The BattleTech Dynasty: Chapt 4, Explorer Corps - 3042-49
 

Hello and welcome back to my BattleTech Dynasty already in progress. This is the fourth chapter of the evolving world and campaign of Kilts and Commandos, a mercenary unit in the world of BattleTech, and of Braham Essex, the CO of said unit.


Chapter One: The Beginning - The Battletech Dynasty - Front Office Football Central
Chapter Two: 3039 - The BattleTech Dynasty: 3039 - Front Office Football Central
Chapter Three: Solaris VII Years - The BattleTech Dynasty: The Solaris VII Years - Front Office Football Central

February 8, 3042 - We are initially contacted by ComStar for an interesting of interesting contracts.

Feb 12, 3042 - Braham Essex leaves S7 for Outreach

Mar 2, 3042 - A negotiation begins between ComStar and Braham Essex for a most unusual contract.

In the introductions of several of these threads, I go over the unit, the people, the universe, the technology, the politics, etc. If this is your first rodeo, you can hit the first few posts of each thread, and then move from there.

Let’s explain.

ComStar has been impressed by several things. They like that we choose to remain silent and go to jail over the Westerstede Incident, and then also were willing to take things into our own hands when events threatened our people. They like that our mercenary unit appears to be quite reliable. They also have employed several of our companies over the last few years, and a few were employed as shills.

ComStar has set up a few dummy corporations in order to test mercenary units. They have done a full psych profile on me in order to ensure that I would treat the following information as quite sensitive, and I will totally respect it. Here we go:

In the war that followed the collapse of the Star League, Jerome Blake founded ComStar to keep the Hyperpulse Generators (HPG) communication network working and neutral in the conflict. He also gave it a secret purpose - to protect the Inner Sphere from outside influence - the return of Kerensky’s forces. During the collapse of the Star League, General Aleksandr Kerensky led most of the Star League troops out of the Inner Sphere promising one day to return, and it was in part due to this power vacuum that led to the Successor Wars by the Great Houses.

ComStar is starting to show its hand. In the mid 3030’s, they made the deal that saved the Draconis Combine, while also splintering off the Free Rasalhague Republic. They were the ones who saved Thomas Marik from the explosion by Duncan Marik and then healed him and returned him to take the Captain-Generalship of the Free Worlds League. During the recent Fourth Succession War, they communication interdicted the Federated Suns when they were winning too much. They have revealed they have ComGuards who now guard the HPG stations on various worlds openly.

Since they have revealed a lot, they are becoming willing to risk revealing a bit more in a few places, and we are about to be exposed to one of those: the Explorer Corps.

In 2959, then Primus Adrienne Sims received a vision about a demon horse, an emerald bird, a six legged bear and a metal snake that would destroy the Inner Sphere. The vision concluded with the faces of various previous leaders of ComStar pointing away from the Inner Sphere with disembodied hands.

She formed the Explorer Corps, an arm of ComStar charged with exploration into the Deep Periphery.

Since then, the Explorer Corps consists of 8 teams that move into the Deep Periphery, plus a few bases and communication officers. Also, unknown to us, there are secret teams also operating within the Inner Sphere trying to discover lost colonies and depots in the Inner Sphere itself. There are over 10,000 systems within the Inner Sphere that are uncharted.

These Corps teams go out in the beyond for long periods of time, and as such, most people in ComStar don’t like doing them for too long. As a result, mercenaries are occasionally contracted to join an Explorer Corps team. We have been so contacted.

We only are asked to send a company, because mechs are used more for planetary exploration than for combat, but we need to be prepared for when that combat does occur.

It is a long 5 year contract, but it will pay very nicely.

What I have to do is select a company to do this assignment. The only companies I have available right this moment are Aleph and Typhon. I do think that Typhon Company has the right experience level with a bunch of elites and a few vets. Nobody has the right mechs.

We could be operating without supplies for a couple of years, and space on the JumpShips will be tight. Having mechs without ammo consumption would be great. Also, since mechs will largely be used for exploration, mechs with extra sensors like a Beagle Active Probe, or mechs with a lot of speed would be helpful too. Therefore, mechs like the Spider, Javelin 10F variant, Jenner 7F variant, Wolfhound, Awesome, Ostsol, and more would be available.

I take a look through my garrison and I find the following good mechs:

Awesome
Charger 1A1 - normally sucks, but here, not bad as an exploration mech.
2750 Lancelot
low-tech Mongoose
Low-tech Hermes


I pull the Awesome, Charger, low-tech Mongoose and Hermes for this mission.

