OBT Forum

One point that came up quickly was the location of the Clans Homeworlds. At first, when Jaime admitted that they no longer had that information, due to it having been purged from their navigational computers in the last contact in 3019, this news was met with astonishment and a general drop in mood, until, shortly afterwards, Emma Centrella informed that the Magistracy and the Concordat had not only the location of said worlds, but also the route used.
This announcement was met with astonishment by all the presents and an almost growling 'Wolverines' from the side where Natasha was standing.
The fact that the distance was about 1,000 light years, and that in spite of this the Clans had mounted an invasion, caused general astonishment, quickly followed by variants of 'how do they plan to maintain a supply train of that length?' from various sides.
Immediately, both the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine started talking about the possibility of raids along that long supply line. Reality quickly kicked in, however, and the fact that the number of available WarShips was minuscule put a damper on those plans. It was a good idea, but not for the next few years. Until that, raids would be conducted using advanced JumpShips with LF batteries and Assault and CV DropShips.
For the moment, and since the vast majority of the WarShips used by the Clans were of SLDF origin with weak defenses against ASFs, (if not retrofitted) what was needed was large numbers of Heavy Fighters and Alamos to bring them down. Everybody knew that without eliminating this threat first, any attempt to liberate occupied worlds or defeat an invasion that included one or more WarShips was doomed to fail.
Because of this, among the hardware produced, the first to be ordered in large numbers,  were like in most factories the much needed Aerospace Fighters. For the Concordat, it was Thunderbirds and Hell Ducks Heavy ASFs. Questions as to whether the Concordat or Earth were opened to selling WarShips were answered with a quick 'at the moment no' from both nations.
During breaks in negotiations and planning, the Dragoons  several Clan OmniMechs that they were capable of producing although in small numbers. Since most of those present were or had been 'MechWarriors, the interest was evident, and everyone wanted to try out the advanced war machines the Clans were using.

Other events that draw a lot of attentions were the mock battle sessions between those present. With so many elite 'MechWarriors present, the level of battles was amazing, and even though I expected it, I quickly discovered that I was among the weakest present. Okay, I was better than Victor, Hohiro and Ragnar, but all the rest were better than me. And in the case of those I beat, I had the suspicion that it was more due to the fact that I had much more experience, than talent. Particularly hard to swallow was the string of defeats against Natasha - the damn woman was by now 82 years old, ffs. How someone of that age could still be so lethal in a 'Mech was almost incomprehensible. And she did that while still driving her Warhammer, an upgraded one, but still, not using a Dire Wolf.
Initially I thought Hanse couldn't pilot a 'Mech due to his poor health, but apparently he had recently received a heart transplant, something that had been successfully kept secret until now, and was active enough again that the doctors allowed him pilot his BattleMaster from time to time.
In another class of simulations, the Toro II that Sara was using was of particular interest to Daniel Allard and Phelan Kell, both excellent pilots of Wolfhounds. The Toro II was, after all, basically an advanced Wolfhound with Jump Jets, thanks to a lighter chassis, which used Endo-Steel. This ended with the Kell Hounds placing an order for several.
Another series of divergences from the universe I knew was that Justin Allard still drove Yen-Lo-Wang, even if it was the modernized version, with Gauss Rifle, pulse lasers and experimental triple-strength myomer. Kai, while a very good 'MechWarrior, was not at the same level of Natasha, and piloted a Pillager 3Z.
In this reality, the Dragoons offered no OmniMechs, and Victor and Hohiro, kpet on using their Victor (9D) and Grand Dragon (5K).
Theodore, still used the Command version of the BattleMaster that he had started using during the War of 3039.

In the following meetings the industrial capacity of the Clans was analyzed, as well as the size of their fleets, both WarShips and transports. Much depended on the number of Clans participating in the invasion. Too many, and it would be almost impossible to contain or defeat them. On the other hand, their transport capacity was likely to be the hard limit of what they could do, and even though the Dragoons' information was more than 30 years out of date, it was a good starting point, and everything indicated that it would be impossible for more than 10 Clans to invade at the same time. And that number would put a big strain on their supply lines. If political differences and natural distrust were added to this, it was estimated that no more than 7 Clans would participate in a renovated full-scale invasion. We would soon find out if these predictions were right and by how much.

