Davion Heir (BattleTech AU)

[Oshha]

Solaris City, Solaris VII
Federation of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
7 May 3014

"So this is Solaris," says Tahmina as the APC takes her, Victoria and the platoon of Davion Guardsmen bodyguarding the First Prince to the hotel that will be their home for the duration of their stay on Solaris.

"Looking to get in a game?" asks Victoria with a smirk.

"Watching one or two, maybe," replies Tahmina as the smaller woman shrugs, "I don't think it would be professional of me to do so. I'm not special when it comes to being a MechWarrior and my ride belongs to AFFS. It would be one thing if my Shadow Hawk was my personal property, but I couldn't justify damaging government property for a personal reason."

"I could sign off on it you know, but I get your point," says Victoria, "I wonder how long these talks will take. Olivia says that preliminary talks have been going well, but there is a lot of bad blood between the Lyrans and Leaguers."

"Don't worry Vic," says Tahmina as she throws an arm around her prince, "If anyone can get them to sit down and listen to reason, it will be you. Morgan said that Katrina was extremely receptive."

"The Archon was open to allying with us back in thirty-ten," replies Victoria thoughtfully, "I guess there is no point in worrying about it now. I'll see where Janos and Katrina stand when I meet them."

A lot has changed since Victoria became the First Prince back at the start of March. It has been a couple of months now and if nothing else, her actions so far have ensured her place in history. The New Avalon Institute of Science is coming along nicely even if it is a couple of years away from completion while the newly formed Team Banzai is an unexpected boon. Not only is the team of geniuses very helpful to the work on understanding the Halstead Station library cache, but the regiment's worth of elite MechWarriors and ASFs pilots will be advantageous when it comes to New Avalon's defence, allowing Victoria to free up another unit from the capital's garrison.

And then her warning to Janos allowed the Captain-General to pre-emptively deal with his brother. Anton Marik and his closest supporters were arrested, his newly and secretly raised Ducal Guard were crushed on New Delos before the ball could get going whilst other units were purged of disloyal personnel. It wasn't perfect or completely painless, but it was certainly significantly better for the Free Worlds League than if Anton had been able to begin his revolt.

The downside is that the lack of a civil war meant that Katrina wasn't able to generously not raid the League to show her good intentions. Hopefully Janos will be suitably grateful for averting a costly civil war that would have weakened the League and undermined his reign. Especially since Anton would have had the Wolf's Dragoons fighting for him thanks to his dealings with Maximilian Liao.

At least Katrina is downright supportive of Victoria's push for peace. The First Prince wasn't expecting the Archon to be so positive about her proposal, but she will take her victories where she can get them, especially since this will be an uphill battle.

The journey through the Black Hills region of Solaris City doesn't take long to reach the hotel that has been rented out for Victoria and her delegation. The entire building has been hired by the Federated Suns for increased security, allowing her guards to go about their business without interfering with other guests and to ensure that no unknown individuals are able to get close to her in the guise of being fellow patrons of the hotel.

Olivia Fenlon is waiting for her, the Minister of Foreign Relations having arrived on Solaris almost a fortnight before the First Prince and about a week before the Archon and the Captain-General arrived. Since then, Olivia has been busy at work, using her diplomatic genius and ministerial position to start laying the groundwork. There have been no concrete deals without Victoria there to agree to them, but Olivia has been sounding out opinions and feeling out the willingness or lack of for certain things.

From the reports that Olivia has been forwarding to Victoria, her work has been going quite well. Beyond Katrina Steiner's odd optimism regarding the peace talks, Janos seems to be at least willing to humour the two of you, if only to keep the Lyrans off his back long enough to get some revenge against the Liaos.

That'll be the key to success, getting it signed so the Lyran Commonwealth can focus on the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds League can focus on the Capellan Confederation. Then it will just be a matter of hoping that the ceasefire lasts long enough for it to become accepted.

Still a longshot, but one that Victoria is becoming more and more confident in.

"My Prince, it is good to finally have you here," says Olivia as Victoria and Tahmina get out of the APC, "I've been doing what I can, but something of this magnitude needs you personally speaking for the Federated Suns. There is only so much that a mere minister can promise."

"I understand," replies Victoria as the three of them and Victoria's Davion Guard escort enter the hotel, "Give me a run down of what to expect."

"As you are already aware, Katrina is surprisingly supportive of these peace talks and as far as I can tell, she wants them to succeed as much as you do," Olivia tells her, "From what I can gleam from her, she desires to gain some respite from the Succession Wars for her people and support against our mutual foe, the Draconis Combine. More cynically, the Lyran Commonwealth is running out of stamina after so many decades of war and the Archon wants to buy some space so it can catch its breath. Everyone is these days, but her predecessors had the LCAF running at full tilt for too long without any rest."

"So you are saying that Katrina wants to buy some time and breathing room for the LCAF to regroup and rearm?" inquires Victoria.

"It is certainly part of her motive though it would be wrong to claim that is all she wants," answers Olivia, "Another cynical part of her motivation is that the Lyran Commonwealth has the best economy in the Inner Sphere or any part of the Periphery. Getting a truce or even just a ceasefire benefits the Lyran Commonwealth as peace gives them the chance to leverage their superior economy. Or at least the Archon certainly thinks so from what I can gleam. She has enough faith in her people to believe that they can economically outcompete anyone else. My assessment of Katrina Steiner is that she wants an alliance with us against the Combine and she sees getting a ceasefire with the League as a way for her to secure one of her borders so that she can reassign forces to strengthen her other border."

"That fits with what I remember of her from when I visited Tharkad," says Victoria with a thoughtful look, "I'm glad to hear that she hasn't changed in the years since then."

"While Katrina has proven to be an unexpected source of help, there are concerns from the Lyran side of things," continues Olivia, "Her cousin Frederick Steiner holds ambitions for the throne like Anton Marik or Michael Hasek-Davion to the point that his political puppeteer had to restrain him from marching on Tharkad back when Katrina became Archon. He hasn't been speaking up against the peace talks yet, but if Frederick took an antagonistic stance, he would become a rallying point for those opposed to any alliance with us or agreement with the League."

"How likely is he do to that?" asks Tahmina.

"And could we talk him down from that?" adds Victoria.

"Given his apparently genuine desire to serve the Commonwealth and his service record against the Dracs, I believe he would be supportive of the alliance for the military benefits it would bring," answers Olivia, "Unfortunately, the concern is Aldo Lestrade, Duke of Summer and the unofficial leader of the growing Free Skye movement. While your plans would be to the benefit of the Federation of Skye and Free Skye's professed goals, I have been warned by reliable sources that Duke Lestrade doesn't truly care about Skye and only worries about his personal power. If he thinks that this will get in the way of his personal ambitions, he'll oppose it even if it supports his publicly proclaimed goals."

"Anything we can do to neutralise the threat?" asks Victoria, already suspecting what the answer will be as they reach Victoria's suite of rooms.

"Short of directly courting Frederick Steiner or discrediting Aldo Lestrade, there isn't much that we can do," replies Olivia with a slight shake of her head as the trio begins to get comfortable in Victoria's living room, "The former will be quite difficult as the man is currently stationed several jumps away along the Lyran-Draconis border. As for Lestrade, if he was so easily dealt with, the Archon would have already taken care of him. That isn't to say we can't do anything to fight his influence, but I believe that like the Archon, we are going to find Aldo Lestrade to be a persistent thorn in our side."

"Unfortunate, but at least we have the Archon on our side," says Victoria.

"We also have the official leader of the Federation of Skye in our camp," says Olivia, "It may be possible to get him to exert his official authority to shut down some of Lestrade's actions. In other news, Janos Marik has proven more receptive than I feared he would be. Not as supportive as Katrina is, but he is honouring the ceasefire and he is at least willing to give the peace talks a chance if nothing else."

"What can I expect from him and the League?" asks Victoria.

"Janos is going to be cynical and pragmatic when it comes to the peace talks," answers the Minister of Foreign Relations with a grim look on her face, "Whatever idealism he once had has been slowly burnt away since he became Captain-General and the betrayal from his brother got rid of whatever had still remained at that point. If you hadn't dropped all of this into his lap, I strongly suspect that Janos would have withdrawn into a shell, at least for a time."

"That unfortunately fits with what Loretta has been sharing with me over the years," says Victoria with an equally grim look, "Alright, Olivia, what do I have to work with when it comes to persuading the Captain-General to agree to my plans?"

"The threat of a strong Lyran Commonwealth and a desire to get revenge on the Capellan Confederation," Olivia tells her, "Between Katrina undoing her uncle's 'concentrated weakness' and Maximilian Liao's support for Anton Marik, Janos' agreement to the ceasefire and talks has become accepted as a move to keep the newly empowered Lyran threat at bay while the active Capellan threat is pushed back. Parliament has been spooked by how close the Liaos came to igniting a civil war within the League, something which would have devastated it whilst the Lyrans have recovered enough to be in a position to prey upon the League. It isn't universal, but there is a majority support for using the peace talks to stem the Commonwealth from attacking the League whilst the FWLM puts the Liaos in their place."

"So focus on convincing them by presenting peace with the Lyrans as means to attack the Cappies in peace," says Victoria, "Anything else?"

"You might want to emphasise that an alliance between the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns is going to happen," replies Olivia, "I know it isn't set in stone, but I don't see you and Katrina not coming to an agreement. If you present that as happening to Janos and present it as a choice of being part of that or having to face it as a threat, then that should encourage him to play nice out of pragmatism."

"So tell Janos he has a choice of being inside the tent and pissing out or being outside the tent and being pissed on," muses Victoria and Olivia winces.

"I don't think you quite got that metaphor right and please don't be so vulgar," pleads Olivia, "There is a certain amount of decorum expected when it comes to negotiations with fellow heads of state."

"I know how to play nice," Victoria reassures her, "I accompanied Ian on his visit to Tharkad, remember?"

"So you mentioned," says Olivia, "So to recap, the Lyran side of things is effectively a done deal when it comes to military cooperation against the Draconis Combine and not attacking the League. Anything further with the League from the Lyran perspective will be more difficult. For the League, play up the chance to avoid getting attacked by the Commonwealth whilst they go after Capellans. Point out how even if they hate the Lyrans, they are better off being part of the alliance than being left out of it. Also remember that you need to play to parliament as much as you do Janos. Janos is very eager to make the Chancellor pay for turning his brother and son against him, but the provinces of the League are less personally invested in it."

"Those are some good starting points," says Victoria, "Better than what I hoped for mere months ago."

"Things are certainly looking more positive than they once were," agrees Olivia with a smile, "Even if it doesn't end the Succession Wars, some measure of peace within the Inner Sphere is worth struggling for. I'm certainly pleased that the Archon has proven wise enough to see the benefits of competing through matters of trade rather than the violence of war. There is one last thing that you should be aware of. Two things to be precise."

"What are they?" asks Victoria.

"Both the Archon and the Captain-General have requested prior meetings with you later today," says Olivia, "My understanding is that they wish to personally feel you out before the formal talks begin tomorrow though exactly what they wish to speak with you about is unknown to me."

"Do you think I should go?" asks Victoria after a moment of silent thinking, "That it won't look suspicious to have private meetings prior to the talks themselves?"

"Only if you agree to a private meeting with one and not the other," replies Olivia, "Go to both or go to neither and I would personally recommend meeting with them. You will find out what they want to discuss with you and you don't need to worry about them potentially feeling snubbed if you decline their request."

"Alright then, I'll go and speak with them," decides Victoria.

***​

And here is the start of the second arc as we start off with a tentative truce and pending peace talks are in place. I choose Solaris over Terra as neutral ground because it offers more potential for trouble than the latter as the OOC reason and the IC reason is that using Terra would be too antagonistic to Janos due to the raw wounds from Anton and Max cutting their deal on Terra.

This update is mostly setting up the post-timeskip circumstances with the upcoming chapters covering the negotiations between the Lyrans, Leaguers and Feddies. I won't be covering every minute detail, but the basics and other important stuff will be shown on-screen provided it doesn't cut too much into the word count.

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.

 

[Oshha]

Solaris City, Solaris VII
Federation of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
7 May 3014

Victoria decides to meet with the Archon first. Katrina has been a friend and sort of ally for longer than Janos has and there are some things that Victoria would like to establish with the most reasonable party first before going to the less reasonable one. For starters, Victoria would like to get some sort of military cooperation against the Draconis Combine agreed to so she can threaten Janos with being left out of a military alliance between the Federation and the Commonwealth.

It was a bit of a decision to decide what to wear to the restaurant that Katrina has invited her to, where the Archon has reserved a private dining room for the two of them. On the one hand, it is traditional and accepted for a First Prince to wear a dress uniform in lieu of a suit or dress. On the other hand, a suitably formal dress is just as acceptable and all of Victoria's dresses are more comfortable than her dress uniform. That said, Victoria has to consider what sort of impression she wants to give off, which is something she needs to worry about now that she is First Prince.

In the end, Victoria decides that unlike with the High Council, her military record won't matter all that much here and chooses a pleasant red and gold dress that is patterned after the Davion sunburst. Hopefully it will come off as a way of showing her House's colours rather than looking ostentatious.

There are other guests at the restaurant, having their dinners as normal with the only sign of the Archon's presence and their pending meeting being the existence of on-duty Royal Guards in the building and outside. And while she cannot see them, Victoria would bet a hefty amount of C-Bills that there are some LIC agents mingled into the restaurant's patrons for the day.

Victoria draws a lot of attention as she enters the restaurant, some of it from her bodyguards, part of it from wearing a blatantly Davion dress in the Silesia region and the rest from being recognised as the First Prince. Thankfully the staff are appropriately professional and discreet for a place with such high profile clientele and Victoria is swiftly ushered into the private room that Katrina is in.

The Archon is just as Victoria expected her to be, a regal beauty that is the epitome of what a Steiner should look like with sharp facial features, steel grey eyes, long blond hair and a tall muscular frame. If Victoria didn't embody the Davion stereotype, she would be jealous of Katrina Steiner's looks and even then, Victoria would judge her Lyran counterpart to be the prettier of them,

Whereas the First Prince has chosen to wear a dress to lunch, Katrina has decided upon an insignia-less dress uniform of the LCAF with her medals out on display. While Victoria doesn't particularly care for it as she has already decided what she wants out of the Archon, the display of military prowess would be a good way to get on your average Feddie's good side.

"Katrina, it is good to see you again," says Victoria as she takes a seat at the table, "I just want to say that I am extremely grateful for your support. I am glad to see that you still support your old plan with Ian for an alliance."

"I am just doing what is best for my people, Victoria," replies Katrina as she gives the First Prince a small smile, "My congratulations on your coronation and my condolences on losing both of your brothers in such rapid succession. The Inner Sphere is a worse off place for their deaths."

"Thank you," says Victoria, "If you don't mind me cutting to the chase, as the First Prince of the Federated Suns, my goals is an alliance with the Lyran Commonwealth against the Draconis Combine and an alliance with the Free Worlds League against the Capellan Confederation. While I am not foolish enough to expect an alliance between the two given the bad blood between them, I would like to convince you to stop shooting each other. As for why I am supporting the Commonwealth and the League against the Dracs and Cappies, it isn't just because those two are my neighbours.

