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   January 25th 3060 at 0105 System Standard Time (SST) an unknown event tripped the sensor nets of the New Earth Strategic Space Defense Command. The event occurred just outside of a restricted area near Harbor Prime. While the event didn’t have the signature of a major invasion, it did warrant further investigation. A nearby patrol craft, identified as APC 109, was dispatched to investigate the event, alerts were being issued to SSDC Headquarters on New Earth. Across the Tau Ceti system Ready One Fighters were placed on alert as the situation developed. On Harbor Prime, defenders were ordered to their stations.

   During the opening hours of the invasion, location would play a critical role in the defense of Harbor Prime. Unlike most shipyards of old that were built in open space, New Earth had built their facility just within the asteroid belt of the system. To further making their shipyards defendable, massive asteroids were tugged in to the area creating a maze of obstacles. A network of large and small asteroids would be moved in to locations to tighten the defensive lines. A large number of manned gun emplacements were built with intersecting fields of fire. This helped to make the facility more defensible as well as had the added effect of being in a heavy gravitational area. This prevented raiding Jumpships from jumping within striking range of the valuable facility.

   Harbor Prime was more than just a shipyard, it was also a major research and development center. It was also a hub of mining operations. An ore refinery was built at the site to ensure a steady flow of resources to the shipyard. To accommodate the personal of the facility, two orbiting asteroids were hollowed out and living facilities were constructed. Within years of the project starting, Harbor Prime had the population of a medium sized city.

   Even though there were a number of other construction sites that supported the facility, Harbor Prime quickly became a fully self-sustained facility thanks to a large number of hydroponics chambers. Other asteroids were mined for ice and building materials. This was why the planners choose this location to build Harbor Prime. The beauty of its location is more than ready resources. Also that direct attacks on the facility would be hard to carry out.

   All eyes from the regional command center on Harbor Prime to the Command Center on Lanna and the SSDC Headquarters on New Earth watched carefully as the two tracks closed on each other. One track was of the source of the unknown event and the other was of APC 109 slowly closing on the other. Echoing over the speakers were the voices of the men and women aboard the small APC 109. Tensions across the Tau Ceti system were growing as seconds passed.

   As time passed and tensions were reaching their peaks, a second event appeared on the SSDC sensor nets. This second event occurred on the opposite side of Harbor Prime. Once more, SSDC didn’t have enough information to tell what the second events was. These two events could have been a pair of asteroids moving from behind larger ones. This area of space within the Tau Ceti system is very active with sensor tracks. The site was known for false alarms and because of this fact, it was assumed that this area would be a prime target for raiders to jump near Harbor Prime.

   Thanks to years of conditioning, the SSDC Commander at Harbor Prime knew better than to take anything for granted. With this second event the likelihood that this was a false alarm was becoming less likely. As per regulation, a general alert to all other SSDC Sites within the Tau Ceti System was issued. As sirens and lights indicated the alert, years of training kicked in. From Harbor Prime to both Recharging Station, the sailors, soldiers and pilots of the SSDC rushed to their stations.

   Command of the situation was transferred from Harbor Prime to SSDC Headquarters in New Earth’s massive Defense Complex on Aires. It was at this moment that Shift Duty Officer, Commodore Christopher Lyon, assumed command for the defense of New Earth during this critical hour. The way New Earth’s military operates, the SSDC Shift Duty Officer is senior military commander till the Joint Chiefs can assume command of New Earth’s Military. This chain of command would allow New Earth to maintain a level of military order during the opening hours of the invasion. Already Commodore Lyon was assuming that this was no false alarm.

   As the crisis developed higher ranking SSDC and other military leaders failed to report in with SSDC Command, which was protocol during a general alert. It was during this critical time that the first report of assassinations started to reach SSDC Headquarters. The husband of a regimental commander assigned to 5th Marine Division reported his wife was murdered. After receiving word that two other regimental commanders had died in separate ‘accidents’ Commodore Lyon assumed the situation had gone from bad to worse.

   Acting as Senior Military Commander of New Earth during his shift, Commodore Lyon issued fail safe protocols. Across New Earth, SSDC sites started to seal themselves off from the outside world. Massive SDS guns and missile batteries turned skyward. One key part of the protocol required that all surviving members of New Earth’s Senate and their families as well as the President and his family were evacuated from the Capital to a secret base deep in the Kasin Mountains. GMP Officers reported back to SSDC Headquarters on Aires that the majority of the Joint Chiefs had been assassinated or were otherwise missing.

   SSDC bases across the entire system went on full alert, as SSDC officers made futile attempts to reach critical military leaders. The scope of the assassinations were just becoming apparent. Meanwhile APC 109 was making its way towards the first event as a second craft was already being dispatched towards the other event. Commodore Lyon still wasn’t sure if the entire system was under attack, or if this was just a raid on Harbor Prime, or if the assassinations was a separate independent crisis that was developing.

   It was clear that answers had to be found and only that lone patrol craft could get them. Acting on the information he did have, the Commodore Lyon ordered New Earth ships in and around Harbor Prime to scramble. He also stepped up New Earth’s defensive posture. In doing so, New Earth Defense Command sites across New Earth slowly came alive. Commodore Lyon was faced with a critical decision. He could order SSDC forces to make best speed for Harbor Prime or keep them close to New Earth. While there were no other indications that New Earth was facing an invasion, he didn’t trust the overall situation.

   Commodore Lyon couldn’t answer the question on rather this a raid on the vital ship yards or a full scale invasion of the system? APC 109 slowly closed on it target. The highly specialized craft was armed with much more refined sensors than that of the standard SSDC sensor buoy that had triggered the alarm in the first place. The likelihood that this was an isolated event was diminishing quickly as the crew of APC 109 reported something interfering with their sensors.

   Before the crew could identify what was interfering with their sensors, they reported being attacked by hostile fighters. It was clear that Harbor Prime was under attack at this point, however the nature of the attackers was still unknown. At this point, no one knew if this was a full scale invasion by the Lyrans or was this a raid by another source. The entire event was being observed back on New Earth by President McGray. The Commodore Lyon ordered APC 109 to press forward despite the attacking fighters.

   While trying to fend off the waves of fighters, APC 109 pushed closer to the source. Thanks to real time data sharing through the SSDC Network, those observing the event across the Tau Ceti system were able to see what the crew of the Patrol Craft were seeing. Those who doubted the network and its usefulness were finally silenced once and for all. Even though the event was 1.8 AU from New Earth, this data sharing was vital in the early hours of the invasion.

   The network was no small task or of trivial importance. Without this vast data sharing network, real-time information would be impossible and updates would take hours to receive. As the pilots of APC 109 fought their wave through fighters, an image starting to emerge in the blackness of space. Everyone was on the edges of their seats was the brave crew pushed through the enemy lines towards the heart of the grouping. Just as the image became clear, APC 109 was destroyed by hostile fire.

   With all data cut off, the last image the crew of APC 109 saw was frozen on the main viewers of the SSDC Headquarters and the Lanna Control Center. There was no doubt anymore, New Earth was under Lyran Invasion. Frozen for all to see was the unmistakable image of a Lyran Alliance Fox Class Corvette. Behind it was at least two other Lyran warships. Escorting the warships were a number of dropships.

   They were still at range from Harbor Prime but it was clear that the Lyrans were on the move. A general alert was issued across the entire NEDC and Civilian Command Centers. Across New Earth powerful air raid sirens signaled the beginning of the invasion. Broadcasts across New Earth were interrupted alerting the civilians of the crisis. Other APC’s were ordered to keep their distances as they continued to feed real-time updates to the SSDC on New Earth while New Earth’s three warships at Harbor Prime were on the move to intercept the invaders.

   As burning debris of APC 109 drifted away from the Lyran ships, the massive ships of the Lyran fleet continued on their track for Harbor Prime. The death of APC 109 was not the end of New Earth’s ability to track the Lyran fleet. It wasn’t long before Specter A2’s were shadowing the two fleets reporting the Lyran’s progress. As the clock ticked down, it became clear that the two attack runs were created to maximize the Lyran’s advantage. Their paths were set at forty five degree angels off each other. The overall plan called for a pincer attacking using the speed of their fleet to force the defenders back.

   Task Force Scheer, named after the Lyran Flagship, consisted of the LAS Scheer, an Essex Class Destroyer, along with two Fox Class Corvettes was escorted by a heavy number of fighters and their supporting dropships. Task Force Vilseck consisted of the LAS Vilseck, a Fox Class Corvette and two other Fox Class Corvettes. Like Task Force Scheer, Task Force Vilseck was being escorted by a large number of fighters and their supporting dropships. For the mission planners, defeat was never once considered a possibility. They had numbers and tradition on their side. Lyran Intelligence had reported that New Earth’s navy had never been tested in battle. But they had trained for battle during the past decade.

   As alerts were sounding across the entire Tau Ceti System, already the forces of New Earth’s navy were moving in to position to engage the invading Lyrans. Rear Admiral Safi Larue, commander of the Harbor Prime Defense Command, knew what the stakes were. He knew all too well that he had to protect Harbor Prime with everything he had available. Admiral Larue knew that his units were outnumbered. But what he did have was up to date intelligence on the number and locations of his enemy. This allowed him plan out his defense strategy. Admiral Larue ordered Harthford Shipyards’ Security Force to support the 1st Marine Division in the defense of the shipyards.

   Admiral Larue assigned the three fighter wings of Harthford Security Forces to remain close to the shipyards just in case any enemy fighters slipped through. Against traditional wisdom, he ordered his refuelers to set up a forward refueling and staging area for defending fighters. Normal wisdom would call for fighters to land at their bases and refuel and rearm. This could be a timely task that left fighters in the middle of a defense vulnerable to attack during landing operations.

   He picked two points on the map that were beyond the field of battle that would serve as his forward refuel and rearming points. One point was assigned to the Security Force refuelers while the other point would be assigned to the refuelers that belonged to the 1st Naval Reconnaissance. Because of the two separate pincers that were moving on the shipyards, Admiral Larue was forced to divide up his fighters and limited number of supporting dropships.

   But that didn’t mean that his forces were out gunned. Two weeks ago, the NEWS Bismarck, an Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser, was relocated to the shipyards. This relocation was done so that the training crew of the Bismarck could assist the crew of the newly constructed Maverick with their space trails. The two warships had been conducting combat training for the past two weeks. The Maverick, an Aegis II class Fast Attack Cruiser, was just about to receive their space combat certifications.

   More importantly than that, the elite NEWS Enterprise, a modified Aegis II Fast Attack Cruiser and pride of the New Earth Fleet, nicknamed the Big E, had arrived at the shipyards for routine maintenance. While the Enterprise didn’t have her dropships, she did have her elite Death's Brigade Naval Air Wing. This gave Admiral Larue an additional third unit of deep space refuelers. He assigned the Death’s Brigade refuelers to a third point creating a support triangle around the shipyards for his defending fighters.

   As Admiral Larue prepared to defend Harbor Prime from the Lyrans, SSDC Sensor Nets detected more hyperspace jumps closer to New Earth. The nearly two and a half hour break between the two separate forces jumping in to the Tau Ceti System were confusing to SSDC Commanders. No one could understand why the two forces didn’t jump in at the same time. The truth was, that a last minute change to the invasion plan was not relayed to the attacking warships which jumped in from a separate system from where the rest of the forces were jumping from. This delay allowed New Earth to be much better prepared than the Lyrans were prepared for.   

   Admiral Larue ordered the five combat dropships of the 6th Support Squadron under the command of Captain Jenn MacCarthy to remain close to the shipyards and watch for an end run by any enemy dropship. He ordered the NEWS Enterprise along with her supporting fighters to engage the three lone Fox class corvettes. To support the Enterprise, he assigned three addition fighter squadrons. Admiral Larue took the remaining fighters, the NEWS Maverick along with his own Bismarck to engage the two Foxes and that Essex class destroyer

   Meanwhile back on New Earth, a dispute over Chain of Command was just becoming settled. The Admirals in command of both Recharging Station Commands were eager to join the battle. Filled with the deep desire to assist in the defense of New Earth, units were begging to be allowed to relocate to New Earth. Commodore Lyon knew the importance that the recharging stations would hold during the larger battle for New Earth. Despite being out ranked by more than a couple Aerospace and Naval officers, Commodore Lyon was acting under the full authority of the New Earth Congress and the New Earth Constitution. Commodore Lyon for both commands to remain at their station.

   Because of the assassinations, many New Earth units were slow to answer the alert. It was clear that Lyran Intelligence’s plan to remove the head of New Earth’s military was working perfectly. However one key failure was the attack on New Earth’s SSDC Headquarters. The plan was to pump poison gas throughout the massive complex. However a series of five C-Bill tamper switches alerted SSDC personal of the plot as it was being carried out. This allowed techs to shut down the ventilation system till the gas could be isolated and the saboteurs could be captured. New Earth’s SSDC would be able to play a critical role throughout the invasion.

   Despite this failure, much of the NEDC was left without critical senior officers. Because of these assassinations, much of New Earth’s military was in a state of confusion during the opening hours of the invasion. While New Earth’s military desperately attempted to adapt to the leadership crisis, it was up to the Lyran invasion force to finish the job. Because of poor timing, New Earth was allowed critical time to recover from the assassinations. Still New Earth units were still railing from the assassinations and it was up Lyran Invasion force to end the residence on New Earth. A task that was fumbled by the Lyran Invasion force.

   It had only been three hours since the first alert was tripped near Harbor Prime, already New Earth’s SSDC was fully prepared to defend the system. Watching from SSDC headquarters on New Earth, the controllers at SSDC Headquarters was able to count the number of Jumpships jumping in to system. Thanks to timely alerts, Specter Flights were shadowing the invaders giving up to date information. SSDC Controllers were able to track the dropships as they sped their way towards New Earth. There was no doubt that New Earth was going to be invaded. But for Commodore Lyon, that didn’t mean that Tau Ceti system had to fall to the Lyrans. Taking a lesson from his mentor, General Death, Commodore Lyon enacted a long game plan in order to save New Earth from the invaders.

   Commodore Lyon knew that without access to Tau Ceti’s vital jump points, the Lyrans would be forced to use highly risky pirate points. As he watched the Lyran dropships speeding their way toward New Earth on his screens, he could see that they hadn’t made any attempts to take either station at the moment. Overall survival of Tau Ceti and New Earth would rest with who controlled Tau Ceti’s two primary jump points. Years before, New Earth leaders knew how important these two jump points were. Because of that, millions of C-Bills were vested in protecting the two stations.

   The two vital jump point stations held the largest collection of senor and transmission buoys throughout the system. Because of this, there could be no sneaking up on the two vital points. However that didn’t mean either station couldn’t be overrun by sheer force of numbers. The jump points had to be protected if the steady flow of supplies were to continue to flow towards New Earth. Because of this, Commodore Lyon directed as many local assets towards the twin recharging stations. This move effectively took those units out of action during the opening hours of the invasion.

   It was a move that bothered many subordinates and senior officers alike. The prevailing argument was that a massive space battle could have avoided the landings across New Earth. However by redirecting New Earth’s vital combat dropships and Patrol Craft to the two jump points, this allowed much of the Lyran force to land unopposed. However in redirecting his forces to the Jump Points, this forced the Lyran commanders to rethink their original plan of attacking the Jump Points during the opening hours of the invasion. Instead they choose to hold off attacking the two jump points till they could secure a foothold on New Earth. By that time, the Lyrans had lost too many space assets to mount an attack on the jump points.

   Analysts would all agree that the fate of New Earth rested upon those two recharging stations. History would show that the long series of failures by the Lyran Ground Forces during the invasion of New Earth began with failing to secure the recharging stations as soon as they jumped in to system. Without the use of either of the two major jump points supporting their land forces became too costly for the Lyrans. Because of this, the flow of reinforcements slowed further weakening their combat effectiveness.

   Holding the two recharging stations would ensure that New Earth would be able to receive a steady stream of supplies from their Chaos March allies. It was this stream of supplies that made the blockade of New Earth even harder to maintain. While during the opening days of the invasion, Commodore Lyon would be ruthlessly criticized by subordinates and superiors alike, he would be acquitted by History and labeled a hero of New Earth.

   As forces across the Tau Ceti system were on the move, it would be Commodore Hall’s elite Big E that would have the next crack at the Lyrans. Already the lives that were lost aboard APC 109 was on everyone’s mind. As the two units drew closer, Commodore Hall was planning out his opening shots. Thanks to long range scans by Specters shadowing the Lyrans, Hall knew what he and his crew were up against. By the time the two units entered sensor range of each other, Hall had already issued his orders to the crew of the Enterprise.

   The three Foxes were designed to be fast raiders with a stronger than average weapons systems for their size. However they were up against the very best of New Earth’s navy, the Aegis II. The Aegis II Class had been a joint secret project with the NAIS that married speed with firepower to create a strong fleet support ship. The Aegis II was actually designed to work side by side with the smaller Fox Class Corvettes. But not only did the Aegis II carry larger range of weapons, it was designed purely with speed and acceleration in mind.

   With many Admirals favoring extremely expensive battleships for their flagships, The Aegis II was designed to fill in the role of Fleet Command ship. An armored Combat Information Center was built in the heart of the ship. From here, powerful computers could monitor the battle with real time updates. Built with holographic technology, Commodore Hall could step in to the center of the battle and command his ships just be simply talking to them. The Aegis II also carried over three times the armor of the original Aegis Class and over four times the armor of the small Fox Classes. With heavier weapons, thicker armor and better speed, the Aegis II's out classed the Fox Corvettes in each field.

   The Big E had long legs and Commodore Hall was pushing those legs to close the ranges rapidly. Beyond her speed, the Big E was the personal Flagship of General Death. General Death ordered a series of aftermarket ‘modifications’ that gave the Enterprise an even greater edge. Instead of using the market standard Ferro-Carbide, the Big E was fitted with equal tonnage of the more advanced Lamellor Ferro-Carbide Armor. This increased the level of protection offered to the Big E.

