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Message to the Capellan People delivered by "various 'National Technical Means'" on July 1st by Federated Commonwealth forces on the eve of the invasion of Sian

An image crackles to life as the video track begins to play. First, there is a test pattern, and then, the Fist and Sun of the Federated Commonwealth against a blue field, which fades to a woman sitting at a large oak desk, in a well decorated office. Behind her is a shelf with unit patches from all of the AFFC, and standing to one side is a young blond man, short in stature, one sleeve is pinned up, and the other hand is on the seated woman's shoulder. A woman of Asian descent stands next to him, her face the very image of stone.

The woman seated at the desk begins to speak:

"Greetings, people of the Capellan Confederation, and specifically, the people of Sian. I am Katherine Morgan Steiner-Davion, Acting Archon-Princess of the Federated Commonwealth. No doubt, you have heard a lot about me, and my family. I am sure none of it was very flattering.

"The reason I take the unusual step of speaking to you today is to speak to you about your nation, your future, and the situation you find yourselves in now. Ten months ago, your leaders made the decision to attack my nation. They did so by opening that attack not with a formal declaration of war, but by a perfidious stab in the back that murdered approximately six thousand people here, on New Avalon. Among the casualties were my mother, and my father. They have followed it up with continued terror attacks across the realm. Thousands have died, and thousands more have empty chairs at the table.

"This was followed up with an assault on our realm at the very time we were in the process of ridding the Inner Sphere of the scourge of the Clans. The Clans are, and in some cases, continue to be a threat to the lives of us all, even you, the Capellan citizens who watch this video. The AFFC has faced the Clans, and has triumphed. We have now come to set right the situation your leaders have created.

"We know what your leaders have told you about our best, our AFFC. Nothing could be further than the truth. We have, in my brother's words, always stood for 'might for right' and as long as I or my family rules this Commonwealth, this will never change.

"Our quarrel is with your leaders, your Chancellor who has led you down this road of ruin you find yourselves in today. To all of you I beg you, lay down your arms. If you are members of the armed forces, you will be treated according to interstellar conventions. If you are a civilian, you will be allowed to return home. Please, do not force our hand and force us to fight. You know what the outcome will be. Why die for a man whose actions have never benefited the average citizen of the Confederation, but have asked you to sacrifice more and more for a state that has never lifted a finger for you, especially now?

"As for those of you who are commissioned officers in the CCAF, you bear a special responsibility now. Your nation can have a new birth, or it can experience ruin. I would remind you that long standing Federated Commonwealth policy, set by generations of First Princes, and Archons have equated any WMD use on our troops as equivalent to the use of a nuclear weapon. I would implore you, if you receive such orders to use such terrible weapons, refuse them. We have all seen what has happened to Luthien. I do not wish to repeat that on Sian.

"We do not come to conquer, we do not come to pillage, or visit mindless destruction. We come to liberate you. Please, help us do that. Help us help you.

"This next message is for all those of the 'Victory Battalions'. Kids, I know you're scared. I don't blame you. But courage sometimes is found simply by saying 'no'. This is that time. Say no. You will find there are others who feel likewise. We don't want to murder children. Please, don't make us. And as for your minders? Your day is coming, either in this world, or the next. I promise you that.

"And finally, for Sun-Tsu, you have 24 hours to surrender, cease all hostilities, and abdicate your throne. Otherwise, remember the promise I made? Well, I am coming to collect."

The video then fades to the same test screen, and then black, before cutting off.

Cat Fight Part 7 (another Yellowhammer Omake!)

"I once read something that perfectly encapsulated my journey from the granddaughter of Takashi Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, Duke of Luthien, Unifier of Worlds, to Archon-Princess Omiko Steiner-Davion, Duchess-by-Marriage of Tharkad and New Avalon, Lady of the Crucis March. It was simply 'I did not leave my party, my party left me'. Like many changes we face, comprehending that was extremely hard. Knowing that I would never see the home I grew up in and the people that I knew as a girl, knowing that I could never visit the graves of my father, mother, or brothers to mourn, knowing that I would be viewed at best with wary suspicion in my new home until I proved myself as more than a 'damned Snake' if I ever did in the beholder's eyes. All these things are very painful and hard to bear, but I have my honor to sustain me, and that honor lets me endure the unendurable because I know that it is the right thing, the honorable thing to do.."

Omiko Steiner-Davion, My Path To The Top Of The Mountain: A Journey from Luthien to Kentares, New Avalon Press 3083

Masamori City

Hachiman, Galedon Military District

8 June 3057

Miyako Kurita scowled at the tactical map projected inside her headquarters in the Urizen Kurita Junior Warrior's Academy. Planetfall had proceeded as per her wishes, but the rest of the campaign had not.

The first indication that the plan was not going according to her desires was when Gin battalion of Ryuken-yon -- her old command! -- had crossed the Yamato River on the Sanethia Kurita Memorial bridge. Forward elements had secured the far side and the bulk of Ryuken-yon was crossing when a yacht approached the bridge.

The resulting nuclear detonation incinerated two companies of her elites, including Sho-sho Shodaru and his mobile HQ unit along with the bridge that they were on, and was the signal for a regiment of Black Dragon Battlemechs to slam into the battalion that had made it across. None of her men and women made it back, with the survivors pulled from their cockpits, tied up, and then dropped onto the radioactive glass of the steaming crater to expire in agony from their wounds, heat, and lethal doses of radiation in front of her soldiers' horrified eyes.

She was fortunate that she had stopped her Naginata in the rear of the advance to deal with a logistics tie-up at her spacehead when the trap was sprung. Instead her comrades died screaming while she tried to funnel reserves to salvage the situation.

The battered remnants of Ryuken-yon plus her personal guards held the riverbank under her direct command until Ryuken-san's assault Mechs could join the two companies of survivors clinging to the shattered buildings lining Tai-so Dalton Way and begin to exchange fire with the enemy across the river. Seeing the garrison regiment of the Sixteenth Galedon Regulars here, she had ordered the mobile forces of the Twelfth Dieron Regulars to probe the flanks to try to locate a weak point, or as it turned out, hostile reinforcements. The probe south found the Thirteenth Sun Zhang dug in along the riverbank and desultory long-range fire was exchanged when the other shoe dropped.

