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The Aurigan Renaissance [A BattleTech Isekai]
- Thread starter Imperator Pax
- Start date
These two were overlooked.
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
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Thank you.
4.7
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2019
- Messages
- 5,893
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- 78,465
4.7
As conferences went this lacked much of the formal ceremony of the League era that had been consigned to oblivion with the death of House Cameron. The canopians being the only state represented by an ambassador no doubt put Ana Maria Centrella in something of a bind. The Margravate was a member state within the Aurigan Coalition... which was in not quite historical terms somewhat rather like the articles of confederation of America, or the north German trade union prior to the unification of Germany on ancient terra.
Lord Tamati had limited powers over the other states. The states, in typical terms, the member worlds and their ruling houses more directly were represented and agreed to free trade, and to not make war on one another... beyond that though there were few significant powers binding on the membership of the coalition. That had made it appealing to join as a trade pact, and the need of collective defense a generation previously had been another.
The coalition around House Arano's leadership had been a relatively recent thing as many people Arsacid had personally spoken to, and even more saw fit to comment upon in writing the Aurgian Coalition, and the 'Aurigan Trade Partnership' before it were post Star League, post 1st Succession War even. Such things were hastily brought forward in discussions among many many sidebars that had derailed the conference.
That was something that authors writing regarding the rimward periphery whether citizens of the inner sphere and its successor houses, or denizens of the periphery commented on. Though, as Arsacid understood it was a bias formed from the basis of many other states. States founded in the aftermath of the devastation of the first succession war rose and fell with alarming frequently, typically because they were so often established by deserters or pirates. It was also the chauvinism of age, Taurian authors were quick to speak of how old the concordat was in relation to more junior states, and the canopians frequently ignored Cassandra's piracy and coercive measures to establish the Magistracy. For that, the Aurigan Coalition were upstarts.
It was not all together unusual inhuman diplomatic history. Arsacid understood that, but it was quite surreal to be on the receiving end of, regardless of how often the Combine had liked to pretend itself the heir to an incalculably ancient tradition of the old feudal Earth... not that he had been so crass as to tell the young lady from the combine that... but truthfully he imagined more than a few of his officers were thinking quite similar thoughts.
All of these factors imposed on the proceedings a certain difficulty, and though ComStar had stated its intention was here to mediate Heron would have been lying to say he didn't think they were prioritizing their own interests over talks of Brinton, even while they trotted out the facts of the recent crisis... at least the pirates in any event. The slip by the precentor of events over the border with the Capellan Confederation were another matter that hung over the table, both because there was no capellan representative but also for the surly mistrust that ComStar had not informed either the Taurians or the Magistracy of this most recent spate of violence on the Inner Sphere' border with the rimward periphery.
"The situation on the Capellan frontier is unfortunate," Heron stated from where he stood at the head of the table, his eyes moving over the seated delegates and their aides, and functionaries, "it is not however news that should be all together surprising." Less restrained and in more jovial company would have entailed some one inevitably criticizing Liao as the sick man of the Inner Sphere... it was he supposed funny how many idioms of geopolitics that dated from before human flight had survived, where as the idioms of the interim had by and large not. He understood why, it had by the assertion of Terran will, the establishment of the hegemony, and made more feasible by the Star League that a return to a more coherent cultural empire, again to the French assertion of an 'American Empire' after the onset of the coldwar of the 20th century, that idioms and ideas had become commonplace in the inner sphere spreading lexicon of people. He settled on the ambassador, "The Aurigan Coalition is only alittle more than a century old," Such that of the Terrans whomhe had ... there were dignitaries, and doctors, and scientists who'd been born on Hegemony worlds who had lived and had careers longer than the Coalition had existed as a state, but he had no need to mention that. He had no one after all older than ComStar ... at least in terms of lives actually lived, the time in a stasis tube didn't count, "The pirates are a worsening problem I think this body can take the news from the Capellan frontier and agree to that, and agree that we should all look at our respective present holdings, and recognize that any with value are likely to attract black jack's predations." Of those gathered, it was only the Combine who really didn't need to but the Combine felt the need to be included in these proceedings, they had made that much clear even as it attracted insistent, strident even demands for commitments from ComStar regarding the latter's security. "So I will ask what options exist by which to bring Black Jack to heel?"
There was silence in the room.
He was sure that everyone had asked themselves the question before... but space was a vast place. The Combine had loudly demanded that the Azami who had fled to the periphery be treated as deserters but no one could afford to antagonize potential sources of arms against Black Jack... when the latter was so readily festooning his forces with Amaris's colors.
That certainly was a concerning trend. Heron had noticed how modern people reacted to those colors, more viscerally, more ingrained into their social psyche than his own men... but for good reason.
The precentor, the middle aged Free Worlder, was obviously torn in between wanting the commitment of forces he had been finagling all morning, as it was now approaching four in the afternoon, for to sit and defend ComStar installations... and having to consider agreeing in principle to the young lady from the Combine's solution that hunting down blackjack and cutting the head off the snake might best address the problem. Leaving aside that killing black jack would result in his captains, and officers of note would likely split apart like Alexander's successors to rampage across but they might be more manageable.
Heron wasn't actually asking for a solution. He was looking for a reason to adjourn again in order to speak to the Canopian ambassador so that they might talk about trade, and thus consider the creation of a convoy system between the Aurigan and Canopian frontiers. He understood that niceties imposed on warfare as a result of the succession war prohibited attacking JumpShips but Pirates were as outlaws not bound by such norms.
It wasn't something he intended to conceal per se. Just not advertise he was going to propose such an arrangement. Once the convoy was in place, with protective air cover and dropships, they were talking about a procession of jumpships making dozens of jumps across the periphery. There was a world in the middle already, Detroit, and there was of course the moon, and the system it was in, nearby as a sort of southern route, but there was also a 'middle passage' outline that could jump from Joppa to Bonavista... but that would entail wiping out the pirate presence on the artic world there... the original colony having collapsed as a result of the periphery wide uprising that had erupted with New Vandenburg. From Bonavista though it would be easy to jump to Cate's Hold, to Duianshire, and then to Luxen... if that was where the Canopians wanted their terminus to be. All of that would depend on the progress of bilateral talks.
The objective thought would be to make space travel safe. To deter piracy on those space lanes... and for that those space lanes, across the frontier to the Magistracy had a double edged factor. The magistracy was far enough away they had more reason to be trustworthy relative to even a liberal taurian government as seemed to be presently in power... and of course a detente and open relations with the concordat could be welcomed but they needed to actually get back to talking about whether reparations and thus a sum for civilian damages could repair relations. A topic that seemed unlikely with the talks being sidelined at every opportunity to discuss the pirates which in ComStar's own recounting had 'provoked' the raids in the first place... Arsacid however wasn't necessarily confident that they would have been more productive in talks held between the Taurians and Margravate or with the Combine insisting at a seat with the ambassador of the Canopians also here. It was better to speak of open covenants in hopes that the talks might buy them time for cooler heads to prevail, the longer the conversation at large lasted the less likely he suspected the Taurians were to make an aggressive over commitment of forces.
The objective was to play for time. and work on things slowly
--
Notes: While it will probably not getits own thread, at least any time soon, the first part of or introduction chapter of the combined universe timeline will probably debut in the junkyard thread tentatively as 'Down from the mountain'. This will remain in my Battletech snips thread because we are talking about a timeline where Clay saves Ian, so Ian remains first prince,where the Azami wake Arsacid up and we get the development of theArsacid Magravate similar to this story, and Gene wakes up on aquagea early enough to be the shooting star of luxen, before most of ghosts events play out similar.
And well there is a Rim World fleet that is used to menace civilized space before the end of the 3rdsuccession war, indeed in Mountain that is what marks the end of the3rd succession war is everyone stepping back because ofAmaris's warships appearing.
As conferences went this lacked much of the formal ceremony of the League era that had been consigned to oblivion with the death of House Cameron. The canopians being the only state represented by an ambassador no doubt put Ana Maria Centrella in something of a bind. The Margravate was a member state within the Aurigan Coalition... which was in not quite historical terms somewhat rather like the articles of confederation of America, or the north German trade union prior to the unification of Germany on ancient terra.
Lord Tamati had limited powers over the other states. The states, in typical terms, the member worlds and their ruling houses more directly were represented and agreed to free trade, and to not make war on one another... beyond that though there were few significant powers binding on the membership of the coalition. That had made it appealing to join as a trade pact, and the need of collective defense a generation previously had been another.