   Thanks to their extreme training protocols, Commodore Hall knew his crew had a strong advantage over the Lyran crews. With this in mind, he order his ship to fire at extreme ranges while the two battle groups were still traveling towards each other. As the powerful Naval Lasers and Heavy naval PPC ripped towards the Lyrans the Enterprise scored the first round of hits. Commodore Hall ordered his gun crews to target the Lyran supporting dropships instead of the Corvettes. The hits scattered the fighter and dropship screens around the three Corvettes. At the current ranges, the Corvettes were incapable of returning fire. But this would change quickly as the ranges closed.

   Within minutes, the Lyrans were able to open fire with their own powerful Naval Autocannons. While the Lyrans had the Big E outgunned at this point, it was the hit-miss ratio that was hurting the Lyran gun crews. The gun crews of the Corvettes were scoring one hit for every six shots fired while the gun crews of the Big E were hitting nearly three times as often. As ranges closed, the Big E’s next set of large weapons were getting in to range. But this was not the only surprise Commodore Hall had for the Lyrans.

   Before the battle was joined, Commodore Hall deployed a number of his fighters in a special role. Using the asteroid field as cover, these specially selected fighters moved parallel the Lyran Corvettes. With the Lyran fighter and dropship screens scatted thanks to the Big E’s large weapons, the Lyrans were in prefect position to be flanked. Normally the fighter and dropship screens would protect the warships against attacking fighters. However those defending screens were scattered.

   What made these fighters dangerous was that they were fitted with specially modified Killer Whale Missiles like massive torpedoes. To answer the guidance problem that the missiles had, techs removed the internal guidance systems and added more explosives. They fitted the missiles with a very advanced gyrostabilizer to ensure that it would fly straight. Fitted with proximity sensors so even a near miss would cause the missile to explode and thus doing some damage to the target. By reducing the guidance and fuel the missile had to carry, the missile’s additional explosives doubled the yield.

   There wasn’t time to train pilots to conduct torpedo attacks on enemy warships. So Commodore Hall selected his best pilots for this highly risky attack. As the two fleets were nearly upon each other, Commodore Hall ordered his torpedo fighters to carry out their attacks. At first, the six fighters were hardly even noticed by the defending fighters. The first torpedo attack crippled a Claymore and Achilles class dropships and they would not return to the battle. This also caused the three corvettes to react to the new threat and shift their attention away from the Big E. At the same time and covered by the chaos his fighters were causing, Commodore Hall ordered the Big E to conduct a nose over aft flip.

   As the Lyrans were taking fire from defending fighters, the massive engines of the Big E fired at full force. A nearby Lyran dropship was raked with the Big E powerful exhaust bloom. Thanks to the Anti-Missile System added to the Corvettes, the three torpedo attacks proved to be fruitless. However, to the surprise of the Lyrans, the massive Big E was flipping over and slowing down rapidly. Her structure groaned in protest but having the structure of a ship nearly twice her size, the Aegis II was designed for such maneuvers. The three Corvettes attempted to turn to match the Big E, but they lacked the thrust needed to carry out the maneuver.

   As quickly as Hall’s fighters showed up and carried out their attacks, the six torpedo fighters dove for the cover of the asteroids. Thanks to the cover fire from supporting fighters, all six fighters managed to disengage the battle and withdraw. They made best speed for a forward refuel and resupply point set up by Admiral Larue. The fighters would be able to return to the battle refueled and rearmed for another attack run. This turn around speed proved critical in the defense of Harbor Prime.

   As the two fleets became managed in combat, the Big E turned to the Corvettes as they desperately attempted to match the Big E’s maneuver. The Big E was finally able to show off her broadside. It was at this point that the odds drastically changed. A brave Fox dared to challenge the Big E in a close in slugfest. Commodore Hall ordered the Big E’s powerful broadside to open up. The Big E’s first broadside ripped through the smaller corvette’s armor like a hot knife through butter.

   The brutal broadside ripped open the corvette’s side causing massive damage to the ship causing loss power and venting life giving atmosphere. The Fox drifted passed the Big E as the two remaining corvettes attempted to circle to gain a better firing position on the Big E. What the Lyran’s didn’t realize was that the Big E along with her sister ships had more than enough heat sinks to fire every single weapon she had. To cover their actions, the Lyran’s ordered their supporting dropships and fighters to conduct attack runs on the Big E.

   When the Aegis II was designed and built, it was assumed that the most common threat that she would face was going to be enemy fighters and dropships. Because of this the Aegis II class was designed more like a carrier than just a simple warship. The Big E carried a large number of fighters in to battle and she also was fitted with almost a hundred anti-fighters weapons across her superstructure.

   With the Big E’s fighters engaging the Lyran dropships, the Lyran fighters saw the Big E as an easy target. They swooped in on their own attack runs only to be greeted with a hail storm of fire. As the anti-fighter mounts opened up, a number of Lyran fighters were simply blasted from the space around the Big E. The others were driven off by the intense anti-fighter fire.

   Those few dropships that cross the Big E’s sights didn’t fare much better against the Big E’s broadside. A group of Achilles simply ceased to exist when they took direct hits from the Big E’s Naval Autocannons. Because of the way the Aegis II was designed, there was no withdrawing beyond weapon’s range without disengaging the combat. The remaining Lyran dropships were driven back and forced to withdraw from the Big E’s range. This allowed the Big E to turn her guns on to the last two Corvettes.

   As the Lyran dropships turned and attempted to precede on towards Harbor Prime, they were engaged again with fighters from the Big E. The battle was eating up fuel faster than both sides had calculated. However for the defenders, fuel was only a few minutes away at a refuel point. While the Lyrans had to land on their dropships to refuel. In normal situations, this wasn’t a problem but during combat this was a nightmare. An advantage that Commodore Hall pressed all day long.

   With the odds slowly slipping from their favor, the Lyrans attempted to press their advantage. The captains of the two corvettes devised a plan that would allow them to attack the Big E from the bow and aft. It was hoped that they could avoid the Big E’s powerful broadside. One thing that they didn’t take in to consideration was training. While the crews of the two Lyran ships had only a few months of training with their ships. Commodore Hall and his crew had nearly a decade to master their own ship. Seeing the two ships on their approach Commodore Hall ordered his ship in to another high G burn and ordered a flat spin on the ship’s Z axes.

   Fresh from refuel and rearming, Hall ordered his torpedo fighters back in to action. Despite knowing that the two ships were fitted with anti-missile systems, Commodore Hall needed to buy his crew time to execute the High G maneuver. The fighters dove of the Corvettes without question. Their attack didn’t cause much damage, but it was enough to buy the Big E some critical time. Just at the two Corvettes were ready to carry out their attacks, the Big E was ready to face them.

   The one Corvette racked the Big E with naval weapons fire shredding armor and inflicting damage deep within the Big E. Explosions within the Big E crippled the mighty warship’s jumpdrive. The K-F Drive Coils and the K-F Field Initiators were both badly damaged. However the effects of the damage was limited by sealed compartments and self-sealing sections of the massive warship. The second Corvette’s fire caused only minor damage across the Big E’s armor belt.

   Despite the damage, Commodore Hall didn’t back down as he ordered his ship in to a barrel roll and unleashed the Big E’s broadside once more. As the attacking Corvette was attempting to retreat, two massive naval autocannon shells ripped open the Corvettes transit drive system, Power Plant, and Engineering Sections. The powerless Corvette tumbled away from the battlefield with no hope of regaining power. The last remaining Corvette also took massive damage from the Big E but was still able to activate its lithium-fusion batters and jumped out of system.

   In the wake of the battle, the Big E stood victorious over two badly damaged Fox Class Corvettes. The remaining Lyran fighters and dropships continued to press the attack, however with the destruction of two more Claymores at the hands of the Big E, the remaining Lyrans had no choice but to surrender. In total, serval Lyran Dropships and fighters surrendered to the Big E and her powerful guns. As the remaining Lyran ships were being secured, Commodore Hall deployed his Marines to the two crippled Corvettes to secure them as well. The last thing he wanted was one or both Corvettes regaining power and launching a surprise attack on them.

   Noting the damage and the need to get his ship back to the fight as soon as possible, Commodore Hall ordered his crews from general quarters to repair details. He ordered his fighters to link up with the refuelers and give aid to Admiral Larue who was already facing over whelming odds. While this match up would go to the defenders, it must be noted that Commodore Hall and his crew had been training and fighting together for over a decade. It was expected that the Enterprise would prove to be a harsh obstacle to overcome.

   The next battle between Admiral Larue’s fleet and the second Lyran fleet was more to what the Lyran military analyst suspected. Unlike the Big E, the Bismarck didn't enjoy the same advantages that the Aegis II classes did. The Bismarck, an Aegis Class Heavy Cruiser, originally built and named the St. Lawrence for the SLDF was nearly three hundred years old. She was found in the Tau Ceti system near a gas giant. The Bismarck was repaired as part of a gift from Comstar for services rendered by the Hurricane Legion. Despite being refitted with the best New Earth could afford at the time, she was a far cry from more modern Inner Sphere Warships.

   However she was still a proud ship that had allot of fight left in her. A fact that the Lyrans were about to find out. The Bismarck and Maverick made their approaches on the Lyran fleet while fighters spread headed the attack. As Admiral Larue fleet spread out to engage the enemy, the Maverick made its extreme rang shots on the Essex. Unlike the Big E, whose gun crews had scored better than average hits at extreme range, the green crew of the Maverick only scored a few hits against the Essex.

   The Essex shook off the damage with stride as she returned fire with a Barracuda Missile. The missile hit the hardened armor of the Maverick and caused little damage. Admiral Larue ordered his gun crews to rake the two attacking fox corvettes. Scoring much higher hit ratios, the corvettes were forced to give the Old Lady (The official nickname of the Bismarck) a wide berth. Lacking the anti-fighter weapon mounts of the Aegis II class, the Bismarck suffered heavily under Lyran fighter counter-attacks. Despite the heavy armor, the fighters focused their efforts on slowing the Old Lady down.

   While her armor held, the attacks did cripple the massive ship's port engine. This cut the Bismarck's thrust in half. Seeing the danger that the Bismarck was in, the Maverick swung in to provide fighter cover with its own guns. With the Essex in her cross hairs, the Old Lady raked the Destroyer with a full broadside. The broadside railed against the destroyer's armor forcing the ship to withdraw to conduct field repairs. This bought the two New Earth warships some breathing room but the battle was far from over. Sensing blood in the water, one of the Corvettes closed in on the Old Lady and racked the larger ship with fire. The damage was further focused on the Aegis crippled port engine.

   With the focus on the Essex destroyer and one of the corvettes drawing fire, the last corvette was able to slip past the line. The Lyran ship accelerated to flank speed as it made a dash for Harbor Prime. Knowing that his own ship was unable to catch the corvette, Admiral Larue ordered the Maverick to abandon the Bismarck and stop the corvette before it reached the shipyards. It was a fateful choice but one that had to be made if the shipyards were to be protected.

   It was in this moment that the Aegis II earned its reputation as one of the fastest warships ever built. Despite at a full burn, the Maverick executed a high G spin on its axis back towards the shipyards. The order was given for flank speed and its powerful engines glowed brightly as fuel was flooding in to the twin burners. At the moment the Maverick was traveling backwards while it bled off speed. But soon its momentum started to build in the direction of the shipyards. The mighty ship groaned as its speed started to build. The Lyran ship had the advantage but that wouldn’t last for long as the Maverick’s speed continued to build.

   The corvette opened fire with a series of Barracuda missiles on the Maverick. The missiles scored minor hits, which the Maverick brushed off. In return, the green gun crews of the Maverick hammered the aft sections of the corvette with powerful naval lasers and heavy Naval PPC’s. As the Maverick closed the gap on the corvette, the corvette was drawing closer to the shipyards. However the SSDC had a ruthless surprise waiting for the Lyran Corvette.

   Once in range, the corvette found itself being fired upon by weapon emplacements. New Earth’s SSDC had taken massive naval weapons and mounted in to armored turrets on nearby asteroids. The onslaught rippled wholes in to supporting dropships and inflicted damage upon the Lyran Corvette. The New Earth fighters and dropships that were ordered to hold back were finally able to jump in to the action. As fighters and dropships from both sides swarmed around the shipyards, the Lyran Corvette was within firing ranges on the shipyards.

   The Lyran corvette opened fired on the shipyard. The Archon-Prince Victor, another Aegis II which was being built for the Federated Commonwealth, took several hits to its unarmored haul. The ship would be critically damaged and a nearby construction ship would be blown to pieces. The explosion would badly damage a section of the slip where the Victor was being built. As the Lyran corvette completed its first and only pass on the shipyards, the Maverick hammered away at the corvette. The Maverick continued to rack the corvette with powerful naval weapons as it continued to give chase on the corvette.

   Between the heavy weapons from the Maverick and from strategic weapon mounts, the incoming fire finally took its toll on the corvette. With its massive transit drive blown to pieces and its K-F Drive destroyed, the corvette lost power. The corvette drifted helplessly surrounded by the death and destruction that it had just caused. The remaining dropships and fighters that escorted the corvette were quickly isolated and destroyed or captured. With the shipyards damaged but otherwise secured, the eyes turned back towards the Bismarck and the remaining of the Lyran assault force.

   Round two was about to start between the Bismarck and the Essex class destroyer. No longer aided by the Maverick and her anti-fighter weapons, the Bismarck had to rely on her own fighters for defense against attacking Lyran fighters. The two Lyran ships had regrouped and were moving in on the Bismarck. He kept his larger APC’s closer to his haul hoping to deploy them in a surprising boarding action. As his crews fought fires across the engineering sections, he added to bait by turning off his running and exterior lights.

   Admiral Larue had the Bismarck play dead while drawing the Lyrans in closer. Know from this engagement as the man of steel nerves, he did nothing as the last remaining Lyran corvette fired upon the Old Lady at long ranges. The Lyrans took the bait and assumed that the Old Lady was dead in space.

   At medium range, Admiral Larue surprised the Lyrans with a full broadside that all but crippled the last corvette. The badly damaged corvette attempted to activate its lithium-fusion batters to jump out of system. However the damage to the corvette prevented the ship from being able to jump. Admiral Larue ordered his APC’s in to action. Using their superior speed, the five APC’s rocketed from behind the Old Lady and attached themselves to the damaged corvette. Within minutes, the Lyran crew found themselves fighting a brutal struggle for their own ship.

   As the battle turned against them, it was clear that the Lyrans didn’t have the advantage anymore. Lacking the lithium-fusion batters, the Essex was here to stay till her K-F drive was recharged. The destroyer turned and gave the Bismarck a powerful broadside with its Naval PPC's and Lasers. Admiral Larue ordered the Bismarck to roll as the Old Lady started to rebuild her thrust. It took most of her thrust but the Old Lady finally managed to get above the Destroyer. However the Old Lady simply didn’t the thrust needed to keep the advantage. The Lyran destroyer was able to counter the move.

   Unleashing its Naval Auto-Cannons, the Lyran destroyer hammered the broadside of the Bismarck. The incoming fire caused more damage to the Old Lady’s already battered engineering sections. A lucky critical hit knocked out the Old Lady’s K-F drive. Admiral Larue fired another broadside in to the Destroyer, gutting the nose of the Lyran Warship. Shortly thereafter, a crippled APC conducted a suicide attack on the Lyran destroyer. With its weapons firing so much that they were glowing red, the small patrol ship slammed in to the bridge of the destroyer. Another broadside from the Bismarck racked the spin of the destroyer triggering secondary explosions. Admiral Larue ordered the remainder of his forces back as the destroyer ripped itself apart as its Naval Auto-Cannon ammunition bunkers exploded. The death of the Lyran destroyer signaled the end of the first round of the Invasion of New Earth.

   While the Big E had been able to drive off her attackers, the Old Lady had failed to protect the shipyards. Considerable damage had been inflicted on the shipyards, taking serval slips out of service. However the vital repair yards would remain in service during the invasion. While the Big E would be fully repaired before the end of the Invasion, the NEWS Bismarck would never jump again as her K-F Drive was too badly damaged to be repaired. Instead components would be used on repairing the Big E. Despite not having a K-F drive, the Old Lady would have the remaining damage repaired.

   During the two battles for Harbor Prime, the Lyrans had lost a number of dropships and four of their five Corvettes. In addition to this, the loss of LAS Scheer was a costly loss to the Alliance. While these losses were painful for the Lyran Navy, these losses could easily be replace. However the Lyrans were able to effectively limit New Earth’s shipyards and its navy during the invasion. The battles forced the Maverick to be stationed close to the shipyards to protect them from further attack. This would effectively take the Maverick out of the opening battles for New Earth its self. The Bismarck and Enterprise would be down for months undergoing major repairs. A number of defending dropships and fighters were also lost during the battle. These were losses that New Earth couldn’t easy afford. Because of this, the first round would go to the Lyrans.

   Back on New Earth, Air Raid Sirens were alerting every one of the coming invasion. While most citizens were running for shelters, one citizen however dawned an old Lyran Commonwealth Navy uniform. A uniform that hadn’t been issued in over thirty years. With his uniform looking as if it was just issued yesterday, Former Captain Ben Hushner dawned his captain’s hat and made his way to the dock district of Balitor on Aries.

   During the Civil War, Captain Hushner had been the commanding officer of the New Earth sea going naval warship Bizmark. After serving twenty years for crimes against humanity, Captain Hushner’s career and family life was in ruin. He moved to Balitor, Aries to follow his former command the NEWS Bizmark which was being used as a naval officer training ship. He took on a job as a janitor working for the New Earth Navy. For years following his release, former Captain Hushner cleaned up after the young men and women who would go on to become the officers of the New Earth Navy. His dairy reflected that each day he longed for a way to regain his lost honor in the eyes of the very people he was meant to protect. He often wrote about watching the ‘Pride of New Earth’s Seas’ (the NEWS Bizmark) returning to port after training missions from his own backyard.

   With their leaders assassinated, the cadets of the 43rd Training Battalion were formed up at the Bizmark as per their protocols. However the group had no leadership and no orders, so they waited as the invasion began. At 0800 SST, Former Captain Hushner along with a handful of former Bizmark officers, walked up to the great warship and the leaderless cadets. After a short argument between Cadets and the former commander of the Bizmark, it was agreed that Captain Hushner would take command of the Bizmark once more. After thirty years, Captain Hushner finally had his chance to redeem himself and his ship.