Second Battalion of the Twelfth Dieron hit a battlemech force coming their way as they probed north into the Floating District pleasure district. The Ninth Benjamin Regulars, which had claimed their loyalty to her and were supposed to be on Proserpina watching the Davions had turned their coats and been smuggled here. Once again, Miyako led Ryuken-yon into the fire, along with a backing battalion from Ryuken-san and the loyalists of HTE's Corporate Security Force.

Somehow, her scratch force held, although one of every two of her samurai fell like cherry blossoms around her as the Floating District burned on her orders to delay the enemy. As the flames raced through town uncontrollably she was able to dig in along a defense line shielding HTE and the spaceport and finally rotate her weary soldiers back for repair and rest.

Scouting probes over the next days revealed the stalemate. The enemy had two veteran city fighting units in Masamori City with the cadets of the Thirteenth to provide pickets and reinforcements. Worse, they were dug in along the river facing her to the steaming crater that was once the main bridge linking the two halves of the city. From there, her line bent sharply back west through the smouldering rubble of the residential districts servicing the Floating City and the factories to be anchored at the HTE complex's fortifications.

The enemy had not been idle either and constant lance and company-sized skirmishes flickered along the battlefront as armor and ashigaru infantry units lurked in ambush. Any retreat offworld would be unthinkable to contemplate, but without fresh troops, she saw no way to break the deadlock.

With that she flipped a switch and the strategic map replaced the tactical map.

She surveyed the scattering of crimson icons and hateful yellow icons of the suspected positions of the traitors. along the Galedon/Benjamin border, with the upper boundary the gray of the Clan OZ and the lower the blue of the FedCom. She tapped keys, pulling up transport availability and fore readiness projections as her eyes narrowed.

"Sho-sa Tomokamai!"

"Yes, Coordinator?" The young soldier barked out with a light Swedenese accent to his Japanese.

"Take a message directly to our ComStar representative personally. message is as follows. Priority HPG transmission to the following units. To Marduk, the Twenty-Second Benjamin Regulars dispatch a battalion to Proserpina to backstop the planetary militia and secure the planet, and send their best battalion to reinforce Hachiman. To Xinyang, move the Fifteenth Benjamin Regulars to Hachiman. To Arkab, move the Sixth Arkab Regiment to Xinyang to cover our supply base. To Shimonoseki, Planetary Militia Commander will retransmit to the Twenty-Second Dieron Regulars to stand in readiness to be dispatched to Hachiman if needed to reinforce efforts to liberate the planet once their convoy jumps into system.”

A second aide entered the room with a message form in hand. “Coordinator! The Forty-Fifth Dieron Regulars have gone rogue! Elements of their regiment have been reported as raiding Camlann, Buckminster, and Shionoha! Planetary militia forces are reporting serious damages to industries and personnel.”

Miyako scowled and pinched her nose. “I do not have the forces to hunt these ronin down. Once the Black Dragons are crushed, then we can proceed with exterminating traitors and bandits such as these. Give the orders for troop movements as directed.”

As Ichiro Tomokamai saluted and departed, he began to mentally prepare an addition for the message to the Sixth Arkab. “I should notify my father that in the event of a Clan attack into the military district he commands or if the bandits of the Forty-Fifth assault his words, Miyako Kurita will not defend them. Tai-sa Bjutial of the Sixth and he are long friends and will pass the warning along.”

-------------------------------

Fox’s Den

New Avalon, Crucis March, Federated Commonwealth

15 June 3057

Lieutenant Colonel Parvati glanced over at her ’aide’ as they cleared the checkpoint and the armored hatch irised open deep under Mount Davion. “Don’t worry, everyone has these moments their first time in the Den, Agent Tanaka.”

Beside her, clad in the uniform of an AFFC officer with no rank insignia, Omiko Kurita nodded as they headed down the passage. Her face was impassive save for a sheen of sweat on her brow as for the first time in the history of the Federated Suns, a Kurita entered the nerve center of House Davion’s military machine.

Presently they came to a door marked with an alphanumeric stencil. ‘MI2SECCONF-083J’. Here they halted and watched by multiple security cameras, presented palmprint and iris scans for authentication. The door unlocked and they stepped inside.

Inside was a sterile conference room with a coffee and tea bar on one wall, a dozen seats around a holotable and a security panel.

“Tea?” Parvati asked.

Omi nodded as she disarmed the self-destruct device on her briefcase and began to remove datachips. “Tea, please.”

She nodded thanks to Parvati as a steaming mug with a cartoon fox digging a burrow was placed in front of her. She sipped it and made a face. “Irony. According to Father, the tea in the Black Room was atrocious and could peel paint from his battlemechs with its strength. I suppose that the Davions buy their tea from the same plantations then to use in their secure headquarters.”

Parvati laughed as the door opened again to reveal Tancred Sandoval in his general’s uniform. “I have no doubt that your tea was purchased from the lowest bidder too.”

Tancred looked over at Omi as he made himself a mug of coffee and then moved to sit across from her as she finished inputting her data. “I must ask, what prompted your change of heart?”

Omi looked the Sandoval heir in the eyes, Kurita steel-blue meeting Sandoval dark brown as their wills clashed. “My nation is in its death agonies, Sandoval-san, and whatever survives this war will be a pale shadow of our past glories. There shall be no winners, no honor, and no glory from the madness between my cousin and my half-brother, not anymore. Only survivors and the dead, just as in the Succession Wars under Jinjiro Kurita. All I can do now is act to minimize the suffering for those who my family has ruled for centuries; to fulfill a ruler’s obligation toward his subjects and the demands of Honor before those fighting over the Dragon’s corpse destroy all they touch. I wish it were otherwise, but wishing does not make it so. If my wishes bore fruit, I would still have my family with me, or at least be able to mourn at the graves of my father, mother, and brothers who have gone before me.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them to speak quietly and bitterly, “Congratulations on your victory. The Yellow Bird has defeated the Dragon at last. Shikata ga nai.”

With that she flipped a switch and a holomap of the Combine appeared, showing the best estimates that the remnants of the Order of Five Pillars had on the positions, strengths, and loyalties of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. Sandoval inserted his own datachip and blue units began to gather along the stripped-clean border of the Combine.

-------------------------------

Nadir Jump Point

Xinyang, Xinyang Prefecture, Benjamin Military District

16 June 3057

“Jump signature inbound!”

Tai-sa Samuel Lepke of the Fifteenth Benjamin Regulars looked over at the sensor operator. “Another one of our jumpships?”

“Negative, sir! It’s massive, estimate in the three quarters of a million megaton range!”

