One Rabid Fox changes the Succession Wars [A Battletech Isekai]

[LamaofTrauma]

The 3rd RCT officer paused, "I don't know sir."

"You've got a couple weeks to figure where you stand with the Eridani, man... and we still have to tell them about there being an Amaris claimant out there as well, assuming Ian hasn't beaten us to the punch on that front." The man's face was grim in response to that comment, but Henry continued on, taking a quick swig from his coffee, "Anyway you said the Eridani's IFF credentials were valid, what does that mean?"

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Terrible place to end the chapter. Why is there an issue with the 3rd RCT guy and the Eridani? Just what are we hinting at with the Eridani's IFF credential (somehow) still being valid?

 

[Imperator Pax]

Terrible place to end the chapter. Why is there an issue with the 3rd RCT guy and the Eridani? Just what are we hinting at with the Eridani's IFF credential (somehow) still being valid?

Click to shrink...

If you're reading Ghost, which is not required.

The Eridani's commitment to uphold the star league and their SLDF credentials come from contact with a surviving Star League AI which are a recuring facet in my fiction. The 3rd RCT, 19th Striker officer is a survivor from the ambush on Talitha against Amaris.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sakhara

Even from the safety of the vantage they had the 185mm auto cannon roared, still loud despite the protective covering of the command bunker allowing the gaggle of students to watch their fellow cadets train on the demonstration tank.

Just because Aldis was filing litigation it couldn't do anything to stop him from using the tanks he already had. He just couldn't sell them. Or at least it was legally advised he not sell any more while the proceedings were filed for the courts.

The Demolishers primary weapon had been what had pushed him towards settling on the ChemJet auto cannon over other options... there was always he supposed the principle armament of the Victor he supposed, but that ran into rumors of issues with the Pontiac's ammunition feed. He was leery of that sort of thing... for much the same reason he supported replacing the auto cannons on trooper mechs like the Centurion, the Enforcer. He would have recommended doing the same with replacing the Imperator A on the multitude of Dragons in the Draconis March Militia.. but that machine also needed its ten cell long range missile launcher ripped out as well... which was another familiar problem. It was just being boring and practical

The Dragon and any modifications or refit packs for that were going to remain that for a while. At least few more years. He couldn't, didn't have the time to diversify into VLAR300 machines just yet so it was just going to have to wait until this mess with Aldis was settled out... and that was also why he was diversifying by proxy. He had needed to do something for Achernar, because really the Federated Suns and the AFFS were always looking for more production.

The 75 ton Zhukov tank was only slightly smaller than the Demolisher. It was built around a smaller 225 Fusion Engine. It addressed the Mark III Demolisher's initial defect of limited armor, but the entire Zhukov branding was going to be marketing going forward. Steadily going to be getting louder over the next several years if things went to plan.

The RAC would be receiving further battlemechs of course, but that expansion was going to have to be balanced against other needs.

"This is really eating at you." Justin observed.

Most of the school... or at least the ones who cared to talk about it were on the party line about blaming the Capellans... but the truth was given the victories against the Combine, and the lack of victories against the Capellans, and the capellans being the sick man of the Inner Sphere they were also taking the main branch Davion cues about that there being fault in how House Hasek was running things.

... that was just as likely that scions of powerful people who attended Sakhara were seeing the way the wind was blowing on New Avalon. That was actually to Justin's benefit. He'd be joining an RCT on Spica operating under auspices from New Avalon, not New Syrtis.

Not that these would be ready for Spica. This was a demonstration model of the tank chassis. The entire point of the fusion engine was to mount more armor. He hoped the senior cadets inside the tank appreciated that, "When you leave for Spica I'll be sending an air regiment with you, it won't be at full strength, but if the Capellans do try anything I want you to be able to force them to surrender rather than be able to run away."

"You think that's going to happen?"

"If it does, then it would be significant feather in your cap." Alexandria observed cooly to her cousin, "But can you really afford to spare those planes?"

"In this case its a matter of hiring mercenary pilots," He replied, and that was something he was entirely prepared to play off as capitalizing on an idea he had gotten from Yvonne Davion... and he wasn't opposed to hiring mercenaries raised on Federated Suns worlds... Friesland was an excellent example that she had pointed him towards, but in part he had a hard time trusting using the MRB anymore than necessary.

The Hells black aces didn't yet exist at least not under that name, though he did have a tender out with the MRB looking for experienced ASF operating mercenaries officially. If he could find them and woo them to Davion space that would be great... but he wasn't rushing.

"And you can find some?"

He simply nodded, "Haakon's people have pilots, and the Outworlds Alliance even though its on the fringes of civilization and with queer political ideas of its own produces its share of pilots looking for adventure and pay," And periphery born pilots were unlikely to harbor any sympathies whatsoever with the capellans. He would therefore have a few months, "Quite frankly I'd love to strip all the ASF pilots from the outworlds alliance that I could they're wasted protecting that collection of hypocritical luddites, I'll hire who I can and furnish them with planes as it becomes available.... in a few years I should have more aircraft options than the 'stalker and stingrays but for the time being they're what I have." He gave another shrug and that was true there were the talks with members of House Davion, with Ian, Hanse, and their aunt but he needed to focus on the ones he was doing already... and on selling machine tooling to the other manufacturing concerns of the Federated Suns.