"While the Commonwealth, Federation and League all maintain some degree of rights and freedoms for their citizens, the Combine and Confederation are both states of oppression, tyranny and slavery. My apologies if I am getting ranty here, but I can see an Inner Sphere where the Federated Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League exist in peace with each other. I don't see one where the Draconis Combine or the Capellan Confederation also exist, not without making radical changes that I cannot envision House Liao or House Kurita making."

"I can appreciate that," says Katrina, "I have no fondness for the Mariks, but as Archon, I cannot deny that the Kuritas are simply worse. While I do believe that a Lyran world being conquered by the League will result in a decrease in quality of living, I don't need to worry about them being brutalised like I do when the Combine conquers a world from the Commonwealth. If you can convince Janos to go along with it, I am willing to support a truce with the League even if an outright alliance is a bit too much right now. Not that I would personally be opposed, but as you said, there is too much bad blood between our people for such a thing."

"I am glad you see things that way," Victoria tells her, "I don't believe we have discussed this yet, but I believe that our realms would benefit more from trading and cooperating with each other. Speaking of which, you remember how you and Ian were interested in agreeing to some military cooperation against the Combine?"

"I certainly do," confirms Katrina, "I take it that you wish to discuss that now?"

"If it doesn't get in the way of what you wanted to talk to me about, I certainly do," answers Victoria, "I have a meeting with Janos later today, similar to this one, and I would like to come to some agreement for us to have some kind of military alliance against the Dracs. While there isn't any real urgency to it, I would like to be able to tell the Captain-General that the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth have a military alliance and he can either get in on that or he can get left out."

"Hmm," says Katrina with a predatory grin that makes Victoria shiver, just a little, "I can certainly see how that could be considered a threat. Yes, regardless of what becomes of the League in this, I would like to see our realms united against our mutual foe."

***​

The rest of the meeting went about as productively as it could have hoped to have been. Nothing was formalised in such a minor meeting, but the First Prince and the Archon agreed upon a few points to be discussed in detail later, all relating to joint cooperation against the Draconis Combine. Things such as sharing military technology, sharing spare parts for 'Mechs produced in their realms or potentially just outright swapping the 'Mechs, potential military officer exchanges and the possibility of sending trainers from the AFFS to train the next generation of officers for the LCAF.

All in all, Victoria is confident that if nothing else, then the Suns' future with the Lyrans is assured. It is with that happy mood that the First Prince goes to meet with the Captain-General.

While Katrina invited her to a restaurant, Janos has invited her to one of the local stables, a move that has Victoria's interest piqued. The stables of Solaris were BattleMech-associated and the structures themselves were 'Mech bays or glorified 'Mech bays, which meant that whatever Janos wanted had to be something to do with 'Mechs.

Perhaps continuing to wear the same dress as before is a mistake, but it is still clean and Victoria doesn't feel like going through the chore of picking something else suitable to wear. It shouldn't be a problem as regardless of what the destination is, Janos has only requested a meeting.

The stable is swarming with people, all wearing the colours of the Free Worlds League, but they let Victoria and her bodyguards from the 1st Davion Guards through without any difficulty or complaint. Inside the stable are more individuals from the League, including the old, but strong figure of Janos Marik, who looks away from the Highlander in the stable's 'Mech bay as the First Prince enters the building.

"First Prince Victoria," the Captain-General greets her, "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me and thank you for your warning about my brother's treachery. I fear that if I hadn't been able to preempt him, Anton would have caused untold devastation and damage to the League."

"I am glad I was able to help you and your people avoid such destruction," replies Victoria, "And you have my sympathy for learning what it is like when your last remaining sibling turns on you in the worst way possible."

"Yes, I have heard of Duke Hasek-Davion's treachery," replies Janos with a polite nod, "He was behind the assassin who struck you in the Davion Palace?"

"I cannot say that my brother-in-law was responsible for that, lest I bring about a destructive civil war for my people like the one that your own people have just narrowly avoided," replies Victoria.

"Of course," concedes Janos, "In any case, please accept this Highlander as a gift of gratitude. You've done a great deal for the League, more than enough to make up for the loss of this 'Mech. In fact, it is part of the equipment that my forces captured from my brother's Ducal Guards on New Delos. I hope you will find it to be a suitable upgrade for your Wolverine."

Well, Janos isn't wrong about it being an upgrade. While Victoria pilots the WVR-6M variant rather than the standard WVR-6R, the HGN-733 Highlander standing before her is a big boost in firepower and survivability at the price of speed. The Assault 'Mech can't move or jump as fast, but it is jump capable with the corresponding mobility. Meanwhile it has several additional tons of armour on top of a heavy autocannon instead of a medium autocannon, a second medium laser and the SRM-6 launcher is supplemented by a LRM-20 launcher.

And Janos is just giving it to her. A big part of Victoria wants to test it out, but the more sensible parts of her are fully aware that if she gets to use her Highlander in battle again, something has almost certainly gone wrong. As much as she hates to admit it, Victoria will primarily be using her new ride in simulated combat.

"Thank you, Captain-General Janos," says Victoria, "It is a great gift."

"I am glad that you appreciate it," replies the Captain-General, "Now, I know your subordinates have been speaking to both myself and my own and that we have corresponded via HPG, but I would like to hear in person why you are pushing for this?"

"Because I can see our nations being at peace while I cannot see us being at peace with the Capellan Confederation or the Draconis Combine," answers Victoria, "The Federated Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League may have our disagreements with each other, but we all maintain some degree of liberty and rights for our people. The Combine and Confederation are both oppressive and slaving tyrannies with the Combine being built upon a desire to conquer the entire Inner Sphere. As for the Confederation, House Liao might have been decent once upon a time, but these days, you cannot trust them not to slide a knife into your back, something that I am sure you are fully aware of."

"You really believe that you could bring about a peaceful end to the Succession Wars?" asks Janos sceptically.

"I think I might have a shot at it and I won't know if I don't try," replies Victoria, "Sometimes you just need to take a calculated risk and that's what I am doing here. I freely admit that I may be gambling on a longshot here, but I feel the potential benefits are worth the potential risks. So far I have been proven right as while the exact details have yet to be determined, the Archon has agreed to a military alliance between the Suns and the Commonwealth."

"She has?" demands Janos sharply.

"Ian began the groundwork for it back in thirty-ten," explains Victoria with a sympathetic look, "I just took it to the next step after finally speaking with Katrina in person at lunch today. So whatever the outcome of these peace talks, I am looking at walking away with that military alliance. For what is worth, the work on this began before my time as First Prince and if either of my brothers had lived, I would expect that military alliance to have come about by thirty-twenty at the latest."

"Thank you for sharing that with me before tomorrow," says Janos, "I'm sure you appreciate how that changes things."

"I do," says Victoria as she makes sure to make eye contact with the Captain-General, "I may be allying with the Lyrans, but I don't want this to be the Commonwealth and the Suns against the League. I want this to be the Suns, the Commonwealth and the League against the Combine and Confederation. Or at least the Suns and Commonwealth against the Combine alongside the Suns and League against the Confederation."

"I understand your position," says Janos, "I can promise you that I will at least listen to what you and Katrina Steiner have to say."

"That is all I ask of you right now," replies the First Prince.

***​

Here we have the start of the on-screen diplomacy. The Lyran/Feddie alliance is going off to an early start while Janos tries to get on Victoria's good side by gifting her with a new 'Mech and a pretty good one to boot

I've also been trying to be more descriptive in my writing so I don't have chapters full of dialogue with nothing describing the scene or what is going on.

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.

 

[drakensis]

A new Battletech fic, and using one of my CYOA?

I'm glad to see this and it's looking good so far.

One suggestion I would make is either show a plan or show it being carried out, not both. The latest chapter had Victoria rehearsing her arguments, then using them with Katrina, then using them with Janos. That's repetitive and it loses reader interest. In this particular case, the meetings were the best part so the previous planning could have been cut without losing much. It wasn't bad as a scene, but it was redundant to the story.

 

[Oshha]

Solaris City, Solaris VII
Federation of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
8 May 3014

The peace talks take place at the Solaris Hilton, the best hotel in the neutral part of the city. A couple of other places could compete with the Solaris Hilton for the title of being the premier hotel on Solaris, but neither of them are located on neutral ground and therefore unsuitable for the peace talks.

While only three Successor States are involved in the peace talks, there are four different parties at the round table where the participants have gathered. Captain-General Janos Marik and the delegation from the League, Archon Katrina Steiner and the delegation from the Commonwealth, First Prince Victoria Davion and the delegation from the Suns and finally, Julian Tiepolo, Primus of ComStar and the neutral arbitrator of the peace talks.

The talks are taking place in a conference room that is guarded by a mixture of the 1st Royal Guards, the 1st Davion Guards and the 1st Free Worlds Guards. Their assigned duties mean protecting from assassins and spies, the latter of which has extended to include the media. While all three states involved support some measure of free speech, the peace talks will be difficult enough without adding the need to play to the public on top of that.

"Now that we are all gathered here, I propose that we begin," says Primus Tiepolo, "As First Prince Davion has been the driving factor behind these talks, I also propose that she be allowed to speak first unless there are any objections."

"I have none," says the Archon.

"Neither do I," adds the Captain-General.

"In that case, I would like to state that I am willing to provide a mostly complete copy of the Halstead Station library to both the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League if they agree to five year truce," says Victoria, ignoring the shocked gasps that her words bring about, "While I will be keeping the more sensitive and strategically vital portions of it for the Federated Suns alone, I am willing to share most of it as a gesture of goodwill and proof that I am serious about this. I even brought said copies with me in the hope of coming to such an agreement. As for the time limit of the truce, I am not foolish enough to believe in an indefinite peace right now so I will settle for a temporary truce and then see where we stand in a few years."

"That is a very generous offer," says Katrina as she leans forward, looking between Victoria and Janos, "If the Captain-General is willing, I would happily accept it."

"I am also open to your offer, First Prince Victoria, but for the sake of being responsible, I would like to verify the data first," says Janos, glancing at Katrina for a moment before refocusing on Victoria, "As you say you have brought the copies with you, I would like to request that I have a trusted subordinate look at said copy to see if it is truly what you claim it to be."

"Of course, I am not offended by you making sure that you aren't being tricked," replies Victoria to the Captain-General before turning to the Archon, "I would be happy to accept someone of your choosing coming to look at your copy to verify it."

"While I trust you to be truthful, I will take you up on that," replies Katrina, "Not because I feel you may be deceiving me, but because checking will help satisfy the concerns of the naysayers and sceptics."

"Excellent," says Victoria, "You can contact my staff and arrange the visitation. While the truce will need to wait until you have verified my offer, I would like to continue these negotiations with the assumption that it is genuine and the truce will be signed."

"I would be happy to do so," says Katrina, "As I said, I trust your offer to be authentic."

"I am likewise happy," agrees Janos, "While I do need to check, I have no real expectation of being deceived."

"In that case, I would like to raise the issue of military cooperation," says Victoria, "While I don't expect the League and the Commonwealth to engage in military cooperation nor do I expect us to come to an agreement today, I do hold hopes that the AFFS will be able to work with the LCAF against the DCMS and the FWLM against the CCAF."

***​

As the first day of talks comes to an end, Victoria feels both that they went well and that she is thoroughly exhausted. Spending the better part of a day in game-changing negotiations has been an entirely new experience for the First Prince and it has been extremely tiring to the point that upon returning to her hotel room, the woman threw herself face down on her bed.

"Tired out?" asks Tahmina as she walks into the room, Victoria's bodyguards having become accustomed to her presence.

"I don't think I've been more exhausted in my life," answers Victoria without looking up from where she is sprawled out across her bed, "Only boot camp comes close to competing."

"Have things really been that bad?" asks Tahmina nervously, "I thought they went pretty well."

"Oh, they did," Victoria reassures her, "I made as much progress as I dared hope, but I am exhausted by it all."

And they certainly made progress today. While neither the FWLM nor the LCAF were willing to work together, the Archon and the Captain-General were willing to accept mutual cooperation with the AFFS and the three Successor Lords even sorted out the basics of a plan. Said plan consisted of the League and Suns launching a strike against the Cappies that the CCAF would be unable to properly resist and then once the Confederation had been dealt a crippling strike, the Commonwealth and Suns would focus on the Combine.

Said strike would take place in 3015, both to give time to get the forces into position and to wait out the remainder of the Wolf's Dragoons' contract with House Liao. While the exact targets had yet to be determined, invasions would form the bulk of it and the list of potential targets would be the Capellan military industry located on their borders, which included all of them with the exceptions of Capellan, Sarna and arguably Nanking.

The downsides of said plan is that the Capellans would have enough forewarning that they could muster up enough forces to put up a decent defence ahead of time and for the Federated Suns, they would have to worry about raids or even invasions from the Combine. Ultimately, it wasn't that much of a concern as the Suns could handle the damage done by the DCMS and in one of her most cynical decisions to date, Victoria is willing to endure such damage as an acceptable price for crippling the Confederation. After all, with the Cappies out of the big picture for the foreseeable future, she could just devote the majority of the AFFS to the Combine border while Katrina did the same with the LCAF.

It wouldn't be so easy to cripple the Dracs like it would be with the Cappies, but with a competent Archon in charge, Victoria is confident that plenty of worlds lost to the Dragon could be reclaimed.

Now she just needs to get the truce formally in place, spend a few more days hammering out the details of the military cooperation and then spend an even longer amount of time sorting out trade and other civilian stuff. If things continue to go as they have been, Victoria should walk away with an uneasy truce between the Lyrans and Leaguers whilst having separate military alliances with both.

Hopefully she can unload some of the work to her subordinates, but with the Archon and Captain-General in attendance, Victoria doesn't think things will be that easy.

"Want me to order some room service for you?" asks Tahmina after a few moments of silence, "I assume from how you are just lying there, you aren't in the mood to go out for dinner."

"Food that comes to me sounds good," answers Victoria as she rolls over to look at her friend, "Anything happened whilst I was busy?"

"Duke Sandoval reports that the Third Davion Guards are raiding Proserpina and while the raid isn't concluded yet, the latest reports have been quite positive so far," replies Tahmina, "Also the Ministry of Education reports that there has been a disaster with one of the Vagabond Schools."

"Damn it, how bad?" asks Victoria as she sits up due to the apparent seriousness of the situation.

"The investigation into what happened and why is still ongoing, but the Kennedy has vanished with everyone onboard," answers Tahmina, "It jumped, but never arrived at its destination. As for what happened to the JumpShip, I don't know as the investigation is still ongoing."

"That is a disaster," says Victoria as she puts her face in her hands, "Okay, I don't know how badly this will impact the reputation and effectiveness of the Vagabond Schools or if it is the first of many incidents, but I want Minister Patel to start looking into alternatives and safer measures of education for the Outback. Perhaps something local or at least planet-based. Maybe boarding schools on select worlds?"

