OBT Forum
General BattleTech => Alternate Universe => Topic started by: drakensis on May 18, 2012, 06:07:53 AM
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In early 3030 Jaime Wolf has had enough of the Inner Sphere.
Their politics killed his brother, his wife and two of his children on New Delos
Their leaders butchered civilians - the dependents of the Wolf Dragoons - and abandoned honourable warriors to die on Misery.
While he could not deny that Hanse Davion had given him what he wanted, making the Dragoons the focus of the DCMS in the Fourth Succession War, the unit had been all but destroyed and many of his closest comrades had died.
He declares the mission of the Wolf Dragoons to be over. Those recruited over their quarter-century in the Inner Sphere may leave with generous benefits and his gratitude or may return to the origin of the Wolf Dragoons, although he warns that it will be unlike anything that they have previously encountered. Most elect to remain in the Inner Sphere under the leadership of Major Neil Parella, renaming themselves the Misericord and they inherit much of the salvageable BattleMechs from the recent battles of the Dragoons, a long with a generous allotment of their dropships and jumpships.
The iron core of the Dragoons depart, ahead of ComStar (who, due to their interdiction of the Federated Suns, lost track of the Dragoons at the critical period) and of MIIO agents, making their way to the stockpile of equipment they had left behind in the periphery before entering the Inner Sphere in 3005. Recrewing their warships and loading all dropships, the much diminished Dragoons began the long voyage towards the Caliban Nebula, Jaime confident that they could locate the Clan Homeworlds from there. Over the course of the long voyage, Jaime and his remaining old guard trained up the Dragoons into single Clan-style Cluster, educating their remaining Inner Sphere recruits in the Ways of the Clans.
On 27 September 3032, the little fleet reached Eden - the one time capital of the Star League in Exile and still a stronghold of three of the strongest Clans: Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Smoke Jaguar (as well as enclaves of the Hells Horses). Critically, there was no strong Warden presence on Eden: the capital of Clan Wolf was on Strana Mechty and Galaxy Commander Conal Ward, a firm Crusader, led the Wolf warriors stationed on Eden. Ward and the Smoke Jaguar Khan Lincoln Osis (carrying out an inspection), who first greeted the Wolf Dragoons and Jaime Wolf's fateful report: "I have studied the Inner Sphere for a quarter century and I know how they can be conquered."
The Wolf Dragoons could not destroy the Draconis Combine alone and it was doubtful if the Federated Commonwealth could do so, exhausted as they were by the Fourth Succession War. But the Clans, properly led, could do so. And if Jaime Wolf claimed the prize he had been offered a generation before to lead the Dragoons, then he would be a bloodnamed warrior and could be one of those leaders.
Ulric Kerensky had been trying to put the Great Debate to rest for years but now he would face a Crusader bloc united by Jaime Wolf into an army of vengeance.
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Now that is an interesting twist. Does this mean that Kerlin Ward did not change the Dragoons orders?
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Interesting to say the least. The Wrath of Jamie Wolf. Did Natasha die? Was it her death that drove him over the edge? Wolf's greatest opposition could be the Warden Wolves or he could convert them into Crusaders as well. Spinning the horrors of the InnerSphere as a savage place without honor isn't very difficult. If the Clans unite and invade only the poor Draconis Combine to get to Earth and ComStar led by Jamie Wolf I'd have to declare they (the Dragon and ComStar) have no shot especially with Steiner-Davion as a friendly non-combatant.
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He could do it
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Even if Kerlin Ward's secret orders stood, Jamie could have challenged them on his return. That's assuming of course, anyone in Clan Wolf still knows of the original orders. Then again, it could be a moot point if Jamie Wolf is no longer a member of Clan Wolf. Say he's "challenged" and claimed by another Crusader Clan - perhaps not wanting to return to the predominately Warden Wolves. However, if Jamie did return to the Wolves and if Ulric was knowledgeable in said subject, he could challenge Jamie Wolf to a Trial of Grievance.
The Bloodname is where it gets tricky.
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Jaime Wolf's report to the Grand Council was a masterpiece of theatre. State by state he built up a picture of the Successor States' triumphs and defeats, not failing to detail the enormous numbers of regiments of BattleMechs, tanks and infantry that would need to be defeated. Each Successor Lord and their likely successors was analyzed, stressing the treachery of Liao, the factionalism of Marik, the blooming alliance between Davion and Steiner and most especially the perfidity of Kurita.
Ulric Kerensky, the young Khan of the Wolf Clan knew that the presence of the Dragoons was contrary to the last orders of Kerlin Ward but could not afford to admit that his predecessor had given orders that conflicted with those of the Grand Council. He had to sit quietly as Jaime described the wealth of worlds that the Dragoons had fought across, the vast campaigns of the Fourth Succession War and the vices of the Great Houses: calculatedly inspiring avarice, envy and contempt in the assembled Khans.
The common thread through all of this were the Dragoons. Every battle was displayed, culminating in the terrible clash of arms on Crossing when the Dragoons, outnumbered four to one, had fought for days, the survivors left to sleep exhausted on the field of victory, guarded only by Jaime's battered Archer. he full record was displayed for the Clan Councils of almost every clan and it was clear to all of them that this had been an epic campaign. While Ulric schemed in the Grand Council chamber, Conal Ward was speaking eloquently to his fellow bloodnamed, building up Jaime as an example of every virtue that Clan Wolf prized.
When the long recitation was done, saKhan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon moved that the Grand Council complete the promise that they had made so many years before be upheld: that Jaime Wolf be granted a bloodname for him and his heirs. With apparent humility, Jaime offered Bloodhouse Vickers the genetic heritage of his brother Joshua to be held jointly by the two bloodnames, in memory of the brothers' Warrior father, Jon Vickers. The Vickers accepted the offer and in return offered prime stock from their own reserves to be used in creating the first sibkos of the Bloodname Wolf.
Before the Grand Council could take a recess, Khan Royce Chapman of Clan Steel Viper asked the question that was on everyone's mind: "The invasion of the Inner Sphere is possible, quaiff?"
Jaime Wolf bowed his head and unleashed Ulric's nightmare. "An invasion can succeed."
The following morning the first order of business was obvious: Khan Lincoln Osis called for the Grand Council to vote on whether Jaime Wolf should be ordered to draw up a plan to invade the Inner Sphere for consideration. While in theory the Council could then reject the plan, everyone knew that by that point the momentum would be almost irresistable.
The Crusaders were intent on minimising debate and pressed for an immediate vote. Naturally, the Smoke Jaguars voted first and in favour, followed by the Jade Falcons. The Coyotes, firm Wardens, opposed it of course but the Ghost Bears were similarly in favour. Neither Blood Spirit Khan had attended (due to their extreme isolation they were actually oblivious, having not yet learned of the Dragoons' return, and having ignored the summons to the Grand Council as they had so often before).
The Star Adders had supported the Dragoon Compromise and been planning ever since how to carry out the invasion so it was no surprise that they were eager to hear Jaime's plans. Balancing them, the Cloud Cobras although wild cards due to divisions within their Clan had elected Warden Khans. The Goliath Scorpions followed suit, although they had supported the Dragoons now their Khans decided for whatever reason that they would not back an invasion.
The next to vote were the Steel Vipers, Hells Horses and Snow Ravens. To the surprise of the Wardens both the moderate Vipers and Ravens voted to invade, feeling that now that information had been gathered it would be practical to do so. The Hells Horses, strong Crusaders, were also in favour. With fourteen Khans against only six opposed, Ulric realised that he would potentially be facing a difficult Trial of Refusal unless most of the remaining Khans were willing to support him.
Typically the Fire Mandrill Khans disagreed and split their votes. The Nova Cats had previously pledged support to Ulric on the grounds of dreams of Wolves howling triumphantly, but with Jaime Wolf's report they now reversed course and secured a majority in favour of the plan. Clan Burrock then voted against the plan despite their Crusader leanings, reckoning that they were not undermining their actual interests but could look to Ulric for gratitude at reducing the odds against him. This was slapped in the face when Ulric's own saKhan Jenna Vickers elected to support Jaime Wolf.
