Date: November 17, 3025
Location: Verthandi
Title: Mercenary's Star
Author: William H. Keith, Jr.
Type: Novel
Synopsis: General Thorvald's resistance column runs into problems as it proceeds through the jungles towards Regis for the planned assault. His inexperienced MechWarriors keep getting stuck and panicking. Per Thorvad's orders, the experienced Gray Death Legion troops remained at the resistance base (both so the resistance council wouldn't be on the hook for combat pay and so the Legion wouldn't steal the General's glory).
Grayson is concerned for his Free Verthandi Ranger trainees, however, and decides to defy orders and join the fight on their behalf. They knock out a sentry and head off after the resistance column.
At 0210, the Free Verthandi Rangers slowly approach Regis through a sheltered canyon, though the AgroMechs have a tough time negotiating the rough, boulder and pit strewn terrain. Thorvald had sent a message to the resistance forces in Regis to delay the diversionary attack until 0200, with the main attack to commence at 0245. Unfortunately, the resistance didn't get the message and the warehouse fire went off per the original schedule. Worse, the arsonists were captured, and they break under interrogation, putting the Regis garrison on yellow alert in preparation for the attack.
Tricked by the transmission of the "all clear" signal (given up under interrogation), Thorvald orders his company to attack from the north of the walled capital city, right into the teeth of a regiment of DCMS combined arms forces, which lights up the rebels with flares and rips into them. Thorvald orders his surviving troops to disengage, but the green troops panic. Thorvald tries to turn the tide with his Warhammer, but is massively outgunned.
Ten kilometers away, the Legion's six 'Mechs hear the explosions and realize the Rangers have run into trouble. They charge towards the battle, picking up a few scattered Rangers along the way. In an effort to break the rebels free of the trap, the Legion hits the Combine flank, carving a hole in their line.
Thorvald thanks Grayson for the rescue and relinquishes command of the Rangers to him. He orders the surviving Rangers to withdraw, and takes the blame for the disaster. To atone, he sacrifices himself to buy the Rangers and Legion time to withdraw through the Legion salient. It takes a quarter of an hour for Grayson to organize the retreat, and they have to execute a fighting withdrawal, with the Legion holding the DCMS forces back. As the Combine masses for a final charge, Thorvald distracts them, allowing the Legion to make their getaway. His 'Mech detonates as the Legion slips into the jungle.
Afterwards, Nagumo accuses Colonel Kevlavic of cowardice, and blames him for the loss of four 'Mech lances, and the failure to destroy the main enemy body. He orders the Colonel to find and destroy the rebels within the next four weeks, so the insurgency can be decisively ended by the time Duke Hassid Ricol arrives for his inspection tour. As Kevlavic departs, Nagumo begins arrangements for a backup plan, calling for Captain Mills, from his personal guard force.
Back at Fox Island, the shattered Verthandi Rangers are greeted by the Revolutionary Council, which worries that Grayson will abandon them now that their cause appears lost. Grayson swears that he will stand by them. He then consults with Sergeant Ramage to assess the damage and work out a new plan.
That night, the Legion meets to discuss their options, now that they face four Kurita regiments with a single demi-company and the remnants of the Rangers. Grayson proposes launching a guerrilla war, raiding the scattered Combine forces for the supplies they need. Jaleg Yorulis makes a counter proposal to either go over to the Kurita forces, arguing that a guerrilla war is a suicide mission. Grayson swears the Legion will never work for the Combine, and faces Yorulis down. Reluctantly, the Legion members agree to Grayson's proposal.
Notes: The structure of the Regis attack is very similar to Grayson's previous experience on Trellwan. There, the plucky, just-trained rag-tag force launches a major attack against the enemy, only to walk into a trap and barely escape, taking heavy losses in the process. Following the battle, Grayson and the survivors do soul searching about the cause, and ultimately vow to soldier on.
Narrative tropes aside, however, this battle sequence is the first time in BattleTech fiction that we saw armed WorkMechs go into combat - something that would form the basis for a significant chunk of the first wave of MechWarrior: Dark Age armies. Alas, we've never gotten official statistics for the quad LoggerMech or the PickerMech (spry and angular, with long jointed arms sporting jury-rigged machine guns), and the Gray Death Legion scenario pack didn't cover this fight.
The timescale of the battle seemed somewhat odd to me as I read through. In many cases, things seemed to happen too quickly. The Legion's strike at the Combine flank takes enough 'Mechs down in rapid succession through ammunition explosions and precision shooting (despite Grayson having, per the scenario pack, a gunnery score of 6 during the Verthandi campaign - Kai Allard-Liao he ain't). However, on the flip side, Torvald's Warhammer is already heavily damaged by the time Grayson and company arrive, and is still fighting fifteen minutes later.
This leads me to conclude that the DCMS troops assigned to Verthandi must have been the greenest troops available with equipment that wasn't good enough to be used on Chain Gang raids at the start of the Second Succession War. Otherwise, I can't see how eight regiments of pre-warned DCMS combined arms forces could possibly take so long to massacre a company of 'Mechs and probably two companies of hover tanks and a battalion of infantry. (Assuming at least 8-to-1 odds, not to mention heavy fire from emplacements on the walls of Regis.) Even the cover of darkness isn't much of an excuse, given the use of flares to illuminate the battlefield. It's a very dramatic scene, but the odds, as laid out, make the Combine forces look like they graduated from Stormtrooper marksmanship academy.
Keith handles the aftermath well, showing both sides working to come up with new plans. The dispirited Revolutionary Council members begin blaming each other, and are fearful of trusting the hired guns, while the planetary governor begins issuing "do or die" orders to his military commander.