Chapter 2: High Water Mark

Federated Commonwealth (Clan Wolf Occupation Zone), Ridderkerk, August 1st, 3050

"Savashri!"

Ralik did not scream when the inferno missiles hit his Timber Wolf - he hissed as the heat inside the cockpit spiked, his displays filling with warnings as his OmniMech slowed down. "The insurgents are using inferno missiles," he snapped as he pivoted and raked the small ridge next to the road with machine gun fire.

"We can see that," Sepha answered. "You are a walking bonfire. Do you need assistance?"

"Neg," he snarled, firing his LRMs at what he recognised as a firing position as he moved up the ridge. His heat sinks would cope; he just had to cut down on his energy weapons for a bit. Not that they were effective when dealing with infantry to begin with. Two figures stumbled out of the smoke his missiles had thrown up, running towards the creek behind the ridge. Ralik's next burst of machine gun fire cut both down.

He was tempted to charge down the ridge, trampling any and all infantry left alive, but refrained from acting on his impulse. Enfilade fire would do as well and would not expose him to sapper attacks.

He caught another insurgent cur trying to hit him with another SRM. Another inferno missile, Ralik corrected himself as the area around his target went up in flames. Nothing and no one else moved, though. He flicked through a few filters on his scanners.

"The road has been cleared," he reported.

"Good. What is the status of the convoy?"

Ralik clenched his teeth. "Destroyed," he spat. The cowards had hit the trucks carrying supplies first.

"Noted," Sepha answered.

Ralik expected a rebuke for failing his escort mission, but she merely ordered him to return to base instead.


Tian and Lionel were waiting for him when Ralik climbed out of his Timber Wolf back in their hangar.

"This should have been my mission," Tian said. "Your Timber Wolf was not configured for spotting infantry."

She was correct, but Ralik also knew that he could have spotted the ambush, with a little luck, perhaps. Should have, probably. And Tian would have been in his place if her BattleMech had not been damaged by another ambush two days ago and were still waiting for a replacement leg actuator. Who had had the bright idea to get an isorla BattleMech assigned to an Assault Star?

Lionel snorted. "You killed the attackers. And it was merely food and building supplies - nothing irreplaceable."

"And ammunition." Sepha joined them. "But nothing we cannot source from the locals. Once they stop sabotaging us, I guess." She grinned at her dark joke. "Good news, Lionel. A cargo ship is inbound with your new Mad Dog on board.

Ralik could see Lionel frown, then nod in acceptance. A Mad Dog was about the lightest OmniMech generally suitable for their Assault Star, not counting dedicated scout units. It was a good machine - but as the late Brell's death had proved, it could not take the same punishment as Lionel's old Gargoyle.

Sepha turned to Tian. "There is no new BattleMech for you, sorry."

Tian nodded as if she had not expected anything else. Perhaps she had not.

"We are also getting a replacement 'MechWarrior," Sepha went on. "Fresh out the Sibko."

Lionel frowned. "I did not think the next batch would be ready for their Blooding yet." They had gone over those numbers and dates after Rasalhague.

Sepha shrugged "Accelerated testing, or so I have been told. With almost all of the 279th and the 352th wiped out, they had to get the pilots from somewhere, and they did not want to rob Epsilon."

Ralik snorted. Epsilon Galaxy was the dregs of the front line units. Freeborn warriors and ageing trueborns one step ahead of Solahma units. They had taken only one world so far, and only after a struggle, and had failed to pacify the conquered worlds left for them to garrison. It was much better to fill your ranks with the new bloodied - they were sharp and eager to prove themselves.

"Was there any word about the suspension for the Trials of Bloodright being lifted?" Lionel asked. "If we are going back to full strength…"

Sepha chuckled. "Do not expect the suspension to end any time soon. We are still stretched thin until the Provisional Garrison Clusters arrive. And we are not the only ones - the ilKhan had to forbid Trials of Possessions and Grievances in his own clan because they cannot afford the losses."

Ralik scoffed at that; the ilKhan was supposed to lead all Clans without favouring his own, but Leo Showers might as well be the Khan of the Smoke Jaguars still.

Lionel scowled - Ralik knew his friend had taken the suspension of the trials worst of them all - but did not comment.

"Cheer up, though!" Sepha smiled. "I have it on good authority that we will launch the next wave earlier than expected. As soon as Epsilon is ready, we will strike." She bared her teeth. "And we will finish the Republic once and for all!"


Terra, Europe, Geneva, August 10th, 3050

"This is not a threat to the three realms under attack, but a threat to the entire Inner Sphere. You have received our intelligence on the Clans, you corroborated it with your own sources - you know that the Clans plan to conquer the entire Inner Sphere. They speak of restoring the Star League, but, in truth, they will subjugate all of us to live as their slaves."

Archon Melissa Steiner slowly nodded in apparent agreement with Primus Waterly's words. While she enjoyed seeing the woman's obvious concern - she had not forgotten the revelations following the Fourth Succession War and doubted the Order's claim of having reformed - Waterly was correct; this invasion was a threat to the entire Inner Sphere.

"That is why we have to form an alliance!" Prince Magnusson interjected. "Only working together can we stop the invasion and liberate our worlds!"

"An alliance with a fool throwing around nuclear weapons?" Romano Liao sneered at the young leader of the Free Rasalhague Republic. "Why should any of us taint ourselves by associating with you?"

Melissa's decades of experience in politics and diplomacy allowed her to keep from laughing at the hypocrisy. Candace Liao didn't bother, though, and the two sisters glared at each other. Melissa didn't care - the remains of the Capellan Confederation and the St. Ives Compact would, as they had for the last two decades, hold each other in check, both diplomatically and militarily.

Instead, Melissa watched Theodore Kurita and Thomas Marik. The Combine was in as much danger as the Commonwealth - more, actually, since half of the Commonwealth was untouched and shielded from the invaders behind the Combine. The Free Worlds League, though, was both powerful and untouched by the invasion.

"I agree with Prince Magnusson," the Gunji-no-Kanrei spoke up. "While I have no doubt that the valour and skill of the Combine's soldiers will prevail against the Clans invading our worlds, I will remind you that we are facing but a fourth of the Clans' might. Thirteen more Clans wait on their still unknown homeworlds. If we continue to squabble among ourselves, we cannot hope to withstand them."