   As the mass media were reporting of the Lyran landings across New Earth, the cadets were getting the Bizmark ready for departure. It was under Captain Hushner’s harsh and relentless leadership that made the hasty departure possible. Working against the clock, the Cadets and their elderly mentors pressed the massive warship in to service in remarkable time. Just before the ship was ready for departure, a group of SSDC Marines and New Earth Provisional Guards arrived to scuttle the mighty ship before it could be captured by the Lyrans. Instead, thanks to Captain Hushner, they were convinced to joined the make shift crew. Within hours, the Bizmark was sailing from the harbor and in to New Earth’s history.

   1315 SST: Lyran fighters from the 1st Alarion Jaegers, hoping to strike a morale blow against the defenders of New Earth, bombed anchorages around Aries. While one of their primary targets was the Bizmark, they ended up sinking or badly damaging eleven other naval ships that were caught at the anchorages. Due to double assignments and heavy defending fighters around Aries, no search was made for the missing Bizmark. It was reported back to Task Force Command by the commander of the fighter wing that the anchorages were in flames and all ships there were sunk or burning. No report was made one way or the other regarding the Bizmark. It was only assumed that the Bizmark was among those ships sunk or burning.

   1335 SST: The alarms signaling the incoming invasion had been sounding across New Earth for almost twelve hours. Thanks to the efforts of the SSDC, military units across New Earth had plenty of time to prepare for the coming Lyran invasion. Thanks to a well-developed government operated Emergency Broadcast System, civilians have been kept up to date with the latest information. Because of these two factors, the vast majority of the civilian population were safely secured in shelters across New Earth when the first bombs started to fall. However the storm was just getting underway. With the experienced warriors of the Hurricane Legion assigned to the Star League Defense Force, New Earth's future rested in the highly trained troops of the 6th and 7th Corps.

   President McGray had activated the New Earth Provisional Guard when the first alarms were activated. In terms of the defenders of New Earth, what played out during the morning of January 25th, 3060 was a well-organized combat readiness operation. For decades, New Earth Defense Command had been conducting hundreds of drills in response to a possible Marik invasion, a Draconis Combine raid. Thanks to these drills, the men and women of New Earth’s Home Guard were ready to prove themselves and defend New Earth from invaders.

   During the critical hours before the first Lyran dropship landing, President McGray had ordered military units near the Capital to assist in the evacuations of the Capital City. As much as he wanted to spare the city of the fighting, he knew it would be a vital prize. Instead he choose to save lives.

   1400 SST: With reports of the first wave of attacks on New Earth military sites being received and against the pleading of his personal guard, President McGray chooses to remain within the Capital City to cover the evacuations of the city’s population. During these critical hours, President McGray personally oversaw the civilian evacuations and the manning of emergency shelters. President McGray’s greatest fears was the number of possible civilian casualties as a result of this invasion. He directed his personal guard to assist as he took to the streets to coordinated evacuations personally.

   When word came that a nearby hospital had not been able to fully evacuate to their assigned shelter, McGray sent elements of his own guard and his personal transport to aid in the evacuation. During this time, The Old Guard reported to the President that the entire New Earth Senate had been safely evacuated to their secret bunkers within the nearby mountains. The only member of New Earth’s leadership that remained in the Capital was President McGray, himself. New Earth Defense Command reported a large number of enemy dropships making their final approach near the Capital. The only unit that stood between the Capital and the enemy was a lone Provisional Guard Company.

   1420 SST: Lyran combat drops were made north northeast of the capital city, near the town of Brentwood. Specters were able to identify the Lyran unit as the 14th Lyran Guards under the direct command of General Goldberg. Charlie Company of the 2nd Battlemech Battalion of the New Earth’s Provisional Guard were the first ground units to engage the Lyrans. The short battle lasted only a few minutes as the New Earth Provisional Guard unit made their stand near Memorial Park. The 360th Lyran Armored Cavalry Regiment along with the 15th Ford Mechanized Infantry Regiment encircled Charlie Company. Despite being outnumbered, the smaller New Earth unit fought to the last man as the rest of the 14th Lyran Guards made their way towards the Capital.

   To the south of the Capital a second Lyran unit was making their landings. The 1st Skye Jeagers quickly organized south west of the Capital with orders to seize President McGray who was still reported within the Capital. With two forces closing on the city, General Goldberg ordered his units to encircle the city and cut off further evacuations. General Goldberg announced his plans of a swift attack on the Capital with his intention to capture the New Earth Government and end the fighting. He joked to his men that he plans to be having dinner in the Presidential Palace by night fall.

   Acting on information from Lyran Intelligence a flight of fighters from the 1st Alarion Air Wing intercepted an unarmed civilian air transport. The transport, New Earth Air, Flight 628, had departed from Summerhaven prior to the invasion beginning. Once the invasion begin, the transport changed course and was heading to the city of Franka for an emergency landing. The Alarion fighters intercepted the transport sixty miles north of Fanka. After verifying the identity of the transport, the fighters were ordered to shot down the transport by Lyran Intelligence. The order came directly from Storm Chaser. Unknown to the pilots, aboard the transport was Karen Tetsuhara Death. The Alarion flight shot down the transport and killed all two hundred passengers and crew aboard. The actual fate of Flight 628 wouldn’t be discovered months after the invasion.

   1645 SST: The combined forces of the 14th Lyran Guards and 1st Skye Jeagers move on the Capital city of Wiedergeburt. After meeting with stiff opposition from New Earth forces, the Lyran Forces were able to breach the city. Lyran over flights of the city reported that the Presidential Guard was still within the city near the main train station. They were helping evacuate the civilian population. General Goldberg ordered a mech battalion of his 14th Lyran Guards, a mech company from the 1st Skye Jeagers along with support units to move on the Wiedergeburt’s main train station. Their orders were to capture President McGray. The rest of the Lyran units were to fan out and secure the city.

   1700 SST: the bulk of the 1st Skye Jeagers encounter 2/7th Brigade of the 7th NEDF Corps on the outskirts of the capital city. After a brief exchange the 2/7th Brigade was forced to withdraw. Despite missing some of their senior leadership, the unit was able to withdraw in an orderly fashion from the city. The 1st Skye Jeagers, hoping to have a repeat of the engagement with Charlie Company of their own give pursuit. Fighting for survival, 2/7th continued to withdrew further east by northeast away from the city. This drew the 1st Skye Jeagers from the city. General Goldberg reinforced the 1st Skye Jeagers with four mercenary commands from the invasion’s reserve force.

   At the same time, 24th Lyran Guards along with the Winfield’s Regiment complete their landings on Cancer north of the frozen Grober Ploner Bay. Due to the inexperience of the 24th, Task Force Winfield was held up for hours as the green unit attempted to regroup after their combat landings. This delay enraged General Goldberg who boosted the success of his own unit to the Task Force commanders. He ordered them to “hurry the hell up and get moving.”

   It was the orders of Task Force Winfield to engage New Earth forces in and around Cancer’s Proving Grounds and secure the vital training center. Because of the Landing Site’s location, it was assumed that the Task Force would experience no resistance during their landings. Once the 24th was finally ready to begin their march, a nasty seasonal arctic storm showed up on the radar of the Lyran support ships. General Goldberg ordered the Task Force to ignore the storm and press southward. It would be a fateful order that would led to the destruction of Task Force Winfield.

   Task Force Alarion, which was made up of the 1st Alarion Jaegers and six mercenary commands of mostly armor and infantry units, attempted landings on Aries. Despite being warned that Aries was heavily guarded against such landings, the officers of Task Force Alarion choose to conduct their landings anyway. The Task Force Commanders choose to make their landing just outside the city Balitor. Their goal was to secure the former capital and its vital naval yards. Once this critical port was secured the Task Force would then move on to the Headquarters of the NEDC. It was assumed that much of the defenders had been gassed by Lyran Intelligence before the invasion began. There was no report that this attack was successful and all evidence indicated that it had failed.

   The lofty goals of Task Force Alarion would never be achieved. Even before the Task Force could begin their landings, they were taking heavy fire from Aries’ space defense emplacements. The onslaught of weapons’ fire cut the Task Force’s dropships to ribbons. Nearly half of the Task Force’s dropships was lost before they even hit the ground. The Victor’s Hell Riders, a Mercenary unit made of a Battlemech Battalion ceased to exist when their Overlord took a direct hit from a surface mounted heavy Naval PPC. The dropship exploded in midair killing all aboard. Because of this intensive fire, units of Task Force Alarion became hopelessly isolated from each other as their dropships crashed to the ground.

   Major Karl Heinz, senior commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Alarion Jaegers, found his unit cut off from the rest of the Task Force when his dropship crash landed. He ordered his unit to conduct a movement action to link up with other Task Force units, however resistance was intense. Just arriving from Sagittarius, elements of the Old Guard linked up with the 8th Marine Division and the Fort Kari Cadre to hammer at the isolated units of Task Force Alarion. The survivors of Task Force Alarion found themselves quickly surrounded just as they were crawling from the wreckage of their dropships.

   On Pisces, the experienced 5th Alliance Guards conducted their landings just north of Summerhaven. However as they conducted their combat landings they were hit hard by the full weight of the 6th Corps. Thanks to the early warnings and up to date information, the surviving commanders of the 6th Corps were able to rally the unit and conducted a forced march for Summerhaven. After a ten hour forced march, the unit was in position to oppose the 5th Alliance Guards just as they were making their landings. As the battle was joined, this would become one of the most critical battles of the invasion.

   1830 SST: General Goldberg's forces pressed through brutal street fighting against organized resistance from local GMP and Presidential Guard units. After hours of intensive combat, the Lyran Forces managed to force the defenders from the Main Train Station. Shortly their after, it was reported that the train station was secured by Lyran Forces. General Goldberg’s Battalion was just reaching the city center and the Presidential Palace.

   The New Earth defenders attempted to withdraw from the city but were cut off by Lyran Forces. Colonel Michelle Addison, the Commander of the Presidential Guard transmitted a call which was intercepted by Lyran forces. The grave message told the story for the Capital. She informed NEDC that her unit was becoming over run and would soon be unable to protect the President. Major John Campbell, acting commanding officer of the 2/7th Combat Brigade informed Colonel Addison that the 7th Corps would not be able to render aid to her unit in time. The message was clear that the Presidential Guard and the President were cut off from help.

   During the height of the battle and against the urging of Colonel Addison, President McGray boarded his own Battlemech and joined the battle. President McGray’s Marauder took to the field to fight alongside his body guard unit as they withdrew back on to the grounds of the Presidential Palace. His message was clear, “we all have to fight if we are to save New Earth.” President McGray led his unit in a desperate effort to retake the main train station. The Presidential Guard managed to press the Lyrans back from the Main Train Station.

   During that bitter battle, the last Refugee Train managed to escape the city before Lyran fighters knocked out the rail lines. General Goldberg, sensing a quick end to the war on New Earth called in reinforcements with orders to capture or kill President McGray. As the battle for the Capital City was coming to a close, the Presidential Guard was once more forced back towards the Presidential Palace. The few supporting New Earth units within the city had been destroyed leaving the Guard to stand alone.

   At the Congressional Mall, a large grassy area only a few blocks away from the core of the fighting, a large number of Battlemechs conducted a high speed, low attitude combat drop. The highly risky move impressed General Goldberg leading to the false assumption that these Mechs were elements of the 1st Skye Jeagers who had been summoned back to secure the city. Before anyone knew what was going on, this new unit fired on the rear elements of the 14th Lyran Guards. An intercepted transmission told the story of who had taken the field.

   â€œMr. President, I am sorry that the Death’s Brigade was late. We have orders from the Senate to escort you and your unit to a secured LZ” the voice was none other than Former General Jake Death. To the surprise of Lyran Intelligence, Jake Death was still alive. Nightingale had been ordered to assassinate him the night before. Under the combined fire of the two elite units, the out flanked 14th Lyran Guards were forced to withdraw after taking heavy losses. General Goldberg's units were unable to stop their prize from slipping away. Thanks to the rescue by the Death’s Brigade, the Presidential Guard was able to conduct a fighting retreat to a secured landing zone created by a combined force from Death’s Brigade Dropships and CyberDrone Security Force.

   2045 SST: The Death’s Brigade and the Presidential Guard arrived at their secured landing zone miles from the city. With the 14th Lyran Guard being forced to hold their ground, the two units boarded their dropships. As he dismounted his Warhammer, within his own Fortress Class Dropship, a lone shot ripped through the air. It was an incredible shot at ranges that pushed nearly four kilometers. The shot struck Jake Death in the base of the neck causing him to fall from his mech. Former General Death would be pronounced dead by medics as President McGray held him.

   2200 SST: Death’s Brigade and the Presidential Guard were the last New Earth units west of the Kasin Mountains. The two elite units were in full retreat from Sagittarius. The 1st Skye Jeagers had half of the 7th Corps on the run northeast of the Kasin Mountain Ranges. The remaining units of the 7th Corps had been reported abandoning their posts in the low lands of Sagittarius and in full retreat towards the Kasin Mountains.

   General Goldberg reported that the invasion was on track and that Sagittarius was all but secured. During the final hours of January 25th, General Goldberg carried out a massive parade through the downtown streets of the Capital. The victory parade ended at the Presidential Palace where he proclaimed he was moving his headquarters.

   After the parade he ordered the remaining 14th Lyran Guards to secure the outlining areas around the Capital. He divided up part of the 14th to secure the Conceptopolis Spaceport and the strategically important Fort Nicolaus. The 1st Skye Jeagers were ordered to pursue elements of the 7th Corps and destroy the unit. General Goldberg turned his attention to the island of Ebrahim and the valuable Wyvern Castle, which had been the family estate of Jake Death since the 3030’s.

   Thanks to the efforts of Lyran Intelligence the head of the snake had been severed. According to analysts New Earth was ready for the fall. In one day, Lyran forces had secured Sagittarius, the battle for Pieces was well underway. However the invasion of Aires was on the verge of disaster. The death of beloved General Jake Death was a blow that was meant to cripple New Earth and its military. Both Archon Katherine Steiner and General Goldberg gave credit for the killing of Jake Death to the 15th Ford Mechanized Infantry Regiment of the 14th Lyran Guard. However a later independent investigation credited the assassination to a Lyran Intelligence assassin.

   January 26th, 3060: During a series of early evening battles with the New Earth forces, the 1st Alarion were given no quarter by endless assaults carried out by their New Earth opponents. The survivors of Task Force Alarion fought long and hard to regroup and rescue survivors from the numerous crashed dropships. By midnight, Colonel Julie Hoffman, the official commander of Task Force Alarion, was finally rescued from her crashed command dropship. Sadly, much of her command company had perished in the crash. Colonel Hoffman assumed command of Task Force Alarion and quickly sent an urgent request for her task force to be withdrawn from Aries.

   General Goldberg refused to allow Task Force Alarion to be withdrawn from Aries. Instead General Goldberg ordered Task Force Alarion to secure a spaceport so that he could send her reinforcements. Disgruntled, Colonel Hoffman led her regrouped unit during the late night offensive. Colonel Hoffman’s battle plan was brilliant and led her unit to victory. Riding on their wave of success, Task Force Alarion drove back New Earth defenders. During the predawn hours of the 27th, Task Force Alarion secured a regional spaceport just outside of Balitor. As the first light of the 27th started to show, the sounds of combat finally subsided.

   Taking the reprieve from combat for what it’s worth, Colonel Hoffman ordered the remaining of her dropships to relocate to her captured regional spaceport. She had hoped that her dropships could get much needed repairs at the spaceport. True to his word, once the spaceport was secured, General Goldberg sent in reinforcements. Within hours, four battalions of armor and twice as many infantry were reinforcing Hoffman’s battered unit. While their dropship force were being repaired, the 1st Alarion set up a staging area and readied a renewed offensive against New Earth forces. In a promising sign, New Earth forces held back throughout the day allowing Hoffman to conduct searches for more survivors of her battered unit. Unknown to Colonel Hoffman and the 1st Alarion, death was coming on the evening tide.

   While the 1st Alarion were consolidating their gains, Death’s Brigade had made their landings at Fort Death, named after the famous leader that brought Peace to New Earth’s Civil War. With President McGray and his personal guard safely on their way to Castle Brian 429, NEDC Issued order to Death’s Brigade for them to rejoin the battle. However the men and women of Death’s Brigade disobeyed and instead gave their fallen leader Janazah (Arabic for Islamic Funeral Rites). After a very private and personal day spent in honor of their fallen leader, Colonel Katya Johns assumed command of the elite unit with a heavy heart. To her fellow warriors that placed command in her hands, she promised vengeance against the Lyrans.

   By nightfall, Colonel Johns led Death’s Brigade during a high risk combat drop deep within the harbor district of Balitor. It was clear that Death’s Brigade was ready for vengeance as they slaughtered a green infantry company who had stumbled upon the units as they were conducting their drops. The attack was carried out by Death’s Brigade’s Recon Trinary and hit with such force that the Lyran unit never had a chance to radio for help. Colonel Johns stated that these deaths would be the first of many to come to the Lyran.

   Shortly after completing their combat drops, Death’s Brigade was joined by CyberDrone Security Forces. Using the city for cover, Colonel Johns led the two units towards the rear of Task Force Alarion. To mask their approach, Colonel Johns requested that supporting New Earth units slammed in to the front lines of the Lyrans. The attacks was carried out by the Old Guard and elements of the 8th Marine Division with prefect timing. This attack forced the Lyrans to direct much of their forces towards the front lines while death lurked behind them.

   As the New Earth units hammered at the Lyrans, Colonel Hoffman organized a strong defensive line. Her operational plans were brilliant and a testament to the cunning of this Lyran officer. As the battle continued Colonel Hoffman planned to unleash a counter attack but unknown to her, her unit was already fighting for its life. As the battle started to unfold, Death's Brigade’s Delta Cluster and elements of CyberDrone’s security force under the command of Captain Markis Brown led a daring assault in to the heart of the Task Force Alarion’s support areas that had been set up at the occupied Spaceport.

