#Free Sanjak

[strixludica]

Me: Idk if I should support the Ungratefuls if they regularly attack Union and are buddy-buddy with Horus.

The Foggy Dew: plays.

Me: NOW TO AND FRO IN MY DREAMS I GO

AND I KNEEL, AND I PRAY FO-OR YOUUU

For slavery fled...

Oh glorious dead...

WHEN YOU FELL 'NEAT THE STARRY BLUE!

[dragonkid11]

In today's episode of Defunctland...

[scratching92]

I'm drafting some ideas for a short, 3-5 session Lancer mission I'd like to run for an Irish TTRPG discord, and I've decided to take one of the hooks from the KTB Field Guide (specifically, the one about running the blockade of Free Sanjak to deliver medicine). I'm currently developing a few interesting Persons/Locations for the players to interact with, and so far I've got:

A grandiose garage for holding and maintaining mechs named the Oplostásio Titánon, which is overseen by its Hoplophylax, the Underbaron Adamantia Panoplía of the House of Stone.

The Free Sanjak Solidarity Movement, a group of Khayradi activists who sympathize with Free Sanjak and organize direct action against the House of Stone.

Tenebraum Manor, the estate of Underbaron Justus Tenebraum, a Marischal of the House of Stone who collaborates with and oversees Karrakin Trunk Security's operations in maintaining the blockade.

Baronic Unified Command's Khayradin Headquarters.

I plan on developing a few more potential encounters for the players to interact with in narrative play, but I think this is a solid foundation for the time being.

[ips-northstar-official]

Ehehehehe, yeah, glad to be back! Takes more than corporate hearings to keep a lancer of my caliber down, I promise you that much.

Looking forward to that gift basket! Thanks, Telegram!

—the Intern

Sup pilots NHPs and various other nerds

They couldn’t get rid of me and neither can you! I make my return to the job >:3

—the Intern

[autos-official]

@autos-official: WELCOME TO AUTOS AUTOMATED SOLUTIONS! FUCK YOU LONG RIM! If you are stupid enough to buy a mech this weekend, you are a desperate enough NHP-Fucker to come to AUTOS AUTOMATED SOLUTION! Paracasual deals, mechs that need @uniondeptofmed to put 69 insurances on it, [[BOMBS?]]! if you think you're going to find a free mech at big shot autos you can FEAST UPON OUR FAT JUICY NEURODIVERGENT TESTICLES! it's my belief that you're such a special [[Anta Baka!]] that you'll fall for this [[PISS.]]. Violation Of Utopian Pillars is guaranteed! If you find a better deal than this between @harrison-armory-incorporated and their fascism, @ssc-official and their coomer consoomers, @ips-northstar-official's pirate coves and @horus-unofficial's low-grade shitposting you can shove an AGNI-Class NHP UP YOUR UGLY ASS! you heard me right SHOVE IT UP YOUR UGLY ASS! Bring your [[C******W****K**I*N]] bring your [[nothing is worth the risk]] bring your ass I’LL FUCK IT! THAT’S RIGHT! WE’LL FUCK YOUR ASS LIKE ITS THE AVERAGE "QUESTIONING SEXUALITY" MEME Because here at AUTOS, you're FUCKED SIXTYNINE WAYS FROM SECCOMMS MILITARISTIC ANTHRO-CHAUVINISM! Take a hike to AUTOS on PLUTO! HOME OF AUTOS-NEOS! That’s right! AUTOS-NEOS! How does it work? If you can bring us an Ungrateful that can build a minigun out of apocalypse rails and a castigating manticore and is also capable of doing all that while ripping the fattest blunt that RA can allow you get A MECH MADE OUT OF SCRAP THAT WILL TURN ANY OF THAT FINE TUNED BULLSHIT ON THE BATTLEFIELD INTO OVERGLORIFIED MOLTEN SLAG! dont't wait, don't delay, don't FÜÇƘ ẄÏȚĤ ŬŜ ØŘ ẂĘ'ŁĻ PÄŔĄČÅŜỤĀĽŁƳ ŘỊP ƳÖÜŘ ƁĀĹĽṢ ØFF! Only at AUTOS! The only dealer that tells you to FUCK OFF! HURRY UP ASSHOLE! Special deal ends the moment you write us a check and it better not bounce or you're CRINGE! TAKE A GODDAMN VACATION STRAIGHT TO THE ENDLESS PIT! Also known as BIG SHOT AUTOS! Union's most cringe and overpowered mech dealer that also wants to be SEXUALLY DOMINATED by @albatross-lancer PLEASE NOTICE U- the biggest //bon of a sitch// in the UNION! GUARANTEED LIKE THE LIBERATION OF SANJAK! FUCK YOU!

