One Rabid Fox changes the Succession Wars [A Battletech Isekai]

[Bofors40mm]

Worst case scenario if getting Mitchell Vehicles to sell a license for the Shogun proves impossible there's always plan Stalker since that thing is basically in the public domain and people will always buy the things even if in my opinion it needs a tad more armor via the swapping the 2 LRM 10s for 4 LRM 5s trick

 

[SChase]

Yeah, there is no way dragoons will not have questions for totally not Elemental (and as far as NA 4.4 show they will recognize mods). No, it is all totally nature's work, not clans' genemods.
As far as Sarna know there were freeborn Elementals, but it would be still mighty suspicious, maybe even raise questions about Wolverine clan again.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Yeah, there is no way dragoons will not have questions for totally not Elemental (and as far as NA 4.4 show they will recognize mods). No, it is all totally nature's work, not clans' genemods.
As far as Sarna know there were freeborn Elementals, but it would be still mighty suspicious, maybe even raise questions about Wolverine clan again.

Click to shrink...

Wolverine predates elemental suits iirc the bigger issue would be clan hell horse talking about amaris

 

[SChase]

Wolverine predates elemental suits iirc the bigger issue would be clan hell horse talking about amaris

Click to shrink...

Well, not sure if it is Sarna's error or just another inconsistence of BT universe, but there is Josef Mannix who listed as "notable elemental" in Elemental's page. Sure Elementals' creation dated a way later than Wolverine's exodus, but who knows how long it was in development?
So there is a numerous opportunities for paranoia (say Wolverines developed Elementals after their escape) and spy games. Like... "Are we sure they are Hell Horses?", "How do they know about [insert any info]?", "What else do they know?".

 

[opne]

Blackwell already manufactured already manufactured parts

Click to shrink...

FYI you repeated "already manufactured" twice in a row.

Thank you for the chapter

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sakhara
The company of cadets had milled about. Most had gotten so used to the JumpShip circuit by the end of last year that the novelty of arriving DropShips to load products from the factories had since worn off. There were exceptions but that predominated with younger students and largely as new 'mech designs appeared on tarmacs.

That was all too frequently a blink and you missed it affair anyway. The older cadets simply didn't have the time normally to waste on these things ordinarily. Alexandria certainly didn't given her responsibilities with the student government, and Justin only occasionally could but largely by happenstance of testing the cataphract. It had been about the latter that he wanted to talk, but there had yet to be an adequate commitment from Kallon just yet.

Henry was irritable about communication prospects with Mitchell, but he wasn't going to let it show to the arriving Blackwell people. Robinson had already relayed that it was unlikely the two Dragoon presence were 'true born', which was a relief. He was still leery of advertising his small contingent of Elementals even if they weren't in their armor.

They wouldn't' recognize his Rabid Fox as a clan mech unless they couldget under the hood, and even then they probably wouldn't conclusively be able to say the 70 tonner was such... he doubted they would have enough time for that... since Henry didn't intend to allow them access to his personal mech anyway.

"We should see Hanse at some point," Henry remarked, stowing his annoyance. The NAIS and its establishment required royal patronage, required a commitment that Ian just didn't have the time for, not with everything else going on but it was the perfect use of his brother, as heir, who already needed to be close at hand to spend time on. There was going to be wide scale time spent testing and evaluating mechs, "And besides the Eridani," And the potential of the Dragoons arriving in numbers greater than the two Warriors... and the more of those who arrived the harder it was going to be to conceal his limited numbers though they were Hells Horse. Hanse Davion wasn't here... but he could see trying to push more machines to New Avalon, to New Avalon's Pratt & Whitney facilities to make Blackwell and the Dragoons more present there...but as it was the two Dragoon warriors were already looking at his Battle Company contingent here in their SLDF uniforms, which wouldhave been undistinguishable from many of the mercenaries and other units who still wore such khaki battle dress. "So?"

"The Dragoons have a fearsome reputation," Alexandria remarked, "I remember when they arrived in the Inner Sphere. "The Dragoons had arrived in 3005, and had departed Davion service several years before the Battle of Mallory's World. There had been no overlap between his entry with the Federated Suns, and those of the Dragoons time with the Federated Suns, and thus this was the first time he was being formally introduced, "They caused a stir with so many pristine battlemechs, they say they got lucky finding an old SLDF depot."

He snorted, "Hardly." He replied,

The countess of Kestrel nodded. "I've seen how they've re supplied. Disappearing into the periphery and returning to fullstrength." A ten month disappearance and then all of a sudden back to full strength and ready to move on to their next contract with anotehr great house.

Ian had hoped that the Dragoons would renew their contract, "More machines out storage, but they weren't lucky." Yvonne Davion had made clear her biggest problem with the Dragoons claims was how good the Dragoons techs, and support staff were at maintaining their various machines. It was true that the Dragoons wanted to buy local parts, wanted companies to manufacture for them spare parts, but the Dragoons had entered the Inner Sphere awash with spares, and with techs who knew their work. Men who were educated and experienced in away that by and large didn't exist in human space on average. Certainly having them just appear on the scene had done more than just alarm House Cunningham... and other people focused in on how strange the Dragoons were, there were yet other eccentricities to the Dragoons.

The dragoons though had been in the Inner Sphere more than a decade now. Now in their third contract for a great house in the service of House Marik and the Free Worlds League. That at least meant that the Dragoons were unlikely to attack the Federated Suns... "Keeping them out of Combine service is what I'm really focused on." At least with the dragoons themselves, right now Henry was a bit unsecure as to how far he should push, but that was in part the legal stumbling block of such ... and the need to avoid tipping his hand too far to the Dragoons... from his own experience with his own Hells Horse never mind the reaction of the Davion personnel he could expect the Dragoons to stay away from the combine... but the question was them telling Clan Wolf, or worse the rest of the clan council about the last days of the Star League.

