An entry with a Bang! - A BT roundrobin II

[DB_Explorer]

Originally Posted by Tyrchon

I would suspect that unlike a Mech's armor, which is thick enough to take the brunt of an armor piercing sabot round from a 120mm or even 105mm gun, the Elemental armor may not be up to it. The armor piercing rounds used are sharply pointed and designed to pierce much thicker armor than what Elementals wear, so it may not be a problem. The only real difficulty will be hitting the Elementals who, have superior agility as well some basic 'stealth' capabilities which allow them to get close to Mechs and vehicles. Will CEarth sensors do better than BT sensors, undoubtedly, but it will still be difficult hitting Elementals.

Now against some of the Heavy and Assault class Battle Armors that get developed later on the armor piercing sabot rounds may take a few shots to permanently put down the wearer. I'm talking about BA suits like the Kanazuchi, the Golem, the Rogue Bear, and possibly the Gnome. Those suits are tougher, mounting more armor protection than the standard Elemental armor.

As for the At4 and Javelins...well I can see them being effective against Elementals as the manpack infantry BT SRMs were somewhat effective against them. The biggest problem for BT infantry was the fact that SRM launchers only carried two missiles and were rather heavy and unwieldy to carry around. The modern AT4 and Javelin launchers are easier to carry and not as heavy so they should work slightly better in that sense and should be more easily deployed in larger numbers to GDI infantry. It also helps that the AT4 and Javelin both have a greater range than the SRM does so that will give GDI infantry even greater ability in dealing with Elementals.

RPGs may have some effect as well against Elementals but I would say that they will take more shots to permanently put down and Elemental. Then again the RPG is cheap and constantly being improved upon by the Russians and Chinese to make ever deadlier so it could very well turn into the perfect mass produced, easily dispersed anti-Elemental militia weapon.

hmm thats cool but...

what I was getting at was the idea that the armor may stop the round but would the force of impact kill the wearer/pilot

[Magni]

Originally Posted by DB_Explorer

what about the KE from being hit by a 120 mm sabot round, the armor can survive BT guns so I guess it would survive it, but the energy transfer to the pilot could kill him.

or what about an AT4 or javelin??

They can canonically survive a burst from an AC/10. By the skin of their teeth, but they can survive it. Bloody things are awfully tough even without taking the genetic tampering done to the occupant into account. And the bad thing is that the guys are pretty much combat capable unless you cause some catastrophic damage because of all the pain killers and stimulants the suits will pump into them if they get injured.

An AT-4 or Javelin might or might not enough to put one down, but he really won't like the day he gets hit by that. Problem is hitting him with that, though. They're a good deal smaller and more agile than what those missiles were designed to hit.

Originally Posted by DB_Explorer

hmm thats cool but...

what I was getting at was the idea that the armor may stop the round but would the force of impact kill the wearer/pilot

Very unlikely. Some of the later assault class BAs can take the full force of a mech-scale Gauss Rifle and keep being in action. The wearers are pretty well protected against this kind of force transfer and the life support will render incapacitating hits pretty much useless by simply letting the guy ignore it for the time being.

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by DB_Explorer

hmm thats cool but...

what I was getting at was the idea that the armor may stop the round but would the force of impact kill the wearer/pilot

Possibly, but I can't be 100% certain about it. Elementals are tough, both in their armor and out of it. We know that they can take hits from light autocannon and survive. The thing is that the 105mm and 120mm cannon used by CEarth MBTs are high-velocity guns and, at least so far, they fire rounds with greater velocity and force than BT Autocannon do, at least lighter autocannons like the AC/2 and AC/5. I would say that even armored Elementals would probably get killed by getting hit with such tremendous force. If they weren't killed instantly by the impact then they would probably die not too long after seeing as how their chest armor would most likely be caved in significantly. There's only so much drugs can do to stem off shock and blood loss before they are completely ineffective. It is possible that a fully armored Elemental could survive it but the chances are, in my opinion, rather low and that Elemental would likely be rendered useless for the battle and in need of immediate medical treatment in a major trauma center.

This is probably one of the reasons we will see the Clans begin developing heavier battle armor than the standard Elemental armor sooner. Well, they'll develop it should they last long enough against a GDI led Inner Sphere, but those plans are still far off and speculating on them right now isn't very productive.

[The Unicorn]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

I've decided to mod part of the last New Dallas scene. Here's the changed bit.



I think this passage might need to be reworded a bit to make it flow smoother. Any suggestions?

Replace "their data storage technology rivaled and occasionally surpassed Earth equivalents."

With "their data storage technology was at least as good as anything Earth had".

I don't think Williams has had enough exposure to various different BT data storage technologies (assuming they weren't all uniform) to make a comment about how they are "occasionally" and unless he knows a bit more about computers then I got the impression he does I wouldn't think he'd state (even to himself) anything definite about Earth's computers.

Also you might want to add a bit more description to the 'cartridges' forex. "He picked up a round cartridge, about two inches long..."

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by The Unicorn

Replace "their data storage technology rivaled and occasionally surpassed Earth equivalents."

With "their data storage technology was at least as good as anything Earth had".

I don't think Williams has had enough exposure to various different BT data storage technologies (assuming they weren't all uniform) to make a comment about how they are "occasionally" and unless he knows a bit more about computers then I got the impression he does I wouldn't think he'd state (even to himself) anything definite about Earth's computers.

Also you might want to add a bit more description to the 'cartridges' forex. "He picked up a round cartridge, about two inches long..."

Yeah, I'd say that the data storage was 'almost as good as anything Earth had'. This is the Star League we're talking about, though even then they took a different route with computers than CEarth did. It would kind of be like comparing apples and oranges with one another. Personally I don't think even the best Star League computers would equal some of the computer wizardry that CEarth has done, especially in the area of portable data storage and data compression algorithms. However, this is the Star League so they probably have some pretty neat stuff that is almost on par with much of CEarth's tech.

[evilauthor]

Okay, taking these suggestions, I added a bit more description here and there.

“True, we did,” Williams admitted. He walked over to what looked like a metal cabinet with a computer terminal built into it. The terminal was lit up and had a progress bar going. Next to the terminal was a table on which were two piles of cartridges roughly the size and shape of VHS tapes. One pile had a note card labeled ‘Empty’. The other, much smaller pile was labeled ‘Done’. Williams placed a hand on the terminal. “This,” he said in hushed tones of awe, “this is what we came for.”

Snip unchanged dialogue...

“What, this?” Williams said, looking at the cabinet. “This is actually just a main frame for holding and reading the core. There’s a whole room full of spares just down the hall. But the contents of the core can all fit into one of these.” He picked up a cartridge from the side table. Say what you would about bulky, inefficient BT processors, but their data storage technology – particularly the one in his hand - rivaled any commercial hard drive currently produced by Earth... and without moving parts to boot! “We’re making copies as fast as we can. Think about it, every town can have one.”

[vIsitor]

A note on Clan Elementals:

If my memory hasn't failed me, I believe that the original Elemental suits were adapted from Clan Goliath Scorpion's deep-sea diving exosuits (which, in turn, made heavy use of the original SLDF Nighthawk armor in its design).

I don't think things like overpressure are going to be much of a problem for suits that were originally designed to withstand multiple atmospheres.

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Okay, taking these suggestions, I added a bit more description here and there.

Snip unchanged dialogue...

I like the changes, they give the piece a better feel. I'd like to see what you have for that entire little section of dialogue once you have all the changes in place.

So far so good.

Originally Posted by vIsitor

A note on Clan Elementals:

If my memory hasn't failed me, I believe that the original Elemental suits were adapted from Clan Goliath Scorpion's deep-sea diving exosuits (which, in turn, made heavy use of the original SLDF Nighthawk armor in its design).

I don't think things like overpressure are going to be much of a problem for suits that were originally designed to withstand multiple atmospheres.

They may be able to withstand a great deal of pressure and also be perfect for operating in vacuum, however, that deals with pressure differentials and forces spread out over the entire body of the armor. A single, forceful strike to one part of the armor is going to have far different effects, much like how a deep-sea diving suit is susceptible to similar dangers. Getting hit with the force of a shell coming from any high velocity cannon, be it 105mm or 120mm, will do significant damage to even the toughest section of Elemental armor. Elemental armor is tough, but it is still subject to basic physics.

The force alone should be enough to cave it in significantly enough to drastically injure the warrior underneath. The armor's life support system may keep the wearer alive for a little while but as I said before, there is only so much drugs can do in the cases of serious trauma before they are ineffective. Now should that Elemental make it to a proper medical facility or MASH unit then her/she may survive to fight another day but if that doesn't happen then I see their chances as dropping exponentially as time progresses.

[evilauthor]

Latest version:

Star League Bunker
New Dallas
Former Terran Hegemony
October 2006/3021

“So, Bob, Luke, any ideas on how to get inside?” Williams asked looking up at the looming portal. The massive, sliding doors were solidly shut, barring any entrance to the Star League facility within. And just to emphasize the fact, the doors were pockmarked and scored with craters and laser burns, testimony to its ability to resist the last bunch of looters.

