FLIPPING THE BIRD
Mila Vandroogenbroeck Memorial Freeway, The Middle Finger
Laconis, Victoria Commonality
Capellan Confederation
30 July 3145When Damien Liu and his Warrior House arrived on Laconis in late June of 3145, the local political situation had badly deteriorated. Thanks to the spoiled noblemen's children of the Eighth CRC and their heavy-handed treatment of the populace, the anti-Liao insurgency was beginning to gain real popular support, threatening to overwhelm the local
Zang shu zhe branch through sheer numbers. Likewise, it was increasingly evident that the insurgency was receiving support and training from the Special Task Groups, the Taurian Ministry of Intelligence's elite commando force; the Concordat clearly saw the situation as a potential opportunity to reclaim Laconis from an overextended Confederation. Despite the Maskirovka's best efforts, they could no longer contain the situation, which was what had forced them to call in Warrior House Ma-Tsu Kai for help in the first place. Unlike other CCAF regiments, the Warrior Houses existed entirely outside of the chain of command, and thus the House of Scions had no sway over them, rendering any attempts at political retaliation by the Eighth's membership impotent.
Unfortunately, the worst of the damage had already been done. In a major intelligence coup, the Taurians had managed to subvert nearly the entire Laconis Home Guard (including its entire officer corps) without the Maskirovka's knowledge, placing a poisoned dagger at the heart of the Capellan defenses. The Home Guard also provided the Taurians with the codes needed to register on the planetary sensor net as a Capellan convoy, allowing them to smuggle both the Red Chasseurs and the supporting Clean Kill mercenary battalion into the system without incident. With the insurgency making relentless rocket and mortar attacks against CRC outposts and convoys, coupled with reports of unmarked 'Mechs occasionally accompanying the strikes before fading back into the wilderness, the Eighth was forced to rely more on the aid of both Warrior House Ma-Tsu Kai and the Home Guard. As July wore on, larger and heavier forces began escorting convoys, keeping them occupied while the Taurian commander, Colonel Rose Cox, moved her forces into position. Finally, by the month's end, the trap was ready to be sprung.
A sizable convoy loaded with ammunition and armor fresh from the TMM factories headed toward Fort Brown, the Eighth CRC's primary base, on the morning of 30 July. Chaperoning it were two BattleMech lances from the Eighth, a lance of advanced
Jinggaus from House Ma-Tsu Kai, and the command lance of the Laconis Home Guard, led by
Zhong-shao Moon Tanaka herself from the cockpit of her
Thunder. As the convoy passed through a more open section of the Middle Finger's overpass into east Pellana, they came under sudden attack from Clean Kill's Assassin Company, a unit composed of fast-strike medium 'Mechs. The two 'Mech lances from the Cavalry and the lone Warrior House lance moved to engage the attackers, while the Home Guard 'Mechs and tanks hung back, seemingly reluctant to engage. Once the other CCAF 'Mechs were fully embroiled in combat, the Home Guardsmen opened fire on them, rapidly downing a Cavalry
Trebaruna and crippling another.
Immediately realizing the extent of the Home Guard's betrayal if the command lance itself (presumably composed of soldiers with the most extensive Maskirovka vetting) had turned on them,
Pai-zhang Teodor Szajner took command of the remaining loyal Capellans and led them in a pugnacious defensive withdrawal that dealt as much damage to the mercenaries and their Home Guard allies as possible before falling back. While
Sao-shao Zhu and
Sao-wei Fok of the Eighth Cavalry provided a base of fire with their assault 'Mechs,
Pai-zhang Szajner spread his
Jinggaus and the Cavalry's two
Vindicators in a loose skirmish line that allowed them to move together rapidly with their jump jets and converge on a single target. To prevent them from being overwhelmed,
Sao-weis Luo and Akbash of the Eighth blitzed their
Griffins straight through a weak point in the mercenary line, spraying plasma and missile fire all over the backsides of several Clean Kill 'Mechs and doing damage far out of proportion to their own numbers. The mercenaries' positioning and superior numbers all but ensured their escape with the munitions convoy in tow, but they did so with less than half their initial force; the Capellans felled a half-dozen mercenary BattleMechs and wiped out the entire Home Guard force save for
Zhong-shao Tanaka, at the price of both
Griffins and
Sao-wei Vatsik's
Vindicator. With the remaining seven Capellan 'Mechs too slow or badly damaged to pursue the stragglers in earnest and without information on what was happening on the rest of Laconis,
Pai-zhang Szajner led them west back down the overpass, trying to re-establish contact with the rest of the Warrior House so he could decide how to proceed next.
By the time he did, several hours later, the situation had gotten considerably worse.
Victory!