The commander blanched at the news, since there was only one thing that it could be.

Warship…

“General signal to all ships, emergency undock from jumpships, battle stations, launch all ASFs, and stand by to engage enemies! Honor the Dragon!”

Fifteen minutes later, the Black-Lion class battlecruiser CSJ Streaking Mist led the remnants of the Smoke Jaguar Touman into the system to claim the desperately-needed supply dumps that one of their newly captured bondsmen had reported were present.

Seventeen minutes after the alert had sounded, Sho-sa Peter Yoshuka rammed the newly arrived Potemkin class cruiser CSJ Osis’ Pride amidships with his Achilles at maximum thrust, sparking a series of explosions that gutted the ship.

Twenty-eight minutes after the battle began, the CSJ Streaking Mist began to burn toward Xinyang at the .75G that she was now barely capable of, while trailing air from her wounds.

None of the Fifteenth Benjamin survived to oppose the Jaguars. Not any longer.

%u201CAs the War of %u201956 headed to its bloody conclusion on the battlefields of Sian and Yuris, there were unnoticed sideshows by other neighbors of the Capellan Confederation, who sought to get their own piece of the pie in the chaos of the collapse. While the moves by Andurien was expected by most observers, the move by the Taurian Concordiat to retake Rollis was seen as a most unusual move, what with the huge dollops of anti-Fedcom propaganda that had pervaded Concordat society in the years before Jeffrey Calderon%u2026%u201D
Anton Riksdar, %u201CDeath Rattle of the Confederation%u201D, Ueda Press, 3075

"Some say I should have become a hero of the Confederation and resisted the Taurian %u201Cinvasion%u201D. Bull. What the hell was I going to do? We hadn%u2019t gotten a shipment of beans, bullets, or spare parts since the Fedcom had counterattacked on Sarna. With Sian itself under threat, and us being on the ass end of the Periphery border? We were told to %u201Cdefend Rollis against all enemies and fight to the last Capellan.%u201D So, I did. But when the Taurians showed up? I had mostly green kids who barely knew which end of the PPC was dangerous, and had already been used to diffuse three near-riots over a lack of food and water. I%u2019d had to hang four warriors for taking food from a family at gunpoint. My command was disintegrating, and the militia wasn%u2019t looking much better. If there was another riot, I couldn%u2019t count on them. And we didn%u2019t have enough dropships to retreat off-world with our gear. And we had no jumpships. They%u2019d left back in June. We%u2019d been left to die at the hands of the Fedcom. And we were convinced they were coming, with an eye towards revenge for what happened on Wei all those years ago.

"I have to say, when the Taurians showed up with that %u2018multi-national force%u2019 and with a couple of jumpships with food and medical supplies? I didn%u2019t see the point of resisting? Why? We had people dying of starvation right outside the front gate of the cantonment. I wasn%u2019t going to defend the right of Capellan citizens to starve to death. I made a decision I have had no cause to regret%u2026%u201D
Interview of Colonel Andrea Sung, former commanding officer of Sung%u2019s Cuirassiers, as featured in %u201CRollis: The Story of a Humanitarian Invasion%u201D, by Alan Jerkan, Bull Horns Press, Taurus, 3059

Planetary Command Bunker
Rollis
20km SSW of New Harmon
August 8th, 3057

Colonel Andrea Sung was tired. Tired and hungry. She looked less the image of a confident military officer, and more the image of a cave troll. Her almond colored eyes were dull with hunger, along with most of her command. The entire planet had been on half-rations for at least a month. Water was also at a premium, and it was a blessing they%u2019d all gone nose-blind. The stench of fear and unwashed uniforms was overwhelming. And we%u2019d had three near riots in Freeport. People want food, people want to leave. But there%u2019s no Jumpships to carry them anywhere. The Chancellor ordered them all out last month, along with what was left of the food, and very little if anything grows here. You can%u2019t eat the wood that grows here. I got children dying of hunger within sight of my troops. And there is blessed little I can do about it.

She shook her head and looked at the assembled members of the command staff, as well as the staff of the bunker. They were mostly impossibly young, having been seconded from the militia. Some so young, and so malnourished, their uniforms were baggy and ill-fitting. Sunken eyes and boney fingers moved at a slow pace over the various map displays and radio equipment. Conversation was muted, and she turned her gaze to Commander Zhao, he was the commander of the militia. He was in deep conversation with Yang Fon, the local Mask chief. Neither of them seemed to have the energy to shout the usual defiant slogans about %u201Cdeath to the Davions%u201D or %u201Cwe will remain Capellan%u201D which she%u2019d seen spray-painted all-over buildings in New Harmon.

I guess a lack of food is tempering everyone%u2019s loyalty to the state these days. Yesterday was terrible. She%u2019d had to order a lance of %u2018Mechs to break up a riot at the only hospital on planet. Power was also an issue, as the only fusion plant on world was facing shutdown due to a lack of spare parts and reaction mass. I had to order the hospital to shut down power to the ICU, and%u2026the NICU, and declared martial law in the same breath. How many did I murder then? And just for the crime of %u201Cnot enough state resources%u201D left to care for them? In the end, is this the loving embrace of the state that we always would hear about?

She then looked at the Deep Space Radar display, a mass of dots with telemetry readings glowed an ugly red that was moving ever closer to the planet by the hour. Trajectory has them grounding at Freeport, which was an hour away from the bunker, bit longer to New Harmon itself. But the truth was, she didn%u2019t think she could do more than fight one good engagement before her regiment, Sung%u2019s Cuirassiers collapsed due to a lack of food, ammunition, spare parts, and plain demoralization. And how much of a sweat are the Davions going to break? And will they accept my surrender when I am forced to give it? Our regiment has a bit of a history with them. A very recent history.

She turned towards her executive officer, Commander Zhao Jen-Ling. He was a new graduate of the command course at SAMD. He was a solid and loyal Capellan soldier, but like most of them, exhaustion, lack of food, and depression was taking their toll. He shook his head, and said nothing. But his eyes said it all. No chance. No chance at all. A survey of the room found he was not alone. Noone would utter it, not with the Mask adviser standing right there. But all of their eyes, including, surprisingly, his, said the same thing: We can%u2019t win, don%u2019t make us fight a battle that will do little but kill more of our own people.

Andrea sighed. She turned towards the commo tech, a young man with mixed Asian and Caucasian features who%u2019s lenses on his glasses took up half of his face.

