Dragons Doused 02
Fake Star League Depot
Galtor III
Around 4 AM
If there was one thing Warlord Yoriyoshi loved, it was his 17th Benjamin Regulars. Every year he visited the planets within his district and give out scholarships to the Sun Zhang MechWarrior Academy. In exchange, those who accepted scholarships had to spend three years serving in the 17th Benjamin. Wisely, Yoriyoshi picked many students with wealthy families, who then contributed large amounts of money to the regimental coffers.
And his heart bled as he sent them off into the meat grinder.
'Don't you see?! We are the same!' he wanted to shout.'We can only move forward! The only victory that matters is gaining the approval of the Coordinator! Everything else is an afterthought! We may only retreat when we have exhausted all means of accomplishing our sworn oath and any further would be wasting the Coordinator's armies. Our lives do not belong to ourselves!
Graduates of Sun Zhang were honored with a daisho - a katana and and the shorter straight-bladed wakizashi, as a true samurai - and if a soldier dishonored themselves or the teachings of the Academy in any way they had to commit seppuku with his own honor blades or suffer the loss of their loss of their 'Mech or AeroFighter, landholdings, titles, rank, and their family's honor. Dishonor can attach itself to generations, while simply recovering from a lost mech would be recoverable by any family of some means and connections.
The 17th Benjamin had the best that the Draconis Combine or the black market could provide, and so with the hopes and support of their families behind them, their survival now rested entirely upon their own will.
If it was truly impossible, Yoriyoshi would have retreated long ago.
Every time it became the longest eight minutes in the regiment's history.
While the straight line distance to the depot was slightly over 6 kilometers through the minefield, and more like eighteen away from artillery range, for most of that distance it was actually quite safe to traverse if they just moved at a good clip. It was just over halfway into the minefield that things began to experience sudden and often fatal interruptions.
There was a battle line of eight Mackies firing 32 PPCs that could wreck any pair of mechs quickly. However, LRMs outranged PPCs and sending some Catapults and Archers Yoriyoshi knew he had to have been degrading the Mackie force. They were able to then retreat in good order.
Pre-targeted Artillery could take out clumped mechs and those trying to use other fallen mechs as cover, but the natural drift of inbound artillery shells means that the minefields on either side of the roads could also be destroyed by errant shell landings.
Thus, there were areas where mechs could stand three or four abreast! Sometimes even six!
Kurita Assault Mechs could finally concentrate fire to try and overwhelm these road proved this. The closest wreck to the depot was but a mere fifty or so meters away from the entrance. They could still win this!
The last tactic they tried was to have Dragons flat-out running while Jenners ran ahead in running leaps to spoil the aim and distract the assault line. It was close. Painfully close.
The Davions were not the only ones that could do field repairs. The RBG accompanying them had technicians, utility cranes, and cargo haulers. The wide flats of the Wagnall Plain meant the wheeled vehicles could decently keep up with the mechs.
Jenners dumped SRM ammo, to survive for longer without the danger of ammo explosions. Damaged Mechs could have some of their leg and torso armor replaced. Mechs ran and jumped in practice for the assault. Yoroyoshi itched with impatience. Every minute they spent was another minute given to the enemy to recover from damage and relieve the pressure.
His comms continued to deliver reports of the vanguard forces of his regiment trying to hold against the Eridani Light Horse.
"The hell are they doing trying this again?" murmured one of the Davion troopers. "For god's sake you morons. Just leave!"
"But if they leave then we don't get to kill them," answered another.
- Were the last words they ever said before they were shot from the back by DCMS troopers in thermal cloaks.
They had been crawling for hours through the edges of the minefield. While the bulk of the infantry were the ignored child of the entire DCMS, with armor that provided inferior protection compared to other House armies, Yoriyoshi extended some of his favor to special operations units. A heat-blocking thermal cloak, silenced automatic rifles, and compact comm systems did not quite make them DEST infiltrators, but they had honor of their own all the same.
One of the troopers began to click out a sequence on his transmitter. Positional data for artillery spotting.