   The assault at the spaceport was so bold and happened so fast that the combined force of both units overran the defending units before Colonel Hoffman knew that the raid was even taking place. By the time Colonel Hoffman was notified about the raid on her dropships, much of the battle for the spaceport was almost over. By the time this news hit Colonel Hoffman’s headquarters it was too late. Death’s Brigade had already quickly overran Colonel Hoffman’s rear guard units and the spaceport along with her vital dropships had been captured. Because of the assault against her front lines and now the assault against her rear, Colonel Hoffman was forced to divide her forces between the two fronts.

   Taking advantage of the confusion and pressure on the Alarion’s lines, the remaining Death’s Brigade broke through the Lyran lines. ‘No Quarters’ was the order of the day for the Death’s Brigade by Colonel John’s own words. And the Death’s Brigade followed that order to the letter. They weren’t taking prisoners as they pressed deeper in to the Lyran occupied territory. Colonel Hoffman attempted to save her support units at the spaceport, however the combined force from both New Earth thrust was crushing her lines.

   With all of the Alarion’s remaining dropships captured on the ground by the Death’s Brigade and both her lines collapsing in on themselves, Colonel Hoffman was faced with an impossible decision. In the face of destruction, Colonel Hoffman ordered the remaining of her units in to a hasty retreat west along the coast line. Unwilling to let go of their vengeance, Colonel Johns ordered her unit to pursue the Lyran unit. It was whole sale slaughter at the hands of the enraged unit. When word reached President McGray about the actions of the Death’s Brigade. President McGray ordered the Death’s Brigade to hold their ground. This order would save Task Force Alarion from destruction, for the time being.

   On Pisces, after a day and a night of intensive combat between the 5th Alliance Guards and the 6th Corps, the 5th Alliance Guards were no closer to securing Summerhaven and its vital spaceport. Being a full forced Fed-Com RCT and supported by a number of mercenary units, it was assumed that the 5th Alliance Guards would had been more than a match for the 6th Corps. However Lyran Intelligence misjudged New Earth’s military formation of its Corps. A Lyran RCT like the 5th Alliance, under the command of Hauptmann General James Ito, consisted of regiment of BattleMechs, three regiments of combat vehicles, four regiments of infantry, one aerospace fighter wings, and a battalion of artillery.

   But the 5th Alliance Guards were not going in to battle alone. They were supported with ten other mercenary units. The 5th Alliance Guards when they made their combat landings on New Earth were truly a force to be dealt with. However the unit that they were tasked with defeating was more than ready for the challenge. When Jake Death set down and helped create the New Earth Corps, a different strategy was on the table. Against traditional wisdom of the day, New Earth built these units around a central principle of Joint Dedicated Operations.

   Cross the battlefield, the 6th Corps under the command of Major General Christopher Wieck were an even match for the 5th Alliance Guards in terms combat units on the field. The 6th Corps, like her other NEDC Corps, boasted four Battlemech battalions, twelve Armored Battalions, twenty armored infantry battalions. It was this oversized military firepower made the 6th Corps an equal match for the 5th Alliance Guards and their Mercenary support units. But what gave the 6th Corps its fighting edge was in its Artillery Battalions.

   Where General Ito and his 5th Alliance Guards only had one artillery battalion, General Wieck and his 6th Corps had four battalions at his disposal. Not only did having more guns mattered, but the 6th Corps had a more diverse style of artillery guns. This disproportional balance of power meant that the Lyran artillery crews had to pull endless fire missions to support their line units. As the days drove on, this level of operation took its toll on the Lyran gun crews. More importantly than that, thanks to New Earth’s heavy training in artillery operations General Wieck’s gun crews were better at hitting their targets than their Lyran counterparts.

   Air power also made all the difference between the two units. General Ito only had an aerospace wing at his disposal, General Wieck also had twenty forty fighters at his disposal. This allowed the pilots of the 1/6th Air Group to tie up the pilots of 5th Alliance Guards Aerospace Brigade on a one on one basis. This denied air superiority to the Lyrans. While the Lyrans were in a bitter battle over the skies of New Earth, General Wieck’s other air units were able to launch brutal attacks against Lyran ground units.

   To this end, General Wieck had almost a hundred and fifty conventional fighters and seventy two attack VTOL’s. This gave General Wieck an unprecedented advantage over the battlefield than General Ito had. For over two decades, New Earth officers had been trained on how to use these two types of units to their fullest ability. And General Wieck used these two used them with ruthless effectiveness. He choose his targets well. Ordering the destruction of support units and supply bases of the 5th Alliance Guards.

   Long before the 5th Alliance Guard were assigned to the invasion force, they were disadvantaged against the 6th Corps. The reason for this was not in terms of combat units on the battlefield. This was where late General Death’s military brilliance shined through. Very few military leader considered direct support of combat units as important. Traditionally, the average battle only lasted a few weeks at most. General Death pushed for direct support. While a costly move, late General Death got his way. This structural change brought four support battalions and four medical battalions to the New Earth Corps. This focus on support and medical treatment would not only save lives but keep the 6th Corps at fighting strength much longer than the 5th Alliance Guards could.

   While these factors played a critical role in the battle, this wasn’t where the battle was won. The single most important advantage that General Wieck enjoyed was in terms of command and control. General Ito did have C3 systems throughout his unit and this did gave General Ito remarkable control over his unit on the battlefield. Beyond his command lance, there was no other command personal available to assist in leadership. And there were times where General Ito still had to take to the field. The mind set was of the General leading the battle from the front. While this could inspire his troops, this pulled him from his headquarters and from overall command over the battle. On the other side of the battle lines, General Ito’s counterpart had at his disposal, a complete command company that assisted in running the entire battle.

   General King and Late General Death pressed forward with a concept was going to take military command to a whole new level. The concept was called C4I, which stood for Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence. To support this concept, New Earth military minds created a Corps Command Company which was made up of over a hundred military specialists, a large number of HQ vehicles and support units to protect the vital unit. Using the same technology that linked the patrol ships of the SSDC Patrol Ships, each New Earth unit was linked to the command network via their communication’s suite. An entirely new MOS was created to ensure that this network worked and was protected. This responsibility fall upon the men and women of Signal Security Corps.

   From his headquarter unit, General Wieck had a much clearer image of what was transpiring on the battlefield from moment to moment. This was thanks to the fact that his holographic maps was updated with each new report from his line units. Each time a unit would report up the chain of command, it would create an update for Wieck’s Holomaps. Back in the 30’s and 40’s, it was a move that many mainstream officers doubted could work. However Late General Death and General King pressed forward with the concept. Now faced with an invader, C4I was making all the differences in the defense of New Earth.

   By mid-morning the following day, General Ito was already considering that he might loss his foot hold on Pisces. He consolidated his forces and dispatched his dropships to a secured landing site on the south shores of Kings Bay. To protect his dropships, he sent a third of his forces with them. As the battle continued to unfold as General Ito attempted to outflank the 6th Corps by deploying his lighter faster units in a sweeping action.

   His plan was to create a pocket near the small city of Ostfield. It would be from this pocket that he would have his dropships redeploy and he could set up a new foothold. However his plan unraveled when his 2nd Mech Company of the 5th Alliance Guards and their supporting hovercraft reached the outskirts of Ostfield they came under fire by Bravo Company of the 83rd Armored Battalion and its two supporting infantry companies.

   Bravo Company was completely made up of New Earth’s own King Main Battle Tanks. These assault tanks had been offered to the Lyran military during the 40’s but the Lyran army rejected the tanks as being not combat capable for the cost. The dug-in tanks opened fired with their powerful FSDS cannons on the light mechs as they crossed the beach. The cannons ripped through the lighter mechs, sending the Alliance mechs in to chaos. The battle lasted for almost an hour as the Alliance mechs attempted on a number of occasions to cross the beach. Each time they attempted, they were thrown back in to the waters by the New Earth tanks who held the high ground throughout the battle. At the end of the battle, General Ito was no closer to securing Summerhaven than he was the night before. 

   Back on Sagittarius, General Goldberg received word that the 1st Skye Jaegers have chased elements of the 7th Corps along the northern expanses of the Kasin Mountain Range. The remaining elements of the 7th Corps were fleeing for the Kasin Mountains from their bases in the western ranges of Sagittarius. With much of the battle for the capital over, it was time for General Goldberg to get some much needed local support for his cause. General Goldberg and a large number of armed escorts traveled to Radoslav Branković Correction Facility. Their plan was to release members of the hated Erneuerung Party, namely Nikolaus Senft and Thomas Schmitt.

   As General Goldberg walked the halls of the nearly deserted facility, someone had gone through the cell blocks shooting the inmates. Hundreds of inmates had been murdered by unknown gunmen. Including every member of the imprisoned Erneuerung Party. On his way back from the prison, a massive car bomb exploded along the Lyran’s route back in to the city. The blast was powerful enough to destroy an armored personal carrier that was just ahead of General Goldberg’s armored car. Six Lyran soldiers were killed and twenty five were wounded. While General Goldberg escaped the attack unharmed, the message was clear. That message was that the New Earth Partisans had taken to the field.

   Within days of the bombing, partisans were making limited random hit and run attacks on Lyran strong holds across Wiedergeburt and the surrounding areas. At the core of these attacks was the Twin-Machine-Gun-Run. As a Lyran foot patrol would enter a pre-set kill zone, a pair of partisans would line up the kill. They would open fire with a crew served machine gun. They would wound or kill only a handful of soldiers. As the patrol would react to the initial attack, the pair of partisan would flee the area. Often they would abandon their machine gun as they fled. Eager Lyran soldiers would pursue the partisans only to end up in a second ambush. After a short exchange, both partisan groups would vanish from the streets leaving behind a few wounded or dead Lyran soldiers.

   On Cancer, the 24th Lyran Guards and the Winfield’s Regiment were making painfully slow progress in the face of a near blinding blizzard. What should have been only a few hour march for the safety of Nes’Saw Pass, ended up taking nearly two days. According to weather reports, the blizzard stretched nearly four hundred kilometers. To the surprise of the Lyran commanders, this was not unusual for New Earth’s artic regions. However the storm was untimely late for the season, but not unheard of. By the time the task force closed on the safety of the Pass, the blizzard was in full force.

   Despite having no contact with New Earth Forces, the infantry regiments assigned to the 24th Lyran Guards were recording injuries due to the extreme weather conditions. While the Lyran Battlemechs were unaffected by the weather, their armor, trucks and infantry units were suffering badly from the extreme weather and sub-zero temperatures. According to their Loki provided maps, the large formation was only ten miles north of the infamous Nes'Sha Pass, however they couldn’t see a meter in front of their mechs. Colonel Jeremiah Winfield had little choice but to order his unit to push across the frozen waters of the Grober Ploner Bay for the safety of the pass beyond.

   While the Lyrans were seeking shelter from the brutal late season blizzard, another unit was mounting up and getting ready to face the storm. Star Colonel Sara Weaver gathered her OpFor stationed at Fort Galene and started a force march across the frozen lands of the Cancer Proving Grounds. Her Command Cluster led the two Clusters in to the storm as they followed the Bala River north. She planned to link up with the third combat element of her OpFor, Charlie Battalion. Charlie Battalion had been training with Quantum Tech’s Security Force before the storm was detected on weather radars. Unaware of the coming invasion, the two units took refuge in Castle Brian 850.

   Due to Loki assassinations and the confusion during the opening hours of the invasion, the two units were instructed to remain at station at CB 850 and wait further orders. When the Lyrans were detected landing north of CB 850, the two battalion sized units were in prefect position to act. In the absence of NEDC leadership, Star Colonel Weaver assumed command of the defense of Cancer. She informed the two units at CB 850 to prepare for her arrival. Due to the storm, Lyran Military Intelligence were unable to track Weaver and her OpFor’s movements. Thanks to the storm, Star Colonel Weaver managed to slip undetected from Fort Galene and make her way north to CB 850.

   Originally, the Lyrans didn’t suspect that Star Colonel Weaver would oppose the invasion. Many suspected that her unit would sit on the side lines during the invasion. This was the reason why she was given a low priority by General Goldberg when targets for assassinations were selected. Star Colonel Weaver not only seized control in the absences of leadership, she was determined to protect New Earth’s current government from the invasion. More than that, other former Clan pilots followed her blindly seeing this as their moral duty.

   Alongside the clan pilots were a good number of New Earthers who had openly embraced the ways of the Clans and had joined Clan Mountain Eagle’s training Cadre. Nowhere on New Earth was there a larger collection of more fanatical warriors who were willing to follow the driven Weaver in to the heart of a large blinding blizzard. It was said that Star Colonel Weaver didn’t ask for warriors to follower in to the storm. She only had to point out, that that was where the enemy was, and that was where she was going. On that, her OpFor mounted up and followed without question. This failure to understand Clan Mountain Eagle would serve to doom any hope of securing Cancer for the Lyrans.

   On January 27th, the next wave of the Lyran invasion took place on New Earth’s moon called Lanna. Despite their limited experience, the 32nd Lyran Guards were assigned to this critical mission. Their mission was to secure the heavily guarded lunar headquarters of New Earth’s Strategic Space Defense Command. Since the beginning planning stages of the invasion, Marshal Gustav Van Buren had argued that his unit was ill-equipped and ill-suited for such a mission. There were a series of heated exchanges between officers of the 32nd and General Goldberg over the wisdom of this wave. However in the end General Goldberg insisted that the 32nd take the vital lunar base at all costs.

   The open shots of this wave were brutal against the Lyrans as New Earth Marine pilots ripped through the dropships of the 32nd. The air group assigned to the 32nd fought hard against the over three wings of Marine fighters and attack craft. However they were simply outnumbered nearly four to one and facing stiff anti-fighter and anti-dropship weapon systems. Despite this, the Lyran pilots of the 32nd fought with the kind of courage that came from the heart. One New Earth Marine pilot stated about the Lyran pilots, “I hate killing someone of such courage because of someone else’s crappy plan.”

   As the 32nd pressed forward with their attack, losses started to mount. However by sheer force of will, the 32nd Lyran Guards finally was able to breach the outer defenses of the SSC Headquarters. Before the New Earth Marine pilots were able to close the hole, two full battalions of infantry were able to storm in to the subterranean base. Once more the pilots of the 32nd attempted to hold the breach. However the cost of this was large for the 32nd. A number of brave pilots gave all they had to keep the breach open. Marshal Van Buren ordered a large number of his ground units to land beyond the defensive lines and assault the base in a daring land assault.

   Within minutes of the 32nd troops making their assault on the base, the hole started to close. Despite their best efforts, the Lyran pilots couldn’t keep the hole open. Without any other options open to Marshal Van Buren, he had no choice but to order his space born forces back. He placed his hopes of success on his land forces working towards the New Earth lines. With the rest of their unit pulling back, the two assaulting infantry battalions were cut off from retreat. However this didn’t sap their courage. They pressed the attack in hopes of reaching the defense control systems and silence the base’s weapon systems. In the end, the 32nd had been divided in half. With part of their force deep inside Lanna’s complex and another part on the ground just beyond the SSC base.

   At the height of the battle, the 4th Marine Division took their limited Battlemechs and attempted to capture the Lyran dropships on the ground. After a short but fierce battle between Lyran Battlemechs of the 4th Marine Division, the Marine Division was driven back. Fearing a larger second wave and being caught on the ground, the commander of the dropships on the ground ordered his dropships to withdraw. This left the Lyrans on Lanna completely cut off. Before Marshal Van Buren’s eyes, his assault was unraveling. He ordered a second offensive in hopes of getting more of his troops in to the facility.

   By the end of the day, his units within the base were facing growing resistance and his second wave of ground forces being cut to ribbons by Marine pilots. The situation was growing worse for his unit and he was running out of fighters to protect his dropships. A report of a wave of New Earth ships were on approach from Harbor Prime, Marshal Von Buren couldn’t allow his space forces to be caught between the massive guns of a warship and the defenses of Lanna. With a heavy heart, he was forced to withdraw the remaining of his forces and concede the Battle for Lanna to New Earth. His message to General Goldberg told the story, “Despite our best efforts and as predicted, General, we are retreating!”

   As the first week of the invasion came to a close, the situation within the Capital became uncontrollable for the 30th Lyran Military Police Regiment. The tipping point came with the assassination of Colonel Michael Broody, the commanding officer of the 30th Lyran Military Police Regiment and personal friend of General Goldberg. As he was touring a forward check point, a lone shot hit him in the throat and nicked his spinal cord. Colonel Broody died of his injuries two hours later during surgery.

   The kill triggered General Goldberg to demand the identity of this assassin. Because of this, Lyran Intelligence opened an investigation in to identity the shooter. The investigation would be the opening of a file on a partisan nicknamed, the Dragon. This name came from his sole use of a Dragunov sniper rifle. During the investigation, some twenty investigators, spies and profilers would attempt to identify who the Dragon was. According to the investigation the Dragon operated throughout the Brightwood and Wesley Heights region of the Capital. The profilers suggested that the Dragon often hunted in a tight pack of three to six other partisans.

   With a confirmed kill count of fifty nine Lyran soldiers, ten pilots, no New Earth Partisan was as hated as the Dragon was. As the investigation in to the Dragon continued to grow, many kills were linked to the Dragon were based on the profile of the kills and the location of the kills in terms of the Dragon’s hunting grounds. This pushed the possible count in to the hundreds. A ten thousand C-bill reward was placed on the Dragon’s head by General Goldberg personally.

   The Dragon’s favorite method of hunt was allowing a Lyran patrol to move pass his position then critically wounding one of the rear members of the patrol. While the patrol was in confusion, the rest of the pack would pin down the Lyran patrol. Anyone who attempted to rescue the wounded rear guard would be killed by the Dragon while the rest of his pack would gun down the patrol. The Dragon and his pack never engaged patrols supported by mechs, though they were adapt at dealing with armor supported patrols. The Dragon and his followers often employed booby-traps hidden where a soldier would seek cover from enemy fire at the beginning of an ambush. This would add to the death toll.

   As partisan activates continued to raise across the occupation zones, more troops were needed to secure Lyran held lands. By mid-February this demand placed an increasing strain on the Lyran front line forces, who were not trained to deal with this kind of partisan combat. As the death toll continued to raise and the weeks passed, General Goldberg’s plans started to drag. General Goldberg ordered in his reinforcements and called on his regional ally, Duke Peter L. Kilt. After word of the failed battle for Lanna hit General Goldberg’s desk, he ordered the remaining forces of the 32nd Lyran Guard to make their landings near New Rome and set up an occupation zone there.

