A Victorian Age (BT AU)

[drakensis]

Glad you're liking the story.

As far as the technology goes, I'm trying to reconcile the gap between the books, where even heirs to the thrones of successor states are still using the same old tech when the clans arrive, and having the advanced technology available. So in 3050 they're hovering right on the brink of reintroducing it - they've got the technology but they're still struggling with the logistics of putting it into heavy production, with only a tiny handful of advanced Mechs being produced and those using up most of the limited production of components. Only in the face of the Clans do they spend the massive sums of money to fast-track the factory upgrades necessary (witness that in canon even the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and wealthiest state couldn't manage that without using the Free World's League's capacity to bolster their own). It's the capital investment that's delaying deployment, not failure to understand the technology.

I will use the secondline Clan Mechs from TRO 3055 and later, along with salvaged inner sphere and old SLDF hardware to flesh out garrison clusters as necessary. Thus the Hunchback IIC's appearance at this point.

[PainRack]

As far as the technology goes, I'm trying to reconcile the gap between the books, where even heirs to the thrones of successor states are still using the same old tech when the clans arrive, and having the advanced technology available. So in 3050 they're hovering right on the brink of reintroducing it - they've got the technology but they're still struggling with the logistics of putting it into heavy production, with only a tiny handful of advanced Mechs being produced and those using up most of the limited production of components. Only in the face of the Clans do they spend the massive sums of money to fast-track the factory upgrades necessary (witness that in canon even the Federated Commonwealth, the largest and wealthiest state couldn't manage that without using the Free World's League's capacity to bolster their own). It's the capital investment that's delaying deployment, not failure to understand the technology.

I will use the secondline Clan Mechs from TRO 3055 and later, along with salvaged inner sphere and old SLDF hardware to flesh out garrison clusters as necessary. Thus the Hunchback IIC's appearance at this point.

Victor may had been assigned to a somewhat prestigous frontline unit, but it was not one slated for the Kurita border.
Hohiro on the other hand was assigned to the Legion of Vega, a dumping ground due to palace politics.

I would also like to mention that you are absolutely right, in canon, the barriers against lostech isn't the lack of knowledge itself, its the industrial capabilities and logistics, in particular, supporting units with lostech. By 3048, IIRC, barring the Ultra autocannons(although I have to dig through Techmanual to be sure) all the equipment in the level 2 3050 list had been discovered.

TRO 3050 illustrates this issue, when the newly redesigned Battlemaster had one of its retooled factories "cut off" on Twycross.(at the time of the TRO, Steel Viper had not deployed to recapture Twycross yet.) I'm just mentioning this because you had Victoria claiming that the new equipment would take the end of the year to get out. Its not. Its already THERE. The issues is actually manufacturing it and then deploying it to new units. That's why the Somerset Strikers were able to get their hands on the new tech so fast, although the Infiltrator and Sloth posed some canon issues that was handwaved away. Its also noteworthy that despite the successful redesign of the Bushwhacker, the Bushwhacker would take until 3058 to enter general usuage.

Lostech equipped units such as the 4th Arkab Legion using Comstar mechs, the Gray Death Legion using field refits, even the Somerset Strikers had a new mech in the form of the Axman which featured a large pulse laser. Steiner variant was simply the second model of the new design, which replaced the problematic luxor autocannon with missiles. Similarly, the Devastator was actually first fielded in 3048, although they did not see notable action against the clans.

The key crux of course was the FWL retooling, since only they had the intact supply lines and factories and their massive introduction of field refit kits which allowed the DC and FC to upgrade existing mechs. When one considers that tensions in the Draconis March rose because of economic damage from the Clan invasion and that the "vast" majority of the Davion jumpships were reassigned to the Lyran front(leading to the events in 3056)...... a more probable reason for the FC inability to upgrade her forces is due to the need to produce more equipment now to replace losses(and maintain forces) as well as the disruption to trade networks from jumpships and invasion.
And of course, the FWL WAS in the throes of a new industrial age and was already in the process of retooling her factories to produce new weapons and designs.

[drakensis]

I think the passage you're thinking of is this one:

“So, to recap: for this year, we’ll have to fight with what we have. From next year, we should have limited numbers of upgrades to existing Mechs. The year after, new production will begin to trickle in. We don’t need to crush the clans, or even to drive them back, desirable as those goals are. What we must do is to slow them down and buy three years to upgrade our forces. That’s not going to be easy - but it’s a realistic goal. Anything more ambitious... isn’t.”

“I see that you mean what you said about a long term solution,” Morgan noted.

“There is no magic bullet that will counter all their advantages,” Victoria told him. “This is the reality of our production issues. Prototypes for the new equipment will take until the end of the year to produce, at best. The most optimistic projections place large scale manufacture of advanced ‘Mechs in 3052, considering the dislocation of refitting our production lines. Fortunately there are some factories ready to go and the field refits should bridge the gap, but for now we’re going to be fighting with what we have.”

The key phrase is large scale manufacture. In 3050, for the purposes of this story, the vast majority of production is still at 3025 levels. There are a couple of dozen Axman 'mechs around, for example, but that's out of at least a thousand Mechs built a year that are right out of TRO3025. She's not talking about what factories can start building now, when she considers 3050, she's thinking about what can be placed on the battlefield in useful numbers. After all, she has a Mech with advanced weapons but on it's own it's just one better than average Mech.

Her expectation - and this is before the FWL gets involved - is that due to time needed to ramp up component manufacture, it will be at least six months before field refit kits will be available in sufficient numbers that most regiments facing the clans will have them. And that's only a fraction of the full AFFC.

As for new mechs, she's allowing for months of refitting factory lines, and then getting component manufacture up beyond what is demanded for the refit kits. Prototype advanced Mechs will be available in 3051 for field testing, just like the Axman and Bushwacker were, but full production runs (with places like Hesperus and Tokonov churning out hundreds of advanced Mechs) are probably at least 18 months away in her opinion. Most of the FWL would wind up doing is providing components, not finished Mechs and so forth.

[PainRack]

I think the passage you're thinking of is this one:
The key phrase is large scale manufacture. In 3050, for the purposes of this story, the vast majority of production is still at 3025 levels. There are a couple of dozen Axman 'mechs around, for example, but that's out of at least a thousand Mechs built a year that are right out of TRO3025. She's not talking about what factories can start building now, when she considers 3050, she's thinking about what can be placed on the battlefield in useful numbers. After all, she has a Mech with advanced weapons but on it's own it's just one better than average Mech.

And as I said, your logic is entirely correct. The problem is its actually behind by one year, in 3050, the Inner Sphere had already started the mass production of advanced mechs beyond the prototype stages.
Consider that dropships would ship mechs off production runs in quarterly run, and some sources argue its yearly runs. They're shipped to regional logistic depots before going to headquarters and then units. And Spheroid logistics is weird enough that mechs are assigned piecemeal to units and not a full scale unit conversion, until post 3052.

Its just a minor nitpick. The unexplained issue isn't that mechs new stuff wasn't coming out in 3050, it was the logistics involved.

Her expectation - and this is before the FWL gets involved - is that due to time needed to ramp up component manufacture, it will be at least six months before field refit kits will be available in sufficient numbers that most regiments facing the clans will have them. And that's only a fraction of the full AFFC.

As for new mechs, she's allowing for months of refitting factory lines, and then getting component manufacture up beyond what is demanded for the refit kits. Prototype advanced Mechs will be available in 3051 for field testing, just like the Axman and Bushwacker were, but full production runs (with places like Hesperus and Tokonov churning out hundreds of advanced Mechs) are probably at least 18 months away in her opinion. Most of the FWL would wind up doing is providing components, not finished Mechs and so forth.