I then switch some mechs around between Typhon and Aleph Company. Here are my early results for the mechs for Typhon Company:

Awesome
Charger
Mongoose
Hermes
Phoenix Hawk 1K
Ostscout
Spider
low-tech Mercury
Grasshopper * (I know it technically has an LRM5, but that’s not a disadvantage)

With a need for three more mechs, so I get on the horn to see what I can purchase.


Marauder 3D
Warhammer 6D


I tried a few mechs like a Vulcan 5T, Hunchback 4P, and Blackjack 1DB but none were available. I tried for a low-tech Crab, nope. Hmm, what else? I finally roll an Ostsol.

Now, who will lead Typhon Company. I can come up with three possibilities:

1). Me, Braham Essex. This would piss off my wife, and I can‘t bring her as a support personnel because she needs to run her family’s company. I would also have to leave behind a fun and lucrative career on Solaris VII.
2). Ted. He’s a great mechwarrior and would love a new challenge. He leaves behind the academy and base, and he’s also getting up there in age.
3). Lt. Amber Revleron, the current CO of Typhon company could keep her position and take them to the Explorer Corps.


Can either Ted or I afford to be away from this unit for five years? It’s not an easy decision.

Braham likes battle, but he also likes new challenges. This is possibly the only time, ever, he will be able to do something like this.

Let’s do 13 mechs and have Lt Revleron still be a part of the mission.

We slide Braham’s Jenner 7F he had on Solaris into the company as well. They other three mechs join our garrison.

Typhon’s Jenner and Javelin are traded to Aleph for their Mercury and Spider.


Typhon Company:

Colonel Braham Essex, elite+, Awesome

Lt. Amber Revleron, elite, Warhammer 6D
Manuel Juarez, vet, Jenner 7F
Sgt. Scott Parnell, elite, P Hawk 1K
Clare Sawicky, elite, Ostscout
Sgt Mei Zhen, elite, Marauder 3D
Adam Nyambui, elite, Mongoose
Marissa Sharpe, elite, Mercury
Brady O’Malley, vet, Charger 1A1
Roderick Hampton, elite, Hermes
Abdullah Malawi, elite, Ostsol
Bao Yu, elite, Grasshopper 5N
Isabella Sanchez, elite, Spider


We are able to modify the Grasshopper to a 5N variant with a PPC and no LRM5 on the way there.

There are no lances.

I occasionally have mentioned that systems on the top of the map are in the north, but that is not right. There actually is no north, south, east or west in space. Similarly, up, down, left and right simply speak to a page’s orientation, but there is no orientation. Certainly, we had to have a standard, so the Free Rasalhague Republic is on top while the Capellan Confederation on the bottom, but we could flip it, or rotate it 90 degrees.

Therefore, we had to come up with terms that would properly delineate between directions. Here are the directions:

Coreward - Towards the Free Rasalhague Republic
Rimward - Towards the Capellan Confederation
Spinward - Towards the Federated Suns and Outworlds Alliance
Anti-Spinward - Towards the Lyran Commonwealth and Marian Hegemony

Each direction is split into two Operating Theatres, by the Explorer Corps, and each one has one Explorer Corps Team assigned to it. Which one are we going to?

Coreward Operations Area
Spinward Exploration Theatre

Draw a giant X on the Inner Sphehre map at precise 45 degree angles. Then draw a cross at precisely 90s. We are in one of these pieces of the pie.

Okay, we are outbound to a system in Richmond in the coreward area of the Draconis Combine, and from thence to a ComStar Outpost in the Deep Periphery called Columbus.


Contract:

Length: 5 years
Salary: x3.7, x1.3, x2
Support: Battle Loss 50% and Straight Support 100%.
Salvage: Shared
Command: Integrated
Remuneration: No
Transport: Full
Bonus 20%



We only have to take about half as many techs as we normally would, and we do not need to bring administrative or medical personnel.

We will arrive at Columbus on Nov 28, 3042, after they use a few command circuits and LF batteries to speed us up a bit. Lithium-Fusion Batteries take a charge while the ship is taking a charge, and allow the ship to double jump. They are very very rare in the Inner Sphere, but ComStar has a lot of ships with them unknown to many.

Nov 28, 3042 - We arrive in Columbus. Part of our time was learning about many of the planets, cultures, and people we might encounter in the Deep Periphery. We are looking for the following:

1). Any sign of Kerensky’s Exodus from several hundred years ago
2). Any lost colonies from recent times to Star League era, to before that.
3). Any lost bases or supply caches that might give us some lost information and technology
4). Any information as to the whereabouts of the Minnesota Tribe
5). Any habitable planets to be catalogued in the ComStar database for future purposes
6). Any significant mineral or biological resources that can be logged for later purposes

Additionally, we can expect to encounter:

Pirates - They often hide in the Deep Periphery and then strike Periphery or Inner Sphere holdings.

