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

Chapter 70

paulobrito

Well-known member
The Federated Commonwealth, sick of the pirate attacks launched from the Tortuga Dominions, finally decided to settle the matter once and for all.
The Lexington Combat Group brigade was sent, with extensive support from CV DropShips, assault DropShips, the first Pocket WarShips built in the FC - Overlord A-3 - and the two Mako Corvettes, that fortunately had just undergone a complete refit.
A large group of space marines, special forces, and several tug-class DropShips were also sent.
A force perhaps excessive to eliminate pirates, even considering the size of the groups that operated from Tortuga, but the AFFC Navy took advantage of the occasion and the fact that it was a relatively low intensity operation, far from the usual opponents eyes, to test new doctrines and gain much needed combat experience.

Note: Because in this AU the collaboration between the FC and the DC don't exist (no Clan invasion so far) the Overlord A-3 has 2 AR-10 tubes instead of 1 AR-10 and 1 Kraken-T.

The operations started with almost simultaneous emergence at both Nadir and Zenith jump-points of Tortuga Prime. At each site, one Mako Corvette accompanied by an Invader JumpShip carrying 1 Overlord A-3, 1 Avenger and 1 Leopard CV exited hyperspace and quickly took control of the present JumpShips and the few forces that the pirates had locally.
Two hours later, the rest of the invading force emerged at the Nadir jump-point, and immediately headed for Tortuga Prime III.
Even though the operations at the jump-points was very favorably to the Federated Commonwealth, at least one pirate JumpShip was stationed at a pirate jump-point, very close to the planet and because they detected the invasion in time, managed to escape.


The rest, even if they fought viciously and with the energy of despair, knowing well what was waiting for them, had no chance. The mercenary unit in charge of this operation had recently modernized their equipment, and easily won total space and air superiority. Paula Trevaline's body was taken from the wreckage of her Banshee, Lady Death.
This situation was repeated in the other five systems of Tortuga Dominions - Morgan's Holdfast, New Port Royal, Fletcher's Feast, New Hati and New Gascony. For some obvious reasons, the few pirates that escaped each time did not alert their fellow groups in the other systems of the Dominion, preferring to depart to distant and safer places at full speed, rather than facing once more the Federated forces (I guess this is what you get when you use a hammer to smash a nut with a sinking morale). In the end, only 3 JumpShips carrying half a dozen DropShips escaped destination unknown. Several thousands of slaves were liberated, about a dozen JumpShips and two dozen DropShips were captured in diverse state, some needed parts and a tender ship with skilled technicians to be operational again, but that could be arranged.


Note: In this AU, there was no 'clean-up' operation in 3042, executed by 9th FedCom RCT – at that time the FC was distracted with the HPG Crisis. And as such, Paula Trevaline is the leader of the pirates in 3051, when this operation is executed.






Following up, several regiments of militia / second rate units took home on the just conquered planets, and a half supported program of colonizing the 6 systems started with some terraforming and water purification systems being delivered.






How does the Taurian Concordat know about this ?


During the last decade the ex-agents of MIM that moved to the Reach had started a school in seduction, compromising and infiltration, to be attended by selected members of the Reach Intelligence – very beautiful woman with the right mentality. This school was later expanded to the full Taurian Concordat, and a full collaboration with TMI started.


One of the best results was the seduction and subsequent compromising of a high level clerk with very high classified clearance in New Avalon. The information of said source was transmitted back to the Concordat via selected JumpShips of the growing Taurian commercial fleet, that routinely visit the Federated Commonwealth.
 
Chapter 71

paulobrito

Well-known member
Note.: ships designs courtesy of Adventwolf.






