Battletech: The Ghost Who Walks (Battletech Isekai)

[Bofors40mm]

i mean to be fair not a single drac who is alive helped house amaris. heck i'm not even sure its the same branch of house kurita running the show

 

[Imperator Pax]

i mean to be fair not a single drac who is alive helped house amaris. heck i'm not even sure its the same branch of house kurita running the show

Click to shrink...

This is true but it doesn't help that house kurita has done a lot of fucked up shit up shit and not just to the fed suns cause like when we get to helm yeah it's just more salt on the pile of kurita not being fit to succeeding to the non existent star league thrown

 

[Bofors40mm]

So given how small a comstar division is compared to a SLDF one especially since theres no way all of 1st Division's kit was salvagable black jack can't have enough equipment to afford to be facing off a force the size and quality of what Gene is bringing along in anything but the most Dire or needed situations. Which is good news. The bad news is that it makes pinning him down in a set piece battle will be hard.

 

[Imperator Pax]

So given how small a comstar division is compared to a SLDF one especially since theres no way all of 1st Division's kit was salvagable black jack can't have enough equipment to afford to be facing off a force the size and quality of what Gene is bringing along in anything but the most Dire or needed situations. Which is good news. The bad news is that it makes pinning him down in a set piece battle will be hard.

Click to shrink...

This is a question I was going to ask in the other thread, but has ComStar implemented its smaller Division structure by this point, I didn't think the level system was in place yet?

But yeah roughly what Black Jack personally has to play with is about a brigade in strength its not an SLDF division by any means

 

[Bofors40mm]

This is a question I was going to ask in the other thread, but has ComStar implemented its smaller Division structure by this point, I didn't think the level system was in place yet?

But yeah roughly what Black Jack personally has to play with is about a brigade in strength its not an SLDF division by any means

Click to shrink...

The level system was in place. As a matter of fact it often was used as the basis of the defences of stations in the periphery. One or 2 level IIs of vehicles and some infantry. And using vehicles which weren't especially fancy and where bought on the open market.
Ye olde demolishers, pikes ,partisans, bulldogs, weapon carriers, vedettes, and behemoths being the mainstays plus some manticores and shrecks would be spotted as well. A favorite grouping canonically for a station garrison level II was 5 pikes and a demolisher.

 

[drakensis]

i mean to be fair not a single drac who is alive helped house amaris. heck i'm not even sure its the same branch of house kurita running the show

Click to shrink...

Takashi Kurita is a direct male line descendent of Minoru Kurita, the Coordinator during the Amaris Civil War.

Specifically, the line of descent is Minoru's second son Zabu's eldest son Yoguchi's third son Taragi's son Shinjiro's second son Hugai's elder son Hohiro's elder son Takashi.

There are a couple of coordinators not on the list but there's an unbroken line of descent.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Pirate Wars II
Part 3​

Kamea Arano ... maybe not as much as the scions of wealth and power in the Inner Sphere was still used to the braggadocios of her own social class, and status. As her mother had pointed from the MRB records their guests were experienced in such things. It was a dichotomy, a question of nature whether it was nobility or mercenary a question of philosophy that would define Kamea.


There was a certain... not quite blandness, but the statements which were posted couldn't be reconciled with those sorts of questions.


Her father hadn't agreed to let her go to Fjaldr, but she was at least being allowed to attend the preparatory work... and there was still the chance she'd be able to join her cousin.


"This is what we know of Kelly's Kommandos, and specifically their most reason attack on the planet of Ward in the Capellan Confederation." The young colonel declared activating the holographic projector. "Our best working guess is that Kristofur Kelly assumed command of a pirate group that was at least already speaking terms with Black Jack, and that Kelly lead them to go join Black Jack sometime in the last two to three years they both have some grudge against ComStar but substantiation of what that motivation derives from is up in the air." That didn't change the fact that Black Jack and Kelly were both infamous pirates, and while Black Jack wasn't know... and might have been in the Tortuga dominions or not... "We have reasonable indication that Kelly is making a play to bring Fjaldr into line, its in our best interest to stop that from happening."


The holographic display shifted.


The display read out identified the BattleMechs as MAD 4S Marauder II. They were hundred ton Assault Mechs. She had seen them already. There were alternate versions as well, but the standard Marauder II BattleMech was going to be the tip of the offensive.


"Now, becomes the problem... the larger problem of operational planning. Fjaldr is generally inhospitable, its one of those snowball rock worlds on the edge of the goldilocks zone that is cold but minerally rich warranting its colonization during the era of the Star League. This would be an impediment in campaigning normally, but the local pirate clan is apparently distinct from Black Jack's new arrivals, and Kelly's Kommandos, who we are considering a priority target are not the only band on Fjaldr." The image changed, "This star port was constructed during the Star League as a transit point into the Periphery, remember in the 27th​ century that the delineation of what constituted the Inner Sphere was much further rim ward and Fjaldr would have been considered in the Inner Sphere. Its a large enough open enough area to facilitate offloading, the Aurigan coalition military believes that it is also near enough to the former mines that the pirate clans use as their land holds, and we can expect vehicle based resistance in addition to battlemechs."


Which was of course the next topic, and one of note. Fjaldr's clans were by periphery standards very well armed pirates. That was why her father had always been worried what the campaign would cost the ACM, and why expanding the forces of the royal guard with reliable mercenaries had been an absolute necessity to even considering launching the campaign.


"Black Jack's presence on Fjaldr seems to be aimed at using it as a staging ground. Fjaldr does not have a modern ComStar presence, and though this is just speculation we have reason to believe that Black Jack has access to more comprehensive star charts than what is commercially available, and is most likely using planets who have fallen off the modern maps as a result of the succession war to stage forces. That makes data recovery a priority, we need as much information about the pirates broader strategic movements and where they've been."