Colonists - There have been waves of people colonizing planets since the 2200’s and they still come, hoping to flee the decadence and war of the Inner Sphere for peace and freedom.

Traders - There are merchants who ply their goods to colonies in the Deep Periphery.

Prospectors - Although there have always been Prospectors in the Deep Periphery looking for lost Star League era caches, after the discovery of the lost Helm Memory Core, a lot of people got LosTech Fever and are not scouting and exploring for any sings of LosTech.

Surveyors - There are corporations that will send explorer teams out to the Deep Periphery to find planets that have mineral riches, and then they will, quietly, set up mining operations and bring them back to the Inner Sphere without having to pay taxes, tariffs, or tell the governments where they are.

Nomads - There are a few folk that like to travel, to see new systems and who consider their JumpShip their home, and not anything else.

We many also be given various missions while on our tour of duty.

This will end on Nov 28, 3047

Dec 2, 3042 - We have been given a few days rest here on Columbus. Columbus is not on any Inner Sphere map. It is an old Star League base and research station that ComStar Explorer Corps discovered long ago, and renovated and made their base of operations for the area. We will be staging out of Columbus. They only discovered Columbus in 3023, and have been slowly increasing it adding things here and there. There is a large shipyard mothballed from the Star League era built on Columbus’s moon, which has not been made ready for us, but long term plans suggest that it will. There is still a Drydock for repair on the world.


We will be launching in a few days on a Merchant-class JumpShip run by ComStar. The King Arthur comes with two rings for docking DropShips. The first will be a Union which will house our mercenary unit, as well as various supplies for us like food and such. There is also space on this for two AeroSpace Fighters, and they and their personnel are with us on the Union. The second is a Triumph class DropShip that carries several infantry platoons, several AeroSpace Fighters, and a variety of scanning and exploring equipment.

The King Arthur has a crew of 18, and space for 4 more support personnel, plus two AeroSpace Fighters and their folks. The Medbay for our troop will be run out of the KA. The Triumph is named the Santos-Dumont and our Union is the Fury of the Righteous.

After some investigation, here is what we uncover as the military might of our expedition:


10 total AeroSpace fighters and pilots.
6 infantry platoons in battle armor
13 BattleMechs we brought

Braham Essex is put in charge of the military arm of the operation, and the fighters, platoons and ‘Mechs all answer to him.

There are civilian vehicles we are taking with us, including research satellites and explorer vehicles.

The King Arthur does has LF batteries.

There are not the stores to take extra pieces of mechs, like extra arms, and so forth. We also don’t have any mech ammo. The only supplies we brought for our mechs was a few precious tons of armor for our mechs to replace lost armor. Also, note that we cannot usually bring salvage with us, but salvage teams launched from Columbus can pick up war materiel and hold it for us and ComStar.

Braham is gonna be banging Amber for the next five years.

Braham may be divorced by the time he comes back, and yeah, there are females in that company man!

Tell

Heheh

Dec 8, 3042 - In order to get our feet wet, we are about to jump from the Columbus system to an uncharted system in order to see what we can find. The King Arthur is charged and ready to jump.

Dec 9, 3042 - ComStar has a naming systems for new areas we jump into. Their name for this system is CS235. That’s boring, so for internal purposes, I will be naming the systems for our own charts.

Welcome to the Essex System. Let’s look at Essex:

This is a Class B system, with a blue-white star, and the star is a Sub-Giant, Class IV. It is 91 days from the Jump Point to the planets. There are no planets here anyways.


We use our LF batteries to jump out to the next system.

Dec 10, 3042 - We have arrived at the CS276 system, 41 light years away from Columbus. We call it the Adam System. This is a Class G Yellow Star system with a Bright Supergiant Class I. There are 7 planets in the system. It’s 9 days from the Jump point.

Let’s look at the planets. Any habitable?

Just one planet is in the life zone, which means it is capable of supporting water. The only one capable of supporting life is Adam Six.

Dec 18, 3042 - We honor the Fall of Andurien.

