Battletech An SI in the Concordat - GhostRider's Revenants (Battletech CYOA)Rev.2

paulobrito

Well-known member
In chapter 70, Tortuga has been cleaned/captured/colonized by the FC. So any adventures in that place are going to go against the FC. with the expected results.
 

Adventwolf

Well-known member
The GS might also decide that once more professional troops arrive to contest them that it would be better to open negotiations. They can explain why they are running away from the homeworlds. They can offer to stop conquering the OWA and simply offer an alliance with the TC and OWA. They get to move in and recruit from the OWA and in exchange they provide technical support and protection from pirates and other factions. They also would offer the same tech support to the TC. They would still need to fight some battles though first in order for them to start thinking about Diplomacy. They can also offer to help the OWA reclaim the old colonies that didn't need technology to be habitable. They have the jumpship fleet and the technical knowledge to rebuild the Shipyards in the OWA to support the expansion. If they play it right they can settle in just fine and not get wiped out by the other powers. Especially since they don't have to make any move against the FedCom or the Dracs.
 
Chapter 111

paulobrito

Well-known member
The last few months had been interesting for Galaxy Commander Julian Kirov.


After the conquest of Antallos and Rezak's Hole, the Goliath Scorpions had finally turned their attention to the Outworlds Alliance.


The three systems captured so far had not offered much resistance. On Risin and Dneiper, the HPG messages transmitted prior to their capture had reported that they were under pirate attack, and on Prinis Prime, only raiders had been reported. Unlike the initial attacks by the other Clans, the Goliath Scorpions had neither proclaimed their identity nor launched batchalls when they jumped into the systems. In the first two systems, the defenses had been second or third rate militia units, that didn’t even have ’Mechs, just a few tanks and mostly support vehicles. Prinis had a little more with a Lance of old ‘Mechs and a company of tanks defending the system.






So far, everything was going according to Kirov's plans. The longer it took to identify that it was a Clan invasion, the longer it would take for the Outworlds Alliance or anyone else to notice them, the longer it would be before any serious reaction could happen. This was a lesson Kirov had learned by studying the reports from his Clan Watch section.


The downside of focusing on the Outworlds was that all the systems were sparsely populated, with almost no industry and that the population was composed of Ommiss - pacifists and anti-tech.


Not having the strength not the time to try to impose the ideals of the Clans, and deciding that this task was for those who came after him even if that was going to be more than two years in the future, Julian Kirov did not try to change the way of thinking and acting of the new subjects of the Clan. His priority was to gain a sufficient number of systems so that the Clan could prosper. To do this, he needed all his forces, leaving other matters for when the rest of the Clan arrived.






With five systems already captured, a JumpShip had been sent back to inform of the success of the operation, and for the second phase to be initiated - moving the Clan into the new territories.


One more system, and he would stop the offensive operations.






However, Rushaven did not go as smoothly as the previous worlds.


For starters, the locals correctly identified the invading force, to be a Clan one, even identifying correctly the Goliath Scorpion Clan, and the local HPG sent a message in time, ending the secrecy of the operation.


And this time, the defenses were more capable. For the first time they encountered ASFs from the Alliance Military Corps, the Outworlds Alliance military and they proved to be at least as capable as those of the Clan.


The mercenaries defending the capital, had ’Mechs with some advanced weapons - SLDF level - which made combat more difficult.


However, the final outcome, had never been in doubt, only the cost of capturing the system had been a bit higher than planned.
The battle ended with Kirov's Highlander IIC taking out the Marauder-5D of the leader of the mercenaries defending the planet.






What was curious from Kirov’s point of view was that of all the systems captured, only Antallos, a pirate nest, had any advanced industry and was the most populated, while all the other systems from the Outworlds Alliance only had raw resources.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
So it's after Rushaven that the Revenants and WD will go to OA, but the GS will also start moving to OA. I wonder how Scorpions will react once they get a news, mid move, that their new home is under counterattack.
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
The GS have a big problem - they, unlike the other clans, don't have an HPG network connecting them to the Homeworlds, and they are a bit more than an entire year distant. The TC is about 6 months away from the OA. That is going to cause a lot of trouble for the clanners.
 

Doomsought

Well-known member
On one hand there is the possibility of one or more clan tech factories to get captured during the move. On the other-hand, once they move is complete, they can just squat in their corner of the universe and turtle up.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
However the route from Clan Homeworlds to OA is much longer than from TC/Aurigan Reach to OA, so there is no way to complete the move before shit hits the fan. Their best option is to decide Antallos is good enough for them and forget about OA.
 