The TMI report on other nations shipbuilding plans as well as the report on the AFFC starting using WarShips in combat operations, caused a major shake-up in the TDF leadership.
Two nations - Earth and the FWL (although in this case more precisely the WoB) already had not only larger navies, but also bigger ships. Worse, all the large neighboring nations, the FWL, the FC and the CC, were building Cruisers, a type of WarShip that the TDF had decided not so long ago, it would not need.
The need for a proper navy in a few years was made evident and the construction plans had to be changed accordingly, following the wishes of the Admiralty that like all good naval officers always aimed at the biggest machines possibles
Two new types of WarShips were added. One was the very modernized and extended version of the old Taurian Cruiser class Winchester, the other was a completely new design.


Class: Winchester II / Cruiser
Mass: 770,000 tones
Armor Type: Improved Ferro-aluminum
Armament (Capital): 11 NL55, 2 NAC/30, 8 NAC/20, 1 NAC/10, 6 AR-10 Launchers.
Armament (Secondary): 10 ER Large Lasers, 20 LB 10-X AC, 16 ER Medium Lasers
12 ASF and 6 small crafts
3 DropShips
LF Battery

Class: Ajax / Fast Destroyer
Mass: 390,000 tones
Armor Type: Improved Ferro-aluminum
Armament (Capital): 3 NAC/20, 10 NAC/10, 9 NL55, 2 NL35
Armament (Secondary): 16 AMS, 20 LB 10-X AC, 22 ER Large Lasers, 6 LRM 20+ArtIV
18 ASF
2 DropShips
LF Battery


While the construction of the Winchester class, was not a major problem from a technical point of view, the Ajax suffered from all the problems that a new design had - delays, cost overruns, glitches on the first ship, etc.
As the budget was not unlimited, even after the information of the construction plans of the neighboring nations, the number of Concordat (Frigates and Carriers) had to be reduced in order to provide means for the construction of the new ships.

The two Concordat variants (Frigates and Carriers), the Cruiser, and the new Destroyer, were all LF battery equipped, allowing task forces equipped with these WarShips to have great mobility, unlike the Pintos, already relegated to patrol and anti-piracy operations.
To accompany / refuel the task forces, a fleet train equipped with Mriyas, each carrying three Starlifter DropShips (50k+ monsters), was planned, as they were the only type of JumpShips equipped with LF battery, and thus able to cope with the speed and range of these task forces.


Although the TDF had a clear preference towards using their new standard Lee class DropShips, these were tremendously expensive, and with most of the available funds allocated for the construction of WarShips, the use of more economical DropShips had to be accepted in some areas.
Thus, a new variant of Union (Union-BA) was accepted, with a capacity to carry 72 battle-armor troops, and to rearm, repair and maintain the BAs.
Another was a (relatively) cheap version of Leopard. Eliminating the cargo capacity, it was equipped with a NL35 spinal mounted, thus creating the cheapest (and not ammo dependent) pocket WarShip in service on the TDF Navy.


Meanwhile, the shipyards at New Vandenberg and Mechdur were in the middle of the upgrading / expansion to be capable to also build Pintos. The bigger WarShips for now, could only be produced in the shipyards at Bolthole and Taurus. In Badlands and Pinard, two new dockyards were in the early phase of construction.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
The Tortuga Dominions always bugged me. These pirates are somehow deploying and regularly raiding the Inner Sphere even though their base of operations is five jumps away from any other inhabited systems and we get told repeatedly that jumping into an uninhabited system is dangerous and JumpShips won't do it, so dangerous that they even tried building robots to do it for them. Granted pirates may be brave but it still bugs me that they're so capable compared to everybody else in the setting.
 

Doomsought

Well-known member
The Tortuga Dominions always bugged me. These pirates are somehow deploying and regularly raiding the Inner Sphere even though their base of operations is five jumps away from any other inhabited systems and we get told repeatedly that jumping into an uninhabited system is dangerous and JumpShips won't do it, so dangerous that they even tried building robots to do it for them. Granted pirates may be brave but it still bugs me that they're so capable compared to everybody else in the setting.
They are disposable proxies used by the great houses. They sometimes get payed to take the blame for attacks that were actually house forces flying a false flag, at other times a house will pay them in equipment or cold hard cash to perform a raid on a rival. Occasional a jump-ship merchant company will hire them for an insurance fraud scam.

