Operation PROMETHEUS

Operation PROMETHEUS
Part of Age of War era
Start Date 7 February 2455 Planet Hesperus II Result Lyran Commonwealth steals technology
Factions
(Attacker) Lyran Commonwealth	(Defender) Terran Hegemony
Commanders and leaders
Simon Kelswa
Conditions
Normal

Operation PROMETHEUS was the Lyran Commonwealth's successful attempt to steal BattleMech technology from the Terran Hegemony.

Overview

First seeing action in 2443, the Terran Hegemony's super-weapon, the Mackie, was a rude shock to the entire Inner Sphere. Realizing the awesome power of the BattleMech, then-Archon Katherine Steiner ordered her newly-created Lyran Intelligence Corps to make securing its plans a top priority. Even though one of the Hegemony's primary 'Mech manufacturing plants, Defiance Industries, was located on the jointly held world of Hesperus II. But after six years of repeated attempts to infiltrate the Hesperus plant, the Lyran Intelligence Corps was never able to get more than one agent on the inside. Though the agent failed to acquire the Mackie schematics, the agent did acquire maps and pictures of the assembly lines. By this time Katherine Steiner's son Alistair was an officer of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces and commander of an elite commando unit, developing a daring raid to seize the information directly from the factory's computers. Ultimately his unit was called elsewhere and the raid was shelved.

After his mother retired in 2445 and Alistair became the new Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth, increasing losses to both the Draconis Combine and Free Worlds League due to the lackluster and incompetent senior officer among the LCAF led him to revisit the long ago planned raid as means to turn the tide in the Age of War. Colonel Simon Kelswa would use the acquired maps and pictures to lead twenty-five Lyran commandos to specifically steal the Mackie plans. The mission, launched in the 7th February 2455 was a success, allowing the Lyran Commonwealth to be the first House outside of the Camerons to have BattleMech technology.

The operation was considered a success with the Lyran Commonwealth acquiring technical specifications to build the Hegemony's Mackie which ultimately provided inspiration for entirely new designs such as the Ymir.

In the aftermath of Operation PROMETHEUS, the Terran Hegemony responded by initiating plans to significantly expand their BattleMech forces with new designs since they knew it would not be long until copies of their Mackie appeared on every border. The result was the HAF expanding their BattleMech forces even further with new 'Mechs like the Archer, Griffin, and Orion.

Bibliography

• Experimental Technical Readout: Primitives, Volume 5
• House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth)