The Dark Suns’ next contract would prove to be far more complicated than expected for a number of reasons. Kari Moreno brokered a deal with the Federated Suns that was outwardly aimed at raiding DCMS supplies on the border world of Cartago, itself only recently captured. The goal was both to deny these supplies to the Combine, while also where possible taking them for the AFFS. As a part of their payment, the unit would be granted a share of whatever they captured.
En-route, the unit would be met by a Federated Suns support force. Outwardly composed of both transport assets and combat engineers that would be useful in confiscating supplies, there was however more to this unit then just that. It also included a small commando force that would be engaged in the extraction of key assets from the world, including agents that had gone to ground when the world had fallen and now possessed vital intelligence.
Intelligence reported that the main DCMS force on world was the 278th Benjamin Armored Regiment. A conventional reserve unit, the 278th had been relocated to Cartago in order to both pacify the world and protect it against any possible AFFS counterattack. The regiment consisted mostly of light to medium amour, along with conventional infantry support. While they would drastically outnumber the Dark Suns on paper, the 278th was spread between a number of different sites, and would need time to relocate and respond to any attacks.
What both the Dark Suns and the AFFS were unaware of was that the DCMS had dispatched reinforcements to the world. Enger’s Nachtjagers, a mixed mercenary battalion employed by the Combine, had made planetfall just days before the Dark Suns arrived in-system. The Combine governor had been ordered to keep their arrival as low-key as possible, even if the reason why had not been made entirely clear.
The Dark Suns made planetfall in early September, 3145. Their aerospace support fully screened their approach from the 278th’s anemic fighter support, allowing their ships to land uncontested. Kari quickly moved on her first target, both to seize the initiative as well as to provide cover for the AFFS force to start their own operations.
Her first target was an airbase located in central Jimenez. Not only was it serving as a storehouse for supplies for the 278th, but it also acted as a distribution hub for their supply network. Recon placed a company of light armor on and around the base, with infantry support providing additional site security. Kari moved quickly, mobilizing the Dark Suns’ full force to strike the base and seize its supplies. A force of AFFS transports and combat engineers would move in once the site was secure.
As expected, the Dark Suns met a light armor company from the 278th, supported by conventional infantry. While clearly out-gunned, the Kuritan garrison troops chose to scatter, using their fast-moving vehicles to harass the Dark Suns’ forces and slow their advance. While they didn’t do much damage, these attacks wasted time; furthermore, until the airbase was clear of defenders, the AFFS salvage teams could not move in.
The reason for the garrison’s delaying tactics became clear with the unexpected arrival of a medium BattleMech lance. The reinforcements surprised the Dark Suns, but Kari was quickly able to recover and ordered her forces to focus on the new arrivals and ignore the Combine armor for the moment. One of the newcomers, a Razorback, was crippled by concentrated fire and quickly forced into a retreat.
Things turned against the defenders when a stray shot hit an ammunition stockpile, detonating it. The resultant explosion destroyed another one of the reinforcements, an Argus, in addition to killing its pilot. The rest of the ‘Mech lance, having apparently lost their leader, chose to withdraw rather than risk further losses. Realizing the depth of their situation, the remaining Combine troops scattered or surrendered, yielding the field to the Dark Suns.
With the airfield under their control, Kari called in he AFFS salvage teams to collect what they could. In addition to the supplies at the base, they also recovered a number of crippled and abandoned Combine vehicles. However, the Argus was too badly damaged to be repairable, and was instead taken for parts and scrap.
At the same time as the airbase assault, the AFFS commando team had recovered their intelligence assets from the planetary capitol. Their information yielded a number of potential new targets, but gave few clues as to the identity of the BattleMech force or their reason for arriving on world. All they could reveal was how recently they had arrived, and that their presence had been apparently ordered by somebody higher up in the DCMS who had gone over the heads of the 278th’s leadership.
In order to find out more about this force, Kari ordered her recon assets to probe their likely bases of operations. Kat Stavia’s recon lance wound up running into a lance of light BattleMechs and leading them on a merry, high-speed cross-country chase. While the results of this skirmish were inconclusive, with neither slide inflicting anything more than light damage to the other, Stavia’s actions did confirm the identity of the enemy force as Enger’s Nachtjagers, a small mercenary command known to be in the employ of the DCMS.