Actual pirates are just mercenaries that sometimes perform banditry on their patron's enemies... and have a ship.
 

Tryglaw

Well-known member
They are disposable proxies used by the great houses. They sometimes get payed to take the blame for attacks that were actually house forces flying a false flag, at other times a house will pay them in equipment or cold hard cash to perform a raid on a rival. Occasional a jump-ship merchant company will hire them for an insurance fraud scam.

Actual pirates are just mercenaries that sometimes perform banditry on their patron's enemies... and have a ship.

...and the "sanctioned ones" that had a Letter of Marque were called "corsairs".
 
Chapter 72

paulobrito

Well-known member
Several studies and simulations showed that although the Taurian WarShips were better defended than the SLDF ones against Aerospace Fighters (including those carrying Alamos), they still needed increase defenses to stand a chance to survive against a determined adversary.


While having a lower range and power than the capital missiles and without the capability of being armed with nukes, the Arrow IV SAMs were still very effective against ASFs. They were also much cheaper and took a lot less of volume and mass compared to the more conventional options. And until the heavy AMS systems reached production phase (which was still a long way to go), they were the best defense option available.


ABRD (Arano-Bassot Research and Development), based on Coromodir, was working on adapting the tracking and targeting systems of the AMS to be used with Pulse and ER Lasers. The difficult part was to let the weapons switch from AMS mode to the ‘normal’ one and vice-versa. If / when successful, these systems could be used in WarShips and DropShips, to defend them against all kind of missiles from SRMs and LRMs, to Arrow IV anti-ship, or even capital missiles, greatly improving the defenses of said Ships. While very promising, the program still had several problems to resolve.
Because of this, a change in the configuration of the new Winchester II Heavy Cruiser was submitted just before it entered production, changing the layout of the weaponry.



Winchester II - final weapon configuration
Capital Weapons - 11 NL55, 4 NAC/30, 8 NAC/20, 2 NAC/10, 6 AR10 Launcher
Secondary Weapons - 16 ER Medium Laser, 22 ER Large Laser, 20 LB 10-X AC, 12 Arrow IV SAM



At the same time, all WarShips models, including the ones already in service (except the low-cost Pinto) also received 12 Arrow IV SAM, to substantially increase their defenses against ASFs.
This change was not well received by the shipyards as it would create delays in the construction of the first WarShips with all the needed changes in planning and logistics, without forgetting increases in the costs.




Meanwhile, things were moving ahead on the political front too. The immense power that the Arano-Bassot family had in the Concordat was not seen with good eyes by the other groups, with the exception, of course, of the ruling family. This led to continued protests, and in order to calm down the situation, Thomas ended up withdrawing the New Vandenberg government from Jean-Luc and hand it over to one of his most influential supporters groups that was against the situation.
Jean-Luc and Kamea, who had been waiting a long time for this to happen, were neither surprised nor offended by the position Thomas had to take, viewing it as a necessary measure to maintain power. Just as it was clear that it did not affect Jean-Luc's position in the various companies in which he had a stake, this being much more important for the family.


The exception being the Arano-Bassot shares in the New Vandenberg shipyard, that they are also ‘forced’ to sell to a conglomerate controlled by the politicians that had forced the relinquish of the government of the same system. The Arano-Bassot family, instead of fighting that in the tribunals, accepted the deal pacifically and immediately invested the received funds in the shipyard in the Mechdur system. That group also wanted to buy the Arano-Bassot shares in VMI, but they didn’t have enough funds for that after having to buy the shares of the family in the shipyards. For now. They had a lot of political pull and financial might, but not enough money to pay for it. Their goal was to keep the Arano-Bassot within the Reach province.


