Ambushing the Ambushers

News of the impending arrival of the First Capellan Dragoons, which would shift the balance of power decisively in th Allied direction, was ultimately the factor that tipped the tensions on Kathil over into full blown conflict.

True hostilities commenced on November 16 when a convoy sent to arrest Weintraub for effectivly holding Duke VanLees hostage was discovered by forces from the Eighth. The Eighth responded by striking at the Kathil CMM’s base, leading to a series of indecisive skirmishes that continued on into the subsequent days.

The Company was initially a spectator to the events of November 16th, but did receive a missive from Hauptmann General Weintraub commanding them to vacate the GM facilities, Colonel Ferrer, citing his direct command structure, politely refused. This missive was repeated the next day, with a similar response.

At this point, Colonel Ferrer knew an attack was imminent. The GM factory covered over 200 square kilometers, and would stretch the Company’s forces thin. Colonel Ferrer directed his troops to prepare fortified positions at key points in the facility, including the main gates, the main mech production facility, the spaceport, and the security control center, depending on automated defenses to dissuade attackers elsewhere.

The attack came the next day. Advanced scouts reported that Weintraub was sending a full regiment of armor and a regiment of infantry, with some limited battlemech support to secure the facility. Most of the Company hunkered down in their positions and prepared for the assault.

The first shots were traded deep within the facility. Realizing that disabling the automated defenses was key to the assault, Leftenant General Garry Duffield ordered his company of battlemech support to sneak into the factory grounds at a weak point and stealthily make their way to the security control center to either disable or secure it.

Using a series of large drainage pipes, the Loyalist company made it within five klickes of the center before they were discovered by a remote drone. Bravo compan,y which had been assigned to protect the security control center, decided to lay a trap, hiding their units in a warehouse district on the route to the center. Their plan was to strike at the intruders from these hidden positions, hopefully quickly turning the tables on them.

After-Action Report

As the enemy mech company approached the warehouses, Major Salas sprung his trap. Concentrated fire from Company mechs emerging from the warehouse eviscerated several FedCom mechs before they could return fire. A Battlemaster leading the fight was headcapped by a direct shot from one of the Thugs. Meanwhile, both a Champion and a Victor suffered critical damage to their fusion reactors that caused a chain reaction, which ironically did more damage to the surrounding Company mechs than any of the FedCom return fire. When the dust settled from the ambush, four Loyalist mechs were down. Bear’s Marauder had also taken heavy damage, partly from the explosion and partly from concentrated return fire.

Unclear of the situation, the remaining FedCom mechs charged into the fray, but were now severely outnumbered and outgunned. Eventually, a retreat was called, but only one enemy mech limped away from the battle. Aside from Bear’s Marauder, Bravo company had taken minimal to moderate damage.

Defending the Heart

Satellite reconnaissance suggested that the main mech factory in the GM complex was relatively lightly guarded by only infantry units. Leftenant General Duffield decided that capturing this jewel of the factory might be enough to win the battle, even if his assault on the main gates failed. To do so, he mobilized all the transport VTOL support he could muster and launched a primarily infantry assault on the compound, using two jump infantry battalions.

The factory was also protected by several automated gun turrets which could make life very difficult for the FedCom infantry very quickly. Ideally, Duffield hoped that his surgical strike on the complex’s security center would knock these turrets offline. However, as a backup, he also sent in a company of attack VTOLs to disable the turrets and allow his troops to enter.

After-Action Report

The failure to disable the turrets spelled the doom for the FedCom mission. Most of the turrets were designed for air defense either using LB-X cluster munitions or autocannons with flak shells. Combined with the LB-X field guns, these static defenses ripped the VTOL company to shreds before it could do more than destroy one turret. The FedCom jump infantry were already having a difficulty time against the mechanized infantry of the Company who remained in their fortified positions and strafed the open approach. Once the VTOLs were dealt with and the turrets and field guns turned their attention to the FedCom infantry, the battlefield became a kill zone and most of the regiment retreated to their dop zone for extraction, having lost nearly a battalion of troops.

The Eighth FedCom had severely underestimated the Free Company of Oriente. They paid the price in blood and steel. All told, the Eighth lost roughly a company of mechs, a battalion of armor, and a battalion of jump infantry.

However, Colonel Ferrer knew that Hauptmann General Weintraub was unlikely to make the same mistake twice. The GM factory was the second most valuable strategic asset on-planet after the microwave arrays. He knew that the Eighth would soon descend on the facility in even greater numbers. Reluctantly, he sent messages to the Kathil CMM asking for support in case of another attack, but the Militia was pinned down by attacks themselves and not well-positioned to come to the Company’s aid.

