3068 - September - War
Reports from the Confederation caused a major concern for the First Prince and the High Command during September. A large number of Capellan aerospace assets up to and including warships were suddenly rushing from system to system with no discernible pattern or reason. Only a single Feng Huang class cruiser remained stationary over Sian, with the rest of the Capellan Navy seemingly engaged in a complex war game or exercise. The final conclusion of the AFFS's analysts was that the Confederation was attempting to "loose" a number of warships in preparation for war with the Federated Suns or to strike against Andurien. As far as they could tell it was the only logical reason for such bizarre behaviour and the Federated Sun's Navy did their best to keep track of the various Capellan warships - although they have to admit to having totally lost sight of at least one Feng Huang cruiser, the newly commissioned CCS Edmund Salindar which has totally disappeared. Still they are able to keep track of roughly where most of the Capellan Confederation's warship fleet is. When war came, the Federated Sun's Navy's first mission would be to hunt them down and crush them using overwhelming local superiority.
As part of these plans the 1st Corvette Flotilla, now reinforced to 12 corvettes, moved from their reserve position within the Crucis March into the Achernar and Nanking PDZ along with the First Princes's own escorting 1st Cruiser Squadron where they join with the single ship 4th Cruiser Squadron and the under strength 2nd Destroyer Squadron. The 1st Destroyer Squadron along with the Capellan March based 2nd Corvette Flotilla's 2nd Division move into the Valexa PDZ. The 1st Patrol Squadron move up from Cooperland and along with the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and 1st Division of the 2nd Corvette Flotilla begin patrolling and guard duties at key worlds within the Capellan March. The FSS Morgan Hasek-Davion deploys to Tikonov with the 1st Cruiser Squadron. While it's fighter wings are still training in carrier operations they are now felt to be sufficiently experienced to face combat operations if required. Their back up wings are left in place at Kathil to give this key world additional protection. Strikes are planned at the known location of all Capellan warships the minute war is declared. The 6th Corvette Flotilla moves into the Sirdar PDZ.
The timing of this is causing Fleet Admiral Buchwald some frustration. In just another year the Federated Sun's Navy will be significantly reinforced and better able to manage the threat posed by the Capellan warships. He is expecting 14 Fox II corvettes, 8 Davion destroyer, 3 Avalon Cruisers, 2 Congress-D II frigates and 3 New Syrtis carriers to commission at some point in 3069. The carriers in particular would give the FedSun's a major increase in combat power in any naval engagements. In comparison the entire Capellan Navy consists of now 6 cruisers, 3 destroyers and now 4 corvettes. He has reliable intelligence that the Capellan's expect to commission an additional cruiser and 4 more corvettes in '69 compared to his own 30 warships. The balance of power is only shifting more and more in the favour of the AFFS and the longer the war can be held off the stronger the Federated Suns will be in comparison to the Capellan Confederation in the eyes of the Fleet Admiral.
This fact is not lost on any of the rest of the High Command nor upon the First Prince. Even a delay of a single year will result in a much stronger Federated Sun's Navy and an even greater disparity between the steadily expanding Regular Army and the CCAF. A delay of 2 years in active combat operations will result in the first of the Federated Sun's new battleships being in commission.
However these considerations collapse when on the 19th of September the CCS Edmund Salindar reappears. Repainted in black and red the huge cruiser, now named the Avatar of Kali appears at an incredibly risky pirate point almost on top of St Ives itself just beyond the moon of Cochrane, wrecking the ships jump engines in the jump. However the ship itself remains intact and heads straight for the planet. If there were any doubts of the ships hostile intent it fires on every dropship within range with it's naval lasers and destroys 2 small scientific outposts on the moon almost in passing. The only communications except from weapon's fire is droning chanting to the Death Goddess Kali being transmitted on every frequency. As it rounds the moon it launches it's 6 dropships, 4 of them are Overlord class troop transports but the remaining 2 are Vengeance class carriers and along with the ship's own fighters they disgorge over 100 fighters.