   After their bitter defeat on Lanna and leaving hundreds of their comrades behind still fighting, the 32nd was demoralized. The 32nd landed with little resistance just south of the city. Local militias linked up with Parisians and Law Enforcement units to try to resist the Lyran. The largely lopsided battle took place just beyond the city. During the battle, a pair of armor companies belonging to Bravo Brigade of the New Earth Provisional Guards showed up. Despite the additional forces, the defenders were unable to stop the 32nd as they marched on the city. The surviving defenders fled in to the city as the 32nd pushed aside any remaining organized resistance.

   In late February, 3060, the city of New Rome fell to the Lyrans. That same day Kilt's Roughriders, a mixed reinforced regiment made their landings at Conceptopolis spaceport. The following day, the security of Wiedergeburt was handed over to the Roughriders. This move freed up General Goldberg’s 14th Lyran Guard to secure the regions further north and east of the city. General Goldberg kept a third of his force at his base near the Capital while the rest of his forces moved towards the northern shores of Sagittarius. For the Capital, the Roughrider’s takeover would bring in a new level of suffering to the locals. Duke Kilt’s reaction to the partisans were brutal to the remaining citizens trapped in the capital. But the situation was about to take a drastic change.

   The 1st Skye Jaegers were still chasing elements of the 7th Corps around the northern most parts of the Kasin mountain range. The Jaeger’s pursuit was hampered by locals who would block bridges and roads. This caused the Skye Jaegers to lose ground on the two brigades of the 7th Corps. However the case wasn’t over as the two New Earth units made a critical mistake. Instead of crossing the Arlie Delta at the northern side of the center finger of Selenter Bay and heading east, the two units turned south following the center finger of Selenter Bay. Worse than that, the two units spilt up. 2nd Brigade, aka Iron Brigade, continued to follow the banks of Selenter Bay heading south east. 1st Brigade, aka Union Brigade, turned more south and headed closer to the Kasin Mountains and the safety of Castle Brian 958.

   Not wanting to expose his unit to Castle Brian 958, which was still in New Earth hands, Colonel Wenzeslaus Bocker, Commanding Officer of the 1st Skye Jaegers, ordered his unit to continue pursuing the 2nd Brigade. With the odds soundly in his units favor, Colonel Bocker became emboldened and ordered a series of harassment raids against the retreating New Earth unit. This triggered a series of pitch battles against the two units. However before the battles could have any real impact on the situation, Brigadier General Bhàtair Christopher ordered his unit to continue their withdrawal. Aided by local communities, General Christopher’s unit was able to keep ahead of the 1st Skye Jaegers. Colonel Bocker mocked that he was enjoying this invasion and how he could to beat up on generals.

   General Goldberg watched the events between the 1st Skye Jaegers and the two New Earth units closely. What he saw in the actions of the two New Earth units was a vain attempt to lead the 1st Skye Jaegers around the Kasin Mountain. The danger to General Goldberg was clear, the New Earth units were going to link up in the Kasin Mountains and attempt to liberate the Capital city while the 1st Skye Jaegers were hopeless cutoff from the battle. With the majority of his own 14th Lyran Guard units moving north towards island of Ebrehim just off the coast of Sagittarius, General Goldberg was concerned.

   He couldn’t call of the attack on the island of Ebrehim for it held a prize that had to be taken. The city of Eamonn, the second largest populated city on New Earth and the largest center of Muslims in the Inner Sphere. The city’s claim to fame is that fact that it is part of an annual galactic holy pilgrimage called the Hajj. The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to city of Mecca on Terra, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence.

   During the raise of the Terran Hegemony and then the Star League Muslims traveled from across the Inner Sphere on their way back to Mecca. Along their journey back to Mecca, that journey took these travelers through the city of Eamonn. When Comstar closed off Terra, Eamonn was chosen to be the spiritual substitute for Mecca. With some of the oldest Mosque found outside of Terra in Eamonn, the city was famous for its tourism during the reconstruction years. Now it was falling in the crosshairs of General Goldberg in hopes of crushing the resistance on New Earth.

   General Goldberg knew that he had to secure the island of Ebrehim, but also knew that he had to protect his rear from what he suspected to be a New Earth counter attack coming from the Kasin Mountains at any time. Due to the increasing partisan actives across the Capital City, Kilts Roughriders were tied down attempting to keep order in the occupied city. Despite the fact that there were no New Earth units anywhere near the Capital, General Goldberg repositions his reserve units meant to reinforce the 14th Lyran Guards south of the city. He also started to build up a stockpile of supplies for what he suspected would be the second battle of Wiedergeburt. In clear defiance of General Goldberg’s claims, Sagittarius was far from secure.

   During the last days of February Fort Nicolaus fell under attack by New Earth forces. The attacking force consisted of a mixture of survivors from the New Earth Provisional Guards, local law enforcement, civilian militia, as well as a partisan cell. The attack was doomed to fail from the opening shots but that didn’t stop the attack. The vital fort was guarded by a pair of battalions from the 360th Lyran Armored Cavalry Regiment and a battalion from the 15th Ford Mechanized Infantry Regiment. While the New Earth attacker were able to field just one damaged Battlemech, the force was no match for the dug in and skilled Lyran units.

   The attack was easily thrown back, however later analysts discovered that this was only a diversionary attack. While a costly diversionary for the New Earth defenders, during the attack a Partisan Cell managed to slip on to Fort Nicolaus. While the larger diversion played out on the outskirts of Fort Nicolaus, the cell moved towards the heart of the captured fort and managed to destroy the large Solid State Phased Array Radar System. The system was part of Sagittarius’ Strategic Defense System which was now in Lyran hands. Along with this attack along someone the sabotaged the Search Radar at Conceptopolis spaceport. These two attacks forced the Lyrans to relay on their own dropships for airborne threat detection.
   
   On Cancer, Star Colonel Weaver led her unit through the worst of the storm. At the end of the first week in February Star Colonel Weaver and her unit requested that the large blast doors at Castle Brian 850 be opened for their arrival. In what many would call an Endurance Forced March of the Century, New Earth’s OpFor did the impossible. They covered a remarkable distance over some of the most unforgiving terrain on New Earth while navigating through a blizzard in less than a week. While the Lyran’s task force were facing the worst of the storm, New Earth’s OpFor were getting ready to take the fight to the Lyrans in the Nes’Saw Pass.

   On Pisces, the Battle for Summerhaven was entering its final stages. While the 5th Alliance Guards were holding their own, with each passing day the 6th Corps were being reinforced by their comrades within the New Earth Provisional Guards. The 5th Alliance Guards were driven from Summerhaven one last time and General Ito was forced to realize that his unit couldn’t take and hold Summerhaven without reinforcements. Using his dropships, General Ito conducted a brilliantly planned withdraw from the city. His original plan was to withdraw from Pisces and land on the western shores of Sagittarius. However General Goldberg demanded that Pisces be secured regardless of losses.

   With his plans drastically changed by General Goldberg, General Ito landed his 5th Alliance Guards landed on the southern shores of Kings Bay across from the city of Rienhard. The move bought his unit time, but General Ito knew that the 6th Corps were going to be on his heels. Still the short move didn’t do General Ito any favors either. While he positioned himself strategically against the 6th Corps, fuel shortage forced him to choose a less than desirable landing site. Positioning his unit where he did, placed it close to Castle Brian 723. Unlike other rebuilt Castle Brians on New Earth, 723 was the second largest Castle Brian on New Earth behind the massive 429 Complex on Aries. As if the powerful guns weren’t enough, 723 was large enough to house entire New Earth Corps with ease. Only God knew what units were waiting to be unleashed on the 5th Alliance Guards.

   General Ito needed to move carefully less he wished to tempt destruction upon his unit. General Ito ordered his unit in to the mountains where his unit could hold the advantage. He couldn’t afford to leave his dropships in harm’s way. So he ordered them to return to orbit and link up with the Lyran Fleet still at the pirate point. He gave them specific instructions that would ensure that his unit would have them should they need them. The move would further infuriate General Goldberg, by denying him the use of these dropships. As the 5th Alliance Guards moved deeper in to the mountains, their forward elements ran head long in to elements from Charlie Armor Brigade and Alpha Infantry Division of the New Earth’s Provisional Guard.

   General Ito’s commanders assumed that the group of Provisional Guards would break and flee or put up weak resistance. Based on this, they didn’t wait for the heavier units of the 5th Alliance Guards to catch up. As they expected, the New Earth Infantry units did break and run at the first shots. Against orders, the forward elements rushed after the fleeing New Earth units. General Ito realized that his forward scout units were rushing head long in to a trap. He attempted to order them back but due to jamming and the heat of the battle, his units continued their pursuit.

   Within minutes of the first engagement and after a short pursuit, General Ito’s scout units found themselves engaging dug in New Earth units near the city of Cen’enta. The battle was much fiercer than General Ito’s commanders had realized. The New Earth units had dug in and were holding a stiff resistance against the 5th Alliance Guards. More surprising than that, the two New Earth Provisional Guards had set up a brilliant ambush. They had cut off the Lyran scout units from the main force and were threatening to destroy the scout units.

   With his scouts facing destruction from the well planned ambush, General Ito ordered his main unit to rescue the besieged scouts. With the tide shifted, the New Earth Provisional Guards attempted to flee again, but this time General Ito had his full unit to block their retreat. The day long engagement ended with the near complete destruction of the two Provisional Guards units. Those that survived the day found themselves as POW to General Ito and his 5th Alliance Guards.

   Exhausted from their day long battle with the Provisional Guards and their march through the Southern Vasvi’As Mountains, General Ito knew he couldn’t push his unit further. He ordered them to secure the city of Cen’enta and set up security points to protect the approaches to the city. It would be here that he would hold till reinforcements could be secured. While Cen’enta wasn’t as anti-Lyran as communities across Sagittarius, they were not openly friendly to the Lyrans either.

   Unlike across Sagittarius, General Ito took lessons that he had seen from the disastrous occupation of Sagittarius. General Ito accepted that Cen’enta was a community occupied, he made every attempt to show that this occupation would be with respect. General Ito made a great inroads with community leaders like offering to pay the community for housing his unit there. He also watched the actions and behavior of his soldiers closely. Because Cen’enta was a predominately a Muslim community, General Ito wanted to make sure that his forces didn’t offend their ‘hosts’.
 
   After nearly three weeks of lack of leadership due to Lyran assassinations, indications that the New Earth Defense Command was managing to regain control of its units. As reported by the head Lyran Intelligence officer, “The window to slay this snake after its head was severed has closed. As the death toll continues to raise, we only have the Generals of this failed invasion to thank for this missed opportunity.” The fact that the New Earth Defense Command was able to hold together while attempting defend New Earth against the might of the Lyran military was a testament of their devotion to the cause.

   It was becoming clear that New Earth forces were on the move. Lyran Intelligence indicated the 3rd Brigade from New Earth’s 7th Corps moved from the Kasin Mountains and marched through the city of Shadowash. At the same time, the HHQ Brigade of 7th Corps were making its movements across the southern coastline of Sagittarius. Worse than that, the seasons across New Earth were changing. Winter was coming to Sagittarius and many Lyran units were not equipped to handle the brutal conditions that a Sagittarius winter brought.

   On Aries, the NEDC ordered both Death’s Brigade and CyberDrone Security Force to the island of Ebrehim in preparation for the invasion of the island by the 14th Lyran Guard. This redeployment of troops was a godsend for Task Force Alarion and its surviving units. The break in fighting allowed the battered Lyran unit to slip across the waters to the island of Batbatan. Task Force Alarion easily captured the city of Wessle and left behind a rear guard as the majority of the battered unit moved on for Fort Clearwater. The two day forced march across the thick tropical jungle of Batbatan was grueling for the Lyran unit who was ill-prepared for such a movement. Fort Clearwater was the training base of New Earth’s elite Pathfinders. The Pathfinders were the special forces of the New Earth Defense Command.

   With supplies running low and being harassed by New Earth Air units, Task Force Alarion pressed through the jungle. Since arriving on New Earth, Task Force Alarion had faced the highest combat losses of all the Lyran Task Forces. Within their ranks were not only members of the original Task Force but also surviving crew members of crashed Lyran dropships. Along with their damaged units, the Task Force Alarion brought many of their wounded as well. Despite expecting stiff resistance from the Pathfinder Cadre, Colonel Hoffman knew that her unit needed the repair and medical facilities that Fort Clearwater offered. This was a do or die action for Colonel Hoffman and her battered Task Force Alarion.

   To Colonel Hoffman’s surprise, Task Force Alarion and its support units, they found Fort Clearwater abandoned. As Colonel Hoffman lead her advanced scout unit in to the New Earth base, they found the buildings cleared out, the repair facilities sabotaged. After searching the fort for the remainder of the third day, the Lyrans found and disarmed a number of minor booby-traps. At the end of the fourth day, Colonel Hoffman reported that Fort Clearwater was in her control. She ordered that the air field at the fort be repaired. With her supplies running dangerously low, she had to set up supply lines if her unit was to survive.   

   At the same time Colonel Hoffman and her Task Force Alarion were securing Fort Clearwater, the last remaining members of the 32nd Lyran Guard that had been left behind on Lanna finally surrendered to New Earth Forces. After brutal fighting in the upper levels of the SSC Facility on Lanna, the battle finally ended when the Lyran ran out of vital supplies to continue the battle. Over four hundred Lyran soldiers and pilots went in to captivity when the isolated unit was forced to surrender. It was the largest success that the New Earth Defense Force enjoyed since the beginning of the invasion.

   Much to the relief of New Earth commanders, a steady stream of supplies started to flow through New Earth’s twin jump points. Lyran Intelligence was able to track these supplies from New Earth’s allies from the Chaos March. While Operation Colossus had New Earth blockaded within the lunar orbit, SSC was able to get vital supplies to their base on Lanna. Then fast dropships would make daring sprints across the blockade lines. Thanks to those brave crews, New Earth was able to keep their units in the field and fighting. These supplies were paramount to New Earth’s survival.

   Since the beginning of the invasion, the 2nd Brigade of the 7th Corps was leading the 1st Skye Jaegers on a wild goose chase with limited end in sight. The Commanders of the New Earth Brigade masterfully kept the larger Lyran unit at bay by avoiding direct conflict. The two units conducted a series of pitch battles. But before the 1st Skye could shift the weight of their unit to bare on the New Earth unit, the 2nd Brigade broke off engagement.

   While a series of well thought up defensive lines helped prevented the 1st Skye from over taking the smaller New Earth unit. But the difference between life and death was in the loyal communities that helped their defenders keep one step ahead of the Lyrans. Local farmers blocked or soaked roads after the New Earth unit passed. This act often brought the 1st Skye Jaeger columns were brought to a standstill. However the temperatures were starting to dip and winter was coming. On the artic winds was coming a shift in the war.

   The final battle between the 2nd Brigade and the 1st Skye Jaegers was bound to happen. After a long chase across the back country of Sagittarius, the 2nd Brigade ran out of land. The chase came to an end on the southern banks of the Selenter Bay. It was assumed that the 2nd Brigade would attempt to flee across Selenter Bay for Highcoast. However Brigadier General Bhàtair Christopher had something else in mind. He ordered his unit to dig in and set up defensive lines as the 1st Skye Jaegers closed on them. The sun had long set by the time the 1st Skye Jaegers were in position to attack. Despite suggestions against a night time attack, the order was given and the final battle between the 1st Skye Jaegers and the 2nd Brigade began.

   The 1st Skye Jaegers throw everything they had at the 2nd Bridge’s lines, but the New Earth unit held their lines. For nearly twelve hours, the 1st Skye Jaegers tried to break the New Earth lines only to be tossed back. Once more New Earth Artillery units played a critical part in the battle. But was absent so far during the battle was the Battlemech battalion assigned to 2nd Brigade. Even without Battlemechs, the 2nd Brigade held their lines through strength of will, deploying landmines and precision artillery. Throughout the night, the battle was intense as the 1st Skye Jaegers pressed against the New Earth lines but failed to break through. However unknown to the 1st Skye Jaegers, a second New Earth unit was moving behind them.

   While the 2nd Brigade was giving the Lyrans the long chase, 1st Bridge had driven their units hard towards the small city of Oldfall. As the 2nd Brigade was doing its part of the much larger plan, the 1st Brigade linked up with the Hilarion Training Cadre and elements of the 5th Marine Division at Oldfall. But most importantly was the battalion of Battlemechs from their sister brigade. Even though the 1st Brigade was now much larger now, they were still outnumbered nearly four to one by the 1st Skye Jaegers and its supporting units.

   Once the battle was joined between their sister unit and the Lyrans, the 1st Brigade attempted to move in to position behind the 1st Skye Jaegers. However their secret march were detected by Jaeger’s scouts. As the 1st Brigade moved in to position behind the 1st Skye Jaeger, the Jaegers were ready for coming assault. However a rear attack wasn’t in the plans for the New Earth defenders. The unit dug in well beyond the ranges of the Lyran. By noon, a new threat was unleashed on the Jaegers and their supporting units. Massive shells started to land across the Lyran lines with deadly accuracy. It didn’t take long for the leaders of the 1st Skye Jaegers to realize that they rushed in to the middle of a trap. They were within range of the massive artillery from Castle Brian 975 and now paying the price for it.

   The shelling continued on in to the night as the 1st Skye Jaegers fought to escape the trap. However New Earth’s defenders held their line. It was in this moment that New Earth’s C4I played a critical role. Being outnumbered, the New Earth forces couldn’t afford to keep a steady line against the 1st Skye Jaegers. Instead they maintained a weak line and had a number of rapid reaction units to counter attack wherever the 1st Skye Jaegers attacked. This allowed the New Earth commanders to send troops to where the Lyrans were attacking right when the attacks were taking place. Scouts allowed for even faster reaction to these desperate attacks. This was how the smaller New Earth units were able to hold their lines against a larger Lyran force.