Melissa discarded the posturing immediately. The DCMS was not doing any better, and likely doing worse, than the AFFC. Theodore's heir had barely evaded being captured according to her information. And Victor was pushing for a front command… But Theodore was correct. She nodded. "Indeed. While the invading Clans are showing signs of overextension, there are rumours of reinforcements being on the way. If we wish to defeat the invaders without ruining half our worlds, we need to concentrate our forces."

"Which would mean exposing our other borders," Kurita said. "Inviting attacks from opportunistic yet short-sighted people."

"The Free Worlds League is not interested in conquest at any time," Marik said, "much less in starting a war with our neighbours in these troubled times."

Melissa knew that his first claim was a lie. But the second might be true. She glanced towards Waterly. Marik was a former member of ComStar, but Melissa's analysts were not certain how close his ties to the Order were. However, ComStar's economic influence in the League was far greater than it was in the Commonwealth or the Combine.

"Just because you do not want to do something does not mean you won't do it anyway," Kurita replied.

"The League doesn't border your realm," Marik retorted.

"But it borders mine," Melissa interjected. "I share the Gunji-no-Kanrei's concerns." And, of course, the concern that the the Combine might attack should the Commonwealth withdraw more troops from the border than they already had.

"ComStar is ready to guarantee any non-aggression pact between the realms represented here," Waterly spoke up before Marik could answer.

The Primus was far more involved in the negotiations than Melissa had expected, despite the fact that ComStar had called for this conference. That was worrying in itself. Time to see just how important this was to the Order. "Economic sanctions won't prevent an invasion," Melissa pointed out, "and neither would an interdict." Not with every first-rate Military using K-1 networks for communication these days.

"The Com Guards will be reinforcing the Free Rasalhague Republic's forces in the fight against the invaders. That means we will consider any attack on our allies and co-belligerents an attack on ourselves and will respond with any means necessary to defend ourselves."

Melissa had known that ComStar had recalled most of the Com Guards protecting their HPG stations, but she hadn't expected the Order to intervene before the Clans attacked Terra.

"We will be deploying the equivalent of fifty regiments of Battlemechs with matching support troops as well as a squadron of warships," Waterly announced, "as an expeditionary force."

Melissa had to struggle not to show her surprise. That was double the estimate of her intelligence agencies. And she hadn't missed the implication that this wasn't the entirety of the Com Guards' force. The AAFC, even with the regiments lost against the Clans so far, counted over two hundred and fifty BattleMech regiments in their ranks, but they had hundreds of worlds to protect. And they had no warships. This was a far more credible deterrent than mere economic sanctions.

She nodded. "The Federated Commonwealth is willing to sign a non-aggression pact for ten years with any of the realms represented here." She looked at Kurita, meeting his eyes. "And you have my personal word that the Federated Commonwealth will stick to the agreement."

"And your husband's?"

Melissa felt like rolling her eyes - of course, a Kurita would not trust her to speak for Hanse - but merely smiled instead. "He will send you a priority message to that extent as soon as I call him."

A moment later, a giant screen behind Waterly lit up, and a familiar symbol appeared. Melissa looked at Waterly.

The Primus smiled. "We will wave the fee for the call, of course. As well as for any other transmission needed to defeat the invaders."

Another sign that ComStar was worried far more than expected about the invasion, Melissa thought.

Which, of course, worried her as well.


'Among the military, speculation about how the Clan Invasion would have turned out had the Wolf's Dragoons taken part in the Inner Sphere's defence is a popular subject. Most of those who claim that they would have turned the tide miss the fact that the Dragoons, for all their achievements and history, were only five regiments and a few smaller units. Elite regiments, of course, but certainly not unique in that regards. Their performance in the Fifth Succession War was excellent, but, again, not decisive, and not above other elite regiments. Compared to the forces that gathered against the Clans, the Dragoons were, therefore, a quantité négligeable. Moreover, the revelation that they originally came from the Clans as spies for the invasion all but ruined their reputation. Their claims of having deserted the Clans and being in opposition to the invasion didn't change that - quite the contrary, actually. The fact that they hadn't warned the Inner Sphere of the threat of the Clans turned even close allies of the Dragoons against them. Colonel Morgan Kell publicly blamed them for the loss of two battalions of the Kell Hounds and the death of his son and announced his refusal to serve alongside them. Other mercenaries quickly followed his example.

And even the intelligence the Dragoons might have provided to the Inner Sphere wouldn't, in my opinion, have made much of a difference since it wouldn't and couldn't have been trusted. Especially not after the Dragoons refused to share their knowledge about advanced Clan technology with the Inner Sphere and it was revealed that their most famous member, Colonel Natasha Kerensky, had rejoined Clan Wolf and died in the attack on Rasalhague.'

- Excerpt from 'Mercenaries during the Clan Invasion' by Gabriel Mannhart, New Avalon, 3072


'Some people think general staff officers spend their time going to parties on Tharkad and socialising with the nobles. That's wrong. We are constantly analysing, planning and revising plans for every eventuality. Granted, we didn't have a specific "Clans invade us from the Periphery" plan - but we had a plan in case the DCMS would invade through the Periphery, going around the FRR to strike at our flanks. So when the Prince and the Archon gave the order to prepare a counter-offensive, all we had to do was pull out plan "Linker Haken". Of course, we had to adjust it for the current situation - but the core of it, the redeployment of the logistical base and the rerouting of jumpships to form supply lines, was already ready and could be implemented quickly."

- Leftenant-General James Steiner, AFFC


Free Rasalhague Republic, Basiliano System, Nadir Jump Point, September 5th, 3050

Ralik clenched his teeth as he heard the reports through the dropship's intercom. Gamma Galaxy's transports were on the way to the planet. And the 328th Assault Cluster was stuck at the jump point.

"Cheer up, Ralik!"

He turned, a little too quickly for the microgravitation on board their transport, and had to grab a handgrip to keep from spinning around himself as he faced Sepha. "Why should I?" he asked with a sneer. "We are acting as the reserve - as if we were the freebirth and washed-up warriors of Epsilon Galaxy!"

"And we were not even allowed to bid for the right to invade the planet!" Lionel added.

"Yes!" Beata, the newest member of their Star, chimed in. She put her hands on her hips as she floated near the ceiling, tethered to the wall by a strap. "That is not the Clan way!"