With the Diamond Sharks and Ice Hellions voting in favour of planning an Invasion, the vote ended with a clear majority of twenty-two out of thirty-four Khans. Ulric predictably called for a Trial of Refusal, not unreasonably hoping that with odds of only 2-1 now, bidding would reduce this opposition to something manageable. However the Crusaders had known that this was coming and when Ulric named the Third Battle Cluster to carry out the Trial only a single bid was made to oppose them.
Jaime Wolf bid his own Wolf Dragoons and the 4th Striker Cluster from Conal Ward's Delta Galaxy.
The trial would be a civil war within Clan Wolf.
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Oh man this could be very very interesting...
Khan Jamie Vickers anyone, an invasion led by the Wolf... the IS could be in a lot of trouble.
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My My Ulric savagely bit in the rear.
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Very nice, Drakensis. I wait with anticipation to see how this goes.
MA
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Clan Wolf in Exile earlier than in canon?????
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Wow, very nicely done. Can't wait to see more!
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Not bad. The fighting will be semi-bloody to start, but it will eventually die down to a 1 v. 1 between Jamie and Ulric. Unless Conal does something stupid. It would be nice to see Conal eat it, but Jamie defeat Ulric. If Jenna Vickers supports Ulric in the field (doubtful), and she dies we could see Ulric and Jamie forced to work together.
Hmm...the possibilities. Great stuff.
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It was decided that the Circle of Equals for the Trial would be in the barren northern mountains of Eden's Noruff continent. This was mostly a matter of convenience since the Defenders were already stationed on Eden and could readily move up there, waiting for the arrival of the Third Battle Cluster.
A relatively balanced force, the 'Silver Devils' comprised three OmniMech trinaries covering every weight class, a command supernova and a binary of aerospace fighters. One of the most elite Clusters in Clan Wolf's touman, they were proud to be led by their Khan but were aware that they were up against an unknown force in the case of the Wolf Dragoons - their only information was that the Cluster had been re-equipped with 'Mechs and fighters from the recently disbanded Thirty-Seventh Striker Cluster and were presumably without Elementals. Although better understood, Vlad Dinour's Fourth 'Red Death' Striker Cluster were certainly not a unit to take lightly, albeit an unconventional force with five trinaries that mixed Elementals, OmniMechs and Aerospace Fighters in equal proportions.
The trial started, not on Eden but above it. The five dropships carrying the 'Silver Devils' were entering orbit when they were intercepted by all eight stars of aerospace fighters, preceded only barely by a reminder that safcon had neither been requested nor agreed. Outnumbered four to one, the Warden fighter binary fought bravely, bringing down more than their number of enemy pilots, but were unable to prevent the destruction of the dropship Scorcher with the Cluster's Striker Trinary aboard. The surviving three transports ran for the atmosphere, executing an impromptu orbital drop of the surviving members of the Cluster under the cover of the last fighters and the assault dropship Demon Cage. Both the Demon Cage and the Union-class Sulphur took serious damage, forcing them out of action before the remaining Crusader aerospace assets broke off to provide ground support.
Being scattered across half the combat zone did as much to help as it did hinder Ulric's forces. While half of his command binary was rolled over by the Dragoons' concentrated ground strength and seven other OmniMechs were picked off by air strikes, the rest of his force managed to avoid action. He could also take solace in the fact that the Dragoons had lost most of a Trinary to Command Beta, largely due to unfamiliarity with Elementals. After three days of hasty marching, the Khan had reassembled his forces at a cost of only two further casualties - Elementals who got caught when the Dragoons pounded they area they were trying to move through with artillery. In exchange, a single Dragoon Fenris had been destroyed trying to stalk the remaining Command elements.
The question remained as to where the Red Death were. The Silver Devils had a slight numerical advantage over the Dragoons which should be more than sufficient to destroy them while the rough terrain negated much of the airpower that might otherwise be used against him. It seemed plain that the Dragoons were herding the scattered Third Battle Cluster towards the 37th Strikers so Ulric turned to hit the Dragoons before the two enemy clusters could combine their forces. He made a particular point that the Dragoon leader was a priority target: Jaime Wolf could not plan an invasion if he was dead.
The Silver Devils turned onto the attack at sunset, using the night for cover and then engaging as the Dragoons were moving through a narrow pass. The leading Dragoon trinary was hammered out of the way by the surprise attack but bought barely enough time for the rest of the Cluster to deploy. The surviving Dragoon infantry ignored the closing Elementals, employing inferno SRMs to turn the oncoming Warden 'Mechs into blazing targets for the command group's fire support-configured OmniMechs. Their sacrifice - less than a third of the warriors survived - exposed the Third's Battle trinary to devestating firepower and not a single 'Mech managed to break past until the surviving Assault trinary 'Mechs closed in.
Undaunted the Dragoons fought a brilliant holding action. Zellbrigen had fallen away and Jaime Wolf directed his Mechs as individuals, bringing three or four at a time to concentrate their fire upon a single target. However the price of this was that almost inevitably one of those Dragoons would fall. It was a rate of exchange that they could not afford however and as dawn arose, the battle reached a wider section of the pass where Ulric could manoeuvre his forces to surround the remaining four Dragoon Omnimechs.
Before the final attack could begin, Jaime Wolf's Thor fired a salvo of LRMs upwards into the sky, the last loads of his magazines having been loaded with flares. Ulric grasped instantly that this was a signal but it was already too late: the Red Death appeared atop the walls of the pass, having his command caught in a crossfire. To close the trap, aerospace fighters saturated the choke points at either end of the open section of pass with Thunder LRMs.
"Khan Ulric, I offer you hegira."
Ulric's only hope now was to bring Wolf down. He charged in, firing every weapon mounted on his Gargoyle C at the Thor. At the last moment, however, one of the other Dragoon 'BattleMechs - a battered Timberwolf - moved between them, taking the full force of the salvo. The autocannon and lasers tore the heart out of the 'Mech and - unable to eject due to earlier damage - Mechwarrior Mackenzie was burned alive when air coming into contact with his ruptured reactor was superheated.
Having overheated his own 'Mech, Ulric Kerensky was left unable to respond as an enraged Jaime Wolf leapt his Thor forward in a perfectly executed death-from-above attack that crushed the Khan of the Wolves beneath his feet.
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Ulric would not of been that stupid better to work behind the scenes than cripple the entire warden movement. Also by ignoring hegira and attacking jamie Ulric insured the slaughter of his troops and the dishonoring of their codex. Jaime losing his son again oh man harsh.
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Not a matter of being stupid Gabe. I'm sure Ulric correctly weighed his chances of political maneuvering from his post as former Khan. You see this trail was more than a Trail of Refusal it would decide the leadership of the Wolf Clan for years to come. I'm looking forward to more.
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Ulric would not of been that stupid better to work behind the scenes than cripple the entire warden movement.
What exactly do you consider him to have done that would be:
i. stupid?
ii. crippling to the Wardens (who are already politically hamstrung at this moment)?
If you mean Ulric personally leading the troops, I'd point out that with stakes like this he'd want the clan's A-list commander which is almost by definition their Khan, on the battlefield. There's no statement one way or another as to whether he participated in the Trial of Refusal against the canon invasion, but two Ghost Bear Khans certainly did.
Also by ignoring hegira and attacking jamie Ulric insured the slaughter of his troops and the dishonoring of their codex.
Hegira was offered, yes. That in no sense obligates Ulric to accept it. He felt that taking out Jaime would be worth that cost since it would constitute a victory condition: the Grand Council had voted that Jaime could plan an Invasion. No Jaime, no invasion.
By bidding against the motion Ulric was implictly accepting that some or all of the warriors bid might die, himself included. In fact dying in a victorious battle is generally considered a 'good end' for a Clan warrior.
Jaime losing his son again oh man harsh.
"When you seek revenge first dig two graves" is generally optimistic.
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Very nice, looking forward to more now.
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The aftermath of the Trial of Refusal came with a number of consequences.
Firstly, of course, the decision of the Grand Council had been confirmed and it was now accepted that the Invasion was going to be approved.
Secondly, the leadership of Clan Wolf was facing a shake up with four contenders for the office of senior Khan: saKhan Jenna Vickers, former saKhan Cynthia Ward, Delta Galaxy commander Conal Ward and Beta Galaxy commander Garth Radick.