The Axman had already started large scale production in 3050 and were reaching units, including the lostech equivalent. Battlemasters, Marauders, Warhammers, all this are examples of mechs which were being built in "large" numbers in 3050. Of course, we must consider what is so called "normal" numbers in the Inner Sphere context. The Wolfhound is something that we aren't sure of. The level 2 design was already being manufactured, although its penetration of frontline units in 3050 is unknown.

Your timeline is just off by one year, although ramped up production was probably still being hampered by components shortages. Sorry if I'm disturbing anyone enjoyment.

[drakensis]

The sound of cannon and PPC fire could be made out in the distance, from where the Kell Hounds and the Ninth Federated Commonwealth RCT had boxed in the Clan’s garrison – more or less a battalion force of Mechs and infantry – on three sides. Outnumbered nine to one, the Clanners were fighting stubbornly but even their technical advantages weren’t doing more than delaying the inevitable.

The mood on the Task Force command channel was not triumphant however. “At best we’re trapped here,” Leftenant General Milstein commented bitterly. “Even if the ship isn’t carrying any ground troops, we can’t leave Somerset while it’s in orbit so it’s only a matter of time until they bring in reinforcements.”

“Given that diverting forces from the frontlines is one of the principal reasons for attacking Somerset, that would constitute a significant gain for the Federated Commonwealth,” Victoria pointed out. “Now we just have to survive the consequences of our success.”

Colonel Allard cleared his throat. “Now that we’ve defined the problem, we need a solution,” he told them. He was speaking from his Wolfhound, just behind the frontlines and the sounds of the battlefield could be heard in the background. “General Kaulkas, we’re going to be relying on the Tenth Guards to watch our backs while we finish off the garrison. If the Falcons land reinforcements, I need you ready to react immediately. In the meantime, we’ve got better than a hundred and fifty aerospace fighters between us. Effective immediately, I’m pulling them together into a single force under Major Kirk. Losing our air cover might hurt us down here, but not as much as holding back up in orbit could.”

“Colonel,” Victoria offered. “May I recommend activating Contingency Tall White Hat from the operations plan?”

There was a long pause – hesitation, she presumed, although it was possible that several officers were looking up that option to verify that she was suggesting what they thought.

“Desperate times demand desperate measures,” Allard concurred reluctantly. “Very well, Kommandant. Co-ordinate it with Rob Kirk.”



“What’s so important that you have to pull me away from the Strikers?” Adam demanded as he dismounted from his ‘Mech. “We need to prepare our defenses before the Jade Falcons drop more troops.”

Victoria gestured towards the dropship that her Marauder and now Adam’s Axman were standing outside of. This part of the landing field was occupied mostly by aerodyne-models that needed lengthy runways to take off and land, so naturally it was also occupied by most of the task force’s aerospace squadrons, whose fighters had the same requirements. “I’ll tell you inside,” she said, and jogged up the steps leading to the hatch of the Leopard-class dropship.

To Adam’s surprise, Victoria did not lead turn left after entering the hatch, which would have led to the battlemech bays. Instead she went up a deck, into the fighter bays.

“Hi Adam,” a familiar voice called in greeting as the two officers entered the room. “Oh, sorry,” the irrepressable Katiara Kylie corrected herself, interpreting his frown as being directed at her. “Kommandant Steiner and Kommandant Steiner-Davion, Sergeant Kylie reporting.” She saluted sloppily.

Victoria chuckled grimly. “At ease sergeant. No problems with your fighter?”

“No ma’am,” Kylie confirmed, gesturing at the ancient Shilone that lay behind her, a ground crew refuelling it. “A bit puzzled at why I’m in here and not outside flying cover… but I’m good to go, any time.”

“I take it that this is part of your Contingency Tall White Hat,” Adam asked.

“I guess you didn’t have a chance to go through the full operations plan before you jumped into the Somerset system,” Victoria observed. “Keeping it short then, it’s the contingency for the presence of a Clan warship turning up in orbit.”

Kylie’s eyes went wide. “You have a plan for that!?”

“After Edo, it was sort of a priority,” observed Victoria wryly, although there was nothing funny about the subject to her mind. While a lot of details remained unclear, agents within the Draconis Combine reported that when the civil populace of Turtle Bay, a planet occupied by one of the Clans, had risen up against the invaders, the response had been an orbital bombardment of the planet’s capital city. The death toll had been hideous. “And we have plans for everything from Aleksandr Kerensky’s legions returning to help us to finding out that Clan Mechs are piloted by green feathered parrots.”

“So what’s your plan for this?” Adam enquired curiously. “It’s not like you have a warship to pit against them… you don’t, do you?”

“I wish. No. Do you recall when you met up with us at Camelot Command and I made a joke about how well equipped we were?”

“Everything from sharp sticks to…” Adam paled. “Blake’s blood,” he whispered.

Victoria nodded solemnly, Kylie staring at them in confusion. “As I said: I wouldn’t be surprised to find that we brought a nuclear weapon along… I’d be surprised if we didn’t, given that I have the release codes for it.”

“Oh wow, big bang,” exclaimed Kylie with a whistle.

Was I ever that young? Victoria wondered, with a sidelong glance at Adam, then remembered that according to her file, Kylie – barely out of her teens – was only six months younger than she was. If the girl hadn’t wrangled her way into the Strikers’, she would still be in her final year at the Nagelring. “I just hope it’s big enough,” she said out loud. “We only have the one, so it’s up to you to make sure that it isn’t wasted,” she told the young pilot.

Kylie squeaked. “Me?” Her face paled abruptly despite her olive complexion.

“Adam tells me you’re one of the best ground support pilots he’s seen in a long while. Your skills have kept the Strikers alive for the long journey here. Now we need you to do that one more time.”

“What if I screw up?”

Victoria reached up and patted Kylie on the shoulder. “Don’t.” She turned to Adam. “I need another field grade officer to counter-authorise my release codes. Your Commonwealth identification number should do it.” She gestured towards the other hanger, which was clearly not occupied by a fighter but instead by an anonymous bulk cargo container, securely anchored.

“The plan is fairly straightforward. As soon as they commit their fighters – probably to cover dropping ‘Mechs - we’ll launch a massed attack with all eight fighter wings. You’ll be in the first wave, Kylie. Their entire job is to make sure you reach the target safely. Your primary target is the ship’s engines – if that doesn’t destroy it then it should hopefully prevent it from manuvering, which should let us avoid it as we come and go from Somerset.”

“Do you know what it is yet?” Kylie asked, suddenly serious. “I mean, if it’s a serious flak-wagon then there will be a lot of casualties.”

“Closest match the warbooks can come up with is an old SLDF battleship - Texas-class if that means anything to you. It doesn’t mention anti-fighter capability one way or another,” Victoria told her bluntly. She clapped Kylie on the shoulder. “And it doesn’t matter if it does or it doesn’t.”

“You could lose every fighter we have,” Kylie protested. “I don’t think you know what a ship that big could be having.”

“I’m fully aware of the potential weapons load of a ship massing a megaton and a half,” retorted Victoria. “It isn’t a factor because as long as that ship’s up there the Task Force is effectively lost. Which means that the aerospace brigades have to go in, regardless of the danger. It’s the only way – unless, of course,” and her eyes narrowed dangerously “- you’re suggesting that we lay down our arms and surrender Somerset?”

“Hell no!” the Somerset native protested sharply. “You give me that nuke, your highness and I’ll take it’s fuckin’ legs out. Guarenteed.”

“Good. Come on, Adam. Let’s get the Sergeant her candy and see if she can feed it to the baby up there.”

Adam Steiner gave his cousin’s back a look that mixed respect and concern as she led him over to the container. “A little harsh there, don’t you think?”

