The Federated Sun's Reborn

[PsihoKekec]

IIRC in 4th SW Atlas the Wei gas took up up to hour to work through filters, so Kai should have some time to kill some of the lunatics.
This gets me thinking about Shadow divisions, OTL they were supposed to be en route to Clan worlds when Jihad started, I doubt they are TTL.

I wonder if MAC will still continue it's assault on Andurien when they get the news of AFFS regiments landing on Menke. As AFFS units are only jump away while Baxter is fuhrter.

WoB got itself a lease of time and now they will probably use the captured AFFS mechs for false flag attack that will get the DC involved.
 

[kelgar04]

There probably aren’t as many shadow divisions as OTL right now.

[marauder648]

Wow..just...blimey. Bleak but superby written.

[Chris OFarrell]

Sticky, as in tar.

Geez, the internet really needs a sarcasm font.

... yeah I deserved that  :-[

Still, I can see how the WOB would like this to play out. Set off a Capellan-Federation war. Then at the right point as the AFFS is fully committed, find the least stable Combine commanders on the border and hit them with False Flag attacks, using the Templars mixed in with otherwise standard units to make it very clear who is attacking. Set things off as hard and fast as possible to ensure that even if Victor and Theodore THINK they are being played by a third party, their subordinates jump the gun so far and fast that its impossible to pull things back anytime soon...

[marauder648]

This also totally derails the planned attack on Terra, and no matter how it ends, and it really only can end one way owing to the massive disparity between forces, the AFFS will be rebuilding for a year or two at least. This gives the WoB more time to build up and do other shenanigans.

[Chris OFarrell]

This is true - although it might not be as bad as you think. The AFFS simply needs to fight smarter as well as harder.

The biggest issue in fighting the WOB is obtaining naval superiority, then supremacy, both in the Terran system and throughout the WOB protectorate which they have to garrison. The AFFS if they make their opening strike against the Capellans hard and well, should be able to negate the CCAFs warships pretty damn quickly which will let them start to pull back their warship commitments in a few months.
The AFFS should also take the opportunity to pair green/fresh units that don't have much combat experience out of their more senior people and NCOs, with elite and veteran units sent to keep them from getting into too much trouble. Blood them against the CCAF to get them some critical first combat experience relatively safely and that confidence that will stand them well if and when it comes to facing the WOB (not all of them are going to be Shadow Divisions after all). The LAAF and ComStar are still providing masses of ground troops, the most critical thing the Federated Suns can bring is its warship fleet, at least for the first phase. And hell, smashing the CCAF Navy would be excellent combat testing for AFFS ships that have not seen action against the Bulls, which is most of them.

You can even be really cheeky by using your elites to smash the CCAFs biggest problem units like Warrior Houses, the Big MAC if they don't run for it and a few others, then rotate them up to the restored Sarna March which is mostly an easy garrison posting to be quickly rebuilt from losses, while 'lesser line units them push 'South' towards Capella and the Southern Capellan march thrust through Saint Ives and Ziliang. And this just so happens to put a dozen or so of the best RCTs the AFFS have in striking distance of Terra...

The sheer bulk and logistics the AFFS has built up now would let them sent the CCAF running for it while swinging around and (with ComStar and Lyran help) smashing the WOB, who are also probably highly distracted by the FWLs 'On again, Off again fighting right now.

It starts to get tricky though if the Combine decides to make a move - or is incited by the WOB to make a move in reaction. And/or they also unleash the HPG whiteout as Terra comes under attack to try and slow down their enemies strategic moves...

Although hilariously, this even helps Peter. He's declared war on the Capellans and now he can move troops down into the former Sarna March to garrison worlds in an agreement with his brother, as a clear sign of support, solidarity and all that guff! As historically the Lyrans were the troops garrisoning the Sarna March and their running home when The Bitch called were what caused the massive chaos march problem, so, making up for that.

Naturally, he'd be putting his troops closest to Terra as they are the closest worlds to the Alliance and building supply bases up in Skye and stuff, which both sends a message to the Combine not to try and take advantage of this situation! Oh look, suddenly HE'S in position too!

[Billy Boy Mark II]

3068 - October - Operation Rat II First Wave

On the 1st of October the AFFS High Command unleashed Operation Rat II's First Wave upon the Confederation. All along the border of the Liao Commonality Davion units surged across and began hitting worlds in overwhelming strength. Where regular CCAF defenders were present multiple RCT's and battlemech regiments would descend in attacks reminiscent of the original Operation Rat, where only Home Guard and scattered local defenders were present a single RCT would often by sufficient. Alongside these forces regular army conventional brigades and independent aerospace regiments would accompany them to ensure victory. Large flotilla's of Monolith, Star Lord and Tramp jumpships would appear at a jump point and disgorge overwhelming AFFS forces to attack the worlds targeted.

Wave One

Alderbaran

The defending Ambermarle’s Highlanders realised they stood little chance of holding the border world when on the 1st of October the 1st Kestrel Grenadiers RCT and the 4th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT arrived in system. Outnumbered by even just 1 of these commands the Highlanders knew they were grossly outmatched. The 2 battalion's of the Capellan unit were facing no less than 7 battalions of battle hardened AFFS troops and the numbers in the air were even worse. The 120 fighters of the 4th Deneb led the way and swatted the 12 defending fighters of the Alderbaran Home Guard Fighter Regiment from the air with almost contemptuous ease. At which point they joined the 60 fighters of the expanded AeroGrenadiers in hammering home the lessons of air superiority on the Ambermarle's Highlanders and their still forming Home Guard allies. By the time the AFFS RCT's actually made planet fall over half the Highlanders had been destroyed and the rest scattered in a vain attempt to avoid the pin point strafing runs of the Davion fighters. The Home Guard units were in an even worse state. When the Highlander's attempted to flee the planet on the 18th after a series of costly fighting retreats they were immedietly jumped by 2 full wing's of Deneb Light Cavalry fighters and faced with having their dropships blown from the sky they immedietly surrendered. The fact that they attempted to fight at all was somewhat surprising to the Strategios on Sian given their reputation.

Liao

The AFFS was taking no chances with the world of Liao. Along with the Dynasty Guard the planet was garrisoned by the Warrior House Dai Da Chi and was known to have a fanatical local Home Guard force as well as a scratch regiment of cadets from the Liao Conservatory of Military Arts. To match these formations the Davion High Command had dispatched a task force led by the Davion Light Guards and 5th Davion Guards RCT's, backed up by the 2nd Federated Sun's Armoured Cavalry and 1st Lexington Combat Guards and the mercenary Vegan Ranger's Alpha Regiment. Along with these troops came no less than 3 mixed conventional brigades of support forces.

However before the ground forces had even deployed the Federated Sun's Navy committed the 2 Avalon cruisers the FSS Reynard Davion, FSS Charles Davion and the FSS Daring and FSS Dryad Davion III destroyers to hunting down the CCS Aleisha Kris along with 2 full independent aerospace regiments. Facing with no less than 4 enemy warships the CCS Aleisha Kris immedietly jumps from the system rather than face certain destruction. The Davion warships leave in pursuit, although the 2 aerospace regiments remain to protect the ground forces in case the cruiser comes back.

