I forgot about it, but does Yorinaga have his bullshit phantom ability in this AU?
No, but you will see him in action alongside Hanse Davion himself against the Clans in the next section.
07:15Lachan Lake lapped against the quay as a pair of urban camouflage wearing House Kell Huscarl Marines sat within a guard house protecting Patrick Kell’s Yacht and the superheavy ‘pocket battleship’ ARS Lachan, built as a prestige project for some Lyran nobleman, was moored. Patrick’s boat was an extravagant but very small version of his older brother’s that he was using on Tharkad, as Liaison of the AMC. Other boats lined the quays, Tugs, barges, Mercenary Gun and Missile ships flying the flags of various specialty contractors swayed with the waves.
Nearby was a helicopter base where white and orange S&R and Attack Helos waited for a call. Fred T Perry Naval Base was quiet, eerily so considering how much activity it had seen over the past months now that much of the AMC was deployed. Still many Spheroid Dropships towered into the sky while aerodyne ones were tucked into fortified hangers awaiting their next assignments.
‘Baughan. B.’ drank his coffee from the cheap cardboard cups found in the commissary,
“Corporal, I heard COMSTAR was gifting the Dragoons some Warship stuff.” ‘Owen. M.’ crushed his own cup and tossed it in the trash,
“Aye Gunny, the so called pacifists of the Blessed Order just so happen to pull a massive battlefleet and giant army out the’r butts. One that just so happens to be capable of taking on the Clans. Oh! and its led by a disgraced Marik.
No one asks the obvious questions.”
“There will be time for that later I suppose.” Gunny Baughan looked through his rangefinder binoculars toward the sky,
“So that is apparently one of COMSTAR’s up there. Just looks like a big white spot to me. Still to close.” Their phone rang just as Air Raid sirens blared out their wailing cry. They put it on speaker, a pre-recorded message from the base commander played,
“All units disperse!
Hostile Warship and Fighters overhead.
Prepare for ground and air assault!”Before them the barracks and exercise yards emptied of personnel rushing to their vehicles carrying only their most essential gear. Helicopter blades began turning and turbines powered up to send the ships out to more open water. The Marines looked behind them at the moored ships,
“Patrick’s plaything? Or the Big Girl?”Blake downed his coffee and trashed it as well,
“Easy choice, you know I like them thick and loud rather than svelte and showy.
Time to put that Gunnery Sergeant training to use.
Be a tragedy to lose this beautiful ship at anchor. Let's make the Clans fire at a moving target.
They brought a Warship; we’ve got one too.” The Gunnery Sergeant opened a drawer in their guard shack, donned an LCN Rear Admiral’s Cap, and fiddled with a pipe hidden within.
“We’ll need a big crew to run her six guns and I don’t think we’ll have a shortage of volunteers willing to fight the enemy from behind this armor belt. I’ll start warming ‘er up.”He faced the younger soldier,
“Corporal Owen, call the Lamplight Lads over.”Mark saluted his superior with the naval salute rather than the ground one,
“Aye, Aye Skipper.”Above Lake Lachan Caitlin Kell’s heart pounded hard in her chest as she realized her situation as the initial adrenaline drained but the next one had yet to arrive. She took control of her breathing after realizing she was out of sync and losing control. Her helmet showed multiple reticles where the first group of Aerospace fighters were engaging Eights and his squadron at high altitude over Knucklehead and away from town.
There were reports of Battlemech and Tank engagements with the Huscarls and smaller AMC affiliates still on world. Their principal target seemed to be the fortified HPG Compound in Denton, as its enlarged garrison put up a stiff resistance to control access to their associated research centers. The enemy was looking for something. But what, and why?
Another Binary of Fighters were detected as the ground based search RADARs fought for control of the spectrum after SLS Venturi showed it true colors and unleashed a torrent of electronic warfare degrading the whole region’s sensor and comm links. It was over the naval base and it’s second flight of fighters was vectoring toward it as well. The dropships!