However, their plan would lead them to nothing as in the last decade, Jean-Luc had used his influence and Kamea tax incentives and in some cases subsidies, to attract several Taurian companies in the Reach to create branches, if possible in Coromodir V, the former planet of the Espinosa family now fully controlled by the Arano-Bassot family.




The TMI was also getting better at finding info about the other powers even in the Inner Sphere.


For example, in recent years the intensity and severity of attacks by pro-Capellan guerrilla groups on the worlds that the Concordat had captured in the war in the 3030s, had increased substantially.
Unfortunately for the Concordat, their security forces had little experience in counterinsurgency operations (COIN). Only in Ward, which had been captured by the Reach, was the situation slightly better. This was due to the fact that due to years of having to deal with pro-Espinosa fanatics, Reach security forces had more experience in COIN operations.
During their regular exchanges with the MIIO, the TMI discovered that the same thing was happening in the Sarna March, Romano Liao had clearly adopted a different strategy this time, one that made raids in retaliation unlikely.


On November the 2nd, of 3051, Hanse Davion suffered a mild heart attack. Although he recovered almost completely, he was forced to reduce his work rate substantially, with Melissa Steiner-Davion taking over many of her husband's duties. At that time, Victor Steiner-Davion who was on active duty in the 12th Donegal Guards RCT, had been called back to New Avalon, but it was apparently decided that he would not take the throne before gaining more experience.
Curiously, around the same time, Katherine Steiner-Davion also entered NAIS for prolonged medical treatment, but it was not specified for which illness.


Rumors were that the AFFC had started to field ’Mechs equipped with more variants of Ultra and LBX cannons – LBX-2, 5, and 20 and Ultra 2, 10 and 20. So far none had been confirmed, but if one took in consideration the ‘love’ the Davions have for ballistic weapons, it has to be expected.






The TMI confirmed that all nations had initiated searching programs where there had been ancient naval battles, apparently looking for wrecks of WarShips that were possible to recover. At the moment, they had no information on the results, only that the ongoing searches were extensive.
 
Chapter 73

paulobrito

Well-known member
From the very beginning of her reign, Kamea had decided that Coromodir V, the old Espinosa home-world, not touched by the civil war, and now directly controlled world by her family, would have its already impressive (impressive for the Reaches that is) industrial infrastructure expanded, while Coromodir VI, the capital world, was going to be restored to a non industrially-polluted world.


At first, progress was very slow, in no small part because of the lack of funds. But bit by bit and after a while with my help, when I located as many of my companies as possible in Coromodir V, the world evolved to a very respectable industrial powerhouse. At first, in the civilian side, but bit by bit, the infrastructure and support industries for a military-industrial complex were created. Now, in the early 50s, the results were evident.


Thanks to the investments of the Arano-Bassot family in Coromodir V, the production line of the Shogun SHG-2H started in February 3052 instead of in New Vandenberg.
Coromodir V in 3052 also had operational production lines for the Karnov VTOL, the production license had been secured in 3028, the Cobra VTOL in its Command and MASH variants and the Vector VTOL in its Scout, EW and Attack variants. Two production lines of industrial ’Mechs also went operational in February 3052.


While the Cobra being an old and common design was no problem with its license, the Vector was a General Motors one. Luckily for Arano-Bassot, they had a very good relation with GM, so negotiating the license of production was relatively easy.
The fact that, except for the Shogun, which was produced by the local VMI branch, all these designs were VTOLs produced by a new industrial group, Coromodir Heavy Industries, Ltd (totally controlled by the Arano-Bassot family).
In Coromodir V, industries capable of supporting the production of 'Mechs, ASFs and other diverse military equipment had been built, with only the assembly lines missing, since only the one for the Shogun was available.
Thanks to the big investments in the shipyard in Mechdur, it was foreseen that in 3055, it would be able to produce 3 Pintos and 4 Invaders per year, keeping 6 other slips available for maintenance.


