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2828, Orbisonia
Federated Suns
The pressure on the Capellan Confederation was too much. To hold the line along all the borders stretched the Confederation's military and the risk of a collapse were at hand. The situation need an unorthodox solution and Ilsa Liao decided to take the risk and started a desperate gamble to save the Confederation's integrity and territorial holdings. With a brazen decision she reassigned the bulk of those troops stationed on the Capellan-Marik border left only small garrisons. The reassigned units' destination were the Capellan-Federated Suns border because the forces of House Davion posed a more significant threat than the marik forces what were bogged down by internal struggles. Ilsa Liao, despite the fact she retired, were still respected as a Chancellor and all her wishes were fullfilled as soon as possible. The moved troops' equipment were changed because en route to the Federated Suns' border almost all light and medium mechs of their ranks were switched to heavies. Whole battalions were re-equipped with Warhammers and Marauders drastically increased their combat potentials in theory. Yan Ten-Long and Tatjana Kabrinsky never seen so many heavy and assault mechs together what clearly showed the scope of Ilsa Liao's plan to face the davion-forces. Further proof were the presence of two near-sacred units, namely the Red Lancers and the Prefectorate Guard, both were considered as premiere liao units mustered the best of the Confederation. The gathered troops and equipment seemed a guarantee of success.
Widely known that Ilsa Liao not wished such an action. She tried to achieve and secure peace for the Confederation. She went so far that she personally renounced her claim to be the First Lord of the Star League however the vile, power-hungry Davion tyrants refused the gesture and chosen war instead of peace. Not if like it would have surprising because everyone knew House Davion's hunger for power and that they consider war as a mere game. They sacrificed their troops like toy soldiers and as such Ilsa's wish for peace just enfuriated them. Clearly, Ilsa Liao had really no choice but gather her forces and hit the cocky, conceited Davions where it hurts...
The davion command were so self-obsessed that they thought the Capellan Confederation unable and incapable to execute a pre-emptive strike. Ilsa Liao nevertheless launched her pre-emptive strike against a world the Federated Suns used to gather their forces for further attacks: Orbisonia.
Massive, heavy-weight forces were deployed on Orbisonia by the Confederation ready to shatter waves after waves of enemy forces. The sheer amount of firepower and armour granted an unbelieveable advantage but it also had it's deadly caveat! The scout- and recon-potential of the capellan units were seriously limited what also hampered their mobility and reaction to swift strikes and flankings. When the mainly light and medium mech equipped davions realised the disadvantage of their enemies they started to mass-use of hit-and-run skirmishes and flanking strikes against the backwater infrastructure. Their fast Stingers, Wasps and Valkyries conducted many successfull raids against the capellans field supplies and field hospitals shown no hesitation to strike against woundeds. The vulgarity of the davions spread even further when the occupied settlements were methodically burned. Yan and Tatjana once witnessed when three FedSun Vulcans incenerated a village what housed a capellan mechwarrior company since their landing. The Vulcans lit every houses before swiftly fled. They not even tried to face with their mechs just burned down everything and vanished. This went on for four whole days slowly turn the capellans initiate advance and success into a drawback.
And just to top of these the Davion Assault Guards also arrived to Orbisonia. Colonel Nikolai Yurchenko and Ilsa Liao agreed that the Assault Guards' arrival irrevocably turned the tides of battle. But their retreat and extraction from Orbisonia not seemed as an easy run.
Yan and his lance were attached to Ilsa Liao's Red Lancers. Honestly Yan were formally asked to replace his uncle Shan Ten-Long who were killed in a coward raid against a field hospital. Yan Ten-Long could hardly reply properly for the offer just said he would done what he could to serve Ilsa Liao and the Confederation. He far not felt himself worthy yet to belong to the Red Lancers.
