Dragonslayer 02
Approx 180 km NNW of Conlan City
New Aberdeen
It was not even noon yet.
In truth, it was not exactly necessary for General Lavrenti Kornilov to lead this rarely-seen force concentration. He could have just stayed at the DropShip, coordinating the regiment's actions via the command post inside an Overlord.
However, this whole thing was about repaying the insult. Doing better than the Wolf's Dragoons. It is known that sometimes even Jaime Wolf fights on the field. A leader must at times go to the battlefield and risk their life to prevent an unseemly appearance of laziness. The Draconis Combine can abide many things, but a timid commander least of all.
He had advised his predecessor to commit ritual suicide rather than face any accusation of impropriety by the Assembly of the Grand Inquisitor, the Combine's military court. While General Fastius Semronovitch had done nothing wrong, just being called up meant that those facing the court would never be seen again and they could extract any confession they wished. Better to die with his honor intact. And thereafter Kornilov took control of the regiment.
Someone may have given the Grand Inquisitors false information for this exact situation.
The battle group moved with three companies on each flank, with the command company at the center. It was roughly an A-shaped formation.
His Target and Tracking System buzzed with air contact. ASFs approached from ahead but at high altitude. These were 4th Deneb fighters, still contesting the skies, preventing Kuritan air from being of any direct help. At the very least no one was in a position do any bombing runs. They would have to rely on forward scouts to find the enemy.
Kornilov idly listened to the battalion channels. Four hours in and nothing interesting had happened. Battlemechs had autopilot when at cruising speed, and the wide open (if not exactly flat) expanse of New Aberdeen's semi-arid soils were excellent for this.
The radio crackled "Erik Lance to Rocket Lead, reporting enemy contact. Looks like… four lances. Two lances Urbanmech. Two lances Catapult and Archer. We are engaged. Over."
"Roger that." There was a click. "This is Rocket Company Lead to Battalion Command, seeking permission to support. Over."
"Hm. That would be forward left company, would it not?" he said to Kutuzov, walking beside him also in a Dragon.
"Hai, general. That one is named, oddly enough, Steiner," was the reply from the other mech. "Steiner's Rocket Company is a light mech company. I would recommend sending Tolbukhin Company instead, they have anti-minefield sensors."
That would mean compressing the left side. He frowned. "Sensible. Catapults and Archers with four medium lasers are decent skirmishers for fire support mechs, they can withstand attack by light mechs ranging in the back line. Tell them to pull back. See if the Davions will dare try to harass our flank, and then meet them with force."
"Hai, general!" Kutuzov relayed the instructions.
"Rocket Company to Erik Lance, pull back. Do you copy? Erik Lance, do you read?"
Looking ahead, the two forward companies were behind a ridge, and their scouts ranged several kilometers ahead of the formation.
No communications returned from Erik Lance, composed of three 20-ton Wasps and a 35-ton Jenner. Kornilov wrinkled his nose. While light and barely armored, those four mechs should still be fast enough that they could not be taken out quickly. Even one against four lances, they should be able to break off.
Steiner's voice came back "Enemy contact! As reported, here comes eight Urbanmechs, four each Catapult and Archer. We are under missile and PPC fire." The left company spread out while the other forward company moved to assist.
"If this is a feint, if we move with the weight of numbers we will not be led astray," said Kornilov. "All forces, move on point and engage." He moved the throttle of his mech to full. The arrow-shaped formation tilted to the left.
As his mech cleared the ridge, he saw how the enemy engaged forward elements. Two companies of light mechs versus one mixed company of lights and heavies. The light mechs were rushing to close in with the enemy at full speed, while the Davions were walking at a quick yet oddly leisurely-looking pace at an angle, picking them off one by one.
The Kurita formation pivoted to prevent the enemy from finding the flank. Steiner company was the tip of the spear. Coming from behind the Urbanmechs, missiles crossed the gap. Missiles were rarely a decisive weapon against light mechs, as most of them can miss a mech moving and abruptly changing directions at high speed.
Large Laser fire, however… that was another matter entirely.
A Locust brewed up, its ammunition igniting from being cored through by a pair of Large Lasers. Those were probably ARC-2Ks, a common variant in the Draconis Combine. There, a Jenner that managed to get through was showered in criss-cross fire from the Catapults. Instead of four Medium Lasers, the Catapults only fired three each. On the other hand, these lasers struck at ranges closer to that of a Large Laser. Armor boiled off as the beams carved into it, until one of its legs was sliced clean through and the mech collapsed face-first into hard ground.
