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[Big Steve]

My friend Kartr asked me to post this ongoing story here, so I might as well. This is the thread I'll use for the timeline and any other fluff-bits like OrBats or background fluff.

The timeline is a bit low-detail until I get to the "Good Part", since it mostly exists to just get people up to speed.

Note: No, I don't think the world will go this way. I'm just setting up a fun world with a strategic value for some fun war-by-proxy.


2010s: With a succession of defaults in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, and finally Spain and Italy, the European Union's economy goes into a depression that spreads to the rest of the world, becoming known as the Second Great Depression. Even the development of cellulose-based ethanol aggravates this by causing large drops in oil prices that devastate the economies of Venezuela, Russia, and other major oil producers. The US ends up intervening in Iraq once again and will also be putting troops on the ground in Cuba when the Castro regime collapses following the deaths of both Fidel and Raul. China sees a major neo-Maoist surge that is put down by a harsh reaction within the Communist Party, which becomes dominated by technocrats and military commanders.

2020s: With the world's economies struggling to rebuild, anti-democratic ideologies begin to spread. The authoritarian Putinists of Russia re-assert authority in their border territories, gaining effective control of the Caucausian Republics. A brief war with the Ukraine, with no power willing to risk war with Russia to protect that country, sees the Donbas, Crimea, and much of Eastern Ukraine returned to Russia, leaving only a rump Ukraine centered on Kiev. The prospect of further Russian expansionism, particularly against the Baltics, prompts European remilitarization, aided by the sale of US weapon systems with the US government pushing heavy military cuts - though they do not prevent a further US military intervention during riots in Caracas or outright participation in fighting in the Philippines later in the decade.

All of these factors trigger reaction in the Third World, which has grown contemptful of the UN's inability to thwart aggression. With collective security within the organization a dead letter, the UN disintegrates under the lead of two men: Indian representative Janava Tyagri and Italian representative Armand Giuseppe. Giuseppe in particular shows great charisma, denouncing the existing world power structure and calling for the reformation of the UN at a truly neutral site and its federalization and empowerment. The US, Russia, and China are the lead nations in contemptuously ignoring this and maintaining the rump UN in New York; France, Germany, and India lead the rest of the world in forming a new UN that arises in Geneva, Switzerland.

US politics see a swing from the "re-industrializing" populist Tea Party/anti-corporate Democrat coalition to a full Democratic majority built upon the need to rebuild the US's defunct social services system. In 2028 Denise Saunders is elected to the Presidency and begins new revenue-raising to fund a major social services program.

As the decade closes, Sino-Russian relations reach a new all-time low as both powers, once cooperative with each other, begin to covet control of Central Asia against the other, as well as China's interest in the undeveloped Siberian resources of Russia.

2030s: By the end of 2030, Russia and China are at the brink of war, despite US attempts to mediate.

And then comes 4 July 2031: Black Friday. Russia and China launch nuclear strikes on one another as the result of an error by a strategic defense officer. Several cities in both countries are devastated by nuclear weapons. Last minute diplomacy over satellite prevents second wave strikes that would have utterly destroyed both countries. A shaky status quo antebellum peace is established.

Having received the worst of the blows, China retreats into isolation to rebuild and avoid getting drawn into further conflicts. In Russia, the death toll and brush with nuclear annihilation is blamed on the authoritarian Putinists, who are faced with organized popular opposition for the first time since the early 2010s.

Horrified by the nuclear devastation and with many countries threatened by the radioactive debris scattered in the atmosphere, a worldwide reaction against atomic weapons sees popular demand for nuclear disarmament. Nuclear-armed countries resist with only some success as nuclear armaments are forcefully cut back from lack of funding.

The Sino-Russian conflict sees a shift in the new UN. Tyagri's more bureaucratic and diplomatic approach is curtailed by the rising star of Armand Giuseppe, who espouses a militant pan-humanism and openly advocates the elimination of distinct political nations in favor of the concept of the "Earth Nation", a collective of all Humanity. Though not all share his militant views, the basic concept enjoys widespread support in several nations, including Germany, as a means to overcome twenty years of economic stagnation. Ultimately the new UN is reorganized as the Earth National Union; Tyagri manages to maintain its Presidency, but Giuseppe assumes the leadership of the Assembly and the plans for a military apparatus. In most of Europe the ENU is compelled to not infringe upon civil rights and political due process, but in fringe countries with active conflicts and guerrila warfare Giuseppe proves adept at suppressing anti-ENU movements under the guise of protecting the people of these countries from "nationalist terrorism", aided by the establishment of the Verteidiger der Ordnung under Reinhardt von Krager's leadership for "thwarting nationalist uprisings in exposed member states".

With ENU propaganda villifying countries that don't join as controlled by "nationalist cabals", with the US being their greatest target, non-ENU countries take steps to curb internal Giuseppian influences, prompting violent clashes in some cases. Geneva becomes host to hundreds of such exiles. Other political forces align with the ENU as a means to pursue their own goals, including a new nationalist Mexican government and the neo-Chavezists of Latin America.

The most surprising supporter of the ENU comes in the form of the Russian Democracy movements, who see the ENU as a democratic Western state despite its growing authoritarianism outside of Europe. When Russian Democrats attempt a popular revolution, a civil war erupts in Russia. With the conflict still raging in 3035, ENU troops are invited in by the Russian democratic leadership to help them "restore peoples' democracy to Russia" - a move that makes them highly unpopular in Russia, though it temporarily sees several Euro-Indian army victories over the weakened Russian military and the establishment of a Russian democratic government in Moscow (the Putinists retreat to the Urals and set up a rival government, denounced as "Whites" by the democrats, in Yekaterinburg).

The effects of Giuseppe's rise also undermine Denise Saunders' efforts to keep the US military small to fund her social projects. Losing the 2034 mid-term elections, Saunders is forced to accept Republican demands for military rebuilding, though she stonewalls on several demands until she leaves office in 2036; Vice President Omar Lopez loses a close election race to moderate Republican Jason Andrews in a history-making election (both candidates are from traditional racial minorities, with Andrews becoming Barack Obama's successor as the second African-American President). Andrews commences a military restoration program with the National Defense Authorization Act of August 2037.

In response, Giuseppe pushes a military expansion for the Earth National Union despite Tyagri's objections and an expansion of Director von Krager's powers.