'Ret@rds on your right!' came Tatjana's angry hiss from the radio. Yan turned his Lancelot to the right without hesitation just to get a hit from a Blackjack's light autocannons. The small calibered projectiles were hardly able to pierce through the thick skin of the Lancelot but they shook the machine. Blindly fired with his PPC Yan were able to force the Blackjack to pull back for a while but another FedSun mech stepped closer to make Yan's life miserable. The Withworth were an able medium mech but it seemed it's pilot lacked the proper gunnery skills because all missiles the mech launched missed Yan's Lancelot.
'I am on it, chief...' said Tatjana and her Catapult's LRM-launchers released two deadly volleys of missiles what headed toward the Withworth like bloodhounds. The exploding warheads covered the medium mech with shades of orange and yellow and shaken the Withworth like a puppet. Yan not hesitated just exploited the situation and activated both heavy lasers of his mech. The Lancelot's lasers cut into the stripped Withworth and reached it's fusion engine. The davion mechwarrior ejected from the mech just before it vanished in a blinding explosion.
Searching their next prey Yan and Tatjana noticed a Cyclops what engaged in a brawl with a Marauder. The Marauder's pilot openly accepted the Cyclop's charge not knew the identity of the pilot. Ilsa Liao bravely marched forth with her Cyclops and with a sudden leap she got so close to the Marauder that she could hit it with the mech's massive hand. The gigantic punch tossed the Marauder into the mud and Yan suspected that the pilot got a huge shock or even fainted in the Marauder's cockpit. The Cyclops then supported her victim with her foot and tore off her right arm just to lift it up as a trophy. With a scorning gesture Ilsa's Cyclops pointed directly toward the closing enemy forces and the capellans' communication channels awakened:
'Red Lancers, get them!' the voice of Ilsa Liao were full of power and hope and Yan suddenly could not imagine they could lost! Following such a charismatic warrior queen no army could lost! Yan suddenly believed deeply that as long as Ilsa lead them the damned davion pribs have no real chance.
And within a few heartbeats the battlefield turned into a hot, metallic hell. Yan's Lancelot engaged with an enemy JagerMech while Tatjana's Catapult turned an Enforcer to a walking torch. An Emperor and a Stalker closed up to Yan and together swiftly crippled a massive Victor what were able to score a hit on Ilsa's Cyclops with it's lasers. FedSun Stingers and Wasps teamed against a Red Lancers Warhammer what quickly got support by a friendly Rifleman. Capellan Marauders and Catapults tried to fend off a davion lance of Hunchbacks, Shadow hawk and a Griffin but their engagement swiftly became a stalemate. The JagerMech Yan faced successfully shattered his Lancelot's left arm and neutralised the heavy laser it housed so long. Tatjana desperately tried to keep the Enforcer in a safe distance with her lasers but the enemy mechs fire slowly decreased her Catapult's armour into useless scrapmetal. Suddenly colonel Nikolai Yurchenko's Emperor arrived and finished both Yan's and Tatjana's opponents before continued his juggernaught and assaulted a davion Crusader. The Red Lancers and other nearby elements like Yan's tattered lance slowly started to form a defensive perimeter around Ilsa Liao's Cyclops. They all noted that more and more enemy mechs started to target the Cyclops indicated they knew exactly who pilots the massive assault mech.
'Protect her!' shout someone in the channel when a Victor and a Marauder both attacked Ilsa's Cyclops. Within a few seconds a Hunchback and a Griffin also joined to them. Despite the joint efforts of the capellan mechwarriors more and more weapon had hit the Cyclops what started to became a deathtrap for Ilsa Liao.
Yan suddenly spotted an enemy Valkyrie what stealth in the shadow of it's heavier comrades but now suddenly started at full speed. He zigzagged back and forth in his gallop to make himself a harder target as he charged forward towards his goal. Then suddenly the Valkyrie's jump-jets lit up and the light mech leaped over the protective line of capellan mech clearly targeted the lone Cyclops. But such straight actions include their disadvantages in themselves more so since the Valkyrie's pilot forgot the Cyclop's trophy. The Cyclops swung the stripped arm of the defeated Marauder like a flail and smashed the Valkyrie into the ground. The speed of the removed arm proven enough to completely smash the light mech's torso, almost broke the Valkyrie into halves. The spectacular end of the brazen Valkyrie resulted general cheers among the capellans and forced the marching davion forces for a few heartbeat as they realised their chosen prey would be harder to succumb than they thought.
