Crescent Glaive
Knight Of The Blood Moon
- Location
- The Blood Moon Keep, Planet Noxum IV
Hmm... methinks the space telecom company turned tech cult has sent some deniable assets to visit Elizabeth 
Aurigan Sentinels (Battle CYOA)
- Thread starter Oshha
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
- Location
- Under your bed
It's either that cousin? Turned pirate or c-star.
I guess we'll see the paint job once they've landed
Thanks for the update
I guess we'll see the paint job once they've landed
Thanks for the update
First Mission 4.4
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Axylus, Alloway System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
19th February 3021
"They're the Cleavers," reports Victoria from aboard the Myrmidon, where she is part of the third lance that is waiting for the Leopard to return to the Myrmidon, "They are led by Thire "Butcher" First and are part of a larger pirate band called Shadow Eclipse."
"Damn it," I curse as I recognise that last name and now I have a ready good idea of why they are here.
"Liz, are these guys who I think they are?" inquires Moana.
"Yeah, they work for Jirus," I confirm bitterly.
"Wait, you know these people?" says Kamea, sounding very surprised, "Who is this Jirus?"
"Jirus is a known pirate warlord and one of the most influential in the Frontier," says Victoria, "He is the disgraced son of an important League noble."
"That Leaguer noble is my biological father," I explain, " And Jirus is my eldest half-brother who wants me dead because my stepmother passed on her hatred for me to him. My other half-siblings like me, but Jirus hates me just for being born."
"Elizabeth always had to be careful of him growing up," adds Moana, "Growing up in a noble family in the Reach gave her some protection, but she effectively had a bounty on her head and had to be extra wary of pirates."
"There is no 'effectively' about it," I say, "Jirus has put a price on my head. I don't know the exact number, but it is in the single digit millions and enough to buy a light 'Mech."
"God, this sounds like a bad holovid drama," says Kamea, "How on Earth did my father never find out about this?"
"Well, it isn't a legal bounty so you won't find out about it via legitimate means," I answer, "And I doubt whatever…we don't have an intelligence agency, do we?"
"Each Founding House maintains its own spy network and while there is some cooperation at times, there is no centralised intelligence agency for the Aurigan Coalition," replies Victoria.
"Well, there you go," I say.
"We're getting off-topic," says Moana, "We have two lances of hostile 'Mechs coming for us. How are we going to play this?"
"We cannot abandon the Argo," states Kamea firmly, "Not when Doctor Murad says she can get it flying again."
"Agreed," I say, "If that was an option, I would have taken our lance back to the Argo and not brought the rest of the company back down here."
"Alas, my lance is still a few minutes out," says Victoria.
"A shame that we don't have drop pods," I say idly only to be met with silence, "What?"
"We do have drop pods," says Kamea reluctantly, "We just…forgot about them."
"I'm going to see if using those could cut down on our estimated arrival time," says Victoria and she drops out of the call.
"We're still young and inexperienced," says Moana soothingly, "Stuff like this is bound to happen."
"I'm the heir to House Arano and the Aurigan Coalition," replies Kamea sourly, "I'm supposed to be good enough to avoid making foolish mistakes like this."
"We're still young and inexperienced," I repeat, "That's on me for not taking someone more experienced with us. I figured this would be a milk run metaphorically speaking and now we're paying the price for me not considering how dangerous it could get."
"I just hope none of us pay for our inexperience in a fatal way," says Moana.
"I just hope none of us fatally pay for our inexperience," I reply.
In the end, we are able to get all three of our lances down to the surface, one via the Hysteria and the other via drop pods. Our MechWarriors are inexperienced and our rides have been hastily rearmoured and rearmed and while we will have a tonnage and numbers advantage, the Cleavers have been around long enough that they will almost certainly have the skill advantage. So when the pirates made their surrender demand prior to attacking,
"This is Colonel Thire Forst, the Butcher of the Cleavers, to the mercenaries opposing us," declares the pirate leader on an open channel, "We merely wish to claim the bounty on the wanted woman Elizabeth Nora. Hand her over and we will let you go unmolested. Resist and I'll show why they call me the Butcher."
"Just to be clear, we aren't doing that," says Moana on a private channel between our command lance.
"No, we are not," agrees Kamea firmly, "Elizabeth, with your permission, I would like to speak to the rest of our company. Everyone here might be inexperienced, but they are also loyal scions of the Aurigan Coalition. I would like to remind them that they are fighting alongside the heirs to House Arano and House Espinosa and that we will remember how bravely they fight today."
"You have my permission," I tell her and I put her impromptu speech out of mind as I focus on the incoming enemy contacts.
They are sporadic and the Leopards came down just out of range. The distance combined with the uneven terrain makes it hard to track the enemy 'Mech signatures and there is no chance of getting more detail from the sensors until they come closer.
"Alright, you mercenary mutts," says Colonel Forst over the open channel again, "This is your last chance to surrender and walk away with your lives and 'Mechs. If you don't…we're cutting to carve you up like a fat big and I can't say you'll be luckier to survive to be one of our slaves instead of dying in your cockpits. I'm a BattleMech ace with over a dozen kills to my name. You won't be beating me."
We should be able to take them. We have a lance of Assault 'Mechs, a demi-company of heavies and a pair of Griffins. The odds are that half of the pirate 'Mechs will be Bug 'Mechs. We can take them. Colonel Forst is used to being a big fish in a small pond. He and his gang of pirates won't be prepared to fight an SLDF-vintage Assault Company.
It isn't long before the first Cleavers come into range, a pair of sprinting Locusts, each one moving at eighty miles per hour as their pilots move at maximum speed. As the company opens fire upon the enemy 'Mechs coming into sight, my battle computer pegs both of the hostiles as the LCT-3V variant of the Locust. That's a relatively recent modification of the Locust where they stick in a second medium laser and remove some of the armour and ammo in exchange. Can't remember where the armour is weaker, but honestly, it doesn't matter because we'll be lucky to land any hits at the speed the Bug 'Mechs are going.
Speaking of, I hold my fire for a second longer, just enough time to get some targeting data from the rest of Paladin Company. I might be a poor shot, but I upgraded the target-tracking system of Solus Prime for a reason. So while I fire off a volley from my LRMs, I also line up a very computer-assisted shot from my gauss rifle on one of the Locusts, aiming for its centre torso. I pull the trigger and I missed. Sort of.
I didn't get the kill shot on the central torso that I was looking for, but my gauss slug tore its way through the left torso of the Locust. The pirate 'Mech isn't out of the fight yet, but it is vulnerable and missing one of its machine guns.
The enemy wasn't idly however and while the Locusts didn't get close enough to fire their own weapons, they spotted for the rest of the Cleavers. Even as Paladin Company unleashed their firepower upon the two unfortunate Bug 'Mechs, around sixty or so LRMs rained down on the front ranks of my Sentinels. Nothing close to causing an armour breach and nothing close to the amount of LRMs that we can put out, but it shows that the Cleavers are fighting smart. Smarter than the Buccaneers at least.
Still, if we can give up this rate of exchange, attrition will favour us. We have more LRMs and the Locusts can only do so many recon runs before they take enough hits to be brought down. Then the Cleavers will have to spend more scouts, who will go the same way as the Locusts did, or they will be forced to engage us in the field, where our superior tonnage and numbers will crush them.
Then before I can react, a pair of man-made lightning bolts slam into my 'Mech, leaving the Solus Prime staggering slightly whilst depleting my frontal armour. I just took a hit to both my centre torso and left torso, the latter losing about a third of its armour.
"What in the name of Blake was that?" I demand over the comms as I pull back.
"PPCs," says Kamea, "But with increased range?"
"No, not increased range, just regular range" corrects Moana.
"They shot us from outside of our range," counters Kamea.
"No, that came from within the firing range of a PPC," says Donovan, "It was within firing range, but not sensor range."
"They're playing it smart," I say as I figure out what happened, "They aren't sending in the Locusts again, they're using them to sight us beyond the range of our own sensors. And they have a Marauder or Warhammer in there. Or at least a 'Mech with a pair of PPCs."
"Do you have a plan to deal with them?" asks Kamea.
"Give me a moment," I reply as I think it over because this changes things.
If they are hitting us from outside our range then, the battle of attrition will no longer favour us. The Cleavers will just whittle us down whilst we will be helpless to strike back. Not unless something changes which means that we'll have to do something.
"This is Knight," I say on the company channel, using my callsign, "Move up to engage the enemy. They have the advantage at range so we'll have to crush them with weight of metal and numbers. Stay with your lancemates and don't let yourself get separated. We cannot let them pick us off one by one."
"So we're charging in?" inquires Moana a moment later on a private channel.
"They can snipe us at range so yeah," I confirm as Paladin Company begins to move forth, "It isn't ideal, but I can't think of anything better. Can you?"
"No, I can't," admits Moana after a moment, "I just hope we don't screw this up."
And we are back. Sorry this update is a bit on the smaller side of things, but I wanted to get back into the flow of things and this felt like a good stopping point. The pirates might be lacking numbers and tonnage, but they aren't without skill so they'll be putting up a meaningful fight.
By the way, my beta-reader is currently unavailable and I'm a terrible proofreader (my brain autocorrects the errors most of the time) so there may be more errors than normal.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
19th February 3021
"They're the Cleavers," reports Victoria from aboard the Myrmidon, where she is part of the third lance that is waiting for the Leopard to return to the Myrmidon, "They are led by Thire "Butcher" First and are part of a larger pirate band called Shadow Eclipse."
"Damn it," I curse as I recognise that last name and now I have a ready good idea of why they are here.
"Liz, are these guys who I think they are?" inquires Moana.
"Yeah, they work for Jirus," I confirm bitterly.
"Wait, you know these people?" says Kamea, sounding very surprised, "Who is this Jirus?"
"Jirus is a known pirate warlord and one of the most influential in the Frontier," says Victoria, "He is the disgraced son of an important League noble."
"That Leaguer noble is my biological father," I explain, " And Jirus is my eldest half-brother who wants me dead because my stepmother passed on her hatred for me to him. My other half-siblings like me, but Jirus hates me just for being born."
"Elizabeth always had to be careful of him growing up," adds Moana, "Growing up in a noble family in the Reach gave her some protection, but she effectively had a bounty on her head and had to be extra wary of pirates."
"There is no 'effectively' about it," I say, "Jirus has put a price on my head. I don't know the exact number, but it is in the single digit millions and enough to buy a light 'Mech."
"God, this sounds like a bad holovid drama," says Kamea, "How on Earth did my father never find out about this?"
"Well, it isn't a legal bounty so you won't find out about it via legitimate means," I answer, "And I doubt whatever…we don't have an intelligence agency, do we?"
"Each Founding House maintains its own spy network and while there is some cooperation at times, there is no centralised intelligence agency for the Aurigan Coalition," replies Victoria.
"Well, there you go," I say.
"We're getting off-topic," says Moana, "We have two lances of hostile 'Mechs coming for us. How are we going to play this?"
"We cannot abandon the Argo," states Kamea firmly, "Not when Doctor Murad says she can get it flying again."
"Agreed," I say, "If that was an option, I would have taken our lance back to the Argo and not brought the rest of the company back down here."
"Alas, my lance is still a few minutes out," says Victoria.
