- The Lucky Regiment -[]
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- Chapter 23 -
Helm Campaign - Part 2[]
Jump Point aboard Lord Garth's personal DropShip
Sirius V, Free Worlds League
16th April, 3027
Emilio Rachan looked at the corpulent Duke with his usual concealed sense of disgust. Like many in his order he tried to live a life of moderation, the Duke however had long since given up on such lifestyle choices and with it any pretence of a military career. In embracing politics and the art of plotting he had simply not had time (or the shape) to develop martial skills.
The lack of military training was now a problem for both of them, the operation on Helm had gone worryingly wrong. Comstar's normally brilliant intelligence service had missed the presence of a second military formation on the world and the Duke's desire to take vacant possession of the fief meant said formation was now understandably hostile. Thus the slightly understrength regiment that had landed was now restricted to defending the spaceport and was up against a force that had mysterious Lostech mechs.
The mysterious Lostech 'mechs could only have come from one place and that almost certainly meant the Helm cache had been opened, whether the company of Lostech 'mechs was another group or simply the Grey Death Legion's reserve pilots being outfitted in mechs from the cache remained unclear to his analytical colleagues on Terra. The local Comstar station had seen no orders or military communications traffic passing through their station, yet if House Steiner had become involved the system would have been filled with their ships and the Comstar station would have reported their presence.
Lord Garth, the Duke of Irian was sitting behind a desk, the usual bluster gone as he carefully considered what forces he could realistically deploy quickly enough to the end the matter before it came to the attention of the Captain General. Despite his seemingly oafish ways he was cunning and could clearly see he was on the verge of disaster.
"Over two weeks I can deploy two regiments, but they will not be at full strength, within three I can get a further regiment there. After that I'm certain SAFE will start to notice something is happening." The Duke had other conspirators helping him, but their support was conditional upon success.
"The reports indicate you are facing at least one company of heavy lostech mechs, and once Grayson Carlyle refits his formation you are looking at two." Rachan sat back, mentally uncomfortable in the unnatural near zero gravity environment. "Can any of your companies of mechs handle that level of firepower on a two to one basis?" Langsdorf had not despite achieving those odds, such was the advantage of more advanced equipment.
"It will be hard, our equipment is what it is." The Duke shrugged, unfortunately he simply didn't have access to much in the way of assault mechs, none of the Dukes in the successor states really did. It was the Captain-Generals and Archons who kept those in their elite formations.
"It is possible that Comstar could provide assistance."
"On the intelligence or political side of things?" There was no bitterness in the Duke's voice only puzzlement as those were already being provided.
"It's kept quiet, but Comstar has a relationship with a well equipped mercenary formation, we need them for security on archeological expeditions in dangerous areas in the periphery." The Duke nodded, everyone knew the periphery was filled with mindless savages. "I believe they have several companies on Terra re-equipping." There were actually a lot more mechs than that in the direct service of Comstar's ROM service, but deploying two companies at short notice would be as much as he could pull off.
"I take it they have heavy mechs and can be deployed quickly?"
"Yes, a bit of Lostech as well, as we are a peaceful organization we have sometimes paid them with weapons we found over the years." Plausible enough sounding, and there were a few companies they publicly used for security in dangerous areas.
"You can see my situation Emilio, and the deadlines. If you can get them there in time my leaders will make use of them." The Duke looked him in the eye. "I don't think either of us can afford to fail at this point."
Emilio Rachan would have preferred to assert his authority, but the Duke was correct, failure would see both of them facing death in one form or another. "Will you replace Colonel Langsdorf?"
"General Kleider is en route, and likely to arrive alongside the reinforcements, that leaves Langsdorf in charge for now. Colonel Langsdorf was uniquely suited to the original task, and is the best I have until then." That was a polite way of describing a man whose greatest virtue was not being wise enough to question his orders, it came with the trade off of being solid but unremarkable in terms of military talent.
"Very well, I shall request support, if they come they will bear your house colours, Comstar is most careful to maintain its neutrality."
"Of course, might I suggest the colours of the 1st Irian Lancers, they are my personal favourite." Emilio nodded, still wondering how to ensure he was granted the emergency deployment of an elite ROM unit.
From Edmund's point of view the action was not going according to plan, the opposition had shown significantly more aggression than expected and appeared willing to take substantial losses to close the distance. He was reminded of the saying that everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. His force was better suited to a long range engagement, which when the enemy came over the ridge line wouldn't be the case.
He and Victoria were moving in reverse with the weapons scanning the ridge to try to ensure they destroyed the first few to come over the top. The Phoenix Hawk was also covering their 'advance to the rear', as was the Archer from further back.
"We're still too close Edmund." Her voice sounded calm, but he recognized traces of nerves.
