First Engagement

Nox, Remona Mines

Lyran Commonwealth

11 July 2475

A shell from an antique Merkava exploded next to the brand-new Bipedal Weapon Platform-1X cockpit piloted by the retired politician. This is where I belong, though Michael Steiner. Here with my men and women, fighting for the future of the Lyran Commonwealth. The Combine’s Second Sword of Light had lander on Nox just a few days before, and now they were clashing with the Lyran Guards on the rolling hills near the diamond mines which had prompted the Lyran to take the planet over a few years before.

The battlemech was the new yardstick for war, and this battle was proving why. Combine tanks and hover raiders were pouring forward, but the massive Mackie and Ymir were simply mowing them down, while the smaller Orion was dealing deadly blows to infantry platoons. Michael had also made sure the brand-new Commandos were being used to the best of their capabilities, guarding the sides of the column, and being redirected to cripple enemy when a hole in the front came through. While Michael had had his doubts about a battlemech a quarter of the size of the standard Mackie, and a third of the weight of the now rather popular Orion, the fact they were fast and precise made things easy for him to manage.

A voice crackled in General Steiner’s neurohelmet that made him jump more than the constant stream of explosions. “CONTACT,” yelled a young lieutenant Kell, “BATTLEMECH COMPANY!” Michael adjusted his sensors, checked the targeting data in his Ymir.

• Repeat that, Lieutenant Kell. Do you mean the snakes have battlemechs?

• I see about 12 of them, moving from the east hill. One Mackie, one of those Archer from the Hegemony and about 10 unknown machines.
• How are your Commandos, Kell?
• A few of us are banged up, your highness. Schumacher is pulling back; his laser arm was blown off by a tank shell.
• I’m coming. You guys try to hold them there, use your mobility to keep them guessing. Most importantly, KEEP MOVING. Those Commandos are not meant to be static gun platforms.

No report had come to the former Archon’s desk that the Draconis Combine had battlemechs. He knew they probably would have stolen a few by now, but if something was coming up as “unknown” on the sensors, that would mean it was a brand-new machine, not something the Hegemony, Suns or Lyran had built. The Archon’s unit was about 4 kilometers from Kell’s Commando company, but with how slow the Ymirs were, it would take them minutes to get there to support their subordinates. There were also plenty of Von Rohr’s tanks in between the two. “We’re pushing forward, Tiger Lance,” said Michael Steiner. “We have to get to Kell’s Hund company!”

Michael kept a close eye on the battle computer information to see the condition of his troops. Lion and Panther lance were also maneuvering to get in position. Lion’s Mackies and Panther’s Archers and Orions were also much slower than the Commandos, nobody knew how bad things would get before they got there. The best they could hope was for the Commando company to be feeding them some telemetry so they could fire those fancy long-range missiles the LCAF high command had decided to equip them with.

Marcus Kell was actually a veteran of battlemech combat. This was an odd thing to say, but he had been part of a raid against a Hegemony installation to steal some machines a few years back, and he had engaged other battlemechs in direct combat with his own Mackie. When the LCAF decided to assign him to a company of raiders using the new COM-1A, he jumped at the opportunity to show the new guys how it was done. This is probably what saved his company on that day, as the Combine’s battlemech company walked down the hill. “Keep moving,” he ordered his men, “focus fire on one target at a time, get on their side and their rear. Looks like we’re faster than even those new machines, so make sure we keep doing that.” The Combine pilots were likely only ever trained for anti-infantry or anti-tank warfare and behaved like one “expected” battlemech pilots to act: they moved into position, stopped, aimed and took their shots. This wasn’t a bad idea mind you, but Kell had already taught everyone he had met with the secret of survival while in a battlemech, with “keep moving” being the thing he literally said the most these days.

The Combine pilots also seemed to only know how to fight tanks, because they always aimed low. While this could have been a problem, the Commandos were fast enough to sidestep shots aimed at their spindly legs. The unknown machines were larger than the Commandos and packed more weapons, a larger laser and two medium-class lasers, at first glance, but they were smaller than the “big boy” battlemechs Kell had fought in the past. He was somewhat worried about the Mackie and the Archer being able to take out the smaller battlemechs, but the rest of his men were staying well within the effective minimum range of most of the weapons on the larger machines.