"A shame that we don't have drop pods," I say idly only to be met with silence, "What?"
"We do have drop pods," says Kamea reluctantly, "We just…forgot about them."
"I'm going to see if using those could cut down on our estimated arrival time," says Victoria and she drops out of the call.
"We're still young and inexperienced," says Moana soothingly, "Stuff like this is bound to happen."
"I'm the heir to House Arano and the Aurigan Coalition," replies Kamea sourly, "I'm supposed to be good enough to avoid making foolish mistakes like this."
"We're still young and inexperienced," I repeat, "That's on me for not taking someone more experienced with us. I figured this would be a milk run metaphorically speaking and now we're paying the price for me not considering how dangerous it could get."
"I just hope none of us pay for our inexperience in a fatal way," says Moana.
"I just hope none of us fatally pay for our inexperience," I reply.
***
In the end, we are able to get all three of our lances down to the surface, one via the Hysteria and the other via drop pods. Our MechWarriors are inexperienced and our rides have been hastily rearmoured and rearmed and while we will have a tonnage and numbers advantage, the Cleavers have been around long enough that they will almost certainly have the skill advantage. So when the pirates made their surrender demand prior to attacking,
"This is Colonel Thire Forst, the Butcher of the Cleavers, to the mercenaries opposing us," declares the pirate leader on an open channel, "We merely wish to claim the bounty on the wanted woman Elizabeth Nora. Hand her over and we will let you go unmolested. Resist and I'll show why they call me the Butcher."
"Just to be clear, we aren't doing that," says Moana on a private channel between our command lance.
"No, we are not," agrees Kamea firmly, "Elizabeth, with your permission, I would like to speak to the rest of our company. Everyone here might be inexperienced, but they are also loyal scions of the Aurigan Coalition. I would like to remind them that they are fighting alongside the heirs to House Arano and House Espinosa and that we will remember how bravely they fight today."
"You have my permission," I tell her and I put her impromptu speech out of mind as I focus on the incoming enemy contacts.
They are sporadic and the Leopards came down just out of range. The distance combined with the uneven terrain makes it hard to track the enemy 'Mech signatures and there is no chance of getting more detail from the sensors until they come closer.
"Alright, you mercenary mutts," says Colonel Forst over the open channel again, "This is your last chance to surrender and walk away with your lives and 'Mechs. If you don't…we're cutting to carve you up like a fat big and I can't say you'll be luckier to survive to be one of our slaves instead of dying in your cockpits. I'm a BattleMech ace with over a dozen kills to my name. You won't be beating me."
We should be able to take them. We have a lance of Assault 'Mechs, a demi-company of heavies and a pair of Griffins. The odds are that half of the pirate 'Mechs will be Bug 'Mechs. We can take them. Colonel Forst is used to being a big fish in a small pond. He and his gang of pirates won't be prepared to fight an SLDF-vintage Assault Company.
It isn't long before the first Cleavers come into range, a pair of sprinting Locusts, each one moving at eighty miles per hour as their pilots move at maximum speed. As the company opens fire upon the enemy 'Mechs coming into sight, my battle computer pegs both of the hostiles as the LCT-3V variant of the Locust. That's a relatively recent modification of the Locust where they stick in a second medium laser and remove some of the armour and ammo in exchange. Can't remember where the armour is weaker, but honestly, it doesn't matter because we'll be lucky to land any hits at the speed the Bug 'Mechs are going.
Speaking of, I hold my fire for a second longer, just enough time to get some targeting data from the rest of Paladin Company. I might be a poor shot, but I upgraded the target-tracking system of Solus Prime for a reason. So while I fire off a volley from my LRMs, I also line up a very computer-assisted shot from my gauss rifle on one of the Locusts, aiming for its centre torso. I pull the trigger and I missed. Sort of.
I didn't get the kill shot on the central torso that I was looking for, but my gauss slug tore its way through the left torso of the Locust. The pirate 'Mech isn't out of the fight yet, but it is vulnerable and missing one of its machine guns.
The enemy wasn't idly however and while the Locusts didn't get close enough to fire their own weapons, they spotted for the rest of the Cleavers. Even as Paladin Company unleashed their firepower upon the two unfortunate Bug 'Mechs, around sixty or so LRMs rained down on the front ranks of my Sentinels. Nothing close to causing an armour breach and nothing close to the amount of LRMs that we can put out, but it shows that the Cleavers are fighting smart. Smarter than the Buccaneers at least.
Still, if we can give up this rate of exchange, attrition will favour us. We have more LRMs and the Locusts can only do so many recon runs before they take enough hits to be brought down. Then the Cleavers will have to spend more scouts, who will go the same way as the Locusts did, or they will be forced to engage us in the field, where our superior tonnage and numbers will crush them.
Then before I can react, a pair of man-made lightning bolts slam into my 'Mech, leaving the Solus Prime staggering slightly whilst depleting my frontal armour. I just took a hit to both my centre torso and left torso, the latter losing about a third of its armour.
"What in the name of Blake was that?" I demand over the comms as I pull back.
"PPCs," says Kamea, "But with increased range?"
"No, not increased range, just regular range" corrects Moana.
"They shot us from outside of our range," counters Kamea.
"No, that came from within the firing range of a PPC," says Donovan, "It was within firing range, but not sensor range."
"They're playing it smart," I say as I figure out what happened, "They aren't sending in the Locusts again, they're using them to sight us beyond the range of our own sensors. And they have a Marauder or Warhammer in there. Or at least a 'Mech with a pair of PPCs."
"Do you have a plan to deal with them?" asks Kamea.
"Give me a moment," I reply as I think it over because this changes things.
If they are hitting us from outside our range then, the battle of attrition will no longer favour us. The Cleavers will just whittle us down whilst we will be helpless to strike back. Not unless something changes which means that we'll have to do something.
"This is Knight," I say on the company channel, using my callsign, "Move up to engage the enemy. They have the advantage at range so we'll have to crush them with weight of metal and numbers. Stay with your lancemates and don't let yourself get separated. We cannot let them pick us off one by one."
"So we're charging in?" inquires Moana a moment later on a private channel.
"They can snipe us at range so yeah," I confirm as Paladin Company begins to move forth, "It isn't ideal, but I can't think of anything better. Can you?"
"No, I can't," admits Moana after a moment, "I just hope we don't screw this up."
***
And we are back. Sorry this update is a bit on the smaller side of things, but I wanted to get back into the flow of things and this felt like a good stopping point. The pirates might be lacking numbers and tonnage, but they aren't without skill so they'll be putting up a meaningful fight.
By the way, my beta-reader is currently unavailable and I'm a terrible proofreader (my brain autocorrects the errors most of the time) so there may be more errors than normal.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Last edited:
Glad to see this back, thank you for the chapter!
Noticed this seems to repeat?
Noticed this seems to repeat?
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Fixed. Thanks for catching that.
- Location
- Under your bed
Glad to see you updating again!
First Mission 4.5
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Axylus, Alloway System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
19th February 3021
As we charge, the Cleavers get off a volley on us. Assorted firepower strikes Paladin Company and Solus Prime takes an autocannon to the right arm in addition to being struck by a pair of stray LRMs.
I return fire, unleashing my own LRM launcher on the unfortunate Centurion that attacked me. I ding it up a little, but I only reduce its armour by a small amount and do nothing impactful. The same cannot be said for the followup shot from my gauss rifle as it slams into the side containing its LRMs, the sheer power of the gauss rifle penetrates the internal structure and shreds the armour of the medium 'Mech. Alas, there isn't any further damage as my battle computer indicates that not only is the LRM launcher unharmed, but all of its remaining ammo remains intact.
After that, it is a bit of a free-for-all brawl as Paladin Company disperses into the hills that the Cleavers are hiding in. A pair of medium lasers rake across the Solus Prime, both green beams burning gorges into my armour while I fire at a Stinger with my SRMs and a couple of lasers, which is about as far as I push things without gaining excess heat for my 'Mech. For my skill level, I do oddly well as despite missing with one of the lasers, the other mangles the left arm of the Bug 'Mech, which is then promptly blown away by one of my SRMs. The Stringer tries to flee with its jump jets only for Moana to gut its main body with her gauss rifle, leaving the cored out remains of the light 'Mech to fall to the ground.
I don't have any time to savour the small victory as a pair of PPC blasts my 'Mech as aMarauder bears down on me. My armour is holding, but after taking a second PPC shot, my centre torso is about to about fifty percent and I am not eager to see it get any lower. I turn to face the Marauder and my IFF tags the heavy 'Mech as belonging to Colonel Forst himself.
"This is Knight," I call into the company channel, "I'm going to need help with this Marauder!"
I fire my gauss and all four medium lasers at the pirate leader, willing to accept the excess heat if it means bringing down the enemy commander, but Colonel Forst just side steps. I might be naturally talented, but I have nothing on the skill that Colonel Forst is showing at the pirate warlord deftly manoeuvres his Marauder out of my line of fire. Even as I struggle to draw a bead on him, I have no doubts that my counterpart is having zero difficulty lining up another shot on me.
My saving grace is that the lack of atmosphere combined with the heavy heat output of the PPCs means that Colonel Forst will have to use them sparingly. Alas, that doesn't mean that the pirate Marauder is without other weapons. The autocannon mounted on its shoulder spits out two shells, both of them aimed directly at me. I really mean at me as both shots slam into my skull-faced cockpit.
The twin impacts aren't enough to breach my cockpit even as all of its armour is blown away, but that doesn't mean I personally got out of it unscathed. It is sort of like getting hit whilst wearing body armour, where the armour might protect you from getting killed, but if you get hit hard enough, you will be bruised or worse.
In this case? It hurts and it hurts all over. A couple of things are sparking and while my cockpit is functional, I can already tell that Yang will need to give it a proper workover on the way home. But I have to push through because if I don't, Colonel Forst is just going to finish the job and I would rather be in pain than dead.
I fire a full Alpha Strike at the Marauder, massively heating up my 'Mech in exchange for forcing the pirate to back off if just for a moment. I don't have time to see damage I do as I twist my ride so that I get some mass between my exposed cockpit and the Marauder. The heavy 'Mech doesn't open fire as I do so and I suspect that he is cooling off some of that heat given he is using PPCs in a lunar environment.
That's when Jenelle comes to my aid as she enters the fray with her Orion. She misses with her autocannon, but one of her medium lasers and an SRM strike the side of the Marauder, clawing away at its armour. Thank you for BattleTech protagonists.
I fire my gauss at the Marauder as I have too much ammo to run out in a single brawl and it is a good way to keep up the pressure whilst Solus Prime cools off from my Alpha Strike. I miss of course, but it means that Colonel Forst has to split his attention between me and Jenelle. Unfortunately, that seems to be something that is right up the Butcher's alley as he dances between the two of us, clearly able to handle tracking both of us.
Jenelle continues to attack the Marauder, spacing out her weapons so she doesn't overheat her Orion. Colonel Forst is good enough to avoid the majority of her shots, but the Marauder isn't the most agile of 'Mechs and as green as she is, Jenelle is still a decent shot. Colonel Forst loses more of his armour as Jenelle chips away at his ride and just as I get my hopes up, it all changes in a flash.
