Behind the Scenes - The Battle of Red Sands City

The Battle of Red Sands city was the largest single Battletech battle I’ve ever run in my 26-odd years playing the game. It also had a number of highlights from a gameplay point of view that are definitely worth going into some detail on.

The Battle of Red Sands City

(From Brush Conflicts of the Post Republic Era; Galatean Free Press)

The ruins of Red Sands City

Acting on this Intel, major Irisz Magyari launched an attack on the reported QLF stronghold, seeing an opportunity to not only strike a decisive blow against the terrorist group, but also to eliminate or capture a good portion of their leadership.

That information proved correct, the Irregulars discovering that the QLF had made their home in the ruins of the old Qizilquam capitol. Several of the abandoned buildings had been reconstructed to serve as both headquarters and command facilities, as well as storehouses for their equipment. Additionally, a large area of the capitol had been cleared and reinforced to act as a landing pad for cargo dropships; when the Irregulars arrived, they found a Mule (Later identified as the Hal Warren, a free trader) was present and in the process of unloading

The Irregulars had a company of BattleMechs, supported by a VTOL lance and a platoon of mixed battle armour. Arrayed against them were two companies of QLF Armour, mostly the older Zhukov and Scorpion thanks they preferred. Supplementing this force was an oversized lance of BatleMechs, again mostly older designs save for a Marauder II, as well as several converted IndustrialMechs and conventional infantry.

QLF forces destroyed, leadership captured

(Extracted from the Hamilton Newsweb)

In a daring assault, Mercenaries employed by the Hamilton planetary government launched an attack on the suspected headquarters of the outlawed QLF. In a swift, decisive battle, the Mercenary forces were able to not only defeat the terrorist group, but were able to capture the organization’s apparent leader and a sizable portion of its command structure.

Following information believed to have been provided by a high-ranking QLF captive, the Mercenary forces attacked a meeting of several QLF cell leaders, being held in the ruins of Qizilqum City. Arriving on-scene, the mercenary forces discovered not only a large concentration of QLF troops, including conventional vehicles and BattleMechs, but also a Mule-class Cargo Dropship that was believed to be providing supplies to their forces.

Untitled Mercenary Expose, production notes

[Establishing shots of Rashid’s house; there’s some in the footage Randy sent us]

Narrator [V/O]: Using a decoy, they hoped to lure their target out.

Governor Rashid Zaydid [Recording]: I told him never to contact me here [EN: These are in Kazakh; obviously we’ll have subtitles]

Messenger [Recording]: I have orders, and you need to follow them too. This is important. Head to this location and wait for instructions.

Zaydid [Recording]: All right; but this had better be important. We’re all risking a lot by your coming here, especially after what’s happened in the last few days. They’re watching me, I’m sure.

[Shots of government car in motion. Not sure if Randy has any in the package, but I’m sure we can just use some stock if we need to]

Narrator [V/O]: The target had taken the bait, Governor Rashid Zaydid leaving his home to head towards what he thought was a vital meeting, unaware of what was really in store.

Hamilton Planetary Guard prisoner interrogation log (extract)

Agent Kryztov Hussan (Hamilton Planetary Guard): Let’s be honest here, mister Nurzal. Those alarms? That was a group of your QLF ‘comrades’ trying to get in here to kill you. Not extract, kill.

Biebol Nurzal (QLF):  You’re bluffing.

Hussan: Am I? You’re a self-proclaimed cell leader, Biebol. You should know that you’re too valuable to be left in our custody. And you should know that it’s a lot easier to leave a dead body then to try to smuggle out a wounded man, especially in the middle of a gunfight.

[Pause]

Hussan: Now your associates weren’t very successful. Two of them are dead, and we have three more in custody. They might be willing to talk, especially as they saw one of theirs chopped in half with a Vibrokatana. That sort of thing can loosen a few tongues.

[Pause]

Hussan: And if they give us something useful, well, that means you’re less valuable to us. That mean we’ll downgrade your protection, which means that you’ll be more accessible to your QLF ‘friends’. Now as touching as a reunion might be, I suspect you don’t want that.

Business Leader slain in terrorist bombing

(Hamilton Newsweb Archives; November 23 3132)

Kazan City – Authorities have today confirmed the death of Sayyid Niyazi, a prominent local business leader, in what appears to be a random terrorist attack.

After being missing for several days, Niyazi (47) was confirmed killed by a roadside bomb or landmine. According to a police statement, Niyazi was driving alone when his groundcar struck an explosive device on or about the 8^th of November. The explosives completely destroyed his vehicle as well as his body, leaving only trace DNA evidence and behind. An extensive police search recovered the vehicle two days later, but at the time no evidence of his death could be found or confirmed.

