Chapter 61

The First Challenge we faced on landing was the outer fortifications. This network of bunkers, redoubts, trenches, and weapons emplacements formed what was effectively a defensive line, the first of three cutting across the southern edge of the Plain of the Rim Worlds Republic and blocking access to Amaris City. Of course, Amaris City itself wasn't simply protected by these rings of outer fortifications. It had fortifications of its own, including a rather imposing citadel that seemed to be modelled after a scaled-down, budget, Castle Brian. It was no wonder that these fortifications had almost managed to stall the Clan Invasion before it had even really begun in that other timeline I'd read about in my dreams.

Still, the Citadel of Amaris City was for later. For now, we had to deal with the outer fortifications. It was here that the first real battle would be fought, though not before our Aerospace Fighters came in to give the fortifications as much of a pasting as they could. That by itself was estimated to take a full thirty-six hours to reduce the First Ring of Fortifications enough to the point that I felt comfortable assaulting them.

In the meantime, we unloaded our three divisions on the Plain of the Rim Worlds Republic. There was a trio of outlying farming communities deep in the Plains, each at the beck and call of a feudal warden who answered only to Otto Von Strang. These were the towns of New Eleazor, Terra Secundus, and Diplass Hold. They provided the bulk of the agricultural output of the Plains of the Rim Worlds Republic, and I sent Colonel Kadlec and Third Guards into the Plains to capture them in the hopes that doing so might be able to starve the forces behind the enemy fortifications out some.

You may think a full Guards Division overkill to capture a few farming towns, but if so, you clearly would not have been briefed on Von Strang's World. I had a sneaking suspicion that each of those towns would have been fortified to hell and back, making them a miniature representation of the Amaris City Fortifications. They wouldn't be as well-manned, of course, but it didn't take a whole lot of skill to sit inside a bunker and fire artillery from a position of safety, nor did it take much courage to plant a minefield. I was willing to bet that the Wardens' security troops would be able to handle that if bolstered by militia.

Nevertheless, as I set up my field headquarters on the Plain of the Rim Worlds Republic, watching the Vulcan Heavy Fighters fire their Gauss Rifles into the fortifications while the enemy sent up what fighters they had remaining, I could only wince at the reports that were coming in over the Comms. I watched as some of our Vulcans pounced on the few remaining enemy Vulcans that were sent out to stop them, and a dogfight ensued. At the outset, however, the lead Vulcan of our own Dogfighting Aerospace Fighter Contingent took a Gauss Rifle Round right to the cockpit, disintegrating in front of my eyes, and I felt the frustration well up inside me.

"Damn it, I hate not being able to do anything!" I swore, pounding my fist on the prefab surface of my field HQ Desk.

"I know, My Lord. It seems the Von Strangs have been sitting on a stockpile of old Rim Worlds Republic equipment. No doubt they found a Project: Redoubt Cache of similar composition, if not size, to the Iron Land Cache. Thankfully, our E-War Capabilities have managed to suss out rough numbers of equipment that they should have." Informed General Jorgensen, here to ride herd on my three regiments alongside myself.

"Who do we have on that?" I questioned.

"An Agent Selvig, My Lord, Anders Selvig. Apparently, he's one of Minister Simowitz's proteges." Informed General Jorgensen.

Minister Simowitz had a number of such protoges. Usually, they didn't have overlapping specialties. For instance, I'd come to find out that Agent Novak had been one such Protege, though his specialty had been in security and anti-assassination efforts. If this Agent Selvig was Minister Simowitz's protege in matters of Electronic Warfare, I'd have to trust he knew what he was doing. Still, I had to grumble a bit at the fact that the Von Strangs had quite so much Rim Worlds Army Equipment had eluded us until he'd shown up. It certainly hadn't shown up in the reports we'd gotten before now, though in fairness, those had been geared more toward getting any schematics of the various fortifications.

"He'd better live up to his cachet. What has he gotten for us?" I queried.

"Apparently, there is a Battalion of Battlemechs of Rim Worlds Republic Vintage, Rampages, Royal Griffins, and a mixed batch of Dragoons of AEM-Two, AEM-Three, and AEM-Four Configurations. They also received a Battalion of Combat Vehicles, primarily LTV-Four Hovertanks and Hipparchs. Rounding out the numbers is a Battalion's worth of Infantry Equipment, including two companies of Jump Infantry Equipment and one Company of Nighthawk Power Armor, alongside a divisional artillery park. Aerospace Forces were a touch heavier, some four-hundred Vulcan Heavy Aerospace Fighters and one Pentagon-Class Dropship." Informed General Jorgensen.

"That can't be all. The Von Strangs have been raiding around for years. If they had that sort of equipment in those numbers, we would have heard something by now." I insisted.

"It's likely they have another Division of far more standard fare, though the numbers on that are more iffy. We know they had a Tramp-Class JumpShip, the Colonel Gunthar, along with two, Triumph-class Dropships to carry combat vehicles, infantry, and mechs into battle. We also know they have at least four Battlemaster Assault Mechs, eight Rifleman Heavy Mechs, twelve Hunchback Medium Mechs, and a mix of Jenner and Commando Light Mechs, though no more than twelve total of those. Combat vehicles we're less certain of, but we believe to be a mix of thirty-six Manticores, LRM Carriers, and Scorpions." Explained General Jorgensen.