Dec 19, 3042 - Our DropShips arrive in orbit around Adam Six and launch some research satellites. Here are the results:


Adam Six:

Surface is 50% Water
Atmosphere Pressure is Standard
Atmosphere Composition is Tainted
Temperature is Medium
Highest Life Form is Amphibians





We got really lucky with our dice rolls. This is a very habitable planet. More scans reveal the climate of the planet:

Adam Six:

Jungle Planet:

Zone 1 - Boreal - 10 degrees
Zone 2 - Cool Temperate - 15 degrees
Zone 3 - Warm Temperate - 20 degrees
Zone 4 - Arid, 25 degrees
Zone 5 - Tropical, 30 degrees
Zone 6 (equator) - Tropical, Base Temperature 35 degrees


At the poles, this planet resembles south Canada and warms up from there. There are bands of the planet that are quite habitable.

We are looking for more information on the atmosphere’s tainted status.

After some study, we determine that the atmosphere is simply not Earth-normal composition, but the altered states can easily be overcome with respirators and masks.


We roll to see if the planet has any special features:

Our Satellite begins to show some signs of old construction on one of the continents in Zone 2. Our DropShips are ordered to land.

December 20, 3042 - We arrive at the old construction in the area on Zone three. Several of our mechs disembark and begin to scout around - Ostscout, Spider, Mercury and Mongoose. Also, several infantry platoons in their sealed Battle Armor begin to secure the site, while environmental suited scientists, archeologists and more disembark from the Santos-Dumont.

No one is allowed to feel the air, because of possible pathogens. Several AeroSpace Fighters are flying overhead, trying to get a good eye view of the area.

After several hours, we find nothing outside of our site. However, the site is rather large. There are many buildings that look centuries old. It looks like there has been no one here for almost that long as well. There are no bodies of any sort.

December 22, 3042 - After more exploring, a tech team uncovered a base with several storage chits that are still encoded. They reveal that a colony from the Star League arrived here, but their Ship malfunctioned and crashed, and there were not enough survivors to populate a new colony, so after a few generations, the colony just died out.

The techs tell us that there are no LosTech caches or anything here of substance. Our Satellites and explorations on other areas show no items or technology of any sort that would be of use.

Dec 31, 3042 - We are back at the King Arthur and ready to jump to a new system. We launch and arrive a few minutes later.


As we arrive, warning klaxons go off for proximity alerts. We are near another JumpShip! After a quick scan, it shows that this system has a dead, powerless JumpShip. It looks ancient, perhaps older than the Star League itself. ComStar sends out techs on the Santos-Dumont to investigate while we stay here.

Seth System is our name for it. What about the system?

Class G Yellow Star, Class V Main Sequence - this is a good chance for habitation. For example, this is the system of Terra and Mars and Saturn. Planets? Just one, actually - highly unusual for a system like this. (It was 2d6 minus two and I rolled a three).

Habitable? Yup.

Let’s take a closer look at Seth One.

Jan 6, 3043 - We arrive at Seth One and the satellite are deployed.


Seth One:

70% Surface Water
Standard Atmosphere Pressure
Breathable Atmospheric Composition
High Temperature
Mammals are highest life form


Climate:


Zone 1 - Arctic - -5
Zone 2 - Arctic - 0
Zone 3 - Arctic - 5
Zone 4 - Boreal - 10
Zone 5 - Cool Temperate - 15
Zone 6 - Warm Temperate - 20 degrees


This is a very habitable planet too. Any special features?

The planet has a moon. We just noticed it. It is also habitable. We’ll check it out in a bit.

Jan 7, 3043 - After some more scans, it appears that Seth One does not show signs of habitation. Neither does it show a lot of mineral deposits or anything either. Alright, now let’s look at this moon instead.


Seth One A:

90% water surface
Standard atmosphere pressure
Breathable
High temperature
Birds highest life form

Climate:

Identical to Seth One

Is there anything here? Perhaps the moon was settled instead of the planet?

Very quickly our satellite determines there is both signs of habitation and life on the planet. This appears to be a fully operating colony (I get a +5 to my rolls because of the star and rolled an 8, which became a 13, which is Lost Colony (inhabited))

Because there are signs of life, we begin to look for a place to land and initiate communication.


The Santos-Dumont lands in Zone 5, and creates a major disturbance in the populace in doing so. Out walk several ComStar diplomats to inquire as to their colony.

January 8, 3043 - They call this system Haven. This colony was formed back in the 2300s when a large group of African doctors, farmers, scientists, mechanics, engineers, and laborers, disappointed by the lack of action by their African governments to colonize, decided to take matters into their own hands. They pooled together their resources and purchased a JumpShip, DropShip, and numerous supplies.

After over a year of traveling from system to system, the people finally found a system with a single planet. Their DropShip arrives at the planet, but after some exploration, one of their doctors, who was an expert pathologist, discovered a pair of nasty diseases on the planet, but the satellite was devoid of them, so they choose to land their DropShip, unpack, and it headed back out, making more and more trips to the JumpShip until all of their cargo and people were on the moon, living in the Archipelago landscape.

