Proud Bull Rising Part 9

Been a busy month so far but I'll have a model update in the next few days.

2833

The Taurian Guard Corps completes its build up and all three regiments are at between 90 and 100 percent operational readiness. The Taurian Vellites Regiment is broken into battalion size forces and spend the next two years doing a sweep along the Capellan and Davion borders for pirates. The I Corps are the next to be overhauled and have their operational readiness restored. The I Corps consists of the Concordat Jaegers and the Red Chasseurs. A new regiment, the 2nd Red Chasseurs, is also to be built to bring the I Corps up to a full three regiments.

Both Wolverine production lines go live. A second line is begun at each site to expand production. Both expansions should be completed by the end of 2835. With the increased production levels of mechs as whole, a slightly higher percent is slated for export with several larger mercenary units being eager customers as they try to replace losses taken so far during the Second Succession War. A fair number are also sold to the Outworlds Alliance as they seek to shore up their forces to deal with the increasing piracy along the Periphery.

Several years into the Second Succession War now, still no build up of Davion forces along the Concordat border are detected. This leads to a slowly lowering of the alert status along the border. While still slightly higher than before the war, it is much closer to that level. The Taurian intelligence services continue to keep an careful watch on worlds across the border. Patrols remain slightly ramped up along the border but are slowly easing down to what they were before the war started.

The data and information brought back to the Taurians by the Ministry of Intelligence agents is put to use by Concordat Navy reactivating the old Concordat Aerospace Limited shipyard in the Samantha system. This yard is located far enough from the planet to be hidden by the asteroid fields in the system. It is estimated that by 2840 the shipyard will be able to repair the two types of jumpships and then by 2845 begin production of the two types of jumpships.

2834

All the mercenary units in the employ of the TDF are now at least 80 percent or higher in operational readiness. The TDF assigns them all to a stretch of worlds along the galactic rimward side of the realm to deal with pirates raids. The Blackhearts are especially good at dealing with pirates and soon the three units have made a marked decrease in pirate activity in that portion of Taurian space. The Lazy Eights add a second battalion during this period and rotate from Sterope finally to Belle Isle colony where they join with the other mercenary units in dealing with pirates. Cardinal Sins are deployed to Baltar, Blackhearts to Dumassas, and the Black Band Legion to Ludenitz.

While exploring systems to reclaim or recolonize, one team comes across the Panzyr System. There is a thick debris cloud surrounds the main world of the system which makes getting to and from the world difficult, but the team notices a lot of the debris is from Star League sources, undoubtedly from the Reunification War in their best estimate. Records show that the world was part of the Capellan Confederation but lack of support during the First Succession War had the planetary population fall below a sustainable level. The TDF moves assests into this system and begin to comb the debris field for useful salvage. For the first couple years, mainly spare parts and small arms are the only worthwhile salvage recovered other than debris to be resmelted and recycled.

After once more debating the issue due to high demand, Brinton is selected as the fourth location to build a new industrial mech factory. Similar to the plants on Sterope, Grossbach, and San Carlos, there will be lines for the Crosscut and DigKing Industrial mechs and will be expanded until there are four lines for each of the mechs. The plant is planned to go live by the end of 2833. The local militia assign several companies to rotate being assigned to defend this new major investment in their world. Much of the output of this plant is exported to the Federated Suns, the Duchy of Andurian, and the Magistracy of Canopus.

The Rifleman production line on New Vandenburg goes live. These heavy battlemechs are deployed into the various medium, heavy, and assault weighted regiments as a much needed anti-aircraft capability. This was something that was lacking in the TDF and is seen to fill a void in the battlemech regiments' TOE. These mechs are highly sought after and production is fully purchased for the next several years by the Taurian military.

Hope you all are enjoying and I'll see you all again next post!

Proud Bull Rising Part 8

Finishing up February with an installment of my Alternative Fiction. Hope you enjoy!

2831

A distrubing trend in rising criminal activity and corruption taking advantage of the new economic growth was beginning to be noticed. Protector Arantino worked with the Privy Council to increase funding for the Concordat Constabulary. This allows them to hire new recruits, replace aging equipment and improve their overall capabilities. Over the next several years the results are seen as crime levels begin to drop to their previous levels. In addition to this, the Taurian École Militaire is expanded to provide more recruits as the Taurian Defense Force continues to improve its readiness levels.