It quickly became apparent that both the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine were receiving information from multiple occupied systems. As this could only be possible via Black Boxes, after a short exchange of opinions with Edward, I put on the table the 'request' for this technology to be shared with the other nations present. Something, which evidently, Joan Stark immediately supported.
Both nations didn’t agree to that and this topic was put under the table.

Business was quite profitable. Even if quantity discounts were negotiated, by my estimates, both VMI and CHI would make a lot of money, and so would Kamea and I, indirectly. For example, any 'Mech that had Extended Range weapons and even upgrade kits were ordered in large numbers, with the payment/credit mechanisms being decided between the nations' leaders.  As for battle-armor, orders exceeded by far the production capacity, and for the next few years, the Concordat and Magistracy military factories would be operating at full capacity to keep up with the demand.

Without surprise, the St. Ives Compact declared that it would support the Federated Commonwealth with equipment and troops within its means. Edward and Emma, while not providing troops, agreed to provide equipment to all invaded nations. In return, in addition to orders that would keep their factories busy for years and bring immense wealth to both nations,they would receive sample or even transfer of Clan tech, not only from the Wolf’s Dragoons but also from the nations with whom they established contracts, including production rights of current designs they wanted to be produced in the Periphery to expand the number of designs available for production.

While handling orders management for both the Draconis Combine - which had just placed an order for 50 Jenner JR9-TC3 (DHS, EndoSteel, Ferro-Fibrous, 4 ML, 1x SRM4 Streak and CASE), and the Federated Commonwealth, amidst the various requests from mercenary forces came one from an old acquaintance.
Grayson Carlyle, the leader of the Grey Death Legion, had an irresistible proposal.
The GDL had suffered badly in several hard fights against the Jade Falcons, and needed urgently some advanced equipment to rebuild its forces. Knowing that it could not match the volume of orders (and their priority) from the major nations and bigger mercenary groups, and as such, being right at the middle or end of the list to receive upgrades / replacements, it proposed that in exchange for some of its stock of Clan hardware, obtained at great cost on the battlefield and which was to all intents and purposes impossible for it to maintain, he could get a line of credit for our most advanced equipment with top priority to delivery.

Even though we all had received the Wolf’s Dragoons' datacore, the info in it was some 35 years old and perhaps a bit too much Wolf oriented. What Carlyle offered were examples of current equipment from the Jade Falcons, another Clan. Not that I believed that it was going to be much different, but some differences in models and preferences were always possible. Even though in the agreements signed in Outreach, it was defined that the Concordat would receive Clan technology samples, it was clear that this would not be one of the priorities of either the Federated Commonwealth or the Draconis Combine, they would more than probably keep said samples to themselves for their companies to analyze first. The FRR, would hand theirs over to the Earth forces as expected, since they were the ones who had put troops on the ground to help them.

After a quick conversation with Kamea as she was after all the other partner in the CHI company , we decided to satisfy Carlyle's order.
This matter led me to have a conversation with Edward, regarding precisely how to obtain technology from the Clans.
It was decided, that even though the Taurian Concordat would not officially send forces, a volunteer brigade would be created from carefully selected elements of the TDF, that would act under the guise of a mercenary unit and whose goal would be to obtain Clan hardware and secondarily gain experience fighting them outside of training with the Wolf’s Dragoons.

But, soon the politics and prejudice ugly head raised again. Even with the last decades of good relations between the Concordat and the Commonwealth, very few in the Taurian Armed Forces considered the option of serving under the Federated Commonwealth orders and since the Combine didn’t have a good reputation with mercenaries, we were in a stalemate. The Taurians didn’t accept less than independent command and full salvage rights, something the Kuritans were against on principle. Also, to guarantee that said force was not subject to limited access to supplies, something that mercenaries were always exposed to the Taurians needed to provide almost all of the needs of such force and that greatly expanded the supply train. The conclusion was to only a full TDF Task Force, with WarShip support would fit the bill. In the end, with all disguise left out, three full TDF Brigades with WarShips support and a large supply train was organized. For interaction with the Kuritans, both accepted to use the same protocols and rights that the old SLDF had when operation in the Houses territories, that have been dig up by the DCMS archivists. A Liaison Officer was accepted, but to ensure coordination and communication  services with the DCMS and DCA and with no controlling power.

