2
some of you liked my story "The Leave" published in the Trondheim Daily, but I also wrote a tale of our final goodbye of the FRR and the day where our HQ on Unzmarkt was attacked by Clan Wolf and how the Unzmarkt FRR defenders helped us retreat from the planet.
It is too long for the News so I posted it here.
Hope you enjoy it.
o7
Warchild
---
The Last Day
by Warchild Corsair
Near Castle Rock Spaceport, Capital of Unzmarkt, End of January 3050, Free Republic of Rasalhague (Remains)
1000 hrs
The horizon-wide wall of dust and salt was approaching. "The Big White", as locals called the salt sea east of Castle Rock, the capital of the planet Unzmarkt, seemed to be angry since this was the third storm already this cycle. When the Saltwind approached all life in the city seemed to cease. Windows were locked and secured, the spaceport shut down, the mines in west closed and even the water processing plants in the south were shut down temporarily to avoid damage to their old fusion power sources. These were hours of peace normally, a kind of serenity that used to be common in this part of the galaxy. Used to be before the Clans had come.
The last dropship had flewn in shortly before the storm. It was the Excalibur-Class from the Phoenix Legion Merc Corps, fittingly named "Eye of the Storm" which flew in withdrawn troops from their countless battles at Hermagor. It had landed and troops were hastily unloaded. Överste Gunnar Heinrich stood atop of his command tank, a massive Behemoth, and watched the proceedings of the Mercs. The Överste was commanding officer of the Unzmarkt defence forces, composed of the Unzmarkt Free Rebel Armored Division (UFRAD) and elements of the Phoenix Legion if the latter were present and not fighting on some other hellhole of a planet. Contrary to most of his soldiers the Överste was not a born "Unzmarkian". His family had had some influence in the KungsArmè and after some bribes and the right words into the right ears he had been promoted and sent from Rasalhague to Unzmarkt.
Heinrich was not a bad soldier nor a bad officer. Stout and beefy, a little to big for his tank and with short blonde hair he was often mistaken as an infantryman especially since he refused to wear any insignia in times of war.
His unit however was particularly peculiar. The UFRAD had gone through a deep loyality conflict after the foundation of the FRR which originated in the part-Kurita-part-Steiner history of the planet. As a result the officer corps had given up command capabilities in favor of a more democratic approach. The UFRAD would always have a majority vote in place before decisions were made. While that was somewhat inefficient it had allowed the tank regiment to stay loyal, retain combat ability to some degree and minimize desertions. It had also been something these Mercs had never seemed to understand.
The Överste raised his electronic binoculars and scanned the last of the unloaded equipment. He was a little surprised, when the first of the Mechs -a Cicada- started to march down the ramp of the Excalibur. Why were the Mercs unloading their troops when they were to leave? He called his driver and decided to ask for a quick meeting just as the first heavy salt gusts hit the spaceport.
Inside of the Mobile HQ truck of the Phoenix Legion it was warm and windless. A quick salute from one of the Comm officers, a lean black-haired man who called himself "Tunes" intercepted the Överste on his way towards the strategic planning room.
"Överste! Glad you could come - we were worried our call had not reached you in this storm and it was also quite late," Tunes began with his usual heavy Steiner accent. "Colonel Edema is rather busy preparing our departure since the contract of the Legion ends soon as you know."
The Överste did not say anything. He disapproved it and Tunes was very aware of that.
"Unfortunately we must remain a little while longer it seems as our incoming dropships reported aerospace fighting above this planet and incoming Clan dropships. In about two hours when the storm is done they will be invading Unzmarkt. And our united forces are all that can stop them. Come along with me."
Tunes led Heinrich into the conference room where all important officers of the Mercs were standing around a holomap displaying the situation around the city. After quick salutes and brief greeting from Colonel Edema the defences were discussed.
Castle Rock was in a good place for a defence. Positioned between "The Big White" and the Caste Ridge Mountains attackers could only land in the Cheero Mesa and push across a small pass with two roads into the city. An alternative was a direct landing at the spaceport but considering the massive orbital defence guns there that would most likely be suicide and probably not a risk the "Wolves" would take.
Överste Heinrich explained the positioning. His three tank bataillons had prepared a layered defence line across the pass, Manticore tanks and some Rommel tanks in the front while their dug-in Hunters and Strikers could give longrange missile support. A solid plan and every Innersphere attacker would have had severe problems breaking through.
"We have fought the Clans before, Överste, and they will directly and very quickly strike and push into the city. We need you to relocate into the suburbs and fight in the streets to bog them down and delay them as much as possible. We have unloaded a company from our fourth bataillon to assist you with the retreat." Colonel Edema spoke calmly but there was no doubt he had seen such situations and knew where they were heading.
The commander of the Armored Division did not share his viewpoint though.
"That is unacceptable, Colonel. We would be leaving prepared positions and withdraw across the open plains. We would face heavy losses before anyone reaches the gates."
"Not if you leave immediately," Tunes interrupted. "Get your men moving while the storm lasts and pull them back!"
"I cannot do that so quickly. There has to be a field vote first. I will convey your wish to the Division and keep you informed. Good day gentleman. And may the storm leave you unharmed."
The Överste left with the traditional Unzmarkt greeting, leaving half a dozen Phoenix Officers perplexed. Then Tunes found some words.
"Did he just say 'vote'?"
Near Castle Rock, Capital of Unzmarkt
1200 hrs
The salt storm was still howling through the pass coating everything with a white layer, scratching at boulders and roads. It had lost strength but breathing outside of a building or vehicle was still somewhat uncomfortable.