That was a bullet point underscored underscored on the holographic projection, and Kamea noted that it was something several MechWarrior Officers wrote down in their notebooks.
--
Gene watched the assembled BattleMechs. Alamut deep in the Rimward periphery was too far away to expect the Azami there to be able to maintain a line of communication into the Fed Suns. Maldive and Kern had both fallen off the maps over the course of the succession war but it meant that in theory it was four jumps from the Aurigan border to the Fed Suns... but that was theoretically true for Black Jack as well, or anyone else with presumably Star League era Star Charts... which theoretically the Azami could have used, but hadn't... and part of that was how chaotic the succession wars had made things for interstellar travel.


A line of communication into the Federated Suns... was probably going to need to be opened, but it would have to be after they dropped on Fjaldr. That was at least something they had no shortage of volunteers for among the Azami... and Gene was glad he had asked for that. There was after all a reason he had described the formation as a Regimental Combat Team... the Azami were leaving the Combine in droves, and with more treasure than the Combine would have knowingly allowed them to possess if given the option. Alamut had the potential to be something more if the exodite fleet could make it there, and could survive... and he had an obligation to get them to the jump off point to where they could separate ... but on the other hand the whole pirate situation left him deeply uneasy even without Septim confiding in his dreams of sharks, wolves, and wolverines circling in desolated ruins.


If they were going to try and interpret that, then he assumed Sharks were representing Amaris... but the wolves seemed probable enough to be the dragoons, and well the Wolverines were most likely the members who had been in stasis at Lockdale... which worried him...


In the mean time the Azami had repainted their Catapult, and Pheonix Hawk force into uniform SLDF temperate green and brown semi digital pattern. The distinction were the Azami badging in place of Regular Army insignia... how well that would blend in on Fjaldr was debatable but the truth was it wasn't just the Azami who were chomping at the bit... and he was due for a conference with Dante soon as the AI was crunching numbers.


They had a long list of places to go, and as if to remind him of that his noteputer chimed to remind that the Ambassador of the Magistracy of Canopus wanted a formal meeting, presumably to lock down a commitment to visit either Luxen, or go directly to Canopus... where almost certainly there would be potential greater financial incentive and such to sign on. As Pasha had pointed out though the choice to pick Luxen was based on overlapping ties. They had worked for Raventhir before, she had found that Charger line... and never mind the pay probably being good born out of wedlock or not she was Abner's favorite child... and that relation did matter because it impacted their other relationships. So the consensus was Luxen, not Canopus... and some of that was stellar navigation, but there were plenty of other reasons impacting it. Reasons that it behooved him not to discuss openly with the ambassador from the Magistracy, but in interim his focus was on the Azami preparation for likely another Combat Drop, which had the focus of the techs.


"There you are," Chang called one of the few people who wasn't in some variation of an SLDF pattern uniform, but that made sense as she was off duty. It was who she had in tow which was the other matter.


"Bubbles." He returned before allowing the urban brawler pilot introduce, again, the systems heiresses.


The unified command had both Kintaros and Catapults in stock. Truthfully even without the Azami temporarily bolstering the Company's strength they were slanted more towards a Dragoon weight with so many assaults than they were the original Hussar displacement he'd been 'aiming' for as they had pulled equipment from depots.


The Azami complement favored something akin to the Light Horse regiments of the SLDF, which was good for training purposes.


"I was telling the princess," there was a frown, "Lady Arano, that the Federated Suns produces new production Kintaros. I also showed them that Catapult you rebuilt after Detroit." She bit down a snicker at the memory. Gene nodded, but didn't go so far as to remark he was glad they had been having fun. He suspected that Lady Arano probably was overly conscientious of attempts at coddling here, and didn't want to be treated that way. Especially since it seemed like the pair had actually ditched their royal guard chaperones.


"I understand you both have volunteered for Fjaldr," Victoria looked especially pleased with herself, at the prospect of fighting, while her cousin diffused into a probably well practiced argument about responsibility and the damage the pirates had managed to do to her home world. "Chang do you want to schedule them in for when Beau runs Bardiche through this afternoon's exercises?" He asked turning to her.... the truth was he'd been dancing around whether or not to bring up Ward to her or whether or not they needed to actually say something to the Capellan authorities after this was done. The latter was probably better to just let it drop, but as he understood it Chang had at least one younger sister active with the CCAF, and her father had 'retired to the civil service', whatever that meant, on her home world.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Sorry Kamea unless you have a couple siblings we haven't heard about your the only heir and thus not really expendable.

That being said it might be a good idea to use some of the salvage from the recent to upgrade to a better ride for a heiress of a nation.
Like if that battlemaster Gene took out is fixable with a factory level rebuild at the Espinosa refit yards it would be a good pick

 

[Wargamer08]

Having her in a medium weight SRM-spam mech without CASE was a bold choice. I mean, at least it's not something silly like a Commando?

 

[Bofors40mm]

Having her in a medium weight SRM-spam mech without CASE was a bold choice. I mean, at least it's not something silly like a Commando?

Click to shrink...

the commando is a good mech for its defined role if one that could probably go with twin SRM-4s and adding a ton of armor and either a small laser and the last efficient half ton of armor or a Flamer/a 2nd medium laser.
albeit the problem is that in the games and tabletop its hard to be a striker and make it work since ambushing a foe and doing hit and runs is really hard as compared to in universe

 

[Wargamer08]

the commando is a good mech for its defined role if one that could probably go with twin SRM-4s and adding a ton of armor and either a small laser and the last efficient half ton of armor or a Flamer/a 2nd medium laser.
albeit the problem is that in the games and tabletop its hard to be a striker and make it work since ambushing a foe and doing hit and runs is really hard as compared to in universe

Click to shrink...

Sure, but I wouldn't put anyone particularly important in one.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Pirate Wars II
Part 4​

There was a tiny projector presenting a star map that filled most of the space above the desk. It was a star map of the Aurigan Reach. Of the Reach at the time of the New Vandenberg uprising since there were plenty of worlds that had fallen off the usual star charts and ... there was an SLDF crest that he didn't recognize but carried the cameron starburst on it.