The two governments almost come to a showdown with the political crisis in Great Britain. A General Election returns a plurality and near-majority in favor of the pro-ENU Social Democrats despite widescale proof of ENU interference in the British political process, including bribery and voter fraud. The leader of the Social Democrats, Andrew MacPherson, turns down offers for a coalition government by Labour due to Labour's insistance on retaining the UK's independence from Geneva. Instead he calls for a general strike across the country, declaring the election proof that the common Briton wanted to join Giuseppe's Union. Violence breaks out due to extremists on both sides (with some aid from von Krager's agents provocateur), and when the existing government offices refuse to declare martial law and arrest opponents of the Social Democrats, MacPherson declares that the government is violating its own law and leaving his supporters open to "suppression and murder", requesting Geneva's aid to prevent this.

Tyagri wavers, but media manipulation by Giuseppe's supporters convinces European public opinion that the British government, including the monarchy, is trying to suppress the democratic outcome of the vote, and give full support for a "police intervention" to support democracy. Faced with a military invasion, the British leadership appeals to the United States for aid, but when President Andrews declines due to his military's weakness the British government dissolves. King George VIII acquieses and asks MacPherson to form a Government. Technically it is a minority government, but with ENU forces preparing to move in and the country demoralized, several rogue Labour MPs side with the Social Democrats and support MacPherson's government. MacPherson uses his power to declare his intention to hold a plebiscite to dissolve the monarchy and to order the British military to turn their equipment over to the ENU military.

At this point a mass mutiny results in large portions of all the services fleeing to Canada with whatever equipment they can bring, along with leading anti-Giuseppians. George VIII's son James and his grandchildren Edward, Henry, and Margaret are among those who flee, as do Conservative Party leader Alexander Maxwell-Fyfe and Labour Party leader Trevor Goodwell. From Ontario they declare the existence of a British Government-in-Exile, with James as Regent for the "imprisoned" George VIII. As a result of this development, an enraged MacPherson arrests George VIII and several of his household officials and unilaterally declares the formation of the British Republic, inciting further instability in various parts of the country as he begins to apply authoritarian methods to consolidate power. Another wave of political refugees is the result.

For the first time the people of Europe begin to reconsider Giuseppe, as even the VdO can't keep journalists from reporting on the state of affairs in Britain. German Chancellor Johann Burchardt leads a group of ten European leaders who file an official protest in Geneva, demanding a military withdrawal from Britain and the removal of support from MacPherson. The protest is not obeyed, but Giuseppe - under pressure from Tyagri - gives an ultimatum to MacPherson, forcing him to stop most of his political repressions, though quietly the VdO continues to help identify real or potential royalists and opponents of MacPherson's regime.

The entire incident harms Giuseppe's image in other countries, and crystallizes the reaction to Giuseppe's rise as centered in the United States, where remilitarization proceeds with even greater impetus. Giuseppe begins to consider seriously the idea of a pre-emptive strike on the United States, with the help of Mexico and its nationalist government, though it is not taken seriously by anyone in power in Geneva.

And then... everything changed.




19 May 2038/19 June 3058: Investigating a suspicious radiation reading above the ecliptic plane of Huntress, Star Colonel Benjamim Stiles led the DropShip Blood Fury into a "wormhole" of sorts, a break in the fabric of space-time that led them to a point above the ecliptic plane of another solar system far from Clan space. Identifying swiftly the system as that of Terra, Stiles' sensors confirmed that it could not possibly be the Terra of legend. Realizing what he'd found regardless, Stiles returned to Huntress and won permission from his commander, Galaxy Commander Russou Howell, to bring a Trinary and Supernova to take an enclave on the world. The island of Bermuda was selected for the attack, taken swiftly, and seized. Attempted counter-attacks by the United States Air Force and RAF fail and are eradicated by the Jaguar fighters and DropShip.

2 June 2038/3 July 3058: At a high level meeting in Geneva, the capital of the United Earth Nation, Giuseppe and Tyagri co-chair a meeting of the Union's highest military and political officials. Giusepp, sees the Clans as an opportunity to bring the United States and Russia into the Union formally by playing up the Union as a logical center of resistance to the Invaders. President Tyagri agrees, but Reinhardt von Krager expresses a different viewpoint. He believes the Earth Union better served by opening talks with the Clans, arguing successfully that the Clans' military technology might make even a unified planetary resistance useless, but that as allies, even subordinate ones, the Earth Union might use Clan forces and equipment to take over the nations that had refused to join the Union. As a result of this argument, Giuseppe recommends, and Tyagri agrees, that talks be opened with the Clan commander on Bermuda to learn about Clan intentions, and decide from that whether the Union sould serve as the center of resistance against the Clans or as their allies.

24 June 2038/25 July 3058: A Wolf Dragoon DropShip investigates a radiation reading above the ecliptic plane of Outreach. It leads them to the alternate Earth, below the ecliptic plane. They detect a Clan Diamond Shark DropShip above the ecliptic. The Shark DropShip likewise detects them.

Said Diamond Shark merchant ship had also detected the rift's thermal signature and investigated, discovering both the alternate Earth and the Wolf Dragoon ship, clearly identifiable as Inner Sphere. An attempt by a Star of Jaguar Aerospace Fighters to seize the merchant ship fails due to the merchant's own escorts, who drive off the Jaguar attackers and enable the Shark vessel to return to its JumpShip. Ian Hawker sends a message to the other Khans revealing the discovery of the Jaguars. The discovery invigorates the Home Clans yearning for a spot in the Crusade.

2 July 2038/2 August 3058: The Wolf Dragoons leave Coventry to return to Outreach and shore up its defenses. As the revelation of the rifts expands, the Successor States begin reacting by shifting troops toward Outreach should a Clan invasion force come through. Colonel Jaime Wolf, acting under support from both Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao and First Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, attempts to open talks with the governments of Earth, but is ignored by the Union - which wishes to avoid angering the Clans with negotiations ongoing - and most of the blocs; only the United States and the British Commonwealth agree to meet.

4 July 2038/4 August 3058: Galaxy Commander Russou Howell meets Chairman Giuseppe, Director von Krager, and President Tyagri. Though he cannot speak for his Clan's leadership, still inbound from the Inner Sphere, Howell confirms that the Smoke Jaguars would be willing to align with their government, and to press for such alliance in the Grand Council, if Giuseppe's forces help them secure the rest of the planet and provide further assistance to power their invasion of the Inner Sphere.

Without consulting Tyagri, Giuseppe hastens preparations for a secret operation he and von Krager had begun preparing, to turn their defensive forces in Mexico - having aligned with the Union - into an offensive force to attack the United States before its rearmament programs could be completed (and in support, it is believed, of a substantial 5th Column of Giuseppians).

