them leverage to control the nearby town (pop. 20,000) of Volta.
The Dragonslayers mercenary unit arrived two weeks after the Kurita invasion as House Steiner's rapid response, and engaged the Kurita forces holding the reservoir.
The defender is elements of the 2nd An Ting Legion (here called the 2nd An Ting Regiment - the An Ting Tigers): Dragon, Dragon, Rifleman, Dragon, Archer, Wolverine, Panther, Locust
The attacker is elements of the Dragonslayers: Warhammer, Centurion, Shadow Hawk, Phoenix Hawk, Archer, Rifleman, Valkyrie, Phoenix Hawk, Stinger.
The winning side is the the one in control of the oasis at the end of Turn 20. Control is defined as having one operational 'Mech within three hexes of the spaces designated as the oasis for three consecutive turns, with no enemy 'Mechs meeting those conditions.
If players prefer, they can score points at a rate of 1 per ton of downed enemy units. 100 bonus points are awarded for control of the oasis at the end of Turn 20.
Notes: Romulus is described as a barren desert world with cold and rugged mountains, vast badlands where local predator species (vagus and shimrin) dominate. It has an airless twin, Remus, locked into a stable orbit. Its nearest neighbors are the the Oberon Confederation and the "feudal kinglet of Trell I." The worlds produce little of value, except for soldiers, which it exports in large numbers. The Dark Nebula is visible in the night sky. Volta was targeted due to its location adjacent to salt flats, which serve as one of Romulus' primary DropShip landing sites.
As with any project involving William H. Keith, you can expect a substantial amount of worldbuilding. Romulus has never (to my knowledge) gotten a canon writeup, so this may be able to stand the test of time. The only other depiction of Romulus came from the BattleTech animated series, which made it look temperate, but dry (in the area with the ostrich farm).
The 20 turn timeframe shows that people had far more time to play out scenarios where the units involved missed a lot and didn't do much damage when they did connect. The introduction of more dangerous advanced weaponry certainly cut down the duration, as 'Mechs generally became more lethal.
If you're playing for control of the oasis, just trying to maneuver around the edge hoping for three clear turns is a dicey proposition. Far simpler to simply destroy all the enemy forces.
The Dragonslayers are more mobile than the Combine, while the An Ting Legion has superior long-range firepower. For that reason, I'd recommend that the Combine cluster their long-range units behind a screening force of their close-range fighters (to try to block Dragonslayer attempts to overrun). Once the Dragonslayers start pushing into minimum range brackets, have the long range units fall back while the screeners hold off pursuit.
I'd recommend that the Dragonslayers use their long-range fire support units from further back, while the swift/jumpy 'Mechs try to cut out any An Ting unit that gets separated, and surround and pummel it into oblivion. Try to get past the screeners and engage the Dracs at ranges where their LRMs and PPCs will be less effective. Once they're driven back, you can move someone in to toggle the win-condition for the reservoir.
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When Michael looks out at the distant DropPort, he notes ‘Mechs loading through cargo ports aboard twelve egg-shaped DropShips. The only DropShips that are properly egg shaped circa 3027 are the Overlord and Excalibur, each capable of hauling roughly a battalion into combat. So to where, exactly, is Michael transshipping four regiments? (12 Excaliburs would give them 144 ‘Mech bays, 864 vehicle bays, and infantry bays for four regiments. Retrofitting some vehicle bays for infantry use would make this fleet capable of transporting a whole Regimental Combat Team minus the aerospace assets, and you could move this group with as little as two JumpShips (though four Invaders would probably be the most common). The question remains, where is a whole RCT going, and why? GALAHAD ’27 is over by now, and Hanse intentionally didn’t move the units involved back to their original garrisons.
The 6th Syrtis Fusiliers had New Syrtis as their homeworld, but according to the first volume of the NAIS Atlas of the Fourth Succession War, when Operation RAT started, they'd already been redeployed to Weatogue (p11), so it's likely that what's been narrated here is the 6th in the stages of redeploying, ready for Operation RAT.
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Good catch. Thanks.
Michael, though, certainly didn't know about Operation RAT, so I wonder what Hanse told him that got him to move his homeworld RCT to a forward staging area close to the Capellan border, given the fact that he was getting fake info regarding the deployment of other AFFS forces (thereby leaking inaccurate data to the Maskirokva).
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Good catch. Thanks.
Michael, though, certainly didn't know about Operation RAT, so I wonder what Hanse told him that got him to move his homeworld RCT to a forward staging area close to the Capellan border, given the fact that he was getting fake info regarding the deployment of other AFFS forces (thereby leaking inaccurate data to the Maskirokva).
Operation GALAHAD.... Hanse had been having his units move around the last several years before this on military maneuvers. No doubt, Michael was thinking this was more of the same, with the troops getting their real orders only once they were at the jump points.
Craig
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GALAHAD had finished by October (it was a summer exercise), so this deployment wouldn't have been part of that. (The next chapter shows Justin Xiang and Alex Mallory reviewing after-action Maskirovka reports on the GALAHAD '27 exercises in the Capellan March.)
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Remember, Michael was shifting his units around for his own attack on the Capellan Confederation.
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Date: October 4, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Siege Campaign
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Back at Club Zero Zero, Yerg Gantor congratulates Herras Ragen on his successful mission, and offers him a follow-on contract for a siege campaign on Rostov.
MIIO Agent Lana Mann sends a message to her superior speculating that the mercenary who killed the first three Dark Wing Lance members is now planning to kill its last surviving member.
Notes: The game defines a "siege campaign" as knocking out multiple defended installations. Given the structure of the game, the "sieges" last a few minutes at best. Sieges definitely do take place in the BattleTech universe, especially when they involve Castles Brian or fortified cities (like Tikograd). Given the level of annoyance I get with the storyline structure in this game, I wouldn't put it past them to have a message on-screen: "You have eliminated all the mobile defenders. Now remain in place for five months (real time) until they run out of food."
I get that Tom Sloper needed a mechanism to drive the plot forward, but holovid discs found in the bar's lost-and-found just don't hold up as a sustainable mechanism. You could get away with that maybe once. Now, this was work done early in Mr. Sloper's career. Since then, he's done a lot more work in the industry, and even dispenses advice about game design at his site - sloperama.com. He designed 16 games and produced an additional 69 (including SNES MechWarrior). He appears to be proudest of his work on the Shanghai series (as opposed to MechWarrior or Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2). If any of you have played the games listed here (http://www.sloperama.com/business/prodlist.htm), weigh in on whether they have superior storyline merit to what's shown here.
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Date: October 13, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Dark Wing Recruiting New Members
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns to Club Zero Zero to read a NewsNet report about a break-in at a high-level intelligence installation on Jelenia. He also finds another report from MIIO Agent Lana Mann that the Dark Wing Lance appears to be recruiting new members.
Notes: Because when there's a break-in at a high level intelligence installation, the first thing you do is put out a press release on the NewsNet. The NewsNet in this game has some of the finest investigative reporters in the Inner Sphere, given that they publicly reported on Hanse and Melissa's wedding long before Hanse even told Michael Hasek-Davion, and provided a summary of top secret closed meetings on Tharkad.
One wonders if the NewsNet is just the Galatea planetary feed (which would be updated with both local content and material sourced from the HPG station from around the Inner Sphere, and with local news from nearby systems beamed in from visiting JumpShips). Per the discussion in Catastrophe Unlimited, major news about the Great Houses and their leaders spreads quickly across the HPG network, while news of local events may take months or even years to reach the NewsNets on distant worlds.
My handwavium explanation for all the data flowing in is that Club Zero-Zero is a Department of Military Intelligence (DMI) listening post, and Herras Ragen is actually a high level DMI troubleshooter (either Stealthy Fox or Rabid Fox) under cover as a "mercenary," with the high respect for his murdered father in the AFFS granting him wide leeway to pursue their killers, and eliminate the anti-Davion Mercenary Underground in the process. The "lost and found box" is actually a dead drop for DMI assets.
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To get a better insight into the development process for the SNES MechWarrior game, I reached out to Tom Sloper, who teaches game design and offers advice on breaking into the industry. He was kind enough to respond to my questions about the SNES game:
1. How much coordination did your team have with FASA Corporation (the originators of the series, and owners of the IP at the time) regarding the storyline and game aesthetic?
Tom Sloper (TS): Quite a bit.
2. Was the original intent to simply adapt Activision's MechWarrior game for the SNES, or to create a new storyline?
TS: Pretty sure it was the former - to adapt the 1989 game from Dynamix to the SNES. I wasn't present at the license signing, so I can't say for certain.
3. There are clear tie-ins to the events in Michael Stackpole's "Warrior: En Garde" novel in the first half of the game, establishing the timeline for the game's events, but the references to official storyline events end with Melissa Steiner's rescue (at the end of En Garde). Was the sequel, "Warrior: Riposte," not available at the time of development?
TS: I have no idea. I did read one novel while I was involved in the project, but I don't remember its title. And I was not embedded with the development team in Australia (I was working from the Activision office in L.A.). This was the early nineties, and communications were mostly done by fax and phone.
4. Why (aside from Galatea and Solaris) were new world names created, instead of using the ones from FASA's maps?
TS: I can't speak to planet names. I suppose it might be a consequence of the need to use different mechs, to satisfy the tastes of the Japanese audience. The deal was structured in a way Activision did things at the time; Activision held a license from FASA, and sublicensed the video game rights to a couple of Japanese companies. The sublicensees paid for development of the Japanese versions*, and then the work was done to localize the game in English. The Japanese market already had a popular universe of warring mechs, called Gundam. The BattleTech/MechWarrior mechs presented a problem in that marketplace - but my memory is a little hazy as to whether it was that the IP owner of Gundam might sue over the great similarity between their looks, or that the FASA mechs didn't look right for the Japanese market. A whole storyline had to be created to make the new and different-looking Japanese mechs fit within the FASA universe. But for the Western market, the game used the FASA mechs instead. Maybe the planet names were created to go along with the storyline around the Japanese mechs, and simply weren't changed when the game was localized for the West.
TS: * I think there is a mistake in the table of Video games at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BattleTech_games - I think the Sharp X68000 version may have been part of the 1993 deal, rather than one of the 1989 platforms. As I recall, MechWarrior was sublicensed (in the early nineties, after 1990) for not only the SNES but also another platform, a Japan-only platform (like the Sharp computer). In the table, either the Sharp is in the wrong place, or there's a platform missing from 1993.
5. What were the technical limitations you faced on the SNES vs. what Activision was able to do with their original version of MechWarrior for the PC?
TS: I didn't work on the 1989 version with Dynamix - and I never played it. And I don't know a lot about DOS video game technology, but I know that DOS computers were not natively capable of 3D graphics**. And the SNES wasn't, either. But the SNES did have one quasi-3D trick, called Mode 7. Mode 7 allowed creation of a graphic plane that could be rotated in a way that looked sort of 3D. I believe Beam Software (the developer of the SNES game) used Mode 7 for the terrain.
TS: ** Wolfenstein 3-D introduced 3D to DOS computers in 1992 or thereabouts. This was after the MechWarrior game made by Dynamix, and before the MechWarrior game made by Beam for the SNES (and for the Japan-only platform).
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Date: October 15, 3027
Location: Sian
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Justin Xiang (now a Maskirovka agent) and Alexi Malenkov's analysis of the GALAHAD '27 exercises is interrupted by Tsen Shang, who summons them to a meeting with Chancellor Maximilian Liao and Maskirovka Director Chandra Ling.
They are greeted in the throne room by the Chancellor, Ling, and Max's two daughters, Candace and Romano. Ling appears serene, but Chancellor Liao and Romano are visibly enraged. Max demands to know why Justin failed to inform him of the pending wedding of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner. Justin is visibly shocked, and the Chancellor accepts the he was not concealing the information.
Tsen Shang speculates that the wedding agreement was settled when a high level Lyran official traveled to the Federated Suns, was hijacked, and had to be rescued by the Kell Hounds. He believes the marriage to be a reaction to the signing of the Concord of Kapteyn.
Max is still angry about the delay in reporting even this information, which Shang and Xiang blame on using the Maskirovka's Marik section to process Lyran intel, and on having subordinated the Maskirovka's Davion section to intelligence received from Michael Hasek-Davion. In the interest of efficiency, Chandra Ling suggests forming a "crisis team" tasked with problem solving and investigation of odd situations, working directly below Ling, and able to bypass all normal bureaucratic channels. Max approves, and summarily appoints Xiang and Shang as the heads of the crisis team, and Ling wearily agrees.
The meeting is interrupted by a functionary, who introduces Lord Victor Robinson, the Federated Suns' ambassador, who brings Max the formal invitation to attend Hanse's wedding to Melissa on August 20 of 3028.
Notes: With the sole exception of her cameo in "Think Like a Liao," this is the sole appearance of Maskirovka Director Chandra Ling in the fiction. The weary resignation with which she accepts Max's appointments of Xiang and Shang to run the "crisis team" suggests that her influence with him is minimal - possibly due to fallout from her involvement in the failed attempt to substitute a more loyal double for Max's son, Tormano. (Though it was unclear from the end of that story if anyone involved in the operation realized that the original survived and killed the double.)
Justin and Alexi note that GALAHAD '27's wargames in the Capellan March had matches between AFFS line units and other units configured to simulate Capellan line units. In those matches, the simulated CCAF troops did very poorly. I wonder to what extent the AFFS had sufficient machines to copy the Capellan TO&E. You'd think oddball formations like Cochraine's Goliaths (a battalion of mostly Goliaths) would be difficult to clone. Or perhaps the 'Mechs don't matter, and just the org chart is copied.
Candace and Romano are both introduced for the first time as characters in this scene, and their primary characteristics are that they fight with each other and manipulate others to gain advantage. Romano makes eyes at Tsen Shang, prompting Candace to take notice of Justin for the first time, primarily in the spirit of competition with Romano.
One interesting character beat is that Romano is shown wearing a MechWarrior cooling vest. She's never shown running a 'Mech in any of the fiction, but was apparently called in from drilling in her BattleMech. Candace is the one who gets a backstory as a MechWarrior, later on, revealing that she met Justin in combat on Spica. I would presume that, given the girls' competitive nature, if one were a MechWarrior, the other would go that route as well, just to prove their superior skill in another venue.
Justin has an odd assessment of Candace at first sight - that she has her father's temper, but her mother's icy soul. Nothing's ever really been written about Jasmine Liao (Candace+Romano's mother, rather than the 7th Liao Chancellor of the same name), other than that she died while mountain climbing on Wei, leading to Max marrying Elizabeth Jordan Liao, Candace+Romano's stepmother. Since Justin theoretically spent some time on Sian (being born, etc.) while Quintus was the Davion ambassador (and wooed Lady Xiang), he might have some early childhood memories of Jasmine - and apparently not pleasant ones.
Tsen Shang demonstrates an early gift for getting his analysis wrong when he assumes that Hanse's wedding is a reaction to the Concord of Kapteyn, rather than a secret clause of the earlier Federated Commonwealth treaty. Clearly, Gray Noton wasn't sharing what he knew with Tsen when they worked together back on Solaris.
Max looks at the invitation from Hanse, scoffs that he wrote it in his native tongue, and asks Justin to read it to him. The implication here is that Max can only read Mandarin/Cantonese script, and is illiterate in English.
The palace functionary who introduces the Davion Ambassador isn't named, but is just referred to as a minister. I wonder if he has the same dress code as the minister portrayed in the BlackThorne comic - skullcap, Ming the Merciless high-collared robe, and blue skin dye? (Might even be the same guy.)
The existence of diplomatic relations between the empires at war with each other is interesting. In modern practice, one of the first things a state does when it goes to war against a foe is to recall its diplomats from the foreign capital. Yet, we've seen Kurita and Davion diplomats active on Tharkad (either organizing terrorist bombings or blackmailing Lyran officials into handing over BattleMech technology), and have seen an ongoing Davion diplomatic presence on Sian, as well as a Liao diplomatic presence on New Syrtis (and presumably on New Avalon as well). One wonders if there's a Davion embassy on Luthien. I would have presumed that the level of animosity was such that diplomacy would be handled by neutral intermediaries, such as ComStar.
I get that Justin is method acting to keep his cover intact (and Stackpole is misleading the readers to set up the big reveal at the end), but how is he getting "caustic bile to bubble up in his throat" from his reaction to hearing that Hanse and Melissa are getting married? If he truly viewed the FedCom as an enemy and was loyal to House Liao, then sure. But he's faking.
Max certainly has a lot of titles. "Chancellor," "Celestial Worship," "Oh-He-Whom-the-Universe-Envies," "Supreme One," "Celestial Highness," "Highness," "Excellency," "Enlightened One," and "Universal Paragon" in the space of a two minute conversation. Had the conversation not been interrupted by the arrival of the Davion ambassador, Max may also have been dubbed "Grand Poobah" and "King of Swing."
One interesting bit (plugging the wedding date into a calendar app) - despite tradition calling for Saturday weddings, August 20, 3028 is a Wednesday.
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I have a theory that Max simply considers it beneath him to read something in the enemy's native tongue.
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The House Liao book gives Romano the rank of Major and calls her commander of the Confederation Reserve Cavalry....and states that she likes Davion fashions and materials. I forgot about that tidbit. Wonder how much of her wardrobe goes up in flames in a few years' time.
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Date: October 21, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Hanse Davion, Quintus Allard, and Ardan Sortek gather in Hanse's office to chortle over Lord Victor Robertson's report on Chancellor Liao's furious response to the wedding invitation, and discuss whether the people assembled in the throne room had been there to discuss the wedding invitation sent to Michael Hasek-Davion.
Ardan wonders if the information could even have gotten from New Syrtis to Sian that fast, and Quintus confirms that "for a huge fee, ComStar can transmit anything across space very quickly."
Quintus reports that Michael summoned Capellan Ambassador Serge Korigyn for a short, angry meeting within two hours of receiving Hanse's notification about the wedding. The MIIO transcript doesn't indicate any coded phrasing, and Michael's regular security sweeps have prevented the MIIO from electronically bugging the meeting area. Quintus does note that Korigyn's bird dog, who accompanied him to the meeting, howled for no apparent reason while Michael and Serge were arguing, and so Quintus gave orders to have the dog bugged to test his intel section's theory that Michael is using a sonic transfer device to pass encoded data.
Quintus reports that the MIIO's analysis of CCAF troop deployments suggest both that Michael is passing data on AFFS troop deployments to the Capellans, but is mis-reporting the data on Hasek-loyal troop deployments, causing Liao deployments across the border to be up to 20 percent understrength.
Hanse muses that if Michael had worked with him, he could have been his right-hand man. He notes that Michael's father, George Hasek, dedicated himself to loyal service to the Federated Suns.
Talk turns to the wedding, and Hanse congratulates Quintus on Sarah Hebert's documentaries, noting a rise in public support for the Federated Commonwealth alliance and for Melissa Steiner, in particular. Quintus notes that Hebert wants to film a docudrama about the Kell Hound rescue of the Silver Eagle.
Hanse asks Ardan Sortek to be his best man at the wedding, but Ardan refuses, shocking Hanse. Ardan explains that he'd love to do it, but sees the necessity of shoring up ties with the Capellan March by making Morgan Hasek-Davion his best man. Hanse admits that he has come to like Morgan since he summoned him to New Avalon to serve as a hostage against Michael, but still doesn't trust him because he's a Hasek. Quintus and Ardan refute this, citing examples of his loyalty and how he favors the Davion side of his heritage over the Hasek.
To assuage his fears of being assassinated by his de-facto heir, Hanse orders Quintus to arrange for a spy to enter Morgan's social circle and evaluate his true character. Quintus notes that Lady Kym Sorenson, healed from her injuries on Solaris, is available - embedded at the NAIS to monitor for ROM infiltration.
Notes: Quintus' description of ComStar's business model is substantially at variance with that portrayed in "The Sword and the Dagger," wherein ComStar representatives sagely asserted that messages take a fixed amount of time to traverse set distances, and that they "cannot change the immutable laws of time and space." This adds the caveat "...unless the spirit of Divine Blake moves you to pony up some serious dough, mac."
It's interesting how far diverged the focus of the Davion family politics was in the Warrior trilogy from what the authors of the House Davion sourcebook tried to set up. Yes, the Michael vs. Hanse dynamic is present in the sourcebook, but Morgan is purely a Stackpole creation (not appearing at all in the sourcebook), and the assorted "persons of interest" in the back of the book are completely absent from the fiction. You'd think Prince's Champion Yvonne Davion (a steadfast critic of House Hasek), DMI Chief Ivan Tevanol, and architect of the FedCom alliance treaty Foreign Minister Olivia Fenlon would have had roles to play in this story. (Fenlon should certainly have been there for the report from one of the Ambassadors that, in theory, directly reports to her.)
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Date: October 22, 3027
Location: Zaniah III
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Daniel Allard is escorted to the St. Marinus House monastery to meet with Morgan Kell. He is driven through the scorching badlands by Brother Keith, who says Morgan has come to grips with the demons haunting his soul. Keith asks Dan what happened on Mallory's World in 3016.
Dan explains that, with the Kell Hounds' first battalion outnumbered and on the defensive, Morgan challenged Yorinaga Kurita to a duel. When Morgan charged to grapple with Yorinaga, the Warhammer's PPC burst sheared off the Archer's arm, and Morgan's 'Mech stumbled and fell to its knees. Dan saw it fade from his scanner screens. Yorinaga's subsequent attacks all missed, allowing Morgan to bring the Archer back to its feet and execute a neat bow. The Warhammer bowed back, and Yorinaga acknowledged defeat by throwing his katana and wakizashi out of the cockpit. Yorinaga then ordered the 2nd Sword of Light to retreat.
They arrive at the monastery, and Dan is welcomed by Brother Giles, the Abbot. Dan recognizes him as Hermann Steiner - who resigned his commission as CO of the 2nd Royal Guards to forestall a civil war when Katrina overthrew his brother, Alessandro. Giles expresses concern for Morgan's well-being and sanity.
Giles takes Dan up to the top of the mesa in which the monastery is housed, and he emerges into the scorching heat to find Morgan praying. Upon finishing, Morgan greets Dan and says he knows why he's here, saying he knew this day would come, though he hoped it never would. He tells Dan to collect the messages he gave to the Abbot upon his arrival and dispatch them via the Starboro ComStar station. He asks where Patrick has deployed the Kell Hounds.
Dan tells Morgan that Patrick was killed by Yorinaga Kurita saving Melissa Steiner. Morgan is shocked, and drops to his knees, shouting that it should not have happened that way. Dan, also angry, blames Morgan, accusing him of breaking the Kell Hounds and disappearing with no explanation, leaving him to pick up the pieces. He tells Morgan that Salome Ward and Patrick were emotionally shattered by his departure.
Morgan accepts Dan's judgement of how he hurt Salome and Patrick, and asks how he'd hurt Dan. Allard responds that he noticed the best and brightest were chosen to leave during The Defection, and thought there was a plan for the elites. When Morgan left without bringing him in on the plan, he doubted himself, and felt both betrayed and unworthy. He tells Morgan he held the Hounds together just to spite him. Morgan answers that he did have a plan, but saw Dan as a vital element to keeping the Hounds together.
When Dan asks why he left, Morgan asserts that, had he stayed, or had he told them why he was leaving, they would have all died attempting to find and kill Yorinaga Kurita. Now that he has returned to seek out the Kell Hounds, Morgan feels the time has come to emerge from his own exile, to confront Yorinaga once more.
Morgan tells Dan to send his messages from Starboro, and to instruct Salome to take the Hounds to Thorin.
Notes: From the MechWarrior Online lore story for the Archer, we now know that Morgan spent much of his eleven years at St. Marinus House working through night terrors and physically painful PTSD symptoms that resulted from his "Phantom 'Mech" abilities manifesting on Mallory's World.
I'm surprised that Morgan thought Yorinaga would destroy the Kell Hounds if they sought him out, since it took decades of meditation for Yorinaga to develop Phantom 'Mech abilities. Had they hit him in the short term, it's likely they would have been able to take him out - albeit with significant casualties if they moved while he still commanded 'Mech forces. (Better yet - see if they can get a Combine citizen - perhaps one wearing a renketsu (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Renketsu) who has substantial underworld connections - to contract with the Nekekami to put a hit on Yorinaga. If they won't play ball against a member of House Kurita, see if Santander's Killers, the Saurimat renegades, or a far afield JarnFolk assassin want the contract.)
Given his mental state, as portrayed in the Archer lore writeup, it's actually amazing that Morgan had the ability to handle the logistical assignments that set up The Defection (and the letters that will trigger the return). Of those who left, we know that Scott Bradley formed Bradley's Bravos, Walter de Mesnil joined the AFFS and was a training officer for the Kittery Training Battalion, and Jeremiah Youngblood formed the Crescent Hawks, serving as Katrina Steiner's personal troubleshooter unit, and head of security at the Pacifica Academy.
This is Hermann Steiner's only appearance. From the various tidbits dropped about Katrina's succession, it sounds like Michael Stackpole had a significant amount of the backstory worked out. It would have been fantastic had ROC/FASA allowed him to write his Red Corsair novel the way he wanted, rather than forcing it to become a Clan Invasion-era story. We've seen the prologue - "Vanish" in AToW special edition, but clearly there was adventure and derring do in the Periphery, masquerading as pirates while Morgan had some sort of relationship with a woman named Tempest, and also finding a LosTech cache containing a black box/interstellar fax, then coming back and overthrowing Alessandro, with Hermann going into exile to prevent Alessandro from using him against Katrina. To me, that would have been a far more interesting story than the false-flagged Jade Falcon incursion into Lyran space they made him write.
I wonder if the promised Kell Hound novellas are still an active proposition. I would presume Michael is currently at work on the fourth installment of the HBS Kickstarter story about Walter de Mesnil, but it would be great if we had additional Kell Hound stories that could flesh out key events between "Vanish" and "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets."
Morgan dropping to his knees after learning of Patrick's death is clearly intended to echo his Archer dropping to its knees on Mallory's world after losing its strong right arm.
Another interesting element is Dan's comment that, upon graduation from the New Avalon Military Academy, he was given transfer orders to serve a six year term in the Kell Hounds. We've seen other fiction (the Sandusky Sorrell series in Stardate) where AFFS academy graduates are assigned to mercenary units as part of their AFFS service obligation following graduation. I can see the advantages - merc units are more likely to face live-fire situations, and putting cadets there for seasoning keeps them from unduly risking state assets in an AFFS line unit. I wonder if only units under long-term contract with the AFFS are eligible, or if the cadet-graduates are required to report for reassignment if their merc unit leaves service to the Federated Suns.
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The Katrina Steiner story was called "Vanish (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Vanish)", not "Disappear". :)
And reading about Phantom 'Mech Ability still makes me cringe. :P I didn't like it back in the early '90s when I first read the book, and I still hate it more than the Tetatae. Luckily Herb ruled PMA to be bogus and in-universe folklore, but I still don't seem to be over it...
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In my defense, I'm still jet lagged from last week's trip to Papua New Guinea. :drool: Fixed.
Regardless of Herb's rulings, there's still the bundle of special AToW abilities that both Ian Davion and Morgan Kell spontaneously develop in Historical Turning Points: Mallory's World.
Me personally, I'm okay with a touch of the unexplained in my BattleTech - from Phantom 'Mech to ki-based martial arts powers to genetically engineered luck to haunted Marauders to precognitive visions, as long as they're vanishingly (disappearingly >:D) rare - definitely more of a story-flavor element than a mechanism you can build a battlefield strategy around.
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Date: October 22, 3027
Location: New Avalon
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: At the Fox Den Tavern, Morgan Hasek-Davion watches as the Davion Heavy Guards rewatch a video of his public acceptance of the role of best man for Hanse Davion's wedding. Tired of the jubilation, he steps outside, waving off Lt. Ben Colson's entreaty to stay for another toast.
He walks along the quiet, darkened streets of New Avalon City to the Davion Peace Garden, en route to the NAIS campus. He is troubled by the physical comparisons commentators are making between him and Hanse, with the same red hair and muscular build. He wonders why they never mention how he keeps his hair long, like his father's, and how he has Michael's green eyes.
He passes the newest monument - showing a mangled wolfhound bravely defending a child from a stylized panther, enabling it to escape. The sculpture memorializes the rescue of the passengers of the DropShip Silver Eagle. While he mourns Patrick's loss, Morgan envies the certainty with which he met his fate, contrasting it with Morgan's own split obligations between his family and his ruler.
His ponderings on duty are interrupted by a woman's scream, and he leaps through the shrubbery to break up a mugging in process, scattering the criminals and rescuing the blond woman, who thanks him and introduces herself as Kym Sorenson. She tells him her ankle was sprained during the mugging, and he carries her back to her apartment on the NAIS campus.
Notes: Ahhh - the future of the 1980s, where VHS remained the standard for 1,000 years: "the tavern keeper rewound the tape..." Not that any sci-fi writer can really be dinged for not accurately predicting future tech trends. I read a 1940s vintage sci-fi story wherein the aliens calculated courses for their flying saucers using slide rules.
This serves as Morgan Hasek-Davion's introductory scene. Chronologically, we've previously seen him in a Blackthorne comic, but all he did there was sleep while Hanse watched (why no, that's not creepy at all...) He wasn't included in the House Davion sourcebook, but Stackpole seems to have wanted to introduce a complicating character into the relationship between Hanse and Michael.
Morgan knows that Hanse and Michael waged a secret, but brutal, war for control after Ian's death. The Davion sourcebook adds in the details - Michael hired an assassin who failed to shoot Hanse with a laser on Emerson and committed suicide before he could be questioned. Other sources have called the period a "war of assassins," implying that Hanse tried to have Michael whacked as well, also without success. There also seems to have been a struggle for control of the bureaucracy. It doesn't seem to have happened immediately, because Hanse went pretty much straight from Ian's funeral to staging the Halstead Station raid, leaving no time to play footsie with Michael. All that must have developed after Hanse returned from Halstead Station.
If Hanse was resorting to sending assassins after Michael and his loyalists, it may have been when he was at an emotional low point, following the death of both Ian and his fiance - Dana Stephenson. I can see Hanse making revenge on Michael a full-time hobby if the assassination attempt at Emerson came after all that. No amount of bridge building by Morgan is going to heal the rift between Michael and Hanse after what was apparently a ten year shadow war between the two.
Kym's insertion into Morgan's life is textbook MIIO, but given Morgan's build, there was a non-zero chance he could have killed one or more of the attackers. What if he'd drawn his sidearm? The muggers were presumably MIIO agents, same as Kym, who have had extensive training in hand to hand combat and live fire situations, but there's always the off chance of something going pear shaped in such situations. The scenario is cliched (rescue the damsel in distress), but presumably a MIIO psych workup of Morgan determined that it was one that would elicit the desired response.
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Date: October 23, 3027
Location: Nashira
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Narimasa Asano and Tarukito Niiro pay their respects to their commander, Yorinaga Kurita, as they arrive at his office. Narimasa reports the Genyosha has replaced almost all its losses suffered in battle against the Kell Hounds, and is at full strength - a reinforced battalion of four companies, one of them entirely comprised of elite Azami warriors, under Chu-sa Saladin Bey.
Tarukito reports the Rasalhagian company is underperforming due to a lack of leadership. They suggest putting a new recruit in command of that company, due to his mixed-race heritage and his exceptional skill. Yorinaga claps to summon this officer in from the hallway, and the young man, Akira Brahe, greets Yorinaga as his father upon entering.
Brahe asks for the other officers to stay, as they would for any other staff interview. He recites his lineage: He was born in 3001 to Sula Brahe Kurita on Rasalhague, and was expelled from Sun Zhang in 3016, after Yorinaga's disgrace on Mallory's World. Obtaining a job at a 'Mech factory on Alshain, he fought off yakuza raiders in a factory fresh Grand Dragon. For his service, he was "rewarded" with a posting to the 11th Legion of Vega in a barely functional Dragon. He traded on the black market to bring his lance's 'Mechs up to spec, and replaced his Chu-i after he died in battle.
Yorinaga asks what he would do if his commander issued an order contrary to what he felt was best for the Combine. Brahe says he would carry it out, but be ready to offer alternatives. Yorinaga asks what he would do if his commander ordered him to commit seppuku. Akira bares his chest and asks that his father stand as his second so that he would not dishonor his family.
Yorinaga accepts the display, and orders Narimasa and Tarukito to prepare a berth in the Officer's Quarters for Chu-sa Brahe. He asks why Akira uses "Brahe" instead of Kurita. Akira explains that Yorinaga's wife, Sula, was denied seppuku by Mies Kurita, on direct orders from the Coordinator, and was sold into slavery. Her owner - Akira's grandfather Gustav Brahe - then allowed her seppuku and adopted Akira, severing his ties to Yorinaga's tainted lineage.
Notes: The Draconis Combine sourcebooks never really address the issue of slavery, but it's a regular feature in the Combine-centric works by Stackpole and Keith. Yorinaga's comment that it is impossible for a citizen to adopt a slave's child implies that there is a substantial body of law, or at least social custom with the power of law, regarding slaves in the Combine.
We know from "Mercenary's Star" that the military can seize civilians on worlds they hold and send them elsewhere in the Combine as slaves. From Keith's "Where Lies the Honor," we see that corporate overlords can enslave Combine citizens (thereby stripping them of their citizenship) due to non-payment of debts.
It's unclear whether there's a distinction between "slave" and "Unproductive" - though jobs given to Unproductives seem to be the kind of "high risk, low reward" roles you'd not want to assign to a person you'd paid money for: clean-up crews for toxic environments, research test subjects, or cannon fodder for local militia units. Gustav paid 20,000 C-Bills for his daughter. Female slaves seem to generally be assigned as prostitutes/geisha (the renketsu nose piercing worn by "Little Dragon" is a symbol of having been owned, and that was the explicit destination of women taken from Verthandi, as well as the merchant's wife and daughter on Kawabe) while male slaves are used as laborers (though the mines on Kawabe were reputed to have a high worker fatality rate).
Stackpole is using the early chapters of Warrior: Riposte to establish multiple parallel father-son dynamics. Morgan Hasek-Davion loves and respects his father, but finds it a one-way relationship. He hopes to find a way to bring his father into Hanse Davion's confidence, and restore the bond. Justin Xiang is (ostensibly) angry at his father, and working with his enemies to destroy everything he cares about, due to his father's unjust rejection of him. (In reality, he's serving as a loyal undercover agent for his father in the heart of the enemy camp.) Akira Brahe had a hard life growing in the shadow of his father's disgrace from the age of 15 onwards, but is still loyal to him to the point of death. He finds that loyalty rewarded and reciprocated, while Morgan is rejected by Michael, and finds a new father figure in Hanse Davion.
The reference to the Azami company is interesting - Yorinaga must have had wide latitude indeed to be able to get skilled personnel to transfer out of the Arkab Legions. The comment that their dedication to Islam makes the other warriors (presumably Shintoists) uncomfortable again reinforces the general cultural homogeneity of the Combine, as mandated by Urizen Kurita II and the Dictum Honorium.
With one Arkab company and one Rasalhagian company, I wonder if the other two companies have regional themes, or if they're just stock Kuritan (whereas the other two represent distinct cultures assimilated by the Combine).
The yakuza raiding the factory on Alshain were after Panthers, suggesting it was an Alshain Weapons facility. However, Akira leapt to the defense in just-built Grand Dragon. Per information we have, those are only made at Luthien Armor Works, and were never assembled on Alshain. Was there a Grand Dragon line at Alshain Weapons, or had a Grand Dragon just recently been transferred to the plant from LAW?
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Date: October 25, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: We Got A Real Dangerous Job
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns to Club Zero-Zero to find a holovid message waiting from Yerg Gantor, who apologizes for not having been around in person, and offers Ragen additional contracts for a standard mission on Zacapa or a "real dangerous job" on Drena.
Notes: I'd initially attributed Gantor's accent (the only one in the game) to the designers wanting to portray him as a lower-class criminal with a Cockney accent, but now that Tom Sloper has informed us the actual programming team was located in Australia, I wonder they intended his accent to be Aussie (which is closely related to Cockney, but with more of a twang). It'd be amusing if Yerg originated from the colony on Botany Bay.
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Date: October 27, 3027
Location: Ramsau
Title: Decompression: Surprise on Ramsau's Moon
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology #0201)
Synopsis: On Ramsau's moon, Gordo, a six-'Mech mercenary strike group makes its way across the airless lunar surface en route to a hidden Kurita command and control center.
Lt. Vincent McCabe, a member of the Star Warriors team, notes that Ramsau III is half-covered in ice, and the rest with cold deserts that freeze under 70-hour night cycles. The atmosphere is thin. Local flora is inedible, requiring all food to be grown in underground hydroponics facilities or shipped in. Despite its inhospitability, McCabe notes that Lyran fervor to reclaim lost worlds had increased since the revolt on Verthandi, and that LCAF high command had contracted the Star Warriors for a deep penetration raid to put the DCMS on the defensive. McCabe notes that the destruction of the hydroponics bays would either force House Kurita to tie up dozens of JumpShips to supply the world, or let the population of 10 million starve.
Accordingly, the plan is for the Star Warriors to hit Sauton, the sole population center, and take out the hydroponics farms there. A pre-requisite, however, is to knock out the DCMS Command and Control center - located on its large, airless tidally-locked moon, directly over Sauton.
During the main invasion, when Kurita aerospace forces contested the Star Warriors' regimental-level incursion, McCabe's demi-company was detached in a modified Leopard (with six 'Mech bays) to hit Gordo - skimming over the surface and crater-hopping to stay under DCMS radar, and depositing the strike force within 15 km of the Kurita bunker.
McCabe's team approaches the target carefully, adapting to the 0.2 G microgravity conditions. He notes that the 'Mechs have been prepared for the vacuum conditions (which make it hard to dissipate heat) with bright silver paint jobs to reflect solar radiation, reduced armor to accommodate heavier heat sinks, and special radiator vents. On an IR scope, he suspects his team stands out like bipedal magnesium flares. Moving across the dark surface of Gordo, McCabe feels horribly exposed.
When they reach a point 2 km from a rock wall, the unit disperses under radio silence and advances in a crescent formation. McCabe feels uncomfortable and dehydrated in his pressure suit - his only chance to survive if his cockpit is holed.
As the unit ascends the ridge overlooking the Combine facility, enemy fire begins to bracket the mercenaries. Colonel Christopher Christie orders the group to execute "Plan Kilo," a refuse-the-right advance. The unit's tactical frequency is a babble of damage reports until a PPC strike disrupts local communications.
McCabe takes a hit in his Shadow Hawk's chest, and returns fire blindly, flushing a Dragon. Attempting to evade the Dragon's missile bombardments, McCabe stumbles on a camouflaged DCMS defense bunker busily savaging Colonel Christie with Large Laser and PPC fire.
The bunker turns its fire on McCabe's Shadow Hawk, the impacts hurling the 'Mech backwards in the light gravity. Damage telltales compete for attention with overheat warnings in the cockpit. He desperately fires back at the bunker, then panics as everything goes black and his overheating 'Mech shuts down. Something heavy collides with his prone 'Mech, spinning it wildly and causing him to pass out.
McCabe awakens some time later, tasting blood and hearing a ringing in his ears that almost drowns out the hiss of escaping air and the whooping of the depressurization alarm. He begins to take off his neurohelmet to swap it with his pressure helmet, but sees the enemy Dragon just 30 meters away, near the ruined bunker (destroyed by McCabe's final volley). It is joined by a Panther - but both ignore the downed Shadow Hawk.
Faced with the choice of extracting in his pressure suit (and possibly getting killed or captured by the Combine, or dying when his air runs out in a few hours) or running out of air in the depressurized cockpit, McCabe fishes some discarded chewing gum out of the cockpit waste receptacle and uses it to patch the tiny hole in the Shadow Hawk's cockpit.
With the immediate issue of pressure loss solved, McCabe restarts his cooled Shadow Hawk, taking care not to jolt the flimsy patch loose. Seeing the two DCMS 'Mechs approaching the Colonel's 'Mech, he fires at the Dragon, taking it down in two volleys. The Panther turns to face the Shadow Hawk, but finds itself in a cross-fire. As the Dragon rises and attempts to re-engage, McCabe shoots its cockpit with a laser, and witnesses the pilot's death from the resulting explosive decompression.
Colonel Christie signals a retreat from the Kurita ambush, with the element of surprise lost, the team's Griffin destroyed, and the rest heavily damaged. It would only be a matter of time before DCMS aerospace forces or DropShips with reinforcements arrived in response to the C3 center's distress call. By the time the team returns to their Leopard, the Star Warriors regiment has signaled a general retreat in the face of overwhelming Kurita defenses guided by the intact C3 center.
Notes: This story is presented as a personal narrative, submitted to BattleTechnology for publication, by Lt. Vincent McCabe, a Fire Lance commander in the Star Warriors mercenary regiment under contract to House Steiner.
It seems like Keith was working with a ruleset that imparted heat onto the target with every weapon hit - like Flamer, Inferno, Plasma, or Tactical Handbook EMP warhead hits. This might explain why heat played such a major role in the climactic battle in Decision at Thunder Rift, and why that book portrayed Infernos as such game-changing terror weapons for MechWarriors. Looking at the BattleDroids rules and the vacuum ruleset from BattleTechnology 0201, there's nothing in either about received heat from weapon fire, so this looks like one of Keith's homebrew rules variants.
It's amusing that there's a Chris Christie in the BattleTech universe, but since the former governor of New Jersey had only just passed the bar exam when this issue was published, we can pretty safely chalk it up to coincidence (unless Keith went to school with him or knew him in another capacity).
Keith does an excellent job of working the mechanics of low-gee and vacuum combat into a tightly written story about a small-unit action, while working in plenty of his trademark world-building in the process. While the details on Ramsau are considered apocryphal, no other authors have played in this particular sandbox since, leaving it as the only data we have on the setting.
The mechanism of having to swap out the neurohelmet for the pressure helmet seems impractical. In the event that the 'Mech's systems go critical (ammo explosion, cockpit breach, engine containment lost, etc.), the auto-eject system would launch the pilot into the void without giving him/her time to switch helmets. Wouldn't it make more sense to simply have vacuum seals and an air supply on the neurohelmet? Since aerospace fighter pilots wear neurohelmets as well, it's certainly possible. (But perhaps not if you're a merc unit on a budget...)
I'd initially wondered how McCabe made it 15 km back across the lunar surface to the Leopard if he was already finding it hard to breathe before he plugged the hole with his chewing gum. However, if his pressure suit did, indeed, have a four hour air supply, he could just have opened the nozzle on that to at least partially repressurize his cockpit for the return trip. (Being careful not to overpressurize it and pop the thin seal of frozen gum.)
This type of mission would seem to have been better suited for Loki than a mercenary regiment. If the goal is to take out a C3 base on the moon and/or to destroy hydroponics on the planet, it'd be far easier to infiltrate saboteurs than to barge in guns blazing with a full regiment of 'Mechs. My guess is that a Lyran social general developed the plan, and definitely was more entranced by the image of a massive weight of metal boldly smashing through Kurita defenses than a handful of psychotic orphans planting pentaglycerine charges in an underground greenhouse.
Moon bases have been a staple of BattleTech fiction since the early days. Keith had the DCMS aerospace forces at Verthandi based on the moon in Mercenary's Star, and the Kuritans had aerospace forces based on Luthien's moon, but opted to keep them in reserve rather than trying to intercept the inbound Smoke Jaguar and Nova Cat DropShips (which Jaime Wolf recommended). SAFE's Eagle Corps maintained a command center on Atreus' moon, until they were wiped out by a Blakist assault.
The reference to installing "bigger and heavier heat sinks" as opposed to "more heat sinks" implies that Keith's early-days concept of heat sinks was that sinks had different size/efficacy categories, just like lasers and autocannons. Bigger sinks that get rid of more heat are basically "Double Heat Sinks" or "Freezers," though those only have more volume, without adding more mass. The radiator fins for greater heat dissipation in a vacuum don't have any analogues in the ruleset, aside from a mention that heat sinks have to be modified to work in a vacuum, since the standard units are designed to remove heat through contact with an atmosphere.
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A thought on the Grand Dragon is that the early ones were probably Dragons converted to serve as a testbed. They were probably modified at wherever was closest.
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Date: October 27, 3027
Location: Ramsau
Title: On the Shores of a Sea on Gordo
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Scenario (BattleTechnology #0201)
Synopsis: On a six-month assignment to the lunar command and control base, Gordo Alpha, the MechWarriors of the Rasalhague Regulars enjoy the beautiful view of Ramsau looming above them, but are bored by the routine of paperwork, watches, bland food, and dull people. When the watchpost on the ridge warns of incoming enemy forces, Lt. Daryl Hanson and his lancemates leap at the chance for some excitement.
The battlefield is a 2x1 rectangle with ascending slopes on the eastern side, rising to the ridgeline across elevation zones delineated A through D.
The defending Rasalhague Regulars deploy a Dragon, Panther, Stinger, and Commando, as well as a concealed gun emplacement with a paired Large Laser and PPC (CF 95). They begin as hidden units.
The attacking Lyran mercenaries - the Star Warriors - bring a Wolverine, Shadow Hawk, Commando, Griffin, Centurion, and Stinger. They are unaware of the ambush, and may not fire weapons until after they are fired upon.
All units on both sides have been modified to function normally in a vacuum environment.
If the Lyrans reach Zone D (on the far eastern side) without being fired upon, they win automatically. If they are fired upon, the victory conditions change to withdrawal, and the target edge shifts to the western side. Every Lyran 'Mech that exits of the western side counts for 10 victory points, while every one left behind costs 5. The Rasalhague forces score 12 points for each 'Mech that fails to exit the map, and loses 5 for each friendly downed and for each enemy that exits the map.
The gun emplacement is breached and out of action on a roll of 9+ in any turn it suffers 15+ damage.
Beginning on turn 11, the defender receives reinforcements on a roll of 10+ - either 2 Shilones or 80-tons of Veteran ground forces.
Lunar (vacuum + low-gravity) rules presented in the issue may be used. On Gordo, this adds 4 MP to each 'Mech's running speed (though PSRs are required), and adds 8 MP to each 'Mech's jumping speed without PSR. Cockpits may be depressurized on a 9+ when taking head damage or at least 5 points of CT damage. 'Mechs not in shadow gain extra heat, as do 'Mechs moving extra fast. 'Mechs in shadow (rough terrain) bleed heat far more quickly. Ballistic weapons get a +1 to-hit penalty due to stronger recoil in microgravity.
Notes: This scenario tells the story of "Decompression" from the Kurita viewpoint, with the Lyrans as the aggressors.
I'm surprised that the Rasalhague garrison didn't get into their 'Mechs until they got the warning from the perimeter bunker, since there was an aerospace battle raging in close proximity to the Ramsau III orbital path, and there was a non-zero possibility that Lyran 'Mechs could have dropped directly on top of the Gordo Alpha base. (Presumably, while Lyran intel missed the perimeter PPC pillboxes, they probably noted strong air defenses that precluded a combat drop on the site.) I guess when you're in a vacuum situation, you want to mount up as late as possible, so as not to risk depleting your air supply during the battle. Still, I'd have expected them to be in their 'Mechs in a pressurized 'Mech bay on "ready five" status as soon as the aerospace battle started.
Tactically, it's always very hard for defending forces to stop jumping foes in a "breakthrough" scenario, and the low-gee rules make it even harder. The Lyran Wolverine, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, and Stinger are all jump capable, and the low-gee lets them jump 13, 11, 13, and 14 respectively. With 32 hexes to cross, they can be off the east end in three rounds without making any extra PSRs. Moving that fast, they'll all be getting +5 defensive bonuses, making them nigh un-hittable by the Gunnery 4, 5, and 6 defenders (which would need 9, 10, or 11, respectively, if they were at short range and standing still). In practical terms, the jumping Lyrans will sail past the hapless Kurita troops and blow Gordo Alpha to smithereens using the optional ruleset, unless the Kurita troops are exceptionally lucky.
I would recommend the jump squad advance without firing and cross the target zone in three rounds. If the enemy fails to fire at you (unlikely), then you win. If the enemy fires, simply jump back the way you came and bound off the western edge. Total time spent - five rounds max - enemy reinforcements aren't an issue. Leave your walkers as a rear guard so they can exit off the western side immediately once the victory conditions change. Final score (unless the Kuritans are really lucky): +60 for the Lyrans, -30 for the Kuritans.
For the Kurita forces, all I can really recommend is to position your 'Mechs as far forward as possible and charge the Lyran western positions from the get go at top speed (not firing). The Lyran jumpers will be 2/3 across the board in two turns, so have the pillbox open up on them in the Turn 2 firing phase, and have your 'Mechs mix it up as well. That will give you another two turns of being able to take shots at the Lyrans, which will have to reverse course and move back to their home edge - best bets are to stand still and hope for lucky dice.
With the optional low-gravity rules applied, this scenario becomes far too easy for the Lyrans - akin to the curbstomp Dragoon assault on Anton Marik's fortress in "The Spider and the Wolf." It certainly fails to capture the intensity of the vacuum combat portrayed in the accompanying fiction. My recommendation would be to use vacuum rules, but to treat Gordo as if it were 1 G, rather than the 0.2 specified in the setup, if you want a game that's not over in less time than it took to set up.
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A thought on the Grand Dragon is that the early ones were probably Dragons converted to serve as a testbed. They were probably modified at wherever was closest.
The full quote in the chapter is: “I was sent to Alshain and there obtained a job in a ’Mech factory. I avoided all contacts with the dissident elements and concentrated upon learning how to pilot a ’Mech. In the course of this training, I also learned how to repair and maintain the machines. Eventually, after three years, I was allowed to become a testing pilot and to operate a fully armed ’Mech. It just so happened that I was in the factory complex and that the Grand Dragon I piloted had just been armed in preparation for a run the next morning.”
The implication is that the Grand Dragon was manufactured locally and had been armed in preparation for a quality-control systems shakeout run. The MUL pegs the DRG-1G variant introduction date as 3024.
Objective Raids notes of Alshain Weapons that "The company also maintained its vitality through joint ventures with Luthien Armor Works," though that's specifically in reference to the ER PPC manufactured at Tok Do for shipment to the LAW Grand Dragon line on Luthien.
One possibility is that there was another joint venture in the offing - launching a new Grand Dragon line on Alshain in 3027, but that the line was shut down prior to the publication of Objective Raids. It just seems extremely unlikely that LAW would make a Grand Dragon on Luthien, but ship it all the way to Alshain Weapons for a shakedown (though the possibility exists that one of Alshain Weapons' joint ventures with LAW was to provide post-shipment quality control testing prior to LAW machines being assigned to the local garrison, to make sure nothing broke or got misaligned in transit.)
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Date: November 4, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Maybe it's his Smell
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras returns from running a mission for Yerg Gantor and receives some friendly advice from Cearle, the Club Zero-Zero maitre'd, who comments on Herras' new associate and says he doesn't like the way Gantor smells. He suggests laying low by taking an easy contract on Galeton.
Notes: The game manual refers to Gantor as "another veteran merc, one tough cookie." He's seen planning an ambush to eliminate Wolf Glupper after a falling out, and he tries to kill Herras after the attempt to ambush Glupper fails due to Herras' interference. Cearle doesn't seem to have any qualms about passing Herras a holovid message from Yerg, in which Gantor offers to sell out the Dark Wing in exchange for Herras running a few missions for him.
At this point, Herras is aware of Yerg's involvement with at least one member of the Dark Wing (Wolf Glupper), and knows that Yerg claims to have data on the Dark Wing leadership. Yerg is also apparently a regular visitor to Club Zero-Zero. Why not stop running missions all over the place and put out a call to the Lyran authorities to have a bag team place Club Zero-Zero under surveillance, waiting for Yerg to come by for a drink. (Or, if Herras is actually a DMI Rabid Fox/Stealthy Fox, call in a DMI bag team.) The only reason I can think of is that Herras is afraid Yerg will rabbit if he senses a trap.
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Date: November 15, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: A Whole Lot of Money
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Meece Yerta again re-enters Herras' life and offers to cut him in on a lucrative opportunity. Once Herras agrees, Yerta tells him that a "whole lot of money has been lost on Jamison," and instructs Herras to go there and make them both rich.
Notes: I can see why they'd throw something like this in right before the missions that lead to the end game - giving the player enough cash to upgrade their 'Mech to optimal levels before the final boss-fight.
However, the hook still seems entirely too sketchy to be even remotely actionable. I really wish the Australian dev team had taken the same amount of care as the crew behind the original MechWarrior story missions to set up something that fit the BattleTech universe's aesthetics and mood.
Based on Tom Sloper's answers to my questions, I would guess that FASA provided substantial input about how the 'Mechs should look and fight, and suggested Galatea as an appropriate in-universe jumping off point for mercenary missions. With the original intent being an adaptation of the original MechWarrior I, the bad guys were set up as the Dark Wing, but since Tom hadn't ever played the original game (and the Australians may not have, either), there was no effort to coordinate with the original game's storyline.
Tom said he read one novel, and that appears to have been Warrior: En Garde, from which he mined a number of plot events which he must have faxed to the production team in Australia for use as NewsNet fodder. The reason that the tie-in references run out midway through the game is because Tom only read En Garde, and ran out of material.
So it looks like the production team in Australia had guidance on how BattleMechs look and fight (though the team opted to create new 'Mechs to appeal to the Japanese aesthetic sense, rather than adapt FASA's existing stable - many of which would have run into copyright issues in Japan due to being themselves adapted from Japanese shows), and had the general sense of mercenaries being based on Galatea, the Mercenary's Star. The use of Solaris among all the other non-canon worlds is probably from having a big chunk of the action in En Garde take place there.
Aside from the above, it's likely that the Australian team had no other source material to work from, and simply focused on making a 'Mech fighting game with the most attention to maximum play value on the platform, and minimal attention to the framing storyline, since they had very little to go on. The more detailed they got, the more likely it would be that they would end up veering away from BattleTech's core.
FASA had a track record of giving writers less than they needed - having provided Ardath Mayhar just a folder containing some very broad background notes when she took the contract to write The Sword and the Dagger after Tracey Hickman and Margaret Weis backed out. Lacking sufficient data on how the universe worked, she took what she had and grafted it onto the structure of The Man in the Iron Mask. (William H. Keith, on the other hand, was given a mostly blank canvas and just began filling in highly granular details on anything he could get his hands on.)
While I understand the limitations the Australian development team was working under, setups like this still seem underwritten. Go scour an entire planet in your 'Mech until you stumble across a big sack of C-Bills? What kind of mission brief is that? Why not "The Mercenary Underground hit the Jamison central reserve and made off with a ton of cash. The Jamison militia knows where they're holed up, but doesn't have the firepower to assault the MU fortress. If you can crack their defenses, there'll be plenty of money for both of us!"? Same mission, same gameplay, but this way the mission seems more grounded in the universe's aesthetic.
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I get that Justin is method acting to keep his cover intact (and Stackpole is misleading the readers to set up the big reveal at the end), but how is he getting "caustic bile to bubble up in his throat" from his reaction to hearing that Hanse and Melissa are getting married?
<snip>
One interesting bit (plugging the wedding date into a calendar app) - despite tradition calling for Saturday weddings, August 20, 3028 is a Wednesday.
Assuming Justin didn't know about the wedding, the heartburn would be for the scope of Hanse's play.
Stackpole might've miscalculated the centenniel leap days: remembering that most years divisible by 100 don't have a leap day, but forgetting that years divisible by 400 do. Three extra leap days between 1987 and 3028 would push the wedding from Wednesday to Saturday. I wonder if we see the same thing with other wedding dates in BattleTech? Not that it matters in space, what with every planet having its own week cycle.
The implication is that the Grand Dragon was manufactured locally and had been armed in preparation for a quality-control systems shakeout run. The MUL pegs the DRG-1G variant introduction date as 3024.
Looking carefully, I see nothing in the excerpt to favor a new production line over refits of existing chassis. The incident might've even occurred during the variant's R&D phase, and I think sending a LAW team to Alshain makes sense - Alshain presumably has facilities and expertise for PPC work that Luthien doesn't.
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I swear I remember something about how they didn't build new Grand Dragons until the 3040s, until then every single DRG-1G was a refitted DRG-1N?
Possibly in TRO 3050's Grand Dragon entry?
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I swear I remember something about how they didn't build new Grand Dragons until the 3040s, until then every single DRG-1G was a refitted DRG-1N?
Possibly in TRO 3050's Grand Dragon entry?
The 3050 Grand Dragon entry lists 3040 as the date of introduction for the upgraded version (given the MUL placing the date for that model as 3050, I assume this is regarded as a typo, or possibly a reference to the prototype that shares its designation in Starter Book Sword and Dragon).
The 3039 Dragon entry indicates that "several" production lines for the Dragon had already been retooled to build the Grand Dragon by 3039.
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I just wanted to mention that MechWarrior 1 also had two Japanese ports for the Sharp X68000 and PC-98 (which Tom Sloper mentions in the interview). Those two ports may be the rarest Battletech games ever released since they were Japan-only and made for Japanese computers. However Youtube footage shows they were enhanced versions of the Dynamix game with slightly better looking polygons.
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Date: November 18, 3027
Location: Outreach
Title: Proprietary
Author: Stephan A. Frabartolo
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Aboard the Buccaneer-class DropShip Reibach, a Kincaid Defiance Industries representative calling himself Mr. Johnson greets Mr. Ling, who oversees a group of Capellan customs investigators swapping identically marked crates between the DropShip's hold and their K-1 DropShuttle.
Ling warns Johnson that it was risky for him to come in person, but Johnson reassures Ling that the necessary documents have been altered to cover all traces. Ling confirms that the Liao team has supplied a dead body, as requested - handing over a dossier that identifies the deceased as a MechWarrior from the 1st Marik Militia with a history of murdering captives.
Johnson looks over the dossier and confirms it is the man who killed his family on Megrez in 3018, and received little more than a slap on the wrist from the FWLM.
As the cargo transfer completes, Ling offers Johnson asylum in the Confederation, in consideration of his technical expertise. Johnson declines, saying that his loyalty remains Lyran, and that his provision of the merchandise in the crates was so that the CCAF could be more effective in bringing justice for his family. He suggests he'd be amenable to selling more of the "merchandise" to the Capellans in the future.
Ling doubts Johnson's ability to avoid discovery, and asks for the blueprints. Johnson answers that, while he can provide prototypes risk free, he cannot offer the blueprints at this time.
Notes: Amusingly, in German, "Reibach" comes out as "gravy train," according to Google translate.
The 3018 battle on Megrez appears to have centered on "The Battle of Skada Ravine," an action in which several members of the Perth River Battalion were decorated for heroism, their actions having saved the other two battalions of the 1st Marik Militia from being flanked.
Despite always seeming to be out for maximum profit, Lyran motivations when it comes to selling tech secrets to Lyran enemies rarely seems to come down to money. Perhaps they know that the Lyran system is the only one in which their combination of business acumen and social status could maximize their profits, making the prospect of helping the Combine or League a dubious value proposition in the long run, despite any short-term gain they might personally reap.
A Lyran official gave the Federated Suns BattleMech technology because he was being blackmailed, and a design team gave the Free Worlds League the same because they were emotionally manipulated by a League intelligence officer. Here, "Johnson" (actually KDI CEO Simon Kincaid) is motivated by the death of his family at Marik hands.
I'm actually surprised that Kincaid only wanted the death of the man who killed his family, rather than having that man's entire noble household burned down around his ears. Still, given the 3022 "Concord of Kapteyn," that was probably not a realistic ask from the Maskirovka, whereas an isolated tag'n'bag operation could be carried out without causing too many ripples.
I'm kind of confused about what Kincaid's family was doing on Megrez in 3018, however. Per the maps we have, it was a Marik holding at that point, implying that the 1st Marik Militia was fighting a defensive action against a Lyran assault. It may well have been traded back and forth repeatedly over the centuries of warfare, but why, then, would local civilians be considered Lyran or League, rather than just the type who eschew loyalty in general and salute whatever flag is being run up the pole that week? It's possible that the Kincaids were recently transplanted offworlders who'd come to exploit the world's assets after the most recent Lyran conquest. If not, what could possibly have drawn the attention of the Marik Militia trooper who murdered them?
From the context, the KDI ship is transiting CC space en-route to the Federated Suns to deliver a shipment of prototype double heat sinks, and this supply that "fell off the back of the truck" will be retrofitted onto CCAF forces that will end up using them in the 4th Succession War.
Stephan "Frabby" Frabartolo has, as usual, done an excellent job of tying together disparate references from multiple sourcebooks and adding additional content to fill in gaps in some of the key early storylines. Proprietary answers the question of how the CCAF fielded units equipped with double heat sinks in the 4th Succession War (per one of the scenarios in the 4th Succession War BattlePack) when it had been FedSuns scientists who'd been experimenting with double heat sinks ("freezers") in the Tales of the Black Widow scenarios.
The use of Outreach as the transfer makes sense if you're trying to keep the switch off the radar, since Outreach was a relative backwater circa 3027, and wouldn't achieve prominence until the Dragoons set up shop there in the 3030s. However, I'm curious as to how KDI would justify the routing (assuming that the paperwork shows it, and wasn't adjusted as part of the cover-up). For Lyran/FedSuns trade, the logical routing is New Earth or Rigil Kentarus to Caph, traversing the narrow Terran corridor through FedSuns worlds. Taking a direct route that leads through the heart of the Tikonov Commonality just raises all kinds of questions, especially when you're carrying sensitive military prototypes.
This raises additional questions about how seriously the Capellans took the Federated Commonwealth alliance. They launched Operation DOPPLEGANGER, in part, to break it up, and entered into an alliance with long-time foe - House Marik - to counterbalance it. We know that Liao responded favorably to Katrina's peace proposal (though their suggestion of a joint offensive against House Marik and the marriage of Tormano Liao to Melissa Steiner was rebuffed in favor of a joint offensive against House Kurita and the marriage of Hanse Davion to Melissa) and that there hadn't been much fighting between the two houses except for a Lyran raid on Carver V. Would Lyran merchants be generally free to travel through Capellan space? (Sure, KDI had special dispensation because they were making a covert drop-off for the Maskirovka...but if all other Lyran merchants are banned as being in the Davion camp, that would look very irregular.)
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A few comments on your comments...
I'm actually surprised that Kincaid only wanted the death of the man who killed his family, rather than having that man's entire noble household burned down around his ears. Still, given the 3022 "Concord of Kapteyn," that was probably not a realistic ask from the Maskirovka, whereas an isolated tag'n'bag operation could be carried out without causing too many ripples.
I never considered the deceased to have family or a noble household to speak of. He was probably a sociopathic loner. But more importantly, family is important to Johnson. It would be out of character for Johnson to repay him in kind, as the notion that his family was innocent and shouldn't have been killed is what drives Johnson in the first place.
I'm kind of confused about what Kincaid's family was doing on Megrez in 3018, however. Per the maps we have, it was a Marik holding at that point, implying that the 1st Marik Militia was fighting a defensive action against a Lyran assault. It may well have been traded back and forth repeatedly over the centuries of warfare, but why, then, would local civilians be considered Lyran or League, rather than just the type who eschew loyalty in general and salute whatever flag is being run up the pole that week? It's possible that the Kincaids were recently transplanted offworlders who'd come to exploit the world's assets after the most recent Lyran conquest. If not, what could possibly have drawn the attention of the Marik Militia trooper who murdered them?
I never explored that situation in depth. My working theory was a loose concept of the family being either collateral damage, or having been hostages, but as you point out neither is very likey. In a pinch, it could always be argued that Kincaid's family (wife and kids) were supporting the Lyran forces in a non-combat function like medical personnel, techs or DropShip crew when they were killed.
From the context, the KDI ship is transiting CC space en-route to the Federated Suns to deliver a shipment of prototype double heat sinks, and this supply that "fell off the back of the truck" will be retrofitted onto CCAF forces that will end up using them in the 4th Succession War.
Not neccessarily. The investigation revealed that DHS were siphoned off as "production cull" of supposedly faulty parts that were supposedly sent to New Avalon for evaluation. But New Avalon never learned of this nor did they receive any. This created a good cover story for why they were shipped out of Lyran space, and at the same time weren't expected or missed in Davion space. Nothing ever fell of a truck in the sense of being missed.
By the time of this cargo exchange, the paper trail is already so jumbled that nobody can be sure what's supposed to be in those crates - double heat sinks, diapers, Botany Bay industrial sand, apples or oranges.
It wasn't one single delivery either. When you consider the limited cargo capacity of a K-1 then it is obvious that this is only the latest of several such cargo transfers (or otherwise the Capellans wouldn't have created an actual regular BJ variant with those DHS).
The use of Outreach as the transfer makes sense if you're trying to keep the switch off the radar, since Outreach was a relative backwater circa 3027, and wouldn't achieve prominence until the Dragoons set up shop there in the 3030s. However, I'm curious as to how KDI would justify the routing (assuming that the paperwork shows it, and wasn't adjusted as part of the cover-up). For Lyran/FedSuns trade, the logical routing is New Earth or Rigil Kentarus to Caph, traversing the narrow Terran corridor through FedSuns worlds. Taking a direct route that leads through the heart of the Tikonov Commonality just raises all kinds of questions, especially when you're carrying sensitive military prototypes.
Outreach was described (in the original Liao housebook iirc) as a Capellan transit and customs system. If we assume the Reibach to be riding on ComStar Highliners commercial JumpShips then these might conceivably move through Outreach but have the DropShips carried be subject to Capellan customs inspection. If the Reibach was officially carrying a KDI consignment of diapers (and no-one in Steiner or Davion space knew otherwise) then it'd be a non-issue. Plus, Kincaid was the one person who would have been responsible for sensitive military prototypes being shipped only on safe routes. Of course when you asked him he'd tell you no such shipment had taken place.
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Thanks for the insights, Frabby.
Kincaid’s review of the dead Marik trooper’s crimes noted that he’d received a minimal punishment because he owned his own Thunderbolt and held a noble title. (P. 9: "...he had nevertheless evaded criminal prosecution because of his noble title and his ownership of a valuable Thunderbolt.") From that, I’d assumed a noble family was attached (though they could have been low level - a knight-class title with a fortified “castle” compound). Kincaid seemed irate enough about the protection afforded by his noble status that I speculated he might have wanted revenge at that level as well.