Many centuries passed, and the people here prospered. They set up a democratic council, with each island electing someone to the council. They never brought materials of war with them, so they don’t have mechs, tanks, or anything other than a few legacy guns that still work. They have several cites and towns. Their planet’s ecosystem goes up to birds, but much like New Zealand, the birds have evolved to fit a variety of niches, so many of them are quite large, and there are some people here who are herdsman for the large birds. There is also a quite large and diverse ecosystem in the oceans, and they get a lot of food from the fish and other planets and animals that live here. We see some fish selling in the marketplace, and they have four sets of finds instead of two, and are less flat and more round. Weird.

Several island chains are created by tectonic chains pushing together, and the resultant small but high mountain chains have a diverse amount of mineral resources, which are mined. Over the centuries, the population has grown, and the planet has industry, agriculture, urban life, lawyers, shops, police, and more.

In fact, they say there has never been a war since they settled this land long ago.

They have a level of technology equal to early Star League era, around 2400-2500. In fact, this planet would not look out of place in the Inner Sphere 30 or 40 years ago.


This is the first contact with others they have ever had. ComStar sets up official relations with Haven. They warn Haven about evil Houses in Inner Sphere that war among themselves constantly vying for power.

ComStar mentions that they can restore their JumpShip and DropShip to power. The citizens here reveal that they stripped their DropShip for parts and metal long ago, and they have no use for the JumpShip.


We are informed that this is a super rare discovery, and only a few fully fledged colonies have actually been found in the Deep Periphery like Haven.


January 13, 3043 - After several days as guests of Haven, we launch back up and move to the King Arthur.

January 20, 3043 - When they realized that the derelict JumpShip was the property of the Haven populace, ComStar stopped trying to get it working, but they had already started some work. I suspect they will come back later and begin negotiations to secure the old JumpShip.

Time for another jump.

January 21, 3043 - Meet the Cain System. Star? Class K orange, Class III Ordinary Giant. 6 planets. 1 in the life ring.


January 31, 3043 - Ten days later, we arrive at the planet in the life ring, Cain Five. Satellites are deployed:



Cain Five:

40% Surface Water
Standard Pressure
Tainted Atmosphere
Medium Temperature
Amphibians Highest Lifeform

Climate:


Z1 Arctic
Z2 - Boreal
Z3 - Cool Temperate
Z4 - Warm Temperate
Zone 5 - Arid
Zone 6 Jungle - 30 degrees


Looks very much like earth climate wise.


No Special Features. No major issues other than the need for filters or masks.

February 13, 3043 - We have arrived in the Abel System.


Class G, Yellow
Class Ia Bright Supergiant

9 planets in system. 1 planet habitable.


February 24, 3043 - We arrive around Abel Four

Abel Four:

20% water
Low Atmosphere Pressure
Tainted Atmosphere Composition
Medium Temperature
Fish highest life form

Climate:

Z1 - Z3 Arctic
Z4 Boreal
Z5 Cool Temperate
Z6 - Warm Temperate


Okay, anything special?

Nope.

March 12, 3043 - We arrive at the Noah System.

Class F Yellow White
Class V Main Sequence

5 planets
2 planets in life range


17 days to planets

March 29, we arrive at Noah Four.


Noah Four:

60% Water
Standard Pressure
Breathable
High Temperatre
Amphibians Life

Climate:

Earthlike (Z6 Jungle, 5 Arid through Z1 arctic)


We find evidence of life on this planet. Like we did for Adam we land our DropShips and begin a closer investigation.

March 30, 3043 - We found only a few buildings. This colony seems to have never gotten started. Their DropShip appears to still be in working order, this was recent colony. All of the data has been wiped. ComStar marks the location to send a retrieval team to collect the DropShip. There is nothing else here.

April 3, 3043 - We arrive at Noah Five:

40% Water
Low atmosphere pressure
Breathable
Medium temp
Amphibians


Climate:

Z1-4 Arctic
Z5 - Boreal
Z6 - Cool Temperate


Special?

Nope

April 22, 3043 - Next system, the Abram System.

Abram:

Class M Red
Class V Main Sequence
No planets (I literally rolled a 2 with a 2d6 - 2)


April 24, 3043 - We use our batteries to jump again to Isaac System.

Isaac:

Class A, White
Class V Main Sequence
No Planets

Interesting concept for this stage of the unit's life.

I suppose we will find out

May 8, 3043 - It took us forever to charge from this small white star. Now we jump Jacob System. We are about 121 light years away from Columbus.