Chapter 112

paulobrito

Well-known member
Two and a half months after the Revenants left for the Outworlds Alliance, news arrived - via TMI - that the Alliance Military Corps (AMC) had executed an operation against the Clans on Rushaven. Information was sparse, only that some of the best ASF units had participated, and there had been no news since.


This was obviously an operation with political components and it was likely that someone important in the AMC or in the government did not want to wait for the help of the Concordat and show that they were more than able to solve the matter by themselves.


It seems that something didn't go right, as no more news came until the Revenants arrived on Alpheratz.


Reinforced by ASF units from the AMC, the Revenants and the Wolf’s Dragoons arrived at Rushaven, where they found a mystery.


At the Zenith Jump point was the wreckage of a battle, which included many ASFs, 6 DropShips and two JumpShips, The strangest thing was that the Clanners had pulled out of the system, and taken the core of the local HPG with them.


An exhaustive survey of the battlefield, indicated that they had lost about a hundred ASFs, all conventional models since no wreckage of OmniFighters was to be found. The remains of the DropShips and JumpShips were part of the AMC forces that had tried to liberate the system a few months earlier.
The Goliath Scorpion had also collected anything useful, leaving only wreckage.


Risin, Dneiper and Prinis Prime had also been evacuated by the Clanners, which had taken not only the HPGs but also everything they could remove from what little industry there was.






The Clanners having left the Outworlds Alliance, it was decided, after some discussions, that the Taurians and Dragoons would stay for six months training of the AMC forces, but would not go on a possibly futile quest to find out where the Goliath Scorpions had gone.


Meanwhile, four of the six Pintos that had come with the expeditionary force were sold to Outworlds Alliance, creating an embryonic naval force that would aid in the defense of the nation. The remaining WarShips and JumpShips went through Quatre Belle, which had finally entered service, receiving some maintenance.






Meanwhile, in the Taurian Concordat, the marriage of Antony Calderon to Sara Arano Bassot had taken place in Taurus on September 12, 3063, bringing together the two most powerful families in the Concordat.


Because the wedding of our children represented a shift in the balance of power in Concordat, exceptional security measures were taken so that nothing would interfere with the ceremony. Fortunately, everything went well, and it was a dignified ceremony with evident popular support.


Interestingly, it was the opposition itself that carried out an internal purge, removing the most radical elements/ against the new alliance. Clearly the more pragmatic elements of the opposition had won.


And to add further support to this wedding the TCS Thomas Calderon (former SLS Bismark) entered Taurus orbit during the ceremony, being at least declared ready for service after a lengthy rebuild, modernization and shaking cruise.


Part of the works done on It included facilities for performing as a flagship together with Black Box and Naval Grade ECM suit.


A new WarShip of the same class was already under construction, using much of what the Taurian shipyards had learned during the Thomas Calderon operation.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
AMC must have been gutted by the loss of their best pilots. It looks like the casualties and capabilities of OA elucidated the Cobras on just what kind of mess they got themselves into and decided that Antallos will have to do.
 
Chapter 113

paulobrito

Well-known member
In early 3064, after having absorbed the Duchy of Andurien, the Capellan Confederation turned its attention to the Zion Province, trying to capture more territory from the fragmented ex-FWL, trying to take advantage that it was still embroiled in a civil war and that the other neighboring nations were still busy with the Clans.


The timing was perfect as at this time, the Marik faction, who had the last WarShips in the region, was busy invading the Duchy of Oriente, leaving the small province consisting of the Zion, Kirkbacken, Asuncion and Suzano systems virtually defenseless.


In February 3064, CCAF forces, supported by WarShips, Pocket WarShips, Assault DropShips and large numbers of Aerospace Fighters ,invaded the Zion, Asuncion and Suzano systems, with a mix of House Units and regular Regiments. At the same time, Word of Blake forces, albeit without WarShip support – as the ones they had were in maintenance/repair deep inside the Capellan Confederation - but using their powerful Pocket WarShips and also with large numbers of Fighters, invaded the Kirkbacken system.


In all these systems, the defending forces, struggling with the few resources available to them due to the prevailing civil war, were quickly defeated by the more numerous, better trained and better equipped invaders, who also dominated space and the sky.


