Registered Contract: PY-OC-06-01Region: Periphery
System: Nibo
Galactic Coordinates: X: 444 Y: 645
Days to Jump Point: 6 days
Planet: Nibo IV
Primary Planetary Climate: Mediterranean
Approximate Population: 504 Million People
Capital City: Nibo City
Contract Type: Offensive Campaign
Primary Operational Terrain: Unknown
Contract Duration: 6 Months negotiable
Employer: The Nobility
Employer Contact: Professor Dextor Sparks, leading of KoN Exploration Expedition
Command Rights: Independent Command
Supporting Forces:
Merchant Class JumpShip, air lance of
Sword OmniFighters
Enemy Forces: Pirates
Supplement Contracts Offered: Garrison Duty
EMPLOYER SITUATION REPORT:The Kingdom of Nibo has received faint transmissions from a rough area about a jump away from their system. Possible sources have been narrowed down to 5 nearby systems, all thought to be uninhibited.
After a exploration mission undertaken by the Black Stars, the source of the transmissions has been determined to have been emitting from an old abandoned SLDF mining colony. However, of equal importance was the discovery of pirates who had made their bases out of the colony.
As their own military has been shattered in the recent war against the Quikscell Company sponsored mercenaries, the Kingdom has charged the Black Stars in eliminating the pirates that had been accounting for the lost of numerous civilian freighters in recent times, as well as making it safe for the Nibo Expeditionary Force to conduct extensive exploration and possibly re-opening the mines.
The same
Merchant Class JumpShip and pair of
Sword OmniFighters that had accompanied the expedition shall be attached to the Stars, while the
Mule Class DropShip shall be withdrawn in view of its own near non-combat capabilities, as well as its crew and occupants.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:1) Eliminate the pirate threat once and for all.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:1) Minimize collateral damage to any remaining equipment from the mines.
Contract Summary:Nibo City, Kingdom of Nibo
Nibo IV
12th August 3080
1000 hours local timeThe huge double doors on one end of the hall way that led to the King’s court opened silently on well oiled hinges, with a young Nibo officer approaching the three men.
“The King would like to request for your kind presence please.â€
Zhao winked at David. “Let’s not keep his Majesty waiting than.â€
In the room, the Black Star reports had been spread over a large table, with holovids of aerial and orbital photos of the pirate bases projected over the table. Around the table, King Marcus Collins, Rear Admiral Vincent Alfax and Major Emma Katz were pouring over the details, joined by two other officers, both spotting the ranks of Colonel.
“Captain Zhao! Lieutenant Ten-Bears! Welcome back to the Kingdom!†The King beamed brightly as the pair approached the table. The others turned towards the approaching mercenaries. “I believe you have already met Rear Admiral Alfax and Major Katz previously. This gentleman is Senior Colonel Andrew Smith, commander of our 1st Heavy Guards Regiment.â€
The more elderly of the unfamiliar officers extended his hands to shake both of those of Zhao and Ten-Bears. Despite his obvious age, his grip was strong, but not overly so.
“And this is Colonel Richard Carls, commander of the 5th Nibo Armoured Regiment.â€
“Gentlemen.†The younger Carls smiled easily at the pair of Black Stars. “We understand that we owe you the safe return of the Professor and his crew, as well as the discovery of those blasted bandits who had been plaguing Nibo. Thank you.â€
“Its our job.†Zhao dismissed the complements with a slight tilt of his head. “I would be worried if we didn’t find anything.â€
“Indeed.†The young King added. “For without a proper enemy, we wouldn’t be here.â€
Zhao raised an eyebrow. “Oh?â€
“As you well know, the Kingdom’s still rebuilding from the devastation of the QS backed invasion last year. While the Colonels had wanted the honour of crashing the possible remnants of those mercenary turned pirates, a quick number crunching concluded what I have feared – that we are in no shape to undertake such an operation.â€
David shrugged. "Not exactly a surprise... if you'd had available forces for outside operations, we wouldn't have been hired for escort duty in the first place."
“In light of that predicament, the Kingdom would like to extend a supplement contract to the Black Stars for the neutralization of these pirates.†The King continued. “Payment would be double what we offered for the earlier escort duty of course, with full salvage rights.â€
“Any supporting forces?†Zhao asked.