With the identity of the enemy force now confirmed, Kari resumed her schedule of raids to fulfil her contract. The next target was the Joint Equipment Systems factory in Jimenez, with the aim being to disrupt production and steal supplies. Once again, the Dark Suns attacked in force, facing a medium armor company from the 278th, again supported by conventional infantry.
The Combine forces took advantage of the built-up area around the factory, as well as their heavier tanks, to dig in and try to halt the Dark Suns’ advance. Not wanting to get bogged down in a slow-moving fight, Kari utilized her VTOL units to flank the Combine vehicles and force them out of cover, driving them into the waiting arms of her heavy lance.
Her plans were thrown when once again reinforcements arrived, this time in the form of a Nachtjagers heavy BattleMech lance with more armor support. This development tipped the battle in the defenders’ favor, with the Dark Suns now being outnumbered, and with further reinforcements on the way. Realizing the depth of her situation, Kari chose to exercise her command options and retreat from the battlefield. As they withdrew, they destroyed the supplies that they had been sent to secure while also damaging factory equipment, denying them to the enemy.
Two of the Dark Suns’ vehicles, Stavia’s Saracen and Armand Slones’s Hawk Moth, were disabled and had to be abandoned, but their crews were recovered. All of their other units had been damaged, but none severely. As a minor win, the Suns had also disabled a Nachtjager Crusader, destroying one arm and one leg before being forced to retreat.
While the Dark Suns had been engaged, the AFFS commando team had learned the true reason why the DCMS had called for reinforcements. The Combine had discovered a Star League-era research facility in the depths of the jungles of the Paraiso continent not too long after their conquest of the world. The Nachtjagers had been called in as reinforcements to help secure the site, and had simply been the nearest available BattleMech unit.
Having located the site, the AFFS liaison ordered a raid in order to secure it for themselves. While they were aware that at best their control of the site would be temporary, the aim was to collect whatever information they could about the facility and its research, while also hopefully denying that information to the Combine.
A quick sub-orbital hop bought the Dark Suns within striking distance of the ruin. The entire unit (including Stavia who had re-equipped with a salvaged Combine Pegasus) advanced on the facility, supported by the AFFS commando team. As expected, the remaining Nachtjagers were also on-site. And while they were down two BattleMechs (the Crusader still undergoing repairs) they still represented a considerable force. Furthermore, they were also supported by a small Combine security detachment that included light armor.
The Dark Suns moved quickly, striking as the Combine recovery teams were still packing up some of their discoveries for transport. Kari lead the charge, with her BattleMechs quickly disabling several transports loaded down with materials taken from the site. The Nachtjagers responded aggressively, pushing back against their charge in an effort to keep them out of the ruins and to try and secure the remaining transports.
Clever maneuvering and a willingness to take risks saw the Dark Suns gain the momentum in the battle and never let up. The Nachtjagers lost two of their BattleMechs early on, even if one of them was by accident (when a Chimera overestimated the structural strength of a ruined building and landed on the roof, only to have it collapse under its weight), giving Kari the opening that she needed. Her command lance waded into the thick of the battle, taking heavy fire while giving back much more in return.
Enger tried to turn the tide, only to lose his Cestus when its Gauss Rifle exploded under a barrage from Kari. Realizing the depth of his situation (with a fourth BattleMech being lost to enemy fire), he ordered a retreat. However, he would be captured by the Dark Suns before he could be evacuated by his troops.
While the Suns had held the site, they had taken considerable damage themselves. Craich’s Wolfhound had been disabled, while Hennessey’s Phoenix Hawk had been figuratively and literally disarmed. Two of their hovercraft, including Stavia’s salvaged Pegasus, had also been disabled. Salvage from the Nachtjagers and Combine security force, in addition to their promised payment, would more than make good their losses.
The AFFS commando units stripped the site and disabled Combine transports for all they had, revealing a treasure trove of Star League-era Medical research. Realising that the DCMS would likely try to retake the site, the commando team chose to destroy what they couldn’t take, leaving nothing for the Combine.
Retreating from the battlefield, the Dark Suns rendezvoused with their dropships. At this point, their AFFS liaison felt that the unit had achieved all that it could and that staying longer would likely risk further losses and facing Combine reinforcements. Beofre they departed, Kari opened negotiations with the surviving Natchjagers. She was able to leverage their captives and secured a trade of the Nachjager officers for other assets, including the Saracen and Hawk Moth that they had been forced to abandon earlier.