"I'll write up a message for the Minister of Education," says Tahmina, "Now, do you want me to fetch you a menu for dinner, Vicky?"

"That would be great, Tahmina," replies Victoria as she gives her best friend a grateful look, "You're the best."

***​

Solaris City, Solaris VII
Federation of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
10 May 3014

When the talks got called off for the afternoon so that the parties involved could review some of their own information before resuming the talks the following morning, Victoria decided it would be a good time to blow off some steam. And what better way to relax and reduce her stress levels than to take her new 'Mech for a ride?

So with a pair of 'Mechs from the 1st Davion Guards and Tahmina in her Shadow Hawk as a set of bodyguards, Victoria was stomping her new Highlander through the streets of Solaris when the attacks began.

"Report!" orders Victoria as the First Prince hears the sounds of fighting in the distance.

"Unknown, my Prince," comes the swift response, "We are investigating the source of it now."

Frustrating, but a lack of instantly available information is just an unfortunate aspect of life. Nonetheless, Victoria begins to move towards the fighting as whatever is going on, she doesn't want it ruining the peace talks and a Highlander is a safe enough place for a MechWarrior of Victoria's calibre.

"Victoria!" calls a voice over a private channel and Victoria instantly recognises it as belonging to her old friend Loretta Milano, one of Janos' trusted advisors and a key player in arranging the peace talks, "Are you there?"

"I am here," replies Victoria, "Do you know what is going on?"

"Death Commandos are attacking the Captain-General," answers Loretta, sounding semi-panicked, "The Free Worlds Guards are holding for now, but are you able to send assistance?"

"I am already heading towards the fighting with my Highlander and the rest of my lance," replies Victoria.
"That swiftly?" exclaims Loretta.

"I decided to take my new ride out for a spin to destress," explains Victoria, "I'll see you soon!"

As the call ends, Victoria decides that time is of the essence and she ignites her jump jets, intending to hop across the rooftops to avoid the crowded streets. Her 'Mech should be able to identify which ones are capable of supporting her weight and if she guesses wrong, then her Highlander is built to take rough landings.

"Victoria, what are you doing?" demands Tahmina as she begins to follow Victoria in her Shadow Hawk.

"You heard Loretta, Tahmina," replies the First Prince, "The Death Commandos are attacking the Marik delegation and I'm not going to hang our allies out to dry."

It doesn't take that long to cross the city, but each second feels painfully long, especially after the sounds of fighting get increasingly louder. It doesn't help matters that once Victoria is approaching the battle between the Death Commandos and the 1st Free Worlds Guards, another battle apparently breaks out in the Silesia region.

Despite being the first to move, Victoria isn't the first to make contact with the Death Commandos as one of her bodyguards in their speedier Quickdraw is the first to gain line of sight with the Capellans. Yet the mid-ranged weapons of the QKD-5A mean that of the Davion reinforcements, Victoria is still the first to strike the enemy as she unloads her LRM/20 into a black-clad Thunderbolt.

A full half of her missiles miss, but the remainder pepper the Capellan 'Mech with holes in its armour plating. Victoria follows it up by jumping on top of a nearby building to get a proper angle on the lance of Death Commandos.

The Cappies have brought a Crusader, a Centurion, a Spider and the Thunderbolt she took a shot at to the field. Meanwhile the Leaguers have a pair of Ostrocs and a Shadow Hawk in the field with a couple of Bug 'Mechs on the ground. Victoria snaps a shot with her heavy autocannon into the rear of the enemy Centurion, her autocannon shell ripping into the weaker rear armour before the Capellan pilot can react to her presence.

Her attack is more effective than she expected as not only does Victoria busts open the rear torso armour, but the Centurion's remaining autocannon ammo is ignited as the right torso explodes into flames and shrapnel. As the autocannon-equipped arm of the hostile 'Mech goes flying, Victoria fires a volley of LRMs into the wounded Centurion the moment that her LRM launcher finishes recycling.

And then as her Quickdraw bodyguard and the Leaguer Shadow Hawk pounce upon the damaged Centurion, the Death Commandos switch targets. While the Thunderbolt continues to duel with the Ostrocs, the Crusader and the Spider both shift their attention to Victoria as they jump towards her.

Having her back as always, Tahmina leaps into the way of the Spider, distracting the Death Commando with a full Alpha Strike, leaving Victoria to handle the Crusader. Its jumping capabilities are explained away by her battle computer having identified the 'Mech as the CRD-3L variant, which means that the Crusader has a reduced number of missiles compared to the standard version.

As the Crusader opens fire upon reaching the range where both its LRMs and SRMs are in optimal firing distance, Victoria ignites her jump jets to put some distance between her and the other Capellan 'Mechs. Between her new Highlander and Tahmina, Victoria is confident in her ability to take the Crusader and the Spider. The Leaguers and her bodyguard can handle slaying the Thunderbolt and dealing a death blow to the Centurion.

Missiles splatter across the frontal armour of Victoria's Highlander while a laser sears some of its armour with a glancing blow. Victoria unloads her own weapons into the Capellan 'Mech, but the Death Commando is a skilled and nimble pilot, who jumps just at the right movement to avoid the majority of her shots, including her autocannon.

"Tahmina, handle that Spider," orders Victoria over the radio as she jumps behind a building, "I'll take care of this Crusader."

"Understood, Vicky," replies Tahmina as Victoria watches the sensor contact of the enemy Crusader run around the building she is behind.

Just as her opponent is about to come around the corner, Victoria ignites her jump jets so that when the Crusader comes around to lay into her, it finds itself facing ninety tons of descending metal. To the credit of the Death Commando, they attempt to dodge backwards and even fire one last volley of SRMs at her, but it is too little too late. The feet of the First Prince's Highlander come down hard on the Liao Crusader, one denting its chest armour hard, but the other foot slams into the cockpit, caving it in under its weight.

Having slain her foe, Victoria lets out a victory whoop in the privacy of her cockpit and then lets out a second one as she realises that she has just performed her first 'Highlander burial'. The momentary celebration lasts for just that, a moment, before Victoria gets her head back into the game. Seeing that Tahmina is still duelling the Spider, Victoria decides to lend her best friend a hand especially since it doesn't look like her friend is winning.

Armed with a PPC and an LRM/5 in her SHD-2K, Tahmina is attempting to put some distance between her and the Death Commando, but the Spider is leveraging its superior speed and jumping ability to keep Tahmina off-foot. Whittling away at Tahmina's Shadow Hawk with its medium lasers, it isn't a fast strategy, but it is an effective one.

Using her feet rather than her jump jets to let her heat go down a bit, Victoria unleashes an indirect barrage of LRMs at the Spider. Less than a quarter of them actually hit between the Death Commando's piloting skill and the speed at which they are moving, but it is enough to let the Capellan know there is another player in the game now.

Then again, perhaps that wasn't the best move as the Spider seems to take it as a sign to withdraw. By the time that Victoria is coming around the corner, the Death Commando is already jumping away from both her and Tahmina. Tahmina opens fire on its fleeing form, blasting off an arm with her PPC, but by the time that Victoria's Highlander is ready for another LRM volley, the Spider is already out of sight.

"First Prince Victoria," calls someone over the comms, "We are receiving reports that the Archon is under attack and there are mixed reports on who is responsible."

"Understood," says Victoria as she takes a moment to analyse the current situation.

The Crusader and Centurion are both down, the Thunderbolt is about to die while the Spider is fleeing too fast for Victoria to pursue. Her Highlander has taken damage across the board, but the vast majority of her armour is still there. Just as she can't afford to let anything happen to the Captain-General, Victoria cannot afford to let anything bad befall the Archon.

"Tahmina," says Victoria as she gets moving once again, "We're going to help the Steiners now."

"Of course, we are," comes the reply as her best friend follows her as always.

***​

Halfway into the NaNoWriMo word count and we have our first Mech fight of the story. For the Solaris arc, I'm going to cover the attack on the Steiners and then I'll probably time-skip again to the next plot, mainly because the key parts of the negotiations are done and I don't want to drag out this arc too long as I have a couple more that I want to get done before the story is over and they aren't going to be short arcs.

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.

 

[Gyrard]

I wonder how much of the intel and equipment for this attack conveniently fell into the Cappie's hands that absolutely would never be traced back to Comstar. While it's possible they did this all of their own initiative, I can't see Comstar NOT nudging things along.

 

[Rhostadt]

I wonder how much of the intel and equipment for this attack conveniently fell into the Cappie's hands that absolutely would never be traced back to Comstar. While it's possible they did this all of their own initiative, I can't see Comstar NOT nudging things along.

Click to shrink...

I'm thinking that this may be a double false flag. Barring actually managing to kill one of the House Lords, a direct attack by Death Commandos seems likely to spur the League on, rather than deter them. Max, while insane, is usually more subtle and clever than that.

However, if Comstar dressed up as MIIO pretending to be Death Commandos, it could look like Victoria is trying to trick the League and Commonwealth into this peace agreement. Or at least, seriously confuse and hinder the issue. Or maybe Comstar futzed with orders to get the Death Commandos (or MIIO) to do this. Both scenarios have risks, though. Because it would leave Max or Victoria wondering who actually gave the orders, which could lead to uncomfortable places.

Welcome to the world of intrigue.

 

[Oshha]

Solaris City, Solaris VII
Federation of Skye, Lyran Commonwealth
10 May 3014

The trip to the attack on the Steiner delegation is just as painfully slow as the journey to the attack on the Marik delegation, something which isn't helped by the fact that Victoria can see the blazing flames of the fires before she reaches the battle.

But when she finally arrives at the battlefield, the state of affairs is much better than it was with the Mariks. The LCAF has a reputation for having both high amounts of tonnage and corruption with the latter cancelling out the former most of the time. This is not one of those times.

The Royal Guards are some of the best that the Lyran Commonwealth has to offer and today they are proving that. A Commando in the silver-trimmed black of the Draconis Elite Strike Teams lies broken on the ground. A DEST Centurion is duelling with a Lyran Griffin while a Kuritan Marauder is sniping back and forth with a Zeus and a Crusader. A Firestarter is being hunted by a Grasshopper as the battered DEST 'Mech does its best to set the district alive, having already caused vast amounts of collateral damage and an unknown number of bystander casualties.

That Firestarter will be Victoria's first target in this engagement as it needs to be brought down before it can inflict further damage. The First Prince strides forward as she lines up a shot with her autocannon, slamming a shell into the side torso of the Light 'Mech as soon as she is confident that she wouldn't miss. The Firststarter staggers and the pilot doesn't have time to react before LRMs slam into it. Not just a score of them from Victoria's Highlander, but a grand total of sixty LRMs come veering down on the Firestarter. Victoria isn't able to track how many missed and how many hit, but enough of them impact the wounded Firestarter to finish off the Kuritan 'Mech.

"Victoria!" calls Morgan over the radio as his Archer marches into Victoria's view, "Glad to see that you made it."

"Likewise, Morgan," replies Victoria, "I'm going to crush that Centurion. Fancy lending some fire support against that Marauder?"

"I would be happy to oblige," replies Morgan, "Katrina is safe by the way. They were already getting her to safety due to the attack on the Mariks so when these fellows showed up, they had already missed their window of opportunity."

"That is a relief to hear," says Victoria as she jumps towards the Centurion as the DEST MechWarrior backs up.

A beam of blue light from the GRF-1S Griffin's large laser sears into the left torso of the Centurion, melting away its LRM launcher. Victoria adds her own weight of fire to the mix, an autocannon shell, impacting the right leg of the Centurion and dropping it to one knee as what little remaining armour on the limb is shattered. Her LRM volleys don't help the Kuritan at all as the majority of them slam into the now motionless 'Mech, blowing away most of its remaining armour and even damaging parts of the internal structure.

As it attempts to rise, the Centurion fires what it can at the approaching Griffin, its heavy autocannon blasting away part of the Griffin's left arm whilst medium lasers melt gashes across the right and central torso. And yet at the same time that the DEST 'Mech opens fire, a PPC bolt of lightning slams into the exposed left torso of the Centurion. It proves too much for the already mangled internal structure as the left arm drops to the ground and the Centurion begins to tumble over backwards.

It seems that the enemy MechWarrior realises that defeat is inevitable as while their 'Mech falls over, an ejection seat flies out of the cockpit. Victoria tracks it for a moment and resists the urge to take a shot at it before her better nature reins in her barbaric impulses. Ignoring the ejecting Kuritan pilot, the First Prince turns her attention to the Marauder.

The last DEST 'Mech is still doing its best to fight, but between the damage it has taken and the sheer amount of enemies it has to face, its doom is unavoidable. It has already lost an arm, suffered multiple armour breaches and one leg is limping along. Victoria opens fire on the enemy war machine, but with the amount of Lyran 'Mechs laying into it, her actions are superfluous as the Marauder goes down hard.

***​

Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
28 July 3014

"What's the latest news on the fiasco?" asks Victoria as she and the rest of High Command gather in the Fox's Den to discuss the ongoing debacle in the Capellan Confederation.

"The whole affair seems to have come to an end," answers Mark as he looks through his reports, "The Wolf's Dragoons have jumped the League border to Shiro III while the Northwind Highlanders have jumped our border to Velhas. According to my own sources and what the Captain-General has shared with us, the Wolf's Dragoons have opened contract negotiations with the Free Worlds League. The Highlanders are heading up along our side of the border to Northwind, where they will take up garrison posts as per your agreement with them."

Victoria had thought she had been a bit too impatient by reaching out to the Northwind Highlanders so soon. It could have waited a year or two, but Victoria had trusted her gut to go ahead and boy did it prove to be the correct call. Her offer had been generous enough to intrigue the Highlanders and it seemed that her diplomatic efforts, especially sharing the bounty of Halstead Station with the Lyrans and Leaguers, had convinced the mercenaries of her sincerity.

It turned out to be just in time because the Chancellor had decided to use the Northwind Highlanders in his plot to crush the Wolf's Dragoons, which was its own kettle of fish. It seemed that following the Solaris Accords as the final agreement between the Federated Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League had been called, Maximilian Liao had become concerned about what the Wolf's Dragoons would do once they finished their contract with the Capellan Confederation. So when Colonel Wolf declined the Chancellor's offer to extend his contract, Maximilian began to plot the downfall of the Wolf's Dragoons.

For all his flaws, the Chancellor isn't an idiot so he resorted to more subtle and deniable acts at first. According to what MIIO had uncovered and what the Wolf's Dragoons had shared, Maximilian had attempted to subvert the officers amongst the Wolf's Dragoons to organise an internal coup against the Wolf brothers in favour of House Liao. When that failed due to the loyalty and discipline of the Dragoons, he summoned the senior leadership of the Wolf's Dragoons under a pretence so the Chancellor could arrest them for trumped up charges. Thanks to whatever intelligence network the Dragoons had, that plan had failed when the Wolf's Dragoons uncovered the Chancellor's true intentions.

