Battle of Yorii Part 1

Yorii, Wolf Empire
Day 1 of the Trial for Terra

Yorii was different enough from Terra that one could wonder how so many colonists had made it their home originally. The gravity was high enough to be uncomfortable if you were an offworlder. The ground composition was wildly different from “good old Earth”, so outside potatoes, you had to farm genetically engineered plants or figure out which of the local ones were good. Tiger-Raptors (Torataka, as the original Japanese settlers had called them) were all over the place, in all shapes and sizes. The locals had not wanted to call them dinosaurs, because they were different enough from those as well. Still, about a billion eight hundred thousand humans had made Yorii their home by the 3150s. Through the Star League Civil War to the Succession War, and the more modern wars which surrounded it, Yorii had kept flourishing.

Now, it was a battlefield again, but this time between two groups of people who had nothing to really do with Yorii. Clan Hell’s Horses had decided to challenge the ilClan’s position in the Inner Sphere head on, and ilKhan Alaric Ward had responded by accepting their challenge. Terra having been damaged so much over the past few years; however, Alaric recommended the two fought on a more “neutral” ground, choosing the planet of Yorii. Both sides had agreed to show up there with some of their best warriors, their best weapons and also to limit the damage to civilian infrastructure as much as possible. Such was the Clan way… at least in theory.

Clan Wolf was overextended by the time the Hell’s Horses had called them out. They had had to hunt down the Wolf’s Dragoons in the Empire and also make sure the Lyrans and Leaguers didn’t reclaim all their territory. Terrorism and riots were always a potential issue. Alaric’s own Beta Galaxy was going to fight in this Trial of Possession, along with whatever could be scrounged up from other task forces still on Terra to reform Alpha Galaxy. The Horses had pledged three galaxies for the fight, and even with “superior Clan Wolf expertise”, things would end poorly for Alaric Ward and his new ilClan if extreme measures had not been taken.

Extreme measures were not something Colonel Sorell Book (also known as Boss Hoss) was known for. A former Assistant Director in Charge of the Republican Army Criminal Investigation Services, the rather rotund man preferred things to be simple and straightforward. A crime occurred, you put the necessary resources down for the investigation. You call in some favors from Ghost Knights. You ring up a planetary governor. Give it a week, get an arrest or two. Maybe show up to the trial if it’s (it is, the new bosses were picky about that stuff actually) high profile enough.

Things had changed when the Wolves had landed on Earth and decided to make a mess of things, taking it over, forcing Book out of his cushy job. And out of his old family Thunderbolt as well, lost while fighting for the “freedom of the Republic”. Living off his savings for a while, his “lavish yet restrained” lifestyle had needed more money quite quickly, especially as even his kids could not really get jobs in this whole nightmarish kerfuffle. Thank the big guy in the sky for Max Ergen and his First Army Group, thought Book, adjusting in his Dominator cockpit.

The First Army Group had been off world during the Battle of Terra, semi-broken up, people thinking their commanding officer, Max Ergen, dead. Suddenly, he showed back up with a few other First Army Group key officers and equipment. He also did the unthinkable: he approached Alaric Ward asking if his troops could be of service to Clan Wolf, as new First Lord of the Star League. A month later, Ergen was recruiting every former Republican asset he could to form a new “provisional Galaxy” to help the Wolves in their coming troubles. Sorell signed on the dotted line as soon as he could, clearly stating that his political and investigative talents could be a massive asset.

That had not mattered much, however. Max Ergen and Alaric Ward needed warm bodies in ‘mechs, battle armors and aerospace fighters, not political assets. With colonel bars on his shoulder, Book was now leading the equivalent of a reinforced battalion on Yorii against the Hell’s Horses, having been sent there before the fight would start to “prepare the ground”. Sorell Book had met with all the local politicians he could, of course. He had to make sure they wouldn’t get backstabbed by them. Guarantees were signed, contracts were done up. A significant amount of New Star League Dollars exchanged hands, the good people at Maersk making sure the spaceports would remain open as long as they were not considered targets. Zenshou Foods had been GENEROUSLY compensated for local food and rations. An army marches on their stomach, some old Terran general had said. Sorell agreed with them. Clan military rations were rancid. The stuff the locals had made for them made sure his boys and gals stayed motivated. Really, even Alaric Ward had congratulated him on the initiative. At least, he thought it was a congratulation.

Getting things ready planetside had been the easy part of this ordeal. Now, the Horses had landed with 3 full Galaxies full of some of their craziest warriors and some of their cookiest plans and most advanced gadgets. On his side, Sorell Book had a bunch of rugged veterans, many of whom he would have had investigated back in the days, second-line Clan machines at best and “patched up” old Inner Sphere workhorses at best. One thing they did have, however, was that Alaric Ward had never asked them to fight with honor and grace. No, that was reserved for the Alphas and Betas that wore the ilClan banner. General Max Ergen had made it quite clear to all the officers of the new First Army Group: their goal was to win this war for the Wolves. They might not have artillery and heavy air support, but anything else was good to go.