The Marauder fires its PPCs after Colonel Forst lines up a shot and I think the autocannon was fired as well. I don't know what happened to Jenelle, but one moment her Orion is fine and the next it is going up in flames as one arm goes flying and the torso is engulfed in a raging fireball as the Orion goes from mostly untouched to cored. I look for an ejection seat, hoping that I am wrong and Jenelle isn't still in her flaming wreck of a 'Mech.
But no, there was no ejection and I am back to facing down the Marauder on my own. I should have another moment or two as Colonel Forst needs to cool his 'Mech again, but after that I am likely toast just like Jenelle. Which hurts, but I'll mourn her later when I am still alive to do so. I fire my gauss rifle once again and also once again, I miss with the low heat weapon as Colonel Forst continues to dance in that Marauder of his.
"Damn you!" cries Kamea as her Atlas comes lumbering up between my own Altas and the remains of Jenelle's Orion, firing her LRMs into the Marauder,
The twenty missiles from Kamea's 'Mech are soon joined by thrice that number as both Catapults using our sensors for indirect fire. Colonel Forst does his best, but there is only so much that the best pilot can do to avoid eighty LRMs in a Marauder whilst in the relative open. Perhaps one in five LRMs actually hit Colonel Forst, but that is enough to continue to chip away at his armour, which is starting to look low in a couple of places.
A large laser lances out at the Marauder, forcing Colonel Forst to back up as one of Paladin Company's Griffins shows up. As an alert flashes upon on my screens, I let out a sigh of relief as I am within the protection of the Griffin's Guardian ECM. It isn't a guarantee of safety, but it means that the pirate leader will have a much harder time finishing me off. Provided that I don't break the effect by engaging Colonel Forst further as the downside of not having the Guardian ECM installed in my 'Mech is that actively targeting a 'Mech disrupts the effects of the Guardian ECM.
Just as I form some tentative plans for taking out Colonel Forst and avenging Jenelle, the pirate warlord dashes them as he doesn't stop backing up his Marauder. Instead of continuing to engage us, he swings his 'Mech and begins to run away, back towards where the Cleavers landed their Leopards.
"What?" exclaims Kamea over the comms, "You can't just run like that!"
"Stop me, you whoring bitch," retorts Colonel Forst even as Kamea is already unloading more LRMs into the rear of fleeing Marauder.
The Arano heiress isn't the only one to engage the pirate warlord. Moana fires her gauss rifle and LRMs at the Marauder as do both Catapults while a Warhammer fires one of its PPCs. Actually no, the Warhammer is firing its only remaining PPC as the heavy 'Mech lost one of its arms in the fighting. I even add my own LRMs and gauss rifle to the fray.
It isn't enough to take down Colonel Forst as despite shredding the rear armour of the Marauder, the pirate 'Mech successfully escapes into the hills. Without line of sight, most of our weapons are ineffective and we lack the sensor data to fire out LRMs. I could send one of the Griffins to pursue Colonel Forst and act as a spotter for our LRMs, but a single glance at the burning wreck of Jenelle's Orion puts the kibosh on that idea. I don't want to send a single 'Mech after the pirate when he has already proven his moniker by gutting Jenelle like he did.
Instead, I look around and see that the battle is over. Paladin Company is scattered, but Jenelle was the only 'Mech to go down on our side while only half of the Cleavers got away. It isn't a clean victory as most of our 'Mechs aren't fit for another battle without a serious workover in the MechBays, but we won.
I wince as the adrenaline begins to fade now that the battle is over and my body hurts. We won, but between the state of Paladin Company, Jenelle's probable death and my own injuries, I certainly don't feel like I've won.
And here is the end of the fighting for this arc. The rest of it will be Elizabeth recovering from this battle and sorting out logistics, politics and other such stuff. Meanwhile Colonel Forst gets away to be an enemy in a future arc, something I didn't originally intend. In the end, I figured it would be more impactful to have an enemy who has appeared on-screen and proven their chops before over one who is appearing for the first time.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
19th February 3021
As we charge, the Cleavers get off a volley on us. Assorted firepower strikes Paladin Company and Solus Prime takes an autocannon to the right arm in addition to being struck by a pair of stray LRMs.
I return fire, unleashing my own LRM launcher on the unfortunate Centurion that attacked me. I ding it up a little, but I only reduce its armour by a small amount and do nothing impactful. The same cannot be said for the followup shot from my gauss rifle as it slams into the side containing its LRMs, the sheer power of the gauss rifle penetrates the internal structure and shreds the armour of the medium 'Mech. Alas, there isn't any further damage as my battle computer indicates that not only is the LRM launcher unharmed, but all of its remaining ammo remains intact.
After that, it is a bit of a free-for-all brawl as Paladin Company disperses into the hills that the Cleavers are hiding in. A pair of medium lasers rake across the Solus Prime, both green beams burning gorges into my armour while I fire at a Stinger with my SRMs and a couple of lasers, which is about as far as I push things without gaining excess heat for my 'Mech. For my skill level, I do oddly well as despite missing with one of the lasers, the other mangles the left arm of the Bug 'Mech, which is then promptly blown away by one of my SRMs. The Stringer tries to flee with its jump jets only for Moana to gut its main body with her gauss rifle, leaving the cored out remains of the light 'Mech to fall to the ground.
I don't have any time to savour the small victory as a pair of PPC blasts my 'Mech as aMarauder bears down on me. My armour is holding, but after taking a second PPC shot, my centre torso is about to about fifty percent and I am not eager to see it get any lower. I turn to face the Marauder and my IFF tags the heavy 'Mech as belonging to Colonel Forst himself.
"This is Knight," I call into the company channel, "I'm going to need help with this Marauder!"
I fire my gauss and all four medium lasers at the pirate leader, willing to accept the excess heat if it means bringing down the enemy commander, but Colonel Forst just side steps. I might be naturally talented, but I have nothing on the skill that Colonel Forst is showing at the pirate warlord deftly manoeuvres his Marauder out of my line of fire. Even as I struggle to draw a bead on him, I have no doubts that my counterpart is having zero difficulty lining up another shot on me.
My saving grace is that the lack of atmosphere combined with the heavy heat output of the PPCs means that Colonel Forst will have to use them sparingly. Alas, that doesn't mean that the pirate Marauder is without other weapons. The autocannon mounted on its shoulder spits out two shells, both of them aimed directly at me. I really mean at me as both shots slam into my skull-faced cockpit.
The twin impacts aren't enough to breach my cockpit even as all of its armour is blown away, but that doesn't mean I personally got out of it unscathed. It is sort of like getting hit whilst wearing body armour, where the armour might protect you from getting killed, but if you get hit hard enough, you will be bruised or worse.
In this case? It hurts and it hurts all over. A couple of things are sparking and while my cockpit is functional, I can already tell that Yang will need to give it a proper workover on the way home. But I have to push through because if I don't, Colonel Forst is just going to finish the job and I would rather be in pain than dead.
I fire a full Alpha Strike at the Marauder, massively heating up my 'Mech in exchange for forcing the pirate to back off if just for a moment. I don't have time to see damage I do as I twist my ride so that I get some mass between my exposed cockpit and the Marauder. The heavy 'Mech doesn't open fire as I do so and I suspect that he is cooling off some of that heat given he is using PPCs in a lunar environment.
That's when Jenelle comes to my aid as she enters the fray with her Orion. She misses with her autocannon, but one of her medium lasers and an SRM strike the side of the Marauder, clawing away at its armour. Thank you for BattleTech protagonists.
I fire my gauss at the Marauder as I have too much ammo to run out in a single brawl and it is a good way to keep up the pressure whilst Solus Prime cools off from my Alpha Strike. I miss of course, but it means that Colonel Forst has to split his attention between me and Jenelle. Unfortunately, that seems to be something that is right up the Butcher's alley as he dances between the two of us, clearly able to handle tracking both of us.
Jenelle continues to attack the Marauder, spacing out her weapons so she doesn't overheat her Orion. Colonel Forst is good enough to avoid the majority of her shots, but the Marauder isn't the most agile of 'Mechs and as green as she is, Jenelle is still a decent shot. Colonel Forst loses more of his armour as Jenelle chips away at his ride and just as I get my hopes up, it all changes in a flash.
The Marauder fires its PPCs after Colonel Forst lines up a shot and I think the autocannon was fired as well. I don't know what happened to Jenelle, but one moment her Orion is fine and the next it is going up in flames as one arm goes flying and the torso is engulfed in a raging fireball as the Orion goes from mostly untouched to cored. I look for an ejection seat, hoping that I am wrong and Jenelle isn't still in her flaming wreck of a 'Mech.
But no, there was no ejection and I am back to facing down the Marauder on my own. I should have another moment or two as Colonel Forst needs to cool his 'Mech again, but after that I am likely toast just like Jenelle. Which hurts, but I'll mourn her later when I am still alive to do so. I fire my gauss rifle once again and also once again, I miss with the low heat weapon as Colonel Forst continues to dance in that Marauder of his.
"Damn you!" cries Kamea as her Atlas comes lumbering up between my own Altas and the remains of Jenelle's Orion, firing her LRMs into the Marauder,
The twenty missiles from Kamea's 'Mech are soon joined by thrice that number as both Catapults using our sensors for indirect fire. Colonel Forst does his best, but there is only so much that the best pilot can do to avoid eighty LRMs in a Marauder whilst in the relative open. Perhaps one in five LRMs actually hit Colonel Forst, but that is enough to continue to chip away at his armour, which is starting to look low in a couple of places.
A large laser lances out at the Marauder, forcing Colonel Forst to back up as one of Paladin Company's Griffins shows up. As an alert flashes upon on my screens, I let out a sigh of relief as I am within the protection of the Griffin's Guardian ECM. It isn't a guarantee of safety, but it means that the pirate leader will have a much harder time finishing me off. Provided that I don't break the effect by engaging Colonel Forst further as the downside of not having the Guardian ECM installed in my 'Mech is that actively targeting a 'Mech disrupts the effects of the Guardian ECM.
Just as I form some tentative plans for taking out Colonel Forst and avenging Jenelle, the pirate warlord dashes them as he doesn't stop backing up his Marauder. Instead of continuing to engage us, he swings his 'Mech and begins to run away, back towards where the Cleavers landed their Leopards.
"What?" exclaims Kamea over the comms, "You can't just run like that!"
"Stop me, you whoring bitch," retorts Colonel Forst even as Kamea is already unloading more LRMs into the rear of fleeing Marauder.
The Arano heiress isn't the only one to engage the pirate warlord. Moana fires her gauss rifle and LRMs at the Marauder as do both Catapults while a Warhammer fires one of its PPCs. Actually no, the Warhammer is firing its only remaining PPC as the heavy 'Mech lost one of its arms in the fighting. I even add my own LRMs and gauss rifle to the fray.
It isn't enough to take down Colonel Forst as despite shredding the rear armour of the Marauder, the pirate 'Mech successfully escapes into the hills. Without line of sight, most of our weapons are ineffective and we lack the sensor data to fire out LRMs. I could send one of the Griffins to pursue Colonel Forst and act as a spotter for our LRMs, but a single glance at the burning wreck of Jenelle's Orion puts the kibosh on that idea. I don't want to send a single 'Mech after the pirate when he has already proven his moniker by gutting Jenelle like he did.
