Devotion to the Success of the Combine Through Proper Work
“Devotion to the Success of the Combine Through Proper Work”
(Dictum Honorium VII, 215-216)
Devotion to duty, perfected through greater self-discipline, leads to an improved state of personal freedom and sense of joy focused on fulfillment in one’s work.
[Commentary: Business is war on the field of numbers. Financial ruin from poor decisions and improper decorum is as deadly as badly considered tactics and unconsidered strategies. In the great machine, one faulty gear can create a catastrophe; one poorly maintained part could destroy a company. It is the duty of the worker to give all he is to the success of his endeavor. For the smallest part plays the largest role in the success or failure of the greater purpose.]
So I found myself in possession of a few minutes today and decided to post an update (of sorts) on my progress with Handbook: House Kurita. Suffice to say, the first draft is not yet complete due to a myriad of factors. But with only two sections remaining to be completed (later history and a mini-atlas), it’s nearing completion. Unfortunately for those waiting, this means the book will not see publication until early 2013.
The book has been a true exploration of the BattleTech universe’s most misunderstood and maligned factions. Grossly sketched as the “evil empire” early on in the game’s creation, the Draconis Combine has turned into one of the most dynamic and culturally rich realms in the current setting. This particular stellar empire survives on the sheer force of will of its ruling House, the Kurita clan. As the family went, so did the Combine.
Anyway, one of the earliest sections I’d completed was the chapter describing the Pillar of Jade – the economic structure of the realm. One of the key pieces within this chapter are the corporate sketches of the Combine’s industrial might. For the Combine, industry is divided along two lines – those that support the military, and everything else. The Draconis Combine’s reliance on the military is a major cornerstone of its existence and key to its continued survival.
Within the military industrial sector, one corporation has dominated since the early years of the realm’s formation: Luthien Armor Works, also known as LAW. As a treat, I present the (to-edit) draft of LAW’s entry in the upcoming Handbook: House Kurita…
Luthien Armor Works
Headquarters: Tokyo Island (Luthien)
CEO: Shogun Hoek Botterfield
Main Products (Dieron; LAW—Dieron): Grand Dragon BattleMech, BattleMech refits
Main Products (Enif; LAW—Enif): BattleMech and combat vehicle armor plating
Main Products (Luthien; BBP Industries): Bara no Ryu, Excalibur, Intruder, Nekohono’o, Okinawa, and Triumph class DropShips, BattleSat System Defense Stations
Main Products (Luthien; Guthry Island OmniMech Production Facility): Avatar, Black Hawk-KU, Blackjack, Firestarter, Owens, Raptor, Strider, and Sunder OmniMechs
Main Products (Luthien; Primary Factory): Charger, Daikyu, Daimyo, Grand Dragon, Jenner, Komodo, Mauler, O-Bakemono, and Quickdraw BattleMechs; Kage, Kanazuchi, and Raiden battle armor
Main Products (Saffel; LAW—Saffel): Grand Dragon BattleMech
Main Products (Yori; LAW—Yori): Grand Dragon BattleMech
Main Products (Al Na’ir; Yori Mech Works) Atlas, Catapult, and Hatamoto-series BattleMechs
Main Products (Al Na’ir; Scarborough Manufacturers): Pegasus, Saladin, Saracen and Scimitar hovertanks, Maxim, heavy and standard hover APCs
Main Products (Oshika; Nimakachi Fusion Products Ltd.): Bishamon, Spider and Venom BattleMechs
Main Products (Izunami; Izumi JumpShip Yard): Chimeisho class JumpShip
Main Products (Altair; Kurita Combine Munitions Corp): Riever Aerospace Fighter
Main Products (Kessel; Diverse Optics, Inc.): laser weaponry
Main Products (Qandahar; Dow-Nexus Fusion Products): various fusion engines
Main Products (Galtor; Galtor Naval Yards): NeptuneSubmarine, civilian cargo submarines, various watercraft
Main Products (Proserpina; Guided Technologies): Missiles, missile launchers and missile guidance systems
Main Products (Jeanette; Jeanette Naval Yard): Triton class missile submarine
Main Products (Hanover; Saxe-Heidelberg Heavy Industries): Shuriken Spotter Plane, Graf-Tengu Air Transport, various civilian aircraft
Main Products (Benjamin; Whitworth Specialty Manufacturing): BattleMech repair and modification services
Profile: The biggest corporate conglomerate within the Combine and considered the Dragon’s iconic BattleMech manufacturer, LAW is a foundational lynchpin of the Kuritan empire. LAW’s primary loyalty has always been to the Kuritan throne, structuring its hierarchy and business plans to the whims of the Coordinators. Nothing during its centuries of existence has truly threatened the massive corporation. It is the DCMS’s largest weapons manufacturer, supplier, and the sole economic engine on several Combine worlds.
Over the centuries, LAW has absorbed or acquired several of its former competitors. Typically, LAW’s board of directors leaves the assimilated company’s internal structure intact; often, many of its new employees are not even aware of the transition of power. LAW senior executives continually challenge several of its subsidiaries to compete for contracts and in the corporate arena; they believe such activity only strengthens the corporation as a whole.
When Sanethia Kurita authorized and designed the transformation of Luthien, she allotted several million square kilometers for LAW to build upon. The corporate designers selected two major island formations off the coast of the future site of Imperial City. Major reconstruction transformed the shallow bay, diverting millions of metric tons of water back into the Obsidian Sea. The result was two massive plateaus that towered over the landscape: Tokyo and Guthry Islands. LAW engineers then sculpted each into an organically centered arcology, containing worker housing, manufacturing facilities, production areas, and smelting pits. Personal transportation rails interconnected the two islands and nearby Imperial City. In 3052, LAW built their massive OmniMech complex in and around the bases of both towers, covering much of the former bay floor. Despite the sheer amount of machinery and people in such a small area, the heavily populated LAW City maintains a harmonic feel that pleases the eye, if not the nose. Pollution is a perennial problem, one that LAW engineers are still working to resolve.
The second-largest LAW facility is its administrative division, located in LAW City on Pesht. It employs nearly fifty million workers to handle the monolithic company’s internal bureaucracy.