That led to the Wolf's Dragoons bunkering down on Wright, clearly at odds with the Capellan Confederation by then, but at the same time, refusing to break contract as they waited for House Liao to make the first overt move against them. Something that Victoria still didn't understand as it left the initiative in the hands of their enemy and if it wasn't for her own meddling, the Wolf's Dragoons could have met their destruction on Wright.

Because Maximilian's plan to destroy the Wolf's Dragoons by force wasn't that bad to be honest. In fact, it was pretty good if you ignored the fact that the Chancellor was only in this situation due to his own screwups.

The Northwind Highlanders and their dependents were brought down to Wright under the pretence of replacing the Wolf's Dragoons there and as far as Victoria knew, it might have been true. The Big MAC had secretly arrived at Grand Base from Menke where they would arrive at Wright alongside the Death Commandos and Warrior House Fujita while Warrior House Kamata would be coming to Wright from Betelgeuse.

While not as skilled or experienced as the Wolf's Dragoons, it was still a substantial amount of military might with around ten regiments' worth of 'Mechs, which meant over a thousand 'Mechs had been assembled by the CCAF to crush the Wolf's Dragoons. Or so the Capellans thought as around three hundred of those 'Mechs and their pilots had been subverted by Victoria.

The Battle of Wright is being hailed as the largest battle of the Third Succession War though Victoria knows better as she was a participant in the even larger Battle of New Aragon back in 3008. On paper at least, over fifteen hundred 'Mechs are involved in the Battle of Wright with close to six hundred of those being disabled or destroyed. Even if most of those lost 'Mechs will be salvaged, it is still an insanely high number in Victoria's books even if it doesn't reach the heights of having nearly two thousand 'Mechs fighting in the Battle of New Aragon.

She is just glad the whole affair has been a clearcut defeat for the CCAF and a massive fiasco for the Chancellor. The Wolf's Dragoons already had the quality advantages and when the majority of the Northwind Highlanders had switched sides, it had given them the quantity advantage on top of that.

For the Wolf's Dragoons, their Alpha, Delta and Epsilon Regiments had suffered moderate losses whilst casualties for the Beta and Gamma Regiments had been more severe with both units suffering heavy losses. The other formations of the Dragoons had suffered light to no damage in the fighting with the exception of the infamous Zeta Battalion, who had lost half a dozen of their mighty war machines. All in all, the Wolf's Dragoons had only suffered about twenty percent casualties and many of those weren't fatalities.

The Northwind Highlanders had fared about as well from a relative point of view. Having avoided the bulk of the fighting, between combat losses and those breaking ranks to remain loyal to the Confederation, the Northwind Highlanders lost around two battalions out of their four regiments.

As for their opponents in the CCAF? They had suffered much worse and it brought a smile to Victoria's face whenever she looked at the casualty reports for the Battle of Wright.

The Death Commandos died to the last man with the entire battalion getting wiped out. The Warrior Houses had fared best with only losing less than a company of 'Mechs between the two of them even if their infantry battalions had gotten butchered in an ill-advised raid on the Dragoons that saw over half of them killed or captured.

As for McCarron's Armoured Cavalry, that despicable band of mercenaries got their grudge match with the Wolf's Dragoons and they had lost hard. Their fourth regiment had fared best with just under two battalions remaining while their third regiment was the worst off with only a company's worth making it out of the Battle of Wright. For the rest, their losses were somewhere between the two as each regiment lost around two of their three battalions.

When the dust had settled, the Big MAC had been reduced to two understrength regiments, all it could muster from the five full regiments it had started off with. Between the losses suffered by the Big MAC, the destruction of the Death Commandos and the defection of the Northwind Highlanders, the CCAF had lost around seven regiments of 'Mechs along with most of their pilots. Not only that, but said pilots were primarily veteran and experienced personnel, making the losses even more painful. And when you added in the Wolf's Dragoons no longer working for Confederation, House Liao had lost an even dozen 'Mech regiments with the majority being either elite or veteran rated.

It is simply glorious.

This of course means excellent things for the planned joint invasion. Unable to effectively hide the movements of their forces even if SAFE wasn't leaking to Mask, the invasion was always going to come down to whether or not the Capellan Confederation could muster up enough forces to hold off the combined might of the AFFS and the FWLM. While that had previously been an unknown answer that could go either way, this new shift in strength had changed the question from whether the invasion would succeed to how well the invasion would succeed.

"What does this mean for our plans?" asks Victoria.

"It means we can free up more forces for additional objectives," answers Yvonne, "Without the need to keep McCarron pinned down on Menke, we can shift some forces from that invasion group. Exactly what we do depends on where what's left of the Armoured Cavalry ends up, but I'm leaning towards sending the Menke invasion force to St. Ives instead. Without the Big MAC on Menke, it is a more valuable target and the amount of force required to eliminate McCarron should be enough to take St. Ives. Especially since the rest of the CCAF will be too busy to respond."

"I would suggest adding Necromo to the list of targets," says a Field Marshal, "They were defended by a battalion from McCarron's Armoured Cavalry according to our intelligence so it should either be free for the taking or defended by forces that have been diverted elsewhere. While it doesn't build anything fresh, its DropShip repair facilities are still valuable and its small population will make it an easy target to take and keep."

"We can use the Second Chisholm's Raiders," says Yvonne, "Sending an RCT to Necromo would be overkill so an independent 'Mech regiment like the Second Chisholm's Raiders is the best option and Chisholm's Raiders excel at this sort of independent operation."

"Those sound like acceptable options," says Victoria, "Yvonne, look into making this happen. I'll speak with Janos to see how these events will affect his side of things. While getting the Dragoons to sign up with the League and the Highlanders defecting were things we had considered, the destruction of the Death Commandos and the near-destruction of the Big MAC are new and unexpected factors even if they are pleasant surprises."

"Continuing my report, the Confederation clearly knows about our plans, either due to leaks or figuring our intentions on their own," says Mark, "I'm checking my own networks to see if they have been compromised, but if the Liaos have received leaks, I believe that it would have come from SAFE not MIIO."

"The downsides of sharing military intelligence with the Inner Sphere's worst intelligence service," grumbles Yvonne, "Not that the benefits of the deal aren't worth it, this invasion wouldn't be possible without the coordination with our new allies, but it isn't all sunshines and roses."

"We'll make do," says Victoria, "We have enough things going in our favour that I am not going to complain about a few things not going our way. Anything else?"

"We're receiving the first shipments from the Lyran Commonwealth," replies Yvonne, "It's nothing too impressive, but provided that the manifests are correct, the 'Mech parts being delivered should be enough to get several 'Mechs back into fighting shape. Nothing too big in the grand scheme of things, but a few losses will be easier to recover from."

That is another part of the Solaris Accords with the Free Worlds Leagues, Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns each allowing the other two to purchase spare 'Mech parts from their factories. Whilst nothing too great in the grand scheme of things, it has been helpful in regards to getting some salvaged 'Mechs back online for everyone involved and every little bit helps in the age of LosTech.

"The DCMS has been active, but they have primarily been taking advantage of us moving our reserves to the Capellan front to move their own reserves to their Lyran front," says Mark, "I expect raids whilst we are focused on the Confederation, the Combine seems to focus on dealing with Katrina shifting a significant portion of her forces on her League border to her border with the Combine."

"I still want to reinforce Quentin and Marduk," says Victoria as she looks around the table, "Even if it is unlikely, I don't want to get important Capellan industrial worlds just to lose two valuable industrial worlds, especially since one of them is our only domestic source of Assault 'Mechs."

"Quentin's garrison should be sufficient and we can send the 4th Crucis Lancers or the 1st Chisholm's Raiders to Marduk," replies Yvonne, "It would expose other worlds however unless you wish to resign an RCT from the Capellan invasion."

"Just send another unit in the area," answers Victoria, "It may create some vulnerabilities, but it is a price I am willing to pay for this opportunity to break the Capellan Confederation. Worst case scenario is we just liberate any conquered worlds when we launch our invasion of the Combine in a few years after the Liaos have been crippled."

"I know of a few promising targets for the LCAF to raid," offers Mark, "If the Archon is willing, she gets a few victories to parade around and the Dracs are kept distracted."

"I'll speak with her and see what she is willing to do," replies Victoria.

***​

This is the start of the second half of the mid-story. I'm sorry about the time-skip, but as I have said before, I'm trying to avoid getting bogged down with every ongoing event. Anyway, Mad Max didn't want to risk the Wolf's Dragoons signing up with his enemies so he decided to preemptively crush them and make good on his losses with the salvage from the Dragoons.

Only it backfired hard and now House Liao is in an even worse position as the AFFS and FWLM is bearing down on it. This upcoming arc will be focused on the invasion, specially the invasion of Tikonov where Victoria is personally getting involved to show the flag. After that, we'll have the final arc of 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.

 

[Hoyden]

It seemed that following the Solaris Accords as the final agreement between the Federated Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns had been called, Maximilian Liao had become concerned about what the Wolf's Dragoons...

Click to shrink...

Fed suns doubled up, Free Worlds missing.

 

[Oshha]

Fed suns doubled up, Free Worlds missing.

Click to shrink...

Fixed. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Oshha]

Tikonov
Tikonov Commonality, Capellan Confederation
1 November 3014

Whatever the outcome, the Battle of Tikonov was going to be a grand affair with at least two thousand 'Mechs being deployed between both sides. That alone was going to eclipse the Battle of Wright from earlier in the year and the number was only going to grow higher if Capellan reinforcements showed up, which was a real possibility given how many units were still stationed nearby with two regiments of the New Hessen Irregulars only a single jump away while Laurel's Legions and the 1st Ariana Fusiliers were a couple of jumps away. If they all showed up, the number of 'Mechs involved would begin to approach twenty-five hundred.

The opening engagement of the invasion had gone well when the Night Riders had been wiped away by an overwhelming amount of Davion ASFs. With the deep-space interdiction forces out of the way, it was simple enough for every last DropShip to make it to the ground, especially with the oversized aerospace elements of the three Deneb Light Cavalry RCTs in the invasion force.

Alongside the 4th, 5th and 8th Deneb Light Cavalry, the AFFS invasion force also includes the 1st and 3rd Davion Guards along with the Davion Heavy Guards. The rest of the invaders are made up of mercenaries with the elite Kell Hounds, all three regiments of the famous Eridani Light Horse and the reliable Lexington Combat Group.

With thirteen BattleMech regiments and dozens of supporting conventional forces, the House Davion soldiers make landfall to do battle with seven regiments' worth of defending MechWarriors alongside the scores of conventional regiments that make up Tikonov's vast militia. And amongst the AFFS forces is First Prince Victoria Davion herself.

***​

While she is the First Prince and there is plenty of precedent for her fighting on the battlefield, Victoria isn't foolish enough to lead the charge. When she and her command lance from the 1st Davion Guards are ready to take to the field, it is after the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry and the 1st Davion Guards have already engaged Hamilton's Highlanders and MacGregor's Armoured Scouts outside of the city that they were defending. The Capellan forces gambled on avoiding the close-quarters of urban combat to fight in the open field, but between the indomitable forces of the Davion Guards and the rapid mobility of the Deneb Light Cavalry, their plan backfired on them.

Not that Victoria doubts that things would have gone much better for the Cappies if they had chosen to fight in the city. Not only are they outnumbered two to three, but only the Highlanders can match the skill of the Davion forces in this fight. Even the conventional forces are roughly equal in number with the edge of experience once again going to the battle-hardened AFFS soldiers over the local Tikonov militia.

The battle is very much ongoing as Victoria leads her Highlander into the fray. A Kurita-variant Wasp is the First Prince's first target. The Light 'Mech that is darting around has already taken some armour damage, but nothing too serious. Nonetheless, it should be a relatively easy target for Victoria to take out.

At this distance, Victoria is limited in her options so she lines up a lock with her LRMs. The Crusader and Archer with Victoria add their weight of fire to her own barrage and within moments, almost a hundred LRMs are bearing down on the unfortunate Wasp. The Liao pilot tries to avoid the incoming doom, but the Armoured Scouts aren't pros like many of the units fighting on Tikonov. Between the damage already dealt to the Wasp and its naturally light protection, the Wasp is down and out when the smoke clears, but by that point, Victoria is already looking for her next target.

She finds it as a pair of Vedettes roll over a hill, marking them out to the rest of her lance. As the militia tanks spot her, Victoria jumps towards them. They attempt to open fire on her, but Victoria is too agile and moving too fast for the militia gunners and both medium autocannons miss as Victoria rains down a barrage of LRMs upon their position. Like before, the other two LRM-equipped 'Mechs in her lance join her and it isn't long before the two tanks are being peppered with missiles.

None of the LRMs get a killing blow or even breach the armour, but they have certainly softened up the militia tanks and that is what matters as Victoria gets within autocannon range. Victoria aims the shot ahead of time, just waiting to pull the trigger on her autocannon once she gets within firing range and then promptly does so.

The shell slams into the weakened side armour of a Vedette, the force of the explosion obliterating the remaining armour in that region and mangling both the structure and crew inside. The remaining tank begins to back up, but it continues to take LRM fire from the rest of her lance. It proves insufficient to destroy the vehicle like its fellow, it leaves its armour low across the board and when Victoria unleashes another volley of her own LRMs, the crew bails from their battered tank.

Unfortunately for the First Prince, she doesn't have any time to savour her victory because the Capellans have finally organised a proper response to her presence. A large laser lashes out at her Highlander, burning away armour on her right torso as a lance of 'Mechs in the colours of the Hamilton's Highlanders come into view. A pair of Phoenix Hawks along with a couple of Warhammers and given that they are from the Highlanders, they almost certainly have some degree of meaningful skill.

"For the First Prince!" cries the last of Victoria's bodyguards on a public channel as he charges past Victoria in his Victor.

As Victoria puts some space between her and the approaching enemy 'Mechs, the Victor unloads into the closest of the Phoenix Hawks with a full Alpha Strike. Its assault autocannon unfortunately misses as does one of the medium lasers, but the other melts a gorge in the torso armour whilst the SRMs leave a trio of holes in the Liao 'Mech.

The Warhammers ignore the Victor as they fire on Victoria with their PPCs. Thankfully between her distance and her mobility, only two of the bolts of blue lightning strike her. One impacts the left arm and the other strikes her left leg, doing no small amount of damage to both locations whilst leaving Victoria's electronics on the slight fritz. She fires her LRMs at one of them, but the missiles are just too few to do any serious damage to the Warhammer.

The Phoenix Hawks try to flank the First Prince as her Victor bodyguard continues its charge as its pilot tries to distract the pair of Heavy 'Mechs, but the Liao pilots find themselves contested by two more Davion 'Mechs. Victoria's Crusader bodyguard positions herself between the damaged Phoenix Hawk and the First Prince while the other one is attacked by a Valkyrie from the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry. For her part, Victoria chooses the first Phoenix Hawk as her victim based on its proximity to her.