To solve the problems with the terrorist groups of the Maskirovka / Death Commandos units, the TDF resorted to hire several groups of mercenaries specialized in counter-insurgency operations (COIN). Less known and discreet than the large units that used '’Mechs, these mercenary forces like all specialized forces had their use. Fortunately, several groups were available in early 3052, and although they had to pay a (relatively) higher price because some didn't want to go to Periphery, all the available units were hired by the Taurian Concordat.


By this time a new wave of pirates had started to target the Concordat JumpShips. Every tentative of protecting them with military DropShips and / or armored marines failed. The pirates apparently had too good information and didn’t target the protected ships. Since no one from crew returned or no member of these pirate groups was captured, no information on them was available, but the TMI suspected because of their efficiency that they were Capellan sponsored.


In retaliation for these operations and the insurgence groups, both suspected of being Capellan sponsored, Thomas authorized TTI to help HildCo Interplanetary in St Ives to (re)build the production lines of the Pillager PLG-3Z, something that the Federated Commonwealth has not helped the small nation with. The price of said help was the production rights of the advanced Assault ‘Mech for TTI, turning them into the second company to produce Assault ‘Mechs in the Concordat.


VMI was Thomas’ first choice but the political in-fight inside the Concordat forced him to select TTI, that not only was based on Taurus, but also was not controlled by the Arano-Bassot.


Due to the implosion of Comstar and by association of the MRB, MRBC succeeded it with a base in Outreach, basically the same as Jean-Luc remembered.


The second generation of ground defenses i the Concordat was a bigger fortress with a pair or two of Heavy NPPCs, greatly improving the capability of defending the word they were installed in against light WarShips. Ground based batteries of Killer Whale capital missiles started to be installed at the same time, even if for now they were in small numbers and only in strategic worlds, providing an extra capability against any orbital menace.



News of a new civil war in the FWL began to circulate in March 3052.
From what was known, in early March 3052, units from Regulus had tried to capture WoB WarShips in the Gibson system. Tried and failed. In retaliation, WoB WarShips had executed an orbital bombing of Regulus shortly after, showing to everyone what the Word of Blake really was, that is a group of trigger-happy bastards. The escalation, as well as the number of deaths caused, led many to rise up against such action, and against the WoB, in the Parliament in Atreus. Shortly after, the FWL was again involved in a civil war, with the forces loyal to Thomas and supported by the WoB being the only ones with WarShips.


But not everything was going well for the loyalists and the WoB. One of their WarShips, the WoBS Herald of Retribution, an Aegis class Heavy Cruiser, was destroyed by a violent attack executed by several squadrons of ASFs in retaliation for Regulus and if rumors were to be believed with the use of several Alamos.
 
Chapter 74

paulobrito

Well-known member
TTI (Taurus Territorial Industries), a long time adversary of VMI, now had a solid support in the political group that opposed the Arano-Bassot family inside the Concordat, heavily lobbying for selling their own production to the TDF and the militia.






The principal focus of the company had been in the last decades the aerospace and vehicles divisions, with their ‘Mech department being neglected. However, in the last years of the 40s they had upgraded their production and assembling lines and by now, they were able to produce not only the brand new and advanced Assault ‘Mech, having got the contract for the Pillager -PLG-3Z but also Locust (1V) and Wasp (3A), while still producing older designs. Thanks to their investments, they were able to produce about 10 new ’Mechs per month, on each line.


But their true jewel was the new Wolverine WVR-7TC, replacing the old 6R line. A brand new variant, the result of the in-house research team and a very capable medium even if a bit too ammo dependent.


The engine had been replaced by a XL model and the armor upgraded to FF, while both torso sides received CASE. For weapons the SRM-6 was kept, while the Medium Laser was replaced by a Pulse one and the AC/5 by a Gauss Rifle. The Heat Sins were also upgraded to 10 Freezers, turning the ’Mech in an oversinked one, capable of pushing its limits even in the most demanding grounds. The only limitation was that both the SRM-6 and the Gauss Rifle only had one ton of ammo each.