“The Next Stop will continue to provide you with the means to travel to, and back from that system where the pirates are holding up. Its… what was it called again?†The King looked around.
“DD-456-M-2†Ira reminded his King politely.
“Silly name to give a planet if you ask me.†The King rolled his eyes. “But anyway, Lieutenant Kepford will also continue to provide some aerospace support with his pair of Sword OmniFighters.â€
“Unfortunately, that will be all the military support we can provide you with.†Colonel Richard Carls concluded.
"If these are indeed the remnants of the pirates and mercs who participated in the attack against us the previous year, I can tell you now that they're armed with more than just rust buckets and tanks held together by spit, bale and prayers."Senior Colonel Andrew Smith rubbed his jaws, brows knotted. "While you won't spot the latest top of the line machines in their ranks, they have been known to have some upgraded hardware as well."
"We'll work with that in mind." Zi Long replied. "And thank you for letting the Swords accompany us for this supplement contract."
David sighed. "It's more than most of our employers are able to contribute." David turned to face the King. "And if you don't care for the current name, your Majesty, you could always give it a new one. The planet WAS found by forces under your banner, and you ARE the local sovereign. Who better to give it a more fitting name?"
The young leader of the Deep Periphery world grinned at Ten-Bears. "We'll see about that after the successful conclusion of your mission. There's more than enough time."
Zi Long nodded. "If that's the case, we'll see to the necessary preparations for our departure as soon as possible."
"Of course." Marcus agreed. "Good luck, and good hunting."
Given the hardware that their enemies could muster, the Black Stars were concerned, but not overly so with coming up against qualitatively superior opponents. What DID concern the mercenary command however, was that the pirates were dispersed at three separate encampments, with three separate sets of defenders, all of which needed to be taken down. Unfortunately, once the Stars hit one of them, and the others would be alerted, letting them prepare defences and making the costs to remove them that much higher.
Adding to that problem was that the thin atmosphere on the mining colony planet meant that the unit's VTOLs, WiGEs, and hovercrafts would be next to useless as all of those vehicles required a thicker atmosphere to operate effectively. The Black Stars would be deprived of one of their most potent force multiplier.
The only thing to be done was to hit all three locations simultaneously, or as close to it as they could manage.
Three camps - an old mine, a crude spaceport (though truth be told it was more a flat spot with a couple atmosphere and a larger encampment.
The mine site was interesting, if only because for some reason, the pirates appeared to be constructing an old style castle on one of the hills overlooking the place. The Stars could not for their lives come up with a reason WHY the pirates wanted a castle, but it didn’t really matter. Whim, ego, or maybe just to keep the slaves busy, it really wasn’t that important right now.
Combat vehicles or 'Mechs would be of limited use in those confines. Battle Armour would have to be used.
Next was the so-called space port - basically three small support domes and an open area. When they’d photographed it, it had held a
Mule and a
Leopard class DropShip. If possible, the Stars would like to get those ships intact, but if they had to settle for blowing them to hell, that would be acceptable.
BattleMechs and a near battalion of Battle-Armour were deemed to be able to take the ships fairly quickly, supported by Aerospace Fighters flying CAP. It was hoped that the latter especially would go a long way to convincing the DropShips to stay on the ground. And if the
Leopard should have a fighter or two loaded, air-to-air Arrow IVs should take the starch out of them fairly quickly.
The last location was the largest, and in the unit's mind the only one that could really be considered a real camp or settlement. Over a dozen environmental domes of varying sizes clustered around the remains of what looked to have once been a massive hydroponics dome. The heavier 'Mechs and combat vehicles would have to be deployed to deal with this particular group, supported by the Black Stars' heavy infantry.
None of the Stars were happy with the thought of splitting their forces, but they all accepted that it was unavoidable.
Quikscell, Inc. Headquarters
Port Royal, Kalidasa
Free Worlds League
15th August
2200 hours local time
"Are they already on their way?" The woman asked of the pair of well dressed men before her. The room was dimly lit, but ornately furnished. Various scale models of armoured combat vehicles were on display - trademark vehicles manufactured by the Inner Sphere spanning Quikscell Inc.