From what he understood, Ian was going to do a lot of courting to try and convince them to invest in expanding production which would mean money sunk into new facilities... and that was going to require more shipping between worlds. Moving raw materials to worlds, and then shipping finished goods off world to end users.

There was going to be a demand for JumpShips, or rather adding to the existing demand. One Shipyard would take forever to fix that gulf.

Henry paused, and glanced to the head of the student government, "There is something else?" Alexandria started to recount some of the chatter from New Avalon that he had been absent for. It wasn't news that She, and Justin traced their lineages and that of most of Kestrel's noble houses to veterans of the SLDF who had been landed in the face of the disastrous, cataclysmic bloodletting of the first succession war.


The conflict which had begun the trend of ripping out fusion engines those limited numbers, relatively speaking, of tanks who ran off of them to replace cored out but salvageable battlemechs... that was what the carnage unleashed by the succession wars had entailed...that and the death of whole worlds. It was that which he wanted to avoid a return to. "The First Prince has issued a call asking all those," Or at least in more practical terms representatives of those who publicly avowed descent from the SLDF, "To join him on New Avalon for a conference about the last days of the star league." Ian's conference could only really be about one thing that Henry could think about... and it was telling that Ian was calling for it while Henry would be back here on Sakhara and likely before the class graduated.

Ian had already told the Eridani Light Horse... the descendants of the 3rd​ Regimental combat team... the colonel of his regular forces who was standing nearby was a mechwarrior who had been stuffed into a stasis tube along with a scant handful of 19th​Striker MechWarriors who'd made it away from the fighting. He took the minute, the brief pause Alexandria had stopped for to signal the officer, "I see well, we might need to talk about if Kestrel is going to be involved."

"You know what its about?" Justin asked eager to be let in on the news, since obviously neither had been given indication what it might be... and Justin might not have cared about the political ramifications he was just looking to be let in on whatever was the cause of all the fuss. "Come on tell me, man."

"Not here, when we get out of the demonstration," He replied. The armor instructors were probably already annoyed enough with the mechwarrior cadets as it was. The truth was the cadets of the graduating class had seen 185mm auto cannons in the use of his demolishers already, and the Zhukov was not any faster... and while he was leaning towards a version of the Demolisher that cribbed heavily from the Von Luckner the Zhukov label was going to be circulating heavily in internal memos through the DMM, and probably going out to worlds of the Crucis March as well as he worked on advertising.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Huh a fusion engine zukov. That seems like something you build what amounts to basically a more optimized von Luckner with as a variant.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Huh a fusion engine zukov. That seems like something you build what amounts to basically a more optimized von Luckner with as a variant.

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Basically what I had in mind

 

[Bofors40mm]

Basically what I had in mind

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Fair enough. Honestly probably something the suns could use a fair bit. Albeit not as much as spamming of stuff like goblins and manticores which are a lot more general use and provide a lot morw utility than assault tanks set up to rule in tight terrain.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

Had an initial idea that Henry could buyout Bulldog Enterprises before Buddha Imperial does, but I had the locations mixed up. So that idea would never work.

It wouldn't help with the tank issue but if Henry can make a deal with Maltex or Starcorps he could get access to a license for the Thug, Highlander or Emperor assault mechs potentially. If he reaches out abroad he could probably get a license for the Banshee for relatively cheap.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Had an initial idea that Henry could buyout Bulldog Enterprises before Buddha Imperial does, but I had the locations mixed up. So that idea would never work.

It wouldn't help with the tank issue but if Henry can make a deal with Maltex or Starcorps he could get access to a license for the Thug, Highlander or Emperor assault mechs potentially. If he reaches out abroad he could probably get a license for the Banshee for relatively cheap.

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I mean the Banshee is probably at least technically a design in the public domain since it was explicitly developed by the Terran Hegemony proper by what what would become the Star League Weapons and Research organization who also developed the atlas and Atlas II. Assuming you can get the design and production specs that is.

Oh and the Banshee also somehow uses the same basis chassis as the highlander and devastator the star league XT

As for getting a assault mech license the easiest 2 to get would be the stalker and Banshee.
Well technically he could also go yoink the specs for the devastator and titan but those would be a tad harder to get since somewhere on the planet of Hoff is more than a bit unspecific

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sakhara
Alexandria and Justin both settled into the room, both eager to hear what the secret was behind the First Prince's conference that their parents had likely both mentioned while they had been on New Avalon for the remainder of the tournament. There had been a lot of talk on New Avalon. About appointments, and and also duty stations the first duty stations of of cadets from Sakhara who would be graduating...that was to say their class.

The Zhukov demonstration was on paper simply a precursor demonstration to the greater combined arms demonstrations that the class had to look forward to as part of their final semester here at the academy. It wasn't quite that simple. Far from it being that cut and dry Henry knew that the tech level across the Federated Suns ran the gamut... there was a significant gulf between the level of development across the suns... and that had probably been true even during the star league never mind once the perpetual war after the fall of the league.