The Archer was struggling the most, the long-range missiles simply not achieving a lock and the two medium lasers on the arms not being able to be brought to bear fast enough. Kell’s battle computer showed some severe damage on the machine, with one of the torsos being barely holding together. While moving at full speed, he adjusted the aim of his own arm-mounted large laser and took a clean shot, which apparently hit something good, as the 70-tons walker exploded, likely from a missile ammo bin being hit. Lucky shot thought Lieutenant Kell, those 55-tonners don’t seem to have ammo, we can’t expect them to blow like this.

One of the unknown machines had gotten close enough to sergeant Spears Commando to punch it, leaving a massive hole in the machine’s chest as the fusion engine started glowing. Marcus Kell knew the young woman would not be able to eject in time. Keying in commands quickly, he told the rest of his troops to focus fire to get revenge. Blue coherent light beams started flowing towards the Combine walker, sheering off bits and parts of armor. The machine replied, hitting private Rewburtz Commando with medium lasers, but not enough to deal significant damage. More concentrated fire, more maneuvering, more positioning. They couldn’t afford to not stay mobile, and they could not afford the chance the enemy to get their actual hands on them. The Combine soldiers were starting to realize what they needed to do as well, they started keeping their machine moving more, aiming more towards the center mass of their targets.

Salvation came in form of waves of long-range missiles, smashing into the Combine’s Mackie. The General’s Big Cats were coming in hot, using Kell’s company telemetry to direct their shots. Focusing fire on one of the remaining unknown battlemech, Kell’s troops caused another engine overload on an enemy as autocannon shells started flying overhead from the incoming Ymir. 45 seconds later, the majority of the enemy battlemechs were either destroyed or were running away.

“We won that one”, started Michael Steiner, “but I don’t know if we’ll be as lucky next time.” Three Commandos had been destroyed, for 3 of the unknown machines, an Archer, and a Mackie. A lot of the 25-tonners had various levels of severe to critical damage, some of them likely not going to see anymore action in this operation. Nobody could really tell what damage they had dealt to the Combine troops, but the assault stopped as the enemy battlemechs pulled back. Some straggler in basic tanks still tried to resist, but the Lyran forces had won the day, but they knew the Second Sword of Light would not stop with just that.

And the discussions afterwards…

Nox, Beckvern Hills

Lyran Commonwealth

11 July 2475

General Honda looked at his aide, Sandrine “Ibis” Von Rohrs and she knew he wanted answers. How could they have failed while fielding the brand-new Gladiators? Those were the pride of the Coordinator, and the best kept secret in the Inner Sphere. Faster than the common battlemechs but still armed enough to deal critical damage, they had been tested and were piloted by the best of the best they could have mustered. The middle-aged woman adjusted her wig (she wouldn’t want to be seen bald, but it was a necessity to pilot battlemechs, she was told), straightened her collar and started:

• The Lyrans also deployed new machines, General.
• They were HALF THE WEIGHT of our Gladiators, Colonel! We should have been able to crush them under our weight!
• Our pilots are reporting that the Lyran machines were faster than they were, and they kept moving all the time rather than stopping to take clean shots. Even if they were not as accurate, with lasers, it still led to critical damage over time.
• A battalion of armor, wasted on keeping those walking toys safe! Why are we even investing in those pathetic machines?
• Those pathetic machines, General Honda, destroyed your battalion of armor with little loss. The only real damage we dealt today was from the battlemech company.
• And we lost two of the machines we recovered from the Hegemony!
• Acceptable losses, General. Our factories are starting to produce comparable machines already, and we have signed a contract…
• POLITICS! This is WAR, Von Rohrs! Do you want to go back to your uncle and tell him ‘Oh but, the losses we had on Nox were fine, it’s all replaceable!

Honda was seething, yelling, and hitting his field office desk. He looked like a big baby throwing a tamper tantrum, the various officers in the field HQ not knowing what to really do. Ibis Von Rohrs was the only one really trying to ease things, keeping a close eye on the battle report from earlier in the day. The losses had been catastrophic. The Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces had hit them with far more battlemechs than she even though they could muster. Those light battlemechs were a great asset, especially in large amounts. Their Gladiators could probably match them, but they would never be able to deploy as many. Honda was an old dog general, obsessed by his tanks and fortifications. Von Rohrs knew he wasn’t the man for the situation, and she couldn’t take command away from him without causing major issues.

• We need to regroup and reorganize, this hilly area around Beckvern seems to be the best place to do it.
• My hovertanks can’t move effectively in all that wood.
• But our battlemechs can, General. We will try to get the Lyrans to attack us there and meet them with the remaining 3 companies of Gladiators while your tanks move to flank them.
• Will they really fall for such a simple trap?
• What option do they really have? Either they drive us off-world, or given enough time, the Third will reach us and reinforce us in 2 months.