"They are." The smaller built of the pair replied in a low monotone. What little lighting in the room reflected off his clean shaven scalp. "As instructed, they have been issued some of the better quality equipment we have."
The woman nodded. "And the BattleMechs?"
"As per your orders, we have allowed them to trade in their old machines with Orion, Hercules, Trebuchet, Hunchback and Wasp 'Mechs which we managed to obtained from our... friends from Kali Yama." The bald man reported. "Their commander even asked for a couple of Perseus OmniMechs."
The woman's head raised slightly at that. "Which you declined?"
"Of course." The man replied.
"My Lady." The bigger man interrupted hesitantly. "Are we certain we want to spend so much of our resources on them? It seemed that the resources we are pouring into this vendetta of your late father has far outweighed the benefits it was supposed to reap. After all, they seemed to be slowly rotting to nothingness since the invasion."
"They had shown surprising resilience despite our best efforts." The woman waved his comments away, though a slight rise in her voice hinted that the man might had struck a chord. "And that is something I cannot allow." She glared at the bigger man. "In fact, from what I hear, they've actually shown signs of recovery in the last six months."
"But they are so far away!" The man nearly wailed in despair. "And is diverting our higher quality equipment which are reserved and slated for domestic use wise? These have traditionally been reserved for the FWLM and used to keep the Federal Government mollified and avoid unpleasant investigations into some of our more... dubious operations." Beads of sweat had started to trickle down his face. "And the 'Mechs from Kali Yama - wouldn't these allow people to trace things back to us?"
Never renowned as a quality manufacturer, the rush to exploit the export sales market led Quikscell to cut even more corners in an effort to maximize profits. The company’s infamous cost-over-quality dogma, even when cutting costs means using sub-standard materials, has given Quikscell its well-deserved “cheap and nasty†reputation. Less well known is the company’s practice of dual-sourcing many key components, reserving higher-quality versions in products slated for domestic use within the League. This practise had kept the FWLM and the Federal Government mollified and helped avoid unwanted investigations into the company's practise. The end result was that export buyers usually ended up paying the price of noticeably poorer maintenance and field performance. Despite its quality issues, a solid market continued to exist for Quikscell’s products, particularly among planetary militias and other groups that had to work with harsh budget constraints.
"Don't be ridiculous Marcus." The woman snorted. "Those 'Mechs are some of the most widely exported machines all over the Inner Sphere. They can be found in virtually any Successor State and uncountable number of merc units, not to mention some Periphery states."
"And those bureaucratic pigs in the Federal Government are currently too busy occupied with cleaning up the mess of the Civil War than to notice a slight drop in the quality of a couple of dozens of vehicles." The smaller man added.
The woman turned away from the pair. "I trust that things would be more... conclusive this time round." It was not a question.
"The mercenaries we hired this time round had a better reputation and proven track record than the hodgepodge of low lives we hired the last time round. Given the difference in equipment and capabilities, I have no doubt of the outcome."
"Marcus is right though, this has been dragging on for far too long. I want this ended once and for all Julian." The woman stated as she stared at the ceiling. "One way or another."
The latest orbital scans and aerial photos that the
Event Horizon and aerospace fighters had brought back from the mining colony upon the Black Stars' arrival over the system showed the pair of old DropShips had not moved an inch... literally. Trajectory calculations done had shown that they were sitting exactly where they were when the Stars last spotted them.
More of the pirates' ground had however, been revealed. Other than the few 'Mechs, Battle Armour suits and vehicles last identified, more of the enemy hardware had been spotted. At the space port, an
Archer and a partial view of a
Rifleman near to one of the hanger bays had been photographed. The presence of the pair of them did not surprise him. Both were renowned for their anti air capabilities, and stationing them at the only Drop port made logical sense.
Over at the still under construction fort on the sand storm blasted hills, the Stars could now add a
Vulcan light medium 'Mech to the enemy's TO&E in addition to the
Panther they had scanned earlier. The sketchy intel reports provided by Nibo that the mines could only hold light BattleMechs had taken a blow. However, given that the forty five ton 'Mech barely qualified as a medium class BattleMech dampened his doubts a little. It was the heaviest machine that the Black Stars Battle Armour troops assigned to take it would come up against.