Victoria is barely able to keep track of the battle as she balances walking her 'Mech whilst targeting the Phoenix Hawk. The Liao 'Mech doesn't last long between her Highlander and the Crusader doing its best to get up close and personal while its twin is able to win its duel with the Valkyrie, forcing the Davion pilot to eject after their ride takes severe damage. Its victory is short-lived as Victoria jumps behind it, firing an autocannon shell that breaches its rear armour and ignites the machine gun ammo within its torso.

The Victor did its best to bring down the Warhammers, but its foes are no slouches and by the time that both Phoenix Hawks are down, so is the Victor as Victoria's bodyguard is finally forced to eject after losing a leg. He didn't go down without a fight however as both Warhammers are running hot with all areas suffering varying degrees of damage and both 'Mechs have suffered a couple of armour breaches. With the Crusader throwing itself into the fray while the Archer continues to pelt them with LRMs, there is only so long that the two Warhammers will be able to hold out and it seems that they know it as they begin to fall back.

A Bulldog from the militia shows up, but before it can properly engage, a pair of Saladins from the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry take it out with a strike to its rear. Victoria fires at one of the retreating Warhammers with her LRMs, but the Capellan 'Mechs are retreating faster than Victoria can pursue. A glance at the wider battlefield indicates that it is part of a larger trend and as far as the First Prince can tell, the AFFS has won the day in this part of Tikonov.

***​

Tikonov
Tikonov Commonality, Capellan Confederation
4 November 3014

"CCAF reinforcements have just arrived so what's next, Victoria?" asks Ran Felsner at the command meeting of the Tikonov invasion force.

"They can't turn the tide of the battle," replies Victoria, "Don't get me wrong, the New Hessen Irregulars are no slouches and the 1st Ariana Fusiliers are tough, but three regiments isn't going to save Tikonov now. Especially when we have sufficient aerospace forces to ensure that not all of those reinforcements will be making it safely to the ground."

"What's left isn't going to hold either," says Brevet General Kerston of the Eridani Light Horse, "We've paid a heavy price for it, but of the original garrison, they can only muster up to two regiments in 'Mechs and they are scattered across the planet without their defensive positions anymore."

"Less of a heavy price than it seems," adds Morgan Kell from beside Victoria, "We lost a lot of our own 'Mechs, but most of their pilots were able to eject safely and combined with retaining the field, we have a lot of salvage that can be restored into a working state."

"I know how things work, Colonel Kell, but that is a long-term concern," replies Brevet General Kerston, "It takes time for those 'Mechs to be repaired and time for injured MechWarriors to heal. Time that we don't have before Tikonov's fate is already decided."

"Tikonov's fate is already decided," says Victoria firmly, "The only question is how much does everyone lose before the Cappies accept the inevitable outcome."

"I say let them run if they want," says Ran Felsner, "We've captured the planet with the factories intact, we have captured enough 'Mechs to offset our losses in salvage and between deaths and captures, the CCAF has lost half of its defending force. We have our victory, no need to push our luck when the Capellans are going to be recovering from this invasion for a lot longer than we will be."

"I agree with Marshal Felsner," adds another Marshal, "We've won, reports of victories are coming in from across the entire front. If the Cappies want to flee, let them. If they want to fight, we'll just crush them again."

"I'm inclined to agree," Victoria as she thinks about how the rest of the joint invasion has been going so far, "No matter how much of the CCAF gets away, they will still lose the majority of their military industries. Even if we do end up facing them in the future, they won't be able to recover from their losses as quickly as we will. In the meantime, we do have the Combine to worry about."

"That is a good point," agrees a Marshal, "The Dracs aren't just going to sit around and wait for their turn."

"That said, I do intend to launch further invasions of the Confederation when Tikonov is reasonably secure. Strike at New Hessen to force the hand of the New Hessen Irregulars. They will be given the options of fighting and getting crushed as a fighting force for the CCAF, retreating and losing their homeworld or keeping their homeworld by switching sides."

"You would allow that?" asks Brevet General Kerston in some surprise, "The third option I mean."

"They're mercenaries, they have a good rating and it worked with the Northwind Highlanders," replies Victoria, "Liao-aligned mercenaries, but there is a good chance that their loyalty will be to their homeworld before the Confederation. If it is, I have no problem leveraging that to get another world and a couple of regiments to jump ship to the Suns. It doesn't mean that I'll necessarily trust them, but I don't see them being in a position to backstab us whilst doing meaningful harm before we eliminate them. I'll speak with the leaders of the First and Second New Hessen Irregulars, see if I can cut a deal with them."

"You might want to cut a similar deal with Laurel's Legion on Tigress," suggests Morgan, "They're another mercenary unit whose loyalty lies with their homeworld. If it becomes a choice between losing Tigress or abandoning the Confederation, they'll choose the latter every time."

"I'll take that under advisement, Colonel Kell," says Victoria as the First Prince wonders if she has gotten too ambitious with her scheme to break the Capellan Confederation.

***​

Tikograd, Tikonov
Tikonov Commonality, Capellan Confederation
20 November 3014

"Congrats, Vicky, you've done it," says Tahmina as the First Prince continues to pour over the incoming reports from both the AFFS and the ones from the FWLM that Janos is sending her, "The Capellan Confederation is broken. Your name will be going down in the history books."

"Brokering the Solaris Accords ensured that," says Morgan, "Beating up the Cappies this badly is just ensuring that her passage is longer."

"Becoming the First Prince was what guaranteed that history would remember me," Victoria tells them, "Or maybe almost getting assassinated in the Davion Palace. Everything since is just determining what I am remembered for."

Nonetheless, Tahmina isn't wrong that the Capellan Confederation is broken. It isn't dead by a long shot, but it has lost the majority of its military industry, the CCAF is in tatters and between the League and Michael, the Confederation will be cut in three.

Within half a year of becoming First Prince, Victoria has forged a tentative peace between the Federated Suns, the Lyran Commonwealth and the Free Worlds Leagues. Within a year of becoming First Prince, she has crippled one of the Successor States and barring a miracle, House Liao's fortune will be relegated to that of a minor power like the Taurian Concordat or the Magistracy of Canopus. The Draconis Combine is set up to be similarly broken within the next few years though the Dracs will likely retain most of their military industry due to how deep into its territory it is.

Yet Victoria feels like the other shoe is just waiting to be dropped.

***​

And here is the invasion of the Capellan Confederation. I was planning to make it cover more updates, but I decided that I didn't want to get bogged down with the minute of the invasion so I showed a snapshot from part of the fighting, some of the post-initial fighting discussion amongst the senior leadership and I was going to have Victoria summarise how the invasion has gone, but I decided that it would be better if that had its own separate chapter in a report/summary-style format.

Anyway, the Feddies and Leaguers are feeling good about themselves, the Lyrans are looking forward to what is to come, ComStar and the Taurians are panicking and the Dragon is grimly preparing to weather the storm that is to come.

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.

 

[morkail]

Oh comstar must hate her by now.

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[joe6168]

Ok I'm going to have to throw out my single biggest complaint about this story, the time line. In the span of less than a year Victoria has gone from ascending the throne, to brokering a peace treaty with both the Free Worlds league and Lyran Commonwealth, to now breaking the Capellan Confederation. This strains my disbelief to the breaking point.
Having all these events line up perfectly in such a short span of time requires so much author fiat that it borders on Mary Sue-ism. If you had stretched the same events as written out over the course of say 2-3 years instead of a matter of months it would be much more reasonable. The travel times alone should stretch out that timeline, and you can only hand wave so much with 'command circuits', to say nothing of the time needed to coordinate and shuffle around the forces and logistics needed for this kind of invasion.
No matter how I look at it I just cannot bring myself to believe that all of this could be accomplished is such a short time-frame, especially not in 3014 when everyone is supposed to be near totally exhausted.

 

[Oshha]

Hilton Head, Terra
Sol System, ComStar
3 December 3014

For the eyes of the Primus and First Circuit only.

Tikonov
Attackers: 1st Davion Guards RCT, 3rd Davion Guards RCT, Davion Heavy Guards RCT, 4th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, 5th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, 8th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT, Kell Hounds, Eridani Light Horse, Lexington Combat Group
Defenders: 2nd Ariana Fusiliers (1st & 2nd Battalions), Ariana Grenadiers, 1st Chesterton Voltigeurs, 2nd Chesterton Voltigeurs, 3rd Chesterton Voltigeurs, Hamilton's Highlanders, Kerr's Intruders (1st & 2nd Battalions), Lothar's Fusiliers (3rd Battalion), MacGregor's Armoured Scouts, Warrior House Hiritsu, 4th Tau Ceti Rangers (1st Battalion)
Outcome: The invasion of Tikonov was personally led by First Prince Victoria Davion and was an undeniable success. While the world might have held if the New Hessen Irregulars and 1st Ariana Fusiliers had arrived in time, their delayed arrival meant that the CCAF was deprived of three BattleMech regiments in its defence of the regional capital. The successful invasion of the world has seen the CCAF lose multiple regiments' worth of BattleMechs and House Liao's largest BattleMech production facilities, all of which would have been a crippling blow on its own.

The AFFS has taken modest, but recoverable losses. The 8th Deneb Cavalry and 32nd Recon Regiment are effectively untouched while the 1st Davion Guards and Kell Hounds took light losses. The other Davion Guard RCTs took modest losses in comparison while the 4th and 5th Deneb Light Cavalry were each left down a battalion. The 21st Striker Regiment and Goida's Golden Hammers also lost a battalion's worth of forces and the 71st Light Horse Regiment was close to joining them. The 151st Light Horse Regiment and Timothy's Gazelles were the worst of all with both regiments being reduced to a reinforced battalion.

While Davion losses were heavy, they look light in comparison to what the CCAF sustained. Of the forces who escaped to the DropShips and made it off-world, they consisted of only four companies from 2nd Ariana Fusiliers, another four companies of the 1st Chesterton Voltigeurs, the majority of the Ariana Grenadiers, a company of 4th Tau Ceti Rangers, two companies from MacGregor's Armoured Scouts, a BattleMech demi-company from Warrior House Hiritsu, an understrength battalion of Kerr's Intruders, a company from Hamilton's Highlanders and a demi-company from Lother's Fusiliers. All of which amounted to barely two regiments worth escaping Tikonov from the original defending force that equaled seven regiments.

A battalion from the 2nd Chesterton Voltigeurs and a company from the 3rd Chesterton Voltigeurs surrendered to the AFFS along with thirty MechWarriors from Hamilton's Highlanders and a company from MacGregor's Armoured Scouts. Any unaccounted CCAF forces were either defeated or deserted.

Ares
Attackers: 4th Davion Guards RCT, 5th Crucis Lancers RCT, Blue Star Irregulars, Swann's Cavaliers
Defenders: Hurloc's Hussars, Kamakura's Hussars (1st Battalion), Kingston's Legionnaires
Outcome: Despite the lesser forces involved and the fact that Ares only produces a couple companies of Bug 'Mechs annually, it has arguably been a greater defeat for the CCAF than Tikonov. Of the defenders, only a single company from Hurloc's Hussars and another company from Kamakura's Hussars successfully retreated from the world. Two companies of Kingston's Legionnaires surrendered whilst the remaining CCAF forces were simply destroyed when the AFFS overwhelmed them in a series of swift and brutally intense battles.

On the AFFS's side, they have taken some light losses amongst the 4th Davion Guards, two regiments of the Blue Star Irregulars and Swann's Cavaliers. Said losses didn't equal a regiment's worth of BattleMechs when added up while the CCAF lost two regiments in comparison. Furthermore, Ares doesn't just produce Locusts and Stingers, but also DropShips, including Overlords and Unions, and a variety of heavy tanks that are already favoured and used by the AFFS.

Grand Base
Attackers: Davion Assault Guards RCT, 5th Sytris Fusiliers RCT, 6th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT, 8th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT, 12th Vegan Rangers
Defenders: Warrior House Fujita, McCarron's Armoured Cavalry, Marshigama's Legionnaires, Ambermarle's Highlanders
Outcome: The attack on Grand Base was led by Duke Michael Hasek-Davion and was a fiasco for the CCAF where the effects of the Battle of Wright from earlier in the year still lingered. While House Fujita had recovered from its light losses months earlier, McCarron's Armoured Cavalry could only muster up half of its usual strength even though it had been hardened in skill by the Battle of Wright. Reinforcements from nearby systems in response to the impending AFFS invasion only amounted to a reinforced battalion compared to the eight BattleMech regiments that Duke Hasek-Davion was leading.

The Davion forces only lost a few BattleMechs across each regiment with the exception of the 6th Syrtis Fusiliers where Duke Hasek-Davion's desire for glory led to them leading the charge and suffering heavier if still moderate losses. On the Capellan side, the Ambermarle's Highlanders decided to defect to House Davion rather than fight the AFFS invasion force while the Marshigama's Legionnaires were wiped out. House Fujita escaped off-world with a company of 'Mechs and its infantry battalion while McCarron's Armoured Cavalry escaped with close to two regiments after doing the minimum to fight the AFFS forces.

While the survival of McCarron's Armoured Cavalry could be taken as beneficial for the Confederation, Colonel Archibald McCarron seems to be breaking ties with House Liao. The Big MAC avoided committing to battles on Grand Base, which led to the capture of Colonel Pavel Ridzik when support from McCarron failing to materialise led to the Chancellor's trusted subordinate fighting a last stand against the 12th Vegan Rangers, where Colonel Ridzik took down almost a dozen Davion BattleMechs before ejecting. Furthermore, McCarron has headed towards Menke upon leaving Grand Base rather than withdrawing further into the Confederation like Warrior House Fujita.

Texlos
Attackers: 15th Deneb Light Cavalry, 1st Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry, 12th Star Guards, Wylie's Coyotes
Defenders: Shepard's Mounted Fusiliers, Stapleton's Iron Hand, 2nd St. Ives Lancers (2nd Battalion), St. Ives Cheveau Legers
Outcome: For a world whose only strategic value is its production of the Lightning Aerospace Fighter and its manpower pool for the St. Ives regiments, a massive battle was fought on Texlos as the CCAF units in the area consolidated on the world in an attempt to repel the AFFS invasion.

Despite being outnumbered over two to one, the defending Capellan forces were able to inflict almost one to one losses upon the invaders. The 12th Star Guards were hit particularly hard as the mercenary formation suffered almost fifty percent losses with only its 7th Regiment remaining above half strength by the end of the invasion. Wylie's Coyotes and the 15th Deneb Light Cavalry also suffered heavy losses with both regiments losing a battalion. Only the 1st Federated Suns Armoured Cavalry was spared and that can be attributed to a misjump delaying their arrival until the battle was effectively won.

While they ultimately lost, the CCAF did a good job of withdrawing from Texlos compared to other worlds. Shepard's Mounted Fusiliers got four companies off-world, the 2nd St. Ives Lancers lost only half a dozen 'Mechs and the St. Ives Cheveau Legers escaped with a battalion in fighting shape. Unfortunately for House Liao, Stapleton's Iron Hand fought to the last with the survivors covering the retreat of the other CCAF units.