Henry made a gesture to a star map, the projector had sprung to lifeas he had sat down. "That is New Valencia," He said matter of factly, "This morning the circuit returned from New Avalon with world from Blackwell. They produce a VLAR 300 powered hundred ton, for all intents and purposes version of the Marauder 3D that they developed in conjunction with the Wolf Dragoons... when the dragoons returned to the Inner Sphere they came with a down teched ANH series Annihilator assault mechs those run off of the Nissan 200Engine. New Valencia," That was to say Blackwell, "Is worried they may face a similar legal challenge from GM over their Marauder II so they want to cement agreements to expand their production. This fits neatly with Ian's interest to bring the Dragoons to the table."

Justin was the first to speak up, even if his response was a somewhat flummoxed, "... Ok."

Henry glanced to the SLDF man, and nodded, blinking slowly as he did so, "House Kurita collaborated with Amaris. We don't at this point think they participated in the Coup against House Cameron or anything like that, but after Amaris seized Terra the coordinator began passing information of SLDF movements, as well as refusing Kerensky basing rights. This resulted in among other losses the destruction 19th​ Striker Regiment of the 3rd​Regimental Combat Team of the SLDF on Talitha. The Combine's ISF has passed their movements and disposition of forces to the Usurper, where at Amity City three heavy BattleMech regiments converged on their position and wiped them out."

The Hegemony had always emphasized its pilots skill. Their survival. The hegemony simply didn't have the population base to rely on human wave tactics... or at least that was what history told them given later era reports on the likes of the Capellans and the Combine. Both of whom were enemies of the Federated Suns, and historians across the Federated Suns most important worlds were quick to equate and declare the Suns and First Prince the natural successors of the Hegemony and House Cameron just as every other successor states historians did for their home nation.

Justin simply nodded. It wasn't that he didn't have an interest in military history, that wasn't the case at all since Justin had done very well academically at Sakhara in the subject, but he didn't make the immediate connection. "You have, have to have told the first prince."

"Yes," He replied simply enough. "Which is why I assume in a few months that the vice chancellor," Lieutenant Colonel Coleridge, "expects the Eridani coming to tour the campus."

"But that's not all,"

"No, very little of the 19th​ survived the force reconnaissance mission carried out on Kerensky's orders as part of Operation Intruder. Amity City was situated near a major hegemony training center and storage depot, and there was extensive resistance on Talitha more broadly. At the realization that the Combine had tipped off the Rim World, and they were cut off from evacuation from the planet the 19th​ made a stand before attempting to withdraw into the deep underground... most of them didn't make it. Parts of the Regimental Reconnaissance Company survived, and portions of a Battle Company, but by and large casualties were total. The Rim World had no concerns about civilian losses on a planet that was a center piece of resistance against Amaris."

There was a pause as he left the matter as it was at the end of that sentence.

"Its not that simple. Talthia was liberated, and used as a staging ground, so something else must have happened... and the Eridani ..." Alexandria paused, "The 3rd​ RCT didn't know... they moved to join the Free Worlds League after Kentares, and the massacres on Sendai." She pointed out, which was true of course. The Eridani Light Horse had refused to leave with Kerensky on the Exodus but had then straddled the line in waiting to see what had happened... and well then the first succession war had broken out.

"Talitha was a Hegemony world," The Colonel remarked speaking up, "The underground depot complex was a castle support structure containing stasis tubes. The original plan was to wait out the usurpers forces for reinforcements from the rest of the SLDF for their arrival in force. There was a delay, and then some kind of technical problem. The result of which was that the SLDF didn't receive a direct briefing on what had happened."

"That's not quite true," Clay interrupted, "Kerensky did know by that point, he'd been informed, had intercepts of HPG streaming video communications between Amaris and Minoru Kurita, but I don't think at that point it would have made any difference. Once Terra was liberated Kerensky was probably already thinking of fleeing the Inner Sphere, and even if he hadn't made up his decision I don't think further proof would have changed his mind. Ian is hoping it will sway the Dragoons to coming back into the Federated Suns service, I assume so he can pitch them at the Combine,"

"The Dragoons are descendants of Kerensky's exodus."

"As are the RAC..." None of whom were present in this briefing, but that was a coincidence... the issue of the clans was something that was going to have to be addressed but it wouldn't be today. "just different branches, different clans. Kerensky's son established a hereditary warrior nobility of sorts based on genetic lineage. Its a mess of a society, if I'm being honest... but the truth is its not just that its that there is an Amaris pretender in the periphery out there as well." There was a gasp of shock from Alexandria and then Justin all but jumping out of the plush chair he'd been slouching in. "Someone or some network of people have been supporting Amaris's descendants and in this case they've been preparing for another conflict with the inner sphere... and that's one more enemy, at least one more enemy to add to the roster that the Federated Suns has to contend with, and there is a lot of fighting we can expect to do in the near future," which was in no small part why New Valencia was going to receive a positive response to its expressed interest in getting the machinery necessary to manufacture the Nissan 200 engine regardless of how he personally felt about the Annihilator as a battlemech.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Honestly even if it's a meh mech especially in introtech the annihilator has one big advantage. It's the perfect partner for the behemoth tank all thing considered.

