Where Were You When The 4th Succession War Began? Fort Rudyard Kipling; Walham, Morningside Dear Sirs, I was standing duty as the Command Duty Officer for the Morningside Joint Planetary Defense Command, thinking about my upcoming wedding, and wondering what in the Queen's name the Elsies were up to. Most of the brigade knew something was up, due to the high amount of traffic through the House repair depot located nearby; we could not believe it was just "field maneuvers", as we were told. Then a signals clerk motioned me to a screen on which was playing the infamous royal toast. Upon hearing the worked, "I give you the Capellan Confederation," I went into a near-shock state. In the words of the signaller, I "looked like a ghost in petticoats." Duty overcame fear; as duty officer, I began the steps to full mobilization, both of our brigade and of the planetary militia. I truly wish time could be reversed, so I would not have been author to the blood and fire I released. Your Obedient Servant, Victoria Elizabeth Fawnbrook Colonel, 17th Terran Lancers, First Terran Light Cavalry Brigade Morningside, Tamar Pact Undisclosed Location; Unit censored Where was I? Inbound to Quarell on a recon/guerilla action. We had known this was a different type of raid. We had started the run to the planet at high G's and then the announcement was made; we were told of our mission change and of our status as raiders. My response was to pick up more medical supplies and extra ammo for my personal weapons. Then I started to pray, for my brother in the LCAF - and for myself. --Edward W Markle On Patrol I was on patrol looking for some of King Oberon's pirates on Bensinger in the Lyran Commonwealth. I'm part of Matzak's Mudrakers, a small merc regiment just hired by the Commonwealth to babysit some water. The Captain of our patrol split our lance into two. My partner Neil Goring in his Centurion and my Shadow Hawk went off on our own. Unfortunately, we ran into a pirate Dervish and Trebuchet. Neil blew the head off the Trebuchet without taking any serious hits. I did not have such luck. After dueling with the Dervish, my Hawk was in sad shape. Neil had to f inish my duel. I was so shot up that the base had to send out a recovery unit for three 'Mechs, including mine. I took two engine hits and a gyro hit. I lost both arms and one leg had locked up. I was barely alive. When I woke up in the infirmary, Neil told me about Davion's pledge to his wife. The war was on. Our orders came in at the same time as the wedding tapes did. We were mobilizing to leave this planet and to go to Gunzberg to act as reinforcements for the mercs of MobileFire and Bad Dreams. The good news is that I got the Dervish, because my Hawk had to be scrapped. --Mechwarrior Chuck Matzak, son of Commander Robert Matzak Hobby Store I didn't know it had started until I saw Issue # 0204 of BattleTechnology at my local hobby store, and looked inside. I was caught by surprise, just as much as ol'"Mad Max" Liao must have been! --Capt David H McCaffrey CO, Delta Company, Damage Inc Thank you to everybody who wrote in to share their reminiscences of the beginning of the Fourth Succession War. We can't print any more (we wish we could), but do be sure that each was read and appreciated. Mech Force Top Fifty MechWarrior Name MechForce Ranking Leutnant-Colonel Michael D Martin 3344 Leutnant-Colonel Edward Markle 2157 Leutnant-Colonel John G Froelich 2070 Leutnant-Colonel Sheila Marie Bellows 2047 Leutnant-Colonel Gunther Harold Bellows 2022 Sho-Sa William C Gushue 1995 Major Michael Blouin 1972 Major Brian L Neldner 1930 Major Westly Patrick 1826 Kommandant Francois Trudelle 1737 Captain John Petrone 1685 Captain Gavin Mc Clements 1645 Captain Ed Savoir 1621 Hauptmann Ronald C Kehir 1605 Leutnant Brian Lee Kendall 1567 Lieutenant Bobby Howell 1547 Chu-i John Gladden 1505 Lieutenant David Heatherley 1503 Sergeant-Major Francois Gousse 1460 Leutnant Larry Pryor 1417 Brevet-Commander Mike Palmer 1398 Sergeant-Major Robert Whidbey 1366 Sergeant-Major Mark Chittenden 1359 Leutnant Robert A Gross Jr 1353 Leutnant Kristopher Miller 1359 Leutnant Hans Jonker 1342 Sergeant Major Mike Wilson 1338 Sergeant Major Michael T Keogh 1333 Sergeant Major David E Parsons 1330 Leutnant Eric Martel 1327 Sergeant Major Don Gilmore 1314 Leutnant Justin Thomas Claypool 1307 Leutnant Scott A Kreiser 1300 Sergeant Major Paul 'Chip' Trace Jr 1296 Sergeant Major Fred Best 1296 Staff Sergeant William A Ransdale 1294 Sergeant Major Daniel Clark 1285 Leutnant Robert Bost 1269 Sergeant Major Rhonda Stocking 1264 Sergeant Major Alex Zehnder 1250 Leutnant Tony Liddle 1245 Staff Sergeant Dora Chittenden 1242 Leutnant James Kehir 1242 Staff Sergeant William Lane Douglas III 1241 Leutnant Don Jenkins 1239 Staff Sergeant Matthew Prince 1212 Leutnant Scott Michael Davenport 1209 Sergeant Major Nils Hagen- Frederiksen 1196 Leutnant Rich Thomas 1194 Sergeant Major Raymond R Dryer 1116 Back to BattleTechnology 10 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. 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