Of course, those looters also had to deal with working auto-defense turrets. Six of them lined the front of the entrance. Five of them had been destroyed or disabled by enemy weapons fire. The sixth had been intact enough to keep taking pot shots at passers by for the past couple centuries before it had disabled itself just before it would have shot Williams. A portable fusion reactor with capacitors hid in the shadow of one of the turrets with open cabling snaking to all of them; apparently it had been running off and on for centuries, a testimony to Star League era engineering. But the whole set up looked horribly improvised to Williams.

“I dunno, Doc,” Luke said, staring up at the same doors in awe. He shook his head. “We never found anything this big before.”

“But we have found locked vaults sometimes,” Bob added thoughtfully. “If this is like those, we ought to look for a panel with fancy buttons. We got real good with picking those.”

“Well good luck with this one,” Delacruz said disgustedly. She pointed at the door frame at about the location and height where an intercom or computer terminal might have been. In its place was a melted metal and plastic mess, victim of a long ago stray energy weapons blast.

“Yeah, that’d make things a might harder,” Bob admitted.

“There’s got to be a way inside,” Williams said to no one in particular. “It can’t be too hard or the Sourcebooks would have mentioned something.”

“The what?” Luke asked, curious.

“But, Doctor, you said it yourself, the info we had on New Dallas was very sketchy,” Delacruz pointed out. “There were lots of things about New Dallas that weren’t mentioned, like people still living here.”

“You know what they’re talking about?” Luke asked Bob.

“Not a clue, cuz,” Bob replied.

“Still, it couldn’t have been that hard,” Williams said. He sighed. “I guess maybe the Sourcebooks aren’t as magically all-knowing as I… as some people think they are.”

“How about we blast our way in?” Delacruz suggested. “Tiffany’s mech is carrying those bunker busters after all.”

“I dunno,” Williams replied thoughtfully. “The bunker could be rigged to blow if we try anything so crude, just like the one on Helm is supposed to be. What we really need is a cutting torch to make our own door in a door.”

“Doctor,” Delacruz began, giving the door a good thump. There wasn’t even a hint of vibration. “This thing’s pretty thick. I don’t think we got a cutting torch powerful enough to cut through it. We certainly don’t have enough propane.”

“Too bad that ray gun’s not working anymore,” Luke added, pointing at the now quiescent turret. “I bet you could use it to cut a door.”

“Actually, it still works,” Williams said absently. “It’s just programmed to not… Luke! You’re a genius!”

“He is?” Bob scoffed.

“I am?” Luke said at the same time, bewildered.

“Yes!” Williams said, making his way over to the turret. “BT… Star League tech’s pretty modular. We can disconnect the targeting computer and rig the laser to fire a low powered cutting beam instead of short high powered bursts.”

“You sure that’s possible, Doctor?” Delacruz asked.

“Possible?” Williams chortled as he pried open a panel on the turret’s side. “I was on the team that did it back on Earth with pirate salvage. It’ll be easy!”

Al’Isard
New Dallas

“So, you’re the man who started all this hullabaloo, eh?” a man said, catching Wayne’s attention. The town meeting had broken up for lunch which had to Wayne’s bemusement turned into a general party when people from neighboring towns had started arriving. This man was richly dressed for a local and the woman on his arm even more so. They also looked vaguely familiar for some reason.

“Colonel Donald Wayne, Global Defense Initiative,” Wayne said, extending his hand. “And you, sir, are…”

”Nelson, Boss John Romero Nelson from Al’Pelleon,” the man introduced himself. There was an undertone of suspicion and hostility in his voice and body language. But he took Wayne’s hand and shook it firmly. He nodded at the woman on his arm. “My wife, Jean Anne.”

“Now, J.R. Be nice,” Nelson’s wife chided to her husband. She shook Wayne’s hand after her husband let it go. “Nice to meet you, Colonel. Don’t mind my husband here if he’s a bit of an ungrateful bastard.”

“Jeannie!”

Wayne scrutinized them both. Now that he thought about it, they did bear a slight but marked resemblance to a younger Larry Hagman and Barbara Eden. No, he thought, let’s not even go there. The universe was crazy enough as it was.

“…just don’t see where they get off with the right to upsetting everything ‘round here,” J.R. was saying. “We had a good life, right? Outsiders from the sky are going to be nothing but trouble.”

“It wasn’t our intention to cause a social upset, Mister Nelson,” Wayne told the man. “In truth, we’d really like to be friends. At the very least, we’d like nothing better than to avoid trouble.”

“And how do we know that anything you say is the truth?” Nelson asked, still suspicious. “Hasn’t our poor world suffered enough? It’s cause we trusted outsiders like Kerensky,” he spay on the ground, “to protect us that we wound up with the Rain of Fire. How do we know you’re not more of the same?”

“In truth, you don’t,” Wayne admitted. “But trust is something that has to be built with time. It’s something we have to earn. And if you don’t mind me saying so, Mister Nelson, it’s something we’d like to have the opportunity to earn if you only let us.”

“Huh, well I’ll be,” Nelson said, surprised. “Honesty.”

“Excuse me, sir?” Petronova said, appearing out of the crowd. “Doctor Williams is on the radio asking for you.”

Star League Bunker
New Dallas

“Where the hell did all these people come from?” Williams wondered aloud while watching the crowd filter into the bunker. When Wayne had arrived at the bunker, it looked like he had brought the whole population of New Dallas with him. Everyone was looking around and gawking like tourists.

Of course, there was plenty to gawk at. The first of many chambers was a literal parking lot, half filled with civilian vehicles belonging to the citizens of New Dallas. The other half was filled with ancient military vehicles and tanks, damaged from the fighting action of centuries ago. There were other chambers, also partially filled with vehicles and mechs and crates unopened since they came from the factory. The bunker’s contents would have been the score of a lifetime in the Inner Sphere. What it meant for the people of New Dallas – or the GDI for that matter – was simply incalculable.

“Doctor, is it safe to let them wander around?” Wayne asked as he watched people poking at things and drifting off into side chambers.

“Good luck trying to prevent them,” snorted a finely dressed gent who was apparently following Wayne. Or at least he was dressed more richly than the crowd’s average. “I may be a Boss, but even I know what I can and can’t tell people to do.”

“Nonsense, J. R,” another richly dressed man said. “You just got to know how to talk to people and project authority.”

”Yeah?” J. R. replied. “Is that why all your people make fun of you, Tycho?”

“Actually, Colonel,” Williams replied, ignoring the byplay. “It should be pretty safe. We haven’t been able to sweep the place thoroughly of booby traps, but we’re pretty sure there’s no more automated gun turrets ready to shoot anyone who walks into their line of sight.”

“Ooh, that sounds bad,” J. R. said. He turned to the crowd and shouted. “NO ONE GO OFF ALONE! BUDDY RULES ARE IN EFFECT, PEOPLE!” That got a smattering of acknowledgements.

“So, Doctor,” Wayne began, taking Williams aside. “Did you find it?”

“Find what?” Tycho asked sharply.

“Actually, yes we did,” Williams answered. He gestured for them to follow. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

It was a fine procession that Williams led into the bunker’s control room. In addition to Colonel Wayne, J.R, Tycho, and what seemed to be everyone even vaguely considered an authority figure on New Dallas had joined in to see what all the fuss was about. An open area at the front of the control room was filled with bodies laid out and covered with blankets. Over the corpses stood Bob and Luke, obviously trying to give last rites to the dead and making a hash of it.

“What…” someone began.

“These are the remains of command crew here,” Williams explained. “It looks like they died at their stations.”

“We should give them a proper burial,” J.R. said solemnly.

“That we should,” Tycho said a little less respectfully. His eyes flicked over to Wayne. “But you guys came here for something, something specific, and I don’t think it’s the dead.”

“True, we did,” Williams admitted. He walked over to what looked like a metal cabinet with a computer terminal built into it. The terminal was lit up and had a progress bar going. Next to the terminal was a table on which were two piles of cartridges roughly the size and shape of VHS tapes. One pile had a note card labeled ‘Empty’. The other, much smaller pile was labeled ‘Done’. Williams placed a hand on the terminal. “This,” he said in hushed tones of awe, “this is what we came for.”

“Er, what is it?” Tycho asked, puzzled. “It don’t look all that impressive.”

“What is it?” Williams echoed. “It’s…”

”Doctor…” Wayne said warningly.

”Colonel, they deserve to know,” Williams argued. “And in a way, they need it as much as we do, if not more so.”

Wayne glanced at the crowd of New Dallas leaders and came to a decision. He nodded to Williams.

“What this is,” Williams said, patting the cabinet, “is possibly the most important thing on this planet and maybe even the entire Inner Sphere. We call it a ‘Memory Core’ and what makes it so valuable is that it contains knowledge.”

“How is that valuable?” Tycho asked, annoyed. He didn’t seem to understand, but here and there, some of the others showed dawning comprehension.

“This holds everything the Star League knew,” Williams said. “Everything about fusion reactors, computers, space travel…”

“It contains everything you need to know on how to recreate civilization from scratch,” Wayne broke in. “Mister Jefferson, you remember when you told me how your people needed to scavenge lostech because none of you knew how to build it all anymore?”