I mean personally I'd buy the company of behemoths I could buy for a lance of annihilators not even factoring in any industrial costs to set up a new line but if you have to make the things they pair up well together

 

[Blasterbot]

Honestly even if it's a meh mech especially in introtech the annihilator has one big advantage. It's the perfect partner for the behemoth tank all thing considered.

I mean personally I'd buy the company of behemoths I could by for a lance of annihilators not even factoring in any industrial costs to set up a new line but if you have to make the things they pair up well together

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If you are staying introtech there is the PPC variant for the annihilator that is pretty fun. 4 PPCs is fun. 2/3 movement is sad. overall a fun meme to play with from time to time. just waddles forward and reaches out with 4 PPC's swapping a few out for Mlas if things try and underrun it. advanced tech that outranges it makes it a sad camper though. it has no maneuverability. The 1E variant that's the one.

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

I love that Justin and Alexandria have been read in on most of the big secrets. The fact Alexandria was quiet for most all of that discussion means she's processing the implications more than Justin.
As for the Annihilator, the Introtech models at least, if the enemy has to come to you or go past you it can work very well. If you have to maneuver with it…not the best idea being in a mech that big and slow when you can't catch up to a Missile Carrier shooting at you.

 

[Bofors40mm]

If you are staying introtech there is the PPC variant for the annihilator that is pretty fun. 4 PPCs is fun. 2/3 movement is sad. overall a fun meme to play with from time to time. just waddles forward and reaches out with 4 PPC's swapping a few out for Mlas if things try and underrun it. advanced tech that outranges it makes it a sad camper though. it has no maneuverability. The 1E variant that's the one.

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points to my bastion and rampart designs as options for potential introtech variants as well.
Still of the opinion the engine is better put into a 40 or 50 ton trooper or ASF design in this period though.

 

[Blasterbot]

points to my bastion and rampart designs as options for potential introtech variants as well.
Still of the opinion the engine is better put into a 40 or 50 ton trooper or ASF design in this period though.

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Yeah I've used the Annihilator a few times in megamek. the movement can be painful. if you do manage to waddle into position though you are a happy camper. Bastion looks cool. long range and a backup 8 Mlas is nice. not seeing the rampart so link plz?

 

[Carnifex-Chan]

Isn't there a nutty combine custom variant of Victor that has 10 medium lasers all in one arm

 

[Bofors40mm]

Yeah I've used the Annihilator a few times in megamek. the movement can be painful. if you do manage to waddle into position though you are a happy camper. Bastion looks cool. long range and a backup 8 Mlas is nice. not seeing the rampart so link plz?

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One Rabid Fox changes the Succession Wars [A Battletech Isekai]

As promised my rampart design. Very much meant to work with the bastion and terminator

forum.questionablequesting.com

Link as asked for

 

[Bofors40mm]

for another good design that no one should have a IP for and would piss off the dracs and is also a great mech there's the gladiator. would need some reconfiguring of the gun and armor layout mostly to move the SRM-6 so the mech is reasonably balanced and to give the rear armor better than paper thin plating. Along with dropping the 13th heatsink for more armor. Something like this.

Spoiler: Gladiator GLD-4D

Gladiator GLD-4D
Mass: 55 tons
Chassis: MW240
Power Plant: Coretek 275
Cruising Speed: 54 kph
Maximum Speed: 86.4 kph
Armor: Starshield
Armament:
1 Johnston Parti-Cannon PPC
2 Intek Medium Laser
1 Harpoon-6 SRM 6

Manufacturer: Johnson Industries
Primary Factory: New Sytris
Communication System: Neil 6000
Targeting & Tracking System: Octagon Tartrac System C
Introduction Year: 3025
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-E-D-D
Cost: 5,014,457 C-bills
Type: Gladiator
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Introductory)
Tonnage: 55
Battle Value: 1,343

Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 5.5
Engine 275 Fusion 15.5
Walking MP: 5
Running MP: 8
Jumping MP: 5
Heat Sink: 12 2
Gyro: 3
Cockpit: 3
Armor Factor: 168 10.5
Internal
Structure Armor
Value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 18 25
Center Torso (rear) 8
R/L Torso 13 20
R/L Torso (rear) 5
R/L Arm 9 18
R/L Leg 13 20

Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper, Lower, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper, Lower, Hand

Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage
Jump Jet CT 1 0.5
2 Jump Jet RT 2 1
2 Medium Laser LA 2 2
Heat Sink LT 1 1
2 Jump Jet LT 2 1
SRM 6 LT 2 3
SRM 6 Ammo (15) LT 1 1
PPC RA 3 7


Quirks
Cowl
Battlefists

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sakhara
Alexandria had spent the better part of the morning just walking the campus grounds. She'd gotten up earlier than she needed to, her earliest class simply couldn't come early enough. Sakhara had changed with the awarding of the county from when she had first been admitted. She had arrived on the same JumpShip that had brought the then freshly minted count of Sakhara but also the same jumpship laden with the heavy battlemechs, and attendants.

... not though the vessels that would come later.

