Titanicus Mercenarius (Battletech x 30k Crossover)

[Kadaeux]

Chapter 30;
Mars Ascendant

Dominic Cain stood in the strategium of the Speaker for the Omnissiah. The hololith showed the state of Mars and, for all the force they were projecting, their position was not as strong as they might have preferred. As Mar's population was growing they were now being forced to redirect labour to the exploitation of the terraforming the world had undergone. They were faced with the oldest problem of a rapidly growing population.

Nutrition. The Fabricator General could march as many foreign dignitaries as he liked past the tank foundries, allow them glimpses of the Knight Forges... or even just view of the growing Ring of Iron. They were hollow threats, people who were taken in tithes were taking time to run through hypnodoctrination. And those grown in the Iron Womb were largely unskilled labour. They had a critical shortage of advanced technical skills, and precious few that could be trusted to be trained in them. The two Dauntless class light cruisers were to be launched with only a third of the optimum command crews, and significantly more automation than they might have otherwise employed.

It was the same with their armed forces. They had managed to isolate enough people for a Knight House, but the idea that they could crew every tank with trustworthy people was a fantasy. In another two decades perhaps they could afford to visit more than a handful of theatres at a time. But the grand work of the Fabricator General was almost ready. Cloned psykers bound in caskets around the great engine. That was what he had come to witness the activation of from the Strategium. The attempt to rebuild an Astronomicon powerful enough to serve them around the Inner Sphere and maybe some degree beyond.

But an Adept approached him, wearing a new uniform. One that the Captain had decided to adopt six months ago. Many of the old trappings of faith were dying, the Speaker for the Omnissiah had always been occupied more by rational soils. "Lord Princeps Cain. The Captain has requested your presence." That made him frown, the Captain should have been here in the Strategium. He turned and left the Strategium and followed the young officer to... the Navigator's sanctum.

"Lord Princeps." The Captain remarked and handed him a slate. He turned his eyes down and studied the glowing emerald writing as it scrolled quickly. "Your assessment?"

Dominic frowned, turning his gaze on the Captain. "If I may Captain, Navigator Primus, is there a reason why you have been tracking and investigating the actions of another mercenary group? The Clan Wolf did not strike me as particularly interesting when we encountered them."

And the two looked at one another. "Intuition Lord Princeps." This came from the Navigator. That alone was a subject of interest. "I requested more information on the group from ComStar early on and they sent me everything they had. I then began my own monitoring. As you are aware, we have seized control of Mar's HPG stations so I began my own monitoring."

Dominic examined the file with a greater degree of interest. "The Wolfs Dragoons appeared without any prior history, with enough materiel to start a brand new major Mercenary company. After four years in service to the Davions, they disappeared for ten months, and on their return had replenished their stocks and materiel. They disappeared once more in 3019, again for nearly a whole year. Well, they have just disappeared once more." The Navigator picked up another dataslate and consulted the data before handing it to the Lord Princeps.

He turned his attention to it and frowned. "With JumpShips their range is limited, but not that limited. Either they have an industrial facility within the Inner Sphere. Or their suppliers are a considerable distance beyond it."

"Very well. I accept that this is a matter of some interest. But is it of any use?"

The Captain and Navigator looked at one another at first. "At this stage Lord Princeps? No."

"Then I believe we are due in the Strategium Captain?" Dominic turned and headed for the door, the Captain following closely.

And yet, surprisingly the Captain was not finished with his conversation. "Lord Princeps, I have gone further than Navigator Dufresne, the Wolfs Dragoons arrived with mechs believed to be all but extinct, equipment that hadn't been seen since the Star League, strange tactics and unusually skilled warriors." The exchange was quick, the Captain switching to binaric once they had left the sanctum. "According to other information, when the Star League was dissolved from within, their greatest commander, a man named Kerensky, took the significant majority of the Star Leage military with him beyond the Inner Sphere."

At that Dominic stopped and turned. "You are proposing that these are descendants of that exodus?"

"I am." The Captain said plainly.

"Do any of the Wolfs Dragoons remain in reach?" Dominic asked.

