Retry
04/10/22 09:35 PM
174.70.184.145
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The Year is 3145
The CRSC at Aleksandria receives a frantic transmission from RNS Intrepid, a Crossroadian scout warship operating near the Republic's borders: "ONE CONTACT FROM [Location Confidential] TWO FOUR EIGHT FIFTEEN LARGE ARMADA PRESUMED HOSTILE REQUESTING". There are no further transmissions; The crew of the Intrepid is presumed KIA. Crossroad military brass, already on edge from to the relatively recent Draconis Combine attack a decade before and the general confusion, are filled with dread from a direct, potentially existential threat. Though surprised, the Crossroad Republic is not unprepared; the Crossroad Republic's military mobilizes its forces and activates the Minutemen, and the government invokes the vela pact to its allies: the Mechani Alliance and the Amethyst Legion.
The Vela Invasion has begun.
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The Vela Corridor AU is an Alternative Universe / Expansion of the Battletech Universe, focusing on a deep periphery region Northeast of the Inner Sphere. The AU is mostly compatible with the lore of the original setting, with only some minor events being changed.
The 3145 Vela Invasion is a scenario where the Homeworld Clans (Cloud Cobra, Star Adder, Coyote, Stone Lion) have been overtaken politically by the Aggressor Ideology, ending their long-standing isolationist policies enforced by the Bastion faction. The Aggressor Clans form a grand invasion force with the purpose of destroying the corruption of the Inner Sphere. Their first stop, however, is the deep Periphery nations of the Vela Corridor (a patch of states between the Vela Sheet and Gum Nebula), to establish a closer bridgehead and obtain extra resources to further fuel their invasion.
Map of the Battletech Universe, ~3130. Borders are approximate.
Key:
(1) Crossroad Republic
(2) Mechani Alliance
(3) Amethyst Legion
BLUFOR (Vela Pact)
Crossroad Republic
The Crossroad Republic is a Federal Republic, and the youngest major power in the Vela Corridor. The faction originates as an offshoot of Kerensky's Exodus Fleet, who colonized their first planet in the Vela Corridor in 2801 and officially formed their nation as the "Crossroad Republic" in 2825.
+Well equipped and well-trained conventional armor force (Vehicles), trained around combined arms
+Front-line infantry consist of light "Shocktrooper" PAL suits and assault-class "AC80" battlesuits.
+Much of Crossroad Republic military doctrine revolves around fighting Clan invaders.
+In addition to the Federal military, most Republic planet maintain militias called Planetary Defense Forces (PDFs), that use old Federal military equipment, or upgraded equipment from stockpiles. PDF firepower can be quite impressive, and in fact there's more Battlemechs in Crossroad PDFs than there are in the federal military.
+Defender's Advantage
-Has to hold off off the invading Clan coalition for at least a few weeks for Mechani reinforcements and a few months for Legion reinforcements.
-Shocktrooper PA(L)s are more numerous than Elemental BAs but significantly weaker 1-to-1
-Small Battlemech contingent, mainly consisting of the elite Minneapolis Armored Division
-PDFs lack the infrastructure to move from planet to planet.
Mechani Alliance
The Mechani Alliance is a Parliamentary Monarchy, and the oldest major power in the Vela Corridor. They originate around the 25th century from exploration and colonization fleets, and got cut off from the Inner Sphere at large for several centuries.
+Ground forces have a strong Battlemech + Mechanized BA (rough equivalent to Clan Elementals)
+Heavy utilization of C3 systems in ground forces
+Largest conventional ground force in the Vela Pact in terms of tons of material.
-Smaller 2nd line and trained militia forces than the Crossroad Republic
-Requires several weeks to travel to the front lines on Crossroad worlds
Amethyst Legion
The Amethyst Legion is a semi-nomadic stratocracy, whose society lives primarily off of of jumpships, warships and space stations. An offshoot of the Jarnfolk, civillian and military life are virtually indistinguishable for the Legion.
+Extremely large and capable navy for their population size
+Legion's "Sky Cavalry" (LAMs) are effective as highly mobile special operations units
+Dispersed and mobile space-based manufacturing is difficult to find, capture or destroy.
-Limited population size and economy compared to the other 2 major factions
-Negligible ability to hold ground; Legion economy and military design does not enable conventional ground operations
-Requires several months to travel to the front lines on Crossroad worlds
REDFOR (Aggressor Clans)
The four remaining Home Clans (Stone Lion, Star Adder, Coyote, & Cloud Cobra) went radio silent since the Wars of Reaving. Nonetheless, it's believed that the Home Clans are still a stagnant, stratified warrior-based society with the fanatical belief that Inner Sphere's societies (and most likely, Vela Pact cultures) are irredeemably tainted, which they much protect themselves from either by self-isolation or, now, annihilation.