Sepha snorted. "The Khan has a different opinion. We're not the Smoke Jaguars, stuck to tradition no matter the cost. And we are facing dezgra cowards using nuclear weapons, not warriors."

"And the Cluster is taking part in the invasion," Tian added, looking up from her noteputer - isorla from Ridderkerk. "All our aerospace fighters are supporting Gamma Galaxy."

Ralik scoffed. The Failing Lions had the chance to earn glory while the warriors who actually had won the Cluster's battles were relegated to the reserve! "They are only flying because we need every fighter to protect the transports against the surats."

"Which should be the duty of the fleet," Lionel added. "Our warships have not done anything so far."

"They bombarded Rasalhague," Tian pointed out.

"Apart from that," Lionel retorted with a frown.

"Yes!" Beata nodded emphatically, which sent her into another slow spin.

Apparently, the accelerated training that had allowed her to take The Blooding a year early had failed to teach her how to properly move in microgravity, Ralik noted. But she was, as tests and patrols had shown, a competent 'MechWarrior, which was what the Star needed. Though Ralik had some reservations about her Hellbringer. The OmniMech was perfect for anti-infantry duty and patrols, but it was a tad lightly armoured for a fight against enemy heavy or assault BattleMechs… Well, the pilot, not the BattleMech won a fight.

"They need to cover our supply line, and the recovery of our forward depots," Sepha said. "Well, what is left of our depots."

Ralik scowled at the reminder that the freebirth scum had found and destroyed several of the Clan's supply depots. They had lost a handful of jumpships in the process, but that did not change that the Clan had been forced to reduce the scope of the next wave of attacks and focus entirely on the Free Rasalhague Republic.

"At least once we have taken the last of the Rasalhague worlds, we will not have to deal with their cowardly weapons any more and can wage war properly again," Lionel muttered.

"Until the next realm grows desperate enough to use them," Sepha said.

"They will not dare," Lionel retorted. "Not after we taught them the price of such crimes - and their futility."

Sepha shrugged, clearly stating without saying that she did not share Lionel's optimism.

"Perhaps Gamma Galaxy will run into troubles, and we will get to fight?" Beata said with an eager smile.

Sepha glared at her. "That would be a bad thing for the Clan. The ilKhan is just waiting for an excuse to activate the Steel Vipers to share our corridor."

"He cannot! The Smoke Jaguars have not taken as many worlds as we have!" Lionel protested.

"The ilKhan will not care. He would have denied us the use of the Garrison Clusters if the other Clans had not needed them even more than we did," Sepha replied. "So, do not hope that other Clusters fail - we fight as a Clan."

Ralik nodded. This was true. But every Warrior also fought for their legacy. He had no trouble sacrificing himself for the Clan, but his bloodline?

Some prices were too high to pay.


Draconis Combine (Clan Smoke Jaguar Occupation Zone), Kabah System, September 8th, 3050

"Open fire."

Nothing happened. No one moved. On the bridge of the CSJ Veiled Huntress, Star Commodore Kalik Osis glared at his subordinate. "I gave you an order, Star Commander."

Star Commander Hestia raised her chin. "I contest this order!"

"Trials have been suspended," he retorted. "Execute my order."

She bared her teeth before answering, taking a deep breath. "Destroying a city in retaliation for an attack on our barracks? " She shook her head. "We cannot do this; we would be considered dezgra."

"The Wolves bombarded several cities on Rasalhague," he replied. "And no one censored them." Not officially, of course.

"This was in response to attacks with nuclear weapons on their forces, and there were military targets inside the cities. You want us to bombard one of our cities full of lower caste."

"Freebirth scum," he corrected her. "Whether the enemy uses nuclear missiles or ambushes with inferno missiles, they have revealed themselves as dezgra and must be punished. Do you disagree?"

"Neg." She shook her head. "I disagree with the target, not the punishment. These people did not attack us."

He should not argue with a subordinate, but discipline her for refusing to obey - but he was not blind; he could see that others on the bridge shared her views. "But they shelter the criminals attacking us. How many labourers disappeared in the city, to be found with their throats cut in a back alley, or in the river?" He scoffed. "This is a hive of honorless surats attacking their betters. We need to make an example out of them, to teach the insurgents that they cannot afford the price of attacking us. We have taken hostages before." And executed them when the criminals did not turn themselves in.

"But… an entire city…"

"The principle is the same, quiaff?"

He saw her struggle before she nodded. "Aff. But we did not set them an ultimatum."

"They knew we would take hostages. They know what we will do. And they have not surrendered in the past, quineg?"

"Neg."

"An ultimatum would only allow the criminals to escape the city," Kalik said. They were criminals even in the Inner Sphere - common bandits called 'Yakuza'. He could see others on the bridge nod. Enough of them to be able to deal with anyone who still refused to follow his orders without hurting his command.

"Open fire!"

This time, his order was executed. And the freebirth scum would learn the price of defiance - and their place.


'In all Clan Occupation Zones, civilians suffered in retaliation for guerrilla attacks on Clan members and assets. However, the extent of those war crimes greatly varied. Clan Wolf generally tried to avoid harming civilians in response to attacks, but limited atrocities took place despite the Khan's general orders. The Smoke Jaguars and the Jade Falcons, on the other hand, reacted with the execution of hostages and the razing of districts and villages to attacks on their forces, with the Smoke Jaguars going as far as bombarding settlements from orbit in increasingly desperate attempts to curb partisan attacks. The Ghost Bears were lenient at the beginning of the invasion but quickly turned to increasingly harsh measures as they apparently felt betrayed by those who should have been new members of the Clan.

However, no matter the strategy and measures chosen, during the invasion, none of the Clans managed to stop the insurrections on the worlds they had conquered, and dealing with the guerrilla attacks demanded more and more troops as both the intensity of the attacks and the number of occupied worlds rose.'

- Excerpt from 'Insurrections: From the Fifth Succession War to the Clan Invasion' by Toshi Miller, Luthien 3060


'I wasn't a guerilla fighter. Not at the start. I was a truck driver - I had never been a soldier. All I wanted was to keep my head down and wait until the AFFC returned to liberate us. Then the Falcons killed my family with our entire village while I was four hundred kilometres away making a delivery - to the damned invaders, even! My next delivery to the bastards was a fuel truck full of fertiliser. Then I joined a resistance group.'