The coalition around House Arano's leadership had been a relatively recent thing as many people Arsacid had personally spoken to, and even more saw fit to comment upon in writing the Aurgian Coalition, and the 'Aurigan Trade Partnership' before it were post Star League, post 1st Succession War even. Such things were hastily brought forward in discussions among many many sidebars that had derailed the conference.
That was something that authors writing regarding the rimward periphery whether citizens of the inner sphere and its successor houses, or denizens of the periphery commented on. Though, as Arsacid understood it was a bias formed from the basis of many other states. States founded in the aftermath of the devastation of the first succession war rose and fell with alarming frequently, typically because they were so often established by deserters or pirates. It was also the chauvinism of age, Taurian authors were quick to speak of how old the concordat was in relation to more junior states, and the canopians frequently ignored Cassandra's piracy and coercive measures to establish the Magistracy. For that, the Aurigan Coalition were upstarts.
It was not all together unusual inhuman diplomatic history. Arsacid understood that, but it was quite surreal to be on the receiving end of, regardless of how often the Combine had liked to pretend itself the heir to an incalculably ancient tradition of the old feudal Earth... not that he had been so crass as to tell the young lady from the combine that... but truthfully he imagined more than a few of his officers were thinking quite similar thoughts.
All of these factors imposed on the proceedings a certain difficulty, and though ComStar had stated its intention was here to mediate Heron would have been lying to say he didn't think they were prioritizing their own interests over talks of Brinton, even while they trotted out the facts of the recent crisis... at least the pirates in any event. The slip by the precentor of events over the border with the Capellan Confederation were another matter that hung over the table, both because there was no capellan representative but also for the surly mistrust that ComStar had not informed either the Taurians or the Magistracy of this most recent spate of violence on the Inner Sphere' border with the rimward periphery.
"The situation on the Capellan frontier is unfortunate," Heron stated from where he stood at the head of the table, his eyes moving over the seated delegates and their aides, and functionaries, "it is not however news that should be all together surprising." Less restrained and in more jovial company would have entailed some one inevitably criticizing Liao as the sick man of the Inner Sphere... it was he supposed funny how many idioms of geopolitics that dated from before human flight had survived, where as the idioms of the interim had by and large not. He understood why, it had by the assertion of Terran will, the establishment of the hegemony, and made more feasible by the Star League that a return to a more coherent cultural empire, again to the French assertion of an 'American Empire' after the onset of the coldwar of the 20th century, that idioms and ideas had become commonplace in the inner sphere spreading lexicon of people. He settled on the ambassador, "The Aurigan Coalition is only alittle more than a century old," Such that of the Terrans whomhe had ... there were dignitaries, and doctors, and scientists who'd been born on Hegemony worlds who had lived and had careers longer than the Coalition had existed as a state, but he had no need to mention that. He had no one after all older than ComStar ... at least in terms of lives actually lived, the time in a stasis tube didn't count, "The pirates are a worsening problem I think this body can take the news from the Capellan frontier and agree to that, and agree that we should all look at our respective present holdings, and recognize that any with value are likely to attract black jack's predations." Of those gathered, it was only the Combine who really didn't need to but the Combine felt the need to be included in these proceedings, they had made that much clear even as it attracted insistent, strident even demands for commitments from ComStar regarding the latter's security. "So I will ask what options exist by which to bring Black Jack to heel?"
There was silence in the room.
He was sure that everyone had asked themselves the question before... but space was a vast place. The Combine had loudly demanded that the Azami who had fled to the periphery be treated as deserters but no one could afford to antagonize potential sources of arms against Black Jack... when the latter was so readily festooning his forces with Amaris's colors.
That certainly was a concerning trend. Heron had noticed how modern people reacted to those colors, more viscerally, more ingrained into their social psyche than his own men... but for good reason.
The precentor, the middle aged Free Worlder, was obviously torn in between wanting the commitment of forces he had been finagling all morning, as it was now approaching four in the afternoon, for to sit and defend ComStar installations... and having to consider agreeing in principle to the young lady from the Combine's solution that hunting down blackjack and cutting the head off the snake might best address the problem. Leaving aside that killing black jack would result in his captains, and officers of note would likely split apart like Alexander's successors to rampage across but they might be more manageable.
Heron wasn't actually asking for a solution. He was looking for a reason to adjourn again in order to speak to the Canopian ambassador so that they might talk about trade, and thus consider the creation of a convoy system between the Aurigan and Canopian frontiers. He understood that niceties imposed on warfare as a result of the succession war prohibited attacking JumpShips but Pirates were as outlaws not bound by such norms.
It wasn't something he intended to conceal per se. Just not advertise he was going to propose such an arrangement. Once the convoy was in place, with protective air cover and dropships, they were talking about a procession of jumpships making dozens of jumps across the periphery. There was a world in the middle already, Detroit, and there was of course the moon, and the system it was in, nearby as a sort of southern route, but there was also a 'middle passage' outline that could jump from Joppa to Bonavista... but that would entail wiping out the pirate presence on the artic world there... the original colony having collapsed as a result of the periphery wide uprising that had erupted with New Vandenburg. From Bonavista though it would be easy to jump to Cate's Hold, to Duianshire, and then to Luxen... if that was where the Canopians wanted their terminus to be. All of that would depend on the progress of bilateral talks.
The objective thought would be to make space travel safe. To deter piracy on those space lanes... and for that those space lanes, across the frontier to the Magistracy had a double edged factor. The magistracy was far enough away they had more reason to be trustworthy relative to even a liberal taurian government as seemed to be presently in power... and of course a detente and open relations with the concordat could be welcomed but they needed to actually get back to talking about whether reparations and thus a sum for civilian damages could repair relations. A topic that seemed unlikely with the talks being sidelined at every opportunity to discuss the pirates which in ComStar's own recounting had 'provoked' the raids in the first place... Arsacid however wasn't necessarily confident that they would have been more productive in talks held between the Taurians and Margravate or with the Combine insisting at a seat with the ambassador of the Canopians also here. It was better to speak of open covenants in hopes that the talks might buy them time for cooler heads to prevail, the longer the conversation at large lasted the less likely he suspected the Taurians were to make an aggressive over commitment of forces.
The objective was to play for time. and work on things slowly
--
Notes: While it will probably not getits own thread, at least any time soon, the first part of or introduction chapter of the combined universe timeline will probably debut in the junkyard thread tentatively as 'Down from the mountain'. This will remain in my Battletech snips thread because we are talking about a timeline where Clay saves Ian, so Ian remains first prince,where the Azami wake Arsacid up and we get the development of theArsacid Magravate similar to this story, and Gene wakes up on aquagea early enough to be the shooting star of luxen, before most of ghosts events play out similar.
And well there is a Rim World fleet that is used to menace civilized space before the end of the 3rdsuccession war, indeed in Mountain that is what marks the end of the3rd succession war is everyone stepping back because ofAmaris's warships appearing.
5.1
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2019
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- 5,893
- Likes received
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5.1
Arsacid kept a watchful eye on the reports notification, but it remained without any indication that something had changed. He supposed he wouldn't until he stopped expecting it. As host it was likely only a matter of time before one of the delegates tried to open bilateral talks... which was exactly what he wanted to push forward with the Canopians. Then of course on top of that there were all of the usual day to day issues of being on Katinka.
Delaney was doing the best he could, but again it was always, "We don't have the personnel," Then after a moment, "With all due respect sir, the Hegemony's fall back plan was always optimistic," But that was the tendency towards plans for desperate measures, they were often a bit mad." Falling back into the periphery , starting new colonies the manpower requirements were vastly underestimated." The texan continued, "And even if can find out the fall back positions from that derelict which I'm not sure I can get fully operational, but at least the data core looks intact, we still won't have the personnel assuming all of them succeeded."
This was a private aside meeting, and the man was right. The Hegemony had had wildly optimistic about their chances... which was why Heron hadn't been trying to make a completely new Hegemony, they weren't the Hegemony, "I am aware that is unlikely the personnel never reached their stasis tubes, but that isn't what I asked you."
"Yes sir." He replied taking a breath, and a moment to play with his stetsin, "I can have troops rotated on schedule, the care package is easy."