And thirdly the status of the Wolf Dragoons was secured. Although the Cluster had been on the verge of defeat, they had also inflicted heavy casualties upon the Third Battle Cluster, a feat that few Clusters anywhere in Clan Space could have hoped for. While not likely to be regarded as the elite of the Wolf Touman, the survivors - roughly half, although disproportionately few infantry - had unquestionably earned a place in the touman.
Jaime Wolf, now fine-tuning his plans for the Invasion in consultation with senior Crusaders of Clans Steel Viper, Snow Raven and Star Adder was balancing time spent on that against that needed to rebuild the Dragoons. To replace the casualties suffered on Eden he was recruiting a mix of elder warriors and young freeborns, although he also accepted one young bloodnamed named Anton Fetladral who requested a transfer from the Choyer Garrison Cluster, in which Jaime had once served.
Fetladral was an ideal aide in re-acclimatizing the Star Colonel to Clan society, something that could not happen too soon since Jaime was functioning as a close advisor to Lincoln Osis and Yvonne Hazen as they tried to balance the needs of the Crusader coalition against their personal ambitions to be elected ilKhan and also to Conal Ward and Jenna Vickers in the contest of the Khan's throne. Both also felt that they would have a reasonable chance of winning the title of ilKhan with Jaime's help.
On the advice of Fetladral, Jaime pointed out to Conal that he was unlikely to win election against Cynthia Ward as being in opposition to the senior member of House Ward would damage his standing. However by throwing his support to Garth Radick or Jenna Vickers, Conal could position himself to be a likely successor at a later date. Unwilling to take second place to Radick, his former protege, Conal elected to throw his support to Vickers and with the Crusaders clearly in ascendance, Jenna Vickers was confirmed as Khan and successfully pushed through the election of Conal as saKhan. In order to sideline Cynthia, now acting as a rallying point for the Wardens within Clan Wolf, she was appointed commander of Alpha Galaxy and tasked with preparing it to participate in the Invasion.
Matters were settled in a far more savage fashion in the Grand Council. Yvonne Hazen and Lincoln Osis managed to convince the Council to elect an ilKhan as the leader of the invasion. By a narrow margin Hazen was elected, only to be challenged by Osis to a Trial of Refusal which the Smoke Jaguar Khan won. However, his blatant desire for the post led to his own failure to secure a majority. Realising that her own chances were no better, Jenna Vickers elected to reward the Nova Cats for their change of heart and nominated their Khan, Sevren Leroux, to lead the Invasion. Leroux accepted the opportunity gladly and was confirmed by an substantial majority of every Crusader Khan save for Osis who abstained.
With that decided, the Grand Council were about to disperse until the two vacated seats could be filled but the Khans of Clan Burrock took the opportunity to launch a sudden attack upon Clan Blood Spirits, whose Khans had belatedly arrived on Strana Mechty in response to frantic messages from their Fire Mandrill and Snow Raven allies. The Burrocks asserted that the Blood Spirits withdrawal from Clan Society and failure to participate in such a crucial matter as the decision to Invade, had failed to meet their basic obligations to the other Clans and therefore should be Absorped by another Clan in order that their resources would be available for the Invasion.
Understandably, the Blood Spirits did not respond well and had to be phsyically restrained from assaulting Khan Bart Polczyk. The newly elected ilKhan called for an immediate vote (which condemned the Blood Spirits by a landslide) and then declared that to avoid the waste of resources in a lengthy trial that the Blood Spirit Khans would be allowed to fight an immediate Trial of Refusal against the Khans who had voted against them.
The resultant bidding to participate, with the implied opportunity to absorb the Blood Spirits, pitted the pair against the Khans of Clan Coyote and Clan Burrock. Khan Polczyk was granted the right to choose how the fight would take place and selected unaugmented. In response, the young Blood Spirit saKhan Karianna Schmitt selected the roof of the Hall of Khans. Five minutes of desperate scrambling across the gothic spires of the Hall left sent four Khans tumbling to their deaths and Bart Polczyk sprawled with a broken back upon one balcony, Khan Schmitt declining to end his shame by killing him.
The Grand Council reconvened on January 2, 3033 with each pair of Khans bringing with them a detailed breakdown of their Clan's strength in preparation for any bidding that might take place. Much to the surprise of the Khans, Wolf's plan included two years of preparation to stockpile supplies and establish waystations in the deep periphery before the Invasion Forces even left the Clan Homeworlds - which would of course have to be followed by a year travelling to the Inner Sphere. However the ambitious scale of the plan was convincing as to the requirements.
Wolf's plan called for forces to be sent by twelve Clans, of which two would act as reserves. In the first stage, four Clans would seize key worlds in the Draconis Combine: Luthien, Galedon, Benjamin and New Samarkand, while four more clans would begin a systematic invasion of the four outlying Prefectures of Pesht District. It was anticipated that this would lead to the DCMS responding in a disorgaised fashion, flinging themselves against the Clans with more concern for the honour of being first to fight the invaders than in amassing sufficient forces to fight effectively.
In the second phase the first four Clans would despatch strike forces towards other important worlds, while the second group would consolidate and take bypassed worlds, leaving a secure expanse of worlds along the Combine's periphery border. Clan civilians would be relocated to these worlds to construct factories that could provide replacement equipment and supplies to the invaders. At the same time, since the MIIO and LIC would no doubte report the Combine's disarray, it was expected that the Federated Commonwealth would move to seize border regions. Therefore two more clans would enter the Inner Sphere, carrying out a series of raids leading from the periphery towards Tharkad and New Avalon respectively, to spread confusion and draw off forces. If possible these forces should seize the two capitals.
The third stage would be to engage AFFS and LCAF troop concentrations that presented themselves. As the Combine constituted the primary adversary of the Fedrated Commonwealth, these would be among the best available troops but they should also have expended supplies and energy fighting for Combine border worlds while their reserves are hopefully trying to defend their capitals. Their destruction would have a crippling effect upon the military capabilities of the two states, but might require commitment of the two reserves given the large number of regiments involved.
The fourth stage of the Invasion would be to seize control of the Terran corridor, including Terra itself. This would cut the Federated Commonwealth in two and deprive it of many valuable industrial worlds. From here, the Clans would need to launch at least three campaigns: one toward Tharkad, a second towards New Avalon and the third towards Atreus. It was expected that each would require three Clans, which would leave one Clan's forces as a reserve against misfortune.
Wolf estimated each stage of the invasion would take approximately six months and that each Clan would require a minimum of three frontline galaxies and an equal number of garrison forces (except for the divisionary attacks of stage two which should have four or even five frontline galaxies but would need very few garrison units. However, knowing Clan bidding practises, he quoted four galaxies of each and recommended that a Naval Star to protect supply lines would be advisable, if not a requirement.
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Wow! More please!
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Since the proposed plan promised that there were very good odds of most clans participating, it was approved by a simple vote. The ilKhan declared that the twelve assignments would be randomised, with the Clans bidding for each in turn.
The first slot to be opened for bidding was a reserve slot and Clans Wolf, Cloud Cobra and Burrock dropped out immediately. Everyone else was willing to make at least some bid, to take the measure of their opposition although most hoped for a better place. The Star Adders and Diamond Sharks bid conservatively and were the next dropped out while Khan Lucien Carn opted the Nova Cats out suddenly and unexpectedly. The Smoke Jaguars then elected to cease bidding, since Osis would certainly not risk being actually placed in reserve and the Jade Falcons, Snow Ravens and Hell's Horses followed this example. Clan Goliath Scorpion also withdrew, followed by the Blood Spirits, the Ice Hellions and the Steel Vipers.
Clan Coyote at this point declared that they had no intention of participating in the Invasion and both newly elected Khans withdrew abruptly from the meeting. The Fire Mandrills ceded the first place to the Ghost Bears who were reasonably content to be held in reserve while the other Clans encountered whatever surprises might await them in the Inner Sphere.
The next option was who would win the right to invade Albiero Prefecture, the most prestigious of the four frontier invasions since its flank would be exposed to any counterattack out of Rasalhague District. Seven clans engaged in a serious bidding war before Clan Diamond Shark secured the position. This was followed by the highly desirable chance to be the only Clan attacking the Federated Suns, with the possible prize of seizing New Avalon. The Nova Cats seemed to be well on their way to winning this before stepping aside, allowing Clan Fire Mandrill to underbid Clan Snow Raven.