Tamati had made the decision to move soon over some of the council's objections... which was good in its own way because it meant they'd be hitting with such a large force this way.

The plan was to jump from Coromdir VI and move coreward from Itrom to Ryan's Fate, and then Fjaldr. As he understood the 'RCT's' plan a branch of JumpShips would then move out to Detroit to stage for the move against the moon of Ixlyus and attackin Grim Sybil like they had promised the Magistracy.


Raju Montgomery watched the younger officer go about his business. The large free worlds league officer, beside the colonel, had made some off hand comment about Ravens and Foxes which he didn't understand but that had in many ways become the norm for sitting in on conversations 'liaising'... "The Easy Company independent tasking did work well." Shepherd remarked after a moment, then he paused tapping through a display, "Captain Montgomery, if you'll excuse me, the question may be out of line the Aurigans field a lot of Dragons for anyone not House Kurita."


"You'd have to talk to House Karosas about that," He replied, not being petty, but it was something he had never really noticed, or if he had he had subseqnetly written it off as some quirk of the periphery. He paid little more attention to it than the Griffins.


The Colonel made a slight noise in his throat, but nodded as he returned his focus to the floating motes of light that swirled about. Shepherd's uniform was a contrast to the Khaki of the SLDF Regular Army worn by most. Victoria had already described how the back drop of those holographic displays like fire sparks in amber eyes. It stood out more though that besides the rank pins at his collar was the solitary cameron starburst on the uniform. It was the absence of other awards and decorations that should have been there.


As head of the royal guard not only had he seen first hand the advance executed by the Heavy BattleMech Regiment Shepherd commanded, but was privy to the review of the BattleRom footage. Lord Tamati, and his brother in law Lord Santiago had both quizzed him for his input about. Raju would have been lying if he hadn't said it was discomforting eerie, disconcerting whatever word one wanted to use for how little bragging the Marauder pilot did given his accolades. The kill count, and the commendations from House Davion were the measures of MechWarrior, and Mercenary, and a command for a man decades older.

He just didn't mention them in conversation, and when they did come up he was dismissive.

Outside that question about the Dragons, hitherto most questions had been directly related for hitting Fjaldr, where they would go after. He'd heard the comment to move to Detroit, then after that to Bellerophon rimward, and from there apparently a pivot to Ur Cruinne and presumably towards the Magistracy border... most likely to Balawat and then Duianshire.


That was the other thing, even though he was a mech jock, and a ground pounder with no business planning starship routes he could still read a map... and he doubly so could count. The JumpShips were numerous, and it still didn't add up. Shepherd, or the Azami intended Shepherd to move most of the fleet to the Magistracy border and presumably into the deep periphery from there... he assumed it had to have something to do with the campaign Shepherd's Company must have fought for the Davions before heading out this way, but that was information that Coromdir's MRB didn't have, the information hadn't reached this far out in the periphery other than the Combine had lost two worlds in rapid succession. That had to sting but it didn't explain a mass migration across the length and breadth of human space.
--
It would be two jumps... two jumps and then they would drop on the planet. The strategy was more or less similar to how they had fought when they had arrived here. If somewhat exaggerated the Azami pilots in their Altair, their version of the Eagle, would form a massive air dominance arrangement covering for small craft aimed at deploying boarding parties of marines to any JumpShips at the point and locking them down. Braunfelds would be attempting to broadcast a Star League Emergency Shut Down Order to the JumpShips at the other JumpPoint... whether that would take or not was ultimately less important so long as it disrupted the enemy's stellar mobility.


Once the Jump Points and the JumpShips were neutralized they'd move to secure orbital dominance before starting the planet fall. That was where things would grow more complicated since Markham's Marauders was under the direct Command of the Royal Guard and while Lord Tamati was coming aboard the Flagship of the Aurigan coalition he wouldn't be in the fight. His niece would be, but as it was the Azami were excited to rush into the fight. In a sustained campaign those lighter units were intended to find and fix the target in place per cavalry doctrine and then the heavier force would roll them as Alacorns deployed with Assault BattleMechs.


Still that would be two weeks of transit time, and he had other things on his mind. "You believe that the Azami have provided House Karosas with the ability to manufacture the Dragon?" The elder questioned staving off an amused chuckle as he did so.


"It had crossed my mind as a possibility." He replied.


The man bobbed his head, still amused, "I wish that were indeed the case. Were that we had such foresight my young friend."


Dante's holographic globe swirled casting shadow's across the command deck of the Eisenhower, "The Aurigans possess an automated mech production line... probably provided by the SLDF Quartermasters corp to test and sustain the numbers of the machine." That the SLDF had ultimately rejected the Dragon was irrelevant... someone in procurement had wanted to have enough parts on hand to do more than just make repairs ... now how of course that stuff had ended up with House Karosas a century or however long later that was up in the air. "It is probable that explains their numbers of Griffins as well... though of course given the age of the Griffin that could be more conventional machinery."


"The truth is that the Aurigan machinery is temperamental and the facility within is protected to the point of being hard to affect repairs. We have aided house Karosas in maintaining it but the work is slow and we are not the Star League." The elder replied. "I would of course welcome convivial relations with the Coalition as a whole, as equals of status between our community and theirs but Alamut must be safe guarded and we have much work to do in establishing our numbers so far from civilization." He remarked.