Still there had been a handful of retainers then, men who ... whose counterparts would have been her own ancestors. Men who after the fall of the Star League had joined the Federated Suns and become members of aristocracy as a result. The 7th​ Crucis Lancers had units which traced to SLDF men who had joined the AFFS after Kerensky had left.

Which was the yet other side of the coin. The hulking infantry officer who all too frequently served as as Clay's bodyguard was a descendant of soldiers who had left with Kerensky's exodus. The Robinson Cluster was a military unit here to support, and protect Clay if Amaris's descendants came calling.... which was a horrifying prospect in its own right. That that was a concern as real as the combine threat.

Then there were all the other details, but most of all that the Combine had provided information to the Rim World Republic that had bloodied the SLDF. Done more than just bloodied some units, her uncle... Justin's father had dealt with the Eridani... and if he hadn't been familiar that fourth chair, that empty fourth chair in the room and what it symbolized was there.

She hadn't brought it up yet despite being admitted into the room and the mild insanity ... at least for now had kept her from doing so.

Henry seemed less worried about that, at present he was too busy grumbling about how his original plans for Bristol were going to be delayed by the trip to Kathil. Something about DropShip production here and how he was waiting for men to return. There were papers from Galax, andFederated Boeing that must have arrived from the same New Avalon hailing star lord that arrived on the circuit with the other news, with the rest of the mail.

A circuit which readily facilitated couriered messages from home much easier. In theory of course the HPG could have been even faster but ComStar charged exorbitant rates for live communication, and even at those rates they were not always available... for unknown arcane reasons... or if one were more suspiciously inclined arbitrary availability.

"Tell Federated Boeing that once we've recovered the Richard IIIthat we will pass it along to them,"

The Captain paused. He did look sort of like his nominal superior, a man who spent too much time in low gravity from the looks of him, "But we already have the ship," He replied.

"I know that and you know that but," He held up another courier delivered letter, "I'm sure someone is reading our mailto Boeing before it reaches the board, so Yvonne is wanting to see who gets that message and spring a little trap on them, it might be mostly harmless industrial espionage, they haven't done anything per se yet, but it could be foreign spies, and DMI wants to deal with that, and if it is internal someone will get a ruler smack from the civilian ministry about what's polite among gentlemen." Another shrug, as if the statement wasn't so characteristically flippant to utter, "The Richard by itself isn't much useful to us anyway...getting the class into production that would be so much more useful but again that's largely on the basis using cargo dropships of a certain tonnage along the circuit," but then that was still a matter of JumpShip carrying.

The holographic map was a familiar one, it was only distinct in that the three dimensional star chart was of superlative size for her to see in detail the jump route that reached the capital, and traced to the other worlds. The expansion of the circuit was already facilitating a much larger volume of trade between those worlds it touched and those worlds involved in the circuit were already being spoken to about how that grater trade might be expanded further. In short that there would be investment in them, not just in money but that the home ministry was looking to expand education prospects to the public as there would be need to be more workers, in other diversified fields.

She knew that because by this point the circuit had been in place that people of importance trusted it for their mail to be carried to Sakhara to their children. Her parents trusted it to bring her mail, and instructions even without knowing the latest details. They also trusted the mail to go the other direction from Kestrel, to New Avalon. Alexandria understood that within Sakhara they were waiting for Haakon's return, though not explicitly stated but most likely she assumed with further JumpShips to expand the carrying trade with which would carry goods.

Sakkhara was famous for being the site of the Academy, and the wealth and prestige of its alumni of course. The new industrial megaplex which had sprung up changed that dimension. There was a spur, had always been a spur where ships could depart the rendezvous point to travel to Robinson, but not there were earmarked lines for Hoff, Royal, New Ivaarsen and a handful of others. There were shipping manifests being repaired for DMM units.

"Lord Aaron mentioned the raids by the Galedon Regulars." He had mentioned them as they had departed New Avalon, but it had been something that had been discussed while they had been there.

"They're certainly a problem." Henry replied to her observation. "They hit Kesai at the tail end of last year, and seem to be looping back we think they're looking to do a bit more, but Samsonov, their commanding officer is proving hard to predict." There was a pause, and then wistfully, "We'd love to trap them somewhere. Samsonov has competition or disagreements in the DCMS its not impossible he might try and raid here for supplies..."

"Might?"

"Its always possible that if he attacks here, some sword of light officer will think he's getting too much of a fat head and give him a hair cut." He blew out a wistful sigh, "Not that I'm counting to heavily on that, Samsonov isn't stupid but he does seem callous given the reports of how he uses his supporting arms. The consensus from high authority is that he won't try, but its not out of the realm of possibility."

Alexandria thought about the shipyard , and the skeleton of the JumpShip under construction. The tournament on New Avalon had hardly been the first time she'd driven a battlemech but it had been the first time with that size of spectator crowd, but it hadn't been areal battle. Not that her graduating class would be the first line of defense.

In the event Sakhara was attacked they would be expected to assist in the defense... but for the first time in centuries really Sakhara had a much larger presence of defenders ... and there was the expected visit by both the Eridani Light Horse , and the Robinson Rangers.