After early excitement, the voting for Qandahar prefecture was desultory with Clan Burrock's new Khans able to secure with with relatively little competition over the least risky of the places. This was followed by another difficult and therefore glorious role: the chance to invade the Lyran Commonwealth. After considerable bidding in which Clan Nova Cat and Clan Jade Falcon appeared likely winners, Clan Ice Hellion eventually took the prize with a daringly low bid.
Clan Steel Viper became the second reserve clan and then Luthien, the most desirable target emerged as the next bidding target. The Blood Spirits, Cloud Cobras, Goliath Scorpions and Star Adders were quickly eliminated and Clan Nova Cat also opted out although many thought it would be appropriate to have the ilKhan's Clan invade the capital of the Combine. The Jade Falcons, shamed by the death of Yvonne Hazen, bid poorly and were also eliminated. Khan Jenna Vickers secured the prize by an unmatchable bid: pledging to spearhead the assault on Luthien with garrison clusters and the Wolf Dragoons.
Clan Nova Cat finally secured a place, ending whispering that the ilKhan's Clan were so backward, when they won the right to invade Galedon, the place from which the despised Grieg Samonov had waged a vicious smear campaign against the Dragoons. Clan Cloud Cobra appeared very likely to gain the right to seize Bjarred Prefecture before their Khans came to their senses and realised they were already straining to hold the Tanite Worlds and were Wardens besides that. They dropped out, making no further bids and Clan Star Adder accepted their victory with equanmity.
With only three more places open and six Clans bidding on them, the contests grew extremely fierce. Ningxia's only merit was as a last chance to participate but New Samarkand, as the jump-off point for the Exodus was highly prized and Benjamin would be the closest of any target to Terra itself. The Goliath Scorpions, with their historical focus, bid perilously low for the right to take New Samarkand and the Smoke Jaguars only very narrowly outbid Clan Jade Falcon for the privilege of Benjamin.
Before bidding could begin on the last place in the invasion, Khan Elias Crichell of the Jade Falcons suggested that the last place in the invasion force be decided by a grand melee. ilKhan Leroux agreed that this would be suitable and two points each from Clans Blood Spirit, Hell's Horses, Jade Falcon and Snow Raven faced off in a training field outside Katyusha. Fighting on the ground disadvantaged the Snow Ravens who were quickly torn down by Khan Schmitt and Lair Seidman, saKhan of the Hells Horses. Kael Pershaw and his protege Vandervahn Chistu held back and allowed Blood Spirit and Hell's Horse to weaken each other, each Khan defeating a mechwarrior of the other Clan, before closing in suddenly and inflicting crippling damage upon the two Khan's Mechs. Schmitt survived but Lair Seidmann was killed immediately when a shot from Pershaw's PPC decapitated his Kingfisher.
Elias Crichell rewarded Pershaw by nominating him to command their Clan's premiere assault force: Gamma Galaxy, sometimes called the Jade Falcon Galaxy. It was plain that he was grooming the relatively young warrior, whose career had previously stalled when his patron Sejanus Buhallin was defeated by Crichell to become saKhan. This proved a political embarassment when a supposedly freeborn Star Commander petitioned to compete for a vacated Pryde bloodheritage, claiming to be a trueborn warrior inserted into a freeborn sibko by Pershaw after failing his offical trial of position.
The evidence was overwhelming, particularly as Jorge, AKA Aidan, failed to conveniently die in the Trial of Bloodright and instead won a bloodname. The blot was finally hidden, if not forgotten, when Jaime Wolf elected to launch a Trial of Possession for both Pershaw and Pryde's blood heritages. Almost no Jade Falcons were willing to fight for the duo and Anton Fetladral was able to secure both as bondsmen, along with five other Jade Falcon mechwarriors in the resulting Trial.
This scandal was only the slightest of distractions as the warrior caste of most Clans were heavily engaged in preparing for the invasion. Vast quantities of munitions and spare parts were built up and Clan Snow Raven were able to take some consolation in being contracted by the Grand Council to use their fleet to seek out suitable worlds to use as stepping stones between the Homeworlds and the Inner Sphere.
It was one of these expeditions that shed the first blood of the Invasion. In May 3034 the Snow Raven warship Avalanche located Inner Sphere forces making use of a Star League facility in the Epsilon Pegasus system. Judging that the risk of this being used as a staging ground to raid Clan supply lines more serious than the risk of being identified, Star Commodore Hermione Lankenau used the pirate jump point between the fourth planet and its small moon to launch a surprise attack. Within moments, Snow Raven aerospace fighters disabled three jumpships and the Avalanche destroyed the ground base's HPG via orbital bombardment before landing Elementals to take control of the facilities.
The base turned out to be regional headquarters for ComStar's Explorer Corps and Lankenau had obtained hundreds of prisoners as well as intelligence on events taking place since the Dragoon's departure from the Inner Sphere three years previously. After several weeks of exploring the site and gathering all the useful information that they could, the Snow Ravens utilised a thermobaric warhead to destroy the administrative facilties and inflicted sufficent damage on the docks to prevent their use without time-consuming repairs - thus leaving the opportunity to restore them at a later date.
All ComStar vessels in the system were taken back to Clan space under guard and thus the Snow Ravens were reasonably confident that the ComStar would not be able to learn of the attack from investigation of the site. Their caution was recognised and approved by ilKhan Leroux and the Grand Council but was in fact insufficient. A single ComStar shuttle had been orbiting the far side of Columbus at the time of the attack and made an emergency landing before they were spotted. Although the occupants were on short rations and had limited information, they did know that they'd been attacked by a warship and they did survive long enough for an Explorer Corps jumpship to arrive and recover them.
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Well ComStar will no doubt be getting their fleet back into service as rapidly as possible.
I wonder if/what they will tell the great houses.
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first things first - ilKhan Severn Lervoux - whiskey-tango-foxtrot - lmao
Then I saw Galedon and almost cried remembering the Jihad this could be a very poor invasion.
Otherwise great stuff
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first things first - ilKhan Severn Lervoux - whiskey-tango-foxtrot - lmao
Then I saw Galedon and almost cried remembering the Jihad this could be a very poor invasion.
Otherwise great stuff
For real. Maybe he'll have a vision of the plague and elect to stay away...
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In the Inner Sphere, all eyes were on Rasalhague, where two months before Haakon Magnusson had made his historic Declaration of Freedom. Due to a secret agreement with Myndo Waterly, even the Draconis Combine had recognised the new Republic. Despite this, many DCMS refused to withdraw and Warlords Vasily Cherenkoff and Marcus Kurita rallied a number of regiments to destroy what they considered to be a rebellion.
Although Theodore Kurita declared these DCMS soldiers to be ronin, it was causing considerable friction with ComStar who had not envisaged this degree of opposition and had expected more worlds to be ceded. Although Theodore needed ComStar's aid in rebuilding the DCMS, he was also benefiting through the destruction of many of his enemies within the Combine by the nascent Kungarme and by his loyal forces. In hope of appeasing Primus Waterly, Theodore met with her on Dieron and in addition to justifying his actions presented her with Frederick Steiner, captured at the height of the Fourth Succession War.
As a close relative of Archon Katrina Steiner and a senior military and political figure of the Commonwealth, Steiner - who now went by the name Anastasius Focht - was a valuable intelligence resource. However he would also, if he could be trusted, be even more useful as an agent of ComStar. Based on previous knowledge of Focht, Primus Waterly believed that she had the perfect inducement: previously he had sought the Archon's throne and if Waterly's plans for ComStar's domination of humanity came to fruition she would be in position to emplace him as ComStar's viceroy on Tharkad. In return she would have have one of the finest military leaders of his generation at the head of her ComGuards.
At first though, Focht was assigned to ROM - partly for an extensive debriefing and also to use him as an analyst, the latter being a test naturally. One of the first matters he was asked to evaluate was the reports from Columbus and he, like the other analysts, came to a grim conclusion. Someone in the Periphery possessed at least one warship and was using it aggressively. While the nature of the warship was unknown, even the most minor of warships would be more than able to devestate the virtually unarmed navies of the Successor States.