Jacob:

Class A, White
Class III, Ordinary Giant
4 planets, 2 habitable


May 23, 3043 - We finally arrive at Jacob Three.

Jacob Three:

20% Water
Standard pressure
Tainted composition
Low temperature
Amphibians

Z1-6 Artic, but Z6 is 5 degrees average. And somehow amphibians live in that?

Anything special?

Nope

May 27, 3043 -

Jacob Four:

30% Water
Trace Atmospheric Pressure
Toxic composition
Low Temperature
Microbes highest life

Wow. Not much here.

Anything special? Severe Weather and Storms common. With our trace pressure.

June 12, 3043 - Joseph System has arrived:

Joseph System:

Class F Yellow-White
Class II Bright Giant
5 planets
2 planets in life ring - Joseph Three and Four.


June 22, 3043 - We arrive at Joseph Three, send out the satellites, and hope.


Joseph Three:

40% water
Standard pressure
Tainted composition
Medium temp
Fish highest life form

Climate:

Earthlike

Special?

Severe Weather and Storms.

Well, it looked okay until then.

June 25, 3043 -

Joseph Four:

0% Surface Water
Standard pressure
Toxic composition
Low temperature
Microbes

Climate Earth Cool (Just like Earth only no Jungle, and two arctic)


Special - Severe weather and storms on this waterless planet. Weird.

July 9, 3043 - Levi System, 138, light years from Columbus.


Levi:

Class F
Class V
4 planets
2 habitable

Levi Two and Three


July 26, Levi Two:

40% Water
Standard pressure
Tainted atmos
High temp
Fish


Climate

Zone 1 - Cool Temperate
Zone 2 - Warm Temperate
Zone 3 - Arid
Zone 4-6 - Jungle


Specials?

Nope. Not a bad planet.

July 30, Levi Three:


60% water
Standard pressure
Breathable atmos
High temp
Reptiles

Climate: Earthlike


A very nice planet - almost perfect in fact. Breathable, nice pressure, nice animals, nice amount of water, a nice climate, but otherwise really good. Any specials?

Our satellite discovers a strange blip on our screen, and we go down to investigate.

July 31, 3043 - We arrive at the area, Zone 1, that has the blip we saw. We arrive, and find nothing on the ground. I order all of our mechs out and moving around, giving our MechWarriors a chance to get out into the open.

After several hours, one of their infantry platoons finds an ancient service shaft to something in a hill. After more hours of searching, ComStar scientists discover an ancient door, long since rusted and grown into the hill.

Opening it up with force by our battlemechs reveals an old, dilapidated Star League era storage room, although it looks to have been cleared out.

Aug 1, 3043 - After more searching of the area, we find several of these hills. Some are storage, and several are barracks.

Aug 2, 3043 - We finally find the command center. It shows us, on a map engrave into the wall, the location of all of the hills. The computers and electronics here are long dead.

Aug 5, 3043 - We have finally finished exploring the site. Evidence suggests that this is an old Star League Brian Cache, which means a storage depot, with a garrison force of infantry. However, it has been cleaned out. The white coats say it was cleaned out much more recently than the Star League era, and many markings suggest that there were old Star League era BattleMechs, tanks and fighters in here.

Aug 10, 3043 - After a long survey, Levi Three is declared clean, and we are able to stretch on a planet, and several local plants have been okayed to eat. We are able to take a few days R&R here before getting back into the tin cans.

Aug 31, 3043 - We had a nice time here in the Levi System, but it’s time to jump.

Judah System:

Class A, White
Class VI, Subdwarf
1 planet, 1 habitable

September 20, 3043:

Judah One:

20% water
Normal pressure
Toxic composition
Low temp
Microbes


Climates:

Zone 1-5 - Arctic
Zone 6 - Boreal


Brrr.

Severe Seismic Activity

That was totally not worth the trip.

October 14, 3043 - Time for another jump.

Asher System

Class A, White
Class III, Ordinary Giant
No Planets

October 15, 3043 - Next system

Gad System, 172 LY from Columbus

Class G Yellow
Class I, Bright Supergiant
3 planets, 2 planets in life zone


Oct 24

Gad One:

40% Water
Standard pressure
Tained comp
High temp
Amphibians

Climate:

Earthlike


Special?

There are some structures down here.


Oct 25, 3043 - We land on Gad One. Once again, out come mechs and infantry and fighters and scientists.

October 27, 3043 - These are ruins of something, but they are so old and badly battered by seasonal winds, we can’t tell if it was a colony or an outpost or a supply cache, or who put it here or anything.