Outreach makes perfect sense as a trading port, being one jump from several Marik worlds. I was just questioning whether Lyran ships would raise eyebrows in the aftermath of the FedCom and Kapteyn alliances. If it’s just a commercial DropShip on a regularly scheduled merchant JumpShip run through the CapCon (and not a Lyran-flagged JumpShip), then a “customs inspection” shouldn’t raise any flags.
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Date: November 20, 3027
Location: Kittery
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte – FASA)
Synopsis: Andrew Redburn, along with Robert Craon, Andrew Montbard, Archie St. Agnan, Payen Montdidier, Hugh de Payens and Geoffrey St. Omer (non-commissioned officers of the Kittery Training Battalion) relax over tea in a private dining room of a Capellan restaurant in Shaoshan as they toast departing comrade Sgt. Walter de Mesnil, who has been summoned to rejoin the Kell Hounds under Morgan.
Montbard asks Andrew what he knows about upcoming assignments. St. Agnan worries that they shouldn't be discussing sensitive information in a restaurant run by the Yizhi tong and technically off limits to AFFS personnel by order of the CID. Andrew tells them not to worry, noting that his houseboy gave him a blanket his grandmother embroidered with their new unit insignia - causing him to speculate that their unit orders go to House Liao before reaching them. Andrew announces that they've been posted to the Davion Light Guards, due to their stellar performance during Galahad '27.
This causes some confusion, since the Kittery battalion is a Capellan March unit - outside of the chain of command for House Davion's private forces. Walter speculates that Andrew's actions in the Silver Eagle affair had something to do with it, but places most of the credit on the Galahad '27 exercises.
Archie suspects politics - guessing that Hanse is trying to smooth Michael Hasek-Davion's ruffled feathers over the Justin Allard affair by naming Morgan Hasek-Davion as his best man and giving a Capellan March unit such a prominent position.
Andrew takes the bill and reacts with surprise - showing Walter that it bears the wax seal of Shang Dao, the leader of the Yizhi tong. Montdidier pulls out three holdout pistols and a knife, noting that he doesn't stroll into Shaoshan naked. Andrew tells the group that Shang Dao has sent a warning of a Maskirovka hit team waiting for them out front, and suggesting they take the back door out.
As they leave the private dining room and pass through the main dining room, Craon sees the strike team through the front window and yells at the group to find cover. Machine gun fire shatters the window and kills several customers. Montdidier fires back and kills at least one of the Maskirovka agents. Andrew shoots another gunman as he bursts through the front door. The group retreats through the kitchen as Montdidier kills another Mask agent in the doorway.
Another Mask agent charges into the kitchen through the rear door, but slips on a grease spot, spoiling his aim long enough for Montdidier to drop him with two shots. Walter seizes his sub-machine gun. Craon reports to Redburn that the alley is clear and that the strike team is no longer at the front. Redburn notes that Shang Dao is keeping his people out of the fight, suggesting that it's a rogue Maskirovka operation.
The buildings seem menacing as the team plots its exit vector. Redburn feels Shaoshan seethe with danger, despite having been conquered by the Federated Suns a generation ago. He laments how much he hates fighting outside a 'Mech, noting that between this fight and his on-foot battles against Kurita ISF ninjas, he might as well be in the jump infantry.
The remaining Mask agents attempt to flee the scene. Archibald kills one, and Craon wounds the other. The AFFS officers give chase, and follow the wounded agent into what appears to be a Maskirovka safe house. The agent emerges and opens fire with an assault rifle, but is quickly killed by return fire. Redburn leads his men into the house to see what intel they can obtain.
Notes: Walter is significantly changed from the last time we saw him in this column - his black hair is turning gray, and he has a patch over his left eye. The patch wasn't mentioned in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," so he seems to have lost the eye during his campaigns with the Kell Hounds, and not during the final showdown on Maldive.
Craon notes that the Davion Assault Guards treat the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers as poor relations, and that the Crucis March people in general view the Capellan Marchers as frontier savages. This is probably a consequence of sustained territorial advances on that front - with many of the Capellan March worlds populated with former Capellan citizens (even though the conquest may have been during the 2nd Succession War), the Feddies have taken to heart the assumption that their continued victories over the Confederation are due to inherent deficiencies in character, culture, governance, and fighting spirit of the Capellan people, labeling them as savages (with the dehumanization inherent in that label - though, granted, the Capellans don't do themselves any favors on that score by making their Minister of Economy wear blue skin dye). (We'll later see FedCom carpetbaggers commenting on the local customs of the people of occupied Zurich, in "Bred for War," in a similar manner.)
This is the scene where the Maskirovka really acquired its Stackpole-bestowed reputation for Keystone Cops buffoonery. The choreography for the strike team's attack on eight mostly unarmed AFFS officers could have been set to Benny Hill's Yackety Sax. There's never any real sense of menace - just quips between one-shotting Mask goons. This tends to reinforce the aforementioned Feddie attitude towards the Capellans as being inferior in pretty much every respect.
Stackpole likes writing about food, and prominently features restaurants in much of his work. This is the third time (chronologically) he's written a scene of an escape through the kitchen during a dinner interrupted by assailants - Vanish, Not the Way the Smart Money Bets, and now Riposte (and, technically, in the "About the Author" section of Warrior: Coupe, where Stackpole himself escapes from his ROM guards in Phoenix by getting them to stuff themselves at a Szechuan restaurant and then outdistancing them in a foot chase). I haven't reread his Rogue Squadron books since college, but I'd be willing to bet there's a scene where the X-Wing pilots fight their way out of an Imperial ambush through the kitchen of an alien diner. (I was actually surprised that young Walter de Mesnil never had to execute a kitchen evacuation in the Heir Apparent Catastrophe Unlimited series.)
Just as organized crime in other states doesn't really answer to the central government, the tongs apparently have their own agenda, rather than being extensions of the Maskirovka or the will of the Chancellor. (The yakuza aren't friendly towards House Kurita until Theodore's bridge-building in the 3030s, and the Malthus cartel and other mafia-esque groups in the Lyran Commonwealth, Free Worlds League, and Federated Suns don't exactly work hand-in-hand with Houses Steiner, Marik, or Davion.) The tongs aid to Redburn is due to the work Justin put into cultivating that relationship during his tenure on Kittery.
There appear to be both tongs and triads in the Capellan underworld, per the Solaris VII source material. Per TV Tropes, the triads started as secret societies dedicated to restoration of the Ming dynasty, while the tongs began as underground support networks (modeled on the triads) for Chinese migrant communities in the United States. Both have historically been involved in the traditional aspects of organized crime, though many are legitimate social organizations that have no criminal activities whatsoever.
Given that setup, I can see the utility of such organizations on former Capellan worlds living under AFFS occupation. Given Craon's attitude in "En Garde" and the generally colonialist/imperialist attitude held by the occupiers, the locals (their pre-existing caste structures presumably broken up by the military governor's edicts) would create underground networks to ensure the people's needs were met and that egregious abuses by the occupiers would suffer retaliation. If AFFS troops demonstrate themselves to not be threats to the people protected by a tong, then the maintenance of that relationship would be in the people's best interests (as seen in Shang Dao's actions).
Plugging "Shang Dao" into Google translate for Chinese (simplified) -> English results in "Up to". Given the tendency of non-English character names to have extra meaning, one might assume Stackpole wanted to imply that the tong leader was "up to" something, or that the fate of the team was "up to" Shang. "Yizhi" translates as "always" or "straight," suggesting reliability and directness for the group. (Not that there's any indication Stackpole chose the names to evoke those traits, but he certainly liked to pick evocative names for the yakuza clans he chronicled, so why not the tongs as well?)
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Date: November 24, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: The Dark Wing is the Mercenary Underground
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: A NewsNet report announces that House Davion is dedicating all available resources to combat the mercenary underground, vowing to eradicate every member, and offering rewards for information.
Larman Sholest informs Herras that key members of the Mercenary Underground are working on Quilon.
Vermin Minter, Herras' informant, lets him know that the head of the Dark Wing Lance is behind the Mercenary Underground, and is using it to expand Dark Wing operations.
Notes: Hmmmm.... If House Davion is offering reward money for information about the Mercenary Underground, why is Larman just giving it away to Herras for free? Why is he telling it to Herras at all instead of heading to the FedSuns embassy in Galatean City and cashing out? Perhaps Larman knows (as I've postulated) that Herras is a DMI agent, and that Club Zero-Zero is a Davion intelligence listening post, making it more convenient to pass the info that way, rather than being seen going in or out of the closely observed Davion embassy. One might expect Cearle Jamist (the maitre'd) to discreetly hand Larman a large sack of C-Bills after he "casually mentions" the information to young Herras.
Given that the Mercenary Underground/Dark Wing seems to be operating around Terra (within easy reach of Galatea, making most targets Lyran), why is House Davion taking the lead on extermination efforts? Shouldn't ComStar's Mercenary Review Board be declaring all registered mercenaries known to be involved with the Mercenary Underground to be renegades, zeroing out their ratings, banning them from entering into contracts, and hiring bounty hunters to bring them in? That's essentially what the MRBC did to mercs that hired on with the Blakists during the Jihad.
And what role does the weak, but still extant, Mercenary's Guild play in this? Do they see the Mercenary Underground as like-minded free spirits, fighting the good fight to keep the mercenary trade free of ComStar's control, or as competitors for what little business remains on the outskirts of the Review Board's purview? It would have been fun if this game had picked up on that little throwaway nugget in the Mercenary's Handbook and set the game interface in a Mercenary's Guild hiring hall on Galatea, rather than in Club Zero-Zero, and explored the mercenary life beyond the clean-cut contracts of the Review Board (much like HBS did with their BattleTech campaign game).
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Date: December 2, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the Portland Training Center on Arcadia, Donegal Broadcasting Company reporter Donner Hale interviews Private Frederick "Sniper" Jones, the gunner on a Schrek in Halsten's Brigade. Hale asks Jones how he makes the incredible shots that have earned him the reputation as "the killer on the Marik border" and "the scariest monster since Stefan Amaris."
Jones is uncomfortable with that characterization, but Hale persists, comparing his kill record to Natasha Kerensky, with 47 'Mechs downed, mostly from PPC hits to the cockpit. He asks if Jones gets a cut of the millions of kroner in salvage that the Brigade gets under the terms of its contract with the Commonwealth. He notes that House Marik has put an assassination contract on the Brigade's prominent officers, including Jones.
Jones angrily answers that he and his crew are on the front lines every day, while Hale sits in safety and disparages them.
Hale counters that the Lyran people are paying for Jones to be there, and that they should have a right to know the character of those receiving that money.
Jones stands to leave the interview, telling Hale that Marik MechWarriors don't care about Lyran rights, just about killing them.
Hale goads Jones, name dropping Frederick Steiner, and calling Jones a backwoods hick, an animal, and a piece of equipment to be used.
Jones punches him and leaves the interview, with the staggered reporter calling him a "nobody" as he departs.
Notes: This story is an expansion of the "notable pilot" section of the Schrek in Technical Readout: 3026, where he was noted for having the uncanny ability to always put all three PPC shots squarely onto the cockpit of an enemy 'Mech. Jones was also named in the Dragon Magazine preview article for TRO:3026, "Running Guns."
Halsten's Brigade is noted in TRO:3026 as being one of the largest and best-known all-vehicle mercenary units in the Inner Sphere. They appear to still be active into the Dark Age, having earned a reference in the TRO's of that era as well.
It's somewhat difficult to grasp Hale's attitude towards Jones, except to speculate that he associates himself with Lyran elites (like Frederick Steiner), for whom military service equates with driving the heaviest 'Mech they can get their hands on, and then going on to command duties. In the Third Succession War era (as has been pointed out in various fiction pieces), infantry die by the truckload, but MechWarriors can reasonably expect to come through a battle alive, even if their 'Mech is shot out from under them. Jones' ability to tear away that feeling of safety and invulnerability must be deeply troubling to people in the MechWarrior class and their associates.
Hale seems to have something of a reputation as a war correspondent for the DBC. We've seen DBC crews get unprecedented access - even going behind Kurita lines to film DCMS operations on a world being contested by the AFFS in "Wolves on the Border." Perhaps Hale spent time covering FWLM operations and began to feel empathy towards the MechWarriors that Jones has been picking off.
There's also the element of romanticism about 'Mechs - seeing the pilots as larger-than-life heroes and villains, modern knights in towering suits of armor, etc. Having them reduced to scorched carbon traces by someone in as unromantic a vehicle as a Schrek may be hard to take for a MechWarrior groupie.
We've seen past references to assassination contracts being placed on enemy troops, but generally only in the context of those who have committed war crimes. Many of the Kurita troops who took part in the Kentares Massacre were tracked down and killed by bounty hunters hired by the Federated Suns in subsequent years. But smoking Marik MechWarriors engaged in offensive operations against Lyran holdings doesn't seem to qualify as a war crime. Perhaps the FLWM determined that the cost would be too great to kill Jones and other standout members of the Brigade on the battlefield, and so sought to assassinate them instead. Since Jones is still alive, we can assume that SAFE was assigned the job. The FWL doesn't appear to have any of the assassin societies like the Saurimat or the Nekekami that proliferate in the Draconis Combine, and Arcadia is a long way from the known assassin guilds that operate in the Periphery (Santander's Killers and the Jarnfolk).
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Date: December 5, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Bombs Planted at Installations
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Vermin Minter reports to Herras that the mercenary underground has planted bombs at a number of installations on Zhada, and rumors place the detonator somewhere on the planet.
Notes: Urrrrrgh! Another setup so woefully inappropriate for the established mechanics of the BattleTech universe. Granted, the plot hook fits the mechanics of the game itself (drop onto Zhada, wander around blasting baddies until you stumble across the Objective, win), but makes less than no sense when placed in the context of the broader setting.
The setup can be used effectively - as seen in Babylon 5 when the Drakh planted bombs all over Centauri and used the threat of their detonation to blackmail Londo Mollari into letting them place a Keeper on his neck and control his actions for most of the rest of his reign as Emperor.
Here, though, what does the mercenary underground stand to gain? Are they demanding a ransom? Are they demanding that House Davion back off and stop hunting their members? These bombs aren't cloaked with Shadow tech, and sweeps of key buildings would probably turn them up, so the "expires by" date on this threat is pretty short term - certainly not on the timeframe where it would make sense for Herras to leap onto his DropShip, burn for orbit, dock with a JumpShip at a pirate point, jump to Zhada, land, and sweep randomly across the entire planetary surface until stumbling over the detonator.
If you're hearing about an urgent crisis and you're light years away, there's nothing you can really do to affect the outcome.
Narratively, all this really does is to establish the mercenary underground as card carrying "bad guys" who engage in extortion and terrorism, albeit in so heavy handed a manner that the hook may as well add "Look for a man in a black hat twirling his mustache."
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Date: December 11, 3027
Location: Marfik
Title: Heir to the Dragon
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel (Heir to the Dragon – FASA)
Synopsis: Three years into his command of the Legion of Vega, Theodore Kurita prepares for the arrival of fresh personnel, sending his XO, Sho-sa Olivares, to the landing field. In the command hut, he meets with Ninyu Kerai, an undercover ISF agent sent by Subhash Indrahar to run interference for Theodore. They discuss the recent departure of his secret wife, Tomoe Sakade, to deliver their second child with the help of Brother Nitti and visit their firstborn son, Hohiro. Ninyu congratulates Theodore on having purged the unit of hopeless cases, and instilled discipline and raised morale in the rest, allowing the Legion to function less like a mob of condemned prisoners and more like a professional front-line military unit.
Theodore hopes they'll be ready soon. He predicts that the Steiner-Davion wedding will trigger a joint offensive against the Combine by the unified Federated Commonwealth. Ninyu anticipates a glorious war, and Theodore smiles as he sees a chance to prove himself to Takashi on the battlefield. He asks Ninyu to move Tomoe and his children to a safer world, further from the Lyran border.
Olivares reports that the recruits have arrived, and Theodore and Ninyu emerge from the hut to greet them. The new Legionnaires are from all branches of the Combine military, many bearing unit patches showing them to be veterans of the disastrous Galtor campaign. Another group have no uniforms, and Theodore surmises they are former members of the merceneary unit Kelly's Killers, working off their debt to the Combine.
Theodore tells them that they can either view their time with the Legion as their personal hell, in which case that will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, or they can see it as a fresh start on the path to redemption. He tells them to be prepared for an individual interview, then dismisses them to their barracks.
Finding a familiar looking face in the crowd, he summons the man - a dark-skinned Chu-i (recently demoted from Tai-i) who introduces himself as Fuhito Tetsuhara. Theodore notes that one of his instructors was Minoru Tetsuhara, and Fuhito confirms he is Minoru's son.
Theodore takes Fuhito as his first interview, and notes that he was required to transfer Chu-i Sandersen to the Ryuken when Minobu formed it, the first such transfer since the Genyosha was formed. He asks about what happened on Galtor, and Fuhito describes the infighting between Warlords Yoriyoshi and Samsonov, and his personal disgrace when he defended Yoriyoshi's retreat at the board of inquiry.
Theodore asks Fuhito if he would act differently, knowing the consequences, but Fuhito says no, citing his personal honor as a priority. Satisfied with Fuhito's character, Theodore promotes him back to Tai-i and assigns him to command First Battalion's recon company. He responds affirmatively when Fuhito asks if he can use his family Panther, Katana Kat, instead of the Griffin used by the previous company commander.
Notes: The second child in question is, of course, Omiko (Omi) Kurita, while Hohiro was born in 3023.
Brother Nitti would theoretically be a member of the Physicians of the Dragon (also referred to as Brotherhood physicians). They treat medical lore somewhat like ComStar treats communications and military technology - with religious reverence, even if they aren't anywhere close to having the mastery of their specialty their Star League-era forebears achieved. While the Brotherhood wasn't able to give Minobu Tetsuhara more than metal prosthetics (which measured up poorly against the myomer replacements the Dragoon medtechs gave their wounded), they did save his life and refused a bribe to let Tetsuhara die.
Speaking of Tetsuhara, we get information that Fuhito's brother Minobu has recovered from his injuries and returned to command the Ryuken-ni, while his other brother, Yoshi, has "received the red-and-black banner." This refers to "The Glory of the Fallen Samurai," a banner awarded to the next of kin of a great leader who fell in battle. The banner itself was a black-and-red dragon banner and was awarded to the next of kin by the direct superior of the deceased.
The talk of transfers to the Ryuken and Genyosha seems chronologically challenged. Theodore says he gave up troops to the Genyosha and then to the newly formed Ryuken, but the Ryuken were formed in 3026, and the Genyosha not until 3027. (Also, the Genyosha put out the call for the Combine's best and most honorable warriors...so why would they draw from the disgraced mob assigned to the Legion of Vega?) It makes much more sense for Legion staff to be seconded to the Ryuken, since Minobu was looking for unconventional thinkers, and was having trouble meeting his quotas, since regular line units were unwilling to let their troops go - mostly meeting the levy with troops that had discipline problems or were otherwise square pegs in round holes. The Legion pretty much consists of nothing but discipline problems, so...perfect match.
Theodore has been creating bonds of personal loyalty with his men on Marfik, rather than generic loyalty to the Combine. This gives him a loyal cadre of troops (if not ones of Genyosha quality), and secures his personal power base. I wonder if he ever leaves Marfik to conduct inspections or reviews of the other two Legion regiments stationed on Vega itself.
His relationship with Olivares has certainly improved since his arrival in 3024, when he faced down Olivares' challenge to his authority by shooting a decorative feather off his head.
Subhash Indrahar continues to allocate ISF resources to maintain the strength of the Kurita lineage despite the best efforts of Takashi, letting Ninyu purge any Takashi-loyalist elements and informants from the unit, and redirecting their reports into the round file. Clearly, "The Smiling One" is betting on the next generation, rather than his old friend, Takashi.
Per the Galtor Campaign book, when the tide began to turn against the Combine forces on Galtor, Samsonov issued orders prioritizing the withdrawal of his District troops, making Yoriyoshi's forces fight a punishing rear-guard action at the back of the boarding queue. Yoriyoshi objected to the sacrifice of his troops to save Samsonovs, and brought in DropShips to pull his troops out more quickly, leaving the tail of Samsonov's column exposed to AFFS flanking attacks, which inflicted grievous damage.
I'm surprised that the board of inquiry took two and a half years to run its course, however, since the Galtor Campaign took place in the summer of 3025 (kicking off just before Operation DOPPLEGANGER put an impostor in Hanse's place), and Tetsuhara only now was reassigned to the Legion.
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The talk of transfers to the Ryuken and Genyosha seems chronologically challenged. Theodore says he gave up troops to the Genyosha and then to the newly formed Ryuken, but the Ryuken were formed in 3026, and the Genyosha not until 3027. (Also, the Genyosha put out the call for the Combine's best and most honorable warriors...so why would they draw from the disgraced mob assigned to the Legion of Vega?)
The Ryuken were initially only a training cadre of battalion (or was it regiment) size. After the Barlow's End battle they were expanded (on paper) into five regiments mirroring the five regular regiments of Wolf's Dragoons, and stationed alongside them respectively as watchdog units (this was also when Tetsuhara was removed from his position as Wolf's Dragoons liaison following his injury, and was then slighted by being placed in command of second regiment while Akuma got first regiment). This all happened in late November 3026 and sparked a recruiting frenzy for the Ryuken - they had to increase their number five-fold, which turned out badly as it diluted their competence.
Perhaps Theodore is referring to these newly formed Ryuken regiments as the new Ryuken. The formation of the Genyosha was a much more rapid process, they were a spur-of-the-moment Yorinaga fan club aping the Kell Hounds while the Ryuken were a much better planned attempt at carbon copying Wolf's Dragoons.
With this in mind, it's easy to see how competent honor minded glory-hounds first left the Legion for greener pastures in the Genyosha (hey any assignment is better than that dead-end), as the Genyosha basically took anyone who was a competent MechWarrior regardless of social status; and then the Ryuken specifically sought out the square-pegs-in-round-holes that basically made up the Legion for their expansion program over a somewhat longer time, drawing all the competent practically-minded glory hounds. There is considerable overlap between these two groups (namely, being competent), and the combination would have drained the Legion of their most competent MechWarriors - Genyosha first, as it was a more rushed recruitment, and then the more carefully selection for Ryuken candidates.
I'm surprised that the board of inquiry took two and a half years to run its course, however, since the Galtor Campaign took place in the summer of 3025 (kicking off just before Operation DOPPLEGANGER put an impostor in Hanse's place), and Tetsuhara only now was reassigned to the Legion.
The Draconis Combine has untold opportunities for disgraced officers. And given the matter at hand, high command probably wasn't terribly interested in a quick and thorough investigation of the Galtor debacle, dragging things out.
Perhaps he languished in a prison or dishonorable position somewhere, or in a dispossessed status - not too unlike his brother who was dispossessed by order of House Kurita and thus sidelined for years before being assigned to the Dragoons as a PSL officer.
Note: The senior Tetsuhara's name was Minoru, not Minora. He's a hardliner who will later refuse Michi Noketsuna's gift (Samsonov's severed head), stating that House Kurita had every right to treat his son Minobu as they did.
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Thanks for the clarifications, Frabby. Another case of OCR glitches changing a character's name.
I still question the Genyosha pulling from the Legion. Yorinaga wanted 50 of the best of the best of the best. The Legion, at the time (before Theodore's reforms) had the reputation as the worst of the worst of the worst.
Also, I thought troopers were basically sentenced to the Legion of Vega as a punishment. Your phrasing suggests they can leave of their own accord. I would assume Theodore would have had to approve their transfer requests.
(Given the "cannon fodder-level" performance of the Genyosha in Warrior: En Garde, perhaps that's where Theodore sent the honorless Legion scum he and Ninyu discuss in the command hut, all the while telling cousin Yorinaga that these are definitely the best warriors for his new command.)
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I still question the Genyosha pulling from the Legion. Yorinaga wanted 50 of the best of the best of the best. The Legion, at the time (before Theodore's reforms) had the reputation as the worst of the worst of the worst.
Also, I thought troopers were basically sentenced to the Legion of Vega as a punishment. Your phrasing suggests they can leave of their own accord. I would assume Theodore would have had to approve their transfer requests.
But that's the point: There's a myriad reasons why you might end up in a dead-end career dump like the Legion of Vega. In the Combine, it takes little to be a troublemaker - being of non-asian descent, being a woman, being a foreigner, having violated some arcane honor code, having insulted a superior, having a superior who's after your wife, having a superior who doesn't like you, having a distant relative in the ISF's crosshairs, being linked to some disgraceful problem or underperformance, you get the idea.
But no MechWarrior in the Legion of Vega is incompetent or illoyal to the Combine. If you were any of these, they'd just shoot you and assign your 'Mech to a dispossessed loyal underling.
So you are a competent samurai who by some misfortune ended up in the Legions of Vega. All you want is to serve House Kurita. Your career chances, however, are nil.
Then the Genyosha pops up and they'll consider you if you're good enough in a 'Mech. Whatever reason they had for dumping you in the Legion of Vega, it wasn't incompetence so many competent MechWarriors will have jumped at the chance the Genyosha gave them. I imagine Yorinaga actively avoided the typical Sword of Light elitist types and raised a personal fan cadre from the best of the best of the best of those who weren't blindly touting the party line.
They couldn't leave of their own accord. But the Genyosha was so much higher up the totem pole (and apparently was accepting applications from the Legion) that the Legion was in no position to deny Yorinaga Kurita a transfer he requested.
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The Genyosha transfer is a reference to Yorinaga's son, right?
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The Genyosha transfer is a reference to Yorinaga's son, right?
That is possible. Then again, that "transfer" was him going essentially AWOL from the Legion to join the Genyosha - a very special case. Not sure if Theodore would mention it in this context.
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The Ryuken were initially only a training cadre of battalion (or was it regiment) size. After the Barlow's End battle they were expanded (on paper) into five regiments mirroring the five regular regiments of Wolf's Dragoons
Regiment. And it was expanded to a total of nine regiments with all of them "newly formed" by the time the Dragoon's contract expired and four destroyed by the Dragoons on the way out.
(Source: Combat Manual Kurita)
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That is possible. Then again, that "transfer" was him going essentially AWOL from the Legion to join the Genyosha - a very special case. Not sure if Theodore would mention it in this context.
Yorinaga declared it legal in the book though, when he accepted his son into the unit.. i suspect that the Genyosha proceeded to file all the appropriate paperwork to make it a retroactive transfer so that said officer wasn't going to be arrested anytime they made port.
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Date: December 12, 3027
Location: Galatea
Title: Bigger Than We Ever Imagined
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES Mechwarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen returns from defusing bombs on Zhada to find three messages waiting for him at Club Zero-Zero. Paid informant Vermin Minter reports that the mercenary underground is being run by the Dark Wing Lance, which has started subcontracting other mercenaries to carry out operations. MIIO agent Lana Mann reports to her superiors that the head of the Dark Wing Lance has been hiding in plain sight.
The last note is from Yerg Gantor, who congratulates Ragen on carrying out his last mission, and tells him to meet on the base planet that has a battle arena, and he will set up a meeting with the head of the Dark Wing, as promised. The holomessage ends with Gantor laughing maniacally.
Notes: This sets up the final boss fight in the SNES MechWarrior game. This combination of messages intercepts should make it clear to the player that he's been unwittingly carrying out missions on behalf of the Dark Wing, and is now walking into a trap.
It's (as usual) unclear to whom Lana Mann was sending her report on the Dark Wing, or how it got "accidentally mislaid" at the Club Zero-Zero. A healthy dose of handwavium would allow the explanation that Zero-Zero Maitre'd Cearle Jamist is actually a Davion DMI handler, and the whole Zero-Zero operation is a false front for running covert message drops to DMI special agents in the field, allowing them to be dispatched as troubleshooters on foreign soil by operating as mercenaries, Galatea being a Lyran holding. Backing this up is the fact that MIIO used a similar setup to give orders to Kym Sorenson on Solaris VII, using a nondescript cafe in a rundown neighborhood of Solaris City.
Yerg Gantor only appears in two previous Encounters at the Club Zero-Zero, so it's not quite clear how he's been "under our noses," unless he's a regular at the club. If that's the case, it's quite the intel failure by DMI/MIIO not to have scooped him up in the parking lot at some point.
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Date: December 12, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the LCAF's Portland Training Center on Arcadia, Private Frederick "Sniper" Jones of Halsten's Brigade serves at the gunner aboard a Schrek PPC Carrier. His driver, Sergeant Cabot, brings the tank into range, and Sniper hits an enemy BattleMaster with all three PPCs, shattering its transpex canopy and ending the simulation in a victory for the tank crew. As the crew exits the sim pod, a technician asks Jones if it felt real. Jones reflects that it felt better than the simpods he'd originally learned on, but hadn't been truly real. A man on the catwalk calls out to him mockingly, noting that "even trained monkeys get it right from time to time," but Jones stalks away, ignoring him.
Later, at the training center's bar, Cabot finds Jones drinking himself into oblivion, alternating PPCs and Timbiqui Dark. Cabot says Colonel Halsten sent him to see if Jones was ready to come back onto the line. Jones answers that he doesn't like killing, but Cabot admonishes him not to think like his father, asserting that "killing is what we do."
At the Brigade's laager, Cabot and Jones see a mix of tanks being readied for operations - Schrecks, Demolishers, and Brutus Assault Tanks. Cabot notes that the crews are mostly new, and introduces Jones to them as "the Sniper." He tells the crews that a company of Marik 'Mechs has landed near the coastal city of Castleton on what appears to be a recon raid related to Operation GALAHAD, and that Halsten's Brigade will be sending in the heavy armor company with two companies of cavalry in a recon-by-force.
Much later that day, the Brigade vehicles form a column plowing across the blue-green Arcadian landscape en route to Castleton, still 200 kilometers away (400 km having already been traversed). Despite the risk of throwing tracks by driving the tanks the whole way, Halsten felt it was better to have the tanks combat ready rather than mounted on trucks, since the exact location of the Marik raiders is unknown.
The column catches sight of another vehicle as they clear a ridge. Swinging his turret to cover it, the optics resolve the logo on the side of the civilian vehicle to be that of the Donegal Broadcasting Company. Cabot orders the vehicle to stop or be fired upon. Its driver identifies himself as Donner Hale, a reporter embedded with the Brigade to cover the upcoming action. Jones flashes back to a previous unpleasant encounter with Hale, and Cabot warns him to leave the area, since they have no orders regarding the embed and there could be imminent enemy action. Jones prepares to target the DBC news van. Hale offers to present a verigraph from Colonel Halsten, and Cabot orders the column to halt while he reviews the credentials.
Notes: "Sniper" Jones is one of the oldest characters in BattleTech, having first appeared in the Dragon Magazine preview article for TRO:3026. Jason Schmetzer took the very brief thumbnail sketch from the TRO notable pilots entry and fleshed out the character. Notably, since he was famed for making lethal headshots, Jason gave Jones crippling guilt about killing other soldiers. This may seem odd for a wargame, but keep in mind that the survival rate for MechWarriors is extremely high, at least during the Third Succession War, when the combat was low intensity and MechWarriors were far more likely to survive an ejection and be able to be ransomed (unless fighting a Combine foe operating under the rules of the Dictum Honorium). Here, on the Marik front, survival and ransom would be the order of the day - making the triple PPC headshot specialty uniquely catastrophic.
Amusingly, for someone who is an expert with particle cannons, Jones' favorite drink is also the PPC (likely the Steiner variant - cut with schnapps).
With 600 km to travel from the laager to the Marik LZ, with speed dictated by the 4/6 heavy tanks, and going off-road to boot, they're looking at a good 15-20 hours of overland travel time (more if the terrain's particularly rough at any point). Also, while the Schrecks and Brutuses have fusion engines, the Demolishers are ICE beasts, so they'll have to stop to refuel periodically. Unless the plan is to find a staging point near Castleton where they can rest and prepare to hit the Marik company, the Brigade's troops should be exhausted by the time they make contact with the enemy.
The presence of so much fresh meat in the heavy tank company speaks to the fact that, per game rules, taking out a tank usually kills the crew inside as well. Halsten's Brigade keeps itself in the field by constantly bringing in new tanks and crews to replace losses - figuring that in a war of attrition, the enemy will have a harder time replacing 'Mechs and MechWarriors. Not great for mental health or morale, though, as evidenced by Jones' condition.
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Date: December 13, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: On the outskirts of Castleton, in the darkness of night, Cabot and "Sniper" Jones watch as Hale and his holovid crew interview the Brutus crews, avoiding the bright lights to preserve their night vision. Abruptly, one of the Brutuses explodes, and the Brigade tanks scramble into action. A Demolisher follows into oblivion as Cabot frantically searches for enemy contacts. Jones realizes that the tanks are exploding due to satchel charges planted by sappers. Jones fires at a signature on the thermal scan and detonates a tree, revealing a Marik Hunchback hidden under its canopy. The FWL 'Mech charges towards the tanks, supported by a heavy LRM barrage from as yet unseen support units.
Jones identifies a Quickdraw as the probable lance commander and knocks it to the ground with a triple PPC strike. While the Demolishers engage the Hunchback and the the Brutuses engage in a missile duel with the fire support unit, Jones' Schreck reverses to keep from being overrun as a Marik Centurion joins the fray.
Faster than the Brigade's heavy tanks, the Marik 'Mechs begin to withdraw, their sensors detecting the approach of the Brigade's fast cavalry units. Cabot orders the company to press the attack, seeing the exchange of a few tanks as more than fair for taking out a medium lance. Moreover, he doesn't want the FWL unit to make it back to its parent unit with intel on the Brigade's composition and tactics. As the hover cavalry comes into communication range, Cabot orders them to pursue the medium lance, but to avoid being drawn into an ambush. The heavy company turns about and retreats towards its laager to assess its losses.
Notes: It's unclear whether Cabot is ordering the tanks back to where they were parked on the outskirts of Castleton, or all the way back to their main base 600 km away. Since they haven't yet cleared out the Marik raiders, my guess would be the temporary basecamp.
The heavy company appears to have been relying on its hover cavalry to provide perimeter security, but the screening force failed to prevent Marik infiltrators from sneaking into the laager and planting satchel charges on several of the tanks while the crews were distracted by the DBC camera crew. In general, the Brigade seems to be somewhat lax on discipline. (Discipline might be hard to enforce in a relatively green unit - due to turnover - that is so willing to suffer casualties in the service of achieving its goals...and a completion bonus for Colonel Halsten.)
One interesting takeaway is that the sensor packages on the tanks are significantly inferior to those on the 'Mechs. Not clear if the advantage is from better electronics, or simply having a much higher observation platform.
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Date: December 13, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Hard Steel
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: This scenario, written by Jason Schmetzer to accompany Panzer, depicts the pre-dawn engagement on the outskirts of Castleton in the aftermath of the sapper attack on the laager with satchel charges.
The setup specifies that the Marik recon force (seeking intel about the GALAHAD exercises) included a company of Marik Militia 'Mechs and a company of scouts/infiltrators. Castleton is described as a "small town", and it is clarified that the Brigade had set up a temporary laager to rest their troops prior to pushing into occupied Castleton. The detonations of the satchel charges were the signal for the 'Mech lance to attack.
The map setup is a 1x2 layout with open terrain on the north and the classic map on the south. The Marik 'Mech consists of a 4/4 Quickdraw, 5/4 Hunchback, 5/4 Centurion, and 4/3 Trebuchet. Halsten's Brigade fields four Schrecks, three Demolishers, and three Brutuses. Night rules apply on the northern map (burning tanks illuminate the southern map), and all tanks and 'Mechs have searchlights.
The attacker wins by destroying or immobilizing all the tanks. Destroying 50%+ earns a partial victory. The defender wins if the Marik forces withdraw with 5 or fewer tanks destroyed. Driving the Marik 'Mechs off after losing more than five tanks results in a partial victory.
Withdrawal conditions are triggered when two or more 'Mechs have armor breaches, two or more 'Mechs lose a limb, or one 'Mech is fully destroyed.
The Aftermath notes that the Brigade tanks rallied around the outstanding gunnery of "Sniper" Jones and pushed on towards Castleton in the morning.
Notes: Despite lauding Jones' gunnery as "outstanding," the scenario gives the Schrecks gunnery of either 3 or 4, and doesn't give Jones any special gunnery abilities. Unless his gunnery skill was just a bit of luck combined with an aggressive media campaign launched by Colonel Halsten, I'd give him at least a Gunnery of 1, or always let him roll hit locations against 'Mechs on the Punch Location Table, or both.
The night effects are unlikely to have any significant impact on the scenario. Since everyone has searchlights, the night effects will be eliminated for any unit taking fire, at least until stray shots start shattering the lenses.
For the Brigade, I would recommend leading with the Demolishers and Brutuses, while the Schrecks remain stationary and provide covering fire. (An argument can also be made for keeping the Brutuses back as well to provide missile support, but then the Demolishers run the risk of getting locally outnumbered and overrun and stomped on by the Marik 'Mechs. Also, their close-in firepower is significantly heavier than just the one LRM-20 rack.) Concentrate your fire on one or two 'Mechs to trigger the withdrawal conditions as quickly as possible. If any of your units are getting savaged, make sure to take advantage of your turrets to turn fresh armor towards the enemy and keep firing.
For the Marik Militia, I would recommend turning off your searchlights and pulling back to long range for LRMs. If the tanks stay on the southern end of the map, they'll be lit up, and if they keep their spotlights on, they'll also be lit up. Launch a lot of missiles at the enemy tracks - ignoring the Demolishers to begin with and hammering their long range units. Once the Demolishers get within about 12 hexes, start hammering them as well, maneuvering for side shots to get a better chance of taking out a track, and fall back towards the northern map edge to keep out of the range of their AC/20s. The Motive Hits Table is your friend.
If any of your units starts getting banged up, pull them back towards the northern map edge. You want to delay the triggering of withdrawal as long as possible, so it's best to stay at long range and accept a lot of missed shots of your own to ensure that the enemy tanks are missing a lot as well.
The weird thing about the Marik troops doing a recon raid to check out the effects of GALAHAD are:
1) It's been five months since GALAHAD wound down, so it's a bit late for an immediate after-action assessment.
2) This is in Lyran space. GALAHAD was only held in the Federated Suns. The Lyran half of the joint exercise was called Operation THOR '27.
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Date: December 14, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: The morning after the battle, Jones, Cabot and Hale survey the damage, noting that the company lost three tanks and their crews to the infiltrators' satchel charges. Hale condescendingly tells Cabot they needed better pickets. Jones joins the conversation and notes that Hale and his holovid crew were serving as a distraction. Hale reiterates that it's their fault for taking 25% losses. Cabot responds by radioing Landau and ordering him to destroy the empty Donegal Broadcasting Company news van, then asking Hale if he'd like to be reported lost in combat along with his vehicle.
Hale backs down, and Cabot tells him he'll be riding in the tracks from now on, so he can truly appreciate how things are for the troops. Cabot says their dead are dead, but that the unit still has a mission. The unit presses on towards Castleton.
Notes: In many ways, the Lyran state is presented as a prosperous, tolerant, representative constitutional monarchy. They, along with the Federated Suns, are clearly the "good guy" factions of the pre-4th Succession War era. And yet, we keep getting flashes of a wide totalitarian streak running through the Commonwealth. Having Loki disappear a citizen to become a body double for the Archon's heir. Tracking the movements, associations, and preferences of every citizen in centralized databases. And suppressing freedom of the press whenever it proves inconvenient.
This scene doesn't totally track with the scenario, which only had two of the tanks (one Demolisher, one Brutus) knocked out by the infiltrators.
I wonder if pay is significantly higher for vehicle crews in Halsten's Brigade. The repeatedly expressed willingness to suffer heavy casualties and soldier on must be a selling point with employers (to the tune of bonus pay), but the heavy casualty rate would seem to be a disincentive to signing on to be spam in a can, unless there was a substantial signing bonus. One also wonders where this espirit de corps ("the dead would want us to get on with the mission") comes from, since so many of the crews are greenies (do they get indoctrination?) and we've seen a backbiting attitude between Brigade members ("even a blind monkey gets it right sometimes"). One might almost suspect that Colonel Halsten is black marketing "chem courage" pills from the Combine to get his newbies into the groove.
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Date: December 15, 3027
Location: Tianjin
Title: Payback
Author: Michael T. Herbert
Type: Scenario (Rolling Thunder)
Synopsis: A series of raids by a bandit group known as the Red Wolves has upset the FWL's offensive timetable against the Lyran Commonwealth. Rolling Thunder was diverted from its preparations to raid Poulsbo and deployed for a retaliatory strike against the Red Wolves' basecamp on the Periphery world of Tianjin.
Rolling Thunder hit the basecamp at 0630 and caught the garrison napping while the Red Wolves 'Mech assets were elsewhere. Rolling Thunder consists of a BattleMaster, Victor, Hunchback, Hermes II, Awesome, Archer, Warhammer, Firestarter, Ostsol, Ostroc, Shadow Hawk, and Wolverine-M.
The Red Wolves' planetary garrison consists of four Harasser Missile Platforms, four Scorpion Light Tanks, two Hunter Light Support Tanks, four Galleon Light Tanks, four Rifle Infantry Platoons, and four Machine Gun Infantry Platoons. Infantry starts hidden, if desired. They are deployed to protect three Parts Depots (Medium), four Vehicle Garages/Repair Bays (Heavy), a Transmission Tower (Medium), and two Control Centers (Medium).
The Red Wolves get three points for every 'Mech destroyed/disabled. (Oddly, it says they get 2 points for every Rolling Thunder vehicle destroyed or disabled, even though the RT company doesn't include any vehicles.) The chart at the end ignores the earlier scoring setup, and instead grants five points for disabling/destroying a Rolling Thunder 'Mech, three for withdrawing a friendly unit off the map, 2 points for every turn that each side remains on the map after turn 15, and 25 if reinforcements arrive. Rolling Thunder gets points for damaging or destroying the buildings, but nothing for taking out Red Wolves units. If they wipe out all the buildings, they get a maximum of 69 points.
The Red Wolves begin to roll for reinforcements starting on Turn 13, with the chance increasing each turn until it automatically happens on Turn 20, consisting of 740 tons of equipment of the Defender's choice. (These units are being occupied by heavy aerospace attacks during the Thunder's insertion).
Notes: Tianjin is specified as being in the Periphery, and should not be confused with the Lyran world of Tainjin. (Sarna.net identifies Tainjin as the baseworld of the Red Wolves, but it's not in the Periphery, and a world 270 light years from the Marik border seems a poor choice of staging world for raids into the FWL...unless you're from the Red Duke school of thought and agree that Trell I is an excellent staging base for attacks on Tharkad.)
The scenario is undated, but the unit timeline specifies that it was deployed to the Lyran border for offensive operations in October 3027. Thus, mid-December seems an appropriate time for them to have been pulled away from that posting for this side mission, especially since they're back on for the Poulsbo raid by January 6, 3028, but any time from mid-November to mid-December would work. This also places the ongoing Marik Militia raid on Arcadia into context - the FWL wasn't just doing reconnaissance to check on the aftermath of GALAHAD, they were planning a broad offensive to gauge whether LCAF fighting capabilities had been improved as a result of Operation THOR '27. There's also action on Ford on December 25, so it seems clear that the FWL did indeed unleash raids all along the Lyran border in December 3027 - January 3028 to assess their capabilities.
Although Rolling Thunder is specified as having inserted under cover of darkness, local time is 0630 at the time of the engagement, so no "night fighting" penalties apply. (Poor planning on the FWL's part, since it would have been so much easier to get in, smash the immobile buildings, and get out unscathed with that extra +2 TN penalty.)
Hilariously, given the way the point table assigns results, the Red Wolves could force a draw by positioning their troops on the map edge and walking off on Turn 1, scoring 66 points immediately. 69-66 = 3, which is a Draw.
Assuming neither player is planning to metagame things to quite that extent, it seems clear that Rolling Thunder wants to get in, do heavy damage, and get back out before Turn 15 (ideally before Turn 13). The Transmission Tower and Control Centers are the primary targets, worth 10 and 15 points (fully destroyed) respectively. WIth CFs of 30 and 40 respectively, 110 points of damage should take them out in short order for a gain of 40 points.
While the FWL side isn't explicitly granted any points for killing Red Wolves units, in practice each unit killed is worth three points. The Rolling Thunder can't just take out the high value buildings and skedaddle, because otherwise they'll get killed on points from the withdrawal score. I would recommend, then, that the Thunder charge into the tanks and infantry guns blazing, and only take shots at the buildings if they have an otherwise unoccupied gun in range that has a terrible to-hit number against a mobile target but can still put some hurt on a building with the -4 immobile target bonus. Around turn 10, start pulling back and concentrating on any remaining buildings, making sure to fully down the high value ones, and at least get to the 50% "damaged" threshold for the low value ones.
For the Red Wolves, you simply lack the firepower to make much of a dent in Rolling Thunder's Heavy and Assault 'Mechs. The Scorpions, Galleons, and Harassers will implode once those PPCs and Large Lasers start landing. Your best bet for victory is to position your infantry (hidden) near the edge, and most of your tanks there as well, and exchange long range fire with the Thunder, targeting the Hermes II and Firestarter in particular (swarming any strays with the fast-moving Harassers). Use the hidden infantry to bushwhack any of their scouts who try to overrun your tanks. If you can take one 'Mech down with massed firepower and then bail, you'll end up with 71 points to the Thunder's maximum potential 69, resulting in a final score of -2, and a Red Wolf minor victory.
If, for whatever reason, the Rolling Thunder is still on the map when the reinforcements arrive, they're pretty much toast, points-wise. Not only is there the 25 point penalty from them just showing up, but they could all immediately just step back off for 3 more points per unit. If the Wolves player wanted to really bury the needle on the points, he could make it all infantry platoons (3 tons each) and score 740 more points for overkill bragging rights.
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Date: December 16, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: On the outskirts of Castleton, a young Lieutenant from the recon detachment reports to Cabot and the rest of the unit that the Marik 'Mech company is based at an abandoned quarry on the far side of the city, but there is no sign of any Marik DropShips. Hale asks how the slower tanks are going to chase down the Marik forces, and Cabot responds that he'll dangle some nice juicy bait in front of them, and get them to come to him. The Demolishers and Schrecks will form a column across open terrain heading towards the quarry, while the Brutuses cover them from concealment and the hover platoons sweep out on the flanks to find their transports and cut them off from their ride offworld.
Cabot gives Jones a pep talk, encouraging him to grow beyond just being an ace gunner to become a leader. He feels the unit will need leaders like Jones soon, and says that the large scale exercises and the curtailment of Lyran raids into other Successor States means something big is coming. Jones adamantly insists he's just a gunner, and doesn't want to be a killer on a larger scale, in charge of a whole company.
Notes: Another slight inconsistency between the scenario and the story - the Lt. calls Castleton a city, while the scenario calls it a small town. It apparently has a spaceport of its own, so the "city" designation seems more appropriate.
Cabot notes that Jones has been a Private longer than most troopers have been in Halsten's Brigade, re-emphasizing the extraordinarily high churn rate of personnel loss and replacement in the unit. Halsten's crew is starting to sound like a vehicular version of the Legion of Vega - but instead of getting disgraced troops from other units, they sign up either the young and foolhardy (or people who have terminal diseases and have just taken out huge life insurance policies). Being a Brigade member seems to be more or less a death sentence with a 1-5 year slow-burn fuse. (Of course, given the rules on crew death, it could be that most if not all vehicle units in the Inner Sphere operate on this model and mindset.)
Cabot also tells Jones that he's "a hell of a gunner, the best anyone's ever seen." This definitely doesn't track with the Gunnery skill of 3 assigned to Jones in the Hard Steel scenario. With that sort of qualifier, we're looking at 0-1 territory, either with the "always rolls on the Punch Location table" or the "can make a called shot on a mobile target" ability.
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Date: December 17, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At two minutes to dawn, outside Castleton, the Brigade column approaches the quarry with "Sniper" Jones' Schrek in the lead. A Marik Hunchback approaches from the right flank and shatters most of the armor on the trailing tank. Jones immediately returns fire and takes out its autocannon. The Demolishers close on the enemy as the Brutuses and Schreks pour fire into the enemy 'Mechs - two medium lances. By the time the tank column clears the Marik ambush site, two tanks (a Schrek and a Demolisher) are out of commission. At Cabot's command, the tanks turn and counterattack against the Marik positions. Hale screams that the maneuver is suicidal.
A Marik Quickdraw jets away to safety, while two Centurions move to engage a Demolisher. One goes down missing a leg, while the other staggers under several PPC impacts. Cabot reports that the scouts have found the Marik DropShip. Jones gets back in his "Sniper" zone and expertly drops a Wasp. The Marik troops begin to fall back as missile barrages from the Brutuses contribute to the destruction. Six Saladins from the recon platoons join in as well, and Jones gets on with the killing.
Notes: On the one hand, the Brutuses are more effective at closer ranges, but the argument can be made that if they were added to the column, the Marik forces may not have sprung the ambush. Their LRM indirect fire, in the dark, and fired without the benefit of spotters, is marginally effective at best.
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Date: December 18, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Hale films the wreckage at the ambush site while Jones and Cabot discuss whether the losses taken were worth it. Cabot asserts that it met the terms of the contract. They are surprised as Colonel Halsten himself appears from behind a burnt out tank and congratulates Jones on getting the job done and killing all the Marik 'Mechs, while Halsten's tanks chased the DropShip off.
Halsten tells Jones he wants him in a command position, so he can read the battle and use his troops most effectively. He asks Jones why he fights, and Sniper answers that it's because he's good at it. Halsten tells Jones they should be fighting so that someday the other guy will be defeated and the fighting will stop. He says he's sending Jones to officer candidate school on Goshen so he can be something more than just a gunner.
Notes: The War College of Goshen is located in the Federated Suns, and its OCS curriculum focuses on military history and strategy to create well-rounded officers. Its writeup suggests that recruitment for the academy is through word of mouth, with multiple generations in warrior families going there. One might suspect that Colonel Halsten is a Goshen graduate.
It's good for Jones that the Saladins showed up, because the heavy tanks wouldn't ever have been able to run down faster 'Mechs like the Quickdraw.
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Interesting points on attrition and the psychological toll.
Schrecks, Demolishers, and Brutus Assault Tanks
Halsten's Brigade is noted in TRO:3026 as being one of the largest and best-known all-vehicle mercenary units in the Inner Sphere.
It's a little weird to see a relatively new Capellan tank in a Lyran unit.
TR3026 describes Halsten's Brigade just as "a heavy armor unit." You may be mixing it up with the Pike entry, which describes a different unit (Kenski's Raiders) as "one of the largest vehicle users in the Inner Sphere," and TR3039's Savannah Master which describes Halsten's Brigade as mercenaries in service to Steiner.
Do BattleCorp's Sniper Jones stories refer to the brigade as large, well known, mercs, or give any sign they've worked for another House?
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The Brutuses get a shout out as being a new acquisition and a rarity outside the Confederation.
Halsten's Brigade is mentioned in the Schrek notable pilots section (which introduces "Sniper" Jones). It is also mentioned in one of the 3150-era TROs, so they're still alive and kicking (and getting their crews killed) in the Dark Age. Halsten's Brigade was previously featured in Jason Schmetzer's "Sniper" BattleCorps story (where Jones' crew dies but he survives during action on Poulsbo), and I may have gotten the data on them being a large vehicle unit from there. (They fielded two battalions in that story).
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Date: December 20, 3027
Location: Sian
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte)
Synopsis: Justin Xiang and Tsen Shang burn the midnight oil working on Maskirovka crisis team reports, reviewing shipping costs for Hatchetmen being moved from the Commonwealth to the Federated Suns. He notes that the Lyran Monopole Company reported earnings far above industry standards. He suspects that Monopole may have hidden Hatchetmen inside ships going to the Kathil shipyards for refit. Shang notes that the payments are similar to what Monopole received when House Davion commandeered some of its ships for GALAHAD '26.
Justin continues to search for clues to a secret NAIS BattleMech development facility working on myomer muscular fiber. He postulates that, due to the tension between Duke Michael and Prince Hanse, such a research center wouldn't be any further from Terra than Daniels, because if it were closer to New Syrtis, Duke Michael would have heard about it and passed the intel on to the Maskirovka. To avoid Kurita raids, it wouldn't be closer to the Draconis March than Chesterton, and wouldn't be too far from New Avalon. His leading candidates are Goshen, Axton, and Bethel. Shang suggests recon raids to investigate.
Just as Shang stands to leave, a disheveled Alexi Malenkov bursts in to report that the MIIO has wiped out a Maskirovka cell on Kittery after the failed assassination of Andrew Redburn in Shaoshan, capturing enough data from the storehouse to destroy the entire Mask network onworld. He notes that the assassination team was sent by Romano Liao. Tsen notes that she suggested assassinations months ago, but he recommended against it.
Justin orders Alexi to prepare a fake inventory of items lost on Kittery to present to Chancellor Liao, and tells Shang to send orders to units on Taga and St. Loris countermanding and canceling plans to invade Kittery to confuse Davion intelligence.
To calm his nerves after hearing Alexi's news, Justin goes to the palace garden and goes through a t'ai chi chuan regimen in the light of the four visible moons. He wonders why Romano targeted Andy Redburn, and suspects that she may have wanted to cause an incident that could cause harm to the St. Ives Commonality as a way of striking at her sister, Candace, who holds title to those worlds. He decides to have Alexi begin passive surveillance of her activities.
His musing is interrupted by the arrival of Candace Liao, who accuses him of spying on her when she sees him in the shadows. He respectfully explains that he had been exercising here before her arrival. She asks him to leave so she can meditate, but he refuses and chastises her for bringing her anger into the peaceful garden. He resumes his exercises, and shortly thereafter, she apologizes, and blames her anger on her sister, Romano, for provoking Hanse Davion into attacking St. Ives Commonality worlds. Justin reassures her that internal Federated Suns politics will probably result in Hanse and Michael ignoring each other's demands to send their own household troops to retaliate against the Confederation.
Justin recommends Candace try t'ai chi to find inner peace. She says that she lacks the necessary grace due to a 'Mech injury, but he notes that he is able to perform it even with his artificial arm. She shows him that her left shoulder is a mass of scars (with the deltoid and tricep rebuilt with myomers), following a severe injury when ejecting during fighting 11 years earlier on Spica, during the siege of Valencia. They realize that they fought each other during that battle - her in a Vindicator and him in a Blackjack. Both admit that they later had nightmares about that battle.
Justin asks if she ever had physical therapy, and she notes that none of the medical staff were willing to push her through the pain. He suggests T'ai chi could restore her arm's mobility, and accepts her request to teach her.
Notes: The "future of the 80s" vibe is strong in this scene. Justin's computer seems to be more or less analogous to an Apple II or TRS 80, with a monochrome green CRT screen and a keyboard he holds on his lap. (We can attribute the more "futuristic" looking computers in more recent sourcebooks to the Helm Memory Core renaissance - using flexible display screens and keyboards that can be retracted into a cylinder for easy transport.)
In a nice bit of foreshadowing, we see Tsen Shang completely misread the Monopole financials. He notes that the payments are identical for when the AFFS commandeered Monopole ships for GALAHAD '26, but for some reason goes with Hatchetman smuggling instead of assuming more Monopole ships were commandeered for GALAHAD '27. As we know, Hanse did indeed commandeer Monopole (and other commercial trading cartel) ships for GALAHAD '27, but didn't return them afterwards, instead continuing to use them over the following year to provide logistical staging support for OPERATION RAT.
I'm confused as to how MIIO or DMI would intercept orders sent to units on Taga and St, Loris. From what we've seen in the books, they send a courier to the local ComStar HPG station, input the message, and then ComStar transmits it. At the receiving station, they print the message out, put it in a pressurized cylinder, and have it delivered directly to the unit CO, who then breaks the seal in the presence of the courier. ComStar knows the contents of the message, but it doesn't really get put into electronic communications except when ComStar is involved. This would rely on there being MIIO moles inside both military command structures at fairly high levels. Because when the courier delivers a message to the 2nd St. Ives Lancers 3rd Battalion and (presumably) the Taga Home Guard (no 'Mech unit is stationed there circa 3025) to call off the invasion plans, what do they do with that information? There aren't any plans to cancel, so an MIIO mole in the logistics department won't see any new orders coming in to call off the staging operations. How does a CO go about disseminating orders to stop doing what they weren't doing in the first place? Are they just figuring that MIIO has agents inside ComStar?
Oddly, Sian seems to have lost a number of moons between 3027 and 3067. Tsen describes "four visible moons" appearing as red and blue slivers in the sky, with a large white one rising on the horizon, implying that there may be other moons hidden below the horizon. Sian's official profile in Handbook House Liao, however, only lists three moons - Fu Hsi, Nüwa, and Shennong. Curse you Hanse Davion! Not satisfied with stealing over 100 star systems from the Confederation, you made off with half of Sian's moons as well!
The fact that Candace is the titular ruler of the St. Ives Commonality brings up a question - why weren't Tormano and Romano each given a Commonality to run as well? Why did Romano just get Highspire? (Given the events of "Think Like a Liao," I can see why Tormano wasn't trusted with a demense, but what did Romano do to get a lesser holding than her sister?)
Justin notes that the Candace's canopy only partially blew away when she ejected, turning the canopy safety glass into jagged razors and causing Candace's arm injury. But...that would only apply to cockpits like the BattleMaster's, Shadow Hawk's, Griffin's, etc. Looking at the Vindicator, it's got a solid metal dome over the top, and just a narrow "eyeslit" viewport in front. Why would the ejection seat have gone through the front viewport?
While Justin and Candace have met in previous scenes, this is the true start of their relationship, which ends somewhat better for Candace than Kym Sorenson's dalliance with Justin did on Solaris.
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I suspect Candace is Prefector of St Ives (and duchess of the Liao homeworld, and controller of the national bank and treasury) because she's Max's current heir.
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I always took the Hatchetman smuggling at face value. Tsen Shang's analysis is corroborated by a ComStar report that large freighters were moving through the Terran corridor, suspected to be filled with Hatchetmans. (In TRO:3025, I think)
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I believe there was Hatchetman smuggling, to be sure. However, since the payment Tsen is looking at exactly matches the compensation given for use of the vessels during GALAHAD '26, why wouldn't Tsen have made the connection to those vessels being used again during GALAHAD '27? Wouldn't it be odd that the Hatchetman shipping bonus would exactly match the '26 compensation outlay? One of the key bits of the pre-RAT coverup (outlined in the NAIS Atlas) was that Hanse kept ahold of the JumpShips he'd seized in '27 and used them to launch the opening phases of RAT, without the ISF, SAFE, or the Maskirovka noticing. I thought this might be a bit of a shout out to the Mask missing the forest for the trees.
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The passage just says it "tallies" with Galahad '26. It doesn't say "exactly," or over what span of time, and Shang is only just then confirming the coincidence is real; too soon to say what he does or doesn't make of it.
I think you're right that it's a shout-out, mind you, just not one that besmirches Shang.
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As far as Jone's 3 gunner rating, add into it perhaps the Marksman SPA and the PPC Specialist SPA. Jone's genesis is far between both of these though.
As far as intercepting orders is concerned, how hard is it to bribe the couriers taking those orders to the HPG stations to get a little peaksy? Something tells me this was something all houses do. Andrew Redburn wasn't really surprised when his servant presented him with a gift incorporating his new unit's logo before he knew where he was reassigned, for example.
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As we've seen, it is indeed possible to infiltrate ComStar. Heck, O5P's mole ended up as Primus.
That being said, Redburn actually had a new unit, so orders would have been cut through a chain of personnel offices, logistics bureaus, etc., with the chance of interception by a mole or paid informant at each step along the way. With fake orders to stop doing something you weren't doing, it'd take a lot of real orders to start putting a strike in motion and then calling it off to pass any sort of sniff test.
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Date: December 21, 3027
Location: "The Base Planet That 'as A Battle Arena in the Center" (Solaris VII?)
Title: You've Been Set Up!
Author: Tom Sloper
Type: Encounter (SNES MechWarrior)
Synopsis: Herras Ragen travels to the world specified by Yerg Gantor for a meeting with the head of the Dark Wing Lance, the mercenary group that killed his father, seeking vengeance. Just before he reaches the rendezvous point, he receives a transmission from MIIO Operative Lana Mann, who warns him he's been set up, and that Yerg himself is the head of the Dark Wing Lance. Her transmission is abruptly terminated, and Yerg cuts in on the channel, taunting Herras about having been controlling his destiny right under his nose. The final boss fight begins.
If Herras loses, he dies in anguish, having failed in his lifelong ambition. If he wins, Yerg's 'Mech collapses in a smoking heap and the honor of House Ragen is restored. The Dark Wing Lance's reign of terror has been ended.
Notes: I'm guessing the boss-fight clues are done so that the game will have replay value - specifying unique characteristics rather than a specific world by name. If most of the worlds visited are off-map minor outpost worlds, it's unlikely that many will have battle arenas (not many tourists on off-map worlds), so Solaris VII is the most likely venue for the final boss fight.
This final dialogue is unique because it's one of the few times Herras gets input that isn't via holovid tapes "left behind" at Club Zero-Zero. The fact that MIIO Agent Lana Mann directly contacts him to warn him could just be her returning the favor for his having rescued her in an earlier mission, or could support my theory that Herras Ragen is actually an undercover DMI troubleshooter getting intel and missions through Club Zero-Zero, which is a covert intel drop and false front for Davion intelligence.
I'm not sure what was going on with the line about restoring family honor. Was Herras' father (Colonel Joseph T. Ragen) dishonored when he was assassinated? Doesn't seem so, since all of the Federated Suns mourned his passing.
Of all the licensed BattleTech video game adaptations, the SNES MechWarrior game sits on the lowest tier in terms of how well it fits into the overall storyline, right alongside MechAssault 2 and MechWarrior 3050. It's a stark contrast to lore-rich games like the main MechWarrior and MechCommander series. The timeline completely ignores the well established limits of system transit and jump mechanics, the setting contains only two canon worlds, the plot hooks rely mostly on the nonsensical "what's in the lost & found box today" mechanism, and the News Net includes references from Warrior: En Garde that would have been so secret that they'd never have made it on the air.
Developer Tom Sloper was nice enough to answer my questions about the game, and clarified that he'd never played the Activision game it was supposedly adapting, and only read one BattleTech novel to get a sense of the universe (Warrior: En Garde, which also plays fast and loose with the timing of system transit). Clearly, they just wanted to make a giant robot fighting game, and overlaid a scant amount of universe lore onto the combat sim in order to slap the BattleTech brand on it.
Since I was rocking a Commodore 64 when this came out, I never played the game itself, but reviews indicate that the 'Mech fighting portion was good for its day. However, having the same "Dark Wing" focus and sharing the name with the Activision title inevitably invites comparisons, and the original easily outshines the SNES game with its wealth of internally consistent references to the FASA canon settings, characters, events, and transit mechanics.
I think the adventure game industry in general in the 80s was overly hung up on replicating the "Hero's Journey" for its plotlines, making every protagonist a young buck eager to prove his mettle after losing his family/title/planet, etc. Gideon Braver Vandenburg, Jason Youngblood, and Herras Ragen are all cut from pretty much exactly the same cloth. I think that if the dev team had done a deeper dive into the lore (picking up some of the House sourcebooks and novels, for example, which would have been a manageable amount of lore that early on), this could have been a fun dive into either MIIO/DMI intel gathering (paying agents on various worlds to give you leads, sifting through reports to tease out clues to Mercenary Underground and Dark Wing Lance activities, and then launching missions on a realistic timetable), or into the ins and outs of running a "Bounty Hunter" style lone-wolf operation, again managing a stable of paid informants (as seen in Wolves on the Border) to identify targets.
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Date: December 22, 3027
Location: Misery
Title: Wolves on the Border
Author: Robert N. Charrette
Type: Novel (Wolves on the Border)
Synopsis: Shivering in his coldsuit at the Ryuken-ni command center outside Boras, Michi Noketsuna notes how much colder Boras is than Cerant on An Ting, even during local winter there, and wishes the Ryuken had been based near the magma mines around Laerdal, far to the south.
The Command Lance approaches, led by Tai-sa Tetsuhara's Dragon, and Minobu descends via ladder once he parks it in the 'Mech bay. Michi briefs him on another fight between the RYuken and the Dragoons in Bharryspost. Minobu dismisses Michi's concerns and says he intends to travel to An Ting to meet with the Dragoons, expressing confidence than Michi can keep things quiet on Misery in his absence.
Michi expresses hope that Colonel Wolf's recent meeting on Luthien will have resulted in action by the Coordinator to dispel Samsonov's and Akuma's lies, but Minobu warns that there is a storm coming, and that the Ryuken must prepare for it as best they can.
Notes: I love how detail-rich Charrette's writing is. In a scant three page chapter, we see the harsh weather of Misery, learn about its geography and economy, get three city names, and get a sense of Ryuken pride, even when saddled with inferior equipment. We also get a continued sense of the deteriorating relations between the Ryuken and the Dragoons, Minobu's emotional burnout, and Michi's blind faith that the Coordinator can solve everything, if only he knew the truth.
That Tetsuhara's ride is now a Dragon speaks volumes, considering the disdain with which Theodore viewed his graduation gift Dragon.
Charrette's work includes so many little details that help the setting come alive. Having the pilots get into and out of their rides using chain ladders works much better than the ludicrous crotch-descending elevators used in The Animated Series (so you go up right through the fusion engine?)
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Date: December 25, 3027
Location: Ford
Title: Ghost of Christmas Present
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Third year Nagelring cadet Nelson Geist walks patrol in his Phoenix Hawk, which has been rigged with tinsel, ornaments, and a big red plastic bow by the Gregg's Long Striders technicians. Nelson has been with the Striders as part of a Nagelring winter semester work-study training program. To raise his esteem in the eyes of the mercenaries (and because his own family is on Kooken's Pleasure Pit), Geist has volunteered to take three back-to-back Yule patrols. He doesn't expect any enemy contact, since Marik forces entering the system would spend four days transiting from the jump point.