1 August 2038/2 September 3058: Although the Grand Council has not met, the Smoke Jaguar Council gives a preliminary approval of supporting Giuseppe by a narrow vote. Opponents consider calling a Trial of Refusal, but Khan Lincoln Osis persuades them not to divide the Clan with the upcoming Grand Council meeting likely to result in an Absorption of a Clan (either the Wolves or Falcons) and/or a general resumption of the Crusade. The Smoke Jaguars shift extra Provisional Garrison Clusters to Mexico at von Krager's request.

12 August 2038/13 September 3058: With Clan reinforcements detected landing in Mexico, the United States issues a protest to the Mexican Government and to Geneva. President Andrews uses the issue to convince Congress to enact emergency spending to set up 'Mech training facilities with the aid of Wolf Dragoons and Federated Suns officers. The Davion Training Battalion System is chosen as a template for the creation of new US Army 'Mech units, with nation-wide testing begun to find suitable candidates.

September 2038/October 3058: Political developments begin to heighten in the Clans and Inner Sphere. The Whitting Conference on Tharkad is begun, seeking to restore the Star League and pursue a counter-attack on the Clans, while on Strana Mechty the Home Crusaders begin their own push for a renewed invasion with their Clans' participation. Though attempts by Ian Hawker of the Sharks and Asa Taney of the Ice Hellions to cause an Absorption of either the Falcons or the Wolves fails, the Home Clans are both excited and perturbed by the existence of the rifts. A Grand Council vote is held in which a majority of Clans, even including nominally Warden ones, agree to send forces to "New Terra", with Vlad Ward and Bjorn Jorggenson amongst the dissenters. An official alliance with the United Earth Nation of Giuseppe is postponed until an ilKhan can be elected, during which time the Jaguars send for Reinhardt von Krager, deemed the most warrior-like of the Nation's leaders, to be brought to negotiate it.

Australia, New Zealand, and Canada set up their own 'Mech training programs similar to that being employed by the Americans. The Wolf Dragoons provide the necessary simulators and help construct machinery toolings, bankrolled by the Federated Suns and Free Worlds League, to begin low-scale 'Mech production using US, Australian, and Canadian military industries.

In response to this, the Jaguars agree to send surplus elder MechWarriors to run training programs for Earth Army forces, though the Clan Council stops short of agreeing to build 'Mech factories on Earth.

October 2038/November 3058: After being elected ilKhan of the Clans, Lincoln Osis invites Reinhardt von Krager to negotiate an official alliance between the Earth Nation and the Clans. Von Krager proves a capable diplomat amongst the Clans, defending himself victoriously in fencing duels on occasion and confirming himself sufficiently warrior-like to be bargained with, and the proposed alliance passes a Grand Council vote on the strength of von Krager's arguments for the usefulness of the Earth Nation and on the Home Crusaders' eagerness to fight a renewed invasion. Again Vlad Ward and the Ghost Bears are the principle opponents of the alliance, although Marthe Pryde changes her vote to support it.

Von Krager reveals to the allied Clans that the Earth Nation is preparing an invasion of the United States. As the allies of the deposed British government-in-exile and supporters of the Commonwealth, as well as their strengthening linkage with the Chinese, he argues that the occupation of America's main population and industrial centers would give the Clans an expanded industrial base from which to power their invasion of the Inner Sphere, and agrees that in exchange for official political control going to the Earth Nation along with garrison duties, the Clans will be given first pick of all resources, manpower, and use of industrial base. The Earth Nation would also aid Clan forces in occupation duties in the Inner Sphere, if needed, and provide advice and support in dealing with defiant populations (like those bedeviling the Falcons in their occupation zone). Additionally, the Grand Council approves setting up Clantech military factories in Europe and India, to use Earth Nation workforces overseen by Clan technician and merchant caste supervisors and administrators.

On Tharkad, the month is used up in the debates, discussions, and planning sessions that give birth to a political and military offensive against the Clans. The Star League is reborn, with Capellan Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao elected First Lord for a 3058-3061 term, and Operation: Bulldog is approved and set into motion, with forces from all the Successor States shifting to the Draconis Combine to attack Clan Smoke Jaguar.

Simultaneously, AFFC Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion is given command of Task Force Serpent, the second half of the war to destroy Clan Smoke Jaguar; an attack on Huntress itself. ComStar has independently gained data on the Exodus Road, to lead them straight to the Jaguar capital, but the presence of the rifts cause reconsideration. While the Exodus Road permits a true sneak attack, the inability to send communications through the rifts permits their use, if done carefully, to allow a similar sneak attack, without requiring the troops to spend over half a year moving through space. Anastasius Focht, ComStar Precentor-Martial and the man invested as Commanding General of the new Star League Defense Force, opts toward the more cautious, flexible plan to use the rifts. Morgan Hasek-Davion's forces are sent to Dieron to train with each other in preparation for the attack and to be used as an emergency reserve against either the Jaguar OZ or against Clan attacks through the rifts.

With both of these strategies in place, the Star League Council opts to formally assume control of Jaime Wolf's programs to prepare the nations of Earth to fight the Clans. Capellan, League, and FedSuns forces will form the backbone of aid given, though advisors from all League nations and ComStar are sent to maintain the visage of a united front. However, due to need for troops elsewhere, and to avoid these units getting torn up, the League decides to keep its commitments more toward advisors and material than combat troops, and to place the onus of defense on the Earthers themselves. There is a national element to the aid sent; Combine advisors in general aid Japan while those from the Azami of the Arkab Legions go to the Arabian nations still resisting Giuseppian control, FedSun advisors aid the Commonwealth, Israel, and America, and the Capellans open talks with the technocrat-military regime in charge of the People's Republic of China to help them build their own forces.

November 2038/December 3058: With ENU intelligence sources confirming the Star League aid being brought in, Giuseppe asks the Clans to move up the timetable to bring in troops.

Despite his request, the Clans insist on the bidding trials being held. The Smoke Jaguars, Jade Falcons, and Hell's Horses win the right of first assault on North America, with the Nova Cats and Coyotes as their backup Clans. The Falcons also bid for and win secondary rights in the East Asian Theater, with the Burrock and Diamond Shark Clans triumphing and the Blood Spirits being picked as reserve (they only bid on the Asia theater, it is believed, due to their long-standing hatred of the Burrocks). Clans Star Adder, Fire Mandrill, and Ice Hellion win the right to first pick of further operations after the resolution of the initial attack into the United States. The Wolves do not bid, but Vlad Ward offers to deploy two Clusters as an emergency reserve against an Inner Sphere invasion.

Although some of the Clans - the Wolves and Ghost Bears most prominently - do not bid into the first wave, all the Clans are required by the Grand Council's alliance terms to send material, trainers, and technicians to aid the Earth Nation in establishing OmniMech factories in Europe and India and to raise their own core of MechWarriors, intended to be garrison troops to free up Clan PGCs and Second line troops for frontline battle.