"And there is a reason you're not telling them?" Alexandria divined in what was more a rhetorical question than anything even as his body language shifted uneasily. "Its not the dragoons themselves."

"Kerensky seems more than a bit rash." He allowed, "But no, its complicated by people and ideas... and," And that people would misunderstand, or had malformed ideas about things, " That made things sound so clear cut, but they weren't. "Robinson belongs a blood house, just as Kerensky does, the core ranks among their warriors, but they belong to different clans... and from what I understand there are pirates in the Rimward periphery running around with the colors and machines of the Amaris Fusiliers... there might even be another Amaris pretender running around." It was hard to get news from the periphery news took forever to make it one way never mind two way communications, "Whatever idealism you have about the Star League, I'd recommend you put it aside," He whispered, "I'm going to go talk to Blackwell to see how much we can expand machine production." The third succession war was basically over he figured. He expected that historians would speak of the expected explosion, no pun intended, in conflict that that would be the 4th​ war.

Justin, largely well not oblivious to the grand strategy of the galaxy at war, but still more focused on the here and now, "I'm going to get the Cataphract powered up." It was after all part of why Blackwell was here.

Alexandria watched him go. "We're trying to make common cause with House Steiner."

"Yeah, Ian has been talking with them for a while, and I hope it works." He stopped as the Vice Chancellor appeared and made his way through the throng of cadets. "Coleridge."

"Clay, the Dragoons people?" He nodded at the two warriors, "Good, good. We need to make a good impression they're mercenaries, how do you think we should go about that?"

Not, Clay wanted to reply by putting them up against his assault cluster that was for sure. Clay was pretty sure there would be no getting around that, but he needed the dragoon's consent for Blackwell to do its work without issue... and Ian wanted them back with the AFFS fighting the Combine this time instead of the Capellans. "I think they'll be interested in testing the graduating class," Justin was already out of earshot, but Don Juan was eager to prove his own mettle, and volunteered before anyone else could speak up, and that suited Henry just fine.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

Oh wow, the way Henry laid out everything in his head puts into perspective how weird the is particular timeline is.
With the Essence Henry and his forces are basically an AU/OC Star League exile state, from beyond the Outworlds Alliance. There's the Dragoons and Clans as expected, but also Blackjack's pirates running around in a mix of SLDF and Hidden Army equipment from the Amaris War, with Rimworlder colors and symbols. And he has to worry about an Amaris Successor/Pretender out in the black that's ALSO been in hiding like the Clans and may be as advanced.

 

[AHHGKS]

Supposedly there is or will be a Stefan Amaris VII according to Sarna. He was supposedly born on Earth/Terra and will join ComStar. Then will eventually head to the Periphery in 3050s to set up his little hidey hole to raid IS worlds.

TftC!

 

[Bofors40mm]

Honestly that probably well could have been some weird part comstar fucking around with a sample of amaris DNA for some weird reason

 

[drakensis]

It's... technically canon. Unfortunately.

I mean. Star Lord isn't the worst battletech novel. But it's pretty close to the bottom. Certainly below Far Country.

 

[Imperator Pax]

I like the idea the canonical execution is a little weak but it's popular enough to show up as a drawback in a cyoa that I can't find anymore

 

[Bofors40mm]

I like the idea the canonical execution is a little weak but it's popular enough to show up as a drawback in a cyoa that I can't find anymore

Click to shrink...

The classic Fitzgerald CYOA. I think it's threadmarked with the other BT CYOAs on the main QQ BT thread and if its not working/not there have the screenshots around that I can PM You if so desired

 

[Imperator Pax]

Dragoons 1.1
Since the warriors, of Clan Wolf, hadn't brought a full lance with them ... well Henry wasn't surprised this took the form of individual combat, simulated of course. "What are we looking at?" Henry asked peering over the display. He really would have expected Marauder II assault battlemechs but was disappointed... though that was probably to the cadet's benefit.

"Two Medium mechs, sir. Two 55 Tonners. Hoplite and Wolverine."

The Wolverine was a 6R nothing special there. The Hoplite had been lost to the Inner Sphere, and its presence was probably nothing. Maybe he'd misunderstood, or overestimated the dislike of anything Wolverine. Not that Henry particularly cared, he might have to ask his own Clan Hells Horse personnel, but that would be waiting until after the Dragoons left. Henry made a mental note as he looked at the rotating holographic profiles to ask about the Hoplite as well.

No los tech.

Not that he'd been really expecting any. "Alright carry on." This would be a simulated fight. Don Juan destined for the seventh crucis lancers was chomping at the bit at least as much as Justin was, and to be fair the two Dragoons seemed eager for the match as well. Sakhara had after all been founded and had trained SLDF officers in the distant era.

Henry moved away from his two men in their khakis and stepped towards Alexandria. "They're going to do something rash."

"Most likely yes," He replied. "But its two on two. I like the 4 Bravo, but its a ranged platform through and through, built for fighting at range. It would make sense to get up close. "He replied... not voicing his suspicion that the 4B might well have been outfitted by the clans to reflect their ideas of how gentlemanly warfare between warriors should be conducted. If he were being honest the Combine would probably liked it quite well for their own duels, and the culture that had developed around those niceties.

"The machine was extinct until the dragoons returned."

He nodded, "Yes that's right, I don't see much wrong with it," A clan model would be absurdly dangerous with their missiles... but the 4B was just an introtech machine he'd seen the readouts, and certainly the simmunitions were configured to act in accordance with the accepted ranges. "Let the boys have their fun Lex. If they acquit themselves well, all the better." If they didn't, they'd be a lesson for the other cadets, and hopefully a lesson to the boys.

"Something is bothering you about the Dragoon's visit." It wasn't a question.