After evaluating the first prototype, the TDF ordered two changes before it would buy some. They wanted the Laser to become an ER one and the Gauss Rifle ammo to be increased to two tons. The changes were easy to implement and once done, the TDF immediately bought the entire first year of production.


The cheap Wasp and Locust were bought in bulk by the TDF to fill the quotas of Light ‘Mechs in several units and the rest was sold to Militia units or exported, for cash strapped mercenaries that needed ’Mechs but didn’t have the money for the most expensive ones.


Pinard Protectorates Limited (PPL), that already produced the Toro II under license, started the production of several variants of the Phoenix Hawk. The budget one was the standard PXH-1, the other two were the PXH-TC1, that removes both machine guns and respective ammo, upgrading the Heat Sinks with Freezers, while upgrading the Laser to an ER one while adding a Small Laser and a Beagle Active Probe. The TC2 only differed from the TC1 by exchanging the BAP for a Guardian ECM Suite.


Continuing their long policy of cross-licensing with VMI, PPL traded the licenses of these ’Mechs in exchange for the rights to produce the Jack II and the Colibri (the PA(L) produced by VMI), also with Coromodir Heavy Industries, even if for now VMI and CHI didn’t have the budget to start the production of new lines.


Several mercenary units with long-term contracts with the TDF like Gordon’s Armored Cavalry were also offered to become house units, meaning that by early 3052 the number of mercenary formations inside the Concordat was at an all-time low, none bigger than a battalion.






At the same time, Jean-Luc found evidences in the files from the Taurian R&D that decades ago a team had found out a leak towards making sub-capital weapons and even produced some workable models. After the mandatory cursing, he began working on securing the funds needed to produce these weapons while passing the information to the teams working on WarShips and Pocket WarShips.








Note.: ‘Mech production in the Taurian Concordat in mid 3052


Light - Jenner (DHS), Toro II (Wolfhound F-2 with FF, ES and JJ), Stinger (3R), Locust (1V), Wasp (3A)
Medium - Shadow Hawk (DHS), Griffin TC (ERPPC, LRM10, 2ML, DHS), Talos II (2ERLL, 4ML, DHS), Phoenix Hawk (-1, TC1, TC2)
Heavy – Archer (4M), Marauder (2R), Warhammer (7A), Penetrator TC (2 more DHS and ECM), Thunderbolt (5Sb)
Assault - Marauder II TC (2ERPPC, 2ML, 2LRM10, JJ), Hellfire (2ERPPC, 2LPL), Shogun (2H), Pillager (3Z)
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
Huh, Sub-Capital weapons ahead of time and not remotely in Blakist hands. That's going to change a lot, making WarShips a lot less viable if pocket warships show up so much sooner.

Been meaning to ask, most of your 'mech names aren't capitalized. Is that just a stylistic choice to avoid the standard way BattleTech does it?
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
ITTL sub-capital weapons are developed by the SLDF in Mundo Nublar - In theory, WoB gets them from there, but the TC gets them first, so none for the WoB.
What do you say about the names of the mechs? I don't understand.
 

Bear Ribs

Well-known member
ITTL sub-capital weapons are developed by the SLDF in Mundo Nublar - In theory, WoB gets them from there, but the TC gets them first, so none for the WoB.
What do you say about the names of the mechs? I don't understand.
In the normal style sheet used in BattleTech you would write Wasp or Locust, not Wasp or Locust. 'Mech design names are italicized.
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
Ah. No, I only used italicized names for warship names because they are individual. Mech ones are type/generic - exist thousand of Locust -1V after all. Now, if a Mechwarrior gives a personalized name to is ride I use italicized for that particular name.
 

Adventwolf

Well-known member
Huh, Sub-Capital weapons ahead of time and not remotely in Blakist hands. That's going to change a lot, making WarShips a lot less viable if pocket warships show up so much sooner.