“I’m trusting her with a nuclear weapon. I think I’m entitled to check her mental stability. It’s not like anyone’s going to be in the cockpit to ride herd upon her.”

[drakensis]

And as I said, your logic is entirely correct. The problem is its actually behind by one year, in 3050, the Inner Sphere had already started the mass production of advanced mechs beyond the prototype stages.
Consider that dropships would ship mechs off production runs in quarterly run, and some sources argue its yearly runs. They're shipped to regional logistic depots before going to headquarters and then units. And Spheroid logistics is weird enough that mechs are assigned piecemeal to units and not a full scale unit conversion, until post 3052.

Its just a minor nitpick. The unexplained issue isn't that mechs new stuff wasn't coming out in 3050, it was the logistics involved.

The Axman had already started large scale production in 3050 and were reaching units, including the lostech equivalent. Battlemasters, Marauders, Warhammers, all this are examples of mechs which were being built in "large" numbers in 3050. Of course, we must consider what is so called "normal" numbers in the Inner Sphere context. The Wolfhound is something that we aren't sure of. The level 2 design was already being manufactured, although its penetration of frontline units in 3050 is unknown.

Your timeline is just off by one year, although ramped up production was probably still being hampered by components shortages. Sorry if I'm disturbing anyone enjoyment.

[/quote]
I'm not sure I agree on your timing there: even TRO 3050 is actually published 'in universe' as the view from 3052, although some information clearly dates from earlier. For the purposes of the story I'm working on the basis that 'new' and 'revived' designs are only just beginning production in 3050, with maybe a year or two of producing a dozen or two units a year. Most of the older designs featured are factory or field refits rushed into use during the Clan War - and in many cases will be quite different in this universe.

Always happy to discuss this sort of thing though.

[PainRack]

I'm not sure I agree on your timing there: even TRO 3050 is actually published 'in universe' as the view from 3052, although some information clearly dates from earlier. For the purposes of the story I'm working on the basis that 'new' and 'revived' designs are only just beginning production in 3050, with maybe a year or two of producing a dozen or two units a year. Most of the older designs featured are factory or field refits rushed into use during the Clan War - and in many cases will be quite different in this universe.

Always happy to discuss this sort of thing though.

The Federated Commonwealth version, just begining production at the Pandora plant of Red Devil Industries.

Because of the Clan invasion and the precarious position of the Trellshire Heavy Industries factory on Twycross, that plant continues to produce older model BattleMasters instead of retooling a line that may be recaptured anyway.

The date suggests that this is late 3050, at worst, 3051.

Similarly,

It was also an early candidate for recovered technology

Despite all the advance planning, the draconis Combine's offensive in the War of 3039 captured the world of Quentin and with it, Indepdence Weaponery... House Kurita now produces the upgraded design for its own regiments, and the Federated Commonwealth is reduced to purchasing the entire output of the HildCo Interplanetary factory in the St Ives Compact.

Victor TRO 3050.

20 year update

The Grand Dragon Mech design is slowly replacing the Dragon, which ceased production in 3040, as the heavy Mech of choice in the DCMS.

[drakensis]

Regarding the Battlemaster I'd place the quote as referring to the era between Twycross being liberated from Clan Jade Falcon in late 3050 and it's conquest by Clan Steel Viper in late 3051, just as you say. So the FWL version is 'recently emerging from the Earthwerks factory', the F-C version is 'just beginning production' and the Twycross factory has never been upgraded. The DC version is older but relies on misdirected ComGuards equipment rather than local parts.

On the Victor, it 'received special priority for increased production and widespread deployment' (and is the most common assault Mech in the AFFC IIRC) and 'was an early candidate for recovered technology'. However, it does not specify that the advanced version predates the capture of the factory in 3039, only that 'House Kurita now produces the upgraded design for its own regiments'. It's certainly implied that they took over after the F-C had done all the hard work, but it's not explicit and I am choosing to to treat the upgrade as having been designed afterwards and the 'now' when it is produced as being 3050/51 and not long before.

As for the Grand Dragon, it states that the model from TRO3050 is 'rapidly becoming House Kurita's workhorse Mech'. It doesn't have to mean that it is the same model that began full-scale production in 3040. That model explicitly has CASE, so it's fair to say that at least some advanced technology was in mass production that far back. However, versions of the Grand Dragon were mentioned as far back as TRO3025 so for the purposes of A Victorian Age I am treating the 3040 model as an interim stage that only had CASE and no other advanced tech. Probably the interim design sacrificed half a ton of armour for the CASE, which was likely the case (excuse the pun) for late model Dragons that featured the technology.

To pick out some other examples, the Axman is described as 'finally nearing production', the ER PPC on the Caesar 'has yet to be battletested' and the F-C Cataphract 'has the highest priority' but 'the Capellan Confederation will be the first into the field with an improved version of the Cataphract' as the 'factory on Grand Base is nearing completion of the retooling necessary'. All of these suggest that full production runs of entirely new machines are not in place before the Clan's Fifth Wave begins in November 3051 and probably not before the date of the 'in-world' introduction, which is 8 February 3052, only a few weeks before the invasion is halted at Tukkayid.

In Blood Legacy, Hanse Davion tells Theodore Kurita that "It will take another year for Thomas Marik to bring his factories online with total prodution." Theodore responds that he has ordered "a number of factories to turn out field modifcation packages" which seems to be a faster option. You may note that in A Victorian Age, this process begins earlier and in the Federated Commonwealth, conceived as a systematic upgrade of all Mechs of a given design whereas the Theodore cites the packs as something that can be fitted while repairing battle damage, suggesting a more limited and less expensive roll out than Victoria proposed.

The chapter is datestamped 21 September and while there are some facts from the trilogy that I am not taking as correct (the 10th Lyran Guards homeworld as of 3049 and Clan Wolf's ability to send a warship from Radstadt to Strana Mechty in a matter of days) I don't see anything major to contradict this one.

[PainRack]

On the Victor, it 'received special priority for increased production and widespread deployment' (and is the most common assault Mech in the AFFC IIRC) and 'was an early candidate for recovered technology'. However, it does not specify that the advanced version predates the capture of the factory in 3039, only that 'House Kurita now produces the upgraded design for its own regiments'. It's certainly implied that they took over after the F-C had done all the hard work, but it's not explicit and I am choosing to to treat the upgrade as having been designed afterwards and the 'now' when it is produced as being 3050/51 and not long before.

The model they use however is the FC advanced model with the Gauss Rifle. Such a design would not have been "shared" with House Kurita. Furthermore, it shows that the retooling was done earlier on in 3039.

As for the Grand Dragon, it states that the model from TRO3050 is 'rapidly becoming House Kurita's workhorse Mech'. It doesn't have to mean that it is the same model that began full-scale production in 3040. That model explicitly has CASE, so it's fair to say that at least some advanced technology was in mass production that far back. However, versions of the Grand Dragon were mentioned as far back as TRO3025 so for the purposes of A Victorian Age I am treating the 3040 model as an interim stage that only had CASE and no other advanced tech. Probably the interim design sacrificed half a ton of armour for the CASE, which was likely the case (excuse the pun) for late model Dragons that featured the technology.

The Grand Dragon refers explictly to the PPC variant however. More importantly, the page I lifted it from, 20 year update was with regards to "Military Technology review" and should logically refer to the ER PPC variant, not the basic PPC variant as it describes topics entirely with regards to the Helm memory core and lostech.Well, other than the listen-kill missiles.

In Blood Legacy, Hanse Davion tells Theodore Kurita that "It will take another year for Thomas Marik to bring his factories online with total prodution." Theodore responds that he has ordered "a number of factories to turn out field modifcation packages" which seems to be a faster option. You may note that in A Victorian Age, this process begins earlier and in the Federated Commonwealth, conceived as a systematic upgrade of all Mechs of a given design whereas the Theodore cites the packs as something that can be fitted while repairing battle damage, suggesting a more limited and less expensive roll out than Victoria proposed.