"I know, I know." They were 400m back from the ridge and almost in the woodline but the enemy had closed the distance under the cover of smoke and the dead ground. Help in the form of the reserve lance was en route but they were at a clear short term disadvantage.
Light hover tanks rushed over the ridge, suddenly eight appeared on their scanners. Victoria didn't hesitate, and one of the fast moving tanks was shattered by the combination of PPC and autocannon fire.
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Phoenix Hawk Medium 'Mech
He followed suit and another one of the little tanks caught fire and flipped over as its very light armor gave way to his concentrated fire. His lance mate in the small Phoenix Hawk crippled a third with her lasers, the vehicle coming to a smoking halt. He realized he didn't need to use all his weapons to cripple one.
It was then the little hover tanks opened up with their medium lasers and in some cases rockets. The missiles generally went wild as they struggled with the jamming generated by the gear on board the Phoenix Hawk, but the lasers started boiling segments of armor off the mechs in the command lance.
"Mechs coming over the horizon." Victoria's voice was calm, it was his first experience of being in a very serious action with her by his side. He remembered a more excitable voice from the training days before the coup in the Reach. "Engaging the Thunderbolt." PPC fire embroiled its torso in ball of blue energy, as light autocannon rounds created red hot sparks where the rounds impacted the armor. He was about to fire when he saw the top of a Warhammer appearing next to it.
That damned Warhammer had been targeting him throughout the battle, and had done a fair bit of damage having disabled one his medium lasers and significantly reduced his torso armor. Thus Edmund was gratified to see a partial salvo of LRMs batter the mech, whilst the rest slammed into a Shadow Hawk coming up on the Warhammer's right flank. Edmund fired his PPCs one after the other at the Warhammer, aiming to cripple to the mechs right shoulder and thus reducing the target's ability to aim.
It seemed to work, the return fire from the Thunderbolt and the Warhammer was inaccurate as the pair struggled to handle the disruption to their systems from the PPC hits. The Shadow Hawk though managed to further dent Edmund's armor with additional autocannon hits.
The Command room of the forward operating base in the spaceport
Helm, Free Worlds League
21st April, 3027
Colonel Langsdorf looked at the report, another infantry patrol had been ambushed. One more soldier dead and two wounded. It fit a pattern of light mechs targeting infantry patrols from a distance, daring him to commit his remaining forces outside of the protective umbrella generated by the heavy weapons of the parked dropships.
It was disconcerting, his opposition appeared to have the means to target his entire force from out of range, but instead they had been concentrating on denying him the ability to carry out patrols. His orbital reconnaissance had revealed there was a significant field base by some sort of cave, but his efforts to request more information from the Duke had simply been replied to with the orders to hold until relieved. Additional formations were en route, but he was stuck holding a shrinking perimeter whilst his opponents could now even visit the the nearby town with impunity.
Several days earlier someone had attempted to make contact over the radio with him from the direction of the enemy camp, but jammers, distance and the uneven terrain had made having a proper conversation impossible. He believed it was a spy in place working for the Duke, but beyond a garbled message about a Kneeler and a crash nobody could work what the man meant. That was the trouble with spies, they relied on code words and secret passwords that the regular military couldn't understand, and to be honest their underhand methods were often nothing to be proud of.
His reverie was rudely interrupted by the siren for a radar warning of an incoming shell. He was on the ground before it hit, grateful for the alert but aware that in the days of the Star League there would have been an active defence system that would have tried to intercept incoming projectiles.
There was a significant blast he was able to hear through the walls and sandbags of the fortified dugout, and then silence. After a minute he decided even if it wasn't a one off he needed to see where the shell or missile had landed.
He cautiously walked out of the room and up the dozen steps into the fresh air, there was still a small cloud of dust where something had landed a hundred metres from a Union class dropship on the perimeter of the spaceport. As he looked more closely he could make out the rim of a crater, it was in the grass and dirt rather than on the nearby runway.
Then the alarm went off again, in a rather undignified manner he rushed down the steps to take shelter. The blast sounded very similar in size and direction. He crawled back up and saw more dust and smoke near the first impact sight. They hadn't landed on anything valuable, but the proximity to each other suggested they were warning shots.
It only took two more shells landing close to the others to have all the captains of the landed dropships attempting to reach him at the HQ simultaneously. Their message was the same, he had to do something.
He in turn explained that his battery of light artillery lacked the range to retaliate and he had already learnt the hard way that his battlemech force was outclassed. Unsurprisingly that was deemed insufficient, and most of the captains made it clear that they had a responsibility to keep their ships intact owing to the difficulty in replacing them. Thus when Colonel Grayson made contact on the radio he was all ears, despite the man's monstrous actions on Sirius V.
<< "Colonel Langsdorf, do I have your attention.">> The Colonel looked around the command room, his nervous officers looking or glancing at either him or the radio.
"This is Colonel Langsdorf, we can hear you clearly."