The 2 Davion Guard's units immedietly headed for a landing to face off against the Dynasty Guard backed up by the 2nd FSAC, while the 1st Lexington Combat Guards and the Vegan Rangers made for a landing zone that would allow them to drive on Chang-an and seize the Liao Conservatory of Military Arts. Leaving the defence of the capital in the hands of the cadets and the Home Guard Warrior House Dai Da Chi headed for the Dynsasty Guard and linked up with them as the Davion forces were landing.

The limited fighter formations of the CCAF units didn't allow them to contest the landings, but unlike on Alderbaran they were at least strong enough to contest air superiority over the actual battle grounds, although the cadet wing of the Conservatory took heavy losses doing this. The veteran Dynasty Guard attempted to hold a strong defensive line against the 5th Davion Guard's and Light Guards who continued to probe at their lines, while Warrior House Dai Da Chi fought a more fluid battle on it's flanks to hold the 2nd FSAC from outflanking them. Relying on their elite mechwarrior troops the Warrior House managed to blunt every single one of the 2nd FSAC's attacks and inflicted heavy losses upon the larger formation. However on the 21st the Davion Light Guards swung away from the main fighting against the Dynasty Guard's just as the Warrior Houses's 2nd battalion committed to attacking the 2nd FSAC's 1st battalion. Caught off guard and out of position the Warrior House's battalion found itself caught between the hammer of the Light Guards and the anvil of the 2nd FSAC. Attempting to fight free they found the Light Guards everywhere, pushing and herding them until finally they were wiped out on the 25th when the entire remaining strength of the 2nd Federated Sun's Armoured Cavalry smashed into them. Dai Da Chi's 1st battalion took heavy casualties attempting to break through to their embattled comrades and upon word reaching them of their total destruction launched an enraged attack upon the Davion Light Guard's lines. Inflicting heavy casualties on the light battlemech's of the Light Guards they were soon themselves surrounded and crushed, with barely 2 lances making it back to the Dynasty Guards lines. This left the Capellan Hussar unit facing off against no less than 3 AFFS commands that although mauled were still intact.

Leaving the 15th and 21st Liao Defenders regiments to hold the line and delay the enemy troops the Dynasty Guards and their armoured formations made an attempt to break contact and obtain room to maneuver on Liao's extensive grasslands. The 5th Davion Guards took the bait of the 2 infantry regiments, however both the Davion Light Guards and 2nd FSAC swept around the blocking force and maintained contact with the Dynasty Guards in a running battle that suited their combat style perfectly. At this stage the Vegan Ranger's Alpha Regiment which had been pulled back from the fighting in Chang-an (after having been used in the initial push to break the enemy lines) committed to a combat drop to cut off the Dynasty Guard and surround them. Although only partially successful it did reduce the Dynasty Guard to below 50% and Sang-shao Eric Salzman realised that to remain on Liao was to doom his unit and headed for his dropships, which had been based in a small and heavily defended military spaceport, with the Davion units hot on his heels.

Sacrificing his fighter wing to break a hole in the Davion's air cover he managed to extract roughly a reinforced battalion of his regiment from the planet and fell back to Palos to rebuild. The Dynasty Guards however had managed to bloody the Davion units they'd faced.

Even before Sang-shao Salzman made his break for his dropships the city of Chang-an had largely fallen to the Davion troops. The local Home Guard and cadets from the academy had attempted to hold defensive lines throughout the city, but had systematically been driven back deeper and deeper into the city after the Alpha Regiment of the Rangers broke their initial lines, before finally making their stand at the Conservatory itself. Despite repeated calls on them to surrender they had remained defiant and finally the 1st Lexington Combat Guards backed up by 2 mixed brigades of conventional forces had closed in and destroyed the defenders as well as levelling the Conservatory itself. While fighting would continue into November, by the end of October the planet of Liao had been largely secured for the Federated Suns. The 1st Lexington Combat Guards had lost a battalion in the heavy fighting and between them the 2 Davion Guard's units had lost nearly 5 companies of battlemechs, but the 2nd FSAC had suffered the worst casualties proportionally, losing nearly half their strength. The Vegan Ranger's Alpha Regiment had suffered only light casualties.

Ningpo

Ningpo received the special attention of the Federated Sun's Navy. Knowing that the Hell's Black Aces made this world their home Fleet Admiral Buchwald dispatched the FSS Morgan Hasek-Davion and the 2 Congress-D II frigates the FSS Congress and FSS Churchill. Between them these warships were able to put 240 fighters into space these were bolstered by a full elite independent aerospace brigade of 180 fighters. Between these fighters formations the AFFS felt it could make sure that the Black Aces did not run rampant over any invasion force. This huge aerospace commitment escorted the 4th Davion Guards RCT and the 1st Sheraton Knights towards the planet.

The battle in space proved a bitter and hard fought engagement, even before a single battlemech had landed. With all of their customary skill the Black Aces launched continual strikes against the inbound convoy and it's fighter escorts in an attempt to halt the invasion. Again and again they attempted to break through and hit the troop dropships but the best they managed was to inflict minor damage on the FSS Churchill. Having lost over half their strength and with the Davion's almost having reached the planet they abandoned their garrison posting and using their own dropship and jumpship support fled the world.

The other defending formation, Laurel's Legion, felt that they would face little mercy from the Davion's having abandoned their contract with the FedCom during Operation Guerrero. They therefore dug in around the capital of Ningpo the city of Ningbo. As soon as they had landed securely the 2 Davion formations moved forward and began to slowly push into the city. Again and again the 4th Davion would use it's overwhelming firepower to push forward, drawing in the Legion's forces and Home Guard formations to stop them, and then the 1st Sheraton Knights would use this diversion to make strong headway in their own sectors. Entire suburbs and neighbourhoods fell to the Sheraton Knights in this manner and the Capellan troops soon learned to respect the heavy armoured formations that the Knight's used to hold the ground their battlemech's took.

In a 3 week battle Laurel's Legion was effectively destroyed as a combat formation and it's few survivors surrendered on the 30th October, after the death of Sang-shao Alexia Laurel, to Marshal Orsina of the 4th Davion Guards. The remaining Home Guard formations surrendered the next day. In her reports back to New Avalon the Marshal took pains to highlight the contributions of the 1st Sheraton Knights in the battle and gave them a great deal of the credit for the successful conquest. The Knight's were then tasked with holding the world, while the 4th Davion's prepared to push onward.

Gan Singh

The 1st Revenant Guards RCT hit Gan Singh like an unstoppable juggernaught. Facing only Home Guard formations, most of which were barely a year or so old, the elite RCT smashed the largest concentration within a day and was finished the mopping up within a week. In fact the Revenant's managed to crush the few defenders so quickly and efficiently that they had to wait for another week before the follow on conventional brigade that was to secure the world arrived. At which point they jumped to Shensi to join the attack there.

Pleione

The 39th Avalon Hussars RCT remained slightly under strength when they arrived on the world of Pleione. However even an under strength reinforced regimental combat team proved far in excess of what they Home Guard defenders of the world could manage. In fact over half of the mostly infantry formations immedietly surrendered and several others broke into civil war when the hardliners backed up by the attached MASK detachments attempted to force the others to fight. Only the divided nature of the defending formations scattered across the world proved a delay to the 39th's conquest of the world.