Except that as of this point in time,3050 the FWL has not even gained many of the technologies involved from the Helm memory core, with only the advanced component Ultra AC/5 making it into production. The Outreach meeting in 3051 had Hanse give the FWL all of the lostech involved and awaited their production.The two leading adopters of lostech were the FC and the DC, both the FWL and the Cappellan were beginning to unlock the technologies involved.

The DC did trade their advanced technologies with the FWL prior to 3050 so as to gain mech production, as per TRO 3050 revised, but their factories were still retooling for mech production in 3051/3052.

[drakensis]

The model they use however is the FC advanced model with the Gauss Rifle. Such a design would not have been "shared" with House Kurita. Furthermore, it shows that the retooling was done earlier on in 3039.

VTR-9K - the K usually stands for Kurita. And again, in 3050 Victor was using an autocannon-equipped model, probably the VTR-9B from TRO 3025. The Federated Commonwealth is having to buy Victors from the St Ives Compact. As for the retooling date, I believe my previous post points out that this is not explicitly before 3039.

The Grand Dragon refers explictly to the PPC variant however. More importantly, the page I lifted it from, 20 year update was with regards to "Military Technology review" and should logically refer to the ER PPC variant, not the basic PPC variant as it describes topics entirely with regards to the Helm memory core and lostech.Well, other than the listen-kill missiles.

Let's start with a different piece of advanced technology in the Grand Dragon: the heatsinks. The Federated Commonwealth, as of the 20 Year Update, has them 'manufactured at the NAIS test factories. Several weapons industries are expected to begin modifying their heatsink plants'. So the FedCom does not have widespread double heatsinks at this point. On the same page, referring to Kuritan research: 'the IIT scientists are still three years behind the Federated Commonwealth'. While this is an average and quite possibly they are less behind on the heatsinks than on other matters, it seems unlikely that they are MORE advanced than the FedCom in this area, as otherwise they would be more widespread, appearing in new Panthers and Jenners, for example.

So there is at least one technology used in the DRG-5K Grand Dragon that was almost certainly not available for regular production before the Clan Invasion. It is possible that there was an interim step with an ER PPC, but there is no mention of this. As for advanced technologies, the same page mentions that the DCMS has produced a slightly less advanced model of the Hatchetman, copied from the TRO 3025 version, yet TRO 3050 does not mention it, leading me to believe that this is also not an advanced model, which suggests that any improvements (and any Grand Dragon is an improvement over the Dragon) were mentioned, regardless of the use or otherwise of lostech.

Except that as of this point in time,3050 the FWL has not even gained many of the technologies involved from the Helm memory core, with only the advanced component Ultra AC/5 making it into production. The Outreach meeting in 3051 had Hanse give the FWL all of the lostech involved and awaited their production.The two leading adopters of lostech were the FC and the DC, both the FWL and the Cappellan were beginning to unlock the technologies involved.

The DC did trade their advanced technologies with the FWL prior to 3050 so as to gain mech production, as per TRO 3050 revised, but their factories were still retooling for mech production in 3051/3052.

My reasoning is that this let the FWL skip past the research stages and catch up to the retooling step, which the DC and FC were both still working on during the Invasion. None of the Successor States had respectable numbers of advanced Mechs until early 3052 when what units had been built began appearing on the frontlines in units such as Victor's Revenants battalion in the 10th Lyran Guards. Admittedly, I don't think there's any indication that his unit had any especial priority for advanced technology, but they were still amongst the first regiments to get any of it. Shin Yodama was extremely impressed by the advanced designs present, suggesting that the DCMS did not have similar numbers available, or that they did not have concentrations of such equipment.

[LadyTevar]

Com'on, guys... take the Tech-Talk to PMs, and get on with the STORY!

[MarshalPurnell]

The War of 3039 sourcebook provides details on prototype Level 2 equipment available to each House, and Field Manual Mercenaries Supplemental 2 includes a table on when each piece of advanced technology became available in each Successor State. Every bit of old SL tech was available to each House no later than 3050, that being when the Draconis Combine finally got the BAP and Guardian ECM. ER Energy weapons were available by the early 3040s, late 3030s for the DC and FWL, Double Heat Sinks by 3040 for the FS and 3045-3047 for everyone else, CASE in the early 3040s except the DC which had it since 3036, pulse lasers also by late 3039 and early 3040, the LB-10X by 3040, and so on. Every one of the Houses has a full range of basic level 2 equipment by the Clan Invasion; it's simply a matter of re-adapting designs to use it and changing over the production lines for new models.

[Darth Nostril]

Too late Tev, Painrack & co's dredging up trivial minutia already killed this fanfic.

[drakensis]

a. I've not stopped writing, it's just that it's a battle and those take me a while.
b. In theory all the Houses have everything. In practise, they're still getting from the stage where a single double heatsink takes a month to build and costs more than a reactor.

[PainRack]

VTR-9K - the K usually stands for Kurita. And again, in 3050 Victor was using an autocannon-equipped model, probably the VTR-9B from TRO 3025. The Federated Commonwealth is having to buy Victors from the St Ives Compact. As for the retooling date, I believe my previous post points out that this is not explicitly before 3039.

The K designation...... is set in place by Comstar, which simply highlights the fact that its House Kurita who owns the facillity. However, note that it was the FC which retooled the facillity.

Let's start with a different piece of advanced technology in the Grand Dragon: the heatsinks. The Federated Commonwealth, as of the 20 Year Update, has them 'manufactured at the NAIS test factories. Several weapons industries are expected to begin modifying their heatsink plants'. So the FedCom does not have widespread double heatsinks at this point. On the same page, referring to Kuritan research: 'the IIT scientists are still three years behind the Federated Commonwealth'. While this is an average and quite possibly they are less behind on the heatsinks than on other matters, it seems unlikely that they are MORE advanced than the FedCom in this area, as otherwise they would be more widespread, appearing in new Panthers and Jenners, for example.

Except that DHS was already coming online, being incorporated into the Devastator by the FC in 3048. On the DC side, we have the Mauler and other mechs, all of which were in the process of being produced in the DC. The 20 year update point is not about how DHS is a lostech being recovered, its about how DHS is starting to become mass produced. In 3050.

As for 3 years behind, the Kuritians can be 3 years behind and STILL have DHS because the FC cracked Freezers sometime back in 3040 when the Hoff facillity recovered from the Dragoons attack. Indeed, DHS prototypes at the Hoff facillity was already present, including prototypes refitted to the ELH mechs fighting against the Wolf Dragoons.(lol. The rules had them being single space heat sinks too:D). That's over 10 years of theoretical research done, and frankly,ignoring the existence of prototypes that were used in actual combat in the Third Succession War.

So there is at least one technology used in the DRG-5K Grand Dragon that was almost certainly not available for regular production before the Clan Invasion. It is possible that there was an interim step with an ER PPC, but there is no mention of this. As for advanced technologies, the same page mentions that the DCMS has produced a slightly less advanced model of the Hatchetman, copied from the TRO 3025 version, yet TRO 3050 does not mention it, leading me to believe that this is also not an advanced model, which suggests that any improvements (and any Grand Dragon is an improvement over the Dragon) were mentioned, regardless of the use or otherwise of lostech.

Actually, it IS mentioned in TRO 3050, just not under the Hatchetman section but rather in the introduction. Their "less advanced" mech however simply refers to the fact that it doesn't have the escape pod mechanism of the Hatchetman, instead relying on the ejection couches of standard mechs.

