2
Chapter co-authored with KayEmm
Worthy Adversaries
Redfern House
Newtown Square
28 February, 3152
“To the return of civilization!”
Luis Caesar raised his champagne flute as he looked over the assembled crowd before him. Comprised of the other officers of his unit, Caesar's Cannons, they were gathered in what had once, decades ago, been a grand estate. And while it had dressed up for the occasion, including being adorned with banners depicting the Cannons' crest, there was no disguising the way the building had been stripped of all its finery before this event.
None the less, the assembled crowd replied in kind, raising their own glasses before drinking a toast in reply. In the background, the catering staff stood by to ensure that more dinks and canapés were on standby for when they were needed. To Luis it seemed only fitting that this hall was used for this event. Before the world had fallen to the Jade Falcons, it had been a noble estate belonging to one of the world's ruling families. The Falcons had in their typical brutish way removed them from power while also stripping away any signs of their past legitimacy, and then used the building as a meeting hall for their merchants.
Caesar's Cannons had landed on Newtown Square a week ago to claim the world for the Vesper Marches. They had encountered only a token opposition from a grossly outmatched Jade Falcon garrison force of light tanks and infantry, most of which had been effortlessly crushed in a single battle. If anything, the biggest challenge they were going to face would be restoring a functioning government to the world and undoing decades of Clan indoctrination of the populace. However, that was a concern for the Vesper Marches and duke Brewer, not Luis himself.
He stepped down from his podium to mingle with the rest of his officers. Like him, they were all in their finest dress uniforms, a move that was aimed to impress the people of the world they had just liberated. This was the image he sought to present; his soldiers may be mercenaries, but they were more than just hired guns. Rather, like him, they aspired to be something greater. And in presenting that image, he sought to remind the people of Newtown Square of their noble past so that they may restore the proper governance that they had lost.
Luis sighted Jarvis Northington, his artillery commander and one of the Cannons' senior officers. “Congratulations are in order, Major,” Northington commented, raising his flute. “To a job well done.”
“Thank you,” He replied with a small sip of his own. “And to you and yours as well, for their own superb performance.” It was no exaggeration on his part. The artillery barrage provided by Northington's unit had savaged the defenders before they'd even had a chance to open fore.
“Here's to hoping that the peace is as easy as the war,” Northington commented. “I don't envy Duke Brewer for the work he's going to need to put into this world.”
“It is a disgraceful situation,” Luis agreed. “What it needs is the restoration of proper leadership. The people ruled by their betters, rather than simply elevating commoners.”
“I could not agree more, sir,” Northington nodded. “Maybe Duke Brewer could find some way to reward you for all the work you've done for him.”
Luis smiled ever so slightly. “I am sure that the Duke will be most generous in the treatment of his employees,” he simply stated. Deep down, of course, the idea held a lot of appeal, and Newtown Square would be the perfect place for such an arrangement. After all, the world needed proper leadership and he had already demonstrated his diplomatic skills while acting on behalf of the Vesper Marches. “And maybe we can come to some sort of an-"
“Excuse me, sir,” a breathless voice came from behind.
Ever so slightly irritated, Luis turned to find a junior enlisted soldier present, one who was simply wearing his field uniform and clearly not meant to be there. “What is it, soldier?” He asked, making it clear that his patience was limited.
“Multiple jumpships arrived in-system,” he explained. “I thought you needed to know right away.”
Luis narrowed his eyes. “Reinforcements from the Duke already?”
“If so, they’ve come very quickly,” Northington added.
“No, sir,” the courier admitted, “They're Clan ships. The Hells Horses.”
-----
Alexandria Plains
Newtown Square
5 March 3152
When the Hells Horses had jumped into the Newtown Square system, they had been fully expecting to face a remnant Falcon solhama garrison that would offer little to no resistance. Instead they had been surprised to find that the world had been instead claimed by a mercenary unit in the name of some state they had never heard of, identifying itself as the Vesper Marches. What had been anticipated to be a quick and easy contest had now turned into a real fight.
Which was exactly what Kirsten Ravenwater wanted.
After easily batting aside the few aerospace fighters that the mercenaries could muster, the entire Cluster had made planetfall. While she lead a heavy battle Trinary, Kirsten had been aggressively pushing to locate the enemy and engage them. She could not help but be excited for the opportunity either; after a year of waiting and months of fighting helpless opponents, this was a chance for a real battle. And while their opponents may be dezgra mercenaries, they were still something far more substantial than anything she had faced in the last year and a half.