He shook his head, "Just something Coleridge said, don't think they'll be satisfied if they can beat the boys up. Don't particularly want them starting trouble with my men either."

"Some kind of clan scuffle?"

"I don't know how well Wolf and Horse are getting on," He replied, "But I suspect that its just a rivalry but its a distraction I don't think anyone needs." More so than she realized. Nothing he had said was actually wrong, but he glanced over the deep red sands of the desert field. If he kept his assault cluster out of sight people were going to mention it because that was unusual. The RAC presence with their heavy armor had become ubiquitous the cadets thought they were a bit queer in custom but they were used to the presence of the tankers.

Really that there were only two was enough that he wasn't especially worried about the combine showing up. He'd rely on his men regardless of their origins... and then he'd deal with the consequences if it came to that... even if that meant Jaime Wolf showing up at his damned doorstep afterwards... he just wanted more time, though he wasn't quite sure if more time would give him any better ideas.

There was a click of an ornate golden pocket watch, a ridiculous absurd piece of art, "Well, I'd say we should begin."

The vice chancellor nodded to the old instructor who was holding the watch. Coleridge had been the most outspoken in support of things like this, demonstrations to attempt to show the quality of cadets and their abilities but he wouldn't have done that without support. Not that he had to do much in the way of finagling to manage this, the Vice Chancellor had all the pull he needed just from his post, but likely with everything that had happened since Henry had come onboard and with all the effort put into the school Coleridge and his supporters of alumni statesmen and the truth was he expected those communications were made much easier by the jumpship circuit which carried news readily from New Avalon... but also those men wanted the cadets to show their worth to the Dragoons.

Henry watched the officiator of the exercise move to a lectern with microphones galore and that transmitted to both the four machines waiting, and boomed throughout the dug out observation space from which the class were gathered. Henry tuned out the formalities, they were irrelevant to him and he had more important things to concern himself with.

The Wolverine was a superlative medium mech, perhaps not perfect but a reliable and well rounded machine, "its the inverse of the Trebuchet Centurion pairing." Alexandria observed. She was referencing in contrast to the trebuchet the missile boat involved on the Dragoon side, the 4B Hoplite carried an LRM 15 but mounted a smaller 220 series DAV Fusion Engine. It was slower than its escort... though on the other hand it also mounted a Magna Hellstar PPC. The Wolverine carried a heavier 275, the ubiquitous across the inner sphere core tek model rugged and reliable and capable of pushing the 55 tonner farther and faster than the other mechs on the field.

That mobility wouldn't necessarily do it much good, "I don't think that's part of the plan, the Wolverine could split off from the Hoplite," It could, it had that ability, but for what good ...not much that Henry could see in the comparatively limited space of the pretend battlefield. Close enough that Henry wouldn't have been surprised if Diaz and Allard both had agreed to move aggressively into close quarters space.

Mitchell reached him as the dust began to kick up. No indication of Zellbringen then as the Wolverine jumped, and the Hoplite slathered a volley of paint laden simmunition missiles towards the cadets starting point as the two mechs began to move apart. The experimental centurion pilot nodded, "Shouldn't expect a long fight, not enough room, and too many machines involved." And not the right personalities for there to be a stalk around.

"No longer than the matches on New Avalon," He agreed to his his test pilot. As he had attempted to repeatedly beat into their skulls, an official called a simulated PPC hit from the Hellstar the hoplite carried. In real battle, where both 'teams' had had to advance to contact with the enemy the Hoplite only about four hundred meters distant would have been shooting long before this, though it had connected solidly on Justin, the Cataphract's large laser was still in range to return fire. In a protracted firefight, which the three of them, including Alexandria, were in agreement this was unlikely to be the seventy tonner would run hot if Justin wasn't careful... but no Zellbringen Don Juan had thrown his own machine forward and was rushing the faster Wolverine.
--

Notes: For Reference I use this I hope this link doesn't frag: https://www.wolfsdragoons.com/downl...iles - some good stuff/4SW_Wolfs_Dragoons.pdf.

 

[Bofors40mm]

ah the hopplite a mech that due to needing a bigger gyro than a 50 ton mech costs a lot more but is just barely too small to pass the AC-20 armor test. and in the primary variant way way oversinked for some weird reason.
That being said its very much a mech i'd rather have than not have a mech but it's not on the list of mechs I'd go through the expense of building a line from scratch for.

 

[SChase]

Wait... From when Alexandria knows about him having clan personell and why she (and many other people) didn't have questions about how he got them?

 

[Imperator Pax]

Wait... From when Alexandria knows about him having clan personell and why she (and many other people) didn't have questions about how he got them?

Click to shrink...

Because Inner Sphere Chauvinism, right now Alexandria thinks of the RAC, and even the Wolfs Dragoons as a purely military and apparently mercenary martial nobility from the deep periphery.

RAC and The dragoons don't run around showing what we know as clan tech levels weapons. They're running lots of nice and extinct introtech and have seemingly no shortage of materiel but take the Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation as also an example of this he adamantly refused to believe (roughly contemporaneous to this as it happens) that the dragoons couldn't possibly have better manufacturing and technology than the inner sphere and it had to all be machines coming from storage from the Star League. Now, Alexandria isn't that far down that rabbit hole o bias but she also doesn't realize that the SLDF in Exile hasn't declined technologically. The RAC also has mentioned though not to Alexandria specifically that Henry's grievance with House Amaris is why they're with him... and this will show up later both when Sakhara and Bristol are attacked by different factions.

We will see, before that, as this plays out more of Alexandria's perspective of what the clans look like to the Inner Sphere nobility but for right now much of the Inner Sphere's own biases are in play

 

[SChase]

snip

Click to shrink...