Necromo
Attackers: 2nd Chrisholm's Raiders
Defenders: Trimaldi's Secutors (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: The invasion of Necromo was an entirely predictable victory for the AFFS. While a battalion of the Trimaldi's Secutors had been brought over from the League border to make up for the reassignment of the battalion from McCarron's Armoured Cavalry, they were no match for the 2nd Chrisholm's Raiders. When the first two companies were lost without downing any Davion BattleMechs, the final company of the Secutors made the wise decision to flee the planet rather than fight a doomed battle.

The only saving grace for House Liao's future is that Necromo only repairs DropShips and doesn't build them or anything else.

St. Ives
Attackers: 6th Crucis Lancers RCT, 7th Crucis Lancers RCT, Fighting Urakahi, Crater-Cobras, Screaming Eagles
Defenders: 1st St. Ives Lancers, 2nd St. Ives Lancers (1st Battalion), Blackwind Lancers (2nd & 3rd Battalions) Devon's Armoured Battalion
Outcome: While it was still ultimately a defeat, the invasion of St. Ives is the closest that the CCAF has come to a victory. Under the command of Tormano Liao, heir apparent, the Liao forces leveraged the local terrain to their advantage to inflict five kills for every one taken.

While the Screaming Eagles and 7th Crucis Lancers took light losses, the 6th Crucis Lancers lost an entire battalion of BattleMechs as did the 8th Striker Regiment while Candelli's Bar Hounds and Jackson's Sluggers lost a battalion between them. The AFFS units to suffer the worst would be the Crater-Cobras, whose both regiments were reduced to under half-strength thanks to Capellan ambushes.

In exchange, the St. Ives Lancers lost only one of their four battalions while Devon's Armoured Cavalry lost only two companies and the Blackwind Lancers only lost a couple of lances. Unfortunately for the Confederation's fortunes, Tormano Liao was killed in battle whilst leading the 1st St. Ives Lancers and not long after his death, his replacement made the call to retreat from the Commonality capital when the situation became untenable due to how much ground had been given and the sheer numbers of the AFFS invasion force.

Epsilon Eridani
Attackers: 12th Deneb Light Cavalry
Defenders: 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (3rd Battalion), Lothar's Fusiliers (1st Battalion)
Outcome: Epsilon Eridani was targeted for the Brutus Assault Tank, a decent heavy tank that the CCAF prefers to delegate to militia duties. With only two battalions to stand against an entire regiment, it was unlikely for the CCAF to win, but its defeat was unexpectedly harsh. While the Deneb Light Cavalry lost a couple of companies, the Confederation Reserve Cavalry was wiped out to the last man while the Lothar's Fusiliers surrendered after losing half their BattleMechs and their DropShips were captured alongside those of the Reserve Cavalry.

Of further note, a Star League-era depot was discovered by the 12th Deneb Light Cavalry in the Shamus Mountains. The primary find of note was an intact and functional Colossus DropShip, which was found fully loaded with Royal-grade war machines. Intercepted communications indicate that rather than deploy the finds amongst the AFFS, the First Prince intends to strip the DropShip, BattleMechs and tanks of their LosTech so that the budding NAIS can attempt to reverse engineer them.

Sian
Attackers: 3rd Free Worlds Guard, 10th Marik Militia, 2nd Brigade Fusiliers of Oriente, 5th Orloff Grenadiers, 1st Regular Hussars, Wolf's Dragoons
Defenders: Red Lancers, Protectorate Guard, Warrior House Imarra, Warrior House Matsukai, 4th Tau Ceti Rangers (2nd Battalion), New Hessen Armoured Scouts, Lockhardt's Ironsides
Outcome: The loss of Sian is very easily the largest blow to the Capellan Confederation and House Liao in addition to being the first time that a Successor State's capital has fallen in all three Succession Wars. To the surprise of many, no nuclear weapons were deployed in the fall of Sian though intercepted transmissions indicated that it is due to an unwillingness or inability to carry out orders to deploy them rather than those orders not being given.

The CCAF took heavy losses with two thirds of the defending forces being lost. The Lockhardt's Ironsides defected early in the battle, deciding to hedge their bets on the FWLM invasion succeeding than on House Liao's ability to hold its own capital. The New Hessen Armoured Scouts lost a battalion and then some while the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers lost a company before withdrawing after receiving news of the Chancellor's suicide.

The Warrior Houses fought valiantly, but ultimately withdrew after losing half of their forces or more. The Protectorate Guard was reduced to a single battalion before they boarded their DropShips while the Red Lancers could barely muster up two dozen BattleMechs before they admitted defeat upon the fall of the Forbidden City and the Chancellor's death.

While it had the numbers to shrug them off, the assembled FWLM invasion force took heavier losses than the defending CCAF. Of the Wolf's Dragoons, Beta and Gamma Regiments retained the same luck from the Battle of Wright as they both lost a battalion with Epsilon Regiment joining them as they lost enough BattleMechs to fill out a reinforced battalion. The Free Worlds Guard had around a dozen BattleMechs disabled or destroyed by the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers while the Marik Militia were brutalised by the Red Lancers and could muster up barely more than a battalion when the fighting was over.

The provincial forces had equally mixed luck with the Fusiliers of Oriente receiving minimal losses whilst the Grenadiers lost almost two battalions. The Regular Hussars were somewhere between the two with slightly over two companies falling in battle.

Once again, the fall of Sian is arguably the biggest shift in power as the capital of a Successor State has been conquered for the first time in the Succession Wars. The location of the new capital is unknown, but it is most likely going to be Capella given the world's political importance to the Confederation is second only to Sian.

Styk
Attackers: 1st Free Worlds Guard, 2nd Free Worlds Guards, 3rd Marik Militia, 18th Marik Militia, Ducal Guard, 1st Brigade Fusilier of Oriente, Home Guard, 6th Orloff Grenadiers, 4th Oriente Hussars, 21st Centauri Lancers
Defenders: 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (3rd Battalion), Freemont's Cuirassiers, McCrimmon's Light Cavalry (1st & 3rd Battalions), 2nd Confederation Reserve Cavalry, 2nd Ariana Fusiliers (3rd Battalion), Blackwind Lancers (1st Battalion), Justinia's Cuirassiers, Cochraine's Goliaths, Sung Cuirassiers
Outcome: The invasion of Styk has proven to be a bloody affair as the CCAF fought hard to protect one of their major BattleMech production sites with both sides losing a few regiments' worth of BattleMechs. Ultimately, the weight of numbers by the FWLM and a lack of reinforcements from the rest of the CCAF consigned Styk's fate.

Amongst the League forces, the 1st Brigade, 4th Oriente Hussars and 18th Marik Militia were hit the hardest with all three formations being reduced to a single battalion and for the last of those, it can be contributed to the disloyal veterans of the Marik Militia being replaced with loyal, but inexperienced recruits. The 2nd Free Worlds Guard lost an entire battalion while the remaining Marik units all suffered light losses in the double-digits.

While the FWLM suffered heavy losses, so did the CCAF. Sung's Cuirassiers were completely wiped out while Cochraine's Goliaths were reduced to a single company and the 2nd Confederation Reserve Cavalry lost a battalion. Freemont's Cuirassiers, McCrimmon's Light Cavalry and the Blackwind Lancers were each reduced to half-strength or less while the survivors of the 2nd Ariana Fusiliers and Justinia's Cuirassiers were forced to surrender.

Nanking
Attackers: 1st Marik Militia, 1st Oriente Hussars, 3rd Oriente Hussars, 1st Orloff Grenadiers, Juggernaut
Defenders: 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (2nd Battalion), Justine's Grenadiers (1st Battalion), McCrimmon's Light Cavalry (2nd Battalion), Trimaldi's Secutors (1st Battalion), 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: Multiple units were pulled back from the Marik border to defend Nanking and it wasn't close to being enough to protect the BattleMech producing world. Heavily outnumbered, barely a fifth of the CCAF units successfully made it offworld while the FWLM only lost a fifth of the invasion force.

Trimaldi's Secutors and Justine's Grenadiers only retained a company each when the battle ended and the 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry only had a little more than that. McCrimmon's Light Cavalry had lost all of their BattleMech in battle while the few survivors of the 3rd Confederation Cavalry were captured by the 1st Oriente Hussars. While all of the FWLM units took losses, they can all be described as light with the exception of the 1st Orloff Grenadiers who lost a battalion of BattleMechs

Liao
Attackers: 1st Atrean Dragoons, 12th Atrean Dragoons, 5th Marik Militia, 6th Marik Militia, 9th Marik Militia, Marik Guard, 6th Oriente Hussars, Smithson's Chinese Bandits
Defenders: 1st Confederation Reserve Cavalry, 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry (1st Battalion), Vincent's Commandos, Trimaldi's Secutors (3rd Battalion), Justine's Grenadiers (3rd Battalion), Warrior House LuSann, Warrior House Ijori
Outcome: While otherwise a backwater, this world holds political significance due to its status as the ancestral home of its namesake dynasty and so it was targeted, perhaps disproportionately so. Eight regiments were deployed to invade Liao while the CCAF could only afford three regiment's worth of BattleMech to defend it.

Leading the defence was Candace Liao and while she wasn't as impressive as her brother Tormano, the eldest offspring of the Chancellor proved to be capable in her own right by mauling both Atrean Dragoons upon their landing. Both regiments lost close to two battalions and were forced to sit out the rest of the invasion as they were kept in reserve. Alas, this was where the end of the CCAF's good fortunes. While the 5th Marik Militia lost a little over a battalion, the rest of the FWLM would only suffer light losses while the 9th Marik Militia and Marik Guard emerged from the fighting effectively untouched.

Meanwhile Justine's Grenadiers and House Lusann lost half of their forces, House Ijori was fully eliminated and both the 4th Confederation Reserve Cavalry and Trimaldi's Secutors were reduced to a handful of functional BattleMechs. Vincent's Commandos lost half of their formation before they were forced to surrender while the 1st Confederation Reserve Cavalry still lost a battalion despite having proportionately the lowest casualties. In the end, a little more than a third of the defending CCAF forces escaped off-world though Candace Liao was amongst their number.

Betelgeuse
Attackers: 1st Defenders of Andurien, 4th Defenders of Andurien, 5th Defenders of Andurien, 6th Defenders of Andurien
Defenders: Ishara's Grenadiers, Warrior House Kamata, Warrior House Daiachi, Rivaldi's Hussars
Outcome: As part of political dealing Betalgeuse was only invaded by the Duchy of Andurien with four of its five BattleMech regiments and their supporting elements being committed to the invasion. While it would have been unlikely to change much, the defence was off to a poor start when a misjump delayed the arrival of House Daiachi's BattleMechs until after Betelgeuse had fallen.

In the end, the CCAF received a grievous defeat at Betelgeuse. Only a few stragglers of House Kamata escaped while Rivaldi's Hussars surrendered after being reduced to company strength. Ishara's Grenadiers saw a third of their force successfully getting off-world, another third being captured and the final third destroyed in battle. Meanwhile the 1st Defenders of Andurien lost a battalion when they crushed House Kamata while the 5th and 6th Defenders took light losses against the Hussars and Grenadiers.

Sirius
Attackers: 1st Sirian Lancers, 2nd Sirian Lancers, 3rd Sirian Lancers
Defenders: 3rd Confederation Reserve Cavalry (1st Battalion), Kerr's Intruders (3rd Battalion), Justine's Grenadiers (2nd Battalion)
Outcome: The Sirian Concordat took advantage of the truce with the Lyran Commonwealth and the alliance with the Federated Suns to reclaim its former capital with the entirety of the Sirian Lancers being committed. While the CCAF originally intended to defend the world, the remaining units made the decision to withdraw after Kerr's Intruders were captured almost intact in a surprise attack on their encampment.

Justine's Grenadiers made it off-world while the Confederation Reserve Cavalry inflicted casualties of two to one on the 1st Sirian Lancers as they fought their way to their DropShips through the numerical difference meant that the Capellan unit lost half of its strength while the Marik formation lost only a third of its own.

Keid
Attackers: 3rd Sirian Lancers
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, one armoured battalion)
Outcome: Following the successful capture of Sirius, the Sirian Concordat decided to follow up their success by sending the mostly untouched 3rd Sirian Lancers to seize Keid. The BattleMech regiment crushed the defending militia with no BattleMechs lost and after its armoured battalion was destroyed, the infantry of the Keid Militia surrendered to the invading FLWM force.

Pella III
Attackers: 9th Regulan Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, two armoured battalions)
Outcome: A relative minor engagement compared to the rest of the invasion, the conquest was essentially the Free Worlds League securing its path to Sian and the Captain-General leveraged his ignoring of the support for Anton Marik amongst the Regulan Hussars to getting the Principality of Regulus to commit its provincial forces to some minor invasion.

On Pella III, the inexperienced 9th Regulan Hussars faced minimal resistance from the local militia, who were hesitant to face hostile BattleMechs without friendly BattleMechs to support them. In the end, the militia would surrender to the invading FWLM forces in exchange for lenient terms for their world after losing a couple of skirmishes.

Bently
Attackers: 2nd Regulan Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (three infantry regiments, two armoured battalions)
Outcome: In a similar situation to Pella III, Bently was also invaded by a regiment of the Regulan Hussars. Unlike with Pella III, the local militia put up stiff resistance as they fought a series of battles with the League forces until the capital was captured and the local government capitulated.


Elgin
Attackers: 20th Marik Militia
Defenders: Local Militia (four infantry regiments, one armoured regiment)
Outcome: With Elgin being stripped of its defenders to prevent the fall of Nanking, the world was still protected by a rather substantial militia with multiple regiments of infantry and a full armoured regiment. Ultimately, the Assault-weight BattleMechs and Heavy-weight ASFs of the 20th Marik Militia proved to be too much for the defenders and after suffering close to fifty percent casualties in exchange for inflicting little in turn, the militia finally surrendered to the invading FWLM.

Hsien
Attackers: 2nd Oriente Hussars
Defenders: Local Militia (two infantry regiments, one armoured battalion)
Outcome: In a similar situation to Elgin, Hsien had been stripped of its BattleMech garrison to reinforce Nanking. Unlike Elgin, Hsien had a rather pitiful militia who promptly surrendered to the invading 2nd Oriente Hussars rather than face Marik BattleMechs without BattleMechs of their own to support them.

***​

A bit of a long update, but hopefully not too repetitive. I decided that a report/summary style would be the best way to cover how the joint AFFS-FWLM invasion of the Capellan Confederation went. I tried to make it reasonable with the Capellans not just getting crushed, but even then their victories weren't enough to overcome the sheer amount of force being deployed against them.

The next update will be a continuation of the report summarising the current state of CapCon and the rest of the Inner Sphere while the First Circuit gets its recommendations on how to prop up the crippled Cappies and keep the same from having to the Dracs.

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.

 

[Ame]

So CapCom just lost what a third to half thier nation along with the Capital? And on re-read, Mad Max is dead along with his son. No mention was made of Romano.. and I think Candace is still kicking..
So possible civil war over who inherits? But the Cappies are kinda done for being a Great House.. At least until they "find" a SL cache or two to prop up thier forces or restart industry on thier remaining worlds.