After a fair amount of debate, San Carlos is selected as the location to build a new industrial mech factory. Similar to the plant on Sterope, there will be lines for the Crosscut and DigKing industrial mechs. Expansion of the plant will continue until there are at least three production lines of each. In addition to supplying the new colony worlds, some of the production is slated for export. The militia engineering battalions and survey teams, having completed their work on pre-existing Concordat worlds, move on to the new colonies and the reclaimed worlds to continue their work.

The Taurian agents at the Rashpur-Owens Incorporated shipyard finally enact their plan having now worked their way into lower management positions and covertly gathering the access they will need from their supervisors at the shipyard. Over the course of a week, the agents are able to copy schematics of the shipyard itself, the construction plans for the Invader and Merchant classes of jumpships, and the specifications for the Kearny-Fuchida Drives for both types of ships. Using the destruction of a shuttle between the shipyard and the planet, they fake their deaths while also eliminating several others at the same time who would have been close enough to them to assist any investigation. As an added layer of protection, if any investigation does manage to look their direction, falsified evidence leading to the Lyran Commonwealth has been planted to steer them in the wrong directions.

2832

The Concordant begins to see a large number of refugees arriving as they flee the battles of the Second Succession War. The refugees are used to bolster the populations of several of the new colony worlds and even help start some new colonies growing the number of colony worlds to 11 now. Heliat and Guldra are brought into the Taurian Concordat while Eliat, Gant, Cadiz, and Franmalin are the four newly colonized worlds. While many of the new colonists arrive with little more than the clothing on their backs, they are able to work them into the growing colonies with minimal effort.

While exploring the Heliat system to update the system star charts as part of bringing the system into the Concordat, a derelict Lola III-class destroyer is discovered in orbit around the moon of the outermost gas giant in the system. Salvage teams are quickly dispatched to examine the vessel which is discovered to be the SLNS Noshiro. While it is too far damaged to be repaired, they're able to salvage much of the armor plating, four of the NL55 Naval Lasers, five of the NAC/10 Naval Autocannons along with samples of their ammunition, some of the ships sensors, and a fair amount of the interior bulkheads and other components. When the operation is completed in 2834, the remnents of the vessel is pushed to where the Heliat VI gas giant's gravitational pull grabs hold of it and pulls it down to its final demise thus erasing all trace of the recovery operation.

The Ministry of Trade and Colonization sends several representatives to the Outback Region of Davion space and the Sian Commonality of Liao space to help ensure the best and brightest of the refugees are recruited and assisted in passage to the Concordant colony worlds. They also try to identify worthwhile recruits in the various military refugees from various broken and destroyed units for potential recruits to build new militia units on the new colony worlds. While they are doing this, they also resume the practice of recruiting dissatisfied Federated Suns and Capellan citizens to recruit for the colony worlds as well.

In the Brisbane System VMI begins building a shipyard with slips to repair and refurbish civilan dropships. The facility is constructed near the asteroid belt with a pair of habitat stations, three orbital factories, and several deep space mining stations to provide the materials needed. The facility is planned to be completed by the end of 2837. Several merchant companies approach VMI about contracting regular repair work for their dropships even before the facility is finished.

The next post should be the last lance of tanks for the Lazy Eights as well as more Eridani Light Horse. The ELH part though will be repairs and not new models as I had a shelf flip over while I was doing some reorganizing and cleaning which lead to about 10 damaged mechs and about three times that in damaged vehicles. A fairly large precentage will be just rebasing models which is not too bad but there will be some more major repairs to do as well. See you all next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 7

2828

As the military construction capacity increases, supplies of weapons for that construction are beginning to be stretched thin. An expansion of the Sterope Defense Industries (SDI) plant on Sterope is begun to increase production of its various systems. SDI also begins work on a new plant on Pinard to place it close to both Taurus and New Vandenburg to supply those mech factories. The VMI facility on New Vandenburg begins to expand the Stinger STG-3R and Wasp WSP-1A light mechs production by adding a pair of lines of each.

The Ministry of Trade and Colonies expands the program that they've been using to encourage immigration from the Outback region of the FedSuns to include the periphery worlds of the Capellan Commonwealth as well. With the Liaos having to withdraw support more and more from these border worlds, they find numerous people and families looking to move to worlds with better opportunities. This soon provides an additional steady stream of immigrants for the Concordat colony worlds.