   The shelling continued on in to the night and as the morning sun rose the following day, the Lyrans fought desperately to break free from the trap. The battle would become fused in to New Earth history as the Battle of Selenter Bay. The following evening of the second day of shelling the death and destruction of the 1st Skye Jaegers was clear. Twisted and mangled mechs and tanks littered the battlefield. A solemn communication from Colonel Bocker was received asking for a cease fire to discuss terms of surrender near midnight of the second day of shelling. The commanders of the New Earth units choose to send Major Ilham Abdulrashid to accept the formal surrender of Colonel Bocker and his 1st Skye Jaegers.

   Despite having a number superiority and with experience on their side, the 1st Skye Jaegers were officially remove from the battlefield during the first weeks of March 3060. The surrender of the 1st Skye Jeagers and their supporting units was a blow that infuriated General Goldberg. He reported that Colonel Bocker had betrayed the Lyran Alliance and was ‘incompetent to lead a group of school children across a road.’ General Goldberg insisted that the 1st Skye Jeagers should have been able to break free from the trap and should have been able to destroy the New Earth units. The scathing review of Colonel Bocker’s action was a complete disconnect of situation the 1st Skye Jeagers were facing at the time.

   By the middle of March the Lyran invasion was beginning to look like a quagmire. First came the loss of five warships to achieve a marginal victory during the opening hours of the invasion. Next was the gutting of Task Force Alarion over Aries, an outcome that was foretold by Lyran Intelligence. Followed by the gutting of the 32nd on Lanna, and again a situation that didn’t have to happen. This was all bad enough, but the next shoe to fall was bitter for the Lyran to take. The removal of the 1st Skye Jaegers along with their support units was an embarrassing blow to far for Operation Colossus.

   The 1st Skye Jaegers and their supporting units were made up of an entire Battlemech regiment, four armored regiments along with over six infantry regiments. This unit was bested by a force barely half their size. Archon Katherine Steiner was becoming outraged over the nearly two months of failure after failure. As Lyran Intelligence reports flowed in regarding the situation on New Earth, her anger over grew larger.

   It was expected that the battle for New Earth would only last a few weeks at the most. The gains that were achieved by Lyran Intelligence were being lost with each passing week. While massive tracks of lands were in Lyran hands, these tracks of lands were hardly under Lyran control. For reasons beyond understanding the New Earth population was resisting the invasion to the bitter end. To make matters even worse, General Goldberg had hosted no less than three large social gatherings for his regional allies on New Earth. The largest and most lavish was being planned for the end of March.

   In hopes of turning the tide back in to the Lyran’s favor Archon Katherine Steiner ordered her own Aunt, Nondi Steiner, to assume command of the invasion. To help reinforce the Lyran forces on New Earth, the Archon ordered the 2nd Royal Guards RCT to break New Earth’s resistance. The Archon’s orders were clear. Remove General Goldberg from leadership. Reinforce the lines and break New Earth’s resistance. In preparation for the arrival of the 2nd Royal Guards, General Goldberg was ordered to secure one of New Earth’s jump points at all costs. An objective that General Goldberg had failed to move on since the opening hours of the invasion.

   The evening of March 28th saw General Goldberg’s most lavish party at the Presidential Palace to date. The party was set to unveil his latest success, his New Earth Guard. New Earth Guard units were designed to be a combine arms regiment of armor and infantry that were loyal to Tharkad and Archon Katherine Steiner. Despite the invasion and events during the past forty years, General Goldberg was still able to find a good number of New Earthers who supported Tharkad’s control over New Earth. The move was a surprise to his honored guests as well as to Lyran Intelligence.

   During the opening ceremonies of the event, General Goldberg unveiled his new unit to the shock and surprise of his guests. Despite his mismanaging of the invasion as a whole, the creation of the New Earth Guard was one of his best steps taken towards a long term goal of winning the war. During the presentation, General Goldberg announced his plan for sixteen New Earth Guard Regiments that would fight alongside his 14th Lyran Guard in upcoming battles. Equipped with surplus equipment captured by the Lyrans during the opening hours of the invasion, General Goldberg proudly showed off his new units. However there was a secret that General Goldberg was hiding.

   The shiny new unit lined up approaches to the Presidential Palace acting as honor guard. However to  confuse the guests and onlookers, General Goldberg had the New Earth Guard dress up in their new uniforms but wore unit insignias and flew the banners of sixteen different units. He wanted to give the impression that there were much more New Earth Guard units than there really was. He needed to show his allies that continued investment in the war was still a safe bet. The move won the continued confidence of local and regional allies. Each pledged to continue to pour troops, supplies and funding in to the invasion.

   Sadly, only those off world supporters of the Lyrans bought the propaganda move. Lyran Intelligence discovered that the unit was badly under staffed, under trained and lacked complete equipment. Not only did the unit fail to muster sixteen regimental units, it could barely field one regiment. However the unit did have one major saving grace. The soldiers that made up this unit were loyal to the Lyran cause. A surprising find for Lyran Intelligence. It was General Goldberg’s only successful move during the invasion. One that he would never realize.

   Unknown to anyone within the Lyran camp, an unnamed New Earth operative snuck in to the Presidential Palace. Investigations couldn’t identify if the operative was an official agent of New Earth or a lone wolf. It has become the prevailing thought that the operative used a secret passageway under the Palace. Witnesses placed him moving through the kitchen disguised as a Palace servant. While caring a tray of drinks, the operative walked through the party till he came face to face with the face of the Lyran invasion, General Goldberg himself. The operative uttered the words, ‘In Memory of Death’, while pulling up a pistol. The operative pulled the trigger of the auto-pistol before anyone could stop him. General Goldberg would be dead before his body hit the ground.

   Within seconds as the gunman turned for his next target, the operative was gunned down by guards. It was suspected by Lyran Intelligence that the man was a former member of New Earth’s Global Military Police but there was no supporting evidence to this claim. The operative had on him a one way transmitter that was giving off a pulse. It was clear to the Lyran Intelligence Operative on the scene that this was part of a larger operation. What would become known as the Rashidun Offensive was just beginning. The offensive was timed near the religious birthday of Ali ibn Abi Talib, a major religious figure within the Islamic Tradition and seen as the fourth and final Rashidun or ‘Righteous Guided’.

   At the same time General Goldberg was being assassinated, bombs exploded across the city hitting security check points and locations where groups of Lyran troops gathered. Nearly all of these sites were deep within Lyran security zones and thought to be safe from attack. Within minutes, the Capital city was filled with sounds of gunfire and explosions as New Earth Partisans launched their first major offensive of the war.

   With Rashidun Offensive in full swing the war entered a new and more destructive phase. The New Earth Partisans and local armed militias from surrounding communities hit the Lyran occupiers hard. Within hours of the assassination of General Goldberg, Lyrans were falling under attack from seemingly everywhere. Bombings and ambushes were only the beginning of what was going to be a very long night. The New Earth Partisans were not only targeting the Lyran Military. They were also targeting collaborators and their families.

   Anyone who openly aided the Lyrans were drugged from their homes and faced reprisals. Often this reprisals were in the form of beatings. These attacks were often brutal but for those whose crimes were not sever often recovered. However those who were responsible for working with the Lyrans to help capture members of the New Earth resistance were drugged out in to the streets and executed for their crimes against New Earth. That night, the streets were stained with blood as in some extreme cases entire families were murdered by the New Earth Partisans.

   To the south of the city, a new threat showed its ugly face. Explosions rocked main encampment of the 14th Lyran Guard sending the camp in to chaos. Unlike the car bombs and attacks going on around the Capital City, the veterans of the 14th Lyran Guard knew that they were under artillery attack. The first wave of shells slammed in to the make shift spaceport where the unit’s dropships were stationed. A supply ship which was being unloaded took a direct hit causing it to explode with so much force it damaged other nearby dropships and knocked heavy mechs off their feet.

   In a desperate attempt to stop the shelling, the Camp Commander ordered his aerospace fighters to locate the source of the shelling. As shells continued to rain down on the camp, they placed a desperate call for assistance to their nearby units. It was feared by Lyran Commanders that the base was under attack by elements of the 7th Corps. It wasn’t till almost an hour after the shelling started did the source of the attack become known. To the West, a lone small craft in rout from Fort Nicolaus spotted a New Earth ship firing eastward. It took no time for commanders from the 14th Lyran Guard to realize that this was the source of the attack. A counter attack was ordered as more shells rained down on the supply base.

   As the Lyrans started their counter attack on the massive ship, it was learned that this ship was none other than the New Earth warship Bizmark. It was assumed that a flight of Aerospace fighters would make short work of the massive ship. However they learned after their bombs had little effect on the massive ship that it was beached on a sandbar. What Captain Hushner did was both brilliant and suicidal. He sailed his ship atop of a little known sandbar during high tide. He then flooded the lower levels of his ship causing the ship to sink in to the sandbar.

   As the tide retreated, the Bizmark sunk even deeper in to the sandbar. By flooding the lower levels of his ship, Captain Hushner also ensured that bombs would have little effect on his ship. The majority of the cadets manned the two main turrets while only a small number of defensive turrets were manned. Captain Hushner wasn’t planning on making a battle out of his final stand. Instead he had planned to crush his target. And that target was the main supply base of the Lyrans on Sagittarius.

   Build to resist massive impacts and immune to sinking, the Bizmark brushed off the bombing from the Lyran aerospace fighters with ease. The mighty Bizmark, a ghost from another era, set there on the sandbar in clear defiance of the Lyran Occupation. The massive guns of the Bizmark continued to fire and continued to rain death and destruction on the supply base. It was said that across the Capital, ‘For the Bizmark’ was on the lips of New Earth defenders during their major offensive. It was clear to Lyran Intelligence that this was a heavily coordinated operation.

   As the desperate battle continued, one by one the Bizmarks main guns finally fell silent as the Lyran bombing and strafing started to take its toll on the mighty ship. Once the battle was over, burning hulk that was once the Bizmark set there on its sandbar. The smoke from the burning ship could be seen as far as the Capital. However her mighty guns had dealt a massive blow once more, this time in defense of her world and its people. Captain Hushner’s log would be recovered and his last entry would speak hollow words from beyond the grave.

   â€œDuring my Military Career, I made horrible mistakes in the name of loyalty. For so long I have held anger and resentment in my heart over how my career ended. But I was blind to the world around me. Now my eyes have been opened to this remarkable world that had grown up despite what I had done. A world that no amount of power can take away from us. Like our world and my fellow citizens, I too have come from darkness. With blood on my hands, I have awaken in to the light. And on this day, I have the honor of leading this make shift crew in to a no win situation. We all know that there can be no retreat, no surrender. Our only goal is to smash the dropships used by our enemy to further enslave our people. It is our hopes and dreams that we will crush those dropships before they can flee our guns. Knowing my own history, my only request is to allow our deaths be the flare that signals all New Earthers in to action.” After the invasion, the remains of the broken Bizmark would reveal that two hundred dockworkers, volunteers, local fishermen and naval personal had followed Captain Hushner and his retired officers on this suicide attack.

   True to his goal, Captain Hushner’s plans delivered a painful blow against the Lyrans. Of the twenty nine dropships on the ground at their makeshift spaceport, only eight would escape the attack. Five dropships would never fly again. Worse than that was the loss of two supply ships that were not even unloaded yet. Tens of thousands of tons of supplies were lost during the attack. The loss of the supply ships placed a critical demand on current stocks around the occupation zones. Vital repair parts were destroyed that would have ripple effects across the occupations zones.

   Prior to the events of March 28th, it is important to bring light to one of the most interesting battles of the entire invasion. While within the pages of this report this battle might appear seemingly out of step with the rest of the invasion, this was done by design. The battle between New Earth’s elite OpFor and the Lyran’s Task Force Winfield offers many examples of the differences between New Earth and her Lyran invaders. One of most confusing issues regarding Clan Mountain Eagle is the unlikely and often strange degree of loyalty that these former Clansman show towards New Earth. New Earth forces took part in two major battles during the Clan Invasion, namely the defense of Luthian and the historical Battle of Tukayyid. One minor raid during the invasion and in the defense of the Ark Royal Defense Corridor. During each of these battles, New Earth claimed over five hundred Clan Bondmen.

   Star Colonel Weaver, a former saKhan of Clan Smoke Jaguar, like many of her fellow clansmen seemed to accept her bonds-ship to New Earth with surprising ease. But it was more than that, the world of New Earth also seemed to accept these defeated warriors with a deep respect. While there were exceptions to this rule, nearly ninety percent of the captured clan found New Earth to be an accepting home in replace of their former clans. Like Star Colonel Weaver, the vast majority of her OpFor were all former members of the invading clans (Primarily Smoke Jaguars, with the rest from Nova Cat and a handful of other Clans). During their times as Bondsmen, General Death worked closely with the New Earth Senate and created the Bonding Commission.

   The Bonding Commission sole responsibility was to help transition former Clan Warriors and New Earth’s Government through the bonding process. Thanks to help from Comstar, the Bonding Commission was able to create programs designed to help these warriors learn how to become integrated in to New Earth Society. More than that, it helped educate the people of New Earth about their new Clan neighbors. Through this effort, some native New Earthers found a home living and training side by side within New Earth’s elite OpFor. Because of this effort and this level of acceptance that the Bondsmen worked hard to earn their place on this world.

   By the time the Lyran Invasion came, nearly all of the former Clan Warriors had earn their place New Earth Society. But more importantly than this, a strong sense of mutual respect was formed. Was it a prefect road with no bumps or obstacles? Hardly, there were a number of issues that risked the very being of Clan Mountain Eagle. But those issues were addressed directly on both sides. It was hard for the former clan warriors to accept a civilian ran government and have little say in global issues. But thanks to the semi-autonomy that was offered, this issue was made less important. While the Bonding Commission offered the option of repatriating Clan Warriors home, very few choose to take the option. Instead, nearly all of them found life in Clan Mountain Eagle to be their new home. It was in this that gave the Clan Mountain Eagle the fire to achieve a major victory in defense of New Earth.

   While nearly all former Clan warriors took their new home to heart and strived to strike the balance between the way of the Clans and the culture on New Earth. Few moved even further from their traditional Clan roots to become deeply ingrained in to New Earth society. An example was evident in the love affair that grow between Star Captain Terence Drummond (a full-fledged member of Clan Mountain Eagle and former Nova Cat Trueborn Mechwarrior) and Lieutenant Elizabeth King (Daughter of General Patrice King, LAM Pilot and member of Death’s Brigade). After a two year long courtship and in respect of her Muslim faith, Star Captain Drummond converted to the Muslim faith so that he could marry Captain King.

   In face of the Lyran Invasion, Star Colonel Weaver led her OpFor from the safety of their barracks and through a blinding blizzard to Castle Brian 850. After a short break at the northern military outpost, Star Colonel Weaver was leading her forces in to the heart of the storm once more. Star Colonel Weaver and her OpFor moved clockwise around the northern edges of massive mountain complex as the massive blizzard was within its final stages. To mask her unit’s movements, she had her Omnimechs and Elementals all painted in snow camouflage. Thanks to mountainous terrain, and her intimate knowledge of the area Star Colonel Weaver was able to maneuver her unit in to position to strike without tipping her hand to the Lyran sensors located near the entrance to the Nes’Saw Pass.

   Star Colonel Weaver planned her counter offensive to take place as close to the end of the blizzard as possible. The green 24th Lyran Regulars were unknowingly falling in to the crosshairs of one of the most elite units on New Earth. The 24th Lyran Regulars were in the middle of digging out their equipment while the elite Winfield's Regiment were further south and deeper within the pass. On their sensors, Clan Mountain Eagle started to stealthily stalk the northern flanks of 24th Lyran Regulars. With almost half of their unit still digging out in wake of the storm, the 24th Lyran Regulars were completely unaware of the threat that was about to befall them. By the time Clan Mountain Eagle launched their attack, the 24th Lyran Regulars were caught completely by surprise and were in no condition to face the attack.

   At his headquarters, Colonel Jeremiah Winfield (Commander of Winfield’s Regiment and overall commander of the Task Force Winfield), first heard about the attacks on his northern flank in the form of desperate calls for help from the 24th. With his own unit just finishing digging out from the storm as well Colonel Winfield ordered his unit to mount up and prepare to support the 24th. Colonel Winfield started to press his unit norther when they were stopped cold in their tracks. Before they could organized in to an effective counter strike, sounds of shells falling and explosions forced Winfield’s Regiment to seek cover.

   Unknown to Colonel Winfield and the Lyran Intelligence, New Earth’s SSD Command had returned Castle Brian 850 back to full service two years ago. During the days of Erneuerung Party, the massive complex wasn’t even on any military maps. The massive complex had slipped from the pages of history when elements of Clan Mountain Eagle stumbled on the complex during maneuvers. Throughout the massive complex were signs of the Star League. At the special request of Star Colonel Weaver and the rest of Clan Mountain Eagle, the complex was restored back to its former glory.

   The SSDC agreed to assist Clan Mountain Eagle with their plans for the complex and the base was transformed in to a planetary defense complex. The project was completed only a few months before the invasion of New Earth. With invading dropships on their sensors, the massive Naval Autocannons were silent during the opening hours of the invasion. Because of the chaos caused by assassinations carried out by Lyran Intelligence, no orders or updates were issued to CB 850. When word of the invasion was discovered, technical malfunctions prevented the gun crews of CB 850 from firing their Naval Autocannons. Thanks to Star Colonel Weaver’s leadership and Clan techs brought up from Fort Galene, the massive guns were ready to pound the Lyran’s positions when Star Colonel Weaver ordered them to fire.

   Star Colonel Weaver hammered the 24th Lyran Regulars with the might of two of her Clusters as her command Binary led the attack. As the attack continued and under the weight of the shelling the courage of the 24th Lyran Regulars made a desperate attempt to hold the line. However lacking actual combat experience, the elements within the green unit broke ranks and fled south away from the assaulting Clan Omnimechs. As the lines of the 24th started to crumble their officers attempted to encourage their soldiers. It wasn’t long till word spread that their lines were disintegrating and more soldiers of the 24th just dropped whatever they were carrying and fled south.