By early April 3064, the Zion province had been completely captured by the Capellan Confederation.
The TMI, MIIO and MIM agents present there reported the use of large quantities of AAMs by the CCAF and the WoB, helping them quickly to quickly destroy the few defensive ASFs present with barely any losses at all. In the CCAF it was evident that the House Units had better, more advanced and larger quantities of equipment than the regular forces.


Of particular interest to the agents was the fact that the House Units had more advanced battle armor than the regular forces, and that the WoB was using, albeit in small numbers, what were tentatively described as cyborgs. WoB apparently don’t use battle armor. They deploy great quantities of PA(L)s instead. While the capellan House Units have new designs of mechs, the regular forces and WoB only deployed SLDF and traditional designs, even if the WoB are more like royals.






Of course, these aggressive Capellan initiatives created great concern in their other neighbors: the Taurian Concordat, the Magistracy of Canopus, the St. Ives Compact and the Federation Commonwealth. Both the Concordat and Magistracy moved more troops (and WarShips) to the Capellan borders. The FC deployed several mercenary units to the area and hired two regiments of Wolf Dragoons – all with WarShip support. St. Ives also contracted several mercenary units to bolster their defenses.






To no one surprise (especially after the Capellan operation), the number of 'pirates' on the Confederation borders had in the meantime more than doubled. It was clear to everyone that they were black units controlled by Sian to keep its neighbors occupied, even if a relatively small portion of them were identified as remnants of ex-FWL units destroyed during the ongoing civil war. However, this strategy was not as efficient as one could have expected as unlike similar tactics in the previous years,the better in-house communications and the increased use of WarShips meant that many of these would-be pirates were quickly and effectively eliminated.


Also, the 'liberation movements' that had begun right before the invasion of Zion operating on former worlds controlled by the Capellan Confederation and now part of the Concordat and Commonwealth were not very successful. Both the TMI and the MIIO had access to more advanced surveillance technology and great experience dealing with these types of organizations, from similar attempts in the past.


But on the whole, both the 'pirates' and the 'liberation movements' did what Sian expected of them - they distracted both nations for a time, opening a window of opportunity for the CCAF and WoB to execute the occupation of the Zion Province unimpeded.
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
Sunny could never pass up a land grab. I wonder how long will it take for him to get the victory disease fever and bite more than he can chew.
Well, the easy parts are all taken by this time. Oriente+Regulus and Marik+Graham Marik are tough targets, Stewart is on the other side of Marik. St.Ives Compact is allied with FC and TC. The other small ones have already been absorbed by one or another player. Easy times ended, indeed.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
My guess is that he will turn towards Periphery, raids, terrorism and other sneaky stuff, to manufacture an opportunity for landgrab.
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
The Periphery these times, at least near the CC, is the TC and the MoC - both nations have more, bigger warships than the CC. Not a winning bet for our golden boy Sun-Tzu.
 
Chapter 114

paulobrito

Well-known member
An unexpected (or not) consequence of the Capellan Confederation invasion of Zion Province was the end of the civil war in the former FWL.


The two major groups – the Duchy of Oriente and the Marik Commonwealth, having absorbed/conquered basically all the remaining survivors, and being too exhausted to achieve a clear winner and , with the threat of Capellan Confederation continuing to conquer systems while they were busy with each other, finally reached a ceasefire / truce.


In a rare (for a civil war) display of pragmatism, taking into account their situation, they finally decided, albeit begrudgingly, to recognize the other side as an independent nation and no longer as rebel provinces.


This agreement led to a significant number of troops from both sides moving to their borders with the Capellan Confederation, although (due to the trust in each other) a substantial number remained on the common borders.


At the end of 3064, both States launched new WarShips. Interestingly, both were Zechetinu II class Corvettes.


When they tried to resume the official contacts with other nations, the situation was curious. For starters, in a bit of schadenfreude, nobody gave any side the older ex-FWL embassies, with, curiously, all nations using the argument that that the older Free Worlds League was no more and that they were new nations. Also, both sides were much poorer, in debt, and weaker than the FWL ever had been. So, it was obvious that they wouldn’t/couldn’t get the level of respect and/or attention they expected. In the end, both ‘new’ nations needed to find and equip new embassies in the other nations capitals but also consulates in several important systems or province capitals. Not surprisingly, because they were neighbors, the Duchy of Oriente got some interest from the MIM, while the Marik Commonwealth received more attention from the MIIO. Neighbors will always be neighbors, after all.