Her own Ebon Jaguar had been a part of those efforts, leading aggressive sweeps by the rest of the trinary in search of their opponents. While still only middle of the road in terms of mobility, it was also far faster and more agile than many comparable Spheroid machines, while the rest of her star were able to match it at the least. However, her style was less about locating the enemy as it was force recon, finding them while carrying enough firepower to destroy whatever they discovered. It was not a matter of if they were going to engage the enemy, but merely when.
And she was eager to fight.
“Alpha Scout Lead to Alpha Command,” the voice of Star Commander Yushiro crackled over the communicator. “We have contact with hostile forces, grid Golf-Seven.”
Kirsten quickly glanced at her tactical map, noting the relative positions of her unit and the contact. “Understood. Pull back and do not engage for now. We are on our way,” she replied, only barely concealing the eagerness in her voice. Changing channels, she quickly snapped off orders to the rest of her Trinary. “All units, form on me!” She ordered as she bought her BattleMech around. “We have the enemy!”
Around her, other ‘Mechs formed up, while combat vehicles and ProtoMechs from other Trinaries joined them, falling into formation. As she pushed forwards, Kirsten had one eye on her tactical display, eagerly looking forward to the moment when the battle would begin in earnest.
-----
When Luis Caesar had received word of the immanent Clan attack, he had been forced to consider his options. The effortless reclamation of Newtown Square had suddenly become a lot more complicated, and far riskier. While it would have been easy enough to simply abandon the world outright in the face of the Clan assault, that would not have fulfilled his mission and, just as importantly, looked bad in the eyes of the employer that he had worked so hard to impress.
Instead, he had formed up his unit and prepared them to fight back against the invasion. While he knew that his men would be challenged to fight off a clan assault, he also was not willing to give up the world without a fight. Luis was still quietly confident in his men and their capabilities, after all. He knew that they had skilled leaders, ones that were able to draw out their best. Leaders like him.
He'd formed up the Cannons outside of the planet's capitol, a wide open plain stretched out before them. It was a risk, given the range advantage held by many Clan weapons, but he knew that he had ways to offset that. Besides which, it wasn't like he had many options anyway. Much of the surrounding countryside was wide, sweeping plains that offered little in the way of cover, which meant that he had to make the best of a bad situation.
His scout forces had reported contact with Hells Horses' BattleMechs before pulling back, but they'd given him useful information no less. They'd confirmed the location of the enemy, and that they were following the approach that he had expected towards the planetary capitol, exactly as he had expected. Sitting in the command couch of his Falconer, he spared the briefest of glances at his display before opening a channel to his second.
“Captain Northington,” he simply stated. “The enemy is approaching as expected. You may open fire.”
Luis had set up his artillery company on a bluff overlooking the battlefield. The guns opened up, sending a rain of shells arcing across the plains towards the enemy formation.
-----
Kirsten was unsurprised as the first shells rained down around her trinary, explosions kicking up clumps of dirt while rocking the ‘Mechs of her force as they advanced. It was what she had expected the mercenaries to do in order to best use the terrain and to their advantage and offset their obvious weaknesses (being Spheroid mercenaries the most notable of them). In response she had volunteered her Trinary to take the lead and absorb the brunt of the enemy fire, rather than it hitting the more vulnerable and easily damaged tanks following in her wake.
Of course, that also meant that she would be among the first to face the enemy.
She gritted her teeth as a shot hit her Ebon Jaguar, rocking the heavy BattleMech but not slowing it by any means. “Star Commander Skarn, do you have them yet?” She shouted over the tactical net, making sure she was heard clearly over the noise around her.
“Aff,” came the crackling reply. “Firing"
Behind her Trinary, a star of Hadur hovercraft opened fire as one, sending a flight of Arrow artillery missiles soaring overhead and towards the enemy line. Rather than raining down on their frontline forces, however, they instead flew over them and crashed down on the bluff where their artillery was situated. The plan was to suppress the enemy guns at least, although destroying outright them would have been preferable. Either way, it could only help their cause.
