OBT Forum

Quote from: ArkRoyalRavager on October 21, 2014, 12:28:39 PM

The Scorps were acting like the SLDF for their whole campaign. Only the Coyotes and Vipers actually acted pseudo-Honor System during Klondike. Part of it was circumstance, as the Scorps had arguably the toughest campaign and battles besides the Ravens/Wolverines and the Horses.

But at Black Brian their prior experience with the Drakkar, the Chosen and Firebase Delta would be especially useful. A theoretical BB campaign would see the Wolves do their historical distraction/skirmishing duties while Scott & Djerassi systematically cleaned out the hidden emplacements in a covert fashion. A Case Omega would then temporarily distract the Brotherhood defenders for a mass breakthrough and unlike the Falcons, the Scorps would accept extra Wolf assistance, making the interior battles go faster/more efficient and with far less casualties.

Big issue with that though is that Nicholas was using the BB siege to demonstrate why he was going with Clan Wolf over Jade Falcon.

If we go with an AU Klondike campaign where the Scorps merely lost 1-2 Mechs to the Lava Trap  (having gone with a choice of Wolverines/Shads and Griffs) instead of almost the full binary, they would have had the most effective and fastest record of the Clans on Dagda.

Word reached Cyrus Elam that the Wolves and Jade Falcons are being moved to Dagda in December 2821 and prompted Jenna Scott to identify the obvious target, the Brotherhood of Donegal which had to be taken by the Widowmakers.

Quickly shifting forces to Kepler Atoll SaKhan Scott began intensive intelligence gathering on the Black Brian including Human Intelligence from members of the Brotherhood collected in Commando raids,  SIGINT captured by orbiting Warships and records gathered from the shattered remains of Fort Gofannon SLDF Engineering Corps (Dagda).    A plan was devised, revised and tested before the Scorpions launched a rapid assault on the continent of San Blagio.

Much to the dismay of the Brotherhood the Scorpions effective use of the rough terrain (heavily favoring the Scorpions jumpjet equipped mechs)  and willingness to launch assaults from beneath the oceans of Dagda saw the outlying forces overrun and the Brotherhood scrambling for a long siege as Scorpion Mechs moved up to positions just safe from retaliation by the Black Brian's guns.

That was when Khan Elam ordered the overhead Warship to fire.

A full wave of Santa Anna's broke through the atmosphere in a roughly circular spread over the Black Brian, one or two downed by frantic anti air fire from the Black Brian when they fired in mid air.

Multiple EMP pulses hammered the Black Brian's sensors networks and the Scorpions took the chance to overwhelm the outlying fortifications and guns in a furious assault while the Brotherhood was surprised.

More importantly the Scorpions were able to successfully para-drop a force lead by SaKhan Scott and Naomi Djerassi onto the Black Brian itself during the confusion.   The Paratroopers equipped with Nighthawks and reliable internal maps blazed a path to the main reactor and computer core in a vicious assault that would see the death of many in the assaulting force.  However they were able to reach their targets denying the Brotherhood both power and computer control of the Black Brian.

Khan Elam in turn pushed his forces inside the now blind and dumb Black Brian with an irresistible amount of momentum.   With that the Brotherhood's forces were effectively defeated, however several large sections were shut down and barred until power could be restored.

Fully routing the trapped, furious and fanatical members of the Brotherhood took nearly a week of bloody infantry work as each section was breached and cleared.   The second last section saw the Scorpions cleanest yet fiercest fight, Colonel Julie O'Connell retired (of the 22nd CAAN) infamous defense of the children huddled in the second most secure bunker proclaimed "You'll na' harm the wee bairns without going through me first".

Naomi Djerassi famous retort "Bargained Well! You'll be the poor sod to put the best through Basic" was quickly followed by a vicious demonstration of hand to hand combat.   

O'Connell's defense of her charges saw her taken into the Goliath Scorpions after Operation Klondike finished, and as Naomi bargained was installed as a trainer to Sibko's including those that came from the children of the Black Brian.


As February rolled around Nicholas Kerensky was presented with the Scorpions taking of the Black Brian as a fait du accompli.    In public Nicholas acknowledged the Scorpions victory with only minimal praise as he ordered the Jade Falcons and Wolves to assist the Mandrills and Burrocks in the final clean up.

Privately however Nicholas kept a wary eye on the Scorpions and wasn't beyond prodding other Clans to strike at them.

Even as others, most notably the Falcons decried the Scorpions usage of Capital Missiles to deliver an EMP the Scorpions shrugged off the criticism and quickly began work securing their holdings on Dagda taking the Black Brian as their new Capital.   

With greater resources available to them the Scorpions were able to recover their forces at a relatively brisk pace, and much to Khan Elam's pleasure a serious focus on Engineering took a hold the Scorpions born from the intensive training in the build up to taking the Black Brian and in restoring it combat effective state.    Beyond combat fortifications the challenges of Dagda quickly saw Warriors turning their skills to more civil challenges, as better infrastructure not only improved the quality of Warriors lives but made integrating the people of Dagda into the Clan more effective.

This feed back cycle quickly lead to Beta Galaxy coining themselves "(Pithy name) Legion" taking a Roman Legion banner with a Scorpion in Black replacing SPQR, in part honoring the idea that a Legionnaire might draw his sword in battle for only a fraction of the time he used his shovel.   The concept of a "Unending War against Nature, where our daily trials against the harsh worlds the Great Father sent us to hone our edge against" took root within the Clan as a whole, a challenge the whole Clan could fight using the legacy of the Star League.   