In front of Colonel (he still didn’t like that title as much as his previous one) Sorell Book was a massive road connecting two medium sized cities near the coast. 250 kilometers long, 60 meters wide of sheer, butt-clenching terror between a 60-meter drop into an ocean filled with carnivorous lizards and a 20 meter rocky cliff. It was also the only real way between the landing zone for one of the Horses’ clusters and what Sorell Book had made look like a major supply depot. Mechs could go up the cliff with jump jets, but the mass of vehicles the Horses loved to use were not so lucky. It was a case of either you took the road, or had to go 500 kilometers around, exposing yourself to air strikes along the way. Two companies of former Republican vehicles and battle armors were parked at one end of that road, waiting for movement. On top of the cliff, two ‘mech companies were laying in ambush. An extra company was waiting in dropships in geostationary orbit to execute a pincer if required. And then there was Sorell’s own command company with the vehicles on the road.

“Hey Boss Hoss,” the radio crackled with the nasally voice of Bartric Bebop. A few years ago, ADIC Sorell Book would have had that soldier turned pirate turned “Clan warrior” arrested. Now, he was the leader of the company at the top of the cliff, because he was so good at what he did. “It’s Colonel Book,” Sorell replied. “What do you see, Captain Bartric?” “Scouts are bookin’ it back to our position, Boss,” Bartric replied from his Hunchback IIC. “Horses own scout are on top the hill it seems. Bunch of fast machines with jump jets, as you expected.” Sorell pulled the general area map, patching in the data flowing in. A trinary of lights and mediums on top of the cliff, charging in to try to flank their position at the end of the road. “Bartric, can you and Roscoe hold them off?”, the Colonel asked. A gruffier voice, coming from a battle armor that had been lugged up the hill, answered: “No prob’, Boss Hoss”. Roscoe Steady was one hell of a battle armor commander, but he was just as much of a troublemaker as Bartric. Right now, there was no better people he would have on top of that hill.

“Boss, movement on the road!”, exclaimed one of the advanced scout on the tight pass. “We have a whole bunch of vehicles here!” More flipping viewscreens for Colonel Sorell Book, digging into the information he could. He had heard Cyclops did most of that for the pilot, and he wondered how many strings he’d have to pull to get one issued to him instead of his Dominator. “Watch out. Some of these are those fancy “QuadVee” the Horses have been using lately.” Guncam from one of the scout showed a Boreas with a full load of Elementals on top of it, rolling down the road while shooting a particle cannon at the scout car. The cam cut short a second later. Spotter data was transferred to combat vehicles still, which started bombarding the Hell’s Horses column with long range missiles. Some were doing the second-best thing by using Thunder LRM to quickly prop up minefields. Book’s own mech company started moving forward to meet the enemies head on. A few jump capable ‘mechs made the jump to the top of the cliff rather than stay on the road.

Fenris is still what Bartric knew the darn thing as, even if his targeting computer was calling it an Ice Ferret right now. Walking fire from his shoulder-mounted Rotary 5-class autocannon, “Captain” Bartric Bebop made sure the 45 ton machine from Clan Hell’s Horses needed to keep its head down while also threatening a Shadow Hawk IIC. Roscoe Steady’s Longinus battle armor squad was hiding in a rocky outcropping, engaging some Clan Toads, sorry “Elementals”. 15 or so ‘mechs, maybe 20 or so Battle Armors, quite a presence for 2 companies of Republic army rejects to be fighting.

The Fenris pilot decided to rush toward Bebop’s Hunchback IIC, possibly to bring its SRM tubes into play. Bartric replied the best way he knew, grabbing a downed tree and just swinging it full force using the myomer-powered arms of his Hunchies. A satisfying crunch sound happened, with the 45-ton omnimech stopping dead in its track, casing over the torso armor breached. Bartric followed it up with a squeeze of the trigger for his medium lasers to cut into the hole caused by whatever tree he had swung. The Horse’s machine head cracked open as the pilot ejected, the gyro assembly critically damaged.

In the rocky outcrop, small laser and machine gun fire filled the air. Roscoe had already lost one of his squad member, but unleashing the SRM on his shoulders, he took out another Elemental. The standard way he fought still was working here. Bartric was basically making his BattleMech dance between shots of the enemy while doing all sorts of crazy things. In response, the battle armors were to capture the objective, which in this case was making sure the enemy wouldn’t get past them. The Elementals were starting to pull back, while the Shadow Hawk IIC was getting close enough for Roscoe and his boys to start swarming up it. The Shad’s pilot had no idea the infantry was even there, being so focused on Bartric’s antics.

