Battletech: The Ghost Who Walks (Battletech Isekai)

[Imperator Pax]

Errr 11 movement point in space is 5.5Gs not 11 since to get 11 Gs a pentagon would need to be basically all engines. Other than that good chapter

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Max acceleration for an M-3. Because AI for space dominance

Well, Gene now has BIG GUNS. And Comstar continues to engage in the stupid.

I still argue that an orbital strike or two on certain Terran locations would solve more problems than anything else. If simply because it removes the damn plotting bastards.

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ComStar we have plot shields except when we don't, because well... Mori was posted on Dieron on so she got to hear stuff, and things and stuff

Honestly if I had to bet I suspect one of the warships in range of Terra is a Cameron since the invisible truths sister had to wear herself out somehow. Maybe a couple of destroyers or something as well. With the Dantes probably out and about trying to mulch that pirate scum given the circumstances in this story.
Also question....did said pirate get the heavy aerospace assets of 1st division when he beat them?

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Yeah, I expect there has to be a capital ship, and escorts at or within a jump of Terra

As for 1st, yes, after a fact because Black Jack took their JumpShips too now the way i have it written was some of that is straight salvage

 

[Imperator Pax]

Post Dieron​

"KF Drive Signatures, Two Large Jump Ships at Nadir."


A second tech watched the console in front of him as the mass blips on the hologram remained indistinct while .

"Northwind Control is reading them as Friendly, we have IFF receipts for Colorado they're confirmed. Tally one additional, resolving... Star Lord, signals going out,"


A few days later Shepherd was climbing up into his Marauder and then coming back down with a computer data core. He held it out by the carry handle.


"What's this then?"

"Its a back up copy of the medical university of Volgadon from Lone Star." He held it out by the handle a little more forcefully.


"Its what?" The field marshal questioned.


Gene frowned, and the explanation itself probably lead to more misunderstandings not less but he didn't have a use for the thing, and given the New Avalon Institute of Science if he went ahead and provided them a copy of the medical school's information when he got back there were likely to be less questions with the rest of the back up from the periphery.


... but if ended up doing some good at New Avalon then that was fine, he had other things to do... especially given the number of Highlander mechs on the deck. So that was what he went and did; taking the highlanders on an exercise.


"Take this Jeffries, get it checked out." She ordered to the Guards officer as the Orion departed the hangar.


She had no reason to doubt it was what it was purported to be, but she already felt the migraine coming on. Her priority had been.. well a new JumpShip and three assault dropships didn't just materialize out of the aether. She had also had questions about the landing of the two large cargo dropships at the port complex uncovered over which the highlanders had been somewhat reticent to speak of... but what had followed the following morning had been the landing of Azami DropShips, before which federal officials had been allowed entry to the port and who were able to supervise, 'supervise' as material was transferred to the larger DropShips in an effort to consolidate...


They had already been briefed on that of course. The plan for the larger DropShips had been a planned reduction in the number of collars used. That had made sense even accepting the size of the exodus fleet massed over Northwind. A portion of Shepherd's Company were currently on leave, either here on Northwind in which case those cadets were really more correctly on light or half duty or off world.


That meant Shepherd would be largely on Northwind, staying on Northwind she hoped until that period of rest finished... but they had yet more questions than they had achieved answers for... then of course there was Lord Aaron to contend with...
--
Gene ordered the recently graduated highland cadets into line. He had swapped to a stock Marauder II for this outing, and Hanzo and Bahar were both running Highlanders. The maneuver course was based on SLDF programs though it had needed to be adopted for the Marauder II machine.


As a result the Orion was somewhat conspicuous, especially since Alexandria wasn't saying anything. She'd been ... well maybe not stand offish since he'd landed. The deciding factor to handing over the data core the medical documents had been the ice box, the medical bay on Lockdale Anchorage.


... the ice cubes were a handful of personnel, and deicing them had been a mixed bag. They knew enough about Kerensky's exodus, and he wasn't surprised that the Iron Wombs had been put into use for Nicholas Kerensky's delusional ambitions... and that from the sound of it Clan Wolverine had planned to implement a similar population growth plan in order to build a stable population some where in the periphery.


The problem though was now what to do with the few dozen time displaced people. McEvedy had planned to run the long way to the Magistracy of Canopus... but if she had succeeded then there was no evidence. There had been apparently splinters in part to evade any potential pursuit. Still it made a certain amount of sense to make of the magistracy in theory just fo being on the opposite side of the sphere.


Gene flipped the command software display to check the gunnery scores, silently glad that Abner was in the Commonwealth. It had been one thing just knowing that some surviving Terran Naval Officer had made contact with the Minnesota tribe and getting the details regarding Kerensky's walking dumpster fire of a society that there were living people from that era ... from the era of the Minnesota tribe appearing in the Inner Sphere.


He was going to feel bad, he already did feel bad, holding it back... but the ice cubes wanted to find their fellow wolverines if possible, and that meant them hitching a ride into the periphery for their own search. That was understandable no one had come to get them after roughly a century and a half... he did want to know what had happened... though mostly because they had been taking warships into the rimward periphery.


Where had they gone?


He trusted them so far as he didn't think they were lying, and he trusted them enough that what they had told them about the Clans in the 29th​ century were accurate, and that he wouldn't as a result tell Abner immediately if they didn't want him to. Abner probably wouldn't like that but at this point ... if there were Wolverine survivors out there well the descendants of he wanted to know what he was dealing with first before Interstellar started swarming them with questions or what not.




The numbers coalesced on his screen.


"They're not there yet." Dante remarked tapped in from one of the Fury tanks.


The AI wasn't wrong, "We'll have time during the ride out to the periphery to handle training aboard the JumpShips."


"I would be remiss in my duties Commander Shepherd but the pirates active are clearly not ordinary pirates. McGirk's access to Royal Equipment is highly anomalous and his destruction of the HPG network will degrade warnings and news beyond the already poor state of the periphery."


