Robinson
The Coordinators rage at being insulted by Jaime Wolf was not just personal, many officers in the DCMS were shocked and offended by the mercenary commanders actions, and several vowed to do what they could to redeem the Combines honor.
General Jagawen Torisobo, commander of the 8th Sword of Light, harbored a deeper animosity than most of these Combine commanders. The 8th Sword had been present on Misery, but had been held back from the majority of the fighting by the express order of Warlord Samsonov. When they finally entered the fight, it was to serve as a rearguard for the rest of the retreating DCMS troops. The 8th Sword lost a battalion of mechs in the fighting to Epsilon Regiment, then another two companies to Zeta Battalion during the rearguard action. Almost a year later, the 8th was still stationed on Misery. Though it's losses had been replaced by new machines and recruits, General Torisobo and the rest of his senior commanders chafed at the inaction. When word reached them of what was happening on Glenmora and Wapakoneta, they awaited orders to go and help out their sister regiments, but none came.
In June, according to observers, something snapped within the General, and he began issuing orders prepare the 8th and several of the conventional regiments to prepare to lift off. At the beginning of July, the 8th Sword of Light, two Armor and two Infantry regiments docked with their jumpships, and left the nadir jump point at Misery. When they appeared over Bennet III there was some concern, but the Combine Jumpships stayed at their pirate point, recharged and jumped out, appearing at Lima and recharging.
Duke Sandoval was concerned by the reports of a Combine unit transiting his realm. When reports of the 8th Sword being at Lima reached him, he immediately reacted by sending orders to the 4th Deneb to relocate from McComb to New Ivaarsen, which was an obvious target in the region. He also issued orders for the 1st Kestrel to move to Robinson, and sent a message to New Avalon asking for more assistance. The First Prince himself responded with orders for the 3rd SINA Cadre and Millers Marauders to move to Robinson as well, but it was going to take a couple of weeks to gather the necessary transport to move all the units. While Duke Sandoval was tempted to order one of his Robinson's Rangers units back, he knew they were needed as part of the next YELLOW BIRD Wave as well. Instead, he mustered the Voluntary Militia and put the rest of the PDZ on high alert, and then the ComStar Interdiction was enforced, and Duke Sandovals attention was dominated by this event.
A Week went by, the 8th Sword jumped from Lima, and disappeared. The first elements of the 4th Deneb arrived on New Ivaarsen and reported no enemy troops in the system, and when they landed were told that the 8th Sword had not arrived in New Ivaarsen at all. Marshal Fredrikson sent a message to Duke Sandoval and New Avalon informing them. Rather than start a “Wild Goose Chase” through the March, and dealing with the ramifications of the Interdiction as well, the 4th Deneb prepared to defend New Ivaarsen unless further orders were received. Duke Sandoval, well aware that the Marshal was following the protocols set up by the DUFFERS DRIFT exercises, had no problems with the decision, he knew how important New Ivaarsen was to the region. Not less than a day after he sent his approval, the 8th Sword appeared at a Pirate point four days out from Robinson, and the dropships began a 2g burn towards the planet.
Robinson had fought the Combine before, and for several years fought a war of occupation during the 1st Succession War until liberated. The planets conventional regiments were some of the best in the AFFS, and the Robinson Mechwarrior academy had a Battalion of cadets that would fight. Duke Sandoval was confident he could hold out until reinforcements arrived, but his confidence turned to horror when he realized that only one battalion of mechs and two conventional regiments were headed towards the continent of Caanan, home to the capital city and much of the planets industry. The rest were on a path to New Haifa, on the Meggido continent, where the families and wounded warriors of Wolf's Dragoons were recovering and convalescing.
After Misery, Jaime Wolf had formed the Home Guard Unit. Several members of the line regiments who wanted to retire were convinced to stay on by joining this unit, comprised of the several support units that served the Dragoons, including the Fire Support Group, the Orbital/Aerospace Group, the Support Battalion, the surviving companies worth of Mechwarriors from Zeta Battalion, and the new recruits of the Training Battalion. The condition of these units ranged from very good to poor, as did the warriors and aerospace pilots manning them. New Haifa was a fortified city, but there were doubts that it could stand up to the two Assault and one Light Battalions headed for it. While improvements had been made since the Dragoons landed, many were incomplete. The cities militia units were augmented by two regiments of Robinson Regular units, one armor and one Infantry, but as a port city, there was no area to retreat.
The Home Guards Commander, Colonel Jeremy Ellerman, was Beta Regiments Commander when the Dragoons first showed up in the Inner Sphere. In 3016, the horrors of fighting, the loss of too many comrades had taken its toll, and Colonel Ellman retired. Not wanting to lose his friends expertise and abilities, Colonel Wolf was able to persuade Colonel Ellman to stay on as the training commander, a role that suited Colonel Ellman well. Now, with only a few days of planning, Colonel Ellman had to prepare to fight again.