Poznan

While on paper the 5th Sian Dragoons on Poznan were a large and well equipped formation that could prove a major hindrance for any AFFS force in fact they were a paper tiger. Almost half of their troops and mechwarriors were Home Guard warriors upgraded to a regular formation in an act of desperation by the Chancellor. However New Avalon was taking no chances and as well as the veteran 1st FedSun's Dragoons RCT they had assigned the 1st Woodstock Borderer regiment to the attack. While the green troops of the Woodstock Borderer's were facing their first action they were much better equipped than the upgraded Home Guard that made up 4 companies of the 5th Sian and had a much more extensive military education and training as well as longer coming together as a unit. More they were backed up by the 1st FedSun's Dragoons. Taking the lead Marshal Ally Swanson crashed into the 5th Sian Dragoons using her heavier and larger formation to break their lines into 2 unequal formations. She then turned her RCT on the larger and more experienced proportion while dispatching the Woodstock Borderer's to hunting down the bulk of the enemy's 3rd Battalion which consisted of Home Guard troops.

While the 1st Woodstock made a number of mistakes in these running battles, outnumbering your equally inexperienced opponents 3:1 allows you to recover from these. Even more when a mixed battalion of Dragoons are detached to back you up. By the time the dust settled the 5th Sian's 3rd Battalion had either surrendered or been reduced to so much scrap, while the Borderer's had suffered roughly 2 companies worth of destroyed or heavily damaged battlemechs. Their technicians were however confident in being able to rebuild at least a company's worth from salvage and the damaged battlemechs.

Even as the Woodstock Borderer's were earning their spurs against the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Sian Dragoon's Marshal Swanson was engaged in destroying the remainder of the unit. Using her renamed 1st FedSun's Dragoons Jump Infantry regiment along with a battalion of air mobile battle armour troops carried by Karnov's she managed to capture the 5th's dropships. With the Capellan's trapped on the planet she closed with her main force and in a 2 day battle starting on the 14th wiped them out. The survivors were taken into custody and the Marshal ordered her unit to use what salvage it could to bring themselves back up to as high a strength as they could before they were ordered on to the next world. The 1st Woodstock Borderer's settled into garrisoning the world and mopping up any remaining pockets or resistance.

Shensi

The defending 6th Sian Dragoons like the 5th were partially built up with Home Guard units, although theirs were of a slightly higher quality and had received better equipment at their upgrading. The attacking force of the veteran 8th Deneb Light Cavalry RCT which had received large numbers of upgraded battlemech's and vehicles themselves as well as enough aerospace wings to bring them up to full "light cavalry" strength soon had the 6th in retreat but found their signature guerrilla tactics ill suited for a final closing battle to either drive the enemy from the world or destroy them. Again and again the 6th Sian Dragoons escaped destruction by the narrowest margins due to the 8th Deneb Light Cavalry's reluctance to fully commit to an all out attack.

If the 6th's hopes had been raised that they might be able to continue to hold out for some time then they were cruelly dashed by the arrival of the 1st Revenant Guards RCT. Taking command of the invasion Marshal James McFarland dispatched the 8th Deneb Light Cavalry to counter any formation of the Sian Dragoons that attempted to head into the wilderness to continue the fighting in a guerrilla campaign, although he kept the bulk of their aerospace assets for the final attack. His Revenant Guards closed with the retreating 6th and crushed them in a single bloody engagement along with the Home Guard units which had been attached to them. With a strong aerospace force sweeping down on any retreating enemy formations or damaged battlemechs or guiding in the 8th Light Cavalry's troops if they force was too large the 6th Sian Dragoons was removed as an effective force. By the 31st of October the world of Shensi had been secured for the FedSuns.

Styk

The Davion Assault Guards and the 1st Tikonov Cossack's were dispatched to the world they had once raided but with orders to seize it this time. If anything the balance of forces was even worse than it had been for their attack in 3063. This time the Cossack's weren't a single reinforced battalion of barely organised auxiliaries, but were now a combat command in their own right and numbering 9 full companies of battlemechs most of them freshly built on Tikonov. While the Davion Assault Guards remained their usual brutally overpowered self.

Sang-shao Syn Sum Orr had no illusions that his Hussar's who were little more than a training cadre for the Liao Conservatory of Military Arts would fare any better than the planet's previous defenders the Kamakura's Hussars who had been wiped out in October 3063. As such he made only token efforts to hold the factories, before loading what supplies and completed battlemech's onto his dropships and fleeing the company. His single largest loss was when some Davion aerospace fighters managed to shoot down one of his Union dropships as it had almost reached orbit killing the entire company embarked. Syn's Hussars would fall back to the world of Corey to buy time for reinforcements to help them hold the line.

While the hurried retreat of the Syn's Hussars would save the unit, it had the unforeseen side effect of dooming the world of Tsitsang. With Styk so quickly captured the Davion Assault Guards left the factory world in the possession of the 1st Tikonov Cossack's and moved for the world which had been listed as a second wave target early.

Just after the Davion Assault Guard's had left the CCS Aleisha Kris jumped into the system having fled Liao. Unfortunately for the cruiser the Tikonov Cossack's immedietly contacted the Federated Sun's Naval units in the area via HPG (with Comstar tech's having been brought from Tikonov to take over the station) and within hours of the Capellan cruiser having jumped in she was followed by the FSS Reynard Davion, FSS Charles Davion, FSS Daring and FSS Dryad. Again faced with overwhelming odds the CCS Aleisha Kris fled deeper into the Liao Commonality, arriving at Second Try.

Tsitsang

Although listed as a target for the second wave the early conquest of Styk allowed Marshal Stephan Cooper to seek permission and obtain it to hit it during the first wave. Defended only by Home Guard troops the planet's defenders put only a token resistance up against the Assault Guard's landing zones and then promptly surrendered to save themselves from annihilation.

St Andre

Renshield's Dragoons on St Andre had hoped not to be struck in the initial attacks, but these hopes were in vain when the 1st Aragon Borderer's and the 4th Dragonlords RCT arrived in system. The veteran Dragoons withdrew to Fort Ravenglade and prepared for a lengthy siege. The facilities anti-air weaponry kept the Borderer and Dragonlord's aerospace wings from overwhelming and bombing the defenders into oblivion, but proved little use against the huge numbers of battle armour troops that the 4th Dragonlords deployed in support of not only their own advances but also that of the Borderer's. Within the narrow tunnels the battle armour troopers proved deadly even against battlemechs and both sides losses mounted steadily.

However the fanatical Dragoons dug in hard and managed to hold off the invaders for the entire month of October. Again and again they managed to hold the 2 AFFS formations at bay although at heavy cost. By the end of the month they had lost a little over 4 companies of battlemechs, but had inflicted at least half again as many losses on the attacking formations. As the Dragonlords however became more and more used to the style of the Dragoon's however they were managing to inflict greater and greater losses upon the defending units and Shang-shao Renshield knew that he required reinforcements as soon as possible and sent word to Sian that he could not continue to hold out much longer on the 31st October.

Hunan

Although Warrior House Fujita had barely 2 companies of battlemech forces ready for action the Davion's intelligence reports thought that the unit was at the full new autherised strength of a Warrior House - 2 battalions. As such they had dispatched not 1 but 2 full regiment's to Hunan. The 2nd and 3rd Lexington Combat Guards made planet fall with overwhelming strength. Faced with such an invasion the Warrior House broken into small lance sized formations and went to ground. The 2nd Lexington Combat Guard would deploy to hunt them down, while the 3rd managed the process of securing the world's key areas.