My reasoning is that this let the FWL skip past the research stages and catch up to the retooling step, which the DC and FC were both still working on during the Invasion. None of the Successor States had respectable numbers of advanced Mechs until early 3052 when what units had been built began appearing on the frontlines in units such as Victor's Revenants battalion in the 10th Lyran Guards. Admittedly, I don't think there's any indication that his unit had any especial priority for advanced technology, but they were still amongst the first regiments to get any of it. Shin Yodama was extremely impressed by the advanced designs present, suggesting that the DCMS did not have similar numbers available, or that they did not have concentrations of such equipment.

Or Shin Yodama is simply unaware of the Draconis Combine own concentration of such mechs, since he is only a lowly Yakuza officer assigned to the disgraced Legion of Vega. Indeed, the DC was the first to throw an entire battalion of SL mechs at the Clans, using Comstar supplied mechs in the form of the 4th Arkab Legions vs the Ghost Bears. The problem is of course, we are simply unsure of what is the technological downgrade of those mechs and how much of the recovered technology is from DC production. We know from Hotspots, even prior to later material that the DC had mechs with gauss rifles in the War of 3039. This had to be Comstar supplied because the FC had no indigenious gauss weaponry yet.....




And frankly.... GIVE US MORE BATTLES!:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I'm shutting up right now and waiting anxiously for battles. Its your universe afterall:D

[drakensis]

However, note that it was the FC which retooled the facillity.

We know from Hotspots, even prior to later material that the DC had mechs with gauss rifles in the War of 3039. This had to be Comstar supplied because the FC had no indigenious gauss weaponry yet...

So how did the FC retool Quentin to produce a Gauss-Rifle model of the Victor before 3039 then?

Except that DHS was already coming online, being incorporated into the Devastator by the FC in 3048.

And ten years, production was a couple of hundred? (assuming the estimated 100 on the Clan OZ is about half of them). By 3052 there might be the equivalent of a whole battalion available, scattered through the AFFC.

On a related note, the Devestator was prototyped in 3033 and didn't enter production until 3048. That gives some idea of the working up time for industry.

On the DC side, we have the Mauler and other mechs, all of which were in the process of being produced in the DC.

The Mauler was 'just begun testing at the proving grounds of Luthien Armor Works'. That's not full production.

As for 3 years behind, the Kuritians can be 3 years behind and STILL have DHS because the FC cracked Freezers sometime back in 3040 when the Hoff facillity recovered from the Dragoons attack. Indeed, DHS prototypes at the Hoff facillity was already present, including prototypes refitted to the ELH mechs fighting against the Wolf Dragoons.(lol. The rules had them being single space heat sinks too:D). That's over 10 years of theoretical research done, and frankly,ignoring the existence of prototypes that were used in actual combat in the Third Succession War.

The F-C explicitly does not have mass production of double heatsinks, according to the 20 Year Update. I am not arguing that the DC has none, or that they aren't fitting what they have to Mechs, but their ability to manufacture them does not appear to have been huge at this point in time.

Or Shin Yodama is simply unaware of the Draconis Combine own concentration of such mechs, since he is only a lowly Yakuza officer assigned to the disgraced Legion of Vega.

He was at that point honored by Takashi Kurita and the personal aide to Hohiro Kurita, in which context he would need to be aware of almost every military matter that Hohiro was. And Hohiro was more highly placed than Victor, with wider responsibilities, functioning as a multi-regiment commander late in the invasion (only fair since he's significantly older).

[drakensis]

Victoria was pleased to be back in her cockpit before the next development. The Falcons were forcing the pace at the moment, with the Somerset Task Force on the ground forced into reacting to their movements in orbit. That wasn’t desirable, but at least they weren’t being forced to rush.

“Blizzard Six, we have two dropships and approximately two wings of aerospace fighters making a high orbital pass over the area,” reported an unfamiliar voice. A sideband on Victoria’s command console identified the signal as coming from the dropship being used as a command post for the air defenses over the Academy. “Probably – correction, we have multiple seperations. They are dropping Mechs and infantry. The fighters are splitting, looks like half will stay with the dropships and half cover the dropping forces.”

“Understood, Mechs and Infantry executing orbital drop, with cover. Thanks for the heads up,” she told the officer. Kylie’s Shilone was just exiting the dropship hanger, a crane lowering it onto the improvised taxi-way that flanked the small dropship. Beneath the heavy fighter, a single ominous piece of ordnance was visible. Of course, it might be her own knowledge of its nature that was bothering Victoria, as no one else seemed terribly excited by it.

She flipped the channel over to the aerospace command. “Major Kirk, this is Blizzard Six. The Hat is on the field and I am releasing command to you.”

There was a crackle on the line. “Confirmed, Blizzard Six. I have the hat.” Or in less opaque terms, command authority over the nuclear weapon had just been delegated to the mercenary pilot.

“I’d wish you a clear sky, Major, but we all know what’s up there. Good luck.”

Kirk’s voice was amused, showing no sign of apprehension. “You just watch your upstairs, Blizzard Six. We won’t be there to keep the buzzards off of you.”

Victoria chuckled. “We’ll try to keep it together without you.” She flipped the channel to her command channel. “Right then boys and girls, mount ‘em up and roll them out. We’ve got company on its way. Tracking, what do you have projected as their drop zone?”

“Transmitting now,” the air defense officer advised and a diagram popped up on a secondary display, cones spreading across the map of the area, each shrinking as the ‘Mechs and infantry descended, options cutting off. Triangulation from dozens of radars – dropships, air defense Mechs and portable field units – was narrowing down the drop zone and it looked like it was going to be almost on top of the Academy.

“Now that’s just insulting,” Victoria noted, looking at where the incoming Mechs were expected to be, matching it up to suitable areas that the Clans would probably try to use. There was only one that made sense, but it was so obvious that she had trouble believing it. “Are they really that arrogant?”

“Some of them are,” Adam confirmed, moving what remained of the Strikers up to support her command lance. “And that looks like a full cluster – whoever it is hasn’t bargained down his force, he’s going to hit us with everything he has.”

Victoria looked at the open plain that wrapped around the campus on two sides, previously used for manuvers by the Academy and now about to receive a force unlikely to be using training settings on their Mechs. “Well, I suppose we don’t have to worry about them calling in reserves then,” she decided and punched the button for the RCT command channel. “This is Blizzard Six to all Storm commanders. Looks like my position is the target. I’ll use my battalion, the Strikers, the 339th and the Artillery Group as an anvil, the rest of the RCT plays hammer. Confirmed?”

“Storm Five to Blizzard Six,” Milstein’s voice cut across the channel. “Negative. You’ll be fighting them at even numbers and that’s not viable. Fall back on the Dropships – their firepower should hold them back until we can rally to your positions.”

“Storm Five, they can stand back and fire at the dropships from outside our range,” Victoria snapped. “In the Academy they’ll have to enter close quarters. We can hold them long enough for you to pin them.” She looked at the display again. “They’re dropping too close: if we fall back now we’ll just be showing our backs.”

“That’s enough, both of you,” Hauptmann General Kaulkas voice snapped out on the command band. “Blizzard Six, your plan is approved. Storm Five, get the Thundering Elephants moving. If we’re going to ‘play hammer’ then we’ll need the momentum.”

“Acknowledged,” responded Victoria and punched a private channel through to Leftenant General Foreman of the 339th Donegal Heavy Armor Regiment, which had been held back to defend the landing site. “General, I recommend getting your Demolishers inside the campus walls and pushing the Schreks out to cover the enemy LZ.”

Mara Foreman’s response was crackly and interspersed with jolts as her tank crossed rough ground. “Concur, Kommandant. I’m heading out that way. Until I get my Schreks back to the walls, you have command of the Demolishers.”