"I know." He replied to the AI. They had landed the Eisenhower at the Northwind port with the intention of transferring the mobile AI core to the command deck of the Titan-class DropShip, and that was work was ongoing. He keyed the mike, and channel to the cadets, "Alright go around and pack it in, Bahar tell the armor and the crunchies they're up once we're down." The Marauder II mechs ran off of mostly Marauder parts, with the exception of the control systems.


He ignored Dante's repeated commentary that maintain the Dalban paired systems would have been the better option... the more important thing was that machines were working. As they parked them in the hangars.


"Hey they did pretty good out there." Chang remarked having probably come directly from the Daimyo, given that the Atlas was in the hanger with them, and she was coming into the bay. "We could be faster, but they've only got one fight under their belt, its not like they're title contenders."


"She's right," Beau agreed, "We got to give the kids time, especially with brand new mechs."


"Commander I need a word, in private." Alexandria cut in quickly. Pricate wasn't really private, they were in the Port complex connecting to Castle Northwind, Dante probably dozens of anti personnel drones in the area, never mind ever mic recording. What there weren't was anyone obviously watching. The deployment space in the entry way might have been crawling with AFFS and highland troopers from planetary militia units but the facility itself was so automated that most people gave the machines a wide berth.


Thereby what should have been a waiting area for potential hundreds of hegemony personnel waiting to board a dropship or who had offloaded was empty as a tomb. He therefore had complete access to the digital systems, and the projection equipment that were standard to the facility. "I woke up in a facility not unlike this one," From the logs from Aquagea it seemed that the Hegemony presence in the periphery border , and the staging to watch the Capellan border had been reinforced ... but most likely the units of Hegemony, and Regular SLDF had been ground up and attrited if not in the stages of the war against the Taurians then, then in the delayed offensive against Amaris to liberate the hegemony proper... and by that point Kurita had been leaking SLDF positions to Amaris, "You want to know the principle reason that both the Azami, the Eridani, and the clans of Northwind are willing to consider Kurita the worst sort of traitors and blackguards," He pulled the cord to the chit on his neck and placed it into a slot, "Because there is very little more damning to the sitting coordinator than the recorded proof of his ancestor's betrayal. The ISF ferried documents and material to Amaris, Dieron documents that. The coordinator who inaugarated the succession wars knowingly, and personally passed SLDF positions to Amaris... and Kerensky and his Communications guys had recorded proof of it."


The HPG recording played without him needed to prompt a visual cue.


Dieron by itself was bad, but there was a difference between documentation, and the raw visceral damnation of the recorded proof of conversations between Kurita, and Amaris.


"And the computer core?"


He shrugged, "I have a list of a dozen doctors, of which I'm not, more nurses, and Physician Assistants who would sign on, I have enough people to staff Bexar and the smaller medical facilities, the Azami are retreating," from the Inner Sphere, "into the periphery because they can't fight House Kurita, and they don't want to split the faith into an open civil war, if Rasalhague gets independence thats wonderful, but there is a difference between a fledgling independent state and what the Federated Suns can do with what i'm told is knowledge lost to history."


His conversations with Dante, particularly of the AI's eavesdropping on conversations carried out within the supposed security of Northwind were such that it seemed the best option to play off, and emphasize that the core was not militarily critical, and to use it to continue to keep the Davions off balance, and yet still in their good graces. The university had been a civilian institution but given the losses of the Terran Hegemony's technological and industrial base... the combined rest of the university of Volgadon well that had obvious military and political ramifications... but he didn't have the full database with him, and nor did he intend to suggest that data existed.

 

[Bofors40mm]

I swear the NAIS might set up a shrine to gene at this rate given all the shinnies he keeps bringing to them

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

Oof. Alexandria now knows the big secret. Which means that House Davion will soon know the big secret. Which means things are going to get UGLY.

And it neatly distracts them from asking about the rest of the data, which is likely just as, if not more, valuable. Well played, Gene. Well played.

 

[Awantax]

Why do I feel like the Minnesota Tribes/Wolverine clan exiles and the missing Cameron Twins plots are going to converge into one single deep Periphery solar system.

The same admiral who noted the escape of the Cameron children helped the Wolverine when they came back to the inner Sphere, I bet he traded Hegemony secret/supplies in exchange for the clan's help into looking for a potential Hegemony in exile/hiding.

 

[Silverbullet]

"Commander I need a word, in private." Alexandria cut in quickly. Pricate wasn't really private, they were in the Port complex connecting to Castle Northwind, Dante probably dozens of anti personnel drones in the area, never mind ever mic recording. What there weren't was anyone obviously watching. The deployment space in the entry way might have been crawling with AFFS and highland troopers from planetary militia units but the facility itself was so automated that most people gave the machines a wide berth.


Thereby what should have been a waiting area for potential hundreds of hegemony personnel waiting to board a dropship or who had offloaded was empty as a tomb. He therefore had complete access to the digital systems, and the projection equipment that were standard to the facility. "I woke up in a facility not unlike this one," From the logs from Aquagea it seemed that the Hegemony presence in the periphery border , and the staging to watch the Capellan border had been reinforced ... but most likely the units of Hegemony, and Regular SLDF had been ground up and attritioned if not in the stages of the war against the Taurians then, then in the delayed offensive against Amaris to liberate the hegemony proper... and by that point Kurita had been leaking SLDF positions to Amaris, "You want to know the principle reason that both the Azami, the Eridani, and the clans of Northwind are willing to consider Kurita the worst sort of traitors and blackguards," He pulled the cord to the chit on his neck and placed it into a slot, "Because there is very little more damning to the sitting coordinator than the recorded proof of his ancestor's betrayal. The ISF ferried documents and material to Amaris, Dieron documents that. The coordinator who inaugurated the succession wars knowingly, and personally passed SLDF positions to Amaris... and Kerensky and his Communications guys had recorded proof of it."