Nelson appreciates his Phoenix Hawk's jump jets, and notes that the Liao invasion of Lee II would have succeeded if the Davion jumping 'Mechs hadn't been able to outmaneuver Liao Crusaders. The 'Mech belongs to Lt. Lukens, whose grandfather took it as prize salvage on Loric in 2971.
Geist finds Alpha Sector lightly dusted with snow, but otherwise empty, despite warnings from the techs (the same guys who rigged the bow) about "Anti-Nick and the Elves from Hell," local bandits who mostly raid Ford's southern reaches on Christmas day and speak in rhyming couplets.
Geist continues his patrol into the foothills of the Thunderbird Mountains, walking through forests of tall pines. Emerging into a clearing, he finds a BattleMaster waiting for him. The pilot greets him in rhyme. Geist engages Anti-Nick and reports to the Long Striders that he's encountered the bandits as he uses the jump jets to evade the Elves from Hell (Locusts and a Jenner). They dismiss it as a joke. Geist annihilates the Jenner and reroutes the BattleMaster's rhyming broadcast to the Striders, who tell him reinforcements are twenty minutes away.
Geist spots the Locusts moving towards the town of Harrison, where a major local bank is located (one of the facilities the Striders are there to protect). He asks the Striders to send the reinforcements to protect the bank, and turns to engage the BattleMaster alone, trading large laser fire for the Assault 'Mech's PPC blasts as he jumps and uses trees for cover.
Geist ends the engagement by triggering an avalanche, using his jump jets to evade the torrent of rock, trees, and snow, while the BattleMaster is overwhelmed and buried. Geist opens a channel to Anti-Nick, demands his surrender, and criticizes his poetry. The bandit defends his rhyming, but accepts defeat, making the BattleMaster Geist's property. He envisions a bright future in the LCAF with an Assault 'Mech of his own.
Notes: This is an odd little piece that was published early on in BattleCorps' catalog. It features the central character from Natural Selection and explains where his BattleMaster came from.
One bit of BattleTech fiction that I've never been able to track down was advertised in the opening splash page of Natural Selection, directing readers to check out the BattleTech section of GEnie (a contemporary to AOL), where they could read a story about Nelson Geist's early days as a MechWarrior.
This story seems to exactly fit that description, so I can't help but wonder if BattleCorps just reprinted the GEnie story. On the other hand, I can't help but wonder why GEnie would be the venue for such an odd BattleTech Christmas tale. Theoretically, it was part of the Multi Player BattleTech (MPBT) game on GEnie, and introduced some of the core 'Mechs in that game (BattleMaster, Phoenix Hawk, Locust, Jenner), as well as emphasizing the importance of jumping.
We've seen stories before where academy graduates perform service in mercenary units as part of their training and/or post-graduation service commitment. Looking at the 3025 rosters, there really isn't a Nagelring cadet cadre, so mercenary unit embeds seems to be the model in use there.
I retract my earlier statement about a Marik attack on Ford, since the bandits in this case are a local gang.
It's odd to hear the Davion victory on Lee attributed to their Phoenix Hawks, since most chronicles of the Battle of Lee credit Davion Sparrowhawks with the victory, which is chronicled as "The Great Lee Turkey Shoot."
For those interested, here's a sampling of the Anti-Nick's phat rhymes:
Anti-Nick am I. Prepare to die.
This is no game, my honor you defame.
You are mine to kill, which I now vow to do, I will.
Spoiling for a fight, on what should be a silent night!
You can't run. You can't hide. Now this battle, we'll decide.
Bad you're not. Take your best shot.
Nice escape try, but why? Even so high, you're just going to die.
How cute, how quaint, a signal light. But there will be no help for you tonight.
On that ledge you have an edge.
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bit odd that 'anti-nick" was piloting what was probably a BLR-1G when Nelson Geist was piloting a BLR-3S in Natural Selection, clearly that machine saw at least one depot level refit. (wouldn't be surprised if Geist also had the -1G refit into a -1S after capturing it)
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Date: December 27, 3027
Location: New Syrtis
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: Riposte)
Synopsis: An enraged Duke Michael Hasek-Davion summons Capellan Ambassador Serge Korigyn to explain the Maskirovka strike on Kittery. Defensively, Korigyn informs Michael that the orders did not originate with Maximilian, but with Lady Romano, in an effort to provoke a counterstrike against Candace's holdings. Michael scoffs that Maximilian doesn't seem to be in control of his own realm, but relaxes as he realizes that the Kittery incident wasn't a Capellan probe to verify his (falsified) troop estimates.
Korigyn answers Michael's barb about Max and his children by noting the distance between Michael and his son, Morgan. When the Duke responds with rage, the Ambassador clarifies that many Inner Sphere leaders have problems with their children - Takashi and Theodore Kurita; Maximilian and Tormana Liao, etc. He expresses hope that Hanse Davion will live long enough to feel the sting of ungrateful children. He adds the caveat that Lady Romano has great heart, but does not always think her actions through. By way of apology, Korigyn notes that Duke Michael's special account has received an influx of C-Bills, and suggests Michael use the incident to question Hanse's credibility on border security.
Notes: The line about Hanse and ungrateful children makes me wonder to what extent the FedCom Civil War had already been sketched out at this point. It certainly seems like Korigyn got his wish in the form of Katherine Steiner-Davion.
Michael's internal monologue reveals that he plans to help Maximilian crush Hanse's loyalists, and then betray the Liaos and use his own loyalists to defeat the Capellan military and seize control of both realms. (He later envisions it as the "Federated Capellan Empire.") That's kind of a heavy lift for three Syrtis Fusilier RCTs and whatever Capellan March Militia units are sufficiently loyal to him. (One would imagine that the CMM based in the former United Hindu Collective would follow the lead of the Maharajah of Basantapur, rather than obeying treasonous orders from House Hasek.) I guess he envisioned the AFFS and the CCAF pulling a Kilkenny Cats on each other, allowing him to step in and mop up with minimal effort.
This scene doesn't quite match the earlier precedent, wherein Michael was ultra paranoid about being monitored by the MIIO, and only communicated with Korigyn using a sonic transmitter hidden in his fake thumb. Yet here he is in his office talking openly about getting money in a "special account" from the Capellans, and telling the Capellan ambassador that the Kittery incident will be "useful against my Prince." If there were any MIIO agents surveiling him now, those comments alone should be enough to pull together a Rabid Fox team to take Michael out of the equation, or at the very least haul him in on charges of treason and sedition.
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Date: December 29, 3027
Location: Arcadia
Title: Panzer
Author: Jason Schmetzer
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the Portland Spaceport, "Sniper" Jones waits in the boarding queue for a Monarch-class DropShip bound for Goshen. Donner Hale spots him in the line and comes over to offer him an apology. Hale acknowledges that Jones is a killer, but says he is glad that he's killing Mariks and protecting Lyran citizens. He says he hates the wars that necessitate such killers, but that Sniper has his respect.
Notes: Hale makes some comments that shed some light on the basis for his antagonistic attitude towards Halsten's Brigade. He thinks that Colonel Halsten gets preferential treatment in his contracts, that the media makes unwarranted celebrities of mercenaries, who are often in the fight just for the money or the fame.
Hale's prior obsession with Jones being a "killer" suggests that there is something of a cultural taboo that has developed regarding the killing of MechWarriors. Since 'Mechs are so rare and powerful at the tail end of the Third Succession War, and since ejection systems result in most engagements being quite survivable, deaths in the cockpit would seem to be rare. The widespread media coverage makes celebrities of many of the MechWarriors (especially the more flamboyant ones), and having a "nobody" tanker picking off celebrities would definitely make a holojournalist view him in a negative light. (In parallel, Justin Xiang got some notoriety for how many of his Solaris VII matches ended up in death - the blowback for killing a celebrity would be even greater in such a media-saturated environment.)
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Date: December 31, 3027
Location: Tharkad
Title: Warrior: Riposte
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novel (Warrior: En Garde)
Synopsis: Daniel Allard and Morgan Kell cut to the front of the line to get into the Archon's New Year's Eve celebration. When security intercepts them, Morgan introduces himself and produces a yellowed piece of paper. The security officer reads it and demands further proof, at which point Morgan presses his thumb to a rainbow hued patch woven into the paper, verifying his identity. He tells the officer to let them in without alerting anyone else, and the shaken security trooper complies. Dan inquires what was on the paper, and Morgan shows him the note: "Deny this man, Morgan Kell, nothing. Katrina Steiner, Archon, 22 July 3007."
Wearing Kell Hound dress uniforms, they enter the Grand Ballroom. Morgan uses the letter again to insist that the protocol officials announce him with full honors and titles. He is introduced as "Baron von Arc-Royal, Member Order of the Tamar Tigers, Knight Defender of the Draconis March, and Regimental Holder of the Order of St. George." Archon Katrina greets him warmly and expresses her condolences on the loss of Patrick, as does Melissa. Katrina thanks Patrick for the role the Kell Hounds played in resolving the Silver Eagle incident.
Katrina summons Minister of Protocol Franklin Hecht and orders the receiving line to conclude, and for the dancing to begin. She leaves Melissa with Daniel and takes Morgan back to her private office. The reminisce over old times, and Katrina asks why Morgan never told her Arthur was a member of Heimdall. He responds that Heimdall was intended to be the "loyal opposition," and having its secrets opened up to an Archon risked becoming part of the establishment.
Katrina dials up a holo of herself (with hair dyed crimson as the Red Corsair) along with Arthur Luvon and Morgan, and says that what they did to escape Poulsbo would be too outlandish for a holovid series. She surmises that Morgan misses Tempest as much as she misses Arthur.
Morgan asks Katrina to let the Kell Hounds out of their contract so that he can use them himself to resolve a personal matter - to confront Yorinaga Kurita once he's reformed the Hounds from a light battalion into a full regiment.
Back on the dance floor, Melissa and Daniel waltz. She thanks him for rescuing her from the Silver Eagle. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Baron Sefnes, Duke Michael Hasek-Davion's personal ambassador to the Commonwealth Court. Sefnes seems drunk, and suggests abandoning the Federated Suns may be an Allard trait, and accuses Justin Allard (Xiang) of being a traitor. Justin expertly forces Sefnes into an armlock and and proclaims how proud of Justin he is, and opines that any man would have left the Federated Suns after such a show trial. He kicks Sefnes' legs out from under him and storms off the dance floor out onto a balcony.
He stands there in the cold night air, looking at lights atop the towers of Fortress Asgard in the distance. A woman joins him on the balcony, and he initially mistakes her for Melissa. She tells him it's a common happenstance, and introduces herself as Jeana. Referencing the argument inside, he blames himself for Justin's flight into exile, feeling that he failed Justin by not being there for him during the trial. Jeana suggests giving Justin time to make peace with the other half of his heritage, and hoping that his true self will resurface.
A security agent summons Dan back inside when Morgan and Katrina return to the ballroom. Morgan introduces Dan to Duke Frederick Steiner, Duke Aldo Lestrade, and Duke Ryan Steiner. (Duke, Duke, Duke, Goose) Morgan reminisces about being an honor guard at the wedding of Ryan's mother, Donna Steiner. They are joined as a haggard old man joins the group - deposed Archon Alessandro Steiner. Morgan banters with Alessandro flippantly, and says he earned the right to address Alessandro during his year of hell. Morgan warns the men not to oppose or threaten Katrina Steiner, as their presence on the throne would destroy them and cast the Commonwealth into civil war. He also suggests that Aldo murdered his way to the head of House Lestrade.
Protocol Minister Hecht intervenes and escorts Morgan to where the Archon and Melissa are waiting before the argument becomes physical. As the countdown to the new year begins, they toast with champagne. Melissa asks Morgan to give her away at her wedding to Hanse Davion, and he consents, happily. As the new year dawns, Morgan proposes that 3028 be filled with justice.
Notes: Dating Katrina's ascension to the role of Archon to July 3007 means that the entire Red Corsair period in exile lasted 29 months - from February 3005 (the date of "Vanish"). Melissa was born in 3010, so she wasn't conceived during the exile. However, Morgan refers to the period as "a year of hell." That would imply an end to exile in/around February/March 3006. That doesn't quite jibe with established dates for Katrina's coup against Alessandro as being in 3007. Perhaps "year of hell" was a figure of speech, rather than an exactly 12-month period.
With the release of "Vanish," we saw at least part of what happened during the escape from Poulsbo, but alas FASA/ROC turned down Michael Stackpole's request to write that story as one of the novels, wanting to move the storyline forward instead of backfilling. As a result, we got Natural Selection, which had a "renegade" Jade Falcon take on the guise of the Red Corsair. It would be interesting to find out what the story of those two years became, who Tempest was, and what adventures they had amongst the pirate bands infesting the former Rim Worlds Republic.
One wonders exactly what adjustments have to be made to arrange a new year's ceremony. Tharkad's rotational period is slightly less than two standard Terran years, so if they tried to synch the new year's celebration up with that of Terran Standard Time (Greenwich Mean Time), they'd have to take local conditions into consideration, or else the countdown would be happening at mid-morning. Presumably, there's a local midnight in Tharkad City's time zone that serves as the benchmark for the passage of the day in question, while the year is counted as having rolled over during that 24-hour period around TST.
I picture Alessandro Steiner as looking and acting similar to the Tick villain, The Terror. (His criticisms of the plots of Aldo Lestrade and Frederick Steiner similarly boil down to "If you want my approval, do something bad, not badly.")
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Stackpole is a grand master of layering plot upon plot, and he provides great universe building; but his characters are mostly woefully shallow super-heroes or villains.
However, Alessandro Steiner is actually one of the rare cases whose portrayal isn't so formulaic. There's a passage in chapter 9 of Coupé that I had sort of read over back in the day, but found very interesting upon re-reading the book recently.
Quoting myself from Sarna:
Near the end of his life Alessandro Steiner privately told Ryan Steiner that he had actually sent the Loki agents to kill Arthur Luvon, whom he had discovered to be a high-ranking Heimdall leader; it was an unforeseen coincidence that Katrina Steiner and Morgan Kell were present when the attempt took place and wholly unintended that Katrina would believe she had been the target. According to Alessandro, he saw a strong and competent leader in his niece and always considered her his heir and successor, but their relationship was forever poisoned after she returned from hiding.
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I was thinking more of the bit where Frederick Steiner hints that he should support their maneuvering, and he opts not to, thinking that a real plan would involve a more direct approach - attacking the palace with the 10th Lyran Guards.
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I enjoy among things of Stackpole's earlier writings the layering plot upon plot. It did make it far more interesting read and rereading. It makes universe better for it.
Also, Tempest had one more mark on the universe. I recalled, she and Morgan had child together that Morgan never found out about until she showed one day, llegitimate daughter, Megan Kell, Dan Allard's future wife.
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Notes: Dating Katrina's ascension to the role of Archon to July 3007 means that the entire Red Corsair period in exile lasted 29 months - from February 3005 (the date of "Vanish"). Melissa was born in 3010, so she wasn't conceived during the exile. However, Morgan refers to the period as "a hear of hell." That would imply an end to exile in/around February/March 3006. That doesn't quite jibe with established dates for Katrina's coup against Alessandro as being in 3027. Perhaps "year of hell" was a figure of speech, rather than an exactly 12-month period.
One wonders exactly what adjustments have to be made to arrange a new year's ceremony. Tharkad's rotational period is slightly less than two standard Terran years
i think you just answered your own critism here. clearly a case can be made for him using 'year' in the tharkadian sense here rather than terran standard. 29 months is a little over one tharkad year, and if you figure for a couple moths bracketing either end (when they were coming up with the plan, and when they'd been successful and waiting for the official power transfer to be planned) it probably works out.
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Date: February 15, 2784
Location: Terra
Title: Falling
Author: Nadin Brzezinski
Type: Short Story (MechForce Quarterly Volume 5 #3)
Synopsis: At the 20th Dragoons' base on Hilton Head island, Colonel Michael Ward meets with major Rob Andrews to discuss their new orders from Aleksandr Kerensky - to gather their troops and families and board the unit's DropShips (led by the SLS Andrew Jackson), then rendezvous with the SLS Delacroix for transportation to a rendezvous at New Samarkand.
Major Andrews protests that this can't be right, and that Kerensky must be jesting. Ward clarifies that nobody is required to go who doesn't want to, but that Kerensky anticipates war in the Inner Sphere, and wants to remove the League's best and brightest from the line of fire. Andrews again protests, noting the need to protect the people of the Terran Hegemony. Ward tells Andrews that he will be joining the fleet along with his wife, Yvonne. Andrews asks for time to assemble the men to hear the orders, and Ward gives him until 1400 hours. Andrews gives the assembly orders, then walks alone from the headquarters, pondering the uncertainties involved with joining the Exodus.
At 1400 hours, Colonel Ward enters the 20th Dragoon Regiment's briefing room and briefs the assembled troops on Operation EXODUS. Alpha Company, 2nd Battalion leaves the room en-masse, declaring their intention to stay and defend the Hegemony. The rest of the unit expresses willingness to follow General Kerensky to hell, if need be. Major Andrews elects to stay with Alpha Company, and resigns his SLDF commission. Ward tells Andrews to keep his sidearm, but says his Highlander will be leaving with the rest of the 20th's equipment. As Andrews leaves the meeting, Trooper Jones of Alpha Company stops him and asks for orders. Andrews replies that Alpha is on its own, since he's no longer part of the SLDF. He says that the Star League died today, when its Commanding Officer decided to take the SLDF to unknown space.
Notes: A postscript notes that Major Andrews went on to join up with the Eridani Light Horse, which he saw as carrying on the best of Star League traditions. The postscript also indicates that Michael Ward replaced Colonel Andrew Sterling during combat on Graham IV. Brzezinski seems to have forgotten that the opening scenes took place on Caph, rather than Graham IV. Caph fits the 20th Dragoons perfectly, whereas Graham IV was taken by the 8th Army, while the 20th was part of the 3rd Army which canonically liberated Caph. We can, therefore, strike the Graham IV reference and swap in Caph. (No fact-checking was performed on the stories submitted to MechForce Quarterly, and FASA put in a disclaimer that, accordingly, none of the stories therein were considered canon. It's a shame, because in most respects "Falling" fits the established history quite well.)
Despite going on the Exodus, Michael Ward is not the founder of the Ward Bloodname. That honor goes to Jal Ward, a warrior from Clan Wolf. According to established canon, Captain Michael Ward of the SLDF had multiple children. One went with the Exodus and founded the Ward Bloodname, while another stayed in the Inner Sphere, and his bloodline descended through Salome Ward to her son Phelan, who went on to claim a Ward Bloodname on that basis. If Brzezinski intended "Falling" to feature that "Captain Michael Ward," then perhaps Yvonne gave birth to li'l Jal during the Exodus journey. But what about the other son? Michael does mention that the rest of his family is in Lyran space, and he cares nothing for them. So, is Salome's ancestor Michael's son from failed marriage, with ex-wife and kid left behind in Lyran space? Odd that they'd keep the surname, though, if that's the case. Or did Michael and Yvonne abandon their eldest son when they turned their back on the Terran Hegemony?
Neither the SLS Delacroix nor the SLS Andrew Jackson is a canon ship. Given naming conventions, I wonder if the Andrew Jackson would be a Confederate-class vessel? Also, the hasty departure orders seem a wee bit premature. With Kerensky having only given the orders to his senior commanders the previous day, there are a lot of logistics issues that have to be worked out before troops just start showing up on New Samarkand. Go too soon, and they'll eat all their food while hanging around in orbit. Still, I guess someone had to be the first to go, and more food could be brought in. (Jal may have been conceived during the months spent waiting at the New Samarkand jump point.)
As we saw in "A Shot Heard Around the Sphere," in an alternate reality, the SLDF could have held the Terran Hegemony together had it stayed, and history would have turned out significantly differently.
Since the 20th Dragoons were based on Hilton Head, one wonders if Alpha Company ended up pledging their services to Jerome Blake, and becoming part of his secret ComStar Guards and Militia.
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I wonder if Rob Andrews is any relation to Adam Andrews, the Steel Viper founder from whom that infamous Bloodname descends.
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Date: July 12, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Chu-i Sam Tanaka leads Bravo Lance, Beta Company - the Stomping BBs into combat with AFFS forces. Tai-i Gibbons' Devil Lance reports an incoming FedRat assault lance - Stalker, Banshee, Atlas, and King Crab - at the six kilometer mark. By contrast, Tanaka's Grasshopper is one of the heaviests unit in Beta Company.
Using their greater mobility, the Combine forces attempt to lure the Davion assaults into an ambush. To make sure the ambushers aren't themselves ambushed, Tanaka sweeps their flanks and detects an enemy presence - two Javelins and a Commando. Tanaka engages them, spitting them with massed laser fire or crushing them with death-from-above attacks.
With the flanking maneuver repulsed, Tanaka finishes off the last enemy 'Mech, then orders the BBs to engage the Davion assault lance.
Notes: The fighting on Kentares IV up to this point is standard 1st Succession War. Nothing has gone LosTech yet, but some of the more advanced systems restricted to Royal units are rare. Tanaka wonders how the flankers got so close, and speculates they may have had stealth technology (null signature systems moreso than the Chameleon Light Polarization Shield - since there was no mention of a shimmering proto-mimetic effect - just sensor invisibility).
It's not specified how Lantren Corporation's Prototype Five Grasshopper got from Bryant to DCMS service, but there was likely a flurry of purchase orders made as all Great House militaries sought to bulk up ahead of the outbreak of the Succession Wars. The Combine probably paid top Star League dollar, and got the first shipment from Lantren. (Given the circumstances of its designer's death, I would hazard to guess that any purchase orders from the LCAF were shuffled to the bottom of the back-order stack, if not "lost" outright.)
While atrocities aren't shown in this battle, the Combine has already nuked a number of worlds, including Helm in the FWL, as seen in "Ghost Rain." Combine strategic doctrine in the First War seems to have been to try to capture worlds they can hold intact, while using the "Ghost Rain Protocol" against enemy targets that are vulnerable to attack, but too remote for the DCMS to be able to hold them in the long-term.
This is Prototype Five's glory days - only a decade or so off the assembly lines, in perfect repair, and able to outmaneuver anything heavier and outshoot anything lighter. Tanaka describes it as handling like a sports car, and he's able to use it to singlehandedly wipe out nearly an entire AFFS recon lance.
The Combine forces deploy Javelins and Firestarters for recon, all with Guardian ECM, while the heavies include a Catapult, Orion, and Grasshopper. The diversity of design reflects the fact that all the Successor States enjoyed the ability to place orders at 'Mech producers across the Star League, and that their militaries were significantly bolstered by the inclusion of former-RWR and former-SLDF units. This is not the Third Succession War DCMS standard of homemade "Pile'o'Panthers led by a Dragon" TO&E lists.
Swords of Light and Darkness is told out of chronological order in the Legacy Anthology, starting with the central character at/near his lowest moment, and then peeling back the layers of time to reveal his progressive deterioration throughout the course of the Kentares Massacre. I'll be reviewing it in the standard chronological order, but if you want the full impact of the psychological reveal, I strongly suggest you get the full anthology and read it in the original format.
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Date: July 17, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Tai-sa Evan Watanabe, CO of the 6th Sword of Light, awards Sam Tanaka the Bushido Blade for his combat performance the previous week. In his speech, Watanabe exhorts Tanaka to uphold the highest ideals of the regiment. The award ceremony, at which three other DCMS officers receive awards as well, is the culmination of a week of hard fighting that has pushed the AFFS forces on Kentares into retreat.
Sam weeps with emotion, overcome with pride. His friend, Errol Ishibashi, with whom he trained at the Sun Zhang Academy, also receives an award. Sam fully expects both of them to keep rising through the ranks until each commands their own regiment. He looks forward to telling Errol, over sake, about how smoothly the Grasshopper reacts to his commands, and to hearing Errol theorize that man and machine have combined into the perfect warrior.
Notes: The Bushido Blade is a decoration awarded to officers in recognition of great courage or leadership on the field of battle. I imagine the DCMS officer ranks were liberally festooned with these during the opening years of the First Succession War, when they were steadily rolling back both LCAF and AFFS troops.
As described here, Errol is clearly the Sam's emotional center of the universe. In the male dominated ranks of the DCMS (women were few and far between, at least in the officer cadres, prior to Theodore's post-Clan Invasion reforms), classmates would naturally be the ones with which serving officers formed their strongest bonds.
Sam describes the Sixth Sword of Light as the "most prestigious" unit in the DCMS. It doesn't have much of a track record to base that on, however, since the historical formation was disbanded during the Star League era, and only recently reconstituted for the First Succession War as a medium-weight unit. That being said, the "most prestigious" label probably comes from the fact that it's being personally led by Coordinator Minoru Kurita in the fight against the Seventh Crucis Lancers.
Of interest, many of the newer formations created for the DCMS use equipment taken from SLDF deserters who joined the Combine. Although they were promised high status in the Combine as a recruitment incentive, most of those who signed on with the Dragon had their equipment seized and given to loyal Combine MechWarriors (many of which had probably honed their skills as ronin in the First Hidden War). Thus, being a new formation, the 6th Sword of Light is probably heavily comprised of ex-SLDF 'Mechs.
In parallel, the 7th Crucis Lancers were built around an ex-SLDF battalion (from the 142nd Battle Regiment) that hired on with the AFFS. So, here on Kentares IV, we're already seeing SLDF equipment being pitted against other SLDF equipment, though the troops in the 6th are Combine born and bred. The 6th Sword doesn't survive the First Succession War, and is never again returned to the rolls after being disbanded.
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Date: September 11, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Two days following the assassination of Coordinator Minoru Kurita, Sam has been assigned to sweep Carinda City - an agricultural center of 50,000 people - along with the 17th Pesht Infantry. Over his loudspeaker, he repeats that all civilians are to report to the city center immediately. Troops go house to house forcing everyone to go to the central square.
Tai-i Errol Ishibashi, of Beta Company, opens a private channel, despite it being a violation of battlefield discipline. While Sam is distracted by thoughts of how Jinjiro will handle the succession, and the likely impact on Inner Sphere politics, Errol raises the question of why they're rounding up the civilians. Sam suggests they're just screening them for infiltrators and insurgents, but Errol isn't so sure.
Hours later, the entire population is gathered in a centrally located park, under the harsh afternoon sunlight. Sho-sa Kait-linn Wong orders Second Battalion to target the civilians with their energy weapons and fire. As the 'Mechs raise their weapons, Errol protests, and Wong clarifies that Jinjiro's orders are "kill them all." Errol broadcasts his refusal to follow an illegal and immoral order. Wong relieves him of duty and places Sam in command of the 2nd Battalion. As Errol powers down and awaits arrest, Sam orders his men to comply with their orders, and opens fire himself.
As torrents of laser fire sweep the packed crowds, the survivors attempt to flee, but are cut down by the infantry at the park perimeter or stomped by the 'Mechs' feet. When the ceasefire order comes through, bulldozers move in to push away the remains. A child's charred sock flutters in the hot breeze and slaps against Sam's cockpit window, then slides out of sight.
Sam feels like he's a passenger in his own body due to the shock. He witnesses his best friend, Errol Ishibashi, dragged out of his BattleMech cockpit by military police. He sees fourteen infantry soldiers beheaded for refusing to fire on civilians. And it doesn't even feel like it's his own arm when, after Errol slits his entrails with a dagger, he uses his Sun Zhang katana to behead him. He keeps his face in an emotionless mask to conceal his horror, and keeps repeating that the executed men were without honor, and unworthy of service to the Combine.
He would never sleep a full night for the rest of his life.
Notes: During the summer of 2796, Coordinator Minoru Kurita was killed by a 7th Crucis Lancers sniper. Upon receiving the news of his father's death, the new Coordinator, Jinjiro Kurita, issued a simple set of orders: "Kill them all." When a Combine officer requested clarification, Jinjiro killed him on the spot. The cowed Combine officer corps began carrying out the genocidal orders, going from city to city, rounding up all the citizens, and conducting mass executions, then hunting refugees and survivors in the wilderness.
Some troops refused orders to kill unarmed civilians, believing that it violated the tenets of bushido, and was incompatible with maintaining their personal honor. These soldiers were either executed (as seen in Broken Sword, Wounded Dragon) or imprisoned (as seen in Echoes of Disgrace). Here, we see the first round of those executions, with soldiers who refused to carry out Jinjiro's orders killed. The MechWarriors, having higher status, are allowed to commit seppuku, while the infantrymen are simply gunned down by a firing squad.
The Succession Wars, to a certain extent, were initially about trying to break the enemy's will to resist. Last one standing/fighting gets to be First Lord. The Kentares Massacre was a key touchpoint in the psychological struggle between the Federated Suns and the Draconis Combine. The AFFS had been demoralized by shocking losses - the eradication of their main WarShip fleet, the shattering of their overly rigid military districts on the borders, and huge territorial losses on both fronts in just a few years, and defeatism had started to set in. Meanwhile, the DCMS was full of idealistic and enthusiastic academy graduates, ronin who'd dueled in "unsanctioned" dojos and honed their skills for decades in anticipation of a war, and a senior officer corps that had experience from the 2nd Hidden War. All of them were convinced of their moral and military superiority, and the rash of early victories proved to them that defeat of their enemies and total victory were guaranteed, because they were both the most skilled and most honorable warriors in the Inner Sphere.
Kentares IV ruined that esprit de corps. Massacring unarmed civilians isn't found anywhere in the code of bushido. Combine doctrine up to this point had held that these civilians were misguided, and would benefit from benevolent and well-regimented Combine rule. Those soldiers who held fast to their personal honor were publicly executed, and those carrying out the executions, and those witnessing them, had to struggle with the cognitive dissonance of knowing that their orders were dishonorable and immoral, but also with having had it drilled into them that the Coordinator's wishes could not be dishonorable. Sam tries to cope by repeating the official lies over and over, willing himself to believe it.
On the other side of the lines, when word of the massacre got out, the defeatism vanished. Davion units began deserting their posts and heading for the front (much to the Capellans' delight, I'm sure) with the goal of killing as many Kuritans as possible, by any means necessary. If this is what the Combine was willing to do to the people of an occupied world, then there was no option of negotiation, no benefit to surrender or retreat. It was kill, or be exterminated, along with family, friends, and homeland. Faced with renewed resistance, the demoralized Combine troops broke and ran, having been robbed of their moral certitude that all of known space belonged under Combine rule.
In parallel, however, there's the case of Helm. Minoru Kurita personally commanded the Combine fleet that penetrated into Free Worlds League space, wiped out the Helm garrison, tore the place apart looking for a cache of SLDF equipment, then executed "Ghost Rain Protocol" as they departed, nearly sterilizing the world with a massive nuclear bombardment from orbit, leaving the survivors to starve to death on a frozen, irradiated ruin of a world. So, why didn't the FWL have the same reaction as the Federated Suns? Millions dead, a planet depopulated at the direct orders of the Combine's Coordinator.
Perhaps the difference lay in the use of relatively impersonal WMDs rather than the fact that Combine troops were ordered to use swords whenever possible. One officer punching buttons on a bridge isn't the same mass-transgression of honor as tens of thousands of Combine troops bayoneting schoolkids for months on end. Also, the FWL had no real beef with the Combine. Kenyon refused to accept Minoru's declaration of First Lordship and put his own hat in the ring (something that was probably a motivating factor for the Helm raid, in addition to the Nagayan Mountain cache), but they shared no common borders and the FWL had no real emotional history with the Combine. Negative memories of the Combine in the Suns were relatively fresh, with the War of Davion Succession (the 2nd Hidden War) still in living memory. Sure, Helm was a tragedy, but the Combine didn't represent an existential threat to the lives and fortunes of House Marik and the people of the Free Worlds League.
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Date: October 16, 2796
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: The massacre continues. Combine forces destroy all planetary communications so that those outside the current extermination zone won't be motivated to fight back. Infantry rounds up docile civilians, regarding them as rats. With 58 million to kill, Combine forces save bullets by using swords. The Sixth Sword of Light, the Ivory Dragon, razes cities and scours the ruins for more rats to report on their daily tally.
As evening descends, Sergeant Saru, performing maintenance, surprises Sam as he sits in his Grasshopper cockpit and broods. He notes that the officers went to eat an hour earlier, but Sam feels like he'll never eat again. Sam disembarks and walks from the 'Mech hangar as a tech washes blood and crushed body parts off his 'Mech's legs with a hose, and tries to pretend it's just paint.
Notes: The use of swords to kill civilians on Kentares has been well documented, but this is the first time I've seen a reference to the 'Mechs being used to stomp on the civilians. It certainly fits. I recall doing my fair share of human-stomping in the Crescent Hawk's Inception game, leaving a satisfying blood splotch on the ground. (They did kill your father, as far as you knew, after all.) However, those weren't civilians (well, except for the Arena targeting option of "Enemy Spectators") - those were DCMS soldiers who were armed and trying to kill you and your lance.
The communications network destruction also fits. The Kentares Massacre Journal - the only firsthand account from the Davion POV - notes that the refugees hiding in the mine had no idea what was going on, and had to send out scouts to learn what had happened. From that, SOP at the outset seems to have been that DCMS forces approached a previously untouched city, engage and destroy any local security forces or militia that try to engage, and once any resistance is crushed, sweep the whole place with infantry to gather all the civilians into collection points - schools, churches, and hospitals seem to have been the preferred holding areas. Once the sweep was completed, the massacre takes place. There are notes that the schools, churches, and hospitals were bombed, but that may have been prior to October, when the major metropolitan areas were targeted. The "hands on" approach would have been used once all the high-density urban centers were cleared with heavy ordnance.
The excuse of not having enough bullets seems sort of contrived, though. You could bring in enough machine gun ammo to kill 58 million targets (assuming they're in the open and you get an average roll of 7 on 2D6, killing 14 civilians per burst) with 41,429 tons of ammo. That's two Invaders loaded with Mammoths bringing ammo resupply. Not to mention that Sam's Grasshopper, plus the Jenner, Wasp, Stinger, Dragon, Charger, and other Combine standards all have lasers, which don't run dry on ammo. Not having enough bullets is just an rationalization - the same as "that red liquid is paint," "those civilians are rats," and "my friend had no honor" - what the DCMS rank and file had to keep telling themselves to keep from going mad.
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Date: January 1, 2797
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: On New Year's day, 2797, Chu-sa Rai Sakaguchi and Tai-i Krinda Ueda join Sam in his luxurious quarters (filled with luxuries looted from the depopulated world). With two days of leave to enjoy, Rai has brought Kentaran wine, fresh fruit and other luxury foods, two armed guards, and six terrified Kentaran prisoners - two men and four women - whom Sam refers to as "rats". With guns trained on the prisoners, the Kuritans tell them they may open the provisions and eat. Sam plays Combine music and, with copious amounts of wine, they celebrate the new year.
At one point, Sakaguchi takes a laser pistol from a guard and burns a crude Kurita emblem into the ceiling of Sam's quarters, then points the gun at the prisoners and pretends to shoot it at them. Sam feels a black emptiness within him growing stronger, and eventually passes out from too much wine. When he awakens, the DCMS troops and the prisoners are gone. He never sees any of the prisoners again.
Notes: Heerman does an excellent job at conveying attitude through word choice alone. After four months of ceaseless slaughter, Sam habitually thinks of the Kentarans as "rats," calls their hiding places "warrens," and even refers to them as "females" and "males" rather than "men" and "women." In his mind, to cope with what he is forced to do, he has dehumanized them.
In doing so, however, he begins to feel he has dehumanized himself. Surrounding himself with looted luxuries, living in non-regulation quarters, and violating rules of conduct to "party" with Kentarans demonstrate that a rot has set in among the Mustered Soldiery, and the famously disciplined and duty-bound samurais' katanas' edges have begun to grow dull.
Keep in mind, a mere fifteen years earlier, everyone in the room had been a Star League citizen, with no real reason to feel animosity towards each other. Now, instead of demonstrating his combat prowess on the battlefield against AFFS foes and accruing ever greater honor for the Dragon, he wallows in depravity.
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Date: April 17, 2797
Location: Kentares IV
Title: Swords of Light and Darkness
Author: Travis Heermann
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Sam Tanaka, dressed in exercise garb - having told the gate guards he was going out for a jog - huddles in an alley among ruined buildings, holding his hands over his eyes, trying to deal with the horrors he's witnessed. A sound from a nearby trash receptacle draws his attention, and inside he finds evidence that someone has been living inside - bottled water, food wrappers, and a partially burned doll. He hears noise coming from a hole leading into the ruined building, and envisions how easy it would be to kill one more rat. Then, a wave of nausea overcomes him.
He ponders that, due to the colossal success of the extermination campaign, the DCMS has become lords of lifeless rubble. He finds himself struggling with the crimes he's committed, which so grossly violate the tenets of Bushido that were drilled into him since childhood.
He notices movement in the darkness, and a voice whispers that he's too close, and that the monsters always find people this close to their house.
The extermination sweeps are paused, however, Sam reflects. Scaled back after Jinjiro Kurita's bloodlust was finally slaked and he departed for "more pressing duties" a few weeks earlier.
The voice notes that he looks hungry, and a small child emerges from the shadows. She offers him a piece of candy, though she is clearly emaciated, herself. He slaps it out of her hand. She cries and asks why he's so mean. He asks why she hasn't run away. She says her mother told her to wait there until she returned. In her features, Sam recognizes her as one of the women at Sakaguchi's "party," and tells the girl her mother won't be returning. He thanks her for offering the candy.
An alarm from the nearby base sounds, recalling all personnel to duty stations. Sam realizes it must mean that enemy forces have entered the Kentares system. Though stirred to return to his Grasshopper and, there, try to reclaim some honor, he stops and considers the child. He knows that the nearest enclave of civilian survivors is hundreds of kilometers away. Once the Sixth redeploys to fight the AFFS, there will be no garbage bins for her to scavenge, and she will starve.
For a long time, he ignores the summons, until he hears the 'Mechs moving out. Though he risks death from execution, he decides to bring her onto the base and try to hide her in his cockpit. He asks her if she wants to live, and offers her his hand, which she takes.
Notes: Heermann opens each section heading with a passage illustrating one of the tenets of Bushido: Benevolence, Loyalty, Character, Honor, Courage, Truthfulness, Rectitude, and Respect. Following the cultural reforms imposed by Urizen Kurita II, Combine society was steeped in retro-Japanese culture, with a very heavy helping of Bushido for those aspiring to serve the Dragon. Every war crime and atrocity on Kentares thoroughly violated the entire concept of Bushido. For a culture where that's a majority of their entire self-identity concept, it was shattering.
Particularly because it was ordered to be carried out on such a personal level. It's not just the touch of a button to launch a flight of nukes for Ghost Protocol, but the up-close beheading of the defenseless. The katana usage is excellently contrasted with the seppuku ceremony, where Sam has to strike the head of his best friend (and emotional center in the regiment) to punish him for remaining true to the tenets of Bushido.
The sharpest contrast comes in this alley. Despite all she's suffered, seeing her friends, family, and entire world destroyed by "monsters," living alone in a dumpster and scavenging garbage to survive, she still retained her humanity, and reaches out to another person in emotional distress - not realizing he's one of the "monsters." A starving child offering her last scrap of food to him is what brings Sam back from the abyss.
We don't see this Grasshopper again until 2840, when it's been salvaged by Capellans after being expended by the Combine on a Chain Gang raid. I wonder if Sam was still piloting it. In "Echoes of Disgrace," the Combine sent other DCMS troops who'd violated orders on Kentares on the Chain Gang missions, so Sam, if discovered with the girl, might have been locked up for twenty years and then given one final opportunity to serve the Dragon.
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Date: June 19, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: A Day in the Life of Buffalo Jones
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: At Supply Depot 124KT, Buffalo Jones reflects on how much he hates his life in the militia - the endless routine, the lack of action, and being condescended to by AFFS regulars. On this particular day, he's been assigned to Depot patrol to scare off the vandals who've been painting unflattering caricatures of the First Prince and the Thane Council with barnyard animals on the perimeter fence. He longs for Capellan or pirate raiders.
He mounts up in his 'Mech, a battered Wasp, and moves out to Sector 22-Baker, where the rest of his lance is already on patrol. Halfway there, an alert tone sounds. It's been a while since he reviewed what each tone meant, so he ignores it. Crossing into 22-Baker, his scanner display shows his lance clustered together and moving quickly. He ponders whether they're checking out new graffiti.
The alert tone sounds again, and he checks in with Cat Lance to ask what's up. Leftenant Tigress Simpson replies that it's a recall alert, but is abruptly cut off amidst loud thumping sounds. Sprinting forwards, he sees that Cheetah Garabaldi and Goldfish Janson's Wasps are smoking wreckage, while Simpson's Phoenix Hawk is sprinting right towards him. In the distance, he sees enemy heavy 'Mechs silhouetted against the horizon, sending a torrent of PPC fire down range towards him. His bowels empty, and the turns the Wasp around and sprints back the way he'd come.
Notes: The first names of each of the lance members seem unusual, so I'm assuming that they're the callsigns, rather than their actual birth names, despite the lack of quotes. "A Day in the Life of 'Buffalo' Jones" doesn't parse nearly as well, so I feel Geoff Swift made the right call on this point.
In 2828, the First Prince was Paul Davion II, who'd supported the spontaneous counterattacks following the Kentares Massacre, and rallied the Federated Suns behind himself, centralizing his authority as the Duke of New Avalon, creating the MIIO, and reclaiming nearly all the lost territory. When Ilsa Liao personally led a major offensive at the start of the Second Succession War, Paul responded with overwhelming force.
The reference to the "Thane Council" is not explained elsewhere. Presumably, since a "thane" is a landholder who receives a land grant from a king or military noble, Orbisonia's government is dominated by a council of noble landholders. It would be more likely for local politicians to be the target of such graffiti than for the High Council members on far off New Avalon. Orbisonia itself has been part of the Federated Suns since 2366, so the vandals aren't Capellan holdovers from before a Federated Suns conquest.
It's interesting that the front line troops so openly express disdain for the militia troopers. You'd think that after the shared struggle of fighting off the DCMS after the Kentares Massacre, there'd be more esprit-de-corps among all branches of the military. Perhaps, here, you can see the social impetus that led to the formation of the MechWarrior Brotherhoods that felt they were superior to all other citizens of the Federated Suns and should be accorded special rights and privileges (often becoming little more than bandits wearing AFFS insignia, with aspirations toward being petty warlords).
It's also interesting that Jones feels bored. One would think that the relative recency of the First Succession War would have made all AFFS citizens grateful for a respite. (Though things haven't been very quiet on the Combine border, with waves of Chain Gang raids evolving into full on attacks as the Second Succession War gets underway.) As a militia trooper, he was probably left out of the action in the First War, and didn't have the guts to join one of the unsanctioned counterattacks (or wasn't old enough at the time, and now dreams of having done so, earning glory in the process.)
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Nice little Star Wars reference they slipped in there.
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Also, regarding the names:
The population of Orbisonia has developed an odd cultural affectation, whereby individuals’ given names are those of animals. Company and militia rosters often read like the residents of a zoo rather than that of a group of persons.
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Also, regarding the names:
Thanks - missed that bit.
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Date: June 19, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Overmatched
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: At Supply Depot 124KT, the light 'Mechs, light tanks and infantry of the Orbisonia Planetary Militia face off against a wall of Capellan heavy 'Mechs from the Prefectorate Guard. The militia's goal is to exit its units off the home edge after starting near the Capellan home edge, while the Capellans score points for every militia unit they prevent from retreating. The battlefield is dotted with supply stacks which may explode when fired through, doing area effect damage.
Historically, the militia panicked and ran from the Prefectorate Guard, but were caught by a flanking force of the Red Lancers, which exterminated the militia.
Notes: AFFS militias have come a long way since the "Planetary Guard Units" (aka "Ugly PUGs") in the Davion sourcebook, which were just an infantry regiment primarily serving as Skimmer-mounted scouts for line units. This 'Mech and tank-equipped militia is an example of its time - the opening of the Second Succession War, before even beat-up antiques would be considered ideal for front line service, leaving the planetary militia with just tanks and infantry. (Alternately, it could be assumed that the Planetary Militia and the Planetary Guard Units were separate commands, not unlike the dichotomy between the Capellan planetary militias and the Home Guard units. That would allow the AFFS militias to be as well equipped as their Successor State counterparts, while the PUGs were just mechanized infantry scouts.
As Kojak noted, the name of the depot, backwards, is TK421, the call-sign of one of the Storm Troopers on the Death Star (whom Han is impersonating).
I'm slightly confused by the choice to have the Prefectorate Guard enter via the Defender's home edge (which the Defender is trying to exit across) and the two adjacent edges, since that would imply they were the flanking force, yet the fluff states that it was the Red Lancers which flanked and destroyed the militia while they were retreating from the Prefectorate Guard.
If played as described, the militia is running a breakthrough mission, with 10-16 possibly explosive hexes, but plenty of dense urban cover. For the militia, I'd recommend moving rapidly through the streets, and maneuvering to keep buildings between you and enemy forces. Don't expose yourself to get a good shot - you get no points for killing Capellans. Once you get close to the target edge, use jump jets to get over enemy blockers or maneuver past them. If they've formed an impassible wall of steel, ahead of you, use your superior maneuverability to move to another exit point, or try to concentrate fire to take one down and move through the gap. Your infantry will be left behind by your faster 'Mechs and tanks, but they can move directly through the buildings, so they should stay in the buildings, just coming out to dart across streets when it's reasonably safe, and then vector towards buildings that are close to the exit edge. Don't go near the supply depots unless the "no destroying supplies" rule is in effect, in which case they make optimal cover.
For the Prefectorate Guard, stopping breakthrough efforts are tough when the enemy has Jump Jets. Position your slow, PPC-equipped 'Mechs along major thoroughfares, so as to deny the militia any safe spots to hide. Send faster units in from the flanks to harry the militia and deny them the chance to maneuver into positions where they can leapfrog your home edge defense line. Blow up supply depots whenever possible (unless the "don't blow up supplies" rule is in effect), because the splash damage can destroy adjacent buildings, denying the militia cover and giving your PPC batteries a greater field of fire. If infantry is hiding in buildings, don't be afraid to kick them to the point where the whole structure collapses on them.
If there was a typo in the setup, then it becomes a chase scenario. The militia starts near the attacker's home edge and has to get off the far side, with the attacker forces in hot pursuit. Since the attackers can come in from any side that isn't the Defender home edge, move the slow PPC 'Mechs in on the sides adjacent to the defender side to form a blocking force, while more mobile units harry the militia from the rear.
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Date: June 19, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Paint the Town Red
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: After securing the supply depot, the Red Lancers pushed towards the capital city of Harrison, which was garrisoned by an equal number of the 14th Avalon Hussars. The goal of the Red Lancers is to destroy enemy units and exit off the enemy's home edge on an urban map, without destroying buildings. Historically, the medium-weight Hussars were unable to stand toe to toe with the elite heavies of the Red Lancers. The AFFS troops retreated south from Harrison with 50% casualties.
Notes: The only advantage the Hussars have over the Red Lancers is mobility, which can be key in an urban setting. The Hussars are somewhat hamstrung, however, by the need to avoid damage to the buildings, and their lack of functional jump jets, which cuts jump movement on equipped units by half. That's still enough to clear some buildings in a single bound, though. The Hussars should advance along streets parallel to those that the Red Lancers Marauders and Warhammers are using, using their mobility to stay on side streets to avoid getting a face full of PPCs. When they win initiative, the Hussars should hop into position behind the enemy forces and chew up their flanks, then jump away to safety. While an unrestricted urban fight would probably see the enemy crash through buildings in pursuit, the point cost may force the Liao units to maneuver around via intersections.
On the downside, you can't just play tag with the Red Lancers all afternoon, since they can score points by getting off your home edge, so you have to do what you can to take the enemies down. Keep your units together, grouped by movement class, and when you get a chance to jump over the buildings and back-shot the Lancers, have a whole lance join the ambush. Massed fire getting lucky back shots is pretty much your only chance of dropping enough Capellans to turn the tide.
For the Red Lancers, the restrictions on building destruction, and the fact that you'll be taking 4/6 profile 'Mechs against 5/8/5 'Mechs argues against trying to perform a seek and destroy sweep of Harrison. Instead, keep close order as you move towards the objective edge, making sure that you rotate at the end of moves when you might be vulnerable to back-shots to keep a building at your rear facing. That will also allow you to torso twist to direct fire down either direction of the street. Keep moving steadily southward, and win on points by moving your troops through. If any Hussar pops out and tries to trade fire, mass PPC fire on them to try for a clean kill.
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Date: June 19, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Ceti Twilight
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: On the outskirts of the city of Lancaster, the Prefectorate Guard takes the 2nd Ceti Hussars by surprise. Each side seeks to kill the enemy commander, inflict more casualties on the enemy force than they take, and capture an enemy for interrogation. Historically, the Hussars delayed the Capellans long enough for their command elements to withdraw and regroup in the wilderness, but had to abandon their transports, supplies, and support personnel.
Notes: Lancaster is strategic because it's located adjacent to Starport BETA. By taking Lancaster and Harrison, where Starport ALPHA is located, the Capellans control both main ports on the main Lapis Prisca continent, leaving the AFFS with only the smaller, more remote Starports 16, 17, 18, and 19.
Since both sides have to reveal the identity of their commanders, targeting those units is, of course, a major strategic priority. To avoid the huge initiative penalties that are incurred when a side loses its commander, both sides are advised to keep that command unit well back from the front lines, ideally in a mobile unit that can outrun whatever manages to break through and catch it. If the "wilderness" map used is something along the lines of "Dense Forest," putting a 'Mech back there will definitely provide protection. The command unit would ideally be an LRM boat, so it can provide indirect fire while keeping out of enemy gunsights.
To capture an enemy for interrogation will be difficult, as you not only have to cripple/disable the target unit before turn 12, but have to remain adjacent to it for the rest of the Track. That makes any "guard" unit a delicious target for enemy fire. Since the Hussars have foot infantry platoons, they're ideal for such guard duty obligations. Have your 'Mechs close on a likely target and surround it for a kick-fest. That should take out its legs, letting you then park infantry on it. Afterwards, do your best to guide the battle away from the downed unit, hoping that the Capellans will prioritize shots at the heavy 'Mechs rather than a lone infantry platoon. (If you can bait the enemy into the wilderness map before downing it, holding onto it will be much, much easier.)
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Date: June 20, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Harrison Press
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: Pushed out of the city of Harrison by the Red Lancers, the 14th Avalon Hussars regroup under the cover of darkness and try to hold the Capellans off long enough for their headquarters to evacuate. Both sides enter the fray with pre-existing damage from earlier fighting, and the Hussars' roster includes a mobile headquarters unit, which can be destroyed for victory points. The regimental commanders may also be present, with bonuses for killing the enemy leader.
Historically, the Hussars were nearly destroyed, but held long enough for the Mobile HQ to escape. The Red Lancers suffered only minor damage, but called off the pursuit when news of inbound Davion reinforcements arrived.
Notes: Looking at the map, the only strategic facility to the south of Harrison is Repair Station A-3, but there's a large river and dense wilderness between Harrison and the station, and cutting around the river would require a trip to Starport ALPHA, which is already in Capellan hands. Had the Capellans not been forced to withdraw to the Cretaceous Basin in the north, they could have kept the Hussars bottled up in the woods.
The wilderness map shouldn't be too dense, since a map like Dense Woods would be impossible for conventional forces (like the wheeled Mobile HQ) to move through, making victory for the Capellans a pre-determined outcome. The logical thing to do would be to put the Regimental Commander for the Hussars in the HQ. If it can move at top speed towards the home edge (through the wilderness map), it should easily outdistance the Red Lancers' 4/6 heavies, especially with the Hussars' units running interference. In order not to give the Red Lancers a clear victory on points, the Hussars should try to maintain their battle line while walking backwards, concentrating their fire on one unit at a time to take down enemy units (the Heavies will have enough armor that scattered fire won't do more than mar the paint jobs).
For the Capellans, sprinting movement, if the optional rule is used, would be your best bet for getting the Mobile HQ into PPC range before it scarpers. You'll take some hits from enemy fire, but have a chance to catch up since you can go through clumps of trees that the HQ will have to circumnavigate.
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This series has been on hold for the last six months because all my free time has gone into learning to speak Uzbek. I just passed my test this afternoon, so I expect to return to the Chronological Review in short order.
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Date: June 20, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Turnabout Intruders
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: Ordered to withdraw before the Davion Assault Guards arrive, the heavy 'Mechs of the Prefectorate Guards find themselves hard pressed to break contact with the faster Second Ceti Hussars in the Jackal Forest, outside the city of Lancaster. If played at the recommended scale, the Guards have two medium 'Mech lances and a heavy lance (the Marauders and Warhammers), while the Hussars have three times that strength, divided between 'Mechs, infantry, and vehicles. Units have pre-existing damage, either from previous Tracks or a default 1/3 armor missing. The wilderness is hazardous, with forest fires and random pits opening under units. The Guards seek to exit off their home edge. Historically, the Guards' rear-guard managed to hold back the Hussars long enough for the heavier elements to withdraw in good order.
Notes: The "This is the Pits" optional bonus refers players to "CO" (Campaign Operations?), though the rules are actually in "TO" (Tactical Operations). The rules in TO say that a fissure opens under a unit if they get a 2 on a modified PSR, but says that the modifier is based on the intensity of the quake, ranging from 1 to 5. The Track doesn't give a suggested intensity rating. As an alternative, it recommends using the Alpha Strike fissure rules, which call for a fissure on a roll of 2, with no modifier. So, since there is no ongoing quake, just a bunch of sinkholes, the TO modifier should be considered to be 0.
I'm actually glad about that, since ongoing environmental hazards can really shatter the units on the board. The "Fall of Terra" scenario that requires fleeing ComGuards to cross a wide river usually ends up with most stuck and flooded at the bottom of the river, without the Word of Blake troops having to do much. Here, a 5 point modifier would have resulted in the map getting most of the kills. A 0 modifier relegates it to flavor, rather than a defining element of the battle.
The fire option starts on the map that adjoins the Defender's home edge, with the wind blowing towards the home edge. This will make it difficult for the Hussars' vehicles and infantry to engage on that map, which is far friendlier to the 'Mechs than the conventional forces.
At recommended size, the Guards will be a single lance of Warhammers and Marauders having their backs watched by Hunchbacks, Riflemen, and equivalent forces. Fortunately, the Wilderness table doesn't recommend Heavy Woods, which would make the "chase" scenario into a grim slog. Instead, the wilderness is pretty open, with Scattered Woods being recommended.
Since the Hussars enter the board only one turn after the Guards get started, they can easily overtake the retreating 4/6 Capellans. I would recommend having the faster Davion units get ahead of the Guards and impede their progress, while the infantry and slower 'Mechs press them from behind, presenting opportunities for backshots. Unless the 4/6 units can be made to slow they'll leave the Davion infantry in the dust (no LRM infantry in the Succession Wars).
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Date: June 21, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Death Grip
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: The Red Lancers feign a retreat, drawing the 14th Avalon Hussars into a killzone for a chemical weapon attack. The Hussars have three times the Lancers' strength, but 2/3 of it must be conventional forces, and all units either have pre-existing damage or have lost half their armor across the board. The Lancers have pre-existing damage or 1/4 of their armor gone. The Lancers begin under Forced Withdrawal rules, but that ends after the chemical weapon attack. The chemical weapons take out conventional units on 2D6 roll of 10 or less.
Notes: Looking at the Interstellar Operations rules for Chemical Weapons, the Capellans seem to be using exceptionally powerful ordnance looted from Depot 124KT. The most powerful are Class I, with a TN of 8+ to resist the immediate effects, or a TN of 4+ to partially resist it. This has a TN of 11+ and no chance for partial resistance. I wonder if this is UrbStryc-A, which was produced during the Star League era, and has been known to be found in SLDF chemical weapon depots. However, looking at FM: SLDF, Orbisonia wasn't home to a SLDF garrison. Perhaps this gas was a Davion innovation, in which case UrbStryc-A would've been unlikely, with Wei (the homeworld for the plant used in its creation) deep in the Capellan Confederation. There's no info in the Turning Point about the origins of the Depot, but given the lack of a SLDF garrison, it probably wasn't a League cache, but was a staging point for the AFFS. Given that consideration, the moral outrage of the Avalon Hussars seems misplaced, given that those chemical warheads were almost certainly being stockpiled on Orbisonia to be used for offensive operations against the Confederation. (After all, who wants to deploy WMDs on their own soil? Okay, who besides the Capellans?)
There are options for this to take place at night. If that option is taken, it will be very hard for the Hussars to stop the Lancers from successfully retreating off their home edge before turn 15, since movement, range, and darkness penalties combine to make shots hard to connect. The chemical weapons only work on a successful attack roll, so the Capellans should wait until they get a good roll. If they've got Warhammers, those would be ideally used for their searchlight, to pinpoint clusters of enemy conventional forces - particularly infantry, which won't get defensive movement modifiers. Hitting infantry adjacent to vehicles will get both, since the gas is area of effect similar to a light artillery strike.
For that reason, the Hussars should keep their units spread out, so that each chemical strike can only take out one unit on a successful strike. Prioritize taking out missile boats. Fortunately, 2/3 of the Lancers are required to be Marauders and Warhammers, so the Whammies will only have three rounds of chemical ammo in their SRM-6 launcher, and the Marauders aren't chemmed up at all. Fortunately, the rules set up that the Capellans get three shots per 'Mech, regardless of the number of launchers. (Technically they could get one ton of SRM chemical ammo and one ton of LRM chemical ammo, giving a unit six shots, but only the Highlander matches those specs on the Capellan RAT), so the Longbow with 2 LRM-20s and 2 LRM-5s doesn't become an avatar of chemical death, though it could launch three attacks in one round, then be out of chemical ammo.
The Capellans would do best to make a fighting withdrawal to a point close to their home edge, using the chemical rounds to wipe out any attempt by the Hussars to concentrate conventional forces along their exit vector, and their heavy firepower to swat aside those remaining. Depending on how many rounds they have available, they could fire at empty hexes and create a wide swath of gas-covered hexes that persist for three rounds, making a barrier that only 'Mechs can penetrate safely, forcing the Hussars to spend several turns going around the contaminated zone, or face the retreating Elite heavy 'Mechs without their support forces. As they withdraw, the Lancers can repeat that tactic three times. Between the night and the need to go wide around hazardous areas, the Hussars have little chance of keeping the Lancers from moving off in a timely manner.
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Date: June 22, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: We Meet Again
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: After a forced march, the Red Lancers and Prefectorate Guard linked up at the edge of the barren Cretaceous Basin, but were hard pressed by the Davion Assault Guards, Second Ceti Hussars, and Fourteenth Avalon Hussars. The exhausted and enraged forces clashed amidst a maze of rocky pillars in the midst of a torrential downpour. Pre-existing damage continues to apply. Historically, the Capellan Hussars successfully slipped away into the Basin and made for their DropShips, with the Davion forces in hot pursuit.
Notes: At this stage, having played earlier scenarios conservatively would put the Capellans in good shape, while having been recklessly aggressive would leave them vulnerable to combat loss groupings, as accumulated damage begins to add up. Killing AFFS troops in earlier scenarios has no impact on the force ratios, so in every Track, there's a strong incentive to fight and move defensively, preserving your armor for later scenarios.
Given the need to track which units have been engaged in Tracks and which have not (and have their armor decreased by the Track's pre-set ratios), both sides need to whip up a spreadsheet and roll out the entire TO&E for all the regiments engaged, tracking which are engaged throughout the course of the various Tracks. Davion forces should focus their attacks on mobility-centered strikes - advancing to physical combat distance whenever possible and kicking to take out actuators and whole legs, since points are awarded for both crippling Capellan units and for keeping them from getting off the edge.
Using the Moonscape maps for the Cretaceous Basin is an innovative use for a mapset that rarely gets play, unless you're using airless/low-g conditions to simulate lunar combat. I imagine you could also credibly use the Moonscapes for fights in the aftermath of a nuclear or cruise missile saturation strike.
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Date: June 24, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: Ilsa's Last Stand
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: Throughout the 23rd, CCAF troops raced for their DropShips in the heart of the Cretaceous Basin, but many were unable to break contact. To save her troops, Chancellor Ilsa Liao led her personal guard to fight a rear-guard action against the oncoming Davion hordes, plugging a choke point. During the battle, amid clouds of choking dust, she inspires her troops with a speech. Historically, Ilsa and her guards were wiped out, but enabled 80% of the Hussars to extract offworld, preserving them as the CCAF's premier combat command.
Notes: The Davion forces trickle onto the map, with Hussars forces coming on a lance per turn starting turn 1, and Assault Guards forces arriving one lance per turn on turn 5. The surviving Capellan Hussars start at the Attacker's home edge and have to cross two lengthwise mapsheets to exit to safety. With 34 hexes to cross, the Hussars could optimally reach the chokepoint in three turns (two if Sprinting is allowed) if they have a straight shot to safety, though the broken terrain of the moonscape will slow them somewhat. While the temptation exists to turn and crush the Davion forces piecemeal as they arrive, that requires taking out a whole lance every turn without taking significant damage in return. Depending on their condition, the Capellan forces are likely to begin to crumble about the time the undamaged Davion Assault Guards begin to arrive on Turn 5. Instead, I'd recommend sprinting to the chokepoint and then forming up behind Ilsa's command, continuing to walk backwards towards the exit edge while providing long range supporting fire.
Davion forces arrive pretty chewed up, and charging straight in will just get your lead units slaughtered. Target heavily damaged units with long range fire until you have enough units to advance in force, and focus on picking off stragglers and the walking wounded. Once the Davion Guards arrive, have them lead the charge against Ilsa's strongpoint.
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Date: June 24, 2828
Location: Orbisonia
Title: The Red Heart
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Turning Points: Orbisonia)
Synopsis: Ilsa Liao leads the rear guard - a company of Warhammers and Marauders - from her personal Marauder, clearing a path for Prefectorate Guard 'Mechs to retreat through the columns of petrified coral formations on the dry seafloor of an ancient ocean basin. A pile of light Hussars' 'Mechs, blown to pieces, is arrayed before Ilsa's position, but she spots the heavier Assault Guards approaching.
As another Red Lancers company retreats past her position, she opens a channel, telling her troops the story of an ancient Terran king, Cnut, who futilely ordered the tide to stop its inexorable rise to demonstrate the primacy of his Creator. In contrast, she tells her troops that Capellans have left Terra behind, and have conquered Nature. Unlike Cnut, her Guard can stem the tide and keep the irresistible force from advancing. She punctuates her speech by blasting the head off a Davion Atlas. With the last of the Hussars main body still nearly half an hour from the DropShip LZ, she makes the decision to stand and fight, holding the line for 38 minutes. As she dies, her final thought is that she looks forward to meeting King Cnut and teaching him the error of his ways.
Notes: Unlike some other Chancellors (Kalvin and Dainmar come to mind), Ilsa takes her responsibilities seriously, and is willing to sacrifice herself to atone for her error in launching the invasion of the Federated Suns at the outset of the Second Succession War. Of course, her view of her responsibilities was arguably narrower than it should have been, seeing herself only as the field commander of the Capellan Hussars, rather than as the leader of the whole Confederation, and didn't take into consideration the morale effect her death in combat would have.
Looking at the aftermath of other "leader dies in combat" events, the Kuritans launched the Kentares Massacre in the aftermath of their Coordinator's death to a sniper attack, and the Federated Suns vowed bloody revenge after the death of Ian Davion on Mallory's World, escalating the fighting on the DC/FS border for a decade. Geralk Marik's death under the foot of the first generation of Lyran 'Mechs sent the League reeling, but the new leadership did not seek peace - instead they launched an espionage plan to get this tech for themselves. In contrast, the Capellan people went into shock, and mourned their venerated leader.
There's some discrepancy between this Track and the historical record, since the Davion Assault Guards arrive at dawn and Ilsa holds out another 38 minutes, but "The Second Succession War" p. 27 records her time of death as 13:15.
Interestingly, SSW records that ComStar served as an intermediary to return Ilsa's body to the Confederation, allowing the Capellans to hold a state funeral on October 19 with massive pageantry that boosted the nation's spirits and helped Chancellor Laureli pull the CCAF out of its state of shock, fending off collapse in the face of the Operation SUNS AFFS attack.
Ilsa's attitude about being able to conquer nature in a 'Mech recalls the opening narration in Pacific Rim, in which the pilot says "in a Jaeger, you can fight the hurricane and win." Her image of herself being superior to King Cnut's conception of his deity shows that the House Liao conception of themselves as divine beings in a universe that centers on their dynasty is already at least partly in place by the Succession Wars.
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Date: April 30, 2830
Location: Le Blanc
Title: What's In A Name?
Author: Kevin Killiany
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: In Port Paix, Tony Rossi is surprised by his eight-year-old tech apprentice McGuire, who summons him to check out his latest find. Rossi leaves the Centurion leg he's been working on and sees that, in addition to the gray market parts he'd sent McGuire to collect, the kid has also brought back a fluidic control actuator for a Grasshopper. McGuire suggests that they can use it to get their shop's Grasshopper chassis back in working order and sold. McGuire says that the seller, who let him have the piece on credit, told him it was a one-off masterpiece hand-crafted a century or two ago for a Combine kamikaze warrior.
Rossi tells McGuire that he's been lied to, since the Grasshopper design is only 50 years old. McGuire points out that the actuator is, at least, handcrafted and high quality - performing 12 percent above standard actuators. Rossi notes that the creator even signed their work, having etched "La cavaletts" into the housing. He deduces that the last letter is actually an 'a' where the artist's hand jerked at the last minute, making the word "La cavaletta," Italian for "the grasshopper."