“I seem to recall something to that effect,” Tycho admitted.

“Well what the Memory Core does is tell you how to build lostech,” Wayne told him. “Not just one or two items. All of it. With the Memory Core, lostech need no longer be lost.”

“That’s… that’s…” J. R. began, obviously searching for words.

”That’s fantastic!” squealed the woman at J. R’s side.

“That’s hor…good, yes, good,” Tycho said, seemingly less than enthused. “Obviously, such knowledge needs to be carefully considered and in the hands of experts…”

“No.”

”Excuse me, Doctor,” Tycho said, turning to the speaker. “What was that?”

“No,” Williams repeated. “Knowledge is precious, but it does no good locked up and viewed only by a select few. For the Memory Core to do you people any good, it needs to be accessible where anyone and everyone can have access to it. Keeping it locked up does no one any good but the person holding the key. You want to really rebuild your civilization? Then let anyone who wants to know the contents of the Memory Core know it so that they can fully contribute to the rebuilding.”

“But, Doctor, there’s only the one Memory Core,” J. R. pointed out.

“What, this?” Williams said, looking at the cabinet. “This is actually just a main frame for holding and reading the core. There’s a whole room full of spares just down the hall. But the contents of the core can all fit into one of these.” He picked up a cartridge from the side table. Say what you would about bulky, inefficient BT processors, but their data storage technology – particularly the one in his hand - rivaled any commercial hard drive currently produced by Earth... and without moving parts to boot! “We’re making copies as fast as we can. Think about it, every town can have a one.”

“Wait a sec,” Tycho said. “You’re just giving this to us?”

“Why not?” Williams said with a shrug. “We’ve already made a few copies for ourselves.”

“Free?” Tycho continued. Apparently he had trouble wrapping his mind around the concept.

“There there, Tycho,” J.R. said, patting the other man on the shoulder. “I know the idea’s a might hard for you, but I’m sure you’ll get ahold of it.” He turned to Wayne. “Still, Tycho does have a point even if he don’t know it. What do you folks get out of this anyway?”

“Aside from the Memory Core?” Wayne said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “My orders were to establish a base here to support operations here in the Inner Sphere. And things would be a lot easier for me if we were friends with you and could trade for necessities like food. And now that I think about it, you being able to make and sell any parts we need would be a tremendous boost.”

“Sell?” Tycho said suddenly, perking up. “Did someone say ‘sell’?”

“Of course, the Memory Core isn’t much use if you don’t know the basics of what it’s talking about,” Williams mused aloud. He turned to Wayne. “So, Colonel, how do you feel about opening a university?”

[Tyrchon]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Latest version:

I like it. I think it does well explaining things and showing the progress of the retrieval of the New Dallas Core. It also did a good job of helping to lay the ground work for the GDI/CSN base on New Dallas.

[Tyrchon]

Okay, I feel that I should note something here.

Just over a week ago, on January 3, 2010, a new poll was started to discuss and vote upon the outline I had submitted regarding a number of events that will lead CEarth from here through the 4th Succession War. Before that, on January 2, 2010, a previous poll was started regarding the outline. The first poll was disregarded as it merely asked 'yes' or 'no' regarding following the outline and it was felt that this dichotomous choice was not flexible enough to reflect certain feelings regarding the outline. To this effect the second and most recent poll was started and given four choices to choose from that conveyed the major feelings regarding the outline.

Many good points were raised in the discussion of this outline. However, after some discussion between John117xCortana, originator of the polls on the behest of the community, and myself, the creator of the outline, it has been decided that the second poll should be closed. This is because of the more than a week time period that has already passed and the 45 total votes that have been cast. We both feel that given the time that has past and vote total, those who care most about the story and wished to weigh in have done so.

The Poll results are as follows:

Question: Should the outline submitted by Tyrchon be accepted as the working outline for the story?

Yes. Go with it._____________________________17 votes 37.78%
Yes. But make some minor changes.____________28 votes 62.22%
No. It sucks, do a new one.___________________01 votes 02.22%
Something else._____________________________06 votes 13.33%

Total Votes cast: 45

With 28 votes, 62.22% of the vote, the decision has been made to use the outline but make minor changes.

I and John117xCortana both believe that this was a fair vote by this community. I hope that we may all accept the results and use the outline to move forward properly with the story. Please, do not scream or rant if you do not like the results. The poll was open for a significant amount of time and had a number of discussions both in it and about it in other threads. The community has made its decision and we should gracefully accept it.

I am open to making the minor changes that are seen fit as I always have been since the beginning. I believe that there are a number of events and circumstances for imaginative thinking and creative writing to occur in order to make this story a wonderful read. I look forward to working with you all to this end and hope that you all do as well.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Latest version:

That's very good, but you might change "There’s a whole room full of spares just down the hall." to "There’s a whole room full of spares and mobile terminals just down the hall."

If the whole core fits into a cartridge and is designed for people that have lost most technology, there should be terminals that are able to play a cartridge so that people do not have to sit in front of the mainframe to access the core.
Anyone designing data storage intended for future generations that isn't made of stone has to think about the availability of drives and computers to access those data.
Just a simple screen with a cartridge drive and a small keyboard, microphone or other User interface would be enough. They could also store some printers or at least adapters to known old computers there.

[Keiran Halcyon]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

“What, this?” Williams said, looking at the cabinet. “This is actually just a main frame for holding and reading the core. There’s a whole room full of spares just down the hall. But the contents of the core can all fit into one of these.” He picked up a cartridge from the side table. Say what you would about bulky, inefficient BT processors, but their data storage technology – particularly the one in his hand - rivaled any commercial hard drive currently produced by Earth... and without moving parts to boot!

Uhm, when were Solid State Hard Drives released commercially? Definitely not in Jan 2007? It's probably still in testing phase on CEarth at this time.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by Keiran Halcyon

Uhm, when were Solid State Hard Drives released commercially? Definitely not in Jan 2007? It's probably still in testing phase on CEarth at this time.

He's talking about a StarLeague-Cartridge, not a SSD.

[Warsheep]

Originally Posted by Keiran Halcyon

Uhm, when were Solid State Hard Drives released commercially? Definitely not in Jan 2007? It's probably still in testing phase on CEarth at this time.

correction, server class solid state drives were available for quite some time, but usually only for specific goals due to costs.
Around 2006-2007 the more commercial variants became available at still hidious costs.

Also many variations of solid state drives existed in smaller version since at least 1988 as I used one on my amiga! I even remeber a 1MB version for the C64.

Current developments in SSD are finally accelarating it into more cost efficient and usable forms. Though holographic storage has been developed in labs on earth for quite some time and does offer quite a bit of storage density. But the reader/drive bit is what is holding it back.

Interesting problem. How is the tech on such a memory core released to the labarotaries and manufacturers of earth? Is it public domain or restricted or patented? Because there is a 100% chance some companies will try to patent processes around it so they can gain exclusive manufacturing rights on the BT tech which is a hell we are already experiencing with patent trolls.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by Warsheep

Interesting problem. How is the tech on such a memory core released to the labarotaries and manufacturers of earth? Is it public domain or restricted or patented? Because there is a 100% chance some companies will try to patent processes around it so they can gain exclusive manufacturing rights on the BT tech which is a hell we are already experiencing with patent trolls.

It's prior art and any patent protection will have been expired centuries ago. Now someone patented the wheel in Australia, but that didn't last long.^
Everyone's free to patent an improvement on the processes or tools, but everything taken straight from the cores should be public domain - if not considered a World Heritage. The last thing we want are patent lawyers slowing down our technological progress needed for survival.
Anyone that actually improves it - okay. But I guess 99% will start manufacturing SL standard as soon as possible as the giant supply gap in the inner sphere guarantees good income, no R&D or marketing attached. That's like a license to print money.

[kingdragon]

It's not 'spay on the ground,' it's 'spat on the ground.'

[consequences]

Originally Posted by Magni

They can canonically survive a burst from an AC/10. By the skin of their teeth, but they can survive it. Bloody things are awfully tough even without taking the genetic tampering done to the occupant into account. And the bad thing is that the guys are pretty much combat capable unless you cause some catastrophic damage because of all the pain killers and stimulants the suits will pump into them if they get injured.

They're tough, but a lot of that is undoubtedly the result of crappy B-tech shot groupings. If they can barely keep their rounds in a six meter circle on a successful shot, I'm not about to buy the idea that every single shell from an AC10 burst actually manages to peg a single elemental.


And no, I'm not particularly buying the +1 to hit modifier for shooting at Battle armor being enough to account for that, since simply restricting your shots to about half the area of a mech is a +3. Them being more fragile than the equivalent weight of mech armor, but functionally as difficult to destroy because they can't be hit nearly as easily just makes sense to me.

An AT-4 or Javelin might or might not enough to put one down, but he really won't like the day he gets hit by that. Problem is hitting him with that, though. They're a good deal smaller and more agile than what those missiles were designed to hit.