Heedless of those thoughts Henry gestured to the shipping directives. "When Haakon gets back we're going to start shipping orders to some of the other DMM units, those on nearby worlds. Nothing really fancy but a lance of Sentry BattleMechs are going to Ivaarsen we'd really like the Chasseurs to consider newer mech designs, most of the rest will be shipments of Sphinx Medium Tanks. Ivaarsen if they're not interested in the Sentry will likely ended up buying more Centurions, and the Sentry will go on to other worlds on the frontier. Ivaarsen may of course end up wanting larger 'mechs but its a wait and see sort of thing"

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

I like how Alexandria is getting so caught up in the constant stream of changes Henry is enacting, as well as a bit of awe at his achievements, that she's almost forgotten to try and overtly flirt with him. She's slipped into the role by turns of friend, student, and peer that they're comfortable around each other.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Speaking of the sentry I do need to get around to making a more watchman inspired variant aka has a large laser and more heatsinks potentially as a more training focused design or perhaps as a field refit if the PPC breaks and they don't have a spare one

 

[Blasterbot]

An intro tech variant of the watchman 4dm wouldn't be bad at all. PPC on a 5/8/5 mover that can swap to 3 MLs for closer range work. outdoes the panther in every respect at least. no ammo bomb. faster. hits just as hard. well maybe a bit toasty in comparison if you are jumping a bunch. but running and shooting is fine. I'd probably want to play with the armor a bit so all the rear armor has 5 pips so it can at least handle a single ML hit there

Spoiler: Watchman Draft

Watchman-Draft WTC-BB
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)

Level​	​	Era​
Experimental​	​	-​
Advanced​	​	-​
Standard​	​	3063+ (Civil War -)​

Tech Rating: D/X-X-D-D

Weight: 40 tons
BV: 1,115
Cost: 3,093,627 C-bills
Source: TRO: 3055

Movement: 5/8/5
Engine: 200 Fusion
Heat Sinks: 12
Gyro: Standard Gyro

Internal: 67
Armor: 128/137

​	Internal​	Armor​	​	​
Head​	3​	9​	​	​
Center Torso​	12​	18​	​	​
Center Torso (rear)​	​	5​	​	​
Right Torso​	10​	15​	​	​
Right Torso (rear)​	​	4​	​	​
Left Torso​	10​	15​	​	​
Left Torso (rear)​	​	4​	​	​
Right Arm​	6​	11​	​	​
Left Arm​	6​	11​	​	​
Right Leg​	10​	18​	​	​
Left Leg​	10​	18​	​	​

Weapons​	Loc​	Heat​	​
PPC​	LA​	10​	​
Medium Laser​	RT​	3​	​
Medium Laser​	RT​	3​	​
Medium Laser​	CT​	3​	​

Quirks
Easy to Maintain
Easy to Pilot
Rugged (1 Point)

The Large laser variant is tempting too for sure. if I was playing around with converting it to introtech it would probably be a bit of a lazy swap of take out case for a half ton of armor and swap the MGs and ammo for dual flamers instead. nvm. already max armor. to emotional support small laser or drop a half ton for an extra heatsink? ima go heat sink.

Spoiler: Watchman Draft 2

Watchman Draft 2 WTC-BB2
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)

Level​	​	Era​
Experimental​	​	-​
Advanced​	​	-​
Standard​	​	3055+ (Clan Invasion -)​

Tech Rating: D/X-X-D-D

Weight: 40 tons
BV: 1,032
Cost: 2,921,427 C-bills
Source: TRO: 3055

Movement: 5/8/5
Engine: 200 Fusion
Heat Sinks: 13
Gyro: Standard Gyro

Internal: 67
Armor: 128/137

​	Internal​	Armor​	​	​
Head​	3​	9​	​	​
Center Torso​	12​	18​	​	​
Center Torso (rear)​	​	5​	​	​
Right Torso​	10​	15​	​	​
Right Torso (rear)​	​	4​	​	​
Left Torso​	10​	15​	​	​
Left Torso (rear)​	​	4​	​	​
Right Arm​	6​	11​	​	​
Left Arm​	6​	11​	​	​
Right Leg​	10​	18​	​	​
Left Leg​	10​	18​	​	​

Weapons​	Loc​	Heat​	​
Large Laser​	LA​	8​	​
Medium Laser​	RA​	3​	​
Medium Laser​	RA​	3​	​
Flamer​	LT​	3​	​
Flamer​	RT​	3​	​

Quirks
Easy to Maintain
Easy to Pilot
Rugged (1 Point)

they are probably not Ideal. but they are certainly serviceable.

 

[Bofors40mm]

To be fair the sentry as is in this fic is darn close to the first one and the 2nd one makes sense as a field refit.
And yeah moving the armor so it's not auto allotted to beef up the Aft armor would be a good idea

 

[Blasterbot]

5/8/5 is pretty maneuverable and the 13 heatsinks is enough to jump 5 and throw out the Large Laser consistently. it would be a solid cheap mech. it allows you to train your guys on jumping. you don't got to worry about ammo bombs. solid enough armor for 40 tons. I can see a fair amount of utility in the design. you could probably ditch the flamers and add an additional ML and heatsink for a meaner back stabber. but I do like the anti-infantry capability those add. you don't need all your mechs to have that. but you do want some or things can get out of hand as they tarpit far more valuable units.