The HPG recording played without him needed to prompt a visual cue.


Dieron by itself was bad, but there was a difference between documentation, and the raw visceral damnation of the recorded proof of conversations between Kurita, and Amaris.


"And the computer core?"


He shrugged, "I have a list of a dozen doctors, of which I'm not, more nurses, and Physician Assistants who would sign on, I have enough people to staff Bexar and the smaller medical facilities, the Azami are retreating," from the Inner Sphere, "into the periphery because they can't fight House Kurita, and they don't want to split the faith into an open civil war, if Rasalhague gets independence that's wonderful, but there is a difference between a fledgling independent state and what the Federated Suns can do with what I'm told is knowledge lost to history."


His conversations with Dante, particularly of the AI's eavesdropping on conversations carried out within the supposed security of Northwind were such that it seemed the best option to play off, and emphasize that the core was not militarily critical, and to use it to continue to keep the Davions off balance, and yet still in their good graces. The university had been a civilian institution but given the losses of the Terran Hegemony's technological and industrial base... the combined rest of the university of Volgadon well that had obvious military and political ramifications... but he didn't have the full database with him, and nor did he intend to suggest that data existed.

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Imperator I love ya man and have been following this story since you posted it, but this? This right here was one of the better openings for actual dialogue to occur and it devolves, yet again, into Gene going introspective and you just info dumping us on stuff.

It's nice you're explaining his continued efforts and preparations but Alexandria just saw two people absolutely demonized by the Federated Suns, with good reason, working together. Got proof that would have most hands not already turned against House Kurita turned upon them, and she has the verbal reaction of, "okay, now about that core you just gave us?"

No other reaction shown? No rage? No emotional response to such a revelation that people have been and in some areas still are being killed to silence?

+++
Gene wondered if he should have Dante contact medical staff because the shade of purple Lady Cunningham was turning was concerning. Her nails were also biting into her palms with enough force to draw blood. Gene himself simply watched as the tableau of realization, rage, and then the promise of retribution on the face of a daughter of the Federated Suns. As she saw two of the most reviled men in her Homeland's history collaborate to kill the dream of the Golden Age she had grown up hearing tales of.

After a while he took a first aid kit a spiderlike drone helpfully deposited, and helped her bandage her hands. Alexandria seemed more annoyed by the damage to her manicured nails over her palms. She looked at this relic of a bygone age, a living Officer of the SLDF and the great Dream of a unified Humanity. He looked so tired, his face was as stoic as always but the eyes always showed the signs. The dullness and wrinkles at the edges, signs of weariness and age in an otherwise youthful face. "This man is less a man and more a vengeful spirit risen to find all he fought for rendered to dust and memory", The thought flittered into her mind as he finished his ministrations and she flexed her hands.

She noted the medicated wraps had already stymied the bleeding and there was almost no pain. The medicine of an ancient Empire long dead to treachery and rot while they pulled what embers they could from the wreckage and tombs. She bit her lip and asked about the other revelation he had brought them. Anything to distract from that.

"And the Computer core?"

+++

It's just we get long internal monologues about old Hegemony gear, policies, or practices, but nothing from the people seeing these wonders.

 

[Imperator Pax]

I swear the NAIS might set up a shrine to gene at this rate given all the shinnies he keeps bringing to them

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Banzai: "New autocannon. Well New Old Autocannon, but I digress." he paused as the LBX ran through its test, "Also do we have to let the Church of St Cameron onto the campus, they're weird."

Hanse: "You're only saying that because keep visiting that shrine that your own people sat up."

Imperator I love ya man and have been following this story since you posted it, but this? This right here was one of the better openings for actual dialogue to occur and it devolves, yet again, into Gene going introspective and you just info dumping us on stuff.

It's nice you're explaining his continued efforts and preparations but Alexandria just saw two people absolutely demonized by the Federated Suns, with good reason, working together. Got proof that would have most hands not already turned against House Kurita turned upon them, and she has the verbal reaction of, "okay, now about that core you just gave us?"

No other reaction shown? No rage? No emotional response to such a revelation that people have been and in some areas still are being killed to silence?

+++
Gene wondered if he should have Dante contact medical staff because the shade of purple Lady Cunningham was turning was concerning. Her nails were also biting into her palms with enough force to draw blood. Gene himself simply watched as the tableau of realization, rage, and then the promise of retribution on the face of a daughter of the Federated Suns. As she saw two of the most reviled men in her Homeland's history collaborate to kill the dream of the Golden Age she had grown up hearing tales of.

After a while he took a first aid kit a spiderlike drone helpfully deposited, and helped her bandage her hands. Alexandria seemed more annoyed by the damage to her manicured nails over her palms. She looked at this relic of a bygone age, a living Officer of the SLDF and the great Dream of a unified Humanity. He looked so tired, his face was as stoic as always but the eyes always showed the signs. The dullness and wrinkles at the edges, signs of weariness and age in an otherwise youthful face. "This man is less a man and more a vengeful spirit risen to find all he fought for rendered to dust and memory", The thought flittered into her mind as he finished his ministrations and she flexed her hands.

She noted the medicated wraps had already stymied the bleeding and there was almost no pain. The medicine of an ancient Empire long dead to treachery and rot while they pulled what embers they could from the wreckage and tombs. She bit her lip and asked about the other revelation he had brought them. Anything to distract from that.

"And the Computer core?"

+++

It's just we get long internal monologues about old Hegemony gear, policies, or practices, but nothing from the people seeing these wonders.