In Coromodir, the negotiations with Iran Technologies ended without any accord. While their presence represented an expansion on the industrial capabilities of the province, the conditions that the Irians requested were not acceptable for Kamea. They also didn’t accept that everyone and everything needed to pass the very demanding vetting process that the Kamea security forces had.
Part of the problem, was that the Irians still thought that they were in the dominant position, and that the local rules were going to roll over themselves to have their industries on the local planets, and getting all the usual and shady perks they had inside the League. Kamea on the other side, while very interested in expanding the industrial capabilities of her territories, was in no mood to compromise the control and security of said territory.

With data from OmniMechs provided by the Wolf’s Dragoons, and analysis of the Mercury II, VMI in collaboration with CHI, created the first Omni with IS tech.
Starting with the Marauder II 6TC, the most complicated part was the creation of a programmable Gyro. Next was the creation of OmniPods, that had the same interface as the Clan systems, so they could be compatible and later replaced or upgraded with captured Clan tech.
After much testing and false starts, the first prototype began extensive testing in April 3056. A record time for such advanced technology, with the obvious results that it was still a prototype with lots of custom-made components, and really far from being ready for production or from being free of errors and glitches.
To simplify things, the Jump Jets were fixed, present in all variants.
Primary configuration (equal to 6TC)
1 ERPPC and 1 ML on each arm, 1 LRM 10 on each torso (with 1 ton of ammo each) and 1 MPL on the CT.

Alternate A
Replaced both LRM10 and ammo with an ERPPC on the left torso, upgraded the two ML to MPL, added a Guardian ECM and an AMS with a ton of ammo.
Alternate B
Replaced the ERPPCs with ER LL, the ML with ER ML and upgraded both LRM10 to LRM15.
Alternate C
Replaced both ERPPC with ER LL and the ML with ER ML and replaced both LRM10 and respective ammo with a Gauss Rifle in the Left Torso with 4 tons of ammo.

At the same time, VMI and CHI provided technically support for MMM' new ’Mech project - the M3 and M4 variants of the Bull Shark Assault ‘Mech
The M3 swapped all the armament for 4 LRM20s, while the M4 installed 2 Arrow IVs, both with plenty of ammo and heat sinks for continuous fire. For now, like the Omni Marauder II, they were just test-beds, mass production being something for the unforeseen future.
Information coming from the Clan front reported that more Clans had been added: it seemed that the Steel Vipers, the Nova Cats, the Diamond Sharks, the Snow Ravens and the Hell’s Horses. This was worrisome because not only did it include two more Clans than I remembered, but one of them, the Snow Ravens was known for its very strong naval component.

The Steel Vipers joined the Jade Falcons - a strange connection, as I remembered them hating each other, the Nova Cats joined the Wolfs, the Diamond Sharks joined the Ghost Bears, and the Hell’s Horses shared their corridor with the Smoke Jaguars. WarShips of the Snow Ravens had been seen in all invading corridors, but so far no ground forces.
Obviously many decisions of political rather than military nature had dictated such changes.
The information was scarce, and so far no true partnership had been detected. Apparently, while sharing the same invading corridors, the Clans operated independently and on one case forces of one Clan let the Inner Sphere forces escape and didn’t come to the help of they supposed ally.

On the Free Worlds League front, while the Concordat and the Federated Commonwealth basically stopped their arms deliveries and the Magistracy severely reduced them, Capellan equipment was now detected in bigger numbers, Sun Tzu was obviously active on that front.