Ah, I understand. When we hear word "clan" in BTverse we think about "offsprings" of Kerensky, with top tech, warships and totally different to Inner Sphere society. But for Alexandria right now word "clan" means something more closer to it's original meaning (group of families), who maybe found caches of old military supplies and using it to reach their strange goals. Yes, in this case there would be a way less questions, at least until invasion.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Dragoons 1.2
Sakhara had been established by SLDF officers, and approved to train SLDF officers, which had in the era of the star league placed in it quite select company even beyond its present standing.

Alexandria knew the Dragoons were warriors proven, she'd seen roms of the mercenaries in action before... both their time in Davion service and after they had passed over to the capellans... and now they were further afield in the Free Worlds League. To that extent her actual experience with the dragoons were beyond her... so far as she was aware this was the first time that the Dragoons had visited Sakhara certainly that was the treatment and behavior of the two visiting mechwarriors. The black and red emblem of the Dragoons broad on their machines' shoulders, promenient in the images of the cameras.

Four names were up on the display.

Omar Fazio

Milo Ramsay

The two dragoon MechWarriors piloting the Wolverine and Hoplite respectively. The names opposite them were of course their Sakhara opposition. So far as Alexandria understood while good mechwarriors there was nothing special about them in the Dragoons ranks. This didn't strike her as some sort of punishment detail though...assigning a pair of warriors to liaise with a critical supply manufacturer wasn't the sort of thing you allocated to screw ups.

Henry had been tight lipped unusually so about his allies... except that their alliance stemmed from an enemy that had been the cause of the downfall of the star league. Somewhere out there was house Amaris lurking, skulking in the dark reaches of space... and from what she understood considered likely to manage an attack... and up until now she hadn't considered what that might have entailed.

Alexandria wasn't stupid or unobservant. Attacking the county seat would have meant moving across the wide open 'seas' of red sand dunes for miles. The RAC while an armor formation had geography on its side, the breaks in sightline and the germanium mines from which Clay likely derived no small amount of income were protected from approach by sheer cliff, and running water of a fast moving river. The factories and mech facilities to support his troops were deep underground protected from the beating heat of the sun, and included the heavily protected bunkers that the Stingrays could launch from.

The Combine troops pursuing the Rabid fox on the toxic surface of Mallory's World had chased across open ground, and thus it was easy to make the comparison to the defenses built. If anyone thought about it for any amount of time it would be, it might bet taken as just amore prepared version of that. Certainly the Combine's choice to rely upon the Elan vitale of independent companies to carry the day would face a murder field to cross to lay siege.

He had mentioned months ago that a cluster was a unit of organization. He had made a brief explanation of their system. Robinson was easy, it was just the same as 'Wolf's'. The same was true of 'dragoon' and 'assault' they were weight related, not purpose per se. An Assault Cluster had been defined as 'used for defensive operations and siege warfare, they are generally close enough to their supply lines to avoid resupply concerns, and so place a greater emphasis on heavier auto cannons and missile weaponry.' The devastators certainly fit that criteria, She abruptly grabbed his sleeve, "The Dragoons arrived with five regiments of BattleMechs," They had arrived with supporting arms, but just so, they were supporting combat arms. "Why aren't there-"

Henry's expression had shifted, "Because I need Robinson to defend here," He replied.

That didn't answer the question.

BattleMechs would have only strengthened his defensive position, she knew that, everyone knew that. The fight between wolves and cadets was wholly forgotten. Justin moving to close on the screen ignored. "You're bait?" She half asked, half accused. His denial did nothing, because in a way she'd suspected that Sakhara had always been too close to the Combine border, close enough to tempt the Snakes to do something stupid in the name of honor and glory for the dragon... except it was more than for just House Kurita to try and make good against the defeats on Mallory's World, and Halstead station before it... it was for the enemy of the long dead Star League to see an opportunity to attack.

At least Alexandria Cunningham, Countess of Kestrel had convinced herself of. The SLDF in exile might have since divided itself into great clans with no doubt prominent families but if Amaris attacked then whatever arguments between Wolf and Horse would be put aside.

For Henry Clay this was a blindside of a conversation he had not expected. He had been warned of course of the threat the Combine potentially posed, and he had planned for it. He also had the warning of how the Combine would react to the knowledge of the coordinator's duplicity and actions in regards to the Amaris crisis. More than that though for who's grasp of clan society while not perfect he understood significantly better what the Clans reaction would be to that knowledge. So, no he was no here as bait to provoke an attack.

He was inclined to protest the accusation, but there were too many people around. It was only the cadets engrossed focus on the paint splattering the combatant mechs that kept them from noticing immediately. "Will the Combine try something maybe," He replied tersely, "But that was always a risk," The factories here did make that a larger risk, "But it wasn't staked out that way. The Combine has a tendency to unpredictable," That was especially true, though the warning hadn't yet been delivered to him that Yvonne Davion had pushed out a warning that there were rumors of an attempt made on the Coordinator's life by rasalhague separatists but that warning ferried by JumpShip circuit was on its way and expected to be delivered before any attack could arrive, but even so still not here as bait, "will they attack, eventually yes, tomorrow next month probably not. The cluster was assembled as a defensive unit, its why its a pure armor formation." He repeated, "This isn't the place for this conversation though.


Yes, Henry was willing to admit would be willing to admit to anyone that, the Combine would attack 'eventually', but he had no reason tothink it was to be immediate. That window had passed when the Combine had moved to attack his taking up the title of Count. In the traditions of the Inner Sphere had been something that would have made the rotation of noble circles... the Combine had always since the days before the star league as peerages and knighthoods hawkishly watched the lists and gazette publications of the old Terran Hegemony, and the Federated Suns, that was what polite civilized society did, and had done since before human spaceflight.

The Combine couldn't possibly have missed that, "And the gazette for Bristol might not have reached the combine as of yet." She acknowledged.