"Unknown. If there are, they have gone underground to await whatever their leaders are doing." He answered.

"Thank you Captain. I will take your words to the Fabricator General. Until a further decision has been made, I would recommend you commence a significant maintenance cycle of the ship." Dominic turned back for the Strategium.

"What do you plan on doing Lord Princeps?" The Captain asked.

Dominic hesitated. "The same thing I do every day Lord Captain. Preparing for war."

 

[Kadaeux]

Chapter 31;
Sparks of Operation Revival
3051

Jaime felt a sense of awe and moderate horror at what he had begun. In the midst of preparing for Operation Revival the Wolfs Dragooons command echelon returning to the Pentagon worlds had almost sparked a riot all on its own. The words and footage he returned with silenced all possible objections as the ilKhan commanded a stay of execution of the Operation. They were left facing a darker truth, a true unknown threat had moved in and planted its malign influence in the Terran system. A threat that was commanding tithes of men, materiel and more. A threat that was beyond the Inner Sphere's ability to stop.

House Liao had been reduced to a near memory, their devastation and collapse of the Capellan Confederation forever shaking the politics of the Inner Sphere. The Federated Commonwealth growing stronger, not only without an ancient enemy to plot against them, but no doubt in concern for the rise of a possible enemy within.

Leo Showers was equally concerned. And so the original plans for Operation Revival had been shelved entirely as even the Wardens departed their policies of a protective isolationism. For the first time in many many years the Clans as a whole were united behind the idea of a single common goal. The eradication of the Martian Mechanicus and the Legio Astorum.

And now he beheld the product of his labours. All seventeen surviving clans marshalling all but the most necessary fraction of their power for a single mighty spear to thrust into the heart of the Inner Sphere and begin the great work of trying to extract the cancerous mass from the middle of their heart.

From four Clans planned for Operation Revival, to all seventeen. What could possibly stand before them?

---

Myndo Waterly shuddered as she stood with the Primus and learned of the contact that had been made with the Clans, and how he had dispatched the new Precentor Marshal Anastasius Focht to advance ComStar's interest in the subject. "Primus, you risk a very great deal, our HPG system is no longer secure, with the Mechanicum control of Mar's HPGs we cannot garauntee that they cannot intercept our communiques with the Clans."

"What other options do we have Waterly, we have been successfully castrated in our own system, we saw them devastate a mass invasion by the Capellans, and I doubt our fleet of WarShips would be a match for the Speaker for the Omnissiah, even if we could dispatch the vessel over Terra." The Primus sighed in angered resignation.

"We have the masses of the ComGuard, we have our Warships. If we struck now we..."

"Would all die." He snapped arresting her diatribe before it even began. "What you're about to learn is considered beyond top secret. If you utter so much as a single syllable, I will have you killed." He waited for her to object, but she kept her mouth shut, not being stupid enough to goad the unnaturally young man after his rejuvenat. "When Legio Astorum settled in our system do you recall how they sent vessels here to 'engage in trade'," She nodded in answer, "While here, they deployed some sort of stealthed dropships and deployed weapons of mass destruction on the planets surface. They have been hidden, buried and emplaced, and if we openly betray them, the Earth will be destroyed."

"A few nuclear weapons would hardly do th..." She was interrupted.

"Compared to what they showed me, a nuclear weapon is orders of magnitude less capable than these devices. When I say Earth would be destroyed, I don't mean we might have nuclear winter. I mean the planet itself would be killed."

---

Katrina Steiner found herself in a room with her daughter and son in law. All the major power of the Federated Commonwealth in a single room with the Fabricator General of the Martian Mechanicum. The massive holoprojectors were illuminating the chamber with scenes they didn't understand at first. "We have intercepted significant signal traffic between ComStar and a group calling themselves the Clans a significant distance beyond the edge of the Inner Sphere. These relays have been set up to facilitate the Primus' attempts to circumvent our presence and security. We have worked well in the past, and though we have had an agreement with ComStar not to provide further aid to the Federated Commonwealth, we have honoured basic trade agreements and made our Rejuvenat treatments available to those who had the wealth to afford them." He spoke as a matter of certain fact.