- Elsa Martensen, Black Earth Irregulars


Free Rasalhague Republic (Clan Wolf Occupation Zone), Basiliano, September 12th, 3050

"Keep your distance from that treeline!" Ralik snapped as he saw Beata leave the road in her Hellbringer.

"This is an ideal location for an ambush," she replied. "There could be insurgents hiding there."

"Yes, and they want you to approach them. Stay on the road. I will check the woods there."

"My BattleMech is perfectly configured for anti-infantry operations," she retorted. She did not add 'unlike yours', but Ralik heard the words anyway.

"Neg." Ralik rolled his eyes inside his Timber Wolf. "It is not armoured enough. The kind of mines and explosives the insurgents use are more likely to breach your armour than mine. Once I flush them out, you move in for the kill," he added in an attempt to make his orders more palatable.

"Killing unarmoured infantry brings no glory," Beata said. But she stayed on the road.

"Aff." Ralik chuckled. "But it is necessary."

He steered his Timber Wolf closer to the trees, trying to spot firing pits and buried mines. Sometimes, the stravag scum acted too hastily and left traces. This did not seem to be the case here, though… Something moved! Ralik fired a burst from his machine guns into the woods.

"An attack!" Beata sounded excited, not annoyed. Like all first-timers.

"Neg!" Ralik snapped before the other 'MechWarrior could charge towards his position. He flipped through the different filters on sensors. "Just a deer," he stated as the thermographic picture revealed a dead animal.

"You hunted a deer?"

"No," Ralik corrected her, "I fired on a suspected insurgent, which turned out to have been an animal." He chuckled. "It also means there are no insurgents here - they would have spooked the deer. I am returning to the road."

"Is it always this slow?" Beata asked a minute later.

"Aff," Ralik answered. "We have to carefully patrol the roads, or we risk attacks on our supplies and lower caste personnel."

"This task seems better suited for Elementals," Beata replied.

"They are too slow and too vulnerable," Ralik replied. "Attacks that would only damage our armour will kill an elemental. Like inferno missiles." Which the Inner Sphere infantry used almost as much as the surat insurgents."

"Honourless curs," Beata muttered. "I wish we could fight real opponents instead of hunting down vermin."

Ralik chuckled. "So do we all." You could not earn glory killing lower caste insurgents. No matter how dangerous they were.


"The road to the power plant is clear," Ralik reported as he climbed out of his Timber Wolf three hours later, back at the base at the starport.

"As expected," Sepha said, nodding at him.

"What?" Beata blurted out. "You said that you suspected an ambush!"

Sepha snorted. "The surats usually need some time after losing the planet before they start launching their attacks," she explained. "It is still too soon for that."

"Why did we waste six hours on a pointless patrol, then?" Beata complained.

"Because it was not pointless," Sepha retorted, still grinning. "The freebirths are unpredictable. You cannot count on them doing what they did the last time."

"Unless it involves nuclear weapons," Lionel, sitting on a rough bench and sipping from a bottle of what the locals called mead, cut in. "The cowards tried to use them in every engagement since Rasalhague."

"And they succeeded twice," Sepha added. "Fortunately, both times they destroyed Union class dropships, and one was not carrying troops."

That was news to Ralik. "Which Galaxy let them reach their transports?" he asked.

"Epsilon, of course," Lionel said. "Everyone else fended them off."

Ralik nodded, as did Beata. The stravag scum could try as they want - their scavenger state would be annihilated and their people absorbed. "Where's Tian?" he asked, looking around.

"Scouting the route to the city," Sepha said.

"By herself?" Ralik frowned. She was too good to be ambushed, but her Kit Fox was the lightest BattleMech in the entire Cluster.

"She has a star of Elementals from the Heart Eaters with her," Lionel replied.

"Ah. New ones?"

"Aff. Fresh out of the sibko," Sepha said. "They need some seasoning before we can use them on the battlefield."

Ralik saw that Beata was scowling at the remark. Good. She would do her best to impress the Star Commander once they had a real battle.

Sepha had not missed the new warrior's reaction, either. "Do not worry - we will be attacking the next world soon enough." She frowned. "There are rumours that our lack of progress might cause the other Clans to activate the Steel Vipers and, perhaps, even the Nova Cats and Diamond Sharks."

"What?" Ralik stared at her. "They cannot!"

Sepha shrugged. "It would be a shame, but the operation's progress has slowed down across the entire front. Even the Clans not facing nuclear attacks are struggling."

"Typical," Lionel muttered.

Sepha nodded. "I have heard that the Falcons and Jaguars were not prepared enough - not enough supplies, not enough garrison troops for their worlds. And they are bleeding more than expected, as well."

"More supplies are supposed to be on the way," Ralik pointed out. It would take them a few more months, but they were coming.

"Yes, but they need to protect the supply lines even more - we cannot let the freebirths discover the route back to the homeworlds," Sepha replied. She looked at Beata. "And we cannot get more warriors as easily as we can build more BattleMechs."

Ralik nodded. Everyone in the Clans remembered the warning tale of the Caspar drones.

"I passed The Blooding!" Beata spat, glaring at the Star Commander.

"You did, yes. But how far can they accelerate the sibkos' training and still produce warriors rather than whelps?" Sepha shook her head. "They were even considering freebirth bondsmen from the Commonwealth as garrison troops in the former Republic, but that was before that mass break-out in the Falcon Zone."

"Fools," Ralik spat. "You cannot trust them to keep their word." The captured soldiers were the worst. A single traitor, armed, could cause a disaster.

And that was a risk they could not take.


Federated Commonwealth, Outreach, September 13th, 3050

"Allez! Allez! We need to be in our assigned transport in an hour!"

Sitting on the open commander's hatch of her Manticore tank, Sergeant Marcy "Mac" Fernandez rolled her eyes as she heard Leftenant Clavette. The leader of her lance acted as if the Second FedCom would actually take off on schedule. "Bloody green officers," she muttered, which caused Jack Peters, her gunner, to laugh.

"But he's right - we're already behind schedule," Jeanne Beckett, the new loader, commented.

"The entire RCT is moving to the spaceport," Marcy said, not bothering to keep her voice down. "Each time we did this before, we had delays and traffic jams."

"But this time, it's not an exercise," Beckett replied.

"That won't change a thing," Marcy assured her. "And everyone knows it." Apart from Clavette, who seemed to be trying to get the lead tank to move past the JagerMech blocking the road to the starport by sheer volume. At least the Leftenant would be too hoarse to scream soon if he continued like this.

