What if: The Wolf's Dragoons

[Dragon Cat]

The Wolf's Dragoons choose to return to the Clans.

When they received the recall order in canon only Natasha Kerensky returned to the Clans.  What if they all went back?

Timeline
The Clans invade

Jamie Wolf recalls all Dragoons to Outreach enacting escape clauses

Outreach effectively goes dark with no communications beyond the Dragoon world

Communications come back up - all Wolf's Dragoons are gone...

How would the Inner Sphere React?

How would the Clans React to their return?

[Wolflord]

Well Leo probably wouldn't be too happy since iirc he issued the recall order in an attempt to embarrass the Wolves with the Dragoons disobedience.

The clans in general probably wouldn't be too impressed (rightly or wrongly) because by that stage most of the Dragoons despite their internal traditions weren't really what the clans would regard as clanners any more.

That said the wolves, the adders and maybe the horses may well have been impressed/intrigued/informed by what they saw of the Dragoons.

For a sensible invasion plan some sort of Desant using Outreach as a base would have been doable.
Given that revival was already underway with the canon invasion plan and that 6ish regiments of Dragoons turn up and present themselves to Ulric. That gives the Wolves 3 or 4 extra galaxies of second line troops - I'm guessing the other invaders are not too happy at that point and that wherever the Tukkayyid type event happens it happens much closer to Terra - possibly the hot and cold desert regions of Terra itself.

[cold1]

If the Wolves don't take them back the Scorpions or Adders probably would.  They both like freeborns and they wanted all the knowledge of the Inner Sphere they could get.  The IS born warriors probably have to undergo a trial of position.  The Adders probably trial for at least a couple dozen warriors if not a regiment to add to their opfor forces.  The Scorpions just want to know where all the good stuff is.

[rebs]

I think only a handful were Clan anymore, it may have been only a few trinaries coming home with their naval cache.  Maybe some people with truly nothing more going on in their lives that would be interfered with by becoming a Clanner, just as long as they can hang.   :)   It may be a bumpy ride for them.

[Arkaris]

The wolves with out a doubt would have taken in the entirety of Wolf's Dragoons.  The Wolves had no problems with freebirths and even used them as a great resource in the invasion.  You would probably see a much wider Wolf corridor, forcing the Ghost Bears in to the Smoke Jaguars corridor much more, and possibly even reducing Jade Falcons to one system per wave by the end of the race.

You can undercut your enemy far more, plus you have 3-4 galaxies worth of troops that know in great detail Inner Sphere tactics and how to overcome those tactics.  An extra 3-4 galaxies means you can pretty much undercut every bid far below what the other clans can offer, and even after suffering those losses you can just continue on without skipping a beat.  In addition to that you have those 3-4 galaxies worth of troops that are conditioned to survive off of salvaged units.  So keeping them fully operational is a not going to make them feel inferior.  While the clans might have lacked the wealth concept of mercenaries, they can offer those troops substantial access to salvage, a true mercenaries dream.  Something they could sell and live the rest of their lives in wealth.

How would the other clans react to their return?  I somehow doubt the invasion would have made it past the first round before the other clans tore in to the wolves for taking so much of the initial corridor.  The writing on the wall would have been very clear, not only were the wolves going to do very well, but they were clearly going to be the first ones to Terra, and the ones to hold it.  The other clans would have not accepted this... and in-fighting would have ensued. 

(edit: I still hope CWiE sets up their new home on Outreach and the Wolf's Dragoons become part of CWiE)

[Jaim Magnus]

The main issue I see is that the bulk of the Dragoons are at that point freeborn spheroids.  Why would they want to side with the Clans?

[cold1]

Other invader clans and clans with eyes on the sphere are going to trial for information and personnel.

The IS born members probably won't leave.  Honestly, by the time of Revival the Dragoons are so set up in the sphere they would have never left, they were gone long before the call to come home.  The only ones to come home would be the true horns and clan born freeborns most likely, but the. Would they fight against their friends and comrades later?

[Arkaris]

The main issue I see is that the bulk of the Dragoons are at that point freeborn spheroids.  Why would they want to side with the Clans?

Wealth and power?  Isn't that the call to any mercenary?  It's not the cause it's the cash?  Wolf could have promised them wealth unimaginable and they would have left.  It's not a sphere vs clan issue.  It's an issue of what the clans would have provided them.

Though I think a lot of the issue would have come over the dependents of Wolf's Dragoons.  If they would have been accepted to the clans as lay people (which would never have happened under clan ideals) there might have been a stronger pull to return.

[Wolflord]

Wealth and power?  Isn't that the call to any mercenary?  It's not the cause it's the cash?  Wolf could have promised them wealth unimaginable and they would have left.  It's not a sphere vs clan issue.  It's an issue of what the clans would have provided them.

