Observer Control Center
Area Amalisar
10 May 3081
[…….and let this rede stand til we all fall]
Odayama listened to the clan oath from the safety bunker as the Hells Horses and the Wolverines deployed their forces. The area was a large depression surrounded by rolling hills. The Wolverines chose to deploy from the north and the Hells Horses from the south.
Although the center of the area consisted of grassy plains, the western third was covered with light forest and the eastern section had a small river tributary running through it that made the ground soft and marshy in areas.
Odayama also noted the security measures Star Colonel Moon had put into place. Outside of the Circle of Equals, two stars of protomechs and a star of heavy jump infantry in combat armor patrolled the perimeter. Armed with heavy pistols, gauss submachine guns and bear hunter portable autocannons, they represented a severe threat to anyone who would disrupt this combat.
The reason they were there was a request made by the Clan Watch leader not long after he’d been told what had happened on Alshain…
“I mean you no dishonor in my requesting to place additional security, Colonel Odayama, Moon had said. But my ensuring nothing else potentially interferes with this, after what was discovered, is a matter of Honor. To be potentially used as we were for another’s revenge, as is believed… is insult and that we nearly missed them is disgraceful. I wish to ensure nothing else tries. By your culture, I know the price of failure and if someone interferes that we should have stopped, then the responsibility is mine. And mine alone. This is my Rede.”
Odayama had accepted Moon at his word and added his contribution to the security of the area. Between his own troops serving as an outer ring of security and the Hells Horses troops, the Kuritan doubted a mouse could sneak in undetected.
Through the speakers Odayama heard both Fletcher and Hollister answer with a solemn “Seyla” and begin deploying their troops. Glancing at Leslie, he nodded to her and returned his attention to the screens.
Without a word, she sent a message out to her own people a mile away. A company of Lancer machines were manned in the assembly area and if something really out there tried to interfere, it would not only be Yuutzu and Hells Horses dealing with it… because it was the Lancer way- If you can stack a deck for contingencies, you do it.
**
Hollister decided early on to take the attack to the Horses. He ordered one lance to sweep into the tree line and began to advance forward in a skirmish line. The flanking mechs (a Black Knight, Warhammer, Crab and a Wyvern) moved into the Forest in attempt to try to catch Fletcher by surprise. His other lance of two Royal Thunderbolts and two Royal Catapault moved in a skirmishing line on his opposite flank.
Hollister hoped that their ability to provide ranged firepower with long range missiles would offset the hindrance to their maneuverability caused by the marshy terrain and the tributary. His lance (a Battlemaster, Thug , Spartan C and his Pulverizer) formed a skirmish line in the center with four tanks (two Manticores and two Pattons) trailing behind as a mobile reserve. At his command, his unit moved into the scrub oak concealing them towards the open plains
Fletcher knew that that he was his battlemechs were for the most part out massed and out gunned. As a rule, a Trial of Refusal is a general melee between the sides where there was no other rules of engagement except survive… and win.
At his disposal Fletcher had a star of Elementals, a star of Gargoyle omnimechs, four Manteuffel omnitanks taken in a trial of possession on their trip through the Lyran Commonwealth and a nova star of five Naga II omnimechs and attatched star of Elementals, trained to work as a single coordinated team.
From his position, Fletcher sent his independent star of Elementals and the Omnitanks west into the edge of the tree line to wait. He had studied Hollister in each trial and he knew that something would be sent into the woods. The trees will slow his mechs down, he thought, and even the odd for the Elemental and tanks to fight on even terms.
He stationed his Nova Star into a diagonal skirmish line to his east, using the marsh land as a front line. Fletcher then placed three of his Gargoyles as a skirmish line defending the Nova’s western flank. He and the final Gargoyle held slightly back to act as a mobile reserve.
**
Odayama and the rest watched as both sides finished deploying their forces. As he took note of their placement, he realized that this was going to be a down and dirty fight; more like an inner sphere battle than one with clan rules of Zellbrigen.
On the screens within the bunker, Odayama could see Fletchers flanking force slowly making its way through the light forest. Ahead of them the Elementals slowly moved into ambush positions, hiding and waiting while on the screens showing the north side he could see Hollister’s other lances moving in a skirmish line, moving slowly through the scrub oak.
Once Fletcher’s team got into position they did something that caught him by surprise. And somewhat against type… They stopped and waited.
**
Hollister’s western flank was hit by surprise. The elementals had waited until the mechs were at point blank range and as one,three points sent thirty missiles at the lead mech, a Crab, while two points attacked his wingman, the Wyvern. The battlemechs were caught completely flatfooted and the clan power armor took advantage.