ComStar had managed to retain a small number of warships, although most of them were in long term storage and they had only a limited number of personnel to crew them. Focht's recommendations, which Waterly considered carefully, were to reactivate half a dozen warships and use half of them to enhance the security of Terra and train up additional crews while the other three would form a squadron sent out to locate and if necessary destroy the warship responsible for the Columbus attack.
Given the precedent of the White Wings incident, the plan is approved with the addition of Waterly ordering a complete review of the readiness of Terra's SDS and proposals for its improvement. Four Essex-class destroyers are marked for reactivation (Deliverance, Hammerstrike, Deathblow and Defender of Versailles) and also two Congress-class frigates (Cleansing Fire and Hollings York). Funds were also set aside for the construction of two more Dante-class frigates at Titan. Waterly rejected the idea of sending Focht - still an untested quantity - to the Periphery but she did cut short his time with ROM and despatch him to Sandhurst as part of an expansion that would double class sizes there from 3035 onwards.
More than a thousand light years away, the Khans of Clan Snow Raven were looking at disquieting reports of their own. The Tanite Worlds, fifty light years closer to the Inner Sphere than the Pentagon, had been a natural stepping stone but their warriors had found that although the worlds were notionally under the control of the Cloud Cobras (and garrisoned by Clan Burrock) that they were not being governed in accordance with Clan law.
The break they needed came when a jumpship IFF in the system was positively identified as being that of a Cloud Cobra vessel that had been contracted to the Steel Vipers in the Kerensky Cluster. This could only mean that it was a bandit caste ship. Further investigation suggested - but did not prove - that the Burrock garrison was aware of this deception. The Khans knew that it was their duty to report this to the Grand Council, but they also knew that it was best to do so in a way that would benefit their Clan.
Eventually they decided that the best way to exploit the situation was wait until Clan Burrock's best forces were embarked from the Invasion. In deep space, hundreds of light years from their homeworlds the Burrock Touman would be highly vulnerable. However, there was every possibility that the Cloud Cobras could also be complicit, in which case they would support the Burrocks rather than be exposed themselves. With the Cloud Cobras as one of the more aerospace-orientated Clans, Khan Rua Magnus decided that this offered the possibility of eliminating them as well. However, to bring about the fall of two Clans would require the military power of more than one Clan's touman. Fortunately, the Snow Ravens had a potential ally not involved in the Invasion who might be willing to assist them...
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Oh this is great
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On 6 November 3034, following from the Exodus Day celebrations all across the Clan Homeworlds, ilKhan Sevren Leroux led the Invasion Armada away from Strana Mechty. All thirty-five Khans, along with scores of the most distinguished warriors of the Clans had dined with the ilKhan the night before and there had been visible tension between the ten Khans who would not be participating and their peers.
Ironically, ComStar's new 'Second Warship Squadron' left the Titan yards the same day. CSS Deliverance and Deathblow engaged in simulated attacks upon their flagship CSS Hollings York as the little force made transit to a safe jump distance.
Although the hundreds of jumpships from the Kerensky Cluster made their way to the Pentagon as a single convoy, for reasons of logistics they seperated into clan contingents over the five worlds as they were joined by latecomers. Each convoy was equipped with hundreds of HPG buoys to leave in remote star systems or even in the interstellar void once they left their final jump off points. The Snow Ravens had seeded the principal routes back to the Inner Sphere with these buoys over the last two years, providing a network of interstellar communications that would allow the Grand Council to confer during the Invasion.
Rather than fighting alongside Clan Nova Cat, Sevren Leroux had elected to travel alongside Clan Wolf and particularly with Jaime Wolf. The two were of a similar age and had struck up a friendship that was in someways akin to that Wolf had shared with Minobu Tetsuhara. Thus it was the Wolf Clan troop cruiser Full Moon that Rua Magnus rendevoused with, two months out from the Tanite Worlds. The Snow Raven Khan laid out carefully the evidence amassed against the Burrocks and the extrapolation from which they and the Cloud Cobras were accused of conspiracy against the Law of Kerensky, said conspiracy continuing even though - given the invasion - the Clans were at war.
While the evidence was horrifying, Jaime Wolf was less than surprised - it wasn't as if the hiring of pirates by a government to carry out deniable attacks was unheard of in the Inner Sphere. To the ilKhan it was a shocking breach of Clan law and he ordered an immediate kurultai so that these accusations could be placed before the Khans. Inflamed with anger at these charges, every other Khan agreed to condemn the two Clans to Absorption, with all guilty parties and their genetic heritages to be annihilated. Before bidding began, ilKhan Leroux also declared that the Burrocks, even if they succeeded in a Trial of Refusal were to surrender their invasion zone to Clan Ghost Bear. If the Burrocks exonerated themselves then they would stand in reserve. If not, another clan would have the opportunity to join the Invasion's reserves.
Pre-alerted the Snow Ravens then argued that the other Invading Clans should not waste their warriors and supplies in fighting the Burrocks. They and the other Home Clans would handle the matter. While the Hells Horses and Coyotes each bid essentially their whole touman for the Absorption, the Snow Ravens and Blood Spirits had constructed a careful joint bid with Snow Raven assets contracted to the Blood Spirits in return for substantial assets from the two Absorbed Clans. The difference was so evident that they were awarded the right of Absorption by the Grand Council.
Within an hour, the well prepared Blood Spirit Alpha and Omega Galaxies had landed on the Cloud Cobra capital of Homer while Omicron Galaxy, backed by Snow Raven air power, was advancing upon the Cobra's Brim enclaves. For the moment, Burrock Garrison forces on Albion, Dagda and Hoard were subject only to a naval blockade as the Cloud Cobra's best were exposed to sudden and furious assaults.
In the same timeframe a Naval Star of Snow Raven warships - two battleships and three cruisers - engaged the Burrock convoy. Although equal in number the Burrock warships were far smaller ships and the crews were not equal to the crack Snow Raven squadron that reduced all five to wreckage (in exchange for the crippling of the cruiser Black Justice and repairable damage to the other warships) before turning their guns on Burrock transport dropships. Expecting a boarding action rather than this ruthless bombardment almost a third of the Burrock touman was exterminated before the last surviving Galaxy Commander offered an unconditional surrender.
Within days, the Cloud Cobra Gamma and Zeta Galaxies had been functionally destroyed, while Delta Galaxy, after only token resistance, surrendered to the Blood Spirits. Alpha Galaxy, although savaged, managed to make a fighting retreat: heading for Babylon to join forces with Epsilon Galaxy. Satisfied for now, the Blood Spirits began what was intended as a rapid reduction of Burrock enclaves on Albion and Homer only to fight that their long-time rivals put up a fervent resistance. Karianna Schmitt considered bringing in more Snow Raven support but instead encouraged them to strike at Babylon and Dagda while using the newly acquired Delta Galaxy to suppress defenses on first Homer and then Albion.
On Dagda the Burrocks elected to surrender to the Snow Ravens, disgusted with their leaders' crimes (which they had now found ample evidence of) and sure that the Blood Spirits would slaughter every member of every Burrock caste. Over Babylon, the Cloud Cobra fleet put up a spirited resistance, buying time for the majority of the Cloud Cobra's remaining warriors and support staff to escape, taking with them the collected libraries of most of the Cloisters. The surviving Anasaz cloister elected not to join this retreat, instead bargaining with the Snow Ravens for the opportunity to be absorbed by the Blood Spirits.
Although the Snow Ravens attempted to trap the fleeing Cloud Cobra warriors at Tanis, the convoy did not appear them. Once it became apparent that the trap would remain empty, Snow Raven warriors landed and began the slow and expensive process of subduing Tanite resistance, a campaign that would eventually leave more than half of the Tanites dead and many survivors sterilized.
Overall the Absorption was considered a great success for the two Clans. The Blood Spirits were able to replenish their losses from the Anasaz and other Cloud Cobra abtakha, as well as adding Delta Galaxy to their ranks. Per previous agreement the genetic stock from each targeted clan was divided evenly, with the Blood Spirits taking first pick from the Burrocks (most of which they summarily destroyed), and the Blood Spirits received control over Albion and most of Homer, the latter making the Steel Vipers nervous about holding onto their enclaves there.
