Editing Sturm auf Arc-Royal

{{ApocryphalProduct}}
{{InfoBoxProduct
| image               = SturmaufArcRoyalCover.jpg
| name                = 
| type                = Novel
| author              = [[Stefan Burban]]
| development         = 
| primarywriting      = 
| pages               = 
| cover               = [[Karsten Schreurs]]
| interiorart         = 
| illustrations       = 
| publisher           = [[Ulisses Spiele GmbH]]
| productioncode      = US41023
| year                = 26 February 2014
| ISBN10              = 
| ISBN13              = 978-3868893786
| MSRP                = 11,95 €
| content             = 
| era                 = [[Civil War era]]
| timeline            = 3 April - 22 June [[3065]]
| series              = [[Classic BattleTech Novels]]
| precededby          = 
| followedby          = 
}}
'''''Sturm auf Arc-Royal''''' ("Assault on Arc-Royal"), by [[Stefan Burban]], is the 23rd in the line of [[FanPro Novels|German-language Classic BattleTech Novels]] that [[Ulisses Spiele]] took over from [[FanPro]] and continued. It was initially announced as ''Arc-Royal unter Belagerung'' ("Arc-Royal under Siege").

== Canonicity ==
Written in German and exclusively published in that language so far, ''Sturm auf Arc-Royal'' does not meet the current criteria for [[Canon]] in the BattleTech universe. As an official product published under a valid license, it should be regarded as apocryphal.

== From the back cover (translated from German) ==
{{quote|''The brutal [[FedCom Civil War|Civil War]] is tearing the [[Federated Commonwealth]] apart with unabated ferocity. Only the [[Arc-Royal Defense Cordon]], having declared neutral, is spared from the massive destruction. That changes abruptly when [[Major General]] Johann Steiner, a distant cousin of the ruling [[Archon]], decides to bring the Cordon back into Lyran fold.<br />Only a small number of troops from the [[Kell Hounds]] and [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]] stand ready to oppose the invasion. And the disparate allies would rather be at each other's throats than beat back the enemy...''}}

==Plot Summary==
Johann Steiner has created a new unit, the 101st Tharkad Lancers (a full [[BattleMech]] [[regiment]] augmented by two [[battalion]]s of [[tanks]] and [[infantry]] each plus two wings of [[aerospace fighter]]s) from the remnants of commands shattered over the course of the [[FedCom Civil War]] and from "stealing" personnel and equipment from other line units. A loyal underling of [[Archon]] [[Katherine Steiner-Davion]], he is a military bureaucrat lacking real combat experience. Still, he decides to lead the Lancers on an assault against [[Arc-Royal]] on his own authority, hoping to decapitate the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon and end their political opposition to the Archon.

The 101st Tharkad Lancers' ''[[Star Lord (JumpShip class)|Star Lord]]''-class [[JumpShip]] ''Schwert des Archons'' jumps to a [[pirate jump point]] close to Arc-Royal. During the night of 28 April 3065 they simultaneously attack Clan Wolf-in-Exile in the city of Dernar, and the Kell Hounds HQ in the city of Haven.

Meanwhile on Arc-Royal, while the greater part of the Kell Hounds and Wolf-in-Exile forces are fighting abroad, local command rests with Kommandanthauptmann [[Daniel Sunder]] and newly bloodnamed [[Star Captain]] [[Kevlin Conners]], respectively. The mercenaries and the Clansmen do not get along well, and to relieve tensions a trial-style exercise on the Arhali high plateau between an augmented 'Mech [[company]] plus tanks and infantry, and a [[trinary]] is agreed upon. During the mock battle, a [[Mobile HQ]] picks up a garbled message indicating Dernar is under attack. When Sunder cannot establish radio contact with Haven, the exercise is called off but Kell Hounds and Wolves-in-Exile immediately begin to argue over the chain of command and how to react to the ongoing attack. Sunder narrowly manages to convince the Clanners to move with him to Haven, the closer suspected battle site, hoping to relieve the Kell Hounds garrison and then use the [[DropShip]]s stationed there to quickly move on to Dernar.

They arrive at Haven to find the city overrun and the DropShips destroyed, and only manage to rescue a handful of defending troops. The battered defenders retreat to the Shadow Falls natural preserve, where they can hide among the mammoth trees.

During an intelligence gathering mission to Dernar two days later, Sunder, Kevlin and some infantrymen find the city occupied and largely secured. A rash action by Kevlin results in a shootout and their eventual capture. In captivity, the men are severely mistreated until they are rescued by a commando team after a few days. Back in Shadow Falls, Kevlin reluctantly agrees to join Sunder in a guerrilla war. However, an ambush by Sunder's forces on 7 May is repulsed with losses and tensions between the disparate defenders escalate. Sunder and Kevlin decide to settle the issue through a [[Circle of Equals]], to determine who is to have overall command. Sunder prevails. Next, he orders a Kell Hound commando strike against the [[HPG]] compound. The local [[ComStar]] [[Demi-Precentor]] is sympathetic with the defenders' position and after he is freed from captivity the defenders can send a message to their units abroad, calling for help. The HPG is soon recaptured by the attackers, who take no prisoners among the Kell Hounds. The sacrifice of sixty troops does earn the Kell Hounds the grudging respect of the Wolves-in-Exile though, and relations begin to improve.

After a traitor among the defenders provides the Steiner forces with the location of the defenders' camp in Shadow Falls, forty [[Lyran Intelligence Corps|Loki]] agents are dropped on their position to sow chaos. Lyran 'Mechs move out to attack them while they are still in disorder. However, the terrain disrupts the attackers' formation and their attack is narrowly repulsed.