Meanwhile, as US intelligence sources confirm the Giuseppian alliance with the invaders, the United States and Canadian armies integrate their command structures and establish full liaisons with Australia, New Zealand, and other nations allowing such to prepare for an invasion to be backed by Earth Nation troops. Jaime Wolf - meeting with President Andrews and the Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth - pledges the Dragoons to fighting any Clan attack into North America, and forward positions Beta Regiment at Fort Hood in Texas and Gamma Regiment to Australia and New Zealand as part of this commitment. He also proposes, and the Allies accept, taking the most promising of the MechWarrior candidates of their nations to Outreach and giving them full Dragoon-level training, preventing their MechWarrior cadres from being devastated by any sudden Clan attack.

December 2038/January 3059: The United States puts into service its first BattleMech Training Battalion, at the standard size of 36 BattleMechs, using MechWarriors trained by Dragoon and FedSun advisors on simulators while awaiting delivery of BattleMechs. It uses a triangular formation like standard Inner Sphere units, though four 'Mechs are considered a 'Mech platoon and not a lance. The unit begins training at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Both sides continue slow buildups due to logistics limitatons.

January 2039/February 3059: The Star Adders drop a bombshell in the Clan Grand Council, revealing the Burrocks have been aiding the "Bandit Caste" for decades. The Council permits the Adders to begin a Trial of Absorption against the Burrocks, against Blood Spirit protest. Spirit intervention in the Trial results in a brutal internecine Clan War that leaves the Spirits badly damaged and the Adders damaged but able to make good on their losses by the widescale transfer of willing Burrock troops to Adder command. Angered by being denied revenge for centuries of Burrock depradations, the Spirits transfer that vendetta to the Star Adders, and in response to the "betrayal" of the Grand Council in awarding Absorption to the Adders, the Spirits withdraw from their holdings on the Pentagon world of Arcadia and consolidate their capital of York, maintaining only their ties to the Snow Ravens and Fire Mandrills, as well as trade ties to the Diamond Sharks. They also withdraw the handful of Techs they had sent to aid in Earth Nation training programs.

The Adders take over Burrock obligations, including their bid for operations in the Far East. However, due to their losses and need to maintain their defense agreement with the Cloud Cobras, the Star Adder Clan voluntarily relinquishes their leading place in the East Asia theater, permitting the Jade Falcons to operate there as well in exchange for granting the Adders a planetary base. Khan Cassius N'Buta decides to focus efforts on a future invasion and intends to open bidding later in the year, after the Clan had time to recover, to attack Australia.

Another contingent of MechWarriors departs North America and Australia for Outreach and Dragoon training. This time the contingent includes three newly-tested and high-scoring figures: Prince James Windsor of Britain, Regent of HM Government-in-Exiile and Regent-President of the British Commonwealth, and his sons Edward and Henry. James' sister Margaret fails testing but is selected to be trained to fly advanced Inner Sphere aerospace fighters. Other long-deposed royals living in anti-Giuseppian countries are tested by specific request from Inner Sphere officials, prompting musing and grumbling by Earth sources.

Although TF Serpent training is to take precedence, elements of the Eridani Light Horse are invited to train with and teach the special program Earth MechWarriors on Outreach, in conjunction with Dragoon-US Army staff studies on the roles of BattleMechs in warfare and a desire to look into the "Striker" role and the tactics of armored cavalry units versus armored divisions.

February 2039/March 3059: The first provisional Earth Nation Garrison BattleMech Battalions come into service, using Clan secondline BattleMechs. In lieu of the completion of Clan OmniMech factories, native-built factories come into service to build lower-teched 'Mechs for training and garrison use.

With Clan forces increasing in number in Mexico and Giuseppian-allied Caribbean nations, the United States officially restarts the draft full-scale. Years of disuse leaves the Selective Service Administration outdated and unable to effectively operate to the scale desired, though the inefficiency is not as severe thanks to the success of the national testing program for 'Mech suitability. This organization proves effective in ensuring the drafting of a steady stream of talented, capable 'Mech pilots.

In San Luis Potosi, Galaxy Commander Brendan Corbett of Clan Smoke Jaguar arrives to take command of the Jaguar forces leading the invasion of the US. Final arrivals of divisions from India to fill out the manpower of the Earth Nation's army are completed, while Mexican nationalist groups suborned by the Giuseppians attempt large-scale protests and strikes by Mexican workers in the United States.

On 25 February 2039/28 March 3059, Lincoln Osis wins approval from Marthe Pryde and Malavai Fletcher to commence combat operations against the United States in a week's time. Giuseppe's government is informed and Giuseppian army detachments, including VdO battalions for hunting down political and police leadership in the US that might form the core of a "nationalist resistance" in occupied areas, begin their own preparations.

On 28 February 2039/31 March 3059, the United States military formally shifts to DefCon 1 in light of intelligence assets confirming an imminent invasion. Several American cities practice air raid drills.

March 2039/April 3059: On the 5th of the month, both calendars, Jaguar BattleMechs stomp over the Rio Grande and seize the city of Brownsville, Texas, against light and sporadic resistance. The Invasion has begun. The Clans focus in the east; Clan Smoke Jaguar's offensive corridor is along the Gulf Coast to the Mississippi River while the Horses are given an invasion axis between the Rockies and the eastern edge of the Jaguar corridor. The Jade Falcons, who were last in the bidding, seize El Paso and advance up the Rio Grande. Giuseppian army units follow them into Texas and Arizona while Mexican-centered forces launch an independence offensive into Arizona and southern California.

The Mexican Giuseppians are rudely abused of their preconceptions. Though they make early maneuver gains from a lack of mobile US forces in the area, they are unable to take San Diego proper, and their dispersed armored cavalry columns do not find masses of waiting Mexican patriots to aid them in taking Los Angeles as was expected; instead they face resistance that borders on ferocious. Californian National Guard forces with mechanized equipment, aided by the US 3rd BattleMech Training Battalion (equipped with imported AgroMechs outfitted with 21st Century machine guns and flamethrowers), encircle and annihilate the Mexican columns. Unprepared for such resistance, the demoralized Army flees back across the border and are driven back over the Colorado. Authorities in the two Mexican states making up the Baja, responding to popular discontent with the Giuseppian-backed government and the Mexican Army's abandonment of defenses for the peninsula, openly declare rebellion from Mexico City and welcome US troops to drive out VdO contingents.