   Vehicles, tanks and mechs that were still frozen in were left behind as the 24th Lyran Regulars were routed in complete panic. Hundreds of tons of equipment and supplies were left behind as Lyran soldiers fled south away from sounds of combat. There were parts of the 24th lines that were not in complete chaos. Some elements within the 24th attempted to hold the line while the rest of the unit were breaking and running. These units found courage in the face of destruction. However it was clear to the commanders of the 24th Lyran Regulars that they couldn’t hope to hold the lines against the assault. The order was issued to the remaining units of the 24th to attempt to conduct an orderly retreat to the south.

   Meanwhile near the southern entrance to the pass, Colonel Winfield had just reorganized his unit despite the heavy artillery attack his unit was under. It a testament of pure leadership, Colonel Winfield started to move his unit north to support the 24th Lyran Regulars. However once more his march north was cut short by his own order. Colonel Winfield’s southern scouts reported that another New Earth unit was closing on the southern entrance to the pass. It was in that moment that he realized the trap he was about to walk in to. With only two entrances in to and out of the pass were at the Northern and Southern ends of the pass. With the northern edges of the pass sealed by Star Colonel Weavers forces, that left only the southern entrance as a means of escaping the kill zone that Clan Mountain Eagle had created.

   Colonel Winfield quickly identified the new force as containing Charlie Battalion of New Earth’s OpFor.  Charlie Battalion was supported by Quantum Technology Security Force. Colonel Winfield knew that the trap was brilliant. His entire Task Force was in chaos and at the verge of destruction. However, Colonel Winfield wasn’t finished yet. He devised a masterful plan to save his Task Force. Colonel Winfield sent an urgent message to the commanders of the 24th Lyran Guard. He informed them that his unit would hold the southern entrance open as long as possible, but they had to work their way south in an orderly fashion. As Colonel Winfield’s own regiment hit the two New Earth unit hard, the 24th Lyran Guards were in a fight for their lives.

   Star Colonel Weaver’s warriors were hammering the 24th Lyran Guards with everything she had. She called in air and artillery strikes against the much larger unit. Anytime the 24th attempted to form some kind of organized line, Star Colonel Weaver would hold her warriors back and call in strikes. Even before the smoke and debris cleared, Star Colonel Weaver ordered her units to strike. Dubbed Rolling Thunder, it was the heavy use of support units to break the enemy’s lines and allow the mechs to isolate and clean up the survivors. A style of attack that New Earth units were known for. Using this kind of combined strikes was a valuable lesson that she had learned firsthand during the Battle of Tukayyid. To the horror of the commanders of the 24th Lyran Guards, Rolling Thunder was crushing their unit.

   The situation for the 24th Lyran Guards became dire when Clan Mountain Eagle elementals carried out a daring deep raid and captured Marshal Orpheus Thomas and his entire command staff. In the aftermath of the successful raid and reports that Winfield’s Regiment was not going to fall for the trap, Star Colonel Weaver ordered her third unit in to action. She called upon elements of the 6th Marine Division from the western cliffs of the pass. Under the weight of the new flanking attack any organized resistance by the 24th fell apart. There was no hope for 24th as their troops fled in any direction that was away from the battle.

   The success of Star Colonel Weaver’s attack now became her own undoing. The 24th Lyran Regulars had disintegrated as their lines collapsed. In the wake of this, she couldn’t allow any Lyran unit, regardless of size, behind her lines. She ordered her northern units to slow their advance and allow elements of the 6th Marine Division to secure the battlefield. This break allowed Colonel Winfield to organize as many former members of the 24th in to some kind of unit and conduct an organized movement. Charlie Battalion and Quantum Tech’s Security Force didn’t have the fire power needed to hold Winfield’s Regiment in the pass.

   Colonel Winfield drove his unit hard out of the deathtrap. He turned his unit east along the frozen waters of the southern tributary of Grober Ploner Bay. As Winfield’s Regiment put distance between them and the southern entrance to the pass, both New Earth units moved in to the pass to assist with cleaning up the remains of the 24th Lyran Guard. While a few organized units of the former 24th Lyran Guards fled with Winfield’s Regiment, the greater destruction of the Lyran unit was complete. The vast majority of the Lyran RCT were now dead, POW’s, or MIA. Those who remained accounted for less than two hundred soldiers, six tanks and ten Battlemechs.

   The 24th Lyran Regulars had been effectively removed from the battlefield as a combat unit. Surprisingly during the 3040’s as the 24th Lyran Guards were training up to become a fully integrated RCT, the unit spent some time training across New Earth’s Cancer Proving Grounds. Now the former cadre that trained the 24th had been the instrument of their destruction.

   While the 24th Lyran Guards and Winfield’s Regiment was facing off with New Earth’s OpFor, the 1st Alarion Jaegers were facing their own demons. No one realized what kind of horror that Task Force Alarion walked in to when they secured Fort Clearwater. Fort Clearwater and the surrounding community was the home of New Earth’s Pathfinders, originally only believed to be the Special Forces of the New Earth’s Armed Forces. More than that, Fort Clearwater was New Earth’s training base for counter intelligence. Due to its location deep within the rainforests of Batbatan, Fort Clearwater was one of New Earth’s best kept secrets over the years.

   The only reason why the Lyrans even knew about the fort was thanks to the Erneuerung Party’s betrayal of New Earth’s secrets to the Lyrans. However the scope of the importance of Fort Clearwater wasn’t realized till Task Force Alarion moved on the fort. Lyran Intelligence operatives were called in and discovered that the Pathfinders were playing a duel role. The Pathfinders were both Special Forces of the military but also a critical role as Military Intelligence. It was ordered that Fort Clearwater and its secrets had to be protected no matter what. That meant that a supply line for the Fort and the road between the vital fort and Wessle had to remain open while Lyran Intelligence attempted to crack servers on the base.

   The large fort covered four hundred seven square kilometers and was made up of four camps within the larger military reservation. One of the most vital areas on the fort for the occupiers was Marshall Army Airfield. Despite having no dropships, the airfield would act to supply hub for the fort. The task of protecting the airfield and the road between the fort and Wessle would prove to be difficult. Despite a sever lack of Battlemechs, a number of Lyran outposts were set up along the road between Fort Clearwater and Wessle. Focus was placed on getting the airfield repaired as quickly as possible. To assist with this goal, the Lyrans rushed in Lyran 407th Army Field Support Brigade.

   What troubled the leaders of Task Force Alarion the most was the missing personnel from Fort Clearwater. Not only had the military personal up and vanished, but the civilian dependents of the Fort were gone. As members of the Lyran 97th Military Police Battalion continued to search the abandoned Fort, they reported finding entire homes evacuated. There were cases where some homes had food left on the tables. Aside from local wildlife, the entire Fort was lifeless. No one could explain where the nearly twenty five thousand men, women and children had gone. With only dirt roads leading in to the jungle surrounding the fort, it was assumed that they fled in to the jungle. Yet there was no trace of which road the large number of personal took. A search for the personal was launched across the major areas of the fort with no success.

   It was during this time that the first sign of trouble for Task Force Alarion appeared. The trouble started when a Lyran infantry patrol disappeared. The squad was conducting a normal patrol through the jungles southeast of the fort when they disappeared. When the squad was over two hours late from their last check in, a large search party was formed to find the missing patrol. After two days of searching with no results, the search was called off. The seven man squad had simply vanished in to thin air. The next problem arose when a patrol from the 97th Military Police went missing when they were conducting a search of camp Forsyth (A military residential area of Fort Clearwater). The patrol had not reported anything out of the ordinary when they too simply vanished.

   There was an increase in number of patrols and the threat level was increased however no other enemy action was detected for the next few days, nor had either patrol turned up. This only increased the mystery around the captured fort. Rumors regarding the fort being haunted by the former owners started to circulate among Task Force Alarion. A few days later, Major Steven Gray of the 902nd Military Intelligence Group turned up dead in his bunk. It was discovered that an indigenous highly verminous snake had managed to get in to the Major’s room and bit him during the night. The snake was discovered by an aide the following morning.

   As New Earth started to tilt during its annual change of seasons, the monsoon season started to shower over the central islands of New Earth. The monsoon season brought a new level of misery to the Lyran soldiers manning the outposts along the road and for the Lyrans foot soldiers on patrols in and around Fort Clearwater. A week after the monsoon started, another Lyran patrol came up missing. Once more, a search was conducted and once more no bodies or equipment were found. However the site where the patrol was attacked was uncovered. The site was discovered only a few hundred meters from the main buildings of fort. Poor visibility and the monsoon played a critical role in why no one heard or saw the patrol came under attack.

   The revelation was so damning that Colonel Hoffmen ordered the information concealed from her unit. Colonel Hoffman ordered that squads would be doubled up and Listening/Observation Points would be set up along patrol routes. She also ordered that no patrol would pursue any enemy contact without direct fire support from another patrol. Colonel Hoffman wanted to get her mechs on the battlefield but the jungle was simply too thick for her heavy units to support her infantry. Instead she used her mechs and tanks to protect the road to Wessle, Marshal Army Airfield and the fort its self.

   During this period, a mech patrol discovered a bunker near one of Fort Clearwater’s gunnery ranges. Within the bunker were thirty six Battlemechs that belonged to the fort’s cadre. Within the group of mechs was Colonel Little Hawk’s famous Hatchetman. Colonel Hoffman deployed an entire battalion of infantry along with armor and Battlemechs to protect the new find. Colonel Hoffman went to the bunker personally to oversee the find personally. She was recorded saying, “Without Battlemechs, the pathfinders just lost the battle for Clearwater.”

   Despite the amazing find, danger still lurked for the Lyrans. A booby-trap claimed the lives of three Lyran soldiers as they explored the bunker. It was clear that the Pathfinders had every intention to ensure that this find would be time consuming for the Lyrans. It took Lyran explosive experts over six hours to clear the large number of booby-traps that were left behind for them. Once the area was made safe and the mechs were loaded up on trucks. It was during this time, news of the Pathfinders next move became known. A move that would anger Colonel Hoffman beyond reason.

   As Colonel Hoffman was leaving her headquarters for the bunker and discovery of mechs, Colonel Little Hawk led her cadre on a daring night time raid against Marshal Army Airfield. As the rain continued to fall from the sky, Little Hawk and her pathfinder worked through the platoon of security. As her snippers targeted and killed the roving guards, she personally led the attack on the commander of the guard. Once the guards were killed, Colonel Little Hawk and a small group of cadre turned for the approach control center. At this time, Colonel Little Hawk gave the order to take out the control tower. In a feat of skill, five snippers shot and killed the five techs working in the control tower in a simultaneous moment. The entire raid lasted less than five minutes and claimed forty two Lyran lives. It was unclear if any Pathfinders were injured or killed during the raid.

   In the wake of the Marshal Airfield Raid, Colonel Hoffman turned her attention to protecting what she already had under her control. She ordered her patrols to remain closer to the camps that made up Fort Clearwater. Plans were drawn up to reinforce the fort, but for this plan to become a reality Marshal Airfield would have to remain open. This meant that Colonel Hoffman would have to double down on protecting the airfield. She sent an entire infantry battalion to protect the airfield. At the same time she deployed another battalion of infantry to protect the heart of the fort, Barracks Hill. Barracks Hill was the location of all the motor pools, repair bays and the military barracks on the Fort.

   As Colonel Hoffman was doubling down, Lyran Intelligence placed pressure on Hoffman to protect Camp Parman. Camp Parman was the location of New Earth’s vital counter intelligence and military intelligence headquarters. Lyran Intelligence was still attempting to unlock New Earth’s secrets. The extra demand further thinned Colonel Hoffman’s limited forces. This gave Colonel Little Hawk and her Pathfinders ample targets of opportunity. An opportunity that the Pathfinders gladly took as they made more and more Lyran soldiers disappear without a trace. Rather being in their barracks, motor pools, on patrol, or even walking to the latrine no Lyran soldier was safe from the reach of the Pathfinders. This gave the Pathfinders the nickname, ‘Ghosts of Clearwater.’ 

   Across the Namak Ocean, the 14th Lyran Guard were facing their own troubles on the island of Ebrahim. The invasion of Ebrahim was an uphill struggle even before they made their landings on the island. Before they even started their landings on Ebrahim, the 14th Lyran Guard moved up towards the northern coast of Sagittarius. The goal was to ensure the safety of their supply line between their base of operations near the capital and the island. However local civilian militia, partisan actions along with roadside bomb made the march northward difficult. While the New Earth defenders were easily swept to the side, they did force the much larger unit to a painful crawl for the coast and this eat up valuable time.

   After weeks of grueling struggle northward, the 14th Lyran Guard finally reached the northern coast of Sagittarius. Once the 14th got their forward base set up on the northern coast near the sea town of Kavir, it was time for the conquest of Ebrahim to begin. Filled with rare sense of high moral, the 14th Lyran Guards made their combat landings on the southern edges of the island. After a series of short yet intense battles between local militias, the 14th Lyran Guards managed to secure a foot hold on the island. These battle victories only filled the 14th with a much higher degree of moral and confidence. A confidence was that about to be sapped by the reality that was the occupation of New Earth.

   Hope for conquest of the Island of Ebrahim hit a road block when Lyran scouts reported that Death’s Brigade and Cyberdrone’s Security Force landed on the northern side of the island. Marshal Emily Stevens was forced with an impossible task of splitting her forces between two goals. Marshal Stevens knew that she had to secure the city of E’Amonn and its vital fuel reserves and now she had to protect her flanks against the wrath of Death’s Brigade.

   Despite their elevated moral and confidence, the truth was that the 14th Lyran Guard was battered and worn from their months of occupation of the areas around Wiedergeburt, New Earth’s capital. With combat losses taken in to account and with some of her force acting as a holding force near Wiedergeburt and Fort Nickolas, the 14th Lyran Guard were hardly ready for a stand up fight against the two elite New Earth units. Marshal Stevens requested urgent reinforcements. As the days drove on, no reinforcements would come.

   Hoping to reload on some badly needed supplies before Death’s Brigade arrived, Marshal Stevens sent a battalion of infantry to the city of E’Amonn supported by a few of armored companies. In the meantime she positioned her larger force to guard the flanks against the coming New Earth attack. Her combat range was badly limited by lack of supplies and more importantly was the lack of fuel for her tanks and vehicles. Combat fatigue was also becoming an issue for her troops. While none of the units of the invasion force had been rotated to the rear since the invasion began. Some, like the 14th Lyran Guard had been deeply involved in combat since they landed on New Earth.

   For Death’s Brigade and Cyberdrone’s Security Force this would account for their third major battle since the invasion began. Beyond these major battles, these two forces have also been called upon to act as clean up forces across the Island of Aries. Because most of their operations were conducted behind friendly lines, this allowed them to weather the situation much better than the 14th Lyran Guard could. With the worse for these three units was yet to come the temperatures across Sagittarius continued to fall. As another brutal Sagittarius winter started to take hold, the Battle of Ebrahim was about to be joined.

   While a few minor pinch battles between the two forces were reported prior to this, the official beginning of the Battle of Ebrahim was noted when Delta Cluster’s Recon Trinary of the Death’s Brigade engaged the leading elements of the 360th Lyran Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 14th Lyran Guard. The battle lasted for almost three hours as the elements of the 360th attempted to hold the line against the faster more agile Recon Trinary. Despite being out numbered almost four to one, thanks to the skill of Captain Markis Brown’s LAM pilots the Lyrans were thrown back.

   This intensive conflict opened up for the larger battle between New Earth’s defenders and the Lyrans. The clash of Battlemechs occurred between Charlie Cluster of Death’s Brigade supported by CyberDrone’s Security Force’s Battlemech battalion and 14th Lyran Guards own Battlemech regiment. Going in to the battle, the 14th Lyran Guards’ Battlemech regiment was nearly sixty percent of full strength. The two units clashed in a fantastic nighttime battle on the shores of Sirrayn Bay. The clash was so bright and filled with so much that the inhabitants of E’Amonn were able to watch the battle unfold from their coastline apartments.

   Despite being slightly outnumbered, the twin elite units were able to tie down the 14th Lyran Guard long enough for Death’s Brigades Alpha and Bravo Clusters to flank the 14th Lyran Guard. The flanking action was brilliant move by Colonel Katya Johns and Marshal Stevens was up for the challenge. A timely rapid redeployment of the entire 274th Lyran Armored Cavalry, 15th Ford Mechanized Infantry and the 393rd Lyran Heavy Infantry Regiments saved the 14th Lyran Guards’ lines. While all three Lyran units were heavily mulled by the their tours as occupations on the mainland and missing units left behind, they were able to hold line long enough for the flanked 14th Lyran Guards to withdraw and reform their lines.

   As both the Lyran and New Earth units engaged each other along the banks of the Sirrayn Bay, elements of the 14th Lyran Guards approached the large city of E’Amonn. As the unit approached the city during the predawn hours, protestors were already gathering along main road blocking the path of the Lyrans. It was already looking clear that the city was going to be a hostile place, however the 14th Lyran Guards badly needed supplies that were within the city. The city’s fuel reserve located in the Docks District was a prime target of the 14th Lyran Guards if they were to have any hope of continuing the battle.

   Prior to the Lyrans reaching the city, protestors moved vehicles to block the streets to block the advances of the Lyran’s. As the two groups merged near the Al Hamra Heights tensions erupted. The local civilians greeted the Lyrans with rocks and waving signs expressing their hatred for the Lyrans. Colonel Somerset Schmidt, commander of the Lyran task force ordered his unit to halt short of the protestors. Already learning valuable lessons from Wiedergeburt, Colonel Schmidt didn’t want to turn the situation explosive. While he knew that he needed the fuel reserves, he also knew that his unit couldn’t survive another bitter street battle. At the moment, the worse his unit was facing was rocks and harsh words. He sent a messenger across the lines asking to speak to a leader of the protestors.

   A group of local leaders led by an Imam (or Islamic Religious leader) walked out from the crowds. At no time were tensions higher as Colonel Schmidt led a small group of his command staff across the line. Official records reflect that Colonel Schmidt spoke frankly to the group of local leaders. He had orders to secure the fuel reserves and that he didn’t need to destroy the city to do it. However if he had to, he would fight his way in to the city to secure the vital reserves. It was during this highly charged meeting that a lone shot rang out. Panic erupted as the Imam fell to the ground. Despite his cries to secure the Imam, Colonel Schmidt’s staff evacuated only him as the orders were given to return fire.