-------------------
Winner is: House Ma-Tsu Kai
House Ma-Tsu Kai: 7431 BV remaining (from 11251 initially) 0 BV fled
8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry: 6097 BV remaining (from 20102 initially) 2963 BV fled
Clean Kill: 0 BV remaining (from 24644 initially) 12058 BV fled
Laconis Home Guard: 0 BV remaining (from 13931 initially) 3363 BV fled
Survivors are:
Jinggau JN-G8L (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Pilot : Pai-zhang Teodor Szajner [2/3]
Kills : 0
Jinggau JN-G8L #2 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Pilot : Bai-zhang Pau-Ling Tsao [2/4] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 1
Jinggau JN-G8L #3 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Pilot : Ban-zhang Mei-Xin Blanc [2/5]
Kills : 1
Jinggau JN-G8L #4 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Pilot : Ban-zhang Neil bin Khaldoon [3/4]
Kills : 1
BattleMaster BLR-4L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Sao-shao Wing Zhu [3/4]
Kills : 1
Victor VTR-10L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Jiong Fok [3/5]
Kills : 2
Vindicator VND-4L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Sang-wei Filipe Guillemot [3/4]
Kills : 2
The following units have been captured by the opposition:
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #12 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #5 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #11 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #3 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #4 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #8 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #6 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #10 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #9 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
J-37 Ordnance Transport (Standard) #7 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Driver : Transport Crew [4/5]
Kills : 0
The following units are in retreat:
Dervish DV-9D (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Benoit Thomas [4/4]
Kills : 0
MechWarrior Connelly Thomas (Clean Kill)
Gunnery Skill : Connelly Thomas [2] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Wraith TR2 (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Lieutenant Nils Herz [2/3] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 1
Bushwacker BSW-S2r (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Shela Shilmani [4/4]
Kills : 1
Griffin GRF-6S (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Captain Minka Synek [2/3] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 1
Rook NH-2 (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Karissa Vostakov [3/4]
Kills : 0
Hellspawn HSN-10SR #2 (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Dong-min Chong [4/5]
Kills : 0
Thunder THR-C4 (Laconis Home Guard)
Pilot : Zhong-shao Moon Tanaka [2/3] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 1
Graveyard contains:
Huron Warrior HUR-WO-R4O (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Connelly Thomas [2/4] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Griffin GRF-5L #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Gravedigger GDR-1D (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Lieutenant John Perez [2/4]
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Victor VTR-10L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
MechWarrior Lieutenant John Perez (Clean Kill)
Gunnery Skill : Lieutenant John Perez [2]
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Vindicator VND-4L #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Shadow Hawk SHD-7M (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Lieutenant Sharafat Mohmand [2/5] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Griffin GRF-5L #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Osprey OSP-26 (Laconis Home Guard)
Pilot : Sao-wei Bart MacLachlan [3/4] ( 2 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Jinggau JN-G8L #4 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Scorpion SCP-10M (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Asena Aydin [3/5] ( 2 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Griffin GRF-5L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Trebaruna TR-XL (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Rene Chladkova [3/5] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Moltke MBT M2 (Laconis Home Guard)
Griffin GRF-5L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Wen Luo [4/4]
Kills : 1
Destroyed by Wraith TR2 (Clean Kill)
Hellspawn HSN-10SR (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Haitham Paek [3/3]
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Vindicator VND-4L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Trebaruna TR-XL #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Dorothy Lian [4/5] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Bushwacker BSW-S2r (Clean Kill)
Warhammer WHM-5L (Laconis Home Guard)
Pilot : Sang-wei Ian Cipollini [3/3] ( 3 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by pilot error.
Vindicator VND-4L #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Jarek Vatsik [3/5] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 1
Destroyed by Thunder THR-C4 (Laconis Home Guard)
MechWarrior Jarek Vatsik (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Gunnery Skill : Jarek Vatsik [3] ( 1 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Moltke MBT M2 (Laconis Home Guard)
Moltke MBT M2 (Laconis Home Guard)
Driver : LHG Armor Crew [3/4]
Kills : 2
Destroyed by Victor VTR-10L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Uziel UZL-8S (Clean Kill)
Pilot : Silvino Chevalier [2/4] ( 4 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Jinggau JN-G8L #3 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
Griffin GRF-5L #2 (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Pilot : Zhang Akbash [4/5]
Kills : 2
Destroyed by Griffin GRF-6S (Clean Kill)
MechWarrior Silvino Chevalier (Clean Kill)
Gunnery Skill : Silvino Chevalier [2] ( 4 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Vindicator VND-4L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
The following utterly destroyed units are not available for salvage:
MechWarrior Rene Chladkova (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Gunnery Skill : Rene Chladkova [3] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by pilot error.
MechWarrior Dorothy Lian (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Gunnery Skill : Dorothy Lian [4] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by pilot error.
Catapult CPLT-C5A (Laconis Home Guard)
Pilot : Sao-wei Raza Baloch [3/4] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by BattleMaster BLR-4L (8th Confederation Reserve Cavalry)
Moltke MBT M2 #2 (Laconis Home Guard)
Driver : LHG Armor Crew [3/4]
Kills : 0
Destroyed by Jinggau JN-G8L #2 (House Ma-Tsu Kai)
MechWarrior Sao-wei Raza Baloch (Laconis Home Guard)
Gunnery Skill : Sao-wei Raza Baloch [3] ( 6 hit(s) )
Kills : 0
Destroyed by pilot error.