The Urbanmechs peeled off from screening the Heavy Mech to meet the incoming medium-weight company from the middle left portion of the battle group. They answered LRM fire with PPC fire from extreme ranges.
"So it is true…" he heard Kutuzov murmur. "They are using lostech. This is not the Fourth Deneb. They are the Eridani Light Horse!"
Both the Eridani Light Horse and the 4th Deneb still used standard SLDF light tan camo.
"Good! Crushing this group would be a fine appetizer. They made a mistake here - throwing away two lances of Heavies just to buy themselves time. Even losing a full company of light mechs is worth the exchange. We could trade two for one and still be on the advantage - a spoiling attack should do more than their own weight to be of value! Destroy them!"
They had been warned about stupidly fast Urbanmechs with ER PPCs. But to defeat them all one needed to do was to be sufficiently fast. Long-range duels were a fool's bargain.
As the 2nd Galedon Regulars rushed forth at full speed, the ELH mechs slowly dialed down their attacks and began to accelerate. They disengaged smoothly. Even the Catapults and Archers began to move past regular running speed of Heavy mechs - up to Medium mech speeds, ensuring that most of the 2nd Galedon Mechs would not be able to catch up given the initial distance between the two formations. Only Light Mechs would be able to close the distance, but then that would lead them out of sight of the battle group.
The Eridani Light Horse attacked, wrecked a company of light mechs in short order, and then pulled back with almost no damage to themselves.
Those heavy mechs were moving at over 80 kph.
Dragon speeds.
How?
The Dragon had an mediocre warload with an AC/5 for a main gun, but they were a savage light and meium mech hunter that could neatly outmaneuver standard heavy mechs. This completely removed the Dragon's advantage! The totem of House Kurita's rule! The insult, the -
"Did they downgrade the LRMs into LRM-10s? LRM-5s?" Kutuzov murmured to himself some more. "Or is it more lostech? It is probably lostech." His voice was tinged with greed.
The salvage.
"Enemy contact!" reported Ulasov's company, formation lower-right. "Medium mechs!"
Deneb.
Kornilov hissed. "Split the force. Kutuzov, take two companies and handle this."
He would take the remaining four companies and keep pushing forward. Kutuzov's battle group was fast enough to deal with anything. Deneb's Light Cavalry would have mechs in the same weight class.
Kutuzov sucked in his breath. Not participating in the fight against the Eridani Light Horse meant he was not due any of that lostech salvage. Deneb Cavalry Mechs were potent if used with skill, but mundane.
"Well, Tai-sa?"
"A-as you command, Tai-sho." Kutuzov's Dragon halted abruptly and wheeled about. The battalion commander began screaming commands into his comms, and the two rear guard companies broke formation.
It was ideal for a force to move at a uniform speed, preferably a Medium Mech's 86 kph running speed or 54 kph cruising speed. In practice, this was not possible even for a maximum aggression Kurita force. Light mechs such as the Panther had a powerful punch for their weight class with a PPC, but were limited to 64 kph running speed. This was not normally a problem as that was average Heavy mech speed and the DCMS like to use Jenners and Panthers in a hammer and anvil approach.
Medium mechs could carry heavier firepower if they were to accept a reduction in speed, the classic Davion Enforcer for example. A Class 10 Autocannon in one arm and a Large Laser in another totaled 18 tons (w/ ammo) for a 50-ton machine. A 45-ton Vindicator was essentially an up-sized Panther for these purposes, with more armor and all-range weapons load.
By a similar vein, a Heavy Mech could accept a reduction in firepower or armor in exchange for speed, the Dragon or Quickdraw for example. All of the 2nd Galedon's Heavy Mechs were in this vein. The individual lances of the regiment moved in lines as if they were still on parade.
The 2nd Galedon also had a pair of Assault Mechs, moving at a top speed of 54 kph. They were a Stalker and a Victor.
A veritable rain of missiles arced from the sky towards the core of the Kuritan regiment. Eight heavy mechs, each carrying a pair of LRM-15s, meant a white swarm of 240 LRMs inbound. Fortunately indirect fire was not quite as accurate as within visual range launches.
Unfortunately this was still a big swirling blob of missiles that was guaranteed to hit something. Anything. The command company scattered to spread out chances of being hit.
Missiles. Not artillery. That was promising.