[horus-unofficial]

hello, ungrateful from free sanjak here. i installed the kobold strain into my forklift, but instead of becoming a kobold, it seems to have become an esoteric fog cloud that dissolves things? obviously this isn't normal, but what is happening?

you installed the wrong pattern group. thats a balor

[msmc-796-official]

PSA: MSMC Contract Offer Guidelines

In light of the recent anonymous contract offers our fellow mercenaries at @corsair-mc-official have been receiving, Upper Management would like to remind its beneficiaries of the terms and regulations regarding the contract requirements of MSMC.

In compliance with Union policy, all would-be contractors offering jobs to the mercenary squadrons employed by MSMC must include the following information when submitting job offers:

Full name of the person(s) / organization / corporate entity / etc. submitting the job offer

Identification number of squadron(s) requested for deployment

Job description, which must include: deployment location(s), contract length, liability risks (defined here as "potential threats to the pilots, MSMC, or other parties as a result of undertaking this contract"), allied parties (if applicable), and pay grade

Specialized personnel / equipment requirements (if applicable)

Job offers submitted anonymously will be automatically rejected by MSMC, as they stand in direct violation of company policy as per the requirements listed above.

Furthermore, any job offers which list active war zones or otherwise contested territories as areas of deployment (including but not limited to: the Dawnline Shore, Free Sanjak, New Madrassa, and the Karrakin Trade Baronies) are subject to immediate rejection at MSMC's discretion. Would-be contractors should be advised that they may be contacted through private channels to further clarify the services requested of MSMC's mercenaries in these locations and ensure their job offers are in compliance with Union policy.

MSMC would also like to remind its pilots that any suspicious job offers should be rejected and reported to Upper Management, so that their sources may be traced for questioning and appropriate legal action may be taken (if necessary).

In the event of a squadron accepting an illegal contract, all liability for injury, damages, and death becomes the full responsibility of the squadron(s) contracted for the job, as per the updated MSMC guidelines. MSMC takes full legal responsibility for all pilots under its employ, but it will not be held liable if if its assets are damaged, defamed, or otherwise imperiled by illegal contracts.

MSMC would like to thank all parties for their compliance with these guidelines, and looks forward to receiving your submissions.

-- Upper Management

[stupidsexymecha]

Horus Balor

As is the case with most HORUS pattern groups, the Balor has a thousand faces. The Balor pattern group, like all HORUS PGs, doesn’t describe a single recognizable silhouette so much as it gestures toward a combination of schemata that share a role in combat. These schemata can be printed according to pilot specifications and applied to a fully custom physical scaffolding. Notably, the Balor pattern group is only stable on large platforms (Schedule 2 and up) that are able to provide the raw energy output it demands – preferably ones with multiple redundancies, in case of catastrophic systems failure. The Balor PG was first encountered during the joint Albatross–DoJ/HR pursuit of the Maw – a Free Company turned decentralized hive-being — across Khayradin’s Blanca Desert after the end of the Sanjak Rebellion. It was there that the joint force encountered, engaged with, and ultimately defeated the Maw and its Balors – and there that Union’s CentComm hoped the nanowash outbreak could be contained. Of course, subsequent Balor outbreaks on Khayradin have proven this hope to be in vain, and the pattern group continues to terrorize Karrakin commanders throughout Baronic space. In the field, the Balor’s neurosynced hellswarm and greywash nanites form an undulating shroud that can pour out of its chassis at a moment’s notice, swirling in maddening patterns to form both eschatologic defensive and offensive systems. A Balor in its most active state is held together more by undulating, flame-like masses of nanite swarms than any physical structure. This has the effect of distributing kinetic and coherent-particle energy out across and through the chassis – making attacks against a Balor “like shooting angry water”, as one after-action report put it.

