A little background info:
Though I couldn't find a way to work it into the story, I went with the idea that the Falcons assumed a unit called Winfield's Regiment guarding the world of Winfield were simply a planetary militia instead of a fully qualified and supported Lyran line regiment. Thus they were not expecting the resistance they got, and their performance suffered at first, allowing Winfield's troops to gain an early edge. As it's still very early in the invasion, the Falcons followed Zell, right up until the third battalion joined the fight. At that point, Star Colonel Diane Anu had to call in her last bid, the swarm of the 5th's Elementals.
A lot of the writeups for the first waves of the invasion from the Jade Falcon, Wolf Clan and Invading Clans sourcebooks show that the Clans, while generally victorious, took a few good hits along the way. I wanted to write about one of those times where if the Inner Sphere forces had been just a little bit tougher, smarter, or better equipped, then the Invasion might have run a slightly different course.
And for the errata crowd: Though Evak Mattlov is the commander mentioned in Winfield's small text writeup in the Jade Falcon Sourcebook, it was determined in fact checking that this was an error on FASA's part. Evak Mattlov is listed in the Butler writeup and the Phone Book as commanding the 4th Falcon Velites, while Diane Anu appears in the Phone Book as commanding the 5th Battle Cluster. So Anu got the command.
I hope people find it a good story!
