The morning sun was rising over a beautiful, but unnamed beach. Whoever had lived here before had left no record of what it was called, and no one since had bothered to name it. Of course the beach was not why he was there, or why three lances of Inner Sphere mechs were even now advancing from their dropzones some three kilometers away. No, it was the abandoned Titanium mine five klicks behind him that was the prize of the coming skirmish.
Checking his weapons readiness once again, Ngrasta; Warrior of Clan Wolf, fidgeted in his seat. Privileged to pilot a massive Dire Wolf he had enough firepower at his fingertips to lay waste to an entire city… if he wasn't ambushed by a lance of light mechs first.
"Assault One, Assault One, this is Scout One. Contact five bandits grid golf seven. Count: three mediums, one... make that two lights. Checking profiles, Standby."
The voice over the comms, loud and sudden startled Ngrasta, but only for a moment. Months of training took over, and his voice was steady as he replied.
"Scout One, this is Assault One, copy your last. Over"
The waiting was over, now all that remained was combat.

-Ten minutes later-

"...a trap, Lead us right into their heavy lance! Scout's Two and Five are down, we're falling back!"

"Scout One, direct the rest of your Star to regroup in sector india seven. I will provide covering fire, while Heavy Star secures our left flank."
With those words all his forces were committed to battle. Even with the unfortunate loss of Scouts Two and Five to a well executed ambush, their forces were more than a match for the slower and shorter ranged IS mechs.
Cresting A pile of slag the Direwolf's sensors began to confirm targets; Jager, Centurion, and an Orion.
"Scout One I have hard locks on their heavy lance. You are clear to separate and harass." Orders given, Ngrasta turned his full attention to the available targets. The Jager had already begun to fire on him, though with It's AC-5s barely in range it was little threat. The Orion however was another matter. Armed with LRMs it wasted no time in filling the intervening space with dozens of armor piercing missiles.

'warning, incoming missiles' his battle computer chirped.

The series of detonations that followed rocked his mech, though the incredibly thick armor along the torso was in no danger of being breached by that amount of fire. "Orion it is then" he muttered. With a hungry growl his quartet of UAC-2s began to spin up; At the same time his mechs large lasers flashed, cyan energy lancing out with deadly intent.
Too slow to evade, the Orion took both beams on it's left torso. A fraction of a second later the UAC rounds began to impact. Although less precise than his lasers, the volume of fire more than made up for the difference, shredding armor indiscriminately from the front of the 75 ton war machine. The Orion and it's companions quickly moved into the cover of a nearby rock formation, with the Orion missing several tons of armor.
"Heavy One this is Assault One. you have targets at your 3 o'clock. Primary target is the Orion, secondary is the Centurion. Engage at will"
Heavy Star consisted of one Hellbringer and 4 Timber Wolves, all armed with powerful short range missiles. Trapped between his long range fire and the devastating SRMs of his heavy mechs, their foe's destruction was assured.

The sudden roar of incoming fire and the chirping of his battlecomp broke his concentration. Damage sensors blared warning as a gauss round impacted his mech's center torso armor, nearly puncturing as if found the already weakened plates the Orion had hit earlier. Seconds later a hail of long range missiles blanket the front of his mech, making his ears ring, though they failed to strike anything vital. Identifying the source took no time at all. An enemy Atlas had moved into the open; it's distinctive profile making it seem like a primitive god emerging from the morning mist. A feral grin split Ngrasta's face. Opening his comms to all channels, he issued a formal challenge: "To all combatants; I, Star Captain Ngrasta of Clan Wolf, piloting the lone Direwolf, hereby invoke the ritual of zellbrigen and challenge the pilot of the Atlas to a duel of warriors. In this solemn matter let no one interfere!"
As one his warriors shouted 'seyla!' Whether or not the opposing force honored the ritual made no difference to him. Glory and honor would be his today, and victory in this battle would follow. Confirming his weapons readiness, he target locked the Atlas. Now it was his turn to fire, and the enemy would not have long to regret his mistake. Ngrasta growled in anticipation. It was time to feed his wolf.