 

[Bofors40mm]

It's especially valuable for the suns since save for bug mechs they don't really make any mechs that are specialized in anti infantry work without loading up alternative Ammo fyles. And of course bug mechs are horrifically exposed to infantry with SRMs especially in urban warfare. Also having several variants that techs can swap the loadout of if needed is a nice bit of flexibility.
Is it a omnimech or having the modular weapons quirk no.

But if you know the next mission is going to involve urban warfare you should have the time to do the swap on the dropship ride there assuming you have the programming to make the systems adjust to the swap on hand.

Also as you mentioned unlike the Chameleon as its a dedicated training mech that has zero risk of ammo going boom, it's cheaper and has more armor albeit at the expense of some mobility and most importantly of all the Suns make it.

Of course I'd probably use a mix of the 2 at the academies and training battalions since if nothing else the suns have a lot of training Chameleons and to be blunt I'd much rather start retiring the bugmechs from the trainer role instead especially for training formations likely to see combat of any kind.
Or failing that increasing the amount of mechwarriors being trained and the amount of training battalions/academy cadres and academies going up to take advantage of all the extra production being set up

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

One of the things I love about the designs Henry is introducing (thank you to the OP and Bofors) are all very nasty, easy to manufacture Introtech designs. But that's with Henry pulling his punches. Once circumstances allow Henry can roll out simple SLDF grade refit kits en-mass.

Picturing the reaction to nearly all these newer mechs being swapped to double heatsinks, more armor, better missile guidance, etc. over a VERY short time puts a smile on my face.

 

[Bofors40mm]

One of the things I love about the designs Henry is introducing (thank you to the OP and Bofors) are all very nasty, easy to manufacture Introtech designs. But that's with Henry pulling his punches. Once circumstances allow Henry can roll out simple SLDF grade refit kits en-mass.

Picturing the reaction to nearly all these newer mechs being swapped to double heatsinks, more armor, better missile guidance, etc. over a VERY short time puts a smile on my face.

Click to shrink...

Given most of my designs have near if not outright max efficient armor they mostly benefit from DHS and for fire support mechs I'm of a mixed opinion of Artemis IV since it denies the use of specialized Ammo which is pretty important

 

[BlueRanger O-Doom]

Given most of my designs have near if not outright max efficient armor they mostly benefit from DHS and for fire support mechs I'm of a mixed opinion of Artemis IV since it denies the use of specialized Ammo which is pretty important

Click to shrink...

I was more thinking doing swap/upgrade to DHS and Ferro armor to free up more dakka, ams, etc. And I honestly prefer streaks to artemis. Only really consider Artemis worth it if a missile carrier can spare the tonnage. Even ONLY swapping to dhs would be nasty.

 

[Blasterbot]

Given most of my designs have near if not outright max efficient armor they mostly benefit from DHS and for fire support mechs I'm of a mixed opinion of Artemis IV since it denies the use of specialized Ammo which is pretty important

Click to shrink...

you do lose out on utility but it is a fair bit of damage when talking LRM 15s and 20s. maybe for the SRM 6 as well it has some use cases. but seeing it used for smaller launchers makes me sad.

 

[Bofors40mm]

Fire support mechs are where you should load up your specialized Ammo into though. Albeit I suppose you can load them into your tanks instead.

as for Ferro-Fibrous honestly I'm a much bigger fan of Endosteel but for a refit package it works well enough since it's a lot easier to install than Endosteel without major depot or factory level work

 

[Imperator Pax]

Sakhara
Bristol was intended to produce Gauss Rifles. That massive castle brian sized storage depot was going to be put into, put to good use protected as it was by producing Gauss rifles and fusion engines and other components. Most production would be simpler things. Most of what it would produce though were going to be things already produced on Sakhara... it was just the Gauss rifles when they started becoming available, well would be a product they insisted were just on Bristol.

They wouldn't be. The truth was if not for the threat of the Galedon Regulars in the vicinity he'd have agreed with, or less reservedly agreed, Lord Aaron that there needed to be more staging forces and bases of supply and for that Hoff was very much an ideal. There was just too much to do before they could move on that. He needed to produce the things in particular the armor and light battlemechs he had mentioned to Alexandria the day before fill gaps in lines.

The essence screen was a wash of numbers. The value of equipment in monetary, and more abstract terms... and a spread sheet to track income and expenditures. It was also a vastly different, exponentially larger volume of exchange than what were calculated by the Davion analysts.

... but that was for any number of differences in what was calculated. The slantbacks that he planned to expand at market carried davion built weapons. The factories making those parts didn't require personnel in the sense that the SFU and MFU black boxes had not material gain to having a squishy human watching them. The techs were there purely as a safety and emergency response measure, in the event something went wrong.

A fire, or the possibility of attempts at sabotage. Sakhara, and probably Bristol would need to have precautions taken... further precautions taken since the realization had set in, that there were a lot of eggs in the basket. Clay expected that there would be something, which in his initial plans had been what had made him prefer to keep things close at hand. The county was close to the academy, and even the planetary ruler kept a major residence nearby... which had been where Yvonne Davion resided during her previous visits rather than commute from Memphis.