The Falcons are more successful; they take Albuquerque and the Cluster on their western flank, bypassing Phoenix, nearly reaches Las Vegas before being forced back by the collapse of the Mexican offensive. Phoenix becomes the frontline in the Southwest, held by American troops; the Falcons do succeed in nearly annihilating the 3rd Training Battalion when it arrives to bolster the front due to the battalion's inferior gear.

The Jaguars and Horses, meanwhile, tear open huge flanks in the draftee-swelled, disorganized US Army and National Guard formations. Surviving Armored forces make for the defensive lines of the rivers to the north; Dallas falls just a week into the offensive. The Dragoons Beta Regiment, outnumbered, nevertheless mauls a Hell's Horses Cluster outside Austin, but is forced back by the general collapse. Beta Regiment ends up pivotal to the defense of New Orleans.

With German armored brigades as spearheads, the Earth Nation supplements the Clan advance, directly capturing San Antonio and Oklahoma City as they follow in the wake of the unstoppable Clan juggernaught.

The Wolf Dragoons move Alpha and Delta Regiments to North America. News of the scope of the Clan attack, larger than was expected, prompts ComStar to rush in the 83rd and 166th Divisions to prevent a total collapse, though the Inner Sphere's large commitment to the impending offensive against the Jaguars restrains any further use of forces. In light of the Falcon appearance, Khan Phelan authorizes the deployment of the 16th Wolf Guards Battle Cluster to bolster the southwestern Front as well as a general assignment of Beta Galaxy to Outreach to provide a ready reserve to prevent American collapse.

April 2039/May 3059: Dragoon counterattacks force the Jaguars to abandon the siege of New Orleans, but Delta Regiment takes severe damage as it tries to hold Kansas City and Fort Leavenworth. The Horses finish seizing western Kansas and head to a desirable target: the cities of Denver and Colorado Springs and the American 2nd BattleMech Training Battalion, now backed by the Black Widow Company of the Wolf Dragoons and a company of the hastily-arriving Davion Light Guards. This was the first combat of the Horses against Inner Sphere units and the Horses gave it their best, eliminating half of the Light Guards' 'Mechs and forcing the Spiders back into Denver itself. Further south the Horses expected to take Colorado Springs after dislodging a Level II of ComStar troops, but are thwarted by native forces utilizing anti-'Mech infantry equipment.

Over halfway through the month, word comes to both sides of the beginning of Operation: Bulldog. Though it buoys the morale of the Allied and League forces, the news does not shake the Jaguars enough to save Kansas City and the American Army facilities at Fort Leavenworth. A brutal defensive effort mauls the attacking Jaguar Cluster, but in the end the US loses half of its best-armed 'Mech training unit and the Dragoons are forced to withdraw Delta Regiment entirely to avoid its destruction. The arrival of the 7th Free Worlds Legionnaires prevents the collapse of the defense of St. Louis and keeps the Jaguars west of the Mississippi. They continue advancing north.

May 2039/June 3059: The commitment of the ComGuard 86th Division saves Denver from a renewed Horses attack. The 166th Division, initially considered for Phoenix, is instead relegated to the city of Minneapolis to confront the Jaguars rushing onward. All of Comstar's 5th Army is ordered in to prevent a Clan breakthrough along the wide, open front of the northern Great Plains; the United States Army likewise commits all available reserves to protect the last major road linking the western and eastern half of the countries through the Twin Cities, and receives Canadian reinforcement. Elements of the 467th Division smash a Jaguar garrison Trinary that attempts to extend forward and take the eastern entrance to Minneapolis along I-94. The rebuilt 1st 'Mech Training Battalion of the US Army joins them at a position near Hastings to await the arrival of Jaguar troops.

Operation: Bulldog continues to enjoy unexpected success. But news is slow in reaching troops on Earth, and ilKhan Osis does not inform the Grand Council of what's going on, preventing the Home Clans from realizing the scope of the Jaguar troubles. Frustrated equally by the failure of his garrison troops at the approach to Minneapolis and at St. Louis, Osis sends in what remaining reserves he has in the Homeworlds to break through.

President Andrews asks the Dragoons to release the first battalion worth of American MechWarriors for combat service, hoping to use them to help save Minneapolis.

June 2039/July 3059: Khans Vlad Ward and Marthe Pryde confront ilKhan Osis in the Grand Council for his failure to inform the Clans as a whole about the Inner Sphere's offensive. Osis attempts to offer Home Clans a chance to fight alongside his forces, but the Home Clans are more interested in taking Earth as a springboard into the heart of the Inner Sphere and Osis' attempts to gain assistance fail. He is also forced, by reports of the arriving reinforcements, to approve Marthe Pryde's bid of the 3rd Falcon Dragoons to the attack on Minneapolis; the Sigma Solahma Cluster is left behind in the approaches to Phoenix, deemed sufficient to oppose the US Army force holding the city.

At the urging of Brendan Corbett and Director von Krager, Giuseppian 'Mech forces enter combat alongside their army in an attempt to wrest control of Memphis away from the Americans, but American National Guard units using jury-rigged anti-'Mech weapons prove capable of preventing the fall of the city. Nevertheless the Earth Nation's attack on Memphis and attempts to cross the Mississippi into Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi will bog down American troops in the Southeast and prevents further reinforcement to the vital northern front.

The 16th Wolf Guards Battle Cluster arrives at Phoenix. Star Colonel Craig Fetladral begins planning offensive attacks on the Falcon solahma opposing him.

The Dragoons deem the first cadre of 100 American and Canadian MechWarriors ready for combat service. They are given a mix of Inner Sphere and Clan BattleMechs by the Dragoons depending on their score; the top ten scoring MechWarriors are given Clan frontline OmniMechs. They will return to Earth at the first of the following month, organized as the 1st and 2nd BattleMech Battalions and attached to US Armored Brigades holding the line at Denver and Minneapolis.

July 2039/August 3059: Now.

(Australian and New Zealanders trained by the Dragoons will be entering service this month; the 1st Australian and 1st ANZAC 'Mech Training Battalions are in service and conducting enhanced training maneuvers.)

Edited by Big Steve, 06 June 2012 - 10:03 AM.

[Kartr]

Yes!! nMWSE is here on MWO! Love the setting Steve keep up the good work. Also adding a link to the first story Enemy At The Gates.

[Big Steve]

And now my first small story in this setting, "Small Victories", since it sets up characters in the first full story and explains their rides.

Beverly, Missouri, United States
North America, Earth
18 April 2039 Local
18 May 3059 Inner Sphere


With disdain in every fiber of his being, Star Captain Tomas Osis spit his crosshairs on the unadorned Locust BattleMech and fired his Timber Wolf's arm-mounted energy weapons. Four beams flayed armor and titanium bone from the unlucky machine; its pilot, brave but wholly unworthy of a trueborn Clan warrior's skill, could only return fire ineffectively from long range.