   To this day no one knows who fired that first shot, but what happened next would bring an abrupt end to Lyrans’ further expansion on Ebrahim. As Lyran heavy machine guns opened fire, protesters scattered while others threw Petro Bombs in to the Lyran’s lines. Colonel Schmidt’s hopes of peacefully secure the vital fuel reserves were gone. He ordered his unit forward in to the hostile city. The events of E’Amonn triggered a massive ripple across New Earth. Within hours, ever Iman was speaking of how the Lyrans had invaded one of the most Holy cities in the Inner Sphere. An event that hadn’t happened since the Amaris Coup.

   The residents of E’Amonn fought back against the Lyrans’ advance with all their might. However the civilians of the city were outmatched against the battle hardened soldiers of the 14th Lyran Guard. As the Lyran columns approached the massive tank farm of the fuel reserves, victory seemed within Colonel Schmidt’s grasps. However the fanatical struggle for the city took a drastic turn. Colonel Schmidt ordered his infantry in to the tank farm to secure it and remove possible explosive devises. As the Lyrans moved to secure the tank farm, within moments the massive fuel tank farm was in flame. The horror began with a few explosions but within seconds the entire farm was in flames. Four entire infantry companies ceased to exist as the farm erupted in to flames around them.

   As reports of the fires reached Marshal Stevens’ command, it was clear that the battle was lost. Her fuel reserves were dangerously low and resupply was becoming harder as New Earth’s Aerospace Force was reinserting itself over the occupation zones. Her unit was spent and scouts reported that the New Earth defenders were being reinforced. There was little for Marshal Stevens to do but order her units to withdraw back to their beachhead.

   However Colonel Johns was not going to let the Lyrans withdraw easily. Colonel Johns ordered her unit to press the advantage. Supported with fresh troops from the 8th and 6th Marine Divisions. It was said that war being fought by Death’s Brigade was fueled solely by vengeance. This very well could be true as Colonel Johns drove her force against the retreating 14th Lyran Guard with a bitter determination. It was only till the commanders of Colonel John’s support units begged her to halt and allow their forces to recover was this offensive stopped.

   In bitter defeat, the 14th Lyran Guards evacuated the Island of Ebrahim. The Lyrans left behind nearly half of their force either dead or captured on the battlefield. At the end of the three week offensive, the 14th Lyran Guards had reached a critical point. Unless the unit received vital reinforcements, the 14th Lyran Guards RCT faced destruction on New Earth. It was the same fate that was facing the 32nd Lyran Guards RCT and the 24th Lyran Regulars RCT. Not since the Clan Invasion almost ten years ago had such large forces faced destruction with no end to the invasion in sight. This invasion was costing the Lyran Alliance more than anyone had ever imagined and for only one single world. Beyond the borders of the Lyran Alliance, enemies of the Alliance were watching the events on New Earth closely, some even were sensing blood in the water.

   As the invasion dragged on, the invasion force was no closer to securing New Earth for Tharkad than they were during the opening months. Across the Isle of Skye, the word had slipped out that General Nondi Steiner was in the final stages of gathering up a second invasion force to head for New Earth. Among this newly formed forces were a few units that belonged to the Skye Rangers. On both sides of the conflict, the idea of a second wave like this would be able to overwhelm New Earth’s already struggling defenders. In light of this new threat, another player far beyond New Earth started to move in defense of the besieged world.

   In the capital city of New Glasgow on Skye, a pregnant woman pushed a stroller in to an office building belonging to the Skye Rangers Administration division. The administration building was filled with office personal carrying out the mundane tasks of running the larger Skye Rangers unit. The woman pushed her stroller up to the receptionist’s desk with tears in her eyes. She cried that her husband was deployed with the 1st Skye Jaegers and she was in desperate need of help. The woman’s behavior was frantic and her physical conditioned only added to the situation. The distressed and emotional woman was brought deeper in to the building where she was able to meet with the Rear Commanding Officer of the 1st Skye Jaegers. What happened next, caught city completely off guard.

   Video surveillance recorded the meeting. The Rear Commanding Officer polity asked the woman what the issue was and how he could help her. Her answer was troublingly calm and calculated, she uttered that she was doing this in the name of Death. The blast was so large that it caused the building to collapse in on its self. Over a hundred were killed and twice as many were injured. The explosion shattered windows for nearly twenty kilometers radius of the blast site. Fear of other bombs caused the entire city to shut down as military and local law enforcement attempted to protect the civilians under their care.

   Unknown to the public, a message was delivered to the offices of Duchess Margaret Aten and
President Anson McConnaughey of Skye. The message was simple, the attack on the administration building was just the beginning. If Skye were to continue to support the Lyran invasion of New Earth, more bombings would soon follow. The secrecy of the message gave Duchess Aten a remarkable ability. Using the growing unpopularity of the invasion of New Earth across the Isle of Skye, the Duchess ‘Respectfully’ refuse to send forces to support the invasion and in addition, she refused to allow Alliance forces involved in the invasion to use recharging stations within the Isle of Skye.

   The move caused tensions between Skye and Tharkad but avoided further bombings. Months of investigation would find that explosives used were directly linked to a military warehouse controlled by the Skye Rangers. There are rumors that Duchess Aten plotted the bombing as a cover to end her support for the unpopular invasion. However it was more likely that the bombing was carried out by the New Earth Partisans. While there is no supporting evidence of either theory, blame would be placed on New Earth’s Partisans. Still the bombing had a major change for the Invasion of New Earth. The change in Skye’s position on the invasion would drastically slow the flow of supplies and more importantly slow down General Nondi Steiner’s relief force.

   Back on New Earth, field supplies were running dangerously low among Lyran combat units and the jumpships operating at the pirate points couldn't keep up with the demand. Thanks to the raids carried out on March 28th created an invasion supply short fall across Sagittarius. Increased fighting between Partisans and Lyran forces in and around the Capital only added to this situation. Duke Kilt, who had assumed command over the invasion after the death of General Goldberg, ordered the 32nd Lyran Guard to depart from New Rome and march across the heartland of Sagittarius for the industrial city of Shadowash.

   Shadowash was considered a prime target by the invasion planners as it held two major factories. One of those factories built the Raptor LAM while the other built the King Main Battle Tank. Due to the quagmire that the occupation of the Capital had become, this critical target was allowed to remain in service months after the invasion began. Beyond these two factories, the region around the city was a major industrial center where repair parts were also manufactured. The city also rested on the banks of the Matilda River. By taking and holding Shadowash, the Lyrans could threaten to divide Sagittarius in half.

   The 32nd Lyran Guards started their march in mid-April and were plagued by resistance at each new community that they crossed. This resistance slowed the 32nd’s advanced long enough for the 1st Brigade of the 7th Corps to advance in to a position and lay a trap for the coming Lyrans. The single largest factor was becoming Sagittarius’ winter. This drastic change in temperature ended up being the undoing of the 32nd Lyran Guards. The soldiers of the 32nd were never trained to deal with the massive drop in temperatures. By the end of April, the 32nd Lyran Guards were reduced to a crawl as much of their equipment were freezing.

   Despite the situation on the ground, the planners had considered the brutal winters on New Earth when they plotting out the invasion for New Earth. Local fuel supplies consisted of a summer blend and a much thicker winter blend that was resistant to freezing. While the planners did allot millions of barrels of this winter blend to their stores, nearly all of those barrels were destroyed by the attack carried out by the Bizmark. This forced the 32nd to use the thinner summer blend fuel, which was now freezing in the harsh New Earth winter.

   The 1st Brigade clashed with the 32nd northeast of the city of Ironmallow. The clash was intense and the Lyrans were forced to withdraw. As the 32nd withdrew back to the Northwest, their path was blocked by a second New Earth Force. This new force was the HHQ Brigade of the 7th Corps, who had been able to move along the southern edges of Sagittarius undetected. They turned north and marched to cut any hope of retreat for the 32nd. Caught between two forces, the 32nd Lyrans were forced to fight a two front battle. The 32nd got a reprieve after Marshal Gustav Van Buren pulled off a brilliant faint with his command unit. The faint bought the majority of the 32nd a chance to break to the south and withdraw from the battlefield at a cost of the entire command unit. The 32nd Lyran Guards were driven south hard by elements of the 7th Corps.

   The end came of the 32nd came when surviving elements of the New Earth Provisional Guards joined the battle. The units of the New Earth’s Provisional Guards moved to slow down the 32nd long enough for their 7th Corps allies to encircle the 32nd once more. With the 32nd Lyran Guards encircled there was little for the Lyrans to do but bide their time as more New Earth forces joined the battle. As the light became to set on the 32nd, it was time for the large guns of New Earth’s hated Artillery to be unleashed. As shells landed across the pocket which had become a death trap for the 32nd, the unit placed a desperate call to Duke Kilt for assistance.

   Duke Kilt’s orders to the besieged unit was to conduct a break out and carry out their original mission to secure Shadowash. On the table, the numbers were heavily in the favor of the 32nd, however this didn’t tell the true story of the situation on the ground. The 32nd fought hard to break out of the encirclement but after two weeks of consistence battles the 32nd were forced to surrender. It would become the third major unit loss the invasion force would suffer. The 1st Skye Jaegers had been decimated, the 1st Alarion Jaegers and their supporting units were all but neutralized on the island of Batbatan. Now the 32nd Lyran Guards RCT were removed from the battlefield once and for all. The actions of the 32nd would mark the last major offensive the Lyrans would carry out during the invasion. The tide had shifted away from the Lyrans as they were forced on the defensive.

   On Cancer, Star Colonel Weaver and her Clan Mountain Eagle were pressing Task Force Winfield across the northern reaches of Cancer. Luckily for Task Force Winfield, the coming summer and wide open tundra allowed him to take advantage of his larger numbers. Despite his best efforts, Colonel Winfield couldn’t hold back the onslaught of Clan Mountain Engle and their Quantum Tech allies. After a series of running battles, Colonel Winfield reported that the Campaign for Cancer was a lost cause without further reinforcements. After the defeat of the 32nd Lyran Guards, Duke Kilt ordered Task Force Winfield to withdraw from Cancer and reinforce Sagittarius.

   On Pisces, the 5th Alliance Guards were fighting a brilliant holding action against the might of the New Earth’s 6th Corps. General Ito skillfully kept his unit from being overrun by the constant pressure from 6th New Earth Corps. However the 6th Corps were starting to deploy a new style of force on the battlefield. Using his LAM’s and VTOL’s, General Wieck moved his infantry from ridge top to ridge top. This allowed his forces to move faster than the 5th Alliance Gaurds. General Wieck called his new unit the 1st Air Cavalry aka the Hell Cats. While this form of combat was not new to the Inner Sphere, what was new was the addition of LAMs to support the unit. This shift of roles for the mech from King of the Battlefield to support role allowed the other units of the 1st Air Cavalry to shine.

   Wieck’s new unit employed attacks such as using Shaped Charge missiles against their targets. Or use laser sights for off board missile attack from the units attack VTOL’s. One tactic that the unit developed against the 5th Alliance Guards was called Nose Up. A small group of infantry would move on to the board undetected by the large Lyran unit. They would paint the target with their laser sights while attacking VTOLs without LOS would approach a nearby mountain or cliff near the battlefield. They would approach at high speed and at the last minute pull the nose of their VTOL’s up to a near vertical position. At this point they would fire their missiles, often Thunderbolt Missile. This missile would fire up and over the obstruction concealing the VTOL and lock on to the infantry’s sight. The missiles would impact on their Lyran targets.

   If need be, a second wave of VTOLs would conduct a similar attack from a different direction. Once the targets were nearly defeated, the LAM would be called in to finish off the targets while support VTOLs would evacuate the infantry. By the time support would arrive, the Hell Cats would have withdrawn from the area leaving behind what remained of the Lyran patrol. It wouldn’t take long for the Hell Cats become known as Mech Killers for their ability to hunt down and kill lone mech or isolated mech Lances on patrol.

   Despite facing dropping supplies and the actions of the 6th Corps, General Ito was able to hold his lines. It was a testament to his skill as a commander that the 5th Alliance Guards were not defeated. A fact that General Wieck often praised. However the writing was on the wall, once they got word that Task Force Winfield was pulling out of Cancer. General Ito sent a message to General Kilt, “Our lines are holding for now, but unless supplies and reinforcements made more available then our cause on Pisces will be lost.”

   The future of the occupation of Pisces would be effected the most by a simple meeting that would not be recorded officially. The facts behind this meeting were lost to history but after tracking down an Aide to General Ito, the remarkable nature of this meeting was able to come to light. A group of local Imams called for a meeting with General Ito and General Wieck. They expressed their graduated for the soft hand that the Lyrans under General Ito had used during their occupation. However, the events in E’Amonn could not be ignored. It was time for the conflict on Pisces to come to an end. The Imams knew that General Wieck had orders to ensure that the 5th Alliance Guard would not leave the Southern Vasvi’As Mountains.

   The group of religious leaders informed General Ito that they could no longer hold back attacks against his troops by the Civilians. They offered a solution to the situation that would benefit everyone. They asked if General Wieck would hold his forces back, if General Ito would take his forces from Pisces and go home. General Wieck expressed that such a deal would be in direct violation of his orders. General Ito didn’t offer any comments during the meeting. He knew that his forces could continue to hold out for a few more months. The tides of war could change overnight. He commented to his staff that accepting such an offer would be premature. The Imams asked both men to consider the situation and the lives of their forces. General Wieck, a deeply spiritual man and faithful Christian reluctantly accepted after commenting that he would place the fate of his operation in the ‘Lord’s hands.’

   As the supply situation for the invasion continued to become a major factor for the Lyrans, New Earth’s SSD Command launched its most ambitious counter assault since the beginning of the invasion. Calling in three of their Marine Air Forces from both Recharging Stations and Lanna for the operation. In doing so, the SSD was deploying over five hundred aerospace fighters. In support of the counter assault, the SSD sent in twelve combat dropships and fifteen supporting dropships.

   This attack was going to be the single largest gamble that would place the fate of the entire solar system in the balance. Their target was the Lyran’s make shift jump point between the orbits of Ceti Prime and New Earth. If New Earth lost its entire force of Aerospace fighters, there was simply not enough defenders to protect the two critical recharging stations or Lanna. But if they can capture the make shift jump point, New Earth could disrupt Lyran supply lines for weeks if not months. It could be the final nail in the coffin for the invasion force.

   The Aerospace side of the attack was led by Captain Golyat Lester, a former wingman and student under the elite Commander Linna Tetsuhara. Now an elite fighter pilot himself, Captain Lester was tasked with planning and caring out the daring mission. Using his Specters to mask the three separate approaches, he planned to catch the Lyrans patrol fighters by surprise. One of the most critical aspects of Captain Lester’s plan was that he wanted his two Air Forces from the recharging station to strike first. Then after the battle was joined he planned for the marine pilots from Lanna to hit the Lyrans at their rear and make a direct attack against the Lyran supply ships.

   The battle was pivotal, and came as a complete surprise to the Lyrans as the New Earth forces pounced. The battle played out in the depths of space as Lyran fighters attempted to stay off the hordes of attacking New Earth fighters. As part of his plan, Captain Lester’s first two units allowed the defending fighter to drive them back. Despite being badly outnumbered, the Lyran pilots fought with courage beyond human limits. As the battle drew further and further away from the jump point, Captain Lester gave the go ahead for the second wave to strike. There was nothing stopping the swarm of New Earth fighters as they shot past the thinned Lyran lines. The Lyran supply ships and Jumpships were helpless against the wave of attacking fighters.

   While a few Jumpships managed to escape the attack by jumping out of system, several Lyran Jumpships were unable to escape. It was during this critical battle did a major player in New Earth’s future show true leadership skills. Realizing that he could no longer sit on the side lines while his world fought against impossible odds, President McGray had put away the suit and tie of the President and dawned the combat uniform of a New Earth soldier. He personally led one of the boarding parties against a Lyran Jumpship. As the daring raid was being carried out, McGray ordered a live broadcast of what was going on through his helmet cam. It was a move that went to motivate his forces both on and off New Earth. Even the President of New Earth was resisting the occupation. Moral across New Earth was on the raise as the fighting against the Lyran intensified. New Earth was not a world at the edge of defeat any longer.

   At the end of the battle, several Jumpships were captured including one Monolith class Jumpship. Most importantly twelve supply dropships were also captured during the raid. During the critical battle, the remaining eight dropships attempted to flee for the Lyran blockade lines. Even those dropships would be hunted down and captured long before they could reach the safety of their blockade lines. In total, twenty dropships would be seized by New Earth during the raid. Vital supplies that were meant for Lyran troops were now in the hands of New Earth. The supply issues for the Lyrans on New Earth would only get worse as the major supply hub was shut down.

   Once the Lyran Jumpships were secured, New Earth Naval officers and crew were brought aboard. Before Lyran forces could mount an effective counter attack to liberate their captured Jumpships, the ships were jumped out of system. After months of taking a beating at the hands of the Lyrans, New Earth’s forces were finally on the attack. After the captured Lyran ships jumped out of system, a Lyran spy reported that the NEWS Maverick jumped out of system as well. At the time, Lyran Intelligence was unable to track where these ships jumped to. However there was good indication that they were in route to pick up New Earth’s 4th Corps which was operating in the Chaos March.

This will conclude the end of my Project on New Earth. I really hope that everyone enjoyed reading it.

I am open to constructive comments. I really hope to hear from everyone.

Akirapryde

Over all I liked your story.  You could have also provided side stories in regards to what the borders of the Lyran Alliance was like when they were preoccupied with handling New Earth.

It was a pleasure writing it, thank you for your loyal support.

I can see how including those events could better explain why the events on New Earth transpired the way they did. It is entirely possible that it was events on the boarder that caused the Lyran Alliance to pull their forces back from New Earth and seek a new approach in dealing with New Earth. Or maybe it was the events on New Earth that caused events across the boarders, much like sharks smelling blood in the water. You are right.

I am open to a joint project in the future.

However for the moment, I am going to focus on our online role playing group. If you would like to continue to follow the story of this game, please check it out our game at http://www.orlandogamers.tk/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=12

Akirapryde