 

[Oshha]

But the Cappies are kinda done for being a Great House.. At least until they "find" a SL cache or two to prop up thier forces or restart industry on thier remaining worlds.

Click to shrink...

Honestly, they are done for even with that and the FedSuns forgetting about them to worry about the Combine. The League will continue to conquer more Capellan worlds and the CCAF will need at least a thousand mechs and a dozen mech factories to hold them off.

 

[Oshha]

 

[rodon]

Honestly, they are done for even with that and the FedSuns forgetting about them to worry about the Combine. The League will continue to conquer more Capellan worlds and the CCAF will need at least a thousand mechs and a dozen mech factories to hold them off.

Click to shrink...

Combined with the Fed Suns, both of them will be able to nibble the CC to death over the next decade or two. With the CC being able to do nothing to stop it. Hasek-Davion will be forced to spend most of his time chewing up the remains of the CC, both taking over the worlds and integrating them. Which should leave little time for him to play political games with the Prince.

The Prince mean while gains a lot of clout in that March for dealing the crippling blow to CC. It also means that over time the Prince can move those offensive mech units over to the Combine front, even as she builds up infantry and garrison units, which Hasek-Davion can't complain much about. There will be some, but with the CC broken and not being given a chance to rebuild (as the FWL and Suns nibble it to death) there will be increasingly less need for those units on that front.

 

[Hazard]

Combined with the Fed Suns, both of them will be able to nibble the CC to death over the next decade or two. With the CC being able to do nothing to stop it. Hasek-Davion will be forced to spend most of his time chewing up the remains of the CC, both taking over the worlds and integrating them. Which should leave little time for him to play political games with the Prince.

The Prince mean while gains a lot of clout in that March for dealing the crippling blow to CC. It also means that over time the Prince can move those offensive mech units over to the Combine front, even as she builds up infantry and garrison units, which Hasek-Davion can't complain much about. There will be some, but with the CC broken and not being given a chance to rebuild (as the FWL and Suns nibble it to death) there will be increasingly less need for those units on that front.

Click to shrink...

Piracy and banditry are likely to be on the rise in the (former) Capellan Confederation territories, but yeah, on the whole... The CC going away is a forgone conclusion so long as its neighbours don't let up the pressure and keep nibbling worlds away from it.

 

[Oshha]

Hilton Head, Terra
Sol System, ComStar
3 December 3014

For the eyes of the Primus and First Circuit only.

Capellan Confederation
The recent invasion has been an absolutely crippling blow to House Liao and the Capellan Confederation. Unless something is done, the Capellan Confederation will be relegated from a major power to a minor power akin to the Taurian Concordat, Magistracy of Canopus and the Outworlds Alliance.

Between the initial invasions and the following consolidation invasions, the Confederation lost twenty-seven worlds to the Federated Suns and thirty-one worlds to the Free Worlds League. Beyond the loss of almost sixty worlds, House Liao has lost the majority of its military production to its neighbours along with its current capital and its ancestral home. While it retains its only JumpShip yards, two of its three DropShip yards and several ASF production lines, the Confederation has lost all of its major tank production and only retains its small BattleMech production site on Capella, which can only produce around a company of Vindicators annually.

This is nowhere near enough to provide the CCAF,, which has lost over two thousand BattleMechs to destruction on the battlefield, being captured or from mercenaries defecting to one of the invading militaries, with a sufficient amount of BattleMechs. The CCAF is dangerously weak right now and the only reason that the Confederation isn't in danger of being outright destroyed is due to House Davion's preference to strike at House Kurita rather than finishing off its other neighbour.

Another danger to its continued survival is the fact that the Capellan Confederation has been cut into three by the follow up invasions by the FWLM, the Duchy of Andurien and the Capellan March. Consolidations around Styk by the FWLM have seen the remaining worlds of the Tikonov commonality cut off from the rest of the Confederation. With no CCAF BattleMech units remaining in the Tikonov Commonality after the surviving regiments were pulled back to Capella and Sarna, some of the local governments have begun to seek favourable terms for integrating into either the Free Worlds League or the Federated Suns. Many more are likely to follow suit in the year while the few that retain loyalty to House Liao will be unable to withstand any attempt at conquest by the FWLM or AFFS.

Any worlds further rimward than Grand Base or Betelgeuse have also been cut off from the rest of the Capellan Confederation. Unlike with the Tikonov Commonality, the CCAF still has BattleMech forces down there, all of which are untouched by the recent fighting. Unfortunately, fully half of these are mercenary units and it is a matter of debate as to how loyal they will remain to House Liao or if the new Chancellor shall focus her limited resources on the territory around Sarna and Capella.

Additionally, it is likely that many of these worlds will attempt to become independent, either on their own or as a new minor state. Colonel Archibald McCarron of McCarron's Armoured Cavalry has already declared independence from the Capellan Confederation and has formed an independent power with Menke and Mitchel, one he is seeking to expand to neighbouring Capellan worlds. Additionally, the Taurian Concordat is undergoing serious consideration of taking a bite out of the Confederation before the Davions can claim those worlds. Hurik has opened negotiations to join the neighbouring minor power known as the Aurigan Coalition while the worlds of Ward and Larsha may follow suit depending on what their stationed CCAF units decide. There is also the possibility that the Magistracy of Canopus may attempt to conquer some Capellan worlds given the temperament of the current Magestrix, no matter how unwise such a course of action would be for them.

Given her father's attempt to defend everything, it is likely that Chancellor Candace Liao will abandon the cut-off portions of the Capellan Confederation. Learning from the mistakes of Maximilian Liao, she will be focusing on keeping what she can reasonably protect and then waiting for opportunities to restore the glory of House Liao in the future.

As to what the Blessed Order should do, there are a variety of options, but the first and foremost thing is that we must act now to stem the ongoing collapse of the Capellan Confederation if that is what we desire for Blake's Vision. Should that be the Blessed Order's course of action, the Confederation requires new BattleMech production most of all so it can replace both its current losses and any future losses that it sustains.

While the relatively simple and cheap to make Bug 'Mechs may be an easy option, the CCAF will require something heavier than twenty ton Light BattleMechs.I have a variety of options prepared, but my preferred option is to have Skobel MechWorks set up a new Mackie production line on either Capella or Sarna. The venerable design is a reliable and well-understood design that should be viable for House Liao to build whilst being an effective foe to face on the battlefield.

Furthermore, ROM should consider providing discreet assistance to any resistance movements on the conquered worlds. While the chances of their success are low, doing so would tie up more of the resources of the Federated Suns and Free Worlds League and may provide opportunities for restoration of the Capellan Confederation should House Liao recover from its current state.

As a final note, we should be concerned about what path Chancellor Candace Liao chooses to take. During her father's reign, she had been known according to ROM to secretly harbour a desire to improve relationships with House Davion should reasonable terms be agreed upon. While the devastating invasion that First Prince Victoria Davion did may temper this aspiration of the Chancellor, the character of the First Prince makes it likely that the two women may come to an acceptable accommodation for both parties.

Free Worlds League
It is undeniable that the Free Worlds League has profited from its invasion of the Capellan Confederation. With the conquest of thirty-one worlds in mere months, including the Capellan capital of Sian, Captain-General Janos Marik has cemented himself as one of the Free Worlds League's greatest leaders and his political prowess is once again on the rise. While it is unknown what the Captain-General will do next, the League will almost certainly continue to take bites out of the Confederation while the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns are busy dealing with the Draconis Combine. Furthermore, as mentioned in the above section, several worlds in the Capellan Confederation are seeking to peacefully defect to the League.

While in terms of military industry the Free World League might have emerged second place to the Federated Suns, its spoils are nothing to scoff at. The Wasp production on Sian produces three scores of the BattleMech on average while the Transgressor production line will provide the FWLM with a solid dogfighter frame. Nanking produces only a small number of BattleMechs, but it makes up for its low numbers with a greater output of total tonnage with its Riflemans and Wolverines. Styk is the most desirable military production site with around a battalion's worth of Crusaders being built each year along with just under a company each of Wasps, Stingers and Locusts are also produced annually. The world of Betelgeuse is also a boon as while no BattleMechs are constructed there, it is the location of plentiful Assault-weight tanks with the Behemoth, Demolisher and Schrek PPC Carrier all being produced on Betelgeuse.

Unfortunately for the Blessed Order, there are limited ways to hinder the rising star that is the Free Worlds League right now. The current plans to cause a civil war between House Marik and its allies against the Principality of Regulus and the Duchy of Andurien must be put on hold as the massively successful invasion of the Capellan Confederation has left the Captain-General politically unassailable for the time-being. While discreet support can continue to be given to Regulus and Andurien, nothing is likely to come of it for the foreseeable future.

Federated Suns
First Prince Victoria Davion is one of the greatest threats to the Blessed Order and while her actions speak charitably for her character as a person, they threaten to undo ComStar's work over the succession wars. A relatively unknown if capable war hero in the AFFS, the sudden and unexpected deaths of both her older brothers have seen Victoria Davion thrust into the throne of the Federated Suns.

Within less than a year of claiming her position, Victoria Davion has forged a tentative peace and a semi-alliance between her own nation, the Lyran Commonwealth and Free Worlds League, an unprecedented and monumental act in the Succession Wars. Said semi-alliance was translated into the invasion of the Capellan Confederation, which has only cemented Victoria Davion's status as one of the greatest First Princes and a major threat to Blake's Vision.

In the invasion, the Federated Suns took less worlds than the Free Worlds League, but it has undeniably profited more from it. Tikonov was the greatest BattleMech production site of the Confederation with around forty Thunderbolts and fifty Vindicators produced every year. While both are capable designs that have served House Liao well, the situation is further worsened by the capture of St. Ives, which produces a variety of ASFs designs. The AFFS has captured more Capellan aerospace production on Texlos, a producer of Lightnings, and on Ares, which in addition to producing around a company of Locusts and Stingers each, also produces the valuable Overlord and Union DropShips.

Additional CCAF military production conquered by the Federated Suns includes the Stinger production on Grand Base by Duke Hasek-Davion with over fifty of the Light BattleMech being built annually. Furthermore the Brutus Assault Tank factory on Epsilon Eridani and the DropShip repair facility at Necromo have both been captured by the AFFS.

Following the initial wave of invasions, the AFFS has further weakened House Liao. Tigress and Laurel's Legion peacefully joined the Federated Suns in exchange for favourable terms and avoiding a destructive and unwinnable invasion. New Hessen was also captured and in a stroke of the First Prince's diplomatic prowess, Hampton's Hessens have broken contract with the CCAF in exchange for retaining their homeworld and special privileges. Furthermore, the follow up invasions around Ares have left both Capella and Sarna within striking distance of the AFFS. While any invasions of those worlds are unlikely right now, it is a threat that the CCAF must honour now and in the future.

While First Prince Victoria Davion is a great threat to the Blessed Order and Blake's Vision, there are limited ways to strike at her. Between the support of House Sandoval, her actions to support the Outback and her successful invasion of the Capellan Confederation, the First Prince is internally secure from political threats and unrest within the Federated Suns. Even the ambitious Duke Hasek-Davion is kept in check by the First Prince holding proof of his attempt to assassinate her.

Without internal strife to exploit, the Blessed Order must either resort to interdiction or otherwise directly acting against the Federated Suns or by supporting its enemies, the Capellan Confederation, the Draconis Combine and the Taurian Concordat.

On one final note, I wish to state that given the background of the First Prince and her current track record, I believe there is a non-zero chance of her making successful diplomatic overtures with the Taurians. Her unconventional background gives the First Prince common ground with the Taurians and Victoria Davion opening up neutral or friendly relations with the Calderons is no more impossible than the Solaris Accords or the recent crippling of House Liao.

Lyran Commonwealth
Most of what there is to say about the Lyran Commonwealth isn't about what they have done, but what they are going to do. With the invasion of the Capellan Confederation, the AFFS and LCAF will be looking to launch a similar joint invasion of the Draconis Combine. While House Kurita is in a far better position to resist, it is currently unlikely to withstand being focused upon by both the AFFS and LCAF at the same time.

Fortunately, the Archon is facing internal dissent. Her cousin Frederick Steiner desires her throne, Free Skye wants their independence and the Brotherhood of Cincinnatus wishes to remove Katrina Steiner and undo her diplomatic actions. Supporting these groups would be an easy and discreet way to cause trouble and disruption for the Archon and the Solaris Accords.

Arranging a reasonable excuse to interdict would help cripple any invasions of the Combine, giving us more opportunities to strengthen the Combine enough to avoid House Kurita suffering a crippling defeat like House Liao. Ideally, none of the dissent groups should be framed for the interdiction so they can use it as ammunition against the Archon.

Draconis Combine
Preventing the Draconis Combine from being broken like the Capellan Confederation should be one of the Blessed Order's highest priority. While House Kurita is in a better position than House Liao was, its current state isn't enough to withstand both the AFFS and LCAF focusing the majority of their resources against the Combine.

With the LCAF amassing on its border, the DCMS has had a limited ability to take advantage of the AFFS prioritising the Capellan Confederation. While several raids have been launched to varying degrees of success, no serious invasion has been attempted. At the current rate of progress, the AFFS will recover from any damage done much faster than the DCMS by taking advantage of the spoils from the Confederation.

House Kurita intends to have Gorton, Kinsley, and Thorpe Enterprises open additional Panther factories within the next two decades. It may be possible to help speed this up though I will note that additional Light-weight BattleMechs will not be sufficient as a solution. Getting the DCMS domestic production of a Medium-weight BattleMech would help fill a gap in their current formations.

Another measure would be giving them some downgraded BattleMechs that the Blessed Order has in storage. While I understand that they are being held in reserve as an emergency measure, the Blessed Order has vast stockpiles and quite frankly some of them aren't very good. Arranging for House Kurita to find some of the less than desirable BattleMechs that ComStar retains would be an effective way to boost the DCMS as like all Successor States, the Draconis Combine has more MechWarriors than BattleMechs.

An additional possibility would be having the Coordinator make use of Hanse Davion. While the 2nd Sword of Light captured the former First Prince back at Halstead Station, the Coordinator has been keeping his capture and continued survival a secret. Despite ROM not being able to identify the reasoning for this, revealing his existence could cause upset amongst the Federated Suns as the AFFS would be strongly obligated to rescue him and the continued survival of her predecessor could undermine Victoria Davion's legitimacy as the current First Prince.

***​

And here is the second half of the ComStar report. As can be seen, things are on the up for the Suns, Commonwealth and League and going badly for the Cappies, Dracs and ComStar. Unfortunately for Victoria, ComStar is making plans to even the playing field a bit.

Meanwhile the next update will be the beginning of the final part of the story with a surprise perspective.

Sort of edit: As a post NaNoWriMo note, I have mixed feelings about having Hanse survive. I thought it was a good twist at the time, but looking back, I'm worried that I put too many twists into 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.