That wasn't news, "Is there going to be a problem with our deployment then? I know it rep-"


"No, were I younger man I would gladly join you in battle against any mongrel who would willing wear the colors of the Satan Amaris." The Elder spat, "To undertake action against them is a demonstration of forthrightness that should only be commended. I recognize it will represent a delay but not so much of one. The outlaws must be punished it is better that we strike them now while our forces are concentrated, and they are divided."
--
Notes: Part 5 will pick up with Ambassador Centrella, and the Magistracy perspective and then the Fall on Fjaldr and the beginning of hostilities with the introduction of Kristofur Kelly.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well I do hope the ex head of ROM gets captured. that would be interesting indeed.

also a automated dragon plant....huh that's interesting. And a HUGE target. Like seriously that thing needs a lot more defenses than the aurigans probably have available in order to stay safe.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Pirate Wars II
Part 5​

'The Shepherds' were on an assembly march in preparation to ship off world. Their weapons were of the Star League, which meant they had technical parity against the pirate king's forces.


She couldn't hear the highland pipes of course, but she knew well enough what they sounded like. The Magistracy as all human states of note Inner Sphere or Periphery had Highland units. It was easy to know that the oldest troops of the Mercenary Company ... if it was in fact a mercenary company not simply pretending to be one... were the infantry and tankers. The contrast was in the uniforms as the Highlander contingent of the 'Regimental Combat Team' wore Hegemony Battle Dress of the late Terran Hegemony.


To the average eye of course it was a flourish. The trooper styles had somewhat reduced in popularity in the face of the downfall of the Star League but they were readily commercially available and SLDF rank insignia remained the norm, but usually all in Regular Army colors with the exception of units that expressly traced their lineage back to units, with distinct uniforms, from before the crisis.


Shepherd's MIM file included profile shots, and images taken during his stint working for both House Raventhir, and the emergency contract for the Defense of Luxen. Shepherd had maintained a Major's insignia through his tour, but his uniform had hardly changed. Yet it was not identical to what the Highlanders wore, even if theirs was still the closest... and the Highlanders wore more ornaments on their uniforms and most included a school rag.


One of the Straios working for the MIM had compiled a report from Shepherd's medical chart at Luxen, which had been revised... only after Shepherd had departed for Davion space. The Magistracy Armed Forces might have been smaller than what the country really needed but the MIM did its job well, even if it might not have seemed like it with the benefit of hindsight. The MIM had had no reason to through what was frankly ancient history.


HAF SOF Troops had landed on Canopus bringing the Magistracy's part in the New Vandenburg uprising to a close. Of course those troops had had to be stripped from the Hegemony proper, meaning that while they had been in the periphery Amaris's Rim World soldiers had been inside the Hegemony's borders for the coup which had mortally wounded the Star League. Shepherd didn't wear the uniform the SLDF regular army, he wore the uniform of a member state service, that of the Terran Hegemony.


The MIM conclusion, the conclusion of the report was fairly simple. The Highlanders wore the uniforms of their distant forbearers. Shepherd, and his Marauder were relics of the 28th​ Century lost to time and sleeping away those centuries in stasis tube. In hindsight they could say that sort of thing with confidence. It was a headache... it actually went, in her opinion, quite far in explaining Shepherd's tendencies, his behavior but it didn't change that he was commanding what was by the standards of the Periphery a large very well armed very unattached to existing governments mercenary force during a crisis period... or all of those Azami looking to establish apparently a new colony somewhere rimward of them.


The magistracy would welcome trade with any legitimate periphery state. It was part of the reason why she was out here dealing with the Aurigans. The Aurigans who had a much rosier view, and Inner Sphere esque view of the Star League. Trade with the Taurians was important but it would have to pass through Aurigan space, the aurigans were closer. The magistracy needed to be able to trade with its neighbors.


Such things fell into her usual, her normal areas of responsibility. Not dealing with a walking ghost, much less one the Magistracy had unknowingly invited to protect it from pirates more than once. The Magistracy was a nation of culture, and art, and usually a safe nation relative to most in the periphery. The Drama of Luxen had been the Canopian entry into the Pirate Wars, even if people would only think of it in those terms later, but it had happened and was enough to make the news... and the best that she could currently manage was to relay to the Magistracy was that Shepherd planned to return to Luxen, presumably without stopping over on Canopus first.


Even without the Azami that would have been something to concern the government. Shepherd coming back was a point of interest... that his personal command the regiment contained three BattleMech Battalions, a Battalion of Armor, and another of Mechanized Highland Infantry would have drawn attention. Shepherd wasn't returning to Luxen with a vastly expanded commanded there were the two Azami BattleMech formations, lighter yes, but still with 'Mechs and armor deferring to his command authority.


Any never mind all of it together were extremely good reasons for her government to pay attention.
--
The alarms at jump point were not what he initially expected. The Capellans were the sick man of the Inner Sphere but they might still have had the pride to retaliate after Ward. It was also possible that the Dragoons could have come.


Kelly wasn't stupid, the First Circuit might not have had the resolve to do what was necessary, not after the confidence shattering defeat against Black Jack before the dragoons had shown up... but he wouldn't have put it past any of the less pious to betray his location to the dragoons. That was part of the reason why he had thought he had overridden the computer override on his JumpShip so watching his JumpShip go into a safety over ride shocked him. "Move, get out of my way." He snapped rushing to the terminal in question to hurry up and authenticate his credentials... he had to do this quickly. At least ComStar hadn't sent warships that would have ruined everything.


"Boss, man we got a lot of fast movers, one of these dropships man its fast" He ignored the screaming radar operator... Paulie was a good man who knew his stuff but now wasn't the time, and he didn't have the time to yell at the fat man to shut the fuck up. It wouldn't have helped.


Kelly hit the return key and held his breath. The terminal flashed green, and the security override accepted his credentials issued by Terra as valid. He let the breath out, "Paulie what were you saying?" He started to ask looking at the track, and then regretted it... "Standby for emergency jump get us out of here." The former precentor ordered furiously. His JumpShip had been built before the Star League's fall and its electronic hardware was lostech after the devastation of the succession wars.