+Heavy usage of Battlemechs and Battle Armor in front-line units
+Heavy usage of Omni-technology in front-line units (though Vela Pact members are developing increasing numbers of omni- units themselves)
+As the attacker, has the initiative and advantage of local numerical superiority for a few months, until Crossroad and her allies mobilize.
+Recent combat experience in raids on the Hanseatic League & Escorpion Imperio
-Poor quality conventional armor and infantry units, both in training and design
-Lacks both manpower & industrial capacity to win a protacted war if the Clans fail to make heavy initial gains through Republic territory
-Garrison & especially Solahma units are far more poorly trained and equipped than Vela Pact counterparts
-Invading and controlling nations hundreds of LY away is a logistical challenge in the best of times.
Other Considerations:
Technology
Major Powers in the Vela Pact are roughly equivalent in military technology to the Clans, with additional advantages in weaponry and areas that the Clans intentionally neglect for philosophical reasons (ex: C3 systems). Civillian technology is far better developed than the Clans, and on par with some of the best technological hubs in the Inner Sphere. Vela Pact technological development was primarily lead by the Crossroad Republic.
Like the Clans, the Crossroad Republic can trace its origins to the SLDF Exodus Fleet. However, they didn't develop into an oppressive caste-based warrior society, and further didn't suffer from extreme, targeted devastation such as that seen in the Pentagon Civil War or Succession Wars to set them back technologically. As such, the Crossroad Republic colonists were able to develop and maintain Star League grade infrastructure relatively quickly. In addition to having a good cultural climate for research (peaceful and non-oppressive), their ability to make further technological advances over the centuries has been enhanced in other ways, such as their incorporation of former Clan Wolverine refugees, as well as from liberation of military and valuable civilian equipment, documents, and even some researchers and engineers themselves during various expeditionary campaigns during the Crossroad Republic's history. Since then, technology sharing between their Legion and Mechani allies has brought them about on par, though Crossroad nonetheless has a leading edge in several areas.
The Homeworld Clans, on the other hand, are believed by CRSC Intelligence to have stagnated or even relapsed somewhat. Already a warrior culture that focused its intellectual resources into just a few key areas, their purging of their Scientist castes during the Wars of Reaving and subsequent isolation is bound to have a negative impact on their ability to develop new technologies. This appears to be verified in early reports of the invasion, as nothing new appears to have been fielded by the invaders yet.
Communications & Defensive Measures
The Vela Pact maintains a robust HPG network, which enables near-instantaneous communications between the Crossroad Republic, the Mechani Alliance, and the Amethyst Legion. Within minutes of the message of the Republic's first lost scout, her allies had received word of invasion and began mobilizing their own forces. As the Vela Pact's network was unconnected to the Inner Sphere's network, their HPGs were unaffected by the Blackout.
It's believed to be extremely difficult if not impossible for the Clans to maintain a similar robust command structure from their homeworld to the invasion fleet, simply due to the sheer distances involved.
The Crossroad Republic maintains a network of small military observation posts 120LY north of its populated borders. Little more than satellites and jumpships with advanced sensors, HPGs and anti-piracy weaponry, the network is nonetheless effective to give a few weeks of headway before a fleet arrives in Republic space.
The Republic's Frontier planets typically have respectable militias of their own that are usually staffed with retired Federal military members, stocked with older Federal equipment (including Battlemechs) and some larger designs that aren't logistically well-suited for offensive purposes.
Mechani Alliance planets have their own militia system, which is smaller but more standardized than the Republic's militias. Unlike the Crossroad Republic's system, the Mechani militias include jumpships and dropships to transport themselves to other locations when necessary.
Nearly all persons in the Amethyst Legion can be regarded as a militia, though this fact would only really be relevant in theoretical boarding actions against one of their Arkships. As a secretive semi-nomadic nation, it would be extremely difficult if not functionally impossible to hunt down and neutralized Legion ships without a massive fleet scouting operation, which makes their relatively small population and industry best protected from assault compared to all Vela Pact members.