"What does this mean?" Hanse Davion asked.

Katrina picked at the data on the datapad she was examining. "ComStar is in leage with the remnants of what could only be Aleksandr Kerenskies exodus fleet. And they are going to return in a massive invasion in an attempt to remove the shackles the Martian Mechanicum has placed on them."

"Not shackles. Merely insurance to ensure that our agreements with ComStar were followed to the letter. Unfortunately, it seems their fear of losing their power has lead to them making alliances with these Clans. We know for a fact that they have prepared a mass invasion, one that will hit the Draconis Combine, the newfound Rasalhague Republic and the Lyran part of the Federated Commonwealth. Intelligence provided by the Clans indicate that they have and maintain fleets of WarShips, advanced Battlemechs, and a warrior society of some kind."

"If I may Fabricator General. Why are you warning us? Surely you have enough firepower to..." Melissa said before trailing off at the Fabricator Generals words.

"For all that ComStar is bringing this threat to bear on us, it is the entire Inner Sphere that will be paying the price for it. We have thus decided to breach our standard decrees. We request permission to screen some of your most trusted military personnel for the talent. If we find what we are after, in sufficient numbers, we propose raising ten households of Knights for the Federated Commonwealth in exchange for a complete military alliance to defend the Inner Sphere. We will provide modified JumpShips to transport these Knights and their Drop-Keeps."

"If these Clans have WarShips, how do you propose we secure ourselves against them?" Katrina asked.

"The Invaders modified to transport Drop-Keeps will receive an esort of a WarShip we have produced from modified Invader class Chassis, including plasma drives, shielding and armaments. These vessels will be crewed by the Martian Mechanicum and only on loan until you can begin producing your own WarShips." The words were fair, and supportive. But Katrina was no fool.

These Clans were dangerous enough for ComStar to prepare to stab the Mechanicum in the back. "Are these Knightholds, and their technology, to be turned over to us entirely, to do with as we see fit?" The Fabricator General stiffened.

"We would need to provide technical assistance to train your people in their maintenance and operation, and certain materials would require you to purchase replacements from the Mechanicum, you lack the gravity furnaces and matter forges to create the alloys needed to replace some parts." He hesitated, "Otherwise. Yes."

"We accept." Said Hanse Davion immediately. Katrina knew that the NAIS would almost certainly get some machines to study and reverse engineer. They were not going to throw themselves into thrall with ComStar.

 

[Kadaeux]

Chapter 32;
Stargraves
3052

The Clans fell on the Periphery like a tidal wave, tiny independent states with no real military worthy of the name, half maintained battlemechs, tanks and more. The Chainlaine Isles burned as the Crusader clans took to the tip of the spear while the Warden clans flanked the invasion corridor. For the first time in perhaps a century WarShips filled the skies over worlds, dropships fell like rain and without a meaningful whimper of even the slightest meaningful resistance they were swept aside under the wroth of Kerensky's returned children. Those who failed to surrender were forced to bend the knee.

Over a mere two months they advanced past the speedbump of the Periphery and the first invasions of the Inner Sphere proper began in earnest with the entire coreward end of the Draconis Combine falling under total invasion, and coreward of the Federated Commonwealth coming under the same level of assault.

It was then that the first shock was delivered to the Clans.

---

New Caledonia

The Warships filling the skies of New Caledonia were abuzz with activity managing the falling parade of Dropships into the atmosphere. The 328th Assault Cluster detected the anomaly long before it was in range. The curious spatial disrupting coming from outside of the system had drawn eyes and telescopes. And the warnings of the Dragoons echoed in ears and minds. A vessel was coming in accelerating harder than any ship they had.

No. Not one vessel. Two. Drives blazed like unchained suns and it took only a few minutes for the Clan Wolf fleet to identify the craft coming in couldn't possibly be anything they were familiar with. Each of the massive vessels was four kilometres long and massed at least twenty two million tons, almost nine times what the heaviest ship the Clans could field massed. "Star Captain. These vessels do not match the pattern of vessel called Speaker for the Omnissiah." The commentary was useless, but they were professionals and would not refuse to provide information, "Enemy vessels are closing fast."