Instead, I look around and see that the battle is over. Paladin Company is scattered, but Jenelle was the only 'Mech to go down on our side while only half of the Cleavers got away. It isn't a clean victory as most of our 'Mechs aren't fit for another battle without a serious workover in the MechBays, but we won.
I wince as the adrenaline begins to fade now that the battle is over and my body hurts. We won, but between the state of Paladin Company, Jenelle's probable death and my own injuries, I certainly don't feel like I've won.
***
And here is the end of the fighting for this arc. The rest of it will be Elizabeth recovering from this battle and sorting out logistics, politics and other such stuff. Meanwhile Colonel Forst gets away to be an enemy in a future arc, something I didn't originally intend. In the end, I figured it would be more impactful to have an enemy who has appeared on-screen and proven their chops before over one who is appearing for the first time.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
First Mission 4.6
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Axylus, Alloway System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
20th February 3021
I lay in bed in one of the Med Bays aboard the Myrmidon, having been brought there alongside half of Paladin Company after the battle. My body still hurts, but not as much as it did before though I wonder how much of that is due to painkillers I am on and how much is due to actual recovery.
The Cleavers have fled and while their JumpShip has yet to leave, both of their Leopards are docked with it with their remaining 'Mechs aboard. With the battle decided and neither of us willing to press further, we've been politely ignoring each other until one of us is ready to leave.
Part of my desire for payback is tampered by the fact that Jenelle didn't die with her Orion. While Yang has confirmed my suspicions that her 'Mech would only be good for spare parts, we were able to retrieve her from the cockpit before the flames could claim it. The docs say that she won't be fit to pilot a 'Mech for several months, but Jenelle is alive and with that, we didn't lose anyone today.
I know that 'kill the meat, save the metal' is a common saying in the thirty-first century, but I still have enough twenty-first century in me that I am happy to hear that Jenelle survived even if her 'Mech is a write-off. It might just be my privilege and warped perspective speaking, but we have plenty of spare 'Mechs.
Jenelle isn't the only one injured. I'm on bedrest for the next couple of weeks and four other members of Paladin Company will be spending at least the rest of February in the MedBays. And most of our 'Mechs are in need of repairs that go beyond replacing armour and ammo. Beyond the loss of Jenelle's Orion, multiple 'Mechs took structural damage with a couple even needing to replace a missing limb. In the case of the one-armed Warhammer, that job won't be finished until we get back home as we lack the replacement PPC to stick in the rebuilt limb.
Despite the battle with the Cleavers, the mission is definitely an overall success. One pirate group has been crushed, another has lost a lance of 'Mechs and I have snatched up a failing mercenary unit for my Sentinels. Doctor Murad was able to get the Argo up and running as I knew she would, which means we can return to Coromodir in triumph.
Then there is the payment. While the details of our contact don't include additional payment for engaging in battle, they do include salvage rights. Having successfully retrieved the Argo, our liaison officer Baron Gallo felt that the mission had been completed enough to start dividing up the loot.
Under the terms that I assigned, the salvage is placed into a prize court where after value is determined, I receive thirty percent of the salvage while the remainder goes to House Arano and House Espinosa to divide up as they see fit. While I get the first claim on ten percent of the salvage, the remaining twenty percent that I get is determined by my employers, which in this case means my liaison officer.
Many employers out there would assign a monetary value to each piece of salvage, we do things differently down here in the Rimward Periphery. A completely wrecked vehicle or cored out 'Mech gets assigned a value of one while a partially destroyed one gets assigned a value of two while a mostly intact war machine is assigned a value of three. Any loose components from something that got away is considered to have a value of one such as the weapons on the arm of a 'Mech that got away, but lost its limb.
"Liz," says Moana as she walks up to my bed, "I've heard you finished discussing salvage with Baron Gallo. I would have come sooner, but I've been busy."
"Don't worry, I understand," I reply since as the captain of Paladin Company, Moana is handling the day-to-day running of the company, something which is taking up a lot of her time right now for obvious reasons, "I suppose you would like to know what we've got."
"It would be appreciated," says Moana, "Especially if it impacts Paladin Company since that is the sort of stuff I need to know to do my job properly."
"I doubt it will in this case," I tell her, "Regardless of who gets what, all of the salvage is still being loaded into Myrmidon's cargo bay and all work on Paladin Company's 'Mechs takes priority over anything else."
"So what are we getting?" inquires Moana, relaxing a bit now that she is asking out of curiosity rather than business.
"In exchange for letting me recruit Coranni's Crew and their hardware uncontested, I've conceded all claims to Blackmane's Leopard," I answer, "Which still works out in our favour as we are also getting a Leopard in addition to a lance of 'Mechs and a flight of ASFs. With that, I only got to claim a single piece in my priority salvage so I snagged the Thunderbolt that Blackmane piloted. I figured it would be useful for spare parts since we'll be getting half a dozen Thunderbolts from the Bulls next month. As for the rest, the baron understandably gave me the vehicles and kept the rest of the 'Mechs."
Neither of us need that logic explained to us. Beyond the common logic of 'Mechs being more valuable than vehicles, that is especially the case for the Aurigan Coalition and especially so when the vehicles in question are a Vedette and a couple of Scorpions. The ACM can always buy more of those from Quikscell, but 'Mechs are much harder to get your hands on, peculiarly so when no native 'Mech production like the Reach.
Not to mention that between the salvage you could put together a working Centurion and Locust while the Archer is repairable if you can get your hands on the right parts. Though it says something that between the two Centurions and the pair of Locusts in the salvage pile that you can only get one working 'Mech from each. That's the Succession Wars for you, I guess.
That said, I'm not going to complain about the ACM getting three new 'Mechs since that is still to the benefit of the Aurigan people. Just with recruiting Coranni and her people, I'm getting the better deal out of this and that is before my sneaky plan gets taken into account.
The SLDF base at Fable had many different pieces of equipment in its storage rooms and amongst them were a couple of Advanced Electronic Codebreakers that belonged to Intelligence Command. While I had given one to Rosebella Arkos as the head of my special ops, I had retained the other specifically out of hoping to find myself in a situation like this. Things weren't exactly how I wanted them, but they were close enough. I just had to get access to the secondary drive of the Argo's nav computer. Download what was there and get a copy of that map containing all of those SLDF sites. I could even give a copy to High Lord Arano, claiming that I had gone looking due to my familiarity with the Myrmidon.
While I will be spending the next couple of weeks in the infirmary, we won't get back to Coromodir until early April so I have time to enact my plan. Part of me feels uneasy at the deceit, but I quash that part every time it rears its head. The value of that treasure map is simply too great for me to risk it not getting found or just leaving the matter up to my liege lord. I have the meta-knowledge needed to save the Coalition and so I will make use of it.
"There is another reason why I came to see you," says Moana, "I've been coordinating with Angela Hawkins to start integrating Coranni's Crew into our ranks and I recognised her. I mean I didn't at first, but she seemed familiar so I spoke so I looked into her. It turns out that she is the estranged daughter of Sebastian Hawkins, owner and CEO of Ragnarok Engineering."
"Is this the same Ragnarok Engineering that makes Sleipnirs and Vargrs?" I inquire as I frown at this new formation, "The same one that I've been investing in?"
"That's the one," confirms Moana as she gives me a knowing look, "I wasn't sure so I spoke with Kamea and Victoria and once they knew what to look for, they easily recognised her. I don't know what she is doing out here."
"I'll need to speak with her then," I muse darkly, "Coranni too. I want to give them a chance, but if they are going to keep important secrets like this, then I'll have to make it clear that this sort of behaviour isn't acceptable. Do you have any idea if this will be a problem for us or not? Depending on how they are estranged, Hawkins might be pleased if we bring his daughter back or he might be upset with us for working with her."
"No idea, but I'll speak with Kamea and Victoria," replies Moana, "They might have more insight into the relationship."
Axylus, Alloway System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
21st February 3021
"You wanted to see me, Countess Nora?" inquires Coranni as the dark-skinned woman joins me in the MedBay at my request.
"Yes, I did," I answer and I pause before adding, "And I think it should be General Nora not Countess because you answer to me as one of the Aurigan Sentinels? I'm not sure to be perfectly honest. I'll have to ask one of the others what the proper protocol is."
"I just call nobles by their titles when I'm unsure," says Coranni, "Less chance of them being offended or feeling disrespected."
"That's a fair point," I agree before deciding to get to the meat of the matter, "Do you know why I've called you here?"
"It wasn't mentioned, but it has to do with me joining your unit, doesn't it?" replies Coranni.
"That's part of it," I admit, "But it is mainly due to…I want to say you kept a big secret from me, but I'm not sure you realise the significance of what you failed to mention."
"I told you every important thing I could think of," protests Coranni, tensing up.
"Angela Hawkins is the estranged daughter of Sebastian Hawkins, CEO of Ragnarok Engineering and a major player in Aurigan politics," I inform her bluntly, "You may not have realised this, but that sort of thing is something that will have an impact on our unit as Angela's father is the sort of man who can cause trouble for us."
"Ah, Angela never said anything about all that," admits Coranni defensively, "She just said that she didn't get along with her father since her mother died and we left it at that. It would have been rude to press further."
"Alright, I can see that," I concede, "Any other surprises that I should know about?"
"The Shira brothers have no family apart from each other and no dark past that I am aware of," answers Coranni, "The Tennison sisters are daughters of a noble in the Outworlds Alliance, but he's one of those pacifist types and really far away so he shouldn't be a problem. My father is a big-shot back home, but Ur Cruinne is too primitive to exert any influence off-world or even beyond our town for that matter. I'm not actually sure about the Naga's crew. There are a lot of them and I don't spend much time with them. Maybe I should."
"Thank you for your honesty, Coranni," I tell her, "I'm going to speak with Angela now."
"Is she in trouble?" asks Coranni sharply.
"No, I just need to know what the relationship between her and her father is and how to handle it going forward," I answer and I let out a sigh, "As I said, Sebastian Hawkins could cause some trouble for us if he wanted to so I need to know how likely that is and if so, what form the trouble would likely take."
And now we get back to politics and logistics. I decide to have Jenelle survive because I don't want to kill her off this early and as a reference to the player character in the HBS game always surviving the destruction of their 'Mech. Beyond that, I have changed Angela's background a bit for this version of the story.
Originally, she was supposed to be the daughter of a Lyran CEO who got trapped in the Rimward Periphery after a misjump, but that doesn't really work here. Without Phantom Mech, there is no Morgan Kell and without Morgan Kell, there is no incentive to go to the Lyran Commonwealth. And without Elizabeth going to the Commonwealth, there is no way to tie Angela's background into the story so I changed things to make her the estranged daughter of an Aurigan CEO. One whose corporation has already come up in the story.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
20th February 3021
I lay in bed in one of the Med Bays aboard the Myrmidon, having been brought there alongside half of Paladin Company after the battle. My body still hurts, but not as much as it did before though I wonder how much of that is due to painkillers I am on and how much is due to actual recovery.
The Cleavers have fled and while their JumpShip has yet to leave, both of their Leopards are docked with it with their remaining 'Mechs aboard. With the battle decided and neither of us willing to press further, we've been politely ignoring each other until one of us is ready to leave.