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Yes, you are absolutely correct, and I was already planning to put up a short extra segment of Alexandria's reaction before apending to the post but that will probably be tomorrow. I just have a bad habit of of this its a quirk of how I write things.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Banzai: "New autocannon. Well New Old Autocannon, but I digress." he paused as the LBX ran through its test, "Also do we have to let the Church of St Cameron onto the campus, they're weird."

Hanse: "You're only saying that because keep visiting that shrine that your own people sat up."

Yes, you are absolutely correct, and I was already planning to put up a short extra segment of Alexandria's reaction before apending to the post but that will probably be tomorrow. I just have a bad habit of of this it a quirk of how I write things.

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I was thinking the Furys, medical database and the like plus assorted lostech samples

 

[Imperator Pax]

I was thinking the Furys, medical database and the like plus assorted lostech samples

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I know, those too but I was just making a quick one line from each.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Addendum, to be edited in.​

Alexandria sat, stewed. Expecting the lecture, the chastisement for allowing herself to be caught off guard. She'd expected to just ask for the answers and it would all be clinical, clean... just another briefing. Her hands shook as she sat in the chair.


Yvonne Davion, the Prince's Champion was pacing the study, and then stopped, her expression creasing in thought, or perhaps vexation. "Did he give you a copy of it?"


She swallowed, "No, no ma'am he did not." She hadn't thought to ask.


"He shows you an HPG recording, a recording of a live transmission of Minoru Kurita in conference with Stefan Amaris, the reigning coordinator of the Draconis Combine providing Amaris with the positions of SLDF directly, not through an intermediary, and you didn't get a copy?"


In truth she had been a bit taken aback in the moment. It was like being sucker punched at the time, and Shepherd who must have watched the video countless times previous as been stone faced. She should have, she recognized that. The recording was damning to House Kurita there was no refuting that ... it was no wonder that the clans of Northwind were taking the steps they were.


The duchess of Victoria turned fully in her direction, "Where is he now?"


"Somewhere here, in Castle Northwind."


"So he's with the highlanders? The clan elders I presume."


"That is my understanding."


Yvonne Davion forced herself to sit down. Jeffries had been busy.. but the preliminary report was positive, that it was by all indications what it was purported to be. Shepherd had never asked how New Avalon's Institute of Science had been founded he had simply... more or less looked at the college and shrugged... he hadn't asked them how they had managed to establish the institution.


He had no idea about Halstead Station, and of Ian's too early demise, of Hanse's ascent to the throne. Of course the Star League era University which had contributed to, was the foundation of the NAIS. How Hanse, and the force on Mallory's world had been physical moving books and other things into bags, and scraping them up with the hands of BattleMechs.


Not a nice portable computer core. "He comes from era that I doubt anything he does would elicit a second look, on New Avalon a member of the Medical Service," A doctor in the AFFS, "Looked over the Colonel physically he's probably healthier than you or I, but he's also from a different time, there are moments though where General Kerensky is treated as a living person... Now, to the Azami Amaris is the literal incarnation of Satan in human flesh." She snapped, "Hardly the only ones, Amaris is the reason for the schism in the catholic church, and that video footage establishes that Kurita knowing colluded with that monster, and then had the gall the bloody temerity to claim after that it was his natural right to be Star Lord and that House Kurita should succeed House Cameron. I can scarcely imagine what would have happened if the 2nd​ Battalion of the Sword of Light had been on Dieron, can you?"


She paused and shook her head.


"You can't imagine? The coordinator's only son, the heir to the Draconis Combine on Dieron, the living legacy of two centuries and change of murder and mayhem," Her voice cracked as she gripped the arms of the plush lounge chair. Then paused, reaching to the side and unlocking the biometric lock on the case, "Your family joined the Federated Suns after Kerensky departed, many in the SLDF did and among them was a Naval Officer of the Terran Hegemony, he had a database that he left behind. " She pulled up a picture of a pair of HAF officers. "That is Major Shepherd in 2765," There was a resemblance between the two officers. "I would assume following shortly upon his completion of the Gunslinger program, and before he shipped for the periphery..." Shepherd's face was less stern, less glacial the ghost of a smile on the Major as he stood beside the admiral. In a year his whole world would be gone... "Do you know how many DCMS mechwarriors have seen Shepherd in combat, and kept breathing, because I am relatively certain that the answer is not one has exchanged fire with him on the battlefield and made it home in anything other than a bag."

The destructions of first and third battalions of the Sword of Light Regiment stationed on Dieron had varied. They had been hit from all sides, including from strikes from cruise missiles across a map grid area, but also baited into a head long charge against a Star League era Assault Mech that might as well have been wholly unique, been the only one of its type in the whole Galaxy, and so focused on charging it, that they had walked into the enfilading fire of numerous other assault 'Mechs of Star League vintage.

--
Notes: I was working on this Saturday and it wasn't ready. I really like the little snippet Silver bullet did but this will form part one of next sunday's update. I should point, and probably reiterate in Sunday's actual post that this is, that the battle of Dieron was after Soren asked if Gene was 'the walking death'.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well Yvvone understands that this is grade A propaganda material if she's ever seen it. A huge blow to the Kurita's claim to be first lord, will cause Internal stability problems for them and to top it off a legendary gunslinger of old is willing to work for the suns even if as a merc and has kicked copious drac ass while doing so. Oh and now he's off to in the Periphery as he goes and brutally murderizes a bunch of pirate scum attacking what's basically the last institution of the SL and a lot of innocent people.
Even if the medical database and most of the lostech has to be left out of the public domain Gene is literally such a godsend in terms of so many things that if Hanse was a chick or Gene was a marriage might legitimately have been on the table as a viable option .

 

[NPC]

, on New Avalon a member of the Medical Service," A doctor in the AFFS, "Looked over the Colonel... to the Azami Amaris is the literal incarnation of Satan in human flesh."

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I think something is missing here.

 

[Imperator Pax]

I think something is missing here.