Ayup. You could probably do at least some attritional damage on a near miss, but getting the kind of clean hit you would need to definitely put one down would require the Elemental to practically cooperate with you.

The bad news for the Elementals is that the novels abound with that level of cooperative failure to dodge.

Very unlikely. Some of the later assault class BAs can take the full force of a mech-scale Gauss Rifle and keep being in action. The wearers are pretty well protected against this kind of force transfer and the life support will render incapacitating hits pretty much useless by simply letting the guy ignore it for the time being.

Again, the results in the tabletop game are very unlikely to be a direct hit. If a frakking ejection seat can tear an Elemental arm off, a gauss rifle round cleanly hitting should splatter any suit ever made. Not to mention launching the sucker a clean kilometer away from the impact point even if it did miraculously survive.

[Jimmy C]

For dealing with Elementals, seems like what we need is a tandem "smart" round. The first charge to penetrate the armor, and the second to explode inside the wearer. Let's see how long they live with large parts of their hearts and lungs missing.

[Barricade]

Originally Posted by Jimmy C

For dealing with Elementals, seems like what we need is a tandem "smart" round. The first charge to penetrate the armor, and the second to explode inside the wearer. Let's see how long they live with large parts of their hearts and lungs missing.

Tandem-charge SRMs, developed around the time of the Clan invasion. Has a (MASSIVELY) increased change of penetrating armor to do damage to the internal structure. Are a canon design (first appearance is on Solaris VII).

Would be a really NASTY thing to use on Elementals.

[georgiaboy]

OK, here are the quotes from "Price of Glory" that states the size/shape of a core"

" "What is it?" He had found the Star League computer easy to activate, easy to understand. Its long-dead programmers must have assumed that its operators might not have the same grasp of programing mechanics as they did. Step-by-step instructions had led him to connect the half-meter-long memory core to a slot that opened in the desk beside the terminal on his command. The pressing of a key had started the copying process. On the screen, characters spelled out: "


and here is a statement about coping a Memory Core without using a SLDF era computer:

" Grayson pointed up the passageway. "Make sure those extra memory cores are loaded aboard the DropShips, too. There are ways of making duplicates of a core's data using a large computer like the navigational computer aboard the Invidious. We can see to it that copies of the data are made and that copies of the copies are made, and maybe we can see to it that some of the data the library contains can be spread around a bit. ComStar wouldn't be able to stop it, not if it was spread to enough worlds. Any computer can be hardwired to read data off one of the cores. Even a simple viewer can be hooked up to read it. Make enough copies, and you can beat them!" "


Hope this helps better with the story.

Glen

[evilauthor]

Originally Posted by georgiaboy

OK, here are the quotes from "Price of Glory" that states the size/shape of a core"

" "What is it?" He had found the Star League computer easy to activate, easy to understand. Its long-dead programmers must have assumed that its operators might not have the same grasp of programing mechanics as they did. Step-by-step instructions had led him to connect the half-meter-long memory core to a slot that opened in the desk beside the terminal on his command. The pressing of a key had started the copying process. On the screen, characters spelled out: "

Half meter long???

Wait, how big is half a meter again?

[walkir]

Originally Posted by evilauthor

Half meter long???

Wait, how big is half a meter again?

50cm. roughly 20 inch.

[Magni]

Not that unimaginable that the thing is that big.

It doesn't just store a load of data, it's also built to ragnarok-proof standards that are if at all above the normal BT standards and it's made to be compatible with pretty much anything the designers could come up with.

[Tyrchon]

Ok, so here is the Buron cavalry segment that I have been posting as sections lately. I'm dividing it up properly since by section since it is rather big. Let me know what you think. Here's section 1.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
GDI Training Grounds, Outskirts of Port Krin
Antallos, Periphery
January 5, 2007/3022

Standing in the shade of a canopy that someone had fortunately erected to try and ward off the blazing sun that shown upon Antallos, Major Andreas Staedele of the Buron Cavalry raised his field glasses up to his eyes. Looking out onto the training ground he saw a number of fresh volunteers from Port Krin and the other city-states on Antallos going through a basic fitness evaluation. This was the second round of testing for this batch as the GDI Foreign Legion had already chosen the best recruits from the initial batch since GDI command had given the Legion first pick. Right now it was the turn of the Buron Cavalry to see if they wanted to pick up any fresh faces. Truth be told, Andreas already had his eye on a few new people that the Legion had not picked up, two of them even had their own Mechs. The biggest problem though was the loyalty he felt to the Cav.

After getting shoved through the meat grinder that had been the battle with the 21st Galedon Regulars it had taken every last C-Bill to the Cav’s name to get the unit back into a fighting condition and after that the contracts had dried up causing the monetary crisis that had forced the Buron Cavalry out into the Periphery. Unable to pay some of his troops and facing a long stay in the Periphery, Andreas had been forced to let a good number of men and women buy out of their contracts. He hadn’t been surprised that some wanted out, especially considering that the Periphery was often the place merc units down on their luck went off to die either slowly due to a lack of supplies and money or quickly by fighting pirates or becoming pirates themselves. No, what had surprised him was that a number of old friends, men and women he had considered to be family, had decided to leave and take their chances solo back on Galatea rather than out in the Periphery.

However, since the ill-fated attempt at invasion of Earth and the hiring of the Buron Cavalry by President Jack Ryan things had finally started looking up for the Cav. Money was no longer as great of an issue and getting parts and supplies for the Mechs and vehicles as well as for his people had turned out to be far easier than he had imagined. What was even more surprising was the fact that the United States of America, who held the Buron’s contract even if it was currently on loan to the GDI, had not tried to ‘Company Store’ them like a number of people and groups back in the Successor states would’ve. Sure the Cav wasn’t close to the level it was before tangling with the 21st, but it was getting better everyday and gaining strength far faster than Staedele had ever dreamed possible. Things were going so good that he had even sent messages to Galatea to see if any of the former Cav members wanted to hire back on. Of course he had needed to get permission from his employers for this first, but he had understood why. Earth was a sorely tempting target for anyone who thought they had what it took to come in and grab it. Security was paramount to protect the world, unspoiled by the fires of the Succession wars as it was, and that meant keeping any potential troublemakers and spies away as long as possible.

“Not the prettiest looking bunch I’ve ever seen,” Captain Celic ‘Ned’ Nedeljko commented from where he stood next to Staedele. “But then we aren’t lining ‘em up for a beauty pageant now are we.”

Andreas nodded in agreement. Most of the men and the few women out there were rather sloppy and unfit, not having had to do basic training in years or ever. Their looks weren’t that great either.

“Bah,” Captain Marc Johnson growled form the other side of Staedele. “Give me a few weeks with them or even time with some of the drill instructors back home and they’ll be in shape enough to at least not accidentally shoot one another.”

“Or us,” Celic offered with a smirk. “I’d hate to have come all this way, survived a nuclear death trap, and finally gotten to see the Cav start growing again only to wind up KIA because of friendly fire. Just think of how that would play out in the news back home…’Tragedy struck today when the heroic and handsome Celic ‘Ned’ Nedeljko was accidentally shot by a hick the Buron Cavalry had hired on at Antallos. Loved by his friends and comrades, Nedeljko was…’.”

Staedele tried his best to tune out humorous obituary that Ned was composing for himself, he tried even harder not to laugh when he heard a few of the ‘choice’ words Marc quietly spoke at how Celic was describing himself. However, at the same time Andreas Staedele was also slightly troubled by what both men had inadvertently said. Both had referred to Earth not as Earth but rather as home. Staedele had been discussing similar slips of the tongue with his wife over the last few days as Marie had also noticed many of the Cav’s members referring to the wayward planet in a more familiar and loving tone then what should’ve been expected.

Would he one day start referring to Earth as home? Would he even notice if he did? And what about his daughter Esther and the other children of the Cav who were currently back on Earth? Were they going to start thinking of it as home? Did they already think of it as such, for that matter? He had heard of merc groups turning local and/or becoming House units, but….

Giving a quick shake of his head to try and clear away the somewhat confusing thoughts Staedele turned his attention back to the potential recruits he was supposed to be evaluating. If someday a choice needed to be made then he would make it then and there, not before. Whatever happened though, the Buron Cavalry would stick together, that he promised himself.

“Ah there’s my boy.”

Pulling his binoculars down Andreas turned slightly to look towards Nedeljko who had spoken. The man was currently following a group of volunteers who were running through the makeshift obstacle course that the GDI had setup. Though the GDI Foreign Legion had gotten first pick Staedele had still sent his XO to check out the first round to see if the Legion might pass over a few diamonds in the rough. Apparently they had.

“Which one is he,” Marc Johnson asked, turning his own binoculars towards where Celic was indicating.

“He’s the kid with the unkempt brown hair currently coming up to the first wall,” the XO of the Buron Cavalry stated, “the skinny looking one.”

“They’re all kind of…,” Johnson began to say but paused before speaking in slight surprise, “Wow, look at ‘im climb. Kid’s got to be part squirrel or something.”

Turning his own binoculars towards the object of his two subordinates interest Staedele was a bit surprised to see the young man in question. Moving rapidly the brown haired boy was making short work of the walls and other obstacles placed before him. How’d this kid not get picked up by the Legion?