TDF liaison officers sat down with the commanders or the mercenary units the Blackhearts, Cardinal Sins, and the Black Band Legion to discuss new contracts. All three are re-signed to long term contracts that offer favorable terms to assist them in continued rebuilding to their former full strength. This included assisting them in recruiting from refugees that had survivors from broken military units in addition to favorable terms in purchasing new mechs and vehicles from the Taurian industries.

2829

As the TTI Maultier lines on Taurus slowly begin to produce the hover transport, plans are put in place to expand the production to the TTI plant on Sterope as well. Construction will begin though won't be completed for several years. By 2832 though, the TDF should have constant and steady deployment of this vehicle going into its main infantry and armor regiments as well as selling some to the mercenary forces in their employ.

Numerous pirate attacks clandestinely funded by Comstar begin to raid along the entire expanse of the Concordat borders. While the pirates achieve some limited success, many of the raids are successfully defended against by the local militias with their new vehicles from the Quikcell factories on New Vandenburg. These reliable combat vehicles allow the defenders to deal severe damage to the light and medium mechs that compose most of the pirate bands. Intelligence research into the attacks proves baffling though. The basic assumption that it was backed by the Davions was hard to prove. With their attention so focused on the Liaos and Kuritans, they had negligable resources available for use on the Periphery.

The TDF engineering units and survey teams continue to do impressive work as they continue through Taurian space. Improved space ports and warehousing facilities across the various worlds makes it easier and more cost effective for traders which helps drive the economy. The incoming merchants bring a new wave of colonists from the innermost part of the Inner Sphere, colonists who have decided to relocate and start over rather than trying to rebuild over and over on contested worlds.

2830

The Taurian Defense Force, with new material coming from it's various factories begins to look at shoring up its forces. While the various armor and infantry regiments raised by the various worlds are between 60 and 90 percent of operational readiness, almost all of the mech units were down to between 35 and 50 percent of operational readiness due to lack of long term maintainence, attrition from pirate raids, and other problems. This rebuilding effort will include reconstituting up to full TOE any armor and infantry units attached to the mech regiments.

The Taurian Guard Corps, consisting of the Taurian Guard Regiment, the Concordat Commandos Regiment, and the Taurian Velites Regiment, are the first formations to be focused on for this rebuilding. In addition to adding personel and missing equipment, the units are also put through a fairly rigorous training period to fully integrate these new additions. The units are all redeployed to Taurus for this undertaking and will be redeployed across the Hyades Cluster to their normal garrison duties once fully reconstituted.

Trade negotiations with the Free Worlds League leads to the rights to produce the Maultier going to Kallon Industries in return for favorable prices for the rights to produce the Wolverine WVR-6M medium mech and the Rifleman RFL-3N heavy mech. A large amount of the Celano SLDF cache goods that they are unable to reproduce is also sent to the FWL as part of this trade deal. Lines are to be added to the VMI facility on New Vandenderg for both mechs and the TTI facility on Sterope for the Wolverine. The Wolverine lines are scheduled to be finished in 2833 and the Rifleman line completed in 2834.

With the outbreak of the 2nd Succession War, the TDF slightly raises its alert status along the borders as a precaution. Patrols and reconnaissance missions are increased as the old fear of Davion invasion raises its head again. While not detecting any immediate threat, the level of alert remains much higher than normal for the next several years. Intelligence agents remain deployed on the Davion side of the border on the most likely gathering worlds for an invasion or raiding force.

So that's the latest overdue installment. Hope you are enjoying it and I'll see you next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 6

2826

Conrad Toyama arrives at in Taurian Space as part of his ComStar recruitment trip. With the population benefitting from the ever increasing fortunes of the Concordat, he finds much less success here than he had in other Periphery stops on his trip so far. His largest success is amongst the newest immigrants but even here the success is muted. The relatively higher education levels leads the average Taurian to see ComStar as a business rather than the religious front that ComStar has moved to.

The Concordat begins a systematic upgrade of the jumpship recharing stations across Taurian space. All star systems are examined and those that already possess rechanging stations are given a thorough repair and upgrade cycle while systems without a recharging station are studied to see if there is heavy enough traffic to require one. This process is expected to take close to fifteen years to complete when including construction time for any stations added. After this project is completed, recharge stations will be added to new worlds as they reach a size or importance to require one. Unfortunately due to the loss of technology and production capability in the Inner Sphere core worlds, only a few of these newly planned recharging stations are built before the ability to construct them is beyond their capability.