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I expanded slightly

Its a reference back to the discussion with how Gene is a lot less subject to the mythologizing of either the Star League, or its final act antagonist and protagonist, Amaris and Kerensky where as in the contemporary era of 3rd succession war due to what all Amaris got up to

 

[Bofors40mm]

so here's the question. How will the Inner Sphere and for that matter the Clans take the proof that back in the day the drac cooperated with Amaris.
If nothing else I predict basically no SLDF descended merc units will want to work for the combine which will hurt.
Also Gene should probably be helping the ELH readd their 4th regiment if he can at all help it via either salvage or a cache. Lord knows he lacks the lift or manpower to take advantage of all the salvage from Dieron if nothing else.

 

[Arimai]

I expanded slightly

Its a reference back to the discussion with how Gene is a lot less subject to the mythologizing of either the Star League, or its final act antagonist and protagonist, Amaris and Kerensky where as in the contemporary era of 3rd succession war due to what all Amaris got up to

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He means the sentences have missing words. They are incomplete and grammatically incorrect.

 

[Imperator Pax]

He means the sentences have missing words. They are incomplete and grammatically incorrect.

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I will clean that up before it goes up with the sunday update hen, which I was going to finish up later this week

 

[Fragment of Serenity]

so here's the question. How will the Inner Sphere and for that matter the Clans take the proof that back in the day the drac cooperated with Amaris.
If nothing else I predict basically no SLDF descended merc units will want to work for the combine which will hurt.
Also Gene should probably be helping the ELH readd their 4th regiment if he can at all help it via either salvage or a cache. Lord knows he lacks the lift or manpower to take advantage of all the salvage from Dieron if nothing else.

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There is a legit question of if it CAN be released in any reliable manner without simply kicking of Succession War: Bonus Round, which no one can really afford at this point. Which won't necessarily stop them, but it would kick off something far, FAR worse.

The Dragoons will report to the Clans. The Clans WILL show up in force. All of them. Every single one, Warden, Crusader, hell the Bandits may throw in for good measure. And their single, unified goal will be murdering every single member of the Combine from the Coordinator down to the youngest babe.

It wouldn't be a fight. It would be genocide on a scale not seen since the fall of the Star League.

 

[Bofors40mm]

a thought. all those pirates comstar backed in the early 3000s and who backfired a lot as related to them including blowing multiple HPG stations could have legitimately been a excuse to start garrisoning HPG stations in at least the periphery.
especially in this AU where they're still running around

 

[Imperator Pax]

a thought. all those pirates comstar backed in the early 3000s and who backfired a lot as related to them including blowing multiple HPG stations could have legitimately been a excuse to start garrisoning HPG stations in at least the periphery.
especially in this AU where they're still running around

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This is true, and legitimately speakingprobably should have begun once it was clear Black Jack was still up and acting a fool in the rimward periphery rather than just starting to come into policy by the first circuit as late as it does here

like I had planned for here an earlier comsguard build up to reflect also that the clans have a lot more reason to look at the inner sphere and going 'what the fuck is going on, what happened'

 

[Bofors40mm]

This is true, and legitimately speakingprobably should have begun once it was clear Black Jack was still up and acting a fool in the rimward periphery rather than just starting to come into policy by the first circuit as late as it does here

like I had planned for here an earlier comsguard build up to reflect also that the clans have a lot more reason to look at the inner sphere and going 'what the fuck is going on, what happened'

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It also provides a good reason for say the ELH or another SLDF decended unit or two being contracted as trainers for the comguards given that as shown by the failure of 1st division they really need better training and ideally a OPFOR. And yes this is semi a idea from Bruce Quest but it's a good one in any event

 

[Imperator Pax]

It also provides a good reason for say the ELH or another SLDF decended unit or two being contracted as trainers for the comguards given that as shown by the failure of 1st division they really need better training and ideally a OPFOR. And yes this is semi a idea from Bruce Quest but it's a good one in any event

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IIRC the 15 Drakon would ordinarly be signing up with House Kurita soon and they have a reputation for being an effective SLDF unit

 

[Bofors40mm]

IIRC the 15 Drakon would ordinarly be signing up with House Kurita soon and they have a reputation for being an effective SLDF unit

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One less unit for the dracs sounds like a good thing to me.
And they should be able to whip the comguards into better shape

 

[Imperator Pax]

Post Dieron​

Alexandria sat in the chair, and stewed. Expecting the lecture, the chastisement for allowing herself to be caught off guard. She'd expected to just ask for the answers and it would all be clinical, clean... just another briefing. Her hands shook as she sat in the chair within the governor's office of Castle Northwind.


Yvonne Davion, the Prince's Champion was pacing the study, and then stopped, her expression creasing in thought, or perhaps vexation. "Did he give you a copy of it?"


She swallowed, it was the recording, and "No, no ma'am he did not." she hadn't thought to ask in the moment for a copy.


"He shows you an HPG recording, a recording of a live transmission of Minoru Kurita in conference with Stefan Amaris, the reigning coordinator of the Draconis Combine during the crisis and is providing Amaris with the positions of SLDF directly, not through an intermediary, and you didn't get a copy?"


In truth she had been a bit taken aback in the moment. It was like being sucker punched at the time, and Shepherd who must have watched the video countless times previous had been stone faced in regards to it all. She should have asked for a copy, she recognized that. The recording was damning to House Kurita there was no refuting that ... it was no wonder that the clans of Northwind were taking the steps they were.


The duchess of Victoria turned fully in her direction, "Where is he now?"


"Somewhere here, in Castle Northwind."


"So he's with the highlanders? The clan elders I presume."


"That is my understanding."


Yvonne Davion forced herself to sit down finally. Jeffries had been busy.. but the preliminary report was positive, that it was by all indications what it was purported to be. Shepherd had never asked how New Avalon's Institute of Science had been founded he had simply... more or less looked at the college and shrugged... he hadn't asked them how they had managed to establish the institution.