All mechs had more or less some armor stripped off. More so with the two Assault mechs in the command lance, being too slow to change their direction in time. Once again Lavrenti Kornilov appreciated the wisdom of not being the big obvious target in the regimental command lance. In the Combine, speed was life itself.
This meant that unless Kornilov wanted to fight directly and outpace his command and bodyguard lances, his command battle group was limited to 54 kph. Lances with Panthers in them were limited to 64 kph to maintain unit cohesion.
It was just that the Eridani Light Horse were refusing to step in between the hammer and the anvil.
So be it. On a broad front they would meet the enemy. Ten BattleMech lances by themselves would normally be a match for all two mixed battalions the Davions had on planet. They would be the hammer. They would be the storm. This was the decisive battle!
-.
-.
Allwine watched the formerly neat Kuritan formation wobble into disarray, splitting into two like a cell undergoing mitosis.
What had once been a neat arrow had turned into two stringy blobs. The formations stretched out into a line to be able to surround and swallow the enemy. As everyone in this fight was familiar with Light Mech tactics, they all prepared to refuse the flank in advance.
With their unprecedented speed, the ELH's Archers and Catapults didn't need a screening force of Light Mechs. Now the four lances separated into two groups - the Urbanmechs being the hammer and heavy mechs with their missile load and ER Large and Medium Lasers being the anvil. Kuritan Light mechs that outpace their own company would be caught in enfilade.
This was doing the Mongol, he mused. They could drag this out for hours if they had to. Normal operations would already be leading the enemy into an enfilade ambush of combat vehicles and heavy mechs.
But the Eridani Light Horse only had two full companies - six lances - or 24 mechs in this fight.
They had reduced the enemy's starting 82 mechs by one company (12) and heavily damaged another dozen. Another 28 mechs (2 companies + command lance) then removed themselves to deal with 4th Deneb's own two dozen mechs.
Now all the remaining 42 BattleMechs were raring towards Raymond Allwine's face.
He stroked at his bushy mustache. Half a year ago this would have been intimidating.
But knowing that General Armstrong had access to Robotnik's holorecordings - years of the man's philosophy and forgotten/buried knowledge about the inner workings of the Star League - Allwine had begged for the privilege of listening to the voice of a man born in two golden ages of mankind. He had to hear and accept all sorts of uncomfortable truths.
Chief among them was that the SLDF was not really all that much better than the House militaries during the height of the Star League. Davion troops were as professional as the SLDF, Kurita troops just as skilled, even House Liao at that time was a competent power. Marik and Steiner had the economy to match the SLDF's output if they really wanted to. Their advantage was that they started ramping up early from the days of the Terran Hegemony and never stopped. They took in contributions from the House Militaries and labeled them as their own.
What made the SLDF so much better than the Great Houses that, until Kerensky left with all the SLDF, they did not dare to test their might?
The SLDF had many advantages, their system was unmatched, their numbers all but limitless, but there was another special thing that broke loyalties of family and nation into something greater. What elevated their personhood and brought them into recruitment centers that knew they would be ceding their citizenship in their House to fight on distant worlds?
He looked to his left and right. He was in a Battlemaster, an 85-to Assault mech often used as a command mech. Even Hanse Davion used one. To his left was a 75-ton Marauder, and to his right two 75-ton Flashmans. A 30-ton Super Urbanmech Comms Guard was standing by his side around knee level, its dome top barely visible at this height. This was the entirety of his command lance.
Behind him were all eight of the Super Urbanmech Arrow IVs of the battalion. They would be helpless to direct attack, as they sacrificed too much armor and speed in order to mount their sizable artillery reloads.
And two 60-ton communications and control trucks.
Ah yes. He grinned. "Presentation!"
-.
-.
Near The Firth
New Aberdeen
Same day
Yasneyev Georgi was a proud graduate of Sun Zhang Academy. Though its training was founded on harsh discipline and emphasized bushido, at least it was based on savage beatings as the conditioning regiment as the Galedon Military Academy.
Sun Zhang was one of the few schools in the Draconis Combine that honored its graduates with both a Wakizashi and a Katana sword. These may be worn with the soldier's dress uniform. If for any reason the soldier dishonored himself in any way, however, he must commit seppuku or face the loss of his 'Mech or fighter, landholdings, titles, rank, and both his own and his family's honor.
Ehrenburg, commander of the third Battalion, was also a graduate of Sun Zhang Academy. Sun Zhang Academy counted as its graduate the current Coordinator of Worlds, Takashi Kurita, autocrat ruler of the Draconis Combine itself.
