Tharkhad, March 3051
BattleTechnology: Thank you, Colonel, for this change to inform our many readers about your regiment, and for spending the time with us.
Khorsakov: You're very welcome. I'm glad to have the opportunity to enlighten you. Please ask your questions.
BT: Well, then. In spite of being Capetian by birth, you have served the Federated Suns cum-Commonwealth during most of your career. Would you please explain this?
Khorsakov: Of course. We were involved in the 3025 attempt by Liao to take the planet Atlas. This was our second-ever mission, and I suppose we were a bit cocky. Anyway, the attempt fell apart, and we were left, rather abandoned, on-planet. The Capetian Hussars still may have the DropShip, unless Colonel Ridzik took it back.
BT: You knew Colonel Ridzik?
Khorsakov: Certainly I knew him. My father commanded the third battalion of Stapleton's Iron Hand in those days.
BT: So you were abandoned on Atlas?
Khorsakov: Yes. We managed to talk our way into an honorable surrender, and the chief Davion representative. Durham-Davion I think, indentured us into service for two months. We ended up working for the Federated Suns for nearly ten years, and never had cause to regret ft.
BT: Could you tell us where your unit took off to, when you were stationed on Edwards in mid-26?
Khorsakov: The military planners used us in a readiness test of the Command Circuit, and we went on maneuvers on Moncure. We stayed there about six weeks as I remember.
BT: Sir, the Moncure authodties have no record of your unit ever being on Moncure. How do you explain that?
Khorsakov: We were dropped secretly on-planet, and told to avoid contact with the locals. Why, they didn't tell us. I obeyed their orders. Should I not have?
BT: No, sir. You did the right thing apparently. Could you tell me where you were stationed during the Fourth War?
Khorsakov: We were shifted to the Draconis border just before hostilities broke out, and saw action on various planets along the frontier.
BT: What about the New Aberdeen invasion attempt?
Khorsakov: That's interesting. I received orders from our liaison officer, Thomas Davion, to assault New Aberdeen. We were actually in-system, only two hours from drop, when we got the first information that the war was over. Since we had come in under comm silence, and the first message come from the local Draconian commander, we ignored ft. Finally the local Precentor convinced us that the war was over. By that time, we'd dropped the 'Mech regiment, a hot drop, and had launched the fighters.
The Precentor earned her pay that day, let me tell you. She finally convinced us to stand in place, and the Draco CO to let us pack up and leave peaceably. I thought Thomas might have a stroke right there.
BT: What about earlier, I mean the Tannil raid?
Khorsakov: That's fairly embarrassing, even now. Not that we failed the mission; oh no, we apparently did too well.
We got orders that the Second Arkab was massing to try to break up Galahad '27, and that we were to 'raffle their cage', as Thomas put ft. He had further orders, but didn't share them with us. I didn't concern myself too greatly about them. Anyway, we hit the Arkab. As you know, they're primarily a raid/recon unit. In spite of their greater mobility and numbers, we destroyed completely at least 30 'Mechs, crippled 25 more and nearly wiped out the armor battalion they had. All because of unclear orders.
Later Thomastold me that seriously damaging 20 or more 'Mechs would have been enough.
BT: ls this the action where you captured the Battlemaster that ended up given to the Prince?
Khorsakov: Yes. We took the 'Mech in the closing action of that battle and I claimed ft as salvage. We were sent to New Avalon for some reason. It being the Christmas season, which I did not observe at the time, the idea struck me that to give the Prince the'Mech would be very appropriate, since he had been very good to us during our service to him.
BT: The rest of your first tenure with the Suns was largely garrison work, was ft not?
Khorsakov: Yes. We finished service on 1 March 3039 and signed up with Marik, primarily as a Periphery guard. The FWL wanted to give the pirates out there a reason not to come into their territory. We were shifted around a lot. I think we stayed on eight different planets, five of them within the old Andurien borders. BTR: How did service with Marik compare to Davion?