Duke VanLees was being held hostage by the Eighth and thus Colonel Ferrer had no direct guidance on his next course of action. He was resigned to fend off a brutal seige of the factory complex by an enraged Eighth FedCom when his GM liaision requested that the Company vacate the premises. Apparently, they were more concerned about the potential damage to the factory by the fighting than who held the facility. With no one to countermand the order, Colonel Ferrer agreed. He called down the Company’s dropship support and they left the factory. The Company’s dropships then landed near the base of operations for the Kathil CMM and offered their services. Until receiving further orders, Colonel Ferrer considered the Eighth FedCom to be an invading hostile force and would fulfill the terms of his garrison contract.

Unwelcome Committee

The main body of the FedCom forces attacked the front gate to the GM factory complex. Given the size of the facility, the front gate could have been circumvented, but it did provide the easiest access point to the complex. Additionally, the factory spaceport was located near the front gates offering a way to more easily transport units in and out of the complex.

The Company was ready and waiting. Aside from Bravo Company, the remainder of the Company’s mech forces were deployed at the main gates, with additional armor and infantry support. Zulu Artillery Company also had its cannons aimed at the gate, from deeper in the facility. GM was keen that damage to the facility be minimal and provided the Company with Copperhead munitions for their Sniper artillery pieces.

Arrayed against the Company were two battalions of armor, mostly heavy.

After-Action Report

While the FedCom forces had nearly a 2-to-1 advantage in non-infantry units, they were unprepared for the defensive preparations put in place by the Company. As they moved through a group of buildings and warehouses, multiple tanks were destroyed by highly accurate homing artillery. This artillery was directed by infantry TAG units hidden in the buildings, although the FedCom armor column attempted to seek out the infantry units, they only managed to reveal one squad. Meanwhile, Colonel Ferrer’s Command Lance delivered highly accurate sniper fire from an elevated and defended position. Realizing that they would need to move in closer quickly to return fire effectively, the FedCom units split into two groups to make their way around a group of residential buildings.

On ther right flank, Company hovercraft sped forward to TAG units again who were hit by both artillery fire and devastating concentrated LRM fire. Several faster FedCom units broke formation to chase the hovercraft back to their lines, only to be ambushed by Echo Company’s lance of Manticores. The remaining units had to contend with mines laid throughout the battlefield via LRM and artillery fire. As they finally approached the entrenched position of Colonel Ferrer’s Command Lance, Alpha Company’s Assault lance rose from their hidden positions and opened fire on the lead units.

The left flank did not even get this close, as they were harassed and slowed by fast hovercraft and TAG’ed for devastating artillery fire. Down to just over 50% of their original force, Leftenant General Duffield considered sending in his two reserve companies to reinforce his initial units, but ultimately decided he would likely be throwing away additional units. Instead, he called for an orderly withdrawal. The Companylet the forces go, concerned that it might be a ruse to get the Company to leave their defensive positions.

In total, the FedCom attackers lost nearly a battalion of armor. The Company suffered very few losses. One of the Pegasus hovercrafts was destroyed as it retreated after its harassing TAG run on the enemy line. Additoinally one of the scout infantry squads had been discovered and the building in which it was hiding from was destroyed by concentrated fire from the enemy.

Hold the Line

Although Colonel Ferrer made the decision to ally with the Kathil CMM, he also insisted on maintaining organizational and command independence. To that end, he insisted on only fulfilling defensive duties until a large scale counterattack was planned. Second and Third Battalion were assigned to static defense of the Militia base while the mechs of First Battalion were integrated into the patrol cycle.

While on patrol, Charlie Company’s Support Lance was nearby when a Militia lance guarding an important bridge came under fire by a company of mechs from the Eighth FedCom, with more reinforcements reportedly on the way. Captain Stokes’ Support Lance was the closest to the action and they were forced to hold out for the remainder of Charlie Company to arrive. Captain Stokes called in the Company’s artillery support but Charlie Company would have to hold out for some time before the artillery would arrive.

After-Action Report

The battle for control of the crossing see-sawed back and forth as new reinforcements were introduced on both sides. Initially, the Company mechs were hard-pressed but managed to hold their own, while most of the Militia mechs were quickly destroyed.

Several jump capable mechs from the Eighth attempted to cross the river and gain a foothold on the other side, while the Company struggled to push them back. As the rest of Charlie Company joined the fray, they were able to gain the upper hand. Reinforcements for the other side threatened to tilt the balance again. However, Lieutenant Muth, the acting commander, called in a saturation artillery strike on the other side of the river, which was enough to convince the remaining units of the Eighth to call off their attempt.