%u201CBeng, get in touch with the Davions, tell them we%u2019re asking for terms.%u201D

A series of gasps escaped everyone in the room. All eyes went towards the Mask adviser, Mark Tsentov. He%u2019d been on Rollis for years, having been exiled here for indiscretions with the daughter of the head of his work section. He%u2019d married that daughter after, and they%u2019d built a life on Rollis. Three children, two of them died in service of the state, and one a bureaucrat on Sian.

Tsentov had no desire to bring war, especially a losing one, to Rollis. Pirates were one thing, but this? He shrugged, %u201CIf you all think I will tell you to seek a good death on the spears of the Davions for the good of the state? No. I am not going to be stupid and pig-headed enough to say that. We have 14-year olds in the militia, who are equipped with spears, because we don%u2019t have enough ammunition to properly equip them. Most of the populace is eating half a liter of watery soup a day. We have rickets, pellagra, and a host of other ailments killing our people. We may yield to the Davions without a shot, but at least, Colonel Sung, we will save our people. The Davions are not pirates. They will feed them. I order you, in the name of the state, make contact and seek honorable terms.%u201D

Beng crossed the room with a tactical radio headset in hand. He handed it to Sung, tears in his eyes. %u201CHere you are, mam.%u201D

Sung nodded. She cleared her throat and pushed the talk button. %u201CTo the inbound dropships currently entering our atmosphere. I am Colonel Andrea Sung of Sung%u2019s Cuirassiers of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces. I am the senior officer in command of the defenses of Rollis and have authority over all CCAF forces currently stationed here. I am asking for terms. Please, my people are starving, sick, and dying. I will not fight their saviors, even if they are Davions. We will surrender with only one condition: Please save our people.%u201D

She released the push to talk button and listened to the static crackle for a few seconds before the beep of a radio circuit being opened rang through the quiet command center. The voice on the radio was male, calm, strong and clear. It was strangely reassuring, given the circumstances. %u201CColonel Sung, my name is Hallaran. Comptroller James Hallaran, Taurian Defense Force. I have the pleasure of commanding Task Force Secure Hope, and my orders are to lead a humanitarian rescue of Hollis, and facilitate its recovery pending a plebiscite of its people on whether it wishes to remain with the Confederation, or return to the loving arms of the Concordat. We do not require your surrender, Colonel. We do ask for your cooperation.%u201D

Sung looked at the headset in shock. Eyes had goggled around the room and at least one person whispered audibly. %u201CThis is either pirates, or a really bad joke.%u201D

Sung pushed the talk button. %u201CComptroller, you did say Taurian, right?%u201D

There was a chuckle over the frequency, and she could hear other laughter in the background over the open mike. %u201CWell, I am, as is the two battalions of Concordat Commandos with me. But we have more than a few of us. A battalion from the 2nd Canopean Light Horse, and a couple companies of Aurgian mercenaries headed up by Queen Kamea%u2019s son. But most of us are doctors, relief workers, farmers, and just about anyone who wanted to come and help, Colonel. Will you let us land and help you?%u201D

Sung looked around the room, it was as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. One of the junior aides hissed %u201CMa%u2019am. Can we really trust them? It%u2019s a Davion trick!%u201D

%u201CNo, it isn%u2019t, Cheblinsky. The Davions needn%u2019t have bothered with such subterfuge. Why lie? They know we%u2019ll know soon enough. No, this is a damn godsend. We don%u2019t have to fight a battle we cannot win. And we save our people.%u201D

She turned again to the mic. %u201CComptroller, please ground your battalion at Freeport. We%u2019ll send a small delegation to meet you there, including myself. I%u2019ll be ordering all other units to remain in place.%u201D

%u201CI understand, Colonel. I%u2019ll just bring my own command company in that case. No sense in spooking the hell out of everyone? %u2018Mechs will remain on my dropship. My captain tells me we will ground in 35 minutes.%u201D

%u201CThank You, Comptroller. I will meet you there in 45 minutes then.%u201D

%u201CRodger that, Colonel. Hallaran out.%u201D

45 Minutes Later

The dust kicked up by the hover jeep was light today, as a sandstorm had just blown through last night. Still, it was enough to force everyone to wear goggles in the open-topped vehicles, lest they get their eyes literally scratched out of their heads. A small gaggle came into view, with three flags standing in front of them. Sung could make out the standards, Aurigan, Canopean, and Taurian. They were limp in against their standards, but still, the colors of their flags made them unmistakable. And the uniforms are all wrong for Fedrats, or their Steiner lackeys.

The jeep came to a halt with a spray of sand, and as the turbine wound down, Sung practically leapt from the vehicle, her staff in tow. The central figure, wrapped in a shermagh, removed the lower half of it to reveal a craggy, but smiling face. %u201CColonel Sung? Good day to do the right thing, no?%u201D

Sung nodded and smiled. %u201CYes Comptroller, it is. My people are starving. And I don%u2019t think we have time for pleasantries.%u201D

Hallaran nodded. %u201CSo, do you have any ground rules for us, Colonel?%u201D

Sung laughed. %u201CNo, Welcome to Rollis. It seems you are our liberators. But I would recommend you set up shop first in New Harmon, the transportation network here is pretty awful except during trading festivals. And, we do have a problem with bandits raiding convoys around here.%u201D

Hallaran smiled cooly %u201CWe can handle the bandits if you can keep a lid on your own people?%u201D

Sung nodded. %u201CI think, Comptroller, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.%u201D

Hallaran%u2019s smile went wide %u201CAnd we like the same movies too. Yes, Colonel, we%u2019re going to get along just fine.%u201D He turned to an aide. %u201CGet them down, Lenny. Let%u2019s get to doing what we came here to do.%u201D

The Taurian staff officer nodded and turned to an RTO, who began to read out rapid fire instructions to the ships still orbiting above.

%u201CSo, Comptroller. I happen to have been saving a bottle of fine 3000 Sian Whiskey for a special occasion. This I think qualifies?%u201D

Hallaran nodded, "It does, and I am damn thirsty. Tell me it%u2019s Xiao Tung?%u201D

Sung nodded with a smile of her own.

After an aide quickly produced a pair of paper cups, Sung gingerly poured the amber liquid, which was rich and played joyfully with the light.