A large RADAR contact appeared in the middle of a small flotilla of gunboats with the designation ARS Lachan fighting through the noise. That ‘battleship’ that her father had won in poker game on Blue Hole?
“What the heck are those Marines thinking?”What was she thinking? This was a terrible idea, but it was her hometown so these clanners can go frak themselves. The Squadron leader saw the signal through the noise and ordered them down, within the defensive envelope of Air-Defense Arrows, smaller missiles, and Flak shells from autocannons and naval artillery. Missiles were already streaking upward from missile boats and ground launchers toward a spiraling column of Tomahawks.
Squadron Six traded altitude for speed skimming the choppy waters of the lake to obscure their approach as more capable fighters and pilots fought on the ceiling. Lachan Marine Helicopters were already orbiting prepared to scoop up any pilots that ended up ‘in the drink.’ Their more warlike cousins sliced along the waves heavily laden with rocket pods vectoring to intercept enemy ground forces and give heavier units time to deploy.
ARS Lachan flew a Pirate flag from its main staff beside the Arc-Royal Ensign,
“God bless those damned Marines.”The skies opened with a momentary heat bloom that killed clouds it passed through. The incredible spike in temperature from above resulted in a cored Overlord which was now blazing on the ferrocrete. Orbital firepower sliced deep into two Arrow IV GBAD installations detonating their magazines.
Huge missiles crashed into the lake around them creating a wave large enough that the fighters had to pull up or be whelmed by it. Beside her some of the smaller boats were swamped and capsized by the impact. Above them the noise and turbulence created were incredible as it passed over the lake.
“What the hell was that Squad Leader?”
“My guess is the Venturi got impatient. We are going to lose GBADs fast at this rate.”
“How are we going to fight that?”
“That is not your concern. We’ve got incoming bombers, focus on them and staying alive.
The Marines are setting up a FAP for us at the heli-base.
They’ve got plenty of missiles and fuel so feel free to use both.
Now pop up on three, double up and fire at those Tomahawks. If you get in trouble hit the deck and fly toward the Lachan. That ought to force them to disengage.”Behind them the six navalized Sniper pieces sent up thick clouds of smoke in front of them and bursting Flak shells covering the complete naval base where they could disrupt enemy formations. The armored battleship was struck by the Venturi's laser bays and a supersonic White Shark penetrator. A jagged red streak showed where the lasers burned deep into but not through the plate. The missile's impact sent it reeling backward before returning to trim. In reply it sent a Squadron of Tomahawks up and out of range of its flotilla’s guns.
“Launch, break contact, vector to the FAP, top off, rearm with a new missile, then repeat until your plane gives out. Understood?”
“Roger.”Caitlin picked out a Tomahawk on approach, the first Flight had dropped Thermobarics on several dropships damaged their legs and careening them over and into the ferrocrete to cause even more damage. She endeavored to prevent the next Flight from succeeding. Mary and she flew over soldiers and crews scattering or trying to set up different MANPADS from across the Inner Sphere in sandbagged positions.
They popped up and had an excellent crossing shot.
“Fox Three.” Two Anti-Air Arrows streaked off the center rail, one went wide but the other impacted the Tomahawk. Its defensive actions sent their bombs flying wildly off target before they detonated in a powerful fireball. It trailed smoke from a damaged engine as it punched its way back up to its carrier like a rocket.
Unburdened she landed at the heli-pad as ordered to see Marine Ordnance handlers with a large cart load of missiles and a smaller tank of fuel. They immediately set to work and gave her the thumbs up after they finished securing the heavy missile below her.
“Talk about fast service. Grab and go in five minutes. I’ll have to come here for lunch one day.”She checked her wing-woman, gave her the thumbs up, followed by the ‘lift off’ hand gesture. The Imstar-B turbine beneath her whirred to life as the Bullfrog lived up to its name, jumping awkwardly in the sky in search of flying pests.