Over at the main pirate base a quad
Scorpion 'Mech had been stationed at the only entrance of the valley where the base had been built in addition to a
Stalker and
Centurion. None of the 'Mechs spotted there so far were jump capable, giving the ambush plan that the Stars planned for them a much higher chance of success. The appearance of a very rare
Grasshopper was surprising though. Not only was it a heavy machine, but it was the only machine they had spotted at the main lair that had jumping capabilities. On the other hand, if it was the only machine that could escape their planned trap, it would be easy enough to take care of.
The operation against the Quikscell backed pirates, when it was finally put into action, proved to be a complete let down, especially after all the recon and preparation work the entire unit put into the mission even before they had arrived over the planet for the second time. Even when they had discovered no aerial and orbital defence, the Black Stars had still proceeded with their deployment and attack plans with utmost caution.
However, once the action started, the pirates had proved to be as effectively offensively as a hunting rifle against an assault 'Mech. The Stars had split their forces into three, each assigned to tackle the three identified pirate positions. The first two groups consisting of the Jack 'O Lanterns, Loch's Lancers and their newest recruit Natasha Black against the pirate's force holed up in their mountain fortress, as well as Trouble Inc. and the Fallen Falcons against their Drop Port, had carried out their timed assault in the early morning. Like their advance warning systems, or rather their complete lack of it, the pirates were slow to respond to the attacks.
Their attacks had drawn the largest pirate force from the base in the Devil's Valley as expected by Ten-Bears and Zi Long. After another well executed and well timed ambush, the pirate force was trapped like sewer rats. Zi Long will have to give credit where it was due though. One of the bandits actually tried to call the bluff of the Stars. Too bad for the 'Mechjock though. Zi Long shook his head at the lost of salvage as the memory of the
Quickdraw heavy 'Mech igniting its jump jets in an attempt to escape from the trap, and maybe even get at the Black Stars. A single 'Mech against an entrenched, well positioned and truly bored and itchy fingered group of high tech 'Mechs and tanks, the pirate 'Mech was literally vaporized under an a maelstrom of autocannon shells, lasers, missiles and particle projectile beams.
News of the fall of the other two pirate bases and surrender of their forces most probably came through to the trapped pirate force at that point in time. Without firing another shot, the pirates surrendered their forces. THAT piece of news convinced those pirates that were still putting up resistance to finally gave in.
The real surprise was the several ancient machines they found in the pirates' mountain fortress. After the Black Stars had taken stock of the surrendered pirates and their equipment, they had bemoaned about the complete lack of even reasonably combat worthy assets that the Stars would want to make use themselves. They had than came across the massive bays where the pirates themselves had discovered and had been trying to restore several ancient machines back to operational capability. Zi Long had to admit that he was impressed by their efforts. While they had not really succeeded, they were close to doing so. He was sure that the Black Stars techs would have much less of a trouble getting them into shape.
When the Stars were certain that the battles would end in victory for the Black Stars, they had worried about how to salvage the two pirate DropShips given that the
Next Stop could only take two DropShips, of which the
Event Horizon would have to one of. The destruction of the pirate
Leopard during the Stars' attack on the Drop Port solved that particular predicament neatly. It was a waste, but the unit couldn't really complain about it anyway.
With several hundred tons worth of salvage on top of their cash earnings, the Black Stars had already decided to call the relationship with Nibo quits... at least for now. It was not that they were not good pay masters or employers, but they would not be able to offer much in the form contracts with high payment and salvage rights.
With the discovery of vast quantities of Palladium within the abandoned mines, the Kingdom of Nibo would definitely be bringing in resources to restart the mines. Their nearest Succession State neighbour, the Draconis Combine, would pay well for the mineral that was the major component in the fabrication of jump sails. The Kingdom had high hopes that the discovery would pave the way for their rebuilding and recovery.
Despite the rosy outlook of their employers, the Black Stars Cell had already started to sift through contracts forwarded from Terra. There were definite possibilities out there, and the Black Stars were definite scavengers that excelled at sniffing out and taking advantage of such situations out there.