%u201CColonel, shall we drink to Rollis. Her recovery and her future?%u201D

Sung nodded, and they both knocked back their shots quickly. %u201CComptroller, I have to know one thing. Why?%u201D

%u201CColonel, simple. The Confederation is falling apart. Who knows if or when it will reform? And what form it will take. Rollis, long ago, was once ours. Hasn%u2019t been for a long time, but we couldn%u2019t sit by and do nothing anymore. Not and call ourselves human beings. So, we put out the call. And we were a little surprised by who showed up.%u201D

%u201CWe are too, Comptroller. But it%u2019s bought my people their lives. And for that, Rollis, and my Cuirassiers will be forever grateful.%u201D

While the buildup of Andurien troops along the Capellan border had been going on since May, no one expected the size of the offensive by the Anduriens into the dying Confederation. It was a surprise they had any armed forces at all to speak of after their abortive rebellion of 20-odd years before. The reaction to the move was, on the whole, mixed, with the Capellans protesting to the League, who shrugged and said they couldn%u2019t reign them in, Home Defense Act and all. The FedCom%u2019s response could be summed up as %u201COk, but Sian is ours and stay the hell out of our way.%u201D The rest of the Inner Sphere simply reacted with a collective shrug. Most other nations had their own troubles at the moment%u2026%u201D
Whoops! An Irreverent View of the Politics of the War of %u201956 by Dr. Anton Drake, Federated Academic Press, New Avalon, 3060
We told him it would happen! Why would he be shocked? I mean, he [Sun-Tsu] reads a damn holomap, right? (laughs manically) He really didn%u2019t read the report we sent him. Not a surprise. He%u2019s gone mad, you know. (subject screams in pain). WHAT! Like I am going to deny it now? I am a dead man. I am not walking out of here alive. No one does! So, kill me. Kill me and spare me the sight of the Fedrats and Andurien fighting over the dead husk of Sian!
Taken from the Interrogation transcript of former Sub-Commander Tzhao Foon, FWL Desk, Maskirovka Analysis Section. August 19th, 3057. Sub-Commander Foon was interrogated for nineteen hours in the infamous %u201CIron Jade%u201D Prison Complex in the Forbidden City on Sian after his arrest and was executed for treason three days later. The partial transcript, found damaged by fire, was found in the ruins of the prison on September 19th, 3057 by FC troops.

Operation Keravnos

Wave 1 (August-September 3057):

Betelgeuse
Attacking Forces: 1st Defenders of Andurien Regiment (Green Medium-weight %u2018Mech regiment plus a brigade of combined arms troops), Burrow%u2019s Crashing Thunder Regiment, and one battalion of three company sized mercenary units organized as 1st Provisional Battalion.

Defending Forces: 2 Battalions of Warrior House Kamata (1 Green and 1 Veteran Battalion), Betelgeuse Home Guard (3 combined arms regiments)

Results: The Capellan defenders fought with the strength of men possessed. House Kamata offered no quarter and asked for none, fighting to the last in a swirling mobile battle not far from the Andurien LZs. After eighteen hours of fighting, neither battalion of House Kamata was left, but they had dealt 40% casualties to the 1st Defenders of Andurien, and it had taken Burrow%u2019s Crashing Thunder Regiment intervening to save the Defenders from complete collapse. Once House Kamata had been destroyed, the Home Guard surrendered the next day.

Sigma Mare
Attackers: 2nd Defenders of Andurien (Regular Medium weight %u2018Mech regiment, and a combined arms brigade), St. Cyr Heavy Assault Regiment, Lone Star Regiment

Defenders: Sigma Mare Home Guard

Results: The defenders of Sigma Mare, cut off from any help, and not having had orders from Sian in months, surrendered after a short fight at the Andurien LZs.

Shiba
Attackers: 3rd Defenders of Andurien (Veteran Heavy weight %u2018Mech regiment, and a combined arms brigade), Contessa%u2019s Killers (Veteran Assault %u2018Mech Battalion)

Defenders: Shiba Home Guard

Results: The defenders of Shiba tried to fight a mobile campaign, but they could not compete with the mobility of the 3rd who often pinned the Home Guard in place to be shattered by the Killers. Within a week, the Shiba Home Guard surrendered.

Niomede
Attackers: 4th Defenders of Andurien (Green Light-weight %u2018Mech regiment, and a combined arms brigade).

Defenders: Niomede Home Guard

Results: The Niomede Home Guard made one disastrous attempt to hold the 4th short of the planetary capitol, facing them at the all-important crossing of the Shenpo river at Tivington. The defense of the bridge was successful for a week, until a battalion of Andurien hover tanks, backed by light mechs walking across the bottom, forced a crossing some six km downstream and flanked the Home Guard, destroying them in a two-day encirclement battle. Barely three battalions from the brigade strength home guard survived to surrender.
*****************************************

%u201CTHIS IS GREYJOY ACTUAL TO ALL CALLSIGNS. LAND THE LANDING FORCE AS PER OPTION BRAVO. RPT, LAND THE LANDING FORCE AS PER OPTION BRAVO. GOOD LUCK AND GOD SPEED.
Sent from Command Jumpship %u201CFCN Journe%u2019s Journey%u201D to all allied callsigns in Sian space, August 19th, 3057

Death Throes, Part 2
​
“..As the fighting on Sian began it’s final, blood-soaked orchestra of death, the rest of the Confederation dealt with the final stages of the collapse of central authority. While the Word of Blake did manage to keep the HPG network going, often right up till the very last moments, many civil servants and government or military officials fled one step ahead of enemy troops or starving mobs. Many vanished overnight as August led into September, reappearing in as far-flung places such as Alpheratz or Cormadir.
“Some however, were too slow, the brutal slaughter of the entire ruling family of Prix by a hungry mob numbering 60,000 triggered a wholesale flight of all those who had anything to do with the government and who had the means to flee. Anyone who stayed wound up sharing the fates of the Prixian royal family, who had their beaten and broken bodies left dangling from lamp posts…”
“pp. 191, Collapse of the Capellan Nation State, Andrew Ling, Outworlds Press, 3065”

Apartment 335
Gardens Apartments
Pawhuska City
Decatur
Capellan Confederation
September 9th, 3057

Xu Chi hurriedly packed his bag as he kept one eye on the holovid, the official news hadn’t been on in three days. What was on…was something out of a nightmare. They’d broadcast the show trial and execution of the entire planetary ruling family. Just hung them from lampposts, with the Refractor cheering them on! Probably trying to avoid his own turn at the gallows, the swine!