Defending aerospace fighters and dropships rush to meet the oncoming behemoth even as summons of aid are sent out to any and all nearby St Ives and Federated Sun's commands. The fighters used by the attacking wings are of an unknown types and are piloted be seemingly elite pilots who crash into the defending fighter wings of the 1st St Ives Lancers, St Ives Academy Training Group and an independent aerospace regiment. The numbers are roughly equal but the invaders have an edge in skill and technology on all but the single wing of fighters from the Lancers. The assault dropships and 2 Overlord A-3 pocket warships bought from the FedSun's attempt to break through the dogfight and reach the Avatar of Kali but the ship turn and opens up on them with a full broadside smashing them into pieces. The Avatar of Kali manages to reach orbit of St Ives with only light damage and immedietly begins to bombard the capital of Tian-tan. Broadside after broadside crash into the city, particularly the areas around the Ducal Palace.
Early reports are that Duchess Candace Allard-Liao, her daughter Kuan-yin Allard-Liao, daughter-in-law Deiddre Lear and 2 grandchildren David Lear and Melissa Allard-Liao had managed to reach the bunkers under the palace, but the bombardment continues relentlessly and soon all contact is lost. The last reports are that the sustained bombardment was causing some cave in's throughout the bunkers. Again and again the fighters of the St Ives defenders throw themselves at the Avatar of Kali but their attacks are broken up by the ship's escorting fighters. The handful that make it through the escorts are too few to destroy the ship, although the ship is heavily damaged when a single Lightning class aerospace fighter closes to suicidal range and manages to launch a nuclear tipped missile at the ship's port side. The Avatar, bleeding air and clearly heavily damaged rolls ship and continues the bombardment from it's undamaged starboard guns.
Even as the fighters battle to destroy the huge cruiser raining death down onto the city of Tian-tan the Duke of St Ives is leading his own 1st St Ives Lancers to meet the incoming battlemech forces which conduct a combat drop onto the cities spaceport. Although all 4 of the Overlords have suffered light damage they have largely been ignored by the defending aerospace fighters who have concentrated understandably on the cruiser. This has allowed them to reach atmosphere and drop their 4 battalions of battlemechs relatively unmolested.
As soon as the last of the "Warrior Houses" Rakshasa and White Tiger have jumped from the Overlords the ships engines go to full power. However they aren't attempting to reach orbit again, instead all 4 dropships turn their armoured noses towards the Ducal Palace and red line their engines, turning themselves into nearly 10,000 ton kinetic missiles...
Duke Kai Allard-Liao advances on the descending Thuggee cultists even as behind him any hope that his family are still alive disappears in the 4 huge fireballs where his home once stood. Considered by almost everyone to be the finest mechwarrior in existence he throws himself at the Thuggee's with a reckless fury that removes the self doubts which usually limit him and turns him into something resembling an unstoppable force of nature. Unfortunately the Thuggee's had known that if he was not at the palace he would respond in this way and have taken preparations. Every single LRM missile in their battlemech's launchers are tipped with nerve gas obtained from their shattered temples on Highspire while their battlemechs have been treated to resist the nerve agent and they themselves have been issued neutralising agents to administer to themselves just prior to combat. They have no intention to fight a warrior like Kai Allard-Liao in a "fair fight" and instead blanket his position in LRM fire. Through the fire Yen-Lo-Wang comes staggering as behind the iconic battlemech the charging 1st Battalion of the St Ives Lancers falter and fall to the nerve agent. Even as his troops die behind him the Duke of St Ives's battlemech crashes to the ground and lies still. Just in case and showing an almost superstitious dread of the former Champion of Solaris an entire company of Warrior House Rakshasa pour fire into the recumbent Yen-Lo-Wang until it's reactor overlords and explodes.
With the Duke dead and the 1st Lancers gutted by nerve agent tipped missiles the 4 battalions of Thuggee fanatics run rampage through the city of Tien-tan, firing into businesses, shops and homes as they hunt down and destroy any remaining defenders. The casualties skyrocket as they continue to fire nerve agent filled missiles into fleeing crowds and packed refugee columns. When they finally run out of missiles they continue to massacre anyone they can with conventional weaponry. However when their missiles run out they are struck by the remnants of the 1st St Ives Lancers reinforced now by the St Ives Academy Training Group and the ComGuard's 87th Division. Mercy is neither asked for or given as the 2 sides smash into each other in a battle within the ruins of a vibrant city. Occasional flashes of naval orbital laser fire only add to the death toll both military and civilian. However by dawn on the 21st the last of the Thuggee battlmechs have fallen and their pilots are dead.