Meanwhile, in the Aurigan Province, with Sara and her new husband staying at least two more years on Taurus, and unsure that she would not be too influenced by the Calderons, Paul in the Outworlds Alliance, Kamea was busy training Peter to, should the need arise, handle the provincial government.


I, meanwhile, was busy creating a second RCT for the Revenants, taking advantage of the excellent production of the Province (and of my companies abroad) and of the surplus of trained personnel coming out of the local military schools. At this time, several infantry units, including Battle Armour, Jump, and Mechanized ones, as well as armored units were already undergoing training, while the BattleMech battalions were just starting theirs.


On the equipment front, the first generation Heavy Battle Armor we had been developing had been canceled, with many unresolved problems. Now, with the collaboration of Luthien Armor Works in the Combine and of Magesty Metals and Manufacturing in Canopus, a new design had been completed.


Inspired by the Marauder Mech, at 1,500kg but running only 11km/h, the MiniMad - as it immediately came to be known - had a Support PPC and an Anti-Personnel Weapon in each arm, a Light Recoiless Rifle or Battle Armour level Gauss Rifle in the right torso together with a Light TAG. It also had Magnetic Clamps which allowed it to be carried by friendly units.


Depending on the missions, the APW could be a Heavy Machine Gun, a Micro-Grenade Launcher or a scaled-up infantry Pulse Laser Rifle. The Light Recoilless Rifle had three types of ammunition - HE, FRAG or thermobaric.


While basically useless against Mechs and heavy armored vehicles, it was deadly against all types of infantry, PA(L) and BA, as well as unarmored or lightly armored vehicles.






Note: Basically a slightly improved/more versatile Marauder Battle Armor created OTL in 3110 by the Marian Hegemony.






In May 3064, CHI began industrially producing Clan level ER PPCs and Gauss Rifles.


A positive side of our research into new (ie from my home universe) chip production techniques was that it was easy for us to reproduce Clan electronics, such as Targeting Computers. As for Angel ECM and Bloodhound Active Probe, the ones we were starting to produce weighed half a ton and a ton less respectively than the standard ones. Prototypes in the lab weighted only one ton and two tons and occupied only one critical slot, but so far none had achieved – by a wide margin – the levels of ruggedness necessary for military components.


As for C3 Master and Slave Computers, LAW in collaboration with CHI was finalizing the second generation, which would be produced by both companies.






In September 3064, the shipyard at Coromodir V went into operation, starting to build, in 3 slots, Invaders. It was planned that by 3068, it would also be capable of producing Ajax Destroyers.


As for the shipyard in Detroit, it would become operational in 3066.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Note: Basically a slightly improved/more versatile Marauder Battle Armor created OTL in 3110 by the Marian Hegemony.
:love:

I love this one, sure it's mobility is abysmal, but it's great as area denial weapon, basically a ''Marauder plushie from Hell''. I guess SI directly influenced the development to get this result.
 
Chapter 115

paulobrito

Well-known member
Since the beginning of the invasion, the Inner Sphere (and the Periphery) nations were trying to gain access to the communications of the Clans.


By August 3065, both the Federation Commonwealth, Terra (which means including the Free Rasalhague Republic) and the Draconis Combine (with their allies, the Taurian Concordat) had finally succeeded in finding and altering some Clan communications satellite (HPG two-ways).


The missions to find and hack them had been executed by Magellans and in some cases by Orcas. It had been no easy task since several were in systems with WarShip presence, forcing them to hasty retreats (easy to do since both types of Ships had Lithium-fusion batteries), while others had self-destruct when the attempts to hack them had failed.


The technology and sophistication level the Clans used was a bit better than the very late SLDF – probably thanks to advanced prototypes that they took with them in the Exodus – updated with more recent tech. The only area where the Inner Sphere powers were ahead was encryption and decryption technology, thanks to the centuries of continuous warfare.


After a rocky start, when all sides found out that the others also had access to Clan comms, the Inner Sphere started a program to share the information obtained. For that, an organization was created formed of members of the different intelligence units of the different nations having access to this intel, tentatively named Allied Intelligence Service, or AIS for short. For now, their single function was to share the information and to make the best out of it.


One of the immediate results of said program was the postponement of any offensive, when a thorough analysis revealed the sheer number of WarShips and ASFs present in the occupied systems.


Clearly, the next offensive would require more resources.


However, it appears that the Clan side was not idle on the information war front. A crescent number of Bug Eye (JumpShips) and Pueblo (DropShips) had been spotted in and near the contested areas. So far, none as been captured or destroyed, but the hunt was on.