The Special Asteroid Support Force that is an elite volunteer force for defending the Hyades Cluster is given its first upgrades in decades. In addition improving and overhauling their XCT Marine Exoskeleton Armor, they're also issued semi-portable heavy lasers to be used as squad based heavy weapons to increase their fire power. They also are given a number of the SLDF laser rifles that were found on Celano to replace their older weapons that are less capable or efficient.

2827

Two production lines begin contruction on Taurus by TTI to build the Maultier Hover Transport. The plant will then expand slightly to provide a steady supply of spare parts for the Maultiers as they go into service with the various infantry units throughout the Concordant. The Quikcell plant on New Vandenburg goes live and production begins to roll out of the factories. In addition to building up militia units and using the Pegasus produced to provide scout formations for various Taurian Defense Force units, the rest of the production is quickly sold to the Outworlds Alliance, small mercenary units in the area, and various neutral worlds near Taurian space. The production is quickly found to be much more reliable than the expected Quikcell offerings.

The Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization sends a delegation to the Duchy of Andurien. They're able to sign several trade agreements as the Anduriens seek mechs and combat vehicles to rebuild their forces as well as the raw materials needed for their own industries. The TDF also is able to aquire several wings worth of Stingray F-90 medium aerospace fighters as part of this trade deal. These nimble fighters with their heavy armament quickly become favorites for pilots in the TDF.

The Federated Suns finally notice that the Concordat has been recruiting its citizens from numerous Outback worlds for immigration. Estimating that several hundred thousand have left for Taurian colony worlds from across the width of the Outback regions over the previous years, the Davions issue a formal protest to Protector Artantino about these practices. While she has the Taurian representatives rein in these practices, it never completely stops but merely drops to a less noticeable but tolerable level.

Proud Bull Rising Part 5

2824

With seven colonies now established and growing, construction is started on new production plants to build the Crosscut and Dig King Industrial Mechs in the Sterope and Grossbach Systems. The lines on Sterope are planned go live in 2826 and the lines on Grossbach in 2827. Both plants will continue to expand until each has four production lines of each of the two industrial mechs. In addition to helping growth on Taurian worlds and new colonies, it is planned to have a steady number to be exported to the Outworlds Alliance, the Magistracy of Canopus, and the various independent worlds in the area.

With the agriculture sector booming within Taurian space, a number of inner sphere traders start to appear for runs between Concordate worlds and highly populated Inner Sphere worlds. In return these traders bring manufactured goods and specialist equipment such as electronics to the Concordat in exchange. Davion, Liao, and even Marik traders become a more common sight over time. While these outsiders are viewed with caution and suspicion, the Concordat does not pass up the opportunities this represents.

A number of former engineers from Lycomb-Davion IntroTech's Demeter plant, which had been largely destroyed by Capellan forces in the First Succession War, approach the Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization about immigrating and starting up a new company to build various electronic equipment. After a few months of negotiation, approval and government backed loans are given to the new company, Taurian Technologies Limited, to begin construction of manufacturing plants on the world of New Vandenburg.

The Taurian Ministry of Intelligence slips a small team into the Capellan Confederacy using the agent that they had turned. This contact helps provide them with covers and new backgrounds as they travel to Capella System. Here they manage to get hired on at the Rashpur-Owens Incorporated shipyard. The agents do nothing the first several years at the plant other than merely becoming seen as skilled and valuable workers at the shipyard. Two are parts of teams working on the actual assembly of jumpship parts, one works on the line producing the drive systems, while the last works in the main office complex.

2825

A farmer on the Taurian world of Celano, one of the new colonies, discovers the remains of a Star League storehouse which among various equipment, weapons, and vehicles, contains a number of Maultier Hover APC's. These are deemed easiest to reproduce and by 2827 are in production at the Taurus Territorial Systems plant on Sterope. Numerous LosTech infantry laser rifles are found as well which are found to be able to be reproduced. Facilities to produce these are made at the TTI factories on Taurus and the Vandenburg Mechanized Industries (VMI) factories on New Vandenburg.