Notes: The timing of this story puts it right in the timeframe of the Combine's Operation AKAI KAZE, which ran from February 19 - May 19 2830 - mostly consisting of heavy raids where the attackers were in and out in ten days, allowing the DCMS forces to do significant damage and then withdraw before AFFS reinforcements arrived. The strike on Le Blanc was a hit-and-run to sow chaos and confusion, facing little organized resistance and withdrawing in good order. Most likely the Centurion and Grasshopper were damaged in the AKAI KAZE raid. Le Blanc was hit again with a full-on assault (which failed) in 2854 during the Marathon Offensive, with the 2nd Robinson Rangers and planetary militia holding on from July to the end of December, when DCMS forces withdrew. By the end of the Second Succession War in 2864, Le Blanc had become a front line world.
The Kurita 'kamikazes' certainly left a great impression on young McGuire, who was probably orphaned during a 2825 Chain Gang raid when he was three years old.
What's interesting is that Rossi's shop isn't doing repairs for the 2nd Robinson Rangers, but appears to be working on salvaged pieces that they plan to sell. The massive battles of the 1st and 2nd Succession Wars would likely have left vast amounts of battlefield wreckage strewn across the planet. In the event of a successful defense, the locals could transition to a scavenger economy - getting out to the battlefield before official AFFS salvage teams could be mobilized. (Or, perhaps, the private sector transitioned to the scavenger mentality before the military did, since in the early 2nd Succession War, the AFFS could still count on far more factory-fresh material than in the late 3rd Succession War era.)
Per Handbook: House Davion, AFFS High Command relocated the headquarters of the Kentares PDZ to Le Blanc following the Kentares Massacre (though that would have had to wait until the AFFS recaptured the world, which had fallen to the broad DCMS offensive in the First Succession War). The increased military and civilian shipping that arrived as a result of this move also brought an increased number of mercenaries looking for work. Heir to the Dragon portrayed Le Blanc as a border world whose merchants were primarily engaged in smuggling, and were far more loyal to money than to any Successor State flag, though the mercenary trade had largely moved on after the Combine enacted the "Death to Mercenaries" edict, cutting regional demand for mercenary services in half.
You can see the lack of ethics in the fake story the seller (Mrs. Wong) told McGuire, and the refurbished 'Mechs are probably going to be offered to locally based mercenary units. Being right on the DC/FS border means that there are going to be plenty of hiring agents (primarily from the FedSuns, though possibly some from the Combine as well) offering contracts.
In the context of the rest of "What's in a Name?," this epilogue serves to reveal that Lantren engineer Lucia Cavaletta had proposed the name 'Grasshopper' for the GHR chassis as an in-joke - essentially naming it after herself.
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Date: October 11, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Carl Lipetsk marvels at the ornate tile frieze depicting the Capellan Cuirassiers' battle history in their headquarters on Phact. He regrets that the art only showcases the MechWarriors, with no attention given to the support troops or technical staff. Shrugging it off as typical MechWarrior arrogance, Lipetsk joins his team in the technical bay. In his mail, he finds a verigraph from Jansen Rivetti at Lantren Corporation, offering a factory refit for his Grasshopper, which has been identified as being from the initial production run. Lantren offers the refit for free, in exchange for the opportunity to analyze the unit's unique fluidic actuators. He summons his assistant, Andrea, and tells her to pull up the maintenance files on Bravo Lance's Grasshopper, then ponders how he's going to convince the unit leadership to give up one of their 'Mechs for a year of offworld maintenance.
Notes: Phact started the 2nd Succession War in FWL hands, and was the focus of Charles Marik's Operation BLACKSMITH, which sought to expand the Phact salient in 2832. However, a strong Capellan counterattack during ComStar's interdiction against the League rolled back the FWL border and reclaimed Phact in 2837. The Marik "Reconquista" stopped short of reclaiming Phact, which remained in Capellan hands at the war's end in 2864. During the war, the 2nd Orloff Grenadiers were driven off Phact and relocated to Vanra.
The Capellan Cuirassiers (spelled 'Curassiers' throughout "Fates and Fortunes"), an element of the St. Ives Armored Cavalry, began on Raballa in 2830 and ended on Monhegan in 2864, with a stop on Phact in 2840. Apparently a lengthy stop on Phact, since they had enough time to build a headquarters and decorate it with ornate tilework. The fact that Carl has been with the Cuirassiers on Phact since 2838 suggests that the Cuirassiers were the unit that seized Phact from the FWL during the ComStar interdiction of 2837. By 2840, the unit has also seen major action on Marlette, Ibstock, and Gomeisa during the First and Second Succession Wars.
The fact that Lipetsk is eager for the refit suggests that 1) the CCAF's resources to do its own refits are already strained by the massive losses of the First Succession War and the first decade of the Second; 2) he doesn't anticipate a major FWL offensive any time soon, considering the FWLM still too hammered by losses during the interdiction to contemplate a counter-offensive. (Not an unreasonable assumption, since there are now four other systems between Phact and the new border, which stretches to New Delos.)
As a further consequence of the 2837 offensive, the Capellan Confederation now controls both Park Place and Boardwalk, making it eligible to build hotels. :D
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As a further consequence of the 2837 offensive, the Capellan Confederation now controls both Park Place and Boardwalk, making it eligible to build hotels. :D
You can only start building once all the real estate is distributed among the players and none left with the bank though. ;)
That said, good to see this project continue!
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Date: October 27, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Carl Lipetsk oversees his assistant Andrea's attempt to maneuver a damaged Capellan Cuirassier Grasshopper into the maintenance bay of the Union-class DropShip CCS Silent Sword at the Hadari Interstellar Spaceport. Once the 'Mech is secured in its cradle, the Sword buttons up and lifts off on the seven-day transit to the jump point. As they admire the ship's departure, Andrea notices another point of light moving through the sky, which Lipetsk identifies as an unexpected inbound DropShip.
Alarms begin to sound as more points of light appear in the sky and shoot down the Silent Sword. Lipetsk and Andrea race to the ops center.
Notes: Though Phact has never been given an official system write-up, a seven-day transit time correlates with a G6 yellow star, per the table on Explorer Corps p. 74.
Presumably, the attackers came in via a pirate point, probably at a LaGrange point between Phact and one of its moons (the FWL clearly would've have had time to map the pirate points in the system during the decades they held Phact). Otherwise, alarms would have been sounded a week earlier, and the Cuirassiers wouldn't have been taken by surprise.
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That said, good to see this project continue!
New Year's Resolution to get back to doing it.
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Date: October 29, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At Cuirassier HQ, a briefer explains to the officer corps that the FWL forces are currently engaging in hit-and-fade attacks, doing damage but not committing to wholesale battle, in an attempt to gauge the CCAF's strength while tying up maintenance resources. The Cuirassiers' plan is to engage the FWL raiders with 1st Battalion, have the 2nd Battalion cover the factory complexes in the capital city of Hadari, and have 3rd Battalion remain at HQ as a reserve force. A technical team will be dispatched to the crash site of the Silent Sword to recover usable equipment before the League forces get it.
Lipetsk leaves the briefing to assemble his techs for the recovery mission.
Two hours later, on the Plans of Fury, Lipetsk's team arrives at the crash site via VTOL. Carl is accompanied by his assistant, Andrea, primary technician Richard Liu, and combat-vehicle tech Antonius McGhee, along with a pair of AsTechs. They depart the VTOL's cargo bay aboard a salvage rig and head towards the largest chunk of wreckage in a shallow crater.
At the wreck, Lipetsk is astounded to see the Grasshopper intact, still secured in its maintenance cubicle. He orders Andrea to check it out. Hours later, with the 70-ton 'Mech cut free of the cubicle, Lipetsk and Andrea begin to walk it back to Cuirassier HQ overland - a 237 kilometer journey - with Lipetsk in the jump seat. The rest of the team returns to base aboard the VTOL.
Ninety minutes after departure, Lipetsk monitors communications between the VTOL and HQ, reporting intercept by FWL aerospace forces. The VTOL transmission cuts off in static, and Lipetsk orders Andrea to power up the weapon systems, despite the fact that she isn't trained as a MechWarrior.
Twenty-five minutes later, the Grasshopper's sensors register hostile contacts, and Lipetsk reports it to HQ. They estimate that Capellan reinforcements are still six minutes away.
Before the Capellan forces can arrive, two Marik Wolverines spot the Grasshopper and engage. Andrea brings the 'Hopper up to maximum speed, but is nonetheless overtaken by the faster League 'Mechs. Lipetsk directs Andrea when to trigger the lasers, helping her score hits on their pursuers. The technicians are no match for trained MechWarriors, however, and the Grasshopper soon goes down. Lipetsk regains consciousness to see a Wolverine getting ready to discharge its laser into the Grasshopper cockpit.
The techs are saved by the arrival of Capellan 'Mechs - a Vindicator and Ostsol, which dispatch the Marik machines. A rescue VTOL arrives and transports Lipetsk and the wounded Andrea back to HQ, where Lipetsk learns that his tech team survived the VTOL crash and escaped into the underbrush.
Notes: The class of the tech team's VTOL isn't given, but it's likely a Cobra Transport VTOL, since none of the other VTOLs available to the CCAF in 2840, per the MUL, have significant cargo capacity. If they were looking for salvage, a Cobra is the only reasonable option to send. The medivac VTOL is more likely a smaller Ripper, since it would be focused on personnel transport rather than cargo haulage.
The salvage rig is clearly a small support vehicle, rather than a 50-ton BattleMech recovery vehicle (which would never fit aboard a VTOL). I presume their focus was to scuttle whatever they couldn't haul back, and they didn't expect to find anything that could move under its own power. It's not stated whether the Vindicator is the standard 1R model, or the prototype 1X version, which mounted a machine gun on the cockpit, rather than a laser. Since the VND debuted only in 2826, there could still be units in the original configuration in service 14 years later.
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Date: November 8, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Carl Lipetsk sets his techs to making the Grasshopper combat ready. While some electronics cannot be replaced, over the course of ten days the team makes the 'Mech combat worthy. Lipetsk presents it to the chief technician, reporting that it has a fully operational weapons package, restored combat systems, and full armor complement. The chief tech certifies the 'Mech to return to combat duty, and says Andrea - currently in a coma - would be proud of the work Lipetsk's team did.
Notes: The repairs are noted to have taken ten days, starting on October 30, which would place this scene on November 8, 2040. However, the next scene is set "weeks" after the repairs, but is dated November 2. I would presume that to be an error, with the next scene being on December 2, 2040, to match the described amount of time having passed.
The surprising thing to me is not that Lipetsk's team was able to do a crash refit of the Grasshopper, but that it hadn't done so before. If Phact wasn't expecting imminent hostilities, and had all the necessary parts on hand, why was the Grasshopper left in a dilapidated state? Do the Cuirassiers have fancier 'Mechs for which those parts were being reserved? If Phact fell in 2837, has the Grasshopper just been sitting in a back corner of the hangar for three years? (Perhaps the Cuirassiers were forward deployed to take advantage of the interdiction, and only recalled to Phact once ComStar lifted its HPG ban, but Lipetsk's description of having joined the Cuirassiers on Phact two years earlier suggests that they've been on garrison duty, rather than front line combat, since at least 2838.)
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Date: December 2, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Technician Carl Lipetsk is savoring a lemonade at the Lonesome Dove Restaurant when his communicator chirps, recalling his tech team to work on Capellan Cuirassier 'Mechs damaged in a recent raid against FWL positions.
Back at HQ, he assesses the damage to the recently refit Grasshopper, now missing armor, engine shielding, its left arm, gyro housing, and combat computer. Lipetsk orders his team to begin scavenging pieces from wrecked 'Mechs and other scrap to rebuild the arm, replace the armor and engine shielding, patch the gyro, and bypass the shorted out targeting computer - hardwiring a target interlock circuit for the lasers.
Notes: This sequence demonstrates how quickly the vast stores of supplies can and did vanish in the constant fighting of the Succession Wars. Lipetsk's team used up all the off-the-shelf components on hand to repair the Grasshopper, only for it to be wrecked again a few weeks later, having to be jury-rigged back into operation with whatever is on hand. If the factories that make the key components get wiped out, and if the ships that would carry the supplies to the troops get blown up, a regiment of pristine 'Mechs can become a shambling battalion of FrankenMechs in short order.
The scene at the restaurant adds some local color, noting that local lemons are genetically adapted Terran stock, which have taken on a strong orange color in Phact's soil. Other sources indicate that most worlds in the Inner Sphere support strains of Terran staple crops that have been genetically modified to thrive in the native soil chemistry. Only a few exotic native plants have become part of the human food chain, including meat lettuce, quillar, cholach roots, and binsby berries.
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Date: December 3, 2840
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: As technician Carl Lipetsk's team continues to work on re-armoring the damaged Grasshopper, raid sirens sound and artillery rounds begin to pound the Capellan Cuirassiers' HQ, sending shrapnel whining through the repair bay. The technicians scramble for the shelters while the Grasshopper's MechWarrior races for her partially fixed ride to engage the Marik 'Mechs approaching the base.
Lipetsk warns her that the gyro is shaky and the lasers are slaved to a single firing circuit. The MechWarrior swears, then seals the cockpit and enters the fray. Lipetsk and his team ride out the attack in the shelter, and emerge when the all-clear sounds. Surveying the battle aftermath, they tally seven FWL 'Mechs, four Cuirassier 'Mechs, and several vehicles destroyed, along with many dead infantry.
The Grasshopper returns under its own power, but having suffered heavy damage - losing the right arm and much of its armor, and walking with a limp. Lipetsk tells his discouraged team that their hard work allowed the 'Mech to take its place in the fight, turning the tide of battle and ensuring that the League was defeated. He calls on them to redouble their efforts to repair the Grasshopper in the name of the Chancellor.
Notes: One oddity - Lipetsk's motivational speech includes the phrase "Let us once again honor his Celestial Wisdom." But in 2840, the Chancellor is Laureli Liao, and has been since 2828. The preceding Chancellor was Ilsa Liao, and Barbara Liao before her (skipping over the regency of Sandol Quinn). The last time the Confederation had "his Celestial Wisdom" was Warex Liao, who died in 2760, eighty years prior to this scene. I presume the author was mentally accustomed to the "modern" Sun-Tzu and Maximilian Chancellorships.
It still bugs me, somewhat, that the enemy is allowed to get within artillery range before any alarms sound. No perimeter scouts? No remote sensors? No patrols? Yes, it lets you get right into the drama of the scene, but there are so many sourcebooks that detail the commonly available tools that should prevent such surprises. Heck, during the technological nadir of the early 3020s on Trell I, the "Oberon bandits" use sophisticated audio sensors to identify anyone trying to approach their stronghold.
For that matter, why is the repair bay open to the air and vulnerable to incoming artillery? The MechWarrior RPG books indicate that it is traditional for garrisons to build heavily fortified structures called "castles" (albeit not anywhere close to SLDF "Brian" standards of durability) that can help an outnumbered defensive force hold out against a much larger attacking force for an extended period, unless someone on the inside opens the gates for the attackers. I know they've only been on Phact for 2-3 years, but why haven't the Cuirassiers built such a fortified redoubt? They had the time and resources to lay in ornamental tiles, why not ferrocrete walls with turrets?
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Date: March 18, 2843
Location: Bryant
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: The Lantren factory complex domes are hammered by intense storms, grown steadily worse since the destruction of the global weather control system. The factory itself has suffered sufficient damage that it can only manufacture parts and perform refits. Jansen Rivetti sees crimson flashes amidst the lightning blasts, and tells his coworker, Rebecca, to contact security to report a possible attack. Raid sirens howl as the two begin to seek cover in a coat closet.
Halfway across the room, an explosion knocks him off his feet as the dome wall is breached and decompresses. A Grasshopper leans through the hole and fires at the closet, killing Rebecca. Rivetti's last thought before likewise being incinerated is on the irony of the Lantren factory being destroyed by its own progeny, never to be rebuilt due to the loss of Star League technology.
Notes: I'm still confused by the loss of technology during the First and Second Succession Wars. Yes, lots of advanced systems made in the Terran Hegemony were wiped off the map by the Star League Civil War, and anything on border systems would have been considered fair game for a spare nuke or two during the First and Second Succession Wars. But why would interior worlds have lost their databases and ability to manufacture pressurized domes? New mining colonies are still being set up in the late Third Succession War using pressurized domes. Sure, you aren't going to get city-sized habitats like the one Grayson Carlyle was accused of blowing up in the Sirius system with a population of 10 million without advanced construction techniques, but those techniques aren't Castle Brian level architecture.
ComStar's Operation HOLY SHROUD ran from 2838 to 2843, and focused on killing scientists and erasing technological databases. That, more than anything else, could explain the rise of LosTech culture, especially how data was lost on worlds far from the front lines that were never invaded or even raided. Given the timing, one might wonder if the unidentified attackers on Bryant were ComStar troops assigned to take out the Lantren plant as part of HOLY SHROUD. Bryant wasn't involved in any of the major actions of the Second Succession War - just raids.
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Date: April 23, 2843
Location: Phact
Title: Fates and Fortunes
Author: Darrell Myers
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: In the Cuirassiers' Memorial Halls, technician Carl Lipetsk says goodbye to his deceased assistant Andrea, looking at the freshly installed tiles commemorating the 2840 defense of Phact. Since she was a technician, and not a MechWarrior, she was not specifically honored in the Halls. Instead, he left a remembrance of her inside the Grasshopper where she died, where it will remain until it is destroyed or retired.
Reporting to the chief technician's office, Lipetsk is told that the refit on Bryant is no longer and option, due to the destruction of the Lantren factory by attackers in Marik colors.
Lipetsk resolves that, if a full factory refit is no longer an option, he will personally oversee the complete refurbishment of Andrea's Grasshopper, even if it means reassembling the entire 'Mech one component at a time. He explains to the other techs that he is restoring this 'Mech for the glory of the Chancellor, but truthfully, he's doing it to keep Andrea's memory alive just a little while longer.
Notes: This is a nice ending to Carl's story, but it further reinforces the question I had earlier about why the Grasshopper was left to languish after being messed up in 2837. The Cuirassiers apparently had the resources, and could even hand fabricate the necessary parts, given enough time. What was lacking was the will to restore the old machine. I can see parallels to the Legion of Vega under Theodore Kurita's tenure - when the 'Mechs were broken down junkers that nobody took proper care of, but the Cuirassiers were listed as an Elite/Fanatical regiment during this story, and so such poor maintenance with years between active combat engagements remains inexplicable. Given two years and sufficient resources to prepare, every 'Mech in the regiment should have been fully operational. It simply speaks to a lack of will in the tech department and with the officers in charge of equipment readiness.
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Date: June, 2859
Location: St. Ives
Title: Mission: Capellan Raiders
Author: Ben Rome
Type: Scenario (HexPack: Lakes and Rivers)
Synopsis: A company from the 7th Crucis Lancers is reassigned to the Capellan March and assigned to attack a firebase on St. Ives in hopes of stalling incursions against the Federated Suns. The Lancers player may choose four units from a list of seven, including: Stinger, Mongoose, Phoenix Hawk, Griffin, Crusader, Warhammer, and Marauder. Half the force enters from one edge of the map at the start, and the other half enters from another edge starting on turn 2. The defender, a "Confederation Militia" unit, rolls on the 3039 RAT after making a force composition roll that will give them between 4 and 5 'Mechs of various weights.
Optional elements include impassible heavy woods, and night combat conditions. The Lancers' goal is to destroy at least two Militia 'Mechs (ideally all of them) and exit at least one 'Mech off the Militia's home edge. The Militia gets points for preventing these conditions from occurring.
Historically, this raid succeeded, boosting Davion morale and terrifying Chancellor Dainmar Liao, who signed a peace treaty in 2861, ending the Second Succession War on the Capellan/FedSuns front. In honor of their actions, the Lancers company was officially designated "McKinnon's Raiders."
Notes: This is an extra mission presented as bonus content to be used in conjunction with Starterbook: Sword and Dragon. Of course, Starterbook Sword and Dragon takes place in the 3030s and 3040s, so I'm not sure how you'd use a Second Succession War scenario "in conjunction with" the campaign tracks from two centuries later.
Historically, this attack on a St. Ives firebase was not what brought Dainmar to the negotiating table. That happened on July 5, 2861, when Colonel Melissa Davion led a strike against Dainmar's palace on St. Ives with the Davion Assault Guards, coming close to killing Dainmar before he escaped. Dainmar immediately sent an emissary to New Avalon, seeking terms, and signed the treaty in January 2862. The Crucis Lancers' strike against St. Ives could be considered a preliminary raid, one of many aimed at softening up St. Ives' defenses prior to the strike against the palace.
Ben Rome wrote HexPack Lakes and Rivers in 2010, while the Second Succession War sourcebook is dated 2017, so the dates and event sequence, for canonicity purposes, defaults to the more recent product.
The AFFS targeted St. Ives repeatedly during the Second Succession War, first hitting it in 2836 during Operation TIGER, raiding it with the Fourth Syrtis Fusiliers and the Bloody Suns, and then hitting it again with the Davion Assault Guards in 2861 during Operation WINTER GARDEN, which effectively ended the Capellan involvement in the Second Succession War.
This 7th Crucis Lancers raid on St. Ives isn't recorded in the 2nd Succession War sourcebook, and I have to admit, I overlooked the scenario myself at first, since it was buried at the back of the Lakes and Rivers hexpack pamphlet, behind the Rules section. According to the AFFS TO&E chart in SSW, the 7th remained posted on Raman for the duration of the war, going from Heavy weight and 76% operational to Medium weight and 25% operational. Raman is on the FedSuns/Combine border, but Ben Rome's foreword for the scenario does note that the company was transferred to the Capellan front for the raid. Appropriately, the CCAF table shows that no front line forces were posted to St. Ives during the Second Succession War, explaining why the defenders are listed as just "Capellan Militia." By 3025, Capellan militia units usually just have infantry and light tanks, but things were better for them (at least on regional capitals) in the 2800s.
Ben's setup is an adaptation of the history section of the "Fox's Teeth" scenario pack, which says that "During the Second Succession War, McKinnon's Company fought mainly on the Capellan front, spearheading several offensives deep into Confederation territory. In one of the most famous operations of the Second War, the comapny launched a sneak raid onto Sian itself, the homeworld of the Capellan Confederation. Although it did not inflict serious damage and the casualties were heavy, McKinnon's Raiders dealt a crucial blow to the Confederation's already sagging morale. As a result, the House of Liao sued for peace just three months after the Raid, and McKinnon's Company acquired a new name, McKinnon's Raiders."
Given the SSW chronology, this raid is not the strike on St. Ives portrayed in this scenario, but would have had to happen in April 2861, three months before the Davion Assault Guards hit St. Ives and prompted Dainmar to sue for peace. Ben seems to be conflating a May 2861 raid on Sian with a 2859 attack on St. Ives (and with the July 2861 attack on St. Ives). My suggestion for sorting out the chronology is that McKinnon's Company took out a firebase on St. Ives in 2859, and then launched a raid on Sian in 2861, earning the right to do the Sian raid after success on St. Ives, and earning their "Raiders" moniker on Sian.
As an introductory scenario, this one is fairly straightforward, though giving the Lancers the option of entering from two sides of a single map makes it ludicrously easy to get a unit off the defender's home edge, since, by definition, one of their entry points will be adjacent to the Home edge of the defender. All they have to do is enter in the Hex next to the corner, turn one hex facing, and exit on the same movement phase.
Rolling on the 3039 RAT has the potential to create some anachronisms, since it might come up with a Hatchetman, Wolfhound or other post-2859 design, but I understand that the purpose was to cross-promote the products that had come out around the same time.
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Date: October 2902
Location: Goodna
Title: Your Land is My Land
Author: Ken' Horner
Type: Scenario (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: During an early Third Succession War Free Worlds League offensive against the Capellan Confederation, Goodna was invaded. Despite the relatively minor value of the system, the fighting was fierce, and resulted in a year-long stalemate. To try to break the deadlock, the Second Confederation Reserve Cavalry was directed to knock out a FWLM repair and refit center near the city of Wraveton, with support from militia tanks.
Liao's Legionnaires (a company from the 2nd CRC) attacks with a Warhammer, Flashman, Ostroc, Griffin, Champion, Firebee, Catapult, Crusader, Rifleman, two Koscheis and four Korvins. The defending Tenth Marik Militia deploys a Guillotine, Cyclops, Shadow Hawk, Marauder, Awesome, Orion, Sentinel, Falcon, Hermes, Jackrabbit, Patron LoaderMech, Coolant Truck, two Icarus IIs and two Paramour Mobile Repair Vehicles.
The Liao forces score points for taking out the support vehicles and industrial 'Mech, as well as for destroying Marik 'Mechs, while the Marik forces gain points for destroying Liao 'Mechs and vehicles, as well as for any Liao forces that exit off their home edge under Forced Withdrawal.
Historically, the Marik 'Mechs sacrificed themselves to enable their support units to fall back, taking out 2/3 of the Reserve Cavalry force in the process. The Capellan forces were subsequently cut off behind Marik lines and captured, accelerating the eventual fall of Goodna to the Free Worlds League.
Notes: The 10th Marik Militia is known for its use of a wide variety of 'Mech types, and using them as shock troops. The 2nd CRC is described as "an odd combination of volunteer corps, training cadre and militia." This goes a long way to explain why both sides are using such rarely seen equipment, some of it dating back to the Age of War. Militias would seem to be a good dumping ground for ancient equipment, though at a certain point you'd think the maintenance requirements for a 500-year-old machine might exceed the cost of a new Scorpion light tank.
Tactically, it's hard to achieve the historical outcome. Unless you're using the optional rule where a 'Mech can shield an adjacent unit with its mass, taking shots meant for the target, a few volleys of Capellan LRMs will smoke the lightly armored Patron, Paramours, and Coolant Truck. (It's not mentioned in the scenario rules, but it would be highly appropriate to the situation.)
For the Capellans, I'd recommend charging in and massing long-range fire on the support units to take them down first, since they're your highest point scorers. Once they're gone, start pulling back while concentrating fire on a few enemy units. As soon as one takes internal structure damage, switch targets. IS damage is worth 50% of a full takedown, and is easier to achieve. Then flee of any map edge that isn't the northern one and hope you came out ahead mathematically. If any unit starts getting chewed up, but before it's in Forced Withdrawal shape, pull it out to the east or west. (Forced Withdrawal makes it retreat north, giving the Mariks a point.)
For the Marik forces, get the vehicles under cover ASAP, and have the Patron lie down behind something solid, then go hunting the Liao LRM boats. If you can knock out their long range units and smack their flankers around, you might be able to open a safe corridor for your support vehicles to retreat, denying the Liao forces their points. If you allow the optional "bodyguard" rule for blocking incoming damage, put guards around each of your support vehicles (Operation MEATSHIELD).
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Opening Moves
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: The initial engagement of the Tokasha campaign was in orbit over the Weissenborn Morass, pitting the Ghost Bear 50th Striker Alpha Fighter Trinary against the Hell's Horses 333rd Mechanized Striker Trinary Delta under zellbrigen rules and Forced Withdrawal conditions. While, officially, the goal was to scout enemy positions and engage in air strikes, the pilots of both sides were consumed with finding personal glory, and left both Clans' ground forces vulnerable to airstrikes throughout the campaign.
Notes: This Track introduces rules to reflect the benefits of airspace control. Depending on how much of the enemy's force is destroyed/retreated, that Clan gains up to +3 on all initiative rolls and can call in a certain number of airstrikes in future Tracks. This is a nice arrangement, because it makes it makes this Track matter more for the outcome of the overall campaign.
The battle setup is designed for use with the Alpha Strike ruleset, and the setup refers to "inches from the home edge" rather than "hexes on the BattleSpace map."
At this point in the campaign, the Horses are operating from fixed airstrips behind the Koche Mountains, while the Ghost Bear fighters are coming from DropShips in high orbit.
The description of the mission profile as "scouting and airstrikes on rear areas" seems unusual. Are there any recorded instances of Clans (especially Golden Century Clans) striking at the means of production or logistics nodes, rather than facing enemy warriors head on? Blowing up supply depots and repair gantries seems legitimate, given the stakes, but would appear to be antithetical to the Warrior ethos. Kerensky's Clans don't want to destroy the enemy's ability to fight. They want to give their enemy the ability to make the best fight possible, and then shave the odds to make it as close to even as possible, thereby to gain greater glory for themselves when they triumph through sheer skill and gumption.
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Holding the Line
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Sourcebook Fiction (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: At the River Elb, in the Hell's Horses enclave, Tikki directs the fire of her Kokou's Kolibri Delta pulse lasers according to the commands of the vehicle's commander, Anouk, coordinating with a nearby Ishtar to destroy a Ghost Bear Thresher. Infantry squads check wrecks for survivors as a new report comes in of a Ghost Bear force massing on the other side of the swamp. While waiting for their arrival, Tikki muses on how little respect Tankers get compared to MechWarriors and even Elementals.
The first sign of the Ghost Bears is a Star of Fire Moths scouting ahead of the main body. They race past the Horse tanks and drop off Elementals, then retreat into the jungle as a wave of Ghost Bear 'Mechs emerges. The Horse tanks withdraw, trying to shake off the Elementals, then regroup at a fallback position. The Kokou rocks as its armor is pounded by heavy fire, but it isn't breached.
At last, the Horse line holds, and the Bears retreat into the jungle.
Notes: Tikki is given a recurring habit of claiming various downed 'Mechs as salvage, to which her crewmates generally respond with a patronizing "Yes, Tikki," knowing that the Horses will never allow a mere Tanker to claim 'Mechs as isorla.
This scene nicely showcases a lot of standard battle tactics vis-a-vis Elementals - first the Ghost Bear high speed delivery into a line of entrenched vehicles and subsequent retreat after dropping the kids off to play, and then the vehicles supporting each other by shooting the Elementals off each others' hulls. A lone vehicle in this situation would be doomed, which may be why a standard Clan Vehicle Star consists of ten elements.
Tikki's obsessions confirm that, despite their reputation as being an egalitarian Clan that gives opportunities for glory to all branches of service, the Horses (at least in 2921) are still dominated by MechWarriors at the top. The loss of Tokasha is stated to be what caused them to re-evaluate the hierarchy and give vehicles more of a starring role, since they'd lost their main 'MechWorks.
Watching Arrow IV rounds land on the battlefield, Tikki notes that being an artilleryman is even lower than being a Tanker.
The Kokou's first and only appearance is in this Turning Point book. It is statted as a 70 ton ClanTech tracked tank with three LPLs and an LRM-10. Given the silhouette used for it, and the speed, it appears to be a Clan-Tech refit of the SLDF's Burke.
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: A Trip Up The Elb
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: Ghost Bear Khan Jorgennson's first gambit was to use a rocky pass through a thick jungle to push through to the factory, avoiding the heavily defended main approach. The Third Bear Regulars 215th Assault Supernova won the honor of forcing their way through the pass, which was guarded by Trinary Alpha of the 333rd Mechanized Strike.
The Bears win points for taking out 25-50% of the Horses, while the Horses strive to withdraw at least 75% of their forces intact.
Historically, the Horses fled at the Bears' approach (to lure them into an ambush further up the pass).
Notes: While it certainly makes sense as a tactic, setups like this don't make for a good Scenario/Track. The Horses don't have any incentive to engage the Bears - their only way to score points is to pull out at least 75% of their troops, so they'll just start the battle and immediately walk off their home edge, winning with a score of 600 to 0 every time.
It would have been better to say that the Horses only score their points if they withdraw after Turn X ("Make it Look Good (Defender Only) Retreat with 75% of Alpha Trinary operational after the end of turn 5."). That, at least, would give the Bear player an opportunity to bring the hurt on the Horses and give the Horses the challenge of maneuvering defensively until the time limit was reached.
Otherwise, there's 30 minutes of setup, 30 seconds of play, and then 30 minutes of teardown, followed by some serious questions of why they even bothered to play such a scenario. (The British Isles campaign in "Fall of Terra" suffers from the same problem - giving strong incentives to run away and not fight at all.)
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Hitting the Wall
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: In pursuit of the retreating Horses, the Ghost Bears push up the pass into a marshy swampland, where they come under Arrow IV artillery bombardment and face concentrated fire from dug-in tanks. As before, the Attacker is the Third Bear Regulars' 215th Assault Supernova, while the Defender is Trinary Epsilon from the 333rd Mechanized Strike (having swapped in for Trinary Alpha).
Historically, the 215th Assault was wiped out by Trinary Epsilon, repulsing the initial Ghost Bear push towards the MechWorks, though with Horse attention on the doomed 215th, the 50th Striker Cluster was able to flank the 333rd by pushing through the dense jungle.
Notes: This Track is directly linked to the Sourcebook Fiction "Holding the Line," which is told from the Horse POV.
It's not explicitly stated what Trinary Epsilon's force composition should be, but if you want to match the fiction, it should be mostly, if not entirely, vehicles. While not explicitly stated, it is incentivized by the presence of 10 fortified hexes that can only be used by tanks or infantry, making them useless to Epsilon if their player opts for 'Mechs.
The 215th is a strategic distraction at this stage, and gains the most points by dying gloriously according to strict zellbrigen. If things are turning against either side, they can withdraw, denying the other side 600 warchest points for not completely destroying the other force. But what Clanner with any hope for an outstanding codex and a new sibko birthed from his/her giftake would contemplate retreat for mere points? Glorious death it is!
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Chops and Change
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: Back up in the airspace over the Weissenborn Morass, Theta Fighter Trinary of the Ghost Bear 17th Provisional Garrison Cluster engages the fighters of the Hell's Horses' Trinary Delta (77th Mechanized Cavalry). Both sides can call on Arrow IV flak support from the troops in the jungle below. As with "Opening Moves," the amount of damage inflicted affects the availability of airstrikes in subsequent scenarios and determines initiative modifiers. Bonuses gained from "Opening Moves" expire as of "Chops and Change."
Historically, the Bears were forced from the Horses' airspace and the survivors retreated to their airfields in the west of Lazuk.
Notes: Lazuk is the main continent on Tokasha, with (as of 2921) the Bears controlling the western portion, the Goliath Scorpions the south, and the Hell's Horses dominating the eastern Trojan Peninsula. (The Jade Falcons are based on a trio of island continents and the continent of Manadou, sharing it with ruins of Clan Mongoose settlements.)
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: The Green Wall
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: In the Weissenborn Morass jungles, Hell's Horses 888th Mechanized Assault Cluster Trinaries Gamma (Battle Armor) and Epsilon (unarmored infantry only) engage the First Bear Guards' 23rd Elemental Support Binary. In addition to battling each other, the infantry must contend with attacks from native wildlife, including the Tokasha Cassowary, Hansen's Gecko, and the Tokasha Stone Lion.
Historically, the Ghost Bear Elementals, deprived of 'Mech support, were isolated and neutralized by their Hell's Horses counterparts.
Notes: The aggressive wildlife on Tokasha is a nice callback to a scene in "Way of the Clans," where Aidan, delirious after wandering in the jungles while on the run from Joanna, tells Peri "I had been in the jungle. There were...terrible things there." Now those "terrible things" have names. And fangs/talons.
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Breakthroughs?
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: Undetected due to the chaotic battle conditions and the dense foliage, the Ghost Bear First Bear Guards 312th Assault Trinary penetrated all the way to MechWorks Alpha without opposition. The 666th Mechanized Assault Trinary Alpha was rushed from the reserves to protect the factory.
Historically, the 312th had been lost, rather than on a planned deep penetration mission, and withdrew back into the jungle after a brief skirmish, since they lacked the necessary support to invest the MechWorks.
Notes: The ability of the Ghost Bears to get lost implies that they were in a communications blackout and couldn't access any Ghost Bear satellites for navigation coordinates.
That begs the question - to what extent do the Clans attack the local infrastructure when they Trial? The opening cinematic of MechCommander shows aerospace fighters taking out Clan satellites to disrupt their communications, but when the Nova Cats and Smoke Jaguars attacked Luthien in "Crescent Hawk's Revenge," the defending forces still had access (albeit intermittent) to satellite relays, implying that the Clans didn't take any action to degrade Luthien's communications or other satellite networks.
If that's the case, then why weren't the Ghost Bears able to pop an antenna up and get a sit-rep? A stealthy insertion isn't what they would have wanted, and they shouldn't have cared whether the Horses knew where they were - they should have relished a good fight, and relied on communications to be directed to the best battlefront. Despite the scope of the battle, both sides usually adhere to zellbrigen and uphold Clan honor.
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: Hounded Bear
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: As the Bear offensive falters, Khan Kilbourne Jorgensson's Ourse Keshik tries to plug the gaps and rally the Touman. However, when he joined the 87th Assault Trinary's fight against the Horses' 99th Mechanized Cavalry's Trinary Alpha, his luck ran out.
The Bears get +5 to their initiative roll while Jorgensson is present, but the Horses get 500 points for taking him out. Wildlife rules from "The Green Wall" apply to infantry (opening the possibility that the great Khan could end up as a gecko's lunch).
Historically, when Khan Jorgensson's battle armor was crushed, the Ghost Bears froze. The Horses sensed victory, and prepared to make the final push to force the Bears out of the Horse enclave.
Notes: If the Horses earned any airstrikes, this would be the time to use them.
Fortunately for the Bears, Jorgensson is hidden among the other Elementals, so identifying and squishing him will be harder, depending on how much Elemental glory (soon to be using the new molds from the Kickstarter) the Bears bring to the table. For the Bears, needle in a haystack tactics are recommended, though the utility of that gets offset by the wildlife harassment rules, so an all-Elemental deployment will quickly be up to its ass in stone lions.
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Date: October 2902
Location: Goodna
Title: Your Land is My Land
Author: Uncredited
Oh hey, that was me.
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Oh hey, that was me.
Excellent - I've updated the entry and the index.
Looking at the other "Uncredited" BattleCorps products, what about:
Hidden Talons? (Jade Falcon scenario on Coventry in 3074)
Tech Journal Doucette?
The Kentares Massacre Journal?
Precentor Zucker's Log?
Boot Camp Basics (the in-character narrative in TechManual)?
Return of the Wolves (Tracks on Outreach circa 3070)?
Vengeance Gambit - The Third Battle of New Avalon?
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Date: November 4, 2921
Location: Tokasha
Title: To the Wind
Author: Luke Robertson
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tokasha)
Synopsis: Rather than breaking and running after the death of their Khan, the Bears became raging berserkers, pushing forward towards the Tokasha MechWorks so fast and furiously that the Horses were often forced to abandon tanks and other equipment that couldn't pull back fast enough before being overrun. Horses Khan Aaron Cobb realized that his forces couldn't stop the Bears, and attempted to save what he could.
At the MechWorks Alpha factory site, a randomly rolled Ghost Bear star (all sense of unit cohesion went out the window when Khan Jorgensson died) engages Khan Cobb's Alpha Keshik Trinary, with Cobb in a Nova. New random Stars enter the board every other turn until the Horses withdraw or are wiped out.
Despite their rage, the Bears continue to observe the tenets of zellbrigen. Points are awarded to the Bears for each dead Horse, and to the Horses for each Horse unit that makes it off the board.
Notes: Once again, we have the problem of the Track scoring mechanics undercutting the scenario's playability. If the Horses only score points for getting units off, they'll sprint from one edge of the map to the other and exit most, if not all, of their units to score maximum points, leaving the Bears in their dust. There won't be much of a fight - just an equine skedaddle.
To make this more of a real battle, the Horses should have a point tracker that rewards them for how long they stay on the board before pulling back. Since there are unlimited Bears coming, the Horses can't retain control of the MechWorks Alpha facility, but it should be rejiggered to make it mathematically impossible for them to win by simply running away right off the bat. (The Remembrance, Verse 35,697: Khan Cobb bravely ran away, away! When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled! Brave, brave, brave, brave Khan Cobb!)
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Date: August 13, 2952
Location: Homer
Title: Seeds of Loyalty
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: At the command HQ of the 214th Cobra Fangs Cluster in El-Ghaza, Cloud Cobra Pilot Samson strips all Coyote regalia from his newly acquired Pilot bondsman, Tomas Masino. Samson regards Tomas as valuable isorla due to the skill demonstrated crashing his damaged fighter survivably into Homer's desert wastes. Samson tells Tomas that to cut the bondcord and truly join the Cobras, he must learn all aspects of "the Way": faith, knowledge, understanding, courage, peace, justice, loyalty, martial prowess, and political excellence. Tomas responds that those attributes are not the Clan way.
Samson inquires about Tomas' beliefs, and is unsurprised to find that, like most who do not follow The Way, Tomas has none, other than a belief that his role is to wage war until death. Samson tells Tomas that without some sort of faith, he will not have the necessary courage to be a true Cobra. Tomas requests that he be given bondsref or be released back to the Coyotes. As a final tack, Samson asks if Tomas believes life is important. Tomas answers affirmatively, but cannot answer Samson's follow-up question - Why?
Samson takes Tomas to the ferroglass dome's arboretum - shriveled and desolate, due to long neglect. Tomas says he sees in it his future in the Cobras. Samson assigns him to tend to the arboretum - watering it and planting one new tree, shrub, or flower for each Cobra in the 214th who dies, and for each enemy they kill. Tomas does not understand the point, but accepts his task.
Notes: Phil Lee set himself the task of trying to write at least one short story or scenario for each of the Clans. This is his Cloud Cobra entry. Given the Cobras unique philosophy - "The Way" - the story focuses far more on fleshing that out through the process of teaching it to an outsider than on traditional Clan story fodder of battles and glory.
A key element of the relationship between Tomas and Samson is that Tomas is Bloodnamed, yet has been defeated by a non-Bloodnamed warrior. Tomas initially dismisses the defeat as a fluke, noting his prior perfect record of successive victories since his Trial of Position, but the fact of the bondcord clearly states that perhaps the non-bloodnamed Cobra may have something to teach him after all.
Reference material from the 3060s doesn't show any Coyote presence on Homer. However, the Coyote entry in Field Manual: Warden Clans shows that the Coyotes had enclaves on 20 worlds in 3000, but lost 3/4 of their holdings by 3045. Homer was likely one of the worlds where they had a presence in 2952, during their Golden Century ascendancy.
Bondsref is ritual suicide, carried out when a Warrior feels his personal honor will not permit him to serve in the capacity of a bondsman.
The Masino bloodname is from Clan Coyote. During the 2976 Blood Scandal, its members were part of the rebellious Crusader bloc that schemed with Clan Star Adder. When that political scandal erupted and the treason was quashed, the Masino bloodline was one of those Reaved, effectively being annihilated. Given his attitude towards being bonded, Tomas certainly seems Crusader in his outlook.
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Date: August 13, 2953
Location: Homer
Title: Seeds of Loyalty
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Over the year following his bonding, Tomas carries out his orders. One one night, he defended the arboretum against a group of insubordinate pilots ordered by Samson to attack it as part of their surkairede. Samson regarded the outcome as ideal - the pilots were beaten and suitably punished, and Tomas demonstrated the fighting ability to cut the first of his bondcord strands.
Months later, Tomas demonstrated that he had memorized the lore of the arboretum, identifying a randomly chosen flower by the death it represented. At the end of the first year since his bonding, Samson notes that the arboretum has become greener under Tomas' care, which included taking the initiative to design and build a more efficient irrigation system. Samson notes these achievements as sufficient to cut the fidelity bondcord, leaving only the one for integrity.
In Samson's experience, this is the hardest one for Cobra bondsmen to achieve - requiring that they acknowledge any aspect of The Way. Over the course of a year he has shared tea with Tomas every morning and engaged in philosophical debate, but always leaves frustrated at the ex-Coyote's refusal to bend. Samson sees the desire to return to a Warrior's life in Tomas' eyes, yet notes that he refuses to lie about his beliefs simply to return to the cockpit. He acknowledges Tomas' honesty, but notes that even bandit caste scum can be honest when necessary.
Notes: Some Clans are obviously less stringent about the need to demonstrate various qualities before removing the bondcord. I find it hard to believe that Ciro Ramirez demonstrated sufficient integrity, combat ability, or fidelity to get his bondcord cut during the month or two he was bonded to Clan Jade Falcon in the BattleTech animated series. (Of course, that was a Solaris Broadcasting program that only loosely adapted the actual missions of the Somerset Strikers.) One would expect a Clan so focused on philosophy to take it more seriously than most.
I wonder what contact Samson had with the Bandit Caste that led him to know anything about their capacity for honesty under duress. As he previously noted, most AeroSpace duels end with the death of the loser, due to the harsher environment. (Ejecting doesn't help much if you're on a trajectory to burn up in orbit during re-entry.) We've seen a wide variety of Bandit Caste groups - neo-savages riding horses through the wilderness; mafia-style organizations that blend into the civilian castes and operate black markets and smuggling rings; murderous psychopaths that lurk on the edges of training camps hoping to kill Warriors in training; whole tribes of exiles working hand-in-hand with Clan Burrock; etc. Given that the original Bandit Castes were founded by elements of the Pentagon Powers that managed to flee to offworld bases (either before or after Operation KLONDIKE), those must have had JumpShips and the fighters to defend them. New Bandit Caste members are probably mostly maladjusted Warriors who defect with their equipment and join existing Dark Caste bands.
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Date: September 9, 2954
Location: Homer
Title: Seeds of Loyalty
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: During a morning discussion over tea, Samson asks Tomas if he would consider himself to have won if he killed Tomas in a Circle of Equals over Samson having said something to upset Tomas. Samson is surprised that Tomas answers 'Neg,' explaining that only an insult to his genetic heritage would merit death. Samson follows up by asking why he would deserve to live. He is disappointed by Tomas' straightforward answer that Samson's death would mean the end of his chances to become a Pilot again, then pleasantly surprised when Tomas adds that Samson's replacement would not take the time to debate him every morning.
Taking this as a sign that Tomas has, indirectly, acknowledged that he would miss Samson, he cuts the integrity bondcord and ends Tomas' period as his bondsman. Samson welcomes Tomas to the Black Sheep, and instructs him to report for duty at 1300 hours for a special assignment.
Notes: This is yet another reminder of how different the various Clans are in both outlook and ritual. When Phelan was elevated to Warrior status in Clan Wolf, there was a whole ceremony with advocates and challengers, masks and cloaks, and clashing weapons in the dark. In the Cobras, he's simply told to draw a sidearm and uniform from the quartermaster and report for duty. The Diamond Sharks probably welcome abtakha Warriors to the Clan with a three-martini (three-fusionnaire?) lunch and the key to the executive washroom.
The "Black Sheep" is the nickname of the 214th Cobra Fangs - the largest aerospace organization in any of the Clans, known for mass strafing attacks. The unit descends from Marine Attack Squadron 214, created on July 1, 1942. Presumably there was a "Black Sheep" squadron in the SLDF, elements of which joined both Aleksandr's and then Nicholas' Exodus.
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Date: September 10, 2954
Location: Homer
Title: Seeds of Loyalty
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: Samson feels a thrill of anticipation as he starts his day, but takes care to banish his smile as he performs a ritual bow at his personal Shinto shrine, meditating by mentally reciting the litany of his ancestors back to his bloodline's founder, Andrew Izumi.
At the Kardaan Memorial Airfield, he sees a crowd gathering, including a handful of Sea Fox merchants and dozens of Snow Raven pilots, along with several VIPs. Samson greets Cloud Cobra Khan Patrick McCloud and his entourage of Clan Council members. The Khan tells Samson he expects to see good things at the demonstration.
Samson then proceeds down the runway to where four prototype Pella-class aerospace fighters await. Should the demonstration be sufficiently impressive, the Sea Foxes have agreed to broker the sale of production models to the Snow Ravens, netting a supply of HarJel for the Cobras in exchange. Samson is joined by Pilots Marcella, Quentin and Tomas. Tomas, who had piloted a 95-ton Xerxes in Clan Coyote, states disapprovingly that he finds the design too small for his tastes. Samson replies that he hopes Tomas' different outlook will help make the demonstration better.
The quartet take off for low-altitude maneuvers, though Samson notes Tomas struggling to keep his Pella stable (not accustomed to the greater impact of crosswinds on the lighter airframe). The group perform a simulated strafing run against a Star of Medium 'Mechs, achieving better-than-expected results. However, during a vertical climb, Marcella experiences technical difficulties when an access panel comes loose, rendering her controls unresponsive. Her fighter continues on a ballistic trajectory directly towards the VIP observation platform.
Samson is uncomfortably reminded of an event in 2934, when ilKhan Corian Tchernovkov died in a crash while piloting an unfamiliar aerospace fighter. Post-crash analysis by the Snow Ravens proved that the vessel had been assassinated by Tchernovkov's successor, Cloud Cobra Tobias Khatib, leaving a stain on the entire Clan's honor. He orders Marcella to eject, but she reports the canopy jammed and the ejection system offline. Trying to warn the Khan also fails, as the tower reports the channel is flooded by static - making Samson certain this is an intentional assassination attempt. With lasers powered down for the demonstration, he cannot even shoot Marcella's sabotaged craft out of the sky.
However, the autocannon rounds are live - included to provide proper combat weight, but not intended for use. Samson orders the other fighters to join him in combining fire on Marcella's craft, targeting the starboard wing. The combined fire sends the Pella into a flat spin, veering away from the reviewing stand and exploding just 500 meters from the crowd. Samson orders the airfield sealed off and all ground crews detained.
Samson mentally wrestles with the fact that he is the first Cloud Cobra Warrior to willfully kill another Cobra, and whether it was justified to trade Marcella's life for that of the Khan. His angst is interrupted, however, by Tomas' report of inbound DropShips - a Carrier and several Unions.
Khan McCloud says there has been no formal batchall, but that he is mobilizing all of Alpha Galaxy, launching fighters from Telinov Airbase to support them, but holding back anything else (including the OmniFighter ready group of the 214th) from Kardaan Memorial airfield (likely due to the potential that they were sabotaged as well).
The Carrier launches its fighters just as Quentin identifies its IFF as Coyote forces of the 19th Battle Cluster of Clan Coyote's Beta Galaxy - Tomas' former unit. Samson orders his wingmen to approach the Coyote forces, but not to engage unless fired upon. Tomas speculates that this attack is retaliation for the death of ilKhan Corian Tchernovkov, who had been elevated from Clan Coyote.
Entering range, the Coyote fighters (Gothas, Xerxeses and Avars) mass fire, destroying Quentin's fighter. Samson orders Tomas to take evasive action, while pondering why the Coyotes had abandoned zellbrigen. Tomas is just as outraged, though Samson notes that he uses the pronoun 'our' when referring to the Coyotes. Tomas shoots down a Coyote Avar and Samson takes down the other, but ends up with the Xerxeses and Gothas on his tail. His Pella critically damaged, Samson is forced to eject, ordering Tomas to "give them hell."
Drifting down in his parachute, Samson sees 'Mechs battling in the streets of El-Ghaza, while Tomas downs a Coyote Xerxes before being shot down himself. As when he was taken bondsman two years previously, Tomas glides the wreck of his fighter safely into the desert sands. Samson sees no more of the battle, as he hits the ground going too fast and is knocked out.
He awakens to find Tomas treating his broken arm. Tomas reports several Clusters of Coyotes are advancing on El-Ghaza. Looking towards the Cloud Cobra capital, he sees several dogfights in progress above it. Tomas suggests they find the Coyote forward command post, where one of the Khans will be commanding the offensive. Just after nightfall, they make contact with Coyote Elementals. Samson identifies himself as Star Colonel Samson Izumi and requests safcon to speak with the Khan. An APC picks them up and conveys them to the command post.
At the command post, they are brought before Khan Judas Levien, who gloats that Samson's air show provided him the opportunity to repay the Cobras for their earlier treason. Tomas speaks up - telling the Khan that he has much to answer for. He notes that Tobias Khatib had acted on his own volition and been appropriately punished decades earlier. An assassination attempt against the Cloud Cobra Khan - his Khan - makes him equal in depravity. Samson challenges the Coyote Khan to face him in a Circle of Equals - offering, as the stakes, to withdraw the Black Sheep against the Coyotes calling off the invasion. Judas finds the offer of a Cluster against two Galaxies unacceptable, and offers the 19th Battle Cluster instead.
The two men fight unaugmented, with Levien having his arm bound behind him to match Samson's broken arm. Samson smiles, subtly, since Levien is unaware that Samson has maintained his ancestor's mastery of aikido. He soon gains the advantage, due to his skill in unarmed combat, and puts Levien on the ground. However, Levien is quick to seize any advantage, and kicks Samson in his broken arm, then draws a combat knife and slashes at the arm. Bleeding and dazed, Samson wonders what sort of flower will be planted for him in the Black Sheep's arboretum.
The fight is interrupted by Tomas's shouted demand to initiate a Trial of Possession for the right to take Samson's life. Levien demands to know why Tomas thinks he can interrupt the sacred rite, and Tomas responds that Levien has already abandoned tradition by attacking without a batchall. Tomas blocks Levien's attack and disarms him, turning the fight into a brutal exchange of close-quarter blows until Tomas lays him out flat with a right hook.
Levien accepts defeat and tells Tomas to kill him, but Tomas refuses - saying he does not need to kill the Coyote Khan in order to win. Samson and Tomas leave together, with Samson confirming that, having been defeated, he will have the 214th remain grounded for the duration of the fight.
Notes: This was a superbly written and intense scene - kudos to Phil Lee!
I guess this story actually fills both the Cloud Cobra and Coyote slots in Phil's "Great Work" to do stories for each Clan. It really conveys the sense of what The Way means to the Cobras, and also conveys the unyielding arrogance of the Coyotes during their reign as "top dog" of the Kerensky Cluster.
Given the political shenanigans for which the Snow Ravens are known (see "Davion, Caleb"), I honestly had expected the story to have gone in a completely different direction. Having Snow Ravens prove that Faction A sabotaged Faction B sounds like a good basis for a game of "Let's You and Him Fight." I'd actually assumed that the Snow Ravens had sabotaged the Pella, arranged the assassination attempt and manipulated the Coyotes into attacking on false pretenses (having assassinated the Coyote ilKhan themselves decades earlier and framed Khatib for it). I was actually quite surprised when it turned out that the Coyotes were the legitimate aggressors, having been led on the warpath by a revenge-obsessed Khan.
No wonder the other Clans took any opportunity to strike at the Coyotes in the 3000s, if they gained those 20 enclaves with similarly dishonorable tactics. Perhaps the Coyotes' technological edge resulted in a dulling of their Warrior ethos - relying too heavily on the latest doodad to emerge from the Scientist Caste's bag of tricks. (Alas, Acme Widgets only produces the J-series of utility vehicles, so we're denied the possibility of a good Warner Bros. in-joke by naming a Coyote MechWorks after Wyle E.'s favorite mail order outlet.)
The Pella was well described, and I was surprised, when doing research, to find it was an original creation for this story and isn't referenced in any of the official materials - not even the MUL. I wonder if it will be included in TRO: Golden Century (which seems like a logical fit), or if it will be relegated to the "Never Seen" thread. I presume the Coyote Watch took care of the actual sabotage.
I was surprised to learn, in this scene, that Samson had a bloodname. Usually, when a Clan character is introduced, their bloodnamed status is immediately established to convey their bad-assedness to the reader. In fact, as you'll note in the entries above, I initially assumed that he wasn't bloodnamed, adding a twist to the relationship with Tomas - having a non-bloodnamed Star Colonel superior to the bloodnamed Warrior in both rank and skill, thereby calling into question the actual significance of the bloodname. Leaving it out at the beginning allows the titles to be disregarded and the story to focus on the interpersonal dynamic, rather than on the relative genetic hierarchy.
I was somewhat confused by both Samson and then Tomas challenging Levien to a Circle of Equals. Shouldn't the proper terminology be to challenge him to a Trial of Grievance or Trial of Possession in a Circle of Equals?
Who was in charge of handing out names in Levien's sibko? The name Judas was a bit spot on for his dishonorable tendencies. Who were his sibkin - Benedict, Quisling, Ephialtes, and Gaius?
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Date: September 13, 2954
Location: Homer
Title: Seeds of Loyalty
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (BattleCorps)
Synopsis: With the Black Sheep grounded due to Samson's pledge to Levien, Khan McCloud orders Samson to take command of the 149th Cluster and authorizes him to transfer personnel from 214th. Patrick adds that he's terminating the Pella project, since the Ravens pulled out of the deal, not wanting a fighter that was involved in an assassination attempt.
Back at the 214th's base dome, recovering from their injuries for a few days while the 214th transfers en masse to the 149th, Tomas and Samson go to plant a pair of seedlings in the arboretum to honor Marcella and Quentin. They are stunned and saddened to find the arboretum in ruins, a downed Coyote Gotha having smashed into the roof and collapsed half the dome. Samson tells Tomas not to worry about the plants, since he is no longer a bondsman. Tomas responds that the arboretum speaks to him in a way he cannot explain - each of the plants truly represents a life from Cobra history.
As Tomas sets about to save what he can, Samson takes comfort that his protege has found his path to The Way, and become a true Cloud Cobra at last.
Notes: While it's a clever way to get the 214th back into action despite Samson's pledge, it smacks of rules lawyering - the same path that Clan Mongoose took (and the reason that their enclaves now have names like "Necropolis 34" and "Mass Grave Site"). I can see such a tactic being justified in this instance, given Levien's abandonment of batchall and zellbrigen, but given the Mongoose experience, its overuse would lead to the Cobras no longer being taken at their word - a crippling failing in the honor-centric Clan society.
The epilogue contains the explanation of why the Pella didn't appear in any of the source material - project cancelled and all prototypes shot down. Perhaps an entry for the next XTRO Boondoggles. Still, the fighter performed fairly well, with three 40-tonners taking out equal numbers when outnumbered 2-to-1. The rejection speaks more about how ingrained superstition is for the Clans - and not just for the more "out there" groups like the Nova Cats and Goliath Scorpions.
I was initially surprised to see references to the Sea Foxes, but checking the chronology, they didn't switch over to "Diamond Shark" until 2985, thirty years hence, after some more Raven shenanigans. (See why I immediately suspected them?!!)
The "149th Cluster" is most likely the 149th Cobra Guards Cluster - the Azure Guard. Appropriately, its members bear Clan Coyote a grudge stemming from a battle on Priori in 2872, and have passed down the burning desire for payback to its members. Sounds like they'll more than get their chance in defense of the Cobra capital.
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It's not explicitly stated what Trinary Epsilon's force composition should be, but if you want to match the fiction, it should be mostly, if not entirely, vehicles. While not explicitly stated, it is incentivized by the presence of 10 fortified hexes that can only be used by tanks or infantry, making them useless to Epsilon if their player opts for 'Mechs.
There is a composition list near the back of the book. Every CHH Galaxy is:
Trinary Alpha: Supernova Trinary of Mechs and BA
Trinary Beta: Supernova Trinary of Mechs and BA
Trinary Gamma: Supernova Trinary of Mechs and BA
Trinary Delta: Trinary of ASF
Trinary Epsilon: Supernova Trinary of Tanks and Infantry.
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Date: April 12, 2973
Location: Kesai IV
Title: The Forgotten Places
Author: Alan Brundage
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At Camp Scindian, near the city of Shalmirat, Olivia quietly slips out of bed and gathers her tool belt and dagger, then returns to where her "master," Cicero Arne is sleeping, and takes revenge for years of abuse by stabbing him to death. She cleans herself off and leaves Arne's quarters, walking through the quiet camp to the vehicle bay. She finds a young guard, Bobby, on duty. He's aware of how Arne treated her (though unaware of Arne's recent relationship status change with breathing), and lets her take a buggy and escape into the surrounding sand dunes.
Notes: Olivia notes that she's treated like dirt by Arne because she's a Kesai IV native, and when the Federated Suns retakes a world, some of its citizens like to exact some revenge on anyone who'd ever been a Drac. The world was conquered by the Draconis Combine during the First Succession War and remained under Combine control until sometime during the Third Succession War. Olivia says that "a few hundred years ago, her ancestors had been Dracs," implying that she was born and grew up under FedSuns rule. There is an account that elements of the SLDF 251st BattleMech Division, which was garrisoned on Kasai IV, refused the Exodus order and instead pledged itself to the Federated Suns, fighting off initial DCMS attempts to seize the SLDF depot on Kesai. McKinnon's Company (the Fox's Teeth) descends from that unit. However, Kesai IV was a Combine world before the Star League, during the Star League, and after the Star League, until the Federated Suns took it in the Third Succession War.
This brings up a point I've visited before in other threads - what sort of cultural changes does the Federated Suns make when it liberates a world with a radically different social structure? On the one hand, the Federated Suns' charter pledges freedom of lifestyle for its citizens, and the central government lets the planetary rulers generally run things as they see fit as long as the tax revenue comes in on time and there aren't any atrocities perpetrated against the citizenry. On the other hand, worlds liberated from the Capellan Confederation and Draconis Combine have their societies organized along caste lines imposed by the central governments of those states.
It's a no-brainer that any members of the Servitor class would be set free from bondage on an ex-Capellan world, but members of the other castes (which function like supportive trade unions) might not want to lose their support structure. Would the FedSuns military governor make membership in a caste illegal? Forcibly rip apart the social structure that had existed for centuries? What about on a Combine world? Surely the Unproductives would be happy to get a leg up, but would the new FedSuns government put in the resources to retrain and re-educate such a large swath of the populace, especially one acclimated to grueling labor in the planet's factories? And would the FedSuns want to engage in such social engineering if it meant disrupting the output of those factories? Would the FedSuns military governor just give the Unproductives a new title and send them back to the same lifestyle as before?
On Zurich, during the FedCom occupation in the 3050s, we have scenes (in Bred for War) where FedCom characters denigrate the beliefs and practices of the locals, the Zurs, as primitive and superstitious. Here, we see an AFFS commander having essentially treated natives as subhuman outlets for abuse due to their Drac ancestry. After the massive losses suffered in the First Succession War at the hands of both the Confederation and Combine, FedSuns culture adopted a strong anti-Asian undercurrent, resulting in race riots, lynchings, and attacks on anything that smacked of Asian cultural origin - even noodle shops. (Wait, angry mob, my pasta's Italian, not...aieeee!) While some worlds that had originally been FedSuns holdings, such as Galtor, welcomed liberation and was able to base the new government on what survived from the local insurgency, many worlds would not have had any experience in living memory with anything but the caste system.
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One factor in that is... the Vultures from [spits] Far Country might have had a few advantages.
I suspect they landed on a planet which was much more viable.Buffalo Meadows might be marginally viable, it might have issues where crops simply don't grow.
295th's average age is probably also older, which isn't likely to help. Its likely the 295th personnel average closer to 40-50 years old. [Which isn't helped with how prior to the coup the CO of the 295th had been moving non-Hegemony personnel out of the division, meaning they likely had less surviving family to bring with them unlike other Exodus formations]
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One factor in that is... the Vultures from [spits] Far Country might have had a few advantages.
I suspect they landed on a planet which was much more viable.Buffalo Meadows might be marginally viable, it might have issues where crops simply don't grow.
295th's average age is probably also older, which isn't likely to help. Its likely the 295th personnel average closer to 40-50 years old. [Which isn't helped with how prior to the coup the CO of the 295th had been moving non-Hegemony personnel out of the division, meaning they likely had less surviving family to bring with them unlike other Exodus formations]
Kaetaetoa certainly is a lush world where the four Vultures landed, albeit very poor in iron in that valley, heavily restricting industrial and technological development. Not only that, but the DCMS settlers had a native workforce - the Tetatae - to help them.
The only description we have of Buffalo Meadows is that 1) it appears blue from space, orbiting a dim red star; 2) it has native grasses and trees (or at least grass and tree analogues) in sufficient quantity to form forests and generate a breathable atmosphere.
If the colony died out about eighty years after settlement, that implies that they didn't starve to death (that would've happened much faster than 80 years, since the DropShips certainly weren't carrying 80 years worth of provisions). It may suggest that there was a first generation of kids, but that none of those kids had children of their own. Possibly something in the local ecosystem functioned as natural birth control, and couldn't be overcome with what resources they had in the DropShip medical bays.
That begs the question, though. Where are their ships? ComStar and the Word of Blake found many SLDF vessels drifting in stable orbits and was able to recover them. Are there three SLDF WarShips in this system? What about the DropShips? The DEST team on Kaetetoa found a Vulture from the Age of War sitting out in the open and was able to get it spaceworthy in a very short amount of time. That implies that there should be a substantial number of salvageable DropShips somewhere on Buffalo Meadows, unless they were dismantled to build the depot (a likely prospect, since there's no sign of mining or refining activity that would have been necessary to create the structure of the buried depot from local resources).
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Date: April 14, 2973
Location: Kesai IV
Title: The Forgotten Places
Author: Alan Brundage
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Two days later, after midnight, north of Camp Scindan, Olivia abandons the fuel-depleted dune buggy, hoping that any pursuers will assume she was heading for Cochi Spaceport in Shalmirat, while she actually headed for the northwestern oasis, where she hopes to join a nomad band.
As dawn approaches, she heads for a hill to find shelter and crawls into a triangular hollow. Inside, she finds a manmade interior, and crawls inside to discover a 'Mech bay containing scattered debris, a dead MechWarrior, and a BattleMech. Thrilled, she tells the 'Mech that, together, they can both escape.
Notes: Man, the Legacy Anthology should've used an Albatross instead of a Grasshopper, given what bad luck it is for the ships it travels on. This makes at least the second time it's survived its DropShip going down.
Kesai IV (referred to as Kasai in the "Fox's Teeth" scenario pack) is a desert world, with only one outpost of civilization. Outside of Shalmirat, the wastes are inhabited only by small bands of desert nomads. There are a lot of similarities between Kesai IV and Astrokaszy, though Kesai is more "Tatooine" than "Arabian Nights." Issue 2 of BattleTechnology features a small description of the world by William H. Keith: "Kesai VI is a desert world, but does have scattered forests and woodlands along the coasts of its small seas. Though desert camo is most appropriate in general, the garrison at the Shalmirat spaceport uses forest camo because of the surrounding woodlands, where the local chlorophyll variant gives the vegetation a yellow cast."
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Date: April 15, 2973
Location: Kesai IV
Title: The Forgotten Places
Author: Alan Brundage
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Olivia explores the structure and determines that it is actually a DropShip, with usable supplies. She gets an auxiliary generator running and takes the cooling vest from the MechWarrior corpse. She identifies the 'Mech as a Grasshopper, which she's read about while performing maintenance on the 'Mechs at Camp Scindan. She powers up the fusion reactor, and notes that the weapons are offline, jump jet reaction mass is low, and the myomers are dried out, but the armor is in good shape and the actuators are more functional than she expected. The neurohelmet is an older, more advanced model than she's accustomed to, but its circuits are burned out, and there are no spares onboard.