Would that I find the Dragoon traitors to fight instead, Osis pondered as he triggered another weapon. The stream of ruby darts emitted by his pulse layer acted like a surgeon's scalpel, cutting open the torso of the hapless Inner Sphere machine. The medium laser on the other side of the torso became his weapon of execution, decapitating the hapless BattleMech and killing the pilot within. These 'Americans' are worthless as MechWarriors.

His aide, MechWarrior Alfred, had made short work of another 'Mech, a Commando, with pulse lasers. Neither warrior was interested in wasting missiles, which made up the bulk of their offensive firepower, on such meager targets. Not when a Wolf Dragoon Command Lance was believed to be in the region. Destroying it was Osis' mission and desire; soon, either way, he expected the Jaguar secondline troops he commanded to force them and their meager native allies away, giving the Clan control of the metropolis of Kansas City and depriving the American nation of its major army facilities at Fort Leavenworth.

Denied service in the Inner Sphere for so long, the discovery of the rifts the prior year had been a gift from beyond for Tomas Osis, a chance to win glory and redeem the sullied reputation of his meager Bloodname. Though even having a Bloodname was a prestigious honor, having a sullied one was not the key to greater power and responsibility in the Clan; not unless the current wearer amassed glory and honor in battle to improve his or her standing.

"Have you heard anything?", he barked over the radio. "Those stravag Dragoons must be here somewhere."

"Neg, Star Captain."

Grumbling, Tomas set his Timber Wolf in a brisk run toward the Missouri River. He was drawing close to the defenses arrayed protectively around Fort Leavenworth, but he did not intend to cross the River but draw enemies out.

He was not disappointed.




Nestled in the command cockpit of her JVN-10F Javelin, Corporal Danielle "Dani" Verdes watched the heavy Jaguar BattleMechs stomp toward the river on her magscan sights. "If we wait any longer they might spot us," she spoke into the open radio line to the 'Mech beside her.

Corporal Rebekah "Becca" Shameel answered immediately from her standard Commando. "But can we risk it? Those are heavy Clan Omnis, just one of them would probably take us out."

Yeah, just like they have every other platoon we've thrown at them, Dani thought bitterly. Her entire company of the 1st 'Mech Training Battalion had been wiped out trying to hold Kansas City. She and Rebecca were all that was left of their platoon, and the Captain in charge was in the infirmary in Fort Leavenworth. They had gone out on perimeter patrol and had strict orders; stay submerged and only engage "if necessary or against targets of opportunity". The 1st TB had lost enough 'Mech pilots in the past two weeks, they couldn't afford more losses.

Oh well. I knew the moment I sat in one of these things it was going to get me killed. Sighing to herself, Dani centered the crosshairs for her four medium lasers and braced her feet in the Javelin's Jump Jet pedals. "This could be our one shot, Becca. Let's focus on the Vulture and try to hit the pilot directly."

"I've got your back, Dani."

Technically they should be identifying themselves as Greens 3 and 4, but at the moment Dani didn't particularly care for military protocols. Not when she was about to jumpjet into the faces of a pair of Clan frontline machines, either of which was more than the weight of her machine and Becca's combined.

"Let's give them hell, 'Becca!" Dani pressed down on the pedals and felt her Javelin soar upward. In the space of a second she broke the surface of the water. In mid-air she watched her crosshairs come down over the Mad Cat's back and opened fire.




The 360° view his holotank gave him warned Tomas of the danger a moment before it struck. He had been coming around when two medium laser beams sliced into the weak rear armor of his OmniMech. The Timber Wolf profile on his screens changed to show the loss of his rear armor, but there was no further damage. Beside him, Alfred's Mad Dog took a stronger hit from a Large Laser that sheared armor from his shoulder and arm; sparks indicated that one of his right arm pulse lasers was knocked out. "Clever little freebirths, aren't you?" Inwardly cursing at himself for speaking so foully, Tomas began turning to track the light Inner Sphere 'Mech that had attacked him so audaciously. He initially suspected he'd found some Dragoons... but upon seeing the white star insignia on the 'Mech he realized this was another native pilot. I will make you regret your audacity, primitive.

Alfred took the brunt of their attack. The Javelin fired two ruby beams. One missed and set grass ablaze; the other carved armor from Alfred's leg. SRMs erupted from the launcher on the Commando, four of which impacted and blasted armor away from the Mad Dog's hip and torso.

Alfred returned fire with all three remaining pulse lasers. The lasers found the hip of the Commando, drilling through the armor to burn myomer and melt ferro-titantium below. Honoring zellbrigen - unlike the freebirth stravag - Tomas turned his own 'Mech's arsenal on the Javelin. His pulse laser drilled through armor and into bone on the smaller 'Mech's shoulder. The pilot was fast, though, and only one of his medium lasers hit directly, flaying armor off the torso and destroying one of the medium lasers.

Alfred had a chance to get moving now, and a second laser shot from the Commando only managed to graze his arm, scouring a culvert into the armor but doing no real damage. The young MechWarrior - a fellow Osis with a Mehta genefather, Tomas recalled - twisted himself about and let loose another barrage of his pulse lasers that caught the Commando before it could evade. The large pulse laser did the worst, drilling through the torso and hitting the Commando's engine shielding. The heat on the light 'Mech began to build. The other pulse lasers flayed yet more armor and bone, leaving the right leg perilously close to snapping off; the pilot, rather surprisingly, kept the machine standing.

Tomas, however, had lost his patience, watching his extended range large lasers both miss from the fast maneuvering of the Javelin pilot. If I were in a lesser Clan, I would undoubtedly consider this one good material for a bondsman. "Alfred, I tire of this distraction. Engage with missiles."

Freed from Tomas' order to restrain from ammunition wastage, Alfred fired one of his torso launchers. Twenty long-range missiles erupted from the Mad Dog's body. Unlike the Inner Sphere's models, Clan LRM warheads armed immediately after launch. The Commando twisted around to try and avoid the onslaught, but at this range and with a trueborn Clan warrior at the controls, there was no escape; the LRMs hammered the light 'Mech. Engine hits might have completely doomed it, but such were unnecessary. The missile barrage blasted away armor; two missiles found the gyro and left the Commando almost unpilotable. Another missile found the weakened hip of the right leg and blasted free the remaining bone and myomer. The limb snapped off and the Commando collapsed.

Not to be outdone, Tomas unleashed a full barrage of 40 missiles at his opponent in the Javelin. The Javelin pilot, not to be outdone, had already returned fire; all three beams slashed into his 'Mech, melting away torso armor. One hit just below the cockpit, its ruby light bathing Tomas indirectly as it cut away his armor.