The Quikcell plant on New Vandenburg begin to build lines for the construction of the Scorpion Light Tank. This vehicle, while fairly new, is proving to be quite popular especially with militias due to its easy of maintainance and its low price compared to other options. By 2829 Quikcell will have five total lines constructing this vehicle. Sales are brisk for runs of the tank with the TDF militia units, mercenaries, the Magistracy of Canopus, and the Outworlds Alliance all being customers.

The Taurian Ministry of Education receives extra funding to begin building up the schools on the new colony worlds and reclaimed worlds. One of the issues found are that many of the refugees from the Inner Sphere worlds who had fled to the Periphery worlds had widely varied education as well as a high percent of under educated youth due to the upheaval of the Succession War. In addition to new schools, programs for adult education opportunities are also pursued which greatly opens the possibilities of these immigrants and further binds them to the Concordat as a whole.

Proud Bull Rising Part 4

2822

The Protector and her representatives works out a deal with Quikcell company using the safe location of a new plant within the Concordat away from the battles between the Inner Sphere major houses as well as the numerous periphery customers as incentives. The Quikcell Company begins construction of a large manufacturing facility in the New Vandenburg System. LRM and SRM Carriers, Hetzers, and Pegasus Scout Hover Tanks each get a pair of production lined in the initial contruction of the facility. Production is planned to begin for all four in 2825. The high level of patriotism and the pride that the average Taurian citizen holds for the military is projected to prevent much of the poor quality control that is associated with most Quikcell plants. Half of all production from the plant is slated for export to the Outworlds Alliance and various mercenary groups.

On the world of Hanseta, one of the engineer/survey forces make a discovery. A crashed Colossus-class dropship from the Reunification War is found down in a valley mostly covered with forest undergrowth. Almost three lances of mechs were able to be recovered including a Mongoose, several Crabs, a few Kintaros, and the two biggest prizes, a Flashman and a Black Knight. Two companies worth of vehicles were also recovered consisting of a few each of Marksman artillery tanks and Alacorn heavy tanks, but most of the vehicles are Galleon light tanks. This material is used to assist in the rebuilding of the units decimated in the war with the Canopians.

Three uncontracted mercenary units are signed to assist in dealing with pirate raids and attacks along the Concordat borders. The Cardinal Sins, a medium weight mech regiment, the Black Band Legion, a heavy weight mech regiment, and the Blackhearts, a medium weight mech regiment. The Blackhearts with their former SLDF Special Forces background make them especially adept at pirate hunting patrols. In addition to garrison and anti-pirate duties, the units are also used to train the local militia forces.

2823

With the drop off in refugees finally being seen, Taurian officials begin to quietly visit Federated Suns Outback worlds located near the Concordat border. These officials are able to take advantage of the fact that these Outback worlds are largely ignored and not invested in by the Davions who are forced to focus more on their industrialized coreward worlds after the destruction of the First Succession War. They are able to recruit disgruntled and struggling, yet hard working, families and individuals from these worlds to immigrate to the new Taurian colonies. With their focus on their interior and border worlds rather than the Outback regions, the Federated Suns do not notice these events for some years.

Using loans backed by the Taurian Ministry of Trade and Colonization, Taurus Majoris Mining begins construction on a new major facility in the Sterope System. The new production complex is expected to be opened by 2825 and producing armor for defense industries by 2826. Much of the product produced by TMM from the asteroid belt will be used on Sterope by the TTI and SDI facilities. The normalization of relations with the Canopians leads to an increase of trade back to levels seen before the Taurian-Canopian War.

The Lazy Eights, a medium weight mercenary battalion, are hired out of Davion service where they had been used for garrison duty throughout the First Succession War. At roughly half strength operationally, the TDF deployed them to Sterope to defend the factory complex there as well as act as a training force for the local militia. As part of their pay for the first several years, the unit is given discounted rates to purchase replacement mechs from the TTI lines they are protecting.

The King's Wild Cards finish rebuilding their 2nd Battalion which is then deployed to the Gangtok System. They renew their contract and continue to receive discounted rates on purchasing replacement mechs from Taurian factories. Their duties continue to include both garrison and militia training. Two lances worth of Cyrano VTOLs are added to the King's Wild Cards' TOE to give them even more flexibility.

That's all for this installment and I'll see you next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 3

Welcome back for part three of my Battletech alternative system.