Checking the ship's computer, she finds out it was shot down years earlier, and a fierce battle raged around the craft, implying that several other 'Mech wrecks are located in the immediate vicinity. Heading outside, she finds the buried remains of a Locust and pries the cockpit open. Inside, she retrieves the functional neurohelmet from the mummified corpse of the pilot.
Back inside, she calibrates the neurohelmet and successfully powers up the Grasshopper's control systems. She gets two of the lasers back online, put her supplies in the cockpit cubby, and emerges from a functional bay door into the scorching desert, then sets course for the spaceport.
Notes: It's interesting that myomers can dry out. In the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, Kai uses a stray strand of myomer (used for stringing fancy guitars) to escape from a holding cell, and that hadn't dried out despite being outside of a 'Mech and not in airtight storage. I guess the extremely dry conditions and years (decades?) of exposure were required to degrade the myomer's performance.
In StarDate magazine, Blaine Pardoe detailed the contents of a 'Mech cockpit, and notes that most contain a small locker for emergency supplies. Other accounts have the emergency supply locker located inside the ejection seat, so that it stays with the pilot when he/she ejects.
It's not specifically noted, but Olivia appears to have been working as a 'Mech technician at the military base, with her status as the abused native slave of the unit commander being more of an informal role. By 2973, technicians were in short supply in the Inner Sphere - becoming the targets of objective raids, and often kept in protected bunkers so they can't be stolen by raiders (or can't walk off on their own). Mistreating such a rare asset seems like a poor choice, even given Arne's bigotry.
I wonder how the crash site got abandoned. If the DropShip crew won the fight, they'd have tried to salvage the supplies. If the world's garrison won the fight, they'd have looted the wreck. Did they all kill each other simultaneously? The most likely option is that the crew won the fight, but then headed off overland to link up with friendly forces and got wiped out en route, taking the location of the ship with them to their graves. (Or, more charitably, linked up with friendlies and extracted offworld, never getting the opportunity to return to salvage the wreck site.)
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Date: April 25, 2973
Location: Kesai IV
Title: The Forgotten Places
Author: Alan Brundage
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: Olivia reached the city outskirts in just three days, avoiding Camp Scindan, but had to wait for a week before finding her opportunity to get into Cochi Spaceport. She monitors panicked communications on the militia radio band, reporting a heavy raid inbound. She sees an Overlord with a tree painted on it landing in the spaceport and deploying a 'Mech company.
As the raiders engage the militia (getting trounced by the heavier militia 'Mechs - losing a lance without inflicting any casualties), she enters the fray as the raiders begin to fall back to the DropShip. She engages a militia JagerMech to save a raider Stinger, forcing it to retreat to the Davion lines. She follows the Stinger to the DropShip, where 'Mechs and vehicles laden with booty are boarding with the aid of raider infantry.
Olivia disembarks and introduces herself to the Stinger pilot, Ysabel Vassy, the commander of the Witchwood Warriors mercenary unit. She offers Olivia a berth in the unit, which she accepts, happy to leave the hellhole of Kesai IV and all the terrible things that had been done to her behind.
Notes: The Witchwood Warriors are probably under contract to the Draconis Combine, given Kesai's location. Given their state (Olivia notes that only 12 'Mechs come out of a DropShip designed for three times that number), they're probably enmeshed in the Combine's company store trap, on a trajectory towards having their equipment seized and incorporated into the DCMS and their MechWarriors becoming indentured servants (probably dumped into the Legions of Vega).
It certainly doesn't seem like there would be enough valuables in Shalmirat to make a profit for the unit, especially if they lost four 'Mechs in the initial engagement, and probably more while holding the perimeter to load whatever loot they secured in the immediate vicinity of the DropPort. Granted, there's certainly no profit in raiding the desert nomads, so Shalmirat's the only place worth going on the otherwise worthless rock.
It's 22 days to the jump point, so unless the Witchwood Warriors came in at a pirate point, they've been inbound for a while. Olivia notes at the beginning that she has a rare opportunity. At the time, it simply seems that she's referring to being awake (and with a dagger secreted in her tool belt) while Arne is asleep and vulnerable. However, she may have been referring to having an inbound raiding party - meaning that she can escape into the desert while the militia is preoccupied with the attack. Once she finds the 'Mech, her calculus changes from joining the nomads to joining the raiders - which is why she changes course from the oasis to the spaceport.
The only problem with that theory is that the Witchwood Warriors may have used a pirate point, since panicked communications about the raid only start shortly before the landing. That means that they either appeared in near orbit shortly before landing, or (and this is a definitely possibility), the militia has no deep-range detection equipment, and only noticed the inbound DropShip when it reached orbit. Odd for the planet to be so blind, but appropriate for the late Third Succession War on a worthless world.
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Date: March 22, 2990
Location: Wotan
Title: Golden Rule
Author: William H. Keith
Type: Short Story (BattleTech Starter Box)
Synopsis: Captain Durant Carlye and Major Jonathan Colby discuss a contract offer from Georg Suertos, the richest man on Wotan. Carlyle observes that Asgard is old-fashioned, with narrow, crowded streets in a city huddled around the mountain where the Asgard Citadel looms. The two follow a paper map to a garish night club called The World Tree, which Suertos owns.
They make their way to the designated table, and are approached by Suertos' representative, Reid, who offers them a two-lance offworld contract on Golandrinas. On a LosTech portable holoprojector, Reid identifies the target as Trent, a settlement in the night-side of the tidally locked world run by a local warlord named Duboise (late of the Arcturan Guards), who doesn't acknowledge the authority of the planetary government in the city of Rowe. Intel suggests Duboise is hiring Periphery bandits, including a group called the Deathgeld, to try to topple the government in Rowe and seize control of the entire planet.
Reid acknowledges that there's nothing of value on Wotan, but Carlyle speculates that Vickers Mining may have recently made a major mineral strike there. Reid refuses to confirm, but offers 1,570,000 C-Bills plus transport for Colby's unit to disrupt Duboise's operations on Golandrinas.
Notes: As a bonus insert in the 2018 Beginner Box, William H. Keith returned to writing for BattleTech by chronicling the adventures of Grayson Carlyle's father, Durant Carlyle (briefly seen in "Decision at Thunder Rift" getting slaughtered by bandits).
With only two lances (one short a 'Mech, having lost a Thunderbolt on the previous mission), the ranks seem to be a bit high. Captain works out for a company commander, while Major would normally equate to battalion command. Either Colby and Carlyle used to run a much larger unit, or Colby's Commandos is inflating their ranks as a marketing tool.
Keith's specialty in BattleTech's early days was worldbuilding, with pages in his Gray Death books and in his BattleTechnology magazine articles dedicated to cataloging unique aspects of many worlds' ecosystems, rotational periods, gravity, climate, etc. Keith describes Wotan as relatively clean and modern, for a "near-Periphery" world, but antiquated by the standards of more prosperous worlds, noting its narrow, crowded and loud streets in the unsavory part of town. Golandrinas gets more detail - an arid "eyeball" planet, the innermost world of an M7 red dwarf tidally locked to the primary, with one hemisphere baking and the other locked in ice. The planetary capital of Rowe lies on the terminator between the two sides, where the temperatures are bearable. A large icecap has formed in the heart of the Deep Night side, giving the planet the appearance of having a pupil, like an eyeball.
As on Trell, Wotan's planetary garrison operates out of a fortified castle complex that overlooks the capital city. I wonder how old that structure is. Prior to the Reunification War, the Rim Worlds Republic (of which both Wotan and Golandrins were members) had heavily fortified many of its worlds, making them "hedgehogs" - festooned with fortresses, vehicle garages, cruise-missile launchers, and space-defense-systems, explaining why it took the SLDF 20 years to fully subdue the Republic rebels and restore House Amaris and his Loyalist forces to power on Apollo. Having architecture that dates from the Age of War would definitely qualify as "old fashioned."
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Date: April 5, 2990
Location: Golandrinas
Title: Golden Rule
Author: William H. Keith
Type: Short Story (BattleTech Starter Box)
Synopsis: Aboard the DropShip Ragamuffin, Carlyle discusses DropShip Captain Hank Austin's concerns about Major Colby's decision to land right outside of Trent, rather than further away. Carlyle explains that the plan is to land right next to Duboise's 'Mech park, destroy the unmanned 'Mechs, and get back aboard the DropShip before any of the defending forces at Trent can muster a response. Captain Austin remains skeptical, noting that he doesn't trust the intel supplied by Suartos to be accurate.
An hour later, the Ragamuffin enters atmosphere and Carlyle's lance of the Commandos mount up for action, ready to deploy a Commando (Diesel De Salva), Catapult (Natalie Bryant), and Shadow Hawk (Durant Carlyle). David Pryor's Thunderbolt is there as well, but still undergoing repairs. De Salva and Bryant snipe at each other, which Carlyle recognizes as stress from heading into an unknown tactical situation. The intel lacked details on the quality and equipment of the Deathgeld and Duboise's other troops.
Sergeant Kal Griffin tells Carlyle that his Shadow Hawk is ready to go. Minutes later, the ship lands, and the 'Mechs race out through the cargo bay doors into a howling windstorm and encircling darkness, lit only by a red-orange glow on the horizon in the direction of Rowe. Second Lance rendezvouses with First Lance - Wolverine (Jonathan Colby), Shadow Hawk (Earnest Hauptmann), Locust (Zeller), and Locust (Hernandez). Major Colby orders Carlyle and Hauptmann to take point.
They quickly cross the two kilometers from the Ragamuffin to the BattleMech staging depot and blow a hole in the perimeter wall, IR scanners revealing the forms of running men through the dust and darkness. They push in through the breach and see twelve scaffolds, but only two occupied (a Whitworth and Panther - both 'Mechs used by the Draconis Combine, Carlyle notes). Carlyle reports that the rest of the 'Mechs are unaccounted for.
The 'Mech bay infantry opens fire with missiles and machine gun rounds. Carlyle and Hauptmann smash the Whitworth and Panther quickly, then take a look at the rest of the compound, which appears deserted. Instead, he picks up a giant heat signature to the north of Trent, and reports back to Colby that he's going to check it out.
Near the heat signature, Carlyle finds an open field strewn with white, crystalline rocks, and sees the source of the heat is a Vickers Mining Mobile Mining Refinery - a LosTech mobile structure dating from the Star League era. It appears to be unmanned, operating on automatic. Noticing movement, Carlyle spots a red-and-black painted Dragon approaching, and reports to Colby that it's a Kurita operation. As he battles the 60-tonner, he wonders if the Deathgeld troops are the advance guard for a Combine invasion.
More 'Mechs join the fight alongside the Dragon - a Thunderbolt, Wolverine and another Dragon, which appear to have been hiding their heat signatures behind the mining vehicle to spring their ambush. Carlyle warns Colby to stay away from the trap. Colby orders Carlyle to withdraw, and the rest of the Commandos arrive to join the fight shortly thereafter, taking out the enemy Thunderbolt and one Dragon, but losing Major Colby's Wolverine in the crossfire.
Notes: Captain Austin's concerns are legitimate - if the Commandos get overmatched while the DropShip is right next to Trent, it's at risk of being overrun and destroyed. Presumably, he's keeping his drive warmed up for immediate departure. (MW2: Mercenaries: "I'm not being paid enough to die!")
It's nice to see some mobile structures other than purely military ones, for the sake of variety. One wonders how such a thing is transported to the mining site. No DropShip would be large enough, so Vickers probably ships it in pieces and assembles it onworld, then drives it from mine site to mine site.
If the Deathgeld knew that the Commandos were coming, why did they set up an ambush in which they were outgunned? And why leave two of their 'Mechs to be destroyed in the hangar? If this is a mining site, there are probably explosives galore. Emptying the hangar of Deathgeld equipment and then rigging it to explode would have been far more effective.
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Date: April 6, 2990
Location: Golandrinas
Title: Golden Rule
Author: William H. Keith
Type: Short Story (BattleTech Starter Box)
Synopsis: Back in the sickbay of the Ragamuffin, a seriously burned Major Colby tells Carlyle and De Salva that despite winning the engagement, the mission has been a loss, since the Commandos arrived too late to stop the Deathgelds from marching on Rowe. According to the captured Dragon pilot, Lt. Senichi Hiramatsu, six 'Mechs are currently rampaging through Rowe.
Carlyle speculates that the Commandos were set up to fail. Colby suspects Reid is working for the Combine. Carlyle reports that he found a vault at the site with five hundred 12.4 kilogram bricks of gold, valued at 500,000 C-Bills each. Carlyle speculates that the 250 million C-Bills worth of gold is intended as pay for the Deathgeld - taking a percentage and providing the rest to the Draconis Combine. Colby expects the Deathgeld to abandon the attack on Rowe and come back to Trent. They discuss either hiding the gold and negotiating, or buttoning up and head back to their JumpShip. Colby speculates that the Deathgeld troops will be willing to talk, since "the guys with the gold make the rules."
Notes: Gold is a lot more valuable in 2990 than today. 12.4 kilos of gold goes for about 52,000 C-Bills by current prices (based on converting current prices to 1985 prices and then using the $5 = 1 C-Bill conversion), so gold has become about 10 times more valuable.
The gold only masses 6.2 metric tons. I wonder why the Commandos are planning to hide the gold, rather than just putting it on the DropShip and claiming it as spoils as they hightail it back to Wotan. Heck, if they need to eradicate the Deathgeld, they could subcontract it 200 times over to other merc units.
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Date: April 8, 2990
Location: Golandrinas
Title: Eyestorm
Author: William H. Keith
Type: Short Story (BattleTech Core Box)
Synopsis: At a ramshackle pub - The Howling Wind - in the cluster of domes known as Trent, Captain Durant Carlyle discusses the local weather with Jocko, who claims to be a Vickers Mining Company employee. Jocko notes that big "eyestorms" can last four days with winds exceeding 150 km/h. The conversation turns to the Deathgeld mercenaries, who Jocko says wiped out the local militia when they arrived a month earlier, and are likely to come back to Trent soon.
Jocko departs, and the bartender, Geri, takes the opportunity to ask if Carlyle's mercenary unit really took the Deathgeld's gold and hauled it back to its DropShip. She warns Carlyle that agents of local warlord Gerard Duboise are watching him closely. Carlyle suggests she move offworld to Beta VII or Wotan, but she says transit fees are too expensive. She explains that the world is named after a native animal - the Ice Swallow (which was loosely translated as "Golondrinas" by the early Spanish settlers, then misspelled on the official starmaps). She says that eyestorms often blow large numbers (billions and billions) of Ice Swallows from the day side to the night side, where they die in the cold, then release a worm that mates and crawls back to the dayside, buries itself and grows into a plant that eventually fruits and releases fresh Ice Swallows.
Carlyle dons his environmental suit and departs the bar, meeting Diesel De Salva's Commando on the outskirts of the dome town. Together, they return to the DropShip Ragamuffin and meet the other members of the unit in the ship's common room. Carlyle informs them that the Deathgeld is likely en route, using the storm for cover. He says that Jocko, who he suspects of being the pilot of one of the 'Mechs the Commandos wrecked two days earlier, drunkenly bragged about the Deathgeld having multiple companies, suggesting that the Commandos will be heavily outnumbered when the full Deathgeld roster returns, possibly by a ratio of 20-to-7. Hauptmann speculates that they'll leave a garrison in Rowe, lowering the odds to closer to 2-to-1. Captain Austin says it will be hard to spot anything in the storm, since radar identifies the storm as being filled with millions of fist-sized objects moving 40 km/h in the storm, with an ETA in Trent in five hours.
Four hours later, Carlyle scouts the leading edge of the eyestorm, with trilateral furry winged forms smacking against his ferroglass cockpit in the high winds. Then, like ghosts, ten 'Mech signatures materialize on his radar along the Trent-Rowe road. Carlyle reports contact to the rest of the Commandos. Firing his jump-jets, he launches into the air and lands right next to a Deathgeld Dragon, broadcasting that he wants to negotiate. The Dragon pilot takes an aggressive posture, opening fire (as expected), missing as Carlyle jumps away, seeking cover in the wall of wind-tossed birds.
Carlyle fights off several approaches by the Deathgeld until he's drawn them into the pre-determined position, then contacts the Commandos and lets them know that the Combine forces are in the kill zone. The fight devolves into a raging brawl that goes in the Commandos favor. The remaining two Deathgeld 'Mechs break contact and flee. The battered Commandos let them go.
Back in town, Carlyle thanks Geri for telling him about the Ice Swallows and how they read in the storm, enabling him to figure out how Duboise, who died in the battle, would be approaching. The Commandos lost two 'Mechs (though the pilots ejected) while destroying six enemies, but still consider themselves to have sufficient strength to dig the remaining Deathgeld out of Rowe. Carlyle gives Geri a gold bar worth half a million C-Bills. As he walks out of the bar, he hopes Geri will use the gold to barter for offworld passage and create the life she wants for herself.
Notes: If the Commandos retained most of that gold, I'm surprised that, 30 years later, Carlyle's Commandos wasn't a larger unit. Even if the unit split the take more or less equally (counting the support crew), that would be more than 10 million C-Bills per person. Perhaps, instead of inheriting command of Colby's Commandos after the death/retirement due to injury of Jonathan Colby, Durant split off on his own to make his own Commandos unit. He'd have his Shadow Hawk, and the 10+ million C-Bills would just about cover the other 'Mechs we saw in the opening scenes on Trellwan.
Given the scene's efforts to generate chemistry between Durant and Geri, I was beginning to suspect we'd just been introduced to Grayson's mother. (Perhaps we have - depending on whether Keith writes more stories in this series.)
This was a good prose use of the optional "bugstorm" rule, last seen during the Blakist vs. AFFS battles on New Avalon, when the two sides clashed in the midst of sourbug swarming season. It's interesting to see that the native life on Golondrinas follows a pattern of trilateral symmetry, and that it has naturally evolved a life cycle involving worm, avian, and plant development stages. It certainly gives a more alien feel to the setting than putting the action in a scene that wouldn't be out of place on Terra.
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Date: December 5, 2991
Location: Solaris VII
Title: The Calm of the Void
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Aboard the Mule-class DropShip Perdido, inbound for Solaris VII, Nikolai Mason's internal monologue is interrupted by his shipboard rival, Jules Vonic, who needles him about his inability to find a piece of LosTech (an actuator motor control unit) that would give his career in the Lyran Free Traders Association a boost toward becoming a procurement officer. He ignores her and continues on his way to the bridge, where he reviews the merchant JumpShip Talia's Investiture's six-month trading route under the command of Merchant Captain Cardian: Poulsbo - Galisteo - Timbiqui - Cavanaugh II - Nockatunga - Millungera - Alula Borealis - Bell I - Loric - Giausar - Ford - Gienah - Hyde - Rahne - Solaris VII. Solaris is an R&R trip for half the crew, with the rest scheduled for shore leave on the next pass.
Mason decides not to seek any LosTech on Solaris - the trade is controlled by the various underworld gangs onworld, making the prices exorbitant. Instead, he ponders the possibilities on future stops - New Kyoto, Algorab, Gacrus, Phecda, Wyatt, Alioth, Denebola, and New Earth, completing the free trader's yearly circuit from the center of the Inner Sphere to the Periphery and back.
Notes: Randall opens the story setting up an Indiana Jones - Belloq rivalry between Nikolai and Jules, even using the line "I'll figure out what it is, and I'll take it. Like I always do." I wonder if she speaks Hovito?
The Talia's Investiture is a Star Lord-class carries six DropShips. It appears that all six slots are filled by trading ships, so this vessel doesn't provide transportation services for independent or military DropShips, but instead picks up and delivers goods and passengers (mainly resupply runs for military garrisons when on the Lyran side of the border) in their own vessels, spending three days on each world.
The fact that the LFTA vessel has military resupply contracts and a scheduled route would seem to make them a primary target for pirates or SAFE agents trying to disrupt supply lines for LCAF forces. While the informal conventions of the Third Succession War preclude direct attacks on JumpShips, there'd be plenty of opportunities for pirates to attack (something Nikolai mentions as a routine occurrence) or for infiltrators to try to hijack the ship and steal the supplies aboard. I wonder what kind of defenses the Talia's Investiture has - an aerospace fighter wing? Anti-boarding marines?
Nikolai's internal monologue hints at a dark backstory - "after all of his years spent trying to get away from the horrors his actions had unleashed" - that will undoubtedly be fleshed out in following scenes.
2991 is pretty much the technological nadir of the Succession Wars. New tech starts showing up in the early 3000s (with the Merlin coming off the assembly line in 3010, and various prototype designs following from the Capellans, Lyrans, and Federated Suns soon thereafter). LosTech prospecting is, for many, a full-time profession that can be highly rewarding due to the high demand and limited supply of unscavenged tech. It can also be very dangerous, given the volume of competition - even within organizations like the LFTA.
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Date: December 24, 2991
Location: New Kyoto
Title: The Calm of the Void
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Blackhearts encampment on the outskirts of the city of Hirihito, Nikolai trudges through the snow into the mercenary encampment, hoping he's successfully shaken Jules' tail. At the perimeter gate, he finds the guards dressed in Christmas hats - something out of step with the mostly Buddhist New Kyotan society.
Inside the camp, he heads to a shack, where he finds a messy assortment of gadgets and a woman named Chloe berating the machinery for not functioning correctly. Nikolai is impressed by Chloe's abilities with the diagnostic array, and by the fact that the device she is evaluating is his long-sought actuator control unit - albeit a non-functional one. She angrily asks why he's interrupting her, and he introduces himself as being with their supply DropShip. He tells her he's looking for a master control unit for a Champion's right leg, which she correctly guesses would be for the 12th Star Guards, who are known for their Star League origins.
She also accurately assesses that he's trying to impress his merchant captain, and suggests that master tech Detlef Jorgenson at Bowie Industries on Wyatt might have what he needs. In exchange, she wants a gyro from the 10th Lyran Regulars' head tech, Zardoff, on Denebola, as well as Nikolai owing her a favor in the future.
Notes: Christmas? Thank goodness they aren't on Ford, where they'd be subjected to the terrible rhymes of Anti-Nick.
This scene contains more hints at Nikolai's dark past - being cast out from his family for not worshipping their idol, joining bandits, and being tortured through oxygen deprivation. Given the reference to the curse "Blake's Blood" feeling "ill-fitting, even after all these years," my money's on Nikolai being a lapsed ComStar acolyte - possibly having grown up in a spacer family aboard ComStar's courier fleet. (In addition to HPGs, ComStar also offers courier services and package delivery, and would need its own JumpShip and DropShip fleet for those functions.)
Chloe make reference to having her own hidden backstory, and the repeated use of "Blake's Blood" in anger suggests they may have ComStar origins in common.
The barter economy is well entrenched in this technologically regressed era, with the few remaining examples of advanced SLDF technology on its last legs and being held together with spit and baling wire. Ships like the Talia's Investiture are crucial to facilitating the trades. If the recent video games are even remotely accurate representations of the black markets in the Inner Sphere, the prices for LosTech are exorbitant, making barter a far preferable option, as long as you have something to trade.
Interestingly, the Blackhearts also have ancient Star League origins, having been the SLDF's 77th Special Operations Group.
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Date: May 10, 2992
Location: Wyatt
Title: The Calm of the Void
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Nikolai rides in a utility truck along a desert road leading from Earhardt City to the Bowie Industries manufacturing plant, passing spectacular rock formations in scorching (55 Celsius) temperatures, ignoring his local driver's prattling while he considers how to approach Detlef about the actuator control unit. He finds himself thinking of Chloe as well, then berates himself for taking his thoughts off the mission.
At the plant, once the truck is through security and the supplies are being unloaded, Nikolai makes contact with Detlef Jorgenson and tells him his contraband salvage is hidden behind a false wall at the back of the truck, in exchange for the actuator control. Subsequently, an "accidental" explosion will fake Detlef's death, allowing him to jump ship from Bowie.
Nikolai and Detlef secure the actuator controller, hide it and Detlef in a hidden compartment in a storage container, and load them aboard the now empty truck, which departs for the spaceport where the LFTA DropShip is waiting. On the way back, Nikolai anticipates relishing the look on Jules' face when he presents the actuator controller to the Twelfth Star Guard, cementing a strong relationship for the trading crew.
He is jolted out of his pleasant daydream by the arrival of a purple Wasp, which lasers a hole through both the truck's cab and its driver before melting the engine block. The resulting explosion hurls the truck through the air, and Nikolai loses consciousness as it impacts the desert floor at over 40 kph.
Notes: The elaborate plan for Detlef to leave Bowie Industries suggests a nice callback from Randall to the early FASA concepts of technicians in the late Third Succession War - that of carefully husbanded assets that were essentially owned by companies or Successor States, and lived as virtual prisoners at their worksites, or in hiding, for fear of being abducted by a Successor State, corporate headhunter, or warlord that wanted their services.
Given the focus on Jules (Nikolai's Belloq-esque rival in the LosTech hunt, who's been mentioned twice in this scene alone), I would assume that the purple Wasp isn't actually a Marik Militia scout lone-wolfing it on a raid, but is actually one of Jules' agents, sent to crush Nikolai's dreams. I would assume that claim jumping is a significant risk in the world of LosTech prospecting. Too bad Nikolai spent most of his C-Bill assets lining up the deal with Detlef, and left nothing for a personal bodyguard.
That brings up the question - aboard an LFTA ship, where everyone is technically on the same crew, but is also a Lyran independent contractor looking for a competitive edge, does the promotion system work like the Mirror Universe Enterprise - "the captain dies and we all move up in rank"? Do officers employ personal guards due to the risk of being backstabbed by an in-house rival?
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Date: June 20, 2992
Location: Wyatt
Title: The Calm of the Void
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Twelfth Star Guards base on New Earth's Neoasia continent, Nikolai glances out the window at the massive statues of the Magellan probe and the TAS Pathfinder in Colonization Park, celebrating mankind's first extra-solar colony. His misery over losing the actuator control and getting dressed down by the Merchant Captain for taking the unauthorized trip to Bowie and delaying their schedule two days is exacerbated by physical pain from still healing injuries suffered on Wyatt.
Joshua, the Guards' quartermaster, certifies that all supplies have been received and inspected. Jules, triumph in her voice, says there's one more item to discuss - a rare Star League-era Master Control Unit that is currently being turned over to the unit's master tech. Nikolai's heart races, and he finds it hard to breathe, realizing Jules had somehow been behind the Wasp attack. Jules tells Joshua not to worry about Nikolai, then mouths "I get what you want" at him, mockingly.
When Joshua steps out of the room, Nikolai berates Jules for putting the control unit at risk. She responds that she never cared about the MCU, but just wanted to punish Nikolai for getting in her way. Joshua returns and asks what the Guards owe Jules for this treasure. She responds that gratitude will be enough, knowing that "gratitude" translates into a long-term supply contract with better terms.
Nikolai flashes back to his youth - beatings, despair, coming near death as others used him. He consoles himself that he survived those, and that he will survive this. He resolves not to underestimate Jules in the future.
Notes: Going out of one's way to torment another crew-member on long-haul missions seems a risky proposition when everyone involved lives in an ancient vessel with so many airlocks and the potential for life support failures at just the wrong moment. Especially if I guessed wrong, and Nikolai didn't defect from ComStar's worship of Jerome Blake, but instead grew up among Thuggees as a disciple of Kali. (In fact, being tortured with repeated near-death experiences might be exactly what disciples of a death goddess would do to indoctrinate their young.)
I wonder how old those statues are. Given all the fighting over New Earth in the Star League Civil War, and the subsequent Succession Wars, I'd be surprised if the original statues hadn't long since been blasted to dust, only for replicas to be commissioned at a later date.
In MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Nikolai goes on to marry Chloe and found the mercenary unit Nik's Cavaliers, before being killed by Black Inferno on De Berry. His son is the POV character for the game. Clearly, Nik's luck turned at some point and he made a big enough score to start a merc unit. I haven't played MW5 (waiting for the GOG version), but I wonder if Jules was in any way associated with Black Inferno, given her apparent passionate commitment to taking away anything Nikolai wants.
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Are Nikolai and the others wearing some sort of special protective cooling suit to survive that heat? I'm not a doctor but I'm fairly certain 55° C would send someone into lethal hyperthermia after a pretty short interval, especially if it's also humid.
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Are Nikolai and the others wearing some sort of special protective cooling suit to survive that heat? I'm not a doctor but I'm fairly certain 55° C would send someone into lethal hyperthermia after a pretty short interval, especially if it's also humid.
It’s stated to be dry. I’d imagine the truck had sufficiently powerful air conditioning to deal with the conditions.
Though how Nikolai survived after the truck crashed...
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Date: August 4, 2994
Location: New Kyoto
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Blackhearts' technician Chloe Reed seethes with frustration as she is, once again, denied the chance to become a MechWarrior by her supervisor, Major Jeffers. Her bitter musings are interrupted by young Tilo, who brings rumors that the Blackhearts are being ordered to deploy on a cross-border raid.
They pause in their discussion of the raid's target as two white-robed ComStar acolytes walk past, for fear that angering them might bring an interdiction. After the pair passes, Tilo says he heard the target was Kalidasa, but Chloe doubts the Blackhearts would be mobilized to beat up on the Gryphons. Instead, she guesses the target is the Kali-Yama Weapons plant, which would have both the Gryphons and whatever mercenary guards were under contract to KYWP. Alternatively, she speculates that this raid could be in retribution for the Marik Militia's attack on Wyatt in 2991, which would make the likely target Wing, where the 30th Marik Militia is garrisoned.
As Chloe gathers her kit from her locker, she mentally calculates whether the Blackhearts will be back on New Kyoto by the time Nikolai Mason passes through on his scheduled trading run. She cradles a miniature JumpShip pendant he gave her as a gift and looks forward to their next encounter.
Notes: Interdictions have, historically, been fairly rare, at least on a state-level. House Marik lost dozens of systems and was invaded by all four other Successor States when they were Interdicted for 18 months during the Second Succession War. House Kurita backed down in confrontation with ComStar when threatened with Interdiction (after a member of House Kurita wanted to join the Order against the Coordinator's wishes). I wonder, though, if they're more common when the stakes are lower - being applied on a planetary or even individual level in retaliation for violations of ComStar rules or against planetary governments who refuse to give ComStar desired tax breaks, property leases, or other infrastructure and security support.
The fact that two Acolytes were present at the camp suggests that the orders from LCAF Mercenary Command were delivered via courier from the local ComStar HPG station. I wonder if they did that trick with the vacuum sealed capsule, where the release of air signifies that nobody has opened it, read it, or tampered with it. (At least, not on the way from the HPG compound to the mercenary camp, since ComStar could've done any of those at the station before putting the printout into the capsule.) This method of delivery suggests a presumption that SAFE agents are monitoring all regular communications channels, making couriers a better way to ensure operational security, so there isn't a huge FLWM welcoming party for the Blackhearts, wherever they're headed.
One interesting item - the Acolytes are wearing white robes in 2994. In the Stackpole novels set in the 3020s, Acolytes wear yellow robes. The statement that Acolytes wear white robes comes from the ComStar sourcebooks set after the schism. Then line-director Herb Beas (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=31720.msg738145#msg738145), when asked about the difference, suggested that Focht and Mori changed the color scheme...or that Stackpole's accounts were wrong. The presence of white Acolyte robes in the pre-schism era seems to settle that on the side of "Stackpole was wrong." (Or that somebody washed their new yellow hat with the Acolytes' white robes the day before the Stackpole scenes.)
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BattleTech is, at its core, a fantasy setting where lostech stands in for magic, ComStar for organized religion, and "Interdiction!" for putting a curse on someone and/or the proverbial turning into a frog. It even sounds latin...
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BattleTech is, at its core, a fantasy setting where lostech stands in for magic, ComStar for organized religion, and "Interdiction!" for putting a curse on someone and/or the proverbial turning into a frog. It even sounds latin...
You will recall, however, that ComStar placed a temporary block on outbound communications from Galatea in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," resulting in the antagonist being financially ruined since his hedging bets never went through. Not sure that amounts to an Interdiction, but it does indicate that local Precentors have some leeway in terms of denial of service actions.
Also, I'd liken Interdiction more to Excommunication, in an analogy where ComStar is equivalent to the medieval Catholic Church. The blessings of the HPG are withdrawn until those who have sinned against the Blessed Blake have repented and been suitably punished (usually through copious donations of C-Bills to cover ComStar's material losses plus punitive damages).
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Date: November 11, 2994
Location: Wing
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Blackhearts bivouac near Greinwald, working on a gut-shot Thunderbolt, Chloe suffers in the bitter cold a month into the mercenaries' campaign against the 30th Marik Militia, which Chloe expects to last until Major Jeffers considers enough of the Militia to have been destroyed to meet the "considerable portion" clause of their contract with the Lyran Commonwealth.
She assesses the extensive damage against the dwindling stock of repair parts - the Blackhearts had only come expecting a quick raid, rather than an extended campaign. As she prepares to run diagnostics on the gyroscope, she's interrupted by Tilo, who reports he's almost finished loading the armor plating on the J-24. She tells him to add a lot more equipment for repairing internal structure as well.
As she finishes giving the gyro a clean bill of health, Tilo arrives with the J-24 and begins unloading parts. Chloe smiles at his energy, knowing it will take days of sleepless work to get the Thunderbolt back into the fight.
Notes: There's excellent continuity in this series (thanks to a continuity review credited to Chris Wheeler). Chloe worries about getting a black mark from the Mercenary Review Board, which was the ComStar-run predecessor to the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission.
Chloe's reaction to the damage done to the Thunderbolt is in the same vein of the Capellan Cuirassier tech team when they saw the damage done to their Grasshopper in the Legacy anthology. And probably universal to every technical crew in the Successor States. (Clans - not sure. Resource scarcity isn't a thing there, at least as far as the Warrior Caste's toys are concerned, and doing such repairs is mostly what gives their lives meaning in the Clan caste structure.)
The J-27 is an ordnance transport. I wonder if the J-24 was Acme Widgets' entry into the flatbed truck market? Others in the "J-series" include the J-37 Ordnance Transport, JI-50 Field Repair Unit, and JI-100 Transportable Recovery Repair Unit. (The latter two are from Johnson Industries, however, and not from Acme Widgets.)
The fact that Chloe is just tired and not fearful suggests that the Marik Militia forces remain on the run, and don't pose a significant threat to the Blackhearts' rear area. (Though, just to be on the safe side, the unit's DropShip is maintaining position in orbit.)
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Date: November 21, 2994
Location: Wing
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: After delivering her repair status report to Major Jeffers, Chloe argues that the Blackhearts can't win the war of attrition. Instead, she advocates for a diversionary strike at the city of Wyvern, drawing enough of the Marik Militia away from Port Wyvern to enable the Blackhearts' Overlord to make a combat landing, supported by a simultaneous ground assault, destroying the remaining Militia garrison at the port and fulfilling the Blackhearts' contract requirements.
Jeffers says that such a plan poses unacceptable risks to both Wing's civilian populace and to the Blackhearts' only transport offworld, especially since the Militia has fortified the port. He emphasizes that Chloe is merely a Tech, and has no field combat experience, and says he'll terminate her contract if she pushes him again on his strategy.
Humiliated, Chloe leaves the bivouac command tent and goes into the snow. She remains certain that she could be a MechWarrior if given the chance, and doesn't need field command experience to see that Jeffers' strategy is going to get them all killed.
Notes: The social stratification of the neo-feudal setting is on full display here, with MechWarriors at the pinnacle of the mercenary unit, with support staff, no matter how skilled, dismissed out of hand. Early BattleTechnology articles suggested that many MechWarriors began training as adolescent apprentices to current MechWarriors, essentially as squires to their knights. Members of MechWarrior families would, of course, be prioritized for such apprenticeships, since these families would be extremely reluctant to let anyone outside their bloodline take command of the asset on which their family's social standing rests. Outsiders could only join the ranks for training if they married into the clan, or were adopted in. Nobles that have holdings of sufficient size that they don't rely on their 'Mech for their position can afford to send their scions to prestigious military academies, rather than relying on in-house apprenticeships.
One question is why Chloe didn't apply to something like the Hero Institute? Their admission standards are notoriously lax (you can double major in 'Mech Piloting and TV/VCR Repair, as long as your check clears), but she'd at least get some simulator time and enough experience to score a berth with...well, with Wilson's Hussars at best. But she'd be a MechWarrior, and even a low echelon MechWarrior still outranks a senior tech.
If the Blackhearts only sent a battalion on the mission to take out a "substantial portion" of the 30th Marik Militia, which was presumably at regimental strength, that implies that the mercenaries are relying on hit and run attacks in blinding snow to wear the Militia down. Looking at their Field Manual entry, they had a Fortress DropShip at one point. That would have been a great tool to reduce Militia fortifications, since it's got a Long Tom mounted on the top. Also, the Blackhearts regiment is stated to have significant aerospace assets - including a Vengeance carrier. But does this battalion have any aerospace support? Some high-level bombing runs against the port might soften things up. They can't have any support aerospace assets on the ground, since their tents in the snow wouldn't support a runway, so any assets they have are probably up with the Overlord flying CAP to keep any Marik fighters from smoking the Blackhearts' ride home.
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Date: December 5, 2994
Location: Wing
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Tilo assists Chloe as she works to repair a Phoenix Hawk's arm atop a mobile repair gantry at the Blackhearts bivouac, simultaneously overheating and freezing. She complains that it feels like they're going to be stuck on Wing forever. Tilo teases her that she's just worried she won't make it back to New Kyoto in time to meet her trader boyfriend, Nikolai.
The work is interrupted by explosions, as an entire company of Marik Militia 'Mechs sweeps in towards the bivouac, having slipped past the perimeter unnoticed. The gantry collapses, but landing in a snowbank saves Chloe's life. As the Blackhearts' 'Mechs rally to repulse the attackers, Chloe realizes that the costs had become too high for the battalion to sustain operations, and that even if the contract terms weren't met, the Blackhearts would soon call in their DropShip and leave.
Not that it will help young Tilo, dead and burning in the wreckage of the repair gantry.
Notes: This being a video-game tie-in, it's worth noting that the recent entries in the field have incorporated a new element - failure. Not to say you couldn't pile it in and die in earlier works in the series, but for the most part, to advance in the storyline, you had to win the mission. In HBS BattleTech and MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, players can withdraw from most missions where the OpFor is overpowered, the player unit isn't properly configured for the engagement, or bad luck has put the players in an untenable situation, or one likely to lead to a financially Pyrrhic victory. That allows the narrative to continue unbroken, without save-scumming, for a more immersive experience. (Granted, in HBS you still have to win the key storyline missions to move forward.)
The Blackhearts are very much in one of those situations. They came expecting a quick stand-up fight, and got bogged down in an arctic meatgrinder. Had I been given the contract to take out a certain number of Marik Militia troops, I'd be thinking in terms of bringing in copious amounts of landmines, as well as sappers and infiltrators to sabotage power plants, disrupt water systems, and poison food supplies, plus artillery (which the Blackhearts had, in the form of two Fortress-class DropShips). The sabotage and artillery bombardment would force the Militia to leave the comfy confines of their fortified base as it shakes down around their ears, making them more likely to blunder into my minefields right about when my 'Mechs hit them. Once sufficient scalps are collected, back aboard the DropShips we go.
I wonder why they didn't send some plainclothes scouts to Wyvern to send an HPG message to New Kyoto requesting backup. I suppose the pay offered by the LCAF for the mission only covered the expenses incurred by one battalion worth of troops, which would make any reinforcements essentially operate pro bono on behalf of the Lyrans. No merc (except the Knights of St. Cameron) likes giving freebees.
Once again, we see that perimeter security is extremely poor in the late Third Succession War. Sure, I can see the FWL forces slipping past a perimeter patrol, but why wasn't the perimeter liberally sprinkled with passive sensors? Those things are dirt cheap, and can prevent surprise attacks unless the enemy has a substantial corps of specialists in sneaksuits clearing a hole through the wire by locating the sensors and either sabotaging or spoofing the readouts.
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Date: February 2, 2995
Location: New Kyoto
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In the city of Hirihito, Chloe sips cognac and discusses a contract offer by a pair of headhunters seeking to recruit her as a technician. She describes their offer as more than generous, but rejects it, despite being nearly broke and unemployable onworld after terminating her contract with the Blackhearts. She says she'll take the contract without any of the incentives if they agree to train her as a MechWarrior.
The recruiters balk, with one asking why they would hire her for one job while paying to train her for a different one. She offers to cover the costs herself out of her own salary and assume liability for any damages she might cause. Chloe can see that they won't accept the terms. Desperate, she makes one more suggestion.
Notes: Chloe notes that Major Jeffers seems to have suffered no penalties for the damage his battalion incurred on Wing, since he did enough damage to keep the LCAF happy and paying their contract fees. From the Lyran perspective, the contract worked out perfectly - punish the 30th for raiding Wyatt and move along, business as usual. Chloe, however, can't get past Tilo having died essentially achieving nothing.
She also resents the constraints placed upon her. She chose the mercenary life for the freedom it offered, but in the Blackhearts, she spent her days being told what she couldn't do. She hopes, as a MechWarrior, to have more freedom. Many of the MechWarriors in the stories we've seen have lacked much freedom in what they do - taking orders and shouldering responsibilities is the standard package. In fact, one of the characters with the most freedom we've seen isn't a MechWarrior - "Sassy" Cassie Suthorn from Camacho's Caballeros pretty much takes off on her own and lone wolf ninjas her way through whatever she's trying to accomplish. I'm not even sure the unit gives her specific orders - they just identify a problem and then wait for her to murder it.
I wonder if Chloe would've been happier as a bandit. Anarchy seems to be more her style. Or perhaps she conflates being in a command position with freedom - a situation where she'd be making the decisions, rather than those whose rank and status places them above her. This being the Lyran Commonwealth, social status certainly plays a central role in day to day life.
Interestingly, despite her technical skills, Chloe had no problem terminating her contract with the Blackhearts, and was even rejected by three other mercenary commands (where, presumably, her request for MechWarrior training was a deal-breaker). By contrast, Detlef had to fake his own death and get smuggled out of the Bowie Industries plant when he wanted a change of scenery. We even have a reference in one of the early scenario packs that a "family of technicians" had been discovered in hiding, and seized by the Federated Suns, eventually becoming the target of an objective raid by the Black Widow Company, implying that people able to fix 'Mechs were rare enough to constitute a strategic asset worth fighting over.
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Date: February 5, 2995
Location: New Kyoto
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In the aftermath of lovemaking with Nikolai, Chloe asks him a favor. She tells him she likes the freedom of being a mercenary, but can't find it in the Blackhearts. He asks who her new command is, and she answers that it depends. She says she wants her own command someday, but needs to be a MechWarrior to do so.
She admits that she's had MechWarrior training in her past, but not recently, and still has work as a tech. She tells Nikolai that to get a position where she could do both, she had to promise them Nikolai as well, bringing his trading and logistics skills as part of the package.
Nikolai reacts with shock and anger, telling her she had no right to ask him to give up his dreams in favor of hers. He dresses and storms out the door.
Notes: Interesting - so Chloe's secret past involved significant MechWarrior training, but she can't use it as a reference now. Maybe she was a bandit. Or perhaps she was part of the ComStar Guards and Militia, which technically didn't exist (explaining the secrecy), which would explain the technical skills. That could also account for her nervous reaction when the two Acolytes passed by.
I'm not sure how useful Nikolai's logistics contacts would be if he abandons his Marik border trading route. If she jumps ship for a mercenary unit operating around Tamar, his knowing who's got what on Ford and Loric won't be of much value. I suppose if the new unit is operating along the Marik border, he could negotiate good terms for a supply contract with Talia's Investiture.
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Date: July 2, 2995
Location: Matamoras
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Young Fahad Arazad feels exhausted from the 55 degree Celsius temperatures and Matamoras' 1.46 standard gravity as he works to assemble a lattice shell that will provide them with shelter against the heat. His father, Jabal, cautions him to conserve his water ration until they are picked up the following day. Around them, striated rocks and rare crystals form wind-carved sculptures rising hundreds of meters into the air, twinkling in the blazing light. Farhad and Jabal are here on leave from the Arkab Legions on Al Na'ir on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, camping amidst the rocks during the few weeks per year that the winds die down.
Jabal appreciates the vista with an artist's eye, but Farhad merely looks at the rocks and speculates that the Combine could make more profit strip mining the area instead of charging access fees for tourists. He just wants to go home and escape the heat.
Farhad feels a subtle pressure change in his ear, and Jabal tells him to put his goggles on so he can watch Allah's hand. Inside the shelter, Jabal presses a control to turn the exterior transparent, displaying a rising 600-kph sandstorm approaching as the calm eye of the storm moves past them, resculpting the terrain in ways that make it a mecca for Azami artists.
Notes: Given Farhad's hot take on the mineral value of the rock formations, I'd suspect that Metals of the Earth doesn't have any presence on Matamoras. (On several worlds in the Rasalhague Prefecture, MotE used deep core mining techniques to strip entire worlds of all their resources, leaving tunnel-riddled husks behind.)
I'm actually surprised that there is tourism in the Draconis Comibne. While there's no shortage of things to see, I would have assumed that only nobles would be able to afford such trips. Certainly the Unproductives aren't taking interstellar vacations, and I would doubt that many of the Combine's rank and file laborers could afford such things either. Perhaps Jabal makes enough as a tech for the Arkab Legions.
Or, perhaps the Azami worlds have sufficient autonomy to organize their societies completely differently than on most Combine worlds. When the Azami worlds were incorporated in the Combine, the DCMS first tried conquest, but failed when their occupation forces began to drop dead from wasting diseases carried by the Azami from Terra into space. The Azami were themselves immune, but still contagious, and the victims were found to have their blood dried to powder in their veins. They were then invited to join the Combine as an autonomous bloc, contributing their military to the Arm of the Dragon as the Arkab Legions.
That brings up the question - how did the Azami get infected with bioweapons? The only other factoids we know about the Azami history is that they were one of the latter groups to join the Exodus from Terra, and ended up with less hospitable worlds as colonies. Also, the disease came from a period when bioweapons were unleashed in northern Africa during wars. [Correction - the diseases weren't specifically linked to bioweapons, but to a continent-wide pandemic that nearly depopulated Africa in the late 20th and 21st centuries.]
There's no detail on what these wars entailed in any sourcebook, but one causal factor could have been the invention of commercial-grade fusion engines. While unleashing an energy revolution and making cheap energy widely available, the creation of the fusion reactor would have been a death knell for petrostates. The bottom would have quickly dropped out of the global oil market, and any country with an economy based primarily on petrochemical extraction would have been in dire straits. It's not hard to see regional bankruptcy, governmental and societal collapse, and civil war as various factions battled for remaining resources or to settle old scores amidst the carnage. While the Western Alliance intervened in Russia when it had a similar collapse and civil war, that was to safeguard the rest of the world against rogue Soviet nukes, while there would be no such existential threat from similar anarchy in the "Azami" regions. I can certainly see an extremist group unleashing experimental bioweapons in the midst of the fighting (or, given their portrayal as amoral fascists, see the Expansionist-controlled Alliance government using the Azami conflict zone as a testing ground for weaponized xeno-viruses brought back by explorers on other worlds - "advancing the cause of science" with human trials of offworld infections and potential cures, without having to place Terran Alliance colonists at risk.) [Correction - the pandemic took place well before the formation of the Terran Alliance government or the Expansionist party.]
The next question is, of course, are the Azami still contagious? If contact with Azami mummifies people who haven't inherited natural genetic immunity, then are Azami generally allowed to travel off their homeworlds? Do they have to wear light environment suits when around other people? Did Star League medicine finally cure the Azami of their infections? Otherwise, how can Jabal and Farhad be on Matamoras without unintentionally murdering everyone with whom they come into contact?
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Date: July 15, 2995
Location: Bone-Norman
Title: Vision's Hunger
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Chloe Reed takes in the bright white sun, the sparse buildings of Red Stone City clinging to the massive red-stone outcrop atop which sits the seat of planetary government, Red Stone Palace. All part of her new mercenary home.
Her sightseeing is cut short as Lt. Dawson Clarmont comes by to say hello, and is surprised to hear she's come 500 light years to the edge of the Periphery. Nikolai joins them, telling Chloe that he'd gone to check local bars after orientation to begin making contacts. Clarmont tells Chloe he's seen her eyeing the Shadow Hawk, but tells her that she'll be starting her training in a Stinger. With that, he welcomes them both to the Grave Walkers.
Notes: It's nice that Randall is using these stories to flesh out the climate and culture on many worlds that were previously only sketchily described or had no information at all. Red Stone Palace comes from the Clan Jade Falcon sourcebook, where it was listed as a key battle site. But what the palace was (fort? government center? palace-shaped rock formation?) was left unclear.
As Frabby said, the BattleTech universe often resembles a fantasy universe with a sci-fi overlay, and Nikolai's instinct to go to local bars to find contacts immediately conjures up images of D&D parties finding contracts at the local tavern, or certain space-wizards finding lowlife smugglers at a cantina. It fits in-universe, too, since the original MechWarrior game gave out most of the clues on where to go next from rumors picked up in bars on the various worlds (or from the lost-and-found bin at Galatea's Club Zero-Zero).
I wonder if the hiring agents on New Kyoto were part of the Grave Walkers, or if they were freelance headhunters contracted by the Walkers. Lt. Clarmont doesn't seem aware of where they've come from, whereas you'd expect he'd be aware of where unit personnel were located on recruiting runs. Just as the Bounty Hunter has paid informants all over the Inner Sphere, I'd imagine many mercenary units maintain networks of contacts in the Successor States, who can gather local intel on a target, keep tabs on potential rivals, and do some recruiting and light espionage in their spare time.
The Grave Walkers have a long and storied history through the Succession Wars, but begin a downward slide after taking heavy losses on Bone-Norman and other worlds during the Clan Invasion.
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Date: April 5, 2997
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Ryana Campbell oversees the landing of a Mammoth-class DropShip at the Defiance Industries BattleMech Factory DropPort, the fourth to descend at the port that day. Land trains move forward to begin unloading the cargo, while Ryana signals her driver to take her to a cluster of personnel in front of one of the bay doors. She notices Chloe and Nikolai, recognizing them as the new recruits from the Grave Walkers.
Introducing herself as Captain Ryana Campbell of the Eridani Light Horse, she asks the group members to introduce themselves: Jasmine Carmine, Jeho Rahamad, Dawson Clarmont (also of the Grave Walkers), Chloe Reed, Boris Tuls, and Nikolai Mason. As the recruits move to their billets, Campbell wonders if any of them will make it in the Light Horse.
Notes: This set-up at Defiance is decidedly different that what we've seen in other depictions. In "The Dying Time," all DropShip traffic was routed to the valley below, and personnel used a monorail to reach the Defiance Industries Complex. It certainly makes logistics easier if the DropShips can offload raw materials and components directly at the factory gates, but there's the operational security risk as well - especially if four hostile DropShips managed to insert into that DropPort and unload a regiment of BattleMechs. I would presume this DropPort is pre-sited by all of the Myoo complex's dozens of artillery emplacements, just in case someone tries the direct approach. I wonder if this DropPort had been shut down in favor of the one at Maria's Elegy for security reasons by the time "The Dying Time" takes place.
Looking at the ELH unit history, 2998 was the year that the 21st Striker Regiment defended Hesperus II against five regiments of Free Worlds League forces, so it looks like the new recruits are in for a trial by fire.
Randall has gone out of his way to populate these stories with vehicles from TRO: Vehicle Annex - Growler and Burro trucks, land trains, etc. It's too bad that no record sheets were ever made for most of those units. Though, granted, most serve as just objectives, rather than anything that has a chance of surviving on the battlefield, so "you shoot it and it dies" works in most cases. I personally have a fun scenario where one side starts out with a lighter force entrenched behind ferrocrete walls, pits, bunkers, and turrets, while a heavier force tries to dig them out. Midway through the scenario, the ground rumbles and a Corx mobile tunnel miner emerges inside the perimeter, with infantry pouring out of the hole behind it. The defenders have to decide whether to try to hold out or try to organize a fighting withdrawal.
I wonder to what extent mercenaries drift from unit to unit throughout their careers. The stereotype of the veteran merc is one whose jacket is festooned with unit patches and who has fought from one side of the Inner Sphere to the other. Does this imply that most mercenary units don't tend to promote from within, forcing ambitious troops to send out their resumes to other commands if they're not moving up quickly enough in their current unit? (Or perhaps just in units posting uneventful garrison duty, like the Grave Walkers. A heavy combat contract will undoubtedly leave plenty of holes in the TO&E that will allow the survivors to get field promotions.)
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Young Fahad Arazad feels exhausted from the 55 degree Celsius temperatures and Matamoras' 1.46 standard gravity as he works to assemble a lattice shell that will provide them with shelter against the heat.
Seriously, what is going on with this temperature thing? This is not a habitable planet.
resculpting the terrain in ways that make it a mecca for Azami artists.
I see what you did there.
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That brings up the question - how did the Azami get infected with bioweapons? The only other factoids we know about the Azami history is that they were one of the latter groups to join the Exodus from Terra, and ended up with less hospitable worlds as colonies. Also, the disease came from a period when bioweapons were unleashed in northern Africa during wars.
I always read it that the planets Azami settled had the infections, not the Azami themselves. The Azami are immune because they have become resistant to the strains, but for an invader attacking an Azami world back then, it would be like smallpox in the American Indian population -- no resistance to the infection.
By this story, I would think there is a vaccine/cure for the viruses and there's no chance of a plague off-world. The Azami are not carriers, just resistent.
Craig
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I vaguely remember a note somewhere that there is a cure now...just there wasn't one when thr DCMS tried invading.
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IIRC there was a vaccine within a few decades of the Azami joining the combine.
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The original House Kurita sourcebook, pp. 117-118 says:
Before their departure from Terra, their faith had been altered by two great events affecting Islamic Africa in the late 20th and early 21st centuries: the terrible viral epidemics that swept the continent from south to north, and the wave of Shi'ite Moslem evangelism from Iran.
Terran viruses that lay latent in the Azami bloodstreams eventually wiped out the Draconis invaders. Though this problem could have been overcome easily in subsequent campaigns, those campaigns never took place.
The Kurita invaders - all of them - had succumbed to a virus that had a Human bloodstream in which to flourish since the great viral epidemics that swept Terran Africa in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Azami, descendants of the few survivors, were themselves immune, but they carried the latent virus, which was released into the Kuritans from bodies on the battlefield and from Azami torture victims in Kurita camps.
So, to me, this implies that the Azami are all carriers, but inherited immunity. The mention that the Combine could have dealt with the issue implies that vaccines could have been created, so the Azami may have been subsequently cured and are no longer carriers, but it's not explicitly stated there. Handbook House Kurita updates the Azami backstory to place the viral epidemics solely in the 21st century, but doesn't repeat the story of the failed invasion or the blood-congealing disease outbreak.
Looking at the symptoms, it sounds like a variant of a bunyavirus, which causes fine damage to capillaries causing fluid, but not cells, to leak out, causing the blood to congeal and the victims' lungs to fill with fluid, though this specific symptom is associated only with the hantavirus strain of bunyavirus, which appeared in the southwest of the United States, rather than in Africa.
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Seriously, what is going on with this temperature thing? This is not a habitable planet.
You are correct that 55 is too hot for unprotected personnel to operate, or at least to conduct combat operations in full kit without environment suits. TacOps p. 62 says that conventional infantry platoons cannot be deployed outside a vehicle or building in temperatures that exceed 50 degrees C. The driver on Wyatt comments that it made no sense to set up a colony site in the desert where it's so hot, and says he's from the much cooler northern region. Perhaps the desert region on Matamoras is also unusually hot (like Death Valley in California), and the main colony sites are at higher elevations or closer to the poles. Looking online, recommendations for people outside in 55 C temperatures are to reduce activity levels and stay hydrated, but the recommendations don't suggest 55 C is a lethal heat level.
I see what you did there.
That's actually from the planetary writeup in Handbook House Kurita.
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Date: June 21, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: As an alarm siren wails, personnel swarm through a Defiance Industries 'Mech hangar. Ryana, by contrast, remains calm and methodical as she proceeds to her Highlander, which she has named "Claidheamh-mor" or 'claymore'. Tech Chief Olfson warns her that if she keeps using the 'highlander burial' tactic against enemies, he can't guarantee he'll be able to keep the ancient machine operating, since the LosTech spare parts either cost a fortune or can't be found.
Once in her 'Mech, she brings the systems online and heads out into battle.
Notes: Ryana's Highlander is a post-LosTech era refit, with an AC/10 replacing the long-since lost Gauss rifle - marking it as the 'HGN-733' refit. Olfson notes that her 'Mech is a shadow of its former self (unconsciously reflecting the 400 points of BV lost by swapping the AC/10 for the Gauss). This is essentially the theme of the Revised TRO:3025, where the Unseen were replaced with low-tech variants of some of the TRO:2750 designs, implying that while the gauss rifles, ER energy weapons and ultra autocannons may be long gone, many of the chassis remain, having been either made that way in new production runs or with field refits to keep them running after the good parts ran out.
While earlier installments have focused on technicians and traders, this is the first to focus on a MechWarrior. Since it's part of introductory fiction for the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries game, this scene goes into full detail on the appearance of the cockpit, the start-up routine (from medical monitors to neurohelmet connection to voice authorization).
Ryana is revealed to have previously been with the Northwind Highlanders, having been adopted into the clans, and she still misses the blue tartan underneath the ELH's olive drab camo. (She left on good terms and was even gifted one of the unit's Highlanders, which had been in the unit for nearly four centuries - making it one of the first off the production lines, since the design only debuted in 2592.) Interestingly, the cover of the Northwind Highlanders scenario pack shows those 'Mechs in olive drab themselves, except for a tartan sash painted across the chest. I'm not surprised that Randall made one of his characters a Highlander, since it was Randall himself who authored the Northwind Highlanders scenarios, as well as some Northwinder-themed BattleCorps stories.
This is the start of the Eleventh Battle of Hesperus II (the 10th having taken place the year before, when Colonel Katrina Steiner lead the 15th Lyran Guards to repel a Marik raid against a supply depot). Four FLWM 'Mech regiments attacked while most of the Hesperus garrison was bogged down on Kalidasa. Handbook: House Steiner records that Defiance Industries was only saved because the 21st Striker Regiment disobeyed orders from an incompetent leader, and that the near loss contributed to Archon Alessandro Steiner's downfall (though other sources say the straw that broke the camel's back was his Operation CONCENTRATED WEAKNESS, which launched in 3002).
Ryana refers to the 'Mech's limbs as her hands and feet's "true extensions." She's one of the MechWarriors who feels like they're truly alive only in a 'Mech's cockpit. Her backstory exposition indicates that she left the Highlanders of her own accord because she wanted to forge her own destiny, away from the "too-helping" arms of her adopted parents. Freedom is a repeated theme in this series, both with Ryana and Chloe, and may be a meta-reference to the open-world format of MW5, which allows players to range freely across the Inner Sphere in search of contracts.
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Date: July 7, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In the command center of the Defiance Industries plant on Hesperus II, LCAF Leutnant-General Wilhelm Mouttheim, a Lyran social-general, orders Colonel Charles Winston, CO of the ELH's 21st Striker Regiment, to deploy his forces in accordance with his orders. Ryana interrupts, reporting that the initial attack consisted of at least a regiment of fast and skilled attackers. Splitting up to chase such a force will deny the Defiance garrison its only advantage - numbers.
Mouttheim points out that the Defiance Industries plant makes Hesperus II the most important world in the Inner Sphere, and derides the Ryana's suggestion to let the Marik forces come to them. Ryana points out that the LCAF made the decision to strip the garrison for a raid on Kalidasa, leaving the Light Horse to protect the world. She asks why Mouttheim isn't trusting the mercenaries to do their jobs.
Angrily, Mouttheim notes that the contract places the ELH under his direct command when it comes to the immediate defense of the Defiance Industries facilities. Since there are still attackers within 200 km of the factory, he orders the ELH to deploy all troops, including those based at the city of Tallowrand, to hunt down the raiders. Colonel Winston acquiesces, while Ryana feels betrayed, and puzzled at a momentary look Winston gave her before beginning to issue operational orders.
Notes: Tallowrand was not marked on the planetary map included with Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II, which only includes the capital of Maria's Elegy (where the main spaceport is located), Defiance Industries, and the city of Maldon, on the Tatyana Archipelago. I wonder if Tallowrand gets blown off the map during this attack, after the ELH pulls its garrison away to beat the bushes for FWL raiders. The city name comes from the writeup on p. 70 of the Mercenary's Handbook.
Command rights are a key element in mercenary contract negotiations, ranging from being fully subordinated to employer control, with the assigned liaison officer serving, in effect, as the unit CO, to being more or less autonomous - the employer sets the objective, and the unit's own leadership determines how, when, and where to carry out operations in support of that objective, and the liaison officer just lets the employer know what's going on. Clearly, to get command autonomy requires substantial trust from the employer that the mercs know what they're doing, while ceding command rights to the employer requires that the mercenaries trust that the employer won't get them killed.
Unfortunately, the LCAF has a lot of social generals clogging up the works, and while each thinks that he or she is the greatest military genius to ever emerge from the Nagelring, most are more conversant with shrimp forks than flanking maneuvers.
I'm surprised, though, that a unit with the prestige and lengthy history of the ELH wasn't able to get better terms. I suppose there is the caveat that the LCAF only exercises command rights when enemy forces are within 200 km of the factory, which presumes that the ELH has been unable to intercept and destroy the foe outside of that perimeter, calling their independent command capabilities into question.
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Date: July 21, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Ryana guides her Highlander in pursuit of Marik raiders. While others in her group try to bracket the fleeing 'Mechs, she takes her slower Assault 'Mech on an oblique path across a high plateau, hoping to intercept the raiders. She notes that the Marik recon teams have been driving the ELH mad for three days of cat and mouse engagements, inflicting damage out of proportion to their numbers and weight.
Her interception is successful, and she engages a raider lance, with help from a pursuing ELH Phoenix Hawk and Shadow Hawk - piloted by her lieutenants, Jacobson and Chloe. Together, they down a Jenner, but the other three 'Mechs escape into the concealment of a nearby forest.
Notes: The original sources never name the attacking unit, but it appears to be a Marik Militia force, given that its paint scheme is described as "distinctive Marik purples." My bet would be either on the 3rd Marik Militia, which had a grudge against the ELH dating from 2952, when the ELH killed its CO on Cavanaugh II; or on the 30th Marik Militia, which was stationed on the Commonwealth border and known for hit-and-run attacks.
Where are the trademarked ELH jumping 5SE Thunderbolts when you need them? Those are specifically designed for raiding and reconnaissance. (Though, truthfully, adding four jump jets isn't going to let a 65-tonner keep pace with a Jenner.)
Other sources have reported that Hesperan foliage lacks chlorophyll, instead boasting a bright purple hue. That would actually make the olive drab of the ELH stand out, and let the Marik Militia blend in. It's too bad this scene didn't address that by describing the color of the forest.
Nice to see that Chloe got that Grave Walker Shadow Hawk she had her eye on.
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Date: August 27, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Exhausted from the constant recon raids and worried by the news that four more Marik regiments are inbound, Ryana joins her lieutenant, Chloe Reed in the ELH base cafeteria. As she walks up, Chloe is discussing a piece of LosTech with an unidentified civilian. Ryana is concerned about the lack of security detail for a non-cleared civilian, and the fact that Chloe is ignoring her while obsessing over technology.
The civilian stands and introduces himself as Sebastian Spears, representing a consortium of citizens trying to save mankind's art treasures and LosTech - a group going by the name Interstellar Expeditions. Ryana says she's never heard of them, and he acknowledges that they don't advertise. He'd heard of Chloe's LosTech expertise, and decided to stop off to chat, using his high-level connections to get permission from both Mouttheim and Colonel Winston. He apologizes for not having asked Ryana's permission.
Ryana is stunned by the implication of how wealthy and well-connected Mr. Spears must be. Chloe interrupts, suggesting the burnt out piece of electronics might be a phased-array sensor system. Spears concurs - saying their techs thought so, too, but couldn't get it to activate. Chloe says that most of the components are burned out, but she was able to send a signal through its subsystems to verify her assessment. She notes that it's a product of later Star League-era technology, produced close to the end.
Pleased, Spears tells Chloe he's doubled her consulting fee, and stands to leave. Chloe asks to know more about where it came from, but he reminds her that the terms of the consultation contract require secrecy.
After he departs, the two women laugh over the ludicrous situation.
Notes: The DLK series phased array targeting and tracking system was used in 'Mechs with stealth technology, including the Exterminator and Spector. It's not quite from "the end of the Star League era," having been developed in 2630, a good 140 years before the Amaris civil war.
Interstellar Expeditions is far more recent, having been founded only 24 years earlier, in 2974, when the Star Group merged with the Mutual Exploration Network, joining academics to a cohort of wealthy but enthusiastic amateurs. The "wealthy" part certainly buys them access in the Lyran Commonwealth, as it helped the Star Group leave behind its increasingly unsavory reputation as "mercenary archaeologists" and "treasure hunters."
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It was also used on a number of more mainline late-SL era machines.
Nightstar and the Thunder Hawk.
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It was also used on a number of more mainline late-SL era machines.
Nightstar and the Thunder Hawk.
True, and both of those are from the end of the Star League era. Perhaps Chloe was able to discern that the unit came from a Thunder Hawk or a Nightstar, and meant that the tech wasn't from the late Star League era, but this particular unit was from then.
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Date: September 9, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Eridani Light Horse field command tent, garrison commander Leutnant-General Mouttheim berates ELH Colonel Winston over the comm-line and threatens to bring the Light Horse before the Mercenary Review Board for contract violation if they fail to launch an immediate advance against the Marik landing zone. Once Mouttheim closes the connection, Ryana strenuously objects, given that the Light Horse would be outnumbered two to one.