'Ma de dan húndán!' laughed Tatjana before released her last salvo of LRMs. The sound of the empty launcher tubes sounded like a death sentence. But Tatjana remorsed nothing. She had the honourable opportunity to die close to her staunchly beloved Chancellor and it seemed more than enough for her. She not knew that fate had other plans about her.
Tatjana's missiles weakened a Crusader what responded with it's own LRMs. But before the Crusader's missiles could blown away the right launcher of Tatjana's Catapult Yan's Lancelot scored a direct PPC hit on the cockpit essentially beheaded the Crusader. But it were no time for them to enjoy their minor victory because the pressure of the davion mechs increased and more and more capellan mech got neutralised one way or another. Time ran like hell and the end draw nigh.
'The Prefectorate Guard successfully reached their extraction zone!' the voice of Ilsa Liao had a stimulating effect on everyone. 'It is our time now to reach ours! Everyone, slowly but steadily pull back! No need to die here today if we can return home!'
The weathered lines of the surviving capellan mechs slowly started to fall back while constantly kept their defensive cordon around their deified leader. But noone expected a mere accident in the form of a bullet got a ricochet. The autocannon's target were a Warhammer what tried to twist it's torso to evade the destructive hit. However the twist were to late and the projectile hit the Warhammer's torso albeit in a bad angle. The resulted ricochet drove the shell right into the Cyclop's cockpit instantly killed Ilsa Liao. Time seemed to freeze at first then slowed and distorted as everyone witnessed with a broken heart how the Cyclops slowly fall to the ground. The ground trembled when the massive mech hit it but something else happened what the davion forces not wanted at all.
The commanders of the Federated Suns thought that the death of Ilsa Liao would brake the capellans and force them to surrender. But witnessing the fall of the "Warrior Queen" the capellan mechwarriors fallen in a fanatic trance and formed a mercyless tide of steel and death what wiped away everything what dared to oppose it. Mechs charged forth shooting blindly to everything they seen and willingly collided with the opposing davion mechs pushed them to the ground where the second line simply stomped them. Finding themselves in the middle of frenzy the dreaded davion mechwarriors fallen in disorder and desperately tried to find a way to run away and never look back. In a matter of a few seconds the tide of battle drastically turned where the got loose capellans not asked nor given any mercy. Purposedly smashed the heads and cockpits of the fallen davion mechs to avenge their Chancellor's death. And suddenly there were no such power on Orbisonia what could stop them...
It not took long finally. But the targets on which they could have vented their anger eventually ran out, leaving only the dull emptiness of pain and loss. Those mechs what had hands gently took Ilsa's fallen Cyclops and towed it away from the battlefield right to the awaiting dropships. Many wanted to remain and launch a retaliatory strike against the davion forces on Orbisonia but they remembered Ilsa Liao's last order to return home. They loved and respected her way to much to deny to accomplish that last command. The surviving forces of the capellan task force left the world what deprived them from their ruler and commander, their idol.
For the survivors it were the longest journey back home but the memories haunted them untill their grave and perhaps even more. Noone could really understood how could that happen? Since the foundation of the mighty Capellan Confederation no Chancellors died on the battlefield. Untill that cursed day on Orbisonia. It were a sour fact what the entire Confederation were need to swallow, something that deeply burned into their history...
*****
EDIT:
Added a line between each paragraph for easier reading! Also good to see "auto-correction" not recognise rude chinese words what otherwise rather offensive...
Edited by Duke Falcon, 28 October 2023 - 11:38 PM.
