White Reach
Overview
In the distant future, mankind has gone to the stars, and taken war with them. As they spread out across hundreds of star systems, a unifying presence came to exist with the Star League. From Terra, the First Lord was supposed to guide humanity to a bright future. BattleMechs, bipedal machines of war which stood several stories tall, were created in diverse types and roles to serve as the backbone of the Star League Defense Force. Like the First Lord, the SLDF was meant to protect the Star League and its allies from threats - both at home and abroad. And, as always repeats through history, the Star League fell apart. With the fall of the Star League and centuries of war to follow, many advanced technologies were lost.Welcome to the Inner Sphere. It is the 31st century, and five Great Houses hold dominion over large amounts of territory. These so-called "Successor States" are almost always fighting each other, having clashed four times in conflicts large enough to engulf the entire Inner Sphere in unrest. Between these conflicts, 'MechWarriors can find a great deal of work stamping out (or stirring up) trouble. It can pay well, but the risk often can get you killed before you can enjoy the fame or fortune you accumulate.
Of course, the focus of discussion here is one particular planet, and one particular year.
The White Reach Incident
In the year 3030, the Fourth Succession War has only recently ended; not with a decisive victory, but with a stalemate through attrition. Two of the Successor States have joined in a formal alliance sealed through the marriage of First Prince Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner. The other three houses watch nervously, not quite allies but not denying such may be necessary to curb ambitious plans. The war may have been ceased, but that doesn't mean the fighting has stopped entirely.The planet known as 'White Reach', an unassuming system in the Federated Commonwealth, is a curious case indeed. A half-dozen mercenary outfits are chasing a rumor of a lost cache of Star League technology and traced the location to this planet. The expectation of what could be buried there is more dangerous than the reality, and so many different players have their own agents looking to further agendas at the cost of others.
Nobody really wants to see another war start so soon, over a planet with not even much of a strategic value. But as events keep escalating, and more groups are drawn into the growing mess, there are many wary eyes keeping watch. Two particular mercenary outfits have landed on the planet, and their presence proves to have been the spark which ignites the powder keg.
Information
"The White Reach Incident" is a campaign played using a modified version of the BattleTech game system. What you are reading on this site is a reference to events, characters, and the campaign as it happens. Myself and other players involved in the campaign have been keeping notes and records, and I present to you (with permission of the other players) the record and details as things have developed over two years. As such, there are two distinct divisions of content here.First there is the campaign material itself, which is going to take the format of entries about the battles and campaign rounds as they happen. For those of you who do not play BattleTech on the tabletop, there will naturally be some things which are not fully explained and depend on at least a simple understanding of the rules and design of the game. Full reproduction of the rules and system will not be done, but there has been a not-insubstantial amount of tinkering done to the rules-as-written.
And second, there is fiction which has been created by myself with assistance in editing from a few other people. This is offered with minimal further editing, for entertainment purposes only. The bulk of fiction follows the exploits of two mercenary groups: Priam Company and the Harbingers. There are also several smaller pieces of fiction which have been written which focus on supporting cast or are offered up as fan-fiction which I have written based within the BattleTech universe.
The Fall of Salmacis
In the year 3050, an invading force known collectively as "The Clans" begin to strike at the Inner Sphere from the Coreward Periphery. Among the planets in the path of the invasion is Twycross, home base of Priam Company. Commander Olivia Garrido is now in charge, and she must handle the situation as best she can. Of course, it's never easy.Information
"The Fall of Salmacis" is a project conceived in part by a friend of mine on the Paradox "BATTLETECH" forums, and taken by myself to the logical extreme. Where he was pondering a chance to crossover our own fictional threads, an ambitious project began to take shape bringing in a number of people who had been active during the launch of HareBrained Schemes' BATTLETECH computer game. I have been working with the parties involved in order to produce this work so everyone involved gets a chance to be represented well.Hopefully, I succeeded, even though Priam Company has the stage for my efforts.
Disclaimer: BattleTech is owned by Topps, with tabletop game development licensed to Catalyst Game Labs. I make no claim of ownership for their property, as this page and its contents are a chronicle of what myself and many friends have done within this fictional universe.