Colonel Winston asks what Ryana would do instead. Pulling up terrain tables on the holotank, she displays three routes through the Myoo mountains to the Defiance Industries factory complexes, which the ELH doesn't have the manpower to blockade. She expects the FLWM forces to come en masse through the lowest pass, since it's the widest, where their superior numbers will make the most difference. She advocates for putting a single company in the low pass as bait, making the Marik commander think the ELH has split its forces among the three passes. That company will be covered by all of the ELH's artillery assets, targeting the walls of the pass to bring it down. She anticipates that the ELH can then descend on the portion of the FWL forces trapped on the uphill side of the barrier and destroy them in detail, while the remaining FWL forces will be reluctant to try their luck on another of the passes, for fear of the trap repeating itself.
Colonel Winston turns to Major Nigel and comments, "You were right." He approves Ryana's plan and orders her to put it into effect, noting that she will be directing the battle as operations commander from the field command post. Ryana wonders if having her plan accepted is worth missing out on the thrill of combat.
Notes: I wonder exactly where the Marik forces landed. The Melrose Valley stretches from the Myoo Mountains in the east to the Tatyana Archipelago in the west. The capital city of Maria's Elegy (a terraced, enclosed town) and the main spaceport are at the eastern end, at the foothills of the Myoo range (where the monorail begins circa 3060), while the city of Maldon lies at the river's mouth on the far western edge. There's no indication of where the "easily defensible city of Tallowrand" might be located. Perhaps it lay astride the river at the valley's center. In any event, the passes are likely in the foothills of the Myoo mountains, so the field command tent appears to be located east of the passes. That being the case, why are they out in the upper plateau of the Myoo, a short distance from the Defiance complex, rather than commanding the defense of the factory from the Hesperus Guards' command bunker?
Also, other accounts of DefHes note that the factory complex is deep within the mountain for defense, and has the exterior liberally covered with heavy artillery emplacements. Shouldn't those be sited to be able to target the passes? With thick walls and heavy artillery at his disposal, no wonder Mouttheim feels comfortable sending the Light Horse out to assault the Marik landing zone. In his mind, the mercs might just live up to their reputation and take down two of the Marik regiments before being wiped out, and then his artillery can shut down the passes and keep the Marik remnants fended off until some real Lyran troops return with 'Mechs comfortably in the 95-100 ton range (with a few Zeuses for scouting.)
As far as "all the artillery" goes, if the TO&E of the 21st Striker looks in 2998 like it did in 3025, they have the Command Company's Artillery Lance (4 Long Toms), and Boomer Company's Command Lance (3 Long Toms).
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Date: September 11, 2998
Location: Hesperus II
Title: Endless War
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: The artillery barrage has the desired effect, dropping 350,000 metric tons of rock onto the company of BattleMechs caught below. House-sized bouldes bounce down the pass, tossing the massed Marik BattleMechs aside like toys. A mushroom cloud of debris rises above the pass as the avalanche settles.
Captain Ryana Campbell oversees the carnage in the field command tent's holotank on a signal relayed from a reconnaissance flight, 50 kilometers back from the pass. The ELH "bait" unit moves forward to engage the forward elements of the Marik task force, now cut off from their main body. Ryana sees Chloe, now breveted to Captain, leading the charge in her Shadow Hawk.
Within an hour, the trapped Marik forces have suffered 50% casualties, and signal surrender, while the main body begins a dispirited retreat to their landing zones. Ryana notes that, under inspired leadership, the Marik forces could rally, push, and damage the Hesperus production lines, but notes that inspired leadership and House Marik are a rare combination.
Having had her first taste of high level command, she realizes that she can protect the entire Light Horse from the command tent, whereas she could only protect her company from her 'Mech. As an ops commander, she'll continue to carry out the motto of the Northwind Highlanders, her former home unit, "No one can harm us unpunished."
Notes: This scene clarifies that the field command tent is 50 km east of the lower pass. They're probably not far from the DefHes main plant.
While the Marik forces are stuck on the western edge of the blockade, the ELH are stuck on the eastern side. Had the attackers been the Draconis Combine, I expect they would have taken the opportunity to raze the city of Maria's Elegy, burn down the spaceport, and sack Maldon on the way out. After all, the factories may be intact, but production will slow while DefHes has to bring in an entirely new civilian workforce and train them up. Perhaps that was the fate of the city of Tallowrand.
Colonel Winston is still in command in 3025, at the age of 63, making him 36 in this scene. Interestingly, he's described as "middle aged" in "Endless War." He's described as "short and thin" in the Mercenary's Handbook, while Randall described him as 15 centimeters taller than Mouttheim and built like a tank. If we're assuming this is the same character, it would seem that Winston lost a massive amount of body mass over the next three decades. It's unlikely he got significantly shorter, so that implies that Mouttheim is in the company of Victor Steiner-Davion or Clovis Holstein, height-wise, being six inches shorter than the "short and thin" Winston. With a dizzying array of medals on his chest, one suspects Mouttheim might be compensating for something...
Interestingly, there's a fanfic story (https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/hell-its-about-damned-time-yet-another-bt-si.374438/page-39) posted in 2016 on the SpaceBattles boards, set on Hesperus II in 3000 and featuring the Eridani Light Horse and a General Moutthiem (i and e reversed). I wonder if Randall moonlights there as GundamChief, or if this is entirely coincidental?
I would presume that the rubble was eventually cleared from the lower pass to allow passage again. Perhaps the construction of the monorail coincided with the clearing of the pass.
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Date: March 3, 2999
Location: Al Na'ir
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: After a long day of BattleMech maintenance, Fahad Arzad slaloms his hoverbike through traffic in the capital city of Al Na'ir, Homai-Zaki en route to his friend's home, where he meets Joseph, Omar, and Alita, already started in on an evening of smoking, drinking, and political discussions. He notes the contrast between his friends' lifestyle and the ascetic practices of the Arkab Legions, who strictly adhere to Azami law - which forbids such things, and is glad he and his friends - a Rasalhagian, an Azami from an observant family, and a darker-skinned Azami from a non-observant family, can still have fun.
They discuss the rumors circulating about an assassination attempt on the Coordinator by a member of the Order of the Five Pillars. Fahad wishes the assassins, whoever they were, had wiped out the entire Kurita line, so that the Azami could be left alone. His friends fall silent in shock - but not at his words. His father, Jabal, enters the room and tells him he has brought shame upon his family with his blasphemy.
Fahad begins to argue, but Jabal cuts him off with a stern slap to the face. Angrily, Fahad declares that the Azami have a right to freedom from House Kurita, to no longer shed the blood of the Arkab Legions to fight the Kuritans' wars. Jabal slaps him again and corrects his son, noting that the Azami sent a delegation to House Kurita in 2516 and made a pact to preserve the Azami's autonomy in the face of Combine expansionism. He affirms that it is an honor for the Azami to fulfill their obligations to House Kurita, and to ensure that their own actions and words remain true to their obligations.
Jabal tells Fahad he will never again be permitted to see his friends, but will be on double and triple work shifts until he has atoned for his lapse. Dejected, Fahad shuffles outside in his father's wake, the door slamming behind him.
Notes: I was under the impression that, since Al Na'ir has low atmospheric pressure and a tainted atmosphere, that the cities were all underground dome cities, with climate control. Thus, I was surprised when Fahad's hoverbike kicked up dust when he parked it. Normally, I associate dust on the streets with dirt blowing in from adjacent plowed agricultural lands or the dust being soot from industrial output. Neither should be an issue in a domed city, since the soot could be vented externally, and croplands, such as they are, would likely be hydroponic, and not subject to strong winds, in any event. Perhaps the interior of the dome is made of native rock (so it's a cavern city, moreso than a domed city), and tectonic activity or mining detritus results in dust being emitted into the main habitat area. The hoverbike is definitely appropriate, since the factories on Al Na'ir are known for their output of military hovercraft.
I wonder to what extent Jabal's intervention was in the name of family and societal honor, and how much was intentionally over the top chastisement to keep any ISF agents monitoring the conversation from murdering Fahad and his entire extended family? Granted, the Capellan Confederation is more known for its thought police, but there must be swarms of ISF agents on Azami worlds, since their semi-autonomy makes them inherently the target of suspicion in the generally culturally homogeneous Combine. Especially with city sizes limited by the underground construction, I wouldn't doubt that every living quarter is wired for sound, and selectively monitored by the ISF. Heck, even the name - Internal Security Force - implies they spend most of their time watching their own citizens. Though, I wonder if the Azami autonomy prohibits the ISF from operating on Azami worlds? In that case, would the Azami have their own secret police?
The Pact of 2516 granted the Azami full autonomy on their worlds, in exchange for full mineral rights, and the services of the Arkab Legions for defense of the Combine and cross-border attacks against their enemies.
Fahad mentions that he's only ever seen Jabal cry once - at the beauty of the rocks on Matamoras. He resents that even his father's fury at his lifestyle hasn't brought any tears. To me, this implies that Jabal only lets his softer emotions out for what he sees as the beauty of the works of Allah - as represented by the scouring winds of Matamoras. Coming from Al Na'ir, it would make sense that his aesthetic sense would be oriented towards mineral beauty, since Al Na'ir has no native vegetation but does feature a wild array of crystalline growths and rock formations on its surface.
Jabal clearly doesn't speak for all of the Azami. Omar and Alita similarly rejected Azami traditions, and there was the whole Azami Brotherhood independence movement during the Jihad. (I haven't read/played far enough to see if Fahad makes it out of MW5: Mercs alive, but he might just still kicking around in the Azami Brotherhood in the 3070s...though he'd be in his 90s by that point.)
Assassination attempts are relatively frequent for Coordinators. Hohiro dies at the hands of one of his own bodyguards in 3004, Takashi survived several assassination attempts (one that locked him in a sabotaged 'Mech cockpit, one that disabled his DropShip in atmosphere, and one that involved his own ISF Director attempting to kill him during a kendo match, hiding a real sword under the wooden sparring blade, among others). As usual, Theodore was an outlier - dying from a stroke rather than at an assassin's hand. I'm guessing that the rumor mill's speculation that the O5P tried to assassinate the Coordinator was just blowing smoke, since Hohiro would've retaliated against the whole organization for such an attack...and an O5P monk certainly wouldn't be minding young Theodore in 3004.
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Date: 3000
Location: Holloway V
Title: End Run
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #2 - Griffin and Locust)
Synopsis: On the small water-rich Draconis Combine world of Holloway V, the Combine has discovered three intact supply depots. Reacting to the news, the Combine pulled together a scratch militia to defend the world while they dispatched a stronger BattleMech garrison force. Unfortunately for the Combine, the 7th Crucis Lancers, returning from a deep raid, got there first. They swatted aside the militia forces and forced the Planetary Defense Force's two AeroSpace fighters to retreat. The surviving militia troops withdrew into the depots, where their techs had used the parts found inside to construct turrets, weapons emplacements, and remote detonated explosives.
With the permanent garrison only days away, the 7th Lancers have to neutralize the command centers for the fixed defenses quickly, so they can loot the storehouses before DCMS reinforcements arrive. The main body of the Lancers regiment launches a feint against the northern sector, but dispatches its scout lances on a seek and destroy mission.
Having scattered her 'Mech company to search for hidden enemy command posts, Captain Tsurami enters a small valley where her scanners detect fusion plants. She spots a bunker hidden in some trees, guarded by a camouflaged Locust. As she moves to engage the Locust, pop-up turrets emerge and open fire. Nonetheless, Tsurami's Griffin punches through the defenses and steps on the bunker, crushing it like an egg. However, the turrets continue firing, and are clearly not drawing their power from the ruined bunker.
The scenario pits a pristine GRF-1N Griffin atainst a LCT-1V Locust and three pop-up medium laser turrets (10 armor each, can only change facing one hex-side per turn), which may be placed anywhere as hidden units on two map sheets laid end to end. To win, the Griffin needs to enter on the south side, reach the command bunker on the far end of the north side, spend one MP there, then exit off the south side again.
Historically, the Lancers successfully destroyed the command posts and gutted the depots before the DCMS garrison landed.
Notes: Holloway V does not appear on any official maps. I have arbitrarily dated the scenario 3000, which allows for the world to have been damaged enough to be taken off the maps by 3025 (but, of course, would not explain its absence from the maps dating back to the Star League.) The world may have been used as an SLDF outpost, but not formally settled (as a mining and farming colony) until the Third Succession War. I can see the utility of the SLDF having supply depots on habitable but uninhabited worlds within the Combine's borders, since they faced by far the most hostility from the Combine (with a constant low-level conflict of unsanctioned 'ronin' duels directed at SLDF garrisons in what was referred to as "The First Hidden War.") There are canon records of SLDF staging grounds and supply depots located on uninhabited worlds in the Draconis Rift (the irregular circle inside the Combine's borders that contains very few inhabited systems).
The assertion that espionage efforts led to the discovery of the three depots becoming common knowledge among all the Successor States before the DCMS could get a garrison there suggests either 1) every world, no matter how backwater, has active cells of Great House spies, and that the ISF team assigned to maintaining secrecy about the find on Holloway V was exceptionally incompetent; or 2) The ISF team on Holloway V reported the find up the chain, and ComStar ROM passed the intel surreptitiously to all the other states, since the last thing ComStar wanted was more tech falling into the hands of the Combine. (Perhaps they hoped it would be destroyed in the fighting, since I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted it to fall into Davion hands either.)
#1 is possible. We see in The Price of Glory that there are intelligence officers (the ambassadors) from each Great House on Helm, which is as backwater as they come circa 3028, given the low population and nuclear devastation. However, I find #2 more likely.
The "bunker" predates any rules for buildings, so in this scenario, the Griffin just has to spend 1 MP to destroy it entirely. Under modern rules, it would be classified as a Light or Medium building, with 54 or less CF, so that the Griffin could collapse the building by stepping on top of it. The slow traverse of the turrets is an interesting game mechanic, and consistent with the description that these were kit-bashed out of centuries-old parts in a hurry, so their traverse mechanisms aren't as robust as the ones on a tank or a well-designed gun turret on an emplacement.
The scenario definitely favors the Griffin. With the LRM-10 and PPC, the Griffin will get surprised by the turrets only the turn they emerge, and can quickly jump back out of range and pick the turrets off with long range fire. The Locust doesn't have enough firepower to engage the Griffin head on, and doesn't have the armor to take much in the way of punishment. The PPC will penetrate anywhere it hits except the Center Torso.
For the Griffin, I would recommend a cautious approach (the scenario doesn't set a time limit). When a turret pops up, weather the hit, then jump either out of range or, if that's not possible, jump to a facing towards which it cannot traverse in one turn. Then pop it from the relative safety of its blind spot or from outside its effective range. If there are no turrets currently up, take harassing shots at the Locust (though be mindful of your heat - this variant of the Griffin can run hot if you jump and fire continually). Once the defenders are neutralized, move in and crush the bunker.
For the Locust, I would recommend placing the three turrets to cover the bunker - ideally on the ridge overlooking the bunker. The Griffin will have to approach very close to that ridge to reach the bunker, and has to actually enter the space to eliminate the bunker. (Due to scenario rules, for some reason, the Griffin can't just unload PPC blasts into it until it melts - stomping is mandatory.) Then, when the Griffin enters the bunker space, have the turrets pop up en-masse and unload on the Griffin at point blank range. Its ability to shoot back will be hampered by its minimum range modifiers. Have the Locust dog the Griffin as it moves down the map, always using cover and speed to avoid incoming fire, and taking harassing shots when it can get close enough - definitely use any chance you get to take back shots when you win initiative. If the dice roll your way, you may have thinned the armor enough that the massed laser fire can take it down at the bunker site.
While it would be possible to have the turrets pop up in a cluster to engage the Griffin further away from the target bunker, it's just too easy for the Griffin to get out of their way and destroy them safely from distance, so a last-minute ambush is, in my eyes, optimal.
At an industry trade show, while promoting the prototype BattleDroids game, FASA staff saw Twentieth Century Imports selling giant robot toy models (assembled from sprues) from the Dougram, Macross, and Crusher Joe and the Hunters series. They signed a deal to buy a huge supply of TCI's stock. Each BattleDroids box would contain two sprues for 'Mechs, and additional sets would include more sprues with additional 'Mechs. These were cheap enough that, when doing demonstration games at conventions, they would break, burn, and melt the miniatures to reflect the damage being done to them - a real crowd-pleaser at the time. The models are articulated at the joints, so they can be posed in several positions.
Each of the twelve TCI model sets came with assembly instructions, 'Mech stats, and a scenario pitting the two 'Mechs against each other. TCI claimed 1986 copyright on the contents and packaging, while FASA claimed 1985 copyright on the BattleTech and Concepts. Nitto corporation did the molding, and Tatsunoko Productions and Nippan Sunrise were credited with the intellectual property for the originating shows.
No author is credited in this scenario booklet, but later ones in the series give writing credit to Alan Tucker, so I assume he did all of them. It's unclear whether Alan Tucker was a FASA staffer writing the scenario, or if someone from TCI wrote the scenario. Interestingly, the spelling conventions used are British ("defence" instead of "defense").
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Date: 3001
Location: Unknown
Title: Quicksand
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #6 - Rifleman and Warhammer)
Synopsis: Ben Slayton's unit has dropped onto New Eden city in a stealth night raid, catching the garrison unaware and massacring them at their barracks. With the primary opposition neutralized, the raiders sweep through the streets of New Eden city to mop up the few surviving garrison 'Mechs. As dawn breaks, Slayton's Warhammer chases a Rifleman out of the city into a swamp, and is just about to give up the pursuit when it turns to fight.
Advancing towards the enemy, Slayton's 'Mech plunges into a concealed patch of quicksand, sinking up to its shoulders and unable to fire its weapons. The Rifleman takes advantage of the Warhammer's predicament and peppers Slayton's ride with laser fire. As the Warhammer crawls out of the slime, Slayton realizes he can't tell the difference between quicksand and solid ground.
The Rifleman pilot, DeGreve, has done practice maneuvers in these swamps, and lured the raider to the swamp to take advantage of the quicksand. Historically, DeGreve used superior knowledge of the local terrain to immobilize the Warhammer and score a fatal head shot.
On two BattleTech maps laid end to end, the Rifleman player is allowed to secretly designate 20 as quicksand. When a 'Mech enters that space, it automatically falls in, and cannot fire any weapons. It receives partial cover while submerged. The following turn, the 'Mech may fire any weapon but the PPCs. The third turn, the 'Mech is placed in an adjacent hex and may operate normally.
Notes: The lack of a time limit makes this potentially challenging scenario merely a battle of two turrets. The Rifleman's AC/5s and the Warhammer's PPCs have the same range profile. All the Warhammer has to do is back up to the edge of the map and stand still. If the Rifleman wants to engage, it has to come into range, and the Warhammer outguns the Rifleman at all ranges, and has more armor. If Slayton had been given a time limit, that would have forced the Warhammer player to advance to try to pin the Rifleman in a corner, or risk the Rifleman just running out the clock.
About the best thing the Rifleman can do is put quicksand barriers around every Woods space or every spot that could provide partial cover, and then trade fire from inside woods or behind a rock outcrop. The scenario suggests the Rifleman can close to physical attack range, shove the Warhammer into an adjacent quicksand space, and then fall back, but the Warhammer's close-in weaponry still outclasses the Rifleman's, and the Rifleman is likely to take a 14-point kick to the shins (which would breach its 12 points of armor there) while trying to shove the Warhammer into the muck. (Plus, looking at the design, the SRM-6 should always be able to fire unless the Warhammer is completely submerged, since it's on an elevated mount.)
The date of 3001 is arbitrary.
There's no canon world with a city of New Eden on it, though the name suggests it was a colony founded by colonists seeking a new paradise. It's probably not on the world of Eden, which is a Clan Pentagon world (unless this takes place on Eden during the Pentagon Civil War, with both sides being part of rival factions - Levic Ascendancy, the McDonald Collective, the People's Congress or the Sarbat Khanate - but Eden is described as a dry world, so a swamp with quicksand would be rare).
I could see it being on the worlds of Second Chance, Second Try, New Home, New Earth, New Hope, etc. Or, it could be a Periphery independent being hit by bandits. The fact that the garrison was taken completely by surprise and wiped out in their barracks suggests that the garrison faction has no deep space monitoring equipment, because even raiders appearing at a pirate point would take a few hours to get on the ground.
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Date: August 3, 3001
Location: Al Na'ir
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the military HQ in Homai-Zaki, the entire Second Arkab Legion and their supporting armor and infantry regiments stand ready for inspection, led by the commander's Atlas. Facing them are the command companies of the 8th and 15th Dieron Regulars, present for the official change of command ceremony - with the Legion and its support troops departing for Tannil and being replaced by the Regulars. The Warlord of Dieron is in attendance as well, attended by troops from the Fifth Sword of Light.
Fahad watches the ceremony from the BattleMech assembly center on the southwest side of the complex. The technical support staff will remain, permanently attached to the headquarters on Al Na'ir. Fahad alternately wishes he were anywhere else but Al Na'ir, and that the Arkab Legions were engaged in battle against the DCMS troops. He reflects on how he's managed to live within his father's tight restrictions, and still managed to see his friends and discuss the politics of freedom for the Azami every few months.
As the ceremony breaks up, the Warlord and his officers pass by where Fahad and his father's technical team are standing at attention. Fahad hears the Warlord telling his aides that the Azami cannot be trusted, and that it was his suggestion to the Coordinator to move them off the strategic world of Al Na'ir and bring in more reliable troops.
Fahad is outraged at the disrespect shown, given that the Arkab Legions have fought loyally for the Dragon for half a millennium. Jabal gives him and the other techs a glance that communicated "you heard nothing." He tells Fahad that what matters is actions. Fahad resolves to tell his friends of the Warlord's arrogance the next time he sees his friends, in a few months.
Notes: There's nothing known of Tannil other than its status as the 2nd Arkab Legion's duty posting from 3025 onwards (now updated to 3001 onwards). It's a jump back from the border, so probably less subject to regular raids, but still vulnerable to the occasional deep raid. More importantly, it is a support staging point from which the Legion can reinforce numerous threatened border worlds.
One of the things that struck me as I went through the MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries storyline is how frequent internal revolts against the central government were, both in the Combine and the Federated Suns (and presumably in other Successor States as well). The Azami aren't the only people yearning to set their own course without the demands for blood and tribute from the central government.
This is particularly true in the Combine. From 2963 onwards, Coordinator Hohiro Kurita imposed a series of "reforms" known as the "Dragon Renewals," which systematically stripped resources and freedoms from the people of the Combine in an effort to maximize the realm's military and bend the realm to his will. He eliminated health care for the lower classes, mandated Japanese as the sole official language (though that was dropped after mass protests), nationalized industries, and centralized military command decisions, stripping authority from the Warlords, and driving his troops brutally, inflicting terrible punishments for dereliction or cowardice. He relented in 2999, authorizing massive festivals and celebrations to ring in the millennium (and showcase Takashi's elevation to head of the Otomo), but then clamped down even harder afterwards to "strip away the laziness caused by the celebrations."
Consider Jabal's attitude in the light of Hohiro's rule. As an autonomous collection of worlds within the Combine, the "Dragon Renewals" wouldn't have hit the Azami as hard as they did the rest of the Combine. The Arkab Legions weren't abused like the District Regulars were. Azami social services would still be funded by the Azami self-rule government out of locally collected taxes. Jabal must know how good, comparatively, the Azami have it, and doesn't want to risk rocking the boat and ending the protections that the Pact provides against Hohiro's rule. If the Azami have to put up with arrogance and disrespect from outsiders in order to retain and enjoy their autonomy, it's a small price to pay to avoid the poverty and terror that pervade daily life outside the Azami enclaves. I'm surprised, though, that Fahad's pal Joseph, from the Rasalhague Military District, hasn't put things in context for him - if Fahad thinks the Azami have it bad, he should spend a day in a Rasalhagian's boots. (Ha - like they can afford boots...)
The 5th Sword of Light is referred to as "the creme de la creme" of the entire DCMS. Which makes them being used as mecha-mook punching bags for the Kell Hounds that much more ludicrous.
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Holloway V does not appear on any official maps. I have arbitrarily dated the scenario 3000, which allows for the world to have been damaged enough to be taken off the maps by 3025 (but, of course, would not explain its absence from the maps dating back to the Star League.)
As per this official ruling (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=12726.msg300976#msg300976) from Øystein, "as a general rule, any "missing" Great House world mentioned post-3020s is deemed to be a secondary system some place, or an alternative name to a world".
While admittedly this is only a general rule and also technically only applies to post-3020, I tend to apply this as a default. Consequently, I'd either place Holloway V in the periphery or postulate that it is on the starmaps under another, better known name.
As for dating, I similarly tend to use 3025 or slightly pior as the default year for any undated early BattleTech material on general principle.
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As per this official ruling (https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=12726.msg300976#msg300976) from Øystein, "as a general rule, any "missing" Great House world mentioned post-3020s is deemed to be a secondary system some place, or an alternative name to a world".
While admittedly this is only a general rule and also technically only applies to post-3020, I tend to apply this as a default. Consequently, I'd either place Holloway V in the periphery or postulate that it is on the starmaps under another, better known name.
As for dating, I similarly tend to use 3025 or slightly pior as the default year for any undated early BattleTech material on general principle.
Given the setup, Holloway V has to be near the Combine/FedSuns border, since the Lancers were able to quickly divert to it while returning from a deep raid into the Combine.
After the events of the Second Hidden War and Operation SMOTHER, it makes a lot of sense for there to be SLDF depots along the border, given the history of trouble between the two states.
The naming convention makes it hard for it to be in an existing system - it should, by rights, be the fifth world in the Holloway star system.
Outpost worlds are a definite possibility - the old sourcebooks are rife with unmapped places like Newbraska, Dogg, Rahway II, Dragon’s Field, Derby, and Longbow Mountain. In my head-canon, those are outposts - lacking a civilian government. There might be raw material extraction operations there, but no real domestic economy, local politics, or native-born population. The populace consists of workers brought in to mine, or farm, or service mercs on R&R, or staff a staging depot, but lacks the political structures that would get it on ComStar’s radar.
Or, it could have had a political structure but appeared, then failed, between the start and end of the Third Succession War, so it wouldn’t show up on the maps thus far available.
I put it in 3000 so that either a mayfly duration failed colony-to-be or outpost world explanation works. Using 3025 would eliminate the “failed colony” option.
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Date: April 23, 3022
Location: New London
Title: Operation MAD HOUSE
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #3 - Thunderbolt and BattleMaster)
Synopsis: House Marik staged a battalion drop against the Federated Suns agricultural world of New London, which appeared to lack any strategic significance. The LCCC planning staff who launched the operation were executed afterwards.
While the world of New London was garrisoned only by the few personal guards of its Baron, the system was hosting wargame exercises between four Union DropShips and a large number of aerospace fighters when the Marik battalion arrived aboard two DropShips. The Marik fighter escorts were outnumbered ten to one, and the Unions destroyed the Marik Overlord as it was dropping its 'Mechs, leaving battalion commander Major McFarlen as the sole survivor.
The other Marik DropShip, the Leopard-class Anarchist, attempted to recover the survivors, but McFarlen landed 20 km east of the drop site in a damaged BattleMaster. Between him and rescue stands one of the Baron's guards, Lt. Soulflec, in a Thunderbolt.
Soulflec's goal is to destroy the BattleMaster, while McFarlen's is to maneuver past the Thunderbolt and exit off the far edge of the map. Historically, McFarlen never made it back to the pick-up site.
Notes: In terms of the scenario, it's a pretty straightforward breakthrough scenario. The BattleMaster has been damaged to make it equal with the 20-ton lighter Thunderbolt. Both are 4/6, which is good. If the escaping side is too mobile, breakthrough scenarios lose their challenge. The Thunderbolt should try to engage at range as much as possible, since it has the Large Laser and LRMs, while the BattleMaster only has the PPC. Once things get into close quarters (9 or fewer hexes), the BattleMaster's laser and SRM batteries come into play, massively outgunning the Thunderbolt's close quarter weapons. The BattleMaster has better skill, so it can afford to run and gun.
Where things get weird is the setup. As usual for the early products, the world in question doesn't technically exist in canon. While there is a canon city of New London (the capital of Skye), this is explicitly described as an agricultural world in the Federated Suns. It's not out of the question for the Free Worlds League to raid across the Capellan Confederation into the Federated Suns, but it is highly unusual. Hornet's Nest, in 3022, featured a Marik-financed mercenary raid on the Davion world of Demeter. So, perhaps the raid on New London was part of the same operation that called for a raid on Demeter. The rationale is lampshaded as inexplicable, and can't even be described as a token strike against the "enemy of my enemy" by the FWL as part of the newly signed Kapteyn Accords, because those weren't signed until after the Demeter raid.
The world of New London can be described as a secondary world in an established system, with a small agricultural colony there that feeds the larger world in the system. Perhaps, given the timing, New London is in the Demeter system. In that case, the raid on Demeter came off okay, but the raid on New London was intercepted by AFFS space forces engaged in war games.
It's an odd statement to make that this was one of the few decisive Naval battles ever fought during the Succession Wars. Especially given all the decisive naval battles of the First and Second Succession Wars, and the Great Lee Turkey Shoot.
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At least this time we have some hint regarding the timeframe. After the 3002 debacle at Solaris VII Willis Crawford (https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Willis_Crawford) was famously the first Marik officer to be executed following a court martial in over a century. We're therefore looking at a "decisive naval engagement" from the 3rd SW era and it must have taken place later than 3002.
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If the Marik fighters were truly outnumbered 10-to-1, that puts the AFFS fighter contingent at 60, equating to three Wings (AFFS uses 20 fighters per wing), or an Aero Regiment.
The only question is why they were attached to four Unions. You'd think there'd be Vengeances or a pile of Leopard CVs involved. Perhaps the fighters were ground-based on New London for the purpose of the exercise (though a wing doing hostile intercept training exercises, for true verisimilitude, should be deploying from DropShips), or perhaps the Unions were retrofitted as fighter-carriers (Union CV?).
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A potential (though also potentially inelegant) solution to these planets that don't appear on the map might be that the name of the planet is simply different from its parent star, and the canon maps chart star systems, not individual worlds.
Not even necessarily because there are other planets in the system, but just because the people who made it their home chose another name than the astronomers who named their star. Whether the star's name (like Rigil Kentaurus, Altair, or the like) or the planet's name (like Hesperus II) goes on the chart might just come down to habit (We've been calling it Vega since before we knew there were planets around it, damnit!), reputation (Coventry has brand recognition, Coventry III sounds like when the series hits its low point), or luck (I heard Demeter and New London, but the Star League Bureau of Planets only gave me one spot for a name, so I flipped a coin).
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A potential (though also potentially inelegant) solution to these planets that don't appear on the map might be that the name of the planet is simply different from its parent star, and the canon maps chart star systems, not individual worlds.
Not even necessarily because there are other planets in the system, but just because the people who made it their home chose another name than the astronomers who named their star. Whether the star's name (like Rigil Kentaurus, Altair, or the like) or the planet's name (like Hesperus II) goes on the chart might just come down to habit (We've been calling it Vega since before we knew there were planets around it, damnit!), reputation (Coventry has brand recognition, Coventry III sounds like when the series hits its low point), or luck (I heard Demeter and New London, but the Star League Bureau of Planets only gave me one spot for a name, so I flipped a coin).
The standard model for the starmap labels is for the notation on the map to be for the primary colony in that system, rather than to be named after the star. Thus, though Verthandi is technically Norn II, the label on the map is Verthandi. Even though there are other inhabited bodies in the Hesperus system (a mining colony and a penal colony), the main colony is on Hesperus II, so that gets the label. On the other hand, the Sirius system featured three inhabited bodies, with the primary being Sirius IV (until the dome there got blown up) and then being Sirius VIa. Yet, rather than the label being "Sirius VIa," they just call it the Sirius system. In the Periphery, both Niops and Mica show each colony in the system as a separate circle in a tight cluster, but no other multi-colony systems are thusly represented.
If an apocryphal world has a non-numbered name, I would presume that it's a secondary settlement in an existing system, where the map label ignores its existence. If an apocryphal world has a numbered name, I would assume that it's a minor world in an existing system that is named after the star, while the primary colony has earned another more distinctive name. Or, that it's a minor outpost without a civilian government (like Dogg, in "I Am Jade Falcon," which was used as a military storage depot, but didn't have a permanent population and so was left off the maps). One entry in MechWarrior 2E's section on nobility pointed out that one FedSuns noble, for example, technically controlled 17 systems, but only one had a significant settlement in it. The rest were uninhabited, or only home to mining outposts.
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Date: February 25, 3002
Location: Al Na'ir
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Sabotaged components cause a massive explosion at the Yori 'Mech Works assembly plant, resulting in damage that wouldn't be fully repaired until 3009, the resignation of the CEO and members of the board, and the Warlord of Dieron's loss of face. Those consequences are all years in the future.
In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, Jabal bursts into Fahad's room and demands he tell him he was not involved. Fahad fails to play innocent, and Jabal tells him he is ashamed of Fahad's lies. He prays that no evidence of Fahad's sabotage is discovered, lest the ISF come for their family, or the whole of the Dragon take vengeance upon the Azami people. To avoid those consequences, Jabal says, he will tell nobody. However, from this moment onwards, Fahad is cast out - from the family, and from the Azami. He is now "altayih" - a wanderer.
Fahad quietly packs and departs. He'd expected severing ties to have hurt more.
Notes: This answers my earlier question - is the ISF present on Azami worlds, or does their autonomy shield them from the Eyes of the Dragon? Monitoring does not appear to be ubiquitous, since Fahad was able to make comments like "Boy do I wish the Coordinator was dead" without ISF ninjas crashing through the window, katana in hand.
Jabal's fears are well grounded, given how much the rest of the Combine was suffering at this point now that the year of celebration was over and Coordinator Hohiro was back in crack-down mode. Odds are that the Azami don't have offworld news sources of their own, and rely on the same Voice of the Dragon propaganda broadcasts everyone else sees. Like many in totalitarian societies, they may have developed a skill at reading between the lines to figure out the truth by dint of what is not said.
When somebody is declared "altayih," I wonder how that status is communicated in the community? Jabal certainly can't say why, lest he draw ISF attention. Perhaps this happens often enough that everyone will just nod solemnly and move on. Or will Jabal formally register Fahad's new status with the central Azami government?
Right now, when the Dragon is strong and harsh, Fahad is cast out for daring to strike a blow against its infrastructure. However, decades later, when the Azami worlds were in crisis during the Jihad, and the Dragon proved too weak and distracted to provide assistance, the Azami Brotherhood temporarily seceded from the Combine. Fahad was just ahead of his time.
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The standard model for the starmap labels is for the notation on the map to be for the primary colony in that system, rather than to be named after the star. Thus, though Verthandi is technically Norn II, the label on the map is Verthandi. Even though there are other inhabited bodies in the Hesperus system (a mining colony and a penal colony), the main colony is on Hesperus II, so that gets the label. On the other hand, the Sirius system featured three inhabited bodies, with the primary being Sirius IV (until the dome there got blown up) and then being Sirius VIa. Yet, rather than the label being "Sirius VIa," they just call it the Sirius system. In the Periphery, both Niops and Mica show each colony in the system as a separate circle in a tight cluster, but no other multi-colony systems are thusly represented.
I'm not entirely convinced that's the standard practice. Lots of systems on the map carry the names of just their stars. which we know because the names for those stars are real world names for the stars that date back centuries. I find it hard to believe that people were in the habit of naming their new homes after the stars they happened to be orbiting around without bothering for any differentiation.
I would assume the practice of conflating the two would actually come from outsiders and chart makers, simply to avoid confusion over things they don't care about. Jump navigators don't care so much what a planet is called, because they use the stars as aiming points.
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Date: June 17, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: At the Collective Center in Rivergaard, Steadfast Court waits outside the First Proctor's office, reflecting how she'd used her psychology training to help Ian Levine remake Litzau University into the Golden Prosperity Reeducation Camp, and how she'd risen in stature after his murder and the subsequent purge of corrupt proctors, though, per the ideals of the revolution, she does not expect praise, since having any one person be better than another reflects counter-revolutionary hierarchical thinking.
The First Proctor, a gray-haired woman, welcomes Steadfast and tells her that her efforts to denounce her peers and those in supervisory positions has been noted, paired with the suggestion that one responsible for so many purges might herself be a counterrevolutionary. The First Proctor questions Steadfast's adoption of that name over her birth name of Bethany, but notes that she only joined the movement after it was launched. Although the First Proctor says that Steadfast's work at Golden Prosperity is exemplary, she cautions that her pursuit of purity may hinder practicality. She notes that Steadfast denounced state-run holovid broadcasts of Solaris VII fights and other lowbrow entertainments, and counsels her that the 'Mech battles can provide a shared, tribalistic experience and appeals to the emotions of the masses.
The First Proctor adds that the content shown on Maldive has been heavily edited by servants of the Revolution to control storylines and outcomes in service of the goals of the Revolution. Plus, she adds, the interactive toys based on the matches have dialogue that supports the ideals of the Revolution, and families who work hard and save to buy the toys support the Revolution with their labor. She advises Steadfast to focus on the bigger picture, and accept that some small things need to be overlooked from time to time.
Steadfast worries that such laxity could harm the purity of the Revolution and invite corruption and betrayal. The First Proctor says she admires her zeal and charges her with a secret project - leaving Golden Prosperity and taking on the job of breaking the will of Abigail Litzau.
Notes: This scene serves as a status update following the Solaris VII interlude (the Collective controls the cities and has established trade ties with some Inner Sphere governments, the Resistance is still operating in the countryside, and the Revolution has entered a 1984-esque phase of focusing on thought-control and re-education.) It's not clear what the two groups have been doing to battle each other, nor where the general rank and file stand, but the implication is that the Collective is attempting to win hearts and minds through propaganda and youth indoctrination. I wouldn't expect the anti-Collective forces to be terribly good at guerrilla warfare, since they're largely composed of the former elites (the First Families) and their retainers, and would by training and outlook focus more on stand-up 'Mech battles.
The scene establishes Steadfast as a fanatical true-believer in the utopian egalitarian ideals of the Collective, who is more than happy to use the Collective's utopian ideals as a benchmark for how herself and all others should behave. The First Proctor is set up as a far more pragmatic individual who realizes she's been handed a rabid dog and is now relocating that dangerous animal to somewhere where it will stop chewing up and spitting out other key members of the Collective's hierarchy in the name of purity. Her comment about Steadfast not having been involved in the Collective's planning stages suggest either there are elements of the plan that Steadfast doesn't know, or that the Collective leadership isn't as committed to the ideals they've promulgated as Steadfast herself is.
Steadfast is written as a stock revolutionary convert, who has cast aside her old life without hesitation and embraced the tenets of the NewThink with fanatical devotion. She would fit seamlessly into the guillotine phase of the French Revolution, the early Soviet period of post-revolutionary consolidation, or an Amway convention. As such, with this being a Stackpole novel, we're unlikely to see much in the way of additional character development from Steadfast/Bethany - who will instead play the role of "completely unrelatable antagonist character whose downfall the audience will cheer when she gets her rightful comeuppance from the heroes." Honestly, she was written as such a purist and fanatic that I was half convinced, when the First Proctor said that some small infractions should be overlooked, that Steadfast was going to lunge out of her chair and snap the older woman's neck, then declare herself First Proctor, unwilling to tolerate deviation from utopian ideals from anyone.
The fact that she acquiesces suggests that Steadfast does, in fact, recognize a hierarchy. Heck, she references denouncing supervisors for not punishing their subordinates, and then denouncing the supervisors to their supervisors. She notes that she has a staff of dozens at the re-education center, but doesn't question that she's giving the orders and they're carrying them out. Were she a true egalitarian, she'd have to question why she's giving orders and they're taking them.
I feel sure that the mention of the holovids from Solaris VII getting edited for the Collective's purposes suggests a set-up for the crew from Solaris VII coming home vilified.
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Date: June 19, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: Chairman Stephan Andrich, head of the Andrich Foundation receives Ciena Keele, a representative from the Barringtons, at his luxurious ancestral home, outside of the city of Richland, both of which had been built with the proceeds from House Andrich's arms manufacturing business, founded by the House progenitor, Anselm Andrich.
The two go outside to chat as they walk, in hopes of foiling any surveillance by Collective agents. Andrich comments that he was surprised to receive a meeting request from the Barringtons, given their close relationship with the Collective - manufacturing toys based on Solaris VII broadcasts. Keele responds that the Barringtons are well aware that no revolution that advocates giving power to the people has ever survived, whereas the industrial-feudal system that concentrates power in the hands of the elites is a mainstay of human civilization. She says Barringtons' analysis of the Collective predicts a collapse of the revolution, followed by a cycle of bloody revenge against those seen to have collaborated. Barringtons wants friends among the opposition who can provide protection.
Keele tells Andrich that, per her analysis, the optimal return to stability on Maldive involves a Litzau restoration. Andrich is skeptical, since all but Abigail are dead or fled offworld, and Abigail has been captured and tried for treason and crimes against humanity. Keele agrees, but notes that Andrich is descended from the Litzau line, and only seven cousins stand between him and the Chair - only four if Ivan, Sophia, and Abigail are assumed to be dead or otherwise out of the running. She adds that those four have either signed away their rights or are in hiding. While Abigail's shares (and heritage) would fall to Richard Oglethorpe, their marriage was done without official records, and Oglethorpe has been a shell of his former self since Abigail's capture, and paranoid about traitors.
Given the options, Keele continues, Andrich is stable, has the proper pedigree, and has access to far more 'Mechs, spare parts, and munitions than his Andrich Uhlans will ever use. She explains that the Collective hasn't attacked them because it doesn't realize they're holding 50% of their output back, sending only 30% to the Collective, and assesses the Uhlans as unskilled, and therefore no threat. Keele says that she has a good use for the stockpiled equipment - having brought in mercenary MechWarriors as "guest workers" - describing them as technical consultants for their Solaris VII licensed toys and games.
Keele proposes having Andrich lead an assault on Rivergaard with her mercenaries and his equipment, executing a Litzau restoration. In exchange, Barringtons would get permission to continue manufacturing on Maldive and preferable tax status for exports into the Capellan and FWL markets. She leaves him with a prospectus for a new educational game, simulating a counterrevolution. She invites his input. Andrich suggests such a product might be a huge success.
Notes: In the introductory novella for this series, when the Dhivi were introduced, one character noted that when you get two Dhivi together, you create at least three conspiracies. Stackpole is showcasing that trait here.
It appears that many of the non-assimilated elites still on Maldive are assuming positions of guarded neutrality, providing resources to both sides. They don't want to directly oppose the Collective, lest they get lumped in with the Resistance and subjected to a frontal assault against their holdings, but they don't want the Resistance to lose, lest the unopposed Collective turn its eyes towards their luxury estates and wealth. So, they play for time while pitting both factions against each other.
The offer Keele is proposing seems far too good to be true, so I'm guessing she's up to something. Perhaps she's a stalking horse for the Collective - trying to get the Andrich Uhlans out of their strongpoints and on the offensive so that the Collective can crush them and take full control of their munitions plants. Or perhaps she's an agent of the MIIO or Maskirovka, trying to bring the independent world into one of the neighboring Successor States' grasp. (Sure thing - Litzau Restoration...only now you pay 20% of your tax revenue, off the top, to Sian.)
The bit about the "technical consultants for games" being undercover mercenaries is fun - since it's essentially meta-portraying FASA/Catalyst as a shadowy organization whose "writers" and "playtesters" are actually secret black-ops commandos. And then passing the operational plans for the attack on the Collective as an educational game was another fun bit...though given the attention the Collective seems to give to indoctrination and propaganda, they'd see that as a highly suspicious item and at the very least order its destruction. The explanation "it's only a game scenario," wouldn't get the conspirators off the hook, since they'd be asked "And why weren't you making educational games that award bonus points for identifying WrongThink and sending counter-revolutionaries to the re-education center?" (And both Steve Jackson and Herb Beas can attest to the utter lack of humor displayed by government agents when they get suspicious about a game. Heck, I got my mail stolen by the Romanian secret police for two years because the map from the Succession Wars game resembled the shape of Romania, and they thought I was planning an invasion.)
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Date: June 21, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: At the Martyrs' Memorial (formerly the Litzau Summer Home), Proctor Steadfast Court reviews the gardens where the Rivergaard Rangers had herded captive revolutionaries together and buried them in mass graves, according to Collective propaganda. Revolutionary artists have commemorated the Collective dead with statues of angels in torment surrounding a tall and pure proctor - their only source of hope.
Court meets with Proctor Mann, the facilities supervisor, to brief him on her mission support needs. She asks for a crew of "no questions asked" operatives wearing full-face helmets. Mann offers some people who Court previously "trained" at Golden Prosperity. Mann notes that he was under her "care" for a month in the Punishment Cadre after Ian Levine's death, and has that "training" to thank for his current position, having recommitted himself to the Revolution.
Court suggests that Mann would be a good asset in her work with Abigail Litzau, since his "redemption through suffering" could convince her that coming over to the Collective as a way to escape further torment is a viable option.
Notes: Truth is the first casualty of any war. Looking back at the scenes in Heir Apparent and Apparent Catastrophe, the Collective was using the gardens to bury their victims, and then the Rivergaard Rangers attacked and killed the Collective revolutionaries who'd been putting people in mass graves. The garden holds bodies from both sides of the conflict, burned beyond recognition.
Oh dear. Court is requesting a troop of henchmen she's previously tortured with full-face helmets to hide their expressions. Likelihood that the heroes will be infiltrating/suborning her retinue...now approaching 100%. It's like Stackpole decided to have her run down the Evil Overlord checklist, but not avoid the standard pitfalls.
Given Mann's personal history with Court, I'm also expecting him to backstab her and get personal revenge when the opportunity arises. I haven't yet read to the end (I want to have honest reactions to the plot twists), but if I'm reading the tea leaves right, and if I know Stackpole's standard set-ups, Court could teach a master class in being hoist by her own petard.
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Date: June 23, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: In the media room/military command center of his estate, Director Stephan Andrich meets with three MechWarriors in Barringtons coveralls. They introduce themselves as Brett Bozeman, Thomas Hayes, and Helen Beattie, and explain that they have been professionally evaluating the Andrich Uhlans. Hayes compliments their equipment, but he decries their lack of combat training, describing the unit's MechWarriors as closer to jockies. Beattie notes that their skill level is sufficient to man Richland's fortifications, but not to serve as a mobile offensive force. Bozeman suggests training the force on simulators, but only after they secure their systems from Collective surveillance, so as not to tip their hand.
The mercenaries show Andrich a holovid from the sim runs used to assess the Uhlans, focusing on their strongest units being taken apart by a mercenary Rifleman, and the rest of the unit dissolving into panic thereafter. Hayes suggests bringing in two companies of mercenaries to form a solid core around which they can organize the Uhlans. The best will be folded into the mobile force, while the lesser pilots will form a Home Guard. Bozeman says he has sufficient pilots, and Andrich's parts supply will allow them to bring their 'Mechs up to fighting strength.
Elated, Andrich suggests that Bozeman should have the rank of colonel, befitting his command of the Uhlans, while Hayes and Beattie serve as majors.
Notes: The fact that we haven't yet seen the core characters from the previous three novellas suggests to me that Andrich's efforts are all going to end in tears, betrayal, and blood. Otherwise, what's the point of building up the "exiled heir" storyline if a tertiary character is given the resources to swoop in and resolve the crisis while the main protagonist is still en route back from Solaris? If the Uhlans are shattered by the Collective's forces, that will increase the threat of the antagonist Collective, and make it all the more heroic when the protagonists pull off a victory where the better equipped Uhlans failed.
Stackpole's Kell Hound stories featured one scene (in the scenario pack) where a merc at a bar on Galatea brags that he's going to sign with the Kell brothers, have them fix up his ride, and then ditch them for a more lucrative contract. The mention in passing, here, of the mercs having their own rides, and using Andrich's stockpile of parts to fix them up, suggests that the mercenaries are perhaps going to go that route - pull a pit stop on Maldive and then take their freshly refitted ride back into the Inner Sphere in search of more lucrative contracts.
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Date: June 25, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: Proctor Steadfast Court continues her work to break Abigail Litzau, using sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and random blasts of icy water to brainwash her captive, held in a retrofitted basement safe room in the former Litzau summer house. In today's exercise, over a loudspeaker, she demands that Abigail answer three questions truthfully to earn food, then words the questions so that there are grounds for denying the food no matter how Abigail answers, but in a way that makes the victim feel at fault for giving the wrong answer. This is not an interrogation - at this stage, Proctor Court just wants the right reaction. When she sees the proper amount of fear and despair, she replaces the image of the Litzau crest on the interrogation room screen with a soothing image of the Collective symbol, and authorizes a small amount of food and rest - giving Abigail positive reinforcement towards submitting to the Collective.
Notes: In her introduction, Proctor Court reflected that she'd been studying psychology at the University before the Revolution, and appears to be applying those techniques here. Having never studied psychology myself, I can't say whether this sort of conditioning might be effective in the real world or not. I have read of various cults indoctrinating members using starvation and deprivation to destroy their sense of self and get them to go along with whatever the cult leader suggests.
This scene has some similarities with the interrogation scene in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, where Phelan Kell has been drugged and is being questioned by two Clan Wolf Warriors. I would very much doubt that the Warrior Caste gives their sibkos any formal training in psychology, so they tended to rely more on truth serum drugs and brainwave monitoring to detect resistance and/or attempts to lie. Though Maldive has an unusually high level of technology and resources for a Periphery world in 3002, they do not appear to have brainwave monitors, and rely on the Proctor's training in psychology to assess a subject's emotional state and mental condition. While this may be enough, I'm not sure a second or third year psych major would be good enough at this to create reliable brainwashing subjects.
That being said, there are references to technological methods of brainwashing - including those used by the Capellan Confederation during Operation DOPPELGANGER and that used by the Word of Blake when creating suicide bombers and other infiltrators during the Jihad. However, those probably rely on LosTech, and definitely aren't in use here.
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Date: July 8, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: Colonel Bozeman shows Director Stephan Andrich a holotable simulating the Andrich Uhlans maneuvers in a valley 30 km north of his estates. Major Hayes reports on the results of two weeks of training with the integrated mercenary/Uhlan force - more than doubled weapon efficiency at optimal range, and 75% increased accuracy at speed, plus greatly increased discipline.
Andrich notes that, in field exercises, the mercenary units have been painted to look like the Rivergaard Rangers, except with a gold ring around the ankle. Colonel Bozeman explained that, since the Uhlans will be attacking the Rangers, the paint scheme was intended to get them used to their enemy's colors, and to facilitate infiltration of the Rangers' territory posing as friendlies.
Major Hayes calls up a topographical map of South Riding, where the Oglethorpe stronghold - the Grange - sits adjacent to the settlement of Baronville, which lies athwart a major crossroads leading Richland, Rivergaard, and other settlements, with garrisons set up at strategic choke points. Colonel Bozeman estimates that the Rangers have two companies of 'Mechs, operating at 85% of full strength, but likely to be low on missiles. Major Hayes suggests a feint to draw off the garrison forces to the northwest, while a false-colored company infiltrates around to the south through Middlesex Downs and then moves north to Baronville, hoping that everyone will assume they are Rangers' reinforcements headed north to join the defense. Thusly outmaneuvered, the Rangers will be forced to surrender to the Uhlans, and can then join Andrich's fight against the Collective.
Colonel Bozeman estimates they can launch the assault in a week or two, at the outside.
Notes: The holotable is, of course, a meta reference to the players of the BattleTech game, who spend their battles looming over simulated terrain tables populated by tiny 'Mech representations. At the operational scale for planning the feint and southern approach, Andrich is playing holographic BattleForce.
Andrich is astounded at the high resolution of the table, suggesting that the locally available units have been fairly low-rez by comparison, and that units of the Lofton Corporation model's sophistication may be LosTech on Maldive.
This is the first scene where it becomes clear what the plan is - to defeat and assimilate the Rangers, and then go after the Collective with a unified force, minus the battle losses from the conflict. As established in earlier novellas, the various nobles on Maldive that survived the Collective's initial assault retreated into their own fortified enclaves and battled both the Collective and each other.
Posing as friendlies either presupposes that they've been able to spoof the Rangers' IFF systems as well as their paint schemes, or that the Rangers lack IFF systems. Also, if the Rangers only have two companies of troops, won't it be suspicious for a whole company to be moving in unison, since forces dispatched from various garrisons would probably be moving at Lance strength at most?
I'm getting a very "Game of Thrones" vibe from the various noble fiefdoms, all named after the founding family and focusing on the geography, strategies, and interplay between multiple mutually-hostile factions.
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Date: July 22, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: At the Martyrs' Memorial, Steadfast Court applauds Abigail as she practices her denunciation of House Litzau and endorsement of the Collective. However, she berates her for referring to herself as Renata ('Born Again' in Latin) - the name she chose for herself as having been reborn into the Collective, just as Steadfast's former name had been Bethany. Steadfast contends that the denunciation is far more powerful coming from Abigail Litzau than from some nobody named Renata, and also states that Abigail does not deserve a new name until she has fully proven herself committed to the revolution and the Collective. She dispatches Abigail back to her cell.
Precentor Mann arrives as Abigail is taken away, and asks if there is a problem. Steadfast answers that her denunciation speech has to include honest pain in her voice to accept her statements as true, rather than just a brainwashed person reading a script. She expects the less intelligent people to accept the conversion and decide to follow Abigail's lead in support of the Collective.
They go together to Mann's office, and he shows Steadfast boxes from Barringtons containing action figures of Aniki and the Mystery Mercenary from Solaris VII. He notes that the boxes were sent from Rivergaard to be distributed in and around Swindon. He asks why the Collective is promoting such non-Revolutionary things.
Steadfast answers that the communal pleasure of cheering for Solaris heroes binds the people together, and makes the citizens work harder to be able to provide such luxuries to their children, who in turn will be indoctrinated by the messages on the figures' speech chips. She compares the dolls to Abigail, saying that when she is finished with Steadfast's treatment, she'll be repeating a script approved by the Collective, for the benefit of all.
Notes: There are parallels in this scene to the breaking scenes at the conclusion of 1984. In many ways, the Collective strongly resembles Oceania, given the focus on self abnegation, slavish devotion to the state, denunciations of traitors to the revolution, and brainwashing.
We've seen that Barringtons is plotting against the Collective (or at least they appear to be - depending on how the Uhlan/Ranger conflict shapes up). I wonder if the messages on the dolls' circuits is really only Collective propaganda, or if it's programmed to switch to a counter-revolutionary call-to-action when given the signal. Especially since the two licensed figures are of Ivan Litzau's chief supporters. If Ivan shows up flanked by Walter "Mystery Mercenary" deMesnil and Aniki, who endorse him as the rightful heir, any hero worship among the youth and their parents will be transferred to Ivan. (Granted, this assumes people will blindly support someone just because they saw them on the holovids, but there are real world precedents.)
Mann notes in passing that his children were killed during the revolution. Steadfast blows it off, referring to them as having been martyred. Yet one more foreshadowing element for Mann being the one who turns on Steadfast.
On Solaris, Sofia had to pay high fees for news from Maldive, since ComStar distributes information on a sliding fee scale, with news of major events and high level happenings that can affect many worlds getting top priority for wide distribution, while niche stories about backwater world events may take years to circulate unless someone pays through the nose for expedited delivery. While I'm sure that the Solaris fight vids are popular, Walter and Aniki weren't fighting in the Unlimited class or the major arenas. Did the Collective pay a premium to bring just those fights all the way out to Maldive? Is there even an HPG onworld, or are they relying on data packets beamed down from visiting JumpShips?
Also, why would those fighters and their battles, in particular, have seized the popular imagination on Maldive? The 3001 Class Six champion of Solaris was Hans Schleinning, and Terri Bates is about to begin a four year reign as Solaris Champion in her Atlas, so her preliminary qualifying matches should be burning up the charts about now.
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You do not need a HPG to receive, only to send (though you probably need a ComStar station to have any HPG care send something to you in the first place, with said station locally decoding and distributing the content.
Both the Collective and the counter-revolution have agendas with the Solaris heroes, so buying rights to nobodies to work with makes more sense than buying into uncontrollable champions.
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Date: July 22, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: That same day, at the Grange, Acting Chairman Richard Oglethorpe remains frustrated at the stalemate - while the Collective lacks the strength to breach South Riding's defenses, but he can't send the Rivergaard Rangers on any offensive maneuvers, lest the Collective kill his captive wife, Abigail Litzau. Though he'd be willing to surrender to save Abigail, any promises of leniency from the Collective are judged to be worthless, and he'd earlier promised Abigail that he would continue to fight the Collective if she were captured. He wishes Abigail had fled with Sofia and Ivan when they fled offworld.
Richard's musings are interrupted by the arrival of Lieutenant Doukas,who reports that the Uhlans have been spotted setting up supply depots near Oglethorpe's holdings, suggesting an offensive is planned. Doukas confirms that the latest information from the Uhlans' simulators shows them as unskilled as ever. Richard gets suspicious, and asks about the frequency of training, which Doukas reports to have doubled in the past month, without any improvement. Together, they realize that the numbers must be doctored.
Looking at the tactical situation, they assess that they could hold the threatened region for a while, but lack the consumables to make a long-term stand. Oglethorpe speculates that Andrich wants the Rangers to exhaust their supplies so he can sell them replacements.
Their planning session is interrupted by the arrival of Ciena Keele from Barringtons. She asks to meet in private. Oglethorpe tells Doukas to run simulations on repulsing an invasion. Looking at the seal on the envelope Keele brought with her, he feels hope.
Notes: I remain befuddled by the unhindered availability of simulator data. I can see the utility of having all of a base's simulator pods tied into a central computer, so that multi-pilot engagements can be run, and so that the data can be tabulated and analyzed. However, what I can't comprehend is why all the simulators at each noble's estate seems to be mutually interlinked in such a way that they can't be cut out of the network. Sure, having the simulators interlinked made sense when each noble was assumed to be training their personal guard force and giving them opportunities for inter-household rivalry matches, and for coordination exercises to prepare to support the main militia in the event of an offworld invasion. In the earlier period, data sharing would allow the central command to assess readiness and effectiveness levels for the household auxiliaries. However, it should have been a simple, and necessary step to yank the networking lines out and preserve operational security once a full-on civil war broke out.
The Barringtons' mercenaries do take steps to secure the communications, but that suggests that either Andrich didn't think of doing that, or lacked the technical capabilities.
One other question that arises is how Keele seems to have freedom of movement around Maldive. Yes, Barringtons is publicly supporting the Collective, and can thus move freely around Rivergaard and other areas controlled by the revolutionaries. But surely the Collective has spies in the loyalist camps - wouldn't they report the arrival of Keele and her meetings with leaders of neutral and anti-Collective factions? She hasn't been given any mandate to bring the rebels into the fold, so, to the Collective, what motive could she have for meeting with Oglethorpe and Andrich, other than to conspire against the Collective? She's probably not there to sell more Aniki dolls.
The seal is, most likely, Ivan's - a signal to Richard that he's returned and that Keele/Barringtons represents the true heir.
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Date: July 29, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: Director Stephan Andrich prepares to host a viewing party for the battle, which will play out on a centrally located holotable depicting Quernmore and the M-207 highway, which Ms. Keele's team has set up for him. She tells Andrich that Barringtons recruited her from Solaris VII, where she organized viewing events for arena duels. She explains that the holotable doesn't show the full roster of the Uhlans, so that any spies in attendance will not know about the mercenaries or the southern flank advance. When his guests arrive, Andrich welcomes them with a speech announcing his intention to make things right again. The holotable lights up showing 'Mechs advancing, and Stephan tells his guests that the first step is the unification of the anti-Collective forces.
At the Collective Center in Rivergaard, Steadfast Court has an audience with the First Proctor, who tells Steadfast that her personal transformation has been quite effective, and that she has effectively applied the same transformation to Abigail Litzau. They are joined by Proctor Martial, with reports from Richland that they have tapped Stephan Andrich's holotable and have active intel on the Uhlans' attack on Richard Oglethorpe and the Rangers. Since Abigail is Richard's wife, they discuss whether her statement supporting the Collective will have the same psychological impact on Andrich if his assault is successful in sidelining Oglethorpe. On the display, the battle is joined, and the Proctor Martial assesses that Oglethorpe and the Rangers will lose quickly.
At the Martyrs' Memorial, a storm closes in, drenching the perimeter guards, who are focusing more on their hot tea than the assault team that takes them out with flechette rounds. Infiltrating the compound, they encounter an armed Proctor - Constant Mann. Walter de Mesnil, leading the team, recognizes Mann as Calvin Galarza. He reports Abigail has been subjected to starvation, sleep deprivation, humiliation, psychotropic drugs, and torture. Entering Abigail's cell, the terrified woman refuses to be rescued and insists she's Renata, and loyal to the Collective. They drug her and then extract to their helicopters through the storm and darkness.
Back in Richland, Andrich and his guests cheer the holographic advance of the Uhlans against the Rangers, with radio updates from Colonel Bozeman and Majors Beattie and Hayes. The tone changes when Hayes reports a seismic anomaly, then that enemy forces are overwhelming their position. On the display, the Uhlans' formation falls apart and they retreat in a rout. As Andrich gazes at the disaster in horror, a tap on his shoulder alerts him to the arrival of Richard Oglethorpe, who tells him he's come to accept his surrender. Andrich protests that he only wanted to unify the two forces and lead the Litzau restoration. Oglethorpe counters that Abigail has the better claim. Andrich moans that it doesn't matter now, since both the Uhlans and Rangers are devastated.
Keene clarifies that the Uhlans and Rangers are, in fact, fully intact. The holo-display was showing only a simulated battle. The mercenaries only pretended to join the Uhlans in exchange for getting repairs and refits out of Andrich's carefully hoarded stores. The combined force is now at full strength, while the Collective, which has been allowed to intercept the holotable signal, believes them to be in crisis.
Andrich refuses to swear fealty to Oglethorpe, saying his marriage to Abigail isn't enough. He says he will only swear loyalty to someone who has a stronger claim to the Litzau legacy than his own. At that point, one of the catering chefs introduces herself as Sophia Litzau, and invites his pledge of fealty.
Reunited back at Andrich's estate, Walter and Sophia discuss Abigail's broken psyche. In the study, they meet Richard Oglethorpe and Ivan Litzau. Walter notes with pride how far Ivan has come towards being a true leader since his Final Vetting two years earlier. Ivan introduces himself to Stephan and the others as the rightful heir. He explains that they kept their return from Solaris secret, and worked through friends at Barringtons, not daring to take action until they'd located Abigail and developed a plan for her extraction. The simulated battle served both to bring the opposition forces together and distract the Collective from the rescue operation.
Andrich concedes that his Uhlans have been absorbed into the opposition, but notes that the Collective still has far more firepower and resources. He doubts that any other corporations will join them just to salve the Litzau ego. Ivan responds that they have a different source for an army than other corporations, and it will rise up and make Maldive theirs again when the time comes.
Notes: The scene at Andrich's party is essentially what makes this series "tie-in" fiction for the HBS BattleTech game, since the action on Maldive actually has nothing to do with the storyline of the Arano Restoration. The holographic display that allows zoom-ins on individual 'Mechs is a clear reference to the HBS game interface.
The resolution is comparable to the Stackpole Kell Hounds books, where the villains' plans are turned upside down at the last minute because of the heroes' behind the scenes machinations - revealing that despite all the obstacles put in their way, the heroes have been ten steps ahead of the antagonists the entire time. Justin Xiang's infiltration of the Capellan high command; the Kells ruination and bankrupting of the underworld boss on Galatea; Ivan's bamboozling of the underworld boss on Solaris VII; etc.
While there is some storytelling merit in portraying things as going the way of the antagonists, then add a twist that shows the superiority of the heroes. But the twist often, to me, feels unearned. We don't see the protagonists developing and implementing the scheme, but only see it unfold from the POV of the bad guys, and then get told at the end that the good guys rigged everything from behind the scenes. Given the format, since there's been little to no foreshadowing or hints at what's really going on, it feels like a massive deus ex machina, and diminishes the bad guys role as effective antagonists. The heroes come off as Mary Sues that hoisted the baddies by their own petard due to their sheer awesomeness. It'd be as though Oceans 11 showed just the casino's POV, and then revealed at the end that a team of thieves cleared out the vault, while the security team gnashes their teeth in impotent rage.
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Date: July 30, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: Proctor Steadfast Court reports to the First Proctor that four guards were killed during Citizen Renata's liberation from the Martyr's Memorial, and that Proctor Mann is also missing. Steadfast assumes he's a hostage, while the Proctor Martial presumes he went with them willingly, noting that he was never psychologically broken, but was incorporated into the Collective on the assumption that, as an enemy of Richard Oglethorpe, Galarza would be a friend of the Collective. The senior Proctors reassure Steadfast that she is not suspected of complicity.
They discuss what use Abigail might be to Richard. Steadfast asserts that Abigail was completely broken, fully a creature of the Revolution. She acknowledges that deprogramming might be possible, but the resulting personality would retain little of the original Abigail. The discussion turns to the military aspect, and the First Proctor suggests that the time would be optimal to move against Oglethorpe, since he's weakened by the recent battle. The Proctor Martial counsels caution, noting that he's unwilling to commit the Revolutionary Guards to an assault against a fortified strongpoint until his spies can verify the amount of damage received. He does not anticipate any serious threat against Rivergaard, even if Oglethorpe's forces are less damaged than the holo-data showed.
At Oglethorpe's stronghold - the Grange - Sophia and Ivan unsuccessfully try to get through to Abigail, who holds to her conditioning that the Litzaus were all killed, and that she has been reborn as Renata. Watching the conversation, Walter notes that she doesn't feel abandoned by Ivan and Sophia, since the Collective falsely implanted the memory that they were dead, and only has the implanted idea that she was abandoned by Richard. He infers, therefore, that the Collective doesn't know that Sophia and Ivan are alive, and that Abigail never gave up that information - suggesting that she still was able to resist the conditioning at some level.