"Besides," Peters cut in, "they won't leave without us, no worry. It's always like this. Unless we're evacuating under fire. Then we'd crush all those trees and gardens and the odd building under our treads and hightail it to the dropships. It's great fun!"

Marcy didn't add that odds were, their company would be covering the retreat in such a case. Manticores were among the slower vehicles but packed a decent punch - ideal to keep pursuers at bay and dig in at choke points to stall the enemy. Beckett would realise that herself soon enough.

"A few hours longer won't make a difference," Marcy said instead. "We'll need weeks to reach our staging area."

"Yes," Peters chimed in again. "And then we'll wait a few more weeks, for the stragglers from the Draconis March, before we flatten the invaders by sheer weight of bodies or drown them in our blood." He laughed, but the joke was a little too close on the mark to be funny.

She shook her head - Peters did talk too much and was too sharp to remain an enlisted for much longer. If they survived the counter-offensive, Marcy would recommend him for officer's school. If only to get him out of her hair before he antagonised another Leftenant.

"Ah," Beckett said. Marcy didn't have to see the girl to know she was nodding with that solemn expression of hers.

"Don't worry - we'll hit them with so many troops, they'll be dead before they can do much damage to us," Marcy tried to assure the young soldier. She wasn't lying, not exactly - overall, concentration of forces worked. Just not always for everyone involved. Some poor sods always got killed before the enemy was done. But… "Heads up!" she yelled as she saw the 'Mech ahead of them starting to move. She slid down into her seat. "We'll advance another few metres!"

They made it a little further than that, an MP stopping them at the last crossing before the landing field and waving through a small convoy coming from their left. Marcy drew a hissing breath as she realised what the trucks were carrying - the symbols on the missiles were unmistakable. Nukes.

"We're going to use nuclear missiles?" Beckett asked in a slightly small-sounding voice - she must have spotted the trucks on her station's display.

"We're not going to use them first," Marcy assured her. "Not unless the Clans start using their warships against us. Which they haven't, so far."

But, and Marcy didn't tell Beckett that, the invaders didn't have to use the warships so far, not in the Federated Commonwealth. They had taken every world they had attacked anyway.

Marcy doubted that the invaders would show the same restraint once the AFFC's offensive was starting to roll them back out of the Federated Commonwealth.


'The decision not to reinforce the immediately threatened worlds of the Federated Commonwealth with whatever troops were available in favour of preparing a massive counter-offensive instead, on secure staging areas behind the frontline, remains controversial to this day. However, the military realities were clear: To move relatively small numbers of fresh units to the worlds threatened by the next invasion wave would risk seeing them defeated in detail by superior forces having the initiative. On the other hand, evacuating the garrison units stationed in the threatened worlds in advance would run the risk of the Clans reaching the staging areas for the counter-offensive before they were ready. Accordingly, the garrison units were ordered to fight delaying actions for as long as possible before retreating. An unpopular and costly order - but an effective one.'

- Excerpt from 'The Invasion of the Clans - An Analysis' by Jeffrey Meier, Tharkad, 3064


'By the time we reached the staging areas, we had watched the BattleROMs we had received a dozen times. We thought we were ready for the Clans. We weren't, as things turned out. Fortunately, they weren't ready for us either.'

- 'MechWarrior James "Blackjack" Schröder, 3rd FedCom RCT


Free Rasalhague Republic, Kufstein, September 30th, 3050

Ralik balled his hands into fists as the dropship shook from multiple hits. The sound of the autocannons firing back at the enemy fighters was scant consolation - the Failing Lions were supposed to keep the enemy off the transport entirely! All it took was one nuclear missile and the Union transporting his entire Trinary would be destroyed.

"Touchdown in one minute. Prepare to disembark at once." Ralik sneered at Star Captain Krynos Vickers's order - he had been ready the second their dropship had reached the planet's orbit.

Once more, the Union-class ship shook, and Ralik clenched his teeth. He was not afraid of death, but to die as cargo, helpless…

Then he felt the familiar jolt of a dropship touching the ground and sneered. The freebirths had failed to keep them from landing, and now they would pay! A moment later, the bay's doors slid open, and Ralik guided his Timber Wolf down the ramp. Finally!

"No enemy in range," Tian reported.

"For once, intelligence seems to be on the mark," Sepha replied. "We will move towards our first objective, the Village Bergheim. Tian, you are the van."

"Aff."

Ralik saw Tian's Kit Fox sprint ahead, towards the main road into the planetary capital. They had to secure a small pass for the rest of the Trinary. Sepha followed a moment later, and Ralik fell into formation at her right flank, with Lionel covering the left flank and Beata bringing up the rear.

They moved at flank speed, with Tian slowly pulling ahead. Too slowly, in Ralik's opinion - her OmniMech was barely faster than Ralik's. He shook his head - he had to focus on the battle. The freebirth they were facing would, as usual, fight fanatically.

Ten minutes into the march, Ralik's Timber Wolf started to develop a slight vibration in the left leg. Something the technician should have caught. There would be words, Ralik told himself. How was he supposed to fight for the Clan without properly maintained equipment?

Half an hour after disembarking, Tian reported: "I have reached the pass. No sign of enemy BattleMechs or armour, just a platoon of infantry."

"Dispatch them," Sepha ordered. "They will be spotting for artillery."

"Aff."

By the time Ralik and the rest of the Star reached the pass, Tian had wiped out the enemy infantry, at the cost of some armour damage.

"Still no sign of the enemy?" Sepha asked. Rhetorically, of course - Tian would have reported any sighting at once, Ralik knew that as well as Sepha. "We will push on towards the capital then, until we find the enemy."

Ralik smiled as he heard Beata cheer - they would be the first to make contact with the enemy's real forces. That honour would be theirs!

But four hours later, they were reaching the outskirts of the capital and had not met an enemy yet. Ralik clenched his teeth - they would be waiting in the centre of the city, forcing the Trinary into close quarter combat. And Bravo and Charlie Assault Star had caught up as well.

"We will advance in close formation."

Ralik nodded - Sepha's order made sense. Tian's Kit Fox would be too vulnerable if she went ahead.

The entered the city proper as the sun started to set and the shadows started to grow longer. That would not help the freebirths, though - quite the contrary. Their damned infantry lacked night vision goggles. "There is a bunker ahead," Tian reported after they had crossed a highway.