"It is possible it has," As a document, as words on paper went the transmission size was easily within even a weakened HPG network's capability, but the links of transmission station to station along the chain would be expensive to have beamed out. Further, the publication announcing the dukedom also did not explicitly mention to the public reader the shipyards at Sakhara. The most cynical of readers would likely assume that this was Ian Davion awarding a greater post to a court favorite, and lethal captain of men. "And its equally possible that the Combine has come to expect an attack from our side sooner rather than later... I've arranged the forces here to defend the planet, and the Academy." he reiterated.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

It's subtle , but the way Henry and Alexandria are interacting is really hammering home that they're getting close. I think she might have failed successfully at her seduction attempt, given she gave up on it. The leap of logic that Henry is bait for a Combine or Amaris attack is close enough to probably have Clay jump a bit.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Dragoons 1.3

Justin rattled against his harness even in spite of the seventy tonner's gyro efforts to compensate. It was actually one of the things that the simulator pods over exagerated for, most of the time in a real mech getting jostled was bad but the simulator pods were often much worse to the point of extreme. To the point that some times cadets actually got sick and puked coming out of a particularly bad run... he didn't think it was that bad but he hardly cared for the experience either... being jostled in a real mech was something he could deal with. The added electronics causing his machine to rumble weren't nearly so bad.

His gauges were a mix of colors, and flag notices. The dragoon pilot,no surprise, was good... and further out than this artificially compressed battle space he'd have been worried about getting where he needed to be, but the Dragoon pilot had made the mistake in not retreating. Henry would have backed off, he'd have jinked the rabid fox around hills or taken a rifleman to keep Justin at bay if his opening shots hadn't been satisfactory. That wasn't to say the Dragoon pilot was an idiot, it was just the wrong move in this situation because he'd let Justin Allard get this close, close enough that his big ole assault auto cannon was just now in range.

He ignored his heat gauge and the protest of his machine. The simulator blasted in hot hair through the ac vents, and rattled the cockpit more than the Cataphract actually did when the AC 20 he'd insisted on having mounted on his machine stitched into the opposing machine with vibrant high visibility paint.

Justin had no reason to think the Dragoon mechs were anything special and even if they had been it wouldn't have mattered. The data programmed into the simulators were to calculate their performance, and their simulated munitions as those of the succession wars. He did understand that aggression was what would win things here, he needed to stay in a close quarters operation that would favor his heavier battlemech... to play to the Cataphract's strengths.

For Henry, even though he hadn't been able to watch the entirety of the tournament held on New Avalon this tactic had been demonstration the very first bout Justin had fought in. It was a style that wasn't hampered by being the black jack and while it could have been used in a Centurion or Rifleman Justin had had a hand in selecting his Cataphract's armament... for a mechwarrior's performance that could make a world of difference.

Given the confines of space imposed on them, the Dragoons would have been better off he expected with two Wolverines. It wasn't as if the Dragoons didn't field units with high homogeneity across machines...not to the degree of the Hegemony of old of course, but he suspected in part because of the warrior ethos which had taken root in Clan culture... the Hoplite was a battlemech, its pilot was a MechWarrior... but in the limited range it couldn't shine here inthe way that the Hunchback would have, or a Marauder, or like Lex's Orion. That didn't compel the Dragoon pilot to give up... especially as Henry suspected that in a dueling culture with an emphasis on long range gunnery... the Hoplite was probably a fine choice among secondline picks.

He didn't make the suggestion of two wolverines, "They'd have been better off with a pair of Centurions equipped for close quarters combat," He quipped instead, "There is no reason that Blackwell's modular equipment for combat vehicles shouldn't be viable on BattleMechs." Part of reiterating it was that Sakhara's prestigious numbers would exert more pressure than anything he could do short of running to the First Prince... and part of the reason the Badger and Bandit, outside of their steep price tags, was Blackwells tendency towards exclusivity. That couldn't be left to stand, something had to be done especially given their ability to produce a 'domestic' assault battlemech design... and the Marauder II was a whole other kettle of fish... for entirely other reasons.

There was a sudden low woo from the throng of students as paints plattered upon battleplate... the real brawling had begun and Henryhoped that there would be no repeat of actual mech fisticuffs in thisbout as had shown up on New Avalon. Henry was fully prepared to letthe fight play itself out on its own, but he sudden felt the tingle, and the update through his essence... that something was suddenly very wrong. Not that that was much warning, an alarm klaxon in thelearning center sounded, that was mirrored by outdoor alarms triggering.

An unscheduled jumpship had arrived... not an attack. Henry was the only who could see it. Transmitted returns were going to need seconds to pipe in, but his essence was already showing him the new arrival... Haakon's jumpship, as were the other trade vessels, was intact but already broadcasting an emergency signal... which was not something he would have done if everything were normal.
--
The other shoe had dropped... and Henry hated that it had happened with the Dragoons were present. Haakon had been doing normal business in the Outworld Alliance. There had been protests from the populace and grumbling... and it would have been given the proximity to the Kuritan border all that easy for the Combine to have launched a raid.

His eyes watched the rotating form. At least the outworld alliance's reputation for ASF pilots was a well founded stereotype. That was unfortunately the only high note of Haakon's after action report...and that it didn't appear that they had been pursued. They had departed OA space as other reports had begun coming in though.

WarShip.

It was the chatter... and it as the timing this completely tossed all concerns of holding talks with the Dragoons askew.

"Pinto-class." He replied a tad hoarse, "Probably built at the RimWorld yard at Alpheratz," Or at least that was what he was desperately hoping there were certainly vastly worse possibilities ... and he would have to contemplate those later... butthe inner sphere had lost its last warship officially in the second succession war they had been extinct since the 29th​ century as he understood it. That was something he would have to look into, but it wasn't an immediate concern... it was but not the top of the priority list... a part of him wanted to tell Haakon to tell Mountain Wolf that he was fully prepared to loan them the funds to rebuild in the Lyran Commonwealth or the Federated Suns and begin production of both the Merlin, and their previous design... but there were more people here than just him and the Merchant Marine Captain. "My bigger concern is that its operational, and no one scrubbed the Amaris colors off of it... we need to send this to New Avalon by courier."