Chi was a minor official for the Ministry of Trade and Exchange. His job was to write information security policy for the Capellan Commodities Exchange. That hadn’t meant a damn thing since the Davions had taken Capella. The orders from Sian had become increasingly meaningless as the Capellan economy went into free-fall. It wasn’t long before Chi’s boss locked himself in his office one day and shot himself with his old service pistol. That had been a week ago, and it had been Chi’s last day at work. It wasn’t popular to admit you were a government official, of any government. Mobs of former Home Guardsmen, angry servitors, and basic trainees from the Duchy RTC were roaming the streets, wearing orange armbands and hard looks.

Anyone associated with the Capellan State, workers, officials, and their families were being hauled up, given the barest pretense of a trial by an angry mob, and shot. The killing had gone on for at least four days, since the palace had been stormed by a mob numbering in the thousands. They’d captured the ruling family, and slaughtered the guards, the ones that had survived long enough to surrender. But what had motivated the riot and orgy of violence? It was a simple protest. It was the ordinary people demanding their rights to food and medicine, as guarantees under the Capellan constitution. They were only asking for what was due. But the problem was? The government didn’t have any food or medical care to give. Everything of that nature that was left, was going to the military and security services. Whole worlds like Decatur, which was mostly water, and overpopulated for the available landmass, were facing a slow die off from the lack of available food, or medical supplies. And anyone associated with the Capellan government was getting the blame. Who could blame them, Sun-Tsu had promised them victory, he’d delivered them death, defeat, and deprivation?

Chi had gotten a line on a small freighter leaving the Decatur system for Canopus by way of Rollis. He’d already destroyed everything having to do with the office and his former life, having burned it last night in the parking garage. He’d hoped no one had seen him do it, his neighbors were desperate for the food reward one got for turning in government officials and their families. It didn’t help the land lady was an evil go-se. He’d sold pretty much all of the family valuables to afford the exorbitantly expensive seats on the dropship. Chi checked his chrono. Two hours till departure, ought to be enough time, the dropport is only ten blocks from here. Nice brisk walk, and the weather’s decent. Now just make sure nobody who knows me is out and about.

Chi made for the door, and took a long look at the apartment, he was leaving a life behind. His moderately expensive entertainment center, a decently (for the time and place) stocked refrigerator, and a decent set of furniture. How will I survive being a refugee? He didn’t know, but he gripped the small, hard object in his jeans pocket. My father’s old backup pistol from his days as a ‘Mechwarrior. Glad I kept it. Even if I could have gotten in a lot of trouble for having it. Chi grabbed a non-descript black ball cap with the logo of a local sports team on the front. He shook his head, and slung his bag over his shoulder, and stepped through the door without a second thought.

Chi made his way into the hall and glanced both ways. The hall was dimly lit, only one of the four ceiling light panels was working, and there was trash all over the hall, discarded liquor bottles, propaganda broadsheets from the “provisional government” proclaiming a “New Dawn” for Decatur, and to be “on the lookout for traitors from the old regime.” Chi gingerly walked, trying not to make a sound. He’d left the holovid going, as he figured someone would come looking for him sooner or later. Let them think I am still there, I can be well and truly gone before they realize I am not. He gingerly made his way through the debris strewn hall, and to the stairwell, then crept down the stairs and into the lobby.

The lobby itself was a riot of ruined furniture, more debris, and a sleeping Home Guardsman face down on the couch, his rifle propped up against the couch, his orange armband prominently displaying his loyalty to Decatur’s new masters, whomever they were. That changed with the dawn of each new day as the “revolution” ate its children with alarming regularity. Chi crept by, each step sounding twenty times louder than it probably was. But the Guardsman did not stir. Chi got a better look at him. His almond features were barely old enough to shave. He was unkept, his uniform had stains of blood, and mud, and his boots had a dried brown-grey paste on the soles. There was a smell of vomit, and an empty bottle of a brand of cheap rice wine was askew on the floor next to the couch. Good fortune, this young man is drunk off his ass. His friends aren’t here. Chi took two loping steps for the doors and used his shoulder to open them as he dashed through to the street.

The sights assailed his senses. To his left, several cars were on fire, one was in the middle of the street, a pair of piles of rags covered in blood lay on either side of the vehicle. I don’t think those are piles of rags, Chi thought. To his right, a man swung slowly from a nearby lamp post. A plastic placard was hung around his neck, and it said in Chinese, “Mask informer and parasite of the people.” The dead man’s face had turned black, and his face was twisted in a rictus of pain and fear. Chi gasped, I cannot waste time, and I have to make my way to the dropport.

Chi walked calmly in the direction of the dropport, broken glass and gravel crunching under his feet. The smell of smoke and the sounds of gunfire and screams filled the air. Around him, however, the streets were eerily empty, except for the sounds of flames licking at burning cars, or the occasional building. Bodies lay everywhere like puppets with their strings cut. The smell of burning flesh assailed Chi’s nostrils as he continued to walk. He tried not to linger on the sights too long, less his outrage revealed him to some unseen observer.

Chi’s footsteps echoed the empty streets, as his feet broke into a run, his fear carrying him to the drop port. But, the sight of the entry signs to the drop port stopped him short. The sight instead of easing his fear, gripped his heart firmly and gave him a start. The gate was filled with orange arm banded militiamen. They were in various stages of inebriation, no doubt assisted by the Jade Plum brand rice wine, of which there was copious bottles of in the street. Six or seven bodies lay strewn around the entrance to the dropport, their lifeblood staining the ground from multiple gunshot wounds. Their clothes suggested all of the victims were male, and civilian, or at least dressed in civilian clothes.

Oh no, what do I do? Brazen it out? Run? Walk away? Chi lingered a second two long. One or two of the milling militiamen noticed him, and shouted for him to come over, their faces contorted into drunken, angry scowls. One pulled a pistol and pointed it at Chi, who promptly dropped his bag and took off at a dead run. Several puffs of disturbed dirt and concrete erupted around him to mark missed bullets, as Chi screamed incoherently. He then felt a blow from behind, toppling over and sent sprawling. A pain spread from his back and suddenly, he felt so tired. No, I am so close, so close. His vision began to blur, and he heard the crunch of gravel and a smattering of cruel laughter. A metallic sound soon echoed through his fading hearing. There was a flash, and then Chi saw or felt nothing at all, ever again.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

“Operation Kervanos was at it’s core, a lash-up of an operation. The Duchy of Andurien were lucky in that the CCAF was not anywhere near the top of its form, and that the goals of the operation were limited. But with the near-reverse of fortune on Betelgeuse, the Andurien general staff revised the plans still further and only hit three worlds in the second wave. This did little to endear the general staff with the troops in the field, who felt they could have driven as far as Homestead…”

“Operation Kervanos, an Operational Appraisal”, by Force Commander Alan Thyme, FWLM (Ret), for Issue 219, Vol 18 of the Military History Quarterly, Military History Press, Terra, 3061



Operation Kervanos, Wave 2

Wave 2 (September-October 3057)

Kasdach
Attacking Forces: 2nd Defenders of Andurien, St. Cyr Heavy Assault Regiment, Lone Star Regiment

Defending Forces: Kadsach Home Guard

Results: The Kadsach Home Guard surrendered without a shot fired, many on world were happy to greet Andurien troops rather than Federated Commonwealth ones.