Ralik turned quickly towards the highlighted building. "I do not see any turrets!" he snapped.

"I have not detected any weapon emplacements," Tian confirmed.

"But it could be hiding infantry!" Lionel pointed out.

"Ralik, keep an eye on the entrance," Sepha ordered. "It could be a civilian shelter. Advance."

They started to move past the shelter's entrance when Tian yelled: "Enemy contact! BattleMechs!"

Reflexively, Ralik glanced at his display. DRG-1N, HBK-4G, SHD-2K, PNT-9R. A medium lance - no match for the Star. Distance 500 metres.

An explosion nearby interrupted his assessment. The building next to Tian had blown up, catching the Kit Fox in the blast, and she was struggling to keep the damaged machine standing.

Ralik looked up. Artillery fire? There had been no warning. No! "They planted charges!" he yelled. "Stay away from the buildings!"

"Enemy BattleMechs are moving," Tian reported.

Another building blew up, damaging Lionel's Mad Dog. And the shelter's doors were opening, people storming outside.

Ralik twisted his OmniMech's torso and raked the entrance with machine gun fire. Half a dozen figures fell over, and, a moment later, a fireball engulfed the shelter's doors. "There is infantry carrying inferno missiles in the shelter," he reported as he gunned down a group of three moments before they reached the closest building.

"Keep them suppressed until Tian relieves you," Sepha snapped. "Ralik, Beata - engage the enemy BattleMechs with me. Focus on the HBK-4G."

Beata gasped. "That is dezgra!"

"That is an order!" Sepha retorted. She and Lionel were already engaging the HBK-4G, ignoring the DRG-1N for the moment.

Ralik pressed his lips together. It was wrong, but Sepha was right. A fight inside a city, with buildings rigged to blow, was no place for zellbrigen. He saw the PNT-9R and the SHD-2K jump towards them - no, flanking them - and opened fire, catching the SHD-2K with his lasers. The enemy BattleMech wobbled in flight but landed safely. And someone was shooting missiles at him from a few blocks away - infantry. Had the shelter another exit?

"Engaging the PNT-9R!" Beata yelled, and Ralik saw her Hellbringer turn to charge the light BattleMech.

"No!" he yelled as his Timber Wolf shrugged off a hit from the SHD-2K's PPC. "There is infantry in the buildings!"

"I can handle them!" Beata scoffed.

Before Ralik could say anything else, the buildings on both sides of her blew up. The Hellbringer was caught in both blasts, and Beata could not keep it standing. Her OmniMech crashed to the ground and slid into a heap of rubble left from the explosions. From two other buildings, infantry charged towards the fallen Hellbringer.

Ralik shot another laser volley at the SHD-2K - the PNT-9R had taken cover behind a building - and sprinted towards Beata, firing his LRMs at the infantry. One of the groups scattered under the bombardment. But the rest had almost reached the Hellbringer. Beata fired her Anti-Personnel Pods, wiping them out as she stood.

"Surats!" she cursed, turning as she brought her own machine guns to bear on the survivors shooting missiles at her. Flaming liquid covered parts of her BattleMech. And the SHD-2K was shifting its fire towards the heavily damaged Hellbringer.

Ralik turned once more, firing lasers and LRMs at the medium Battlemech, sending it crashing to the ground. But the PNT-9R had snuck around, and while the enemy's SRMs were taken care of by Beata's Anti-Missile System, the PPC breached her armour. The Hellbringer's heat spiked on Ralik's display - the shielding of its reactor must have been damaged!

"Savashri!" Ralik heard Beata curse as she returned fire - with both PPC and her lasers. The enemy BattleMech staggered, one arm dropping to the ground.

"Watch your heat!" he warned as two flights of his LRMs covered the PNT-9R, setting off an ammunition explosion that ripped the machine apart.

"That was my enemy!" Beata snarled. Then a volley of missiles hit her back, and her Hellbringer tuned into a walking torch.

"Eject!" Ralik yelled.

"Neg!" she replied, "I can handle it!" But she could not - her OmniMech shut down.

The enemy didn't waste the opportunity. More missiles and machine gun fire hit the helpless Hellbringer, followed by a PPC hit that toppled it over - the SHD-2K had gotten back up.

Ralik turned to engage it, but the enemy ignored him, focusing on Beata's fallen OmniMech. Another PPC hit torched off some of the Hellbringer's ammunition, and Ralik heard Beata yell in response.

But the SHD-2K had exposed itself and was already severely damaged. Snarling, Ralik poured more lasers and LRMs into it, blowing off the enemy's right arm and torso. It spun around and crashed to the ground again.

Ralik moved to finish the BattleMech off when he heard Beata yell.

"Help!"

What the… He turned, and his eyes widened. Infantry had swarmed the fallen OmniMech, despite the lingering flames covering it. Before he could react, they scattered again.

"Help!"

A moment later, the Hellbringer's head exploded as the infantry's breaching charges went off.


Draconis Combine, Bangor, October 1st, 3050

Star Commander Leran frowned as his Star - one OmniMech short, but otherwise combat ready - advanced on the starport of the industrial centre of the planet. There were too many civilian vehicles clogging the roads. Had the freebirth labourers no sense? Why were they fleeing towards a military target? Did they hope that they would be evacuated?

He shook his head. The freebirth warriors had no honour, but they were not stupid. They would not waste their transports on worthless civilians. No warrior would.

One of the trucks on the road suddenly went up in flames.

"Kerstin!" Leran bellowed. "What are you shooting at?"

"There were soldiers on the truck," she replied.

"Ignore the fleeing cowards - we have to secure the starport." As long as they stayed in the open fields, and out of range of man-portable missile launchers, any infantry hiding among the civilians could not reach them anyway.

"Aff."

He led his Star towards the ferroconcrete fields. A dropship started to lift off in the distance. Not his problem any more - the fighters would have to deal with it.

"Any contact with enemy BattleMechs?" he asked. They had hit the defenders hard but had failed to trap and destroy them. And they would defend their only chance at escape fanatically.

"Neg."

"Enemy armour!" June announced. "Hunters. And unidentified hovercrafts."

Unidentified vehicles? They should have all models the freebirth used in their computers. Relan frowned again and checked the data on his display, then zoomed in on the approaching hovercrafts. "Those are civilian transports," he said. Had the enemy armed them in a desperate bid for more vehicles or to serve as a distraction?