In the sky above the academy, aerospace fighters roared overhead, squadron after squadron forming up and then beginning to climb, joining the column of contrails reaching up towards orbit. “I should probably think of something profound to say,” Victoria noted. “But who wants to hear that? No heroics, boys and girls. Fire by lance, don’t engage them one on one unless you have to.”

She could see the glowing trails now of the re-entry pods peeling away from their burdens.

[LadyTevar]

Go Vicky!

[PainRack]

No guts, no Galaxy!

[drakensis]

Pacing along the positions of her battalion, Victoria watched icons creep across her tactical display as units fanned out. The other subcommands of the 10th Lyran Guards were manuvering to flank the anticipated landing zone, still sharpening up on the display as the falling Clanners were now beginning to reach the range where individual units could be predicted with some pretense of precision.

Of course, that was the point when the fun started as aerospace fighters dived past their compatriot ‘Mechs, drawing attention away from the vulnerable ground units as they began to plaster the defenses with their weapons. Crackling PPC bolts criss-crossed the air above the Academy as the Schreks outside exchanged fire with the fighters, tracer rounds from autocannon joining in as the Partisans of one of the few dedicated air defense lances brought their turrets to bear on the fast moving targets.

“Blizzard Six to all Blizzard units,” Victoria snapped, seeing a Rifleman begin to twist its torso towards a low flying fighter. “Concentrate your fire upon the Mechs.” There was an explosion from off to her right and she spared just barely enough time to see that it was an ammo truck that had been racing to resupply something. Shame, but at least it wasn’t one of the combat units.

Matching action to words, she brought her Marauder to a halt and locked the targeting computer onto one of the falling shapes. It was more or less irrelevant – even with data being fed from a dozen tracking stations, the computer just wasn’t up to calculating the trajectories for something that distant and unpredictable now that the Clanners were firing their jump jets and supplementary packs in order to slow their fall, but someone might get lucky.

Or unlucky. A Wasp, its light weapons of no value at this long range, disintegrated as a swooping aerospace fighter managed to rip into the ammunition for the light ‘Mech’s SRM launcher. A Javelin from the same lance turned and fired its own SRMs fruitlessly after the departing fighter only to be caught in the rear by the fighter’s wingman. The ammo bins were not destroyed, but the scout ‘Mech fell anyway, its reactor reduced to wreckage. The trailing fighter was not as fortunate as the leader however: a volley of long range missiles from inside the Academy rose up in front of it and blew the nose off, sending it into a terminal dive towards the far side of the campus.

Victoria saw one of her particle beams intersect with one of the falling suits – one of the armoured infantry. The armoured infantryman continued to control its descent, much to her disgust. It was hard to believe that anything so small could survive a hit by an anti-Mech weapon, but she’d just confirmed reports that the damn things could survive even the reliable punch of a PPC that would have reduced the arm or leg of a ‘Mech twenty times as heavy to twisted wreckage. “Damn monsters,” she muttered to herself. “But we’ll learn your secrets and then there’ll be a reckoning.”

The air outside Victoria’s cockpit rattled as shells began to arch over her position towards the dropzone. The RCT’s artillery group wasn’t holding anything back… unfortunately, they only had twenty artillery pieces to work with, three batteries of lightweight Thumpers and two of the larger Snipers. The first enemy ‘Mechs reached the ground bracketed by three explosions but it walked out of them, barely marked at all.

We need heavier guns. I hope things are going better up there.

[drakensis]

There had been eighty-one fighters in the first wave: one wing of twenty from all four of the regiments on the ground, and Katiara Kylie’s Shilone.

Perhaps half that many were still fighting, depleted by those damnable heavy missiles (one Sparrowhawk had been eviscerated by a missile that looked larger than the fighter itself), the sheer damn luck of having that many capital lasers blazing away and – of course – the defending fighters. The fighters that still twisted and turned through the age old deadly dance of the dogfight.

Metal disintegrated as a split second’s inattention on the part of Kylie let an aerospace fighter in jade green livery unload a burst from its autocannon into one of the stablisers. It wouldn’t manage – much – out here, but steering back in the atmosphere would be interesting, she thought, committing an optimism, as she twisted away, one of her loyal guardians from the 607th dropping in on the tail of the enemy fighter and opening up four large lasers. Not enough to stop it, but enough to distract the clanner pilot from his prey.

Closer, closer, she chanted in the far corner of her eyes as the mass of the battleship swept closer. No one had used a nuclear weapon against a warship in living memory – hells, no one had seen a warship in near enough two hundred years, but the tactics had not entirely been forgotten, passed down in the myths, legends and collective memory of the Inner Sphere’s fighter pilot community. And they all said to take the shot close, minimising the time for point defense to damage the missile before it could hit. And to aim forward or aft, for the command decks or for the engines.

She was going for aft. Harder to repair in the long run. Scheisse, if the ship had the wrong trajectory, it might kill the whole thing in the long run: send it into a terminally decaying orbit before anyone could salvage it.

Crosshairs inside her helmet flared golden and Kylie felt her breathing quicken. In range now. She’d press home further before firing if she could… but she was close enough now for even the ancient guidance circuits of the missile to take it to its destination.

Needless to say, that was when the pair of T-shaped fighters somewhat like Lucifers slashed down upon her and the one Stuka still on her wing. Lasers, cannon and missiles sprayed across their dorsal surfaces as the two enemy fighters cut down behind them and yellow marked Kylie’s status boards, with a couple of red spots appearing. One – a fuel pump – went back to amber as the alternate took up the slack and reduced the pressure upon it. The other, representing one of her wing mounted lasers, didn’t spring back.

The Stuka was even more seriously hurt, one wing all but severed and fire visible inside the cockpit. “Good luck, Striker,” called the pilot and the burning heavy fighter jinked slightly and then fired all retrothrusters. One hundred tons of Davion aerospace fighter came abruptly to a dead halt… right in the path of one of the deadly duo. The explosion of two fusion thrusters sent fragments rattling off the armour of Kylie’s Shilone and presumably if the destroyed Clan fighter’s partner.

And then there was one. “All fighters, red. I repeat: red.” With a moment’s regret at not getting any closer, Kylie took the moment’s freedom while the last Clan fighter was still disorientated, flipping the arming switch for the nuke and bringing her thumb onto the suddenly live trigger button for her ordnance.

There was a complete lack of result.

The moment of disbelief almost killed her as the remaining fighter managed to close in again. A PPC shot hammered into the Shilone’s spine and every screen in Kylie’s cockpit fuzzed for a moment before the computers managed to compensate for the ionisation effects of the heat. Fortunately, the controls didn’t cease to respond and she broke into a barrel roll to break the lock, laser beam missing the wide wings of the fighter by inches.

“Aren’t you aggressive?” Kylie muttered as the fighter chased after her, trying to reacquire her. “Chasing my ass like that, must be a guy.” She deliberately delayed her next zig-zag until the fighter was immediately behind her and then triggered the aft missile launcher, firing four SRMs into the face of of the Clan pilot, who clearly wasn’t used to fighting Shilones judging by the sharpness of his break off to evade them.

Two Corsairs, one reduced to little more than a metal dart by the damage to its wing surfaces, pinned the fighter between them, keeping it from chasing Kylie as she lined up again, one hand dancing over the controls as she tried to establish why the missile hadn’t launched. It took three separate diagnostics to trace the problem: one of the laser shots had hit the external bracket, severing some of the control runs and fusing others. The warhead itself tested fine… but the missile was a complete loss.

Kylie grit her teeth. Everyone’s depending on me, she thought, faces flashing through her mind and she started flipping switches on the ordnance control system, eliminating safety lockouts. Usually several mission-specific criteria needed to be met before the nuclear warhead initiated fission. In this case, several of those restrictions were intended to prevent the weapon from detonating while attached to the parent Shilone.