But his attack was worse. Triggering his medium lasers again, the barrage he unleashed doomed the Javelin. The lasers cut away more armor, not managing further hits internally but leaving the Javelin off-balance as over two dozen LRMs slammed into it. Armor and myomer was blasted away in large chunks. Missiles found everything; the 'Mech's sensor system, the gyro, the engine... The eviscerated light 'Mech fell, reduced to a smoking pile before his fury.

"I tire of these freebirth foes, Alfred. Move north into the park, I wish to find real foes to sharpen my claws with." Giving only one slight look at the overwhelmed 'Mechs he had broken, Tomas smirked and set his Timber Wolf off to the north in search of more prey.




I'm still alive.

The thought was shooting through Dani's head as she pulled herself free from her command couch. Sweat was dripping off her arms and face in prodigious quantitie, covering the screen of her neurohelmet in the process. She threw it off in a fit of anger and fear, stripping the medical sensors along with it. Is Becca alive?! She keyed the radio, but found it utterly dead. Securing her survival pack and sidearm - a standard issue Colt M2030 model semi-automatic pistol - was the last thing she did before forcing herself out of the uncooled oven that her dead cockpit had become.

A spring breeze brought goosebumps to her bare legs and arms. She cursed to herself again, this time venting her anger at the Inner Sphere designers who decided to ditch full-body cooling suits and go with just vests. A pair of knee-length green shorts did not make for good heat protection, and the sweat on them now chilled her from the cool air. With her survival pack slung over her shoulder and her sidearm tucked into her holster, Dani went toward Becca's dead Commando about 200 meters away.

She didn't get there before a figure emerged from its head. Becca was dressed like she was - white cooling vest over a green halter top, green "MechWarrior" shorts that went to the knee, high sweat-absorbing socks and combat boots - with her long dark brown hair kept in a bun at the back of her head, unlike the ponytails Dani preferred when she couldn't have her own dark, almost black-colored hair loose. Becca moved up to her at a steady pace, her Star of David necklace prominent now that it was outside her cooling vest, the one concession Becca made to the religion of her parents which she, for the most part, did not partake in.

"That could have gone better," she said as she stepped up to Dani. This close, Dani could see bruising on Becca from where the missile barrage had shaken her up; she expected much the same on her body. The same fatigue she felt was mirrored in Becca's light brown eyes, a more common coloring than the deep green of Dani's own. "Dammit, Dani, those were the last two working 'Mechs in the company. Major Pierce is going to have kittens when he finds out what happened."

"Major Pierce isn't my biggest worry right now," Dani said. "The line's a fair bit away, but the Clanners are everywhere. If we don't get to cover, they're going to catch us." She turned to the north. "Weston Bend State Park is that way. We'll call for pickup there."

Sighing, Becca let her take the lead as they trudged along, trying not to think too much about the distant plumes of flames from the battles raging in the area.




MechWarrior Alfred looked at his ration pack and snarled. He missed the swiftness of Clan-on-Clan warfare, truthfully; here, on this pale imitation of Holy Terra, he had to fight Inner Sphere forces and these native throwbacks constantly. He did not mind eating from his cockpit, but having to leave it in order to do other things was annoying.

He had intended to shut his 'Mech down, but the Star Captain forbade it. Osis believed it unnecessary; who would dare steal their 'Mechs, or could even succeed if they were so foolish to try? One did not just climb into a BattleMech and take it over, even if it was still running and no code checks would be run. Instead Osis wanted to quickly eat, do other things, and get right back into the hunt.

Alfred took a bite off his ration bar and looked to where Osis was returning from the sewer. He assumed a passive face, knowing that he was looking at a genetic dead end for the House of Osis. He might not have tested sufficiently high to win a spot in an elite Clan unit, but Alfred knew that with sharpening he would soon join a frontline Cluster.

Tomas, however? The old fossil had barely survived his first Bloodright Trial in the decade before the invasion, when Alfred himself was but a babe, losing in just the second round to a fellow MechWarrior, and that was after brutally beating an aerospace pilot in an unaugmented fight for the first round (hardly a stellar victory!). And that had been for a moderately-prestigious Osis Bloodname, so he was hardly fighting the best of the Jaguars. He had been old, thirty-seven, when nominated again during the invasion, and that was because younger and better warriors were waiting for superior Bloodheritages to open up. No, this desperate decrepit old fossil had been so focused on getting his Bloodname and letting his inferior genes pollute the Jaguar warrior caste that he had fought for the tarnished Bloodname of Deitr Osis, an abject coward who failed to secure Turtle Bay and had been forced to destroy one of its richest cities to cow the populace, and who had then gone on to be tricked by the Draconis Combine at Wolcott. He won, of course, because even an old fossil outpaced by three generations could defeat older solahma and inferior, impatient cubs fresh out of their sibkos.

Alfred let his hand rest on his gun. Most Clan MechWarriors went unarmed, but one thing he'd learned about fighting on this planet was that the local freebirths had no sense of decorum or honor. A MechWarrior out of his BattleMech was a target to these dezgra, someone to be sniped from afar like a mere animal. Even our allies are little better than bandits.

"Ha! You are as jumpy as a Jade Falcon in a room of Wolves," Tomas bellowed, seeing what his aide was doing. "The towns around us burn and their people are scattered, do not be so worried."

"My apologies, Star Captain," Alfred said very unapologetically. "But these Americans are known to fight like bandits. My sibkin speak of their turning to banditry against our forces and those of our allies. And we are prime targets..."

"Targets of what? Their base is nearby, yes... and their forces there are besieged and ensnared. Victory here is imminent. And then we will press on for their next great city. If they are wise they will submit, otherwise those cities ahead of us will join this 'Kansas City' as a burning monument to the folly of opposing the Smoke Jaguars."

Alfred went to reply, but he heard a snapping twig. He pulled his gun out and whirled around to face the sound. There were only trees, though, and Tomas Osis' roaring laughter at Alfred's "paranoia". "I changed my mind! You are not a Falcon, you are a superstitious Nova Cat rearing up at the slightest noise!"

Alfred, for the briefest moment, lost his concentration and turned to fire a dangerous retort at his commander. But before the words could leave his mouth, he heard footfalls. He turned just in time to see the barrel of the gun that killed him.




Dani had never shot a man before.

Her stomach wrenched with guilt and horror. The gun trembled in her hands, smoke still coming out of the barrel. The Clan warrior fell backward, a hole between his eyes from where the bullet had entered his skull. There was no bloody, gory exit wound; the sidearm lacked the power to send a bullet clear out the other side of the skull. Instead the body just fell lifeless, blood temporarily pooling up from the hole before the force of gravity and the ceasing of the man's heart.