       



->  When Ethan Moreau stumbled out of the desert in 2822 Nicholas Kerensky rejected Cyrus Elam's request fully and instead had the Gunslinger placed in Clan <Mandrill / Hellion / Cloud Cobra / > citing the Scorpions triumph over the Black Brian as proof they didn't require him as a trainer.

-> Clashes between Scorpion and Widowmaker forces (egged on by Nicky) were often and bitter, however the adeptness and willingness of the Scorpions other Castes to work hard to ensure its survival.  Fire Mandrill raids for supplies were fairly consistent as well. 

-> While the Wolverines were leaping ahead, the Scorpion's weren't trailing that far behind with their heavy focus on investing seriously in infrastructure paying dividends in raw material.  A focus on applied science saw the Scorpions Scientists fail to make any breakthroughs in weapons research.
   
Khan Elam's refusal to back McEvedy's rants, indeed his public refutation of her claims with facts that the SLDF was far from saintly when it came from putting down insurgencies (Taurians in particular), kept Nicholas from being completely suspicious of the Scorpions.   However still irate over the Scorpions seizure of the Black Brian Nicholas gave SaKhan Scott an order to establish and train the Watch to spy on the Wolverines.

In the aftermath of the Wolverine Annihilation SaKhan's Scott role was spread by Nicholas and in response several Clans began raiding the Scorpions holdings for supplies.   Star Colonel Carl Icaza, whose stormy relationship with Jenna prior to Klondike had turned exceptionally sour lead the Falcons in series of vicious raids against the Scorpions.  Others soon followed.       A final clash between Icaza and Scott saw the duo square off in Strana Mechty in a Trial of Grievance, where Scott's exceptional skill with knives saw her to victory in 2825.

-> Ilkhan's Ire:  Having slain a close friend of the Ilkhan Nicholas the Scorpions were held off Roche among challenges to expand in the Kerensky Cluster, but the united Clan persevered and actually managed to push the Falcons off Dagda entirely.   In turn the Scorpions stymied at expanding beyond Dagda, Strana Mechty and Tohaska turned to space, establishing a number of orbital outposts and mining stations in a variety of systems.   

Even faced with the ire of the Nicholas and its often petty stings the Scorpions endured, grew strong, and forged a strong internal identity.   

-> Widowmaker Absorption:   Following the massacre of merchants by Clan Widowmaker in 2834 Khan Elam, seeing a chance to finally resolve the longstanding dispute between himself and Cal Jorgensson launched a rapid series of Trials of Possession over Widowmaker Enclaves on Dagda hammering the Widowmaker forces relentlessly finally overwhelming the forces present in a pitched series of Trials that quickly dissolved into a Melee where no quarter was asked or given.

Khan Winson of the Wolves already annoyed with Jorgensson used the Scorpion victory on Dagda to push for a Trial of Absorption, much to the chagrin of the Scorpions who missed the opportunity as Khan Elam was hours away from orbit due to a down checked jump ship.   

During the Trial of Refusal on Ironhold Cyrus Elam was after the death of the Ilkhan deliberately targeted by a Star of Widowmaker Mech's resulting in his death by dishonorable warriors.    In light of his gallant actions and after the bloody aftermath of the Widowmakers last stand on Roche Khan Winson awarded the Scorpions the Sanders bloodname, whose surviving Sibkos were among those captured by the Scorpions on Dagda.   The least tainted Widowmaker name, Marial Sanders had died to a sniper during Klondike, the Scorpions quietly accepted and moved on ignoring the Wolves holdings on Dagda.

Never the most innovative Clan the Scorpions quickly settled into becoming a strong but not great Clan whose greatest triumphs would its united Castes who became known for being the greatest Engineers in Clan Society.   No project was too big, and the Scorpions ability to produce infrastructure lead to a solid working relationship with other minor Clans to produce new factories of all sorts.

In the depths of my mind the AU Scorpions biggest Vice & Virtue would be Engineering & Construction.

Virtue

Building new communities around designs that are actually lovely to live in, feature integrated food production (in the form of gardens and sky farms), heavy automation (herding cattle is done in Mechs not on foot), and basically applying the full range of Star League know how to make life better in the Clan worlds.   

In terms of themes the Scorpions would be pushing for the vaguely Fascist 50's future feel.   Everything is chromed, automated and everybody looks perfect (in uniforms), where ironically the whole Clan is dedicated to generating resources to invest in making their worlds better.

Investment in infrastructure has ironically lead the Scorpions Merchants into an economic model of seeking to generate new Capital in all forms that also stresses human capital, as their assigned task is to fund a War on Nature.   Terraforming is not really cheap, quick or easy.     They aren't so much profit focus like the Sharks but more seeking to get the biggest bang for their Kerensky over entire generations.

Everything is done to the best of the Clan's skills and abilities, and it shows as even the lowest labors quarters are the envy of many Techs in other Clans.     

Vice

Ego's come out to play here.   Mega Projects is the word of the day here, they don't build dams, they build Mega Dams.     

High speed rail linkages to every community?    Not ambitious enough, make them underground so the trains go super sonic, 8 lines wide to ensure rapid movement of people and cargo.

Big plazas with even bigger statues.   Plazas that include integrated fountains and holograph display suites to show off to everybody.

Build a dome over a building?  Weak sauce.    Build a dome big enough to enclose the United Kingdom.

Essentially the Scorps pride come out to play whenever they can go big.