He had no idea about Halstead Station, and of Ian's too early demise, of Hanse's ascent to the throne. Of course the Star League era University which had contributed to, was the foundation of the NAIS. How Hanse, and the force on Mallory's world had been physical moving books and other things into bags, and scraping them up with the hands of BattleMechs.


Real books, not a nice portable computer core. "He comes from era that I doubt anything he does would elicit a second look, on New Avalon a member of the Medical Service," A doctor in the AFFS, "Looked over the Colonel physically he's probably healthier than you or I, but he's also from a different time, among other things there are moments though where General Kerensky is treated as a living person..." She shook her head, "now, to be blunt for the Azami Amaris is the literal incarnation of Satan in human flesh." She snapped and then paused in her lecturing, the Azami were "Hardly the only ones, Amaris is the reason for the schism in the catholic church, and that video footage establishes that Kurita knowing colluded with that monster, and then had the gall the bloody temerity to claim after that it was his natural right to be Star Lord and that House Kurita should succeed House Cameron. I can scarcely imagine what would have happened if the 2nd​ Battalion of the Sword of Light had been on Dieron, can you?"


She paused and shook her head... this was all going to be a nightmare to make sense of, never mind explaining it to the First Prince.


"You can't imagine? The coordinator's only son, the heir to the Draconis Combine on Dieron, the living legacy of some two centuries of murder and mayhem perpetuated by the Combine," Her voice cracked as she gripped the arms of the plush lounge chair. Then paused, reaching to the side and unlocking the biometric lock on the case, "Your family joined the Federated Suns after Kerensky departed, many in the SLDF did and among them was a Naval Officer of the Terran Hegemony. He had a database that he left behind, left to us. " She pulled up a picture of a pair of HAF officers. "That is Major Shepherd in 2765," There was a resemblance between the two officers. "I would assume following shortly upon his completion of the Gunslinger program, and before he shipped for the periphery..." Shepherd's face was less stern, less glacial with just the ghost of a smile on the Major's face as he stood beside the admiral. In a year his whole world would be gone... "Do you know how many DCMS mechwarriors have seen Shepherd in combat, and kept breathing, because I am relatively certain that the answer is not one has exchanged fire with him on the battlefield and made it home in anything other than a bag."

The destruction of first and third battalions of the Sword of Light Regiment stationed on Dieron had varied. They had been hit from all sides, including from strikes from cruise missiles across a map grid area, but also baited into a head long charge against a Star League era Assault Mech that might as well have been wholly unique, been the only one of its type in the whole Galaxy, and so focused on charging it, that they had walked into the enfilading fire of numerous other assault 'Mechs of Star League vintage.

--
The holographic display showed Northwind's capital asleep, it pushing one in the morning, positive returns from a pair of high flying Rapier ASF keeping watch. They were alert, and if something went wrong, the drones they had brought from the anchorage were slotted into launch bays to give anyone looking to start something an unpleasant surprise.

He felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, and ticked the pen against the corner of the paper making sure it would write. The Marauder II exercises were going good, but he wasn't really surprised that the real questions coming out of the Davion break down of Dieron as a battle had been centered on his other hundred tonner.

Gene checked over the Devastator's read outs. He was beginning, he had suspected, to guess from the lack of electronics ... well he could guess why the Nightstar had eclipsed this as the preferred design at least Commanding Officers as a replacement for the 75 ton Marauder. Dante agreed with his assessment. The Devastator was excellent for a Gunslinger but maybe not for a Company commander or his second, and certainly not for higher command.


That wasn't to say either machine didn't have respective strengths and weaknesses. He tapped the screen on the device to one side and looked at the data, "The Phoenix Hawk uses the same engine as the Highlander."


The kilted man paused, from his own glass of scotch "Pardon."


"The General Motors 270, there isn't anything in the Highlander, well the Cellular ammunition storage," and the railguns, "but my understanding is that Gauss rifles should be hopefully able to be brought back into production... hopefully in a few years." He leaned back and swirled the scotch, "Dante is right, I understand that production of the King Crab is a lot to ask, but sustaining any kind of position requires spare parts, what's buried here isn't going to last forever," And it only took one asshole deciding to open a can of sunshine to make everything a mess... more of a mess. "Dieron either, but it needs to be held, but that isn't the only thing."


He heard Campbell's boot hit the bar underneath the table, "What do you need then?"


"Besides..." The economic organization that, the capital accumulation to support privately funded reinvestment into industry, which he recognized as necessary, but could hardly say it was his area, and it didn't seem to be anyone's area... he didn't say any of that, but he was thinking it, "I need Northwind's government to invite and start the process of vetting all of the surviving SLDF commands operating with Davion space, and under the AFFS banner. At some point sooner rather than later publication of if not the recording than the archive at Dieron will go out to the Lyrans and at that point there will be no hiding it in the long run."


"Why would we not tell them now of House Kurita's treachery?"


Dante chuffed over the microphone, giving presence to the AI that was always there, "Being that we need time to organize, Captain. We need time to prepare, piece meal attacks will distract the Combine, we must make good on the resources we have and we must also know who can be trusted."


The highlander pilot nodded, eyeing his own glass of scotch for a moment, and then pointed out what was obvious, "You said that Kerston was told on Dieron, well that he told what was in the archives there, should we be assuming he has told the whole Light Horse about what happened?"


It was a safe enough bet, "We know the Blue Stars do know," Gene replied putting the glass down, again "What will come of them knowing we don't know. Whatever does happen there needs to be some way to coordinate."


"There is the other issue."