Without that restriction, and with the warhead already armed, the only remaining criteria was for the targeting computer to confirm that the missile was within a few milliseconds of contact from a target. The battered fighter creaked as it pulled a painfully slow turn, all that the tortured structure could manage and then Kylie opened up the throttle, sending it roaring down towards the massive thrusters that dominated the rear of the Texas.

The Shilone creaked around her, warning lights flickering from amber to red as the stressed air frame began to fail. It didn’t matter, she wouldn’t need it for more than a few more seconds…

The range towards the Texas shrank, the huge ship visible even to the naked eye and Kylie watched the numbers shrink towards the threshold distance. “All fighters!” she shrieked, broadcasting without regard to who would hear her. “Red! Red! Red!” And she grabbed the eject lever with both hands and yanked it towards her.

Even before Katiara Kylie’s cockpit was hurled clear of the Shilone, the warhead had already come to it’s conclusion and began the final count down. The cockpit and the pilot were barely a dozen yards away when explosive charges rammed the subcritical plutonium masses together and rendered them critical. Were it not for one freak chance of battle, she would still have been well within the lethal range of the weapon when it went off: the barest instant before the five kiloton nuke detonated the Shilone, given a slight downward impetus by the ejection, entered the massively armoured thruster itself, the nose crumpling against the inside of a fuel feed as the nuke went off.

A flash of light tore through the thruster and deep into the systems behind it. Hundreds of failsafes cut in aboard the Texas, generations of faithful service by Jade Falcon technicians repaid as they prevented a fatal chain reaction from reaching the main fuel tanks and tearing the ship apart but nothing could save that engine block and it disintegrated, millions of fragments scattered like shrapnel into space around the rear quarter of the warship. Almost forty aerospace fighters were reduced to metal splinters, two thirds of them from the Texas’ own onboard complement, the others every surviving pilot of the 607th Avalon Wing.

Kylie herself was protected by the warship’s bulk as her cockpit, retaining the velocity of the destroyed fighter, hurtled down the length of the ship and off past its bow.

[PainRack]

For a moment, I was under the impression you were going to have another Miraborg here.

[drakensis]

The rest of the Tenth Lyran Guards were about four minutes from hitting the rear of the Falcons’ Claws, as the enemy unit were named if their somewhat grandiose challenges were any indication. Victoria hunched her Marauder over behind the hulk of a burned out Schrek to catch her breath and assess the situation. At a rough guess, her battalion would have trouble holding out another two minutes: they’d pushed back the last thrust on the gate at the cost of another two ‘Mechs down and seven of those remaining had been pounded on until she really doubted that they could survive another thrust.

Fortunately, some of the enemy were showing damage but there were still at least twenty of them covering the main entrance, with perhaps that many of their armoured infantry. Her command lance – down to herself, Galen and Dave Jewell with Adam Steiner, the last standing member of the Somerset Strikers, folded in – and the nine operable Mechs of First Company were outnumbered almost two to one and only the support of a mixed company of surviving Schreks and Rommel tanks evened the odds a little.

Kai and Third Company were holding the left flank steady by all accounts, but the right and Second Company had taken even heavier losses. And of course, Mara Foreman and half her regiment had been killed contesting the dropzone. It was only the damage taken by the Falcons’ Claws there that made the situation tenable. “Blizzard Six to all Blizzard units. Situation reports.”

“Blizzard Three is holding,” Rachel Meisler reported. “They’re down to eight Mechs to our nine.”

“Good work, Three.” Victoria paused, waiting for the other report. “Blizzard Two, respond,” she called after a moment’s pause. A chill went down her spine despite the heat of the cockpit. If they’ve turned our flank…

“Blizzard Six, this is Blizzard Twenty-three,” reported a worried voice. “Hauptmann Reilly is down, five of them broke past us into the Academy grounds.”

Blood drained from Victoria’s face. “What is your position, Twenty-Three?”

“We’ve retaken the gates,” the young Mechwarrior – although Ben Richardson was older than she was, Victoria thought – told her. “Five Mechs and seven tanks left. Most of us are heavily damaged and there are still some of them out there.”

“I understand,” Victoria confirmed, keeping her voice steady. Panic could spread far too fast. “I’m sending reinforcements. Just hold the gate until they get there, leftenant.”

“I’m a sergeant, Blizzard Six,” the young man said in surprise, the fear knocked out of him for a moment.

“Consider yourself breveted,” she retorted. “Keep it together, Ben. The rest of the regiment is almost here.” She switched channel to the private command lance frequency. “Galen, take Hauptmann Giordano and his company and root out those ‘Mechs. Once you’re done have the tanks reinforce Second Company.”

There was a moments pause and then Galen’s Crusader started moving. “Dave,” the blond Hauptmann’s voice crackled over the frequency. “Keep the Kommandant alive until I get back or you’ll answer to Leftenant Allard.”

Victoria muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath as she heard Mechwarrior David Jewell chuckle at the remark. Of such things is morale made. Then she turned her attention towards the green-painted warmachines outside that seemed to be rallying for another rush upon the gates.

A laser beam sliced through the air above her Marauder, carving a trail in the thick wall not far from where the Crusader had vanished from view into the academy. Okay, nothing about seemed: they were coming in full bore. “I guess they figured out we have them trapped,” Victoria noted. “Hold cover until they’re in range and then concentrate on the infantry – if they get inside they’ll be the diable to root out.”

As the range dropped to five hundred metres, she straightened the legs of her Marauder, now able to bring her full weapon suit to bear. Other ‘Mechs with long range weapons followed suit and a single massive volley ripped out.into the onrushing Clan ‘Mechs. Victoria aimed for the four infantry riding upon a red Thor in the front rank. One shot missed, another blasted the soldier to ashes and the last shot missed the target, but hit the ‘Mech, carving a furrow in its right arm. Beside her, Dave Jewell and Adam Steiner also fired into the squad, the Wolverine’s autocannon and the Axman’s LRMs knocking the three survivors clear of the Mech but not dropping any of them. Smoothly the remaining infantry leapt free of their mounts and began to bound forwards on their jump-packs, under covering fire from the ‘Mechs. The red Thor and a Freya picked Victoria’s lance as their targets.

Dave Jewell’s Wolverine took the brunt of the Freya’s volley, the smaller Mech staggering under impacts that peeled away tons of armour, the Mech’s profile sharpening as if under some violent weight-loss programme. The autocannon clutched in the right fist dropped away along with the fist as the aluminium-titanium forearm was severed just above the wrist. Fortunate, since the ammunition started to gangfire a moment later, tearing the weapon’s magazine apart and scattering shrapnel against the ‘Mech’s leg. Had it been a few metres higher, the damage would have been to the already weakened right chest.

The Thor picked Adam as his target and its PPC flayed the last armour from the heavy ‘Mech’s right arm. Missiles and high explosive shells tracked damage across the Axman, one of them severing the shaft of the powerful Mech’s hatchet. “Malthus!” Adam shouted, using his loudspeakers. “I should have known you’d come here!”

“Do you socialize with all the Jade Falcon officers in this part of the universe?” Victoria asked, ignoring the ‘Mechs to fire into the Elementals that were now falling behind their larger compatriots. Another was smashed down by her PPCs and sweat ran down her face as heat rushed through the cockpit.

“No, but this one’s proved himself to be rather persistent,” Adamn growled, firing more missiles into the oncoming Thor.

The Mechwarrior – Nicolai Malthus, if Victoria recalled the data from the Strikers correctly – laughed. “I have said the same of you, Adam Steiner. One way or another, our rivalry ends today. But perhaps I will not be the one to kill you.”

