Headquarters, 10th Donegal Guards RCT
Zoetermeer, Lyran Commonwealth
November 1, 3043
Colonel Robert Ohell of the 2nd Regiment, 12th Star Guards spat on the ground as the voice of the invader’s spokesman came over the speaker. “We are the Ice Hellions! From the frigid depths of the empty void we strike, claiming this world in the name of our Clan, the true Heirs of Kerensky. Yield, or dispute our claim by stating the forces you wish to see destroyed.â€
“So much for our intelligence claiming that the Vipers would hit us,†muttered Marshall Sarah Steiner, newly appointed to command of the 10th Donegal. “What information do we have in Wolf’s briefing on these . . . Hellions?â€
The HQ staff hustled as officers and NCOs scrolled through data, and then one looked up. “A second, perhaps even third, tier Clan. Small, with little Elemental support, but a concentration of ‘Mechs and Fighters . . . according to the file, Marshall, they favor lighter, faster combat units—they have nothing in their touman in the Assault-weight class, outside of ASF assets.â€
“Well, hell. Maybe we hand these bastards a defeat after all,†chimed in Robert, as Sarah waved away the acrid smoke from his cigar. “Both our regiments are heavy-weights—we might just have the firepower advantage here, with your tanks and infantry, Marshall Steiner.â€
“Maybe,†Sarah answered as she lifted the transmitter. “This is Marshall Sarah Steiner, commanding the 10th Donegal Guards. We will defend this system in the name of Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion; come at your own peril.â€
“Transmit your Order of Battle so that we may properly tailor our attack,†the radio crackled after a moment.
“Cheeky bastards, aren’t they!†barked Robert.
“Negative, Hellions,†Marshall Steiner answered. “You will have to learn our dispositions the old-fashioned way—through recon.â€
There was a pause and then the radio crackled with static again. “We accept your challenge, Marshall Steiner of the 10th Donegal. Do you intend to use artillery in your defense?â€
“Why don’t you land and find out?â€
“We shall meet you with the full force of The Blinding then,†and the radio signal died away.
Sarah nodded. “Get back to your Regiment, Bob. I think we might be in for a rough time ahead.â€
“Ja, mein Marshall,†he answered with a grin as he snapped to attention; then he turned and left.
Sarah leaned over the map table and bit her lip. Zoetermeer had two vital locations to defend—the capital city of Nieuw Den Haag and the mining operations run by Tamar Mineral Extractions, Ltd., a corporation owned entirely by Duke Kelswa—and she had clear orders from the Duke in command of the Tamar March that the mineral extraction facilities were to be defended at all costs. In addition, the capital spaceport lay fifty-two kilometers outside of Nieuw Den Haag; it too must be held to prevent the Hellions from having access to the refueling facilities and runways.
Accordingly, her 10th Donegal was broken into three Combat Groups, each built around a ‘Mech battalion, a regiment of armor, and two regiments of infantry, reinforced with a battery of artillery. Each Combat Group was dug in deep around the objectives, while her fourth armored regiment had been assigned as subordinate to Ohell’s Regiment. Bob would command her reserve and either reinforce her fire-bases or conduct a counter-attack.
She nodded to herself. There was nothing more to do but wait.
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The battle started as the 10th Donegal’s aerospace fighters sparred with the Clan fighters in the upper atmosphere. But quickly, the Federated Commonwealth defenders found that they were vastly outnumbered in space; not only did the Hellion have the fighters assigned to the Clusters of their Alpha Galaxy, a York-class carrier had settled into orbit overhead.
Of the seventy-two ASF from the mercenaries and the 10th sent to interdict the attackers, fourteen managed to return to base—nine of those heavily damaged. The Hellions fighters had suffered as well, but they started the conflict with more than two hundred and sixty—and had two hundred untouched units left when the 10th’s few remaining fighters landed.
Following the aerial holocaust, the Hellions took four hours to send recon flights criss-crossing over the inhabited continent of Zoetermeer, their powerful active probes scanning the landscape and seeking out Marshall Steiner’s concentrations. Only after these flights were concluded did the DropShips begin to descend through the atmosphere, landing well outside the reach of the fire-bases.