The Snow Ravens had first pick of Cloud Cobra genetic stock and took the Tanite worlds along with potentially lucerative holdings on Babylon, Dagda, Hoard and Brim. While the Cloud Cobra fleet was no use for anything but salvage, much of the Burrock fleet was counted among the Snow Raven isorla (two Lola III-class destroyers were claimed by the Blood Spirits). More importantly, by absorbing thousands of Burrock warriors the Snow Ravens now gained a powerful ground force. Their equipment was sufficient to fully equip Gamma and Kappa Galaxies as frontline galaxies and the surplus hardware and Burrock warriors have been used to add three new Galaxies for use as garrison forces.
With the Blood Spirits and Snow Ravens engaged in Absorption and then their recovery, the Hells Horses were uncontested in claiming the open reserve slot in the Invasion Force. IlKhan Leroux ordered a two week delay in beginning the invasion in order to give the Hells Horses more time to prepare forces (although they would inevitably not arrive until fighting had begun) and further insisted that the Snow Ravens must provide shipping assistance to them. In order to reduce grumbling, Jaime Wolf suggested that Clan Steel Viper could seize Port Krin on the original invasion date to gather more current intelligence on the state of the Inner Sphere. Keen to get some early action, the Steel Vipers agreed enthusiastically.
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Wow two clans gone :o
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So long, farewell.
Nice to see the Blood Spirits get a "second chance" here. Also very nice to see the Ravens doing well. Great stuff here. Keep it coming.
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Indeed interesting stuff
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Although the Steel Vipers were quick to boast that they would be the first Invading Clan to fight against the Inner Sphere (taking liberties with the exact location of Port Krin and ignoring Clan Snow Raven's battle for Columbus Base), they would in fact be cheated of this privilege. While the eleven remaining Clans of the Invasion force were scattering to their jumping off points, Clan Hells Horse were rushing to catch up. Rather than sending a single massed force, they had broken their forces into five convoys, each despatched as rapidly as it could be assembled, escorted by only a single warship.
They were also cutting corners on the route and risked passing near the Epsilon Pegasus system, which the main invasion force had pointedly avoided in case they ran into anyone looking for the inhabitants of the former base. While the Hells Horses weren't reckless enough to visit the system themselves, the convoy carrying Delta Galaxy and elements of a hastily organised Gamma Galaxy did enter a system containing an Explorer Corps automated observation station.
Even worse, they did so only four days after Precentor Oddell's three-ship squadron had jumped into a system only seventeen light years away. When Oddell realised that the convoy was using comm procedures almost identical to those of the destroyers of Columbus he transferred from his flagship (unlike the clan-refit Congress Bucephalus that was escorting the Hells Horse force, CSS Hollings York did not have a lithium-fusion battery) to CSS Deathblow and jumped the convoy with both destroyers.
Although the ComStar ships had the advantage of numbers and surprise, the Bucephalus was a considerably more formidable vessel and the crew were unmistakeably more experienced. Although the Hells Horse ship was battered heavily it managed to destroy the Deliverance and force the Deathblow away from the convoy with one shot having torn open the bridge and killed Precentor Oddell and the command crew. Demi-Precentor Alain Beresick, the senior officer left aboard CSS Hollings York ordered the jump-core of the frigate hot-charged from its reactor and jumped into the system with guns blazing. The first salvo tore the already damaged starboard side of Bucephalus open like a tin can, reducing the once-proud frigate to a drifting hulk with no option but abject surrender.
The Hollings York had suffered no casualties aside from Beresick's black eye (the chief engineer had strongly objected to hot-charging the drives andwas very fortunate to get away with confinement to her quarters until after the battle). However, noen of the other three warships were in a fit state for anything, including jumping. Taking aboard the surviving crew of the Deathblow allowed for small prize crews to take over the command decks of the Hells Horse jumpships. While these crews were wholly insufficient to control Clan Warriors (or even a single one of the hundreds of Elementals being transported) the presence of the Hollings York was enough to ensure that their directions were obeyed since Galaxy Commander James Ravenwater had concluded that Beresick had deliberately expended the two destroyers to wear down the Bucephalus down and lure it into position for his attack. He therefore had no doubt at all that the ComGuards officer would destroy a jumpship with no regard for the prize crew aboard and was unwilling to pointlessly sacrifice the lives of his warriors.
From Ravenswater, Beresick learned that this convoy was only one small part of a vast Invasion force but little else as the trueborn warrior was highly resistant to the chemical interrogation techniques at ComStar's disposal and information could only be gained from him through trickery. Fortunately the technicans and labourers who made up much of the ship crews in the convoy were far more talkative and while few knew very much, Beresick was able to build up a rough picture of the storm about to hit the Draconis Combine.
Even as the HPG stations began to relay Beresick's warning back to Terra - with painful slowness since each transmitted only once every fifty hours in order to spare wear and tear - the Steel Viper touman began to jump into the Antallos system.
The intial reaction on the planet was blithe ignorance on the part of states no longer able to draw any useful information from the skies above and an assumption that the Draconis Combine was making one of their periodic shows of force in the region. Most of the elite of the planet were more concerned about finding hiding places for their wealth than they were with mounting a unified defense. The handful of pirates that knew that they had high enough prices on their heads to be in real trouble managed to put a number of aerospace fighters in the sky. All they got back was panicked screaming about giant spaceships before every last fighter was destroyed.
Radio signals were enough for the Steel Vipers to idenfity population centres and small forces dropped on everywhere that seemed remotely significant, engaging the warbands of local strongmen and pirates with equal force. Both groups were far more familiar with obtaining submission from lightly armed infantry than with fighting a serious military force and several of the less civilized groups were still bleating that Elementals were demons when they were overrun.
Not all the defenders were so easily dealt with however. Those veterans familiar with the actions of House Kurita in punitive expeditions reacted the same way: run, avoid action where possible and never ever fight fair. Those who were wise abandoned wealth and property in favour of protecting their lives: while those hoping that the invaders would be diverted by capturing material wealth, some were sufficently lightly burdened to go to ground.
By the dawn of the second day, Antallos was the property of Clan Steel Viper. Port Krin, which had risen to prominence on the back of slavery, was burned to the ground by the Vipers as an object lesson. Foresightedly the Khans of Clan Steel Viper began remaking the world's cities in the shape of Clan enclaves and it's society into the rigid caste system that they were familiar with. While unquestionably brutal tyranny by the standards of most worlds, it was a drastic improvement for most of the people of Antallos and since it was the only world that their Clan would be able to lay claim on for quite some time, the Steel Vipers had every reason to do whatever they had to in order to make the transformation work.
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Nice chapter, I like Bersick earning his promotion to Precentor (I'd hope) and giving the Clans a bloody nose very early on.
When the Clans learn of the ComGuard's full WarShip fleet (which I assume Jamie Wolf wasn't entirely aware of) this will turn very bloody.
Also typical Clan way of dealing with Port Krin very nice >:)
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I'm surprised the Galaxy didn't launch fighters and wreck the remaining ComStar vessel. It'd be poorly armed to face Clan Aerospace Fighters. Still loving this.
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The Clan Commander should be executed for stupidity. Good story so far
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When the Clans learn of the ComGuard's full WarShip fleet (which I assume Jamie Wolf wasn't entirely aware of) this will turn very bloody.
When will they learn it?
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Although the first step had been taken, it would be two more weeks before the Clans invaded the Inner Sphere. Jaime Wolf and several members of the Grand Council were heavily engaged in evaluating the impact that the existence of an independent Rasalhague and of the ongoing Andurien War would have on their plans. Many of the other Khans were far more interested in the shifting political landscape following the Absorption of the Burrocks and the Cloud Cobras, both inside the Grand Council and inside the Clan Council of the victorious Snow Ravens (the workings of the insular Blood Spirit Clan Council were opaque to everyone).
Meanwhile on Terra, the First Circuit was aghast at the report arriving from Beresick. The notion that a huge army and fleet was about to descend from the Periphery was bad enough but the notion that their technology was in advance of that of the Star League was anathema to the leaders of ComStar. Serious consideration was given to the notion that the relatively junior Beresick must surely be mistaken, but as Myndo Waterly pointed out, the facts would soon be confirmed.