Though I think a lot of the issue would have come over the dependents of Wolf's Dragoons.  If they would have been accepted to the clans as lay people (which would never have happened under clan ideals) there might have been a stronger pull to return.

Given the clans general disdain for mercs I doubt if they (the mercs) were going to get paid a fortune, rather I suspect they would have been absorbed into (most likely) the Wolves Touman. Probably required to go through a ToP of some sort and dumped on a desolate rock after being stripped of their equipment and interrogated to the nth degree if they didn't make the grade.

[SteveRestless]

Weren't most of the dragoons recruited as orphans and raised psuedo-sibko style? i seem to recall the dragoons internal culture having a lot in common with clan culture already.

I've looked at the prospect of the Dragoons as an auxiliary force to the wolves in a modified invasion scenario, and it damn near doubles the combat strength of the wolves if you just add them in wholesale. Even if they aren't using clantech, that is a lot of force you can leverage.

[Wolflord]

Weren't most of the dragoons recruited as orphans and raised psuedo-sibko style? i seem to recall the dragoons internal culture having a lot in common with clan culture already.

I've looked at the prospect of the Dragoons as an auxiliary force to the wolves in a modified invasion scenario, and it damn near doubles the combat strength of the wolves if you just add them in wholesale. Even if they aren't using clantech, that is a lot of force you can leverage.

Yes they were, it was a big part of the rebuilding after the 4th war. The Dragooning of the War Orphans iirc. The being raised as pseudo-clansmen is one of the few things that would make the Dragoons wholesale absorption by the wolves palatable (even to the wolves) to the clans. Again iirc the war orphans were raised as a defacto Clan Dragoon rather than as Wolves due to Kerlin Ward (sp?) ordering the Dragoons to start preparing the inner sphere for the coming of the clans. I think if the Dragoons leadership had lead the way wholeheartedly the bulk of the Dragoons would have followed but I don't think it would have been smooth sailing.

[Dave Talley]

The main issue I see is that the bulk of the Dragoons are at that point freeborn spheroids.  Why would they want to side with the Clans?

yeah
I could easily see the goons leading a Tukkayid style fight, if the comguard hadnt done it

[SteveRestless]

Yes they were, it was a big part of the rebuilding after the 4th war. The Dragooning of the War Orphans iirc. The being raised as pseudo-clansmen is one of the few things that would make the Dragoons wholesale absorption by the wolves palatable (even to the wolves) to the clans. Again iirc the war orphans were raised as a defacto Clan Dragoon rather than as Wolves due to Kerlin Ward (sp?) ordering the Dragoons to start preparing the inner sphere for the coming of the clans. I think if the Dragoons leadership had lead the way wholeheartedly the bulk of the Dragoons would have followed but I don't think it would have been smooth sailing.

Well, I think the deciding factor there is a question of whether the dragoons were sent to the inner sphere to bolster its strength and hinder the invasion as in canon, or whether they were sent and operated as a genuine recon mission, preparing for the invasion of the inner sphere. If they were enthusiastically operating under those parameters, I would think their recall would be inherent to their mission and anyone recruited would be conditioned (if not briefed) suitable for such a return.

[Wolflord]

Well, I think the deciding factor there is a question of whether the dragoons were sent to the inner sphere to bolster its strength and hinder the invasion as in canon, or whether they were sent and operated as a genuine recon mission, preparing for the invasion of the inner sphere. If they were enthusiastically operating under those parameters, I would think their recall would be inherent to their mission and anyone recruited would be conditioned (if not briefed) suitable for such a return.

True, wether or not the Dragoons of 3049/50 could have been recalled successfully or used as a bridgehead close to Terra depends on how far we are willing to deviate from cannon.

[Dragon Cat]

yeah
I could easily see the goons leading a Tukkayid style fight, if the comguard hadnt done it

That could have been interesting too, but how much of the IS would have been Clan by the time the Dragoons got the support for it, Outreach is below the "Terra" line (looking at it 2D) so if the Dragoons called a Tukayyid style it wouldn't have been on their turf. of if it had it would have been one last defence - much like there stand against the WoB in the Jihad

[Dave Talley]

or similar to the fight on strana mechty,
the goons, plus an RCT type unit from each house and the comguard
it would still need to be tukkayid

or if the goons had simply volunteered to help C* in that fight

[Jaim Magnus]

or if the goons had simply volunteered to help C* in that fight

That is... highly unlikely.

[Dave Talley]

true
now since this is an AU, say that Focht, found out about the scorpion plans and popped the primus sooner and had more loyal ROM member deal with stopping the blackout

then calls up Wolf and says Dude, its Fred steiner, can you give me a hand?

[Kilraven]

 I am thinking that if the Dragoons in general had obeyed the order to return, then a schism would have occured.

 To keep it simple, half became clan & half stayed loyal to the sphere. (The dragoons vs dragoons battles would have been epic)

 All surviving homeworld born (warriors, techs /true & free) would have been sent to the homeworlds, those innersphere born would have been kept in the IS as Wolf zone garrison forces.