Both Lt. Rasmus and Captain Stokes had their mechs downed in the fight. Rasmus’s Marauder suffered engine failure and his mech was quickly brought back up to fighting condition after the battle and his own wounds were minor. Captain Stokes suffered more serious life-threatening wounds. Her Gallowglas had been ambushed by an enemy Falconer and the coil of her Gauss rifle had exploded leading to heurohelmet feedback that knocked her unconscious. Her immobile mech had proved an easy target for the Eighth and was subsequently blown to bits although she was pulled from the wreckage after the fight. Dr. Krasnicki expects her to make a full recovery but it could take considerable time, leading to a leadership gap in Charlie Company.

Defend the Convoy

The Eighth Fedcom’s decision to evict the Second NAIS from the K-F Yare microwave array facility earned them a valuable strategic asset, but also tipped the previously neutral Second NAIS into the fight. The Second NAIS threw their lot in with the Militia.

The Second NAIS had to move a great deal of valuable equipment to their new facilities with the Militia in Radcliffe. The Company was recruited to act as guards for several convoys carrying NAIS equipment as it traveled down the expresswa toward the Kathil CMM base. Unfortunately, one of these convoys ran into an Eighth raiding party.

After-Action Report

Captain Fuentes ordered the accompanying hover transports to exit the raised highway and proceed along a frontage road to the north, where they would be somewhat shielded from the Eighth’s attack. Meanwhile she ordered all of her combat units forward at full speed to interpose themselves between the attackers and the the supply convoy.

Her tactical manuever was successful but did lead to concentrated fire against her units as they Eighth tried to blast their way through to get to the transports. However, the Company units put out more damage than they received. When their hovercraft lance began zipping through the enemy forces, they caused enough havoc to lead the Eighth forces to become too spread out.

Ultimately, all of the transports made it to safety. The Company did lose two hovercraft, however, to enemy fire before withdrawing. One crew was able to evacuate and immobile craft and were later recovered in a SAR operation. The remaining hovercraft took severe motive damage and tried to flee through a nearby warehouse district, but was found and destroyed by an enemy Javelin. The surviving crewmembers were taken captive as POWs.

Family Ties

The Eighth Fedcom has been targeting the families of Kathil CMM soldiers in an effort to cow their opponents into submission. Intelligence reports suggested that the Eighth had identified the location of the immediate family of a high ranking Militia officer. Wanting to respond quickly, and with no troops in a good position to intervene, Major General Sampreis tasked the Company with the family’s recovery.

The family was located near areas of current conflict, and so Colonel Ferrer operated with caution. He sent a mechanized infantry platoon with support from a mech and armor lance to recover the family and bring them to the Militia base.

Just as the platoon made contact with the family on their farm, an infantry detachment from the Eighth Fedcom arrived with similar intent. What began as an infantry vs. infantry confrontation would ultimately expand into a much wider conflagration.

After-Action Report

The incoming infantry were mounted on hoverbikes and were no match for the Company’s mechanized infantry, who scoured them with long range fire from their vehicle mounted support pulse laser cannon. The opposing infantry quickly pulled back. Meanwhile, the family members were squeezed into Sergeant Lewis Moore’s vehicle which sped off, while the remaining squads provided rearguard cover.

It looked like the Company would make a quick extraction, but the Eighth’s infantry detachment called for reinforcements and a nearby armor company quickly sped to the scene. Fortunately, Lt. French’s Harrasser Lance of mechs, and Lt. Dhawan’s Sentinel lance of Manticore tanks were able to intercept the armor company well before they could catch up with the infantry units. Although outnumbered, they had an advantage in weight, skill, and tech and were able toe effectively hold off the armor company to buy the infantry unit time to evac.

However, just as the Company was gaining the upper hand, a company of mechs from the Eighth entered the fray as reinforcements. Realizing they were now outgunned, Lt. French called for a fighting withdrawal, trying to maintain the organizational integrity of his units. The jump-capable mechs were able to avoid taking much damage, but three of the Manticore suffered some motive damage and were in danger of being overrun.

At this point, however, reinforcements arrived on the Allied side, as a company of Militia mechs charged into the fray. The composition of the Militia and Eighth were roughly balanced. With the addition of the Company units, the Militia would have a clear upper hand. However, Lt. French was aware that the “package” was now speeding away from the battlefield and could run into other conflicts. He requested that his units be allowed to withdraw from the field to cover the family’s evacuation. After a brief discussion between Colonel Ferrer and the Militia’s brass, his request was granted. The Company units withdrew from the battlefield under the cover of smoke rising from the now burning fields. Their only major loss was one of the Manticores which had to be abandoned after serious motive damage left it immobile.

The Militia and Eighth units continued to fight. Because both sides were roughly balanced, neither attempted to disengage, believing that they could gain the upper hand. The result was the almost complete destruction of both sides, with only two mechs from each original company limping away from the battlefield.