"Luxen from what I'm told has one of the Canopians remaining universities," He replied, "We're not starting from scratch. The objective is to expand the magistracy's civilian services," In an ideal world precipitously, but what they really needed was to buttress the Canopians so that they could secure a flank of sorts. "I'm going to tentatively agree with Shawkat's proposal... I don't imagine we will get any of the larger units to fall back into the periphery," But there were more than a handful of units who traced their lineage back to the SLDF... and frankly the money in c-bills didn't really concern him. "Our objective is to try and stabilize the region at large."
Delaney shook his head head, "You saw it with Fjaldr Colonel and that was right in our backyard the periphery. There is no authority sufficient on most planets to stop pirates on something as big as a planet, and if they've got moons the resources just aren't there... and Luxen is a long way off sir to be trying to establish schools."
But the truth was the mission schools were being done for other motives than just international good will. It was true they had set up children's creches as part of the first infrastructure of the margravate but by establishing schools in places that needed them now they could train up teachers and get them real world experience with the world as it was now for when it came time to rotate them back to the worlds here to run formal school for an expected post decanting population boom, "We're going to run a similar program closer at home on Tarragona, and have similar schools elsewhere for the populations that were already here."
"It can be done sir, but it won't be easy."
"You don't believe the Canopians will go for it?"
"I don't think they have a choice but to agree, but that could breed its own share of resentment. Pulling the Highlanders off Katinka a gamble as well, shipping themto the magistracy could be misinterpreted to the Taurians. The bulls could do something stupid if they think we're stood down, I've heard that Ostegaard kid talk," Delaney leaned back, "He's never had a real fight in his life, and he's rearing for one."
"He's one young officer, I'm sure there are plenty like him," He told him not to sweat it too much, "Just keep him away from Pike, the last thing I need is one of my MechWarriors deciding to put the Taurian Military Attache in a triangle choke."
"Shit, Colonel, I'd pay good money to watch the Lieutenant put that boy on the deck." His expression darkened, and the engineer grumbled, "I know, you might have sir been better off sending the lieutenant to the Canopians."
"And why would that be?" Heron shook his head. "Besides I'm considering posting Pike to Artru the drone BattleMech program there is something of apriority."
Delaney continued to play with his hat, "Yeah, I talked to Locura, and read the files, they were expecting a batch worth from Terra, some baby faced Major was due in..." His voice pitched, "you know the Taurians nuked Malvern Hill, and parts of the 11th Fleet over Aquagea with most of the regiment aboard... but they managed to get a signal off."
Parts of the command had already been engaged on the surface of the Capellan world at the time, he had also read the reports. "And if we are lucky the survivors managed to get to the stasis tubes on Aquagea." He replied as evenly as he could manage given the discussion's somber turn even as Delaney's volume increased, "But the Taurians who participated in the rebellion are long dead. I cannot and will not prosecute the re opening of hostilities with the Taurians over the events of the last one."
The engineer nodded, "But the plan is to make nice with the Canopians so we only have to look one way...what about the Azami, they're still out there, the Combine wouldn't have brought them up if they weren't scared. Something is going on, an Azami combat element just lights out for the periphery with their dependents... I don't buy it. Something went bad wrong and they made a run for it..."
But they couldn't go chasing -,"Delaney we don't have time for it, and I'm not going to senselessly bait the Combine into a problem for us. Finish unpacking that data core about those installations, we're going to need to consolidate, if Black Jack is pulling material out of caches I'm going to need senior personnel on those recovery missions."
The Stetson came to a rest on the man's finger, "Boss, you know there are going to be SLDF facilities in the Magistracy... and probably rimward of the concordat. If we poke around its going to be a problem. The Protector might accept that yeah Brinton was a disaster waiting to happen, and if those bioweapons had gotten lose there is not telling how many people would have died, but SLDF depots are going to have material."
"And they might have Terransoldiers." He paused, "Our objective is to recover those sites, and the material and anyone in stasis." Heron glanced at his message indicator, still nothing, "Well at least there hasn't been a fight out there, Delaney I recognize we have a manpower problem... and recognize that the Aurigans have a porous frontier...but we have to worry about the Capellans, who still haven't deigned to join us at this table. I need that settlement with the Taurians to get reached.so its one less thing I have to worry about."
"Kerensky's exodus sir?"
"That too." He replied standing up, and reaching for the hitherto mug of coffee, it was now cold but he downed the rest of it quickly, "Come on, we'll worry about these wolf people when we have to, just keep scrounging over that Dire Wolf mech, and the machinery from the Taragonna site."
"And the other AI?"
"If not for the pirate problem I'd prioritize it as a fall back position on the rimward, for now tell mother bear we're working on it. This conference though might last another week," Longer if the delays about broader action kept forcing adjournments.
--
Notes: For those of interest check out the BattleTech Junkyard thread.
Arsacid kept a watchful eye on the reports notification, but it remained without any indication that something had changed. He supposed he wouldn't until he stopped expecting it. As host it was likely only a matter of time before one of the delegates tried to open bilateral talks... which was exactly what he wanted to push forward with the Canopians. Then of course on top of that there were all of the usual day to day issues of being on Katinka.
Delaney was doing the best he could, but again it was always, "We don't have the personnel," Then after a moment, "With all due respect sir, the Hegemony's fall back plan was always optimistic," But that was the tendency towards plans for desperate measures, they were often a bit mad." Falling back into the periphery , starting new colonies the manpower requirements were vastly underestimated." The texan continued, "And even if can find out the fall back positions from that derelict which I'm not sure I can get fully operational, but at least the data core looks intact, we still won't have the personnel assuming all of them succeeded."
This was a private aside meeting, and the man was right. The Hegemony had had wildly optimistic about their chances... which was why Heron hadn't been trying to make a completely new Hegemony, they weren't the Hegemony, "I am aware that is unlikely the personnel never reached their stasis tubes, but that isn't what I asked you."
"Yes sir." He replied taking a breath, and a moment to play with his stetsin, "I can have troops rotated on schedule, the care package is easy."
"Luxen from what I'm told has one of the Canopians remaining universities," He replied, "We're not starting from scratch. The objective is to expand the magistracy's civilian services," In an ideal world precipitously, but what they really needed was to buttress the Canopians so that they could secure a flank of sorts. "I'm going to tentatively agree with Shawkat's proposal... I don't imagine we will get any of the larger units to fall back into the periphery," But there were more than a handful of units who traced their lineage back to the SLDF... and frankly the money in c-bills didn't really concern him. "Our objective is to try and stabilize the region at large."
Delaney shook his head head, "You saw it with Fjaldr Colonel and that was right in our backyard the periphery. There is no authority sufficient on most planets to stop pirates on something as big as a planet, and if they've got moons the resources just aren't there... and Luxen is a long way off sir to be trying to establish schools."
But the truth was the mission schools were being done for other motives than just international good will. It was true they had set up children's creches as part of the first infrastructure of the margravate but by establishing schools in places that needed them now they could train up teachers and get them real world experience with the world as it was now for when it came time to rotate them back to the worlds here to run formal school for an expected post decanting population boom, "We're going to run a similar program closer at home on Tarragona, and have similar schools elsewhere for the populations that were already here."
"It can be done sir, but it won't be easy."
"You don't believe the Canopians will go for it?"
"I don't think they have a choice but to agree, but that could breed its own share of resentment. Pulling the Highlanders off Katinka a gamble as well, shipping themto the magistracy could be misinterpreted to the Taurians. The bulls could do something stupid if they think we're stood down, I've heard that Ostegaard kid talk," Delaney leaned back, "He's never had a real fight in his life, and he's rearing for one."
"He's one young officer, I'm sure there are plenty like him," He told him not to sweat it too much, "Just keep him away from Pike, the last thing I need is one of my MechWarriors deciding to put the Taurian Military Attache in a triangle choke."
"Shit, Colonel, I'd pay good money to watch the Lieutenant put that boy on the deck." His expression darkened, and the engineer grumbled, "I know, you might have sir been better off sending the lieutenant to the Canopians."
"And why would that be?" Heron shook his head. "Besides I'm considering posting Pike to Artru the drone BattleMech program there is something of apriority."
Delaney continued to play with his hat, "Yeah, I talked to Locura, and read the files, they were expecting a batch worth from Terra, some baby faced Major was due in..." His voice pitched, "you know the Taurians nuked Malvern Hill, and parts of the 11th Fleet over Aquagea with most of the regiment aboard... but they managed to get a signal off."