A roar came to her ear and made her turn to face the other Clanner. His face was full of hate as he charged at her. Instinctively she pulled the trigger again, hitting him in the center of his torso. He stumbled, fell to a knee, and then resumed the charge. Another bullet hit him in the torso, but he was too close now; he stumbled into her this time, knocking Dani over and causing her to lose the gun. "I'll kill you, freebirth scum!", he screamed loudly. "I'll kill a hundred of you for that!" His hands wrapped around her throat and she could see the pain and hate and rage in his face as he tried to choke the life out of her.

Instinct took over. Training stretching back to her childhood moved to the forefront of Dani's mind. Her knee snapped up and caught the Jaguar in the stomach. This loosened the death grip on her throat; she followed it up with a chop to his neck that left Osis dazed. This weakened him enough that Dani twisted out from under him and scrambled to her feet. He came at her again, throwing a series of fast and powerful punches that Dani could only absorb into her arms. She endured the onslaught, waiting for the opening that his rage would give her.

It came as he reared back for a powerful punch. Dani's left foot snapped up, connecting with his belly. Grounding herself on the left foot, her right foot came up this time in a powerful arcing kick. It caught him in the jaw and sent the Clanner spinning to the ground, half-conscious. She didn't give him a chance to recover, walking up and planting a powerful punch of her own to his jaw and sending him down for the count.

Dani scooped the gun back up and leaned against the tree, trying to catch her breath again. Her neck and arms felt sore and she figured she might have broken a knuckle or two with the last punch. So fast and powerful... I didn't think these Clanners would be that good at hand-to-hand. Thank God they don't kickbox. Looking back at the unconscious Jaguar and down at herself, she added ruefully, Should've gone for the head again. Forgot these vests are bulletproof.

With her gun re-holstered, Dani walked toward the river and looked up at the two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs. They were fearsome machines, dealers of death who annihilated entire battalions in the US Army, but without pilots they were harmless. If we're lucky maybe our guys can salvage them.

Suddenly the Vulture moved. Dani let out an involuntarily shriek and fell backward. Just as she imagined the pilot was about to fry her with his lasers, a voice came over the external speaker. "Hey Dani! The morons left their 'Mechs active! Any barely-trained 'Mech pilot could take them!"

Hearing Becca's voice coming from the killing machine made Dani draw in a breath and begin laughing. "Oh God Becca, don't do that to me again! You scared the **** out of me!" She looked over at the Mad Cat and the rope ladder dangling from the cockpit hatch. "Maybe Major Pierce won't have kittens after all."




Major Scott Pierce did, indeed, refrain from having kittens. That was not to say he was very pleased when two Smoke Jaguar OmniMechs trotted over the Missouri River and into Fort Leavenworth transmitting on the 1st Training Battalion's frequency. He met the two young ladies in the 'Mech bay along with Captain Alec Svenson, of the Wolf Dragoons' Delta Regiment, and Demi-Precentor Susan Hallick of the ComGuards, the new liaison for the unit to the Star League Defense Force's Earth Assistance Command. Corporals Shameel and Verdes looked fairly worn, mostly the second and taller woman, who sported bruising on much of her visible body. If not for their natural complexion already being tanned bronze he suspected they'd be sporting such.

"You were ordered on perimeter patrol, and to only report contact with Jaguar forces," he said calmly. He focused his gaze on Corporal Verdes, who had a bit of seniority over Shameel. "What possessed you to engage two heavy Clan OmniMechs?"

"They had drawn too close to our position, Sir," Dani answered plainly. "I believed our discovery was imminent."

"You were in the river. You could have run for it."

"Against machines sporting Clan long-range weapons? Facing our rear armor? We'd have died fast," Dani answered with a hint of sarcasm. "Faster than actually doing them some damage."

"You're lucky to be alive, dammit!", Pierce shouted. "We've lost half the battalion in this fighting. The 3rd's been wiped out over at Phoenix! And now I'm short two more machines, which means I have to shift you two over to another company and force them to share what they've got left!"

"With all due respect, Major, we're not short two machines," Becca spoke up. "We just... upgraded."

That only prompted a sarcastic smirk. "What, you think we're going to put you girls in those things? They're going to R&D for reverse-engineering, or being held for the Outreach-trained 'Mech pilots to use when they get back."

"Sir, those 'Mechs are the best ones in the area, we can't just let them sit out the fighting," Dani protested. "Even the Clanners are mostly using older machines. Put us out there in them where we can do some good!"

Pierce narrowed his eyes at them. Beyond them, the Dragoon Techs and the American ones they were training were gawking in surprise and awe at the Jaguar OmniMechs. Other MechWarriors from different units were gathering to gawk at the sight and he realized that, orders or no, these two young ladies had just handed him a tangible victory of sorts to go with the bitter defeats being handed on the battlefield.

"Captain Svenson, Demi-Precentor Hallick, your thoughts?"

Hallick looked to the two women and showed a hint of the smile. "I'd say that you need all the fighting units you can get your hands on, Major, and that these machines need pilots. And you have no other available pilots to put in them."

"I would also add, Major," Svenson spoke up, "that merely piloting these machines in has caused the 'Mechs' control systems to begin to calibate to the Corporals, so you gain an edge by having them continue to pilot them. And the Dragoons have the parts to restore the machines to working order as it is, so keeping them active should work."

"Very well then." Pierce grinned at Dani and Becca. "Well, young ladies, you took them, now you're stuck with them. The mechanics will fix them up and you will immediately start familiarization practices before I send you back out." Or, more likely, before I send you north with the retreat. "I hope you weren't expecting down-time, because from here on you'll be seeing a lot of action. Now go get showered and report for official debriefing! Dismissed!"

Dani and Becca shot off salutes that weren't quite as sharp as Pierce would have preferred, but which he allowed to pass muster for now. In truth he wasn't very angry at them, but he couldn't let their apparent violation of the RoE go unremarked upon, especially as it had cost them their machines and very nearly their lives. But they more than made up for that...

He let Dani and Becca go, with Svenson and Hallick also leaving to deal with their own business. Pierce turned back to the Jaguar 'Mechs, thinking darkly of the orders he'd been given that morning; Fort Leavenworth was to be evacuated. We're getting beaten all the time it seems, which makes small victories like these seem even sweeter. He drew in a sigh. Small victories, true, but sometimes the small ones can become big ones.

[Ambartanen]

Keep it up, guess most of us will have something to do while waiting for that "Pending" button to go green!