He grit his teeth and bore it, that presumably one of the successor states had decided to claim to be the Star League. There were too many rapiers, and the radar operator was right if they didn't leave right now they were going to die. Kelly didn't care about leaving the local pirates to die, they were just patsies with delusions of grandeur... and Kelly had a real mission. He needed to get back to Black Jack and Stefan too and talk about what they could in order build up their forces... they were going to have to involve the Taurians at some point, but without ComStar's resources Kelly knew he needed to be patient about trying , or expecting to just be able to rally another new vandenburg uprising like Stefan expected to be able to do.


The Taurians especially the current bull weren't going to be that easy, especially if Black Jack told them everything up front...


"Drive charge complete, we're ready."


"Jump." The first syllable hitched in his throat as he watched the feed as more dropships separate from the invasion fleet, and then the distortion of hyperspace. The JumpShip winked away, there would be a handful of others, but truthfully that had been expected by the attacking forces. In truth the Star League had been gone for so long if not for the sharp decline in JumpShip production it would have been more reasonable to expect that JumpShips wouldn't just be slavish copies of the Star League versions... but by and large the average JumpShip was between two and three centuries old.


No one wanted to break what worked in the succession wars, and that was even if they could and that had always proved one of the Blessed Order's Strengths.


Kristofur Kelly stared at the starburst on the ship, not ComStar, no those were SLDF were Royal Command codes... the Dragoons? Or he supposed someone else descended from Kerensky then, someone who wanted to pretend they were normal for the Inner Sphere when it should have been clear to everyone with eyes that they weren't... not that he'd tell Black Jack that... better Black Jack believed the Order was closing in and now was the time for decisive action. That shouldn't be too hard of a sell though.

--
Notes: The Magistracy segment of Anna Centrella's position in this whole clusterfuck occurs as the Company is moving to depart, and Kristofur Kelly's introduction occurs contemporaneously to the jump to Fjaldr and Kelly makes the decision to get the hell out of dodge. Kelly similarly assumes that Gene is a clanner (not that he knows that word, but assumes he's descended from Kerensky's exodus, which will come into play later).

 

[Imperator Pax]

Pirate Wars II
Part 6​

The blanket of stars changed as the physical reality of normal space became visible .The indiscernible otherness of hyperspace faded too slowly for a second before disappearing entirely, but the ship crews were already checking in across the fleet. That was important given the scales, and complexity of this operation. The local authorities, their mercenaries, and themselves gathered in union against a severe pirate threat.


"We're all accounted for sir."


Pasha nodded to the report activating the broadcast. "All hands to your action stations." The old man declared. His nightmares remained of warships, of nuclear fusillades... but there were none of those monstrosities here. Still reviewing the historical records had not helped him sleep. "Launch alert fighters." There were a lot of those, just in case any of the pirates decided to do anything inventive. The pirates would be desperate... after all if captured there was a good chance they'd get shoved out an air lock after a pro forma trial by most governments... most people weren't the Canopians. The old JumpShip captain wasn't quite sure what the Aurigan proscription would be in this situation, but he doubted there would be an abundance of mercy.


Lights flickered.


He watched the displays as the air wing's first line went out. They were the force's first line but a holographic display further out from his position on the command deck of his bridge showed the reporting progress of other heavier assets. If the broadcast signal worked the marines in their small craft would be able to strike quickly. It was not piracy if one were attacking criminals after all. They would need to register the JumpShips with Davion shipping authorities in all likelihood to be entirely confident in the Precentor New Avalon's warrants and bounty offers but they would be returning to Davion space in perhaps as little as a year.


Pasha recognized that consideration was itself potentially an anomaly. The concern for that legal framework because they would be using those JumpShips, and not just for opening regular traffic across the periphery. After all legally the seized vessels would belong to the company... no doubt the Precentor New Avalon taking precautions, or having the expectation that House Davion would then hire the Company for carrying capacity to support efforts against the Dragon. It certainly fit with his impression of Vandal despite their only brief time acquainted with one another.


It was something that he was going to have to warn his superior about. A quick check though of the communications channel though yielded the highlander brogue of the machine spirit lamenting the lack of orbital deployment capability for ground combat drones. Air deployment of vehicles was infrequent in the succession wars though hot drops into planets by 'mech forces did still take place. The AI, Dante lamented that they could not deploy unmanned ground combat vehicles in conjunction with the MechWarriors, but Pasha did not lament that.


Such LosTech would have been a boon but it was beyond the Azami's means, and even if it had been a weapon of the Earth that was Terra had lost much to the Usurper, and mankind was all the poorer for it. Today would be much as the landing on Coromodir would prove. They would fight against the pirates, and they would win.


--
Gene monitored the feedback through the command software. The pirates had been allowed to grow to numbers that of course made them out of hand for the locals. How much of that was the Coalition just having its resources stretched then already, and how much of it was Black Jack showing up to... sending people to ally support he supposed it didn't really matter.


His displays were filled with the masses of data for the combined task force. Ordinarily, for the Sucession Wars, JumpShips were inviolable pirates were the exception... and even without being involved in the flesh trade the threat to JumpShips they posed made them Hosti humanis generis for the threat they posed to eking out a living on the periphery. It was why the governments, and of course the feudal nobility so frequently accused their rivals of supporting tacitly or otherwise marauding bands to settle scores... and why those accusations weren't always just angry slander.


The Azami JumpShips carried system boats as they would have been called in the League Era. Small Craft designed as gunships and boarding vessels. There were a trio of Star Lords, including one he suspected of having a similar service history as the ship that bore the name Cairo now, tasked for recovery operation, and that was a demonstration of how significant a massing this force was.


That worried him. They'd been bottled up in the JumpShips for most the ride out. When he had issued the report post Coromodir on the findings, it had come with a request for volunteers for anti piracy operations against Black Jack. PNA had authorized a bounty it wasn't like he was asking they do it for free, and there was paper work on the Company's end... but it had sorely misjudged the degree of the Azami response given the situation.