The woods had split the faster Crab and the smaller, more agile Wyvern from the from the heavier Warhammer and Black Knight. As such, the elementals took full advantage of their lack of experience dealing with battlearmor. The Crab took the brunt of the attack, with twenty two of the thirty missiles fired hitting their target while the Wyvern was struggling to deal with two points of Elementals making brutal leg attacks.
The Crab, hit with so many missiles, was first disoriented and then became disabled as the laser fire from fifteen small lasers both created and penetrated holes in its armor. The strikes ravaged the medium-class machine as the weapons fire damaged or destroyed internal components such as engine shielding… but more importantly, slagging the battlemech’s gyro. The Crab staggered off to the side like a drunken sailor, crashing into and falling among a small copse of trees.
A point of elementals descended on the cockpit area and once opened, checked on the pilot. This was a Refusal finale, not an annihilation battle… and the quiet order given prior to the start of the battle, was being carried out. “No one dies today if it can be avoided.” A crazy order at the face of it… as all knew a gauss slug or particle cannon blast could not be resisted by troopers… but outside of the incidental incidents, any wounded would be tagged and helped after all of this.
When the Crab pilot heard the request from an Elemental as to his health and answered, he noted the Elementals then jumped away… leaving him to wait for recovery. He’d broken an arm when his machine landed and trying to evac on foot was crazy. Hell, it would be crazy without injury…
The Wyvern jumped out of the woods into the plains dislodging the Elementals, who jumped clear for their own safety. They hadn’t done much damage in their initial attack, but they didn’t have to. The Wyvern had jumped into the crossfire of four Manteuffel Omnitanks. Two of the tanks were armed with a class 5 rotary autocannon and three medium lasers and the other two with an Class 20 Ultra Cannon, two medium lasers and a small laser. The weapons were all inner sphere, but at close range it mattered little.
The two RAC equipped tanks fired a two round burst and their medium lasers at the Wyvern, their weapons stitching the battlemech across the torsos and seemingly marking where their brothers were to hit. And hit they did, as the two Ultra Cannon equipped tanks opened fire with their medium lasers and a double blast from their autocannons… And it became apparent it was overkill, the result devastating.
The Wyvern, hit with burst fire from one of the Rac armed tanks stepped out of the line of fire of the second and directly into the incoming Ultra Cannon shots. Three out of four of the massive slugs slammed into the forty-five ton machine and slammed it to the ground as armor shredded from the strikes. Armor melted from the lasers as the pilot fought for control and returned fire. Staggering backwards the pilot fired as many weapons as he could bring to bear. The only one to hit, a larger laser, struck the turret of an
Ultra Cannon equipped tank and melted armor- destroying the tank’s anti-infantry small laser in the turret.
As the Tanks rolled forward for the kill, the wood line burst open to disgorge the Warhammer and Black Knight as they fired away at pursuing Hells Horses Elementals. Seeing the tanks before them, the Warhammer turned its twin PPCs to target one of the RAC equipped Manteuffels and cut loose.
Blue-purple lighting balls lashed out and slammed into the Manteuffel, melting armor and penetrating the engine casing. Now quite out of action, the hatches opened on the tank and its crew abandoned the vehicle. After a fast orientation for direction, they set off at a run towards the edge of the engagement area (perhaps a kilometer away) as they could do no more in this battle.
Behind them the tank shuddered as ammunition cooked off until there was an explosion blowing the turret into the air. The other three tanks pulled into full reverse, firing as they went in hope to slow the monsters down and let the Elementals catch up to their rear torsos.
On the Eastern flank the skirmish line was met differently, with Hollister’s outer lance, moving to push Fletcher’s Nova back. Barely had they gotten into extreme long range when two of the Naga IIs, each armed with four LRM 20 racks, began firing, their missiles falling well short of the target.
At first it seemed like panic fire, but as Hollister watched the shells burst into the air and sprinkled what looked like small balls on the ground. It was then he realized the danger… “Mines”, he shouted on the all hands frequency and got acknowledgement immediately.
The two rear Naga IIs were laying a deep minefield, well in front of the outer skirmish lance from the eastern edge of the of the tributary in a line all across their line of approach. The minefield was long enough and deep enough so that the four mechs would have to shift right to the west to continue their advance. Even as they were laying the minefield the Nagas were slowly moving back. As the outer lance moved west to move clear of the minefield, they were momentarily clustered and the second part of their tactics came to light.