October 30, 3043 -

Gad Two:

5% Water
Low atmos pressure
Toxic composition
Low temp
Amphibians here

Climate:

Z1-4 - Arctic
Z5 - Boreal
Zone 6 - Cool Temperature


Anything special?

Yeah, we see more of those ruins. We land, perhaps we can find something here.


Nov 1, 3043 - While exploring in our mechs, Clare Sawicky in the Ostscout calls out for help. Over the call we can hear her firing off her medium laser. Something is happening!

Within minutes we converge on her position. She is by one of the few sources of water here, and she is being attacked by five of these giant amphibians. The corpse of a sixth lies on the ground. Within seconds, the collective energy of our weapons tears into the amphibians, and all but one die, while the remaining one shrieks out in paid from a few blasts, and runs back into the water and slinks away.

These amphibian monsters look to be about 10 tons or so. Huge things with claws and teeth. Who knows if they could harm a mech or not, but they could probably severely injure or kill infantry and scientists.

We were largely unsuccessful finding out anything about the ruins here either, but now we are just blasting off in order to avoid the monsters.

Nov 11, 3043 - Simeon System.


Class A, White
Class II Supergiant
No planets

However, there is a group of six JumpShips in the system. Each looks hugely old, but in good working condition. Within a few minutes, we are hailed by The Wanderers.


The Wanderers -

In the early 2300’s a group of JumpShips and DropShips left Terra in order to find a perfect place that they could find home. However, after over twenty years of searching, they were unable to find it. As they had children during this time, that were raised on ship, the new generation preferred the ships as their home, to any planet. They thought of ship life as natural.

Knowing that they would have to replenish their supplies, they begin to wander and travel, trading goods from one colony to another, one planet to another. They will land on Periphery worlds, outer Inner Sphere worlds, and Deep Periphery worlds alike, in order to trade and acquire the things they need to keep their traveling lifestyle up.

The Wanderers serve as a vital link between colonies, planets, and more. They have encountered the Explorer Corps many times before.

Nov 14, 3043 - We are meeting up with The Wanderers. We still have some food stored from Levi Three, plus fresh fruit and vegetables from Hydroponics. After a short formal greeting, the ComStar Explorer Corps and The Wanderer break bread together in a large feast on a Wanderers DropShip that has a large dining hall built into it. Their ships are old, but well run.

The ComStar delegation makes some trades with The Wanderers for extra supplies.


November 16, 3043 - After a few days with The Wanderers, we move on.

Napthali System

Class M Red
Class I, Bright Supergiant
1 planet, 0 habitable


We have to spend some time recharging.

Nov 21, 3043 - We jump again

Jesse System

Class A White
Class III Ordinary Giant
1 planet, 1 habitable

December 10, 3043:

Jesse One

5% Water
Standard pressure
Toxic atmos
Medium Temp
Fish

Climate - Cool earthlike

Nothing special



Dec 18, 3043 - We honor the Fall of Andurien

Dec 31, 3043 -

David System


Class B Blue-White
Class IV, Subgiant
No planets


Jan 1, 3044 -

Solomon System

Class M Red
Class I Bright Supergiant
4 planets, 0 habitable

Jan 15, 3044 -

Absolom System

Class B Blue-White
Class V Main Sequence
2 planets, 1 Habitable


Feb 23, 3044 -

Absolom One

10% water
Standard pressure
Toxic composition
Low temp
Microbes

Climate

Z1-4 Arctic
Z5 - Boreal
Z6 - Cool Temperate


Special: Nothing.

April 2, 3044 -

Jeroboam System

Class A White
Class I Bright Supergiant
0 planets


April 3, 3044 -

Rehoboam System

Class F Yellow White
Class V Main sequence
2 planets, both habitable

April 14, 3044:

Rehoboam One

40% water
Low pressure
Tainted
Medium temp
Fish

Climate -Cool Earthlike

Z1-2 Arctic
Z3 - Boreal
Z4 - Cool Temperate
Z5 - Warm Temperate
Z6 - Arid


Special? Our satellite discovers a large building in the Zone 1 Arctic area.


After landing, it is just one, giant building, of significant age. It bears the Star League star emblazoned on each side.

After opening it with our mechs, the inside is a vast store of plants and samples. It appears that centuries ago, Star League scientists put a cache of many plants and seed that were available into storage here, in the cold zone of this planet. They appear to still be good, and the scientists agree to leave it here, but mark it on their ComStar maps in case they want to come back later an investigate.

April 19:

Rehoboam Two

40% Water
Normal pressure
Breathable
High temp
Amphibians

Climate:

Zone 3-6 - Jungle
Zone 2 - Arid
Zone 1 - Warm Temperate


Special?