2820

Having gathered the resources and volunteers needed, Taurus begins the final stages to start colonizing some of the worlds they've been examining. Three of the these worlds, Orkney, Charleston, and Carthage, are within the current Concordat borders with the remaining, Belle Isle, being just beyond them. The continued influx of refugees from the Inner Sphere fleeing the ravages of the First Succession War assist in finding the populations needed to get these colonies going.

All four colonies see a strong growth from the start. The refugees continue to expand the populations allowing them to reach a self sustaining level within a few years. By that point, all are able to begin exporting if not mined minerals and ores, then at least agricultural products to the rest of the Concordat. The desire to see the Concordat as strong as it was in the past drives the support of the average Taurian citizen. They might be unable to reclaim worlds lost long ago to the Davions and Liaos but they can grow outwards and reclaim worlds they had to abandon.

The TDF lures the King's Wild Cards mercenary unit out of Canopian service with favorable terms for anti-piracy and garrison duty. The King's Wild Cards are a light weight regiment that has attritioned down to just over a battalion in strength with no appreciable assistance from the Magistrix armed forces to rebuild or replace their losses. The unit is deployed to New Vandenburg for a year to train with the militia forces while starting to rebuild and then are sent to the Artru System to garrison and train the local militia forces while perfoming patrol sweeps to discourage piracy.

2821

With a handful of new worlds being resettled and several more being explored for their potential, the Taurian economy continues a slow steady growth. Several closed mining complexes are re-examined for the potential of reopening them. Expansion of asteroid mining in several major systems has also in the begining stages of implementation. The newly settled worlds, now with stabile populations and exports increasing, continue to slowly grow as more and more infrastructure is built. Celano, Regis Roost, and Argos are slated as the next worlds to be colonized.

With the official end of the First Succession War, trade with the Inner Sphere realms begins to pick up slowly but significantly as the various Great Houses seek the resources needed to rebuild the many shattered planets and industries across their space as well as their militaries. Exporting minerals and ores begin to give the Taurians the funds needed to further expand their own infrastructure and worlds. Refugees from farther within the Inner Sphere continue to arrive and are directed to the new colonies.

The improving assests of the Ministry of Intelligence leads to a crack down on smugglers and black marketeers. These efforts go a long way to assisting in improving the nation's economy as it eliminates the means for graft and displaced funds. These missions result in the discovery of several agents from other nations who were using the criminal activity as a source of information. One such agent was from the Capellan Confederation who was able to be turned. This new asset gives them insight into Maskirovka agents and missions in the area.

So that is all for this installment and I'll see you all in about a week for part 4.

Proud Bull Rising Part 2

Welcome back to the second installment of our story.

2818 The Taurian Ministry of the Interior reviews its Ministry of Intelligence and makes some changes on both its collection of information along the border as well as well as stepping up the presence of assets on neighboring worlds. Having digested and thoroughly discussed the findings of the defense force review, Protector Artantino and Marshal Choudhoury plan out a long term plan for the growth and improvement of the Taurian military. To help support this from the economic side, the Protector sets the Interior Ministry to begin planning new colonies rimward and spinward of their current borders.

Marshal Choudboury authorizes a new military academy to be formed as an offshoot of the Taurian Ecole Militaire, the Taurian College of Military Sciences. This institute will focus entirely on higher training including large unit tactics, military theory, strategic planning, etc for officers of Subaltern through Colonel ranks. In addition to identifying Taurian officers capable to teaching in this new institute, officers of at least Major rank are brought in from mercenary units hired by the TDF to teach some of the classes or guest lecture.

Work begins at the Taurus Territorial Industries (TTI) plant in the Sterope System to add a production line of WSP-1A Wasp Light Mechs. It is planned to be opened by 2822. This is seen a first step in a long term growth of the Concordat's defense industry to make the TDF stronger and less dependent on outside sources. The Wasp was chosen as the first to be expanded as it would reinforce recon lances as well as the various planetary militias. Other production lines are evaluated for expansion based on need by the TDF and exportability.

2819

Protector Artantino begins a series of meetings and hearings with the Privy Council to see about long term growth for the Taurian Concordat. Trade delegations are sent to the Outworlds Alliance and a number of independent worlds around Taurian space. Less formal contacts are made with the Magistracy of Canopus due to the still higher than normal tensions between the two realms. Talk with independent worlds closest to Taurian space who use to be Concordat worlds in the past are especially targeted by these delegations to draw them once more into the realm.