Soon enough, Long Tom shells began raiding down on the depot. Yoriyoshi brought with him an Imperial Artillery Battalion, and six Long Toms began to finally suppress the defenders. Night Vision and Optical Zoom could not be used at the same time on his neurohelmet HUD, but it did look like some of the hits were at the entrance, damaging those same clumped rows of Davion mechs?
The depot answered with the crack of counter battery fire, and soon enough they were removed from the equation. They had to relocate before being ready to fire again.
Yoriyoshi took deep calming breaths.
He looked at the time.
"Proceed with the operation," he ordered. This time a whole company of mechs was moving as one. Four assault mechs with the best longest-ranged weapons available trundled ominously forward at their best speed. An 80-ton Awesome-8R that reduced its firepower from three PPCs to two Large Lasers and a pair of LRM-15s, a 85-ton Stalker-3F with two LRM-10s, another Awesome but the regular -8Q with the three PPCs, and a 95-ton Banshee-3M with two PPCs.
Behind them was 90-ton Cyclops-10Q that traded its AC/20 for another LRM-10, an extra Medium Laser, and more heatsinks. A captured Davion 80-ton Victor-9A with only short-ranged weaponry, a 75-ton Marauder-3R with two PPCs, and an 70-ton Archer-2K with a pair of LRM-15s. What these mechs had in common was that they could run and shoot slightly faster up to 64 kph.
Some distance away, six 35-ton Jenners followed, ready to kick up to high gear and jump over them. Then behind them, eight Dragons.
"Kill the meat, save the metal"was the guiding philosophy of the Succession Wars where battlefield salvage was a significant reward. Here, Yoriyoshi encouraged the reverse. The Assault line's main job was to concentrate fire and kill at least one enemy mech. Then their second job was to die standing. Once it looked like they were taking too much damage, their last job was to lock their BattleMech's joints in place and then eject. If they waited until too late trying to fight until death then the mechs could take catastrophic damage and just fall over becoming useless as cover for the next line.
Granted, doing this still had a high chance the pilots would land into the minefield. But escape pods were small enough they would likely only trigger a few mines at most on landing. They could rescue them later once victory was at hand.
He watched the lead mechs pause briefly to move around the first roadblock, some mechs taken out with artillery fire. Fortunately the barrage also left a wide area free of mines.
After a few minutes they entered LRM range. Mechs began to slow down to shoot well beyond the enemy's ability to retaliate. Since antiquity, every army has needed a way to soften up the enemy before the point of contact.
ER PPC fire could unfortunately reach that far with reasonable accuracy.
Yoriyoshi grit his teeth. Why would they waste such lostech on Urbanmechs instead of concentrating them onto a heavy or assault chassis? If the Mackies carried those weapons they would be a lot more dangerous instead of having to suffer LRM strikes and this strategem would be impossible.
The front line of assault mechs pushed on slowly pushed on, weathering that fire until they could empty their missile bins. Behind them, firing on an indirect fire arc much like a mortar, the second line of mechs could hit things without the need for direct line of sight. The LRM launcher's ubiquity replaced mortars and even light artillery for main combat platforms, part of the flexibility in ton-for-ton transportable assets that led to Mech dominance over the battlefield.
Then they entered PPC range.
At maximum range, it was still likely for both sides to miss their shots. Even with combined fire, skillful movement and torso rotation could spread the damage around. Kurita had observed that the defenders tended to fire from left to right.
That was the Banshee. It only had 15 tons of armor but was oddly quick for its weight, only 5 tons less than an Atlas. It could run up to 64 kph, same as most heavy mechs. The Jenners now leaped over the battle line to rush ahead of the formation. The Banshee and the Victor from the second line ran ahead right behind the Light Mechs, while the Marauder slid into the front battle line.
A pulsating lightshow lit up the distance between them. The Davion defenders had to choose between the fast mechs coming up or the heavy battle line behind them. They chose to kill the rushing mechs.
The Jenners leap-frogged through the distance, landing and running only long enough to leap again. While in the air they were on a predictable ballistic trajectory, it takes longer to line up a shot compared to targets on the ground. They were buying valuable seconds.