The Unzmarkt Free Rebel Armored Division had voted against the retreat. White crusted vehicles, dug-in Manticores and Hunter tanks were lined up on the northern side of the Cheero Pass. A lance of Battlemechs with the Phoenix Legion insignia moved carefully among them - a Raven, a Firestarter, a Locust and a Cicada. The last one was piloted by Captain 'Kitty' Carrington, a battle-hardened veteran who had given up his beloved Raven to lead the scout mission. Phoenix HQ wanted to have a him in the middle of the action when the Invaders would strike to get firsthand information and he had done this job countless times before.
"Phoenix Alpha moving south west towards the mines," he contacted the UFRAD HQ and got a crackling "Affirmative" as response.
He led his scouts along leaving big Mech footprings on the salt crusted ground.
The loading proceedings were a little bit ahead of schedule and Colonel Edema was cautiously optimistic in the HQ. Half of the tanks were stored now, the aerospace fighters on board and two-thirds of the 'Mechs safely inside the dropships. The fighters were of no use at the moment in any case because after the Saltwind the atmosphere was full of tiny salt crystals for hours which distorted the sensors greatly. Now the only fighting force left outside was Kitty's Lance and the Colonel trusted his Captain enough not to make any foolish mistakes. The mission itself however was more of a tactical manoeuvre then a combat move. The officers were a little shaken by the Överste's words and the Colonel had come up with an idea to maybe get the "Free Rebels" moving early enough to still make a retreat into the city possible. The idea was simple: scout ahead and gather information about the attackers, then convey it to the Armored Division and hope they would draw the right conclusion to hold a second vote.
If that vote was positive maybe there was some hope left for the Legion to leave the planet. If not and should the defenders be overrun they might face the destruction of the entire HQ bataillon. A report from the communications officers broke his train of thought abruptly.
"Colonel! Phoenix Alpha reports contact with Clan Wolf forces two clicks south west of Cheero Pass. They are keeping their distance."
"Tell Alpha to fire a few PPC shots then pull back quickly and hope these Clanners follow suit."
It was a calculated risk but the range of their new ER PPCs matched that of the Clans and they were still out of missile range.
"Alpha confirmed but the Clanners are already quickly coming in their direction now."
Damn, the Colonel thought - these Wolves proved again to be much more aggressive then these "Bears" they fought on Hermagor and New Bergen. After what seemed like an eternity Alpha reported back.
"They have opened a comm channel to us. They identified themselves as 'Delta Galaxy's 37th Striker Cluster', might be the same unit we fought on Planting. If so, the UFRAD is in for a really hard awakening since their defences mean nothing."
"Keep pulling back, transmit your report. Let's hope the Överste does the right thing and his unit follows."
The communication was cut short by noises of missile hits. Already at our door, the Colonel thought. That will be close.
From Cheero Pass to the Hester-Kester Waterway, Castle Ridge Mountains west of Castle Rock, Planet of Unzmarkt
Later
The line of the Armored Division was broken. The enemy had smashed through the defences with Toads dropping in the midst of the tanks, opening up the big metal coffins and killing everyone inside. It was a massacre and the first bataillon of the UFRAD had been shattered. Only panicked soldiers on their own tried to flee east and that was the moment when the Överste had given a recommendation for the retreat.
Covering it were the Phoenixes of Captain Kitty who did a superior job of delaying the enemy. The Colonel had sent a second and third lance into combat again with two higher ranked officers to lead them. Captain George "the Fiend" with his Highlander along with two Thunderbolts and a Catapult and the Major Hunter's Atlas-D-DC leading a lance of a Zeus, an Orion and an Awesome were gathered at the outskirts west of the city to give supression fire.
Since the northern route had been obviously mined there was only one route open for the attack: across the Hester-Kester Waterway canal to the south. The second and partly the third bataillon of the UFRAD covered the Waterway which was an astonishing relict from the Star League era.
Built hundreds of years ago and constructed as a canal with the ability to generate energy from the waterpower, purify the extremely salty water to be drinkable and also produce salt, it was the economic lifeline of the capital. It was huge and had multiple arms with high concrete walls, huge generators and processing stations all along a length of many kilometres. It also was partially a labyrinth for outsiders and the second best defending position (the Cheero Pass being number one).
It proved to be sufficient. The survivors from the first bataillon joined the line and together with the Phoenixes held the Clanners at bay for the rest of the day and nearly two full days afterwards at the Waterway. The UFRAD paid a high price for it, being nearly completely destroyed and only a handful of survivors that became "bondsmen". Överste Gunnar Heinrich died in his Behemoth tank on the second day of fighting as a Daishi stomped through his tank.
The Legion fought alongside the tanks, losing five 'Mechs but not a single Mechwarrior and was able to retreat from Unzmarkt. Only the heroic sacrifice of the most democratic tank unit in the whole Inner Sphere had made that possible.
Being the last dropship to lift off, the "Eye of the Storm" made it's way into the sky, as down below the fighting slowly ceased. Yet another unexpected Salt Storm was approaching the capital from the east and Colonel Edema could see it clearly from the huge display at the bridge of the dropship. We will remember you, he tought. Every one of you. Thank you and good bye.
As the white clouds concealed the city the outlines of Castle Rock he noticed something strange.
It looked like a giant Wolf skull.
Edited by Warchild Corsair, 29 January 2015 - 11:55 PM.