"Enemy BattleMechs advancing towards us!" Kerstin reported. "Six of them."

The hovercrafts had to be a distraction. Relan was about to tell his Star to ignore them when he reconsidered. Something was off. He toggled a switch and zoomed in on the closest hovercraft even as the enemy armour and mechs entered the range of his weapons.

He could not see any weapons on the hovercrafts - but they were loaded. Why would… He targeted it and fired two PPCs of his Warhawk at it. It vanished in a huge explosion that left a crater in the field.

"The hovercrafts are loaded with explosives! Focus on them!" he yelled, targeting the next vehicle which had started to weave in a futile attempt to throw off his aim.

But there was a dozen of them, racing towards his Star. Two more blew up as June and Kerstin switched their fire, another when Harton, the youngest 'MechWarrior in the Star, finally hit it.

LRMs started to hit their OmniMechs, and Leran longed to return fire - but the cursed hovercrafts were the bigger threat. Three more vanished in fireballs, one after the other, and June managed to kill another before it crashed into her OmniMech.

Harton was not so skilled, though, and one of the hovercrafts managed to ram his Mad Dog. The explosion threw the OmniMech to the ground, and the enemy BattleMechs immediately started to focus on it.

By the time Leran and the others had dealt with the rest of the hovercrafts, Harton's Mad Dog had been destroyed.

As he turned to engage the enemy BattleMechs, now outnumbered two to one, Leran could not help shivering.

What kind of enemy would willingly serve as a living bomb?


'Contrary to popular opinion, neither the Gunji-no-Kanrei nor the Coordinator ever officially sanctioned the Kamikaze attacks that started to hit the invading forces during the fourth wave. To preserve forces and retreat when possible remained the standing order for all units engaging the Clans. However, every member of the DCMS who took part in such 'special attack units', as they were called, was routinely awarded a decoration for valour, showing the Coordinator's stance towards such actions clearly if no explicitly.

Despite the suicidal bravery of the 'special attack units', though, their effect on the war was very limited. The Clans quickly adjusted their tactics to meet the threat, and the vast majority of the men and women who served in those units never managed to damage the enemy before they were killed.'

- Excerpt from 'The Invasion of the Clans - An Analysis' by Jeffrey Meier, Tharkad, 3064


'We shall be the divine wind that devastates the enemy! A billion lives for the Dragon!'

- Chu-i Masaki Tomoe, 2nd Bangor Militia


Free Rasalhague Republic (Clan Wolf Occupation Zone), Kufstein, October 14th, 3050

Ralik frowned as he looked at Tian's new Hellbringer. The cockpit had been replaced and the damage repaired, but something looked off to him. The older parts still looked a shade darker than the new parts. As if the fires had left traces new paint could not erase.

He pondered talking to the technicians about it but decided against it. Tian could do it if she felt like it - it was her Battlemech now. He snorted. Beata certainly had no use for it any more. He shook his head, sighing - if only she had listened to him, or to anyone else with experience…

He noticed Tian approaching, a towel around her neck - she had just showered after their coupling. "How does it run?" Ralik asked, nodding towards the Hellbringer.

"Slowly," she replied, a faint grin on her face.

He shrugged. "But it's better armoured than your old BattleMech." And in the configuration she had chosen, she could still serve as a scout for the Star - the Active Probe had survived her Kit Fox's destruction in the last engagement and had been fitted to her new OmniMech.

She nodded. "I would prefer an Ice Ferret, but I am glad I was not assigned a repaired Inner Sphere BattleMech."

Ralik gasped. "They could not do that!" Tian was an excellent 'MechWarrior, not some Solahma or freeborn! And she was young - she would have plenty of chances to prove herself.

"Sepha said that they are assigning isorla BattleMechs taken from the freebirths to garrison units," she replied. "Temporarily, until the supply situation improves."

Ralik chuckled without humour. He did not expect the supply situation to improve any time soon. Not with the losses they kept taking. "The Failing Lions need to stop losing fighters so we can get more OmniMechs shipped to us."

"All of the Clan's Aerospace forces have been taking significant losses," Tian pointed out. "It seems that the average enemy pilot is of higher quality than their 'MechWarriors."

"Or our pilots are not as skilled as they should be," Ralik replied. They certainly did not dominate their enemies as they should.

Tian inclined her head. "Aff."

"Although it seems that we might lose our advantage," Ralik added, glancing at the fifth OmniMech of the Star, which was getting serviced two berths down from them. A Nova A was a decent OmniMech, even if it was an older design and an isorla. But its pilot… Ralik clenched his teeth. A freebirth, in their Star!

MechWarrior Olef was standing at the foot of his OmniMech, talking with a technician. Probably trying to get her to couple with him. Ralik sneered at the thought.

"He has passed The Blooding," Tian said. "And he has served in Epsilon Galaxy."

"That does not mean that he should have been assigned to our Star," Ralik retorted. "We're an Assault Star, not a garrison unit." And the freebirth's OmniMech did not even have machine guns, so it was useless against infantry.

"We were one MechWarrior short."

He scoffed. If not for the cursed freebirths' cowardly tactics, they would not be in such a need for trained MechWarriors to assign freebirths to frontline forces.

"He will get killed in the next serious battle, mark my words," Ralik muttered. They had lost three trueborn MechWarriors so far, two of them Star Commanders. A mere freebirth would not last long.

Ralik just hoped that Olef would absorb some fire that might hit someone more valuable otherwise.


Federated Commonwealth, Sudeten, October 20th, 3050

"We need fire support!" Star Colonel Adler Malthus yelled as he pushed the button for his radio. "We are facing at least five regiments of Battlemechs, and dozens of armour and Infantry regiments!" As good as the Jade Falcon Guards were, they could not defeat that many enemies. Not even with support from the Jade Eyrie Cluster. Certainly not after the mauling they had taken making planetfall. As much as it galled him, Adler had to call for support from the naval forces in orbit.

"We are still fighting the enemy's aerospace elements, Star Colonel, and cannot spare any for ground support."

Adler snarled as he twisted his Summoner and slid to the side, evading a flight of LRMs. The enemy was making a push for his centre, and this surat in orbit was claiming they could do nothing? The Jade Talon was an Aegis-class heavy cruiser!