The other three Nagas opened fire with their LRM 20 racks. The volley was comprised of Swarm munitions and these into the Wolverine ranks even as they returned fire with their own Long Range Missiles. The combination of Thunder and Swarm missiles was having the effect that Fletcher wanted. Although the missiles were not killing any of the mechs it was stripping armor, lots of armor taking away one of the advantages that Hollister’s mechs held over his.
This centerline lance with the following tanks were closing into firing range even as Fletcher’s Omnimechs were slowly backing away, keeping their perimeter line intact. As they did so, the two Nagas continued to fire Swarm and Thunder LRMs as they moved back until bins were dry…
Fletcher had what he wanted, the eastern flank was a running battle between his Star of battle armor and three tanks[soon to be two the second RAC tank had been immobilized and would soon have to be abandoned] and on the other fronts, the flank had been turned by the minefield. It would soon become a shooting melee with Fletcher having a numerical majority as well as a slight mass advantage. In this, he judged the two sides were even and it would come down to who blinked first…
**
Odayama watched both the satellite monitors and the actual battle as Fletcher’s units move into what appeared to be a defensive position against the more heavily armed and armored battlemechs opposing them. Then it hit him- the Battle of Salamis.
It was Ancient Greek warfare, a subject he had studied in the Academy but the principles pioneered by the ancients applied even centuries later. Fletcher was forcing Hollister’s forces into lanes of fire where the more powerful weapons his faster machines carried would counter the heavier armor of the Wolverine opponent.
Conceptually, it should create parity as the more potent Hells Horses weapons would cause more damage to their targets but it relied on the faster machines to weather the return fire… The Naga II did not have the armor for a slugfest; while the Gargoyles did, focused attention would wilt it like a plucked flower under a desert sun.
**
Hollister’s Lance advanced rapidly into the center, slightly clustered together by the sudden shift of his flanking lance and they increased pace to avoid blocking their fellows and minimize the effect of the Swarm munitions, their anti-missile systems rapidly running dry as they advanced.
As they moved forward, two things happened. First the Gargoyles entered the fray and the first three carried what would normally be a dueling configuration (a class 20 ultra cannon, a twenty tube missile launcher and a small heavy laser). They charged headlong into his lance using their speed to quickly close the gap and bring their autocannons into short range while providing cover fire with their long-range missile launchers. As they closed both sides took hits, Hollister’s team from missiles and Fletchers team from the pulse lasers and particle cannon of Hollister’s mechs.
The second thing that happened is that the second group of Elementals entered the fray. Three points attacking the eastern lance and two points bypassing the enemy mechs and attacking the tanks that followed.
Fletcher and his wingman joined the melee, with the Galaxy Commander engaging the Spartan C as both mechs closed on each other and the exchange of fire began. The Spartan opened fire with two large pulse lasers hitting his mech in the leg and the arm melting a little over a ton of armor away. Fletcher waited to get a little closer and then fired.
That’s when the Spartan pilot realized he may have underestimated his opponent as two heavy large lasers lanced out and impacted his right arm and torso. The power of the weapons slagged almost two tons of protection in the process… and it was clear that the Horses pilot had the higher potency machine.
Both pilots were using their speed to try to outmaneuver the other. Each mech made hits but in the end the switch to the Gargoyle’s secondary weapons made the difference. Moving into a position for an angled back shot, Fletcher let loose with dedicated close-range weapon of his machine, the high explosive munitions of the ATM-6 system he carried. Of the volley, five missiles (each capable of doing fifty percent more damage than a standard SRM) hit the right and center torso rear of the Spartan.
These were followed by a single large heavy laser which blew open the back of the Wolverine battlemech and cored the engine. The pilot ejected, his ejection seat rocketing him on a preset course in the north and out of the battle as the Galaxy Commander turned to reenter the fray.
“This is madness…” Fletcher muttered to himself. “Stupid political madness…” He had come to the realization last night (after rereading what his Lorekeeper had written in a report for their Lore Master) that the assertions made by the Wolverines were likely righter than anyone knew… and everyone here was stuck dealing with the repercussions.
The Ghost Bears had figured it out and fought a refusal as he was doing here. The Snow Ravens, ever practical, had taken the information and decided it was genuine. They had declared the Wolverines were right without a fight… and essentially told the Council of Six anyone disagreeing with their stance could test Raven resolve at their convenience.
His Khan was former Ghost Bear and had sent them to test the Wolverines as his old clan had instead; was this how it had to be? He snorted. How very Warden of you… he thought to himself as a Catapult came into view and he refocused on the task at hand.
In a different area of the scrum, Hollister waded into the fray in his Pulverizer, striking targets with incredible accuracy. As a Naga II came into sight, he opened his full battery of weapons into it even as it fired it’s two cannons at him.