Parts of the command had already been engaged on the surface of the Capellan world at the time, he had also read the reports. "And if we are lucky the survivors managed to get to the stasis tubes on Aquagea." He replied as evenly as he could manage given the discussion's somber turn even as Delaney's volume increased, "But the Taurians who participated in the rebellion are long dead. I cannot and will not prosecute the re opening of hostilities with the Taurians over the events of the last one."
The engineer nodded, "But the plan is to make nice with the Canopians so we only have to look one way...what about the Azami, they're still out there, the Combine wouldn't have brought them up if they weren't scared. Something is going on, an Azami combat element just lights out for the periphery with their dependents... I don't buy it. Something went bad wrong and they made a run for it..."
But they couldn't go chasing -,"Delaney we don't have time for it, and I'm not going to senselessly bait the Combine into a problem for us. Finish unpacking that data core about those installations, we're going to need to consolidate, if Black Jack is pulling material out of caches I'm going to need senior personnel on those recovery missions."
The Stetson came to a rest on the man's finger, "Boss, you know there are going to be SLDF facilities in the Magistracy... and probably rimward of the concordat. If we poke around its going to be a problem. The Protector might accept that yeah Brinton was a disaster waiting to happen, and if those bioweapons had gotten lose there is not telling how many people would have died, but SLDF depots are going to have material."
"And they might have Terransoldiers." He paused, "Our objective is to recover those sites, and the material and anyone in stasis." Heron glanced at his message indicator, still nothing, "Well at least there hasn't been a fight out there, Delaney I recognize we have a manpower problem... and recognize that the Aurigans have a porous frontier...but we have to worry about the Capellans, who still haven't deigned to join us at this table. I need that settlement with the Taurians to get reached.so its one less thing I have to worry about."
"Kerensky's exodus sir?"
"That too." He replied standing up, and reaching for the hitherto mug of coffee, it was now cold but he downed the rest of it quickly, "Come on, we'll worry about these wolf people when we have to, just keep scrounging over that Dire Wolf mech, and the machinery from the Taragonna site."
"And the other AI?"
"If not for the pirate problem I'd prioritize it as a fall back position on the rimward, for now tell mother bear we're working on it. This conference though might last another week," Longer if the delays about broader action kept forcing adjournments.
--
Notes: For those of interest check out the BattleTech Junkyard thread.
BlueRanger O-Doom
Not too sore, are you?
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The never ending pull for manpower, especially without the support of the Hegemony and SLDF has got to be a shock to the system for the new March.
5.2
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
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- Sep 11, 2019
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5.2
It was just another morning. There was nothing special about it as talks remained stuck in an unproductive, but at least not counter productive holding pattern. A week was looking optimistic as most focus had turned to the latest news of atrocities from the Inner Sphere.
Delaney expected that he could have the data core processed faster with Erineyes help, but that included being sure there were no remaining safety features in the data before... the Argo as a ship had been sent off right before things had dropped into the pot and so they needed to take precautions. It was also far from his only job, like most of the Terran officers he was responsible for several different groups of men and women all handling the burgeoning colonies.
The operational directorate for the Margravate was built along the lines of the Terran Hegemony and was staffed by a mix of regular military intelligence and CID personnel. Officially Arsacid himself had been sheep dipped to CID and that was part of the reason he had likely remained in command of a special operations capable regiment rather than a rotation back to Earth to assume a leadership and policy role... a role that he might have been able to impact policy under Kerensky... and of course a staff position on Earth might have meant being caught during the crisis... like the command capital ship officers of note.
"So, what are the chances that the Vandenburg White Wings are our people?"
Heron snorted, and Delaney glanced at the captain who asked the question, "Slim to none." The Texan replied, "Their IFFs weren't properly configured, and before you suggest that that could be obfuscation we considered that." It was true that they had considered it possible been but it didn't add up. The ship scuttling didn't add up... and if not for where the ship had gone down and the mess that Brinton had made maybe it would been worth trying to chance the gravity well with drones... but "the Trips lost." Delaney remarked plainly to the other man.
Tripitz had been sunk by concerted airpower in the gravity well of a gas giant. "Tripitz may have accessed the SLCOMNET but there is very little of the network left." The naval officer remarked downturn of mood tinging his voice, "Some of that appears to be from intentional scuttling. Possibly when Kerensky pulled out of the concordat but that's just speculation at this point. We'd need to find one intact enough to have a data uplink..." and they weren't likely to be that lucky.
The operations directorate was staying silent on the possibility of Triptiz having made the run from Terra to the rimward periphery and then not made it to Kerensky. There was speculation but Heron was afflicted with a trepidation of actually asking what might have been the reason....any communications that had been logged in the database for the Tripitz had probably not survived. They might be able to push through a remote access search but the chances were slim, Heron had been told that that as unlikely to yield much, especially since for the time being the margravate was not actively looking for any surviving satellites in deep space.
A chime sounded, "Delaney keep an eye on the guests."
"The magistracy?"
"We will see how that goes," He replied. Ambassador Centrella had retired early yesterday to her guest house with her staff... and presumably to speak with her attaché from MIC, the Canopian intelligence service but that was unlikely to generate as much of a problem as having trouble with the other visitors. They were still waiting for a number to come up for Brinton... but that might well take weeks especially if ComStar's representative wanted to continue to bandy around security commitments and other ComStar business in place of discussions of Brinton. It was frustrating but part of him accepted that an international multi state settlement was less likely to be reneged on short of full blown war.... and if ComSTar wouldn't well he had an alternative possibility
"Do you want me to move forward on the contingency?"
There had been protests to demobilizing more pilots but without access to the broader Hegemon's resources....or the Star league they were going to be short people. The people who had come out of stasis tubes had a hard time acclimating to that. "Yes." Heron replied turning to leave Delaney and the staff as he made his way back into the access corridor which return him to the main government complex of Katinka's capital.
His pace was unhurried. There was no point in rushing. He didn't at present have the resources to do as much as he would have liked, and that would have been true even without the Brinton crisis having complicated things... but crisis occasionally presented opportunities that most might overlook. As long as things didn't worsen he could afford to bring this out over the weeks, but he didn't have a reason to draw it out either.
The official government center let him conduct business publicly, and it allowed the government center to advertise what the margravate strived for, and was building towards. He could only hope that helped to build a favorable impression with the Magistracy, and its ambassador. The cafe spaces were less florid than he imagined the magistracy's upper class venues were. That wasn't to say form what he'd seen of the Coalition, Coromodir liked its vistas and its bright colors. Too much of his recollections of the Magistracy had been tarred by the seemingly vapid condition of the well to do of the aristocracy. Even those impression while based on what his own eyes had been able to see in 2766 had also been impacted by pre war impressions, pre war reports of the disparity in how the Canopians carried on, and even popular media.
An impression that continued even into modern media on the stereotypes of nations. Over the course of time, of the two plus centuries that had passed them by as they had slept, all the member states of the old star league had changed... and while he wasn't going to publicly repudiate the Mother Doctrine basic humanitarian technologies like water purification and atmospheric stabilization systems could be put out there to make worlds easier to live on, industrial machinery for mining ventures in the reach of space between the Magistracy and Coalition borders ... potentially joint investment of capital if not necessarily colonial ventures were all sorts of efforts that wouldn't require him to involve the Coalition's council to bring about a tedious parliamentary procedure to vote on like authorizing the ACM to act federally against pirate havens... especially the pirate havens distant from the Aurigan Reach as had been the case for criticism for the expedition that had dropped on Axylus. That criticism had been non binding of course, and he hoped potentially earned some good will from Canopus, but it remained something the council had grumbling misgivings about on Coromodir.
But for those complaints the he supposed 'anti war' or 'federalist' faction agitated with, their own position left with nothing to do but to complain as his troops were used as he deemed fit. The coalition's federal powers were weak and carefully safeguarded member states as mostly independent worlds from federal overreach. Heron Arsacid was prepared to exploit those latitudes for trading in particular where he could, and also providing military aid to the Canopians if they could reach an agreement. That meant examining whether something could be meaningfully done about Luxen's position on the rimward frontier, and there would be those who would sneer about it... but Luxen was on the frontier... and beyond its provincial borders the 'canopian ruins' were Terran facilities or the ruins of.
"Ambassador Centrella, am I to understand your government has empowered you to negotiate a settlement," there was already an existing treaty of peace trade and friendship between the Coalition and the Magistracy so there was no need for such formalities... and since ComStar's representative seemed less than inclined to focus on the issue of reparations it made sense to approach a nominally neutral third party periphery state to make recommendations on such monetary costs as civilian damages might amount to.