Assuming for the moment that the report was accurate the salient points, in the Primus opinion, were: that the Star League Defense Force had survived and their descendants were intent on the conquest of the Inner Sphere; that they were shortly to invade the Draconis Combine; that they fully intended to capture Terra; and that Jaime Wolf was their leader (the celebrity of Wolf obscured his relatively low rank in the eyes of the Clan civilians interrogated at this point). The only question was whether to stand for them, or against them. With Jaime Wolf, a persistant problem for ComStar over the last few decades and known to hold them in low regard, at their head this was no question at all for Waterly who ordered Sharilar Mori, her right hand woman, to warn the Coordinator and the Gunji-no-Kanrei at once of the threat.
Waterly's second decision was to summon Anastasius Focht to her side. Could the Combine, she asked, defeat the Clans? Focht, who had already been involved in the analysis, replied that only in the most optimistic of cases (that the Clan numbers were overstated and their technology far less advanced) could the Combine triumph and that at extraordinary difficulty due to the need to protect their other borders from the Federated Commonwealth. More probably the Combine would be destroyed completely and might, at best, buy the rest of the Inner Sphere time to rally. He also pointed out that the only military force that might be able to stop the Inner Sphere was the Federated Commonwealth's armies.
To Waterly this was unacceptable but she knew that Focht was the finest military mind available to her. On this basis she decided upon her strategy: the Federated Commonwealth must be convinced to reinforce the DCMS and slow the oncoming juggernaut. Once the Clans were weakened and more importantly understood, a force made up of the ComGuards and of troops extorted from the Free Worlds League and if possible other small states would be assembled under Focht's leadership to save the Inner Sphere... and to then seize control of it from the war weary Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine.
Little of this would be shared with others however. Instead she appointed Focht as Precentor Martial of the ComGuards and ordered him to proceed with all possible speed in their expansion and preparation to face the Clans in battle. He was given carte blanche to use whatever stockpiles and factories remained from those used by the SLDF and a budget that was to all practical purposes unlimited. Focht's first request was that Beresick be summoned back to Terra with as many of the most co-operative prisoners as possible: not only would the prisoners be invaluable as a source of information but Beresick was literally the only man from the Inner Sphere to win a naval battle in centuries and therefore the obvious choice to lead the ComGuard's fleet. (The fact that a third of ComStar's active fleet had been lost in that battle wasn't something that anyone wanted to dwell upon).
Almost incidentally, ComStar's leadership decided that the Andurien War was an unnecessary distraction. Precentor Atreus was directed to offer Duncan Marik the complete Interdiction of the rebellious province in return for a pledge of military support. The fact that ComStar's famed neutrality would be publically cast aside does not appear to have crossed the Primus' mind.
This left the troubling matter of how to convince Hanse Davion and Katrina Steiner to help rather than hinder their great enemy. Before Waterly could come to any conclusion on this matter, news arrived from the Draconis Combine: first the last message of the Port Krin HPG compound that it was being overrun by soldiers bearing 'Snake' markings. On 24 December 3035, pirate jump points over almost a dozen worlds marked the arrival of the Clans.
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I imagine the Port Krin HPG's Comstar staff scorched earthed their own HPG when the Clans (Not caring about Comstar's neutrality) turned up to seize it?
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Just an ever so minor edit, "Waterly's second decision was to summon Anastasius Focht to her side. Could the Combine, she asked, defeat the Clans? Focht, who had already been involved in the analysis, replied that only in the most optimistic of cases (that the Clan numbers were overstated and their technology far less advanced) could the Combine triumph and that at extraordinary difficulty due to the need to protect their other borders from the Federated Commonwealth. More probably the Combine would be destroyed completely and might, at best, buy the rest of the Inner Sphere time to rally. He also pointed out that the only military force that might be able to stop the Inner Sphere(?) was the Federated Commonwealth's armies."
Did you mean Invasion?, or maybe the Clans?
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XaosGorilla:
actually that phrase should be 'save the Inner Sphere'.
Thanks for the catch.
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If I was Hanse I'd let the Combine burn
Thinking seriously as Hanse none of my worlds are threatened my military is brand-new i have 2 areas in my realm (draconis march and tamar march not to mention Skye) that are going to be doing cartwheels in the street watching the Combine die. And I have arguably the best intelligence and R&D in the Inner Sphere.
I'm going to spend the next year watching my greatest enemy die maybe try to seize Dieron for myself securely surround Terra.
Otherwise I'm going to learn about the Clans send mercs or Rabid Fox teams in capture what we can for minimal loss.
I'm going to turn the Draconis March into a minefield fortify everything
Hanse Davion was a smart man nothing ComStar could offer him could make him help the combine with no FedCom citizen threatened
Otherwise nice stuff from ComStar typical waterly not having a clue focht seeing bersick as a potential ally
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I also thought lending mercs for Luthien was fictional gold, but a little lame considering the situation. Assuming Wolf wasn't a complete &%^ nut he'd have provided rough figures on the size of the Clans, their Toumans and general population to the assembled leaders at the Outreach summit. If I were Hanse, I would have laughed at the fall of Luthien and gotten drunk. But that's just me.
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I would agree there actually, let the Combine burn. Hell, maybe even hope they resort to nukes in the end to kill as many of the enemy for me as possible.
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On Luthien, Takashi Kurita had been highly sceptical of Mori's message until she mentioned Jaime Wolf's name. While the Coordinator's obsession with the mercenary leader had clouded his mind in many ways, the notion that Wolf had returned from his mysterious homeworld and was bound upon vengeance was completely plausible to Takashi. For his own reasons, Theodore Kurita was similarly convinced by the story.
What father and son differed upon was how to respond. Takashi concluded that he personally was a target and ordered that the finest regiments in the Combine be assembled at Luthien for him to lead into battle. Theodore, on the other hand, favoured a mobile campaign by the DCMS battlemech regiments, using local forces to bog down the Clans until their tactics were understood and weaknesses identified. In his view, gathering the best of the DCMS together for a decisive battle was tantamount to throwing them away.
The delicate balance of power between father and son was one that neither wshed to destroy: in theory the Coordinator's power was absolute, but for him to undermine the man who was not only the heir but the person he had handpicked to command his armies would be a political disaster. Teh final decision was a compromise: Theodore ordered many of the most traditionalist regiments, units that were for the most part more loyal to Takashi than to himself, to Luthien. However his own picked force would proceed according to his own strategy.
Ultimately the decison was moot: hardly any forces were in motion before Clan Wolf descended upon Luthien. Arguably the most important action taken by either man was Theodore ordering his wife and children to depart for Dieron. He also gave Tomoe Sakade his signed authority to act as regent to their son Hohiro if the worst came to the worst.
Christmas celebrations across the Combine, clandestine on many worlds, sputtered to a halt as martial law was proclaimed. By the time that Clan Wolf's forces had reached orbit and were preparing to land, word was already arriving from other targets. The Goliath Scorpions had had no difficulty in destroying the Fifth Galedon Regulars on New Samarkand, although they had yet to root out the ISF headquarters with its exotic defenses (orbital bombardment was called in after ISF agents carried out acts of terrorism against Scorpion-occupied facilities).
On nearby Galedon, the Third Prosperina Hussars and Second An Ting Legion, two of the finest regiments in the DCMS, managed to cause some initial confusion for the Nova Cats, who were discomfited by the Hussar's hit and run attacks and the Legion's preference for engaging multiple targets. Rather than act rashly, the Nova Cats maintained their own adherence to zellbrigen and relied on their individual superiority to cripple individual 'Mechs and then finish them off while others escaped. The Hussars, shamed by this behaviour, fought a conventional battle near the Cabra Dulce Memorial Site and were destroyed although many of the survivors were taken as bondsmen. The more pragmatic An Ting Legion fled the Galedon.
Although the Smoke Jaguars had expected to find strong defenders on Benjamin they were surprised to find not only the Seventeenth Benjamin Regulars but also two Ghost Regiments, whose very existence was unknown to them. Alpha Galaxy, which had won the right to spearhead the invasion, reacted with typical ferocity and pursued the defenders into the streets of Deber City, causing enormous collateral damage. Upon accepting the surrender of the remaining DCMS regiments the Jaguars permitted the Colonel of the Regulars to commit seppuku but, drawing a plausible but incorrect conclusion, executed all surviving Ghost warriors as mercenaries.