Von Rohrs was not stupid, and she knew such a plan would require the Lyrans to take the bait and expose their headquarters to retaliation, but if she wanted to stay in the good graces of the Coordinator and the rest of the military establishment, she needed to try something to keep her battlemech forces on the field. She had taken out one of the smaller battlemech in the field today, and she had started understanding how to fight against them more effectively. Given maybe one or two more engagements, she would know the real weakness of her foes and be used to fighting in the giant walkers as opposed to being a simple tank commander. This is so exciting, she thought to herself.

Nox, LCAF Temporary Headquarter

Lyran Commonwealth

13 July 2475

It had been two days since the initial contact between the Steiner and Combine forces, and Michael Steiner had seen the enemy regroup around Beckvern Hill. The former Archon was happy the Second Sword of Light was avoiding civilian centers, but the hilly and forested area around Beckvern hill would make moving in with armor more difficult. This would be a battlemech battle, the first official one he knew of. Scout planes had told him the Combine had about a battalion worth of walkers around the hill, mostly the new Gladiator. On the other hand, Michael had about a battalion worth of battlemechs, with the majority of them being the lighter Commando, but with a significant number of heavier machines like the Ymir and Mackie. The now Captain Kell had advised him on what should be done in case of ‘mech to ‘mech combat, and it had been recorded both in writing and on a 3DRom. The guncam footage and BattleROM of the Commandos had been passed around already, and most ‘mech pilots had spent the last 2 days looking them over.

Former Archon Michael Steiner had stepped down from his rulership in order to better serve the nation. At least, that was his excuse on paper. He never had the mind of a politician or a courtier, he had started his career training as a tank commander and jumped on the opportunity to become one of the select few Mechwarriors. His father’s untimely demise had put him on the throne, but he had known from the start his younger brother Steven was more fit for the crown than he ever was. Well, younger by a few minutes, at least. After the death of his sister, than the tragic death of his wife in the earthquake that almost levelled Tharkad’s capital city, he no longer could just sit on a throne while the Draconis Combine moved against them. He was meant to be a man of action.

Opposite him was the wiry and tall frame of Captain Marcus Kell, which could have been his polar opposite. Against the clean shaven Steiner, Kell had a scraggly black beard and unkept hair, as opposed to Michael’s deep shave to improve connections with the neuro-helmet. While the former Archon had a clean, perfectly pressed uniform, the company captain wore just his lower fatigues and his coolant jacket, revealing a tattoo of a hunting dog on his left arm. A holotable was between them showing a section of the planet topography, recently gathered by satellite footage.

• Armor will have to go around the forest and the hills, started Michael, both ours and theirs.
• Not a problem, replied Captain Kell, drawing movement lines on the map. Our tanks are faster than the Combine MBTs, which are mostly based off the old Merkava line.
• But they have those hover tanks, the Sand Devils.
• Too much wood and rough terrain for them to be useful here. If we were meeting on the corn fields over here, it would be a huge problem, but here near Beckvern…
• We will be able to keep them more or less immobile, yes.
• What worries me is the enemy battlemechs…
• How good are those Gladiators, Captain?
• If their pilots were good, they would probably be able to outmatch us. The Commando is fast, but we don’t pack as much firepower… or armor.
• The armor is what you keep worrying about, Captain.
• I understand that movement kept us alive last time, but it only takes a few good hits for the Commandos to go down, as opposed to your Ymir. The reports we got from the Hegemony scout battlemech, the Wasp, says the same. If you don’t get hit, you’re good. If anything connects…
• This is a worthy worry, Captain.
• Also, the Commando is hampered by having a single weapon. I’d rather have something like a SRM launcher and a backup laser rather than the single large. Maybe machine guns against infantry?
• And I would like to have a warship support on this operation, but I have to do with what we have.
• The Commando is fast enough to get in close quarters, and with a SRM launcher, it would be more effective against vehicles as well.
• I suppose this is in your report on the effectiveness of the machine?
• Yes, your highness.
• We have to figure out how to make those Battlemechs work. The Hegemony is putting every single tax dollar into building them. The Federated Suns has factories pumping out new models every other year it seems.
• And now the Dracs have them as well.