Part of my desire for payback is tampered by the fact that Jenelle didn't die with her Orion. While Yang has confirmed my suspicions that her 'Mech would only be good for spare parts, we were able to retrieve her from the cockpit before the flames could claim it. The docs say that she won't be fit to pilot a 'Mech for several months, but Jenelle is alive and with that, we didn't lose anyone today.
I know that 'kill the meat, save the metal' is a common saying in the thirty-first century, but I still have enough twenty-first century in me that I am happy to hear that Jenelle survived even if her 'Mech is a write-off. It might just be my privilege and warped perspective speaking, but we have plenty of spare 'Mechs.
Jenelle isn't the only one injured. I'm on bedrest for the next couple of weeks and four other members of Paladin Company will be spending at least the rest of February in the MedBays. And most of our 'Mechs are in need of repairs that go beyond replacing armour and ammo. Beyond the loss of Jenelle's Orion, multiple 'Mechs took structural damage with a couple even needing to replace a missing limb. In the case of the one-armed Warhammer, that job won't be finished until we get back home as we lack the replacement PPC to stick in the rebuilt limb.
Despite the battle with the Cleavers, the mission is definitely an overall success. One pirate group has been crushed, another has lost a lance of 'Mechs and I have snatched up a failing mercenary unit for my Sentinels. Doctor Murad was able to get the Argo up and running as I knew she would, which means we can return to Coromodir in triumph.
Then there is the payment. While the details of our contact don't include additional payment for engaging in battle, they do include salvage rights. Having successfully retrieved the Argo, our liaison officer Baron Gallo felt that the mission had been completed enough to start dividing up the loot.
Under the terms that I assigned, the salvage is placed into a prize court where after value is determined, I receive thirty percent of the salvage while the remainder goes to House Arano and House Espinosa to divide up as they see fit. While I get the first claim on ten percent of the salvage, the remaining twenty percent that I get is determined by my employers, which in this case means my liaison officer.
Many employers out there would assign a monetary value to each piece of salvage, we do things differently down here in the Rimward Periphery. A completely wrecked vehicle or cored out 'Mech gets assigned a value of one while a partially destroyed one gets assigned a value of two while a mostly intact war machine is assigned a value of three. Any loose components from something that got away is considered to have a value of one such as the weapons on the arm of a 'Mech that got away, but lost its limb.
"Liz," says Moana as she walks up to my bed, "I've heard you finished discussing salvage with Baron Gallo. I would have come sooner, but I've been busy."
"Don't worry, I understand," I reply since as the captain of Paladin Company, Moana is handling the day-to-day running of the company, something which is taking up a lot of her time right now for obvious reasons, "I suppose you would like to know what we've got."
"It would be appreciated," says Moana, "Especially if it impacts Paladin Company since that is the sort of stuff I need to know to do my job properly."
"I doubt it will in this case," I tell her, "Regardless of who gets what, all of the salvage is still being loaded into Myrmidon's cargo bay and all work on Paladin Company's 'Mechs takes priority over anything else."
"So what are we getting?" inquires Moana, relaxing a bit now that she is asking out of curiosity rather than business.
"In exchange for letting me recruit Coranni's Crew and their hardware uncontested, I've conceded all claims to Blackmane's Leopard," I answer, "Which still works out in our favour as we are also getting a Leopard in addition to a lance of 'Mechs and a flight of ASFs. With that, I only got to claim a single piece in my priority salvage so I snagged the Thunderbolt that Blackmane piloted. I figured it would be useful for spare parts since we'll be getting half a dozen Thunderbolts from the Bulls next month. As for the rest, the baron understandably gave me the vehicles and kept the rest of the 'Mechs."
Neither of us need that logic explained to us. Beyond the common logic of 'Mechs being more valuable than vehicles, that is especially the case for the Aurigan Coalition and especially so when the vehicles in question are a Vedette and a couple of Scorpions. The ACM can always buy more of those from Quikscell, but 'Mechs are much harder to get your hands on, peculiarly so when no native 'Mech production like the Reach.
Not to mention that between the salvage you could put together a working Centurion and Locust while the Archer is repairable if you can get your hands on the right parts. Though it says something that between the two Centurions and the pair of Locusts in the salvage pile that you can only get one working 'Mech from each. That's the Succession Wars for you, I guess.
That said, I'm not going to complain about the ACM getting three new 'Mechs since that is still to the benefit of the Aurigan people. Just with recruiting Coranni and her people, I'm getting the better deal out of this and that is before my sneaky plan gets taken into account.
The SLDF base at Fable had many different pieces of equipment in its storage rooms and amongst them were a couple of Advanced Electronic Codebreakers that belonged to Intelligence Command. While I had given one to Rosebella Arkos as the head of my special ops, I had retained the other specifically out of hoping to find myself in a situation like this. Things weren't exactly how I wanted them, but they were close enough. I just had to get access to the secondary drive of the Argo's nav computer. Download what was there and get a copy of that map containing all of those SLDF sites. I could even give a copy to High Lord Arano, claiming that I had gone looking due to my familiarity with the Myrmidon.
While I will be spending the next couple of weeks in the infirmary, we won't get back to Coromodir until early April so I have time to enact my plan. Part of me feels uneasy at the deceit, but I quash that part every time it rears its head. The value of that treasure map is simply too great for me to risk it not getting found or just leaving the matter up to my liege lord. I have the meta-knowledge needed to save the Coalition and so I will make use of it.
"There is another reason why I came to see you," says Moana, "I've been coordinating with Angela Hawkins to start integrating Coranni's Crew into our ranks and I recognised her. I mean I didn't at first, but she seemed familiar so I spoke so I looked into her. It turns out that she is the estranged daughter of Sebastian Hawkins, owner and CEO of Ragnarok Engineering."
"Is this the same Ragnarok Engineering that makes Sleipnirs and Vargrs?" I inquire as I frown at this new formation, "The same one that I've been investing in?"
"That's the one," confirms Moana as she gives me a knowing look, "I wasn't sure so I spoke with Kamea and Victoria and once they knew what to look for, they easily recognised her. I don't know what she is doing out here."
"I'll need to speak with her then," I muse darkly, "Coranni too. I want to give them a chance, but if they are going to keep important secrets like this, then I'll have to make it clear that this sort of behaviour isn't acceptable. Do you have any idea if this will be a problem for us or not? Depending on how they are estranged, Hawkins might be pleased if we bring his daughter back or he might be upset with us for working with her."
"No idea, but I'll speak with Kamea and Victoria," replies Moana, "They might have more insight into the relationship."
***
Axylus, Alloway System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
21st February 3021
"You wanted to see me, Countess Nora?" inquires Coranni as the dark-skinned woman joins me in the MedBay at my request.
"Yes, I did," I answer and I pause before adding, "And I think it should be General Nora not Countess because you answer to me as one of the Aurigan Sentinels? I'm not sure to be perfectly honest. I'll have to ask one of the others what the proper protocol is."
"I just call nobles by their titles when I'm unsure," says Coranni, "Less chance of them being offended or feeling disrespected."
"That's a fair point," I agree before deciding to get to the meat of the matter, "Do you know why I've called you here?"
"It wasn't mentioned, but it has to do with me joining your unit, doesn't it?" replies Coranni.
"That's part of it," I admit, "But it is mainly due to…I want to say you kept a big secret from me, but I'm not sure you realise the significance of what you failed to mention."
"I told you every important thing I could think of," protests Coranni, tensing up.
"Angela Hawkins is the estranged daughter of Sebastian Hawkins, CEO of Ragnarok Engineering and a major player in Aurigan politics," I inform her bluntly, "You may not have realised this, but that sort of thing is something that will have an impact on our unit as Angela's father is the sort of man who can cause trouble for us."
"Ah, Angela never said anything about all that," admits Coranni defensively, "She just said that she didn't get along with her father since her mother died and we left it at that. It would have been rude to press further."
"Alright, I can see that," I concede, "Any other surprises that I should know about?"
"The Shira brothers have no family apart from each other and no dark past that I am aware of," answers Coranni, "The Tennison sisters are daughters of a noble in the Outworlds Alliance, but he's one of those pacifist types and really far away so he shouldn't be a problem. My father is a big-shot back home, but Ur Cruinne is too primitive to exert any influence off-world or even beyond our town for that matter. I'm not actually sure about the Naga's crew. There are a lot of them and I don't spend much time with them. Maybe I should."
"Thank you for your honesty, Coranni," I tell her, "I'm going to speak with Angela now."
"Is she in trouble?" asks Coranni sharply.
"No, I just need to know what the relationship between her and her father is and how to handle it going forward," I answer and I let out a sigh, "As I said, Sebastian Hawkins could cause some trouble for us if he wanted to so I need to know how likely that is and if so, what form the trouble would likely take."
***
And now we get back to politics and logistics. I decide to have Jenelle survive because I don't want to kill her off this early and as a reference to the player character in the HBS game always surviving the destruction of their 'Mech. Beyond that, I have changed Angela's background a bit for this version of the story.
Originally, she was supposed to be the daughter of a Lyran CEO who got trapped in the Rimward Periphery after a misjump, but that doesn't really work here. Without Phantom Mech, there is no Morgan Kell and without Morgan Kell, there is no incentive to go to the Lyran Commonwealth. And without Elizabeth going to the Commonwealth, there is no way to tie Angela's background into the story so I changed things to make her the estranged daughter of an Aurigan CEO. One whose corporation has already come up in the story.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Last edited:
First Mission 4.7
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Nadir Jump Point, Detroit System
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
9th March 3021
I've done it. I have stolen the map of SLDF bases from the Argo. It was a simple enough matter in the end. I just waited until I was released from the MedBay, used my authority to get a tour of the Argo where I discreetly downloaded a copy of the secondary drive of the nav computer. After that, it was just a matter of using the Advanced Electronic Codebreaker to crack the encryption in the privacy of my quarters aboard the Myrmidon.
It still feels a little treasonous to me, but as I've said before, the prize is just too valuable to not take matters into my own hands. And as I stare at the map full of SLDF icons across the galaxy, I know that my actions were worth it.
The first thing I check is Helm. There are three SLDF sites in the system and I briefly check out the first of them, an asteroid naval base, before focusing on the two on the primary planet. The first is the supply depot in Freeport, which was known to the public and supposedly destroyed. The second is the under construction Castle Brian in the Nagayan Mountain, exactly where the Helm Memory Core should be. While I know that one intrepid SLDF major moved the contents of the supply depot to the secret site in the Nagayan Mountain, what really catches my eye is the stockpile of nuclear weapons that is stated to be there. That's interesting and while I can recognise the significance of that, I lack the education to know if it is significant in a bad way or in a good way.
Okay, I know where to find Helm and its invaluable memory core. With that sorted, I decide to look closer to home. Outpost Castle Nautilus is right there on Artru as I could…as I could remember it being. There is also a supply warehouse at Panzyr's ageing space port, which I suspect is full of decommissioned Griffins, while Smithon has a fair few sites on it, but most if not all of these are known as these underground fortresses and armouries are currently the subterranean cities where most of Smithon's populace live.
Nonetheless, one or two places might have been missed so I cross-reference my secret map with a list of publicly known SLDF locations. The end result is three locations on my map that aren't showing up on current public records. A pair of armouries and a fortress that is so small that it is more of an outpost. Hopefully they'll be intact and full of loot even if it all goes to House Karosas as Lord Karosas is currently a close ally of High Lord Arano.