“Mark targets!” she called out as she opened up her OmniMech's throttle, less concerned with maintaining formation now what the battle was joined. “Let us show these dezgra mercenaries what real warriors are capable of!” Around her, faster BattleMechs began to push forwards, with Epona and Hephaestus hovertanks advancing on their flanks. Banners depicting the horse-head crest of the clan and the insignia of Alpha Galaxy streamed out behind them, a visible symbol of their eagerness to fight.
Kirsten tagged a heavy BattleMech on her sensors, getting a lock on it even before her targeting system had been able to properly identify it. As soon as she got a lock, she sent two flights of missiles flying towards it, the shots less aimed at killing her opponent as they were about declaring it to be hers. Others in her star followed suit, their weapons seeking out targets among the enemy forces.
The mercenaries responded in kind, scattered long-range missile and cannon fire reaching out to strike some of her ‘Mechs. At the same time, another barrage of artillery shells hit home, this one thinner and far less focused than before.
Behind her, the Hadur star responded in kind, continuing to keep the enemy artillery suppressed.
She closed on her opponent, a Falconer who's form somewhat resembled that of her own Ebon Jaguar. As she closed in, Kirsten changed weapons, lashing out with her twin particle cannons. Heat hit her as the two weapons spat bolts of brilliant artificial lighting at the enemy, spearing into its armor at range. Shrugging it off, she continued to push forwards.
The Falconer replied in kind, its weapons lashing her Ebon Jaguar as it also advanced. A PPC shot blasted armor from her leg, while an LBX autocannon peppered her with shell fragments. However, the attack did little to slow her down, with Kirsten continuing to close in on the enemy ‘Mech.
An alarm got her attention moments before a Gauss Rifle shot flew past her cockpit, having narrowly missed her ‘Mech. Glancing around, she saw the source of the attack, as a Cestus tried to move in on her flank. Should have expected that from a dezgra mercenary, she told herself as she turned the Ebon Jaguar, trying to put some distance between it and the Cestus while keeping the Falconer in her sights.
Her opponent could tell what was going on and tried his best to keep the pressure on. The Falconer surged forwards, doing its best to trap her between it and the Cestus. As it did, its MechWarrior fired again, the same combination of particle cannon and autocannon rocking her ‘Mech. Kirsten ignored the damage for the moment and instead fired back, her twin PPCs giving better than she got as they flayed armor from the enemy BattleMech's side.
The Cestus moved to fire again, only suddenly stagger as a barrage of fire struck it from behind. Kirsten could see the source of the attack as Zara's Procyon point wheeled around the heavy BattleMech, focusing fire on its flank. While their weapons did not do much individual damage, together they represented a barrage that it could not afford to ignore. Turning, the Cestus opened fire on one of the swift, dog-like ProtoMechs, its shots narrowly missing the fast-moving target.
“Surat should not have interfered in your duel,” Zara called over the command channel. “We will deal with him.”
“Appreciated,” Kirsten replied as she returned her attention to the Falconer, the two BattleMechs opening fire on each other again. Having closed the distance, the Falconer added its medium lasers to the mix, the barrage slicing armor from the Ebon Jaguar's armor. A warning alarm went off in Kirsten's ear as one of the LBX shells penetrated her OmniMech's hull, destroying one of the heat sinks.
She ignored it as she closed in, firing her PPCs as well as her missiles. The shots slammed into the Falconer, sending it reeling back under the assault. At the same time, a wave of heat from the weapons fire washed into the cockpit, made all the wore from the loss of the heat sink. Kirsten ignored that too as she continued to push forwards, eager to defeat her opponent.
The pair of them opened up on each other again, shutdown warnings going off in Kirsten's cockpit before she quickly slammed the over-ride. The enemy weapons fire added to the cacophony, with more warnings going off as another shot made it through her armor.
In turn, she gave back far better than she took; the PPCs lashed into the Falconer, flaying at its already damaged armor, tearing open holes in its protection. Her missiles followed through, exploiting the gaps she had opened to assault the fragile systems within. Her opponent staggered back as their right side was obliterated under the assault, the wreckage of the arm crashing to the ground.
-----
Luis Cesar fought to keep his damaged BattleMech under control as it reeled from the enemy attack. Warning alarms filled the cockpit as systems failed, with a sudden spike in the internal heat from a crack in the reactor shielding only adding to the urgency. A glance at his damage diagram showed that the right arm was simply gone, while the right side of his ‘Mech was barely there. And while damaged, his opponent was clearly still standing and ready for more.