Been meaning to ask, most of your 'mech names aren't capitalized. Is that just a stylistic choice to avoid the standard way BattleTech does it?
The sub-capital weaponry has been in the hands of the TC since Jean-Luc told them where to find the Heavy Cruiser. The research team of the TC figured them out sent up a request and then the TDF high command completely threw the idea away thinking the weapons were worthless. Jean-Luc knew they got the weapons but he wasn't privy to the research or results so he has been under the impression that it was a low priority research project that just wasn't finished yet. That is why he is so pissed.

Also no warships are still far more viable than pocket warships as a pocket warship will still get popped easily because they have weaker armor and structure.

Also what is the TDF ASF corps looking like now? They should have been expanding that branch nearly if not more than the normal warships as ASF give a lot of advantages to the TDF and allow for better combined arms deployments.
 

Adventwolf

Well-known member
7 Lights models and 4 heavies not a bad line up. What are the upgrades for the DragonFly III again and what is the Hellduck I don't remember what that was meant to be?
 

paulobrito

Well-known member
The first prototype of the HDK (Hell Duck Heavy ASF) flew on October 21st, 3036. With 90 tons, 16.5 tons of Ferrous-aluminum armor, 270XL engine, 20 Freezers, 1 ER PPC on the nose, 1 ER Large Laser and 1 LBX-10 A/C with two tons of ammo on each wing and 2 Medium Lasers facing the rear, it was a killing machine. A Guardian ECM and a Beagle Active Probe completed the equipment. Besides the usual hardpoints for bombs and rocket pods, it also had two internal bays with capacity to carry 4x Arrow IV AAM. In the CAS configuration, these were replaced by 4x 'normal' guided Arrow IV, if there was a unit equipped with TAG in the area, or non-guided if none was available. The immense concentration of advanced technology had greatly delayed the development of the ASF, and the cost was 14.350 million of C-Bills. But simulations against other Fighters in interception or ground support missions showed that it was money well-spent , being the most capable Figher in service in the Concordat by a large margin.

At the opposite range of the Aerospace Fighter range, the Canopian model that VMI had obtained license to produce, the Dragonfly, was produced in great numbers and was an instant sales winner. For the cash strapped customers, like the MAF for a time, the MM1 was a decent Ligh Aerospace Fighter with an all energy weaponry and for the ones that could pay extra, the MM2 was an excellent choice. For those with more money, the VMI top model was the Dragonfly MM3, an in-house upgrade, unlike the MM1 and the MM2 that were Canopian designs. With an upgrade to a 160XL Engine, the addition of an extra Freezer and improved electronics, providing the already good MM2 with improved performance in combat and better heat management.
 
Chapter 75

paulobrito

Well-known member
‘Emma must have access to an advanced equipment source somewhere in the Deep Periphery' concluded Anne-Marie at the end of her report on the Magistracy of Canopus. 'Otherwise how did she get about two regiments of ’Mechs, all late SLDF or unknown designs, as well as the dozen Dictator DropShips that appeared at the same time?’

'And your sources couldn't find out their origin?' asked Kamea leaning forward with an interested look.
‘Not yet. The first series of JumpShips and DropShips, we now know about, came from the Alexandrian Covenant, Emma captured an intact shipyard there, as well as several operational Ships. Letting this information leak out is an indication that the Magistracy is probably done with the place, as they do hope that other intel agencies will waste time and resources looking in the place. SOP for the MIM. We still don't know exactly where the installation has been bought but it likely to be in an uninhabited one near Canopus' replied Anne-Marie consulting her notes 'Regarding these new forces, my sources are adamant that this new equipment comes from another place. Apparently, they got several civilian DropShips, about a dozen JumpShips, Star Lords and Monoliths, a dozen Dictators, and I think an operational WarShip'.

‘An operational WarShip?' I asked, astonished 'what are you basing this on?’

