Decision at Acamar
Sarna News
| Decision at Acamar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short story by Kevin Killiany | |||
| Publication | |||
| Published | 20 January 2005 | ||
| Publisher | BattleCorps | ||
| Illustrator(s) | |||
| Pages | 43 | ||
| Chronology | |||
| Era | Civil War era | ||
| Timeline | 2 October 3066 — 14 October 3066 | ||
| Series | |||
| |||
Decision at Acamar is a short story by Kevin Killiany that was first published online on BattleCorps in January 2005. It is the first part of the Chaos Irregulars series and introduces the Chaos Irregulars mercenary unit. It was later republished in EPUB format in the BattleCorps anthology Chaos Born in 2013.
This was a BattleCorps experiment by which subscribers to the site could vote on the next course of action for the protagonist unit; following the second story (Crossroads at Outreach), three choices how to proceed were usually presented and the next story would be penned based on the outcome of the vote.
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| “ | Kevin Killiany brings us the first story in what will become the "Choose the Story Path" series. Starting next month with the second part of the story, you the BattleCorps members, get to choose what contracts that are taken, and what decisions are made. You get to decide whether the heroes survive their coming trials. Guide their path with each story to a destiny of glory or of infamy! | ” |
Plot Summary[edit]
In 3066, the Chaos March world of Acamar boasts a strong defense force on paper. However, the central government is relatively weak, to the point where the militia has hired Peregrine's Hussars as support. The bulk of the planet's military might rests with the small mercenary units hired by the local families running the largest companies.
When Olson's Rangers, mercenaries in the employ of the Capellan Confederation, attack the planet in October 3066 the militia and Peregrine's Hussars are shocked to discover that the mercenary units under private contract refuse to follow the government's orders. They anxiously stick to their objectives instead, allowing the attackers to defeat them piecemeal. One unit, the Rebel Raiders (protecting the Brynd Industrial Complex), even allowed Peregrine Hussars' Able Company to be wiped out within sight without supporting them only to get some more time to better prepare for the Olson's Rangers. The subsequent onslaught destroyed the Rebel Raiders regardless, leaving no survivors.
Sorensen's Strikers were hired by Landon Industries to protect their sprawling refinery complex in the Marsa Mountains. Having lost contact with Force Commander Sorensen after Able Company had apparently been destroyed in a trap, Captain Obadiah "Jake" Jacoam assumes command and orders the unit's remaining conventional forces to retreat to the Landon Agrodome, secure all weapons, and surrender immediately if confronted by enemy forces.
Captain Ariel Peregrine leads the Peregrine Hussars' Baker Company to the foothills, hoping to link up with other militia forces at the capital city of Kalskag. They are attacked by Olson's Rangers in a strange purple smoke that somehow interferes with their sensors, but during the battle a lone Mongoose (piloted by Master Sergeant Reema Chowla of Sorensen's Strikers) unexpectedly appears. Her sensors seem unimpaired, and she directs the Hussars to repulse the attack and meet up with the remains of Sorensen's Strikers. Together, they figure out that the purple smoke blinding their sensors works is radioactive metallic dust that clings to 'Mech sensors through static, but can easily be neutralized with this knowledge. The joint Hussars/Strikers force moves to relieve Kalskag, but they only arrive in time to see the DropShips of the First Cunningham's Commandos arrive, dispatched from Zurich to save Acamar.
The Commandos send Peregrine's Hussars and Sorensen's Strikers back to Outreach on a captured Rangers DropShip. The overall poor performance of the defending mercenaries on Acamar and the losses incurred by their units prompt Peregrine and Jacoam to agree to join forces and form a new unit with shared command, to be named the Chaos Irregulars.
Featured Characters[edit]
- Major Dixon, CO of the Peregrine's Hussars and its Able Company
- Captain Ariel Peregrine, commander of the Peregrine's Hussars' Baker Company, piloting a HUR-WO-R4O Huron Warrior
- Captain Carter, commander of the Peregrine's Hussars' Charlie Company
- Leftenant Tony Davis, lance commander in the Peregrine's Hussars' Baker Company
- Force Commander Sorensen, CO of Sorensen's Strikers and its Able Company (mentioned)
- Captain Obadiah "Jake" Jacoam, commander of Sorensen's Strikers' Baker Company, piloting a GHR-5H Grasshopper
- Lieutenant Avery Clint of Sorensen's Strikers' Baker Company, piloting a QKD-5A Quickdraw
- Master Sergeant Reema Chowla of Sorensen's Strikers, piloting a Mongoose
- Sergeant Major Pauls, NCO of Sorensen's Strikers' Infantry Detachment
- Garner of Sorensen's Strikers' Baker Company, piloting a QKD-4G Quickdraw
- Colonel Longstreet, CO of the First Cunningham's Commandos (mentioned)
- Major Arsinius Foyer of the First Cunningham's Commandos
- Colonel Nicholas Olson, commander of Olson's Rangers (mentioned)
- Precentor Martial Victor Ian Steiner-Davion (mentioned)
- Duke of New Syrtis Michael Hasek (mentioned, see notes)
Featured Units[edit]
Featured Places[edit]
Featured BattleTech[edit]
BattleMechs[edit]
Conventional Fighters[edit]
- MechBuster (SRM) (mentioned)
DropShips[edit]
- Overlord-class 'Mech carrier DropShip
- Union-class 'Mech carrier DropShip
- Mule-class cargo carrier DropShip (mentioned)
Notes[edit]
- In the foreword to Chaos Formed, Kevin Killiany writes that he consciously named the first Chaos Irregulars story Decision at Acamar as a homage to the first Classic BattleTech novel, Decision at Thunder Rift, and that the final (projected) Chaos Irregulars story, Endgame at Engadine, was named after the final Classic BattleTech novel Endgame.
- According to the story, the First Cunningham's Commandos have been sent to Acamar by one "Duke Michael Hasek". This is presumably an error, given that George Hasek II was Duke of New Syrtis in October 3066, while Michael Hasek-Davion had been dead for over 37 years. This mistake was later confirmed by Killiany in the foreword to Chaos Formed.