Dicon
Attacking Forces: 3rd Defenders of Andurien, Contessa’s Killers

Defending Forces: Dicon Home Guard

Results: The Dicon Home Guard fought with the strength of the desperate and the doomed. They only had a combined arms brigade to hold off the Andurien force, and their ten days of resistance inflicted 10% casualties on the 3rd Defenders of Andurien, but Contessa’s Killers consistently crushed nest after nest of Home Guard resistance. The two surviving battalions surrendered after ten days of resistance.

Buenos Aires
Attacking Forces: 4th Defenders of Andurien

Defending Forces: Buenos Aires Home Guard

Results: A breadbasket world that fed a third of the Confederation, it fell to the Home Guard to defend the world, as it’s regular garrison, the 3rd Battalion of Ishihara’s Grenadiers was destroyed on Manapire earlier in the war. The Home Guard was division-sized, with an integral battlemech battalion made up of mostly 3rd Succession War era gear. The rest of the division was equipped with obsolete equipment, some of it dating back to the 2nd Succession War. However, it’s numbers, and mobilization of at least ten “People’s Victory Battalions” allowed it to have the numbers to counteract the 4th’s superior mobility.

Much of the fighting took place on the planetary land mass, thus sparing most of the sprawling farms that were either underground, or on floating aqua colonies. But, the 4th was soon penned into its LZ, lacking the firepower to break out, as the Home Guard penned in the Andurien troops, but they lacked the firepower to break through the 4th’s perimeter. Both sides soon settled in and waited for help. The Andruiens reinforced first, with Burrow’s Crashing Thunder Regiment arriving on the 15th of October, and performing an avalanche drop onto the western sector of the static perimeter and smashing the Home Guard out of the way. Before long, both regiments had broken out, and managed to cut apart, encircle, and destroy major elements of the Home Guard, with the survivors retreating under pressure to the capital. After another 16 days of brutal house-to-house fighting, the Andurien flag was raised over the Ducal Palace and the surviving Home Guard elements surrendered.

Casualties for the Andurien forces were heavy, with the 4th having taken 30% casualties, and Burrows having lost 20%. Most of the losses were material and were made good by the middle of November.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lagrange Point
Corodiz
Capellan Confederation
September 14th, 3057

“I haven’t been able to reach anyone on the surface, sir.” the Sergeant said, her face creased with worry.

“Keep trying, Sergeant, I’d rather we didn’t have to shoot our way in if we can help it. For all we know, the FedCom beat us there?” Comptroller James Hallaran grimaced. He’d not thought much of the orders to probe towards Corodiz. He'd not thought much of the orders to probe towards Corodiz, it had been an Tauran world at one point, but that had been centuries ago. Can someone please tell me what the hell the Protector is thinking, or why Marshal Doru let him talk him into it? With our luck, the Capellans are rotating units from here into the fighting on Yuris. Held up the Davions for a month. Lord knows, that’s a miracle in and of itself considering the state the Confederation is in. But the fact nobody’s responding to our messages? We’re only 4 days out from landfall at the jump point? Something’s not right here. Something bad.

A naval officer, wearing the rank of a Captain floated over to him, his ebon face was creased with worry, and his eyes bore the strain of command and the additional half a gee of thrust they’d been enduring since they cleared the jump point a day ago.

“Comptroller, something worse. We’ve been in the system a day, and no one from any kind of traffic control or anything else has tried to contact us. We’re getting the automatic nav aids just fine, but I can’t raise a single controller. Our long-range telescopes don’t detect any nuclear clouds or anything like that, but this is goddamned strange, and scary.”

“And we’re the only ships in system?” Hallaran asked.

“That we can detect, but orbital space is big, real big, and even an “intervention” force such as ours can be alone until we insert into planetary orbit at times. But we should have been hearing some kind of signals from the ground. As it is, we’re hearing nothing.

“SHIT!” the Sergeant cursed. “Sirs, you gotta hear this. I think we got our answer.” The sergeant’s face was blank and a sheet of white, her green eyes wide with horror. She held out a pair of headphones to Hallaran. “It’s audio only, sir.”

Hallaran nodded and took the headphones.

“To all traffic entering the Corodiz system, this is a quarantine warning. Corodiz is currently suffering a pandemic of what has been identified as a variant of the Edison White Flu. The virus is highly contagious and can be spread through both human saliva, as well as airborne means. The virus has a morbidity rate of 65% and has left 25% of those who have survived with various kinds of neural and brain damage. Do not land on Corodiz. We will not acknowledge any attempt to communicate, turn around and leave our system. We do not wish to infect you. Please pray for us.”

Hallaran grimaced as the message began to repeat. “Jesus, they have a fully blown pandemic down there. So, do we turn around, or do we offer aid, Captain?”

“Don’t you think we should consult with the rest of the task force leaders, sir?”

“I plan to, but seeing as how you are one of them, I wanted your take?”

The captain nodded “Sir, we can’t risk it. If this bug is as virulent as they say? We’re going to have a ship full of dead men before we get back to Rollis. And God help us if this gets back to the Concordat.”

Hallaran nodded, he was thinking of turning around anyhow. This was just too damn risky. But did the Davions do this? He’d been hearing their rhetoric since the terror attacks on New Avalon and elsewhere, but this? It just didn’t seem in character. Perhaps Dr. Reyes will have a better idea of what the hell we’re dealing with here.

“Captain, hold the task force here until we have a better handle on what the hell is going on, and what the hell we’re going to do about it.”