“Do we have a name for him?” Staedele asked, the first time he had spoke since he begun observing the potential recruits.

“Yeah, got it right here…,” Ned spoke as he picked up a clipboard from a nearby table. “Name’s Cody…John J. Cody. Age 19 years Terran standard, height 1.7 meters, weight 68.3 kilograms. Small little guy, ain’t he? Applying to be a Mechwarrior, but has experience as a tech working in his family’s salvage business. Doesn’t have his own Mech but isn’t listed as being dispossessed either. Based on that and his apparent age I’d say he’s never actually piloted one in combat before. Says here that he passed the written exam with 83% correct and passed the physical fitness course with a…94% rating. His sim scores are fairly average, but then if he hasn’t been able to pilot all that much then he will probably get better with more experience.”

Staedele frowned as he listened to the stats being read off. This…Cody was pretty darn good, far better than many of the other applicants. So why hadn’t the GDI picked him up for the Legion?

“What’s his background say?” the leader of the Buron Cavalry asked.

Flipping a page Celic grunted, “Huh, that’s odd. The kid only listed the Federated Suns as his origin, left nearly most of the other entries blank. Didn’t write down a whole lot else except for a few details regarding his experience working as a tech…. Oh….”

“Oh, what?” Andreas asked, already having a good guess in his mind but waiting for Celic to confirm it or not.

“There’s a note here from the GDI Intel boys,” the XO of the Cav said calmly. “Says the reason he wasn’t picked up by the Legion was because of his lack of background info and the suspicion that he lied on his application and during the initial interview. They say that they think he might be a potential ‘plant’ sent from one of the Successor States.”

“Can’t be,” Marc Johnson remarked with a scowl, “Spooks know better than to try and stick out this much. If he was supposed to be a spy the kid would’ve filled in every entry perfectly and have an airtight story behind him.”

Staedele silently nodded his head in agreement. The few spooks he had encountered back in the Sphere had always tried to be as slick as possible when dealing with him and people not directly in their chain of command. There was the possibility that this kid was a spy and simply using the reverse tactic of trying to provide as little information as possible in the hopes of tricking his way in but…. No, if he was to make a bet it would be that this John Cody was most likely hiding something personal out of the fear it would get him turned away. Still….

“Anything on there from Dansel or Hale?” Andreas asked, knowing that either officer, most likely both, had probably interviewed the kid during his evaluation with the Legion.

“Not really,” Celic remarked as he flipped through a few more pages to see if he had missed anything. “Just says that they met with him. There’s nothing about why they didn’t pick him up.”

Moving his left hand up to his chin to rub it as he thought, Andreas Staedele used his right hand to place his binoculars back into the small pouch he wore on his belt. If neither Hale nor Dansel had listed anything for this guy, what did that mean? The two usually left at least some inkling as to why a candidate had been rejected…or at least that was the impression he had gotten when he skimmed through some of the paperwork on the ride out to the testing grounds.

“What do you want to do?” Marc asked, looking only slightly away from the group he had been watching.

“Ned, have him come in for a ‘meet and greet’,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry said, deciding he’d talk with this John J. Cody before making a full decision. “I’ll be in the tent waiting. Marc….”

“I’ll keep my eyes open out here,” the leader of the Cav’s infantry stated, turning his binoculars back to watch the groups of potential recruits as his boss walked towards large tent set up nearby.

Walking briskly in order to avoid being out of the shade and in the burning Antallos sun for too long. Major Andreas Staedele was never happier then when he got to the portal of the large, sandy colored tent. Feeling the coolness of air-conditioning hit him as he opened the actual door that had been installed into the tent, the CO of the Buron Cavalry let out a contented sigh.

Honestly, the folks from Earth really did have some of the best toys. Forget for a moment all of the fancy electronics and computers that they had in abundance, forget the multitude of vehicles he had seen on the streets back on Earth, and forget the fact that they could not only replicate technology he had grown up with, and yet still barely understood at times, but also improve upon it. No, right now the thing he found most marvelous was this tent.

The Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter or DRASH for short had been invented by the Americans, Staedele had found out, after they had fought a number of engagements in the deserts of Earth and had found that their old tents were simply too heavy, bulky, and hot to be carted out around and set up easily. The DRASH was easily divided up between a team of 6 or even 4 soldiers and then could be rapidly assembled almost anywhere it was taken. Even more impressive Staedele found was the fact that the tents could be linked together to form larger command centers and that electrical generators could easily be incorporated with the tents. But then such a thing would be necessary the man recognized, seeing as how lights, computers, and, best of all, air-conditioning had been thought to be things that that would be beneficial and necessary for a tent that could serve as a full command post. Oh the Inner Sphere had its share of command tents and mobile command posts Staedele knew, seeing as how he had been in many of them before, but none of them were as easily made, assembled, transported, or modified as the DRASH was. The things were even sealed to protect against biological and chemical attacks, though with the Ares Conventions such attacks were a remote possibility, but then nuclear attacks were also supposed to be unlikely and he had seen firsthand more nuclear blasts in the course of a single day than any other person outside of the First Succession War had.

“I’ve got to look into seeing if they’ll let us buy a few,” the Major noted to himself as he found the foldout armchair near a folding table that a GDI soldier had set up for him upon his arrival earlier in the day.

Nodding to the GDI soldier that handed him a cold canteen of water from the fairly good-sized refrigerator that hummed on one side of the tent, something else that Staedele greatly appreciated seeing as they were on a hot and dry desert world, Staedele watched the GDI personnel go about their business checking over the paperwork generated by the numerous applicants who toiled outside in the hot sun. Sipping the water in the canteen slowly the CO of the Buron Cavalry didn’t have to wait long before the door to the tent opened and in walked Celic Nedeljko followed by a rather hot, tired, and amazed looking John J. Cody. Watching the young man follow the older Mechwarrior, Staedele noted that Cody was much smaller than he initially thought he was, not just shorter but thinner as well.

“Mr. Cody, please, sit,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry stated as he indicated the foldout chair across form him that was empty. “It’s pretty hot out there. Care for some water?”

The young man stood uneasy for a moment before taking a seat and then nodded his head in the affirmative. Only a moment later Captain Celic Nedeljko handed the red faced ‘recruit’ a fresh canteen, the brown haired young man nearly dropping it as he flinched at the sudden cold touching his hot skin.

“Thank ya’ kindly, Ser,” the tired and terribly anxious Cody drawled before taking a sip from the canteen.

Watching the young man drink the water down steadily Staedele leaned back slightly in his chair. ‘Ned’ had gotten a canteen for himself as well and was now standing just behind young John Cody. They weren’t anticipating any trouble from the brown haired ‘recruit’, but then it never hurt to be cautious.

“I saw you out there on the obstacle course, Cody. You were moving through it pretty well, managed to even impress Marc Johnson my infantry commander. That’s not an easy thing to do,” Andreas stated calmly as he looked into the brown eyes of the young man in front of him.

“I’s just was doing what came natural, Ser,” John Cody stated, his slow accent bleeding through heavily. “Twas nuthin to it really.”

“Hmm,” the Major hummed before saying, “I’ll get straight to the point. Your test scores are better than to be expected for Port Krin and Antallos, your listed and demonstrated skills are impressive, and you seem to be a fairly confident Mechpilot. However, the GDI didn’t want you in the Legion. Why should I want you in the Buron Cavalry?”

Swallowing the water in his mouth Cody took a moment before answering, “As you sayed it Ser, I’s got skills ya’ll are looking for. Can’t right tell you why the….”

“Cut the crap!” Andreas growled forcefully as he stared into the eyes of the young man across from him. “You know what I’m asking you. No one with your skills and potential gets passed over without a damn good reason. By all rights you should probably already be in a merc unit or pirate group, but you aren’t. Instead you come looking to join the GDI’s Foreign Legion and when that doesn’t work you look to their mercenaries, mercenaries like me. Now this gets me curious. Why would someone like you come here looking to get in with us when you could easily get into somewhere else?”

Shaking slightly underneath the gaze of the Major, John Cody tried to reply, “Is ‘cause I don’t got no Mech of my o-….”

“Bullshit!” Celic Nedeljko stated forcefully, joining in on the conversation as he knew what Andreas was trying to do. “Mech or no, any number of the groups out in the Periphery would’ve picked you up…even if it was only for your abilities and experience as a tech. You know what we think? We think you’re some kind of spy…an agent sent here to gather intel on the GDI. The GDI think that too. So are you? Are you a spy?!”

“I ain’t no spy, Ser!” the brown haired recruit responded quickly and heatedly.

“Then what are you?” Major Staedele asked, leaning forward in his seat ever so slightly, all the while looking for the hint of a lie. “Your file says you’re from the FedSuns, but your accent isn’t from the Draconis March or even the closer provinces of the Crucis March. You could be from the Capellan March or the lower part of the Crucis March, but that still leaves the question of how you got all the way out here to Antallos.”

“I…I…,” the young man stuttered, the look on his face a mixture of anger, embarrassment, and…reticence?