It was just another morning. There was nothing special about it as talks remained stuck in an unproductive, but at least not counter productive holding pattern. A week was looking optimistic as most focus had turned to the latest news of atrocities from the Inner Sphere.
Delaney expected that he could have the data core processed faster with Erineyes help, but that included being sure there were no remaining safety features in the data before... the Argo as a ship had been sent off right before things had dropped into the pot and so they needed to take precautions. It was also far from his only job, like most of the Terran officers he was responsible for several different groups of men and women all handling the burgeoning colonies.
The operational directorate for the Margravate was built along the lines of the Terran Hegemony and was staffed by a mix of regular military intelligence and CID personnel. Officially Arsacid himself had been sheep dipped to CID and that was part of the reason he had likely remained in command of a special operations capable regiment rather than a rotation back to Earth to assume a leadership and policy role... a role that he might have been able to impact policy under Kerensky... and of course a staff position on Earth might have meant being caught during the crisis... like the command capital ship officers of note.
"So, what are the chances that the Vandenburg White Wings are our people?"
Heron snorted, and Delaney glanced at the captain who asked the question, "Slim to none." The Texan replied, "Their IFFs weren't properly configured, and before you suggest that that could be obfuscation we considered that." It was true that they had considered it possible been but it didn't add up. The ship scuttling didn't add up... and if not for where the ship had gone down and the mess that Brinton had made maybe it would been worth trying to chance the gravity well with drones... but "the Trips lost." Delaney remarked plainly to the other man.
Tripitz had been sunk by concerted airpower in the gravity well of a gas giant. "Tripitz may have accessed the SLCOMNET but there is very little of the network left." The naval officer remarked downturn of mood tinging his voice, "Some of that appears to be from intentional scuttling. Possibly when Kerensky pulled out of the concordat but that's just speculation at this point. We'd need to find one intact enough to have a data uplink..." and they weren't likely to be that lucky.
The operations directorate was staying silent on the possibility of Triptiz having made the run from Terra to the rimward periphery and then not made it to Kerensky. There was speculation but Heron was afflicted with a trepidation of actually asking what might have been the reason....any communications that had been logged in the database for the Tripitz had probably not survived. They might be able to push through a remote access search but the chances were slim, Heron had been told that that as unlikely to yield much, especially since for the time being the margravate was not actively looking for any surviving satellites in deep space.
A chime sounded, "Delaney keep an eye on the guests."
"The magistracy?"
"We will see how that goes," He replied. Ambassador Centrella had retired early yesterday to her guest house with her staff... and presumably to speak with her attaché from MIC, the Canopian intelligence service but that was unlikely to generate as much of a problem as having trouble with the other visitors. They were still waiting for a number to come up for Brinton... but that might well take weeks especially if ComStar's representative wanted to continue to bandy around security commitments and other ComStar business in place of discussions of Brinton. It was frustrating but part of him accepted that an international multi state settlement was less likely to be reneged on short of full blown war.... and if ComSTar wouldn't well he had an alternative possibility
"Do you want me to move forward on the contingency?"
There had been protests to demobilizing more pilots but without access to the broader Hegemon's resources....or the Star league they were going to be short people. The people who had come out of stasis tubes had a hard time acclimating to that. "Yes." Heron replied turning to leave Delaney and the staff as he made his way back into the access corridor which return him to the main government complex of Katinka's capital.
His pace was unhurried. There was no point in rushing. He didn't at present have the resources to do as much as he would have liked, and that would have been true even without the Brinton crisis having complicated things... but crisis occasionally presented opportunities that most might overlook. As long as things didn't worsen he could afford to bring this out over the weeks, but he didn't have a reason to draw it out either.
The official government center let him conduct business publicly, and it allowed the government center to advertise what the margravate strived for, and was building towards. He could only hope that helped to build a favorable impression with the Magistracy, and its ambassador. The cafe spaces were less florid than he imagined the magistracy's upper class venues were. That wasn't to say form what he'd seen of the Coalition, Coromodir liked its vistas and its bright colors. Too much of his recollections of the Magistracy had been tarred by the seemingly vapid condition of the well to do of the aristocracy. Even those impression while based on what his own eyes had been able to see in 2766 had also been impacted by pre war impressions, pre war reports of the disparity in how the Canopians carried on, and even popular media.
An impression that continued even into modern media on the stereotypes of nations. Over the course of time, of the two plus centuries that had passed them by as they had slept, all the member states of the old star league had changed... and while he wasn't going to publicly repudiate the Mother Doctrine basic humanitarian technologies like water purification and atmospheric stabilization systems could be put out there to make worlds easier to live on, industrial machinery for mining ventures in the reach of space between the Magistracy and Coalition borders ... potentially joint investment of capital if not necessarily colonial ventures were all sorts of efforts that wouldn't require him to involve the Coalition's council to bring about a tedious parliamentary procedure to vote on like authorizing the ACM to act federally against pirate havens... especially the pirate havens distant from the Aurigan Reach as had been the case for criticism for the expedition that had dropped on Axylus. That criticism had been non binding of course, and he hoped potentially earned some good will from Canopus, but it remained something the council had grumbling misgivings about on Coromodir.
But for those complaints the he supposed 'anti war' or 'federalist' faction agitated with, their own position left with nothing to do but to complain as his troops were used as he deemed fit. The coalition's federal powers were weak and carefully safeguarded member states as mostly independent worlds from federal overreach. Heron Arsacid was prepared to exploit those latitudes for trading in particular where he could, and also providing military aid to the Canopians if they could reach an agreement. That meant examining whether something could be meaningfully done about Luxen's position on the rimward frontier, and there would be those who would sneer about it... but Luxen was on the frontier... and beyond its provincial borders the 'canopian ruins' were Terran facilities or the ruins of.
"Ambassador Centrella, am I to understand your government has empowered you to negotiate a settlement," there was already an existing treaty of peace trade and friendship between the Coalition and the Magistracy so there was no need for such formalities... and since ComStar's representative seemed less than inclined to focus on the issue of reparations it made sense to approach a nominally neutral third party periphery state to make recommendations on such monetary costs as civilian damages might amount to.
Last edited:
5.3
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
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- Sep 11, 2019
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5.3
From the veranda Ana Maria Centrella understood very well that her country was eager for the possibility of benefitting from the situation. It had been part of the pressure to be seen doing something in the Aurigan Reach, and enjoyed minister plenipotentiary powers as ambassador. That didn't make her any less wary. The first visible efforts of the Arsacid regime had been martial ventures, including the distribution of heavy machinery to the coalition.
The Aurigan Coalition had already been by periphery standards rather well armed and provisioned to produce its own military equipment. Griffins and Dragons were being complemented by Archers produced on the Margravate capital of Katinka, and a Thunderbolt BattleMech line having been set up on the Coalition capital.
The Straios on her staff representing the Magistracy's state intelligence service had equivocated on what this meant... Heron had launched lightning strikes at pirate bases as far as the Magistracy's border and all of that had been prior to the ascertaining of pirates using Rim World symbols, never mind actual battlemechs. The prevailing hypothesis, and what drove her her need to act was that that Terrans were all from the late 2760s long frozen in time, left in stasis tubes expecting to have been woken up, and for whom the war against Amaris was recent... and there was significant concern what that would mean with relations to the Taurians.
That had been before the Brinton incursion... which of course was made all the more complicated by the Concordat's tangling with both pirates, and the Capellan's own incursion on to the planet. So being asked to suggest a settlement price for the damage done to civilian homes and businesses was hard to contemplate... because it risked entangling her government , and yet it was still a gamble that Ana Maria Centrella was willing to roll on. Canopians liked to gamble after all.
The problem so that she saw it was that the target of Arsacid's scotts landing on Brinton had been based off of the presumable latest intelligence from the Hegemony or Star League. They had landed on bunkers long forgotten offloaded heavy combat engineers and moved to destroy stockpiles of WMDs. There had been damage to civilian property but the damage had relatively minor compared to the stomping around of mechs engaging in the general free for all between the other sides... thus to taurian irredentists it was going to look as if she was pitching the ball underhanded for an easy return.
That wasn't true, she wasn't in a hurry to tweak the bulls by the nose especially not in such a blatant fashion but public reactions did not always respond to the facts so much as the impression given. Canopus would be happy that it had been the Magistracy that the Aurigans had turned to in this situation and without need to expend blood or treasure to achieve that.