‘Well, Emma, in recent years, has been very insistent in negotiations to get some WarShips from Thomas' answered Anne-Marie putting down the documents and looking at us 'more recently, she basically no longer press on this issue, and I’m reasonably sure that no other nation is even willing to sell WarShips. My conclusion is that along the rest, they probably also found at least one operational or in a state that Emma thinks she can repair without help'.

‘Aunt Anne-Marie, couldn’t Emma just have changed priorities or simply have no money to buy one?’ asked Sara, that had just recently started to participate in these reunions.

‘Yes, in both cases, Dear’ replied Kamea ‘but with all her neighbors getting WarShips or already having some, and that nasty civil war on her border, it is difficult to believe that Emma don’t want one or two also.’

‘But, how can we be certain Emma got one WarShips?’ asked Sara again.

‘There are at least two ways’ answered Kamea ‘ TMI can get that info’ as these words were pronounced we could hear a snort from Anne-Marie’s side, ‘yes, Dear I know MIM is still way better than TMI even if TMI has improved a lot but I am sure they could do it.’ and without a pause, Kamea continued in stride ‘The other option is sending a ship to look for us in all these uninhabited systems near Canopus, the most probable location of the hidden shipyard and logically said WarShip.’

‘But Mother, if a WarShip is in one of these systems, don’t we risk losing the searching JumpShip?’

‘No, if it is a Mriya as they have LF battery, and could escape before interception, Dear. But, it is both a time-consuming and expensive operation and I don’t know if Thomas would authorize that. Anyway, we don’t have any Mriya or any orders to give to the TMI, so it is not up to us.’ finalized Kamea.

‘As for the origin of this supposed WarShip, I've never heard of a colony in this area with that kind of equipment and the SLDF list of bases doesn't include anything either' I replied thoughtfully, looking at my notes in my personal noteputer. ‘That leaves us with some options, none of them good. First, a base or a colony created after the Amaris Crisis, and that for this reason is out of the Argo database. Not impossible but unlikely because at that time, the Star League lacked the resources for new colonies, and new bases would have been in areas closer to the conflict, not in a remote area. Second, it may be related to the SLS Dobrev, which was more or less lost in this area'.

‘The SLS Dobrev? I've never heard of it, Jean-Luc' replied Anne-Marie with a curious look, while Kamea and Sara also leaned towards me with an interested look 'what are you talking about?’

'Do you remember when the Revenants captured that Assault Mech, the Bull Shark? At the same time we fought pirates having advanced weapons.' They all agreed, and I continued, after looking again at my notes 'Good, when we captured the base of the smuggler who was behind those weapons, a Notker Baumann, we also found the records of a JumpShip that belonged to SLDF, the SLS Dobrev. This JumpShip was totally wrecked, had supposedly left with Kerensky in the SLDF Exodus, but was found for some reason, by Baumann South of our border with the Deep Periphery. Now, we know that Kerensky went North, so something must have happened. Stranger is that the shipping records, even if damaged, recorded part of a voyage coming from a location far in the North. It could be a second Exodus, from part of Kerensky's forces, that went wrong, somewhere South of the Aurigan Reach'.

Kamea and Anne-Marie looked at each other with a thoughtful air.


‘It may be, but it seems a bit far-fetched,’ Kamea said, then turning to Anne-Marie, 'See if your connections can find out more about this equipment. An increase in the Magistracy power, even if at the moment, a friendly nation, is always to be looked at with caution.’
 

Adventwolf

Well-known member
So the MoC is in contact with the Wolverines now. That is good as while the Wolverines were developing new tech they did lose a lot when they had to run. They also wouldn't be big enough to give the MoC a major advantage over everyone but it does put them at an even ground with everyone. Trade between the MoC and Wolverines will go a long way towards boosting the economy of each other as well. It also gives both side access to what they need the Wolverines get a larger population and the resources that population grants and the MoC get access to an advanced technology production base and better protection from the warships of the Wolverines. This in turn means that the Periphery is going to be more powerful and able to help the IS with refit kits and supplies when the Clans finally do show up.
 

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