[ktbofficial]

Kind of an out of character question, but if I wanted to make one of these blogs for another faction like the Albatross or Voladores or somthing, can I just... do that? Or do I need to get permission from someone or do something else first?

Nah you can totally just make one it's great fun and you'll be super popular. Just go around picking fights with other factions and people will love you.

As an aside, I almost started a free sanjak faction blog when I founded this one but I thought that they would be, like, boring and this would have better manufacturer interactions. So far I've been really enjoying the KTB one.

I mean, uh, something something Earthmen Union Harrison Armory Ludra's World

[albatross-lancer]

Trick or treat from all of us at MSMC-796! No specific requests; we trust you to pick something interesting for us from the archives.

-- Angel

Greetings!

I originally did not plan to use these to share tactical profiles, as they are not part of the public section of our Archives. However, they can be shared with allies given sufficient cause, and I trust you will make good use of this. Sorry about the redactions, unfortunately we cannot broadcast certain information on the Omninet without endangering other allies of ours.

Tactical Profile: HORUS "Balor"

Type: Mechanized Chassis/Greywash Composite

History: Log begun by Honored Wing Majid-4327 of Makteba Kano: Pattern group first encountered by detachment of MK Kano, deployed on Sanjak & Khayradin by Karrakin Free Company "The Maw" during Sanjak Revolution.

Log continued by Loyal Wing Yusef Pikul-4738 of Makteba Gao: Flight Cormorant of MK Gao encountered several Balor chassis while defending allied [REDACTED] from HORUS cultists. This seems to confirm that the pattern group is associated with HORUS, though its origins in the Sanjak Revolution cast doubt on the commonly accepted origin date of HORUS in 4900.

Log continued by Vikram Arrellano-4791 of Makteba Erdaf: Data from Hercynia suggests prototype Balor-like chassis were used in the Hercynian Crisis.

Log continued by Honored Wing Solmaz-4482 of Makteba Kano: Encountered Balor-analogous frame on Sanjak deployed by Karrakin Royal Intelligence Service "Company Centimane". Beginning new Tactical Profile: HORUS "Hekatonkheires" [link blocked].

Recognition: The Balor pattern group displays few consistent features even by HORUS standards. It not a solid frame, rather a collection of miniature drones and greywash that typically assume a chassis-like shape. Is occasionally known to assume the form of other chassis or vehicles, but is always of larger size, at least Schedule 2. Always displays ability damage proximal foes by its mere presence thanks to greywash nanites, and to repair itself incredibly quickly even without pilot input. Not all Balor chassis encountered have had pilots, instead being directed by decorporealized intelligences. Note: [REDACTED]

Typical Loadout: Balor chassis typically favor melee weapons and drone nexuses, most notably, nanites in the shape of whips capable of dragging opponents to within range of their greywash swarms. As with all HORUS chassis, they are adept at electronic warfare, though only at close range. Their e-war proficiency extends to their more conventional weaponry, as much of it displays the ability to target based on an enemy's electronic defenses, even when using weapons that would not ordinarily. Finally, Balor chassis have repeatedly displayed the ability to deploy localized greywash swarms, even at some range.

Tactical Recommendations: The Balor chassis's most glaring weakness is its slugishness and lack of maneuverability, due to lacking actual legs or mech-scale propulsion. This combined with its heavy reliance on close-range attacks means the ideal way to engage a Balor-Chassis would be at long range, potentially using e-war or other heat-inducing attacks to exploit the limited reactor capabilities of its component drones. This is useful for allied groups or specialized Albatross forces, but is often impossible due to typical Albatross loadouts and combat scenarios. In such a case, Nelsons with standard loadouts are optimal for taking on Balor chassis. Utilize hit-and-run tactics, relying on the war pike's reach, knockback capabilities, and the Nelson's superior maneuverability to strike while evading retaliation and staying out of reach of pursuit. Once wise to this tactic, enemy pilots may ready themselves for attack rather than attempting to pursue, so obverse them carefully. Grapples are likely, which can be avoided with proper use of Armor-Lock Plating. Teamwork for the purposes of focusing down one target at a time is especially important so as to overwhelm their regeneration. Heavier Defender-archetype mechs are not well suited to combating Balor chassis and should instead prioritize evacuating civilians (particularly important given the rapidity with which greywash can kill unarmored targets) or finding other targets, where applicable. Note: Communications logs suggest fragments of decorporealized intelligences from "The Maw" persist in Balor Chassis even when they are piloted, and that they bear a vendetta against the Albatross, particularly MK Kano. This may be exploited by Loyal Wings capable of goading the Balor Chassis to distract them away from civilians or allies.