Menkar

With only small and disheartened Home Guard units who were struggling to even hold down the rebellious population on the planet, the invasion by the 1st Capellan Dragoons and an attached infantry brigade was the final straw. What few troops were still fighting lay down their arms and surrendered within hours of the 1st Capellan's attack. The bulk of the former rebels were immediately formed up as a planetary militia while the rebellion's leaders were sworn in as the new government by the end of October.

Jonathan

Isolated in a salient digging into Federated Sun's space the various advisers to the Chancellor had advised him against sending regular formations to the world and as such the defence of this forward outpost of the Confederation was largely in the hands of a handful of Home Guard units. When the Davion Old Guards arrived in early October several of these units made the mistake of attempt to resist this "new" formation that was likely inexperienced. The hardened veterans who made up the Old Guard swiftly disabused them of this impression and crushed them with all the skill the First Prince would have expected from a unit of his Guard's Brigade. He personally dispatched them permission to add their first battle honour to their regimental flag.

Foochow

Another Davion Guards unit landed almost unopposed on the world of Foochow in early October. The 2nd Davion Guards over strength aerospace assets preceded them and for 2 days prior to the main formation hitting planet fall smashed the defensive infrastructure of the planet into broken pieces. Military bases, troop columns and military storage depots were bombed into craters by the elite pilots of the 2nd's fighter wings. By the time the 2nd Davion Guards touched down over 75% of the Home Guard formations had already been destroyed by air attacks. The remaining formations, usually in isolated areas immedietly surrendered rather than face not only continued air attacks but also an elite unit of the Davion Guards.

Foot Fall

The 5th Crucis Lancers RCT attacked the poorly defended world of Foot Fall as part of the first wave of Operation Rat II. Marshal Olaf Richardson, now returned to full health, leads his Remagen Lancers against the world of Foot Fall in what for them is vindication. Long defenders of the Sarna March who were forced to retreat in '57 they have now returned and hit hard and fast. Again and again any attempt to organise a resistance is hit with overwhelming firepower and using their fanatically anti-Thuggee hatred from their own experience to push them forward. In a brutal and one sided campaign the Lancers return the world to the control of Victor Davion. At which time they request permission to be included in the follow on wave to hit Highspire. They have a blood fued with Kali's Thuggees and intend to settle it personally!

Summary

At the end of Wave One of Operation Rat II the AFFS had hit 15 worlds within the Liao Commonality and seized effective control of 14 with the final world's defenders under heavy siege and not expected to hold out much longer. While a small number of resistance groups had sprung up the AFFS was firmly in control of most of the worlds they had struck. Worse from the point of view of Sian the AFFS had destroyed 5 full battlemech commands and had another 2 either under siege or forced to break up and head into wilderness areas to survive. Another 3 commands had taken heavy damage and or been forced into retreat by overwhelming enemy strength. While the single Capellan warship stationed on the frontier that had been attacked had managed to survive it had only done so by fleeing almost at the first signs of trouble. The CCS Aleisha Kris was ordered to rally to Palos where the CCS Sundermann Rhys would join her in November. The Strategos hoped that the 2 cruisers would be able to provide each other support and could be used to counter Davion warships in the Commonality.

The Davion High Command was quietly pleased with the initial gains and ordered that Wave Two be started on schedule on the 1st of November. It was time to pile on the pressure.

With the defensive lines within the Liao Commonality already cracking the Strategios on Sian ordered the 1st and 4th Capellan Defence Force to move to Sarna. Other units were hurriedly prepared to move to rebuild a defensive line. However word was already reached the Chancellor's military advisers of Operation Rat III...

[kelgar04]

Damn talk about a gut punch the CCAF and the Warrior house's just got hammered. The FedSun has taken the initiative and they aren't letting go, hell the WoB is probably shocked at how quickly the CCAF is getting sliced and diced.

They were probably expecting more of a speed bump.

[cawest]

WOW.... 14 systems..  that is what a fourth of the CC?  I just wonder what the two WoB units are going to do.  if the FS does enough damage, the others will attack the CC to retake key planets.  looks like Big Mac is going to be their own bosses, in a few months.   

[Adventwolf]

Hah, this is what happens when you keep playing stupid games and expect to not suffer. And to think if Sunny hadn't pushed to not elect a new First Lord there likely would have been an option to have the Star League arbitrate the peace without the CC getting its military and industry wrecked or stolen from them. They likely would have been stripped of a lot of worlds and be removed from the ranks of the great powers but they would have survived as a state. But, really how could Sun Tzu have been so stupid? He was told in no uncertain terms in a very public message that if anyone from the CC disavowed or not used the chemicals on anyone no matter who the same chemicals that were removed and not secured by the Star League then the FedSuns would declare war and destroy them utterly. He had all the information he needed to know this was something that could happen. His Sister's cultists were the ones with the chemicals before they went missing, the WoB wanted her released, his sister was close to the WoB which means she likely told them about the chemicals and the plans for it and how they would hide it. All of that says they want to use her and her cultists to start a war that he knows he has no hope of winning. No one will come to his help now that his sister has used the chemicals to kill so many. Even the WoB plan to launch a false flag attack on the DC is unlikely to do much the FedSuns still have more than enough forces to hold the line on that boarder while they finish off the CC.

[snakespinner]

Reminds me of the 4thsw atlas.
A painful reminder to the cappies of who's the boss.

[cawest]

I am now wondering why they just did not punch threw an area around Terra all the way to the FWL.  Then Roll up the boarder.  that would push any units to the outer edge of explored space.  it would open your rear to predation for some of the FWL powers.  I just do not want a bunch of CC units making a run for the FWL. 

[drakensis]

WOW.... 14 systems..  that is what a fourth of the CC?  I just wonder what the two WoB units are going to do.  if the FS does enough damage, the others will attack the CC to retake key planets.  looks like Big Mac is going to be their own bosses, in a few months.

Not a quarter, but probably around 5%... which is a lot to lose in one month.

[Intermittent_Coherence]

CC's been living on the edge for a while and only surviving on developer fiat.

[kelgar04]

I'm curious what other insanity will kali attempt to 'save' the CC.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

3068 - October - Operation Rat III First Wave

Even as Operation Rat II kicked off and began reconquering the former Sarna March the AFFS launched a second major offensive. Having learned the lesson from the original Operation Rat of the Fourth Succession War the AFFS wasn't going to give the CCAF any respite. They were going to push them on every frontier and tear ragged chunks from every single one of the Confederation's Commonalities.

Menke

The first world hit in Operation Rat III was the most important. Menke as a key industrial world and the base for McCarron's Armoured Cavalry was a priority target that couldn't be left alone. As such the AFFS committed 4 regiments of the Illician Lancers mercenary formation led by the elite 6th Syrtis Fusiliers RCT and bolstered by a full armoured conventional brigade and 2 more infantry brigades. Facing this attack were the 2nd and 5th McCarron's Armoured Cavalry, both of which were under strength, between them fielding just a little over a regiment of battlemechs. The local Home Guard while partially rebuilt from the last AFFS invasion of the planet had suffered as funds had been diverted to rebuild the various McCarron's Armoured Cavalry commands.