There were many other attacks in this period - the Diamond Sharks, Ghost Bears and Star Adders hit a total of seven worlds on schedule, none protected by more than local forces that they ran down with great ease. To the embarassment of the Jade Falcons they were running a day behind but were able to cover this by pointing out that one of the three worlds they hit, Land's End, was garrisoned by the Seventh Pesht Regulars. Like most of the Pesht Regulars, the regiment was a low priority for supplies and many soldiers were inexperienced graduates from minor academies gaining field experience. While many fought bravely, they were torn to shreds trying to charge in to close quarters.
Clan Wolf's bid for Luthien itself had been known for quite some time: the Wolf Dragoons and the four secondline garrisons of Epsilon Galaxy. In defense of the Combine's capital were the usual forces of four regular regiments, currently the Otomo, two of the Sword of Light regiments and the First Genyosha. In addition a regiment of the Shin Legion - an expatriate unit that had served House Liao until they fell afoul of Romano Liao - had been en route to Pesht and was able to divert to Luthien.
Jaime Wolf had issued a formal challenge, stating his own forces which the DCMS command deemed to be equivalent to five regiments. Takashi elected to reply, quoting the Second Shin Legion as part of his force. In a gentlemanly fashion, Wolf agreed that the Shin Legion would be allowed to land without interception if the Combine agreed to allow his own forces to make an unopposed landing on the Tairakana Plains. In order to limit collateral damage, both sides agreed to restrict their troops to the Kadoguchi Valley that lay between the plains and the Imperial City.
The resulting setpiece battle would have inevitably have favoured Clan Wolf even if the Combine hadn't been suffering from a divided command. Takashi Kurita had insisted on being placed in command of the second of the two Combine lines while Theodore led the forward line that would be expected to blunt the initial Clan advance and then fall back upon Takashi's fresh forces for the decisive clash. Instead, the Coordinator ordered his three regiments forwards as soon as he realised that the Genyosha, Shin Legion and the supporting armour regiments were heavily engaged.
The resultant engagement was a chaotic one that raged for most of a day. BattleROMs from surviving Combine forces confirmed that the Coordinator's Battlemaster engaged three Wolf battlemechs in succession, defeating first a Shadow Hawk and then a Griffin. In the process, however, the assault 'Mech had taken serious damage. The third 'Mech was a SLDF-era Archer refitted with Clan missile systems: unique amoung the invasion force and evidently the command 'Mech of the Wolf Dragoons. The first salvo from Wolf tore through weakened armour and inflicted devestating damage upon the reactor shielding and the ammunition bins inside the torso.
Takashi Kurita's death was confirmed, along with over a hundred DMCS mechwarriors. Almsot three hundred more were captured or simply unaccounted for, the latter case including the Gunji-no-Kanrei. Survivors, forming up around two battalions of the Seventh Sword of Light - the largest intact body of troops remaining, fell back towards the Imperial City. With significant losses, the Clan forces allowed them two hours while they re-organised before resuming a rapid march after the DCMS.
Seeing defeat on the horizon and without the Coordinator or Gunji-no-Kanrei to lead them, the remaining regiments had difficulty establishing a new strategy. With Clan battlemechs almost in sight, the remaining officers finally agreed to obey the orders of Tai-sa Kiyomori Minamoto of the Seventh Sword of Light, who instructed all officers to form a line on him, to form a last line of the defense so that it could not be said that any DCMS officer had declined to defend Luthien. The other mechwarriors were to retreat to the Imperial City's spaceport and escape if possible to continue to fight for the Combine.
Although Conal Ward pressed Khan Jenna Vickers to destroy the escaping dropships but she declined to do so as it would require the use of aerospace assets not bid in the invasion. Not one of Minamoto's force survived their last stand.
On 1 January 3036 the banners of Clan Wolf were raised above House Kurita's Imperial Palace. That night ilKhan Sevren Leroux woke from his sleep with a sudden conviction that Khan Lucien Carns of the Nova Cats was dead.
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Any details on Khan Carns' death?
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Interesting also Servern Lervoux convinced Carns is dead doesn't mean he's dead could be a vision which normally means... Trouble
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Once the ilKhan's fears were assuaged via HPG communication, the Grand Council took stock. Overall the attacks were going very well with most of the initial targets taken quite quickly and the Combine's leadership at least momentarily eliminated. Losses were also higher than most had expected although the most severe losses had been to Clan Wolf - something that no one was surprised by, since the troops involved were secondline.
Under the circumstances there was enthusiasm for the Goliath Scorpions, Smoke Jaguars, Nova Cats and Wolves to expand their holdings faster than originally planned. Subduing the key worlds had been expected to take months but it now seemed that major resistance had collapsed and that garrisons, albeit substantial ones, would suffice. In addition, enormous quantities of intelligence data had been obtained, some of which would become outdated and there was a great desire make use of it while it remained fresh.
By the end of January, Goliath Scorpion forces had reached Bad News on the border with the Outworlds Alliance, having left Clusters behind to seize Pondicherry, Tabayama and Ziatousi. The Nineteenth Galedon Regulars, having neglected by the Draconian high command for years had long supplemented their supplies through raids into the Outworlds Alliance and their reaction to the arrival of the Clans was pragmatic: those forces on world boarded dropships and fled across the border to regroup with companies raiding Quentraine and Risin.
Pushing through the sparsely settled Ningxia prefecture, Clan Jade Falcon took three more worlds, allowing a secondline cluster to seize Enig in Tabayama Prefecture in order to prevent Clan Steel Viper from opportunistically using it to threaten their rear at a later date. Clan Ghost Bear didn't need to go looking for DCMS units: the Sixth and Tenth Pesht Regulars had been bypassed earlier and now attacked Hartshill and Salford to try to retake them from the invaders. The Ghost Bears allowed them to land and then crushed them, assigning one Galaxy to retake their base worlds while the others conquered Ad Duwayd and Slaithwaite.
Clan Star Adder hit the prefecture capital of Bjarred and found that the Fourth Pesht Regulars were barely better than militia. The DCMS unit broke under the hammerblow of Star Adder heavy and assult OmniMechs but hunting down survivors took considerable time. Embarassed by their slow showing, the Khans planned an ambitious wave of attacks as soon as their logistics caught up. The Diamond Sharks found themselves fighting on a worlds they had thought was secured when they discovered that the Ninth Pesht Regulars had been on manoeuvres on the northern continent of Schwartz. With frontline clusters fighting on Turtle Bay, Almunge and Coudoux, suppressing the Ninth was left to garrison forces which conducted themselves well.
The Sharks also began to survey Brocchi's Cluster, impressed by the potential riches there. In general all the Clans found their new conquests - even relatively poor planets in backwater regions - to be startlingly wealthy in contrast to their Homeworlds. Clan Wolf faced the most extreme example of this: rather than trying to seize additional worlds Khan Vickers had clusters fan out over Luthien to take control over the many valuable factories, military facilities and research installations.
Luthien Carns ordered ambitious attacks, claiming to be inspired by dreams of a Nova Cat clawing at an ailing Dragon. Nova Cat seized five worlds fanning out from Galedon, moving away from Galedon. The Khan did maintain a reserve on Galedon as it seemed likely that DCMS forces would move to try to retake the world. In contrast the Smoke Jaguars seized Fukuroi, using it as a springboard to take the prefecture capital of Kajikazawa. The Second Benjamin Regulars were stunned by the firepower of the Clan OmniMechs. Although reeling, Tai-sa Ashura decided it was vital that the DCMS gain samples: in a sudden counter-attack the Regulars brought down three Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs and an entire battalion was sacrificed to hold off the rest of the invaders while the Tai-sa dragged the three captured BattleMechs off to prime movers that were held in reserve. By the end of the day, the Regulars' dropships launched, scattering in the hope of avoiding warship interception. One Union-class dropship was destroyed, along with a captured 'Mech, but the other two 'mechs and one living captive, were successfully carried away.
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Look to the Smoke Jaguars to screw things up again. I think that is the problem with them brain atrophy from way too much smoke.