Arriving at the Nadir Jump Point the Taurian Expeditionary Force, was first received with hostility, because the Kuritans thought  they were a second wave of invading Clanners. One  Battlesat fired at the  Taurian ships, but luckily, the shot hit the armor of the TCS Ajax that shrugged the damage. Before the Taurians answered in kind, both sides identified the other, and the situation calmed a bit. As soon as they identified the new visitors, the Kuritans requested their help in dealing with  the invasion. Thankfully, for the Kuritans, all the ships were equipped with Lithium-Fusion batteries and after receiving the coordinates, they executed a second jump to the nearest Pirate Jump Point, the one to where the Tenzai was running. For a short moment Marshall Daniel Ostergaard toyed with the idea of sending a single WarShips to deal with the clan JumpShips that were at the Zenith Jump Point, but by this time they were likely to have already recharged, and he was probably going to need all his WarShips to deal with the Clan force.

After a quick exchange of words with the Tenzai as they crossed each other path, the WarShips set course aiming to intercept the Clan WarShips, while the JumpShips launched their DropShips that immediately headed for Luthien, to help defend against the impending invasion.
In response, the Clan WarShips also changed course, their objective being evident - to fight the TDF WarShip force.

The TDF war fleet was composed of the Heavy Cruiser TCS Pinnard (Winchester II Class), the Frigates TCS Parin and TCS Detroit (Concordat Carrier Class), TCS Fury and TCS Marantha Calderon (Concordat Class) and the Destroyers TCS Ajax and TCS Perdition (Ajax Class). This force represented about 60% of the available TDF WarShips, without counting the Pintos, and it had been a risky decision to send such a force on such a long voyage but the Taurian Concordat thought it was worth the risk.
While all this was going on, a considerable portion of the ASFs escorting the Clan DropShips changed course and approached their fleet of WarShips, which slowed enough to catch them before they reached the Taurians range, the Clanners commander had obviously decided that he needed a bigger escort after the losses suffered against the Kuritan fleet.

To the Clanners surprise, the number of ASFs the Taurians launched was much higher than they expected, over 600, while they even with the reinforcements, had about 400. Worse, even before they got within range of the weapons the OmniFighters had at their disposal, and which had so far granted them superior range, the Taurian ASFs launched massive salvos of AAM missiles that proved deadly to the OmniFighers, having some sort of seeker that kept them in sight outside of the most violent maneuvers, or the few clan OmniFighters also equipped with ECM units. But the surprises didn't stop there, since a considerable number of ECM systems, reducing the range the Clan radars could lock  weapons on the Taurian ASFs, negated their usual long-range advantage.
Again, the heavier ASFs advanced towards the Clans WarShips, leaving the task of fighting the OmniFighters to the lighter, more agile ASFs. However, this time they were not coming alone. Capital Missiles salvos launched from DropShips that stood at a great distance (Lee Pocket WarShips) were rapidly reducing the Clan escorting DropShips in small leftovers of nuclear explosions. Unlike the dueling ASFs, these not only had massive ECM protection, but the capital missile magazines available for the defense of  the Clan WarShips  had been considerably reduced in the previous combat.
In desperation, the Clan WarShips began using their Naval Lasers to try to destroy the approaching ASFs, and managed to shoot down a few more.
Radical maneuvers, and in the case of the CSR James McKenna, six Goalkeeper Mk.V, prevented the worst, but even so, the CSR Spur, the CSR White Terror, and the CSJ Snow Leopard were destroyed by nuclear explosions, while the CHH Bucephalus and the CSR White Cloud were damaged. The improved Alamos that  the Taurians were using, proved that they have a better lock ability than the normal ones.

Note: the Goalkeeper is a non-Lore, small craft, which appears in Delranes Fighting Ships 3061 - pages 85/87.

But now some of the WarShips were within extreme range of each other, and the long range weapons, Naval PPCs and Naval Lasers in the case of the Clans and Naval Lasers and nuke typed Capital Missiles in the case of the Taurians began to be used, the Clans having exhausted their Capital Missiles. Seeing the damage his forces had already done to the clan fleet, Marshall Ostergaard, ordered his WarShips to avoid combat if possible, planning to let the job of terminating the Clan WarShips to his still numerous ASFs that were right now returning home to re-arm and refuel as he didn’t want to risk a conventional battle against much heavier and more experienced adversaries.