Despite realising the odds that they were facing the 2 McCarron's Armoured Cavalry formations moved into the jungles of their planet and began to prepare for a long guerrilla war with what Home Guard formations had been rebuilt. Having learned the lessons of the previous battles they made no effort to secure or attempt to hold the various industrial targets, knowing that if they were forced to stand and fight they would be swiftly overrun. Unfortunately for the Cavalry the AFFS had deliberately brought along the Illician Lancers who had some experience of this sort of fighting. Using the same tactics as before but with larger forces the Illician Lancers kept the 21st Rangers as a rapid response unit in orbit while the other 3 regiments pushed deep into the jungles, setting up fire bases, aggressively patroling and hunting for any trace of the retreating Capellan forces. Any combat would instantly see Illician Lancer patrols zooming in on the firefight and holding the Armoured Cavalry in place as the 21st dropped up to a battalion directly into the fighting. Again and again isolated companies of MAC troops were cut off and destroyed, while the Lancers continued to push them deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

Behind the Lancers the 6th Syrtis Fusiliers and the conventional troops seized and took control of the various cities and industrial plants on the planet. Unlike last time there was no wholesale demolitions or looting of industrial equipment. The AFFS had come to stay, and newly promoted Marshal Richard Silver began setting up the basic's for civilian government with help from specialist teams as the month went on.

By the end of October there was still active resistance from the defenders of Menke, but their plight was becoming desperate as they continued to be hounded and harried through the jungles by overwhelming numbers of AFFS troops and mercenaries. Between the 2 commands the Big Mac had lost nearly a battalion of troops already.

Victoria

The Commonality capital was defended by the Prefectorate Guard and the 3rd Victoria Rangers. Along with them the CCS Ilsa Hyung was stationed in the system. The first of the defenders to fall was the powerful cruiser, when on the 1st of October it was ambushed by the FSS Robert Davion, FSS Andrew Davion and FSS Joseph Davion of the 3rd Cruiser Squadron, supported by the entire 6th Corvette Flotilla. Facing 11 warships the CCS Ilsa Hyung was over matched, out gunned and caught flat footed having just rushed back from a patrol along the border to take up station at Victoria. The cruiser was forced into a 20 minute battle the outcome of which was never in doubt. When the battle was finished the FSS Joseph Davion had taken moderate damage and light damage had been inflicted upon the FSS Ozawa and FSS Lothair, but the CCS Ilsa Hyung had been utterly destroyed.

With the warship taken care off the main invasion fleet jumped in. The 1st Crucis Lancers RCT, 2nd FedSun's Dragoons RCT, 3rd Dragonlords RCT, 11th Avalon Hussars RCT and the 1st Cunningham Commando's along with a full independent battle armour regiment specially equipped for tunnel headed for Victoria. Each of the AFFS RCT's had also had additional battle armour support attached to them and the Dragonlords had been tasked with providing the main support within the tunnels themselves. The AFFS had learned the lesson of the last battle of Victoria.

Landing in overwhelming force the 4 RCT's and attached mercenary battlemech regiment began to slowly advance both above and below ground on the main defensive positions of the Capellans. The 2nd FedSun's Dragoons with the Cunningham Commandos advanced on the Victoria Academy of Arms and Technology which was defended by 2 battalions of the 3rd Victoria Rangers, while the 11th Avalon Hussars began fighting their way through the remaining battalion of the Rangers towards the Earthwerk's plant. The 1st Crucis Lancers and 3rd Dragonlords found themselves facing off against the elite rebuilt Prefectorate Guard.

The fighting on Victoria was characterised by slow grinding battles both above and below ground with frequent short ranged firefights and costly assaults on prepared positions. The High Command had known that this would be a war of attrition and prepared accordingly, with huge amounts of military supplies arriving to keep the Davion forces supplied in this high intensity conflict. The only relatively swift victory was when the 11th Avalon Hussars's 4th Battalion of heavy and assault machines managed to smash their way through the similarly weighted 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Rangers. With their lines broken the 11th's lighter elements rushed through and managed to isolate and contain the remaining battlemechs of the Rangers which were then systematically crushed by the 4th Battalion. By the end of October they had secured the Earthwerk's Incorporated's plant and were able to dispatch the majority of their strength to help the push on the academy...

Rollis

The 2nd Victoria Rangers knew they would be the target of a heavy attack at their position on Rollis and had little faith in their "allies" the 1st MacLeod's Regiment of the Taurian-Defence-Force-in-Exile to aid them. So it was with a growing sense of dread that the green Rangers saw the icons of a large invasion force on their long range sensors.

The AFFS had sent the 8th FedSun's Dragoons and 3rd Ceti Hussar' RCT's to retake Rollis once and for all for the Federated Suns. When they had also discovered that MacLeod's Regiment was also stationed on this world they had specifically attached the elite Hansen's Roughriders to the invasion force with a specific order: to hunt down the periphery exiles and destroy them once and for all.

This mission failed when the Taurian force, the bulk of which had been on the receiving end of a Roughrider attack on no less than 2 occasions, broke before the AFFS forces even made planet fall. Fleeing in their dropships the exiles disappeared deeper into the Confederation, leaving the 2nd Rangers alone to face the invasion.

Outnumbered 2:1 by the regular battlemech forces of the 2 RCT's the Rangers were soon in full retreat through the heavy forested terrain of Rollis, with the 3rd Ceti Hussar's acting as beaters for the heavier weighted 8th Dragoons who followed behind them to crush any attempt to turn around and fight. Unfortunately for the 2nd Victoria Rangers the Hansen's Roughriders, deprived of their intended target, swept in on their flanks and in conjunction with the Ceti Hussar's combined arms formations pinned them in place for a full scale assault by the FedSun's Dragoons.

In a 3 day battle the 2nd Victoria Rangers did themselves proud, throwing back attack after attack and nearly managing to break free from the trap on 2 seperate occasions. However outnumbered 3:1 and facing vastly more experienced opponents the green unit was finally routed and forced to surrender when the Roughriders managed to block their last breakout attempt and held them in place long enough for the 8th's assault mech's to close in and crush their sacrifical rear guard. By the 27th of October Rollis had been returned to Federated Sun's control after centuries and the remaining roughly reinforced battalion of the Victoria Rangers were made POW's.

Corodiz

The massively under strength 1st Victoria Rangers realised immedietly upon the arrival of the 1894th Light Horse that they couldn't hold the planet in the face of the elite mercenary regiment backed up by a mixed brigade of conventional AFFS forces. Therefore they conducted a running battle for almost 2 weeks before finally withdrawing to Muridox to preserve their remaining strength (roughly a battalion) in the hope of possibly being reinforced and being able to counter attack. The 1894th had suffered roughly a company of losses, but drew upon their cadre of the Avatar's of Painful Death who were still on Firgrove to make up these losses by the end of the month.

Zanzibar

Lochardt's Ironsides also found themselves as the recipient of an attack by a Blue Star Irregular formation, this time the 21st Rim Worlds, alongside the twin RCT's of the 3rd and 4th Syrtis Fusiliers. The 7 companies of the Ironside regiments found themselves facing over 3:1 odds and were soon in full retreat. With enemy formations pressing them from all sides they finally broke out by charging the green 3rd Fusiliers and breaking through their lines before the other units could move to support them. However this break out attempt cost them along with the running battles over half their strength and on the 30th of October a bare bones battalion of damaged battlemechs and exhausted pilots fled the world. Behind them the mauled 3rd prepared to hold their ground and garrison the world while the 4th Fusiliers and 21st Rim Worlds prepared to move onto wave two targets.

