Jump 141: Battletech

Jump 141: Battletech

Era: 2824 (Free Choice)
Location: A Pirate World
Age: 26
Identity: Drop-In
Drawbacks: [+300] The Bounty Hunter

[50/1300]   Air Of Nobility
[450/1300]  Xin Sheng
[650/1300]  Cyberpunk
[1250/1300] Ragnarok Proofing
[1300/1300] Battle Armor

In the Inner Sphere, one comes to expect a certain level of existence. Oh, things in the 29th century were nowhere as horrible as they might have become in the 31st if they hadn't changed, but it's quite simple - the king of the battlefield is the Battlemech, the Second Succession War was well on track to obliterating technologically advanced society, and a very large distance away from the Inner Sphere someone by the name of Kerensky was having delusions of adequacy based on being able to give a decent speech immediately before making horrible decisions.

Just like his father.

Records indicate that something started going very wrong within the Inner Sphere as the Second Succession War seemed to be kicking off. For a short period, communications with Sol received no answers and no outbound communication was to be had. After that, however, came Black Friday - that is, Friday, April 21, 2828. The day that the Blackout began. Four out of five hyperpulse generators used for communications proceeded to burn themselves out after receiving some sort of unknown transmission, later determined to be a computer virus of some sort. The end result, however: a brief spasm of sudden violence as the Second Succession War went from simmering potential conflict to quick land-grab, before settling back down because no one could communicate without physically sending messages to and from other worlds.

At least, until the President began arriving on the affected worlds. The leader of the Confederation - such a bizarre thing to consider, a democracy, in this day and age. And rather than bringing brigades of mechs, he instead arrived on a ship unlike any that had been seen before. Dagger-shaped and silver, the few stories of him being engaged in stellar combat showed he was using the same weapons that any other ship might use, but in far greater number and with his ship being able to vastly outmaneuver anything else that fired on him. And though a mile long, the ship could hover in atmosphere or even land when he saw fit.

He didn't ask for tribute. No men, no gold, no mechs. Instead, he asked for signatures from those who wanted a better life, and freely gave, investing in worlds. Clearly, he had the means and didn't need to further enrich himself - not when he gave out things known and unknown to modern science. Even a method of travel between worlds! Gates that could be traversed by foot, by vehicles, installed without cost! Those worlds willing to sign on could suddenly communicate once more, even if no Battlemech could ever fit through them to start conflict.

Naturally, there were those who sought to take advantage. Some of the Great Houses signed the paperwork, fully aiming to take advantage of what was provided. Others refused outright. Of course, of them, no one heard anything. After all, it would take quite the journey to carry messages along, and considering trade for necessary goods was suddenly booming in those worlds that could communicate, they were considered almost crazy. And still others attempted to hunt down the man who called himself President of the Confederacy of Sol.

Comstar, of course, had not the faintest clue what was going on, because Terra itself was still seemingly affected by the Blackout and any ships that travelled to Sol did not return.

At the end of 2834, however, the contracts came due. The President pointed at the fine print, that the worlds that signed would become part of the Confederacy of Sol. Some worlds were willing but the vast majority laughed and asked, "You and what army?"

"Why would I need an army?" the puzzled President answered, before abruptly those worlds and their inhabitants were transported across untold light years of distance, and found themselves in a new location on the inner surface of a dyson shell.

Those worlds that didn't sign? Well... the reason no one heard from them was that in many cases they either were annexed by force, or others took control from the ones who refused just so they could sign, hoping they could be duplicitous.


Meanwhile, in Clan Space:

The President: "Welcome to Barbados! I hear you're Clan Wolverine?"
>Wolverines: "Fuck the Clans."
"I couldn't agree more! Here, I've got a base set up for you guys to relax for a bit and so much military firepower. Join me, and together we can fuck the Clans. By the way, Sarah McEvedy is alive and I am going to get her."
>"I like the cut of this man's gib!"

Later:

The President: "Hi, you must be Nicholas Kerensky! I'm promoting you from ilKhan to ill khan."
>"Who are you and how did you get in here?"
"The answer, my friend, is cancer. Cancer of the everything. Also an aneurysm."
>"HRK-"
"Now sit there and think about what you've done until someone realizes you had a stroke and highly aggressive stage four brain cancer. Hi Sarah! Did you know your parents actually named you Amanda Cameron?"
>"What."
"Yeah, your kids are waiting for you back on Barbados. The clans in pursuit should be arriving soon, and boy won't they be surprised when their ships are suddenly rendered dead in the water! By the way, full heal for you."
>"...What?"
"Try to keep up, kiddo, you're not crippled or burned any more. Magic's a hell of a drug. Now, close your eyes and click your heels together three times and say it with me: fuck the Clans."
>"What"
"No, not 'what', 'fuck the Clans'."
>"...I must have been drugged, but why not. 'Fuck the Clans'-"
"Aaand she's teleported to safety. Still, I can't help feeling that I've forgotten something..."
>"hrk?"
"Oh! Little Nicky! You're still here. Hey, did you know your dad is directly responsible for destroying the Inner Sphere after killing his way to the top?"
>"hrk."
"Oh, I know, that's how warriors do, but I should pull him out of the afterlife and slap him. If only I were some sort of eldritch monstrosity that seized the local afterlife and supplanted it with my own OH WAIT I DID. YOINK-"
>"-WHAT. I can feel again! I can breathe!"
"Hi, Alex! Say hello to your son!"
>"hrk?" "...What. What have you done to him?!"
"Ensured his cooperation. By the way, you were a shit general, a shit regent, and the sundering of the Inner Sphere is your fault. Please assume the position while I defenstrate you back into Purgatory."
>"What do you MEEEEA-" "hrk?!"
"Sorry about that, now I feel accomplished. Hey, tell you what, I'll fix your aneurysm if you sign here! I mean, unless you want to die here in a puddle of your own waste while everyone realizes you had brain cancer and your entire legacy is tainted and the Clans are destroyed because they were the product of a diseased mind."
>"hrk."
"I thought you'd see it my way."
>"hrk- aaaaAAAAH WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU."
"Motherfucker, I'm the President of these great United States, and you just signed the Clans over to me. Should have read the fine print. By the way you still have cancer of the everything. Bye!"
>"FfffFFFF-"