Having run out of Clan DropShips and ASFs to destroy, the Lee PW, tried to concentrate their weaponry on enemy WarShips, using nuclear warheads. Unfortunately for the PW Lees, the HNPPC and NL55 had superior range to the capital missiles, and the Clan WarShips dedicated some of their long range armament to destroying them. Of the initial 8 Lee PW, only one survived. Clearly, Pocket WarShips had no business to do in a fight of WarShips.

Meanwhile, the Clanners were getting into range. Being the largest WarShip of the Taurian fleet, the TCS Pinnard received the attentions of the CSR James McKenna, and in the first exchange of fire unlucky, her armor been penetrated in several places by the heavy weapons of the Mckenna, at least not mortal. The TCS Fury was also in bad luck, being hit at the same time by the HNPPCs from the CSR Blizzard and several shots from the NL45 and the MNPPCs from the CSR White Cloud, and ended being penetrated at several points.
CSR Blizzard luck runs out when a Peacemaker hit  the battle-cruiser bow, destroying its entire forward section and ending its long career.
The last Taurian capital missiles with nuke warheads finished off the CSR White Cloud, the battle from this point on would be decided with conventional weapons.
At this point, only the CSR James McKenna, incredibly nearly intact, and the severely damaged CHH Bucephalus remained, against seven Taurian WarShips, even though one of these was in equally bad shape.
The two Taurian Destroyers, the only Taurian warships still in combat range, concentrated their fire on the damaged CHH Bucephalus, finishing it off, even though both received several shots in return, leaving the TCS Ajax slightly damaged and the TCS Perdition moderately so.
At this phase in the battle, all the Taurian WatShips were now out of range from the McKenna, with orders to let the ASFs that were right now in the process of rearming deal with the mighty WarShip.
At the same time, pleas for the surrender of the Clan WarShip were broadcast  by the Taurians, that clearly wanted to capture the mighty WarShip if possible. They were left without answer either because the Clan WarShip was left without communication means or because it was trying what to do after suffering such a beating.
Soon, about two hundred heavy ASFs, loaded to the gills with Alamos approached the sole Clan survivor. Salvo after salvo of Alamos hit the mighty Warship until it was little more than a wreck in space, venting atmosphere from several places, with the engines destroyed and without power.
SAR operations were immediately launched, while the Taurian ships started their repairs and  the TCS Marantha Calderon (Concordat Class Frigate), undamaged, being the first to move in direction of Luthien IV, to help with that part of the battle.

The following days were very busy in Luthien.
Fortunately the Clans had not interfered with Luthien Naval Yard, probably thinking that their capture would be a given after conquering Luthien IV. Because of this, all available tugs could be used for SAR / recovery missions and the Taurian WarShips could receive light repairs - the most important ones would be done in one of the Concordat shipyards to prevent secrets from being revealed and also while the Kuritans didn't have the necessary components.
Among the wreckage, two Overlord-C hit by Naval Lasers had missed the planet, and were captured, drifting in space, with much of the equipment intact or slightly damaged inside.

Understandably, Takashi and Theodore were very interested in not only buying large quantities, but also obtaining the production rights to the advanced versions of the Arrow IVs used by Concordat - AAM, SAM, A2G/AGM, Thunder/FASCAM, AShM and Advanced Smoke. Admiral Ostergaard, for reasons that would be known in the near future, delayed the negotiations.
To that end, they offered not only first choice on all Clan equipment captured in the battle, but access to Black Box technology, which they knew Concordat wanted to obtain.