That still left her required to ask the mousy woman the Straios attached from the MIC the product of a rigorous, insane even, schooling procedure for which most failed out but even wash outs from the program still made geniuses, and doctors of a caliber uncommon in the modern era, "What can we expect from here on out?" What would be the next step that the Margravate would take.
"A formal visit at this stage is unlikely." Full blown war at this stage was unlikely... and in truth the Taurians might have had the numbers but Arsacid's terran veterans would likely have bled the Taurians white in defiance...leaving them vulnerable to pirates, or the predations of territorial ambitions of House Liao and or House Davion.. "The Margravate does seem favorably disposed towards House Davion, inquiries and small talk establish a great many of the mechwarriors in Arsacid's senior most warriors are veterans of the Star League Intervention during the Davion Succession Crisis... and most seem to believe that the Hegemony hadn't gone far enough."
That would have been ancient history in her opinion until very very recently. It was still a historical event but one few in the Magistracy of the present day would have needed to concern themselves with. The MIC had redoubled its efforts to put together their best picture of what they knew had happened... but that wasn't all that useful to the situation. House Kurita had argued that their candidate for First Prince was eligible, the reigning Star Lord had declined to bring the Hegemony or the Star League into the conflict, until his sister had forced the issue. The 'second hidden war' had lasted four years and resulted in no territorial changes... but in hindsight had showed the fractures in the Star League and should have been a clear warning of the dangers of House Kurita's megalomania.
It was also the reason the Combine was so upset with the Terran Colonel. Takiro Kurita had scrambled the best the Combine had had, and had acquitted themselves well as MechWarriors. Those same warriors had also gone out against the Periphery to fight under Star League colors with their Terran rivals. As the MIC understood it, Takiro Kurita had had plenty of blood in the fight, not just campaigning for the rights of his nephew Vincent to assume the title of first prince but also by directing his favorite granddaughter to seek out and engage the very best of the Terran Hegemony... along with a host of other members of the ruling dynastic house.
Takiro had died of a heart attack not long after the onset of the Amaris crisis. The ambassadors to the Star League at the time had been Vincent Kurita's son and his family... who had been butchered by Amaris's troops. Ana Maria wondered if Heron had been informed that the Davion-Kurita pretender had been killed in action in the course of the First Succession War. She doubted at least that the Kuritan envoy or the 'ronin' who had arrived would have brought it up, or that it had been brought up with the Combine diplomatic party.
There was a chime at the door, which told her she didn't have much time left. It was time to sweep away the last of the documents, and prepare for the arrival. She had silently found herself agreeing with the Straios's assessment. Arsacid was unlikely to directly visit the Magistracy, was unlikely to visit Canopus any time soon. The chattering of soldiers was an interesting data point, but it risked her getting ahead of everything. They received a final informing tone as the Arsacid made his way through the common area of the cafe, and in moments with a velvet grace the tall warlord passed through the transparent doors to the veranda terrace. It was a reminder that the Terran was taller than she was, or the combine representative to the point that he all but towered over them them but that his proportions were almost sylvan, otherworldly in close proximity, and it was immediately to business, "Ambassador Centrella, am I to understand your government has empowered you to negotiate a settlement,"
She nodded, reiterating the existing treaty of friendship, peace, and trade which defined the Magistracy's relations with the broader Aurigan Coalition, "And you want me to fix a price on the losses on Brinton."
"I am prepared to pay for the damages that actions undertaken by my troops might be held liable for causing during the course of a military operation," He replied, "If it will settle this," And settle it quickly went unsaid. She'd been well aware that the Margravate's BattleMech reserves were a handful of models... she'd seen the Marauders, and also the machines identified as Crab, and King Crab, and the totem mech of Scotts in Highland colors both from ROM footage as well as present here on Katinka. The majority of Hegemony designs, that had largely faded from the scene were present in entire units full of machines that had come through the succession wars as their pilots had slept away the centuries.
From the veranda Ana Maria Centrella understood very well that her country was eager for the possibility of benefitting from the situation. It had been part of the pressure to be seen doing something in the Aurigan Reach, and enjoyed minister plenipotentiary powers as ambassador. That didn't make her any less wary. The first visible efforts of the Arsacid regime had been martial ventures, including the distribution of heavy machinery to the coalition.
The Aurigan Coalition had already been by periphery standards rather well armed and provisioned to produce its own military equipment. Griffins and Dragons were being complemented by Archers produced on the Margravate capital of Katinka, and a Thunderbolt BattleMech line having been set up on the Coalition capital.
The Straios on her staff representing the Magistracy's state intelligence service had equivocated on what this meant... Heron had launched lightning strikes at pirate bases as far as the Magistracy's border and all of that had been prior to the ascertaining of pirates using Rim World symbols, never mind actual battlemechs. The prevailing hypothesis, and what drove her her need to act was that that Terrans were all from the late 2760s long frozen in time, left in stasis tubes expecting to have been woken up, and for whom the war against Amaris was recent... and there was significant concern what that would mean with relations to the Taurians.
That had been before the Brinton incursion... which of course was made all the more complicated by the Concordat's tangling with both pirates, and the Capellan's own incursion on to the planet. So being asked to suggest a settlement price for the damage done to civilian homes and businesses was hard to contemplate... because it risked entangling her government , and yet it was still a gamble that Ana Maria Centrella was willing to roll on. Canopians liked to gamble after all.
The problem so that she saw it was that the target of Arsacid's scotts landing on Brinton had been based off of the presumable latest intelligence from the Hegemony or Star League. They had landed on bunkers long forgotten offloaded heavy combat engineers and moved to destroy stockpiles of WMDs. There had been damage to civilian property but the damage had relatively minor compared to the stomping around of mechs engaging in the general free for all between the other sides... thus to taurian irredentists it was going to look as if she was pitching the ball underhanded for an easy return.
That wasn't true, she wasn't in a hurry to tweak the bulls by the nose especially not in such a blatant fashion but public reactions did not always respond to the facts so much as the impression given. Canopus would be happy that it had been the Magistracy that the Aurigans had turned to in this situation and without need to expend blood or treasure to achieve that.
That still left her required to ask the mousy woman the Straios attached from the MIC the product of a rigorous, insane even, schooling procedure for which most failed out but even wash outs from the program still made geniuses, and doctors of a caliber uncommon in the modern era, "What can we expect from here on out?" What would be the next step that the Margravate would take.
"A formal visit at this stage is unlikely." Full blown war at this stage was unlikely... and in truth the Taurians might have had the numbers but Arsacid's terran veterans would likely have bled the Taurians white in defiance...leaving them vulnerable to pirates, or the predations of territorial ambitions of House Liao and or House Davion.. "The Margravate does seem favorably disposed towards House Davion, inquiries and small talk establish a great many of the mechwarriors in Arsacid's senior most warriors are veterans of the Star League Intervention during the Davion Succession Crisis... and most seem to believe that the Hegemony hadn't gone far enough."
That would have been ancient history in her opinion until very very recently. It was still a historical event but one few in the Magistracy of the present day would have needed to concern themselves with. The MIC had redoubled its efforts to put together their best picture of what they knew had happened... but that wasn't all that useful to the situation. House Kurita had argued that their candidate for First Prince was eligible, the reigning Star Lord had declined to bring the Hegemony or the Star League into the conflict, until his sister had forced the issue. The 'second hidden war' had lasted four years and resulted in no territorial changes... but in hindsight had showed the fractures in the Star League and should have been a clear warning of the dangers of House Kurita's megalomania.
It was also the reason the Combine was so upset with the Terran Colonel. Takiro Kurita had scrambled the best the Combine had had, and had acquitted themselves well as MechWarriors. Those same warriors had also gone out against the Periphery to fight under Star League colors with their Terran rivals. As the MIC understood it, Takiro Kurita had had plenty of blood in the fight, not just campaigning for the rights of his nephew Vincent to assume the title of first prince but also by directing his favorite granddaughter to seek out and engage the very best of the Terran Hegemony... along with a host of other members of the ruling dynastic house.
Takiro had died of a heart attack not long after the onset of the Amaris crisis. The ambassadors to the Star League at the time had been Vincent Kurita's son and his family... who had been butchered by Amaris's troops. Ana Maria wondered if Heron had been informed that the Davion-Kurita pretender had been killed in action in the course of the First Succession War. She doubted at least that the Kuritan envoy or the 'ronin' who had arrived would have brought it up, or that it had been brought up with the Combine diplomatic party.