“Tell us the truth kid,” ‘Ned’ said, as he crossed his arms and stood firmly behind the seated recruit. “If you do we promise that we’ll make certain tha-….”

“I can’t!” John Cody nearly shouted, interrupting the older Mechwarrior. “If…if I tells…. If I tells ya the truth then ya’ll send me away! Jus’ like dem Legion fellas did!”

“Not necessarily,” Andreas calmly replied, deciding that the young man needed only one more ‘push’ to tell them everything. “However, if you don’t tell us the truth then you most assuredly will get rejected…and most likely taken in for questioning by the GDI as to whether or not you are a spy. The GDI aren’t a cruel bunch, but they also aren’t ones to take chances with their security.”

Sitting there in the chair under the close scrutiny of the two Buron Cavalry officers, John J. Cody felt himself fidget as his emotions and thoughts warred with one another over what he should do. Looking around the tent the brown haired young man noticed that many of the GDI personnel and soldiers present were looking over at him either openly or somewhat discreetly. Feeling the eyes of nearly everyone present burning into him the young man’s thought flashed to the all the stories that he had heard of spies and interrogations as well as thinking about the possible consequences to him if they should decide he was a spy.

“Ah-…alright. I’sa tells you the truth,” the young man with the unkempt brown hair said quietly.

“Good,” Staedele commented, his plan having worked. “Why don’t you tell us where you’re from exactly?”

Swallowing the lump in his throat Cody replied nervously, “Ridgebrook…down yonder in the Capellan March.”

Hearing the name of the planet ‘Ned’ let out a low whistle, “That’s near the border with the Concordat. You’re a long way from home.”

Seeing the nervous young man nod slowly in agreement Andreas spoke, “That’s a prefecture capitol. What did you do their and why would you come all the way out here to Antallos?”

“Mah…mah family runs a salvage business back on Ridgebrook. We’s pretty well off, what with salvaging Mechs Duke Hasek-Davion wants, but Gran-dad likes to keep us all somewhat grounded so we’s know where we’s come from,” Cody stated, the explanation giving a hint as to why his accent was so thick seeing as how he had been born and raised on a prefecture capital. “Mah-Ma just took over when Gran-dad retired not more than two years past.”

“So I guess that explains why you know so much about Mechs and can be called a tech,” Celic noted as he crossed his arms back over his chest.

Giving a swift nod John replied, “Yessuah, mah Ma had me with her nearly every day when she was working in ‘The Shop’. Same fer my older sis, ‘Lizabeth.”

“Alright, so answers where you’re from, what you did, some of who your family is, and such,” Staedele said as he made notes to have GDI intel look into later. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re out here on Antallos. If you were looking to pilot a Mech and see combat I’d suspect you wouldn’t have had much trouble joining the Capellan March Militia unit stationed on Ridgebrook or maybe even gotten into a spot with one of the more prestigious March units. If you were looking to become a mercenary…well Galatea and the other reputable hiring halls are nowhere near Antallos. Hell, even if you wanted to be a pirate, there are far closer places for you to go.”

Celic ‘Ned’ Nedeljko nodded in agreement with his commander. If the kid wanted to join up with a pirate band then the Pirates’ Haven cluster was far closer. Heck, even the Tortuga Dominions would have been a shorter trip than getting all the way out to Antallos and Port Krin. Something wasn’t adding up, heck a few things weren’t adding up.

“So I’ll ask you again,” Major Staedele sternly said, “Why are you out here on Antallos?”

“I…I…,” the young man stuttered, his nervousness having increased again. “I…. Is ‘cause o’ mah Da. I’ma looking for my Da.”

Hearing this, both Andreas and Celic saw Cody’s shoulders slump in defeat. The young man was either the best actor they had ever seen or he was the honestly telling them the truth now. It was time to find out which it was.

“Your father?” Celic asked, looking for any sign of deceit. “Why would you be all the way out here looking for your father? Wouldn’t he be back home working in the company salvage business?”

“No Ser.” John Cody stated confidently. “Mah Da was a Mechwarrior. Deh best the Ridgebrook CMM ever done saw. He could make his Centurion dance to a fiddle if someone got to the mind of play’en. He disappeared though…during a pirate raid.”

“But why would you come out here looking for him?” Andreas asked, legitimately confused. “If he was in the Ridgebrook CMM and was lost in a pirate attack he’d more likely be in the Confederation, the Concordat, the Pirates’ Haven, or even in someplace like the Magistracy of Canopus or the Tortuga Dominions. Raiders down in that neck of the woods don’t come all the way out here to sell off spoils or slaves.”

“Dat’s ‘causin he wasn’t lost back on Ridgebrook,” the young John Cody replied firmly. “He got lost fight’n out on Kesai IV.”

“Kesai IV?!” Captain ‘Ned’ Nedeljko stated, slightly dumfounded by the name of the planet that had just been mentioned. “That’s all the way up in the Draconis March! Hell, it sits right on the border with the fucking Combine! What in the Sam-Hell was he doing all the way out there if he was in the Capellan March Militia?!”

Major Andreas Staedele also wanted to know the answer to that. Sure, there had been scuttlebutt back when the Buron Cavalry had been in the Federated Suns that there was an idea floating about regarding trying to pull off massive interstellar war games…, but still? How did a Mechwarrior in the Ridgebrook CMM find his way up to the Draconis March? Sure Davion did like to shift troops around, but those with regional loyalties usually stayed in their home Marches. The only ones who ever had the potential to actually be shifted over to a different March were some of the elite combat units, not a March Militia unit. This just didn’t make any sense.

“I think you better start at the beginning, son,” Andreas Staedele stated coolly, his calmness a mask hiding the confusion he felt.

“Well ‘twas like this see,” John Cody began to explain. “Duke Hasek-Davion had to send his 8th Syrtis Fusiliers up to the Drac border about three years ago on account of the First Prince re-questing it, seeing as how the Draconis March Militia wasn’t doing too good and the Prince was getting pressured by them Sandovals.”

Celic and Andreas both nodded in understanding 3 years ago was roughly 3019/3020 and the Dracs had been running a number of raids over the border giving the Draconis March fits. The Sandovals hated the Combine with a passion as it was and Duke Aaron Sandoval, the current head of the March, had been incensed at that time over the raids. Sandoval had called for more troops on the border in order to launch his own raids back into the Combine’s territory. The Buron Cavalry had answered that call and made good money from it up until they had tangled with the 21st Galedon Regulars as their contract was coming up for renewal. He remembered the report around that time telling how a few Capellan March units and a few Crucis March units were being sent up to help out as well, but he couldn’t recall the names of the specific units being sent. However, that didn’t explain why a member of the CMM was out on the border when the Fusiliers had been sent.

“You said that the Duke had to send the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers,” Andreas voiced the question that was suddenly bothering him. “How did your father, a member of the Ridgebrook CMM, get sent along with them?”

“Well…,” the brown haired young man hesitated slightly. “Y’all know how there’s supposing to be some bad blood between the Duke and the Prince? Well, the Duke apparently didn’t wanna send the Fusiliers t’all, but then that there would’ve looked a might bit peculiar and disloyal, him refusin’ a re-quest from the Prince backed by them Sandovals.”

Once again both Andreas Staedele and Celic Nedeljko nodded in understanding and agreement. While neither man had ever met Hanse Davion or Michael Hasek-Davion it was not really a big secret that there was tension between the two. Supposedly it had started when First Prince Ian Davion had been killed by Yorinaga Kurita. Hanse, Ian’s younger brother, had been named as heir to the throne in the event of Ian’s demise should he not have a child and proper heir born of wedlock. Hanse’s right to succession had been challenged only by Michael Hasek-Davion, the Duke of New Syrtis, head of the Capellan March, and husband of Hanse and Ian’s half sister, Marie Davion-St. Claire. No one but a few people high up in the FedSuns’ government knew the exact details of what had occurred, but in the end it was plain as day that whatever had happened had left the two as less than friendly rivals. Oh sure, both men acted civilly with one another in font of the vids, but what was seen by the public was not what was always happening in private and it always seemed that when one man did something grand the other had to do something just a bit more spectacular.

“So how does you father fit into all of this?” Ned asked, voicing the question that Andreas also wanted answered.

“Well…Duke Hasek-Davion did as he was re-quested…well, sorta anyway,” Cody stated, his tone lowering slightly as if he was revealing a big secret. “Ya see Duke Hasek-Davion sent out‘ta call to all of the March Militias sayin’ that they needed to send a company of the best Mechwarriors, pilots, and infantry. Ya see he was….”

“He was creating a dummy unit to send in place of the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers,” Andreas Staedele interrupted, reaching the conclusion without Cody having to actually say it. “A bunch of smaller units from the militias…not enough to weaken the garrison on his worlds but enough to constitute an under-strength RCT. Let me guess, he put a few officers in charge of the unit and called it the 8th Syrtis Fusiliers Auxiliaries or something like that.”

“Yessuah,” John Cody nodded, looking a bit relieved that he didn’t have to say it. “Or at least that ‘twas what we’s was told. From things mah Gran-dad and Ma talked ‘bout the March Milita had done been told that a new unit was being formed to protect the March from the Cappies.”