Interrogation of the prisoners revealed that not only had the IlKhan been present at the battle, but also the Khan of the Smoke Jaguars. A closer check of the identity of the numerous bodies recovered confirmed that both Leo Showers and Lincon Osis had died. Sarah Weaver, the Jaguars saKhan, had not been present, and was therefore the highest ranking Smoke Jaguar still alive. The number of Bloodnamed Warriors captured or killed was quite high, indicating a more than likely succession crisis within the Clan.
Meanwhile, the Draconis Combine had gone into full propaganda mode, not only announcing in every possible way the extent of the victory, but also performing impressive ceremonies to honor both the fallen in combat and the victors - including awarding honorary titles to several Taurians.
For obvious reasons, the TEF (Taurian Expeditionary Force) extended its presence in Luthien, rather than quickly moving on to the front line. It had to wait at least until the WarShips had completed their emergency repairs and the supply fleet train arrived, which happened in mid-September.
When it arrived, it also brought something else of vital importance as it had along the way established a direct line of HPG satellites capable of communicating directly between Taurus and Luthien, without going through the HPGs controlled by the Federated Commonwealth. Many of the satellites previously used to communicate with the Lothian League and taken back after, had been re-used in this new, secure line of communications. The advantage was that the Concordat could deploy said HPG network without the knowledge of  the Federated Commonwealth intelligence services.
Like the TEF before, the supply train used uninhabited systems during its pass over the Federated Commonwealth territory. During the movement through the Federated Commonwealth, both groups (the TEF and the resupply convoy) got a FedCom JumpShip escort, to ‘help’ the crossing. In reality to guarantee that nothing unusual would happen. That made necessary some creative / precisely calculated positioning of some ships of the supply train to mask the launch of the HPG satellites, or sometimes the ship with that task suffered from a “misjump”  to execute the operation after the FC JumpShip  already departed.
The fact that the Concordat had not only sent 7 WarShips with the TEF, but 4 more with the supply fleet, even though the latter were Corvettes, did not go unnoticed by the DCA, which at this point had an acute shortage of WarShips.

With a secure line of communications with Taurus established, negotiations regarding the licensing / sale of Arrow IV advanced technology, proceeded apace. At this time the Combine also wanted to buy at least two WarShips, preferably four. They were ready to buy anything including Pintos as they had to replace the losses suffered in Luthien. After all, the Concordat Navy had 11 WarShips at Luthien, while the DCA total inventory was 6 WarShips, all on the front-lines and for those under construction, the closest to being delivered was still 9 months away from being fully operational.
In return, in addition to Black Boxes technology and first choice in captured Clan equipment, they were also offering sharing  their development on OmniMechs with local technology  and a wide range of Combine equipment production licenses. Basically, anything the Concordat wanted related to licenses and research, in exchange for some WarShips and the desired technology.

Edward, after a long conversation with Kamea and me, made a counter-proposal that basically guaranteed for the Concordat everything that this expedition was intended to obtain.
In exchange for two Pintos, the two Ajax, which the Combine would have to repair, half the Arrow IV ammo types that the supply train had brought, and an order for several Arrow IV advanced types of ammo, which would take at least five years to be fully satisfied, at an excellent rate, the Draconis Combine would deliver a battalion of Omnimechs and the equivalent of another battalion of miscellaneous Clan units, full access to the Black Box tech and Omni tech developed by the Combine, as well as a choice of Clan prisoners to be delivered to the Concordat, an extensive list of production licenses and a considerable amount of C-Bills. The contract would provide the Combine with enough missiles during the time they needed to built the local factories, and for these to achieve cruise production levels, to cover their needs.

For unknown reasons, the HPG network between the Combine and the Concordat stopped working two months later. Ping testing, confirmed the problem was with one of the satellites inside Federated Commonwealth territory. Several months later, a TMI Mryia JumpShip arrived at the location with a replacement, but instead of a dead satellite, and after a very exhaustive search, only found what could only be the result of said satellite self-destruct activation. The consensus, was that the FC escort ship had detected at least that launch,and that a team had been sent to analyze or capture the satellite, causing the explosion. The replacement satellite was placed in a very distant place in the same system, and the network was calibrated. The TMI ship had now the undesirable task of verifying all the nodes of the network inside the Federated Commonwealth territory searching for tampering.

The wolves are ever the pragmatists.

