Bring the Dawn

Bring the Dawn
Product information
Type	Short story
Author	Jason Schmetzer
Pages	6
Publication information
Publisher	Catalyst Game Labs
First published	2018
Content
Era	Dark Age era
Timeline	6 June - 22 August 3146

Bring the Dawn is a short story by Jason Schmetzer that serves as the introduction to Shattered Fortress.

Plot summary

Julian Davion arrives on Terra to meet a re-awakened Devlin Stone. He is accompanied by Republic of the Sphere Major Janne Wealthow and had been given a window to pass through the hyperspace barrier that surrounds Fortress Republic. Davion later learns that they had been followed by a Maskirovka JumpShip but since the ship did not have its own window it had been ripped in two.

Refusing to be intimidated by Stone's presence, Davion demands to know Stone's purpose, as he has to return to defend the Federated Suns from a dual assault by the Capellan Confederation and Draconis Combine. With the death of his cousin, Julian Davion is now First Prince and the fate of his nation rests on his shoulders. Stone needs to push back the Capellan assault deep into Republic territory but without making obvious that Fortress Republic is about to lower its walls. To do this he gifts Davion the Dawn Guards, an assault 'Mech regiment with an aerospace wing, manned by Republic volunteers with ancestral ties to the Federated Suns. The Maskirovka would be able to figure out that they were Republic troops but the Republic itself would retain public deniability.

Instead of returning to New Avalon, Davion would be retaking Laio occupied worlds. It would take pressure off the Capellan March, but would not let him lead his people. To convince him, Stone promises to assault the Draconis March and retake Robinson when the Fortress walls come down. He gives no timetable for this. Davion accepts the proposal and Stone promotes Wealthow to Colonel on the spot, naming her CO of the Dawn Guards.

Later we see the Dawn Guards hammering Capellan forces on Acamar and leaving evidence for the Maskirovka to find. When Isabelle Fisk tells Chancellor Daoshen Liao of the Dawn Guards' assault and their hidden Republic background he slows the operations against the Federated Suns to prepare for the coming onslaught when the Republic of the Sphere finally ends Fortress Republic.

Notes

• Tucker Harwell is now advising Devlin Stone.
• Jonah Levin remains Exarch, though Stone is again the real power in the Republic of the Sphere.
• The superheavy tripod 'Mech Ares is first introduced in fiction.
• The text implies that Stone believes Daoshen Liao is the greatest threat to the Republic.

Featured Characters

• First Prince Julian Davion
• Devlin Stone
• Colonel Janne Wealthow
• Tucker Harwell
• Chancellor Daoshen Liao
• Sang-jiang-jun Isabelle Fisk

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

• Ares
• Gùn
• Lament
• Malice
• Mangonel

DropShips

• Duat-class Lucifer's Sword
• K-1-class DropShuttle Sanguine

Bibliography

• Shattered Fortress (sourcebook, scenario book)