“But instead Hasek-Davion gets to keep his Fusiliers where they are while sending a Fusiliers unit just like the First Prince asked,” Celic interjected with a look of disgust at the underhanded tactic. “I bet the officers he sent from the actual 8th were those he didn’t consider to be loyal enough to him.”

“Maybe,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry commented. “But if he did this then how come we’re just hearing about it now. I can’t think that Hanse Davion or the Sandovals wouldn’t have noticed, but it is possible. If the unit was already en route or arriving on station when the deception was noticed there probably wasn’t a whole lot that could do about it at the time. The Draconis March needed reinforcing and these were fresh troops they were getting, just not the exact ones they had asked for and been promised. Still….”

“It was probably some political backroom dealing that kept it from coming out and making them all look stupid,” Nedeljko offered with a frown considering the same type of dealing had put the Buron Cavalry on the chopping block and into such tight monetary straits. “Michael probably got a slap on the wrist and a stern, ‘don’t do it again’, while Hanse and the Sandovals got some sort of concession or other in return.”

“Hmmm,” Andreas hummed in agreement. “So I take it from what you’ve told us so far that your father made it to Kesai IV and then things went bad.”

Giving a sharp nod the brown haired young man replied, “Yessuah, though I don’t right know the details of what happened mah Ma and Gran-dad got a message from the AFFC saying that mah Da was Missing-in-Action after Kesai got raided. Said ‘twas pirates who’d done it, that they’d come looking to take advantage of the chaos and confusion the Dracs caused. It tore mah Ma up sumthing fierce getting that news.”

Major Andreas Staedele nodded in understanding. In the course of this career he had written and recorded a number of messages to inform the families of fallen Buron Cavalry members that their loved one had died or was missing and presumed dead. It was hard enough just thinking of what to say one of those messages, remembering how it was to actually receive one was…. With the command of the Burons being a family legacy Andreas Staedele knew exactly what it felt like to learn that a loved one was not coming home, that they had fallen in battle or worse…were simply gone. Now that he thought about it the Major felt old doubts and fears suddenly remerge, thoughts and feelings that chilled his core and made his stomach twist into knots. God, what would it be like for Marie or Esther if they got a letter from the GDI saying he was KIA or MIA? Marie would probably already know before any formal message since she was the Chief Tech and traveled with the Cav everywhere, but still…. What about Esther, what would his little girl think and feel and do?

Shaking his head slightly to try and get rid of the troubling thought, the leader of the Buron Cavalry asked, “What makes you think your father got carted off by the pirates? Or that he is even still alive?”

“Mah Da was a great Mechwarrior! He wouldn’t let no dirty ol’ pirate lick’em unless he’s was outnumbered or sumthing!” John J. Cody fired back quickly and with a bit of anger crawling into his voice. “They did’n find his body nowhere or any trace of his Mech! He had to have been taken by the pirates ‘cause he’d never just run from a fight! Mah Da is a great man! I know he’s alive! I’s just knows it!”

“Okay, okay, calm down there son,” Celic intervened as the young man started getting hysterical. “We didn’t mean to imply that your father is dead. It’s just that….”

“People who come out into the Periphery looking for miracles usually only find disappointment and death,” Andreas finished what Celic had not been able to say. “What makes you think that your father would have come to Antalllos anyways? If he got captured by the pirates that raided Kesai IV then he could be on any number of worlds on this side of the Periphery.”

Cody nodded, his brown hair falling down into his eyes, “I left home, a year an’ a half ago this May. I hopped a freighter head’n out to the Draconis March and landed on Mayetta two months later. It took me three months to find a ship heading for Kesai IV, but they wouldn’t take me on and I couldn’t sneak aboard so I had to wait another three to find one that ‘twas heading out that way and take me on as a tech. It took me two weeks to get to Kesai IV and I then spent the next week and three months talking to every person who’d seen the fight. All I got was that mah Da went out and didn’t come back. Then I heard a rumor in the spaceport that the pirates who’d raided Kesai had been spotted eleven months earlier headin’ to Antallos and sumthing about ‘a big score’.”

Andreas frowned at that little tid bit of info. That was almost the time period when the planning for the invasion of Earth had started and the pirates had started to gather for it. Had the group that Cody was looking for gone to Earth?

“Cody, the name of the pirate group you were trying to track, what was it?” the Major asked, hoping that he may be wrong.

“They’s was callin’ themselves ‘The Black Lightning Raiders’, Ser,” John answered quickly. “Why?”

“Just checking to see if the Cav or the GDI may have bumped into them,” Ned interjected before Andreas could. “I don’t recall hearing them mentioned amongst the pirates we and the GDI have tangled with so far.”

“You wouldn’t Ser,” Cody offered punctually. “It took me a month to find a ship and then two months of hopping ‘round the Outworlds Alliance before arriving on Antallos ‘bout three months ago. I’s spent everyday asking ‘bout them and everyone I talked to’s done told me that ‘The Black Lightning Raiders’ were on Antallos ‘til January last year, they’s got here the end of August jus’ before that and did some minor raiding out on the Combine, but now they’ve just up and disappeared again. I figure that with this GDI and such in control of Antallos they ain’t coming back seeing’s how them GDI folks don’t take too kindly to pirates and criminals.”

“They don’t at that,” Nedeljko chuckled darkly as he recalled the nuclear greeting the pirate fleet had received upon arrival at Earth.

“Yeah,” the brown haired young man nodded, “So’s I figures that they probably moved to one of the systems nearby maybe and since them GDI folks are cleaning up the Periphery my best chance of finding them is by signing on with the GDI or one of their mercs.”

Major Andreas Staedele sat back in his chair and let out a puff of air as he began to think the story over. The kid had heart, he’d give him that, and a good dose of courage for coming so far on his own. He even felt sorry for the kid slightly. He knew what it was like to lose the father you looked up to. The only problem was what would the kid do if they actually came across these ‘Black Lightning Raiders’? People hired for the Buron Cavalry had to be dependable and trustworthy, the reputation of the unit depended upon it. If the kid went off on a vengeance kick or simply up and left after hearing some rumor or other, well….

“Alright Cody I need to ask you a question and before you answer you have to know this,” Andreas stated clearly and sternly. “The Buron Cavalry are mercenaries and we may fight for money. However, we have our pride and reputation to consider and those are dependent upon our trustworthiness and reliability. Without those we aren’t worth anything and for the members of the Cav our word is our bond. Now, knowing that, I want you to be completely honest with me. If we do run into these pirates you’re looking for, what are you going to do? I know you want to find your father, but I can’t have you putting this unit or its employer in danger because you suddenly go irrational on us. I need to know that I can trust you.”

“You can count on me Ser,” the young John J. Cody spoke solemnly. “Mah Da told me before he left after my thirteenth birthday that, ‘a man is only as good as his word and that a man is judged by the actions that he does and does not take’. If I went and betrayed them principles then how could I look mah Da in the eye when I find’im?”

Staedele smiled slightly as he heard the young man with the unkempt brown hair give him his answer. Looking up at Ned he saw that the other man also had a small smile at those words. However, before he spoke to tell John J. Cody that the Buron Cavalry would be hiring him on Andreas caught the sight of Celic Nedeljko’s smile turning straight into a frown.

“Wait a minute,” the XO of the Buron Cavalry stated suddenly. “On your application you listed your age as being 19 years-old according to the Terran standard, but you just said that your father left after your 13th birthday. If you were….”

“Did I’s say thirteenth?” Cody suddenly said, a nervous little smile curling up the edges of his mouth. “Sorry ‘bout that. I meant to say sixteenth on the account of the diff-….”

Andreas Staedele recognized a lie when he heard it and immediately cut the ‘boy’ off with, “Don’t lie to me kid. I thought we already established that. How old are you really?”

Worrying his lip slightly as he felt the stares of the two men bearing down on him John Cody finally answered, “I…I…. Sixteen Ser. But’s I’s be turning seventeen middle o’ next month and that’s the Lord’s honest truth Ser! Major Dansel and Major Hale said that they couldn’t sign me up ‘cause my age, but they said that the Buron Cavalry wouldn’t have the same restriction. I can pilot and shoot as well as any man grown can. Please Ser! I’m sorry I’s lied to ya’ll but you folks are mah best hope right now finding mah Da!”

Leaning forward slightly Andreas suddenly realized from the boy’s words why exactly Dansel and Hale hadn’t written anything down about their interview with the kid, those cheeky bastards! GDI regulations stated that official GDI units couldn’t recruit anyone under the age of 17 Terran Standard years, but that 18 years was the preferred minimum age requirement because at 17 years the applicant needed the expressed written consent of a legal parent or a legal guardian or a special dispensation from a recognized Court of Law. With the only real Court of Law on Antallos being the one set up by the CSN and GDI to handle the numerous criminal trials of pirates and the criminals that they couldn’t tolerate it would’ve been difficult for the boy to get a Court order to allow entry into the Legion since the Court was currently backed up just from handling the affairs from after the takeover. Besides, there was no way they’d allow a kid who was still legally sixteen and on a quest to find his father to join a combat unit that was being staffed with types to be found on Antallos, even if those recruits were the better ones both morally and skill wise. However, even if the Buron Cavalry could technically recruit someone that didn’t meet the age requirements of the GDI it didn’t mean that Staedele would. There was still the reputation of the Cav to consider and the fact that the kid had lied twice rather than simply tell him the truth from the start.

