108
February 23rd, 3063
Aurigan Reach, Coromodir VI, Cordia City, Arano Palace, High Lady Accommodations
While our younger sons, Paul and Peter, were busy trying out the new versions of the Penetrator 5TC and Highlander 732b TC1, Kamea and I had a chat with Sara.
The Penetrator 5TC was a hybrid, the first 'Mech to use Clan tech produced at the Concordat - and that we knew of in the entire Inner Sphere, outside Outreach - if only partially, only the guns and Heat Sinks were Clan tech, everything else was IS tech, albeit of the more advanced version.
The armament was basically the same, with 2 ERLL and 6 MPL, but these being Clan tech, they had greater range and did more damage. The AMS had been replaced by an SPL (also Clan tech) but for the first time in a 'Mech, one able to have anti-missile capability. The DHS were also Clan tech, which allowed more to be deployed because they were more compact and the reduced weight and volume of the weapons allowed for more free room and weight.
The Guardian ECM had already been upgraded to an Angel ECM, the result of a collaboration between the Draconis Combine and the Taurian Concordat - more accurately, between Coromodir Heavy Industries and Chandrasekhar Kurita's Hachiman Taro Electronics.
Note: in the OTL, it was the result of collaboration between Draconis Combine and Comstar.
The Highlander, on the other hand, was a more modest upgrade, having only replaced the MLs with (Clan tech) ERML.
Note: The only Clan tech we are currently capable of producing are ER and Pulse Lasers and Heat Sinks.
'Mom, Dad, I understand that this is a political proposal and not one out of love, and as such I think we should discuss the situation. Antony Calderon has sent me a formal marriage proposal.'
Calmly I opened my wallet and passed a 50 Bulls bill to Kamea, who took it it with a smile.
'It was to be expected daughter' Kamea said, as Sara looked at us with an amazed look, 'since the attempt to economically strangle us failed, Edward is now trying to ensure that the next generation will be loyal to him. I'm just amazed it's taken so long.'
'And you have nothing against it?' asked Sara 'From a personal point of view I kind of like him, he's a good man, funny and cultured, easy on the eyes, but the reason is political not personal.'
'The options are to accept, and you will have to ensure that you maintain as much autonomy as possible - as we have done' I replied, 'or to refuse which will be considered like a declaration of war, for which we are not prepared. Not in the next 20 or 30 years, at least. And that would be going against all of our plans and ideas for the future anyway. Accepting is by far the best option, I'm glad you two are compatible.'
'Yep, you share a room when you've been together for at least 5 years' Kamea said with a twinkle in her eye at Sara's indignant look. 'You two are not properly subtle or discreet about that over the years, at least, according to your security detail, which happens to be also working for me, if you had forgotten it.'
'Mom! Dad! How... never mind' Sara said with a now resigned look.
'Sara, don't forget that besides our daughter you are also the Heir-Designate - you are both in fact, keeping a watch on both of you is SOP' I replied calmly. ' I bet good money that Edward also knows almost everything about your relationship.'
'Our objective isn't to get independent again, but to grow and protect the Reach while being as autonomous / independent as possible. We are too small to survive alone, just look at the Duchy of Andurien. The result of the efforts of the last 30 years is that we have the best education of the Concordat, we are almost fully independent in the food, education, medical and industrial areas, but we still need to be part of the Concordat to survive against the big predatory nations that are some of our neighbors.'
'Now,' continued Kamea 'we have to study how you are going to maintain maximum autonomy. See if you agree with...'
In March 3063, production of Lee DropShips began on Coromodir V. A small group was however of Block 2 - only for the moment for the Aurigan Province forces, more specifically for the 1st Aurigan Guards / Revenants.
Lee Block 2
removed 200 tons of cargo space - now 767 tons.
The 8 ERLL are upgraded to Clan tech
The 26 ML are upgraded to Clan MPL - with the new AMS mode included
The 5 AC/20 replaced by LBX-20
Armor is upgraded to Improved Ferro-Aluminum Armor
Added 50 DHS.
Added 4 Arrow IV launchers - capable of launching SAM, AShM and all other variants.
It also has a brand new scaled up ECM unit - 50 tons, capable of denying lock to all kinds of missiles, from capital ones to Arrow IV, Alamos, LRMs and SRMs (Artemis and Streak included). This unit is in the final phase of tests to also be integrated in the Concordat WarShips.
The Lee Block 2 had much greater survivability, and an expanded ground support capability, but it was substantially more expensive than the already very costly original model.
After the two years of full production allocated to the Draconis Combine had past, we could now start to sell some of the Kuritan-designed Omnis (Avatar, Black-Hawk-KU, Owens, Raptor, Strider and Sunder) that we produced to the TDF and to use some for the Revenants. With these and the Marauder-II Omni, I created a 5thbattalion of 'Mechs, pushing the unit to a full 200 'Mechs (5 reinforced battalions each with a command lance). About 50% of the vehicles were Leclercs (all fusion powered), which also gives us a massive flexibility upgrade. In the other 'Mech battalions of the unit, many of the 'Mechs were quietly upgraded with Clan weapons, when possible (ER and Pulse Lasers for now).