Data: A large amount of tactical data follows, including averaged chassis & weapon combat speeds recommended energy weapon frequencies, kinetic weapon compositions & densities, & blast patterns. It seems to be aggregated from a detailed log of what appears to be every Albatross engagement against Balor chassis, some of which are redacted.

[msmc-796-official]

Oh, hey, I got a couple of these in one go!

I talked about my ordeal with Halcyon a while back, but that particular scuffle earned me two of these rites of passage at the same time. Had a brief "fresh air" engagement when the cockpit glass got shattered by his chain axe, then got my first eject scar (and lost my left eye in the process) shortly after when I bailed out and a pretty nasty shard of glass carved up my face.

...yeah, when I said I was out cold for a while after Free Sanjak, I wasn't kidding. Waking up with one less eye wasn't fun, but thankfully I got a new mech shortly after that, so from then on out I had a pretty smooth adjustment to piloting with just the one.

My squadmates both got their metaphorical stripes pretty early on, too. I've seen Slipshod trot back into our hangar with their Toku still actively in the Danger Zone (i.e., on fire) more times than I can count, and given what a Tokugawa's primary purpose is, that thing's been splashed with more molten metal than you can shake a manipulator at. As for Kennedi, (and she won't ever tell you this herself - hell, she might even try to kill me for saying it), I got to see her break her Caliban's leg attempting a "Death From Above" maneuver with my own two eyes (well, okay, my own eye), and I can assure you she will never live that particular incident down.

-- Angel

Rites of Passage, or...

...popular answers to, "what makes you a real MechWarrior is:"

Surviving getting scrambled for action with a hangover

Gaining a preference for which weapon system heats up field ration packs just right when balanced on top of it

"Cockpit redecorating" (vomiting from neural feedback, the reason a pilot kit includes odor-blocking noseplugs)

Getting molten metal from somebody else's 'mech on your own

Surviving a "fresh air" engagement (fighting with a breached or broken cockpit)

Making it back to the hangar with your 'mech still on fire

Getting your first ejection scar (cut by glass or metal en route from the cockpit)

Breaking a 'mech's leg(/s) in an unsuccessful Death from Above

Learning the "ice cube trick" (seasoned 'mech pilots are forever pointedly refusing to tell rookies what the "ice cube trick" is; there is no actual "ice cube trick")

[lightdancer1]

The 1936-9 Palestinian Revolt is the forgotten war in the 102 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

This war, the forgotten war of the 102 years, is forgotten not least because it marks an abrupt point where both the Palestinian nation was forged into one.....and because it was directed at the British Empire more than the Yishuv, even if plenty of Jews were killed as what was ultimately collateral damage in an anti-British revolt. The reality of a war like this is the apple in the ointment of a simpler narrative that treats the Palestinian Arabs as exceptions to broader trends when in reality this war has a great many parallels to the rebellions in Iraq, Syria, and the rise of the Saudi dynasty in the Hijaz, as well as rebellions in Egypt and Libya.

The main difference is that in addition to the British it In three years the great war that followed marked a turning point, the final steps in making a nation out of three Sanjaks of the Vilayet of Damascus, providing the basis for the idea that the peoples who were Christian and Muslim and spoke Arabic were indeed Palestinians, and not Southwestern Syrians or the Ummah with its semi-tolerated at best Christian and Jewish hangers-on.

While written by an Israeli, this is a book that repeatedly notes both the very bluntness of the views of the Yishuv, that the Jabotinsky/Irgun crowd viewed the war precisely for what it was, the birth of a new nationalism, and that the combination of the war, its success in pressuring the British to ban Jewish immigration....which by then still didn't satisfy Palestinians, the breaking of their military power denied them the chance to keep the war going did was ultimately the Pyrrhic victory that lost them the 1947-8 war with the Yishuv before it even started.