There are some signs of life down here, so we again land and explore.

April 20, 3044 - It appears that we have another dead colony. The building all have Star League symbols on them. Perhaps the plants on Rehoboam One have something to with the people here on Two. This place looked to have been inhabited for a while, and there is still a lot of Star League era electronics and equipment still around. This colony could not have been abandoned for more than 100 years and many of the things here are salvageable. ComStar marks it for future excursions.

May 5, 3044 -

Asa System

Class G Yellow
Class VI Subdwarf
3 planets, 1 habitable

There is some radio noise in this system.




May 11, 3044:

Asa Two

50% Water
Standard pressure
Breathable
High temp
Reptiles

Climate: Cool Earthlike


There are small signs of life on the planet, so we land our ships.

May 12, 3044 - There is a large open plain we land our DropShips. It looks like a farm is here. ComStar orders us to use a disguise as LosTech Prospectors.

May 13, 3044 - We talk to some farmers and arrive at a town near some severe mountains. There looks to be a heavy mining operation here.

We are introduced to some folks who claim they are in charge here. We tell them we are Prospectors, and with a few ComStar vintage Star League items on our persons, they buy it. This is apparently a mining colony established in the past twenty years by a Draconis Combine mining firm. We are about ten jumps from the Drac border, but they imply this planet is a real gold mine, literally. Precious metals, gems, and most importantly, a large amount of Germanium, a highly valuable commodity due to its use in the construction of Jump and Drop ships.

Because of the mining operation’s distance from the Inner Sphere, it has to be fairly self sufficient, so they appear to have a large supply of Industrial Mechs for agriculture, mining, and construction, plus we saw a few regular BattleMechs. You need defense against pirates, especially for a world as wealthy as this apparently is. Oh, and they do not have a name for it, so Asa Two will stick in our personal databank.

May 21, 3044 -

Jehoshaphat System

Class M Red
Class Subgiant
4 planets, none habitable


May 24, 3044 -

Hezekiah System

Class B Blue-White
Class V Main Sequence
3 planets, 3 habitable

This is going to take a while

July 1, 3044

Hezekiah Two -

40% water
Standard pressure
Toxic
Medium Temp
Fish

No Special Features

Climate: Earthlike


July 6, 3044

Hezekiah Three -

0% Water
Trace atmospheric pressure
Toxic
Low Temp
No Life

Planet hit by major Asteroid caused severe damage.

Climate: Z1-6 Arctic

BRRR…

August 11, 3044 -

Manasseh System

Class M Red
Class V MS
10 planets
2 habitable


August 16, 3044

Manasseh Eight

40% water
Standard atmos
Tainted
Medium
Plants


Climate: Warm Earthlike

No Special features

Aug 19, 3044

Manasseh Nine

50% water
Standard pressure
Breathable
Medium
Fish

Climate: Cool Earthlike

Not a bad planet at all. Perfect right down the row, enough surface water, pressure, atmosphere, temperature and climate, and even fish to eat. Any specials?

I rolled a 10 and added 2 for it being Class M, and I get a 12, which tells me to roll twice. I get a 7 + 2 =9 for unidentified ruins and 8 +2 for a 10 that means Abandoned Colony.


Aug 22, 3044 - With two locations that entice us here, we have a lot of exploring to do.

Aug 29, 3044 - It has been determined we can take off the masks, get out of our mechs, etc.

Sept 2, 3044 - It looks like this was a religious colony of Muslims that left the Inner Sphere in the first Succession War for a better life and they found a really nice planet here. However, there are a lot of signs of gunfire, scorching and more, which represents that the fighting from the Inner Sphere came with them, or else pirates landed and took them out and away. They look to have been here about 75 years before they died. There are still items here and there, most of which have long lost any value or function.

Also on the world there are some unidentifiable ruins from even longer. Perhaps finding them led the colonists here. After some investigation, we believe those ruins might be a downed spacecraft, the beginning of a small colony, or a large crashed satellite. We simply can’t tell.


Sept 12, 3044 - We finish our explorations of Manasseh Nine, get back to the King Arthur, and are ready to leave.

Sept 13, 3044 - We had a drive failure and misjump. We are not at our intended place. We are in deep space. Luckily, we have a charged LF battery and have the energy to jump again once the circuits are fixed and new calibrations are entered.

Sept 21, 3044 - Jumping finally commences:

Josiah System

Class A White
Class II Supergiant
No planets



Sept 30, 3044 - We have charged.


Daniel System

Class K Orange
Class V Main Sequence
7 planets, 1 habitable