Closer and closer - the assault mechs had reached the furthest wreckage point and had to step over fallen Jenners and Dragons. This was the infamous 'mound' where mechs piled high on each other.
A second set of Jenners sprang out from behind the assaults.
One of the Jenners actually reached the Davion line! A couple of Mackies even had to stop firing with PPCs as it entered their minimum range and had to engage with Medium Lasers. The Jenner scratched at the assault mechs with its own lasers before dying. Even as Pulse Laser fire from Super Urbanmechs cut it down, the mech seemed to exude an aura of smugness.
Your invincibility is broken! If we can touch you, we can kill you!
"They are pulling back!" the mechs reported."They are trying to extend the engagement range!"
Yes! As always, valor and blood prevails where metal fails! Yoriyoshi closed his eyes and leaned back on his seat. He then abruptly opened them again. He started to bark out commands. "We are moving out! Dragon group, run! Everyone, on me!"
The assault mechs had passed the last quarter of the distance. The Kurita mechs staggered from repeated blows, and first the Banshee and then the Victor dropped to their knees and their pilots ejected. A short while later, two of the Mackies had to step away from the battle line to be replaced with reserves.
Artillery fire disrupted the depot entrance. Yoriyoshi was betting everything on this, even the danger of his artillery company being taken out by counter-battery.
Dragons slipped past the assault mechs towards the depot, and the next line of Jenners only had to make a few more 150-meter hops. Then finally -
They were through!
The Jenners jumped again away from the direct line of fire to start skirmishing in the enemy back line. Their radio sparked with"Mechs! More mec-!"before suddenly being cut off. Death? Or ECM?
Dragons poured through the base entrance. This time the heavier armored mechs could get out a more comprehensible report - "No! Command, there are more Mackies! Counting dozens - no, at least twenty Mackies! Many other smaller mechs! Turn back!"
"It's a killbox! We are forcing our way into close combat! They have to take the risk of shooting each other!"
"For the glory of House Kurita! Tonight is a good night to die!"
The Eridani Light Horse and even all the other mech regiments in the world all combined did not have enough free pilots for these many Assault Mechs.
However, a standard infantry company has as many men as a full mech battalion. The 782nd Davion Guards Auxiliary had a full battalion on Galtor III, an artillery battery of 12 guns, and another battalion of mechanized infantry recon section. They were at 200% strength.
Through the week, the Eridani Light Horse simply had to test the hundreds of men and women for any modicum of talent with the neurohelmet. These chosen few did not need to be trained to move the mechs at all. They just needed to know enough to aim and shoot like a standing turret.
MechWarriors moved the mechs out from the depot under the cover of night.
After lending a company of Royal Mackies to the 12th Vegan Rangers, they still had 36 Mackies left. And 48 Jackies.
Missile artillery burst out from the base and exploded in mid-air, scattering FASCAM mines behind the traveled road. Yoriyoshi himself was stuck a little more than halfway through.
"More Mackies? A company….? No, a battalion?!" Yoriyoshi mumbled numbly.
A battalion of Assault mechs was valuable everywhere. So the prize for this depot was not just lostech, but actual war assets. It would be worth it even if they lost half a regiment of lighter mechs for it.
No - no - this was better.
If they could just close in, PPCs had a minimum range cut-off for safety reasons. Dragons and Jenners were excellent close-combatants. They could punch and kick and their agility allowed them to slide past enemies to strike at their vulnerable backs.
Airbursts continued to separate the attackers. Those who hesitate would be stopping at pre-designated artillery fire zones.
Long disused ASF bay rolling hatches on the dropships opened. Infantry poked out with AC/2 field guns. While these weapons lacked damage potential compared to other weapons normally mounted in vehicles and mechs, they had range and were the anti-air weapons all others were tested against. They were still light enough to lug up the decks and the mounts could be welded into the tilting floor for stability. They now fired down at any targets of opportunity.
"Yoriyoshi to Imperial Artillery. Walking barrage on the depot."
If they were all clumped up, then they too would be vulnerable to artillery.
There was no response.
"Yoriyoshi to base, respond. Yoriyoshi to PRIDE OF BENJAMIN, respond!"