It wasn't just the vehemence the Azami had responded to the information circulating about the deaths heads and sharks, and the Napoleonic icons among other Rim World Iconography that worried him. He had to put together reports, file at least preliminary packets with the other senior staff, and include battle ROM data. He had also had to field inquiries from the Aurigan government, but also questions from the Taurian, and Magistracy ambassadors as they asked the MRB questions... and the MRB locally were being weird. The local comstar presence was being weird. The local chief robe had been nearly a nervous wreck handing over data on ComStar positions, but he also seemed pretty convinced that the Company was here to protect them from Black Jack.


Then again apparently Kelly had burned more than a couple precentors at the stake... with mech scale flamers from his warhammer so maybe the guy had a reason to be shaky. There was more going on. ComStar was getting in the teeth even if there were more liquid assets the pirates could have been hitting on most targets. Ward should have been a pretty big score by itself. He needed answers to questions, and to do that he was going to need live prisoners.


That problem with that was the Azami had only begrudgingly handed over the prisoners their marines had taken at Coromodir once the fleet elders had processed what was the significance of the markings. The Northwind boys weren't much happier that the SLDF machines that formed the core of Black Jack's legion of forces were being disfigured with Rim World markings... and that was concerning. Black Jack had been running around since at least the turn of the century and hadn't demonstrated anything like this ... not his guys at Luxen. He was spiraling out of control, and becoming more violent was insane sounding on its surface.


"All fleet elements final comms check, we're releasing you to individual tasking." He said into the make glancing as the displays in his holographic augmented reality interfaced across the JumpShips to the DropShips and the assault craft loaded with black clad Azami marines and their vibro blades and combat shotguns.


He was going to have to ask ComStar if they knew anything more, he was going to have to ask if Black Jack was descended from Rim World Republic citizenry if this was turning into some kind of Jihad esque periphery revanchist murder hobo fest. The truth was he was afraid of the answer. He blew out a breath silent to the broader command within his helmet. His command couldn't afford for him to be afraid of the details. They needed to hit the targets by the numbers. That was the mission. Fjaldr... maybe they'd go to Ward check on the Capellans, maybe not but the pirates could not be allowed a foot hold.


His vision swam for a minute as the mind machine interface maybe picking up pieces of sub conscious queries populated, maybe it was just Dante piping early telemetry... maybe he had even forgotten that he had requested the data as soon as the telemetry populated forward. Fjaldr first, Fjaldr first especially if these guys thought they were RWA. "Dante," He said queuing his throat mike, comming the AI on a private channel, "I need a data comparison run, and I need it done quietly," He said. "I need to know if the pirates are just rabid murderers or if they're actually trying to run the Rim World playbook for burning out resistance." Did Black Jack have a bigger game, it seemed like there was more going on here... and he hated not knowing what he didn't know. He blinked, and outlined what he needed done... and he knew they didn't have enough information. Black Jack had come in from the Lyran-Combine border a decade ago now? He had bunked in Tortuga supposedly but they didn't really know much, not enough.


He was glad that they had a ways before he'd be needed in the cockpit of his Marauder for actual combat operations. The navy boys would get their part of the game, he had time for the headache to fade before they dropped. In the mean time he needed to check in with the Aurigan contingent, and call up Bardiche. Probably better to call Sorenson after he spoke with their official liaison... maybe the Royal Guard captain, but the High Lord was probably too busy making his own preparations.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Pirate Wars II
Part 7​

There was a whirr from a machine tool.


A series of voices trying to be heard over the din.


The work crews were scrambling to accommodate the movement of BattleMechs in preparation for planet fall. The work on this DropShip was no doubt mirrored across many others. She had heard, whether or not she was supposed to, that the Azami Light Horse Regiment were comprised of men who were to be settled on some planet far in the rimward periphery originally for its protection. They and their families were being escorted out that way, before things in the Coalition had turned bad.

Victoria Espinosa longed to be in her Catapult. She bit down an impatient groan... but the planet fall was still seemingly forever away. Battle was forever away while they were in space. When she wasn't on the ground, and under the sky. The fact that Kaga was a K2 meant her attachment to the force had been pushed down on the orders, which she also somewhat resented. If Kaga had had Jump Jets it would have been different, and if she had been piloting a standard C Catapult she would have had a place with the others of the model aboard Easy Company's roster of missile boats serving as on call 'mech based fire support.


That would have probably been the safest place among the 'mech forces according to her aunt, but Victoria wasn't exactly looking for safety in a mech cockpit. At least she was here, Kamea had been left behind on Coromodir.


From their grumbling there were 'mech warriors who hoped to continue the fight as opposed to being assigned long term garrison duty... to which Victoria could all too keenly empathize with. This was after all likely to be her only chance to see combat for a very long time unless things became that much worse, and they were going to be the ones on the offensive this time.


It was why she had been so insistent that she be allowed to take fire and steel to the enemies of the Coalition, to the enemies of Coromdir.


There was a sudden crackle from the intercom as the speakers came online, "All personnel be advised Braunfelds has arrived in from Zenith, assault Flights should stand by as we make approach to orbit."


An Assault Flight was a flight of Heavy ASF, two fighters, escorting a small craft gunship. Three of those were paired with Assault DropShips and aimed at security in orbit ahead of planet fall. She didn't fly so the only detail the twenty year old Victoria particularly cared about was that it meant they were beginning the maneuvering for final approach. That was confirmed as there was a break in the announcement, no doubt time to let the flyers get moving, as the following announcement informed all senior ground staff to prepare for the final assembly ahead of the drop of the first wave onto Fjaldr.

She wouldn't be a part of that first wave, but would instead be liaising as the off load of tanks and BattleMechs arrived via DropShips that had roll on roll off abilities.


--
Gene flipped through the system data filed in from the computer even as the machine around him reverberated from the gravity of the planet. He'd been alarmed at the number of 'mech warriors who didn't follow protocols and safety procedures during the down time with the Davions. It hadn't occurred to him that much of his original Luxen command had been doing the same. That the fact was most of the procedures he was going through were redundancies insisted on by Hegemony Commands aimed at preserving pilot life, and were also expectant of having the resources of Earth and her core worlds to support those efforts...