"Bring about all combat vessels. Prepare to meet the opposition in battle. Open communications, broadcast." He stood facing the screens, though it would only broadcast his voice. "I am Star Captain Marcus Jennings. The Wolves of Kerensky have claimed this world for their own. What tame dogs defend it?" It would take some time for the light, and message to cross the distance. And he ordered for better telescopy of the vessels as he waited. He estimated twenty minutes for them to receive the message. They were monsters, and their wicked prows sported a nasty looking ram. It was studded with weapon systems, though he was more concerned about their significant broadside capability. And nearly an hour passed before a message came back to them. It was not that he had misjudged their distance. They had waited until they were deep in the system to even try.

"I am Archmagos Raziel Kain of the Martian Mechanicum vessel Phobos. Pray to whatever gods your heretic minds cling to, for we are about to deliver you to them." The message was short and Marcus blinked, frowned and leaned back. There was something very much not right about the approach the enemy was employing. There was no subtlety.

"Sensors. What course will their path take?" He asked and the operators studied it and conferred.

"Each vessel will pass on opposite sides of our fleet... they won't come within ten thousand kilometres of us?" The operator said surprised. "Are they just trying to impress us?" It would be a while before they came close enough for any kind of real communication.

He waited, as they all did with bated breath as the range closed. And then they were a light second away and the Star Captain frowned. They had ceased accelerating a while ago, and actually decelerated heavily once they had closed within ten lightseconds. And now... "Are they still on course to miss us?"

"Enemy vessel firing!" Came a sensor operator and he turned to see one of his Cameron class Battlecruisers burned through from prow to stern, the colossal energy beam reaching out from over half a light-second away. His jaw fell open, the sheer accuracy of it was... his own vessel rocked, the McKenna class struck by the other vessel, the more oblique angle saved his ship from being cored entirely and yet the damage alarms were going off as almost a quarter of the midships was burned out and through, the beam lasting almost thirty seconds before powering down.

The Engineers spoke up. "Critical damage. Jump core is destroyed, twenty percent of port and starboard armaments destroyed, power failures on multiple decks..." How long would it be before the enemy ships would be in effective range?

"Open fire. Give them something to think about. Fill space where they should be with as much firepower as we can. Order all ships fire free." He only had half a dozen ships, his own flagship was crippled and the Cameron was burned through. Dead as it could be. PPC, Laser and Autocannon fire erupted from the naval scale weapons, missiles leapt from capital launchers and aerospace fighters spilled into the void in an attempt to engage the enemy vessels.

The enemy ships didn't turn. They didn't alter course. And he saw why. They saw through telescopes and sensors as the fire which was targeted accurately encountered an energy field and ceased to pose a threat to the vessel and...

"Order every ship whose drive is charged. Emergency jump to rendevous." Three of the WarShips engaged their drives with mere moments to spare. The two massive enemy ships were now flanking them and as laser light began to snarl at their aerospace craft. Much more massive laser weapons came to life on the enemy broadsides and cut the rest of them to pieces. It was only through pure chance that he managed to survive, bulkheads slamming into place keeping in the air. Neither enemy ship remained in the battlespace. They moved into orbit over the planet, swinging into a wide orbit over the landing sites for the Clan Wolf, planting their noses towards the planet.

For two hours he watched as sustained energy beams ripped from the noses of the craft towards the surface. Then they came about and... the destroyed Cameron was the first to receive their attention. The belly of the beast unfolding massive cranes and...the vessels began to cut up the ship and draw its parts into the maw.

---

Four days. Four days he waited, watching as the enemy harvested the remains in orbit. The air was beginning to grow stale, attempts to enact repairs failing before finally they turned on his own crippled ship. And...

They didn't. A flash of light behind him forced him to spin, pistol in hand and firing as.. five massive armoured figures, something called Thallaxi, protected their master.

"I am the Archmagos Raziel Kain. You are being granted the honour of surviving to tell the story of what happened here. Ave Omnissiah." Another flash of light and they were gone, leaving in their place a... an oxygen generator.