He noticed a light BattleMech trying to close with him - a WLF-1, his computer identified it - and fired his PPC at it, followed by a volley of LRMs and cluster rounds. The enemy BattleMech shook from the hits and lost its right arm, but managed to withdraw behind a ridge before Adler's weapons finished cycling.

"I am requesting an orbital bombardment!" he snapped. "Transmitting coordinates now!" He hit the transmit button to send the navdata of the enemy's positions into orbit.

"Star Colonel, we are not authorised to use naval weapons on ground targets," the useless warrior told him.

"I am authorising it!" Adler retorted, jumping back another hundred and twenty metres and covering the remaining two OmniMechs of his Command Star as they retreated as well. "You dropped us in the midst of a killing zone!"

"This is an order from the Khan himself."

"He would authorise it if he were here!" Adler spat as he moved again - they had to keep moving to avoid the freebirth artillery. The WLF-1 appeared again, trying to get into Adler's rear, but Adler's next volley left it on the ground with its gyroscope shredded by LRM missiles and cluster rounds. "Hold your ground," he ordered his Command Star.

"Star Commander, Alpha Assault Star here. The pass we were ordered to secure is held by a company of enemy BattleMechs with artillery support. We need reinforcements to take it."

Adler cursed. The stravag curs had managed to surround his Cluster, preventing him from linking up with what was left of the Jade Eyrie Cluster. "Cluster Command to Trinary Assault - concentrate all your forces on the pass at the following coordinates!"

"Aff, Star Colonel." His computer informed him that the Trinary was down to two effective Stars. It would be enough.

He was flipping through his displays to send the data when his Summoner suddenly shook from a hit that almost tore off he OmniMech's left arm. Gauss rifle, he realised. The stravag bastards on this world were using far more advanced weapons than the forces he had fought so far.

He pressed his lips together as he pushed his Summoner into a sprint, his Star following him. He had to deal with the BattleMech carrying a gauss rifle at once. As he charged through a small patch of forest, he pushed his microphone again. "Jade Talon, I repeat, we are surrounded by enemies here. Our landing zones are overrun. We need fire support from you at once!"

"Neg, Star Colonel. The Khan's orders are clear: We are to avoid pushing the enemy into using nuclear weapons. Jade Talon cannot assist you. Contact Jade Eyrie Cluster for Aerospace support."

Adler cursed again, crushing the limb of a downed ENF-4R under his Summoner's feet as he charged ahead. "They have nothing left!" Not after clearing a path for the drop.

"I am sorry, Star Colonel. We will send help as soon as we clear out the enemy aerospace fighters."

Adler was about to curse out the stubborn naval coward when his OmniMech was struck again by a gauss rifle, and he had to struggle to keep it standing. His sensors finally found the enemy BattleMech. "Stravag!" - he was facing an AS7-D. But that model had no gauss rifle! And there were more BattleMech's emerging from a small gorge. Assault models. Kilian Malthus's Hellbringer turned to face a BNC-3S, but an entire lance focused on the OmniMech, and Kilian barely got a single volley off before his reactor lost containment and the Hellbringer vanished in a ball of plasma.

In return, Lily Pryde and Adler managed to destroy a ZEU-6S and damage the BNC-3S, but they could not stand up to an entire lance. Not damaged as they were. "Fall back!" he ordered her.

"Aff." She started to give ground when another gauss rifle hit tore off her OmniMech's left leg. She did not eject, but could not get off another volley before the rest of the enemy lance shredded her Summoner.

"Surats!" Adler was alone, now. LRMs and lasers hit his Summoner, breaching the armour in several spots. His own fire was ineffective. For a moment, he was tempted to stay and fight. Go out as a warrior, with Lily and Kilian.

But he was a Star Colonel. He knew his duty. He triggered his Summoner's jump jets. They carried him a hundred and fifty metres back, behind a rock large enough to shelter his entire Star.

"Star Colonel, Alpha Assault Star. We have been repulsed with heavy losses - we need more forces to take the pass."

Adler clenched his teeth. They were trapped. He had to rally his Cluster and break through the enemy lines. Link up with Jade Eyrie. Half of the dropships had managed to escape the debacle at the landing zone and they would be enough to evacuate the remains of the two clusters. "All units, rally on my position. We will focus our attacks here and break through to Jade Eyrie," he spat. "Then we will…"

A warning from his computer made him look up. A Scytha was flying overhead. He started to smile - air support was here! - when he noticed the fighter was trailing smoke. A moment later, the OmniFighter was torn apart in a hail of laserfire.

Two enemy fighters flew past him, then turned around. STU-D6s, his computer identified them. Snarling, Adler pushed his OmniMech into a sprint again. He was exposed here - he needed to get into the forest, take cover. Hide.

The strafing fighters caught up with him before he managed to clear the rock and his battered Summoner disintegrated under their fire. He did not manage to eject.


'The attack on Sudeten, which served as a staging area for six AFFC Regimental Combat Teams preparing for Operation Hammerstrike, the Counteroffensive against Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf, was a tactical debacle for Clan Jade Falcon. Surprised by the presence of far more troops than expected, they lost two entire Clusters and half of the transports that had made the drop. Further, thanks to the AFFC units being able to concentrate their forces, casualties were relatively light - little more than two battalions of 'Mechs were lost in the fighting as the parts of the two Clusters which had survived the drop were effectively overrun shortly after landing.

However, strategically, it was a mixed success for the Jade Falcons. The damage suffered to the RCTs' aerospace and transport assets as well as the repairs needed for all damaged units caused Hammerstrike to be delayed by two weeks. More importantly, though, was that the Clans were now aware that the AFFC was about to launch an offensive and could prepare accordingly.'

- Excerpt from 'The Clan Invasion: Their Finest Hour' by Hank G. Johnson, New Avalon Military Journal, 3075


'I almost pitied the Clan bastards when they arrived at the pirate point above Sudeten and dropped right into our staging area. Two Clusters against six entire RCTs and the Gray Death Legion? All of us ready to go and take our worlds back? It was a massacre. They were good, damned good - I have never fought better Mechwarriors - but quantity has a quality all of its own, as the saying goes. The fight in space went not quite as well - but they had a bloody warship there and were still sent packing! At the time, I thought that was a very good start for Operation Hammerstrike.'

- Leftenant Martha "Jersey" Campbell, 9th FedCom RCT