The 8th Sword of Light grounded at Kirkuz, a small town 50 kilometers away from New Haifa, with the rolling Golani Hills between the two. With an oversized Aerospace field, Kirkuz was a good base for the 8th Sword to anchor it's Operations from. After a couple of days of reorganizing, the 8th formed up and began it's march towards New Haifa. Overhead, the ASF's of the Dragoons and 8th Sword fought several battles, on more than one occasion a Kuritan ASF broke away from the fighting to strafe the city on a random run. It seemed that terror and damage, rather than a specific military goal, was at the forefront of the 8th Swords plan.
The first skirmishes took place in the Golani. The hovertanks of the Support Battalion skirmished with the accompanying Kuritan tank regiment and drove it back with heavy losses. The Support Battalion lost several tanks to damage, but many of the crewmen survived and were picked up by the Battalions VTOL squadron and taken back to New Haifa. At the village of Romany, the Special Recon Group encountered a company of medium mechs from the 8th Sword, and a vicious firefight ensued. Using his units superior mobility, Major Brubaker was able to stop the advance, but losses forced him to withdraw. This was repeated in several skirmishes the next few days, the 8th Sword was slowly but surely moving towards New Haifa, willing to trade mechs and units with the Home Guard. It was an attrition battle, and one the 8th could win on numbers alone.
At Gorden, a small town nestled in the Golani Hills, the first real pitched battle occurred. The Fire Support Group, backed by several companies of Robinson Infantry Militia, were opposed by Assault and Heavy mechs of the 8th Swords 2nd Battalion. Using the buildings as effective cover, the heavy and assault mechs of the Dragoons destroyed one company of Combine Mechs, and damaged several more. Forced to pull back, the Dragoons broke for New Haifa, and the Combine Warriors followed with reckless abandon. When the 8th Sword troops crossed the crest of one hill, they were surprised when they did not see any Dragoon mechs in the opening. A few seconds later their shock turned to fear, as the Artillery of the Support Group was finally brought into action, the Groups mechs retreat had brought the 8th Sword battalion into effective range of the Long Tom Artillery. Several more mechs were destroyed and damaged by the barrage.
A few days later, at New Ashkelon, disaster struck the Fire Support Group. While holding off another frontal attack by then 2nd Battalion, a flank march by a medium company of the 8th Swords 3rd Battalion hit the Fire Support Group, destroying two mechs, damaging two others and forcing the rest away from their line of retreat. Engaged in close combat, Captain Scruggs ordered the rest of his unit to break off as best they could, and while still fighting three Kuritan mechs, called in the Artillery on his own position. In addition to Captain Scruggs, three other Dragoons had been killed.
After ten days of skirmishing, hit and run attacks and a couple of standup fights, the 8th Sword was reduced to six companies of mechs, all of which were damaged to a degree. The rest of the units mechs were either destroyed, or lay damaged on the fields of battle, their pilots dead or too wounded The aerospace fighters of both units had fought to a standstill over Robinson's skies, very few were combat effective. The Home Guard had been reduced to six lances of mechs, several of which had been field repaired and jury rigged so they could remain in the field, two of which were piloted by the rawest of recruits. The conventional units of both forces were shadows of themselves, pillars of smoke from destroyed units dotted the landscape back to Kirkuz. The 8th Swords 4th Battalion had been destroyed by the Robinson Cadets and militia on Caanan, but it would be a couple of days before they could move to New Haifa.
The final few kilometers to the outskirts of New Haifa had been turned into a killing ground. Mech traps, minefields, had been prepared. Artillery was pre-spotted, but there were very few rounds left. Dawn on the 5th of August, the 8th Sword of Light began its advance, with General Torisobo's Atlas leading the way. Long Range fire destroyed a few mechs, and damaged others, and the first artillery barrage hit near the Generals mechs itself. Observers were stunned to see that despite a destroyed right leg, the mech pulled its way towards New Haifa with its hands.. When the first trip line was crossed, the hidden Dragoon mechs rose out of their hiding places and unleashed a devastating volley of fire. At the same time, the artillery struck all along the 8th Swords Line. As the Dragoon mechs retreated and jumped back to the next line of defense, the New Haifa 1st Armored Regiment left the city perimeter and started a flank attack. While it slowed down the 8th Swords advance, it did not stop it, in fact in several instances the mechs ignored the lighter tanks and kept up their march towards the cities main gate.
The second trip line was crossed, and again another massive barrage hit the 8th Sword mechs, who broke into a run to escape the falling shells, right into a series of well placed minefields. The Combines return fire was still effective, and several Dragoon mechs, already damaged, fell. Colonels Ellman and Jamison called a retreat to the final line, and only six mechs were able to make it. Three companies of Combine mechs were still upright and moving, perhaps another companies worth were emulating their commander, clawing their way towards the city. One mechwarrior, in a bravura display of piloting, hopped his Panther forward on one leg for 100 meters until his gyroscrope failed and he fell down face first onto a mine.