“You say you’re telling us the truth, but how do we know that? You already lied to us at east twice by my count, how do we know that this isn’t another lie?” Celic questioned sternly, the usually mirthful man showing no signs of joking around. “What about what your father said about a man being only as good as his word and about how he is known and judged by the actions he does and does not take? Hmmm, well?”

“I…I…I’m sorry Ser honest I am, but I didn’t know if I’s could trust the Majors. I swear to you, this ain’t no lie!” young John Cody blurted out defensively.

“Oh yeah?!” Celic stated disbelievingly. “What about your family back home, huh? What about them? Did you even tell them that you were leaving on this mad journey of yours?”

“I…I,” the sixteen year-old stuttered slightly, “I…. No Ser, I…. They don’t know. Ma and Gran-dad would’da never ‘llowed me to leave if I told them. They were torn up sumthing fierce ‘bout mah Da and all…I…I didn’t wanna burden them more.”

“Jesus,” the XO of the Buron Cavlary swore. “Have you even thought about what they must be feeling knowing he’s missing and you’re God knows where?! You’ve been concentrating so much on your father you’ve forgotten what family you do have.”

“I…I guess so…. But I gotta find’em, at least know if he’s live or dead…sumthing!” the boy said before getting out of the chair and actually getting on his knees. “Please Ser! I know I done ya’ll wrong by lying, but please…. Please, don’t…. Even if it is only as a tech, even if it’s only as a laborer or servant…. Please Ser, give me a chance to find mah Da or at least make restitution to ya’ll!”

Staedele felt his face flush with embarrassment as the kid begged him on his knees. Around the tent he knew that work had come to a halt and everyone was staring at the scene taking place. Worse of all was that no matter his decision word would spread through the ranks of the GDI and probably reach General Davis and Colonel Kurita. He didn’t relish the idea of being questioned about why he had turned the boy away or why he had hired him on. No matter what stories would be told and rumors would circulate. Worse of all Marie would know by the end of the…no, forget the end of the day, she’d probably know within the next hour and be down here questioning him shortly afterwards…that or she’d be waiting for him back at the Distant Home.

He hated this. It was like the damn ‘La Mancha’ scenario that the various Mechwarrior Academies throughout the Sphere used to train cadets. No matter what he did he’d still lose somehow, the only question remaining was how badly he would lose.

“Kid…,” the leader of the Buron Cavalry began before seeing that the young recruit was still on his knees blabbering away apologies. Frustrated by it all Andreas growled, “Damn it Cody, pull yourself together for Christ’s sake!”

Those harsh words cut into the boy and stopped his blabbering almost immediately. Rising up swiftly the boy came to a perfect position of attention before responding, “Ser! Sorry Ser! I’s forgot myself and have shamed ya’ll and the Buron Cavalry! With your permission Ser….”

Andreas recognized what was being left unsaid. John J. Cody was giving him a perfect way out if he wanted to dismiss the boy. The question was if he should take it or not. Gaining a tech who knew what they were doing was essential for a unit like the Cav. And out here in the Periphery, well…the earth boys and girls were good and learned quickly, he’d give them that, but the Cav needed their own people and needed those people to know exactly what to do, how to do it, and to do it when it was needed most.

Looking over to his XO, the leader of the Buron Cavalry saw Celic Nedeljko give a subtle nod. God, the conversations later with Marc, Marie, and the GDI command were going to be bothersome.

“Recruit Cody,” Major Andreas Staedele stated in a perfect command tone. “After much consideration I, Major Andreas Staedele, as the CO of the Buron Cavalry, have decided that you will be offered a probationary contract with the Buron Cavalry as a junior technician.”

Blinking in surprise John Cody was silent for a moment before bursting out and exclaiming, “Ser! Thank you Ser! Ya’ll shan’t regret it! I’s promise I-….”

“The Major did not give you permission to speak Recruit Cody!” Celic thundered as he interrupted the jubilant boy. “The Buron Cavalry may be mercenaries but we still respect and observe the chain of command. Do you understand that Recruit Cody!”

“Yes Ser!” Cody returned immediately, his eyes staring straight ahead as he stood at full attention.

Hiding the small smile that threatened to crack his stern visage, Andreas spoke, “Recruit Cody, as part of your probationary contract you will be expected to fulfill all duties assigned to you just as if you were a full member of the Buron Cavalry. You will do exactly as you are told by your immediate superiors and those they designate. You will perform to the standards of the Chief Tech Staedele or you will not be here when your probationary period is over with. You will report to Captain Johnson every morning to train with his infantry unit. You must perform to his standards if you wish to remain with the Cav after your probationary period ends. Am I understood?!”

“Yes Ser!” john Cody enunciated clearly.

“And finally, in regards to your family…,” Andreas Staedele began to say, knowing that family was important. “You will send them a message telling them that you are on Antallos. You will tell them the entire truth of what you have done. I will have the Cav pay for the message to be sent seeing as how I will be sending along my own message regarding the situation. In this message I will explicitly tell your family that if they want you returned home then I will personally strap you into the first Dropship heading towards the FedSuns and the Capellan March. Is that understood?”

“Yes Ser!” the sixteen year-old answered clearly.

“Hale’s from down that way, I think,” Celic interjected. “Maybe part of the Crucis March nearby, I’m not sure. He may know a few of the jumpers and droppers that work down there.”

“Check with him and find out,” Andreas stated before turning to the table that was next to him.

Grabbing a few of the forms necessary the leader of the Buron Cavalry quickly scribbled several things down before turning and presenting them to the young man standing before him.

“John J. Cody, if you take and sign these forms you will be officially accepting the terms of the contract I have laid out before you and be recognized as legally binding,” the Major remarked firmly as he fulfilled his official obligations regarding the offering of positions within the Buron Cavalry. “You will be subject to all rules and laws established by the Buron Cavalry and its employer. If you are found in violation of any of the terms laid out here in or of any rules or laws that have been established and recognized, I and your immediate superiors will have the right to punish you as deemed fit or to decide to turn you over to our employer for proper legal proceedings as established under the rules and authority of the Mercenary Review Board and the GDI and CSN regulations regarding Private Military Contractors.”

Cody nodded his head and reached for the papers. However, Andreas Staedele did not release them; he was not quite finished just yet.

“Furthermore, by accepting these papers you give me your word that you will not seek to deceive or act against the Buron Cavalry in any way or seek to tarnish its reputation by doing so to its employer,” Andreas finished laying out the conditions necessitated by the rules that bound him and his unit. “Do you accept these conditions and terms as I have explained them to you and do you give me your word that you shall carry them out as I have described them to you?”

“Yes Ser,” John Cody replied firmly. “Thank’ya Ser, I’s won’t lets ya’ll down.”

“Very well then, read through these, fill them all out in full with the truth and then sign them and return them to me,” the CO of the Buron Cavalry stated as he indicated a cleared off table to the other side of the tent. “If you have any questions as you go through them you may ask me, Captain Nedeljko, or one of the GDI personnel present in this tent for clarification. After you have finished with those I will write up the necessary paperwork to have you transferred over to where the Cav’s personnel are stationed near the Distant Home and have you get a properly outfitted kit from the GDI quartermaster’s office.”

“Yes Ser. Thank ya, Ser,” the sixteen year-old recruit said as he accepted the papers before turning towards the table he had been pointed towards.

“Captain Nedeljko and I will be outside if you need us,” Staedele remarked as he rose from his seat, ‘Ned’ giving him a dirty look over the fact that they had to go back outside and leave the confines of the air-conditioned tent. “C’mon ‘Ned’, marc is probably wondering what the hell is going on.”

Stepping towards the door Celic spoke in a low-voice to his boss, “You know that this is either going to could turn out to be the worst decision we’ve ever made or the best.”

“Heh,” Andreas stifled a short laugh before replying quietly. “Given all that has happened in the last year…. Who knows?”

Giving a shrug as he stepped out into the hot sun of Antallos the XO of the Buron Cavalry remarked, “Either way you’re going to be getting earfuls later on and that means that I’m going to be getting earfuls too. Man, it never seemed this rough when someone else was in charge.”

Stepping out of the tent behind his friend Andreas Staedele just shook his head. He wasn’t too worried what the GDI and General Davis would have to say about this. No, what really worried him was what his wife Marie and his aunt Hanna were going to say. Shuddering as the worst came to mind the CO of the Buron Cavalry turned towards the canopy only to pull up short.

Shit…he had forgotten about what Marc would say about all of it.

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Ok, so there is section 1. Section 2 will be up shortly followed by section 3. Let me know what you think as Magni and a few others are waiting on me getting this posted so they can post their own segments to the main thread.