<<"I am Colonel Grayson Carlyle, I'd like to make you an offer.">> There had been radio silence since the Grey Death Legion had returned, no offers of a truce, simply a steady campaign to keep the Duke's forces near the spaceport.
"What do you have in mind?"
<<"I'm a firm believer that one should avoid damage to irreplaceable assets like dropships and of course civilian infrastructure.">> An odd statement from the butcher of Sirius, but the Colonel knew he was in no position to argue.
"That is good to hear."
<<"Let's cut to the chase. I have your guns outranged and outclassed, but as a gesture of goodwill I am willing to allow you to evacuate the spaceport. There are however conditions.">>
"What do you have in mind?" He no longer had the means to counter attack and a peaceful withdrawal would be far safer.
<<"It's a list, you should make sure you have a pen.">> He didn't like the tone of voice, it portrayed a sense of smug superiority.
"I'm ready to hear your requests."
<<"Number one, you need to notify the dependents of E company, 2nd battalion of the 18th Marik militia that their loved ones were all killed when Helmfast was overrun.">> The confirmation of their presence left him feeling nauseous.
"It will be done through the proper channels."
<<"Number two, the Mercenary company under the command of Major Edmund Blackadder known as the Marauders wish you, as a representative of House Marik, to acknowledge that they believe that House Marik is in gross breach of the retainer agreement signed with the Captain General. They cite the unprovoked attack on the settlement in which they were based, the destruction of the loyal Marik infantry company attached to them and the de facto declaration that they are outlaws based on their contracted association to the Grey Death Legion as evidence.">>
"Who are they?" He looked around the command bunker, he could see a growing sense of alarm on their faces.
"A mercenary company until recently in the service of the Captain-General." That might be a lie designed to demoralize his command, but it might also explain why he had been been caught off guard by the presence of another unit.
"Very well. And your other requests?"
<<"Number three, the town is to remain demilitarized.">>
"Of course, we are not barbarians." As he instinctively said it he remembered what his command had recently done.
"Number four, we seem to be barred from using the ComStar center here, we would like that restriction lifted." That was an odd request, for a time he had posted guards outside to restrict its use, but he had no authority within its walls, or presence nearby.
"I'm not sure I understand, I no longer have personnel in the town, and Comstar take no sides."
There was a pause, he tried to think why Comstar would restrict messages. He supposed outlaws could be banned from entry, but even the term outlaw was subjective, hence Comstar was known to avoid getting involved in conflicts.
"That is unexpected." There was another pause, a definite sign of confusion. "In the absence of that I would like the details of the crimes of which I am accused." The Colonel thought about the daftness of asking for details about something he should know all about. Then remembered that defendants actually had some rights, even if not quite as many as in the excessively liberal places like the Magistracy of Canopus.
"I'll transmit copies of what we were sent, there isn't much detail." He refrained from getting drawn into insulting the mass murdering monster known as Grayson Carlyle, who knew savagery that beast was capable of. The man was doing his best sow doubt, but Langsdorf believed it was a cunning act.
<<"In that case, Colonel Langsdorf, I suggest your command departs within four hours for their own safety, but you may leave a dropship and personnel behind to handle the wounded. We will respect the conventions of war.">>
"I'll come back to you, Langsdorf out."
He put down the microphone and looked at his command staff. "Well, who are these 'Marauders'?"
One of his officers had already loaded up a Mercnet download, it gave a brief description of the known mercenary companies and had quarterly updates, assuming one could find a Comstar station to get the update from.
"Sir, it says here they just finished a contract in the periphery, company strength with a lot of Lostech, clean reputation and a good combat record. Their rating rose significantly from the previous review. Apparently they field a number of Lostech heavy mechs, and own some advanced support vehicles. It lists several Lostech artillery systems." The officer scrolled down further. "Last update is six months ago, it doesn't list a current employer."
"Were it not for the description of the Lostech I would say he was bluffing." Langsdorf walked over to the terminal and looked over the officers shoulder. "Top spec Marauders and Archers unfortunately matches our experiences of them."
The Major from the Guards looked thoughtful. "We don't appear to have a means of stopping a bombardment, but from orbit we can track them and wait for the promised support."
The Colonel didn't respond, it wasn't that Major was wrong, he just felt he was missing something very obvious.
"Why did they not ask for safe passage offworld?"
"Lack of capacity, Sir?" Or no JumpShip in the system thought the Colonel, plenty of mercenary units relied upon their employer providing the transport.
"So they must be waiting for someone?"
The Major looked down at the map of the area and then looked up. "Maybe that is why they wanted access to the Comstar station, perhaps they haven't sourced transport yet?" That would be tough with no Comstar usage, though a local could probably be bribed.
"That would make sense, but something still feels wrong. Regardless we need to send a JumpShip to report our predicament, it's now a matter for the Duke."