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yuris

Attackers: Team Banzai, Lexington Combat Group (all three regiments), 41st Avalon Hussars RCT

Defenders: House Diadachi, Metal Phalanx Mercenary Battalion, Yuris Home Guard

Results: As the fighting on Yuris ground on, Warrior House Diadachi and the Home Guard went to ground, fighting a guerilla campaign that managed to pin down 5 Davion regiments and wreak a measure of havoc. The Metal Phalanx was not so lucky, and in its own attempt to go into hiding, was discovered and smashed in an 18-hour running fight with Team Banzai. The survivors surrendered the next morning.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 months before

Astech Joshua Ford had been worked quite hard in the last three weeks, word had come down from the powers that be that the 5th FedCom RCT was leaving Tsingtang to be moved to New Syrtis to increase security and force protection for various infrastructure targets on world. This was a necessity with all of the Syrtis Fusilier regiments off world either fighting Capellans or mopping up Falcon and Viper die-hards in the Tamar March. New Syrtis had been nervous since the terror attacks that had opened the conflict, including the one that had put Morgan Hasek-Davion in a coma, and killed his wife, Kym Sorenson.

It’s why Ford was inwardly smiling. He hadn’t always been Joshua Ford. Ford at the end of the day was just another identity he cast off like a pair of dirty socks. He’d be disappearing before the regiment boosted off-world. He just had a small gift to leave behind first.

He looked up at the FSS Unity, an ovoid, Union-class Dropship with room for 12 BattleMechs and a crew of 14. She had seen better days, she had scorch marks and rain marks galore, a souvenir of multiple re-entries and hard atmospheric use. Her thrust bells were burnt black from hard use as well. And when Ford passed an open personnel hatch, he smelled that “Union smell” which could only be described as a mix between old socks, spoiled milk, and body odor in a horrific mélange that made any non-ship personnel or MechWarriors gag.

Ford was a known entity amongst the tech crews, having joined the unit with forged orders from a small technical college on Salem that had a good reputation. In truth, Ford had never been to Salem. He’d had technical training, of course. The Maskirovka had trained him for just this sort of thing. The Death Commandos think they have a monopoly on mayhem. They really should think again. They’re so…unsubtle.

Ford made his way up the gangplank with little effort and waved jauntily to a tech crew that was struggling with a circuitry panel down an adjoining hall. The smell was now mixed with the sounds of large tools, and acetylene as a welder worked on a hull patch for a small leak down the hall from Ford. The welder soon stopped their work, pitched back her helmet, her auburn hair in a ponytail tumbling back as she smiled at Ford. Her shape was hidden under the slate blue coveralls, with a faded 5th FedCom patch on her right breast. I do happen to know how pleasing that shape is, however. Ford smiled inwardly as he remembered their first date.

“Hiya Ford. So, we still on for dinner later?”

“Yes, Marks, we are. I am looking forward to this new place you discovered downtown.”

Poor Marks, she has no idea she’s going to be so useful in my escape. Doubly shame you are going to have to die for that, but things cannot be avoided. Should keep Davion counterintelligence guessing till I can make my escape back across the border. That said, the “device” should not activate until I am well away.

“Marks, I hate to cut this short, but I have to be going, gotta check some functionality issues with the flight control software. Master Tech Hardwell is getting ancy about making sure the RCT is ready to boost on time.”

Marks nodded. “Gotcha, She’s been a real bear. Maybe she’ll let up once we’re in space?”

Ford shook his head no “I doubt it, probably have us polishing and making the ‘Mechs look sparkling. Gotta impress the Acting Duke you know!”

Both shared a chuckle, as Marks waved Ford off.

Ford made his way to the Flight Control main data bus, situated right under the bridge, and plugged in a small 10cm square black box, and then pushed a button, which uploaded a program from the single use hard drive Ford had plugged in. The small light on the box turned from a solid red, then blinked, and then after a few seconds, turned green. It wasn’t long before the light blinked out. Good, the drive just scrubbed itself. Now time to get to work doing what I was assigned to do.

Ford deftly unplugged the drive, then smiled as he broke out his diagnostic tools to find the fault in the RCS software code. The code he’d inserted was simple and would activate randomly once it detected the main drive had been activated. And it would all look like a horrible accident, at least long enough for Ford to get clear of Tsingtang. And I will make sure this Dropship doesn’t serve the Davions anymore. If we’re really lucky, they’ll ground a bunch more fearing this is a widespread fault in the entire fleet! Subtle, simple, and helps the Capellan state.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“New Syrtis Deep Space, this is dropship FSS Unity, we have a cargo of 12 mechs for the 5th Fedcom aboard, and we are declaring an emergency, we have cleared atmo and we have lost all RCS function, and we have an engine fire. Please advise.”

“FSS Unity, do you have any steering, over?”

“Negative, we are coming down like a rock, and our ‘Mechs are not in the drop cradles, over?”

“Unity, I am scrambling fighters from Hasek Aerospace Field, you know what they have orders to do if you cannot get control back in the next two minutes. Your impact is projected to be downtown Saso city.”

“Understood New Syrtis. I am getting my boys and girls to the pods, I am staying, my ship, my responsibility.”

“Say souls aboard Unity?”

“Including the ‘jocks and techs? 57. We’re ejecting now. Get those fighters here soonest, New Syrtis. I’ve lost all helm in this ship, and we’re about 20,000 meters AGL and falling like a rock…”

Transcripts of radio communication between FSS Unity and New Syrtis Deep Space Control, September 19th, 3057, taken from the official accident investigation. The FSS Unity lost all RCS and main thrust control on approach to Saso spaceport. She impacted in the suburbs of Saso city, scoring a direct hit on Hasek Memorial Hospital, killing another 350 and injuring 500, among the dead was Morgan Hasek-Davion, who was in a coma being treated in the hospital’s ICU. It would be revealed post war that the cause of the accident was Maskirovka sabotage of the flight computer during a routine A level check.

I've been following along on the big BattleTech boards and this is good stuff Panzerfaust 150! One of the best in depth alternate setting I've seen for this universe on par with masterarminas' Kerensky and Kurita trilogy. Excellent fanfic!

I hadn't seen the Destructor before though....does it have any stats? I don't see heat sinks but I am assuming it is a bracket firing machine from its armament and fluff.

Also wondering are thinking about doing any other sourcebook material for Clover Spear?

I am thinking of a more in-depth military history of the War of '56,

How would you see it?

I do have to say the 4th Succession War Atlas Volume 1 and 2 are simply awesome. Maybe I can use them as a template for my 3rd Marik Civil War. Hmm...