No one objected that he had just gotten back... not given the face of this. He was going to have to leave again... and he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop by Bristol. He was going to need to expand ASFproduction. The OA hadn't destroyed the ship, but hey had made it leave but the problem was that the other attacks reported other vessels in Rim World colors... including ground forces

The other thing he could do with money, the thing he could do publicly with money was tell the precentor Sakhara he was going to make a live HPG transmission to New Avalon. And damn the cost of the phone bill.

"Of course," The Chancellor agreed... before waiting a moment, and then, "We should inform Robinson as well."

"You're right," He replied, "I'll go to ComStar, and send a live transmission to both Aaron, and Ian that way both of them know before we get underway to New Avalon." Henry glanced around. This had been a military emergency, Haakon's distress signal... the damaged dropships aboard some of the trade fleet... had warranted a combined response from Sakhara's governing authorities the civil government, the academy... and also the inclusion of local noble retainers... and the Dragoon presence. The situation being what it was included having both the vice chancellor and Alexandria here because she was head of the student government and the ranking cadet and hence was here with most of the staff.

"You said there were pirates running around in the colors of Amaris fusiliers."

"In the RimWard Periphery," He replied to her comment, shaking his head "Not in the Outworld Alliance... but the Rim World had hidden army facilities out that way, and beyond the border going east as it ere." Henry blew out a breath, eyes scanning the throng of adult mechwarriors, "If there are no objections I will be maintaining an elevated Combat Air Patrol in system." The question not really a question was directed at the civil governor of the planet who handled administration on Ian Davion's behalf, and also the local DMM commander who in a 'time of war', which was allthe time in the succession wars, had nominal military authority of the march militia troops. "It should give us warning if something happens at Zenith or Nadir," and also if someone jumped into the lagrangian points in orbit... but he didn't think that was likely...but any amount of time would give them warning to ready ground forces, any extra time was only a good thing.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Well the good news is that the pinto is fragile and even a single nuke will at least mission kill it and a large fighter swarm sans nukes could also do the job. The bad news is that it's just as fast as most strike ASFs and it's guns are ideal for popping dropships and that it has enough MGs and small lasers that you need to chuck a lot of nukes to reliably get a hit and while it's not the best non point defence anti ASF weapons Suite it still exists and Barracudas and naval lasers in AA mode aren't exactly fun to face.

 

[LamaofTrauma]

Well, Third Succession War Warships certainly have a way of catching attention.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

That's an oof, Henry is going to HAVE to play hardball. The only warships left in the Inner Sphere right now other than a few hidden/forgotten hulks are ComStar's and the Dragoon's.

 

[Bofors40mm]

That's an oof, Henry is going to HAVE to play hardball. The only warships left in the Inner Sphere right now other than a few hidden/forgotten hulks are ComStar's and the Dragoon's.

Click to shrink...

And whatever the great houses have mothballed that in theory could be fixed but in otl weren't for assorted reasons re they're not made of magical SLDF/TH space unobtainiun so clearly they can't be fixed according to the devs

 

[Imperator Pax]

Dragoons 1.4
Henry expected the confrontation to come, so waiting for it was a problem... it was why when no one objected to his plans he moved deliberately forward with going to ComStar. That didn't make him oblivious to either the Blackwell or Dragoons following but he had to get things done... and obstinacy on ComStar's part was just going to be something to deal with... or at least that was what he had expected.

The truth was he had scarcely played the holographic recordings and battle rom footage from the deep periphery with the garish napoleonic symbols of the Rim Worlds Republic emblazoned on ASF and on the wide prow of the warship before the precentor became very very cooperative... the swooning and fainting from some of the other ComStar staff was... not something he missed but he'd been in too much of a hurry to pay it too much mind. The connection to Robinson and to transmit to New Avalon live took priority.

The set up for that gave him time to relay, that was to say answer the precentor's questions about what they knew had happened at Alpheratz and the rumors filtering in from the Outworlds Alliance...that there was at least one Rim World marked WarShip. That even if they were 'just' pirates they had one warship and supporting JumpShips and that there were strongly believed to be other raids in progress... and with the accompanying atrocities.

The question which in hindsight stood out, and to the best of Henry's knowledge been answered honestly in the negative, was if the attacking force had been specifically singling out ComStar. They hadn't, at least to his early reports. This was a generalized offensive, not a specifically targeted raid.

His report to Lord Aaron as Field Marshal of the Draconis March reiterated much of the same information. The capital of the Draconis March was closer to Terra than Sakhara but at the distances entailed that really didn't mean much. The two worlds, Sakhara and Robinson, were relatively close together... but any additional forewarning was something to be treasured. "I need to inform New Avalon," But it took longer to get ahold of Ian, and it was a greater distance, and the briefing to the suzerain of the Federated Suns was a more complex strategic implication. "I'll order transport of reinforcing armor per the schedule we worked out, but beyond that at this time I have nothing further to report."

"Of course, gods speed." Aaron Sandoval replied. The hologram attenuated... and the brief conversation ended there. The DMM leadership was informed. The Robinson Rangers would be mobilizing... but there were limits to what aid the duke of Robinson could otherwise promise. There was a lot he would have liked to have said to the head of House Sandoval... but nothing that couldn't be reported by carrier. The word was out. The Pinto was fast, well armed capable of running down dropships... and if it had been just being used as a commerce raider that would have been one thing... but it couldn't carry an invasion force by itself.