There was a chime at the door, which told her she didn't have much time left. It was time to sweep away the last of the documents, and prepare for the arrival. She had silently found herself agreeing with the Straios's assessment. Arsacid was unlikely to directly visit the Magistracy, was unlikely to visit Canopus any time soon. The chattering of soldiers was an interesting data point, but it risked her getting ahead of everything. They received a final informing tone as the Arsacid made his way through the common area of the cafe, and in moments with a velvet grace the tall warlord passed through the transparent doors to the veranda terrace. It was a reminder that the Terran was taller than she was, or the combine representative to the point that he all but towered over them them but that his proportions were almost sylvan, otherworldly in close proximity, and it was immediately to business, "Ambassador Centrella, am I to understand your government has empowered you to negotiate a settlement,"
She nodded, reiterating the existing treaty of friendship, peace, and trade which defined the Magistracy's relations with the broader Aurigan Coalition, "And you want me to fix a price on the losses on Brinton."
"I am prepared to pay for the damages that actions undertaken by my troops might be held liable for causing during the course of a military operation," He replied, "If it will settle this," And settle it quickly went unsaid. She'd been well aware that the Margravate's BattleMech reserves were a handful of models... she'd seen the Marauders, and also the machines identified as Crab, and King Crab, and the totem mech of Scotts in Highland colors both from ROM footage as well as present here on Katinka. The majority of Hegemony designs, that had largely faded from the scene were present in entire units full of machines that had come through the succession wars as their pilots had slept away the centuries.
5.4
New
Imperator Pax
Talon Master
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2019
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5.4
They settled for coffee. Centrella's chief aide produced a comprehensive looking list of damaged that had been provided by ComStar Heron had come to suspect that someone inComStar's leadership had abruptly thrown their weight around to to push matters more towards the agenda of protecting ComStar's existing facilities ... but he'd yet to have that substantiated.
It was a plausible explanation, that or there had been a very good bait and switch game being launched in calling for these talks. It didn't matter if ComStar didn't want to participate as the third party he wasn't opposed to pushing for a periphery state from participating as arbiter.
For ana marie centrella there was however something which the Magistracy had to ascertain, the matter which perhaps in certain circles of foreign policy took precedenceover contemporary relations with modern states. "With respect Colonel Arsacid, you are an officer of the Star League Defense Force, you and all of your men are from another era."
Of that, he paused before speaking, but in that brief moment there a flash of grief. That it didn't matter if they had slept two hundred, or even a thousand years. He spread his hands, one hand occupied by the steaming coffee from the nearby carafe, "I am an officer of the Terran Hegemony, but that, like the League died with the murders and atrocities committed by Amaris, and the war he ignited." Heron replied, "The Hegemony and its creations were a fallible institution, it is absurd that anyone should look back on the League and argue that were too competent, too brave or too caring. We are all human, and the only thing we can do is to stand up when we fall." The last thing he wanted to contend with was the optimism of what a Star League returned should be, that there was an ideological belief that existed in the descendants of the Star League, "I am prepared to make compromises where necessary, and deal with the Taurian Concordat on equal footing as a sovereign state."
The Hyades cluster was too close to the Aurigan Reach. The Taurian core was right next door to be dismissed as the Hegemony had in part due to the Capellan and Federated Suns sitting between them. He didn't have the luxury of a buffer state, nor was the gulf in interstellar space such that he could rely on it to shield him... if anything he was the buffer state between the Taurians and the interior Aurigan Coalition worlds, and the Aurigan Reach served such for the Canopians
"So you have attested to throughout these negotiations," She paused, "So I would like to ask what happens if the Concordat accepts the settlement?"
"It buys time," It was just money after all, "ideally it is the opening opportunity to affirming the common frontier, and legal recognition of how things are."
"That a Hegemony in Exile controls worlds Taurian Partisans will claim are Taurian."
It was possible. "Yes, there will be a lobby that will likely make that claim." but he was never going to win them over, "But those same partisans are likely to agitate against any Aurigan possession of the worlds include the Aurigan capital of Coromodir, or for that matter worlds that have been apart of the Federated Suns for longer than they were apart of the Concordat. It is not my position to negotiate with extremists especially ones not in government." He stated, "What I want most from these negotiations is a demonstration that we can reach reasonable negotiated conclusions that respect the current border, and that can lead to peace along the frontier going forward... and I am working on the basis that the Taurians can accept that and are unlikely to engage in escalation or military adventurism on the basis of having to contend with their other neighbors, or as ComStar is most focused on, on the threat posed by the pirates."
"Who have Star League Machines of War."
A well established fact about Black Jack's forces, "They also have stocks of Rim World weapons, and alleged Taurian conspirators as such as I understand the Magistracy's claim regarding Black Jack's forces."
"Which would suggest that the Taurians are supporting the pirates."
"It would suggest some wealthy or connected persons in the Concordat are doing so, but the evidence is weak, so weak I'd hardly even call it circumstantial." Hereplied, "As it is, Its not even worth bringing it up in these discussions with the Taurians." The pirates were a concern of course to his government but while accusations had been bandied about... for Hegemony officers who could remember instances where 'pirates' and support for 'pirates' had really been 'privateers' covertly supported by governments had lead to accusations between member states... it wasn't a priority at this. "If the Taurians were supporting Black Jack, it would have to substantiated by evidence, evidence of Taurian material being sent to Black Jack, or Taurian naval personnel providing assistance, or communications. I don't expect a Taurian declaration of neutrality," They weren't dealing with a rogue state here, "but Taurian nationals joining terrorist organizations is not relevant to the recognition of the border, and even in an ideal situation going forward I doubt we'd ever make much progress in a crack down on those renegades."
"But you acknowledge there are Taurian nationals reported with the pirates."
"Yes, because ComStar does publish bounties on known pirates," Which buoyed if not outright substantiated Canopian claims... those claims were somewhat undermined by opposing claims by the bulls that made much the same accusations... but there were canopian nationals who likewise engaged in piracy and who were known to operate from the Tortuga dominions as well as other less infamous pirate havens across the rimward periphery. "But my concern, the concern of my state is the affirmation of foremost a ceasefire, then armistice and perhaps thena more formal recognition of peace between the concordat and the Aurigan Coalition more generally." A treaty like the one between the Coalition had with the Magistracy of peace, friendship, and trade.... was unlikely and had been unlikely under Tamati to begin with, it would have required significantly different conditions than what existed. "So regardless of whether or not there are individual taurians involved I want this settlement to go forward...because at the minimum it should buy me time."
Time really was all Arsacid absolutely needed. The hegemony was gone. And for the Canopian Ambassador the segue way into that history, and those ambitions were to shield her own political position from complaints at home, or accusations from competing positions that she had rushed into this position. That she had somehow acted imprudent or otherwise endangered the Magistracy by taking sides in an interstellar conflict. It was also to establish on the record that they weren't dealing with unrealistic, or outrageous political goals.
They settled for coffee. Centrella's chief aide produced a comprehensive looking list of damaged that had been provided by ComStar Heron had come to suspect that someone inComStar's leadership had abruptly thrown their weight around to to push matters more towards the agenda of protecting ComStar's existing facilities ... but he'd yet to have that substantiated.
It was a plausible explanation, that or there had been a very good bait and switch game being launched in calling for these talks. It didn't matter if ComStar didn't want to participate as the third party he wasn't opposed to pushing for a periphery state from participating as arbiter.
For ana marie centrella there was however something which the Magistracy had to ascertain, the matter which perhaps in certain circles of foreign policy took precedenceover contemporary relations with modern states. "With respect Colonel Arsacid, you are an officer of the Star League Defense Force, you and all of your men are from another era."
Of that, he paused before speaking, but in that brief moment there a flash of grief. That it didn't matter if they had slept two hundred, or even a thousand years. He spread his hands, one hand occupied by the steaming coffee from the nearby carafe, "I am an officer of the Terran Hegemony, but that, like the League died with the murders and atrocities committed by Amaris, and the war he ignited." Heron replied, "The Hegemony and its creations were a fallible institution, it is absurd that anyone should look back on the League and argue that were too competent, too brave or too caring. We are all human, and the only thing we can do is to stand up when we fall." The last thing he wanted to contend with was the optimism of what a Star League returned should be, that there was an ideological belief that existed in the descendants of the Star League, "I am prepared to make compromises where necessary, and deal with the Taurian Concordat on equal footing as a sovereign state."