As the remaining 8th Sword mechs crossed the third trip line, the last shells of the Support groups artillery left the tubes. Behind the last line of defenses, the massive gates to New Haifa slid open, and out stepped the fifteen mechs of Omega Company.
Captain Charles Jager was a former company commander in Epsilon Regiment, whose experience on Misery led him and the three surviving members of his company to retire. Colonel Wolf prevailed upon the to stay with the Dragoons as members of the Home Guard, where they could teach the next generation of Dragoons. They were not the only members that Colonel Wolf convinced to stay on, many other warriors left their regiments to join the Home Guard, and these men and women followed the news of what was happening to their friends and comrades on Wapakoneta and Glenmora with anger and anguish. When the 8th Sword landed on Robinson, there was little they could do, having voluntarily given up their mechs as replacements for those that had been destroyed on Crossing.
The previous two weeks of battle had seen several mechs damaged and recovered, their pilots killed to wounded to continue fighting. Dragoon techs and mechwarriors labored day and night to get these units repaired to basic functionality, and as the sun was setting on August 5th, the self proclaimed Omega company, led by Captain Kinkaid, stepped out of New Haifa and into the battle. Accompanying them were the tanks of the 1st Heavy Battalion, New Haifa Militia.
The appearance of these new mechs shocked the 8th Sword of Light for a few seconds, but then relaizing the gate was open and victory was close at hand, they charged as best they could, ignoring the minefileds and incoming fire from the Dragoon mechs in the field. What they did not expect, and what Colonel Ellman certainly did not expect, was that Omega Company would charge headlong into the Combine troops either. The battle soon devolved into a series of one versus many combats and duels. The Manticores, Von Luckners and lance of Demolishers of the milita found themselves virtually ignored, and took the opportunity to attack as many Kurita mechs as they could, often saving a Dragoon from a fank or back attack. One Demolisher destroyed seven mechs protecting a Dragoon Archer missing one arm and a fused leg before being destroyed by a stray shot. One by one the mechs of Omega Company began to fall, but they often took two or mnore 8th Sword mechs with them. At some point in the battle, General Torisobo had clawed his way to the perimeter of the battle, only to be killed by headshot fired by a Von Luckner from the militia.
It was as if the Generals death caused a switch to be thrown. Those 8th Sword Mechs still standing broke off and retreated into the setting sun. The remaining disabled mechs tried moving away one by one, but then stopped as their pilots gave up and then to the surprise of the Dragoons and militia, began to commit suicide. One pilot ejected from a Centurion, landed, brandished a katana and screamed invectives at the Dragoons for well over a minute before uttering a Banzai and charging, sword waving. A brief machine gun burst from a nearby milita tank ended the last charge of the 8th Sword of Light. Less than two companies worth retreated back to Kircuz, and the Kuritan Dropships boosted off not to long after. The next day, as the residents of the city and company of Training Battalion mechs made their way to the landing field, they found the mechs that survived the campaign shut down on the edge of the runway, their pilots dead at their feet. All had committed seppuku. It is not know if any mechwarrior from the 8th Sowrd of Light lived to return to Combine Space.
Home Guard losses were severe, almost all of its mechs and vehicles had been damaged, more than one had been rebuilt. Personel wise, less than a companies worth of mechwarriors were able to pilot a mech, half of them were injured in some way. Of the 15 mechs of Omega company, only 5 survived the final battle. Captain Kincaid was not among the survivors, the next day a search team his and his lancemates mechs down on the field of battle, surrounded by ten destroyed 8th Sword Mechs. At some point during the fighting, the reactor shielding on the Grasshopper Kincaid was piloting, shielding which had been damaged in a previous fight, failed and the Captain died of radiation poisoning.
One more Dragoon death occurred on Robinson. Ten days after the 8th Sword Dropships had boosted off, Duke Sandoval went to New Haifa to visit the Home Guard. After visiting the wounded in the hospitals and inspecting what remained of the Home Guard in the field, Duke Sandoval apologized for not helping out more, and vowed that he would do everything in his power to make sure the remaining Dragoons and their dependents would be protected. The 3rd SINA Cadre would be landing in less than a month, and although comprised of newer troops and graduates from NAMA, the Duke hoped that the leadership of the Dragoons would help in shaping up the unit.
The day after Duke Sandoval returned back to Beuller, Robinsons capital city, Colonel Ellman was found in his bed, having passed on after suffering from a massive heart attack. Those that knew the Home Guard commander best said that the recent battles, combined with the previous horrors he saw that led to his retiring in the first place, and the probability that he would be training the next generation to go through the same horrors he experienced broke his heart. A note was found saying that he could not continue to serve, therefore he was retiring effective immediately. A message to Colonel Wolf for Colonel Ellman was rumored to have been found, but no Dragoon has revealed the existence or the contents of such.
With the Battle for Robinson over, the remaining Dragoons and dependents waited for word from Crossing.
