Or just ignore the whole sphere and focus on a small portion if you want it broken up that much.
This probably butterflies Comstar away. Without a reputation like Kerensky's backing him, Blake isn't senior enough to take hold SLComNet together and negotiate with the house lords as a unified network.Kerensky ... dies
If we cut out some parts of Nexus like the Mechanoids, this has potential for greatness.You know what, I've got a crazy idea for a BT fic.
So, the basic idea is to fuse (most of) Nexus: The Jupiter Incident with BT. Noah Colony was an old Terran Haegemony colony group that suffered a misjump, leading to the discovery of an N:TJI wormhole and a pristine garden world that the colonists decided to call Noah on the other side. Centuries have passed, and the colony has done well, despite being pressed into the Gorg Wars... before the SLDF-in-Exile showed up at one of the few wormholes to the Inner Sphere.
Centuries later, with the latest round of the Gorg Wars heating up, a ComStar exploration ship is spotted in the periphery of one of the systems near a wormhole...
Yeah, the Mechanoids are no-go in general. They're reality-editing AI when they decide to go all-in, and given that humanity was implied to be made to counter the Mechanoids as part trap and part creator of the eventual Mechanoid killer AI herself... they went all in by the end of it.If we cut out some parts of Nexus like the Mechanoids, this has potential for greatness.
This came up in another thread (Of Things Retro-Futuristic), but basically it's boils down to this: While Clan Wolf/the Dragoons were doing their reconnaissance of the Inner Sphere, they accidentally discover another force basically doing the same thing they're doing -- acting as a mercenary company to scout the Inner Sphere, its politics/nations, and their technological capabilities.
Recordings and data gathered show clear mismatches between what look like bog standard/typical mechs used by mercenaries, their weapons, and this Third Party's capabilities. They're too good. Basically, the way their "mechs" move is too fluid, the armour too tough/resistant, the weapons significantly overpowered for what they supposedly are, et cetera.
Their story about being mercenaries from a "lost, Deep Periphery colony" is suspicious, they don't accept outsiders into their ranks, their supply chains are unknown, and they keep buying assets (weapons, mechs, et cetera) or claim salvage as payment for their services.
Worse still, it looks as though they're at least a century ahead of the Clans -- Basically, the original prompt was that instead of using Battletech stuff that was derived from what the 80's thought the future would be like, this Third Party, in the guise of in-universe Battletech technology, uses stuff what we, using our modern tech-base, would think what the world would be like several hundred years in the future, basically doing what FASA did in the 80's now.
Basically, their camouflage and deception are too good so they stand out to those actually looking, defeating their purpose.
After reporting back, the assembled Clan heads are incredulous, but there's no denying the evidence: Someone out there has basically "Out Clanned the Clans", and the Dragoons have been reassigned to investigate this mysterious Third Party as much as possible...
Obviously this could go in many different directions, such as the Inner Sphere itself about to be invaded by this Third Party, or if they're investigating to see whether they're just worth contacting, if they know the Clans are about to invade and are thinking about invading themselves to move to counter the Clans, et cetera.
I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.I like this idea in concert with a modern Esrth or near peer ISOT Earth. It's been my kick lately.
I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.
I mean, someone did a YouTube video that a modern processor (Ryzen Threadripper) has more memory in its L1 cache than an entire 80's computer (an Altair, IIRC), and that it'd take years for said computer to make a calculation that the Threadripper could do in one second.
The technological disparity between 80's stuff and what we have now is just that extreme.
Can you link me? Also, what other areas does Modern Earth dominate? What areas are we deficient? And how can Earth maintain Dpace and air Neutral skies in a concerted invasion?
Per Price Of Glory the Helm Memory Core was half a meter long. So their floppy drives ain't too small either.I'm pretty sure modern microprocessors would baffle the fuck out of most people in the Inner Sphere and Clans.
I mean, someone did a YouTube video that a modern processor (Ryzen Threadripper) has more memory in its L1 cache than an entire 80's computer (an Altair, IIRC), and that it'd take years for said computer to make a calculation that the Threadripper could do in one second.
The technological disparity between 80's stuff and what we have now is just that extreme.
It seems to me that in general, on modern earth we have the opposite thinking process as BattleTech. In BT, hardware is expensive and lives are cheap, so making a very cheap 'mech is often desirable, even if you're making something several generations old, like the retrotech builds using introductory tech all the way past the FedCom Civil War.Although, as a interesting thought exercise, if Modern Earth acquired a Nighthawk or other powered armour and instead began to develop from those instead of outright Battlemechs, we might see a Starship Troopers (book)/Iron Man situation going on, with Battlemech-like powered armour suits basically rampaging across the battlefield in regiments or squads?
If Modern Earth got ahold of easier interplanetary travel, we'd have enough resources (especially in the Asteroid Belt) to set up solar colonies everywhere and have more resources to use in R+D than we could ever really use.
Probably fail utterly the first time, due to the pirates getting in and out faster than the politicians have come to grips with what is happening and sent any military assets. By the time the pirates return for another bite six months to a year later, there's likely to be a doctrine to deal with them. My first guess would be an overwhelming aircraft/cruise missile spam hitting their 'mechs and possibly DropShips with copious amounts of explosives.How would a Modern Day Earth, say Circa 2030 handle a concerted invasion from...:
1.) Pirates from the Periphery. 2800 to 2900 era.
The inverse of the pirates. Since the Combine won't grab and run, but instead will send possibly a 'mech company. They'll also open talks to arrange for a surrender, and thus sit there long enough for a diplomatic envoy to show up. Relations are going to break down pretty quickly since Combine's gonna Combine. The 'mechs will likely rampage once it's clear Earth isn't going to roll over, followed by cruise missile and aircraft bombardment taking the 'mech company down.2.) A major House like say, The Draconis Combine. 2900 to 3000
It's worth noting that the early clan invaders were not the caricatures they became later, they were quite keen on maintaining stealth, gathering intel, and generally being sneaky gits during their initial phase of invasion. The whole opening up with a Batchall on day 1 came later.3.) The Clans. 3000 to 3050.