The Hyades cluster was too close to the Aurigan Reach. The Taurian core was right next door to be dismissed as the Hegemony had in part due to the Capellan and Federated Suns sitting between them. He didn't have the luxury of a buffer state, nor was the gulf in interstellar space such that he could rely on it to shield him... if anything he was the buffer state between the Taurians and the interior Aurigan Coalition worlds, and the Aurigan Reach served such for the Canopians
"So you have attested to throughout these negotiations," She paused, "So I would like to ask what happens if the Concordat accepts the settlement?"
"It buys time," It was just money after all, "ideally it is the opening opportunity to affirming the common frontier, and legal recognition of how things are."
"That a Hegemony in Exile controls worlds Taurian Partisans will claim are Taurian."
It was possible. "Yes, there will be a lobby that will likely make that claim." but he was never going to win them over, "But those same partisans are likely to agitate against any Aurigan possession of the worlds include the Aurigan capital of Coromodir, or for that matter worlds that have been apart of the Federated Suns for longer than they were apart of the Concordat. It is not my position to negotiate with extremists especially ones not in government." He stated, "What I want most from these negotiations is a demonstration that we can reach reasonable negotiated conclusions that respect the current border, and that can lead to peace along the frontier going forward... and I am working on the basis that the Taurians can accept that and are unlikely to engage in escalation or military adventurism on the basis of having to contend with their other neighbors, or as ComStar is most focused on, on the threat posed by the pirates."
"Who have Star League Machines of War."
A well established fact about Black Jack's forces, "They also have stocks of Rim World weapons, and alleged Taurian conspirators as such as I understand the Magistracy's claim regarding Black Jack's forces."
"Which would suggest that the Taurians are supporting the pirates."
"It would suggest some wealthy or connected persons in the Concordat are doing so, but the evidence is weak, so weak I'd hardly even call it circumstantial." Hereplied, "As it is, Its not even worth bringing it up in these discussions with the Taurians." The pirates were a concern of course to his government but while accusations had been bandied about... for Hegemony officers who could remember instances where 'pirates' and support for 'pirates' had really been 'privateers' covertly supported by governments had lead to accusations between member states... it wasn't a priority at this. "If the Taurians were supporting Black Jack, it would have to substantiated by evidence, evidence of Taurian material being sent to Black Jack, or Taurian naval personnel providing assistance, or communications. I don't expect a Taurian declaration of neutrality," They weren't dealing with a rogue state here, "but Taurian nationals joining terrorist organizations is not relevant to the recognition of the border, and even in an ideal situation going forward I doubt we'd ever make much progress in a crack down on those renegades."
"But you acknowledge there are Taurian nationals reported with the pirates."
"Yes, because ComStar does publish bounties on known pirates," Which buoyed if not outright substantiated Canopian claims... those claims were somewhat undermined by opposing claims by the bulls that made much the same accusations... but there were canopian nationals who likewise engaged in piracy and who were known to operate from the Tortuga dominions as well as other less infamous pirate havens across the rimward periphery. "But my concern, the concern of my state is the affirmation of foremost a ceasefire, then armistice and perhaps thena more formal recognition of peace between the concordat and the Aurigan Coalition more generally." A treaty like the one between the Coalition had with the Magistracy of peace, friendship, and trade.... was unlikely and had been unlikely under Tamati to begin with, it would have required significantly different conditions than what existed. "So regardless of whether or not there are individual taurians involved I want this settlement to go forward...because at the minimum it should buy me time."
Time really was all Arsacid absolutely needed. The hegemony was gone. And for the Canopian Ambassador the segue way into that history, and those ambitions were to shield her own political position from complaints at home, or accusations from competing positions that she had rushed into this position. That she had somehow acted imprudent or otherwise endangered the Magistracy by taking sides in an interstellar conflict. It was also to establish on the record that they weren't dealing with unrealistic, or outrageous political goals.
GAMB42
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Tried to read this fic, couldn't really get around it. Far too much disconnect between chapters and from what I read there is a lot of background lore needed to truly grasp what is going on. Probably needs a disclamer somewhere...
Omni
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I've been enjoying this.
Will Heron go to Buffalo Meadows?
If he recycles the Ships there, he not only expands his Fleet, but can recreate the SLDF personnel too.
Maybe the Ruins of Gabriel if ComStar have not found it yet?
I think Farlookers found a Texas Class Battleship and turned it into an Arcship, if it has not been found yet, he could recycle that too?
The SLDF recruited heavily from the RWR after conquering it and seizing control, so even RWR Facilities and Ships could be recycled with SLDF loyal personnel from the Rimworlds Republic.
Will Heron go to Buffalo Meadows?
If he recycles the Ships there, he not only expands his Fleet, but can recreate the SLDF personnel too.
Maybe the Ruins of Gabriel if ComStar have not found it yet?
I think Farlookers found a Texas Class Battleship and turned it into an Arcship, if it has not been found yet, he could recycle that too?
The SLDF recruited heavily from the RWR after conquering it and seizing control, so even RWR Facilities and Ships could be recycled with SLDF loyal personnel from the Rimworlds Republic.
Imperator Pax
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I knew RoG is operational under ComStar and that will be touched on later. Buffalo meadows is on the far side of the periphery which is why it shows up in both Ghost and Rabid Fox, but not really here. I didn't know that the Farlookers had found any warships though
Bofors40mm
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They found what likely was the hulk of the SLS Arkansas a Texas class ship given they jumped a 1.5 million ton station during the Jihad and given the Taurians can't even make jumpships....
Imperator Pax
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... the Taurians can't make jumpships? seriously?
Bofors40mm
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Yep. How the hell they didn't throw all the resources at that post the SLDF pulling out beats me. Then again how they didn't get warship production online in the almost two decades between the SLDF leaving and the Exodus beats me as well.
Oh and if looking at canonical factories the taurians also don't make any MBTs or assault vehicles of any kind and also only make unions and leopards on the dropship front.
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Limedalek
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I'm pretty sure those factories don't even produce any Unions or Leopards yet. To my understanding they don't start till like clan invasion era.
Bofors40mm
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I'll have to check the source books but I'm pretty sure they're making them somewhere a bit earlier
Limedalek
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I looked at the recognition guides cited and it's one from 3054
Bofors40mm
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Huh. To be fair the taurians and really most of the periphery lack a lot of detail in earlier sources books and realistically in general. Like seriously it's so bad that we lack the information on who was running the OWA, MOC, and TC for shockingly long time period.
Imperator Pax
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yeah the merlin is a weird situation, which is why I generally bend that because it doesn't make a lot of sense
Bofors40mm
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Uhhh. The Taurians for sure are making heavy mechs in this period. Archer, Marauder, thunderbolt, and warhammer.
Limedalek
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To my understanding they only started producing those after the succession wars.
What about it doesn't make sense? The fact that it's the first new Battlemech design in centuries or that Mountain Wolf Battlemechs chose to set up their new factory in the OWA rather than in their homeland the Lyran Commonwealth?
Imperator Pax
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The latter. Which is why in Ghost, they're based in the Commonwealth not the OWA.
In Rabid fox they're in the OWA as canon but that directly ties into the rim world coming to visit and Wolf fleeing
Limedalek
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I have not read Ghost or Fox
It was my understanding that in canon they are based in the Lyran Commonwealth with a branch in the Out Worlds Alliance. The Lyran headquarters currently doesn't produce anything due to a FWL raid that happened in 2945 and in the Lyran plant isnt fully restored till 3055.
Bofors40mm
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From what I recall the main reasons was that mountain wolf battlemechs had a much more intact facility in the OWA than the one that the FWL wrecked in the Commonwealth during the 3rd Succession War.
Mind you that still doesn't explain why they didn't try to get that plant fixed with federal support or at the minimum sell a license for the merlin and/or night hawk to Defiance, Bowie, or CMW for a bunch of cash and favors to help fix their plant.
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Limedalek
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The OWA Alliance facility was wrecked as well. They also didn't have any experience in using purely intro tech to construct their designs and failed to create downgrades of their SL era designs. Their corporate competitors weren't interested in helping them. The leadership of mountain wolf did try to work with companies across the inner sphere but no one was interested at all. In 3010 the then CEO of Mountain Wolf basically spent his entire family fortune to repair the OWA facility.