On BERNARDO, the assault mechs of the 6th Marik Militia pinned and destroyed one of the defending 3rd Free Worlds Guards Battalions, and then began marching towards the Earthwerks and Kallon Industries plants. Colonel Kiel, the 3rd's commander, had some success conducting it and run attacks against the slow moving assault mechs of the 6th, but was prepared to retreat off planet instead of fighting to the end. However, when the 6th was about 50 kilometers away from the Kallon plant, it stopped its advance, then began a slow retreat. The 3rd Free World followed closely, but avoided any pitched battles. A week later, the 6th's dropships landed, and the unit loaded up and boosted off. A fierce Aerospace fight took place as the unit was leaving, with both units ASF forces being bloodied.
On NEW DELOS, the 2nd Brigade of the Fusiliers of Oriente were surprised by the appearance of the 15th, but recovered quickly enough to contest some of the landing zones the Militia was using. At one of these landing zones the command lance of the Fusiliers was accompanying the two companies of the 2nd defending it were unprepared for the two companies of Assault and Heavy mechs that landed close by. The 2nds Commander, Colonel Ricardo Fuentes, was killed when his Orion was bracketed with long range LRM fire from a lance of Militia Archers. Cohesion among the two defending companies, and they retreated with heavy losses. Major Keirnan Morales, the senior battalion commander of the 2nd, took control off the unit, and started a series of hit and run attacks to try and keep the 15th off guard. However, after one of his companies was caught and destroyed when it did not break off in time, Major Morales gave the order for the unit to retreat. The 15th Marik Militia was more than content to let them go. Three days later, as the 2nd was well on it's way to its own jumpships, observers were surprised to see the dropships of the 15th boosting towards their own orbiting jumpships.
VANRA is the landholding of the Orloff family, the capital of the Grand Duchy, and the target of the 13th Marik Militia during Operation HAMMERDOWN. Landing of the Amaravan Plains, outside the planets capital city of Orloff City, the 1st Orloff Grenadiers found themselves parrying several flanking attacks, but were holding the line. A counterattack by the Grenadiers Strike battalion had stopped the advance of the 13th, and was beginning to drive them back, when alarms from the city were raised. During the attacks the 13th was making, a few lances of light and fast medium mechs had broken off and made their way into the outskirts of the city. Destroying a power substation was actually a stroke of luck for the infiltrating Marik troops, the programs regulating the cities grid were unprepared to deal with the sudden loss of power on that scale, and the resulting power spikes up and down the lines as other substations struggles to fill the gap caused a cascade effect of failure as stations shut them selves down or pulled out of the network. The cities emergency and military services channels were affected by these failures, and as a result, the first reports of Marik mechs inside the city were not taken seriously at first. However, as explosions and other alarms began to fill the air, and as the power network was slowly brought back online, the reports were taken much more seriously. The Vanra Militia, in particular the Orloff City Armored Division, performed yeomans work in driving the infiltrating lances off, inflicting heavy losses. After these incursions, the 13th made a few other attempts to sneak a few lances into the rear areas of the 1st Orloff, but the next three weeks was mostly maneuvering and skirmishes. During a particularly heavy storm, Colonel McDowell managed to reposition his forces for a flank attack, but when the weather cleared, the 13th was no longer defending its positions. Having used the cover of the storm to retreat, the Militia boosted off planet a few days later.
On CARBONIS, the defending 9th Marik Militia found itself out maneuvered by the attacking 2nd Marik as soon as the fighting began. Wanting to avoid a stand up fight, Colonel Ortega conducted a series of hit and run attacks that infuriated the defenders. The one occasion a Company Commander from the 9th ignored Colonel Van Castilles orders to not pursue, he soon found his unit cut off and surrounded by the recon battalion of the 2nd Marik. For Four weeks the 2nd Marik struck and moved, avoiding close combat for the most part. That changed when one of these hit and run attacks ran headlong into two companies of heavy mechs. Two lances of the 2nd were destroyed or captured before being able to break off. A week later the 2nd Militia made a push for the IMB System Industrial Area, but were checked by several local counterattacks by the 9th. The attacks however, proved to be a ruse. The night before the battle, several teams of combat engineers had been lifted to the four dams on the Danuvius River Valley. Quickly overcoming the small forces protecting the dams, the engineers planted several sub kiloton weapons within the bowels of each dam, and the retreated. During the battle the next day, all four dams were destroyed, and the resulting torrent of water damaged or destroyed 50% of the IMB industrial area, and left most of the city of Budapest with a foot or more of water to deal with. The dams also provided most of the power to the region. Its main goal accomplished, the 2nd broke contact and retreated to its drop zones. The 9th's pursuit was perfunctory at best, but many of the units members were vowing revenge on their former comrades in arms.
Almost nothing went right for the 1st Atrean Dragoons assault on LES HALLES after they landed. The 5th Aerospace forces, which were in the process of being rebuilt before the Schism started, was able to destroy or severely damage almost half of the 1st Dragoons own Aerospace assets. Already practiced in air to ground support, the 5th's aerospace fighters were able to slow down and stop several probing attacks the Dragoons made. Three weeks after landing, an all out effort by the remaining 1st Dragoon aero forces ensured the ground forces were fighting under a neutral sky, and they were driving towards the Refit Station when the attack was stopped in it's tracks by a large artillery barrage. This was swiftly followed by a counterattack, delivered with more enthuisiasm than skill, that drove the Dragoons back. With losses in her attacking companies already running as high as 50% in some cases, Colonel Denichuck ordered a retreat off planet. Harassed by both air and ground forces, the 1st Dragoons finally lifted off. While it's total losses were low, quite a few lances worth of mechs were badly damaged.
