The mercenary unit Hand of Fate was on assignment on a backwater planet known simply as 459. The planet was a wasteland with desert stretching for miles, and where the desert ended the ice began. There was no vegetation; the only breathable oxygen came from bacteria. There was once an ocean that spread across almost the entire Northern Hemisphere but it had long since boiled away. The only thing this planet had going for it was it's high mineral content, mainly Titanium, which was a key component in BattleMech production. The only sign of civilization was a mining outpost near the southern pole. The Hand of Fate was having difficulties finding work due to their lack of experience. Colonel Fate; however, was renowned through out the Inner Sphere for his strategic mind. William Fate joined one of the most famous mercenary units of all time, the Wolfs Dragoons, at the age of 18 and quickly rose through the ranks making the rank of Commander General by the age of 25. He was privy too much of the classified information from Jaime Wolf, he knew about the OmniMech production taking place on Outreach and was informed of the Dragoons' roots before the invasion by the clans. Fate was awarded a Medal of Honor and Purple Heart for his outstanding service and dedication to the Dragoons. He batchalled for an entire Cluster of frontline OmniMechs, defeating the Cluster Colonel in a duel. During the battle for Luthien his company successfully defended the BattleMech production plant. After the war he decided he needed a new challenge and took it upon himself to create the most prolific mercenary unit ever. He named the unit the Hand of Fate, taking his entire company from the Wolfs Dragoons. The unit started with a high paying contract from the Draconis Combine, which pitted them against some of the best warriors Clan Smoke Jaguar had to offer. During the invasion of the Smoke Jaguars and finally their destruction the Hand of Fate was involved in the recapture of Turtle Bay, Edos, and was in attendance for the assault on Huntress. After the war the unit took a low paying operation in the Chaos March which Fate thought would be a good chance for some R&R. The unit was ambushed after a Battalion of BattleMechs made a Halo drops and ambushed the unit all across the planet. After several days of pitched battles the unit defeated the unknown assailants but with only 2/3 of the troops remaining. The unit was blamed for the destruction of much of the planet and their contract with the Federated Commonwealth was terminated leaving the unit without a home. Finally the unit came to 459 with a contract from the Free Worlds League to defend the mining operation. Hand of Fate had been on planet for 2 months and there had been no sign of a coming battle. The unit's morale was at an all time low and there was a lot of talk about mutiny.

"Good morning Colonel" the lieutenant said as Fate entered the logistics room

The Colonel gave a quick nod and asked," Have you got anything for me today, something juicy, maybe an incoming Clan battle cruiser"

"No sir, but we do have this" the lieutenant pointed to the monitor and brought up a map of the solar system, "see we have something incoming but we don't know what it is it's the size of a Jumpship but we aren't expecting another shipment of supplies for 2 months".

"OK son keep me informed and watch for any more anomalies"

"Looks like today is going to be a good day after all" Fate said to himself as he left the room

Walking down the hallway was considering a plan of action, the Hand of Fate had not fought a battle in more then a year and he thought they might not be prepared for what may be in store.


The Nova Falcon colonel walked down the corridor to the military planning room. The colonel, Jonathan Noel, was the third Colonel of the pirate band that had terrorized the rim worlds of the FWL knew that 459 was a small planet with high mineral resources that could be exploited easily. As he stepped into the briefing room the other four men in the room immediately rose and saluted as was custom. Jonathan walked to the window; told the men they could be seated, and began looking at the planet below. He took his seat at the head of the briefing room and turned on the holo-display bringing up a spherical representation of the planet.
"This is 459" he said nodding his head at the image, "it's a lifeless, desolate, wasteland, with high mineral resources, and we're going to take it. The planet is defended by a mercenary unit, they are inexperienced underpaid and primed for the kill. I was considering a multi-pronged attack with halo drops across the planet including 1 'mech regiment and 2 squads of Falconeers (Falconeers were the Nova Falcons version of Special Forces). The Falconeers will drop in first destroying key logistics and command stations causing more then enough confusion for us to drop in the mechs and get prepared to attack. By the time the enemy realizes what's going on we will have nearly destroyed them. Anyone got something to add?"

"Which regiment do you intend to send and what are we going to do if our Falconeers don't get the job done?" said the leader of the Iron Fist regiment.
At that the leader of the Falconeers stood up, leaned across the table, and yelled at the commander of the Iron Fist regiment," You bastard! Are you implying that we won't get it done because I can assure you that we will."

"Gentlemen, please", Noel belted at the top of his lungs, "we have more important matters at hand besides your petty rivalry. I will take that all into consideration Mark, but I have complete confidence in the Falconeers and I was intending on sending your regiment, the Iron Fist just in case they didn't.
"Very well sir" Mark said grudgingly
"Good, anything else we need to discuss?" no one spoke up " ok then dismissed
"Oh and by the way we will be launching the operation in an hour so get suited up."

*
The intercom crackled to life waking Fate from his sleep. A scared communications tech spoke up "Sir we have incoming, multiple targets, halo pods, we can't target them with the automated defenses. They are to small for mechs so they are most likely people, possibly Special Forces. What should we do?
"Hold on I'll be right down just give me a second and call my commanders into the briefing room, we need to prepare for a landing."
"Ok sir but please hurry" the intercom shut off, Fate sat in complete silence contemplating the situation.