The scout company’s Ion Sparrow exploded in a multicolored ball of light as Roscoe was beginning to climb up the 45 ton Horses’ machine. Bartric let out a swear before kicking the leg off an Arctic Cheetah. Clan warriors would not expect the follow up punch, which crushed the scout/harasser’s head. The scout lance of the company had taken the most serious losses, being down 2 ‘mechs. Bartrics own lancemate, in a Trebuchet loaded with Clan weapons, had lost both arms and was retreating. Kai’s Vindicator was burning next to a larger Kuma the Hell’s Horses stole from the Ghost Bears. Bartric Bebop made sure it would pay for it by unloading his rotary autocannons, causing the 60 tonner to fall on its side. Seconds later, a group of Longinus battle armor jumped on top of the fallen giant and cut it open with small lasers.

7 of the Clanner ‘mechs had either been abandoned or destroyed at that point. The rest were mainly light, jump capable ‘mechs not meant for stand-up fights. The second company of ambushed ‘mechs had met up with them now, adding their firepower to the whole affair. Bartric’s counterpart, Captain Pritul Chowdhury’s Osprey wasn’t fast but his gauss rifle decapitated a Pouncer with the first shot it took. The Hell’s Horses pilots were good, but at this point, the First Army Group had them outnumbered with larger machines.

Taking a second to catch his breath, pivoting his Hunchback IIC like a ballerina to face a Horned Owl which was getting chewed up by pulse laser fire, Bartric looked at the satellite feed. His dropship (well, not quite “his” anymore but still) was bringing in the last ‘mech company down right now, drop pods flashing silver in the lower atmosphere. Hopefully Boss Hoss was having an okay time down there.

Even with their unit stuck between a rock and a hard place, the Hell’s Horses were giving the First Army Group one heck of a fight. While the regular armor elements were being picked off, the QuadVees were far more of a threat. The larger Harpagos, with their twin gauss rifles, had already destroyed multiple LRM carriers. Colonel Book had asked the rest of his company to focus fire on them. One of them had fallen off into the ocean below as the ground under it had given way as Sorell’s ER PPC and ER Large laser failed to hit their mark. Small blessings, the military police officer thought. A smaller Cyllaros was trying to keep Sorell’s attention to protect the larger machines.

Everyone was in tight quarters, explosions were omnipresent. The airdropped force was coming in from behind the Horses’ column now. The Colonel was quite happy that only one guy had “missed the drop” and landed in the ocean himself. With a little luck, he’d be taking out that Harpagos. The heavy medium lasers from the Cyllaros made a burning sound as they slammed into the Dominator’s torso. Book responded by jumping up and landing right next to the QuadVee, which was standing up on its spindly legs. Most pilots would have done the brash thing and tried to land a death from above, but Sorell still was not used to jump jets to begin with. What he was used to, however, was punching and grabbing, what his old Thunderbolt loved to do. The large fist of the Dominator banged on the 55 ton tank-mech hybrid’s turret, and Book squeezed the fingers around the laser mount, which detonated as the capacitors were damaged. Three seconds later, the Colonel nudged the heavily damaged machine down the cliff with a good kick to its mid-section, powered by said jump jets.

A volley of LRM from an Archer silenced an Eurus MBT, the reinforcement from the pincer attack finally scoring some useful hits. Clan Elementals were getting into it with whatever battle armor the First Army Group had scrounged up for Book’s battalion, with IFV providing support fire on both sides. Enyo’s painted orange and black faced Republican Po’s and Tokugawa, which they outmatched in every way. But it seemed that infantry was where those fights were being won or lost, as a squad of Longinus unleashed a barrage of short-range missiles on an Enyo, which rocked and stopped moving for a few seconds. Immediately after, each of the “standard” battle tanks of the Republican force added shots from their Imperator Code Red’s, popping the Clan medium tank’s turret clean off.

At that point, Colonel Book’s right arm was dangling from myomer threads, the ER PPC laying on the sea floor somewhere down the line. The SRM 6 ammo counter was also almost at 0. His ‘mech’s paperdoll was all sorts of colors, most of them indicating bad things were about to happen. One more beam from his ER Large Laser went down the road, hitting an armored infrantry, stopping him in his track. The older man panicked when he started hearing autocannon fire coming from his side. Thank goodness, it was Bartric Bebop and his merrymen coming to assist them from the top of the cliff, pushing back the attackers a bit further. Book’s radio clicked on an open channel, with a Star Colonel announcing he was surrendering. The last bit of “action” was a pair of Javelins pushing a derelict tank off the side of the road into the water.

This hadn’t been too bad for a first fight. Every First Army Group officer present had expected things to be far worse after facing some of the elite troops of Clan Hell’s Horses. Sorell Book hoped things were going just as well for the other Clan Wolf forces on the planet.

Next part

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