At the same time the last of the Thuggee's are being destroyed within the ruins of Tien-Tan, the so far uncommitted fighters attached to the 87th Division launch from their base and head for the orbiting Avatar of Kali. The remaining St Ives fighters provide an escort and manage to keep the by now worn and damaged fighters of the warship's depleted screen from intercepting more than 3 of the 39 fighters. Of the remaining 36 ComGuard fighters no less than 12 are carrying nuclear ordinance - supplied by St Ives. While not closing to the suicidal range of the first nuclear strike upon the Avatar of Kali no fewer than 11 of the 12 nuclear equipped fighters manage to launch and 7 nuclear warheads hit the warship. With her entire starboard side effectively destroyed, her back broken and over half the ship open to the void and the other half powerless the ship begins to slowly break apart in orbit. In one final attempt of mass murder the single remaining Vengeance class carrier (the other had been destroyed in the fighting) attempts to emulate the 4 Overlord dropships who rammed the planet. However aware of the possibility the surviving ComGuards and St Ives fighters swarm the ship and destroy it. A number of enemy fighter pilots do however manage to reenter orbit and ram the planet using their aerospace fighters as makeshift kinetic missiles to cause additional damage now that they have no hope of landing on a friendly carrier.
The reports from the still intact HPG station on St Ives filter out to the rest of the Inner Sphere. The 2nd St Ives Lancers immediately heads for the planet as do the the 5th FedSun's Dragoons RCT and the FSS Goshen and FSS Clovis. They arrive too late to help destroy the Avatar of Kali or the invaders but immedietly begin working to help save who they can from the devastated capital city of the planet. Work immediately starts on digging out the former Ducal Palace in the vain hope of finding survivors.
The entire Inner Sphere reacts in horror at the devastation and war crimes committed upon St Ives by a vessel of the Capellan Confederation. The Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao, appearing visibly horrified broadcasts a fervent denial of involvement and the denouncement of his sister's actions. He calls upon the CCAF and all loyal Capellan Confederation to wipe her and her demented followers out.
First Prince Victor Davion, having already condemned the attacks and sent word to Korsakov's Cossack's to escort Cassandra Allard-Liao to wherever she wishes to go (along with his private and heartfelt condolences to her personally), now turns to the Chancellor's broadcast. In 4 simple words he voices the feelings of his entire realm. "Too little. Too late."
On the 23rd of September, while the flames of Tien-tan are still visible from orbit, the Federated Sun's formally declares war upon the Capellan Confederation. Operation Rat II and Rat III are immedietly authorised for implementation. Dozens of RCT's and battlemech regiments lift off from garrison postings and head for their jump off points to invade the Confederation. Escorting them are dozens of warships and hundreds of jumpships. Marshal of the Armies Jackson Davion at his princes's command masterminds the invasion from New Avalon and arranges for the attacking forces to hit the Confederation in a single attack. On the 1st of October the AFFS will break like a tsunami across the Confederation 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..."
The Federated Sun's is joined in this deceleration of war by the Lyran Alliance, although given the distance involved this will be little more than a gesture of support. No formal deceleration of war is made by the St Ives Compact - largely due to it's current decapitated state, but every single military force within the St Ives Military Command goes to a war footing.
Within the Federated Sun's the military industrial sector ramps up production of everything from combat boots to battlemechs. Volunteers flood into the recruiting stations beyond even the already impressive numbers. Entire regiments of infantry and armour are formed up from these volunteers and begin training, with the best candidates directed towards the expanding military academies for more advanced training as battlemech mechwarriors, aerospace fighters, battle armour troopers or officers.
The existing military industrial output is expanded when the Koschei line on Tikonov is personally commissioned by the First Prince. The production along with salvage from the failed Free Tikonov invasion is set aside to form a 2nd Tikonov Cossack's.