Notes: The Proctor Martial at least seems to have enough sense to be suspicious of the potential for deceit in the holotable data. However, he's still unaware of the fully-repaired mercenary contingent, or the fact that the Rivergaard Rangers have been re-armed and supplemented by the Andrich Uhlans. Therefore, I predict, since he says "there's no way that they could attack us here in Rivergaard," that the finale will be the combined forces - bolstered by the common citizens (in exchange for a restructuring of the traditional elite-dominated social order) invading Rivergaard and taking out the Proctors and their goons.
The title of Proctor is interesting. The dictionary definition is someone at a university who has disciplinary authority. This implies that the Collective upper ranks view themselves as teachers with a mandate to enforce learning through harsh discipline. Though they officially espouse a non-hierarchical social order, they clearly have an internal rank order, headed by the First Proctor. The Proctor Martial rank seems very derivative of ComStar's Precentor Martial (though that rank won't exist for another 40 years).
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Date: August 4, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: At Collective HQ in Rivergaard, Proctor Steadfast Court has been watching holovision shows, and feels like she is beginning to understand the popular appeal of the shows and 'Mech fights - noting the similarity between the devotion fans feel for the fighters and the devotion she has for the Revolution. She reports to the First Proctor that they could harness that passion by turning the proctors into popular heroes. The First Proctor says that she wants Steadfast to meet with the Barringtons representative and have them adjust the toys and holovid propaganda accordingly, under threat of losing Maldive as their anchor point in the Periphery.
When Ciena Keele arrives with Weldon Ryther, the show runner for The Mystery holovid show, Steadfast says she has suggestions based on her analysis of current content. She notes the leading popularity of Aniki Sturludottir and the Mystery Mercenary, and attributes it to her beauty and his sense of duty - along with the fact that the Revolution's seizure of Rivergaard was facilitated by mercenaries. She wants future programming to create an affinity between their fans and the Collective.
Keene agrees quickly, noting that the toys currently interact with the holovid broadcasts, cheering at the appropriate moments and responding to questions according to Collective-approved scripts. She notes that they add sales messages ahead of gift-giving holidays. She says that the season finale of The Mystery was planned to resolve the romance subplot between Aniki and the Mystery Mercenary, as well as his unmasking. Instead, she rolls a clip showing the Mystery Mercenary leaving Aniki, saying his homeland of Maldive needs him, and putting on a proctor's robe and swearing himself to fight the enemies of the state. She suggests bringing the Mystery Mercenary to Maldive in person to fight alongside the Revolutionary Guard. The First Proctor agrees and assigns Steadfast to work with Barringtons on the scripts.
Notes: I'm confused about Maldive being a media "anchor point" in the Periphery. Based on other sourcebooks, on worlds in the HPG network, ComStar receives transmissions of media programming from other worlds, and then retransmits them to local broadcast affiliates that have contracted for distribution rights. On worlds that don't have an HPG, the media broadcasts are transmitted by JumpShips, who also receive zipsqueal transmissions of local media, assuming there's a demand for them. Maldive doesn't appear to be host to an HPG, that would imply the JumpShip model. While there's definitely profit for Barringtons in selling media transmissions to the Collective, it is unlikely that the Collective is rebroadcasting their edited propaganda-vids to other visiting JumpShips for redistribution. I would presume, then, that Barringtons has represented itself to the Collective that they're trying to break into the rimward Periphery market, and want to start with Maldive.
Answering my earlier question, the Mystery Mercenary's tale in The Mystery is popular on Maldive because they make a major plot point of the titular character being from Maldive. The popularity derives from the "hometown boy made good" storyline, which is probably doubly powerful on a minor Periphery world.
It's clear at this point that Barringtons is going set up another round of the Collective doing themselves in by their own evil methods. They'll make propaganda vids making people devoted to Aniki and the Mystery Mercenary (whose dialogue is conspicuously pro-Maldive, but not overtly pro-Collective), then have the Mystery Mercenary appear in person and, at the right moment, will have him unmask as Ivan Litzau and call on the people (who are superfans) to rise up against the Collective. At least there's some effort at earning the twist in this instance.
The toys interacting with the television show may be a meta-reference to a brief fad in interactive toys in the 1980s - when Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future would interact with their toy line, allowing kids to score points by shooting at the bad guys whenever the show shifted to battle-mode onscreen. The Captain Power line died a swift death (being overpriced, and with the show being swiftly cancelled), but the technology has matured - most recently implemented on Netflix with the Beat Bugs line, where the toys recognize show elements and react.
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Date: August 14, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: At Lac du Vallee, in the Nyqvist Upland Preserve, Walter and Ivan return to the abandoned Taurian operating base where they'd hidden their 'Mechs after the Collective's attack. Ivan suggests that, once the world is liberated, Walter could stay and settle down with Sophia. Walter cautions that the original plan had been for Ivan and Sophia's children to liberate the world after a generation building support on Solaris VII, and that re-establishing House Litzau may require Ivan to compromise with hard-line old-family elements, who may demand Sophia marry into their bloodlines in exchange for support. Walter expresses admiration for Ivan's idealism, but says that he can't make plans about Sophia right now, because he'll risk losing his edge. Inside the bunker, they find Ivan's Trebuchet and Walter's Blackjack, just as they'd left them, and begin to ready them for action.
In Rivergaard, at Barringtons Media Productions, Proctor Steadfast Court is exhausted from the constant barrage of script revisions. She's interrupted by Weldon, who offers her some tea he brought from Solaris. He thanks her for her dedication to reviewing the scripts and catching so many oversights. He suggests they go together to watch the season finale being filmed. Steadfast agrees, though she feels uncomfortable due to the Barringtons' staff being offworlders and, per agreement with the First Proctor, not subject to the Collective's strict social regimentation or thought control.
On the way to the studio, Steadfast is shocked to see people wearing Rivergaard Rangers uniforms, but is reassured that they're just actors. On the set, Steadfast comments that the lead actress really does look like Aniki. Weldon tells her that all the footage in the show is of actresses whose look is tailored to the target market, none of whom look like the real arena fighter on Solaris. She questions him about the morality of engaging in so much deception, but accepts that the stories told will bind the populace of Maldive to the Collective, and is therefore for the greater good.
Notes: Walter's hesitation to make long-term plans with Sophia is for continuity's sake, since the next time (chronologically) we see Walter, he's unattached and driving a cab on Galatea. (And the next time we see him after that, he's missing an eye and training cadets on Kittery.)
The Taurian base seems to have been exceptionally well engineered. Despite having originally been built above ground and then covered by a landslide, with the lake forming afterwards, there hasn't been any leakage in three centuries. The SLDF depot on Dixie, in that same time, had enough seepage for stalagmites to grow up through the 'Mechs left behind, and the Brian Cache found by the Wolverines (and disputed by the Jade Falcons) had severe water damage after only a few centuries.
I'd imagine that the complaints voiced by Proctor Court about the writing and revision process are from Stackpole's direct experience. Looking on IMDB, he has a writing credit from 2007 for one episode of Tomb Raider: The Animated Series, and some scripting work for video games, but for the most part has written novels and sourcebooks.
Weldon's comment that the Anniki actress on Sian "makes Candace Liao look like a hedgehog" is somewhat anachronistic, since in 3002, Candace is just 13 or 14 years old. I presume that Capellan state media had given a fair amount of "royal family" attention to Max's daughters, but it's strange to think of her being used as a standard for beauty comparison at that age. Elizabeth Liao might be a better comparison, since her bio in the sourcebook notes her beauty, though it's not clear in the chronology when she married Max, and when his first wife died (some time after Tormano was born in 2996). Looking at the birthdates...(boggle)...Elizabeth Liao is only 16 in 3002??!! I hadn't realized that Max's wife and daughter were about the same age.
The clear setup (unless I'm misreading the tea leaves) is that the Rivergaard Rangers are being infiltrated into the capital in plain sight, explained as being actors in the holovid production.
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Date: August 28, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: In Rivergaard, the Proctor Martial and First Proctor discuss the lack of evidence of fighting in South Riding and West March, as well as suspicious artifacts in the holovid feed. The Proctor Martial suspects that the Rivergaard Rangers have merged with the Andrich Uhlans to form an undamaged reinforced regiment that has reinforced its positions and set traps for Collective forces. He proposes striking at Richland and, after Andrich's surrender, folding his forces into the Collective's for an attack on the Rangers. The First Proctor anticipates that none of the lesser houses will move to support Oglethorpe, especially after the finale of The Mystery, scheduled to air that night. They mutually acknowledge that the entire "Revolution" is a facade aimed at putting them in power by getting the masses to buy into an ascetic philosophy of self abnegation and subservience, endorsed.
At Oglethorpe's HQ in Baronville, Sophia and Walter discuss future plans. She tells him she doesn't just see him as a mercenary doing a job, just as she doesn't see herself as the same person she was when the Collective attacked. She feels that she was able to grow into a new self on Solaris, with Walter's help, and doesn't want to change back. They declare their love for each other and reminisce about how their relationship began at Golden Prosperity.
In Rivergaard, Proctor Steadfast Court sets up a Holovision deck to watch the showing of The Mystery, using a set provided by Weldon Ryther, along with limited edition Aniki and Mystery Mercenary dolls. The setting reminds her of her life as Bethany, and she tries to smother the emotions that link her to that purposeless existence. She looks forward to seeing Aniki and the Mystery Mercenary delivering her lines about loyalty, self-sacrifice, courage, and compassion, all in service to the Collective.
The dolls announce it is time for the show to start, and the HV player activates. At the key scene, Aniki asks why the Mystery Mercenary is leaving her to return to Maldive. However, instead of putting on the proctor's robe and declaring his loyalty to the Collective, the Mystery Mercenary tears it in half and removes his mask to reveal himself as Ivan Litzau, who sworn to free his people. The Aniki doll confirms the holo-Ivan's statement, and says she is coming as well, and the Ivan doll calls on the viewers to rise up and overthrow the Collective.
Terrified, Steadfast puts on a coat and goes to the roof, seeing people already beginning to gather in the streets. A Collective Locust marches towards them, blaring warnings to return home and firing warning shots from the machine guns, but the crowd instead charges the 'Mech, swarming up the legs and attacking the joints. The panicked pilot begins to back away. She sees the Revolutionary Guards pouring from their garrison led by the Proctor Martial's Crusader, which opens fire on the civilians in the streets. Shimmying down a fire escape, Steadfast races to the Barringtons' studio to shut down the transmissions, but finds the studio already on fire when she arrives, surrounded by chanting crowds. Redirecting her steps to Collective Center, she reassures herself that the First Proctor will have a plan.
At the former Litzau Enterprises building, Walter's two mercenary companies detect incoming contacts, and they move to keep the Collective forces from escaping. The quickly smash the first wave, but Bozeman then reports that the entire Collective regiment is headed their way, trying for a breakout.
At Collective Center, Steadfast is shocked to find the First Proctor in civilian clothes loading valuables into a bag. Steadfast says they can still save the revolution, but the First Proctor admits that the revolution was a sham designed to give dispossessed Dhivi families their rightful share of the world's resources, and that the revolution would have collapsed in another six months at most. The shattering of Abigail's mind was just to get revenge on the Litzaus, rather than to bind the revolutionaries together. When Steadfast begs her to stay, the First Proctor draws a flechette pistol and shoots her, saying she needs to get on a DropShip and depart.
At Walter's position, the Revolutionary Guards, led by the Proctor Martial in what Walter recognizes as Hake Angleton's former Crusader, engages the containment force. Walter engages the larger 'Mech to draw its attention while his troops pick off the Proctor Martial's escorts. Despite heavily damaging the Crusader, Walter's Blackjack suffers a critical gyroscope hit, and crashes to the ground, unable to move.
At the Rivergaard Spaceport, the First Proctor tries to pass for a refugee hoping for a berth on a DropShip. She remains surprised how dedicated the people of Rivergaard are to the duties assigned them by the Collective - noting that the pre-Revolution elitist society hadn't allowed the common people to matter, so they held onto any responsibility given them, no matter the source. Unfortunately, the notes, that includes the security guards checking papers at the port perimeter. At the checkpoint, she identifies herself as Miranda Buera, bound for Itrom. The guard tells her to proceed to another man, who will take care of her. She presents her documents to the other man, and is stunned when he reveals himself as Calvin Galarza and places her under arrest. He notes that they tracked her movements via the action figure that was given to her.
In his Blackjack cockpit, Walter waits to die, but before the Crusader can fire its lasers into his cockpit, it comes under fire from Ivan's Trebuchet and Aniki's Catapult. Their combined fire sends the Crusader crashing to the ground, while the Rivergaard Rangers continue to grind down the Revolutionary Guards, eventually finishing them off.
Dismounting, Walter and Ivan note that the Final Vetting started right at that spot, and wonders what his mother would think of his adventure. Walter tells Ivan she'd be proud, and welcomes Ivan home as Chairman Litzau.
Notes: The origins of the Collective begin to be revealed, as the First Proctor mentions that she has a grandchild on Itrom, a war-scarred (radioactive in portions) world that was one of the founders of the Aurigan Coalition - making another slight tie-in to the HBS game. Earlier hints that the upper echelons weren't as committed as Steadfast now pay off with the reveal that disaffected and impressionable people like Steadfast have been duped into committing atrocities in the name of a philosophy that serves as a smokescreen for con-artists seeking to loot the world.
The ideals of the Collective seem fairly general-purpose, though we haven't seen much evidence of Compassion in its true-believers, unless their sadism has allowed them to convince themselves that their victims will arrive at a better state of existence through their ministrations.
The twist with the holo-production company and the dolls was solidly telegraphed from earlier setups, and so doesn't feel as unearned as the Andrich Uhlans deception. The First Proctor's taking the time to explain to Steadfast the full details and background of the plot felt very forced, and unlikely as the actions of someone in a hurry to get out of town in a hurry, however. Why bother telling her that the revolution was a sham if she was just going to shoot Steadfast in any event? Had her earnest fervor annoyed the First Proctor enough that she wanted to see the look in her eyes when she learned the Revolution was a lie?
I'm not clear on what the Proctor Martial's plan was. If there were DropShips departing the world mid-battle, why weren't the Revolutionary Guards heading that way? If they managed to get out of Rivergaard, where would they go? Perhaps they could take over another settlement or scatter to the wilderness, but they won't have the same popular support or technical resources, so they'd just be delaying their destruction. A better plan would have been to converge on the spaceport, slaughter any Litzau loyalists there, and use the 'Mechs to hold the perimeter long enough for the Collective elites to get on board. Galarza would've had a hard time arresting a regiment of Revolutionary Guards.
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Date: August 30, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: In a holding room at Litzau University (formerly the Golden Prosperity Reeducation Camp), Walter stares at the detained Proctor Martial, who he recognizes as his former boss - Hake Angleton. Hake reveals that Angleton's Angels were working for the Collective all along, and that only Walter and his lance had been left out of the loop - the better to sell the fiction that they were working for House Litzau. Walter says he knows that Hake wasn't committed to the ideals of the Revolution, but was just in it for the money. Hake retorts that all mercenaries are in it for the money, or else they'd be fighting for a place or a government. Walter tells Hake they may both be mercenaries, but they're definitely not alike.
Notes: Got to say, I didn't see that coming, having figured Hake as the "deceased mentor" of the story, rather than the "traitor mentor who faked his own death."
The scene allows Stackpole to lay out his core argument (expounded on at length in the Kell Hound stories) that the Successor States have been tearing the Inner Sphere apart for centuries, and many mercenaries fight just for money and/or nihilism. Morgan Kell says he foresees a time when all civilization has been torn to shreds and mankind is left beating each other to death with rocks among the ruins. Thus, the Kell Hounds were intended to be a new type of mercenary - one that chooses its personnel, employers and missions with the goal of fighting to uplift humanity and end the nihilism. With Hake stating that fighting and killing is just something to do to pass the time until dying, and Walter taking a principled stand against that, it shows the differentiation that would bring Walter to the Kell brothers' attention eight years hence.
Hake advises Walter that he should kill him now, because otherwise the older merc will use his resources to bring Walter and his friends to grief. (The ur-example of such a speech is the one given by the mob enforcer on Firefly, just before Mal shoves him into the ship's engine.) I noted in "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets" that Stackpole's characters have a positive fetish for warning the heroes about dangers.
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Date: September 3, 3002
Location: Maldive
Title: Unlimited Honor
Author: Michael A. Stackpole
Type: Novella (HBS BattleTech)
Synopsis: In Rivergaard House, Sophia tells Walter the bad news - Hake Angleton (revealed to have family ties to House Andrich) and Miranda Buera have implicated members of the First Families in plotting the Revolution. While public opinion is in favor of clemency for native Dhivi, they want vengeance on the offworld mercenaries and exiles. Unfortunately for Walter, the Collective leadership has claimed that Walter was part of the plot to overthrow the Litzaus and was assigned to Ivan to make sure he died, and only kept Ivan alive to bargain for a bigger cut of loot, suggesting that Sophia was the price Walter demanded to switch sides.
Sophia says that she and Ivan want Walter to stay, but he tells her she won't be able to implement the reforms she plans if he remains as a lightning rod for public outrage. They make plans to meet up again in three years on Solaris VII, where, he tells her, he'll be making a living in the arenas. Sophia pledges to send him out with enough parts to refit his Blackjack, and with Ray Angelis (who has shed his role as Barringtons' Weldon Ryther) as his MechTech. Ashleigh Knight (aka Ciena Keele) will stay to help Sophia, serving as her driver.
Twelve hours later, aboard the DropShip Bottled Lightning, Walter stows his gear in his cabin and goes up to the state room to which he's received an invitation to visit 'an old friend.' After giving a passphrase to the voice recognition lock, he steps inside and reports to Quintus Allard as Agent de Mesnil. Allard congratulates Walter on his mission, and Walter reports that neither Ivan nor Sophia suspected he was an MIIO agent. Allard gives him a new assignment - to take the pulse of mercenaries on Galatea and warn the MIIO if he gets wind of a new offensive. Walter takes the job, but notes that he'll still plan to make his rendezvous on Solaris in 3005.
Notes: "Surprise witnesses, each more surprising than the last!" - Lionel Hutz, attorney at law. In Unlimited Honor, Stackpole seemed to be channeling M. Night Shyamalan. Aside from guest appearances by Quintus early on, I hadn't detected any connection between the two. Since his "diplomat" role to Maldive was a cover (and the mission was to ensure that Maldive didn't rejoin the Capellan Confederation), I suspect he was also an active intelligence asset during his earlier diplomatic posting to Sian.
This closes the continuity loop for Walter, explaining how he went from hero of the revolution to driving a cab on Galatea. Walter's ties to the MIIO further explain why the Federated Suns took such an early interest in the Kell Hounds - an otherwise unremarkable unit with strong Lyran ties. During his eight years "taking the pulse of Galatea," I wonder if Walter ever checked in at Club Zero-Zero and checked the lost and found bin? (For all we know, Walter set up Club Zero-Zero as an MIIO intel drop site.) Since Walter asks "another mercenary company?", the implication is that the MIIO got wind of the Collective's plans and assigned Walter to infiltrate Angleton's Angels to be positioned to keep the Capellans from gaining advantage from it.
I wonder if "Angleton's Angels" was an oblique meta reference to Avanti's Angels, which was misspelled multiple times in Loren Coleman's Double Blind as both "Avanti's Angles" and "Avtini's Angles."
So, this was the HBS tie-in fiction from the Kickstarter for their video game. I'd gone into this hoping for some backstory on the Aurigan Coalition, the local politics of this previously unknown region, and possibly some whistlestop tours of the Inner Sphere powers as the exiles sought an ally to restore them to their power base on Maldive (something one might expect from fiction intended to introduce people who came in through the HBS game to the universe). But what we got was a couple of mentions of Aurigan worlds, a 'prince returns from exile' story, and some fun new arena concepts on Solaris. The action was vintage Stackpole - with the protagonists always holding all the cards and triumphing due to superior preparations, great fighting skill, and almost unbelievable luck.
Looking over Stackpole's works, I find the ones I like the best are his big-picture ones, because he adds so much fun color to the settings, and does a nice job of setting up the political and military alignments. That's why his 4th Succession War Warrior Trilogy and his Operation REVIVAL Blood of Kerensky trilogies are my favorite - because they're big picture stories that have the politics, large scale action, and star-spanning machinations I enjoy. There are pulp hero action scenes in those as well, but they serve as a nice contrast to the grand scale storyline in those series, while here, that's all we get.
As tie-in fiction, it seems loosely connected to the HBS setting and storyline at best. By contrast, Randall Bills' stories for MW5: Mercs do everything I'd want such a product to do - introduce the backstories of the characters, show them going through their own personal stories against the backdrop of the Succession Wars, and showcase both the settings on various worlds and conflicts between various factions.
Even more glaringly, since this was supposed to be a tie-in, the HBS game described Maldive as: "High Gravity/Uninhabited/Abandoned" with the note that "frequent orbital strikes from the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation collapsed its fragile ecosystem, leaving it a wasteland inhabited only by scavengers." So it doesn't even effectively tie into the game for which it was a Kickstarter stretch goal. (There was confusion about the setting initially, since it was written as "Maldives" in the first two novellas, and therefore was one letter off both Maldive and Valdives, but Valdives is described as an unpopulated volcanic world where the occasional bit of lostech can be found under blankets of ash, so that doesn't work either.)
Unless Quintus directed an AFFS fleet to return here and start lobbing asteroids (Sorry, Walter, no Solaris rendezvous for you. Keep your nose to the grindstone on Galatea.) and/or found Capellans doing the same, there's no way for this Maldive to match the HBS thumbnail description by 3025, making the HBS descriptions as dicey (canon-wise) as those from MechWarrior 1, which identified which world had the best pizza in the Inner Sphere.
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Date: 3003
Location: New Texas
Title: Remember the Alamo
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #4 - Wolverine and Goliath)
Synopsis: On the far edge of the Lyran Commonwealth, New Texas is far from the front lines of the Succession Wars, but makes an attractive target for bandits, relying on its garrison to fend off raiders. When Bandit King Tomec Tyrkson II arrived in a force too strong for the garrison to face and began setting up repair and refit operations for his pirates, Captain David "Bullseye" Crockett had his men pull back into the Alamo forest, hoping to do more damage with raids and sabotage, rather than a stand-up fight.
During the garrison's retreat into the woods, Crockett and one of the pirates, Lt. Morgan, fought at the forest's edge. Crockett effectively used the terrain for cover, forcing the badly damaged Goliath to retreat.
Notes: Interestingly, despite the scenario being "Wolverine and Goliath," the scenario booklet cover art shows two Goliaths and a Griffin.
The bandit, Lt. Morgan, is probably a reference to Henry Morgan, who grew wealthy raiding the Spanish main.
This 1985 pamphlet introduces rules for four-legged 'Mechs (as represented on standard record sheets): all arm and arm critical hits are treated as leg and leg critical hits, no punching, jumping, or DFA, no clubs. PSRs get a -3 TN bonus. Losing one leg means no running. Losing two legs means it can still walk, but loses the -3 bonus. It is only immobilized when it is down to one leg. I'm getting some odd images in my head of a Goliath with both front legs blown off walking around upright, with the cockpit and PPC turret pointed skyward, or of one with the rear legs missing and doing a headstand, using the PPC barrel to balance. Plus, the Tarantula would be surprised to hear the no jumping, no DFA rule. Since neither the Goliath nor the Scorpion had jump jets, did the writers at this point envision them doing jump kicks mechanical-jump-booster style? The construction worksheet also calls for the PPC critical slots to be split between the center torso and head.
There's no New Texas on the map, and this certainly isn't any relation to New Dallas, which was in the former Terran Hegemony and has long been abandoned. While the battle between Morgan and Crockett is recorded, the outcome of the campaign isn't. Perhaps New Texas fell off the maps prior to the 3025 map being published, which is why I've arbitrarily put it in 3003. Given the frequency of bandit king attacks, the colony may have been deemed nonviable, and the population evacuated further into the interior of the Commonwealth. Tyrkson's bandit kingdom is long gone (at least not mapped) by 3025, but he could have been based off any one of the old Rim Worlds Republic systems. Since it's noted to not be anywhere near other Successor State borders, that probably put it in the area between Main Street and Timbuktu - perhaps a bit beyond the 3025 borders, near All Dawn, Slewis, or Caldarium - a region noted for short-lived bandit kingdoms.
Crockett has a gunnery of 3 vs. Morgan's 4, and the Goliath has a malfunctioning PPC which generates 15 heat every time it fires. All light woods and hills on the basic maps are treated as heavy woods. Given this setup, the Goliath has no real chance. While it's a nice fire support platform, all of its weapons except the machine guns have minimum range penalties. Without even the ability (under this ruleset) to do a mule kick, the Wolverine has every incentive in the world to close to point blank range and carve the poor quad up. It'll overheat standing still just firing its PPC, and sustained alpha strikes will push it into ammo-explosion territory in just a few rounds. (I once faced off against a Goliath with a Pegasus, and managed to take the 'Mech down despite running out of SRMs, by always finding cover when I lost initiative, and then scooting into the unprotected rear arc whenever I won initiative.)
For the Goliath - I'd recommend parking near the edge of the map and taking long range shots as long as your armor and ammo hold out. If your systems start to look endangered, walk backwards off the map and give Crockett only a minor victory. Maybe you'll get lucky and score a solid hit even with all the modifiers. For the Wolverine, you want to be on the Goliath like white on rice, jumping in for kicks and point-blank shots, then jumping away (ideally to forest cover) whenever you lose initiative.
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The Hake Angleton reveal was a big surprise for me, too. But it doesn't make much sense.
What exactly was the plan and what exactly was the contract?
It looks like an unspecified power - the future Collective ringleaders - hired the Angels to... hire out to House Litzau? And then what? Who needed and paid for such a large merc force to begin with? Even as a smokescreen the setup must have looked at least plausible from the outside, but I can't see that.
As for world blurbs, those from the old MechWarrior game are actually pretty good and accurate (at least where they didn't make stuff up from scratch). Of course, there were much fewer BT publications to fact-check against.
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What seems to have been the plan is that a crew of bastard Dhivi who had been exiled from Maldive wanted to live the good life and get revenge on the elites that exiled them. Since the upper classes of the Dhivi are prone to plotting, the exiles made contact with several and got local intel and support. Hake was one of the exiles, and he either already had a mercenary unit or formed one to spearhead the invasion.
So, the plan was to take out the Rivergaard Rangers using the same plan that the Word of Blake used with the Shadow Lancers on Terra. Decapitate the leadership of the First Families (for revenge and to eliminate organized resistance), then leverage the unrest of the oppressed commoners to keep the remaining elites penned up while the exiles and their backers looted the place and sent the spoils offworld to finance lavish lifestyles.
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Date: November 17, 3003
Location: Regulus
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Lady Brooklynn Cameron-Jones has been summoned to the Palace of Mirrors in Regulus City, and proceeds nervously along lavishly decorated corridors to the opulent throne room, where Count Derick Cameron-Jones awaits her. She makes the customary bows at each of the 18 half-circles centered on the dais, then awaits Derick's attention.
Derick opens by expressing regret that Janos Marik had General Willis Crawford executed for losing his command on Solaris, and asks Brooklynn's opinion. She carefully responds that it was within the Captain-General's authority to do so, but Derick asks for a more specific opinion. She notes Crawford's relationship with Anton Marik, Duke of Procyon, and that the execution led to a rift between the brothers. She speculates on whether Anton might consider deposing his brother in the wake of Janos' apparent efforts to undercut Anton's military campaigns against the Capellans. She pauses, realizing that her speculations could be taken as treason. Derick sadly notes that she disappointed House Cameron-Jones by leaving Regulus to attend trade school in the Duchy of Oriente, then pulls out a noteputer and reads a report that Brooklynn had placed a virus in the SelaSys Incorporated computer network that damaged its Kearny-Fuchida drive, necessitating six months of repairs. The Duchy of Oriente demands that she either be imprisoned there or that House Cameron-Jones pay remunerations to House Halas.
Brooklynn denies having done such a thing, and Derick responds that he knows it wouldn't be in her character, which is why he paid the remuneration rather than let her rot in an Oriente prison. However, he is disappointed that she allowed herself to be framed by another student from House Orloff, forgetting her title, blood, and duty to elevate House Cameron-Jones above its lessers. To preserve the prestige of House Cameron-Jones, he says he is forced to strip her of her titles, obligations, and ties to House Cameron-Jones, and banishes her from the Principality of Regulus, on pain of death.
Notes: This is a magnificent introduction to internal League politics from the pre-civil war era. We clearly see the overwhelming arrogance of House Cameron-Jones and the inter-House tensions that would cause the League to disintegrate less than a century later, and only partly reunite in the 3140s. In just four pages, we get to see the wealth and power of Regulus, its cultural heritage from the exterminated House Selaj, its rivalry with House Orloff and House Halas, the focus on business and trade for junior members of the clan, cutthroat academy competition, the scarcity of interstellar travel technology, the growing schism between Janos and Anton Marik, and the aftermath of failed operations on the Lyran front. (Willis Crawford was featured in a Shrapnel anthology story by Bear Peters, dreaming of glory during his academy days with Anton. The failed assault on Solaris was also depicted in Shrapnel, again by Bear Peters, but later details ended up retconning that story to taking place in 3025, rather than 3002.)
The best BattleTech writers are able to weave details of setting, character, and lore together to move the plot forward while giving the reader a sense of where it fits in the greater scheme of things, and that the current action is part of a much larger, richer tapestry. The stories I tend to dislike focus exclusively on the local scene without context, to the point that they could be transplanted to any world or time period in the setting without having any impact, because the action lacks context or consequence.
I liked that Derick asked her to comment on the Willis Crawford situation, because it showed he wanted to confirm that his suspicions about her intelligence and political acumen were correct. The sadness was because he knew he'd have to give it up by exiling her, but the demands of being House Head outweigh his personal desires.
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Date: 3003
Location: Delos VI
Title: City Fight
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #8 - Wasp and Wasp LAM)
Synopsis: The 4th Proserpina Hussars have recently invaded the Steiner world of Delos VI and are engaged in pacification operations around its capital, Delos City. In the suburb of Petersburg, Combine MechWarrior Sharon Dorsee takes her Wasp LAM in to investigate a heat signature, suspecting activity by surviving elements of the Delos militia. She converts to 'Mech mode and engages what turns out to be an LCAF militia Wolverine. The last one standing wins.
During the scenario, set on two building-festooned CityTech maps, Dorsee can switch from 'Mech to AirMech mode and back, but cannot enter AeroSpace mode.
Notes: Amusingly, there was no attempt to modify the artwork from its source material, so the "Wasp" is holding a gun bearing the "U.N. SPCY" stencil and preparing to ambush a Zentraedi battlepod. (Militia: "Why do the Proserpina Hussars keep calling us 'micronians?'")
While Delos IV is a world on the Federated Suns' border with the Outworlds Alliance, Delos VI, however, is described as a Steiner world on the Kurita frontier that has become strategically important because of the discovery of an ancient battlefield where hundreds of 'Mechs were destroyed, and from which spare parts can be recovered. (And we're not even getting into the Marik planet of New Delos.) All reference the Greek island of Delos, known in myth as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, and the sanctuary of Zeus.
Delos VI being a Lyran world makes sense, as the 4th Proserpina Hussars were traditionally stationed on the Lyran border (based on Orestes in 3025), having taken part in the major offensive against Tamar in 2915, through they had battled the Federated Suns on Harrow's Sun in 3002. This is noted as being a year since Dorsee's LAM took critical damage to its hydraulic system from an enemy Warhammer's missile, jamming its conversion equipment and preventing it from engaging fighter mode. If they were fighting the Davion Heavy Guards in 3002, that tentatively puts this scenario in 3003. (Though 2916 would also work, assuming the damage was incurred during the fighting on Tamar.)
From the setup, the Lyrans have not yet been fully driven off the world, but have retreated from Delos City into the suburbs. The main draw is the battlefield wreckage (presumably from the First or Second Succession War, or possibly a large-scale Age of War conflict..."Mackies! Mackies and Ymirs as far as the eye could see!"). One explanation for this world being off-map by 3025 is that the DCMS had a habit of hitting enemy worlds that had potential resources, and then unleashing WMDs to make sure nobody else could use those resources after departing. They nuked Helm and blasted nerve gas into the atmosphere of other worlds. It would fit the pattern if they held the Lyran militia at bay while they picked over the carcasses in the battlefield, then gassed or glassed the world during their withdrawal.
Unlike other TCI scenarios, this set comes with two versions of one unit, and relies on the player having another set containing a 55-ton 'Mech to do the scenario. (The Wolverine is the official OpFor, though the scenario says any 55-tonner will do.)
The statistics given for the pilots are interesting - an apparent attempt to integrate MechWarrior 1st Edition's pilot skill system. For Gunnery and Piloting, it gives Skill Level (3/4 for the Wolverine, 4/5 for the Wasp LAM), as well as "Att. Target" (Attribute Target?) rolls of 8 for the Wolverine and 7 for the Wasp, and Skill Rolls of 5/4 for the Wolverine and 3/2 for the Wasp. Presumably, this means that the Wasp LAM has a Gunnery of 3 and Piloting of 2, and the Wolverine has a Gunnery of 5 and Piloting of 4.
Given the availability of AirMech mode, LAMs will typically jump away behind a building whenever it loses initiative. Thus, the scenario always gives the LAM the initiative. So, if the Wolverine gets out in the open, the LAM will jump in behind it and shoot up its backside. The Wolverine, therefore, has a strong incentive to find a building in a tight spot and back up against it, so he can shoot at the Wasp whenever it comes close. Given how thin the Wasp's armor is, the Wolverine only has to get a few lucky shots in.
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Date: February 27, 3004
Location: Kalidasa
Title: One Man's Trash
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At the Kali-Yama factory annex in Westport, Sergeant Virgil "Verge" Armstrong feels euphoria as he slides into the cockpit of the beat-up Grasshopper, thrilled that he's been called up as an active MechWarrior. Following his graduation from the Allison MechWarrior Institute, he'd been "temporarily" assigned to the armor regiment of the 25th Marik Militia, and then transferred to the mercenary Panther Assault Group, where he was also assigned to the MechWarrior reserves. This 'Mech was obtained as salvage after the Panthers repulsed a probe by the 17th Arcturan Guards.
Senior Technician Barbara joins him as he looks over the time-worn cockpit and alerts him to problems with the jump jets. After she leaves, Verge notices a strange texture on the bulkhead, and finds a series of names, ranks and dates carved into the metal plate, going all the way back to 2779. The most recent is Leutnant Christiane Kühn, 3001. As he begins inspecting the controls and running through the prep checklist. A jagged piece of metal keeps catching on his shorts, and he reaches under the instrument panel to find the source of the problem. His probing fingers find a loose weld joint, and his attempt to push it back into place instead pops it open, causing a small object to roll out and hit him in the shin.
Before he can determine what the cylinder is, he's joined by Von Luckner commander Sergeant Antonia "Toni" Johnson. Fearing that the tube contains illegal narcotics stashed by the tech crew, he hides it in the command couch. Toni asks him to show her what his 'Mech can do, but he tells her he has to take it out for a test run first. Laughing, she climbs into the cockpit with him (causing the cylinder to dig into his back) and kisses him. He warns her that she's not authorized to be in the cockpit, and she leaves, nicknaming the 'mech "Trash" as she departs. She tells him she's glad he finally got a ride.
Following his test run, Armstrong still feels the power of being behind a 'Mech's controls as he returns to his bunk, where his roommate, van Leuwen, is asleep. He uses the privacy to unscrew the mysterious cylinder, revealing a data crystal and some rolled up photographs, along with an engagement ring, inside. He suspects these are the personal property of Lt. Kühn, and worries that he's inadvertently violated Major Szalinski's ban on looting. He puts the crystal into a noteputer and finds that the data therein is encrypted, making him suspect that the contents are classified military or intelligence documents. Since he appreciates a good puzzle, he spends hours trying to crack the encryption, finally making a breakthrough, albeit one that spells damnation for him.
Notes: Armstrong notes that low-tech backwater planets still use ancient magnetic disks for data storage, while more advanced worlds use data crystals, which aren't as volatile nor susceptible to failure. It suggests that references to disks (from books written in the 1980s, predating optical and solid state storage media, and certainly predating data crystals) in the BattleTech universe may be less "future of the 80s" and more a sign of technological regression on skid row worlds.
The Panther Assault Group appears to be a mercenary combined arms battalion, fielding both 'Mechs and tanks. This is the first fiction where I can recall characters being assigned as reserve pilots - essentially replacements for MIA/WIA/KIA MechWarriors whose rides still work and prize crews for salvaged units. The HBS game, however, definitely rewards having a deep bench of MechWarriors to replace wounded personnel.
Armstrong notes that Trash is primarily considered to be a walking spare parts collection for Major Szalinski's own Grasshopper, since getting the parts is next to impossible. He expects to have Trash's components scavenged the next time Szalinski's ride gets damaged - especially if there's a problem with the fusion engine. This fits in nicely with other stories from this period - with scavenging being the order of the day and new parts practically unheard of.
Armstrong recounts that he took up mercenary service after pulling a tour of duty with the Marik Militia. I suppose that, given the surplus of MechWarriors vs. supply of 'Mechs, the FWLM has no vested interest in keeping service personnel on duty if their specialized skills aren't needed. That must have been a major channel for the creation of new mercenaries. Particularly now, at the tail end of the Third Succession War, when MechWarrior families have their own in-house spares (heirs) waiting for the chance to take up the family lineage.
I was surprised to read that the Allison MechWarrior Institute has been producing more MechWarriors than the FWLM can accommodate, since they only accept 500 students per year (graduating about 375 and presumably washing out the other 125), with fierce competition for those spaces. Only the top five percent are likely to be assigned to a 'Mech command, mostly going to the Free Worlds Guards and the Marik Militia. Now, Does that mean only the top five percent are likely to be assigned as a MechWarrior, while the remaining 95% are shuffled into the infantry or armor units? That seems to be the implication. (Which also implies that Armstrong wasn't in the top 5% of his class.)
It's interesting that the 25th Marik Militia had an attached armor regiment. In the early sourcebooks, the Great House 'Mech regiments were generally described as being on their own (the RCTs of the AFFS being a notable exception), and would only be assigned conventional support troops during major offensive operations. We didn't start seeing profiles of long-term attached support troops until the Field Manual series was published.
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Doing the reviews again. I do have a question though. Are the MechWarrior 5 stories considered Canon?
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Doing the reviews again. I do have a question though. Are the MechWarrior 5 stories considered Canon?
I’m not the one to ask. However, they’re written by the line developer and promoted on this site. I really haven’t found any significant inconsistencies with canon events thus far. I’d consider them canon in the same way that the Lore stories Randall wrote for MWO and the MWDA fiction he wrote for Scrye are canon.
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Date: February 28, 3004
Location: Kalidasa
Title: One Man's Trash
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: The information on the data crystal continues to affect Verge throughout the next morning. After bowing out of the morning run, he goes to request an audience with Major Szalinski. He tries to tell the Major about what he found in the Grasshopper, but the Major misunderstands, and assumes he's complaining about how beat up it is, and tells him he's only lucky enough to get even that 'Mech because Sergeant Jemison is too fat to fit in the cockpit. Verge finally manages to show the photos and the ring to the Major, noting that the Panthers pride themselves on not looting, and suggests they try to return them. Szalinski tell him he appreciates the honesty, and says it goes a long way towards officer candidacy.
Back in the Grasshopper cockpit, Verge looks at the names and wonders how he will die. He activates the 'Mech with his newly encoded passphrase, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." He reviews his situation - the data crystal contains an official LCAF dispatch from ComStar, which the Grasshopper had been couriering from the ComStar station to the LCAF forces in hiding on the planet until the courier had the misfortune to run into the Panthers. The message was to hold at Crater Hollow until the 10th Skye Rangers arrive in-system at a pirate point on March 4. While the Panthers have a combined arms regiment of three battalions, more than enough to wipe out the surviving Arcturan Guards, a whole fresh 'Mech regiment will turn the tables, and risk the destruction of the Panthers and the loss of the Kali Yama factory. Without a DropShip, the mercenaries can't flee, and there's little chance the LCCC will send reinforcements of their own in time.
Walking patrol with Lt. Solomon's Crusader, he works to get the feel of the battered Grasshopper, compensating for the non-functional systems as best he can. He regrets that he wasn't good enough to serve in a regular FWLM unit, and had to settle for a mercenary berth after being drummed out of the service. He considers delivering the message to the 17th in exchange for their promise to let him and Toni leave unharmed. He wonders if the reports of reinforcements are disinformation, intended to be captured to trick the Panthers into fleeing before an inferior force. Knowing Major Szalinski's motto "we get paid to fight, not to win," he knows that telling his superior is as good as suicide.
Notes: Of interest, the Kali-Yama factory only has "a handful of corporate security forces" on site to defend the factory. By comparison, Defiance Industries on Hesperus II has its own regiment-sized Defiance Self Protection Force. The Kalidasa factory makes Wasps, Hunchbacks, Trebuchets and Orions, so I'd assume their guard force would be comprised of those designs. The Objectives series gave some guidelines for corporate factory defense forces, suggesting a lance of every BattleMech, vehicle, or aerospace fighter line that the factory produces, augmented with a platoon of conventional infantry for every lance. That rule of thumb would give Kali-Yama security a reinforced company of 'Mechs as well as four platoons of infantry.
Even with an extra company, that gives the Kalidasa defenders only 4-5 'Mech companies, an armor battalion, and a reinforced infantry battalion soon to face a reinforced 'Mech regiment. The 17th was a quality unit (and went on to face off against Wolf's Dragoons on Wyatt, and hold their own), while the 10th is a Regular unit with strong ties to the Free Skye movement later on (not sure of their leanings in 3004, though Alessandro Steiner's Concentrated Weakness stratagem couldn't have helped on that score.) One wild card is the Kalidasa Static Defense Unit (aka the planetary militia), which had 'Mechs, infantry, and armor during the Jihad - not clear what it was packing in 3004. Or perhaps it got mauled by the 17th before the Panthers broke the Lyran raiders, and is no longer a factor.
I find it unusual that the Grasshopper was being used to courier a message received from ComStar. We've seen in the past that ComStar sends its own couriers to deliver classified messages (including that one weird scene on Sian where the ComStar courier delivered part of the message, listened to the top secret strategy discussion, then volunteered additional information that had to have been in the original message, but that she hadn't delivered in the first place). Given ComStar's neutrality, it would seem to be a safer way to send communiques - they won't be stopped or harassed. It's not like they were giving up any secret info to ComStar by letting the company deliver the message, either, since the location of the Lyran troops was included in the message.
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Doing the reviews again. I do have a question though. Are the MechWarrior 5 stories considered Canon?
We got a ruling on the forum from Cubby, and the LD, and they are not canon.
No reason given, but it could be copyright related or something, given the other parties involved.
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What hf22 said.
By Herb's still-valid default ruling, stories and other materials have (paraphrased) to be published under the boardgame license. Randalls' stories for HBS and Piranha don't meet that requirement, being written for third parties operating under the distinct computer game license (and not with boardgame LD hat on).
It was thus a big issue, and a notable exception from the rule, that the MWO Hero 'Mech fluff and stories written by Randall for HBS were declared canon for boardgame (mainline) BattleTech as well.
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Thanks for the clarification.
Still, this thread will continue to try to shoehorn in everything that fits under the moniker of BattleTech fiction, to the extent possible, regardless of canonicity.
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Oh, absolutely! Bring it on. :thumbsup:
I love digging up apocrypha, I love tying it all together. Alternative timelines suck have killed at least two other major SF franchises just aren't my cup of tea.
Your analysis and comments is always great and informative. As a non-native speaker I miss a lot of nuances and references to or in-jokes about US culture and history. They typically zip by way over my head.
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Date: February 29, 3004
Location: Kalidasa
Title: One Man's Trash
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At Crater Hollow, named for a crater at the site of an ancient meteor strike, Armstrong walks his Grasshopper into the bivouac of the Arcturan Guards, and is confronted by a pair of Lyran pickets which hesitate to attack, since the Grasshopper is still painted in the Arcturan colors it bore when it was captured. Amstrong signals he has no hostile intent. His request to speak with their commander is angrily rebuffed, but the guard is interrupted by the arrival of Kommandant Nielsen's battered Zeus.
After explaining that he doesn't know what happened to Leutnant Kühn, Amrstrong tells Nielsen about the communique he found in the Grasshopper, indicating that Lyran reinforcements will be in the system at any moment. He asks them for amnesty and passage offworld for himself and his closest friends, in exchange for intel on the Westport defenses and Panther patrol schedules. Nielsen accepts, on the condition that Armstrong surrender the Grasshopper.
As the Lyrans are focusing on his imminent surrender, waves of missiles slam into their ranks, while the Grasshopper leaps out of the kill zone (swiftly crashing due to the damage to the jump jets). The Panthers arrive at the rim of the crater, and Major Szalinski orders Armstrong to fall back. The Lyrans advance through a storm of missiles, and Armstrong finds himself at the mercy of a Lyran Warhammer. Rescue arrives in the form of the Panthers' armor battalion, and Toni's Von Luckner platoon shatters the Lyran 'Mechs.
Notes: This engagement represents a nice use of the Von Luckner, which sports both an LRM-20 and an AC/20. (It's basically an Atlas on treads.) Armstrong's initial feigned betrayal builds on the internal monologue from the previous chapter, not revealing that in the interval Armstrong clearly changed his mind and went to Major Szalinski. It's interesting that the Panthers were able to get enough to field an entire platoon, since the tank itself dates from the early Star League era (being a replacement for the Merkava), and hasn't been manufactured in centuries.
The point of the ruse appears to have been to allow the Panthers to use indirect fire, with Armstrong feeding them targeting telemetry while going through with his "I surrender" act.
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Date: March 1, 3004
Location: Kalidasa
Title: One Man's Trash
Author: Philip A. Lee
Type: Short Story (Legacy Anthology)
Synopsis: At the Kali-Yama factory annex, Verge watches as Barbara and the rest of the Panthers' techs swarm over his Grasshopper, rebuilding its internal supports.
Major Szalinski joins him, and informs him that the Arcturan Guards battalion has been eliminated, and the expected Lyran reinforcements have been detected, but only one JumpShip - no more than a battalion, and not at the pirate point. He speculates that the Tenth Skye Rangers had jump trouble. In any event, he thanks Verge for bringing the message to his attention, since it meant the Panthers could fight one battalion at time, rather than being sandwiched between two.
As a reward for acting as bait in the earlier battle, Verge is offered a salvaged Arcturan Warhammer or Zeus. Instead, he says he'll stick with his Grasshopper, saying he and "Trash" have history.
Notes: The dialogue between Verge and Toni (who is with him at the start of the scene) indicates that Verge didn't tell her about the reinforcements, and believes they'll all be crushed by the Lyrans within days. Dialogue with Szalinski indicates he came clean about the chronology, and that he'd held onto the message instead of turning it over immediately. The confession appears to have earned him significant credit with the Major, who is not only keeping him on the active roster, but offering him a choice of rare Heavy and Assault 'Mechs.
Since the Grasshopper next shows up on the Lyran side of the border on the eve of the War of 3039, bearing faded Lyran colors, we can assume that the Panthers ended up getting their stomping at Lyran hands eventually (and probably sooner than later, since the Panthers don't appear on any TO&E charts in Brush Wars, so they're long gone from League space, or from existence, by the time of Anton's Revolt.)
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Date: January 1, 3005
Location: Layover
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Fahad, serving as a 'Mech technician, takes a beating from Lt. Corals of the Plague Boys mercenary unit during a posting on the Federated Suns world of Layover, with the bored mercenary taking out his frustrations on a convenient Combine-origin target. This is Fahad's third unit since leaving the Azami. As the abuse continues, he knows that it's time to move on again.
Notes: The use of the Plague Boys is a deep, deep lore reference, since the unit was only mentioned once in passing (along with the Shady Ladies) as a unit in service to the Draconis Combine in the 2950s. Referred to as "well equipped" during that period, Fahad calls them "drunken idiots" with a D-rating from the MRB, so they've fallen on hard times in the last half century (probably explaining why they aren't on any TO&E lists in 3025 onwards).
Fahad notes he has to wear a filter mask due to the heavy amount of bacterial contamination. The info about the microbial density on Layover comes from Objectives: Federated Suns, and is a nice bit of continuity - something that pervades this "non-canon" work. The facility they're guarding is the dilapidated Salvatore, Inc. factories - once a major space vessel manufacturer, now reduced to a single production line for Seeker-class DropShips. (Interestingly, though the company makes both Seekers and Vengeance DropShips, the silhouette of a ship in their corporate logo doesn't match the profile of either ship, implying there must have been more in their catalog way back when.)
During a lull in the beating, he calls his tormentors "drunken Canopian pleasure circus rejects." I'm surprised that knowledge about the circuses is widespread in 3005, since the Succession Wars crushed tourism, and the Handbook: Major Periphery States indicates that most of the pleasure circuses were on the verge of bankruptcy towards the end of the Third Succession War, returning to prosperity only after the Trinity Alliance restored relative peace to the region and granted free passage to the circuses into Capellan space. I would be surprised if many Pleasure Circuses made it as far as the Federated Suns circa 3005. (I can see them visiting the Riviera world circuit, where bored nobles go from world to world to catch a series of annual social events, but Layover's not on the circuit, and near the Combine border. I can't see the Combine under even a young Takashi Kurita welcoming Canopian vessels.)
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Date: 3005
Location: Valhalla VI
Title: Lone Wolf
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #1 - Shadow Hawk and Scorpion)
Synopsis: Captain Von Hister of the Wolf Pack oversees field technicians as they complete repairs to his Scorpion as it skulks in ambush. He notes that the day's Hunting has gone well, with five Light 'Mech kills and no losses. He notes that he's racked up 21 kills so far.
The Pack's Hunter reports an inbound Shadow Hawk three kilometers away, and von Hister's crew begins preparing to withdraw, assuming that the Medium 'Mech is too much for them. Thus, they are surprised when von Hister informs them that they're going to try to capture the enemy 'Mech.
Von Hister's goal is to immobilize the Shadow Hawk and retreat, but can still get a minor victory if the Shadow Hawk is immobilized but the Scorpion cannot withdraw. The Shadow Hawk pilot, Lt. Blanchard, wins by destroying the Scorpion.
Notes: As with the other scenarios in this series, it uses art lifted from the original intellectual property, so the cover features a Dougram/Shadow Hawk in the foreground with two more being deployed by VTOL (Pacific Rim-style) in the background (the Eastland WE211 Mavellic VTOLs were probably the thematic and aesthetic inspiration for the Karnov-UR VTOL). The interior art shows the Scorpion as well - an import of the Dougram series' Crab Gunner. The tri-barrel protrusions on each side are labeled as flare launchers.
The background notes (from Jane's Book of 'Mechs) describe the Scorpion as a scout-killer with a three man crew, operating independently with a small fast attack group of tanks, called Wolf Packs. They move at the vanguard of attacks, hunting and ambushing enemy pickets.
The Hunter is not the Lyran missile carrier, but instead is the HNT-3R Hunter Assault Tank (Wheeled), a 20-ton vehicle with 8/12 movement, 5 tons of armor, and a PPC in the turret. However, this is different than the HNT-3R Hunter tank from the BattleDroids boxed set, which had an LRM-20 (similar to the DefHes Hunter from TRO:3026). The tank model used is also from the Dougram series - the Instead Wheeled Tank. I would presume they wrote the main gun up as a PPC when it didn't visually match the BD set's missile launcher description. Thematically, it bears similarities to the 40-ton Myrmidon and 60-ton Manticore (essentially a wheeled scout variant of the Myrmidon). Jalastar Aerospace manufactures both the canon PPC tanks, so it wouldn't be a stretch to envision Jalastar having made the Hunter as well. (And probably having had no small amount of trouble with Defiance Industries' legal department, given the appellation of DefHes' tracked missile carrier.)
The rules for quads are the same here as for the Goliath scenario - technically allowing the 'Mech to continue walking as long as it has two legs left. (Imagine the scene inside the control center for the three pilots if both right legs are shot off, making the Scorpion pivot its body perpendicular from the ground as it tries to walk off on the two left-side legs.) This is also the only instance referring to Scorpions as having three pilots (it's essentially a tank on legs, so it wouldn't have the same space constraints as, say, a Wasp or Spider cockpit.
I'm not entirely sure why the Wolf Pack was so spooked by the Shadow Hawk. It's got its standard popgun array of AC/5, LRM-5, SRM-2, and Medium Laser - topping out at 19 weapon damage (if all missiles hit). By contrast, the Wolf Pack brings a pair of PPCs and an SRM-6 to the table, plus superior speed, able to throw 32 points of damage downrange. With infinite running room, this wouldn't even be a contest.
For the Wolf Pack, I'd recommend splitting the team and executing a flanking maneuver. If the Shadow Hawk goes for the Scorpion, the Hunter should maneuver to get back-shots - it'll go internal with one hit of the PPC. If it goes after the Hunter, do the same with the Scorpion. Even better, the Shadow Hawk is packed with ammo, so a massive explosion is likely.
For the Shadow Hawk, I'd recommend charging in and trying to pin the Scorpion down at the edge of the map. Its minimum range penalties will kick in once you get to knife fighting range, and while your LRM will have the same problem, you can kick, while the quad cannot. Twist your facing to deny the Hunter back shots, and try to keep knocking legs off. Scorpions only have ten armor on each leg, while your kick is 11 points.
In terms of setting, there's no indication as to which factions are fighting, and therefore no clue where Valhalla VI is located. Given the connection to Norse myth, one might suspect Valhalla VI is an outpost world somewhere in the Rasalhague Military District. However, if the Hunter is a product of Jalastar Aerospace, that would make the Scorpion an AFFS unit, and the Shadow Hawk a Capellan or Combine unit. And, of course, names like Von Hister are most common in Lyran space (though the Hister family seat originated in Yorkshire.) On the whole, I'd be most comfortable assuming Valhalla VI is a Combine world in the Rasalhague Military District, and von Hister is a Lyran MechWarrior from York.
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Date: June 17, 3005
Location: Galatea
Title: Contested Dreams
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In Galatea City, Nikolai Mason, Chloe, Ryana Campbell, and Dawson Clarmont discuss whether or not they are prepared to leave the Eridani Light Horse and form their own mercenary unit. Nikolai, thinking of Chloe and their unborn child, argues for the stability of service in the larger unit. However, the rest are committed to pooling their earnings from years of service with the ELH and seeking their fortunes on their own.
Nikolai flashes back to being tortured by bandits and being betrayed by Jules Vonic, and reflects how those experiences have made him carefully consider the risk of any situation - risks that he sees as being all too real. Nonetheless, to make Chloe's dream a reality, he signs his name to the paperwork formally registering The Cavaliers with the Mercenary Review Board as a mercenary combat command available for immediate hire.
Notes: Other sources have spelled the capital of Galatea as both "Galatea City" and "Galatean City." Galatea City seems to be the most common reference by far, so this usage reinforces the correctness of the version without the 'n'.
Nikolai's flashbacks suggest he was tortured by the bandits repeatedly, leading me to wonder if he was actually in the bandit group to begin with, with the torture being their method of discipline and/or indoctrination for new recruits. It seems unlikely that pirates (unless they were of Redjack Ryan's sadistic ilk) would waste the time putting someone in a spacesuit with minimal oxygen and strapping them to the outside of a hull until they were nearly dead from oxygen deprivation just for entertainment. It'd be interesting to learn how he got out of that lifestyle and hooked up with the Lyran Free Traders Association.
Interestingly, the legalese on the Mercenary Review Board registration paperwork refers to the articles of incorporation having been delivered in accordance with the laws and codes of ComStar, the Great Houses, and the mercenary guilds. The ComStar sourcebook indicates that there was a Mercenary's Guild that tried to compete with ComStar's MRB, but ROM sabotage quickly put it out of business (it ran from 2956-2968), and ComStar assumed control over its remaining chapter houses. This text, along with a reference in "Straw Man" well after 2968 suggests that there are actually mercenary guilds still in operation throughout the Inner Sphere. (Pro-ComStar misinformation in a ComStar-written sourcebook? Shocked! Shocked, I am!)
It would be interesting, should CGL ever do another version of the Mercenary's Handbook, to include some detail on such guilds, giving players alternatives to the Mercenary Review Board/Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission. I wonder if the Dark Wing's Mercenary Underground (from the NES MechWarrior game) could be considered one of these competing Mercenary Guilds. (Though Duff Skully didn't seem the type to operating according to laws and codes, nor to maintain a chapter hall that accepted and processed paperwork.)
Given that this is the period where Blizzard Haskell controls Galatea City's underworld and lures new merc units into company store traps (per "Not the Way the Smart Money Bets," it'd be interesting to see how The Cavaliers escaped his notice. Perhaps having their own funds from their ELH earnings let them stay out of the black market.
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We know of one "Mercenary Guild" example that was set up in direct competition to ComStar's MRBC, yes. But the term can be used for a number of other loose organisations.
You already mentioned the Dark Wing, a "mercenary cartel".
The Dark Wing in turn seems to be one of the Draconis Combine based mercenary units that exist in a weird legal limbo: It is essentially illegal for Combine citizens to form a merc unit and hire out to outside forces, which by definition are enemies of the state. Thus, there shouldn't be any DC-based units with a MRBC registry. But at the same time, there are noble retainer armies (e.g. Ricol's Red Hunter Special Operations Group), semi-autonomous militia units (e.g. Tyrell's Raiders) and corporate security forces that functionally amount to merc units save for the MRBC registration (e.g. the Amphigean Light Assault Group or apparently the Dark Wing). These units only hire out within the Draconis Combine.
This legal framework may have led to the formation of mercenary guilds (official or only colloquially referred to as such) within the Combine besides the MRBC. The Combine is still hiring mercs as fodder, they just don't allow their people to hire out to outsiders.
There is also the Lone Wolves, who are so loosely organized that they are actually more aking to a mercenary guild than a coherent unit.
In fact, many larger units seem to have a personnel fluctuation that amounts to being a mercenary guild. Not to mention subcontracting entire units into larger units. Or, conversely, contracting out sub-units on individual contracts or assignments (e.g. Black Widow Company, or the individual regiments of multi-regiment merc units).
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Date: October 7, 3005
Location: Galatea
Title: Contested Dreams
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Chloe Reed sees military DropShips launching from Galaport as she walks through Galatea City, and feels frustration that the Cavaliers aren't launching on any missions. She checks in at the hiring hall on the north end of town, which is bustling with both successful mercenaries en route to negotiations and desperate looking contractless mercs. She sees Brooklynn Jales, the Cavaliers agent, waiting by an office for their afternoon's candidate interview, but Chloe tells her she won't be needed.
Inside the office, she greets the applicant for the Cavaliers' tech position - Fahad Arazad, late of the Arkab Legion. She reviews his history and comments on his track record of being kicked out of one unit after another. He admits to having a sharp tongue and not fitting in well, but argues that he has the skills the Cavaliers need, and appeals to Chloe as a fellow tech (having done his research on Chloe's prior vocation).
Seeing the desperation in his eyes and wondering how long it will be before the Cavaliers all have that look, she takes pity on him and hires him for the Cavaliers.
Notes: This scene does a nice job of describing the layout and mood of the hiring halls. On Galatea, the largest building is a massive rotunda with three hallways radiating out from the central hub. The rotunda is a reception area with a massive hologram of the Inner Sphere rotating under the dome. Data screens cover every wall. The hallways contain numerous offices and meeting rooms where negotiations and interviews can take place. Dialogue in "Star Lord" establishes that the "old" hiring hall is located near Galaport. The BattleCorps short story "Johnny Mace, Mech Ace" adds that many lone MechWarriors seek out agents to get them hired onto contracts, with Leech Contractors and Negotiators of Galatea scraping the bottom of the barrel. One suspects that Fahad's next stop might have been at C&N, hoping to find work as a wrench jockey for Johnny Mace (picture Johnny Bravo in a neurohelmet unwittingly doing an Abbot and Costello routine about the systems of Here, Anywhere, and A Place).
By contrast, the description of the hiring hall on Outreach in "Null Set" is barely there: "Mercenaries arriving in Harlech should make their first stop at the Hiring Hall. Inside the Hall, an information booth provides free information on hotels, restaurants, banking, and hiring procedures for the arriving merc." Mercenaries Handbook 3055 gets a bit more into detail, noting that "The six towers of the Hiring Hall dominate the city skyline, dwarfing the surrounding buildings." The first Hiring Hall on Outreach opened in March 3032, as a temporary facility while the Dragoons constructed the six towers. The Hiring Hall on Outreach moved to Olympiad Stadium in 3037, and afterwards to the towers. "Wolf Pack" adds the details that the tower walls are marble-sheathed, and that each tower is 20 stories in height, surrounding a domed central area, making it the most prominent building in Harlech. The interior of the Hall there also includes information boards, presumably with the same (or better) functionality as that seen on Galatea in 3005.
The comparison between major commands like the Eridani Light Horse, Blue Star Irregulars, 21st Centauri Lancers and the lesser commands like the Plague Boys, Tamara's Black Sword, and Vinson's Vigilantes is nice, especially since two of those lesser units are gone by 3025, and one turns to banditry on Antallos by mid-century.
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In MWDA Novel, Patriot's Stand they give interesting account of Galatea hiring halls as well as in later book by Kevin Killiany's Wolf Hunters (novel).
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Date: November 14, 3005
Location: Galatea
Title: Contested Dreams
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At Proving Grounds Delta, Dawson Clarmont takes his Griffin through its paces in a training exercise, scoring a simulated kill against a Jenner piloted by a prospective new hire. The Jenner pilot, Jackson, is so startled, he loses control of his 'Mech, sending it collapsing to the ground. Dawson bemoans having left the Grave Walkers to work with such low quality candidates.
He tries to think of what he can do in Galatea City to distract him from the unit's existential crisis that isn't from the city's darker vice dens, but can't come up with anything.
Notes: Dawson mentions that his PPC is "powered down" for the exercise. Is that an option that pilots can exercise at any time, or does it require special rigging ahead of time? The PPC field inhibitor that the Fuh Teng was putting into his Vindicator when ordered to throw a match would seem to suggest that it requires a hardware cutout to create the "all flash, no damage" configuration for the PPCs. A fun MechWarrior campaign scenario might be to infiltrate an enemy base ahead of a battle and wire PPC field inhibitors into their Awesomes, Warhammers, and Marauders, causing great consternation when their guns have no effect on the battlefield, and potentially scoring some premium Heavy and Assault-class salvage.
Similarly, we've seen engagements where units doing training were using low-power lasers, but were attacked, and couldn't dial up the power from their cockpits - only in a maintenance bay. That implies the existence of a hardware module rather than a system setting.
I'm not sure Dawson has too much to crow about re: the Grave Walkers. Their unit skill ratings stayed in "Regular" territory until the unit reached Veteran in 3059. Granted, Jackson probably slots into the Very Green category of the extended skill table, but even so...
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Date: December 11, 3005
Location: Galatea
Title: Contested Dreams
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Ryana Campbell reviews contracts, looking closely at a six-month pirate hunting contract on Ruschegg, offering average pay, negotiable salvage rights, and half the cost of transport to Ruschegg, with integrated command under Baron Keeling, all the way across the Free Worlds League. She calculates the cost for eighteen jumps and estimates that just getting to the world would cost the unit a tenth of its remaining funds, noting that the cost of getting back wasn't mentioned in the contract.
The negatives are too much, and she rejects the contract, noting that it's been sitting in the database with no takers for over a year. Despite the poor prospects, she knows that the unit needs to start taking even bad contracts to make a reputation for itself and qualify for better opportunities.
Notes: Getting stranded isn't uncommon for low-end mercenary units. Wilson's Hussars (the archetypical hard-luck unit from the Mercenary's Handbook) was stranded in the Outworlds Alliance after completing a contract in the Taurian Concordat for the Oberon Confederation. (One might suspect Wilson didn't do the math on the transport distance when he took the gig to raid Longbow Mountain. One red flag might have been that Longbow Mountain doesn't appear on any star charts.) From the Oberon Confederation's perspective, that's certainly one way to avoid retaliatory strikes, but they'd have to be after something pretty valuable to put an entire JumpShip out of circulation for the two years+ that such a deep raid would require.
Looking at the Mercenary's Handbook, the DropShip hiring fee to get the unit from surface to orbit and orbit to surface would be 40,000 C-Bills per lance on a commercial transport, plus an extra 10% per jump, so 4,000 per jump or 72,000 for the whole trip there. If Baron Keeling covers half of their expenses, that's 56,000 C-Bills. If that represents 10% of their liquid cash, then the Cavaliers now have just 560,000 C-Bills left in their warchest.
Assuming the Cavaliers have what amounts to a Veteran support squad, they generate 20 support points. They've got three mediums, an assault, and a light. That requires 135 support points. Minus the 20 from Chloe and Fahad, that leaves 115 required per month, totaling 575,000 in out-of-pocket maintenance costs alone. Perhaps both Chloe and Fahad can count as Elite techs, giving the unit 60 support points. That still leaves them out-of-pocket 375,000 per month, which means they're flat broke by February, or they're deferring maintenance (not good for when/if they finally do get hired), or they've got two more elite support squads tucked away somewhere. (The math makes the Kell Hounds' insistence on having full tech support and not outsourcing very financially attractive - even an Elite support squad costs only 1,500 C-Bills per month in salary, but generates work valued at 150,000 C-Bills.)
What this basically boils down to is that they're almost broke, and that they've either got a lot more techs than just Fahad and Chloe on staff, or they're cutting corners on maintenance.
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Date: January 2, 3006
Location: Galatea
Title: Contested Dreams
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Nikolai trudges through the frigid, snowy streets of Galatea City to the seedy Lazy Lighthorseman bar. He orders a Timbiqui Dark, flashes a 100 C-Bill note to pay, then becomes the center of attention by taking center stage at the karaoke platform, playing the part of a drunken fool, and, having thusly defined his character, removing any curiosity about him among the bar's patrons. He slumps into a chair next to his contact and makes idle chatter with people around him until the bar begins to empty. At last, he tells his contact he's interested in off-books mercenary contracts, while putting a token onto the table to verify his bona fides. He gets another drink from the bar, and when he returns his contact tells him there's a drive under the table with contracts not found in ComStar's databases. Nikolai pays the man by sticking a credit chip to the bottom of his beer glass, then leaves it on the table as he gets up to go.