The two men relaxed for a minute, drinking a quick shot from their MRE coffee. The battle would start at dawn the next day, more than likely. It would be a true battlemech war, something which had not really been known to happen in the Inner Sphere, but both men knew would be something common occurrence in just a few more years. Marcus Kell had been trained from the start to be a “mechwarrior” rather than a tank commander or officer. Michael Steiner had decided to invest into battlemech warfare rather than strenghtening either the fleet or the armor divisions. Both of them wanted to see the Commonwealth victorious, but both now worried about what would come afterwards. “I will see you in your ‘mech cockpit tomorrow morning, Captain Kell. Have a good evening.” The gruff mechwarrior replied with a salute and a nod, before starting to type on a datapad.

Neither of them had a good night sleep.

The Battle of Beckvern Hill

Nox

Lyran Commonwealth

14 July 2475

The Battle of Beckvern Hill, as it would later be known, started at 0715 Earth Standard Time. Surprisingly, the first shots taken were from armors flanking the forested area, as Combine Merkava and Commonwealth Mardsen ranged ahead. As expected, the Sand Devil hover tanks were not able to position themselves quickly in this environment and were pointless, quickly abandoned or destroyed.

The actual “real deal” started around 0730 Earth Standard Time, as Commandos crept through the woods into the Combine line of combat, led by Captain Marcus Kell. The formations had been modified to include a heavy or assault ‘mech to serve as an “anchor” to the rest of the lance of lighter Commandos, but Kell had elected to remain in a Commando rather than take up a Ymir which was offered to him. General Steiner was further back in the overall battle order and was meant to direct the various units rather focus on combat. On the other side, General Honda Tashikiro was in his headquarter vehicle making sure his forces stayed in combat shape, while Colonel Von Rohrs somehow kept herself out of harms way by “making sure enemy armor would not break past them”.

By 0740 EST, one Combine Gladiator had been destroyed while the other three members of its lance tried regrouping towards another unit, which was also engaged with Lyran forces and not having much more luck. Combine mechwarriors often still used the move, stay still to take a shot, move again strategy which they had employed earlier, while the Lyran forces kept all their battlemech moving at all times, while also focusing fire on enemy machine center mass rather than aiming low.

By 0800 EST, the battle was well-engaged and losses started to pile on both sides, but generally the Lyran came ahead in the trades. The Combine stolen heavy and assault battlemechs were being primaried by the Lyran forces, leaving mostly Gladiators to fight the remaining combined lances, the pilots not focusing fire on any target and just engaging seemingly at random.

By 0830 EST, the Lyran Commandos had realized that the best strategy when fighting slower machines was to circle them, keeping their torsos and arm pointed towards them while the Gladiators tried to reposition to fire at them. This would become one of the most common strategies used by mechwarriors specializing in lighter machines in the future. The Combine pulled back their forces at this point to regroup.

At 0910 EST, former Archon Steiner impaled a hovertank on a tree trunk he had pulled out of the ground. His lance had been ambushed by a column of armor, which had hoped for a quick win against a smaller enemy force. Lion Lance put up a good fight, and battlemechs frequently kicked and punted the smaller vehicles to keep them out of the way. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Lyran forces, Archon Michael Steiner was mortally injured in this fight, shrapnel penetrating his Ymir cockpit, lodging itself in his arteries. The injury did not kill him instantly and he kept fighting until the end of the engagement.

At 0935 EST, Combine forces had regrouped and began pushing back against the Lyran attackers. Colonel Von Rohrs had coached her mechwarriors to change their ingrained combat strategy, and the pilots kept moving a lot more from that point onwards. The armor forces from both sides kept trying to push ahead, but Colonel Von Rohrs asked her own men to focus on the flanking Mardsen tanks to open a gap in the Lyran battle line.

At 0940 EST, Archon Steiner (still mortally injured) directed his own mechwarrior to perform a similar maneuver, crippling the Combine armor forces with minimum losses for the Lyran forces. Captain Kell was still at the vanguard of the Commonwealth battalion, directing fire and pointing out targets.

Later, at 1000 EST, both the Commonwealth and Combine battlemech forces met again in the forest at the foot of Beckvern Hill, within earshot of the Draconis Combine’s headquarter. Colonel Von Rohrs and her troops managed to destroy a Commonwealth Commando lance with a pincer attack, but the rest of the Gladiators were being pushed back more and more. Adapting to the combat situation had been much easier for Steiner’s forces compared to Honda’s troops, and while this was not a complete rout, it became clear to Colonel Von Rohrs that she wouldn’t live to see another day if she didn’t pull her troops back towards their dropships.