They'd have to wait and see how things played out. See what else happened. He was about to ask the robed attendant waiting in the chamber if the connection was back online, but the hologram of the live transmission expanded before he could do so. The Precentor New Avalon looked out of a breath, and he had Hanse, not Ian, in tow.

He took a breath, and composed himself before he spoke... hoping that audio transmission quality wouldn't be too bad. "Haakon's report based on other reports puts there between 7 and a dozen warships inRim World Colors, and perhaps as many as fifty JumpShips operating in the area of the outworlds alliance." There was speculation that there could have been some kind of failed jump or misjump event dropping a RimWorld fleet into the future... but that was just speculation. There was the possibility of it being some Rim World depot built into a planetoid or something... but that wouldn't explain the crews... and then there was the worst possible option that some Hidden Army preparations had included seeding colonies that were now mounting attacks into the Outworlds Alliance... but he wasn't here to speculate on the origins of the Pinto that had beenpart of the attack on Alpheratz... just to report that it had happened.

It was the Precentor New Avalon, not Hanse who showed surprise even if it was fleeting regarding the presence of the Wolf Dragoon Warriors present. Hanse though leapt at the opportunity even though neither warrior was in a position to offer much support ... and Henry had no idea where the Wolf Dragoons currently were. Hanse wasn't going to let the opportunity pass him by though... even if it was only a very brief entreatment over the live hpg broadcast... and then it was over and the warning was delivered... because as it was there was only ... were only limited reports and footage to go off of.

ComStar had not overly protested, which was something that Henry had been worried about. The problem was there was no reason for anyone to masquearde as the Rim World Republic if they had warships... it wouldn't have fit the behaviors or the mandates of any of the other succession states... so most likely this was what they were facing. The 3rd​ Succession war was no involving such things....which meant potential civilian casualties were apt to increase.

With those expensive interstellar phone calls completed though his work at the ComStar annex was completed... save that there was one other piece of knowledge. Alpheratz's precentor was not answering attempts to connect to the network. There was no response from Alpheratz's HPG station, and the Precentor New Avalon was looking worried... that however had nothing to do with Hanse's order to make for New Avalon as soon as possible, which he'd been planning to do anyway given the situation.

He paid the bill, watching as it drained out of the essence and shrugged it off. He had more important things to worry about than the money... now that that was done he still had to contend with the two Warriors sniffing after his heels. He was not personally concerned about his own security the exchange of his usual elemental protection for uniformed troopers was enough for that... it was more likely the questions that were likely to be asked. It was on that, that Clay intended to beat them to the point, "Warriors," He declared, "It is my invitation that you should join me on the way to New Avalon, though this is for the moment confined to to the periphery this may be the greatest challenge of the 3rd​Succession War." He weighed the next words carefully aware that he had there attention already, "Your presence will insure that the wolves have a voice in the debate of what the course against these outlaws who wear House Amaris's colors." With that he had their attention, as well as their interest.

That punctuated as it was about the time that they made their way to the vehicle that the expanded the called for expanded air defense patrols began making their presence known. The heavier F 77 serieswere technically lostech... and reminded him he was going to need to look closer at his options... but warships had been a distant concern, and one that he had largely been looking at in the prospects of a future clan invasion. He waited for the loud aerospace fusion droning passed over and nodded then towards the Blackwell represenatives, extending a similar invitation to come along to New Avalon with him.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

After taking a look at Sarna, there are two paths I see Henry being able to counter the RWR Warship threat, at least partially. Either he finagles his Essence for the points/money to buy ONE large Warship with escorting dropships, one of the second-line SLDF ships would be best as they are massively cheaper than the best the Star League Navy could field while still being plenty lethal.

Option 2 would be Henry going for broke with his Essence and bringing in a flotilla of Jump and Dropships with maybe a small Warship or two.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Pocket warships could also be a option. And one that the inner sphere could actually build or convert in decent number.

 

[Anon E Mouse]

you combat Warships in BT with massed nukes. That's one of the main reasons there are no functional Warships in the sphere at this time. The first two SW saw them all go down one after another once the anti-ship nukes got broken out en masse. With the few survivors unable to be maintained once the nukes started falling on the factories that supplied naval industry.

 

[Bofors40mm]

you combat Warships in BT with massed nukes. That's one of the main reasons there are no functional Warships in the sphere at this time. The first two SW saw them all go down one after another once the anti-ship nukes got broken out en masse. With the few survivors unable to be maintained once the nukes started falling on the factories that supplied naval industry.

Click to shrink...

I mean the mass use of nukes and capital scale weapons for naval industry and yards happened from basically day one of the 1st Succession War but for the most part the warship fleets of the great houses killed each other the old fashioned way right up to the very last warship engagement of the succession wars between the LCS Invincible and six combine warship in the Hesperus II system. ASF kills of warships did happen as did warships nuking other Warships it's just that there where by far the minority compared to Warships killing each other by more conventional capital scale weapons

 

[Imperator Pax]

Dragoons 1.5
Henry's eyes squinted at the display... the very demonstration that he was tired. There was a mumbled grumbling about not having time for this. Whether or not he was also irritated about having to run interference between their Clan Wolf guests and Robinson's horse clan, well of that Alexandria assumed it was the case... but the two mechwarriors from Wolf's dragoons who remained close by and the absence of Robinson element supported her thesis.

Alexandria considered how prominent the men of the 19th​Striker Regiment who had passed out of their own time and into the present day would have been if instead of the Wolfs Dragoons it wasthe Eridani Light Horse who were here. For some two centuries the Eridani had left an empty seat for their betrayed sister regiment. Today first and foremost were troopers in the khaki battle dress of the Star League Defense Force without any of the Cluster and theirheavy autocannon emphasizing heavy tanks.