Xieng Khouang

Facing off against the Home Guard formations that were the only garrison of the planet was the 1st Syrtis Fusiliers RCT. At full strength this new formation had been dispatched with the intent of blooding it against a minor opponent. The command staff of the 1st, knowing the units untested nature undertook a slow and careful campaign to ensure they were not subject to any surprises. Even with this however the world's Home Guard could soon see the writing on the wall and began to surrender in droves particularly after the new Comstar adepts at the HPG station began broadcasting the news from St Ives. By the end of the month the world was secured.

Holloway

The 5th Confederation Cavalry, although a veteran unit had not rebuild from it's shattering in the last Davion incursions, and with barely a reinforced battalion in strength found themselves facing off against the reinforced battlemech regiment sized formation and supporting forces of the 1st FSAC. Putting up only token resistance the 5th conceded the world to the AFFS and withdrew to Grand Base.

Necromo

The 7th Sian Dragoons were largely relying upon the CCS Zhejiang to help protect this vital shipyard world from any attack. However these plans were shattered when the 3rd Corvette Flotillas's 2nd Division arrived in support of the 1st Kathil Uhlan's and the 3rd Federated Sun's Armoured Cavalry. Although individually the Impavido class destroyer was larger and more powerful for the Fox corvettes of the Federated Sun's Navy, it was outnumbered 4:1 and worse the Fox's were all carrying at least 1 Vengeance class dropship packed with elite aerospace fighters trained in anti-warship strikes. It's own assault dropships and 18 fighters were no match for the huge wave of fighters launched against it and the destroyer was swiftly crippled, it's engines hammered by repeated strikes. At which time the Fox's moved in and tore it apart with concentrated broadsides.

With their destroyer protector smashed the 7th Sian Dragoons abandoned any hope of a conventional defence and dispersed into the wilderness in an attempt to hold out until relieved. However this suited the attacking Uhlan's and FSAC troops to a tee as they broke into battalion sized hunter groups and began to run down the dispersed companies of the Dragoons. While a handful of small formations would continue to hold out deep in Necromo's wildernesses for several months, the 7th had ceased to exist as a fighting formation and the planet was considered secured by the end of October.

Ares

The 4th McCarron's Armoured Cavalry had hoped to be overlooked by any attack in vain when the 7th Crucis Lancers RCT and the 6th Robinson Rangers RCT jumped into the system. Despite the 7th Lancers being the largest threat, the Cavalry actually struggled to get a handle on the 6th Robinson Rangers RCT's tactics at first. Given that no Robinson Ranger unit had been seen on the Capellan Confederation border for decades it was perhaps unsuprising that the intelligence reports on the new Ranger RCT's were lacking in detail. As soon as Marshal Jasper Zibler the senior commander of the invasion force became aware of this he began using the Rangers as a foil to keep the attention of the 4th McCarron's Armoured Cavalry while his own 7th Crucis Lancers supported them and backed them up in any engagements.

Finally on the 28th of October the 4th abandoned the world. While they still numbered roughly 2 battalions of battlemechs and were a viable combat command they were slowly being driven back, trading space for time and both were running out. Repeated attempts to call for aid had been ignored and the news coming from the other fronts was dreadful. Worse they had heard of the attack on Menke. If they were going to die, they reasoned they would rather die on their own ground.

Capricorn III

Fresh from training on Robinson the 15 Avalon Hussars RCT arrived on Capricorn III and began the systematic destruction of the local Home Guard. Using signature Avalon Hussar's cavalry tactics they outmaneuvered and destroyed any attempts by the Home Guard formations to meet them in battle or hold ground against them. A handful of Home Guard formations attempted to disperse to continue resistance but gunship companies of VTOL's soon began hunting them down.

New Sagan

Similarly to the 15th Hussars on Capricorn the 26th Avalon Hussars RCT touched down and began to seize the planet of New Sagan from it's defending Home Guard formations. However the commanding officer of the New Sagan Home Guard was quicker on the uptake than his compatriot on Capricorn and made no effort to fight the 26th in open combat. Instead he ordered his largely infantry formations to melt back into the citizenry and continue the fight from hiding. Faced with these difficult conditions the 15th's CO requested additional infantry formations to be dispatched to the world to aid in putting down the resistance on the 31st October.

Summary

Operation Rat III was slightly smaller in the number of worlds hit than Rat II, hitting only 11 worlds. Yet it had contained 25 battlemech regiments or RCT's crossing the border which was actually a single regiment larger than the forces committed to Operation Rat II (although Rat III's battlemech formations were almost 35% mercenary compared to just a single mercenary regiment committed to Rat II). Yet over 10 of these regiments had hit only 2 worlds which continued to hold out as Wave one drew to a close. On the other 9 worlds hit the AFFS had either destroyed the defenders, routed them from the world or broken them into non-effective combat formations dispersed and of little current threat unless Sian could launch a counter attack. Rat III had also seen the destruction of 2 Capellan Warships over Victoria and Necromo respectively.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

Safe to say Rat II and Rat III have the Capellan Confederation reeling in agony in a single month. This is what happens when you get hit by a stronger enemy with more troops who can pick his spots and batter you with overwhelming firepower. You get hurt. Badly. And every unit destroyed, routed or forced into surrendering is one less to help form the second defensive line now that the first has been shattered...

For the record the Davion's cant keep up one wave a month for long. But while they can, they are making headway. Things will slow down as damage mounts up.

[Adventwolf]

Well looks like the FedSuns now have another shipyard that they can use. I wonder how many slips and what size they are in the Necromo System. Also were there any ships being built or repaired that are now the property of the FedSuns. St. Ives needs to get back in on the action. They need to absorb the border worlds surrounding it There are nearly a dozen targets but most are probably targets in wave 2 so they need to act fast which means Cassandra needs to get back in control.

[Lone-Wolf]

OK, Sun-Tzu, handing over Kali - what the hell were you thinking?

Now you look at a gun aimed at your head.
But there is one silver lining: The comment of a certain Admiral. Not much, only a tiny little bit, but still.

Sun-Tzu has been given a very good propaganda tool.
To quote:  and in the words of Admiral William "Wet Willie" Kossacks of the 2nd Davion Guards will "wipe the foul taint of the Liao's from the Inner Sphere forever..."
Now Sun-Tzu can go and announce that the FS plan to genocide the CC, that all Capellans will be wiped out. Rally the people behind him, prepare them for a guerilla warfare 100%.

But back to Kali.
He knows that Kali is crazy.
To use the Batman terminology: We are not talking about the Penguin-, Black Mask- or Riddler-crazy. We are talking about the Joker crazy. And for the sake of his realm he should have Kali killed the second WOB made this offer. Because he should have thought what would the WOB do with Kali?
And then he should have given Kali`s remains to WOB telling them that they did not demand that Kali be alive when turned over. I think that Victor - and the rest of the Inner Sphere - would be pleased to hear that this craziness is permanently over.
And if Victor would have only half the brains his father had, he would have told Sun-Tzu that if his forces withdraw from the FWL worlds then he would be willing to let the CC exist for a few more years - and this offer would be extended if he would behave, e.g. safe and silent border. And Victor would tell this to his nobles and the FWL nobles to make it stick.