"Kerensky left the Inner Sphere with Hegemony automated factories including the equipment to build warships, there is no reason he will have lost warships, and given what we know they certainly were able to maintain their warships in the 29th​ century. If Kerensky's exodus learns of House Kurita's actions I can reasonably intuit how they'll respond," He held up a hand, "I doubt General Keresnky published the data,"


The highlander paused, "The black watch had ones who left with him," He was dancing around the subject, "We can't avoid, can't go on not talking to the dragoons forever, if we had known when they had arrived who they were we'd have asked then what became of them, but if we are certain," Campbell continued, "We must tell them they cannot side with the Combine, if they do not listen then to hell them, but they should be told."


"My concern is that Kerensky's people will respond by deploying warships, and that the response to that will be nuclear weapons. That is the impediment to telling them." That it would result in the genocide of countless worlds.


"All of the great houses have nuclear weapons, we cannot allow the threat of them to allow them to get away with their crimes."


A part of Gene lamented agreeing to the Wolverines... understandable wish to contain what their records were, "They're not going anywhere, if they follow their habits thus far, they'll stick with Marik, move on to the Lyrans next... I expect to be back from the periphery by that point. I will be coming back to meet with Abner and coordinate resources for an exploration in the Rimward... but as a compromise if the Dragoons look like they're going to break protocol and sign with House Kurita for some reason, give them the data chip before they can cross into Combine space."


... but if that did happen... well what he expected was really, and what Dante agreed was that most likely the Wolfs would go on a suicidal death ride against the Combine Capital.... which Dante didn't think was the worst possible solution.... which was of course Jaime Wolf went screaming back to the clans and prompted a murderous holy war and let the genie out of the bottle.


--
Notes: This was a long time coming as Gene has less resources to magik industry up using spell points, in the next section we do skip forward in time to the Lyran commonwealth, unfortunately one of my preferred interactive maps is not working correctly for some reason, but yeah Lyrans next chapter and the beginning of the reaction to stuff and things. If there are any issues, here point them out, because we are setting up for stuff in the long term is going to have effects on the inner sphere at large.

 

[Arimai]

destructions of first and third battalions

Click to shrink...

Destruction is both singular and plural.

they should be old.

Click to shrink...

Told

 

[Imperator Pax]

Post Dieron​

They had jumped from Dieron directly over the Commonwealth border to New Earth, and avoided the Capellan border while heading to New Kyoto. It was the first time back in the commonwealth in years. The news was a surreal change from the Federated Suns coverage, instead of talking about the snakes getting their asses handed to them the Lyran media was talking about the Dragoons jumping over the border for House Marik.


Septim couldn't help but grumble about it. It was probably nothing more than a case of the marketing people wanting a focus on stories that would hold the attention of the broadest lyran audience. Surely there had to be some specialist news media covering the snakes getting their teeth kicked in.


Not that he had a lot of time to grumble about it. He knew when to shut up when they'd been only partly through the plate of arme ritter, the pan fried apple cakes which were a staple of the hotel, when their other party arrived. They were, all of them, in dark blue jackets and great coats, and riding trousers. It would have been ridiculous to wear anywhere other than on parade... and if Septim wasn't wrong, everyone of these high born bastards probably had an Assault Mech to their name that barely saw outside the stable.


The chests full of medals were for station keeping, very few of them had wound badges to match their times in service to the Commonwealth... but they did have seniority. Abner smiled waddling slightly away from his brandy to hug one of them, "Bertie you look so well," He hugged a forty something year old graf, grabbing his sleeves, "You have grown a mustache, your mother, my sister should be so proud to see her little Bertie grown up, yes. Here come sit, eat, my sister would never allow me to hear the end of it, if you didn't eat."


The count tried to protest but Abner was having none of it and physically forced the younger man to face the table and the plate of pancakes, and then gestured to the rest of the men. Finally one of them spoke up, he must have been the leader because despite being in maybe fifties he had the most egregious number of medals. "So what exactly did you find?"


Abner leaned on his walking stick and sat back down. "That General, is complicated, but so far as Urd needs to be concerned, is that we have evidence not simply of the Combine treachery, of which I will address in a moment, is that SAFE was able to subvert LIC activities, and instigate a certain series of battles. We have in our holds copies of the ISF archive from Dieron."


"We had been informed that Dieron had fallen, House Davion simply allowed you unrestricted access?" The 'general' sounded skeptical


"Its a very long story herr General." The professor reached inside his breast pocket and placed an ancient terran hegemony device on the table that sprang up into a blue tinged hologram, but it came with a sound quality that was haunting in its clarity... as Kurita passed information to Amaris, "As I said, Rupert, its a very long story. Bertie is your friend there quite alright, he appears a bit green."


The lieutenant colonel next to the count looked more than a little green to Septim, but he kept his mouth shut. He was wondering where his father was, this had been their agreed upon meeting place, given the need to be available to ship back in time to meet up with the others.


Abner had already turned away. "You are you are aware of Dieron's fall. I assure you its quite worse for the Combine than whatever you may have been told." He pressed a button on his stick and started a Battle Rom footage, ignoring the protests that they had of course seen the reports that the MRB had made available, which Septim knew pretty was a pretty reduced account of the whole fight... no body looking to hire a merc unit with their time wanted to watch hours, days of slog and maneuver never mind all the prep work.


Anyone who watched the MRB highlights would get to see the highlight real of one giant war machine shooting another one, but how long could those clips from Dieron be? Three minute clips if that? The Review people probably clipped up various pilots from the Company and maybe some view of the tankers in action maybe. It just wouldn't be all of it.


But completely obfuscated by the sheer mass of... all the things, was that no one touched on where Gene was from. All eyes were on the Thugs, Highlanders, the fancy star league assault mechs. LosTech cache, being a major find, and to a lesser extent to the new Davion Assault 'Mech, and on that front that House Davion would probably be opening up the Marauder II to the market.


... and if Abner wasn't going to tell them the boss wasn't 'a knight from the Earth that was', or whatever a holo drama would have called him... Septim resolved it wasn't going to come from his mouth.