"What happened to the JumpShip and Dropships? We only saw the Pentagon-class. And what about those nuclear mines?" I asked.

"We believe the Colonel Gunthar to have jumped out of the system as we made our way from the Nadir Jump Point. If the Triumphs went with it, they're likely empty of any mechs or combat vehicles. The nukes are another matter. They recovered four, fifty-megaton, nuclear warheads from the same Project: Redoubt Cache they retrieved the other Rim Worlds Army equipment from. The sort that tended to be flung around all the time during the Amaris Civil War. We believe those were the warheads that had been jury-rigged into Nuclear Mines." Answered General Jorgensen.

"I see. So we're looking at two Divisions of Regular Troops, then? One of which is roughly on par with our own?" I pressed.

"It would appear so, My Lord. However, there are also the fortifications to take into account. While we have a mostly accurate copy of the designs for the fortifications, we still need to crack them." Warned General Jorgensen.

Just then, Colonel Frankowski entered with a frown on his face. I turned to regard him, as did General Jorgensen. He took a deep breath and shook his head before speaking.

"My Lord, General, we've just heard back from Third Guards. The report isn't good, the enemy has practically turned the Towns of New Eleazor, Terra Secundus, and Diplass Hold into a fortress all of their own. Tomas is fighting to claim them, but it looks like we'll have to hit the First Line of Fortifications without him and Third Guards." Intoned Colonel Frankowski.

As he said that, the air was punctuated by another explosion as the last of the Enemy Vulcan Heavy Aerospace Fighters was shot down, only for our own Aerospace Fighters to be lit up by concealed LRM Launchers amidst the First Line of Fortifications, reaping even more of a toll amongst the already hit hard Aerospace Fighters. I realized that there was no way that the attrition rates amongst Aerospace Pilots could hold out for thirty-six hours of bombardment. It rankled, as it was hardly fair play, but I realized what I would have to do to proceed.

"Someone get on the Comms to Admiral Clarke. I'm authorizing Code: Skyfall. We have to preserve as many of our pilots as we can." I commanded.

"Are you certain? There's no guarantee of precision in a situation like this, even with our improved technology." Warned General Jorgensen.

"I am." I nodded.

"I'll relay the order, My Lord." Nodded General Frankowski.

The grim silence that followed was warranted. Code: Skyfall was perhaps the riskiest maneuver in our tactical manual. It called for no less than bombardment of an enemy fortification from Low Orbit. Even with our improved sensors and computer technology, that was a risky move. Orbital Bombardment is hardly precise and technically against the Ares Conventions. Of course, so was the detonation of nuclear weapons on or near a habitable world. This could be considered simple retaliation if anyone asked.

Of course, the danger of a miss was somewhat minimal on the First Ring of Fortifications. There wasn't much of value except for the fortifications themselves, which was the main reason that I was ordering it. However, the closer you got to the Third and Final Ring of Fortifications, the larger the danger of hitting something important instead of the fortifications was. The Second Ring of Fortifications had some smaller, suburban communities encompassed close enough that a bad enough miss might destroy a civilian area, though a near miss might only catch some farmland or road. The Third Ring of Fortifications though was damn near touching Amaris City. Even a near-miss on that would see a civilian area be destroyed.

I wasn't about to order any more strikes after this one, even if we were having issues cracking the Second and Third Rings of Fortifications. The dangers of hitting a civilian area were just too great, and my conscience wouldn't bear it if I wiped a suburban neighborhood off the map because of a targeting error. Colonel Frankowski returned as I was contemplating this ordeal.

"Admiral Clarke is sending the Agamemnon and Pan Tadeusz. They should arrive in Low Orbit in one hour." He informed.

"God help us." Murmured General Jorgensen.

"The Die is Cast, Gentlemen. All we can do now is prepare to exploit the breach." I intoned.

With that, Colonel Frankowski and I headed out to First Guards, where we would suit up and get in the cockpit of our Mechs. In one hour, the Horizon would light up with fire from the heavens as two Achilles Two-Class Gunboats bombarded a section of the First Ring of Fortifications.

And I meant to have First Guards prepared to storm through the breach the second the flames died down. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so yeah. Turns out Von Strang's World is pretty well-equipped to resist an attack. Even in canon, the fortifications there were almost enough to stall out the Clans for a bit. Add in the stuff that the Von Strang's Looted from the Operation: Redoubt cache they found, and you've got a recipe for a potential defeat. To avoid wasting any more lives than he has to, Jozef has called for a quick orbital bombardment of the fortifications.

Now, technically, Orbital Bombardment is forbidden by the Ares Conventions, something upheld by ComStar. However, so is setting off a quartet of Tsar Bomba-level nukes near the atmosphere of a populated planet. Jozef plans to claim retaliation if anyone questions him about the bombardment. That said, this is likely to be the only time Jozef can play this particular card in this campaign since the consequences of targeting errors for trying this again elsewhere are pretty horrific.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the bombardment, Jozef taking advantage of it, and the first real skirmish with the Von Strang Guard Division. Then we'll have an interlude with how things are going for Third Guards in the Plains.

Stay tuned. . .