Of course that might be reading too far into the situation, drawing comparisons that didn't actually exist. It was no secret from Henry's side of things that Ian Davion, the ever affable First Prince, was quite fond of the old campaigner who commanded the storied mercenary RCT. She hardly expected the kind of aristocratic dueling tradition that seemed to be the concern with the rival clans in a meeting of the Battle Company, and the descendants of their sister regiments. Even so the conflict between strong personalities, and different structures was a perennial concern of command. The Academy was very much about networking, and while Clay was on the blunter side of the personality dichotomy there was no denying that he enjoyed a popular position among the student body, and enviable one where his lecturing was supported and accepted because of what he had done on Mallory's World, and at Halstead Station.

... and yet the Dragoons had always been a queer outfit. Rumors swirled around them, and their dialect, and speech, and attitudes towards society when they had first arrived had raised eyebrows amongpolite society... regardless of how tickled their behaviors migh thave entertained the First Prince.

Henry didn't have five regiments worth of pristine battlemechs, and the dragoons had demonstrated more than once the ability to replenish their forces. No doubt their home far away, their distant clansmen had substantial reserves by which to support the Dragoons. That they were far away meant Wolf, Jaime Wolf, had had to make deals with local corporate partners. It wouldn't have been absurd to look at the New Valencia based parts firm as a potential rival, even without whatever rivalries existed among the clans of Kerensky.

Henry straightened drawing the attention of the room, "New Avalon, and Robinson are informed of the situation," Which they already knew of course that had been the whole point of visiting the robed technocratic monks who serviced the HPG network and made interstellar telecommunications possible to the inner sphere, "The situation is opaque, the latest news from ComStar is that the HPG station at Alpheratz is not answering." Twelve jumps, she thought... the obvious answer was that the pirates had mounted a second attack. "As an act of good faith I will be offering Mountain Wolf BattleMechs an introduction to Ian, if we're lucky," He muttered the last three words more under his breath, "The pirates just destroyed the HPG station."

"or that they seized the planet."

"Yes." was the response to Coleridge's interjection.

No doubt Henry had already considered the worse possible scenario. The rim world ships had made a return, and invested the planet... or simply rained nuclear weapons from orbit on the defenseless periphery world. There was not however a direct threat against the academy.

At least not a publicized one... the school at large, well it hadn't become a rumor because it hadn't reached the body at large, but Clay had expressed that he considered a threat from House Amaris... who everyone believed extinct as viable a threat to his security as that of House Kurita... and that was of course what the Vice Chancellor to bring up.

Clay shrugged, "Is there an Amaris pretender, yes. Is he leading this collection of mad men, I don't know. Personally I doubt it...but that very well goes into the problem of the self declared Stefan Amaris the VII is hardly likely to be the only pretender." He blew out a breath but no one, not even the now squirming Mech Warriors from the Dragoons interrupted, despite the palpable feeling in the air "There have been Amaris pretenders before, there are remnants of the Rim world who turned to piracy and banditry and who sit on the fringes of the periphery and made nuisances of themselves particularly along the former republican worlds... but to the best of my knowledge none of those have demonstrated access to warships, which puts this threat far in excess of what I was expecting."

The map that appeared was was nothing terribly unusual. Effort had been put into making it of course, that much was self evident, but there were shadings to show the territorial extent of all powers...including the Rim World, the Taurian Concordat, the Magistracy of Canopus, and of course the worlds that the nations of the Inner Sphere had withdrawn from as the succession wars took their toll.

There were highlights though she didn't recognize. The world 'north' of Lyran space was only one of those, but it was the one that Henry selected to show them. "This is von Strang's world, allegedly ruled by descendants of the Rimworld general of the same name, there are a handful of other worlds where th e planetary authorities espouse a revanchist view in support of the Rim World.. but to the best of my knowledge they have nothing to do with this incursion. In the absolute worst case scenario, Rim World elements fled into the periphery or built on existing colonies far flung into the black to support the Hidden Army and are returning to attack the Outworld alliance as some kind of greater territorial expansion. In short we will be fighting a Rim World Republic that can build new warships while we have lost that capacity."

The Dragoons could no longer contain themselves, all but falling over themselves to talk of informing Colonel Wolf... and it wasn't hard for Alexandria to imagine what they really meant was yes to speak to their superior but likely to ask for support from their clansmen at home... just as she suspected that the Northwind clans of Highlanders would also rally to the potential chance of fighting House Amaris and any returned Rim World threat.

The two Warriors from the Wolf Dragoons were eager to tell Jaime Wolf, and to get into the fight, but the Countess of Kestrel could not have fathomed was the reaction of Clan Wolf... but that failure to predict accurately their reaction, was a facet of her own ignorance. She imagined the clans of Kerensky, for her only exposure was the barest passing in social circles of the Dragoons, and only slightly greater familiarity with those of Hells Horse of the RAC, as not terribly dissimilar to how her own family and other SLDF families had settled on Kestrel... and that perhaps they were more mercenary, and there were likely rivalries but the depth of their differences with the Inner Sphere was not something she could imagine. Alexandria Cunningham simply didn't have the frame of reference in the waning years of the 3rd​ Succession War to guess as to how strange the Clans of Kerensky were... and they were not by any means some deep periphery version of the Eridani Light Horse clinging to the hopes and traditions of the Star League and its ideas of humanity.

What would play out was that the Dragoons would finish their contract with House Marik... and as Alexandria had accurately intuited reach out to Clan Wolf... and thus the Clan Council... and by that point the 3rd Succession War as it was to be understood by history would be over... and Alexandria would no longer be a cadet. In the present day though, the two warriors, were were clearly going to accompany Clay, along with Blackwell's representatives back to New Avalon... and it was true that the Rim World threat that had emerged from the periphery was hardly making a bee line for Sakhara to fight here... there were other enemies after all.