He fired his jump jets, tyring to get some distance from the Cauldron Born. A glance at the enemy ‘Mech told him that it was damaged and running hot, but it had still come off far better from that last exchange than he had.
As he leaped, Luis could see that similar scenes were unfolding across the battlefield. An Enyo tank struck at the flank of a heavier Mantuffel, peppering it with laser and missile fire. An Enfield was forced to its knees as a swarm of Elementals tore at its actuators, hobbling the ‘Mech. A team of Minotaur ProtoMechs pushed across the battlefield, almost daring anyone to come at them. And while the Hells Horses had suffered their own losses, they were far fewer than he had hoped for, and far outnumbered by his own.
Clearly things had not gone to plan. And as much as he hated to admit it, the battle was lost.
“Northington, this is Cannon Lead,” he called out over his command channel as the Falconer landed. “Execute barrage sierra-three, on my location."
“Understood, sir,” came the voice of his second, harried but still remaining his cool. They were traits that Luis had admired in the officer, ones that had proven themselves time and time again. Hopefully they would now.
Moments later the first shell arrived, bursting in the air in a cloud of thick black smoke. Others did the same, quickly spreading across the battlefield. He saw the Cauldron Born vanish from sight behind the cloud, giving him a moment’s respite.
“This is Cannon Lead to all units,” he called out over the tactical network, the words all but choking in his throat. “Fall back.”
-----
For all the options that she had considered, the smoke artillery barrage was one that had still caught Kirsten by surprise. When the enemy had covered the field in smoke, she had imagined that it was a prelude to some sort of counterattack or flanking manoeuvre, aimed at trying to regain the initiative. Instead, the dezgra mercenaries had taken the opportunity to run, conceding the battlefield to the Hells Horses. And while this had only been their first battle, some had suspected that it would also be the last, with the lucre-warriors abandoning the world because they saw no profit in continuing to fight.
It was a thought that Kirsten had decidedly mixed feelings about.
Right now, she was leaning back on the leg of her BattleMech, sipping from a water bottle. Her hair was plastered down to the left side of her head, while the right side was still beaded with sweat. She had pushed her ‘Mech hard during the battle, aggressively riding its heat to the limit, but it had definitely been worth it for the victory, or at least that was what she told herself.
Around her, technicians worked to recover damaged ‘Mechs and tanks and get them into working shape. While the battle had been an unquestioned victory for the clan, they had still taken their own losses on the field. However, now it was the responsibility of the Technician caste to ensure that the Clan's forces were ready to do battle again.
She nodded at an approaching figure, one she instantly recognized. With her shaved head decorated with brilliant, tattoo-like circuit patterns, Star Commander Zara Grimheld was a distinctive sight, one who would have stood out even if she wasn't Kirsten's friend. “Good fight?” The ProtoMech pilot asked as she approached. “Specifically, the one you have been itching for this last, what, two years?”
“Aff,” Kirsten replied, even if her tone was a touch hesitant. “How are you?”
“Tinavo was injured during the battle,” Zara said. “The others of my point are looking after him now. I would be with them, but I wanted to see how you had fared too.”
Kirsten nodded in understanding, even if it was something she had never fully grasped. The interplay between a ProtoWarrior and their ProtoMech was a complicated one, but it was made more so by the way that the members of a point interacted with each other. From what Zara had tried to explain to her, the members of a Proto point less worked together as they shared one mind between them. “I am...” she shrugged. “It was a good battle.”
“And I can feel a ‘but' coming on, quiaff?” Zara smirked.
“Aff,” Kirsten admitted. “I mean, we won; we defeated our enemies and claimed this battlefield, if not the whole world for the Clan. I just wish there had been more to it.”
Zara nodded. “And that is not just because you know that Fire Horse are attacking Sudeten, quiaff” she added.
“Well,” Kirsten shrugged. The truth was there; the onetime Jade Falcon capitol with its abundant resources and massive factory complexes represented a far more valuable target than an agricultural world in the edge of the periphery. And even though it was still likely only defended by a solhama force, she imagined that they would put up much more of a fight than these mercenaries had. “I suppose so.”
“Do not worry,” Zara finished. “There will be plenty of opportunities for us to win honor to come"
“This is true,” Kirsten nodded before she raised her water bottle. “To the battles to come.”
“To the battles to come,” Zara replied. “And a glorious future for the Clan.”
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