Of the two cannons, the LBX class weapon slammed almost all of its explosive pellets into him and sanded off armor from his machine. The other cannon, an ultra-class, missed completely. In return, it took the full brunt of the Khan’s weapons as nothing missed.
Energy weapons bathed the clan machine and armor slagged from everywhere above the waist… to include the head assembly, which proved to be its final demise. The machine dropped in place, its head burned away and smoking from the superheated metal remains.
Turning his machine away, Hollister made a mental note to find out if the warrior had a mate he may apologize to. He knew death was a possibility here… but even so, no warrior enjoys killing, especially unnecessarily. At least he died with his hand on his weapon and fighting, he thought to himself as he sought the next target.
Two and a half centuries ago, many of his clan’s ancestors didn’t have the chance. That he and his did now was refreshing and in defiance of a long dead mad-man’s vanity, these Hells Horses warriors had given Wolverine a chance to prove they were who they were along with giving the Horses leadership the cover excuse to repudiate the Edict.
It was Clan politics… Deadly then as now, this battle was not personal but unfortunately necessary to satisfy tradition, if nothing else. Despite that, Hollister would honor his foe if he could for the bravery shown.
**
Odayama watched as each side attacked and counterattacked, the battle shifting in favor of one side and then the other. After 2 frenzied hours of combat, both sides backed off to assess what was left then began moving to recommit. Almost by unspoken agreement, no one fired as they advanced… like two groups of gunfighters preparing for a final showdown.
Hollister’s remaining forces consisted of his Pulverizer, a Battlemaster, the Warhammer and Black Knight, the Thug, both Thunderbolts and a Catapault. Fletcher’s forces consisted of three Naga IIs, four Gargoyles and twenty out the original fifty Elementals. None of the tanks on either side had survived the battle…
Both sides had delivered and suffered heavy damage, with several mechs on either side looking to be on their last leg. Indeed, the Warhammer was missing half of its guns and both the Thunderbolts looked as if a troop of Boy Scouts with target rifles could threaten them. The two assault machines were blasted and scarred, with their armored hides intact but thin.
Hollister’s Pulverizer had a ripped open leg and arm; both worked but anything striking those locations would likely remove them.
The clan machines were not much better, with almost all the Gargoyles showing areas where internals were exposed to the open air. Not a single Naga II was very fresh either, with at least two missing arm-assemblies as well as most of theirarmor. Among the elementals, many were damaged, with at least two of them missing helms… they were still out here though, as they could still fight if needed.
Fletcher’s Gargoyle was not in much better shape than Hollister’s machine as the two men moved their mechs to the middle of the field facing each other. This was the end game and both sides knew it.
As the two stopped their machine about two hundred meters from each other, they began speaking on a general band channel that was picked up in the bunker
Fletcher: [Khan Hollister, you have fought well. You do your clan and its forefathers proud.]
Hollister: [As have you, Galaxy Commander Fletcher. Any suggestions?]
A few seconds passed, as on the screens, mechs shifted as they stood some sixty meters behind their leaders, facing their opponents.
Fletcher: [not long ago, A man named Odayama told me a story from his family’s ancestral homeland… Two samurai on opposite sides of a stream were at a foot bridge. There was only room for one to cross and neither would give ground. After looking each other in the eye and judging intent, both samurai bowed to each other and walked away in different directions to find another foot bridge to cross.]
A pause. [Odayama told me that both men realized that if they fought, they would kill each other over naught.]
Silence practically screamed over the speakers for five seconds as activity in the bunker went quiet, listening.
Hollister: [I see]
The crowd within the bunker watched in amazement as the two leaders crossed the arms of their mechs and turned to walk towards their starting points. Both leaders signaled by text and voice that the trials were over.
In the back of the room, standing by himself, Odayama kept a calm passive face… but under his breath the words “I’ll be damned” escaped his lips. But there was no one close enough to hear.
**
In her battlemech where she’d gone early on in the battle to join her unit, Lt Colonel Leslie McCormack sat as her Marauder II idled at low power and breathed out. Even as the rest of her Company conversed among themselves over the end of the Trial, she only half-listened as she pondered the meaning of it all. And this result had meaning…
This battle had gone about where she thought it would, the two sides giving no ground and expecting none. How it ended though…. I could not have imagined a more unexpected yet more appropriate ending, she thought. Maybe this will stick and one more Clan will ignore the Edict like the other three have. Now if Moon can find the rest of the problem children among their force…
Musings of a Gamer 