Date: July, 3027
Location: Keid
Title: Blind Man's Bluff
Author: Thomas S. Gressman
Type: Short Story (BattleTechnology 0203)
Synopsis: LCAF Lt. Brian "Dark Horse" Scully reports back to Major Mariah "Phalanx" Thibeaux that his Hatchetman has reached the outskirts of the city of Bel and he is beginning his effort to infiltrate through the Capellan perimeter to locate the spare parts dump inside.
In an underground bunker near the city center, CCAF Captain Daniel Gyory waits for repairs on his Centurion to be completed, fixing the damage suffered from Lyran strafing runs during their initial landing the previous day. The Centurion is the only Capellan 'Mech remaining in Bel, with the rest of the company having deployed to defend Port Anderson (30 km south) against the main thrust of the Lyran attack.
A technician reports that an inbound Lyran 'Mech has been detected, and conveys orders from Commandant Deng to destroy the intruder.
Two kilometers away, Scully's Hatchetman is intercepted by a militia jeep, which fires a pintle mounted SRM launcher at the Lyran, but fails to survive the laser barrage that returns, exploding in a greasy fireball.
Gyory, still preparing, receives the final report from Recon Jeep V-7 - cut off mid sentence. He powers up the Centurion and emerges from the bunker, ready to do battle.
Scully anticipates that the diversionary attack on Port Anderson will have drawn away most, if not all, of Bel's garrison - leaving only infantry and soft-sided vehicles like the jeep. He estimates it will take him only another 30 minutes to reach the supply dump, and another 30 minutes to withdraw with the data on its location.
Gyory, having reached the site of the jeep's destruction, is unable to locate the Lyran 'Mech with sensors, and has to try to outthink his foe. He races west at top speed, hoping he's going the right direction.
Scully arrives in the vicinity of the parts warehouse, but is interrupted in his search by his magnetic anomaly detector (MAD) alerting him to a large mass in his rear arc. He slips into the shadows of a large building, hoping to conceal his signature in its mass, unsure if anyone is actually nearby, and worried about keeping to his mission timeline.
Gyory approaches cautiously, wondering if the brief sensor contact was nothing more than a radar ghost.
Both 'Mechs step into the street at the same time, and open fire at each other. Scully, outgunned, fires his jump jets and escapes to the next street over. He raises the 'Mech's hatchet and prepares to strike as the Capellan 'Mech approaches in pursuit. Gyory blocks the strike with the Centurion's left arm, which buckles, but his return fire leaves the Hatchetman's armor in tatters as it again jets away to safety.
Scully curses the Capellan's quick reaction time, and exchanges fire with the Centurion once more, jetting away amid the cloud of exploding missiles and falling debris from stray cannonfire. The two MechWarriors lose contact with each other as the Hatchetman plummets through the roof of the building it was trying to jump over.
After several minutes of searching, Gyory detects movement inside the building, and begins shooting blindly into it, hoping to hit his target. Sully's return laser fire is more accurate, however, and the follow-up charge slams the Centurion into the building across the street. The Hatchetman clubs the battered Centurion down twice as it attempts to stand, detonating the missiles, killing Gyory, and throwing the Hatchetman back into the intersection.
Once he recovers, Sully sends an "enemy destroyed, mission in progress" zipsqueal to Phalanx at HQ, and limps away into the night.
Notes: The date of the battle is described from a 3028 perspective as having taken place "last year." I have put it arbitrarily in July.
Brian Scully is identified as a "Lieutenant," though being the LCAF, his proper rank should be "Leutnant."
The narrative gives Keid a single moon...which appears to have disappeared by the time of its official MWDA WizKids profile. (Efficient, those Capellan moon miners...)
The appearance of the SRM-2-firing recon jeep suggests that Gressman was working from the list of conventional forces listed in MechWarrior RPG 1st Edition, which included skimmers, wheeled scouts, jeeps, Vedettes, Hunters, Manticores, Demolishers, B2 Heavy Transports, Command Vans, and an assortment of robots.
I'm surprised that Gyory didn't call in additional recon jeeps and infantry to defend the warehouse. It was a close battle, and some extra SRMs pounding the Hatchetman could have made the difference. (Except, of course, this is 3027, and the only constant in this era is that House Liao loses every battle.)
Given the detailed blow-by-blow, I wouldn't be surprised if Gressman played out the battle between the Hatchetman and the Centurion and simply wrote up the results as dictated by the dice. Other authors, like William Keith, tend to skip over the details of the fight (enabling the heroes to take down foes in a single volley) so that the story narrative doesn't bog down. This short story goes the opposite direction, chronicling every autocannon burst and missile volley (something you'd only see in a novel for a final-chapter boss battle, and still not at this level of detail).
Gressman was an early contributor to BattleTechnology, and ended up writing several of the Twilight of the Clans novels (mostly those that focused on the Eridani Light Horse).
It's unusual to see a Lyran vs. Capellan battle, but Keid is close enough to the Lyran border for a raid to be conceivable. What's odd is that the Lyrans actually staged a diversionary raid to draw off the garrison and then sent in a scout to infiltrate the target. Lyrans aren't known for diversionary tactics and misdirection. They form a long wall and stampede forwards with the heaviest 'Mechs possible, confident in their ability to crush all in their path. This focus on maneuver and scouting suggests this unit has had the benefit of AFFS military advisers - courtesy of the FedCom treaty.
The story is framed as a "BattleTips" article written by Greggson DuVall, a military historian who interviewed pilots, Techs, and eyewitnesses on both sides. I'm surprised the normally closed-off Capellans granted such access, especially since it showcases their loss of precious LosTech.
The setup - that Gyory's Centurion had been less damaged in the strafing than the other members of his company, and had been the last to enter the repair bay (and consequently been left behind) - runs contrary to the description of the standard 'Mech repair protocol of reverse triage - those with the least damage get treated first so they can get back into the fight as quickly as possible and don't get stuck waiting behind wrecks that need days-long full overhauls to even stand up again.