At 1005 EST, the Combine line was broken and the Commonwealth forces overran General Honda’s headquarters. In lance-strength formations, the Commandos and supporting heavier machine struck command vehicles, support machines and anti-air platforms. A stray large laser shot burned Honda Tashikiro to death as he was running out of his mobile headquarter to jump into a hovercar to escape.

By 1015 EST, the battle of Beckvern Hill was over, with critical losses on the side of the Combine while the Commonwealth army was heavily damaged, but still capable of chasing down the retreating troops until they embarked in their dropships and left the planet.

At 1022 EST, a jubilant Captain Kell tried climbing into his commanding officer cockpit to congratulate him, only to find that former Archon Michael Steiner had bled to death in his seat. After calling the medical unit, Archon Michael Steiner was declared dead as of 1038 EST. This would be used by Ibis Von Rohrs as a mean to get the engagement on Nox to not impact her career as much as it could have. The former Archon would be buried under the Lyran throne room, next to his father after the body was returned to Tharkad, after a full state funeral which saw dignitaries from both the Federated Suns and Terran Hegemony pay their respects.

Sandrine “Ibis” Von Rohrs replaced General Honda at the head of the Second Sword of Light, where she served admirably, but with the weird distinction of never really getting into battlemech to battlemech combat, leaving that mostly to her lancemates as she engaged armor and infantry until her capture at the Battle of Galuzzo. Her two daughters moved to the Lyran Commonwealth to be with their mother, who was kept as a political prisoner rather than a prisoner of war. It is not quite known what happened to their family, but it is possible that they are the only Von Rohrs which escaped the purges by House Kurita when they came back in power.

The combat recordings and observations from Captain Kell would be used by all mechwarrior schools throughout the Inner Sphere for the next 20 years, and still remains at the core of many training regimen by prestigious schools, even though the name of the documents have been lost to time for many. His recommendations on the design of the Commando led to the design of the 1D Commando, which was the model which bridged the gap between the original primitive model and the more modern, the 2D.

Epilogue

Tharkad

15 February 3154

Tropicana, Tharkad Broadcasting Corporation Headquarters

“So, Carol, you think we’ll be able to sell that documentary retelling?” The two creators sat in an empty meeting room, holding their stacks of paper and copies of their HoloDoc samples. Carol Michelsson and Sumon Hachi had been sitting there for close to an hour now after having spoken to the head of educational production at TBC. “This is the first project you pitch to a big corporation, right”, started Sumon to his colleague at Historical Retelling Productions

• Does it generally take this long?
• No, usually they just turn me around and say they aren’t interested.
• Do you think it’s the subject matter? I mean, it does end with an Archon dying…
• We got worst things past the censors and the board of directors in the past. No idea why they are taking so long.
• It’s as if you expect them to reject it!
• Yeah, I do. This project would be expensive, and not sure it would get that good of returns. Ancient history generally is not a huge eye-catcher.
• But we did the appropriate historical research and everything! The holomodels we have ready for use are also perfect reflections of the machines in use back then!
• That’s part of what I said. The cost here would be prohibitive. The idea is to pitch it like this, they reject it and we come back with it being fully animated instead and sell it as a patriotic cartoon instead rather than a live-action holoshow.

The three executives at TBC walked back in the meeting room, the older woman smiling while the two younger men looking more serious. This was a first for Sumon, he was used to Katherine Rumsfeld to be the one scowling. “So,” started Mrs. Rumsfeld, “your project is interesting, but there are a few things we’d like to discuss about.” Red flags started popping up in both creator’s heads. This was never a good sign. “Would there be a way to make Marcus Kell a woman,” asked the head of educational production.

• What? Marcus Kell is a decorated war hero of the Lyran Commonwealth, and an ancestor of the leader of the Kell Hounds…
• I know, that is also a bit of an issue, you see. It would be better if we replaced him with a woman, possibly of a different ethnic background, for representation purposes. We have a PERFECT actress for that role.
• But… he’s an historical…
• Also, would it be possible to maybe have more scenes with Sandrine Von Rohrs, and show her in more of a positive light? She seems to be quite cowardly in this, with her not engaging the main Lyran force…

“But that’s how she acted,” replied Carol Michelsson. “She avoided ‘mech to ‘mech combat throughout her career, quite likely so she would not be disgraced from losing her machine.” A tense silence filled the room. It was going to be a long negotiation between the two party. Sumon Hachi looked at Jeremiah Stevens, one of the executives he had already worked with in the past, and the two men nodded. They both knew where this whole thing was going to go, and neither of them enjoyed it.  If only he could have pitched this as a cartoon instead of a serious historical piece.