Johnston Industries announce that the entire production of their new Thunderbolt line on New Syrtis will be donated to help rebuild the 1st St Ives Lancers on the 30th September. They are joined in this deceleration by Kallon Industries who promise the same for their new Enforcer III line on Novaya Zemlya and by GM who promises the output of their new Maelstrom line on Victoria.
Federated Sun's Defence Industries Vedette line also goes operation in September. While it's product is hardly the cutting edge of military production it is snapped up and diverted to the large number of training armoured regiments.
On the Andurien front the first half of the month is filled with growing despair for the Grand Duchy's defenders. Lord Baxter and his attached regiments arrive at the world on the 17th and land at the Canopian LZ. With customary arrogance Lord Baxter orders the 1st and 2nd Magestracy Highlander's to follow his commands and launches a 2 pronged attack. With his own command battalion, the 1st McCarron's Armoured Cavalry and the 2nd Magestracy Highlanders he heads for the capital city of Jojoken and it's entrenched garrison the 1st Andurien Defenders. The 3rd McCarron's Armoured Cavalry and 1st Highlanders is dispatched to break the siege of Baroda.
Faced with being pinned between the relieving column and the garrison the 1st Kearny Highlanders and Northwind Hussars break contact and swing back towards Jojoken to join the garrison there. Or at least that's what they intend the Capellan's to think. Instead they march across country and manage to hit the flank of the advancing column of Lord Baxter. The experienced Marcus Baxter isn't caught entirely unprepared although his flanking scouts are swiftly crushed. Their deaths do at least give him time to mount a proper defence. He manages to hold his line against the attacking Northwind Highlanders long enough for them to be forced to withdraw back towards Jojoken as the 2nd Liao Guard advances on their rear.
Even as all of this is happening word reaches the Grand Duchy of the attack upon St Ives. While many commanders within the Confederation are horrified into an almost paralysis by this, Lord Baxter reacts swiftly and launches a full scale attack upon Jojoken before the knowledge can sap the morale of his troops. His own 2 regiments lead the attack side by side with the fanatical 2nd Liao Guard and are soon smashing their way into the city block by block. The other Capellan units move up in support,but the Magistracy Highlanders commit themselves only to patrols around the perimeter of the city. The only small mercy is that Lord Baxter renounces orbital bombardment so as not to draw any parallels between his own attacks and those of the "mad Thuggees".
As the news of the fate of Tien-tan spreads morale amongst the civilian population of Andurien falters and crumbles, with widespread attempts to leave not only Jojoken but also the entire world. Other worlds within the Grand Duchy see similar flight by those who are able and soon a large number of refugees are heading into the Free Worlds League or even in some cases around the Capellan Confederation's periphery border and into the Federated Suns. As September ends the city of Andurien is a battle zone, but the Grand Duchy is still on it's feet although is beginning to come apart under the relentless assaults of the CCAF.
Within the Confederation itself there is shock at the bombardment of St Ives. However the ever present MASK units within the long standing Confederation worlds manage to almost immedietly shut down any protests while cutting off feed from St Ives. Within the former Sarna March however this is impossible and open rebellions break out on over 2 dozen worlds. On Ningpo the rebelling civilian population is joined not only by elements of the Home Guard but also by the Green Giant's mercenary company of former-AFFS General Arisota Neece who breaks her contract with Sian in disgust at the news. Laurel's Legion's 2 under strength battlemech battalions immedietly attempt to destroy the Green Giant's for breach of contracts but the Green Giants, former Chisholm Raiders almost to a mechwarrior fade back and lead them on a wild goose chase into the rebel areas while stinging them with minor raids. The Legion isn't helped by the horrendous levels of morale amongst many of it's troops due to the pictures from St Ives spreading like wildfire...
Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao upon receipt of the deceleration of war from the Federated Sun's is seen to have a borderline nervous breakdown by those closest to him. Through backdoor channels he immedietly requests to know what conditions the Federated Sun's would accept in order to avoid war - even offering up the head of his sister as soon as he can find her... Unconditional surrender is the single 2 word response he gets...
