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.