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Karagin
04/10/22 10:35 PM
70.118.172.64
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Different enough, good use of the Home Clans. And be ready for folks to ask if your main group is the Wolverines under a new name.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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Retry
04/11/22 11:46 PM
174.70.184.145
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I believe you're referring to the Crossroad Republic when you ask about the main group? It's not a Clan Wolverine or a "Wolverine-in-Exile" group, Clan Wolverine refugees are a significant subpopulation of the Crossroad Republic, however, and they hold significant influence on the Republic's society and culture. Descendants make up a disproportionate amount of the Republic's military population, have founded their own companies, and a small but influential political party (The Sentinel party, whose concerns basically begins and ends with the Crossroad Republic's National Security)
However, the "Clan" part of "Clan Wolverine" is all but gone within the Crossroad Republic. While the Wolverine descendants are proud (and continue to despise clans Wolf and Jade Falcon with every fiber of their being), there's no appetite whatsoever for the Descendants to return to Nicholas Kerensky's stratified warrior society among that population.
All three of the Vela Pact factions have sorts of overviews on their governments, cultures & militaries. I can try to nab those if anyone's interested, but they're a bit scattered and I've not got a ton of time as I used to.
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ghostrider
04/12/22 12:23 AM
45.51.181.83
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If I recall properly, you stated in previous posts about the Crossroads alt, it was done as the fleet left the IS, not after the clans were created, but I can see that some would suggest it if they didn't read much about it. Or did this change from the original posting of the alt time line?
I did not look into it enough to see if some of the fleeing Wolverines settled down or not, so can't comment on that.
From the very little I know of the 3100s and onward, I will have to leave it to others to say what works and doesn't.
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Karagin
04/12/22 10:40 AM
70.118.172.64
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One thing, if you are using the refugees of the Wolverines, then any interaction with the Clans once they figure out this point, will be an all-out war.
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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namar13766
04/12/22 10:52 AM
47.214.112.56
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We've seen the Amethyst Legion mentioned elsewhere, but not anything about the Mechani Alliance.
Also, why would the Dracs attack the Crossroads?
Edited by namar13766 (04/12/22 11:25 AM)
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Retry
04/12/22 08:18 PM
174.70.184.145
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Ghostrider:
The timeline looks roughly like this:
1.Aleksandr Kerensky leaves the Inner Sphere on his exodus
2.[AU point of departure] Prinz Eugens mutiny happens but is much less successful. To assist with the morale issue, about 10-15% of the fleet (mainly civillians) splits off in another direction under the leadership and close watch of Kerensky's friend Aaron DeChavilier, both to keep likely mutineers from influencing loyalists in the fleet to form what's basically a forward base for the Exodus Fleet later. DeChavilier's fleet finds a half-decent world pretty quickly and settles down, names the planet Aleksandria.
3.The main Exodus fleet settles the Pentagon Worlds shortly thereafter. Kerensky's group and DeChavilier's group stay in touch for a while via Jumpship relay network.
4.Exodus Civil War happens in Kerensky's group. Comms break down between the two groups, and obviously DeChavelier's group isn't in much position to help.
5.Most of the information on the Pentagon Worlds about the DeChavilier group is lost or destroyed during the civil war chaos.
6.Nicholas Kerensky forms the Clans and takes over the Pentagon Worlds
7.The Clans try to annihilate Clan Wolverine, but a significant number of them manage to escape, including the leader Sarah McEvedy.
8.Most of the survivors make it to DeChavilier's group using what little information they could still scrounge up. DeChavilier's group offers them refuge. (Some got lost on the way though; these became the Minnesota Tribe)
9.These people (DeChavilier's group + Wolverine survivors) formally form the Crossroad Republic
Karagin:
That would likely not be good for the Republic's health, no. As of 3145, no Clans have definitive proof of Wolverine descendants existing in the Crossroad Republic. (The Home Clans do have some suspicion. As of 3145 their intel on the subject is closer to a conspiracy than anything actionable, but it may have nonetheless swayed their decision to invade the Vela Pact.)
namar1766:
Technically they attacked the Amethyst Legion, but the Crossroad Republic joined on the Legion's side. The Drac's primary motivation was to find and take control of some lucrative and strategically useful Clan-grade Endo-Steel facilities from the Legion. They were unsuccessful.
The Mechani Alliance, I started fluffing last, so there's simply not that many designs to show (in addition to having much less free time in general.) Vehicle wise, their military level is Clan-grade, but with a focus on higher survivability via advanced armors and protection systems (ECM, AMS, etc).
The Mechani Alliance (and Amethyst Legion) is actually something someone else in my group came up with, so I'm not actually doing to bulk of those, just helping flesh things out when I can.
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