Material was short so in the Succession Wars people just made do. It wasn't just that of course, some of it was just the lack of institutional knowledge, but also some of it was that machines were no longer the standard mass produced weapons of war that BattleMechs had been in the early 28th​ century. Machines were now subject to frequent and generational modifications to keep them working. The machines which survived the succession wars and continued to fight were robust, and capable of taking that punishment but developed quirks along the way.


... and he'd also made the mistake of looking up the estimated rates of literacy. Say what one would but the with a French style of Compulsory Education at least the Taurians had managed to keep its percentage of people who could read and write up there despite the difficulties imposed by the end of the Star League and the eruption of the Succession Wars. Fjaldr was one such world that had largely slipped through the cracks as funding, and resources on the ground in the form of personnel had dried up over the succession wars.


Like Aquagea Fjaldr had once been apart of the Capellan state during the era of the Star League. As a hundred points of light comprising the first line of the dropping force began to be enveloped in the heating atmosphere, Gene mused that he could easily have woken up here on Fjaldr near Tibolt Refinery City as he could have on Aquagea.


It was a detail that forced him to change, that changed his operational calculus. Dante agreed. It was too much of a coincidence that Black Jack's forces had been trying to fold Fjaldr's clans into their ranks given the amount of metal that they could risk assuming that the pirates didn't know something was up... that something was down there buried in the earth from the war.


He blew out a breath as Dante piped in the transmission as Lord Tamati attempted to give the pirates one last chance to surrender before the real shooting started dirt side. He didn't expect it to have any result, but Tamati had a pretty big stick on display with the meteor shower. Dante was unimpressed as his addition to the command software tossed forward a handful of images. "More of them." He muttered against the open mike to the AI.


"Affirmative."


Gene bit down a curse. "Paint it."


"Already done." The Highland Machine Spirit replied as the map coordinates and targeting coloring was assigned to the shark marked machines.


"Is there something else?"


"I have read your after action report," It wasn't really, but it was a summary of what had happened just for his own internal reference, "Of what was on Pioche."


"You think those Chargers down there are the same?"


"It is possible, perhaps even probable."


He flipped through the images... Amaris should never have been allowed to buy as much machine tooling as he had... but should was a waste of time and breath to complain about. "Tell Hammer to move to have our pickets expecting fast movers," Gene wasn't stupid, he understood to some degree he was or could will himself invisible to sensors even if he didn't properly understand it, but a charger for its conventional load out flaws was a functionally effective rough and tumble melee machine if it could get close. "And go ahead and pass this along to Magi." They had been in talks of expanding Hammer's authority to a larger armor formation once they returned to Davion space, but had still made the controversial decision to leave most of their armor formation back on Coromdir.


The thing was there were enough Phoenix Hawks with the Azami that they could... and the Arkab legions did run whole companies of 'Hawks admittedly usually equipped with flame throwers or small lasers in place of machine guns. They had made the decision to leave Bardiche on Coromdir with the bulk of their armor as a precaution to if the pirates attempted a second run. He doubted they would, but doubt was not the same as being sure. I hadn't been a difficult call to make not with so many of the Azami machines being equipped with Jump Jets and having orbital free fall qualified pilots.

A digital return flashed across his screen as one of the volunteer Combined Arms Groups acknowledged the updated target package. So far as he understood the Azami were going to produce the DroST versions whenever Alamut became able to support those, produce other weapons... and probably hire themselves out as mercenaries in the periphery were possible so they could pay for what goods they couldn't produce.

"Hammer-Actual Command." The Friesland native called in disrupting the holographic battle table of the Azami, as the armor officer moved to query the most recent status update.

 

[Osserumb]

It's nice to see that legacy of Alois Hammer lives on.

 

[Imperator Pax]

It's nice to see that legacy of Alois Hammer lives on.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, we will eventually get to Friesland in the 3020s but honestly I've largely been focused on the core mech pilots, and the perspectives of mech pilots which is my bad but certain people would kill me , threaten me with gross bodily harm is I tried to go back and expand stuff but eventually there will be a regiment of armor under hammer during the 4th.

 

[Arimai]

Yeah, we will eventually get to Friesland in the 3020s but honestly I've largely been focused on the core mech pilots, and the perspectives of mech pilots which is my bad but certain people would kill me , threaten me with gross bodily harm is I tried to go back and expand stuff but eventually there will be a regiment of armor under hammer during the 4th.

Click to shrink...

As in Drake's Alois Hammer and the Tank Lords Hammer's Slammers mercenary company? Hot damn it's been a while. How did I miss that!?

 

[Imperator Pax]

As in Drake's Alois Hammer and the Tank Lords Hammer's Slammers mercenary company? Hot damn it's been a while. How did I miss that!?

Click to shrink...

Cause Hammer Company as in the armor sub unit of the company doesn't get nearly the attention it was originally going to receive, and quite frankly won't in the current version until Hammer is promoted to Colonel to go fight Capellans

But canonically Friesland is a FedSuns world like two jumps from Kathil which is important later.

 

[Arimai]

Cause Hammer Company as in the armor sub unit of the company doesn't get nearly the attention it was originally going to receive, and quite frankly won't in the current version until Hammer is promoted to Colonel to go fight Capellans

But canonically Friesland is a FedSuns world like two jumps from Kathil which is important later.

Click to shrink...

Wohoo! SLAMMERS HO! I look forward to reading of the heroic exploits of the plasma cannon armed hover tanks and his roughneck infantry.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Hammers Slammers unite snippet c. 3026 Unit Profile (MRB)​

Originally beginning as Hammer Company under the command of a displaced, or disgraced Federated Suns militia armor officer of the planet Friesland, the Slammers are the second armor formation a part of the Shepherd's company. Alois Hammer is a native of the Federated Suns and seems to have left his home planet under a rather dark political cloud following a conflict with the Hereditary Presidential family of Trump.