A few blocks away from the bar, he realizes he played the part of a drunk and wealthy fool too well, and has been followed by some muggers. He expertly disables one attacker and convinces the other to back off.
Back at the apartment, Chloe, Dawson, Brooklynn, and Ryana join him - Chloe furious about his having been stabbed during the altercation with the muggers. Nikolai justifies the risk, noting that the unit isn't going to last much longer without a good contract, since their nest egg is getting smaller every day. He says they'll have to let their new hires go, postpone maintenance fee payments and training runs, and then they'll be branded as failures, and will never get a contract. He shouts that they have to either take one of these shady contracts, or admit they couldn't make a go of being independent mercenaries.
Dawson expresses reluctance to take murder-for-hire contracts, and Nikolai answers that the contracts are illegal, but not immoral, and can be concealed behind "state secrets" and other euphemisms. Ryana says they should take one of the contracts, noting that the unit cannot go on as it currently stands. Chloe finally agrees as well, and asks what makes the contract in question so secret that it can't be on the MRB database.
Nikolai outlines that it's an extraction operation, protecting a team from Interstellar Expeditions, with the POC being Mr. Sebastian Spears. Chloe and Ryana react with surprise, and Chloe begins laughing. They reveal that they know him, having concluded a contract with IE during the battle on Hesperus. They consider his contracts to be crazy, but lucrative. The reason they don't go through MRB is that they don't want ComStar to know what they're doing. With that out in the open, the team decides to take the contract.
Notes: Interesting how often in the BattleTech universe the seasons on various worlds, all with separate orbital periods, stellar distancing, and continental distribution tend to have weather patterns that precisely mirror those of Terra's northern hemisphere. Nothing saying Galatea City can't have snow in January, but this happens very frequently across the fiction, and I'd love to see a description of "Rasalgethi's deep August snows" or a saying "Like a cold January on Satalice" meaning something that comes around only once every ten year cycle. The early fiction (especially Bill Keith's worldbuilding efforts) did this a lot more, which I felt added more grounding and variety to the sense of being on exotic worlds. For this reason, I'm very much looking forward to Catalyst's "Alien Worlds" map set, which will feature more environments that couldn't ever appear on Terra.
With the mention of paying maintenance fees, it is clear that the unit doesn't have enough integral tech support to cover their needs and are paying for their tech services (at 10 times the cost of the salaries for Elite techs - since the math is so favorable towards having your own techs, the main shortfall must be in finding the techs in the first place - thus leading to the early lore showcasing techs as targets of objective raids, and being kept under lock and key in underground bunkers as two-legged LosTech). Thus, they literally are about one or two months away from bankruptcy, assuming my calculations of their nest egg are accurate.
The use of Nikolai's black market trader contracts to get the token giving him entre to IE's recruiter is interesting - but must leave IE with a very limited number of prospects for their operations. The Combine was far less secretive when they wanted mercs for secret missions - they just advertised a fake lead-in mission that had the correct parameters but fake details, and then gave the unit the real mission once it was on-site and away from the hiring halls. Sure, there'd be the risk of someone talking, but that risk doesn't go away with their current method. I presume IE can't/won't go to the remaining Mercenary Guilds, because of the (very real) worry that ROM has infiltrated them.
Murder-for-hire contracts do exist in this timeframe. Helmar Valasek splits his efforts between sending his 'Mechs out on water raids and sending hit-squads out on assassination missions. Further out, the Jarnfolk have full-on assassin guilds, though their contracts are usually internal to the Jarnfolk families, and it would be almost unheard of for them to operate in the Inner Sphere. (Though a Jarnfolk trading vessel was operating in the Oberon Confederation region in the late 2900s.) Vendettas in the Combine also regularly require the service of assassins. Do all those contracting for killers have to use such elaborate cutouts, though?
Nikolai states that some contracts are universally illegal, by any law. What laws apply in the Succession Wars? Granted, ComStar's Mercenary Review Board can set standards of conduct - no genocide, no civilian massacres, no nukes, etc., and they can prevent units in violation from getting contracts through their networks, and badmouth them to potential clients. However, looking at the advertising put out by the Black Knight Legion (from MechWarrior 4), they freely advertise industrial sabotage, tout the (non-canon) killing of Duke Ian Dresari (an assassination contract if I ever saw one), and proudly say that no job is too dirty.
But would the Combine care if a mercenary unit slaughtered the populace of a Davion world? Or would they give them a bonus? Granted, that unit might never be able to work in the Federated Suns or the Lyran Commonwealth again, but that would be a preference of those hiring agents, not a legal matter, since none of the Successor States have legal jurisdiction in each other's territory. (That again brings up the question of how, exactly, the Lyrans justified raiding a Free Worlds League planet to find "illegal nukes" when the Lyrans' own planetary garrisons on Skye were using nukes to blow up dams during a Kurita invasion.)
Another example is that of the Screaming Eagles, which executed prisoners of war on New Canton during the 4th Succession War and were "disgraced," but were tried and found "not guilty" of wrongdoing and continued in FedCom service in the War of 3039. House Davion's contracts specifically stated that killing POWs was against its rules. However, the Combine's Dictum Honorium specifically states that all POWs should be immediately executed, unless they can be leveraged for further use. So there's an example of each Great House having its own set of laws, and there being no one set of things that are "universally illegal" in the Inner Sphere.
I think Nikolai is more concerned about their reputation than about legal consequences. If they get the reputation as a mob of murderous thugs based on the types of contracts they're initially willing to take, then the only types of contracts they'll be subsequently offered are those suited to murderous thugs. (Hello, Combine company store!) The Eagles did ultimately end up taking a reputation hit and had to settle for Chaos March and Periphery contracts after the War of 3039, but they served the Sandovals well in the Jihad and were welcomed back by the Federated Suns to guard the border against the Raven Alliance.
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Date: December 11, 3006
Location: Lungdo
Title: Dissimulate Wanderer
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: On the backwater world of Lungdo, Fahad muses at the lack of economic activity on the planet and the lack of action on this mission. A truck returns to the basecamp, escorted by Ryana Campbell's Highlander. After disembarking, Ryana tells Nikolai that the search team came up empty again. Lead Interstellar Expeditions archaeologist Jolinda Hays concludes that the Chalice and Tablets of St. Kamen DeGruen (a Terran Alliance loyalist saint executed by (presumably) anti-Expansionist party rebels in 2183, at the height of the diaspora from the Terran Alliance) not present in the caves the team has been excavating for two months. Jolinda informs Chloe that the contract is finished and that the Cavaliers will be paid in full for services rendered.
The team consults as a group on next steps, and determines to move on and seek another contract. Pleased to have been included in the decision-making process, Fahad feels he finally has found a place he can call home.
Notes: Interesting that Fahad has, to conceal his Arkab origins, cultivated a "House Davion Outback" accent that seems to align closely with Australian English. (The connection apparently being between the Davion Outback and the Australian Outback. I wonder if the Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Onion is LosTech in the Federated Suns.)
The mandate of Interstellar Expeditions (circa 3006, at least) is to find and preserve the knowledge of mankind. This appears not to be limited just to technical data (which is where most Successor State-sponsored expeditions focus), but on cultural history and pre-spaceflight antiquities as well. If the speculations are true about the origins of the Green Ghosts (Goliath Scorpion abtakha troops within Clan Wolf that went rogue during Tukayyid and began operating as Seekers in the Periphery), that would explain why IE keeps getting hit by the Ghosts - they're essentially after the same collectibles. Getting your dig site raided, field experts killed, and loot stolen is just the Inner Sphere version of being sniped on eBay.
It's interesting to hear that there were rebellions against the Terran Alliance on Terra in 2183. The Outer Reaches Rebellion didn't take place until 2236, and the Expansionist government kept a tight rein on the Alliance until their efforts to quell the Rebellion failed, after which power swung wildly back and forth between the Expansionists and the Liberals. What was going on in 2183 was the reign of terror unleashed by Elias Liao's New World Disciples, which lasted until his stronghold was overrun in 2188. Since Elias was targeting representatives of the Terran Alliance and its supporters, Kampen DeGruen - a vocal pro-Alliance advocate - seems a likely target for having an up close encounter with the business end of a fusion grenade. (However, the story says he was captured in Turkey as a spy by rebels, given a kangaroo-court trial, and then executed. That doesn't fit the Disciples MO, so it must have been one of the other anti-government rebel groups operating at the same time as the Disciples.) Most other sources just call the insurgent groups "terrorists" rather than rebels, and this is the first source that makes reference to open rebellion against the Alliance on Terra, and this 50 years before the start of the Outer Reaches Rebellion. I wonder if Kampen DeGruen considered Elias' Hong Kong Free State to be in rebellion against the Terran Alliance, which might have been what was used to justify its forceful annexation by the Offshore Chinese Republic prior to Elias forming the New World Disciples.
The Chalice and Tablets are valuable historical artifacts on their own, but apparently were expected to be co-located with even more ancient treasures dating back to ancient Babylon. Many treasures gathered by the Catholic Church were evacuated from Terra (both by those wishing to protect them, and by those who'd looted them and wanted to stash their swag offworld) during the Amaris Civil War. It's certainly possible that DeGruen's relics are out in the Periphery in the keeping of the Society of St. Andreas or of the Fiefdom of Randis, both of whom guard religious items rescued from the Greenhaven Gestapo's sack of Rome.
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Date: 3007 (speculative)
Location: Perkasie
Title: Duck Soup
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #11 - Wasp ASF & Phoenix Hawk ASF)
Synopsis: Sergeant Marie Hanley and Corporal Cory Perinski sweep the surface of Perkasie to locate a missing member of their command - Major Jay Hodge - who failed to respond to a muster call to deploy offworld to engage a force of Liao mercenaries. A report comes in that a 'Mech matching Hodge's equipment has been spotted massacring the populace of a small settlement. Hanley suspects Hodge has snapped under the mental strain of a pending deployment, and debates with Perinski over how soldiers facing the horrors of war can keep their grip on the real world.
Historically, Hanley and Pernski strafed the Marauder and avoided further civilian casualties. Hodge ejected when his ammunition detonated, and was sentenced to several years of confinement at a psychiatric hospital.
The scenario uses the CityTech map and pits a Wasp LAM and Phoenix Hawk LAM against a Marauder.
Notes: It's tempting to think that the title of this scenario is a deep meta-reference. "Duck Soup" was the name of the fifth Marx Brothers film, in which Groucho plays the leader of the small, bankrupt nation of Freedonia. BattleTech's creator and owner, at the time, was FASA Corporation, which was an acronym for the "Freedonian Air and Space Administration." In-universe, the title comes from the pilots considering the civilians on the ground to be sitting ducks for the Marauder, leading to a gallows humor jest that they'll soon be turned into duck soup.
The scenario is presented as a case study in Dr. Leopold Yarinley's 3021 textbook "The Psychology of Today's MechWarrior," used as instructional material for cadets at the Meistmorn Academy on Hoff. Yarinley claims that there are only two instances in all of history when a MechWarrior snapped and went berserk in an incident that claimed lives. I can think of at least Archon Viola Steiner, who, while maddened with grief, caused many casualties among her own forces during the Reunification War. I can't believe that these were the only two incidents prior to 3021. (Post 3021, we have more to choose from, including Takashi Kurita's berserker rage on Luthien and the pilot of the infamous Black Marauder, who murdered members of his own unit, civilians, and members of a party of bandit raiders before taking command of them while under the influence of what was implied to be a demonically possessed 'Mech.)
This is the only one of the TCI scenarios to give the author's name - Alan Tucker. On the assumption that one person probably did all the scenarios, I have credited them all to Alan Tucker, though only this one can be verified to be his work.
The goal of the scenario is to take out the enemy 'Mechs while doing as little damage to the buildings as possible. (I'm not sure why this is the Marauder's goal as well, since it started its day squashing half the village into rubble, but...) If the LAMs convert to 'Mech mode, they're seriously outgunned, and don't stand much of a chance. Precision strafing is canonically how they took the Marauder down, but that leads to a swath of destruction three hexes wide, and bombing has the problem with random scattering. Minimizing damage while staying intact is going to be quite a chore for the relatively fragile LAMs as they run a gauntlet of PPC, laser, and autocannon fire from the fully armed and operational heavy 'Mech.
One curious bit about the narrative setup is that the entire Perkasie 'Mech garrison has been mobilized to board JumpShips to engage Liao mercenaries. Presumably they're reinforcing a neighboring system that has reported coming under attack, and the urgency with which they departed suggests they feel they can get to the raid site in time to still do some good. The use of multiple JumpShips to transport a planetary garrison suggests either small ships (two Scouts carrying one Leopard each is a possibility) or a fairly large garrison. My guess is that they would have waited for their Marauder to show up for muster if they were only sending a few lances, since one extra Marauder would make a massive difference in force projection, whereas one missing Marauder wouldn't significantly hinder a battalion or regiment.
The civilians in the village must all have been wearing skin-suits and filter-masks - since Perkasie is home to Karpov spores, which cause lung fibrosis, pleural plaques (similar to the effects of having inhaled asbestos), and skin warts in unprotected humans. (The Bounty Hunter Dossier calls the side-effect "pleural plague" instead of "pleural plaque," but that appears to be a typo.) Perhaps Hodge didn't snap from combat stress, but might have gotten exposed to Karpov spores.
The Marauder's strategy should be to get in among the buildings to ensure that any AOE attack (such as bombing or strafing) destroys buildings, setting the LAMs up to lose the bonus awarded for doing the least damage to the village. The LAM player's best bet is to utilize AirMech mode to make To-Hit numbers as difficult as possible while also ensuring that one of the LAMs always has a back shot, and trying to drill through the comparatively thin rear armor before the Marauder's attacks blow off the LAMs' front armor.
Date-wise, this just has to happen long enough before 2021 for it to have been widely heard about and incorporated into the Meistmorn textbook. 2007 feels about right, for that purpose, but as late as 2019 would fit.
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Takashi Kurita's berserker rage on Luthien ? :o Where that from. I know he had issues that lead to him wanting to be taken down his by his son honorably, but nothing like that.
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In the Luthien scenario pack, if the Kurita player fails his "keep Takashi in check" roll, Takashi goes nuts and essentially fights on autopilot for the rest of the scenario, and has the potential of attacking the Kurita forces intended to keep him in check. It's a "what if" scenario.
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Remember in the novel which the battle took place that there was some kind of order given by his son to have him removed from Battle if by force if necessary. If I'm not mistaken.
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Remember in the novel which the battle took place that there was some kind of order given by his son to have him removed from Battle if by force if necessary. If I'm not mistaken.
Takashi told Shin Yodama he’d overridden the control lockout, and was only informing him before racing off into battle to obey the dictates required by honor. Shin, a yakuza, responded that he’d anticipated that and he also had a button controlling explosives, since honor was not a concern for the yakuza.
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Date: January 11, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the James City DropPort, Dawson Clarmont oversees the loading of supply trucks bound for the Cavaliers' bivouac in the Badlands - an agricultural region with no nearby landing sites. For the moment, the Cavaliers' 'Mechs remain in James City, in the hold of the Interstellar Expeditions ship that brought the unit to the planet. With the truck underway, and the Cavaliers not expecting him at the bivouac until dawn, he sets out to find a card game in James City.
Notes: McKenna is one of the worlds in the FWL region known as "The Protectorate." It was my understanding that this region had been the core zone of support for Anton Marik in his failed bid to overthrow Janos, and that afterwards it was made into a protectorate by Janos because he couldn't trust its original pro-Anton governing structure. I'm basing this assessment on the original Marik sourcebook, which said (circa 3025) "For the last ten years, the Protectorate has been under the direct control of House Marik. Its six worlds had been independent states legally separated from the Duchy of Oriente during the previous century, and placed under the administrative control of Anton Marik. After the war, Duke Anton's rebelling worlds were placed under the Marik's direct authority, and their economic output are at his command." This would imply that, pre-3015, those worlds should be shown as non-aligned systems, only becoming The Protectorate after Natasha killed Anton and ended the revolt. However, many sources set pre-revolt also call the region the Protectorate, voiding that explanation. Perhaps these six independent worlds became The Protectorate only upon being placed under Anton's control, making it a very recently formed political entity as of this story's writing.
I'd always assumed that McKenna was named after the Terran Hegemony's founder, James McKenna, but the historical record shows it to always have been a Free Worlds League system, and never having been part of the Director General's expansion plan (the Hegemony intentionally didn't expand very far into League territory, having struck a mutual non-aggression pact to free up HAF forces to annex the Dieron Federation, and focusing far more of its expansionary drive on the Capellan and Federated Suns holdings.) The same applies to the FWL's Cameron system, which I'd also assumed had been named after the Hegemony's House Cameron. Some systems have been known to change names over the course of history. I wonder if the Mariks changed the names of those systems to show respect to the rulers of the neighboring Hegemony, in light of their non-aggression pact and eventual co-leadership of the efforts to form the Star League.
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Date: 3008 (speculative)
Location: Brittany III
Title: King of the Mountain
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #7 - Marauder and Ostroc Mk. II)
Synopsis: Henry V, Duke of Brittany III (a Davion world close to the Federated Suns' border with the Draconis Combine) holds court among his warriors as they recount their exploits in the day's assault against a Kurita base at the foot of Mt. Agincourt. After Sir Phillip recounts his rear assault on a Combine Brigadier, he asks the Duke where he got off to during the battle. The Duke recounts that, while they were clearing the Kurita barracks, his sensors spotted a heat signature on the other side of Mt. Agincourt and he pursued, catching a curiously modified Ostroc in the foothills before it could reach its DropShip. He recounts that the modifications included jump jets and heavier firepower, at the cost of slower ground speed, making the battle with his Marauder tougher, but still worth it for Lord Davion.
The scenario itself is pretty vanilla - a pristine Marauder fights a pristine Ostroc Mk. II until one is destroyed or exits from the northern side of the battlefield, depicted by two standard BattleTech maps.
Notes: Carrying on with TCI's repurposing of Macross models and artwork, the "OST-9C Ostroc Mk. II" is a Zentraedi Regult Artillery Pod model, paired with the model for the Glaug Officer Pod/Marauder. If you wanted to have BattleTech stats for miniatures from the Robotech Tactics game, here ya go. It weighs in at 60 tons, moves 4/6/3 (with BattleDroids-legal arm-mounted jump jets), and mounts two large lasers, two medium lasers and two SRM-2s, protected by 9.5 tons of armor. Since the text specifically calls out the Ostroc as not looking like the regular model, FASA must have had the standard Ostroc drawn for TRO:3025 (which also came out in 1986 - the same year as this model set), and was lampshading the fact that the Regult model looked nothing like their homebrew Ostroc.
The setup is a clear reference to Act IV of Shakespeare's "Henry V," in which the British monarch rallies his troops at Agincourt to defeat the French.
The setup calls Brittany III a young world like old Terra that has been subject to Kurita attacks for many years, remaining in Davion hands thanks to the steadfast defense mounted by its Dukes. When DCMS forces landed, they established a base of operations at Mt. Agincourt. Duke Henry V collected and organized the planetary garrison in one night and launched a massive counterassault at dawn, shattering the base and forcing the Combine offworld in two days of fighting. The invasion force retreated to the jump point for four days, but were ambushed at the jump point by a newly arrived Davion assault force (described as "coming out of light speed" - suggesting the BattleDroids era writers were cribbing more than "Droids" from the Star Wars setting). The DCMS force launched all its remaining AeroSpace fighters to enable the DropShips to dock with the JumpShip and jump out, leaving the fighters behind to die.
It's unclear how big the Kurita force was, but it is described as being strong and using multiple DropShips. I'm not sure what Sir Philip means when he recounts getting the drop on the Combine Brigadier, since that's not a DCMS rank. It is the rank for a Taurian Defense Force battalion commander, so perhaps Sir Philip has previously seen action on the Taurian front and used that term instead of Sho-sa. (Or perhaps, given how many brandies he'd downed, he'd lapsed into telling much older war stories instead of recounting the battle from earlier in the day.)
Honestly, while the scenario itself is pretty blah, the backstory for it would make for a fun campaign, with a major setpiece battle at Agincourt, rear guard actions as the DCMS force retreats to its DropShips, and an AeroTech 2/BattleSpace engagement at the jump point. Of course, the Davion player would be required to recite the St. Crispin's Day speech from memory at the outset of the assault on Agincourt, or lose initiative for the duration of the battle.
Timing wise, it's hard to say. It has to be far enough into the Succession Wars that there have been several generations of Dukes fighting off Kurita advances - so the Third Succession War is most likely. It can't be too close to the "current" year of 3025 either, since Henry V is referred to as the "then Duke," implying that Brittany III is on at least Henry VI by now. I've arbitrarily put in 3008, which gives room for succession prior to 3025. Brittany III, of course, is not a canon world and appears on no star charts.
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Date: April 5, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Brooklynn Jales (Brooklynn having chosen a new surname that is an anagram of Selaj to reflect her displeasure with House Cameron-Jones) again briefs Nikolai Mason on what they know of Fort Corregidor, which had been the home base for the 49th Jump Infantry Division of the SLDF XIX Corps. Looking at the featureless rolling hills that they've been searching for months, Nikolai wonders how a base of that size could leave no trace. Ryana Campbell attributes it to the use of WMDs during the Succession Wars. Fahad Azad concurs as he works to get the ground penetrating radar up and running. The lack of findings has placed the unit on edge and made tempers flare. Chlose breaks through the arguing by stating that this IE contract is just like the last one - a bust, and says she'll file on Galatea that the Cavaliers' contract status is once more open.
A truck arrives and Dawson Clarmont emerges with a large smile and news of a new contract offer. The Steel Guard (McKenna's garrison) is redeploying to the Lyran border and the planetary governor has extended a contract offer to the Cavaliers as a pirate deterrent. While most of the unit views this contract possibility as serendipitous, Brooklynn expresses her concerns. She notes that the Steel Guards' transfer was personally authorized by Anton Marik, who is known to hate his brother Janos. She suggests, and Dawson confirms, that the Steel Guards are known to be loyal to Janos. She speculates that Anton is clearing all of Janos' loyalists out of his territories.
Ryana and Chloe argue that a contract is a contract, even if the League is heading towards civil war, and that the Cavaliers will be able to face whatever comes and defeat it, dismissing Broklynn's caution that, when nobles are involved, attacks might be more akin to a knife in the dark. The unit decides to accept the governor's contract offer.
Notes: Per FM: SLDF, the 49th Jump Infantry Division (The Horned Owls) were based out of the XIX Corps HQ on McKenna at Fort Corregidor. While there, they faced problems with supply lines and a lack of activity to keep the troops sharp. During the Liberation of Terra, the 49th would have joined the rest of the XIX Corps in the Eighth Army, which remained in the FWL during the Periphery Uprising and was at full strength when the Civil War started. XIX Corps hit Marcus and secured valuable industrial facilities, but lost two brigades to RWR attacks, including nuclear strikes. An infantry brigade from XIX also hit Bordon, where they were used as ad-hoc marines in a naval boarding action. On Terra, they saw action in Japan and Borneo. Per the Star League sourcebook, the 49th JID was destroyed during the Civil War fighting.
Neither the First or Second Succession War sourcebooks make any reference to any fighting on McKenna. From the maps, the most likely source of any such attack would be the Capellan Confederation, but with the exception of the counterattacks during ComStar's interdiction against House Marik, the Liao border consistently moved away from McKenna, and the world was never considered a Liao holding. That doesn't mean that a raid couldn't have taken place, especially with the opportunity to loot Fort Corregidor and seize SLDF supplies and other resources, but it seems unlikely that there was ever a full-blown invasion of the world. One might suspect that the leadership of the Federation of Oriente moved quickly after the Exodus to seize everything that wasn't bolted down from the XIX Corps' HQ at Ft. Corregidor and transfer it to the Oriente Hussars' own warehouses. The lack of evidence of a base in the locale where it was supposed to be located suggests that the stripping of the facility was exceptionally thorough (take whatever isn't bolted down and then take the bolts, too) or that IE is getting sent on wild goose chases by ComStar or other parties unknown.
At this point, the Janos/Anton split has been brewing for several years - stemming from the failed 3002 invasion of Solaris VII under Anton's best friend from the academy, Willis Crawford, and that friend's subsequent execution on Janos' orders. By 3008, Janos is an emotional wreck and has taken to wandering the darkened halls of the Marik palace on Atreus, while Anton rages that his older brother won't give him the resources or authority necessary to properly direct the FWLM's war effort, and thinks it's time for a new Marik to assume the role of Captain-General.
Brooklynn's use of a Selaj anagram as her last name references the original rulers of Regulus, which conspired against Captain-General Rhean Marik and was eventually forced into exile after being linked with assassination attempts by the Scourge of Death terrorist group against House Marik. They were replaced by House Cameron-Jones.
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'Jales' is an anagram only in the most technical sense: it's just 'Selaj' backwards.
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'Jales' is an anagram only in the most technical sense: it's just 'Selaj' backwards.
Aware - but Brooklynn explicitly thinks of it as an anagram. Nobody ever accused Regulans of being subtle.
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Date: August 3, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Norm Plantation, the Cavaliers engage enemy 'Mechs, using their Shadow Hawk, Griffin and Catapult against a pirate Hermes and Grasshopper. Ryana coordinates from their bivouac. The Hermes goes down, and the Grasshopper withdraws as radar shows the Cavaliers' other lance approaching, but the repair bill keeps rising with every engagement, and the farmers' fields continue to suffer collateral damage.
Nikolai notes that the pirate attacks began almost immediately after the Steel Guards' departure, wreaking havoc but seemingly not stealing anything - decidedly out of character for pirates. He resolves to use his underworld contacts to get a clearer picture of the situation.
Notes: Field Manual: SLDF noted that the 49th Jump Infantry Division had to deal with the "pirate" attacks on the League/Confederation front as the two realms attacked each other in an escalating series of raids with either covertly supported real pirates (issued letters of marque?) or detached line units masquerading as pirates.
As with fashion, schemes have a way of coming back into style periodically. The timing of the raids suggests that Anton released the loyalist units to support Janos' fight against Katrina Steiner on the Lyran border, and then began staging "pirate" attacks against his own holdings (McKenna is in Anton's "Protectorate") to turn the populace against Janos. Presumably, he'll eventually come riding to the rescue at the head of his personal forces and drive off the pirate scum, saving the people, and securing a grateful and loyal populace to support his bid for the Captain-Generalcy.
It's interesting that the pirates are running a Hermes, rather than the far more common (at this point) Hermes II. According to the lore, by the late Third Succession War, the only Hermes-class 'Mechs still on the field were mostly scrap, held together by sheer determination. Is this just a random encounter with a very rare design, or an indication that the pirate rides are being pulled from a cache or a scrapyard, to better hide their origins?
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Date: October 5, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Nikolai monitors the harvest from his perch atop his Catapult, watching four massive Saturn Harvesters at work. A small tractor races ahead of the nearest harvester to chase a pack of reptile/plant hybrid gargaraffes out of its way, finally resorting to towing the pack matriarch out of harm's way with a lasso, inducing the rest to follow.
In the bivouac, he notices Dawson and Brooklynn (who has recently lost some fingers from his left hand) arguing while Chloe and Fahad work on repairs. When Nikolai asks about the argument, Dawson explains Brooklynn's theory that the pirate raids aren't random, but may be orchestrated by the planetary government to disrupt agricultural shipments so that a front line FWLM garrison force will be restored to the planet. Chloe opines that, if that is the case, their employer is going to be mad that the Cavaliers have done so well at driving the pirates off.
Notes: The world building here is fun - taking the blank slate of McKenna and giving it blue-hued native flora, hybrid reptile/plant herd beasts, a ruthless oligarchy where one family controls much of the world's resources, nomadic families running Saturns as they wander the planet bringing in the harvest (calling to mind images of Jawa sandcrawlers or Arrakis spice harvesters) and potential intrigue aimed at securing limited military assets through subterfuge. (Though if the planetary governor is able to pull together all these "pirates," why can't they just fold that gear into the world's Static Defense Force?)
It's always fun and adds flavor when units from Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex are included in the stories. Though I wish, just once, we'd get an old school shout out and see a Large Agricultural Robot at work, or some of the other orphaned units from the original MechWarrior RPG book.
Brooklynn's theory about the planetary governor controlling both the mercenaries and the pirates may turn out to be true, but my bet is still on Anton trying to make Janos look bad, given what's coming about six years from this point.
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Date: October 27, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In James City, Brooklynn surreptitiously trails a man through the streets after having received a note from Count Cameron-Jones of the Principality of Regulus. Her political instincts had begun blaring alarms as soon as she heard about the contract offer, and since the rest of the Cavaliers were so politically naive, she'd wanted to take actions to protect them, having come to love them like a family. These new orders from Regulus, however, instruct her to make something drastic happen from the inside.
As Brooklynn follows her target, Nikolai follows her, suspicious because of her recent erratic behavior. He loses her in a strip mall and finally goes to an underworld-connected restaurant where he hopes to get fresh intel. A teenager bumps into him as he enters, passing him a note as he does so. He nearly vomits after reading the note, which warns him that his child is in imminent danger.
Back at the Norm Plantation ranch house, Nikolai wakes Chloe and warns her that Brooklynn is coming to steal their child. She grabs a needler while he tells her the government is tired of the Cavaliers' defeating the pirates, which are intended to boost agricultural prices, probably at the direction of Anton Marik. They split up to cover both wings of the house, and Chloe goes to her child's room. As she reaches the interconnected room, she sees movement in the dark. On the other side of the complex, trying to pincer any intruder, Nikolai sees a form of about Brooklynn's build in a hoodie holding a rope and pistol, and races through the dark to stab his knife into the figure's chest.
In the child's bedroom, Chloe fires the needler at the figure in the room, hitting them in the arm and forcing them to drop their gun. She recognizes it as Brooklynn, and tells her to freeze.
In the other room, Nikolai recognizes the stabbed person as Dawson, who apologizes, and confesses that the local mafia had forced him to try to abduct the child to pay off gambling debts, cutting off two fingers from his left hand to let him know they were serious. He confirms that the man behind the pirate attacks and this abduction attempt was the planetary governor. Dawson dies before Nikolai can stem the bleeding from his punctured heart and lungs.
In the bedroom, Brooklynn tells Chloe she was preparing to ambush Dawson to ensure his kidnap attempt would fail. Chloe is initially disbelieving, but Nikolai arrives and confirms Brooklynn's story.
Notes: This wraps up the scheme with the governor nicely, explains the hand injury and pays off the opening bit with Dawson looking for a card game in Jackson City. However, it leaves open what, exactly, Brooklynn was ordered to do by House Cameron-Jones. I wonder if Brooklynn was tailing Dawson in Jackson City, or if she was trying to follow Regulan operatives. It's totally open ended what the Regulans could be up to here. Historical: Brush Wars notes that Regulus remained neutral in the Marik Civil War, though Anton enjoyed some support within the Regulus military. Once Janos gained the upper hand, however, House Cameron-Jones declared its support for him. The only fighting within the Principality of Regulus was on Tiber, where Anton's final offensive ground to a halt.
It's cute how Randall refers to Nikolai's kid only as "the child," leaving the gender undetermined (since the child goes on to be the POV character in MW5: Mercenaries, and is supposed to represent the player). That terminology becomes funnier given the recent success of Disney's "The Mandalorian," featuring another "the child" character in a sci-fi mercenary setting.
In the civil war, McKenna was the scene of fighting between the 1st and 2nd Regulan Hussars and a massive Wolf's Dragoons task force, shortly before Anton's betrayal of the Dragoons on New Delos.
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Date: October 31, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: The Cavaliers bury Dawson Clarmont at the base of the tallest kubala tree on the plantation. The group hopes his spirit can find peace and redemption, and possibly be reborn as a gargaraffe in the future.
Afterwards, they terminate their contract, file legal complaints against the governor of McKenna with the Mercenary Review Board, and prepare to lift off-world. They agree that even if sanctions are eventually levied against the governor, it will never be enough.
Notes: Modern BattleTech fiction is taking a deeper dive into adding some truly alien ecosystems. Many of the settings for the fiction could as well be Iowa for how closely it resembles Terra. Here, we have a reptilian/plant hybrid herd beast in a symbiotic relationship with a tree species that is vital for keeping the soil fertile. Eyestorm features plant/animal hybrids that require a mass migration across vastly different climate biomes to move through developmental stages.
It appears the planetary governor was successful in getting a garrison for his world. The 12th Atrean Dragoons are posted there as of April 3014 - notably, a unit fanatically loyal to Anton. However, this little stunt may have seriously cost Anton in the long run. Per the TO&E in Brush Wars, the Dragoons were the only mercenary unit to sign on with Anton for his revolt. The Cavaliers' report may have convinced all other mercenary commands to steer well clear of involvement with a proven bad actor. (Given the outcome, the Dragoons should have thought twice, themselves.) By contrast, Janos had contracts with the 21st Centauri Lancers, Smithson's Chinese Bandits, Clifton's Rangers, the Langendorf Lancers, the Head Hunters, and Carson's Renegades.
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Date: November 4, 3008
Location: McKenna
Title: Knives in the Dark
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the James City DropPort, in line with passengers for a civilian DropShip, Nikolai apologizes to Brooklynn for the first time. Brooklynn is heartbroken that she's going to leave the unit, which she'd come to consider family. She'd only just made the decision to stay and help the Cavaliers just a week before, rather than abandoning them so they wouldn't get caught up in Count Derick Cameron-Jones' schemes. And now she's having to leave, anyways.
Though she wants nothing more than to stay, she forces herself to board the DropShip and leave them behind, slipping into anonymity in the wider universe.
Notes: Most of Brooklynn's time with the unit is skipped over, so (aside from a cameo on Galatea) the period on McKenna is all the time we spend with her. I haven't played MW5 yet - waiting for it to hit GOG - so I don't know if she returns as a character in that storyline or pays off any of her plot hooks. For that reason, while her story is interesting, it's more of a tangent to the overall narrative of the unit. The "hero of another story" trope.
On the plus side, it allows us to get an inside look into the convoluted dynastic competition within the Free Worlds League, where their greatest enemy is themselves. (If any Clan had tried a merger with the FWL - akin to the Ghost Bear Dominion or Raven Alliance - it would have to become the Fire Mandrill League. No other group in the series has such a penchant for backstabbery.)
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Date: 3009
Location: Kiyev III
Title: Easy Money
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #12 - Leopard Class DropShip, Marauder, Crusader)
Synopsis: Colonel Masil and Major Haslan - members of the Davion Special Scout Task Force (SSTF) - have dropped onto the Marik world of Kiyev III in search of intel on a rumored FWL attack force massing here. Haslan's Crusader and Masil's Marauder have used heat-masking paint to get within 1,000 yards of a Marik base without being detected, and gathered 15 minutes of data before the perimeter alarm sounded.
The two flee back to the valley where they landed, smashing through three Stingers that attempted to intercept their line of march. A couple of miles from the pick-up point, their sensors showed four heavy 'Mechs blocking the way.
This is a breakthrough scenario, pitting a lightly damaged Davion Marauder and Crusader against two Marik Phoenix Hawks, a Rifleman, and a Thunderbolt. On turn 7, the Davion Leopard arrives over the board and may fire a limited selection of weapons at ground units until turn 12, when it actually lands on the northern map.
The Marik forces win if they can destroy one Davion 'Mech before the DropShip arrives. The Davion force wins if both 'Mechs can get away.
Notes: The 'Mechs are all standard, but the Leopard is a "B" variant that looks very different from the standard Leopard 'Mech carrier (unsurprising, since the model is for the heroes' ship from Crusher Joe). Statwise (real Leopard stats in parentheses) it comes in at 1,250 tons (1,900), carries 2 'Mechs (4) and 1 fighter (2). It drops the standard model's dual PPCs and, while it allocates tonnage for four 'Mech cubicles and two aerospace fighter bays, it lists only half that capacity in the summary. It packs 480 points of armor (including an armored engine compartment), while the standard mounts 500 points spread across four facings. It carries only 123 tons of fuel (137).
This scenario is presented as a cadet exercise in Professor Erik Vankiley's "Military History of the Successor States: A Tactical Overview," taught at the Meistmorn Academy on Hoff in 3019. Professor Vankiley notes that the SSTF's existence was exposed for the first time on Kiyev III, creating a scandal throughout the Inner Sphere that caused Hanse to lose popularity and led many to blame various amazing and bizarre events on SSTF activities. The organization has not been heard from since, but many suspect it is still operating to this day.
The engagement on Kiyev III was said to be the first shots in the Offensive of 3009. This date is problematic, since as of 3009, Hanse Davion wasn't First Prince - he's still just the Military Governor of New Aragon. Ian didn't die until 3013, four years later. The only recorded battle in 3009 was a Lyran assault on the FWL world of Alula Australis. (We know that Hanse was involved in unspecified dirty tricks in the FWL to cause economic damage once he became First Prince, since Ardan calls him out on it in The Sword and the Dagger, but unless Hanse was coordinating those dirty tricks from New Aragon, there's no reason Hanse should have borne the blame for his older brother's covert ops.)
Furthermore, what sense does it make for the Federated Suns to be worried about the FWL massing a reinforced battalion (50 'Mechs) on a world deep within its own borders? Any why send two heavy 'Mechs to check it out? (Sure, they present the logic that they can kill whatever is fast enough to catch them, but not only are they immediately proven wrong, but wouldn't it make more sense not to be caught in the first place?) Does the SSTF have no Ostscouts? No HiScouts? No Boomerang Spotter Planes? Or, since each state is supposed to have spies on every world (there are even Davion spies on Helm), why not send some of them out on a skimmer one night? A lot of far more sensible solutions are ignored so that they can have a 'Mech fight scenario.
The heat masking paint sounds interesting - perhaps giving penalties to be spotted with IR sensors. However, the use of such material would make the heat have to go somewhere. The Exterminator and its ilk used special systems to channel waste heat through the feet into the ground. I would presume 3009 would not be a promising time for the resurrection of such technology, so the Marauder and Crusader should probably suffer from extra heat build-up internally - equivalent to at least one engine hit worth of extra heat not being vented each turn (5 points).
Like the AFFS "Johnny Teams" (operatives sent in ahead of an invasion to coordinate insurgents) mentioned in the Galtor Campaign sourcebook, the Special Scout Task Force is never heard of again. One might presume that it's an operational branch of MI4 (the Stealthy Foxes) or MI6 (the Rabid Foxes). I'm not sure why anybody in the Inner Sphere would be shocked and outraged that House Davion has covert operations teams. The Capellans have the Death Commandos, the Lyrans have Loki, the League has the Eagle Corps, and the Combine has DEST.
Kiyev is a canon world (a rarity for the TCI scenarios), located in the FWL a few jumps from Oriente (not exactly "deep" within the League, since the Capellan border is about three jumps away, but still pretty far from FedSuns holdings).
I wonder if the use of the "Leopard B" on this mission was to try to disguise it as a Buccaneer-class cargo vessel? The mass is way off, but the profile of the Crusher Joe ship model is closer to that than to the military 'Mech transport. Given its location, it's likely that the SSTF was inserted into the Kiyev system posing as merchant traffic - a role for which the standard Leopard is utterly unsuited.
The fact that the Marik heavy lance was waiting exactly at the dust-off site has several potential implications: 1) the SSTF took the long way around and got cut off when the FWL figured out which way they were most likely headed after smoking the Stingers; 2) the FWL had its own DropShips and used them to deploy lances across likely lines of march; 3) the SSTF had a SAFE mole inside that tipped the FWL off to the planned extraction site. (Given SAFE's reputation, this last one is the least likely).
Militarily, the independent world of Kiyev was used as a staging ground for moving Janos' loyalist 9th Marik Militia from Emris IV to Vanra in 3014. Given the timing, it's possible that the troops massing at this base were not actually aimed at House Davion, but were instead being gathered by one or the other of the Marik brothers as tensions mounted.
I have less than no idea what the title of the scenario means, aside from a comment by Masil that "we're going to earn our pay on this one." Many of the titles are pop-culture references, but the only candidate that comes up is a 1983 Rodney Dangerfield comedy about a man who has to change his wastrel ways to inherit a fortune. I'm going to go with the assumption that the title is a sarcastic answer to Masil's comment.
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Date: April 14, 3009
Location: Hesperus II
Title: A Skein of Schemes
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At the Defiance Industries complex, Sebastian Spears enjoys a Northwind Tilman River Cask Finish 2951 whisky and thinks of Ryana Campbell and the Cavaliers, which have proven very useful to his schemes. He's joined in his private office by two other representatives of Interstellar Expeditions (IE), Countess Alexa McCorkendale of Federated-Boeing Interstellar and Guhal of the One Star Faith, who are arguing about the importance of money versus knowledge for its own sake. Guhal announces that the Grand Council has decided it is time for a migration from the District of Donegal to the world of Halfway in the Bolan Province. Alexa questions the expenditure of resources necessary for such a move, and says that some of the artifacts they find must be sold to pay for the organization's needs.
Sebastian interrupts and asks them to return to the reason they've gathered - trying to save humanity from the Great Houses. Alexa argues that IE should just try to save knowledge and make some money in the process. Guhal warns that Sebastian is putting IE in danger with his actions, especially if they involve ComStar. Sebastian challenges them to change their minds if he can show that IE can make a difference. Alexa agrees, but warns that she will destroy him if his plans endanger her or the rest of Interstellar Expeditions.
Notes: Spears' thought that the Cavaliers have been useful to his schemes suggests that their two outings with IE haven't been as fruitless as portrayed. Either the IE team found what they were looking for and kept it hidden from the Cavaliers for operational security purposes, or those digs were intended to divert attention from the real digs, which had no mercenary involvement at all. Just keeping contracts off of ComStar's databases only makes it harder for ComStar to learn about them - not impossible for ROM to ferret out, but a double blind scheme with false (but fruitless) digs could throw ComStar off the scent. Regardless, we know IE actually outlasts ComStar in the end, so Sebastian's story likely has a happy ending.
The One Star Faith pretty much dropped off the radar after the Clans returned, since their raison d'etre was to find where the Exodus fleet had gone and to go there. Guhal adds some more detail - that their goal is to find Kerensky and deliver all their knowledge to him. (Sounds like a good cover for a Watch agent getting intel from the Inner Sphere, actually. "Why are you gathering all this information and heading out to the Periphery?" "I am of the One Star Faith - we seek to transmit this information to the long vanished Aleksandr Kerensky and the Star League Defense Force." "Ooookay. Just some nutty cultist. Never mind.") Of interest, Sebastian speculates that the One Star Faith's ruling elders don't know that Guhal is still coordinating with Interstellar Expeditions.
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Date: January 3, 3010
Location: Sian
Title: A Skein of Schemes
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: In Maximilian Liao's throne room in the Forbidden City of Zi-Jin Cheng, Maskirovka Director Chandra Ling attends Chancellor Liao as he broods over a holo projection of the Confederation's borders during the Star League era, when more than twice as many systems pledged fealty to House Liao. Ling appreciates that, with the CCAF in ruins, her agency's machinations are the most potent weapon the Chancellor has in his arsenal. She reports that Anton Marik has proved receptive to Liao influence, and suggests sending a force of Death Commandos to Emris IV to strike at Janos' loyalists there and help Anton build his support base. Maximilian agrees, and pledges a portion of the Commandos under her command for the mission in service of House Liao's rise to power.
Notes: Throughout the conversation, Ling's internal monologue comments on how strong, assured and brave Maximilian is, and how she would follow him through the nine hells. This is counterbalanced by her worries of a growing darkness within him, one that she is trying to divert. She doesn't actually need the Commandos for the mission - but her internal monologue notes that she is worried about there being a special operations force with such resources and skill that isn't under the control of the Maskirovka, and seeks to set her leash on them. As we see, the Commandos end up getting sent on missions at the direction of the Justin Xiang's crisis team (which is technically part of the Maskirovka), but remain structurally separate from the Maskirovka - a CCAF force personally answerable only to the Chancellor.
Chandra Ling only puts in a cameo appearance in the Warrior Trilogy, and features at the start of "Think Like a Liao," so it's nice to see her get some more page time, given the importance of her position (especially as it relates to the Marik Civil War and Operation DOPPELGANGER).
One of my favorite elements from the Warrior Trilogy and Blood of Kerensky Trilogy was the scenes in the centers of power - Terra, New Avalon, Tharkad, Sian - showing the various schemes and counter-schemes being set in motion. I greatly enjoy "A Skein of Schemes" precisely because it mirrors that structure - setting the stage for a gambit pileup.
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Date: February 21, 3010
Location: Terra
Title: A Skein of Schemes
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Primus Julian Tiepolo welcomes Precentor ROM Vesar Kristofur to a secret room in the First Circuit Compound on Hilton Head Island for a briefing on Anton Marik's plans. Tiepolo congratulates Kristofur on having become Anton's personal aide in only five years under cover. They also discuss the continued weakening of the C-Bill against the M-Bill, and the disappearance of the Dragoons for ten months the previous year, showing up restocked with a vast cargo of supplies and parts, including never-before seen BattleMechs. Tiepolo speculates they have access to an SLDF cache buried in the Periphery, and he warns Kristofur that the First Circuit may vote to expel him as Precentor ROM if there continue to be intelligence failures of such magnitude.
Kristofur updates Tiepolo on Capellan efforts in Marik space, noting that the CC has been courting Anton since 3003 and spending a fortune to start rebellions and inflame anti-Janos sentiment on dozens of border worlds. They agree that civil war would be in ComStar's best interests, and plan to offer Anton and Maximilian their neutral services to arrange a deal - one that could potentially be sweetened by offering Candace Liao to Anton as a bride, and by convincing the Confederation to transfer their newly signed contract with Wolf's Dragoons to Anton. Their hope is that the Marik economy will be wrecked, allowing the C-Bill to dominate once more, and that the Dragoons will be damaged enough to enable ROM agents to infiltrate the organization and learn their secrets.
Kristofur leaves to carry out the plan, while Tiepolo muses that Kristofur will serve as an excellent patsy to take all the blame if it fails.
Notes: It's not clear to me exactly why having the C-Bill weaken against the FWL's M-Bill (Eagle) would be a problem for ComStar. The Lyran kroner is also stronger than the C-Bill, but ComStar isn't trying to wreck the Lyran economy. Does ComStar import a lot of goods and services from the Free Worlds League? In traditional economies, a strengthening M-Bill would make it cheaper for League customers to buy ComStar's services, but make League-sourced goods and services less competitive for ComStar. What this really signifies is the existence of ComStar as a monopoly that doesn't have to care about competition - it is the sole provider of intestellar communication services, and therefore doesn't see any advantage from a weaker C-Bill making it more competitive, since there is no competition. The particular concern about the M-Bill while not being concerned about the Kroner suggests that Terra sources a significant amount of its offworld imports from the Free Worlds League, and wants to make sure it isn't running a trade deficit (ensuring it has sufficient M-Bills banked to pay for its imports). Also, all of its HPG compounds throughout FWL space need to pay for local services with M-Bills (though they should generally be selling enough C-Bills to earn the necessary M-Bills through the provision of interstellar telecommunications services). [Hey, this is the content you get when you let an economist do fiction reviews ;)]
The bit about offering Candace to Anton has come up before, but given the feudal dynamics at play, it's odd that such a deal has so rarely been proposed throughout the course of the Succession Wars. Of course, the last known Liao-Marik pairing came to an unfortunate end in the opening years of the Star League, when (from all appearances), the Mariks assassinated the couple to prevent any future succession crises. And yet within the next half century we'll see Steiner-Davion, Marik-Liao, Davion-Kurita, and Davion-Marik pairings in rapid succession. (Not to mention the Davion-Steiner-Davion-Kerensky-Eggs-Spam-And-Davion mix that Alaric Wolf's genes ended up being.)
The timeline is interesting - Kristofur has been trying to infiltrate Anton's inner circle since 3005. I wonder how he's able to keep on top of ROM operations while being out in the field for most of the time? Perhaps Julian is wondering the same thing, given the surprise of the Dragoons' first supply run in 3009. Keep in mind that while Vesar's predecessor (and Julian's) got the boot from the First Circuit for failing to learn anything about the Dragoons after they first appeared in 3005, there wasn't even a hint of a Dragoon angle with Anton until just now, so Vesar's mission with Anton seems to have predated his elevation, and by then he was already committed to the operation and couldn't pull out to run a command center on Terra. (Though that further begs the question of just how deep is ROM's top level bench if their best candidate for Precentor ROM is a field operative who's been under cover for the past 3-4 years.)
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I've been wondering the same thing. Maybe Kristofus is "a" Precentor ROM, not "the" Precentor ROM. Given the high turnover rate, it's feasible that the position is sort of a failsafe/fall guy position while the Primus himself ultimately pulls the ROM strings.
The Jolly Roger affair has just played out, and like you wrote saw Primus Rusenstein getting the boot - for a plan that in reality was hatched out by the First Circuit who ordered ROM to carry it out, with only "marginal endorsement" by the Primus. He had not only slackened the reigns on ROM, he had also taken premature credit for Jolly Roger which made the Primus the perfect fall guy when it went sour.
It is reasonable to assume Tiepolo learned from his predecessor's desaster, keeps tight control over ROM and has a number of fall guys like Kristofur in place. Precentor ROM is nothing but a wispy title after all.
As for the M-Bill, I was under the impression that House Davion somehow kept it low and that this was one ailment of the FWL that ComStar was not responsible for. Linking that, too, to ComStar is a bit strange imho - it's as if the universe can't take a dump without ComStar scheming it out centuries in advance. That's getting trite.
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Date: February 28, 3010
Location: Unknown
Title: A Skein of Schemes
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: At a secret MI4 (Stealthy Foxes) training facility, Marshal Ulinov Debreber reviews a secret dossier ordering immediate action. His top agent, Hannah, reports she has been fully briefed - to join a MIIO Covert Operations team to infiltrate Anton Marik's staff to determine the potential for sowing sedition, without being detected in the process.
After Hannah departs, a secret door slides open and Hanse Davion enters, commenting that the assignment went well. Debreber worries that First Prince Ian hasn't sanctioned this action. Hanse responds that he's loyal to Ian, but feels he has to protect him from his enemies - the Kuritas, the Liaos, and the Haseks - while he makes a secret trip to Tharkad to propose an alliance. He frames Hannah's mission as ensuring that Max properly takes the blame if the Free Worlds League succumbs to civil war.
Notes: At this point in his life, Hanse's official role is the Military Governor of New Aragon, a recently conquered Capellan colony world, where Wolf's Dragoons were instrumental in driving off both the Northwind Highlanders and the Waco Rangers, and which featured probably the largest aerospace battle of the Third Succession War, possibly rivaled only by the Great Lee Turkey Shoot.
The suggestion that the seeds of Katrina Steiner's 3020 peace proposal were laid down by a covert diplomatic mission in 3010 are very intriguing. Katrina's husband, Arthur Luvon, doesn't die until August of 3010, so Ian certainly wouldn't be en-route to Tharkad to propose a Steiner-Davion wedding. However...Luvon died of cancer, so MIIO may have known at this point that he was dying, and Ian may have been trying to lay the groundwork to "comfort the bereaved widow" as it were. (Hey, they didn't call him "The Hound" for nothing! ;)) Just think, Hanse might have ended up being Melissa's step-uncle, rather than her husband.
Hanse's scheme with Hannah certainly does seem to have paid off in the end. Although Janos did join the Concord of Kapteyn, when Max demanded support to resist Operation RAT, Janos sent a crate filled with the most useless and insulting (and hilarious) items possible. (Though perhaps Romano found some use for the "Hunky Hanse" inflatable novelty doll.)
I wonder what percentage of Anton's command staff ended up being foreign agents. It certainly seems like his desire for power and lust for revenge Willis Crawford's execution have blinded him to the need to vet his supporters.
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Date: 3010 (speculative)
Location: Sirdar II
Title: A LAM in the Hand
Author: Alan Tucker
Type: Scenario (TCI Set #10 - Phoenix Hawk and Phoenix Hawk LAM)
Synopsis: During a Liao incursion against the desert world of Sirdar II, CCAF Captain Treat Maloney is separated from his LAM scout lance by a sand storm and is forced to set his Stinger LAM down in the desert, rather than rendezvousing with his Leopard-class mothership. Setting off overland through the desert, he hopes the motion will clear the sand from his intakes so he can take off again. Before that happens, he spots a heat signature, and, though he tries to ambush the target by hiding behind a sand dune, the Davion Archer gets off the first shot and cripples the scout 'Mech. As it moves in for the kill, Maloney sees it pause and turn to the south to face Lt. Gerard's Phoenix Hawk LAM arriving on the scene.
The scenario pits a pristine Davion Archer (missing four loads of LRM ammo) against a damaged Stinger LAM and a pristine Phoenix Hawk LAM. The LAMs both are stuck in AirMech or 'Mech mode, and cannot convert to Aerospace mode. The fight is to the death, with no retreat allowed.
Notes: The Phoenix Hawk on the cover is resplendent in Roy Fokker's Skull Squadron paint scheme, and the diagram in the back bears the UN SPACY label on the Large Laser barrel.
There's never been a canon write-up of Sirdar, so TCI's identification of it as the 2nd world in the system, a desert world with large metal deposits and high background heat levels, doesn't contradict any official information. They even got the location on the FedSuns/CapCon border correct. My guess is that Alan Tucker (who is also explicitly credited for this scenario) started off with no map information and was handed an official map at some point in the process, probably about three quarters of the way through, at which point the scenarios stop making up new planets and start setting things on the official map.
As with many LAM scenarios, initiative will be key. If the LAMs lose initiative, they should seek cover and try to avoid the Archer's shots. If they win, they should use AirMech mode to close in and back-shoot the Archer until the thin rear-armor gives way and they start critting the LRM ammo.
The surprise lode of valuable metals isn't specified further, but it's probably germanium. There's a note that the Davion Planetary Survey department had to revise procedures after this oversight. Sirdar fell to the Federated Suns in the Second Succession War, but apparently since they couldn't grow much food there, they mostly ignored it after going to the trouble of conquering it.
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Date: October 10, 3010
Location: Irian
Title: A Skein of Schemes
Author: Randall N. Bills
Type: Short Story (MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries)
Synopsis: Sebastian Spears looks out over the massive Irian Technologies industrial complex from his corner office while monitoring displays showing the results of various IE-related missions - a merc unit successfully preventing House Davion from finding anything at the XVII Corps' base on Stratford, the arrival of an archaeology team and mercenary security force on Liezen looking for missing equipment from the 183rd Royal Mechanized Infantry Division, the ongoing search for information on Clinton's Cutthroats, and details on the rising tensions between Anton and Janos Marik, and the involvement of ComStar, House Liao, and House Davion. He notes reports of Capellan interest in Emris IV, but is wary of moving on the world for fear of tipping off the Maskirovka.
Chloe Reed and Nikolai Mason arrive for their meeting. Sebastian sees darkness in their eyes, still haunted by Dawson Clarmont's death. He outlines the contract - searching Emris IV for information on equipment related to the SLDF XIX Corps' 67th BattleMech Division. Nikolai cuts him off, noting that the setup sounds very much like the mission that brought them to McKenna. Chloe blames Sebastian's penchant for secrets for getting Dawson killed and losing Brooklynn. She demands a straight answer.
Sebastian notes that Interstellar Expeditions is exactly what it seems to be - an organization dedicated to guarding knowledge. However, he notes, there are areas where IE attempts to influence events for the better. The Cavaliers' missions have advanced those goals significantly. Sebastian says he knows Chloe has some secrets of her own, and suggests an exchange of information, to build trust. Sebastian goes first, explaining that he was born on Telos IV, where he played as a youth by exploring the ruins of the Castle Brian there. As a teenager, he ran away from home and signed on as an apprentice LosTech prospector in the Algedi Prefecture. He learned six languages and the ins and outs of negotiations and how to fight when needed. He was disillusioned, however, by the Combine's handling of the LosTech he and other prospectors found - in exchange for large bribes to the Ministry of Well-Being of the Land and the Peoples, letting people carry items that belonged in museums and universities off to sell to wealthy collectors. He was recruited by IE in his twenties.
In response, Chloe explains that she was born on Terra and realized her affinity for technology early on. Her parents were members of ComStar, and she had been fostered by ComStar by the time she was ten, working in the Science and Research branch and training as a MechWarrior. Sebastian is surprised about the last part, noting that ComStar doesn't have an army. Chloe covers by saying the training helped her understand the technology she was researching. She says the religious aspects repulsed her, and her own research led her to believe that Jerome Blake would have been horrified by it. Sebastian concurs. To escape ComStar, she slowly decreased her productivity until her failures became too large an embarrassment for ComStar to want her, and they banished her from Terra, assuming her a broken woman.
Sebastian says her knowledge might be used to blunt ComStar's threat. He tells them that ComStar has been manipulating the five Great Houses for more than 200 years, and says he hopes they can thwart their manipulation of Anton Marik and elsewhere, but they must do so very carefully. This brings him back to Emris IV, where the Cavaliers can make outside threats leave "a bunch of do-gooder hippies trying to save old books" alone, letting IE's agents operate unhindered. Chloe accepts the contract, but demands extra funds to cover the unit's asset expenditures.
Notes: I'm confused about the view from Spears' office window. I'm presuming his office is positioned to look out over the Soapstone Mountain BattleMech factory, which is the main IrTech facility on Irian. However, the Soapstone facility has been described as similar in structure to Defiance Industries on Hesperus II - buried in the bowels of the Soapstone mountains, Mines of Moria-style. (The engineers of DefHes delved too deep in pursuit of germanium, and unearthed a BAL-1RG Balrog...) So, if the Soapstone complex is buried in various chambers that wind through the mountain...how is Sebastian looking out his window onto the massive industrial complex? (Keep in mind, the sun is shining down on his office windows, so he's not in a subterranean chamber with windows overlooking the factory floor.) One possible explanation is that the Soapstone facility had a substantial amount of its operations located above ground at the mouth of the Soapstone cavern complex, and this is what Sebastian is seeing. This, then, would be what gets razed by Anton's rebels in 3014, while the cavern complex (also rendered inoperable) was rebuilt afterwards.
It's interesting to hear that most of the SLDF and Terran Hegemony relics in the Combine could be found on just six systems - Kaus Borealis, Alya, Altais, Rukbat, Shitara and Algedi. Two hosted SLDF garrisons, so that explains the League items. Interestingly, despite their proximity to Terra, none of these systems were ever part of the Terran Hegemony (in fact, several were Azami Brotherhood worlds). So why would they be rich sites for Hegemony artifacts? Just due to trade with the Hegemony? On Kaus Borealis the volcanic eruptions that began around the time of the Star League's collapse could have hidden a great many League-era treasures. Alya has a hostile atmosphere and relies on hydroponic farms (and presumably habitat domes), meaning there are large portions of the planet where no locals ever tread. Altais is geologically unstable and covered by active volcanoes, and once hosted an SLDF garrison. Rukbat's biochemistry is incompatible with Terran lifeforms and its soil cannot support Terran crops, leaving the lovely world a site for mining only. Shitara is a desert world that has served as a major shipping hub for centuries. Algedi has a harsh climate. It's possible that the Azami populations on those worlds are responsible for the frequency of Hegemony and League tech finds. At least one writeup for the Arkab Legions suggested that the Azami have been husbanding LosTech resources for centuries to give the Legions an edge. The prospectors might occasionally stumble on an Azami tech cache while poking around.
Given his stated linguistic skills and knowledge of the Azami worlds, it'd be interesting to have a scene between Sebastian and Fahad.
Chloe's story contains some nice shout-outs to the ComStar Guards and Militia (which had just finished cleaning up the aftermath of the Jolly Roger Affair in 3004) and to the true intentions of Jerome Blake.
I find it intriguing, but believable, that the Combine allowed LosTech prospectors to sell their finds to wealthy nobles as long as their bribes/taxes were paid up. This would account for a corporation having a large trove of LosTech treasures in the Activision MechWarrior game, and explain why, when the Combine's leadership went into battle, their rides didn't have any LosTech to enhance performance. I've asked before why the Great Houses don't seem to have any LosTech left at all when LosTech prospectors seem to be finding it all over the place. As the wealthiest families in the Inner Sphere, they should have vaults of the stuff to specially equip their leaders when they take the field of battle. According to Sebastian's account, House Kurita didn't have any LosTech assets because they wanted the money more (or their underlings wanted the money more). It could also be that all the Great Houses have long since realized that running a ride tricked out with LosTech might enhance battlefield performance, but it also makes the pilot a much larger target on the battlefield (even moreso than being part of the ruling family).
Given Sebastian's stated intent to interfere with ComStar's machinations in the Free Worlds League and his position at IrTech, one wonders if the razing of IrTech's Soapstone facility was just collateral damage in the Marik Civil War, or if it was engineered by ComStar (through Vesar Kristofur) as a retaliatory strike against Sebastian.
This gives us the backstory on Sebastian and Chloe, but still leaves Nikolai's oft-hinted at dark history with space pirates in the shadows.
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At the Defiance Industries complex, Sebastian Spears enjoys a Northwind Tilman River Cast Finish 2951 whisky
Okay, as a whisky enthusiast, I feel obliged to point out that this must be either a typo or a flat-out error on (presumably) Randall's part: Cask Finish, not Cast Finish, is a whisky term of art. Cast Finish is just gibberish.
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Okay, as a whisky enthusiast, I feel obliged to point out that this must be either a typo or a flat-out error on (presumably) Randall's part: Cask Finish, not Cast Finish, is a whisky term of art. Cast Finish is just gibberish.
Blame me for that one - typo on my part. Randall had the correct terminology.
Eric
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Blame me for that one - typo on my part. Randall had the correct terminology.
Eric
If it makes you feel any better, I assumed it had to come from Randall's inexperience in that area, since as a Mormon, he presumably doesn't consume alcohol of any kind and never has.
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If it makes you feel any better, I assumed it had to come from Randall's inexperience in that area, since as a Mormon, he presumably doesn't consume alcohol of any kind and never has.
His low tolerance for Nyquil is legend.
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Interesting article.
Balrog? Is that just MW5 thing or is mention other sources?
Is there other places that mentions Soapstone mountains?
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Interesting article.
Balrog? Is that just MW5 thing or is mention other sources?
Is there other places that mentions Soapstone mountains?
It’s a Lord of the Rings joke, comparing Defiance Industries’ tunnels under the Myoo Mountains to the dwarven Mines of Moria.
Turning Points: Irian has a planetary map that shows the Soapstone range. Several profiles of IrTech mention the Soapstone facility, though only one compares it to the Defiance Myoo complex on Hesperus II.
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Date: December 13, 2788
Location: Tyrfing
Title: Ruined
Author: Geoff Swift
Type: Track (Turning Points: Tyrfing)
Synopsis: War had already been raging for months on Tyrfing, as forces of the Great Houses battled for control of whatever was left in the ruins of the world's Castles Brian. The fighting culminated in the six-day five-way Battle of the Great Crystal Valley. The battle began when an unidentified technician broadcast in the clear that a new vault under the Castle Brian there had been discovered. Capellan commander Nikolina Tatarinov dispatched the Prefectorate Guard to the site alongside the command of her erstwhile Combine ally, Hector Fushimi, the Eighth Sword of Light. In pitch blackness, the Combine/Confederation coalition engaged a large ambushing force and won through, but when the Capellans found the vault, they backstabbed the Combine forces and seized the contents, which turned out to be a small cache of BattleMechs - far less than the losses they sustained in acquiring it.
Notes: Set towards the outbreak of the First Succession War, this Turning Points pits all five Great Houses against each other as they scramble for resources left behind by Kerensky's exodus. While the carving up of the Terran Hegemony featured multiple instances of three-way fights, this is the only recorded instance of all five Houses having forces on-planet and fighting each other simultaneously. Interestingly, the Turning Points suggests that the Great Houses were all drawn to Tyrfing at the same time due to information passed to them by unknown agents, possibly ComStar, that the FWL was rebuilding the Star League's space defense system there.
ComStar, of course, had only been recognized by the Great Houses the previous year, in 2787. The chronology gets very interesting when you consider that ComStar launched Operation SILVER SHIELD in June 2788, just about the time that all the Great Houses operating in the Terran Hegemony were distracted by the rumors of fabulous weapon caches on Tyrfing, with fighting breaking out there in July 2788 and continuing to escalate through December. Even if the Great Houses were concerned about what Jerome Blake was doing on Terra, all their reaction forces in the vicinity were now conveniently embroiled in a five-way morass. It seems likely that ComStar engineered the fighting on Tyrfing as a distraction from its own consolidation of Terra.
As is standard for the Track format, the scale and troops involved in the battle are up to the players. While the historical battle pitted the DCMS/CCAF allies against unspecified defenders (AFFS would be likely, given the mutual hatred among all three, but any are viable possibilities), players can mix/match their own combination.
For playing out a battle amidst the ruins of the Castle Brian, it would be recommended to use the ruleset from Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, which covers Castles Brian in detail. For the underground maze of tunnels leading to the hidden vault, the Ishiyama (Iron Mountain) arena map from Solaris would work well. Have an above-ground map (Caustic Valley from the Alien Worlds map pack might be a good choice) studded with ruined buildings and walls, and one hex designated as leading to the tunnel network. Any 'Mechs entering that get moved over to the Ishiyama maps. (The Turning Points recommends using the Drop Port/Military Base from MapSet #7 for the above-ground, with full mapsheets for the underground tunnels, suggesting that these tunnels were exceptionally wide.)
Despite the "treasure" being canonically just a lance or two of 'Mechs, a GM could have fun by throwing in far more valuable...but more complicated...treasure: an underground hangar containing a functional Rattler-class mobile structure with the exit tunnel completely blocked by tons of rubble.
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Not sure if Rattler would be valuable given they would need somehow dismantle it to get off world if they are unable hold the planet.
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That's the allure of it - hugely valuable, but a nightmare to get out of the vault and to transport. (They'd have to break it down for transport, and there could be some fun trying to strip it for usable parts and get those extracted.)