The 1st Oriente Hussars and 3rd Brigade of the Fusiliers had both been heavily damaged during the fighting on Atreus. Retreating to EMRIS IV gave both units the opportunity to rebuild damaged machines, but the personnel losses both units suffered had yet to be remedied. With the arrival of the Atrean Hussars on planet, both units turned their attention to defending the two Mech Factories on planet. The Hussars moved towards the StarCorps plant, with the 3rd Brigade taking up blocking and defensive positions. Disaster struck the 3rd Brigade soon after the fighting started, when a defending company inexplicably retreated, leaving a hole in the Oriente units defensive line. The Hussars Fire Battalion found the gap and poured through it, splitting the defending Oriente battalions. The 3rd Battalion of the 3rd put up a gallant fight, but after a desperate attack by its remaining companies was turned back, the few remaining lances surrendered. What was left of the 3rd Brigade retreated back towards the defenses of the Star Corps plant. However, the tables were soon turned on the attackers. The Oriente Hussars, which had thus far been held in check by a battalion of the Atreans, undertook a night attack that pinned the Atreans in place, then forced it to retreat after a series of running battles. Rather than advance towards the Star Corps site, Colonel Mondou instead sent the majority of his unit after the Hussars landing zone. A heavy company of the Atreans, with two tank and an infantry regiment, sold itself dearly, slowing down the Hussars long enough for Colonel Wansi to extract the rest of her unit to the Landing Zones. A series of running battles between the combatants took place, with the Atreans finally reaching a point where they could block the Hussars and bring their heavier firepower to bear. After the retreat, both sides pulled back to regroup and reassess the situation. By now, both Oriente units had joined up, and were in position to block any advance the Atreans wanted to make towards the factories. After a week of maneuvering, the Atreans suddenly broke off, retreated to the landing zones, and then boosted off planet.
The Ducal Guard of the Fusiliers had fallen out of favor with the Oriente High Command, the actions of its former commander tarring the whole unit. How far they had fallen out of favor was apparent after the unit had retreated to KIYEV, where very few of it's material losses had been replaced. While the Orientes lack of mech production may have played a factor in this, but other units had received replacements after their arrival back in Oriente space. The arrival of the 10th Marik Militia on Kiyev was unexpected, the only thing of any military value on the planet were the two units on it. The 10ths landing was uncontested, but the Aerospace fighting was fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides. Colonel Garibraldi split his unit up, with one battalion shadowing the Guard, while the other two moved on the 1st Brigade positions. The commander of 1st Brigade, Colonel Barksdale, had a reputation for unorthodox tactics and strategies, but after two weeks of skirmishing and countermoves, the Brigade commander realized Colonel Garibraldi was no slouch in that area either.
Colonel Blake Standish, newly appointed commander of the Guard, was actively trying to join up with the 1st Brigade, but found his attempts thwarted by the 10ths Recon Group. A month after landing, the storm season on Kiyev began, and disaster struck both groups. Colonel Barksdale planned a pinning attack with a flanking maneuver through a series of valleys and washes, using the storm to cover his unit movements. Colonel Garibraldi had anticipated such a move though, and when word reached him that the rains had turned the valley's into nearly impassable fields of mud and water, he counterattacked the pinning force of the 1st. The Heavy and Assault mechs of the 10ths Condition Red Assault Battalion decimated a defending company of the 1st, brushed aside a counterattack by another company, and began to make fight its way to the rear areas of the 1st Brigade. When it seemed a local victory was at hand, word reached Colonel Garibraldi of the disaster the befell his own battalion. The heavy storms had turned the terrain into a mudfield, negating the speed and maneuverability advantage of the Recon Group. Colonel Standish ordered a general attack, and although his medium and heavy mechs were just as hampered in their own movements, the lighter units of the 10th were unable to break off and regroup. Several lances were heavily damaged, and several mechs had to be abandoned when they could not be recovered after falling down. Reacting quickly, the 10th went from assault to rescue. At great risk, the 10ths ASF fighters conducted several strafing runs against the advancing guard. Several lighter ASF's of the 10th were brought down not by enemy fire, but by ground mircobursts and other weather effects over the battlefield.
The Guards pursuit of the Recon Battalion was stopped when a Stingray ASF on a strafing run was hit by AAA fire and crashed into the communications array Colonel Standish was using to coordinate his troops movement. With the powerful transmitter destroyed, and the storm interrupting other communication methods, Colonel Standish ordered his forces to hold back, fearing a potential trap by the 10th.
By the time the 10th had regrouped, all three units were not in the best of shape. There was a two week respite as all three units did what they could to rest and repair before the next battles. Colonel Garibraldi was conducting a skillful retreat back up the Koryev Valley when orders to retreat off planet were received by a recently arrived jumpship. The defending Oriente troops pursuit was perfunctory at best, and the 10th was able to boost away unopposed a week later.
Thanks for reading!
Dav
