Exploration within the Inner Sphere is no longer practiced, occasionally a new system is discovered through a mis-Jump. From time to time a system reappears which has been cut off - even lost - for several hundred years, even though it was present in the Inner Sphere all along. The planet Rourke (see map) is the most recent of these reappearances. In Star League days, Rourke was affiliated with House Steiner, which has expanded to surround the system on all sides: sovereignty and allegiance are being negotiated even as this is written. Rourke had the misfortune to rejoin the Inner Sphere just in time to be invaded by the Jade Falcon Clan. As you'll see, this Dukedom on Rourke had a few surprises of its own. For a further explanation of the planet's history, see the Technical Readout for the Achilles, which appears later in this issue. By the calendar of the old Star League, the year was 3050. I'm still having trouble dealing with all that we have learned recently. My homeworld, Byston Well, had been isolated forjust overtwo hundred years. My father told me that originally the Well had been a secret weapons testing facility during the late 2700's, and that most of the civilization here had been eradicated by orbital bombardment. Since we lost our only hyperpulse generator during the war, ComStar must have assumed that we were all dead. We'd continued experimentation and development with what resources we had remaining. Just this year, we regained contact with the Inner Sphere as pirates began trying to raid my world for food and water, but the old BattleMechs that survived the bombardment were more than enough to repel them. The captured pirates filled us in on several gray areas in our history of the known universe ... the Exodus, the Succession Wars, and the rise of the various noble Houses. By far the strangest tale was that of alien invaders from beyond the Outworlds (which they kept referring to as 'The Periphery') that crushed everything in their path with bizarre and futuristic weapons (and had driven these pirates coreward in search of easier targets). We wondered about the pirates' sanity after hearing that story, but we were given a first hand opportunity to see these 'aliens' in action upon their invasion of Byston Well. The attack began early one August morning. A farmer who lived not 70 km from our holding, The Well, reported the appearance of a DropShip and half a dozen or so BattleMechs on his land. The call was cut off, so we assumed pirates were attacking again, and prepared for the worst. I called for the vassals immediately, and within the hour we had assembled all of our world's heaviest fighting machines. Jason the Younger piloted a swift Commando. My brothers each had powerful 'Mechs: Douglas a heavy Warhammer, and Scott a Phoenix Hawk LAM. From nearby Kenningshire, Lady Caroline brought a wing of aerofighters; Sir Charles brought a massive 80-ton Awesome. The aged engineering vehicles left by the Earthwerks engineers dug trenches from which our 'Mechs could emerge. My post was deep within the armored Well, a fortress that once served as a staging ground for testing new Earthwerks hardware. It was here that I ran our country. From this mighty fortress we would make our stand. I reached across the control board, flicking switches and activating the computers that control The Well's defenses. All was in readiness -- now the enemy needed to do their part. We had not long to wait. The Well's computers signalled the advance of three BattleMechs at speeds of nearly 100 kph. The targeting reticle clicked into place over my eye, giving me a readout of baffle conditions. I trained The Well's main guns on the enemy and crossed my fingers as the computers accounted for wind speed and target velocity. There was a series of thunderous reports, followed seconds later by explosions on the monitor. Although damaged by the barrage, the attackers continued at breakneck speed. I activated the control cell's comlink to advise my cohorts on the situation. Jason was the first to answer. "I'll go out an'kick their bloody bums, I will!" Before I could stop him, his Commando lurched out of its protective trench and onto my monitor. Just before he could release even a salvo of missiles, however, his 'Mech was peppered with laser and autocannon fire from the enemy. Such range I had not seen before! As Jason's Commando collapsed into wreckage, I again let fly with an artillery barrage. This time, one of the attackers exploded into a bright red fireball as the shells rained down upon him. His cohorts responded with a barrage that fell just short of The Well's armored walls. As the blasts edged nearer, I answered the comlink, to be greeted by the unfamiliar face of a tough soldier in a green uniform. "This planet now belongs to the Jade Falcons," he said, "and you will cease your attack or be destroyed." I proudly displayed my middle finger, then switched over to the emergency channel. "Men - and you too, Lady - we must crush this invasion or they will surely be back." My statement was greeted by a wild cheer and the roar of fusion-powered Aerospace fighters. I watched with satisfaction as incendiary and explosive munitions rained down on our attackers, engulfing them in a small firestorm. Only two attackers emerged, damaged and flaming with Dragon's Breath" gel. As they approached, I could feel The Well shudder as laser blasts and cannon fire assailed its hardened structure. I looked at the panel marked 'experimental combat system' and smiled. Although I was not sure what it would do, father used to speak highly of it. It was a last-ditch defense to be used under the threat of great danger, an experiment left from the earlier days which he had brought to successful operation... A raging battle cry from my soldiers brought me around. Charles and Douglas rose form their trenches, belching fiery blue death at the Jade Falcons as only an Awesome and a Warhammer could. The attackers fell back from the sudden burst of firepower, limbs shorn from their bodies and torsos smouldering. Scott's LAM took to the air to perform a series of aerial drop kicks (known as DFA or 'Death From Above') on the nearest enemy'Mech, ensuring that its pilot would not be available for later interrogation. What followed was a complete shock. As he touched ground, he was assailed by five small metal robots!. They began to beat at his Phoenix Hawk, shooting at his cockpit and wrenching steel with their hands. A salvo of anti-'Mech missiles came from the wood below, and he quickly disappeared into it, trailing smoke. Second later, he burst from the wood, making a mad dash for the safety of The Well. There was a loud screech as his battered craft came to rest on the rooftop elevator pad. I hung my neurohelmet on the console and