Audio Log File #75213-Rho

Major Irisz Magyari: I can guess why you asked to see me.

Commander Roxana Zaryos: I think we both can agree that we should be honest with each other here. After what’s happened in the last few days, I can’t see anything that will be gained by doing otherwise, and I certainly think that we both want the same things here.

Magyari: Given what my men discovered, I can agree entirely. Commander Zaryos, I’m not the sort of mercenary who’s going to rigidly stick to a contract and not deviate from it an inch, and I’m not going to sit idly by and do nothing because it’s not what I’m being paid for. What the QLF showed was a capacity to do a lot more than we had anticipated, and I want to prevent that from happening.

Zaryos: Understood and appreciated, Major. However, I would like a full accounting of exactly what happened today.

Magyari: As long as nothing I say goes beyond this room, and there are no repercussions on my men. I take full responsibility for their actions.

Zaryos: Entirely fair. Of course, right now, punishing them is the last thing on my mind. My people have been hamstrung by integration into the League, and SAFE oversight is strangling a lot of our efforts to infiltrate and gather information on the QLF. They achiever a massive breakthrough. I still need to know how they did it.

Breaking News: Terror in Kazan City

(Extracted from the Hamilton Newsweb)

Terrorists believed to be connected to the Qizilqum Liberation Front struck Kazan City in an attack apparently directed at key government and military officials. However, support from mercenaries hired by the Hamilton planetary government allowed planetary guard forces to swiftly resolve the situation while limiting losses and damage.

Details are still unclear, but it appears that at approximately 2000 hours Kazan City time, a force of at least a dozen QLF insurgents stormed the Kazan City convention center, interrupting an event in progress. Securing the building and shutting off the power, the QLF forces took those inside hostage, including district governor Rashid Zaydid, Planetary Guard district commander Roxana Zaryos and mercenary commander Irisz Magyari.

Hamilton's Ten Worst Buildings (extract)

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following post was discovered by Randy R. Georges during his investigation into local politics)

Previously in the Architecture Blog, we’ve looked at buildings that were the wrong design for the right time, and ones that were the right design for the right time. Today’s building is that most unique of types; the wrong building at the wrong time built for the wrong reasons.

The Kazan City convention centre was first proposed in 3129 to fulfil a need that simply didn’t exist. Kazan City had no existing major convention space and was neither a major tourist nor business destination. On paper, the idea was to create a convention space that would draw people and business to the city, but at the same time, there were a lot of questions as to if a convention centre alone would be a major draw. Regardless, district Governor Sukhrab Kentau was convinced that the project was a good idea, and had thrown the weight of the district government behind it.

Kazan City politics

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following blog post was discovered by Randy R. Georges during his investigation of the local media)

So how’s this for a thankless job? Be the governor of a region that’s both economically depressed and the hotbed for a terrorist/revolutionary/whatever movement? And on top of that, have somebody further up the food chain bring in outside contractors as a way of telling people that hey, you can’t do your job so we’ve hired someone to fix your mess for you.

Want that job? Because I’m beginning to think that Rashid Zaydid, the governor of the Kazan district, certainly doesn’t.

Qizilqum Liberation Front force assessment, January 3145

The following is an assessment of the Qizilqum Liberation Front’s (Henceforth QLF) forces and abilities, as of 1 January, 3145. It is for distribution to planetary militia forces and FWLM units, as well as any affiliated mercenaries. While the information is admittedly sketchy, the information contained within is none the less considered to be accurate and a fair summary of their abilities.

Roxana Zaryos, Hamilton Planetary Guard

01-01-3145

A brief History of the Qizilqum Independence Movement

(This is a rather quick and dirty summary ripped from an online fact-file, but it's enough to cover what we're doing here. I'll go into more depth on the current situation when we get on-world and have the latest news - Irisz)

The roots of the movement stretch back to the time of the Terran Alliance and the destruction of the Central Asian Alliance. A repressive authoritarian regime, the Central Asian Alliance’s demise bought freedom to millions and was a part of the unification of Terra. In the aftermath of its destruction the Alliance, it was effectively purged, symbolically destroyed in much the same way as the Rim Worlds or Word of Blake’s imagery were eliminated.

While to the majority of the population, the fall of the Alliance was a boon, those who had been among the ruling elites had quite literally lost everything, even down to their national identity. In the survivors of those elites and their families, this bread a degree of resentment and a desire to recreate what had been lost, if not on Earth then somewhere else.

Colonisation provided that chance. A group of families, largely ethnic Uzbeks who were descendants from those disenfranchised elites, arranged a way off Terra, pooling resources to find their own way to the stars while ‘encouraging’ others to join as colonists. Choosing a potential world, they made their home in a dry, remote district of a world they named Qizilqum (“Red Sands”), creating a new government modelled on what they had left behind.