In preperation for the upcoming commerical, industrial, and military expansions, several battalions worth of militia engineers are activated and are slowly rotated through the various minor worlds of the Concordat with the aim of improving space ports and their attached infrastructure. Survey teams accompany these engineering troops to update planetary maps at the same time. The naval assests assigned to transport and support these forces use their time to update system star charts and replace communication and sensor satellites and bouys.

Marshal Choudboury forms a new force to supplement the TDF, the Concordat Special Services. This unit is trained up to regimental strength and is outside the normal corps structure to allow them to be deployed where needed for more covert missions. Only the best and most loyal soldiers are allowed to apply for the unit. The CSS are trained in a variety of mechs, vehicles, and small arms. They often deploy in units as small as a lance to perform their missions. This unit is trained rigorously between mission to keep their skills at an elite edge. The CSS is also trained to work closely with the Taurian Ministry of Intelligence's Special Task Groups.

That's it for this update and I'll get the next part up in about a week or so. See you all next time!

Proud Bull Rising Part 1

So something a bit different this time. I've always been a fan of alternative history, not just historical but also based on fictional stories as well. However my writing is far far from what is found on most sites for this so while I've been working on something for some time, I'll be posting it here as opposed to on a site dedicated for that. Point Of Divergence Taurian Concordat undergoes major reforms to the Taurian Military and Economy when Rayna Artantino takes over as Protector of the Realm from Semyon Calderon in 2816 rather than continuing on as before.

2816

The new Protector of the Realm Rayna Artantino and the newly promoted Taurian Defense Force Commander in Chief Marshal Natal Choudhoury assemble a team to begin a thorough review of the Taurian Defense Force as well as the training at the Taurian Ecole Militaire, Concordat Aerospace Flight School, and the various conventional training academies found throughout the Concordant. While findings and recommendations from the review are expected fairly quickly, they are also expected to be thorough. It is emphasized to the reviewers that it is better to take longer than hoped than miss something major or gloss over defects and areas of needed improvement.

There were numerous breakdowns in the brief war with the Canopians. The assault on Herotitus was the largest disaster as it saw all but two companies of mechs and a mixed half regiment of conventional forces destroyed before they even landed on the planet. Intelligence failures resulted in the large quantity of aerospace fighters not being identified as part of the planetary defenses. Poor tactics such as lack of a communication interdiction led to the destruction of almost the entire force and caused the remnents to be forced into surrender.

The Privy Council also begins to look into improving the financial and industrial standing of the Concordat. The Concordat needs growth and investment to rebuild its forces and to fund any needed improvements as well as freeing up capacity for growth as the nation needed to halt its slow economic decline. Trade agreements are to be explored as well as looking to expand the gathering of raw resources to increase the industrial output of the realm. Several exploration missions are planned for a number of the underdeveloped worlds in the Taurian Concordat to examine for potential new mineral deposits or ore lodes to exploit.

2817

Marshal Choudboury's work group finishes its review and begins implementing minor tweaks to training standards across the conventional force academies while also making major changes to scouting training in the Ecole Militaire and the Aerospace Flight School. The Marshal recommends to Protector Artantino that the Taurian Ministry of Intelligence under the Ministry of the Interior also undergo a similar review process for the same reason he instituted changes to the scouting training in the Military Academies, the fact that large numbers of Aerospace fighters were undetected on Herotitus during the recent war with the Magistracy of Canopus.

Former Marshal Gertrude Blake-Andrews, who had already been dismissed by the former Protector Semyon Calderon, had led the Detroit half of the Taurian-Canopian War. The Herotitus half of the invasion had been led by Comptroller Augustin Shapiro who had died when ambushed by the massisve wave of undetected Canopian aerospace assets. The entire brief war had shown that the Taurian Defense Force was lacking in force projection, intelligence gathering, strategic level tactics, as well as numerous other smaller deficiencies being identified.

With the two main leaders of the disaster out of the command structure already, Marshal Choudboury carefully evaluates the rest of the TDF command structure and several Comptrollers, Colonels, and Brigadiers are quietly demoted or retired during this timeframe. One bright spot of the actions was Comptroller Hendras Mohandun's defense of Spencer during the Canopian counterattack. It was one of very few things that went quite well during the war. He was duly promoted to Marshal Choudboury's chief of staff and tasked with helping to implement the changes to the TDF.

So that's the first part and I'll be posting new installments about once a week. Hope you all enjoy and see you all next time.