Act 1 - Anger[]
With A Bared Sword[]
Chapter 7[]
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Broken Hope, Morges
Tamar March, Federated Commonwealth
25 February 3054
This time the Revenants had not arrived too late to participate in the battle.
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Warhawk Assault OmniMech
Victor side-stepped fire from a Warhawk, a pair of PPC beams searing the frigid air of Morges less than a meter from the arm of Prometheus. The cold weather was allowing greater use of energy weapons than unusual, something that enabled the Clan Omnimech with its four hot-running extended range PPCs. Even so, the Jade Falcon had staggered his fire and he’d tracked Victor’s evasion successfully with his other arm, staggering the Dire Wolf as the other two PPCs hit home, tearing through the armor over the right flank and right arm of the assault ‘mech.
The same circumstances allowed Victor to make full use of his own lasers though and he hit back with all five of them. The trio of large pulse lasers stitched shots across the blocky omnimech’s legs - which had already taken a beating from crossing the minefield covering this route across the ice fields. The extended range laser in his left arm missed, melting the ice behind the smaller assault mech, but the right arm laser hit as well and Victor could see myomers through the damaged armor on the Warhawk’s left leg.
The Tenth Lyran Guards had the high ground - a ridge of rock had survived centuries of grinding ice and left a lip of earth taller than most battlemechs with ice piled up behind it to a similar level. The advancing Jade Falcons were throwing an impressive amount of fire up at them, but it at least screened their ‘mechs legs from the fire.
An explosion dragged Victor’s attention to the left and he saw a fireball where Dan McGregor’s Centurion had been. A Nova had managed to get close enough to open up with its massive battery of medium lasers and opened the similarly sized ‘mech up, violating the ammunition stores within.
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Nova Medium OmniMech
As tempting as it was to turn his guns on the medium ‘mech, Victor’s plan called for abiding by the Clan’s honor code… to an extent. That called for single combat and if the commander didn’t stick to his plan, how could he expect his warriors to.
Instead he opened up on the Warhawk again. Not yet in range to use his autocannon, he continued to fire on its legs, only hitting with three lasers this time as the mechwarrior had anticipated the low shots and slowed at the last minute. It still stripped away more armor and the Jade Falcon ‘mech was left limping as myomer bundles in both legs were damaged by Victor’s fire.
The return fire was more accurate, not less so, blasting away the arctic camo from across the chest of the mighty Dire Wolf and Victor saw that armor coverage across the right flank was dangerously low. Clan PPCs hit absurdly hard.
“First company,” he ordered. “Pull back! Sabine, you’re up!”
Fourteen of his sixteen-strong company managed to disengage, pulling back and down the slope behind the ridge. Beside McGregor’s Centurion’ they had lost Harper’s Archer and Victor saw the heavy ‘mech’s cockpit had been smashed open by a gauss rifle shot.
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Crusader Heavy 'Mech
From the look of Galen’s Crusader, Victor thought that another exchange of fire would have doubled those casualties, the one after that would have shattered his command company. But the Revenants didn’t have to keep fighting on those terms - hopefully.
“My congratulations to Clan Jade Falcon,” he transmitted in the clear, “my company is no longer able to continue the fight.” Then he grinned. “Sabine! You’re up!”
Baker Company was already moving, of course, and on the tactical display he could see the Jade Falcon ‘mechs that had started to rush forwards to turn the withdrawal into a route recoil as the fresh Lyran ‘mechs crested the rise and poured fire into them.
Not all of Hauptmann Sabine Steiner’s company had the long range armament needed for the initial engagement, which was why Victor had claimed the first wave position for himself. But the Clan warriors had been drawn forwards into the engagement bracket that Sabine needed and they were firing at already damaged omnimechs.
The exchange was no more one-sided than the last had been - a JagerMech exploded and he saw Sabine’s pristine Falconer stripped of its Gauss Rifle as shots from what was probably the same Warhawk he’d been fighting ripped the arm apart, detonating the capacitors.
But there were also triumphant reports - a cry of “Got one!” marked the first Lyran kill.
Checking the wider situation, Victor saw that the Tenth’s aerowing was succeeding in keeping the skies neutral. They hadn’t driven the Jade Falcon fighters from the sky, but they were keeping them from strafing and bombing the forces on the ground. That was all he had really hoped for, the numbers were slightly favoring the Lyran Guards but not by enough to aim for more than a deadlock.
On the flanks, both his other battalions were doing the same dance that he was, wearing down the Jade Falcons as they tried to push north. Losses were mounting, but it was an affordable price for the damage being done to the enemy.
A skull-faced Atlas in Sabine’s force opened up with its autocannon and Victor looked up, realizing that the Clans must have reached almost point-blank range. Only ten of Sabine’s reinforced company were still standing, two ‘mechs having fallen back with major damage and four more had joined McGregor and Harper’s mechs on the ground.
But five of the Jade Falcon trinary had fallen.
“Sabine,” he ordered his cousin. “It’s time.”
“Pulling back,” she ordered. “Jade Falcons, I congratulate you for forcing my company to yield the field!”