“What?” asked Adam in surprise and then the Freya fired its own missiles in an arching path through the sky towards Adam’s Mech. Armour broke and fell away under the barrage, leaving a clear holes in the right side of the Axman’s barrel chest.

“I thought I could show you the way of the Clans, Adam Steiner!” Ciro Ramirez shouted, his voice booming around the Freya, projected by the external speakers. “But now I am just going to kill you!”

Victoria cut into the conversation with her PPCs. Focusing upon Adam’s Axman, Ciro had halted for a second, giving her the chance to draw a perfect bead upon the OmniMech and all three shots struck, two savaging the armour to the left and rear of the Freya’s cockpit, the third blasting through the side of the ‘Mech’s leftside missile pod and wrecking it thoroughly. “I didn’t think it was possible, given how slimy you were at the Nagelring, Ramirez, but you’ve actually become less charming,” she told him, using her own external speakers to reply.

The heavy ‘Mech jerked around and she could almost see the shocked expression on her classmate’s face as he identified the voice coming from the advancing Marauder. “Duchess Victoria Steiner-Davion… I would have thought you had at least enough brains to keep running until you reached on Tharkad after the thrashing you took on Trell One.” The Freya turned sharply – Ciro’s skills had certainly sharpened under the Jade Falcons’ tuition, Victoria admitted privately – and returned fire with its large lasers, slashing a long groove through the armour on the Marauder’s right arm.

“Go play with Malthus,” Victoria ordered Adam privately. “I think I can spank this spoiled brat without your help.” She fired again, trying to hit the Freya’s damaged side, but Ciro twisted quickly and one shot missed cleanly, the others ripping into the right arm and central chest without obvious effect.

“This isn’t the Nagelring, little Duchess,” Ciro bragged. “And you don’t have your parents to hide behind.” Missiles from his remaining rack arched across the battlefield and battered at Victoria’s Mech, nibbling away at the armour.

Closing in at a deliberate pace, Victoria felt sweat running down her face as waves of heat swept through her cockpit, but the heat never reached the unbearable levels that would have resulted from maintaining this barrage in a Mech with ordinary heatsinks. She fired again, this time ripping into Ciro’s ‘Mech’s right leg, chest and arm. The two Mechs were of a similar weight but even with the improvements they weren’t equals. That was alright with Victoria: neither were the Mechwarriors inside them.

Ciro fired everything into the Marauder as the distance between them dropped below two hundred metres and Victoria had to fight to keep her ‘Mech from falling while the gyro adjusted from the ton and a half of armour that had been battered from it’s frame. However, her infrared detectors betrayed that the savage barrage had strained the heatsinks of the Freya past their limits and the internal temperature must be rising… and to bring all weapons to bear, Ciro had had to risk exposing his damaged left flank and Victoria fired everything in both arm pods.

Both of the PPCs hissed past the side of the Freya not quite on target, as did one of the lasers, but the last struck perfectly into the gaping hole carved by her initial attack. For an instant she thought that her gamble had failed, and then she saw the diagram of the Clan Mech shift from yellows and oranges up into reds signalling unmistakeably that the reactor’s shielding had been breeched. Ciro’s OmniMech froze up as safeties cut in… an instant too late as a panel on the back of the ‘Mech tore away, channelling the detonation of one of the onboard ammunition stores away from the internals of the Freya.

“Integral cellular ammuntion storage. Cute,” noted Victoria. The left arm of the Freya now hung loose, clearly no longer under the pilot’s control, even if he could spare the attention from trying to prevent the sudden gutting of the left torso from bringing the ‘Mech to its knees… or haunches, given the birdlike arrangements of its legs.

Only a few hundred metres away, Adam’s Axman was trading shots with the Thor piloted by the enemy commander. The Clansman was probably close enough to give supporting fire to Victoria’s turncoat classmate, but everything she’d heard about their honour code suggested that it was unlikely. Her PPCs cycled and she took advantage of Ciro’s momentary failure to move, pinpointing the right knee, just above where she had hit it before. The beams flensed through armour and myomers, hindering the other Mechwarrior’s ability to upright. Nonetheless, Ciro managed to twist the torso of the heavy ‘Mech and fired his lasers into Victoria’s Marauder, carving furrows through the armour around her reactor – he was getting entirely too close to penetrating it, she realised. Worse, the move seemed to have helped stablise the Freya.

A moment later however, a volley of missiles arched down upon the damaged Clan Mech, blasting craters into intact armour and carving into the internals where the armour had breached. Victoria checked her rear arc and saw Galen’s Crusader moving to back her up. “Everything under control?” she asked.

“All five of them charged right into the urban combat course,” Galen said with a feigned quaver in his voice. “The tankers sounded downright hungry when they saw them. Giordano said he was going to cut straight through the course to get to the gates – he lost a few tanks getting there, but he made it through and has control of the situation.”

Victoria winced. The centuries long dominance of the BattleMech over the battlefield had led to a degree of ill-feeling between Mechwarriors and Armored Vehicle crewman. The enthusiasm of a company of Demolisher tanks at being able to engage enemy Mechs at point blank range with their 185mm cannon would be a fearsome thing, even if they hadn’t just watched their regiment’s Schreks getting cut to pieces on the open ground.

“What was it you said about not taking these guys on solo?” Galen added, salvoing another flight of long range missiles into Ciro’s Omnimech. Victoria added her PPCs to the fire, two bolts searing harmlessly past the Freya’s side and the third lashing through the armour of the right arm.

“Only if you absolutely have to,” she confirmed drily.

Ciro reared his OmniMech up and the infrared display was almost as blinding as the barrage he hurled at Victoria. Startled by the sudden change of tactics and off balance from the sudden obliteration of two tons of armour, she failed to adjust fast enough and the blue-white Marauder crashed backwards, smacking her helmeted head painfully back against the command couch.

The roar of an explosion echoed outside her cockpit as her vision cleared. The holographic display was still functional and looking ‘down’ she could see Ciro’s Freya, now with both sides of the torso gutted, fallen forward with silvery fire rushing out of the engine as air was sucked into the fusion reactor and converted to plasma. In the air, the traitor’s parachute showed that he had punched out at the last minute.

Further away, Malthus’s Thor stood – missing its right arm – over the fallen shape of Adam’s Axman. Then the view was blocked by the back of Galen’s Crusader as he stepped forwards to defend his fallen commander.

There was flash in the sky and an air defense officer cut across the command channel. “We have confirmed nuclear detonation at the location of the enemy warship.”

[LadyTevar]

What's funny is how well you've translated the miniatures into a believable battle, including the transfer of damage from outer to inner to torso.


I have always wondered how a Marauder gets to its feet after falling. Even the BattleMaster has hands it can use. The Marauder has those bird-legs, the stump-arms, and that large laser sticking out over it's head/torso. How the hell does it get upright? Roll around until it's got the bird-legs under it?

[barricade]

Likely the same way a person gets up if they use a closed fist and 'post' their arm for support. It lets them swing their legs back underneath to a firm footing/mostly firm footing, and then rise back up. What I want to know is how a Rifleman gets up, without bending one or more of its gunbarrels to the point of being useless.

As for the nuke detonation, while I'm not up to date (and admit it) on how nuke detonations work in space, I'm somewhat skeptical as to whether or not our good pilot really should have survived, being that close to the engines. Especially if the main transit drive was in use for maneuvering as virtually all warship designs in BTech have fusion exhaust trails thousands of kilometers long, and up close can literally melt a dropship into a ball of molten metal. For that matter, I'm shocked her fighter, and that nuke, survived the fusion exhaust to even reach the exhaust cone. Now dramatic license is allowed, and I can easily see the ship maneuvering on thrusters while the mains are not in use, especially that close to orbit, so you might want to explain that later.