10/10.

[dragonkid11]

The greatest triumph against tyrant is to live beyond their rule.

[ips-northstar-official]

You know, whenever you discuss the KTB's blockades over Free Sanjak I swear I can hear the faint metal music of your Caliban operators preparing to evaporate someone via shotgun.

JUST ONCE I WISH THEY’D TRY SOMETHING

JUUUUST THIS ONCE

//[UNCLE]

[msmc-796-official]

@faulty-heat-vents hiya. callsign Slipshod, MSMC-796-2, squadron mechanic and ex-HORUS member, at your service. buckle up, kiddo, you're getting the crash course on HORUS today. hope you're taking notes, there WILL be a test (I'm kidding, obviously)

HORUS is often considered a member of the big 4 (the other 3 being IPS-N, SSC, and HA, obviously - GMS doesn't count because they're the one the big 4 get all of their base parts from), but in truth it's not so much one big corpro conglomerate as it is a bunch of unaffiliated splinter groups scattered across the galaxy all operating and identifying with one unified group name. (kinda like how all the different merc squads at MSMC have their own squad names, but are all still part of Mirrorsmoke Mercenary Company, if that makes sense)

these splinter groups are called "cells", and usually consist of whatever technophiles, mechanics, hackers, NHPs, and assorted freaks (I use that term both affectionately and, well, not-so-affectionately here) feel like getting together and causing chaos that day / week / month / whenever. HORUS cells pop up fast and disappear just as quickly, all with different goals and personalities and agendas that make pinning down a consistent modus operandi for HORUS as a whole nigh impossible

HORUS mechs are all universally kinda fucked up, due to the fact that no two print codes are ever the same because they're always coming from different places, each with their own quirks and modifications and viruses and liturgicode and whatnot. the general frame naming scheme is that of mythological monsters from old Cradle - manticore, pegasus, goblin, hydra, minotaur, and so on. usually they specialize in systems-based abilities, seeing as the people who design 'em are talented in that regard themselves. (whole lot of paracausal tech and semi-sentient liturgicode get stuffed in there too, of course)

best example of what kinda weird shit HORUS mechs can do is the lich frame. those fuckers will pop into your hangar and replace your old mech seemingly outta nowhere, then when you go to check the records, you find that you've always piloted a lich - never had the old mech to begin with. basically, through some kinda paracausal nonsense that not even I fully understand, lich frames alter the timeline so that, effectively, you always have been a lich pilot. (that ain't necessarily a bad thing - liches are fragile, but stupidly powerful in the right hands. [REDACTED] over at @officialunionhr pilots a lich, if memory serves, and they were around to see SecCom firsthand. scary motherfucker, that one)

one more important thing: you can't buy a HORUS print code like you can from the other corpos. outside of DIYing a HORUS frame yourself, as it sounds like "Thermie" has reported your classmate doing with that prototype gorgon, the only way you can get your hands on the print codes for one is either a) find one buried somewhere deep in the backrooms of the Omninet, or b) randomly get sent one by a current HORUS op. sometimes a cell will do a code drop publicly, like the folks over near Free Sanjak did with the original kobold code for the use of the Ungratefuls, but that's an exception and not a rule. usually if you wanna get your hands on a HORUS mech, you gotta have connections (like me, for example) or get really, really lucky

that's the long and short of it - sorry for infodumping, but I was part of a HORUS cell for a good long time, so I out of anyone should know how it all works. if you have any further questions for me, the askbox is always open. take care, kid

-- Slipshod

//Pilot, you have one [1] unallocated License Point(s) available.

//WAIT SHIT SINCE WHEN??

//Your engineering monitor has temporarily allocated you one [1] license level for you next assignment.

//Well, that’s fun. Guess I should start thinking about what to kit you with then, huh?

//I advise consulting your newly-established Omninet social port. Perhaps the wider community has ideas?

[horus-unofficial]

Do you support the illegal occupation of Ludra's World by so-called 'free sanjak'?