Khorsakov: First, let me say this: I have no dislike of the FWL, or any officer or member of the Marik family. That said, service there was not nearly as pleasant as with Davion. I think we were seen as a Davion regiment, and I can't really blame them for that. Thomas saw us as simply another of his mercenaries, but his subordinate generals never trusted us. They even put one of their officers in charge over us. In return, though, we got a really sweet deal on equipment.
BT: What about the Death's Head Regiment? Wasn't there a problem with them?
Khorsakov: There was. They had been pulled off of us, way back at Atlas, by Count Durham-Davion. Apparently they deeply resented his action, and had wafted to get back at us. They tried a sneak raid, acting like pirates; we finally won the battle. The feud is resolved.
BT: You then worked for the Magistracy of Canopus.
Khorsakov: Training their forces to respond to the attack of a coordinated RCT assault. They're pretty good at it, too.
BT: What about their lifestyle?
Khorsakov: (After a silence.) It is their choice. If they choose, and they do, to live with the morals of so many alleycats, who am I or anyone else to judge them? I did not like having to raise my children in that cultural environment. Hopefully it won't mar their development.
BT: Who was your next employer?
Khorsakov: A Periphery commercial concern.
BT: Is that all?
Khorsakov: (tersely) Yes.
BT: Now your unit is with the Federated Commonwealth. For how long?
Khorsakov: The contract runs through five years. I plan to retire to Warlock at that time. My son Aleksandr will take command then.
BT: Colonel, your regiment carries some very unusual equipment, such as the DropShip Appledom, some of the armored vehicles and tanks, to name but a few. Would you care to enlighten our readers on this point?
Khorsakov: Well, as I've said before, the Appledom is a reconfigured Mammoth-class DropShip. Whoever did the work did a superlative job of retrofitting.
The other vehicles are fairly prosaic, such as the Type 14 APC. It's a simple personnel carder. The Storm Tank provides long- range artillery and direct fire support, from the same vehicle. We find the combination hard to beat. The Defender is simply another tank design.
(Ed. Note: These vehicles are not manufactured on any known world of the Inner Sphere.)
BT: What about your oddly configured infantry regiments?
Khorsakov: They came to us in their present form, and I have had no reason to change their organization. They've given outstanding service over the years.
BT: What about the Clan invasion?
Khorsakov: I can't say much about them, because I really don't have enough information to give you an intelligent opinion.
BT: Has any House ever asked you to become a House regiment?
Khorsakov: Yes. The Federated Commonwealth approached us three times between January '30 and November '37. St. Ives asked about it twice during the same time frame.
BT: What about the FWL?
Khorsakov: Never. They never accepted us, really. I personally think they were glad to see us leave their territory.
BT: Do you have stipulations barring service against the FWL?
Khorsakov: No. Generally we do that for a former employer who has treated us well, but they, well, it's hard to put this in words that won'd sound so harsh, they never treated us as much different from the pirates we were holding off of them.
BT: Have you ever considered working for Rasalhague?
Khorsakov: Not likely. Not meaning offense, I would never consider working there. The concept of restrictive compounds is grossly offensive, and some of our people have short reins on their tempers. I don't think we could manage with that kind of mistrust from an employer.
BT: Is there any possibility of ever working for House Liao?
Khorsakov: (visibly angry) Not while that witch Romanthe- Damned Liao is alive, or any over her sort. That's a fairly stupid question, you know. Her father ordered my whole family killed on a whim, and Romano has attempted to carry out the sentence. One day she'll drown in the blood she's spilled. I hope I'm there to watch.
BT: Er, yes, I see. Well, Colonel, this has been most informative and I'm sure our readers will be most interest in hearing about your unit. Thank you again for your time.
Khorsakov: My pleasure, and my regards to your editors.
It was only when this interview and the documents on the next pages reached our offices that we found out why the Chancellor of House Liao was so angry with us. (Our office on Sian has been shut down more often than it's been allowed to be open these last five years!lt wasn't just because of the controversial interview we published with her, it was because we had profiled the Cossacks. Gosh, and here we thought it was our native charm...
Colonel Nikolal Khorsakov
Back to BattleTechnology 19 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