On the other hand: What is the CC doing?
They know that the Davions can come any time they want. And they dont prepare for it.

Ok, putting a unit there and there, but I am talking about strategy. For instance from the 36 strategems "Attack Wuji to save Fuji."

You say, that the CC cannot pull it off? Let me explain.
Yes, the standard jumppoints are known, so using them is suicide, but what about NON-standard jumppoints?
Just look at a solar system from the side and the sun is where the fingers of the clock rotate around. The planets are in the range from 9-3 on the clock, and the zenith and nadir point are at 12 and 6.
OK, lets say that the zenith and nadir point are 11-1 and 5-7, but what about the space from 7-11 and 1-5?
If the Mask had done its job they would have jump coordinates for these areas of a solar system for all solar systems of the CC and the Capellan March of House Davion. And we are not even talking about the space between the solar systems.
So, a CC taskforce could jump into the Capellan March and target lone planets and make the people scream for the FS navy, why they dont protect them.

And last but not least.
I know its a touchy thing.

We all know the story behind the Scourge of Galedon. Started as a failsafe, a doomsday wepon of the DC. And then forgotten.
So, was the DC the only one with a doomsday weapon?
And werent also the WMDs thought to be used in the case the realm falls to the enemy?
Sun-Tzu knows that if Victor is nice he will just receive a bullet to the brain. If Victor feels vindictive I suspect he exiles Sun-Tzu to Brazen Heart. (Now that would be pure irony.)
So, why did Sun-Tzu pull not a Nero? Whats his plan? (IF he has one that is.)

IIRC in 4th SW Atlas the Wei gas took up up to hour to work through filters, so Kai should have some time to kill some of the lunatics.

I remember reading something about it. It was a story about WWI. But before I posted here I searched but couldnt find anything. But the internet forgets sometimes very fast.

It was called Maskbreaker.
It is known how a gas mask work.
So what if you add some chemical to the poison gas that attacks the filtration part of the gas mask?
Either the filtration unit stops working (you breathe poison gas) or the filtration part clogs up (you either suffocate or remove the gas mask and breathe the poison gas.)

[Sir Chaos]

I remember reading something about it. It was a story about WWI. But before I posted here I searched but couldnt find anything. But the internet forgets sometimes very fast.

It was called Maskbreaker.
It is known how a gas mask work.
So what if you add some chemical to the poison gas that attacks the filtration part of the gas mask?
Either the filtration unit stops working (you breathe poison gas) or the filtration part clogs up (you either suffocate or remove the gas mask and breathe the poison gas.)

´Mechs are built to operate in vacuum. They are air-tight. No filtration to attack here. And I struggle to imagine any chemical compound that would break a ´Mech´s sealing but would not attack whatever container is used to deploy it. In game terms, the ´Mechs heads would operate as if in a vacuum - roll for a breach on every hit, and if a breach occurs (or the head armor is gone), nerve gas enters the cockpit and kills the pilot.

Besides, we´re talking about nerve gas, which merely requires skin contact, not poison gas that needs to be inhaled. Entirely different mechanism of killing you.

[kelgar04]

Damn the bad times just keep on rolling the CCAFs way 26 worlds taken in October and quite a few units heavily damaged, decimated or ceased to exist and taken with the Warship casualties the CCAF moral must have dropped through the 9th circle of hell by now.

Victor seems to be trying to out do his farther right now in terms of planting a knife in the CC gut and kicking them while they are down.

[snakespinner]

I wonder if the CC units will be recalled from Andurien , or the Big MAC will try to make it his home.

[cawest]

I wonder if the CC units will be recalled from Andurien , or the Big MAC will try to make it his home.

I am going to bet that Big MAC set up in that area as their new home, and survivors filter into them over the next year to help them rebuilt.  it will be interesting to see what they use to out fit their units when the CC are no longer available. 

[PsihoKekec]

Baxter's pride cannot take the loss of Menke, not to mention leaving two MAC regiments to die there, so he will either try to finish battle for Andurien fast and return to CC, or cut his losses and return to CC immediately.

[Chris OFarrell]

I wonder what will happen with the MAC though. The Confederation is imploding like an Urbanmech failing a crush-depth test right now and the MAC are far from at their full strength. It's also going to take Baxter considerable time to pull back from his little adventure and get all the way back to Menke - and the AFFS have enough forces on-planet right now to keep up the tempo of the operations at a very high rate. The units there are just not going to last long. And its rapidly going to have Andurien being an irrelevant sideshow in the long term.

Then add to that the fact that all the Big MACs dependents are there as well. Even if the AFFS are far too professional to even look at holding them hostage or anything like that, it means they can't just write off the planet or evacuate it casually. And without a state backer, they are not exactly going to be paying the bills. Either they defect to the Federated Suns (and given the sheer bad blood between both sides I can't see that happening) or find a new employer. I'm sure Theodore would love to have them, but that is a LONG way to go ... and its probably a Mercs market in the FWL right now. Even if there may be some ill feeling towards what they did to Andurien, the sheer need for good troops by all the factions involved means I think a bidding war for their services is likely if they can extract enough people...

Heh, just remembered Starcorps have a facility on planet that has been actually helping to rebuild the Big Mac at Mates Rates because of their grudge at the Federated Suns coming and looting their facilities during the last tustle. Welp, I guess Suncorps industries has a new factory to its name :D

Of course, my secret hope is that Baxtor tries to come charging in like the blood knight he is ... just in time to run into a couple of Fox II Corvettes that were hiding on the other side of the planet and swing around to pincer his dropships. And with a single message of "Duke Roderick sends his regards" the FCS Wernke and the FCS Talon unleash hell.

[Billy Boy Mark II]

3068 - October - St Ives

Even as Operation Rat II and Rat III were smashing into the Capellan Confederation the St Ives Compact continued to bleed. As though the attack upon St Ives itself had been a signal small groups of Thuggee terrorists began a campaign of terror within the Compact. Striking out with bombings and attacks upon not only the military but also the government of various worlds and even key infrastructure. The planetary dukes of Denbar, Texlos and Brighton were all killed, with the Duke of Milos being left in a coma after his VTOL transport was shot down with a shoulder launched rocket. The various St Ives Military Command suffered similar losses - the 2nd St Ives Lancer's Colonel Lucas Tolec being killed when sabotage resulted in her Victor's ejection seat deploying while the plating above her chair wasn't blown free. A bridge on Denbar was destroyed when an armoured company from the 1st St Ives Janissaries was crossing it, resulting in 7 tank crews drowning when their vehicles were dumped into the water below. Again and again small groups of fanatical death cultists struck out at clearly pre-planned targets with little regard for their own lives or for civilian casualties.

These attacks were however merely the precursor for what was to come. On the 7th of October a number of Invader class jumpships appeared over Milos, Indicass, Warlock and Brighton. They immedietly each disgorged a single Overlord class dropship along with a Leopard CV dropship and an Achilles assault dropship. The 2 transport dropships headed for the world within the system while the Achilles began attacking all jumpships and dropships at the jump point. Smaller formations consisting only of Leopard CV and Achilles dropships jumped into a number of other systems on Merchant class jumpships.