Bristol was going to be different though. The aircraft production there would probably, intentionally be laid down near the major AFFS training center at Ashwood. Most of the armor construction, and battlemech construction once that came online would be closer to the capital of Cardiff but rebuilding the industrial megaplex that had existed during the Star League even with transferring factory units from the essence would take time.

The JumpShip yard over Sakhara had taken eight factory units to assemble into the constellation necessary to produce the Star Lord class Jump Ship. He had recognized the political interest and thus pressure to look elsewhere. Officially Yvonne neither had the authority nor had been crass enough to point out that his time brevetted to the post on Kathil would count towards his time in grade in the AFFS. Not that that was really a concern, the AFFS was professional yes but no one after Mallory's World, and Halstead would have reasonably expected him to act as lance commander or probably even a company commander save perhaps in an emergency or the first prince was involved.

There had been rumors after the fact, that the Davion Guards had been talked about but that probably would have been too prone to complaints of nepotism. He'd only heard that second hand though from Lex and she'd apparently only heard it from some cadet on New Avalon who'd been more interested in the Long Swords her school had received and were putting through their paces at the time.

The chime at the door signaled an expected notification that he had been expecting since he had received the notification of Jump Ship transition into the system. The charging and docking stations at Zenith, and Nadir insured that things were safe, but also that they had plenty of warning in the event anyone showed up unannounced. Today's arrivals were just one group on a long list.

There were visits to be expected. Then there were the ones he wasn't planning on just yet. Yvonne Davion had suggested hiring mercenaries, with a short list to go along with it. The 15th​ Drakon hadn't been one of those but they had a good reputation... and to be fair it wasn't as if Henry was somehow above tweaking the Combine's nose as the aide to the Precentor New Avalon had happened to mention they were talking to the Combine about a long term contract. In part probably because his request had specifically asked after units of SLDF lineage.

It wasn't them, he was a little disappointed. He'd been hoping it might be the two battalions either here to accept his tendered offer or to enter negotiations. The New Valencia assigned DropShip though suggested that even if it wasn't mercenaries that it might be either communications from the dragoons or that their corporate partnership based there might have wanted to move forward on other agreements.

Blackwell already manufactured already manufactured parts for the Dragoons, and was still shipping them parts from what Henry understood, and that was fine but it didn't explain the Dragoons readiness or ability to reequip. It was just that Henry didn't actually need an explanation for that, he knew how that worked. The lawyers on New Avalon were supposed to be doing their due diligence on manufacturing new Shoguns, but he planned to push a similar offer to Blackwell to lease and or sell them an engine manufacturing factory similar to Achernar. This one though for the 255 Strand...whether or not the Dragoons were worth that much to New Valencia Henry didn't know for sure, but he assumed they were.

The new production Shogun ... a nominally singular demonstration model he planned to ship to New Valencia for them to put through their paces and report back to the dragoons was intended to see if they would bite. He wanted feedback from the lawyers before march, but that was why the jumpship circuit was critical... but it wouldn't hurt anything to let Blackwell's people actually test the machine here, since it had been outfitted with much more standard parts.

Henry swiped his hand dismissing the essence's mass of balance sheets and inventory and the reports of Bristol and Sakhara facilities before activating the conventional terminal, and the school's electronic mail system. The Dragoons had a reputation, that meant even if they were just hangers on Blackwell of New Valencia had a reputation, and that meant the Vice Chancellor was going to expect an invitation and it made perfect sense to invite the graduating class along... but even if it had been the 15th​ he'd had already planned to invite them to meet with the graduating class, or if the Eridani had shown up early, or any number of other visitors.

Justin must have already been on his device since he was the first to respond and half of the message was about the Cataphract anyway, and what plans were for production of that by other manufacturers. Henry just fired off a second message to meet him at the hangars, the truthwas unless GM or Blackwell or maybe Kallon moved on that he didn't' see production moving forward on the cataphract outside of small batches in the near future. Any small production was very likely toend up in training mechs for gunnery practice. Kallon hadn't committed yet on the Cataphract, and it made sense... things were moving very very fast by the standards of the succession wars, manufacturers probably weren't used to things moving this quickly...and were on the backfoot, especially with Ian adamant that all of this needed to be done.

Justin managed to beat him to the hangar , and be there before anyone else. "So its not the Eridani?"

"No its Blackwell, and I suspect probably one or two dragoons that hang around to keep an eye on things," He replied to the question squinting slightly against the bright sun to see if any one else was heading this way... Lieutenant Colonel Coleridge was in a meeting with the chancellor but a meeting the chancellor would likely release him from very shortly. Sakhara might not have been Nagelring and this not the Lyran commonwealth but networking was a critical skill to any officer... you; had to be aware of what your friends and also your potential rivals at court were doing after all. "The dragoons that are with them are probably mechwarriors." That was an assumption, he didn't know that for sure, but he had no qualms passing along to Justin the onboard manifest from New Valencia aboard the DropShip that had been transmitted.