The Aurigan province of the Concordat had not only fully recovered in late 3056 from the ravages of the civil war, but in many areas had far surpassed its previous status.
All systems had modern hospitals, sufficient food, potable water, and power to ensure a standard of living equal to or higher than Coromodir had in 3023.
The number of JumpShips and DropShips operating within the province was at that time, more than three times any number recorded since before the fall of the Star League, and all systems also had an HPG for the first time ever.

Military equipment production was centered in three systems - Mechdur, Detroit and Coromodir (V), by contrast, civilian industry was fairly spread across all systems in the province.
The shipyard in Mechdur, which at the moment was building Invaders and Pintos, had an ambitious expansion underway, which by 3060, would also allow it to build Ajax class Destroyers (2 slips), and a higher number of Invaders (4 more slips to a total of . The construction of Pintos (4 slips) would remain unchanged.
Initially, Kamea had ambitions to build a shipyard on Coromodir V as well, but funds were not and would not be available in a reasonable time frame, and the decision was made to go for a complex capable of building several types of DropShips, civilian and military.

These included a variant of the Leopard (PW1), which had removed the 4 ’Mechs bays and in their place had installed 2 SCL/3s, the first operational use of sub-capital weapons. The remaining armament had also been upgraded - 2xERPPC, 3xLRM20 with Artemis, 7xERML and 5xLPL, the armor now being Ferro-Aluminium and the Heat Sinks being upgraded to double ones. It was a relatively inexpensive Pocket WarShip, which could also be used effectively against ground targets.
Another variant (PW2), kept the advanced weapons and improved armor of the PW1, replacing the two SCL/3s with 4 Arrow IV AAM/SAM launchers and 6 AMS, both with deep magazines, as anti-ASF / escort.
The PW2 variant was ordered in large numbers, as Pocket WarShips, by the Taurian Navy, and after delicate negotiations, by the DCA (Draconis Combine Admiralty - Combine Navy) and the Magistracy Navy. Sales to the Combine and Magistracy were still in C-Bills, and not in Bulls or in their currency. Even, with the fall of Comstar, the C-Bill had not disappeared. At first, there had been theories that Earth would move on to use a currency of its own, perhaps return to the SL Dollar, but the fact was that inertia, huge replacement cost, and weight of large Earth banks, had kept the C-Bill in use for interstellar exchanges, even though it had suffered a devaluation.


Sara, having finished her military service, went on to learn the art of governing from her mother, (unlike me, the 'kid' had a natural knack for it, obviously taking after her mother for that).  Meanwhile, the twins had finished the academy and had begun serving the nation, Paul in the Revenants, Peter in the Reach Guards (ex-Aurigan Royal Guards), both ’MechWarriors, and both piloting brand new Penetrators - a gift from relatives. For obvious reasons, they were not both in the same regiment.

The Capelan Confederation announced the commissioning of the first Feng Huang Heavy Cruiser in November, 12 3056. This was the first Capelan Navy WarShip in over 200 years, the Confederation being the last major nation to have WarShips - at this time there was doubt as to how many WarShips the WoB had, estimates ranged from 2 to 4 not knowing how many would be operational and to what extent.
Note: For the sake of cost (and production capacity) even though everything else was the same as the OTL class, the armor is Improved Ferro-Aluminum and not Lamellor Ferro-Carbide.

To compensate for having only one WarShip, the Capelan Navy has a robust program on Pocket WarShips, DropShips-CV and ASF, even if it was at the cost of reducing the ground forces substantially.

This slow reinforcement of forces was possible because Aerospace Fighters had become the main weapons against WarShips but at huge human cost making it impossible to maintain a continuous offensive because of the shortage of pilots and Fighters, even with the extension of all academies and priority on construction. That was the reason behind the actual lull in operations against the Clans, after the recent activities in Luthien and Twycross and some relatively small raids from the Vipers and the Bears. For now, the best estimates was that the number of ASFs in the front line was going to be enough for new offensives by mid 57 – that is if the Clans didn’t launch big operations of their own.