During the attack, photos found on a dead Loki attacker reveal the traitor's identity and he is captured. The defenders learn from him that a ''[[Leopard]]'' at the Dernar spaceport has had its reactor rigged in a way that essentially turns the DropShip into a large bomb that could wipe out any reinforcements arriving there. A portion of the defenders lures the attackers ever deeper into Shadow Falls while a strike force sneaks to Dernar to defuse the bomb ship. They accomplish the feat, but are cut off and prepare to make a last stand at the starport when Kell Hounds and Wolf-in-Exile reinforcements arrive at the pirate jump point and force the Steiner troops to stand down.

In the aftermath, all supplies and equipment of the 101st Tharkad Lancers is confiscated. Katherine Steiner-Davion, faced with open war with the Arc-Royal Defense Cordon, has to issue a public apology for the unsanctioned attack and pay substantial reparations. Johann Steiner finds himself under arrest after his crafty and ambitious second-in-command, Leutnant-Colonel (later Colonel) [[Hans Grüner]], framed him for the debacle, particularly for ordering the use of a weapon of mass destruction (the ''Leopard'') which in reality had been done on Grüner's orders against Steiner's explicit wishes.

== Featured BattleTech ==
===BattleMechs===
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*''[[Anubis]]''
*''[[Anvil]]''
*''[[Apollo (BattleMech)|Apollo]]''
*''[[Arctic Wolf]]''
*''[[Assassin]]''
*''[[Atlas (BattleMech)|Atlas]]''
*''[[Avatar (OmniMech)|Avatar]]''
*''[[Battle Cobra]]''
*''[[BattleMaster]]''
*''[[Blackjack (BattleMech)|Blackjack]]''
*''[[Catapult]]''
*''[[Cauldron-Born]]''
*''[[Centurion (BattleMech)|Centurion]]''
*''[[Cestus]]''
*''[[Chimera (BattleMech)|Chimera]]''
*''[[Cicada]]''
*''[[Clint]]''
*''[[Clint IIC]]''
*''[[Commando]]''
*''[[Crossbow (BattleMech)|Crossbow]]''
*''[[Crusader]]''
*''[[Cyclops]]''
*''[[Dervish]]''
*''[[Enfield]]''
*''[[Executioner (Gladiator)]]''
*''[[Fire Moth (Dasher)]]''
*''[[Firestarter]]''
*''[[Gargoyle (Man O' War)]]''
*''[[Grasshopper]]''
*''[[Griffin]]''
*''[[Guillotine]]''
*''[[Hauptmann]]''
*''[[Hunchback]]''
*''[[Hellbringer (Loki)]]''
*''[[Highlander]]''
*''[[Highlander IIC]]''
*''[[Huntsman (Nobori-nin)]]''
*''[[Javelin]]''
*''[[Jenner]]''
*''[[Kit Fox (Uller)]]''
*''[[Lancelot]]''
*''[[Locust]]''
*''[[Longbow]]''
*''[[Mad Cat II]]''
*''[[Mad Dog (Vulture)]]''
*''[[Marauder]]''
*''[[Marauder II]]''
*''[[Mist Lynx (Koshi)]]''
*''[[Night Gyr]]''
*''[[Nova (Black Hawk)]]''
*''[[Orion]]''
*''[[Osiris]]''
*''[[Pack Hunter]]''
*''[[Panther]]''
*''[[Phoenix Hawk]]''
*''[[Quickdraw]]''
*''[[Raven]]''
*''[[Rifleman]]''
*''[[Shadow Cat]]''
*''[[Stalker]]''
*''[[Stinger]]''
*''[[Stooping Hawk]]''
*''[[Stormcrow (Ryoken)]]''
*''[[Strider]]''
*''[[Summoner (Thor)]]''
*''[[Turkina]]''
*''[[Victor]]''
*''[[Vindicator]]''
*''[[Viper (Dragonfly)]]''
*''[[Warhammer]]''
*''[[Warhawk (Masakari)]]''
*''[[Wolf Trap]]''
*''[[Wolfhound]]''
*''[[Wolverine (BattleMech)|Wolverine]]''
*''[[Wyvern IIC]]''
*''[[Zeus]]''
{{div col end}}

===Aerospace fighters===
*''[[Lucifer]]''
*''[[Stuka]]''
*''[[Visigoth]]''

===VTOLs and Vehicles===
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
*[[Cavalry]] Attack Helicopter (infantry version)
*[[Warrior Attack Helicopter]]
*[[Badger (Combat Vehicle)|Badger]]
*[[Behemoth (Combat Vehicle)|Behemoth]]
*[[Bulldog]]
*[[Condor (Combat Vehicle)|Condor]]
*[[Demolisher]]
*[[Drillson]]
*[[Fulcrum]]
*[[Hetzer]]
*[[J. Edgar]]
*[[Mobile HQ]]
*[[Pegasus (Combat Vehicle - Hovertank)|Pegasus]]
*[[Saladin]]
*[[Vedette]]
*[[Von Luckner]]
{{div col end}}

===DropShips===
*''[[Leopard]]''
*''[[Overlord]]'' (''Stern von Tharkad'', ''Lyranisches Erbe'')
*''[[Union]]''
===JumpShips===
*''[[Invader]]''
*''[[Monolith]]''
*''[[Star Lord (JumpShip class)|Star Lord]]'' (''Schwert des Archons'')

==Notes==
*The attack on Arc-Royal, which, according to the novel, took place from 28 April through 25 May 3065, is not mentioned in any other source, especially not in the [[FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)]].

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Novels]]
[[Category:German-Language Products]]
[[Category:Works by Stefan Burban]]