What can I do with this information? Panzyr and Smithon belong to House Decimis and House Karosas respectively so trying to claim the SLDF sites on their worlds wouldn't be a good use of my time. Even if I could pull it off, it would expand a lot of political capital to go up against two Founding Houses in addition to likely earning their enmity.
Outpost Castle Nautilus on the other hand, that is a different kettle of fish. Artru isn't ruled by a Founding House, but by corporate oligarchs. They aren't outright insignificant, but Artru is an insignificant world with barely any populace, just enough to engage in some minor mining for rare metals on the planetary surface. Its most notable aspect is being a major transit point on the journey to and from Hellespont, the rimward headquarters for ComStar's Explorer Corps.
Of course, the Castle Brian could easily change things as under Aurigan law, not even High Lord Arano can cut out the Artru oligarchs if they own the land of Outpost Castle Nautilus. It isn't like it is the middle of the Arano Restoration where Kamea could just claim the place and everything inside on the grounds that there is a war going on. Under peacetime, whoever owns the land gets their fair share of it if not all of it. That's why it is practically impossible to keep House Decimis and House Karosas from claiming the loot on their respective worlds.
But what if I can cut out the Artru oligarchs out of the picture? No doubt that someone already owns the land which in turn gives them nominal ownership of Castle Nautilus, but they will also have no idea of its true value. I could purchase the land for myself, claiming that I want it for mining purposes to keep anyone from figuring out what truly lies down there.
Hmm, I've been meaning to get more investments beyond the high value ones that I currently have. I have some military industry investments, a lot of them for that matter. In addition to buying several effectively defunct corporations for the newly formed Nora Engineering, I have substantially invested in both Ragnarok Engineering and Pinard Protectorates Limited on top of being financially involved in the construction of two new 'Mech factories on Coromodir. Not to mention that I have also brought out the Perdition branch of Alphard Trading Corporation thanks to it being on the verge of bankruptcy due to its apparent lack of profitability. I know it has the potential to be useful in the future even if it is only due to Periphery militaries wanting to purchase the J. Edgars that it produces. Especially since the engineering data I found means that it will be able to go back to producing the original fusion engine version instead of the downgraded ICE variant that it currently produces.
And very little of that is civilian in nature. The closest is Nora Engineering getting involved in exoskeleton construction, but that is mainly me preparing to break into battle armour production once I have a way to make military-grade armour that fits on an exoskeleton. No mining or agricultural operations, no restaurants, no transportation and just nothing civilian.
I still have a decent sized fortune. Defunct corporations are surprisingly cheap due to their perceived lack of value and I am not building either of the new 'Mech factories on my own. The Aurigan Sentinels haven't proven profitable yet, but the deficit is only a few million C-Bills a month so I can afford it for now. Especially since using my JumpShips and cargo DropShips for civilian trade and transportation within the Coalition while the ground forces garrison Coromodir goes a long way to offsetting the expenses.
God, I have really reached a point in life where a few million C-Bills feels borderline trivial. I have so much money that losing a few million a month is an affordable expense. How much worse is it going to get once PPL really gets going? Or once the new 'Mech factories are done and I'm getting my cut of the profits from those? And what about the combat exoskeletons I'm going to be producing in the future? Jackson Watt was raking in the dough once he started selling and licensing the Yellowjacket, but it is looking like I'll already be doing that when I release my equivalent power armour.
If I'm honest, being unexpectedly rich is easily far from the worst problem to have. It gives me the means to do stuff and I suppose I can get some personal luxury out of it. Except it has been months and I don't really think I've taken advantage of the latter. I have the money, but I can't recall any times that I've taken advantage of it. I've always been too busy sorting everything out or I've been on this mission.
Do I have a castle? I think I might have a castle that I have yet to visit. Something to check out once we get back to Coromodir. I might be filthy stinking rich, but that doesn't mean I know what to do with it on a personal level. Maybe I should just stick to business investments.
Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. I've been meaning to do non-military investment and I want to buy the land of Outpost Castle Nautilus to cut the Artru oligarchs out of the loop. I could combine the two by taking advantage of the former to bury the latter in it. Nobody would suspect just one land purchase when I'm going on an investment spree.
What would be better? Handling the land purchase myself or delegating it to someone who doesn't know how badly I want it? My time is a limited resource, but at the same time, this is important. Even if I delegate the other investments, I should make sure that I do buy the land that Castle Nautilus is on.
Then the door alarm on my quarters chimes, startling me out of my thoughts and I rush to close the secret map from the Argo.
"Come in!" I call as I lock the map away.
"Hello, Elizabeth," says Kamea as the Arano heiress walks in and I instantly feel a pang of guilt at hiding the Argo's secrets from her, "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you in private."
"I've got time," I answer, "Just thinking about future investments."
"Anything in particular?" inquires Kamea as she takes a seat opposite my desk.
"More civilian stuff than military stuff this time around," I reply, "I've got a whole load of major military investments right now, but I was thinking stuff like getting involved in mining, agriculture and the like."
"Well, you do still have some spending power so long as you pace yourself and don't go overboard," replies Kamea thoughtfully, "Or you could wait a couple of sets for your investments to offset their initial costs and start bringing in pure profit."
"I would like to get started sooner than later," I inform her, thinking about Outpost Castle Nautilus, "I'm generally thinking smaller stuff. I'm not really worried about going for the most profitable ventures, but supporting the less developed worlds."
"So your motive is charitable and humanitarian in nature rather than turning a profit," notes Kamea.
"I mean, I won't say no to C-Bills in my bank account, but yes, I want to build up some of the worlds that have suffered since the Star League fell," I say, "Take Alloway for example. The people there were scraping by in a handful of poor settlements. Imagine if I could invest in the basic infrastructure there to allow them to flourish or at least have a proper standard of living."
"I see your logic," says Kamea, "Father is engaging in similar activities within the Reach with his share of the memory core proceeds. While he is bolstering the infrastructure of the core worlds and shoring up the welfare system, Father is also investing heavily in the border worlds to bring their local infrastructure up to the same standard as what we have on Coromodir. Or at least he is doing his best to set the foundations for that happening since extensive infrastructure isn't something that can just be put into place. It isn't profitable except in the long run, but it falls within his responsibilities as their liege lord."
"What about Lord Espinosa?" I inquire, "What is he doing with his share of the memory core sales? I know he is involved in both new 'Mech factories, but what else is he up to?"
"Other forms of military investment," answers Kamea promptly, "While my father is handling developing the civilian side of the Coalition, my uncle is focusing on the military side of things. He has purchased a company of heavy 'Mechs from the Taurians for the House Espinosa Guard though they will take months to arrive and he is attempting to recruit mercenaries and other independent MechWarriors to permanently sign up with his house guard. He is also funding an expansion of the Espinosa Refit Yards He is doing other things, but apart from helping fund restoration of old military infrastructure, Uncle Santiago is playing his cards close to his chest. I can check in with him once we get back home if you wish."
"I would appreciate that," I tell her, "Now, you mentioned you wanted to speak with me about something when you first came in?"
And now we have the journey back to Coromodir. Elizabeth is being sneaky and engaging in under the table plans. She'll probably come clean to her bosses later, but for now, she is doing her best to set things up to take advantage of her covert knowledge. She is also getting back into the business side of things. As usual, I'm being vague because hard numbers don't work well with BattleTech economics, but I'm sure you get the gist of what Elizabeth is planning.
Anyway, the conversation isn't over yet. It will probably take up the next update, which will bring this arc to the close and onto the next one. Which will be more business dealings and politics as Elizabeth deals with stuff at home before she can go on her next mission.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Aurigan Frontier, Rimward Periphery
9th March 3021
I've done it. I have stolen the map of SLDF bases from the Argo. It was a simple enough matter in the end. I just waited until I was released from the MedBay, used my authority to get a tour of the Argo where I discreetly downloaded a copy of the secondary drive of the nav computer. After that, it was just a matter of using the Advanced Electronic Codebreaker to crack the encryption in the privacy of my quarters aboard the Myrmidon.
It still feels a little treasonous to me, but as I've said before, the prize is just too valuable to not take matters into my own hands. And as I stare at the map full of SLDF icons across the galaxy, I know that my actions were worth it.
The first thing I check is Helm. There are three SLDF sites in the system and I briefly check out the first of them, an asteroid naval base, before focusing on the two on the primary planet. The first is the supply depot in Freeport, which was known to the public and supposedly destroyed. The second is the under construction Castle Brian in the Nagayan Mountain, exactly where the Helm Memory Core should be. While I know that one intrepid SLDF major moved the contents of the supply depot to the secret site in the Nagayan Mountain, what really catches my eye is the stockpile of nuclear weapons that is stated to be there. That's interesting and while I can recognise the significance of that, I lack the education to know if it is significant in a bad way or in a good way.
Okay, I know where to find Helm and its invaluable memory core. With that sorted, I decide to look closer to home. Outpost Castle Nautilus is right there on Artru as I could…as I could remember it being. There is also a supply warehouse at Panzyr's ageing space port, which I suspect is full of decommissioned Griffins, while Smithon has a fair few sites on it, but most if not all of these are known as these underground fortresses and armouries are currently the subterranean cities where most of Smithon's populace live.
Nonetheless, one or two places might have been missed so I cross-reference my secret map with a list of publicly known SLDF locations. The end result is three locations on my map that aren't showing up on current public records. A pair of armouries and a fortress that is so small that it is more of an outpost. Hopefully they'll be intact and full of loot even if it all goes to House Karosas as Lord Karosas is currently a close ally of High Lord Arano.
What can I do with this information? Panzyr and Smithon belong to House Decimis and House Karosas respectively so trying to claim the SLDF sites on their worlds wouldn't be a good use of my time. Even if I could pull it off, it would expand a lot of political capital to go up against two Founding Houses in addition to likely earning their enmity.
Outpost Castle Nautilus on the other hand, that is a different kettle of fish. Artru isn't ruled by a Founding House, but by corporate oligarchs. They aren't outright insignificant, but Artru is an insignificant world with barely any populace, just enough to engage in some minor mining for rare metals on the planetary surface. Its most notable aspect is being a major transit point on the journey to and from Hellespont, the rimward headquarters for ComStar's Explorer Corps.
Of course, the Castle Brian could easily change things as under Aurigan law, not even High Lord Arano can cut out the Artru oligarchs if they own the land of Outpost Castle Nautilus. It isn't like it is the middle of the Arano Restoration where Kamea could just claim the place and everything inside on the grounds that there is a war going on. Under peacetime, whoever owns the land gets their fair share of it if not all of it. That's why it is practically impossible to keep House Decimis and House Karosas from claiming the loot on their respective worlds.
But what if I can cut out the Artru oligarchs out of the picture? No doubt that someone already owns the land which in turn gives them nominal ownership of Castle Nautilus, but they will also have no idea of its true value. I could purchase the land for myself, claiming that I want it for mining purposes to keep anyone from figuring out what truly lies down there.
