Lore question about Nobles in military

[Deaghaidh]

So this is something I don't recall and probably varies from faction to faction. But if a person is a noble in a major spheroid power who owns their own mech or several, and that person is serving in the armed forces, can they resign and go merc? Would that be considered treason? Would it mean they break the feudal contract and therefore forfeit their other assets in that state?

 

[Sev Armath]

That would depend strongly on a few conditions i suppose.
If the person in question is a high ranking noble, lets say the designated heir to the throne, that will probably never happen at all.
If he belongs to the same family but is somewhere near the bottom, few people will care as long as he dont take contracts against his family. In between it might still be enough for a nice scandal.
He will probably not be considered to act in the name of his family anymore if he joins a merc unit, so contracts against other major houses shouldnt be a problem (but his unit might get more attention then they could possibly like).
All that as long nothing happens wich makes his return neccessary.

But all that still depends on the House in Question. If we talk about Kurita (Draconis Combine), he will be dead if he ever dares to return, same is probably true about Liao (Capellan Confederacy).

There are a lot of minor noble houses, but the baseline hazard of such a move is probably determined by the particular allegiance of his family and the cultural background.

 

[Deaghaidh]

The specific case is a fairly minor noble whose family is significant mostly on one planet in the Isle of Skye. Basically when looking at being forced one day to choose between Free Skye and Steiner Loyalists, he says "Nope" and starts his own small merc unit on the periphery.

 

[Sev Armath]

In that specific case i would strongly assume that this might a drama for his family, but not that unusual in the overall context.
If he received some sort of a call to arms from the lyran military, he will be considered a deserter and treated as such. But he shouldnt have that much trouble if he desists to return. If the rest of his family remained "loyal" his exodus might affect them as some sort of stigma, but probably not in a legal way.

these are suggestions based on what i know about the cultural context of the Lyran Commonwealth, i could be wrong of course.

 

[Deaghaidh]

So he might be thought to have forfeited his title to the next in line, if they didn't join him in exile? I'd imagine there would be a lot of officers in similarly awkward positions from that rebellion prone region.

 

[Sev Armath]

Since he chose the exile, he will definitly have to give up any claims on any lyran titles. Again, as long as nothing unexpected and dramatic happens.
But i would think that in the moment he takes contracts and actions against the lyran commonwealth, he will be considered a traitor and his family will be watched, because they are related to a known traitor.

I would say your guess concerning that region is correct, its likely that a lot of military personal had divided loyalities in that time and region

 

[TaurianMerc]

Nobles just never go mercenary, it's not like you would ever find a Calderon running around with known sell swords

 

[Havamal]

What about the Brothers Kell?

Plenty of Nobles in merc units in Battletech


Though I agree there should be potential, complications for them back home depending.

 

[Exemplar Voss]

That would depend strongly on a few conditions i suppose.
If the person in question is a high ranking noble, lets say the designated heir to the throne, that will probably never happen at all.
If he belongs to the same family but is somewhere near the bottom, few people will care as long as he dont take contracts against his family. In between it might still be enough for a nice scandal.
He will probably not be considered to act in the name of his family anymore if he joins a merc unit, so contracts against other major houses shouldnt be a problem (but his unit might get more attention then they could possibly like).
All that as long nothing happens wich makes his return neccessary.

But all that still depends on the House in Question. If we talk about Kurita (Draconis Combine), he will be dead if he ever dares to return, same is probably true about Liao (Capellan Confederacy).

There are a lot of minor noble houses, but the baseline hazard of such a move is probably determined by the particular allegiance of his family and the cultural background.

I could see it happening in the Confederacy as well. Its just that anyone savvy would assume they're part of/ reporting to the Intelligence Services.
Though their citizenship system makes noble status [appointments] for offspring sort of fuzzy.

 

[Packrat]

The Isle of Skye isn't exactly fond of the Steiner dynasty. If the officer's commission was resigned formally and they could successfully sell their mercenary career as refusing to fight for the Steiners and instead gaining profit to benefit the Federation of Skye, there probably wouldn't be much in the way of consequences. The Lyran authorities really don't want to stir up any more resentment from the Skye region, so as long as the Commonwealth itself wasn't attacked by this noble's merc band, they'd probably just let the issue drop.

 

[Havamal]

Remember, you shouldn't let contemporary views regarding mercenaries color your outlook.
In 3025 BT a mechwarrior is closer to knight, or at least a pilot during the age of early flight combat than to a soldier regarding the view towards romanticism and respect even from their enemies.