 

[Oshha]

Purple = Free Worlds League
Yellow = Federated Suns
Green = McCarron's Armoured Cavalry

 

[Hazard]

... The MAC went rogue?

 

[kelgar04]

Yep big mac are no longer snacking on the Cappellan happy meals.

 

[Oshha]

... The MAC went rogue?

Click to shrink...

Yes.

 

[Crazyone47]

I think it is a great twist having Hanse survive. adds drama and I can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[Oshha]

Nagayan Mountain Castle Brian, Helm
Stewart Commonality, Free Worlds League
2 May 3015

Hikari Yamamoto hadn't had the most dignified wake up at the start of the new year, but it had certainly been life-changing and not just because of her new inheritance. Sure it had turned out that her mother was right about her old man being a nobleman. A Lyran nobleman, yes, but a nobleman just like she claimed and it seems that the old fool died, leaving Hikari as the inheritor of an incomplete, but legally registered mercenary unit and almost three quarters of a billion C-Bills as the oldest of the three illegitimate offspring that her father had sired.

Yet despite that massive amount of good luck, what really changed was the second lifetime she had remembered. A second lifetime from an alternative 21st Century where history had played out slightly differently where the reality that Hikari lives in was just the setting of a semi-successful franchise. A franchise that Hikari had been a big fan of in that other life.

She had remembered reading stories of this exact scenario in that other lifetime, where people had awoken in the Inner Sphere with memories of another life where reality had been a fictional setting and they inherited an incomplete mercenary unit along with millions of C-Bills. And just like in all of those stories, Hikari made sure to go for Helm.

In all truth, it had been something of a gamble. Just comparing her two sets of memories had revealed that her otherworldly knowledge wasn't accurate to the reality that Hikari lives in. Hanse Davion isn't the First Prince, his half-sister that Hikari could only remember from this life is ruling the Federated Suns. The other lifetime had never heard of the Solaris Accords with the closest thing coming years later. The Capellan Confederation had been crushed, but in a different manner and over a decade's time early.

So when Hikari took her Warriors of Light from Galatea to Helm to seize the Helm cache, the young ronin had been gambling on that part of the setting still being true. It was integral enough that it shouldn't have changed except Hanse Davion was already dead and House Liao was on the verge of collapsing. Maybe there would be a Sun-Tzu Liao to come and save it like what Hikari remembers from that other lifetime, but she isn't going to count on it.

No, the Dragon needs to be saved before the gaijin could destroy the Combine, something that they were openly planning to do. She doubts that the mightiest Successor State with the greatest military will fall as easily as the pathetic Liaos, but even the Pillar of Steel will be hard pressed to fight off the full might of both the AFFS and the LCAF at once.

All of this has led to this moment as Hikari and the handful of loyal samurai that she has recruited march down the tunnel, having gained access via the data chip that she took from the local landholder. And then there it is.

Star League Field Library Facility, Helm. DE890-2699.

"I can't believe it," whispers Hikari to herself, "It's real."

"Colonel?" inquires one of the young men with her, "Is this what I think it is?"

"If you think it is the key to reversing LosTech and restoring the glories of the Star League, then you are correct," replies Hikari as the young woman gets ahold of herself.

There is too much at stake for her to mess this up. The fate of the Draconis Combine and House Kurita rests on her shoulders.

***​

Avalon City, New Avalon
Crucis March, Federated Suns
3 October 3015

"How bad is it?" asks Victoria as they hold another emergency meeting to discuss the disaster that is unfolding for the Federated Suns in the Draconis Combine.

It has almost been a year since the Capellan Confederation was broken and Victoria knew that her luck was too good to be true. The other shoe had to drop at some point and it turned out that the Kuritans were going to get ridiculously lucky when it came to their LosTech prospecting. First that damn girl Hikari Yamamoto inherited a stupidly large amount of hardware that her absent father discovered from a misjumped convoy.

A Monolith, a trio of freaking Star Lords, a Merchant and a Scout, almost fifty DropShips including five Colossus like the one the 12th Deneb Light Cavalry found on Epsilon Eridani, five battalions of factory-fresh 'Mechs, almost eighty ASFs, an armoured regiment and a bunch of support equipment. And while none of the ground forces had personnel, Yamamoto's father had fully repaired and crewed all of the ships.

After picking up command of the newly named Hikari's Warriors of Light from Galatea, Yamamoto had gone straight to Helm where the damn bitch had uncovered a Castle Brian with enough hardware to outfit over a dozen assorted regiments, including six regiments of BattleMechs, and a Star League memory core that, according to spies of MIIO and LIC, made the Halstead Station library look like modern reading material.

And of course the damn girl went straight to Luthien where she pledged her services to the Coordinator, gifting him with all of the loot from Helm. Yamamoto was instantly elevated to Takashi's inner circle and as a reward for her fealty, Hikari Yamamoto was now engaged to the Coordinator's son and heir apparent to the Draconis Combine, Theodore Kurita.

If all of that wasn't enough, House Kurita had managed to find a lost SLDF convoy independent of the damn girl. Three Mules containing enough 'Mechs to fill out another five regiments, mostly lights and mediums with a couple of battalions of heavies and a battalion of assaults.

Maybe Victoria should reconsider Candace Liao's terms. The Chancellor might be making more generous requests than she deserves, but with the invasion being delayed by the interdiction of the Commonwealth and the Combine just getting lucky break after lucky break, just getting the Liaos out of the way might be worth it at this point.

"At this point the Combine is having more trouble finding worthy MechWarriors than 'Mechs for them to pilot," answers Mark with a weariness that Victoria shares, "By the end of the year, the DCMS is looking to have expanded by a dozen BattleMech regiments along with three regiments of either Assault or Heavy tanks. Also that giant mess of DropShips that we have previously discussed."

"It's the devil's own luck," grumbles Yvonne, "Damn Dracs find five Colossus DropShips right after we find the first one since Kerensky's Exodus."

"It is what it is," says Victoria firmly as she looks around the table, "Alright, Mark, what are the Dracs up to?"

"Reinforcing their borders," answers the Minister of Information, Intelligence and Operations, "It isn't the same luck that the Kuritans have been experiencing this year, but my agents have become unexpectedly good at penetrating the ISF's counterintelligence efforts over the last couple of months. We can expect the additional Combine regiments to be deployed to the border by the time that the invasion finally rolls around.

"Furthermore, the Combine is using that memory core to begin restoring a few of their damaged production lines and possibly constructing some new ones. We can expect to see new 'Mech production from the Combine in the upcoming years alongside other production from tanks to ASFs to DropShips. Perhaps most worrying is the move to rebuild one of their shipyards for JumpShips. Just an existing one that has been damaged beyond, well, it was damaged beyond repair, but the Combine seems to believe that it is now within their ability to repair."

"What about WarShip production?" asks Aaron, drawing the attention of the entire room with his question, "What are the odds of the Dracs building new WarShips."

"Nothing right now, but frankly, Duke Sandoval, I don't know," replies Mark, "It would depend on just how good the Helm memory core is. If you want an answer, it could go either way. Call it a fifty-fifty chance if you will. But if the Combine does start looking at WarShips, my bet is that they'll go for repairing some existing hulls over building fresh ones."

"What does this mean for the invasion?" asks a Field Marshal, "First the Lyrans get interdicted now all of this."

"I've spoken with Captain-General and he agrees with me that despite what ComStar claims, the Archon wasn't responsible for the attack on the Somerset HPG Compound," replies Victoria, "Especially since she has provided proof that the 30th Lyran Guards were elsewhere when the attack took place, proof that has been verified by both MIIO and SAFE's own sources. It is my stance that the Combine launched a false-flag operation and that ComStar overreacted to an attack on their own and blamed the first suspects without doing proper investigation."

"So you are saying that the Combine have successfully framed the Commonwealth for the HPG attack?" asks Yvonne, clearly speaking for the benefits of others as she and Victoria have already discussed this in private.

"Yes," answers Victoria.

"My own analysis and the investigation by MIIO have come to the same conclusion," adds Mark, "We have confirmed that the LCAF wasn't behind it like ComStar claims and while we haven't been able to account for the Kuritan unit who did the deed, the unfortunate truth is that over this last year we have had trouble getting info on the DCMS movements until a couple of months ago."

"As for what it means for the invasion, it will make things harder," says Victoria, "Even with the interdiction, the LCAF is still getting into position and building up their supplies. Likewise our own forces are mustering along the border. The offensive against the Combine won't be as clean or easy as the invasion of the Confederation, but it will be going ahead. Likewise, our truce with the Free Worlds League is holding firm. We don't need to worry about that for the time-being and if House Marik does run out of Cappies to conquer, they are more likely to go around dealing with pirates out in the Periphery than backstab us or the Lyrans."

"So the invasion is going ahead as planned," says Yvonne.

"Exact details are to be confirmed close to the time, but yes, it will be going ahead," replies Victoria, "Both I and the Archon are in agreement that we wish for the invasion to begin in the first half of thirty-sixteen. As I said, the exact targets haven't been finalised yet, but we are looking at Galtor III, Altair, Al Na'ir, Irurzun, Scheat, Paris, Tripoli and Proserpina as potential targets."

"Setting talk of the invasion aside for a moment, I would like to bring up the integration of the Vindicator 'Mech into the AFFS," says another Field Marshal.

***​

"You look exhausted," says Dana as the woman who would have been Victoria's sister-in-law joins the First Prince in her quarters.

"Because I am," replies Victoria wearily, "This disaster with the Kuritans is keeping everyone up with late nights. I think I hate her."

"Who?" asks Dana as she takes a seat next to Victoria and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hikari Yamamoto, soon to be Hikari Kurita," replies Victoria, "I know that the woman has nothing truly objectionable, but the dumb bitch just took everything that Hanse and I did found of the Star League and did it tenfold. That's what really gets me to be honest. Hanse gives his life getting the Halstead Station collection for the Federation and then some Kuritan brat just goes and finds something ten times better for the Combine."

"I understand the sentiment," says Dana, "I've been looking at it as the Halstead Station library being even more important now as our best way to catch up with House Kurita."

"So do I, but it isn't going to be enough," says Victoria glumly, "The Dracs are repairing old everything except for WarShip yards and they are even setting up some new 'Mech factories. Just some Panther factories, but if they are building new factories while we are struggling to keep the ones we already have going. If something doesn't change, then we are looking at the Combine of all people becoming the strongest Successor State. I can't help, but feel that Yamamoto is threatening to undo all of my work. I don't want to leave a future to kids like little Ian where the Draconis Combine has either won or is an existential threat."

"Is it really that bad?" asks Dana, a hint of worry creeping into her voice.

"Maybe, maybe not," admits Victoria, "House Kurita becoming the strongest and most advanced house in the Inner Sphere is a real concern at the moment. The Lyran Commonwealth and Free Worlds League both have stronger economies, especially now that they have limited trade. Even our own economy is improving thanks to the trade agreements of the Solaris Accords and the new borders. Yet we aren't getting the technological advances that the Combine has been gifted with. A booming economy is good, but without the ability to turn those C-Bills into military production."

"I see," says Dana as Victoria continues to think the overall status of the Inner Sphere over, "Do you want me to call up Tahmina for some girl time between the three of us?"

"Not right now, I'm thinking," mutters Victoria absentmindedly.

Economy is the key when the Combine is going to have the tech advantage. The Lyrans are famous for having the strongest economy and the Free Worlds League's economy has been growing ever stronger for a few years now with no sign of stopping any time soon. And thanks to the Solaris Accords, businessmen from both the League and the Commonwealth have been investing in the Suns. The benefits are beginning to show and Joan has been assuring her that in a few years, they'll really be seeing the profits of letting wealthy Lyrans and Leaguers invest in poor Federation worlds.

New BattleMech production is a rarity these days, but not unheard of. Mountain Wolf BattleMechs began production of the Merlin in the Outworlds Alliance, the first new BattleMech design in centuries. Given the not so small fortune that their CEO Brandon O'Leary sunk into the company's facilities on Alpheratz, Victoria is confident she could entice the man into opening a second production line in the Suns provided that the First Prince foots the bill and smooths the way.

Another option is Corean Enterprises and their Centurion. While the design has been a mainstay of the AFFS for a couple of centuries now, consistent issues with its primary weapon and the failure to fix said issues has the AFFS looking to replace it with the Enforcer. Though that is no longer going to be happening with the AFFS needing any 'Mech it can get to match the Kuritans, Corean Enterprises built a new factory here on New Avalon three years ago. They haven't seen success fixing the issues with the autocannon last Victoria had heard, but the Centurion is otherwise a solid trooper 'Mech and the Federated Suns needs more production lines.

And then there are Bug 'Mechs. Victoria doesn't particularly like them, but they are one of the few 'Mechs for which new factories can still be built these days. Getting more Bug 'Mechs isn't Victoria's first choice, but at the very least they could be good for garrisoning more secure or unimportant borders to free up more capable 'Mechs to face the DMCS.

Then there is the option of getting more tanks. Armoured forces often get overlooked, but Victoria knows that you only overlook an SRM Carrier once. Missile carriers are an obvious choice, but the Bulldog is another solid tank by Quikcell though Victoria would prefer more Manticores. They captured another Manticore factory on Ares, but the real issue with the Manticore is its Pitban 240 Fusion Engine. Hmm, the Merlin uses the same engine so maybe the First Prince might be able to convince Mountain Wolf BattleMechs to branch out into tank production.

The Sentinel also uses the Pitban 240 and Defiance Industries shut down its production line for those last year. Victoria might be able to get the Lyrans to part with their production line for it, but she doubts that she will. Too many other options for Defiance Industries to use it for. Thankfully the Pitban 240 is a fairly common fusion engine so even in this day and age, it is still possible to find producers of it.

Aldis Industries. There is another option as the Terran corporation produces a nice set of assault tanks, most of them powered by ICE. Or Skobel MechWorks and the Mackie as that other Terran corporation has recently set up a new production line for the first BattleMech design on Capella.

Yes, things might be looking grim, but the First Prince has some lights in the storm.

***​

And here is the plot-twist I had planned from the start. You know those stories where there is an SI who inherits a bunch of hardware and C-Bills and then goes onto use meta-knowledge to seize Helm and help their favourite faction, usually FedCom? Well, this time around they are the antagonist and rather than helping one of the FedCom nations, they are helping the Draconis Combine. Also I've been informed on Discord that the proper term for this character is OC-insert not an SI.

Anyway, the OC-insert just did a clean sweep of Helm and now it is the Combine who have acquired the Helm cache with its memory core, mechs and other sweet loot. Which is going to be a problem for our Victoria, especially since ComStar has already been lending a helping hand out to the Dragon.

I probably could have done more with Hikari's perspective, but I didn't want to drag it out too much, especially since I feel like I am just retreading old ground with inheriting a mercenary company and taking Helm. With her, I would much rather focus on the aftermath and what she does next so expect to see much of her in the future.

Also this chapter got a little away from me at the end as Victoria started brainstorming and I realised she had a few plausible options open to her.

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.