And as her Falconer backed up, Charlie Company of the Revenants rushed forwards to take their place. Chuck Leary’s company had the lightest mechs in the battalion, but they also mounted the most short-ranged missiles and with multiple armor penetrations, the Jade Falcons were highly vulnerable.
“Stravag!” someone cursed on the general channel as two more Omnimechs dropped under the first salvos.
A Commando toppled backwards, then a Griffin and Hatchetman leapt forwards and over the ridge to engage point blank.
“Dammit, Chuck!” Victor hissed. Both the Lyran ‘mechs vanished almost immediately from the tactical display but a pair of Jade Falcons did as well…
“Victor,” Galen called. “General Simons reports his boys are in position.”
“Tell him to go loud,” he snapped. Second Battalion was holding well but he didn’t like the condition of Third. If he had to turn this into a melee or re-engage after withdrawing then the Falcons would go berserk. He might still win, but it would be costly.
Thirty seconds later and with two more of Charlie company out of action, the squeal of bagpipes crashed out across the open channel. “Hello Falcons,” Leftenant General Simons’s brogue cut in over it. “D’ye remember us!”
New icons sprang up behind the Jade Falcons as Lyran ‘mechs pulled themselves free of the pits they’d been buried in, waiting powered down as the Clan Cluster rushed past them.
“Damn you, Victor Davion!” a clipped voice snarled. “We had you beaten!”
“I really don’t know why you refuse to remember I’m also a Steiner,” Victor replied. “And yes, you did force me to withdraw. But that doesn’t mean I can’t pull back behind my armored companies and leave you caught between them and the Boys of Summer.”
“Steiner is an honorable bloodname and you are not worthy of it!” the Jade Falcon hissed, but the markers of their forces were already pulling back, every ‘mech still able to move headed back towards where their dropships lay. If they moved fast, they might make it before the Seventeenth Skye Rangers cut them off - it hadn’t been possible to predict their paths well enough to close every route and spreading out to try would have left the Rangers too dispersed to be effective.
“Shall we pursue?” asked Chuck eagerly.
“I think not,” Victor replied sharply. Charlie Company was not in good shape. “The Rangers have this. All Lyran Guards, consolidate and pick up our wounded. Infantry, move in and check the Jade Falcon ‘mechs carefully. If some of their warriors were left behind, they may be willing to die to take some of you with them.”
Armored personnel carriers rolled forwards and Victor was pleased to see Sabine had her surviving mechs kicking down the barricades that had been set up to block the easiest routes up the ridge, opening the routes for the supporting infantry. “Sabine’s shaping up pretty well,” he told Galen privately.
“She was only a year behind you at the Nagelring,” his aide replied. “And she’s been keen to learn from everyone who has faced the Clans before.”
“Is that why you’ve had dinner with her twice,” Victor asked innocently.
“I decline to comment,” Galen said primly.
The prince chuckled and filed away the idea of seeing if Galen and Kathy’s budding friendship might lead to more - at least for now. The two had seemed to be getting on well, but after his aide’s patience over Omi Kurita, it would be ill-mannered of him to interfere in any romance Galen might be embarking upon.
“Leftenant General Steiner-Davion.” Simons signaled from his command lance, which was holding position behind the bulk of the Rangers. “My congratulations on a well organized operation. Whatever the Falcons say, you are indeed worthy to be a Steiner.”
“I will take that in the spirit intended, General Simons,” Victor replied. “I know my house has not always done well by the Skye Rangers.” The only reason the Seventeenth had survived the Clan Invasion was mutiny by a jumpship captain who had disobeyed orders to enter the Barcelona system and evacuate the ‘mech regiment. One ship alone had not been enough to bring the infantry and armor, meaning that most of the Regimental Combat Team had been left behind. Cashiering the general who refused to send jumpships for a full evacuation had not healed the wound.
Simons grunted. “We have a long memory for the wrongs done to us. Today we have the chance for revenge on the Jade Falcons for what they did to us on Barcelona. My boys will not forget that you gave us this chance.”
“Barcelona was liberated almost two years ago,” Victor reminded him. “We plan to rotate the garrison there soon. Do you, by any chance, know a regiment of Mechwarriors willing to be deployed so far from Skye?”
The question got a startled chuckle from the Ranger’s commander. “Are you offering, lad?”
“Some things should be offered, not ordered.”
“Aye,” Simons allowed. “Aye, the Seventeenth will be proud to return to Barcelona. I cannae promise the Falcons won’t take it back, but if they try then they’ll pay the piper for doing so. We have their measure now.”
“We do.” Victor didn’t like the over-confidence, but the Seventeenth Skye Rangers were one of the finest regiments in the AFFC and anything that reinforced their loyalty was worth it. The Clans were no longer a surprise, but every lesson learned about them had driven home just how dangerous they were. Less than half the Cluster of ‘mechs that had struck Morges had survived to retreat, but they had cost him far more than their number and even now they were bleeding the Skye Rangers as they raced back towards their dropships. The bloody-minded Rangers were continuing to hound them, but it was looking like no more than two or three more would be defeated, and that would cost the Boys of Summer at least that many.
We can pay that cost if we must, the prince thought. But what will be left of the AFFC if we do?