Even as the attacks at the jump points were causing heavy losses in jumpship and dropships the 4 Overlord and their Leopard CV escorts streaked for the planet. At Indicass the elite aerospace wing of the 1st St Ives Cheveau-Leger's managed to destroy the Leopard CV and it's fighters before crippling the Overlord before returning to finish off the lamed vessel. However at the other target worlds the 3 Overlords survived to drop their battlemech battalion's upon the world. As per the attack on St Ives the transport dropships then attempted to ram into targets of opportunity as kinetic missiles - usually military bases or key government locations. At Milos the Overlord which had managed to combat drop it's troops was intercepted and destroyed in the air before it could reach it's target, but at Warlock and Brighton an Overlord each reached their targets - the primary base of the Devon's Armoured Infantry on Warlock and the city centre of the planetary capital on Brighton. On Brighton the heavily damaged Leopard CV also managed to ram into the water plants for the capital city, cutting off all water to the various agencies trying desperately to save the burning city centre.

The 3 battalions of troops which did manage to land on the various St Ives worlds were swiftly engaged by the defenders. Each was functionally identical down to the paint work and mech designs used to the units which had attacked St Ives. These "Ghost Warrior Houses" as they were quickly labelled at least lacked their St Ives compatriots access to nerve agents, but they fought with the same fanatical intent of causing as much damage and as many deaths as possible. Although it was quickly noticed that these "Ghosts" were not as well trained as the primary attack force that hit St Ives. Warlock particularly suffered from these attacks as much of Devon's Armoured Infantry had been totally destroyed with their base. The militia there had to hang on for as long as they could until the 1st Kittery Borderer's arrived courtesy of the AFFS to hunt down the attackers. Along with the Borderer's came 4 separate formations of assault and pocket warship dropships with Tramp class transports to hunt down the commerce raiders.

The "Ghost" Warrior Houses were swiftly hunted down and destroyed. However this left more St Ives worlds heavily damaged and their defenders bloodied. Along with the almost total destruction of the 1st St Ives Lancers in September the St Ives Military Command was reeling. Worse the attacks at the jump point had gutted much of the once powerful civilian space fleet of St Ives and left the trading infrastructure in tatters.

It was to this shattered realm that Korsakov’s Cossacks brought Cassandra Allard-Liao home. Linking up with their sister regiment, Rubinsky's Light Horse, they headed straight for St Ives. Swiftly arriving with the 2 professional mercenary formations she began to take the reigns of power. Cassandra was hit with a final blow when word came that the bodies of her mother, twin and other family members had been found in the ruins. Worse her brother Quentis Allard-Liao was missing. He had disappeared with his posting with the 2nd St Ives Lancers overnight just before she arrived.

In response to his disappearance, the assassination of their commander and the attack upon their garrison posting of Milos the 2nd St Ives Lancers had jumped the border and struck the world of Harloc. The green garrison of the 7th Confederation was totally over matched and was soon shattered and retreating off world. Although the 2nd had suffered tremendous casualties themselves due to the furious nature of their assaults and had been reduced to just half strength.

Similarly the Brighton based 2nd Janissary Brigade had responded to the brutal attacks by lashing out and strike at the Capellan world of Gei-Fu where they had destroyed the garrison of the 3rd Capellan Defence Force's remaining reinforced battalion. Although again at heavy cost to themselves, which combined with the losses of destroying the "Ghost" battalion that dropped onto Brighton left them at little more than 30% strength.

The Blackwind Lancers, always loose canons had also launched an attack, hitting the world of Hustaing. The 6th Confederation Reserve Cavalry had however proven a much tougher opposition than was expected and had defeated the Lancer's initial attempts to overrun them with ease and proceeded to launch counter attacks against the much more experienced invaders. A bloody battle had left the 2 sides both depleted and forced to fall back to repair and refit damaged battlemechs before resuming the fighting.

Taking stock of the situation the new Duchess began to try and reorganise her shattered formations. With the almost total loss of Devon's Armoured Infantry and the near destruction of the 1st St Ives Lancers alongside the St Ives Academy of Martial Science Training Group during the attack upon the capital Duchess Cassandra had little to work with. Worse at least 3 of her units had launched unsanctioned attacks on their own without proper support or command and had suffered heavy losses.

Only the 1st Janissary Brigade and Roman's Mounted Fusiliers remained at or near full strength amongst her regular formations given the losses of the last month or so. The civilian side of her government was in even worse state, with the loss of so many jumpships and destruction of so much infrastructure. With no other option she was forced to send word at the end of the month to First Prince Victor that unless help was dispatched from the Federated Sun's it was unlikely that the St Ives Compact could survive as a viable star nation...

[Chris OFarrell]

Man, Kali REALLY doesn't like Saint Ives. And Saint Ives internal security is really pretty pathetic.

In any event, Casandra has a hell of a lot of work to do. Rat III can probably shift at least some forces into Saint Ives, if nothing else it'd make an excellent staging ground. And if they have enough spare personnel, Victor can probably scrap up from new production and reserve stockpiles enough military equipment to mostly replace their immediate losses.

But damn, thats a LOT of damage inflicted. And the splashback of this on the Confederation is yet again enormous, the sheer propaganda value to everyone who hates the Capellan Confederation of these attacks is huge. Kali is going to have a ten figure price on her head soon...

[Billy Boy Mark II]

Man, Kali REALLY doesn't like Saint Ives. And Saint Ives internal security is really pretty pathetic.

In any event, Casandra has a hell of a lot of work to do. Rat III can probably shift at least some forces into Saint Ives, if nothing else it'd make an excellent staging ground. And if they have enough spare personnel, Victor can probably scrap up from new production and reserve stockpiles enough military equipment to mostly replace their immediate losses.

But damn, thats a LOT of damage inflicted. And the splashback of this on the Confederation is yet again enormous, the sheer propaganda value to everyone who hates the Capellan Confederation of these attacks is huge. Kali is going to have a ten figure price on her head soon...

As far as Kali is concerned the Allard-Liaos are traitors to the true Liaos. They are all that is wrong with the sphere. If she had the choice between killing any Allard-Liao or Victor Davion - she'd probably shoot the Allard Liao twice.

St Ives security isn't bad as such... But how do you plan for a death cult led by a madwoman with access to state of the art military equipment, WMD and loaned troops by her bf who is the military leader of a group of religious fanatics...?

[kelgar04]

As far as Kali is concerned the Allard-Liaos are traitors to the true Liaos. They are all that is wrong with the sphere. If she had the choice between killing any Allard-Liao or Victor Davion - she'd probably shoot the Allard Liao twice.

St Ives security isn't bad as such... But how do you plan for a death cult led by a madwoman with access to state of the art military equipment, WMD and loaned troops by her bf who is the military leader of a group of religious fanatics...?

I'm sort of surprised Victor hasn't forked out and hired the Bounty Hunter to go after her with his band. If there is anyone who can get to her through an army of insane cultists it's the Bounty Hunter.

[Sharpnel]

I'm sort of surprised Victor hasn't forked out and hired the Bounty Hunter to go after her with his band. If there is anyone who can get to her through an army of insane cultists it's the Bounty Hunter.

The Bounty Hunter will need more than the company of Mechs at his/her disposal to get to Kali.She got her thuggees and whatever St. Jamais has given to her uses.