Hammer Company as it existed following the second battle of Luxen was encapsulated and brought aboard the Shepherds as part of a then hiring cycle. The Slammers did see action during the Elidere campaign alongside the Shepherds original Azami armor units but were overshadowed by the force under St George which spearheaded Shepherd's counter attack against 1st​ and then 3rd​ 19th​ Galedon Regulars. The St George Task Force also was the principle armor unit on Ander's Moon against 2nd​ Battalion 19th​ Galedon.

It was following this that the Slammers began to take on their hitherto standard composition. The Slammers received the first run of Badger and Bandit hover vehicles as well as LosTech Fury tanks, and other supplies rendered from Star League Caches of armor. This would continue as the Slammer were expanded to a broader mechanized infantry and armor formation. Among the primary responsibilities of the Slammers during its early years, before 3020, was to serve as the Shepherd's primary artillery even though Shepherd seemed to occasionally reinforce them with other units for large battles i.e. 1st​ Dieron against the 5th​ Sword of Light.

Hammer's Slammers reached full nominal strength as a regiment after the Pirate Wars becoming a regiment in its own right in 3025 comprising 2 Battalions of Tank, 1 Battalion of Mechanized infantry and the battalion of Artillery, and the Regimental Support Battalion. The Slammers are slated to receive air power from the Shepherds as it becomes available with the Regiment having already received JumpShips and DropShips from Shepherd's Company.

The Slammers operate exclusively fusion powered tanks with most of their LosTech tanks concentrated under Alois Hammer's Whites (1st​ Battalion). 2nd​ Battalion constitutes Shrek and Devastator tanks largely furnished by the Lyran contract at Hespersus.

The Slammers are a dedicated Mechanized Infantry and Tank force rated exceptionally highly by the Draconis March Militia, of whom a portion of the units are veterans of (including graduates from Robinson Battle Academy), and are currently retained by the Prince's Champion Yvonne Davion.
--
Note this is nominally canon but it also chronologically like seven years in the future and is written nominally for ComStar.

Also i.e. notes2: ComStar assumes that Shepherd's company is probably larger than publicly advertised since they, like House Davion after Elidere assume that Tristian St George is a person commanding a lot of tanks, and not an AI with a castle and ground combat Vehicles, and similarly as similar artillery situation occurred during Dieron where Fortress Dieron slammed a bunch of cruise missiles into the sword of light and then of course after that you had or have in contemporary story time the whole Azami great trek out to the periphery and the pirate wars where Shepherd refers to the unit total as an RCT.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Man a battalion of artillery for a armored regiment. That's stupidly rare in battletech even if they're towed guns.
Also mechanized infantry as in IFVs/APCs or mechanized as in running around in their own jeeps and motorcycles?

Also I take it there's a fair few manticores in the mix along with other common IS ffusion tanks? Also no ICE Tanks at all? Even in the AA and SPGs? Or the Infantry's rides? Huh that's stupidly rare even in the SLDF.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Man a battalion of artillery for a armored regiment. That's stupidly rare in battletech even if they're towed guns.
Also mechanized infantry as in IFVs/APCs or mechanized as in running around in their own jeeps and motorcycles?

Also I take it there's a fair few manticores in the mix along with other common IS ffusion tanks? Also no ICE Tanks at all? Even in the AA and SPGs? Or the Infantry's rides? Huh that's stupidly rare even in the SLDF.

Click to shrink...

There is a reason for that, and why going into the 4th Succession war they are a truly scary merc formation.

 

[Bofors40mm]

There is a reason for that, and why going into the 4th Succession war they are a truly scary merc formation.

Click to shrink...

Lots of custom/very rare variants for the Infantry's rides then if nothing else. Shame they use presumably stock devastators though. The lesser armor isn't really worth the slightly better punch in my POV.
I take it at the very least the logistics unit doesn't have fusion vehicles?

 

[Arimai]

.
I take it at the very least the logistics unit doesn't have fusion vehicles?

Click to shrink...

You mean has yes? Having to truck fuel in just for logistics would be a waste of weight when everything else in the formation doesn't use fuel.

 

[Bofors40mm]

You mean has yes? Having to truck fuel in just for logistics would be a waste of weight when everything else in the formation doesn't use fuel.

Click to shrink...

Well given that even the SLDF didn't do fusion powered trucks for the most part....yeah this unit is ludicrously high end.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lots of custom/very rare variants for the Infantry's rides then if nothing else. Shame they use presumably stock devastators though. The lesser armor isn't really worth the slightly better punch in my POV.
I take it at the very least the logistics unit doesn't have fusion vehicles?

Click to shrink...

No in 3026 we're talking about just combat vehicles since the SLDF still ran gas powered jeeps back in the day and this coming after the end of the Aurigan civilian war.

 

[PeaceMaker03]

One fusion powered support Vic goes back to the 2400's, and still in production in 3060's.
the Burro, produced on Caph a bombed out TH world. No reason to assume the TH did not have larger fusion support Vic's.


https://www.sarna.net/wiki/Burro

 

[NPC]

It's hard to put into words, but this story reminds me of Kotor 2 and the first Dune book, everything feels eerie and the "hero" is not in control. Maybe it's just my unfamiliarity with canon/fanon for the setting and there's answers to all the answered questions that I haven't found.

It's an emotional moment when the common soldiers raise a Cameron Star, you can see this as a moment when future historians say the second Star League was born. It could also be the turning point in the Pirate Wars were violence escalated out of control as everyone was forced to choose a side and those sides rapidly radicalized. Reminds me of Dune where it isn't clear what Paul and the Freman will become.

Also having a large pro-Davion force of mercs wearing Star League colors clearing space on the flank of the Taurians is probably is going to make them nervous. Maybe enough to make some really bad decisions. Makes you wonder if the Taurian Intel people have old records too.