 Have not decided about freeborn of two homeworld born, probably asked to stay in sphere.

 Those scorpon lower caste that were helping in the invasion logisticals would have welcomed the dragoons with a party. [rockon]

 By honor the Wolfs would have to keep to the 4 galaxies they were allocated for frontline combat duty, remember everyone else was allocated 3 galaxies.

[Wolflord]

By honor the Wolfs would have to keep to the 4 galaxies they were allocated for frontline combat duty, remember everyone else was allocated 3 galaxies.

Of course there are Galaxies and there are Galaxies. Purely Hypothetical - add a regiment and a half or so of Dragoons to each frontline Galaxy and it is technically still only four Galaxies.

[Stormfury]

Other invader clans and clans with eyes on the sphere are going to trial for information and personnel.

I seriously doubt it. Not only does the average Clansman regard mercenaries with contempt, the Invading Clans were given all the information ComStar had at their disposal on planets and defenders they were encountering. Only one Clan chose to avail themseles of that resource; the others ignored it, and the information mercenaries had would be treated with even greater disdain.

If the Dragoons had returned to the Clans, the actual Invasion would be barely changed, if at all. It's more likely to have repercussions come the Refusal War, though.

[Hawkeye Jim]

Is it possible that Wolf Clan sent the freeborns to the IS knowing full well, few if any would return?

[Stormfury]

No. Freeborns were sent because their lower level of skill was expected to be less out of place, and because they didn't want to risk tipping the Sphere off to their origins. The reason the Dragoons didn't return comes down to Kerlin charging them with preparing and defending the Inner Sphere against the Clans, not because they were Freeborn.

[Hawkeye Jim]

By the time of the Clan invasion, very few of the originals were left, anyway. Not many had ever been to the homeworlds.

[Kilraven]

 Agreed, the Dragoons had been in the sphere for what, almost 30 years?

 I would expect less than a trinary of homeworld born warriors to have survived until 3050, and not a large number of homeworlds born support personnel.

 Wasn't there an attack some years earlier that killed many dependents and support personnel?
Memory is not clear.

[Arkaris]

and the information mercenaries had would be treated with even greater disdain.

They had all the information that would have effectively been disseminated through the clans came home in Natasha Kerensky.  90+% of what the others would have said would have already been present in her reports and debriefing. 

[Jaim Magnus]

Agreed, the Dragoons had been in the sphere for what, 20 odd years?

 I would expect less than a trinary of homeworld born warriors to have survived until 3050, and not a large number of homeworlds born support personnel.

 Wasn't there an attack some years earlier that killed many dependents and support personnel?
Memory is not clear.

By the time of the invasion?  They'd been in the Sphere for 45 years.  30 of those without any contact with the Homeworlds.

You're thinking of the New Delos incident of 3015.

[Iron Mongoose]

It should be noted that there are a fair few Dragoon-bred trueborn, which is both good and bad.  On the one hand, they'd be extreemly loyal to the Dragoons and have no place to go in the Inner Sphere.  On the other, they'd be totaly unacceptable to the Clans, and likely make the remainder of the Dragoons totaly unacceptable.

Really, I think the point has been made that any decision to accept a Clan return order has to go back to either 3017 or better yet 3000.  There's reason to think that the Dragoons were never intended to come back right from the get go (based on their unhesitating acceptance of the 3017 orders, amoung other things) but its quite clear that after that, the stepts taken (setting up omni mech manufacturing, a breeding program, etc) make it quite clear that they had accepted their mission and made plans to stay in the Inner Sphere.

Had their orders from day one been "you're going to come back and join the invasion and we'll really make use of your intel and your skills, seriously" and had the leaders (either the Wolf brothers or some diehard crusaders picked in their place) accepted that and trained their people that way, then sure its possible.  Of course, an inability to recrute may have left the force closer to a regement (or a company, if they don't add anyone), so the resualt would have been a lot less pronounced than if the Dragoons came as they did in Canon with five Clantech regements of elite warriors and heavy supporting forces.  But, a force raised by the Warden Wolves as a delaying tactic in the first place was always going to be more likely not to come home than to come home.

[Urban Kufahl]

The main issue I see is that the bulk of the Dragoons are at that point freeborn spheroids.  Why would they want to side with the Clans?

"Because they have dozens of regiments of Natasha like warriors; equiped with faster, tougher mechs who outclass the best IS stuff by a mile ! Another question ?"

hummm, YES ! why are we still here ?

[SteveRestless]

The main issue I see is that the bulk of the Dragoons are at that point freeborn spheroids.  Why would they want to side with the Clans?

If they'd been recruited as orphans and raised in the way of the dragoons if not the way of the clans, their indoctrination could easily predispose them to cooperation with and reunification with the clans.