Five Clusters of Hellion OmniMech formed up and advanced as one upon the defenders of the starport. But unlike the Falcons or the Vipers or the Jaguars, the Hellions did not blindly charge ahead; no, they circled at extreme range and picked away at the defenders, too far distant for the 10th’s weapons to reach them. But the 10th’s artillery reached out and shells began to fall among the Hellions—and in reply the fighters once again plunged into the planet’s atmosphere. Mostly heavy-weight designs, with a few faster mediums in support, the fighters swooped down and released six hundred Arrow IV air-to-ground missiles that plunged into the perimeter of the 2nd Battalion, 10th Donegal Combat Group—and on the heels of the massive explosions, the Hellion OmniMechs closed faster than anyone could have imagined possible. At the same time, hordes of small craft dived down from orbit and two hundred and Elemental infantry para-dropped directly into the center of the compound.
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“They’re swarming all over us, Marshall! They aren’t fighting like the Clans should! They are teaming up and tearing my ‘Mechs and tanks to pieces! Behind you Jim!†the radio crackled with the thunder of a heavy autocannon, and then there was a scream . . . and then only static.
She swallowed. She was only thirty-nine years old, and Aunt Nondie—well, a third cousin twice removed—had given her this command just four months ago. She licked her dry lips and changed the radio frequencies. “Bob, I need you to hit them at the star-port—now, if we are going to save anything. I am ordering the 1st battalion to roll out as well.â€
“Negative, Marshall! Stick to the plan—we’ve got to bleed them!â€
“My men are dying, Colonel!â€
“Your men are already dead, Marshall. We can’t get there in time to save them, and the 1st will get cut to ribbons outside of the defenses! Hold your position!â€
“Damn you, Colonel Ohell! Hit them now!â€
But there was no reply from the radio. Sarah frowned and she turned to her staff, “What’s going on?â€
“Marshall—we are being jammed!†one yelled, as the crack and whine of the Clan’s anti-personnel gauss rifles began to thunder outside, amidst the explosions of SRMs and the screams of her HQ security detachment.
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Another of Ohell’s ‘Mechs exploded as it ate four converging ER PPC bolts and ER Large Laser beams. For two and a half hours now, Robert had pulled back, leaving the bulk of the 10th Donegal behind as he tried to evade the Hellions and make it to his DropShips—but now he was surrounded. He twisted his Stalker to one side and locked his missile launchers on another of the distant ‘Mechs; he squeezed the trigger and twenty missiles shot away; only a dozen hit however. And his computer’s calm voice whispered into his ears, “LRM magazine depleted.â€
Half of his ‘Mechs littered the line of his march behind him—and every last one remaining was damaged, some critically. But still the Hellions didn’t close in, they circled at range, with that impossible speed, and they bled him out one cut at a time.
“Colonel,†Captain Edward Bowen spoke up. Bowen was the senior officer left in the entire regiment, other than Robert. “The DropShips report that they are under attack—and now I have lost their transmission.â€
Robert Ohell looked up at the faint plumes of smoke in the distance and his heart sank. “Enough of this running, Star Guards. Let’s show these scum how the 42nd Striker chooses to go out. CHARGE!†he yelled and he pushed the Stalker forward into a run.
But the Hellions simply gave way and continued to gnaw his command to death—Robert Ohell was fortunate enough not to see it however, for a Hellion Gauss slug slammed into his cockpit and he never again saw anything.
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“Your command are the only survivors to date, Colonel Dane,†the voice of the Hellion Khan came over the radio of the commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Donegal. “I can crush you as easily as I did you fellows—or you recognize the folly of your continued fighting and lay down your arms. In honor of the courage of your comrades, we will treat you as we treat captured Clan Warriors, instead of consigning you to the laborer class.â€
“Go to hell,†spat Colonel William Dane.
“I take it that is a no? Colonel Dane, there are no civilian population centers within your perimeter; there is nothing preventing me from wiping you out without suffering a single casualty in response. You do know I have WarShips in orbit, quiaff?â€
“You do that and you will be hung for War Crimes!â€
“The victors write history, Colonel Dane. We slaughter no civilians, nor do we hide behind their skirts like cowards. Your battalion is a legitimate military target. I offer you one last opportunity to spare your Warriors their lives.â€
Dane began to answer, but the weeping of his communication officer—newly married just three months ago, made him stop. A tear leaked down his own cheek. And he tried the raise the radio microphone once, and then twice; finally he managed to lift it. “Damn you. We accept your terms.â€
“I will give you sixty minutes to lay down arms and march out, Colonel Dane. Do not make me obliterate those mining facilities.â€
And the radio transmission ended. Dane pulled himself up straight. “Burn the code books—purge the database. And tell the troops to stack arms and form up to surrender.â€