"One must understand," Abner was pacing around the table, now, as if the private gilded marble dining hall of the hotel was a college lecture he was getting, "Our Lyran Commonwealth enjoys a standard of living that is appreciably higher than the other nations. It can be said on that account we have fallen the least from the era of golden light that was the Star League. Our ancestors were men of logic, and reason, of science."
--
Septim had left the Guards with nothing to show for his stint. He at least had a mech to his name, but that was really what let him get by in the Periphery. Elidere had been all emotion... and the knock to the head also had twisted his perception of it.


... and the destruction of the Sun Zhang cadre still counted for something as well, even if it was in the shadow of eating most of a regiment from the infamous sword of light.


So sitting down and spending a couple of days 'relaxing', it had been anything but, rewatching the sum of the footage made him antsy. The combine had lost a regiment in the battle at Elidere... and then basically two mech regiments on Dieron. Call it four percent of their 'mech force in a year not counting any other losses sustained ... which explained why the LIC was involved.


He wasn't stupid, the statement that the Combine would have to pull forces from the Lyran frontier went without saying. Never mind... if everyone talking about the revolts ended up being right and the Azami and Rasalhague did rebel, what would that do the DCMS. The Commonwealth could only gain if the Combine atomized ... well not in that way, but if its political foundation broke down and it had to fight an internal conflict.


"So what happens now Doctor?"


"Oh, not much. House Davion wants the goodwill of the Archon and the Commonwealth, the two nations have been talking to each other for years." He replied. "I am sure that given time there will be more questions but sharing the ISF archive from Dieron even if its old and hypothetically no longer relevant data is a boon."


"But it is relevant. There ... was the Reimei thing, and the Coordinator dying," And who knew what else was in there. "And what about the Minnesota tribe?"


"Well on the latter, the combine knows painfully little about the tribe, other than they were afraid it was Kerensky's exodus returning to the sphere." Abner replied, "But we know that's not an accurate description, or at least not wholly accurate... but it was true to say that the Combine had no leads. The ISF had just been afraid that Kerensky's people were just going to come back and then the game would be up for them, yes?"


... and the thought struck him, "What about the Dragoons?"


Abner tapped his chin, "I suspect the Combine's fears of Kerensky may well have diminished, and possibly to their detriment, look at what the Dragoons arrived with, and their ability to restore themselves to strength. Ten months after the Davion's New Aragon the Dragoons returned fully refit ... and indeed I think now looking at it they refit themselves to 'blend in' better. They've done it since, and given what is ongoing now I suspect they'll do it again soon."


It stopped him a bit cold... certainly the prospect of the Dragoons... five whole regiments of battlemechs was one thing... but that gave way to the bigger problem. The Media in the Commonwealth wasn't talking about it yet, if the Commonwealth was going to be told about all the Combine's dirty laundry then everyone would know soon enough.


"Is something the matter?"


He'd had a dream of wolves running, inconclusive for sure, but that they were running in the wilderness ... only to end up fighting ... sharks? "No, its nothing Doctor." Septim replied.
--
Notes: Obviously among other things this continues to set up for an earlier Rasalhague, which is something that I've hinted at, and indeed deals with moving forward in the timeline.

Combine losses for the past year are pretty well unsustainable, and this should be a reminder of it, though I am considering doing a Mori's message reaches the coordinator + Takashi's other reactions, but like combine propaganda portrays or will portray Gene in fairly supernatural terms complete with bleeding copy of the dictum honorium for added effect. Bakemono, Monster doesn't cut it by the time it sets in what has happened over the last year.

(and that doesn't even touch, the eridani wanting to scream that every formation that claims descent from the SLDF blacklist House Kurita or take up arms against the Combine)

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well I hope they pulled the amaris data bit from the archives before they gave it to anyone else to avoid potentially causing too many problems that are at best unpredictable.
Also why in God's name did Gene tell the ELH before 3019?

Oh and I really wonder who dropped the ball and didn't blow the charges on the ISD Dieron archives.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Well I hope they pulled the amaris data bit from the archives before they gave it to anyone else to avoid potentially causing too many problems that are at best unpredictable.
Also why in God's name did Gene tell the ELH before 3019?

Oh and I really wonder who dropped the ball and didn't blow the charges on the ISD Dieron archives.

Click to shrink...

On the ELH, honestly because when it first happened on Northwind things were tense enough, and Campbell would have almost certainly told Kerston and legitimately Gene wasn't considering oh Kerston is apoplectic because the ELH's shtick in this period is carrying on as if they're the SLDF in exile.

As for Dieron, the ISF thought they had time and were trying to prepare to fight Stalingrad / last ditch resistance being unprepared for the sudden appearance of scotts cuirassiers armor and infantry in their headquarters in the city

and to be honest I had intended to write the ISF going to their battlemechs instead of setting stuff on fire first.

 

[Bofors40mm]

On a unrelated note I wonder how tempted the Northwind Highlanders are at the present date to return to Northwind due to all new shiny basically brand new Highlanders the planetary PDF/Milita has

 

[Imperator Pax]

On a unrelated note I wonder how tempted the Northwind Highlanders are at the present date to return to Northwind due to all new shiny basically brand new Highlanders the planetary PDF/Milita has

Click to shrink...

At present, the Highlanders should have probably only learned of Elidere IV (particularly 1/19Gal's destruction by combined arms) relatively recently Dieron, and the units involved shouldn't be militarily common gossip until the summer months

but if the question is are the Northwind mercenary units being told, they will be its just they're spread out, i think the nearest of the NH regiments are the Fusiliers assuming they're somewhere in the vicinity of Elgin.

 

[kioras]

It might leak out to the Capcom once they are told and thus they may attempt to launch an attack to retake the planet and to also get the shinies.

It would likely backfire.