Galedon Academy was for commoners, Sun Zhang was for the elites.
Ehrenburg's failure on New Aberdeen could only be expiated with death.
More urgent than simply beating some uppity mercenary MechWarrior was making sure Kiel Ehrenburg did not kill himself too early. His death must be observed according to the proper ritual of seppuku, as mere suicide to avoid enduring the humuliation any further would not be enough to save his family from the dishonor.
Officers of House Kurita did not have a duty to live, but to die properly. Dying in battle was often the best, but if Ehrenburg had decided to spike himself onto a PPC bolt to escape the consequences, there would need to be a serious inquest.
Ehrenburg Battalion's Overlord-class dropship, the Bialistock, had landed in a very defensible valley that used to be a mine established by the Combine when they owned the world. Towns nearby were Kuritan sympathizers, or at least were visibly cooperative as long as there were Battlemechs in the area.
A single Spider rushed forth to meet Georgi's battle group.
The pilot spoke in crackling heavily accented commoner's Japanese "This is Shujin Sugita of Badnov's Company, Ehrenburg Battalion. May I have the honor of knowing if the Mechs are of Georgi Battalion?"
As the Light mech approached, they could all see it was missing its left arm. Fortunately a Spider's pair of Medium Lasers was mounted in the torso.
"Is it? A mere sergeant by himself coming to meet his betters. You dishonor us. I am Tai-sa Georgi. Where is Ehrenburg?"
The Spider bowed. "I apologize for the insult, masters. You may have my life if you wish. But Tai-sa Ehrenburg-sama is… indisposed. He is of the moment in a medical coma and cannot show the proper courtesy."
Georgi sneered. "How convenient."
"If you would allow it, please follow me to the base at speed. We cannot stay out in the open any more than necessary."
Georgi sucked in his breath. "I did not think it was possible for the 2nd Galedon to fall so far, but you are all actual cowards now. I should shoot you where you stand."
"I would welcome this mercy, my lord. But please, I beg you to let us do this at a more opportune place. It has been a long journey for you. If my death would amuse you in anyway, I would happily offer my life back at base at your ease."
Georgi switched radio channels for a moment. "Second Galedon Second Battalion Command to Air Lance. Do you see any enemy movement? Over."
"This is Leaf Lance Leader, negative on that. Over." An Aerospace Lance was two fighters, and four ASFs circled the skies above the group.
"Actual cowards," Georgi breathed again.
-.
-.
Ehrenburg had at least chosen his landing site well. The valley was protected on three sides, and one side was a mountain face. The excavated chambers of the iron mines made for cool quarters and storage under the New Aberdeen heat. The site was large enough to support an airfield.
The Overlord loomed over an entrance that could only accept two mech lances walking side by side. The Battalion was originally accompanied by an modified Triumph-class fighter-carrier DropShip but, as the dropship was not as good for launching and refitting ASFs once landed, it left with the Wolf's Dragoons. Of the original anti-4th Deneb air support, only a single Sabre remained.
The valley did not have walls tall enough to be collapsed into invaders, but the rough rise and fall of the terrain meant that only jump-capable mechs would be able to move in cohesion. This was not terrain good for non-jump capable heavy mechs. The Kuritan Dragon could not jump, but it was at least fast. A Davion Centurion or Jagermech would not be able to contribute so well.
There was space to accept Georgi's company, as it was originally made to service a full battalion. Now he could see all the remains of what had been a proud assembly of forty mechs (3 companies + command lance, made possible through the removal of the six ASF bays for extra mech bays and cargo). Nine heavily battered mechs stood at attention, and the Spider escorting them joined them in line.
This was light mech country and that was all that remained of Ehrenburg battalion. Two 35-ton Firestarters, two 35-ton Jenners, one last 35-ton Panther, the rest 20-ton Locusts and Stingers, all showing extensive weapons fire carbon scoring on their Galedon colors of white and light blue.
Ehrenburg swiveled his 60-ton Dragon's torso from side to side, looking over the base. There were some signs of combat. The troops - infantry and armor, looked nervous and ready to repulse another assault at any moment.
The remaining Ehrenburg mechs were relaxed, as if inviting death. The regular troops moved with purpose and sank into dug-in positions. Trenches minimized exposure to artillery and mech fire. No one was pointing any guns at newcomers but at the valley mouth beyond them. Cowards but prepared to fight.
Georgi grimaced and bit at his bottom lip in a pug-like scowl. Something smelled wrong here.