rushed to him. As I waded past the technicians and medics, I gasped in disbelief at the damage he had sustained, but that was not all. A robot soldier remained clenched to the fuselage, its body severely battered by the Phoenix Hawk's attempts at removing it. A human torso leaned out of the robot's body, coated in blood and a strange black goo. First the large man in green, and now this... perhaps they were not so alien after all... Loudspeakers resounded with the voice of the Well's combat computer: "Invasion imminent - please return to your stations - invasion imminent - this is not a drill!" Before I could even see if my brother was alive, I had to return to the master control cell. As I slipped on my neurohelmet, I could see that the situation was grim. Douglas and Charles were engaged in a PPC contest with two new attackers. Just as I was about to support them with the Well's own PPCs, the screen lit up with the images of robot soldiers -- a score at least, just on the end of the defensive perimeter. As the local militia began shooting at them with support weapons, I punched all the arming buttons I could reach. The Well came alive, spewing laser and missile fire at the attackers, and making toothpicks out of the nearby trees. The two giant enemy 'Mechs approached, blazing green hellfire from bulky Marauder-style arms. Doug's Warhammer fell over in its trench. Charles lasted only long enough to disable the smaller of the two enemy 'Mechs (the one which I later learned is called a Loki). The other (which I now know as a Thor) shelled my weapons banks. I clutched my fists in frustration as the damage control lights for the Sniper cannons lit up. "This has gone far enough!" I thought, pressing the large red button on the experimental panel. The lights went out. I could feel the control cell rotating like the gun turrets of the old Terran Hegemony bombers, and it dropped like a stone into some sort of socket. The lights came back on, accompanied by the hum of a fusion reactor and the three-tone chime of my father's Hyper Operating System (HOS) software booting up. The control panel folded back to reveal a second set of controls and the monitors turned to running line displays -- I was in the cockpit of my father's experimental BattleMech! There was a jolt as the 'Mech moved on an elevator to the operations floor of the Well. The huge blast doors opened, revealing the light to day - and my opponents. I quickly grasped the controls. The words 'ACHILLES UNIT 01 ON LINE' appeared on the screen, and the huge 'Mech broke out of its pitifully weak maintenance gantry. The enemy struck me immediately with a blast of hot plasma from his PPC. Reacting instinctively, I returned fire with the three weapons marked 'GAUSS RIFLES'. There was a series of three reports, and I watched in amazement as fat slugs of metal struck my opponent in his chest, knocking him off his feet. I moved in to engage him with my lasers, but my 'Mech's huge bulk moved only at a slow pace. I pressed the button on the control console marked 'CLOSE SUPPORT'. The Achilles's chest opened up, revealing lasers and antiinfantry machine guns. A new button lit up, labeled 'ANTIMISSILE DEVICE'. I armed them all, and just in time, as my opponent rose. His PPC struck my left leg, and his cannon shot out a blast that I can describe only as something similar to a giant shotgun. He launched several missiles back at me, but a roaring antimissile system mounted in the Achilles's chest disintegrated half of them. My lasers blazed, scarring his arms and legs with glowing red cuts. Just as I was about to use the Gauss rifles again, his legs spewed hot gasses, lifting him high into the air. He set down right in my face and unleashed a combination punch that seriously dented my torso armor. I fired the lasers and autoguns point blank, hoping to disorient him long enough to use the cannons. As his arm swung again, I instinctively rose my arm to block and then countered with a punch of my own. As the Achilles's right arm swung up to greet his shoulder, I saw that it had no hand -- just one huge cannon barrel. The extra mass of the gun must have really hurt him something fierce, because the missile pod on his left shoulder snapped off like the handle of a porcelain teacup. I pressed the Gauss Rifle button again, and this time my opponent was finished -- or so I thought. One slug missed completely, but the other two hit home, tearing out his right arm and punching straight through his left torso. The Thor stepped back, shuddered like an epileptic, and spewed flames and shrapnel from the rear panels of its left torso armor, blowing off the attached arm in the process. He slowly backed out the blast doors toward the safety of his DropShip. I turned on the ComLink to congratulate him on his effort to invade Byston Well NOT*. *An old Terran expression which invalidates the remark just preceding it. Once again I was greeted by the man in the green uniform. "Greetings, Jade Falcon," said I. "Tell your superiors that Byston Well is too expensive to invade. Take your toy soldiers back to your ship and explain why you failed. Tell them that should they attack again, Achilles will be waiting." That night we celebrated well. Jason had escaped death, using a camo suit to hide from the battle-armored infantry (which were later identified as 'Elementals'). Both Douglas and Charles would be able to repair their 'Mechs with the salvage we captured from the invaders. My brother had indeed survived, though he admitted jokingly that next time he "would look before he leapt." I showed them the build plans and diagrams that our father had hidden in the console. His message explained that if the existence of the Achilles had been known, the neighboring countries of our world, even our own allies, would have invaded us to gain it. We had already begun discussion of a planetary government, unified in defense, so that objection no longer held. The highlight of the night came as a breathless Tech burst into the Great Hall waving more papers. "Commander!" he gasped. I found these maps in the repair booth attached to the Achilles' maintenance gantry! They detail the location of several other Achilleses!" "Achilles?" I asked, correcting the Tech's Latin. Lady Caroline gagged on a sip of wine. "This is going to be very interesting." Ednote: like several of the Clans' early targets, Lord Byston confused the highly-armored 'Elementals', the Clans' version of infantry, with mini robots. BattleTechnology staffers were privileged to examine these masterpieces of parallel development before O5P technicians declared the Byston Well system off limits. Back to BattleTechnology 18 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1992 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com