After a few moments, the comm line opened. Behind the speaker was the frantic noises of the command center inside the Fortress-class DropShip. "This is Pride of Benjamin Actual. The Artillery group was damaged by missile artillery. Land-Air Mechs came in from the north, flying nap of earth to minimize detection while we were fending off attacks from the south and east. We are attempting to recover and assess what guns are still usable. Estimate… three minutes?"
The depot was outside of effective range of the Long Tom integrated into the nose of the Fortress. That was why they had to take the risk to move the mobile Long Toms out.
Yoriyoshi stood numbly in the middle of the road.
"Warlord, what are your orders?!"
"Sir! Do we advance? Do we retreat?!"
"Your orders, sir!"
Yoriyoshi looked aside at the digital clock. It was 5:26 AM and the skies were starting to brighten.
To retreat would preserve his forces. Even if they had to go through a minefield, enough of them would be able to survive. He would likely be made to commit seppuku to wash the shame of this defeat however.
To move forward was to go into certain death, though they would try to take as many of the Davions with them as they died. It would be a good death.
A cold clarity draped over him. He nodded.
He switched to an open frequency."This is Yoriyoshi. Warlord of Benjamin. I hereby consider this operation a failure. Pull back. I order the Benjamin Regulars to retreat and reorganize."
Then on standard DCMS secure channels "I order that all forces under my command as Warlord of the BenjaminMilitary District - withdraw offworld and reconvene on Benjamin*. I hereby assign Trentus Kole as the secondary battlefield commander until all Benjamin forces are away from Galtor III. All other commands are superseded by this order. Other regimental commands *not* from Benjamin may continue or withdraw offworld as they see fit."
It took a while longer for the shooting to stop. The Kurita troops looked unwilling, but they obeyed.
"What are you doing standing here?" he asked Adam Sharon, leader of the 3rd Battalion. Although in a 90-ton Cyclops assault mech that was once designed specifically to be the best command mech possible, the much degraded technology of the Succession Wars meant that these mechs were often used as standard juggernauts or decoys for commanders. As Yoriyoshi himself piloted a common Dragon, this often worked.
"Warlord, please let me accompany you into the Pure World,"spoke the MechWarrior.
"Denied. You have your orders. All of you. Leave."
"... As you say, my lord. It will be done."
The Davions did not prosecute a retreat too closely. They too had to mind the preservation of their forces. Slowly, the guns silenced, and dawn broke through the distant mountains.
And Yoriyoshi was left alone.
He pointed his right arm to the ground and started walking towards the depot.
"Kurita mech, halt." the radio barked."You are approaching a restricted area. Continuing further will only result in your unnecessary demise."
"This is Yoriyoshi. Shoot me if you wish. I want to see it," he replied on an open frequency. "Are there treasures at all or was this all just an empty box? I understand Hanse Davion has his schemes, but I must know."
He continued walking and while every gun followed him none fired at him.
Yoriyoshi walked up the ramp to the depot entrance. There he saw behind more Mech wrecks, indeed three walls of Mackies. And at least a company of strange egg-shaped mechs on reverse-jointed 'chicken walker' legs.
"What are those?" he asked.
Someone answered"Jackies. JKE-1. They were supposed to replace the failed 60-ton Bellerophon as a dedicated escort mech for Mackies, but by the time they were ready for production, many better medium mechs were already in service and Mackies already relegated to militia commands."
"My thanks. I dare to guess… forty tons? Speed of eighty-six?"
"Forty-five tons. You are correct for speed."
"Armament?"
"Two Large Lasers, two Medium Lasers, Small Pulse Laser."
"Fascinating. The Mackies have four PPCs, correct? How is it possible to keep alpha striking continuously?"
"These are Royal Mackies and they have Double HeatSinks."
Inside his cockpit, Yoriyoshi put his fists together over his stomach, and bowed.'I was not wrong!'
"So ka. I understand now. I am grateful." He smiled. He looked to the side, towards the rising sun. He started to raise the right PPC arm of his Dragon, and-
-.
-.
AN:
Books 2 and 3 for this fic is complete, it is just a hassle to post on FFN when it strips out all my formatting.