And BT merc units are more like the merc units of renaissance and pre-renaissance Italy and even some of the more professional "free companies" of the hundred years war, in that they are accepted, fit a need that the semi feudal society requires, and except for a few factions aren't treated personally for their opposition in any particular contract.
In fact, if an employer mistreats a unit, their rivals usually try to woo them and poach their services.

 

[Cynwulf]

So this is something I don't recall and probably varies from faction to faction. But if a person is a noble in a major spheroid power who owns their own mech or several, and that person is serving in the armed forces, can they resign and go merc? Would that be considered treason? Would it mean they break the feudal contract and therefore forfeit their other assets in that state?

I see no reason why a noble could not do this as long as they had served the minimum requirement for said armed forces. You cannot just resign before your enlistment requirement is over. However when your contract is up you do not have to re-enlist. The length of enlistment to my knowledge has never been mentioned for each service and i suspect if will differ from house to house and by what your profession is in the military. I would suspect since your a noble you were an officer within the LCAF i would suspect your minimum obligation would have been either 6 or 9 years which is two or three tours of duty.

 

[Tnarien]

The Isle of Skye isn't exactly fond of the Steiner dynasty. If the officer's commission was resigned formally and they could successfully sell their mercenary career as refusing to fight for the Steiners and instead gaining profit to benefit the Federation of Skye, there probably wouldn't be much in the way of consequences. The Lyran authorities really don't want to stir up any more resentment from the Skye region, so as long as the Commonwealth itself wasn't attacked by this noble's merc band, they'd probably just let the issue drop.

Overtly, perhaps. But the chances of someone who isn't at all a LOKI operative accidentally tripping over a fusion bomb in the mechbay likely go up significantly.

 

[Havamal]

In fact, for a landless noble scion mercenary success is a route to landholdership.

 

[Deaghaidh]

My initial thought was that disgruntled soldiers leaving Skye might be like Irish leaving to fight in European armies. The English didn't try and stop it, and let officers recruit openly and sometimes they'd return when they retired.

 

[TaurianMerc]

My initial thought was that disgruntled soldiers leaving Skye might be like Irish leaving to fight in European armies. The English didn't try and stop it, and let officers recruit openly and sometimes they'd return when they retired.

Yes but a large part of that was, A: the more Irish sent abroad to fight, the less there were at home and the higher the numbers that wouldn't come back, or came back disabled, and B: it was feeding the Continental war machine, and it was much better for British interests to keep the Europeans fighting each other and not looking in our direction.

 

[Cyttorak001]

The actions of individual MechWarriors is far below the notice of the Great Houses. The only people who would care are the immediate locals and the particular family.

 

[Col. Klink]

In MechWarrior tabletop RPG character creation (using life paths similar to HBS) a mechwarrior was required to serve at least one 2-year tour of duty in a house unit upon graduating from an academy. After that you were free to choose your future career. Leaving a safe job in a well-supplied house unit for the uncertain life of a merc is probably something not many would consider, though. It's not illegal unless you turn straight to shady stuff like piracy and assassinations. But your reputation would certainly take a hit, your family would probably disown you, and your former house military wouldn't trust you.

Morgan and Patrick Kell actually got started this way, graduating with top marks from Nagelring, then serving with the Skye Rangers (a fairly odd assignment considering their Steiner loyalties) and eventually founding the Kell Hounds. However, the Kells were a) extremely skilled, b) independently wealthy, being minor Lyran nobles and c) were already favorites of the Archon.

 

[Cynwulf]

In MechWarrior tabletop RPG character creation (using life paths similar to HBS) a mechwarrior was required to serve at least one 2-year tour of duty in a house unit upon graduating from an academy. After that you were free to choose your future career. Leaving a safe job in a well-supplied house unit for the uncertain life of a merc is probably something not many would consider, though. It's not illegal unless you turn straight to shady stuff like piracy and assassinations. But your reputation would certainly take a hit, your family would probably disown you, and your former house military wouldn't trust you.

Morgan and Patrick Kell actually got started this way, graduating with top marks from Nagelring, then serving with the Skye Rangers (a fairly odd assignment considering their Steiner loyalties) and eventually founding the Kell Hounds. However, the Kells were a) extremely skilled, b) independently wealthy, being minor Lyran nobles and c) were already favorites of the Archon.

The minimum tour of duty is 3 years according to battletech A Time of War. This has very little to do with how long an enlistment requirement for each Great House actually is though. It would also depend on your field within the military as well. The more investment the military makes in you and longer your term of service will be.

 

[Deaghaidh]

I'm thinking he did at least one, maybe two tours in the Skye Rangers.