Hmm, I've been meaning to get more investments beyond the high value ones that I currently have. I have some military industry investments, a lot of them for that matter. In addition to buying several effectively defunct corporations for the newly formed Nora Engineering, I have substantially invested in both Ragnarok Engineering and Pinard Protectorates Limited on top of being financially involved in the construction of two new 'Mech factories on Coromodir. Not to mention that I have also brought out the Perdition branch of Alphard Trading Corporation thanks to it being on the verge of bankruptcy due to its apparent lack of profitability. I know it has the potential to be useful in the future even if it is only due to Periphery militaries wanting to purchase the J. Edgars that it produces. Especially since the engineering data I found means that it will be able to go back to producing the original fusion engine version instead of the downgraded ICE variant that it currently produces.
And very little of that is civilian in nature. The closest is Nora Engineering getting involved in exoskeleton construction, but that is mainly me preparing to break into battle armour production once I have a way to make military-grade armour that fits on an exoskeleton. No mining or agricultural operations, no restaurants, no transportation and just nothing civilian.
I still have a decent sized fortune. Defunct corporations are surprisingly cheap due to their perceived lack of value and I am not building either of the new 'Mech factories on my own. The Aurigan Sentinels haven't proven profitable yet, but the deficit is only a few million C-Bills a month so I can afford it for now. Especially since using my JumpShips and cargo DropShips for civilian trade and transportation within the Coalition while the ground forces garrison Coromodir goes a long way to offsetting the expenses.
God, I have really reached a point in life where a few million C-Bills feels borderline trivial. I have so much money that losing a few million a month is an affordable expense. How much worse is it going to get once PPL really gets going? Or once the new 'Mech factories are done and I'm getting my cut of the profits from those? And what about the combat exoskeletons I'm going to be producing in the future? Jackson Watt was raking in the dough once he started selling and licensing the Yellowjacket, but it is looking like I'll already be doing that when I release my equivalent power armour.
If I'm honest, being unexpectedly rich is easily far from the worst problem to have. It gives me the means to do stuff and I suppose I can get some personal luxury out of it. Except it has been months and I don't really think I've taken advantage of the latter. I have the money, but I can't recall any times that I've taken advantage of it. I've always been too busy sorting everything out or I've been on this mission.
Do I have a castle? I think I might have a castle that I have yet to visit. Something to check out once we get back to Coromodir. I might be filthy stinking rich, but that doesn't mean I know what to do with it on a personal level. Maybe I should just stick to business investments.
Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. I've been meaning to do non-military investment and I want to buy the land of Outpost Castle Nautilus to cut the Artru oligarchs out of the loop. I could combine the two by taking advantage of the former to bury the latter in it. Nobody would suspect just one land purchase when I'm going on an investment spree.
What would be better? Handling the land purchase myself or delegating it to someone who doesn't know how badly I want it? My time is a limited resource, but at the same time, this is important. Even if I delegate the other investments, I should make sure that I do buy the land that Castle Nautilus is on.
Then the door alarm on my quarters chimes, startling me out of my thoughts and I rush to close the secret map from the Argo.
"Come in!" I call as I lock the map away.
"Hello, Elizabeth," says Kamea as the Arano heiress walks in and I instantly feel a pang of guilt at hiding the Argo's secrets from her, "There is a matter I wish to discuss with you in private."
"I've got time," I answer, "Just thinking about future investments."
"Anything in particular?" inquires Kamea as she takes a seat opposite my desk.
"More civilian stuff than military stuff this time around," I reply, "I've got a whole load of major military investments right now, but I was thinking stuff like getting involved in mining, agriculture and the like."
"Well, you do still have some spending power so long as you pace yourself and don't go overboard," replies Kamea thoughtfully, "Or you could wait a couple of sets for your investments to offset their initial costs and start bringing in pure profit."
"I would like to get started sooner than later," I inform her, thinking about Outpost Castle Nautilus, "I'm generally thinking smaller stuff. I'm not really worried about going for the most profitable ventures, but supporting the less developed worlds."
"So your motive is charitable and humanitarian in nature rather than turning a profit," notes Kamea.
"I mean, I won't say no to C-Bills in my bank account, but yes, I want to build up some of the worlds that have suffered since the Star League fell," I say, "Take Alloway for example. The people there were scraping by in a handful of poor settlements. Imagine if I could invest in the basic infrastructure there to allow them to flourish or at least have a proper standard of living."
"I see your logic," says Kamea, "Father is engaging in similar activities within the Reach with his share of the memory core proceeds. While he is bolstering the infrastructure of the core worlds and shoring up the welfare system, Father is also investing heavily in the border worlds to bring their local infrastructure up to the same standard as what we have on Coromodir. Or at least he is doing his best to set the foundations for that happening since extensive infrastructure isn't something that can just be put into place. It isn't profitable except in the long run, but it falls within his responsibilities as their liege lord."
"What about Lord Espinosa?" I inquire, "What is he doing with his share of the memory core sales? I know he is involved in both new 'Mech factories, but what else is he up to?"
"Other forms of military investment," answers Kamea promptly, "While my father is handling developing the civilian side of the Coalition, my uncle is focusing on the military side of things. He has purchased a company of heavy 'Mechs from the Taurians for the House Espinosa Guard though they will take months to arrive and he is attempting to recruit mercenaries and other independent MechWarriors to permanently sign up with his house guard. He is also funding an expansion of the Espinosa Refit Yards He is doing other things, but apart from helping fund restoration of old military infrastructure, Uncle Santiago is playing his cards close to his chest. I can check in with him once we get back home if you wish."
"I would appreciate that," I tell her, "Now, you mentioned you wanted to speak with me about something when you first came in?"
***
And now we have the journey back to Coromodir. Elizabeth is being sneaky and engaging in under the table plans. She'll probably come clean to her bosses later, but for now, she is doing her best to set things up to take advantage of her covert knowledge. She is also getting back into the business side of things. As usual, I'm being vague because hard numbers don't work well with BattleTech economics, but I'm sure you get the gist of what Elizabeth is planning.
Anyway, the conversation isn't over yet. It will probably take up the next update, which will bring this arc to the close and onto the next one. Which will be more business dealings and politics as Elizabeth deals with stuff at home before she can go on her next mission.
Please point out any spelling or grammar mistakes that you spot. Please quote them in the thread and explain what you think is wrong so I know what you are referring to.
Will you be posting an informational with Noras business empire?
- Location
- Under your bed
espinosa gathering militaryforces is not a good thing
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It hadn't occurred to me before reading this post, but now that you have mentioned it, I think that I might do it.
- Location
- Ohio
Yeah, Espinosa and his daughter need to be enlightened into the fact the kind of military adventurism they want, or HE wants needs the infrastructure and manpower to handle it. It also has to keep in mind the realities that you need to have enough industries to offset attrition, the manpower and training to offset loss of skilled personnel, and basically at least a couple decades of forward planning and set up.
So if he wants his war, he would need to set up for when his grandchild or great grandchild would be ready to carry it out. Essentially he dreams as if he has an Inner Sphere power under his control, and wishes to be remembered as a conqueror. Even if in the end it would lead to the destruction of himself and the nation he leads.
He even admits that he knew it was futile when Kamea captured him, that it wasn't feasible. but still carried out his gamble out of pride and denial that they couldn't become some great military power. Deluding himself and his loyal men into believing that they couldn't be crushed by the Taurian's let alone a small Davion detachment.
I mean from what I understand the Aurigan Reach only had maybe a hundred and fifty mechs in all, and none of them were really the big boys...
Basically he suffers from the Big Little Man syndrome, or like the Travis Tritt song... He thinks he is Ten foot tall and Bulletproof...
So if he wants his war, he would need to set up for when his grandchild or great grandchild would be ready to carry it out. Essentially he dreams as if he has an Inner Sphere power under his control, and wishes to be remembered as a conqueror. Even if in the end it would lead to the destruction of himself and the nation he leads.
He even admits that he knew it was futile when Kamea captured him, that it wasn't feasible. but still carried out his gamble out of pride and denial that they couldn't become some great military power. Deluding himself and his loyal men into believing that they couldn't be crushed by the Taurian's let alone a small Davion detachment.
I mean from what I understand the Aurigan Reach only had maybe a hundred and fifty mechs in all, and none of them were really the big boys...
Basically he suffers from the Big Little Man syndrome, or like the Travis Tritt song... He thinks he is Ten foot tall and Bulletproof...
Elizabeth Nora's Business Empire (May 3021)
- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Founded and fully owns Nora Engineering as a privately-owned business.
-Orguss Industries has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-HardfordCo Industries has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Lantren Corporation has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Stormvanger Assemblies, Unlimited & Stormvanger Assemblies, Light Division have been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Alphard Trading Corporation Perdition has been fully bought out by Elizabeth when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and it is effectively a subsidiary business of Nora Engineering despite being nominally independent.
-Merlin MLN-1B Factory on Coromodir VI that is a joint venture by Nora Engineering & Mountain Wolf BattleMechs. Factory is currently under construction and predicted to begin production in late 3023 (1 BattleMech per year) and enter full production in 3025 or 3026 (12 BattleMechs per year).
-Nora Engineering has bought out several exoskeleton factories and their component factories. While currently producing civilian exoskeletons, Elizabeth is planning to convert them into PA(L) factories once she has figured out how to fit standard armour on an exoskeleton.
-Nora Engineering has begun to get involved in producing assorted civilian electronics and hardware, primarily buying out old or run down factories to refit them to make use of the engineering data that Elizabeth found.
-Nora Engineering has acquired several ammunition factories for standard armour plating, SRMs, LRMs, autocannon shells and other consumables for Aurigan Sentinels with the intention of providing in-house production of supplies for the mercenary unit.
Heavily invested in Ragnarok Engineering and controls around 30% of its shares..
Heavily invested in Pinard Protectorates Limited and controls around 20% of its shares.
Centurion CN9-AL Factory on Coromodir VI that is owned and run by Corean Enterprises, but Elizabeth has invested into it. Factory is currently under construction and predicted to begin production in late 3023 (1 BattleMech per year) and enter full production in 3025 or 3026 (12 BattleMechs per year).
Elizabeth has begun to support several minor mining and agricultural businesses across the Aurigan Coalition and neighbouring independent worlds. She has begun to invest in developing and supporting the basic infrastructure of the Reach's lesser worlds and the neighbouring systems such as schools, hospitals and utility businesses. As a part of the later, Elizabeth has also begun to offer merit-based scholarships for courses relevant to said basic infrastructure to generate a pool of skilled labour and professional expertise for them.
-Orguss Industries has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-HardfordCo Industries has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Lantren Corporation has been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Stormvanger Assemblies, Unlimited & Stormvanger Assemblies, Light Division have been fully bought out and merged into Nora Engineering.
-Alphard Trading Corporation Perdition has been fully bought out by Elizabeth when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and it is effectively a subsidiary business of Nora Engineering despite being nominally independent.
-Merlin MLN-1B Factory on Coromodir VI that is a joint venture by Nora Engineering & Mountain Wolf BattleMechs. Factory is currently under construction and predicted to begin production in late 3023 (1 BattleMech per year) and enter full production in 3025 or 3026 (12 BattleMechs per year).
-Nora Engineering has bought out several exoskeleton factories and their component factories. While currently producing civilian exoskeletons, Elizabeth is planning to convert them into PA(L) factories once she has figured out how to fit standard armour on an exoskeleton.