Some information was also obtained about what was going in the Clan Home Worlds. Apparently, a war started when the Home Clans clashed over the control of the territories vacated by those that had fully moved to the Inner Sphere (and near Periphery). While it stated in normal Clan fashion, things escalated when they also tried to absorb the defeated Clans that had returned home, like the Jade Falcons with nukes being used in space.


While for the Falcons, after years of war in the Inner Sphere, using nukes outside the 75k km limit of any planetary atmosphere, was now a normal fact of war, for the Clans that never participated in the invasion, is a dezgra move, that caused retaliations in kind.


What came to a surprise for the Home Clans was that the Snow Ravens also used the same tactics and weapons. Even after sustaining some losses in combat and with their fleet divided, the Ravens still had one of the biggest fleet in Clan space. Their use of nukes, and the fact that they were ahead in improving the anti-ASF and anti-missile defenses of their WarShips cemented their superiority in space. That they decided to side with the Falcons was also a nasty surprise for the other Clans.
 

Adventwolf

Well-known member
So the Snow Ravens are taking a bigger stance and role in the Homeworlds it seems. Them combined with Jade Falcons and maybe another Clan would be a major force in the Homeworlds. Or they may go the route of Goliath Scorpion and create a new deep periphery power to stay out of the fighting in the Inner Sphere.
 

PsihoKekec

Swashbuckling Accountant
Home clans will absolutely seethe at the IS taint spreading into Homeworlds, I can see Adders building a coalition of pissed off clans that will go full on Wars of Reaving on invasion clans, after some preparations that is.
 
Chapter 116

paulobrito

Well-known member
Khan Ariel Suvurov did not wait for news from Galaxy Commander Julian Kirov to begin preparations for the migration of her Clan to new territories.


As soon as Kirov's forces departed, a very discreet but continuing upgrade of the available naval means began. Gradually, in the utmost secrecy, and using different explanations, such as replacing another WarShip, or planned maintenance, their fleet was brought to a full state of readiness being able to quickly move to any location.


At the same time, the various civilian JumpShips, available to all the Castes, received an overhaul in order to put them in the best condition possible for such a long journey.


Tremendous effort was made to hide their preparations from the Watch , in which they were helped by the fact that the best operatives were focusing on the operations in the Inner Sphere and the nascent conflicts in the HomeWorlds made the few operatives remaining there unavailable for anything else.


Dismantling the factories and preparing the necessary reserves for the trip was time-consuming, even more so, because the necessity of doing it discreetly, but fortunately it also went without incident.


Unlike the Ghost Bears, the Goliath Scorpions did not have the naval means to move the entire Clan, forcing Ariel Suvurov to make the difficult decision to leave behind the elders, the incapacitated and a few volunteers, who had the difficult mission of maintaining the illusion that the Clan was still present for as long as possible, while representing less than 10% of the total population of their Clan.






Still, it took tough negotiations with several Clans (some allied, some merely neutral) to gather everything needed. Fortunately everything went secretly enough even if not perfectly and the Goliath Scorpions managed to obtain the necessary equipment to begin the long journey, without their enemies or any predatory Clan discovering their true intentions before it was too late. In order to do that, they had to cut deals that were far from optimal and to give away most of their possessions.


On Dadga, they gave away their part of the system to the Star Adder, in exchange for JumpShips and DropShips, keeping only a small force on ground to create the illusion that they were present. Their natural allies, Clan Wolf, was also transferring forces to the Inner Sphere and had to use the same trick..


On Huntress, their territories went to the Jade Falcons and Star Adders, in exchange for JumpShips, DropShips and specific equipment.


On Marshall, a complicated game of moving units continuously was played to trick the forces of Clan Fire Mandrill and Clan Ice Hellion present on-world and this up to the last moment. They were helped in this game by Clan Star Adder.


On Roche, since both Clans Wolf and Goliath Scorpion were leaving the HomeWorlds around the same time (even though the Wolves had started earlier), the withdrawal was peaceful, which left the system abandoned until the other Clans found out and fought among themselves for the system.


Clan Goliath Scorpion gave up their enclaves on Tokasha to the Diamond Sharks, in exchange for JumpShips, DropShips and the CDS Speculator (Volga Class).






Note ...: the DropShips obtained were all civilian versions, which the Clans valued less but were still the best choice for transporting the population and equipment the Goliath Scorpions were able to carry.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top