-Nora Engineering has begun to get involved in producing assorted civilian electronics and hardware, primarily buying out old or run down factories to refit them to make use of the engineering data that Elizabeth found.
-Nora Engineering has acquired several ammunition factories for standard armour plating, SRMs, LRMs, autocannon shells and other consumables for Aurigan Sentinels with the intention of providing in-house production of supplies for the mercenary unit.
Heavily invested in Ragnarok Engineering and controls around 30% of its shares..
Heavily invested in Pinard Protectorates Limited and controls around 20% of its shares.
Centurion CN9-AL Factory on Coromodir VI that is owned and run by Corean Enterprises, but Elizabeth has invested into it. Factory is currently under construction and predicted to begin production in late 3023 (1 BattleMech per year) and enter full production in 3025 or 3026 (12 BattleMechs per year).
Elizabeth has begun to support several minor mining and agricultural businesses across the Aurigan Coalition and neighbouring independent worlds. She has begun to invest in developing and supporting the basic infrastructure of the Reach's lesser worlds and the neighbouring systems such as schools, hospitals and utility businesses. As a part of the later, Elizabeth has also begun to offer merit-based scholarships for courses relevant to said basic infrastructure to generate a pool of skilled labour and professional expertise for them.
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Nice summary, very informative
any bets on how high the bidding will go for the first mech made in the reach?
any bets on how high the bidding will go for the first mech made in the reach?
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- Location
- Southampton, Great Britain
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I think you are overestimating what Espinosa has in mind and how long it takes to build up military assets. He doesn't want to go conquering the Taurians or the Capellans, he just wants to secure the Coalition's position/strength the Coalition so it doesn't get gobbled up by its neighbours in the future because he is fully aware of how relatively weak the Coalition is. He would rather ally with one of the Coalition's more powerful neighbours than go to war with them. Even in canon, he wasn't delusional, just extremely desperate with no limits and going for the longshots because he felt those were the only hopes that the Coalition had left. Of course, he was wrong, but Santiago Espinosa strikes me more as a desperate man who is willing to do whatever he thinks is necessary rather than a delusional man. He is all too aware of the reality of the situation and determined to change it at any costs.
In this story, the Coalition is still a rising star thanks to Elizabeth's engineering data memory core instead of stagnating after the Taurian talks fell through. He has vague future plans to conquer a few neighbouring independent worlds in the Frontier at most to get strategic depth, important assets and more resources for the Coalition to draw upon and said conquests would be more marching in and taking over the place most of the time, but right now, Santiago is investing his portion of the memory core sales into military development. Meanwhile Tamati is doing civilian/economic development with his share while Elizabeth is doing a mixture of both.
Also, it doesn't take a lifetime to do military or industrial development in the Battletech universe. In canon, military/industrial development is repeatedly done in a couple of decades at most, sometimes even less. A couple of decade is the longest estimate not the minimum. The first Merlin factory was a matter of years not decades and likewise with Detroit. It isn't like the Aurigans are lacking in existing industry and develop as their biggest problem is being too decentralised, a lack of advanced industry like BattleMechs or JumpShips and just being small compared to the neighbouring major powers. And that middle one is the process of being solved within this fic.
Furthermore, having sufficient industry to offset losses isn't necessary for military adventurism in the BattleTech. See the raids by the Marian Hegemony, Circinus Federation and every successful bandit kingdom. Or the Succession Wars where the Great Houses went at each other despite their dwindling and irreplaceable industries. It is nice to be able to replace your losses via domestic production and recruitment, but too many powers in BattleTech are willing to salvaging enemy war machines and taking expertise by force.
Prior to the Espinosa Coup and Arano Restoration, each Founding House had its own battalion of 'Mechs so that is at least two hundred fifty 'Mechs, possibly more if the Royal Guard is independent of House Arano's 'Mech battalion or they use Taurian-style 'Mech Battalions. For this story, I have one Taurian-style 'Mech Battalion for each Founding House of varying strength plus an eighth battalion for the Royal Guard that nominally answers to the High Lord or Lady and draws upon all seven Founding Houses for its manpower and resources. Two and a half regiments on the lower scale and three and a half on the higher scale with this story going for something closer to the latter.
The ACM gets first right of refusal on the Centurions and the Aurigan Sentinels get first right of refusal on the Merlins followed by the ACM.
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Recall that in canon he tried to convince his brother and then Niece that they needed to consolidate power behind the High Lord position to resolve border disputes with the Taurians, which would have led to the other houses rebelling or trying to secede, and when he did it himself with his coup... He resorted to the old Amaris stand by of black mail, hostages, and bribes to take power. Brutally suppressed people, through dissidents into an icy hell hole where they tried to work them to death and did numerous other crimes that would get people shot...
When pressed he did a War Crime to a Taurian world, blamed it on the Suns, and was essentially relying on the Taurians to prop up his regime. Even basically encouraging them to make war with the Suns, with the promise of those SLDF Battlemechs, and that would have brought hell to the Periphery as the fighting would have spilled everywhere.
The Magistocy of Canopus backed Kamea because their spies found out he wanted to get into a pissing match with the Federated Suns, a short victorious war that he could parade around about how great his rule was, and that they were strong and not a paper tiger. Seemingly not believing that the Suns would retaliate over a couple planets, while Canopus with its extensive spy network were absolutely certain that they would. In fact it would have led to their rivals deciding to get involved and tear a new hole in the Periphery as they fought each other over new planets...
Recall when you beat him, he states that he was right in that they COULDN'T have won and told his daughter to stand down in a defeated tone. Indicating that he was willing to make a bloody battlefield of the Aurigan Worlds in the off chance they could have won, even knowing they didn't have the capabilities.
In essence he was one of those dictators who wanted to make a Military Junta, to try and prove his country was strong militarily, and essentially thought maybe he could be a new Napoleon. Who tried to become a conqueror, only to fail not once, but twice...
True, but Nora might decide that the political capital and publicity she can get from auctioning it off is worth it. Given the prominence of mechs I'm sure that there are collectors with more money than sense and if you hosted an NE arms expo that showcases her finished PA design a few days before the actual auction she should clean up.
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Yes, Espinosa was an evil man and he had his many flaws, but I feel you are ascribing vices to him that he never had. The Magistracy didn't get involved because he was planning to invade anyone, they got involved because they believed that the military posturing by the Aurigan Directorate could provoke open warfare between the Concordat and the FedSuns, which would drag the Canopians into it. They then backed the Arano Restoration because they wanted to keep their hands cleaned and hoped that the removal of the Directorate would allow the increased tensions to simmer back down on their own.
And when he is defeated, he never says that they wouldn't have won in the first place. What he does say is that they lost, the Arano Restoration was victorious and despite their necessary evils, their gambit had failed and the only thing they could do now is surrender to avoid draining more of the remaining Reach's strength. While he does keep fighting even after the odds have turned against him, he only does so while there is still a chance of victory. After Espinosa has used up the last trick up his sleeve, he throws in the towel and surrenders rather than fight to the bitter end and bleed the Reach further when there is no chance of victory. So desperate and willing to engage in long odds gambits, but not delusional.
Between what we get in the campaign and what is said in the sourcebook, Santiago Espinosa strikes me as someone with a strong sense of duty, but has issues with control, military strength and a willingness to do whatever he deems necessary so long as he can justify it to himself. He saw the crippling disfunction of the Founding Council, the economic downturn and the perceived stagnation of the Aurigan Coalition and decided that to ensure a brighter future, the Reach needed to have a strong leader backed by military strength. Even if he was wrong about what needed to be done and committed a few atrocities, I fully believe that Espinosa did genuinely believe that he was doing what was best for the Aurigan people even if he was wrong about that. As seen by how instead of trying to become dictator himself, he first tried to convince Tamati Arano and Kamea Arano to become the dictator, only resorting to installing himself after the former died and the latter refused. He also decided to surrender and try to stop the fighting once it had become undeniably clear he had lost rather than prolong the fighting or attempt to go down swinging.
Furthermore, this controlling nature can be seen in how he treated his daughter. He made it quick clear that he expected total obedience from his daughter and Santiago strikes me as the sort of parent who is strict at best and more likely goes into being borderline abusive or even outright abusive. He also places a strong emphasis on military strength. He used military force to seize power and crush his opposition and when he was Director, he redirected civilian funding into the military. Additionally, when Santiago talks about the prosperity and strength of the Aurigan Reach, he equates those concepts with martial glory and military might.
Lastly, we all know to what depths he is willing to sink to do what he deems necessary to restore the glory of the Aurigan Reach. To me, he never struck me as a delusional. Wrong for sure, but Espinosa always seemed to be aware of the Coalition's position even if he prioritise the wrong goals and methods to go about strengthening it. Even as he took desperate long-shot gambles, he never struck me as deluding himself about what he was up to. Victoria on the other hand, well, I hesitate to call her delusional, but she strikes me as someone who was obeying their very controlling parent and as things went bad, she deluded herself instead of recognising the truth out of the sunk-cost fallacy. Santiago was aware enough to admit defeat when he was beaten with no more tricks up his sleeve while Victoria fought to the bitter end rather than acknowledge that the evils she committed in her father's name might have been for naught.
It depends on whether or not Elizabeth needs the 'Mech at the time. She might get a better deal selling it off as a collector's item, but the situation might be such that she need more 'Mechs and they certainly don't grow on trees.
So Nora has the rights to produce
Mechs:
Locust, Stinger, and Wasp-20tons
Urbanmechs-30tons
Javelin-30tons
Falcon-30tons
Cicada-40tons
Phoenix Hawk-45tons
Grasshopper-70tons
Cyclops-90tons
Tanks:
J.Edgar-25tons
Von Lucker-75tons
I'm not sure what, if anything, Alphard Trading Corporation Perdition was producing or had the rights to besides the J.Edgar.
Given her wide selection of mech rights and the dearth of ASF production I'll bet Nora, Arano, and Santiago will collaborate to create an ASF company that produces Hellcats, Lightnings, and maybe the Centurion or even the Star Dagger.
Mechs:
Locust, Stinger, and Wasp-20tons
Urbanmechs-30tons
Javelin-30tons
Falcon-30tons
Cicada-40tons
Phoenix Hawk-45tons
Grasshopper-70tons
Cyclops-90tons
Tanks:
J.Edgar-25tons
Von Lucker-75tons
I'm not sure what, if anything, Alphard Trading Corporation Perdition was producing or had the rights to besides the J.Edgar.
Given her wide selection of mech rights and the dearth of ASF production I'll bet Nora, Arano, and Santiago will collaborate to create an ASF company that produces Hellcats, Lightnings, and maybe the Centurion or even the Star Dagger.
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She also has the right to produce the Phoenix Hawk plus all three Bug 'Mechs.
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- Under your bed
I have some questions.
-Buying a company only gives the rights to produce the variant they used to produce right?
-What use is it acquiring ATC perdition as they don't start production of anything until 3057?
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- Southampton, Great Britain
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- He/Him
I don't believe so. Variants aren't really their own separate thing, but standardised modifications. A good number of variants are adjusting to running out of parts in the field and working with what they got with the resulting design. Or a field design getting popular enough that they start to mass produce it.
It makes the J.Edgars that are listed under Pinard Protectorates Limited in canon. Maybe some other stuff like generic APCs and the like.